Historic Nantucket, April 1971, Vol. 18 No. 4

Historic Nantucket

The First Marconi Wireless Station at 'Sconset

APRIL, 1971 Published Quarterly by NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS

NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President, Henry B. Coleman.

Vice Presidents, W. Ripley Nelson, George W. Jones, Alcon Chadwick, Albert F. Egan, Jr., Mrs. Edith C. Andrews.

Honorary Vice Presidents, Miss Grace Brown Gardner, Mrs William L. Mather Secretary, Mrs. Austin Tyrer.

Councillors, Henry B. Coleman, Chairman; Mrs. Albert F. Egan, Jr., Irving Bartlett, terms expire 1971; Albert G. Brock, John N. Welch, terms expire 1972; Henry Mitchell Havemeyer, David Worth, terms expire 1973; Mrs. Richard Swain, Bernard Grossman, terms expire 1974.

Executive Finance Committee, W. Ripley Nelson, Chairman; Alcon Chadwick, Albert F. Egan, Jr., George W. Jones, Mrs. Edith C. Andrews, Henry B. Coleman, ex officioAdministrator, Leroy H. True.

Curator, Miss Dorothy Gardner.

Historian, Edouard A. Stackpole.

Honorary Curator, Mrs. William L. Mather.

Advertising and Publicity, Leroy H. True.

Editor, "Historic Nantucket," Edouard A. Stackpole; Assistant Editor, Mrs. Merle Turner Orleans.

STAFF Historical Museum and Friends Meeting House Chairman and Receptionist Mrs. Elizabeth Worth Librarian Mrs. Clara Block Assistant Mrs. Charles Barr Oldest House Chairman Mrs. J. Clinton Andrews Receptionist Mrs. Lawrence F. Mooney Hadwen House - Satler Memorial Chairman Alcon Chadwick Chairman, Reception Committee Mrs. Irving Soverino Receptionists Miss Rosamond Duffy Mrs. Ethel L. Small Miss Maud Jackson The 1800 House Chairman Mrs. Roy H. Gilpatrick Receptionist Mrs. John Kittila The Old Jail Chairman Albert G. Brock The Old Mill Ohairman Richard F. Swain The Whaling Museum Chairman W. Ripley Nelson Walter W. Lindquist Manager Mrs. Elizabeth Lindquist Receptionists Clarence H. Swift Mrs. Elizabeth Yerxa Charles A. West Librarian Mrs. Reginald F. Hussey Research Miss Helen E. Winslow Relief Jesse Dunham

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 18

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April, 1971

No. 4

CONTENTS

Nantucket Historical Association Officers and Staff

2

Editorial

4

Henry B. Coleman Elected Association President

7

The Nantucket Letters of J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur

by A. Morris Crosby

8

The Wills of John Fowlser and Mary Geare

17

Whaling and Marine Manuscript Archives

20

Nantucket and the American Revolution

by John Gardner Lathrop

23

Administrative Report

28

Green Hand on the Susan, by Edgar L. McCormick

30

Legacies and Bequests

35

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.

Second-class postage paid at Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Copyright, 1971, Nantucket Historical Association.

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

4

Editorial Educational Service and The Foulger Museum The committee on the new Library to be located in the Foulger Museum has met on several occasions to plan for the installation of this feature as an integral part of the Nantucket Historical Association's important holdings. For the first time in the history of our Association there will be an opportunity to place the separated resources of books, manuscripts and related holdings in one location. The facilities which the new Museum provides has now made it possible to not only group these resources at a headquarters but to provide, through the avail­ ability of the vault, a proper protection for manuscripts and rare books.

Two rooms on the first floor of the Foulger Museum will be utilized as the Library headquarters. The west room will contain volumes containing Nantucket History and Genealogy, as well as kindred books dealing with the Nantucket scene. There will be other collections connected with the general subject of historical matters having a definite relationship with our Island.

Adjoining the room, and actually a part of it, is the fireproof vault for the manuscript collections and other rare materials.

Across the corridor, as one enters the first-floor museum room, is the Research Room of the Library, which will have special book shelves, a long bench for the study of charts and other over-size objects, microfilm reader, screen and projection table for special seminar lectures, and other features. There will be the customary tables and chairs in each of the rooms.

With the inauguration of these facilities the Association increases its services to a marked degree. Not only will the proper setting for the use of such material be more readily available but the service is to be available, also, on a year-round basis. The Historian-Archivist wll make the Foulger Museum his headquarters, and throughout the season and the year will be on hand to assist visitors, to reply to communications and questions by mail, and to aid in programs relating to a furtherance of knowledge concerning Nantucket and subjects of a direct relation­ ship to our Island's history.

It is the hope of the Association that, through the Foulger Museum and its staff, the educational service which it may provide will increase its value not only to the Association but to the community as well.

CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCES

5

Centennial Observances THE YEAR 1871 was one of an especial significance to Nantucket. It was a year marking an ending and a beginning of Nantucket's economic fortunes. The final page of the once famous whaling industry was being completed; the earliest pages of the summer resort business were drawing the first chapter of that industry to a promising beginning. Thus, a new stage in Island life was being set, one which was to lead to the Nantucket we know today, as the dramatists who were to transfer the story from the written record of the past were to find.

The last of the whaleships had sailed from Straight and Commercial wharves. Schooner Abby Bradford and brig R. L. Barstow had been sold to New Bedford, while the bark Oak, last to sail, was approaching the Bay of Panama on the Pacific coast, where she was to be sold in 1872 — the last Nantucket whaler.

Along the waterfront the two surviving sail lofts were stitching for-and-aft sails for a fishing fleet instead of the square sails for whale ships. One rigging loft still carried on, as did three blacksmith shops, as the horse and carriage needed such services.

Cooper shops, boat-building sheds, block-makers' establishments and the single brass foundry were beginning the swift decline leading to their ultimate demise as business enterprises.

But the town was not to vanish. The loss of its whaling fleet; the migration of many of its young men to California and other mainland homes; the great depression in its business life — all of these things did not destroy Nantucket. However, what the recession did accomplish was through the alchemy of history.

Impoverished and not able to build new homes and new struc­ tures, the townspeople retained the old. By such a necessary preservation the old town of Nantucket was kept intact, to pre­ serve for the present scene one of the outstanding historic towns in America.

With the beginning of this centennial year Historic Nan­ tucket, with each issue, will trace the development of Nantucket's new industry — "summer business."

Henry B. Coleman

7

Henry B. Coleman Elected President of Nantucket Historical Association Henry B. Coleman was elected President of the Nantucket Historical Association at a special meeting of the members on March 3. He succeeds Edouard A. Stackpole, who resigned to accept the post of Historian and Archivist, and who will organize the Library and direct the new Foulger Museum on Broad Street.

Mr. Coleman has been associated with the Association for many years, serving as Vice President and Councillor as well as being a member of the Executive-Finance Committee. He now retains the latter post as an ex officio member. In the drive for capital funds he has been an important figure, helping in many ways to make the appeal for funds better known and increase the membership.

