Historic Nantucket, July 1984, Vol. 32 No. 1

Historic Nantucket

I

Photo bv Louis S. Davidson Great Point as it was 40 years ago.

July 1984 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 Alcon Chadwick

Albert G. Brock

Albert F. Egan, )r.

Mrs. Bernard Grossman

Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans

Presidents Emeritus George W. Jones

LeroyH.True

Edouard A. Stackpole

STAFF John N. Welch, Administrator Victoria Hawkins, Curator Renny A. Stackpole, Director of Education and Whaling Museum 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 Hawden House-Satler Memorial: Mrs. Richard Strong Whaling Museum: James A. Watts, Alfred N. Orpin, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Dougan, Gerald Ryder, Frank Pattison Greater Light: Dr. Selina T. Johnson Peter Foulger Museum: Registrar, Peter S. MacGlashan; Mrs. Everett Merrithew, Miss Helen Levins, Mrs. Donald MacGlashan Alcon Chadwick, Everett Finlay Macy-Christian House: Miss Dorothy Hiller, Mrs. Helen S. Soverino Old Mill: Millers: John A. Stackpole, Thomas Seager Fair Street Museum: Mrs. William Witt, Mrs. Kathleen Barcus Lightship "Nantucket": Michael Jones Archeology Department: Vice-Chairman, Mrs. John D. C. Little Museum Shop: Director, Mrs. Grace Grossman; Manager Mrs. Maria Waine

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

Volume 32

July 1984

of

No. 1

CONTENTS Nantucket Historical Association Officers and Staff

2

Editorial: "Envirotecture"

5

Nantucket in the National Cathedral

by Mary F.Witt

6

A Landmark Lost — Great Point Lighthouse

by Edouard A. Stackpole

10

"The Swain Saga" — Part I

by Nancy (Swain) Foote

25

Address changes/Bequests

31

Historic Nantucket (USPS 2464601 is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sent to Association members and exra copies may be purchased for $3.00 each.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Nantucket Historical Association, Box 1016, Nantucket Ma 02554.

Membership dues are: Individual $15, Family $25, Supporting $50, Patron $100, Life $300.

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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5

"Envirotecture" — A New Word But An Old Concept A FEW YEARS ago the distinguished President of the Royal Academy of Arts presented a lecture in London on "Envirotecture" and stated the word was invented by an American who lived in Tokyo to describe the design of our surroundings and the study of our human reaction to those surroundings.

In Nantucket we have become increasingly aware of the curtailment in our Island landscape. From the homesteads of the first settlers the simple lives of the island inhabitants changed drastically from the years of the sheep raisers and farmers to the emergence of our great periods of sea-life, when the whalers of Nantucket created their own Island kingdom. With whaling's end came the new economy known simply (and well) as the "summer business", and for decades and into our own century there was little change in the outlying landscape.

Now the picture has changed radically, and the domain of the com­ mons has been the lodestone for the developers. The design of the land no longer reflects the concern of the whole but the design of the few.

The shores of Nantucket are ringed with dwellings; the older pastures are "built up", and the familiar vistas have been altered so that one will find those glimpses into the past, which were once the delight of the many, are now the pleasures of the few.

The study of our local reaction to the new look of Nantucket, as it relates to public opinion, is worthy of a doctoral thesis. How has the taking over of the outlying land affected our municipal concept of Nan­ tucket for the future? The Historic District Act of 1955 was thought to provide the protection needed for preserving the old Town, but how has this policy fared in recent years?

It is imperative that we accept the facts of the situation. If we become too concerned with the mistakes and errors which created our modern world we waste time needed to evolve a recovery of some, aspects of our Island world. The appeal which gave Nantucket its new way of life a full century ago was a unique combination of climate and geographical isolation.

Envirotecture, if studied in its present concept, may help give us renewed hope that some of the old ideals may stem the tide of materialism and help us reclaim what many feel is irrevocably lost.

6

Nantucket in the National Cathedral by Mary F. Witt

INCREASINGLY OVER THE decades since its construction was authorized in 1893, the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, com­ manding the Washington, D. C. skyline on the hill called Mount St. Alban, has become the national shrine which its founders envisaged. In its structure and art works are represented major personages and events important in our national history, expressed within the context of a magnificent Gothic edifice, one of the largest cathedrals in the world. The unique contributions of Nantucket to our history are recognized in several places in the Cathedral, and these points of in­ terest afford additional incentives to Nantucketers to visit there when opportunity presents itself.

The most striking things about the Cathedral are its massive beauty and the extent to which the objectives of the founders, however am­ bitious they might have seemed a century ago, are being realized. On January 26,1984 the Cathedral staff announced that major construction would be finished by the end of this decade. Thus are being realized the dreams surrounding the early events in the Cathedral's history: the signing of the charter by President Benjamin Harrison and the foundation-stone laying ceremony, addressed by President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1907. Truly the Cathedral has become, as envisaged, "a house of prayer for all people". It has taken its place, along with the Washington Monument and the Capitol, as a major Washington land­ mark.

