The Boston Tea Party

Historic Nantucket

� Publication of the Nantucket Historical Association

Wmter2012 Volume 62, o. 1

The hips of the •. •. •. The Boston Tea Party .• •. .• earching for a Martyr: Crispus Attucks and the Boston Massacre · Unmasked Boston Tea Party

NANTUCKET I 11 STORICAL ASSOCIATION

Historic Nantucket

A Publication of the Nantucket Historical Association

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Board of Trustees Janet L. Sherlund, PHESIDENT Kenneth L. Beaugrand, VICE PHl��IDENT Jason A. Tilroe, VICE PHESIDENT

Winter 2012

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Vol. 62, No. 1

The Ships of the Boston Tea Party: Eleanor, Beaver, and Dartmouth LEON POINDEXTER

Thomas J. Anathan, THEi\SUHEH William R. Congdon, CI.EHK Josette Blackmore

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William J. Boardman Constance Cigarran W. Michael Cozort Franci N. Crane

The Boston Tea Party Unmasked: Nantucket's Real Role in the Start of the American Revolution JAMES EVERETT GRIEDER

Denis H. Gazaille Nancy A. Geschke Whitney A. Gifford Georgia Gosnell, THlJSTIT E�IEHll,\ Kathryn L. Ketelsen, FRIE;-.;os OF Tl IE NI I,\ Hl'l'HESENT,\IWE

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William E. Little Jr. Hampton S. Lynch Jr. Mary D. Malavase

Searching for a Martyr: Crispus Attucks and Historical Memory of the Boston Massacre JUSTIN PARISEAU

Sarah B. Newton Anne S. Obrecht Christopher C. Quick Laura C. Reynolds David Ross, FHIENDS OF II IE ;\;I IA HEl'HL�ENTATl\'E L Dennis Shapiro

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Nancy M. Soderberg E.\ OFFICIO William J. Tramposch EXEClffIVE DlllE<TOH Benjamin Simons EDITOR Elizabeth Oldham COi'\' EDITOH

JANET SHERLUND

ON THE COVER: Paul Revere's engraving

War: Landing Their Troops! 1768," circa

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Reconstructing the Essex MARK A. SUTHERLAND

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NHA News Notes

Antiquarian Society.

! listoric

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of· A View of Part of the Town of Boston in New England and Brittish [sic] Ships of 1770, courtesy of the American

Eileen Powers/Javatirne Design l>ESl(;N A:lill Alff llll!ECrION

From the NHA President Nantucket and the American Revolution

'aruucket 1:-eJcomes articles on ar1y aspt'Ct of Nan1uckt•t l11,tol')c Original lt',mrch; fir..1har1d accounts; reminiscences of ISiand cxpcn nccs; htstoric l<>gl,. lc1ter<;, and photograph, alt' examples ot mall'rial, of interest to our lt'aders.

C>2012 by the Nanrucket I listorical sociation r'°\ PaperMIXfrom I listoric_ 'antucket [I N 0439-22-18) is published� the ,anrur�et I listorical ..J,.,J respons ible sourcu Assoc,auon, 15 Broad Street, anturket, Massachuscm.. Periodical postage paid £_� FSC"C103525 at anruckct. MA, and additional emry offices.

POSTMASTER: Send add res. changes 10 1 li,tori Namuckt'l, P.O. Box 1016, Primed ill the USA OIi roc)'r:led paper.

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For information log on to www.nha.org

FROM THE NHA PRESIDENT

Nantucket and the American Revolution JANET L. SHERLUND

§}

ring the period of the American Revolution,

Nantucket was once again front and center

ma major moment of American (and world)

history. Nantucket whaling merchants, and the concern of

This issue of Historic Nantucket

delves into this time of conflict and trial.

Joseph Rotch in particular, had London as their major

Boatbuilder and

trading partner. In fact, at the time of the American

shipwright Leon

Revolution, London was like Nantucket's backyard. When

Poindexter writes

American patriots led by the Sons of Liberty organized in

about the historic

Boston on the evening of December 16, 1773, to board

Boston Tea Party

private merchant ships and dispose of large quantities of

ships: the Beaver,

imported East India Company tea, two of the three vessels

Dartmouth, and

involved were

antucket-owned whaleships returning

Eleanor, and the efforts to reconstruct them. James Grieder

with tea from London: the Beaver and the Dartmouth.

discusses the Tea Party's Nantucket connections, especially

Detail from Paul Revere's 1770 engraving "The Bloody Massacre."

COURTESY OFTHE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY.

Nantucketers found themselves, like all Americans at

through the circles of the Masonic Union Lodge. Justin

times of war and conflict, deeply divided. Their roots were

Pariseau writes about Cris pus Attucks, the famous and

English, their commerce was largely with England, yet

enigmatic victim of the Boston Massacre, an individual of

¡ they had developed a community and invented an industry that was truly home-grown American: the global whaling trade. They were pioneers and innovators in

African-American and Wampanoag descent who may have served on a Nantucket whaleship.

The Revolution was the first of Nantucket's major wars,

business, but as Quakers they were pacifists in war, and as

and provided the model of destruction, decline, and

businessmen they avoided doctrine and dogma.

subsequent rebirth that would occur so many times in

The American Revolution would decimate the whaling

Nantucket's history. Wars divide and destroy, even those

fleet and cause many Nantucket families to pick sides:

with heroic purpose, and Nantucketers found themselves

some proved Loyalists, and were forced to flee to Nova

at the heart of this division.

Scotia and other British territories; others stayed on and attempted to conduct business during the impossible conditions of the war. Nantucket would be reborn in the aftermath, but not without serious struggle and hardship-a lesson for the future.

d::::SH:LU~ NHA PRESIDENT

Winter 2012 \ 3

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BO

NTEA PARTY:

Eleanor, Beaver, and Dartmouth

BY LE ON PO IN DEXTE R

The Boston Tea Party was the culmination of a series of events that steadily aroused the ire of colonists who considered themselves British subjects entitled to the same rights and privileges as those who lived in England-rights that included representation in Parliament. England needed money, especially after the French and Indian Wars, and imposed monopolies and taxes-especially on tea, which was a hugely popular commodity- on the American colonists, denying them any recourse. Bostonians submitted to the inequity of the taxation until their resentment motivated them to resist, and on the night of December 16, 1773, they made their historic move.

Color drawings of the Tea Party vessels Eleanor, Beaver, and Dartmouth by Leon Poindexter.

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EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THE Boston Tea Party was a pivotal point in United States history, and that it was the spark that ignited the American Revolution. But how many know that two of the three ships involved were whaleships out of Nantucket?

The three ships will be fea tured in the all-new museum and interpretive center of the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, the centerpiece ofBoston's newly developed Fort Point Channel area.

The new m useum will not o nly tell the sto ry but will provide the public with a deeper understanding of the event and will include detailed info rmation abou t the ships. Shipwrights have been faithfully replicating the whaling brig Beaver and the colonial merchant ship Eleano,; and plans are under way to build a replica of the whaleship Dartmouth.

The City of Boston designated the m useum, established in 1973, as the official site for com memorati ng the Boston Tea Party event; the original m useum was destroyed by fi re in 2001. Opening in June 2012, the new, greatly expanded fac ility will fea ture a multitude of exhibits, video presentations, living-history programs, and memorabilia, including an actual tea chest from one of the ships.

Visitors of all ages will learn abo ut this turbulent period in history and how it impacted the wo rld we live in today. They will relive that historic night in Boston I !arbor, December 16, 1773, when

Americans expressed their opposition to British rule. They will experience these events as they happened on deck; they will go below to the dark hold where the tea, other cargo, and the ships' stores were kept; they will see where the men slept in the fo'c'sle.

Looking into the vessel's great cabin, they will see a presentation of the captain recording the events of the day in his logbook.

At the historic shipyard of the Gloucester Marine Railways-the oldest continuously working shipyard in America-part of the old museum is being reconstructed and carpentry and rigging work on the Beaver and the new Eleanor are under way. The third vessel, the Dartmouth, will be built from the keel up when the other two ships are finished. The three vessels will give the site the full complement of the ships that took part in the Tea Party. Never before have these vessels been given their significant place in our country's history.

How the Ships Became Involved in the Boston Tea Party By the 1770s, Nantucket whalers were hunting sperm whales in the Atlantic off the coasts of South America and Africa and as far south as the Falkland Islands. It was common practice to send whaleships loaded with barrels of spermaceti and oil collected from other vessels in the South Atlantic directly to the London market.

Spermaceti was the sperm whale's most prized oil. The head

Colored lithograph "The Destruction ofTea at Boston Harbor," by Sarony & Major, 1846.

GIFT OFTHE ESTATE OF EVERETT U. CROSBY, 1963.15.1.

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THE SHIPS OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

cavity of the sperm whale-the "case," averaging two feet in diameter and about six feet deep-could contain upwards of a hundred gallons of this superior oil. It burned more brightly and cleaner than any other substance and was used then mainly for making candles. The manufacturing process of spermaceti candles, an important and lucrative branch of the whaling industry, was a closely guarded secret. Only a handful of colonial candle manufacturers possessed this knowledge, and they attempted to establish a monopoly under the name of the United Company of Spermaceti Candlers. The Nantucket whaleship owners, being shrewd businessmen, knew they would get a better price for the oil in London tl1an what was offered by this cartel in the colonies.

The ship Dartmouth and the brig Beaver were in London in the late sun1mer of 1773. Having discharged their cargoes of oil and spermaceti, their captains-James Hall and Hezekiah Coffin-acting as agents for the ships' owner, Joseph Rotch, were obligated to find cargoes for the return trip to the colonies, and they accepted the controversial tea.

The Dartmouth was loaded with 114 chests of tea, each weighing about 350 pounds, and the Beaver carried 112 chests. The Bea.ver's hold also held fine English furniture; an English Chippendale sidechair from that cargo is in the collection of the antucket Historical Association.

By October 19, 1773, seven colonial ships had departed England for the eight-week Chippendale side chair brought back voyage to the American ports by Captain Hezekiah Coffin of the ofBoston, New York, Beaver as part of a set of six.