It has often been heard that Mr. Coleman is Nantucket's best known citizen, highly respected by both local and summer residents. In accepting this new responsibility he will have the close cooperation of his fellow officers and members of the Asso­ ciation. A veteran of World War II, he has been with the firm of Congdon and Coleman since it was founded by him and the late Dr. Charles E. Congdon four decades ago. A native of Nantucket, he has always been active in civic and church activ­ ities. It is also important to note that the late Dr. Charles E, Congdon served as President of the Association from 1935 to 1938, and that Robert D. Congdon, of the firm, at one time was the Association's Treasurer.

It is probable that Mr. Coleman's first public function will be the dedication of the new Peter Foulger Museum on Broad Street. No exact date for its completion has been set but it is expected that it will be ready by June 1st. This beautiful building, a gift of Admiral William Mayhew Folger, will attractively dis­ play all the artifacts now crowded into the Fair Street Museum, plus others, and a research library well stocked with books, man­ uscripts and papers pertaining to Nantucket and maritime history.

President Coleman's many friends congratulate him and the Association upon his acceptance of his new position.

8

The Nantucket Letters of J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur EDITED AND CONDENSED

BY A. MORRIS CROSBY

EVERY HISTORIAN of Nantucket's remote past, and indeed every writer concerning himself with Nantucket's present, is in debt to J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, whose "Letters from an American Farmer" (in which he left out his last name) con­ tained five letters dealing with Nantucket that make up the earl­ iest eye-witness account, together with Kezia Coffin's diary, of late 1.8th century life and manners on this island.

De Crevecoeur was a young Frenchman who was sent to England for his education; but finding formal European life distasteful, went to Canada, where for a while he served in the French Army. Then, migrating to the new colonies of America, he first settled in Pennsylvania, later moving to New York, of which colony he became a naturalized citizen. Marrying a Yonkers woman, he settled on a farm in Ulster County. Here for many years he lived a peaceful and idyllic life, venturing forth from time to time on those journeys which provided him with material for his "Letters."

These were sent to a friend in England and appeared as a small volume published in London in 1782. A new English edition appeared in 1783, and in 1793 Matthew Carey in Philadelphia brought out a reprint. The "Letters" enjoyed success for a while because of their literary and historical merit; then were forgotten until in 1904 they aroused fresh interest as students and scholars began to delve into early American Literature. In that year the New York firm of Fox, Duffield & Company published a reprint from the Original Edition, with a preparatory note by W. P. Trent and an introduction by Ludwig Lewisohn. The Nantucket Atheneum has a copy of this reprint as well as a copy of the original.

The five letters dealing with Nantucket are numbered IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII, number VI beginning with a visit to the island of Martha's Vineyard. Without attempting an exhaustive digest, it is thought that a collection of extracts from this earliest

THE NANTUCKET LETTERS OF DE CREVECOEUR

I. K

1 T K R S F t U M

A N

AMERICAN FARMER; D U C I I I I K O

CERTAIN PROVINCIAL SITUATIONS, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS, N O T

G E N E R A L L Y AND

SOME IDEA

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THE LATE

INTERIOR

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PRESENT

CIRCUMSTANCES o r

B R I T I S H

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NORTH

AM E R ICA.

WRITTEN FOR THE INFORMATION OF A FRIEND IN ENGLAND,

By J . H E C T O R S T . J O H N , A

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F I I E I T I F E E I A

LONDON. MXIW

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10

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

history of Nantucket might be interesting to the general reader and lead perhaps to a fuller reading of de Crevecoeur's valuable contribution to the literature and history of early America.

LETTER IV Description of the Island of Nantucket with the Manners, Customs, Policy, and Trade of the Inhabitants

It is always a refreshing spectacle to me when, in my review of this immense whole (America) I observe the labors of its inhabitants singularly rewarded by nature. But when I meet with barren spots fertilized, grass growing where none grew before, dwellings raised where no building materials were to be found; wealth acquired by the most uncommon means; there I pause, to dwell on the favorite object of my speculative inquiries, where every natural obstacle has been removed by a vigorous industry.

I want not to record the annals of the island of Nantucket — its inhabitants have no annals, for they are not a race of warriors.

My simple wish is to trace them throughout their progressive steps, from their arrival here to this present hour; and to give you some idea of their customs, religion, manners, policy and mode of living.

This happy settlement was not founded on intrusion, forc­ ible entries or blood, as so many others have been; it drew its origin from necessity on the one side and from good will on the other side; and ever since all has been a scene of uninterrupted harmony. Neither political, nor religious broils; neither disputes with the natives, nor any other contentions, have the least agi­ tated or disturbed its detached society. Would you believe that a sandy spot, of about twenty-three thousand acres, affording neither stones nor timbers, meadows nor arable, yet can boast of a handsome town, consisting of more than 500 houses, should possess above 200 sail of vessels, constantly employ upwards of 2000 seamen, feed more than 15,000 sheep, 500 cows, 200 horses; and has several citizens worth 20,000£ sterling! Who would have imagined that many people should have abandoned a fruitful and extensive continent, filled with all materials necessary to render life happy and comfortable, to come and inhabit a little sand-bank, to which nature had refused those advantages, to dwell on a spot where there scarcely grew a shrub to announce by the budding of its leaves, the arrival of the spring, and to warn by their fall the proximity of winter.

Had this island been contiguous to the shores of some ancient monarchy, it would only have been occupied by a few wretched fishermen, who, oppressed by poverty, would hardly have been able to purchase or build little fishing barks; always dreading the weight of taxes, or the servitude of the men of war. This

THE NANTUCKET LETTERS OF DE CREVECOEUR

11

island, on the contrary, contains 5000 hardy people who boldly derive their riches from the element that surrounds them, and have been compelled by the sterility of the soil to seek abroad for the means of subsistance. You must not imagine that they enjoyed any exclusive privileges or royal charters, or that they were nursed by particular immunities in the infancy of their settle­ ment. No, their freedom, their skill, their probity, and persever­ ance, have accomplished every thing and brought them by degrees to the rank they now hold.

From this first sketch, I hope that my partiality to this island will be justified. If these people are not famous for tracing the fragrant furrow on the plain, they plough the rougher ocean, they gather from its surface, at an immense distance, and with Herculean labours, the riches it affords; they go to hunt and catch that huge fish which by its strength and velocity one would imagine ought to be beyond the reach of man. This island has nothing deserving of notice but its inhabitants; here you meet with neither ancient monuments, spacious halls, solemn temples, nor elegant dwellings; not a citadel, nor any kind of fortification, nor even a battery to rend the air with its loud peels on any solemn occasion. As for their rural improvements there are many, but all of the most simple and useful kind.

Sherborn is the only town on the island, which consists of about 530 houses, that have been framed on the main; they are lathed and plaistered wthin, handsomely painted and boarded without; each has a cellar underneath, built with stones also fetched from the main; they are all of a similar construction and appearance, plain, and entirely devoid of exterior or interior ornament. The town stands on a rising sand-bank, on the west side of the harbour. There are two places of worship, one for the society of Friends, the other for that of Presbyterians.

