Historic Nantucket
First Nantucket Yacht Club Station, Steamboat Wharf
JANUARY, 1972
Published Quarterly by NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS
President, Henry B. Coleman Vice-Presidents, W. Ripley Nelson, George W. Jones, Alcon Chadwick, Albert F. Egan, Jr., Mrs. Edith C. Andrews, Walter Beinecke, Jr. Honorary Vice Presidents, Miss Grace Brown Gardner, Mrs- William L. Mather < Secretary, Albert G Brock Treasurer, John N. Welch Councillors, Henry B. Coleman, Chairman; Mrs. H. Crowell Freeman, Mrs. Charles Clark Coffin, terms expire 1972; Henry Mitchell Havemeyer, David Worth, terms expire 1973; Mrs. Richard Swain, Bernard Grossman, terms expire 1974; Robert Metters, George A. Snell, terms expire 1975. Administrator, Leroy H. True Executive Finance Committee, Henry B. Coleman, Chairman; W. Ripley Nelson, Alcon Chadwick, Albert F. Egan, Jr., George W. Jones, Mrs. Edith C. Andrews, Walter Beinecke, Jr. Curator, Miss Dorothy Gardner Historian, Edouard A. Stackpole Honorary Curator, Mrs. William L. Mather Editor, "Historic Nantucket'', Edouard A. Stackpole; Assistant Editor, Mrs. Merle Turner Orleans.
STAFF Oldest House Chairman Receptionist
Mrs. J. Clinton Andrews Mrs. Lawrence F. Mooney Hadwen House - Satler Memorial Alcon Chadwick Chairman Mrs. Irving Soverino Chairman, Reception Committee Miss Rosamond Duffy Receptionists Mrs. Ethel L. Small Miss Maud Jackson The 1800 House Mrs. Roy H. Gilpatrick Chairman Mrs. John Kittila Receptionist The Old Jail Albert G. Brock Chairman Charles West Jailer The Old Mill Richard F. Swain Chairman Miss Andrea Laire Miller The Whaling Museum W. Ripley Nelson Chairman Walter W. Lindquist Manager Mrs. Elizabeth Lindquist Receptionists ;> Clarence H. Swift Mrs. Elizabeth Yerxa Jesse Dunham Miss Diane Ropitsky Robert Metters Librarian Mrs. Reginald F. Hussey Research Miss Helen E. Winslow The Peter Foulger Museum Chairman and Director Edouard A. Stackpole Receptionist and Librarian Mrs. Elizabeth B. Worth Receptionist Mrs. Clara Block Assistant Everett Finlay The Hose Cart House Chairman Irving T. Bartlett
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 19
No. 3
CONTENTS
The Nantucket Letters of J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, by A. Morris Crosby
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Administrator's Report
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The Nantucket Colony at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, 1785-1794, by Edouard A. Stackpole
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Bible Two Centuries Old
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Aletha Macy
31 Editorial in The Inquirer and Mirror
Recent Accessions
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Plans for Restoration of Thomas Rotch Homestead in Massillon, Ohio, by David W. Palmquist
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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 1972. Nantucket Historical Association Communications pertaining to the Publication should be addressed to the Editor, Historic Nantucket, Nantucket Hstorical Association, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554.
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The Old South Tower Against the skyline of the Town it has been a landmark for nearly a century and a half. Whether outlined against gray winter clouds that serve to accentuate its sturdy height, or re flecting a dome of gold under a bright summer sun, the Old South Tower of the Unitarian Church is a symbol of Nantucket. Built at a time when this Island-Town was approaching the 19th cen tury apex of its whaling prosperity it is a visible evidence of the tradition created by those extraordinary times. High up in the watch tower men once looked out upon a sleeping community as they kept their quiet vigil. In hours of storm, men have scanned the horizon for wrecks, sounding the alarm when needed. No longer are the steep flights of stairs mounted and the twisting way made around the bell to the tower. The old clock works no longer turn the clock hands as the great pendulum swings. Modern mechanisms now control the measure ment of the hours. Housed in its belfry is the old Portuguese bell, cast in Lisbon in 1810 and bearing the bronze inscription of its original purpose — "To the Good Jesus of the Mountain." Since it first rang on Nantucket in 1815 it continues to call the people of the Town thrice daily, reminding not only of the passing of time but that traditions endure. Because the tower and the bell have been isolated from the ordinary exposures of every-day life they have been taken for granted. A few months ago, when the workmen could be seen high up around the tower as they went about their tasks of repairs and restoration, there were daily reminders that the work was being accomplished. During the protracted period when the bell failed to strike the community missed what had become so familiar a sound. The Unitarian Church took it upon itself to arrange for the vitally needed work that once again made the Old South Tower and its bell a part of Nantucket's daily life. It was a task which has proved as costly as it was necessary. Funds have been re quested to help defray the heavy expense and, while many have given, a sizeable sum must be raised to complete the payments.
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To all who recognize the incalculable values of traditions, the Old South Tower and its sweet-toned bell represent one of Nantucket's priceless assets. To demonstrate our gratitude to the Unitarian Church for its guardianship, the financial support of its efforts is an effective means. The more people become in volved in gifts to the restoration fund the more in keeping with Island customs the campaign becomes. That is why what may seem a token contribution will serve as an answer to the need, as it brings all to a community cause that is truly a common and significant one.
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The Nantucket Letters of ]. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur EDITED AND CONDENSED BY A. MORRIS CROSBY
(Continued from our July, 1971, issue) LETTER VI (After a brief description of the island of Mar tha's Vineyard, where de Crevecoeur stopped on his re turn to Falmouth from Nantucket, and following a rather romantic description of the methods of taking whales, de Crevecoeur returns to his chief interest, the people of Nantucket.) THE MORAL CONDUCT, prejudices, and customs of a people who live two thirds of their lives at sea, must naturally be very different from those of their neighbors, who live by cultivating the earth. That long abstemiousness to which the former are exposed, the breathing of saline air, the frequent repetitions of danger, the very impulse of the winds; one would imagine must lead them, when on shore, to no small desire of inebriation, and a more eager persuit of those pleasures, of which they have been so long deprived. Yet notwithstanding the powerful effects of all these causes, I observed here, with the return of their fleets, no material irregularity; no tumultuous drink-assemblies: whereas in our continental town, the thoughtless seaman indulges himself in the coarsest pleasure; and foolishly lavishes in a few days of intoxication, the fruits of half a year's labour. On the contrary all was peace here and a general decency prevailed throughout; the reason I believe is, that almost every body here is married, for they get wives very young; and the pleasure of returning to their families absorbs every other desire. The motives that lead them to the sea, are very different from those of most other seafaring men; it is neither idleness nore profligacy; it is a settled plan of life, a well founded hope of earning a livelihood; it is because their soil is bad, that they are early initiated to this profession. The sea, therefore, becomes to them a kind of patrimony, they go to whaling with as much pleasure and tranquil in-
HISTORIC NANTUCKET 8" difference, with as strong an expectation of success, as a land man undertakes to clear a piece of swamp. Among those who do not use the sea, I observe the sanie calm appearance as among the inhabitants on the continent; here I found, without gloom, a decorum and reserve so natural to them, that I thought myself in Philadelphia. At my landing I was cordially received; and I can tell you, that it is impossible for any traveller to dwell here one month without knowing the heads of the principal families. Wherever I went I found a simplicity of diction and manners rather more primative and rigid than I expected; and I soon perceived that it proceeded from their secluded situation, which has prevented them from mixing with others. Never was a beehive more faith fully employed in gathering wax, bee-bread and honey than are the members of this society. Every one in the town follows some particular occupation with great diligence, but without that servility of labour which I am informed prevails in Europe. The mechanic seemed to be descended from as good parentage, was as well dressed and fed, and held in as much estimation as those who employed him; they were once nearly related. All their houses are neat, convenient, and comfortable; some of them are filled with two families, for when the husbands are at sea, the wives require less houseroom. They all are found with the most substantial furniture.
