Historic Nantucket, April 1970, Vol. 17 No. 4

Historic Nantucket

The old Town Building is being restored by the Nantucket Histor­ ical Trust who have presented it to the Historical Association.

APRIL, 1970 Published Quarterly by NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS

NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President, Edouard A. Stackpole.

Vice Presidents, Miss Grace Brown Gardner, W. Ripley Nelson, Albert t.

Egan, Jr., Alcon Chadwick. Henry B. Coleman, George W. Jones.

Honorary Vice President, Mrs. William L. Mather.

Treasurer, Mrs. Evelyn S. Cisco Secretary, Mrs. Austin Tyrer.

Councillors, Edouard A. Stackpole, Chairman; Mrs. J. Clinton Andrews, Richard F. Swain, terms expire 1970; Mrs. Albert F. Egan, Jr., H. Errol Coffin*, terms expire 1971; Albert G. Brock, John N. Welch, terms expire 1972; Henry Mitchell Havemeyer, David Worth, terms expire 1973.

Executive Committee, W. Ripley Nelson, Chairman; Alcon Chadwick, Henry B. Coleman, Albert F. Egan, Jr., George W. Jones, Edouard A. Stackpole, ex officio.

Advertising and Publications, W. Ripley Nelson.

Honorary Curator, Mrs. William L. Mather.

Curator, Miss Dorothy Gardner.

Editor, "Historic Nantucket", Edouard A. Stackpole; Assistant Editors, Mrs. R. A. Orleans; Mrs. Margaret Fawcett Barnes.

Chairmen of Exhibits, Historical Museum, Mrs. Elizabeth Worth; Whaling Museum, W. Ripley Nelson; Hadwen House-Satler Memorial, Albert F. Egan, Jr.; Old Mill, Richard F. Swain; Old Jail, Albert G. Brock; 1800House, Mrs. Roy H. Gilpatrick; Fire Hose Cart House, Irving T. Bartlett; Oldest House, Mrs. J. Clinton Andrews; Franklin-Folger Seat and Memorial Boulder, Herbert I. Terry. * Deceased.

STAFF

Historical Museum and Friends Meeting House Chairman and Receptionist Mrs. Elizabeth Worth Librarian Mrs. Clara Block Assistant Miss Florence Farrell Oldest House Chairman Mrs. J- Clinton Andrews Receptionist Mrs. Lawrence F. Mooney Hadwen House - Satler Memorial Chairman " Albert F. Egan, Jr. Chairman, Reception Committee Mrs. Irving Soverino The 1800 House Chairman and Receptionist Mrs. Roy H. Gilpatrick The Old Jail Chairman Albert G. Brock Receptionist Joseph LaVoie The Old Mill Chairman Richard F, Swain Receptionist Frank W. Ramsdell The Whaling Museum Chairman W. Ripley Nelson Administrator .

Walter W. Lindquist Receptionist Mrs. Elizabeth lindquist Receptionist, Craft Shops Bertram E. Morris Relief Clarence H. Swift Charles A. West Librarian Mrs. Reginald F. Hussey Research Miss Helen E. Winslow

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 17

April, 1970

No. 4

Nantucket Historical Association Officers

2

Editorial — Spring Along the South Shore

5

Skeleton of Whale Established in New Addition to Whaling Museum

7

Captain Bunker's Tall Clock, by Isabel Worth Duffy

10

"The Point of the Needle" — Nantucket School of Needlery,

by Rosamond Morse Hall '

14

Resolution in Tribute to H. Errol Coffin

19

"Two Island Resorts," by H. Errol Coffin

20

Green Hand on the "Susan," by Edgar L. McCormick

23

Legacies and Bequests

qc

Historic Nantucket is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts, by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sent to Association Members. Extra copies $.60 each.

Membership Dues are - Annual-Active $3.00 ; Sustaining $10.00 ; Life-one payment $60.00.

Second-class postage paid at Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Copyright, 1970, Nantucket Historical Association.

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

5

Spring Along the South Shore OURS IS an Island world and the sea holds it firmly in its elemental grasp. No other part of this insular domain presents the unbroken continuity of time than the South Beach, stretching away on either hand — at its best in March, as now there are few walkers on the sloping sands.

Only on the rarest of March days may one find moments to drop in a sheltered hollow of the beach and feel the warmth of the sun. This is, perhaps, as well because these days are meant to walk the strand. While the sun is high there is a steely touch to the haze where the horizon touches the sea. Our eyes are con­ stantly following the moving water, ever restless, ever undulating, the controlled energy of a tremendous force.

A southwest breeze brings a promise of the spring to come, with just enough softness to bid us walk longer, close to the water's edge, where the sand is firmer. There are sounds to sooth a tired head; the distant bleating of a gull, the rustle of beach grass on the dune top, the regular washing of the waves. A smell of salt gives the air an astringency, making us breathe deeply.

We pause to pick up a fragment of shell. Wiping away the sand the clear, white surface gleams like a pearl and our fingers slide easily over the worn, thin surface. As we stretch our hands to recover a round pebble, rolling in the fringe of the last wave, a vagrant drop of spray greets us and we savor the sea.

Now we turn, to retrace our steps, but before departure there is one more look at the curving beach. Between the low brown bluff and the water's boundary it sweeps away to a distant curve where sea and sky merge. The sun has dropped further into the southwest, and a quickening breeze has suddenly become colder. The tide has turned and the off-shore rip shows a white plume. It is time that we made our way home.

7

Skeleton of Whale Established in New Addition to Whaling Museum The skeleton of a 44-ft. whale, which has been under course of reconstruction over the past few months, is now ensconsed in its permanent home on Nantucket. A building especially con­ structed to house the skeleton was recently completed as an addition to the west side of the Whaling Museum on Broad Street.

Both the building and the cost of re-assembling the whale skeleton are the generous gifts to the Historical Association by the Nan­ tucket Historical Trust.

Over a period of more than three centuries many whales have come ashore on Nantucket, or have been taken close to the beaches, but this is the first time a full skeleton has been literally "rescued" for posterity. It was in October, 1967, that this particu­ lar whale was observed off the north side of the Island, obviously in trouble in the shoal water. When the tide fell the creature was trapped between the sand bars and soon became stranded on the beach at Dionis, directly in front of the Verney property. At this time the area was visited by hundreds of people to whom the whale was an unusual spectacle.

However, nothing was done about salvaging the skeleton until such a possibility was suggested to the Nantucket Historical Trust. The idea of display by the Nantucket Historical Associa­ tion followed and plans for such an eventuality were pursued.

