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SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.

1602: The island discovered by Bartholomew Gosnold, Sankoty
the spot ns it

1630: About this Hate,a war between the Western and Eastern

tribes; the last Indian war on the island, and the only) <<
one of whiel; we have knowledge. ‘The Island covered with eu C£=OFZ

forest ‘eras mast oaks, Ss —_}
1641; Deeded to Mayhew and son by Lord 8 \
1662" Deeded by Mayhew for £80 and two b

“ he 10 Original Purchasers,”
viz: {
‘Tristram @otlin, Thomas Macy, i
Richard S)yain, Thomas Barnard, |
Peter Cofliin, Christopher Hussey, ‘ |
Stephen Greenlief, and John Swain;
William Mile, ‘Thomas Mayhew, retaining — 2 \ }
one tenthof the Island, together with Maisquatuck or Quaise. } }
Each of the\nbove chose an “associate? with whom to set- NS | LipRrar®
] |
|

tle the Island, i a 5 Ber By. RF
Tristram Wollin, Jr., edward Starbuck, i
John Smith Nathaniel Starbuck, eel AL) Bwo \
Robert oe ‘Thomas Look, : a €. Kw =

Robert Barnard James Coflin, —= c= | |
‘Thomas Coleman, ‘Thomas Mayhew, dr. ———, 1869.—- { |
The Tsland yas purchased subsequently of the natives, who ——s \ \
owned it A femal tracts, the boundaries thereof being de- | |
fined with sprprising exactness. EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. | Ghocd of tic Ray
“Thomas Mavy and family, with Wdward Starbuck, arrived 3704: Upto this dato, f aiale Snr athoeni ce NINETEENTH CENTURY. 1 i]
from Salisbitry. (Us © this date, i. ¢., for nearly hall a ce y, the 1800 * nade! = / * . se Hit
“ Fo TO aiang on the Island about 7005 the soil rich though they numbered now about 700 souls, had had 10 i whe me eae aS area eee i |
and the Island covered with oaks and other trees, settled religious teacher, and were without a churels prob- } «Bell Geeta 1 000 Tbs. TCacrinaNy ny i} \ |
1860; Starbuolk visited Salisbury, and returned with 8 or 10 fam- ably the solitary exception in this respect in all New Bng- © ‘The Methodist Societ LO) ese ie orth Tower. \\l
Yes. Westend of Island bought from the Indians. land. They sera tad had ae aurnE the Jit S eas veh “ “Population, 5 617 ely organized.
Wm. Wortl} same. mostly Baptists, a few were Presbytenians, and one or two 3804: Pacific Bank and t ance Offic P
Peter Foulg}r moved to the Tsland, Tne occupation of the Quakers. ‘The /Mayhews had Christianized the Indians, 1809: Hh ee a ae awe mua zuuce sO Picts established. a
inhabitants was fishing and farming. ‘Ihe Island, with the and the latter (with the New Testament translated into tor. The N Seek ee AGONY: Seth P. Swift, Pas-
exception of Quaise, was divided into 27 parts. their Jangnage) had four Meeting-houses, #8 per map; AS th OM LE ESTEE on account of losing
1665: King Vhilip visited the Islind. 1666: The first mill for ae Service CRS REL in oun congue in Bhs oi 1810: Population, 6,807 SEL ETE OU
grinding corn built on Wesko Pond. _.._ language. ‘During this year a Friends Society was lormecs 1815: Social Library instituted: Josi: sacy, lsq:, Presi
1: The 1 “Taste eduen > first. meeting- =a 'y instituted: Josiah MWussey, Wsq:, President.
ala he North Cong. Society formed, and the first meeting: 1816: The Nantucket Gazette issued. It had Fan an OMTEE Ox date

1671: own incorporated. 1672: Site of the ‘Town moved to
"" “Weako, its Present location. ; Nae (still urea 1806) Sreeted ag ye yaiward iiithe ence.
1678: Whaling commenced in boats from the shore, North Burial-Ground. Tt was built outof oak that grew on 1820: The Rey. Abner M 7
the : yeaa r : Th + Abi orse pastor at the North. The Mechan-
he Island. Names of the first Pastors unknown ics’ Association, a literary society, was formed.

1693: The Ishind (previously a part of New York) became a part White Population, 721
of Massachusetts, in accordance with request of proprietors Straight Seat Built: . te eae 7,266. 72 ships (21,600 tons) engaged in Whale

of the Island, z ~
1073: About this time Sesacacha (containing about 30 houses) and White Population, 917. = 7 1823; Columbian Library Association formed
Siasconsec Villages were built. Also the cluster of Whale- Quanaty Hill dug away to make land teva Union Street to 1827: I'wo Public Schools esti ised! ert ‘the Cofin School |

the present Shore. = opened
: ane Rey. Timothy While pastor of the Het ee gi ates : Population 7,202
ia Village continued in existence about 140 years; The Rev. Joseph Mayhew pastor of the Ist Cong. Society. an eniewanvontbevrectin rtongarenecta Athe i
Bio a of the place haying been moyed to Siascon- Hie Mra population . . Ea | 3,578. porated. 1886: Great tite, Heehoiadetsly © ANMNAvvnee itetaye
set, A. 1). 1820. WES BOUOO CORD , 2 ., 4 : High School opened. Great Fire in the town; loss $800,000,
if <e a Le ena Sherborne, by order of Lovelace, Ene cae ee, Sear ee eee Te ae 1839: Trinity Church (Episcopal) erected; the Parish having
Rs RASS 1765: North Meeting-house removed to Beacon Tlill (the present pecnloreanized a short time before by the Rey, Moses Mar-
site). Out of 3,220 Whites, only 47 were pew-holders. 5 PecuiaG in, 9,712
Whaling in boats from the shore ceased. | Geant coo mulyaiaiana ter Whalt '
1767: The Rey. Bazaleel Shaw pastor of North Society. : bir au e HED 1 ui ne any ances hal ing declines.
Vi74: Population 4,545; 1 clergyman, 2 doctors, and 1 lawyer on Pooulntion: ane by Josiah Sturgis.
the Island. - ae Dine oEoU
ays Sg Gocienvan 7 1781 th Other Pine groves planted.
From organization of North Society in 1711 to 1 the : Gas lighted for first time on the Island. 185-: Abram

MUSKEGET ,

houses at Hyacomet, together with the Fishing ves of
Peedee and| Quiduct, and the Pishing-Stage at weder-. 1

AWyiirs Pot = of the

HARBOR

E F P having » settled clergyman, . i ;
Ee oe ee one settled clergy a Quary (last man with Indian blood in him) died. Ws
h C iS. 60: Be i 6,05 y
775-81: Ak 600 Nantucketers lost their lives in one way or 60: Population 6,004. . be WY,
Lue LE ee Sana creeTNORgie Revoltitionary War. i 1865: Hopilnnony 2.630. Alumni Association (of High School) Ye,
E organized.

1778: Ratable property on the Island, $865,630.

1784: Population, 4,269, Lighthouse erected at Great Point.
1790: Population, 4,620. 5
1791: First Whaling Vessel went from the Island to the Pacific.
179): Name of town changed from Sherburne to Nantucket, Old a)

\ y
AE
\

Neth Tower erected 3 wigwams (in Squam) only left are Ces z
& Axding on the Island. S : j POCOMO
1797: The Rev. D. Leonard pastor of North Society. Streets | ee. - »
first named. | slant
1799: The Rey. James Gurney pastor of same; he continued in |
charge twenty years. 4
, 1795: Nantucket Bank started, and robbed of $22,000 same year, ‘|

QUAISE

~~" Spallop @ Fond

iso ourie

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Cypgerand Reed Pond Bt ¢ Bug Lights : ‘ Vor Mgsquetucky A i i
of 4 < Wile of Thos Merk Youre = Be. BM Oey
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= Fassia Jt <p ae ’ = cy! ;
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2 Pisin Re Me f ¥ gee Indi MeehAg Hovde. Ee £ SS Ss Za lay
MT hy ae et / WO. ER Moona SS é = 3 r .
sees SHE Bee ee) ps ze ie, r Neceee "
SMOOTH HUMMOCKS : ackmam q€ kK

Hownlanes of Surveyed Sections The Date of OT, PASTURE
erful sucery beng wnder the Nove of the Sertien OTe we eRe

of Mire old

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OF

NANTUCKET

WHAT IT WAS AND WHAT IT IS

/

BEING A COMPLETE INDEX AND GUIDE TO THIS NOTED RESORT

CONTAINING DESCRIPTIONS OF EVERYTHING ON OR ABOUT
THE ISLAND IN REGARD TO WHICH THE VISITOR
OR RESIDENT MAY DESIRE INFOR-
MATION, INCLUDING

ITS HISTORY, PEOPLE, AGRICULTURE, BOTANY,
CONCHOLOGY AND GEOLOGY

WITH MAPS OF THE TOWN AND ISLAND

COMPILED BY

EDWARD K. GODFREY

BOSTON

LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK: CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM

LEB IAY
THE ISLAND cowl at

Copyright |
By LEE & SHEPARD,
1882.

on Of COmps™ |

ym re ;
SS Z0r0e ee :

E DEC 24 1945

iY 7 PRESS OF
oe | . -g, J. PARKHILL & CO.,

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aed. ae ee eee) eee eee, iia eA Dd ae Jee Oe gis eo teNe . -

TO

FRANKLIN A. ELLIS, M.D.,
FOR MANY YEARS

MY TRIED AND TRUSTED FRIEND IN SICKNESS, IN HEALTH,

IN PROSPERITY AND ADVERSITY,

JI Dedicate

THIS LITTLE BOOK AS A SLIGHT
TESTIMONIAL

-OF MY REGARD FOR HIM AS A MAN
AND PHYSICIAN.

EDWARD K. GODFREY.

PREFACE

In presenting this little volume to the public, the
compiler has been actuated solely by the desire to pro-
duce, as its title indicates, a complete index and guide
to the island of Nantucket, and in no instance has he
allowed his personal preferences or prejudices promi-
nence at the expense of veracity.

Many valuable articles have been contributed to the
book, and in every case the author’s name is given, with
full credit for the same.

Although it has been the compiler’s earnest wish
that the book should be accurate in every particular,
although he has consulted the best authorities and
labored hard to perfect it in the limited time at his
command, Se is aware that there are errors and omis-
sions; but he trusts that on the whole his volume will
meet the requirements demanded of it, and the only
excuse which he can offer for any imperfections that
may be found in the work is that the whole was accom-
plished amidst many interruptions, and other cares and
duties. |

The compiler begs to acknowledge his indebted-
ness and tender his most grateful thanks to all who
have so ably and kindly helped to make the book a
success. In but few instances (and in those he is
pained to say that it was flatly refused) has any infor-

vi - PREFACE.

mation or assistance which he has frequently had occa-
sion to ask for been withheld.

The book is in no sense a history; neither is any
claim made for it as a scientific or literary work, it be-
ing merely a truthful guide to the island. There are,
however, several scientific articles embodied in the ©
work which were written expressly for it, and they
will be found of great interest and value, more espe-
cially those upon botany, conchology, and geology.

Looking forward to other editions, the compiler trusts
that something may be added upon the island’s ento-
mology, ichthyology, and mineralogy, and asks the
co-operation and assistance of all interested in these
sciences. The maps contained in this work were made
expressly for it. That of the streets being from origi-
nal designs by the compiler; and that of the island
copied from Rev. Dr. F. C. Ewer’s historical map with
his kind permission

And now, setting adrift his little venture, the com
piler leaves it to make its way, if it will, to the
antipodes. E.. Ki\G.

NantuckxT, Mass., March 31, 1882,

NANTUCKET.

‘How To Get THERE AND WHAT TO SEE THERE.

NOTWITHSTANDING all that has been written and
said of this island, there are, strange as it may seem,
many persons living in these United States, in this
nineteenth century, who have never heard of Nan-
tucket. Nantucket is a little island, about fourteen
miles long, lying away out at sea thirty miles from the
main; it belongs to the State of Massachusetts, is but
little over a hundred miles from Boston, can be reached
by steamer twice a day during the summer, and is rap-
idly becoming one of the most celebrated watering-
places in the country. Its climate is very even, mala-
ria entirely unknown, and the resident physicians agree
in saying that during the summer months no better
place for consumptives can be found.

Nantucket was at one time the largest whaling port
in the world, owning over three hundred vessels of all
kinds. If one desires to go to Nantucket, — upon
arrival at Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, or Bos-
ton, — a “‘ railway guide ”’ should be consulted in order
to see what connections can be made with the Old
Colony Railroad of Boston, that company controlling
the regular direct approach to the island, except in the
case of excursions that are frequently organized by

2 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

other parties in either of the cities mentioned. For
the latter it will be necessary to consult transient
advertisements and posters.

During the months of July, August, and September,
in buying a ticket for Nantucket, always buy an
‘‘ excursion ticket,’ and see that you get it; you will
thereby save many dollars. During these months
‘‘excursion (round-trip) tickets ’’ are issued at all of
the above cities, which cover the whole period. The
excursion season usually commences about the last
week in June. An excursion ticket to Nantucket and
return can be purchased in Boston only at the Old
Colony Depot for four dollars ($4), and this is good
until Nov. 1.

In regard to tickets purchased in New York, a news-
paper correspondent — ‘‘ Barry Gray’? — says: “ The
round trip from Pier 28, foot of Murray Street, to
_ Nantucket and back, by way of the Fall River boats,
Old Colony Railroad to New Bedford, and thence
by ‘‘Island Home” steamboat to Nantucket, — say
eighteen hours,—costs about $8; and the expenses
there at the best hotels vary from $1.50 to $3 per day,
according to the location of rooms, etc. These tickets
are good until Nov. 1.” : “AGES

Since the above was written the compiler has
received from Mr. G. L. Connor, general passenger
agent Old Colony Steamboat Company, the follow-
ing information: ‘‘ Nantucket excursion tickets are
on sale from June 1 until Oct. 1, and are good to
return until Noy. 1. They may be obtained at any of
our offices in the city, of which the following is a
list: —

HOW TO GET THERE. 3

‘¢ New York.—Chas. H. Orr, ticket agent, 207 Broadway;
Thos. Cook & Son, agents, 261 Broadway; C. A. Seymour, 711
Broadway; R. J. Black, agent N. Y. T. Co., 944 Broadway; S.
‘L. Bevan, ticket agent, 957 Broadway; N. Y. T. Co., agents,
1323 Broadway; Swan & Lewis, ticket agents, Astor House;
F. A. Coleman, ticket agent, Windsor Hotel; at the offices
of the line, Pier 28, North River, foot of Murray Street,
and on board steamers.

“Brooklyn. ——N. Y. T. Co., agents, 4 Court Street; New York
Trans. Co., agents, 860 Fulton Street; Smith Cox, ticket
agent, 107 Broadway, E. D.; Annex Company, foot of Fulton
Street.

“Tn Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, at the offices
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and of the Philadelphia and
Reading Railroad in the latter city.

“In Boston, at No. 3 Old State House and at Old Colony
Station.”

Rates from New York are as follows: —

Via Fall River line, single trip, $5.25; excursion, $8.25.

We will suppose that your ticket has been purchased,
that you are fairly on your way, and have arrived
safely at Oak Bluffs, the last stop you will make
before reaching your journey’s end. After the usual
commotion of discharging and taking on board passen-
gers and freight, the steamer is ready to start for the
promised land. Mr. Northrup, in his delightful little
book, ‘‘ Sconset Cottage Life: A Summer on Nan-
tucket Island,”’ gives a vivid picture of the last part of
the journey. He says:—

4 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

‘¢The lines are cast off, the steamer’s head swings
slowly around, the throb and rumble begin again, and
we are off for Nantucket two hours away, right out
to sea and below the horizon. The ocean is in good
mood; the sun, in its afternoon glory, is warm enough,
but the gentlest of sea breezes, coming in upon us
from the broad Atlantic, is like a cooling beverage
for refreshment. All the senses are lulled to luxurious
rest, and we would be content to sail. on under the
summer sky through an endless day like this. Seated
upon the upper bow deck, in the shade of the pilot-
house, we gaze and dream and drink the air, and
hear the gentle whispers of the sea, while ever and
anon we peer into the distance along the horizon
line, where sea and sky mingle in such harmony of
color that we hardly know where sea ends and sky
begins, peering to detect the first faint line of the
low cliffs of Nantucket. Muskeget Island is at length
sighted, and then Tuckernuck, — jagged fragment left
over after Nantucket was finished, or else wrongfully
rent from it by the remorseless sea after Nature had
finished her work and pronounced it ‘ very good.’ .. .

‘‘ By and by the horizon grows unsteady, wavers, is
jagged, and sharp eyes detect land! Nantucket is safe,
for there at length rises the ‘ cliff. That wonderful
water-tank on stilts next catches our eyes; soon after,
church spires thrust their. javelin points above the
bluffs from the still hidden town that lies just around
yonder headland; a lighthouse; the bell-buoy; and as
the steamer carefully feels its way over the bar, along
its narrow path, the town of Nantucket itself, sitting
on its amphitheatrical seats around the harbor, flashes
in the sunlight upon us... .

THE TOWN OF NANTUCKET. 5

‘¢ And what a town! Not very large, indeed; once
having a population of 10,000 souls, now less than
4,000 ; quaint, a choice bit of antiquity, as antiquity
goes in this country ; seated like an empress on her
throne, upon the rising shore and encircling bluffs,
and looking out on the peaceful harbor, and beyond
on the restless sea. Historic in respect to a great in-
dustry, now as dead as the issues of the late ‘ un-
pleasantness’; the nursery of noted men and high-bred
women; and although in decadence as a seaport, com-
ing to renown and a new pre-eminence as a summer
resort which, once visited, is visited again, and always
remembered with delight and affectionate longing.”

Arrived safely at Nantucket wharf, you find the
usual crowd of hackmen, teamsters, and express-
men, — the jolliest, kindest, and wittiest set of human
beings upon the face of the globe, — ready to take you
and your baggage to any hotel or boarding-house which
you may have selected. There are five hotels in the
town, and innumerable boarding-houses, and all are
Sethi of patronage.

The first question usually asked i the tourist, upon
his arrival in any place, is, ‘‘ What are the rihesped
objects of interest in this locality?’’ There is cer-
tainly enough upon the little island of Nantucket to
entertain, instruct, and amuse the historian, the sci-
entist, the seeker after pleasure, the curious, the an-
tiquarian, the relic hunter. Perhaps the first on the
list is the Athenzeum, with its fine library, and museum
of wonderful and rare things, brought from ‘‘ over the
sea,’”’? from the burning sands of the ‘ gold coast,”
from the frozen North, from the isles of the Pacific,

6 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. |

from every nook and cranny of the world. Mrs. Eliza
Ann McCleave has also a large collection of beautiful
shells and curious things; and perhaps the estimable
and kindly lady herself is the most quaint and curious
of them all, —a veritable ‘‘ Mrs. Jarley.”’ She is always
genial and affable, and you come away from her quiet
little home pleased, amused, and instructed. Then
there are Walter Folger’s astronomical clock, the
United States Life Saving Station ; the rooms of the
Massachusetts Humane Society ; the site of Thomas
Macy’s house; John Gardner’s grave; the different
cemeteries ; the ‘‘ Old House”? and ‘‘ Old Mill’’; the
“ Old Spanish Bell’’; the new town clock; ‘‘ Eat-fire
Spring,” and Quaise, celebrated in Col. Hart’s ‘‘ Mir-
iam Coffin ’’; Sancoty Head Lighthouse and Sconset ;
Surfside ; ‘‘Sunset Heights”; ‘‘ Sherburne Bluffs,”
and the cliff; Tuckernuck; Wauwinet; South Shore ;
the ‘‘ Tower’; the Tourists’ Registry Agency; the
‘¢ Clean Shore ’”’ and Cliff bathing-houses ; the ‘‘ Cap-
tain’s Room,’’ once the celebrated Wm. Rotch’s
warehouse, —all these and many more to be visited.

Among many other curious and rare objects of in-
terest to be found here is a small wax figure of an
infant, which was brought to this country in 1786 by
Jon. Coffin, and has been in the possession of its pres-
ent owners for forty years. There is no doubt that
this wax figure is the likeness of the Dauphin of
France,— Louis Charles, the second son of Louis
XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and rightfully Louis
XVII.

About the life of this young prince there has always
hung a cloud of mystery: many persons believing

2

in ie

THE WAX FIGURE. y |

that he was murdered in the Temple, and others that
he was spirited away to this country and afterwards
became the celebrated Indian preacher, Rev. Eleazer
Williams. It is well known that Mr. Williams died
without establishing his claim to the throne of France.

The figure above referred to, even if not a like-
ness, is a curiosity in its way. It is certain that
Capt. Coffin brought it here, and it was purchased in
a nunnery in France in 1786. At that time the Dau-
phin must have been about a year old. It is also cer-
tain that those who first obtained possession of it on

the island were always emphatic in their declarations

that it ‘‘ was a likeness of the Dauphin of France.”’
The figure is now the property of the Misses Coleman,
—to whom the compiler is indebted for the facts in
relation to it, — and has always attracted a great deal
of attention from all who take an interest in anything
connected with the beautiful, but weak and unfortu-
nate Marie Antoinette and her husband.

There are still living in town many persons whose
lives possess a romantic interest, among them the last
survivor of the ill-fated ‘‘ Essex ’’; an ‘‘ old salt’? who
brought into the port of Nantucket forty thousand
barrels of oil; another who lived for months among the
cannibals ; another who has a secret for curing can-
cers ; * and a hundred others might be named who

* The gentleman here referred to has used this cure upon
his own person with favorable results, and is emphatic in his
declaration that it is a sure cure. The compiler, of course,
cannot advertise the medicine in this connection, but is ready
to give, at any time, the gentleman’s name, for the sake of
suffering humanity.

8 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

could entertain one for hours with moving tales of
shipwreck, disaster, anstes and adventures of all
kinds.

There are numerous asthe lying half embedded in
the sand that one might visit, and certainly the bot-
anist or geologist has no occasion to find fault with
this heap of “ glacial drift,” that is covered with such
a wonderful display of Abin a.

To sum up with, there comes the fishing and the
gunning ; the rowing and sailing; the bathing, the
botanizing, the geologizing ; the moonlight rambles on
the beach, and the love-making,—it is really true
that hearts are won and lost on Nantucket, —and then
the clear skies, the pure air, the gentle, refreshing
breezes ; and last but not least, the eating and the
sleeping, and oh! the gloriously cool nights in which
to sleep! If one comes to Nantucket, there is cer-
tainly enough here to make one healthy and happy.

AGENTS.

Insurance.— Matthew Barney, Joseph B. Swain, Geo. W. Macy,
Andrew Whitney.

Real Estate. — Geo. W. Macy, x M. Myrick, Geo. E. Mooers,
E. K. Godfrey. ’

Ticket, Telegraph, and Associated Press.—Chas. C. Crosby, Office
at Pharmacy.

Underwriters and Wreck Commissioners. — Joseph B. Macy, Under-
writers’ Agent and Wreck Commissioner; Andrew G. Hussey, John M.
Winslow, Geo. W. Coffin, Wreck Commissioners.

Auctioneers. — Andrew M. Myrick and Geo, E. Mooers, Main Street.

AGRICULTURE.

Mr. W. W. McIntosh, the writer of the following
article, is one of the most successful farmers upon the

AGRICULTURE. 9

island of Nantucket, and what he has to say about its
agriculture will doubtless be read with attention by all
who take an interest in farming. Mr. McIntosh says:

*¢ In agricultural resources the island of Nantucket
compares favorably with other portions of the State, if
we except the growing of wood and the tree fruits; of
these I shall say more further on. We have almost
every variety of soil, with a general absence of rocks,
which are a serious drawback to farms in many parts
of the State. Much of our land is peculiarly adapted
to the growth of Indian corn, and though as a whole
we do not cultivate as well as we might, the result of
my own observations, after passing through various
portions of the State east of the Connnecticut River, is
that we get fully as good an average as any other
county. Rye, oats, and barley do well, and I think
with proper selection of soil and seed and proper culti-
vation, we may raise as good an average yield of wheat
as is raised in any of the wheat States east of the Mis-
Sissippi River.

“We have a great deal of land peculiarly well adapted
to the growth of garden vegetables * of all kinds, if we
except some of the bean family, and all of our vegeta-
bles are of superior quality for the table. This fur-
nishes an opening for a large and profitable industry
in the not distant future. The most that is needed to
insure its rapid development is cheaper freights to
market, and enterprise.

* At one of the agricultural fairs some years since, the com-
piler saw samples of potatoes that grew three hundred bushels
to the acre.

10 - THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

‘‘Most of the grasses flourish here as well as on
sandy loams elsewhere. The natural pasturage, I
think, is not as good as in some other portions of the
State; but this I believe may be remedied by paying
more attention to the improvement of our pastures by
occasional cultivation, and then seeding with such of
the cultivated grasses as experience shall demonstrate
_ are best for pasturage, and thus afford ample scope for
dairying.

‘* Sheep also do well on a large portion of the island,
and when we take into the account the fact that epi-
cures about Boston pay high prices for ‘ Vermont
lamb,’ because of its ‘ delicate flavor,’ and also another
fact that many people who have drifted here in search
of health or recreation have testified that ‘lamb pro-
duced on this island comes the nearest in its delicate
flavor to that raised in Vermont of any they have ever
‘seen,’ it is satisfactory evidence that in sheep-raising
there is another opening for business for the right
people. he |

‘*« The small fruits seem to do well here, strawberries
and blackberries in particular. They are usually very
hard and suitable to stand transportation, if the mar-
kets were such as to induce their cultivation. |

“Some varieties of pears may be grown to profit here,
where shelter can be had at moderate cost, if proper
selection of soil is made and proper cultivation be-
stowed. Peaches, I think, may be successfully raised
with suitable shelter and proper cultivation, when we
have learned by experiment what varieties will best
withstand our climate.

‘¢ T still consider it an open question whether apples

AGRICULTURE. tt

may not be successfully grown by making careful se-

lection of soil and varieties, and taking such as are
naturally profuse bearers on the mainland and are
hardy and of vigorous habits of growth.

‘‘From my observation I believe quinces may be
grown here as profitably as apples, perhaps pears even,
on the mainland, our moist soils and climate seem-
ing to suit them. They are esteemed quite a luxury
and command -good prices usually, and the supply does
not keep pace with the demand. Here is another
opening for enterprise and skill in the way of fruit-
growing. I think also if more attention was paid to
forestry we could do something in that line, and that
by experiment we should find several varieties of trees
valuable for fuel or timber which would flourish here.
I heard an old gentleman say within a few days that
he had a record of quite a heavy growth of oak tim-
ber near where Hon. Charles O’Conor’s house now
stands.* Tradition has it that many of our oldest
buildings were framed with native timber, notably the
‘Old Windmill’ now standing, whose timbers give

mo?)

evidence that it was of good growth.” (See page 236.)

* Wm. C. Folger, Esq., says: ‘‘Macy’s records, speaking of
the George Gardner house, which stood on the North Shore hill
where the Hamblin barn now stands, which house was built in
1696 and taken down in 1838, say that ‘the large timbers of it
were mostly oak, and believed to have been cut on the island
between said house and the cliff, as that was-a. place remarked

for a good growth of white-oak trees.’”” See p. 62.

+? THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

ALMSHOUSE AND PAUPERS.

That the town takes care of its poor is shown by the
fact that about $6,000 are spent annually for their sup-
port. The asylum or almshouse is situated at the
lower end of Orange Street, in a good, healthy locality.
It is surrounded by green fields, and the inmates have
at all times a fine view of the harbor, and the advan-
tage of that greatest of nature’s medicines, pure air.
There are at present about thirty inmates in the alms-
house. Rev. J. E. Crawford has for many years offi-
ciated gratuitously as chaplain, for which he at least
deserves the hearty thanks of all Christian people.
Mr. Edward G. Coffin, 2d, is the superintendent.

Since the above was written the following has been
gathered from the annual town report: During the
year 1881 $2,329.30 were expended for the almshouse,
and eighty-seven families, consisting of one hundred
and fifty-nine persons, were supplied with provisions,
fuel, etc., to the amount of $2,160.95.

AMUSEMENTS.

The question is often asked, ‘‘ How do you Nantuck-
eters amuse yourselves in the winter?’’ The question
is as easily answered as asked: they amuse themselves
in the same way as any other intelligent pooge so far
removed from

“the madding crowd’s ignoble strife.”

There have been, at various times in years gone by,
local dramatic, reading, debating, and other clubs; but
they have, with one or two exceptions, met the fate of

AMUSEMENTS. — ARCHITECTURE. 13

most amateur associations. The Sherburne Lyceum,
however, is still in existence, and have a debate fort-
nightly during the winter season; and there is also
quite a popular organization known as the Momus
Club, which gives entertainments occasionally during
the winter, burnt cork being its specialty.

All things considered, there is a good deal of local
talent in the way of music, elocution, and the drama,
and many creditable performances have taken place in
Atheneum Hall. The Athenzeum and other literary
societies have from time to time given courses of lec-
tures. Strolling dramatic and variety performers
make their appearance here at intervals; balls and
parties are given, and fairs are held: but for what can
really be classed under the head of amusements in the
winter, the town depends almost entirely upon its local
amateur societies, be they literary, dramatic, or vari-
ety, and their earnest efforts to please are usually re-
warded by good houses.

ARCHITECTURE.

Newspaper correspondents, and in fact visitors gen-_
erally, describe the town asa quaint old place. The
town is old, as old things go in this country, and there
is a very strong smack of quaintness about those
houses which Burdette so happily describes as being
shingled, shangled, shongled, and shungled. Gables,
sides, and roofs are shingled; and when as in years
gone by they were painted red, green, or yellow, and
the roofs tarred, as the fancy of the occupant dictated,
they were indeed odd-looking specimens of architec-
ture.

14 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

The walks upon the roofs of the houses usually at-
tract a great deal of attention, sometimes being mis-
taken for band stands and other arrangements equally
ridiculous.

These walks, so called, are wooden platforms en-
closed by strong railings built upon the: tops of the
houses, entrance to them being gained by means of a
_ square hole cut through the apex of the roof. They
are simply lookouts or places of observation.

In the earlier days, ships were constantly arriving
and departing, and of course everybody was interested
in the sight; consequently the highest point of observa-
tion was sought, which was necessarily at the top of
the house. Many well-to-do people, finding the ac-
commodation of the small, square hole which is cut
into the roof of every house for use in case of fire, and
denominated a ‘ scuttle,’”? very limited even for one
person, added these walks to their houses, thus giving
ample room for the whole household to walk back and
forth on the top of the house and see all there was
to be seen. 3 .

The dwelling-houses are generally of wood, there
being but ten brick dwellings upon the island, and all
but two of these are upon Main Street. Upon the
same street, however, are many brick blocks for busi-
ness purposes. The Ocean House, which was origi-
nally built for a dwelling-house,* is also of brick.
There is only one swell-front building in the town, and

— -— + ——

* 1839 Jared Coffin built this house for a residence previous to
the great fire of 1846, an addition being subsequently made for
dining hall when altered to a hotel.

ART AND ARTISTS. 13

that is the block owned by Lieut.-Com. T. M. Gardner
on the corner of Main and Orange Streets.

There is nothing imposing in the way of architecture
in the place. Apparently some attempt was made in
that direction when the Athenzum and the Methodist
Church were erected. Each of these buildings is quite
large, and both have immense wooden pillars in front.
The Methodist Church is described by one correspond-
ent as “a great Grecian temple of a place, imposing
outwardly and big inwardly.”

ART AND ARTISTS.

Dr. A. E. Jenks (see page 115) has kindly furnished
the following article on art and artists for this book: —.

*¢ Many years ago, while strolling along the beach at
Siasconset, I noticed an artist at work, carefully paint-
ing a truly beautiful fog effect, —a delightful study of
one of Nature’s subtile moods, never so apparent as to
the art student while strolling by the sea-coast. In
most generous reply to my expressed admiration of
his little marine picture, my artist friend said to me,
——and there was refreshing sinccrity in his manner, —
‘Your island of Nantucket gives us artists many a
bit of the richest coloring; your ocean scenery is grand;
indeed, the atmospheric effects, ever shifting above
those dangerous shoals yonder, equal if they do not
surpass anything I ever saw during my summer at
the Isles of Shoals orat Mt. Desert!’ I comprehended
his meaning, was a sharer in the fervor of his enthu-
siasm; and since that summer day of lang syne, Nan-
tucket’s quaint scenery in rugged bluff and lowland

16 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

moors, in the long line of sea-beach and peculiar
relics in old buildings of centuries agone, has grown
into favor with celebrated artists from abroad. Thus
reproduced in the most delicate as well as bold out-
lines of the painter, and embalmed in the amber of a
history which the author of the present volume now
gives to the public, the island of Nantucket will ever
be known as a spot well worth the tourist’s visit, and
as the birthplace of men and women whose records
will rank among the proudest ancestries.

‘¢ Among professional native artists, Mr. Geo. G. Fish
is probably the oldest now living in the town. Mr.
Fish has been known abroad for many years, having
at one time a studio in New York City. A number
of his crayon illustrations have been reproduced in
chromo and have had an extensive sale. He now oc-
cupies a room in the Athenzeum as his studio, where he
has been located for several decades.

‘¢ Mr. Wendell Macy has a reputation for executing
many faithful likenesses in crayon. His paintings in
oil — panel marine views — have been in great demand
among summer visitors, who admire these charming
souvenirs of Nantucket scenery. Orders from abroad
he is constantly filing. His studio is at his home on
Orange Street.

‘‘'The charming art parlor of Mr. W. Ferdinand
Macy and wife, opened for the first time in,town last
summer, gave us an exhibition of the finest work of
this young couple. Mr. Macy’s large picture of ‘ San-
coty in October’ was greatly admired by all who saw
it. His floral paintings were perfect gems. Mrs.
Macy’s work upon panels, and her designs from the

ART AND ARTISTS. 17

varied flora of Nature, entitle her to a place among
successful artists.

‘“‘T would not forget one native artist to the ma-
nor born,—Mr. Frederick M. Coffin, now of Au-
burn, N. Y. His facile brush is marvellous in its
fidelity. Mr. Coffin is intellectual, and of the keenest
humor; no wonder ‘ Fanny Fern,’ years ago, employed
him to make the designs for her illustrated volumes. It
is to be regretted that he ever relinquished the profes-
sion of art. —

‘**I have pleasing thoughts of the famous artist of
the old north cliff. I refer to Eastman Johnson,
whose studio stands on a breezy hill, almost Italian in
its soft summer garniture; our somewhat classic cliff
luminous with sunlight; our harbor to the right; the
cool bath-houses along the ocean border; the distant
fleet of snowy sails; all so dreamy and tremulous, —
strangers tell us it is a poem; and so it is. In this
queer studio the ‘ Old Stage-Coach’ and the ‘Tramp’
were painted.

‘Very many exquisite morceaux of color and form
have been given to the public from the easels of the
following amateurs in art-culture. Mr. James Walter
Folger, although a professional carver, has of late
taken up crayons and done a little in the way of oil
painting, succeeding admirably well with the former.
His crayon portraits are remarkable in that he suc-
ceeds in retaining strong likenesses, and his work in
that line shows great promise for the future. His
unique combinations of carving and oil painting in one
design will in time, perhaps, be recognized as a new
departure in art. Mr. Folger’s studio is on Union

a

18 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Street. Mr. B. G. Tobey, another amateur, has done
some creditable things in oil, one of his pictures having
been engraved and published in an illustrated work
upon Nantucket. Mr. Tobey’s studio is at his home
on Main Street. Choice specimens of local landscape
painting have also been executed by Misses Emma
Nickerson and Fannie Macy.”’

The compiler exceedingiy regrets that want of space
compels him to omit a portion of Dr. Jenks’s closing
remarks, as he desires here to insert that which the
doctor’s modesty and delicacy have prevented his
alluding to. Dr. Arthur E. Jenks, who in his quiet,
unassuming way makes no claim to being an artist,
has done some choice bits of work in crayon, oil, and
even plaster, of which any professional might well be
proud. In the summer season he can scarcely meet
the demand for his little gems. Some of his plaster
medallions have created a decided sensation among
collectors of souvenirs at Nantucket.

Since the above was written the compiler has been |
informed that Mr. Harry Platt, a crayon artist of great
power well known in Washington, will make his home
here during this year. Mr. Platt needs no praise; his
work shows him to be a superior artist in every way,
and, his pictures are something marvellous in their
execution. That Mr. Platt’s work is appreciated is
evidenced by the fact that he has made portraits from
life of Sir Edward Thornton, Countess Lewenhaupt,
Baron Ernst von Mayer, Baron DeArinos, and many
others. |

ATHENZUM, LIBRARY, AND MUSEUM. 19

ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK.

This truly wonderful clock, now the property of
Edward R. Folger, Esq., was made by the celebrated
Walter Folger (page 107). It is a very curious piece
of mechanical ingenuity. It records the day of the
year, the rising of the sun and moon, the moon's
nodes, and the place of the sun on the ecliptic. The
wheel that keeps the year’s date moves one notch
every ten years, and at the end of a century it has
made one complete revolution.

William C. Folger, Esq., says: ‘‘ It was planned by
Hon. Walter Folger in 1788 at the age of twenty-three,
and finished in 1790 at the age of twenty-five. It was
set going July 4, 1790. He made not only the clock,
but the case also, I am told.”’

-ATHENZUM, LIBRARY, AND MUSEUM.

To the accomplished and genial gentlewoman, who
has for many years been the librarian of the Nan-
tucket Athenseum, the compiler is indebted for the
following facts in relation to the Atheneum, its mu-
seum and library. The origin of this institution, as
we learn from Macy’s ‘‘ History of Nantucket,’’ was
as follows: —

_ This institution was incorporated in 1834, It took
its origin from two societies: one, the Mechanics’
Association, formed in 1820; the other, the Columbian
Library Association, formed in 1823. These were
united in 1827 under the name of the United Library
Association. In 1833 two of the members, Charles

20 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

G. Coffin and David Joy, offered the society a valuable _
tract of land in the central part of the town, on con-
dition of there being erected upon it a substantial
building for the uses of the Association. A subscrip-
tion was immediately opened, and in a short time a
greater amount was obtained than that required by the
conditions of the donation. Thus encouraged, the
Association, with the consent of the donors of the
land, purchased the house and land then recently
occupied by the Universalist Society, and made such
alterations in the building as were required for their
accommodation. The building contained a convenient
lecture-room which would accommodate an audience
of about four hundred and fifty persons, a library-
room, a spacious room for curiosities, and a committee-
room.”’ |

This building with its entire contents was destroyed
by the great fire of July 13, 1846. We learn from the
annual report of the trustees, January, 1847, that the
library at the time contained 3,200 volumes, and many
documents of inestimable value pertaining to the early
settlement of the island. The museum contained val-
uable collections in conchology, mineralogy, ornithol-
ogy, and entomology, and a large collection of coins
of different countries, some of them of great antiquity.
The museum also contained a great variety of arms,
domestic utensils, and other implements from the
Polynesian Islands. These were every day becoming
more rare and curious, as the barbarous habits of the
islanders disappeared before the advancing light of
civilization. The destruction of this library, and the
loss at the same time of that of the Coffin School and

ATHENZUM, LIBRARY, AND MUSEUM. Pa

many private libraries, left the inhabitants of the
island more destitute of reading resources than ever
before; hence the need of a new library was urgent,
although the prospect of another seemed wellnigh
hopeless, owing to the disastrous effects of the fire
upon the entire community: but through the prompt
action of the trustees of the institution and the gen-
erosity of noble-hearted individuals, the present build-
ing was completed, and the library opened to the pub-
lic Feb. 1, 1847. The library contained 1,600 volumes,
1,000 of which were donated by “ citizens of Boston,’’
—a valuable collection of books, and solid foundation
upon which to build the new library.*

A committee of the proprietors was appointed to
solicit contributions for the museum, and their call
was generously responded to. Capt. Robert M. Joy
presented a large and rare coliection of shells; Mr.
Edward G. Kelly, a cabinet of several hundred speci-
mens of minerals. These with many other donations
formed the nucleus of the present attractive collection,
which is yearly increased by contributions from per-
sons interested in its maintenance.

A prominent feature of the present museum is the
‘““mammoth whale’s jaw.”’ This jaw was taken from
a sperm whale, which made one hundred and ten bar-
rels of oil; it is seventeen feet in length, weighs eight
hundred pounds, and has forty-six teeth. The length

* The compiler respectfully suggests that perhaps the writer
of the above article is somewhat in error, as will be seen by re-
ferring to an account of the life of Hon. Wm. Mitchell on page
120 of this book. »

22 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

of the whale was eighty-seven feet, circumference
thirty-six feet, and it weighed about two hundred
tons. The whale was taken in the Pacific Ocean by
the bark ‘‘ Islander,’’? Capt. Wm. Cash of Nantucket,
in 1865. |

There are in the museum perfect models of the ships
used for the whale fishery; and in one (made by the
late Capt. John Gardner) can be seen the whole minu-
tive of ‘‘ cutting in and trying out’’ the whale. There
is a model of the ‘‘ camels’”’ (a species of dry docks),
that were used to float the ships over the bar at the
entrance of the harbor. There are many other inter-
esting relics and curiosities too numerous to mention
in a brief description.

The library at the present time contains 6,000 vol-
umes. The books are systematically classified and
arranged in a manner which makes them convenient
and accessible to visitors.

The historical department is large, also the bio- -

graphical, and there are many valuable works of
reference. The arts, sciences, and poetry are well
represented, and there is a good, selection of travels.
The department of fiction is large, but carefully se-
lected. The leading English and American periodi-
cals are always found on the tables.

Proprietors have the privilege of the library by pay-
ing two dollars a year, and non-proprietors ‘three dol-

lars. During the summer months, strangers can take —
books from the library by paying fifty cents a month,

and have free access to the library as a reading-room.
The institution has received bequests from William
Hadwen, Esq., Hon. David Joy, Hon. George B.

EE ee

AUCTIONS. aa

Upton, and Mrs. Priscilla Wyer. Mrs. David Joy
presented to the library a complete set of Audubon’s
‘¢Birds of America,’? with a handsome cabinet for
their preservation; a valuable donation and an orna-
ment to the room.

Miss Sarah F. Barnard, Librarian; Joseph 8. Swain,*
-Custodian of Museum.

AUCTIONS.

AUCTIONS are by no means peculiar to Nantucket;
yet it is probable that more auctions are held here,
and are better attended, than in any other place in the
Union. One would suppose that the merchants of
_ the town were in a state of perpetual bankruptcy, from
the number of red flags continually displayed.

There are customs connected. with these auctions
which are really peculiar to the island. To meet, after
an auction, ten or a dozen well-dressed men, each
bearing in his hand, on a sharp stick called a skewer,
and held straight out before him, a leg of mutton, a
huge round of beef or pork, or a chicken, is to the
eye of the uninitiated a novel sight.

The several meat markets have each week an auc-
tion of their surplus stock in front of their places of
business. The meats are arranged in lots upon long
_ tables, each lot being pierced by a ‘‘ skewer’’ to which
is attached a number. A few hours previous to an
auction, a crier is sent around the town to announce
it; he propels himself through the streets as if shot

* Mr. Swain is also the janitor of the building, and applica-
tions for renting the hall should be made to him.

24 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

from a cannon, stopping now and then to ring a bell,
and bawl in a stentorian voice that ‘‘ Ther’ll be a
meat ox at half — a — past ten o’clock in front of Bur-
gesses market. Corn beef! mut’n! ’n’ lam’! half—a
— past ten o’clock, meat ox! ”’

About ten minutes before the sale commences, a
crowd of men gather around the tables, and it is
always the same crowd, with their hands in their
pockets, and they gaze with longing eyes upon the
tempting (?) display. The auctioneer (or crier), seem-
ingly not satisfied with the crowd, or wishing to ex-
hibit himself to the admiring gaze of the people, takes.
a bell and struts back and forth in the middle of the
street, and rings so long and loudly that one wonders
if he is trying to dislocate his shoulder. After appar-
ently convincing himself of the strength of his arm,
the auctioneer mounts a chair or box and the sale com-
mences. (By the way,the Nantucketers seem to have
a mania for bell-ringing.) The bidding is sometimes
quite spirited, and men. frequently pay quite as much
as at private sale. There are regular frequenters of
these auctions, who seem to prefer to stand shivering
in the cold for half an hour rather than go inside the
market, where, for a few cents more, selections could
be made from the finest cuts. No person, if he has
anything at all to do, can afford to attend an auction.

BANKS. |

Pacific National Bank, Main Street. —Capital, $100,000; surplus
fund, $35,000; par value, $100; market value, $153. F. C. Sanford,
President ; T. W. Calder, Vice-President ; Wm. H. Chadwick, Cashier ;
A. G. Brock, Clerk.

Nantucket Institution for Savings. — Deposits, $364,000. Thomas &,
Folger, President; Stephen Bailey, Vice-President.

BAR, JETTY, AND HARBOR. 25

Bar, JETTY, AND HARBOR.

The bar proper (there being two, outer and inner)
is a narrow, sandy shoal which stretches for miles
across the entrance to the harbor, averaging about one
mile from itsmouth. It has been since the settlement
- of the island the greatest drawback to its prosperity.

Taking into consideration this serious obstruction to
navigation, the people of to-day look with amazement
at this town, which at one time contained over 9,000
inhabitants, and sent into every clime more than three
hundred sailing vessels.

The writer sincerely hopes that the time is not far
distant when this bar or shoal will be so far removed
or modified that vessels of large tonnage will not only
‘be able to unload at the wharves, but can in case of
sudden storm find a safe refuge and good anchorage.

It is a very singular fact that during the time of the
island’s greatest prosperity, when she was of such im-
portance as a commercial port, and hundreds of ships
were constantly arriving and departing loaded to the
water’s edge, involving the expenditure of thousands
upon thousands of dollars in the towing and the lighter-
ing of them, so little interest was taken in the town by
the general government. What they did undertake was
of little practical value, and resulted in no permanent
benefit to the place.

Frederick C. Sanford, Esq., has kindly furnished the
compiler with facts which are of great interest in this
connection. He says: —

** Karly in this century our people conceived the idea

26 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

of building a jetty or pier from Brant Point to the
outer bar, believing that by so doing this flat, sandy
obstruction could be removed, or at least a sufficient
depth of water gained for a ship channel. All of our
town meetings were predicated upon the project of
overcoming this obstacle that was so ) Subversive of all
commercial enterprises.

‘¢ In 1825, Thomas Folger, Esq. (the fa father of the new
Secretary of the Treasury), and others were appointed
by the town a committee to proceed to Washington
and solicit aid from Congress. The committee did not
succeed in getting an appropriation for a jetty or a
pier. That their efforts were not entirely fruitless,
however, is evinced by the fact that in 1826 Col. An-
derson surveyed the whole bay coast from Brant Point
to Great Point; and in 1827, under superintendence of
Col. Prescott, a dredging machine of great power was
sent here, and was in operation two or three years, dig-
ging a channel to the outer buoys, deepening the water,
and making the people happy fora time. So soon, how-
ever, as the autumn gales came, the channel filled up
again, and the project of digging out the bar was
abandoned.

‘‘ The attention of our people was then directed to the
opening of a channel at the east end of the island sim-
ilar to the Suez Canal; but it was found that this canal
or opening would necessitate the building of two stone
piers out into deep water, in order to prevent the north
and south tides from filling it up again. This would of
course be attended with an enormous outlay, and there
were grave doubts of its practicability.”’

The matter has since then been agitated from time

BAR, JETTY, AND HARBOR. 27
to time, and now, at this late day, when commerce has
entirely departed from our shores, the government
have at last commenced — what was almost the iden-
tical original plan —the building of a jetty ‘‘ from,”’
as Mr. Sanford says, ‘‘ just west of Brant Point, to
the bell-buoy, or into deep water ; and the work already
indicates that marvellous results will follow, although
too late for the people born in the last century.”’

The whole credit of this last movement on the part
of the general government belongs entirely to Mr.
John W. Rand ; he, in 1878, started a petition to which
he succeeded in getting the signatures of three hun-
dred persons, including the underwriters of New York,
Boston, and Philadelphia,* for an appropriation of
money to ‘‘improve Nantucket Harbor,” the peti-
tion having again in view the project of cutting
through the ‘‘ Haulover.” ‘Upon the presentation of
the petition to Congress, a survey was ordered, and
Gen. G. K. Warren was appointed to make the sur-
vey, which he did in 1879. His report, however, did
not favor the project of a canal through the Haul-
over ; but he recommended the construction of a jetty
or jetties, the first to be constructed near the harbor
entrance on the west side, and if necessary, a second
one from Coatue.

In reply to a communication asking for some facts
in relation to the harbor, bar, and jetty, Mr. Lawton,

* David Thain, Esq., of Philadelphia, G. H. Folger, Esq.,
and Capt. B. F. Brown, in Boston, and C. B. Swain, Esq., and
Capt. G. C. Allen, in New York, all took a deep interest in the
matter.

98 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the courteous superintendent of construction of jetty,
gives the following valuable information. Believing
that every line is of interest, his note is given entire:

Nantucket, Mass., Oct. 23, 1881.
Mr. E. K. GopFrey:

Sir, — Yours of the 20th inst. was handed me, and in reply
I willingly give you the following information in relation to
your inquiries ; —

The harbor of Nantucket should properly be considered as
the space included between Brant Point and Hussey’s Shoals
and the wharves. Of this space there is an area of about
one hundred acres of good anchorage, where the ruling depth
is from nine to eighteen feet at mean low water.

To reach this harbor it is necessary to cross the bar, where
the least depth is at»mean low water, in the principal channel,
six feet and four inches.

Once within the harbor it is as safe during a storm as any
along the coast, since it is almost wholly land-locked.

There is every reason to expect that this jetty or jetties (for
if one does not produce the required effect, there will be an-
other built) will increase the depth of water on the bar; and
when they are complete, and the result successful, they them-
selves will form a roadstead in which a vessel may safely out-
ride any ordinary storm.

It is very probable that when this harbor is used as a port of
refuge by many vessels, that a signal station will be established
here, and that will necessitate the laying of a cable. The lat-
ter operation, if properly managed, can be successfully per-

formed.
Very respectfully,

Wm. H. Lawton, JR.

Nantucket may never again become a commercial
port, but she can be made a refuge in a storm, and

BASE-BALL. — BATHING FACILITIES. 29

with the jetty finished, a cable laid to the main, and a
signal station established here, thousands of dollars
can be saved, and perhaps many lives, every year.

BASE-BALL.

The ‘‘ National Game” has but few patrons upon
the island. Some little interest is usually awakened
during the summer months, while there is.a large
influx of visitors here, and matches between town and
’Sconset or town and strangers are of quite fre-
quent occurrence. There is no regularly organized
club in the town. Most of the games played here last
season (1881) were at Surfside, where there is a good
field and plenty of room. Those interested in the
game are referred to E. K. Godfrey, of the Tourists’
Agency.

BATHING FACILITIES.

The bathing facilities of the island are good, and
include both still water and surf bathing. Good surf-
bathing can be found only at ’Sconset and Wauwinet,
each of which localities is about seven and one half
miles from town. There is a bath-house at the ‘‘ Clean
Shore,’’ which is reached by a road branching from
Steamboat Wharf. If desired, one can get here at all
times a warm salt-water bath, which for certain dis-
eases is considered very beneticial. The price charged
for a warm salt-water bath is twenty-five cents, and
for an ordinary sea-bath twenty cents, which includes
the use of a room and a bathing suit. There are also

two bathing establishments at the Cliff; the prices
for bathing being the same as at the Clean Shore.

30 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

These latter establishments are reached by boat or
carriage. The price for passage by either conveyance
each way is ten cents. The regular ferry-boat for
Cliff bath-houses leaves Perry’s Wharf hourly in the
morning, commencing at nine o’clock and returning
on the half-hour. The regular carriage for the Cliff
leaves the Bay View House hourly during the morn-
ing, proceeding through Orange, Centre, North Water,
and North Streets to bath-houses, passing on the
way all the hotels and many of the larger boarding-
houses. After one gets to ’Sconset or Wauwinet, the
surf bathing can be enjoyed ‘‘ without money and
without price,’”’ there being no bath-houses, and every
one goes in and out of the surf as he or she pleases,
due regard, however, being shown to proper dressing.
Every precaution is taken at ’Sconset to guard against
accidents, there being always an experienced person
on the beach to assist any who may need help.

BILLIARDS.

This ((o many persons) fascinating game has but
few devotees on the island. In the summer season,
of course, many come here who love the game, and
they can find at the Ocean House and Springfield
House several good tables. There is also on Water
Street a billiard saloon, to which is attached a bowling
alley. | :
| BoOARDING-HOUSEs.

To those who prefer the quict of a boarding-house
or private family the town affords ample accommoda-
tion. There are numerous large boarding-houses, and

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 31

a number of private families take a few boarders in
the summer season. As a general thing there are
nothing but words of commendation uttered in regard
to these boarding places. They are cleanly, good,
healthful food is served, and attention is paid to the
individual wants of the boarders. The prices for
board vary from six to twelve dollars a week for an
adult. The following is a list of the boarding-houses
and private families that are worthy of patronage: —
David Bunker, Gay Street; George Chadwick, Vestal
Street; Charles Dunham, Union Street; Mrs. Avis M.
Enas, Union Street; George G. Fish, Broad Street;
Peter Folger, Centre Street; Wm. C. Folger, Fair
Street; Timothy H. Fisher, Union Street; Mrs. Lydia
C. Holway, Broad Street; Mrs. Elizabeth A. Hussey,
Centre Street; Mrs. Laura A. Hinckley, Fair Street;
Charles Luce, Orange Street; Charles L. Swain, Dar-
ling Street; Thomas G. Nickerson, North Street; Judah
Nickerson, Union Street; Mrs. Caroline Swain, Sum-
mer Street; William T. Swain, Broad Street; Charles
E. Smalley, Orange Street; Mrs. Throckmorton, Centre
Street; Mrs. Temple, Pearl Street; Mrs. E. A. Waitt,
Pearl Street; Robert B. Coffin, Siasconset; Oliver Fol- .
ger, Siasconset.

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY.

The compiler of this work, being very desirous of
securing the most accurate and authentic information
that was to be obtained in relation to the botany, con-
chology, and geology of the island of Nantucket, ad-

3 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

dressed notes to Mrs. Anne Mitchell Macy * and Mrs.
Maria L. Owen, soliciting their assistance in the mat-
ter, the graceful responses to which will be found in the
following scholarly and valuable contributions, which |
are hereby gratefully acknowledged.

The Botany, Conchology, and Geology of Nantucket.
By Anne Mitchell Macy.

When the island of Nantucket was at its best estate,
not only commercially considered but in an educa-
tional point of view, it had its own scientists, including
iis geologist, its conchologist, its botanist. Each of
these had, in connection with extensive foreign collec-
tions, departments respectively devoted to the treas-
ures found on the island itself.

The great fire of 1846 swept away these valuable cabi-
nets. Thescientific men have one by one passed away;
and the present encyclopedias , though duly considering
its tides, its harbors, indeed all of.the maritime rela-
tions, describe the island itself as a mere sandy plain,
Even an unskilled, untrained eye will perceive at once
the fallacy of the statement, as he sees in the place of
this ‘‘ mere plain ”’ a beautifully undulating surface.

As regards iis geology, there is no better authority
than one of its own sons, who speakes of it in his
‘‘ Reports of the Coast Survey? as a heap of glacial
drift. Yet a little more than half-way down the high-
est cliff at Sancoty is found an ante-glacial deposit of

- * Widow of the late Hon. Alfred Macy, and sister to Prof.
Maria Mitchell (see page 118).

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 33

marine shells, and this same feature has been met with
in digging wells in various parts of the island far from
this ridge.* | |

It is thought that here may be a shell levee, similar
to that found at the Bahamas. If so, the relations of
the slopes would indicate just where the ocean was in
these ante-glacial ages.

The projections called Great Point, Coatue, and a
part of Smith’s Point are, according to the same
authority, modern formations, composed of materials
torn from the island proper. It was probably before
the island had these two points of shelter — viz., Great
Point and Coatue — that the bluff was formed which
runs through the town separating Orange Street from
that part known as “‘ Under the Bank” or Union
Street, which ridge extends to the North Shore. This
bluff, now covered with grass and habitations, so as to
be hidden somewhat from view, was once a mere
headland.

Coskata, another drift mound, is separated from the
island by the Haulover, the latter dividing the upper
harbor from the ocean, —a portage for fishing boats,

* In a letter written by Zaccheus Macy to the Massachusetts
Historical Society, dated at Nantucket, ‘‘ y* 24 y® 10mo., 1792,”
will be found these words: ‘‘ And I have sent them a shell

taken out of my wellthirty-nine feet below the face of the earth,

and I have taken many sorts of shells out of wells near forty
feet down. And one time when the old men were digging a well
at a stage called Siasconset, it is said they found a whale’s bone
near thirty feet below the face of the earth, which things are
past our accounting for.”

84 | THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

—as the name signifies. This IJaulover does not dif-
fer in form from time to time, neither in size; the shape
and area being the same known to Des Barres in 1776,
to William Mitchell in 1838, and to more recent sur-
veyors. | |

Upon the shores of Nantucket which are washed by
the tides, though the rise and fall is not as great as one
would imagine who is not acquainted with the currents,
are found among the usual varieties of sands many
beautiful pebbles, and occasionally a precious stone.
Some of the amethysts picked up at Maddequet have
been of great value, and have been thought worthy of
fine settings as jewelry.

From the sands of the shore we pass on 1o the

Conchology.

Though the many shells which fill the museums and
adorn the residences of our town are brought from dis-
tant coasts, frequently from tropical shores, yet Nan-
tucket has a conchologia of its own. Besides the
‘‘nilgrim’’ shells, so numerous that we almost over-
look their beauty, the ‘‘ money ”’ shells, the ‘‘ cradle”
shell, the ‘‘ razor ’’ shell, the many varieties of conch
and mussels so conspicuous upon our beaches, there
are many others so minute that only a careful observer
can distinguish them from the grains of sand, while
the dredge frequently reveals to the student those
which can only be seen by a powerful microscope.

Among the sea-urchins and the divers kinds of star-
fish, rare specimens have been found which have been
duly noticed by Agassiz in his reports. In regular
gradation from the sea-urchin and the star-fish we

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 35

come to those most beautiful phenomena of our shores,
the physalize, which in their more minute form cause
the beautiful phosphorescence on the waters. Indi-
vidual specimens, large and highly colored, are some-
times found upon our western beaches. Though these
“< Portugese men-of-war ”’ seldom visit our latitudes in
their full beauty, — driven here as they are after a
storm, consequently much torn and dilapidated, — yet
one of the finest specimens known to the American
coast was found at Nantucket in a perfect state a few
years ago. The whole shore being strewn with others
more or less imperfect, gave the beach the appearance
of a rainbow; their surfaces, as every one knows, hav-
ing the capacity of polarizing the light.

As these zoophytes are a connecting link between
the shells of the sea and plants, aquatic and others,
we cannot pass on to the latter without a few words
upon the sea-weeds. In no part of the Northern
United States are the hues of the ulva found so bright
and so varied as upon our own shores. While we have
the plumula, the corallina, and many other genera of
alge in their usual beauty, the species of the ulva,
especially the olive, have a much deeper tint. Some

-thirty years ago an entirely new species of the ecto-
- carpus was discovered. on the north beach of this
island, of which a very good illustration (colored) is
to be found in some one of the earlier reports of the
Smithsonian Institute.

Leaving the sea-weeds without further comment, we
come to that branch of natural science which interests
the old and young, the student and the florist; viz., the

36 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Botany

of Nantucket. Some years ago, when the sheep were
allowed to roam at Jarge over our commons and nibble
the first appearance of verdure, the botanist and the
florist were busy in their researches; for it was only by
diligent seeking that any results were obtained. Nev-
ertheless, the herbarium was elaborate; perhaps the
more so on account of the labor requisite in order to
find perfect specimens of any flowering plant. The
mosses, lichens, and ferns were even then sufficiently
beautiful to compensate the student for his patient
working. At that time, for instance, one feeble speci-
men of the blossom of the Hudsonia tomentosa could
be found in perfection, where now, freed from the
sheep, the whole surface of the island is covered with
this heath-like plant in its season, its yellow flowers to
be had for the glancing. Even the varieties of the
golden-rod, the yellow as well as the white, which fur-
nish the rich covering to our commons at times, were
not a familiar feature, though known and specified by
the scientists of the island. The carpet-grass and the
orange-grass with its fragrance, now greeting us at
every turn, were eagerly sought for at that period.
Few flowers are found to-day which were unknown to
the botanist of Nantucket some thirty years ago as
indigenous to our soil; yet the mere florist of the pres-
ent can supply his parlors with bouquets of those wild

flowers whose rare specimens were treasured in the —
herbarium, and seen in no other connection. The
mealplum vine, found in few parts of New England
(ursa bacca), with its glossy leaves and scarlet berries,

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 37

gives a true richness to the commons of Nantucket,
changing their aspect from the barren plains of a half-
century ago to a verdure whose beauty cannot be sur-
passed.

In most parts of the Northern United States we can
gather the violet, the houstonia, the cinquefoil, the
stellaria, etc., at random, in their season ; but it is a
very rare thing to find so broad an expanse of unen-
closed space covered entirely with their exquisite
shades, as is sometimes the case at Nantucket. These,
passing away, are quickly followed by others in turn ;
so that the whole island, from May to October, is as a
garden in full bloom This is the general appearance
that meets the stranger's eye. With a little more
scrutiny he will find the gerardia, the arethusa, the
cymbidium, the sabbalia, and a host of others too nu-
merous to be mentioned, ranging in size from the wild
azalea to the scarlet pimpernel.

A short time after the laws were passed by which
sheep were no longer allowed the scope of the undi-
vided lands, followed the introduction of the pine-
trees. Whether by their shelter, whether by the new
properties that the roots of these trees may have en-
gendered in the soil, whether by other seeds accident-
ally mingled and sown with their own, or whether

from some unknown causes it is that varieties of

plants new to our island have appeared in the near
neighborhood of these pines, remains to be discov-
ered. Certain it is, that now and then a species which
may be quite common to other parts of Massachusetts,
and quite familiar to our florists of the present day,
is not recorded by our earlier botanists as native to the
island,

838 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Our whole flora is increasing in its loveliness, and
promises to be ‘‘ a joy forever.”

In presenting Mrs. Owen’s list of the flora of Nan-
tucket, the compiler begs to say that he deems himself ©
more than fortunate in being able to secure it in ad-
vance of her own book, and he sincerely trusts that
every assistance will be rendered her by all who make
this beautiful exhibition of God’s handiwork a study.
Mrs. Owen says: —

“At Mr. Godfrey’s request, I have with much
pleasure prepared the following catalogue. It is far
from complete, being based upon collections made over
thirty years ago, when I had made no study of the
grasses and sedges, and when I had no thought of
publishing. Still, in this imperfect form it will be of
use to botanists, and the number of plants rare in
New England which it contains, shows what pleasing
discoveries are probably still to be made by exhaustive
explorations.

‘‘T hope to bring out, as soon as I have sufficient
material, a more complete list to be published by itself,
with such notes on the rarer plants as may be of lake

st. For this I ask the co-operation of all botanists,

resident or visiting on the island, and I shall be ex-
tremely obliged for names and localities of additional
species. To make the list more serviceable and au-
thentic, it is desirable to have specimens of the new
discoveries, for preservation in an herbarium of the
island plants, which, if formed, will be freely accessible
to botanists.

‘¢ Information is particularly desired about Andro-

BOTANY,, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 39

meda Mariana, Habenaria ciliaris, and the Tillea, Cal-
luna, Erica, Onosmodium, Mertensia, Ceratophyllum,
Cypripedium, and Chara of the catalogue. Some of
these are represented so far by one single plant; and
of others reported by older botanists, no one now liv-
ing knows the locality. ,

‘¢T am under obligations to several friends for help
in this work, and must mention especially that I owe
the list of alge to Mr. F. S. Collins, who drew it up
from specimens principally collected by himself and
Mr. L. L. Dame of Medford.

** The few miscellaneous cryptogams with which the
list closes appeal to friendly specialists for re-enforce-
ments ; without such aid they will have to go into the
next edition as lonely as they are now.

‘“MARIA L. OWEN.”

[Communications may be sent to Mrs. Maria L.
Owen, Springfield, Mass. ]

Catalogue of Plants growing without Cultivation on the
Island of Nantucket.

' Anemone Sarracenia

» nemorosa, L. purpurea, L.
Ranunculus Chelidonium.
Cymbalaria, Pursh. majus, L.
repens, L. ‘ P
- bulbosus, L. Sisymbrium
-acris, L. officinale, Scop.
Coptis Brassica
trifolia, Salisb. nigra, Gray.
Brasenia Draba
peltata, Pursh. verna, L.
Nymphea Capsella
odorata, Ait. bursa-pastoris, Monch.
Nuphar Lepidium

advena, Ait. Virginicum, L.

40 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

-

Cakile
Americana, Nutt.

Raphanus
Raphanistrum, L.

Viola
lanceolata, L.
blanda, Willd.
cucullata, Ait.
sagittata, Ait.
pedata, L.

Helianthemum
Canadense, Mx.

Lechea
major, Mx.
thymifolia, Gray.
Novee-Cesaree, Austin.
Hudsonia
ericoides, L.
tomentosa, Nutt. .

Drosera
rotundifolia, L.

longifolia, L. ieee

filiformis, Raf.

Ascyrum
Crux-Andree, L.

Hypericum —
adpressum, Barton.
Canadense, L.
corymbosum, Muhl.
mutilum, L.
perforatum, L,
Sarothra, Mx.

