by John C. Lathrop

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Frederick Parcell Hill, Architect

by John C. Lathrop

FREDERICK PARCELL HILL was known around Sconset, in his very mature years, during his 60's, 70's, and 80's, as a spare, graying, busy man, spry as a mouse, who moved with purpose, was interested in much and accomplished much. He was known as an architect and always signed his name with the identification or title "architect". He was known for a long period, as the architect on Nantucket, but he had always lived in Sconset; one who really knew Sconset, worked for it and loved it. He was respected; and, as an older and aloof person, few trespassed upon his time.

He was born in Rahway, New Jersey, on September 9th, 1862. His parents were Jennie Van Arsdale and William R. Hill. His early education was probably in Rahway and he entered Rutgers in nearby New Brunswick when he was seventeen. Rutgers granted him two degrees: Bachelor of Arts in 1883 and Master of Arts in 1886. He was able to spend a good deal of time in study in Europe, especially Italy, before 1896. He became a disciple of Charles F. McKim, head of the firm of McKim, Mead and White, and spent seventeen years working under this outstanding architect. In 1896, Fred Hill had become engaged to Miss Florence Merriam of the Middle Brick, Main Street, Nantucket. She was the granddaughter of Mrs. Matthew Starbuck who, with family members, spent summers in Sconset, Nantucket's summer resort.

Some of the theatrical people known to the Hills in Sconset resided in Evelyn T. Underbill's colony on Pochick, Evelyn and Lily Streets. Other acting families were found in all parts of the village: the Frank Gillmores on the south end of the North Bluff, the Fawcetts on Main Street, Harry Woodruff, and the Robert Hilliards on Morey Lane. Joseph Jefferson and his sons William anJ Frank, Vincent Serrano, Madge Kennedy, Lillian Russell and Bertha Galland lived in other parts of the Village.

Apparently, Fred Hill had shown unusual interest in vocal music from an early age. We know that he had been in the Rutgers College Glee Club and later led musical groups as a church choir director in New York, Nantucket and Bermuda. It is possible that some of his attraction for theatrical people came from mutual interest in vocal expression.

On December 1, 1909, New York's great Pennsylvania Station, covering four city blocks, was opened. The main Post Office, across 8th Avenue, was not far behind. Other buildings on which Mr. Hill worked

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET

were the Library of Columbia University at 116th Street, the Boston Public Library, the Capitol Building in Providence, The Bank of Bermuda and its support buildings in Hamilton, and at least one church and a number of private dwellings there. He also worked on the public park system of Washington, D.C.

Soon after his Boston work he was encouraged by Mr. McKim to open his own firm. Late in life, in his eighties, Fred Hill wrote a monograph on his friend and master, Mr. McKim. The little book stressed loyalty, dedication and methods used by architects of the highest reputation. Dr. "Will" Gardner wrote the introduction.

Mr. Hill was the "modernizing" architect c 1890 for a large two story house at the top of Pitman Hill on the south side of Main Street and the east corner of Morey Lane in Sconset. This house was built about 1870 for Mr. and Mrs. Lewis A. McCreary, the grandparents of Robert Potter who recently moved into Starbuck Cottage, just west of the Casino. This is, of course, the house Fred Hill lived in so long with his wife and daughter, Catherine, and which was later occupied by his daughter and his son-in-law, Reg Bragonier. Two grandchildren, "Bunny" and "Merry" were there when possible.

The house west across Chapel Street, the Moorings, was owned for a time by the Hills. It was rented by them to the Lewis S. McCrearys, the Robert Benchleys and to Mrs. Theodore Fletcher.

Considerable tragedy was visited upon the Hills when in 1918 their only son, Horace Hill, age fifteen, was unable to fight off what was probably blood poisoning from a blistered and infected heel. An active lady, now over eighty, remembers the young man as a most popular member of their teenage gang.

