Historic Nantucket
Winter 2010 Volume 60, No. 4
A Publication of the Nantucket Historical Association
Presidential Visits
to Nantucket: GRANT TO WILSON ★★★
Nantucket Presidential
DOCUMENTS: WASHINGTON TO FDR ★★★
SERENDIPITY IN THE RESEARCH LIBRARY: Gleanings from the Collections
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
Board of Trustees
Historic Nantucket A Publication of the Nantucket Historical Association
Winter 2010
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Vol. 60, No. 4
Janet L. Sherlund, PRESIDENT Kenneth L. Beaugrand, 1ST VICE PRESIDENT
★ ★ ★
PRESIDENTIAL ISSUE
★ ★ ★
Hampton S. Lynch Jr., 2ND VICE PRESIDENT Thomas J. Anathan, TREASURER
4
William R. Congdon, CLERK William J. Boardman Constance Cigarran
Presidential Visits to Nantucket: Grant to Wilson ERIK INGMUNDSON
Franci N. Crane
Sitting chief executives visit the “elbow of sand.”
Denis H. Gazaille Nancy A. Geschke Whitney A. Gifford Georgia Gosnell, TRUSTEE EMERITA Susan Zises Green
12 Nantucket Presidential Documents: Washington to FDR
Nina S. Hellman Kathryn L. Ketelsen FRIENDS OF THE NHA REPRESENTATIVE
Mary D. Malavase
BEN SIMONS
Sarah B. Newton Anne S. Obrecht
Presidents from Washington to FDR leave their mark on Nantucket history.
Elizabeth T. Peek Christopher C. Quick Laura C. Reynolds
15 Serendipity in the Research Library: Gleanings from the Collections
David Ross FRIENDS OF THE NHA REPRESENTATIVE
L. Dennis Shapiro Nancy M. Soderberg Bette M. Spriggs
ELIZABETH OLDHAM
Jason A. Tilroe
Sharing unexpected treasures
EX OFFICIO
William J. Tramposch EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Editorial Committee Richard L. Duncan
3
Peter J. Greenhalgh
From the Executive Director WILLIAM J . TRAMPOSCH
Amy Jenness Cecil Barron Jensen
18 NHA News Notes
Robert F. Mooney Elizabeth Oldham Nathaniel Philbrick Bette M. Spriggs
ON THE COVER: On his cruise in June 1933, a storm caused FDR’s yacht Amberjack II to be rerouted, and it lay over in Nantucket Harbor before proceeding to the Roosevelts’ summer home in Campobello. Photo by H. Marshall Gardiner (1894–1942).
James Sulzer Ben Simons EDITOR
Elizabeth Oldham COPY EDITOR
Historic Nantucket welcomes articles on any aspect of Nantucket history. Original research; firsthand accounts; reminiscences of island experiences; historic logs, letters, and photographs are examples of materials of interest to our readers.
Eileen Powers/Javatime Design
©2010 by the Nantucket Historical Association
DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION
Historic Nantucket (ISSN 0439-2248) is published by the Nantucket Historical Association, 15 Broad Street, Nantucket, Massachusetts. Periodical postage paid at Nantucket, MA, and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Historic Nantucket, P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554 –1016; (508) 228–1894; fax: (508) 228–5618, info@nha.org For information log on to www.nha.org
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Printed in the USA on recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks.
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Of Birds and Bigwigs, Museums and More...
O
BILL TRAMPOSCH
ur emergence from the
understanding; awareness comes when
differences; and they prepare us to adapt
national maelstrom of mid-
we know where we have been and from
to ever-uncertain times by reacquainting
being able to adapt constantly to
us with life’s constants.
term elections provides
Historic Nantucket with an opportunity to
change. Museums, libraries, and
focus on the fascinating matter of
historical associations provide relative
and from the other side of the globe, New
Presidential visits to Nantucket. While the
still points in a turning world, a world
Zealand poet Allen Curnow wrote:
various stories in this issue remind us of
that all too often might seem without
the actual lives of our nation’s chief
order or sense.
executives, their comings and goings
In the wake of 9/11, The Metropolitan
Not long after FDR’s visit to Nantucket,
The Skeleton of the Great Moa in the Canterbury Museum,Christchurch
have all occurred within a larger context:
Museum of Art experienced near-
our vibrant democracy. And, in a
record attendance as people from all
democracy it is we, the people, who
backgrounds fled the horrors of the
actually carry the awesome responsibility
hour in search of places that offered
of leading ourselves and of determining
reassurance and comfort from those
the directions in which our elected
confetti-crazed and chemically laden
officials take us. Fittingly, at key times, it
skies above New York. Certainly, people
Interesting failure to adapt on islands,
is our own single vote that counts as
were looking for architectural cover,
Taller but not more fallen than I, who come
much as that cast by the gentleman on
but they also sought the cover of
Bone to his bone, peculiarly New Zealand’s.
our cover. “E Pluribus Unum” places
Culture. They craved confirmation that
The eyes of children flicker round this tomb
great weight upon the shoulders of each
the day would pass, that life would go
American citizen, and—while doing so—
on; and they huddled around heritage
Under the skylights, wonder at the huge egg
it also offers us unlimited opportunities.
for this assurance.
Found in a thousand pieces, pieced together
The Founding Fathers debated long
Museums, libraries, and historical
The skeleton of the moa on iron crutches Broods over no great waste; a private swamp Was where this tree grew feathers once, that hatches Its dusty clutch, and guards them from the damp.
But with less patience than the bones that dug
about how much authority to give to
associations provide the perspective we
American citizens. Throughout the
require in bad times and good. They are
debates, however, the underlying
the cultural keels for our ships of state.
Not I, some child, born in a marvelous year,
assumption was always based on this:
They bring us together; and they help
Will learn the trick of standing upright here.
that citizens would be engaged in and
us to stand and face the great
informed about this “great experiment.”
possibilities we have to play an active
By now, close readers may be guessing
and informed part in determining our
where I am going with this column:
future. Quite simply, museums,
straight to the crucial role of museums,
libraries, and historical associations
libraries, and historical associations.
make better citizens: They nurture our
WILLIAM J. TRAMPOSCH
Decisions require perspective and
tolerance; they help us to celebrate our
Executive Director
In time deep shelter against ocean weather:
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Presidential Visits
to Nantucket: Grant to Wilson By Erik Ingmundson
★
Ulysses Simpson Grant
President Grant came to visit Nantucket in late August 1874. On August 20, 1874, Nantucketer Joseph Barney sent the following message to President Grant: Mr. President: Several of our leading citizens hearing that you are visiting our sister Island of Martha’s Vineyard, desire me to express to you the great pleasure it would give us to have you extend the favor of a visit to the Island of Nantucket. Should it be agreeable to you to accede to our wishes, I beg to offer you and your suite the hospitality of the steamer that would convey you hither, of the Ocean House, where we would be happy to make you as comfortable as possible during your stay, and of the Island generally. Trusting your engagements will permit you to gratify us with your presence, I remain,Very Respectfully, your obedient servant, JOSEPH S. BARNEY
Near the end of his Presidency, Grant observed, “It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to the office of Chief Executive without any previous political training.” Historians note that his primary weakness as a politician was his cronyism. Colleagues and friends who had been loyal to him during earlier years were rewarded with appointments. Even if they proved incompetent or corrupt, Grant was unlikely to fire them.
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Ocean House, circa 1870s, by J. Freeman. P6373
Left: Frederick C. Sanford, carte de visite.
