2 martins lane concise by Nantucket Preservation Trust

2 Martins Lane John Jenkins House

2 Martins Lane John Jenkins House, 1803

A House History Written by Betsy Tyler Designed by Kathleen Hay

The Nantucket Preservation Trust Two Union Street Nantucket Island, Massachusetts

Martins Lane in the late 1930s

Neighborhood

he homes of the first English settlers, who began arriving on the island of Nantucket in 1659, were west of the present town in an area that extended from the north shore to the banks of Hummock Pond. The small harbor at Capaum suited all their maritime needs until Capaum Harbor became a pond in the early eighteenth century, with access to Nantucket Sound blocked by sand. Homes, workshops, and all their accoutrements gradually moved east near the Great Harbor where wharves were built and the town of Nantucket sprang up.

Twenty-seven Fish Lots were created by the Proprietors of Nantucket in 1717 in the second d ivision of land near the Great Harbor (the Wescoe Acre Lots, laid out north of Main and west of Federal Streets in 1678, were the first). They were in the area bounded by Quanaty Bank (the Orange Street bluff), on the east and Pine Street on the west, extending from just south of Main Street to the vicinity of S ilver Street. The Proprietors designed the Fish Lots for agricultural use and accommodation as well as maritime storage and fish-drying, with access to the water on the east side below the cliff where the original harbor frontage existed before that area was filled. Martins Lane separates the fifth and sixth Fish Lots, and dates from the mid-eighteenth century —the origin of the name of the lane is not known, although one suspects that someone named Martin lived there early on. As the town’s only all-brick-paved street it is easily recognizable, and has been the subject of numerous paintings and photographs. 7

The neighborhood at the corner of Orange Street and Martins Lane has changed dramatically, particularly in the early twentieth century when nearby hotels became residences (30 Orange Street) or were razed (31 Orange Street) and houses were moved and removed.

Martins Lane

1834 William Coffin Map

Sanborn Maps

As early as 1834 there were four houses on the west side of Orange Street between Martins Lane and Plumb Lane where one finds three houses today. The original house that fronted on Orange Street at the site of the present 2 Martins Lane was removed between 1887 and 1892, as indicated on the Sanborn Insurance Company maps of Nantucket for those years. Another house on the south corner of Martins Lane and Orange Street in what is now the north yard of 2 Martins Lane was removed between 1892 and 1898, leaving only two h ouses on the block at the end of the nineteenth century: numbers 33 and 35 Orange Street. In 1902 the house at 32 Orange Street was moved— from the location where it was built on the east side of the street in 1803—across the street and placed where it now stands at 2 Martins Lane.

West Side of Orange Street

1887

1892

1898

Nine different families owned the house at 2 Martins Lane during the hundred years it was located on the east side of Orange Street in the north half of the seventh Fish Lot; since its move it was owned by the members of one family until purchased by the current owners in 1996.

Sanborn Maps

1898

East Side of Orange Street

1904

ohn Jenkins 1802 - 1803

John Jenkins (1767–1826) and his younger brother Perez, who are listed as partners in numerous deeds, have an unclear origin. The Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record [Barney Record], which is generally the best source of Nantucket family information, does not indicate who their parents were, but other sources state that their parents were Simeon and Hodiah Hinckley Jenkins, of West Barnstable, Massachusetts. John was probably born in West Barnstable, and moved to Nantucket after his marriage to Susan Holmes (1765–1825) of Osterville. Their first child was born when he and Susan were in their early twenties, followed by six more born before 1808; twins Susan and Samuel were born October 16, 1792. Clay Lancaster, in his encyclopedic survey The Architecture of Historic Nantucket, lists John and Perez Jenkins as the builders of the house at 23 India Street circa 1800, and Perez is known to have rebuilt the tower of the Second Congregational Meeting House on Orange Street in 1830. Examination of local property transactions shows that housewrights John and Perez bought their first parcel of land on the island in 1795, followed by more than two dozen real estate acquisitions during the remainder of their building careers. John Jenkins purchased the land on the east side of O range Street in 1802 jointly with his brother Perez, and built the house there in 1803; he sold it, along with outbuildings and fences to physician Oliver Cromwell Bartlett for $1,500. Perez is described in the deed of sale as the owner of land on the south side of the house, so he and John must have divided the parcel between them. Included in the deed is a promise to build a platform in the yard, the purpose of which is unknown, and s omewhat mysterious. 11