The town regularly ascends toward the country, and in its vicinage they have several small fields and gardens. There are a good many peach and cherry trees planted in their streets and in many other places; the apple tree does not thrive well; they have therefore planted but few. The island contains no mountains, yet is very uneven, and the many rising grounds and eminences have formed in the several vallies a great variety of swamps.

Some of the swamps abound with peat, which serves the poor with fire-wood. There are fourteen ponds on this island, all extremely useful; some lying almost across, which greatly helps to divide it into partitions for the use of their cattle; others abound with peculiar fish and sea fowls. Their streets are not paved, but this is attended with little inconvenience, as it is never crowded with country carriages; and those they have in the town are seldom made use of but in the time of the coming in and before the sailing of their fleets. At my first landing I was much sur­ prised at the disagreeable smell which struck me in many parts

12

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

of the town; it is caused by the whale oil, and is unavoidable; the neatness peculiar to these people can neither remove or pre­ vent it.

There are near the wharfs a great many storehouses. They have three docks, each 300 feet long, built of logs fetched from the continent, filled with stones, and covered with sand; and there is room around these three docks for 300 vessels. On that point of land, which forms the west side of the harbour stands a very neat light-house; the opposite peninsula, called Coitou, secures it from the most dangerous winds.

There are but few gardens and arable fields in the neighbor­ hood of the town. On the highest part of this sandy eminence, four windmills grind the grain they raise or import; and con­ tiguous to them their rope walk is to be seen where full half of their cordage is manufactured. There are but very few farms on this island, because there are but very few spots that will admit of cultivation without the assistance of manure, which is very expensive to fetch from the main.

Among the many ponds or lakes with which this island abounds, there are some which have been made by the intrusion of the sea, such as Wiwidiah, the Long, the Narrow, and several others; consequently those are salt and the others fresh. At peculiar high tides a great number of fish enter into them, and at some known seasons of the year the inhabitants assemble and cut down the small bars which the waves always throw up, the waters of the pond are let out, and as the fish follow their native element, inhabitants with proper nets catch as many as they want, in their way out, without any other trouble. Those which are most common are the streaked bass, the blue fish, the tom-cod, the mackerel, the tew-tog, the herring, the flounder, eel, &c. Fish­ ing is one of the greatest diversions the island affords. At the west end lies the harbour Mardiket, formed by Smith Point on the southwest, by Eel Point on the north, and Tuckanut Island on the northwest; but it is neither so safe nor has it so good anchoring ground, as that near which the town stands.

Between the lotts of Palpus on the east, Barry's valley and Miacomet pond on the south, and the narrow pond on the west, not far from Shemah Point, they have a considerable track (sic) of even ground, being the least sandy and the best on the island.

It is divided into seven fields, one of which is planted by that part of the community which are entitled to it. This is called the common plantation. Each man's allotment of land is thrown into the general field which is fenced at the expense of the party; within it everyone does with his own portion of the ground what­ ever he pleases. Every seven years the whole of this tract is under cultivation, and yields excellent pasture; to which the town cows, amounting to 500 are daily led by the town shepherd

THE NANTUCKET LETTERS OF DE CREVECOEUR

13

and as regularly drove back in the evening. There each animal easily finds the house to which it belongs, where they are sure to be well rewarded for the milk they give. These are commonly called Tetoukemah lotts.

The best land on the island is at Palpus, remarkable for nothing but a house of entertainment. Quayes is a small but valuable track, long since purchased by Mr. Coffin, where he has erected the best house on the island. Adjoining to it on the west side there is a small stream, on which they have erected a fulling mill; on the east is the lott, known by the name of Squam, watered likewise by a small riverlet on which stands another fulling mill.

These mills prepare all the cloth which is made here; you may easily suppose that having so large a flock of sheep, they abound in wool; part of this they export, and the rest is spun by the industrious wives and converted into substantial garments. To the southeast is a great division of the island, fenced by itself, known by the name of Siasconcet lott. Here they turn in their fat cattle for their winter's provision.

It is on the shores of this part of the island, near Pochick Rip, where they catch their best fish, such as sea bass, tewtog, or black fish, cod, smelt, perch, shadine, pike, &c. They have erected a few fishing houses on this shore, as well as that at Sankate's Head, and Sussakatche Beach, where the fishermen dwell in the fishing season. It is here that their sheep find shelter from the snow storms of winter.

At the north end of Nantucket, there is a long point of land, projecting far into the sea called Sandy Point; nothing grows on it but plain grass; and this is the place from which they often catch porpoises and sharks. Between that point and the main island they have a valuable salt meadow, called Croskaty, with a pond of the same name famous for black ducks. The rest of the undescribed part of the island is open, and serves as a common pas­ ture for their sheep. Here they have neither wolves nor foxes; those inhabitants therefore that live out of town, raise with all security as much poultry as they want; their turkeys are very large and excellent.

In summer this climate is extremely pleasant; they are not exposed to the scorching sun of the continent, the heat being tempered by the sea breezes, by which they are perpetually re­ freshed. In the winter, however, they pay severely for those adadvantages; it is extremely cold; the northwest wind, the tyrant of this country, blows with redoubled force and renders this island bleak and uncomfortable. On the other hand the goodness of their houses, the social hospitality of their fireside and their good cheer, make them ample amends for the severity of the season; nor are the snows so deep as on the main.

14

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

This island, as has already been hinted, appears to be the summit of some huge sandy mountain; other submarine ones lie at the southward. This dangerous region is well known to the mariners by the name of Nantucket Shoals; these are the bulwarks which defend this island from the mighty ocean, and repell the force of its waves; which, but for the accumulated barriers, would ere now have torn it in pieces. These are the banks which afforded to the first inhabitants of Nantucket their daily subsistence and where they first learned how to venture further, as the fish of their coast receded.

The shores of this island abound with the soft-shelled, the hard-shelled and the great sea clams. These and the great variety of fish they catch, constitute the principal food of the inhabitants.

It was likewise that of the aborigines, the posterity of whom still live together in decent houses along the shores of Miacomet Pond, on the south side of the island.

They are an industrious, harmless race, as expert and as fond of a seafaring life as their fellow inhabitants the whites.

This island was under the jurisdiction of New York, as well as the island of the Vineyard, Elizabeth's, &c., but have been since adjudged to be part of the province of Massachusetts Bay. This change of jurisdiction procured them that peace they wanted, and which their brethren had so long refused them in the days of their religious frenzy.

Before I enter into further detail, I think it necessary to give you a short sketch of the political state the natives have been in, a few years preceding the arrival of the whites. They are hasten­ ing towards a total annihilation. Before the arrival of the Euro­ peans, they lived on the fish of their shores; and if their numbers are so decreased, it must not be attributed to tyranny or violence, but some of those causes which have produced the same effects wherever both nations have been mixed. This insignificant spot was filled with these people.

History does not inform us what particular nation the aborigines of Nantucket were of. It is very probable that they anciently emigrated from the opposite coast, perhaps from the Hyannes, which is but twenty-seven miles distant. They then spoke and still speak the Nattick. Mr. Elliot, an eminent New England divine, translated the Bible into this language, in the year of 1666; he translated also the catechism, and many other useful books, which are still very common on this island, and are daily made use of by those Indians who are taught to read.