An important recognition of the key role played by Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in the history of this country is shown in the representation of Thomas Mayhew Jr.'s baptism of Hiacoome, the first Narraganset Indian to embrace Christianity. The depiction is part of a large, beautifully worked stained glass window in the west wall of the Cathedral's Baptistry, near the south transept entrance. The baptism of Hiacoome is shown in one of seven medallions representing responses to Christ, depicted in a central panel saying to a group of disciples: "Go ye into all the world and baptize". The window was designed and made in the studios of Wilbur H. Burnham of Boston.

The Mayhews were of course key figures in the very early history of Nantucket, the elder as the original proprietor of the island and both the father and son as preachers of the Gospel and converters of the In-

8

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

dians in the 1640's. Thomas Mayhew Jr. and Hiacoome, who became a missionary and pastor of a church on the Vineyard, were very suc­ cessful in spreading Christianity among the Indians in Nantucket: it was reported in early accounts that "praying Indians" were numerous among the three hundred families then reported to be on the island. As settlement by the English progressed, relations with the local Indians were generally amicable. It was largely due to the work of the early missionaries that these Indians, despite entreaties, refused to join in King Philip's war against the settlers.

The other set of artifacts in the Cathedral of particular interest to Nantucket consists of four carved stone label mold terminations above the west entrance and thus under the great Rose Window. Looking back towards the entrance from within the Cathedral these depict, from left to right, a harpooned whale, the last whaleship " C h a r l e s W . M o r g a n " , now berthed at Mystic, Connecticut, the lighthouse at West Chop, Mar­ tha's Vineyard, and a whaleboat with its crew. Between the boat and the harpooned whale is an imaginary rope, thus representing the legen­ dary "Nantucket Sleighride". A label mold termination is an enlarged stone at the lower end of a molding, defining an arch or window or door­ way; it is always sculptured or carved into some form of decoration.

These four sculptures are the work of Constantine Seferlis.

Label mold terminations, although small in relation to the vast dimensions of the Cathedral, afford interesting thematic embellish­ ment to what otherwise would be rather bare expanses. And they af­ ford, like the designation of Sundays to honor individual states (Massachusetts Sunday this year is August 12), opportunities to highlight local and regional scenes, traditions, and historical figures.

In 1951 the Very Reverend Francis B. Sayre Jr., grandson of Presi­ dent Woodrow Wilson, whose remains are interred in the Cathedral, became Dean. For the ensuing 27 years, in addition to directing the spiritual activities at the Cathedral, he supervised the wood and stone carving, stained glass, and other fine arts found there. The Dean suc­ ceeded very well in this work, and the presence of Nantucket lore is due to him. He chose the figures of the harpooned whale and a whaleboat because the gift for decorative work was given as a memorial to Mary Mann Dubose, former President of the National Cathedral Association, who had summered in Nantucket. Dean Sayre retired in Martha's Vineyard.

To round out the list of Nantucket-related artifacts in the Cathedral, mention should be made of the distinctive needlepoint in St. John's Chapel, featuring objects connected with famous persons. Among these, related to Herman Melville, are a ship, an anchor, and a great white whale.

10

A Landmark Lost — Lighthouse at Great Point Toppled by a March Northeaster by Edouard A. Stackpole ONE OF NANTUCKET'S familiar landmarks, Great Point Lighthouse, met with disaster on the night of March 28, 1984, the victim of a nor­ theast gale. A pounding surf, driven by the storm, smashed the tall stone tower, perched virtually on the beach edge, and the old walls could not withstand the elements. On the following morning, with the storm's ending, only a portion of the tower's base remained to stand as a mute monument.

For 166 years the 70-foot structure had withstood the onslaughts of a hundred great storms. But the heavy erosion of the eastern beach, in­ creasing in recent years, had dramatically demonstrated that the once durable lighthouse was doomed unless strong measures were taken to save it. The cost of moving the tower was deemed prohibitive. Sugges­ tions for placing quoins, so as to enable the natural tide action to create sand barriers, had been suggested but not acted upon. The dunes which had existed for a century had disappeared.

With the passing of Great Point's Lighthouse a page in Nantucket's history was washed away, a page which began in 1770 when a commit­ tee of Nantucketers appealed to the General Court of Massachusetts to build a beacon on Sandy Point, for the benefit of mariners. The Revolu­ tionary War intervened, but the proposal remained, and on February 5, 1784, the General Court passed a resolve providing for the construction of the lighthouse, which took place in 1785. A Keeper for the new lighthouse was determined upon, with a salary of $166.66 per year, and the person chosen for the position was a highly respected pilot of the areas around Nantucket, and a veteran of the coasting trade, Captain Paul Pinkham, then in his 50th year.

Nantucket's importance as the center of American deep sea whaling was a chief reason for the support by the State of Massachusetts in building Great Point's first lighthouse, and when this burned in 1786 a second tower was promptly erected. On June 19, 1790, the lighthouse, land, etc., on "Sandy Point, county of Nantucket", was ceded to the Federal government, and officially transferred to the United States Department of Commerce.

