Historic Nantucket, October 1983, Vol. 31 No. 2

Historic Nantucket

'Sconset Pump - 1884

I

October, 1983 Published Quarterly by Nantucket Historical Association Nantucket, Massachusetts

NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President: H. Flint Ranney First Vice President: Robert G. Metters Vice President: Robert D. Congdon Secretary: Richard Austin

Treasurer: Donald E. Terry Honorary Vice Presidents

Walter Beinecke

Albert G. Brock

Alcon Chadwick

Albert F. Egan, Jr.

Mrs. Bernard Grossman

Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans

Presidents Emeritus George W. Jones

LeroyH.True

Edouard A. Stackpole

STAFF John N. Welch, Administrator Renny A. Stackpole, Director of Museums Elizabeth Tyrer, Executive Secretary Edouard A. Stackpole, Historian; Director, Peter Foulger Museum Historic Nantucket, Editor, E. A. Stackpole Assistant Editor, Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans Librarian, Mrs. Louise Hussey Oldest House: Mrs. Margaret Crowell, Mrs. Abram Niles Hadwen House-Satler Memorial: Mrs. Richard Strong, Mrs. Kathleen D. Barcus Whaling Museum: Rev. Frank J. Pattison, Manager; James A. Watts, Alfred N. Orpin, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Dougan, Gerald Ryder Greater Light: Dr. Selina T. Johnson Peter Foulger Museum: Asst. Director, Peter S. MacGlashan; Mrs. Norman A. Barrett, Miss Marjorie Burgess, Miss Helen Levins, Alcon Chadwick, Ms. Angelica Dewey, Everett Finlay 1800 House: Ms. Margaret Beale Macy-Christian House: Miss Dorothy Hiller, Mrs. Helen S. Soverino Old Mill: Millers: John A. Stackpole, Thomas Seager, Terry Ellis Fair Street Museum: Mrs. William Witt Lightship "Nantucket": Michael Jones, James Hilditch Archeology Department: Vice-Chairman, Mrs. John D. C. Little Museum Shop: Director, Mrs. Grace Grossman; Manager, Mrs. Maria Waine; Mrs. Rose Stanshigh, Mrs. Anne K. Diamond, Ms. Hazel Korper

COUNCIL MEMBERS Edward B. Anderson John Austin Mrs. Kenneth Baird Mrs. John A. Baldwin Mrs. Marshall Brenizer Hugh R. Chace Mrs. James F. Chase

Mrs. Marsha Fader

Mrs. Carl M. Mueller

Mrs. George A. Fowlkes

Philip C. Murray

Mrs. H. Crowell Freeman

F. Philip Nash, Jr.

John Gilbert Reginald Levine John D. Miller

Mrs. Alan Newhouse Francis W. Pease Charles F. Sayle, Sr. Mrs. Bracebridge Young, Jr.

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

Volume 31

October. 1983

No. 2

Nantucket Historical Association Officers

2

Editorial: President Leroy H. True Retires

5

Neutrality is Uncomfortable

by The Reverend J. Moulton Thomas

6

William Watson — Engineer and Educator

13

Half-Scale Model of a Whaleboat

16

The First Display of the Flag of a New Nation — February 1783 in the Port of London

by Edouard A. Stackpole

17

Memories of Orange Street

by Henry A. Willard

21

Hard Times on the First South Shoals Light Vessel

by Robert Johnson

23

The Elisha Pinkham Hussey Whaling Collection

31

Historic Nantucket is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts, by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sent to Association Members. Extra copies, $3.00 each.

Membership dues are — Annual-Active $7.50; Sustaining $25.00; Life — one payment $100.00; Husband and Wife $150.00.

Second-class postage paid at Nantucket, Massachusetts.

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

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The first of its kind, a hard-cover, cloth-bound 288-page book with 94 color plates out of 270 illustrations. A must for the collector and the lover of Nantucket.

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commemorative plates @ $22.95 + $5. each for shipping

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plate featuring map of island plate featuring "Why Worry" — man seated Art on Nantucket @ $250. + $5. for shipping and handling.

Enclosed is

Name Address City Telephone

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Leroy H. True

Photo by William Haddon

President Leroy H. True Retires WITH THE RETIREMENT from our Nantucket Historical Association of President Leroy H. True this summer, we have lost the services of a highly competent officer. In his dual role as President and Ad­ ministrator for a decade he carried out his respective duties in a most commendable manner, demonstrating both ability and judgement. His accomplishments over this period enabled the Association to gain in stature in the community, and to place it on a sound financial founda­ tion.

When, in August of 1970, Mr. True assumed the Administrator's post, he was accepting a role newly created within the Association. It was a testing assignment. He was called upon to supervise the business management; arrange for the maintainance of the various museums and exhibit structures; and become closely involved in the affairs of the staff - which increased eight times in size during his term of office.

In 1974, following the death of Henry B. Coleman, Leroy H. True was elected to the Presidency of the Association, and thus became the first person to fill both of these responsible positions at the same time.

In the decade since his election he has continued to serve in this dual capacity, presiding regularly over the monthly meetings of the Council and at the annual meeting of the Association.

Although retiring from his official duties, Mr. True is not retiring from his close connection with our Historical Association. It is good to know that he will be available to help in providing from his knowledge and experience, so that we may continue to profit through such in­ valuable aids.

In conducting the affairs of the Nantucket Historical Association, Leroy H. True utilized his excellent experience in several fields. As a carpenter-contractor-teacher he had a background of practical ex­ perience; as the Administrator of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital over an extended period he made an impressive record in this field. After nearly fourteen years of dedicated service to the Nantucket Historical Association he retires with the respect and gratitude of our officers, staff and members. The fact that the new portion of our Whaling Museum is named "True Hall" will continue to remind us of his long years of service to the Association and the community.

President Leroy H. True Retires WITH THE RETIREMENT from our Nantucket Historical Association of President Leroy H. True this summer, we have lost the services of a highly competent officer. In his dual role as President and Ad­ ministrator for a decade he carried out his respective duties in a most commendable manner, demonstrating both ability and judgement. His accomplishments over this period enabled the Association to gain in stature in the community, and to place it on a sound financial founda­ tion.