The unusual task of cutting the skeleton out of the carcass — a difficult and unenviable assignment — was accomplished by the Nantucket contractor, Michael Lamb, and his helpers. Having built houses, shops and warehouses, constructed wharf piers, and developed an aviation business this was a brand new job for "Mike," but he proceeded to perform the processing in the tradition of Nantucket whaling. To give the work an authentic touch, he borrowed some of the actual whale spades from the Whaling Museum for the purpose for which they were originally designed.

Once the head, jaws, ribs, flipper and vertebra bones were removed, they were placed in special wire cages and lowered into the dock between Straight and Cross wharves. Here they remained for eight months, submerged, and upon being hauled up the bones were allowed to bleach in the sun and wind. Following this process, the parts and pieces of the whale were packed into a truck and sent to the Woods Hole Oceanographic scientist Andrew Konnerth, who had accepted the assignment of putting it together.

This was a test of the scientist's skill and knowledge. The vertebrae of the skeleton lacked two sections which had unfor­ tunately been lost but Mr. Konnerth, having the adjacent pieces

SKELETON OF WHALE

9 to gauge for size, was able to fit them to the rest of the whale's spinal column, and thus complete it. Of special interest are the flippers. These show four fingers of the animal, demonstrating most dramatically that the whale was originally a land animal who adapted himself to the sea thousands of years ago.

Assisting Mr. Konnerth in putting together the whale's skele­ ton were Mrs. Konnerth, a scientist and artist in her own right, John Williams, Arnold Joy, Joan Manley, and Andrew Konnerth, Jr. To watch this team at work assembling the skeleton in the building was a study in itself. By the use of metal fastenings, and wire, the huge bone structure was suspended from the rafters, so that the completed structural form became a remarkably effective exhibit.

The plan for the Whaling Museum addition containing the skeleton is to have the entrance from Sanderson Hall of the main building. Upon entering, the visitor enters a gallery extending most of the south side of the addition. Proceeding along this walk-way, the visitor is able to get a complete lengthwise view of the whale. At the end of the gallery he may descend to the floor level, where he may obtain a head-on view, in which the huge skull -of the whale, and the great lower jaw are featured. Here, also, one may gain a comprehensive idea of the rib structure of this gigantic animal.

To complete the arrangement for the display a silhouette of the whale will be superimposed on the floor directly below the sus­ pended skeleton. To give a better conception of the bulk of the •creature a wire frame will encompass the skeleton. This will en­ able the viewer to gain an idea of the original size of the whale. As the whale is usually measured at so many tons per foot of length this whale — of the finback species — is estimated to have weighed 30 tons.

A comparative study of whale sizes will be placed at the end of the new building. One area of the wall will be devoted to a display of color transparencies which will present in pictorial form the whale as he came ashore on Nantucket's beach, the process of removing the skeleton, and views of the various por­ tions of the bone structure before it was re-assembled.

The new addition to the Whaling Museum is expected to be ready with the advent of the summer season. With its exhibit of the complete skeleton of a whale it will constitute one of the most unusual and effective displays of the Nantucket Historical Association.

There is something both prophetic and timely in this new exhibit. When Nantucketers first went whaling it was the right whale species which was attacked and taken, the oil to be trans­ shipped to Boston, then the Colonial capital of the young Amer­ ican colonies. Thus, the finback, probably the most elusive of the right whale species, represents the origin of Nantucket's interest in whaling as an industry. What developed from this interest is now a part of our American maritime history.

10

Captain Bunker's Tall Clock Isabel Worth Duffy STANDING in the reception room of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital is a fine old tall clock of a type generally referred to as a "Grandfather's Clock." In this case, however, this clock could more aptly be called a "Great-Great-Grandfather's Clock," inasmuch as it was presented to the hospital by the great-great-grandchildren of the original owner — Captain James Bunker — all members of the Worth family. These donors are: Mrs. Isabel Worth Duffy, Florence Worth, of Nantucket; Allen Worth of Florida; and Mrs. Charlotte Worth Mclntyre, also of Florida.

The history of the clock is of considerable interest, and Mrs. Isabel Worth Duffy has compiled research to relate it as follows: The history of Captain James Bunker's tall clock was once related in a letter to my mother, Mary Coffin Worth, by her cousin, Susie Andrews Miller, both great-granddaughters of Cap­ tain Bunker, and was in answer to questions my mother asked about the clock and the Bunker house. The letter, dated January 4, 1922, was written from San Diego, California, and reads as. follows; This is the story I have always heard about the clock. There was a war between France and England (I don't know the year) & Grandfather Bunker told an English captain if he didn't change his course the French ship would take him. Of course he was very grateful & after Grandfather came home the clock was sent to him. It is likely there was a letter sent but I never heard about it or what it said. Nothing was written on the clock; if it had been I would have seen & remembered it.

No, Walter Folger did not make the case. The clock came complete & was always said to be a fine one, being presented as it was the family all thought a great deal of it. Our house [102 Main St.] (you see I call it "our") was finished & Grandma [Mary Bunker] moved into it when she was 10 yrs. old. As she was born in 1795 that would make it 1805.

At this point the letter continues with an account of the house (102 Main St.) : Aunt Lydia Marshall's father [probably brother to Captain Bunker's wife, Susanna Marshall] began the

CAPTAIN BUNKER'S TALL CLOCK

11

house, but he died suddenly leaving Aunt Lydia, her sister, Susan Starbuck, & Florence Eastman's grand­ mother Cousin Sally Eastman [probably the 3 children of Aunt Lydia Marshall's father] their mother [Aunt Lydia's mother] was left a widow with these 3 children.

Grandfather Bunker bought the house partly built, finished it & they moved in as I have said in 1805.

The house, as the letter says, was started by a Marshall, some time before 1805, purchased by Capt. Bunker and com­ pleted in 1805.

From my own recollections and from stories told me, the house was occupied by Capt. Bunker's family; there were 3 children: Mary (1795-1877), George, who lived only 1 year, and George Marshall Bunker, who moved to New Bedford.

The eldest child, Mary, who married Jesse Coffin (1789-1880), continued to live in the house with her parents and her husband and children, all of whom left the family home except the eldest and only daughter, Charlotte, who married Reuben Andrews.

Charlotte and her only child, Susie, continued to live at 102 Main St. to take care of the older people (Mary and Jesse Coffin) while her husband, Reuben Andrews, went prospecting in Alaska and later settled in San Diego, Calif., where they •eventually went to join him.

The letter continues: You ask me who the clock belongs to. Mother told me when after Grandma and Grandpa died & the things were divided nothing was done about the clock.

