Historic Nantucket, July 1986, Vol. 34 No. 1

Historic Nantucket

Wendell H. Howes and Lawrence F. Mooney Circa 1950 July, 1986 Published Quarterly Nantucket Historical Association Nantucket, Massachusetts

NANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President: H. Flint Ranney Vice President: Robert D. Congdon Vice President: Mrs. Bracebridge Young Jr. Treasurer: Donald E. Terry Secretary: Richard Austin Honorary Vice Presidents Albert F. Egan, Jr. Albert Brock Walter Beinecke Mrs. R. Arthur Orleans Alcon Chadwlck Mrs. Bernard Grossman Presidents Emeritus Edouard A. Stackpole George W. Jones Leroy H. True

COUNCIL MEMBERS Edward B. Anderson Mrs. Kenneth Balrd Mrs. John A. Baldwin Mrs. Marshall Brenlzer Mrs. Paul A. Callahan Mrs. James F. Chase Mrs. George A. Fowlkes

Mrs. H. Crowell Freeman John Gilbert Mrs. Walker Groetzlnger Andrew J. Leddy Reginald Levlne Mrs. Carl M. Mueller

Philip C.Murray F. Philip Nash, Jr. Mrs. Alan Newhouse Francis W. Pease Mrs. Judith Powers Charles F. Sayle, Sr. Mrs. Jane Woodruff

ADVISORY BOARD Charles H. Carpenter William B. Macomber

Mrs. Charles Carpenter Mrs. Thomas Loring

Stuart P. Feld F. Blair Reeves

STAFF John N. Welch, Administrator Victoria Taylor Hawkins Curator of Collections Jacqueline Kolle Haring Curator of Research Materials Louise R. Hussey Librarian Elizabeth Tyrer Executive Secretary Peter S. MacGlashan Registrar Thomas W. Dickson Merchandise Manager

Bruce A. Courson Curator of Museums & Interpretations Edouard A. Stackpole Historian Leroy A. True Manager, Whaling Museum Wilson B. Fantom Plant Manager Elizabeth Little Curator of Prehistoric Artifacts Lucy Bixby Assistant Manager, Museum Shop

Oldest House: Mrs. Abram Niles Hadwen House-Satler Memorial: Mrs. Richard Strong Whaling Museum: James A. Watts, Alfred N. Orpin, Mrs. Edward Dougan, Gerald Ryder Greater Light: Dr. Selina T. Johnson Peter Foulger Museum: Mrs. Margaret Crowell; Alcon Chadwlck, Everett Finlay, Marjorle A. Burgess Macy-Chrlstlan House: Mrs. Helen S. Soverlno Old Mill: Millers: Richard Swain, Thomas Seager Fair Street Museum: Mrs. William Witt, Mrs. Kathleen Barcus • • •Historic Nantucket• • • Edouard A. Stackpole, Editor Merle T. Orleans, Assistant Editor

Historic Nantucket

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

Volume 34

July, 1986

No. 1

CONTENTS

Nantucket Historical Association Officers and Staff

2

Editorial -''Who Owns Nantucket''

5

A Historic Portrait of Brant Point

by Edouard Stackpole

7

History of the Nantucket Police Department

by Robert F. Mooney

10

The Story of David Whippey of Nantucket

by Edouard A. Stackpole

16

Bequests/Address Changes

20

Mary Sarg Murphy

by Helen Wilson Sherman

21

Alice Beer's Memories of "Old 'Sconset" Recall the Earlier Scene

26

Historic Nantucket (USPS 246-160) is published quarterly at Nantucket, Massachusetts by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is sentto Association members and extra copies may be pur­ chased for $3.00 each. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Nantucket Historical Associa­ tion, P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554.

Membership dues are: Individual $15, Family $25, Supporting $50, Contributing $100, Sponsor $250, Patron $500, Life Benefactor $2,500.

Second-class postage paid at Nantucket Massachusetts.

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

5

Who Owns Nantucket?

THE QUESTION MAY appear academic but it is a vital one. With the changes involving the modern scene, the outlying land and the town itself, it would seem to be a proper one at this time. Upon a study of the over-all ownership we find ourselves concerned with two types of ownership - business and individual. The Assessors' books tell us who pays the taxes, but the fundamental question resolves around the great question - does possession of properly represent the ultimate owner­ ship? Does it represent the quality as well as the quantity? Is owner­ ship in itself a guarantee of comprehending the responsibility in the mere fact of ownership?

Whether we think about it as such, ownership also means a sharing in the historical importance of the community. Actual ownership becon ^ a matter of individual and collective property possession winter and summer resident - native islander and adopted islander owners of a humble home or an extensive property.

It is in this use of what we possess that the real value of the property is represented. In Nantucket every such owner has a dual privilege and a dual responsibility, because our Island and our Town are not merely a part of the modern world, they are also a part of an historical com­ munity. We cannot escape the obligation. We must not forget the responsiblity.

When we consider the non-resident taxpayer it is often found that he quite often pays more than a resident, but that he is not entitled to a voice in community affairs because he is not a resident taxpayer. This gives him the impression that he is partially an absentee-owner. But this does not take away his privilege to be heard.

Who owns Nantucket? For all intents it is the collective grouping of individual citizen and business enterprise. But, in a larger sense, it is to become the ownership of the next generation as well. We of today must be aware that we have inherited an Island and a Town created by a race of people who became the maritime leaders of their time. They were the true builders of this community; we have become the tem­ porary owners. It is our responsibility to preserve it for those who are to become the next custodians.