liver Cromwell Bartlett &Elizabeth Barrett Bartlett 1803 - 1810

Oliver Cromwell Bartlett was born on Nantucket in 1775, during the Revolutionary War, to Dr. John Bartlett and his wife Lucretia, who had recently moved to the island. Like his father, Oliver was a doctor. Receipts for his services in the manuscript collection of the Nantucket Historical Association Research Library show that he attended patients, administered medicine, and pulled teeth. Oliver married Elizabeth Barrett in 1796, and they had five children born between 1797 and 1809, filling the newly built house with activity. The successful physician purchased a larger, more formal Federalstyle house at the site of the Pacific Bank on Main Street in 1810; it was moved to 18 Union Street in 1817 so the new bank building could be constructed. Dr. Bartlett bought several other pieces of high-end real estate in town, including a building called the New Market on Fair Street, land at the site of the Methodist Church, and 13 Fair Street; there is a more extensive record of his real estate transactions than there is of his medical practice. For reasons unknown, Dr. Bartlett and his s econd wife (Elizabeth died in 1819) moved to Aurora, New York, in 1827.

Receipts for services of Dr. Bartlett

ylvanus Russell and Susan Rand Russell 1810 - 1827

Sylvanus and Susan Russell were close contemporaries of Oliver and Elizabeth Bartlett; all four of them were born in the period 1775– 76. In 1810 the Russell family included three daughters: Mary, aged twelve; Nancy, aged ten; and Fanny, aged four. Sylvanus was a mariner when he purchased the house in 1810, and a master mariner, or captain, of a whale ship when he sold the house in 1827; he had completed five voyages as a master mariner, and likely as many more as he worked his way up the ladder of responsibility. His ships were the Deborah of New Bedford (1804), the Phoebe Ann of New Bedford (1806–08, 1808–10, 1810–12) and the Atlantic of Nantucket (1822–1825), which he sailed after a ten-year hiatus, during which time he was resident in the family home.

Like the Bartletts before them, the Russell family left Nantucket and moved to New York, settling in the Buffalo area. Sylvanus sold his house to Alexander Coffin 2nd, also a master mariner, for $1,900 in 1827.

lexander Coffin 2nd and Lydia Myrick Coffin 1827 - 1842 Alexander Coffin 2nd (1790–1870) had a long career at sea, beginning in 1810 with a tragic voyage on the ship Lydia, whose captain was killed by a whale. By 1820 Coffin was a whaling master, sailing from New Bedford on the Lorenzo, another unfortunate excursion that ended in shipwreck on an island off Peru followed by a month’s captivity by the unfriendly natives there. Although he lost everything, Captain Coffin “rejoiced at being able to return, destitute, to his native land.” He sailed under Captain Peter Coffin on the Barclay in 1822, 1824, and 1825 before returning to command of the Constitution (1827–30) and the Edward (1835-36). 13

Letter from Alexander Coffin to ship owner Zenas Coffin - September 28, 1828

Coffin purchased the house on Orange Street just before his voyage on the Constitution; it was home to Lydia and their five children, aged two to thirteen, for the three years he was absent. After his last voyage, Coffin changed careers, becoming the first resident superintendent of the Nantucket County Farm at Quaise, in 1829. Commonly referred to as the Quaise Asylum, the county farm was a home for indigent, infirm, and sometimes insane islanders. Alexander Coffin, the seasoned mariner, kept a “logbook” of his daily activities at Quaise, like a good sailor noting the wind and weather. The Quaise Asylum, in addition to being a working farm, included a house of correction; those who were able-bodied worked, and those who were insubordinate were disciplined in the farm’s jail. The farm produced vegetables, beef, and pork, kept sheep for shearing, and was not only selfsustaining but sold its surplus agricultural products to the town.