Elodes
Virginica, Nutt.

Elatine
Americana, Arnott.

Saponaria
officinalis, L.

Silene
inflata, Smith.

Lychnis
Githago, Lam.

Arenaria
serpyllifolia, L.
lateriflora, L.—
peploides, L.

Stellaria
media, Smith.

Cerastium
vulgatum, L.
arvense, L.

Sagina
procumbens, L.
Spergularia
rubra, Presl., var. campestris,
Gray.
media, Presl.
Spergula
arvensis, L.
Scleranthus
annuus, L.

Mollugo
verticillata, L.

Portulaca .
oleracea, L.

Malva
rotundifolia, L.

Hibiscus
Moscheutos, L.

Linum
Virginianum, L.
suleatum, Riddell.

Geranium
maculatum, IL,
Robertianum, L.

- Krodium

cicutarium, L’Her,
Impatiens

pallida, Nutt.

fulva, Nutt.

Oxalis
stricta, L.

Rhus .
copallina, L.
venenata, DC.
Toxicodendron, L.

Vitis
Labrusca, L.

Ampelopsis
quinquefolia, Mx.

Acer
rubrum, L.

Polygala :
cruciata, L.
polygama, Walt,
sanguinea, L

Trifolium
arvense, L.
pratense, L.
repens, L.
agrarium, L.
procumbens, L,

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 4]

Melilotus Amelanchier

alba, Lam. Canadensis, Torr. and Gray.
. Ribes |
Tephrosia :
Virginiana, Pers. hirtellum, Mx.
Tillza
Lespedeza simplex, Nutt.
procumbens, Mx. Pee te
violacea, Pers. penn
-capitata, Mx. aerate,
ee Hamamelis
Vicia Virginica, L.
sativa, L. Myriophyllum
Lathyrus ° ambiguum, Nutt.
maritimus, Big. tenellum, Big.
_ palustris, L. Proserpinaca
Apios -. palustris, L.
tuberosa, Mcench. Circza ‘
Amphicarpzea Lutetiana, L.
monoica, Nutt. Epilobium
ae hirsutum, L.
ps eee Por. palustre, L., var. lineare, Gray.
y F coloratum, Muhl.
Cassia
Chamecrista, L. (Enothera
nictitans, L. biennis, L.
Prunus Ludwigia
maritima, Wang. palustris, Ell.
Spireea Rhexia
salicifolia, L. Virginica, L.
tomentosa, L. Lythrum
Agrimonia Salicaria, L.
Eupatoria, L. Neszxa
Geum verticillata, H. B. K.
Virginianum, L. Opuntia
Potentillia vulgaris, Mill.
Norvegica, L. Rafinesquii, Engelm.
Canadensis, L. Sicyos
and var. simplex, T. and Gray. angulatus, L.
argentea, L. ‘ ;
Anserina, L. Echinocystis
F ; lobata, Torr. and Gray.
ragaria
Virginiana, Ebrh. Hydrocotyle
vesca, L. umbellata, L.
~ Rubus Daucus
villosus, Ait. Carota, L.
Canadensis, L. Heracleum
hispidus, L. lanatum, Mx.
Rosa Ligusticum
Carolina, L. Scoticum, L.
Cratzgus Discopleura
Crus-galli, L. capillacea, DC.
rus Sium
arbutifolia, L. lineare, Mx,

42 THE ISLAND

Aralia
nudicaulis, L.
Cornus
Canadensis, L
Linnza
borealis, Gronoy.
Sambucus
Canadensis, L.
Viburnum
dentatum, L.
Galium
trifidum, L.
triflorum, Mx.
pilosum, Ait.
circeezans, Mx.
Cephalanthus
occidentalis, L.
Mitchella
repens, L.

Houstonia

purpurea, L., var. longifolia, Gray.

cerulea, L.

Liatris
scariosa, Willd.

Eupatorium
perfoliatum, L.
teucrifolium, Willd.

*

Sericocarpus
solidagineus, Nees.
conyzoides, Nees.

Aster
concolor, L.
dumosus, L.
levis, L., var. cyaneus, Gray.
patens, Ait.
spectabilis, Ait.
linifolius, L.

Erigeron
Canadense, L.
strigosum, Muhbl.

Solidago
altissima, L.
Canadensis, L.
cesia, L
lanceolata, L.
linoides, Soland.
nemoralis, Ait.
odora, Ait.
sempervirens, L.
serotina, Ait.
tenuifolia, Pursh.

OF NANTUCKET. |

Diplopappus
linariifolius, Hook.
umbellatus, Torr. and Gray.
Chrysopsis
faleata, Ell.
Baccharis
halimifolia, L.
Pluchea .
camphorata, DC.
Iva
frutescens, L.
Ambrosia
artemisizfolia, L.

Rudbeckia
hirta, L.

Helianthus
divaricatus, L.

Bidens
connata, Mubl.
chrysanthemoides, Mx.

Maruta
Cotula, DC.

Achillea
Millefolium, L.

Leucanthemum
vulgare, Lam,

Tanacetum
vulgare, L.
Artemisia
caudata, Mx.
vulgaris, L.
Gnaphalium
polycephalum, Mx.
uliginosum, L,
purpureum, L.

Antennaria
margaritacea, R. Br.
plantaginifolia, Hook.

Erechthites
hieracifolia, Raf,

Senecio
vulgaris, L.

Cirsium
clanceolatum, Scop.
discolor, Spreng.

umilum, Spreng.
orridulum, Mx.
arvense, Scop.

——
oflicinalis, Allioni,

&

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 43

Cichorium
Intybus, L.
Krigia
Virginica, Willd.
Leontodon
- autumnale, L.
Hieracium
Gronovii, L.
venosum, L.
Nabalus
albus, Hook.
Taraxacum
Dens-leonis, Desf.
Soncbus
oleraceus, L.
Lobelia
cardinalis, L.
inflata, L
Specularia
perfoliata, A. DC.

Gaylussacia

resinosa, Torr. and Gray.

Vaccinium
corymbosum, L.
var. atrococcum, Gray.
macrocarpon, Ait.
Oxycoccus, L.

Arctostaphylos
Uva-ursi, Spreng.

Epigea
repens, L.

Gaultheria
procumbens, L.

Cassandra
calyculata, Don.

Andromeda
Mariana, L.
ligustrina, Muhl.

-Clethra

alnifolia, L.

Calluna
vulgaris, Salisb.
Erica
cinerea, L.
Kalmia
angustifolia, L.
Azalea
viscosa, L.
Pyrola
rotundifolia, L.
chlorantha, Sw.

Chimaphila
umbellata, Nutt.
maculata, Pursh.

Monotropa
uniflora, L.

Ilex
opaca, Ait.
verticillata, Gray.
glabra, Gray.

' Plantago

major, L.
maritima, L., var. juncoides,
Gray.

lanceolata, L.
Statice

Limonium, L.

var. Caroliniana, Gr,
Trientalis

Americana, Pursh.
Lysimachia

stricta, Ait.

quadrifolia, L.

Glaux
maritima, L.

Anagallis
arvensis, L.

Samolus
Valerandi, L.
var. Americanus, Gray.

Utricularia
vulgaris, L.
clandestina, Nutt.
subulata, L.
and var. cleistogama, Gr.

Verbascum
Thapsus, L.
Blattaria, L.
Linaria
Canadensis, Spreng.
vulgaris, Miller.
Gratiola
aurea, Muhl.

Ilysanthes
gratioloides, Benth.

Limosella [Hoffm.
aquatica, .L., var. tenuifolia,

Veronica
arvensis, L.

Gerardia
purpurea, L.
maritima, Raf,

44 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Pedicularis
Canadensis, L.

Verbena
hastata, L.
Teucrium.
_ Canadense, L.
Trichostema
dichotomum, IL.
Mentha
viridis, L.
Lycopus
Virginicus, L.

Europeus, L.,Var.sinuatus, Gray.

Pycnanthemum
incanum, Mx.
muticum, Pers.

Hedeoma

pulegioides, Pers.

Nepeta
Cataria, L.

Glechoma, Benth.

Brunella
vulgaris, L.
Scutellaria
galericulata, L.
lateriflora, L.
Galeopsis
Tetrahit, L.
Ladanum, L.
Stachys
hyssopifolia, Mx.
Leonurus
Cardiaca, L.
Lamium °
-amplexicaule, L.

Onosmodium

Virginianum, DC.

Mertensia
maritima, Don.
Calystegia
sepium, R. Br.
Cuscuta
Gronovii, Willd.
Solanum
Dulcamara, L.
nigrum, L.
Datura
Stramonium, L.

Sabbatia
stellaris, Pursh.

Erythreza

spicata, Pers.
Bartonia

tenella, Muhl.
Menyanthes

‘trifoliata, L.
Limnanthemum

lacunosum, Griseb.
Apocynum

cannabinum, L.

androsemifolium, L.

Asclepias
Cornuti, Decaisne.
incarnata, L.
obtusifolia, Mx.
tuberosa, L.

Phytolacca
decandra, L.

Chenopodium
album, L.
Botrys, L.
ambrosioides, L.

Atriplex

_ patula, L.
arenaria, Nutt.

Salicornia
herbacea, I.
Virginica, L,
fruticosa, L., var. ambigua, Gr.

Suzeda
maritima, Dumort. .

Salsola
Kali, L.

Amarantus
retroflexus, L.
pumilus, Raf.

Polygonum
acre, H. B. K.
amphibium, L.
articulatum, L.
aviculare, L.
Convolvulus, L.
dumetorum, L., var. scandens,

.

T.
hydropiperoipes, Mx.
incarnatum, Ell.
maritimum. L.
Persicaria, L.
sagittatum, L.

Fagopyrum
esculentum, Moench.

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 45

Rumex
salicifolius, Weinm.
obtusifolius, L.
maritimus, L.
Acetosella, L.

Sassafras
officinale, Nees.

Comandra
umbellata, Nutt.

Ceratophyllum
demersum, L.

Callitriche
verna, L.

Euphorbia
maculata, L.
polygonifolia, L.

Corema
Conradii, Torr.

Urtica
urens, L. .

Behmeria
cylindrica, Willd.
Parietaria,
Pennsylvanica, Muhl.

Quercus
ilicifolia, Wang.
nigra, L
Myrica
cerifera, L.
Comptonia
asplenifolia, Ait.
Juniperus
-Virginiana, L.
Ariszema
triphyllum, Torr.
Acorus
Calamus, L.

Lemna
trisulca, L.
minor, L.

Typha
latifolia, L.

Sparganium

curycarpum, Engelm.

simplex, Huds.
Zostera

marina, L.
Ruppia

maritima, L.

Potamoygeto.
natans, L
pectinatus, L.
perfoliatus, L.

Triglochin
maritimum, L.

Alisma
Plantago, L., var. Americanum,
Gr.
Sagittaria
variabilis, Engelm.
Habenaria
blephariglottis, Hook,
ciliaris, R. Br.
lacera, R. Br.
tridentata, Hook.

Spiranthes
cernua, Richard.
gracilis, Big.
simplex, Gray.
Arethusa
bulbosa, L.
Pogonia
ophioglossoides, Nutt.
Calopogon
pulchellus, R. Br.
Cypripedium
pubescens, Willd.
Hypoxys
erecta, L.
Aletris
farinosa, L.
Tris
versicolor, L.
Virginica, L.

Sisyrinchium
Bermudiana, L.

Smilax
rotundifolia, L.
herbacea, L.

Medeola
Virginica, L.

Uvularia
sessilifolia, L.

Smilacina
stellata, Desf.
bifolia, Ker.

Polygonatum
biflorum, Ell.

oy ™y
ae
-

46 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. -
Lilium : Anthoxanthum
] aang ia L. odoratum, L.
Sines: Phalaris
J _— aay Canariensis, L. ‘
pelocarpus, eyer.
tenuis, Willd. mr etags2
rus-galli, L., var. hispidum.
Pontederia proliferum, Lam.
cordata, L. sanguinale, L.
Xyris virgatum, L. —
Rice, Muhl. Andropogon
Eriocaulon Virginicus, L.
septangulare, With. Wx
Cyperus —_—
dentatus, Torr. sic L
diandrus, Torr. het. be ernie
filiculmis, Vahl. Woodwardia —
strigosus, L. _ Virginica, Smith.
Dalichiam angustifolia, Smith.
spathaceum, Pers. Asplenium
Eliocharis Filix-feemina, Bernh.
acicularis, R. Br. Aspidium
pygmea, Torr. Thelypteris, Swz.
Selrnus Noveboracense, Swz.
acl se L spinulosum, Swz., var. inter-
ungens, Wahl. medium, Eaton.
airevl, Olney cristatum, Swz.
Eriophorum Onoclea
Virginicum, L. sensibilis, L.
Rhynchospora Osmunda
alba, Vahl. ora L. :
Cladium , aytoniana, lu.
mariscoides, Torr. eet ainsi: |
Calamagrostis Botrychium .
arenaria, Roth. ternatum, Swz.,var. obliquum,
Aristida Milde.
é a ipa Poir. Coan Manabe.
a
polystachya, Willd., Mubl. Ly copodium
juncea, Willd. inundatum, L.
Dactylis complanatum, L.
glomerata, L. ‘th vinta ;
Bromus
racemosus, L. Clathrocystis
Pivascats roseo-persicina, Cong
- star ; Lyngbya
communis, Trin. / lt YT he
Triticum zestuarii, Liebm.
repens, L. Calothrix
ten confervicola, Ag.
caryopayllea, L. Ulva
Holcus lactuca, L.

lanatus, L, enteromorpha, LeJolis,

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 47

Cladophora

gracilis, Kuetz.

Rudolphiana, Kuetz.
Bryopsis

plumosa, Ag.
Phyliitis
- fascia, Kuetz.
Desmarestia

acuieata, Lmx.

Scytosiphon
lomentarius, Ag.

Ectocarpus
confervoides, LeJolis.
and var. siliculosus, Kjellm.
Mitchell, Harv.

Sphacelaria
cirrhosa, Ag.
Myriactis
pulvinata,
Farlow.

Mesogloia
divaricata, Kuetz.

Chorda
filum, L.

Ascophyllum
nodosum, LeJolis.

Kuetz, var. minor,

Fucus
vesiculosus, L.

Sargassum
vulgare, Ag.
and var. Montagnei, Bailey.

Trentepohlia
virgatula, Harv.

Porphyra
laciniata, Ag.

Spermothamnion
Turneri, Aresch.

Callithamnion
cruciatum, Ag.
Borreri, Ag.
tetragonum, Ag,
Baileyi, Harv.
byssoideum, Arm.
corymbosum, Lyng.
seirospermum, Griff.

Callithamnion (?)
tenue, Hurv.

Griffithsia
Bornetiana, Farlow.

Ceramium
rubrum, Ag.
strictum, Harv.
fastigiatum, Harv.
tenuissinum, Ag.
Spyridia
filamentosa, Harv.
Cystoclonium
purpurascens, Kuetz.

Chondrus
crispus, Stack.

Rhodymenia
palmata, Grev.

Champia
parvula, Harv.

Hypnea
musciformis, Lm*x.

Rhabdonia
tenera, Ag.

Grinnellia
Americana, Harv.
Chondriopsis
tenuissima, Ag.
and var. Baileyana, Farlow.
dasyphila, Ag.
Polysiphonia
urceolata, Grev.
and var. formosa, Harv.
Olneyi, Harv.
Harveyi, Bailey.
variegata, Ag
nigrescens, Grev.
Dasya
elegans, Ag.
Corallina
officinalis, L.

Melobesia
farinosa, Lmx.

4

OTHER CRYPTOGAMS.
Nitella
flexilis, var. subcapitata,
Chara
crinita, forma leptosperma.

Sphagnum '
squarrosum, W. and M.
cuspidatum, Ehrh.

Dichelyma
capillaceum, Myrin.

Anthoceros
punctatus, L.

48 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. .

It affords the compiler much pleasure to be able to
here insert, with the permission of its talented author,
— hey. Dr. I. C. Ewer, of New York, — the following
article, which appeared in the Nantucket Inquirer and
Mirror, Dec. 24, 1881: — |

An Essay towards accounting for the Formation of
Nantucket.

The writer of this essay does not pretend to any
originality other than the little that may be involved
in applying to Nantucket the results of the most re-

cent scientific observations and conclusions, in order

to account for the origin of the island. Asa boy he
often Wondered, as he stood on Saul’s Hills or San-
coty, or watched the sunset from the Cliff, where Nan-
tucket came from, and how it happened that it stood
there surrounded by the sea; and as a man he has not
lost interest in these questions.

There was a time when, in all probability, Nan-
tucket was not an island at all, and when Saul’s and

Trot’s Hills were almost mountains; when, at any rate,

their summits stood some seven hundred feet above
the level of the sea. At that time the breakers rolled
on a shore fully sixty or seventy miles to the south.
Paradoxical as it may seem, we must look for the
cause of Nantucket afar north, and in the’ western
part of Labrador. The fragments of stone and other
materials that enter into the composition of the body
of the island, exclusive of the shores and _ points,
doubtless came from a very much nearer locality. If
one draws a line on the map from Maddequet to the

‘

|

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. | AQ

city of Worcester, and another line from Sancoty to
Loston, letting the former line terminate at Worcester
and the latter at Boston, he will not be very far out of
the way in concluding that the materials making up
the body of our island came from somewhere between
those lines, nearer or farther. It would be an exceed-
ingly interesting investigation if some one— say the
principal of the Iligh School or of the Coffin School,
or at any rate some one geologically inclined — would
put a few specimens of small bowlders, gathered from
different parts of the island, into his satchel some vaca-
tion, and compare them with ledges in Bristol and
Plymouth Counties, with a view to seeing whence the
ragged material was probably torn. Bowlders in the
eastern part of Long Island have been traced to ledges
in Connecticut, and bowlders in Brooklyn have been
distinctly traced to the Palisades of the Hudson.
Usually the transportation of drift stuff in New Eng-
land was not over a distance of ten or fifteen miles;
and it is possible that the matrix out of which the
Nantucket material came lies to-day sunken at the
north of the island, in Nantucket Sound. But as * till,”
or drift stuff, is known to have been carried in New
England nearly a hundred miles, it is possible that
Nantucket may have come from what is now Bristol or
_ Plymouth County, or from as far north even as Nor-
folk County.

But first, as to the ae when that which is
called Rahticxet came into existence. It is known by
the merest school-boy to-day, that there have been
in the history of this globe three great geological eras,
called the primary, the secondary, and the tertiary; and

50 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

that each of these eras covered an enormous period of
time, each period counted perhaps by millions of
years. During all this vast portion of the past, Nan-
tucket was not in existence. The measureless ages of
the tertiary period rolled on and came to an end, and
still there was*no Nantucket. So that the island
which holds the graves of our ancestors is geologi-
cally of recent formation.

Subsequently to the tertiary period, came the era
of what is called the drift, or the glacial period.
At this time our continent was covered with ex-
panses of ice, vast in thickness, enormous in extent,
and spreading from the north as far south as a line
running through New Jersey, Maryland, West Vir-
ginia, and Southern Ohio. At that period the south-
ern coast of New England did not lie where it is now,
but very far to the south. The Hudson River contin-
ued southerly, between its banks, for some eighty
miles below where its present mouth is. The Housa-
tonic was at that time not an independent river, but a
mere branch of the Hudson, flowing into it through
what is now the channel of the East River. And the
Connecticut emptied into the sea some seventy miles
south of its present mouth at Saybrook. The submer-
gence of all this vast extent of land, which once lay
at the south of Long and Block Islands, Martha’s
Vineyard, and Nantucket, must have been compara-
tively recent, and long after Nantucket was formed. It
was upon this extensive tract of land, then above the
level of the sea, that what has since become the line
of islands from Nantucket at the east to Staten
Island at the west was deposited ; at first as mere

‘
4

.
a

‘BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. 51

mounds or moraines, composed of material ground up
_ and borne down by the glaciers from a northwesterly
direction. Thus during the glacial or drift epoch, the
whole region of Southern New England was elevated
at least six hundred feet above its present height, and
this uptilting of the eastern part of our contment pushed
the Atlantic back some seventy miles south of where it
is now, entirely out of sight from Quanaty. And thus
Nantucket stood high and dry as one of a series of
hills, rather than islands, surrounded by the lower
lands of what are now the bottom of the sounds at the
north, and the St. George’s Banks at the east and
south. Then, when subsequent to the deposit of the
Nantucket heap of drift stuff, the continent, on which
as a heap it stood, sank, the sea gradually advanced
till it beat at last as far north as Surfside and ’Sconset,
and poured round into the sounds, leaving Nantucket
and the Vineyard standing out as islands at last, and
giving at the same time also their insular state to
Block, Long, and Staten Islands.
So much for the geologic period when Nantucket
was formed: first asa high and dry mound, standing
seventy miles north of the southern coast of New
England, and subsequently, by the sinking of the land
on which it stood, as an island. The period was be-
_ tween theend of the tertiary era and the present time,
at and after the epoch known as the drift or glacial.
Next we may, in the light of the most recent con-
clusions in science, briefly glance at the causes which
led to the formation of the spot where we were born.
In all probability the home from which the vast
glaciers started, that covered so much of our continent

52 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

in the drift era, was the western part of Labrador. \

From that spot as a centre the ice went forth, slowly
moving, as is the habit of all glaciers, and radiating
towards the north and east, but mainly towards the
southwest, across Canada, New York, Ohio, Iowa, and
Minnesota. In the eastern part of New York, the
course of the ice as it slowly moved was south; and in
New England, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, its
course became southeast. The greatest distance to
which bowlders were transported by the ice was
along the southwesterly course, remains having been
found as much as twelve hundred miles from where
they originally lay. The thickness of the ice in the
New England glaciers was something enormous. The
ice sheet was so thick that it covered all the highest
mountains. Even the summit of Mount. Washington
itself did not stand out as an island above its surface,
but was submerged underneath it. The rocks of the
ragged top of Mount Washington were ground by it,
and some of them torn away and moved a distance of
several miles. The lower or southern rim of this ice
cap lay along where Nantucket, the Vineyard, and Long
Island stand. And as that rim melted, the material
that had been gathered up by the glaciers from the
northwest, and that had been frozen into their sub-
stance, and then moved down with the slowly creep-
ing ice of the glaciers, was deposited, sand, clay, and
bowlders, all along the melting rim, forming heaps of
unstratified stuff and ruin, or what are called moraines.
One of those terminal moraines of the great glaciers
was what is now Nantucket; another was the Vineyard;

still others, Block, Long, and Staten Islands. And

-

Se OOo Oe ee

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. d3

this line of terminal moraines can be further traced
very distinctly across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Ohio. So that Nantucket was one of the outer line
of moraines. It is possible that after a while the
southern rim of glacial ice receded a litile to the north,
owing toa slightly warmer temperature supervening
from some hitherto unknown cause; since, at any
rate, there is a second or inner line of terminal
moraines starting at the middle of the east coast of
Cape Cod, following the curved shore appearing in the
line of the Elizabeth Islands (which were thus doubt-
less of more recent formation than the Vineyard or
Nantucket), disappearing beneath the surface of the
sea at Cuttyhunk, reappearing near Point Judith, run-
ning along the southern part of Rhode Island, appear-

- ing in Fisher’s and Plum Islands, and disappearing in

Northern Long Isiand. That Tuckernuck is one of
the line of outer moraines, the present writer has no
doubt; but he has not observed sufficiently to be able
to form a conjecture as to whether Muskeget and the
Gravelly Island are also as old as the drift, or of far
more recent formation than Nantucket.

The last question which space will permit touches
the probable shape of Nantucket at the time the sea
first poured round it and gave it its insular state. It
is next to certain that the projections known as
Coatue, Great, Brant, and Smith’s Points, and the
Haulover were not in existence at that time; and that
there stood above the level of the sea three if not four
islands, namely, Coskata, the body of Nantucket,
Tuckernuck, and possibly Gravel Island. What then
probably occurred to alter and enlarge the shape of

54 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the body of the island? It is to be remembered that ,

the course of the waters from the melting southern’ —

rim of the glacier that lay where Sancoty, Saul’s,
Popsquatchet, and Trot’s Hills stand, was southerly.
Those waters would wash away the lighter part of the
“*till,”’ or materials of which the top and southern
sides of the moraine consisted, and convey those
materials down in a southerly direction. Thus prob-
ably were formed, by deposition of gravel, sand, occa-
sional small bowlders, and clay, the plain or slightly
rolling expanse between Saul’s, Shawkemo, Pop-
squatchet, and Trot’s Hills at the north, and the South
Shore line at the south, —the expanse, namely, now
known as the Southeast Quarter, South Pasture,
Smooth Hummocks, the Plains, and Great Neck; leay-
ing the larger rocks or bowlders, such as Altar Rock,
Table Rock, Split Rock, and the rock to be seen at the
north from the *Sconset road, unmoved, projecting
above the surface of the hills, and bare, and giving at
the same time the rounded and dome-like character to
Saul’s, Trot’s, and the other hills. This theory, too,
would account for the fact that the hilly part of the
island lies along the entire north side of its main body,
while the lower and more level part lies at the south.

Furthermore, there is a slightly rolling and uneven
character in this comparatively level or southern part,
It is cut by parallel valleys or depressions, lying in a
general north-south direction; e. g., Coffin’s, Star-
buck’s, Madequecham, and the Weweeder, Macomet,
IIummock, and Long Pond depressions.

It is probable that at times, especially in times of
warm rain, the melting waters flowing from the lower

BOTANY, CONCHOLOGY, AND GEOLOGY. D9

rim of the glacier were copious ; and that forming
themselves into more or less parallel rills or streamlets
coursing to the south towards the sea, they scooped out
for themselves parallel channels which, continuing to
this day as depressions, are known by us as Madeque-
cham, Starbuck’s, Coffin’s, and Weir’s Valleys, or fur-
nish long and comparatively narrow basins for the line
of ponds that stand all along the south shore of the isl-
and; these brackish-water lakelets being subsequently
kept in position by bars of beach sand, thrown up
- along their southern ends by the sea. The present
writer does not know what is taking place with the
similar line of lakelets along the south shore of Mar-
tha’s Vineyard; but it is very clear that owing to
deposits of sand, brought down by the rains from the
neighboring slight hills, and the washing in and blow-
ing over of beach sand from the south shore, the
linear lakelets along the southern side of Nantucket
are slowly growing shallower, narrower, shorter, and
in some cases—e. g., the Mioxes— disappearing so
entirely that it is a little difficult even to find their
former location. Subsequently to the channelling of
these parallel grooves the continent sank, and the sea
came up and surrounded the island. And then it was
_ that the South Shore, Great Point, Coatue, Brant

Point, the neck that joins Wauwinet and Coskata, and
Smith’s Point were slowly formed as the youngest
parts of Nantucket, and that possibly a portion of the
eastern end of the island along ’Sconset, Sancoty, and
Squam Banks was battered at by the mighty impact
of the storm billow and torn away. Thus probably
did the island take its present shape.

56 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

This paper is only what its title claims for it; an
essay, namely, an attempt, an effort, towards account-
ing for the existence and shape of Nantucket, by one
who simply applies to the case of his beloved birth-
place what he has read of the most recent scientific
observation and conclusion. It will be perceived that
thus far the theory is not as yet perfect enough to
account for the beds of sea shells that lie above the
present level of the sea. At any rate, there must have
been a time when in the oscillation of the continent its
surface sank at first low enough for these beds of shells
to have formed, and then rose again. Will some geolo-
gist suggest a theory as to how the beds of shells,
which are now above the level of the sea, got into the
Nantucket moraine?

It seems to the present writer that this is not a
question for hasty solution, or for suggestion by mere
amateurs in science, but one which will tax the skilled
scientist ; and that the Nantucket beds of shells are
well worthy of careful investigation, and may lead to
important and valuable conclusions in connection with
the glacial epoch. F. C. E.

William C. Folger, Esq., relates to the compiler the
following : —

‘¢ John DeMarsellac,* a French gentleman who was
here on a visit nearly a century ago, went out to

Squam with the late Peleg Mitchell, Sr., and with

* “John Massillac, a French gentleman who had become
much attached to Wm. Rotch.” —N. E, Hist. Gen. Reg., Vol.
XXXIV.

BRANT POINT. — BRIC A-BRAG. 5a

French enthusiasm rushed into the swamps after plants
and flowers, regardless of the risk of soiling his white
silk stockings and smallclothes. . DeMarsellac pro-
nounced Nantucket ‘a garden of plants.’ ”’

Mr Folger again says :—

‘‘'The following statement is from private papers
left by the late Obed Macy, author of the History of
Nantucket, — and I think in other parts of the island
iron ore may be found : ‘ About a quarter of mile to the
northeast of the eastern part of Gibbs’s Swamp is a
place of iron ore, some of which has been dug and
smelted, and found to be good.’”’ |

And again: ‘‘ Peat was found in abundance upon the
_island.”’

BRANT POINT.

See also Lighthouses.

This is a sandy point of land which helps form the
harbor of Nantucket. There is a lighthouse upon it,
and shipbuilding was carried on here in former years.

(See page 214.)

BRIC-A-BRAC.

Until within a very few years, Nantucket was rich in
old crockery, clocks, furniture, shells, and curiosities
of all kinds that had come from ‘‘ over the sea.”’
There is still considerable of it left; but when one wants
a history to what one buys, — well, the dealers here are
just as honest as elsewhere, and stories, like goods, can
be manufactured for the trade. An anecdote is re-
lated of a party who went into one of the stores in
town a few years since, where an assortment of bric-a-
brac was to be found, and selected a piece of crockery.

58 | THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Noticing the picture of a steamboat on the under
side of it, the party inquired its age ; the polite and
obliging shopkeeper blandly informed the seeker after
information that the dish was “* one hundred and twenty
years old.’’? Shade of Fulton, come forth! This, how-
ever, was an exceptional case (if true), for as a general
thing those who sell bric-a-brac are intelligent persons.

CAMELS.

These queer crafts were nothing more nor less than
a huge floating dry-dock, propelled by steam, and built
for the purpose of lifting loaded ships over the bar at
the mouth of the harbor.

Joseph B. Macy, Esq., has kindly furnished the com-
piler with the following facts in relation to the camels :

The Nantucket camels were built as two separate
vessels, like sections of a dry-dock. The inner side of
each was concave, to fit as nearly as possible the form
of aship’s bottom. These two pieces were held to-
gether by fifteen chains that passed obliquely down
through one camel under the keel of the ship, and
up through the other, and were, when occasion re-
quired, hove tight by thirty windlasses.

Each camel had a separate rudder for steering, and
each of course its own propeller ai the stern, and its
own engine. When a ship arrived at the outer bar, the
camels under favorable conditions of weather could
steam out to her at the rate, perhaps, of two knots an
hour. Arrived at the right position, they were filled
and sunk by opening the water gates fitted for that
purpose. The ship was then hauled into her berth, the
chains hove tight by means of the windlasses before

CAPTAINS’ ROOM. 59

mentioned, and two steam pumps of sixteen-inch cylin-
der were set at work throwing out thirty barrels of
water per minute. As the water was pumped out, the
whole affair, with the ship in its embrace, gradu-
ally rose, and when in proper position this immense
mass did not draw more than five feet of water.

In asmooth time they answered the purpose very
well, but in a rough sea-way they were of course
clumsy and unmanageable. The whole mass — camels
and loaded ship —was generally towed in or out by a
steamboat. These camels were one hundred and thirty-
five feet long, nineteen feet deep, and each twenty-
nine feet wide at the bottom. The principal weight of
the ship and cargo bore upon the concave floor, and it
required a weight of two hundred tons to settle the
machine one foot in the waiter. Not loaded, they drew
only two feet and ten inches. The originator was Mr.
Peter F. Ewer (the father of Rev. Dr. F. C. Ewer of
New York), and the master mechanic Mr John G.
Thurber, both of whom are now deceased.

The ‘‘ Constitution ’? was the first ship successfully
taken out to sea. This was in September, 1842. The
camels were used some five or six years, but the whal-
ing business having considerably declined, there was
not sufficient encouragement to warrant the outlay for
extensive and needed repairs, and they were drawn
into the dock and suffered to go to decay. A small
model is to be seen in the museum of the Nantucket
Athenseum.

CAPTAINS’ Room.

This room—called by its frequenters the Com-
mercial News Room — is at the foot of Main Street,
under the Custom-House.

60 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

The ‘‘ Captains’ Club,” —so styled by some,—which
meets here, is composed of the remnants of the mem-
bers of what once were jocosely styled, in the palmy
days of the whale fishery, the House of Lords and the
House of Commons ; the former being frequented by
the owners and agents, and the latter by the captains
and under officers of the ships engaged in the business
of whaling.

In this room gentlemen gather day after day, year
in and year out, to discuss the news of the hour,
whether it pertains to the island or any other part of
the world, and reminiscences of bygone days are raked
up and talked over. Strangers to the island are gener-
ally welcomed, and many an account of hait-breadth
escape and thrilling adventure has been here related
to them; and if the tales were a little “‘ fishy ’’ at times,
and savored somewhat of ‘‘ Munchausenism,’’ ‘the
hearer had the satisfaction of knowing that he was at
least not listening to scandal about his neighbor. The
building in which this room is, possesses perhaps more
than an ordinary interest for the stranger, it having
been the store of the celebrated William Rotch, an
account of whom will be found on page 131.

CEMETERIES.

There are six cemeteries now in use in the town,
and are situated as follows :

The Prospect Hill or Unitarian Cemetery is on Baie
pect Street ; the North.on North Liberty Street , the
Friends’ at head of Main Street ; the Catholics’ on
Prospect Street ; the South and Colored in the south-
west suburbs.

ee “a

eee

CEMETERIES. 61

There is certainly enough to interest one if one cares
to visit these ‘‘ cities of the dead.”? At the South lies
buried the heart of Dr. Winslow, whose body was cre-
mated. At Prospect Hill lie side by side in their last
sleep all that remain of the crew of the ill-fated ship
‘‘ Newton ” At the North are many quaint and curi-
ous headstones and epitaphs. At the Friends’ not a
mound or stone marks the last resting-place of this
peaceful sect, who have been for very many years
closely identified with the island’s prosperity.

As the stranger pauses at this unpretentious burial-
place, and gazes at its undulating surface covered with
waving grass, where daises and buttercups and clover
blossoms nod in the summer breeze, — mute worship-
pers of the Great Unseen and Unknown, — the sweet
scent of new-mown hay coming refreshingly to his
senses, a fecling of peacefulness and rest comes
over him, and he wonders what, after all, the vanities
of this world amount to, and unconsciously repeats
those immortal lines of Gray, —

“Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ?
Can honor’s voice provoke the silent dust,
Or flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death ? ”

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire ;
Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre.”

William C. Folger, Esq., who has no superior upon
the island as an antiquarian, has kindly furnished the
following facts in relation to the ancient buria:-grounds:

62 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

‘¢ Some few of the first to die among the whites were,

so tradition says, buried on their own grounds near.

their. dwellings; but at an carly date the ‘ Ancient,’ or
Forefathers’ burial ground on the hill near Maxcy’s
Pond was appropriated as a cemetery, and continued
as such a great many years. John Gardner, Esq., who
died May 6, 1706 was buried there, and for years his
has been the only stone * in the cemetery at all legible.

‘¢ Jonathan Coftin, Esq., and his wife Hepzibah, —
both died in 1773,—were buried there; they being
probably the last who were interred at that place.

‘‘ About the beginning, or rather during the first
decade of the last century, some of the Gardner family
set apart for burial purposes the present Gardner’s
burial ground on New Lane, corner of Grove Lane,
and the first interment therein was the body of Abigail
Gardner, wife of Nathaniel, who died March 13,
1709. Richard Gardner, Jr., Esq., who died in 1728,
was buried there, and probably many thousands since,

* John Gardner settled at Nantucket about 1666, and was one
of its chief magistrates for a number of years. The old stone
of which Mr. Folger speaks has been replaced by a granite
headstone, upon which is inscribed the following: —

‘* Were lyes buried ye body
of

John Gardner, Esq., aged 82,
Who died May, 1706.

This stone, erected in 1881, replaces one removed for preservation

which marked this spot for 175 years.”

Those vandals, politely termed “relic-hunters,” to whom
nothing is sacred,—not even the abode of the dead, — had
chipped away the old stone until it was nearly half gone,

——

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 63

among them Rev. Bazaleel Shaw, who died Feb. 28,
1796.

‘“‘ The Friends’ first burial ground was a little distance
southeasterly from the Ancient burying ground, and
was used by the socicty from the early part of last
century, or the establishment of the society, until 1731.
Mary Starbuck was buried here in 1717; Nathaniel, her
husband, in 1719; and Stephen Hussey in 1718. In
1731 Charles Clasby was buried in their present grounds
on the corner of Main and Saratoga Streets.

**T have no account when the South burial ground
was first used, or by whomestablished. Itis southerly
from the town, and has many graves.

‘“‘'The Second Congregational, now called Prospect
Hill Cemetery, was first used for the interment of
John Hazleton Bailey and his wife Mary, who both
died in 1811.
©The Catholic Cemetery has been in use but a few
years.

‘The people of color have had for many years a
graveyard south of the town, and many graves are
seen there. There were formerly many more colored
citizens than at present.

** Besides the above-mentioned, there is one in Polpis
which must have been used many years ago; and a few
persons are said to have been buried at the Quaise
Farm when the asylum was there.”’

CHARACTERISTICS AND PECULIARITIES OF THE
PEOPLE.

The Nantucket people are not exempt from certain
characteristics and peculiarities noticeable to one not

64 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

‘to the manor born”; and the compiler, in giving a
few of them, has endeavored to avoid distorting or cari-
caturing in any way those things which have impressed
him as characteristic of, or peculiar to, the natives of
the island.

Nantucketers in pronouncing the letter r generally
give it the sound of ah. For instance, if they were
using the words “‘bar,” ‘‘ yonder,” ‘* here)” \or
‘¢ wharf,’? they would pronounce them as ‘ bah,”
‘© yondah,” ‘* heah,”’ and ‘* whaf.”’

The natives of the island of Martha’s Vineyard,
however, although only thirty miles distant, give, on
the other hand, a painful prominence to the letter in
question; not the musical r-r-roll of the French, but
something like this: in pronouncing ‘ bar,” ‘‘ wharf,”’
or ‘‘ yonder,”’ they would make it ‘*‘ baer,” ‘‘ whaerf,”
and ‘‘ yonder,’ giving in every case a peculiar twist to
the letter.

The average Nantucketer of to-day is hospitable:
when you go to see him he always asks you to ‘* come
again.” : .

There being little to do, and plenty of time to do it
in, he is never in a hurry, therefore takes life easy.

To persons accustomed to eating chowders in
Rhode Island, where ‘‘ ye clamme aboundeth,’’ or the
seaboard towns in which that delectable compound is
served, the absence here of the potato in the chowder
is noticeable. To be sure, the Nantucketers make what
they call a ‘‘ potato chowder’’; but then, a potato chow-
der without fish or clams, or a fish or clam chowder
without potatoes, is decidedly a flat and insipid dish.
A good chowder should be composed of pork, onions,

i i le a a i

CHARACTERISTICS OF TUR PEOPLE. 65

fish (or clams), salt, pepper, plenty of potatoes, a little
(and but a little) flour, and water ad libitum; then, with
proper cooking, you get a dish fit for old Epicurus
himself.

It will be safe to address at least every second man
you meet as ** Captain,”’ and ‘he likes it; itsounds, too,
much better and more respectful than ‘‘sir’’ or
‘‘mister.’? This is easily accounted for from the fact
that they were for so many years a seafaring people,
consequently expressions like the following are prover-
bial: for instance, if one has not been successful in an
undertaking they say, ‘‘ Well, we must go one voyage
to learn.’? Two persons meet on the street: one says,
‘‘ Where are you bound?” or ‘‘ Which way are you
heading?’’ The other answers, ‘‘ Oh, only on a cruise!”
Every well-dressed person is ‘‘ rigged to kill”’; and
they always know you ‘‘ by the cut of your jib.” A
horse when harnessed is ‘‘ tackled up.’? The word
‘‘ skrimshonting ”’ * is often heard, and is applied to the
doing of any small job requiring ingenuity, like the carv-
ing of a whale’s tooth or the making of a small box.

** Foopaw ’’— evidently from the French faux pas —
denotes an awkward performance; ‘‘you’ve made a
reg lar foopaw of it’’ would be the term used.

The peculiar shape of the carts and box wagons is no-
liceable. The ‘‘ spring cart,” with a crowd of young

* This word is evidently of Indian origin, doubtless a corrup-
tion of some word used by them to denote the carving of a pipe
or arrow-head. The aborigines of Nantucket were very early
connected with the settlers inthe business of the whale fishery,
hence it is believed that the word was borrowed from them.

66 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

people of both sexes standing bolt upright, holding
on for dear life to a rope that runs along its sides, is as
jolly an arrangement in which to get acquainted as was
ever invented; and all young visitors (and old ones too)
are advised, if they want ‘‘ fun alive,’’-to get up aparty,
hire a spring cart, and drive to South Shore or Surfside.
This will be found to be a sure cure for dyspepsia, love-
sickness, gout, melanchely, neuralgia, and heartburn.

Nantucket still retains her fondness for the ancient
custom of ringing the bell at 7 A. M.,12 M., and 9_P. M.
The majority of the townspeople are, to use an ex-
pression common here, ‘ tied to the nine-o’clock bell ”’;
for after the bell has rung for that-hour, — that is, after
the summer season is over, —the stores are closed, all
persons have gone or are on the way home, the streets
are deserted and still, and ‘*‘ Night, sable goddess,
from her cbon throne,’’ reigns supreme over the old
town.

There is still another custom to which the town
clings with wonderful tenacity, and that is the employ-
ment of ‘town eriers.’’ For the quick dissemination
of news, or for purposes of advertising, doubtless the
criers are useful, but outside of that, they are consid-
ered by many quietly disposed persons as nuisances;
for when to the loud ringing of their bells is added the
discordant sounds of a fish-horn, and a horrible jargon
which no one can understand, they become very objec-
{ionable to people of sensitive nerves who like quiet.

There are three criers in the town, and *f Billy” Clark
seems to be the favorite, having received in times past
from his many admirers a number of gifts, some of
them quite valuable; the last on record being a hand-

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 67

some watch and chain from Miss Ethel Johnson, the
daughter of Eastman Johnson, the artist. Various
amusing anecdotes of William are related. One of
them (the compiler does not hold himself responsible
for it) is to the effect that during the war, — then, as
now, combining the business of newsboy with that of
town crier, — he had occasion to announce a meat-auc-
tion; Manassas Junction had just been evacuated, and
William, upon the arrival of the boat, with that zeal
which has always characterized him, seized his papers
and rushed through the streets vociferously shouting:

‘** Great battle at Molasses Junction!!! ”

‘¢ Great many killed and wounded!!! ”

‘** Meat auction to-night!!!”

Drake, in his “ Nooks and Corners of New England,”
thus speaks of the Nantucket town crier: —

‘‘ This functionary I met, swelling with importance,
but a trifle blown from the frequent sounding of his
clarion, to wit, a japanned fish-horn. Met him, did I
say? I beg the indulgence of the reader. Wherever
I wandered in my rambles, he was sure to turn the
corner just ahead of me, or to spring from the covert |
of some blind alley. He was one of those who, Macy
says, knew all the other inhabitants of the island; me
he knew fora stranger. Ie stopped short. First he
wound a terrible blast of his horn: T-o-o0-t, t-o-o-t,
t-o-0-t!! it echoed down the street like the discordant
braying of a donkey. ‘This he followed with lusty
ringing of a large dinner-bell, peal on peal, until I was
ready to exclaim with the Moor, ‘ Silence that dreadful
bell: it frights the isle from her propriety!’ Then,
placing the fish-horn under his arm, and _ taking

68 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the bell by the tongue, he delivered himself of his
formula. JI am not likely to forget it: ‘Two boats a
day! Burgess’s meat auction this evening! Corned
beef! Boston Theatre, positively last night, this even-
ing!’ He was gone, and I heard bell and horn in the
next street. He was the life of Nantucket while I was
there; the only inhabitant I saw moving faster than a
moderate walk.”’ :

When Mr. Drake wrote the foregoing in his ‘‘ Nooks
and Corners,’ he was not aware, perhaps, that the
town could boast of other criers equally great. Mr.
William B. Ray is another of our town criers, who
possesses a very musical voice, and combines with the
business of crying inthe summer time the delivering of
baggage and parcels to any part of the town. Many
visitors to the island have discovered in Mr. Ray avery
strong resemblance to a celebrated nautical character.

Last but not least comes Mr. Alvin Hull, the third
on the list. Alvin is known as the one who deluded a
number of innocent and unsuspecting individuals dur-
ing the summer of 1880— Burdette of the Hawkeye,
among the number— into the belief that there was a
‘‘whale ashore at ’Sconset, eighty feet long’’!! But
alas for their blasted expectations! the ‘‘ whale ”’ turned
out to be nothing but a piece of a ‘‘ blasted whale.”’
Alvin has a fine voice, is modest, generally tells the
truth, and everybody likes him. | |

Of Mr. Charles H. Chase, whois one of our most
exemplary citizens, and who was for years one of
the town criers, and who is now suffering from one of
those severe visitations of Providence, being totally
blind, the following anecdote is related, which is

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 69

illustrative of the man: Mr. Chase, while crier, had
a certain announcement to make. In the course of his
perambulations around the town, he arrived in front
of one of the hotels where a number of young ladies
were sitting. While Mr. Chase was making his an-
nouncement, one of these young ladies dared another
to ask the crier where his bell came from, which
remark the gentleman overheard. His announcement
having been made, the lady asked the question: ‘‘ Mr.
Crier, where did you get your bell?’’ With a polite
bow, Mr. Chase answered, “I got my bell, young
woman, where you got your manners, —at the brass
foundry!’’ Ding-dong, ding-dong!

They have other queer ways of doing business in
this old town. The bank opens at 9 A.M. and closes
atl P.M. This custom, to a person used tocity ways,
seems strange, and often causes a deal of annoyance.
It seems to the writer of this that if the only banking
institution in the place would keep its doors open until
3 P. M. in the summer season, the public would be
greatly benefited.

The custom of retaining the Indian names of various
localities about the island has been observed to a great
extent, and is deserving of commendation, for the ab-
origines, when they gave a name to anything, always
had a reason for so doing; many of the more modern
names being, alas! too often devoid of sense, sound,
and meaning.

A good many years ago, the inhabitants of Cape
Cod were called by the people of Nantucket ‘‘ Coofs,”
and the Edgartown people, on Martha’s Vineyard,
“ Old-Town Turkeys,’ — the latter a derisive refer-

70 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

ence to the large number of herring caught and eaten
there ; but the Cape-Codders and Vineyarders retali-
ated by calling the Nantucketers ‘‘ Scrap Islanders,”
or ‘ Nantucket Scraps.’’

The compiler was guilty, some time since, of hear-
ing a story to the effect that a certain gentleman,
whose reputation is national, had lately made a re-
mark ‘‘ that in future he should employ the women
of Nantucket and not the men, as the former were
much superior in intelligence and vim to the latter.”
Whether the story be true or not, it is certain that the
majority of the women of Nantucket are fully up in
intelligence, and far too many of them do more than
their share of the labor. During the halcyon days of
the whale fishery, the captains of the ships were fre-
quently accompanied by their wives on their long and
perilous voyages; and there are even now living in>
Nantucket a number of gentle, quiet, unassuming, and
womanly women, who are just as good sailors and nay-
igators as any man who walks the quarter-deck. It
was no unusual thing for a whale ship, when she vis-
ited an island of the Pacific for water, fruits, and vege-
tables, to have on board at departure an additional
mouth to feed, in the cabin, for which no provision
had been made when she sailed from Nantucket. You
will find, any day, on the streets of the town, boys and
girls and men and women who were “ born round
Cape Horn,”’’ at some of the coral isles of the Pacific.

The question is often asked, ‘‘ How do the Nantuck-
eters live; what supports them? ”’ This is a conundrum
that is difficult to answer. The story is told that a
Nantucketer once, being asked the question, answered

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEOPLE. 71

that ‘‘ In the summer we live on the strangers, and in
the winter we live on each other.’’ This is true in a
certain sense ; for the great influx, of late years, of
summer visitors brings many thousands of dollars to
the town. With the exception of the manufacture
of a few linen or alpaca coats, there is no industry
whatever here in the winter, and even this failed the
past winter. It is sincerely to be hoped that before
long some capitalist will start some enterprise which
would bring even a moderate income to the people.

There is yet one more custom peculiar to this town
about which a word may be said, and that is the prac-
tice of announcing from the tower, by resounding
blasts on a fish-horn, the approach of a steamboat, —
either the regular steamer, or one on an excursion to
the island. This is ‘‘ Billy” Clark’s duty : whether
self-imposed or not the writer never knew.

It is frequently very convenient to know that the
steamer is in sight two hours before her arrival at the
wharf ; but when one is aroused at daylight from one’s
slumbers on a Sunday morning, as often happens,
by that terrible fish-horn, the noise of which can be
likened to nothing else but the braying of a donkey,
one feels like using several very emphatic words.
The custom of a quarter of a century ago was much
preferable. There was at that time a tall flagstaff in
the rear of the post-office, and when the steamboat was
sighted from the tower a small flag was run up and
kept there until the boat’s arrival, when the flag was
hauled down and a large black ball hoisted in its place.
There was no noise and no confusion, and the people
were just as happy then as they are now. In the days

"2 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

of the whale fishery, when a homeward-bound whaler
was sighted from the tower, a large blue flag having
upon it the letters SHIP was hoisted ; and the whole
town was on the que vive to know what ship it was, and
how much ‘‘ ile’ she had. |

It would indeed be strange if with all their faults,
the Nantucketers did not possess many good qualities.
They are, as has been before asserted, hospitable ;
they are intelligent, even above the average ; they have
many times perilled life to save shipwrecked seamen ;
they have always been up to the reforms of the day ;
never other than patriotic, as is evidenced by the isl-
and’s history; peaceable always, law-abiding, and hon-
est. To sum up with, they are hale, hearty, healthy,
hospitable, honest, intelligent, brave, inclined from cir-
cumstances to be moderate and apathetic, possessed
of characteristics and peculiarities always noticeable
in isolated localities; and are after all just like the rest
of the world, neither better nor worse.

CHURCHES.

The churches of Nantucket have had in times past
many able clergymen to minister to them, among
whom may be found the names of such men as Dan-
iel Wise, John 8. C. Abbott, Henry Giles, George H.
Hepworth (who was ordained here), L. K. Wash-
burne, and many others who have been famous. ~

In one of his letters to the Boston Courver, Mr. Wm.
M. F. Round says: ‘‘ In 1830 this town was the third
commercial town in the Commonwealth, — Boston,
Salem, Nantucket. There were great congregations
in the churches then. Solid men sat in the pews.

CHURCHES. | 73

The preacher preached to millions of money every
Sunday, and Nantucket churches were built out of full
pockets as well as full hearts. The Unitarians, had
they been so minded, were rich enough to build their
church of mahogany, and gild it all over.”

The visitor to Nantucket, when he enters these
churches, need not be told that they were built when
the town contained a much larger population than it
does at present. So far as the congregations of to-day
are concerned, outside of the summer season, it would
be much better if the church societies would sell all
but one of their houses of worship and hold union
services ; for it is fair to presume that on Sunday the
combined congregations of all the churches would not
amount to over five hundred people at any ordinary
service, and yet here are nine different societies wor-
shipping and paying for the support of as many differ-
ent sanctuaries, when either the Methodist, Unitarian,
or Congregationalist churches would accommodate all,
and more.

During the summer, services are held simultane-
ously in all the churches, commencing at 10.45 A. M.
and 7.45Pr.™M. Sunday schoolat 2 P. M., prayer meet-
ing¢6P.M. The following is a list of the churches in
the town, with the dates (as far as can be ascertained)
of their erection :—

Unitarian, Orange Street, erected 1809 ; Methodist,
Centre Street, 1823; Friends, Fair Street, 1834;
Friends, Centre Street, 1850 ; Congregational, Centre
Street, 1854; Baptist, Summer Street, 1840; Baptist
(colored), Pleasant Street, ; Episcopal, Fair Street,

74 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

1849; Mission, Orange Street, 1866; Roman Catholic,
Federal Street, formerly Harmony Hall.

The compiler gratefully acknowledges his indebted-
ness to Wm. C. Folger, Esq., who has been unwearied
in his labor of looking up facts for this book, for the
following in relation to the earlier churches : —

‘¢ The early white settlers were mostly farmers, fish-
ermen, and mechanics, and their houses were consid-
erably scattered. It is probable that for many years
after the island’s settlement, religious services were
held in private dwelling-houses. Two ‘ meeting-
houses’ are said to have been built in 1711, one for
the Friends and one for the Congregationalists. The
latter stood on rising ground, in what has since been
called the ‘ Holmes country,’ on the north side of
West Centre Street road, and not far from ‘ No Bot-
tom Pond.’ It was moved to town in 1765, and used
by the society until 1834, when it was moved farther
back on the hill to make room for the present edifice,
which was erected that year. It adjoins the church,
and is used as a vestry, where prayer meetings and
the Sunday school are held.

‘‘ The Friends’ first meeting-house — built in 1711 —
stood a little to the southeast of the Forefathers’ or An-
cient burial ground, on land adjoining their first burial
place. It ceased to be used as a meeting-house after
their second one was built in 1730, but was used asa
school-house; and in 1736, whilst one Draper, called
‘Little Draper,’ was the teacher, a stick or log left
standing in acorner of the fireplace burnt off in the mid-
dle, the upper part of it rolled off the hearth on to the
floor, set that on fire, and the school-house was burned

CHURCHES. 15

down. I have picked up wrought nails and melted
slass on that spot more than a hundred years after it

had burned.’’

The second Friends’ mecting-house (erected 1730)

stood very near the corner of Main and Saratoga

Streets, within the space now used as their burial
ground. After the meeting-house had been removed to
the corner of Pleasant and Main Streets, more land was
fenced in, and the present proportions of the grounds
were obtained. ;

Again Mr. Folger says: ‘ The third meeting-house,
as the one on Main and Pleasant Streets may be called,

was built in part of material from the second one, but

ereatly enlarged. I think it was erected in 1790. It
was two stories high, and was a spacious building:
the Friends, about the time of its erection, and long
since my day, comprising a large proportion of the
people. On account of the size of the building, it was
several times used as the court-house. It was taken
down, — probably in 1834,—and the materials were
carried to Commercial Wharf, and used in the construc-
tion of the ‘ Charles G. Coffin store’ on the said wharf.”
The ‘‘annual meeting of Friends’? of Nantucket,
Bristol, and Barnstable Counties held their meetings
in the above-mentioned building, on account of its size.

The fourth Friends’ meeting-house was doubtless
built in 1793, and stood on the site of the house now
occupied by Mrs. Clarissa Allen, and extended nearly
to Broad Sireet, but it was not so large as the one on
Main Street. |

It seems that this fourth house was built to accommo-
date the northern members, as many lived far north,

"6 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. mn

and they had formed a separate society called ‘‘ Friends
of the Northern District.”’ On the 25th of the third
month, 1829, the two societies, however, decided to
unite, and thereafter met at the South or Main Street
house. "as

Atlantic Hall, on Main Street, was erected for the
Hicksite or Unitarian Friends in the year 1836 or 1837,
and was used by that society for some years ; but as
death gradually diminished the number of its members,
the building was finally sold, and has for a number of
years been used for very different purposes from that
for which it was designed. The Orthodox Friends
Society erected a large two-story edifice on the west
side of Fair Street in 1833, and first met there for
worship in the tenth month of that year. Some years
after, a division of the society took place (seventh
month, 1845), and the smaller party met for a while in
the Abner Coffin house on Winter Street, where the
Coffin School-house now stands. Afterwards the neat
little house on the east side of Centre Street was
erected for them in 1850, where they have since met,
but are now greatly reduced in numbers by deaths and
removals. Although they are in the minority here, they
are in unison with the greater part of Friends in New
England, Indiana, Great Britain, and elsewhere. The
larger body, after the division of 1845, continued for
some time to meet in the large meeting-house on Fair
Street. Then they went into the school-house a few
feet to the northward ; the large house was sold, taken
down, and carried from the island. They still occupy
the smaller building.

The first Methodist church was erected on the corner

CHURCHES. 17%

of Lyons and Fair Streets. A second one (the Chapel)
_ was built on the corner of Liberty and Centre Streets
in 1823. Services were held for many years in both
churches. The first church was known to the older
people as the “‘ Teaser.” The Chapel on Centre Street
is doubtless the largest edifice in town, seating perhaps
seven or eight hundred people.

The second Congregational church, on Orange
Street, was built in 1809 by the Unitarian branch of
that faith. It isa large, roomy edifice with a pretty
interior, and during the past year has had many
improvements and repairs made upon it, having had
anew town clock placed in its tower, and been painted
externally from top to bottom; full particulars of which
will be found in the article on the ‘t Town Clock,” on
page 79

The York Street meeting-house was used by the
town as'a school-house for children of color for several
years, commencing the latter part of 1828 and continu-
ing until the town built another farther south. In
1831 the York Street Colored Baptist Society was
formed, and they occupied that building for a number
of years, when the society, by removals and deaths
and other causes, ceased to exist. Afterward a new
society of people of color was organized, and in 1849
they chose Rev. James EK. Crawford as their pastor,
which position he has since acceptably filled, preach-
ing every Sunday evening to full houses. This so-
ciety is of the Baptist faith, and is styled the Pleasant
Street Baptist Society and Church.

The Nantucket Baptist Church was formed in 1839.
They met that year and the succeeding one in Frank-

78 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

lin Hall on Water Street. In 1840 they erected their
present church edifice on Summer Street, which was
dedicated in December of that year. In 1841 they
added the tower and vestry. Rev. Daniel Round was
the first pastor. He resigned in 1844, since which
time various pastors have occupied the pulpit. A
little over two years ago, Rev. Mr. Round being here
on a visit, and the church having no pastor, an invita-
tion was extended to him, and he once more officiates
as their pastor. ONG,

The Episcopal Church was organized in 1838. They
purchased what had formerly been the Friends’ North
Meeting-House on Broad Street, ‘‘ moved the building
on to the rear of the lot, remodelled it into a chapel
and Sunday-school room, and erected a church on the
front of the lot, known before the great fire as Trinity
Church. The Rev. Moses Marcus was the first rector.
The Rev. F. W. T. Pollard succeeded him.” * This
building, which was considered a beautiful piece of ar-
chitecture, was totally destroyed by the great fire of
1846.+ The Trinity Society dissolved after that catas-
trophe, and reorganized as St. Paul’s Church. They
then met for worship in the present North Vestry,and
in 1848 removed to the hall of the Sons of Temperance,
Harmony Hall, now occupied by St. Mary’s Catholic
Church. In 1849 they built their present edifice on
Fair Street, and commenced worship there in 1850.

The Roman Catholic Church worship in Harmony
Hall. They have no settled pastor, but are visited by
priests from abroad on stated occasions.

* Dr. F. C. Ewer is authority for this statement,
t See poem on page 268.

77;

CLOCK, TOWN. 19

F.C. Sanford, Esq., is authority for the statement
that the first public building ever erected on Nantucket
was a meeting-house for the converted Indian, John
Gibbs, to preach in. ‘* Thomas Mayhew had sent him
to Cambridge to be educated, and he became a famous
preacher.”’

7 CLIFF.

The ‘ Cliff’’ is a sandy bluff about a mile north
from the town. A number of cottages have been
built here during the past few years. The view is
superb. As one stands on the Cliff, the whole bay, har-
bor, and town of Nantucket lie before him. Thou-
sands upon thousands of vessels of all sizes pass and
repass, bound to and from the various ports upon the
coast. Frequently as many as one hundred are in sight
at one time. At the foot of the Cliff are the bathing-
houses and *‘ bug lights.” Eastman Johnson, recogniz-
ing the advantages of the locality, years ago erected a
house and studio in the near vicinity. Certainly no
better place upon the island could be selected if one
desired to build.

CLocKk, Town.

The compiler is under great obligation to Dr. Arthur
E. Jenks for the following article in relation to our
clock: —

One of the most valued public benefits to any com-
munity is the town clock. For over half a century the .
clock in the Old South (Unitarian) Church had marked
time, and had served as a faithful chronicler. But it
had grown old in the service, and at last it held up its
weather-beaten hands in a mute appeal for an infusion

80 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

of new life. There was a voice of universal gladness
when it was told that one of Nantucket’s sons — Wil-
liam Hadwen Starbuck, a merchant of New York City
—had presented his native town with a new town
clock, to take the place of the old one... At the annual
town meeting held in February last, a committee was
appointed, with Hon. James Easton, 2d, chairman,
delegating to him ‘‘ full power to confer and co-operate
with Wm. H. Starbuck of New York City, relative to
procuring and placing in the tower of the Second Con-
gregational Meeting-House the clock donated by him
ata cost of one thousand dollars.’”? This splendid gift
is from the manufactory of the Howard Watch and
Clock Company of Boston, who have the reputation
of making the best tower clocks. From the admirable
report to the selectmen of Nantucket, written by Hon.
James Easton, 2d, I quote the following: —

‘¢ The clock itself weighs 1,800 pounds, and carries
hands on four dials nine féet four inches in diameter.
The wheels are all made from brass, cast especially for
the purpose. The pinions are made from the best of
square steel forged round. The arbors also are of steel.
The journals are made from brass, and all run in compo-
sition boxes, and so arranged that any one of the shafts
can be removed without disturbing the others, assisting
very much when the clock requires cleaning. The
length of the pendulum is ten feet, and beats thirty-six
times tothe minute. The pendulum ball weighs one
hundred and seventy-five pounds. In arranging the
winding, there is a pinion attached to the key, the key
turning round three times to the barrel once, thereby
enabling one to wind with more ease. In the place

.
“= + = eee _——.

CLOCK, TOWN. 81

of the rope on the barrel, there is a wire cord made
expressly for that purpose, the strength of which is
tested to a strain of 2,500 pounds. The height of the
clock is seven feet; width of the bed, twenty-six inches;
length of the bed, five feet four inches. The arrange-
ment for setting the clock is very simple, there being
a dial on the clock movement inside comparing with
- the outside, and by pressing on a pin all five dials
are set at the same time. The striking train raises a
hammer weighing sixty pounds, and is so arranged
that if it refuses to strike at any given hour, it will
strike correctly the following hour, making what we
call a repeating clock. The length of the cord which»
is run off the striking barrel during the week is one
hundred and fifty feet, that of the time barrel fifty
feet.

‘*¢ 'The old clock, which was taken down and delivered
to the selectmen, was made in this town in 1823. It
has served its purpose to the satisfaction of the com-
munity until within the last few years.

** A new room built especially for the purpose has
been put up over the new clock, a new floor having first
been laid. The clock-room is seven and one half feet
by seven feet, and seven and one half feet high, with
glass sides and ends three feet above the floor, made
as tight as possible to protect from dust. <A part of
the partition on the side of the stair leading to the bel-
fry was taken away to give more light to the clock-
room.”’ |

The new town clock was first set in motion in May,
1881.

On Monday evening, July 11, 1881, our townspeople

82 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

assembled in the Town Hall to celebrate with appro-
priate ceremonies William [ladwen Starbuck’s gift
to the home of his birth. Hon. William R. Easton
presided. Brief but eloquent remarks were uttered
in remembrance of the donor’s gift, by many gentle-
men present.*

But in the glow and glory of the new, I would not
forget the preachment of the old. It has a history
closely allied to the early enterprise of Nantucket’s
hardy sons and daughters. Ina copy of the Nantucket
Inquirer bearing date Jan. 21, 1823, I find this
interesting item: ‘‘ That Clock. — Robert W. Jenks
announces that the clock that has been preparing for
the use of the town, to be put into the South Congre-
gational tower, is in motion at his shop, and will be
placed in position the ensuing week.”’

‘* Ah, the old shall hear a chime,
In its bell, of early time, —
In the ringing, swinging tongue it knew so well;
Willing hands shall mark the hours,
All thy nerves thrill with new powers,
Keeping up the chorus of the olden rhyme.
OxLp and New! They are ours.
Tribute for the men who wrought
In the drift of forceful thought ;
Take the old away with mild, becoming grace.
In the forge’s fiery glow,
At the anvil, blow on blow,
It was framed, then put within its rightful place ;

* Mr. Starbuck afterward ordered the whole exterior of the
church painted, and its dome gilded at his own expense.

CLOCK, TOWN. 83

And for over fifty years,
Through our human hopes and fears,
It has marked with tireless hands the passing days
As the New supplants the Old,
Let a fringe of living gold
With the words, ‘ Well done!’ bespeak its lasting praise.

“°T is a poet’s word of truth —
Oh, adopt it, heart of youth !—
That the benefactor’s name _
Outshines every star of fame,

And for one to serve most grandly is to give,
To deny is but to die ;
With the giver none may vie :

Who enriches others, evermore shall live,
Every chime upon the bell,
In the tower we love so well,

While the New Clock counts the moments as they leave,
Shall recall the donor’s deed,
And ring out the Christian creed,

‘Tis more blessed far to give than to receive!’ ”

The old clock was made here on the island, and it
would have been well had it been preserved intact in
our museum, perhaps, both as a curiosity of early
mechanics at home and a specimen of comparative
handicraft with that of the present day. The steel,
iron, and brass work of the old clock — according to the
reliable asserticn of Geo. W. Jenks, Esq., clerk of the
courts, who was a boy at the time of its making, and
assisted in its completion— was finished by Samuel
Jenks ; the dials and hands were designed and made
by Robert W. Jenks; and the castings, which were of
brass, were made by Edward Field. Mr. Barzillai

84 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Davidson, of Providence, R. I., was assisted by Wal-
ter Folger, Jr., in adjusting the instrument, which
was made in the old Morris building, on lower Main
Street.

