Historic Nantucket, April 1980, Vol. 27 No. 4

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