Right: Joseph Barney, colored salt print, artist unknown NHA COLLECTION, GIFT OF LEWIS COOPER, 1997.0031.008 The steamers River Queen and Island Home at Steamboat Wharf, 1870s. P20247 In 1874, when he came to Nantucket, his administration was mired in scandals, although he himself was not directly implicated in any of them. The previous year, in 1873, Congress had concluded its investigation into the Credit Mobilier scandal. The scandal was the result of railroad companies massively overcharging for lucrative government contracts. Public officials had been bribed to remain silent. Even Grant’s vice president, Schuyler Colfax, was implicated. Grant was also locking horns with Congress on various matters. Beginning in 1872, he had attempted to implement civil service reform, in order to better regulate the hiring or promotion of government employees. However, Congress would not pursue legislation to make these efforts a permanent possibility. Grant was a Republican, and during his bid for reelection in 1872, his party was divided. One faction, known as the “Liberal Republicans,” split off. They nominated Horace Greeley as their Presidential candidate. The Democrats, elated at their opposition’s division, threw their support behind Greeley as well. Greeley, however, proved no match for Grant, who crushed him in the general election. At the time of Grant’s visit, it was reported that Nantucket’s population was 4,200—a far cry from the glory days of whaling, when it numbered over 10,000. The tourist economy was taking root. The Inquirer and Mirror reported that 3,800 tourists had visited the island by mid-August 1874 and noted that “The island has passed its lowest point of depression and decay. Henceforth it has an assured career of prosperity. Land and houses can still be purchased at low prices, but real estate is rising in value. A good many homesteads have been recently bought and improved by citizens of Boston, New York, and Albany. New facilities are furnished for reaching the island with speed and without discomfort . . . nearly all who come once have a desire to come again.” Interestingly, when President Grant visited Nantucket in 1874, one of the most pressing municipal issues of the day was the
location of the new Civil War monument. Despite his strained relationship with Congress and his own political party and the various scandals swirling around his subordinates, Grant was still popular with the American people. His strong leadership of the Union Army during the Civil War made him a revered and recognizable figure throughout much of the country. This popularity was evident during his visit to Nantucket. These days, when we think of Presidential visits, images of legions of men in dark suits wearing ear buds, motorcades of black SUVs, and a large assortment of security gear come to mind. Everything is planned and carefully orchestrated. President Grant’s visit was light years away from that scenario. The visit was impromptu. Mr. Barney’s invitation was sent to him on August 20, and President Grant arrived on August 28. There had been a little planning, but not much. He arrived at about 9:00 in the morning, aboard the steamship River Queen. The River Queen was a familiar vessel for President Grant. It was his private dispatch boat on the Potomac in 1865. President Lincoln, General Sherman, and Grant negotiated with Confederate VicePresident Stephens aboard the vessel near the end of the Civil War. It just happened that this very vessel was being used to make regular crossings to Nantucket when President Grant came to the island. He must have had many memories during his trip. He disembarked at around 10. There was, reportedly, a bit of a security presence there, as the the I&M reported: Police had been stationed at the head of the wharf, to prevent the passage and blocking up of teams that did not belong to the party, and lower down the passage of unauthorized pedestrians was vetoed. As the boat neared the wharf a Presidential salute was fired from the guns on Commercial wharf, and as the party made its appearance the cheers were enthusiastic.
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Presidential Visits continued The President and his wife were met by Frederick Sanford, perhaps the town’s most prominent citizen, who took them on a little carriage ride through town, which generated great excitement. Here’s what the I&M reported: As the party fairly turned into the Main street the carriages passed between two lines of children from the Sunday schools, who gleefully waved their handkerchiefs and fairly stormed the Presidential carriage and its occupants with bouquets. An interesting episode of the Presidential visit here . . . was the introduction of Gen. Grant to Friend George Easton, who, though far advanced in his ninetieth year, has all his faculties in full vigor, and still performs, every day, an amount of downright hard labor that would put many a young man to shame. The president stopped the carriage on the route specifically to shake Mr. Easton by the hand, with a word of hearty congratulation in view of his great age and the wonderful endurance of all his powers, physical and mental. Everywhere the party was received with cheers, bows, and the waving of flags and handkerchiefs to which they duly responded, and many a young lady slept more sweetly last night because she deemed the President had bowed specially to her. Far be it from us to disturb her dreams.
President Grant was transported to the Ocean House, where he and his party arrived to “partake of a collation.” The building’s interior was decorated with flags, and a great number of flowers. A “collation” is defined as “a light meal that may be permitted on days of general fast.” Let me share the following menu, and see if you consider this to be true “collation,” or some dry sarcasm on the part of the journalist. The menu for their meal was as follows: Cold meats, turkey, chicken, roast beef, lamb, ham and tongue; salads, lobster and chicken. Dessert, cakes, Charlotte Russe, lemon and wine jellies, ice cream, pears, peaches, bananas, apples, and grapes . . . our islanders taking hold and seeing that each guest was fully served, and no display of speeches was even attempted. For so short a notice as our hosts of the Ocean House received, the lunch was excellent.
(Grant may have smoked a few cigars as he digested his early lunch, as he was known to have smoked nearly twenty of them every day.) The collation and socializing ending at a little before noon, the President was being transported to Steamboat Wharf, and the I&M reported what might have been a calamitous occurrence: As the party was leaving the Ocean House for the boat the horses of Mr. Sanford, becoming a little uneasy from the demonstrations of the crowd, caught one rein under the harness, and before it could be gotten out the animals were under pretty good headway down Broad Street. Mr. Sanford, on getting control, promptly reined up to a tree, and Mrs. Grant and Councilor Macy alighted, preferring to trust their feet for the remainder of the distance. The President retained his seat,
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President Arthur on an off-island fishing expedition. however, and was, without further trouble, carried to the boat.
Being a graduate of West Point, President Grant was skilled in horsemanship. This wasn’t the first time he’d encountered a horse that was spooked. It’s humorous, though, to imagine the President sitting in a runaway buggy pounding down Broad Street. He departed for Hyannis aboard the River Queen at around 12:00. One last nugget on President Grant from the Inquirer and Mirror: A JOKE OF PRESIDENT GRANT—While on the passage from New York to Newport in steamship City of Peking, outside of Long Island, Mrs. Grant and some of the passengers were seasick. The President remarked that the name of the steamer should be changed to the City of Puking.
★
Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur was the second President to visit Nantucket. He came to our fair isle on September 7, 1882. He may have been among the most underestimated Presidents, but it can be argued that Arthur’s facial hair was unique in Presidential history. Vice President to James A. Garfield, Arthur assumed the presidency in 1881, after Garfield’s assassination. It was a traumatic period in the nation’s history, not even twenty years since President Lincoln had fallen to an assassin’s bullet. Garfield’s death, however, was slow and painful; he lingered some two months before dying on September 19, 1881. Garfield was a charismatic figure, having served in the army with distinction during the Civil War and achieving the rank of major general. Arthur, in contrast, was viewed as a product of the political machine,
Arthur. Among the Presidents there was only one of Dutch descent, MartinVan Buren.
Secretary of the Treasury Charles J. Folger, a Nantucket native.
