Historic Nantucket
The Mitchell House on Main Street
January, 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.
Volume 27
January, 1980
No. 3
Nantucket Historical Association Officers and Staff
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Editorial — The New Year — The Perception of History
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The "Ann Alexander's" Scrimshaw Set Tells The Story of a Ship Sunk by a Whale by Edouard A. Stackpole
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Great Point Lighthouse Threatened By Erosion of The Beach
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Legacies and Bequests /Address Changes
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The Destruction of the U.S.S. "Housatonic" During The Civil War
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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 $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.
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The New Year The Perception of History THE NANTUCKET HISTORICAL Association was created as much to guide a perception of Nantucket's future as to preserve the visible aspects of our Island's past. Whether the present generation appreciates the fact that this community in the sea represents a phase in the history of our nation which should be carefully preserved is a vital question. The gist of the present situation is how it can be done - how can an awareness of Nantucket's position become a symbol for preservation as a factor for the future. One may study the history of the Island and Town and find in the exciting narrative very definite guides for the future. It provides a rare perspective. But this vista of our historical past may be easily clouded by the ever-present elements of greed and avarice. The prospect of developers attempting to crowd the outlying lands with structures better suited to the suburbs of a mainland community brings a danger to the Island scene which can not be ignored. Here is land first used by the original settlers, the homestead sites, the grazing pastures, the early farms. If land is available here it should be for the young Islanders who wish to build their homes and not for developers. Now that Nantucket has become more than a summer resort, that it has attracted visitors at all seasons of the year, its importance is at least recognized. The fundamental question lies in what brings tourists to Nantucket? The answer is the oldness of the Town and the open land, the heath, and the beaches. While the latter may be reserved for only the summer use it has another attribute. It serves, with the other portions of the outlying land, as a factor of great appeal in all seasons. Protection of the architectural heritage represented by the Town has been accomplished through the Historic Districts Act. A few years ago, at Town Meeting, the voters favored an "Historic District" for the entire Island. What happened to this important decision? Did it fall into the limbo of the legislative and legal labyrinths? The historical background of Nantucket is as much an attraction as the location and climate of this Island. To recognize this fact and to do all that is necessary to preserve it is a form of insurance for our present and our future. Edouard A. Stackpole
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"Ann Alexander's" Scrimshaw Set Tells The Story of a Ship Sunk by a Whale By Edouard A. Stackpole
A FEW WEEKS ago the Nantucket Historical Association received a small collection of scrimshaw from Lillian Deblois Fox, of Seekonk, Massachusetts. They were inheritances from her family, having been originally owned by Captain John Deblois, of Newport, a successful whaling master. Featured in the collection were three sperm whale's teeth, very well designed, with engravings of women, each tooth bearing a different style of dress, in Victorian design. These teeth, mounted on a wooden base, tell one of the great stories of the sea — a remarkable episode in the history of whaling — that of the loss of the whaleship Ann Alexander, of New Bedford, sunk by a sperm whale in the Pacific Ocean. Naturally, when such an incident is mentioned one immediately thinks of the Nantucket whaleship Essex, destroyed by an attack by a sperm whale some thirty years before this particular incident. But the Essex had a sequel of the crew in open boats for ninety days, which the crew of the Ann Alexander were fortunately spared. But in the latter case, the episode has a unique aftermath, in that the whale that sank the ship was killed a few months later by another ship, and identified by a harpoon found in its body bearing the name of the Ann Alexander, and in the head of the great bull sperm were found pieces of the ship's timbers embedded when his huge head struck and smashed in the bow of the old vessel. The remarkable story of the Ann Alexander's teeth, (as they are to be known), began with her launching at South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1805. She was owned by George Howland, of New Bedford, a member of the Society of Friends, and named for an Irish Quakeress then travelling in this country. The ship was first employed in the merchant service by the Howlands, and on her very first voyage under Captain Loum Snow, bound for the Mediterranean, she fell in with the British fleet off Portugal just after the Battle of Trafalgar. It was not until 1820 that she began her long career as a whaleship, and had fifteen consecutive voyages as a whaler when she was placed under the command of Captain John Scott Deblois, in 1850 — to sail on what was to be her last voyage.