The war was on the minds of everyone and many of the older boys could not come to Sconset. It was early in the new season and the usual time to lay out the Casino courts. Mr. Hill taught the younger boys and girls the trick of finding a right angle so that the lines could be properly made. The method was called the 3-4-5 system. Using a five foot length of rope, 3 lengths are marked and the diagonal is made.

In the "'Sconset Notes" of The Inquirer and Mirror in August 1919, Mrs. Frederick P. Hill wrote of the membership in the Improvement Association, and as committee chairman of the "clean-up" program, described the work done. She was also on the committee on the Sconset Park in 1923, when the Nantucket Historical Association was placed in charge of the Sconset centerpiece.

Mrs. Frederick P. Hill - Florence Hill - loved the flora and fauna of

F R E D E R I CK P . H I L L 9

our "commons and heathlands" and was recognized as a skillful landscape gardener. Before and after this time she had planned and executed a number of flower and rock gardens in Sconset and elsewhere, including abroad. She may have been helped in the planning by two generations of experts, the Psaradelis and James Coffin, Victor Alio, and Frank Murray. No doubt she was able to help Mrs. Emory Buckner and Mrs. Roy Larsen.

The second great war, as the first, had many adverse situations for Sconset and the whole island. One of these was in the leadership of the Casino. Gen. Malvern-Hill Barnum had been president, beginning in 1930 for seven years. He was followed for three years by Robert Stark who was soon to be in charge of the local Coast Guard. Mr. Hill, now 78, stepped into the breach in 1940. He had lost his wife three years earlier. Some members of the Casino who were under fifteen and who now vote on Nantucket, thought Mr. Hill was somewhat harsh on noisy and flighty young people. He, among themselves, was even called mean. Some much older people also made no great allowance for adversity, age, and special circumstance. They used unkind words like grouchy, and fuss-budget.

Sconset, having been discovered by prominent families from the midwest, the middle states and the large cities, saw two families - one from Southern California, the Barrys, and one from Washington, D.C., the Brushes - become well known in Sconset and the whole island, both for themselves and for their attractive cottages on the North Bluff. These, and around 20 houses in Sconset, were built or considerably rebuilt under the intense guidance of Fred Hill, Architect.

Bob Ficks, of Newport and the Preservation Institute of Nantucket and the Univ. of Florida, pointed out, in a Photo Essay, August 1984, that "large entertaining and receiving areas made the Barry House ideal as a gathering place. One first sees a large receiving 'hall/foyer' which is flanked by generous living and dining room space. The living room has a commanding view of the ocean; the dining room is perfect for parties but not too big for a family." Some recent changes under the Shirleys are apparent. The old woodshed area with a sloping roof is now the western side of the living room and the former library, also on the west, behind the hall stairs, is now a master bedroom.

As in a more traditional Sconset house, the second floor shows a smaller scale. There are sloping ceilings and storage spaces. An architectural characteristic of all of Hill's work is interest in detail and, of course, he handled detail as a master. There is great harmony and consistency. Some of this is shown in his choice of hardware. Antique hardware existed in Auld Lang Syne, below the Pump, on the western side of Broadway, Sconset.

FREDERICK P. HILL 11

Fred Hill was able to find similar "h" hinges and straps for the Barry House. Closets had simple handles and latches while bedrooms had decorative handles for the latches. The front door has very ornate hardware. Part of the attic may have been used as a sleeping porch at one time. A framed sketch of the Club House of the Sankaty Head Course was found abandoned in the attic. Different door styles were used both in the Barry House and the Brush-Gates house. Windows and window shutters are both for interior and exterior purposes. These relate to the original Cod Fish Park shacks and to their modified and enlarged early houses on Front, Broadway, Center and Shell Streets.

Exteriors were often the one and one-half story cottage types as in Brush-Gates. This house has wings while the oldest houses had "warts". All had small windows, and the general "house massing" can be recognized almost anywhere on the four old streets mentioned. Roof pitching was low and dormers appear in many sizes and shapes. An "eyebrow" dormer breaks up the long low roof at Brush-Gates. Cedar siding on Auld Lang Syne or its near neighbor to the north, Shanunga, Pump Square and, possibly, a very few others correctly called the "oldest house group" had the single characteristics which still exist.

