Historic Nantucket
Centre Street — 1882
January 1983 Published Quarterly by Nantucket Historical Association Nantucket, Massachusetts
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS COUNCIL 1982 - 1983 Leroy H. True, President - Chief Executive Officer Albert F. Egan, Jr., Vice Pres.
Alcon Chadwick, Vice Pres.
Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans, Vice Pres.
George W. )ones, Vice Pres. Mrs. Bernard D. Grossman, Vice Pres.
Albert C. Brock, Vice Pres.
Walter Beinecke, Jr., Honorary Vice Pres.
Richard C. Austin, Secretary
John N. Welch, Treasurer H. Flint Ranney
Donald E. Terry
Harold W. Lindley
Mrs. James F. Chase
Robert G. Metters
Robert D. Congdon Mrs. H. Crowell Freeman
STAFF Renny A. Stackpole, Director of Museums Edouard A. Stackpole, "Historic Nantucket" Editor; Historian 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 Mrs. Richard A. Strong, Mrs. Lillian B. Merrithew, Mrs. Kathleen D. Barcus Whaling Museum Curator: *Renny A. Stackpole Rev. Frank J. Pattison, Manager; James A. Watts, Mrs. Robert E. Campbell, Alfred N. Orpin Mrs. Rose Stanshigh, Mrs. Edward Dougan 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 Macy-Christian House Curator: 'Mrs. John A. Baldwin Miss Dorothy Hiller, 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, |r. Mrs. William Witt Lightship "Nantucket" Curator: 'John Austin Michael Jones Hose Cart House Curator: 'Francis W. Pease Archeology Department Chairman: 'Rev. Edward Anderson Vice-Chairman: Mrs. John D.C. Little 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
January, 1983
No. 3
CONTENTS Nantucket Historical Association, Officers and Staff
2
Editorial: Portrait of Captain Laban Russell
5
The First Adventures of a Veteran Nantucket Whaling Master by Captain George W. Gardner
6
The Edouard A. Stackpole Collection
11
Portledge — Home of the Coffins in England by Captain J. E. Lacouture
12
Bequests/Address Changes
16
The Autobiography of William Mitchell
17
Sea Town in Winter by Louise S. Schaff
21
"First Visit" by Frederick Smith
23
Nantucket Limericks
25
The Catboat"Mincie"
27
My Recollections of Moses Joy by Louis S. Davidson
28
Historic Nantucket is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts, by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sent to Association Members. Extra copies $1.00 each. Membership dues are - Annual-Active $7.50; 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.
Portrait of Captain Laban Russell
Portrait of Captain Laban Russell Presented by Fred Gardner
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A FINE PORTRAIT of a successful Nantucket whaling masterCaptain Laban Russell-has been presented to the Nantucket Historical Association by Fred Gardner, of Nantucket and New Canaan, Conn. It is now on display at the Peter Foulger Museum. The artist is not recorded but it is the work of an experienced craftsman, and in all pro bability was painted in England, where Captain Russell commanded whaleships out of Milford Haven, Wales, and London, before returning to his homeland. Captain Laban Russell was born in Nantucket on October 10,1780, the son of Hezekiah and Hepsabeth (Allen) Russell. His parents joined the migration to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where the Nantucketers established a whaling port after the Revolutionary War. In 1792, most of this whaling colony removed by invitation to Milford Haven, Wales, where they again launched a whaling fleet. Young Russell worked his way from ship's boy to officer and at the age of 25 was given command of the ship Charles, of Milford. In 1802 he had returned to Nantucket to marry Mary Hayden. With the tides of fortune settling against Milford, he went to the port of London, and became the master of the whaleship Hydra, which sailed in February, 1817, for a 3-year voyage to the Pacific Ocean. At this time his wife, Mary Hayden Russell decided she would accompany her husband on the voyage, together with her 12-year-old son, William. This marked the first time a woman had gone on a whaling voyage with her husband. The voyage was a fine one, and Captain Russell was given command of a new ship, the Emily, of London, and when she sailed Mrs. Russell again was on board, this time with two of their sons, William and Charles. The story of these experiences is recounted in W h a l e s a n d D e s t i n y . Fred Gardner acquired the portrait over two decades ago, and has graciously donated it to Nantucket's whaling story. Upon viewing the painting even the most casual of visitors must be struck by the strong face of Captain Laban Russell. It reveals both confidence and determination-the very spirit of the young shipmasters who made Nantucket famous in two centuries of whaling throughout the watery world.
-Edouard A. Stackpole
The First Adventures of a Veteran Nantucket Whaling Master Captain George W. Gardner, one of the best known of the Nan tucket whaling masters in the early 19th century, was born in Nan tucket on September 13, 1809, and died on October 14, 1896, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Benjamin Russell, in Concord, Mass. The late Judge Gardner W. Russell was a direct descendant of this redoubtable Island shipmaster, and it is through the courtesy of Mrs. Gardner Russell that we are presenting the story of Captain Gardner, as told by the old whaleman in the closing years of his life.
ON THE 10th DAY of July, 1822, I then being 12 years and 10 months old, I commenced my whaling career by shipping aboard the new ship Maria of Nantucket, then building at Haddam, on the Connecticut River. This new whaleship was owned by Christopher Mitchell & Co., whose ship Globe had returned from a Pacific voyage (her third in suc cession) and was in need of repairs, and sailed for Haddam with the provisions needed for the new ship and her crew. And so, I joined the crew and sailed on the Globe for my new berth on the Maria. As the old Globe was light, and with no topmasts up, she looked like a ship in distress; in fact, we were hailed during the passage by one vessel which wanted to know if we needed assistance. When we arrived at Haddam the Maria was still in the stocks at the shipyard. The contractor and builder were ill, and the carpenters had stopped work for fear they would not be paid. But one of the owners be ing on the scene now assured their pay, and work resumed. The officers and crew of the ship assisted in carrying on board the new deck beams. We were then living on board the Globe, moored alongside the river bank, and, according to the custom of the time, received no pay. Final ly, after considerable delay, the new ship was launched and delivered to the owners. I believe the contract price was $9,600, and she was 362 tons burthen. The master, Captain George W. Gardner Sr., (my father) and the officers and part of the crew now took charge of the Maria. Her lower masts were stepped, and she was "hove down" and sheathed and her bottom coppered. Then her topmasts were sent up and she was com pletely rigged. Her ground tier (lower hold) was filled with casks of water from the river for ballast. We took our departure for Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, as it was too late in the season to go over Nantucket Bar. At Edgartown, we found everything necessary for our whaling voyage had been sent over in sloops or lighters from Nantucket, and we took everything on board. Our outfitting complete, the ship's company was now assembled, with Captain Gardner, the mate, second mate, three boatsteerers (harpooners), and the remainder of the crew sixteen men and a boy, in cluding six black men, making all told twenty-two men.