When, in August of 1970, Mr. True assumed the Administrator's post, he was accepting a role newly created within the Association. It was a testing assignment. He was called upon to supervise the business management; arrange for the maintainance of the various museums and exhibit structures; and become closely involved in the affairs of the staff - which increased eight times in size during his term of office.

In 1974, following the death of Henry B. Coleman, Leroy H. True was elected to the Presidency of the Association, and thus became the first person to fill both of these responsible positions at the same time.

In the decade since his election he has continued to serve in this dual capacity, presiding regularly over the monthly meetings of the Council and at the annual meeting of the Association.

Although retiring from his official duties, Mr. True is not retiring from his close connection with our Historical Association. It is good to know that he will be available to help in providing from his knowledge and experience, so that we may continue to profit through such in­ valuable aids.

In conducting the affairs of the Nantucket Historical Association, Leroy H. True utilized his excellent experience in several fields. As a carpenter-contractor-teacher he had a background of practical ex­ perience; as the Administrator of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital over an extended period he made an impressive record in this field. After nearly fourteen years of dedicated service to the Nantucket Historical Association he retires with the respect and gratitude of our officers, staff and members. The fact that the new portion of our Whaling Museum is named "True Hall" will continue to remind us of his long years of service to the Association and the community.

Neutrality is Uncomfortable

by The Reverend J. Moulton Thomas DID YOU KNOW that the Island of Nantucket was twice an indepen­ dent country? When I ask newcomers this question they are as surpris­ ed as I was, when it first dawned on me.

During the Revolutionary War, and again in 1812, Nantucket was cut off from the mainland by the British Royal Navy and the American ships. Running the blockade, Nantucketers were caught in a dangerous crossfire. The only chance of survival was through a declared neutrali­ ty. This was as difficult to achieve as it was to maintain.

In 1660, ten families, who were being persecuted by the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony, moved to this island and became the first settlers. They were safe from persecution because Nantucket, until 1692, was part of New York. Other families rapidly followed these first ten. Among them Peter Folger, the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin.

In the days of Indian canoes, "Far away isle" was an appropriate name. Thirty miles is a good stiff paddle even for an Indian brave. With frequent fogs and the choppy seas that run through Nantucket Sound, it was not only a long trip but a dangerous one. In those early times, before whaling days gave prosperity to ship owners and ship captains, sheep raising was the only livelihood for food and sale of wool. Even this was not too profitable.

It was worthy of note in the town meetings' records of 1708, that on the twelfth day of the third month (note the Quaker dating) "The town doth grant Benjamin Swain the liberty of that stream of water which runs by John Folger's house, to dam it up and to set up a fulling mill on it, on the conditions that he shall enjoy the same so long as he shall resionabbly comply with ye fulling of their cloath - they paying for the same."

Next to the need for food on the island, and sometimes more scarce than food, was wood for building and fuel. Today, as in early days, timber needs to be imported. The scrubby pines, windswept in wintery days, provide but a fraction of the minimum needs for firewood, and none for the construction of dwellings.

Herman Melville in M o b y D i c k , the great classic of life on board a Nantucket whaleship, wrote:

NEUTRALITY IS UNCOMFORTABLE

7

"Nantucket! Take out your map and look at it. See what a real corner of the world it occupies. A mere hillock, and elbow of sand; all beach, without a background. Some jesters will tell you that they have to plant weeds there, they don't grow naturally; that pieces of wood in Nantucket are carried about like bits of the true cross in Rome; that people there plant toadstools before their houses, to get under the shade in summer time, that one blade of grass makes an oasis, three blades in a day's walk, a prairie."

It is easy to see how, during the long years of Revolution (and three years in the War of 1812), when the British Fleet blockaded the mainland ports and ever threatened the life of Nantucket, that if the blockade were too complete - and smuggling too risky - that both star­ vation and cold could combine to make suffering and death imminent.

Many historic writings bring a constant reminder of general condi­ tions here, not only during the War of 1812 but during the Revolution.

We turn the spot light of our interest on the general attitude of the peo­ ple in this Massachusetts town, in 1773 the third in size and importance next to Boston and Salem. The good Quaker people here are torn bet­ ween the mother country and the colonies. The youth full of adventure from life on the high seas in their search for whales see the principles of liberty at stake. Their fishing rights have been curtailed by Parlia­ ment. Some had already joined up with John Paul Jones.

Some of the older Nantucket families with little ones planned to leave for the mainland. Others, loyal to their Quaker tenets, saw no good in warfare and held no brief for the colonist who defied the English law. Even a few, not Quakers, counseled against defiance of the British as foolhardy. If the Colonial ships could protect them in their island home then they would side with John Hancock, John Adams, and their own kinsman, Benjamin Franklin, but if not, and pro­ tection from the colonists were impossible, then why invite trouble?

What else could the practical islanders do but hope to be neutral?

Immediately preceding the Revolution, business in Nantucket was in the full tide of success. Over half of all the ships in the Massaschusetts whale trade were Nantucket-owned, and two-thirds of all the oil secured made Nantucket a prosperous population of around 6000 persons. Two thousand of these were seamen.

Again, in "Moby Dick", we read the story of the evolution of that whale trade: "What wonder that these Nantucketers, born on a beach, should take to the sea for a livelihood! They

8

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

first caught crabs and quohogs in the sands; grown bolder, they waded out with nets for mackerel; more experienced, they pushed off in boats and captured cod; and, at last, launching a navy of great ships on the sea, explored this watery world; and in all seasons and all oceans declared everlasting war with the whale.

And thus have these Nantucketers, issuing from their ant hill in the sea, overrun and conquered the watery world."

Furthermore, on the island every allied trade flourished. Mer­ chants, blacksmiths, coopers, boat builders and riggers, sail makers, oil and candle manufacturers and rope makers. Oil meant light for the lamps of Englishmen on both sides of the Atlantic. It meant light for hundreds on the continent of Europe.

