Historic Nantucket
West Dover Street - 1882
July 1982 Published Quarterly by Nantucket Historical Association Nantucket, Massachusetts
Copies of Annual Reports will be sent upon request to: Nantucket Historical Assn. Box 1016 Nantucket, MA 02554
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A flier showing items with Nantucket connection, as well as a book list, is obtainable by mail from our Whaling Museum Gift Shop, and will be sent upon request. Many of these make interesting and appropriate year round gifts or Christmas presents.
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS COUNCIL 1981 - 1982 Walter Beinecke, Jr., Chairman Mrs. Bernard D. Grossman, Vice Chairman Leroy H. True, President-Chief Executive Officer Albert F. Egan, Jr., Vice Pres. Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans, Vice Pres. Albert G. Brock, Vice Pres. Richard C. Austin, Secretary
Alcon Chadwick, Vice Pres. George W. Jones, Vice Pres. John N. Welch, Treasurer Edouard A. Stackpole, Historian
Donald E. Terry Miss Nancy Ayotte David D. Worth Mrs. Helen W. Chase
Miss Dorothy Gardner Robert D. Congdon H. Flint Ranney Harold W. Lindley STAFF
Renny A. Stackpole, Director of Museums Edouard A. Stackpole, Editor "Historic Nantucket" Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans, Assistant Editor Mrs. Elizabeth Tyrer, Executive Secretary Oldest House Curator: *Mrs. Kenneth S. Baird Mrs. Margaret Crowell, Mrs. Abram Niles Hadwen House-Satler Memorial Curator: 'Mrs. P. Prime Swain Mrs. Richard A. Strong, Mrs. Everett B. Merrithew, Mrs. Kathleen D. Barcus, Deidre Richards, Alice Metzdar Whaling Museum Curator: * Renny A. Stackpole Rev. Frank J. Pattison, Manager; James A. Watts, Mrs. Robert E. Campbell, Alfred N. Orpin, Glenn Boornagian, Rose Stanshigh, Anita Dougan, Ann Albrecht, Mary Lou Waterman, James Greenleaf, Karen Scott Greater Light: Dr. Selina T. Johnson Peter Foulger Museum Director: * Edouard A. Stackpole Asst. Director: Peter S. MacGlashan Mrs. Reginald F. Hussey, Librarian; Mrs. Norman A. Barrett, Miss Marjorie Burgess, Miss Helen Levins, Alcon Chadwick, Mrs. Ann Warren, Lorie Rawlinson, Andrea Lane, Everett Finlay Macy-Christian House Curator: *Mrs. John A. Baldwin Miss Dorothy Hiller, Mrs. Edna Docca, Mrs. Helen S. Soverino Old Goal Curator: Albert G. Brock Old Mill Curator: "John Gilbert Millers: John A. Stackpole, Edward Dougan, Thomas and Mary Seager Fair Street Museum Curator: Albert F. Egan, Jr. Rachel Lukens Lightship "Nantucket" Curator: "John Austin Richard Swain, Robbie Mooney, Daniel Nelson, Terry Ellis Hose Cart House Curator: * Francis W. Pease Archeology Department Chairman: *Rev. Edward Anderson Vice-Chairman: Mrs. John D.C. Little Building Survey Chairman: *Rev. Robert G. Metters Old Town Office Curator: *Hugh R. Chace *Ex-officio members of Council
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 30
July, 1982
No. 1
CONTENTS
Nantucket Historical Association Officers
2
Editorial: Protecting Tradition is an Insurance
5
The Whaling Museum's new "True Hall"
7
Mrs. Louise R. Hussey, Librarian, receives Honorary Degree
11
The Journal of Eliza Brock - At Sea on the Lexington by Sherri Federbush
13
Miss McCleary Solved the Puzzle
18
"Nantucket'' by W. Frederick Brown
19
The Falkland Islands and Nantucket by Edouard A. Stackpole
20
Address Changes/Bequests
23
Historic Nantucket is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts, by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sent to Association Members. Extra copies SI.00 each. Membership dues are — Annual-Active S7.50; Sustaining $25.00; Life — one payment $100.00; Husband and Wife $150.00 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.