ADVENTURES OF A WHALING MASTER
7
On November 18, 1822, just four months and eight days from the time we had left Nantucket in the old ship Globe, we took our departure from Edgartown, passed through Vineyard Sound by Gay Head, and out into the broad Atlantic, bound for Cape Horn and the Pacific Ocean. And now I began to experience what a sailor's life was to be like. Taken from my mother's table, with all its luxuries, and fed on salt junk and hard tack, with domestic coffee made from burnt rye, sweetened with molasses, it made me fully aware of the changes. Be ing late in the season, the weather became very rough, and I was taken with that awful seasickness to the point where for two days I was cer tain I would die. Then the cook, a kindly old black man, came down into the steerage to see how I was. He brought a piece of salt pork about as big as a walnut with a string attached to it, and a cup of molasses. He told me to dip the pork into the molasses and swallow it, then pull it up, by the string, two or three times, and it would cure me of sea sickness. I did not try this remedy. But I gave up all hopes of living during the next two days, perfectly willing to die. Having no food for this time I began to feel better. There wasn't enough of me left to be sick. I only weighed ninety pounds when I left home, and four days' seasickness brought me down to a skeleton. But after this introduction I soon got to be a sailor. Our Captain was a tyrant in every sense of the word, and the first mate so ugly that he was disliked by the entire ship's company. The se cond mate was older than the chief mate, but bitterly ignorant. He could not write his own name, and could not manage to properly use a quadrant, but he was a good officer and seaman and always wide awake in his watch on deck. He could see the spout of a sperm whale farther off than any man in the ship. We had three boatsteerers who had been on one whaling voyage. They took their meals in the cabin with Captain and mate, and slept in that part of the ship called the steerage. They were fond of exercising what authority was allowed them on whaling ground. When under short sail, they had charge of a deck watch of six men-a boat's crew. They would frequently take their naps leaning over the cabin gangway, and wake up very sudden; then go forward to throw a bucket of water over a man or boy who had fallen asleep on the windlass, as a warning to keep awake during the watch. In the morning, after the watch was set, we boys would like to have a little fun in the steerage playing cards, but these petty officers dominated so that we could not enjoy ourselves. The M a r i a now kept her southern course, sailing through gales, squalls, and calms, the men employed in fitting our ship for whaling. Three men aloft at each masthead looked sharp for whales from sunrise to sunset, but we did not sight any. On December 28, 1822, thirty-eight days out of Edgartown, we crossed the equator, passing along very pleasantly through the southeast trade winds. On January 20, 1823, we spoke the ship H e l e n S e a r s , of Sag Har bor, and later spoke the brig Dragon, of New Bedford, both right whal ing on the Brazil Banks, our soundings then being 65 fathoms. We work-
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
ed along with variable weather and no unusual circumstances until the 4th day of February. We passed Cape Horn when 78 days from home and 40 days from the Equator. We had strong westerly gales but suc ceeded in getting far enough to the westward to pass the latitude of Cape Horn, and now sailed along the coast of Chili. We were then employed in putting up our light spars, which we had to take down in passing Cape Horn. On the tenth day of March we saw our first sperm whales in the latitude of 9°45' south. We lowered our boats but could not get near enough to harpoon any, they being very shy, and after chasing them six hours they went off to windward and out of sight. We continued on our course for the Sandwich Islands, thence to the Japan grounds. On March 19, 1823, we passed the equator in the longitude of 100° west, and on April 13 we sighted the Island of Hawaii, one of the Sand wich Islands, being then 146 days from home. We passed around the south of the island and ran out of the trade winds but got into the regular land winds and sea breezes and calms, to work our way along the southern shores. On April 16 we came to anchor in Karakakoa Bay, near the spot where the famous Captain Cook was killed. We an chored in 14 fathoms of water. We found the natives very friendly but with a propensity for thiev ing. One of them took the cook's axe while he was splitting wood and had laid it aside for a moment. The native jumped overboard with it, to come up alongside his canoe and paddled away. The natives brought in their canoes all the sweet potatoes, cabbages and bananas we needed. On April 21, we took up our anchor and stood out of the bay with the land breeze in the morning. We coasted along the other islands and came to anchor again at Honolulu on April 24, in ten fathoms of water, just outside the reef. We lay here rafting off water, getting 100 barrels, then took up our anchors and sailed around the southwest end of Oahu Island. We were in company with the whaleship Lady Adams, also from Nantucket. This was the last anyone saw of her, as she was sup posed to have burned while on the Japan Grounds. Proceeding to the northwest we got as far as 147 degrees east longitude, and on May 18,1823, when we were 191 days from home, we took our first sperm whale-a large one. Five days later we took another large sperm and had one boat slightly stove. On June 21st we took another, and two days afterwards we saw a school of sperm whales, got fast to several, but had our lines parted, harpoons drawn, and got only one small whale. However, we found a dead whale the next day. On July 3rd, we took six small whales from a school, and on the 4th we took a large whale. During the rest of the month and through August we took many whales, our good fortune continuing into September. We lost one whale while he lay alongside when a storm parted the fluke lines. On September 18, we killed our last whale for that season. In 123 days we took forty-two whales and stowed down 1,250 barrels of sperm oil, the
ADVENTURES OF A WHALING MASTER
9
average whale taken yielding 30 barrels. All this work was done bet ween 142° and 156° east longitude and 27° to 35° north latitude. Now the weather came on to bring rough seas and mark the end of the whaling season, and we turned to the eastward to sail for the Sand wich Islands, our passage marked with strong winds and high seas. On November 4th we saw the Island of Mowee in the Sandwich group. We had now been six months and seven days at sea without seeing any land. On the 8th of November we dropped anchor in back of the reef at Honolulu, and were later towed into the harbor by about twenty whaleboats from whaleships anchored in the harbor. After provisions and fresh water were placed on board, and the men had enjoyed their liberty ashore, we sailed from Oahu on December 5, 1823, intending to sail southeast for a cruise along the equator. With strong northeast trade winds, we reached the longitude of 160° west and latitude 2° north when we saw our first whales of this season and took three. On December 28 we sighted Farming's Island, where we spoke the whaleship Tarquin of Nantucket. We took three more whales on