Nantucket and its whale trade entered Revolutionary War period three years before Declaration of Independence. In Sherburne Town the name of the city of Nantucket at that time - dwelt William Rotch, a profitable ship owner, a staunch Quaker and the leading citizen. He had sent three of his ships, the Eleanor, the Dartmouth, the Beaver to England laden with thousand of gallons of the most improved il­ luminating fuel of the time - spermaceti whale oil. The new cargo load­ ed in England for Boston was tea. It was at a tea party on board the deck of these three Nantucket ships that the "Boston Braves" won their first pennant in international competition.

With growing Colonial opposition to the stringent measures of Parliament, and with the organization of a Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1774, England saw that her force was going to be met by force. The first industry toward which the disciplinary laws of England was directed was the fisheries. The following year Parliament passed a bill restricting the commerce of the New England Colonies to Great Britain and the British West Indies, and prohibiting Colonial seamen from carrying on fisheries along the North American coast.

Bancroft says, "The best ship builders in the world were at Boston and their yards had been closed. The New England fisherman were restrained from a toil in which they excelled the world."

America had her defenders in England, especially Edmund Burke.

American high school children know of his defense of the colonies in Parliament, but this passage is especially familiar and meaningful to­ day to the youth of Nantucket who are proud of their whaling ancestors.

In his speech, O n Conciliation, Burke wrote: "Turn from the agricultural resources of the Col­ onies, consider the wealth which they have drawn

NEUTRALITY IS UNCOMFORTABLE

9

from the sea by their fisheries. The spirit in which that enterprising employment has been exercised ought to raise your esteem and admiration. Pray, sir, what in the world is equal to it? Pass by the other parts, and look at the manner in which the people of New England have of late carried on the whale fishery. Whilst we follow them among the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them penetrating into the deepest recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis's Straits...we hear that they have pierced into the opposite region of Polar cold...Falkland Island, which seemed too remote and romantic an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and resting place in the progress of their victorious industry."

The English measures were severe enough upon the island but, 30 miles out at sea, Nantucketers found themselves harassed by the new restrictions of the Continental Congress. Non-consumption of English goods, non-importation from England, and non-exportation to England had been subscribed to by the delegates. These agreements vitally af­ fected the people of Nantucket. It was not possible to carry them out and exist. In the early days, Massachusetts Bay Colony recognizing the plight of the whalemen, modified as much as possible the injurious legislation. For instance, orders regarding Minute Men - drilling organized militia were communicated to the islanders, but there was no evidence of their execution.

Several days after the first battles of Lexington and Concord, the word of open warfare reached Nantucket. Obed Macy, the earliest historian, writes in 1834 accounts about which he was personally familiar.

"The long expected period at length arrived; even before spring closed, the first blood was spilt in the battle of Lexington. The news of this action spread rapidly to every part of the colonies; in a few days it arrived at Nantucket. The countenances of the people, here, bespoke the anguish of their hearts. All business was immediately at a stand. Discouraged and powerless, they could do little else than meet together and bemoan their fate. Sorrow was depicted on every countenance; every mind was overwhelmed with fear­ ful anticipations, all springing from one general cause - the war. Many were deeply concerned for the welfare of their husbands, children, or brothers, then at sea on whom they depended for their subsistance, and for the comforts of life; many were anxious on account of their property, both at home and at sea, on which their dependence was placed."

10

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

All prosperity ceased. Massachusetts Bay Colony though it knew the Colonial ships of war could not protect American sympathizers in Nantucket, felt it necessary to clamp tighter restrictions on Nantucket shipping. Ships had to be licensed by the Colonial Courts but when licensed ships fell into British hands, the very willingness of their owners to apply for American licenses, was evidence to the British that the owner or captain was disloyal to the crown. Thus, more and more whale ships were captured and crews imprisoned.

On the other hand, owners of the vessels were warned that their vessels would be captured by Colonial privateers if they sailed without Colonial permits. One new brigantine, it was noted late in 1775, which had been sent to the Kennebec River, named for cargo of wood, was seized by the people there. "Their sails unbent and the ship detained".

Keziah Fanning, who kept an accurate diary of the events in Nan­ tucket throughout the war, reported that the only way the ship owners freed their vessels was that they got the rabble drunk and then stole the ship away. In her notes of December 1st, she reports that Phinneus Fanning arrived in the harbor with a load of provisions "after going through everything but death to get there safely". Running the blockade through both British and American ships of war was, to say the least, a hazardous occupation. Mrs. Fanning notes a gradual reduc­ tion in the cargoes of whale ships in 1775 and 1776. No arrivals of whale oil were listed from 1777, 1778 and 1779. Nor is it to be wondered that the islanders hovered continually between the Scylla of the requirements of Congress and the Charybdis of being caught by the English vessels while sailing under Colonial permit.

William Rotch in his memorandum sums up the pressure upon Nantucket shipping.

"From the year 1775 to the end of the War we were in continued embarrassment, our vessels captured by the English, and our small vessels and boats sent to various parts of the Continent for provisions, denied, and sent back empty, under pretence that we supplied the British, which was without the least foundation.

Prohibitory Laws were often made in consequence of these unfounded reports. By this inhuman conduct, we were sometimes in danger of being starved."

A year, 1779, the island did experience the beginning of a number of small and short-lived forays by the group called Refugees. These were Tories sent by the British Commander in Chief in New York to ascer­ tain the sympathies of the people of Nantucket, whether they were favorable to King George or to the Continental Congress. These

12

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

procure intelligence of the Enemy's Motions & Designs; as the Town of Sherburne is in your State, I doubt not but your Honorable Council will immediate­ ly take proper measures to prevent any Separate Trea­ ty being made with the Enemy, by any of the subjects of Massachusetts Bay - such Things are not only per­ nicious to the General Confederacy of the United States, but Traitorous in the Transactors."

In addition to the privations experienced by being in the vice of British and Colonial politics, the winter weather of 1780 added its burden. Mrs. Fanning tells us that Nantucket Harbor, a land-locked ex­ panse, six miles long, three-quarters of a mile wide, was frozen over all winter. Teams were drawn over the ice to bring what scrub timber could be found from Coatue. There were many widows and fatherless as well as those whose husbands and fathers were undergoing the rigors of English prison ships. The scene quoted at the beginning, dur­ ing the War of 1812, was reinacted many times in efforts of the natives to secure food and fuel from ships that ran afoul of the sand bars which skirt the southern shore of the island.