So prevailing is the disposition of man to quarrel, and shed blood; that even the ancient natives of this little spot were sep­ arated into two communities, inveterately waging war against each other, like the more powerful tribes of the continent. That

THE NANTUCKET LETTERS OF DE CREVECOEUR

15

part of these rude people who lived on the eastern shores of the island had from time immemorial tried to destroy those who lived on the west; those latter inspired with the same evil genius had not been behind hand in retaliating; thus was a perpetual war subsisting between these people.

In process of time both parties became so thin and depopu­ lated, that the few who remained mutually agreed to settle a partition line which would divide the island from north to south; the people of the west agreed not to kill those of the east, except they were found transgressing over the western part of the line; those of the east entered into a reciprocal agreement.

This happy settlement put a stop to their sanguinary depre­ dations. But another misfortune awaited them; when the Euro­ peans came they caught the small pox and their improper treat­ ment of that disorder swept away great numbers; this calamity was succeeded by the use of rum; and these are the two principal causes which so much diminished their numbers, not only here but all over the continent. Besides, wherever they happen to be mixed, or even to live in the neighborhood of the Europeans, they became exposed to a variety of accidents and misfortunes to which they were strangers before, and sinking into a singular sort of indolence and sloth. In the year of 1763, above half of the Indians of this island perished by a strange fever, which the Europeans who nursed them never caught; they appeared to be a race doomed to recede and disappear before the superior genius of the Europeans.

The only ancient custom of these people that is remembered, that in their mutual exchanges, forty sun-dried clams strung on a string, passed for the value of what might be called a copper.

The few families now remaining are now meek and harmless; they were early Christianized by the New England missionaries; and to this day they remain strict observers of the laws and custom of that religion. They are fond of the sea, and expert mariners. They have learned from the Quakers the art of catch­ ing the cod and the whale, in consequence of which, five of them always make part of the complement of men requisite to fit out a whale-boat.

Nantucket is a great nursery of seamen, pilots, coasters, and bank-fishermen; as a country belonging to the province of Massa­ chusetts, it has yearly the benefit of a court of Common Pleas, and their appeal lies to the Supreme Court at Boston. I observed before, that the Friends composed two thirds of the magistracy of this island; thus they are the proprietors of its territory, and the principal rulers of its inhabitants; but with all this apparatus of law, its coercive powers are seldom wanted or required.

16

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Solemn tribunals, public executions, humiliating punishments, are altogether unknown, I saw neither governors, nor any pag­ eantry of state; neither ostentatious magistrates, nor any indi­ viduals cloathed with useless dignity; no soldiers are appointed to bayonet their compatriots into service compliance.

But how is a society composed of 5000 individuals preserved in the bonds of peace and tranquility? How are the weak pro­ tected from the strong? — I will tell you. Idleness and poverty, the causes of so many crimes, are unknown here; each seeks in the prosecution of his lawful business that honest gain which supports them; every period of their time is full, either on shore or at sea. The simplicity of their manners shortens the catalogue of their wants.

The greatest part of them are always at sea, persuing the whale or raising the cod from the surface of the banks: some cultivate their little farms with the utmost diligence; some are employed in exercising various trades; others again in pro­ viding every necessary resource in order to refit their vessels.

It is but seldom that vice grows on a barran sand like this, which produces nothing without extreme labour.

This land must necessarily either produce health, temper­ ance, and a great equality of conditions, or the most abject misery. Could the manners of luxurious countries be imported here, like a epidemical disorder they would destroy everything.

The majority of them could not exist a month, they would be obliged to emigrate. As in all societies, some difference must necessarily exist between individual and individual, for there must be some more exalted than the rest either by their riches or their talents; and this difference will always be more remark­ able among people who live by sea excursions than among those who live by the cultivation of their land. The first run greater hazard, and adventure more than the latter, where the equal division of the land offers no short road to superior riches.

The only difference that may arise among them is that of industry, and the gradations I observe here are founded on nothing more than the good or ill success of their maritime enterprizes, and do not proceed from education; that is the same throughout every class, simple, useful, and unadorned like their dress and their houses. The sea which surrounds them is equally open to all, and presents to all an equal title to the chance of good fortune. A collector from Boston is the only king's officer who appears on these shores to receive the trifling duties which this community owe to those who protect them, and under the shadow of whose wings they navigate to all parts of the world.

(To Be Continued)

17

The Wills of John Fowlser and Mary Geare Through the interest of Walter Weston Folger, of Chatta­ nooga, Tennessee, a descendant of the Folgers and other Nantucket families, we are able to present copies of the original wills of two early English family folk who are directly connected with the first settlers of Nantucket. John Fowlser, whose family has also been known as "Foulger" as well as Folger, was the grandfather of John, father of Nantucket's Peter Folger, for whom the new island museum is named the "Peter Foulger Museum." The var­ iants in the spelling of the name in the early recoils are well known to genealogists.

Mr. Walter Weston Folger writes: "I would like to share the enclosed two wills with your readers. In an effort to get a copy of the wills of John Fowlser and Mary Geare, I received the following from the Central Library (custodian of wills) at Booton, Norwich, in Norfolk, England, and Devon Record Office, County of Devon, England. In regard to the first named, the archivist wrote: 'I am afraid that we have not got any wills or administrations for John or Peter Foulger for the dates you mention, i.e., 1603-24 and 1624-50."

JOHN FOWLSER THE ELDER OF DYSSE, NORFOLK Will, nuncupative, dated 25th November 43rd Elizabeth 1600, Robert Hall of Palgrave, public notary, present.

To Edmund Folser, eldest son, £20 toward his better mainte­ nance.

To Sarah Folser, daughter, £10.

To Agnes, daughter, wife of George Sadd of Hoxne, Suffolk, £4.

To Elizabeth, wife of John Folser the younger, £5 in recom­ pense for her pains etc.

Thomas (son) asked what he would give his wife and he said, 2d.

Executors: William Buckingham junior of Dysse and Humphrey Button of Dysse, xl shillings for each of them.

Witnesses: Isabel Goodwin, widow, Robert Farror and Robert Hall.

Proved in the Consistory Court, Norwich, 1600 (Register Gardyner, Folio 237).

Mary GEARE of Plymouth, co. Devon, 1702/03 To my sister Joan Lee £5 To my sister Jane Hooper £5

18

HISTORIC NANTUCKET To my sister Elizabeth Mathews £5 To my neece Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Geare 20s. to buy her a mourning ring To my neece Rebekah daughter of Richard Hooper £10 To my neece Sarah daughter of Jeremiah Methews £10 To my nephew John son of John Geare one silver cup one silver mug and one silver dish I appoint my neece Jane Hooper dau. of Thomas Hooper my sole executrix All goods to be sold within a month after my death to pay legacies and funeral charges I appoint my executrix's father Thomas Hooper her guardian and my trustee of this my last will Dated 22 Jan. 1702 Also I bequeath to my nephew Richard son of Richard Hooper, deceased £5 Witnesses. Thomas Marten, Mary Mangles and Deborah Lee, and Margaret Beare Mark and seal (a thistle) of Mary Geare On 25 Jan. 1702 administration of goods of Mary Gayer was granted by Archdeacon of Totnes to Thomas Hooper guardian during her minority of Jane Hooper the executrix Bond dated 25 Jan. 1702 by Thomas Hooper of Eaststonehouse co.

