Historic Nantucket, April 1965, Vol. 12 No. 4

Historic Nantucket

Whaling Museum

APRIL, 1965

Published Quarterly by NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS

NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President, George W. Jones.

Vice Presidents, Miss Grace Brown Gardner, W. Ripley Nelson, Albert F. Egan Jr., Mrs. William L. Mather, Alcon Chadwick, Henry B. Coleman.

Treasurer, Norman P. Giffin.

Secretary, Miss Ethel Anderson.

Councillors, George W. Jones, Chairman; Leroy H. True, Herbert I. Terry, term expires 1965; Mrs. Nancy S. Adams, A. Morris Crosby, term expires 1966; Miss Helen Powell, Albert G. Brock, term expires 1967; Mrs. Ernest H. Menges, Walter Beinecke Jr., term expires 1968.

Advertising and Publications, W. Ripley Nelson and H. Errol Coffin.

Honorary Curator, Mrs. Nancy S. Adams.

Curator, Mrs. William L. Mather.

Finance Committee, Albert F. Egan Jr. and Alcon Chadwick.

Editor, Historic Nantucket, A. Morris Crosby; Assistant Editors, Mrs. Mar­ garet Fawcett Barnes, Mrs. R. A. Orleans.

Chairmen of Exhibits, Historical Museum, Mrs. William L. Mather; Whaling Museum, W. Ripley Nelson; Hadwen House — Satler Memorial, Albert F. Egan Jr; Old Mill, Henry B. Coleman; Old Jail, Norman P. Giffin; 1800 House, Miss Ethel Clark; Gardner Street Firehouse, Albert G. Brock; Oldest House, Mrs. J. Clinton Andrews.

HISTORIC NANTUCKET Published quarterly and devoted to the preservation of Nantucket's antiquity, its famed heritage and its illustrious past as a whaling port.

Volume 12

April, 1965

No. 4

CONTENTS Nantucket Historical Association Officers

2

Once Along the Waterfront, by Edouard A. Stackpole

5

Nantucket Conservation Commission — Nantucket Conservation Foundation

10

Dr. William E. Gardner

11

Government of the Fisheries of the Great Ponds of Nantucket,

by Emil F. Guba

12

The Colonial Church and Nantucket, by Henry B. Worth, Esq. Reprinted from the "Proceedings" of July 18, 1906

16

Festival for Nantucket — A Vision

20

A List of the More Important Articles Published in HISTORIC NANTUCKET from July, 1953, to April, 1965

22

Recent Events

27

Diary of William C. Folger: Edited by Nancy S. Adams

29

Legacies and Bequests

31

Historic Nantucket is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts, by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sent to Association Members. Extra copies $.50 each.

Membership dues are — Annual-Active $3.00 ; Sustaining $10.00 ; Life—one payment $50.00.

Entered as Second Class Matter, July, 1953, at the Post Office, Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Copyright, 1965. Nantucket Historical Association.

Communications pertaining to the Publication should be addressed to the Editor, Historic Nantucket, Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket, Massachusetts, 02554.

5

Once Along the Waterfront

BY EDOUARD A. STACKPOLE

Curator, Mystic Seaport [Being an accompanying text to a lecture with slides presented in part, at the Nantucket High School, Feb. 19, 1965.]

T

HAT section of the town of Nantucket which has experienced more changes than any other is the waterfront. In the three centuries which have encompassed the life of the island settlement (called first Sherburne and since 1795 Nantucket) the portion embracing the head of the wharves and the wharves themselves have undergone a complete transformation, not once but several times. With the moving of the homestead settlement's center from the Hummock Pond area to the Great Harbor, the town of Sherburne soon became that part which sprawled down the gentle slopes of the Wesco hills to the shore. Straight Wharf, extending into the harbor, became the first major pier, probably of logs and boulders, with sand fill, and to State Street, leading to this wharf, all the original streets connected and the various house lots (Wesco, Fish Lots, Bocachio) were laid out close at hand to the landing places which grew into three other large wharves.

Because my talk has to do with what I saw along the waterfront in my boyhood, as well as to what history tells us, I think it proper to begin with my earliest recollection. Our house was on Mill Hill and from the Hill itself, seated on the long shaft leading to the Mill top, I looked out over the houses below to get my first glimpse of the blue waters of the harbor just beyond the last range of roof-tops.

Not until years later did I appreciate what constituted my first experiences at the wharves and their approaches. A half century ago, Washington Street, from Francis Street to Commercial Wharf, had a variety of shanties and small shelters bordering the harbor front. Some of the fishermen lived in these tiny places; others were mostly scallop shanties. I remember John Howard Dunham, Charles Folger, Henry Main, Frank Countee and Luther Rose as residents. There were also the scalloping shanties of Joe Araujo, Manuel Ray and Timothy Dunham.

• At the head of Commercial Wharf, in the present Legion Hall, there was a considerable storage of barrels and nets. Close at hand Clarence Ramsdell had his stable with his collection of wagons and "low-beds," while Joe Fernandez' little store was situated under the shadows of the Fernandez house. Across the street was the home of Peter Viera and his fine family.

I do not recall the names of those living in a small dwelling near at hand.

Commercial Wharf was the scene of considerable activity when the little steamer "Petrel" came in with a load of fish. How vivid are those scenes, especially seeing Jim Everett Chapel who, though crippled, was one of the strongest men on the Island, Arthur Barrett, Bill Bartlett, Charlie Vincent, and "Cap'n" Manter. In contrast to the alternate busy times and peaceful times at this wharf, I remember the horror of the fire which de­ stroyed the Barnes boat-house at the wharf's end and the loss of life. A Nantucket man named Ray leaped from the roof of the burning structure,

6

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

plunging into the water and thus saving himself from the holocaust. My playmate, Tony Souza, and I ran to the scene from Washington Street and were among the first on the wharf — little realizing what we were witnessing.

History reveals how much the waterfront was changed by a series of fires, those taking place in 1838 and 1846 being the greatest destroyers. That of 1846 not only burnt over all the wharves, devouring the lofts, chandleries, cooperages and oil storehouses but came close to leveling the entire town.

The exteriors of several brick structures were left standing in the ruins with their interiors burned out. These included the present Town Building, the Pacific Club and the Citizens Bank. All interiors were restored.

But to gain an idea of what the waterfront looked like before this Great Fire of 1846 there are two wood engravings — one by Tanner, of the period of 1810, and the other of 1835 from J. W. Barber's "Historical Collections" — which show the five major wharves, warehouses and ropewalks which once featured the scene. These were all wiped out by the 1846 fire. As an illustration of the manner in which the waterfront was rebuilt, there is a "Bird's Eye View" of the town, issued in 1881, which has some remarkable detail as concerns the re-building here, as well as demonstrating the ability of the town to recover from its post Civil War slump by becoming a summer resort.

Photography has aided in tracing the story of the waterfront since 1860.

The early protographers, such as Summerhayes and Freeman, succeeded by Wyer, Piatt and Boyer, have left excellent studies, while Editor Harry B. Turner of "The Inquirer and Mirror," was keenly aware of the value of photos for preserving local history. An early view of Straight Wharf, show­ ing the whaleship "Narragansett" and some wood sloops; panoramic views from the South Tower, and pictures taken of scenes between the wharves have added much to our store of knowledge.

We can place the exact date of a view from the tower in 1871, showing two steamers at the wharves; another in 1874, providing a classic picture of Steamboat Wharf with the steamers "Island Home" and "River Queen"; an­ other, with the schooners "Winchester" and "Oakes Ames" tied up alongside each other, with a catboat fleet under their bowsprits, offers an amazing glimpse into the past.

The catboats in themselves represent a story of much fascination. With the emergence of Nantucket as a favorite "watering place" the bluefishing parties became a feature. Sailing down to Great Point Rip with the catboats was a sport enjoyed by many visitors. But it was in the skippers of these craft that we find the unusual story, as many of these owner-skippers were formerly captains of square-rigged whaleships and merchantmen, others would be mates or pilots, others fishermen of ancient visage. For years the catboats were moored in several favorite basins, such as that in front of the Adams building at Steamboat Wharf, or along Old North Wharf, in Still Dock, and on the basins between Straight Wharf, Old South and Commercial wharfs.

There were many noted craft — each could give its quota of yarns — but among the best known were the "Cleopatra," with the Burgess family, Captain Watson the father and George, Senior, the son — both being pilots.

At one time this carried a sail cut and colored like a huge American flag.

