Historic Nantucket
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A Vanished Treasure The old Hosier Shop on Federal Street in the early years of this century when Proprietor Davis owned it. The little court on the side was a part of Black Horse Lane.
April, 1980 Published Quarterly by Nantucket Historical Association Nantucket, Massachusetts
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President, Leroy H. True Vice-Presidents, Albert G. Brock, George W. Jones, Alcon Chadwick, Albert F. Egan, Jr., Walter Beinecke, Jr., Mrs. Merle T. Orleans Secretary, Richard C. Austin Treasurer, John N. Welch Councillors, H. Flint Ranney, Miss Barbara Melendy, terms expire 1980; Donald Terry, Mrs. H. Crowell Freeman, terms expire 1981; Miss Dorothy Gardner, David D. Worth, terms expire 1982; Nancy Ayotte, Mrs. Bernard D. Grossman, terms expire 1983. Historian, Edouard A. Stackpole Editor: "Historic Nantucket", Edouard A. Stackpole Assistant Editor, Mrs. Merle T. Orleans
STAFF Oldest House: Curator, Mrs. Kenneth S. Baird Receptionists: Mrs. Margaret Crowell, Mrs. Elsie Niles Hadwen House-Satler Memorial: Curator, Mrs. Phoebe Swain Receptionists: Mrs. Irving A. Soverino, Mrs. Richard Strong, Mrs. John Stackpole, Mrs. J. B. Ord 1800 House: Curator, Mrs. Clare Macgregor Receptionist: Mrs. Donald MacGlashan Old Gaol: Curator, Albert G. Brock Whaling Museum: Curator, Renny Stackpole Receptionists: Frank Pattison, James A. Watts, Patricia Searle, Rose Stanshigh, Alice Collins, Mary Lou Campbell, Anita Dougan, Alfred N. Orpin Peter Foulger Museum: Curator and Director, Edouard A. Stackpole Receptionists: Mrs. Clara Block, Everett Finlay, Mary J. Barrett, Mrs. Ann Warren, Librarian: Mrs. Louise Hussey Nathaniel Macy House: Curator, Mrs. John A. Baldwin Receptionists: Miss Dorothy Hiller, Mrs. Gertrude Petzel Archaeology Department, Curator, Mrs. Roger Young; Asst. Mrs. John D. Little Old Town Office: Curator, Hugh R. Chace Old Mill: Curator, John Gilbert Millers: John Stackpole, Edward G. Dougan Folger-Franklin Seat and Mem'l Boulder: Curator, Francis Sylvia Friends Meeting House-Fair Street Museum: Curator, Albert F. Egan, Jr. Lightship "Nantucket": Curator, John Austin Shipkeeper: Richard Swain Receptionists: Martin Foley, Barbara Nathan, Carlos Grangrade III Greater Light-Receptionists, Dr. Selina T. Johnson, Florence Farrell Building Survey Committee: Chairman, Robert G. Metters Hose Cart House: Curator, Francis W. Pease
HISTORIC NANTUCKET Published quarterly and devoted to the preservation of Nantucket's antiquity, its famed heritage and its illustrious past as a whaling port.
.V.iune 27
April, 1980
No. 4
CONTENTS Nantucket Historical Association Officers ana oiaff
2
Editorial — The Quiet Sentinel on the Hill
5
The Bark "Richard Parsons" and Captain B. Whitford Joy by Edouard A. Stackpole
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Quakers Honor Centenary of the Death of Lucretia Coffin Mott
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Spring Comes to Nantucket by the late Mary E. Starbuck
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Cutting in a Whale at Nantucket April 1,1870
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"Footprints in the Sand" — de Crevecoeur on Nantucket by Laland Keeshan
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Legacies and Bequests Address Changes
26
Benjamin Franklin's Letter from London to Cousin Kezia
27
Cleavelands on the Islands by Theodore C. Wyman
28
"Benny Cleveland's Job" by the late Joseph A. Campbell
31
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 $7.50; Sustaining $25.00; Life—one payment $100.00 Second-class postage paid at Nantucket, Massachusetts Communications pertaining to the Publication should be addressed to the Editor, Historic Nantucket, Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554.