Wherever I went, I found good cheer, a welcome reception; and after the second visit I felt myself as much at my ease as if I had been an old acquaintance of the family. They had a great plenty of everything: I could hardly persuade myself that I was on a barren sand-bank, fertilized with whale oil only. I amused myself for several days in conversing with the most intelligent of the inhabitants of both sexes and making myself acquainted with the various branches of their industries; the different ob jects of their trade; the nature of that segacity which enables them to flourish, to live well, and sometimes to make considerable fortunes. The whole is an enigma to be solved only by coming to the spot and observing the national genius which the original found ers brought with them, as well as their unwearied patience and perseverence. Shining talents and University knowledge, would be entirely useless here, it would pervert their plain judgment, it would make them more adventurous, more presumptuous, much less cautious, and therefore less successful. I have often, by their fireside, travelled with them the whole length of their career, from their first commercial adventure, from the possession of a single whaleboat, up to that of a dozen large vessels! A great prosperity is not the lot of every man, but there are many gradations; if they all do not attain riches, they all attain an easy subsistence. After all, is it not better to be possessed of a single whaleboat, or a few sheep pastures; to
THE NANTUCKET LETTERS OF DE CREVECOEUR
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live free and independent in a healthy climate, than to be wretched as so many are in Europe, engaged either in a most servile la bours or fettered with the links of the most irksome dependence? The majority of those inferior hands which are employed in this fishery, such as coopers, smiths, caulkers, carpenters, &c who do not belong to the society of Friends, are Presbyterians, and originally came from the main. Those who are possessed of the greatest fortunes at present belong to the former; but they all began as simple whalemen: it is even looked upon as honour able and necessary for the son of the wealthiest man to serve an apprenticeship to the same bold, adventurous business which has enriched his father. LETTER VII MANNERS AND CUSTOMS AT NANTUCKET EVERY MAN takes a wife as soon as he chuses, that is generally very early; no portion is required; no marriage articles are drawn up. The education of their daughters, their health, and a customary out-set, are all that the fathers of numerous families can afford: as the wife's fortune consists principally in her modesty and skillful management; so the husband's is founded on his abilities to labour, on his health, and the knowledge of some trade or business. Those children born by the seaside, hear the roaring of its waves as soon as they are able to listen; and by early plunging in it they acquire that boldness, that presence of mind, and dexterity, which makes them ever after such expert seamen. They often hear their fathers recount their combat with the whales; they often cross the sea to go to the main; they are therefore deservedly conspicuous for their maritime knowl edge and experience. Emigration is both natural and easy to a maritime people. They yearly go to different parts of this continent; sometimes they have emigrated like bees, in regular and connected swarms. Some of the Friends (by which word I always mean the people called Quakers) yearly visit the several congregations which this society has formed throughout the continent. They are generally good preachers, friendly censors, checking vice wher ever they find it predominating; preventing relaxations in any parts of their ancient customs and worship. They, everywhere gather the most necessary observations concerning the various situations of particular districts, their produce, the price of land, &c. In consequence at Nantucket in the year of 1766, a consid erable number of them purchased a large track (sic) of land in the county of Orange, North Carolina, situated on the sev eral spring heads of Deep River, which is the western branch of Cape Fear, or North West river. The advantage of being able to convey themselves by sea, to within forty miles of the spot, the richness of the soil, &c made them cheerfully quit an island
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on which there was no longer any room for them. There they have founded a beautiful settlement, known by the name of New Garden. Others have settled on the famous river Kennebeck, in that territory of the province of Massachusetts, which is known by the name of Sagadahock. Here they have softened the la bours of clearing the heavy timbered land in America, by means of several branches of trade which their proximity to the sea affords them. Some parts of their timber are converted into useful articles for exportation, such as staves, scantlings, boards, hoops, poles, &c. They keep a correspondence with their native island, and I know many of the principal inhabitants of Sherburn, who, though merchants, and living at Nantucket, yet pos sess valuable farms on that river; from whence they draw great part of their subsistance, meat, grain, firewood, &c. Thus though this fruitful hive constantly sends out swarms as industrious as themselves, yet it always remains full without having any useless drones: on the contrary it exhibits constant scenes of business and new schemes. But is it not strange, that after having accumulated riches, they should never wish to exchange their barren situation for a more sheltered, more pleas ant one on the main? But the same magical power of habit and custom which makes the Laplander, the Siberian, the Hottentot, prefer their climate, their occupations, and their soil, to more beneficial situations, leads these good people to think that no other spot on the globe is so analagous to their inclinations as Nantucket. Here their connections are formed; what would they do at a distance removed from them? Live sumptously, you will say, procure themselves new friends, by their splendid tables, by their ostentatious generosity and by affected hospital ity. These are thoughts that have never entered into their heads. They abhor the very idea of expending in useless waste and vain luxuries, the fruits of prosperous labour. Yet there are not at Nantucket so many wealthy people as one would imagine after having considered their great success. Many die poor; other leave not that affluence which their pros perity naturally promised. The reason is, I believe, the peculiar extence necessarily attending their tables; for (a few families accepted) every one must procure what they want from the main; the necessary waste and expences attending their trans port, rendered these commodities dear. The first use they make of their oil and bone is to exchange it for bread and meat, and what ever else they want; the necessities of a large family are very great; they perpetually draw off a considerable branch of the profits. If by any accidents those profits are interrupted, the capital must suffer; and it very often happens that the greatest part of their property is floating on the sea. There are but two congregations in this town. They as semble every Sunday in Meeting Houses as simple as the dwelling of the people; and there is but one priest on the whole island.
THE NANTUCKET LETTERS OF DE CREVECOEUR
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This lonely clergyman is a Presbyterian minister, who has a very large and respectable congregation; the other is composed of Quakers, who admit of no particular person exclusively entitled to preach. Among them, everyone may expound the scriptures, who thinks he is called so to do. These two sects live in perfect peace and harmony with each other. Everyone goes to that place of worship which he likes best, and thinks not that his neighbour does wrong by not following him; fortunately you will find at Nantucket neither idle drones, voluptuous devotees, ranting en thusiasts, nor sour demagogues. Singular as it may appear to you, there are but two medical professors on the island. What need of galenical medicines, where fevers, and stomachs loaded by the loss of digestive pow ers are so few? Temperance, the calm of passions, frugality, and continual exercise, keep them healthy. You will hardly find any where a community, composed of the same number of individuals, possessing such uninterrupted health and exhibiting so many green old men. The situation of this island, purity of the air, the nature of their marine occupations, their virtue and moderation, are the causes of that vigour and health which they possess. Were they to be driven from this spot, the genius, the industry of the in habitants would accompany them; its present fame would perish, and in a few years it would reurn to its pristine state of barren ness and poverty. One single lawyer has of late years found means to live here, but his best fortune proceeds more from having married one of the wealthiest heiresses of the island, than from the emol uments of his practise; however, he is sometimes employed in recovering money lent on the main or in preventing those acci dents to which the contentious propensity of its inhabitants may sometime expose him. Here, happily, this society of fishermen and merchants live, without any military establishments, without governors or any masters but the laws; and their civil code is so light, that it is never felt. The same simplicity attends the worship they pay to the Divinity; their elders are the only teachers of their congregation, the instructors of their youth, and often the ex ample of their flock. They visit and comfort the sick; after death, the society buries them with their fathers, without pomp, prayers, or ceremony; not a stone or monument is erected, to tell where any person is buried. The only essential memorial that is left of them, is their former industry, their kindness, their charity, or else their most conspicuous faults. The Presbyterians live in great charity with them, and with one another. Nothing can be disencumbered likewise from useless ceremonies and trifling forms than their mode of worship; it might with great propriety have been called a truly primitive one had that of the Quakers never appeared. As fellow Christians they love and mutually assist each other; as fellow laborous they unite with cordiality and without the least rancour. Let me not
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forget another peculiar characteristic of this community; there is not a slave, I believe, on the whole island, at least among the Friends; whilst slavery prevails all around them, this society alone have given the world a sirigular example of Christian charity, in emancipating their negroes. May the citizens of Nan tucket dwell long here in uninterrupted peace, undisturbed by the waves of surrounding elements or the political commotions which sometimes agitate our continent. Note: The author of the above article and compiler of the extracts from de Crevecoeur's book, Mr. A. Morris Crosby, is a descendant of the whaling merchant Matthew Crosby. After a busy professional career as a lawyer in Boston, he retired to Nantucket a decade ago, and served as Editor of "Historic Nantucket" for a number of years. His active interest in Island history is reflected by his introduction to his selections from "Letters From An American Farmer."