They all wanted it stand where it had for so many years. . . . The clock seems .very dear to me perhaps more so because it stood there when I was born & has ever since & Grandpa used to wind it every Sat. night. Then after he was gone I wound it & James Walter Folger's grand­ father was Walter Folger, he lived to be over 90, he used to fix the clock when it needed it, I can remember. I think he was the man who made the astronomical clock that I think is in the Historical rooms. He was a won­ derful man & James Walter had some of his grand­ father's talent & ingenuity ... & dont let the clock go from that the corner, it seems like one of the family to me. It stopped just before Grandfather died & the minister referred to it in his remarks. I think it was Grandpa & not Grandma.

After Charlotte and Susie Andrews moved to California, my grandfather, Allen Coffin, lawyer and youngest brother of Charlotte Coffin Andrews, settled her affairs here and sold the house at 102 Main St. to my parents, Mary Coffin and William

12

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

F. Worth. We lived there from about 1901 to the late 1920's when my parents sold that house and- moved across the street to 103 Main St., taking the clock with them. In 1943 they sold the house at 103 Main St. (later that house was torn down) and purchased the house at 9 Walsh St. where the clock then made its home.

After my parents' deaths and we decided to rent 9 Walsh St. for part of each summer, we loaned the clock to James Norcross, our brother-in-law, at 1 Twin St. where the clock remained until its final home now, 1969, in the reception room at Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

Research brings to light the following facts: Starbuck — The History of Nantucket — in the section on whal­ ing vessels: p. 145 — year 1805 Chili — ship — 293 tonnage Bunker (captain) — returned Aug. 25, 1807 — full of whale oil. p. 416 — year 1807 Chili — ship — 293 tonnage Bunker (captain) — Pacific O. — sailed Dec. 12, returned Aug. 1809, 1500 sperm oil. p. 417 — year 1809 Chili — ship — 293 tonnage — James Bunker (captain) — Pacific O. — sailed Nov. 5, returned Nov., 1,811 full of sperm oil, some whale oil.

From these dates, which correspond with the time of the Napoleonic Wars, it can be concluded, according to Edouard Stackpole, President of the Nantucket Historical Association and noted authority on whaling, that the Chili is the ship which Capt.

James Bunker was sailing when he gave the English captain the information which resulted in the gift of the clock.

Thus the date of the clock's arrival on Nantucket is estab­ lished as some time between 1807 and 1812.

On the face of the clock is the inscription: "Tobias & Co., London & Liverpool."

Britten's Old Clocks and Watches and Their Makers, 7th edi­ tion, published by Bonanza Book Company, New York & London, an established authority on English timepieces, lists this infor­ mation : "Firm — Morris Tobias & Co., Liverpool & London. Patented No. 3584 — binnacle timepiece to show the time by 'bells,' at watches are kept on board ship — rack lever watches.

Tobias & Co., Liverpool & London. 1805 - 1825." (book owned by Earl Ray, Nantucket, Mass. Nantucket Atheneum has the 5th edition of the same book.)

Main Street, just above the Monument, gave Henry S. Wyer an opportunity to get one of his classic snow scenes at the turn of the century. The house in the center background, now the home of Dr. and Mrs. Cassaday, was once the residence of Captain James Bunker, owner of the tall clock.

14

"The Point of The Needle"— Nantucket School of Needlery

N

ANTUCKET, the Little Gray Lady of the Sea, has em­ barked on an exciting new venture for her ladies — and men, if they wish.

Mary Ann Beinecke, a weaver among other talents, had a dream of a School of Needlery. In 1961 her vision first encom­ passed the Nantucket needlewomen. She, with the backing of the Nantucket Historical Trust, brought outstanding teachers of crewel work to the Island. Twelve young women learned and then worked the beautiful bed furnishings, curtains and chair coverings in quaint designs, depicting the charm and history and wild flowers of the Island. This coincided with the restoration of the Jared Coffin House and has been one of its most admired features.

Each year outstanding teachers have been and will continue to be brought from abroad and the United States to give courses in all forms of embroidery, i.e., crewel, canvas work, drawn fabric, quilting, macrame and ecclesiastical, color and design, vegetable dyeing, etc. The local teachers are proud of their ac­ creditation. Classes are held for children and women from begin­ ners to the highly adept. Tutorial classes are popular. Women taking the correspondence courses are found throughout the United States and some foreign countries. These courses include color and design instruction.

This summer, 1969, Miss Emily Rivett of the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, England, returned for a third summer of teaching. She was privileged to bring from the Carmelite Convent in Darlington, England, a cope elaborately embroidered 300 years ago by Mother Margaret Mastyn, Prioress of the Convent, who spent her life embellishing the Bishop's robes and altar cloths in Stump work. Miss Rivett was commissioned by the School to design a hanging, a sampler if you will, for the Nantucket teach­ ers to work and perfect their skills in this advanced form of ecclesiastical embroidery. This will hang in the School, perhaps in the Library, a quiet room filled with marvelous old books and manuscripts of the Art of Embroidery and Design, as well as the newest in the field of handwork.

From necessity in the early years, the fabric of our American Heritage is closely interwoven with needle skills and crafts proceeding to embellishment and beauty as our country grew prosperous.

"THE POINT OF THE NEEDLE"

15

Embroidery is a universal art craft and certainly the oldest.

Ever since woman, the mother and home maker, began to have -a history, the needle has been her intimate companion. The singing kettle on the hearth and the needle and thimble are in­ separable parts of our picture of home. Needle decoration is an art and as an art of the people, is closely bound up with its daily life. Needlework has been a medium, just as pen and paint brush, for recording history.

Much of the design used in American needlework has come from European and Asiatic sources. In almost every example it may be noted that although the pattern may have come from abroad, something of the simplicity of American taste has ex­ pressed itself by adaption or departure from the original.

The oldest known piece of European Embroidery is the Bayeux Tapestry. Centuries older than the printing press, this strip of linen 230 feet long by 20 inches wide records in 72 -embroidered pictures the history of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 A. D. It is the only record of some of the events of that famous day. Gentle ladies worked these pictures in satin, chain, long and short and darning stitches plus a couching now known as the Bayeux stitch, with eight colors of linen threads and woolen yarns.

By the thirteenth century English embroideries were re­ nowned throughout Europe. Not long after the Anglo-Saxons were permanently established in England, the blessings of Chris­ tianity fostered a settled life and illumination and needlework flourished. Anglo-Saxon ladies spent much of their time em­ broidering in gold on precious fabrics, copes and altar hangings for the Church. These ecclesiastical works called "Opus Anglicanum" found their way to many cathedrals of Spain, France and Rome. Due to the quality of the materials used many examples .are to be found in churches and museums today.