The Quiet Sentinel on the Hill IN THE WINTER months the Old Mill stands high above the town like a lonely sentinel. There is something prophetic in its stark appearance against the sky line, as if in its representation it is truly on guard, a timetested figure, holding fast to a determination to protect its surrounding terrain. There is a symbol of hope in this representation. When this historic structure came into the possession of the Nantucket Historical Association over eighty years ago, the far-sighted members of that time decided to protect its immediate environment by buying the land across the lane. In view of what is happening today, this purchase of the crest of landscape to the cast has prevented a line of houses that would dominate the view and destroy the opportunity to envision the past. In like manner, the young organization of the Nantucket Civic League purchased the property to the south and promptly created the Mill Hill Park. This thoughtful act has protected the area further from the certain sweep of building that would have engulfed it today.. Thus, the Old Mill serves as a sentinel guarding the story of the Island's past and a symbol of holdingfast to those principles which enabled the first settlers and their seafaring progeny to persevere. In our modern world we have forgotten some of the lessons taught by the history of those earlier times. The sentinel on the hill symbolizes our historic past but also warns of the dangers of the present. The very durability of the Old Mill reminds us that its long years have been a result of preservation and protection. As a guide for the future it points the way toward the reclamation of those stretches of outlying land so that they may remain as a protection and a setting for the old town and its new suburbs. The Conservation Foundation has created a remarkable record in acquiring sections of this outlying land; the Town should follow the example and acquire property that now is the prize of the developers who would only destroy it. As a setting for Nantucket Town — a rare historical jewel that becomes more important with time's passage — the outlying land should be preserved. Once the setting is destroyed the jewel will not escape the tarnish. —Edouard A. Stackpole
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T h e B a r k "Richard Parsons" and Captain B. Whitford Joy i Edouard A. Stackpole SEVERAL MONTHS AGO,a painting of the bark Richard Parsons was presented our Association by W. A, Schofield, of Macon, Georgia, in memory of his wife, Dorothy Remsen Schofield. The donor realized that the painting was in a condition which demanded immediate restoration if it could be saved, and prompt action was taken by President Leroy True, who took it to an expert in the field, Morton Bradley, of Boston, who was able to complete a restoration that was miraculous. The painting now is on exhibit at the Peter Foulger Museum. The acquisition of the Richard Parsons is important in that it represents not only the story of the ship itself but of two Nantucket men who served aboard her on her last voyage. These two were Captain Benjamin Whitford Joy, her master, and his nephew William Remsen, then a youth. The Parsons had been built in Camden, Maine, in 1878, and was of 1,159 tons burthen. She was 190 feet in length, 38 ft. in beam, and 23 ft. in depth. Considered a fast vessel, she had made a number of voyages in the Far East trade when Captain Whitford Joy joined her as her first mate, and sailed for Australia and Hong Kong. In 1893, with Captain Thorndike as her master, she sailed for Melbourne, with Ben jamin Whitford Joy as her first mate. In the crew was his nephew, William G. Remsen, of Nantucket, son of Captain Joseph Remsen, who had married Captain Joy's sister. Upon arrival at Melbourne, Australia, the vessel took aboard a cargo of wheat to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. On the second night of the passage, Captain Thorndike, who had been ill for some time, called Mate Joy into his cabin to witness his last will and testament, Captain Thorn dike retired from the sea upon arrival in port, and Captain Joy took over the command of the Richard Parsons. On his next voyage, Captain Joy took the ship to Cape Town with a cargo of wheat and made the passage in 47 days. On the evening preceding his departure for a return to Melbourne he received a cable from the owners with orders to sail for Newcastle, New South Wales. Upon arrival there he took aboard a cargo of coal for Manila. On the morning of July 10, 1893, the Richard Parsons sailed with a fresh northwest breeze, her cargo well stowed, and drawing 22 feet of water with 1,750 tons of coal aboard. For several days the weather held, with strong westerly and
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
southerly winds. In 24 hours she had made 275 miles, and the weather held fair. Shaping her course for the passage west of the Solomon Islands, the bark passed up through Brampton and Chesterfield reefs and with the fresh southeast trade winds she sighted Bougainville Island on July 31, three weeks out. Sailing the passage between New Ireland and Bougainville, Captain Joy then proceeded along the shores of New Ireland, westward by New Britain and New Guinea, dodging the reefs and islands, and reaching .the Gililo Passage. On August 23rd, the Parsons passed around the southernmost point of the Philippines at Cape Serangani, and entered the Celebes Sea. Here the weather changed drastically. The wind dropped, then shifted and fell away again, and they drifted for two weeks. With the monotony of the dead calm, the sails slatting against the masts, and the sea like burnished glass, all hands were apprehensive. When a slant of wind finally came they took heart. On September 8, 1984, the Parsons passed through the Basilan Straits and the course was shaped for the west coast of Mindanao. After a series of thunder squalls for several days they sighted Negros Island and on Sept. 14 they made the south end of Panay Island. The day was clear but the breeze light, but that night the barometer fell so rapidly that Captain Joy realized that a typhoon was in the offing. The weather became foggy and the wind fell away. Then the typhoon struck in full fury. Knowing he was on a lee shore Captain Joy realized his only hope of clearing the land was to stand to the north and west to clear Apo Shoal and run for it. On Sept. 17 he had succeeded in getting past Apo Shoal with all sail set, but as the wind increased he was forced to take in the light sails, the flying jib and foretopgallant . At 2 o'clock in the morning, he realized he could no longer drive against the heavy seas, and with the gale battering the bark he had all hands take in the spanker, mainsail, jib and upper topsails, furling them carefully with extra lashings. During the night the barometer continued to fall, and at daylight the situation of the bark was desperate. During the clearing spell Captain Joy sighted the land bearing north. He knew immediately that the vessel was trapped in Paluan Bay. In their desperate position he made very effort to claw offshore, and, in his own words, described their plight:
"I knew it was impossible to save the ship, and as night was coming on, made up my mind to put her ashore and thus save all the lives that I could before it got too dark."
