Historic Nantucket
Part of the Scallop Fleet, and a "Cat".
APRIL 1967
Published Quarterly by NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President, George W. Jones. Vice Presidents, Miss Grace Brown Gardner, W. Ripley Nelson, Albert F. Egan Jr., Mrs. William L. Mather, Alcon Chadwick. Henry B. Coleman. Treasurer, Norman P. Giffin. Secretary, Mrs. Isabel W. Duffy. Councillors, George W. Jones, Chairman; Miss Helen Powell, Albert G. Brock, term expires 1967: Mrs. Ernest H. Menges, Walter Beinecke, Jr., term expires 1968; Leroy H. True, Herbert I. Terry, term expires 1969; Mrs. James C. Andrews, Richard P. Swain, term expires 1970. Advertising and Publications, W. Ripley Nelson and H. Errol Coffin. Honorary Curator. Mrs. Nancy S. Adams. Curator, Mrs. William L. Mather. Executive Committee, George W. Jones, Chairman; Alcon Chadwick, Henry B. Coleman, Albert F. Egan, Jr., W. Ripley Nelson. Editor, Historic Nantucket. A. Morris Crosby: Assistant Editors, Mrs. Mar garet Fawcett Barnes. Mrs. R. A. Orleans. Chairmen of Exhibits, Historical Museum, Mrs. William L. Mather: Whaling Museum, W. Ripley Nelson: Hadwen House — Satler Memorial, Albert F. Egan, Jr.: Old Mill, Henry B. Coleman: Old Jail, Albert G. Brock; 1800 House, Miss Ethel Clark: Fire Hose Cart House, Irving T. Bartlett; Oldest House, Mrs. J. Clinton Andrews; Folger-Franklin Seat and Memorial Boulder, Herbert I. Terry.
IMPORTANT NOTICE. Due to the increasingly burdensome regulations imposed by the U. S. Post Office on Second Class Mail, it has become impractical to carry more than one mailing address for HISTORIC NANTUCKET. The Council, therefore, has voted that hereafter the magazine shall be sent only to a member's permanent address, which it is assumed is the one appearing on this envelope. Members will kindly make arrangements at their local post offices for any forwarding or holding.
HISTORIC NANTUCKET Published quarterly and devoted to the preservation of Nantucket's antiquity, its famed heritage and its illustrious past as a whaling port. VOLUME 14
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April 1967
No. 4
CONTENTS
Nantucket Historical Association Officers
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The Haulover — Conversation between Henry C. Carlisle and Arthur McCleave
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Nantucket's Changing Profile
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Was Nantucket Ever Forested? by Bassett Jones
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Recent Events
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Diary of William C. Folger, Edited by Nancy S. Adams
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Legacies and Bequests
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Historic Nantucket is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts, by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sent to Association Members. Extra copies $.50 each. Membership Dues are — Annual-Active $3.00; Sustaining $10.00; Life—one payment $50.00 Second-class postage paid at Nantucket, Massachusetts. Copyright, 1967, Nantucket Historical Association. Communications pertaining to the Publication should be addressed to the Editor, Historic Nantucket, Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket, Massachusetts, 02554.
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The Haulover A'"Conversation" between Henry C. Carlisle and Arthur McCleave. This recording, taped by the late Henry C. Carlisle in 1961, is the second of his "Conversations" with Nantucket people to be published by HISTORIC NANTUCKET. The first, his talk with the late "Will" Gardner, appeared in the issue of January, 1966. Arthur McCleave, in view of the fact that Nantucket has become strictly a summer resort, was one of the last, if not the very last of the professionally seafaring Nantucketers.
N
ow, Arthur, let's start and talk about the "Haulover." That's something that's going to be ancient history. Before too long there'll be nobody around that ever went through it or even knew anything about the detail of it. So, let's get down some of the detail of the Haulover at Wauwinet on Nantucket Island. Now, will you tell me what you remember about the width and the length and the location? Well, I know it was two-thirds of a mile from Wauwinet to the no'th where it started. Then it worked to the no'th a little, cut away the sand till it got to the iron ore and stopped there. Then she commenced to gradually — there was a bar outside, you know — gradually commenced to narrow up and close up. There was pretty good water there, about eight foot. We used to go out there drawing six. It was eight foot in there at one spell. As I remember it, reading about it, wasn't it twelve years? Yes, it was opened in 1896. You told me a minute ago you remember the night it opened. Tell me about that, Arthur. Well, the night it opened we landed at 'Sconset about dark, and that night, at twelve o'clock, we had to go down and haul the dories 'way up to 'Sconset Bank, it was so rough on the Beach. You were afraid you would lose the dories. Yes. You couldn t look to the wind'ard — the sand was going across there — and that's the night she opened — the Opening. Did you ever hear of it ever opening a hundred years before that or some other time? Never. No, I never did either. It used to be very narrow there — they used to haul boats across, you know. Take two oars and lay 'em down. Take another oar crossways for a roller, you know. You hauled them across? Yes, dories, yes. It was only about from here to the roof of that building out there. You mean it was just a hundred feet. Well, around there, yes. 'Course it used to change a little — get wide, then get narrow — sometimes a hundred feet, sometimes be fifty feet, very narrow. But from the Wauwinet Hotel — or House, now — you say it was about — Two-thirds of a mile — yes.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
Well, now tell us something about the way you went through it on a boat. You had the "Waquoit." The "Waquoit" was a steamer that was how long? Fifty-five feet. A good size. We could only get up the harbor at high water, you know. At high water we'd take advantage of the Opening and go out that way, instead of going 'way round Great Point and we had no trouble getting through the Opening — eight feet of water, you know. Once in a while take a few seas aboard, but that didn't amount to anything. You were after what kind of fish? Oh, codfish, I think, those days, codfish and haddock, bluefish in the summer. We used to go seining after bluefish, you know. You would take parties, or commercial? No, we didn't bother with parties. You were doing a commercial job. Yes, hell yes. If anybody wanted to go out for free, we'd take 'em along. We'd never charge anybody anything. Now, let's get back to the Opening again. It was 1896 it opened, in a storm you remember, and it was open for twelve years; and why did it close? Well, it gradually kept shoaling up, see — the beach sand kept making up. Finally it was nothing but a stream and just a little narrow stream, and then it closed up entirely. There used to be a lot of clams in there after it closed. Yup — soft shelled clams. There used to be plenty of them in there. A fellow used to go up there and dig three or four bushels,, for market — commercial. Were there a lot of catboats went through there? Oh, there weren't too many — probably a dozen altogether. You remember any of the names? Yes, remember all of them. And you know all the owners? Yes. Go ahead — let's have some names of the catboats. Well, there's the "Crusader", "4X's", "4 Aces", and the "Adelaide", the "Samoset", "Cleopatra" — You do remember — And "Dionis". Hell yes, I can remember all of them. And they were all about twenty-two, or -three or -four feet? Bigger than that, some of them. Thirty odd, thirty-two feet, some of them — big catboats. Some of them used to take parties out of here down to Great Point Rip for eight dollars a day. What do you think of that? For the party. That's what it cost the party — eight dollars a day for one of them big boats with a captain and a mate. Course they had no power, you know. The captain got two dollars, the mate got two dollars, and the boat got four dollars. Eight dollars a day. And they would go to Great Point Rip after bluefish? You used it for your trawling? Yes, codfishing. I can remember as a boy going out there myself and I think we were after sharks. I don't know why we wanted sharks.