Certificate for The Nantucket Agricultural Society, 1856. MS171
The race is law-abiding, and from the best information I can gain, there was only one Scotch Irishman hanged in the State of Massachusetts, James McElhaney, for the murder of his wife. Judge Sutherland, of New York, recently stated that during his long service as a criminal judge, only one Scotch-Irishman was brought before him accused of crime, and he was acquitted. All honor to the names of Lafayette, DeGrass, Fluny, DeKalp, and Steuben. President Arthur may well be proud of his race, and he can look with contempt on his slanderers, who can trace their descent back to some British jail or prison-ship. Yours Respectfully, JOHN GRAY.
and not so much a man of the people. The son of a Baptist preacher, he was born into a family of modest means. He pursued higher education, however, earning a law degree, and practicing law in New York City. He enjoyed parties, socializing, and fine clothes. During his Presidency, he spent roughly $30,000 of public money on renovating the White House, which equates to about $2 million today. Imagine a chief executive doing that now! He emerged in politics by serving as the Collector of the Port of New York, where he honed his skills as an administrator. Arthur was a close associate of U. S. Senator Roscoe Conkling, a Republican Party boss. Conkling was a strong opponent of Civil Service Reform, and fought to preserve the “spoils system”—the practice of rewarding political cronies with government positions, rather than hiring based on objective standards. The Republican Party was split into two factions in 1881: the “Stalwarts” and the “Half Breeds.” Interestingly, Conkling had backed Ulysses Grant for re-election in 1880, and Garfield’s nomination and eventual election was essentially a compromise between those two factions. After Garfield’s election, he and Arthur openly feuded. Arthur was a staunch Stalwart Republican, while his superior took a moderate position. Garfield’s death provided Arthur an opportunity to reshape the chief executive’s agenda as he saw fit. Many thought that President Arthur would be a puppet of the Conkling/New York political machine, and many questioned his competence. Nantucketers were no exception. The I&M produced a somewhat comical letter to the editor, which was printed on October 8, 1881, shortly after Arthur assumed the Presidency.
Ultimately, President Arthur was able to prove himself a competent leader, and he did not have to call attention to his Scotch-Irish ancestry to do so. For example, he proved to be a political pragmatist. When his party fared poorly in mid-term elections, he changed his position on Civil Service Reform, and enacted landmark legislation in 1883. He also had a little help from Nantucket. President Arthur’s Secretary of the Treasury was a fellow named Charles J. Folger—a native son of Nantucket! Mr. Folger was born on Nantucket in 1818. His family lived there until 1830, when they relocated to Geneva, New York. Mr. Folger attended Hobart College, and graduated when he was eighteen. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He worked his way up through the ranks, serving as a judge, and as a state senator in New York. Although he enjoyed his time in the judicial branch, it was said that “he was always attracted by the excitement and lured by the possible prizes of active politics.” Folger served with distinction until his death in 1884. And so it was that on September 7, 1882, President Arthur paid a visit to the island. He traveled aboard the U.S.S. Dispatch. He came ashore at Steamboat Wharf at noon, and, as the I&M reported:
While the nation is mourning the loss of its beloved President, some are trying to slander and abuse his successor. General Chester A. Arthur is a Vermonter, and not a Canadian, as stated in some of the newspapers. He is a Scotch-Irishman by parentage. Of the twenty Presidents of the United States the Scotch and ScotchIrish have furnished about nine, viz: James Monroe, James Madison, James K. Polk, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Chester A.
Surfside railroad station, 1880s, F629. Winter 2010
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Presidential Visits continued ★
Nantucket Railroad Engine No. 1 leaving Steamboat Wharf on July 5, 1901. GPN3921 Right: Pacific Club, 1890s. GPN4359
An eager throng was assembled, who received the nation’s chief with waving kerchiefs and three rousing cheers, in response to which Mr. Arthur tipped his hat in graceful acknowledgment. Declining any formal reception, the President stated that he desired simply to see the town and its objects of interest. Having accepted an invitation to the hospitalities of the house of Mr. F. C. Sanford, the party were driven to Mr. Sanford’s, thence to the residences of Hon. Charles O’Conor, and Hon. Henry A.Willard of Washington D.C., and also visited the Cattle Show. The President next called at the Pacific Club Rooms, by invitation, and was introduced to the members and many friends who were present. He expressed gratification in meeting so many of the master mariners, of whose adventures and successes, as well as the general history of Nantucket, he had become somewhat familiar with.
He also traveled out to Surfside aboard the Nantucket Railroad, and spent a half hour or so, enjoying the fresh air out there. He then returned to town with his entourage, visited the Atheneum, then returned to F. C. Sanford’s house. At around 5 P.M., he left Steamboat Wharf and returned to the Dispatch. Apparently, before departing, President Arthur said that he had enjoyed his afternoon on Nantucket very much, and that he hoped to return some day. He never did. He died in 1885, after a long battle with Bright’s disease, a kidney ailment he had kept secret throughout his administration.
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Benjamin Harrison
The third President to come ashore here was Benjamin Harrison, who paid a very brief visit in August 1890. President Harrison is often overlooked. Chances are that you couldn’t pick him out in a crowd. Why? Because he stood but five feet, six inches tall. His Democratic foes called him “Little Ben.” Most people know him as the guy sandwiched between Grover Cleveland’s two terms in office. Harrison was the grandson of a previous president, William Henry Harrison. However, as far as his status as chief executive, this did little to bolster his political reputation, given that William Henry Harrison still holds the record for the shortest presidential tenure of all time—thirty-one days, twelve hours, and thirty minutes. When Harrison ran for governor of Indiana in 1876, the Democrats called him “kid gloves Harrison.” He preferred wearing gloves made of “kid” (young goatskin), when making public appearances, perhaps because of exzema, or some similar skin condition. In any case, the unfortunate nickname proved his undoing in 1876, though the “kid gloves” remained. Despite his early setbacks, Harrison persevered, and served as a United States Senator through the 1880s. He earned a reputation as an aggressive champion of causes for Native Americans, homesteaders, and veterans of the Civil War. In the election of 1888, he faced off against incumbent president Grover Cleveland. As was typical for the era in which he lived, Harrison ran a “front porch” campaign. He did not travel around the country, courting voters. Instead, he made speeches from Indiana, while his allies and party bosses campaigned on his behalf out on the road. The election of 1888 was testy indeed. The country was sharply divided. Nantucketers were quite engaged in Presidential politics. This excerpt from the Inquirer and Mirror will probably provide insight into where the majority of them stood, politically: REPUBLICANS! Stand by your Colors! Once more all are on the eve of an important election, and once more we are brought face to face with a party whose tactics are now, as they ever have been,“divide and conquer.” Are you ready for the battle? One of three or four things you will certainly do —which shall it be? Perhaps you will, on one pretext or another, stay at home. This were [sic] an easy escape from duty, but as a patriot and a good citizen, responsible for the power you hold in your hands, as a voter, dare you do this? Or it may be that you will vote for the Prohibition candidate, the sole issue of which party is legislation for temperance, ignoring all other political questions, however important, as of little or no account. This you will do although you know the Republican candidate is a staunch temperance man. This, too, with the certain knowledge that
your vote will be counted for the Democrats and the saloons. Tell me honestly as a man and a Christian, is this the thing you mean to do? Remember when you cast your ballot, and do not forget it, that today the Government is administered by ex–Rebels, who twenty-five years ago were trying to destroy it. Remember that forty-five out of fifty-five of the chairmanships of the House committees are from the Southern States, while the wealth, intelligence, and business enterprise of the country is represented by Northern brains.
Right: Temperance pamphlet, 1890. MS481-21-1
We are proud also of our standard bearers. Contrast the candidate, General Harrison, the Christian soldier and statesman, and Mr. Morton, the philanthropist, with the Democratic nominees, Cleveland and Thurman, the former pretended champion of reform, to which pretense his whole administration down to this hour gives the lie direct. . . .
It is evident that temperance was one of the major issues of the day. The Republicans did not want to lose votes to the Prohibition Party. The Inquirer and Mirror tried to do its part to dissuade people from supporting the Prohibition Party. Here’s the best example; it dates to November 3, 1888—right before the election. INCONSISTENT—A prominent Prohibitionist advertises in the last issue of the Journal, “Real Estate for Sale.” His party should look him up.
So how do you think Nantucket voted in the election of 1888? 487 votes for Harrison, 215 for Cleveland, and 13 for the Prohibition candidate. Harrison lost the popular vote to Cleveland by nearly 100,000 votes. But he crushed him in the Electoral College, 233 to 168. Needless to say, most Nantucketers were pleased with Harrison’s victory. A couple of tidbits from the Inquirer and Mirror, following the election: The Republican Party has been re–invested with power, and the Democratic Party passes into retirement on the 4th of March next, yet the Republic will survive the change as it has often done before.
