The Whaling Museum by Renny A. Stackpole 1980 MARKS THE Golden Anniversary of Nantucket's Whaling Museum. Founded through the efforts and vision of William F. Macy, President of the Nantucket Historical Association from 1923-1935, the exhibit has come to represent one of the finest collections of whaling materials in the world. Macy himself traced the evolution of the museum to his friendship with Edward F. Sanderson who maintained a summer home at Moors End (being Jared Coffin's first brick home on Nantucket). Sanderson had invested a considerable amount of money and time into a personal collection of whaling materials and at Macy's urging, offered to give it to the Historical Association, if the Council could secure a place to house the exhibit. At the Association's Annual Meeting in 1927, William Macy stated: "I want to pay tribute to Mr. Sanderson for his patience and forbearance in waiting two years and a half for us to take up his one year option, and for the generous terms of the final purchase." Fortunately, at the time that the Sanderson collection became available, an invaluable site appeared on the real estate market, the former Sper maceti Candle factory of Hadwen and Barney at the head of Steamboat or New North Wharf. Built as a brick commercial whaling establishment, the building, a 40 x 90 two-story slate roof affair, was erected in 1847 by Richard Mitchell and Sons. Two years later it was sold to William Hadwen and Nathaniel Barney for $6,200. As abstracted from the Registry of Deeds in Nantucket, the sale included: "the brick oil and candle factory, store, bleaching establish ment and oil shed, and all other buildings thereon, with all the fixtures and tools belonging to the said factory". The candle factory eventually passed into the hands of the son of Nathaniel Barney. Joseph Barney used the structure as his office and storage space when he was the Agent from Nantucket for the Steamship Company. In 1911 Emily M. Treadwell bought the building from the children of
Historic Nantucket, July 1980, Vol. 28 No. 1
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