THE HAULOVER
7
Well, they used to get them for fun, you know. Now, let's see if we can figure how the Opening affected the Harbor. Did half the water go out the Opening aind half the Jetties? Well, I should say about a third of it went out the Opening. What was up from Pocomo Point to the Opening, I think, went in and out the Opening, and the rest of the Harbor, I think, went round Brant Point. Now your big trouble was the shoals — Yes, shallow water. The worst of it was what? Bass Shoal, the other side of Pocomo. Between Pocomo and Wauwinet there's a shoal that runs clean across the harbor there, and Pocomo Shoal runs almost across to Coatue. You had to go- up the harbor about East and then haul around Pocomo Shoal, had to haul out no'th, then haul south, and then haul east-by-no'th through Bass Shoal. It was crooked as hell going up through there. Well, do you remember the names of those Points, as you called them in those days? Yes, the first point was called First Point, and the bend there was Asey's Bend — Asey Small's Bend, between First and Second Point. He was the fellow that started the Wauwinet House. Then the next point was Second Point. They used to call the bend Sid's Bend. Sid Fisher had a house in there. The next point was Third Point and we used to call the bend Burdett's Bend. Old Captain Burdett used to build boats here. He had a gunning shack up there and we used to call that Burdett's Bend. The next bend we used to call the Haulover. That was the narrowest part of Coatue, wh'ere you could haul a boat across if you had to. That was the Haulover Bend. Oh, that was that narrow — Well, of course, it was wider than it was at Wauwinet, a lot wider, but you could haul a dory across there. And the next point was Five Finger Point. The shoals run out in fingers, you know, like this. But didn't they call it Chatham Bend at one time? Yes — Chat-ham Bend. That's where these Cape Codders come when they come over from Chat-ham. That's the reason they called it Chat-ham Bend. Corkish and the man whose funeral you went to yesterday — What's his name? Burchell. We used to call it Fourth Bend, but since those Chat-hamers come over they named it Chat-ham Bend. Well, it sounds as if it was rather shallow country for your big "Waquoit." Oh, it was. But you went up at high tide. High tide. But, of course, we'd sometimes go up at half-tide, if the tide was coming. And we'd put ashore at Bass Shoal and wait for it, you know. Finally we cut a channel through there with the wheel — With your propeller — Yup. When I was about eighteen, I was in the Life Saving Service and we used to have June and July off, you know, and go back to the Service in August, see? June and July off without pay. So, this summer I went up to work for Jim Backus, to run his sharpie. We used to come to town to get ice and coal with the sharpie. Couple of ton — two or three — and a quart of
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
rum in the stern. And I'd give it to her, up there. Take about four hours to beat down — she was flat-bottomed — and go up there in forty minutes with a fair wind. There was a fellow staying at the Wauwinet House, "Diamond" Jim Brady. He and another feller had hired a house at Wau winet, but they got their meals at the Wauwinet Hotel. They used to have broiled live lobster, broiled chicken — one of the best customers Jim ever had. So Jim got me to take them out bluefishing one day, outside through the Opening. He had a sharpie there about forty-odd foot long, had a foremast about thirty feet long and a mainmast about twenty. So we went out. There was plenty of bluefish and they caught all they wanted, 1 guess. We started to come in and the throat halyards parted — the halyards on the foresail parted. 'Course you couldn't do a thing without that, you know. No power. So I started to shin up to reeve them off and that mast commenced to go like that, you know. He said, "Come down here. S'pose that come over and kills one of us." I said, "How about Me?" He says, "Come on down here and I'll give you ten dollars when you come down." "Hell," I says, "I've got to go part way up and put a strap round there — you'll never get in without the foresail." So, when we got into the dock, he says, "Bet you ten you can't go up." 'Course, I've been up before. I put on a pair of long rubber boots, so I could hang to the mast, and up I went, and when I come down he handed me ten dollars. Boy, he was a sport! He was famous, especially in the West . . . Now, Arthur, let's go back to the Haulover. You had a rough trip or two didn't you? Yes, I washed the bunker plates off — soft coal went down among the cranks of the engine. That was pretty good. Yeah, but hell, we got out of that all right. That was all in a day's work — Yes, oh yes. You had a fire? Yes, in the fo'c's'le. The engineer had a slice bar, you know, for slicing up the fire. Then he'd shove it through on the rack. One time he shoved it clean through into the fo'c's'le — burned up all the bedding. The flames were coming out there and we just put 'em out — nothing to it. That's your "Waquoit" — What kind of experience — Boiler tubes. We used to burn out — well, we had to tube boilers every five years. This water here in Nantucket — some kind of an acid in it — ate the boilers right up — the tubes, you know, and we used to have them retubed every five years at least. And we'd have a tube blow out once in a while off-shore. That was something. You had to take the stack off and the hood. We had castiron plugs made about that long and tapered. We used to bank the fire and crawl in there face up and drive that plug into the bottom, then drive another into the top. I hope you waited a few hours after you banked the fire before you crawled in. Oh, hell no. We used to crawl right in, put some boards over the fire, and canvas, and crawl right in face up. I've been in there hundreds of times. I had an old engineer — he didn't dare go in. Jeez, it used to be something taking that stack off outside where it was rolling. Ye-es, we've blown out lots of tubes. You had someone watching you — Oh, yes. I had a fellow standing at my feet to haul me out in case I
THE HAULOVER
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passed out, see. I always took precautions. I wouldn't be foolish enough to go in there without anybody around. But you didn't mind trying these things when they got awful tough? You were perfectly willing to try them, all right. I tried them all. The engineer was an older man, you know. I never asked him to go in there, I'd go in myself. There was a schooner back of Tuckernuck one time. She came from the Cape de Verde Islands. She had ninety passengers and we made a bargain to get him off for $1500 see, and a cutter came down while we sent to town to get an anchor for a purchase. While the boat had gone to town the cutter came down and they helped us haul her off. Of course they couldn't charge anything, you know. We were supposed to get $1500. I think we got $750. Why did they cut it down? Well, they claimed the cutter helped us out and they made a hell of a story about it. They had a lot of gin aboard. Geneva gin and they had some orgadin. Have you ever tried that orgadin? I had some in Mexico. Well, we drank up all the Geneva gin he said he had, and when they got to New Bedford the Customs went aboard and found hundreds of cases. So they lost it, they confiscated the vessel you know — The gin and the vessel too — Yuh. Let's see, now, Arthur. We've had experiences quite a lot of places around the Island. You probably got a hundred more, but they're hard to think of because you've thought of about fifty of them all ready. Yes. Can't think of 'em. Do you remember when the Jetties were built? They were building for years. Every time they got an appropriation they'd start and build some more, see. I can just remember when they started the Western Jetty, at the bathing beach. That's where they started. Some times it would be four or five years before they'd get another appropriation. Whenever they got an appropriation another big scow would come down and they'd bring the derrick and bring the stone here from New York State or Connecticut — everywheres. They'd place them right on there you know. That Jetty has settled down, I'll bet, nine or ten feet in the last ninety years — eighty years. Just settled down. It was built when you were a very small boy. It started when I was very small. Do you understand where the actual bar was that the whaleships had so much trouble with? Sure. Did it go across the end of the Jetty or where? Yes — Right across where the end is now? Yes — Well, almost where the bellbuoy is now? Well, just a little inside the bellbuoy. It's still there except where they dug it out, you know. The bar is still there. It runs from way up here to Croskata, from the other side of Dionis way down to the foot of the Baths, pretty near down to Croskata. But those Jetties didn't amount to anything. They didn't do much good? No. They figured it would make the tide run stronger aoid cut the
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
channel out, but it didn't. They finally had to dig it out — finally had to dig the channel. Those Jetties — they spent millions of dollars on those and they didn't amount to anything. They made it worse, because it makes an awful tide there now — boats coming in and out —• it's awful rough going out there, wind to the no'th. Take small boats, it's rough there •—dangerous. Coming in running those seas, you know, it's dangerous. There's two or three that's been lost there. Do you remember reading where the "Joseph Starbuck" was lost? They say it went on the Bar. Now what particular part of the Bar? Did you ever hear? Down towards Coatue. She was anchored out here and she went adrift and went on the bar down there. Now that's not too far, then, from the Eastern Jetty. No, on the same line down the shore there. Well, toward what — toward Croskata? Toward Croskata, yup. Say half-way between the Jetty and Croskata? Yeah, somewhere there, yup, somewhere there. That's where she rolled over? That's where she stranded. She was a brand-new ship, built on Brant Point. Good, Arthur. Now let me sort of sum it up. That storm you mentioned, in 1896, made an opening out of the Haulover and it caused Nantucket Island to be divided into two main parts: Coatue, Great Point, Croskata, and all that land down to Wauwinet was a separate Island. That all lasted for twelve years. Well, thank you, Arthur — bye, bye.