December 23, and on January 10th, 1824, we killed three more. We saw a small island in latitude 4°48' north and longitude 160° west. During January we took six more whales, and on the 16th saw the island again. On Feb 12th, we sighted another small island in latitude 5° 45' north and longitude 164° west. It was shaped like a horse-shoe with an entrance on the southwest. We lay off and on and sent boats ashore for cocoanuts and wood, and also caught some fish. After cruising "on the Line" for seventy-four days, we steered off for the north, the season for whaling having ended here. We had taken twelve whales, making a good 200 bbls. Proceeding to the north, sharp on the wind, we reached the Island of Hawaii on the 3rd of March, and again dropped anchor in Karakakoa Bay. While here, the wind came on strongly, with considerable swell, coming from the open sea into the bay. We payed out the chain on our kedge anchor and hove short on our chain cable, with the intention of warping further off from the shore. But we found our anchor hooked to a rock, and the swell of the sea was so high we was afraid of breaking our windlass, and we let out more chain and let go a second anchor. We sent down our topgallant yards and lay, pitching heavily in the seas, only 150 yards from a high cliff of coral rocks. At length the wind moderated, and we took in our anchors, and warped off into 23 fathoms. Now we began getting some fresh provi sions on board, repaired the rigging, sent up our topgallant yards, and did some painting. The governor and principal chiefs of the island came off to visit us before we sailed. We had to hoist the governor out of his canoe as he weighed 300 pounds, using a tackle from a yard. Two English ships came in and reported speaking to several Nan tucket whaleships in the vicinity, and among these "spoken" were the Swift, Capt. Fred Arthur; Lydia, Capt. Allen; Japan, Capt. Hussey; Rose, Capt Cottle; Foster, Capt. Chase; Washington, Capt. Swain. On
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
March 22,1824, we sent up our smaller spars, and hoisted our anchor, and sailed for the neighboring island of Oahu, where we arrived on March 28 at Honolulu. We procured provisions and water and prepared for another cruise "on Japan." Before we sailed we found that one of our crew, a black man named Johnson, had deserted. We offered $20 as a reward for his capture and he was soon after found. On April 2d we sailed and steered west by north, and reached the Japan grounds on May 1st. We saw our first whales of this season in latitude 31° north and longitude 176° east. We tackled them and got one large and one small one. On May 7 we sighted a school and took seven whales. Then we had a spell of rough weather and saw no more whales until May 26, when we captured a large whale that day and another on the next day. On June 11th we went into a school and took nine whales. During July and August our success continued, with some spells of bad weather, but on August 18th we took a large sperm whale which completed our voyage, our ship being "full," and we could go home. We had cruised as far as 148° east longitude, and had been 106 days from the Sandwich Islands; had seen whales 18 times and taken 35 of them, making 961 bbls. this season. We now had on board 2,411 bbls. of sperm oil, a splendid cargo. We now headed for the Sandwich Islands, arriving at Honolulu on October 12,1824. After taking on board provisions and water we sailed for home on Nov. 12th, with all hands except one man whom we were happy to be clear of. We reached and crossed the equator in the longitude of 176° west on Nov. 26. On December 10th we passed Maria Island in latitude 17° south and longitude 151° west. We passed between that island and Bolabola island (two of the northern Society Group). On December 19, 1824, we passed close to a low island about six miles long from nor thwest to southeast in lat. 21°45' south and longitude 155°15' west, which was not on our charts. Working our way with variable winds, toward Cape Horn, we final ly reached that promontory after 35 days from Honolulu, and met with strong gales and rough weather, to pass the Falkland Islands to the east. Sailing along the east coast of Brazil on March 5,1825, we spoke the ship Suffield, from London to Bengal, India, and nine days later passed the island of Trinidad. We reached the equator on March 24, forty-seven days from Cape Horn. After a short spell of variable winds and calms we took the northeast trade winds, and on April 27,1825, we arrived home. Our voyage had occupied 29 months, and the M a r i a brought back 2,400 bbls. of sperm oil. My share in the "lay" was $360.1 was now six teen years and seven months old, and I now weighed 128 pounds, and I was no longer a greenhorn but an experienced Nantucket whaleman. George W. Gardner
The Edouard A. Stackpole Collection
11
AT THE DECEMBER meeting of the Council of the Nantucket Historical Association, President Leroy H. True announced that a com plete collection of Nantucket material, plus a segment on American Maritime History, has been presented the Association by Edouard A. Stackpole, and is now stored at the Peter Foulger Museum. This extensive collection consists of files and boxes containing the following material: The History of Nantucket chronologically arrang ed; Streets and Lanes of the town; Steamboats, Schooners, Catboats and other craft; Life Saving; Wrecks and marine disasters; Lighthouses; Fishing and marine affairs; Artists and Writers of Nan tucket; Photographers and their work; Nantucket Merchants; The Migrations of Nantucketers, including the whalemen to Hudson, Dart mouth, Nova Scotia, Milford Haven, Wales, and Dunkirk, France; The Revolution and Nantucket; The War of 1812; The Development of "Summer Business." The Whaling Collection includes an alphabetical listing of Nan tucket whaleships, as well as another similar file on Nantucket whaling masters. Individual boxes contain whaling accounts from other ports — New Bedford, Poughkeepsie, New London, Stonington, Mystic, Mar tha's Vineyard, Bristol, and Fairhaven. Other boxes hold records of whaling adventures; South Sea Islands frequented by the Nantucket whalemen; Arctic whaling, with Hudson Bay, and Alaska included. Files are arranged to include whaling agents and whaleship owners, as well as businesses related to whaling — outfitters, riggers, coopers, sail makers, ropewalks, etc. "The Camels" is included. The section of Maritime History is contained in ten individual boxes, as well as two bookcases with 400 volumes, many now out of print. The collection includes framed prints, miscellaneous photographs, some carvings from Pitcairn Island, models from Vietnam and the Solomon Islands, a large edition of Ewer's map of Nantucket, and other Nantucket memorabilia. An entire room in the Peter Foulger Museum has been converted into a repository for the immense collection of Nantucket history. At the present time, the collection is being catalogued and arrang ed for future use by scholars. This process will be exceedingly lengthy, yet will insure the proper identification of manuscripts, news articles, photographs and personal letters. Association President, Leroy H. True, has been seeking avenues of financial help to plan and build a suitable addition to the Peter Foulger Museum. This new extension of the library and research space would be designated as the suitable headquarters for the Stackpole collection.