Charleston, and Philadelphia.

GIFT OF JOHN G. LOCKE, 1952.17.1 The ships were carrying almost 600,000 pounds of the East India Company's tea, and the intention was to sell it only to its consignees in the colonies in an attempt to monopolize the tea market.

The Ships Arrive in Boston Harbor On November 28, 1773, the Dartmouth was the first "tea ship" to arrive in Boston, commanded by Captain James Hall with mate Hodgdon. Upon entering the harbor, Hall proceeded to take the Dartmouth to Rowe's Wharf. But at the insistence of merchant John Rowe, perhaps with the motive to avoid a violent scene on his property, the Dartmouth was later warped to Griffin's Wharf. John Rowe was also the owner of the merchant vessel Blea.nor.

Joseph Rotch's son, twenty-three-year-old Francis, represented the Dartmouth and the Beaver. By law, after having entered the harbor, Rotch had only twenty days to unload his cargoes before the 6

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ships would be seized and the cargoes sold at auction to pay the customs duties. Once having entered the harbor, a vessel could not legally set sail again with the cargo still on board without special permission from the governor of Massachusetts.

At a public meeting, Sam Adams, John Hancock, and others, suppmted by thousands of Boston residents, urged him to return the tea in the same vessels in which it arrived, but Rotch knew that he would not be granted the needed permission from Governor Hutchinson to do so.

The main channel ofBoston Harbor was secured by the British with a hundred large cannon on Castle William at the mouth of tl1e harbor and two men-of-war, the Active and Kingfisher. No ship could leave without permission of the governor. When the same "request" was made of Captain Bruce of the Eleanor, he replied, "Ifl am refused, I am loath to stand the shot of32 pounders from the Castle."

Over the next twenty days, the tension built as all concerned worried about what would happen on the December 17 deadline.

Replicating the Boston Tea Party Ships To fulfill the mission of the new Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, to present the truest, most accurate experience of what happened aboard the vessels Beaver, Dartmouth, and Eleanor on the night of December 16, 1773, ideally would involve historically replicated ships; but no plans or drawings of any of the three vessels exist today, and that presents a problem for the designer of the replicas. We do know, however, from their manifests and other shipping papers, the length and tonnage of the original ships. We also know when and where the two whaleships were built and who the shipbuilders were.

Extensive research has given us even more clues as to how the vessels may have looked and how they were constructed and fitted out.

The Ship Dartmouth Joseph Rotch was principal owner of several whaling vessels. He had a reputation for being a fair and honest businessman and was a leader of his church, the Society of Friends. Ln 1765, Joseph wished to expand his family's business and bought land in Old Dartmouth, Massachusetts, now part of New Bedford, and moved part of his Nantucket whaling operations to the mainland. In 1767, he commissioned the first ship to be built in Bedford Village and named it the Dartmouth.

Colonial whaleships were similar in construction to the merchantmen of the day, but were fitted out somewhat differently, having davits for the whaleboats, tryworks for rendering oil from the blubber, extra heavy rigging tackles for hauling the blubber strips on deck, heavily oiled decks from tl1e spillage of the trying-out process, and a lookout station that was a barrel lashed to the main topgallant mast.

No plans or drawings of the Dartmouth exist. But we do know her lengtl1 and approximate size from the tonnage figure listed in the shipping papers. She was a typical cargo carrier /whaler of the time built for a Quaker and therefore lacked much in the way of

... ... REPLICATING THE SHIPS

Upper lelt Hanging knees in the hold of the ship Eleanor are taken from the curved roots of trees. Knees are a sort of corner bracket that structurally stiffens the vessel. All of the deck framing in the Tea Party ship replicas is typical to the way ships were constructed in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Every detail of the Tea Party ships has been carefully researched to make the vessels as accurate as possible.

Upper right Shipwright John Gardner is fastening new ceiling planks in the hold of the Beaver. In a traditionally built wooden sailing vessel, the ceiling is not the overhead but the inside planking of the hull. The hulls were planked on the inside of the vessels as well as the outside for strength.

Lower lelt The new copper for the bottom of the Beaver is from Revere Copper, the same company that Paul Revere founded in 1800 to make sheet copper for the young nation's navy, including the USS Constitution and to sheathe the Massachusetts State House dome. Sheet copper was nailed to the bottom of ships before copper paint was invented to keep out destructive shipworms and retard marine growth. To sheathe the bottom of Beaver took nearly 350 sheets of copper and 20,000 nails.

Lower right Seasoned white pine was used in laying the deck of the Eleanor. Decking was hand-spiked to the deck beams. Then the seams were traditionally caulked with cotton and oakum driven hard with a mallet and caulking irons and payed with hot pitch or tar to make watertight

Newly planked-up bow of the Eleanor. Planking and frames were sawn from trees picked by the master shipwright The trees were felled and limbed and the logs hauled to the sawmill and sawn with the help of the shipwright to get justthe right sweeps and the best planking stock.

Most frame and plank stock is sawn from curved, not straight, logs and requires a very skilled savvyer. These vessels were built literally from stump to ship.

THE SHIPS OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY decoration or fancy finish. Based on extensive research of merchantmen and whalers of that period, the lines for a replica of the Dartmouth have been laid down and construction is to follow completion of the Eleanor and Beaver.When complete, the Boston Tea Party Museum will host three different ships, each accurately representing a typical vessel of the period.

The Eleanor: AConstant Trader December 2, 1773. The Eleanor, owned by a leading Boston merchant, John Rowe, and commanded by a Tory sympathizer, Captain Bruce, arrived in Boston carrying 114 chests of tea.

Stopping first at Rowe's Wharf, she was ordered to Griffin's Wharf to lie alongside the Dartmouth under the watch of the patriots, with stem instructions to offload all the cargo except the tea. Anyone ordering offloading of the tea would be treated "as wretches unworthy to live and will be made the first victims of our just Resentment."

No drawings exist of the original Eleanor, but we know from the shipping papers that she was ship-rigged and a constant trader.

Because Rowe was a wealthy Episcopalian, we might assume that his ships were more elaborately finished than the Quaker-owned vessels. We may assume, then, that the Eleanor might have had quarter galleries, a figurehead, and a full-headed rig. [Quarter

gallery: A balcony with windows on the quarters ofa large ship.

Figurehead: A carved bust or full-length figure over the cut-water (the foremost part ofa vessel's prow) ofa ship; remnant ofan ancient superstition (Carthaginian) that a small image carried aboard would protect the ship. Full-headed rig: Said ofa two- or three-masted vessel rigged with its full complement ofsquare sails. -Ed.] The design of the Eleanor replica is based on colonial merchant vessels of the period, particularly the London, the ship that carried the tea to Charleston.

The Eleanor replica, originally named the Uncle Guy, was built as a fishing vessel in Thomaston, Maine, in 1936. Later purchased by the Novello family in 1952, she was renamed the Vincie N. after the family matriarch, Vincenzo Novello. She fished out of Gloucester until she was retired in 2000 and donated to the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center for restoration, but was found to be too far gone. She then went to the Boston Tea Party Ships and was hauled out to be rebuilt as the tea ship Eleanor. Substantial shipbuilding procedures were undertaken to convert this twentiethcentury fishing vessel into an eighteenth-century trading vessel.

The first phase in the ship's dramatic transformation was the removal of the pilothouse, winch, and massive engine. After gutting the interior, old planking and frames were removed and reframing commenced, changing her shape from stem to stern. The main deck was razed; the old transom was cut off and rebuilt with stern and quarter galleries. The shear was changed, raising the bulwarks and adding an aft cabin with a quarterdeck. Her new frames and planks are white oak and she is fastened with spikes and trunnels (wooden pegs) . By the time the work is completed, she will have all new sides, a reshaped bow with curved headrails, and a figurehead.

She will be a three-masted full-rigged ship.

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The Brig Beaver The original Beaver was built for Joseph Rotch, patriarch of a Nantucket family of wealthy oil merchants, in 1772, only a year before the Tea Party, as a whaling vessel to sail out of Nantucket Harbor. Ichabod Thomas was the builder, at the Brick Kiln Yard on the banks of the North River near Scituate, Massachusetts. She was about eighty-five feet long with a beam of nearly twenty-four feet, similar to other merchant vessels of the time. Her draft could not exceed nine feet because Nantucket Harbor had a sandbar across its mouth that set the maximum size for vessels of that port.

The North River shipyards were well known for building many fine whalers and merchantmen. It happened that in the same year, another famous vessel was built there-the hip Columbia, approximately the same size and tonnage as the Beaver.

Commanded by Capt. John Kendrick, the Columbia explored the mouth of the Columbia River and the Pacific orthwest in 1791-the nautical equivalent of the Lewis and Clark expedition. She was also the first American ship to sail around the world proudly flying our nation's new flag. Drawings and ketches of the Columbia were well documented in her logbooks, and because of her accomplishments and fame the documents were well preserved.

Since both vessels were built in such close size, proximity, and time, we can assume that the Beaver and the Columbia must have looked much alike. By 2004, the museum's Beaver replica, being nearly a hundred years old, was in dire need of major rebuilding. So we redesigned and rebuilt Beaver to be similar to her sister ship Columbia and other such vessels of her day, thus more historically correct than previously.

The vessel used for the Beaver replica was built in Denmark in 1908, in Marstal on the island of Aero, as a schooner for freighting and fishing. When it was purchased, the old hull was overhauled to be the Tea Party ship and was rerigged as a brig.

The Beaver's voyage to the U.S. was nearly a disaster when the hot exhaust ignited the seventy-year-old timbers in the stern of the old hull. The captain pointed his vessel into the wind, and with flames and smoke billowing out of the hatches, the fire crept close to the fuel supply. A lengthy bucket brigade finally contained the blaze.

After repairs in Weymouth, England, she completed the crossing, first making port in Nantucket and then, under command of Captain Bob Douglas of Martha's Vmeyard, arriving in Boston in 1973 to help start the nation's bicentennial celebrations.