COATUE, COSKATA, AND “ IAULOVER.”’

Coatue, Coskata, Great Point, and the ** Haulover”’
(a portage for boats) form a natural breakwater, mak-
ing the harbor of Nantucket almost completely land-
locked. Coatue is a long, low, sandy, and narrow point
of :and extending from the entrance of the harbor,
about one mile from town to Coskata; the latter form-
ing with the ‘‘Haulover” the eastern and northern
sides, of the upper harbor. Coatue is frequently the
objective point with young people in the summer sea-
son. When the moon is full and the water smooth, a
row across to this locality is very enjoyable, especially
when only

“Two souls with but a single thought,
Two hearts that beat as one,”
are in the boat.

During the Revolution, the islanders obtained a large
portion of their fuel at Coskata, and even to this day
there is quite a growth of small, scrubby trees.

The ‘*‘ Haulover ’’ divides the harbor from the ocean
and is very narrow ; on one side of it is surf, on the
other still water. There is a cosey litile hotel here
where lots of comfort can be taken if one is so dis-
posed. The “ Iaulover” is the narrowest part of the
island, forming the extreme easterly end of the har-
bor. It is used as a portage for boats, and it is at this
point it has been generally believed for many years

COFFIN SCHOOL. 85

that a channel might be dug for the purpose of improv-
ing the harbor of Nantucket and sweeping off the sand
from the bar. The idea, however, was never consid-
ered by engineers as a practicable one.

COFFIN SCHOOL.

Mr. E. B. Fox, for many years the able and efficient
principal of this school, contributes the following in
relation to it.

Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin’s Lancasterian School.*

The Coffin School was founded in 1826 by Admiral
Sir Isaac Coffin, Bart., of the English navy, and was
incorporated in 1827. In 1826 he visited Nantucket,
and at that time conceived. the idea of founding a
school for the benefit of the Coffins and their descend-
ants (at that time there were no public schools in the
town), and for that purpose gave £1,000. Heafterward
added to the original sum, and to-day the fund amounts
to $950,000. The school includes grammar and high-
school grades, and in the high-school department
English and classical courses, also a post-graduate
course. The French language is included in the Eng-
lish course, and Latin, French, and German in the
classical course.

Instruction is given by a principal and three assist-
ant teachers, and the number of pupils is limited to
one hundred. The physical and chemical apparatus is
quite cemplete, and the library contains one thousand

* See Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, page 102; also S. H. Jenks,
page 112,

86 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

volumes. Although the school was founded originally
for the benefit of a certain class, all are now admitted
on the payment of a small tuition fee. The control of
the school and its fund is vested in a board of nine
trustees. |

The trustees at present are Charles G. Coffin, Esq.,
Chairman; David Folger, Esq., Secretary and ‘Tene
urer; Hon. Joseph Mitchell, Andrew Whitney, Esq.,
Judge T. C. Defriez, Matthew Barney, Esq., B. C.
Easton, and Dr. B. F. Pitman.

COMMONS.

The questions are often asked by visitors to the
island, Where and what are the Commons? These
are rather difficult questions to answer, and a full and
explicit explanation as to what and where they are
would require more space than can be allowed in this
work. By reading, however, the following article, con-
tributed by W. H. Macy, Esq., a very good idea can
be obtained in regard to them.

Sheep Commons..
By W. H. Macy.

The common-land system of Nantucket is some-
what puzzling to those who have had no occasion to
study it; and even the average native of the island,
when asked what a sheep common means, appears
to have no definite or clear idea on the subject. An
elaborate article on this theme would possess little
interest to the general reader, but afew words may
not be amiss, to give an outline of the meaning of the
terms ‘‘ sheep common ’”’ and ‘* cow common.,”’

COMMONS. | 87

As might be supposed, a sheep common as used by
the early settlers signified as much land as would fur-
nish commonage or pasturage for a sheep. Its original
equivalent seems to have been an acre and a half of
land. In the olden time all the land, except such
pieces as were set aside for homesteads, and designated
as ‘‘house-lot land,’? was held in common by the
twenty-seven original proprietors. Estimating the
whole extent of available land in round numbers at
about 29,000 acres, each man’s share would be
720 commons for sheep. The product of 720 K 27 =
19,440, which represents the whole number of sheep
commons at the outset. When ata later period cer-
tain large tracts of land were laid out to form ‘ divis-
ions,” and designated by names such as ‘‘Squam,”
*¢ Southeast Quarter,” ‘‘ Smooth Hummocks,” etc., each
division was divided into twenty-seven shares as nearly
equal in size as the nature of the case would admit, —
quality and quantity considered. When these divis-
ions were laid out, the number of proprietors was no
longer twenty-seven, as it was constantly increasing by
inheritance as well as by bargain and sale, and few
individuals could claim a whole share in any one of
the divisions ; but each share was supposed to contain

seven hundred and twenty undivided parts, and each

land-owner owned the same fractional interest in one
of these shares as ina full share of all the common
fands. Lots were then drawn to determine in what
particular share of the new division cach man’s inter-
est should fall. The share might contain one acre,
or it might contain fifty acres, according to the ex-
tent of the division laid out; but 720 was the con-

88 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

stant denominator, and a man who owned, say, forty-
five sheep commons of the original land, or more cor-
rectly ;45;, of the common land, would also be the
owner of +49,, undivided, of a certain ‘‘share in
Southeast Quarter’’; of a certain other “‘ share in
Squam’’; and so on in the several divisions as they
were successively laid out. All the land of the isl-
and excepting house-lot land was owned in this
manner, whether used for planting or stocking pur-
poses, — the several proprietors of each share hold-
ing it in common and undivided, and buying and
selling only undivided fractional interests. The lands
so laid out in divisions were known by the name of
‘‘ dividend lands.”’

The proprietors formed themselves into an organiza-
tion which still exists, under the name of ‘‘ The Pro-
prietors of the Common and Undivided Lands of
Nantucket” ; held meetings, and kept records of their
own, distinct from the records of deeds.

For more than a hundred and fifty years, down into
the beginning of the present century, all the land of
the island — aside from the house-lot land — was thus
owned in common, and the proprietors steadily re-
fused to set off any one person’s interest to him in
severalty. But these fetters were soon broken by
Obed Mitchell and a few others, who, being large pro-
prietors, desired to obtain a title in severalty to the
district known as Plainfield, lying north of the village
of Siasconset, and containing some two thousand acres.
Failing in their efforts at the proprietors’ meetings,
they carried the case to the courts, and after several
years of litigation they gained their point, and obtained

COMMONS. — | 89

possession of Plainfield. After this, others followed
their example, petitioning to have their interest set
off at certain specified localities; and all the ‘‘ set-offs ”’
by the organization at regular meetings called in legal
form have been and are still considered as giving good
and sufficient title. ,

In 1821 several tracts were laid out and apportioned
under the names of Smooth Hummocks, Trott’s Hills,
Head of the Plains, and others, and these are often
spoken of as the ‘‘ new divisions.”’ )

By the great set-off to Obed Mitchell and others, the
number of sheep commons had been reduced from
19,440 to 17,172; and although there were still twenty-
seven shares in each division as before, the constant
denominator was changed from 720 to 636. The
owner of 5, part of an original share of land — pro-
vided no part of his interest had been sold — would own
(or rather his heirs would own) to-day thirty-six
sheep commons in the common and_ undivided
lands, with thirty-six sheep commons (meaning
thirty-six undivided 720th parts) of a certain share
in each of the old divisions, as Squam, Southeast
Quarter, etc., as also thirty-six sheep commons
(meaning thirty-six undivided 636th parts) in some
certain share of each of the new divisions, as Smooth
Hummocks, Trott’s Hills, etc. It was possible to buy
and sell these interests in the ‘dividend lands”’
separate from the interest in the common land, and
thus a proprietor who bought out all his co-tenants
would own an entire share, defined by certain specific
boundary lines.

A sheep common, then, signified ;54,, of all the

90 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

common land on the island. The original idea was an
acre and a half of land; but as the term is now used,
it indicates nothing definite, either in area or value,
but means simply a certain undivided fractional part
of a very uncertain something else, until the whole
circumstances of each particular case are investigated.

As soon as a division was laid out and drawn in
shares, the proprietors, as an organization, ceased to
have any control of it. If the owner of any portion
of a share desired to hold his part in severalty, he
must make a formal application to the judicial courts,
which would appoint commissioners to set off his por-
tion; and many good titles have thus been secured.
But in many cases where an undivided interest has
remained in the same family for three or four genera-
tions, it has become so subdivided and split up by
inheritance that it is practically impossible for a would-
be purchaser to find all the present owners, and secure
a perfect title by deed.

The organization before mentioned still controls
all matters relating io the common and undivided
lands outside of the divisions. Whenever any stock-
holder or member has asked for a piece of land,
specifying how much he wanted and in what locality,
it has been customary, if his petition was granted, for
the proprietors’ agents, or ‘‘ lot layers,” to set off the
land to him, for which he was charged a certain num-
ber of sheep commons, — the valuation being estimated
by the agents, subject to the approval of the meeting,
** quality and quantity considered,”’ as the old records
have it. The number of sheep commons thus charged
to ,the petitioner was subtracted from his former

COMMONS. 91

interest, account being kept with each proprietor; and
of course the whole number of the commons or capital
stock, so to speak, was reduced to the same extent.
By this gradual process of cancellation or absorption,
the whole number of sheep commons is now brought
down to a few hundred, while the quantity of common
land remaining is somewhere between one thousand
and two thousand acres. The greater part of the
remaining commons are now in a few hands, while a
small number of them have been quite lost sight of by
the process of infinitesimal subdivision caused by
death and inheritance.

In this connection the compiler is indebted for other
items of interest to Albert Easton, Esq., who says: —

‘¢ Beginning with the early proprietorship of the isl-
and, when it was purchased by ten men, we find that
- in order to encourage immigration, they each agreed
to take an associate; andl even then it was found neces-
sary to bring to the island more artisans and mechanics,
until they numbered in the aggregate twenty-seven,
and to-day there are so many shares in each division
of the various sections of our island. The basis of all
the lands was termed ‘common and undivided.’

‘*'The occupation of our ancestors, in connection
with the remunerative one of whale-fishing, was
largely in the interest of sheep husbandry. A large
part of the land was used mostly as a cattle, horse,
and sheep pasture, a portion being fenced off for
the purpose of tillage, and known as the ‘general
field,’ wherein they had planting privileges in propor-
tion to their ownership, An organization existed,

99 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

\
which had its annual sittings and regulated the ‘fced-

ing rights.’ Its proper officers kept a debit and credit
account of every man’s land and stock in the ‘ Stock
Book’ with business exactness. Every proprietor
was required to render to the clerk a correct statement
of his stock of cattle, horses, and sheep, within four-
teen days after ‘shearing time’; and in case the par-
ties neglected or refused to do so, they were subjected
to a penalty of one penny per week for each sheep,
and proportionately for horses and cattle, which was
at the rate of sixteen sheep equalling one horse, or
eight sheep for one cow. So very particular were they
that every fractional part of a common or privilege
was noted. ...

‘¢ These fractions existed as well in the ‘ general field’
asin the ‘feeding rights.’ I read also that in giving
these shares by will, fractions were devised as low
as 33; of a common; this would make it 33 of ;54,
part of the common and undivided lands.”

If, after reading the foregoing, the resident or vis-
itor does not understand what the common and un-
divided or dividend lands of the island of Nantucket
are, or what constitutes to-day a cow, sheep, or horse

common, or a feeding right, they must not blame the

compiler.
CouRTS.

The Supreme Judicial Court for Nantucket is held

at New Bedford the second Tuesday in November,
and at Taunton the third Tuesday in April.

The Law Term for Nantucket is held i Taunton
the fourth Tuesday in October.

DISTANCES. _ 93

The superior Court for Nantucket County is held
at Nantucket first Tuesday of July and October.

The Probate Court meets on Thursday after the
second Tuesday in each month.

The County Commissioners meet in Nantucket the
first Wednesday in each month.

The Town Hall, on Orange Street, is used as the
Court House.

Thaddeus C. Defriez, Probate Judye. Geo. W.
Jenks, Clerk of Courts.

Custom House, Main Street; Wm. Hiller, Collector.

DISTANCES.

Visitors to the island, and even the dwellers there-
on, are frequently desirous of knowing the distance
between two given points; and though the following

* table of distances is by no means perfect, yet the com-
piler believes it will add to the book’s value, and be
found to be of some use.

From the Pacific National Bank to

Rene fo a ee, 8 miles.
Be ak
Se ne ree (3) eat
tear fomtby walter... . iS
Ds teres IEG. a. Saale ho tN
Real a Ook ie Bi RA
Remme oy walter. op. ah S
REE Shh ea ?

l

z
Sancoty Head Boe Le, 8
maerrever s Hiead) vo) ew. 6 +
eer, her dai ek) ised 3

‘ '
uae

a ¥ 2
oie ke =

94 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET,

Sotth' Bhere (cinch. wise ee 3 miles.

Water Works . . 2°cm
Cliff Te , 5
Agricultural Grounds). (P0120 (0 Eee
Wauminier? 655 Berkey ruta ee aera
Wauwinet by water . tip ates

Maddeguet 50". S05) Sk, a a
Do aye ie are eee an ee ani nee ll |
PMB ES) SE a
Rape rese . 0) i). 5 ee i ee
Wraon e Holk. 4S Ly Oo, Se ae

RP Ae en oa ramet ame
New Bedford.) OM ieee i.) aR ae
TISUOT ee see ah oe. ee ee
POI eR en tee 9 cols ge
FVII YER al ee bcs bl ek RO

Wm. C. Folger, Esq., has kindly furnished another
table of distances, ‘‘ which was*taken from a book of
surveys by Benjamin Bunker, who was a surveyor, and
who died in 1842, aged ninety-one years.’’ Although
the table is incomplete, it is doubtless correct as far as
it goes.

MILES. Rops.
From the Cliff to Great Point Light. . . 7 80
North Tower to Great Point Light . . 7 186
Brant Point to Great Point Light 7 48
Pocomo Head to Great Point Light. 5 382
The Tower to Pocomo Head . ... 4 4
North Tower to Weweeder . 2
North Tower to the Hummocks 3
The Hummocks to Eel Point . . 3

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 95

From Weweeder to the Hummocks 2 246
The Tower to Copaum 1 318
Great Point Light to SHBCOEY. Head . 8 9G
Sancoty to Siasconset. : Bik 98
Sancoty to Tom Never’s Head 2 262
Siasconset to Tom Never’s Head. 1 276
Sancoty Head to North Tower, north

86° west . 7.1193
Tom Never’s ead to N irik iran. 6. 117

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS.

Certain it is that Nantucket was never the mother
of a President, being unlike Virginia in that re-
spect (she may, however have that honor, at no dis-
tant day, in the person of Charles James Folger);
yet she has sent from her sandy shores men and
women who have gained for themselves national rep-
utations, and reflected great honor on their birthplace.
When any town produces such men and women as
Charles James Folger, Lucretia Mott, Abiah Folger,
the mother of Dr. Franklin, Maria Mitchell, Walter
Folger, William Rotch, Phebe A. Hanaford, Ferdi-
nand C. Ewer, Henry Mitchell, Alfred Macy, George
Nelson Macy, Nathaniel Barney, and a host of others,
the inhabitants thereof cannot be set down as lacking
in brains or intelligence. No town of its size in the
Union can produce a more brilliant array of talented
men and women than Nantucket.

Appended are short accounts of a few of Nantuck-
et’s most distinguished sons and daughters. Several
among them were not natives, but for reasons that

96 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET;

will doubtless be satisfactory to the reader, it was
deemed best to place them in the list.

Nathaniel Barney.

This distinguished philanthropist and merchant,
whose death occurred in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Sept.
2, 1869, was born at Nantucket, Dec. 31, 1792. With
the exception of two or three years in the schools at
New Bedford, his education was acquired here. He
was early identified with the antislavery move-
ment, and was known throughout the country as a
strong and uncompromising enemy to the system of
human bondage. In his religious views Mr. Barney
was a Friend, and he carried out the doctrines and
precepts of that body of Christians in all his acts.
There are many people, living in his native town, who
have good reason to bless the name of Wathouial
Barney.

Mr. Barney was for many years connected with the
late William Hadwen in the business of importing oil,
but more especially in its manufacture. The firm
of Hadwen & Barney was organized in the year 1829,
and in 1855 Alanson Swain and Joseph S. Barney —
son-in-law and son respectively of Nathaniel Barney —
became members of the firm. The firm is still in
existence, although it ceased active business the first
year of the war. Three of the members of the firm
have passed away, leaving only the junior member.
The firm were the largest manufacturers of oil and
candles upon the island, and were as well known in
Europe as in this country.

a sop alae

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 97

Mr. Barney’s antislavery opinions brought him in
frequent contact with such men as Garrison, Wendell
Phillips, Quincy, and many others, equally conspicu-

ous as champions of human freedom. He died sin-

cerely mourned by all who knew him.

Jacob Barker.
_ Although Jacob Barker was not born at Nantucket,
he has always been considered a Nantucketer, from

the fact that his parents were natives of the island,

and he came here at a very early age and received his
education.
Mr. Barker was born at.Swan Island, in the Kenne-

bec River, Maine, Dec. 17, 1779, and diced Dec. 26

1871, aged ninety-two. He gained a national reputa-
tion as one of the ablest financiers of his time.

Teuben Chase.

A volume might be filled with the deeds and exploits
of this remarkable man and his family, but the com-
piler must leave it for abler and better hands than his
own. Reuben Chase was the son of Stephen and
Dinah Chase; he was born at Nantucket, June 23, 1754,
and died here Feb. 15, 1824.

Drake, in his ‘‘ Nooks and Corners of New England,”’

says of Chase that he was midshipman onthe ‘‘ Bon

Homme Richard’’ in her fight with the ‘‘ Serapis,’’
and became, under the magic pen of James Fenimore
Cooper, ‘‘ Long Tom Coflin”’ in the famous novel of
‘ane Filot.’’ *

* The compiler is unable to ascertain where Cooper met
Chase ; it is to be presumed that they sailed in the same ship,
for it is well known that in early life the great novelist was a
middy in the United States Navy.

98 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. |

The compiler is indebted to the courtesy of Mrs.
Eliza W. Mitchell and the Hon. William R. Easton
for the following anecdotes. Says Mrs. Mitchell: —

‘* Reuben Chase served on the ‘ Bon Homme Rich-
ard’ with Paul Jones; Cooper mentions him as Long
Tom Coffin. This man was of a family celebrated for
their remarkable proportions and great muscular
strength. Chase’s grandfather, Crispus Gardner,
was a powerful man, and. his brother, Capt. Joseph
Chase, was a large man, both in body and mind, and in
his time was a public benefactor. Joseph was a:
famous merchant captain sailing from Boston, and
when he retired from the sea had amassed, what was
considered a fortune in those days, about $60,000.

‘¢ He was ready to help any one in need, and looked
out for all his connections as long as he was able to do
so; and his brother Reuben always found him a kind
and true brother. |

‘‘The two sisters, Mrs. Deborah Morris and Mrs.
Ray (whom I remember to have seen when I was
young, while they were on a visit here from New
York), were very large, powerful women; probably
the most famous for strength and daring of any.
women of their day.”

Hon. William R. Easton, when asked in regard to
the matter in hand, said: ,

‘‘T remember some pee of Deborah Morris, sis-
ter of Reuben Chase, that are rather amusing. She re-
sided in New York for several years. At one time, while
living there, a drayman, for the purpose of annoying
her, persisted in running his dray against the corner
of her dwelling. She repeatedly warned him if he

; t
DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 99

did not desist that she would punish him; he contin-
ued, however, to annoy her, when one day, becoming
exasperated, she rushed out of the house, and turned his
team completely over into the middle of the street.

** William Rotch owned and occupied the brick
building at the foot of Main Street, now occupied by
the Custom House and Captains’ Room. Deborah
Morris went into the store one day, and in a jocose way
asked Mr. Rotch if he would give her a barrel of flour
if she would carry it home. ‘ Yes,’ he replied; when
she immediately took a barrel into her arms. Taken
- somewhat by surprise, he said, ‘ Deborah, thou wilt
strain thyself.’ ‘ No danger of that,’ she replied, and
walked off with the flour.”’

These anecdotes are given merely to show what mus-
cular strength the Chase family possessed.

There is evidence enough to warrant the assumption
that the following epitaph on Reuben Chase was writ-
ten by his brother, Capt. Joseph Chase, and the stone
upon which it is inscribed is doubtless in existence at
the present time. The compiler is indebted to Mrs.
E. W. Mitchell for a copy of this epitaph: —

“Free from the storms and ills of human life,

Free from the noise of passion and of strife,

Here lies Reuben Chase, buried, who hath stood the sea
Of ebbing life and flowing misery.

He was no dandy rigged; his prudent eye foresaw

And took a reef at fortune’s quickest flaw.

He luffed and bore away to please mankind,

Though duty urged him still to head the wind.
Rheumatics’ gusts at length his masts destroyed,

Yet jury health awhile he still enjoyed.

100 TILE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Laden with grief and age, and shattered here,
At last he struck and grounded on his bier;

Heaven took his ballast from its deepest hold,
And left his body a wreck, destitute of soul.”

“¢ Miriam”? (Keziah) Coffin. ©

For many of the facts in relation to this celebrated
woman, the compiler again makes his acknowledg- —
ments to William C. Folger, Esq.

Keziah Folger was the daughter of Daniel and
Abigail Folger. She was born Oct. 9, 1723.

This Keziah Folger, who married John Coffin, built
the John Cartwright house on Centre Street, owned
the farm* and old house at Quaise, and was at one
time a great merchant and owner of vessels; was the
heroine of Col. Hart’s book, ‘‘ Miriam Coffin; or, The
Whale Fishermen.”’

She fell down-stairs at the Morris house on lower
Main Street, and died suddenly March 29, 1798.

This woman was undoubtedly possessed of superior
ability. It is generally believed that Keziah Coffin
and others rendered assistance to the British during
the Revolution, and that she was guilty of smuggling
to a very large extent. F. C. Sanford, Esq., says:
‘‘She had her ships in every sea, and was a famous
smuggler in her day, as can be found by the Colonial
Records in Boston which were made at the time of her
trial in Watertown, this State, a copy of which I have.
Her town residence was unequalled when it was built
in 1770. It stood on what is now the elegant green

* Now the property of William B. Starbuck, but the origi-
nal house was long since taken down.

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 101

Jawn adjoining the Hon. C. B. Swain’s house on Cen-
tre Street. Mr. Folger again says: ‘‘ The daughter *
of Keziah Coffin, who bore her mother’s name, married
Phineas Fanning,t a young lawyer, who is said to have
written the verses describing the characteristics of
certain Nantucket families of his day. They were
married by the Rev. Bezaleel Shaw, who was then the
Congregational minister, April 5, 1777. Five sons
and two daughters were the result of the marriage.
Mr. Fanning died Dec. 21, 1798, and his wife Nov.
20, 1820.

There are two versions of these verses of Mr. Fan-
ning’s, which have perhaps more than a local celeb-
rity; both are here given, and the reader can take
his choice. The following is the version which Wil-
liam C. Folger, Esq., claims is the correct one: —

“The Rays and Russells coopers are ;
The knowing Folgers, lazy ;
A learned Coleman very rare,
And scarce an honest Hussey.” ,

“The Coffins noisy, boisterous, loud,
The silent Gardners plotting,
The Mitchells good, the Barkers proud,
The Macys eat the pudding.

“The Swains are swinish, clownish called,
The Barnards very civil,
The Starbucks they are loud to bawl,
The Pinkhams beat the devil.”

* The “ Ruth” of Col. Hart.
+ The “Grimshaw ” of Col. Hart in “ Miriam Coffin,” who
from all accounts appears to have amounted to but little.

102 HE isLAND OF NANTUCKET. ~

The second version is from the novel ‘ Miriam
Coffin,” whose author has seen fit to change mate-
rially the original. Those words which are italicized
in the lines that follow will show what liberties have
been taken. | ‘

“The Rays and Russells coopers are,
The knowing Folgers lazy,
A lying Coleman very rare,
And scarce a learned Hussey.

“The Coffins noisy, fractious, loud,
The silent Gardners plodding,
The Mitchells good, the Barkers proud,
- The Macys eat the pudding.” |

The last verse being entirely omitted.

The reader will perceive that the Macys, in both

versions, ‘‘get the pudding,”’ and that the Husseys are
the “under dogs”’ in the fight; while in one case the
Colemans are fools, and in the other they are gener-
ally honest. Both agree, however, that the Folgers
are a learned but lazy set, and the Coffins noisy and
loud, with the addition of being fractious or boisterous
as it suited the fancy of the writer. They agree also
that the Rays and Russells are coopers, and the Gard-
ners silent, but seem to differ as to whether they are a
hard-working, painstaking family, or a scheming and
contriving one. The Barkers and the Mitchells have
the best of it anyhow, and these families should have
intermarried.

Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, Baronet.

Col. Hart, in his novel of “ Miriam Coffin,” has taken
advantage of the license granted to story-tellers and

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 103

poets, and with questionable taste makes Nantucket
the birthplace of this distinguished gentleman. A1I-
though the gallant admiral was not a native of the isl-
and, yet so closely allied was he by ties of blood to
many of the inhabitants, and he so endeared himself to
the whole people by his noble benefaction, that a list
of the island’s eminent personages would be incom-
plete were Sir Isaac Coffin’s name omitted.

We learn from ‘‘ The Life of Tristram Coffin,” that
Isaac Coffin was the son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth
Coffin, and was born in Boston, Mass., May 16, 1759.
He entered the English navy in 1773; was. commis-
sioned lieutenant in 1778; captain, 1781; rear-admiral
of the White, 1804; baronet, and also granted a coat of
arms, the same year; vice-admiral in 1808; and admiral
in 1817. He died at Cheltenham, England, in 1839, aged
eighty years, without issue.

One of the most philanthropic and generous acts of
Admiral Coffin, and one that will make his name hon-
ored and revered for ages to come, was the founding
and endowing of the school at Nantucket which bears
his name. (See pages 85, 86.)

We learn also from the ‘‘ Life of Tristram Coffin,”
that the admiral was granted an estate by the English
government at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River,
known as the Magdalen Islands, being at the same
time created a baronet. He was a personal friend of
the Duke of Clarence, who, when he became William
TV., continued to show him favor. When it became
necessary, in 1832, to ‘‘swamp the House of Lords by
creating new peers, in order to pass the Reform Bill,
the name of Sir Isaac was upon the king’s list. He

104 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.»

desired to make him Earl of Magdalen; but the minis-
ters objected, on the ground of his strong attachment
to his native country, and especially cited the fact of
his fitting out a vessel with Yankee lads from his Lan-
casterian school at Nantucket, to make master mari-
ners of them, which could not be viewed in England
with favor. So it may,in truth, be said that the Coffin
School at Nantucket cost the admiral an earldom, and
came near sacrificing his baronetcy.”’

There is a fine oil painting of this distinguished gen-

tleman hanging on the wall of the school which takes |

his name. It was painted by Sir William Beechey,
and is a fine work of art.

Ferdinand CU. Ewer, D. D.

For facts in relation to the life of the distinguished
rector of St. Ignatius’s Church, in New York, the com-
piler is indebted to that gentleman and also to Mr.
Charles H. Starbuck.

Ferdinand C. Ewer was born at Nantucket, May 22,
1826; baptized in Trinity Church in 1843; graduated
at Harvard College in the class of 1848; and in April,
1849, went to California. From the time of his arri-
val to his ordination to the ministry, he was in the
editorial profession, having charge of a daily paper,
and editing at the same time a monthly literary maga-
zine. Meantime he studied for the ministry, and was
ordained by Bishop Kip, April 5, 1857, as deacon, and
became his assistant. On the resignation of the bishop
as rector, in December, Mr. Ewer was elected to fill
his place, and on the 17th of January following re-
ceived priest’s orders. In 1860, by reason of ill health,

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 105

he offered his resignation, the acceptance of which
was declined, and leave of absence was granted him
for one year. He proceeded to New York, arriving
there in May. Upon consultation with physicians he
decided not to return to California. While in New
York he became the assistant of Rev. Dr. Gallaudet
at St. Anne’s Church, from which position he was
called to the rectorship of Christ Church. After sev-
ering his connection with the latter he became rector
of St. Ignatius’s Church, where he has since remained.

Unlike many clergymen, this genial gentleman does
not confine himself wholly to theology, being a civil
engineer, and something of a geologist. His article
on page 48 upon that subject will be found of great
interest to those who love the science.

Dr. Ewer has done considerable literary work; among
the books which have emanated from his pen are “ The
Failure of Protestantism,’? ‘‘ Conferences on Catho-
licity,”’ ‘‘ Protestantism and Romanism,”’’ ‘ Spiritual
Forces in Civilization,’’ ‘‘ A Grammar of Theology,’’
¢ Spiritual Communion,”’’ etc.

Perhaps it may not be out of place to here insert
what in a recent newspaper correspondence he says in
his own facetious way ‘“‘ touching the quantitative and
qualitative analysis of the blood that is in him”: —

“T found that my precious blood was chemically
composed of the following old Nantucket elements,
for every one of which I am humbly grateful, viz.: —

Brrete Of Trott. .'.-°. |. .. 2 per cent.
Bicarbonate of Burnell. . .. 2 ae
Breeensae OL SWain. . 3. ... 3a *

106 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Nitrate of Worth |. .s .¢.°* Spereenn
Chioride of Cartwright’ .2°°.°) <a *
Sulphate of Starbuck . . . iB eas:
Hydrated Sulphuric Acid of

SEE ooh . 3 ke ee ee

Superphosphate of Coffin Mesa! Suh
Hydrated Deutoxide of Gardner, 15 ‘*
AurateoL FPoalger 4... ss ao ae
TracesofToby,Wing,and Macy, 1 ‘*

100”

Those acquainted with the genealogy of the families
above mentioned will see at once that Dr. Ewer comes
of good stock.

Abiah Folger.

Abiah Folger, the mother of the great and illustri-
ous Franklin, was born at Nantucket, and according to
the records was the only child of Peter Ffoulger, who
was born on this island. William C. Folger, Esq., says
that ‘‘his [Peter’s] two sons and six other daughters
were born at Martha’s Vineyard, previous to his re-
moval here.”’

Abiah was born Aug. 15, 1667, and died in Boston
about 1752. The compiler has not deemed it necessary
to look up the date of her removal to Boston, or her
marriage with the sage’s father, or to speak of her tal-
ents ; he deems it sufficient to say that she honored.
the son in giving him birth.

John Swain, Jr., who was the first white male child
born on the island, married Experience Folger, daugh-
ter of Peter, and sister of Abiah. .

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 107

Walter Folger.

This great astronomer and mathematician was a
direct descendant of ‘‘ Peter Ffoulger ’’ (page 178), one
of the early settlers of the island. Wm. C. Folger,
Esq., is authority for the following account of this truly
remarkable man, — the peer if not the superior of the
illustrious Franklin, who was himself a descendant of
the same ‘‘ Peter Ffoulger.”

*‘ Walter Folger, Jr., was born in the house which
then stood at the northeast corner of Winter Street,
near Liberty, June 12, 1765. He married, Sept. 29,
1785, Anna Ray, daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth.
They had eleven children, of whom but three are now
living ; viz., Alexander M., Roland, and Edward R.,
the latter being his youngest child. Mr. Folger stud-
ied medicine, and afterwards law, and was successively
chief justice of the Court of Sessions, a counsellor
at law, a member of both branches of the State Legis-
lature, and represented this district of Massachusetts
for four years in the Congress of the United States.

** For two years he made the astronomical calcula-
tions for ‘ Low’s Almanac,’ and in 1789 calculated an
_ almanac for the year 1790 which was published in Bos-
ton in his own name, and of which I now have a copy.

“* He also made a great many thermometers and sey-
eral telescopes, — the last of which, I think, was made
since 1821, and which showed very plainly the moun-
tains in the moon, the satellites of Jupiterand Saturn,
etc., and which is now in our Athensum museum.

** He acted as surveyor of land, repaired watches,
clocks, and chronometers, made compasses, engraved

108 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

on copper and other metals, made several chemical and
other scientific discoveries, calculated eclipses, under-
stood and could speak the French language, and was
one of the best astronomers, mat hoe as and me-
chanics of his day.

‘¢ His school education in youth -was very limited; he
never attended a high school, academy, or college, was
almost wholly self-taught, but was surpassed by few
collegians or others in any branch of business. He
never learned any trade, but was a natural genius.
When I met the late Hon. Wm. Mitchell in Cambridge, .
a short time before his death in 1869, he told me ‘a
greater mathematician than Walter Folger never lived,
if so great.’

‘¢ Once when going as a representative to Congress,
Mr. Folger and his sons carded, spun, and wove his
cotton and woollen cloth, cut out and made his whole
suit, and he went to Congress dressed — clear of hat
and shoes — entirely in home-made clothing.”

This is encouraging home industry with a ven-
geance, and the compiler would suggest that some of
our modern congressmen make a note of it, especially
those who are continually shouting for a higher pro-
tective tariff. Individuals and nations should be pro-
ducers as well as consumers.

Charles James Folger.

This distinguished and truly great man was born at
Nantucket, in an old house which stood on the site of
the Sherburne House on Orange Street. This event
occurred in the year 1818, consequently Judge Folger

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 109

is, at the present writing (1881), to use his own words,
‘¢threescore and three ’’ years of age. The dwelling
next north of the Sherburne House, now occupied" by
Mr. Francis Colburn, was subsequently built by Judge
Folger’s father, and the family occupied it for a num-
ber of years, or until young Folger was thirteen years
old, when they removed to Geneva, in the State of
New York. Mr. Folger has been a resident of that
town ever since. He graduated at Hobart College in
1836, and read law with Mark H. Sibley; was in 1839
admitted to the bar, and soon distinguished himself for
acuteness and eloquence. In 1844 he was appointed
judge of the Ontario Court of Common Pleas, but
soon resigned. In 1851 he was elected county judge
of Ontario County, serving four years. In 1861 he
was elected to the State Senate.

In arecent speech to the people of Geneva, Judge
Folger said: “ Twenty years ago you first sent me to the
State Senate. Five times in succession you gave me
that token of your confidence and trust. I fought the
good fight, I kept the faith, I believe, — I know that I
laid down the trust untarnished at your feet.’”? A daily
paper says of him: ‘‘ He was the ablest State senator
since Seward’s time, and maintained himself, in that
trying position, without encountering a breath of re-
proach. He was never classed as any man’s ‘ man.’”

In 1869 Judge Folger was appointed Sub-Treasurer
of the United States in New York City. On the death
of Chief Justice Church, of the Court of Appeals,
Judge Folger was appointed to the vacancy in 1880,
having, after his retirement from the treasury, been
an associate justice. And now that he has been

110 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

called by the President to so high and honorable a
position as that of Secretary of the Treasury, it is be-
lieved that in performing the duties of this high office,
he will not only show that he has the ability to perform
them, but will gain new honors for himself, and reflect
credit upon the great State he represents and the town
in which he was born.

Anna Gardner.

Anna Gardner, who was born at Nantucket Jan. 25,
1816, is a descendant of Thomas Macy, and connected
with other families prominent in the history of the
island. She very early in life identified herself with
the antislavery movement. At the age of twenty-five
she was instrumental in calling an antislavery conven-
tion upon the island. It was at this convention that
Frederick Douglass made his début as a public speaker.
She has always been foremost in every so-called re-
form of the day, and was one of the first teachers of
freedmen at the South, teaching in North and South
Carolina and Virginia. In 1878, after her return
North, Miss Gardner met with a severe accident
from which she has ever since been a sufferer. In
1881 she published a volume of her fugitive pieces in
prose and verse, entitled ‘‘ Harvest Gleanings’? and
dedicated to another lifelong reformer, Mrs. Charlotte
Austin Joy.

Phebe A. Hanaford.

This estimable lady was born at the little village of
Siasconset, on the island of Nantucket, May 6, 1829.
She was the daughter of George W.and Phebe Ann

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 111

(Barnard) Coffin. Mrs. Hanaford’s father and mother
were direct descendants of Tristram Coffin and Peter
Folger. She received her education in the public
and private schools of Nantucket, studying the higher
branches with an Episcopalian clergyman. Mrs. Hana-
ford was married at the age of twenty, and has a son
and daughter living, the son (Howard A.) being a Con-
gregationalist clergyman. In 1868 she was ordained
pastor of the Universalist Church in Hingham, Mass. ;
in 1870 she was installed in New Haven, Ct.; in 1874
she removed to Jersey City, since which time she has
been the pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd
on the Heights. Mrs. Hanaford is a pleasing speaker;
and that she wields a facile pen is evidenced by the
fact that she has written so many good books in prose
and verse, some of them reaching a sale of 20,000
copies. Her ‘‘ Women of the Century,” and lives of
George Peabody and Abraham Lincoln, are well known.

In a recent letter to the Boston Traveller, Wm. M.
F. Round, the genial author of ‘‘ Rosecroft,”’ after
paying a visit to Mrs. Hanaford at her home in Jersey

City, says of her: —

‘Mrs. Hanaford has a good many friends in Massa-
chusetts, — indeed, she has friends everywhere, —and -
a chat about her home will be interesting. Nobody
will be surprised if I say that this estimable lady lives
onthe Heights. ‘Those who have read her poems and
her books, and followed the vicissitudes of her event-
ful life, know that she lives ‘on the heights’ in a
double sense, for her home is in the highest part of
Jersy City. Here, near to the little Universalist
church over which she faithfully presides, is a modest

112 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

and tasteful little house, where much good work has
been done for Hanitaiieye Here is the study where
brave books have been written, a whole line of them
on a shelf by themselves. The walls are lined with
books high up; and above them are portraits and
framed autographs, intertwined with vines. Here I
read a communication dictated by Victoria, Queen of
England, and above it a protection paper in three lan-
guages, signed by George Washington. Here I see a
framed photograph of Charlotte Cushman, Mrs. Han- |
aford’s warm friend till death, and there a picture of ©
Father Ballou, the American pioneer of Universal- —
ism. In her little dining-room below stairs, many dis-
tinguished men and women have sat down to table.
Lucretia Mott has left the benediction of her smile in
this place, and I sit where Lady Duffus Hardy sat but
yesterday. Vis-a-vis to Mrs. Hanaford sits Miss Miles,
the brave preacher woman’s other self. Mrs. Hana-
ford is as far possible removed from the traditional
‘‘woman’s rights’? woman,—a gentle face, a gentle
voice, a heart full of big womanly thoughts, and hand
always open towards the poor. She is one of the most
earnest workers in the Sorosis Club, and much loved
in the social circle, wherein she is aways a strong in-
fluence for good.”’

Samuel Haynes Jenks.

Although not a native, Mr. Jenks was for many
years so closely identified with the town of Nantucket
in all that concerned its prosperity that he is deserving
a place among its distinguished men and women.

Samuel Haynes Jenks, the distinguished editor and

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 113

wit, who labored so long and earnestly in the interest
of education, and against the practice of imprisonment
for debt, was born in Boston, Sept. 20, 1789, and died
there at an advanced age. It was doubtless through
his persistent efforts with pen and voice that public
schools were established at Nantucket. Certain it is
that through his influence with Admiral Sir Isaac
Coffin the Coffin School was founded. In a commu-_
nication to the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror in its
issue of Aug. 27, 1881, Hon. W. R. Easton says: —
‘*] distinctly remember of hearing before Admiral
Coffin left the island in 1826 that he had adopted a plan
for perpetuating his memory (which was the sole object
of his coming to the island), suggested to him by Hon.
Samuel H. Jenks, which differed materially from sey-
eral projects which he had in his own mind. But not
to rely on fickle recollection, I prefer to let Mr. Jenks
speak for himself. He, in a letter to me, under date
Feb. 5, 1859, said: ‘I took the gouty old hero to ’Scon-
set, as I had before done with the negro prince [Saun-
ders]. On the way he disclosed to me the object of his
visit. It was, he said,—having no immediate heirs,
—to do something to cause his name to be remem-
bered. Should he build a church, he asked, or raise
a great monument, or purchase a ship for the town’s
benefit? etc. Full of the enthusiasm and zeal with
which I had so long been excited on the subject of
schools, a thought at once struck me. ‘‘If you raise a
monument, Sir Isaac,” I said, ‘‘ it will not be looked at
by more than a hundred people once a year. If you
build a church, as you are an Episcopalian, it will nei-
_ ther be prenented, nor attended ; for there is scarcely

114 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

one, besides myself, of that order in this place. And
as to the purchase of a vessel, if done at all, it should
be for the purpose of nautical instruction. The best
thing you can do, the deed that will make you forever
remembered, is to establish and endow a free school.
You will thus benefit your numerous kinsfolk and
their grateful posterity, while you effectually perpetu-
ate your name.’’ He at once adopted the suggestion,
- entered upon the preliminary details, and I felt oneal
in the matter of my struggles with the town.’ ”’

The compiler has been kindly allowed by Mr. Easton
to make an extract from a letter received by him from
the talented widow of Mr. Jenks, in relation to Mr.
Easton’s communication to the Inquirer and Mirror,
which, it is believed, will be of interest to all who
ever knew Samuel Haynes Jenks and his wife
Martha: —

Hion. WM. R. EASTON: |

My Highly Respected Friend, —I take the liberty to
render my especial thanks ei the handsome notice
that you gave in the last Inquirer of the efforts of my
husband to establish public schools, and also the Coffin
School in Nantucket. _

Our family gratefully remember your noble endeavor
to save his name from the oblivion into which the
community which he has so signally benefited seem
willing it should fall. My husband was one who never
swerved in purpose; but when untoward circumstances
hindered his progress, he patiently bided his time, and.
at the earliest opportunity renewed his action. Three
things he wished to see accomplished, and he gave his
heart and mind and brain to the work ; viz., public

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 115

schools in Nantucket, the abolishment of imprison-
ment for debt, and a girls’ high school in Boston :
and I thank heaven that he lived to see the accom-
plishment of them all. He cared not for honor or
applause for his labor; he used to say that all he
asked for was success.” 7 |

The Nantucket Inquirer, while under Mr: Jenks’s
management, was a power; certain it is that never
since his day has it been so ably conducted. (See.
Newspapers, page 225.)

Arthur Elwell Jenks.

Arthur E., the son of George W. and Mary (Wins-
low) Jenks, was born at Nantucket, May 24, 1837, and
received his education here, graduating at the High
School.

He very early in life evinced a decided taste for
poetry and art, but adopted the profession of a den-
tist, studying with the late Dr. A. H. Tobey of New
Bedford, which profession he has successfully fol-
lowed for many years. Dr. Jenks is a true artist and
poet. Receiving nothing but a common-school educa-
tion, he has written prose and poetry that for elegance
of diction, sparkle, and dash would compare favorably
with the efforts of more pretentious authors. He has
never received from others any instruction whatever
in art, and yet the choice little gems in oil and crayon
which he has produced stamp him an artist of merit.
He is now becoming well known abroad as a lecturer,
and in his own town he is always called upon for
something, either speech or poem, at every public
gathering.

116 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Abigail Macy.

About the year 1774, a large number of Nantucket
families removed to North Carolina ; among them was
a young lady by the name of Abigail Macy. ‘This
young lady subsequently married Benjamin Stanton
of Beaufort, N. C., removing from thence to Jefferson
County, Ohio, where the father of ‘‘ the great war
secretary,’? Edwin Macy Stanton, was born. The
following item is from the N sintibched Inquirer —
Mirror of Dec. 17, 1881 :—

‘¢ Nantucket Stock in the Cabinet. — As so much has
lately been written concerning the posterity of Tris-
tram Coffin and Peter Folger, and it has been demon-
_ strated that the leading treasury officials of the United
States and Canada are both connected with our island,
the one as native born, the other as an offshoot,
a descendant of Thomas Macy desires us again to re
mind our readers that Edwin Macy Stanton, who was
the official head of the War Department during the
Rebellion, was also of Nantucket origin. Secretary
Stanton, according to the authority of the Macy gene-
alogy, was the grandson of Benjamin Stanton, who
married Abigail Macy, daughter of David Macy and
Dinah Gardner. This David was a son of John Macy,
Jr., grandson of John Macy, and great-grandson &
the original Thomas Macy. As the first John Macy
married Deborah Gardner, daughter of Richard, the
second John married Judith Worth, and David Macy
married Deborah Gardner (daughter of Solomon), it
may be said that the Nantucket Gardners and Worths,
as well as the Macys, may claim relationship with

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DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. At?

Edwin Macy Stanton. Those who are sufficiently cu-
rious in such matters may follow the trail still farther,
and perhaps it will appear that the war secretary was
also connected with the Coffins and the Folgers.”’

Zaccheus Macy.

Zaccheus Macy was born at Nantucket, Dec. 7, 1713,
and died here, Oct. 27, 1797. Although Zaccheus
Macy may have possessed nothing more than a local
reputation, yet he is considered worthy a place among
distinguished Nantucketers. The compiler is indebted
to the Macy Genealogy for the following: —

** Zaccheus Macy for about forty years was the prin-
cipal surgeon on the island of Nantucket, and during
that time he performed over two thousand operations,
for which he always declined to be paid. He felt it his
Christian duty to serve his fellow-men in that capacity,
therefore he could not receive any pecuniary compensa-
tion. He appears to have inherited the energy of his
great-grandfather, Thomas Macy; was a very promi-
nent and exemplary man, much beloved and respected.
He was very systematic in keeping his accounts, many
of which are yet preserved.’’ On page 184 will be
found one of Dr. Macy’s letters to the Massachusetts
Historical Society.

Alfred Macy.

Hon. Alfred Macy was born at Nantucket, Sept. 1,
1831, and was partially educated here. It was the dying
request of Mr. Macy’s father that his sons should learn
mechanical trades; and in deference to his father’s

118 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

wishes, when he became old enough, chose the trade
of a machinist.

After he had learned his trade he went back to his
books, and applied himself to study, graduating at the
Merrimack Normal Institute, N. H., in 1850.

He taught two years in New Hampshire, and in 1852
opened a private school at Nantucket. Upon the retire-
ment of the late Judge E. M. Gardner from the South
Grammar School in this town, Mr. Macy was apport
his successor as principal of that school.

When the new Coffin School building was completed
in 1854, Mr. Macy was chosen to fill a similar position
in that institution. That his services were appreciated
is evidenced by the fact that he remained in this school
for seven years. In 1861 he was appointed collector
of the port of Nantucket. Previous to this he had
applied himself assiduously to the study of law, and
was admitted to the bar.the same year he was ap-
pointed collector. In 1871 he was elected one of the
governor’s council, and died, while occupying that
position, in 1874, having been chosen for a fourth
term.

In 1857 Mr. Macy married Anne Mitchell, daughter
of William and Lydia (Coleman) Mitchell. She was
born Noy. 8, 1820. Mrs. Macy survives her husband,
and is deserving of more than a passing notice. In-
heriting a large share of her parents’ abilities, quiet,
unassuming, and retiring, never parading her accom-
plishments before the world, she has, since her hus-
band’s decease, led a very secluded life. Possess-
ing a winning manner and a pleasant voice, being
thoroughly conversant with and speaking fluently

Pit dedi lh

DISTINGUISHED’ NANTUCKETERS. ic ee

seven languages, — English, French, German, Greek,
Italian, Latin, and Spanish,—she cannot be other
than the brilliant conversationalist that she is.

As a teacher, Alfred Macy had no superior. Kind
and genial, with a strict sense of justice, and a happy
faculty of imparting his knowledge to others, he won
the love and esteem of every scholar in the school.
The compiler of this book remembers with pride that
he was one of Alfred Macy’s pupils, and gratefully
acknowledges his indebtedness to this man, who, more
than any other, contributed to whatever success he
may at times have attained in life; and begs to here
record this slight tribute to his memory.

George Nelson Macy.

Gen. Macy was born at Nantucket in September,
1837, and died.in Boston, February, 1875.

‘From Ball’s Bluff to Appomattox Court House he
marched and fought. He served through the Peninsu-
lar campaign of McClellan; through the dangers of
the first and second attacks on Fredericksburg; lost
a hand at Gettysburg; was wounded in the Wilder-
ness, and again on the James. Starting as lieutenant,
he won his way by gallantry and efficiency to be major-
general by brevet, and provost-marshal-general of the
army.’’? — Genealogy of the Macy Family.

Roland H. Macy,

This gentleman, who died in 1877, was born at Nan-
cucket, and was one of New York’s most successfal

120 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

merchants, having in his employ at the time of his
decease upwards of five hundred clerks, and taking in
cash during the holidays more than $15,000 a day.
Mr. Macy was one of the first to employ female clerks,
and through his influence and example women have
attained to higher positions in business than ever
before. The late Mrs. Margaret La Forge was one of
his first female employés, and doubtless gave Mr.
Macy an idea of what women could do.

William Mitchell.

The following article is from the pen of Mrs. Anne
Mitchell Macy, and will doubtless be read with interest
by all of Mr. Mitchell’s many admirers.

Among the names of those men whose works have
been of value to the scientific world, we find recorded
that of William Mitchell. Born at Nantucket in the
latter part of the eighteenth century, he early mani-
fested an interest in the wonders of the heavens, and
at the age of nineteen observed the comet of 1811,—
publishing his records, which were duly noticed by the
astronomers of our country. The approaching war
between the United States and Great Britain, threaten-
ing the shipping interests of the community, his father
being at that time largely engaged in the whale fisher-
ies, prevented Mr. Mitchell from taking the Harvard
College course for which he had been preparing, and
in lieu of this he became a teacher. During the war
of 1812 he married Lydia Coleman, a direct descendant
from the earliest settlers of the island. Being a woman
of rare talent and energy, she was not only a help-

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 121

meet to him in the usual acceptation of the term, but
a powerful aid in all her husband’s pursuits.

-During his few years as teacher, he devoted his
moments of relaxation from school duties to scientific
investigations. Frequently he gave lectures upon his
favorite subject to houses crowded with intelligent
listeners. . In a paper printed in 1827, in reference to
one delivered the evening previous, we find the follow-
ing paragraph, in editorial type: —

‘*Mr. Mitchell has acquired that perfect knowledge
of the elements of his subject which enables him to
illustrate its principles with extraordinary ease and per-
spicuity. His apparatus, the product of his own genius
and research, is admirably calculated to assist the com-
prehension of the student; and his verbal elucidations
are at all times remarkably clear and familiar, ren-
dered interesting by peculiar accuracy of diction and
conciseness of style.’’

About this time, the town of Nantucket resolved to
establish a free school, of which Mr. Mitchell was
invited to take charge. Previous, however, to the
commencement of this school, he was allowed to visit
Similar institutions in New York and other cities,
already in progress. Returning, he organized his
school immediately upon the monitorial plan, com-
mencing with two hundred pupils, four hundred
having applied for admission. A second school had
not then been thought of. His first public school was —
opened in the old Town Hall. Mr. Mitchell’s success
as teacher, public and private, — aside from his ability
to impart knowledge and his great learning, — lay in
the fact that he endeared the pupils to him, exacting

122 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

unqualified obedience through that perfect love that
casteth out all fear. After some years as instructor,
finding his health yielding, he was obliged to relin-
quish this favorite pursuit, and become more properly
a business man. Fora while he was secretary of the
Phenix Marine Insurance Company, and then became
cashier of the Pacific Bank, which latter trust he faith-
fully fulfilled till he removed from the island in 1861.
Never, as long as he lived on the island, however,
did he throw aside his interest in schools and school

children, being president of the trustees of the Cof-:

fin School even after he had passed the allotted age of
man. Also a promoter of general knowledge, he was
connected with the first library opened in his native
town; and when this collection of books was merged
into the library of the Athenzeum, he became one of
the trustees,— at the time of the fire in 1846 being
president of this institution; and when by this fire the
books of the Athenzeum were totally destroyed, dona-
tions were made through Mr. Mitchell by his personal
friend Hon. Mr. Bowditch towards its reconstruction,
—a catalogue of the library of the late Timothy Pick-
ering being sent to the former that he might select
names of works to the amount of eight or nine hun-
dred volumes. This selection was duly made, and the
books were stored at Mr. Mitchell’s residence until
the new Athenzum building was in readiness for
occupancy

In this manner was the nucleus of the present valu-
able library formed.

Mr. Mitchell’s services were early appreciated from
a political point of view. Whena young man, in the

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DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 123

twenty-ninth year of his age, he was sent as a delegate
to the convention held in 1820, to revise the Constitu-
tion of Massachusetts; from which period he never
ceased to have an interest in the welfare of our great
Commonwealth. :

During the thirty or forty years preceding his re-
moval from Nantucket, Mr. Mitchell was at one time
a member of the State Senate, and for several years
one of Governor Briggs’s council. Notwithstanding
he held these offices‘of honor (thrust upon him, never
sought by him), his mind was rather that of a student
than politician. 3

Chairman of the Harvard Observatory Committee,
and for a long time one of the overseers of Harvard
College, he was in constant correspondence with the
learned men, not only of our own country but of Eu-
rope; exchanging observations with the Astronomer
Royal of England and Sir John Herschel.

With strong intellect, calm judgment, sincerity of
purpose, and love for his fellow-beings, he drew about
him valued friends wherever his lines were cast, and
his residence was a rendezvous for the learned and cul-
tivated. Having a wife in every respect his peer,
through her aid he spared no pains in the educa-
tion of his children, carefully noticing any individual
specialty, and bringing this to the front for instruc-
tion. |

Though all of Mr. Mitchell’s children were students,
two alone followed directly in their father’s course:
viz., Henry Mitchell, assistant in the coast survey,
whose opinions as civil engineer are authority the
world over; and Maria Mitchell, the well-known as-

124 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

tronomer.* So genial was Mr. Mitchell in his fam-
ily that his presence was always essential to their joy
and mirth. Quietly observant of their happiness and a
promoter of the same, he was as young as the youngest
and zealous as the most earnest. However deeply en-
gaged in his calculations, —for his computations were
mostly carried on in their midst, as a matter of choice,
— he was never known to check them in their amuse-
ments, neither to hush the exuberant spirit. On the
other hand, the children were careful not to interfere
with their father’s work by addressing any heedless
remark to him which might interrupt his devotion to
science, of which they were justly proud.

Mr. Mitchell continued to reside at Nantucket until
the death of his wife in 1861, and lived in his native
State until August, 1865, when his daughter, the only
member of his household remaining with him (the oth-
ers being married and scattered), was called to fill the
chair of mathematical astronomy at Vassar College.
Her father was invited by the founder of that institu-
tion, Matthew Vassar, to become their guest as long
as Miss Mitchell remained with the Faculty. Here on
the banks of the Hudson, free from all care, he spent
the remainder of his life very happily, in thought and
study, every one of the sons and daughters, the sons-
in-law, and the daughters-in-law visiting him several
times respectively, during his residence at the Vassar
Observatory. His death, which occurred in the spring

* The reader is respectfully referred to page 118, where will
be found a reference to another daughter of Mr. Mitchell, whose
modesty is only surpassed by her wonderful talents,

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 125

of 1869, was deeply felt, not only by his surviving nine
children who rose to call him blessed, but by a host of
friends near and far. The following few lines, ex-
tracted from a Poughkeepsie paper, will best show
how Mr. Mitchell’s life work was valued by the in-
mates of Vassar College: —

‘One has left us whose sympathizing words and
benevolent, fatherly smiles filled our homesick hearts
with content when we first assembled at the college,
nearly four years ago. Jo the younger members of
our little community, Mr. Mitchell was like an affec-
tionate grandfather, to the older ones a much-loved
father; and there is not a home in New England, in
the North or in the South, that has been or is now
represented in the college, but will feel that in his
death it has lost a very dear friend. What Abraham
Lincoln was to our country, William Mitchell was to
us. When we met together in the first September of
our college, a beautiful old age rested upon him. His
head was crowned with silvered hair, and the expres-
sion of his face was indicative of a character replete
with goodness. Very soon we learned the secret of
that beautiful expression; for his whole life, although
unusually active, had been one of purity and humility.
Mr. Mitchell’s remains were taken to Nantucket, to
the residence of his son-in-law, Hon. Alfred Macy,
and in accordance with the usages of Friends, to
which sect he belonged, was quietly interred April
22, 1869.”

Maria Mitchell.

The following article was written by Mrs. Anne
Mitchell Macy, the talented sister of Miss Mitchell,
especially for this work.

126 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Maria Mitchell, the astronomer, was born at Nan-
tucket, Aug. 1, 1818, the second daughter of Wil-
liam and Lydia Coleman Mitchell. She received her
education, in common with her brothers and sisters, in
part from her father and otherwise at private schools.
Showing an interest in her father’s pursuit, —1. e., the
study of the heavens, —she assisted him in his obser-
vations, and finally became a student of mathematical
astronomy. In 1847, with the smallest of her father’s
telescopes, she discovered the comet which bears her
name, and her fame soon spread through America and
Europe. For this discovery a very fine gold medal
was sent to her by the King of Denmark, this medal
having been offered by Christian VIII. to the first dis-
coverer of any new comet.

For a long time Miss Mitchell’s observations were
made in her father’s observatory with her father’s
instruments. At length, in token of admiration for
her unwearied researches, Miss Elizabeth Peabody,
and a few other Massachusetts women, contributed
and presented to her a fine large telescope, for which
she erected an observatory near the site of the pres-
ent Coffin School-house. Before leaving Nantucket
(and for some years after), she was employed to make
computations for the ‘‘ United States Nautical Alma-
nac,’’ under the superintendence of Admiral Davis,
for which she received a handsome remuneration.
Feeling the limits of a residence at Nantucket too
binding for the scope of scientific knowledge, she pur-
chased a house in Lynn, transporting not only her
telescope but the observatory itself; and to this city
she removed, accompanied by her father. After a few

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 127

years, upon the opening of Vassar College, Miss
Mitchell was invited to fill the chair of mathematical
astronomy, whither she went, her father again accom- .
panying her.

Having the entire charge of the observatory con-
nected with Vassar College, giving lessons to classes
proper, only a few hours each day, she here leads a
life suited to her tastes, devoted to the welfare of the
college and in the interests of science. Being the
oldest resident, individually and professionally, she is
revered, not only by the students who come under her
instruction, but by the whole college and its faculty.”’

Lucretia Mott.

Lucretia Mott died at her residence near Philadel-
phia on the evening of Nov. 11, 1880, at the advanced
age of eighty-seven years ten months and eight days.
She was born at Nantucket, Jan. 3, A. D. 1793, in a
house which stood on the spot now occupied by the
residence of Capt. Obed Starbuck, on Fair Street.
Her father subsequently built the house now occupied
by Judge T. C. Defriez, next south of her birthplace,
in which her early childhood was passed. She was a
direct descendant of the first Tristram Coffin on the
paternal side, and of the first Peter Folger on the
maternal side, her father bearing the name of Thomas
Coffin, and her mother that of Anna (Folger) Coffin.

In 1804, Lucretia then being only eleven years old,
her parents removed to Boston, Iere for about two
years she attended the Boston schools, with great
advantage to herself. At the age of thirteen she
was sent to a Friends’ boarding school, in Dutchess

128 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. _

County, N. Y., where she remained three years, dur-
ing the last year employed as an assistant teacher,
which shows how great her proficiency had been.
Her parents meantime had removed to Philadelphia,
where she subsequently joined them in 1809. Two
years later, in 1811, at the age of eighteen, she was
united in marriage with James Mott, of Philadelphia,
who afterwards became a business partner of her
father. Thus early settled in life, the womanly duties
of wife and mother devolved upon her and were dis-

charged with unerring fidelity, five out of six children
born to her having arrived at maturity, and lived to

the credit of their mother’s excellent example..

She was an approved minister of the Society of
Friends, and in 1829 took sides with Elias Hicks and
was thereafter known as a “ Hicksite.”’ (The Coffin
Family, page 62.)

Mrs. Mott was a philanthropist, a genuine one, and
exerted in her sphere a wonderful influence ; she was
always foremost in all good works, —a woman of su-
perior intellect, tact, and of great endowments. She
died mourned sincerely by the whole country.

Reuben R. Pinkham

Was born at Nantucket, Jan. 1, 1800. He entered the
U.S. navy, and early received promotion in the ser-
vice. He died Oct. 27, 1839, aged thirty-nine years.
The following incident, contributed to the Army and
Navy Journal by Commodore W. B. Whiting, is here
related, as illustrative of the character of the man: —
‘¢Tn 1833, the typhoon of the Northern Pacific was
not as well understood as it is now, and that sea was

2
a

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 129

‘little known to our naval vessels. In that year the
‘Potomac,’ commanded by Commodore John Downes,
was crossing its waters on her cruise around the world;
Reuben R. Pinkham was her third lieutenant. A
thorough sailor, born in a Northern whaling port, he
had made several voyages to the North Pacific as
a whaler, and was comparatively familiar with that
region, where the other officers were strangers. The
day was drawing to a close; Pinkham had the watch,
and the commodore was walking the deck. The wind,
which before was fresh. had increased to a gale; the
top-gallant sails were handed, topsails reefed, and
spanker brailed up, when all at once Pinkham gave
the order: ‘Man the weather head braces — weather
main-brace — weather main-topsail brace — lee crojeck
[cross-jack] braces!’ ‘ What is that for, Mr. Pink-
ham?’ asked the commodore. ‘ We shall have the
wind out here in a moment, sir,’ said Pinkham,
stretching his arm out, and pointing toleeward. With
that the commodore ran over to the lee-rail, and looked
anxiously out in the direction indicated. Presently he
returned and said, ‘I see no signs of it, Mr. Pinkham; .
let the men leave the braces.’ With that a number of
the crew dropped the ropes, and Pinkham called out,
* Keep hold of those braces, every man of you!’ when
they resumed their grasp. The commodore’s face
flushed with anger to find his directions thus disre-
garded, and he called out in a peremptory tone, ‘ Let
the men leave the braces, sir!’ Again the crew
dropped the ropes from their hands, when Pinkham,
shaking his trumpet at them, exclaimed: ‘ Don’t any
of you oot let go of those ropes!’ At that moment

130 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the wind did not die away, but stopped, and the sails
flapped against the masts. Raising his trumpet to his
lips, Pinkham shouted, ‘ Haul taut, haul of all!’ and
the ponderous yards swung to a reversed direction.
They had hardly done so when the wind came out from
the opposite quarter, and struck the ship like a sledge-
hammer. She bent over before it, but shaking the
spray from her bows, dashed forward unharmed. Com-
modore Downes said not a word, but rushed into his
cabin, and presently the orderly came up to Mr. Pink-
ham and said the commodore wished him to send to |
the first heutenant to relieve him for a few minutes,
as he wished to see him in the cabin. Entering the
cabin, Pinkham found the commodore seated by a
table, with a decanter of wine and two wineglasses
before him. Pushing one of the latter towards his
visitor, he said, ‘ Take a glass of wine, Mr. Pinkham.
Mr. Pinkham, I consider myself indebted to you for
my own life, and for the lives of all on board this ship.
Ifad you not hauled the yards just when you did, and
had the wind found the ship unprepared, and taken
the sails aback, not all the power on earth could have
moved the yards, and the ship would have gone down
stern foremost. But I tell you frankly that had the
wind not come out as you predicted, I would have put
you under arrest in two minutes.’ ‘ Commodore
Downes,’ replied the lieutenant, ‘ I did not intend any
disrespect, and I should be sorry if you thought I did;
but I have been in these seas before, and am familiar
with these sudden changes of wind. I saw undoubtful
indications of such change then, and knew that I had
no time for explanation.’ ” |

a

———
== :

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 131

Lieut. Pinkham was, at the time of his death, first
lieutenant of the ‘‘ Constitution” (‘* Old Ironsides’’).

‘To T. W. Calder, Esq., son-in-law of the late Lieut.

Pinkham, the compiler is indebted for the above facts.

William Rotch.

William Rotch, an enterprising and successful mer-
chant of Nantucket and New Bedford, was born at
Nantucket, Oct. 4 O. S. (15 N.S.), 1734, and died at
New Bedford, May 16,1828 (Historical and Genealogi-
cal Register, July, 1877).

Mr. Rotch is deserving of more than a passing notice,
but space only can be given for a few of the most im-
portant events of his life. Born in the first half of the
eighteenth century, he was a man of mature years
when those two great struggles, the American and
French Revolutions, shook the world, each in its
turn. Being a Friend, he of course took no part in
the American Revolution as an active participant; but
like his illustrious contemporary, Franklin, he served
his native town in other ways. During the year 1779,
numerous depredations having been committed upon
our commerce by the British, Mr. Rotch and two
others were appointed messengers to proceed to New-

port and lay the matter before the commanders of the

British army and navy. Their mission was success-
ful, Sir Henry Clinton and Sir George Collier guaran-
teeing that the depredations should be stopped.

In 1785, Mr. Rotch, with his son Benjamin, went to
England, had an interview with the younger Pitt, and

laid before him the distressing condition in which the

war had left Nantucket. Being unable to obtain any

132 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

satisfaction from the British government, after months
of weary waiting he proceeded to France, where he met
Calonne, Vergennes, DeCastro, Mirabeau, Talleyrand,
and others. He finally succeeded im making terms
with France, and prosecuted the business of whaling at
Dunkirk until the breaking out of the French Revolu-
tion, leaving France only two days before Louis XVI.
was guillotined. He subsequently carried on in Eng-
land at Milford Haven the same business. Wik cay

‘¢ Mr. Rotch sent from Dunkirk the first whale ships |
that ever entered the Pacific Ocean.’ Mr. F. C. San-
ford informs the writer that he has a long list of ship-
masters from Nantucket who commanded Mr. Rotch’s
ships.