THE "ANN ALEXANDER'S" SCRIMSHAW SET
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A native of Newport, R. I., who had served as mate of the ship on the voyage preceding his assumption of command, Captain Deblois was a veteran whaleman. The Ann Alexander sailed from New Bedford on June 10, 1850, with fifteen men in the crew and bound for the Azores, where the balance of the crew was to be recruited. The logbook of this voyage was lost, no doubt when the ship sank, but the account of her adventures may be reconstructed from letters the captain wrote to his wife as the ship sailed, and from his own story printed in The Whaleman's Shipping List, of Nov. 4, 1851, and a later account. While on the River Plate Ground in December, 1850, the ship's boats had an encounter with a fighting whale which was somewhat of a prelude to what was to come when they reached the Pacific. While rounding Cape Horn in March, 1851, a man was lost overboard during a gale. After getting some fresh provisions at Payta, Peru, the ship headed for the Galapagos Islands. In August they spoke the ship Rebecca Simms, Captain Jernegan, of New Bedford. This was a prophetic meeting, as it was the Simms' boats that actually killed the whale that sank the Ann Alexander. On August 20, 1851, the ship was cruising — the day after they had "spoken" the Simms, — and at sundown a large whale was sighted from the mast-head. Boats were lowered but in the darkness the whale disappeared. Captain Deblois lay a course during the night along the range where he thought the whale might go, and on the next morning, at dawn, they sighted him again. Allowing the men to have their breakfast, he then lowered two boats, with the mate commanding one and he the other. As they approached the whale, Captain Deblois called to the mate, "This is a noble fellow. Don't galley him!" A short time later, the mate got close enough to strike, and at that moment Captain Deblois rolled up the whaleboat's sail and ordered his men to row as quickly as possible to help the mate. His account of what happened next follows: "Then, to my horror, I saw the maddened whale make a rush for the mate's boat. But the mate dodged, and saved himself. By this time I was well up, and forelaid the whale. He sighted me and started thoroughly in rage for me. He came up so perpendicularly that he lost his headway. Baffled, he settled down in the sea, and our boat grounded on his body. . . . I shouted to the third officer, 'Strike him!' But the man, dazed and bewildered, failed to do so. Had he darted then, I think we would have killed our enemy."
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
At that moment, the tide of battle shifted dramatically. The whale turned from Captain Deblois' boat to the mate's boat, his original target. In a surge he had taken the boat in his great lower jaw and, with a twist of his head, tore it apart. The men were thrown in all directions and the presence of the Captain's boat was all that saved them. While he was picking up the men, the whale rushed through the water attacking the broken sections of the boat, but by a miracle he did not attempt to attack Captain Deblois' craft. By this time the second mate's boat had come up to the scene. The oars of the mate's boat were found and sections of the broken boat were lashed to them. The two boats then went after the whale, who had remained at the scene. Captain Deblois took the mate's line, still attached to the harpoon that had been thrust deeply in his body, and the two boats approached the creature. Without hesitation, the fighting whale turned on them and with one furious rush struck the second mate's boat and demolished it — the men knocked into the sea. Realizing they were faced with another attack, Captain Deblois cut the line and set about to rescue the second mate and his crew. Even as he did so, the whale began to dash through the floating parts of the wrecked boats, narrowly missing the Captain's boat in the process. The situation was desperate, as the ship was then some five miles away, and Captain Deblois was not sure the lookout had discerned what had happened. With eighteen men in the one surviving boat, expecting another attack by the furious bull sperm, the boat was rowed at a smart pace, and reached the Ann Alexander after what seemed like hours of working the oars. From the deck of the ship, the whale could be seen two miles to the leeward. Captain Deblois steered for him, determined to take him at all costs. He had no conception of the fact that he was heading for disaster. As they came up to the whale he went forward and, as the whale was directly under the bowsprit, he darted a lance at his head, and, as he had expected, the weapon bounced off the animal. It was at this moment that the whale swung his huge bulk around and struck the ship. The force of the blow knocked Captain Deblois from his perch in the bow to the deck of the fo'c's'le head. Aware the blow might have started some planking he ordered the pumps started, but fortunately no evidence of leaking could be found. When the whale swam away from the ship, Captain Deblois thought only of the lost opportunity to kill him. The day was ending; he had lost
THE "ANN ALEXANDER'S" SCRIMSHAW SET 9 two boats, two lines, a harpoon and lance, and some of his men had been injured. Accepting the situation, he gave up the pursuit and ordered the mizzen and main topsails braced up, so that the ship could come into the wind and sail off. Captain Deblois' account follows: "Just as I gave these orders, I caught a glimpse of a shadow, as it seemed to me, when the whale again struck the ship a terrible blow that shook her from stem to stern. The destroying monster had hurled himself against the bow, four feet above the keel and abreast the foreswifter. I at once at tempted to go down into the forecastle, but heard the water rushing in at a rate that I knew it was hopeless. I felt the ship was gone." The Ann Alexander was doomed. The water swept through the vessel so quickly that Captain Deblois, going down into the main cabin for some navigational instruments and supplies, was nearly trapped by the water surging aft through the ship. Back on deck he found that two boats were already over the side, and he was saved when he jumped into the sea and was picked up by the mate's boat. The situation was perilous to an extreme. Night was falling rapidly; the ship was gradually sagging over on its side; the two boats had become separated. The only water was in the kegs in the boats, and some of the hardtack, kept in another keg, was the only food available. Besides these problems Captain Deblois was being questioned by his crew: "Why did you go after the whale?" "Where is the nearest land?" He promptly asserted his authority. "Do you want your own way, or do you want me to advise you?" The men quickly agreed to obey his orders. It was dangerous to lay by too closely to the wreck, with twisting gear and spars alongside, and they lay off during the night. At dawn they sighted the ship a mile away and rowed toward it. At this time the missing mate's boat appeared, also heading for the wreck. They boarded the ship as she lay on her side, with the hope of getting some supplies by cutting into the hull. At this time the place where the great whale had stove in her side could be seen clearly. "The hole was just the size of the whale's head," recalled Captain Deblois, in an account that he wrote upon his return home. By cutting away her foremast and mainmast, the ship righted somewhat, and her main hatch would show out of water. After con siderable exertion about a bushel of bread was secured, and some dried