In the 16th century Henry VIII, his wives and courtiers wore gorgeously embroidered robes.

So our first ancestors here were not ignorant of embroidery.

I wonder if they were surprised to find the savages of the forest, the Indians, wearing beautifully embroidered clothing done with dyed porcupine quills and beads, sewn with thin strips of sinew.

The squaws used an awl in place of a needle. Beads have been found in prehistoric caves in the New World. That the American Indian had knowledge of and used some of the cruder forms, along with finer beads, is shown in many examples of their ex­ quisite workmanship. The trade beads brought here by Europeans soon took the place of earlier native ones. From the Indians our grandmothers learned the use of bark, roots, nut shells, flowers, indigo and weeds to make amazingly fast color dyes.

16

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Nearly every colonial homestead had its own weaving house.

The spinning wheel, flax wheel and loom were a most important part of daily life. The wool and flax grown on their own land became cloth for all needs.

In 1634 a group of twenty families, weavers from Yorkshire, England, founded Rowley, Massachusetts. These expert weavers brought with them parts of a fulling mill. This became the center of the weaving industry. In time they scattered throughout New England and by their industry greatly eased the burden of the housewife. She could now purchase material for her family's needs.

So life in the new world became easier and there was time to embroider. As time passed whole areas of embroidery have broken off to become crewel, cross stitch, needlepoint, drawn fabric, ecclesiastical, etc. Perhaps this is the time for definitions. Crewel means two-ply worsted loosely twisted. So embroidery executed in this medium has become known as crewel-work. The designs have largely been taken from the Elizabethan with heavy in­ fluence of the Orient, India and Persia. From China, Cathay of that day, came the beautiful blue china, Canton ware, which de­ signs were copied, also the designs of India prints called palampours. A coin minted for use in the colonies bore the Royal Tudor rose. This five petaled open flower has survived in samplers and bed furnishings in crewel and in patchwork as the Rose of Sharon and the Whig Rose. Rich silks were imported and silk threads were used in combination with wools.

There are three basic embroidery stitches, i.e., flat, loop and knot. All the other 1.87 or more named stitches are variations or composites of these simple beginnings. It is often confusing to find several names for the same stitch and one which slants to the left may be Bosnia while the same stitch slanting to the right is called French Fence. All this adds to the interest and challenge to the worker.

Needlepoint is a misnomer. It is too often used meaning can­ vas or counted-work. One stitch is needlepoint, gros or petit. The stitch is more properly named continental. Canvas is termed 18-24, etc., referring to the mesh per inch. These stitches may be exe­ cuted on any strong material having even warp and weft. There is enormous interest in this form of needlecraft. Old patterns are being reworked and exciting new textures are accomplished by using embroidery stitches to delineate modern pictures and bold designs.

Cross Stitch. How many of you did your first needlework in this stitch? Long ago every little girl was given her daily stint and with cross stitch and frequently running, Holbein, satin, darning and other stitches achieved remarkably beautiful sam­ plers. Some were a record of family births and deaths. Many were worked in pious quatrains, such as:

"THE POINT OF THE NEEDLE"

17 "Jesus permit thy gracious name to stand As the first efforts of an infant's hand.

And while her fingers on canvas move, Engage her tender heart to seek thy love."

Samplers were also done, often elaborately, in canvas work and drawn fabric.

All these forms were expanded to intricate, delicate, massive, beautiful forms of decoration. There are countless pictures of George Washington, General Lafayette and other notables re­ corded by the needle. Eagles, flags and all symbols of patriotism were employed.

Then there was the vogue for mourning pictures. Graceful youths and damsels languished over a mausoleum, always with a generous and sympathetic weeping willow in the background.

Many romantic and beautiful pictures were embroidered of Shep­ herds and Shepherdesses, wooly white lambs and occasionally a black sheep retreating from the fold brings to mind the morality of the period. The sheen of silk and the direction of the stitch produces a lovely variance of color. Sometimes the faces of the figures were delicately painted, making another interesting tex­ ture to the design.

The silk of this period may have been imported or much of it may have been produced by the great interest and effort of Americans in domestic silk culture. Mulberry trees were imported and widely planted from New England south along the Atlantic Seaboard. The greatest success seems to have been in South Car­ olina, Georgia and Kentucky. The height of the silk culture ac­ tivity was about 1840. The panic of 1837 and the introduction to America "of a little mixture of foreign silk" may have con­ tributed to the collapse of production of silk here.

The needle pushes on. The period from 1860 to 1900 was one of cushions of velvet, silk or wool embellished with embroidery and beads. Godey's Ladies Magazine and Petersons notably gave inspiration in the form of directions for making lamp mats and antimacassars.

Antimacassars were frequently done with cord in macrame — or sailors knots, which is enjoying a great revival. A recent home decorating magazine featured a huge wall hanging. It's great fun to do and allows endless creativity.

Crafts express a fundamental need in man to use his hands.

Needlework is a basically simple art bound up with our homes and families. As our grandmothers brightened their lives with embroidery so we with our new materials and gay colors can paint our pictures of events or the simple, lovely flowers from our gardens, to beautify our homes and enrich our lives.

All rights reserved by the Author.

Rosamond Morse Hall Nantucket, February, 1970

The late H. Errol Coffin, Architect

19

Resolution in Tribute to H. Errol Coffin RESOLVED: That with the death of H. Errol Coffin on November 7, 1969, the Nan­ tucket Historical Association has lost a loyal member and friend.

THEREFORE : That with the passing of H. Errol Coffin, the Council of this Association, of which group he was a member, wishes it to be recorded that the services made available by Mr. Coffin, both as a professional architect and as a member of our Association, are hereby recognized and a grateful expression of appre­ ciation for his valued services be in this manner spread upon the minutes of the meeting of the Council on December 16, 1969.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That a copy of this Resolution be sent to his devoted wife, Mrs. Lois R-. Coffin.

20

"Two Island Resorts"

BY H. ERROL COFFIN

Some similarities between Nantucket and Bermuda IN THE SPRING of 1965, for the first time, we visited Bermuda.

Coming up the harbour and disembarking at Hamilton, we were pleasantly impressed by the beauty of the vistas and attractive­ ness of the harbour and waterfront.

Front Street, the principal business street, parallels the wharves. There was none of the squalidness, clutter and rubbish so often associated with shipping nor were there any visible fuel tanks or other unsightly appurtenances. The shops and stores facing the harbour were varied but suitably designed, clean, inter­ esting and freshly painted.