Protecting Tradition Is An Insurance For the Future
5
ON JULY 9, 1982 the Nantucket Historical Association will be observ ing the eighty-eighth anniversary of its founding in 1894. The growth of the Association is a matter of pride to its members and friends. From its original purpose of "collecting and preserving historical relics, documents, books, etc.," it has increased in both scope and purpose. Throughout the Town, the museums, historic houses, and memorials have helped many visitors to understand the unique place in American history that Nantucket has established. Quite aside from these means for presenting Nantucket history, the Association is playing a leading role in preserving a tradition. The value of this Nantucket tradition increases with the passage of time. The story of our Island's past is becoming our chief attraction, and it looms greater on the horizon as the present leads to the future. As an asset, this seaport town's tradition has become far and away the most important feature of our daily lives. But, among the hard facts to face, if we are to continue to preserve this asset, is the danger of those interests which seek to exploit the Island and the Town, either with the appropriation of the outlying land, housing developments, business practices which cheapen, and enter prises which tend to undermine. All these cut deeply into the vitally im portant Nantucket story-the tradition. Many of our visitors come here because they are hoping to reclaim those aspects of America's seafaring tradition, an atmosphere of the past which they may see at first hand and doubly enjoy. This is that tradition: a spirit of the enterprise of maritime America. In our times the present is so immense, so filled with uncertainties, that it is not at all strange that glimpses into the past are invaluable in that they give a measure of hope in a world of unrest and conflict. The Nantucket Historical Association is playing a major role in maintaining this priceless Nantucket tradition. As an organization devoted to its purpose, it needs and deserves the support of all to whom our tradition is a recognized force in the present scene, and a powerful guarantee for the Island's economy in the future. -Edouard A. Stackpole
Leroy H. True, President, the Nantucket Historical Association
The Whaling Museum's New Wing "True Hall"
7
ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, June 12, the Whaling Museum's new addition was formally opened as the "True Hall." A large crowd of over 500 members and friends of the Nantucket Historical Associa tion were on hand, gathering in the main room and hallways of the Museum, where the ceremonies were conducted, with Renny A. Stackpole, Chairman of the Whaling Museum Committee. The pro gram began with an invocation by the Rev. J. Everett Bodge, pastor of the First Congregational Church. Several speakers then followed with tributes to Mr. True. Thomas McAuley, who served as an instructor in metal work at the Coffin School at the same time that Mr. True was an instructor in wood working; Mrs. Cecilia Huyser, of the staff at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, who was also active during the term of Mr. True's tenure as the Hospital's adminstrator; Edouard A. Stackpole, the Association's Historian, who recalled the people of the past and present who con tributed to the growth of the Whaling Museum; and Walter Beinecke, Chairman of the Association's Executive Committee, who conducted the ceremony which officially dedicated the new Museum wing as "True Hall," and called upon Mrs. True to unveil the bronze plaque to be placed therein. Following the ceremonies, Mr. and Mrs. True, with their daughters and families, led the way into the Whale Room and down the ramp to the entrance of the new Hall. Within minutes, the crowd had complete ly filled the Hall, where they lingered at some length, enjoying the ex hibits and displays. The enthusiastic groups made an excellent complement to the busy scene, and the approval was warming, indeed, to the people who have worked so diligently to create an important and attractive addition to. the Whaling Museum. In the records of our Association's efforts to preserve the history of Nantucket, this Hall is a notable achievement. No more glorious an age in the Island's whaling traditions was that period when the ships from this tiny port roamed the oceans of the world in pursuit of the great sperm whale. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn ranging from tropical waters to Arctic and An tarctic seas, they gave American maritime history some of its most adventuresome pages. As the whaling pioneers they revealed new areas, such as the central Pacific, the Japan Grounds, and the Australian and East Indian seas; after reaching the African coasts and the Falkland Islands before the Revolutionary War touched them in the South Atlantic. "Like so many Alexanders... they conquered the watery world"-so Melville termed it. The new structure has provided opportunity to present visually the great extent to their voyages. The Hadwen & Barney ship Alpha has become an excellent vessel to illustrate this point, as Hadwen & Barney
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THE WHALING MUSEUM'S NEW WING
9
once owned the historic whale-oil factory which houses the main building, and this craft on this voyage under Captain Joseph Folger cir cumnavigated the world. In following her courses, so carefully delineated, we gain a new appreciation for the seamanship of the whal ing master and his crew. One case is devoted to the adventures of the ship Catawba, in which Captain Obed Swain and his wife, Harriett, shared the long voyage until illness forced Mrs. Swain to return home. In another exhibit, the story of the whaleship Lexington is given, wherein Captain Peter Brock and his wife, Eliza, experienced the suc cesses and failures of a long voyage to Siberian seas. Such little known chapters in international history are revealed in the painting of the London whaleship Syren, commanded by Captain Frederick Coffin, of Nantucket; the legendary voyage of the shipEssex, sunk by a whale; the discovery of "Sunset Longitude," by Owen Spooner, with his portrait hanging close by instruments similar to his own; the cruises of the ship Loper,under Captain Obed Starbuck, in which two South Sea Islands were