As the "Cleopatra" was the largest catboat of her time, it made a unique and colorful appearance. Other catboats whose skippers were known for

ONCE ALONG THE WATERFRONT

7

their skill were the "Avilda," Timothy Dunham; "Lucille," Captain Benjamin Pease and Captain Patrick Conway; "Inez," Captain Perry Winslow; "Cru­ sader," Captain William Burchell; "Fleetwing," Captain Joseph Winslow; "Horatio," Captain Thomas Barrally; and "Tern," Captain Joseph Enos.

As for the men who were identified with the waterfront, in their com­ bined stories they would make a book-length article. Certain- places where they would rendezvous became places of great excitement to a small boy. I think of a sun-drenched porch on the front of the tiny "Bon Ton Fish Mar­ ket," on Easy Street, over which John Taber presided. Here would sit Frank Meiggs with his beard; Henry Main, with his red hair and bright, blue eyes, snapping out a story between teeth clenched on the stem of a pipe; Clint Orpin, younger than the regulars here, but a veteran fisherman, and Captain Henry Folger, who had been a coasting skipper and whose resonant voice still returns over the years.

As for Old North itself, there was the machine shop of John Cross, the son of a Church of England minister, who had run away to sea at thirteen and roamed around the world on merchant ships. In those days, the scallop and quahaug boats were installing engines, and the Lathrop one-cylinder motor was a popular choice. John Cross had his own group of habitants and many a story not intended for publication was recounted in the shop. The boat shop of William Chase stood close by and I remember the float, with its variety of pulling boats for hire. Many of these boats were built by Mr. Chase, who also had the "Sailor Boy" weathervanes on display at the wharf side. Captain Conway formerly conducted a similar establishment of boatrentals close by but that was before I was old enough to go there.

Close at hand was the mooring place for many catboats. I recall Myron Coffin and the "Inez." Of particular recollection is the esteem in which he was held by all small boys, as he was understanding and kind and not as inclined to frighten them when they were wandering around the waterfront and got into mischief.

My interest in Old North Wharf was keen because of some ancestral family connection, the Pinkhams having at one time used it as the headquar­ ters for a line of packets running to Norfolk, Baltimore, and occasionally to New Orleans. Years later, one of their warehouses was taken over by Barzillai Burdett, a boat builder, and the proprietor of a boat service to the bathing beach, with the catboat "Dauntless" being as well known as any in the fleet during the 1880's and '90's. Today, the Andrews building, next door, is the only surviving business on this wharf which reflects the old-time scene.

A marked characteristic of those days were the myriad of walks, ways or paths leading from one wharf to the other across the intervening land.

Straight Wharf was called Killen's Wharf, and between this and Old North was Cross Wharf, facing the dock between these two wharves. Here, in the winter time, schooners would tie up for the season and it was one of the great thrills of Nantucket boyhood to visit the shipkeepers, snug in their warm cabins aboard the schooners.

Along the southern line of Straight Wharf were a row of scallop shanties.

Here, Steve Ryder, the Miller brothers, Tony and Frank, and Captain Arthur Tunning among others, brought their scallops for opening by the various "openers." The combination of young and old in this category made for

8

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

interesting afternoons and evenings and much of the local lore of the water­ front was freely passed on by the oldsters — aided and embellished by the several lookers-on who spent the evening from one shanty to the other.

The same scene held true along the Old South Wharf, where the majority of the scallop shanties were located. These scenes are as vivid today as if they recently took place: the small stove mounted high in the center of the room; the variety of oil lamps throwing a glow of yellow light over all, bringing out the dark shadows cast by the gear stowed away overhead; the "openers" hunched on stools over the benches piled high with scallops; the smell of pipe-smoke and chewing tobacco, and, most important of all, the voices of the men themselves — most of whom have long since departed. No more colorful an experience than to be among the most youthful of those who participated.

Before World War I, the summer days along the waterfront were marked by the regularly scheduled runs of the little railroad from Steamboat Wharf to Siasconset. The little locomotive, with its coaches chugging slowly along Easy Street across into Candle Street, thence to Washington Street and the Goose Pond crossing of Orange Street, made a familiar sight. But, in retro­ spect, it was as much the sound of its bell as any other factor which recalls to mind the picture. Photographs help not only to remind but to pinpoint dates. One of the classic "shots" of the year 1915 shows the little railroad in the foreground and, looking out to the area between Steamboat and Old North wharves, a large fleet of fishing schooners in the background, in port due to a storm, and in the foreground some of the catboats and other party boats of the period, plus scallopers, and quahaugers.

To those who frequented the Old South Wharf in the pre-World War I days it was known as Swain's Wharf. Here were a lumber yard, coal pockets, grain storage warehouse, and ice plant — and fishing shanties T>f varied size.

In those days, the quahaug beds in Nantucket Sound had only been recently discovered by Captain Sam Jackson, and boats from other ports were coming to Nantucket to partake of the rich harvest. These days, just before the out­ break of World War I, were full of excitement. The quahaugs came into port in great quantity, with the buyers and shippers busy on every wharf.

Edmund Z. Ryder on Steamboat Wharf; Tom Keane and Harry Studley on Old South, as well as Nickerson & Perry on Old North Wharf kept their warehouses busy.

There was a prolonged freeze-up during the winter of 1917 and a num­ ber of ice boats were constructed for sailing over the harbor ice. Peter Schaper of the "Ebenezer" and Samuel R. Burchell of the "Crusader" had boats propelled by catboat sails. I remember watching the men. eeling through the holes in the ice off Commercial Wharf, and of Joe Fisher and Charlie Brown Cathcart (later neighbors on Union Street) jabbing down with their long-handled eel speers and bringing up the thrashing bodies of the black eels.

It was a cold winter and the eels made many a tasty dish for families of the fishermen.

While my association with the catboat fleets does not go back far enough to include the veteran skippers, I do recall their names as being brought up in many a discussion. The remarkable part about these captains is in respect to their having been commanders of square-riggers and schooners during their active years. These catboat owners and skippers included Captain Alden

ONCE ALONG THE WATERFRONT

Adams with his famous "L. Roberta"; Captain Perry Winslow in the "White Cloud"; Captain Joseph Winslow in the "Emily"; Captain Barzillai Luce in the "Dionis"; Captain Benjamin Pease in the "Lucille," later commanded by Captain Patrick Conway. Captain Watson Burgess, succeeded by his son George Burgess in the "Cleopatra"; Captain Benjamin Morris in the "Priscilla"; Captain David B. Andrews in the "Mischief"; and Captain Charles Smalley in the "Lillian" (later commanded by Arthur W. Jones and Charles Blount); and Captain Whitford Joy, whom I do remember, and many others.

It is difficult to imagine such a group of shipmasters; they were unique in the history of sports fishermen, and possibly only Nantucket could boast of such a remarkable array. But, like the boats they sailed, these men quietly disappeared from the waterfront scene, and naturally they never were replaced.

But there is one survivor of that wondrous fleet — the Andrews catboat "Wonoma," now in her 65 th year. Through the years, her employment as a scalloper has kept her a familiar part of the wharf scene at Island Service.

While no longer under sail, she continues to represent a fleet which made its own local marine history. The story of the Nantucket catboats and their skippers would make a volume in itself.

And no mention of Island Service Wharf (Old South) would be complete without mention of the three-masted schooner "Nantisco." While old photo­ graphs showing the packet schooners "W. T. Boggs," "Onward," "W. O. Nettleton" and "Island City" are extant, the "Nantisco" was the last of the Nantucket-owned schooners to have her home port here. Purchased by Henry Lang for the Island Service Company, and commanded by Captain Bishop, the "Nantisco" carried coal from Perth Amboy to Nantucket for several years. Ralph Bishop, the Captain's son, was a left-handed pitcher on the baseball team of the young "Crescents" and on spring afternoons we would "play pass" along the big schooner at the wharf.

Perhaps the most unusual cargo ever carried out of Nantucket for a mainland port was taken out by the "Nantisco" in 1921 — a cargo of cocoanut oil. The steamer "Gaelic Prince," stranded on the shoal off the east end of the Island, was forced to pump overboard most of its cargo of liquid cocoanut oil Upon striking the water the oil congealed and, like huge cakes of ice, floated ashore and islanders gathered it in by wagon load and boat load and brought it to the "Nantisco" for shipping to the Colgate Company in New York Many a thrifty housewife took advantage of the opportunity to make soap from the oil, and probably the greatest quantity of soap ever made on Nantucket at one time was produced in this period.

The improvements to Old South Wharf; the regular repairs at Steamboat Wharf and the recent restorations on Straight Wharf have almost completely changed much of the old-time view. With the coming of oil as a successor to coal for heating, the old coal pockets disappeared. The Charles C. Crosby Wharf (between Commercial and Old South) was absorbed by the public utilities company, and the little marine railway here was filled in and the • site obliterated. What were once brick warehouses at the wharves have now come into other uses, and blacksmith shops, such as Parkers, Winslow s, Warren's, and 'Quillie Cormie's have now all disappeared.