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Portledge-Home of the Coffins in England by Capt. J. E. Lacouture
LAST MAY, on our annual visit to Devon and Cornwall in England, my wife and I decided it was high time that we visit Portledge, legendary estate of the Coffin family. At the time we were staying in the Watch Tower of Compston Castle, a National Trust property, and home of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a founder of the British Empire and a half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. From Compston, in southeastern Devon, to Portledge, located in western Devon on the Atlantic, four miles southwest of Bideford in the town of Alwington on the Clovelly-Bideford road, it is little more than an hour's drive. Turning off the main road at the gatepost with the small Portledge sign, it is a half-mile drive through a lovely wooded area and down across a meadow with grazing sheep to the splendid old manor house of Portledge. The imposing front doorway, which used to lean into the old Great Hall, has remained virtually unchanged since it was first built about 1234. The Spanish armor in the doorway was brought back by an early Richard Coffin from the English campaigns in Holland against the Spanish in the 16th century. The main part of the present mansion is a splendid example of 17th century architecture in a magnificent setting, surrounded by beautiful parkland, about % mile from the sea. The old Great Hall has lost its Minstrel Gallery which was moved over 100 years ago to Alwington Church-a lovely old 15th century church, containing many monuments to the Coffin Family and in whose church yard many of the Coffins are buried. The old entrance courtyard was roofed in and made into a new Hall, complete with gallery, in the middle of the 18th century. The dining room is ornate with a beautifully plastered ceiling, large wall mirrors with gilded frames, a lovely carved fireplace, and magnificent silver candelabra on the sideboards. There is also a belfry and a Spanish Armada courtyard, which features timbers from Spanish galleons wrecked on the nearby coasts during the Armada. Throughout the mansion are many fine pieces of antique furniture, Coffin ancestral portraits, Spanish Armada guns, carved stone coats of arms, and beautifully carved panelling. For some time now Portledge has been converted into a charming and historic hotel by the Coffins. One reason for this was to raise money to pay the inheritance and estate taxes. This enables them to retain the property, which has been in the family continuously since the days of Henry II (1154-1189). Portledge, as a hotel, contains 30 bedrooms, most with bath, a luxury cocktail bar, a heated swimming pool, a good bathing beach, which may be reached by a picturesque walk through the woods. Tennis courts, a mini-golf course, and table tennis is available. There is an excellent dining room with dancing and music on many occasions.
The Coffin family church at Arlington
The approach to Portledge
The dining room at Portledge
PORTLEDGE — HOME OF THE COFFINS
15
Portledge is well located for many activities, with excellent salmon and trout fishing nearby, as well as boats for sea fishing. There are two good riding schools in the vicinity, as well as a fine Westward Ho golf course. Close by is Exmoor and Dartmoor for biking and pony rides, as is the quaint seaside village of Clovelly, with its steep, cobbled streets flanked with white-washed, flower covered cottages, leading from the top of a high hill to a tiny harbor. King Arthur's Tintagel; the magnificent National Trust estates at Lanhydrock, Killerton, Castle Drago and Buchland Abbey-to name a few- and the historic cities of Exeter, Dartmouth and Plymouth are well within short driving distances. At Portledge, Mrs. Coffin, when she learned we were from Nan tucket, graciously showed us around her superb hotel. This year seems a particularly critical time financially for the Coffins in their efforts to retain ownership of Portledge, because of the taxes imposed at the time of the death of Col. John Pine Coffin (the previous owner) when in heritance taxes in the amount of a million pounds ($2,000,000) was assessed. She still held to a faint hope that the American Coffins, learn ing of this financial problem, might attempt to raise some of the money required to save the ancestral home. In the meantime she acknowledged that they were placing many of the tenant houses on the auction block, to help raise the money. Insofar as history is concerned the Coffin family came originally to England from Normandy in France at the time William the Conquerer defeated the English at Hastings in 1066, to become King William I of England. It is known that the Coffins actually lived for years in a chateau near Falaise, where William grew up. It is reasonable to sup pose that the Coffins were well known to the Conquerer, and that Sir Richard Coffin took part in the Battle of Hastings. It is interesting to note that when the Domesday Book was published that the name Coffin appeared as holding land in Devon which was granted by King William. The name Sir Richard Coffin of Alwington appears as early as the reign of Henry II (1154-1189), and from then until 1766 there was nearly always a Richard Coffin of Portledge. A charter giving "Few Warren" over all the Manor of Alwington to Sir Richard Coffin by Henry III in 1254 is still in possession of the family. This makes Portledge Manor, which once included the parish of Alwington, one of the very few estates in England which has been held by the same family for seven or eight centuries. In the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) Richard Coffin of Portledge held high office in Devon. His younger brother, Sir William Coffin, became perhaps the most famous of the family, being appointed "Master of Horse" at the coronation of Anne Boleyn in 1534, and also a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. Afterwards he was one of the 18 assistants to Henry VIII at the tournament held between the knights of Henry and the French King at Guienne in France in 1519.