discovered. Because Hadwen & Barney, the owners of the candle factory which is now the main part of the Whaling Museum, owned (among several whaleships) the ship Alpha, the track of her 1845-1850 voyage, under Captain Joseph Folger, is shown on a great chart of the world which is displayed across one wall. Here, clearly revealed, is a dramatic demonstration of the extent of tliis voyage, circumnavigating the globe. In a case close at hand, is the logbook of this voyage, and cards giving details of the cruises are extended along a rail to lend a fuller description. Upon viewing this great wall chart, some idea may be gained of the scope of the whaling voyages. The extent of their long cruises in the central Pacific brings out their notable achievements in their roles as navigators. From the days of the early quadrants, they plotted their courses, taking sights in all favorable opportunities, finding their way in many places not well charted, and in areas where there were no charts. We gain a new respect for these intrepid men in remembering the great distances they sailed and the dangers they faced. The Counting House desk, the individual logs in which unusual whaling stories have been given in detail, the ingenious "Camels" and their part in extending Nantucket's whaling fortunes in the 1840's, the paintings of some of these whaleships and the portraits of whaling masters and their wives — all lend authentic touches in completing the displays. An outstanding feature of the Hall is the positioning of the lens of the historic Sankaty Head Lighthouse. Not since its "rescue" in 1949-a century after its first installation at Sankaty-has this remarkable Fresnel lens and assembly been so dramatically shown. Its re-erection and display is a symbolic concern to Renny Stackpole, whose grand father, Keeper Eugene Larsen, first introduced the light to him by plac ing him inside the assembly at the age of four. A photograph of Keeper
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
Eugene Larsen hangs close by-as a reminder of the more than three decades of this man's care of the lighthouse. In planning and developing the exhibit, Bruce Courson, of New Bedford, worked closely with Director Renny Stackpole, and with a research team of Mrs. Helen Winslow Chase, Mrs. Mimi Young, and Mrs. Virginia Sharp Newhouse and her husband, Allen Newhouse, con tributed many hours of hard work in such work as arranging the boatshop in the crafts area. Also at work in various areas were Francis Pease and his son Warren Pease. The exhibit lighting was professional ly handled by Jeffrey Marks. Glenn Boornajian, a new member of the Whaling Museum staff, proved a valuable asset with his varied skills and willingness to take on many assignments. The architectural plans for the structure were drawn by Design Associates. The contractor, Michael Lamb, began work just a year ago (June, 1981), and on June 12, a few hours before the official opening, was completing some of the final touches. With the ceremonies a significant milestone in the history of the Nantucket Historical Association was established. By naming "True Hall," the addition to our Whaling Museum now becomes a tribute to a man who has served as Administrator for over a decade, and is now the Association's President. Such an action is entirely fitting. This honor should be paid to a man who has contributed so unselfishly to the work of this Association over the years, and the more satisfying that it be done while he is still an active participant in the present scene. -Edouard A. Stackpole
TRUE HALL IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED TO
LEROY H. TRUE WHO AS TEACHER. HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR, AND PRESIDENT OF THE NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION HAS LONG SERVED NANTUCKET.
1982
Mrs. Louise R. Hussey, Librarian, Receives Honorary Degree
Photo by F. W. Lucas
Mrs. Louise R. Hussey, Honorary Degree recipient
AT THE COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES held on June 6 at the University of Massachusetts-Boston's Harbor Campus, Louise R. Hussey, the Librarian of the Nantucket Historical Association's Library, at the Peter Foulger Museum, was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
This honor was one which Mrs. Hussey richly deserved. For a quarter century she has served as the Association's Librarian at both the Whaling Museum and, when the Library was transferred to the newly built Peter Foulger Museum, was installed more firmly in her position. During the past ten years she has worked with many people from most every State in the Union, as well as many countries in the world, including students, authors, historians, genealogists and descendants of Nantucketers who visit ancestral homes. Louise Hussey has been a strong influence on students who are working on theses, as well as on writers and visitors who come regular ly to the Foulger Library. To genealogists and researchers she has been a constant aid, and her contributions have been as many as they are varied. Her kindness, coupled with her knowledge, has made her one of the valued forces which has created the Foulger Library as a featured attraction for the Association. In awarding the Degree, the University's spokesman stated: "A resident of Nantucket for over fifty years, Louise Hussey has served for many of them as librarian of the Whaling Museum and of the Peter Foulger Museum. She has aided scholars from all over the world in their researches on maritime history and scores of more casual visitors to the island every year. She has impressed all with the extent of her knowledge and with her professional command of research methods. Her connection with the Nantucket Program of the Universi ty of Massachusetts at Boston has extended her constituency, as she has inspired deep respect and loyalty in both the faculty and students of the University with whom she has come in contact. The enthusiasm and affection with which she greets new students, nurtures them during their stay, and maintains contact with them after they leave have made her an important and integral part of the University community. We are pleased and proud to honor Louise Hussey today, both for her many services to the University and to the citizens of the Com monwealth, and for her contributions to the scholarly life of the world."