The Last Nantucket Square-Rigger Captain Captain Benjamin Whitford Joy, who served as an officer on board the ships, St. Charles, Triumphant, Invincible, St. Nicholas, and Richard Larsons. Following the loss of the Parsons, he com manded the ship Ela, the steamer Eugene Grazelli, and the U. S. S. Westover. In later years he commanded the yachts Onward and Yaque. His last command was the steam yacht Florette, of New York.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
The story of the loss of the Parsons was given later by young William G. Remsen, Capt. Joy's nephew. He stated that Captain Joy called all hands aft and explained the situation, and described how he hoped that by putting the bark ashore he hoped to save their lives. The crew agreed with him. There was too much sea for lowering boats, and so gratings and spars were lashed to form life-rafts. Young William Remsen described the scene. "Just before she struck Capt. Joy again called all hands aft and told of his hope to save our lives. In that howling typhoon we listened to his words as best we could, staring into each other's faces, knowing that slowly but surely we were ap proaching the reefs that guarded the beach. Captain Joy told me to stay close to him, and advised me as to what to do if I got ashore and he did not." Just before 5 o'clock the doomed bark struck with a frightening crash. The shore was nearly a mile away, and she began breaking up im mediately. Following Captain Joy's orders carefully, the men got the big spanker boom over the side, and twelve jumped over into the sea to grab the floating spar. As the wind began to drive them from the ship two other men were urged to join them — the steward and the cook. But they chose to stay with the wreck, and they were lost. Remsen continued his account: "The surf was terrible, but the spar worked through it, with all hands clinging desperately, and eleven of us reached the beach alive. How we did it, God only knows. Two others came ashore on gratings." The Richard Parsons had struck in Paluan Bay, on the northwest coast of Mindoro Island, about ninety miles from Manila. The natives took the survivors to their village, gave them dry clothing and fed them. The next day they recovered the bodies of the steward and cook and three foremast hands and gave them a decent burial. Then came a hazardous journey across the island, through tropical forests and over mountains, hoping to reach a place called Abredilo. On the way they reached a village called Mamburao, after much hardships. Some Spanish soldiers aided them here, and a Spanish shipmaster, who was a member of the Masonic order, took Captain Joy and his young nephew, William Remsen, into his home. The crew was cared for as well, in a house close by. At Abredilo, they went aboard a small vessel for Batangas, on Luzon Island. Here a Catholic priest took them all into his church and gave them the best of care. A few days later, they sailed on a small boat for Manila, where the American consul took charge of the crew.
Captain William G. Remsen, nephew of Captain Joy and son of Joseph Remsen, keeper of Sankaty Light. Captain Remsen had a distinguished career in the command of Lighthouse Tenders, and in the Revenue Cutter Service.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
It was then the 5th of October, 1894. Captain Joy and his nephew were considerably weakened by their experience, but after a few days of rest, their spirits rebounded by the presence of a vessel in the harbor. It was the ship Lucille, of New York, and her commander was none other than Captain John Conway, of Nantucket, who had served with Captain Joy on board the ship St. Nicholas a number of years before, Here they were welcomed and were able to stay until a steamer, bound to San Francisco, took them across the Pacific and eventually they reached home. It is of more than passing interest that the lady in whose memory the painting of the Richard Parsons was presented, Dorothy Remsen Schofield, was born on Nantucket on February 5, 1903. She was the daughter of William G. Remsen and Elsie Robinson Remsen and was born at Sankaty Light's keeper's house, where Joseph G. Remsen, her grand father, was for so many years in charge. Her birth took place during a northeast snowstorm — a veritable blizzard. Dr. Ellenwood Coleman, who was to be the attending physician, was unable to get out to the lighthouse and he gave instructions by telephone as to the proper procedures. Keeper Remsen, in true nautical tradition, stood by and delivered his grand-daughter without any complications. William G. Remsen, the father of the little girl, who was named Dorothy Remsen, was then at sea, and it was not until he returned to port that he learned of the birth of his daughter. T hus, the handsome painting of the bark Richard Parsons represents, as well as the story of a sea disaster, the account of the involvement with the sea of two Nantucket mariner families — the Joys and the Remsens.
Quakers Honor Centenary of the
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Death of Lucretia Coffin Mott AS THIS YEAR is the 100th anniversary of the death of Lucretia Coffin Mott, May 10th has been chosen as the date to honor her as the out standing pioneer of the Equal Rights movement in America. In Philadelphia, the Lucretia Mott Centennial Coalition is planning a memorial banquet, calling on all women's and human rights groups, in particular, to join in the celebration on this day, and to honor Mrs. Mott in the course of the year. At the time of her death on November 11, 1880, at her residence in Philadelphia, Lucretia Mott was 87 years, 10 months and 8 days in age. She has outlived her contemporaries but her work would never be forgotten. In her life is reflected the spiritual growth of the equal rights movement in this country, and she was called the most venerated woman in America. Her statue is in the crypt of the U.S. Capitol, and the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) was named in her honor by another leader, Alice Paul. Born in Nantucket on January 3, 1793, the daughter of Captain Thomas Coffin and Anna (Folger) Coffin, her first home stood on the corner of Fair Street and a little lane leading to Pine Street, now called Lucretia Mott Lane. The location became the mansion of Capt. Obed Starbuck, now called the Ship's Inn. Her father subsequently built a dwelling next door to the south, at the corner of School Street, later the home of Captain Thaddeus C. Defriez, now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jelleme. It was in this house that Mrs. Coffin, during the prolonged absence of her husband on a whaling voyage, opened a small store in her front room where she conducted a business in dry goods. Lucretia remembered this experience as an introduction in mercantile affairs. At this time she attended a school down the little street. Captain Coffin went through a trying time in 1802 when his ship, the Trial, was captured by South American insurgents, and he lost his vessel and the cargo. Upon returning home he decided to move his family to Boston, where Lucretia, then eleven years of age, attended private schools. In 1806, the child was sent to Dutchess County, New York, to the Quaker School at Nine Partners. She remained here three years, and in her last year became an assistant teacher at the age of sixteen. Still seeking a business opportunity, her father moved his family to Philadelphia, where she met her husband, James Mott, and where they were married in 1811.