10 HISTORIC NANTUCKET corn, as well as three cans, each holding three quarts of water. It was now midday, and the ship showed signs of breaking up, and it was necessary to regain the boats. There were twenty-five men in the crew, thirteen in Captain Deblois' boat and twelve in the other under Mate Green. The course was laid due north, in the area where whaleships were most apt to be found in this portion of mid-Pacific. The nearest land was the Marquesas Islands, some 2000 miles away, but the prevailing wind made a course toward them too risky. They were in a position determined by the Captain's observation as 2 degrees south of the equator and an estimated longitude of 102 degrees west of Greenwich. After leaving the wreck the boats' sails were trimmed and they headed due north. Captain Deblois ordered all sheath knives to be thrown into the sea. He had read the horrors of the long voyages in open boats by the crew of the ship Essex, also sunk by a whale, and he feared what would happen when the meager provisions ran out. As the first day after leaving the wreck dragged on Captain Deblois reflected on the dismal situation. He wrote: "I had lost my ship; and my crew, I felt, were doomed with me to suffer a horrible death. . . . And I was burdened with the responsibility of having these precious lives on my hands. My mind was filled with all the stories I had ever heard of ship wrecks where the famishing men had often been driven to eating their shipmates' bodies Pictures of the fearful suffering of the crew of the Essex who were reduced to these straits, and who had even taken lots to see who should die to support the miserable existence of the others, was fresh in my mind." Shortly after mid-day, it was noted that the mate's boat was drawing away fast, so that it could only be seen occasionally on the top of a wave. Captain Deblois stood up in the stern of his boat, to catch a glimpse of the other boat, when he saw something just beyond it and in a range with it. It was a sail. The master of the Ann Alexander tried to call out, but his voice failed him. One of the crew noticed his agitation and exclaimed: "What is the matter?" But there was no answer — only the Captain standing and pointing before seating himself, still unable to speak. "A sailor rose and looked," wrote Captain Deblois. 'It's only the other boat,' he dispairingly exclaimed. I shook my head. He looked again and saw the sail, and he, too, was rendered
THE "ANN ALEXANDER'S" SCRIMSHAW SET
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momentarily speechless. Then the men rose and confirmed the good news, and I did all I could to keep them quiet." As they came nearer the great question was whether the distant vessel was a merchantman or a whaler. If she was the latter, there would be a watch at the mastheads, and a great chance of being sighted — and saved! The next hour passed with all hands at a fever pitch. With every rise in the sea the men involuntarily stood up for another glance, another hope. Only when they saw their companion boat ahead drop her sail did they actually realize they had been seen. It was only then that Captain Deblois allowed the men to have a drink of water from the pitiful supply at hand. The whaleship which had saved them was the Nantucket, of that same island, under Captain Richard C. Gibbs, and the shipwrecked crew were welcomed aboard as quickly as all hands in the rescue ship could turn to. The Nantucket vessel had taken a whale the day before, had completed her cutting in, and were busy finishing getting the spermaceti out of the head which was still on deck. Captain Gibbs had gone below for a rest, after ordering the mate to tack the ship during the next hour. Busily engaged with the whale's head, the mate had delayed tacking ship. Had he done so, it is doubtful if the Ann Alexander's boats would have been sighted. Such was the narrow range between rescue and disaster. Captain Gibbs discussed the possibility of reaching the wrecked Ann Alexander and possibly salvaging some of her oil, stowed below, and her gear. "Take anything you want," was Captain Deblois' reply, "but let me get once more on terra firma." The Nantucket then headed for the wreck which was reached at noon the next day. But there was no salvage; the seas were breaking over the old ship and she was wrenching to the point where it was dangerous to even lay close by, and the idea was abandoned. Nineteen days after they had left the doomed Ann Alexander, Captain Gibbs landed Captain Deblois and his men at Paita, Peru. The crew was placed in the control of the American consul. After some weeks in the Peruvian city, Captain Deblois got a berth on a Panamanian vessel and worked his way to Panama City. Crossing the isthmus he made his way to Chagres. Because he was willing to accept any berth so as to return home, he worked as a coal passer on board the steamer Cherokee, and reached New York eight days later. By coastal steamer and railroad, he arrived home at Newport to be greeted by his wife who had just received a letter from him, announcing he was to take the Ann Alexander to the off shore whaling grounds. At his appearance at the door of their home, she did not at first recognize him — in his encounter with the fighting whale he had suffered a blow that had knocked out his front teeth!
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET Still undaunted by his experiences, Captain John Deblois, with the confidence of the ship owners, took command of the ship Vigilant, of New Bedford, which sailed in 1852. Not wishing to endure another long separation from his wife, Henrietta, he took her with him, and while his voyage was not as successful as he would have wished, he returned safely. On his next whaling voyage, again with his wife aboard, Captain Deblois at last enjoyed success, bringing the ship Merlin to and from the Pacific, and returning with 2000 barrels of oil, to New Bedford.