The Journal of Eliza BrockAt Sea on the Lexington. by Sherri Federbush THE JOURNAL OF Mrs. Eliza Spenser Brock is not only the personal writing of a woman who goes to sea with her husband, Captain Peter C. Brock, but it is also a marvelously complete document of a Nantucket whaling voyage. The journal begins with the departure of the ship Lexington from Brant Point on May 21, 1853. Its conclusion is more obscure. Upon first inspection the final entry seems to be recorded on June 24,1856 with the return to Nantucket. A closer look reveals that Mrs. Brock had read and reread her journal adding to it as late as May 15, 1875. As Mrs. Brock found newspaper clippings and works of poetry that enhanced the picture she wished to create, she glued them into the unlined leaves in the front and the back of the log. Six months out, on October 1,1853, she wrote: And I heard a voice from heaven; saying unto me; write, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord; they rest from their labours; and their works follow them; Mrs. Brock did not write for the sake of posterity alone. She prayed to God to send her hope and give her patience many times during the lengthy voyage and her prayers were answered in the form of her jour nal. Mrs. Brock defined herself through her writing. Often women diarists have no other outlet for a sense of self or to assert their egos; so it was for Eliza. Aboard the ship Lexington she was a stranger, a stranger to the men and a stranger to the sea. She was no longer a staunch Nantucket woman, taking care of four children waiting for her husband to return, nor was she a part of the crew. At home she ruled over the kitchen, preparing meals for her family. At sea she was replaced by a cook, on ly using the galley during off hours. Each man around her had a very important job and his performance could often determine the success or failure of a hunt. Merely an onlooker, she had no control over her own situation. Aboard ship she had lost a sense of purpose and with it her self-esteem. By creating the heroine "Eliza Brock the writer" and assigning herself the duty of carefully recording the details of day to day life, she creates a place for herself as a vital member of the ship. The form of the journal is very deliberate. Mrs. Brock consciously employs many literary devices in its construction. She begins with a title page, adding an official tone with her signature: A Journal kept on board ship Lexington on her outward bound passage across the N. Atlantic Ocean; Round the
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian ocean; on the Coast of New Zealand; In 1853, Eliza Brock For her preface, she pastes into the book a hand written poem on leaving and a clipping from a publication on forgiveness. She then starts afresh, narrowing the subject with a more specific chapter title. The two are very similar. In the second, however, she is concerned only with the first part of the adventure: A Journal kept on board of Ship Lexington of Nantucket on her outward bound passage in the North Atlantic Ocean; Bound on a Whaling Voyage to the Pacific Ocean 1853. Mrs. Brock continues to use titles throughout the work to divide sea from sea and conquer what would otherwise be an endless stream of time. Aboard the ship, one day rolled into the next. The Sabbath, like any other day, was a work day. If the crew was not chasing and killing a whale, it was boiling down the blubber in the try works or making preparations for the next hunt. If Mrs. Brock was not knitting, she was reading or writing. If the weather was good she sat in the cabin below; in bad weather she sat on the deck above. The titles sectioned off the time and advanced the days. One of the extraordinary delights of the journal comes from Mrs. Brock's unconscious use of titles to accelerate the pace of the journal as she nears her long awaited port of Nantucket. She begins the work creating a title for each page. Usually the right hand sheet began with information pertinent to that day or that week. The information found at the top of the left hand sheet was broader, often a repetition of the chapter's title. In the last stretch of the journey, Mrs. Brock breaks her pattern of reserving titles for the beginning of a page. The excitement builds as she divides and subdivides the last few miles, more than once titling in the middle of a page. She further divides her journal and the time into daily entries which average about seven lines or two inchparagraphs. Writing every day except for the four days they remainedin Guam, April 11th through April 15th, she records wind directions and weather conditions at the beginning, middle, and last eight hour period. She notes the set of the sails, longitude and latitude at noon, and storm damage if there was any. She records the various illnesses of the men (by name which was unusual) and follows their progress until recovery. She seems to write off the days, chipping away at the time by completing many of the en tries with her favorite phrase, "so ends". Mrs. Brock never speaks directly to an audience, but it is clear that she expects one to exist in the future. As an authoress she had to go thi ough a selection process and decide what to include and what to let her readers discover for themselves. She assumes her readers will not
THE JOURNAL OF ELIZA BROCK
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be familiar with whaling. Yet, many times she would write that the men "Double reaft the topsails," or performed some other nautical task without any explanation of the terms. At other times she felt the need to offer assistance: Tuesday October the 4, 1853 Light Wind at SW, and Rainy. Steard NE, at 5 PM cleard off. Pleasant, begins to be warmer as we go North: the Barometer that most useful in strument to Seamen, has risen to fair weather .... Mrs. Brock was not the only wife to follow her husband to sea. The first was Nantucket's Mary Hayden Russell, who in 1817, boarded the bark Hydra with her husband, Captain Laban Russell. In time many would follow her example. After Captain Charles Grant took his wife Nancy with him in 1849, the practice became common. So when Mrs. Brock sailed in 1853 there were many women who shared her fate, but it did not make it any easier to leave her friends, church, and three of her four children behind. Her essay