LUCRETIA COFFIN Mori 1793-1880
Lucretia Coffin Mott
LUCRETIA COFFIN MOTT
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Despite the fact that she was the mother of six children and was a devoted parent, she had become an approved Minister in the Society of Friends, and made several extensive religious visits throughout the New England, Atlantic and Southern states. Her interest was in the moral as well as the theological issues, and she became an advocate of women's rights early in her career. She also sided with Elias Hicks in his work of liberal thought in the ranks of the Quakers. In one of her oft-quoted statements she declared: "My convictions led me to adhere to the sufficiency of the light within us, resting on truth as authority, rather than taking authority for truth." In 1840 she attended the "World's Antislavery Convention" in London, where she was internationally recognized as an eloquent and inspired orator. Her active mind, directed and developed by the teachings of the Friends, and with the inherited force of Tristram Coffin, Peter Folger, Thomas Macy, and others of her forebears, took a wider range than had previously been customary with woman, and she was acknowledged as the most gifted woman of her time. One of her associates described her thus: "She was the bright morning star of intellectual freedom of women in America, and her power of speech was almost devine." As was to be expected she visited her Island home on many occasions. At these times she would recall her childhood days, the school she at tended and her mother's little shop at their Fair Street home. She would often remark on the great pleasure of greeting her acquaintances and friends on Nantucket. At a meeting held in Boston in her later years, she remarked: "Therefore, I say, preach your truth. . . and I will say that if these pure principles have their place in us, and are brought forth by faithfulness, by obedience, into practice, the dif ficulties and doubts that we have to surmount will be easily conquered. There will be a power higher than these. Let it be called the Great Spirit of the Indians, the Quaker 'Inner Light' of George Fox, the 'Blessed Mary,' Mother of Jesus of the Catholics, or Burmah, the Hindu's God - they will all be one, and there will come to be such faith and such liberty as shall redeem the world." This was the true spirit of Lucretia Mott, and the message which should be best remembered on this centennial of her passing. —E.A. Stackpole^
Spring Comes to Nantucket By Mary E. Starbuck, 8 Pleasant Street, Nantucket. March 21, 1934. We've held out through the winter 'Gainst enemies malign, Now the snow and ice are melting, The sun has crossed the line! We've slipped and slopped and frozen, But now there comes a sign, The birds are flying northward, The sun has crossed the line! We're watching out for violets, And Mayflowers 'neath the pine, The south wind stirs their sweetness, The sun has crossed the line! Old winter is retreating With many a snarl and whine; Our reinforcements are at hand, The sun has crossed the line!
Cutting in a Whale at Nantucket April 1, 1870 ON MARCH 31, 1870, a dead right whale was found floating in Nan tucket Sound and, later that day, was towed into the harbor. The whaling schooner Abbie Bradford was lying at Commercial Wharf and the whale was brought alongside, a cutting in stage was rigged out, and the process of removing the blubber promptly commenced. Many islanders for the first time had an opportunity to witness what had been described by members of their families who had engaged in this same operation in the far-off Pacific Ocean.