1830 Lucy Macy Map - Quaise Farm

Alexander’s family probably continued to live in town—he does not mention them in his journal— although it is possible that they joined him at the farm. However, in 1839 Quaise was a long way from the conveniences of town, schools, and churches; during most of the year it was probably quicker and easier to go to town by boat than to attempt the sandy, ill-defined roads. After three years Coffin resigned his position; he and his wife sold their house to Obed Ramsdell in August, 1842 and moved to Portage County, Ohio, in September of that year. The earliest image of Coffin’s house is the footprint of the dwelling shown on the 1834 Coffin map. 15

1834 Coffin Map - House on East Side of Orange Street

bed Ramsdell and Susan Luce Ramsdell 1842 - 1866

Tax Receipt, 1845

Obed Ramsdell was the third master mariner in a row to own the house built by John Jenkins on the east side of Orange Street. His whaling experience differed dramatically from that of his two predecessors: when he went whaling ships were larger, whales were scarcer, and voyages were therefore much longer. Ramsdell’s first voyage as a master mariner was on the Constitutuion, twelve years after Alexander Coffin 2nd had taken the ship out on a whaling voyage.

That three-year excursion from 1839 to 1842 was successful, enabling Ramsdell to purchase the $1,600 house on O range Street for his family: wife Susan and son Obed Irving Ramsdell, aged four. The next year Ramsdell left on a lengthy voyage in the Zenas Coffin, 1843–48, followed seven years later by another whaling expedition on the James Loper, 1855–60, after which time the Nantucket whaling industry was essentially defunct. Coffin’s last voyage netted less than 1,000 barrels of oil; the earlier voyages brought home close to 2,000 barrels. Color drawing of the “Zenas Coffin”

Ramsdell was at sea for eleven of the twenty-four years that he and Susan lived on Orange Street; their daughter, Susan A. Ramsdell, was born in 1849, between his last two voyages. Obed Ramsdell died at his home June 13, 1862, breaking the trend by the previous owners of selling the house and leaving the island. His wife Susan and the children, sold the house in two separate deeds—one from Susan as guardian to minor child Susan A., and one from Susan and son Obed I.—to Mary Wilbur, widow of another master mariner, Sanford Wilbur, for a total of $900. 18

Letter from Ship “James Loper” in Talcahauno dated May 20, 1858

ary G. Wilson Wilbur

1866 - 1872

Mary Wilbur was a widow when she purchased Ramsdell’s house. The 1862 obituary notice for her husband Sanford Wilbur, a retired whaling master, states that his “sudden death created a general sadness. He has been one of our most enterprising ship masters, and had procured a comfortable fortune in the whaling service.” Wilbur’s comfortable fortune allowed his wife to purchase the home on Orange Street during a time of economic depression on the island. She inherited one third of an estate valued at $15,289; his son George from an earlier marriage inherited two-thirds. After the decline of the whaling industry, around which the economy of the town revolved, Nantucket’s populace fell upon hard times. The population of the island decreased dramatically, from 9,712 in 1840 to 3,201 in 1875. There were a number of empty houses in town, and others fell into disrepair. Nantucket’s revival as a vacation destination was not immediate, and not particularly desired by the remaining residents, as is evident in an editorial in the Inquirer and Mirror September 4, 1875.

According to the statement of the census-man, Nantucket now musters a permanent population of only about 3200 souls, or little more than one-third of what it boasted in 1840. The decrease during the last five years has been greater than most of us had anticipated; indeed, we can scarcely realize, even after the figures are before us, that we have lost about nine hundred during that short period of time. Who could have dreamed, thirty years ago, that this island would ever become a mere place of summer resort for pleasure-seekers and invalids in search of health? Yet, if such is our destiny, we must accept the situation as cheerfully as may be and do our best to fulfill it. If this is really the only business that our position permits us to do, let us do it well. It must be remembered that we did not put up for the business; it came to us, and we have found ourselves compelled to pursue it. Our natural attractions were such that travelers found us out, and invaded our territory in such numbers that we could do no less than prepare for their accommodation.

Prepare they did, particularly on Orange Street, which early on boasted boarding houses and hotels, prominent among them the Sherburne House, the Holiday Inn, and the Bay View House. It is possible that Mary Wilbur made improvements to her house during the six years that she owned it because she was able to sell it for $1,200 in 1872. 20