on "Forgiveness" is more problematic. She felt it was important to preface the journal and begin her journey with a great deal of forgiveness. But for whom or for what? The essay proclaims it takes a great deal of strength to forgive. "Cowards have done good and kind actions; cowards have even fought, nay, conquered; but a coward never forgave; it is not in his nature;" The act of forgiveness can occur only if the soul is conscious of "the little temptations of resenting every attempt to interrupt its happiness". Perhaps Mrs. Brock speaks to herself, not her audience in this case. Many times she writes that she is unhappy and lonely away from home, but she never explains why she left. In fact, she never ques tions her fate. It is her duty to obey her husband and sail on the Lex ington, but she does see the voyage as an interruption of her happiness. Here on the first page of the log she has placed a motto she can live by for the next three years. Forgiving Captain Brock for bringing her on the voyage is, in her eyes, the bravest thing she can do. Never again does she mention resentment. Mrs. Brock is vaguely aware that for every text there is a subtext, but she does not always realize how close to the surface hers can be. Is it the men or herself she is describing in her entry of June 21,1853: ....one month this day since we sailed; have not seen any Sperm Whales yet but am daily in hopes we shall; all well on board and contented, or at least appear to be; middle calm, last part light wind at NW, all hands employed Breaking out lower hold, after Slops, Latitude 34.58 The journal is filled with silences. She remains quiet about the rela tionship she has with her family and their activities aboard ship. Early in the voyage she mentions reading, writing, and "singing a hymn now and then". She notes when her son Joseph Chase Brock receives a
4.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
monkey as a gift from another Captain. But, in general, as a personal diary, the journal leaves many questions unanswered. Eliza Spenser married Peter C. Brock, her first cousin once remov ed in February of 1833. Both were steeped in the whaling tradition. Thomas, the first Brock of Nantucket, was born in Paisley, Scotland. His son, Thomas, who lived from 1741 to 1766, was killed by a whale at sea. Along with his great Uncle Thomas, Peter C. Brock, his father, two brothers, and two male cousins were whalers. Of these, three followed Thomas to a watery death - Peleg and Priam Brock, uncles to Eliza and cousins of Peter, were killed by whales, and Thomas Jr. died through a different misfortune at sea in 1835. Although Eliza never mentions it in her journal, she was well aware of the dangers she would face at sea. Eliza and Peter C. Brock had four children. The eldest, Oliver, born in 1834, and her favorite child, was the only one to try his luck at sea. He was nineteen and sailing on the ship Carver at the time Eliza joined her husband on the Ship Lexington. On July 16,1855 she received a newspaper dated November 1,1854 which reported the bark Carver of Westport had bulwarks damaged in an Atlantic storm four days out and had returned to its home port on October 28th. She was moved to write, "Where is my boy now? Hard luck seems to attend him." She also mentions her youngest son, Joseph Chase Brock, who spent his fifth, sixth, and seventh, birthdays on the Lexington. But she never mentions where Lydia G. and William, her middle children, spent their time while she was aboard the ship. Nor does she write why she was compelled to leave them behind. Who stayed with William, who was only seven, when the Lexington sailed from Brant Point? The whaling wife needed to face separation and even death with a quiet grace. When the Lexington sailed Eliza Brock brought with her the history of the family; she could not leave it behind. Nor could she leave the history of Nantucket whaling behind. For she did not travel in isolation - rather, she sailed in the tides of the time. Peter C. Brock captained two very successful voyages in the bark Ann, the first in 1832 and the se cond in 1837. In 1842 he sailed on the Young Hero, after which he went into semi-retirement for eleven years. His obituary claims that he sail ed in command of the Lexington because he pined for active service again, but this explanation is too simple. During those eleven years Nantucket whaling experienced a rapid decline that eventually led to its extinction. In the year 1853 the five or six vessels that sailed in the Nantucket whaling fleet were the last of a persistant few. Captain Brock's voyage was an attempt to keep up a dying industry. By 1853, whaling was more difficult for whalemen of every port. Mrs. Brock wrote many moving entries about the over hunted animals. The ship Lexington was out for six months before they ever saw a whale. On July 5th, 1854 she wrote, "the whales have grown wild and shy, they are not easily captured as in times gone by." She has compas sion for man and beast alike:
THE JOURNAL OF ELIZA BROCK
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the bowhead is no longer the slow and sluggish beast he was at first found to be...they are not so numerous as in seasons past and are more difficult to strike, how can it be other wise, by day and by night the whale is chased, harassed, the only rest they have is when the fogs are thick and the wind high. Of the men she wrote: July 30, 1854 a hard way to obtain a living. Men find no rest here, they live in their boats. I might say they leave the ship at three in the morning and sometimes it is nine at night before they get back again often out all night in the fog or towing a dead whale. Mrs. Brock brings a feminine perspective to the history of whaling and to the specific voyage of the ship Lexington of Nantucket. The jour nal presents a side of the great industry of whaling that is seldom seen. The men who are today known only as whalemen become human be ings with families and personal histories. Mrs. Brock can rest at peace, knowing that her journal indeed has preserved for posterity, not only her story, but the story of the great whaling industry of Nantucket. Miss Sherri Federbush was a member of the Nantucket History Class from the University of Massachusetts-Boston which studied at the Peter Foulger Museum during the winter of 1980.