Devon carpenter and Thomas Martyn of Plymouth, cleric, in £200 for the performance by Thomas Hooper being guardian lawfully as­ signed and admitted administrator of goods of Mary Gayer late of Plymouth deceased during the minority of Jane Hooper her execu­ trix of the contents of the will Thomas Martens seal, is shield with 3 vertical bars Thomas Hoopers seal is rose in a star Wits: Joseph Hutchoson, Susanne Forrest and Mary Ellkinge *

*

*

*

Note: This is a Moger Abstract of the will in question. I quote from the County Archivist, dated 1 March 1965, "Unfortu­ nately all the Devonshire wills dating 1540-1942 have been de­ stroyed in the blitz and only the printed indexes are available.

Abstracts and copies of the wills were made before 1942, . . . The 'Mober Abstracts' deposited in this include . . .: Mary Geare of Plymouth, Dated 1702."

William Gayer, of Nantucket, was another brother of Mary Geare, the testatrix. See his mother's letter, from Plymouth, dated 11 June 1694, in "The Life of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin," by Thomas C. Amory (1886), page 86.

Walter Weston Folger

20

Whaling and Marine Manuscript Archives In the last issue of Historic Nantucket we provided our readers with an outline of the activities of The Whaling and Marine Manuscript Archives, Inc., a non-profit corporation founded on Nantucket in early 1970.

During the past year The Archives have been active in many areas. In this country grants were made to the New York Public Library and to Yale University for the microfilming of their whaling and sealing manuscripts. Abroad they have funded the Library, Museum, and Trinity House of Hull, Yorkshire, England so that the records of this reknowned port of the whale fishery could be made available not only to The Archives but to those studying in Hull. Late in the year The Archives were informed that the Burgh of Peterhead, Scotland had accepted a grant for the microfilming of their whaling records.

Through an associate valuable information is being pre­ pared with respect to the whaling holdings, both institutional and private, in France. The New Brunswick Museum of Saint John has opened their Canadian records to them. For over a year The Archives have been in correspondence with the Mitchell Library in Sydney as well as the Australian National University in Canberra.

The British Museum, the Public Records Office, and the National Register of Archives in London have been most help­ ful offering to supply any whaling material located in their files.

The listing of British Museum manuscript holdings runs to 17 volumes alone! The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Scott Polar Institute of Cambridge have both been con­ tacted and a microfilming list accepted by the Greenwich Museum.

In 1968 The Archives, already in an embryo state, was fortunate enough to secure the Bostock Papers, important engin­ eering typescripts of several British whaling companies involved in pelagic whaling in Antarctic waters from the 1920's into the 1950's. These papers also include full correspondence relative to the experiments carried on with respect to the killing of whales by electrocution. The method never proved feasible.

Contact was made in the Azores with Governor Pimentel and the leading historian of the islands, Colonel Jose Agostinho.

The Archives have received a translation of a manuscript men­ tioning the presence of New England whalers in Azorian waters in the 18th century as well as a list of foreign vessels calling at Flores in 1807, of which nearly a third were Nantucket whalers.

WHALING AND MARINE MANUSCRIPT ARCHIVES

21

Nationally, The Archives has been most active. Microfilming has been completed in both private and institutional collections from Massachusetts to Virginia. Plans are in progress for work throughout most of the United States. Donors have found pro­ tection for their valuable records within the framework of a unique plan wherein only the owner of a manuscript can permit access to the interested scholar or institution and The Archives agree to protect these records in perpetuity. This pledge covers a single whaling letter down to such items as accounts of the Wilkes exploring expedition and material relative to the dis­ covery of Antarctica.

From the foregoing, it is evident that the Whaling and Ma­ rine Manuscript Archives, Inc., is in the process of becoming an entity of world-wide scope. Their interests cover all facets of whaling and sealing including logs and journals, correspondence, accounts and ledgers, etc. Also included are maritime endeavours associated, no matter how remotely, with the whaling industry.

The Archives has microfilmed other important manuscripts of a naval, exploratory or maritime nature. This corporation is the only organization in existence planning such a manuscript and microfilm archive of all nations and all periods.

But why is The Archives assembling this mass of manu­ script material? Take one remote instance for example, wherein a graphic description is given by a whaling master from the deck of his ship in the Pacific of the disintegration of a meteor showering the area with fragments "with a sound louder than a thousand cannons." An astronomical event pinpointed as to time, date, and exact latitude and longitude. More romantically and often tragically; adventures ashore, shipwrecks, attacks by natives, songs and verse, the artistry of the seaman, feelings of men (and women — wives of the captains) confined to a watery world for many months — and what day would the dangers of the sea or the whale overwhelm them? "If I live to get home" is a comment frequently met with in these whaling narratives. Even the mundane day to day account of the weather recorded by position for ocean areas not traveled by the packets or clippers for the 1840's, the '50's and on. All valuable information for the meteorologist forming a historic weather pattern.

Whalemen noted currents and phenomena of the oceans in their logs and journals and Matthew Fontaine Maury, America's pioneer oceanographer, had abstracts made of well over one thousand of these manuscripts for the Hydrographic Office in Washington. Among these abstracts appears that of the Acushnet at the time Herman Melville was a crewman. The original log has not been seen from that day to this. Perhaps The Archives may yet discover this prize! To date it has unpasted nearly two dozen scrapbooks revealing the contents of hitherto unknown logs and journals.

22

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Our sister society, The Dukes County Historical Society of Martha's Vineyard has written an unsolicited letter to The Archives. It reads in part, The Dukes County Historical Society is the possessor of unique manuscripts and has a responsibility to the scholarly world and to the donors of this material to maintain these records under the most acceptable conditions of security and preservation. Through your generous donation of time, effort and skill in microfilming and restoring a substantial part of our collection, carrying out our obligation is greatly fa­ cilitated.

The Council on behalf of the membership of the Dukes County Historical Society is most appreciative of all you have done, and thank you sincerely for your contribution.

The Archives will be working in consort with The Nantucket Historical Association to the benefit of historical research. Any reader of Historic Nantucket knowing of material available for microfilming or gift is asked to contact Douglass C. Fonda, Jr., President, P. 0. Box 1826, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02554. They earnestly solicit your support. In commenting on his remarkable accomplishments to date, Mr. Fonda disclaimed his personal con­ tributions to the extraordinary collection. He remarked: "Through the dedication of those men and women associated with The Whaling and Marine Manuscript Archives, Inc., Nan­ tucket may become the center of historic whaling research in the world. Within a few years the greatest compilation of pro­ tected manuscripts, physically and on microfilm, will be available to the serious investigator, the university scholar and the institu­ tion. The goal of creating an important research facility is only part of the meaning of The Archives. My task is also theirs — a project of selflessly giving — of time, effort and skill — not for profit, but for non-profit — for the greater cause of serving others, every donor, and every recipient of every work ever examined, throughout the years ahead."

