Historic Nantucket
Golf on Nantucket Island, c. 1925. From the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.
July 1989 Published Quarterly by Nantucket Historical Association
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President: H. Flint Ranney Vice President: Mr. Robert F. Mooney
Vice President: Mrs. Carl M. Mueller
Secretary: Mrs. Walker Groetzinger
Treasurer: Mr. Max N. Berry
Honorary Chairman: Robert Congdon Honorary Vice Presidents
Walter Beinecke, Jr. Mrs. Bernard Grossman
Albert F. Egan, Jr.
George W. Jones
Leroy H. True
Alcon Chadwick Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans
Presidents Emeritus
COUNCIL MEMBERS Erwin L. Greenberg Mrs. Hamilton Heard, Jr. Mrs. Arthur Jacobsen Reginald E. Levine Mrs. Earle MacAusland Mrs. William B. Macomber
Mrs. C. Marshall Beale Mrs. Dwight Beman Mrs. Richard L. Brecker Charles C. Butt Kimberly Corkran-Miller John W. Eckman Mrs. H. Crowell Freeman
ADVISORY BOARD Mrs. Robert Hellman Mrs. John Husted Andrew J. Leddy Mrs. Thomas Loring William B. Macomber Paul H. Madden
Mrs. Robert Bailey Mrs. Charles Balas Mrs. Donna Beasley Patricia A. Butler Mrs. James F. Chase Mrs. Herbert Gutterson William A. Hance
Edouard A. Stackpole
Nancy A. Martin Joseph McLaughlin Philip C. Murray David M. Ogden Mrs. Judith Powers Susan K. Spring • Richard S. Sylvia
Mrs. William Pullman F. Blair Reeves Susan Tate Donald E. Terry Mrs. Mark White John S. Winter Mrs. Joseph C. Woodle
STAFF John N. Welch, Administrator Elizabeth A. Codding
Louise R. Hussey
Asst. Curator of Collections
Librarian
Asst. Plant Mgr.
Bruce A. Courson
Lorraine Kenward
Trisha Murphy
Curator of Museums & Interpretation
Asst. Shop Manager
Bookkeeper
Wynn Lee
Edouard A. Stackpole
Thomas W. Dickson
Director of Development & Public Affairs
Merchandise Manager
Richard E. Morcom
Historian
Jo Sullivan
Mark W. Fortenberry
Elizabeth Little
Development Assistant
Plant Manager
Curator of Prehistoric Artifacts
Richard P. Swain Miller
Jacqueline Kolle Haring
Peter S. MacGlashan
Curator of Research Materials
Registrar/Audio-Visual Librarian
Leroy H. True
Victoria Taylor Hawkins
Gayl Michael
Manager, Whaling Museum
Curator of Collections
Asst. Curator of Research Materials
Elizabeth Tyrer Executive Secretary
Docents: Robert Allen, Alcon Chadwick, Margaret Crowell, Jane Jones, Elsie Niles, Alfred Orpin, Frederick Richmond, Gerald Ryder, Leigh Simpson, Dorothy Strong, Margaret Trapnell, Mary Witt
*** Historic Nantucket *** Editorial Board: Mrs. Dwight Beman, Mrs. James F. Chase, Robert F. Mooney, H. Flint Ranney,
Mrs. Jane D. Woodruff, Mrs. Bracebridge H. Young
Historic Nantucket
Published quarterly and devoted to the preservation of Nantucket's antiquity, its famed heritage, and its illustrious past as a whaling port.
Vol. 37
July 1989
No. 3
CONTENTS Camp Sankaty Head by John C. Lathrop How To Trace Your Genealogy by Helen Winslow Chase
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The First Gubernational Visit to Nantucket by Edouard A. Stackpole
25
Summer of '41 by Edgar A. Anderson
32
A Basic Nantucket Reading List by Helen Winslow Chase
35
Historic Nantucket (USPS 246-460) is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts by the Nantucket Historical Association, 2 Union Street, P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554, to which address changes should be sent. Historic Nantucket is sent to Association members and extra copies may be purchased for $3.00 each. © N.H.A. 1988 (ISSN 0439-2248). Member dues are: Individual $25, Family $40, Supporting $50, Contributing $100, Sponsor $250, Patron $500, Life Benefactor $2,500. Second-class postage paid at Nantucket, Massachusetts. Communications pertaining to the publication should be addressed to the Editorial Board, Historic Nantucket, Nantucket Historical Association, P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554.
CONTRIBUTORS EDGAR A. ANDERSON, a year-round resident of Nantucket, has served as both board member and business manager of Theatre Workshop. HELEN WINSLOW CHASE, a professional historian and native Nantucketer, is a former member of the Nantucket Historical Association's Council and now serves on the Advisory Board. She taught history in the high schools of Nantucket and Elgin, Illinois. JOHN C. LATHROP, also a retired teacher, is Siasconset's unofficial historian and an occasional contributor to Historic Nantucket. EDOUARD A. STACKPOLE, Historian of the Nantucket Historical Association, is the author of numerous books and articles on whaling and all aspects of the island's heritage.