Although Mr. Rotch was a Friend, and as such could
take no part in any way in the war, and was sent by
the town on several occasions as a messenger to the
British commanders to secure protection against the
depredations of the refugees, there are many people
still living who believe he was a Tory at heart, and
that he was guilty of smuggling. Certain it is that
he was iried for the latter offence, and by his own
showing was fearful of being convicted. It certainly
is a very singular fact that he should prefer to carry
on the business of whaling in a foreign country after
the war was over.* .

Owen C. Spooner.

While engaged upon this book, during the past
winter, the compiler was informed that there was a
quiet, unpretending gentleman living in the town, who,
although he had never received any recognition from

* Never was a more true, wate iotic American, only non-resist-
ant. F, Cc. 8,

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 133

the government, or any credit whatever for it, had
made a discovery many years ago which had been of

_immense value to navigators ever since, and that was

the discovery of sunset longitude. The gentleman
referred to was Mr. Owen C. Spooner, who was born
near New Bedford in 1805. In early life he was a
sailor, and the following facts in relation to his dis-
covery are here given in order that his name may not
sink into oblivion. As the compiler understands the
matter, Lieut. Maury has heretofore had the credit of
discovering sunset longitude; but if Mr. Spooner was
the discoverer, he should have the credit of it, and
he is worthy to be placed among “‘ distinguished Nan-
tucketers.”

In answer to the compiler’s inquiries in regard to the
matter, the following article appeared in the Nantucket
Journal of Dec. 1, 1881, which tells the story: —

Credit to whom Credit is due. — There are doubtless
many who are not aware that the credit for the discov-
ery of sunset longitude, though in an English nauti-
cal almanac claimed by a British admiral, rightfully
belongs to Mr. Owen C. Spooner, of this town.

On the voyage previous to that of the discovery, the
second mate, Mr. Charles Clark of Maine, remarked in
presence of the mate, Mr. Hoeg, and Mr. Spooner, that
he believed sunset longitude could be obtained.

On the following voyage, in the ship ‘ Atlantic,”
Dec. 16, 1840, when in latitude 4.18 S., just before
sunset, Mr. Hoeg, then captain, said to Mr. Spooner,
‘‘Note the time by the chronometer, and let us see
about this sunset longitude.”’ The captain, mate,

134 | THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

and Mr. Spooner worked upon the knotty problem
until dark, when the two former gave it up. Not so
Mr. Spooner. He persevered three hours longer and
obtained the longitude, 116 W., and’it corresponded
with that of the afternoon. That night he forgot
to write up his journal. The next morning they got
a sunrise longitude, which agreed with the forenoon’s,
and so they continued to test it, thus proving its cor-
rectness beyond a doubt.

They informed every ship they spoke of the discov-
ery, and by the time they arrived at Tahiti it was very
generally known. Many disbelieved it, but Capt.
William H. Gardner, of the ‘‘ Richard Mitchell,” con-
firmed it by stating that he had navigated his ship
from the Society to the Galapagos Islands altogether
by sunset longitude.

In the next issue was published the following: —

Sunset Longitude. — Upon reading the article in our
last issue regarding the discovery of sunset longi-
tude, a gentleman called on us and made the follow-
ing statement: Said he, ‘‘ In 1853 I was a passenger on
ship ‘ Seaman,’ of Baltimore, Capt. William B. Daniels,
bound from San Francisco to the Eastern States. Just
before sunset one afternoon the captain said to me, ‘I
wish you would note the time by the chronometer ; I
want to get a sunset altitude.’ I had heard of this
method of obtaining longitude, but had never seen it
tried, so I noted the time ; and soon after the captain
announced the longitude and that his morning’s longi- |
tude was not quite correct, adding, ‘ Lieut. Maury did
a great thing for navigation when he discovered sun-

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 135

set longitude.’ ‘ Lieut. Maury!’ I exclaimed, ‘he
did n’t discover sunset longitude!’ and then I gave
him an account of its discovery as I had heard it, sim-
ilar to that published last week. ‘ Well,’ said Capt,
Daniels, ‘this is news tome. I have always heard it
attributed to Lieut. Maury.’ The captain, in common
with many others at that time, was keeping a separate
account of winds and currents for Lieut. Maury,
United States navy, on blank charts furnished by
him, and when he made out his statement for that day
he added in a foot-note the information I had given
him, telling me that if he ever heard from it he would
communicate with me. As he never did, I presume
no notice was taken of the matter.”

Again in the same paper of Dec. 15, 1881: —

Sunset Longitude again. —Since our last issue, we
have learned from Mr. Owen C. Spooner the follow-
ing additional facts attendant upon the discovery of
sunset longitude: The ‘ Atlantic” touched at Tahiti
after the discovery; and among the vessels at that port
was the ship “ Columbus,”’ of Nantucket, Capt. William
B. Gardner, which had three men sick on board. As
there was no doctor at Tahiti, the ‘‘ Columbus ”’ pro-
ceeded to Callao, where an American frigate was sta-
tioned, that the sick men might have the benefit of
medical treatment from the physician attached to the
frigate. Commodore Maury was a lieutenant on this
man-of-war, and then and there for the first time heard
of the discovery of sunset longitude from the first offi-
cer of the ‘‘ Columbus,’’? now Capt. Henry IF. Coffin,
of Brooklyn, who had learned it from Mr. Spooner.

136 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Lieut. Maury ‘‘ saw through’? the whole thing in a
moment, and expressed great surprise that it had never
been discovered before. He also said he would use his ~
best endeavor to obtain for Mr. Spooner some substan-
tial recognition from government of the service he had
rendered navigation ; but Mr. Spooner never heard
anything from him.

Mary Starbuck.

The “ great Mary Starbuck,”’ as she has often been
termed by her admirers, although not born at Nan-
tucket, was closely identified with the early history of
the place, having been the daughter of its first chief
magistrate, and the mother of the first white child
born upon the island.

From Wm. C. Folger, Esq., the compiler has eth.
ered a few facts in relhiien to this celebrated woman
He says: —

*¢ Mary Coffin, daughter of Tristram and Dionis,
was born in Haverhill, Mass., Feb. 20, 1645, and came
with her parents to Nantucket in 1660 or 1661. She
married Nathaniel Starbuck, Sr., son of Edward
and Katherine (Reynolds) Starbuck, probably in 1661
or 1662. Their first child was a daughter named
Mary Starbuck, who was born March 30, 1663. She
married James Gardner, son of Richard and Sarah.
They had four sons and two daughters. She died in
1696, and was the first white child born on the island
of Nantucket. The great Mary, her mother, had in
all ten children, four sons and six daughters. She
died Noy. 13, 1717, and was buried in the Friends’

DISTINGUISHED NANTUCKETERS. 134

first burial ground, in the upper town.* Nathaniel her
husband died June 6, 1719, aged about eighty-three
years, and was buried at the same place.

“ Mary Starbuck was called by writers of that period
‘the great woman,’ a‘ Deborah’ among them for her
wisdom and great ability, being as often consulted in
town affairs as she was in religious matters. She is
said—on the authority of her eldest son, Nathaniel,
Jr.—to have been baptized by Peter Folger, in Waip-
tequage Pond; but about 1704 she became convinced
of the truth as taught by the Friends, joined them, and
became one of their ministers. Her family after that
generally became Friends, and her son Nathaniel, and
daughter Priscilla Coleman, and grandsons Elihu and
Nathaniel Coleman, were at a later period Quaker
ministers.

‘* Nathaniel, Sr., and Mary Starbuck probably lived
on the Cornish farm; Nathaniel, Jr., near the south
end of Maxcy’s Pond.’’

Many more names might be added to this list, in-
cluding Lieut.-Commander John G. Mitchell, Rev.
C. C. Hussey, George Howland Folger, Dr. Charles
Winslow, Lieut. Richard Mitchell, Major Tracy, Henry
Mitchell, Anna C. Starbuck, Lieut. Wm. R. Hathaway,
Maria L. Owen, Lieut.-Commander T. M. Gardner,
Commander G. W. Coffin. In fact, there is a host of
Nantucketers who have become distinguished in the
arts and sciences, in the army and navy, in business
and the various professions; but lack of space compels
the compiler to stop.

* See cemeteries, page 60

138 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

DISTRICTS.

The divisions of the town are called districts, instead
of wards. ‘There are four of them, situated as Suilhciaed
All that part of the town lying north of Main and west
of Centre Streets is called District No.1; all north
of Main and east of Centre Streets, District No. 2;
all south of Main and east of Orange Streets, District
No. 3; all south of Main and west of Onn bi:
District No. 4.

DRIVES AND ROADS.

The roads leading from the town are sandy and
deeply ‘‘rutted.”? But little care is taken of them.
Spasmodic efforts have at various times been made
to patch them up; but they seem always to have been
in a state of chronic dilapidation.

What Nantucket lacks in roads she makes up in her
agreeable, pleasing, and novel revelations in the way
of scenery. Perhaps one. of the best drives is through
Pleasant Street and Atlantic Avenue; thence to South
Shore and Surfside. From there a drive to ’Sconset
along the bank— taking in Tom Never’s Head onthe
way — will give one of the grandest views of the ocean
that can be imagined. The undulating moors on one
side of you, with their ever varying, always pleasing
variety of coloring in the way of beautiful wild flowers
that grow in such wonderful abundance on this seem-
ingly sterile island; the gentle breeze bringing to your

senses their grateful perfume, mingled with the invig-.

orating fragrance of the pines and salt sea that rolls in
such magnificence on your other side, tossing aloft its

«

DROWNING. 139

white arms, —its hoarse voice, mellowed by distance,
coming soothingly to your ears; behind you the old
town sitting like a queen in the purple distance; before
you Sancoty’s tower piercing the deep blue of the
sky; and the little village of ’Sconset nestling so se-
-renely near by, — will give you an idea of Arcadia, and
your drive will become a dream remembered with
pleasure, years and years after.*

Another pleasant drive is to Polpis, in the vicinity
of which is to be found one of the best conducted farms
on the island,—that of F. C. Sanford, Esq.; and
from Polpis to Quaise, or Sesachacha, or Quidnet,
ending once more in ’Sconset. Still another pleasant
drive is to the water works, by way of the Cliff. Even
if the roads are bad, with a good horse and carriage
one can enjoy a ride on Nantucket, if one is so minded.

DROWNING.

Although thousands of people every year avail them-
selves of the pleasures of boating and bathing at Nan-
tucket, there are very few cases of drowning on record
here.t Of course, wherever there is water, whether
fresh or salt, there is a chance for an accidental drown-
ing. As few people realty understand what course is
necessary to pursue in the case of a person supposed

* The regular road to ’Sconset is marked by milestones, but
many persons prefer what is called the “old road,” a little south
of the new or regular road. The one mentioned above is “the
longest way round.”

+ Those who have lost their lives by shipwreck are of course
excepted.

areata 2 0.

140 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

to be drowned, the following rules — copied from the
revised regulations for the government of the life-sav-
ing service of the United States, kindly loaned the
compiler by J. B. Macy, Esq.—are here given. The
compiler sincerely hopes, however, that it will never
be necessary to refer to these pages in order to test the
rules here given.

Directions for restoring the Apparently Drowned.

RULE I.— Arouse the Patient. -— Unless in danger
of freezing do not move the patient, but instantly ex-
pose the face to a current of fresh air, wipe dry the
mouth and nostrils, rip the clothing so as to expose
the chest and waist, and give two or three quick,
smarting slaps on the stomach and chest with the
open hand. If the patient does not revive, then pro-
ceed thus: —

RULE II. — To draw off Water, etc., from the Stomach
and Chest. —If the jaws are clinched, separate them,
and keep the mouth open by placing between the teeth
a cork, or small bit of wood; turn the patient on the
face, a large bundle of tightly rolled clothing being
placed beneath the stomach, and press heavily over it
for half a minute, or so long as fluids flow freely from
the mouth.

RvLE IL1.—To produce Breathing. — Clear the mouth
and throat of mucus by introducing into the throat the
corner of a handkerchief wrapped closely around the
forefinger; turn the patient on the back, the roll of
clothing being so placed beneath it as to raise the pit
of the stomach above the level of any other part of the
body. Ifthere be another person present, let him, with

DROWNING. 141

a piece of dry cloth, hold the tip of the tongue out of
one corner of the mouth (this prevents the tongue
- from falling back and choking the entrance to the
windpipe), and with the other hand grasp both wrists
and keep the arms forcibly stretched back above the
head, thereby increasing the prominence of the ribs,
which tends to enlarge the chest... The two last-named
positions are not, however, essential to success. Kneel
beside or astride the patient’s hips, and with the balls
of the thumbs resting on either side of the pit of the
stomach, let the fingers fall into the grooves between
the short ribs, so as to afford the best grasp of the
waist. Now, using your knees as a pivot, throw all
your weight forward on your. hands, and at the same
time squeeze the waist between them, as if you wished
to force everything in the chest upward out of the
mouth. Deepen the pressure while you can count
slowly one, two, three, then suddenly let go with a
final push, which springs you back to your first kneel-
ing position. Remain erect on your knees while you
can count one, two, three; then repeat the same mo-
tions as before at a rate gradually increased, from four
or five to fifteen times in a minute, and continue thus
this bellows movement, with the same regularity that
is observable in the natural motions of breathing which
you are imitating. If natural breathing be not restored
after a trial of the bellows movement for the space of
three or four minutes, then, without interrupting the
artificial respiration, turn the patient a second time on
the stomach, as directed in Rule IJ., rolling the body
in the opposite direction from that in which it was
first turned, for the purpose of freeing the air passages

142 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

from any remaining water. Continue the artificial res-
piration from one to four hours, or until the patient
breathes; and for a while after the appearance of re- —
turning life, carefully aid the first short gasps until
deepened into full breaths. Continue the drying and
rubbing, which should have been unceasingly practised
from the beginning, taking care not to interfere with
the means employed to produce breathing. Thus the
limbs of the patient should be rubbed, always in an
upward direction towards the body, with firm, grasp-
ing pressure and energy, using the bare hands, dry
flannels, or handkerchiefs, and continuing the friction
under the blankets or over the dry clothing. The
warmth of the body can also be promoted by the ap-
plication of hot flannels to the stomach and armpits;
bottles or bladders of hot water, heated bricks, etc., to
the limbs and soles of the feet.

RuLELV. AFTER TREATMENT. — External ly.—As
soon as breathing is established, let the patient be
stripped of all wet clothing, wrapped in blankets only,
put to bed comfortably warm, but witha free circulation
of fresh air, and left to perfect rest.

Internally. — Give a little brandy and hot water, or
other stimulant at hand, every ten or fifteen. minutes
for the first hour, and as often thereafter as may seem
expedient.

Later Manifestations. — After reaction is fully estab-
lished, there is great danger of congestion of the lungs,
and if perfect rest is not maintained for at least forty-
eight hours, it sometimes occurs that the patient is
seized with great difficulty of breathing, and death is
liable to follow unless immediate relief is afforded. In

EXPRESS. . 143

such cases, apply a large mustard plaster over the
breast. If the patient gasps for breath before the
- mustard takes effect, assist the breathing by carefully
repeating the artificial respiration.

Note. — An eminent authority, Dr. Labordette, the
supervising surgeon of the hospital of Lisieux, in
France, appears to have established that the clinching
of the jaws and the semi-contraction of the fingers,
which have hitherto been considered signs of death,
are in fact evidences of remaining vitality. After
numerous experiments with apparently drowned per-
sons, and also with animals, he concludes that these
are only signs accompanying the first stage of suffoca-
tion by drowning, the jaws and hands becoming relaxed
when deathensues. This being so, the mere clinching |
of the jaws and semi-contraction of the hands must
not be considered as reasons for the discontinuance of
efforts to save life, but should serve as a stimulant to
vigorous and prolonged efforts to quicken vitality.
Persons engaged in the tasks of resuscitation are there-
fore earnestly desired to take hope and encouragement
for the life of the sufferer, from the signs above re-
ferred to, and to continue their endeavors accordingly.
In a number of cases Dr. Labordette restored to life
persons whose jaws were so firmly clinched that to aid
respiration, their teeth had to be forced apart with iron
instruments.

EXPRESS.

The New York and Boston Dispatch Express Com-
pany have an office on Main Street, opposite the Pacific
National Bank. Packages are forwarded from this

144 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

office to all parts of the world, via New York and via
Boston. Charles H. Allen is the local agent. The
local express business is done by the regular team-
sters, and by Wm. B. Ray and Charlés C. McCann,
who each have a hand-cart. William B. Ray, ‘‘ Porter
No. 1,”? and Charles C. McCann, ‘‘ Porter Number
One,’ are always ready to transport,in their little
vehicles, trunks and other luggage to any part of the
town. Twenty-five cents is the regulation price for
the transportation of each trunk from the steamer. -
As there is considerable rivalry between the gentle-
men above meutioned (each claiming priority on
account of the number of his license), it is perhaps
justice to them both, to say that neither was ever the
cashier of a New Jersey bank, consequently they can.
both be relied on. When not at the steamboat land-
ing, they can generally be found on Main Street (never
both on the same side.)

FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The apparatus of the fire department consists at
present of five old-fashioned hand engines (and very
old ones too), six hose carts, two hook and ladder
companies, and 2,150 feet of hose (estimated), with a
force of two hundred and eight men. There are also
thirty kegs of gunpowder for blowing up buildings in
case of necessity. This is of course a great improve-
ment on the old-fashioned leather fire buckets that
hung, a hundred years ago, in the halls of every well-
to-do householder; but the town is far behind the
age. If, as has been asserted, during the last thirty-
five years not a fire has occurred in the town but

FISHING. 145.

what was confined to the building in which it origi-
nated, that fact is no argument whatever against the
introduction of a steam fire engine, which the town
should have at once.

The town, however, at its last annual meeting showed
signs of waking up to the needs of the hour. It was
voted unanimously to instruct the board of fire-wards
to contract with the Wannacomet Water Company for
a supply of water for fire purposes for ten years. By
this action the town gains greatly; property will
appreciate, better rates of insurance can be obtained,
and every householder can rest easier. The sum of
$3,870 was appropriated for the fire department the
present year.

FISHING.

For the disciples of old Izaak Walton, Nantucket is
certainly a paradise.

Bluefish, scup, flat-fish, plaice, cod, eels, haddock,

perch, pollock, herring, and smelt abound; tautog and
rock bass are sometimes caught, and at rare intervals
the bonita, Spanish mackerel, flying fish, and other
varieties belonging farther south, have been cap-

- tured. Neither does the island lack for shellfish;

plenty of clams, quahaugs, scallops, lobsters, and crabs
being found on or near the island.*

A few years since, Mr. Moses Joy, Jr., conceived
the idea of stocking the ponds with certain varieties of
fish unknown here. JHe placed thirty large black

* Oysters are said to have been found here, years ago, in large
quantities, and they might be again cultivated with profit.
10

146 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

bass in the Washing Pond, forty in Miacomet Pond,
and three thousand small land-locked salmon in Hum-
mock Pond. Mr. Joy has lately informed the compiler
that the fish have all done well, having’ multiplied and
grown rapidly. |

If you like fishing, and don’t mind the peeling of
your nose or the laceration of your hands, come
here to Nantucket, get a lot of jolly fellows together,
hire a yacht, and go out for a day’s sport, — either
bluefishing, sharking, or scupping, or all combined;,
and if the experience is not a pleasurable one, — es-
pecially if it is a goodly company, and congenial, —
then are you no lover of the art piscatory.

Mr. Northrop, the author of that pleasant little
book, ‘‘’Sconset Cottage Life,’??—who is himself a
keen sportsman and follower of the gentle Izaak, —
says, ‘‘ If you would catch bluefish to your heart’s
content, go for them in June; a piece of advice not
likely to be serenely received by those who must wait
until August for their annual vacation. In the leafy
month the fish roam over these shoals, as hungry and
predaceous as so many sharks. You may satisfy your
bloodiest and most avaricious instincts as a fisherman;
but after such a debauch of angling, you will never dare
to read the pages of the gentle Izaak Walton until
you have washed your hands and your heart of such
wholesale slaughter.” And in regard to sharking, he
says, ‘‘ No summer experience is complete without
one ‘sharking expedition.’’’ After giving a very
realistic description of the catching of a shark, he
continues, ‘‘I confess (with a little twinge) that I
was never more excited with any sport (1) in my life

FISHING. | 147

than with this my first capture of a shark, and a veri-
table man-eater al that. There was hard work enough
on our part, and a wonderful display of power on his.
It seemed as if our boat must go to pieces in the fight,
and there was a spice of danger in the whole beastly -
business that made one’s nerves tingle.”’

To go sharking, any of the yachts can be hired; or
by taking a trip to Wauwinet in the little steamer
‘*¢Tsland Belle,’ or in the regular ferry-boat ‘‘ Lillian,”
one can secure the services of Capt. Alexander Bunker —
or the Norcross boys, and be put on the sharking
ground in short order.

In the spring and fall, large quantities of haddock,
cod, and pollock are caught at South Shore and ’Scon-
set. The fishermen put off from the shore in little
boats called dories, — mere egg-shells, but probably as
safe surf boats as any in the world. The scene at the
beach, on the arrival or departure of the fishermen, is
a very exciting one to those who have never witnessed
the floating or landing of a fishing boat where there is
a heavy surf. Dragging his boat down to the water,
the fisherman scans with a keen eye every wave as it
rolls upon the shore. Soon he discovers one that suits
his purpose: he waits until the instant it breaks into
foam on the beach, then with a tremendous shove he
sends his boat skimming into the receding wave, jumps
into it, snatches his oars, and with a quick, strong,
determined pull, his boat is off and away, dancing like
a feather over the crest of the next mighty billow. If
there is a breeze, he drops one oar, ships the other at
the stern to steer with, sets his little sail, and before
his watchers have tired with gazing after him, he is on

148 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the fishing ground, where with the aid of a spy-glass
all his motions can be observed from the shore as he
pulls in his finny prizes. The return is more often
accompanied by danger than the departure, the boats
frequently capsizing, and boat, man, fish, lines, and
oars being tumbled over and over in the surf in inextri-
cable confusion. Very few fatal accidents have ever
occurred here, the men usually getting out of the
scrape with a few bruises, and the loss sometimes of
all of their fish and lines, besides a badly used-up boat. °
No salt codfish bring so high a price in the market as
those cured upon Nantucket. They are always dry and
clean and white. Every fish is thoroughly washed and
cleaned before it is salted, and the greatest of care is
taken in their drying or curing; consequently ‘‘ Nan-
tucket fish” command one or two cents a pound more
than ‘‘ Block Island’’ or ‘*‘ George’s Banks,’’ and are
eagerly sought after by those who know a good thing.

FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS.

(See Churches.)

On Nantucket, the ‘‘ Friends ’? — or ‘‘ Quakers,” as
they were contemptuously styled by their enemies —
were largely in the ascendancy as a religious body at a
very early period of its history, and their teachings
and precepts have always exerted a marked influence
upon its people. Some of the most illustrious men
and women whom the island has produced were
Friends.

The compiler acknowledges his indebtedness to Mr.
Matthew Barney — for many years the faithful treas-

ust

FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS. | 149

urer of the Nantucket Institution for Savings, and

himself a Friend—for the following in relation to
this sect, which is, alas ! gradually giving way to more
advanced (?) ideas. Mr. Barney says :—

‘‘It appears that during the year 1688 the island
was visited by an English Friend. This is the first
mention or knowledge we have of the Friends in con-
nection with the history of the island. Others came
after that ; but little, however, is known of them, ex-
cept that they came on religious visits.

**In 6th month, 1698, Thomas Chalkley, the famous
Quaker captain, merchant, and preacher (whom Whit- ©
tier has celebrated in verse), visited the island, and in
his journal says he was very kindly received by the
people, and that he held several very large and accept-
able meetings ; previous to which he was questioned
by their minister why he, being such a young man,
came here; and upon Chalkley’s answering that it was
‘purely in the love of the gospel,’ ‘ Then preach, in
God’s name, in my house to-morrow !’ said the minis-
ter, and preach he did! -

‘* From that date up to 1704, several Friends, minis-
ters and their companions, visited the island. It was
at this time (1704) that Nathaniel Starbuck and his
wife Mary (see page 136) were convinced of Friends’
principles. Chalkley in his journal gives a very inter-
esting sketch of this Mary Starbuck, speaking of her
as a woman of great energy of mind, and true and
strong Christian character. She and her husband
were the first to become ministers from among the
Friends on the island, and through their zeal and min-
istry a meeting was established, and a meeting-house

150 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

built. The meeting so increased that in 1708 a yearly
meeting was commenced, and continued here for nearly
seventy years, to which many Friends came from all
parts of New England, New York, and Philadelphia.
In 1706, 1722, and 1737, the famous physician and
@uaker preacher, Dr. John Fothergill of London,
visited the island as a minister of the gospel; and his —
son, Samuel Fothergill, came as a minister in 1755.
During the seventy years above mentioned, over five
hundred ministers with their companions visited the
island. Among them I find names of men of note in
the history of Pennsylvania. The celebrated Ben-
jamin Lay, who zealously preached against slavery and
the slave-trade, and in practice carried out his views
and principles,—refusing even to use any of the
known producis of slave labor, —was one of them.

‘¢ There were Friends upon the island who in a large
measure took the same stand. Elihu Coleman, who
was a most excellent man, and a minister in the soci-
ety, took a most decided stand on the slavery question,
and in 1729 he published a pamphlet upon the sin and
iniquity of slaveholding ; and the subject of slavery,
its cruelty and wrong, were here discussed in their

3?
monthly business meeting, and as early as 1727 a
minute was made in one of their meetings declaring
it a wrong and a sin, — that the society ought not to
tolerate it, or allow its continuance and practice by its
members. The meeting, with others in New England,
continued their protests against it, until the whole body
of Friends in that locality was purged of it; and very
soon it followed that no member of the society of
Friends in America could own a slave, or hire his

labor from an owner.

FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS. 193

‘¢'The society of Friends on the island, during the
first seventy years of the century, furnished many able
men and women who were true ministers of the gos-
pel of Christ our Lord; they travelled extensively in
this country and England, preaching the glad tidings
and good words of life.

** The society of Friends as a body have been averse
to holding office under the general government. It has
been stated, and is no doubt true, that the peaceable
and quiet principles and lives of Friends have had in
past time a great influence on the ways and manners
of the people of the island generally; and the strong
Quaker leaven has had such an influence upon the
lives of many, though not numbered with the soci-
ety, that their views and acts have been greatly modi-
fied by its principles and traditions.

‘The society, in its earliest years, very strongly
advocated the general education of its members, and
it has always been one of its positive rules that every
child capable of receiving or learning the common
branches of an English education should be so edu-
cated; and when the parents were unable to bear the
expense, the body at large must assist. And those
_who needed aid to labor at or attend to some business
which they were capable of transacting always had
aid and counsel, socially and pecuniarily. These facts
made a stronger mutual interest in the welfare of
families and in each other.

“ The greater social equality of women among Friends,
and their equal share in the administration of the
affairs of the society over that enjoyed by women in
other religious organizations, and the quiet simplicity

152 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

of life they practised, had a good influence in their
own homes, and on those about them.

‘‘Some of the women of the society on the island
were well educated for their time. As early as 1820,
two young women went from the island to Providence,
Rh. I., as teachers in the large boarding school organ-
ized and carried on by the society of Friends in New
England, for the education of the children of Friends,
and directly under their supervision.

“ That Friends have always advocated and acknowl-
edged the right and the duty of their women to preach
the gospel is well known. Three women Friends, as
duly authorized and acknowledged ministers of the
gospel of our Lord and Saviour, in the early part of
this century left the island and travelled very exten-
sively in New England, New York, Ohio, Indiana,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas;
holding meetings, and preaching to large public gath-
erings. Often in their journeys they endured much
hardship and fatigue, as the States were thinly settled,
and the carriage roads few and poor. They often rode
on horseback, visiting the settlers in their log-cabins,
in the spirit of love and self-sacrifice, carrying the gospel
message freely to all without fee or hope of reward,
and paying their own expenses, though they gratefully
accepted and appreciated the kindness shown them
wherever their lot was cast. One of their number
visited England and Ireland * on a religious visit, in
tompany with a Friend from New York.

‘¢ Foremost among the men of business and intelli-

* Presumably Elizabeth Barker.

FRIENDS, OR QUAKERS. ee Cys

gence in the past history of the island were members
of the society of Friends who were largely engaged in
commerce. There are many names that are familiar
to old people of to-day, whose ships brought teas from
China, rice and silks from ports on the Hoogly and
the Ganges. They visited Sweden for iron, and Rus-
sia for hemp and duck. Their ships were seen in all
the then known foreign trading ports, and they visited
every sea and clime for seals or whales; and wher-
ever they went they always acted in the interest of
peace and on peaceable principles.

‘‘The Friends are not generally politicians in the
common acceptation of the term, but they are politi-
cians so far as to desire a. good government and just
laws; and though at times conservative as to acting
with the popular movements of the day, they have been
far in advance in their views in most or all reforms,
moral and civil, and have from a sense of duty accepted
and held places of trust and responsibility, and without
show or display, have honored, as well as been hon-
ored by, such trusts.

“They have been members of the Legislature, as sen-
ators and representatives, and in the governor’s coun-
cil. One Friend filled the office of State treasurer for
five consecutive years, which is the longest time that
any one can hold the office (that being the time limited
by law). He was highly respected, and on intimate
terms socially as well as officially with the two goy-
ernors under whom he served.

‘¢ Friends have, as has been stated, led and not fol-
lowed in giving general education, in the antislavery
movement, in temperance, and in peace, and in the
endeavor to soften and ameliorate life’s hard duties.

—=. ¢
ee ee

154 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

*¢ J think during the first quarter of this century that
the society here on the island attained its greatest
sway and power, religiously and numerically, and at
one time composed at least one fifth of all the inhabit-
ants, numbering quite 1,400, having two houses of wor-
ship, where many attended who were not members of
the society, or possibly had been and could not shake
off easily their love and regard for the quiet and sim-
ple ways and teachings of their parents.

*¢ The Friends were a respected and honored part of
the community, and had an influence for good. They
lived frugally and peacefully, and prospered, and they
gradually ceased to be aggressive in their way of spread-
ing their views and principles.

‘¢ Theological speculation, in some measure, took the
place of quiet faith; and a discussion of opinions,
rather than a statement of true faith and belief, sure
hope and trust, broke in on the quiet of their homes
and religious life, and many were bewildered, rather
than really advanced in a Christian course and life,
by the claims that a greater light was dawning upon
mind and conscience, which would dispel error and
blind faith, or show that the society had grown be-
yond and outgrown their simple tenets, and would
again arise in new and fairer beauty and power. But
whatever may have been the desire and hope for a
permanent good and blessing to the society, all this
tended to scatter and divide, as the years of the last
half-century have witnessed, until but few remain
among us; but the seed is not lost, for when any do
go out-from among them, they make the old leaven ~

FURNISHED APARTMENTS. | 155

felt in the other Christian organizations to which they
attach themselves.’’ *

FURNISHED APARTMENTS.

During the summer season a number of private
families let every room, not in actual use, for lodg-
ing-rooms.. Some of the rooms are located in the
immediate vicinity of hotels, and satisfactory arrange-
ments can generally be made with them in regard to
table board. The best of these rooms rent for $5 per
week. If any person’s name is omitted from the
annexed list, the compiler would suggest that that
person read the Preface to this work.

Nore. — From a “ History of Nantucket,” kindly loaned the
compiler by our venerated townswoman, Mrs. Harriet Peirce,
and written in the year 1810 by a Friend from Philadelphia,
who visited the island previous to that time, the following is
gathered, which differs somewhat from Mr. Barney’s account,
particularly as regards Mary Starbuck. Mr. Sansome, the
gentleman referred to as the historian, says : —

“ When John Richardson visited the island in 1701, this emi-
nent woman embraced the principles of Fox and Barclay, in
which she was followed by many of her friends and neighbors,
from whom are descended the present Quakers of the place.”

It is really a matter of no moment whether Mary Starbuck
embraced the belief of the Friends under Richardson’s minis-
trations or Chalkley’s, or whether the event occurred in 1701
or 1704; doubtless both of these devout men exerted an influ-
ence for good among the early settlers, which is felt even to
this day. ‘The two accounts are here given simply to show that
there is a question as to the precise time of Mary Starbuck’s
conversion to the simple faith of the Friends.

156 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

List of Persons who have Furnished Rooms to let.

W. B. Chase, Academy Avenue.
QO. C. Coffin, Centre Street.
Winifred Coffin, Main Street.
Geo. R. Folger, Academy Avenue.
B. A. Gardner, Chester Street.
EK. K. Godfrey, Main Street.
Mrs. Hathaway, Pearl Street.
Laura A. Hinckley, Fair Street.
F’. B. Murphy, Orange Street.
Daniel Round, Orange Street.
Wm. S. Whippey, Centre Street.

GAS.

Nantucket, which had for two centuries given light
to the world, at last accepted herself the inevitable,
and in 1854 gas was lighted for the first time in the
town, The Nantucket Gas Light Company furnishes
the town with gas of a very fair quality, the charge
being at the rate of $3 for one thousand cubic feet.
The company has a capital of $40,000, and have nearly
five miles of pipe laid. Its officers are as follows:
A. T. Mowry, president; A. M. Myrick, secretary and
treasurer; Isaiah Coffin, superintendent. |

GREAT POINT.
(See Lighthouses.)
Great Point, or ‘‘ Nauma” (Sandy Point), is a long
strip of sand stretching like an arm out into the sea,
and making the extreme northeast point of the island.

GUNNING. ee

It is, in a direct line from the town, about nine miles
by water, and a sail to this locality, in quest of blue-
fish, will be appreciated by all lovers of the sport of
fishing. Upon the point is a government lighthouse,
and large numbers of lobsters are caught here in their
season.

GUNNING.

Although there is not much to boast of in the way
of shooting on N antucket, yet there are times when a
great many desirable wild-fowl may be obtained by a
good gunner.

In the early spring, at Coatue and in the upper
harbor, brant, sheldrakes, coots, and whistlers are to
be found in considerable numbers; in May, spring
black-breast plover are at times numerous; in Septem-
ber, golden plover, doe birds, yellow-legs, and upland
plover make their appearance on various parts of the
island. Snipe are frequently found in October on the
marshes, and teal later in the fall around the ponds.
In the fall of 1881 large numbers of the upland gray-
back, otherwise known as the brown-bird, made their
appearance here on the marshes.

Capt. William C. Dunham is authority for the above.

Mr. Herbert S. Sweet, who contributed to this book
the valuable article on ornithology (page 240), says: —

‘* Nantucket is not, as is supposed, a bonanza for
sporting men. There are, to be sure, many times
when plover are shot in goodly numbers, but all de-
pends upon the weather and wind. If storms come
while the birds are passing the island, they will stop
on the plains to rest and feed; but if the flight takes

158 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

place when the weather is fine and clear, a great part
of the birds pass on, and do not stop,—and this is
generally the case. Although the black duck breed
here in considerable numbers, yet, wlien the first of
September arrives, the birds are missing. The ducks
which are shot here during the winter differ very
much in appearance from the ones bred here. There
are times when the mergansers, coot, and eider fur-
nish rare sport to one who is willing to devote every
minute to the hunting of them up and exercise a vast.
deal of patience.”’ |

Everything required by the sportsman can be ob-
tained of Mr. Sweet. }

HALLS.

Except on very few occasions the public halls of
the town have been found amply sufficient to meet the
requirements of the people. |

The Athenzeum Hall is the largest and best; it is in
the Athenzeum building, on the corner of Federal and
Lower Pearl Streets. It has a small stage with drop
curtain, but no scenery, and there is an anteroom
each side of the stage. It has a seating capacity of
four hundred and fifty, is furnished with settees, has a
fine piano, and lets for $8 per night, including use of
piano. It is let for fairs, concerts, lectures, and variety
performances. Joseph S. Swain, agent.

Atlantic Hall is on Main Street. It has a new hard-
pine floor, is sixty feet long by forty-five wide, is cool
and comfortable, and lets for balls and fairs at $6 per
night. For the past two summers it has been used as
a skating rink. EK. H. Alley, agent,

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. Pee

Wendell’s Hall is on Main Street, over the store of
Geo. W. Macy. It isa pretty little place for society
meetings, social assemblies, readings, or fairs. Its
seating capacity is about one hundred and seventy-five,
and it rents for $5 per night. Geo. W. Macy, agent.

Institute Hall, on Main Street, is let for assemblies.
The hall is a small one, and has no settees. C.K.
Manter, agent.

Pantheon Hall is one of the older halls, and has long
been in disuse.

There are two other halls, — Sherburne Hall, owned
and occupied by the Odd Fellows, and a small hall in
the *‘ Lodge Building’’ occupied by the Knights of
Honor and Good Templars.

North Hall is a good-sized room on Centre Street, in
which the Women’s Christian Temperance Union hold
their meetigs.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES.

Discovery of Nantucket.

Little dreamed those hardy old vikings when they
swept down from the frozen North, a thousand
years ago, fearing nor storm nor ice nor cold, that in
the ages to come, these broad lands — then first dis-
covered, and now known as the United States of
America — would be peopled by a nation the grandest
the world has seen, and numbering upwards of fifty
millions of souls.

It is now quite generally believed that nearly five
centuries before Christopher Columbus (Cristoval
‘Colon?),. braving every obstacle for the sake of an

160 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

idea, rocked his dizzy way across the trackless and
restless wilds of an unknown seaina crazy fleet of
‘‘three small caravels,’”’ Lief and Herjulfson, Norse-
men coasted down the whole North American conti-
nent, discovering and naming bays, rivers, inlets, and
islands, and among the latter Nantucket, which they
named ‘‘ Nanticon” (page 223). There is of course
nothing whatever to substantiate the belief, an ap-
parent mystery enshrouding this almost —
voyage of discovery.

To Bartholomew Gosnold, a noted English navi-
gator, is now given the otal of discovering, in 1602,
the island of Nantucket. Itis stated that in 1602 he
sailed from England with a number of passengers, who
were bound to Virginia for the purpose of settling
there; that on the voyage he discovered and named
Cape Cod and Nantucket. One would suppose, how-
ever, from reading Bancroft, that Nantucket was known
to Gosnold or others previous to this time; for he
(Bancroft) says, ‘‘ Doubling Cape Cod, and passing
Nantucket, they again landed on a little island now
called ‘ No Man’s Land.’” Now, if they passed Nan-
tucket without landing, how could they have known
that what they had “ passed ’’ was an island, and that
its name was Nantucket?

So far as the compiler has been able to ascertains
there is little recorded in regard to the island of Nan-
tucket from the time of its discovery in 1602, until
1641, when it was deeded to Thomas Mayhew & Son.
Rev. Dr. F. C. Ewer gives credit on his historical map
of the island to the tradition that in 1630 there was a
war upon the island between the eastern and western

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 363

tribes of Indians, and says also that the island was
‘¢covered with forest trees, mostly oaks.” This is all
doubtless true; and it is also the compiler’s firm be-
lief (and there is everything to substantiate it) that
all the islands lying to the south of Massachusetts —
‘¢ Nantican,’”’ ‘‘ Caparrock,” “ Tuckanuckett,’”’? etc. —
had been visited frequently, and were well known to
the English long before 1641.

On page 324 of Drake’s ‘‘ Nooks and Corners of the
New England Coast ’’ will be found the following: —

‘¢ The first Englishman to leave a distinct record of
it was Capt. Dermer, who was here in 1620, though
Weymouth probably became entangled among Nan-
tucket Shoals in May, 1605. The relations of Archer
and Brereton render it at least doubtful whether this
island was not the first on which Gosnold landed, and
to which he gave the name of Martha’s Vineyard. The i
two accounts are too much at variance to enable the
student to bring them into reciprocal agreement; yet
that of Archer, being in the form of a diary, in which
each day’s transactions are noted, will be preferred to
the narrative of Brereton, who wrote from recollection.
To these the curious reader is referred. (Note Purchas,
iv.; reprinted in Mass. Hist. Colls., ili., viii.) I can-
not give space to those points that confirm my view,
but they make a strong presumptive case. It has been
alleged that De Poutrincourt landed here after his con-
flict with the Indians of Cape Cod. So far from land-
ing on the island they saw, Champlain says ‘they
named it ‘‘ La Soupconneuse,” from the doubts they
had of it. Lescarbot adds that ‘‘ they saw an island six
or seven leagues in length, which they were not able

1]

162 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

to reach, and so called it ‘‘ Ile Douteuse.’’’ The land,
itis probable, was the Vineyard. ”

A legend is still extant concerning the primeval dis-
covery of the island by the Indians, that was related to
the early English settlers, which may not be out of
place here: —

‘‘In former times, a great many moons ago, a bird,
extraordinary for its size, used often to visit the south
shore of Cape Cod, and carry from thence in its talons
a vast number of small children. Maushope, who was
an Indian giant, as fame reports, resided in these parts.
Enraged at the havoc among the children, he, on a
certain time, waded into the sea in pursuit of the bird,
till he had crossed the sound, and reached Nantucket.
Before Maushope forded the sound, the island was un-
known to the red men. Maushope found the bones of
the children in a heap under a large tree. He then,
wishing to smoke his pipe, ransacked the island for
tobacco; but finding none, he filled his pipe with poke,
—a weed which the Indians sometimes used as a sub-
stitute. Ever since this memorable event, fogs have
been frequent on the Cape. In allusion to this tradi-
tion, when the aborigines observed a fog rising, they
would say, ‘ There comes old Maushope’s smoke.’ ”
(Col. Mass. Hist. Soc., Vol. V., First Series, page 57.)

It is to be regretted that there is so little of this tra-
dition; for of course the reader is anxious to know if
Maushope caught the bird, and if so, how or in what
manner he succeeded in capturing it.

Settlement of the Island.

In 1641, William, Earl Sterling, and Sir Fernando or
Ferdinand Gorges appear to have had control of the

——_ di

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 163

islands lying to the south of Massachusetts. During this
year the Elizabeth Islands, Caparrock or Martha’s Vine-
yard, Nanticon or ‘‘ Nantuckett,” and Tuckanuck or
Tuckanuckett, were ‘‘ graunted unto Thomas Mayhew
at Watertowne, Merchant, and to Thomas Mayhew
his Sonne.” |

The consideration named in the deed of Nantucket
was, ‘‘ That Thomas Mayhew and Thomas Mayhew his
Sonne, or either of them or their Assignes, doe render
and pay yearly unto the Hone the Lord Sterling, his
Heyres and Assignes, such an acknowledgement as shall
bee thought fitt by John Winthrop Esq’. the Elder, or
any two Magistrates in the Massachusetis Bay, being
chosen for that End and Purpose py the Honble the Lord
Sterling or his Deputy; and by the said Thomas May-
hew and Thomas Mayhew his Sonne, or their As-
signes.” * This deed was dated Oct. 13, 1641.

It is evident that the Mayhews faithfully performed
their part of the contract, from the fact that in 1659
the island was still in their possession, or rather the
patent of it.

Macy’s History (page 19) says : —

‘¢ Although we find in the body of the deed that it
was made to the Mayhews and their associates, yet it
was not conveyed to the associates until May 2, 1659;
the reason of which was, that the Mayhews could not
purchase the sachem rights until the before-mentioned
date, and those who intended to join the association
were not disposed to engage until that was effected.”

* From F. B. Hough’s book, compiled from official records in
the office of the Secretary of State, at Albany, N. Y.

164 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

From reading this, one gets the impression that
other persons were concerned with the Mayhews when
the island was granted to themin 1641. This certainly
could not have been the case, as will be seen a little
farther on. It is possible that the Mayhews (father
and son) may not have been able to purchase the In-
dian or ‘‘ sachem rights,” but it is certain there were
no ‘‘ associates’? until 1659. The original deed trom
Lord Sterling, by his agent Forrett, reads, ‘‘ Thomas
Mayhew, and Thomas Mayhew his son, or their as-
signs.’? Ten days afterward, however, in granting the |
Mayhews the same privileges upon Martha’s Vine-
yard that had been given them on Nantucket, Agent
Forrett substitutes the word ‘‘ associates’’ for ‘ as-
signs.’’ That the Mayhews claimed sole ownership,
up to 1659, of the greater part of the island of Nan-
tucket, is evidenced by the following

Deed of Nantucket to Ten Purchasers.*

Recorded for Mr. Coffin and Mr. Macy afores4 y® Day and Yeare
afores4,

Bee it known unto all Men by these Presents, that
I, Thomas Mayhew, of Martha’s Vineyard, Merchant,
doe hereby acknowledge, that I have sould unto Tris- —
tram Coffin, Thos. Macy, Christopher Hussey, Rich-
ard Swayne, Thomas Bernard, Peter Coffin, Stephen
Greenleafe, John Swayne, and William Pike, that
Right and Interest I have in y* Land of Nantuckett, by
Patent; y° w™ Right I bought of James Fforrett, Gent.

* From F. B. Hough’s book, compiled from official records
in the office of the Secretary of State, at Albany, N. Y.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 165

and Steward to. y® Lord Sterling and of Richard Vines,
sometime of Sacho, Gent., Steward-Gen™ unto Sir
Georges Knight, as by Conveyances under their Hands
and Seales doe appeare ffor them y° aforesaid to Injoy,
and their Heyres and Assignes forever, w” all the
Priviledges thereunto belonging, for in consideration
of y° Sume of Thirty Pounds of Current Pay unto
whomsoever I y* said Thomas Mayhew, mine Heyres
or Assignes, shall appoint. And also two Beaver
Hatts, one for myselfe, and one for my wife. And

further, this is to declare that I the said Thomas May-

hew have received to myself that Neck upon Nan-
tuckett. called Masquetuck, or that Neck of Land
called Nashayte the Neck (but one) northerly of Mas-
quetuck, y°® aforesaid Sayle in anywise notwithstand-
ing. And further, I y° said Thomas Mayhew am to
beare my Parte of the Charge of y*® said Purchase
abovenamed, and to hold one-twentieth Part of all
Lands purchased already, or shall be hereafter pur-
chased, upon y° said Island by y® afores* Purchas™ or
Heyres and Assignes forever.

Briefly: It is thus; That I really sold all my Patent
to the aforesaid nine Men and they are to pay mee, or
whomsoever [I shall appoint them, y° Sume of Thirty
Pounds in good Marchantable Pay in y® Massachu-
setts, under w” Governm' they now Inhabit, and 2
Beaver Hatts, and I am to beare a 20th Part of y°
Charge of y® Purchase, and to have a 20th Part of all
Lands and Priviledges ; and to have w® of y* Necks
abovs’ that I will myselfe, paying for it; only y* Pur-
chasers are to pay what y* Sachem is to have for Mas-
quetuck, although I have y°® other Neck.

166 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

And in witness hereof I have hereunto sett my
Hand and Seale this second Day of July, sixteen hun-

dred and fifty-nine 1659.
Perce.)
THo: MAYHEW.
Witness : JOHN SMYTH.

EDWARD SEALE.

This quaint old document will compare very favora-
bly with more modern ones, whose meanings-are too
often hidden in a mass of verbiage. The meaning of
the one just quoted can scarcely be misunderstood,
and it ought to set at rest forever the question as to
whether there were any ‘‘ associates’ previous to 1659.
The substitution of one word for another leads often |
to serious mistakes.

It seems that as early as February, 1659, arrange-
ments had been made with Thomas Mayhew for the
purchase of the island -of Nantucket. The deed,
however, was, as has been shown, not executed until
the succeeding July. In September or October of this
year, Thomas Macy, one of the purchasers, thinking
it a good opportunity to carry out a long-contemplated
plan, ‘*‘ embarked at Salisbury in a small sail-boat, with
his wife and children and such household furniture as
he could conveniently carry, and in company with
Isaac Coleman and Edward Starbuck set sail for Nan-
tucket.” (Macy Genealogy, page 22.)

Wm. C. Folger, Esq., is authority for the statement
that James Coffin also accompanied Macy and the rest,
and spent the winter of 1659-60 on the island. And
again an old document, in speaking of Tristram Coffin,
says: —

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 167

‘¢ James Coffin, his son, was born in England Aug.
1, 1640; came when a child with his father to Salis-
bury; came with Edward Starbuck, Thomas Macy’s
family, and Isaac Coleman to Nantucket in an open
boat in the autumn of 1659. He was one of the pro-
prietors of Nantucket. Married in December, 1663,
Mary Severence of Salisbury, by whom he had four-
teen children. He was a justice of peace, and upon
the death of John Gardner in 1706 was appointed, by
Goy. Joseph Dudley, judge of probate, which office
he held twelve years. He died July 28, 1720, aged
eighty years, wanting four days.’’

Thomas Macy neither fled from persecution nor did
he abandon his property. He was not the man to do
either. One of his replies to his wife during a storm
on this memorable voyage shows his mettle: ‘‘ Woman,
go below and seek thy God. I fear not the witches on
earth, nor the devils in hell.’’ *

Mr. Macy left Salisbury simply ‘‘ because he could
not, in justice to the dictates of his own conscience,
ieee submit to the tyranny of the clergy and those
in authority.” Having with others purchased the island
of Nantucket, he wisely concluded that there no one
could or would dictate to him in regard to his religion
or his dress.

After rather a stormy voyage, they arrived safely at
Nantucket. They found upon the island about 3,000
Indians, who received them kindly and assisted them

* The Macy Genealogy is authority for the above quotation ;
_ but the compiler very much fears that Thomas told his wife to
go somewhere else, as she could not very well “ go below,” being
in an open boat, unless she went through its bottom.

168 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

in preparing for winter quarters. Thomas Macy and
family were the first white settlers on the island of
Nantucket. In the winter of 1659, they were joined
by one Daggett, who came to the lead from Martha’s
Vineyard for the purpose of hunting.*

‘¢ What a picture we now have before us! this
devout man with his wife and five little children, the
oldest thirteen years and the youngest four years of
age, with Isaac Coleman and Edward Starbuck, the for-
mer a mere lad of twelve years, living upon this island
through the severity of a winter, surrounded by native
Indians of whose character and language they were
entirely ignorant. The natives, seeing their mission
was peace, rendered them every assistance they could,
and supplied them with fish and game, which were
abundant about and on the island. In the spring of
1660 Edward Starbuck f¢ returned to Salisbury and fully

* Everything goes to show that though Macy and his compan-
ions were the first settlers, white men had, previous to Macy’s
coming, been frequent visitors to the island, — from the fact that
neither Mayhew, Macy, Coffin, nor the rest of the purchasers
would have bought the island, unless some one of them or some
other white man had visited it ; for how did Macy happen to
know where the island was, ea how did Daggett know that
there was game on the island?

} Edward Starbuck came here in the autumn of 1659 with
Thomas Macy and family, stopped that winter, then went back
to Eastern Massachusetts, and gave an account of the place
to the other purchasers, and returned again that year, 1660,
with eight or ten families. He had joined the church at Dover
and had been a representative of New Hampshire. His wife’s
maiden name was Eunice or Catherine Reynolds, of Wales. He
was from Derbyshire, England. He was about fifty-five years old

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 169

reported their comfortable situation. During that
year some eight or ten families removed from Salis-

bury to the island, and from that time the number of

civilized inhabitants continued to increase.’”’? (Macy
Genealogy, page 23.) |

Although it has been customary to speak of Thomas
Macy as the first settler, the fact must not be lost
sight of that Edward Starbuck, James Coffin, and
Isaac Coleman came to the island in the same boat
with Macy, and remained the whole of the winter
(1659-60).

Notwithstanding the fact that Macy and his com-
panions were the first to take up a residence here,
Tristram Coffyn was one of the earliest to agitate the
question of purchasing the island from Thomas May-
hew. This must have been previous to 1659.

According to Mr. Allen Coffin’s book, ‘‘ The Coffin
Family,” Coffyn certainly visited the island with others,
months before Thomas Macy and companions landed.
He says: —

‘¢ Harly in 1659, according to Benjamin Franklin
Folger, the most reliable genealogist of Nantucket,
Tristram Coffyn proceeded upon a voyage of inquiry

_and observation, first to Martha’s Vineyard, where he

tock Peter Folger —the grandfather of Dr. Benjamin
Franklin — as an interpreter of the Indian language,
and thence to Nantucket, his object being to ascertain
when he first came here; was an active, enterprising man, fear-
less of danger; was at one time a magistrate. He lived west-
ward, and died June 12, 1690, aged eighty-six years. — Old
Records.

170 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the temper and disposition of the Indians, and the
capabilities of the island, that he might report to the
citizens of Salisbury what inducements for emigration
thither were offered.” ;

Everything which he saw must have been aotinfath
tory; for immediately on his return to Salisbury a
company was formed and the island purchased.

As has been before mentioned, a number of families
arrived from Salisbury during the year 1660, a settle-
ment was commenced, and the dwellings of civiliza-
tion began to adorn the hills and valleys where never
before had been seen aught save the rough wigwams
of the aborigines. From the first the Indians treated
the new-comers with favor; and in striking contrast
with other parts of New England, or the country in
general, the relations between the Nantucket Indians —
and the settlers were always exceptionally pleasant.
Of course difficulties and disagreements arose in time,
often threatening serious consequences; but they were
settled in a peaceable manner, and they could generally
be traced to fire-water, — one of the first things that our
boasted civilization always carries with it on its inva-
sion of anew country. That the settlers were honest
and fairly bought the land from the Indians, may be
seen from the following documents: — .

DEED OF WANACKMAMAR.

This witnesseth that I, Wanackmamack, Chief
Sachem of Nantucket, hath sold unto Mr. Tristram
Coffin and Thomas Macy, their heirs and assigns, that
whole neck of land called by the Indians Pacummoh-

&

HISTORICAL SKETCHES, oS

quah,* being at the East end of Nantucket, for and in
consideration of five pounds to be paid to me in Eng-
lish goods, or otherwise to my content, by the said
Tristram Coffin aforesaid at convenient time as shall
be demanded. .
Witness my hand or mark this 22 of June, 1662.
WANACKMAMAK.

Witness hereto, Peter Folger and Wawinnesit whose
English name is Amos.

INDIAN DEED OF NANTUCKET.

(From Mr. Hough’s book compiled from records in the Secretary of
State’s office, Albany, N. Y.)

Recorded for Mr. Tristram Coffin and Mr. Thomas
Macy, y® 29th of June, 1671, aforesaid.

These P’sents Wittness, y’ 1 Wanackmamack, Head
Sachem of y° Island of Nantuckett, have Bargained
and sold, and doe by these Presents Bargaine and Sell
unto Tristram Coffin, Thomas Macy, Rich* Swayne,
Thomas Befnard, John Swayne, Mr. Thomas May-
hew, Edward Starbuck, Peter Coffin, James Coffin,
Stephen Greenleafe, Tristram Coffin Jun’, Thomas
Coleman, Robert Bernard, Christopher Hussey, Robert
Pyke, John Smyth, and John Bishop, these Islands of
Nantuckett, namely, all y° West end of y° afores* Isl-
and unto y® Pond comonly called Waquittaquay, and
from y°® Head of that Pond to y*® North side of y? Isl-
and Manamoy; Bounded by a Path from y’® ITead of
y’ Pond aforesaid to Manamoy; as also a Neck at y’
East End of y° Island called Poquomock, t+ w™ the

* Pocomo. (7) Tt Pocomo.

172 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Property thereof, and all y* Royaltyies, Priviledges, and
Immunityes thereto belonging, or whatsoever Right
I y° afores* Wanackmak have, or have had in y°® same:
That is, all y° Lands afore menconed-and likewise y’
Winter sseed of y* whole Island from y* End of an
Indyan Harvest untill Planting Time, or y° first of
May, from Yeare to Yeare for ever; as likewise Liberty
to make use of Wood and Timber on all Parts of y° Isl-
and; and likewise Halfe of y° Meadows and Marshes
on all Parts of y® Island w*out or beside y* afores*
tracts of Land Purchased; And likewise y° use of y*
other Halfe of y° Meadows and Marshes, as long as y’
aforesaid English their Heyres or Assignes live on y*
Island; And likewise I the aforesaid Wanackmamack
doe sell unto y* English aforemenconed y° propriety of
y° rest of y°® Island belonging unto mee, for and in
consideracon of ffourty Pounds already received by
mee or other by my Consent or Ord". To Have and to
Hold, y° afores* Tracts of Land w™ y° P’priety, Royal-
tyies, Immunityes, Priviledges, and all Appertenances
thereunto belonging to them y’° afores* Purchas” their
Heyres and Assignes forever. In Witness Whereof,
I the afores* Wanackmamack have hereunto sett my
Hand and Seale y® Daye and Yeare above written.

The Signe of WANACK-MAMACK.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered in y’ p'sence of
PETER FOULGER.
ELEAZER FOULGER.
DoRCAS STARBUCK.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 173

RECEIPT OF WANACKMAMAK.
Nantucket Records, Old Book, Page 27.

Received of Tristram Coffin, of Nantucket, the just
sume of five poun, which is part of the seven poun
that was unpaid of the Twenty poun Purchase of the
Land that was purchased of Wanackmamak and Neck-
anoose, that is to say, from Monomoy to Waquetta-
quage pond, Nanahumack neck, and all from Wesco
westward tothe West end of Nantucket, I say Received
by me, Wanackmamak, of Tristram Coffin, five pounds
Starling, the 18th 11 M. 1671.

The mark K of WANACKMAMAK.
Witness hereunto:
RICHARD GARDNER.
ELEZER FOLGER.

The probabilities are that the site of a town was
not immediately determined upon: each one, doubtless,
having due regard for his ownership, placed his house
in the locality that suited him best.

Three or four localities are claimed by as many dif-
ferent people as sites of the first town. Macy’s His-
tory says, ‘‘ Thomas Macy chose a spot for settlement
on the southeast side of Madaket harbor, where he
found a rich soil and an excellent spring of water’’;
- but gives no authority for the statement. Allen Cof-
fin, Esq., in his ‘‘ Coffin Family,’’ claims Capaum Pond
as the site of the first village, and quotes from the
first book of Nantucket Records to substantiate his
claim; he says, ‘‘ At a meeting held at Nantucket, July
- 15, 1661, of the owners or purchasers residing there, it
was agreed that each man have liberty to choose his

174 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

house lot within the limits not previously occupied, and
that each house lot shall contain sixty rods square toa
whole share. Tristram Coffin appears to have been
allowed to make the first selection,’? which he did at
‘‘Cappamet Harbour head sixty rods squar, or there-
abouts,’’ as did also Peter Coffin, Tristram Coffin, Jr.,
William Pike, James Coffin, Stephen Greenleaf, and
others.

William C. Folger, Esq., says that —

‘Thomas Macy ea Edward Starbuck aes at
Maddequet during the winter of 1659. In the spring
each took a hoe and went to find a better place. Ed-
ward chose near the north head of Hummock Pond,
where he settled, — probably on the now Cornish farm.
Thomas settled at Watercomet (the pond field), where
his son John and grandson Thomas—who died in
1759— lived. *Tis very near the Reed Pond, and the
land now belongs to Capt. Henry Coleman and others.
Foundations of several houses are found there now.”

After careful examination of the map, after listening
attentively to all the arguments brought forward by
different people to prove that this or that locality was
the place where the first town was situated, and after
carefully weighing all the evidence in favor of each
site, the compiler has arrived at the following con-
clusions: first, that the houses were few and scattered |
widely apart; second, that the site of the first town was
a considerable distance to the eastward of Long Pond,
and that the larger portion of the houses were situated
around the heads of Cappamet Harbor, now Capaum
Pond (but which then opened to the sea), and Hum-
mock Pond, and in the near vicinity of Maxcy’s,

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. < e

Reed, and Washing Ponds,—or in other words, at
Watercomet. |

New families continued to arrive, and in March,
1663, Mary Starbuck, the first white child, was born
(page 136). 7

The little settlement grew and flourished. Of course
there were disputes among the colonists, and with the
Indians; but when the history of this colony is read
and compared with that of some others in New Eng-
land, it will be found that the settlers were exception-
aily blessed. Thus they went on from year to. year,
building, planting, reaping, and continually gaining in
strenvth. All were busy, and each had his part to per-
form. The land was good, and bountiful crops re-
warded their exertions, and the sea yielded up its
abundance. As the colony grew, it became evident
that some form of government was necessary. <A pe-
tition was accordingly presented to Governor Lovelace,
asking him to appoint a chief magistrate. The gov-
ernor requested that the names of two suitable persons
be forwarded to him, from which he would make a se-
lection. The names of Tristram Coffin and Thomas
Macy were accordingly sent, and he appointed Tristram
Coffin to be the first chief magistrate of the island of
Nantucket, his commission bearing date June 29, 1671.
Thomas Macy was the first town clerk.

In 1665 the famous sachem, King Philip, paid a
visit to the island. It appears that he came with a
number of canoes and warriors, and that he was in
pursuit of a culprit by the name of John Gibbs. <Ac-
cording to Macy’s History, the inhabitants, from Phil-
ip’s hostile appearance, were apprehensive that he

176 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

would destroy them if any measures were taken to
arrest his progress in pursuit of the delinquent. They
would lend Philip no aid for fear of the revenge of
the island natives; they could not raise money enough
to ransom the man, and they were in a defenceless
condition, consequently they were in hot water. ‘In
this dilemma they concluded to put all to risk: they
told him that if he did not immediately leave the isl-
and, they would rally the inhabitants and fall upon
him and cut him off to a man!” Philip, kind and
considerate soul that he was, very “‘ happily took the
alarm and left the island as soon as possible.”’

The island remained under the jurisdiction of the

State of New York until the accession,of William and
Mary to the throne. ‘‘ They directed that the lines of
the Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England
should be ascertained, and by the request of the inhab-
itants and proprietors of the island of Nantucket, the
island was included within these lines, and considered
to be a part of Massachusetts. An Act passed by the
Great and General Court or Assembly of the Province
of Massachusetts Bay in New England, begun and held
at Boston, the thirty-first day of May, 1693,” confirmed
the ghia!
_ It has been repeated so often and with nach mulish
persistency by letter writers, historians, and chroni-
clers, that the first settlers of the island were “ Quak-
ers,’”’ and fled from persecution, that it has come to be
believed as true, and our ancestors have been set down
as almost martyrs.

That those fanatics and bigots who, in the early
history of our State, burned and hanged witches, and

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. ie

committed other diabolical acts ‘“‘in the name of the
Lord,’’ have enough to answer for, is certainly true;
but that Thomas Macy,* Edward Starbuck, Tristram
Coffin, and the rest ‘‘ fled’’ from persecution, is sheer
nonsense. |

In the first place, they were not ‘‘ Quakers ’’; and in
the second, they did not flee. Mr. Alexander Star-
buck, of Waltham, Mass., who has certainly given the
history of Nantucket as much study as any one now
living, says: —

‘* That our ancestors fled from persecution to enjoy
on the island that civil and religious liberty the Col-
ony of the Massachusetts Bay denied them, is very
pretty poetry, but an historical absurdity.”’

Thomas Macy went back to Salisbury, and lived
there in 1664, as the following from a letter written
to a gentleman in Nantucket by the historian Joshua
Coffin, in 1831, shows conclusively. This letter says:

‘“ Thomas Macy was a merchant, an enlightened man
and much too wise to apprehend any danger to his
person or property from any person or persons, either
legally or illegally. . . . The idea that his property was
forfeited is not correct. It will perhaps be new to some

* John G. Whittier, one of America’s best of men and great-
est poets, whose works the humble compiler of this book always
reads with profit and delight, has, with a strange disregard of
recorded facts, in his ‘‘ Exiles,” made Thomas Macy flee in a
light wherry with his wife to Nantucket, in 1660. If the genial
and kindly poet will take the trouble to examine the records of
the town of Salisbury, or even read this unpretending volume,
he will no doubt be disabused of the idea that Thomas Macy
* fled.”

12

178 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

people to know that Thomas Macy went back from Nan-
tucket and lived in Salisbury again, and sold his land,
house, etc. The record says, ‘Thomas Macy sold unto
Anthony Colby the house in which he, Thomas Macy,
dwelleth at the present, together with the barne, and
so much land as the garden conteyneth on a straight
line to the eastermost corner of Roger Eastman’s
barne,’ etc. See Registry of Deeds, 1664; for in that
year he lived in Salisbury. . . . Macy was certainly a
man of fortitude, courage, good sense, and education.”

It is doubtless true that Tristram Coffin, Thomas
Macy, and the rest were disgusted with the intolerance
of religious views and the oppressive spirit of the laws;
but they were not the kind of men to sneak away from
anything of that nature. They found the land at
Nantucket good, bought the island, and moved here
with their families, and did not hurry about the matter
either. :

The sweeping assertion that the first settlers of the
island were ignorant and very illiterate is another
absurdity. Ina communication to the Albany Journal,
Mr. T. W. Barnes, after giving some account of the
Folger family, and the first Peter, says, ‘‘An old
chronicle states that his son Peter, when he went to
Nantucket, was the only man there who could read and
write.’’ * |

Peter Folger has been frequently referred to by
other writers as the only educated person upon the
island. In Macy’s “ History of Nantucket ”’ is found a

* Although, in the following item, the gentleman above re-
ferred to does not in reality retract, yet he acknowledges that

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. es

general charge of illiteracy against the people, and also
a flat contradiction of the historian’s own words.

On page 38, Mr. Macy says: ‘‘It is not our purpose
to enter particularly into the proceedings of the pro-
prietors, or to record the rules, orders, and regulations
by which they governed themselves. A volume would
be required for this purpose. .. . Deeds of convey-
ance were made and recorded whenever there were
any purchasers.’’ Does this look as though they were
ignorant or illiterate? And yet on page 39 he says,
“ They were so illiterate that the little of their writ-
ings that have come down to us is hardly legible or in-
telligible.”? Now, if they were as illiterate as Macy
represents them to be on page 39, how could they
(page 38) have made rules, orders, and regulations, or

others besides Peter Folger did know something; and the item
is given as his apology for the imputation that they knew noth-
ing.