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Nantucket's Changing Profile
When the Council of the Nantucket Historical Association decided that its building, sometimes known as the "Nantucket House," at the corner of North Water Street and Whalers Lane, was worn out and beyond reasonable repair and should be razed, it directed the contractor on the job to proceed forthwith and not to stop work until the structure was down and the ground cleared and levelled.
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The eastern section, which once housed a restaurant, put up a fight, finally yielded to the persuasive tug of a bulldozer.
but
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At length, only the westerly end of the main building remained and it, too, finally surrendered.
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SB
Luck rewarded the contractor's diligence. For, only a day or two after the site had been cleared, filled, and levelled, came the first of the two early February storms which buried Nantucket under twelve to fifteen inches of snow, all in the space of seven days. This picture presents, naturally, a hitherto unobtainable view of the Whaling Museum.
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Was Nantucket Ever Forested? BY BASSETT JONES
This is a paper read by Mr. Bassett Jones at the 41st Annual Meet ing of the Nantucket Historical Association, July 31, 1935, and printed in the "Proceedings" of that date. It seems pertinent to reprint Mr. Jones' paper here, because a distinguished New York botanist has recently reopened the question with an affirmative answer. Bassett Jones, an electrical engineer, spent many summers on Nantucket with a house in Polpis, later moving to Wauwinet. Interested in the natural phenomena of the Island, he spent much time with his brother — also a scientist and for a while a teacher in the Nantucket schools — researching his hobby. Bassett Jones' careful and erudite paper follows in full.
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HERE IS A fond superstition that this Island was once forested with trees of such size that building lumber was cut here, even that vessels were built of Nantucket grown timbers. It is even said that these heavy oak beams that carry the wide span of this old North Church were cut on this Island. However, for a forest of large trees to exist, certain conditions of soil and climate must also exist. In order that such trees as were used to fashion the beams in this building and the timbers of Nantucket-built vessels can grow, certain forest conditions must hold. The forest must be very old, its leaf mold must be deep and rich. The soil must be such as to provide adequate root anchorage for such tall and large trees. But the soil map of this island shows but a small bit of good loam in Polpis, not very deep, and another narrow strip leading from the town south, or a little west of south between Miacomet and Hummock Ponds. This same narrow region of good but shallow soil is mentioned in Letters of an American Farmer, first published in 1782. Where, then, has all the forest bearing soil gone? A speculation exists that once the island was de forested, the soil was removed by erosion. But, one may ask, where did it go? Certainly the soil could not have been all washed into the sea. Much of it must have accumulated in valleys without outlet of which the island has many. But investigation shows that the soil is not there. There are low places on this island where what we call the "hidden forests" grow. But these are old peat bottoms, based on ancient fresh water marshes and do not consist of the sort of soil that might have been washed off the surrounding hills after the assumed denudation of the ancient forests in which such "sticks" as mentioned above must have grown. The soil of such forests is not here, nor are there any traces of it. So, I am forced to conclude that the probabilities are much in favor of such soil never having existed. If the soil did not exist, neither did the forest exist. The only argument I have ever heard in favor of the speculative pristine Nantucket forest of such very large trees, from which such very large "sticks" could be cut, is the discovery of "stumps" of old trees in
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
the peat bogs. But, to my knowledge, with a single reported example I shall mention hereafter, no stump has yet been found belonging to any such large trees. None that I have seen, or dug myself, were more than 10 inches or, at the outside, 12 inches in diameter. Most of these stumps are much smaller. Furthermore, I can show you living wild trees on this island with "stumps" larger than this — but these same living trees have boles or "trunks" but a few feet tall at the most, and the whole tree is not over 20 to 25 feet tall. Certainly no such lumber was ever cut from such trees. But more. There are but a few kinds of wood that will stand immer sion in sour peat for two centuries or more, and we know that earlier than 1782, when Crevecoeur visited this island and wrote so entertainingly of his stay here, the island was without trees. These "stumps" — at least all I have examined or dug up myself — are cedar, both the red cedar and white cedar, or cypress. Now I can show you cedar trees or, properly, the Juniperus virginiana, living on the island today with so-called "stumps" as large in diameter as any dug up in the peat bogs. But this, too, is a matter of excavation, for the "stumps" of these living trees are buried in windblown sand and the embyro "cedar" peat of the leaves, in which same peat, fully developed, the old stumps are found. But these old stumps are in a "cedar" peat often overlaid with about 30 inches of fresh water plant peat, the older peat having been submerged and the cedars killed, quite as one can see them killed today on Coatue where water finds its way into the swales between the ridges. The next time you are along the Quaise beach note the old fresh water peat exposed by wave erosion along this shore, with the ancient white cedar or cypress stumps yet standing in it even below low water mark. At one time, possibly some thousands of years ago, these were fresh water cedar bogs above high tide level, or like some of the Coatue swales, below high tide level, but cut off from the sea by sand dunes, or by more elevated land now long gone. At any rate, there are the stumps, bedded in fresh water cedar peat, and now below low water mark. Such old cedar stumps are also found under the present salt water peat constituting the present salt marshes. In general these stumps, a number of which have been unearthed by workmen of the Mosquito Control, are better than 24 inches below the present marsh surface, and rest in a fairly thin layer of fresh water peat decidedly cedrus in character, which, in turn, rests on what obviously were shallow bay bottoms of sand and gravel in which clam, quahog and oyster shells are found in situ. Evidently, and comparatively recently, (a few thousand years ago) these bottoms must have been at or above high tide level, or otherwise completely shut off from the sea, in order that such essentially fresh water drinking plants as the cedars (juniper and cypress) could have grown upon them. This discovery has led my brother, Mr. William F. Jones, to an entirely new theory of salt marsh evolution along the New England coast, which theory has received some attention. I might remark here that similar conditions exist on Cape Cod, and that such cedar stumps have been dredged out of peat now on the bottom of Cape Cod Bay. It is worth while noting that the white cedar or cypress (Chamaecyparis) stumps are of trees that no longer grow on this island, and, possibly, are of an extinct species similar to those found under. the peat of a bog near Quamquisset on the Cape. I have not yet been able to obtain a positive iden-
WAS NANTUCKET EVER FORESTED?