As a result of the mission by Rotch, Tupper and Starbuck, some hope had been raised that the English might make repayment in food or fuel for the damages caused by the Refugees, amounting to some 4000 pounds sterling. Since news that a French Fleet might come to the aid of the Americans and force the English from New York, thereby destroying any British assets, the canny Quakers sought permission of the Massachusetts Court to try to recover their losses, (in time to alleviate their own sufferings), while the British might still be able to pay, and this request to deal with the enemy was granted. Timothy Folger, the agent for Nantucket, was bonded for 10,000 pounds to guarantee that "He will return into this state within his effects within two months - the dangers of the seas and enemies excepted." Nothing came of this effort.

1781 and 1782, following the change in British Commanders at New York, saw raids upon the island once more by English Refugees. It is reported that in not a few instances members of the Society of Friends allowed their indignation or instinct for self-preservation to overcome their religious scruples. On record are forty-six names of Nantucketers who were disowned by the Society of Friends for active participation with armed men either in the Army or Navy.

••• • • If we have seen that neutrality for Nantucket was the better part of valor amid the tides of war, it must be evident by now that in these later days of peaceful invasions by vacationists, a neutral attitude about Nantucket is out of the question.

I came, I saw, I have been completely sold.

William Watson - Engineer and Educator ALTHOUGH HIS CONTRIBUTIONS in the field of education made him one of the best known scholars of his day, William Watson is one of the least-known Nantucketers today. Born in the family homestead on North Water Street on January 19,1834, he was the son of William Wat­ son and Mary Macy, the latter the daughter of Peleg and Sarah Macy descendants of Thomas Macy, one of the great figures in the ranks of the first settlers of the Island.

It was to his mother that young Watson attributed his early interest in mathematics. She was a remarkable and gifted woman, and directed the course of his studies, which included Bowditch's Practical Navigator and other volumes.

Upon graduation from the Coffin School he entered upon a course of study at the Bridgewater State Normal School, from which he gained his diploma and went into teaching for two years. With the money so earned he entered Harvard College's Lawrence Scientific School, where he also taught geometry. In 1857 he was a competitor for one of the famous Boyden prizes, and was the unanimous choice of the com­ mittee for the first prize of $300. In this same year he received his B.E. degree from Harvard - summa cum laude in engineering. In the next year he took a second degree - S. B. summa cum laude in mathemetics, while at the same time serving as instructor in mathematical and integral calculus in the Scientific School.

In 1859, Prof. Watson went to Paris for further study. At this time, on behalf of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of which group he was a recent member, he presented Madame Laplace a bust of Dr. Bowditch. After a visit to England he returned to Paris where he attended the Ecole Imperiale des Ponts et Chaussees.

During his stay in Europe he made extensive tours through France, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, visiting technical schools and studying their methods. In 1862 he received a Ph.D. degree from the University at Jena.

Returning to the United States he joined (upon invitation) the Society of Arts, reading before it several papers of his studies on the various technical schools in Europe. In May, 1864, a pamphlet was published on the scope and plan for a School of Industrial Science of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - the result of a series of con­ ferences held by Dr. Watson, Mr. Runkle and Professor William B. Rogers. This was later incorporated in the new Institute of Technology founded in 1865. By this time Dr. Watson was a Lecturer at Harvard and had been elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor William Watson

PROFESSOR WILLIAM WATSON

15

With the beginnings of M. I. T., Dr. Watson was appointed the first Professor at the Institute - the department of Civil Construction later changed to that of Descriptive Geometry and Mechanical Engineering.

There were no text books in this country, and in the following year 1866, Prof. Watson prepared a treatise on descriptive geometry which was eventually used.

Following an attendance at the French Universal Exhibition in Paris, in 1887, he introduced for the first time in America construction in plaster on problems occurring in masonry. He now devoted con­ siderable time to public lectures in the Lowell series. In 1873 he mar­ ried Margaret Fiske, of Boston, and in the same year was appointed U. S. Commissioner to the Vienna Exposition in Austria, and remained in Europe for several months collecting materials for a report to the U.S. Government. He was also appointed by the American Society of Civil Engineers to represent them at the Paris Exposition in 1878, where he was elected a member of the French Society of Civil Engineers. The honor was repeated in 1881,1883 and 1889.

During a study of European Water Commerce, Prof. Watson prepared five essays which he delivered upon return to this country.

Many honors were conferred upon him by scientific societies both in Europe and America. His authorship included papers published in the Mathematical Monthly, as well as books on civil engineering and other technical subjects. Besides his visits to Europe he made trips to Asia Minor, Greece, Mexico and the west coast of the United States.

He never forgot his early years as a student at the Coffin School, and, when manual training was introduced, he presented the School with four lathes operated by velocipede foot-power, and a full set of tools used in wood-turning.

Among the very few Nantucket men who knew Prof. Watson in­ timately was Alvin Paddack, who was invited by him to stay in the Wat­ son home in Boston, where he received instruction in isometric draw­ ing and other technical subjects. Mr. Paddack later became an instruc­ tor at the Coffin School, where he applied these skills for many years, as well as teaching wood-working and related subjects.

Half-Scale Model of a Whaleboat THROUGH THE GENEROSITY of Jeffrey N. Cohen, of Cliff Road,Nantucket, a half-scale model of a whaleboat has been loaned the Association for display in our new True Hall, at the Whaling Museum.

As the photograph shows, this exhibit adds considerably to the scene in this area, and to add greatly to its attractiveness it is fully equippedwith oars, paddles, harpoons, lances, spades, lantern keg and other gear placed in these seaworthy craft.

With its sail hoisted, the display takes on new meaning, and those who view it at close range are much appreciative of the opportunity and many favorable comments have been reported by the attendants in the Museum.

The First Display of the Flag of a New Nation — February 1783 in the Port of London

by Edouard A. Stackpole ONE OF THE LITTLE KNOWN parts of the American Revolution was the role played by Nantucketers in that struggle for independence. The designation that the Islanders were strong Loyalists is a broad state­ ment. The individuals who fought for the cause of liberty in their own way deserve recognition, and as we study their participation we gain a new insight into the problems that beset this Island during the long years of struggle.