Today, at the Gloucester Marine Railways, the 103-year-old Beaver is undergoing further redesign and reconstruction . The Beaver needed a new stem, so the bow was changed to include a fullheaded rig. She will be fitted with graceful head rails and a carved scroll, or billet head, appropriate for a Quaker-owned vessel.

Beaver's sides have been retimbered and replanked and new bulwarks are being built. Her badly worn deck was removed, and new timbering of the deck will be done in the same manner as colonial vessels of over 200 years ago. Massive wooden ship's knees, shaped from the curved roots oflarge trees and patterned from plans drawn in the 1700s, have been installed to brace the deck beams. The

Beaver will receive new main- and foremasts, bowsprit, main boom, and main yard. Rope rigging is being made up in New Bedford by riggers who restored the rig of the largest ship model in the world, the whaleship lAgoda housed in the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

A rope-making machine has been constructed to make the cablelaid main and fore stays. The vessel's ironwork is hammered out by hand by the shipyard's welder and blacksmith. Over 100 dead eyes and 150 blocks have all been fashioned by hand.

The Beaver's old over-carved transom was found to be badly deteriorated and was stripped away and rede igned to be rebuilt more authentically. The ballast in the hold was removed and many of the bottom frame timbers replaced. Some fran1e sections, futtocks, have measurements or scantlings up to eighteen inches thick. All new wooden construction is being done in the trarutional manner as were vessels of the late eighteenth century.

Decking and plank scams are being caulked trarutionally, using caulking mallets and irons with cotton, then oakum from hemp. The deck seams are payed Icaulked] with molten tar and the planking with putty made with linseed oil.

Beaver's bottom ha been reframed and refastened and new topsides and bulwark are being rebuilt and re haped. The paint color scheme was changed from mostly black to yellow, as was typical of the Columbia and otl1er vessels of her time. Most vessels of this period were fini hed either by oiling the sides or painting them yellow. The problem with oiling was that while it provided excellent protection to the wood, in time it turned dark, or even black. In an age of piracy and privateering, a black vessel seen from a rustance meant that it was probably old and slow and would therefore be an easy mark, or prize. A chase might take days, and if a vessel looked new and swift, a cha e would not be undertaken. In adrution to a new color scheme, an extra thick band of planking, called a whale, was added-as is seen in paintings of Columbia and otl1er period vessels.

Every detail of the Beaver replica-from the truck, or top, of the main topgallant mast to the bottom of the keel-has been adapted from documented merchant and whaleships of that period. The bottom was even sheathed with copper sheets made by the company tJ1at Paul Revere founded. Beaver's shipwrights hung more than 350 copper plates fastened with more than 20,000 bronze nails.

The original Beaver, under the command of Captain Hezekiah Coffin, entered Nantasket Road, an approach to Boston harbor, on December 8, 1773. The harbor pilot ordered her to Rainsford Island, the official quarantine station, due to the outbreak of smallpox onboard. On December 15, the day before the Tea Party, she joined the Eleanor and the Dartmouth at Griffin's Wharf.

The Tea Party On December 16, the eve of tl1e twenty-day deadline, at ten o'clock in the morning, some five thousand ofBoston's fifteen-thousand residents, nearly eve1y male citizen, along with two thousand more from neighboring towns, packed the Old South Meeting House and spilled out into the rainy streets, determined to finally resolve the tea controversy. Francis Rotch was again summoned and ordered by the

massive assembly to send the Dartmouth back to London with the tea. He replied, "Gentlemen, I cannot. It is wholly impractical. It would cause my ruin." He was given until three in the afternoon to obtain a permit from the governor to allow his ship to safely pass under the huge guns of Castle William. The young businessman, anxious to be rid of this offensive cargo and resume his family's business, complied and rode his horse fifteen miles to meet with Governor Hutchinson who, fearing trouble, had moved from Boston to his summer home in Milton. As expected, the governor refused to grant his permission.

It was dark when Rotch reappeared at the Old South Meeting House, but the meeting was still in progress. Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren, Josiah Quincy, and others had made one rousing speech after another all through the day. The intent crowd became silent when the young Mr. Rotch entered the hall and informed the assembly of the governor's final decision. Rotch was again asked if he would offioad the tea in Boston, he replied, "I have no business doing so, but ifl were called upon to do so by the proper persons, I would try to land it for my own security's sake."

With that, the famous words rang out, "Who knows how tea will mingle with sea water?" Followed by the shout "Boston Harbor, a teapot tonight," and "The Mohawks are coming." With that, Sam Adams proclaimed that nothing more could be done to relieve the situation.

Those shouts were a preplanned signal: It is estimated that sixty to ninety unidentified men hastily blackened their faces and donned blankets and headed for Griffin's Wharf, followed by most of the citizens ofBoston. Thinly rusguised as Inruans to protect their identities, quickly and quietly, under organized leadership, they boarded each of the ships. Armed with axes and hatchets, they systematically destroyed 342 chests ofBritish tea, weighing over 92,000 pounds, worth over a million dollars in today's money.

Thousands of spectators watched in utter silence. Only the sounds of axes splitting wood could be heard from Boston Harbor during the still, cold, December night. At low tide, with only two to three feet of water in the docks, the tea piled up higher than the ships' bulwarks.

Young boys climbed on the piles of tea to push it over, so that by morning the rising salt water would be sure to spoil all of it, and not one ow1ce of the forty-two tons of tea could be salvaged.

Since tl1e Beaver had been tied up at Griffin's Wharf the day before, Captain Coffin of the Beaver was concerned about the safety of his other cargo of fine English furniture, which was loaded on top of the tea chests. He was told, "If you go to your cabin quietly, not one item of your goods will be hurt. The tea we want and the tea we'll have."

True to their word, the patriots carefully removed all of the inoffensive cargo, and a padlock that was broken was replaced the next day.

The patriots worked feverishly, fearing an attack by the Royal Navy's Admiral Montague at any moment. Three hours later, by nine o'clock, the work was finished. Fearing any connection to their treasonous deed, the patriots took off tl1eir shoes and shook tilem out overboard. They swept the ships' decks clean, and made each ship's first mate swear that only the tea was damaged.

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THE SHIPS OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY Admiral Montague watched the whole affair from a house on Griffin's Wharf, but gave no orders to stop the "Party." When all was through, the "Mohawks" marched from the wharf, hatchets and axes resting on their shoulders. A fife played as they paraded past the house where British Admiral Montague had been spying on their work. Montague yelled as they passed, "Well boys, you have had a fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven't you? But mind, you have got to pay the fiddler yet!"

Subsequently, John Adams wrote in his diary: "This is the most magnificent Movement of all. There is a Dignity, a Majesty, a Sublimity in this last Effort of the Patriots that I greatly admire. This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid, & inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences and so lasting, that I cannot but consider it as an Epocha in History."

Governor Hutchinson was shocked, and was correct in his prediction when he said, "This is the boldest stroke which has yet been struck in America .... The body of people had gone too far to recede ... and open and general revolt must be the consequence."

The party was over for Boston, and the path to revolution had begun.

What Became of the Original Boston Tea Party Ships?

In February 1774, the Beaver returned to London with more oil to sell with one of the East India Company's consignees, Jonathan Clarke, on board. During her stay, her captain, Hezekiah Coffin, died and she was then sold. There are no records about what happened after the sale.

The Dartmouth set sail with Francis Rotch and others who had witnessed the Tea Party with a load of oil for London on January 9, 1774. Rotch, Captain Hall, Clarke, and the other witnesses were summoned to Whitehall by Lord Dartmouth to give testimony regarding "the late transaction in Boston." Rotch wished to see how he stood with the East India Company, and did collect his money for the freight. The Dartmouth foundered on the return voyage. The crew was taken off by Timothy Folger or by Shubael Coffin of Nantucket and brought to Boston in November 1774.

There is no record of what became of the Eleanor.

Captain limothy Folger's and Benjamin Franklin's Chart of the Gulf Stream

By Benjamin Simons

Robyn & John Davis Chief Curator

Timothy Folger's striking portrait by John Singleton Copley was painted in 1764, when the Nantucket whaling merchant and captain was thirty-two-ten years before Folger may have rescued Francis Rotch and the crew of the Dartmouth (see main article).

Five years later, Folger would team up with his Nantucket cousin Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) to create the first chart of the Gulf Stream. How did this come about?

When Benjamin Franklin was in London, while serving as deputy postmaster to the American colonies, he wanted to learn why mail packets traveling from London to Boston took up to two weeks longer to arrive than vessels sailing in the other direction. British packet captains apparently were not familiar with a feature of the Atlantic Ocean that was common knowledge to Nantucket whalers- "the Northeast Current." Franklin turned to his Nantucket second cousin, whaling captain Timothy Folger (1732-1814), for expert knowledge of what he would subsequently name the Gulf Stream.

Amazingly, no chart of the Gulf Stream existed atthe time. Folger told Franklin that whaling captains were intimately acquainted with the powerful west-to-east current "running atthe rate of 4, 3½, 3, and 2½ miles an Hour," since whales typically frolicked along its edges, where they could be easily pursued. Using the sketch that Folger made, Franklin published his groundbreaking "A Chart of the Gulf Stream" in 1769- 70. When the American Revolution began, Franklin ceased distribution to prevent the British fleet from having the benefit of such valuable information.

Franklin paid homage to his cousin Timothy Folger, whose portrait hangs in the Nantucket Whaling Museum, in a notice he published along with the chart: "The Nantucket whalemen, being extremely well acquainted with the Gulf Stream, its course, strength and extent, by their constant practice of whaling on the edges of it, from their Island quite down to the Bahamas, this draft of that stream was obtained from one of them, Captain Folger, and caused to be engraved on the old chart in London for the benefit of navigators by 8. Franklin."

o.-----·--···-, --··-_,...7- .. - ..-·-,~

Leon Poindexter is a master shipwright and marine historic preservationist who builds and restores large wooden sailing vessels, many of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. Mr. Poindexter also served as a historian/consultant

At top: Portrait of Timothy Folger (1732-1814) by John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), oil on canvas NHA PURCHASE WITH ANONYMOUS GIFTS, 2003.18.001

and shipwright for the Academy Award-winning film Master and Commander.