17
tification of the species found on Nantucket. A trunk of this tree with many branch stubs, the trunk about 10 inches in diameter and about 12 feet long has been dug out of a marsh close to the harbor beach in Quaise. This log bears marks that look as if they might have been made with stone hatchets. My brother has accumulated evidence to show that Indians lived on this island before Coatue was formed, and while the site of the marsh at Folger's Creek was a shallow bay, open to the Sound, quite as was Capaum Pond when the white settlers first came here. Pocomo marsh covers many such stumps and logs as the workers of the Mosquito Control have found. So much for the "stumps" and the speculations based on them. These cedars lived and grew here not less than 2000 years ago. Certainly they had been long buried under the peat before 1671. We know, then, the stumps are cedar, and that certainly large oak beams and timbers were not cut from cedar trees the bole diameter of which is not generally over 10 to 12 inches — not that the diameter matters in the least. A few weeks ago, after our President had asked me to tell you this, I mentioned to a friend that I was about it. He said that he recalled a paper on the subject read some years ago before some botanical society. So a search was instigated but so far without success. My friend has the paper tucked away in some forgotten corner. So I wrote Dr. Marshall A. Howe of the New York Botanical Garden. Lacking the presence of the learned bibliographer Dr. John Hendley, Dr. Howe did the best he could for me. He sent me this: "From Proceedings of The American Association for the Advance ment of Science for the Forty-third Meeting held at Brooklyn, New York, August 1894 (43: 294. March 1895.) Abstract by Dr. Marshall A. Howe of 'Evidence as to the Former Existence of Large Trees on Nantucket Island' By Burt G. Wilder, Ithaca, N.Y. In his report on the Geology of Nantucket (Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey, No. 53, 1889, Fig. 9), Prof. N. S. Shaler repre sents a section of a submerged swamp on the north shore of Nantucket with tree-stumps, one of which he says is 10 inches (25 cm.) in diameter. On p. 52 he writes: "I am inclined to believe that when this island was first settled the greater part of its surface, at least that portion of the area north of the southern plains, was covered with a forest growth which afforded some architectural timber." But he does not mention having personally observed any large tree remains in the interior of the island, and refers to the tradition that the former oaks and pines were "sufficiently large to afford ship timber as well as material for edifices" as "unsupported by any trustworthy record." Hence some positive evidence is desirable. "Several years ago, I was told by Mr. Harry Dunham that in cutting peat at Polpis he often encountered fragments of large trees. On the 15th of August, in company with Professors Harrison Allen, M.D., of the Uni versity of Pennsylvania, and W. K. Hatt, of Purdue University, Indiana, I visited an old peat bog in Polpis, at Hughes' Neck, west of the main road, not far from what is reputed to be the oldest house on the island. The proprietor, Mr. Charles Swain, kindly led us to a stump standing undisturbed in a dense thicket on top of a bog where the soft peat is still a meter thick. The crown of this stump measures in diameter about 50 cm. (20 in.), and is thus twice the size of that mentioned by Professor Shaler. Photographs were
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
taken of it and of a neighboring bog, more recently worked and covered with water, where are visible more than twenty uprooted stumps of various sizes." But, again, I can show you trees now living on this island with boles 20 inches in diameter, of oak and beech, but certainly not suited for architectural timber. By Hughes' Neck I presume Wilder meant Swain's Neck or "Nashayte." There are oaks on that neck now — a number of trunks, once shoots, now 6 to 8 inches in diameter, growing in a cluster from a single root that may once have fed a tree so large as 20 inches in diameter at the bole, but, probably, like our existing oaks, short, gnarled and wind pruned — not "architectural timber". 1 know one black oak now growing on the island having a bole 19 inches in diameter and 8 inches tall, the branches extending flat on the ground or partly buried. Another, that I take to be an Elliott's Oak (Quercus Pagodaefolia), has a bole approximately 9 feet in circum ference at the ground, but only one foot 4 inches tall at the fork of the branches. This tree is 106 years old (1935). You will note that Wilder wrote of a stump 20 inches in diameter lying on the marsh. Since obviously the tree to which this stump belonged did not grow on the marsh, the stump must have been dug somewhere else — probably in the old peat hole now on the neck — and thrown out on the marsh. But I ask you to note that, quite as many of the cedars now living on Coatue spread their roots in a flat layer near the surface so as to keep out of the fresh water standing not very deep down, these roots coalesce into a massive piece of wood from which the tree bole rises, which, again, is frequently a coalescence of sprawling branches; so much so that it is difficult to say that any bole or trunk exists. Were the bole completely rotted off by weather, the remaining root clump might easily give the im pression of having belonged to a much larger tree. As 1 have seen such wood masses on Coatue, and also in the exposed peat along the Quaise shore, I question whether the same sort of stump was not reported by Wilder and that actually this was the remains of a cedar stump having a bole possibly not more than 12 inches in diameter. The photograph taken by Wilder might settle this point, but I have not been able to trace it. By count of annual growth rings I estimate that the largest cedars now living on Coatue approximate the age of more than a century (1934-1935). I have counted many branch rings up to 80. However, determinations of the age of many of the larger deciduous trees growing on this island show that few, if any of them, are of any great age. The oldest tree of this class so far measured is a Pin Oak (Q. palustris) 159 years old, with a bole 18 inches in diameter and 5 feet 6V2 inches tall to the fork of the branches. Neither this tree, nor the Elliott's Oak mentioned above, have ever been cut. I know of no White Oaks (Q. alba), of which the island affords many examples, that have not been cut, save young Irees not over 40 to 50 years old, as of 1935. In nearly every case the shoots growing from the older stumps of the cut trees, also are of about this same age. This indicates that about half a century ago much cutting of such trees went on. Particularly Coskata seems to have been stripped of white oaks at about 1890. The amount of cutting for firewood during the earlier days when, excepting for peat, wood constituted the only available fuel, must have been
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considerable. That there never was sufficient for this purpose is evidenced bv the few known historical records of trips away from the island for wood. Also, I have found in the relics of old wood fences of this island posts of white oak, red oak (Q. rubra) and black oak (Q. velutina), some of them determinable as cut from small trees also about 50 years old or younger. In one case I have been able to find that the fence was erected at a time corresponding to the date of cutting trees on the property as shown by the age of the shoots growing from the old stumps. This leads me to suggest that whatever wood was cut from Nantucket trees found such minor uses as fence posts and fire wood and did not constitute "architectural timber". Cer tainly the few older uncut trees found would not provide such timber, so it seems rational to presume that no trees which grew on this island ever were of that character. With the three exceptions noted none of the trees on this island so far studied, cut or uncut, as the normal life of such trees go, are of any great age.* (*Ail ages of living trees given herein are as of 1935. Ages were determined by the use of a Swedish increment borer. Where the boring taken reached to the center of growth, the age was determined by direct count of annual increments. Where the center of growth was not reached, the age was calculated from the circumference of the bole measured on the level of the boring, 14 to 18 inches above ground, and the mean number of annual increments per inch shown by the boring, probably with an error not exceeding plus or minus 10%. In certain cases, where the annual incre ments were very variable the bole radius was divided into zones and the age corresponding to each zone separately calculated.) There seems to be a general clustering of the age statistics so far found about 45 years, with an upper quartile of about 60 years. That is to say, only about one quarter of the hardwood specimens so far sampled, irrespective of species, exceed 60 years of age. The largest beech (Fagus americana) in the "hidden forest" is but 50 years old. This tree has a bole 24 inches in diameter, but is less than four feet tall to the crotch of the heavy branches. As I previously mentioned, but one specimen sampled shows an age of 159 years — so far as age is concerned this tree seems to be in a class by itself. Another exceptional case is a black oak 114 years old. This tree, the pin oak above mentioned, and the Elliott's oak are all in Quaise. After considerable investigation, Mrs. E. W. Littlefield, Supervisor Forest Investigations, New York State, and I, jointly, have reached the conclusion that the life of the Black Japanese Pines (Pinus Thunbergi) brought to this island in 1895 by my father, will not exceed 60 years. So you see there seems to be a general short life among the trees growing here, the climatic reasons for which are not far to seek. In the first place, short of the Black Japanese Pines, the trees only grow in protected, damp locations and in a dense wind developed thicket. The air is moist and frequently loaded with salt from the sea. Rot sets in rapidly once the branches die, or are broken, and soon eats into the heart of the tree. Borings taken in some apparently healthy and very young trees show traces of rot in the core of the bole. Observation will show that the rot of broken or dead branches often extends deep into the wood. Even when close pruned, and possibly due to irritation by salt, the bark has difficulty in closing the wound, and, except in the pines, rarely does so without help.