-Edouard A. Stackpole

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7

An Historic Portrait of Brant Point IT IS A PAINTING familiar to all patrons of the Pacific National Bank, as it hangs on the west wall of the main banking room directly in back of the tellers' cage, and makes an interesting show in its bright colors. Known as James Walter Folger's conception of Brant Point in the palmy years of Nantucket's whaling prosperity, it shows that area near the old lighthouse when the shipyard was in operation, with a ship on the ways to the left, and the newly built whaleship Joseph Starbuck on the cradle of the ways in the center, completed in 1838 and launched in early October of that year.

A striking part of the picture is the "Camels", and the use of steampower to make them practical.

The use of these two important events in Nantucket's maritime history, although at variance with the times noted, is justified in as much as James Walter Folger was attempting to portray the busy times on Brant Point during the 1820-1842 eras, and with poetic license chose to incorporate both events in his painting. The artist was a true il_ lustrator of the island's historic past. Known today as a "primitive painter" he gave to his Nantucket canvases a verve and authentic touch, and with his desire to portray the old scene decided to incor­ porate these two scenes in the painting.

Starting in life as a wood-carver, James Walter Folger learned the trade and practiced his art in Nantucket in the late 1870's, where he returned to work. Transition to the paint brush and easel was his next step, and his authentic Nantucket house portraits, studies of old Nan­ tucket became period pieces in their times; and are much sought after today.

His subject title for the painting was an all-encompassing one, and reads: "A view of Brant Point and Entrance to the Harbor of Nan­ tucket, Mass., from 1820-1842". It was the only one of its kind that he ever attempted, and he completed it in 1909. That it is a colorful at­ tempt to recapture the past is apparent to all its viewers.

In his study of the painting, Arthur Elwell Jenks, an old resident, who lived on North Water Street, had the following comment: "I can vouch for the drawing of the bark Peru, for, as a small boy, my father took me to Brant Point, as long agoas 1842, the time of the bark's arrival. At this late date I seem to inhale the sea breeze, and the odor of tar and oakum from the ship's deck. I hear the rippling waves on the

8

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

pebbly beach, the scream of a solitary gull, and I recall my boyish pride when my father told me that my uncle, Captain Joshua Coffin, was the successful captain of the Peru."

Working alone in his own cozy studio on Joy Street, James Walter Folger's imagination was stirred by the scene he presented. The activi­ ty of the view inspired him, and he was caught by its significance.

Never again did Nantucket gain the prosperity of its vigorous whaling days of the 1830's. The energy and thrift of that honorable past needed to be recaptured, and he brought to his canvas the essence of that time.

On May 13,1831, the bark Peru was launched from thisshipyard, hav­ ing been completely rebuilt and ready for sea. As soon as she slid down the ways, the bark Constitution was hauled out for an over-haul. The ship Charles Carroll was built in this shipyard in 1832, and sailed on its first successful whaling voyage. In 1836, the new ship Lexington was completed here. In 1840, the old ship Ganges was hauled out and re­ built completely, and several small craft were launched from the ways. In 1859, the ship Planter was taken out of the water and work on rebuilding her was nearly completed when a mysterious fire destroyed the old vessel. In 1862 the old bark R. L. Barstow was the last whaleship to be hauled out and repaired here.

From the time when Philip H. Folger, a Nantucket organizer, had the land on Brant Point transferred to him and his associates in 1830, until the 1870's, Brant Point was a viable part of Nantucket's economy. But, with the end of the whaling industry, came the arrival of the summer business and, in the mid-1880's, the site of the old shipyard became a part of the building of summer houses. One of the large dwellings which occupied the site of the old shipyard was known for years as "Drift­ wood". The original structure belonged to William Barnes, and was moved here from School Street. Later it was owned by Clarence Gennett, and in our own time, was broken into two sections by its owners.

The old lighthouse, now a part of the U. S. Coast Guard's head­ quarters, was originally erected in 1856, and its light tower altered when the lighthouse on the end of the Point itself was erected in 1901.

Many artists who attempt to recapture Nantucket harbor become unaware of the importance of the early locations of the lighthouse towers which once graced Brant Point.

But, to return to the painting, this rendition of old-time Brant Point was a masterpiece of James Walter Folger. His ability to convey several decades of the history of the place into one canvas makes it a painting unlike any other in his career. In one sweep, he conveys a scene that embraces two decades, and presents a picture to challenge the memories of the eras, when Nantucket was a part of the maritime past of America.

-Edouard A. Stackpole

10

History of the Nantucket Police Department by Robert F. Mooney THE TOWN OF NANTUCKET established its first police depart­ ment in the year 1886, when the Island population was about 3,200 and the Town was beginning to attract its first summer visitors.

The Island of Nantucket is now a popular summer resort, with a year-round population of 7,500 which increases to about 25,000 during the summer season. The problems of maintaining law and order on the Island in the present day are far different from those of an earlier day, and the evolution of the Nantucket Police Department traces much of the history of this colorful community.

Law enforcement was a simple matter for the earlier settlers of Nan­ tucket, who were farmers and fishermen seeking freedom from the op­ pressive restrictions of colonial rule. The Island soon adopted its own set of rules, largely dominated by the principles of the Quakers, who kept the peace by relying upon the powerful force of public opinion, and shunning both "paid preachers" and "paid advocates," managed their affairs without resort to lawyers and courts. Keeping the peace on an island was not a difficult matter - the Islanders could always rely upon their favorite sentence for criminals - banishment: "The sentence of the Court is that Edward Cowles shall be soundly whipt, and to go away from the Island on the same vessall that he came in. And when he is aboard the vessall he is not to come ashore upon the penalty of being whipt every time that he come ashore."