But there was a sequel to Captain Deblois' battle with the fighting whale who sank the Ann Alexander. Five months later, only a few miles from the site of the disaster, Captain William Jernegan, in the ship Rebecca Simms, killed a large sperm whale. In the body he found a harpoon with the name of the Ann Alexander stamped thereon. The whale had shown little fight, and when they brought him alongside they found good reason for his apparent lethargy. In his huge head were embedded portions of the planking and frames from the hull of a ship. The story of the disaster was well known at this time and Captain Jer negan realized he had captured the whale who had sunk a whaleship. He had his men remove the teeth from the lower jaw, and during the next year some whaleman carefully decorated three of the teeth most tastefully with scrimshaw — detailing the three ladies in Victorian garb. Eventually they were presented to Captain Deblois, and were carefully preserved by his descendants for more than a hundred years. In June, of 1979, these historic teeth were a legacy to the Nantucket Historical Association through the will of Lillian Deblois Fox, of Seekonk, Mass., and were brought to the island by the attorney who followed her instructions to the letter. The set of three teeth are now on display at the Peter Foulger Museum in a case in the front hallway.
It remained for Herman Melville to add a postscript to the account. When the news of the destruction of the Ann Alexander appeared in the newspapers, Melville had just published his great American classic, Moby-Dick. The impact of the news, which added a tremendous com mentary to the climax of his book, startled him. He wrote:
"Ye Gods, what a commentator is this Ann Alexander whale I wonder if my evil art has raised the monster!"
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Great Point Lighthouse Threatened By Erosion of The Beach ACCORDING TO THE most recent advices, the erosion of the outer beach at Great Point has reached a point where, unless nature reverses the condition, the tall white lighthouse standing there is in great danger of toppling into the sea. Government and State engineers have been studying the situation and agree that there seems to be no hope of checking the wearing away of the barrier beach. The work of moving the tower has been considered but the cost, if accomplished, appears to be prohibitive. Funds for possible saving of the old structure are being collected by the Nantucket Historical Association and other organizations in the Town. The present lighthouse at Great Point was erected in 1818, and was originally lighted by whale oil. But the history of the establishment of a lighthouse here actually began before the Revolutionary War, when the town of Nantucket, recognizing the need for a lighted beacon on Sandy Point (as it was originally known) appointed a committee composed of Frederick Folger, Christopher Starbuck and Reuben Coffin, to draw up a petition to the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for the establishment of such a light. Nothing was done by that body, and the advent of the War precluded any further action. With the war's end, and the return of whaling activities to the Island, another petition was forwarded to the General Court. At this time, with economic conditions in the new country demanding, among other factors, strong support for the recovery of the whaling industry, the General Court approved and on February 5, 1784, a resolution provided for the erection of the Great Point Light at Nantucket as soon as possible. On November 11, 1784, Richard Devens, the commissary general, was granted 1,089 pounds, 15 shillings, and 5 pence in addition to 300 already paid out "for erecting a lighthouse and small house at Nantucket." The lighthouse was erected that next year—1785. On June 10, 1790, the "lighthouse, land, etc., on Sandy Point, county of Nantucket," was ceded to the Federal Government. Overseeing the initial construction of the light was Captain Alexander Coffin, one of the Nantucketers who strongly advocated support of the Continental cause during the Revolution. John Coffin built the lighthouse lodge and an old account book records that "170 feet of
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
Pine board" was a part of the bill. Another interesting old statement shows that in 1797 some twenty panes of glass, measuring 13 by 10 inches each, were installed in the tower, which, with the freight bill attached, amounted in cost to 1 pound, 11 shillings, 6 pence—or $5.25. The keeper selected for the new light was an excellent choice— Captain Paul Pinkham, a remarkably able mariner, who made a chart of the shoals in Nantucket Sound while serving as the Keeper of Great Point Lighthouse. Born in 1736, the son of Theophilus and Deborah (Paddack) Pinkham, he was a veteran of both the whaling and coastwise trades, and was a famous pilot of the waters in this area of southeastern Massachusetts. Realizing the need for a proper chart he had drawn up his own, and it was published in Boston by John Norman in February, 1791. Not only did it show the dangerous shoals around Nantucket, but also those around the southern coast of Cape Cod and parts of Vineyard Sound. In one corner of the printed chart was an unusual testimonial signed by his colleagues on Nantucket, which also gave documentation to the use of the Great Point Light tower as a vantage point for the survey. The statement reads: "To All Whom It May Concern: These are to certify that when the lighthouse was building on Nantucket in 1784 this survey of the Shoals was made from the Lantern (An op portunity never before had for so valuable a purpose.) by Captain Paul Pinkham & others by the help of the best Compasses and Instruments which could be procured, and it has been proved by Experience to be the most accurate Chart ever offered to the Public of those dangerous shoals (which are a terror to all Navigators) which has been run by with the greatest safety; and is fully approved. And that the Publication of this Chart, from its accuracy, cannot fail to be greatly beneficial to all Navigators who may fall in with said Shoals, is the judgement of us. — John Cartwright, Joseph Chase, Daniel Coffin, Nathaniel Barnard, James Barker, William Coffin, Silvanus Coleman, Alexander Coffin, Jr., Thomas Delano. Nantucket, September 1, 1790." From a bill rendered June 10, 1794, only the best spermaceti strained oil was used in the light at Great Point. In a letter from Captain Pinkham to the Lighthouse Commission it cost 118 pounds, 15 shillings for oil that supplied the lighthouse from August 16, 1794, to May 1, 1795. Captain Alexander Gardner furnished the oil for 36 pounds per ton, or ap-
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
proximately 1,800 gallons. From May 8, 1793, to May 9, 1794, some 1,600 gallons were used. The salary of the Keeper in 1799 was $166.66 per year, and was no doubt an increase from the first paid Captain Pinkham. On December 16, 1795, he had written Supt. Lincoln:
"Sir: It is my ardent Request that you will be pleased to lay before the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives the inclosed, and make use of the utmost of your Influence to carry it into effect, as the Smallness of the Sallary renders it very hard for me to Subsist. The twelve cords of wood which was allowed me by the Legislature of this Commonwealth as part of my Sallary now costs $96 landed at the Lighthouse, provisions in like proportion & all other Necessaries of life. Therefore you must know that the Small Sum of $250 without any other natural advantages is a scanty support for a Family thus far removed from all other immoliments whatsoever. Now Sir your ernest attention to this shall be rewarded and ever acknowledged by your humble Servent, Paul Pinkham."