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Camp Sankaty Head by John C. Lathrop The Caddy Camp, Camp Sankaty Head, is a unique and special feature of the Sankaty Head Golf and Beach Club, Inc. The Club's property, all 275 acres of it, was donated by Mr. David Gray of Detroit and Santa Barbara in 1921. By the fall of 1922, a group of seven trustees had been organized, 100 charter members had paid in $47,000, and most important, they were playing golf. Dues for the new club were $60.00 per year. By 1924, at a total cost to date of $96,000, two well-known golf architects had created eighteen imaginative holes, and an attractive Club House on Mayflower Hill supported the course. The necessary outbuildings, wells and a Delco electrical generating system were also in place. One major problem remained to be solved. Two other courses on Nantucket were about thirty years older than Sankaty, and they had cornered the caddy market. At this point a somewhat mysterious Mrs. Gardner entered the picture. A member of the Hyannisport Club on the Upper Cape, she apparently came to Nantucket a number of times between 1925 and the early thirties to play the Sankaty Head golf course. She noticed that the caddy situation was not ideal and suggested that someone at Sankaty talk to Donald M. Smith. Smith, a member of the YMCA staff in Worcester, MA, had organized summer camps there and on the Cape, including a caddy camp at Hyannisport which he had run for nine years. President George Kirwin of Sankaty, aided by Alden Buttrick, Bob Hardy and Bill Newman, interviewed Mr. Smith at this camp in 1930 and secured his services as the Director of Camp Sankaty with a "word Illustration for Nantucket promotional brochure, c. 1925, by John G. Held, Jr. From the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.
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of mouth-handshake" agreement. Smith was not in 'Sconset continuously, however, and chose a very good man, Cameron Sanford, as camp manager. The Camp still occupies the site Mr. Smith favored for it. Bounded by fairways eleven, twelve and thirteen of the present course, this plot was, in 1930, a maintenance area; and a storage building there housed fertilizer. "Smiddy," as he quickly became known, created the camp's first administrative space by having the fertilizer moved out of half of the building and flooring the rather small liberated territory. The resourceful Smiddy had the whole building by the time the second camping season began. One-half became the kitchen; the other was used for mess and recreational purposes. Wooden flooring for a main building came from the frames the groundskeeper/greenskeeper had used to protect sand traps during the windy winter. The Camp rescued a woodburning stove from the dump and gratefully accepted donated lanterns and candles. Pyramidal tents each slept eight boys. These early framed shelters and outbuildings were, to put it mildly, lacking in sophistication, and Mr. Charles Goetz, a Governor of Sankaty and a keen champion of the caddies, eventually asked the Club for improved sanitary facilities and at least $5,000 for special repairs and replacements. The camp day started in 1930 with a trumpet call and flag raising before breakfast. Chores and a march to the "bench" for service as caddies followed quickly. A single round paid $.75, a double $1.25, and there was no tipping. Today, each boy has work experience, caddying at least every other day, and "housekeeping" duties. Most of his recreation involves sports - golf, naturally, but also swimming, tennis, basketball, softball, track and field, volleyball and touch football. Table tennis, chess, checkers, horseshoes and fitness activities are available. A camper may aspire to work on the Camp publication. With convenient transportation in the Camp's small busses, each caddy may enjoy the resort features of the whole island. For the two-month 1930 camp season, boys paid a $5.00 registration fee and $5.00 a week for board. After 31 years, board had only increased to $18.00. It is now $35.00. We learn of the Camp's history and its remarkable development during and after this early period from a number of interesting sources. We have a small number of snapshots and glossy formal group pictures, but oral history is a far richer source. There are, for example, two recorded tapes of interviews between Donald
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Cluh House on Mayflower Hill at Sankaty Head Course, c. 1925. From the collection of the Nantucket Historical Association.
Smith, the original organizer of the camp, and Norman Claxton, the director during the Camp's greatest expansion, 1960 into the 1980's. There are, of course, men still alive who attended the camp in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. Memories vary dramatically with their sources. Smiddy recalls, for instance, the baa-ing of Levi and Henry Coffin's sheep which grazed near the course. He also recalls baseball games against 'Sconset boys and the evening "camp fires" on Wednesdays and Sundays. Old "boys" remember the adult supervisors: Arthur Cameron, "Cammy;" the cooks, Albert Lemelin and Arthur Flaherty; and such special friends from the club as Alex and Elizabeth Carter, Sam Swazy, the groundskeeper, Bob Hardy, and those- wonderful wives of members, among them Mrs. Harr Ranney. In the early groups of about fifty boys, some were as young as twelve years old, and they needed and appreciated a bit of "mothering attention. Another unusual figure many recollect is Mr. Walter Hoff, an inspirational person who helped Cammy. He held vespers and solved personal problems because he could listen long and well, but he is most often remembered for his great powers as a storyteller at the evening campfrres he conducted. He could even cook!
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An unexpected source of caddying history is in the melodious and boisterous song often heard at these campfires. In 1935, the officers of the Sankaty Head Golf Club published two song books, one of which is about the caddies in the five-year-old tented encampment, nestled between the fairways of holes two, three and four of the original nine holes: To the tune of Eddie Cantor's song "When I'm the President" You cannot get a caddy; they're standing in a bunch, You ask, 'Where are your players?' 'In the clubhouse eating lunch!' The caddies are reserved, The caddies are reserved For those who spend their dough up here. WE WANT CADDIES! WE WANT CADDIES! Another song ran: Tramp, tramp, tramp, along the fairway, -- from tee to tee, hunting balls in every byway We never smile at all, when players whiff a ball We've learned what caddies should be; We never are talking; we're all deaf and dumb as can be. There're players who praise us and players who haze us. San-ka-tee Golf Club caddies are we. And like Gilbert and Sullivan's policemen, There are many things about our own employment (repeat) Which induce us to come back here ev'ry year (repeat) But, alas, some players give us no enjoyment (repeat) Oh, take one's consideration with another - A Caddy's lot is not a happy one! Or, finally, to the tune of "Jingle Bells": Ev ry time they dub a shot we are all to blame. (repeat) Every morning now, we rise at half past six, And after we have chow, we carry bags of sticks.
Camp Sankaty Head
9
We hike o'er hill and dale until our feet are sore, And then we hunt for little balls and then we hike some more.