We despise the idea of exalting one man at the expense of
another; but according to a writer in the Nantucket Jnquirer
and Mirror, we are guilty of that very thing. It seems that, |
speaking recently about the Folger family, anent the treasury
appointment, we said that at one time the original Peter was the
only Nantucketer who could read and write. Against this state-
ment, it is claimed that the Macy, Coffin, Starbuck, Swain, and
Gardner who emigrated at the same period, had been previously
deputies in the General Court; “wherefore,” our critic con-
cludes, “they could not have been ignoramuses.” This proof
appears to be conclusive. At any rate, we are ready to accept
it, for at that period it was doubtless a rule of the civil service
that office-holders should know something. We hasten to set
the matter right as soon as possible, because so many mistakes
have been made by the newspapers in speaking about Nantucket
that the islanders are beginning to suspect the existence of a
conspiracy to write them all down sea-dogs, and a curious kind
at that, — Albuny Journal.

180 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

recorded deeds of conveyance? and if “ their writings
that have come down to us are hardly legible or intel-
ligible,’’ how does Mr. Macy or any one else know
whether they were illiterate or not? ~

Thomas Macy, the first settler, was far from being
an illiterate and ignorant man: he was a préacher and
merchant, and his letter * to the General Court in 1659
can, for clearness and force, hardly be surpassed by
any scholar of to-day.

At a meeting held May 10, 1661, at Salisbury, of the
purchasers of the island of Nantucket, five surveyors
were appointed to measure and lay out land. The
record states that ‘‘ it was ordered and concluded that
the aforementioned parties, vizt: Tristram Coffin,
Seny., Thomas Macy, Edward Starbuck, Thomas Bar-
nard, Peter Folger, shall also measure and lay out all
the rest of the land, both meadows, woods, and upland,
that is convenant to be appropriated within the bounds
of the first plantation.’? More ignorance! In 1662
fourteen of these ignorant settlers signed their names to
a document granting to William Worth certain privi-
leges. In fact, all the documents and records of which
we have any knowledge show that every one of the
first purchasers of the island could read and-write; and
though to-day they might not be considered as belong-
ing to the literati, yet for their time they were fully as
well educated as the majority of the people, and the
general charges of ignorance and illiteracy cannot be

* This letter was preserved in the Nantucket Atheneum until
the great fire of 1846, when it was destroyed with other valua-
ble documents and curiosities.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 3S

sustained. (Were old Chaucer alive, he might possibly
make some of our modern scholars squirm a little.)

_ If it be conceded that Thomas Macy, Tristram Coffin,
and Peter Folger were not ignorant or uneducated
men, as it must be from tbe evidence, then it must also
be conceded that their associates were not; from the
fact that such men as those above mentioned would not
be likely, under the circumstances, to seek other than
congenial spirits. Men of intelligence and education
do not usually seek the ccmpanionship of the low and
ignorant. ‘There is nothing whatever to substantiate
the assertion that Peter Folger was the only educated
man amongst the settlers. He was doubtless a fairly
capable man, and was perhaps better acquainted with
the Indian dialect than his associates; but it appears to
the compiler that if he were possessed of such a vast
amount of knowledge, he certainly exhibited a great
degree of self-denial by requiring for his own and his
sons’ valuable services so small a compensation as two
quarts of corn for each bushel ground, and half a share
of land. 3

According to Macy’s ‘History, ‘‘ This Peter Folger
was an inhabitant of Martha’s Vineyard. He was in-
vited to remove with his family to Nantucket to offi-
ciate as miller, weaver, and interpreter of the Indian
language. His son, Eleazer, was to act as shoemaker;
and as a proper encouragement to these several occupa-
tions, a grant of one half of a share of land, with all
the accommodations thereunto belonging, was made to
the father. He accepted the invitation, and in 1663
removed thither. In 1667 he took charge of the mill.
Besides laboring in the callings above mentioned, he

182 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

acted as surveyor of land.’’ Query: does it require
any more intelligence to superintend the grinding of
corn than the cultivation before and the eating it after
the grinding? The writer desires im no way to detract
from the credit due Mr. Folger for his really valuable
services; but let us have the whole truth. While Mr.
Folger was surveying the land, snperintending the
grinding of the corn, or talking with the Indians, the
rest of the settlers were planting the corn, cultivating
the ground, building houses and barns, and establish-
ing a settled form of government. Mr. Starbuck again
says: ‘‘ Peter Folger was an able and a good man. His
occupation as a surveyor made him a valuable man,
and his services as interpreter (an acquirement
gained by a long residence among the Indians at
Martha’s Vineyard) not to be despised. But that all
the learning, all the ability, all the wisdom of the
island was concentrated in his person, is a tale fit to
be laid carefully away with the religious ‘ persecu-
tion’ story, or the ridiculous narrative of the three
daughters, Martha, Elizabeth, and Nancy.”’

The direct descendants of the first settlers boast of
their ancestors,—and why should they not? The
blood that flowed in the veins of those men was just as
‘‘blue’’ and just as patrician as that of those old
Dutch burghers, the Stuyvesants, Knickerbockers, Van
Rensselaers, Van Cortlandts, Van Twillers, and the
rest, who wore their high-peaked hats, smoked long
clay pipes, and drank schnapps on the island of Man-
hattan in its early days.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 163

Indians.

It is strange to contemplate that wherever civiliza-
tion has gone, especially as regards the North Ameri-
can continent, no matter how amicable the relations
between the settlers and original owners of the soil
may have been, the aborigines have slowly but surely
disappeared before the encroachments of civilization,
like dew under the rays of the morning sun.

- The relations that existed between the settlers of
Nantucket and the Indians were unusually amicable;
the land which the whites bought was honestly paid
for; they entered into each other’s councils; the
Indians were educated and taught the ways of civilized
life. So far as Christianizing them was concerned,
probably greater success was attained here than in
any other locality on the continent.* But the race
was doomed. In 1763-64 a terrible disease raged
for six months among them, leaving out of three hun-
dred and fifty-eight Indians at its commencement only
one hundred and thirty-six, thus sweeping off nearly
five eighths of their number. One by one they de-
parted to the happy hunting grounds, until in 1822 the
last Indian wrapped his blanket around him and “ slept
with his fathers,” less than two centuries and a quarter
from the discovery of the island. In 1854 Abraham
Quary, at the age of eighty-two, passed peacefully
away: in this man’s veins ran the last drop of blood

* Soon after the English had settled on the island, attempts
were made to convert the Indians to the faith of the gospel,
and in course of years all of them become nominal Christians.
(Barber's Historical Collections, page 448.)

184 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.
of a once happy and prosperous people. In the Athe-
neeum Library hangs a fine oil painting of this half-
breed, and the mournful and thoughtful expression of
his face tells the whole story. |

The following extracts from a letter written by
Zaccheus Macy for the Massachusetts Historical Soci-
ety in 1792 will doubtless be of interest to those desir-
ous of obtaining information in relation to the Indians
and the boundaries of the island: —

NANTUCKET, y° 2' y* 10™° 1792.

My Friend and Kinsman, — Agreeable to the re-
quest of the Massachusetts Historical Society, I have
wrote and explained many words and names of certain
parts and places of or on the island of Nantucket,
both in English and Indian, as well as I could; but
there is not one person now left that I can get any
help from in these matters. So I have wrote as well
as I can on the affairs or matters, but I sometimes
fear whether it may not seem flat and old to them, but
I have not wrote anything but what I am very sure is
true, according to the best account I could get. ...

Account of the names of the old Sachems and
some of the most respectable Indians, and their habi-
tations, taken from the best authors that could be had
y° 15 y° 3" 1763. At that time there were living near
about 370 of the natives on the island of Nantucket.
Per me the subscriber.

Wannochmamock was the first Sachem at the
southeast part of the island, when the English first
came to Nantucket. Next to him was his son Sou-
soauco, and next to him were his two sons called Cain
and Abel. These two agreed to divide the Sachem

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 185

right, two third parts to Cain, and one third part to
Abel. The said Cain had one daughter, whose name
was Jemima, married to James Shaa. From Abel
sprang Eben Abel, and from him sprang Benjamin
Abel the last Sachem, from whom I bought all his
right, title, and property that he had on said island, for
and in behalf of the whole English proprietors. All
the said Jemima’s right was bought by our old propri-
etors many years before, as may fully appear on our
records. Their lands or bounds began at a place on ~
the south side of the island, called Touphchue Pond;
and ran across to the northward to a brown rock
marked on the west side, that lies to the northward of
our washing pond, called Gibbs Pond, on the west side
of Saul’s Hills and so over towards Podpis swamp, and
then to the eastward to a place Sesacacha Pond by the
east sea.* At the southeast part of said tract isa high
bluff called Tom Never’s Head, and about two miles
to the northward stands our famous fishing stage
houses, where our sick people go for their health,t
called Siasconset ; and about a mile still to the north-
ward is a very high cliff of land called Sancota Head ;
then about a mile still to the northward stands another
fishing stage called Sesacacha.

Next begins the old Sachem called Wauwinet; his
bounds begin adjoining to the northward of the said
Wannochmamock’s land and run still along to the

* By reference to Dr. Ewer’s map these lines will be found.
- In order that the reader may better understand the location of
_ these lands, reference is here made to the map on page 1.

T Invalids should make a note of this.

186 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

northward and take in all Squam, and run on to our
long sandy point, called Coatue or Nauma, which in
the English is Long Point, where our Massachusetts
lighthouse now stands ; and then to the westward to
New Town ; then to the southward to a place called
Weweder Ponds, which in English signifies a pair of
horns, by reason there are two ponds that run to a
point next to the sea, and spread apart so as to leave a
neck of land, called Long Joseph’s Point, which two
ponds spread apart so as to resemble a pair of horns.
And the said Wauwinet had two sons: the oldest was
named Isaac, but was mostly called Nicornoose, which
signifies in English to suck the fore teat ; and his sec-
ond son was named Wawpordonggo, which in English
is white face, for his face was on one side white, and
the other brown or Indian color. And the said Nicor-
noose married, and had one son named Isaac, and one
daughter; and then he-turned away his proper wife,
and took another woman, and had two sons Wat and
Paul Noose; and when his true son Isaac grew up to
be a man, he resented his father’s behavior so much
that he went off and left them for the space of near
fifty years, —it was not known where. And in that
time his true sister married to one Daniel Spotsor, and
he reigned Sachem, by his wife, near about forty
years; and we made large purchases of the said
Spotsors. And then about sixty years past or more,
there came an Indian man from Nauset, called Great
Jethro, and he brought Judah Paddock and one Hause
with him, and he challenged the Sachem right by be-
ing son to the said true son of Nicornoose ; and when
they first opened the matter to our old proprietors,

Le

IIISTORICAL SKETCHES. 187

they contrived to keep the said Jethro close, until they
could send some good committee to find out by our old
Indians, whether they ever knew or heard of the said
Nicornoose having such a son gone, and they soon
found out by the old Indians that he had, but they had
not heard what was become of him. So they soon
found they should lose all they had bought of the said
Spotsors; then they held a parley with the said Jethro,
and agreed to buy all his right, title, and property that
he owned on said island, as appears on our records.
And the said Nicornoose gave deeds to his two bas-
tard sons, Paul and Wat Noose, forty acres each, a lit-
tle to the eastward of Podpis village.

_ The first Sachem at the southwest part of said isl-
and, his bounds were at the said Weweder Ponds,
and from thence to the northward to a place called
Gunsue meadow at Monemoy,* where we now call
New Town, and from thence westward along to the
southward of the hills called Popsquatchet Hills, where
our three mills now stand, and so to the west sea called
Tawtemeo, which we call the Hummock Pond. And

his name was Autapscot. Next to him was his. son

called Harry Poritain. Next to him was Peter Mau-
sauquit. Next to him was Isaac Peter. Next to him
was lame Isaac, of whom we bought the last and alt
that Sachem right; and their habitation was Moyau-
comet, which signifies a meeting place, and their
meeting house they call Moyaucomor. And the said
Autapscot was called a great warrior, and got his land

by his bow.

* That part of the town in which is now enibraced Consue,
Poverty Point, and the Goose Pond,

188 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

The fourth Sachem was at the northwest part called |
Potconet, and owned all the little island called Tuck-
ernuck [page 324], which signifies in English a loaf of
bread, and his bounds extended from Madaket down
eastward to Wesko, which in English is the white
stone, and so on to the north side of Autapscot land,
all bought of him at the coming of the English, saving
some particular tracts that belonged to the Jafets and
the Hoights and some others. 7

Now I shall give some of the most respectable In-
dians in Wannochmamock’s bounds. There was James
~ Mamack, a minister of the gospel and justice of the
peace, and behaved well in his station. Old sop, the
weaver, was a schoolmaster. Old Saul, a very stern-
looking old man. Joshua Mamack succeeded in his
father James Mamack’s place. Richard Nominash
and his brother Sampson and little Jethro were all
very substantial, and a humber more very trusty men.

The most noted Indian in Autapscot’s bounds were
Benjamin Tashama, a minister of the gospel and a
schoolmaster, to teach the children to read and write.
He was grandson to the old Sachem. But there was
an old Indian named Zacchary Hoite, a minister be-
fore the said Tashama, but he did not behave so well.
He told his hearers they must do as he said and not as
he did. .

And there was one Indian man, his name was James
Skouel, but was mostly called Corduda (Kadooda?).
He was justice of the peace, and very sharp with them
if they did not behave well. He would fetch them up
when they did not tend their corn well, and order them
to have ten stripes on their backs, and for any rogue

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 189

tricks and getting drunk. And if his own children
played any rogue tricks, he would serve them the same
sauce. There happened some Englishmen at his
court, when a man was brought up for some rogue
tricks, and one of these men was named Nathan Cole-
man, a pretty crank sort of a man, and the Indian man
pleaded for an appeal to Esquire Bunker; and the old
judge turned round to said Nathan and spoke in the
Indian language thus: ‘* Chaquor Keador taddator
witche conichau mussoy chaquor?’’ then said Nathan
answered thus: ‘‘ Martau couetchawidde neconne sas-
samyste nehotie moche Squire Bunker”; which in the
English tongue is thus: ‘* What do you think about
this great business?’’ then Nathan answered, ‘‘ Maybe
you had better whip him first, then let him go to Squire
Bunker’: and the old judge took Nathan’s advice.
And so Nathan answered two purposes: the one was
to see the Indian whipped; the other was, he was sure
the Indian would not want to go to Esquire Bunker
for fear of another whipping.*

I will say something more in recommendation of
some of our old Indian natives. They were very solid
and sober at their meetings of worship, and carried on
in the form of Presbyterians, but in one thing imitated
the Friends or Quakers, so called; which was to hold
meetings on the first and fifth days of the week, and
attended their meetings very precisely. I have been
at their meetings many times and seen their devotion ;
and it was remarkably solid, and I could understand

*It is suggested that a little Kadooda law would be very
efficacious nowadays for those who play “‘ rogue tricks.”

190 _ THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the most of what was said, and they always placed us
in a suitable seat to sit, and they were not put by, by
our coming in, but rather appeared glad to see us come
in. And a minister is called Cooutaumuchary.

And asI said before, they had justices, constables,
grand jurymen, and carried on for a great many years
many of them very well and precisely, and lived in
very good fashion. Some of them were weavers, some
good carpenters.

Now I will begin at the west end of the island, which
we call Smith’s Point, but the Indians call Nopque,
which was called a landing place when they came from
the Vineyard, but they call it Noapx; then eastward
about three miles comes the Hummock Pond, where
we once had agreat number of whale houses with a
mast raised for a lookout, with holes bored through and
sticks put in like a ladder, to go up; then about three
miles eastward to the said Weweder Ponds stood
another parcel of whale houses, then about three miles
eastward to Nobedeer Pond was where Benjamin
Gardner lived formerly, then about three and one half
miles eastward is the aforesaid Tom Never’s Ilead, then
two miles to the northward is the famous town or fish-
ing stage called Siasconset, then about one mile north-
ward is the high head of land called Sancoty Head, and
the Indians called Naphchecoy, which signifies round
the head, and then about one mile northward is the
aforesaid Sesacacha Pond, where our other fishing
stage stands.

Then begins the said Squam, and runs north two
miles to the beginning of our said long sandy point
Nauma; and the first is one mile to a place called

i
«

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 191

Causkata Pond, where are some woods and meadow;
and four miles northward is where the said Massachu-
setts lighthouse is, on the north end of said point.
Then about one mile north of the entering on of the
above said long point begins another neck or beach,
called Little Coetue, and runs about five miles on about
a west by south course till it comes within about one
mile of our town called Wesko, which makes the last

_ side of the entering in of our harbor. Then next to

the said Squam westward is the village called Podpis
Neck, where our fulling mill stands. Then next west-
ward is the famous neck of land called Quaise or Mais-
quatuck Neck, which in the English signifies the reed
land, which was a tract of land given to Thomas May-
hew from one of the old Sachems, and was reserved
by the said Mayhew to himself when he sold his
patent right to the proprietors; which neck makes the
west side of the said Podpis Harbor, now owned by
Josiah Barker, Esq., and Capt. Shuabel Coffin and
Capt. Thomas Delano. The next westward is the
Josiah Barker’s lot or field, called Show Aucamor,
which in English signifies the middle field of land.
Then about four miles westward is the town called
Wesco; then next westward is a place called Water-
comet, which signifies a pond field, which was formerly
owned by the old natives called the Hoites. Then
next westward is the great pond called Cuppame,
where old Tristram Coffin lived [page 174], the old
grandfather to almost all of us, which was owned by
the old families of the natives called the Jafets; then
next westward about four miles is called Eel Point and
Maddaket Harbor, which is the northwest part of the

192 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

said island; and then about two miles westward is the
said little island called Tuckernuck, which signifies
in English a loaf of bread, for it appears round, and in
the middle pretty high; which was bought by the said
old Tristram Coffin from the old Sachem Potconet,* in
the year 1659, bv virtue of a patent he had from New
York.

Excuse me for errors and poor writing and spelling,
and consider me in station of life worn out.

By |

ZACCHEUS MACY.

To Peleg Coffin, Esq., now resident in Boston, for
the perusal of our Historical Society for the Massachu-
setts in Boston.

According to Obed Macy’s history of the island, none
but Indians ever suffered the death penalty on Nan-
tucket. He says: — 5

‘‘ From the best information that can be obtained,
ten persons have been hanged on the island since it
was settled by the English. They were all native
Indians, and the crime of each was murder. The first
execution, of which we have any particular account,
took place in 1704, the last in 1769. Their names were
as follows: Finch, 1704; Sabo, Jo Nobby, 1736; Heppy

* According to deeds in the Secretary of State’s office in Al-
bany, N. Y., ‘‘ Tristram Coffin S', Peter Coffin, Tristram Coffin
Jun", and James Coffin” bougbt the island of Tuckernuck from
Thomas Mayhew, “in consideracon of y® just sume of six Pounds
in Hand Paid, and by mee Thomas Mayhew received in full
Satisfaction of y* aforesaid Patent Right of y, aforesaid Island.”

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 193

Comfort, 1739; John Comfort, 1745; Henry Jude,
1750; Tom Ichabod, Joel Elisa, Simon Hews, Nathan
Qdibhe. 1769.”’

R evolution.

F.C. Sanford , Esq., says: —

“In 1765 William Rotch built the first ship ever
owned at Nantucket. She was called the ‘ Neptune,’
and was commanded by Nathan Coflin. She sailed on
her first voyage to London with a load of spermaceti
oil, and was followed by the ‘ Bedford’ and ‘ Dart-
mouth’ in 1772, also the ‘Beaver,’ the two last named
being the tea ships concerned in the Boston Harbor
affair, Dec. 16, 1773.

** Capt. Nathan Coffin commanded another ship from
here bound to London, and was captured by a British
admiral, who told him he must go into his Majesty’s
service or into irons. Coffin replied that they could
hang him to their yard-arm before he would fight his
own countrymen.*

‘¢ After the tea had been thrown into the dock at
Boston, the ships came to Nantucket. The ‘ Beaver’
and ‘ Bedford’ were fitted for whaling, and sent to the
Brazil Banks. After filling with oil the ‘ Beaver’
sailed for London, the ‘ Bedford’ bringing her oil to
Nantucket.”’

For a further account of the ‘‘ Bedford,’’ see “* Whal-
ing,” page 338.

* “ TTang me, if you will, to the yard-arm of your ship, but do
not ask me to become a traitor to my country.” — BANCROFT,
Vol. IX. page 313,

194 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Revolution.

Although a declared neutral during the Revolution,
Nantucket suffered as severely as any other part of the
country, from the fact of her isolation. Lying so far
out at sea, she was directly in the track of British
cruisers ; and they and the Tories and refugees were
continually preying upon her. During those long and

severe winters, grave fears were often entertained by.

the inhabitants that they would starve or freeze. Peti-

tion after petition was sent to the British commanders
for at least liberty to bring to the island food and fuel in |

sufficient quantities to keep the people alive. The sack-
ing and burning of the town was threatened a number
of times, and the people were kept in constant dread.
Macy in his History says: ‘‘If the people of the island
had observed a strict neutrality during the war, they
could have received at all times from the British com-

mander in chief that attention which their defenceless —

situation would seem to demand.”’ In speaking of their
sufferings, he says: — 7

‘¢ As the sound was continually infested with cruis-
ers, it was diflicult to procure that supply of pro-
visions and fuel which they otherwise would have
received from different places on the continent. This
was soon severely felt by the inhabitants, and led them
to use every means that invention could devise or
necessity execute to obtain their necessary supplies.
Sometimes strangers with the prospect of high prices
would venture to the island with such articles as were
most needed, and take in exchange fish, salt, oil, ete.
A number of the inhabitants ran open sail-boats to

13

So ae

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. . [9s

Connecticut and elsewhere with salt and other articles,
and brought back provisions and general supplies.

They chose those boats because they could pass Rhode

Island in them with greater safety during the night
than in vessels. And notwithstanding the danger of
navigating such frail barks, they selected the most

stormy nights even in winter to pass ports in posses-

sion of the enemy; for they had rather encounter the
hazard of foundering at sea than of falling into the
hands of the British. By these means, and with what

_breadstuff was raised on the island, the people were

prevented (and in many instances barely prevented)
from starving to death. ...

*¢ As long as the vessels lasted, they afforded employ-
ment for the poorer class, but their number lessened
very fast. The loss of these, however, was not the
greatest evil which the people had to sustain. The
prison ship was much more dreaded. Whenever a
vessel or boat was scen coming from any quarter, anx-
iety of mind was depicted on every countenance. All
were dependent in some degree on casualties abroad ;
those who had property at stake were desirous of hear- |
ing from it, but above all those who had fathers, hus-
bands, brothers, or other connections, absent from
home, were watching with anxious eyes every sail that
made its appearance, or listening with intense interest
to catch some tidings from their friends, apprehensive
the while that the next news would blast forever all
their hopes of earthly comfort and happiness. In the
middle and latter part of the war, accounts from abroad
were rarely received which did not tell of the death of
one or more of the people belonging to the place.

196 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

‘‘The few that returned from the prison ships gave
the most melancholy accounts of. the sufferings of the
prisoners... . .

‘These startling and horrid truths wrought so forcibly
on the minds of those whose necessities impelled them
to follow the sea for a subsistence, and so disquieted the
hearts of their wives and children, who must be left in
anxious uncertainty both in regard to their future
means of subsistence and the fate of their near rela-
tives, as to bring a gloom over the face of society too :
deep and too heartfelt to be described... .

‘‘ Many perished at sea, in consequence of venturing
in vessels constructed with a view to fast sailing.
These vessels were long and sharp, were built of frail
materials, and purposely made weak in order that by
degrees of pliability they might pass more easily through
the water. When pursued by an enemy they were
sometimes subjected to so heavy a press of sail as to -
run under and never rise again.”’

The idea of making a vessel weak so that she will be
pliable, in order that she may sail faster, will doubtless
‘be anew one to persons unacquainted with the sea.
The compiler is informed by one of our ‘‘ old salts ”
that Mr. Macy is correct, and he relates the following
incidents in support of Mr. Macy’s assertions. He
says: —

‘Tt may be doubted by an inexperienced person, who
knows nothing of the whys and wherefores, that a
vessel weakened by service or otherwise will sail more
rapidly than a new and strong ship. Thatsuch is the
fact is evidenced in the case of the ‘Ann McKim’ of
Baltimore. This vessel was‘ hogged’ and wrung out of

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. | 197

her original shape, but she made the trip to Valparaiso
from an Eastern port in the then unprecedented time
of sixty-five days. She afterward in 1850 made a
remarkably short trip to San Francisco. And again an
old schoolmate of mine related to me that while in
command of the ‘ Independencia’ in 1848, on a voyage
from the coast of Africa to Rio de Janeiro with a cargo
of four hundred slaves, he was chased by a British
frigate. He was on his second voyage in the vessel,
and had always prided himself on her speed. The
chase was discovered early in the morning far astern,
but at noon he was satisfied that before night he would
be overhauled. Calling his carpenter, he ordered him
to sharpen his saw and saw through the main rail,
bulwarks, and plank shear, commencing forward and
making incisions eight or nine feet apart on each side
of the vessel (thereby of course weakening the vessel);
this was done, and in two hours it was discovered that
the frigate had dropped astern, and when darkness
came all fear of being overtaken had passed. The
cargo was successfully landed before the frigate again
made her appearance; and when she did the slaver
had been scuttled, and all traces of her identity de-
stroyed by the same element she had so successfully
braved.”’

Provisions were so scarce that corn was frequently
$3 a bushel and more, flour $30 a barrel, and other
necessaries of life in the same proportion. It was —
soon found that a new source or substitute must be
discovered for fuel, as the coasters which had hereto-
fore brought their wood from the continent turned
their attention another way on account of the risk of

198 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

capture. Even if a large supply had been brought
here, few persons would have been able to purchase,
from the fact that there was no money. The people,
however, suffered much more for the want of bread
than fuel, finding various substitutes for the latter;
peat being one of them, of which there was an abun-
dance and it made excellent firing. Theshrub-oaks also
were dug up, and with their roots made another substi-
tute. Many persons cut brush in the swamps, or went
up harbor to Coskata and procured large quantities of
oak, cedar, and juniper.

A few figures in relation to the property of the
island at this time (1778) are here given, for which the
compiler is again indebted to Macy’s History: —

‘‘'The dwelling-houses, barns, and other buildings
not hereafter specially mentioned, with all yards, gar-
dens, and passageways to the same belonging,’’? num-
bered 604, the total value of which was £35,633 5s.
The value of the ‘‘ upland, mowing, orcharding, and
tillage land’? was £14,688; df salt and fresh meadows,
£4,050; of pasture land, £55,840; of woodland and
unimproved land, £4,338. The wharves were valued
at £1,708 2s. 4d. They had ‘‘ money at interest and
on hand more than they are indebted ” £11,222 16s. 8d.,
and ‘‘ debts due not on interest more than they are
indebted ” £3,732 10s. Their ‘‘ goods, wares, merchan-
dises, and stock in trade” amounted to £8,257 8s.
And the valuation of ‘‘ vessels of all sorts with their
stores, and the true value thereof, whether at home or
abroad,’’ was £12,860 8s. They had also 1,780 ounces
of plate and 270 horses, valued together at £4,860; also
54 oxen, 540 cows, 155 steers, 9,938 sheep and goats, 299

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. ||

swine, valued all together £9,319 15s., swelling to an
aggregate of over £173,200!

In April, 1779, about a hundred armed men landed
in the town from vessels that were anchored at the bar.
They were commanded by one George Leonard, a Tory;
and immediately after landing, they commenced rob-
bing the stores and committing other depredations.
They left the next day, after securing booty to the
amount of £10,665 13s. 4d. ‘‘ lawful.”

Soon after this transaction, the town appointed a
committee to proceed to Newport and New York and
represent to the British commanders ‘‘ the difficulties
under which the people labored on account of the war,
and particularly on account of the British armed ves-
_ sels, which had lately committed depredations on the
property and inhabitants.’’

The committee consisted of Benjamin Tupper,
Timothy Folger, Samuel Starbuck, and William Rotch,
who proceeded immediately to the points indicated,
and returned with assurances from Sir George Collier
and Sir Henry Clinton that the depredations should
cease, provided the town of Nantucket would preserve
strict neutrality.

Not long after this, a squadron of armed vessels left
New York for the purpose of plundering and burning
the town. They did not have, however, any authority
from the British commander for this act of vandalism.
Arriving at the Vineyard, they were detained there
several days by an easterly wind. Meanwhile negotia-
tions were carried on between the commander of the
squadron and the townspeople, the project of burn-
ing the town being finally abandoned, the vessels
returning to New York.

200 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. |

The tonnage of shipping in 1775. was, according to
Macy, ‘‘ about 14,867 tons’’; one hundred and forty-
nine vessels were destroyed during the war, the total
tonnage of which was 12,476 tons, and of that more
than 10,000 tons fell into the hands of the enemy.
Many of these vessels had valuable cargoes, and _ it
would be impossible to estimate the loss to the island.

Of the crews, some perished in prison ships, lingering |

in confinement for years; some entered the navy; oth-
ers returned home destitute to more destitute families.
To these considerations, if we add losses by plunder-
ers, the almost total stoppage of all business during
the war, the insufficiency of the soil to produce food

for the inhabitants, the almost constant blockading of |

the harbor by the English or the refugees, it will not
be doubted that Nantucket paid as dearly for the inde-
pendence of our country as any place in the Union.

At the commencement of the war, the island boasted
of more than one hundred and fifty vessels ; and at
its close only two or three old hulks remained. There
were 202 widows and 242 orphan children ; but with
that same indomitable spirit which had characterized
the early settlers, they commenced anew the whale
fishery, but under every difficulty. As this business
was the great industry of the people, the interested
reader is referred to the article on that subject on
page 329. :

Settlement of Hudson, N. Y.

In ‘* Historical Sketches of Hudson,”’ kindly loaned
the compiler by F. C. Sanford, Esq., we find the fol-
lowing: ‘‘ In the year 1783, a considerable number of
the inhabitants of the island, desirous of bettering

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 201

their fortunes, determined to leave it, and make a set-
tlement somewhere upon the Hudson River. The en-
terprise doubtless originated in Providence, R. I., but
was joined by others from Nantucket and Martha’s
Vineyard. Thomas Jenkins, to whom more than any
other individual it owed its success, although a native
of Nantucket, was at the time a resident of the city
of Providence, and a wealthy merchant. In thespring
of 1783 he formed an association, to consist of not
more than thirty members, all of whom should be mer-
_ chants or concerned in navigating the deep.”’

It seems that in July, 1783, Cotton Gelston of Proy-
idence came here to secure accessions to this associa-
tion for the purpose of purchasing a suitable place for
a town, somewhere on the Hudson, and the following
persons joined it : Stephen Paddock, Joseph Barnard,
Charles Jenkins, Deborah Jenkins, Gideon Gardner,
Reuben Folger, Alexander Coffin, * Benjamin Hussey,
Shubael Worth, Paul Hussey, Benjamin Folger, Reu-
ben Macy, Walter Folger, Benjamin Starbuck, and
John Cartwright. The above named, with others from
Martha’s Vineyard, Newport, and Providence, R. I.,
proceeded to New York and finally purchased of Peter
Hogeboom, Jr., and others, what was then “Claverack t
Landing ”’ ; but on Nov. 14, 1784, it was, according to
the records, ‘‘ unanimously agreed by the proprietors
that in futer it should be called by the name of Hud-

* Alex. Coffin was born in Nantucket, 1740, and died at Hud-
son in 1839, aged ninety-nine years. He was postmaster, cham-
berlain, and mayor of the city.
- +Claverack, Dutch Klaujfer-acht, meaning eight hills or
cliffs.

202 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

son.’? As the business of this book is with Nantucket
alone, the above is given merely as an episode of the -
Revolution, and Hudson is left to take care of herself
for the futer. '

War of 1812.

As in the war of the Revolution, so in the war of
1812, the inhabitants of the island, a few months af-
ter its commencement, were reduced to great distress.
Nearly every ship was at sea when war was declared,
the greater part of which were not likely to return in
less than a year, and perhaps not in two. The British
cruisers were so numerous on the coast that it was
extremely hazardous for the little coasting vessels
which supplied the town with provisions to attempt
to bring here the necessaries of life. There was less
wood here than had been seen for many years, and
never since the Revolution had the people been re-
duced to such straits.

In July, 1812, a whaling schooner belonging to the
island was captured and burned, her crew were made
prisoners, and for the second time the inhabitants be-
gan an experience of the horrors of war. Fears were
entertained of a hostile demonstration upon the town,.
and the people were in a constant state of, dread and
alarm. From Macy’s History we learn that ‘‘ There
were at this time belonging to the island 43 ships, 47
sloops, 7 brigs, 19 schooners, total 116 vessels, whose
tonnage amounted to nearly 11,000 tons... . At the
close of the war it was found that about one half of
the ships were left,’’ several of which were not at sea
during the war, having been sent to neighboring ports
for safety. Of those that were left there remained 23,

a

= +

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. :, os

the others having been captured, condemned, or
lost.

All through the war the sufferings of the people
were intense. [Petitions were presented to Congress
and to the British commanders for relief, and had it
been possible for the people to have observed a strict

neutrality, there is no doubt whatever that they would

have escaped much privation, discomfort, and loss of
property; as it was, it was almost a repetition of the
horrors of the Revolution.

In 1814 a sanguinary naval battle was fought off the
island, and the sound of cannon echoed around the
quiet locality of Tom Never’s Head. Heretofore they
had seen only the effects of war, but now they were
called to witness all its horrors in one of its most ter-
rible aspects.

F. C. Sanford, Esq., has furnished the compiler with
a few facts of interest in relation to this affair. It
seems that on Oct. 10, 1814, three vessels — which af-
terward proved to be the British frigate ‘‘ Endymion”
and the American privateer ‘‘ Prince of Neufchatel,”’
together with a prize, an English ship— appeared in
the offing. It was very plain to be seen that the
British cruiser was in chase of the other two vessels.
It soon fell calm, and the ponderous frigate lay help-
less. Nothing daunted, and determined to capture one
or both the vessels, the gallant commander of the ‘* En-
dymion’’ manned five boats, containing one hundred
and forty men well armed, and placed them in com-

mand of one of his lieutenants. The captain of the

Yankee privateer, understanding that all this parade
meant business, beached his prize and cleared his ves-

204. THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

sel for action. On came the barges, but the privateer
was ready to receive them. It had been determined to
board and carry the privateer by assault; but when the
attempt was made, the attacking party were met by
such a terribly stern and stubborn resistance that after
a fight of only thirty-five minutes, in which the en-
emy lost the commander of the party, one hundred
and twenty men in killed and prisoners, and three
boats, they were obliged to give up the attempt.
Five only of the privateer’s crew were killed, includ-
ing the pilot, who was Mr. Charles J. Hillburn of
Nantucket.

The prize which was beached proved to be the ship
‘¢ Douglass,” loaded with sugar, from Jamaica for Lon-
don. She was ‘‘ wrecked ’’ by the citizens, and was
afterwards broken up at Wauwinet. After the ter-
rible repulse of her boats, the ‘‘ Endymion ”’ put into
Tarpaulin Cove, from which place officers were sent
to the island to look after her men. The wounded
had all been brought to town, and were properly cared
for. The privateer sailed for Boston, where, she safely
arrived, and captain and crew were alike honored.

The Great Fires.

Since the settlement of the island, up to 1832, —so
far as can be ascertained, —the losses by fire on Nan-
tucket had not exceeded $36,000. The largest fire
which had occurred was in 1769, when property to the
amount of $11,000 was destroyed. In 1836 an exten-
sive conflagration took place, but the compiler has
been unable to ascertain the amount of loss on that
occasion. In 1838 a fire occurred entailing a loss of

Se

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. — 205

upwards of $200,000. A Nantucketer usually speaks
of the ‘‘ great fires of 1836 and 1846”; but according to
the Nantucket Inquirer of June 6, 1838, this fire was
‘by far the most extensive and disastrous ever expe-
rienced in this community.”’ In 1846 came the terrible
catastrophe known as the Great Fire, which laid the
entire business portion of the town in ashes; involving
a loss of over $1,000,000, and for the moment almost
paralyzing the people. That they were equal to the
occasion is shown by the fact that in just eight
months and eleven days from the breaking out of the
fire, a number of new stores were lighted for the first
time on Main Street. This event occurred March 24,
1847, and was the occasion of quite a jollification.
Space will not admit of an extended article on this:
fire, consequently a few facts only are given. ‘The fire
originated in the hat store of Wm. IH. Geary, which
stood near the site of the brick block now belonging to
T. W. Calder, Esq. The alarm was given not far
from eleven o’clock of a hot, sultry July night.

An eye-witness says: —

‘A good, smart stream of water at this juncture
would have quenched the flames, which were in a
few moments bursting from the roof. Once upon
the dry roof, the adjoining buildings were an easy
prey to the fiery fiend.... And now the roar of
the great conflagration is heard, and the hoarse cries
of the fire wards * as they, almost in vain, give their
orders. Then, above the whole, came the sound of

——

* There are twelve of them, and it is no wonder that with so
many conflicting orders as the officers must necessarily have
given, such a large amount of property was destroyed.

206 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

falling buildings, as gunpowder did its work. Across
the street swept the flames, and seized upon vast piles
of this scattered wood, and with the rapidity of light-
ning the huge volume of flame enveloped at once
whole buildings.* It turns the corner, rushes north,

rushes south, rushes east! what earthly power can
_ prevail against it?

‘‘ At one time, standing on the steps of the Pacific
Bank and looking east and north, every building was
on fire, as far east as the old insurance office on the
lower square, and as far north as the Ocean House. It
was a sight never to be forgotten, and one that was in-
deed depressing. The fire department, of course, at this
time had become entirely useless; and as the sun rose
the next morning, the slowly burning turrets of the
beautiful Trinity Church [p. 248] seemed to announce,
from their eminence, that the work of destruction was
nearly ended; and then the flames, slowly descending
to the body of the church, consumed that portion of it
not yet fully destroyed. The loss by this fire was up-
wards of $1,000,000; the insurance obtained amounted
to $300,000, and there were received from various
sources besides, some $70.000,”’ thus making the actual
loss over $625,000,— a matter of great moment to the
town at that time, as the whale fishery was then on
the decline, and this fire doubtless gave the industry
its death blow.

The California Fever.

In 1849 an epidemic appeared here which, although

*It would seem from this account that the blowing up of
wooden buildings in a large conflagration is worse than useless,

—s -

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. | S6F

not fatal in its nature necessarily, yet at one time
seemed as if it would depopulate the town. It was
called the ‘‘ California fever.’’ It had swept through
every State and crossed the water to Nantucket; and
every man on the island caught the disease, and was
mad to go to the land of gold. Nine vessels sailed for
San Francisco that year from this port, three from
Boston, and two from New York, which were owned
or officered by Nantucketers. The vessels which
sailed from Nantucket were the ‘‘ Aurora,’’ *‘ Henry
Astor,”’ ‘‘ Montana,’’ ‘‘ Edward,’’ ‘‘ Joseph Butler ”’
(brig), ‘‘ Sarah Parker,’’ ‘‘ Fanny,’’ ‘‘ Martha,” and
**Citizen.”? These vessels were loaded with building
frames, lumber, naval stores, oil, candles, etc. <A large
number of the passengers on these vessels never came
back. Many are still living in California, some of
whom have amassed a competencv; still others re-
turned with a little dust; and alas! far too many came
back poorer than they went. For the time being, or
for a year or so, business was quite at a standstill; but
in 1850 a little better feeling prevailed, and fourteen
ships were fitted for the whale fishery, although there
was a very great scarcity of officers and men.

The Civil War.

Although the Friends were at a very early period,
and for many years after the settlement of the island,
in the ascendancy as a religious body, and deeply
imbued the people with their sentiments and teachings,

which are felt even to this day; although situated

in a time of war where no protection whatever was
afforded by the general government, and was even

208 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

acknowledged or considered by the belligerents in the
wars of the Revolution and 1812 as a neutral, yet in
both of these wars, and later in the Rebellion, Nan-
tucket showed she was in no way lacking in courage or
patriotism. The monument’ which stands at the head

of Main Street attests the truth of this. Seventy-four -

names cut into the granite shaft speak silently yet
eloquently of the bravery and patriotism of her sons,
who, believing that the Union must be preserved at all
hazards, left the peaceful pursuits of their dear island
home and yielded up their lives or received honor-

able wounds in the battles of Fredericksburg, Ball’s

Bluff, Antietam, Fair Oaks, Spottsylvania, Kingston,
Petersburg, Cold Harbor, and Mobile, or slowly starved
to death in the prisons of Libby, Andersonsville, and
Salisbury.

Nantucket during the Rebellion sent into the army
two hundred and thirteen men, and into the navy one
hundred and twenty-six, making fifty-six more than
her quota, and gaining for herself the proud distinction
of ‘“‘ banner town ” of this Commonwealth.

And let it be writ in letters of gold on the pages of his-
tory that Nantucket sent her own sons. Each and every
man whom she gave to the country was a native of
this little heap of sand-drift, and they entered the ser-
vice of their country, not for big bounties, but from
pure patriotism. This is a case nagparaliohick in the
history of the Rebellion. Many of these men highly
distinguished themselves. One of them (Gen. G. N.
Macy, page 119) roso to the rank of brigadier-general,
received a brevet of major-general for meritorious
services, and was provost-marshal-general of the army

a a

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. — 209

upon the surrender of the Confederate forces. Lieut.
Isaac H. Folger lost a leg, and was brevetted for
bravery and gallantry; Benjamin F. Wyer lost an arm
at Spottsylvania; Capt. A. B. Holmes was severely
wounded at the Wilderness, and was brevetted major;
our efficient postmaster, J. F. Murphey, and the col-
lector of the port of Nantucket, Mr. Wm. Hiller, were
also wounded, the latter losing a leg; and many others
bear honorable scars. One officer at least remains in.
ithe regular army, — Brevet-Major John W. Summer-
hays, 8th Infantry.

_ In the navy, a large number of Nantucketers distin-
guished themselves. The compiler is indebted to T.
W. Calder, Esq., for the following facts: —

_ At the close of the war in 1865, Nantucket was repre-
sented in the regular navy by five officers, and in the
volunteer service by thirty-four officers, of whom fif-
teen were acting masters, fifteen acting ensigns, three
assistant paymasters. One was an engineer, and one a
lieutenant-commander (John G. Mitchell). Four of the
above remain in the navy; viz., Commander George W.
Coftin, Lieut.-Commander Thomas M. Gardner, Lieut.
Seth M. Ackley, and Mr. D. C. Brayton. Neither
time nor space will permit here a recital of the many
acts of bravery and daring by which these men distin-
guished themselves. That they did cannot be doubted,
if one chooses to examine their records. It is a well-
known fact that the volunteer officers from Nantucket
rendered to their superiors on many occasions inesti-
mable service from their knowledge of and experience
jn seamanship.

14

210 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Reunions.

There have been three reunions of the alumni of
the Nantucket High School. These occurred in 1°65,
1866, and 1869, and orations were delivered on the sev-
eral occasions, respectively, by Rev. Dr. F. C. Ewer of
New York, Wm. B. Drake, Esq., of Meadville, Pa.,
and Charles H. Glover, Esq.,of New York. Ofcourse
Father Morse was there, his hair silvered by time,
(who ever saw it any other way?) and his eye spark-
ling as ever; but his ‘‘ lazy, lawless, indolent ’’ pupils,
who had not been equal in their comprehension to
monkeys during their school days, had grown up into
noble and intelligent men and women. It is a shame
and a disgrace that the Nantucket High School Alumni
Association was suffered to expire for want of sufficient
financial support.

Some years since, it was suggested through the col-
umns of the phere and Mirror, by one of its corre-
spondents,* that each of the aig families upon the
island who were descendants of the first settlers hold
at intervals family reunions, commencing perhaps with
the Coffin family. Dr. Ewer’s suggestion seems to
have met with favor by at least one fama, and that
the first mentioned.

In September, 1881, a large gathering of the descend-
ants of ‘‘ Ye° Firste Chiefe Magistrate of y* Island of
Nantucket ’’ was held here, and a goodly one it was.
Men, women, and children from all parts of the coun-
try, bound together by the mystic tie of blood, met and
clasped hands on the spot once trod and honored by

* Rev. Dr. F. C. Ewer of New York.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 2TT

their common ancestor. As it would be impossible to
give in this work a full account of this family gathering,
the reader is respectfully referred to the files of the
Nantucket Journal and Inquirer and Mirror.

It is to be hoped that the example thus set by the
Coffins will be imitated by the Macys, Folgers, Star-
bucks, Husseys, Gardners, Swains, Barnards, Green--
leafs, and Pikes; and after the family reunions have
been held, let Nantucket bestir herself and have a
grand reunion of all her sons and daughters, which will
bring from Cipango and Cathay, from the Orient and
the Occident, from ‘‘ Greenland’s icy mountains and
India’s coral strand,” aye, and from the antipodes,
every one who, by birthright or any other right, ever
claimed this sea-girt isle as his home.

From the first settlement of the island to the pres-
ent, its people have had terrible odds to contend with.
First came the troubles, trials, hardships, and also dis-
agreements with the Indians, and among themselves,
always incident to a new colony in thiscountry. Then
came the long, dreary years of the Revolution, bringing
suffering to the people and disaster to their great in-
dustry; then the war of 1812, with similar experiences;
then, in quick succession, the fire of 1836, the finan-
cial panic of 1837, the great fires of 1838 and 1846, the
*¢ California fever’ of 1849, and lastly the great Re-
bellion, in which she shared with the whole country in
the suffering andthe honor. With all this and through
all this, the islanders have had Nature herself to con-
tend with and overcome ; the immense sand bar lying
at the mouth of the harbor, which Nature forgot to
remove when she tore away part of the island’s hills

212 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

and deposited the material at Coskata and Great Point.
With all these drawbacks to her prosperity, what won-
der is it that the Nantucketer of to-day is inclined to
apathy? he ,

For historical facts not included in these sketches,
the reader is referred to Cemeteries, Distinguished
Nantucketers, Oldest Buildings, History of News-
paper, Whaling, and Steamboating.

HOTELS.

_ What Nantucket lacks in the size of her hotels, she
makes up in numbers. There are six in the town, two

at ’Sconset and one at Wauwinet. There are rumors —

that more are soon to be built, —at Surfside, at the
Cliff, and at other points.

The place has otgrown its hotels; there is not a
public house on the island that is large enough to ac-
commodate its patrons in the regular summer season.
Every one of them at that time is obliged to lodge in
private houses a goodly number of its guests. At
least one large hotel should be erected, at the earliest
possible moment, and that in the immediate vicinity
of the water. If capitalists will examine into this
matter, they will find that the investment will be a
paying one. People who go to watering places want
to be near the water; and if a plain building of two
hundred rooms were built flat on the beach at the Cliff,
every room would be taken in twenty-four hours after
its completion.

The prices for transient guests, at the different
hotels upon the island, range from two to three dollars
aday. For longer terms than a day or week, satisfac-

JAIL. — LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE. 213

tory prices are given on application to the proprietors,
either personally or by letter. Appended is a list ot
the hotels at Nantucket, with the names of the pro-
prietors: —

Surfside Hotel, C. H. Moore, prop.

Nantucket Hotel, J. S. Doyle, prop.

Ocean House, Broad St., J. S. Doyle, prop.
Springfield House, No. Water St., A. S. Mowry, prop.
Sherburne House, Orange St., T. H. Soule, Jr., prop.
Bay View House, Orange St., J. S. Patterson, prop.
Veranda House, Chapman St., N. Chapman, prop.
American House, Orange St., W. C. Bagley, prop.
Ocean View House, ’Sconset, L. S. Coffin, prop.
Atlantic House, ’Sconset, Eliza Chadwick, prop.
Wauwinet House, Wauwinet, A. W. N. Small, prop.

JAIL.

So far as a jail is concerned, to Nantucket it is com-
paratively a useless affair. Few persons are ever con-
fined there (fifteen in ten years); and the offences
generally have been so slight that if the culprits had
been placed in somebody’s cellar, with a boy to sit on
the door, the letter of the law would have been obeyed.
The story is told that many years since, when sheep
were allowed to roam at will around the streets of the
town, a person incarcerated in the jail sent word to
the selectmen that if they would not repair the jail so
that the sheep would be prevented from getting in, he
would get out! This jailis on Vestal Street. Daniel
Webster Folger is the keeper.

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE.

The island of Nantucket lies in north latitude 41°
15’ 22”; in west longitude 70° 7’ 56”.

214 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

LIBRARIES.

There are three libraries in the town to which the
people have access. There is, however, no public
library; that of the Athenzum, perhaps, being the
nearest approach to one. (See page 34.)

There are two circulating libraries; one conducted
by Samuel Davis, on Main Street, the other by E. K.
Godfrey, manager, corner of Main and Orange Streets.
Good books can be obtained at either, and both charge
at the rate of two cents a day for each volume taken
from the library.

LICENSES.

The public carriages and dogs are the only things
that are licensed on the island. The town, at its last
annual meeting in February, voted not to grant any
licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors for the
present year; which shows a very radical change in
the sentiments of the people, from the fact that up to
the present time, for many years previous, the select-
men have granted a limited number of licenses, and
it has been generally conceded that Nantucket was a
license town.

LIGUTHOUSES.

There are upon the island five lighthouses that
belong to the United States government; they are at
Sancoty Head, Great Point, Brant Point, and on the
beach at the foot of the Cliff.

The most important of these, perhaps, is that at San-
eoty Head. Mr. Geo. F. Folger, the principal keeper,

LIGHTHOUSES. .

whose efficient services are acknowledged and appre-
ciated by the government, as is evidenced by the fact
that he has been retained for a long period of years,
furnishes the following in regard to this lighthouse: —

Sancoty Light

Is one and a half miles from the village of ’Sconset,
and stands on a bluff one hundred feet high. The
extreme height of the tower is one hundred and
seventy-five feet from the level of the sea. The light
is of the kind known as the *‘ Fresnal,’’ and was lighted
for the first time Feb. 2, 1850. It is of the second
order, and is a fixed white light of fifty seconds’ dura-
tion, varied by flashes once a minute of ten seconds’
duration.

Through the centre of the lens, which is one hun-
dred and sixty-five feet from the level of the sea, the
flame when at its full height can be seen at a distance
of forty miles, and it has been seen at even a greater
distance.

The lens alone cost six thousand dollars. The tower
is built of brick, stone, and iron, and is painted white,
red, and white. Geo. F. Folger, keeper; Calvin C.
Hamblen, assistant keeper.

Great Point Light

Is situated on Great or Sandy Point, about nine
miles from town by water and fifteen miles by land.
_ It is a fixed white light of the third order. The light
is seventy feet above the sea level, and can be seen at
a distance of fourteen nautical miles.

216 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

The original structure, which was of wood, was
erected in 1784. It was consumed by fire in 1816,
when the present edifice of stone was built. The
tower is whitewashed, and the lantern painted black.

Mr. Wm. Allen has held the position of keeper for
many years.

Brant Point Lighthouse.

This lighthouse is situated at the entrance to the
harbor, about one mile from the town.

Considerable interest attaches to this spot, from the
fact that here was erected the first beacon for vessels
ever built in the United States. This occurred in
1746. (The lighthouse on Little Brewster Island,
north side of main outer entrance to Boston Harbor,
was established in 1754.) A light was maintained at
this place by the town for forty-five years, when in
1791 it passed under the control of the general govern-
ment.

Five lighthouses have been built upon this point,
three of which were destroyed by fire and one was
blown down. The present edifice of brick and stone
was erected in 1856. The height of the tower from
base to focal plane is forty-two feet, from level of the
sea forty-six feet. The light is a fixed red light of the
fourth order, and is visible fifteen miles. The facts
in regard to Brant Point were kindly furnished by Mr.
F. B. Smith, the keeper of the lighthouse.

From the government list of lighthouses and lighted
beacons, kindly loaned by Mr. Hiller, collector of the
port, the following items are gleaned in relation to the
Cliff lights: —

LIVERY STABLES. < Cae

The Cliff lights, sometimes called ‘‘ Bug lights,’”’ but
listed as the ‘Cliff range beacons (front and rear),”’ are

situated on the beach northwest of Nantucket arbor.

These are two small pyramidal structures about three
hundred feet apart, the front being fixed white, the
rear fixed red. The order of the lens is classed as
reflecting. ‘These lights were established in 1838 and
refitted in 1856.

LIVERY STABLES.
See Public Carriages.

There are two regular livery stables in the town and
a number of citizens who have one or more horses and
carriages to let. Appended is a list: —

Win. H. H. Smith, livery stable, Steamboat Wharf,

J. A. Johnson, livery stable, Washington Street.

David Folger, horses and carriages to let, Gardner
Street.

Charles Rule, horses and carriages to let, Gay
Street.

K. H. Fisher, horses and carriages to let, Winter
Street.

EK. C. Morse, hack to let, Fair Street.

The regular price for one seat in a hack from one

point in the town to another is twenty-five cents.

The price fora hack by the houris. . . . .9$2 00
eimigie'team bythe hour! .:0. «)) 6 2) ee oe 1.00
Single team.to South Shore... 6. 6) es 2) 00
Single team to ’Sconset . . en ae
Double team by the hour (with anion atthe
Double team to South Shore ..... . 400
oa teanr to ’Sconset dio. cs50. cian o6 os ee ERO

218 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

MADDAKET,

Maddequet, Madeket, Madaquet, Madaket, Mattaket
(the reader can take his choice of spelling), is a very
small hamlet situated at the west end of the island, on
a harbor of thesame name. Many persons believe this
locality to have been the site of the first town. Macy
in his History claims it as such, and makes the assertion
that Thomas Macy spent the winter of 1659-60 here,
‘* having found a rich soil and an excellent spring of
water.’’ It is possible that Thomas Macy spent his
first winter at this point, but it is certain that in the
spring he found a ‘better place at Watercomet”’;
and there is nothing to substantiate the belief that
here was the first town.

Large quantities of bluefish, scup, eels, herring, lob-
sters, and clams are annually caught at this place.
The village is about five miles from the town of Nan-
tucket. The town voted at its last annual meeting to
erect a school-house here, and made an appropriation
for the purpose, authorizing the school committee tq
maintain a school six months of the year.

MECHANICAL TRADES.

Forty or fifty years ago there was scarcely a mechan-
ical trade but what was followed upon the island, from
the making of a tin pot to the building of a ship.
Although the mechanical trades are now at a low ebb,
yet there are many fine mechanics, who have no supe-
riors in their lines. There are blacksmiths, boat
builders, carriage builders, carpenters, and cabinet
makers who can turn out as fine pieces of work as

|
:

METEOROLOGICAL. 219

any mechanics in the country. There are carriages
now in use upon the island, that were built here, which
in point of style, beauty of finish, strength, and dura-
bility can hardly be surpassed elsewhere. The Nan-
tucket baskets for durability cannot be excelled, and
are fine specimens of workmanship. ‘The greater part
of these baskets are made on the light-ships during
the long and stormy winter months.

METEOROLOGICAL.

What. data and memoranda the compiler has been
able to collect in regard to this subject are rather scant
and unsatisfactory. Since the deaths of Capt. C. H.
Coleman and Walter Folger, Esq., no one seems to
have kept any record of the weather, except for their
own private use. What little information he has been
able to obtain is given below. Wm. C. Folger, Esq.,
who has a remarkably retentive memory for a man of
his years, says that he does not remember that he ever
saw the mercury fall as low as eleven degrees below
zero but once in his life, or that it reached a higher
point than ninety degrees on Nantucket. The writer
himself can vouch for the fact that in a certain locality
in Nantucket, during the exceptionally hot weather of.
the summer of 1881, a ‘‘ Kendall ’’ thermometer at no
time marked over eighty-six degrees.

From a careful examination of a record of the tem-
perature kept by the late Capt. Charles H. Coleman for
many years, and kindly loaned the compiler by the
family of Capt. Coleman, the following facts have been
ascertained: —

From the first day of January, 1876, to July 26,

eau THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

1880, covering a period of four years six months
and twenty-six days, the mercury reached to as low a
degree of temperature as four above zero but once,
and did not go above ninety in the whole period.

Coldest day in 1876, mercury marked 4°; hottest 90°.

‘é rq: 1877, 6c Ge 9°; 66 85°.
Gc 6c 1878, rT: 6 10°; 6< 90°.
66 a3 1879, cc a3 ge. a 86°.
7: 7: 1880, T: 7: 8°: es 90°,

The reader will please remember that the figures for
1880 were made by Capt. Coleman only to July 26 of
that year. |

On the morning of Feb. 24, 1876, the mercury stood
at four degrees above zero; the next day, at the same
time, it was twelve degrees above. Aug. 14, 1876, the
mercury marked ninety degrees at noon. The coldest
day in 1877 occurred Jan. 4, when the mercury marked
nine degrees in the morning; Aug. 9, the hottest day,
it showed eighty-five degrees at noon, and at night it
had dropped to seventy-two degrees. Jan. 8, 1878, was .
the coldest day of that year, and July 19 the hottest,
the mercury marking respectively ten and ninety
degrees. In the year 1879, Jan. 21, June 25, and
Aug. 3 marked the two extremes, the mercury stand-
ing on the first-mentioned day at nine degrees in the
morning, and on the two latter eighty-six degrees at
noon. As far as Capt. Coleman’s record goes, Feb. 2
was the coldest day in 1880, and June 29 the hottest.

Rainfall.

The total amount of rain which fell upon the island
of Nantucket for the seventeen years preceding 1880

a
. ez
a

4

METEOROLOGICAL. Ae |

was 717.66 inches, making an aggregate of something
over forty-two inches each year. .

It is a noticeable fact that of late years few thunder-
storms have visited the island, the greater part passing
far to the northward. During the year 1881 not a sin-
gle thunder-storm, worthy the name, was experienced

here. This fact should be remembered by timid and

nervous people, who are generally seriously affected by
these storms, and it adds another to the many advan-
tages possessed by the island as a resort for invalids.
By careful examination of the tables, it will be found
that the average temperature of the island in the win-
ter is much above that of any other part of New Eng-
land, thus rendering it an attractive spot for a winter
as well as a summer resort.

The temperature of the island during the past twenty-
five years has greatly improved, as the following will
show: In the terribly severe winters 1855-56 and
1856-57, the harbor was frozen over so that no commu-

nication was had with the mainland for a number of

weeks. The compiler well remembers of riding across
the harbor in a sleigh, the former winter. He was
away from the island the succeeding one; but if mem-
ory serves, the harbor that season was closed for six
weeks, and twenty-nine mails were landed at one time
at Great Point, the steamer being unable to force her
way through the ice to the harbor. In February, 1881,
the harbor was closed for a short time; but by referring
to certain authentic records, the compiler finds that the
mercury reached zero but once.

Very little snow ever falls here, and rarely does the
ice crop exceed eight inches in thickness. High winds

222 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

at times prevail; but they are conducive to the health
of the place, carrying off, as they do, any poisonous
gases or malaria which might generate. Fogs do not
prevail to any great extent, the seasons, however, dif-
fering from time to time; but on the whole, consider-
ing her situation, Nantucket is remarkably free from
them.

MONUMENT.

The Soldiers and Sailors’ Monument —erected in
memory of those ‘‘ who died that the nation might
live” —is of granite, and has seventy-four names cut
into its four sides. It was erected at a cost of about
five thousand dollars, the money being raised by sub-
scription. It stands on Main Street. It was the com-
piler’s wish to give each man’s name who died for his
country an honored place in this work, but lack of
space forbids. Their names, however, are kept green
in the hearts of their fellow-townsmen; and when the
stranger pauses to read them on the enduring granite,
he can say, ‘‘ They fought the good fight, and the fact
that they kept the faith is here recorded.’

MUSKEGET.

This is a small, sandy island about ten miles to the
westward of the island of Nantucket. It is noted par-
ticularly as the resort of myriads of sea-gulls, whose
eggs are eagerly sought after in their season. The
eggs are generally found in good condition between
the 15th of June and the first of July. A trip from
Nantucket on a gull’s-egging expedition at that time
of the year is considered to be the correct thing, which

NANTUCKET: ITS NAME. 2g

together with the trailing for bluefish to and from the
island makes the trip a very enjoyable one. Black and
shoal duck, coot, and brant abound here in the spring.

NANTUCKET: ITs NAME.

- Nantucket is doubtless an Indian word, but its mean- |
ing is unknown. The compiler, while engaged upon
this work, being desirous of obtaining some light upon
the subject, sent a communication to one of the papers
published in the town, requesting that those interested
in the matter would give him their views as to whether
this island was really discovered and named by that
daring navigator, Bjorne Herjulfson, or whether the
name was given to the island by the Indians.

Only one reply was received to the communication,
which was as follows, and appeared in the columns of
the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, of Nov. 5, 1881:

‘¢ An article appeared in your issue of the Sth ult.,
signed ‘ An Earnest Inquirer,’ asking for information
in regard to the origin of the name of Nantucket and
its meaning. I think that will be a difficult thing to
answer. For myself I think it is of Indian, rather
than Norse origin. By the map-makers of the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries its spelling is varied
in detail, though similar in a general way. It is called
Nantocket (1703), Nantoe, Neutocket, Natacei, Nan-
tuket (1746), Nantucket (Huske), Nantukket (De la
Tour). On De Laet’s map, 1630, the island name is
Natocke.* In correspondence with a gentleman who

* Also in 1641 Nantican (Hough’s book, compiled from deeds
in Secretary of State’s office, Albany, N. Y.), and Nauticon
(Macy’s History, page 17).

224 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

has the reputation of being the finest Indian scholar
in the country, I learned as his opinion that as nearly
as he could judge without giving the subject careful
thought, the name was similar in its’ significance to
that of Natick, —i. e.,‘ the place of the hills’; an ap-
propriate name, certainly. The idioms of the island
aborigines would easily account for a change in the
structure of the word.”

The above was signed ‘‘ Nantucket, Jr.,’? and was
from the pen of Mr. Alex. Starbuck, of Waltham,
Mass.

It will be found, if one cares to pursue the subject,
that all names of localities which end in et, etts, or
ket, are of Indian origin. Thus: Miacomet, Meta-
comet, Pawtucket, Shetucket, Pawtuxet, Nantasket,
Wannacomet, Massachusetts (many mountains ?),
Neponset, Pocasset, Narragansett. |

Knowing nothing of either the Norse or Indian
languages, the compiler would hazard the conjecture
that that bold navigator Bjorne Herjulfson, or some
other equally bold, did discover the island and give
it the name of Nauticon, which in the idioms of the
Indian tongue had been Nantucket, ages before.

In Drake’s ‘* Nooks and Corners ”’ will be found on
page 325 the following in relation to the name: ‘‘ The
name of ‘ Nautican’ is the first I have found applied
to Nantucket Island (by Sir F. Gorges). Whether
the derivation is from the Latin nauticus, or a cor-
ruption of the Indian, is disputed, though the word
has an unmistakably Indian sound and construction.
In the patents and other documents it is called Nan-
tukes, Mantukes, or Nantucquet Isle, indifferently ;

NEWSPAPERS, HISTORY OF. Se

showing, as may be suggested, as many efforts to con-
strue good Indian into bad English ”’

NEWSPAPERS, HISTORY OF.

There are two weekly newspapers published in the
town, the Journal and the Inquirer and Mirror, both
being well supported. The price for each is $2.00 per
year. |

The following article, entitled ‘‘ Journalism in Nan-
tucket,” was kindly contributed by Wm. Hussey
Macy, Esq., the editor of the Nantucket Inquirer and
Mirror, and the author of ‘‘ There She Blows; or, The
Log of the Arethusa.”’

The writings of Mr. Macy need no eulogium. What-
ever he does, he does well. For many years utterly
deprived of the sense of sight, all his work has been
done literally in the dark; but with that inner light
which the Creator has given to all who will use it,
he year after year gives to the world the matured
thoughts of a man who thinks, if he does not see.
The heart of every man and every woman beats in
sympathy with Mr. Macy in his terrible affliction,
and the compiler of this book believes that his contri-
bution will be read with double the interest when it
is known that it was written by one who is blind.

Journalism in Nantucket.
By Wm. Hussey Macy.

The history of Nantucket newspapers dates no far-
ther back than the year 1816, at which time a little
sheet called the Nantucket Gazette made its appear-

15

226 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

ance, under the management of Tannatt & Tupper.
It is related that one of the wealthy old Friends of
that day paid half a dollar for the first copy that came ~
from the press. The enterprise does not appear to
have met with much encouragement. The Gazette
was published weekly, but collapsed after a dozen
issues, evidently for want of support. It was a fair
specimen of the average newspapers of the time; but
journalism has since made such strides that we are
inclined to wonder, at the present day, how our grand-
sires could tolerate anything so stupid, even for a
dozen weeks.

The Nantucket Inquirer, started in 1821 by J. T.
Melcher, was more successful, and became a perma-
nent institution. Under the editorial charge of Sam-
uel H. Jenks, —who assumed the control of it soon
after its establishment, —it grew to be a power among
the journals of the day, and acquired much more than
a local reputation. Mr. Jenks was a live editor, a
ready and vigorous writer, and an earnest and fearless
advocate of what he believed to be the right side of each
current issue. Among the progressive movements to
which the efforts of his pen largely contributed may be
mentioned the abolition of the practice of imprisonment
for debt, and the establishment of common schools in
his native town.*

The Inquirer had a rival in 1826 and 1827, the Nan-
tucket Journal having been started by the friends of
Hon. Barker Burnell, then a candidate for Congress.
But the Journal did not long outlive the local issues

* Mr. Jenks was not a native of Nantucket; sce page 112.