Apparently, the salary increase was granted, although how many other benefits were allowed is not known. Half a century later O. C. Gardner as Keeper received only $250.00 per year as his salary (1849). As an expected part of the Keeper's life he went to the aid of ship wrecks. In January, 1791, the schooner Codfish was wrecked on Great Point (a disaster not recorded in Gardner's remarkably complete list), and Captain Pinkham kept a careful record of the men and teams who worked over a four-day period to salvage the cargo. Apparently, the salvagers stayed at the lighthouse lodge, as their names are listed as either fur nishing their own provisions, or "being found", by the Keeper's stores. Another wreck involving the possibility of salvage occurred in November, 1793, when the sloop Farmer, Captain Abijah Hawley, became cast away" on Bishop & Clerks shoal off Hyannis on Cape Cod. Captain Hawley wrote Captain Pinkham on "Nantucket Point," in forming him that as the wind was north and west he understood that some of the cargo had drifted across the Sound to the Point, and asked "if you find any of these articles I would thank you if you would procure them for me and keep them until you hear from me." The articles listed included a barrel of shoes (116 pairs), 1 bbl. of new rum, and a quantity of lumber.
GREAT POINT LIGHT THREATENED
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What constituted the work-day routine at the lighthouse is revealed in a document drawn up by Captain Pinkham as an agreement between the Keeper and a possible candidate as his assistant. In it the assistant is to "attend and keep the lighthouse in good order, as well as other duties, such as fetching oil, wood, and hay and other necessaries, and is not to neglect his duty." In consideration for such services the assistant was to receive $180 per year, "and to pay him from time to time as the said Paul Pinkham shall receive his Sallary." In addition, the assistant was to receive "onehalf of all Drifts and Prizes he shall obtain in the service and one-half of all Shark Oil and fish that he shall catch." Among other advantages he (the assistant) was allowed use of the east chamber, northeast bed chamber and one-half the kitchen and one-half the cellar and milk room." Not the least of the considerations was "one-half the profits of the two cows said Pinkham shall keep, he paying one-half the charges arising on said cows." The career of Captain Pinkham as the first keeper of Great Point Light ended with his death on December 30, 1799. He was succeeded by George Swain, another Nantucketer. It is not unlikely that Captain Pinkham's passing was the result of helping to salvage the cargo of a schooner from Boston to Baltimore which came ashore at Great Point on December 3, 1799, on the inside of the point. After getting her cargo out, the schooner was finally hauled off the beach by favorable wind and tide aids, getting free on December 28. Two days later Captain Pinkham died. The legacy of Paul Pinkham to both Nantucket and the country was his charts. Now one of the rarities in both collections and university libraries, they are excellent examples of not only knowledge but ability to present such examples of his experience in a form of value to navigators. One other memento of his life as the Keeper of Great Point Lighthouse is a notice which he wrote June 24, 1796, which contains probably the only contemporary account of the type of boat used by the lighthouse service at that time for rescue and utility operations. It reads as follows:
"Nantucket, June 24, 1796. Last night between ten o'clock and daylight next day was stolen from the lighthouse landing the lighthouse boat, in length eighteen x h feet, breadth about eight feet, with three sprit sails, a Road Anchor, and painted with a White Bottom, the top streak yellow and the next to that black; her inside paint Red; the mast yellow in the middle and Black at each end; a Black Stern and a White.