The largest building in Sconset is the Casino. It is the building associated since 1900 with the center of the Village. The building is large because it was conceived as the center for social, cultural and recreational purposes. Therefore, it had a large auditorium hall with a stage, porches, an office, and other supporting spaces. This "Hall of Amusement" or "pleasure dome" resembled a barn and its hall was not noted for acceptable acoustical properties. After twenty-five years of use, extensive repairs and sophisticated improvements were called for. New funds and support was offered by the David Grays of Detroit and Santa Barbara. Mr. Gray had made possible the Sankaty Head Golf Course and Club House and Mrs. Gray began a long and fruitful effort to help the Casino.

The directors accepted her offer to provide flying buttresses, improve the hall and build two new tennis courts. All was placed under the direction of Frederick P. Hill with James Holmes as contractor. Final costs were $32,500 which was about double the sum expected. The expensive and exciting lattice work specified by Mr. Hill may have been inspired by work he knew about at the Newport Casino.

Mr. Ficks, in his study of Mr. Hill, was able, with the help of Mr. Craig Waskow, Club manager, and the Club's historian, to find the 1921 Sankaty Head Golf Club floor plans prepared by Mr. Hill. The large club house was placed by the architect on the exposed south side of Mayflower Hill. In spite of later additions and extensions with, pro-

12 HISTORIC NANTUCKET

bably more to come, an environmentally harmonious, comfortable, functional building now exists. It faces east as do many buildings in Sconset for that is where the sea is.

Old ledgers, letters, specifications and feats of memory tell of the building of the course and club house, this most unusual gift of David Gray, Sr. Most of Sconset worked on the course in one way or another.There was employment for more than five years. Several Coffin families, Egans, and Folgers were among those who worked the land (mostly by horse and hand) and made all possible.

"Uncle Eddie" Coffin of Shell Street and Shell Lane (now King Street) was under contract to use his team for brush removal. He worked about daily and preferred one late trip.There came a day when he loaded his dray and drove his team east to the nearest bluff for the purpose of "dumping over". He moved the rig close, neglected to set the brake before he jumped off and after he threw the reins over the dash. The well-trained horses felt pressure on the reins, interpreted a call to back, and so slowly backed the rig with its considerable load, and themselves, over the bluff. By happy providence the horses were not hurt. The wagon was not seriously damaged, and, in good time, could be returned to the high and somewhat level ground. Eddie received help, told his story, accepted considerable chaff and with his humor and shrill and sharp rustic retorts, he lived down this happening.

Mr. Hill was fortunate in having available a competent contractor for the Club House for the new course. James A. Homes, 56, was thought to be a skilled mechanic, well able to tackle this large job. He was honest and conscientious, a civic leader and president of financial and fraternal institutions. Fred Hill had also drawn plans for changes in Milestone Cottage which Mr. Gray occupied with his family. The modernization so near Post Office square was being executed by Mr. Holmes.

Mr. Hill proved his love of detail by sending to Holmes and Company, precise drawings for the Golf Club's large kitchen with cooking stations, food storage areas, cleaning and serving areas, etc. Few have been greatly changed in over 60 years. Dressing tables were designed, equipment was assembled, furniture was acquired and even while the "golfing grounds" were being cleared, Fred Hill was searching for and marking suitable fieldstones. Glacial stone was considerable in the area. The best pieces were set aside, eventually moved to Mayflower Hill and are now seen in the fieldstone fireplace which dominates the north wall of the second floor rustic room. This main room, as most of the upper floor, is in the Sconset tradition with exposed wall framing. Changes and expansion to come might include removing white paint from the impressive fireplace.

