Historic Nantucket, July 1982, Vol. 30 No. 1

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