NHARLMS 1000-1 -5

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Above: Benjamin Franklin's Chart of the Gulf Stream, circa 1770

Lithograph by Richard P. Mallory of engraving by George Loring Brown (1814-18891 of "The Destruction ofTea," 1836. sc255

The Boston 'lea Party Unmasked Nantucket's Real Role in the Start of the American Revolution

BY JAMES EVERETT GRIEDER

[In response to several queslions raised in this article, we have added commenlary by Leon Poindexter as well as replies by James Grieder.-Ed.J T11E EAST INDIA COMPANY (EiC), that 500-pound goriUa ofmercantilism, wa in trouble. Unable to compete with the lower prices of smuggled Dutch tea in the colonial markets, the company had also been badly mismanaged and was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. In May 1773, Parliament, alarmed that the fall of the EiC might drag the government down along with it, voted to allow the company to export over half a million pounds of tea to the American colonies without imposing the usual duties and tariffs. Removing the import duties meant that the EiC could undersell any other tea available in the

from the effects of the Townsend Acts, viewed this as yet another attempt by Parliament to impose its will on English citizens without their consent. Merchants such as John Hancock, who ran an extremely profitable sideline smuggling tea and other commodities, were alarmed at the potential threat to their income. The working man and the merchant class therefore had common cause in preventing the landing of any tea.

In late November and early December 1773, the ships Beaver and

Darmouth, owned by Joseph Rotch of Nantucket, and the Eleano,; owned by John Rowe and others, arrived in Boston. Loaded with tea, they were prevented from unloading their cargoes. Under Customs regulations, any vessel not unloaded within twenty days of arrival wo uld have its cargo seized and impounded, a result essentially

colonies, including smuggled tea.

Parliament did not repeal all duties, however; there was still a tax to

identical to allowing the tea to be sold at auction. The clock was now

be paid by the purchaser at the retail end. The colonists, smarting

the dilemma decided that the best course of action would be for the

ticking.The various town meetings and assemblies that met to discuss

Winter 2012

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THE TEA PARTY UNMASKED tea ships to return to England. However, given that the tea consignees included the governor, the lieutenant governor, and their sons, this was an unlikely prospect.

So, an impasse. The governor and his extended family (who controlled the executive and judicial branches of the colonial government) had a vested interest in seeing the tea landed. The citizens ofBoston were just as resolved to prevent this. The merchants ofBoston who owned the ships were tiptoeing a crumbling line between them, and simply desired to be rid of the cargo one way or another. Something had to be done.

Among the eyewitness accounts of the Tea Party is a report of an encounter between the "Mohawks," after they had dumped the tea, and Admiral Montagu, commander of the North American Fleet, who watched the entire drama unfold before his eyes. As the men passed by the house, Admiral Montagu is said to have shouted from a window, "Well, boys, you have had a fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven't you? But mind, you have got to pay the fiddler yet!"

"Never mind, squire," retorted one of the Mohawks, "just come down here, if you please, and we'll settle the bill in two minutes!"

Admiral Montagu then yanked the window shut.

A number of questions arise in this anecdote. The first is what he was doing there at all. What was Admiral John Montagu, Rear Admiral of the Blue Squadron, Commander-in-Chief of the North American station (which ranged from the Gulf of St. Lawrence south to Florida and the Bahamas) doing at that spot at that time? 1n some primary and secondary sources, it is asserted that he actually observed the Tea Party from a window in a house belonging to a well-known To1yNathaniel Coffin.

Admiral Montagu was not known for his restraint, rather the opposite. As John Adams wrote in his diary, referencing what he had heard of the man: A Coachman, a Jack Tar before the Mast, would be ashamed-nay a Porte,; a Shew Black or Chimney Sweeper would be ashamed of the coarse, low, vulgar, Dialect of this Admiral Sea Office,; tho a rear Admiral of the Blue, and tho a Second Son ofa genteel if not a noble Family in England ... his continual Language is cursing and damning and God damning, "my wifes d-d A-se is so broad that she and I cant sit in a Chariot together"-this is the Nature of the Beast and the common Language ofthe Man. If the confrontation at the window did occur, the language may have been somewhat less genteel.

Would the commander of the entire North American fleet remain sitting at the window, simply watching as crowds gathered, and ships were boarded and raided? Earlier in the week, at the request of Governor Hutchinson, he had moved warships to block the entrance to Boston's inner harbor; the tea ships were not going to leave the harbor without unloading their cargo. It is inconceivable that Montagu was not fully aware of the current impasse and the imminent deadline; it's also extremely unlikely that he just happened by chance to be at that window.

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Poindexter: I think that he knew, in advance, thatthe Tea Party was going to happen. He may have wanted to have a firsthand look at what was going on, but it is unlikely that he just happened to be there at the time.

Grieder: That is why I am raising the question rhetorically.

Montagu later testified that he had not acted because doing so would have required his ships to fire on the thousands of innocent bystanders who watched the night unfold. But surely he is being disingenuous here; each of the warships that lay berthed all around the tea ships would have had a detachment of marines aboard, who could have easily been deployed as the crowds swelled. But they did nothing. So we are presented with the picture of Montagu sitting on his hands throughout the entire event, only rousing himself for a little verbal play from a window and a warning that the events of that night would have consequences.

Poindexter: I think Montagu knew that if he deployed his marines that it would be another Boston Massacre, but of much larger proportions. He knew that Revere and others were ready to exploit whatever action he would take. (Revere made his famous engraving, which he sold to nearly every household in Boston and would do it again. The consequences would be even greater.) The result would have been a mob scene of epic proportions. A mob had already destroyed the governor's house a few years earlier. There was really nothing he could do that would not further raise the ire of the Bostonians. They had already had enough.

Grieder: The admiral did later state that he did not order an assault for fear of slaughtering bystanders; also as Poindexter notes, there was a decade-plus long "tradition" of rioting and assaulting government officials in Boston, both of which are good reasons to coordinate with all interested parties for a bloodless outcome. Were this in fact the case, Coffin's window would be the perfect spot from which to observe the outcome.

Teasing another clue from the data, Benjamin Woods labaree, in The Boston Tea Party (Northeastern University Press, 1979), claims that Admiral Montagu was spending the evening with a To,y named Coffin (whose house lay at the foot of Griffin's Wharf), which is why he had such an excellent vantage point of what occurred that night. This can only have been Nathaniel Coffin Sr., the hated Cashier of Customs for the Po11 ofBoston and an inveterate Tory, who owned a home on the corner of Essex Street and Rainsford lane. From his front steps Coffin would have been able to view (with disdain, no doubt) the Liberty Tree that stood at the corner ofWashington and Essex Streets, where the Sons of Liberty often rallied (Coffin's son, Nathaniel Jr., along with a group of friends, eventually chopped down the Liberty Tree during the British occupation ofBoston). The back end of his property was said to have been bounded by the water, and would have ended approximately at the aptly named Beach Street.

Interestingly, across the street from the old Coffin property, a historical marker about the black poet Phillis Wheatley refers to the location of Griffin's Wharf as "nearby."

Another connection binds Montagu to Coffin. Montagu was involved with the Gaspee debacle of the previous year; in fact his protege was serving on board around that time, a promising young lad named Isaac Coffin, Nathaniel's son, known as the revered founder of Nantucket's Coffin School. It's within the realm of possibility. though in need of evidence, that Isaac was there that night with his father and mentor.

So here we have two high-ranking British government officials, both of whom have a role in the drama unfolding below them, sitting in a house immediately adjacent to Griffin's Wharf. They are there in part because Coffin's house is there; but why are the tea ships berthed at, or near, Griffin's Wharf? The committee sent to meet the tea ships when they first arrived had specifically directed them to Griffin's Wharf. Why? They couJd have been sent to any number of places including Hancock's or Rowe's wharves, which were owned by men who had a financial stake in the outcome. Why, rather than directing the vessels to one of those wharves, did they send them to a wharf directly under the nose of the most powerfuJ and hated British official in Boston (other than Governor l lutchinson, that is)?This was either a deliberate thumb in the eye to Coffin (we control the port, not you!) or, Coffin and Montagu wanled those ships where they couJd keep an eye on them.

Poindexter: Rowe was afraid of trouble on his property and didn't want the Dartmouth at his wharf, and also had his own ship taken to Griffin's.

Understandably, Rowe wouJd have been apprehensive of anything that threatened to interfere with these social and business interests. So when one of his ships, the Eleanor, sailed into Boston Harbor carrying tea that his London agent had arranged passage for, Rowe had cause to lament. Since Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin (1759-1839), oil on the citizenry wouJd not scored panel, circa 1810, by Gilbert Stuart allow the tea to be (1755-1828), gift of the Friends of the removed from the ships, if Nantucket Historical Association in memory it was not unloaded within of Tucker Gosnell, with a partial gift of Catherine C. Lastavica, M.D., 2005.4.1. twenty days of arrival his Admiral Coffin's father, Nathaniel, was neighbor Nathaniel Coffin Receiver General and Cashier of His wouJd send agents to seize Majesty's Customs during the crisis. the vessel and its cargo.

Surely it wouJd have been natural for Rowe to turn to his close friend, Admiral Montagu, to appeal to his close friend, Nathaniel Coffin, for some sort of"out"?

Grieder: I think Rowe's writings in his diary reveal him to be the last reasonable man in an increasingly polarized community; he is both

Poindexter: According to Labaree, Rowe even offered to lend the

partially the cause and solution of the problem, and the resulting

consignees money to pay the duties that may have allowed the ships

BTP was the "reasonable" middle ground between a potential

to carry the tea elsewhere. Rowe only wanted to avert the crisis and

massacre if the admiral's forces attacked, and the certainty of

keep everything peaceful.

financial harm and possible ruin if the ships and cargo were seized

Grieder: As Poindexter notes, Rowe would do anything to make this

by Customs agents.

all go away so that he could get back to business. A small investment to pay the duties would be a reasonable first step in finding a

But could either of these men influence where the ships were berthed, if that decision lay in the hands of those opposed to the landing of the tea? The answer lies in understanding the close relationship between Admiral Montagu and another prominent, wealthy Bostonian, whose own house on Frog Lane was situated a few hundred yards away from Coffin's-a man by the name of}ohn Rowe.