During World War II, Camp Sankaty Head continued to operate despite the fact that the Club was able to maintain only the original nine-hole course. The greens which headed north across the Polpis Road were closed for the duration. The Camp continued to prosper through the 1950's and registered two historic milestones in the first years of its third decade. In 1961, Mr. Chuck Beaverson was in his last year as Caddy Camp Director and the "Smith era," which started in 1930, was drawing to a close. Norman Claxton served that year as Assistant Director, but began, in the following one, his many years as Director. Since his retirement eight years ago, he has been the advisor to current Director Doug Ellsworth. The Camp, the Foundation and the Club have been very fortunate to enjoy such successful continuity. Another event had an equally important effect on the character of the Camp and on its future. In September 1960, at the Annual Meeting of the Sankaty Head Golf and Beach Club, Inc., Governor Charles Goetz proposed the formation of a Boys Development Fund to support the Caddy Camp. He suggested that all male members of Sankaty contribute to the fund and expressed the hope that these gifts could eventually become tax deductible. By midwinter his idea had evolved into a proposal that the Camp for caddies become a charitable foundation. Under this arrangement the Camp was to be legally separate from the Sankaty Head Golf Club. Furthermore, the governors agreed to lease the camp to the Foundation for one dollar per year and to make a yearly contribution of not more than $1,500.00 to its operation. Mr. Goetz continued valiant and persistent efforts to secure federal non-profit status for the Foundation and was finally able to inform his fellow governors, at the June 1964 meeting, that the Sankaty Head Foundation had been granted a tax exemption, effective January 1, 1964. To qualify as a charitable foundation with the Internal Revenue Service, the Camp needed to admit without charge a minimum of four boys from families who could not otherwise finance their attendance. In 1964, the Camp supported six participants from Boys Clubs in the area of Passaic, Garfield and Clifton, NJ. As many as ten or twelve boys - 25 % of the Camp - have been on complete
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scholarships in any single year, and the boys earn more than four hundred dollars in a season. It is expected that this money will be used for educational purposes. Recruiting has always been an important part of the success of Camp Sankaty. It is the responsibility of the Director to plan during the winter interim for the new season to open during the last week in June. Based on past history, he can expect that 40-50% of last season's caddies will apply to return. He can complete his roster from a pool of relatives of campers or close friends of campers because many people who know the program wish to propose candidates. Each applicant and a parent or guardian enter into an agreement with the Camp. The boy states in writing his educational and occupational goals. He also writes a short essay on why he wishes to attend the Camp. He must be recommended. For some years the directors accepted hoys, usually at least sixteen years old, from industrial sections of Massachusetts and New Jersey. Now they come from all the states as well as a number of foreign countries. The positive influence of the Camp continues in many campers' lives well after their summer in 'Sconset. By 1977, the Foundation had firmly established a program of scholarship awards, based upon loyalty, responsibility and industry "with a smile ~ both in the Camp and on the course." Twenty-five percent of the Camp participants are now helped financially in secondary schools, colleges and postuniversity studies from a "bank" which exceeds $20,000 each year. The ranks of these scholarship recipients have produced successes, as you might guess, in law, medicine, teaching, architecture, the automobile business, the armed forces, all forms of engineering, and computer science. There are a number of former "boys" with golf-related occupations as well - greenskeepers, golf coaches, Professional Golfers Association officials, and PGA professionals. These encouraging records reenforce the feelings of pride in family achievement that grow from the Caddy Camp experience. For many alumni, "family" implies Camp as well as blood relations. As a case in point, toward the end of the 1988 season, Bill Binney played in a nine-hole tournament with Bob Hardy. Forty or more years before, he had been Bob's caddy for a member-guest weekend. Bill was the oldest of eight brothers to go through the Camp, and their father had preceded them as a caddy. Curt Brown of Mansfield, Ohio, followed not only his father, but his grandfather. Well before the official formation of an Alumni Association in
Camp Sankaty Head
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1986, former caddies manifested their love and respect for the Camp and its leaders through voluntary services. Many "hands" and "strong backs" appeared for "opening and closing" free services and served as supplemental helpers and caddies on member-guest weekends. There were some who felt that this loyalty to the Camp could be organized to the greater benefit of the institution. Jim Krzywicki, who was a camper in 1967 and 1968 and worked as a cook in 1976, helped spread the word of a possible Alumni Association. He prepared a data bank and sent off a letter of information and an invitation to join a continuity group which would add to the promotion and welfare of Camp Sankaty Head. More than 700 former caddies received his letter. Many have replied and are now abreast of the hard work performed by President Robert Montesano of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, and his able staff. Among promising organizational developments, the alumni caddies have created a constitution and by-laws, including a system of paid membership, have formulated a camp history and are distributing a regular newsletter. There is even a line of Alumni wear! The Association has already benefited the Camp by contributing a television and videorecorder for the "rec hall." Because the Camp has arrived at senior citizen status, it needs some physical rehabilitation; and with the generous support of the Sankaty Club and the Alumni, it has a new plumbing system and a new kitchen for the 1989 season. The future seems bright for both the Association and, as it approaches its sixtieth birthday, for Camp Sankaty Head as well.
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LEGACIES AND BEQUESTS Your membership in the Natucket Historical Association proves that you are interested in its program for the preservation of the island's heritage. You can perpetuate that interest and insure the continuity of the Association's work by giving it a legacy under your will. Bequests will be used for general or specific purposes as you direct. A sample form might read: I give, devise and bequeath to the Nantucket Historical Association, a corporation duly organized under the Laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and located in the Town of Nantucket, in said Commonwealth, the sum of Dollars. Legacies may also be made in real estate, bonds, stocks, books, paintings or any objects having historical value, in which event a brief description of the same should he inserted instead of a sum of money. For further information, contact John N. Welch, Administrator, Nantucket Historical Association, P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554.