FREDERICK P. HILL 13

There is little information available on James Holmes crew. We know that Jesse Eldridge, Sr., of Sconset, was a full-time member and that after his work of the day, he assumed his duties as the night time policeman in Sconset. John Santos' father was busy in Sconset, mostly at the Beach House. He was never on the Holmes payroll.

The extent of work done by Ernest Coffin and Albert Egan is not too clear. There is no doubt that Alfred E. Smith was important as the plumbing contractor. His initial estimate was for about fifteen hundred dollars. His first carting charge, a tank, twenty dollars, was from H. G. Worth ("the head of Steamboat Wharf, telephone 214-11, livery boarding, sale and feed stable - even hacks and party wagons").

Augustus C. Lake priced the wiring at $825.00 in 1921 and "extras" at $342.32 October 1st, 1922. George W. Rogers, Sr. was a dealer on supplies and Delco Systems. Arthur Williams was doing masonry as late as 1925 for a charge of $725.75. John C. Ring had charged $250.00 for his work on the Pump House, September 8,1921, and the Power Plant and extras $5,847.80 in July 1922.

Banks used were the Pacific and United States Trust Company of Boston. Rathbone of New York accomplished the early insurance.

Mr. Hill and his wife and daughter, Catherine, over the years, had spent a large part of each winter in Bermuda in Somerset Parish. In 1922 when James A. Holmes started building at Mayflower Hill on the new course, Mr. Hill, now age 60, was living in a fine small rented house called Point Shares, near Somerset Bridge on the north side of Ely's Harbour. They were well-known members of the SconsetMonomoy-Nantucket winter colony in Bermuda. A letter written on January 23rd, 1922, to Mr. Hill told of a frozen harbor in Nantucket. Mr. Holmes was answering several business letters and offering a get well message. Plans were being sent back and forth and work was proceeding well at Sankaty.

Florence Hill, also, kept busy in Bermuda. She had been responsible for many "show place" gardens in these islands. One especially fine one was done for their own home but, alas, it was completely destroyed by a tropical storm.

In the late twenties and thirties, Fred Hill built a house for Daphne Drake of New York on Emily Street, another in Polpis and one for her in Bermuda. The house in Sconset has been owned and used for some time by Mrs. Harding U. Greene. Her father had commissioned a fine house of Mr. Hill in Bermuda in the middle twenties. Milestone Cottage, the David Grays' on Main Street, was being renovated by Mr. Hill at the same time the Sankatv Club was building. Not many years later,

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in 1929, when thankful friends of Mr. Gray wished to build a memorial to him in Post Office Square, General Malvern-Hill Barnum was asked to be chairman of a planning committee. Mr. Barnum turned to Mr. Hill. Come summer, Fred Hill's conception had been completed by Albert Egan, Ernest Coffin and others. Hie bronze work in three colors was considered exceptional. The very large flag staff kept our flag flying over the village. Over the years, Kenneth Eldridge has tended the flag, itself a great service to all of us. John Santos was responsible for a replacement pole in May 1955.

Work on the Sconset Union Chapel, projects for Mrs. Roy Larsen, and a house on the Cliff in town were among the last professional concerns of Sconset's Architect, Fred Hill. He was also a consultant on Town scientific problems and for island utilities. Mrs. Helen Penrose Hecker, together with her friend Fred Hill, letter weathered signs for "quaint Sconset lanes and byways."

One late season cocktail party took place at the pleasant home of the Roberts a block north of Starbuck Cottage. Fred had walked up the grade on Main Street. Some had stayed late and the cocktail party had become a supper party. Isabel Irving, Mrs. Paul Turner, and other neighbors were present. Fred led much of the conversation for he was very animated, very original and certainly at his best. Isabel Irving appeared to be preoccupied but she was always keen and, at exactly the correct moments, she would cause Fred to pull up with her expression of an emphatic "no". Each could influence the other to new heights. Mrs. Turner was somewhat upset because of a most unusual red moon. Emory Buckner and his wife Sophia, had made a "show place" of their enlarged house on the south side of Main Street. The new ballroom allowed for perfect entertainment. Tony Sarg and his wife, very Irish because of her brilliant hair, were often among the guests from town.