Captain Pinkham, as the first of the Great Point Lighthouse keepers, was to establish an unusual record. Quite aside from being a faithful

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET

and competent man, he saw an opportunity to contribute something for his fellow mariners. His years of experience at sea made him fully aware of the importance of the lighthouse. Soon after his appointment he began to plan the development of a chart of Nantucket Shoals, the first of its kind here. When completed it gave the locations of the many shoals around this island, including those in Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds. The chart was printed on Feb. 4.1790, being published by John Norman of Boston, and was the first accurate chart ever made of this area. During his charting, Captain Pinkham had used the tower at Great Point Lighthouse as an observation platform.

On Sept., 1, 1790, affixed to an advertisement for Pinkham's chart that appeared in the Boston Gazette was a testimonial to its accuracy signed by nine Nantucketers, including a number of prominent ship­ masters, such as Captain Joseph Chase, Captain Alexander Coffin and Captain Thomas Delano.

From a bill rendered June 10, 1794, it was noted that only the best spermaceti strained oil was used in the light at Great Point. In a letter from Captain Pinkham to the Lighthouse Commission it cost 118 pounds, 15 shillings for oil that supplied the lighthouse from August 16, 1794, to May 1,1795. Captain Alexander Gardner furnished the oil for 36 pounds per ton, or approximately 1,800 gallons. From May 8, 1793, to May 9,1794, some 1,600 gallons were used.

On December 16, 1795, Captain Pinkham wrote to Supt. Lincoln, of the Lighthouse Board requesting a raise in his salary and citing the cir­ cumstances which led to his request. The letter reads: "Sir: It is my ardent Request that you will be pleased to lay before the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives the inclosed, and make use of the utmost of your Influence to carry it into effect, as the Smallness of the Sallary renders it very hard for me to Subsist. The twelve cords of wood which was allowed me by the Legislature of this Commonwealth as part of my Sallary now costs $96 landed at the Lighthouse, provisions in like proportion & all other Necessaries of life.

Therefore you must know that the Small Sum of $250 without any other natural advantages is a scanty support for a Family thus far removed from all other immoliments whatsoever. Now Sir your ernest attention to this shall be regarded and ever acknowledged by your humble Servent, Paul Pinkham."

Apparently, the request was granted, although how many other benefits were allowed is not known. However, the reputation of the Keeper was well established, despite the meager salary. It is to be noted that fully half a century later (1849) Keeper O. C. Gardner's year­ ly salary was only $250 per year.

It was an acknowledged part of the life of a Keeper that he was fully

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expected to go to the aid of those who suffered shipwreck. In the year 1791, the schooner Codfish was cast ashore on Great Point in January and Captain Pinkham kept a careful record of the men and the teams who worked over a four-day period to salvage the cargo. Apparently the salvage party stayed at the Keeper's lodge, as their names are listed as either furnishing their own provisions or "being found", by the Keeper.

What constituted the work-day routine at the lighthouse at this time is revealed by an agreement between the Keeper and a possible can­ didate for the post of assistant. In it is stated that the assistant was to "keep the lighthouse in good order, as well as attending to other duties, such as fetching oil, wood and hay and other necessaries, and not to neglect his duties".

In consideration for such services, the assistant was to receive $180 per year, "and to pay him as the said Paul Pinkham shall receive his salary". In addition the assistant was to receive "one-half of all Drifts and Prizes he shall obtain in the service and one-half of all Shark Oil and fish he shall catch". The assistant was also allowed the use of the east chamber and "the east bed chamber, one-half the kitchen and milk room". Further considerations were offered in "one-half the pro­ fits of the two cows said Pinkham shall keep, he paying one-half of the charges arising on said cows".

The interesting career of Captain Paul Pinkham as the first Keeper of Great Point Lighthouse ended with his death on Dec. 30,1799, at the age of 64. It is not unlikely that Captain Pinkham's passing came as a result of exertions in helping to salvage the cargo of a schooner which came ashore on the Point on December 3, 1799, as after three weeks' work the vessel was freed by a favorable tide and wind, Dec. 28. Two days later Captain Pinkham died.

The legacy which Paul Pinkham left to Nantucket and his country was his famous chart, an original copy being on display at the Peter Foulger Museum, and already mentioned herewith. Another memento of his career as the Keeper of Great Point was a notice which was published on June 24,1796, and contains a description of the type of boat used by the lighthouse service at this period. The notice reads as follows: "Nantucket, June 24, 1796. Last night between ten o'clock and daylight next day was stolen from the lighthouse landing the lighthouse boat, in length eighteen Vz feet, breadth about eight feet, with three sprit sails, a Road Anchor, and painted with a White Bottom the top streak yellow and the next to that black; her inside paint Red; the mast yellow in the middle and Black at each end; a Black Stern and a White Strake around her stem — being the property of the United States.

16

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Whoever will Deteck the thief and return the property shall be hand­ somely Rewarded by Paul Pinkham, Keeper of the Lighthouse at Nan­ tucket."

Succeeding Captain Pinkham as Keeper of the lighthouse was George Swain, who served for several years. The next appointee was Jonathan Coffin, who in 1812 had the misfortune of having the dwelling consumed by fire. He was provided with a temporary home in a farm­ house at Coskata, making daily trips to the Point. His salary was raised to $196.67 per year to compensate for the extra transportation.