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
Another Richard Coffin of Portledge, in the mid-16th century, fought the Spaniards in Holland and was severely wounded. At that time he consorted with Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Philip Sydney, Sir Richard Genville, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert and many other famous men of that time. Portledge resounded often to the sounds of music and merriment in the great octagonal hall as Richard Coffin entertained his distinguished guests. The last male descendant, Richard Coffin of Portledge, died un married in December, 1766, at the age of 84. The estate ultimately was inherited by John Pine of East Down, a grandson of Dorothy Coffin and Edward Pine. By an act of Parliament in 1777, John Pine assumed the name and arms of Coffin. Although the Coffins have lived at Portledge for the past 700 to 800 years, no evidence has yet been found that Tristram Coffin descended from the Portledge Coffins. However, if some one would devote the time to a thorough research into the ancestry of Tristram, the connec tion in all probability would be established. As only the first born of the Portledge Coffins inherited the property, the other sons and daughters would settle elsewhere-many in the various towns of Devon. Tristram Coffin was born in the town of Brixton near Plymouth, about 50 miles from Portledge. To date it would appear, no one has ap parently traced Tristram's ancestry further back than his grandfather, Nicholas Coffin. His father, Peter, lived at the family estate in Brixton. Since Peter was the eldest son of Nicholas he inherited the estate; as did Tristram when his father died. It is to be hoped that the Coffins in America might consider helping the English Coffins save Portledge for the family. In any event, we recommend strongly Portledge as a delightful place to stay and a most convenient base for exploring the Devon and Cornwall countryside.
Bequests or gifts to the Nantucket Historical Association are tax deductible. They are greatly needed and appreciated.
PLEASE — Send us your change of address if you are planning to move. You will receive your copy sooner and we are charged extra for all copies returned because of an incorrect address.
The Autobiography of William Mitchell Written in His 77th Year
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As one of the outstanding citizens of Nantucket, William Mit chell was a teacher, business man and scientist, who was suc cessful in all three fields. As the father of the famous woman astronomer, Maria Mitchell, he was her first teacher, and, upon retirement, he spent his last years in her home. The manuscript was written in his 77th year, and is in the possession of the Maria Mitchell Association. This organization has given permission for its use in the issues of Historic Nantucket. It is the form of a reminiscence addressed to his daughter, Phebe Mitchell.
My dear Phebe, In compliance with thy suggestion & my promise, I now begin the story of my life, intending also to give thee, as well as I am able, an ac count of thy mother to whom, under Providence, I am indebted for the prolongation of that life & most of its enjoyments. I do not propose to speak of my virtues or my vices. Of the former it would not become me to speak; for the latter I hope to be forgiven. Nor do I mean to speak of my capabilities or my want of capacity. Whatever of these may have been the estimate of other men, they were the meted gifts of a good Providence. I mean only to speak of the events and experience that have marked a long life. But, when I speak of thy mother I shall not fail to speak of her virtues and capabilities, not only because they were both remarkable, but because myself & my offspring have been the favoured recipients of these qualities, the one by example and precept, the others by the same & by inheritance also. I was born at Nantucket on the 20th of the 12th mo. 1791 & on the spot where the Methodist Church now stands. The house was a quaint old building, modernized in 1805, & taken down in 1822. My parents, Peleg & Lydia Mitchell, were both natives of the island, & my mother sprang, on her mother's side, from one of the earliest settlers of the place. They were exemplary members of the society of Friends, my father being many years an Elder in the church. They educated their children in the same faith, & most of them retained the peculiarities of the sect in mature life. The easy circumstances of my father enabled him to give to his children the best education that the period & the place afforded, neither of them having been sent abroad; and three of them became teachers. The earliest event of my life of which I have recollection, is the recovery from a fit of sickness which was then called "The throat distemper" and which I have supposed might have been the "Putrid sore throat". When I grew strong enough again to walk about the room, my father promised that he would have a little cart made for my amusement. The carpenter employed in this interesting matter was
18
HISTORIC NANTUCKET
Edward Allen, the great-grandfather of the present Elizabeth Hutchin son of Lynn. Well do I remember the joy I felt when the wife of the carpenter appeared at the door and took from under her long coating cloak the promised vehicle. The tape string being attached by my sister, my father covered the floor of the carriage with silver dollars, the currency of the day. I do not intend to give thee the events of my life thus minutely, but mention this because it is the first thing remembered. On the first day of the year 1795, being then 11 days over three years of age, I was first put into a school taught by Dinah Spooner, a terror to evil doers & far from being an angel to those who did well. I can to this day well remember how my knees trembled when first called to her to recite the alphabet, following the positively electrified end of her knit ting needle. I do not recollect when I graduated from this seminary, nor exactly at what period I entered a school taught by Edward Freeman, a savage with no redeeming trait of character. Nearly seventy years after, one of my schoolmates could scarcely refrain from tears at the recital of some of his own sufferings at the hands of this cruel man. My next teacher was Nathan Comstock, late of New York City, of whom I can speak in more favourable terms. No one of these teachers, however, inspired me with a love of any branch of learning, but a distaste for all books, and yet my father's description of natural phenomena often filled me with enthusiasm, & I never have forgotten his calling me to the door in my eighth year & showing me the planet Saturn. My age at this period I many years afterward calculated from the position of the planet. But the claim, if I have any, to learning rests on my own exertion late in my teens. I had a strong desire to enter Harvard College, and my father en couraging it, I agreed with Timothy Coffin to prepare me; but cir cumstances arose which inclined me otherwise, and however impor tant a liberal or collegiate education might have been to me, (and no one can estimate it more highly) I have always justified the course which I took. When fifteen years old I prevailed on my father to let me learn a cooper's trade, a very injudicious movement as he then supposed it might prove to be, and although contrary to his expectation, I acquired the art and for a short time pursued it as a business; but I never possessed the strength necessary for so severe an employment. I then became an assistant teacher, and after a few months Prin cipal of the same school at the age of 18. This undertaking was very suc cessful & I pursued it with so much zeal that my health was injured & I reluctantly gave it up for a more active employment, & afterwards assisted my father in the oil & soap business in connection with cooper ing, till the war with England in 1812 put an end to the arrangement; but after the peace of 1815 it was resumed and continued till the Autumn of 1822. As within the period of my life which I have attempted to describe
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM MITCHELL