NEWSPAPERS, HISTORY OF. ia

which had given it birth, and after its collapse the
Inquirer held the field alone until 1840.

For a time Mr. Jenks moved from the island, and
the paper was conducted by Charles Bunker; but
about 1834 he returned to his old love, and entered
upon his editorial labors with renewed vigor.

Nantucket was strongly Whig in its politics, and with
Mr. Jenks at the head of the only local newspaper,
that party had everything very much their own way.
But during the exciting Presidential campaign of
1840, the Democrats, making a great effort, succeeded
not only in fitting up an opposition reading-room with
files of their favorite partisan journals, but in bringing
a new local weekly into life to do battle with the vet-
eran Inquirer. The new paper took the name of the
Islander, and the young editor was Charles C. Haze-
well, since well known by his work on the Boston
Traveller, and his magazine articles, chiefly on histori-
cal subjects.

A spicy flavor was given to our local journalism
while Jenks and Hazewell maintained their keen
encounters of wit during the campaign which resulted
in the election of “Tippecanoe and Tyler too.’’
The old favorite organ of the Whigs could no longer
walk over the course without a competitor, though
it affected to despise the new paper, and usually re-
ferred to it in a contemptuous way as “‘ I slander.”

The Democratic paper, not meeting with much sup-
port after the campaign work was done, expired in
1842. But it should be remembered that Nantucket
was then a large and wealthy town, with a population
of nearly ten thousand souls, and also that newspaper

228 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

XN

work as well as public appreciation of newspapers had
made great strides since the old Gazette days; and the
old Inquirer soon found other new rivals in the field.
Two young aspirants for journalistic honors, A. B.
Robinson and W. Bradford, started up the Telegraph
upon the ruins of the Jslander, and for a time suc-
ceeded in maintaining a daily issue.

This was the first daily newspaper in Nantucket, and
for a brief period another daily was issued from the
Inquirer office. But other changes about this time
followed in rapid succession. Mr. Jenks, having been
appointed postmaster under the Whig administration,
sold out his newspaper to Hiram Dennis, and he not
long after transferred it to Edward W. Cobb, who, hav-
ing also bought the little Telegraph, had for a brief
season the monopoly of the local newspaper business.
But in 1845 the Nantucket Weekly Mirror made its
début, edited and published by John Morrissey (now of
Plymouth, Mass.), who was then a very young man,
and had been an employé in the Inqutrer office.

The Mirror took no partisan stand in politics, pro-
fessing to be neutral, or rather independent, upon all
questions of the day; and being a sprightly, well-con-
ducted paper, soon established itself, and became a
formidable rival to the time-honored Inquirer. But
this was not enough, for about the same time a third
claimant for popular support made its appearance.
At that time our people were much divided upon the
antislavery question, and especially upon the sub-
ject of admitting colored children into the same
schools with the whites; and party spirit waxed warm
upon this local issue The conservatives who opposed

NEWSPAPERS, HISTORY OF. ae

this juxtaposition of different races started a new
weekly called the Warder as their organ, and again
Mr. Jenks appeared in the editorial chair, having given
up his Federal office on the incoming of the Polk ad-
ministration. His caustic pen was not long in stirring
the ire of his political opponents, and again contro-
versial articles were the order of the day in two of our
journals, while the Weekly Mirror steadily pursued the
even tenor. of its way.

Thus when the great fire occurred in July, 1846,
there were three newspaper oflices doing active busi-
ness. Two of these were laid in ruins; but the suspen-
sion of the papers was only temporary, and nothing
daunted they started out again.

The progress of liberal ideas in due time settled the
question of equal right in the public schools, and the
Warder, which had been started for a purpose, died
within two years.

From this time our town was for a series of years
steadily declining in wealth, population, and impor-
tance; but our people who went abroad found a news-
paper from their old home to be almost a necessity in
the new one, and the two that remained continued to
~ be well supported.

The Inquirer during its long career had been, accord-
ing to the changes of the times, a weekly, a semi-
weekly, a tri-weekly, and even a daily; but the Mirror
went steadily on with its regular Saturday issues, and
as steadily though slowly and gradually gained in
strength and influence.

In 1849, when Mr. Morrissey went to try his for-
tunes in California, it was purchased by two young

230 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

printers, Samuel 8. Hussey and Ilenry 1). Robinson,
and is now in a flourishing condition under the same
management, having absorbed the old Inquirer into
itself. | :

After several years abroad Mr. Morrissey returned
to the island and purchased the Inquirer, Mr. Cobb
having removed to Boston. Mr. A. P. Moore was after-
ward associated with Morrissey, and after the latter
removed from the island, carried on the paper himself
for a short time under financial difficulties; but was
obliged to give up the effort, and it passed into the
hands of Edward M. Gardner for a while, and after-
wards was transferred to Alfred Macy, who continued it
through the war of the Rebellion. But it had been for
some years in a decline, and finally in 1865 Messrs.
Hussey & Robinson bought out the whole concern
and merged it in their own, giving to their paper the
double title Inquirer and Mirror.

For nine years after this date this was the only paper
published in Nantucket. Mr. Isaac H. Folger in
1874 started the Island Review, at first a very small
affair; but it was soon after enlarged and improved,
and continued to issue semi-weekly, and at times tri-
weekly, and even daily for a brief period: Mr. S.
Heath Rich became associated with Folger on the
Review, and its career was four years in duration, or
until the autumn of 1878, when its proprietors bought
the Advance at Brockton, Mass., and removed to that
place.

Mr. Arthur H. Gardner, a young graduate of the
Inquirer and Mirror office, immediately entered the
opening thus made, issuing the first number of the

OLD BUILDINGS. -. Se

Nantucket Journal, Sept. 25,1878. The Journal is now
an established institution, and still gradually gaining
ground; while the Inqwrer and Mirror, having removed
to a more spacious office up-town, appears to be in
more flourishing circumstances than ever before.
Messrs. Hussey & Robinson have been its proprietors
for more than thirty-two years, and by steady and per-
sistent effort may be said to have merited all the suc-
cess which they have achieved.

Notwithstanding the great decline of our island’s
population, the circulation of our newspapers has
‘steadily increased, and is larger to-day than at any time
in our history.

Everybody in the present age not only wants a news-
paper, but must have one; and as the sons and daugh-
ters of Nantucket now scattered everywhere generally
retain a keen interest in everything that concerns their
island home, the mail editions are large and still
increasing.

[It appears that some time between 1845 and 1849,
Andrew M. Macy, Esq., ably filled the editorial chair
of the Inquirer. ]

OLD BUILDINGS.

William C. Folger, Esq., furnishes the following in
relation to old houses: —

The late Benjamin Franklin Folger, who died March
22, 1859, aged eighty-two years and eleven months,
was by all or nearly all intelligent persons on the isl-
and considered the very best genealogist here, and the
person most reliable then living for dates and facts

{

932 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

regarding the early history of the island, its buildings,
etc. He had made these matters a study from his
youth, and had consulted early records and many an-
cient people on these subjects. He told me the oldest
house on the island then standing, some years before
his death, was the Jethro Coffin house on North Shore
Hill, which was built in 1686. This house was pur-
chased by the first Nathaniel Paddack from the Coffin
family in 1707, and it was in the possession of the
Paddack family long after I was born. This is the
house that Tristram Coffin, Esq., and his brother
bought and repaired in 1881. He told me also that
the next oldest one was the Meader house in Polpis,
near the Quaise line, a part of which was nearly as old
as the Jethro Coffin ksautes

The house on North Street owned % Edward Bur-
dett and wife is an old one. It was originally a single
house, and was built in Squam in 1702, by Nathan
Folger, Sr., who lived in it until 1716, when he had it
taken down and erected on its present site, adding an-
other part, and making it, as at aay: a double
house.

I believe the next oldest dwelling ~naitiaal on the
island is the George Swain house in Polpis, recently
owned and occupied by his daughter, Love Smith.
This old house was built in 1704 by John Swain, Sr.,
for his daughter Elizabeth, who married Joshua Se-
volle, a tailor by trade. Elizabeth was born May 17,
1676, and died May 24, 1760, and her husband in 1735
or 1736. George Swain, Sr., showed me, about forty
years ago, the spots where John Swain, Sr.’s, and John
Swain, Jr.’s, houses stood, one on the Capt. Rule farm,

OLD BUILDINGS. _ 283

and the other near the fence of George Swain, Sr.’s, lot,
separating the said lot from the Capt. Rule or later Ed-
ward Ray farm, — both being northeasterly from the
school-house and north of the now travelled road.

Probably the next oldest dwelling was the Eliakim
Swain house in Newtown, northeasterly from Elisha
Smith’s on Orange Street. This is said to have been
built by John Swain, Jr., for his son, Eliakim Swain,
who married his first wife, Elizabeth Arthur, April
18, 1717, and was living in it in 1726 or 1727, when the
Thomas Howes house, now Elisha Smith’s, was built.
The carpenters who came from Boston boarded in the
Eliakim Swain house while they were building the
Howes house. The former has lately been taken
down.

Another old building, still standing but moved out
of town and made into a barn on the farm of James
Gibson, was long known as the dwelling-house of
Shubael Gardner (“blind Shubael”’), and stood where
now stands the house of the late H. G. O. Dunham,
Esq., and was built for Capt. Richard Gardner, Jr.,
who died March 8, O. 8. 1728. It was probably built
previous to 1700, certainly not long after.

There is another old house that stands on its original
site; it is on the south side of West Centre Street, and
was built for Richard Gardner, 3d, son of Richard, Jr.,
who was married May 26,1724 O. S., and died Feb.
27, 1724-5 O. S., so that the house was doubtless
erected in 1724. It fronts south, with its long back

roof towards Centre Street.

The old North Vestry was built in 1711 in the
Holmes Country, northerly from ‘‘ No-bottom Pond,”

234 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

and removed in 1765 to near its present site, and
again removed in 1834 to its present location. This
church or vestry was certainly built: of wood grown
upon the island. (See Churches.)

The Thomas Gardner, Sr., house on Gull Island, I
was told by Edmund Gardner, was built for his grand- |
father in 1736; and his father, Thomas, Jr., lived and
died there in 1830, aged about ninety-four years. Capt.
Charles Gardner refitted and modernized it some time
between 1823 and 1826. The house is now owned by
Mr. I. S. Riddell. The north half of the house, now
owned and occupied by James Austin, was built from
the Nathaniel, Sr., and Mary Starbuck house,* and
stood near the north head of Hummock Pond.

And there are many other dwellings in the town
that have been built in part of materials from old
buildings. There are several old houses on Liberty |
Street whose dates of erection I do not know, and sey-
eral on Gardner Street. There is one on the corner of
Gardner Street fronting on Main, which was known in
my early life as the “ Reuben Joy or Father Joy” house,
which was owned and occupied by Zaccheus Macy in
former times. The one opposite and next eastward,
now occupied by Mr. B. G. Toby, is also a very old
house. It was formerly owned by Christopher Star-
buck, who was married in 1751, and is probably much
over one hundred years old. The Samuel Stanton,
Sr., house, next above that now owned and occupied
by Capt. Henry Coleman (Milk Street), was probably

* This was the great Mary Starbuck, consequently the house
possesses considerable historical interest.

a ee

OLD BUILDINGS. 1985

built about 1734, as he (Stanton) was married Feb.

14, 1733-4 O. S., and died before 1744. It was after-

wards purchased by ‘‘ Uucle’’ John Coleman, who died
in 1805.

F. C. Sanford, Esq., informs the compiler that there
are still traces remaining of Thomas Macy’s house,
which, he says, ‘‘ stood near the Reed Pond, on a gently
sloping piece of ground overlooking the beautiful bay,
or sound, where now can be seen upwards of five hun-

dred vessels in one day, passing and repassing with

their domestic merchandise, as well as those having
goods from the far-off shores of Cathay and the In-
dies.”’

There is a house now standing on the corner of Lib-
erty and Walnut Streets, which, Mr. Sanford says,
*¢ was built at Madaquet in 1665, and moved to its pres-
ent location, its original shape never having been al-
tered.’’ Paul Worth in 1842, just eighty-eight before
he died, said to me when he was six years old he saw
it taken down and put up as now. ;

‘¢ We took down a house two years ago on the Nor-

wood farm, that was one of the first built for a dwell-

ing upon the island. It was for many years a great
resort, and good cheerabounded. Ishould judge from
what I have been told that plenty of drinks of all

_ kinds were served, though the place was styled a ‘ tea

house.’ It was known to all as ‘Hannah Meader’s.’
When this house was taken down, there were three

- floors in the parlor, one upon the other, resting upon

timber on which the bark still remained, and faced

236 THE iSLAND OF NANTUCKET.

only where the floors rested. This house, and many
others, were built of wood grown upon the island.

‘¢ The first wharf was built in 1723, and is now known
as the Straight Wharf, directly at the foot of Main
Street. The first windmill, on the hills back of the
town, was also built in 1723. This mill was blown up
in 1836, as an experiment to ascertain the effects of
gunpowder, in case it should ever be necessary to use
it in blowing up buildings to impede the course of a
fire. Three other mills were, at various times, erected
upon the four hills known as the Mill Hills. These
mills were used, in the Revolution, as a means of tel-
egraphing to our ships the presence of the British
cruisers who were known to be near the island, and
could not be seen from the ships,—the position of
the vanes indicating their direction, —and many a
full-freighted ship escaped from the clutches of the
‘Bull-Dogs’ and ‘ Scorpions’ of Great Britain.”

The mill now standing, and known to resident and
visitor alike as the ‘‘ old mill,’’ was erected in 1746,
probably for Eliakim Swain. There is no doubt that
he was the first owner, and his son Timothy tended it
for many years. It was built of oak which grew just
across Dead Horse Valley, to the southward of it.
A fine view can be had of the island from its upper
window. There has been, as yet, no ‘‘ mailed knight”
dug up near it. (A grand chance for Barnum.)

There are various traditions extant in regard to this
old edifice. One is to the effect that one of the Swains
died in the mill; another that in 1828 Jared Gardner
bought it for twenty dollars for firewood, but finding its
framework perfectly sound, decided to repair it; another,

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— Sas ee ee YS eee

OLD SPANISH BELL. >? DN

that during the Revolution a cannon-ball was fired from
a British cruiser in the sound, which went completely

through the mill, passing within a foot of the miller’s

head; and still another, that some years since, a little
girl while at play grasped one of the vanes as it com-
menced to move, and keeping her hold too long, was
carried entirely ‘‘ around the circle’? without injury.

Of course the reader will take these stories for what

they are worth. On the stone doorstep of this old mill
will be found cut into it the date of its erection, 1746.

The building now occupied by the custom-house and
Captains’ Club is a very old one, having once been the
warehouse of the celebrated William Rotch. The
building with brick ends to the street which leads to
the ‘‘ Old South Wharf”? was Rotch’s candle factory
and oil works, but the date of erection of either is
unknown.

‘OLD SPANISH’? BELL.

This bell, which hangs in the tower of the Unitarian
Church on Orange Street, is neither Spanish, nor is it
very old. :

A story was in circulation for many years to the

effect that it had been stolen, as the inscription upon

it showed it was originally one of a chime of six that
had been cast for some sanctuary; and as the Roman
Catholic religion forbids the selling of bells after
having been consecrated, considerable credence was
given the story. The true story of the bell, as told
by Hon. Wm. R. Easton, —than whom is no better
authority on anything that relates to Nantucket, —is
as follows: —

/

238 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKUT.

‘* This splendid bell, which is said by travellers to
be the finest in the country, was purchased in Lisbon
by Capt. Charles Clasby of this town, in 1812, and
brought to this port by Capt. Thomas Cary, in the
schooner ‘ William and Nancy,’ a vessel owned by
Samuel Cary and others. Captain Cary gave to the
writer hereof the following history of the procurement
of this bell. He said: —

‘*¢¢ Clasby invited me to go to the foundry with him
and assist in selecting a good-toned one. They had in
the yard where the bells were, a lever for raising them
from the ground, when they were about to ascertain
their quality or peculiar tone. Well, they applied the
lever to one, and struck her: ‘‘ That will not answer,”
said I. Then they raised another, with the same
result. When they raised the third one, and struck her,
*¢ Ah, Clasby, you need look no farther! That’s the
bell you want. She isa beauty. She sounds on B.” *
‘‘ Well, sir,’ remarked the gentleman of the foundry,
‘we consider that to be the sweetest toned bell we
have in our yard!”’’”’

Capt. Cary also said that while in Lisbon they heard
of the declaration of war with Great Britain, and on
the passage home they were spoken by a British sloop-
of-war which had been at sea some time, and was not
aware that war had been declared. The commander

asked Capt. Cary the news; but he took especial good ©

care not to tell him all he knew.

* An error on the part of Mr. Easton or his informant, Capt.
Cary, as the bell sounds on A, according to Mr. B. G. Tobey.

OLD SPANISH BELL. 2S

Mr. Easton says also that after the bell was safely

landed here it was stored in the cellar of Samuel Carey,

where he often saw it, and that it remained there until
1815, when it was purchased by subscription for about
$500, and placed where it now is, — the society paying
$350, and outsiders the balance; among them a number
of Friends, one of whom, Obed Mitchell, is credited
with saying that ‘‘ although Friends did not use bells
for religious purposes, yet as they were very useful in
giving fire alarms, etc., he would assist in the pur-
chase.’’ Some little time after the bell had been in
use, the sound of its mellow tones had reached the
‘¢ Hub ’’; and so bewitching were the musical vibrations
of this queenly bell(e) of Nantucket, to many of the
good people of the renowned ‘‘ City of Notions,”’ that
the agents of the Old South Church negotiated with
the agents of the Unitarian Church, saying that
they had a very fine clock in their tower, that they
had been so unfortunate as to have their bell broken,
and wished to know at what price this bell could be
procured. The agents of the Unitarian Church re-
plied that ‘‘ they had a very fine bell in their tower,
and would like to know at what price the Old South
Society would sell their clock.”? The bell weighs 1,575
pounds: the Boston gentlemen offered one dollar a

pound for it, and upon finding they could not get it at

any price, they asked where itcame from; and having
ascertained its history, sent to Lisbon to the same
foundry and procured that which they now have, —
a remarkably good one.

The following is a translation of the inscription upon
the bell, which doubtless gave rise to the story that the
bell had been stolen.

240 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

‘““To the good Jesus of the mountain the devotees
of Lisbon direct their prayers, offering him one com-
plete set of six bells, to call the people and adore him
in his sanctuary.

‘¢ Jose Domingos da Costa has done it in Lisbon on
the year 1810.”’

The original of which reads: —

‘‘Ao bom Jezus do monte completao seus votos os
devotos de Lisboa, offerecendo lhe -Hum_ completo
iogo de leis sinos para chamar pos ovos addf&ito no sen
santuario.

‘‘ Joze Domingues Dacosta offez em Lisboa no anno
de 1810.”’

ORNITHOLOGY.
See Gunning.

The compiler begs to acknowledge his indebtedness
to Mr. Herbert S. Sweet, who has so kindly furnished
this very valuable contribution on the ornithology of
the island. Mr. Sweet, having made the science a life
study, is without doubt the best ornithologist we have,
and the following article will therefore be read with
confidence by all who are fond of the study of birds. .

The ornithology of Nantucket is of course very
incomplete, little local interest being shown in the
subject. Nevertheless, Nantucket furnishes a rare
field for the study of migratory birds, it being the
last place they leave after their season in the regular
breeding places farther up the coast. From Nantucket
they pass to the capes below into warmer weather.

Ihave met with the following specimens, many of

j

ORNITHOLOGY.

which are in my cabinet at

241

present. Others are vari-

ously distributed, but I have seen and identified them

all.

Night Hawk (Caprimulgus Ameri-
canus).

Pigeon Hawk (Falco timerarius).

Sparrow Hawk (Falco Sparverius).

Goshawk (Falco atricapillus).

Harrier (Falco Uliginosus).

Eagle (Falco ossifragus).

Screech-Owl ( Scops Asio).

Snowy Owl (Wyctea nivea).

Golden Woodpecker (Picus aura-
tus).

Belted Kingfisher (Aryle Alcyon).

Kingbird (7yrannus Carolinensis).

Robin ( Turdus migratorius).

Wilson Thrush( 7urdus fuscescens).

Bluebird ( Sailia Sailis).

Titlark (Anthus Ludovicanus).

Scarlet Tanager (Pyranaga rubra).

Cedar-Bird (Ampelis cedrorum).

Northern Shrike ( Collurio borealis).

_ Catbird (Mimus Carolinensis).

Red Crossbill ‘Curvirostra leucop-
tera).

Snowbird (Junco hyemalis).

Cow Blackbird.*

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelarius
Pheniceus).

Meadow Lark ( Sturnella Magwa).

Passenger Pigeon (Z£ctopistes mi- |:

gratoria).
White Heron.t
Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias).
Bittern (Botaurus).

Green Heron ( Butovides Herodias).

Baltimore Oriole (Jcterus Balti-
morea).'

Night Heron (Nyctiardea Gardeni).

Golden Plover (Charadrius Vir-

ginicus).

Black-Breast Plover (Squatarda
Helvetica).

Northern Phalarope (Phalaropus
hyperboreus).

English Snipe( Gallinager Wilsonii).

Gray Snipe (Macrorhampus gri-
seus).

Least Sandpiper ( Truiga Wilsonii).

Yellow-Leg (Gambetta flavipes).

Field Plover(Artiturus Bartramus).

Long-billed Curlew (Numenus lon-
girostris).

Hudson Curlew (Numenus Hudsoni-
CUS).

Rail.t

Crow.§

Wood Hen (Fulica Americana).

Florida Gallinule.||

American Swan (Cygnus Ameri-
cana).

Barnacle Goose (Bernicla leucopis).

Canada Goose ( Bernicla Canaden-
sis).

Mallard Duck (Anas Boscas).

Black Duck (Anas obscura).

Green-winged Teal (Nettion Caro-
linensis).

* This species [ have not yet looked up.

t This, also, I have not examined.

}¢ Several of this species I have not looked up,
§ The common, probably the fish crow.

|| I have one answering this description,

16

242 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Blue-winged Teal (Querquedula | Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus

discors). Serrator).
Spoonbill ( Spatula clypeata). Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes
Widgeon (Marica Americana). Cuculatris). .
Summer Duck.* Mother Carey’s Chicken ( Thalassi-
Bluebill (Fulix affinis). droma pelagica).
Redhead (Aythya Americana). Shearwater.t
Golden-Eye (Bucephalia Ameri- | Black-backed Gull(Zarus marirus).
cana). Herring Gull (Larus argentatus.)
Dipper (Bucephalia alveola). Laughing Gull (Clavicocephalus
Harlequin ( Histrionicus torquatus.) Articilla).
Old Squaw ( Harelda glacialis). Arctic Tern (Sterna macrura).
White-winged Coot (Melanetta vel. | Roseate Tern (Sterna paradisea).
vetina). Loon (Colymbus torquatus).
Scoter (Oidemia Americana). Red-necked Grebe (Particeps gri-
Eider (Somateria mollissima). seus).

King Eider (Somateria spectabilis). | Puffin.f
Ruddy Duck (Zrismatma rubida). | Auk.§
Goosander (Mergus Americanus).

Our island, of course, contains many birds not in my
list; but I believe that most of the large birds and
ducks I have met with are here recorded. The small
birds, warblers, etc., I have not at present examined.
The island being so far from the coast, the small birds
do not reach here in any great quantity or variety, con-
sequently a list of them would not be very large.

The harrier, screech-owl, kingfisher, kingbird, robin,
thrush, bluebird, titlark, catbird, snowbird, black-
bird, crow, meadow lark, bittern, night hawk, tern,
laughing ‘and herring gull, sandpiper, field plover,
black duck are always looked for, and present at the
proper season. Many of them breed here, and others

* One occasionally shot here, and known as the “‘ wood duck.”

t I had one of these some time since, but have not as yet classed it.

t One specimen not classed yet.

§ Several small auks not classed. -

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POCOMO. — POLPIS OR PODPIS. 243

remain the year round. About the 25th of August
the golden plover come in more or less numbers. On

_ the first of October come the night hawk, pigeon, and

sparrow hawk, passenger pigeon, heron, woodpeckers,
English snipe, yellow-legs, curlew, teal, and herring
gull. Later on, as the northerly storms bring cold
weather, they also bring the wood hen, bluebill, dipper,
goldeneye, merganser, old squaw, coot, ruddy duck,
loon, greetes, auk; and at the commencement of win-
ter come geese and eider duck.

At various times during the year sporting men get
occasionally a shot at some of the rarer species; among
these the goshawk, eagle, snowy owl, tanager, cedar-
bird, shrike, crossbill, white heron, green heron, oriole,
phalarope, long-billed curlew, rail, gallinule, barnacle
goose, swan, mallard duck, spoonbill, widgeon, sum-
mer duck, red-head duck, harlequin, scoter, king eider,
hooded merganser, shearwater, and puffin.

Pocomo.

Pacummohquah, Poocoomo, or modern Pocomo
(pronounced Pok-omo) is a headland extending into
the upper harbor of Nantucket, upon which are sey-
eral good farms. There is said to be, at times, fair
shooting for those who are fond of the sport at this
place. It would be afine locality for a hotel, as can be
seen by aglance at the map. It is about four and one
half miles from town by water.

POLPIS OR PODPIS.
This little village was one of the earliest settlements
on the island. It is about six miles from the town of
Nantucket, and is situated on an arm or inlet of the

244 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

upper harbor, which takes the name of the village.
There are quite a number of dwellings and a school-
house here. The inhabitants depend chiefly upon
agriculture and fishing for their subsistence. Here is
situated the fine farm of F.C. Sanford, Esq., called
“¢ Spottswood,”’ after the old chief Spotsa, or Daniel
Spotsor, the latter being the name by which he was
known to the whites. Spotsa swamp also takes its
name from the same old Indian, who reigned sachem by
his wife near about forty years. One of the oldest
buildings on the island is still standing in the village ;
it was erected in 1704, by the father of the first white
male child born on the island. (See Old Buildings.) -

POETS AND POETRY.

Among the many accomplishments which the sons
and daughters of Nantucket have possessed has been
the art of making poetry. Some of the island’s poets
have attained much more than a local reputation. It
seems that at a very early period in the history of the
island, even as far back as 1676, one individual at least
made some pretension to rhyming, and this was no
less a personage than the great Peter Folger, who
appears to have been a universal genius. In order
that the reader may judge whether Mr. Folger is
worthy a place among classical poets, a few extracts
are here given from

A Looking-Glass for the Times; or, The Former Spirit
of New England revived in this Generation. .
By Peter Folger.
(There is one thing that is very certain, and that is, if
these lines are not poetry, there is good, square com-

POETS AND POETRY. | 245

mon-sensé in them, and they will apply as well to-day
as they did two hundred years ago.)

Now, loving friends and countrymen,
I wish we may be wise;

Tis now a time for every man
To see with his own eyes.

’T is easy to provoke the Lord
To send dmong us war;

”T is easy to do violence,
To envy and to jar;

.
a
,

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3

).

To show a spirit that is high,

. To scorn and domineer;

; To pride it out, as if there were
a No God to make us fear.

-

To covet what is not our own,
To cheat and to oppress,

To live a life that might free us
From acts of righteousness.

To swear and lie, and to be drunk,
To backbite one another,

To carry tales that may do hurt
And mischief to our brother.

To live in such hypocrisy
As men may think us good,
Athough our hearts within are full
Of evil and of blood.

ee oe. ee eC.”
4 a = 4

i

All these and many evils more are easy for to do,

But to repent and to reform we have no strength unto.

Let us then seek for help from God, and turn to him that smite;
Let us take heed, that at no time we sin against our light.

246 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

I would not have you for to think, tho’ I have wrote so much,
That I hereby do throw a stone at magistrates as such.

The rulers in the country I do own them in the Lord;

And such as are for government, with them I do accord.

If that you mistake the verse for its uncomely dress,

I tell thee true, I never thought that it would pass the press.
If any at the matter kick, its like he ’s galled at heart,

And that ’s the reason why he kicks, because he finds it smart.

- I am for peace and not for war, and that’s the reason why

I write more plain than some men do that use to daub and lie.

But I shall cease and set my name to what I here insert,
Because to be a libeller, I hate it with my heart.
From Sherborn town, where now I dwell, my name I do put
here,
Without offence your real friend, it is
PETER FOLGER.

April 23, 1676.

That the art of writing poetry did not make very
rapid progress in the next hundred years, or that the
people generally were not afflicted with the divine
afflatus, is evidenced by the following

Elegy on the Suddenand Awful Death of Seven Men who
were drowned on Nantucket Bar, Jan. 1, 1782.

(Shades of Shakespeare and Homer and Virgil, come
forth and listen!!)

Kind heaven, assist my feeble muse,
And help me to relate

Unto my friends the dismal news
Of my poor townsmen’s fate.

O! what a sad and awful time,
Which caused our eyes to weep;

For seven men all in their prime
All drowned in the deep.

POETS AND POETRY. oo

In seventeen hundred eighty-two,
The first of New-Year’s day,

This poor unhappy crew of men
Were sadly swept away.

They from Nantucket shore put off,
And for the bar did try,

In hopes to get on board a brig,
But could not her come nigh.

The wind did blow, the sea ran high,
They strove the brig to gain,

But all endeavors fruitless were,
Their striving proved in vain.

Their boat upon the ocean fill’d,
And two were then swept out,

And five remaining in her still,
Some time were tossed about.

Their friends on shore saw their distress,
And for their help did try,

But nothing could on time be done,
It was their lot to die.

Four mournful widows left that day,
And eleven children small,

And two besides that were unborn,
Which makes thirteen in all.

Their sorrows surely must be great,
Which I full well do know,

Having once shared the same fate
And tasted the same woe.

It was rather unfair in the author of the above
poem (?) to leave the reader in such an uncertain
frame of mind, for it must be left to conjecture what
** fate’ the author “‘ shared.’’ He or she says, ‘‘ hav-
ing once shared the same fate, and tasted the same
woe’”’: it is of course impossible to tell whether the
author was once drowned and left behind thirteen

248 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

mournful widows, and “ two besides that were unborn,”
or whether he or she was once drowned and left ‘‘ four
mournful widows, eleven children small, two besides
that were unborn, making thirteen in all.” At any rate,
the reader must be satisfied that the author’s sorrows
were great; for had they not been, no such heart-
‘‘rendering ’’ lines as those above quoted could have
been written. |

In direct contrast, the following beautiful little poem
written by Mrs. Martha W. Jenks, a native of Nan-
tucket, is here given, and is entitled

The Music of the Tower.

Trinity Church, a very beautiful little edifice in Nantucket, was de.
stroyed in the great fire of 1846. It may be remembered that the tower
contained a latticed window, through which the wind sighed forth, as an
Xolian harp, strains of fitful melody, ‘‘ most musical, most melancholy.”

How sweet, how soothing, and how clear,
Thou sacred tower, thy spirit’s tone
Sounds on the musing traveller’s ear,
Listening and lone!

Earnest and deep that spirit calls,
Speaks to the wearied soul of home;
Of holy rest within these walls:
‘‘ Come hither, come.”’

And oh! responsive in the heart,
An answering chord is wakened there,
Whose voiceless chorus bears a part,
And calls to prayer.

Methinks thy viewless minstrelsy
Weaveth for all a soothing strain,
In mingling notes of sympathy
For joy and pain.

POETS AND POETRY. 249

Young men and maidens, blithe and free,
With gladsome heart draw near, draw near;
List to the watch-tower’s melody
With chastened ear.

Mourner, who, unsubmissive still,
Forget’st the hand that wounds to cure,
Hear, in that note of magic thrill,
A promise sure;

A pledge that He, whose power hath given
Enchanting music to the air,
Thus sweetly sends a voice from heaven,
To win thee there.

And thou mysterious sentinel!
Invisible to human sight, —
Hath not thy watchword speech to tell
** What of the night? ”’

Haply it warneth that the night
For me shail have no morning ray;
That with my soul the fading light
Shall flee away.

God of my life! strength of my day!
Oh, grant me courage from on high
To hear thy summons and obey
Without a sigh.

Lent, 4th day, 1842.

So far as the compiler can ascertain, Miss Anna
Gardner is the only native poet who has had the har-
dihood to publish a volume of original rhymes. A
few years since, however, Mr. Wm. Hussey Macy col-

lected a number of his fugitive pieces, which were

published here, at one of the newspaper offices, in
pamphlet form; and another little pamphlet was printed

250 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

abroad, containing an account in verse of the experi-
ences of Charles Murphy during a whaling voyage.

Something over a quarter of a century ago Miss
Lucy C. Starbuck made acollection of about fifty poems,
written by natives of the island, to which the felicitous
title of ‘‘ Seaweeds fromthe Shores of Nantucket” was
given. This little volume was published by Crosby,
Nichols & Co., of Boston, and a copy of it can be
found at the Atheneum. From “ Seaweeds’? came
the beautiful poem ‘“‘ The Music of the Tower,”’ before
quoted. ‘This poem, and the one entitled ‘‘ Musings”
by George Howland Folger, a well-known merchant
of Boston, are perhaps the best in the book, although
some of the others are worthy a high place.

Miss Anna Gardner’s book of poems has many good
things in it; and although all might not agree with her
in regard to certain questions which are now being
agitated, yet on the whole her book can be read with
pleasure and profit. Want of space forbids the inser-
tion of more than a few lines; the first are from ‘‘ Na-

ture.’’

*“* *'T is now the still and hallowed hour of noon,
Not e’en a sound disturbs the deep serene;
Hushed is the brook’s subdued, low undertone,
And checkered sunshine slants the rocks between.
Throughout the woods a noontide slumber reigns,
As hushed to list to sweet angelic strains.” re

SPRING FLOWERS.

Now bursts the crocus from its night of sleep,
The daffodil and hyacinth we see;
While o’er the plain the trailing laurels creep
’Midst the anemone.

POETS AND POETRY. 251

Creation wakes from torpid winter’s sleep,
Sending new life through artery and vein;
As yet too young, the race grasps not the deep

Design of Flora’s reign.

Miss Anna C. Starbuck, a native of Nantucket, but
now a resident of Rochester, N. Y., has written many

poems of great purity and sweetness. The only one

«italia 2 = as a

of them which is at this moment at hand is entitled
*¢ The Fountain,’”’ from which the succeeding lines are
quoted: —

** Splashing, dashing all the night
Trip-a-trip ;
With its silvery cadence light
Drip-a-drip.

** Murmuring softly through the day,
Mid the whirl;
Sending up its ceaseless spray,
Purl-a-purl.

“* Never pausing for a rest
On the brink,
When the rolbins come in quest
Of a drink,

‘Wetting little clinging feet
With a laugh,

- While the timid songsters sweet
Quaff and quaff.’’

Another daughter of Nantucket thus sings of her
early home: —

952 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

NANTUCKET.
By Mrs. H. M. Robinson.

There ’s a dear purple isle far out in the ocean,
Of all nature’s favorites most favored of all;
So full of quaint legends, of rich old romances,

Ah, how they come trooping at Memory’s call!

Aurora in haste cleaves a pathway of glory,
Across the blue waters, to that isle so dear;

Where never a shell but would tell you a story,
Would you pause but a moment to lend it your ear.

It could sing of the forests that sheltered the red man,

Or the lake whose clear waters were kissed by his oar;
Alas! with the forests, the red men departed,

And the places that knew them now know them no more.

Their names alone live in sweet strains of music,
That fall from the lips of our island’s fair dames,

And long shall the love of Autopscot, the warrior,
With his lovely Wonoma, embellish her fame.

Let those who delight turn back history’s pages,

To glean some fresh laurel for our island’s fair brow;
It gladdens my heart to list to her praises,

But my theme is her glorious present, — and now.

I sing of her ocean, — that great pool of Siloam,

Where the cities’ worn children may bathe and be strong;
There Hygeia her chariot rides on the billow,

While Fessonia and Februa to her train belong.

I sing of her beaches, — old ocean’s great playground,
Thus I call back the hours of my chilhood again;

WhenI watched Neptune toss from his bosom the white-caps,
Then backward retreating, entice them again.

POETS AND POETRY. 263

I sing of her sunsets, — no art of the limner
Has ever on canvas their beauties portrayed;
By God’s hand alone can such pictures be painted,
Now radiant in glory, now mellowed in shade.

I sing of her valleys, her streams, and her moorland;
I sing of her children with hearts free from guile:
But sing as I may, my song cannot compass
A tithe of thy beauties, my own native isle!

Like a mother thou blessest thy children’s forced parting,
Which blessing to all their endeavors gives zest;

Till faint in life’s battle they fall worn and weary,
And return once again, to sleep on thy breast.

God bless thee, Nantucket, and God bless thy offspring,
Who by fortune are scattered full many a mile;
At the sound of thy name every pulse throb will quicken;
Farewell for a season, thou dear purple isle!
Louisville, Ky., Oct. 1, 1881.

If one has a spark of poetic fire in him, Nantucket is
one of the best places in the world in which to fan it
into a flame. Here is the wide ocean in all its grand-
eur and magnificence, beating with unceasing thunder
along the shores, and pouring upon the sands its meas-
ureless bulk of waters; or lashed into fury by storm,
tossing toward heaven its white arms in seeming defi-
ance. Here is the ‘‘ harbor bar with its moaning,’ and
here are undulating moors with their velvety coverings
and glorious wild flowers. Here are purple skies, balmy
breezes, highlands and lowlands, cliff and rock, hill
and dale. Never yet a ship sailed from the port but
what around its history hangs a halo of poetry and
romance. Certain it is that the true poet can find

254 ‘THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

enough on this little island to embody in ringing,
singing rhyme. Dr. Arthur E. Jenks, perhaps the
most prolific of our native poets, and who, it is to be
hoped, will before long give to the world a collection
of his sparkling little gems, has caught the true spirit
of poetry in the natural scenery of this ‘‘isle of the
sea.’”? As with those before mentioned, there is room
but for a few short extracts from his poems. Some
years since, during a time of long-continued cold
weather, the harbor became closed to navigation, and
we were ice-bound. In order to make the time pass
less wearily, Dr. Jenks wrote a little pastoral, drama-
tized it, and placed it upon the Athenzum stage with
fine scenic effects. It was called ‘*‘ A Winter Crystal,”
and deserved its name. The following is an extract
from it: —

** Across the plains that like the Scottish moors
Are but lone barrens to the man who sees
No beauty in their quietness, — who has
No heart for Nature in her peaceful moods,

No love for the wild flowers and fragrant pines, —
Alone upon a lofty headland loomed
The weather-beaten tower of Sancoty!

‘‘Out there in dark night-watches, flashing o’er
The treacherous surge that haunts the trackless shore,
Light to the mariner whose vessel ploughs
The furrows of the ocean, as the blade
Of the good husbandman the seas of grain
Whose waves roll in upon the harvest floor
For the support of man and beast. Dear old
Gray Sancoty! Thy form is fair to me;

To others thou art but a lighthouse, cold
And spiritless, — a pile of quarry stone;

POETS AND POETRY. , 255

Thy lantern but a prison-house, and thou
Companion too of dreary solitude.

To me, whether in coat of icy mail,

Or warm with the sweet glow of summer-time,
Thou art the same. Early I learned to love
Thy bronzed face looking seaward; the long roll
Of billows lulling me to sweetest sleep;

To stand upon thy breezy bluff and catch

A glimpse of dreamy ’Sconset, and between,
The winding road flanked by the grazing sheep,
And the blue waters of Sesachacha,

The hermit-lodge; and far away at sea

The white sails of the ships that go about

The world! But there ’s a memory of all

Its inmates whose fond life in daily round

Of duties thankfully performed, wrought its
Bright tissues in my careless boyhood days;
And now my manhood clasps these golden ties
As treasures from a mine richer than gold.

‘¢ Asleep in winter, when the frost-king reigns;
It is the carnival of Nature’s ghosts!
Their garments like the gossamer trail on,
While in their wake the iron men of cold
File down the steeps the north wind cleaves for them,
Binding with cruel fetters ruthlessly.
All day, all night, these grim besiegers work,
Until, at sunrise, as we venture forth,
Lo! we are ice-bound, but our foes are gone.

“ At this the good old man began once more:
‘Men stand aghast at Nature’s alchemy;
In elemental war they are at bay;
To murmur is to beat against a stone
That will notmove. If we but learn to live
In meek submission, noting these events , —

256 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Seedtime and harvest, and the winter cold,

That He who made the sea and the round world,
And all that dwell therein, rules over us, —

Life will be sweet indeed, from first to Jast.’ ”’

Only one more short extract can here be given, and
that from ‘‘ When the Sea grew White,’? which the
Quaker poet, John G. Whittier, complimented as a
spirited lyric: —

‘* The harbor lights and Great Point’s eye
With friendly glance gleamed steadily;
And ever the bell-buoy rose and fell,
With the lazy dip of the ocean swell.
From the blazing vines and scarlet heath,
Where mild October twines her wreath,
Came the breath of pine boughs, autumn’s tide
Of trailing glories, — Nantucket’s pride.

‘* But something I saw, that crossed the moon,
Seemed an omen of storm which would startle me se
For afar in his northern lair there lay
A monster cloud, like a fiend at bay!

But why did I dread, as never before,

The sound of the waves on the sullen shore?

I cannot tell. But I heard, alone,

The voice of a wrath I dared not own!

And at morning’s dawn I saw the sky

Look out with a wild and threatening eye.
Over the harbor bar the spray

Blinded the mariner all that day;

And the rain came on, like the flood of old,
With the desolate moan of a wintry wold.

The roofs and towers of the ancient town

Grew black with the dark mist swooping down.
All day it surged, like a tidal wave;

And the hearts of the people, so true and brave,
Beat quick with fear. Down came the night,
With never a star, and the sea was white! ”’

POLICE. — PONDS. | 957

Several more might be named whose efforts are far
superior to the ordinary newspaper trash of the day;

but the limits of this article have already been ex-

ceeded, and we must bid adieu to the island’s poets.

POLICE.

Probably no town of its size in the Union has better
order than Nantucket, and rarely is a drunken person
seen on the streets.

The regular police force consists of twonight patrol- —
men; there are, however, several ‘‘ special police,”
who can be called on at any time when needed. The
steamboat company have an eflicient officer (special
police) at their landing, whose duty it is to preserve
order, and check the wonderful exuberance of spirits
always displayed by hackmen and teamsters at all
watering places. After 10 P. M., two men are stationed
in the Tower the year round, whose duty it is to
watch for fires ; and many a little blaze has been seen
from their high perch, which might, if not discovered,
have produced serious results.

PONDS.

The following valuable information in relation to the
ponds upon Nantucket was kindly roca by Wm.
C. Folger, Esq. :

Pantanis of all the ponds on the island of Nantucket,
copied from a book of surveys by Benjamin Bunker,
a surveyor, who died April 14, 1842, aged ninety-one

_ years.

17

258 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Copaum Pond. . .. . . . 23 acres, 24 rods.
Falling Mill Pond S40." OS Si eae
Gibbs's Pond: 3. F456 at PRS ee
Hummock Pond. 3) 250' ays 9 BIOL he Some
Jonathan Small’s Pond. . . . de0088 5 Sa
Long Pond... 32s) sk pag TIS Pee
Maxcy's Ponds. es Sg DOS Eee
Madequecham Pond P00 SY TP eee oe
Miacomet Pond <9) ag erie ee See
Miomes Ponds 060. 2 a ee ee

Nobodeer Pond Tt Fe0S Gree
Offy’s Pond . ; Bh eee
Pond northeast of Snake ppie Gee eee
Poot Pond . EY SERS 3 ES, BON
Poot Pond, another . i" > eee
Pond §. W. of Quayes basin) 140-8 Ge ae
Reedy (near Mioxes) Pond . AN ide OEP eae
Reed (at Watercomet) . a Bie
Sesachacha pond . a10° Gree
Sheep Pond 2) ¢ See
Shallow Pond . att § (ji tae Higgs aie
Washing or Wannacomet Piva Pet OR see
Weeweder Pond . 508 SR
Wigwam Pond. Bat ee

Total ies hh Pee PRR SRE 4 ese ee

The above figures are given in order that the pres-
ent generation may know what these ponds were forty
or fifty years ago. A number of them are now very
much reduced in size, and some have completely dried
up. Copaum Pond was once Cappamet Harbor, and

PONDS. | 259

opened to the sea. Around Copaum were built the
first houses. At Sesachacha have been caught a great
many perch. The Wannacomet Water Company now
get their supply from the old Washing Pond. Near
the Reed Pond Thomas Macy’s ‘‘ modest mansion
rose.’”? At Miacomet were washed the sheep.

In Macy’s History is mentioned a mill that was built
on Wesco Pond. None of the older people seem able
to locate this pond. Some of them, however, agree
with the compiler in the belief that the present Lily
Pond is all that remains of the Wesco of our fathers,
from the fact that when the houses were moved from
the site of the first town they were placed in the near vi-
cinity of this pond, which at that time must have been a
very large one, as is evidenced by the following tradi-
tion, related to the compiler by Mr. Albert Easton. He
says that his father, George Easton, who was ninety
years old at the time of his death, told him that in the
early days the Lily Pond was a large lake surrounding
what is now known as Gull Island, and extending as
far south as the present Egypt Road; and people used
to sit on a rock which was near what is known as the
George Brown house, and catch fish. At the east end
of the lake, near the residence of J. B. Swain, was a
dam and fulling-mill. It so happened that on a certain
day a little girl on her way home from school stopped
at the dam to play, and commenced making little
ditches on the top of the embankment. The dam was
full to overflowing; her little ditches soon became big
ditches, and the water got the mastery of the little girl.
She ran home terribly frightened, telling no one, how-
ever, of the accident. The water, left to itself, forced

260 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

a passage through the dam, sweeping it entirely away,
and making that deep depression at the foot of North
Shore Hill. The innocent cause of all this mischief
never revealed the secret until her death, which
occurred at a very advanced period of life.

POPULATION.

The following facts in relation to the population of |
the island have been gathered from Macy’s History, |
Dr. Ewer’s map, and from John F. Brown, Esq., town
clerk: —

According to the last census there were upon the isl-
and 1,049 families, having an aggregate of 3,726 persons.

In 1800 there were 5,617 inhabitants.
eT oe . GBs r
ya | s icotlind Te depen 2
se iia ahead Pe! a
66 1840 66 ce 9,712 6¢
ae: aie FY BF 3
gine os) +." Get ae
toa *** “¢ 4,830 *
a5 1870 66 ¢é 4,123 74
ae” os ids pete: Pr 3
call! | hit ot Od ee be

By comparing the figures of 1880 with those of 1875,
it appears that the town has in five years gained up-
wards of five hundred; but such is not the fact, for the
town has steadily decreased in population since 1840.
The United States census taken in 1870 was doubtless —
correct, but that taken in 1875 could not have been
correct, as it is well known that more people were liv-

POST-OFFICE AND MAILS. | 261

ing on Nantucket that year than in 1880. It is be-
lieved that we have reached the lowest point, and that
now the population will begin to increase; quite a num-
ber of persons having built or purchased houses with
_the intention of making Nantucket their permanent
home, after testing the purity of its air and its even-
ness of temperature during the summer.

The compiler regrets exceedingly that he was unable
in this edition to give facts and figures in regard to
the last census, particularly as regards the number of
females, old people, etc., upon the island. But under
the circumstances it was impossible, as it would have
involved too much of the limited time allotted him for
the completion of the book.

PostT—OFFICE AND MAILS.

The post-office‘at Nantucket is of the second class,
and during the summer season a large amount of mail
matter is handled, amounting to at least 3,000 pieces
daily. During the months of July, August, and Sep-
tember, the office is open from 6 A. M. to 9 P. M. on
week-days, and on Sundays from 1 to 4 and from 6 to
7P.M. Through the remainder of the year the office
is opened at 7 A. M. and closed at 8 Pp. M., and on Sun-
days from 6 to 7 P. M.

The box letters are usually distributed in about half
an hour after the arrival of the steamer. The general
public can usually secure their mail in less than an
hour after the blowing of the steamer’s whistle as she
rounds Brant Point. There are two mails each week-
day during the sumnier, which arrive about 11.45 A. mM,
and 6.30 Pp. M., and leave at 7 A. M. and 12.45 P. M.,

262 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

on Sundays at2 p.m. The mails close half an hour
before the departure of the steamers; but in order to
afford every accommodation to the public, an open
mail pouch will be found on each steamer, in which
letters can be deposited up to the moment of their de- .
parture. Boxes can be rented at fifty cents, seventy-
five cents, and one dollar for three months. J. F.
Murphey, postmaster; A. T. Mowry, assistant; Perry
Winslow, clerk.

PROFESSIONS.

Artists.
Harry Platt, crayon. Studio, Orange St.
Wendell Macy, oil and crayon. Studio, Orange St.
G. G. Fish, crayon. Studio, Athenszum. :
J. Walter Folger, crayon, oil, and carving. Studio,
Union St. ;
Eastman Johnson (summer resident). Studio, Cen-
tre St.

‘Bill Posters.

Wm. D. Clark, Lyons St. .
Alvin Hull, Hussey St.

Book-keepers.
Alex. Macy, Pine St.
G. W. Burdick, Main St.
E. K. Godfrey, Main St.

Copyists.
Miss Stella Chase, Union St.
Geo. W. Burdick, Main St.
EK. K. Godfrey, Main St.

PROFESSIONS. 963

Clergymen.

Rey. Daniel Round, Baptist, Orange St.
Rev. J. E. Crawford, Baptist, Main St.

Rev. M. Ransom, Methodist, Gay St.

Miss L. 8. Baker, Congregational, Orange St.
Rey. J. A. Savage, Unitarian, No. Water St.
Rey. Levi Boyer, Episcopal, Fair St.

Dentists.

D. G. Hussey, Federal St.
A. E. Jenks, Main St.
A. G. Coffin, Main St.

B.

C. Underwood, Main St.

Lawyer.
Allen Coffin, Main St.

| Music Teachers.
Miss Mary Sanford Mitchell, piano, Plumb Lane.
Mrs. M. A. Wakeman, piano and voice, Hussey St
Mrs. S. M. Raymond, piano and voice, Gay St.
Miss Phebe C. Edwards, piano, Centre St.

Mrs. Benj. Robinson, piano, Summer St.

L. H. Johnson, piano, Union St.

E. F. Whitman, cornet, Main St.

W. B. Stevens, violin, Pine St.

Miss Susie Morselander, accompanist.

Physicians.
. Ellis, M. D., office Broad St.
iimnan; M. D. , Office, Centre St.
. King, M. D. soticnt Union St.
. Denniston, M. D., office, Pearl St.

264 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET,

Photographer.
Josiah Freeman, Main St.

School Teachers.

Walter H. Russell, principal, High School.

Miss Sara C. Robinson, assistant, High School.

Miss Elma Folger, principal, First Grammar School.

Miss Annie W. Bodfish, principal, Second Grammar
School. Bate

Miss Susie R. Barnard, principal, First Intermediate
School.

Miss Elizabeth E. Mae principal, Second In-
termediate School.

Miss Lizzie G. Coggeshall, principal, Primary School.

a re ae saaalie Orange St. Ungraded School.

E. B. Fox, principal, Coffin School.

Miss Lizzie S. Riddell, assistant, Coffin School.

Miss Gertrude M. King, assistant, Coffin School.

Miss Alice Coggeshall, assistant, Coffin School.

Miss Edith H. Cartwright, principal, Polpis.

Miss Nellie Ring, principal, Tuckernuck.

Miss Marianna Hussey, principal, ’Sconset.

Miss Abby W. Dunham, principal, Madequet.

Taxidermists.

Herbert S. Sweet, Federal St.
Samuel King, Pleasant St.

PROPERTY, VALUATION OF.
The total amount of taxable property of Nantucket
is estimated at $2,354,123, of which $1,118,192 is in real

PUBLIC CARRIAGES. 265

estate, and $1,235,931 in personal property. Nine
hundred and fifty-four persons are assessed for poll
taxes. The rate of taxation is $9 20 on a thousand.

At the last town meeting, held in February, it was
voted the sum of $23,170 be raised by taxation to
meet appropriations for the year 1882.

PUBLIC CARRIAGES.

One can at almost any hour of the day find on some
one of the streets a public carriage, if one wishes a
ride. They are of the class denominated beach
wagons, and can, with a driver, be hired by the hour.
The drivers are generally very loquacious, and if what
they say is not always strictly truthful, one has the
satisfaction of knowing that he is having a pretty fair
ride at a pretty round price. These carriages with
their drivers are licensed and numbered. Appended
is a list of all carriages licensed, furnished by the
courteous town clerk, Mr. J. F. Brown. The price
by the hour for a beach wagon and driver is $1.00, and
by reference to livery stables a list of prices will be
found for hacks, etc.

NAMES. NUMBERS. NAMES. NUMBERS.
Wm. H.H. Smith...... Lf. 3, 4,5, 6 \dnukls WO OOd~ acids skh inp obaee 20
SE vinascvcceccvcccsce TB WV «MAO ET s0 a5 bans-ien.debakin 21
SCMNUID GS Reese caeccsscadcecsle 8D. W. Folger. oii iiedd cei bees 22
MORASS WY ALTEU 6c cece cess wae O |e ie Aven is.d teas FU eek 23.
i MAMEOT cid vewcccdesccdects ee eee ee 24
ES eae TE PWR iy CO BBCs soo cctaeen vkmwe 25, 57
ee 2 (ie tes A PIOCONs <u eee siwetan ¢ 26

Mie MRERMIOMG . b 6:6 Winn 5 Siecle cise cicees 13'\0. O. Chadwiehkis\>. issaseeaes ve 27
NS OMBET cipinis cin vecccp sees 14:10. Ma Folgers Jt.pncochicnaadee 28
TEP ENTIEE, sa cc cccpectegecee 22 10 Res MAD onc eeksy? «asealeninn 29

Andrew Johnston.........00. 16, 19 |John Hamblin ........ Setveds coe OO

266 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

NAMES. NUMBERS. NAMES. . NUMBER.
UR TP AURA as «a ann cate ke mes a) Ce ce nee « niga.n, pale ete ae
Valentine Aldridge........sseee- 32 | W: 8. Chane... ncccusseeehueeee 49
GC: Bi Beige. s.c. GAs 33 | C. EE: Pitman oie eee 50
W. D. Appleton ......... sen denn 34 |), H. Fishers» 10's shiseuiecidental - 51
08s: CORR. sec cuaies s rea 351 5. P Pitman, ...++s0shus tease 52
SseVi 6. COE aca chaesvvatane 36,37 | Peter Cashmany iss. .ivscuceasgas 53
Geo. FY, Coffins «3.008.528 eee 38, 29 | R. Thiirstoti soc ciica ie geweeae 54
David Wilearesicsdiaise<iess 40; 01:)-5.41. Peery sinvvessunpncenae ele 55
OD) 5 Go. Sa rae Sekuoeaies 41) GC: C. Taber. ous ese s caneeee 56
Se ec Se a ccvcvece 42} Gy 10, MLMMILCE » vacewk obs skeen 58
WE RA GS ash ss hein Seas A3| GC. C.,M overs, «sas cbevcb wep ag uae 59
5 ee ee eee 44.1 A, Gi Comin 2. 0i0is soseenm ene . 60
WY «Ws ROUC YONG sa Sean oes che secne 46 |B. THGrsiOn. .. 2.tasce chee armen 62
W.E. Bates ....... EDR a da « tee 46)| Fo W. Folger i... isise Ee 63
WN. Aes Skint oxo sienna Tbe tn ny 47-§ James. Small . o0's v0 duce ceerseeee

QUAISE.

A visit should be paid to Quaise or Masquetuck (‘ the
reed land’’), as there is considerable of interest con-
nected with the locality, from the fact that this portion
of the island was reserved by Thomas Mayhew for his
own use, when he deeded the island to the ten original
purchasers. It isalsocelebrrted as the site of “ Miriam”
(Keziah) Coffin’s country seat, where she carried on
smuggling to so great an extent as to cause her arrest
and trial. Col. Hart in his novel ‘‘ Miriam Coffin”?
has cast the halo of romance about the place. William
B. Starbuck, Esq., now resides on what was called the
‘© Miriam Coffin farm.”’

QUARY OR QUADY.
See Indians.

Abraham Quary was the last of his race. He wasa
half-breed, and lived for many years in a small hut
at Shimmo. He had many peculiarities, but was gen-

alte sf }
i

QUIDNET. — RAILROAD. 267

erally respected by old and young. He died in 1854,
_ aged eighty-two years, mourned by all who knew him.
There is a fine oil painting in the Athenzum, showing

him at home. :

QUIDNET.

This place was formerly quite a village, and fishing
was carried on to a considerable extent. Of late years
it has been noted as the place of residence of the cel-
ebrated (?) hermit, Frederick Parker, now deceased.
The land was originally included in the territories of
Sachem Wauwinet.

RAILROAD. ‘

On page 290 of Macy’s History of Nantucket will
be found these words: ‘‘ In 1841 quite a movement
was made in reference to a railroad to Siasconset.”
The movement does not seem to have amounted to
much, for it was not until the past year of 1851 that
the whistle of the locomotive echoed along the classic
shores of Shimmo and the Goose Pond, and even up to
the present time the movement towards ’Sconset is

rather tortoise-like.

In 1879 Mr. Philip H. Folger of Boston—a native
of Nantucket —conceived the project of building a
railroad to ’Sconset. He associated himself with a
number of gentlemen who were interested in the mat-
ter, and in May, 1880, ground was broken and grading
commenced. On July 4, 1881, the first three miles of
the road were completed, and a grand celebration was
held at Surfside. During the summer— according
to the report to the railroad commissioners — 30,135

268 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET,

passengers were carried over the road without an acci-
dent, bringing to the road a net income of $2,110.27.
The superintendent of the road informs the compiler
that it is the intention of the company to carry their
track along the shore to ’Sconset during the summer

of 1882. The company have a capital of $60,000, ©

one fine locomotive of sixteen tons, and two pas-
senger coaches. The directors are as follows: —

John Dorr, president; John H. Norton, treasurer;
P. H. Folger, superintendent; C. F. Coffin, John W.
Cartwright, Jas. W. Cartwright.

RESOURCES.

Very few people care to look the truth squarely in
the face, but the fact can in no way be disguised that
the Nantucket spirit of to-day, so far as business is
concerned, is not that of fifty or one hundred years
ago. That there remains very little of that spirit
which incited our ancestors to brave the ice and sleet
of the frozen North, or drift, day after day, under a
blazing tropical sun, in their perilous search for those
oleaginous monsters of the deep, — bringing to the isl-
and millions upon millions of wealth, and making the
town the greatest whaling mart of the ‘world, —is
evidenced by the dilapidated condition of the streets,
the nearly total destruction of the wharves, and the
general apathy shown in any needed improvement.

Nations or people, to be successful, must be produ-
cers as well as consumers, and Nantucket island has
wonderful resources for production, if her people see
fit to utilize them for agriculture or other purposes.
The broad Atlantic with its salt, its sea-weeds, and its

ee a

RESOURCES. 269

fish, surrounds her; underlying her seemingly sterile
soil are thousands of tons of peat and shells ; there is
iron ore, and it has been said there are indications of
petroleum on the island. No better combination for
agricultural purposes can be found than salt, lime, and
peat, and they are to be had for the asking. If the
people of this island would only profit by all this
wealth which a beneficent Creator has so bountifully
provided, another Eden could be made of what are
now bleak and barren wastes. Every kitchen vege-
table, all the cereals and fruits which she needs, can
and ought to be grown here; every pound of beef,
mutton, and pork she consumes shou!d be raised here;
and as for fish, the ocean swarms with them in untold
variety and numbers, and every pound of salt used in
their curing should be manufactured here.

Nantucket has a good harbor, with one hundred
acres of anchorage ; a jetty is being built, behind
which ships can ride in safety; her climate is very even,
and there is no malaria; the heat of summer is always
tempered with cool and refreshing breezes, and her
winters are never as cold as those experienced on the
mainland ; there are men of brains here, there is
money : with all these advantages, why sit idle with
folded hands, mourning over glory departed? ‘‘Yeta
little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands
in sleep,’’? and Nantucket will become so dead that the
last trump will fail to awaken her!

Make her a watering-place, make her a manufactur-
ing town, make her an agricultural town, make her all
three, but in heaven’s name make her something !
You have it in your own hands to make her what she
can and should be,

Tre =s

270 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

In summing up the resources of the island, we find

that many varieties of fish can be and are caught in —

large quantities. Salt and lime can bé manufactured
successfully. Apple, peach, pear, and quince trees
and grapevines only need care to produce as fine fruit
as any on the main. All the common garden vegeta-
bles and cereals yield abundantly. Oysters were once
found here in large quantities, and should again be in-

troduced and propagated. The compiler is informed.

that the manufacturing of bricks was at one time car-
ried on quite extensively at the Cliff and in ‘‘ Egypt,”
and of course can be again. Forest trees once grew on
the island, and could be made to grow again. Horses,
cattle, and sheep can be as successfully bred here as
anywhere else. Manufacturing ought to be as profit-
ably carried on here as elsewhere. And certainly the

island possesses many advantages for a watering place. °
All Nantucket to-day needs is a little of the old

leaven; or rather a little new, for the old has long since
lost its power.

~The Nantucket Improvement and Industrial Asso-
ciation have issued a circular which the compiler sin-
cerely hopes will reach every business man in the
country, and in order that it may reach more than it
otherwise would, part of it is here inserted.

WITHIN a few years Nantucket has been a popular summer
resort, and as its advantages are better known, will become still
more popular; for no other place in the country offers more
beautiful sites for summer dwellings, or a more healthful atmos-
phere for a large class of invalids. Surrounded by the ocean,

the nights are always cool; sleep is refreshing; the vitiated

appetite becomes healthy, and constitutions worn down by

RESOURCES. 271

labor, study, disease, and business cares are recuperated more
in a few weeks than by all the patent medicines ever sold. As
a summer resort for health and pleasure, Nantucket offers
superior advantages ; but the special object of this circular is
to call the attention of business men and manufacturers to its
advantages for manufacturing purposes : —

First. ‘There are residing upon the island a large number of
unemployed young men and women, who are anxious to be
employed and are willing to labor for a reasonable compensa-
tion.

Second. Among the buildings erected for candle and oil fac-
tories there are quite a number of large, substantial ones, both
of brick and wood, which can be had by purchase for a small
price, or can be leased for a term of years at a nominal rent.

Third. A number of these buildings are located near the
wharves, so that the expense of cartage of coal and other
necessities of a manufacturing establishment would be trifling.

Fourth. Rents of dwellings are very low, so that a tenement
which in the vicinity of Boston would cost from $10 to $25 per
month can be had here from $2 to $8 per month.

Fifth. The cost of living is very low. The ocean yields a
bountiful supply of fresh fish; the farms furnish fresh and
superior vegetables, milk, and butter; meats are almost daily
sold by auction upon the public square, at very reasonable
prices ; coal and wood are cheaper than at almost any manu-
facturing centre in New England; and groceries, clothing, and
all kinds of furnishing goods are as cheap as elsewhere.

Sixth. 'The schools of Nantucket have been noted for many
years for the advantages they offer to acquire a good education.
There are schools of every grade, from the Primary to the High
School. —

Seventh. Religious privileges are abundant, there being seven
different societies, — Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist, Epis-
copal, Unitarian, Friends, and Catholic, — and all have good and
commodious houses of worship

272 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Eighth. There is an Atheneum which contains an excellent
library, museum, and hall; there are weekly papers, —the In-
quirer and Mirror and Journal; a Lyceum for the intellectual
improvement of its members ; and several active organizations
for benevolent purposes.

Ninth. There is daily connection with the mainland by
steamers, and every facility for the transportation of crude
material and manufactured goods; a daily mail all the year,
and for several months two mails a day.

Tenth. The town is lighted with gas, and furnished with
pure water by the Wannacomet Water Company. There is
also a good number of efficient fire engines, and additional pro-
tection from fires will soon be furnished by hydrants.

Eleventh. The harbor bar, which has always been a serious
hindrance to the growth of the town and of manufacturing
industries, is to be removed, or rather the channel is to be
deepened by building jetties. The government has made an
appropriation for it, and the contract has been let. The work
is now in progress.

It will be seen by the above statements that Nantucket offers
some of the strongest arguments in its favor as a good place to
establish certain classes of business: buildings all ready to be
occupied at a nominal cost; help of both sexes and of the best
class, who are anxious to work at a fair compensation; low
rents and cheap living; daily transportation of passengers and
freight to all the business centres of the country ; an abundance
of moral, religious, and educational privileges ; and withal a lo-
cality noted for the healthfulness and mildness of its climate.

To facilitate investigation and give all necessary information,
an association has been formed upon the island to encourage
business enterprises. Any letters of inquiry addressed to them
will be cheerfully and promptly attended to, and every facility
‘afforded to visitors for personal investigation. We are sure
that the inducements we can offer are worthy of careful consid-

ROWING. — SAIL-BOATS. oe

eration, and the expense of an investigation will bear no com-

_ parison to the gain which we are certain will follow.

DANIEL ROUND, President.
Atmon T. Mowry, Secretary.

ROWING.

It is astonishing that in a place like Nantucket, with
water all around her, with a beautiful harbor, and
plenty of room for the sport, so little interest is taken
in aquatics. There is material enough here to fur-
nish some of the finest oarsmen in the world, and yet
among the islanders no interest whatever is exhibited
in the manly and healthful exercise of rowing. It is
to be hoped that at some time, not far distant, a boat

club will be organized, and boats suitable for racing

will be built or imported. At Steamboat Wharf, a
very good row-boat can be secured for twenty cents an
hour. According to a new government regulation,
each boat remaining out after dark is obliged to carry
a lantern. Lovers of rowing will find that a pull to
Brant Point, or Coatue, or to Shimmo shore will give
a reasonable amount of exercise, especially where

_ there are two in the boat and only one uses the oars.