In November, 1816, the wooden lighthouse itself was completely destroyed by fire. On March 3,1817, the U. S. Congress approved an ap­ propriation of $7,500, "for rebuilding the lighthouse at Nantucket Point, recently burned". Work began the following fall, and in 1818 the 70 ft. tower on Great Point made its appearance, being constructed of stone.

An unusual petition was presented in 1828, in which a number of citizens including shipmasters, called for the removal of Captain George Bunker, then keeper, because of his reportedly intemperate habits, but Stephen Pleasonton, of the Treasury, wisely refrained, after an investigation, from taking any action in the matter. The petition had suggested George Swain as a replacement for Bunker and such peti­ tions, circulated by ambitious candidates for a keeper's job, or by disgruntled and disappointed applicants, were far too numerous to be acted upon without careful consideration of the source and the motive.

In his report of November 1,1838, Lieutenant Edward W. Carpenter, USN, noted that the light was in a stone tower 60 feet high and 70 feet above sea level. It consisted of 14 lamps, 3 with 15, and 11 with 16 inch reflectors, arranged in two circles parallel to each other and to the horizon. The lantern was 8V4 feet high and 9 feet in diameter. The tower and dwelling were connected by a short covered way "which, among these sand hills, where the snow must drift in Winter, is a security that the light will be well attended".

An unusual incident took place in September, 1850, when Joseph Hamblen, the Light Keeper, submitted to William R. Easton the Supt of Lighthouses for this District, a bill for $21.00 "for services in obtain­ ing boat which was stolen from Great Point Light House". Mr. Hamblen had paid three Cape Cod men who had discovered the boat near Chatham, where the thieves had sailed after crossing the Sound.

A major change in the operation of Great Point Light occurred in 1857. After an inspection by Government officials it was decided to in­ stall a third order Fresnel lens, which would increase the power of the light. Instead of the traditional sperm oil for lighting a combination of Colza (lard) oil and rock oil (Kerosene) was to be used. The installation

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET

was completed on Monday, September 27, and the light shown for the first time that evening.

Caleb Cushman, who had served as Keeper since 1845, was succeeded

by Obed Bunker, and in 1861 George F. Coggeshall was appointed.

Aaron Folger, who had been Keeper at Brant Point, was also an in­ terim Keeper over this period.

An important improvement in the tower structure also was installed at this time. A brick inner wall was built inside the stone outer wall of the lighthouse. The brick wall was 8 feet in diameter and 8 feet thick, and 60 feet high. At the base of the tower were 3 niches for the place­ ment of oil butts, each butt holding 100 gallons of oil. A new stairway of iron was installed, the circular stairway being manufactured by the "celebrated establishment" of Ira Winn, of Portland.

But the major change was the characteristics of the light itself, with the Fresnel lens. The top of the original tower had been taken off, the old lantern removed, and a new iron deck or "capping" replacing it. A new lantern of iron and copper surmounted the tower, being 8 feet in diameter and 7 feet under the eaves, with 12 panels costing $500. Of French glass they were 2 ft. 3 in. wide, 6 ft. long and 7 1/16 in. thick.

"The new light may be seen over four-fifths of the circle of the horizon", stated the Nantucket Weekly Mirror, "the one-fifth towards this place is the part which does not give the full light though visible...

The remaining one-fifth would be of no use to sea navigation. We say water navigation, because it may be of some use sometimes to those who in the 'dry' season cannot see hardly how to navigate themselves."

At this time wrecks were a part of the history of Great Point, and one of the most memorable events took place during the cold winter of 1857.

A fishing schooner from Plymouth, bound for New York with 1250 quin­ tals of fish, was trapped in the ice on the edge of Tuckernuck Shoals.

With their vessel in danger of foundering, Captain Burgess and his crew found their only alternative was to crawl across the ice, which formed a solid sheet to the shores of Nantucket. Using planks, the men attempted to make their way to Great Point, with the temperature at 12 above zero, and finally reached the land. The Keeper of the light gave them shelter in his home, and on the next day drove them to town in the station's cart.

In March 1858, the fishing schooner I & p C h a s e , Captain Snow, was wrecked on the ocean side of Great Point. The crew reached the shore safely and were given shelter in the Keeper's lodge. The cargo of mackerel was saved and the schooner floated by Nantucket wreckers, and the steamboat island Home towed her safely into the harbor.

On the night of October 11,1860, one of the most thrilling incidents in

20

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

the accounts of Island wrecks involved the schooner N e v i s , loaded with coal, which struck on Great Point Rip. On board with Captain Bickmore, and the crew, was the captain's wife and child. The wreck was discovered by local fishermen, and the next morning Capt. Alex­ ander Dunham, well known pilot, with his brothers, George W. and Frederick, together with Davis Hall and Joseph Patterson, all ex­ perienced fishermen, sailed up harbor to Coskata, walked up to the Lighthouse and obtained the Keeper's life-boat. Despite the heavy seas, they rowed out at about 11 that morning, reached the wreck and rescued all hands, including the captain's wife and child. Back to the beach, all were cared for by Keeper Williams in his lodge.