lizabeth McCleave

1872- 1888 Although her husband Charles H. McCleave was still living, Elizabeth McCleave purchased the house from Mary Wilbur in her own name, when she was fifty-two years old. It was not uncommon for local women to hold title to property, but they generally did so as widows, or later as offisland owners of second homes. Elizabeth and Charles left scant record of their time on Nantucket. Elizabeth died in 1885. By her will Charles retained a life interest in her estate, after which the house was to descend to Sarah M. Richardson, Elizabeth’s sister, although Charles and Sarah decided to sell the house in 1888. The house next north of Elizabeth McCleave’s house was built in 1845 by prolific Nantucket house carpenter John B. N icholson, who spared no expense in constructing the elegant mansion. It was subsequently owned by n otorious embezzler Barker Burnell; following his imprisonment the house was p urchased by Capt. Zenas A dams and became the boarding house known as the Adams House. John Winn, another active real estate investor, reopened the boarding establishment as the Sherburne House in 1865. Photographs of the popular hotel in the 1870s show McCleave’s house, now the house at 2 Martins Lane, overshadowed by the larger building. 21

enry A. Willard 1888 - 1889

Henry Willard was the proprietor, with his brother Joseph, of the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., a property he and Joseph acquired in 1853. The Willard Hotel was described by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1860s as the location that “more justly could be called the center of Washington than either the Capitol or the White House or the State Department.” President Lincoln and his wife lived there before they moved to the White House, and the term “lobbyist” originated there: political movers and shakers discovered that President Grant liked to have a cigar and brandy there, and they congregated in the lobby in order to gain audience with him. On Nantucket Willard lived at 26 Orange Street, a mid-eighteenth century “cottage” that he purchased in 1881 and shared with his wife Sarah. In 1965, when the H.A.B.S. report of 26 Orange Street was written, Willard’s grandson and namesake was the owner of that house. It is unclear why Willard bought Elizabeth McCleave’s house and sold it in less than a year to Charles H. Robinson, although he did dabble in local real estate; in 1883 he purchased seventeen house lots on the north shore, and lent his name to the street that connects Easton Street with Hulbert Avenue. Willard did not make a profit on his investment in the McCleave house on Orange Street; he sold it for $1,500, the same amount he paid for it. 22

Willard Hotel, Washington, D.C.

harles H. Robinson 1889 - 1908

Charles H. Robinson

Charles Robinson (1829–1915), the most prolific builder of his era on Nantucket, was the man who shook things up on Orange Street and Martins Lane. He lived just around the corner from the west end of Martins Lane, where he built as his residence the yellow clapboarded house known as “Fair Isle.” Robinson built a number of other remarkable houses on Nantucket: the Nesbitt Inn on Broad Street and its companion house to the east, the Surfside Life Saving Station, the building now called the Stone Barn Inn, and the Sea Cliff Inn, among scores of others. In 1895 Robinson purchased the boarding house known as the American House on the north corner of Orange Street and Martins Lane. He modernized the early nineteenth-century residence, enlarging it and a dding elaborate decorative elements, and renamed it the Holiday Inn. The hotel was razed in 1921, and the much smaller William F. Macy house was built on the site in 1925. Robinson also purchased two houses on Orange Street south of the Holiday Inn in the late nineteenth century. In 1888 he bought from Martha S. Fisher and John F isher the house known as Irene Fisher’s boarding house on the south corner of Orange Street and Martins Lane; as early as 1865 Fisher’s boarding house offered meals for 50 cents and lodging for 25 cents. Her house appears on the Sanborn Map of 1892, but not on the next map published in 1898, so it was removed sometime during those six years. 23

Fisher house with men in front; Pollard house on the left

In 1891 Robinson purchased a dwelling house from heirs of George Pollard (father of the captain of the whale ship Essex), on a tract of land bounded on the east by Orange Street, on the north by Robinson and the estate of Russell Rogers, on the west by Russell Rogers, and on the south by Mary H. Tracy. This is the site of 2 Martins Lane. Robinson removed that house immediately; it appears on the 1887 Sanborn Map but not the next map, published in 1892.

House move clipping - I&M February 15, 1902

After opening up this area south of the Holiday Inn, Robinson made more moves on his n eighborhood chess board. In 1902 he was engaged by William Barnes Jr. to engineer the move of the Sherburne Hotel back from the sidewalk to the edge of Quanaty Bank so that Barnes could remodel the house as a private residence. In conjunction with that operation, Robinson moved the Elizabeth McCleave house that he had purchased from Henry Willard in 1889 across Orange Street to the open space he had created there south of Martins Lane. One hundred years after it was built by John Jenkins on the east side of Orange Street, the house arrived at its new location on the west side of Orange Street, at the site of the Pollard house, with a large yard at the site of Irene Fisher’s boarding house at the corner of Martins Lane. Charles H. Robinson sold the recently relocated John Jenkins house to Horace P. Williams of Boston a year later.