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"Footprints in the Sand" de Crevecoeur on Nantucket by Laland Keeshan AMERICAN LITERATURE AND Ajmerican history have for cen turies enjoyed a tenuous relationship. Problems arise when literary prose is credited as historical fact. Eighteenth century America, specifically New England, was portrayed as an idyllic Utopia, ruled by the industrious and pious and not by the crowned heads of Europe. "It may in truth be said," stated a 1797 Encyclopedia Britannica, "that in no part of the world are the people happier. . . or more independent than the farmers of New England." The Age of Enlightenment in Europe had provided an idea of an "agrarian democracy" in the unsettled wilds of America. It was an optimisim based on the belief that man, as a mixture of passion and reason, could learn to govern himself once he had learned the laws of physical and human nature. One eighteenth century author in particular played an important role in this attempt at implementation. J. Hector St. Jean de Crevecoeur, who came to live in America, though of European extraction, helped establish the American literary tradition. His most famous and popular work, Letters From an American Farmer, described the Colonies as a general asylum for the world, or as Howard Mumford Jones states, ". . .a premature Statue of Liberty welcoming the poor and oppressed. . ." Crevecoeur had declared the perfect society had, in fact, already been established on Nantucket Island off the coast of Massachusetts. "What happened here," he stated, "has and will happen everywhere else." Perfection is an intriguing yet baffling concept. One is always tempted to find fault. Crevecoeur has already been taken to task by eminent scholars and found to be severely lacking in the realm of literary morals. The concern here, however, is the perfect eighteenth century society that St. Jean has discovered. The ingredients of this philosophic model are revealed through Crevecoeur's notations on Nantucket. His model is more under scrutiny here than his credibility, as only scattered and inconclusive evidence can be gathered on pre-Revolutionary Nantucket. No paper on the "travelling Frenchman" would be complete without a dash of controversy. Nantucketers have joined critics of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries as they take exception to certain of
"FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND"
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Crevecocurs statements. But it is the Islanders who perhaps unwittingly provide the sole proof of Crevecoeur's credibility. Nantucket letters and essays of the 1780's and 90's portray a bitter disillusionment, over whelming in its intensity. The economic, psychological and religious impact of the Revolutionary War was devastating for the Island. This post-war depression strongly indicates a harmonious and prosperous Nantucket did indeed exist, perhaps the very society Crevecoeur described. Literary scholar Elayne Rapping in her article, "Theory and Ex perience in Crevecoeur's America," states that Nantucket symbolizes the real translation of eighteenth century thought or theory into the ex periential. The model social structure will just not fit anywhere else, as is evidenced by Crevecoeur's damning description of Charles Town. The role of nature is paramount -in establishing the model. Crevecoeur believed that nature and environment could define and guide the character of man. If the land was sufficiently challenging, he felt, the time and the' energy invested would improve the quality of the man. He admired the improvement on nature, ". . .the landscape that is a made thing, a fusion of work and spontaneous process." His observation continued:
"On the contrary, when I meet with barren spots fertilized, grass growing where none grew before, grain gathered from fields which had hitherto produced nothing better than brambles; dwellings raised where no building materials were to be found; wealth acquired by the most uncommon means; there I pause, to dwell on the favourite sight of my speculative inquiries." The Atlantic ocean represented an even rougher plain to furrow and certainly the "uncommon means" describes the Nantucket Whale Fishery, which was the Island's chief source of income. Industry and frugality were the key characteristics of Nantucketers. Idleness was the "most heinous sin" there and the object of compassion, comparable only to want and hunger. Even women were obligated. Whaling voyages averaged three to five years and wives were expected to "transact business, to settle accounts, and in short to rule and provide for their families". Crevecoeur mentions a particular woman; "Aunt Keziah" (Keziah Coffin Fanning) who had made her husband the richest on the Island". . . . ". . .while he was performing his first cruises, she traded with
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
pins and needles, and kept a school. Afterward . . .she laid the foundation of a system of business. . .and has ever since prosecuted with equal dexterity and success. She wrote to London, formed connections, and, in short became the only ostensible instrument of that house, both at home and abroad." Keziah Coffin was a member of the Society of Friends, as were most Islanders. As a Quaker she displayed those characteristics of thrift and shrewd business savvy that had established the Quakers as the economic, social and religious leaders of the island. Nantucket Friends molded a society on the principles of order, temperance, justice and a healthy appetite for commerce. Crevecoeur was fascinated by the political, economic and social power that they possessed but did not abuse. Their simplicity in manners and dress, coupled with a shrewd business prowess, also impressed the Frenchman. Nantucket was founded he proclaimed, by necessity on one side and good will on the other. He went on to state: ". . .ever since, all has been a scene of uninterrupted harmony. Neither political nor religious broils; neither disputes with the natives, nor land contentions, have in the least agitated or disturbed its detached society". In tracing the Nantucketers' progression from their humble beginnings to affluence and influence, the education and government play key roles. Crevecoeur, in his chapter on Nantucket Education, found that the most that can be learned about the manners and customs of a people is through the education they give their children. It is in the Quaker school and home that young Friends are taught the basic tenets of Christianity. "If they are left with fortunes, they are taught how to save them, and how to enjoy them with moderation and decency; if they have none, they know how to venture, how to work and toil as their fathers have done before them". There was a class system in Nantucket; low, middling and high but it was not determined by education, which was standard for all. Coopering, the art of barrel-making, so essential to the whaling industry, was taught to those too young for sea. Later navigation was explained and eventually all would be fit for either the "Counting House or the Chase". The sea is the proving ground for success. Every Islander has equal opportunity at maritime enterprise, an opportunity not hampered by overly restrictive laws and government. The rational law stressed by Crevecoeur are the laws of physical and human nature.
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The Quakers comprise two thirds of the magistracy, possessing all the coercive power of formal law, but, Crevecoeur notes, punitive measures are rarely taken.