Shipwrecks became a regular feature of the story of Great Point. The mariners unfamiliar with Nantucket Sound were confused in attempts to identify the lights of lighthouses and lightships. Three schooners nar­ rowly escaped disaster during a clear night in April, 1864. A brig bound to Boston from Cuba with molasses and sugar was lost in Great Point Rip on the day before Christmas, 1866, but the crew reached the Point safely.

The confusion of the light characteristics in the area was finally par­ tially solved in 1889, and a red sector was installed in the Great Point Light (always a fixed light), to mark Cross Rip and Tuckernuck Shoal area. Although wrecks were less numerous, winter storms brought the usual toll to shipping. The big schooner Marcus L. Urarin was lost on Wasque Shoal in 1915 and Keeper Nicholas E. Norton, at Great Point, helped rescue "13 men, a woman, and a cat". He received a Govern­ ment Life-Saving Medal for his service.

In the last half of the 19th century over forty wrecks were recorded as occurring on or off Great Point. With the establishment of the Coskata Life Saving Station in 1884, with Captain Benjamin Pease its first Keeper, the necessary protection became a part of Great Point's conti­ nuing story.

The many years when the Keeper and Assistant Keeper and their families lived at Great Point, the children were often boarded in town so they could attend school. It was the usual custom, observed over a full century, that the station cart and horse was driven to the end of Coatue, opposite Great Point, where the horse would be sheltered in a small shed and the journey completed by boat to Brant Point across the channel. The Coatue area was known to the scallop fishermen as the "horse-shed", thus transferring shore usage to a locality devoted to marine usage, a full cycle.

Prior to World War II the Keeper at Great Point was Thomas Kelley, and during the winter months Mrs. Kelley and her children spent most of their time in Town. T. Nathan Kelley, the oldest son, later became an

A LANDMARK LOST

21

official in the United States Coast Guard, and on one occasion visited his former home at Great Point after being rowed ashore from the cut­ ter to which he was then attached.

One of the unusual events in Great Point's history was the episode in 1901 when the Point was "captured" by the U.S. Navy. A series of war­ time maneuvers over a period of two weeks found several companies of blue-jackets on shore and three battleships from the "Great White Fleet" off the Point participating. Rear Admiral Higginson was in command, and procedures simulating landing operations were developed, involving gun emplacements, attacks, tent camps, etc.

Both Marines and Naval forces took part in the exercises which con­ tinued over a two week period. Not many people on Nantucket or the adjacent mainland knew what was taking place. A local resident, George Grimes, who was in charge of the U. S. Weather Bureau on Nantucket, was pressed into service by Admiral Higginson and sent to Great Point as a telegrapher.

The situation at Great Point went through a marked change in the 1920's with the introduction of the automobile into island life. The first man to drive an auto to the end of the point was Harry Gordon, wellknown garage proprieter in town, who made the journey in 1922. Ten years later (1933) the Lighthouse Keeper, William L. Anderson, in an automobile equipped with balloon tires, made regular trips to and from the Point, via Wauwinet.

During the mid-1930's, when Archford Haskins was the Keeper, the children of the family stayed in town attending school during the week, rejoining their parents on weekends, depending on weather conditions.

Also the Grieder family lived at the Great Point Keeper's lodge during Keeper Frank Grieder's residency. One of the family, William Grieder, has excellent recollections of those periods.

During World War II the Great Point station, like other island lighthouses, was transferred from the Dept. of Commerce to the Treasury Dept., and placed under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Coast Guard. In 1944, when Chief Boatswain's Mate Antone S. Sylvia was in charge of the light, he invited a reporter from T h e I n q u i r e r a n d M i r r o r to make a trip to the Point and inspect a portion of an old wreck recent­ ly unearthed by an easterly gale. The hull of the vessel, wrecked off Wauwinet in the early years of this century, had soon after drifted along the shore to eventually become firmly lodged at Great Point. For nearly half a century it had lain there, and had created a large dune which had provided a barrier protection of the lighthouse. This exam­ ple of nature's protection was a significant factor in the suggestions made in the meetings held in 1981, when the needs for saving the lighthouse were proposed.

Other local Coast Guardsmen who served as lightkeepers at Great

A LANDMARK LOST

23

Point after World War II were CBM Harold Thurston, CBM Joseph Bauser and CBM Richard W. Ford. The Group Commander for Nan­ tucket in 1955, Commander Isador Souza, announced that the govern­ ment had made the decision to "automate" Great Point, and this was quickly accomplished. Storage batteries were installed at the base of the tower for this purpose.

During the night of February 16, 1968, an incendiary fire destroyed the old Keeper's dwelling at Great Point, and the last vestige of the regime of the old keepers ascended with the smoke from the last embers, although the automated light still lighted the white tower, be­ ing visible fourteen miles over three-fourths of a circle.