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In short, the trees of this island appear to die of rot before they attain any great age. Furthermore, wherever such trees grow, standing water (the water table) is near the surface; as the use of a spade will show, some times only a couple of feet down. The soil (humus) is shallow, so that growing in thickets, as the trees do, there is little room for root expansion. The trees become root cramped while comparatively young. The food supply becomes insufficient, the tree weakens, and rot easily sets in. There is also the possibility that the mildews, or mycellium fungi, that exist on the island are inimical to prolonged tree growth. The character of such fungi have an intimate relation with tree life. But this is a matter I have not studied on this island. One other matter, as to climate: the winds. In one of her poems, Elizabeth Hollister Frost wrote "Nantucket trees all lean southwest." This being correct, you will note that the Nantucket trees have the peculiar habit of leaning against the prevailing winds. This condition puzzled me for some time, and it was not until after the great storm of August, 1927, that I found the reason for it, since confirmed by the observed results of other storms, both winter and summer. Nantucket trees grow, they do not lean, southwest, and for the very simple reason that the violent wind pruning of our severe northeast winter gales and summer hurricanes, make nought any attempt of the tree, if at all exposed, to grow northeast. I have seen a single storm tear the northeast side and, what is more important, the top, to tatters. These winds, if over force 8, or of a velocity exceeding 47 miles per hour, pick up salt water and carry it inland. At 60 miles an hour (and 80 is not exceptional down here in a violent storm) quantities of salt spray are carried across the island blasting every leaf exposed to it. If such a storm occurs in the early summer, the tender new wood is withered by the salty blast. Indeed, were the storms frequent I aim disposed to think that the flora of Nantucket would be very different than it is at present. Few things could manage to keep a foot-hold. As it is, only a selected company of peculiarly adapted hardy plants can survive unless protected. So we find our "hidden forests' of which there is quite a number, strictly limited as to tallness of the plants and trees by the protection they get from low hills to the northeast. Where, as on Coskata at present, this protection has been removed by shore erosion since 1896, the trees are suffering from wind pruning and are severely stunted. Here, also, on Coskata, covered with a low, dense thicket of white, black and red oaks with a unique fertile cross between the black and red (reported by Bicknell), as I mentioned before, there is evidence of extensive cutting about 50 years ago. But where single trunks exist they are not large and the tree is not over 15 feet tall. Another matter that deserves attention is this. The hard (long leaf yellow) pine, and wide white pine floor boards used in the old barns and houses certainly did not come from trees that grew on this island — nor did the spruce or fir studdings. None of these trees can attain any size, or even live long in this climate of salt gales. The long leaf yellow pine is strictly southern in its habitat. True, spruce and white pine grow along the coast of Maine. But that is another story. There is deep rich loam in Maine — not largely glacial till. Furthermore, the coast of Maine borders a submerged mediterranean — the Gulf of Maine far north of the Gulf Stream storm track. Northers and northeasters are off-shore winds, and do not come off that meteorologically chaotic band where cold northern waters and Gulf Stream
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waters mix. Look over the meteorological maps of this coast and you will see what I mean. I have tried to grow spruoe on this island and can do so only under careful protection. White pine, even when carefully protected, have a be draggled appearance and wind-burn badly. There is a white fir (Abies Concolor) on this island planted about 35 vears ago — for that is its age. The white fir is reputed an easy tree to grow. Nevertheless this one yet huddles on the south side of an old dune. The top of the tree is a cluster of dead leaders — each the relic of a pair of hurricane-free years. The whole tree, dead leaders included, is 3 feet IOV2 inches tall. It should be at least 50 feet to the main leader tip. Even the Austrian Pine (Pinus nigra), reputed to be a hardy tree for coastal planting, has a hard time to get started here and is never really happy. The Black Japanese Pine — alone of all our hundreds of experiments — given no longer succession of such severe winters as thte past two (1934 and 1935), is the only tree that thoroughly enjoys a salty gale, and goes through the most violent northeaster without turning a needle. The reason is that this tree is indigenous to the eastern shore and coastal islands of Japan, where the climatic conditions — if not the soil — are precisely the same as ours here. The late Ernest Henry Wilson once told me that he had seen this tree growing on the Japanese coast where six feet of the bole was under wat.er at high tide. The above, being the evidence so far collected, how do you suppose that a forest of large trees yielding "architectural timber" ever got started here in the first place — trees yielding 10 in. by 12 in. oak beams and framing, 20 inches wide white pine flooring, wide fir and spruce spreaders, sills, headers and joists? To me, the speculation does not make sense when compared with known facts. So I here register a doubt that any trees could ever have attained to the dignity of "architectural timber" on this island. Now a few very fragmentary historical notes and I am through witli what our President told me was to be a ten-minute discourse. Documentary evidence exists that the "oldest house" built in 1686 for Jethro Coffin and Mary, his wife, was of lumber sawed at the mill of Peter Coffin in New Hampshire and brought here by vessel. Mary Starbuck's account book with the Indians, from 1683 to 1768, contains an entry, dated 1730: "Going a trip for wood with Paul to the Vineyard." Starbuck's "History of Nantucket" quotes Zaccheus Macy to the effect that during a severe winter, in the period of the American Revolution, brush wood was hauled by sledge over the ice from Coskata for use as firewood. Certainly had there been any stock of any kind of timber on the island the inhabitants would hardly have gone to this trouble to keep themselves from freezing. Also, Crevecoeur in "The Letters From An American Farmer," under date of 1782, wrote of the original settlers as finding "the island so univer sally barren" that they took to fishing rather than farming. He also writes of the town of Sherborn as consisting of "about 530 houses that were framed on the main." Again, he writes of the island as "deprived of mater ials for building" and of the original settlers as "not being possessed of a single tree in the whole of their dominions.