23

Nantucket and the American Revolution

BY JOHN GARDNER LATHROP

(Continued from Jauary, 1971) Early in April, 1779, a number of privateers, commanded by an American Loyalist named George Leonard, and manned by the Tory "Refugees," as the Loyalists were called, raided the warehouses of the town and a number of leading merchants, both Tory and Continental sympathizers, suffered heavy losses.

Because of their obvious indefensible position, there was no show of resistance or any attempt made to interfere with the raiders, leading to later charges of colusion on the part of two town fathers. Thomas Jenkins subsequently moved off the island to Lynn and in November, 1779, he accused William Rotch, Timothy Folger, and three other islanders of treason in the handling of the raids. The Board of Selectmen wrote the General Court saying they had asked Rotch and Folger to deal with the raiders.

Thomas Jenkins withdrew his complaint in March, 1780, and the legislature voted to drop the matter. The Council, however, wanted to send the case to the State Attorney General, but since the lower house would not agree, the case was dropped.

Soon afterwards the town heard that the same Loyalists were preparing another more powerful raid on the island. An emergency town meeting was called and a delegation appointed by the selectmen to go to Newport (home base of the raiders) or New York City to put their case before the British command­ ers. Benjamin Tupper, Samuel Starbuck and William Rotch made up the delegation and were sent on April 9, 1779. There was not enough time to ask the General Court for permission to go. The Town Meeting wrote for permission after the fact and it was granted.

It was only after much persistence that the delegation got to see the British commander and were granted permission to continue on to New York. Commodore George Collier, who was in command of the squadron, gave an order forbidding a British Armed Vessel from taking anything out of Nantucket harbor.

General Henry Clinton who was in command of the army refused to issue a similar order, but said he would try and prevent a recurrence of the April raid. The Tories in Newport were forced to give up their plan, but they did not give up on Nantucket.* The General Court was quite angry with Nantucket because it thought the islanders had tried to make some sort of treaty with * Starbuck, p. 213

HISTORIC NANTUCKET 24 the British commanders. When they found out that this was not the case and that only a petition had been sent, they reprimanded the town and ordered the islanders not to petition the British with­ out prior consent of the General Court.

The Loyalist Raiders in Newport were still anxious to attack Nantucket in spite of Commander Collier's order against it, and were looking for any excuse. On September 16, 1779, Leonard wrote from Martha's Vineyard charging that the people of Nantucket by "wafts and signals" had helped a rebel sloop which had been chased into Nantucket harbor escape two British armed vessels, the Royal Charlotte and the General Carlton.f The town wrote back that there were no wafts, but that what Boswell had seen were small boys playing along the shore.

The winter of 1780 was the harshest of the war. The harbor froze around December 29, 1779, and stayed frozen all winter.

This locked in the fishing fleet and cut off the largest supply of fresh food. The fall had been very wet so there was very little peat in the bogs to use for fuel. The bogs also became frozen, so it was impossible to cut peat anyway. Wood became slightly easier to obtain because with the harbor frozen, sleds could be taken to Coskata, at the extreme end of the harbor, three miles from Nantucket town for wood.

The town, after recovering from the winter of 1780, did not desire to go through such a winter again, so they resolved to somehow get some money for supplies. In a town meeting held on May 22, 1780, the people of Nantucket sent Timothy Folger to petition the General Court for permission to go to New York to see the British commanders. The General Court had outlawed any correspondence between Nantucket and the British the year before. Folger went before the Court saying that his purpose was to recover the property that the Loyalists had taken on their April and October raids of the previous year.

He estimated that it was worth four thousand pounds sterling and without it several of the island residents were destitute. On that basis the Court granted him safe conduct and permission to go to New York. It seems, however, that the town had another reason for sending Folger to New York because once there he petitioned the British to give the Nantucketers permission to "permit twenty fishing boats to fish round the island of Nantucket, and four vessels to be employed in the whale fishery, and ten small vessels to supply the inhabitants with wood, and one to go to to New York for some supplies"* During the summer of 1781, the Loyalists resumed their raids on Nantucket. On July 8 and September 29 they landed and took provisions as well as capturing several small vessels.

f Macy, p. 104.

* Starbuck, p. 235.

NANTUCKET AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

25

During the second raid they were driven away by some colonials from Falmouth. The Loyalists felt they could disobey the old order against raiding Nantucket because the British commander of the fleet in New York had been replaced.

An October 3 town meeting sent Samuel Starbuck, William Rotch and Benjamin Hussey to New York to obtain relief from Admiral Digby, the new commander. The mission was successful in that the British promised to protect the islanders against future Tory harrassments. Digby also issued twenty-four new fishing permits for the purpose of whaling. Rotch indicates in his diary that permits had been issued the year before so perhaps Timothy Folger had been successful after all. Naturally the Amer­ ican privateers who stopped vessels carrying British permits took the ships as prizes, so it was still a very risky business, but the worse was over and business gradually began to return to normal.

Whales had been unmolested for years and were thus easy to catch close to home. The vessels were not yet ready to make any long voyages. Although some of the whalers were taken into American ports by privateers, they were in all cases re­ leased after proper explanations. The Colonials were only inter­ ested in punishing illicit traders. They were relaxing as they realized in the spring of 1782 that the long war was almost over. In September, 1782, a public meeting to petition the General Court to grant whaling permits similar to the British permits.

The General Court said that it was up to the Continental Congress to grant the permits. William Rotch and Samuel Starbuck were sent to Philadelphia and returned in the spring of 1783 with permits for thirty-five vessels.* Now the industry was protected against both sides.

Nantucket greeted peace with great relief and general rejoic­ ing. Most of the islanders were patriots and thus pleased that the colonies had won their independence. They were more con­ cerned at first, however, with the recovery of the island and a return to their former prosperity. The following story shows the attitude of most islanders.

It is estimated by Obed Macy, and his figure is generally accepted, that the drop in population between 1774 and 1784 was about sixteen hundred souls. This takes into account the natural growth rate. His population figures which are shown below agree with the colonial census, the United States census, and the population as given in the Nantucket Vital Statistics.

1719 721 1726 917 1764 3220 1774 4545 1784 4269 1790 4620 1800 5617 1810 6807 1820 7266 f Some of the loss can be attributed to migration. Many island* Starbuck, p. 255.

t Macy, p. 83.

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

26

ers felt that the island would never recover its former economic stability and so they looked for better places to go. Many settled in Saratoga, New York, Nine Partners and Poughkeepsie, New York, New Garden, North Carolina, and Vassalboro and Kenne­ bec, Maine. Others migrated because whaling did not recover fast enough to employ all the former whalers. They settled in Claverack Landing, New York, Barrington, Nova Scotia, Dun­ kirk, France and Milford Haven, England. All of these areas became whaling centers. William Rotch did business in both of the latter two ports, but eventually returned to Nantucket.* Most of the drop in population is attributable to the war.

The lack of food and fuel caused starvation among the poorer residents of the island. Many of the men serving in the colonial armed services never returned. Those captured on privateers frequently died on prison ships and countless others died at sea while attempting to provision the island. Most of the losses must have been men, because in 1784 there were two hundred widows and three hundred and forty-two orphan children living on the island.