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How to Trace your Genealogy For Research, Travel, Friendship, and Fun! by
Helen Winslow Chase LINEAGE CHART: Add names and data as your research progresses WORKSHEET: Set up one worksheet for each name on your lineage chart. Begin with your own name. Add data as collected. ILLUSTRATIONS: Add life to your data. Maps -- town, county, state, island Photographs Facsimiles of letters, deeds, wills, marriage certificates, obituary notices, inventories, business advertisements, newspaper clippings. Transcribe handwritten documents. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Write an interesting article from the data, notes and anecdotes you have collected. Share it with your family or, better yet, publish it. SLIDE/TAPE PRESENTATION: Feature your family or one ancestor. Slides: Old photographs; maps; related places, people, things; family treasures, memorabilia. Tape: Narration; interview played as slides shown. Music: Dub in appropriate background being careful not to overpower narration. The most common complaint by senior citizens about TV commercials is that background music and sound effects make it difficult for them to sort out what is being said. Videotape: Apply above skills with other creative ideas INSTRUCTIONS 1. Enter all data in this order: Dates: 4 Jul 1776 (day-month-year) Names: ADAMS, John Quincy (LAST-first-middle) Places: Elgin, Kane, IL (town-county-state/nation)
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2. Check library card catalog and collection inventories first. Most archivists and librarians will graciously assist and make suggestions but cannot be expected to compile your genealogy. 3. Use care in handling fragile documents and old, out-of-print books. Take notes in pencil. 4. Record source of every fact. Research papers may need footnotes. For written authorities: List page, author, title, and publishing data (town: publisher, date). For oral statements: List name, place, date. 5. Keep list of works consulted even if no data found. You may need to recheck a resource for another aspect of your research. Sometimes it is significant that you are unable to find certain information about your subject(s). 6. Pre-plan interviews and schedule in advance. Credibility of older persons can usually be trusted if you allow them time to remember. RESEARCH FAMILY RECORDS: Home sources ~ yourself, parents, relatives, close friends, employers; family Bibles; samplers, scrapbooks; diaries; journals; logbooks; letters; photographs; deeds; wills; certificates of birth, marriage, death; obituary notices; inventories; newspaper clippings; account books. PUBLIC RECORDS: Usually filed in town, county, state offices; schools; libraries; historical societies. Vital records [certificates of birth, marriage, death usually list parents]; probate records, wills, inventories; military and pension records; tax and assessment lists; voting lists; land records such as deeds, grantor and grantee indexes, private land claims, military bounty lands; commissioners records [roads, stores, ferries, mills]; naturalization papers; records of manumission [freedom of slaves]; census enumerations [also U.S. decennial census in National Archives, Bureau of Census, genealogical collections]; cemetery records, tombstone inscriptions, mortality schedules; ship's papers; passenger lists [also in National Archives], LIBRARY AND HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS: Family history; town, county history; articles in periodicals, town, county, state histories; bibliographies in print; city, state directories for places
How to Trace Your Genealogy
15
of residence; maps, atlases, plat books for names of landowners and location of land; yearbooks; post office guides; newspapers; church minutes; manuscript collections; rosters of patriotic organizations; early historical society publications, copies of genealogical work by others. CHURCH AND SYNAGOGUE RECORDS: Records of birth, baptism, circumcision, bar/bat mitzvah, confirmation; marriage; church minutes; pew lists; church burial ground records.
WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING A GENEALOGY WORKSHOP? Please call Nantucket Historical Association (228-1894) to leave your name and phone number. If there's enough interest, a session specializing in Nantucket records will be scheduled this fall.
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The following centerfold (pp. 17-24) contains the two worksheets mentioned in "How to Trace your Genealogy For Research, Travel, Friendship, and Fun" (p. 13) They maybe removed and copied as desired.
Historic Nantucket
LINEAGE CHART No NAME
Father
Father
BORN WHERE MARRIED WHERE DIED WHERE
BORN WHERE MARRIED WHERE DIED WHERE
Mother BORN WHERE DIED WHERE
Name BORN WHERE MARRIED WHERE
DIED WHERE
Father
Mother
BORN WHERE MARRIED WHERE DIED WHERE
BORN WHERE DIED WHERE
Mother BORN WHERE DIED WHERE
How to Trace Your Genealogy
CHART Father BORN MARRIED DIED
Mother BORN DIED
#
Jt
4
J •4
Father BORN MARRIED DIED
# •#
Mother BORN DIED
-#
Father BORN MARRIED DIED
* -4£ TT
Mother BORN DIED
Father BORN MARRIED DIED
£ *
# # JJ
Mother BORN DIED
#
Historic Nantucket
Generation <U > AJ M 03 CU C AJ JO cd c OJ CO CO CU u CO O.CU T3 |—II •H jr •H o s^jr r -H u cd e xi •u cd C cd u-i •r-( jr JZ aj a> <u jr. jr <u AJ aj cfl<w X V-i o o r (U -H T3 XI y> c H U C o cd AJ M O CO <u W (/[ o <u o ac CO •H F-H o cd o<s jrtr i—i oS U cd CA o 3 G •iH CO 4J CJ • T3 C *3 •r—C M r—1 3 or •> r-l cd <u VO c c XI r-» jr l-i o O T—I u <u >% ' OS >-l CO 3 2 00 CO Q W z<r <
o H • • • • &3 CJ CO CO w DUtlU OS H 2 < H < <J WQZCC
NAME Born Marr Died Bur Fathfer.... Married... times.