Even Nantucket could not deport all its problems, and history in­ dicates that the first prison in this country was built on Nantucket in 1676 when the Town felt a need to confine the rowdy sailors who fre­ quented the port. Whatever police work was necessary in those days was done by local constables, as Town officers, or by the Sheriff, the leading county official. The Town eventually built its famous Old Jail in 1805, a rustic wooden structure with strap iron bars, and which con­ tinued in regular use until 1932 when the last prisoner escaped, the Old Jail is still standing and visited as a historical monument, but its value as a maximum security institution may be judged from the bitter com­ plaint of one inmate who wrote the Selectmen: "If you fellers don't fix up this jail to keep the sheep from wandering in here, I'll be damned if I will spend another night in this place!"

HISTORY OF THE NANTUCKET POLICE DEPARTMENT

11

Prior to the year 1886, the Town of Nantucket was policed only by a nightly fire watch and a small force of constables on a part-time basis.

The Nantucket Police Department was organized in that year with the appointment of Alexander C. Swain as Chief of Police, and he proudly reported the arrest of 56 people during the ensuing year. Following that auspicious start, the local Department became a permanent fixture and the police chiefs became familiar figures about Town. During the past century, the following men have served as Chief of Police: Alexander C. Swain John Roberts Horace G. Norcross Owen Holland Arthur C. Cary Orison V. Hull Walter E. Kelley Everett H. Bowen Samuel T. Burgess Houghton Gibbs Arthur R. Callwitz Houghton Gibbs Lawrence F. Mooney Wendell H. Howes Anthony Hopfinger Paul E. Hunter David McCormick Randolph P. Norris

1886-1890 1891-1892 1893-1900 1901-1906 1906-1910 1911 1911 1912 1912-1913 1913-1929 1930-1931 1931-1934 1934-1951 1952-1975 1975-1979 1980-1982 1982-1984 1984-

For many decades, the Town was supervised by a five-man police force, working in shifts with one man on duty in the daytime and two at night. They worked out of a tiny one-room office on Washington Street, which had an adjoining jail room consisting of two sturdy cells with heavy wooden doors and strap iron bars. The facilities were primitive but handy, and prisoners on good behaviour were let out at meal times to eat at a nearby diner, provided they came straight back afterward.

Nantucket did not even own a police car until 1940, and the man on du­ ty was expected to use his own vehicle or call a taxi to take him to the scene of a crime. The policemen of that day did not lead a sedentary life, for the two night-men were required to make long foot patrols through the streets of the Town. There were no radios or backup men, and each officer was expected to handle any trouble on his own at all hours of the night. The station for the daytime officer, usually the Chief of Police, was on the corner of Main and Federal Streets, where he directed traffic, answered questions, and controlled the entire Island from the call box on a telephone pole. When the police station received a call and the officer was absent, a light went on at the electric pole on

12

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

the corner of Main and Washington Streets, notifying the officer to call the telephone operator to get the message. If the police had to leave the station in the daytime, the Tax Collector guarded the prisoners and answered the phone. It was a simple system but it worked in those days.

The Prohibition Era brought Nantucket into the mainstream of American life and morality, with a small police force trying to enforce an unpopular law in the face of widespread violations on an island always noted for its independent ways. Due to its offshore location, the Island became a haven for the rum-runners, those fast vessels who outran the Coast Guard blockade to land their wares on the shores. It was also the home of many industrious bootleggers, rustic stills, and home-made distilleries. Most of the Islanders had supported Prohibi­ tion on the ballot, but "they voted 'Dry' and drank 'Wet'," and bitterly resented any attempt to enforcement, considering the whole crusade a Federal problem which did not concern them. For the Police Depart­ ment, prohibition was a combination of tense drama and low comedy as they struggled to enforce the law. On one occasion, after a police raid had netted hundreds of cases of illegal liquor, the evidence was locked up in the Old Jail for safekeeping, only to disappear without a trace during the night. Another time, three men from New Bedford ab­ ducted a local taxi driver who was reputed to be a police informer and left him beaten and terrified, tied to a gravestone in the local cemetery.

The more flagrant operators were usually caught and prosecuted, but the Island was awash in a sea of illegal alcohol. The Great Experiment was a dismal failure on Nantucket, and none were happier to see its repeal than the members of the local Police Department.

Although Nantucket often resisted the laws of the mainland, it often displayed a tendency to enact its own laws in an attempt to preserve its independence from the evil influences of the outside world which seem­ ed to threaten its island tranquility. One of the first Prohibition laws in America was enacted on the Island to keep the white men from selling rum to the Indians. In the early years of this century, the local Select­ men established a by-law to prohibit motor vehicles from using the public streets, which led to years of controversy and litigation. In 1926, the Selectmen sought to quiet the Roaring Twenties by banning the "Charleston" in dance halls for the stated purpose of "preventing ac­ cidents". In the 1940's, the Town decreed that ladies' skirts must come within five inches of the knee, and someone sent the Chief of Police a ruler. Unable to stop motor vehicles completely, the Town did enact by­ laws to prevent the operation of motorcycles after dark and to restrict the rental of mopeds within the Town. When the Island found itself threatened by an influx of homeless "hippies", it produced a by-law forbidding anyone from sleeping in the open, which insured the defen­ dants a warm cell in place of a chilly beach for the evening. Some of the

HISTORY OF THE NANTUCKET POLICE DEPARTMENT

13

Town's efforts provoked amusement, and some were incapable of en­ forcement, but they all added to the picture of the small town trying to preserve itself from the dangers of the modern world.

The daily police journals kept by the Nantucket Police Department over the years paint a picture of Nantucket life on a day-to-day basis as seen by small town police officers. Most of the entries are routine, and tell of the dull and repetitive days and nights which were the regular fare of the Department. There isscant mention of world-shaking events like Pearl Harbor and V-J Day. Yet there lies within these logs a pic­ ture of the pattern of life on Nantucket during these days which should be valued.

The most frequent complaints came from local citizens complaining of noisy children, barking dogs, and domestic quarrels. In an era when many homes lacked telephones, the police routinely delivered long­ distance calls regarding family problems, and, when doctors were needed for emergencies, the police delivered them.