The whaling industry recovered slowly because of this loss of men and the lack of ships. Of the one hundred and fifty whaling ships owned by Nantucketers in 1774 only two were left. In 1784 the island owned 2,400 tons of shipping most of which had been purchased since the end of the war. The islanders had owned 15,075 tons of shipping before the war, and Macy estimates that 11,131 tons of shipping were lost due to the war, of which about 10,000 tons of shipping was captured by the British.f Douglas-Lithgow, in his history of Nantucket, has slightly different figures, but they give the same general idea of disaster.

He says that in 1775 the Nantucketers owned 14,876 tons of shipping and they lost 12,464 tons of shipping due to the revo­ lution. He says that one hundred and thirty-four ships were captured and fifteen vessels were lost at sea. Obviously then, the islanders would have to rebuild their fleet to resume whaling.

These losses in men and ships would be enough to make any other community fail, but that was not true with Nantucket.

Not only did the islanders resume their whaling, but they soon took their place again as the world's capital of whaling. The setbacks only served to spur the Nantucketers on until they reached their former glory. It seems incredible that a small island which suffered so much for so long could ever recover.

But that is another story.

(Mr. Lathrop is the son of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Lathrop, of Sankaty Avenue, Siasconset. He is a student at the University of Pennsylvania.) *W. F. Macy, p. 97.

fMacy, P. 124.

27

The Handsome Tall Clock at the Nantucket Atheneum Librarywas made by Thomas Wagstaff, London

28

Administrative Report April 10, 1971 It has been suggested that I make a brief report in each quarterly and I am happy to start this off by repeating the an­ nouncement made in the paper last month that Mr. Edouard A. Stackpole has accepted the position of Historian with our Associa­ tion. I will not repeat his many accomplishments as a writer, editor, and curator because I am certain all of Nantucket has followed his career and been proud of his success as an indi­ vidual and as President of our Association.

Need of expanding our education program has long been felt and Mr. Stackpole is the perfect choice to do this. Besides the research he will do himself he will be available to help others and will conduct lectures on Nantucket history with a special effort to indoctrinate and interest new students and visitors in our tradition.

He will also be in charge of the Peter Foulger Museum. In this field, too, he is well equipped through knowledge and ex­ perience, and the Exhibit Committee and their professional con­ sultants have adopted his plan for telling the story of Nantucket through the arrangement and display of artifacts.

An effort is being made to gather all available information about the Marconi Wireless Station and place a suitable marker on the site of its location. Mr. Harding Green volunteered to expedite this and the job is progressing. R.C.A. cooperated by sending him a picture of General Sarnoff with his "fist" on the key some sixty years ago. If you have any knowledge, pictures, or articles pertaining to this station please pass them on to Mr. Green so they may become a part of the permanent record.

We have a great need for more volunteers to organize inter­ esting small exhibits in the empty rooms at the Old Town Build­ ing, accumulate scattered information about events or things from our past, assist in our program for increasing membership and contributions, help at the Museums on special occasions, etc. If you have the interest and can spare two hours or more each week, I beg you to stop in and offer your services.

You will receive the annual bill for dues within the next few weeks. There has been a small increase in the amount but we are still below the charge made by most Associations such as ours. This year bills will also carry a very brief message telling

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

29

some of our new efforts and asking for additional contributions from all who feel able and willing to help. We have the leadership and opportunity to keep Nantucket as it was and is before the people who live and visit here and the need for this was never greater. Your past contributions have made possible what we have done and are doing. Continued support will make it possible to maintain and improve this program.

Leroy H. True Administrator

30

Green Hand on the Susan, 1841-1846 (Continued from October, 1970) IX Up Mauna Kea and Off to Maui

BY EDGAR L. MCCORMICK

Liberty ashore at Hilo began on Friday, September 27, 1884, five days after the Susan returned to the Hawaiian Islands from the Northwest Coast. "We all have invitations to call at the Missionary's, Mr. Coan," wrote Andrew Meader, "and find both him and his wife . . . seeming anxious to render Captains, officers and Seamen ... all the comfort that the free use of their books, newspapers, and spare time will allow. There is also a Mr. Lyman, wife & children. He is a teacher of about a hundred native boys from the age of ten to eighteen who live together in a building at the rear of their school house. They are taught the various branches of English education, translated into their own tongue, and are said to be as forward in learning as boys in America of the same age. There is also a Doctor Andrews, wife & children, Mr. Pitman, son & son's native wife & children. The wife is a high chieftess, being heir to the governor-ship of Hadaii. Mr. P. & Son are traders; also the Pilot, John Ely of Scotland, native wife and two sons."

On Sunday the 29th, Meader attended "the two native meetings at the native church, which . . . when the galleries are finished will accommodate near 2000 persons. Mr. Coan preached in the native tongue, but gave us the text in English. At 3 p.m. the Captains [Reuben Russell, and Peter Brock of the Young Hero] and the two ships' officers and crew on liberty attended at Mr. C's house to hear him preach ... on the text of 'Do thyself no harm' which . . . made an excellent prayer for us poor mar­ iners."

On Monday, September 30, "after having prepared a good supply of bed clothes, thick clothes, & provisions, we left the starting place at Hilo for the Hawaii volcano called Mouna [Mauna Kea]. For the price of eight dollars a horse and two dol­ lars a guide, we had two horses for the two Captains and one be­ tween Mr. Starbuck and me, three guides for the two Capts. and one belonging to Captain Brock's horse, and one between Mr. S. and me, making in all three horses and nine persons. " 'Tis four miles through the woods, then comes more even but still a bad, rocky road for ten miles. This is the hottest part

31

HISTORIC NANTUCKET 32 of the journey for there is not a tree or a bush or anything to afford a shade to travellers who, generally, are just beginning to get used to the fatigue by the time they are half way between town and the first stopping place . . . the first mountain house kept by a native named Hiram.

"After travelling at a walk, sometimes riding and sometimes walking, for seven hours we arrived Hiram's in season to get supper and snugged up before dark. Soon after our arrival the guides came up loaded heavily with a stick across their shoulders on each end of which was hung a large Calabash containing our things. They seemed not half so fatigued as our horses. ... We had a cool and broken night's rest with a great abundance of fleas. In the morning early we had breakfast and at daylight were on our way again.

"From outside the woods to the volcano, a distance of twentyseven miles, we found the same kind of lava, and scarcely any soil to be seen, although berries, bushes, flowers and trees cov­ ered most of the ground. ... On ascending the mountain to about 2500 feet we had considerable rain till we reached the volcano which is over 4150 feet above the sea. Here we arrived at two o'clock p.m. making the journey 17 miles, the first half, in 7 hours and 16 miles, the last half, in 7 hours. 'Twas raining hard and cold, so we made a roaring fire in a hut near the mountain house where we aired our clothes. The two captains with their guides started in the midst of the beating mist to visit the sulphur hill outside the crater. They . . . obtained some fine specimens of sulphur and returned before dark.