SPOUSE Born Died Bur Father Married... times.
kt j
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Place. Place. Place . Place
M< List other,ndmes,. dates, pla<
Place Place Place
M< List other names, dates, plai
CHILDREN Lin «»ch chtld lwN«rN«f living or d—d) in orfrr o< binh Given Names Surname
WHEN BORN DAY
1
2
O
4 r,
6 7 8 9 10 11
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Sources/Notes
MONTH
'EAR
How to Trace Your Genealogy
Family
other ces:
other ces: DATE OF FIRST MARRIAGE,
WHF.RE BORN TOWN
COUNTY
j"
"STATE"O R T O WHOM COUNTRY
1 J 1 1
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1
DAY
WHEN OIC O MONTH
YEAR
25
The First Gubernational Visit to Nantucket by
Edouard A. Stackpole When Governor Levi Lincoln of Worcester set foot on Nantucket in September 1825, he was the thirteenth governor under the Constitution of 1780, and the first Chief Executive of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to visit the Island. Fortunately, Josiah Quincy, Jr., a young Harvard graduate and a son of the eminent statesman and Harvard President, was attached to the staff of Governor Lincoln and recounted the occasion in his book, Figures of the Past, published over a century ago. Quincy admits, with laudable understatement, that "[i]t was time for a well-disposed governor to brave the fatigues and perils of the journey, to show himself in one of the most prosperous counties under his sway." At that date, Nantucket contained 8,000 inhabitants and did a greater amount of business in respect to its population than any other county in the state, with the exception of Suffolk County, which included Boston, the state capital. On the morning of September 5, 1825, the Governor entered the Plymouth stagecoach with his party, including Hezekiah Barnard, the State Treasurer, and Aaron Hill, the Postmaster of Boston. On this occasion, the governor's party wore no uniform because Lincoln saw that any such exhibition would not be expected in a community ruled by the Society of Friends. The coach took three hours to reach Sandwich where the party enjoyed a bountiful breakfast. They then continued on to Falmouth where they awaited the sailing of the Nantucket packet. Quincy observed at this point: ...[T]he Nantucket packet, although it carried the ruler of a sovereign state, could by no means transform itself into a royal yacht. We were stowed in narrow bunks, in an indiscriminate and vulgar manner, and took such repose as we might till two o'clock in the morning, when a sudden thud, followed by an unpleasant swashing sound about the side of the vessel, bought us to our feet to inquire what had happened. "All right!" said the skipper. "Just you lie still till morning. We're aground on Nantucket Bar. That's all. Thus adjured, we thought it best to remain below, till a faint suspicion of dawn struggled into the cabin and gave us an
Historic Nantucket
excuse for coming upon deck. Several whaling ships, anchored outside the harbor, loomed to gigantic proportions in the gray morning. "There is Yankee perseverance for you!" exclaimed the Governor. "Would they believe in Europe that a port which annually sends eighty of those whalers to the Pacific has a harbor which a sloop drawing eight feet of water cannot enter?" Soon after sunrise the tide lighted us over the bar, and it was not long before two whaleboats were seen pulling sturdily for the packet. In the stern of one sat Mr. Barker Burnell, and in the other Mr. Macey (sic), both leading men, to whom the islanders had delegated the duties of reception. And full of modest cordiality was our greeting by the occupants of the boats and by the crowd of citizens who had assembled upon the shore to see the Governor land. There was no pushing or vulgar staring; indeed, there was a certain pervading air of diffidence by no means characteristic of street assemblies upon the continent; but the heartiest good-will beamed from sober faces when the long spell was broken and the executive fairly stood upon Nantucket sands. As there was no house sufficiently capacious to accommodate our party, it was divided among the hospitable inhabitants, the Governor and Colonel Davis being entertained by Mr. Macey (sic), Mr. Hill by Treasurer Barnard, and the youngest aide-de-camp by Mr. Burnell. And then came visits to the whaleships and the spermaceti works, dinners, and evening receptions, the latter being graced by the presence of very pretty young women. Then on Saturday morning carriages were ordered to take us to Siasconset, - that is, it will sound better to call them carriage; but they were, in fact, springless tip-carts, very like those used at the present day for carting of gravel. The ancient Romans, when enjoying a triumph, appear to have ridden in two-wheeled vehicles, bearing considerable resemblance to that in which our Massachusetts chieftain passed through the admiring streets of Nantucket; but none of these old heroes balanced himself more deftly in his chariot, took its jolts with more equanimity, or bowed more graciously to the populace than did good Governor Lincoln, when undergoing his
The First Gubernational Visit to Nantucket
27
transportation by tip-cart. There are some personalities which seem to supply their own pageantry. After the 'Sconset visit, the Governor had an informal reception at the Pacific Club, then known as the Insurance Office, where he met a number of the leading citizens. Many of these were old whaling men, "simple and intelligent, yet with that air of authority which the habit of command, exercised in difficult situations, is sure to give."Josiah Quincy goes on to describe these old gentlemen: Their ruddy health, strong nerves, and abundant energy made one suspect that there were some of the finest human qualities which are not to be tested by the examinations of Harvard College. I was introduced to several of these men who had never been on the continent of North America, though they had visited South America and the Pacific Islands. I have noted also talking with one Quaker gentleman of sixty, who had seen no other horizon than that which bounds Nantucket. It is to be noted that Hezekiah Barnard, the Treasurer of the State, one of the Governor's party, was a native of the island, and he remarked to a member of the group, "If thou really wished to tarry on our island, thou has only to persuade one of these young women to put a black cat under a tub, and surely there will be a head wind tomorrow." This was an old sailors' anecdote which was unknown to the other members of the party and brought about a round of chuckles. Quincy relates that the young ladies present united in declaring there was not a black cat in all Nantucket because they had all been smothered under tubs, to retain husbands and brothers who were bound for the southern seas. "At last," Quincy continues, Miss Baxter ("the prettiest girl in the room," says my record) confessed to the possession of a black kitten. But, then, would this do? Surely, a very heavy and mature pussy, perhaps even two of them, would be required to keep a governor against his will. Yes; but then an aide-de-camp could certainly be kept by a kitten, even if it were not weaned, and Miss Baxter had only to dismiss the Governor