But the old scene still lingers in the memory of many who were once boys along the waterfront; rowing, sailing, swimming, working and playing in and around a waterside which can never come again.

10

Nantucket Conservation Commission Nantucket Conservation Foundation THE CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION of tidelands and other wetlands is becoming of constantly greater importance in our growing and complex society. Fortunately both public officials and the general public are by now well aware of this. It is not merely a matter of sentimental attachment to old, wild and unspoiled areas, nor the conservation, even the salvation, of our wildlife — or what is left of it; but it is now a matter of scientific knowledge that the diminishing areas of water-containing land pose a serious threat to the nation's economy and health. In the past we have taken water for granted, have assumed that it was a natural, everlasting resource of our planet. So it might have remained but for the steadily mount­ ing drain on it by modern business, manufacturing, and even every-day living.

The common use of water today is fantastic and the waste involved in its unrestricted use is frightening. Add to this the savage onslaught by develop­ ers and their bulldozers upon the marginal wet areas — swamps, marshes, tidal flats — irreparable encroachments on already dwindling water supplies, and it is easy to understand tne alarm with which conservationists every­ where have viewed this situation.

Nantucket is in the forefront of communities recognizing the danger and taking necessary action; but there is confusion in some minds as to just what is being done.

There are two organizations in Nantucket committed to the conservation of the Island's resources. One is the Nantucket Conservation Commission, the other is the Nantucket Conservation Foundation. Both are devoted to the same purpose; but the former is a part of the Town government, answer­ able to the voters and receiving its financial

support from appropriations at

Town Meeting. The Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Inc., on the other hand, is a private organization, administered by duly elected trustees, and incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a charitable, non-profit corporation. Receiving its charter in 1964, it has very broad powers. Provision is made for four classes of membership, three of which are restricted to owners of Nantucket real estate, the fourth (associate) is open to renters of Nantucket real estate for their own use for a period of at least two weeks in any one calendar year. Both the Commission and the Foundation may receive gifts, but the acceptance of gifts by the Commission is subject to the approval of the Board of Selectmen. There is, of course,

NANTUCKET CONSERVATION COMMISSION

11

no such restriction on gifts to the Foundation. Moreover, gifts to the Foun­ dation are deductible under the provisions of the Federal Income Tax law and are exempt under the Federal Estate Tax law.

In general, while the Foundation lacks some of the governmental power of the Commission, it is obviously more flexible and can function without some of the diversive factors which may and do sometimes affect public bodies.

Moreover, the Foundation better than the Commission is in a position to oppose encroachments by off-island interests which might not be too com­ mitted to the welfare of Nantucket. Both the Commission and the Foundation are backed by the Nantucket Civic League and will, it is expected, work to­ gether whole-heartedly to preserve and protect Nantucket's vital and unique natural resources. — A.M.C.

Dr. Gardner AS final proofs of this issue of HISTORIC NANTUCKET were coming off the press, Dr. William E. ("Will") Gardner died at the Nantucket Cottage Hos­ pital on the morning of April second. Quietly in his sleep, his passing was typical of the serenity of his long life — his ninety-third birthday celehrated only a few days before. After retiring from the Episcopal ministry, he gave untiringly of his heart and energy to preserving and enriching the history and lore of his beloved Nantucket. There is not the time or the space here •to do justic to his unique and powerful contribution to the life and manners of this island — that will have to come later. But it may be said that the time-worn cliche "he will be sorely missed" assumes, in his case, fresh and everlasting meaning. It is not probable that Nantucket will see his like again.

A.M.C.

12

Government of the Fisheries of the Great Ponds of Nantucket Island

J

BY EMIL FREDERICK GUBA Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts

URISDICTION OVER THE FISHING in the great ponds of Nantucket has been a controversial subject. Up until 1921 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts stocked the ponds with fish. It has always stocked the Island with game. The game laws of the Commonwealth are respected and enforced on the Island as elsewhere in the Commonwealth, but the fresh water ponds are seined, dragged, and fished without a license and without restriction. A Nantucket District Court decision in 1954 denied the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth over the great ponds of Nantucket. The Court refused to impose penalties on two defendants for violating the fresh-water fishing statute requiring a license to fish. The Islanders had claimed jurisdiction over the government of the ponds and the right to fish without a license. It was alleged that these rights are derived from the original patents and grants from the governors of the Province of New York to the Twenty original Purchasers, a corporation of freeholders called the Proprietors of the Com­ mon and Undivided Lands of Nantucket, formed in 1716, and which, by the charters and confirmations of 1684 and 1687, was known originally as the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of Sherburne.

The law enforcement officials of the State Department of Natural Resources claimed that the state laws applv and that the game and fishing laws are one and the same issue. Let us consider this.

By the above-mentioned royal colonial charters, all rights to the Island under the government of the Province of New York were granted to the corporation of the twenty original purchasers, their heirs and assigns, includ­ ing a manor form of government (after the manner of East Greenwich, County of Kent, England); the right to purchase land from the Indians; and the rights to fishing, hawking, hunting, and fowling. These rights under the grants and titles from the Province of New York were confirmed and preserved under the Province of the Massachusetts Bay, after the change in jurisdiction over the Islands (1691), by a special act of the Massachusetts Bay General Court in 1693. These rights were also preserved under the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Corporation of Proprietors thus con­ tinued to govern the land and the ponds, access to ponds and beaches, stock­ ing rights, etc. They were the riparian owners of the ponds, and the rights to fishing the ponds is clearly specified in the charters. The Corporation, from time to time leased these rights to fish and seine the fresh-water ponds to inhabitants of the Island in return for an annual fee or tribute.

By a vote of the Proprietors' Corporation on February 21, 1807, George C. Hussey and Edward C. Hussey were leased the fishing and seining rights in Long Pond, Madaket Ditch, and Madaket Harbor for a period of seven years. The lease did not restrict the townspeople from fishing with spears or hooks or taking shellfish. In 1813 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,

GOVERNMENT OF THE FISHERIES

13

in the case of Richard Mitchell and others vs. Sylvanus Starbuck and others (Supreme Judicial Court, County of Suffolk, March Term 1813, Mass. Re­ ports 10; 5-20, 1819, cases for year 1813), recognized* the corporate owner­ ship of the common and undivided lands of Nantucket and rendered a de­ cision in favor of the plaintiffs, authorizing the partitioning of the lands, and titles to land, to corporation shareholders in exchange for shares of sheep s commons. The exchange of land for sheep's commons continued throughout the 19th century and later, and by the year 1930 almost all of the land had been cancelled off. There were still a few hundred sheep's commons left which some inhabitants felt had no value. A majority of the inhabitants felt other­ wise.

At a meeting of the proprietor's corporation in March, 1841, it was voted to convey Long Pond, Madaket Ditch, and Madaket Harbor, to the Town of Nantucket. The deed-gift was approved by the Massachusetts General Court (Chapt. 24, 1840, and Chapt. 76, 1841) and acceptance was voted at the Nantucket Annual Town Meetings, April 10, 1841, and Feb­ ruary 10, 1843. These actions gave the Town and County of Nantucket full authority over the fisheries in these bodies of water, but none other. The Town of Nantucket passed ordinances and regulations, including penalties for offenses, relating to the fisheries in Long Pond, Madaket Ditch, and Mad­ aket Harbor. The circumstances clearly indicated the corporate ownership of the remaining fresh-water ponds of Nantucket by the proprietors of the Com­ mon and Undivided Lands of Nantucket.

In May, 1855, (Chapt. 337, Acts of 1855) the County of Nantucket was authorized to make laws expedient to the preservation and protection of the fisheries in all the ponds and creeks in Nantucket County. The Town of Nantucket confirmed (Annual Meetings, April, 1856, and February, 1857) and issued ordii/ances and penalties for violations. It appears strange that the government of the pond fisheries should now be transferred to the Town and °County of Nantucket by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, since the proprietors as a corporate body were the riparian owners of the ponds, not the Town of Nantucket.

The rights to "hunt, hawk, and fowl" granted to the freeholders of the Island of Nantucket by the colonial New York charters have been replaced by the game laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and there are no exceptions for any geographical area within the Commonwealth. Thus fish­ ing rights and gaming rights have become distinct issues. The 1855 act of the Massachusetts General Court, gave the Town and County of Nantucket full jurisdiction over the government of the Island Ponds. A subsequent act, Chapt. 180, 1875, prohibited the seining and netting of the ponds for fish and provided penalties and forfeitures for violations. The act of 1875 would imply that Nantucket had not been enforcing its ordinances and reg­ ulations relating to the fishing of the ponds and tributaries as directed by the General Court and approved by annual Nantucket Town Meetings. (Chapt.