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Administrator's Report JANUARY 4, 1972 We have been surprisingly active during the last three months, the reporting of which causes a conflict between the desire to cover all and to keep this report brief. Please call or write me if you wish more information about any of the items I am briefly reporting. We have received notice that Mrs. George Christian left us her beautiful house and contents on Liberty Street with a trust fund of $50,000. The Council voted to have this open to the public next summer if possible. Past President George W. Jones was appointed our dele gate to the Bay State League and we hope this will make it possible to be in closer touch with the activities of other associa tions in the state. An Archeological Department is being organized as part of our program. A great many details must be worked out but there is need and considerable enthusiasm for this. We had American Whaling on the Chathams Grounds by Rhys Richards printed in paper book form. Copies are obtain able at the Old Town Building office or in the museums for $1.00 plus .25 for tax and mailing. Our museums stayed open longer this fall and it proved well worthwhile. Also the Whaling and Peter Foulger Museums have been open every Saturday until now. It is possible that we cannot continue this because of low attendance but I think it has been appreciated by many who visited here on a weekend. Preparations have been made to move our log books and valuable manuscripts from the Whaling Museum to the new vault at the Peter Foulger. Understandably, the people at the Whaling Museum hate to see these old friends leave but they are irre placeable and the Peter Foulger vault is especially constructed to protect them. The Friends Meeting House was used every Sunday this past summer for the meetings and on two occasions for wed dings. We received a letter of appreciation and a contribution for its use from George A. Selleck in which he noted a sizable increase in attendance over previous summers. Our Historian, Past President Edouard A. Stackpole, is working on an expanded educational program and has lectured to students in the local schools, the Nantucket Institute and the
HISTORIC NANTUCKET 14 eighth grade classes from the Mary C. Wheeler and Moses Brown schools, as well as with a number of people doing research in person and by letters. Our Curator, Miss Dorothy Gardner, has been very busy correcting the master files and straightening out the records pertaining to the transfer from Fair Street to the Peter Foulger Museum. A practical and economical way to move and arrange for exhibiting the Old Town Clock and Old Printing Press is still among our unsolved problems. Committees have been assigned to study this. Both have historic value but will be very expensive to move and for the press, at least, there seems to be no place to display it. The need for expensive repairs to the 1800 House is becom ing obligatory. In consequence, the Council voted to make the more pressing repairs and to continue this as one of our exhibits since it is so typical of a middle income home during an impor tant era in our history. We now have a supply of the "Coffin Family," a 575-page hard cover genealogy of that family. It is doubtful if this will be reprinted again so I urge all to secure copies for anticipated grandchildren. The price is $10.50 including tax and mailing.
Unfortunately, we must reshingle the roof of the Old Mill to preserve it but this will be done with fire resistant treated wooden shingles to minimize the objectional picture of newness. The west side of the Whaling Museum has been recaulked and treated with a waterproof substance; expensive but very important preventive maintenance. A team from the Museum of Fine Arts took pictures and information in the Whaling Museum. They tell us these will be used as part of a children's program on Channel 2 (Boston) starting on January 13 at 8 p.m. Notice has been received that we were remembered in the will of Mrs. Laura K. G. Heeker. Mr. Hugh Chace, in charge of the exhibit of the Old Town Office, tells us that four items predating 1850 are still greatly needed. They are a sail cloth or other floor covering, a box stove, an old safe or strong box and a captain's chair. We hope some one will have one or more of these items and will offer them to us. They would be tax deductible. Most of the valuable artifacts were transferred from Fair Street to the Peter Foulger Museum but a number of things of interest and some of historic value are left, so it was voted to open Fair Street next summer from 2 to 5 p.m. We are hopeful of finding six volunteers, each to cover this one afternoon a week. Leroy H. True
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The Nantucket Colony at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia—1785-1794 BY EDOUARD A. STACKPOLE
IN THE STUDY of the post-Revolutionary War period of our nation's history we become aware of the marked contrast in New England to what might have been an acceptance of the success of the Colonial arms. A new country had been created, but it was still not established. The issue of individual state rights and/or national unity was not yet resolved. At Sherborn, on the Island of Nantucket, a strong Loyalist sentiment was still a factor. Of vital importance was the loss of the Island port's chief market for whale oil and candles — London. The British government had placed a heavy duty on the importation of these American products, and the Nantucket whalemen were faced with a long depression and probable ruin or accepting invitations to remove to England or a British prov ince. Many chose the latter course. Among the migrating groups was a miniature colony which sailed away to settle at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The movement was a more natural step than might at first be realized. Two decades before (1761) a number of Nantucket families had accepted an invitation to settle at Barrington, Nova Scotia, joining other New Englanders from Cape Cod and Ply mouth. Led by Reuben Folger. Joseph Worth and Shubael Folger, thirty-five Nantucketers sailed for Cape Sable and Barrington township, together with a dozen families from the Cape. During the war, the little colony suffered greatly, but only a few families returned to Nantucket. The number of Loyalists who escaped from New England during the war included a group who settled in Shelburne, close to Barrington. At the end of the war, Port Roseway, also on Nova Scotia's southern shore, became a prospective whaling port, with a numbei of Loyalists from Nantucket settling there. Oil from Nova Scotia could be sold in England with only a small tax instead of the prohibitive duty. It was this fact which induced the first idea of removal by the'post-Revolution group from Nantucket. The second, and equally effective factor, was^ the stiong Loyalist sentiments on the part of the two leaders in the Dart mouth migration — Samuel Starbuck, Sr., and Timothy Folger. These two men were bound together by not only a sameness of principles but by marriage ties. Samuel Starbuck, the elder, was then in his 58th year, and had married Abigail Barney. Of the ten
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children born to them on Nantucket only two had grown to ma turity — Samuel, Jr., and Daniel, both of whom joined their parents in the removal to Dartmouth. Samuel, Jr., had married Lucretia Folger, daughter of Captain- Timothy Folger, the coleader. Captain Folger was then 53 years old, and had led an active life. After experiencing several whaling voyages he had become interested in the mercantile trade, and became well known as a shipmaster carrying whale oil to London. It was on one of these voyages, in about the year 1757, that he met his cousin Benjamin Franklin in London and, in response to Franklin's inquiries, Captain Folger drew a chart of the mysterious Gulf Stream which afterwards Franklin had engraved and published. Folger became associated with a number of business firms in Nan tucket, London and Boston, and it was in the latter city that he sat for his portrait by none other than the distinguished artist Copley. As strong Loyalists, both Starbuck and Folger were advo cates of the King's cause during the Revolution, but both had joined the Islanders led by William Rotch, Sr., who success fully kept Nantucket in a neutral role throughout the war, thus saving Sherborn from possible British naval attack. It is not clear as to who originated overtures for the Nan tucket movement to Nova Scotia, but a Canadian historian has stated "such evidence as there is points to the possibility of sug gestions for removal having come first from Nova Scotia," sug gesting they came from Governor Parr of that Province. In any event, Messrs. Starbuck and Folger sailed for Halifax and a con ference with Parr, probably in the spring of 17,85, and were cor dially received. Application for the migration was made in July of that year, as recorded in the Public Archives at Halifax. The Nantucketers wished to have their whaleships registered as British; inquired as to the land available for their homes, ware houses and wharves, and requested protection for their religious views as members of the Society of Friends. Governor Parr, with the approval of his Assembly, ar ranged for these requests to be granted, and the little hamlet of Dartmouth, across the harbor from Halifax, was designated as the place for settlement. The Assembly voted £1500 to build homes for the new colony, and 2000 acres of land was set aside for the Nantucketers: ". . . for the purpose of carrying on the whale-fishery, in consideration thereof we move to the Governor and Council that they would Grant to your Memorialists . . . the following lands at Wisdom's and King's Grants with the Coves and Nooks of land, that was known by the name of the Common Lotte, containing five hundred and fifty-six acres more or less and likewise one hundred rods square on the Common begin ning . . ." Returning to Nantucket, Samuel Starbuck gathered the first group for the migration, and they sailed for Halifax "with three
NANTUCKET COLONY AT DARTMOUTH, N. S.