They were good friends but found themselves on opposite sides of the issue. Rowe's diary is a fascinating glimpse into the world of wealthy merchants and their intimate connections to the most visible aspects ofBritish ruJe, i.e., collecting customs (taxes, essentially) and the Navy as its provisioner. Rowe's connections brought him to grief, but uJtimately also provided a way out.

Rowe was tl1e chief supplier of goods to the British Navy, an enormously lucrative position that he owed entirely to his close friendship with Admiral Montagu. Rowe's diary details numerous instances of their meeting socially, including frequent fishing trips in the country outside of Boston. Rowe and his wife, Hannah Speakman, were also intimates of a young naval officer who had been part of the campaign to clamp down on smugglers, under the overall command of Admiral Montagu.

solution. The problem was that among the consignees were Governor Hutchinson and his extended family, and that Samuel Adams and other radicals were spoiling for a fight (the Adams-Hutchinson feud was generational).

Somehow, the tea had to be unloaded (allowing the ships to discharge the remainder of their cargo, reload, and depart) without violating the restrictions laid down by the town meetings and assemblies. But how couJd they effect this solution without the tacit approval, not to say assistance, of the ringleaders of these same assemblies?

Once again, John Rowe enters the picture. At the time of the Boston Tea Party there were two rival, and sometimes hostile, Provincial Grand Lodges of Freemasons in Massachusetts: St. John's Grand Lodge, headed

by John Rowe, and Massachusetts Grand Lodge, with Joseph Warren (of later Bunker Hill fame) as WorshipfuJ Master. They met just down the street from each other but rarely interacted; one was working-class, the oilier merchant-class (John Hancock vacillated back and forth between them). The room above fue Green Dragon Tavern, where the brethren of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge often met, was, not coincidentally, where Wmter 2012 \ 13

THE TEA PARTY UNMASKED the North End Caucus, the Sons of Liberty, and the Boston Committee of Correspondence all met. The degree of overlap in membership was extreme.

Poindexter: Ithink the Masonic Lodge was a convenient place for

them to make secret plans and be able to claim that they were just having their lodge meetings. My speculation is that there was no Masonic Lodge conspiracy, but that it was just convenient to meet under that guise. Boston was a town of only about 15,000 at the time, and all these men knew each other and had been doing business and socializing with each other for years; that was, at least in part, the reason for so much overlap in associations.

Grieder: Again, I don't think that we're disagreeing just phrasing it differently. I have been a member of the local lodge for ten years and I can say definitively that there was no Masonic conspiracy ala Dan Brown- the Masonic conspiracy (literally, "to breathe together") was simply that all Freemasons meet "on the level" and are treated as equals. Masons used to (and officers still do) wear gloves to lodge, so that when you shook a brother's hand you couldn'ttell by feel what a man's trade (and thereby status) was. It was this radical equality that allowed the "silk-stocking" crowd to work with the "mechanicks" effectively.

Given the state of relations between the two groups it's more than a little curious that Joseph Warren should meet with John Rowe the day before the Customs deadline. Almost certainly, they were discussing the few options available to them. After it was over, John Rowe wrote in his diary that the dumping of the tea was "a disastrous affair" and "I can truly say, I know nothing of the matter, nor who were concerned with it. This might I believe have been prevented. I am sincerely sorry fo r the event." It's certainly possible that he truly knew nothing about the matter, but not probable. What seems more likely is that this is a case of"plausible deniability": don't tell me what you're going to do, just do it. What is certain is that John Rowe was "ill" on the day of the Tea Party and remained home all day-and all night.

Poindexter: Having read a good bit of Rowe's diaries, it seems to me that Rowe was a rather quiet man even though he was involved in politics. He was an officer in his church, a deacon, I believe, and always wanted to keep the peace. He often seemed rather timid and didn't want things to get out of hand and feared being involved with what was not legal at the time. My speculation is that he did as much as he could to cover up his involvement, even making false entries in his diary. This man never missed church. Nothing would keep this man away from such an important meeting, especially when it concerned one of his ships. Ithink Rowe was actively involved in planning the Tea Party all along, because the earliest plan was to fire the ships. I am sure Rowe must have said something like, "Hey, wait a minute, one of those ships is mine. Let's figure out something else."

Grieder: Exactly.

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The members of St. Andrew's Lodge were the most active in what transpired down at the docks. Many-Edward Proctor, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, among others-were members of the militia assigned by the town meetings to guard the tea ships and ensure that they were not secretly unloaded. There was also a detachment of the governor's cadets commanded by John Hancock that was supposed to be guarding the ships. On the night of the Tea Party, the records of St. Andrew's Lodge show that only five members were present at the meeting; a note in the margin reads "Lodge closed on account of few members present." Presumably, many of them were either at the seven-thousand-strong assembly at Old South Church waiting to hear whether Governor Hutchinson would continue to refuse to allow the tea ships to depart, or getting dressed up as Mohawks on the assumption that he would do so.

The ring of this accidental conspiracy is nearly complete, but there is a bit more to bring into the light. So far, we have a connection from Nathaniel Coffin to Admiral Montagu to John Rowe to Joseph Warren to Paul Revere, Edward Proctor, and the rest of the Tea Party participants, one in which Freemasonry plays no small part. But there are two further connections- Nantucket connections-beyond the one involving Francis Rotch.

The first has to do with our local lodge, Union Lodge F. & A. M., Nantucket's Union Lodge, was chartered by St. John's Lodge, which was known for its Tory leanings. The same may be said about Nantucket as a whole (as amply attested to in the views of our continental cousins) and the presence of one name in particular in the membership bears this out: Nathaniel Coffin Jr., son of the hated Customs official in Boston and notorious for his axe-wielding ability, became a Mason in Union Lodge shortly before the Boston Tea Party.

So now the circle has been expanded in the other direction, from Nathaniel Coffin to his son and thence to Nantucket and its lodge of Freemasons, who communicated frequently witl1 John Rowe in Boston. But there is still another Nantucket thread that connects everything, one that again involves the Coffins.

The captain of one of the tea ships, the Beaver, was Hezekiah Coffin (ownership of the Beaver is unclear, although Nantucket is noted as its home port). Hezekiah Coffin was Nathaniel Coffin Sr.'s second cousin; tl1ey were surely well known to each other, though one lived in Boston and the other hailed from Nantucket.

It would be expected that Hezekiah's sympathies might be sinillar to those of his cousin, but this appears not to have been the case.

According to records in the Nantucket Town Clerk's office (which refer to records at the NHA), Hezekiah was "said to have been the firs t to heave tea overboard in Boston Harbor." This is truly perplexing: what was the captain of the ship-who is presumably personally respo nsible for his vessel and its contents-doing tl1rowing his cargo overboard, and being tl1e first to do it no less?

This makes no sense at all, unless he was under orders from the ship's owners (Hancock the tea smuggler among them?) to do so, and had received guarantees from his cousin and his cousin's friend the admiral that he would not be charged with any crime.

What's more, Labaree claims that the crews of the tea ships either

went below and gave no resistance or even helped unload the tea.

Other eyewitnesses report that the Tea Party was an orderly affair, not a mob scene. Upon arriving at the ships, the Mohawks split into presumably prearranged groups, boarding each vessel in turn, and were exceedingly careful not to damage any of the other goods aboard or the ship itself. In one case, a small lock was broken but promptly replaced the next day. All-in-all, the entire event bore the hallmarks of being weU planned and the result of collusion, or at least a tacit understanding, between the Mohawks and the ships' crews.

I further suspect that there were members of the various ships' companies who were also members of Union Lodge, which would bind the circle even more tightly. I have access to the membership roles of the lodge, but no one, either here or in the UK, seems to know where any of the ships' papers are. That they exist, or at least did up until the late nineteenth century, is attested to by references to them found in Francis S. Drake's Tea Leaves. I suspect that they are in London, but to date I have not been able to investigate this further.

The final piece of the puzzle comes from the records of Union Lodge. It is a record of the brethren of the lodge meeting to commemorate the feast day of St. John the Evangelist-one of the patron saints of Freemasonry-with a selection of honored guests.

On December 27, 1773, less than two weeks after tl1e Boston Tea Party, we find the following entry ( .B.: the abbreviations after the names reflect the various offices in the lodge):

In our lodge duly formed and styled.

WILLIAM BROCK, 38, was born 25 February 1735. He married Elisabeth Calif. After William Brock died, Elisabeth married Josiah Coffin Jun. (Esq.), son ofJosiah (called Major) Coffin.

GEORGE CALDER was married to Ruth Coffin, daughter of Josiah (called Major) Coffin and Elisabeth Coffin.

JOSEPH COFFIN, son ofZaccheus Coffin and Mary (Pinkham) Coffin, died in 1786. His brother, Hezekiah Coffin (1741-1779), was the captain of the Beaver.

JOSIAH (CALLED MAJOR) COFFIN was born on July 28, 1698. He married Elisabeth Coffin, daughter ofJames Coffin and Ruth Gardner, in 1720.

NATHANIEL COFFIN SR, 48, was born in 1725 and lived in Boston. He was the Collector of Customs in Boston, and was the father oflsaac Coffin and Nathaniel Coffin Jr. who was a member of Union Lodge (1771).

PHINEAS FANNING was the husband of Keziah Coffin Fanning, and

needs no introduction. He was a young man of twenty-three at the time of the BTP. CHRISTOPHER HUSSEY, 49, was born August 3, 1724. He married Mary Coffin, daughter ofJonathan and Hepzabeth Harker Coffin.

CHRISTOPHER HUSSEY JR., 25, was born February 10, 1748. When his first wife died in 1783, he married Abial Coffin.