337 1855 Annual Town Meetings, 1856 and 1857.) A subsequent act of the Massachusetts General Court, Chapt. 49, 1876, amending Chapt. 180, 1875, permitted seining and netting in Hummock Pond from March 10 to May *31 to catch only alewives or herring. Both acts, Chapt. 180, 1875, and Chapt. 49, 1876, were subsequently repealed by Chapt. 91, 1890. Chapt.

384, Acts of 1869, declared that the riparian proprietors of ponds of not

14

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

more than 20 acres shall have exclusive control of the fisheries in those ponds. Ponds in excess of 20 acres are public, except such ponds as may have been specifically granted by law. Nantucket has six great Ponds (ponds in excess of 20 acres) and since 1841, when Long Pond was annexed by the Town of Nantucket, five of the Great Ponds have remained corporately owned by the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Lands of Nantucket.

It was unlawful to use seines or nets in the fresh-water ponds of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but Chapt. 318, Acts of 1884, exempted from the provisions of the law the lessees of the Great Ponds of Nantucket County and nearby counties into which ponds the usual varieties of salt water fish are admitted by natural or artificial inlets and which are leased with the permission to seine in them. The act did not apply to the riparian proprietors of ponds (Section 10 of Chapt. 91, Public Statutes). In 1904 (Chapt. 232, Acts of 1904) the inhabitants of Nantucket again were per­ mitted to take alewives or herring with seines or nets in Hummock Pond, south of the bridge, from March 10 to May 31 of each year.

Meanwhile the County of Nantucket had been exempted from the laws of the Commonwealth relating to the stocking and restocking of fish and fishing in the ponds and tributaries of the ponds (General Laws, Tercentenary Ed. Chapt. 131, Sec. 40-41 as amended by Chapt. 599, Acts of 1941). But this exemption was repealed by Chapt. 216, Acts of 1943, by striking out the words "except in Dukes and Nantucket Counties," thus giving to the Director of Fisheries and Game, Department of Natural Resources, the ad­ ministration of the fisheries in all of the ponds of the Commonwealth. This legislation apparently annulled Chapt. 337, 1855, which gave to the Town and County of Nantucket full government over the fresh-water ponds of the Island, and appears to be inconsistent with the rights of the corporate and riparian owners of the Nantucket ponds: namely the shareholders of the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Lands of Nantucket, who still held some 700 sheep's commons or rights representing the remaining prop­ erty of the common and undivided real estate on the Island, including Great Ponds, proprietors' roads, etc. Sheep's commons were never exchanged for any of the Great Ponds or the land under the ponds and therefore these ponds have remained the property of the Proprietors' Corporation.

In 1906 and by 1935, the late Franklin E. Smith and the Nantucket Cranberry Co., a Smith family enterprise, acquired 90 per cent of the Cor­ poration's holdings because of an unusual brand of arithmetic used in the acquisition of land in exchange for sheep's commons, instead of the traditional exchange of 1 or 1Vi acres of land for one sheep common. About 700 sheep's commons still remained of an original number of 19,440, but there was no land left for exchange. The inhabitants of the Island felt that these remaining sheep's commons had some value, and the Town at the annual Town Meeting February 19, 1957, voted to purchase the sheep's commons holdings of the late Franklin E. Smith and the Nantucket Cranberry Co. which meant the controlling remaining interest in the corporation for $4,500.

The favorable action of the Islanders at their annual Town Meeting was validated and confirmed by a special act of the Massachusetts General Court, Acts of 1957, Chapter 412, approved June 4, 1957. The purchase involved 670 and 27/100ths sheep's commons, and 9 shares in Plains and Smooth

GOVERNMENT OF THE FISHERIES

15

Hummocks and another block of 29 sheep's commons. This transaction gave to the Town and the County of Nantucket the controlling interest in the remaining holdings of the Proprietors of the Common and Undivided Lands of Nantucket, including the Great Ponds and tributaries, proprietors' roads, and the remaining common and undivided lands. Thus the last remaining land corporation of this kind in New England passed out of existence. Full private corporate ownership has been replaced by a mixed tenancy in com­ mon of a public, majority interest represented by the Town of Nantucket, which does not pay any property taxes on its holdings, and of private owner­ ship by individuals who at present pay a property tax of $5.00 on each sheep common, representing about 3Vi acres of unidentified land.

In summary, it appears that the common allegation that the fishing in the Great Ponds of Nantucket without a license is a privilege of the inhabi­ tants derived from the original royal charters and preserved under changes in jurisdiction over the Island and under the Constitution of the Common­ wealth of Massachusetts is wrong. The rights in the Great Ponds of Nan­ tucket were charter rights of the Proprietors alone, and the inhabitants at large acquired them, to Long Pond not until 1841, and to the other Great Ponds generally not until 1957. On the other hand, so far as the Common­ wealth of Massachusetts is concerned it never has had jurisdiction over the Great Ponds and obviously cannot apply to them the fresh-water fishing laws of Massachusetts or the special statutes pertaining to seining, netting, and dragging these ponds for fish. Consequently the Commonwealth was not a proper party to the proceedings before the Nantucket District Court in 1954 cited at the beginning of this review and the Court's finding for the defendant fishermen was correct.

Nantucket has a vital interest in the conservation of its natural resources.

The Nantucket Conservation Commission, an official town agency, the Nan­ tucket Conservation Foundation, a private corporation, and the general public might well consider ways and means of conserving the wild life of these ponds. In the middle of the last century, following the legislative acts of 1841 and 1855, Town ordinances and regulations were adopted and funds were provided for governing the fisheries in the Great Ponds of the Island.

The entire program and funds annually voted for the purpose appear, how­ ever, to have been suspended in 1876. The problem could well be a subject of public interest, especially since the excellent conservation laws of the Com­ monwealth are not recognized. Moreover, any restrictions that may have been imposed by the laws and constitution of the Commonwealth were re­ moved when the General Court in 1959 validated the action of the Town of Nantucket at its annual Town Meeting in that year.

For those interested, the area of the Great Ponds is as follows: Long Pond, 216 acres and 151 sq. rods; Hummock Pond, 319 acres and 43 sq. rods; Sesachacha Pond Pond, 310 acres and 56 sq. rods; Miacomet Pond, 45 acres and 128 sq. rods; Capaum Pond, 23 acres; Gibbs Pond, 31 acres. The total area of the Great Ponds is about 1,049 acres and 33 sq. rods. The Town of Nantucket really made a shrewd deal in acquiring almost 1,000 acres of pond bottom-land and the control over the fisheries in the ponds and other strips of land for the sum of $4,500, Long Pond excepted.

16

The Colonial Church and Nantucket

BY HENRY B. WORTH, ESQ.

Henry Barnard Worth was an attorney in New Bedford and a fre­ quent writer on Nantucket matters. His works include "Quakerism in Nantucket Since 1800"; "Nantucket Lands and Land Owners"; "The Settlers, Their Homes and Government"; "The Indians of Nan­ tucket." A life member of the Council of the Nantucket Historical Association, he read this paper at the Annual Meeting, July 18, 1906.

It has present pertinence because of the fairly recent rebuilding of the steeple of the Baptist Church, the extensive work done on the Unitarian Church last summer, and the possible restoration of the spire of the North Church now under consideration by a committee of the First Congregational Society. All of which has focused new attention on church affairs. — Reprinted from the "Proceedings" of July 18, 1906.

THE NEW ENGLAND COLONY community was based on the village system that took its rise before the dawn of history in the forests of Ger­ many. The plan could exist in regions where the land was diversified, wood­ land, meadows, tillable soil and barrens separated from each other in more or less variety. If, as in the Southern states, thousands of acres of land lay in extensive tracts all that would be required would be to mark it into sec­ tions, square, oblong or otherwise, and thus divide it into adjoining farms.

In the South a few such domains, in some instances, constitute an entire county. Mt. Vernon alone in area was about the size of the Island of Nan­ tucket. But where the land suitable for house-lots was in scattered localities, and not extensive, and other kinds of land were separated by woods and stony barrens, the only practical plan was to assign to the settlers a propor­ tionate part in the house-lot location and also in woodland, meadows, swamp and barren and thus allot to each an equitable proportion in every kind of land. This arrangement would result in the houses being clustered together in a group which would be also advantageous in that the residents would be so placed as to give mutual assistance against a common enemy. This was the arrangement and purpose of the Germanic village.