Miss McCleary Solved The Puzzle OVER A LONG PERIOD of years, one of the summer residents of Fair Street was Miss Helen C. McCleary, a retired school teacher from Brookline, Mass., who was a descendant of Nantucket families. Through the 1930's she often appeared as an entertainer during the popular Main Street "sings", when the Square was crowded on Sunday evenings and such people as "Billy" Fitzgerald would lead the assemblage in familiar songs, including current popular melodies. Miss McCleary's contributions were unique. When Herbie Brownell, the Nantucket accordionist, would play some of the older tunes, Miss McCleary would accompany him by playing the "bones", hard-wood pieces held in both hands, which would keep perfect time as she swung them between her fingers in rhythm to the notes. As Miss McCleary was customarily a person of dignity, her playing often gave rise to many queries. In reply to a rather blunt question, one day, she stated, firmly: "I do not believe my playing the 'bones' is at all undignified! I enjoy it, and wish that some of the young people would learn to do it, also." It was at this time that she won a most unusual newspaper contest, one of a series of puzzles which appeared in a syndicated form throughout the country. This particular puzzle had to do with Nations, and Miss McCleary was the winner. Having had many pleasant conver sations with her over the years, especially in regard to her famous aunt, Phebe Ann Hanaford, I asked her to explain how she had won the contest. Her reply was typical. "Puzzles are great fun", she said, "and because my eyes are now a problem, I have to rely on my memory. After all, one is allowed to guess, you know. Perhaps I had an edge on some of the other guessers, because I happen to be a teacher of Latin. Many school children do not like to study Latin but a large proportion of our English words are directly derived from Latin." "Then, in this puzzle, you relied on such memories?" I queried. "Why, yes, almost entirely so. When I noted the suffix 'Nation' was a Latin suffix, I knew that all the words would have Latin roots, and so I worked on that basis. There was a term in the puzzle, 'linked together,' that at first stuck me until I recalled that 'catena' was the Latin for a chain or link, and that 'con' meant together. The term 'darting of lightning' bothered me a lot, (as coruscation and scintillation would not do), until I recalled that Jupiter's thunderbolt was fulmen. An elec trical word did bother me, and I asked some electricians about it, with no result, and so I decided the word was 'alternation', which was cor rect. Had there been Greek words I would have had a more difficult time." "Then, there was a sort of rhythm to the Latin," I said, "not at all unlike the bones rhythm."
MISS McCLEARY SOLVED THE PUZZLE
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She laughed. "Once you learn it you do not forget," she replied. Then she smiled. "The puzzle was a great solace to me, as I could not use my eyes as much as I would have liked-but I was allowed to guess!" There are still many Nantucketers who remember Helen Cartwright McCleary, probably as a tutor. She was a devoted member of the Nantucket Historical Association, and among her several contribu tions was the collection of the papers of Henry Barnard Worth, which she personally was able to secure for Nantucket. -E.A.S.