GREAT POINT LIGHT THREATENED
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Strake around her stem — being the property of the United States. Whoever will Deteck the thief and return the property shall be handsomely Rewarded by Paul Pinkham, Keeper of the Lighthouse at Nantucket." In 1812 the Keeper at Great Point was Jonathan Coffin. He had the misfortune to have the dwelling consumed by fire, and had to temporarily reside at a farm in Wauwinet or Coskata, making daily trips. His salary was raised to $196.67 to compensate for the long journeys to and from the station. In November 1816, however, the lighthouse was entirely destroyed by fire. Some said the fire was purposely set, but no positive proof was ever forthcoming. On March 3, 1817, Congress appropriated $7,500 "For rebuilding the lighthouse at Nantucket, recently destroyed by fire" and $7,385.12 of this was expended in 1818 in erecting the handsome stone tower which still stands today. A petition signed by many citizens and shipowners of Nantucket in 1828 called for the removal of Captain George Bunker, who was then keeper, because of his reportedly intemperate habits, but Stephen Pleasonton, of the Treasury, wisely refrained, after an investigation, from taking any action in the matter. The petition had suggested George Swain as a replacement for Bunker and such petitions, circulated by ambitious candidates for a keeper's job, or by disgruntled and disappointed ap plicants, were far too numerous to be acted upon without careful con sideration of the source and the motive. The Superintendent's decision to retain Keeper Bunker was not challenged. Ironically, Captain Bunker was killed on December 28, 1828, when the cart he was driving along the point was upset and he was caught under the load and crushed. He was 62 years of age at the time. In his report of November 1, 1838, Lieutenant Edward W. Car penter, USN, noted that the light was in a stone tower 60 feet high and 70 feet above sea level. It consisted of 14 lamps, 3 with 15, and 11 with 16inch reflectors, arranged in two circles parallel to each other and to the horizon. The lantern was 8% feet high and 9 feet in diameter. The tower and dwelling were connected by a short covered way "which, among these sand hills, where the snow must drift in Winter, is a security that the light will be well attended." The importance of the Great Point Lighthouse was recognized more
The iron staircase leading up the tower. Note batteries for light.
GREAT POINT LIGHT THREATENED
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realistically in 1857, shortly atter the first brick tower was being con structed at Brant Point. In its issue of Saturday, June 20, 1857, the youngest of the two Nantucket newspapers, The Weekly Mirror, had the following description: "Light-House Improvements. — We learn that Mr. Williams, who had charge of building the new Light-House on Brant Point last summer, is now on the Island, to see to still further improvements in the various lights and light-houses. The one on Brant Point is being painted and otherwise im proved. A new walk is to be made between the Cliff beacons, and other improvements which the place seems to demand. Also, a new light-house tower is to be put up at Great Point, like the one on Brant Point. It will be built up within the walls of the present tower, in every respect like the one built last summer, except a larger lantern to accommodate a larger order of lights — the third order of Fresnel lights. We presume that in that place the lenses will be complete, as light will be needed in all directions; though the harbor light is only threefourths of a complete circular lens, because the remaining onefourth would be of no use to sea navigation. We say water navigation, because it may be of some use sometimes to those who in the "dry" season cannot see hardly how to navigate themselves."
During the extremely cold winter of 1857, one of the memorable events concerned with Great Point took place, The schooner Conanchet, of Plymouth, under Captain Burgess, bound for the New York market with 1250 quintals of fish, was trapped on the edge of Tuckernuck Shoal by ice, which formed a solid sheet all the way to the shores of Nantucket. As the vessel was close to foundering Captain Burgess and his crew at tempted to crawl across the ice toward Great Point using planks. After nine hours on the ice, with the temperature at 12 above zero, the desperate men managed to reach the beach at the Point. Here they were given shelter in the keeper's home, and spent the night there, Mr. Swain bringing them to town the next morning. Here a subscription was raised for the unfortunate men and they eventually reached home safely. In the following year (March 13, 1858) another fishing schooner, the I. & P. Chase, Captain Snow, with her hold filled with mackerel, went ashore in a snowstorm on the ocean side of Great Point. The crew landed safely and were taken care of in the lightkeeper's lodge. Her cargo was
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
later discharged and the schooner eventually floated off by Nantucket salvagers and towed into the harbor by the Island Home. Again in October, 1860, Great Point was the scene of a disaster involving the schooner Nevis, Captain Bickmore, bound to Bangor, Maine, with a load of coal. Striking Great Point Rip at night, it was not until the morning that her precarious plight was discovered. Nantucket pilots Captain Alexander B. Dunham and Joseph Patterson, together with Davis Hall and two brothers of Captain Dunham, George W. and Frederick, went up to Coskata and then walked the beach to the Lighthouse. Despite the heavy surf and violent sea they launched the life boat about 11 a.m., and managed to reach the vessel and remove her crew, together with the captain's wife and child. All were cared for by the Keeper of the lighthouse at the lodge. Between 1863 and 1890 there were 43 shipwrecks within the jurisdiction of Great Point Light. A number of vessels mistook Great Point Light for the Cross Rip Lightship. On January 30, 1881, the keeper, Benjamin Pease, sighted the U. B. Fisk of Boston bound to Charleston, S. C., caught in an ice floe. The crew had abandoned ship but were unable to make shore. The keeper waded out into the water, up to his armpits, and threw them a small line. With this he sent them a heavier line which he used to pull their boat ashore, as their schooner was being crushed in the ice pack. Several mariners, unfamiliar with Nantucket Sound, mistook the lightship and the lighthouse lights. Three schooners, including the William Jones, on a clear, moonlit night in April, 1864, became confused in determining the lighting pattern and all went aground in Great Point Rip. Fortunately, all got freed on the next high tide. During a heavy gale, on October 12, 1865, a schooner struck the bar and the captain managed to save his wife and three children by getting the longboat over the side and the crew managed to reach Great Point safely. The schooner went to pieces while they watched from the beach. In 1866 the schooner Leesburg struck Great Point and the crew rescued. A month later, October 4, the brig Storm Castle mistook Great Point and Handkerchief lights. The cargo of lumber was jettisoned and the brig brought into the harbor, by Island salvors. The brig C. C. Van Horn, bound to Boston from Cuba, with a cargo of sugar and molasses, struck on Great Point Rip the day before Christmas 1866 and was a total loss, though the crew reached shore safely. The same thing happened to