This system was brought from England by the Puritans and Pilgrims, and as they were inspired with a religious idea the center of the village was the meetinghouse. The typical arrangement was a central square, generally circular or oblong in figure, surrounded by a roadway; radiating from this road were ways that led to the remote parts of the town. Illustrations of this plan may be observed in Plymouth, Taunton, Bridgewater, Rochester, Attleboro, Falmouth, Mansfield, Walpole, Medfield, Dedham, and Ipswich. As soon as the land was laid out, arrangement was made for the meetinghouse.

It was located at a convenient spot fronting the town square or common,

THE COLONIAL CHURCH AND NANTUCKET

17

and was erected as soon as possible. Often on the same lot was established a common burial ground. The greatest care was shown to have due provision made for the minister and meetinghouse. They were as much town institu­ tions as the poor, school or road department. Appropriations of money were made in town meeting and the Proprietary always made an assignment of a minister's share, and the name "Ministry Lot' remains attached to some lo­ calities at the present time. Frequently men of the parish would contribute land or money for the same purpose. Plymouth Colony recommended that in all dead whales found on the shore one share should go to the minister.

The central and important fact in the town was the meetinghouse, and the principal citizen was the minister, and both were so essential in the life of a New England community that each was maintained by taxation at the public expense. The laws enacted by both Puritans and Pilgrims on these matters were explicit, and promptly and rigidly enforced.

Then both Colonies passed stringent laws about church attendance; men were chosen to patrol the town and arrest persons engaged on the Lord's day in acts of recreation or pleasure. It was also their duty to keep people awake during the church service. These Sunday constables were called "tith­ ing men."

During one period citizenship and church membership were synonymous terms; only church members could vote or hold office. In Hingham a certain individual was found to be ineligible as ensign in the local military company because he could not partake of the church communion. Such was the position and standing of the minister and meetinghouse in the New England com­ munity.

At Nantucket the situation was radically different. Although the settlers came from Massachusetts Bay and might be expected to take with them the religious customs and usages of the towns whence they came yet every feature of the New England meetinghouse already described was lacking.

The first mention of a meetinghouse is to be found in 1709, half a century after the Island was settled, in the records of the Nantucket Monthly Meeting of Friends. A vote was passed in 1716 that notice of the town meeting should be posted on the meetinghouse, and another vote in 1725 that the notice should be posted on both meetinghouses. In 1765 the town voted to permit certain material belonging to the North Shore Meetinghouse to be stored in the town house during its removal. These are all the references to meeting­ houses to be found in the records of the town. No mention of the word "minister" is anywhere to be found; not a farthing was ever appropriated or contributed by the town for either minister or meetinghouse. Tithing men were not elected until long after 1700. There was complete and absolute separation of the town and church, and in fact from the settlement of Nan­ tucket to the present time there was never any relation between church, meetinghouse or minister and the municipality of the town.

It may be profitable to investigate the reasons for this peculiar situation, because it must seem strange for families to leave Massachusetts Bay where all activities centered about the meetinghouse and found a community where the minister and meetinghouse were absolutely eliminated; but an examination of the facts will explain the unusual condition.

18

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

1. For the first thirty years after the settlement of the Island, Nantucket was a part of New York Colony; in 1692 it was annexed to the Province of Massachusetts. New York had no laws requiring the maintenance of min­ ister or meetinghouse, or compelling church attendance. There was no such institution supported by the public treasury, and no compulsory observance of any religious forms; consequently there was absent the most powerful incentive to support a meetinghouse, viz; the fear of the law. With this lack­ ing there would be no public support, and the entire combination would depend on the religious enthusiasm and steadfastness of the inhabitants, and Massachusetts found that this could never be trusted. This important support of the meetinghouse never existed and this alone was sufficient to account for the fact that these religious institutions were not established at Nantucket.

2. Under these circumstances, even if they had by voluntary contribu­ tions succeeded in erecting a meetinghouse, no minister would care to under­ take to preach in such a section, many miles at sea, surrounded by hundreds of Indians, little opportunity to visit the mainland, and worse than all no law compelling the inhabitants to contribute to his support.

3. But an important reason may be discovered in the character and disposition of the settlers. Thomas Macy had been fined for exhorting in public without the proper license or approval; he was probably a man of fluency of speech, and enjoyed in engaging in public discourse. Elder Ed­ ward Starbuck was disciplined by the Dover church on account of the subject of baptism, and he was rated with the Anabaptists. Peter Folger seems to have been a man of religious emotions and some skill in writing and speech. It has been asserted that he was a Baptist, but this rests on doubtful tradition and may be open to serious question. Cotton Mather, the great Puritan minister writing of Nantucket, said that: "Peter Folger taught the young reading, writing and a knowledge of the Scriptures." Such a commendatory remark would not have been likely if Folger had belonged to the Baptists, a sect hated by Mather. So far as can be ascertained Macy, Starbuck and Folger controlled the religious affairs of the Island. Presumably Folger was of the same religious opinion as Mather while Macy and Starbuck were not in accord with the Colonial Presbyterianism of that day.

The sentiment of the settlers can also be inferred from the vote taken soon after their arrival. Instead of adopting church membership as the test of citizenship they prescribed two qualifications, viz: land ownership and residence on the Island. In this they dismissed from municipal government all religious connection of church and state.

So it appears that this was the situation: the settlers proposed to separate religion from government as permitted by the laws of New York Colony.

The leaders were independent in thought and might have been appropriately designated as "free-thinkers" of that day. Among themselves they were not exactly in agreement, and so under all the circumstances they did not feel the need of a minister or meetinghouse, and probably would not have united on any form of creed. They seemed to minister to their own religious needs according to their varying opinions and views, and none interfered with the praotise of his neighbor. Having become wearied of the Puritan Church in

THE COLONIAL CHURCH AND NANTUCKET

19

Massachusetts Bay they resolved to allow to each man absolute religious freedom, consequently the minister and the meetinghouse as municipal insti­ tutions, never existed in Nantucket.

About the year 1700 the Friends secured a foothold and soon became a powerful factor in all the affairs of the Island.

But it may be asked if all this be true and there was no minister or meetinghouse on the Island for the first half century after the settlement, was it a Godless, immoral and irreligious community? By no means. When the Quaker missionaries came to the Island they found a thrifty community where occasionally some clergyman had made a visit, where no war had ever existed with the Indians, where the court records show that crime among the whites was almost unknown, where the people were well versed in the Scriptures, where the inhabitants had developed to a point to understand and accept the mystical teachings of the Friends, and where the leading family on the Island was that of Mary and Nathaniel Starbuck. No evidence of degeneration in all this.

To be sure the Islanders were not angels. Tristram Coffin and John Gardner and their adherents could grapple in bitter conflict and for years the feud might continue, but such events were frequent in every Colonial town; innocent men and women, for fancied crimes, during the Quaker and witchcraft excitements had been condemned to death under the shadow of the Puritan meetinghouse; but the results of investigation show that in 1710, when Nantucket had its first organized religious body it was a community as highly advanced and developed as any in the Province, even though it never had minister, meeting or meetinghouse.

The Whaling Museum will open officially this year on Friday, May 28th, and will hold "Open House" on Monday, May 31st, from two to five p.m.

The other exhibits of the Nantucket Historical Association will open on June 14th.

20

Festival for Nantucket — A Vision IN PERUSING ANY TRAVEL MAGAZINE one is struck with the many festivals in different places celebrating or commemorating an event of im­ portance in the history of that place or stressing a particular characteristic for which the place has become noted. There are rose festivals, orange fetes, sports congresses, Scottish games, sailing regattas, Shakespeare Weeks, and so forth, all making a special appeal to young and old and attracting visitors from far and wide. There is even a small town in California (the name es­ capes us) which stages an annual one-day chess festival that lures devotees from all over the United States. Nantucket enjoys none of this kind of at­ traction, and something should be done about it. Accordingly, we suggest an annual "Christopher Hussey Day." On that bitter stormy morning in January, 1712, Christopher Hussey changed history and made the name "Nantucket" forever a household word throughout the world. And by being the first recorded human being to cap­ ture a sperm whale, Christopher Hussey gave to Nantucket an event that is solely and uniquely the property of this Island. Most every event, so far as we know, that is celebrated or symbolized is of a sort that may be and fre­ quently is similarly celebrated elsewhere. Not so, however, with Christopher Hussey's amazing exploit. To paraphrase (with humble apologies) a famous line: no one man ever did so much, for so many, with so little. And it is all Nantucket's. A "first" that can never be taken away from it and can never be slighted with the envious remark, "Oh, we've had something like that for a long time." Nobody ever had or ever will have anything even remotely suggesting it.

