6 darling brief history by Nantucket Preservation Trust

6 Darling Street NANTUCKET

A House History

A Brief History 6 Darling Street

Looking east on Darling Street, circa 1890s

arling Street lies in the Fish Lots, a division of land made by the Proprietors of the island in 1717. The twenty-seven Fish Lots—one for each of the twenty original landowners’ families, and one-half for each of the fourteen half-share tradesmen’s families—extend from Main Street to the vicinity of Silver and Weymouth Streets. The east and west bounds of the division are Quanaty Bank, now known as the Orange Street bluff, and Pine Street. The street name was first recorded in the 1799 list of town streets compiled by Isaac Coffin, and named for the Darling family who resided at 10 Darling Street in the 1790s.

Darling Street seen from Fair street, circa 1870s

Probate records of William Macy (1751–1814) reveal a considerable number of real estate holdings that were divided among his seven children in 1819. Land in Fish Lot Number 19, “near James Cartwrights Dwelling house” was awarded to son William W. (1787–1838) and daughter Lydia (1789–1850). Five days later, Lydia, single and thirty years old, sold her half to William for $266.66. Married to Phebe Starbuck, with three daughters and a fourth coming in five months, thirty-two-year-old William W. Macy promptly organized the construction of his house: a shingled, two-and-a-half story, five-bayed house with 6/6 paned windows, two ridge chimneys, and a handsome center doorway with sidelights and transom. In 1827, Macy and his east-side neighbor, Benjamin F. Coffin, adjusted the dividing line between their properties, perhaps in preparation for the sale of the property. By 1828, William W. Macy is listed as a resident of New York City. That same year Macy appears to have used the property as collateral—transferring title several times until it eventually sold to Reuben Swain III, yeoman, for $1,500. Swain retained the property until 1835, when he sold it for $2,900 to Thomas G. Barnard, mariner and boat builder. In little more than a decade, Nantucket would enter a period of decline. The Great Fire of 1846, the dwindling whaling industry, and the advent of the California gold rush created falling property values and islanders looking for new opportunities. Barnard left the island for California, and shortly thereafter Swain, now a master mariner, bought the property back on July 5, 1854, for $600. That same day he sold the property to Joseph B. Macy, trader, for $1,000. At the time, Macy and his wife, Rebecca Coffin, were parents of a daughter and a son; twin daughters would be born in the house in 1857.

Joseph B. Macy (1821â&#x20AC;&#x201C;88), a ship chandler, held part ownership in several vessels, including Bohio, Ocean Rover, Amy, Catawba, R. L. Barstow, and Oak. The Oak, the last whaler out of Nantucket, ended its final (1869) voyage in Tahiti and was sold in Panama in 1872. Late in the existence of the whale fishery, his son, John E. Macy, having grown up at 6 Darling Street, went to sea on the New Bedford ship Contest bound for the Pacific. Four years later, on board the L. M. Long out of Boston and bound for Shanghai, he was lost overboard at the age of twenty, in 1872, the same year his father sold his share in the Oak. Macy had sold the house to Samuel Davis in 1865 for $1,230, and subsequently resided at 17 Federal Street.

Joseph B. Macy

Davis and his wife, Lucy, had five children, ages three to sixteen, when they moved to 6 Darling Street. Levi G. Corbin and Wallace M. Stone of Worcester, Massachusetts, bought the house in 1872, and later that year sold it to fifty-eight-year-old Charlotte Pitman of Nantucket, a widow with two grown daughters. Six years later, Nancy J. Swain, wife of Charles L. Swain, bought and owned the property until 1884, when she sold it to Susan C. Williams, wife of Benjamin F. Williams of Nantucket. Her husband and children John E. Macy sold the property in 1913 to Hattie C. Sawyer, wife of Samuel W. Sawyer of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In late-nineteenthcentury Nantucket, it was not unusual for women to hold title to property, mostly by inheritance, so ownership of 6 Darling by those three married women was within that tradition.

Eulalie Hilts

The Great Depression brought about the sale of 6 Darling Street in 1929 to Gladys Wood, a dealer in island real estate, who sold it in 1946 to Edwin R. and Eulalie Hilts of Greenwich, Connecticut. Eulalie Hilts, a curator of textiles with the National Museum of the American Indian, held the property for forty-five years. npt

Back of 6 Darling from Pine Street

6 DARLING STREET: OWNERS William W. Macy, merchant 1819–1828 Reuben Swain III, yeoman 1828–1835 Thomas G. Barnard, boat builder 1835–1854 Reuben Swain III, master mariner 1854 Joseph B. Macy, trader 1854–1865 Samuel Davis 1865–1872 Levi G. Corbin and Wallace M. Stone 1872 Charlotte Pitman 1872–1879 Nancy J. Swain 1879–1884 Susan G. Williams 1884–1913 Hattie C. Sawyer 1913–1929 Gladys Wood 1929–1946 Edwin R. and Eulalie A. Hilts 1946–c.1960 Eulalie A. Hilts (aka Eulalie Morgan, Eulalie Wierdsma, 1960–1991 Eulalie Bonar) John N. Curlett, Jr., Trustee of 6 Darling Street Realty Trust 1991–2011 Darling Street LLC 2011– Prepared by Christine Harding

Nantucket Preservation Trust

May 2012

Historic images courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association

Nantucket Preservation Trust Advocates, Educates, and Celebrates the Preservation of Nantucket’s Historic Architecture

his brief 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 2,400 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 and neighborhood 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.

nantucket preservation trust Post Office Box 158 â&#x20AC;˘ Nantucket, Massachusetts www.nantucketpreservation.org