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there was an event of much more importance than any to which I have alluded, I deem it proper to give a separate account of it. (The following was inserted in the autobiography by his daughter Phebe: During the War of 1812, Nantucket was almost like a besieged town. The coasting vessels which brought supplies to the inhabitants were taken by privateers - so that commerce was virtually stopped. Prices of provisions rose consequently to an alarming extent-and every effort was made towards getting a livelihood out of the land and sea. People ploughed up the commons outside of the town, and planted corn and potatoes. My father has frequently pointed out to me the spots on the open common where the ground was still rough with the scars left by the hills of corn. Of course, when the war ended, business return ed to its old channels. Some of the merchants who had made money out of the necessities of the people and had laid in large stocks of flour and other things not produced on the island, met with financial ruin when the news of peace suddenly brought prices down. My grandfather lost heavily in the war but he was always in com fortable circumstances and I believe left some property at his death. P.M.K.) I think it was in the Spring of 1804, being then about 13 years of age, that my father sent me to Captain Andrew Coleman's for some pum pkin seeds which the latter had brought from Brazil or Patagonia. When I entered the house, the family were just taking their seats at the supper table. The Captain, his wife, & two daughters. One of the young ladies particularly attracted my attention. I received the pumpkin seeds from the father, while the daughter unconsciously planted in my youthful bosom the seeds of affection, and from that moment I never ceased to love and honour her. Although this family belonged to and at tended the same religious meeting that I belonged to, it being large, I do not remember that I had ever known them before. From this time no opportunity was neglected to cultivate the ac quaintance of the daughter that had so impressed me, and six years afterwards we were engaged to be husband & wife at such future period as should find us of proper age & condition; and I can never forget the characteristic stipulation of thy mother that our parents should be con senting to the arrangement, more than two years before the consum mation of the union. We were married on the tenth day of the twelfth month 1812 & lived together 48 yr., 06 mo. 27 days & blessed far beyond the ordinary lot. Much of the health & vigour which I now enjoy-and all that my children & grandchildren now are, physically & morally, under a good Providence, are attributable to that talented & excellent woman. Never in the whole course of our matrimonial experience did I witness a single word or deed of dissimulation, and such was her reverence for truth, that I always believed that she would never have told a falsehood to a child to save its life. Never were the duties of wife and mother more faithfully & conscientiously performed.
20
HISTORIC NANTUCKET
She was a person of rare understanding, as well as inflexible, uprightness, and it was these qualities beaming in her expression that sank so deep in my youthful heart on the occasion of my errand to her father's house. She was an intense reader in her youth. For the use of the books in two circulating libraries she served each as librarian until she had read every volume. The substance of her reading through the day was related to her associates in the evening, myself being frequently of the number. The cares of her family took the place of her books in later years; but after her children reached maturity, her reading was resumed. Dickens was her favorite author in his department of literature, and nothing written by him escaped her. I have never had a doubt that her last sickness originated in an attempt to read by late twilight. She was feeble for several years, after a life of uncommon ex emption from sickness, & until her youngest child had reached maturi ty; and although her mind had been wandering for three months, there was reason to believe that a few hours before her death there was a season of quiet serenity. A marble block in the form of a scroll marks her resting place in a small enclosure in the Unitarian burial ground at Nantucket, and the inscription upon it was designed to be precisely what her own taste would have dictated, free from all display viz. "Lydia C. Mitchell, wife of Wm. Mitchell".
As she was only known to thee as early as middle life, I may be per mitted to speak of her person in youth. Her form was perfect in its pro portions, rather tall and slender, & early, as in later life, she was very upright. Her step was always short & her motions quick. Her face was not what would be called handsome. Her features were well formed; but her skin was slightly freckled. Her eyes were her commanding feature. It was in these that the great qualities of her mind & heart could be so easily read. Her dress was always according to the manner of Friends, having been some years an Overseer in the society & Clerk of its meeting. White dresses were evidently her prevailing taste while young, and in these she often appeared as elegant in person as beautiful in form. When we were married the country had been six months in war with England & my father's property was chiefly invested in the whal ing business, & the ships were liable to be intercepted by British cruisers which infested the coast, & he lost all except a small sum which he had insured after the war began, at the rate of 50 per cent premium. My parents nevertheless advised us to marry and spend the Winter with them. My father owned a small farm about a quarter of a mile South of Siasconset, and here in the Spring of 1813, we commenced housekeeping-poor but happy. I cultivated the little farm & lived very poor indeed. I went fishing from the village and worked between tides, "the world forgetting & by the world unknown", and raised corn and potatoes on land which by the gradual encroachment of the sea, no longer exists. In the Fall, we moved into town and kept house in the chambers of my aunt Phebe Starbuck in Liberty Street, & here on the
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF WILLIAM MITCHELL
21
30th of the 1st month 1814 our first child Andrew was born, with a pro spect gloomy enough. In the early part of the Winter I assisted brother Reuben Macy in a school which he was then teaching. My wages were two dollars per week. Andrew was scarcely a week old when a whaleship arrived with a full cargo of oil belonging to Captain Peter Chase, who employed us to manufacture it in our Factory. I have always considered this the most fortunate business event of my life. It gave me a comfortable living through the war. For the succeeding 7 years I was in partnership with my father in the oil business, & separately carried on a cooperage. In the course of this period we pur chased a part of two whaling ships, but this undertaking did not prove successful; what one earned was lost by the other. In 1822 my father having a favourable opportunity to sell his homestead which embraced the factory & its land, gave a new turn to my plans of life. I resolved to become a teacher. I was fond of the society of the young, & imagined that I had some tact for teaching. I thought too that I might improve myself by it. I set up a private school & was successful, and after five years, the town established public Grammar Schools; & apprehending that private schools might be much impaired by it, I accepted the teachership of one of them, and, at the suggestion of the School com mittee, visited the best schools in the country. This excursion was of great service to me, not only on account of the suggestions in teaching; but it gave me some new and valuable acquaintances such as John Griscom, I.C. Walker, Gould Brown and others, all of whom have pass ed away. (To Be Continued)
Sea Town in Winter The sea is dark and sullen and grey, Restlessly lapping on harbor wall, Old houses gleam in the cold salt spray, Cobble stones echo to each footfall. The fishing boats ride safe at their wharves, Their frozen nets on the masts to dry, Like silver wire, caught with silver scales, And high above comes the sea-gulls cry. L.L.S.