What a man physically and mentally this Christopher Hussey was! A giant by all concepts, he navigated his little sloop with extraordinary strength and skill safely through a night of storm and stress that would have destroyed an ordinary man. Then, as though this amazing feat were not enough — just a curtain-raiser, so to speak — in the still violent dawn east of Sankaty Head he and his stout crew captured the first and what must have been one of the largest sperm whales ever taken by hand-line and harpoon and towed it back to Nantucket Harbor.

It is perhaps strange that there is no further record of Christopher Hussey's achievement beyond the terse notation of history that "when lost in an open boat, one Christopher Hussey of Nantucket struck and killed a Sperm Whale which when tryed-out proved to be extremely valuable." But it must be realized that there was no romance or glamor in whaling and to capture a whale even of a strange species was all in a Nantucketer's day's work. Moreover, there was naturally no premonition that Hussey's "find," if it can be called such, was destined to shake, or at least light, the world; otherwise much attention and study would, of course, have been given to it.

Ivan T. Sanderson, however, in his valuable treatise, "Follow the Whale," has furnished us with an exciting pen-picture of the affair as he imagined it might have happened, and no one is better qualified.

Sanderson describes Captain Hussey in the dim dawn following that night of struggle and anxiety standing, a bear-like figure, in the bow of his

FESTIVAL FOR NANTUCKET — A VISION

21

tiny thirty-foot open sloop, soaked with spray, scaning the murky horizon with eyes "under their shaggy brows red and rimmed with salt," but still as alert as he had been throughout the night's vigil.

Then came the whale! "Suddenly and without warning, jet black and glistening." Hussey springs into action. The men pull hard on the oars to get into position. (What sweeps they must have been to power the vessel, small for a sailboat but large for a rowboat!) Reacting instinctively Captain Hussey seizes the "harping irons, which always lay ready forward," and plunges them deeply, one after the other, into the whale's side. The lines sing out fast and smoking; then as suddenly as it all happened they slacken and the whale broaches in a mighty leap straight up.

Mr. Sanderson, with a true hedonist's privilege, makes it a dying effort on the whale's part, such was the strength and accuracy of Hussey's two thrusts, and so eliminates plausibly a long "Nantucket sleigh ride" which no doubt would have carried Christopher Hussey and his gallant crew so far out to sea that quite likely they would never have returned. But Sanderson is justified in assuming a quick demise for the "cachalot" and Christopher Hussey and his "eleven exhausted men" did turn up with the dead whale in Nantucket Harbor. But they were in a degree lucky, since, as the author puts it, they had "pitted their skill against a hundred tons of compact muscle, bone, and sinew stronger than steel and imbued with a natural ferocity second only to that of an enraged tiger, for Captain Hussey, although he still did not know it, was fast to a very large, bull sperm whale."

Sanderson's is a thrilling and convincing piece of real-life fiction and should be read in full. He does lift our eyebrows a bit, though, when he puts in the mouth of the tough and rough Island whaleman the rather un-Nantucket words, "Forsooth, Mr. Pritchard, we will pull this fish to the harbor by nightfall if the wind holds from this quarter and we bide fairly by the tide." Still, we should not be over-critical, for Mr. Sanderson does put the whole amazing performance in proper perspective when he says of it that, while it was a minor incident in itself, it actually changed the whole history of the world.

Such, then was Christopher Hussey, heroic figure, rare exemplar of all those qualities which unerringly distinguish a man in the role in which time and circumstance have cast him. Which brings us to the point of these re­ marks.

"Christopher Hussey Day!" A day it should be to fire the imagination, set apart by Town ordinance for the observance of the unique gift of this man to his native Nantucket and to the world. A day to be celebrated in all fitting ways: athletic games, a special yacht regatta, dory races, Coast Guard and Navy exhibitions, swim­ ming and diving events, a harpoon-throwing contest for distance like the javelin throw at track meets, and other appropriate events, all culminating perhaps in a grand, gala band concert at Children's Beach, with dancing on the walk gaily decorated for the occasion. That, we submit, would be "Chris­ topher Hussey Day." Rightly handled it would be heralded far and wide and, if staged in August at the height of the season, it might well become one of the most outstanding events of the summer — anywhere . . . "Going to Nantucket? Don't miss Christopher Hussey Day — there's nothing like it anywhere else in the world."

A dream? Maybe. But even dreams sometimes come true. — A.M.C.

A List of the More Important Articles

"Historic Nantucket" July 1953 to April 1965 (Back Numbers Are Available at Fifty Cents a Copy) VOLUME 1.

No. 1 — July, 1953 This, the first number of the new magazine of the Nantucket Historical Association contains, in addition to the "Proceedings of the 1952 Annual Meeting," many articles and pictures explaining and illustrating the various activities and exhibits of the Association. It is about 112 pages long and quite comprehensive.

No. 2 — October, 1953 Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, Nancy S. Adams. 1775.

No. 3 — January, 1954 Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, continued, (with portrait) 1775.

No. 4 — April, 1954.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1776.

VOLUME 2.

No. 1 — July, 1954 The Folk Art of the American Whaleman, Miss Helen L. Winslow.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1776, 1777.

No. 2 — October, 1954 Bay State Historical League Annual Meeting (Nantucket, June 25) Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1777, 1778, 1779.

No. 3 — January, 1955 Quakerism on Nantucket, Burnham N. Dell.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1779, 1780.

No. 4 — April, 1955 Winter Gam, Nancy S. Adams. A full report, replete with historical sketches and anecdotes of interest.

Nantucketers Build a Whaling Town in Wales, Rozelle Coleman Jones.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1780, 1781.

VOLUME 3 No. 1 — July, 1955 The Nantucket Whaling Museum, 25th anniversary, W. Ripley Nelson.

Nantucket's Colony in the Old World, Burnham N. Dell.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1782.

No. 2 — October, 1955 Nantucket Newspapers (1816-1955), William Hoadley.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1782.

No. 3 — January, 1956 Nantucket Forty-Niners, Helen L. Winslow.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1783.

A LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT ARTICLES

23

No. 4 — April, 1956 The Nantucket Historic Districts Commission, George W. Jones.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1784, 1785, 1786.

VOLUME 4 No. 1 — July, 1956 Nantucket Lighthouses, Gerald E. Eldridge.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1787, 1788, 1789.

No. 2 — October, 1956 The Challenge of an Island Heritage, Edouard A. Stackpole.

Moody Ahab and his Heaven-Insulting Purpose, A. Stuart Pitt.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1790, 1791, 1792.

No. 3 — January, 1957 A Visit to Nantucket's Colony—Milford Haven, Wales, George W. Jones.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1793, 1794, 1795.

No. 4 — April, 1957 The Great Hall, Frances Page. Memories of the Atheneum.

Annual Winter Gam, W. Ripley Nelson. Steamboats and Transportation.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1796, 1797.

VOLUME 5 No. 1 — July, 1957 Railroads in Nantucket, Sandra Fee. Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1798, 1799, 1800.

No. 2 — October, 1957 Main Street in Whaling Days, George F. Worth, reminiscences, arranged

by Nancy S. Adams.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806.

No. 3 — January, 1958 Reminiscences of Old Polpis, Alcon Chadwick.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1807, 1808, 1809, 1810.

No. 4 — April, 1958 The Waterfront Studios, Ruth Haviland Sutton.

The Duck Factory, from "Reminiscences of George F. Worth," edited

by A. P. Robbins.

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1810, 1811, 1812.

VOLUME 6 No. 1 — July, 1958 Early Nantucket Artists, Louise Stark (first of three parts).

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1812, 1813, 1814.

No. 2 — October, 1958 The Nantucket Migrations, Edouard A. Stackpole.

Early Nantucket Artists, Louise Stark (second of three parts).

Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1814, 1815.

No. 3 — January, 1959 Events of 1659, Four Mind Pictures, Dr. Will Gardner.

Peter Folger, Able and Godly, Babette M. Levy.

History of Nantucket Fire Department, Irving T. Bartlett, Chief.

24

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

No. 4 — April, 1959 The Log of the Ship "Alexander," edited by Edward Lee Dorset, M. D. Early Nantucket Artists, Louise Stark (last of three parts).

Whaling and Nantucket, Lt. (J.G.) H. Flint Ranney, U.S.N. Keziah Coffin Fanning's Diary, 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819 (End of Diary).

VOLUME 7 No. 1 — July, 1959 (300th Anniversary Number).

The Whale Craft Shops; Five New Exhibits, W. Ripley Nelson.

The Folger-Franklin Seat and Memorial Boulder, Dr. William E. Gardner.

No. 2 — October, 1959 This number contains reports of the formal 300th Anniversary Reun­ ions of the following families: Bunker, Franklin Folger Webster, Chair­ man; Coffin, Isabel Worth Duffy, Chairman; Folger, Franklin Folger Webster, Chairman; Hussey, Robert C. Caldwell, Chairman; Macy, Curtiss S. Johnson, Chairman; Swain, Mrs. Charles E. Swain, Chairman.