Care should be taken in regard to the tides at Coatue
and Brant Point. Avoid both when the tide is run-
ning out. |

SAIL-BOATS.
See Yachts.
Many persons prefer to manage their own craft, and
a good sail-boat can generally be secured at Perry's
Wharf for those who desire one. These boats are
18

274 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

let by the day or hour. The prices vary from twenty-
five to fifty cents per hour, and from $1.50 to $3.00 per
day, according to the size of the boat. —

SANATORY ADVANTAGES.
See Meteorological.

Nantucket as a sanitarium for many diseases is
unsurpassed by any summer or winter resort in the
country. All the resident physicians (one of whom
has lived here forty years) unite in saying that
during the months of June, July, August, and Sep-
tember, no better place can be found in New England
for consumptives; and at no time are there as many
cases, neither is that dread disease as severe upon the
island in proportion, as upon the main. There is and
can be no malaria. Being entirely surrounded by
water, thirty miles at sea, a gentle breeze in the sum-
mer and a stronger one in winter continually sweeping
over it, which carries off any poisonous gases or
exhalations that might possibly arise, the air of this
island cannot be otherwise than pure, and free from
malaria. Neither are there the extremes of heat and
cold experienced upon the mainland. Rarely does the
temperature in the hottest summer reach ninety de-
grees, and for it to drop below zero in the coldest win-
ters is something to be talked of.

During the summer of 1881, when people in the cities
were sweltering and suffering untold torments from the
terrible heat, the mercury marking in many places
through the country over one hundred degrees, a
‘‘ Kendall”? thermometer which hung in the doorway

SANATORY ADVANTAGES. 275

of the Tourists’ Registry. Agency in Nantucket at no
time registered over eighty-six degrees.

The introduction of pure water into the town has
added greatly to its other advantages as a sanitarium;
for without good water, and plenty of it, all sanitary
rules and regulations are useless. The introduction of
water has doubtless caused a larger influx of visitors;
and Moses Joy, Jr., who by almost herculean efforts
carried the project through, is deserving the thanks of
resident and visitor alike.

Doubtless the wells in the town, previous to the
introduction of the Wannacomet water, furnished
what was quite as good as that of most towns as
thickly settled as Nantucket that are dependent upon
wells for their supply; but as a general thing, thickly
settled localities use what is unfit to put into the stom-
ach, very little care being taken in regard to the loca-
tion of wells as regards cesspools and sink drains.

That Nantucket is a really healthy place is evidenced
by the fact that so many people live to an advanced
age. Within a few years there was a period when up-
wards of one ninth of the population were over seventy

years old.

Charles O’Conor, the eminent lawyer, not only gives
it as his opinion that Nantucket has no equal as a cool
and healthy summer resort, but shows by his acts that
he believes it to be a good winter resort as well, as he
has put up an elegant mansion and decided to make it

_ his permanent home here.

Dr. B. F. Pitman, a resident physician for a number
of years, is of the opinion that during the summer
months there is no better place in the country for

—_ oe) ae ae

276 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

invalids, on account of the purity of the air; that there ©

is and can be no malaria; and that consumptives are
really benefited by a visit to the island.

In a communication to the compiler by the oldest
practising physician on the island, he says: —

‘‘T have practised medicine on the island of Nan-
tucket forty years. The climate is healthy, winter and
summer. Being thirty miles from the continent, it is
surrounded by ocean air, which is tonic and sedative.

Appetite and the inclination to sleep are generally

increased with visitors, whether invalids or not. Ma-
larial diseases have never been known to originate
here. The extremes of heat and cold are from ten to
fifteen degrees less here than in Boston.
“Yours, etc.,
“J. B. Kine, M.D”?

Dr. F. A. Ellis, who has practised medicine here for
twenty years, while heartily indorsing what his brother
professionals assert, adds that the benefit*which invalids
derive here is not temporary, but lasting; and cites
many instances where persons have come to the island
for the benefit of their health, and have not only im-
proved greatly while here, but have continued to gain
long after their return home. ,

Not the least of the island’s sanatory advantages is
the superiority of its sea bathing, generally acknow!-
edged by most physicians to be of great advantage i
the treatment and cure of many diseases. With this,
and with an abundant supply of pure fresh water, cool
breezes during the day, cool nights in which to sleep,
and absence of malaria and mosquitoes, Nantucket is
certainly a desirable place for those seeking health.

4 foc) ¢ an
=i 7 _

ie)

Lea f

Be

SANITARY ADVANTAGES. > oF

Herewith is an extract from the Nantucket Journal

of March 8, 1882, which needs no comment, as it shows

conclusively that the island is really a healthy place: —

The Healthiest Town in New England.— Sharon in
this State has long been celebrated for the longevity of
its inhabitants. The mortality list for last year shows
the ages of the deceased to have been, respectively, 86,
§3, 83, 83, 78, 77, 76, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72, 68, 62, 60, 60, 57,
and 23. Seven infants under seven months of age,

most of them ‘‘farm babies” from Boston, also died

during the year. The average age of all but the seven

' infants was seventy years seven months and nine days,

and only twenty-five persons died out of a population of
over 1,500. Can any other town in New England show
as good a record? — Boston Herald.

Oh, yes; we think we can show as good and even a
better record here in Nantucket. The mortality list
in this town last year shows the ages of the deceased
to have been, respectively, 95, 92, 92, 91, 90, 89, 87, 87,
86, 85, 84, 84, 82, 81, 81, 81, 80, 80, 80, 80, 79, 76, 75,
1A, 74, 73, 73, 73, 73, 73, '73, 72, 72, 71, 71, 70, 70, 70,
69, 68, 68, 67, 67, 67, 66, 66, 64, 62, 61, 60, 60, 60, 60,

59, 57, 52, 52, 48, 44, 41, 40, 40, 37, 36, 25, 25, 16, 1;

under 1, seven.

First, it appears that eighteen of the twenty-five
deaths in Sharon, or seventy-two per cent of the entire
number, averaged seventy years seven months and
nine days. In Nantucket there were seventy-seven
deaths, and any one who will take the pains to figure it
out sill find that the average age of seventy-two per
cent of that number was seventy-three years.

}

278 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Second, eight of the persons deceased in Nantucket
had attained a greater age than the oldest person who
died in Sharon. vo

Third, the population of Sharon is 1,500; that of
Nantucket 3,700 — not quite two and one half times as
large: yet while in Sharon but four persons had
reached the age of eighty, in Nantucket there were
twenty. In Sharon but twelve were over seventy,
while in Nantucket there were thirty-eight. In view
of the above figures, Nantucket declines to ‘‘ knock
under” to Sharon on the score of longevity or health-
fulness.

SANCOTY HEAD,
See Lighthouses,

Otherwise Sankoty, Sankaty, and Sankata, is one of
‘the highest points upon the island, and is situated at
its extreme east end. It is about ninety-five feet high,
and was called by the Indians Naphchecoy, which sig-
nifies ‘‘around the head.” It is about one and one half
miles from ’Sconset, eight miles from town, and upon
it is situated the celebrated lighthouse which bears the
name of the head. From the top of the lighthouse
can be obtained a most superb view of the island and
ocean. Away down its steep side, —if one has a taste
for science, and will borrow a bucket and shovel of the
genial keeper of the lighthouse, — one can dig out a
wonderful variety of shells; for here begins a stratum
which at this place crops out, and probably underlies
the whole island. (See Geology.) This headland is
supposed to have been the first point seen by Gosnold
when he discovered the island.

‘SCHOOLS. oe

SAUL’S HILLS.

Saul’s Hills are situated easterly from the town about
four and a half miles. Macy’s and Folger’s Hills are
the highest of the range or group, the former being.
the highest point of land on the island. Dr. Ewer on
his map gives the height of Macy’s Hill at ninety-
one feet. It is probable they took their name from
*¢ Old Saul, who was a very stern-looking old man, and
one of the most respectable Indians in Wanochma-
mock’s bounds.” The geologist or botanist will be
well repaid if they care to stroll fora day over these
hills. Although the height of Macy’s Hill is given on
Dr. Ewer’s map at ninety-one feet, it is probably
nearer a hundred ; for it is known to be higher than
Sancoty Head, which is certainly over ninety feet.

SCHOOLS.
See Coffin School.

For more than fifty years Nantucket has been noted
for the excellence of her schools. Very many emi-
nent men and women have received their early educa-
tion here, among them lawyers, doctors, clergymen,
and school teachers ; many of the latter are now teach-
ing in some of our large cities. There are to-day
eleven public schools and one private school, with an
average attendance of quite four hundred and fifty
pupils, requiring the services of seventeen teachers.
About $5,000 annually are now expended on the pub-
lic schools of the island, Tuckernuck included; there
being a school at the latter island, also at Maddequet,
Polpis, and ’Sconset.

280 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

SESACHACHA.
See Ponds.

This was once a village of some importance as a
fishing stage, and is easterly from the town some seven
or eight miles. Many years ago the houses were
nearly all removed to ’Sconset and other localities.

Dr. Ewer on his map speaks of it as having been

built about 1700. F. C. Sanford, Esq., says: ‘‘ Early
in this century, say up to 1818, there was quite a vil-
lage just north of Sancoty, called Sesachacha, which
was a great fishing place; but it was abandoned for
’Sconset, and the houses all removed to that or some
other locality. These houses were all no doubt built
from oak or yellow-bark grown upon the island.”

SHAWKEMO AND SHIMMO.

Shawkemo, — or as Zaccheus Macy has it, ** Show
Aucamor,’’ — signifying “ the middle field of land,” and
Shimmo, are tracts of land which make the southeast
side of the harbor. There is nothing particular of
interest connected with this locality, except that at one
time this vicinity was selected as the site of a new
town, and house lots were laid out; but the project of
removing shishet was abandoned.

SHEEP AND SHEARING.

Although one of the things of the past, a book
having anything at all in it in regard to Nantucket
would hardly be complete without a reference to this
at one time great industry of the island, second only
in importance to that of whaling.

SHEEP AND SHEARING. 281

When sheep were allowed to roam over the commons,
the annual shearing was looked forward to by young
and old with as much pleasure, and was as enthusias-
tically celebrated by the islanders, as the great national
holiday of July 4. But alas! those good old days
when Blind Frank and Barney Gould, with their
‘‘ Tew I can’t and tew I ken,’’ fiddled and danced for
the amusement of the people, can never be recalled.
The compiler here drops a tear over those departed
days, but at the same time gives a sigh of satisfac-
tion when he remembers that the annual fleecing is
still carried on, though in a different way.

By reference to the article on agriculture, it will be
seen that one of our most practical farmers believes
that sheep can again be raised here with profit.
From an article furnished the compiler by Mr. Albert
Easton, some interesting facts are gathered in relation
to sheep-raising in former years.

There were at times from seven to ten thousand
sheep suffered to roam over the commons, giving
their owners wool for the manufacture of yarn and
cloth, — which was of course made at home, — and also

_ giving them a little surplus from the sale of extra

wool and muiton. At the proper seasons of the year,
the flocks were gathered at the shear-pens in the
vicinity of Washing and Gibbs Ponds, the eastern and
western flocks being driven to their respective places.
About 1823 or 1824 this system of dividing the sheep,
and having them washed and shorn at places far dis-
tant from each other, was changed, and a track of
“ common and undivided land ”’ consisting of about five
hundred acres was enclosed in the vicinity of Mia-

—_~

282 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

comet Pond. This enclosure was divided for the
accommodation of the two flocks, and this was used
as the regular shear pen until sheep-raising was
abandoned.

After the sheep had been gathered for the shearing,
they were driven through a lane into a circle of per-
haps an acre, on the outside of which was a continua-
tion of pens opening into the circle, where each owner
put his sheep when caught. Within the circle was a
smaller one, where, as the first part of the work, all
the Jambs were put. An officer of the association had
the care of marking all the lambs. The clerk had the
power of appointing deputies, whose duty it was to sit ©
in an elevated position and note every sheep as the
several owners filled their respective pens; after which
a report was made to the clerk, and if the number of
sheep overran the owner's account of commons (see
page 86) in the stock book, he was obliged to slaugh-
ter to his number or obtain of others sufficient com-
mons to keep his flock. But alas! men were found
to be no more honest then than they are to-day. <At
the annual shearing the association gradually forgot
or omitted to take account of stock or commons; and
as a result of this remissness, it was soon fctoanit that
certain individuals owned biwilstile of sheep, and not
one inch of land! As a natural result, the entire
destruction of sheep husbandry followed, and for years
the bleat of lambs was heard no more around the clas-
sic shores of Miacomet.

No care was taken to improve the sheep, and they
were consequently rather small, rarely shearing more
than two pounds each. A few Merinos were intro-

SHERBURNE. 283

duced by private parties, but they did not amount to
much, our climate not suiting them. This was the
only variety that any experiment was made with at
that time.

There are, however, to-day a number of flocks of
sheep upon the island which are superior in every
way to those of earlier times, and are the pride of
their several owners. The Cotswold and Southdowns
have done much to improve our existing flocks, and
much more might be done toward raising in some
degree a partial resemblance to the past. Earnest
and concentrated effort on the part of those interested
in the common and undivided lands would soon bring
about a better state of affairs in the matter of sheep
raising. These lands have for years produced noth-
ing; but with labor, care, and intelligence, a revenue
of many thousands of dollars could be obtained from
them.

SHERBURNE.

This name, spelled indifferently Sherborn, Sharborn,
Sherbourne, Sherbourn, or Sherburn, was applied to
_ the first settlement on the island of Nantucket by Sir
Francis Lovelace in 1673, he then being governor of
the province of New York, under whose jurisdiction the
island at the time was. Wm. C. Folger, Esq., believes
that the town was named “after Sherbourne in Eng-
land, the former home of Thomas Gardner, the father
of Richard and John Gardner.’’ At any rate, the
name of Sherburne is to Nantucket what Manhat-
tan is to New York and Tremont to Boston. An

erroneous impression has prevailed, which has been

284 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

strengthened by Macy’s History, that the name was
given the town after its removal to its present site.
‘¢ Wesco”’ was the name applied to this locality when
the houses were removed from Sherburne. After
their removal to this site, the town retained the name
of Sherburne until it was merged into that of the isl-
and, which event the Hon. Wm. R. Easton informs the
compiler occurred in 1795.

SHERBURNE BLUFFS.

This is a tract of land consisting originally of about
twenty-five acres, directly north from the town a mile
or more. It overlooks the whole bay, and the view is
magnificent. According to manuscripts left by Obed
Macy, author of the History of Nantucket, there was
a grove of heavy white-oak trees growing in this vicin-
ity, which Wm. C. Folger, Esq., says must have been
on the Spaulding-land; this was certainly in the near
locality of Charles O’Conor’s house. Messrs. Charles
O’Conor, A. McGuffy, and others, appreciating the ad-
vantages this locality possesses over many other build-
ing sites upon the island, have here erected elegant
cottages; that of Mr. O’Conor being particularly notice-
able as the steamer enters the harbor. In close prox-
imity to his residence this gentleman has erected a
substantial brick building for his valuable library.

SHIP—BUILDING.

What facts the compiler has been able to collect in
regard to ship-building are rather meagre; but on the
principle that ‘‘ half a loaf is better than no bread,” he
gives them to the public. Wm. H. Macy, Esq., the

SIASCONSET. 285

author of ‘‘ There She Blows; or, The Log of the
Arethusa,’’ kindly furnished the names of the ships
which were built here, and the dates of their con-
struction. an |
Small vessels of thirty or forty tons were built her
in the latter part of the seventeenth or early in the
eighteenth century, for the prosecution of the whale
fishery. The first ship was the ‘ Rose,’’ which was
built on Brant Point about the year 1810; she was
followed by the ‘ Charles Carroll” in 1832, the “* Nan-
tucket ’ and ‘‘ Lexington”’ in 1836, and the ‘‘ Joseph
Starbuck’ in 1838. These were the only ships ever
built at Nantucket, as far as can be ascertained. A
large schooner, however, was afterwards built; but
when, or whether her name was the ‘‘ Nantucket ”’ or
the ‘‘ Philadelphia,” the compiler is unable to tell.
The ‘* Joseph Starbuck’’ was a beautiful ship, and
had made one successful voyage; but when all ready to
proceed to sea on her second, was totally wrecked on
Nantucket bar Noy. 27, 1842, the full particulars of
which are given in Mr. Gardner’s “‘ Wrecks around
Nantucket.’’ Each of the above-named ships had a
history, and a Cooper, Marryatt, or Russell could find
material enough for volumes of startling romance.

SIASCONSET. s

In island parlance, this little fishing village is plain
"Sconset. Mr. Northrop— whose book has been oft
quoted —has made the place famous, but the village
was famous with the Nantucketers themselves years
and years before the genial author of ‘‘ ’Sconset Cot-
tage Life”? was born; for very early in the history of

286 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

the island, the townspeople resorted thither for the
benefit of their health; in fact, "Sconset was Nantuck-
et’s seaside resort. They built there what were then
considered elegant mansions, and it remains to-day the
objective point witlf all young people of both sexes
when planning a ‘*‘ Squantum.”’

The village is seven and one half miles from town, ‘‘as
the crow flies”; has about a hundred dwellings, a school-
house, a grocery, an ice-cream saloon, two hotels, —
the Atlantic and Ocean View, — also private boarding-
houses, and is a clean, cool, healthy, quiet place in
which to get rested after a hard winter’s work. The
houses are built along the brow of a not steep bank,
and there is good surf-bathing. A number of pretty
cottages have been erected by summer residents dur-
ing the past few years; more are in contemplation,
and when the railroad reaches the village (which is
promised this season), it will be more than ever re-
sorted to by islander and stranger alike as a delightful
spot at which to recuperate. The people are honest,
intelligent, and hospitable, gaining a comfortable liv-
ing by farming and fishing.

The compiler is indebted to Rev. Phebe A. Hana-
ford, of Jersey City, a native of ’Sconset, for the fol-
lowing copy of the Laws of ’Sconset, written some
years since by a Rev. Mr. Leonard, who preached at
the North Congregational Church. It will no doubt
be of interest to all who have visited this little village.

A Ballad.

Proposed with a pipe of tobacco as an evening’s
amusement to fishermen,

SIASCONSET. > Dow

To the true republicans of Siasconset, and to all
who wish well to the cause of simplicity and plain
dealing in society, one with another, — which charac-
terized the Golden Age of the ancients, — this humble
tribute is respectfully inscribed by

PHILO SIMPLICITAS.

Wide in the East, on Nancy’s Isle,*
Where wars the wild surf louder,
Ascends to view the happy vill
For freedom famed and choudre. f

Fresh from the wave they take the cod,
To feast the soul that wants it;

Its air is pure, its water good,
Its name is Siasconset.

Old Saturn’s| reign is here begun,
The Orient of the nations;

Here kings and compliments are done,
And all your Boston fashions.

The song, the jest, the smile serene
Amuse the friend that haunts it;
Here old Simplicity is seen
In ancient dress at ’Sconset.

* Alluding to old Gaffer Mayhew’s will, in which the island
of Nantucket was bequeathed to his daughter Anne.

+ A very palatable and wholesome preparation of the fish; a

favorite and simple dish of the place.
3 ¢ The Golden Age of ancient poets, which they prophesied
should come again when the goddess of justice ( Astra) returned
to the earth.

288 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Its pump the lymph oblivious* pours,
To drown despite and treason;

Its purer air at once restores — -
To liberty and reason.{

When erring virtue asks excuse,
’T is free good-nature grants it,
And that which else would be abuse
Is winked by laws of ’Sconset; —

And should your fault incur a grudge,
Our courts} you must attend, sir:

Your speaker ’s conscience; reason, judge;
Your jury is a friend, sir.

This court guards well our dearest rights,
And when the county owns it,

Lawyers will starve with all their wits,
And curse the laws of ’Sconset.

_ * Allusion to the ancient river Lethe, whose waters were said
to make oblivious all things that were past. The well at Siascon-
set is accordingly celebrated for a salubrious quality in its water.
The use of it so corrects the vicious humors of the body that it
really produces in the mind the disposition here suggested.
+ The flux and reflux of the tide operates as a continual venti-
lation to the place. ) . |
¢ The legislature which has favored us with this useful code
of laws is composed of conscience, reason, and philanthropy.
No bribes prevent a strict administration of justice. The happy
era is not far distant in which this court, we hope, will give
laws to the universe. At that time priests and lawyers will be
but “drones of the church and harpies of the state.”

SIASCONSET.. _

Hygeia* here her reign resumes,
The hyp’d and crazy healing;
Restores old wounds, dispels the glooms,
And brings the callous, feeling.

Then let religious maniacs prate,
And on the treaty bounce it;

Here invalids in church and state
Are all made whole at ’Sconset.

The mind with priestcraft long beguiled
May choose with freedom handy,
Good Moses with the spirit filled,
Or Thomas Paine with brandy.t

And thus will I, though pope and sect
With bulls and zeal denounce it;

My reason ’s mine to think and act
Like thee, friend Siasconset!

The souls of once too rude a form
Receive a softer moulding;

Here Jacobins forget to storm,
And wives leave off their scolding.

The wight in town, who swells with pride, }
Or like Clesippus$ vaunts it,

The paltry coxcomb lays aside
And wears the man at ’Sconset.

* The daughter of /Msculapius, and the goddess of health.

+ All sectarian principles are viewed here (like the offal of the
fish) as the refuse of the village. They are all cast down the
bank together.

{ The influence of these laws is quite unfriendly to every
species of nobility, not only at Congress, but also at Nantucket,

§ See Entick’s account of the heathen gods, ete.

290

THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Should party zeal the bosom rile,
’*T is here nor felt nor seen, sir;*

For choudre will correct the bile, -
And dissipate the spleen, sir.

Then when with B—k the wild heart swells,
Some genius bids renounce it;

For no revenge or malice dwells
With thee, O Siasconset!

Now let the fair one share her part,
Sweet village, in thy candor;

Safe to disclose her feeling heart,
Nor fear the scorpion slander.f

Thus the fond maid shall find excuse,
If first she make the onset;

Her soul’s elect her hand may choose
By laws of Siasconset.

Should Polygonst and Catspaws§ ask
My judgment of the vi’lence,

This law I ’]] claim, to wear the mask,
And answer them in silence.

Thrice happy vill, extend thy reign
Till every nation owns it;

Thus shall the world its glory gain
Beneath thy laws, O ’Sconset!

* Such is the common veneration for the municipality of
’Sconset, that all prejudices and animosities among the visitants
are always left within the gate of the town.

| Though these laws in this respect are quite friendly to the

fair sex, yet we would not excite in any lady an expectation

of making more than one half of the marriage contract.
t In mathematics, figures of many sizes.
§ In the fable moralized, tools of party.

SMITH’S POINT. — SOCIETIES. >: 298

SMITH’S POINT.

This point was formerly the extreme west end of the
island of Nantucket; but the sea at various times has

made such inroads upon it that it is now an island

itself. Tradition says that here the Indians from the
Vineyard landed when they paid their Nantucket
brethren a visit, calling it Nopque or Noapx (a landing
place). It is situated about ten miles west from the
town. There is nothing, of course, to attact any one
save the sportsman, who may at times find certain wild
fowl there.

SOCIETIES.
Nantucket Agricultural Society.

_ This society has been in existence about twenty-five
years, and has done much toward increasing an inter-
est in improved methods of farming, and the breeding
of stock. Itis greatly to be regretted that the inter-
est once taken in the society has from some cause
greatly diminished of late years. There are, doubt-
less, many reasons for this. It is probable that one of
the chief causes of lack of interest is, that the annual
fairs are held so early in the season. No agricultural
fair should be held in any part of New England earlier
than October, and on this island the rule applies with
double force. Of late years the annual fair of the
local society has been held immediately after the close
of a long and exciting summer season; and before the
townspeople generally have had time to think of a fair,
it is upon them.

Believing that many varieties of trees, both fruit

292 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

and forest, can be successfully grown here, the com-
piler would respectfully call the earnest attention of
every officer and member of this society to the matter;
for the cultivation of trees is not only a matter of vital
importance to the people of to-day, but for those who
are to come.

The annual fair of this society occurs first week in
September ; the annual meeting occurs first Monday
in October. The officers are: Daniel Round, president;
C. H. Starbuck, treasurer ; J. F. Brown, secretary.

Botany Class.

After a good deal of inquiry, the compiler ascer-
tained that there is a botany class in town, consisting
of about forty members, of which Mrs. Catharine Star-
buck was president. This lady being away from the
island for the winter, and the members of the class
very reticent in the matter, nothing could be ascer-
tained in relation to the doings of the class. This, in
the interests of science, is much to be regretted.

Children’s Aid Society.

The following in relation to this charity was con-
tributed by Mrs. Charlotte C. Pearson: — |

This society was organized June 10, 1869, and its
object is to provide a home for young girls who have
no parents, — or are exposed to such influences as to
make a removal from their parents necessary, — where
such care and attention can be given to their develop-
ment, training, and education as shall fit them to be-
come respectable and useful members of society.
Children taken charge of by this society are provided

SOCIETIES. O98

for at the Home until the age of fourteen, and are then
placed in good families. The greatest number at any
one time in the Home was nine. The society has al-
ways been very successful with those who have been
under its care. The executive committee seek the co-
operation of all benevolent people who are interested
in continuing this good work. The society is now
sadly in need of funds, and its work, consequently,
at the present time, is very limited.

By the payment of one dollar, any person may be-

come a member of the society. Appended is a list of

officers, any one of whom would gratefully receive any
contribution for the cause: Mrs. Catharine Starbuck,
president ; Mrs. Phebe A. Gardner, vice-president ;
Mrs. Mary Folger, vice-president ; Mrs. Charlotte C.
Pearson, secretary ; Miss Sarah B. Brown, treasurer.

Farmers’ Institute.

Organized some two years since for the purpose of a
free interchange of views, and amicable discussion
upon farming and agriculture. The society meets
every Saturday evening during the winter at its room

on Main Street. Rev. Daniel Round, president; Albert

Easton, secretary.

Independent Order of Good Templars.
Isle of the Sea Lodge, I. O. G. T., meets Monday
evenings, at lodge-room on Main Street.

Howard Society.
For facts in relation to this and the Relief Associa-
tion, the compiler is indebted to Mrs. Elizabeth Star-
buck.

294 - THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

During the year 1814, before any of the town schools
had been established, a few young ladies between the
ages of eighteen and twenty, belonging principally to
the society of Friends, feeling the necessity of provid-
ing instruction for the pour children of our town, and
hoping and believing that some plan might be formed
by which it could be effected, met at the house of
Rachel G. Austin to consult upon the matter. This
occurred in the midst of the war with England, at a
period of great poverty and suffering by the mass of
the people upon our island, when many parents were
hardly able to furnish the bare necessaries of life, and
of course they deemed an education of secondary
importance. After serious thought on the matter,
these young ladies determined to open a school them-
selves, each taking her turn as teacher for one month
during the summer; for. they could not afford a fire,
consequently they could hold it only during the warm
season. They were obliged to be limited in the number
of pupils, and commenced with thirty. These chil-
dren were so poorly clad that their enthusiastic young
teachers were obliged to solicit clothing from their more
fortunate neighbors. The benevolent answered the
call, and contributed articles and fragments of any
kind of cloth to cover these poor, destitute little ones;
hence the name of Fragment School. They subse-
quently formed a society to sew, and it was called
the Fragment Society. In the school the children
were instructed in the common branches, and plain
sewing.

This society continued to grow, contributing to the
wants of the poor, from the year 1814 until 1836, when

a

SOCIETIES. 295

it united itself with two other socities, the Universal-
ist Benevolent Society and the Methodist Charita-
ble Society, the united societies calling themselves the
Ladies’ Howard Society, and numbering one hundred
and seventy-nine members. -It will thus be seen that
the Ladies’ Howard Society has been in actual exist-
ence for a period of sixty-eight years. It now num-
bers only sixty-six members, owing to the decrease in
our population. In 1856, having received from one of
our citizens a legacy of a house and land, it was incor-
porated. Contributions of money have from time to
time been bestowed upon it by many interested citizens,
all of which have been most gratefully received and
judiciously used. The great good which the society
has accomplished cannot be realized: only grateful
recipients can say, and the blessings of many departed
souls must rest upon it. The following is a list of the
officers: Mrs. George Starbuck, president; Mrs. Joseph
Mitchell, vice-president; Mrs. Emma Brayton, second
vice-president; Mrs. Ann M. Coffin, secretary; Miss
Phebe Ann West, treasurer.

Knights of Honor.

Island Home Lodge, K. of H., No. 2,486, was insti-
tuted June 14, 1881.

The lodge meets the first and third Thursday even-
ing in each month, in the lodge building on Main
Street. It has a membership of twenty-four, which is
gradually increasing, and is in a good condition.

Masonic.

Isle of the Sea Royal Arch Chapter. Regular meet-
ing, second Monday of each month.

296 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Union Lodge, F. and A. M. Chartered 1771. Regu-
lar meeting, first Monday in each month.

With the exception of the anti-masonic days, this
order has always been in a very flourishing condition,
financially and otherwise. In 1871 the Union Lodge
celebrated its centennial, and a grand one it was too,
a number of commanderies of Knights Templar and
subordinate lodges from abroad taking part in the cere-
monies; one of the most noticeable features being the
holding of a ‘‘ lodge of sorrow ’’ for departed brethren.

Mission School.

In 1859, Miss Ann Morselander and Mrs. Marianna
Harper conceived the idea that a good work could be
done among the very poor children of the town if these
little ones could be made presentable and be induced
to attend Sunday school. - These ladies commenced in
Miss Morselander’s porch with three scholars. They
labored for a year, the number continually increasing,
and in 1860 had twenty-three scholars, when they
hired aroom. Their success was then assured. They
continued to prosper until 1866, when the present
building was purchased, the money being raised by
subscription.

In addition to the children’s school, regular prayer
meetings for adults were established, and have been
sustained for many years.

Regular Sunday services are now held in this build-
ing, which is on Orange Street, in the south part of
the town. The attention of the charitably disposed is
called to this mission, as it has doubtless done a good
work. Miss Ann Morselander, the devout Christian

SOCIETIES. 297

woman in whose porch the first children were gathered,

gtill remains with the mission. To her it has been a

life work. Deprived by one of those mysterious dis-
pensations of Providence entirely of her eyesight, she
spends a great part of her time for the good of others.
Although to this noble Christian woman the world is

‘dark, yet within she is cheered by the bright light of

hope and of love for God’s creatures, and many a one
has had occasion to bless her.

Odd Fellows.

This order appears to have met with considerable
favor upon the island, and now numbers nearly or
quite one hundred brothers. They are the proprie-
tors of what is doubtless one of the most valuable
pieces of property in the town, which is known as
Odd Fellows’ Block. This block is on Centre Street,
and contains a number of large stores, as well as their
lodge room, which is known as Sherburne Hall, and is
used also by the Masonic fraternity.

Nantucket Lodge, No. 66, meets Tuesday evenings.

Wanackmamack Encampment, No. 16, meets Thurs-
day evenings.

Daughters of Rebekah.
John M. Winslow, N. G.; Sarah S. Veeder, V. G.

The Relief Association.

This society was formed for the benefit of respecta-
ble elderly persons and invalids, in order to prevent
their being compelled to go to the almshouse, by as-
sisting their own families and friends to care for them.

298 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

It was organized Feb. 25, 1873, and commenced with
very small means; but by steady perseverance, and
with the assistance of many friends, it has helped make
a large number of aged people and invalids in some de-
gree comfortable. It numbers one hundred and seven-
teen members, and has been the recipient of funds
from many noble hearts, to carry out the work of this
most laudable, Christian enterprise, and it is hoped
that more means will be furnished by the wealthy. to
enable it to increase and enlarge its sphere of useful-
ness. Appended is a list of the officers: Mrs. Geo.
Starbuck, president; Mrs. Joseph Winslow, first vice-
president; Mrs. Charlotte C. Pearson, second vice-presi-
dent; Mrs. Edward W. Perry, treasurer; Mrs. Olive B.
Meader, secretary.

Sherburne Lyceum.

This society is, as its name indicates, a literary one.
It was organized in 1877, with about thirty mambers.
During the winter months, regular fortnightly meet-
ings are held Monday evenings in Wendell’s Hall,
when debates, essays, and readings are in order. It
now numbers about one hundred and fifty members.
At the last election of officers, Dr. Arthur E. Jenks
was chosen as president, and Mrs. Mary W. Vaientine
secretary.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The Massachusetts society with the long name, but
which doubtless does a deal of good, has an agent here
in the person of George E. Mooers, Main Street.

SOCIETIES. 299

Nantucket Union Temperance Society.

This society was formed in 1876, on the principles of
total abstinence from all that intoxicates. It boasted
at one time of a membership of over one thousand.
Weekly meetings have been held, and at times semi-
weekly and tri-weekly. Their meetings are held at the
town hall on Wednesday evenings, when a variety pro-
gramme is generally presented for the amusement of
the public. These programmes are in charge of a
committee of several members of the society, who
alternate in arranging them for successive weekly meet-
ings, and each tries to outdo the rest. To an outsider,
more attention appears to be given to pleasing the peo-
ple with fine music and reading than the more serious
subject of getting the poor drunkard on his feet and
keeping him there. Nobody now asks after temperance
meeting, ‘‘ Who signed the pledge?’”’ but “* Who had
the programme?”

The officers of the society are Allen Coffin, presi-
dent; John Gray, secretary; Mrs. Mary F. Coffin,
treasurer.

Union Benevolent Society.

Mrs. Joseph Winslow has kindly furnished the fol-
lowing in relation to this worthy charity: —

The Union Benevolent Society has been in existence
sixteen years, and was formed for the sole purpose of
assisting children, and making them presentable at
week-day and Sunday schools. The society is com-
posed of forty lady members, who represent all of the
religious denominations upon the island, and have had

300 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

for some time past the children of twenty-one families
under their immediate care. The officers are Mrs.
Joseph Winslow, president; Mrs. Charles Mooers, vice-
president; Mrs. 8. A. Coffin, secretary and treasurer.

Women’s Christian Temperance Union.

Mrs. Mary W. Valentine has kindly furnished the
following in relation to this association: —

The Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Nan-
tucket was organized Sept. 28, 1880, as an auxiliary to
the State society; its object bain to inaugurate effec-
tive measures whereby the traffic in intoxicants shall
be banished from the community. The society is
formed on the principle that nothing can be accom-
plished without divine assistance. The regular meet-
ings of the organization are held on the afternoon of
every other Tuesday, in North Hall. Once a montha
prayer meeting is held at one of the churches, in which
all unite.

Its membership is seventy, and the officers are: Mrs.
Sarah Ann Coffin, president; Mrs. Maria T. Swain,
first vice-president; Mrs. E. G. M. Barney, second
vice-president; Mrs. Mary W. Valentine, secretary ;
Miss Lydia B. Gardner, treasurer.

SQUAM.

This is a tract of land at the northeast part of the
island, once within the boundaries of Sachem Wauwi-
net. The celebrated ‘* Eat Fire Spring,’’ made famous
in the novel ‘‘ Miriam Coffin,” is located in Squam.

Wm. C. Folger, Esq., says that in the manuscript left
by Obed Macy (author of ‘‘ History of Nantucket’),

SQUANTUMS. — STEAMBOATING. 301

‘he speaks of Squam as being covered for a great part

with wood at the time of the first Wiliam Bunker,

when the marauding French robbed his house and
obliged him to pilot their vessel around the shoals ind
Great Point, as far as Tarpaulin Cove, but gives
no date. It was probably between 1690 and 1700.
William Bunker died in 1712.”

SQUANTUMS.

This is doubtless an Indian word; but whether used
by them as it is used to-day is uncertain. In Nan-
tucket parlance Squantum. means a clam-bake, picnic,
or good time generally, out of town. To visit Nan-
tucket and not ‘‘ go on a Squantum’”’ would be just as
culpable on the part of the visitor as for a Harvard
student to go over to Boston and neglect to call at
{Parker’s.’?

STEAMBOATING.

It is a noticeable fact that two of the greatest neces-
sities of modern times, steamboats and newspapers,
steam and journalism, made their advent at Nantucket
the same year.

In 1516 the little steamer ‘‘ Eagle’’ commenced
making trips between this port and New Bedford. —
She brought into the harbor the ship ‘*‘ George,” the
first Nantucket whale ship ever towed by steam.

The ‘‘ Eagle” was followed by the ‘‘ Hamilton,”’ and
she in her turn by the ‘“* Marco Bozzaris,’’ the latter
being sent here about the year 1829 by the celebrated
Jacob Barker.

302 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

The ‘‘ Marco Bozzaris’’ was commanded by Capt.
E. H. Barker, a nephew of Jacob Barker; and a gentle-
man who was the only passenger on the steamer dur-
ing her first trip to New Bedford from this port stated
to the compiler that in attempting to enter New Bed-
ford Harbor, Capt. Barker ran the steamer upon some
rocks, and was so chagrined at his mishap that he
begged his passenger and also his crew not to men-
tion the circumstance, which they conscientiously re-
frained from doing until the captain himself told the
story. |

The *“ Marco Bozzaris’’ was followed successively
by the ‘‘ Telegraph,” ‘‘ Massachusetts,” ‘ Island
Home,” “‘ Eagle’s Wing,’ and “ River Queen.”’

In 1875 two of our most skilful young mechanics,
Wm. F. Codd and Wm. M. Robinson, —the latter
died in 1879, only twenty-six years of age, — conceived
the idea of building a little excursion steamer. They
succeeded admirably in their undertaking, and the lit-
tle propeller ‘“‘ Island Belle,’’ which has for several
years made regular trips to Wauwinet, was the result
of their united labors. She is beautifully modelled, is
thirty-six feet long, and can carry safely sixty passen-
gers. She has an upright engine of eight horse-power,
and was designed and built entirely by these two young
men, who are deserving of great credit.

Previous to the building of the ‘ Island Home,”’ the
‘¢ Massachusetts *? had been withdrawn from the New
Bedford route and placed on the Hyannis route, at
which place connection was made with the Cape Cod
Railroad.

In 1855 the old ‘‘ Massachusetts’ was withdrawn

STEAMBOATING. §0a

entirely, and the fine new steamer “ Island Home”?
put in her place.

That year or the succeeding one an opposition boat,
the ‘‘ Eagle’s Wing,’’ was placed upon the old route
to New Bedford. She was not a success financially,
and was withdrawn the next season. She was after-
ward entirely destroyed by fire on the Providence
River, off Pawtuxet.

Early in 1872 the Old Colony and Cape Cod Rail-
roads were consolidated, and in 1874 the Old Colony
Company obtained a controlling interest in the Nan-
tucket and Cape Cod Steamboat Company. The
“ River Queen ’’ was purchased that year, and with
the “Island Home” was placed upon the route be-
tween Nantucket, Oak Bluffs, Wood’s Holl, and New »
Bedford.

It was on board the ‘*‘ River Queen”’ that the cele-
brated conference between the lamented Lincoln and
the Vice-President of the Southern Confederacy, A. H.
Stephens, took place. A room on the upper deck is
still shown as the one in which the conference was
held.

The putting of two boats upon this route gave to
the island two boats and two mails a day during the
summer season; and the honor of bringing about this
state of affairs belongs in a great degree to the cour-
teous and efficient agent of the steamboat company,
Mr. Joseph S. Barney.

Since the building of the ‘‘ Island Home,”’ she has
been to Nantucket what the old frigate ‘* Constitu-
tion’’ was to the United States. For more than a
quarter of a century, with Nathan Manter as her com-

804 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

mander, she has braved storm and sea, and to-day
remains stanch and strong, a credit to her designers
and builders, and the pride of Nantucket, not because
of her beauty ar 1 swiftness, but because she is good
and true. As a proof of the seaworthiness of this
steamer and of the bravery of her captain and crew,
the following from the Inquirer and Mirror extra of
Feb. 5, 1882, is here inserted: —

A TERRIBLE Nieut. — The “ Island Home” rides
out the Storm under Tuckernuck, and reaches the Dock

at10 A. M. Sunday. The Night's Experiences related

by those on Board. — The storm which burst upon us
about 2 Pp. M. Saturday afternoon proved one of the
most severe that has been known here for years.
From early morning the sky had looked threatening,
but at the above hour a fine snow commenced to fall,
and the wind breezed gradually, until at nightfall
there was a small gale blowing from the eastward,
which hurled the snow in blinding eddies. <As night
advanced the storm grew more and more severe, and
before midnight the storm was of such violence as to
cause strong buildings to tremble, sending a peculiar
thrill through one’s veins. At 5 A. M. the wind
reached its greatest fury, drifting the snow into huge
drifts and hurling it about in clouds.

When the hour for the steamer’s arrival had come.

and gone, Saturday afternoon, with no tidings from
her, it was generally believed that the storm had com-
menced to the leeward first, and that Capt. Manter
had not put out. There were a few, however, who
held an opposite view, and anxiously awaited the
breaking of day and a cessation of the snow, that they

STEAMBOATING. 805

might scan the northern shores of the island and
ascertain what the fate of the ‘Island Home” had
been, if there was sufficient of her left to tell the tale.
It has proved that these few were correct as far forth
as ‘the subsequent facts will prove, which have been
gleaned from the oflicers and passengers.

Shortly before ten o’clock Sunday, a few men on
the street were startled by the word that the steamer
was on the bar, broadside on, and the word passed
rapidly from mouth to mouth. Every step was turned
toward the wharf, and one of the wrecking boats
quickly run down to Brant Point, and before the
crew had an opportunity to lift her from the truck,
-the wind performed the task for them, overturning
the entire gear. The boat was launched in charge of
Capt. John M. Winslow, but the services of the crew
were fortunately not needed. The steamer in the
mean time was eagerly watched as she backed and
filled on the bar, until she drifted, broadside to the
gale, into the harbor, when the anxious countenances
assumed a more cheerful expression.

In the harbor the management of the boat was such
as to elicit the warmest praise for Capt. Manter. Un-
able to get her round to mind her helm before the gale,
he ran in close to Brant Point with a view of catching
her bow upon the sand, and allowing her stern to
Swing, when a favorable gust caught her and allowed
the rudder to perform its duty, when she was headed

in and brought prettily to the end of the dock, where
- willing hands caught the heaving lines and drew the
hawsers ashore, making them fast; and after some —

minutes in backing and filling, and with the aid of the
20

306 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

wrecking boat which brought ashore a stern line, the
faithful boat was soon safely moored, when a lusty
three cheers went up from those on the wharf.

The appearance of the boat foretold her experience
during the night; for some twenty feet of the gangway
had been stoven in, and the decks were a mass of ice.
The few passengers on board, or rather the male por-.
tion of them, were gathered near the gap, some pale
and wearied from the effects of sea-sickness and a night
of anxious watchfulness; and when the plank had
been put out, they quickly availed themselves of it to
reach terra firma, expressing freely their gratification
of that opportunity. The crowd upon the wharf
quickly boarded the boat on a tour of investigation,
and it required but a very few minutes for one and all
to understand something of the experience the vessel
had passed through. . . «

Capt. Manter’s Story.

We were detained at Wood’s Holl until nearly half
past one waiting for the other boat, and then put out.
When nearly up to Cape Poge we had fine snow.
The weather was moderate and the wind east-north-
east, and I did not anticipate anything serious. We
made all our buoys, but after leaving Tuckernuck
shoal buoy the snow increased, and we were unable to
see ten feet ahead. Ran out our time to the bar, but
could not see the buoy; then tracked the bar to the
eastward about twenty minutes, but still no buoy;
came about and ran twenty minutes to the westward
with like result; and as night was coming on and the
wind increased to a strong breeze, decided to anchor,

STEAMBOATING. SOF

putting out the small. anchor with fifteen fathoms
chain, but found we were dragging, and increased the
chain to forty fathoms. The night was terrible, and
we were finally obliged to put out our large anchor.

At 5 o’clock this morning the wind blew the strong-
est, and as I made my way along the upper deck, it
seemed as if the hurricane deck must blow off. We
ripped open sacks of grain to get the bags to wrap
about the hawser to prevent its chafing. The boat
rode like a duck, though, and when it lighted up
toward morning, made land close to us, which we
took to be the Cliff, until later on we found we were
close upon Tuckernuck, and could see the hotel. I
realized the precarious situation, but when the tide had
fallen and we began to strike bottom, knew that some-
thing must be done and that quickly, and decided to
beach her on the island. Buoyed the large anchor and
slipped the cable, then cut the hawser, when the wind
favored us, and headed us so we could run for the
bar. Our cook, William Orpin, knows every inch of
the ground up that way, and he brought her through
the slues among the Swile Islands into five fathoms of
water, when we put for the bar.

The seas were terrific, and swept clean across the
bow, running aft; and Mr. Bucknam, the engineer,
was at times almost ankle deep in water in his engine-
room. The old boat rolled fearfully, and when we
reached the outer bar, lying in the trough of the sea, a
wave towering above the hurricane deck struck her as
she rose upon it, knocking that hole in the side and
sweeping through to the outer saloon. I wouldn’t
have given two cents at the time for the boat and all

308 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

on board; but we have passed safely through it, with
all hands safe, but slight damage to the boat, and with
anchors gone which can be recovered. It was as much
worse than being in the ice as you can imagine, and
was one of the wildest times I have known in my
many years’ life on the ocean. We backed and filled
across the bar, and the rest you have seen. I forgot to
say that the wheel-rope broke once, but we managed
with some difficulty to get it repaired.

That some of the passengers on board the steamer
during that eventful night appreciated the stanchness
of the boat, and the bravery of her captain and crew,
is evidenced by the fact that R. Gardner Chase, Esq.,
and wife, who were on board, presented to the captain
and crew a check for $500 to be properly divided, as
an earnest of their good feeling and thankfulness.

Had there been a fog siren or bell at Brant Point
this affair would never have occurred; for during the
time they were ‘‘ running their time out to the bar”
some one on the steamer would have heard the signal,
and Capt. Manter would have known where he was.

It is obligatory on the government to place immedi-
ately at Brant Point some kind of a fog signal, and
when the jetty is finished it should be removed to that
locality.

So far as the compiler has been able to ascertain,
the before-named steamers are all that have ever been
engaged regularly in carrying freight or passengers to
and from Nantucket, with the exception of the ‘‘ Jersey
Blue,’’ a small propeller, which made about the year
1855 (?) a few trips between this port and New York.

STORES. — STREETS. — 6809

STORES.

The stores of the town are very numerous, and to a
stranger it is a wonder how so many of them are sup-
ported. There are about twenty groceries alone in the
place. The greater part of these stores are upon Main
and Centre Streets. They are large and have gener-
ally well-selected stocks, at prices that compare very
favorably with other places as far removed from bases
ofsupply. There are two large apothecaries, numerous
ice-cream saloons (all in dwellings), two restaurants,
four boot and shoe stores, milliners, dressmakers, bak-
eries, book, and dry-goods stores, confectioners where
the finest grades of candies are sold; and in fact, one
can generally get all one needs for comfort.

STREETS.

The map which accompanies this article was drawn
expressly for this book by Mr. William F. Codd, from
designs by the compiler, and will be found to be of
great value to the visitor.

With the exception of Broad and Federal and parts
of Main and Centre, the streets of the town are nar-
row and crooked; a number of them are paved with
that. most excruciating of all torments for man or
beast, the cobble-stone. Very little time or money is
expended on them. Some have brick or concrete
sidewalks. The name of no “boulevard” has as yet
transpired; but there are two avenues, and quite a
number of lanes and courts. The buildings not be-
ing numbered, resident and visitor alike are caused a
deal of annoyance and trouble. <A few years since, the

810 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

town fathers, with an enterprise that was very com-
mendable, caused the name of every street to be
placed in a conspicuous position upon each street
corner. If the authorities desire the lasting gratitude
of visitors as well as residents, they should continue
the work so well begun, by adding to the naming
of the streets the numbering of the dwellings and
stores.

It is a very singular fact that there is no official ust
of the streets of the town. The list which follows was
kindly furnished the compiler by Mr. G. K. Long,
who painted the street signs, and is believed to be
correct enough for all practical purposes: —

Ash, Ash Lane, Academy Avenue, Angola, Atlan-
tic Apevia Allen’s Court, Broad, Bloom, Beaver,

Back, Bear, Brock’s Gute Candie Chester, Chest- —

nut, Cambridge, Copper, Charter, Coon, Cherry, Cof-
fin, Darling, Dover, Easton, East Chestnut, Eldridge,
Eagle Lane, Federal, Farmer, Fish Lane, Fayette,
Flora, Gay, Gardner, Green, Gardner’s Court, Gor-
ham’s Court, Hussey, Hiller’s Lane, Howard, High,
Jefferson, Lily, Liberty, Lyons, Main, Milk, Mill,
Martin’s Lane, Mulberry, New Lane, North Bebed!
North Water, N orth Liberty, New Mill, New Dollar
Lane, New, Orange, Oak, Parker, Pearl, Pine, Pleas
ant, Plumb Lane, Quince, Rose Lane, Ray’ Court,
Spring, Salem, Salon, South Water, Sea, Step Lane,
South Square, Swain’s Court, Saratoga, Summer, South
Mill, School, Stone Alley, Silver, Union, Vestal, Wash-
ington, Whale, West Centre, West Liberty, Walnut,
Winter, Westminster, Weymouth, West Dover, War-
ren, Williams Lane, York.

ee

SUNSET HEIGHTS. — SURFSIDE. | Ba

SUNSET HEIGHTs.

These heights are merely a continuation of ’Sconset
Bank, and are at the west end of the village of Sias-
conset, about eight miles from town. Overlooking as
they do the broad Atlantic, that with its everlasting
thunder beats and throbs upon the beach below, the
view from these heights is superb. Standing here,
one can see the ‘‘rips’”’ in the distance, over which
break the angry waves, lashed into foam by storm;
the ocean steamers which pass and repass; the putting
into the surf of the many fishing boats, and the excite-
ment attendant upon their return; the hundreds of
bathers sporting with the waves; myriads of sea-birds
skimming over the sea, and now and then a school of
porpoises rolling sluggishly out of the water.

Lying prone upon the grass at Sunset Heights of a
hot summer’s day, gazing dreamily at the azure vault
above, or out upon the darker blue of the ocean, —
your cheek fanned by the refreshing breeze, — a sense
of rest and peace steals over you, and you drop to
sleep lulled by the soothing murmur of the sea, that
comes mellowed by distance to your ears.

If one wants a ‘‘ cottage by the sea’”’ and quiet, this
is pre-eminently the place at which to build. There are
a number of fine cottages here, and there is yet room
formore. The whole tract consists of about thirteen
acres, and is the property of Dr. F. A. Ellis and C. H.

Robinson.
: SURFSIDE.

This locality has of late come into some notoriety,
from the fact that here is the terminus of the Nan-

$12 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

tucket Railroad. It is about three and one half miles.

from town. Cool and refreshing breezes are always
blowing here, and an unobstructed view of the ocean
can be obtained. A depot and restaurant have been
erected, and the railroad company contemplate build-
ing a hotel at no distant day. A few hundred feet
from the depot is the United States Life Saving
Station. The tract covers about four miles of the
shore, is uniformly high and level land, is well
grassed over, many varieties of wild flowers are to
be found in the vicinity, and it is well adapted for
building sites.

SWAIN’S NECK.

Swain’s Neck or Nashayte (‘‘ the neck ’’) makes into

Polpis Harbor. F. C. Sanford, Esq., who has a farm
here, says, ‘‘ Old Spotsa covered Swain’s Neck with
shells a foot deep, that are visible in places every
time the land is ploughed.” It is possible Mr. San-
ford may be mistaken in regard to these shells hav-
ing been deposited at this point by the hand of man.
It seems probable that this mass of shells is only
a part of the immense stratum which underlies the
whole island (page 33), and which at this spot trends
nearer the surface. The compiler believes that if
some geologist will make an examination here, many
facts of interest might be ascertained. By examining
the deed of Thomas Mayhew to the purchasers of the
island (page 164), it will be seen that at the time he
made the sale he was uncertain whether he should
reserve for himself Nashayte or Masquctuck, but as
history shows, decided upon the latter; and yet, after

TERAMSTERS. — TELEGRAPHIC FACILITIES. 813

a careful perusal of the original deed of Mayhew to
ten purchasers and an examjnation of the map, it
would seem that somehow or other Masquetuck and
Nashayte had changed places or rather names (ancther
Bunker Hill affair).

TEAMSTERS.

Whenever the services of tcamsters or carmen are
required, they can generally be found in the vicinity
of Main Street, or upon the arrival of the steamers
at Steamboat Wharf. The regular prices charged are
as follows: for taking a trunk to any part of the town,
twenty-five cents; a ton of coal, fifty cents; for a box
weighing not over one hundred pounds, from the
steamboat landing to any place of business, fifteen
cents. Appended is a list of teamsters: —

John S. Appleton, Hiram Reed. Thos. R. Coffin,
Frederick Crocker, Henry Crocker, Charles Crocker,

Wm. C. Mooers, Henry Mooers, James McCleave,

Sidney Thurston, Samuel Thurston, Richard Thurston.

TELEGRAPHIC FACILITIES.

Considering the fact that there is as yet no cable be-
tween the island and the main, very fair facilities are
afforded for the transmission of telegraphic messages:
In 1879 the Western Union Telegraph Company ap-
pointed Mr. C. C. Crosby their agent here to receive
messages and forward them on the steamers that left
twice a day for Oak Bluffs, where there was a cable

which connected with the mainland, so that the only

time actually lost in the sending of messages was that

$14 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

which elapsed between the hours of the steamers’ de-
parture and their arrival at Oak Bluffs.

In 1855 an attempt was made to connect Nantucket
by cable with the mainland. A cable was laid from
Great Point, Nantucket, to Monomoy Point, Cape
Cod; but it proved a failure. This cable was subse-
quently taken up and laid from Madaket to Tucker-
nuck, thence to Martha’s Vineyard; but the cable in
this locality worked no better than it did in the other,
In 1857 Mr. 8S. C. Bishop, a gutta-percha manufacturer
of New York, took the matter in hand, and after sev-
eral years of useless and ineffectual labor the enter-
prise was finally abandoned. A number of messages
were actually transmitted over Mr. Bishop’s cable.

The telegraph office was in the building now belonging
to Lieut.-Commander T. M. Gardner, U.S. Navy, on the
corner of Main and Orange Streets, and two insulators
are still to be seen on the building directly opposite.
The science of telegraphy has made such rapid strides
during the last quarter of a century that it is believed a
cable can now be successfully laid to connect Nantucket
with the continent. Earnest efforts are being put
forth by some of our most influential citizens to in-
duce the general government to interest itself in the
matter. It is sincerely hoped that it can be made
to appreciate the need of a signal station here, and be
influenced to take the matter in hand. ‘Lhe establish-
ment of a signal station of course necessitates the lay-
ing of a cable; and when that is done, and the jetty
completed, the visitor and resident will not only be
accommodated, but commerce will be greatly bene-
fited. |

TOM “NEVER'S HEAD. 7 815

After the above was written, the following item
appeared in the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror of Dec.
24, 188L: —

‘¢ Telegraphic. — A private letter from Hon. W. W.
Crapo, received in town a few days since, states that
Lieut. Swift, who recently made a survey here, has
recommended to the War Department an appropria-
tion of $32,000 for establishing telegraphic communi-
cation between Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.”’

This seems to mean business.

Tom NEVER’S HEAD.

This bluff is situated about six miles southeast of
the town. Mr. Northrop, in his ‘‘’Sconset Cottage
Life,’’? has so beautifully described his ‘‘ lonely even-
ing tramp ’’ to this spot, and has given so realistic a
picture of it, that an extract from his book is here
given: —

‘¢ Pausing here awhile to gather in all the glamour
and romance of the scene, at an hour when one’s
fancy paints the most common things with rarest
shades and hues, I climbed the hill and stood on the
brink of the lofty height of the bluff, —the ‘ Head’!
Here, on the right the ocean sweeps away to the west-
ward, and on the left to the north, — the ocean, vast,
tragic, eternal; the ocean, rolling its mysterious tides
around the world, and sweeping all shores. The
moon struggled up through the waves, and poured the
glory of its beams over the dark and heaving sea. All
the crests of the grandly rolling billows gleamed. The
enashing teeth, gnawing at the beach far below, flashed
in the cold light. Dimly I discerned the stranded hulk

816 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKEY.

of a vessel that came ashore in a storm years ago, and
is now half embedded in the sand, — its oaken ribs re-
sisting the tooth of time and the beating of the waves.
The wind soughed and sighed, and in its weird dialect
seemed to tell the story of wreck and disaster in the
great world of waters before and around me. Winds
that might have come from sunny Spain or the gold
coast, winds that swept the rocky heights of historic
St. Helena, winds from the Canaries,—they might
have come from anywhere in this world toward which
my face was turned. And with all this, through all
my emotions, like the grand undertone of the organ,
came the ceaseless, painfully regular roar of the break-
ers, sounding out the seconds of this manifest eternity
before me, beating the heart-throbs of this living thing,
this sentient being, — the ocean.

‘¢T turned away from the-scene that I can never for-
ect, and realized almost for the first moment that I
was alone with all this gloomy grandeur. There, be-
hind me, stood the life-saving station, suggestive of
wreck and tragedy, — suggestive, too, of the strong
feeling of kinship there is, after all, among men. Je-
yond were the sad, still moors, and below a vast field
of dark verdure, — Tom Never’s Swamp, — all ideal-
ized under the rays of the moon, touched by the magic
of the night.’ - |

Tom Never’s Head is about sixty-five feet above sea
level, is on the proposed route of the railroad to ’Scon-
set, and a visit to it will well repay those who love to
look on Nature in her grandest moods. George How-
land Folger, Esq., in his poem ‘* Musings,” has also a
good word to say of Tom Never’s.

TOURISTS’ GENERAL REGISTRY AGENCY.. 317

TOURISTS’ GENERAL REGISTRY AGENCY.

Nantucket had grown so rapidly in favor as a
summer resort, and the hotels and boarding houses had
multiplied so fast, that a great deal of vexatious delay
and inconvenience was experienced by visitors, who
were desirous of securing at the earliest possible
moment their telegrams and express packages, and
intelligence of the whereabouts of their friends who
were known to be upon the island. Appreciating the
wants of the travelling public, the proprietor of one of
the largest boarding houses in town suggested to Mr.
E. K. Godfrey, in 1880, the necessity of a place where
all visitors to the island could register their names, and
thus avoid the trouble which had before been expe-
rienced. Accepting the suggestion, Mr. Godfrey
opened in July of that year the Tourists’ General
Registry Agency, for the accommodation of summer
visitors. The agency is in reality a directory, reading-
room, and bureau of gencral information combined.
By the payment of a small fee for registering, visitors
are not only certain of receiving their telegrams and
express packages promptly, but have free access to the
reading-room at all times (Sundays included), are sup-
plied free of cost with writing material, and can have
all questions relating to the island answered in a cour-
teous manner. The agency has been found to be of
great advantage also to those who desire their mail
matter directed to its care, thus securing it sooner and
avoiding the confusion liable to arise from a similarity
of names. The agency also forwards to its patrons all
letters directed to them arriving or remaining in the

318 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

post-office after their departure, that would otherwise be
sent to the Dead-Letter Office.

Soon after the opening of the agency (in August,
1880) a Washington gentleman suggested to the man-
ager the feasibility or a plan for securing houses, rooms,
and board for those of its patrons who were desirous of
coming to the island the succeeding season, thus say-
ing themselves a great amount of trouble and annoy-

ance. ‘rhe plan, being an eminently practicable one, .

was immediately adopted by the manager; and although
it was afterward borrowed (?) by others, yet to Mr.
E. K. Godfrey belongs the credit of the first plan for
the securing of rooms and board by means of an
agency at Nantucket, all assertions to the contrary
notwithstanding.

This method of securing rooms and board for the

patrons of the agency met with favor, and adds another
to its many advantages. The witty Burdette of the
Hawkeye, the genial author of ‘‘ Rosecroft,’’ and the
kindly writer of ‘‘ ’Sconset Cottage Life ”’ all speak in
flattering terms of the agency, and all the hotels and
boarding houses of the island indorse it. No visitor
to the island should neglect registering. |

Open from 6 A. M. to 10 Pp. M. week days, and 10.30
A.M. to 3 Pp. M. Sundays. E. K. Godfrey, manager,
corner Main and Orange Streets.

THE TOWER.

After the great water tank, probably the first that is

seen of Nantucket, approaching it from the westward,
is the gilded dome of the Tower that flashes in the
summer sunlight.

TOWN MEETINGS. 319

Every one who comes to the island should visit this
tower. Unlike its illustrious namesake, the Tower of
London, it is simply the steeple of the Unitarian
Church on Orange Street. Here hangs the old Spanish
bell; here Billy Clark holds high revel; here watchmen
keep their midnight vigils, and tell us what of the
night; here can be had the most delightful view of the
whole island and its surroundings; here also is the
new town clock,

It is about one hundred and ten feet from the
base of the tower to its top; from the level of the sea
to the lookout, a little less than one hundred and
twenty feet; and to its top, one hundred and forty-four
feet. Although no admission fee is charged, it is cus-
tomary for those visiting the tower to present the per-
son in charge, a trifling compensation. For a fuller
account of the tower the reader is referred to the arti-
cles on Town Clock and Churches.

TOWN MEETING.

The annual town meetings are held in February
(third Monday), at the Town Hall on Orange Street.
The last one commenced Feb. 20, and nearly four days
were consumed in discussing various questions, among
them that of appropriations involving the expenditure
of the enormous sum of $23,000, which amount it was —
voted to raise by taxation for the present year. Three
very important questions were settled by the voters:
one was whether the town should accept the offer of
thirty hydrants from the Wannacomet Water Com-
pany for use in case of fire, at a certain rate per
annum; another, whether the town would petition the

320 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Legislature to grant female suffrage; and the other,
whether the town would grant liquor licenses this year.
‘‘ Water straight”? was the verdict in the last case;
that is to say, it was voted to use a certain number of
hydrants for fire purposes for ten years, and it was
also voted to grant no licenses for the sale of liquors,
It was voted without a dissenting voice that the town
petition for woman suffrage.

Three classes of people were thus made very happy:
the first, those who believed in water and plenty of it
for fites and dirt; thesecond, the teetotalers, who
smiled when the moderator announced, Yes, 106, No,
196! and the ‘‘ woman’s-righters,’’ who were perfectly
convulsed with laughter.

TowN AND CouUNTY OFFICERS, 1882,.

Selectmen. — Allen Smith, Samuel Woodward, H.
C. Pinkham, John W. Hallett, Henry Paddack.

Town Clerk. — John F. Brown.

Assessors. — Andrew Whitney, Joseph Mitchell, A.
M. Myrick.

School Committee. — Alex. Macy, term expires Feb-
ruary, 1885; G. H. Brock, 1884; Helen B. Worth,
1885; Albert A. Gardner, 1883; C. K. Manter, 1884;
A. H. Gardner, 1883.

Collector of Taxes. —Henry W. Davis.

Town and County Treasurer. — Samuel Swain.

Finance Committee. — Joseph B. Macy, B. C. Easton,
T. C. Defriez.

Commissioners of Sinking Fund. — Thaddeus C. De-
friez, term expires February, 1883; E. W. Perry,
1885; J. B. Macy, 1884.

TREES. $21

Surveyor of Highways. — Frank A. Mitchell.

Health Committee. — John Gray, Simeon L. Lewis,
Geo. E. Mooers.

Town’s Poor, Agent. —Samuel Woodward.

Superintendent Almshouse. — Edward G. Coffin.

Special Police. —G. B. Randall, F. W. Barney, G. E.
Mooers.

Constables. — Cromwell Morselander, Chandler B.
Gardner, Jr., Alexander C. Swain, John Chinery,
Simeon L. Lewis, Edward P. Norcross, George B.
Randall, David H. Eldredge, Charles 8. Glidden.

Representative to the General Court. — Josiah Free-
man.

Clerk of the Courts. —George W. Jenks.

Sheriff. — Josiah F. Barrett.

fiegister of Deeds. — William Hussey Macy.

Keeper of Jail. — Daniel W. Folger.

Trial Justices. — Allen Coffin, David Folger.

_ Judge Probate Court. —'T. C. Defriez.

Justices of the Peace.— David Folger, George W.
Macy, T. C. Defriez, Allen Coffin, A. M. Myrick,

George W. Jenks.

TREES.

That the island was ever entirely covered with trees
is extremely doubtful. There is no doubt, however,
that there were a great many trees here; and that they
were of good size is evidenced by a number of build-
ings still standing in the town which were constructed
of native wood. The early records speak of ‘‘ mead-
ows, woods, and uplands,” but it is probable the set-
tlers were very like their modern prototypes, and used

21

o

322 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET,
=> 4

the wood with an unsparing hand; for it seems that
but little more than a century from the settlement of
the island the inhabitants were obligéd to get fuel from ©
Coskata (1779-80). In a petition to Sir Henry Clinton,
dated July 9, 1780, they represent themselves as being
‘wholly destitute of firewood.’? The town has ever
since depended upon Cape Cod for its supply of wood.
In 1847, Josiah Sturgess planted the first pines with-
out the town. Others followed his example, and
strong hopes were entertained that at some future
day Nantucket wouid not be obliged to import fire-
wood. But these pine-trees have not flourished as
well as was expected. Whether the variety planted is
not adapted to the soil, whether the air is too salt,
whether some parasite or some unknown disease has
attacked them, has not been determined; certain it is,
they do not thrive. In the town, however, the trees
which were set out a few years after the “‘ great fire”
have shown a wonderful degree of growth, considering
that they are elms, which trees are known to be of very
slow growth. On Main, Centre, Federal, and many
other streets, Nantucket can show — considering their
age —as fine a lot of trees as any town of its size in.
the country. The great gale of a few years since tore
up a number of them; but if properly cared for and
more are judiciously added to those that are left, year
by year, our streets can in time rival those of Old
Cambridge or the ‘‘ Elm City ”’ itself.