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from her thoughts and concentrate upon his humble attendant, and the charm would work. I do not know whether young people talk in this way now, or whether they are as glad as Miss Baxter and I were to find some topic other than the weather to ring our simple changes on... This playful story is all the more delightful because sober realism was the dominant feature of a town where the Quakers were the oldest and most respectable group. Quincy notes, in passing, that island frugality was demonstrated by the refusal of residents to light the streets of the world's great mart of whale oil. Thrifty citizens explained to him that it would be extravagant to use-the oil for street lanterns when it was available for sale by export. Moreover, Quincy says, the reckless innovator was invited to impale himself upon one of the horns of this little dilemma: "Oil was either high or low. Now, if it was low, the citizens could not afford to pay the tax; but if it was high, the town could not afford to purchase it." The next stop on Governor Lincoln's itinerary was the barber shop -- not to be shaved, but to inspect the collection of South Sea curiosities which was on display there. Nantucket in 1825 had no historical museum although there were a large number of items available throughout the town for such an exhibition. Several years later, the Atheneum Library provided display space on the second floor of its building. By now it was time for the Governor and his party to prepare for the gala party in their honor that was to furnish a brilliant conclusion to their visit. Josiah Quincy gives the particulars: This party was given by Mr. Aaron Mitchell, and was said to be the finest in all its appointments that the island had yet known. There was, of course, no dancing; but the number of beautiful and lively young women impressed me as exceeding anything that could he looked for in a similar gathering upon the mainland, and filled me with regrets that we were to sail at daybreak the next morning.
The First Guhernational Visit to Nantucket
29
But, on the following morning, the wind was "dead ahead," and Mr. Burnell, who was to serve as the host, announced that the Governor and his party were to attend a Quaker meeting, and then were to meet the honorable Micajah Coffin, a retired former member of the General Court in Boston. Josiah Quincy records his impressions of the Quaker meeting in his journal: At the Friends' Society we sat for nearly an hour in absolute silence, and this seemed to me very favorable to reflection and devotional feeling. There was something in the absence of any human expression in the awful presence of the Maker which struck me as a more fitting homage than . any words or ceremony could convey. It was only when two women felt themselves moved by the Spirit to address the assembly that my feelings underwent a quick revulsion, and I acknowledged that, for the majority of Christians at least, a trained and learned clergy would long be indispensable. After the Quaker meeting, the Governor and his staff kept their appointment with Micajah Coffin, the oldest and one of the most respected island citizens. The description of the visit is in Mr. Quincy's words: At a time when the rulings of etiquette were far more stringent than at present, it was doubted whether the representative of a sovereign state could properly call upon a private person who had not first waited upon him. Lincoln's decision that this case should not be an exception to all general rules was no less creditable to the magistrate than gratifying to the islanders; for good Friend Coffin, then past ninety, was at times unable to command his memory, and his friends had not thought it right to subject him to the excitements of the reception at the Insurance Office. Micajah Coffin was the son of Benjamin Coffin who, according to William C. Folger, "was one of Nantucket's best schoolmasters for about half a century." Moreover, for twenty-two years, he had represented Nantucket in the state legislature. Quincy provides this amusing picture of the introduction of the two worthies.
30
Historic Nantucket When this patriarch of Nantucket was presented to the Governor, it made so little impression upon him that he instantly forgot the presence of the chief magistrate; and yet a moment afterward he astonished us with one of those strange feats of memory which show with how tight a grip the mysterious nerve-centres, of which we hear so much, hold what has been committed to them. For having a dim consciousness that something out of the common was expected from him, the venerable man turned suddenly upon Postmaster Hill, and proceeded to harangue that very modest gentleman in a set Latin speech. It was one of those occurrences which might appear sad or droll to the bystanders, and I hope it does not reflect upon the good feelings of the party to mention that we found its comic aspect quite irresistible. There was poor Mr. Hill, overcome with mortification at being mistaken for the Governor, and shrinking from fine Latin superlatives, which, under this erroneous impression, were discharged upon him. And when the Postmaster, at the conclusion of the address, felt that he was bound in courtesy to make some response (which, of course, could not be in the vernacular), and could hit upon nothing better than "Owi, Monsieur, je vous remercie," the climax was reached, and even the Governor was forced to give audible expression to his sense of the ridiculous.
It was the custom of the old schoolteachers to bring Latin into the school as a spoken language, and Benjamin Coffin had instructed his son well. The observant Mr. Quincy has some further pertinent remarks about Micajah Coffin which he adds to the story, and they are of more than ordinary interest to Nantucket. Micajah Coffin lived for little more than a year after the visit of Lincoln. "In his old age," says Mr. Folger, "he took an interest in visiting the sick and aiding them in procuring native plants suited to cure or at least to relieve their various maladies." I learn, also, that in his rambles about Nantucket, when he met a face that was unknown to him, he was accustomed to stop and give this challenge: "Friend, my name is Micajah Coffin. What is thine?" It was the robust
The First Guhernational Visit to Nantucket
31
assertion of a personality of which there was no reason to be ashamed, and testifies to the reasonableness of the high esteem in which his character and services were held among his fellow-islanders. When, on the following morning, the Governor's party departed from the island, their next port of call was New Bedford. Levi Lincoln left with a deeper concern for the citizens of Nantucket, but also, surely, with the conviction that this "kingdom in the sea" was, in more ways than one, a place apart from any portion of the State of Massachusetts.