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brigantines. and a schooner, with their crews and everything necessary for the whale fishery." Some 447 tons of sperm oil, be longing to Starbuck and Folger, together with three tons from Gideon Gardner, were also brought with the vessels, to be promptly shipped to London as British oil — thus to escape the heavy import duty, only 15 shillings tax on Colonial oil being required. Using Mill Cove as the location for their first wharf, the Nantucket men moored their ships and began erecting their homes. There can be little doubt but that they brought many household articles with them, as well as bedding and clothing. It is probable that a number of houses were brought from Nantucket in bays to be re-erected, although there are no records extant to substantiate the fact. The co-leader of the colony, Timothy Folger, superintended the embarcation of the second group from Nantucket. Sailing early in June, 1786, they arrived safely at Halifax. With the Folger family came the family of Samuel Starbuck, Jr., Lucretia (Folger) Starbuck and their two children. By mid-summer, 1786, twenty Nantucket families, represented by over sixty-five men, women and children, had reached their new homes in Dart mouth. An equal number of whalemen were in the crews of the whaleships, which soon put to sea on their first voyages out of the Nova Scotia port. The colony was centered around the group of Quakers and their families, and these have been identified as: Samuel Starbuck and his wife, Abigail (Barney) Starbuck and two children; Tim othy Folger and his wife, Abial (Coleman) Folger, and son, Benjamin Franklin Folger; Samuel Starbuck, Jr., and his wife Lucretia (Folger) Starbuck and two children; Seth and Deb orah Coleman and their nine children; Tristram and Rachel Swain and five children; Silas Swain; Peter and Sarah Macy and two children; Zachariah and Judith Bunker and three children; Jonathan and Phebe Coffin and four children; Mary Swain; George Macy, John Chadwick; William and Elizabeth Ray and three children; Barnabas Swain; Jonathan Barnard; Tristram Folger; Nathaniel Macy; Brown Coffin; William Barnard; Seth Paddack; Daniel and Alice Starbuck and four children; Edmund Macy, who married Susannah Coleman. At this time (April, 1786) the Dartmouth fleet had increased from nine to fifteen vessels. Most of the voyages were of about a year's duration, and the "lay" system attracted a number of young Nova Scotians who found whaling a new way of life. Dartmouth's fleet developed rapidly. The first ships registered (1785-86) were the Lucretia, Captain Jonathan Swain; Lively, Captain John Chadwick; Romulus, Captain George Earle; Somer set, Captain Daniel Kelley; Sally, Captain Daniel Ray, and Lucy Captain Francis Coffin.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
On September 6, 1786, the merchant ship Lyon sailed from Halifax for London with 135 tons of sperm, 40 tons of black oil and 8,759 pounds of bone. This was worth some £10,000 on the British market. In the first year the venture brought in £14,180. Subsequent years of the Dartmouth fishery yielded as high as £20,000 annually as income from the whaling fleet. Two spermaceti candle factories were set up — one in Halifax and one in Dartmouth. With the introduction of this industry the Nantucket colony posed an even stronger threat to the London merchants, as the manufacture of these fine candles meant the sale of the finest lighting tapers known, with a ready market in the West Indies as well as in England. The majority of the Dartmouth fleet were vessels averaging 120 tons burthen, sailing to the Brazil Banks and the Coast of Africa. Each vessel's commander had a "Mediterranean Pass," which gave them protection as British subjects. In the 1786-1787 season six new additions were made to the fleet — the Parr, Cap tain Tristram Folger; the Sally, Captain William Slade; the Prince William Henry, Captain Matthew Pinkham; the Watson, Captain Daniel Ray: the Rachel, Captain Francis Coffin; the Hero. Captain Valentine Pease: Hibemia, Captain Francis Coffin, and Donnahu, Captain Seth Paddack. According to an advertisement in the Nova Scotia Gazette, Spermaceti, Candles and Strained Oil were for sale at "Mr. Stewart's, opposite St. Paul's Church, below the parade," and were "products of this Province." In the files of the Halifax Journal, for April, 1788 may be found similar advertisements. From a report of Commissioners to Governor Parr in 1788, it was shown that the products of three years voyaging on the part of Nantucketers at Dartmouth had resulted in an export of oil to England totaling a worth of £61,500. In a report on the fishery to Governor Parr, Speaker Uniacke, of the Nova Scotian Assembly, commented on August 15, 1791: "From two to three hundred men have been employed on an average each year in these Voyages and besides the British Ship ping and Seamen which are employed in freighting the oil from Nova Scotia to London there is also a like or greater quantity of British Shipping employed in bringing back from Great Britain the returns for the Oil so shipped, the whole of such re turns consist of all kinds of British Manufactures suitable for the Fishery and other consumption of the Province." The success of the enterprise was evident on every side at Dartmouth. Mechanics did well and most of the persons con nected with the fishery became well-to-do. Many native Dart mouth youths shipped aboard the whaleships. In the files of the Nova Scotian of Halifax is the following paragraph: "When the usual period of the arrival of the vessels ap proached, all persons were filled with expectations and anxiety.
NANTUCKET COLONY AT DARTMOUTH, N. S.