Telling of the tales involves some knowledge of the local characters involved, for every complaint rated a visit from a police officer and a report of the result: "Boys making noise at corner of Orange and York Streets...sent them home."

"Called to suppress a disturbance at home on Union Street...husband and wife...same old story...husband came to station and said he would take any kind of work rather than stay home with that woman."

"Telephone call from hospital...boys shooting firecrackers off in front of hospital...told them to move further up the street."

"Arrived at scene of attempted suicide on Union Street...found man on floor next to gas stove with gas cocks open...Doc Folger looked him over and said he had more alcohol than gas in him."

Occasionally, an unusual complaint called for the personal judgment of the Chief of Police, who could be relied upon to settle the problem: "Investigated complaint about books being loaned by Lending Library as being pretty spicy. Checked up, but found there is no ban on these books by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

"Received complaint from woman on Vestal Street that a local dog had fallen in her cesspool. Called the Dog Officer to fish him out."

14

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

"Local member of the SPCA reports that the parrot that the organ grinder has is kept in a cage that is too small. I notified the owner to come and see me. After examining the size of the cage, I decided it was plenty big enough for the bird. Notified lady of the same."

During this era, the police department was a small town institution, run by local men who were noted for their native common sense and longevity. Chief Lawrence F. Mooney joined the department in 1912 and retired in 1951 with 39 years of service. Chief Wendell H. Howes started in 1936 and retired in 1975. Together, their overlapping careers totalled 78 years with the department.

The Police Department moved its headquarters from the antique brick building on Washington Street to a new wooden building on East Chestnut Street in 1952. This building became overcrowded as the Department grew in numbers and equipment. The construction of a new Fire Department building facilitated the move of the Police Department into the newly renovated fire station on South Water Street in 1980, where it now has room for its expanded activities, with a Department of 25 regular and 8 special officers and dispatchers.

The isolated location of Nantucket requires its police officers to take charge of emergencies which seldom confront their fellow officers on the mainland. The Island has seen more than its share of maritime disasters, including the collision of the Italian luxury liner ANDREA DORIA in 1956 and the wreck of the oil tanker ARGO MERCHANT in 1976. It was the scene of a major plane disaster in 1958 when a North­ east Airlines crash took 28 lives. Plane crashes, boating accidents and drowning emergencies are part of the regular work of the local Depart­ ment. Whenever hurricanes, blizzards and other natural disasters strike the Island, the Police Department becomes the first line of defense for persons and property. Although the Island has the benefit of a capable Fire Department and a small Coast Guard contingent, Nan­ tucket cannot rely upon back-up help from any community in an emergency and the local forces must be prepared to handle it alone.

Although the incidents of serious crime on Nantucket are fewer than those of mainland communities, the Town has recognized its respon­ sibility to protect its reputation as a peaceful community by bolstering its Police Department. In recent years, the Department has grown in size and professionalism, with increased emphasis on recruiting and training of personnel. New officers are sent to the Barnstable County Police Academy for basic training and experienced officers are given advanced training in specialized courses within the State. Fundamen­ tals of first-aid and emergency medical training have proven their value in life-saving situations. The majority of modern problems on the Island consists of motor vehicle offenses and crimes against property,

HISTORY OF THE NANTUCKET POLICE DEPARTMENT

15

as increasing development has required increased patrols over the for­ ty square miles of the Island.

Nantucket has come a long way from its colonial days when strangers could be hustled out of Town on the next departing boat, and its lockless jails are now memories of a by-gone era. The Island has reluctantly been dragged into the mainstream of modern society, with all the social problems which seem to increase each year. Yet it still re­ mains one of America's best summer resorts and an increasingly at­ tractive place for year-round living. As the Nantucket Police Depart­ ment reaches the anniversary of its first century of service, it can be proud of its record as guardian of the Island.

SEASIDE TIME Sunny skies and balmy air; Glistening blue waves everywhere; Shouts of merry childish joy Hearts of light - no care to cloy.

It's seaside time, At old Nantucket.

Scream of birds in passage swift, Streams of sunshine o'er them drift.

Air is full of salt sea-scent; Over all a charm is lent.

It's seaside time, At dear Nantucket.

Sailing, bathing, driving, playing By the sea where boats are swaying; By the rippling, restless waters, Many sons and many daughters Love old Nantucket.

Josephine Smith Brooks

16

The Story of David Whippey of Nantucket by Edouard A. Stackpole IT IS A STORY PECULIAR to Nantucket but not recounted in modern events as many times as it was told one hundred and more years ago. It is the true account of the life of David Whippey, a Nan­ tucket man who wandered away from the beaten track of most sea ven­ turers to whom Nantucket was a home port, and ended up in the center of one of the most hazardous places in the South Seas - the Fiji Islands.

The story has a most unusual ending, as it brings the great­ grandchildren of Whippey into the scene; a modern scene, in which Mrs. Emma F. Goulding, one of the great-grandchildren, visited Nan­ tucket in mid-June, who is a resident of New Zealand, and came here to see her ancestral home. Her cousin, Stanley Whippey, visited Nan­ tucket, in 1970, from Suva, in Fiji, the first of that family ever to return.

He was a newspaperman, and the guest of Charles Carpenter, a sum­ mer resident of Fair Street. Mrs. Goulding was familiar with her relatives in Fiji, and had met several of them in recent years.

The portrait of David Whippey was presented by Mrs. Goulding, who had obtained it from the original photograph which is now at the Fiji Museum, and is reproduced herewith. It shows a man about fifty years of age, his features still vigorous. David Whippey had left Nantucket at 16 years, on board the whaleship Francis, under Captain Timothy Fitz­ gerald. But a whaler's life was not to his liking and after a year he left the ship at Quayaquil, Ecuador. Whippey then joined the English whaler Sydney Packet and in England joined another whaleship bound for the South Seas, the ship Prudent, and in the early 1820's abandoned whaling to join a trading vessel bound from Australia to the Fiji Islands, where he was to remain the rest of his life.