During our short stay (ten days) we covered almost all of the island. I say island, but in fact Bermuda comprises a series of islands connected by bridges and causeways so that the effect is that of one island. Our first favorable reaction upon disembark­ ing was enhanced after seeing all of Bermuda. The many historic buildings were scrupulously maintained; the residences, nicely landscaped, were of individual, varied and appropriate archi­ tecture.

Although the exterior walls of the buildings are of various pastel colours, the white roofs of stone afford unity to the pano­ rama as do our weathered grey side wall shingles here at Nan­ tucket. A native stone (coral formation) for building was avail­ able and suitable for building use. It can be hand-sawn when first quarried and hardens as it ages.

Unlike Nantucket, where there is an abundance of potable water available from wells, Bermuda must depend on rainfall col­ lected from roofs. The roofs are frequently lime-washed white for sanitary and aesthetic reasons.

Suitable local stone is being depleted so a company has been recently formed to manufacture the roof slabs of cement, asbestos and sand. The appearance and utility of the roofs will, therefore, be perpetuated.

After a few days I surmised that the orderliness, effective­ ness and attractiveness could not be solely due to the good taste and sensibility of the inhabitants but that there must be some centralized control.

Upon inquiry I was informed that there was a "Building Authority" and went to their office and talked with the Commis-

"Two ISLAND RESORTS"

21

sioner who very graciously and in detail explained their pro­ cedures.

Bermuda has zoning, a building code, issues building permits and the Authority has jurisdiction over the appropriateness of appearance of the building to be erected and the suitability of its location on the site.

If the Authority feels that the proposed improvement is not appropriate in appearance and the applicant cannot be persuaded to conform, I asked what would be the next move. The Commis­ sioner explained that the non-conformist could request arbitra­ tion. There are about twelve practicing architects in Bermuda and the Board of Arbitration is selected from them. If the Arbi­ trators find for the Commission the only recourse the applicant has is to take the case to court. Due to previous decisions of the Commissioners of the Building Authority and the Board of Arbitration the dissenter has very little chance of reversing the decisions.

It may not be feasible to extend the Nantucket Historic District to encompass the entire island but it is the opinion of the Historic District Commissioners that it would be to the eco­ nomic advantage of Nantucket to consider the extension of the District to take in some of the historic buildings and sites not now included.

Bermuda was discovered by the Spaniard, Juan de Bermudez, in the early 1500's and the name applied to the islands anglicized.

There are numerous similarities between Nantucket and Bermuda. They were both settled by English colonists in the 17th century and moved the seats of government of their towns to obtain better and more-central harbours, i.e., Sherburne to the present town of Nantucket and in Bermuda from St. George's to Hamilton at a later date, in 1815.

The land areas are comparable in size: Bermuda 22 miles long and an average width of about one mile; Nantucket 16 miles long and about three miles wide.

Both islands did not permit automobiles until Nantucket in 1918 and Bermuda in 1947, at which time the short railroads on both islands were discontinued. Bermuda does not allow unlimited use of motor vehicles. [Only one car per household, except in the case of physicians who are allowed two. ED.] They do have the same problem with motor scooters but Bermuda does have a lesser percentage of accidents from motorized traffic as the speed is limited to 15 miles an hour in the towns and 20 miles per hour outside. Pedestrians have the right of way, thereby eliminating all but a few traffic police. Speed laws are strictly enforced.

Bermuda and Nantucket both have American navy personnel.

Bermuda has a U. S. Naval Station and Nantucket a U. S. Naval Facility, which help the economy of the respective islands.

22

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Food in both instances is mostly imported. Bermuda brings in four-fifths of the food consumed. Neither has much to export, Nantucket scallops, Bermuda some lily bulbs and lily blooms.

Vacationists are the prime support of each community and both at the present time, have unique attractions to offer discern­ ing visitors, e.g., natural beauty, dignity, historic buildings and sites. The beaches, golf courses and other recreational facilities are common to many vacation resorts.

Bermuda has some very fine schools among which is the oldest secondary school in the western hemisphere, established in 1626.

While in Hamilton I lunched at the Rotary Club. The speaker was president of a local publishing and printing establishment who has equipped his plant with modern automated machinery and so expanded his business that he is competing with like con­ cerns in the United States and Europe and sending his products there.

Dissimilarity is in the permanent population: Nantucket with about 4,000 residents and Bermuda a little more than 40,000.

Bermuda has an excess of 100,000 tourists each year.

As much as many of us like Nantucket as it is today, we can safely predict that there will be rapid growth when one considers the uniqueness of what we have to offer here on the island, the rapid increase of population growth in the United States and the more leisure time Americans will have. Growth has already started as it has been reported that there have been more than 40 new homes built on the island during the last winter season.

Our economic future depends on foreseeing this growth, protecting and improving what we have and planning adequate controls. Bermuda's foresight has paid off and we could well profit by some of her procedures.

Unless we plan in advance I can foresee more used car lots, honky-tonks, billboards, split level houses, and worse, laundries and public garages next to fine old houses.

Now is the time to start to protect our economy and the charm of the island. First consideration should be zoning and the possibility of extending the Historic District.

23

Green Hand on the "Susan"—1841-1846

BY EDGAR L. MCCORMICK VII

From Maui to the Marquesas WITHIN DAYS after she had been struck by lightning, the Susan was in good repair; with the Obed Mitchell in company she worked eastward in weather so fair that the crew had fine sport on September 20 shooting muskets at a blackfish that played around the bows for hours. This "wide-awake critter" escaped even the shooting of John B. Starbuck. the mate, who lowered to narrow the range. On that day the Susan's position was 30 de­ grees North and 173 degrees West. Tom Cooper, the cook, and Alexander Rose, a hand, were sick enough to prompt Captain Russell to get medicine for them from the Obed Mitchell.

On Friday, the 22nd, Chadwick, another hand, fell head first into the main hold without major injury. The weather, Meader soon decided, was a greater threat to health. On the 28th he wrote that "there is scarcely a person on board who enjoys good health. Some have bad colds, cough, rheumatism, consumption, etc., and none say they are as well as they were the first cruise.

This is a killing place, the weather being so bad." And the Cook and Rose got "no better very fast."

On October 3 everyone was "busy snugging up for port" as the Susan neared the Sandwich Islands. On Wednesday, the 11th, two days out, the preparations were at their height: "Great times, high and low, cleaning, painting, shifting, stowing, sleep­ ing, snoring and making liberty trousers — i.e. here's a pair now within reach that is just commenced, and the maker is condemning the cutter to purgatory for the offence of scissor­ ing them both front parts. Never mind stranger," admonished Meader, "it's your watch below so you can just scissors out the other part."