And on the lighter side: Some political parties are like galleries for statues. They are noted for their “busts.” Some Englishmen will call our national election “beastly.” But it was a natural selection. A friend of ours has a whooping cough. It is his spasm to whoop it up for Harrison and Morton.
Nantucketers were clearly engaged in the political process. In 1889, just after Mr. Harrison was inaugurated, it was announced that an “Inauguration Club” had been formed. Here’s a description:
Left: Senator Spooner’s house on ’Sconset’s North Bluff. GPN2489
A number of ladies and gentlemen, without regard to political creed, have organized a club for appropriately observing inauguration days. Its first meeting was held at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Smith, Orange Street, March 4, 1889, and after discussing a turkey dinner at 6 P.M. passed the evening in patriotic recitations, speeches, and songs. At 10 P.M. cake and ice cream were served. The club numbers just seventeen life members and will meet again March 4, 1893, wind and weather permitting. A club that meets only once in four years, without a president, secretary, or treasurer, is certainly an original and novel idea. It will not be likely to increase its membership till the next inauguration day draws near, when fellowship therein will doubtless become very popular.
The visit itself happened in mid-August 1890, on a Sunday. President Harrison came to Nantucket aboard a naval vessel—the flagship Baltimore. He arrived unannounced. Imagine that today. Early risers on the Cliff, last Sunday morning, when they looked out upon the waters of the sound, were greeted with a spectacle that is very unusual in these parts, and wondered what the huge white vessel lying at anchor could be. Seen indistinctly through the mist, the craft could not be satisfactorily made out, but as the fog lifted, the glistening sides of the flagship Baltimore, with her formidable guns pointing shoreward were recognized. The news spread like wildfire through the town, and early in the forenoon SteamboatWharf bore more the appearance of a holiday than of the Sabbath. Boats were eagerly sought, and the harbor presented a lively aspect, the little catboats spinning out under a stiff
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Presidential Visits continued breeze with curious crowds on board. The little steamer Ocean Queen was pressed into service, and ran hourly, many availing themselves of the opportunity to view the handsome war vessel. Shortly after noon the President, accompanied by private secretary Halford, secretaries Noble and Rusk, and officers of the Baltimore came on shore, and entering teams, they took a short drive about town, and then to Siasconset, where a call was made at the residence of Senator Spooner.
The Senator Spooner they refer to was John C. Spooner, a United States Senator from Wisconsin. He was a popular figure in Republican politics, and kept a summer cottage in ’Sconset. President Harrison then made a hasty departure. Everyone assumed he’d be leaving from Steamboat Wharf. Instead, he went down to StraightWharf. Apparently, “Representatives of The Inquirer and Mirror and Collector J.W. Clapp being the only persons on the dock to wish him bon voyage as he passed.” Most folks never noticed his party motoring back out into the harbor. President Harrison kept a low profile . . . both literally and figuratively.
★
Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson visited Nantucket in mid-September 1917. He was traveling with his wife aboard the presidential yacht Mayflower. Their daughter, Frances B. Sayre, maintained a summer cottage in ’Sconset, and that was the reason for President and Mrs. Wilson’s visit. Nantucket’s connection to Woodrow Wilson
President and Mrs. Wilson arriving at the Athletic Club pier, September 1917. P5264.
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actually goes back even further. In January 1913, it was reported that: The first “insured” package sent out by parcel post from the Nantucket post office, onWednesday, was directed to Woodrow Wilson, Presidentelect of the United States, and was mailed by H. Marshall Gardiner, who was filling an order sent him by the American Consul at Bermuda, who desired to make Mr.Wilson a New Year present through the parcel post. The package contained a large colored picture of the entrance to the governor-general’s grounds at Hamilton, Bermuda, where Mr.Wilson was entertained during his recent visit on the island. The view is one which the President-elect greatly admired, and the picture goes to him as a New Year greeting from the American Consul.
[H. Marshall Gardiner, Nantucket photographer who was known especially for his tinted photographs, had practiced the trade in Bermuda prior to moving to Nantucket in 1910. —Ed.] It had been a tough year for Nantucket, and for the nation. By June of 1917, 14,000 U.S. troops had arrived in France to fight in World War I, and more were on the way. Nantucketers, like everybody else, were subject to the draft. Here’s a clipping: Another bunch of Nantucketers have been called to Barnstable for examination under the draft, some of them leaving yesterday (Friday) morning and others at noon.Young men from theVineyard were also called at the same time. From the bunch of Nantucketers which are called this time it is evident that there will be a number of recruits for the army, as the majority of the men are single and good, healthy specimens of manhood, with only a few of the married ones having children.
Wartime always brings about feelings of loss, deprivation, and sacrifice. Despite all of that, Nantucketers were still maintaining their dryYankee wit.
If the Russians won’t fight for Russia, at least the snowflakes will soon. Meat is awfully high priced, but some of our generous marketmen allow the public to come in and smell. The government is proposing to economize by cutting out many rural mail routes, but of course it can’t be done in any congressman’s district. The people who say Germany has won the war claim we should have gone in earlier, and if we had gone in earlier they would have said we were too hasty.
One last local tidbit: In mid-September, when President Wilson arrived, school was just back in session. The superintendent agreed to give the students a half day, to ensure they caught a glimpse of the President. The Mayflower dropped anchor outside the bar at around 1:00 in the afternoon. President Wilson’s visit, from a security standpoint, was a little more modern. Consider the following: A launch containing three Secret Service men and a lieutenant came ashore at once, and upon finding the wharves packed with people, the lieutenant had the launch headed over to the Athletic Club pier, where a landing was made. The Secret Service men arranged for transportation for the Presidential party, and sent word over to Doctor Clisby at ’Sconset that they would drive to the Sayre cottage. The President’s launch came speeding into the harbor a half hour after the arrival of the boat containing the Secret Service men and swung around the end of the Steamboat dock and up to the float at the end of the Athletic Club pier, while the crowd commenced cheering and the President lifted his hat in acknowledgment of the greeting.
★
Civil War veteran Josiah Fitch Murphy was there. He called out to the onlookers, “Three cheers for President Wilson!” As the Inky reported, “From that moment cheer after cheer rent the air, as the party walked along towards the clubhouse.” President and Mrs. Wilson boarded a surrey, drawn by a team of horses driven by Kenneth Pease. As he boarded, the President remarked, “It will seem nice to ride behind a pair of horses in an automobile.” They arrived in ’Sconset, where they were greeted by their daughter and grandchildren. They spent a restful afternoon there, enjoyed a family supper, and were driven back into town at around 8:30 P.M. They apparently enjoyed seeing the lights of the town at night, as the stars began to appear in the night sky, one by one. One small mishap happened on the way back. When the surrey drove down Main Street,William Holland rushed out from the sidewalk for the purpose of greeting the President and shaking his hand, but his purpose was misunderstood by the Secret Service men, who, quick as a flash, were out of the team and onto their job, and did not know that Mr. Holland was a staunch Democrat and an ardent admirer of PresidentWilson.
At around 10 P.M. he returned to the Athletic Club pier, where a mob was still gathered. They gave him a rousing ovation. President Wilson shook hands with Kenneth Pease and thanked him for driving him around all afternoon. He expressed his thanks for the wonderful island hospitality, raised his hat one more time, and with his wife boarded a launch that motored them back to his yacht. He took some Nantucket literature home with him, which included William F. Macy’s The Nantucket Scrap Basket, and J. H. Robinson’s 106 Views of Nantucket. Erik Ingmundson recently served as the NHA’s senior interpreter; currently he is pursuing a graduate degree in public history at UMASS Amherst.