At a joint meeting of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the Revolution, held on February 20,1983, in observance of Washington's birthday, one of the most unusual incidents involving Nantucket in the War of the Revolution was presented — the first display of the flag of the young United States before the port of London.

This took place on February 6,1783. The treaty of peace which ended the Revolution had not yet been signed.

The figure of William Rotch looms strongly against the murky backdrop of those times. As a successful merchant and Quaker true to his beliefs he faced crisis after crisis, and with such stalwarts as Samuel Starbuck, Timothy Folger, Richard Mitchell, Edward Cary and others, he worked in the town's behalf with both the Royal Navy commanders and the Continental leaders in Congress. They were striv­ ing to bring about a neutral status and thus preserve the whaling fleet of Nantucket, then gradually dwindling in numbers.

One cannot forget William Rotch's famous question to both sides in the War: "How can you preserve the Colonial whaling industry without granting permits for the Nantucket ships to sail?" Inevitably, their answers were what his logic dictated.

Let iis go back to the event which took place two hundred years ago — February 6, 1783. It has become a mere footnote in our maritime history but its significance has increased steadily in recent years, and its importance has gained immeasurably. I refer to the historical fact that the first American vessel to display the flag of a new nation — the United States of America — before the port of London, was the Nan­ tucket whaleship Bedford.

Owned by William Rotch & Sons, the vessel had sailed from Nan­ tucket late in December, 1782, loaded with sperm oil, and under Cap-

18

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

tain William Mooers, a veteran whaling master, had reached the English Channel late in January, 1783.

On February 3,1783, Captain Mooers arrived in the Downs, and on the next day passed Gravesend and sailed up the Thames to the great city of London. Like so many vessels before her, she was carrying a cargo, but in this case a very valuable one, as sperm oil was in great de­ mand in Europe. When she departed from Nantucket William Rotch, with a superb decision, believing that economic needs would persuade the British Admiralty to grant an entry for his ship and her cargo, wat­ ched her sail away with confidence in his reasoning.

The Revolution was still being fought insofar as the Colonies and the mother country were concerned. After Yorktown, the sea fights bet­ ween England and France continued in both the West Indies and the European theatre. The diplomats were meeting in Paris, but unknown to William Rotch and Captain Mooers a tentative treaty of peace had been agreed upon in Paris. However, William Rotch was not sending his vessel into the lion's den unprotected. Several months before, visiting New York with three other Nantucket merchants, he had suc­ cessfully obtained from the commander of the Royal Navy squadron in American waters, Admiral Digby, permits for Nantucket whaleships to sail.

It was on February 6,1783, completing her journey through the cur­ ving stretches of the Thames, the Bedford arrived at London, dropped her anchor under the very shadow of the Tower, and hoisted the flag of the United States. This fact is established by a paragraph in a History of England by Barnard, which reads: "The Bedford was not allowed regular entry until some consultation had taken place between the com­ missioners of the Customs and the Lords of the Coun­ cil, on account of the many acts of parliament yet in force against the rebels in America. She was loaded with 487 butts of whale oil, manned wholly by American seamen, and belonged to the island of Nan­ tucket in Massachusetts. The vessel lay at Horseley, down a little below the Tower, and was the first which displayed the thirteen stripes of America in any British port."

One may fully realize the importance of this occasion. Here, in the very heart of the British empire, a humble, a sea-worn whaleship from the Quaker Island of Nantucket, had hoisted the colors of a new nation, had shown a confidence in the righteousness of that phrase in the Declaration of Independence — "with liberty and justice for all". It was a demonstration of faith, of the triumph of the American spirit —

THE FIRST DISPLAY OF THE FLAG

19

particularly in the confidence of the Nantucket belief that might does not always mean right.

The B e d f o r d had been built in Bedford for the Rotch firm by John Loudon. She had just returned from a whaling voyage to the South Atlantic, had hardly discharged her cargo in Nantucket when she was loaded and sent across the Atlantic Ocean. A few days after she sailed, the whaleship industry was also loaded with oil and dispatched for Lon­ don, with Captain John Chadwick in command. A few days after the Bedford's arrival the Industry also came to anchor in London.

The appearance of the Stars and Stripes, fluttering from the mast of the Bedford, attracted many curious people, including dignitaries, river folk and seafarers. Among those who actually went aboard the Nantucket vessel was Madame Hayley, the widow of a whaling mer­ chant of London, and a sister of the more famous John Wilkes. Not too many months later she was to establish a close relationship with Fran­ cis Rotch, the younger brother of William. The Hayley firm had more than a curious reason for its interest. It had been purchasing Nantucket oil for years before the Revolution.

As a kind of echo to the repercussions of the times, the experiences of the sloop Speedwell, Captain James Whippey, of Nantucket, is of more than ordinary interest. Dispatched to the West Indies by William Rotch, with a cargo of oil, she was captured by a British frigate and taken to Jamaica. Here her permit by Admiral Digby was recognized and she was allowed to continue her journey to Aux Cayes. William Rotch, Jr., in a letter written in 1842, stated that upon her departure from Jamaica, the sloop displayed the first United States flag seen in the West Indies. Upon arrival home, the Speedwell was loaded with sperm candles and sent to Quebec. Here, states Mr. Rotch, she ex­ hibited the Stars and Stripes.

But we must not lose track of Captain William Mooers. In the very next year another task was to be accomplished through his command.

On July 1, 1784, he sailed from Nantucket again for England, this time on the new ship Maria to bring her owner, William Rotch, on an historic mission. Taking his departure from Great Point, Captain Mooers sailed the Maria across the Atlantic to the cliffs of Dover in 23 days. Anchor­ ing briefly off Dover, where Mr. Rotch was brought to that port, the Maria continued her voyage, sailing up the Thames to London. After completing her fitting out here, she sailed for the Brazil Banks and the Falkland Islands. Mr. Rotch remained in England, where he attemp­ ted, without success, to enter upon a contract with Prime Minister Pitt to bring a colony of Nantucketers to England, to settle and go whaling.