"Seldom is it that any individual is amerced or punished; their jail conveys no terror; no man has lost his life here. . .solemn tribunals, public executions, humiliating punishments, are altogether unknown. I saw neither governors, nor any pageantry of state. . .But how is a society composed of 5000 individuals preserved in the bonds of peace and tranquility? How are the weak protected from the strong? I will tell you. Idleness and poverty, the causes of so many crimes, are unknown here; each seeks in the prosecution of his lawful business that honest gain which supports them; every period of their time is full. . ." Thus does Crevecoeur present Nantucket in the eighteenth century. Efforts to pin down the date of Crevecoeur's visitation have been unsuccessful. One historian writing for the Massachusetts Historical Society suggests 1772, and that date is generally relied upon. Crevecoeur mentions a collector from Boston arriving to receive duties for > the King. Nantucket was closely alligned with England but also very politically aware. If an ill-wind of discontent was coming from the mainland, Crevecoeur would have been exposed to it, especially any time after 1772. Whether or not he would mention any off-color grumblings is something else again.
Controversy follows Crevecoeur where ever he travels and Nantucket is no exception. There has never been any proof that St. Jean de Crevecoeur was ever on Nantucket. In the first edition of the Letters from an American Farmer incorrect Latitude and Longitude positions are given for the Island, placing it well NW of Boston instead of SE. This error was remedied in all subsequent editions.
A report delivered before the Nantucket Historical Association in 1905 states: "It does seem strange that a man of such parts should have come and gone, leaving no record in local traditions as to his visit and Nantucketers of those days were in the habit of keeping careful diaries as the treasures of this society can show". But the root of the controversy lies in the chapter entitled "Peculiar Customs at Nantucket" where Crevecoeur remarks on a shocking discovery. He writes:
"FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND"
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"A singular custom prevails here among the women, at which I was greatly surprised; and am really at a loss how to account for the original cause that has introduced in this primitive society so remarkable a fashion, or rather so extraordinary a want. They have adopted these many years the Asiatic custom of taking a dose of opium every morning; and so deeply rooted is it, that they would be at a loss how to live without this in dulgence; they would rather be deprived of any necessary than forego their favourite luxury." Crevecoeur continues on to explain that it was more prevalent among women than men. But he mentioned the sheriff: "He takes three grains of it every day after breakfast, without the effects of which, he often told me, he was not able to transact any business". The Frenchman then launches into a bit of editorializing: "It is hard to conceive how a people always happy and healthy in consequence of the exercise and labor they undergo, never oppressed with the vapours of idleness, yet should want the fictitious effects of opium to preserve the cheerfulness to which their temperance, their climate, their happy situation so justly entitle them. But where is the society free from error or folly. . ))
Nantucketers heatedly denied the "folly". Research compiled for the Nantucket Historical Association resulted in an article entitled "An American Farmer's Letters from Nantucket. "According to the paper the opium tale is believed "to have grown out of a magnified story of a man well known as a gossip and who was an opium eater by his own admission, the only one so known on the island." The opium tasting has been called "a lie without a shade of foundation" by one Nantucket source. A third identifies a Dr. Tucker or Tupper, who told author Crevecoeur that the custom prevailed: "It was only an old man's whim, and none other on the island." Generally the Nantucketers were flattered by the literary attention, but not deceived. Contemporaries of Crevecoeur acknowledged the value and popularity of the Letters. George Washington wrote that the book affords "a great deal of profitable and amusive information. . . though founded on fact, (it). . . is in some instances embellished with rather too flattering circumstances." A Nantucket book review, published prior to 1807, warns of misrepresentation:
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
"It is proper however to advertise him (the reader) that against the Letters of the American Farmer two objections may be made. One is, that his pictures, though striking likenesses, are always flattering likenesses, and is irradiated with the beams of happiness. The other objection is that he is frequently erroneous in minute and character of the face exactly, though as was said before in too favourable a light; but he makes strange mistakes in the sleeve of a coat or the strap of a shoe. If the reader has good nature enough to pardon these two faults he will peruse the letters of St. John with perpetual delight." In the 1906 Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Franklin Sanborn, noted New England historian, comments on the Letters. His findings conclude that the chapters on Nantucket are the best instance of the combination of "observer and analytic generalizer in a single person." He continues that in all probability Crevecoeur "did spend some weeks in 1772 among the Quakers and Whale fishers and candlemakers of Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard, as he professes to have done." This lukewarm endorsement constitutes a begrudging proof at best but a return visit to Nantucket after the fact also grants insight. The American Revolution dealt a devastating blow to the harmonious and industrious Nantucket described in the Letters. Prior to the Revolution the Islands number one market for whale products (oil and bone) had been London. To save money and time shipments went directly to England instead of through colonial ports and Nantucket served well as a backdoor to European trade. Quaker merchant prince William Rotch incessantly negotiated with the English government to keep Nantucket whaleships free from harrassment. Despite the neutrality pacts with the Royal Navy and Continental Congress, the Nantucket-England whaling connection was smashed. After the war a strict import duty levied on American oil and candles discouraged Nantucketers from resuming trade with London. At home, substitutes for whale products and a glut on the market had all but killed the chief livelihood of Nantucket. Edouard Stackpole, in his Whales and Destiny, describes the post-war town of Sherborn (Nantucket) as presenting "an aspect of gloom: its once bustling waterfront unnaturally quiet, its famous whaling fleet nearly destroyed; its fleet of sloops, schooners and brigs decimated." Politically the loyalist government had created enemies during the war. The "Aunt Keziah" mentioned by Crevecoeur for her business
"FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND
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success during the war became a landlord with Tory leanings. After the war, the townspeople impounded her holdings and she went to jail in Nova Scotia while petitioning the British authorities for a bounty. There were many factors involved in the Quaker decline. In a series of articles published by the Nantucket Historical Association in 1896, Friends and non-Friends alike cast stones. The anti-religious literature was blamed principally because of its influence over Nantucket seamen. "They became indifferent when at home and were disowned for not at tending meetings." But the enforcement of discipline proved to be the key cause of Quaker decline. Wrote Henry Barnard Worth, the historian: "They were unrelenting in disowning their members for acts not immoral. Their treatment was so severe that it brought discredit instead of respect, and on this account, persons outside were disgusted."