Other Presidential Visits ★
Below: On his cruise in June 1933, a storm caused FDR’s yacht Amberjack II to be rerouted, and it lay over in Nantucket Harbor before proceeding to the Roosevelts’ summer home in Campobello.
Above: The President’s son James came ashore and visited the Whaling Museum.
Above: In 1963, JFK didn’t come ashore from the Presidential yacht Honey Fitz, but Caroline and John, accompanied by Secret Service agents, were given a tour of the Whaling Museum and had ice cream cones.
Winter 2010
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Presidential Documents By Ben Simons
A
merican presidents have been involved in the affairs of Nantucket island from the days of the nation’s founding. The NHA collections contain documents, manuscripts, and letters signed by a significant number of the nation’s chief executives; these include shipping papers, appointments of postmasters, customs officers, military commissions, and even a casual
note dashed off to a Nantucket friend. A selection of these Nantucket presidential documents is presented here. A recent exhibition at the NHA Research Library’s Whitney Gallery (2009) featured documents from Washington to Lincoln and beyond. The exhibition was made possible with the support of L. Dennis and Susan R. Shapiro.
Appointment of Stephen Hussey as Inspector of the Revenue for the Ports of Nantucket and Sherburne. March 8, 1792 SIGNED “G. WASHINGTON” AND “TH. JEFFERSON”
Stephen Hussey (1735–1805) was a blacksmith, shipsmith, and whaling merchant who cosigned several of Nantucket’s petitions of loyalty to the General Court of Massachusetts when the island’s allegiances came under suspicion during the Revolutionary War. Hussey also served as the first-appointed Collector of Customs when the Nantucket Customs House was established in 1791. The town was called Sherburne until changed to Nantucket in 1795, to distinguish it from another town of the same name in Massachusetts.
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Historic Nantucket
Mediterranean Passport for the Nantucket Whaleship Monticello (1841–45) Benjamin Coggeshall, master. July 30, 1841 SIGNED BY PRESIDENT JOHN TYLER AND SECRETARY OF STATE DANIEL WEBSTER
Built at Mattapoisett, the Monticello embarked on its maiden voyage in 1841 under Coggeshall, being of “three hundred and fifty-five” tons burden, mounted with “no” guns, and navigated with “twenty three” men, as this sea letter, or “Mediterranean Passport,” states. Mediterranean Passports were first issued in the wake of the Treaty of Algiers of 1795, to allow American vessels to pass unmolested in Mediterranean waters, where piracy was rampant. After printing, the passports were cut along a scalloped line at the upper edge, with the top portion being sent ahead to U. S. consuls along the Barbary Coast. By the mid-nineteenth century, they had become part of the standard documentation to prove country of origin for foreign-bound vessels.
Commission of George Hussey Tracy as First Lieutenant in the Fifteenth Regiment of Infantry. August 19, 1861 SIGNED BY PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND SECRETARY OF WAR SIMON CAMERON
Son of Mary Hussey and Jared Wentworth Tracy, George Hussey Tracy (1835–67) owned the house at 33 Orange Street and bequeathed it to his widowed mother, who lived there for the rest of her life, sharing it with her daughter Mary, who had married the Reverend William E. “Dr. Will” Gardner. George Hussey Tracy died in an army hospital in Alabama of complications from yellow fever, contracted during his service with the Union Army in the Civil War.
Winter 2010
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Presidential Documents
continued
Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Dr. William Sturgis Bigelow, “Tuckanuck, Nantucket, Massachusetts.” July 17, 1908 SIGNED “T. R.”
William Sturgis Bigelow (1850–1926) hailed from a Boston Brahmin family that included professors at Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and eminent physicians and surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital. Sturgis, an only child whose mother died in his early childhood, was pressured by his surgeon father, Jacob, into studying medicine. He obtained his medical degree, but rejected the profession and became a specialist in Japanese art and culture, amassing a collection now owned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Bigelow’s father had built a house on the southwest corner of Tuckernuck in 1832. Sturgis inherited the house and made of it a summer retreat where he hosted his circle of friends, which included such eminent men of the day as Henry Cabot Lodge, his son George Cabot “Bay” Lodge, John LaFarge, Henry Adams, and Theodore Roosevelt. Bigelow’s circle was known to pass the time lounging in kimonos, smoking cigars, and pursuing outdoor sports. Bigelow’s library was inherited by the LaFarge family of Tuckernuck.
Letter from Franklin D. Roosevelt, then Secretary of the Navy, to Miss Mary Jane Chase on naming Torpedo Boat Destroyer No. 323 after Nantucketer Reuben Chase. August 8, 1919 SIGNED “FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT”
Lieutenant Reuben Chase (1754–1824) of Nantucket served under Captain John Paul Jones aboard the Bon Homme Richard at the time of its historic sea battle with H.M.S. Serapis off Flamborough Head on September 23, 1779. Although at the time of the naming of TPD No. 323 he was thought to have been present at the battle itself, Chase had in fact been given command of the prize vessel Mayflower, which he brought to L’Orient on the Bay of Biscay to await the return of the Bon Homme Richard. A navigator of first rank, subsequent to the war Chase entered the packet trade between London and New York. It is said that he was the model for the character of Long Tom Coffin in James Fenimore Cooper’s sea novel The Pilot.
Ben Simons is Robyn & John Davis Chief Curator of the Nantucket Historical Association and editor of Historic Nantucket.
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Historic Nantucket
Serendipity in the Research Library:
Gleanings from the Collections By Elizabeth Oldham
Serendipity: Finding valuable or agreeable things when not sought for.
PROVIDENCE, APR 27, 1857 Back Street
The word “serendipity” was coined in 1754 by English author Horace Walpole, who in a letter to a friend revealed that he had read “a silly fairy
To CG & H Coffin agents of the Zenas Coffin
tale”—The Three Princes of Serendip (an old name for Ceylon, now Sri Lanka), an English translation of the Italian Peregrinaggio di tre figluoli del re di Serendippo, published in Venice in 1557. That version was based on a fifthcentury Persian legend concerning the travels of three princes who kept making discoveries they were not looking for. So, in my travels in the Research Library, I serendipitously come upon various treasures, and I’m delighted to share them. The manuscript collections are particularly rich in both personal and business letters, some of them heartbreaking, like this one from a
Gentlemen, Having been informed by the Shipping Master of this city that the Zenas Coffin arrived home on 21 or 22 of Feb last [actually arrived Feb. 15, 1857—Ed.], I am very desirous to know what has become of my Son John, who was a hand on board. I have had no direct communication from him for more than four years, nor would I have known anything from him but for a friend, who wrote me from one of the Sandwich Islands, that he had seen John and that he was on board of the Zenas Coffin of Nantucket. He came from Baltimore, where he had worked for over a year, to New York, in which city he must have shipped, or came to New Bedford or Nantucket for that purpose. He is a press Printer by trade, now close on twenty four years of age, if living, about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high when I last saw him. He walked erect, Square Shouldered, with blue eyes and hair of a light colour, inclining to Sandy. He may have given an assumed name when he shipped. Any information in relation to him or his whereabouts will confer a favor, which will be gratefully remembered. by Respectfully your Obd Servt Hugh Duffy MS 152
father in search of his son: Winter 2010
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Serendipity continued And this from a son to his father; mailed in NewYork August 6, received in Nantucket August 8, 1892:
Note: Starbuck’s History of the AmericanWhale Fishery has the Massachusetts sending home 43,000 pounds of bone before being “sold to San Francisco, 1861.”