Maria Mitchell, Our First Lady Astronomer, William Clapp Winkley.

No. 3 — January, 1960 Editorial describing the 300th Anniversary celebration.

Education. Nantucket's Schools from its Settlement to the Establishment of a Public School System, W. D. Perkins (first of two parts).

Jonathan Trumbull and the Nantucket Trade, Glenn Weaver.

A Twentieth Century Sketch of the Island Steamboat Line, Norman P. Giffin.

No. 4 — April, 1960 Coatue, Everett U. Crosby.

Education. Nantucket's Schools from its Settlement to the Establishment of a Public School System, W. D. Perkins (second of two parts).

VOLUME 8 No. 1 — July, 1960 The Historic Nantucket Print, Ruth Haviland Sutton. The late Miss Sutton's description of her own drawing that pictorially highlights Nan­ tucket's history, with a double-page reproduction.

No. 2 — October, 1960 Nantucket Surreys, Margaret Fawcett Barnes.

Diary of William C. Folger, Edited by Nancy S. Adams. Beginning with the year 1835, and continuing.

No. 3 — January, 1961 Lahaina Anchorage, Jane Litten. In the then Sandwich Islands Lahaina was one of the principal anchorages of the Pacific whaling fleet.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1835.

No. 4 — April, 1961 Whaling and Nantucket — The Decline, The Civil War, Petition to Congress, and the Camels, H. Flint Ranney.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1836.

VOLUME 9 No. 1 — July, 1961 Letters of Annie Maria Mitchell, edited by her daughter, Mrs. Alice Payne Amey. (First of three parts.)

Diary of William C. Folger — 1836.

A LIST OF THE MORE IMPORTANT ARTICLES

25

No. 2 — October, 1961 Letter from the Mayor of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Letters of Annie Maria Mitchell (second of three parts).

Diary of William C. Folger, 1836.

No. 3 — January, 1962 Swain's Burnt-Out Polpis Lean-To, H. Chandlee Forman.

Letters of Annie Maria Mitchell (third of three parts).

Diary of William C. Folger, 1836.

No. 4 — April, 1962 The Jared Coffin House, formerly the Ocean House, H. Errol Coffin.

History and Restoration.

Melville's Third Captain, Dr. Edgar L. McCormick.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1837.

VOLUME 10 No. 1 — July, 1962 Dedication of the Baptist Church Steeple, Merle T. Orleans.

The Winter Gam, 1962, Alma P. Robbins (Subject: Stores I Remember).

No. 2 — October, 1962 Loran C. Account of the "Master" Station of the U. S. Coast Guard Low Beach, Siasconset, Margaret Fawcett Barnes.

William M. Folger and the Prentiss House, Edgar L. McCormick.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1837.

No. 3 — January, 1963 Nantucket in Portage County, Ohio, Edgar L. McCormick (first of two parts).

Diary of William C. Folger, 1837.

No. 4 — April, 1963 .

A Tale of Two Organs. Some Historic Notes on the Organs in the Uni­ tarian and Methodist Churches in Nantucket, by Barbara J. Owen. (Con­ cerns the work of Goodrich and Appleton as represented by these two Henry Coffin Carlisle's History Recording Project, W. Ripley Nelson.

(An account and listing of the late Mr. Carlisle's conversations with numerous Nantucketers on many diverse subjects.)

Nantucket in Portage County, Ohio, Edgar L. McCormick (second of two parts).

Diary of William C. Folger, 1837.

VOLUME 11 N°

Revolutionary War Service Roll, Emil Frederick Guba. (A list of all Nantucketers who are known to have contributed military service, in one form or another.)

Diary of William C. Folger, 1837.

No. 2 — October, 1963 Silk Industry in Nantucket, Rev. Myron S. Dudiey. (Reprinted from the "Proceedings" of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Nantucket Histor­ ical Association, July 24, 1898.)

• What Became of the First Book of Nantucket Town Records, Hidden in 1677, Clarence King.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1837, 1838.

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET

No. 3 — January, 1964 The Navy on Nantucket, Margaret Fawcett Barnes.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1838.

No. 4 — April, 1964 65-67-69 Main Street, H. Errol Coffin. (Brief history and account of the restoration of the Frederick Mitchell House.)

Nantucket Quakers and the Founding of Kendall, Ohio, Katherine Seeler.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1838, 1839.

VOLUME 12 No. 1 — July, 1964 The Sheep's Commons Fight, Emil Frederick Guba.

The Satler Memorial, H. Errol Coffin. (Officially now "The Hadwen House-Satler Memorial.")

Diary of William C. Folger, 1839.

No. 2 — October, 1964 Archaeology and History — Partners in Preserving Nantucket's Heritage — An address by Bernard H. Stockley given at the Annual Meeting, July 21, 1964.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1839, 1840.

No. 3 — January, 1965 The Second Congregational Meeting House (Unitarian-Universalist), H. Errol Coffin. (This is an article by the architect dealing with the history of the church and of the building, with a description of the earlier and recent work of restoration.)

U.S.L.S.S. Drill. Six photographs taken in 1900 of a drill by the Surfside Life Saving crew, with a letter to The Boston Evening Transscript dated 1910.

Diary of William C. Folger, 1840.

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Recent Events THE WOODS HOLE, MARTHAS VINEYARD AND NANTUCKET STEAMSHIP AUTHORITY (popularly called "The Steamship Authority," or "The Authority," or "The Boatline" — could there be any other?) reports 1964 to have been another successful year with a net operating profit of $154,320.72. We rejoice that the Steamship Authority seems at last to be in a sound financial position that bids fair — wind and tide being favorable — to continue. 1965, at any rate, should see the Boatline steaming along at a good clip, because it seems improbable that the bad weather during part of last July and August, which materially affected revenues, will be repeated this summer. Moreover, the new ferry steamer, to be named "Uncatena" after the line's famous last side-wheeler, will, it is reported, be ready for the summer season. This 150-foot vessel, faster but smaller than either of the other two ferries, "Islander" or "Nantucket," will accommodate 200 pas­ sengers and about 24 cars. She will be expected to relieve any sudden or unusual congestion of traffic to the Islands. *

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On February 24, 1838, at the instance of the Board of Firewards, Nan­ tucket Town Meeting passed an ordinance providing that, "No person shall carry fire, firebrands, lighted cigars or pipes, lighted matches, or any other ignited materials openly in the streets, lanes, or alleys in the town of Nan­ tucket." Violations were punishable by fines of not less than three nor more than twenty dollars and costs. It was further provided that the Firewards should report to the Town Clerk any violation, on pain of being prosecuted themselves for failure to do so, and the Town Clerk was charged with the duty of suing upon any complaint by any Fireward or other inhabitant of the town. So far as the records show this by-law, so salutary in the days when the whole town must almost literally have reeked with oil, has never been repealed. *

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Of interest to Nantucketers is a booklet put out by The Pendleton Woolen Mills of Portland, Oregon, entitled, "The Romantic Story of Man and Sheep," and free for the asking, which contains a short but comprehensive history of "Wool" and its manufacture from earliest times to the present.

The writer points out that the English Government's heavy tax on tea, which inspired "The Boston Tea Party," was not the only harassment the Colonies suffered at the hands of the Crown. Equally harsh, if not worse, were the restrictions on the importation of sheep from England by the Colonies. The English were extremely jealous of their wool monopoly and saw it menaced by the rapid increase of sheep-raising in America, fostered by importations from England.