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Reading what Crevecoeur has to say, I am disposed to wonder whether the island has not even more trees upon it now than it had in 1671. The way in which this myth got started can be well illustrated from Captain Obed Macy's book of notes for a possible second edition of his "History of Nantucket." When discussing the use of peat on Nantucket he wrote in 1843 "that during the Revolution the people of this island were so hard put for fuel that in May 1778 the Proprietors of the Common Land opened Tauwpansheo Swamp, 'so called,' to the public for the digging of peat." Then he goes on to say: "The strata of peat found in them (the swamps) is from one foot to six or more in depth .... A remarkable circumstance may be mentioned before we leave the subject. In many of the swamps the Peat is from 6 to 8 feet in depth, a hard bottom of sand is below the peat on which is found many large stumps and roots of trees and some parts of them are burnt to charcoal, so that it is beyond a doubt that fire consumed the trees. Which leads many to conclude that when the island was first settled by the English & being covered with woods, there was not clear land sufficient for the wants of the people to cultivate, . . . etc. So they burned it off." He concludes: "I think from the foregoing circumstances we may infer that the Island was covered with Woods, and that they were set on fire as above mentioned. My ancestors have often told me that from the best infor mation they could obtain the Island originally was covered with Woods." However, neither Obed Macy, nor any one else of his day, knew aught about the formation of peat. If the stumps and roots mentioned by Macy lay under six to eight feet of peat, the trees were either killed by fire or by drowning, or by both, at least 4000 years ago. Certainly they died a very long time in the past. The rate of peat formation is very slow. Peat forms during a long drawn out period of submergence, or of slowly rising water. The mass of dead rush and reed roots, stems and leaves from which peat is formed must have had time to so accumulate that, as the water rises, literally the living plants have time to climb on top of the compacted remains of previous plants. Otherwise, the peat cannot form. Even now the exact minimum rate of peat formation is not known. However, it is probable that a layer of peat suitable for fuel but two feet thick took at least a 1000 years to form; probably longer. As to this, see the discussion of peat formation, not only in Nantucket but elsewhere, in "The New England-Arcadian Shore Line," D. W. Johnson, and the "Relation of Plants to Tide Levels," D. S. Johnson and H. H. York, Publication No. 206, Carnegie Institution. 1915. So it is safe to say that the trees of the stumps and roots mentioned by Obed Macy as under six to eight feet of peat were never seen alive by white people; probably, not even by Indians. These trees were growing here, and ceased to grow here, even long before Leif Ericsson came along this coast; probably before the archaic Hellenes settled in the Attic Peninsular. At that time the coastal conditions here were very different than they were even in 1671. Fire in brush, even in forests, is frequently started by lightning. Above I have discussed the kind of trees to which these stumps belong.
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Recent Events THE ANNUAL MEETING of the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce held last January at the Jared Coffin House was a notable event. Following a short business meeting a buffet dinner of sumptuous proportions was provided for non-members as well as members. It was a gala affair that paid off handsomely — at least as far as the dinner-guests were concerned. One hundred and thirty places were reserved at tables that overflowed into the South Parlor and one hundred and thirty people attended — all that the Jared Coffin House could accommodate — and a dozen or more had to be turned away at the door. Referring to the dinner, we use the term "sumptuous" advisedly, for the long buffet table fairly groaned under the weight of a variety of the most "elegant foods" (as they used to say in the old days), ranging from a fifteen pound lobster bought here from one of the boats, cold turkey, ham, roast beef, coq au vin, Swedish meat balls, and various condiments, to a half-dozen or more mouth-watering pies and cakes. Plainly, J.C.H. had pulled out all the stops, for this, the largest dinner, so it was said, that the hotel had so far provided. Some persons were observed going for "seconds" and how they contrived this digestive feat must be their own secret. Following the dinner, Mr. Ivan T. Sanderson, the well-known sciencewriter ("Follow the Whale", for example), was introduced as the speaker of the evening. After recounting humorously his first coming to Nantucket a number of years ago, Mr. Sanderson, now no stranger to this Island, launched into a serious discourse on Unidentified Flying Objects and "Flying Saucers." Mr. Sanderson unquestionably believes in the existence of sentient creatures that visit this planet from outer space — pigmies, humanoids (people like us), and hairy giants. In fact, he claims to have proof of this in hundreds of documents and photographs of unassailable authenticity. Moreover, he asserted that these visitations have been going on for centuries, even referred to in the Old Testament. That his listeners, goodnaturedly receptive with the fulness of their repast, were not completely convinced was apparent when he chided them, "Ladies and Gentlemen, you may laugh, but I assure you that we are in imminent peril and something must be done about it before it is too late." Ah, well — it was a lovely dinner and Mr. Read, the Jared Coffin's new manager, and the Chamber of Commerce with its new executive director, Mr. Ruffner, should stage many more. *
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Correction: Mrs. Mildred Janney has called to our attention an error in her manuscript of the "Story of Eliab and Sarah Gardner," published in the January number of HISTORIC NANTUCKET. The date of Eliab's death as stated in the first paragraph should have been 1834, not 1843. *
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The 18th Annual "Gam" was held on the evening of March 3rd last, as usual through the courtesy of the Maria Mitchell Association at its Library in Vestal Street. A record-breaking gathering of a hundred or so
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crowded the rooms, necessitating the early hanging out of the "S.R.O." sign. Greeted by President Jones, the Gam, subject "Neighborhoods," was turned over to the Chairmanship of Edouard Stackpole, Historian and Editor of "The Inquirer and Mirror." Under his guidance many amusing and inter esting anecdotes were told of the days when much more informality flavored the everyday life of Nantucket. The Gam was reported in depth in the issues of "The Inquirer and Mirror" of March 9th and 16th respectively, q.v. These "Gams" were originated by the late "Will" Gardner to revive and perpetuate the practice of "visiting" between Nantucket whaleships chancing to meet in the Pacific Ocean on their long voyages. They are always jolly and sometimes hilarious, which is as it should be. There is not enough laughter in the world today and the Annual Gam of the Nantucket Historical Association, in its own unique way, helps to supply the want. Long may it flourish! *
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History has a way not only of repeating itself but of coming full circle. Off-shore whaling disappeared from New England long before whal ing in general went out; but in northern Peru off-shore whaling is carried on in a modern version. Every day whaling steamers make trips out in the Humboldt Current returning in the late afternoon to deliver their catch at an up-to-date rendering plant on shore. Sfc
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A major improvement is under way at the Whaling Museum, in the installation of a long-needed heating plant. "Generally speaking," reports the Executive Committee acting for the Council, "the heating plant will permit maintaining a protective temperature of an average of fifty degrees throughout the Fall, Winter, and early Spring months. Also, it will make possible the opening of the Museum for special occasions such as Thanks giving and Christmas and other holiday week-ends and for conventions held on the Island during the off-season months, thus providing much needed entertainment for the Island's steadily growing 'number of off-season visitors. The boiler room and oil storage tank will be placed in separate rooms housed in a concrete block, one-story building finished with an exterior surface of brick veneer. The roofing, windows, and trim will match those of the Museum. Approval of the plans has been secured from the Historic Districts Commission. Architectural plans and specifications for this small building were drawn up gratuitously by H. Errol Coffin, prompted by his interest in and loyalty to the Association." *
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We have been reading "The Secret of Mary Celeste and other sea fare," by Gershom Bradford, a February issue of the Barre Publishing Company. Mr. Bradford, well qualified and widely experienced in sea matters, has offered his own solution to the mystery of the brigantine "Mary Celeste", that sailed from New York November 5, 1872, with a cargo of alcohol in drums, and the captain's wife and small son as passengers, and was not heard from again until sighted a month later, by the brigantine "Dei Gratia" east of the Azores, wandering about under her own sail but without a single member or trace of her crew and passengers on board or ever found. The mystery has never been solved and perhaps never will be. Mr. Bradford, however, has his own theory of why the vessel was obviously