New York Aug ’92 Dear Father
From one of Phebe’s more exalted correspondents:
What I am going to write you I trust you will have charity enough for me to keep it from even the family & let it stop at the one it is addressed to, for I am miserable enough already. I have within the last two weeks made investments in which I have lost everything—over $400.Within the last few days I have suffered the tortures of hell mentally. Lost my position when I came back & even now without a cent to my name. But worst of all, I lost your draft in a vain attempt to get on my feet again. I hoped by delay I might get together enough money to express you the suits & hope even now I may by the last of the week as I have a diamond which I carried to a jeweler & he is going to sell it for me if he can. So if you can wait I will try to hurry it up. I do not even now know where my next meal is coming from. Troubles never come singly & I feel sometimes as if I shall get up & catch a freight train & skip for parts unknown. The only thing that keeps me is the thought of my wife, who (Lord knows) would sacrifice everything for me. I am nearly crazy with everything coming as it has at once. So do not add any more or I shall be driven to desperate means & God knows I will if I get a chance start afresh. Burn this letter & look at it in as charitable a light as possible. Affectionately, Lawrence MS 313
32 Mt.Vernon Wednesday, June 8th I cannot come. I am dreadfully sorry, but I have a meeting tomorrow which cannot be left to take care of itself. With best regards & wishes, Yours always— Julia Ward Howe MS 38
“The ship Petrel Capt. Fuller leaving the Bay of Islands for home.” MS 139 Poor fellow! He was only twenty-two; let’s hope things turned out all right.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch:
We know about the Reverend Phebe Hanaford and all her accomplishments, but who knew she was a fashionista! This from her brother-in-law:
Nantucket—Oct 11, 1896 Mr. F.W. Folger—
Ship Massachusetts lying at Hilo, Nov. 19th /57 Owhyhee [Hawaii] Sandwich Is. We have obtained 1000 Bbls of Oil and 14000 lbs of Bone and if wee can get as much another season wee shall come Home I think the prospect is good for us to do it Wee are about ready for sea now and shall probably get to Mewee [?/Maui] to see if wee canot get a chance to Ship our Bone if wee canot Ship Oil. I want you to put on two or three extra Hoops and hoop Florence well anything to keep bone up for it never was worth as much as it now is and I say it all oweing to the Laydie’s Hoops do all you can to keep the Fashion good as I am aware that you always follows Fashions.” Ever loveing brother Wm. A. Folger
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About April 20, an unsigned letter was sent me through the Mail. In June one was dropped on my front steps. As my wife was in the house opposite I know who dropped it. I also know the author of every unsigned letter that has been written to me. If you know who has written them, say to the party that if he will come and see me no harm can come to him or his wife. I have known who the parties are for a long time. I have seen Mr. F. go to one house late at night and know everyone who was there. Mrs. F has lent the wife of the author of the letters to me, a letter which she is to call for but she tells me she intends to send one of the gang of women for it and cause trouble for the wife mentioned. Convey information to the man and wife referred to that if they come to me and bring that letter I can and will protect them if I don’t see or hear from them I shall at my own discretion and when I am
disposed give the whole subject to the public as I have in my possession evidence enough. As they have not signed any name but friend which does not identify them as much as the hand writing I entrust the message to you who is well acquainted with the parties referred to. When Mrs. F called on the wife first and gave her a blowing up the lightning flashed the thunder rolled and the rain fell, but when I open it will be worse. As I am neither afraid nor ashamed, I will sign my name. George H. Gardner M.D. Fair St. Nantucket Mass MS 87 Whew! What was that all about?
This fellow wrote to Charles and Henry Coffin in a beautiful hand, but with some imaginative syntax and spelling:
The great Walter Folger Jr. received this request from the most celebrated of the family of Massachusetts clockmakers:
San Francisco California July 27th 1849 Sir!
Boston Decm 29, 1803 Dear Sir I wish for a little Vial of your good clock & Watch Oil if you would aney way get some to me soon it would very much oblige your most humble Sevt Simon Willard Would it not be a good way to send a smallVial inclose it in a paper and send it by Post MS 118
This is to inform that we Calculate to go to the diggens be the first of nex month and go with 2 or three in a gang after our arrival in the diggens. George Andrews, Henry James, and myself Calculate to work to gedder and I think this is the best plan to ceep the Companie to gedder, for evere man to dig on his own Look for some will work and others play. Sir! My request is to you to advange my Wife money for her maintiney Till we Send returns from the diggens for we Calculate to Stop there tell nex February with so doing you will oblige. Your Humble Servant &c Charles Wilson MS 152 Here’s a salty little excerpt from a letter to Frederick Wyer from Roland B. Hussey:
From the Town Records of 1764: Septr 4 — Voted that all the dogs upon the Island of Nantucket be killed forthwith. Voted that the Selectmen be directed to put the Province law in execution respecting dogs upon the Island of Nantucket and they are hereby directed to prosecute all offenders against said act accordingly.
R. B. Hussey Nantucket, Mass.
2/10 1913
My Dear Fred: This old hulk has been hauled up on the ways for repairs for some time. . . . I am feeling much improved and hope to soon be on deck again. MS 335
Imagine that happening today. I need to look up the “Province law.”
Winter 2010
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Serendipity continued The early newspapers, mercifully preserved on microfilm, can be endlessly entertaining—for as long as the eyes hold out.
Match that, Facebook. And on Saturday, August 4, 1877, this “Lady Subscriber” wrote:
Consider the expectant bridegroom who arrived on the island in September of 1821with the intention of being united in marriage to Maria Folger, but she died within a few days of his arrival, and, as the Inquirer’s obituary noted, “the King of terrors blasted his fond hopes, and has left him to mourn the uncertainty of all created bliss.” They don’t write obits like that anymore.
The Inquirer of April 4, 1825 published the list of town officers for the year, which included Fence Viewers, Surveyors of Lumber, Surveyors of Hemp, Cullers of Staves, Cutters of Fish, Sealers of Leather, Field Drivers, and Hog Reeves.
Messrs. Editors: I was pleased to notice in your issue of the 21st ult.,“A nuisance which should be abated [the wheeling of hand-carts and barrows upon the sidewalks]” and that the authorities should prohibit it at once. There is a much greater nuisance to which I would like to call the attention of the proper authorities—and that is the common practice of driving cows on the sidewalk.
Names pop up in the Barney Genealogical Record that I could have used in the article I wrote for Historic Nantucket a while ago titled “What’s in a Name. . . .” How about: Flora Dulcibella Gardner, b. ca. 1760, and Musidora Swain, b. 1832.
The February 19, 1842, issue of the Inquirer noted that the “Reformed Men,being of opinion that the cause of Total Abstinence is somewhat impeded in its rapid progress by the unlimited prescriptions of alcohol by the Medical Faculty....Therefore,Resolved,that we will employ those Physicians in our families,and those only,who will dispense with the use of alcohol,except in the most extreme cases.”
And in a herd of cattle shown at the Agricultural Fair, the cows were Hattie, Rosa, Dolly, Myrtle, Ida, Nellie, Naomi, and Starlight; the bulls were Abner and Tom.
Most extreme cases of what? I love this ad in the I&M issue of May 10, 1873: May 10, 1873 A WIFE WANTED I visited Nantucket last summer, and was very much pleased with the place and also with what few of its people I conversed with; but when I found myself at church Sabbath evening (the entire body of the house being occupied by ladies),“the sight of my eyes affected my heart.” I resolved to come again to Nantucket, but before I do so, I will tell the ladies that I am earnest, and want a wife from your island. I have lost kind, loving friends by death, and am lonely, and quite alone in the world. Business presses, and I have not the time to look for a wife through the usual way; besides my social habits are averse to seeking friendship in promiscuous society. To advertise, then, is my only alternative. I am little above middle age; born in Bristol county, Mass., physically and intellectually agreeable; good disposition; neat in person; orderly and systematic in details; well educated; temperate in all things, using neither tobacco nor strong drink; constitutionally moral and practically religious; and have property in real and personal investments. To a lady of like qualities and means of support, not under 35 years of age, I will open correspondence with a view to matrimony. References exchanged. Address HENRY HUDSON 175 Court Street, Boston, Mass. Care of Mrs. Humphrey.