Plan of land of Charles Robinson - 1903

illiams and Morgan Family 1903 - 1996

Horace P. Williams and Mary Mitchell Williams Horace Boyleston Lincoln Williams Mary Eleanor Williams Morgan and Stokeley Morgan Stokeley W. Morgan and Anna Morgan Lee Morgan and Ann Morgan Johnson Horace and Mary Williams probably had no idea that the summer house they purchased at 2 Martins Lane in Mary’s hometown would be owned and loved by their descendants for more than ninety years. Major Horace P. Williams distinguished himself in the Civil War when he was a young man, and afterwards returned to his native Boston where he was head of the commission house of H. P. Williams & Co. He married Mary Mitchell of Nantucket when the war ended in 1865, and they were parents of a son, Boyleston L. Williams, and a daughter, Mary Eleanor Williams [Morgan]. After the deaths of their parents, Horace B. L. Williams deeded his share of the property to his sister, Mary Eleanor, widow of Lieutenant-Commander Stokeley Morgan of the U. S. Navy, a military man like her father. Stokeley Morgan had an impressive career, firing the first

shot at the Spanish fleet at the battle of Manila Bay and leading his men at the taking of the city of Manila. His health failed soon afterwards, however, and he and Mary Eleanor and their young son Stokeley W. came to Nantucket where it was hoped that Lieutenant-Commander Morgan would recuperate, but he died on Nantucket in 1900, at the age of fortyone. Mary Eleanor, who remained on the island, was described by her friend Florence Bennett Anderson. In her early widowhood, Mrs. Morgan found comfort in making Nantucket her home. She was a devoted citizen, serving with courage, diligence, enthusiasm, and excellent judgment, civic and social causes. . . Furthermore, she was a true neighbor in the cordial sense of that word and a good companion. Her home on Orange Street – in Martin’s Lane, as she preferred to say – was a delightful centre.

Views of Martins Lane before 1930

Stokeley W. and his wife Anna became owners of the house at 2 Martins Lane in 1938, when Mary Eleanor died. Stokeley W. had a long career with the Department of State, holding diplomatic posts around the world; he met his wife Anna at a ball in Latvia. After many summer seasons on the island, they retired to the family home in Martins Lane in 1955. Their children, Lee Morgan (also known as Stokeley) and Anne Morgan Johnson, assumed title from 1976 to 1996, their families sharing the house in the summers.

Stokeley W. Morgan with fowl

homas and Leslie Carr 1996 -

2 Martins Lane

Thomas Carr enjoying the view from the widow’s walk.

Leslie and Thomas Carr were interested in finding a summer home on Nantucket that was old and full of history. What they found was a very tired house at the corner of Orange Street and Martins Lane that needed their care and vision, and several years of painstaking work. The Carrs worked diligently to restore—and recreate where necessary — the early-nineteenth-century John Jenkins house. Leslie adopted the project with enthusiasm, researching period details, furnishings, paint colors, and wallpaper. The skill of the original builder is evident in the paneling, staircase detail, and cabinetry under stairs and around fireplaces; newly constructed kitchen stairs mirror the original front stairs, while the kitchen is a comfortable blend of modern convenience with historic charm. The Carrs— with sons Patrick, Henry, and Peter—live most of the year in Washington, D.C. where Thomas is CEO and Chairman of the Board of CarrAmerica; but they spend as much time as possible at their Nantucket home, enjoying summers and returning for holidays. Their house is one of few in the town of Nantucket with a documented move from one location to another, supported by the evidence of a contemporary n ewspaper report, as well as the indisputable record of Sanborn Insurance Maps. Enduring the era of house demolition in the neighborhood, the Carr’s house survived to tell the tale. 29

Tom, Patrick, Henry and Peter Carr sailing on Nantucket

The Carrs live most of the year in Washington, D.C., but they spend as much time as possible at their Nantucket home...