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
another schooner in May 1867, and to one in December 1867. Still nothing was done about the confusion in the lights. Wrecks continued. There were two in 1869, one in 1877, and two in 1878. In 1880 the West Wind hit the east end of Nantucket Bar, 4'/2 miles from the lighthouse with a cargo of ice. The vessel soon went to pieces, the crew being picked up later by a passing vessel and taken to New York. Other wrecks occurred in 1887, 1889, and 1890. It was not until 1889 that the red sector in the Great Point Light was inserted to mark Cross Rip Shoal and the other shoals south of it. From then on the wrecks were less numerous although in 1915 the Marcus L. Urann was wrecked on the Wasque Shoal and Keeper Norton at Great Point helped rescue "13 men, a woman, and a cat." He was given a life-saving medal for this per formance. The coming of the automobile to Nantucket brought considerable change to old customs. The keeper, William L. Anderson, in 1933, in his auto equipped with balloon tires, transported 350 visitors to and from the lighthouse at Great Point. But the precedent in such transportation had been accomplished in 1922 by Harry Gordon, of Nantucket. Today, Great Point Lighthouse is described as follows: "A white tower 71 feet above ground and 70 feet above water, visible 14 miles and located on the point at the north end of Nantucket Island at 41 degrees 23.4' N., 70 degrees 02.7' W. It is equipped with a 12,000-candlepower third-order electric light, fixed white, with a 3,500-candlepower red sector which covers Cross Rip and Tuckernuck Shoals." There is no longer a keeper at the Great Point Lighthouse, this custom having been discontinued soon after the end of World War II, and an electric switch now turns the light on and off each night through a remote control device. Storage batteries provide the power. During the night of February 16, 1968, a fire of suspicious origin destroyed the keeper's lodge, and the last vistage of family life at the Great Point station vanished. The old barn had been allowed to fall apart long before, and the oil house had similarly been abandoned. Only the white lighthouse remained, a familiar landmark to the fishermen and aviators, and at night its light could still be identified by mariners, in both the white and red sectors. In summer months many sports fishermen still use the beach at the Point, and many boats skirt the rip trolling. The modern auto has little problem in reaching the end of the Point.
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Now the grave question remains — how to save the familiar white) tower from being undermined and toppling into the sea. The Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission, under the leadership of its Director William Klein, has launched a campaign to "Save Great Point!" The Nantucket Historical Association is lending a hand by serving as a headquarters for the contributions toward this goal. Will the U.S. Government develop a solution to the problem? Will a construction of groins check the beach erosion so that nature may repair the damage? Will the engineers find ways and money to actually move the structure to a new location? The construction of the tower would appear to make its relocation virtually impossible, as it is made of rubblestone, with an inner brick lining. The Coast Guard has advised that any attempt to disassemble it would result in its destruction due to its rubblestone. Cost estimates for erosion control are now being prepared. One method suggested is the driving of sheet pile around the perimeter of the old tower. All interested are urged to write to Congressman Gerry Studds, 1511 Longworth Office Building, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D C., or to Captain Thomas Schaeffer, Office of Aids to Navigation, U.S. Coast Guard, 150 Causeway Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114.
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The Destruction of the U.S.S. "Housatonic" During The Civil War AMONG THE U.S. Naval officers whose conduct during the Civil War brought a renewed tradition to the service was Commander Joseph W. Congdon, of Nantucket. The son of a whaling master, Commander Congdon established himself as a superior officer in the Civil War, and after that conflict was given command of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Salmon P. Chase. He was also appointed as the Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy before it was established at its present headquarters at New London, Conn. Commander Congdon s two daughters lived at the little house on School Street — Miss May H. Congdon and Miss Josephine Congdon — now the residence of Miss Helen Powell, a great-grand-niece of the Commander. One of the most memorable of the events during the Civil War was the sinking of the sloop-of-war Housatonic by a Confederate torpedo outside Charleston harbor. The Southern forces had designed a sub marine with a torpedo and the successful attack made naval history. At this time Captain Congdon was the Sailing Master of the new 1200-ton screw steamer, and his account of the disaster, which took place on February 17, 1864, is also a part of our U. S. naval history. Commander Congdon's story follows:
"The destruction of the Housatonic took the time when all the big vessels were away. Our anchorage was generally in on the west side of the harbor near an inlet called Beach Inlet. We had learned from time to time of the several attempts that had been made to blow us up with a torpedo as they had a particular spite against our vessel for foiling their attempt to raise the blockade and considered us dangerous to have around there, interfering with their plans. As our information concerning their plans relative to us was very reliable, we naturally expected to go skyward sooner or later. With that in view, we concluded that if it were a possible thing, we would take our valuables with us on our journey. "So before turning in at night, each one of us officers would attach a line to our valuables and lead the line up through the hatch on deck, making it fast handy so that when