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Historic Nantucket
Place card and menu for a banquet attended by Lieutenant Commander Gardner aboard USS Alaska, Callao, Peru, ca. 1882. MS 87
These pictographs, drawings, and mottoes were created by a member of the Budget Society, a literary and social club established by young women in 1829. MS 408 The Blue File, that colossal compendium of curiosa, turns up some graveyard literature: William Button: “O sun, moon, stars, and ye celestial poles! Are graves then dwindled into button holes!” Dr.William Cole: “And when the latter trump of heaven shall blow, Cole now raked up ashes, thou shall glow.” John Potter: “Alack and well a day. Potter himself is turned to clay.” Woman, always a subject of satire, has not been forgotten: “Beneath this stone lies Katherine my wife, In death my comfort, and my plague through life; Oh! Liberty!—but soft! I must not boast She’ll haunt me else by jingo, with her ghost.”
“Here lies returned to clay, Miss Arabella Young; Who on the 1st of May, Began to hold her tongue.” On a waiter: “He is gone, he could wait no longer.” The Blue File on the migration of Nantucketers to North Carolina has a copy of The Guilford Collegian,a student publication of Guilford College, in which Addison Coffin is eulogized: Addison Coffin was born at New Garden, N.C., January 22, 1822. His father was Vestal Coffin, of Nantucket origin, and his mother Alethea Fluke, of Irish descent. In his Autobiography he traces his line of ancestors far back into prehistoric times and concludes that he is a descendant of Abraham. But aren’t we all?
Winter 2010
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Serendipity continued From the July 5, 1848, issue of the Inquirer.
Perhaps the richest resource in the library is the Edouard A. Stackpole Collection, NHARL MS 335—all 1,201 folders of it. So, in tribute, I’m pleased to close with this essay that Edouard wrote in the 1950s: November Gales Usually the leaden darkness of the mounting clouds give notice of the gale’s approach, but there is a suddenness to the gusts that also brings the first light rain. As the wind increases, the trees, nearly bare of leaves, begin their straining, and soon the glistening limbs are twisting and bending to the onslaught of the storm. Soon the gale takes full command. The rain now drives against the houses of the town, a deluge that sweeps clear the sidewalks and roof slopes, filling the street gutters with torrents that whirl leaves into sudden flotsam. The sidewalks become deserted and only an occasional auto makes its way through the rain-slashed streets. Along the waterfront the seas come rolling into the docks, and the boats within the slips begin to dance to the tune of the gale. The whitecrested waves sweep up to the bulkheads, sending their spray high, as if to challenge the man-made dikes which block their way. At Steamboat Wharf, two deep-sea draggers, veterans of many an ocean storm, pay tribute by bowing steadily to the flood. With the dusk the rain beats more strongly and the wind picks up the tempo of the gale. As the light fades the lighted rooms of island dwellings emerge in the gloom, adding a note of warmth to the damp chill of the coming night. In the sanctuary of these homes the gale is shut out, but the tearing and tugging around the corners and over the ridges, the moaning deep in the chimney flues, the fierce sweep of rain against the shingled walls, make us aware that the elements control the outer world. As the long night grows, it is filled with the fury of the storm. The gaunt trees tremble, their branches thrashing and tossing like tortured beings; the houses shake and quiver in the powerful grip of the elements; the rain lashes the windows like whip-ends, invading the chimneys, forcing its way into cellars. Attics betray leaks and pans are placed in many places. Slumber comes, but it is uneasy as the power of the gale invades even our dreams. November gales are manifestations of nature’s raw strength. There is also recognition of man’s limitations to cope with such primitive force, and the sobering reminder that winter is closer than in October’s beguiling Indian summer. Nature provides the seasons to mark the never-ceasing turning of the wheel of time and November gales are rough spokes in that great and invisible wheel.
Benjamin S. Coffin (b. 1820) created this stunning workbook at the Gwynedd Boarding School in Pennsylvania, 1837–38. MS 150
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Elizabeth Oldham is research associate in the NHA’s Research Library and copy editor of Historic Nantucket.
News Notes & Highlights
First Diversity Festival A great success
“ Walking in aWinter Wonderland. . . ” The Festival of Trees on display through January 3 in theWhaling Museum What has now become an island tradition, the seventeenth annual Festival of Trees opened to the public on Friday, December 3, and will be on view through January 3 in the Whaling Museum. Featuring eighty-eight brilliantly decorated trees—designed by community members, local merchants, nonprofit organizations, artists, artisans, and schoolchildren—the Whaling Museum has been transformed into a festive winter wonderland. Established in 1994 at the suggestion of Lucile Pierce Corkran, mother of NHA past president Kim Corkran, “the festival has become an island tradition, and a magical way to kick off the holiday season,” said Wendy Hudson, this season’s festival chair. “This festival truly is a community-wide collaboration, and one that we are enormously proud to host year after year,” said Bill Tramposch, NHA executive director. “The incredible support of the current volunteers and committee, combined with the distinguished list of past chairs, is a real testament to the importance of this festive holiday event.” Marine Home Center is the lead underwriter for both the Festival of Wreaths and Festival of Trees. Additional support is provided by Nantucket Bank, a division of Sovereign Bank; Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank;Trianon/Seaman Schepps; Botticelli & Pohl Architects; Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines; Hatch’s Package Store; Jordan Real Estate; Killen Real Estate, Inc.; Madaket Marine; Nantucket Bookworks; Nantucket Pharmacy; Nantucket Real Estate Co. Inc.; National Grid; Norton Preservation Trust; Sherburne Commons;The UPS Store; and Water Jewels Gallery. The festival runs through December 20: Thursday through Monday, 11 A.M .–4 P.M.; again on Sunday and Monday, December 26 and 27, 1–4 P.M.; and Sunday and Monday, January 2 and 3, 1– 4 P.M. General admission is $15; $5 for Nantucket year-round residents (with a valid driver’s license); free for children under six and NHA members. TheWhaling Museum is handicapped accessible.