Patrick, Peter, Leslie and Henry in London

2 Martins Lane after the p足 ainstaking and detailed restoration of the interior by Thomas and Leslie Carr 31

Notes Abbreviations: BR – Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record HABS – Historic American Buildings Survey HN – Historic Nantucket I&M – Inquirer and Mirror MS – Manuscript NA – Nantucket Atheneum NEHGS – New England Historic Genealogical Society NHARL – Nantucket Historical Association Research Library NP – Nantucket Probate NRD – Nantucket Registry of Deeds

FISH LOTS SIX AND SEVEN For background on the early settlement and later land divisions, see Henry Barnard Worth, Nantucket Lands and Land Owners (NHA, 1924). William Coffin’s Map of the Town of Nantucket in the State of Massachusetts. Nantucket: H. Clapp, 1834, is in NHARL MS 1000-3-4-9. Sanborn Insurance Co. maps of Nantucket were published in 1887, 1892, 1898, 1904, 1909, 1923, and updated in 1949 and are available online at the NA and on microfilm at the NHARL. JOHN and PEREZ JENKINS Genealogical particulars are culled from the Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Record, in a computer database available at the NHA and on its website, www.nha.org, and from the five-volume Vital Records of Nantucket, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston: NEHGS, 1925), as well as the databases of NEHGS, available online to members at www.nehgs.org. Clay Lancaster, The Architecture of Historic Nantucket (New York: McGraw Hill, 1972), p. 260, lists local builders. Deed from Shubael Barnard to John and Perez Jenkins, 1802: NRD Book 17/page 3; John Jenkins to Oliver C. Bartlett, 1803: NRD Book 17/page 92 OLIVER C. and ELIZABETH BARTLETT BR lists Oliver’s father as “Dr.” John Bartlett. Receipts for Dr. Oliver C. Bartlett’s services are in NHARL MS 116/folder 39 and NHARL MS 134/folder 8. Deeds for O. C. Bartlett’s real estate purchases are in NRD Book 21/page 411 (house at site of Pacific Bank); Book 22/page 293(New Market on Fair St.); Book 25/page 48 (13 Fair Street); Book 27/page 154 (Methodist Church property). Deed from Bartlett to Sylvanus Russell: NRD Book 21/pages 355–56. SYLVANUS and SUSAN RUSSELL A record of Russell’s voyages is in Judith Navas Lund, Whaling Masters and Whaling Voyages Sailing from American Ports (New Bedford Whaling Museum, et al., 2001). BR includes note about move to Buffalo, NY. Deed from Russell to Alexander Coffin 2d: NRD Book 29/pages 244–45. ALEXANDER and LYDIA COFFIN Details of Coffin’s career are in “Alexander Coffin, ‘Remarks at the Asylum, Quaise,’ 1841,” HN v.31, no.4, April 1984. Deed Coffin to Obed Ramsdell: NRD Book 43/pages 382–83 32

OBED and SUSAN RAMSDELL See Lund for a list of Ramsdell’s voyages. Various papers relating to Ramsdell’s whaling voyages are in the NHARL, in MS 152 and MS 334. His tax receipt is in MS 225. Deeds Susan Ramsdell and children to Wilbur: NRD Book 59/pages 282-83 and 59/pages 283–84. MARY WILBUR The obituary notice for Sanford Wilbur is in the I&M Sept. 17, 1862. His probate record is in NP Book 20/page 378. The editorial “The Few That Are Left,” is in the I&M Sept. 4, 1875. Deed Wilbur to McCleave: NRD Book 62/pages154–55 ELIZABETH MCCLEAVE See NP #P182 for Elizabeth McCleave’s will. Information on 30 Orange Street is found in Clay Lancaster, Holiday Island (NHA, 1993), pp. 33, 50–52, Clay Lancaster, Nantucket in the Nineteenth Century (New York: Dover, 1979), p. 64, and the Grace Brown Gardner Street File, NHARL MS 57. Deed from McCleave and Richardson to Willard: NRD Book 72/pages 463-64. HENRY A. WILLARD An obituary notice for Willard is in the I&M Dec. 11, 1909, and an article about Willard’s will is in the I&M Dec. 25, 1909. The history of the Willard Hotel can be found online at www.exploredc.org. HABS Mass No. 1072 has details about 26 Orange Street, the Willard home. Deed from Willard to Robinson: NRD Book 73/pages 437–38. CHARLES H. ROBINSON Clay Lancaster wrote two articles about Robinson for HN: v. 38, no. 3, Fall 1990 and v. 38, no. 4, Winter 1990, and discusses the Holiday Inn and Fisher’s boarding house in Holiday Island (NHA, 1993). Note that house numbers on Orange St. have changed. HABS Mass No. 1075 has details on the Macy house at 31 Orange St. Deed from Fisher to Robinson: NRD Book 72/pages 275-76; from Pollard’s heirs to Robinson: NRD Book 75/pages 457–58; from Robinson to Williams: NRD Book 85/pages 222–23. WILLIAMS/MORGAN FAMILY Obituary notices for Major Horace Perry Williams (Jan. 1, 1916); Stokeley Morgan (Dec. 17, 1900) and Eleanor Williams Morgan (September 3, 1938) are in the NA People File. Interfamily deeds NRD: Book 106/pages 127–28; Book 111/pages 298–99; Book 150/pages 109; Book 154/page 166. Deed to Thomas and Leslie Carr: NRD Book 518/page 268. THOMAS and LESLIE CARR Martha Carr, mother of Thomas, graciously provided information and a house tour, September 2005.