David Whippey found life in the "Cannibal Islands," as the Fiji's were called, entirely to his liking. By keeping in continuous touch with the white trading craft, and keeping in close communication with the natives, he became an important young man to both. By judiciously in­ volving himself in the trade for sandalwood and bech-de-mer, (a seaslug much in demand by the Chinese), he built up an enviable business. He was attracted by the King of Ovalau, a Fijian ruler who soon became a close friend, and the relationship was strengthened when Whippey married the daughter of the King.

His position was important, also, in his fair dealing with the native population, seeing to it that the white traders did not take too much ad-

David W h i p p e y o j N a n t u c k e t d u r i n g his c a r e e r in t h e Fiji Islands Photo f r o m Collection a t Suva A r c h i v e s , Fiji C o u r t e s y of M r s . E m m a S. Goulding

18

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

vantage, Whippey soon established himself at a small port named Levuka, and it became an important place in the islands. It was at this time that he saved the life of a fellow Nantucketer, William Cary, who was the only survivor of the crew of the whaleship Oeno, wrecked off Turtle Island, in the outer islands of the group, in 1825. The crew had landed safely but, with the exception of Cary, had been massacred by the natives of that island, and Cary had concealed himself in a cave and escaped the slaughter. Taken as a slave by the king of that Island, Cary soon found himself transferred from one island to another, and even­ tually reached the larger islands in the Fijis, where Whippey eventual­ ly met him and saved him from further enslavement, by bringing him to the Tui Levuka, for protection.

An episode in David Whippey's busy life took place about this time.

The incident came about when war was declared by Levuka's king against a village on the island called by the natives Cakaudrove. Cary told the story. "An expedition was organized to attack the village, and David and I were invited to join the expedition. David, dressed in native garb, led our party. Approaching the village he took shelter behind a tree, singled out one of their chief warriors and shot him through the head. As soon as the man fell, the enemy fled into the sur­ rounding woods, and David's party rushed forward, broke down their bamboo fences and entered their village. We killed all who had failed to escape and plundered the village, set it on fire, and marched back sing­ ing songs of victory. We were paid for services, with hogs, turtles, fishing nets and whale's teeth."

Those were difficult and violent times, but Whippey's activities con­ tinued along peaceful lines. Everywhere he went he made, for the most part, friends. As more and more vessels put in at Levuka, Whippey made sure that the natives were treated fairly and received proper payment for their goods. Captains of visiting craft soon realized his im­ portance to the trade and he was sought after by most of them. He soon gained a reputation to heal the sick, and on one occasion, having helped an aged native, 150 of the natives of the man's village arrived by canoe for similar treatment.

It was during the famous Lieutenant Wilkes' expedition to the Pacific in 1838-1842 that David Whippey came into his own. Recognized by the commanders of the U.S. Naval vessels in the squadron as a man of superior ability and knowledge, Whippey became a major figure in the Expedition's stay in the Fiji Islands. As a translator and interpreter and a general guide, he served such a useful purpose that the Expedi­ tion's writers gave him full credit for his invaluable services. Upon Wilkes' return to the United States, David Whippey was duly appointed Vice-Consul of the United States at the Fiji Islands.

THE STORY OF DAVID WmPPEY OF NANTUCKET

19

Levuka was growing and Whippey was still a leading figure. But the unscrupulousness of certain white traders broke the European rule of "non-involvement" and the native king, Cakobau, became angry and gave the Europeans and their families three days to leave Levuka. For the next five years the white traders lived at Solevu Bay, at the tip of Vanua Levu, the large island in the Fijis, close by a mangrove swamp, where an epidemic of dysentery claimed 16 lives, before in 1849 King Cakobau relented and permitted their return to Levuka. They started all over again briskly, building houses and trade stores and a school which accommodated 80 pupils.

By 1860, Levuka was busy and teeming with activity, and David Whippey was getting tired with the never-ceasing demands on his time.

Two years later, wearied by the clamor of the times, Whippey decided to buy some land at Yadali, near Solevu, where he lived in semiretirement until death came in 1874. An historian of Fiji, Commander Stan Brown, in his recent book, Men Under The Sky, said of David Whippey: "He was one of the few early arrivals who tried to under­ stand the Fijians, and probably the first one of the white settlers that the Fijians understood."

Of Whippey, a description by Lieut. Charles Wilkes, of the Exploring Expedition, reads: "He has been now eighteen years in these islands, and is the principal man among the whites. He is considered a royal messenger .... and is looked up to by the chiefs. He speaks their language well, is a prudent, trustworthy person and understands the natives perfectly; his worth and excellent character I had long heard of."

In 1946, a letter from Charles Whippey, a great-grandson of David, gave some further facts: "David Whippey and my grandfather took Wakaya Island property on Wainumu, on the second largest island of Fiji, known as Vanua Levu, comprising approximately 12,000 acres, where they finally settled."

Another descendant, a namesake of David Whippey, who practices law in Suva, Fiji, once wrote to me in Nantucket, asking: "Are there any relatives of the original David Whippey still living on die Island of Nantucket?....I am proud to say that the Whippey family is one of the largest, if not the largest, part-European families in Fiji."

As for the original David Whippey's choice of the wild Fiji Islands as a place to spend his life, a description of the islands in Wilkes' "Nar­ rative" helps bring the picture closer. It goes:

HISTORIC NANTUCKET "So beautiful was their aspect that I could scarcely br­ ing my mind to the realizing sense of the well known fact that they were the abode of a savage, ferocious race of cannibals. Each island has its own peculiar beauty, but the eye as well as the mind, felt more satisfaction in resting upon Ovalau, which, as we ap­ proached it, had more of the appearance of civilization about it than any other."