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abandoned in great haste, without even the most elementary and routine preparations — a giant waterspout. This solution, among many others, has been suggested, but never more skilfully than by Bradford in this fascinating and convincing little treatise. It should be read by all those who have seasalt in their veins or have a yen for mystery. ("The Secret of Mary Celeste and other sea fare", by Gershom Bradford. Barre Publishing Company Barre, Massachusetts, 112 pp. 111. by Harold Durand White. $5.95) *
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In further development of the fantastically growing use of bicycles, the Federal Government plans to construct 200,000 miles of bicycle paths and trails within the next ten years. Any chance here for Nantucket? *
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The increasing ferment over the need of preserving our natural re sources may, hopefully, be having its effect among the bulldozing fraternity. At any rate, according to an article in the March-April issue of "National Wildlife", the magazine of the National Wildlife Federation, at least one group of "developers" seems to be combining conservation with develop ment. The Mackle Brothers, among the nation's largest developers, who operate in and out of Florida, have purchased Marco Island, on the Gulf of Mexico, 104 miles west of Miami, their stated aim being the building of a city of 35,000 people, all parts of which are to be made accessible to the sea by a system of canals. When the news broke, conservationists were thrown into deep gloom, for Marco Island is the only relic of a large area of estuarine land on tl e entire coast of Florida. The last stronghold of the endangered bald eag.e and a key nesting area of the beautiful roseate spoonbill, this semi-tropical island is also a fisherman's paradise. But the Mackles appear to be the "good guys" of their profession and, in cooperation with various national and state conservation authorities, have worked out a vast and complicated plan involving dikes, bulkheads, waterways, and careful and selective fill designed to eliminate the silting that usually follows hydraulic filling of shore ar*eas, all blueprinted in such a way as to preserve as much as possible the natural terrain and fish and wildlife region. As a result, perhaps, of the apparently good intentions of the Mackles, there is a feeling among all the interested parties that here is a "model" which will serve as a guide for the rest of the country. This tenuous optimism is expressed in a letter by the Acting Regional Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service who sums it up: "The Marco Island Development Corporation's voluntary cooperation in reducing losses to fish and wildlife caused by this development is particularly noteworthy in view of the fact that they own the entire dredged area. Their attitude in this matter indicates a far-sighted recognition of the value of fish and wildlife resources." The article is illustrated with some lovely color photographs. The author, Grits Gresham, a frequent sojourner on the island, takes a rather dim view of the whole business as he writes, "I am sentimental enough to prefer that Marco had not been developed, but I am realistic enough to know that the wave of development of such attractive areas has reached steamroller proportions, and cannot be denied. Only if under public ownership will any such areas remain in such a wild state." That is, obviously, the nub of the matter.
Winter this year lingered in the lap of Spring. Picturesque North Avenue presented this January-like scene late in March.
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Diary of William C. Folger EDITED BY NANCY S. ADAMS
(Continued from the January, 1967 issue of "Historic Nantucket") 1841 June 23 — 1 completed taking a survey this morning of the house lots in Pearl street. Went last evening to a called meeting at Friend's Meeting House called by Elizabeth Robinson. Father and I walked up to the Long Pond. Took dinner with Jonathan Paddocks family and then went to Maticat. Returned & took tea at Jonathan's. June 24 — Henry Stephenson collected Wm. McCleave's school bill for last year's schooling of $2.67 and 1 paid Stephenson the money as I owed him $2.60, having let him have the Odeon, a musical collection @ 90 cts. towards $3.50 for footing my boots, some time ago. We are now square. I got horse and waggon from Thomas B. Field and went with father out to the Shear Pen this forenoon, paid 50 cts for horse hire. Took tea at Capt. John H. Pease's with father. June 23 — I got horse and waggon of Thomas B. Field for $1.00 & went with father to 'Sconset, stopped at Capt. Samuel Bunkers, then went to Squarn to the Edward Cary farm where we stopped at William Bennett's & took tea, after which we came down through Polpis & Quaise. I got at Bennett's my medical flora that they had over a year. June 26 — I borrowed a five dollar bill of Edward C. Hussey. We took tea at John W. Folger's with his wife and Aunt Elizabeth. June 27 — Took tea at Laban Coleman's. Met at Squire Isaac Coffin's with the Baptist Sabbath School Society & adopted a Constitution. June 28 — I commenced my school again. Took tea at Ansel L. Snow's. June 29 — Took tea at George G. Folger's. June 30 — Mr. Round left town for New Bedford today. I took a walk with father out to the west and south of the town to see the farms. July 1 — Father left town this morning in the Toleration, Capt. Goodspeed, for Hyannis via Cotuit Port. I went to Quarterly Meeting this forenoon. July 2 — Benjamin Gorham & George W. Morgan quitted school to-day, the former paid 83 cts. and latter 62 cts. July 4 — I was at the Chapel this forenoon and heard preach and in evening at the Town Hall, heard George Bradburn and A. M. Macy speak at Abolition Meeting. July 5 — Took a walk in afternoon with Stephen Easton. Lemuel Fish paid his school bill of $2.67. I paid Lydia G. Bunker on acct. of board $3.00. Received for Nantucket Baptist Soc. by cash of S. Easton 58 cts. being Lydia L. Paddack pew rent and also 60 cts. Being Chas. Godfrey's payment of pew rent, two seats. July 6 — I quitted my school to-day as it had dwindled down to a few scholars. Paid 10 cts for a book to use to keep account of the letting of seats in the Meeting House.
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July 8 — To cash paid Jesse Eldridge being the balance of his bill for labor at Meeting house, $6.50. I borrowed $4.00 of James M. Coffin to enable me to pay J. Eldridge. July 9 — Rec'd from Jonathan Paddack cash $3.00 towards Paul's school bill. July 11 — Capt. Alex H. Robinson paid me his bill for schooling for Frederick M. 11 weeks $3.21 and for Edwin B. 10 weeks $3.91. Paid Edward C. Hussey the $5.00 I owed him. Received cash from S. Easton for Crocker Backus from Jan. 30th. to July 30th $3.00. Mary Gardner 75 cts. bal. up to Aug. 6th. and Asa Rawson for pew rent from Apr. 30 to July 30 — $2.25. July 12 — I bot 11 yards of Red Camblets of Pratt & Crane and cotton batting to line Easton & Bassetts pew. Mr. Round lined and stuffed the pew. July 13 — I went up and began to survey a piece of land belonging to Zaccheus Macy & heirs, I got uncle Gideon's Intersecting Instruments. July 14 — I got of Wm. H. Geary a Leghorn Hat at $3.75 and I got a bottle of Jayne's hair oil for $ 1.00. I worked most of the day at the lot near Jethro Folger Lane, surveying. Mr. Round went out to Sconset to hold a meeting. I gave 50 cts for charily. July 15 — I exchanged some days ago a copy of Eatons Manual of Botany with H. Clapp for Davenport's Dictionary of Biography & a quire of writing paper. I got to-day of H. Clapp half a quire of writing paper to draw surveys on for 17 cts. I got 3 lbs of cotton batting to stuff the back of my pew for 25 cts. July 17 — I wentup to the Zaccheus Macy lot with Obed B. Swain and Capt. Reuben Joy, Jr. with a plot of the land, made a slight alteration in the bounds — drew out a new plot and handed it to Asa G. Bunker's office and presented my bill to Obed B. Swain of $5.00 for surveying and $1.00 for horse hire. I paid on the 5th of this month to Allan Gibbs $1.50 being his bill against me for glass & paint & labor at school house. I paid on the 15th my Poll Tax amounting to $2.56. I received of Reuben Folger $2.00 on acc't of teaching his son Reuben S. which closes up the winter before last and pays one dollar toward last Fall & Winter's school bill. July 20 — I went out this afternoon and surveyed a piece of land for Wm. C. Swain near the residence of Daniel Allen. July 21 — I went round again the piece of Wm. C. Swain, made out the plot & gave it to him and he paid me 50 cents for it. July 22 — I saw and conversed with Rebecca Dingman at cousin Franklin Coleman's. Gave her my history of Nantucket by O. Macy. July 23 — I bot of George R. Gardner some Irish Linen and cotton cloth & sewing cotton, also a Silk Flag handkerchief. For the Nantucket Baptist Soc. I bot 4V5 yds of bleached cotton for the covering for pulpit and table at Meeting House. Received from Rowland Folger $3.00 on acct. of school bill. I attended tonight and last evening a lecture on the History of the Middle Ages, Popes, feudal ages, chivalry etc. July 24 — I got a pair of calf skin boots from Isaah C. Ray for $3.00. Edward Folger son of Henry paid me $2.00 towards the school bill for Charles G. Folger's schooling, he had paid two before. I went to the funeral of a child of George K. Long.