Present - Presiding Bro. Wm. Brock PM Geo. Calder SW John Sherman JW Christopher Hussey Senr. Treasurer John Bard SD John Gardner JD Christopher Hussey Jr -I Benjamin Bunker -I Stewards Henry Smith William Johnson Joseph Coffin Job Myrick Jed1ro Hussey Jr(?)

Proceeded to celebrate the Feast of St. John in due Order & Decorum NB Dined with us Messrs George Hussey Snr, Nathaniel Coffin Snr, Samuel Proctor & Major Coffin.

Att. Phs. Fanning Sec'y

GEORGE HUSSEY, 79, was born on June 21, 1694. He married Elizabeth Starbuck, daughter of Nathaniel Starbuck Jr. and Dinah Coffin.They had thirteen children, one of whom was Jethro Hussey.

JETHRO HUSSEY, 35, was born in 1738 and died in 1808. His first wife was Margaret Coffin, daughter ofJames Coffin and Priscilla Rawson; his second wife was Margaret Hussey, daughter of Christopher Hussey and Mary Coffin.

SAMUEL PROCTOR, born February 28, 1726/27? Here we have another-possibly major-connection between the Tea Party and Nantucket. Edward Proctor, who was a leading member of St. Andrew's Lodge, was also an officer in the militia and, in fact, commanded the detail charged with watching over the tea ships in the days leading up to the event. To date, ilie question of wheilier he had a brother or cousin named Samuel remains unresolved; perhaps future research will shed more light on ilie matter.

James Everett Grieder is Assistant Administrator of Nantucket's Historic

District Commission. His forthcoming book, Images of America: Nantucket (Arcadia Publishing), created in collaboration with Georgen Gilliam Charnes and with the generous assistance of the Nantucket Historical Association, will be published in May 2012.

Winter 2012

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N STUDYlNG TIIE CAUSES OF TIIE American Revolution,

there is perhaps no greater mystery than that surrounding the first man to have fallen during the Boston Massacre. We think we know Cris pus Attucks; he was the first of five men killed in what would soon be memorialized as the "bloody massacre perpetrated in King Street." Attucks, along with Samuel Gray and James Caldwell, died within moments of the British troops beginning to fire their muskets into the crowd. Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr would subsequently die of wounds received that night. The incident unquestionably contributed to growing discontent with the British government and exacerbated tensions between the citizenry of Boston and tl1c sold iers who enforced King George III's rule.

What has remained less than clear since the British soldiers' muskets fell silent is how Crisp us Attucks arrived at thi historic moment. Where did he come from?What was his background? Did he, as some have sugge ted, have a connection to Nantucket?

Current historical memory of the Boston Massacre casts Crisp us Attucks as a patriot, hero, and martyr.

In searching for the man within the myth we not only uncover something of the actual historical figure, but also much about how we remember the past.

Since his death on March 5, 1770, Crisp us Attucks has been a source of fascination and debate for generations of Americans.

Attucks is often singled out in various textbook treatments of the Boston Massacre, while the other four victims of the massacre remain shadowy figures, frequently receiving no mention at all. This neglect is not for lack of information, as much more is defini lively known about the other victims as opposed to Attucks. Nevertheless, in sifting through hi torical docunients, a few incontrovertible facts about Attucks emerge.

The most reliable information centers on the Boston Massacre itself. Tensions had risen in Boston ever since the arrival of troops in the city in 1768. Because British soldier worked for low wages, many often competed for the menial jobs that were available in the city.

This put the soldier into direct competition witll the men working on Boston' waterfront who might not otllerwise have sympathized with revolutionary principles. In the first few wintry months of 1770, hostilities only increased between tile soldiers and Boston's population of ailor , rope makers, and dockworkers. It was in tllis context tllat tile outsider Cri pus Attucks arrived in Boston, only to be drawn into conflict with the British soldier the night of March 5.

What began with insults and snowballs being hurled at the sentry on guard outside tl1e Customs House on that cold March night escalated as the crowd gained strengtl1. Additional British troops, including Captain Thomas Preston, arrived on the scene to relieve the sentry. Engravings of the massacre by Henry Pelllam and Paul Revere depicted a peaceful crowd ofBostonians and a coordinated attack by the Briti h troops. The reality was much different. While the unruly crowd and the outnumbered group of soldiers nervously faced off against one another, someone threw an object that struck Private

Opposite: Henry Pelham's 1770 hand-colored engraving, 'The Fruits of Arbitrary Power, or the Bloody Massacre," after Paul Revere, courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society; Left: Boston's Freedom Trail marker; Above: Crispus Attucks's gravestone in the Granary Burial Ground.

Hugh Montgomery's musket. Shaken by the actions of the men besieging the soldiers, and quite possibly by accident, Montgomery fired into the crowd without orders from Preston. After the first shot and subsequent ragged volley from several of the other soldiers, three men lay dead in the snow, with another two mortally wounded and six others injured.

The initial newspaper reports on March 8 did not include Crispus Attucks among the dead, instead referring to a man named Michael Johnson. The Boston Chronicle's accow1t of the "most unfortunate affair" listed "A Mollatto man named Johnson" as one of the victims, but no Crisp us Attucks. The first full biography of the man later identified as Attucks appeared the same day in the Boston News-Letter.

A Mol/atto Man, named Johnson, who was born in Framingham, {Massachusetts} but lately belonging to New-Providence, and was here in order to go for North-Carolina, killed on the Spot, two Balls entering his Breast.

The March 12 edition of the Boston Gaz,ette appears to have been the first paper to name the misidentified man as Crispus Attucks, with the Boston News-Letter correcting their account of the affair on March 15 in reporting that "the name of the Mollatto killed was Crisp us Attucks, not Johnson." The fact that Attucks was known to at least some of his contemporaries as Michael Johnson supports the longheld belief that Attucks was trying to hide from llis past, a common enough practice among some sailors and especially runaway slaves.

As a "mollatto man" of mixed African and likely Native American ancestry, Attucks stood well outside mainstream white colonial society.

Standing at six feet two inches tall, Attucks was also an imposing figure, Winter 2012

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SEARCHING FOR A MARTYR

and likely an easy target for the frightened and angry soldiers. Attucks fell dead, according to the March 12 Boston Gazette, with "two balls entering his breast, one of them in special goring the right lobe of the lungs, and a great part of the liver most horribly." The facts of the case have led historian Richard Archer to conclude "whether the responsible soldier or soldiers intended to kill him may never be known, but there can be little doubt that one or two aimed at him."

Despite Attucks's notoriety in death, his life remained largely a mystery even in the immediate aftermath of the massacre. In his 1835 memoir Traits of the Tea Party, George Robert Twelves Hewes claimed to know the four other victims of the massacre, but not Crispus Attucks. The March 1770 newspaper accounts also indicate that Attucks was an itinerant sailor who did not belong to the larger Boston community. Of the four massacre victims buried the same day, the remains of Attucks and Caldwell, both "strangers," were kept at Faneuil Hall until the funeral. 1n contrast, the Hewes memoir relates that "Gray and Maverick were borne from the dwellings of their friends" to their collective final resting place in the Granary Burying Ground. The funeral itself was reportedly a spectacle not soon forgotten, with the Boston News-Letter stating on March 15 that "the aggravated circumstances of their Death, the distress and sorrow visible in every Countenance, together with the peculiar solemnity with which the whole Funeral was conducted, surpass description."

Beyond the death of Crisp us Attucks, much less is known about the man. Hewes's 1835 memoir appears to have been the main source suggestingAttucks's connection to Nantucket. William Pierce, one of the contributors to Traits of the Tea Party and an alleged Boston Tea Party participant, claimed to have remembered Attucks "distinctly, though he never saw him before." His account provided several key details about Attucks's life and role in the massacre: He remembers, also, that he [Attucks} had a large stick in his hand, and that he saw him early in this tumult harassing and abusing the sentry, poking him rather severely with the stick, and calling him a "lobster"-a popular reproach-and swearing that he would have offone of his claws. Pierce thought the soldier would hurt him, and advised him to refrain. Attucks, also-who, he says was a Nantucket Indian, belonging on board a whale-ship ofMr. Folger's, then in the harbor, (and he remembers distinctly the peculiar noise ofa frightful war-whoop which he yelled)-this Attucks he cautioned to keep off, and be careful. He declined, howeve,; though he crawled back a little, muttering, and still swearing he "would have one of his claws off."

Alexander Starbuck's Histo,y of the American Whale Fishe,y namesAbishai Folger of Nantucket as one of the whaling captains at sea in 1770, but without the name ofFolger's ship to cross-reference the ships in dock at Boston at the time, or other evidence to corroborate the story, Pierce's recollection of tl1e facts has to be treated with a degree of caution. 1n his early nineties when the memoir was published, it had been said that Pierce "still retains his faculties in remarkable vigor." Nonetheless, without additional support, Pierce's account of Attucks's connection to Nantucket z8

I Historic Nantucket

Lunette in fresco of "The Boston Massacre, 1770," by Constantino Brumidi (1805---80), 1871, located in Senate Appropriations Committee Room, S-128, north wall. COURTESY OF THE ARCHITECTS OFTHE CAPITAL

cannot be considered definitive proof.

Adding further intrigue to the story of Attucks's origins is a runawayslave advertisement that appeared in the Boston Gazette on October 2, 1750, nearly twenty years before the Boston Massacre took place. This particular advertisement became the basis for much of the speculation regarding Crisp us Attucks's alleged runaway-slave status: RAN-away from his Master William Brown of Framingham, on the 30th ofSept. last, a Molatto Fellow, about 27 Years ofAge, named Cris pas, 6 Feet two Inches high, short curl'd Hail; his Knees nearer together than common; had on a light colour'd Bearskin Coat, plain brown Fustian Jacket, or brown all-Wool one, new Buckskin Breeches, blue Yam Stockings, and a check'd woollen Shirt.