In November, 1981, a Public Information Meeting was held at the Courtroom in the Town Building, sponsored by the U. S. Coast Guard, the President's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission. There was considerable discussion. Comments on the prohibitive costs of at­ tempting to move the old structure were offered, but no definite plan was forthcoming.

It was generally understood, at this time, that the lighthouse was doomed, as governmental decisions were not announced and any ef­ forts toward saving the landmark were not in the offing. Two and a half years later, this concensus proved all too true. The inevitable erosions left only the question as to when it would take place — when the lighthouse, stark and lone, would fall a victim to the sea.

On the first day of April, 1984, a number of interested people rode out to the scene in the Coast Guard "Duck", the amphibious vehicle, at the invitation of the Coast Guard officials, with George Rezendes, the Town's Marine Superintendent, at the wheel. Leaving the Airport around 6 that morning, the route taken was via the Polpis Road and Wauwinet, thence along the beach to the scene. As the ruined stone tower, reduced to rubble, came into view, the sorrow of all was ob­ vious. The surf had been quiet for several hours, and the stillness of the day seemed to make more impressive the scene. Several trucks had ar­ rived, and curious people explored the site.

One incident then taking place served to point up the sense of loss everyone felt. A group of young people, with shovels, and others who had ridden in the "Duck", joining them, were attempting to dig out of the beach the top of the tower, its metal buried deep in the sand. It was hard work, but they were busily engaged — they wanted to help save a remnant of an old landmark which represented a Nantucket tradition.

Heavy equipment later accomplished the task, and the tower top was transferred to the Life Saving Museum, but the efforts of these volunteers and its import was a tribute to themselves and Nantucket.

25

"The Swain Saga" — An Excellent Study By a Swain Descendant FOR THE PAST SEVERAL years, the Peter Foulger Museum has been fortunate in receiving a series of studies on the Swain Family — the result of the careful research of Mrs. S. C. Foote, of Chelmer, Brisbane, Australia. Mrs. Foote is a descendant of Captain Samuel Swain, of Nantucket, one of that intrepid band of shipmasters who were invited to England to command whaleships from London in the early years of the 19th century. Captain Swain, who was Mrs. Foote's great grandfather, was the master of five whalers from London. One of these ships, the Bermondsey, put in at Sydney, Australia, and here Captain Swain died on board his vessel and is buried there.

Mrs. Foote's manuscript is divided into four major parts, the first section being as follows:

An Introduction Family History as it Concerns The Swains by Nancy Foote (nee Swain) My father once remarked, "I have studied the records of my family, and I could find neither fame nor fortune".

I have continued his search and I have followed these Swains back and forth between the continents and across the oceans of the world in those little ships; and I have certainly found the reason. From the time they reached America in 1635, and in particular Nantucket, they had to contend not only with the increasingly infertile soil and the dangers of the sea, but also with the added dangers and privations of several wars, when as a predominantly Quaker people with their definite ideas against arms in any form, they were isolated on a tiny outpost at the mercy of all and too far off to be protected by any.

Certainly I have not found fame or fortune, but I have found wealth — in the form of courage and compassion, integrity and a sense of humour; and I have acquired a tremendous sense of pride in being one of their number.

26

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Part I — England SUENO, SWAINE: Strong man, able to sway things or persons.

SWAIN (con. sway, involving the idea of strength): a young man, or servant. BOATSWAIN: boat servant.

It is a Scandinavian name of great antiquity, introduced into England under Danish rule and originally applied to a pastoral servant. Domes­ day shows us several persons (tenants in chief and otherwise) called Svain, Suain, Suanus, Suuen, Swen or Sueno, some of whom are specifically stated to have held lands under Edward the Confessor.

Swain of Essex, supposed by Morant to have been of Danish origin, was ancestor of the famous Henry de Essex, temp. Henry II. (Patronymica Britannica)

The ancient name of SWAIN, which is now best represented in Lin­ colnshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Devonshire, was established in the form of Sweyn, rarely of Swayn, during the 13th century in Lin­ colnshire, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire, being most numerous in the last counties (H. R.). In the east of England it is possi­ ble that SWAIN is but the old Danish name of Sweyn. In the time of the English Harold, his elder brother bore the name of his maternal uncle, Sweyn, King of Denmark.

The first precursors of the Massachusetts Bay Company consisted of 120 investors of the Dorchester Company who advanced a total capital of 3,000 pounds, which was used to found the f i s h i n g s e t t l e m e n t o f C a p e Ann. When the Dorchester group failed to make a profit and was replaced by the New England Company in 1628, some of the Dorchester men received stock in the new company and were designated "Old Planters". The New England Company operated the settlement, now at Salem, selling new stock and sending out colonists who as servants or employees were supposed to produce profits for the investors. T h e n i n 1629 t h e N e w E n g l a n d C o m p a n y b e c a m e t h e M a s s a c h u s e t t s B a v C o m ­ pany. The decision of the latter in August 1629 to transfer its charter

and governing body to/Massachusetts created an unusual situation.

The great majority of the members of the company did not intend to migrate. Those who did intend to go did not care to be employees of the company and therefore suggested that the company contribute most of its existing assets to the emigrants and exempt them from future payments to the members who proposed to remain in England. But the latter felt that they were entitled to some return on their investments.