The most damning testimonial came from a Friend who wrote: "It has been my lot to see many cases of disownment of members of which my own feelings revolted, and in which the benevolent feelings of valuable friends appeared to have been violated to uphold the discipline. I have seen men of natural kindness and tendencies become hard hearted and severe. I have seen justice turned back and mercy laid aside."
William Rotch who had worked so hard for Nantucket during the Revolution wrote his sons from London in 1785. Bitterly complaining about the heavy United States taxes, he expressed concern over Quaker involvement in the African slave trade. He professed "a deep sorrow for the state of our island", and, one month later, "I find, and I am not in the least disappointed in it, that nothing can be done for Nantucket, as long as we remain a part of the United States, and as the folly and weaknesses of the Massachusetts are determined to hold us, we therefore have nothing to expect in our present situation."
The Nantucket depicted by Crevecoeur, if it ever existed, was gone. Evidence may yet surface which conclusively proves the Frenchman's presence on and accuracy about the Nantucket Utopia. The perfect society or community and the means to that harmony are twentieth century goals. Perhaps a reason for Crevecoeur's staying-power as an author is our
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
willingness to sometimes overlook factual accuracy in search of a broader truth. We want to believe in Crevecoeur's Nantucket and hence Crevecoeur's America. A descendant and biographer, Robert St. John de Crevecoeur, put it most eloquently when he described St. Jean's literary value and significance:
"Profoundly honorable and devoted to his country, intelligent and practical in talent, unwearied in bringing things to the use and love of the people; in literature sincere and of good in tention; he added to the good fortune of achieving some good in the world, a merit, very rare among his contemporaries of never doing any harm." Miss Keeshan is at present attending Boston University. During two summer seasons she worked for the Nantucket Historical Association at the Peter Foulger Museum.
Bequests or gifts to the Nantucket Historical Association are tax deductible. They are greatly needed and appreciated.
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Benjamin Franklin's Letter From London to Cousin Kezia THE REMARKABLE BENJAMIN Franklin, whose mother was Abiah Folger, never recorded in his writings a visit to Nantucket, although his sister Jane did write him of staying with a cousin, Mrs. John Coffin, better known as Kezia (Folger) Coffin. It was to this cousin that Franklin sent a letter, dated August 29, 1769, at London, and indicates a previous acquaintanceship. Kezia Coffin was a strong Loyalist during the ^American Revolution. She was, also, a shrewd business woman, and was accused of smuggling. During that war period, with the Royal Navy and Continental privateers harassing Nantucket commerce, it was necessary jto procure supplies in every way possible, and so smuggling was not unusual. Franklin's letter to Kezia follows: "Loving Cousin: I had the pleasure of hearing yesterday, on inquiry of our cousin Folger, [ probably Captain Timothy Folger], that you and your husband and daughter were well when he was last on the Island. I recollect that when I sent you the Sliding Plate, I received a dollar more than it came to, which I thought to have settled when I should send you the last Plates, but as that was perhaps omitted after I came away, and I know not whether the Plates were ever made or not, I send you herewith a pair of very nice snuffers in some sort to balance that. They cost six shillings sterling, which is a little more than that dollar. Seeing some very neat candlesticks, where I bought the snuffers, with a pretty contrivance to push up from the bottom, I bought some for my wife, and a pair I send you, which I pray you accept as a token of my regard. B. Franklin."
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Cleavelands on the Islands by Theodore C. Wyman AS I HAVE written before, any genealogy seems to be made up of bits and pieces gathered from here and there. And so it has been with the genealogies of various branches of my family. I had put to-gether a genealogy of my grandmother's family, the Cleavelands, and then while on a visit to Nantucket in 1972 I was able to put to-gether what I called Cleavelands On The Islands from records at the Whaling Museum and from records at The New England Historic Genealogical Society in 11 Boston. During the ten years before the war when I worked for the steamship company on Nantucket I had known, in a general way, that some of my grandmother's family, the Cleavelands, had lived on the Vineyard. And then as I worked on a history of the Cleaveland family I found that a very large number of her family had lived on the Vineyard and on Nantucket. Not only had they lived on Nantucket, but several of them had been Captains of whaling ships and they had descended from the same Moses Cleaveland from whom I had descended. It was on that visit to Nantucket in 1972 that I was able to find the grave of Capt. Henry Cleaveland (1798-1875) who was Captain of the whale ship Richard Mitchell. The inscription on his gravestone was: Capt. Henry Cleveland 1798-1875 Rebecca, wife of Henry Cleveland 1809-1878 From records in the whaling museum there is: 1835 — Ship Richard Mitchell — 385 tons Captain Henry C. Cleveland Managing owner or agent — P. Mitchell & Sons Whaling ground — Pacific Ocean Date of sailing — July 20 Arrival — Dec. 27, 1838 Result of voyage — Sperm-oil-1172 bbls Whale-oil-937 bbls
CLEAVELANDS ON THE ISLANDS
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Now we come to more information about Captain Henry Cleaveland in the publication SEA HISTORY, Fall, 1979. The information is in The Niantic: Participant in Creating a New California by James P. Delgado. On April 28, 1978, workers excavating for a new 19-story office building in San Francisco, uncovered the remains of an old wooden ship at the corner of Clay and Sansome Streets. The timbers uncovered have been identified as the bottom section of the famous Gold Rush ship Niantic.