Whoever shall take up said Run-away, and convey him to his abovesaid Master, shall have ten Pounds, old Tenor Reward, and all necessa,y Charges paid. And all Masters ofVessels and others, are hereby caution'd against concealing or carrying offsaid Servant 011 Penalty ofthe Law. This ad was purportedly first discovered by C. H. Morse and was published in the October 1859 edition of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Morse also included other key details gleaned from his investigations into the aforementioned Brown fan1ily, who he believed had owned the Crispus Attucks in question: The above Crispus I presume was CrispusAmtcks, who Jell at the Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770; as I learn from a grandson of the above William Browne ofFramingham, that Crispus Attucks was a slave ofsaid Browne; and I do not learn that he ever had any other slave named Crisp us. The descendants of M,: Browne have a pewter drinking cup, worn by Attucks when he Jell, which I have seen. They have also his powder horn.

If the above runaway slave was the revolutiona,y ma rty1; he was about forty-six years old when he was killed-a much older person than is generally supposed.

The passage of time makes it nearly impossible to confirm whether the Crispas who escaped in 1750 and the Crisp us Attucks who was shot down in 1770 was in fact the same person. Still, the limited records we have and Morse's work in collecting an oral history from the Brown fan1ily ofFraniingham, Massachusetts-a fan1ily that once

owned a man named "Crispas," in a town that Crispus Attucks was known to have hailed from, according to the Boston newspapers in March 1770- at the very least offers a plausible explanation regarding Attucks's origins.

Today, opiruon regarding the massacre has shifted in favor of the victims. In the immediate aftermath of the affair, though, public reaction was far more complicated. Captain Preston and his soldiers were exonerated on the charges of murder. Only two of the nine men in question were branded on the thumbs with an "M" for manslaughter, having received "benefit of clergy." At trial the soldiers were superbly defended by John Adams, later a signer of the Declaration of Indep enden ce and second President of the United States. He asserted tha t the crowd was composed not of patriots, but rather of "a motley rabble of saucy boys, Negroes and mulattoes, Irish teagues and outlandish jacktars." Adams had argued that the mob was at fault for the events of March 5, not the soldiers on trial for their lives.

Playing to anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment, as well as to the racism prevalen t in early America, Adams made it clear to the jury that the men who assem bled on the night in question were of the lowest character tl1at Boston had to offer. In his summation, Adams particularly blamed Crisp us Attucks for what happened:

It is plain the soldiers did not leave their station, but cried to the people, stand off: now to have this reinforcement coming down under the command ofa stout Molatto fellow, whose very looks, was enough to terrify any person, what had not the soldiers then to fear?He had hardiness enough to fa ll in upon them, and with one hand took hold ofa bayonet, and with the other knocked the man down: This was the behaviour ofAttucks;-to whose mad behaviour, in all probability, the dreadfu I camage ofthat night, is chiefly to be ascribed. And it is in this manner, this town has been often treated; a Can-Jrom Ireland, and an Attucks from Framingham, happening to be here, shall sally out upon their thoughtless en terprizes, at the head ofsuch a rabble ofNegroes, &c. as they can collect together, and then there are not wanting, persons to ascribe all their doings to the good people of the town.

The m en regarded today as heroes of the cause for American independence were considered vagrants and worse by some during the soldiers' trial-an opinion that stood for many years. Adams's autobiography, writte n in the early 1800s, betrays no regrets about the trial and its outcom e, saying instead that "tl1e juries in both Cases, in my Opiruon gave correct Ve rdicts." Adams and others of a like mind played a profoundly important role in shaping the early narrative of the massacre. Crisp us Attucks was at the center of the story, but as an instigator, not as a hero.

Historical m emory of Attucks began to shift only gradually over the course of the 1800s. Once regarded solely as the man at the head of a "rabble of Negroes," W Je ffrey Bolster describes in Blackjacks how sailors of color came to regard Attucks as "tl1e seafaring martyr of the Boston Massacre." During the abolitionist struggle of the nineteenth century, the martyrization of Crisp us Attucks continued in earnest. At a March 5, 1858, commemoration of the Boston Massacre held at FaneuiJ Hall, Wendell Phillips provided one of the most eloquent reinterpretations yet oftl1e man:

I hail the 5th ofMarch as the baptism ofthe Revolution into forcible resistance; without that it would have been simply a discussion of rights. I place, therefore, this CrispusAttucks in the foremost rank ofthe men that dared. When we talk ofcourage, he rises, with his dark face, in his clothes of the laborer, his head uncovered, his arm raised above him defying bayonets ... and when the proper symbols are placed around the base ofthe statue ofWashington, one corner will be filled by the colored man defying the British muskets.

Even so, time did not soften the opiruon of some who held great authority over public memory of the cause for independence. A heated debate took place at the May 12, 1887, meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society about the proposed monument to the "martyrs" of the "so-called massacre." The minutes from the meeting make it clear that opiruon in some circles still stood against Attucks and his compatriots. Referring to the actions of a "mere mob" and the soldiers who "acted in self-defence," one member of the society concluded "thus the martyr's crown is placed upon the brow of the vulgar ruffian." A final resolution in opposition to the memorial argued "that not11ing but a misapprehension of the event styled the 'Boston Massacre' can have led to classifying these persons with t11ose entitled to grateful recognition at the public expense." The monument was raised on Boston Common in 1888, but not without controversy.

A renewed focus on the contributions of ordinary Americans to the American Revolution continued tl1e reinterpretation of the Boston Massacre in the mid- to late-twentieth century. The "new social history" movement that began in the 1960s echoed Wendell Phillips's earlier belief in 1858 that "Revolution always begins with the populace, never with the leaders." In reassessing the Revolution, and the contributions of Americans with names other than Washington, Jefferson, and Adams, historians and students began to rethink the role that men like Attucks p layed in the fight for independence.

Had Attucks stayed off the streets ofBoston the night of March 5, 1770, his life would have passed unnoticed. His fateful decision to join the fray, whatever his motives, has instead ensured that we continue to study and discuss his life-fragmentary as the evidence may be.

However we view Crispus Attucks and the competing narratives of his role in the Boston Massacre told since 1770, his journey from victim, to ruffian, to hero and martyr reflects how difficult it can be to objectively assess the past. Attucks's status in colonial society as a sailor and man of mixed-race background, let alone the possibility that he was a runaway slave, meant that like most people living at the time he failed to leave behind a paper trail for historians to follow.

John Adams said himself during tl1e Boston Massacre trial that t11e "facts are stubborn t11ings." Consequently, as hard as we strive to assign meaning or motive to his actions in the Boston Massacre, or try to substantiate various claims about his past, Crispus Attucks will likely remain to us as much of an enigma as he was to the people of Boston in 1770.

Justin A. Pariseau is an Adjunct Professor of History at Prairie State College in

Chicago Heights, Illinois. His article on the mutiny aboard the whaleship Potomac appeared in the fall 2008 issue of Historic Nantucket.

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BY MARK A. SUTHERLAND

Reconstructing theEssex In 2011, because no accurate model ofone ofNantucket's most famous whaleships was on display for visitors to the Whaling Museum, the Nantucket Historical Association commissioned experienced model-maker Mark Sutherland to create a model of the whaleship Essex for the permanent collection. What follows is Mark's account ofhis ship model. -Ed.

I side from the small Nickerson sketches, made decades after the loss of the Essex, there are no other visual images of the ship.At the time it was built, in 1799, drawn plans were almost never used, the design of the vessel being determined by a carved half-model. So to reconstruct the Essex, the most reliable source of information is period paintings. In designing the model, paintings of the ship Spe,mo of Nantucket, by John Fisher, were used as the primary reference. These depict a whaleship of the early 1820s and may be regarded as fairly typical.

During this period, whaleships were different from the later and better-known types, as represented by the Charles W Morgan, currently preserved at Mystic Seaport. They were smaller, carried only three active whaleboats, had a smaller crew, and had a number of other differing details, such as the windlass barrel located abaft the foremast.

The rig and some other details were taken from a design of The Essex model in progress. a small merchant ship

by Christian Burg, 1804, as illustrated in Howard I. Chapelle's book, The Search for Speed Under Sail, 1700-1855.

These references, plus an intimate knowledge of nineteenthcentury hull shapes through the carving of numerous half-models, led to my design interpretation of the Essex. In the end, it was designed and carved from white pine by "wrack of eye" with a few pencil lines drawn on the block to guide in the roughing with the band saw. This is probably how the original ship was designed as well.

A ship model is a work of art, and that is what I wanted this model 20

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Historic Nantucket

The finished Essex model by Mark Sutherland

to be, so aesthetic considerations were of primary importance. The paint and materials were carefully chosen to reflect my own artistic sensibility.

Ships of this period commonly had a buff or tan broad stripe between the waterline and the rail. On the model, this was represented by an inlay of Swiss pear wood, which when finished with orange shellac, gave the desired color to contrast with the black hull. This was enhanced by two very thin strips of wood painted dark red, which border the buff stripe.

The deck was laid of apple wood, cut from my own backyard.

Deck furniture was made from cherry, painted dark green, which was a popular color aboard ship during the early nineteenU1 century.

I made the trim on these structures of carefully selected bone from a sperm-whale jaw. This was also used for hatch coall1ings, rails, boat davits, and other details. Using whalebone also helped connect the model to the folk-art tradition of scrimshaw, as practiced by whalemen aboard ship.

The bottom was painted in layers of color applied as a stipple, and built up to look like tarnished copper.

Masts and spars were made from antique white pine, from a nineteenth-century house. This is quite different from contemporary pine, as the grain is very tight, and the wood is a lovely honey brown when finished.

The base is rosewood, trin1med with ebony. An inlay of bird's-eye maple was inset to reflect light onto the bottom of the model and add contrast.

The case is mahogany, and the case floor Spanish cedar, finished to provide contrast to the base and model.

The desired effect was of a well-considered and framed three dimensional painting with the atmosphere of early-nineteenthcentury Nantucket.

Mark A. Sutherland has been a professional craftsman since 1979. He specializes in models of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century ships and boats, along with scrimshaw artifacts, decorative ship carving, and

figureheads.