Finally a compromise was arranged.

In the year 1635, Richard Swain, of Essex, sailed from England with a group of immigrants on the ship Truelove, arriving in Boston. He joined a group who eventually settled in Newbury, Massachusetts.

"THE SWAIN SAGA"

27

In 1655, a law was passed that "no Quaker be entertained by any per­ son or persons within this government, under penalty of 5 pounds for every such default, or to be whipped". This was amended in October 1657, making the fine 40 shillings per hour for each offense. Under the provisions of that law several Quakers were arrested and imprisoned.

On the 18th October 1659 the "Court understanding that seuerall in­ habitants of this jurisdiction have lodged the Quakers now in prison, doe order that the secretary issue out a warrant to the seuerall persons & send the same by a messenger of purpose to bring them W'th speede to this Court, to ans'r for theire offence therein". These persons were James Rawlins, Anthony Emery, Thomas Spencer, Richard Nason, Richard Swayne, Zaccheus Gold and Thomas Macy.

Two of the Quakers, William Robinson, a merchant of London, and Marmaduke Stephenson, of Yorkshire, England, were hanged in Boston on the 27th of December of the same year for their heretical opi­ nions. The record of the General Court on the case against Thomas Macy and others is — "Nov. 12, 1659. The Court, hauing considered of the seuerall offences of those persons yt entertayned the Quakers, with the answers given in by them respec­ tively, doe ordr, that James Rawlings, being more in­ nocent & ingenuous than the rest, be only admonished by the honnored Governo'r wch was donne.

2. That Anthony Emery pay a fine to ye county tenn pounds and tenn shillings for making a lye in ye face of the Court, & be disfranchised.

3. That Thomas Spencer pay as a fine to ye county for his entertayning the Quakers the some of five pounds & be disfranchised.

4. That Richard Nason, for the like offence, pay five pounds, also & be disfranchised.

5. T h a t R i c h a r d S w a y n e , f o r h i s e n t e r t a y n i n g t h e Quakers, shall pay a fine for the some of three pounds & be disfranchised.

6. That Zaccheus Gold pay as a fine for his enter­ tayning the Quakers the some of three pounds.

7. That Thomas Macy pay as a fine the some of thirty shillings, and be admonished by the Governo'r.

Richard Swain and Thomas Macy were soon to become members of a small band of Newbury and Salisbury residents who were to move to the Island of Nantucket, there to establish a permanent settlement.

During the summer of 1659 Tristram Coffin, having in view a change of residence for himself and family, determined to visit the islands ly-

28

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

ing off the south-east coast of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Accor­ dingly, accompanied by Edward Starbuck and Isaac Coleman (the lat­ ter a mere youth of 12 years of age), he visited Martha's Vineyard.

Learning that the title of Nantucket was vested in Thomas Mayhew, and that he was willing to dispose of the larger part of his interest there, they sailed to that island to make a survey of it, and to ascertain its adaptability to their purpose, taking with them Peter Folger for an interpreter. Coffin hoped to provide there a place where his children could be located around him.

He desired to find out if the Indians were willing to sell their lands and on what terms, etc.

Mr. Coffin, finding the Island suited to his plans, and the Sachems willing to make satisfactory terms, made report unto his friends, the result of which was the following agreement, as copied from the Town Records: "These people after mentioned did by all right and Interest of the Island of Nantucket that Did belong to Sir Ferdinando George and Mr. James Forrett Steward to Lord Sterling, which was by them sold unto Mr. Thomas Mayhew of Martha's Vineyard these after-mentioned Did purchas of Mr. Thomas Mayhew these Rights, namely the pattent Right belonging to the Gentlemen aforesaid & also the piece of Land which Mr. Mayhew did purchas of the Indians at the west end of the Island of Nantucket as by their grant or bill of Sale will largely appear with all the privileges and appurtenances thereof — the aforementioned Pur­ chasers are Tristram Coffin Senr., Thomas Macy, R i c h a r d S w a i n , Thomas Barnard, Peter Coffin, Christopher Hussey, Stephen Greenleaf, J o h n S w a i n , William Pile, the said Mr. Thomas Mayhew himself also becom a Twentyeth part purchaser so that they Vizt. Mr. Thomas Mayhew, Tristram Coffin snr., Thomas Macy, R i c h a r d S w a i n , Thomas Barnard, Peter Coffin, Christopher Hussey, Stephen Greenleaf, J o h n S w a i n , William Pile, had the whole and Sole In­ terest Disposal power, and privilege of said Island and appurtenances thereof."

R i c h a r d Swayne, then aged 34, sailed on September 19, 1635 in the 'Truelove' from London, bound for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It

has been assumed that this was the Richard Swayne of our family, although two of his sons William (14) and Francis (11) left London in the Rebecca' on April 9 of that year.

"THE SWAIN SAGA

29

On September 15, 1658, R i c h a r d S w a i n married J a n e ( G o d f r e y ) widow of George Bunker of Topsfield (and/or Ipswich), with whom he sold Topsfield land in 1660. She already had 5 children. Their son, Richard Swain J nr., was born at Hampton on 13 January 1659.