"FIRST VISIT"
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by Frederick Smith IN JULY OF 1933 Herbert Hoover's last military budget took effect, and many junior officers were transferred to inactive duty status, even though the "scoop" we were getting from the China Station about Japanese plans was disturbing. I left Marine Squadron VF-9M and went home to Gloucester, Massachusetts, where I found work flying for the Consolidated Lobster Company, whose collection and distribution plant was situated in a rock-bound cove at Bay View on the Northwest shore of Cape Ann. The company bought a 330 horsepower Loening Amphibian on my recom mendation, — an airplane that was no beauty, but was sturdy, and seaand-airworthy — which was used to manage a fleet of 75-foot trawlertype boats operating in the Gulf of Maine, the Bay of Fundy, and off shore Nova Scotian waters. Their hulls had "wet bottoms," i.e., their cargo-holds were open to the sea by means of holes bored through their bilges to keep their live-lobster cargoes fresh, following purchase and stowage from local fishermen. My pay was forty dollars per week, plus away-from-base expenses, and the job was great fun. I loved flying, sailing, swimming; - anything that had to do with ocean and, — best of all — I could remain solvent if careful. One morning in August, Raymond O'Connell, my boss, asked if I'd ever been to Nantucket. I said "No," but that I'd flown over it many times on military flights. "Fine," he said, "because I want you to take Clarence Birdseye down there tomorrow." Next morning we were off, leaving from Pavilion Beach in front of my father's inn, "the Gloucester Tavern," and were over Nantucket Harbor around noon on a beautiful day. We were to have lunch with Bassett Jones and his family, so we found Pocomo on the harbor chart, circled it twice (the Jones were waving to us from their yard) made a landing approach over Polpis, and touched-down off the west shore into a gentle northwest wind. (During subsequent years as a resident and sailboatman on the island I never see the big rock on Pocomo's west shore without remembering that first visit.) Lunch and the company was delightful; afterward the family loan ed me a car, and I explored Nantucket and loved it; — about twentyfive years and a million miles later I became a permanent resident. Clarence Birdseye was great company, — a friendly, competent man with broad interests, and as we taxied off the Pocomo shingle and became water-borne prior to take-off, he told me that Bassett Jones had been of great personal and professional assistance in the early development of the Birdseye Process.
"THE FIRST VISIT"
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On the flight back to Cape Ann — at about five hundred feet off the water — he'd been constantly looking out of the starboard window, and, when offshore about two miles east of Wellfleet, he excitedly asked me to circle, so that he could see some whales having a ruckus in the ocean. I did so, and asked what was going on. "They're making love, I think," was his reply.
Nantucket Limericks There was once a man in Nantucket Who kept all his cash in a bucket; But his daughter, named Nan, Ran away with a man, And as for the bucket, Nantucket. Pa followed the pair to Pawtucket, The man and the girl with the bucket; And he said to the man He was welcome to Nan, But as for the bucket, Pawtucket. It was jolly old Sachem Wanackmamack Who built him a boat out of hackmetack; Then he set up his sail To the gentle June gale, And, says he: "If it's too rough I'll back me tack."
The catboat "Mincie'
The Catboat "Mincie" Now a Museum Attraction
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TIME PASSES MORE quickly than we may wish to believe. A quarter century ago, Paul Morris, the artist-author, had a small fleet of catboats moored in the slip between Old South and Straight wharves, which, during the season, were rented to Island visitors who enjoyed the opportunity to indulge in a forgotten experience - sailing a genuine catboat in Nantucket harbor. Circumstances, however, forced the enterprise to be curtailed and then discontinued, but there is one member of that interesting little fleet which will continue to remind visitors to the island of one of its most satisfying activities - sailing a catboat. The little catboat "Mincie" (the nearest of the fleet in the photograph) is now on display at the Peter Foulger Museum, where she is being restored. Despite the fact that she is in an unusual setting she continues to attract the atten tion of visitors from all parts of the country. The M i n c i e was built in 1934-35 by Luen Johnson in Mattapoisett. Paul Morris, who presented the little boat to the Association, writes: "He built one catboat a winter in his shed. Dr. George Norton, who was a summer resident having a house at Madaket, asked Johnson if he had a boat to sell. Johnson said 'no,' that he had just sold a boat to Ralph Dunn and suggested that he might sell it. The Nortons asked Dunn to sell them the M i n c i e and he did in 1936, on July 30th. I bought the M i n c i e from Rev. Norton on Aug. 15,1960. "She was the third catboat that I bought for my little fleet, but the first one to have a cuddy. She was far and away my best money maker. We used to make two 4-hour trips a day with her, either up harbor or out into the sound, making sure we had a favorable tide on the return trip. Before Paul's Boat Livery wound up as a thing of the past, I owned 8 catboats. The Reggie Cricket had a cuddy and was skippered by Bill Grieder. We used to run the Mincie and the Cricket over to Coatue for beach party cook-outs."
Note: A "cuddy" is a small cabin or the cook's galley, in this case the cabin. -Ed.