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21

Mary Sarg Murphy by Helen Wilson Sherman SHE WAS ONE of those rare people who have so much empathy for others in every social structure, that she could never be pinned dowr to any group or clique. Yet Mary Sarg Murphy was highly educated, a great lady, with an aura of charisma around her that drew people to her like honeybees to a flower. One would have to think of her as a universal woman. She was as comfortable with gays as she was with the prim and the moral. I have to liken her to my uncle Austin Strong in this sense of being universal; highly creative and artistic, with great panache, erect, kind, gentle - but explosive when imposed upon by others of crude undevelopment. Mary was as wise as a snake and as peaceful as a dove. She was also a very funny person and most of us remember the hilarious side of her which left her audiences f or a mo­ ment or two, lifted of their burdens and despairs. She was at once a great clown, a wit, an actress and a healer of her audience, be it one or a roomful of people. She lived on being friends with every walk of life.

She told me long ago that when she was a small child, her mother would make her stand as closely as possible back to a wall, for long periods of time, so she would never develop the hump at the base of the neck that so many people grow. So her carriage was always like that of a G.L on parade. Yet Mary had many burdens in her life, not the least being raising her daughter Karen, who is almost totally deaf, to be able to live a normal life. That story is one of success, emerging through years of a mother giving her whole self to her child's welfare. Karen's father, Everett Miller, died while Karen was a little girl. After a year or two, Mary married John J. Murphy, who became as devoted to Karen as if she were his own daughter. Mary felt the same way towards John's son Brian whose mother died in childbirth.

Mary was my first childhood chum when my family moved to Nan­ tucket with seven children and three servants, spending our summers at 25 Hussey Street. Tony Sarg bought their house on the corner of North Liberty Street and Lily two years later.

That was in 1923. She was three years older than me, but it made no matter to us, and with Irma Baker (Mrs. Samuel Burgess) and Henry Coleman's sister Priscilla, we put on shows in the Sarg's attic with Tony Sarg's cast-off puppets. At that time he was an enchanting paippeteer, putting on the most realistic marionette plays a child could im­ agine. Nothing ordinary existed in the life of the Sargs and Mary in­ herited the humor of her two parents.

22

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Bertha Sarg made me realize her own hilarity in an unexpected way, the year that I lived in their house and worked in the Tony Sarg Shop on the corner of Easy Street and the Steamboat Wharf. Other members of Bertha's family were visiting at the time (1940) so there were six at the dinner table. Dessert was honeydew melon. I sat at the end of the table in Tony's absence. Suddenly Bertha picked up her melon rind and threw it across the table at me. Astonished but quick, I caught it and threw it back. The black cook who had served us our meal had hysterics in the kitchen.

Back in the twenties, a lone buck rabbit, pure white with red eyes came toward our house down Hussey Street and I saw it from my upstairs bedroom window, went down and caught it, before the family gathered for breakfast. Mother said I could keep it if no one claimed it.

After touring the neighborhood and finding that no one wanted it, mother had a cage made and we kept "Beniiman" on the rough grass in our huge backyard which reached to the playing ground of Academy Hill School.

My little friends were as intrigued with the bunny as I was.

My mother thought to teach us little Wilsons the facts of life, and add­ ed a white doe to Benji's cage. Of course we had baby bunnies shortly thereafter. Mary wanted some, too. So Bertha (also known as Bertie) bought Mary two rabbits of the same sex, as she didn't want to cope with babies. Mary never knew 'til she grew up, why her rabbits never produced young. We had our rabbits for many years by paying a Nan­ tucket farmer $5. for keeping them over the winter (when we returned to Providence).

Mary, Irma, Priscilla and I played in the barn on the Baker property at 1 Lily Street, using it as a stage. Mary did an act with her puppets, Ir­ ma danced (she was taking lessons) and Priscilla and I invented monologues. We were our only audience.

Then there is the story that Mary often told me because I could not believe it happened, when she and her mother came to Nantucket by way of the New York steamer to New Bedford, when Tony had missed it. The two ladies (Mary in her teens) went on without him, sure that he would arrive in due time.

They changed ships to the Nantucket steamer Sankaty and rented a stateroom. It was in the days of Prohibition. The Sankaty was well on her way to Nantucket after leaving Oak Bluffs when a U.S. Navy destroyer suddenly appeared and a voice through a megaphone roared over to Captain Sandsbury to stop the steamer. Mary and Bertha look­ ed out of their stateroom windows as the destroyer was on their side of

MARY SARG MURPHY

23

the Sankaty. Captain Sandsbury ignored the order and kept on going, as it was illegal for any vessel to order a commercial vessel to stop.

All of a sudden, other stateroom windows opened up and bottles of booze were seen flying out of them. The passengers assumed this was a raid.

The destroyer kept alongside and again ordered Captain Sandsbury to stop the Sankaty, but this time threatened to shoot a gun across the steamer's bow if he didn't. So when he noticed sailors removing the cover of a gun and swivelled it into position, he ordered his engines to stop. Immediately a lifeboat swung over the destroyer's side, filled with sailors and a civilian. As it began to row toward die Sankaty, Ber­ tha blanched and she and Mary looked at one another. It was Tony Sarg who had wheedled a friend of his in the Navy to deliver him .0 the Sankaty.

Captain Sandsbury was very angry, but who could keep it up under Tony's charm?

What this incident ever did to teach his red-haired daughter about making the most of possibilities in life no doubt influenced her away from her mother's milder conservatism. Tony possessed an autocratic confidence that he could get away with anything.