Nantucket by W. Frederick Brown Dear Island Home, from off thy distant shore Kind memory brings glad days of long ago, Whose odours, like the arbutus in the snow In April, oft sweet thoughts of life restore. Above thine ocean's deep and changing roar The faithful bell's reverberations flow; While steals anon that voice I used to know In boyhood days, now wafted evermore Beyond the skies. Although a softer clime Where now I sing of thee, and brighter beam The midnight stars above the flying foam, I think of thee whose beauties gild my rhyme. Of all the isles that round the wide world gleam, There is no light like thine, dear Island Home. W. Frederick Brown was born in Nantucket, educated in the Coffin School here, and as a young man went to Australia, where he resided the remainder of his life, with the exception of two visits to his Island home. He was an author, artist and woodcarver, and some of his work is represented in the displays at the Peter Foulger Museum. His book of poems, in which volume the above verse appears, was titled T h e Songs of a Wanderer, and was published in Sidney, Australia, in 1928. He died a quarter century ago in his adopted home land.
The Falkland Islands and Nantucket by Edouard A. Stackpole
THE FALKLAND ISLANDS, some 400 miles off the east coast of South America in the South Atlantic, have occupied the center of the world's stage these past few months. As Great Britain and the Argentine Republic challenge each other for possession, the war clouds obscure the unusual history of these remote islands. Journalists advance the modern scene and ignore the background of the past, and this latter aspect is the important feature in judging the present controversy. It is of more than passing interest to review the role that Nantucket has played in the maritime past of the Falklands. As far back as 1770, when the whalemen of Nantucket were penetrating deeply into the South Atlantic in their pioneering voyages, word had reached this center of American whaling that our ships had observed large schools of whales in the area around the Falklands. It was at this time that the Colonial troubles with Britain were nearing the breaking point. When the Revolutionary War did at length erupt, Nantucket's whaleships and merchant vessels were caught be tween two fires-the Royal Navy and the Continental privateers. It was at this time that Francis Rotch, of Nantucket, a brother of the better known merchant, William Rotch, proposed a most daring plan. Realiz ing that the Island's whaleships could not hope to continue running the gauntlet of the Royal Navy blockade and the swarm of Continental privateers, (as well as vessels owned by Tories that preyed on ship ping), he proposed that a fleet of whalers should fit out here and then sail to the South Atlantic, and use the Falkland Islands as a base of whaling operations. After obtaining enough oil, these ships would sail directly for Lon don. As Nantucket was still a part of the British Empire, its ships would not be molested in the English Channel. In this plan, Francis Rotch was joined by Aaron Lopez, of Newport, and Leonard Jarvis, of Dartmouth. Rotch accompanied the first vessels sailing and set up his head quarters on the West Falkland Island, at Port Egmont. The daring plan, however, was not at all a success, as the Royal Navy captured the whaleships, some en route to the Falklands, others bound to England with oil. It was during Francis Rotch's brief stay in the Falklands that he was able to observe the vast number of fur seals which made their home along the rocky shores. He wrote to his brother, William, about these seals. In London, a few years later, William, who afterwards set tled a whaling colony of Nantucketers at Dunkirk, in France, wrote to his firm (still active here) suggesting that his captains stop at the Falklands for fur seal pelts. The astute Rotch had read in Captain Cook's Journals, then appearing in British printings, that the market at Canton, China, for fur was a most lucrative venture.
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The first Nantucket ship to embark on this joint whaling and seal ing voyage was the ship States, under Captain Benjamin Hussey, which returned to Nantucket in 1784 with a quantity of fur seal pelts from the Falklands. These pelts were sent to New York, taken aboard the ship Eleanora, Captain Metcalf, sailing to the Far East, and eventually reached Canton in another vessel from Calcutta. Thus, in this round about way, the first seal skins from the Falklands, taken by ar: American vessel, reached the Chinese market. This was the first of many such voyages by Nantucket vessels. In 1786, the Canton, Capt. James Shippey, delivered 4,000 fur pelts to William Rotch at Dunkirk, France, which Rotch sold to a French firm. Captain Latham Gardner, in the Swallow, returned in 1793 with 4,000 skins, and on his next voyage he had 16,000 skins as well as sea-elephant and whale oil. Captain Griffin Barney, in the Barclay, came back from the Falklands in 1799 with 21,000 fur seal pelts. On the West Falkland there are still names left by Nantucket men that mark locations there, such a s S t a t e s H a r b o r and C a n t o n H a r b o r , and New and Eagle Islands. Sealing gangs from other New England ports arrived before the advent of the 1800's, groups from New Bedford, Stonington, New London and Hudson, New York, the latter port another colony of Nantucket. The lives of these sealers was a hard, bit ter existence, often wet and cold, sailing in uncharted and remote areas. New York and New Haven merchants fitted out vessels with Nantucket officers, following a pattern borrowed from the whaling ex perience, when Nantucketers were the pioneers. The first discoverer of the Falklands was a famous English ship master, Captain