Captain William Mooers returned from his voyage and was ordered to Dunkirk, where William Rotch had succeeded in

20

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

establishing his Nantucket whaling colony in France. Retiring from the sea in 1800, Captain Mooers remained in Dunkirk and at Le Havre, where he became the representative of the firm of William Rotch & Sons. He died at Le Havre in July, 1819, at the age of 74. His daughter became Mrs. Jared Gardner and his grand-daughter was Mrs. George Upton, and the Upton House still stands on the little court leading to the Orange Street bank above Union Street.

The figures which have become legendary in Nantucket's history are no longer considered a part of our daily events, and have been near­ ly forgotten. This is sad in contemplation, as their deeds played such important parts in our Island's history. In our modern life it is a misfor­ tune that the lives of the people who made Nantucket a maritime power have become thus obscured. They created this kingdom in the sea, and we should be always grateful that they provided us with such an im­ perishable heritage.

Bequests or gifts to the Nantucket Historical Association are tax deductible. They are greatly needed and appreciated.

PLEASE — Send us your change of address if you are planning to move. You will receive your copy sooner and we are charged extra for all copies returned because of an incorrect address.

Memories of Orange Street

by Henry A. Willard SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE asked me to give some memories of Orange Street. Going back to 1909, I recall coming with my grand­ parents on the Fall River Line steamer Commonwealth, from New York, and then taking a train to Myricks, where we changed to another train for the New Bedford Wharf. At the age of 87 grandfather had a stateroom and we made the trip to his home at 26 Orange Street.

Starting at Main Street on Orange, there was a telegraph office of the Martha's Vineyard Telegraph Company, which was later absorbed by the Western Union. Next to it The Inquirer and Mirror, the weekly newspaper, had their printing plant. The Editor was Harry Turner, Merle's father. Several of the staff are still on Island, including the daughter, Mrs. Merle Orleans.

Across was the residence of Dr. Austin, where the Savings Bank is located. He had a sign "Therapeutic Specialist". Next to his residence was the home of the Eastons, originally silversmiths from Rhode Island. Mrs. Marjorie Easton always invited us to dinner once a sum­ mer in the attractive home. In later years, it was St. Mary's Rectory.

Fr. Lester Hull, who lived there in later years, was a Nantucket boy who died recently. He rose to the rank of Monsignor in the Church.

Across the street was the Second Congregational Meeting House Society, known as the Unitarian-Universalist Church. For many, many years, our family had a pew on the north isle #8. For a number of years the rent was $10 per annum and now it's on a collection basis. The Church is undergoing a reconstruction and much needed repair work, because the foundation floor of the sanctuary rotted out. The first minister I recall was Reverend John Snyder, who also was a minor playwright with a work that was called "As Ye Sow".

For a number of summers, I had been able to lecture there once a month, telling the history of the building and the remarkable 150 year old Goodrich Organ. (Also about the clock at the rear by the choir Tempus Fugit).

At Stone Alley was the home of Winifred and Myron Vincent who came here every year from San Francisco. In 1933, we were able to buy the house they owned at 22 Orange, which was famous as the Ice Cream Parlor of Bridget Hatch, a fine old Irish lady, who served wonderful peach and cottage pudding ice cream. Her two sons were friends of ours, Walter and Irving, the latter who was about my age. Walter con­ ducted a small grocery at one time called the "Harbor View," and next to it was the cobbler shop of Asa Jones. Mr. Jones' son, Arthur Jones,

22

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

was elected to the Legislature for a number of years, and also ran the large catboat to Wauwinet, called the Lillian, at 50 cents a trip.

A large house overlooking the harbor was occupied by the William Barnes Family, with a tennis court on the lower level. In later years it was occupied by Mrs. S.M. Barnes Roby, but has now been sold.

Our house at 26 Orange Street has been in our family for 100 years, having been originally purchased by the Honorable Henry A. Willard in 1882. It is the only home I have known on Nantucket, and we used to hear the old Nantucket Railroad train come from 'Sconset with a very, wonderful bell about 6:30 in the morning. My sister Sarah had a birth­ day party there and my father obtained an Italian organ grinder to play for the children in our yard. Also, one of the first Cottage Hospital fetes was held in our back yard for the children.

Next to the Barnes House was a noted authoress Miss Mary E. Waller (Dr. Sziklas' former home) who wrote "An Island Outpost" and "Woodcarver of Olympus", and several others.

The Hollis Honeywell family's home was at the corner of Gorham's Court. The family had a number of horses, and were active in the preWorld War I society of the Island.

The Weather Bureau, conducted by George Grimes, was opposite Lyon Street. There was a steel tower where he would set the strong lights for the fishing fleet and boatmen. I can still see him climbing up to the structure, to put up a yellow over red light, and two red lights meant a hurricane. Three of his children were about my age and are living on Nantucket now.

Where the Ryder Market is there was a grocery store kept by Mr. McCleave. There were five groceries at one time on this street.

Hard Times on the First South Shoals Light Vessel Chapter Three of an Unpublished Manuscript by Robert Johnson DURING THE EIGHT months from June 12, 1854 until February 14, 1855, as the small Davis South Shoal revolved around its 2,000 pound mushroom-shaped anchor, six men struggled to live within the 104' light boat. Samuel Bunker, the ship's keeper, and his mate, Henry Brown (when Bunker was on shore) recorded their life on a chalk slate and later penned these experiences into a hardbound journal. This jour­ nal still speaks from within the vault of Nantucket's Peter Foulger Museum about the rough life on the first light vessel to watch over the "Graveyard of the North Atlantic."

Placed nineteen miles from Nantucket Island, the Davis South Nantucket South Shoal Lightship Station as the far­ thest lightship station from land in the world. Beyond the protection of land, unable to flee to any harbor, Samuel Bunker and his crew were exposed to the full force of every gale and their ship was often trapped in powerful cross currents. On Tuesday, the 25th of July, 1854, Mate Brown wrote in the journal, "a bad cross sea on...We think the Boat needs thirty tons more Balist she roals very deap..." The cross seas continued through August 10th, the day Captain Bunker was thrown from the top of the lantern house "and hurt himself Badley." When the seas subsided ten days later, Captain Bunker was taken ashore for treatment. While he was away, on September 3rd, Mate Brown record­ ed in the journal that two more men became seasick.