Mary told me that, in the 1930's when they lived in New York before she was married, Tony took her up to Central Park and tied a string to a wallet which he placed on a wooden bridge, tucked the free end of the string down underneath the bridge and then hid there with Mary, the string in his hand.

As soon as anyone walked over the bridge and picked up the wallet, it jerked away from them. The innocent victims would either hastily drop the wallet, or let out a scream. This sort of upbringing made Mary anything but unoriginal.

Bertha Sarg was a conservative form of comedienne. She had to be in that household. One day while living in their North Liberty Street house in Nantucket, she came home from shopping and opened her front door to find a most illustrious Episcopal Bishop lieing on the floor in the liv­ ing room with a brass ewer on his well-clothed abdomen, breathing.

Mary was teaching him how to breathe properly for better health. By now being used to anything, Bertha went to the kitchen with the groceries without saying a word, so the Bishop could pull himself together before she appeared to welcome him.

24

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

Another time, newspapers across the nation announced that a sea monster's tracks were found on the beach at Eel Point on Nantucket.

Every time the tide washed them away, a new set of tracks appeared.

This went on for a couple of weeks, getting full attention in the Inquirer and Mirror which published a photograph of them.

However, Tony's plan to launch a huge rubber sea monster from the outer beach at Coatue (which would be blown by the usual Nantucket southwest wind across the sound so the bathers at the Jetties and Cliffside beaches would see it during the eleven o' clock social hour,) failed because the wind became easterly. My brothers, Lewis and Peter Wilson, were among the younger members of the Yacht Club to secret­ ly blow up the monster. Well, they had to take it down, and Tony had it blown up with compressed air tanks on the South Beach where people could view it close up on Washington Street. Mary had helped her father with the sea monster tracks.

The sea monster or dragon was the first of the Macy balloon animals marching in the New Year's Day parade in New York.

After Tony died and Mary was married to Everett Miller, they ran a Tony Sarg Shop in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and she came into her own as an artist, designer and manager. She began drawing very delicate and lively portraits in silver-point. She had gotten an artistic education at the Sorbonne in Paris, and decorated boxes and furniture for sale in the shops at New Hope and Nantucket. Many of us treasure Tony Sarg boxes today on the island.

From this evolved her profession as a portrait painter, and she began cartoons which appeared in the Inquirer and Mirror of Nantucket's beloved island characters, both on Main Street and at the Yacht Club.

It became a game to identify who these drawings represented and everyone loved them.

She stopped cartooning after Nantucket changed and the bulk of the people on Main Street were strangers from off-island. The Nantucket Blue Book was published showing a collection of her wonderful caricatures.

Mary also designed children's clothes and tea towels, with great suc­ cess. Once a Federal agent came to her Sarasota House to order her to stop sales on a "Fake Dollar Bill" tea towel because at that time it was against the law to use the designs on United States paper money. She told me that her ideas were always ahead of their times.

She was an original member of the Artist's Association of Nantucket, where she was made a life-member for her devotion and help on the

MARY SARG MURPHY

25

hanging committee. She was also a member of the Art League of Sarasota, and won many prizes with her paintings. One year she was chosen as the Woman's Artist of the Year, in the Sarasota Art Associa­ tion.

Mary began showing her oil portraits at the Lobster Pot Gallery on Easy Street, Nantucket, George Vigouroux, director, and later showed at the Main Street Gallery, Reggie Levine, director.

When Mary and John Murphy sold the Tony Sarg Shop in Nantucket (it was in the old railroad station building on the Steamboat Wharf and Easy Street) Mary painted portraits in the "Annex" next to the "Enter­ prise" on Old North Wharf.

The Annex was orginally built by G. Lister Carlisle who owned the He was a great safari photographer in Africa and used the "Annex" as a moving picture house, to show his movies to private friends.

"Charles and Henry".

The Murphys lived in a tiny apartment upstairs in the "Annex" and the open room on the ground floor was her studio.

John Murphy was a favorite tour bus driver for his sense of humor.

He used to drive his passengers out between the cemeteries and would announce "We are now on Joy Street".

For a number of years I lived summers in Austin Strong's Boathouse across the street from the "Annex", and accompanied Mary often to exhibition openings. If Mary was not with me I would be stopped by people whom I did not know, and they would ask me "How's Mary?"

This proves what an imprint this close friend of mine had planted on her public. She is now probably making heaven shake with laughter, as I do not doubt that she took her charm with her to other worlds. One cannot believe otherwise, who had known her, for it was part of her im­ mortal spirit.

She died in her Sarasota home on May 23,1986 after 76th birthday.

26

Alice Beer's Memories of "Old 'Sconset" Recall the Earlier Scene (continued from the April issue) AND IN THOSE YEARS while we were at the Bluff Cottage the Siasconset Casino had been established in 1900. Tennis courts appeared where once was a field, and a building with a large hall, where evening dances might be held, and concerts, morning, afternoon, or evening.

Finally, what with a stage there, why not some theatricals, and, as by the time the Casino was running, the theatre folk were with us in strength, performances were arranged of mixed short scenes, recitals and songs, some by the professional actors, some by local talent among the summer folk.

The Casino faced on the broad street leading west from Pump Square -- and on that street beyond the Casino, stood the Union Chapel. Sunday morning its bell rang out across the quiet town, more metallic, not so musical as the great bell in the Unitarian Church in Town, but all the same a firm reminder of the day. If one arrived as the final tug at the bell was pulled, one found George Rogers, dressed in his best, releasing the rope. George - a local character, of importance - deserves a special page to himself.

The services were usually taken by some minister living in 'Sconset for the summer - or visiting churchman. The choir was made up of faithful amateurs from among us summer folk - Minnie Chittenden, Eloise McCreary, her brother Lewis, come mistily back to me.