There is the story of her early history and voyages to the Orient, and then her first whaling voyage in the Pacific. And then there is something of especial interest to me about when Captain Henry Cleaveland took command of her. And so, from information in the story of the Niantic by James P. Delgado: The Niantic had been sold off as a whaling ship in 1844, and then sold again to the whaling firm of Burr and Smith of Rhode Island. And Captain Henry Cleaveland of West Tisbury, Massachusetts took command of her with his three sons as first, second and third mates. What had started out to be another whaling voyage ended when, after rounding Cape Horn and arriving at Payte, Peru, Captain Cleaveland learned of the discovery of gold in California. And a message from Burr and Smith ordered him to abandon whaling temporarily and sail for Panama where thousands of gold seekers awaited passage to San Francisco. After arriving at Panama on April 7, 1849, Captain Cleaveland signed on 249 passengers and on May 2, 1849 the Niantic set sail for San Francisco. The arrival there was July 5, 1849, and then the crew began to melt away. The log breaks off on the 12th of July — Captain Cleaveland and his sons are ashore with no crew to take the Niantic out of San Francisco. The story continues with how, in fast-growing San Francisco, labor and building materials were in short supply and very expensive. And of how the Niantic was hauled ashore at high tide, her masts taken out, her rigging and some of her ballast removed, and she was used as a storeship. The Niantic was used to store merchandise, private luggage, and was also in use as a hotel and offices. Eventually, the filled up space that surrounded her was built upon for some distance and new streets ran between her and the sea. Then the entire waterfront in San Francisco was destroyed on May 2, 1851, when fire swept the hills of San Francisco clean. All but the bottom of the
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Niantic burned, and the bottom made good foundations for further building. So there is one more of the bits and pieces that add to the history of my grandmother's family, and to the history of San Francisco. Nantucket and San Francisco are of especial interest to me because of the years I lived on the island, and because of the time I lived in San Francisco. I stepped ashore there in November of 1930 while the Depression was well underway, and eventually found work with the Coast and Geodetic Survey doing hydrography along the coast. Then later other surveys taking observations of the stars below San Francisco and in the desert to determine the latitude and longitude of benchmarks used in surveys of the country. All through the years when I worked on the genealogy of my family, I have come to realize that, in a way, I have been surrounded by family history. There were the years I had worked in Woburn, after the war, where some of my ancestors had settled in 1640. Then Boston, where many of them had lived and worked, and Nantucket. And during the years at sea I had made voyages to South America and other parts of the world where they had been. Now there is San Francisco and the chances are that I walked past the old Niantic many times without realizing she was there.
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Benny Cleveland's Job When portents are abroad at night and tempests lash the shore, And mateless wives grow timid at the ocean's fearful roar, Tis then a gloom comes o'er me, and with many a plaintive sob, I long for quaint Nantucket and for Benny Cleveland's job. In days of old brave knights were wont to guard the ladies fair, Or rescue lovely maidens from the robber baron's lair; But on no such quest chivalric was our Benny forced to roam— He kept his knightly vigil each night at some dame's home. His fee as Guardian Angel all Nantucketers well knew, 'Twas fifteen cents for one night, or twenty-five for two; So, trustful in his watchfulness, wives gave themselves to sleep, To dream of absent husbands in their journeys o'er the deep. And husbands tossed in fragile craft midst wild, tempestuous seas, Gave little fear for loving hearts who lived at home at ease, For, confident as Faith itself, they knew that none could rob Their Lares and Penates when Ben was on the job. To his fathers Ben's been gathered these many, many years, But no memory is more cherished in the minds of Island dears, And while frequently at sewing bees, they oft love to recall The halcyon days when Benny was protector of them all. Now, having met the 'Tucket girls, 'tis very clear to me That Benny was a wise old owl and excessive was his fee; For, free of charge on stormy nights, you bet that up I'd bob To try to displace Benny from his most alluring job. So, when portents are abroad at night and tempests lash the shore, And mateless wives grow timid at the ocean's fearful roar, I know you cannot blame me, if, with many a wistful sob, I long for quaint Nantucket and for Benny Cleveland's job. August, 1910.
Joseph A. Campbell.
Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror, November 12, 1910