Post card view of the Gordon Folger Hotel, c. 1940. Courtesy of the Gordon Folger Hotel.
Summer of '41 by
Edgar A. Anderson Reading David Ogden's "My First Visit to Nantucket" in Historic Nantucket's April issue, I was struck by the fact that this island must be well populated with veterans of summer hotel jobs as well as other fields of endeavor. Like Mr. Ogden, I met my future wife working at a summer hotel, but while we are still friends and share offspring, we are not now together. My summer memory focuses on one dramatic moment, suspended in time, for which I must set the scene. "Scene setting" is something I do a lot because I currently serve as business manager of our community theater, the Theatre Workshop. Unlike Mr. Ogden, I was fortunate enough to have had a Nantucket summer boyhood. My father purchased a summer "cottage" on Brant Point (twelve rooms or so) for what would now buy a square foot. In 1940, after my sophomore year in college, I took a job on a country newspaper in Millbrook, NY, near my hometown of Poughkeepsie. The trouble with that position was that
33
Lobby of the Point Breeze Hotel, c. 1925. The Point Breeze was the predecessor establishment of the Gordon Folger, and the lobby is still immediately recognizable today. The spitoon has, however, been removed. Courtesy of the Gordon Folger Hotel.
the midsummer heat in the Hudson Valley made me very homesick for Nantucket, so the following summer, I opted for a job on the island. For reasons I can't quite recall, the family home was closed that summer, so I couldn't rely on that for a place to stay. My friend, the late Steve Stone, was working as day clerk at the Gordon Folger Hotel and informed me that the post of night clerk was open. I grabbed it. The working conditions for night clerk were $45 a month (or was it $40?) with room and board. The hours were 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., seven days a week. Since my hours prohibited any night life, I was able to put money aside and felt akin to a millionaire that summer. Let me point out that I could get shirts washed and pressed for 15 cents each at the laundry on Straight Wharf, and dry cleaning for a suit was about 50 cents, so I was really doing all right. 1 arrived each night at the desk, dressed in coat and tie, but shed these around 6 a.m. to light a coal fire in the kitchen range. The fire seemed to die out frequently, causing the chef to phone the desk to ask if I wanted raw eggs for breakfast. Finally, I bought a fan and, with this, got the fire going most of the time. All during June and July, in a state of perpetual semi-exhaustion,
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Historic Nantucket
I sat in an office chair during the wee hours and attempted to read required books for college (I was Bard '42). I would gaze at a rotary light switch amazingly high on the wall and wonder what it did. For some reason, I never approached it until a fateful night in late August. Ironically, it was the night of the Firemen's Ball. Almost all of the summer crew attended this affair. It was still the Big Band era, and no other dancing opportunities were regularly available at popular prices for the rank and file. At something like 1 a.m. or later, the crew returned, and I mercilessly reminded them I would be knocking on the doors of their basement rooms about 7 a.m. A couple of the girls, including my future fiancee, even joined me in the office, a rare treat at that quiet hour. One of them pointed to the old light switch and thus reminded me that I had always wondered about it. I went over and gave it a turn. The result: a fire alarm bell rang throughout the hotel. I turned it off immediately while the two girls did an extremely swift vanishing act. For a moment, there was dead silence, and just as I was congratulating myself that no one had heard it, the office switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Dealing with all these calls was impossible, so in a matter of minutes, the guests had descended to the lobby. Most were half-dressed, and the women frequently had their hands full of jewelry. I stammered something about a short circuit, which pacified nobody, but finally they all disappeared upstairs again, convinced at least that the hotel was not on fire. The owner was not tickled pink in the morning, but except for a couple of guests, most accepted the incident in good grace. In fact, the next evening, Mrs. Robert Benchley, a guest at that time, asked me if another fire drill was scheduled. Thank goodness for the Benchley humor. There is no special sequel to this event except to report that the next summer, 1942, the war was in progress. I was only able to make a brief visit to the hotel, but I did notice that next to the fateful switch, in big, bold letters, there was now a warning that, for me at least, was just a year too late: "FIRE ALARM."
35
A Basic Nantucket Reading List by Helen Winslow Chase This basic reading list of books and articles about Nantucket has been compiled by Nantucket historian Helen Winslow Chase. Mrs. Chase, who prepared the list for Nantucket Historical Association interpreters, presents the most essential works first. These are followed by suggestions of a second level of importance, ending with a list to be read according to personal preference. BOOKS, PAMPHLETS: Available at the Nantucket Atheneum, at the NHA Library and Research Center in the Peter Foulger Museum [but cannot be checked out], and at the Maria Mitchell Association Science Library on Vestal Street. Also on sale at local bookstores when in print. BEGIN WITH: 1. Hoyt, Edwin Palmer. NANTUCKET, THE LIFE OF AN ISLAND. (Brattleboro, VT, 1978). Softcover. 2. Massachusetts Historical Commission. RECONNAISSANCE SURVEY REPORT, COMMUNITY: NANTUCKET, 1500-1940. (Boston, 1984). Unpublished, but available. 3. Sterling, Dorothy. THE OUTER LANDS: A Natural History Guide to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket... Revised edition (New York, 1978). Softcover. A "must" to take to beach or when walking on moors. CONTINUE WITH: 4. McCalley, John W. NANTUCKET, YESTERDAY AND TODAY. (New York, 1981). Softcover. Excellent selection of comparative photographs and historical descriptions. 5. Pullman, Patricia. NANTUCKET: A HISTORY FOR KIDS. (Nantucket, 1988). Softcover. Contains numerous factual errors, but has useful suggestions for the sensitive enjoyment of Nantucket's past and present by young and old. THEN ADD: 6. Gambee, Robert. NANTUCKET ISLAND. (New York, 1986). 430 photographs testify to Nantucket's unique beauty. 7. Mackay, Dick. NANTUCKET! NANTUCKET! NANTUCKET!: An Insider's Guide. (Nantucket, 1981). Softcover.