Bunker,

In July 1659 he and his second youngest son, John, purchased land on Nantucket, being 2 of the original 10 First Purchasers of land on the island. On September 5 (4?), 1660 he deeded property (gave part of his house lot at Hampton) to his daughter Grace and her husband Nathaniel Boulter, and also gave him power of attorney. It seems likely

that the Swains then left Hampton, possibly for Boston, preliminary to settling permanently on the island of Nantucket ( " i n N a n t u c k e t , h e met with a family of the same name who had settled there in 1662 from Boston. They proved to be from the same family in England" — 'The Descendants of Francis Swayne and others' compiled by Norman

Walton Swayne, Philadelphia, 1921).

In October 1661, late of Hampton, Richard Swain sold a Hampton house and lot of land to B e n j . S w e t t and other property to N a t h a n i e l Weare (Ware, Wyer, Wiere), husband of his daughter Elizabeth; and in September, on 10 (7) 1662, he deposed before Thomas Wiggin that he was about 67 (62?) years of age.

It seems likely that the Swains settled at Nantucket in 1660 or 1662, taking the B u n k e r children with them; and J a n e ( B u n k e r ) S w a i n d i e d there on October 31, 1662, the first death on record in Nantucket.

On 12 (5) 1663 Richard Swain gave a tract of land to his grandson the eldest son of his eldest son William (deceased), then 20 years of age. The widow, Prudence, was to have use of it until Hezekiah was 21 years old. On July 6,1663, being then of Nantucket, he sold his remaining estate to his son-in-law B o u l t e r .

Hezekiah,

The Hampton Church excommunicated him as a Quaker in May 1668.

Richard S w a i n d i e d a t N a n t u c k e t o n A p r i l 1 4 , 1 6 8 2 , at the age of about 87 years. His youngest son, Richard (b. 1659, Hampton) became ad­ ministrator of his father's estate in Nantucket on August 1, 1682. He removed to Cape May where administration was given to his eldest son, Jonathan, on May 22,1707.

Of Richard Swain, Mr. Worth says: "He was not an educated man and his signatures are by mark. His house lot was on both sides of the cove formed by the north westerly extension of the Hummock Pond. He never held any town office, but performed labor for the town in relation to sheep and cattle".

YET"At a meeting of the Inhabitants (October, 1664) Richard Swain and

30

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Thomas Coleman were chosen Surveiyors of the highways for the year insuing, the aforesaid Surveiyors are empowered to give Legal warn­

ing to all the Inhabitants to appear on such a day as they see occasion, to fine any man not appearing on the day they appoint except Lawful excuse to be made". T h i s i s t h e f i r s t r e c o r d o f t h e c h o i c e o f m e n f o r t h i s designated office.

Richard Swain would have been in his sixties when he settled on the island, which would have made him an elderly man in those days.

JOHN SWAIN The second youngest son of R i c h a r d , he seems to have been the only child by the first wife who came to Nantucket and it is quite likely that he accompanied his father to the Island. Before coming to Nantucket he had married Mary Wyer, daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah, and the eldest child — Mary, was born probably before the family moved to Nantucket, (b. 11 September 1661, Hampton) Starbuck's H i s t o r y o f N a n t u c k e t states: "At first his residence was at the west end of the Island. The record shows under date of February 15,1667, that 'John Swain had his house lot layed out by the Lot layers aforesaid being sixty Rod square bounded on the South with the first Lot of Richard Swain and on the North with the highway that leads into the Longwoods, on the East and West by the common, more or Less, as it is laid out'. The section laid out at that time to the First Purchasers seems to have been west of the Wesco lots. Subsequently he removed to the east side of the Island. It was his dwelling house that Thomas Story refers to as being raised on the occasion of his visit to Swain on the 17th of the 5 mo. 1704 and that date probably indicates very nearly the time when John Swain settled at Polpis."

The children of J o h n a n d M a r y were: who married Joseph Nason; born: 11 September 1661, Hampton, probably before the family moved to Nantucket Mary,

who married E x p e r i e n c e F o l g e r born:Sept. 1,1664, Nantucket; m. E x p e r i e n c e F o l g e r , daughter of

*John, Peter.

Stephen,

born: Nov. 21,1666 who married J o s e p h N o r t o n born: July 13,1670

Sarah,

who married M a r y S i b l e y of Salem; born: July 17,1673

Joseph,

'THE SWAIN SAGA"

31

E l i z a b e t h , who married J o s e p h S e v o l l e ; (10th 5 mo. 1705)

born: May 17, 1676 B e n j a m i n , who married M a r y T a y l o r ;

born: July 5,1679 H a n n a h , who married J o s e p h T o l l m a n ; P a t i e n c e , who married Samuel G a r d n e r , son of James (27th 10 mo.

1713-14) * J o h n S w a i n died in 1715. It is from him that all the Swains of Nan­ tucket a r e descended. H i s son J o h n , born September 1, 1664, w a s t h e first male English child born on Nantucket.

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