19
The success of each voyage inspired a more than ordinary interest in its result, and their relatives and friends were eager to hear the recital of their adventures, and welcome them to their home after all their toils and dangers." Here was a familiar pattern. It was, like old Nantucket, still the outstanding example of the sole community enterprise of that island — whaling. Dartmouth had gained much. The Provincial Commissioners wisely observed to Governor Parr: "The Province is now possessed of every kind of artifices necessary to fit out Vessels in the Southern Whale-Fishery, as well as some of the best Navigators that that Island of Nan tucket has produced, . . . the great advantage which the Com merce and Navigation of the Mother Country will derive from this Establishment." The next season (178,8) found the Lucretia, Captain Jona than Coffin, 2nd, bringing in the largest cargo to date, 250 bbls. of sperm oil, 300 bbls. of right whale oil, and 2000 lbs. of cut bone. The brigantine Industry, Captain William Chadwick, was another addition in this year, as was the Argo, Captain Ebenezer Bailey, and the Nancy, Captain Jonathan Barnard. The whaleships usually sailed in the autumn of the year for the South Atlantic, their cruising ranging from the Brazil Banks to the Coast of Africa. These whaleships averaged 180 tons each, and were around 80 to 90 feet in length, carrying crews of 14 men. In 1788, a particularly successful year, the re turn cargo averaged 48 tons of both black (right whale) and sperm oil, together with bone. Sperm oil at this time was bring ing £55 per ton and the rich "head matter," used in candle mak ing, sold at £65 per ton. Right whale oil usually brought about £35 per ton. *
*
*
*
At the little town of Dartmouth the Nantucketers became the busy center of the community life, developing their land as well as sea holdings. The 2156 acres, originally surveyed for their use, included 556 acres in the heart of the town. The lot layouts were interesting, being laid out in squares from the Cove. The Quaker Meeting House occupied the customary position on the hill overlooking the transported Nantucketer. Even today, the few old houses built by the emigrants which still remain may be easily recognized by their typical lines of island architecture. The home of Timothy Folger still stands at Nine South Street. Folger did not sell it until 1793. It later passed into the hands of a Col. Quarrel, who also bought another house of Folger's at the corner of Commercial and Portland Streets. The old Folger house on South Street had four rooms on a floor, two stories high, with five fireplaces. A stone wall enclosed the property.
20
NANTUCKET COLONY AT DARTMOUTH, N. S.
21
The little colony had received some visiting Friends and one of them, John Townsend, with others from Nantucket de scribed attending a Quaker Meeting which was held in the Court House, at which Governor Parr and his family were present. Townsend kept a journal of his visit, and the original manu script is in the Peter Foulger Museum at Nantucket. He gives the following account of his visit to Dartmouth: "We sailed from Nantucket the 4th, 7 mo. 1786 at Six in the morning and arrived at Halifax on the 8th following about II oClock in the forenoon: we waited on the Governor & Collector for leave to Anchor informing them we were on a Religious Visit & not on trade, they Received us very kindly, we then came to Anchor at Dartmouth where some of our Friends were settled & building a Town and went on shore to Sam'l Starbucks who with his family are settled there, we stayed Meeting with them on First Day and then proceeded for the Island of St. Johns." Returning from St. Johns, Townsend and his associates again visited Dartmouth: "We went after Brakefast with Saml Starbuck over to Hallifax and waited on the Governor and proposed to him our holding a Publick Meeting amongst the Inhabitants at which he seemed well pleased and readily Granted the Use of the Court House to meet in. Accordingly we appointed a Meeting to be held at II Next day which was large. The Governor [Parr] and famely with many of the Inhabitants attended." Townsend visited Shelburne, N. S., before returning to Nantucket. The result of his visit to the Province was the for mation of the Dartmouth Monthly Meeting of the Friends, on November 11, 1786, after the parent Nantucket Meeting re ceived a petition, which was granted. This Meeting remained a part of the Nantucket Meeting, and when the Dartmouth Quak ers transferred themselves to Milford Haven, Wales, the rec ords of their Meeting were returned to the Nantucket Meeting. They now repose in the vault of the Peter Foulgei Museum. The location of the Nantucket Friends Meeting House is believed to have been the northeast corner of King and Queen streets After the Quakers had left Dartmouth the old building was used as a school and a hall. When the Dartmouth Central School was erected the original structure was razed. Among the Nantucket families remaining at Dartmouth after most had departed was that of Seth Coleman. For many years his account book was preserved by a grandson, Justice Russell, of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and a native of Dartmouth Coleman was a boat-builder, and some of his entries referred to the shins Sally and Parr. Such entries as flour at 33 shillings a b^rel in 1788, cordwood at 2s 6d, a broadcloth coat at 12 lis,
22
HISTORIC NANTUCKET
made the journal of historical interest. Unfortunately it was burned in a fire which destroyed Justice Russell's gunning camp. Seth Coleman's reputation was high. When the smallpox struck Dartmouth, Governor Sherbrooke appointed Coleman to the task of vaccinating 400 people in the area. On another occasion he was sent to Sable Island to investigate life saving facilities there and his recommendations upon return were adopted by the gov ernment. One of his grandsons, Captain William Coleman, was in charge of the Dartmouth ferry fleet for a number of years. During my visit to Dartmouth in 1951 I visited Mrs. James Marsters, a descendant of Seth Coleman, who told me that Seth Coleman was considered the leader of the Nantucket group following the departure of Samuel Starbuck and Timothy Folger. As Clerk of the Friends Meeting, Seth Coleman had to record not only the activities of the Nantucket Quaker colony but to correspond with the parent Nantucket Monthly Meeting. His son, John Brown Coleman, married Elizabeth Coffin, daugh ter of Reuben and Parnell Coffin, and became the parents of John B. Coleman, born in 1800 at Dartmouth. As was the custom of the time, John B. Coleman went to sea at an early age, probably in one of the last of the DartmouthHalifax whaleships. In 1821 he moved to Nantucket, having in the interim learned the trade of carpenter. His brother, James Coleman, was a shipwright, and it is possible may have worked with his brother. In Nantucket, John B. Coleman went to sea on the whaleship Boston, and on his next voyage was second mate of the ship Golden Farmer. After one voyage as mate of the Zenas Coffin, he took the same vessel as her master. In 1836 he sailed as master of the Catawba, returning from a three and one-half-year voyage in September, 1839. In December, 1840, he sailed as master of the Charles and Henry. It was on this long 50-month voyage that Captain Coleman, while the ship was at Eimeo, "signed on" a young runaway sailor named Herman Melville, and when the ship reached Honolulu the new hand received an honorable discharge. Thus, as master of Melville's third whaler (for years a mystery ship, until Pro. Wilson Heflin identified her), Captain Coleman has also a share in literary history, as noted in Melville's Omoo. *
*
•
Several of the Halifax merchants invested in the Dartmouth whaling fleet, notably Thomas Cochrane who had been one of the first supporters of the Nantucket migration. Other Nan tucket Quaker families joined the colony, Paul Worth, who married Phebe Barnard, Shubael Clark, Joseph Clasby,' Ben jamin Folger and Stephen Rawson. Among other Quakers who were not Nantucket natives but who joined the Dartmouth Meet ing, were Matthew Flannery, Jonathan Foster, John King, Thom as King, James King, Roderick McKenzie, David and Peggy Grive, and Mahon Grive.
NANTUCKET COLONY AT DARTMOUTH, N. S.