Detail of main staircase

Crazy quilt found in the attic of 2 Martins Lane

Illustrations p. 6 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA S1787: color photo Martins Lane p. 8 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA 1000-3-4-9: detail of 1834 map p. 9 photocopy of Sanborn maps - West side of Orange St.: 1887, 1892, 1898 p. 10 photocopy of Sanborn maps - East side of Orange St.: 1898, 1904 p. 12 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, photocopies NHA MS 116/39 and NHA MS 134/8: photocopies of receipts of Dr. Bartlett p. 14 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA MS 334/74: letter of Alexander Coffin, 1828 p. 15 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA MS 1000-3-4-1c: Lucy Macy map, 1830 p. 16 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA 1000-3-4-9: detail of 1834 map p. 17 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA MS 225/env.: photocopy Ramsdell tax receipt p. 17 Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA MS 152/186: photocopy Constitution shipping paper p. 18 Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA 96.16.12: color drawing ship Zenas Coffin p. 19 Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA MS 334/121: photocopy Ramsdell letter p. 21 Photographs courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA P5481, GPN2226, P11097: photos of Sherburne house and Jenkins house p. 22 internet image Willard hotel p. 23 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA F4208: Charles H. Robinson p. 23 Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA MS 57: photocopies Holiday Inn ads p. 24 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA neg 448: photo Fisher house p. 25 Courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA MS 335/824: photocopy clipping house move p. 25 photocopy Plan Book 3/ page 50 p. 26 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA P16706: House on Martins Lane p. 27 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA F2569: Martins Lane before 1921 p. 27 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA A71-07: Bricking the land p. 26 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA P5914: Stokeley W. Morgan with fowl p. 27 photos of exterior front façade – Pat Butler, 2005 p. 27 photos courtesy of Martha Carr - Thomas Carr on widow’s walk p. 28 photos courtesy of Martha Carr - Carr family photos p. 31 photos of interior – Patricia Butler, 2005 p. 33 photo of stair detail - Patricia Butler, 2005 p. 34 Photograph courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, NHA 96.18.1: Quilt found in attic 2 Martins Lane

Thank you for Celebrating Nantucket’s Architectural Heritage with the

Nantucket Preservation Trust This concise house history is an important contribution to the island’s architectural record. Documentation is one of the ways the Nantucket Preservation Trust celebrates the more than 2400 historic homes, farms and workplaces that contributed to the island’s designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1966. By providing owners of historic houses, island residents, schoolchildren and visitors a broad spectrum of programs and projects, we encourage the preservation of irreplaceable structures, architectural features and cultural landscapes. Lectures, walking tours, house markers, special events and publications, including the house histories, define our unique work on Nantucket. We hope you enjoy the history of this house, its past owners and its place in Nantucket’s remarkable architectural heritage. Copyright © 2005 Nantucket Preservation Trust

With special thanks to Patricia Egan Butler, Director of Education of the Nantucket Preservation Trust and Nantucket artist, Susan Boardman, a Director of the NPT, for their guidance, inspiration, knowledge and support. To Libby Oldham for her keen eye in the editing of this book. To Marie Henke, Nantucket Historical Association Photo Archivist, for her assistance with historic images and maps. Copyright ÂŠ 2005 Nantucket Preservation Trust All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the Nantucket Preservation Trust. The text of this book was set in High Tower Text. Researched and written by Betsy Tyler, Nantucket, Massachusetts Designed, printed and hand-bound by Kathleen Hay Designs Nantucket â&#x20AC;˘ New York