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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