John Davis, in the year 1592. Davis was a renowned navigator, who designed the back-staff and revolutionized taking sights. While the Falklands were sighted by a number of outstanding mariners, notably Sir Richard Hawkins, de Wert, and Roggewein, it was not until Commodore Byron, of England, came there in 1761 that the British established Port Egmont and later claimed the Islands. The two principal islands, which are about 40 miles square, and the smaller islands were called the Falklands by Captain Strong (or Strahan) many years before, and named the Falklands. The French sailors from St. Malo, who had sighted them early in the 1700's, named them the Malouines, while the Spanish explorers called them the Malvinas. Spain and England nearly went to war over them in 1771. In 1820 the Republic of Buenos Aires laid claim, but in 1831-33 the British took possession and hoisted their flag at Port Stanley in East Falkland. The principal industry by the English colonists is sheep raising. Although Captain Byron landed on West Falkland in 1765, and promptly claimed the islands for England and the French hoped to col onize them after losing Canada, basing a claim from Bougainville's survey, and Spain put in a claim in 1774, it was the English who actually established a colony. Always aware, from its maritime experience, of the strategic naval value of the Falklands, Great Britain has never lost sight of this value.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
The seal herds that thronged along the rocky shores of the Falklands soon brought English adventurers. The Diana, of London, under a Captain Barrett, arrived in 1786, soon followed by the Venus and the Sappho in 1787 and 1788, also from London. The Sydenham, of Bristol, England, arrived in 1791. But the American mariners were not idle and, led by such men as Captain Obed Paddack, of the Olive Branch, of Nantucket, and Captain Benjamin Pendleton, of Stonington, Conn., the Yankees dominated the seal hunters of the Falklands. The early years of the next century (1800-1812) saw many adven tures of the seal-hunters in these islands. A number of ships from New York joined in the enterprise, and among the men who made history here were Captain James Sheffield, of Stonington, Captain Pendleton, already noted, Captain Edmund Fanning, in the Betsey, of New York, along with the Swallow, Captain Gardner, of Nantucket, the Neptune, Captain Steele, of New Haven, and the Juno, Captain Paul Bunker, of Hudson, and Barclay, Capt. Barney of Bedford. During the War of 1812, a rather unusual incident took place in the Falklands, one which involved Nantucket men. The sealing brig Nanina, of Hudson, commanded by Capt. Charles H. Barnard, had been in the islands for several months when an English passenger ship, from Australia for England, was wrecked on East Falkland. The ship's pin nace had been dispatched for the nearest port, Buenos Aires, when Captain Barnard found the shipwrecked people and went to their aid. When the rescue vessel arrived from the mainland, the officers prom ptly confiscated Captain Barnard's brig and sailed away in her, marooning him and three men. It was over a year before Barnard and his companions were rescued. The fact that England and the United States were at war (the War of 1812) was given as the reason for the in cident. It was at West Point Harbor, in West Falkland, that Captain Christopher Burdick, in the schooner Huntress, of Nantucket, met the ship Huron, of New Haven, commanded by Capt. John Davis. The two vessels sailed in November, 1820, for the mysterious South Shetland Islands, 250 miles south of Cape Horn, searching for seal pelts in this far corner of the world. In February, 1821, both of the logbooks of these shipmasters reported land sighted to the southeast which they both declared to be "a continent." Thus, in the pages of forgotten sealers' journals, was written the first recognition of this last of the great con tinents of the world. The Falkland Islands was the first of the great sealing areas in the South Atlantic, and the experiences of the mariners who went there brought about realization of the strategic importance of these islands. It was a long time after that that the military significance was ap preciated. In World War I, on December 8,1914, British and German naval units engaged in a fierce fight off the southern waters of the Falklands. The German flagship, Scharnhorst, was sunk with her com mander Admiral Graf Von Spee going down with his ship, and the
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menace of the German fleet was over. Ironically, in World War II, the German battle cruiser named for the Admiral was bottled up by British cruisers in Montevideo, and there scuttled. Port Stanley, in East Falkland Island, is the headquarters for the administration of the "Falkland Islands Dependencies," through the British Antarctic Survey. Not only would the control of the Falklands be lost but Britain's Antarctic possessions would be threatened should the Argentine army prevail. Thus, with rumors of oil resources being uncovered in the area, the question of sovereignty over the Falklands involves far greater an area than political control. The continental shelf covers a great deal of underwater area, and the Antarctic Conti nent is as yet untapped for minerals. Today, as one reads in the newspaper accounts of the action in the Falklands, and listens to the commentators in television reports, the old names originally placed over the coast and islands here have a familiar ring, as the exploits of the first mariners who lived here in the seal-hunting days are recalled. The part Nantucket played in those adventuresome times is also a part of the larger history of maritime America.
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