A happy and nostalgic time came to Fred in his ninety-first year when, out of the blue, Sylvanus ("Silvy") Ward, an attorney in New York, arrived in Nantucket, looked up a good friend of twenty-five years, Howard C. Barber, ("Squire") at his residence on Pine Street. Together they were off to find Fred so that all could voice "We Meet Again Tonight, Boys". "We Meet" was (is) the rousing song which has introduced each concert since about 1890 of the New York City's University Glee Club. In 1894, Fred, a new member of the Glee Club, had used the greeting, "Let's Have a Song". "Silvy", in 1905, and "Squire" in 1922, became members. "Snap Shop" made the Nantucket reunion history for the Standard Times of New Bedford, 7/12/1953. Mr. Hill had been Choir Director of the Unitarian Church for a long period of time.

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About this time Fred became the oldest living graduate of Rutgers and was taken to several Alumni Days in New Brunswick by his son-inlaw, Reginald Bragonier. In 1952, March 12th, Allen W. Holdgate, Chairman of the Selectmen, had presented Mr. Hill with the Boston Post Cane, as Nantucket's oldest resident. He held this distinction for five years.

W. Ripley Neslon, as did Mr. Hill, came from northern New Jersey and knew the Hills before the twenties. They were charter members together of the new golf club in 1921 after David Gray and his one hundred friends formed the nucleus of the club. They worked together from time to time on civic matters, both in 'Sconset and Nantucket. When Fred was over ninety with failing eyes and general problems of old age, Ripley Nelson was a friend indeed.

Mr. Nelson took the time to see him daily, to supervise his eating and shopping and banking habits, and even to keep in touch with his daughter and son-in-law. As the old gentleman's ability to live alone declined, Mr. Nelson, after almost two years of attempting to cut "red tape," was able to get Mr. Hill into the Davis Park Veterans' Hospital in Providence. In a very short time, it was possible to have him transferred to a government facility in Martensberg, West Virginia. Its proximity to Alexandria made this location especially suitable to his daughter, Catherine Bragonier. It was there that Frederick P. Hill died. A funeral service was held by the United States Navy on Friday, May 31,1957, and he was properly interred as a Veteran of the Spanish American War in Arlington National Cemetery. The young boy who "borrowed" the raspberries remembers Memorial Days when a Junior grade Naval Lieutenant put on his uniform to salute military units which passed Starbuck Cottage on Main Street, Sconset. His salute was returned as any may now return it.

In some ways Frederick Parcell Hill was a modern Renaissance man. He stood high after over sixty years in his profession. He was very proud to be a permanent resident here and to participate in many local activities. He was on the executive committee of the Nantucket Civic League and Vice President of the Sconset Civic Association, and was active in the Sconset Community Club. He held membership in the Pacific Club, the Winter Club, (President), the Historical Association, (Life), the Advisory Board. Nantucket Schools received his help. He became a Past Commander of the Lieutenant Max Wagner Camp, United Spanish War Veterans of Nantucket.

Westward Passage

i Heading Out

With Brant Point lost and 'Sconset gone, The wide horizon everywhere Rides on the ocean's turning edge. We bend new sails and fit the boats, And in the watches sing of whales, The Friendly Islands, and the Line Beyond the fury of the Horn.

We do not look for landfalls now Or gam with others coming home. Instead we count the parallels, Intent upon the warm and lavish Seas, so different from our own.

II On the Line

Off-shore, from Talcahuano north, We pass the pleasant latitudes, Our lookouts eager on the mast. Cruise after cruise begins, subsides, Beyond the Encantadas on The Line, while Death, familiar now, Accosts us on the spars and in The fastened boats, his presence logged Forever in our consciousness.

One by one the landfalls fade. We sail, all canvas set, beyond The charts across indifferent seas.

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