On Friday, October 13, the Susan raised Owhyhee at day­ light, and shaped her course WSW, with eight sails in sight. By the next morning she was one of fourteen ships all bound for Maui. At 8 that evening she ran in and dropped anchor in 20 fathoms.

The larboard watch enjoying liberty on Sunday found "lots of letters, 16 months old." Twenty three ships were already at anchor and four more arrived during the day. In port the food

HISTORIC NANTUCKET 24 was good: fresh beef, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, water and muskmelons, and bananas. All hands were employed watering, and caulking the upper works. Rose went ashore to the hospital.

On Thursday the 19th, Meader "found a gang of old ac­ quaintances ashore. The walks and passages were so crowded with people on liberty that it seems quite like home." The next day they got off potatoes and fruit, paying with salted albacore taken on Japan. Meader noted that a Kanaka Police Officer was "dangerously stabbed by one of the Triton's crews while ashore in the evening waiting for the Triton's Captain. The trial will detain the ship a Fortnight."

Thirty ships were in port on October 21. The next day, Sunday, saw the Commodore's Jack hoisted at the Obed Mitchell's masthead, "their skipper being the oldest now in port and at 8 A.M. he fired a gun. One minute after, colours were flying from every ship in the harbour. They are all Americans, except a dutch right whaler. At 6 P.M. the gun is fired again, and the colours are lowered in the same order." There were nearly 500 whale­ men ashore that Sunday, "nearly all as wild as March hares."

Fine weather brought frequent liberty. Henry Miller, a hand, deserted on the 25th, "some say aboard a ship." On the 27th the fun seemed over: "our liberty is taboo'd today on ac­ count of Lyons' running away." This same William Lyons had attempted to desert in Talcahuano in May, 1842. But no one worked on Sunday, October 29, "according to Kanaka law."

Turkeys and goats were gotten off on Monday besides apples, melons, bananas, cabbages, cucumbers and onions. Captain Rus­ sell discharged the Kanaka, Spunyarn, and added four more "yarns" to the crew. The U.S. Sloop of War "Cyanne" [sic] arrived from Oahu "on business with the King. . . . We have a fine chance of getting an appetite for dinner by seeing this Sloop of War coming to anchor ship-shape..'Twas pretty fair, a good deal of whistling. . . . We whalers do nearly as quick. . . ."

As they prepared to leave Maui, Captain Russell noted the outcome of the Triton affair. On October 28 he went ashore to attend the trial of one of its crew. "After judgement was passed for punishment, a mob of drunken sailors collected round the fort ... & to prevent bloodshed it was postponed till tomorrow."

The next morning the "criminal" was tied up at the fort and re­ ceived a hundred lashes. The Captain had also been engaged in apprehending one of his crew, James Vineyard, who had been 36 hours over his liberty. As he prepared to sail he listed Miller and Lyons as deserters.

The Susan raised Oahu late on October 31, ten hours after getting underway from Maui. Attempts to anchor on November 1 were unsuccessful, so she lay off and on all day, the Master going ashore with Valentine B. Pease, a boatsteerer, and Alex­ ander Rose. There a doctor pronounced them both unfit for sea.

GREEN HAND ON THE "SUSAN"

25 The next morning they packed their chests and said farewell.

After Captain Russell completed arrangements before the Consul for their discharge, he signed on Manuel Lavavo, a Portuguese, in place of Pease "for the 135th lay."

Oahu was in sight all morning on November 3 as the Susan steered by the wind, N by E, bound for the Coast of California.

"Real, lonesome times," lamented Andrew. "Nearly half our crew are strangers and don't understand our language. Now there is no wild Pease to keep the watch awake with his long incredible yarns, nor Rose with his list of sea songs, no longer on the windlass trying to drown the stormy wind with his favorite, 'Oh the stormy winds may blow'." When David [Os­ borne?], Henry Halsey, and the newly-signed Manuel changed into the larboard watch it seemed to Meader as if he "were on board another ship."

November 12 marked 23 months out of Nantucket and the Susan had only 500 barrels. The weather turned bleak on the 15th, and Meader was sick for four days with a cold. Recovered, though "feeble," he regretted on November 25 that "Wood caulks the deck fore and aft by patches. Our upper deck has leaked since the Lightning struck us on Japan, so that some have been forced to give up their berths and sleep where 'best they can'."

On December 4 they lowered the starboard boat for one of the biggest turkeys that had made a "miss-fly." "By the way we are steering," Meader added, "I conclude they have given up the idea of going to Maria Island for wood and are now bound direct for the Line." The greenhand, Louis, who had been off duty complaining of his lungs, was placed in the steerage on November 28 for better care. Rugged weather had brought in December and it continued as the Susan began her third year out. On Sat­ urday, the 9th, they lowered the starboard boat to recover Mr. Pitman's quadrant case, blown overboard! On the 11th they caught some skipjacks, "the first this season. When albacore are plenty, these skipjacks are scarcely looked at — but today you had hardly time to say Jack Robinson between the time of their first jumping at the fish hook and their being served up as chowder."

On December 12 the Susan was just north of the Line and approaching the Marquesas Islands. Blackfish, not whales, prompted one unsuccessful lowering. All hands began four days of coopering on December 18. Every cask was hauled on deck and inspected. A few came up nearly empty. The stowing away began in "prime weather for whaling," but "there is nothing of the sort to be seen. ... It is now four months since we saw the spout of a whale."

"This day is generally noticed as Christmas," said Andrew on December 25, 1.843, "but with us it was entirely forgotten till

26

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

past noon. Quite strange that not one on board had given a thought to the approaching event." As the month ended all hands were on the lookout for land. There were also "great shakings amongst the 'dry' whale 'bones,' making canes, corsett [sic] boards, etc., etc., too numerous to mention." It was Meader who first raised land, Magdalena of the Marquesas Islands, on De­ cember 31, thirty miles distant.

Within an hour after the Susan stood under the lee of Mag­ dalena on January 1, about fifteen natives came off in two whale boats accompanied by the King, dressed, according to Captain Russell "in an English uniform coat, fur hat & a dirty white shirt, tattooed to the eyes." The crew traded with him Meader added, giving "one pipe and one plug tobacco for one bunch bananas." Mr. Pitman went ashore for "recruits," which included pumpkins, bread fruit papayas, and "an enormous pig, weighing 4 pounds and a half." His Majesty stayed aboard all night, Captain Russell, according to Meader, "intending to use him tomorrow for a pilot to Dominica" to procure pigs and coconuts.