My Recollections of Moses Joy by Louis S. Davidson I FIRST MET Moses Joy around the year 1921 or 22, he was aged about 70. We were both members of the Camera Club of New York — I a new one and he a lifetime member of long standing. Our first point of con tact was the time I mentioned that I was going to Nantucket for the summer. He showed great interest in my trip and told me at that time that he was a native of the island. He then said that the following month there was to be a meeting of the Historical Society and if he were not present, it would be useless for them to hold their meeting because he was to make the address of the year. Then, confiding that he was somewhat financially embarrassed at that time, he was wondering whether I could get him to Nantucket. I said, "How much would it cost?" and he thought a moment and said, "If you could let me have $25.001 could spend the summer in Nan tucket." Being a bit skeptical, I told him that I could help him pro viding I knew how he could do such a piece of magic. Out of his pocket came the inevitable piece of paper, and he explained it would cost him $12.00 round trip on the New Bedford line which would leave him $13.00. While stopping over in New Bedford, he would buy some scrimshaw from a friend of his which he would sell to the trippers when he got to Nantucket. Mrs. Codd of Orange Street would permit him to live in the garret as long as he wished and Mr. Ring the vegetable man on Main Street would give him his day-old vegetables. In that case, he would on ly have to buy a bottle of milk a day which would not be a very great ex pense. When I finally got to Nantucket, Moses greeted me warmly and said that he was going to do me a great favor. He was going to show me the island. On our first trip out, we got into one of the surreys, Moses in the front seat. Because of his great bulk, it threatened to tip over. He would then direct the driver to some specific house. He would not per mit us to get out until he himself had gone to the front door and an nounced himself. He never used a door bell or knocker but took his fist and banged on the door until the house shook. When some frightened female would finally come to the door, he would announce sternly, "I am Moses Joy. I brought water into Nantucket. I played in this house as a child and I want to show it to my friends." With no further ado, he would sweep into the house and start showing us around. It could be easily seen that he knew the house well. When tenants were in the house, they would follow us about very suspiciously wondering what was about. However, when the owners were there and heard the recollection of the place, they would be so interested in the stories, they would generally ask us to tea. In this way we saw the better part of the old Nantucket houses.
Moses Joy
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HISTORIC NANTUCKET
When it came to showing us the moors, Moses directed us and our car directly over the moors, scorning all roads and ruts, but getting us in safety to wherever he was going to take us. He knew those moors perfectly! Moses was invariably interested in recouping his fallen fortune. He had more schemes than anybody I ever knew, none of which unfor tunately worked out; never because he did not try. One day he came up to me at the Club and said, "Louis, we are rich." I said, "What now?" Moses said, "Every night of the year ten million American men have to get up out of their beds and go to the toilet or the thundermug at great inconvenience to themselves and threats of pneumonia. This can now be prevented by my invention of a non-spillable urinal." All he needed was $75.00 to make a working model of it. In this scheme I did not aid. His next scheme was that he could get the rights to a patent on a plastic made in Europe which was superior to anything we had in this country. All he needed for this was $600.00 and he asked if we could raise it. We got a syndicate and raised the $600.00. He hoped to sail on the Leviathan as second class. Several people who I did not know well went into the venture, and on the day of sailing one came up to us with great indignation and said, "Moses did not sail. I think he pocketed the money." Knowing Moses, I had no fear of such a thing happening, but I was wondering why his name was not on the passenger list. We later found out that instead of going second class, he had gone steerage and had taken the money so saved to buy himself a new suit of clothes, a very smart thing to do but which we had not required. On his return he showed us samples of the plastic which at that time was something unknown in this country. It was as clear and col orless as window glass. However, I noticed certain stress checks and realized that work would have to be done on the substance. However, when he stated that our rights to the patent could be had for $350,000.00 plus a half interest in a million-dollar factory giving half our capital in terest to the patentees in Europe, we dropped the matter. Later on, Duponte took it over and perfected the material. He also brought some rough diamonds back in a Dukes mixture tobacco bag on which we realized a decent profit. One other business venture he tried to get us into was the purchase of a tin mine in Kentucky. To prove to us that this was no fly-by-night venture, he brought a mining engineer along to lunch. I met the mining engineer the next day who told us everything Moses said was true, but had we any mining experience. He also asked if we had 5 million dollars to fight law suits, because purchase of a good mine always en tailed the purchase of a good law suit. Parenthetically, the engineer stated that it would take at least two million dollars extra for a process ing plant. Needless to say, we let this opportunity pass. Moses always regretted that he had not gone to sea as his forefathers had. He was hoping that on this Leviathan trip the ship's rudder might break down so that he could show them how to steer it by
MY RECOLLECTIONS OF MOSES JOY
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means of hawsers. Fortunately, this chance of demonstrating his seamanship was denied him. As long as I knew him, Moses was always a very stubborn in dividualist. Our club was situated on Broadway and 68th Street, and in those days the trolley cars went up the middle of the avenue. On a rainy night around 5 o'clock, we would hear a horrible screeching of auto-" mobile brakes, and each of us would turn to the other and we would say, "Here comes Moses." For he would get out of the streetcar and head for the curb, looking neither to the left nor the right, neither slow ing nor hurrying his pace. As a result, cars coming along would have to hurriedly put on their brakes giving us a warning of his five o'clock ap proach. We were given to understand that his death was caused by an accident something like that. While getting off a 3rd Avenue trolley car, he was caught between a car and an elevated railroad post. On occasions we would take him out to dinner and he always liked to go to a place known as "The Lobster" where he would order lobster with blueberry muffins. The lobster he always enjoyed, but the blueberry muffins inevitably aroused him to fury. "They call these blueberry muffins!" he would say, "I would like to show the cook how." After a good meal, he would go home feeling better. He would never permit us to see his lodgings, but inferred that his rent was $6.00 a week and about the only thing he bought was a bottle of milk a day and possibly some bread. Nevertheless, he was always ponderous and ruddy of complexion. In Nantucket he always liked to be taken for an old whaling cap tain, and although he was not a member of the Pacific Club, he would sit there telling stories to a select few and beaming with delight when he heard someone outside saying, "There's one of the old whaling cap tains." One other characteristic that always stood out was his making small gifts such as a whale's tooth, a piece of scrimshaw, etc., but never without a lengthy explanation of what a wonderful thing this was and how lucky I was to get it. One other matter I should bring forth and that is when he was spinning a yarn, should somebody show inatten tion, he would stop his story until this person either left or apologized and would not go on with the tale. As a rule his stories were so in teresting there was no good reason for interruption. He was a unique character, a crusty but delightful man and one I was very happy to know.