23
But the success of the Dartmouth whaling was to prove its undoing. Powerful political influence in Britain supported the London whaling merchants who had found the Dartmouth com petition a challenge. Convinced that the connection with Nan tucket was a means by which American oil could be virtually smuggled through Dartmouth to England, the Board of Trade, through the Home Secretary, Lord Sydney, determined "not to encourage the Southern Whale Fishery that may be carried on by persons who have removed from Nantucket and other places within the American states, excepting they shall exercise the Fishery directly from Great Britain." At the same time no new Nantucket vessels were permitted to sail from Dartmouth as British registries were denied them. Greatly depressed by this turn of events, Governor Parr could only obey the directive. The effect on the leaders of the Nantucket colony was to recognize the over-powering influence of the London merchants. Governor Parr died in November 1791, thus removing their strongest ally. Before this, however, (1790) a proposal was received from England for the removal of the experienced whalers to Britain, and the two leading merchants, Messrs. Starbuck and Folger, were convinced that this was the best plan for the future of the Dartmouth colony. But there were obviously a number of individuals in the group who did not agree, and this fact became evident in subsequent developments. The proposal was that the Dartmouth-Nantucketers transfer their interests to Milford Haven, in Wales, where again land had been set aside for them. At a meeting of the inhabitants Samuel Starbuck made the formal proposal, which he and Tim othy Folger favored. In June, 1791, the records of the Dartmouth Friends Meeting contain a letter from the Nantucket Meeting, offering "advice" upon "receiving information that you were meditating a Removal to Great Britain and had prepared con ditions for that purpose." Commenting that the "subject appears weighty and Mo mentous," the Nantucket brethren acquainted the Dartmouth Friends with their "tender and affectionate advice," and re minded them that "the consequence of said removal may be the breaking up of said Meeting.' It was at this time that Seth Coleman and Thomas Greene were appointed a committee to investigate the conduct of Samuel Starbuck and his two sons, Daniel and Samuel, Jr., who had requested certificates from the Nantucket Meeting, preparatory to their removal. Coleman, who had been appointed Clerk of the Dartmouth Meeting, wrote in reply: "Agreeable to appointment we have made inquiry into the conduct and state of Samuel Starbuck, Daniel and Samuel Starbuck, Jr., and find nothing to the contrary but that the business
24
HISTORIC NANTUCKET
of Daniel and Samuel, Jr., both in respect to their Acts and their Bills that were said to be noted for a protest were duly answered and all stand fair. But people here generally find fault with Samuel Starbuck for being accessory in sending some private proposals on his own Acc't while he was instructed by the inhabitants with sending a Public one, which has in all probability been of much injury to the Interest of Dartmouth. Indeed we are sorry to say that we fear he did not act with that Integrity that might of been expected from one professing with us." This record was approved and the Clerk forwarded it to Nantucket. In a reply from the parent Meeting, a request was made for "an explanation of the complaint of the Inhabitants of Dartmouth against Samuel Starbuck, Sr." To this the committee answered that, following the visit of "a person from England with authority, it was said, to receive proposals of Inhabitants of Dartmouth for the purpose of removing with their Families to the shores of Great Britain for to carry on the Whale Fishery," a meeting was held and it was "agreed that each man's property should be estimated and proposals fixed on which s'd Inhabitants would be willing to remove." This being accomplished, the Dartmouth Meeting's report continued, "Samuel then proposed that if the above proposals were acceded to, the Inhabitants should one and all go, but if not to their satisfaction all should stay, which he requested each to express their approbation of individually, which was received to mean for the mutual benefit of each other. This being done, each man put his name to his respective estimate and agreed they should be sent forward. Some time after it was reported there was a private Memorial that had likewise gone forward, a report too absurd to have been believed had it not come from a near connection in the families. However, when said Inhabi tants received an answer to their proposals (which was far from being what was asked or satisfactory) with a partial an nuity to those who had undertaken to negotiate the public busi ness, this seemed to corroborate the above report of such a [private] Memorial going forward." The Nantucket Meeting then granted certificates to all the Dartmouth people who proposed removing "to Europe" except Samuel Starbuck, as they "were under great Imbarrassments whether he has done anything that will bring him under dealing." Samuel Starbuck and his family had already sailed to Milford Haven, to treat with Charles Greville, the chief advocate of the Dartmouth Colony's removal to Wales. Writing from Milford in June, 1794, the elder Samuel Starbuck expressed his "grevious hurt" by the circumstance which was so "injurious to my reputation." He declared that upon learning of the oppor tunity of removal to Milford, he and his sons had decided to "act
NANTUCKET COLONY AT DARTMOUTH, N. S.
25
disconnected from any other person," although they had a "natural affection with other settlers." Timothy Folger, how ever, had advised that all should act together. A committee had thereupon acted for the colony, Starbuck declared, "to which I was not named nor consulted." After an agreement had been reached, Starbuck and Folger petitioned the Crown for an annuity "for ourselves and wives in consequence of what we had suffered in the American War." To this compensation they were as justly entitled as any other prominent Loyalist. However, as Seth Coleman, of Dartmouth, wrote: "Was this doing as he would be done by?" There will always be the ques tion: As a principal promoter in the migration from Nantucket to Halifax, had he abused his privilege by "furthering his own ends" at the expense of the Dartmouth Colony? It must be re membered that, at their first migration, the whalemen "could not obtain the least favor from Governor Parr without the sanc tion of Samuel Starbuck or Timothy Folger." Naturally, they still considered Starbuck a leader when the time came for re moval to Milford. Starbuck had himself declared in Meeting "that it was the families of the whalemen that the British gov ernment wanted, and not their land at Dartmouth." Several families from Dartmouth decided to join Samuel Starbuck and his sons and Timothy and Abial Folger in Wales, but others remained in Nova Scotia. In the summer of 1793, across the intervening ocean, a fleet of six whaleships ultimately sailed slowly into a magnificent harbor at Milford Haven. From their decks, the Quaker whale men and their families looked up at the craggy hills of Wales. This was a new- and splendid opportunity; the land was rich, the harbor unexcelled — but would they not have preferred the sandy shores and rolling heath of their real homeland of Nan tucket? * * * * At Mill Cove in Dartmouth, on the facade of a warehouse, is affixed a bronze plaque bearing the words Nearby stood the Wharves and Manufactures of the Whaling Company from Nantucket, Mass. 1785 - 1792. The "Common," which the Nantucket colony set aside is perhaps the finest monument to the farsightedness of those set tlers, and it is fitting that "Nantucket Avenue" should lead to this part of the town. Today the Dartmouth Heritage group is raising funds to restore one of the homes originally erected by one of the Nan tucket families, called the Jackson House on Ochterloney Street.
NANTUCKET COLONY AT DARTMOUTH, N. S.
„ 27
Ihis is thought to be the oldest known dwelling in that section of the town where the Nantucket colony first settled. During a visit to Nova Scotia in 1951, the late John Martin stated it was his opinion that this was probably the first of the Nantucket houses built in Dartmouth. In any event, the project is a laudable one, and it is to be hoped that this is an initial step in more closely re-establishing the historic bond between Dartmouth and Nantucket. In an age notable for advances in technology it is well to recall the more significant attributes of the human spirit. The story of the Nan tucket migration to Dartmouth brings such attributes into a clearer light and should serve as a constant reminder of the values therein.
28
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The Bible record of Latham Folger and Matilda Worth, 1791
29
Bible Two Centuries Old Through the interest of Walter Weston Folger, of Chatta nooga, Tennessee, we are reproducing photographs of the title page and record of genealogy appearing in the old Bible once owned by Latham Folger and his wife Matilda (Worth) Folger. Latham was the first of the family of that name to migrate to the south, and the record is the oldest in private hands linking him to Nantucket. The pages of the Bible measure 8 3/8 x 10 11/16 inches. Latham Folger and Matilda Worth were married at Centre, Guilford County, North Carolina, on November 27, 1777, and became progenitors of the Southern branch of the Nantucket family. A printed copy of the Quaker certificate of marriage may be found in pages 192 and 193 of the Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of California (Vol. 1, 1917). In commenting on the first page of the family records of the Bible which is reproduced, Mr. Walter W. Folger writes: "Even now the year of the birth of Latham Folger's wife, nee Matilda Worth, looks more like 1753 than 1758. My literal transcription of the record in 1935, however, indicates the latter, confirming that given on page 831 of Alexander Starbuck's His tory of Nantucket (1924). Latham Folger's birth is given on page 752, although 'New Style' dating is used in the Bible entry, which was evidently made after 1800 and thereby in accord with the former."