Commander Joseph W. Congdon in his Civil War uniform
DESTRUCTION OF THE "HOUSATONIC" the time did come for us to leave, we could clutch our lines, haul up our valuables and take them along with us just as easy as rolling off a log. I will state right here that when this an ticipated event did come off, there was not a line picked up — so much for plans. "It was the custom after dark to shift our anchor to foil and defeat the enemy in carrying out any of their unfriendly maneuvering against us and to deceive blockade runners. But we were not always successful, for on the evening of February 17th 1864, a date easily remembered, the Confederates sent out a steam launch torpedo which proved to be the 'wickedest' thing of the War. "This craft was about 25 feet long, shaped like a cigar, built of boiler iron and provided with a screw wheel; she had no smoke stack and her deck was flush with the water. Running out from her bow 15 feet was a stout spar with an electric torpedo containing a charge of 200 pounds of powder. For the description of this murderous craft I am indebted to a cousin of mine, a southerner in the Confederate Navy, who volunteering to be one of the crew of this submarine devil, barked out, 'God bless him' when he learned that I was one of the officers that was to be annihilated. "It was just before 9 o'clock on a bright moonlight night that this torpedo boat was discovered making towards us. It resembled more a large fish sporting around. When suspicion as to its true nature was aroused, it was so close aboard that none of our great guns could be depressed sufficiently to reach it. However, it took a very short time to get to quarters, slip the chain, back the vessel and pour several volleys of musketry into her, but she moved faster than we did and made a dash for us in a bewildered sort of manner, striking us right abreast of the powder magazine. "The explosion was terrific, tearing a hole in the side of the ship large enough to drive a horse and cart through. I was raised several feet skyward but came down unharmed and somewhat bewildered, expecting of course that our magazine, containing some 5 ton of powder would explode and that would end the affair. Fortunately for us, it did not. The ex plosion was undoubtedly premature (our terrific fire of musketry tending to demoralize them) so that the torpedo was back acting, sinking the launch as well as our vessel, for from my point of view, I could see the wake of the boat as she went to the bottom.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET "My duties as Sailing Master when going to Quarters, were to handle the vessel under the Captain's direction. I rang to back the engine hard, and on my way to the bridge aft, abreast of the XI port, I discovered this Wild Cat and im mediately opened fire from my revolver, but did not have the opportunity of using all the chambers before the explosion took place. "We sank immediately and as there were only 28 feet of water, it left us with the sheepholes of the lower rigging at the water's edge and ample room for all hands to perch in the rigging, should they be fortunate to reach the rigging. When the water reached the furnace fires, it made a roar even worse than the explosion, so that nearly everyone was overboard for a while. We lost two officers and three men which was very remarkable. Got one boat adrift by a miracle almost, picked up the Captain who remarked that he went up fully 500 feet in the air. He certainly was badly bruised. "The U. S. Sloop Canandaigua was nearby, and the Housatonic's boat reached her within a few minutes. In less than half an hour the rescue vessel had reached our area and assistance came quickly — much to our relief — for with 250 men crowded together as we were in the rigging, would have made an excellent mark for our unfriendly neighbors the Rebs, had they been so minded as to have sent a small steamer out and peppered us without any resistance on our part. It was a cold night, just making ice. Some of the crew in the excitement had divested themselves of their wearing apparel and started to swim somewhere. When they discovered that our masts still offered a place of refuge, they swam back to the rigging and posed as Living Pictures in their primitive state, I might add. Waiting for relief minutes seemed hours and we welcomed the boats of the Canandaigua to take us off with grateful joy. It was sad, though, to leave that noble ship in her watery grave, destroyed by unfair means without a chance of defending herself. "The Housatonic was my maiden ship and I felt doubly endeared to her, from the fact that my orders to her came on my wedding day. I think some of our comrades' wives could contribute some terrible reminiscences of those days for they certainly were self-sacrificing, brave, patriotic and hopeful, sending their loved ones to battle for justice, liberty and our dear old flag. God bless the women — what could we do without them. Of course the report went forth that the
DESTRUCTION OF THE "HOUSATONIC"
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Housatonic was lost with all on board. My wife being of a
philosophical turn of mind doubted the report, just like a woman. She was right as she generally is, and anxiously awaited my return which duly came about, clothed in raiment made up of everybody's odds and ends from other people's wardrobes. "No attempt was ever made to raise the Housatonic. I visited her resting place some few months ago. Nothing remained of her and even the buoy that had marked , her remains had been taken away." The Confederate submarine was named the H. L. Hunley. Her commander, Lieut. George E. Dixon, CSA, and his crew of eight men perished in the attack. Confederate Engineer James H. Tomb afterward stated the Hunley was a "veritable coffin to the brave officer and his men." It was the first submarine to sink a naval vessel, and opened a new chapter in the history of warfare.
The Whaling Museum
ERECTED A. D. 188!, 8Y A DESCENDANT Of THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NANTUCKET IK F EMORY OF THOSE WHOSE REMAINS ART B U R I E D ON THIS HALLOWED SPOT. WHERE STOOD THE FIRST CHURCH GATHERED HERE IN 1711. SINCE REMOVED TO W H E R E I T NO V STANDS A S THE VESTRY OF THE
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MANY OF THE DESCENDANTS O f ' • THESE WORTHY SIRES.HAVE B E S i i l f c •: M S T t t t C l l l S H E D F O R T H E I R C O U R A G E A N D f " . ENERGY, AND, UCF7 A RECORD . FOR OTHERS TO EMULATE.
Forefather's Monument Overlooking Maxcy's Pond.
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