"On returning we took possession of the house from a native for two dollars and at an early hour we took our cold supper of raw ham, bread, butter, and water by the light of the 'Tootooe,' a greasy, oily nut the size of a walnut, with a stick run through the middle of a dozen of them. . . . 'Tis all the light the natives have, but they last but a short time. [We] threw ourselves upon the mats to get a little rest as we were all quite fatigued. ... In the evening the weather cleared off fine and one of the captains who had just turned out gave us a 'rouse' to look at the burning crater. . . . Although three miles off, yet it looked to be almost at our feet.

"There is but one road leading to it and that is almost per­ pendicular. Some places we were obliged to let ourselves down by shrubs and at others by notches in the rocks. After an hour's hard travelling we arrived at the inner crater and where we stood was more than 800 feet below the mountain house where we had slept. All round the edge of the outer crater, which is 7 miles across, there is a continual line of rocks rising perpen­ dicularly 6 or 700 feet, except at the road where it seemed as though the rocks had caved away just enough to allow a sort of passage to the inner crater; the road then leads by a circuitous

GREEN HAND ON THE SUSAN

33

route over sharp-edged, loose rocks in piles or heaps fifty feet high and over the cold lava which with the exception of the rock ledge fills the entire outer crater.

"The travelling after you pass the ledges is the worst of all the journey, for in going over the lava, small particles will fly from where you tread and in a few minutes you will have to beat it out of your shoes as 'tis like walking on fine glass. Half of our time was spent in knocking lava out of our shoes. As we neared the edge of the smallest and only active crater, I calcu­ lated on having the whole atmosphere heat to such a degree that we could hardly breathe . . . according to descriptions of others who had visited it when in its most active state, but now, 'twas never known to be so low and tranquil.

"The whole active crater is one and one-half miles across and all a boiling mass of minerals, fed and kept alive by vast internal collections of sulphur. Nearly all the acids used for med­ ical purposes at these Islands are obtained at this volcano. As the sight was continually changing, the motion and appearance of the surface varying each moment, I felt not half satisfied when, after we had been there an hour and gathered a few small, fresh specimens, the word was given by Capt. B to Capt. R, "Come come, haven't you seen enough of that beach-grass fire? If not, I'll buy some tar-barrels, carry them to dead-horse valley, set fire to them and carry you out to witness "mighty wonder," "grand sight of a bon-fire." ' " 'Twas not so with me. I have probably seen as many and as extensive bon-fires as him, but neither he nor I ever saw any sight more grand and awful than a burning volcano, boiling, bursting, and hissing in a frightful manner.

"On our return and near the foot of the hill ascending to the mountain house we stopped to gather specimens. . . . The wind was blowing down quite fresh, so that we were sometimes obliged to stand still for a minute or two, not being able to budge a hair against the gusts. . . .

"The Captain was all ready to take charge and with pleasant weather we reached Hiram's at dusk. On going to the volcano we had left with him some provisions for a mess on our return, and true to his word 'twas 'all ready, sir.' 'Twas a native mess 'Lou-ow' and composed of fresh fowl, pork, taro, potatoes, etc., etc., all wrapped in leaves and cooked in the ground on heated stones. We were all very hungry, which made me think 'twas the best meal I ever ate.

As we were returning through the woods, where the passage is scarce large enough to allow two men to walk abreast and so rocky, bushy, and gulleyey that to step out of the road would be to step upon quite uncertain foundation, we were met by another party bound to the volcano. It was led by about twenty native

34

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

guides, four of whom carried a lady in a sort of box supported on poles on which she could sit upright and by drawing aside the curtains, when no bushes interfered, could have a view of the scenery. . . .

We found this party to consist of Captains Reynolds and Gardner of the Meta.com and Milo on horses and Captain Gardner's wife, an American lady in the carriage. They were bound with desperate [haste], being obliged to be back by Saturday night on acc't. of the natives attending church on the Sabbath. It was Thursday and the natives were liable to quite a fine if they were not sick and yet omitted attending divine worship on Sunday.

"At 2 p.m. we arrived at Pitman's store where we were heartily glad that the travelling part of the cruise was over, having been absent half of Monday, all Tuesday, Wednesday, & half of Thursday, a much more hurried cruise than I liked, for if I was to go again, I should certainly like five or six whole days for it. We soon had our luggage aboard and as soon took a lunch and rigged for the rest of the day in Liberty ashore."

Liberty and fine weather continued through Monday Octo­ ber 7 when Meader and Mr. S[tarbuck] visited the native school and found the scholars reviewing for an examination in arith­ metic. After accepting an invitation to pose some questions, Andrew concluded that the students had "a good insight into the system of arithmetic." The teacher, Mr. Lyman, closed the school with a prayer in the native tongue and then asked the guests to dinner at his home with Dr. Andrews, wife and family.

The next night, with the assistance of five boats, apparently from the Young Hero, the Susan weighed anchor and dropped down the channel for the land breeze in the morning. Two white men were aboard whom the Captain intended to sign on at Maui in place in place of the Kanakas who were leaving. On Wednesday, as the ship took the trades lightly and steered clear of land, Andrew paid tribute to Hilo as the most healthy place to enjoy liberty ashore: ". . . there is always through the day a fine sea breeze blowing which as it passes through the fruit trees and flower beds fills the air with a fresh and fragrant smell that is always delicious; the roads or walks are even, wide and clean, leading through fine green pastures and wild flower beds. The natives are kind and never seem weary of waiting upon anyone who chances to enter their hut, and as soon as seated, they set forth the best they have to eat or drink which is generally good cold water, Guavas, oranges, green cocoanuts, melons, etc., etc., although some of our sailors had a great liking for the native mess of poi made of Taro [which] looks like hominy and [is] eaten with the two forefingers, as the boys do when they 'lap' molasses, all dipping into the same calabash."

(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 develop­ ment 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, paintings, or any objects having historical value, in which event a brief description 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, Union Street.

ERECTED A, D. (881. BY A DESCENDANT OE THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NANTUCKET IN kiEMORY OF THOSE WHOSE REMAINS ART BURIED ON THIS HALLOWED SPOT. WHERE STOOD THE FIRST CHURCH CATHERED HERE IN •?<!.

SINCE REMOVED TO WHERE IT NO V STANDS AS THE VESTRY OF THE FIRST :ONCRECATIONAL SOCIETY.

( 6 0 9 -TRISTRAM COFFIN - ( 6 8 1 (598-THOMAS MAeY-1682.

(604- E D W A R D S T A R B U C K -1690 1 6 1 7 - P E T E R FOLCER - ( 6 9 0 , (624 -JOHN CARDNER-1706 I 6 6 4 - U 0 H N S W A I N . JR.-I738.

I644-J0HN COLEMAN- (7(5.

I S 2 6 - R I C H A R D G A R D N E R -1688 I 5 9 8 - C H R I S T O P H E R H U S S E Y -1686.

1640-WILLIAM BUNKER-I7I2.

MANY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF THESE WORTHY SIRES.HAVE BEEN DISTINGUISHED FOR THEIR COURACC AND ENERGY. AND LEFT A RECORD FOR OTHERS TO EMULATE.