Shoal established

Closed in by fog from May through September, the crew's visibility was limited. Many of the journal entries from the summer months merely declare, "saw nothing." In the July sixth entry, Bunker noted, "Commences with fog fog fog we have not been able to sea three times her length thrue the 24 hours..", and five days later he wrote in ex­ asperation, "fog fog the fog maker lives here."

Occasionally, however, the fog maker would stop making fog just long enough for the men to get a glimpse of "one of the Big Steamers from Europe Steering West." The Davis South Shoal light boat and all her successors on Nantucket South Shoals were, and still are, the first bit of America seen by thousands of ships coming from Europe. Trans­ atlantic navigators plot a Great Circle Course in order to raise the ship's lights, obtain their bearings, and steer southwestward into New

24

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

York harbor. Ships bound for Europe or up the coast from New York likewise turn the corner at the lightship. Unfortunately, at times navigators have cut the corner too close and grazed the lightships. Two days after the men on the Davis South Shoal saw the Big Steamer from Europe Steering west, the fog maker was responsible for causing a near collision with the lightship. At 10 p.m., on July 13th, 1854, the weather was so thick and the wind and tides around the shoals so strong, a bark the men called "English" almost rammed into the lightship. "Came very near getting on board of us," wrote Captain Bunker.

According to a United States Lighthouse Establishment mandate, light boat captains were instructed not to allow visitors on board their vessels. "The keeper must hail all vessels, which by hovering too near the lightship may prevent the lights from being seen, and request them to keep off. Under no circumstances shall he permit any vessel to make fast to the lightship."l6 The consequence of the above regulation pro­ mpted an old whaling captain in 1891 to say, "the loneliest thing he had ever seen was a polar bear on a piece of ice in the Arctic Ocean and the next loneliest object he had seen was the Nantucket South Shoals Lightship."17 The crew of the Davis South Shoal was visited only by winged beasts. On Monday, September 4, 1854, Bunker and his men "Had a number of small birds come on board" and on Tuesday, the fifth, they "caught a Bat and had a wild Pigian come on Board." The station buoy, anchored two hundred yards from the lightship, was the crew's only constant companion. This was a red bell buoy that marked the lightship station. During heavy gales the deck watches kept their eyes on the buoy as it was often difficult to tell if the ship had parted its an­ chor chain and was drifting off the station. Because the buoy was the only stable object that the men could see when they were swinging with the wind and tide, they developed an affection for it. Captain Bunker thought of the buoy as a human companion and personified it in his June 25th journal entry: "I tried to shift the buoy but could not get 'him' into the boat..."

The "Ship's dutey" as Keeper Bunker called the simple routine of work, began at sunrise when the watch lowered the lanterns. The men removed the lamps from the lanterns, "scaulded them out" with boil­ ing water, refilled them with whale oil and trimmed the wicks. In smooth weather this duty was completed in two hours, but if the vessel were rolling and pitching the task lasted four hours or more. Until sun­ down when the lamps were hoisted twenty five feet up the lantern masts, the crew tried to combat their boredom by engaging in various maintenance projects such as "airing the sails," "scraping out betwixt the decks," "varnishing the quarter deck," and other "small jobs," as Mr. Bunker referred to them, like "getting up Bread," "making a vice bench" and "picking over frozen potatoes."

HARDTIMES ON LIGHT VESSEL

25

During their first winter on the Davis South Shoal, Samuel Bunker, Henry Brown, George Prier, George Morgan, Charles Page and William Thompson endured hardships that would kill men today. On Wednesday, November 30th, Captain Bunker wrote, "This is the worst sea on since we have bin here...strong gales with snow and Hail...boat roals very bad." The next day, ice began to accumulate on the deck. On December 6th, a strong gale blew both lanterns out, "smart squalls of snow" blinded the men and a "very cold wind" froze the whale oil "hard as tallow." When Samuel wrote on the following day, "looking hard a bad sea on," he probably thought it couldn't get much worse. He was wrong. The pleasure schooner, George Steers, which the govern­ ment had purchased to tend the lightship, was grossly inefficient. Only sail powered, it could not beat its way out of Nantucket harbor during rough weather. Without any communication with shore for seventy days in December, January and February, the men stayed on the ship longer than their two-month tour and depleted all the stores on board.

Fortunately, they caught a few codfish to eat, but having nothing but turpentine soap on board for cleaning, they had to wash their clothes and their oily rags in fresh water. With a salt spray forever dashing over their rain water catch basins it was impossible to replenish their supply of fresh water. In addition to these difficulties, their supply of whale oil grew bad because the tanks had not been tinned. The bad oil readily caked around the wicks, forcing the men to change the wicks and clean the lamps more frequently than they had planned. Every two hours they trimmed the wicks; in so doing, they burned more wood than they had planned to use for kindling their coal stove in the lantern house. When the men saw the fire wood diminishing they became frightened for their lives.18 Under absolutely no circumstances did the Federal Government permit light boats to leave their stations because of the potential hazard to mariners. Therefore, the day after Christmas, the crew began sprit-rigging the ship's sixteen-foot gig "to procure Oil, water, coal, wood, wicks and other things" on shore.19 While the crew was making a sail and mast for the boat, Captain Bunker described the light boat's perilous predicament in a letter to his wife: One of the finest days this year; no vessel in sight!

We might go anywhere on a plank; it is as smooth as oil; this is the time our water ought to be on board...Our water is getting short; something must be done before a great while, or all hands will have to leave...We cannot stay here without water. Why they don't come off such a day as this I don't know...I'm afraid a part of us will have to leave before long on ac­ count of water. A light boat without water, wicks and oil!...I've given up being supplied with water, oil and wicks this winter...We'll stay as long as we can, and

HARD TIMES ON LIGHT VESSEL

27

then leave...we calculate, next week, if no vessel comes off, Mr. Brown will leave; we have no wicks, oil bad, and no water, or not much...if Mr. Brown has to leave in the dead of winter, something will be done if Government finds out our situation, placed in the mid­ dle of the ocean, without water, oil bad and no wicks.