Probably the oldest and largest tree on the island is
a sycamore which stands on the corner of Main Street,
and Ray’s Court, and it is a beautiful sight in the
summer,

TREES, 323

That tract of land near the head of Hummock Pond

which we now call ‘‘ the woods ’? — now entirely des-

titute of trees — was previous to the year 1700 called
‘the long woods.” This is very positive evidence that
there were large tracts of trees upon the island in those
early days; for the people of that time generally called

_ things by their right names. Nearly all the eariy deeds

on record speak of timber and wood for fuel as being
granted to purchasers of land here. W.C. Folger says:
*¢ Notwithstanding all the testimony, a man of foreign
birth stated in a meeting of the Farmers’ Institute of
last season that native trees never grew here.”’

Mr. McIntosh, in his article on agriculture, believes
that attention should be paid to the cultivation of trees.
There are certainly many varieties that could be grown
to advantage and profit, both for fruit and timber.
The compiler believes that the Australian blue gum
(Eucalyptus globulus) would thrive here; it is certainly
worth the trial. This tree has done tinely in many parts
of the country, especially in California. If the experi-
ment were made here with the tree, it would of course
want shelter for a few years; and why not plant some
of the seed in Dead Horse Valley, or among the Pines?
If planted at these places they would get a good shelter
for at least ten years; and if they were adapted to our
soil and climate, they could certainly by that time take
care of themselves. In locations suited for it, the Aus-
tralian blue gum has been known to attain a height of

one hundred feet in twenty years. Its timber is un-

equalled, and for fuel it cannot be surpassed; its leaves
are esteemed highly as a febrifuge, and their proper-
ties are said to be superior to quinine. It certainly

324 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET,

is worthy the attention of those desirous of, or in
any way interested in, the introduction and cultivation
of valuable forest trees. It really makes not a parti-
cle of difference to the people of io-day whether the
island was covered with a forest at the time of its dis-
covery or not. It must be patent to the most obtuse
that more trees are needed on the island for fuel, if for
no other purpose. That they can be grown, both for-
est and fruit trees, has been proved; and why more
attention has not been paid to the subject is unac-
countable to the visitor. Itis only another exhibition
of that indifference and apathy which marks the peo-
ple of Nantucket to-day. The compiler sincerely
hopes that a move looking to the introduction and
propagation of several varieties of trees will soon be
made, as he believes that they will not only be condu-
cive to the health of the island, but ultimately prove a
great source of revenue.

* Had our forefathers exercised the same intelieiaes
and forethought about protecting the trees which they
found here as they did about most things, Nantucket
need never have sent abroad for a foot of wood for
fuel, and she might to-day be building ships of native
wood. :

TUCKERNUCK.

Tuckernuck, alias 'Tuckanuckett (a loaf of bread),
is a small island lying a few miles to the westward of
the island of Nantucket. It was deeded by Thomas
Mayhew in 1659 to ** Tristram Coffin $', Peter Coffin,
Tristram Coffin J", and James Coffin, to them and their
Heyres forever, ffor and in consideracon of y* just

VOTERS. — WATER WORKS. 825

Sume of six Pounds in Hand paid.’’ Quite a number
of families live upon the is!and, gaining a comfortable

subsistence by farming and fishing. It isa favorite

resort with many visitors to Nantucket, being a famous
place for Squantums. Of course the only approach
to the island is by water, and the trip is a delightful
one. Any of the yachts can be secured for the excur-
sion, and the trailing for bluefish, on the way up and
down, lends an additional charm to the sail. There is
a small hotel here, where one can be made comfortable.
The island of Tuckernuck 1s in Nantucket County, and
contains a population of between thirty and forty. A
school 1s maintained here part of the year.

VOTERS.

There are seven hundred and ninety-seven legal
voters in Nantucket. At the last Presidential election,
there were five hundred and three votes cast, of which
three hundred and ninety-five were Republican and one
hundred and eight Democratic.

WATER WORKS.

The Wannacomet Water Company, which furnishes
the town of Nantucket with a bountiful supply of
pure water, draws its supply from the old Washing
Pond at Wannacomet (Indian, meaning a pond field),
on the north side of the island. To Mr. Moses Joy,

Jr., belongs the sole credit for the conception of the

plan for the introduction of water into the town, and
the perfecting of it. He worked bravely for months,
fighting against public opinion, a very large majority of

826 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET,

the people being bitterly opposed to the introduction
of the water. :

The first meeting held to consider the matter of in-
troducing water into the town of Nantucket was on
May 31, 1877, in Atlantic Hall. Space will not permit
an extended account of the conception and carrying
out of Mr. Joy’s plans, and a few facts only can be
given. We find in the Nantucket Journal, March 19,
1879, the following article — |

‘* The pond covers an area of eight acres, is eighteen
feet deep in various parts, contains now about 33,000,-
000 gallons, and is supposed to be fed by strong springs.
The water is remarkably clear and pure, and the pond
has a fine sandy bottom, surveys made the past win-
ter failing to detect any mud. Prof. Lattimore of the
Rochester (N. Y.) University, while on a visit to the
island last fall, examined the premises, and pronounced
the water of excellent quality and the surroundings as
favorable for a water supply as he ever saw. On the
day of the first trial, March 18, 1879, there were 3,000
barrels pumped out with no perceptible decrease in the
pond, as shown by marks upon the margin, and there
is not the slightest fear of the supply ever becoming
exhausted under any circumstances. The pond 1s a few
feet higher than the level of the sea.

‘¢ The tank was made by H. B. Bigelow & Co. of New
Haven, Conn., and is of quarter-inch wrought iron,
hot-riveted together. It is fifteen feet deep, twenty-
four feet in diameter, and holds 1,585 barrels. It is
supported by nine cast-iron pillars seven inches in
diameter, cross-braced with wrought-iron bars, and set
on a solid brick foundation. Across the top of the pil-

WATER WORKS. 327

lars runs a network of thirteen rolled wrought-iron
beams, made by Cooper, Hewitt & Co. of Trenton,
N. J., four of them being fifteen inches thick and
weighing one hundred and fifty pounds to the yard,
nine nine inches thick, weighing eighty-five pounds to
the yard, running above and crosswise with the heavier
ones, all being strongly riveted together. Upon this
trestle-work rests the floor ofthe tank. A duplex steam
pump made by Geo. H. Blake & Co. of Boston sup-
plies the tank. The engine has a capacity of sixteen
horse-power. The pump is fitted with an eight-inch
steam cylinder and six-inch water cylinder, and has a
twelve-inch stroke, with a maximum capacity of some
five hundred gallons per minute, thus requiring about
two hours to fill the tank. The top of the reservoir is
forty-two feet from the ground, and one hundred and
four feet above mean low tide... . The leading of
water into Nantucket is one of the great events in the
history of the place.”

The tank on the top of the hill is the first landmark
to be seen when approaching Nantucket from the west- |
ward. That mysterious black speck first seen upon
the horizon, hanging unsupported, apparently, in mid-
air, attracts the eye of every one coming for the first
time to the island. Opera and field glasses are levelled
at it; but as soon as one is told that it is nothing but a
great ungainly ‘‘ iron tank on stilts,” the romance is
gone.

Moses Joy, Jr., the gentleman who originated, per-
fected, and carried out the plan for the introduction of
water into the town of Nantucket, is scarcely twenty-
eight years of age, and has already become famous

328 ‘THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

abroad, having contracted with a number of towns in
the State for their water supply. The water furnished
by the Wannacomet Water Company is of superior
quality, and its introduction adds another to the many
advantages possessed by the town as a watering place.

WAUWINET.

Wauwinet is a famous resort for all who like a good |
‘‘ square meal’”’; it is a famous resort for all who like a
fine sail, and all who love the sea. In fact, when one
goes to Wauwinet one gets the blue sky, the bluer
sea, the bluest of bluefish (but not the ‘‘ blues,’’ — far
from that), the best dinner, the best sail, a walk on the
beach where can be picked up a pretty shell, a chance
at a shark, and a good time generally. There is a nice,
cosey little hotel here, where one feels at home from
the moment of landing. There are many persons who
consider this the most romantic locality upon the
island.

Wauwincet takes its name from an old Indian chief,
who at one time controlled a large portion of the east-
ern part of the island. It is situated at the ‘‘ Haul-
over’’ (a portage for boats, as its name implies), at the
head of the harbor, and is about seven miles from town
by water. It can be reached by steamer or sail-boat, —
both leaving the steamboat wharf at 9 A. M. and 2
- 2p. M.,—the fare for the round trip being forty cents
by either conveyance.

This resort must in time become one of the most
popular of all the many localities on the island, for
those seeking a genuine seaside resort. It is on the
narrowest part of the island; the ocean is one side of

WHALING. 829

it, and the waters of the harbor on the other; in trav-
elling a distance of only three hundred yards, one can
get the finest surf bathing, or what is more preferable
tomany, equally as good still-water bathing. Here one
can find beautiful shells, can go bluefishing, or if one
wants more exciting sport, a boat can be found in
which a visit can be made to the “‘ sharking grounds.”?
There is a fresh-water pond but a short tramp away,
where abound a great number of perch, and a beauti-
ful view can be had at all times of the harbor, the
ocean, and the old town sitting queen-like 1n the dis-
tance.

WHALING. x

The following article upon that great industry which
made Nantucket, in years gone. by, known in every
_ part of the globe, was written expressly for this book
by Mr. Alexander Starbuck of Waltham, Mass., au-
thor of ‘*‘ History of the American Whale Fishery.”’
Mr. Starbuck has for many years been engaged upon
a‘ History of the Island of Nantucket,” and has col-
_ lected a vast amount of very valuable material which
it is hoped will before long be given to the public. Ac-
knowledging his indebtedness to Mr. Starbuck for the
article, the compiler now leaves it to the reader, know-
ing it will be perused with interest.

The Nantucket Whale Fishery.
By Alexander Starbuck.
The prosecution of the whale fishery from the little
island of Nantucket was an undertaking that might
well have been a matter of pride for any community

330 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

or any nationality. Such was the skill and daring of
the islanders in this pursuit that they carried their em-
ployment, hazardous enough under the most favorable
aspects, to an extreme that seemed audacious, and won
the plaudits even of those who were their rivals in the
business.

What England and France were unable to accom-
plish with a monopoly of trade and heavy bounties,
whalemen of the United States carried on successfully
without assistance from their government and in the
face of all competition. Among the foremost were
the seamen of Nantucket. Their keels vexed every
sea, and the American flag floated from the mast-heads
of their ships in every port. Pushing their pursuit
_ into unknown seas, large numbers of the islands of
the Pacific.were discovered, and their locations deter-
mined by these pioneers of the sea. At once produ-
cers and factors, their trade extended from China in the
west to the shores of the Mediterranean in the east;
and they traded as well in the teas and silks of the
Occident as in the fruits and wines and manufactured
goods of the Orient. They brought as curiosities the
dresses of the Esquimaux and the weapons of the
natives of the Pacific islands ; the trinkets of the Jap-
anese and the natives of the lands bordering Behring’s
Straits, and the papyrus books of the people of India.
At home, when peace reigned, the people were all
busy, happy, and prosperous, the warehouses were
crowded with goods, and the streets thronged with
teams and foot passengers. At the wharves lay a
large fleet of vessels .taking in or discharging cargoes
or refitting for new voyages. The cheery din of the

WHALING. 331

cooper’s hammers and the ring of the blacksmith’s
anvils resounded on all sides, the sail lofts, the shops
of the riggers, and the ‘‘ walks” of the rope-makers
were occupied by the multitudes that the demands of
the shipping gave employment to. In a thousand
ways the activities of a prosperous business showed
themselves. But all this is now changed. The ships
long ago sailed on their last voyages from Nantucket.
' Not an ocean on the face of the globe but holds in
its embrace the shattered remains of a portion of her
fleet, while the. surviving portion hails from other
ports. ‘The tools of the mechanic are silent, and the
bustle of traffic no longer crowds the streets. The
wharves are deserted, decaying, or decayed, and the
warehouses have long been vacant and closed.

Toa native of Nantucket, it is a sad sight to thus
see ‘‘ Ichabod ”’ written on her desolate places; to look
upon the ruined wharves and storehouses, and to see
even the * toilers of the sea’’ themselves look old and
weather-beaten; to see them rapidly nearing that port
in which the anchor will be cast never to be weighed
again.

Of the early history of whaling at Nantucket, much
is involved in obscurity. In common with all the
hardy settlers of the New England coast, those here
must have paid early attention to fishing, since it
afforded one of the—by no means numerous —
methods of subsistence to the first comers; and to men
inured to the sea, and appreciating the value of a pur-
suit which had already brought a goodly recompense
to the Biscayans, the Dutch, and the English, it was
natural that with the waters adjacent to their island

332 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

teeming with the gigantic mammals, they should soon
have turned their attention to the pursuit and lanes
of the whale.

On the records of the town, under date of June 5,
1672, appears the draught of a proposed agreement
between one James Loper of the one part and the pro-
prietors of the island of Nantucket of the other part.
As this is the first recorded recognition of whale fish-
ing in the history of our island, it may be a matter of
interest to the reader, and is in these words. —

‘‘ Sth. 4th. mo. 1672 James Lopar doth Ingage to
carry on a design of whale Citching on the Island of
Nantuckket, that is the said James Ingages to be a
third in all respeckes, and som of the Town Ingage
also to Carrey on the other two thirds with him in like
manner, the Town doth also Consent, that first one
Company shall begin and afterward the rest of the
freeholders or any of them, have liberty to set up
another Company Provided that they make a tender to
those freeholders that have no share in the first Com-
pany and if any refuse, the Rest may go on themselves,
and the Town do also Ingage that no other Company
shal be allowed hereafter; also whosoever Kil any
whale of the Company or Companys aforesaid they ar
to pay to the Town for every such Whale five Shil.
lings — and for the Incorragement of the said James
Lopar the Town doth grant him Ten acres of Land in
som convenant place, that he may Chuse in, (wood
Land éxceped) and also Liberty for the Commonage
of the Cows and twenty Sheep and one horse with
necesary Wood and water for his use on Conditions
that he follow the Trade of whaleing on the Island two

WHALING. 333

years in all the season thereof, beginning the first of
March next insuing. Also is to build upon his land,
and when he leaves Inhabiting upon the Island then
he is first to ofer his Land to the Town at a Valluable
price, and if the Town do not buy it — then he may sel
it to whome he please —the commonage is granted
only for the time he stays here.”’

Butalthough this would seem at first glance to imply
that Loper took up his abode among the islanders,
there is no proof that such was the fact. One James
Loper (or Looper) was a resident of Easthampton on
Long Island, and carried. on the business of whaling
at that place; but there is no evidence that up to 1678
he had left there, for at that time he was still a tax-
payer in that town. Nowhere else on the Nantucket
records, neither in the proprietors’ list of grantees for-
warded to New York in 1674, nor in the record of
lands *‘ layd out by the land layers,” is his name men-
tioned, nor does the document just quoted appear to
be signed. In the absence of such evidence, which
must have existed had he removed to the island, we
must conclude that he had no share in giving to the
islanders instruction in the art that subsequently made
them world-renowned.

According to the account of Macy (‘‘ History of Nan-
tucket’’), ‘‘ the first whaling expedition in Nantucket
was undertaken by some of the original purchasers of
the island; the circumstances of which are handed
down by tradition, and are as follows: —

‘¢ A whale of the kind called ‘scragg ’ came into the
harbor and continued there three days. This excited
the curiosity of the people, and led them to devise meas-

334 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

ures to prevent his return out of the harbor. They
accordingly invented and caused to be wrought for
them a harpoon, with which they attacked and killed
the whale. This first success encouraged them to
undertake whaling as a permanent business, whales
being at that time numerous in the vicinity of the
shores ”

The date of this expedition does not appear. Our
judgment would be that it was prior to 1672, however,

and that the proposed agreement with Loper was a
result of it.

‘In 1690,” writes Zaccheus Macy in a communica-
tion to the collection of the Massachusetts Historical
Society, ‘‘ the Nantucketers, finding their neighbors on
Cape Cod more proficient in the art of killing whales
and extracting the oil than themselves, sent thither
and employed Ichabod Paddock to remove to the isl-
and and instruct them on these points.”’ Itis probable
that the removal was made, and that Ichabod proved
a good teacher; we know that he had apt pupils.

The early stages of whaling on Nantucket did not
require either large vessels or elaborate equipment.
So numerous were the whales that boats were-sufficient
for the former; and for the latter such ‘“‘craft’’ as could
be easily'and cheaply made was all that was necessary:

For the purpose of systematizing the work, the
southern shore of the island was arranged in four
districts, to each of which a crew of six was assigned;
the business as a whole being, however, carried on in
common. Near the centre of each division, or about
three and one half miles apart, was erected a mast pro-
vided with cleats, which was used for the purpose of a

ee

WHALING. 339

lookout. Near by was built a temporary hut, for the
- protection of all excepting the one whose station was
on the lookout. When the man at the mast-head
observed a whale spouting, the alarm was given, the
boats were manned and launched, and the chase com-
menced. A capture made, the whale was towed ashore,
and the oil-producing parts were removed in a similar
manner to the custom on shipboard. Try-works were
erected on the beach, and the blubber, which had been
cut and sliced, was subjected to the process of trying
out. These try-works were used for many years after
shore fishing had ceased as a constant pursuit; the
blubber of the whales captured at sea being cut up and
stowed into casks on board of the vessels, and removed
to the try-works and the oil extracted after they re-
turned home.

According to Macy’s History, the first sperm whale
known to Nantucket people was found on shore dead;
and the discovery, according to the account, created
quite asensation. In 1712 Christopher Hussey, while
cruising near the island for ‘‘ right”? whales, was blown
some distance off shore, and falling in with a school of
sperm whales, killed one and brought it home. The
discovery of Hussey gave a new turn to the business,
and small vessels of about thirty tons’ burden were
fitted out for deep-sea whaling. These vessels were
fitted out for cruises of about six weeks’ duration, and
carried a few hogsheads, — enough probably to hold
the blubber from a single whale, which having ob-
tained, they returned home; the owners taking charge
of the blubber and trying out the oil, the vessels sail-
ing again on another voyage.

336 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

In 1715 six sloops were engaged in this fishery from
Nantucket. Five years after this, Paul Starbuck, in
the ship ‘‘ Hanover,’’? William Chadder, master, made
the first shipment of oil from Nantucket to England,
the vessel sailing from Boston to London.

In 1723 the Straight Wharf was built for the better
accommodation for the vessels which were demanded
by the necessities of trade and fishing

In 1730 twenty-five whaling vessels of from eee
eight to fifty tons’ burden each were owned at Nan-
tucket; the returns being about 3,700 barrels of oil,
worth £3 ,200.

It was not far from the year 1726 that the high-
water mark of shore whaling was reached at Nan-.
tucket. In that year eighty-six whales were taken by
boats from the shore. From that time this mode of
whaling declined, and that of carrying on the pursuit
by means of vessels increased. As the boats had
been manned in part by Indians, so the crews of the
vessels contained many aborigines.

In 1732 Davis Strait was visited by whalemen,
probably from Cape Cod, and we may be sure that
the seamen of Nantucket did not long delay following
this example. It is difficult to prove, however, at
what date trips to that locality commenced. Among
the entries and clearances at Boston in 1737 are sev-
eral to and from the strait. Among the names are
many familiar to Nantucket. In 1745 our people
loaded a vessel with oil and sent her direct to Eng-
land. From this beginning grew a trade that eventu-
ally became world-wide, — France, Russia, Spain, the
nations bordering on the shores of the Mediterranean,

WHALING. 337

even China, contributed in turn directly to the pros-
perity of our little isle.

Matters continued to progress favorably, on the
whole, with our whalemen down to the commence-
ment of the Revolution. French and Spanish pri-
vateers had captured some of our vessels, and at one
time forced them to abandon the northern fishery;
but these troubles were of slfort duration, and of
little comparative importance as affecting the general
thrift.

The Revolution found Nantucket with a fleet of
150 vessels with an aggregate burden of 15,000 tons,
manned by 2,025 men, and producing 30,000 barrels
of sperm and 4,000 barrels of whale oil. Her seamen
were familiar with the Atlantic Ocean from Davis Strait
to the coasts of Guinea and Brazil. The current of the
Gulf Stream was as familiar to them as the harbor of
their island home; and the first man to describe upon
a chart that now well-known body of water was, so far
as history informs us, Capt. Timothy Folger of Nan-
tucket.

Every effort was made by the best friends of the
Colonies in England to avert war; and it was in the
debates in Parliament in 1775 upon the adoption of
severe measures towards the Colony of the Massachu-
setts Bay, that that speech of Burke’s so familiar to
the people of Nantucket, in which he so warmly
eulogized those engaged in the fisheries, was deliy-
ered.

During the Revolution, Nantucket was the only port
from which any attempt was made to carry on the
whale parery;, “oi from here the work was carried on

338 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

under the most discouraging circumstances. No com-
munity in the colonies was so hard pressed as was that
of Nantucket. The colonial government was utterly
powerless to protect them, and the island itself was
indefensible, even had the people been disposed to
protect themselves. By far the larger portion of the
population were of the sect of Friends, and abhorred
war as a matter of feligious faith. All provisions,
fuel, clothing, the outfits for their vessels, everything
that was needed for their sustenance, had to be brought
to the island; if they imported nothing, they must per-
ish; if they procured their supplies from colonial ports,
they traded with the ‘rebels, and the British seized
their vessels; if they got their supplies in foreign mar-
kets, they were smugglers, and they became a prey to
colonial armed vessels and boats. Thus they struggled
through the terrible seven years of war. Realizing the
straits to which the islanders were reduced, the colo-
nial government relaxed the rigors of their laws as
.much as was possible, and beyond a doubt closed
their eyes to many things which, under other circum-
stances, they would have punished.

It would be extremely interesting, did space permit,
to follow closely the history of the fishery during the
Revolution, but the limits assigned to this article makes
such a narration impossible.

At the earliest moment after peace had been de-
clared, when safety rendered it expedient, the ship
** Bedford,’? Capt. William Mooers, with a load of
four hundred and eighty-seven butts of oil, was de-
spatched to London, and to this ship belongs the

WHALING. 339

honor of having been the first vessel to hoist the
American flag in any British port.*

Recovery from the disasters of the war was slow.
The principal market for oil was in England; and to
shut off the importation from America, Parliament
passed an alien duty of £18 sterling a ton. Although
the General Court of Massachusetts, in response to the
petitions of the people of Nantucket, declared a bounty,
it did not permanently remedy the trouble. So heavy
was the pressure brought to bear upon Nantucket by
the adverse circumstances immediately succeeding the
Revolution, that large numbers of her hardy mariners
and wealthy merchants were compelled to leave the
home endeared to them by so many happy associa-
tions, and seek in foreign countries the recompense
for their toil and their investments that they were
unable to obtain in the United States. Some of them
settled in Nova Scotia, some in England, and some in
France. In the English and French fisheries there
sailed a large number of officers and men who once
found a home on Nantucket.

_ Following closely upon the stagnation resulting from
the Revolution came the troubles with France, in
which Nantucket suffered to the extent of nearly
$150,000. Then again came complications with Eng-
land early in the nineteenth century. Scarcely had a
slight gain been made, and the business again become
remunerative, when the war of 1812 occurred. A large

* F.C. Sanford, Esq., informs the compiler that this was Feb.
3, 1783; and that she arrived at. Nantucket from London, May
31, 1783, her entry at the custom-house at the time being in
his possession,

840 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET,

portion of Nantucket’s fleet of forty-six whale ships was
then at sea. The first of the fleet captured was the
schooner ‘‘ Mount Hope’’; in rapid succession came the
tidings of the capture of ship after ship, until one half
of the number, besides smaller vessels, had fallen a
prey to British cruisers. Some were taken on the
return voyage within sight of the island. The miseries
and deprivations of the Revolution were repeated; the
same struggle for existence was maintained against the
same terrible odds. In February, 1815, came the tid-
ings of peace, and again our islanders essayed to restore
their shattered fortunes. The first vessel to return to
any port in the United States with a cargo of oil after
the last war was the sloop ‘‘ Mason’s Daughter,” which
after a six-weeks’ voyage returned to Nantucket on the
9th of July, 1815, with one hundred barrels of oil.

Recovery from these disasters of 1812-15 was rapid.
In December, 1820, Nantucket possessed a fleet of
seventy-two whale ships (aggregating 20,449 tons),
besides brigs, schooners, and sloops. '

In 1819 occurred the accident to the ship “ Essex”
of Nantucket, which has always been accounted one
of the most singular and direful that has ever happened
toa whaling vessel. An enraged sperm whale attacked
and sunk her, and the crew were obliged to make a
journey of three months’ duration and about 2,000
miles in extent in frail, shattered whale boats. Lut
eight of the crew of twenty men survived to tell of
the terrible perils and privations of their voyage.*

* Of those eight men, Capt. Thomas G. Nickerson of Nan-
tucket, who keeps a boarding house on the corner of North and
Chester Streets, is the only one now surviving.

“WHARVES 341

In 1824 occurred another memorable disaster to the
crew of a Nantucket whaling ship. The crew of the
ship ‘‘ Globe ’”’ mutinied, killing the superior officers
and some of the men. But eight of the crew returned
alive to Nantucket to tell this tale of horror. The
others — those who were not killed by the mutineers —
were massacred by the natives of the Mulgrave Islands,
to which place the vessel had been taken by the con-
spirators.

The business of whaling from Nantucket reached its
culmination in 1842, when eighty-six ships and two
brigs and schooners belonged to the port, having .a
capacity of 36,000 tons. From this time the pursuit
from Nantucket declined. Losses by a terrible visita-
tion of fire, the stampede for the gold mines of Cali-
fornia, the scarcity of whales, the expense of fitting
and increased dangers of the Arctic fishery, the

decline in the value of the product, the discovery of
petroleum, all served to cause the downfall of whaling,

not only in Nantucket but in other ports. In 1869 the
last whale ship sailed from the port of Nantucket; and
the business, so far as the island’s interest is concerned,
is a thing of the past. Nantucket’s mariners now sail
from other ports, and the stories of their skill and dar-
ing are stories of by-gone years.

W HARVES.

There are five wharves belonging to the town, each
of which has a history; Straight Wharf, the oldest
of them, having been built for more than one hundred
and fifty~years. Hundreds — aye, thousands — of
vessels have loaded and unloaded their freights here,

312 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

and sailed away to sea; many, very many, never to
return. These wharves, alas! have been for many
years slowly going to decay. It is to be hoped that at
no very distant day they may again be made available
for the uses of commerce.

The names of the wharves are as follows: —

Commercial Wharf.

Old South, or Swain’s Wharf.

Straight Wharf.

Old North, or Perry’s Wharf.

New North, or Steamboat Wharf.

WRECKS.

In his valuable book, ‘‘ A List of the Wrecks around
Nantucket,” Mr. A. H. Gardner says: —

‘¢ The chapter of wrecks is perhaps one of the sad-
dest as well as one of the most interesting in the his-
tory of Nantucket. Lying as it does directly in the
track of vessels plying between the principal Ameri-
can ports north and south of the island, the waves
which dash upon its barren shores, or break in angry
foam upon the shoals and rips near by, have reaped a
harvest of shipwreck and death almost umparalleiee
elsewhere upon the American coast.”’

At ’Sconset, and at various other points about the
island, placed in conspicuous positions, may be seen
here and there the figure-head of some noble ship, or
a piece of board having upon it the name of what
once was a beautiful vessel, the pride alike of her |
owner, captain, and crew. These senseless blocks of
wood tell eloquent stories of storm, of sunken rock,
of unknown shoal, of treacherous sea, of dangerous

WRECKS. 1348

coast, of the midnight alarm to the watch below, with
the terrible cry of ‘‘ Breakers ahead! ”’ of the rush to
the deck, the awful crash, the lowering the boat, the
irresistible wave, the long shriek of agony as the good
ship goes down and all is swallowed in the seething
and remorseless sea, — and to tell the tale, nothing left
but these sad mementos that constantly drift to the
shore.

Since the island’s settlement, something like five
hundred vessels have been either totally wrecked or
met with some mishap on or nearit. The timbers of
many of these once noble vessels can be seen at vari-
ous points all around the island, lying half buried in
the sand, gradually crumbling to dust.

Within the last hundred years the government and
individuals have done much toward alleviating the
sufferings of shipwrecked seamen cast upon our coast,
by the establishment of life-saving stations and hu-
mane houses.

F.C. Sanford, Esq., who has been for twenty years
connected with that noble charity, the Massachusetts
Humane Society, has kindly furnished the compiler
with many facts in regard to its great work.

In 1791 the State Legislature granted to the citi-
zen merchants of Boston a charter for a society which
had been formed for the purpose of ‘‘ recognizing and
rewarding all humane, daring, and gallant exploits of
individual citizens of the State, wherever performed.”’
It was called the Massachusetts Humane Society,
and ‘‘ to-day it looks back with pride upon ninety years
of benevolent work.’’ Stations for the succor of ship-
wrecked seamen have been established all around our

044 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

State coast; and the best and finest apparatus for sav-
ing life that can be devised by man, consisting of
rafts, boats, guns, floats, life cars and lines, has been
placed on this and the adjacent islands of Tucker-
nuck and Muskeget.

Mr. Sanford says: —

‘¢ Since I have been upon the committee — nearly
twenty years —there have been many disastrous and
appalling wrecks. Among the most noted and dis-
tressing was that of the schooner ‘ Haynes,’ from St.
Domingo. On Dec. 24, 1865, we found her off the
west end of the island; the thermometer was six de-
grees below zero, and the vessel encased with ice from
her truck to the water. The Humane boat was manned
by a brave set of men, who boarded the vessel, but not
a soul was found on her. The cabin was warm, with
a good fire in the stove. She had struck on a shoal,
and it seemed probable that all the men had embarked
in a boat, and perished in the sea at once. We after-
ward found the boat and oars upon the shore, and one
man lying dead near them. Only a few days previous,
her owner had received news of ‘all well.’ The cap-
tain, just before sailing on this voyage, had been mar-
ried, and his wife, expecting him home on Christmas
day, had prepared the dinner; but instead of a ‘ merry
Christmas,’ death came, turning her happy anticipa-
tions into mourning.

‘The next day, Christmas, was ushered in by a terri-
ble southeast gale. News was brought to town that
there was another vessel ashore at what is now Surf-
side, that she had gone to pieces, and crew all lost.

** Immediately repairing to the scene, I was met by

WRECKS. : 345

the most appalling sight I ever witnessed. Of what was
but a few hours before a noble iron ship of eight hun-
dred tons, the stern only was left. Her cargo, masts,
and spars were being tossed about in terrible confu-
sion; the débris was scattered along the beach for three
miles; the sea was terribly savage, and I never saw it
in greater majesty than on that morning. A few feet
from the bluff I picked up the body of a young man in
a nude state, who was then warm; but life was extinct.
It was afterward ascertained that this was the young
second officer of the ship on his first voyage. He had
but recently graduated with high honors at the Ham-
burg Naval School, of whom his poor old mother wrote

me afterward, ‘He was a pious, good son, who always

bore love for his mother in his eye and heart, and his
dreadful death is the first sorrow he ever caused her.’ ”’
This wreck of the ‘‘ Newton,” Capt. Herting, was
perhaps the most destructive of any that ever happened
on our shores. She was only thirty-six hours from
New York, and was bound to [lamburg, Germany, with
an assorted cargo, the principal item being five thou-
sand barrels of kerosene oil.
Mr. Sanford continues: “ We took out of the sea
fourteen in all of the crews of the two ill-fated vessels,
and all were properly cared for. Union services were
held at the Methodist Church, and all the clergymen
upon the island participated in the touching services
over these drowned sailors, and our hearts beat in love
and sympathy for those unknown bereaved ones in a
foreign land; the solemn occasion bringing them very
near to us, and still more near when we heard their
responsive wails.’’

346 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

The following extract from aletter to Mr. Sanford,
written by Mrs. Herting, the widow of the captain of
the ‘‘ Newton,’’ expresses in no uncertain tones her
deep appreciation of what was done by the people of
Nantucket for her dead husband and his crew: —

HAMBURG, Feb. 27, 1866.
F. C. SANFORD, Esq.: |
Honored Sir, — Although there is nothing that can
make up to an unhappy woman for the great loss she
has just suffered, yet it will, I hope, contribute in time
to lessen my affliction when I see other people, stran-
gers to me, feel a lively sympathy in my misfortunes.
... Your letter gives me the consolation that my
poor husband and part of his comrades in misfortune
found a resting place in consecrated ground, and that
his funeral was conducted with as much solemnity as
could have been bestowed in his native country, and
among his friends. I beg therefore to express through
you my heartfelt thanks to all who took part in it,
especially the worthy clergymen for their excellent
and touching words on that occasion. May God rec-
ompense them abundantly for all the noble sympathy
they have shown to a poor unknown woman. May he
guard and protect them from such misfortunes.”’

On Dec. 21, 1865, schooner ‘‘ Eveline Treat,” Capt.
Philbrook, struck on Miacomet Rip. The sea was so
savage that it was necessary to fire a line over her, by
which means a hawser was secured to the vessel. In
getting the captain ashore, who was an old man, the
block or line would not traverse, and there he hung

o

WRECKS. 849

half-way over a terrible abyss for an hour and a half,
in his stocking feet, bareheaded, the foam beating in
his face, drenched to the skin, and half frozen, in sight
of fifteen hundred people who stood on the beach.
From out this crowd stepped a young man, Frederick
W. Ramsdell by name, and said, ‘‘I will go out and
clear him.” He threw off his coat, put a knife between
his teeth, fastened a light rope around his waist, and
~ went out hand over hand and cleared the block, and
the captain was brought on shore amid the deafening
cheers of those who had witnessed the gallant deed.
For this act Ramsdell was presented a medal.

On the 4th of February, 1871, the schooner ‘‘ Mary
Anna,” Capt. Lexnan, was lost on the bar. Her situa-
tion was discovered at daylight, and the ‘ Island
Home” was sent to her assistance, but was unable to
reach her on account of the ice, which completely
obstructed her way and forced her to remain just out-
side of Brant Point for three days. But here was this
vessel full of water, mercury below zero, and seven
men in the rigging who must be saved. A crew of
- eight men, after almost superhuman efforts, succeeded
at last, with the aid of a board and dory, in getting to
the vessel. The captain afterwards said when he saw
these men coming to his rescue, there seemed to be a
halo about their heads, such as is represented in the
pictures of our Saviour; that he had read of the angel
of mercy, but never until now had he realized the full
force of the expression. They were all rescued, some
frozen and frost-bitten. After they were all ashore and
comfortably cared for at the Sherburne [louse, the
captain made them all kneel down while he rendered

348 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

fervent thanks for their deliverance. It was a touching
sight, and it was surely a remarkable escape from
death. Each of the eight men who assisted in rescuing
this crew was awarded a medal.

In the month of April, 1880, there was a terrible
gale of wind, and thirty-eight vessels were in sight
from the Tower. Some of these vessels went ashore
within the “‘ chord of the bay,”’ some sunk, others went
to pieces at the south of the island, still others passed
the island to founder on some of its shoals. Thomas
F. Sandsbury, of Tuckernuck, was in town atthe time,
and succeeded after great effort in having his boat
transported to the west end of the island, where he
with others embarked, and succeeded in reaching
Tuckernuck in safety. This boat’s crew were influential
in saving many lives on that awful day, and as will
be seen farther on, were rewarded for their efforts.
Many other Ma might be related, but lack of
space forbids.

As a general thing, when veils are wrecked, the
captains stand by them and are the last to leave.
There are, however, exceptional cases, as the follow-
ing anecdote will show: —

In February, 1881, the bark ‘‘ Hazard ”’ struck off to
the south of Nantucket. The captain with three of his
crew took one of the boats, and reached Nantucket
safely; he was kindly cared for, and every assistance
rendered him. This captain then went to Boston, and
sent from there an article to the effect that our people
did not heed his signals, or do their duty by him and
his.crew. Le it remembered that this fault-finding
captain left, on a raft, three of his men to perish, and

WRECKS. be 349

abandoned on his vessel a young lad twelve years of
age, whose mother he had faithfully promised to bring
back her boy safe and sound on his next trip. Two of
the three men on the raft were rescued, being seen
from the South Shoal light-ship, taken on board, and
kept until April, when they were brought to town by
the United States steamer ‘+ Verbena.”’

‘Some of our most respected citizens have been people
who were wrecked on or near the island. Mr. Robert
Mooney was one of two hundred and twenty-six emi-
grants who were on the ill-fated ‘‘ British Queen,”’
wrecked on Muskeget in 1851. Mr. Mooney has ever
since then remained upon the island, rearing up a fam-
ily of seven children, and having for many years the
fine farm of Mr. Sanford in his charge. The late Mr.
Lewis Wendell, anative of Stettin, Prussia, was one of
the crew of the brig ‘“‘ Florida,’’ wrecked off Sancoty in
1833, and for nearly half a century lived upon the island,
highly respected and esteemed by all classes.

Every serious subject has its ridiculous side; and to
illustrate, an account is here given of the wreck of the
_ ship ‘‘ Nathaniel Hooper,” taken from Mr. Gardner's
‘¢ Wrecks around Nantucket ’’: —

‘“« July 8, 1838, ship ‘ Nathaniel Hooper,’ Capt. John
Bogardus, struck on South Shoal. Her cargo between
decks, consisting of boxes of sugar, was thrown oyer-
board. The crew abandoned her at midnight with all
sails up. At one o'clock a heavy squall came up from
the northwest, and she drifted off. Her helm being
just right, she went off towards Boston. She was fallen
in with by a smack which put two men aboard, and
soon after spoken by another which put three more

850 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

aboard, and they succeeded by continual pumping in
working her into Boston. The steamer ‘ Massachu-
setts’ and sloop ‘ Copy’ went out next morning, but
could of course find nothing of her. Empty boxes were
seen floating on the water, the sugar having dissolved
and the boxes come up to the surface. The captain
proceeded to Boston to report the loss of the vessel,
but was astonished to find her tied up alongside of the
wharf, all right.”’

Room only for one more anecdote can be given, and
that from the pen of the one most directly interested
in the sad catastrophe. |

In a communication to the compiler from Capt:
John Niven of Thorntown, Ind., he says: —

I have your letter containing a request that I
should send you an account of my shipwreck off your
island in 1846, and am happy in attempting to do so,
albeit a reminiscence of that tragic scene brings forth
many painful recollections; and were it not for the many
very happy associations connected with it in my inter-
course with the islanders and their more than hospita-
ble treatment of myself and crew, I could almost have
wished to have buried it in deep oblivion with my sor- —
row on that mournful occasion.

I[ere you have my jottings from memory. You can
clip out, abridge, or manipulate it in any way you like,
except to abbreviate any of my remarks relating to
the kindness and whole-souled hospitality of your
people to my naked crew and my bewildered self.
Their conduct and philanthropic bearing can never
be forgotten, or the story too often repeated. Con-

WRECKS. - 354

dense the jottings as much as you please, but take
nothing from the opinions expressed of your people.

But to my task. The initiatory of that voyage, so
replete with perils and which had such a disastrous
ending, was during the last days of the year 1845.
Under doubled-reefed topsails and reefed courses,
with a strong gale from the southwest, we cast off the
hawsers of the ship ‘‘ Earl of Eglinton,’ and pro-
ceeded with a pilot down the Mersey on a voyage to
the East Indies, via Boston. In less than two hours
under reefed topsails we discharged our pilot at the
mouth of the river, with the sombre prospect of thick
weather and increasing gale, accompanied by an ugly
sea. We beat about Liverpool Bay for three days, and
like the venerable St. Paul, saw neither moon nor stars
for many days. .However, with a stanch ship and an
outfit which lacked nothing, we managed to find our
way in due season to the Atlantic Ocean. From that
time till the 13th of March we experienced nothing
but a continuation of fierce gales and very ugly and
overwhelming seas; the which, whilst we were kept in
tormenting suspense, only caused some loss in sails
and bulwarks. The ship, however, was stanch and
tight, with a strong and willing crew.

During a temporary lull on that day, I noticed with
much satisfaction from the general appearance that all
her laboring had not disturbed any of her compact
proportions.

Taking observations in the evening, verifying at
night, we determined our position from Cape Cod, and
so shaped our course; but with the traditional fear
that English navigators have of Nantucket Shoals, I

b02 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

shaped a course well clear, as I supposed, but suffi-
ciently to windward so that if the wind should sud-
denly chop to northwest, I should fetch Boston Bay
without beating.

On the 14th, at 9 A. M., the weather became hazy, with
a moderate breeze from the southward; sounded, and
verified my position by the nature and depth of sound-
ings: was under easy sail, keeping the deep-sea lead go-
ing: when near noon, finding the water shoaling, and
imagining in the absence of sights that we were sea-
ward of Nantucket Shoals, I hauled up, but still we
shoaled; at noon the ship slightly grazed the bottom,
and the boatswain, an old shellback of threescore years,
fainted in the chains. As soon as we again reached
deep water, the best bower was let go and sixty fath-
oms of cable veered out; but his Lordship barely tight-
ened the chain when it parted, and off we went in as
dense a fog as is ever seen on the shoals. We had
evidently grounded on the last quarter of flood tide, and
the tide ebbing bewildered us by the rips, which to a
stranger simulated breakers. Here we were in un-
known waters, unable to discover anything a cable’s
length ahead, and with an increasing gale. Our ener-
gies were spent in dodging the breakers, backing, fill-
ing, tacking, and going at large, until about midnight,
when. the lookouts sang out ‘‘ Breakers all round!”
We reduced our canvas even from the shortened stage,
and amidst deafening thunder and vivid lightning, we
struck very heavily, and to our consternation we had
only one and one half fathoms water midships! .Then
occurred a scene which baffles description. Incipient
mutiny was not the least feature, but it would involve

3 | WRECKS. 855

so much of the first person singular were it recited
that modesty says, Hold on.

Firing guns, sending up rockets, and pumping ship
kept us busy, whilst our distressed vessel was pound-
ing on what we supposed was the Old Man Shoal,
until 3 A. M. on the 15th, when with a fearful send
we slipped off into deep water. Boats were hoisted
out and provisioned, and with boat keepers were
veered astern. While continually showing distress
signal lights and firing guns, we drifted along between
the ‘‘rips’’? and the shore, wishing for daylight and
assistance, when the long-looked-for sunrise came;
the sky was clear and the breeze more moderate, and
to our manifest delight we observed the shore ]’ned
with people. Recognizing the facts that the ship
had six feet of water in her hold, the rudder disabled,
and a salt cargo in bulk, I determined, after a hasty
consultation with the officers, to beach the ship as the
seeming best way to save life and property. The surf,
which was quite visible, seemed to be so overwhelming
that it was not deemed prudent tu venture iu the small
boats; but with hastily improvised steering appara-
tus we followed the shore line until we found what
appeared to be a good place, near Tom Never’s Head,
at which to beach her. We then headed her for the
shore, and at about 8 30 A. M. we grounded in five fath-
oms. At that moment a tremendous breaker struck
the ship full iu the stern, gutting the cabin and caus-
ing all hands to take to the rigging for safety. We
were almost within talking distance of a vast number
of the citizens of the island, who wished to assist us;
but the way did not seem clear. Meanwhile, in an

23 |

854 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. x

evil moment, the hands in the long-boat and pinnace
cast off from the ship; and in less tims than it takes
to record it, six out of the eight men were drowned,
and the boats made into kindling. The two who were
saved may thank the presence of mind of Watson
Burgess and Capt. Matthew Crosby for their rescue.
Surveying the surroundings, and notwithstanding the
host of people anxious to give us assistance, it occurred
to the master to swim ashore with a lead line, and
thus establish communication between the ship and
the shore, and for this purpose he got into the chains;
but the deprecatory gestures of the assembled crowd
deterred him. Meanwhile some inventive genius wrote
on a board, so that we could see it, ‘‘ Bend a line to an
oar’’; which we did, and threw it into the water,
when it was dexterously hooked with a bluefish drail,
hauled ashore and bent on to a stout rope, which we
immediately hauled on board, finding instructions
wrapped up in rope yarns for us to ‘‘ make fast a
hawser to the mast and lash it to the rope!’ which
was done as hastily as the overwhelming rollers would
permit us. Very speedily they had the hawser tight-
ened to a post on shore, and improvising a pair of
hames on a bowline, a gocd substitute for a sling was
made, and by it the supercargo and crew were safely
landed. In the interim the boat keepers, contrary 10 |
orders, cast off their painters, and very quickly their
boats were engulfed in the rollers, and but for the
superhuman efforts of two noble gentlemen all would
have perished; but two of them were rescued, and I
believe one of the rescuers was severly hurt by the

WRECKS. 855

boat striking him.* The last person coming on the
running bowline nearly lost his life, the sling parting
and dropping him in the surf; but one gentleman
added another to his humane attributes by perilling
his lifet to save that of another, and more dead than
alive, with reason for the time taking a recess, the half-
drowned man was landed tf

Well, everlasting thanks and unceasing gratitude
are all that the principal actor in these scenes can
render to the noble band of islanders who left their
warm habitations on that tempestuous morning in
March, to rescue entire strangers and foreigners.
Ere the writer forgets the kind treatment experi-
enced by the crew of the “ Earl of Eglinton,” and the
spontaneous generosity of the people of Nantucket on
that melancholy occasion, *‘ his right hand will forget
its cunning and his tongue cleave to the roof of his
mouth.’’

And now, after thirty-six years, while the writer
contemplates the many improved methods since em-
ployed for saving shipwrecked seamen, he cannot help

thinking that the ‘‘ bear-a-hand-shifts’’ that the un-

daunted men of Nantucket used were the initiatory
steps toward the establishment of the many life-
saving stations for the benefit of. shipwrecked sailors,
and the improvement of apparatus for giving assistance
to vessels in distress.
The “ fish-drail’’ that did its duty for us, with the

lead line to which it is attached, have an honored place

* Watson Burgess (deceased).
+ Capt. Matthew Crosby (deceased).
t Capt. Niven.

306 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

amongst the relics of the *‘ Earl of Eglinton,” and any
one with the most distant claim to be a Nantucketer,
who should venture so far inland to visit the ** An-
cient Mariner,’’ in his cabin amongst the woods, can
see them and enjoy the ceud mille failte of himself and
family, as well as an oral description of his first visit
to America, together with his reflections on a people
who, to be fully appreciated, must be introduced in as
unceremonious a manner as he was.
JOHN NIVEN.
THORNTOWN, Inp., Dec. 29, 1881.

Roll of Honor.

Many instances of bravery and daring are on record,
where Nantucket men have perilled life to save others
from these wrecks. Believing that the public will be
interested in knowing who these brave men are, a list
is here given of those who have at various times dur-
ing the past twenty years been rewarded by the general
government and Humane Society, for acts of unselfish
daring unsurpassed in the world’s history. A number
in the list have passed to the ‘ great beyond,” but
they will find there their heroic deeds inscribed in
letters of gold on the great book. :

Heman Eldridge . . . . . . . Gold Medal

Wms Patterson 46) a Hide sae s
Thomas F. Sandsbury, a
complimentary letterand .. “g $f
Frederick W. Ramsdell. . .. . Sac pee
EbenezerGould .... «ss « Silver
George Fisher .s o> ap west $ s

Joseph Perry, . « s « see. cae “

WRECKS. | 857

Sevrane wher’... . ee) @) Silver Medal.
Meemaeratidve 6 ee re a “6
Pree SP IITILON 62?) ee a 66 ce
reommrdms Key 6 el ee e's as cs
I ae Sern ae ne ae a Ac

Prema MOUNT .0 1 0 ie te ee - e
Seema Pasher*® § , yo eo ek oT 66
Pamememder Panning, 2. seis «, 66
peeemm. Gardner. . «) 6 e,85 Ke he
ES SS re 6 “
MEE CPOCT. ge te 66 66

55 9 rs Se 6 66
Meeneediecs . . se et et el 6¢ 66
DPEEOINCS 5 we sw ‘s
SS ae ear 66 66

Alexander B. Dunham has been seven times re-
warded by the Humane Society, the reward in each case
being in the form of money. A young lad named Horace
Cook received a medal from the Humane Society for
going down into a cistern, every man refusing, and
securing a rope around Mr. George E. Mooers, who
had gone into the cistern to do some soldering and had
become insensible from the fumes of burning char-
coal.

Fanning, Gardner, Hamblen, Veeder, Coffin, Bates,
Holmes, and Stephen Key, mentioned above, not only
received medals and $10 each, but $450 was presented
them by a number of citizens. This was for their
heroic efforts in rescuing the crew of the schooner
*¢ Mary Anna,’’ Capt. Lennan, on the 4th of February,
1871. Edward Everett Hale, coming here some time

* Before his medal reached him, Mr. Fisher lost his life in
attempting to reach a vessel requiring a pilot.

358 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

titer, requested to see these men, and feelingly ap-
dressed them on the noble work they had performed,
giving to each a copy of one of his books.

In the fall of 1881, a vessel loaded with coal struck
on the outer bar and filled, the sea making a clear
beach over her. Her crew of seven men, who were
lashed to the rigging, were all saved by a boat’s crew
consisting of Benjamin F. Morris, Oliver Chadwick,
Leander Small, Joseph M. Folger, Jr., John Norcross,
and Frank Meiggs, who in the face of a terrible gale
of wind and a furious sea rowed three miles to their
rescue. The men on the vessel were found to be so
much exhausted that it was necessary to roll them
into the boat. The Massachusetts Humane Society
rewarded the rescuers with $10 each for their daring
efforts.

Isaac P. Dunham, Isaac P. Coffin, Nathan Fish,
Arthur Folger, and Joseph Hendricks, for saving the
crew of the schooner ‘‘ Andrew H. Edwards,’ which
foundered off Tuckernuck in the great gale of April
1,1879, were rewarded by the same society with $15
each.

Thomas F. Sandsbury, before spoken of, and who
received a gold medal and complimentary letter from
the United States government, was accompanied on
his perilous trip by the following brave crew, who
received each a silver medal and a duplicate letter: —
James C. Sandsbury, George E. Coffin,
Henry C. Coffin, Marcus W. Dunham,
John R. Dunham, Edwin R. Smith,
Andrew Brooks.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down

his life for his friend.”

WRECKS. | 359

Life-saving Station.

Some facts in relation to the life-saving service of
the United States are here given. They are taken
from the ‘“‘ Revised Regulations for the Government
of the Life-saving Service of the United States,” kindly
loaned the compiler by Joseph B. Macy, Esq.

The line of coast upon which the life-saving service
is established is divided into eleven districts, which
embrace all the life-saving and life-boat stations and
houses of refuge within their respective limits. The
second district includes the coast of Massachusetts and
Nantucket.

There are three classes of stations authorized by law,
which are designated as Life-Saving Stations, Life-Boat
Stations,and Houses of Refuge. The first are estalished
in localities remote from settlements, and are furnished
with every approved appliance for rescuing the ship-
wrecked from stranded vessels, and with the means
for ministering to the immediate necessities and com-
fort of the rescued, and for the convenience of the
crews regularly employed at such stations during the
inclement portions of the year. To this class belongs
the one on Nantucket. It has a keeper and seven
men, who go on duty at sundown and are relieved ey-
ery four hours. Many a life has been saved by these
men, who patrol, night after night, miles upon miles of
sandy beach in the most inclement weather. Theirs
is no easy task, and the pay is hardly adequate for the
hardships which they undergo. One life-saving station
upon this island is hardly enough, and it is hoped that
at no distant day the government will see fit to place

360 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

anotherhere. The present station is at Surfside, three
and one half miles from town. The names of the men
are as follows: —

G. A. Veeder, Keeper; B. B. Pease, J. O. Freeman,
C. E. Smalley, C. G. Coffin, 4th, Eugene Clisby, J
Williams, Jr., W. H. Norcross.

As a fit conclusion to this article on wrecks, an item
is here inserted from the Bosion Herald of February,
1ss2:—

“Tf there be one branch of the public service more
than another that deserves generous recognition and
liberal reward from Congress, it is the life-saving ser-
vice. It has been divorced from politics, and its mem-
bers undergo an amount of arduous and perilous labor
that makes their positions the farthest removed from
sinecures of any under the government control. The
spigot-saving and bung-wasting economy of Congress
has reduced the appropriations for this service to so
low a figure that many exposed points on the coast
have been left unguarded for months at a time; and
sleepless vigilance, dauntless bravery, the prime of
physical power and endurance, and unvarying fidelity
to duty have all been required for the pittance of
four hundred dollars a year. The couniry will sustain
the present Congress in dealing liberally with our noble
life-saving service.”

YACHTS.

Nantucket can boast of a very fine fleet of small yachts,
The majority of them are cat-rigged, and are usually
sailed by their owners, who are all very competent and
careful men. Northrup, whose bright litile book has

YACHTS. 361

been before quoted, says: ‘‘ Indeed, it is just to say that
the sailors of the island bear the very highest reputa-
tion for good judgment, skill, and honesty, and that a
mishap to a pleasure party under their care is almost
an unheard-of thing.”

The regular price for taking a party (one person or
more) out bluefishing or sharking is eight dollars per
day. This includes the services of the master and his
assistant, together with hooks, lines, and bait, but not
provisions.

Appended is a list of the yachts, with the names of
their owners or masters. The tonnage only of those
which are required by law (over five tons) to register
at the custom-house is here given.

Yachts.
Vesta, William Jernegan, Master. . . . 8.13 tons.
Dionis, Barzillai Luce, = 9 eal a ah oats: | Uaeme

Emily, Joseph Winslow, “ ... . 6.12 «
Maia, Wm. C. Dunham, ‘“ a iiinh n's = bo ancy RR

L. Roberta, A. H. Adams, ‘ MAUR eer ee eee ae
Clara, A. B. Dunham, i ae Baty) a
Lillian, C. E. Smalley, ol kph Sac vig SU

Mabel, John M. Winslow, ‘“ OORT pay
Ellouise, Wallace Adams, ‘“
Flora Temple, Benjamin Pease, Master.

Windward, Everett Davis, 66
Dawning Light, J.O. Freeman,
Magic, Horace Cash, ce

Annie Wilson, Geo. A. Veeder, rT
_Sylph, Obed Swain, 66

362 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET.

Zephyr, David Bunker,
Undine, S. P. Winslow, Jr.,
Dauntless, B. R. Burdett,
Naiad Queen, Judah Nickerson,
Metamora, T. M. Dunham,

Master.
ot eb

¢¢

66

eval

INDEX,

A.

Advertisements ......ccecccseee 307
Agents..cccccces @eeeeaeceae oe eee@ 8
PEBPICUIUTCS Jocccccccccccesess 8

Agricultural Society.......... 291
Almshouse...... Biss bixc.0 ae wee: be
PUIMIBOTIOTEM vec ccccscccccccce 12
APOtheCarics ag, sccesccccccce 309
DRUPINUOCLIIEO Wea écc'diccccccess 13
Ses OTS aa 262, 15
WEUPIOROOUER 6 occcccccsccccccccs 19
PMMMCCTR se cdwadiwavccedecse 8
POM Sd devédddsdeccecsceces 28
B.
Banks bebe eeeeeeseeeseoeseesee + 24
EOL a 25
SS 97
Barney, Nathaniel...... danni 96
ae aw aw nis 29
RR Wa sbaithiss «0,6 o- 6.0 29
Se 30
| Ee - 30
PINE case oc oes (Re 273
BPO ROCRCTA, «2 «2-22 ..000+--- 262
EN arabia A Aaiave 6.4)0.0,0 0 00 0's 32
nee 292
SS ES 57
EE EES OEE 57
BUM TMi dee tacceccsvccees 217
C.
Ea aa “8. 313
California Fever.......... bec 5 200
as i ic aie ¢a 0 vec.cc css 58
SUE TROON 656s cccccccces 59
Eidelogue 8 See 39
EE SS 60

anes and Peculiari-
aoe Reuben (“Long Tom

Coffin ”’ )
Children’s Aid poclety ss .5.... 202
Churches ,. eeeocereee eet eo eegeeee 72

Civil WE Ofc ccucclens eben cccaeas 207
Clergymen ...cccccsecescccace 200
Cli e@eeeseeoeveevnceeeeeoeoeee2 e282 006 8 9

Clock, Astronomical ..seccsee 19

Clock, Town e@eceeeceeee oe eece 79
OE TI Dae pee Le a 84
Coffin: Schoolvsctecssewdaweae. Oo

Coffin, Sir Isaac. .cecseccccess 102
Coflin, a6 Miriam RY SAO Sp Ege UL 100
Commons. Bad Bis a areehe ge

Conchology ........ ghia a nia okt - 34
Copyists ...csccccccsccscccews 20a
Coskata. sssvaderssdsdese« coee 84
Courts 625 ¢se0Wes a rey eve 92
CuriOsitics ...ssecccscscscssse DO
Oriers, “Towmt’ «sas 45.220 Gols’ Oe
D.
Daughters of Rebekah........ 297
DSRS. « + axeddeesiseneonaen s 263
DISLANICCR 5 faces canes eee de swe Toe
Distinguished Nantucketers.. 95
Districts... os b.cxid wanlale oprah 138
DTEV CH a:u, 05,05, 6 00, ehtwraiene ain ar’. aie - 138
DrOwiiey sas, <<, . ain an ain, «, <5 6m)
E.

Ewer, FC. Dive Di i citesces se Oe
XPLORE cede deaewdeawess eceee 143
¥,

Farmers’ Institute. ......ecce: 293
Fires and Fire Department.... 144
PPR Siaiatcterwharcteininias diaherdls, sav 0 145
Votger; A biahiiies voc cwann'e 0659 106
Foigers Chaas J ccecnnessveasts 108
Folger, Walter...vwliegerers 107
i ee ee ee ae 148
Furnished Apartments.......+ 155
G.

Gardner, Anna....... ckugonue an
GER, aides depedeewds sin cukbany - 156

Geology ..vecssacsceccccrescddy 40

364 INDEX.
Gent Paint. scccew cguswadanex. 156 Mitchell, El eee
Good Templars .......scesue. 293 Mitchell, William ..«ssscesse? 20
AUN So Shindd vs sve ee kin ale ee Monumenf....s0+¢ses ove se cmmn, ae
Mott, Lueretia ..s..06s0smeenmeree
H. Miiseum. ...20ss2+0a0cens eae
Music Teachers ...cccccosssusl BOS
PEGE Wis anes Peeks xanek one dees 158 2
Hanaford Piete Asus 340 Muskeget .cvceveccchecesee anaes
PRA Ares ove sss «ses a eps 144 | N
PIRUUOE i cakag sis ae stent ee i cae
aoa ea Ad ws hea chew tes 84 N agi tees nie of the name, 223
istorical Sketches.........0. 159 iscovery OF .s....5sesccma 159
Horses and Carriages......... 217 Historical Sketches of.... 159
TRE ands oper une 3 cats neti 212 How to get t6, etc....ssnaste ck
Howard Society.......-. ercet wee Naval Battle off......... - 203
Hudson, Settlement of........ 200 Newspapers, History of Nan-
Humane'Soclety.......scecnse 343 tucket.cosscdcdecdssccecssce
I. O.
Indians @eeeeeeceveeoeveevoeeseeeeeeee@ 183 Odd FlOWS «+++ +e uggececeees 297
Old Buildings......... rer ||
J. Old Colony Railroad ......... 1
] eeeeeneee eeeeeve eevee
SAE sods ok Ga uucaes sage. tae arenes a
Jenks, A. Eusssssseseeeeeees - 115 | Old Spanish Bell....... ep
ae. Samucl Haynes ....... — Ornithology..... goninee a-dsings oe
Ju sg ip: | De ere Sh" 821 i 3
Justices of the Peace ......... 321
Paupers...-. Sosts'sveleie's cosvece 12
K, Physicians .....++. rs od as eee 268
Tni R Pinkham Reuben eres - 128
MRA OF SEAT ayiivip seouiokeoneetl gS RRR RI IS «- 243
t, Poets and Poetry.......eee- oe a
" HCO pie ens vets erwin oe 25
Latitude and Longitude ...... 215 | poligeeresr rrr io
Laws of ’Sconset .....+++++++. 287 8] SPOR Seve cee'veww voomenine 257
Lawyers weeeeseceeseseeeerees 268 | POpUlation o<wsiewsineseleanaee 260
Libraries.....0+.eeseseeeeeees 214 Piat-O fice. ances 261
Licenses ...++0+-eee sree scenes 214 | Professions....... veined bbe 262
Hy ohh et Bitationy. dale oi vo t= 359 Property, Taxable .....0.006 264
REDUEDOUIBCD: « i5.00.0,0 0:0 n,0.0.0.0,0,0ihiid 214 Ublic Carriages oesececee tv) eae
RAVCES SHADE “oo pecan as dan ons 217 ab ic sbi rein
M. . Q.
Macy, Abigail. ...ssccsscece «x 116 pete way pare tapes, 9 sin Ses ae Er
Mary, Alfred. os seswncioraeo 4s 117 See as keane ce ee 266
Macy, Geo. Nelson........++. 119.;| (QUarys Abratemt. 65> ectsers
Macy, oS: BGR Pee ae 119 Quidnet ec cc cre ece cece caseeses 267
Macy, Zaccheus.....iecscvers 117 R
Maddequet. .ccocccccscscccsss 218 ,
MAGS po sinack.tntbnles ities dxcle 261 Railroad « o.0.0.0%s see ome smen ome 20d
MAp@ ess ccccccvccccccvcsvves 309, 1 Rainfall . . oo .0cccccccsetsersee 220
Masonic Order .......ccccseee 295 Rebellion .....+eeeeeeeeeecnes 207
Mechanical Trades........+. 218 Relief Association.......+..+. 297
Meteorological .....ccecesesee 219 R@BOULCeSe oo cciesievccecceasone SUe

Mission SchOO!] -ccvecccccccece 296

—

RemniOns oc v0460.0000 ch cvbhaee 210

INDEX.

Revolution ..cssccssscscccveee 193

MEIN Gl TAOMOR os. hsv cvececcns i. a00).
Beotchi, William. ..ssescecs yea 1
PO SOON svc secs cvuciecvvecse 2id
. 8.
DEMME cGcled Godvghscathew BiG
ea artes 278, 215
Sanatory Advantages......... 274
SMUPEIPTRIIG A cccicecnccecdeass 279
BOMOGI <+...... Splieia'e-e.epieie « 279
School Teachers ..... Dba Paste y 263
ES Em 285
Sesachacha..... tS BO a eee . 280
OS ae peminacl - 145
Sheep and Shearing ....... eee 280
EIT cian e's cece vceu's ne - 283
Sherburne Bluffs...........0. 284
Sherburne Lyceum.......... - 298
DMMATER Cy ce ve acisncceccce sce . 280
Ship Building. .............+- 284
a 291
0 EEO rr 291
Spooner, Owen C............. 132
Mes savage seccccec gee 300
PUNINMMEDIBTINS seo ba ee ceccescccee 301
rere, Mary ...c.0..2cee 136
PEOATIDUNOMIES: Coca cee cscccens - 301
ES -. 309
EEE ee 309
Sunset Heights...... RELY IP 311
hl eS 311
s. P. Ci A. @eeseeaeeosve er eee eeeoene 298
ROME INCOM occ cece nc ccce 312
-

TEKOBicccccccccccvcccccccccce 264

365

Paxidermista ces edieiedesaees's
MW OMMBtOPS (his vcd daeint wcckese
Telegraphic Facilities ........
Temperance Society..........
CMIPCTALU TO. acs 2 oa Soka tee a's
Tom Never’s Head ........00.
Tourists’ Registry Agency
GVO Ws x tak Pak « HR Aae eee Swine
Town and County Ofiicers....
POMS HOC Riss Waban wach ake spi
GNGE COTICTE cic éarihanlans eedes 3
"POW Dd COUNGy ascinemssiciaes ee
EOCCH Gs o aaa skew aea ch ania
Tuckernuck....... Ph ab ewes ue
U;
Union Benevolent Society ....
Vv.
NT OUCTE ova see cen DA aang ole sine 6.
W.
TA OARS cd as cn detannaas widteinae
Wannacomet Water ‘Wor bes
War of 1882.55 2.4 04. 2beubes ‘
EATON TTICE, “awe mika a vine wate did
WAG os ES ees ee owen
WATVES is a5 ase dake wetigube amie
What to ace, ete: .cteeeeek ss
Woman's C. T.. Union. s.ssces
WV PECK. i012 sees Ren ernee e
Wreck Commissioners....eee-

2

VACHS. a dewcesacitewe

A Tiprary “/-RAVEL AND ADVENTURE

st |_« IN FOREIGN LANDS ite

Illustrated Per Volume $1.50

YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD

First Sertes. |
OUTWARD BOUND ; OR, YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT.

SHAMROCK AND THISTLE ; OR, YOUNG AMERICA
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RED CROSS; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ENGLAND AND
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Second Sertes.
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SWEDEN, AND DENMARK. |

NORTHERN LANDS; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA
AND PRUSSIA.

CROSS AND CRESCENT; oR, YOUNG AMERICA IN
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SUNNY SHORES ; or, YouNG AMERICA IN ITALY AND
AUSTRIA.

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AND PORTUGAL.

VI. ZJSLES OF THE SEA; or, YOUNG AMERICA Hom™

WARD BOUND.

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