The next day Mr. Pitman and Mr. Macy went ashore guided by the King, but brought off little besides coconuts. The wild pigs were in the mountains and the oranges yet unripe. "The natives," observed Meader, ". . . are remarkable for being entirely covered with tattooing, even inside their lips, their gums, eye brows, and they have the prettiest teeth I ever saw, white and even. Their features are regular, and if it wasn't for their top knot and tattoo, they might be called fair. The females are not tattooed but are good shape and fair looking features. All go nearly naked."

The next day, January 3, the starboard and bow boats use powder and tobacco to stimulate trade, and return with coconuts and twelve small hogs. With another Kanaka among the natives onboard "making seven naked cannibals in all," the Susan re­ turned to Magdalena, "where we have got to land them." January 4 proved squally, and "the Kanaka King and his six lousy canni­ bal attendants . . . anxious about getting ashore." The land was off the weather beam nearly all the latter part of the day. The next evening, at sundown, "the King and suite" departed, after "nearly loading their crazy boat with fish." They made such slow progress that Captain Russell lowered the waist boat, to ask them to return. The King declined. ' "Good luck to such rubbage'," said Meader. "I hope never to fall to the care of that august body, for I believe they are very partial to human flesh."

The ship's log also elaborated on the King's concern about getting ashore. "The old chief is getting rather uneasy as the poi is all gone which obliges him to eat his raw fish alone. The eyes & gills they consider the sweetest parts. . . . Cannibals in the state of nature," decided Reuben Russell, who wryly noted after the

GREEN HAND ON THE "SUSAN"

27 King's departure the next evening that he probably reached shore before morning.

Off Magdalena, on Saturday the 6th, the larboard boat got a cowfish and a shark. At noon the waist boat took the Captain for a gam aboard the Menkar, Sherman, Newport, 251/2 mos., 800 bbl. "After dusk," Meader reported, "Captain Sherman comes aboard with a white boat's crew or rather what is more English and still more uncommon these days, a boat's crew of white men.

We were glad to see them although they were strangers."

Fine weather followed. They caught and salted albacore for the Maui market, butchered Kanaka Hogs, lowered unsuccessfully for a red squid, and saw porpoises. Louis recovered sufficiently to return to duty. The Susan steered N.N.E. under all sail. But whales were absent, and Meader shared in the general gloom.

"The men and officers go their regular turns aloft, but what's the use. Two months and a half have passed away [on this Fourth Cruise] and ... we have cruised more than three thousand miles of good whaling ground without even seeing the spout of a whale. . . ."

And again on Saturday, January 20 at 1 degree North and 138 degrees, 12 minutes West: "Where are all the whales and all the ships? I would not have believed we could have sailed so long and so far without seeing either whales or ships . . . and as for whales: it's so long now since the cry of 'There she blows' has been heard that most of us have almost forgotten what it means, but if tomorrow they should happen to cry out the welcome news . . .1 guess there'd be some shaking among the dry bones, jumping for boats' bread-bags, knocking over of pigs who hap­ pen to be in the way of davit falls, the man at the wheel singing out for the ship keeper, saying 'hold on! one more puff be the powers,' all alive and confusion. Go away these dull times, come again California fashion!"

Six days later they lowered, but for a bone shark, the size of a twenty barrel sperm whale. "Mr. Pitman struck him," An­ drew reported, "and had a lance at him before he went down, but he hung so heavy that after being fast an hour and trying all the while to raise him, they were obliged to cut with the loss of an iron and rising [i.e. almost] twenty fathoms line. They come back and tell wondrous stories of the monster's having tremen­ dous flukes. His length was the same of that 'Great Sea Sarpent Snake' nearly ninety feet long, twenty feet across the back with white eyes and large red teeth. What a pity we couldn't catch him to preserve in a bottle for the inspection of the curiosityseeking members of the Nantucket Marine Museum."

On Sunday, January 28, with good weather and strong trades, the Susan steered south under all sail. "Seven days," said Meader, "we have, been beating to windward all we knew,

*

28

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

but now find ourselves within three miles of where we were then." The ship had barely crossed the Line to the South, and stood 138 degrees 20 minutes West. They saw finbacks, a bone shark, grampus, and a blackfish, which they took and turned into two barrels of oil. February 1 was devoted to scrimshawing on ivory and bone. "For a rarity," Meader went aloft on Sunday, the 4th, and imagined he saw a number of ships "and every other minute sperm whale spouts but in reality I saw nothing more than sea-breaks and sea-birds."

On February 7 the Susan spoke the Bark Russell, New Bed­ ford, Stall, 34 mos., 900 bbls. "She took supper with us" on the 8th, and their captain came to tea on Sunday, the 11th. Meader noted that "Captain Stall seems very partial to gaming with our skipper who I sometimes think possesses some enchantment by which he always charms his associates so that they always like a second and even a daily gam as long as they remain in company."

They gam'd once more off Hood's Island, about twenty miles northeast of Dominica. Then on February 14 the Susan sent two boats' crews to help the Russell work into Resolution Bay at Ohitahoo. "After beating near three hours a distance short of a mile, we anchor well out in 32 fathoms and nearby the Russell," Meader recorded. "The French," Captain Russell noted, "are now in full possession of this Island & are making many improve­ ments."

It is Meader, of course, who goes into the particulars: throughout the day on February 15, even before breakfast, the cabin was full of Frenchmen with ready money buying tobacco, pipes, spears, shells, mats, scrimshaw, "giving a great advance on the cost. Amongst the rest was a white French girl after Calico and hose. She came more for the curiosity of seeing the ship than anything else, although she almost missed her ashore at one time while she was keeping me hauling out the Calico, Gingham, Cotton, etc. She appeared to be an Officer's daughter, and picked out more goods to take next time she came than I think her father can pay for. . . . Most all of them speak no English at all and it happens well for us that we have a Captain and a Boatsteerer that understand the French. The French . . . have about 300 troops garrison'd here with a governor and a plenty of under officers with their gold epaulets, red caps, and parley vou frounsay," That same day Captain Russell returning to the ship "found several females on board. Lowered a boat & put them ashore." But the trading continued at a great pace the next day, the decks and cabin filled with officers, privates, and workmen. "Toeback, toeback is all you can hear, except now and then its Shemes or shirts." That day Captain Russell dined with the Governor.

Painting the outside, wooding and watering occupied the crew who were not involved in trading. But all were needed

GREEN HAND ON THE "SUSAN"

29

to get ready for the Governor's visit on the 17th: "They come at 10 A.M. — the Governor, 1st Lieutenant and Lady and 2nd Lieut. The Governor is a middle-aged, good looking fellow, and, excepting a superb pair of epaulets, was plainly dressed," re­ ported Andrew, "but the Lieuts. were dressed to the nines. The * Lady was a beautiful creature, all life and animation, and dressed very rich.