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Aletha Macy h rom the time when she was a child in school Aletha Macy was a distinct personality. She was a willing student but her teachers often despaired because she showed little interest in books and they could not develop her potential as a scholar. This mystery of her indifference to mundane school projects was not long of solution when she displayed her first skills with her hands — the creative instinct coming to the fore. Gaining the attention of that master craftsman, Lincoln Ceely, she quickly became immersed in the art of cabinetmaking, painting in reverse on glass, and carving. It was in the latter craft that she eventually decided to develop her latent talents. Once launched, and on her own, this became a life work. First in wood and then in ivory her remarkable ability be came recognized and her work gained renown outside the Island which was her home. Her carved portrait in wood of Abram Quary, now in the Atheneum Library, has clearly established her fame as an artist in this medium. Other carvings of local scenes followed. She found herself in demand by orders for similar work. Soon, however, her work in ivory took up most of her attention. Working with both sperm whale ivory teeth and ele phant tusks, as well as whalebone and walrus ivory, she designed and carved a wide range of objects. Her little shop, "Ivory of the Sea," soon became a favorite place for visitors interested in her material and for her many friends who enjoyed the op portunity to chat with her as well as admire her work. Aletha's whale plaques were so popular that she had difficulty in keeping up with orders. From all over the country came re quests. The distinctive style of her artistry became her trade mark. A number of her plaques displaying the variety of whale species were made to special orders, and have been hailed as outstanding. She provided various designs in ivory for the deco rative tops of lightship baskets. Her whaling scenes engraved on whale panbones are of extraordinary skill, and those who have these in their collections are fortunate, indeed. Wooden boxes, inlaid with ivory, used as utility or dressing table boxes, were also popular products of her skillful hands. While still young she became interested in horse-back riding, and also sulky racing, an interest which, in more recent years, was transferred to pony racing. In this exciting sport she found relaxation, and her enthusiasm was a delight to her friends and acquaintances, so filled as it was with her personality.
32
HISTORIC NANTUCKET
With Aletha's passing Nantucket has lost another in the dwindling ranks of craftsmen who worked in the manner of the old school. Her talent was a blend of her character — natural and unadorned — and her skill — so carefully obtained and nur tured. The little shop on the Madaket Road has seen her open the door on the last chapter of her life as a native artisan, and when she closed that door for the last time she also quietly ended a life time of work which she herself had selected and patiently pursued. Through the many examples of her art her unique contributions to Nantucket's cultural life will keep the memory of her life always a part of our Island's history. — Editorial in The Inquirer and Mirror
An example of Aletha Macy's Craftsmanship
33
Recent Accessions The Nantucket Historical Association has been the recipient of a number of valuable gifts during recent months which have added to the interesting collections maintained by the Associa tion. The variety of the material adds to the interest and range. One of the outstanding paintings on display at the Peter Foulger Museum is the Eastman Johnson canvas "Embers," which was loaned by I. Austin Kelly, III, in 1969. In December, 1971, Mr. Kelly made a gift of the painting, and thus it becomes the permanent possession of the Association. When the painting was first acquired from Mr. Kelly it was called Man at a Win dow, Nantucket," but it is now to be identified as "Embers.' It is a fitting example of the work which the great American artist accomplished during his residence in Nantucket in the last decades of the 19th century. Mr. Kelly is the thoughtful contributor who, two years ago, presented our Library a first edition of Melville's classic, MobyDick.
From the Nantucket Historical Trust we have received an unusually complete collection of papers from the Family of Captain Paul Pinkham, Jr., who moved from Nantucket to Maine at the turn of the 19'th century. Bills of sale of shares in Nantucket whaleships Hope, Be&vev and Uyiiovi, an account of the of the schooner Codfish, wrecked on Great Point in 1791; insur ance policies and deeds, and documents and letters relating to Capt. Paul Pinkham, Sr., first Keeper of Great Point Light house, are included. A portion of the logbook of the bark So.ct avxcTito, Captain Thaddeus C. Defriez, and a framed photograph of Captain Defriez after he became Judge of the Probate Court, have been received from Mrs. Chauncey Gray, a great-granddaughter ot Captain Defriez. On display at the Peter Foulger Museum is a collection of whaling craft once owned by the late Aletha Macy. The group was purchased by Mr. H. H. Kynett, of 118 Main Street, Nan tucket and Philadelphia, and presented the Association for disnlav at the Peter Foulger Museum. Two native spears from Sumatra were also given by Mr. Kynett, and are on exhibit, also. \s an important addition to our Library, the donor has also presented a first edition of Captain Scammon s The Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast of North America.
34
HISTORIC NANTUCKET
Through the interest of Mrs. Margaret Fawcett Barnes, Cldment Penrose and Howard Gill a large number of photo graphs relating to old 'Sconset and the famed "Actors' Colony" have been placed in the safekeeping of the Peter Foulger Mu seum's archives. The photographs include some of the leading theatrical folk of the 1880-1920 period, as well as other profes sional people of the theatre world whose careers continued well into this century. Such famous actors as Joseph Jefferson, W. H. Thompson, DeWolf Hopper, Digby Bell, Robert Hiiliard, Roy Webb, Vincent Serrano, and that renowned figure of the stage and silver screen, George Fawcett, are in the unusual collection, along with such beloved actresses as Percy Haswell (Mrs. George Fawcett), Mrs. Gilbert, Isabel Irving, Mary Shaw and Bertha Galland. There are also photographs of summer life on the beach, at the Casino, and on the golf course. A collection of French china is the gift of Miss Esther Gibbs, and dates back to the late 18th century. Mrs. George A. Taylor (Florence Ingall) has enabled us to display several quarterboards of ships and schooners, including the Thomas Hicks, Maine and Abenaki. Mrs. Elizabeth Turner Block has presented a colorful oil painting of Sankaty Light in the 1880's, by the Nantucket artist James Walter Folger. A first edition of Alexander Starbuck's "History of the American Whale Fish ery," and one of Scammon's " Marine Mammals," have come to us from Mrs. Irving S. Burnside of Shimmo and New York City. Mrs. Burnside also gave a painting by Elizabeth R. Coffin called "the Sleeping Cat," one of Miss Coffin's few animal paint ings. Robert Waggaman, for many years a member of our Asso ciation, is the donor of the original bell which once hung at the old town hall and South School on Orange Street. He also pre sented a collection of items including a small painting on wood by Wendell Macy; an oil by Dr. Arthur E. Jenks; a framed sampler made by Anna Meader in 1788, and another by Lydia Coffin in 1790; as well as a small wooden box containing three tin cannisters which once held Hyson tea, bearing dates of 181,8 and the name "Lydia Barrett." F. Stuart Chadwick has made a gift of the painting of An drew Brooks, Mate of the whaleship Ontario, of Nantucket, who was killed by a mutinous sailor in 1844, while the ship lay at anchor off the South American West Coast. A letter written by Andrew Brooks from the Falkland Islands in 1836 has also been presented by Mr. Alcon Chadwick. An old stone jug that was once used on board the whaleship
Ploughboy, of Nantucket, and was for years in the Samuel
Barrett house on the Cliff, is a gift of Walter Barrett. An excel lent addition to our Nantucket paintings has been donated by
RECENT ACCESSIONS