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Historic Nantucket
Contents alphabetical and by subject; written with accuracy and humor. Revised edition in works. 8. Macy, Obed. THE HISTORY OF NANTUCKET. 1835. With a Concise Statement of Prominent Events from 1835 to 1880, by William C. Macy. (Mansfield, MA, 1880). A basic secondary reference for any Nantucket research to 1880. 9. Turner, Harry B. NANTUCKET ARGUMENT SETTLERS. Several editions. (Nantucket, 1917-1966). Softcover. Good Nantucket chronology by former INQUIRER & MIRROR editor. 10. Zube, Ervin H. and Carlozzi, Carl A. SELECTED RESOURCES OF THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET: An Inventory and Interpretation. (Amherst, MA, 1966). Softcover. CONTINUE READING IN THE ORDER OF YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE: 11. Andrews, Edith F. and Blackshaw, Kenneth Turner. BIRDING NANTUCKET. (Nantucket, 1984). Pamphlet. CHECKLIST OF NANTUCKET BIRDS. (Nantucket, 1985). 12. Andrews, J. Clinton. SALTWATER FISHES OF NANTUCKET: An Annotated List. (Nantucket, 1973). Pamphlet. Reliable record by a Nantucket fisherman and true naturalist. 13. Byers, Edward. THE NATION OF NANTUCKET: Society and Politics in an Early American Commercial Center, 1660-1820. (Boston, 1987). Introduction, pp. 3-14, is an excellent social, political and economic interpretation of early Nantucket history. 14. Carpenter, Charles H., Jr., and Carpenter, Mary Grace. THE DECORATIVE ARTS AND CRAFTS OF NANTUCKET. (New York, 1987). 15. Crosby, Everett U. NANTUCKET IN PRINT. (Nantucket, 1946). Part I contains reprints of rare primary source material about Nantucket; Part II contains checklists of books to collect, of books to read, and of writings about Nantucket. 16. diCurcio, Robert A. ART ON NANTUCKET: The History of Painting on Nantucket Island. (Nantucket, 1982). 17. Garland, Catherine A. NANTUCKET JOURNEYS; Exploring the Island, Its Architecture, And Its Past. (Camden, ME, 1988). Softcover. Read, enjoy and become more alert to problems facing the modern, growing Nantucket. 18. Griscom, Ludlow and Folger, Edith V. THE BIRDS OF NANTUCKET. (Cambridge, MA, 1948).
A Basic Nantucket Reading List
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19. Lancaster, Clay. THE ARCHITECTURE OF HISTORIC NANTUCKET. (New York, 1972). Useful bibliography. 20. Little, Elizabeth A., ed. NANTUCKET ALGONQUIAN STUDIES. Nos. 1-12. (Nantucket, 1981-1988). Based upon sound research in primary sources about the Nantucket Indians. 21. Mooney, Robert. NANTUCKET WAY. (New York, 1980). Nantucket history presented through delightful legend and lore. 22. Stackpole, Edouard A. THE SEA HUNTERS: The New England Whalemen during Two Centuries, 1635-1835. (Philadelphia, 1950). Whaling and sealing classic by Nantucket's most eminent historian with many references to Nantucket and Nantucketers. 23. Starbuck, Alexander. THE HISTORY OF NANTUCKET COUNTY, ISLAND, AND TOWN: Including Genealogies of First Settlers. (Boston, 1924). Valuable secondary reference with extremely useful footnotes. Necessary source for Nantucket research before 1924 despite inferior index. 24. Whipple, A.B.C. VINTAGE NANTUCKET. (Boston, 1989). Readable survey of Nantucket history now available in softcover. FURTHER SUGGESTIONS: Nantucket Historical Association. PROCEEDINGS, 1894-1951. HISTORIC NANTUCKET, 1953-present. Both series contain a wealth of interesting Nantucket articles and are conveniently bound and indexed at the NHA Library & Research Center at the Peter Foulger Museum. Anything written by Edouard A. Stackpole. His early adventure stories are especially delightful. Fictionalized biographies written by Will Gardner and others. SEE ALSO: Coffin, Marie M., comp. THE HISTORY OF NANTUCKET ISLAND: A Bibliographg of Source Material with Index and Invcntorg. (Nantucket, 1970). Haring, Jacqueline Kolle and Michael, Gayl. GUIDE TO THE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS OF THE NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. (Nantucket, 1986). A primarysource gold mine. NEWSPAPERS (weekly): THE INQUIRER & MIRROR [Microfilm at Atheneum, 1849-] THE NANTUCKET BEACON
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Historic Nantucket GUIDES: NANTUCKET 1989 (Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce) NANTUCKET GUIDE 1989 (Box 1018, Nantucket, MA 02554)
FREE MATERIALS: Tabloid guides YESTERDAY'S ISLAND or MAP & LEGEND may be picked up at both supermarkets. Brochures are available at the Nantucket Information Bureau and the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce.
Mary Havemeyer Beman
MITCHELL'S BOOK CORNER
54 MAIN STREET NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS 02554 228-1080
Write us or stop in for our free brochure of Nantucket Books in print.
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