"They were entertained by our captain near noon when he presented them with a number of marine curiosities and a Terra­ pin and started for the Russell greatly pleased with their visit to us. Our Captain speaking good French, he could explain the use of all the whaling implements about decks which they seemed anxious to see. . . . during the evening the English Pilot Benson and the French Capt. de Port came off partly to pay a friendly visit but mostly to arrange about firing a National Salute in the morning. ... we didn't salute today . . . because we were ig­ norant of the number of guns. ... But now 'twas decided that the French flag should be saluted with twenty-one guns, half from each ship."

The next morning the firing commenced at 8 o'clock, the fort answering "with heavy cartridges." It was Sunday and the French troops stood review but Meader missed the spectacle. It was over before his watch began its day of liberty. The crew sold shells and mats and curiosities; some of them "raised more than 12 dollars for things which they paid . . . small plugs of tobacco for. The French are great for curiosities," concluded Meader.

"Workmen that look as though they hadn't their second shirt will spend a dozen dollars for shells, spears, etc."

The English Brig, Sir Robert Byng, arrived on February 20 and quite properly pleased the French with a 21 gun salute which the fort answered. The next morning the Susan and the Russell departed, taking the trades well north of Dominica. That evening Captain Russell took tea op board the Cyrus, Emmons, Nan­ tucket, 40 mos., 1500 bbls. The Captains gam'd on the Russell, the mates on the Susan, and the 2nd mates on the Cyrus. After trading the next morning on Dominica for sweet potatoes, coco­ nuts and pigs, the Susan steered N.W. for "Nooheeva" [Nuku Hiva]. She joined seven ships in the large harbor there. Among them were the Nantucketers, The President, Brock, 14 mos., 400 bbls., and the George and Susan and the Canton of New Bedford.

The President had letters for all the Nantucket men except Mr. Macy and Andrew who noted ironically that it must be because he had been too "punctual in writing at every opportunity, so now I guess I'll 'knock off' that plan and follow theirs, that is write none at all, at all."

The next day the Susan steered N.N.W. to N. by E. under all sail towards Roberts Island. There on February 26 the Cap-

30

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

tain and Mr. Coleman went ashore for wood and game with Meader as one of the party.

"When quite near the beach we discovered a flag on a hill and a naked white man close by it. On going into the bay we found two others who said there were two more on the other side of the Island, in all 5 white men run away from the Wm. Thompson of N. Bedford three months ago. They represented the Island to be 5 miles in length, 3 in width. A few coconuts, some breadfruit, mountain apples and wild hogs grow here.

Plenty of the best water I ever drank. Plenty of fish & shell fish & Rats in abundance. So they had had fair living to what a good many has [sic]. The Wm. Thompson was wooding here and got off 60 bbls. water in one day."

Captain Russell noted that the deserters had been on the island for three months, without fire for cooking. "They urged me to take them off," he said, "but I declined as there was suffi­ cient sustenance . . . and being very much averse to favor de­ serters." Meader reported that the Captain was concerned also about "endangering the validity of the Insurance policy on a plea of carrying passengers . . . but he furnished them with an axe, boat knife, fire works, what bread was in the keg, and advised them to build a canoe, raise a smoke on the hills that any passing ship in want of hands might give them a call." They returned to the Susan with a boat load of first-rate wood.

The Captain and Mr. Macy returned with two boats the next morning, "taking the runaways a Porpoise we had just taken, a bushel of Potatoes, one of Bread, one of Corn and S. Potatoes, a hammer, saw, gimlet, nails, paper, needles, thread, cloth for a boat's sail, books, tracts, etc., etc., tobacco & pipe."

Soon after the boats landed the ship set colors for whales. They hastened back without wood, but saw nothing. The Captain after reflecting on the "situation of those unfortunate deserters" sent Mr. Pitman and Mr. Macy ashore on' February 28 with orders to bring them on board so they might be taken to an inhabited island. "Their haggard looks & tattered rags," he wrote, "were enough to move the hardest heart to compassion." According to Meader, they were "hard looking cases" as they came aboard, "hat-less, shoe-less, shirt-less, and almost trouser-less," and their joy at "getting clear of the horrors of living on that Island was so great as to destroy their appetite for either meat, drink, or sleep." The rescued, George Buckman of Cambridgeport, Mass., 19, James Matthews, 24, and Henry Young, 32, both from Nova Scotia, Peter Flanagan [?], 26, of New York state, and James Hall, 28, of Virginia, all wished that Captain Russell might be blessed for his "trouble and kindness in taking them off."

On Friday, March 1, the Susan, off "Nooaheeva," sent four of the deserters ashore with Mr. Coleman; "the fifth one, Peter, is to remain with us till we get to Maui; the same favor was

GREEN HAND ON THE "SUSAN"

31

offered to the boy, George, but he refused it. They were wellprovided with clothes and provisions to last them their travel over the mountains to Nooheeva bay. ... At 3 P.M. the boat , came alongside, reported the deserters to have separated, each one taking the separate roads were well on their journey at last sight. Peace be with them, and may they learn to put up with a little hard usage rather than leave a ship for a barren uninhab­ ited Island."

The Susan steered N.E.; at daylight on March 3 Roberts Island was off her lee bow. She avoided a low and dangerous reef, five or six miles long, that extended N.E. and S.W. The breakers were visible for ten miles. Bound to Maui, as their un­ successful fourth cruise drew to a close, the crew began rigging for the northwest and right whales. "The idea of our ever again seeing sperm whales has vanished and with it our hopes of clear­ ing money enough off this voyage to pay our way to Sconsett, yet we hear of right whale oil selling in America for 53c per gall., the bone included."

Except for squally weather, the three weeks spent enroute to Maui were uneventful, except for Meader's discovery on March 17 of a nest of eggs, "a singular case ... as there has been no fowl aboard, the three months past."

The Susan dropped anchor at Maui on March 29 "having been 5 months on the cruise, seen and spoken 3 ships, without so much as seeing a whale spout!"

(To Be Continued)

32

Ash Street has changed little over the years. With its cobbles and stalwart homes it reflects the peaceful vistas of the past.

33

Half a century ago schooners crossed Nantucket Sound to bring coal and wood for J. Killen & Sons and the Island Service Company.

When Spring Comes to Main Street Square Looking from the steps of the Pacific Bank at the head of the Square, to Centre Street's Petticoat Row.

35

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 bv the donor. A sample form may read as follows: "T 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 the Secretary, Box 1016, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554. Office, Fair Street Museum.

A summer scene along the waterfront 50 years ago.