35 Theodore Strong. It is a view of Hayden's Salt Water Baths at Beachside in the 1890's, with the Nantucket Hotel and Brant Point Light in the background. Mr. and Mrs. Marland Rounsville have given us a long-handled cranberry scoop, and the Sherburne Associates donated a regular designed scoop for our Foulger Museum display on cranberry culture. Another gift from the Nantucket Historical Trust is the logbook of the ship Norman, of Nantucket, Captain Joseph C. Chase, containing entries from October 21, 1851, through Sep tember 5, 1854. The Norman returned home on August 4, 1855. The ship was owned by George and Matthew Starbuck, and the log-keeper was Henry Clark. Of great importance to our manuscript collections, and of vital value to our records of the Society of Friends on Nantucket are four slender volumes received from Mrs. Marion D. Stevens, of Lee, New Hampshire. These are the Minutes of Removals from 1813 to 1855; Cash Book from 1814 to 1885; Monthly Meeting of the Sandwich Society held at Nantucket from 1845 through 1885; and a smaller volume with an end date of 1875. Among articles of interest is a cane-seated chair made on Nantucket in the late 18th century that once belonged to John Coffin Pinkham. It was donated by Mrs. Louise Pinkham Lorimer and Henry S. Pinkham, greaLgreat-grandchildren of John Coffin Pinkham. The chair was brought to the Island through the courtesy of Col. Charles Stone, a member of our Association and a friend of Mr. Pinkham. It is now on display at the Peter Foulger Museum. From Mr. Bancel LaFarge, of Nantucket, we have received a most unusual collection of shore bird decoys. These came from Tuckernuck, and were originally brought to that Island by Dr. William S. Bigelow. They were patented on October 27, 1874, by Henry Strater, Jr., and William Sohier, both of whom visited Dr. Bigelow and hunted plover and ducks on Tucker nuck. The decoys are of metal and open into two halves which enables them to be carried in "nests" of several at a time. When pressed together to form a whole decoy they are set into the ground by long sticks that resembled small wooden standards still used for flags.
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Plans For Restoration of Thomas Rotch Fiomestead in Massillon, Ohio INTRODUCTION About ten years ago I became interested in the connec tion between Nantucket and the town of Massillon, Ohio, which was my Mother's hometown. The results of my investi gations were published in Historic Nantucket for April 1964. Kendal, the first name given to the town in the area now called Massillon, was founded by Thomas Rotch, who was the son of William Rotch. Thomas was born and brought up in Nantucket. He took with him to Kendal many Nantucket people, and others came out later. One of these Nantucketers was Captain Mayhew Folger whose grandson left the money to the Nantucket Historical Association which has resulted in the splendid museum recently finished. The lovely old house named Spring Hill which Thomas built is still standing in Massillon, and it is interesting to find out that plans have been made for this historic Ohio (and Quaker) landmark. Mr. David Palmquist of the Massil lon Museum has written the following account of the plans for the preservation of this house. Katherine Seeler
DAVID W. PALMQUIST
Massillon, Ohio, is a long way from the ocean, but not far enough to be out of reach of the restless people of Nantucket who went West in the early 1800's when the Embargo and the second war with England ruined whaling and shipping on the seas. Thomas Rotch, youngest son of William Rotch of Nantucket, was one of the pioneers, leaving Hartford, Connecticut, with his wife, Charity Rodman of Newport, Rhode Island, and a flock of several hundred Spanish merino sheep. He settled in 1811 on land near the present city of Massillon, where he laid out a town in the spring of 1812 named Kendal, after the English woolen manufacturing town of the same name. He set up a pottery, woolen mill, general store and a saw and grist mill. A Friends meeting of course was organized at once. In this venture, Thomas was joined by other transplanted New Englanders: Macys, Folgers, Colemans, Skinners, Micheners and Coffins.
RESTORATION OF ROTCH HOMESTEAD
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For his wife, Charity, he built his "mansion house," Spring Hill, on an elevated site overlooking the town of Kendal. The house was built between 1821 and 1823, and here Thomas and Charity lived briefly before their deaths in 1823 and 1824. They had no children. Their employee, Arvine Wales, who had herded their sheep from Hartford, purchased the home from the Rotch heirs in 1831, and the Wales family has occupied it all but a few years since that time. The house that Thomas Rotch built was plain even to the point of being severe, but the frame construction and chimneys are substantial, and the rooms are large and spacious. Arvine Wales added a west wing, giving the outside of the house its present balanced appearance. Over the years very little altera tion has been done, and several of the original furnishings are intact to this day. In its later years, Spring Hill was a substantial dairy farm. On the property today are several outbuildings reflecting the work that went on there: a wool house dating from the earliest period, for the storage of raw wool; a milk house for the process ing of milk, butter and other dairy products: a spring house used to cool these products, with underground pipes supplying water to the milk house and cow barn; and a smoke house where fifty hams could be smoked at one time. In 1966, a group of interested citizens of Massillon, with The Massillon Museum's official support, formed the Massillon Museum Foundation, Inc., to preserve Spring Hill as an historic property. This action was prompted by a series of events that started when the ownership of the property passed from the Wales family into the hands of a group formed to develop the property for residential and other uses. This development would possibly have destroyed the house. After a successful and con certed fund raising drive by members of the Foundation, the homestead at Spring Hill and three acres of land were pur chased in late 1966. In 1967, an additional nine acres were bought to round out the property. It is the intention of the Foundation not just to preserve Spring Hill, but as funds and circumstances permit, to restore it and eventually open it to the public, incorporating it into the total educational services offered by The Massillon Museum. The house and its outbuildings would be staffed by trained volunteer aides, along with appropriate exhibits and such re-enacted ac tivities as spinning and weaving, candle making, cheese and butter making and other household tasks of the nineteenth century. The work of interpretation is fortunately made easier by the large collection of manuscript papers found on the property by by Mrs. Horatio W. Wales, consisting of about 1,500 pieces of Thomas Rotch's papers and an equal amount of the Wales family.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
The papers are now being processed and catalogued by the Massillon Public Library. Mrs. Wales, by her study and preserva tion of the collection, did much to illuminate the history of early Kendal and Massillon, and provide insight into the business, religious and personal affairs of the owners of Spring Hill. The whaling portion of the papers was recently microfilmed by the Whaling and Marine Manuscript Archives of Nantucket ; those papers relating to the Quaker religion were microfilmed by Swarthmore College many years ago. Spring Hill will further the historical education of people in the area, especially children, bringing to life the very earliest days in the Settlement of Ohio. It is also a story that cannot be told without bringing in the tale of Nantucket and New Bedford whaling, of high adventure at sea and huge profits to be made at home. The high standard of living in New England during this period is evident in the Ohio home of Thomas and Charity Rotch, with its silver and fine furniture, books, china and glass ware, as well as in the design and construction of the house itself. The house is full of history, and its associations with the interesting and important people who left New England long ago will some day be seen and felt by everyone at Spring Hill.
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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 develop ment 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 by 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 °f dollars."
Legacies may be made also in real estate, bonds, stocks, books, paintings, or any objects having historical value, in which event a brief description of the same should be inserted instead of a sum of money. Please send all communications to the Secretary, Box 1016, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554. Office, Union Street.
Corner of India and Centre Streets built after fire of 1846.