DIARY OF WILLIAM C. FOLGER
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July 25 — I paid Lydia G. Barker $3.00 on account of board. July 26 — I attended the funeral of Abby Meiggs, wife of Asa Meiggs at ten A.M. Gave $1.00 toward the Baptist Sunday School cause. July 27 — I went out to the part of the island called the Woods with Rev. D. Round & Rev. Gale, George A. Lawrence this afternoon. July 31 — I received pew rents from the following members of Baptist Soc. Arnold Morse, James Hinckley, Susan Barrett, Harriet Beach, Mary Ann Carpenter & Wm. H. Reynolds. I paid Wm. H. Jenks $2.25 for a pair of boots, also $1.50 for Haywards Gazeteer of New England, revised edition. I went to Town Hall to hear Messrs. Leakin & Breed the reformed inabriates lecture. August 1 — Received from S. Easton, Collector, pew rent No. 14 from John Upham & Anne Gardners seat in Allen Ames pew. Went to Washington Hall this evening to hear the reformed drunkards. Aug. 2 — I worked making Obed B. Swain's Genealogy. Aug. 3 — Worked some on the Swain Gen. and drafting a plot of the New Burial Ground for Job Coleman, S. B. Folger & Co. Rec'd from Charles Myrick son of George Jr. $6.57 being the school bills of Alfred B. Coffin & Joseph R. James. Paid P. Paddock 33 cts. for going after this and other bills. Went to a meeting at the Atheneum when a vote was taken permitting the Trustees to let the lecture room for the Anti-Slavery Convention. Aug. 4 — Took Uncle Walter's large telescope up into the tower of the Baptist Meeting House. Aug. 6 — I attended the meeting of the Nantucket Washington Total Abstinence See. and signed the pledge in the Town Hall this evening. Heard Messrs. Lakin & Breed lecture. Aug. 7 — I surveyed a lot on Lily street for Thomas B. Field this evening. Jonathan Swazey paid two dollars on his School bill. Aug. 8 — I was at the North Cong. Church in the forenoon. Paid for the Baptist Soc. cash to Seth Swain $16.00 being towards Mr. Round's board. In the evening I was at the South Cong. House and heard Messrs. Lakin & Breed and Barna Coffin speak. A very full meeting. Aug. 9 -— I went up to the New Burying Ground and assisted Job Coleman and Samuel B. Folger in laying it out, worked all day. Aug. 10 — I surveyed a piece of land belonging to the heirs of David Hussey (deceased) for Wm. C. Swain. Capt. Benjamin Coleman paid me $6.25 being six months pew rent on two seats in my pew. Mark Folger paid me $1.00 for his son Oliver's School bill. I went to the Atheneum and heard William Lloyd Garrison and Edmund Quincy speak. Aug. 12 — I paid Mary R. Bunker one dollar toward making linen shirts for me. Paid Elizabeth P. Swain $2.50 for doing some tailoring for me. Aug. 13 — Capt. Job Coleman paid me $6.00 for my labor in surveying and plotting the Burying Ground. Aunt Phebe Coleman came here in the steamboat on the 12th. inst. from New Bedford. I received from S. G. Goodrich of Boston a letter stating that there was a charge against me on his books for $15.00 for 12 copies of Balbis Geography. Aug. 14 — I have examined my books and find I sent $32.00 to Mr. Wm. D. Ticknor Nov. 4, 1835 by Capt. D. M. Whitney to pay for 2 Nos. of Com-
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
prehensive Atlas and for 12 nos. of Balbi's Geography. I have also written S. G. Goodrich to-day informing him of these facts and that I have Wm. D. Ticknor's receipt for them. Aug. 15 — I finished Thomas B. Field's survey and gave it to him to square me for horse hire when I went to Sconset with father. Aug. 16 — I went to Baptist meeting and to the Atheneum with Aunt Phebe and took tea at E. R. Folgers. I went with Aunt Phebe & Uncle Gideon's wife to hear Clothier Gifford lecture on Phrenology. Aug. 17 — Aunt Phebe was at Lydia G. Bunker's to tea. Aug. 18 — I got Thomas B. Field's horse & waggon and went with Aunt Phebe and her two granddaughters to Great Point, stopped in Squam at Capt. B. Coffin's for a few minutes. We left Uncle Aaron's a little after dinner and returned to town. Aug. 20 — Capt. James H. Barnard paid me for Thomas H. Barnard's school bill $3.67. I gave 50 cts towards the Washington Benevolent Society. Aug. 21 — I was at a meeting in the Vestry Baptist Meeting House, James Easton paid me for schooling of James H. Easton $5.33. Aug. 23 •— Matthew Barnard paid me four dollars being for the great coat I sold him last Spring. Aug. 24 — Packed my things for a trip to Hudson, N.Y. I left the records of Baptist Soc. with James M. Coffin also some Deeds and other papers and my book of debts & credits with said Society. I left the Pacific Bank the Policy of Insurance of Bap. Meeting House. Thomas James paid me $3.00 towards his school bill.
(To Be Continued)
Legacies and Bequests Membership in our Association proves that you are interested in its program for the preservation of Nantucket's famed heritage and its illustrious past, which so profoundly affected the development of our country. You can perpetuate that interest by giving to the Association a legacy under your will, which will help to insure the Association's carrying on. Counsel advises that legacies to the Nantucket Historical Association are allowable deductions under the Federal Estate Tax law. Legacies will be used for general or specific purposes as directed bv the donor. A sample form may read as follows: "I give, devise, and bequeath to the Nantucket Historical Association, a corporation duly or ganized under the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and located in the Town of Nantucket, in said Commonwealth, the sum of Dollars." Legacies may be made also in real estate, bonds, stocks, books, paint ings, or any objects having historical value, in which event a brief descrip tion of the same should be inserted instead of a sum of money. Please send all communications to Mrs. Isabel W. Duffy, Secretary, Box 1016, Nantucket Massachusetts 02554. Office, Fair Street Museum.
Scofflaw!