â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ News Notes &Highlights UPCOMING EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS

Hadwen & Barney and The Nantucket Corner With twenty thou and artifacts in the NHA collections, we are proud that a full ten percent of the museum's collections are currently on display (twice the national average for museums).

However, we aim to have an even greater proportion of the collections on display for the public to enjoy Nantucket's historical treasures. In 2012, we are installing an artifact-rich display in the Hadwen & Barney Oil & Candle Factory, loading the walls and rafters with fascinating items that have been in storage until now.

These items will reflect major themes of antucket history: business and commerce, intellectual history, boom and bust, art colony and resort, and more.

The Hadwen & Barney exhibition will also feature newly commissioned illustrations by the author and illustrator team of Mark Foster and Gerald L. Foster (of Whale Port fame) showing in vivid terms exactly "how it worked" in the refinery. The Fosters will create a large bird's-eye view of the whole facility and the refining process, along with detailed illustrations of the oil lever press ("beam press") and the seasonal oil refining and candJemaking process. The public will be able to learn in accessible graphic detail how the building functioned as a working factory, something that has been cloaked in obscurity until now. Their eyes will also feast on a rich visual tapestry of artifacts from the collections lavishly in tailed in the spacious enclosure of the large brick factory, in the tradition of the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and other object-rich displays around the world. Another highlight will be a vignette of a " an tucket Attic" created in the rafters of the factory, evoking the great tradition oft:reasures hou ed in attic

spaces and home museums on island.

The Island Home Gallery will be reborn next year as The Nantucket Corner. The space will offer a relaxing atmosphere for visitors to settle into comfortable couches and corner Hadwen & Barney Oil & Candle Factory chairs and delve into I prior to new installations the deep historical resources of the Nantucket Historical Association. Surrounded by precious whaling logs, first editions of Moby-Dick, and other treasures, visitors will be able to explore all the NHA collections through digital databases, to enjoy oral histories and videos, and to read digitized whaling logs firsthand. The Nantucket Corner will offer a portal to the NHA's broader resources, especially the rich treasures of the Research Library, but also to the historic properties and other areas of the organization's programs and collections.

The new installations in Hadwen & Barney and The Nantucket

Corner will premiere for a Members Preview opening on Thursday, May 24, 2012, and will open to the general public on Friday May 25, 2012.

Two Brothers Prentlere In June, tl1e Whaling Museum will showcase the world premiere exhibition of material from the wreck in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands of the Nantucket whaleship Two Brothers, the final chapter in former Essex Captain George Pollard Jr.'s ill-fated seafaring career. Offered in collaboration with NOAA, the exhibition Lost on a Reefwill present findings and artifacts from nearly two years of survey and research by maritime archaeologists from NOM's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries on the shipwreck site of the Nantucket whaleship Two Brothers, wrecked on a stormy night at French Frigate Shoals on February 11, 1823.

Lost on a Reef. The Wreck ofthe Two Brothers, will open to the public on June NOAA marine archeologist Kelly Gleason on the Two Brothers wreck site

30, 2012. NOAA~ Dr. Kelly Gleason will speak on the project at the Whaling Museum on August 17, 2012.

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The 1886 Fire Hose-Cart House at 8 Gardner St.,

I 1963. P4408

Fire Hose-Cart House Restoration Following up on the overwhelming success of the restoration of the NHA's restored Greater Light property at 8 Howard Street, the updating of the Fire Hose-Cart House at 8 Gardner Street is now under way. Built in 1886, forty years after the Great Fire of 1846 destroyed much of downtown Nantucket, the structure was one of several such firehouses built by town authorities to accommodate firefighting equipment.

The restoration project was made possible in part by a grant from the Nantucket Community Preservation Committee, and is in line with the NHA's goal of restoring one historic property per year. The vision for the Fire Hose-Cart House includes m ultiple updated displays and artifacts, as well as an interactive exhibit that will offer in-depth interpretations of the history of fires on Nantucket.

The first step in the restoration process was clearing out the structure and moving the artifacts to the Gosnold Center for safekeeping over the winter. That process was made possible with the help of the Nantucket Fire Department's Chief Mark McDougal and Deputy Chief Ed Maxwell and members of the NHA staff. The restoration process will last through the spring, and the property is scheduled to be reopened in May 2012.

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exceed expectations as we carry out our rnr.;sion • • of education and preservation. We are g teful for • •

•you • •

your generosity and look forward to seei often at the NHA's upcoming programs, e member gatherings, and special events.

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35th Annual August Antiques Show August 3-6, 2012 It's that time again: Mark your calendar for the 2012 August Antiques Show (August 3-6). This year the show will be extended by a day and close on Monday, August 6, at 3 P.M. The NHA's August Antiques Show is recognized among dealers and collectors as a major show on the antiques circuit, and proceeds from the show help support the NHA's mission to collect, preserve, and educate for generations to come. This year's show will be chaired by Anne Marie Bratton along with vice chair Elizabeth Milias. The show begin on Tuesday, July 31, with the lecture sponsored by the Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association . The Preview Party will be on Thursday, August 2, under the festive white tent at Bartlett's Farm, 33 Bartlett Farm Road. The Antiques Show Cocktail Party and Dinner, again graciously underwritten by Trianon/Seaman Schepps, will be held on Saturday, August 4. The NHA board and Antiques Show Committee are delighted to annow1ce this year's Honorary Chairs: Carolyn and Ian Mackenzie.

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I Anne Marie and Doug Bratton

Visit our Web site for more information www.nha.org.

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Carolyn and Ian Mackenzie

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New NHA Staff Members ~ VE THE

Joan Galon King joined the Nantucket Historical Association as

Director of Membership and Development in January of this year. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from St. Joseph's University, and spent the last twenty-one years building an impressive resume as a development officer. Her past positions include working with the Foundation for New Jersey Public Broadcasting, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Liberty Science Center. She most recently served as Chief Advancement Officer at Bancroft. "I am passionate about Nantucket and I am delighted to have the opportunity to join the NHA and contribute to moving its mission forward," said King. In her new position as Director of Membership and Development, Joan will be responsible for overseeing all fund-raising efforts at the NHA, as well as working directly with the NHA membership to ensure the continued financial well-being of the association.

Karyn Lindsay has joined the staff as Development Associate. Since moving to Nantucket in 1979, Karyn has immersed herself in the Nantucket community, with active roles in island nonprofits, the public schools, and health and human service organizations. From 1993 to 2003, Karyn served as the founding director of the Nantucket Public Schools' Extended Day Program (presently the Community Network for Children), and from 1998 to 2003, as the Executive Director of the Nantucket Community School. Beginning in 1998, Karyn served in a variety of leadership positions with the Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention, Inc., including treasurer, president, and executive director.

Val&!

SATURDAY, MAY 19

I Joan Galon King

To benefit the Nantucket Historical Association WHITE ELEPHANT

THURS., MAY 24

Memberd 'PrwieJJJ

New Exhibits in the Hadwen & Barney Oil & Candle Factory and The Nantucket Corner

I Karyn Lindsay

HADWEN & BARNEY, WHALING MUSEUM

SATURDAY, MAY 26

Restored Fire Hose-Cart House Open to Public Historic Properties Open for Season

Claire White joins as the Education and Outreach Coordinator. She received a B.A. in History with a minor in Secondary Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an M.A. in Public History with a concentration in Museum Studies at the University of South Carolina. She began her career in the public-history field in 2005 as a docent at the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas. Prior to joining the NHA, she was finishing her M.A. and working as a graduate assistant with

AUGUST 3-6

Claire White

35thAugustAntiques Show Friends of the NHA Lecture: Tuesday, July 31

Preview Party: Thursday, Aug. 2 Cocktail Party & Dinner: Saturday, August 4

the federally funded Teaching American Hi tory program at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

NOVEMBER 21- 25

Nantucket native Michelle Cartwright Soverino was hired last year as Membership & Development Coordinator. Soverino is a thirteenthgeneration Nantucketer. She earned her bachelor's degree from the

14th Festival of Wreaths Preview Party: Tuesday, Nov. 20

Michelle Cartwright Soverino

American University of Paris. Before joining the NHA staff, Michelle worked at the Egan Maritime Institute, where she assisted with the organization's capital campaign and served as a marketing and development as ociate.

Festival Hours: W ednesday- Sunday, November 21-November 25 WHALING MUSEUM

NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 17

Also new in 2011 was Melissa Kershaw, the NHA's Outreach & Public Programs Coordinator. Kershaw has a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts and a master's degree and graduate certificate in museum studies from Harvard University Extension

19th Festival of Trees Preview Party: Thursday, Nov. 29 Festival Hours: Thursday- Monday, Nov. 30-Dec. 17

School. She has over fifteen years of experience in museum education

Reopens December 26 & 27

and interactive programming development. At the Peabody Essex Museum, she developed educational programs focusing on art, culture, history, and nature.

Wine Auction Dinner at the Nantucket Wme Festival

and January 2 & 3, 20 13

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Melissa Kershaw

WHALING MUSEUM

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P ERIODICAL

Historic Nantucket P. O . B ox 10 16 , N ANTUCKET, MA 02554 - 10 16

POSTAGE PAID AT NANTUCKET, MA AND ADDIT IONAL

WWW. NHA.ORG

E NTRY OFFICES

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THE HERITAGE SOCIETY PLANNING TODAY FOR THE

(/ he Nantucket Historical Association invites you to become a member of the Heritage Society and to join forward-looking members who have included the NHA in their estate plans.

The Heritage Society recognizes individuals who have made gifts of artifacts, cash, or real estate to the NHA through their estate plans.

Planned gifts take many forms and support the

NHA'S

TOMORROW

association in myriad ways-from building the permanent endowment to expanding the artifact collections. New members are recognized at the Annual Meeting in July and presented with an ivory whale lapel pin carved by scrimshander Nancy Chase, who is both a Heritage Society member and a past trustee of the NHA.

For information, consult with your personalfinancial advisor and contadJoan Galon King, diredor ofmembership and development.

508 228 1894,

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EMAIL: JKING@NHA.ORG