The NHA hosted its first Diversity Festival on Saturday, November 6. More than two hundred and fifty Nantucketers of all backgrounds visited theWhaling Museum for a free day of tours, activities, and refreshments.Young and old; natives and coofs; American, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Russian, Jamaican, Irish, Puerto Rican, and many more enjoyed the festival activities. “There is such an extraordinarily diverse mix of people living on this little island thirty miles out to sea,” said Marjan Shirzad, NHA Director of Outreach and Special Programs. “We wanted to honor this diversity by offering a day of free programs and family activities in multiple languages, which allowed even more island residents to engage with Nantucket’s rich history.We are hopeful our guests left the museum with a greater understanding and appreciation of this special place.” Special museum tours in Spanish, Portuguese, and Bulgarian were offered, and family activities offered signage and translation in those languages. Guests from Costa Rica, Brazil, El Salvador, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Russia, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Mexico, South Korea, and Colombia enjoyed an afternoon that included a twenty-minute tour of museum highlights; hands-on activities such as making sailors valentines, whirligigs, and faux scrimshaw; and a curatorial table where guests could view and touch spermaceti candles, harpoons, baleen, and sperm-whale teeth. The NHA’s mission is “to preserve and interpret the history of Nantucket Island and foster an appreciation of its historic significance.” We do this by delivering engaging educational programs pertaining to Nantucket, its history, culture, and its role in the world—both past and present. One of our main objectives is to widen our audience through inclusive and accessible programs to include all members of our increasingly diverse island, thus the goal of the first Diversity Festival: to make theWhaling Museum and the NHA accessible to all islanders by offering our regular programming in various languages. The Diversity Festival was sponsored by a grant from the M.S.Worthington Foundation. Winter 2010 |
News Notes & Highlights The Monaghan Sisters Are Back in Town! Opening of Greater Light to Celebrate the Arts on Nantucket With its opening next summer, Greater Light will bring to life the lively spirit of the emergence of the Nantucket art colony—the time in the early twentieth century when Gertrude and Hanna Monaghan, Quaker sisters from Philadelphia, transformed a livestock barn at 8 Howard Street into a whimsical summer residence and salon for the arts on island. Taking inspiration from the Monaghans, the Nantucket Historical Association is planning a series of celebratory events to engage the community with Greater Light and the arts, including an original theatrical performance and an exhibition and auction of works by Nantucket artists inspired by the property. The NHA envisions Greater Light as a community venue for lifelong learning in the arts and for small gatherings that extol the arts and culture—exhibitions, poetry readings, plays, musical performances, art classes, and garden parties—much as the Monaghans enjoyed it. When the property opens next summer for tours and selected events, visitors will glimpse the lives of the Monaghans and experience Nantucket’s early art colony era through vivid historic imagery, intimate anecdotes, and oral histories presented on a touch-screen
computer in the Great Room. Both Hanna’s bedroom and the parlor—replete with their original furnishings, artwork, and personal objects— Greater Light will be open as exhibits and spaces for quiet reflection. Through the generosity of its many supporters and a grant from the Nantucket Community Preservation Committee, the NHA will complete the major restoration of Greater Light and its charming garden by early summer. The NHA is continuing efforts to secure $300,000 of additional funding to complete the conservation of the interior and fully develop educational programs. For more information about Greater Light, to contribute to the project, or to inquire about a tour, please call (508) 228–1894, ext. 114, or go to www.nha.org.
Decorative Arts Trust/ Nantucket Historical Association Curatorial Fellow The Decorative Arts Trust and the Nantucket Historical Association have joined forces to create a curatorial fellowship at the Nantucket Historical Association. Sarah Parks, a graduate of Winterthur’s Program in American Material Culture, Wellesley College, and the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program, with experience at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, has joined the NHA as the first ever curatorial fellow. Parks will work intensively with the NHA collections at the Gosnold Center Support and Collections Storage Facility, with a special focus on the decorative arts collections. In addition, she will assist with all Sarah Parks curatorial matters, including exhibition preparation, collections photography, property inventories, and all aspects of the stewardship of collections. Support of Parks’s position is generously provided by the Decorative Arts Trust and an anonymous donor. The NHA is particularly grateful to Brock Jobe, Professor of American Decorative Arts at Winterthur, and Penny Hunt, Executive Director of the Decorative Arts Trust, for making the fellowship possible. Parks began her study of the NHA’s decorative arts collections with a detailed documentation and assessment of the furniture sub-collection. Since 1894, the NHA has collected furniture, textiles, ceramics, silver and pewter, and a variety of other household items. Parks will comb through the NHA curatorial records dating back to the organization’s founding in order to document each object’s history of manufacture, ownership, and use. She will then proceed to expand the cataloguing of each artifact by looking at form, materials, construction techniques, and marks and inscriptions. Finally, she will develop systematic assessments of all artifacts based on a variety of criteria and categories. These catalog entry additions, and updated photographs of the objects, will be available online through the NHA collections database.
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Historic Nantucket
Help Us Continue to Preserve and Inspire! Your Annual Fund contribution, in any amount, will have an immediate impact on everything the NHA does— every program we offer, every visitor we inspire, every artifact we exhibit, and all twenty-two historic properties we maintain and interpret. The Annual Fund provides vital operating support and enables the NHA to fulfill its mission of education and preservation for our members, supporters, and the Nantucket community. We are grateful for your strong commitment to the NHA and hopeful that you will help us reach this year’s goal of $280,000 by December 31. Supporting the Annual Fund is easy this year with online giving. To contribute, go to: www.nha.org; or send a gift to the Annual Fund, Nantucket Historical Association, P. O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554; or call (508) 228–1894, ext. 114.
2011 FRIDAY, APRIL 15
S AV E T H E DAT E S !
E XH I B I T I ON OPE N I N G
Eastman Johnson and His Contemporaries Nantucket paintings by late-nineteenth-century masters
“ Making a list and checking it twice. . .”
WHITNEY GALLERY, RESEARCH LIBRARY SATURDAY, MAY 21
Wine Auction Dinner at the NantucketWine Festival To benefit the Nantucket Historical Association
For your holiday lists, try a gift that lasts a full year: Give an NHA Membership A one-year NHA membership is the perfect holiday, birthday, hostess, or anniversary gift. It will provide unlimited admission to the Whaling Museum; free use of the NHA Research Library; subscription to Historic Nantucket; 10% discount at the Museum Shop; and discounts for classes, events, concerts, and lectures. Should you have any questions regarding your membership, or would like to purchase a gift membership for family or friends, please call Michelle at (508) 228–1894, ext. 116, or visit www.nha.org/membership. The NHA is grateful for your participation in our organization, and we enjoy building longstanding relationships with you through our membership programs. Receiving no operating support from state, local, or federal funding, the NHA relies on your yearly renewal to continue offering exceptional year-round exhibitions and educational programs for all ages, and to help develop and care for our collections and properties.
WHITE ELEPHANT THURSDAY, MAY 26
M E M B E R PR E V I E W
Nantucket A to Z:The Island’s Cabinet of Curiosities PETER FOULGER GALLERY, WHALING MUSEUM SUMMER 2011
Greater Light Opening Art auction, theatrical performance, and tours in celebration of the restoration of Greater Light 8 HOWARD STREET AUGUST 5–7
34th August Antiques Show FRIENDS OF THE NHA LECTURE: TUESDAY, AUGUST 2 PREVIEW PARTY: THURSDAY, AUGUST 4 COCKTAIL PARTY & DINNER: SATURDAY, AUGUST 6 BARTLETT’S FARM NOVEMBER 23
1800 H O U S E
NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
13th Festival of Wreaths PREVIEW PARTY: TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22 FESTIVAL HOURS: WEDNESDAY– SUNDAY,
1800 House Gift Certificates: A gift that keeps on giving!
NOVEMBER 23–NOVEMBER 27
For those having friends or family members who enjoy earlyAmerican arts and crafts, consider giving a gift certificate in any amount that can be applied to the recipient's choice of a class during the 2011 season at the NHA’s 1800 House. Please call (508) 228–1894, ext. 128, or (508) 228–7785 for additional information; or go to www.nha.org/1800house/index.html to learn more about the NHA’s lifelong-learning programs in early-American arts and crafts.
18th Festival of Trees
PETER FOULGER GALLERY, WHALING MUSEUM DECEMBER 2
PREVIEW PARTY: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1 FESTIVAL HOURS: THURSDAY– MONDAY, DECEMBER 2–19 REOPENS DECEMBER 26 & 27 AND JANUARY 2 & 3, 2012 WHALING MUSEUM
Winter 2010
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www.nha.org
Warren Jagger
P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554-1016
Periodical POSTAGE PAID at Nantucket, MA and Additional Entry Offices
THE HERITAGE SOCIETY Planning today for the NHA’s Tomorrow Barbara Hathaway, 2010 August Antiques Show Chair
T
he Nantucket Historical Association invites you to join forwardlooking donors who have included the Association in their wills. Your gift will help build financial stability to continue the NHA’s mission for future generations.
For further information, consult your financial professional or contact Cristin Merck. 508 228 1894, ext. 114 email: cmerck@nha.org
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Historic Nantucket