Mr. Brown had to cut up his shirts for wicks. I gave him all my rags, and next will come my shirts!20 At 7 a.m. on January 13,1855, Henry Brown and two crewmen set sail for Nantucket Island through nineteen miles of shoal-infested waters.21 Unlike the Mayflower's Pilgrims, who returned to Cape Cod and eventually Plymouth after sighting the stormy expanse of Nan­ tucket Shoals on their way to the Virginia Colony,22 the three dauntless lampies tacked their frail craft around these dangers until they landed one cold bleak night on Great Point.

After leaving their boat in search of a residence, two of the three men became exhausted and sought sleep. As this would have ended in death, Brown urged them onward until they could go no further. Reluc­ tant to leave them behind, Brown staggered on alone through snowladen sand in search of assistance. Luckily he obtained a carriage from James Starbuck on Squam Head and went to the rescue of his compa­ nions. Had Mr. Brown's energy flagged or his strength failed, his friends' bodies would have surely frozen.23 Meanwhile, on the Davis South Shoal, Captain Bunker and three seamen began Nantucket South Shoals Lightship Station's history of battling storms. Captain Roland Gardener of the schooner George Steers made every effort to reach the light boat with supplies. But the winds were not favorable. When it finally dawned on government authorities to charter the side-wheeled steamer Nebraska, it was too late. As the Nebraska steamed into the vicinity of the lightship station, the only sound which could be heard was the station's bell buoy tolling in testimony to the beacon's absence: I dip and I surge and I swing In the rip of the racing tide, By the gates of doom I sing, On the horns of death I ride.

A ship-length overside, Between the course and the sand, Fretted and bound I bide Peril whereof I cry.

Would I change with my brother a league inland?

(Shoal! 'Ware Shoal!) Not I! 24 On January 25,1855, twelve days after Mate Brown and the two seamen left for Nantucket, a fierce noreaster blew one of the shutters off the

28

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

D a v i s S o u t h S h o a l ' s forward lantern house.25The worst was yet to

follow. On Sunday, February 4, Captain Bunker wrote in the journal, "a snowstorm is looking for our vessel." The next day it found them. While laboring hard against the roaring gale, the light boat parted its anchor chain. The teeth of the gale tore the ship's sails from their masts. Only a leg-o-mutton sail stood fast. The three remaining crewmen, blown far from their station, were left to the mercy of the wind and waves. They tried to salvage the remaining portion of the an­ chor chain but, being shorthanded, they had to unshackle it and let it go. 26

"It is a Smuddering Snowstorm," Bunker recorded on Tuesday, February 6. "I saw a Ship and a Brig to windward, set the colours and fired the gun (distress signals) but they paid no regard to us..."27 In the diminishing warmth of the 6th, the crew endeavored to regain control of their ailing craft. At midnight she continued to limp before a sub­ zero wind. Before dawn's rosy fingers could draw back the shroud of night, ill-tempered Neptune picked up the 250 tons of live oak and hurl­ ed it onto Montauk Point. "Came near drowning," wrote Bunker of the incident. "Stove our boat all to pieces and froze our fingers. "28 Miraculously, the boat and all the men survived. The light boat was resurrected from the rocks, numbered eleven in 1867 and placed out­ side New York harbor in 1868 beside the wreck of the Scotland. Here it beamed its warning until 1925 when it was retired at the grand old age of 72.29 Captain Bunker, on the other hand, retired at a much younger age. After he was nearly killed on Montauk Point, "his wife, who had always been adverse to her husband taking the job, prevailed upon him to retire from the service."30

Footnotes 15. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1912, Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1913, p. 54.

16. United States Lighthouse Establishment, instructions to L i g h t Keepers, July 1881, Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1881, p. 15.

17. Gustav Kobbe, "Life on the South Shoal Lightship," C e n t u r y Magazine, August 1891, p. 537.

18. Samuel Bunker, letter to the editor, T h e I n q u i r e r newspaper, March 5, 1855.

HARDTIMESON LIGHTVESSEL

29

19. Journal of the South Shoals Light boat, December 26,1854.

20. "The Light Boat on the South Shoals," T h e I n q u i r e r , February 13, 1855.

21. Journal of the South Shoals Light Boat, January 13,1855.

22. Edouard Stackpole, L i f e S a v i n g N a n t u c k e t (Nantucket: SternMajestic Press, Inc., 1972), p. 51.

23. The I n q u i r e r , February 13, 1855.

24. "The Bell Buoy" by Rudyard Kipling.

25. Journal of the South Shoals Light Boat, January 25, 1855.

26. Journal of the South Shoals Light Boat, February 3,1855.

27. Journal of the South Shoals Light Boat, February 6,1855.

28. Journal of the South Shoals Light Boat, February 7,1855.

29. Hans Christian Adamson, K e e p e r s o f t h e L i g h t s (New York: Greenberg Publishing, 1955), p. 134.

30. W.R. Chase, letter to the editor, i n q u i r e r a n d M i r r o r , September 12, 1938. (Mr. Chase was Captain Bunker's grandson.)

»

The Elisha Pinkham Hussey Whaling Collection IN DECEMBER, 1982, a unique collection of whaling implements was presented to the Association by Mrs. Alvah C. Drake, of Bedford, Mass.

The collection is now permanently displayed in the workshops' area of the Whaling Museum, and is called the Elisha Pinkham Hussey collec­ tion. As the accompanying photograph will show, it is a rather unusual display, containing not only the harpoons, lances, and other whaling gear, but one of the first bomb-lance guns, an old Greener Gun, blubber knife, drawing knife and related implements.

Elisha Pinkham Hussey was the son of Oliver Cromwell Hussey and Harriet Pinkham Hussey, and was born in Sidney, Maine, in December, 1846, where the mother was visiting her father, John Pinkham. The father, Oliver Cromwell Hussey, was then at sea on a Nantucket whaleship.

Mrs. Drake, who so thoughtfully presented the collection, is a granddaughter of Elisha Pinkham Hussey. The various pieces in the collection were collected by Elisha P. Hussey over a period of years, and are for the most part family possessions. The display is an unusal one and, as an additional feature, the family of Mrs. Drake and that of her sister (some 19 in number) came to Nantucket on September 30, on a special visit to view the exhibit.