At length, the trade was completely prohibited, together with the weav­ ing of woolen goods, and violations were punished with great severity. Never­ theless, the industry persisted and in 1643, despite losses by wolves and the inclement climate, there were 1,000 sheep in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

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alone. The General Court of Massachusetts made it obligatory on the youth to learn to spin and weave. Later, finding that the climate of Martha's Vine­ yard and Nantucket (then part of New York) was better for sheep-raising than in Massachusetts, the General Court transferred flocks of sheep to those Islands. This little known point, not stressed by historians, doubtless accounts for the early development of sheep-raising on Nantucket and the complicated and litigation-provoking system of "Sheep's Commons." It may also have been responsible for the unusual hostility of the mutton-loving British toward the people of Nantucket. All in all, as "The Romantic Story of Man and Sheep" indicates, the history of "Wool" is the history of man himself, and Nantucket was no exception. *

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Correction: In our issue of April, 1964, we incorrectly stated that the schooner "Thomas W. Lawson" was one of only two seven-masters ever built and that she was wrecked off the Irish coast. She was the only sevenmasted schooner ever built, and she was wrecked off the southern coast of England on the rocks of the Scilly Islands. It is a fact, however, that she was named after Boston's famous financier in the Gay Nineties, who did author a book about the Stock Market, titled "Friday the Thirteenth"; and that the "Lawson" was wrecked on a "Friday the thirteenth," specifically Friday, December 13, 1907. sj«

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Our sister resorts have some odd and interesting practices. For example, we understand that most of the owners of hotels and guest houses in the Virgin Islands offer to reimburse their guests for room charges for any day in which the mean temperature falls below 70 degrees, so confident are they of the equability of their climate. Might not some enterprising landlord here follow suit by similarly remitting room-rent for any 24-hour period during which the mean temperature in Nantucket exceeds 80 degrees? We, too, have a usually predictable and constant climate during the tourist season. *

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The fame of Nantucket's weavers and needle workers has been spread­ ing. By this time Miss Emily Louise Rivett, of Gateshead, England, one of England's foremost authorities in the art and practice of embroidery, will have started her embroidery classes under the sponsorship of Nantucket Looms, a division of the Nantucket Historical Trust, and will continue them until July 30th. Through the courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association, Miss Rivett will hold her classes in the Hadwen House-Satler Memorial, the atmosphere and appointments of which are most appropriate to this type of dignified work. Prior to her coming to Nantucket, Miss Rivett spent a busy week in New York and Boston, lecturing and appearing on radio. As further evidence of the reputation of our weavers is the impending visit on May 1st by more than 50 members of the American Institute of Interior Designers from all over the United States. By chartered plane they will go to Providence for a day as guests of the Providence Preservation Society; then to Nantucket, to spend the night at Jared Coffin House. That evening they will be guests of the Nantucket Historical Trust at a reception. The next day they will make a tour of the Island and visit several 18th and 19th century houses, the embroidery classes and the Nantucket Looms, afterwards flying back to New York.

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Diary of William C. Folger EDITED BY NANCY S. ADAMS

Continued from the January issue of "Historic Nantucket."

1840 July 15—Asa G. Bunker paid me one dollar towards the survey of David Head's land. I paid Thomas Smith last evening 80c. for glass and putty got of him in October last. I paid on July 4th. my Town & County & State Tax of 1.50. Arnold Morse paid me to-night 5.00 being for Charles tuition from the 16th of Dec. to 11th. Inst. Broke the crystal to my watch.

July 16—I paid 40c. to Samuel Swain for fixing the new patent crystal to my watch. Frederick C. Swain passed me 1.32 that he had collected for me being Henry Holmes school bill for evening school last winter.

July 17—I received from father a letter by Capt. Daniel Hallett also two half bbls. and the blankets I sent off to be washed and also a comforter which they gave me. Paid 50c. for freight. Father says he is much better than he was when I was there — that his oats and grass seed had come up well & things looked very well indeed. Delivered to David Joy on account the two barrells & three half-barrels @ 1.00 per bbl. Credited to me by him — 3.50. I handed Mr. Round 3.00 to be laid out in Boston for a large protractor & pair of dividers and also handed him the measuring tape to be exchanged at King's for one containing rods.

July 18—The building committee of the Baptist Society met at my school house this evening. I handed Mr. Round another dollar to be laid out in instruments.

July 20—I employed Stephen Macy to work to-day with Stephen Easton tearing down the Joseph Chase house. I gave him 50c. cash and 62Vic. he owed me. I handed Mr. Round 3.00 this morning to be expended in Boston in books and mathematical instruments.

J u l y 21—Rowland Folger paid me 4.00 being tuition for his son Rowland in evening school last winter. I handed Mr. Clapp my survey of his home­ stead & land adjacent, drawn on parchment which he furnished me for the purpose.

July 22—I measured this afternoon a piece of land belonging to the Hayden Estate near Capt. Potters.

July 23—I heard an address by Gen. James Wilson of N.H. delivered on the Public Square before P. H. Folgers.

July 25—I surveyed in afternoon the homestead of the late Zophar Hayden and also again a larger territory near Capt. Potter, for the Hayden heirs.

July 26—I began to work near noon to-day drawing out my surveys and worked steadily all night till 8 A.M. on Second Day morning.

July 26—I measured another piece of ground near Capt. Ceeley's belonging to the same concern.

July 28—I gave the scholars a holiday being not well and having made an error in taking my last survey so went over it again & made a plot & handed it in to Asa's office. I sold my Websters Octavo Dictionary at 4.25 to George A. Lawrence & took in payment Bigelows Florula Bostoniea his last edition and a bottle of Wallace's Sarsparilla mead & he to pay me two dollars by-

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET

and-by. I went up to see Capt. Potter this evening as he is going to Baltimore.

Frederick Bunker the other day requested Edward R. Folger to pay me 4.00 being his son's school bill till June 2nd.

July 30—I went down to neighborhood of Cash's gate after school and meas­ ured a piece of land for George G. Folger.

July 31—George Paddack paid me 2.33 for his son's school bill and I gave the boy 5 cents for collecting it. Received by mail a letter from Rev. Daniel Round giving information of his success abroad & enclosing an order on Hon. Nicholas Brown for 50.00. I got of Stephen Easton a few shingles that came off the Joseph Chase house to shingle roof of privy. I had half a load of old pieces before and he sent me a whole load.

August 1—I have had Jared Spark's Fife & Works of Franklin, Vol. 1. con­ taining his life, one week to-day out of the Atheneum. I paid George Parker my Atheneum tax for July of 1.50. Received of Wm. H. Chase 11.33 being for tuition of Charles Coffin and John Backus in evening school last winter.

I paid Fawrence & Cobb ten dollars on acc't.

Aug. 2—Gave lOcts. toward the Mission in Catholic Countries, at Congre­ gational Church. I gave information to-day to most of my pupils that I should quit my school for about 6 weeks.

Aug. 3—Capt. Joseph Hamblin paid me 3.42 being the balance due for the tuition of his boys Joseph & Thomas last winter in evening school. I had had a horse & carriage twice which came to 2.25 and my bill was 5.67.

Aug. 4—I have been to work to-day making out a Genealogical Chart for Capt. Alexander Macy & wife.

Aug. 5—I went to Polpis this afternoon and took tea at Capt. Macy's and lodged at Capt. Coffin's — attended class meeting there — took breakfast & called at Parker's, Morey's, Chase's, Swain's and Harris's. Came down in afternoon.

Aug. 6—Mr. Round came this afternoon. He brought me some books which he purchased at James Munroe & Co. for 4.42. He exchanged my 50 feet tape for one of 60 ft. with rods & links on one side and hot two pairs of dividers at Gedney, King & Sons at 7 Broad Street, Boston & paid for the dividers & exchange of tape, 3.50.

Aug. 9—Met with the building comm. of the Bap. Society to discuss some points. I showed them the deed from the Chase heirs of one tenth of the land for meeting house.

Aug. 10—I got of Arnold Morse $50 towards taking up the above deed, hired for the Nantucket Baptist Society. Hired of Nabby Bailey for the said Soc. $30. I received of Stephen Easton $27 as Treasurer pro tern of Baptist Soc. I hired of Jesse Crosby $45 to pay towards Chase deed, gave the Soc's note as Treas. pro tem.

David Joy paid me $47.86 being the amount of one share of $50 in Meeting House. Added to the above amount 14cts. and went and offered to take up the Chase deed, but it was not finished.

The Building Comm. met at 11 a.m. at Crosby & Thurber's shop and voted to accept that deed and also a deed from Thomas Macy, Philip H. Folger and Timothy Hussey of nine tenths of the land, we discussed several things and I paid the $200 into the hands of Mr. Thurber to be paid to Deacon Riddell for the deed.

(To Be Continued)

Legacies and Bequests Membership in our Association proves that you are interested in its program for the preservation of Nantucket's famed heritage and its illustrious past, which so profoundly affected the development of our country. You can perpetuate that interest by giving to the Association a legacy under your will, which will help to insure the Association's carrying on. Counsel advises that legacies to the Nantucket Historical Association are allowable deductions under the Federal Estate Tax Law. Legacies will be used for general or specific purposes as directed by the donor. A sample form may read as follows: "I give, devise, and bequeath to the Nantucket Historical Association, a corporation duly or­ ganized under the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and located in the Town of Nantucket, in said Commonwealth,

the sum

of

dollars."

Legacies may be made also in real estate, bonds, stocks, books, paint­ ings, or any objects having historical value, in which event a brief descrip­ tion of the same should be inserted instead of a sum of money.

Please send all communications to Miss Ethel Anderson, Secretary, P. O. Box 1016, Nantucket, Massachusetts. Office, Fair Street Museum.