Sunday to my Presbyterian mother was a day set aside, when one did not indulge in the recreations of the week. Therefore, for many sum­ mers we were not allowed to swim. We could walk, or read, or rest, but no games, no swimming. This was a trial to us, and our adolescent years saw this edict broken. But I imagine other young things of like upbringing suffered the same ruling.

Events of the week-days centered about the mail arrivals and depar­ tures, which in turn depended on the arrival and departure of the steamer to the island. A boat left at 7 AM, another arrived at noon, or 1 or 2 - left carrying passengers and mail and another arrived in the evening carrying mail and passengers, remained over night - left 7 AM. The post office in our first years occupied a small building perched on a wooden bridge which spanned a gully, and low road to the railroad

28

HISTORIC NANTUCKET

station. It was the thing to go wait for the mail to be sorted, and perch on the rails of the bridge, or lean, talking to friends. A few people had boxes, but most of us lined up when the little window opened and took our mail from Miss Anna Barrett, the postmistress.

Later the Post Office was moved to another building, facing the end of the main road, and at the entrance, so to speak, of the village. In this Post Office stood a public telephone, and for long the only public fJhone in 'Sconset. Indeed I would guess very few houses had telephones in that period at the turn of the century.

The little narrow-gauge railroad was our communication with Town, Nantucket Town, and shops, a library, the Atheneum, newspapers, and a telegraph office. My recollection is that office had independent hours, closing at 6 and over Sunday. In fact we rather rejoiced in our isolation, our escape from the pressures of city life, and bragged of it.

Nantucket had one newspaper, a weekly called The Inquirer and Mir­ was printed on fine, crisp, white stock 44 inches wide. In its ver­ sion as we first knew it, the paper had great character as a truly local expression of town interest. Nantucketers of those days still retained much of the independence of their ancestors, a considerable sense of superiority to the inhabitants of the mainland. Social notes frequently reported Mrs. X Coffin "visiting friends in America". Local news, events, were reported, shipping, fishing and weather. Very little na­ tional news concerning country-wide events appeared. The Editor, in our first years here, was Mr. Roland B. Hussey, a tall, agreeable man with a keen wit. He and his delightful little wife lived in 'Sconset in their pretty house at the beginning of Shell Street. ror. It

Trips to Nantucket Town were special events. There was shopping to be done, and most of the shops for meat, or groceries, or clothing, or material were on Main Street, in that short stretch between the Bank and the Pacific Club at the foot of Main. It was easy to go in and out with your basket, selecting what you needed. In the dry goods shop at the corner of Fair and Main it seemed always there was a very stiff New England air, a polite reserve about the lady clerks. I relished it as I grew older and regretted the disappearance of such shops and their keepers.

Of course there were small businesses on some of the other streets Centre and Federal. I can recall better what there were not than what exactly existed. There were no sloppy eating places or ice cream parlors on Main Street. There were no "Gift Shops", sweater shops, knitting shops - embroidery shops which clutter the scene now. There were no Super Markets!

MEMORIES OF OLD 'SCONSET

29

I recall substantial hardware shops, full of gear needed for boats, drug stores, substantial food shops. Some furniture was sold, and there were definitely some Antique shops, a few of which had the furniture of island estates. There was always one shop kept by an Armenian where rugs were sold and embroideries.

Down at the wharves was where the real business went on. First of all Steamboat Wharf where naturally the goods carried to the island were unloaded for, although at that time, say about 1899-1914, there were more farms on the island. Many necessities such as coal, wood, oil and dry goods had to be imported.

Then, across a pretty basin, where some small boats were anchored came Old North Wharf, and the series of wharves where the serious business of the fisherman's world went forward, the anchored boats, nets, and shacks and boat houses.

On rare occasions for an all day expedition we went to Town, carry­ ing a picnic lunch and took the "Lillian", a sail boat which carried passengers to Wauwinet on a regular schedule. There we liked to swim in the shallow harbor, lunch on the beach and return on the "Lillian" to Town - then by train to 'Sconset. As we were surf bathers, we thought it a change to swim occasionally at the Town beach in still water. And if a grown-up cousin or aunt was visiting, once in a long time we went to Town and engaged a sail boat to tour about the harbor for an afternoon.

But all this brief exploration of Town was just a special break in our long, sun and sea filled days on the 'Sconset shore. In those early days there existed a Museum, so called, on the second floor of the Atheneum.

At some point in our young lives we discovered this spot as something to visit. It contained the small collection of whaling equipment and skeletons now so well established in our Whaling Museum. With per­ mission from the lady Librarian we mounted the stairs, and here met the Attendant in Charge. He had a routine outline of information which he recited. On a first visit some one of us interrupted him with a ques­ tion. He stopped unwillingly, to answer, then unable to continue his routine went back to the beginning! This gave us astonished joy and I very much fear that when we took a young friend there later for a visit, we wickedly managed the same effect!

As far as our awareness of whaling and sailing voyages went there was plenty to remind us in 'Sconset: curious forms lying in front of cot­ tages, often overgrown with flowers, were, we were told, the vertebrae of whales. Many a house had in the yard the painted figure of a woman in wind blown clothes - figurehead for some sailing ship of the past.

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HISTORIC NANTUCKET

We loved the changes in waves and weather. The big storms were an excitement, the high surf, the "combers", the long rush of water up the beach to where we sat watching.

Our only need was for books, for the rainy days; those certainly my father supplied. Also there dwelt, up on the north bluff, a very sweet old lady, Mrs. Mather, who had a big house, in one room of which she con­ ducted a little lending library. Later we were to be her neighbors and came to know her family and grandchildren.

Of course the summer was not complete without the wandering organ grinder, with attendant monkey. And I particularly remember my pleasure when I heard a voice calling, "Honey, honey in the comb."

And around the corner came the honey man, pushing a cart, one sec­ tion filled with strained honey, the other with the comb.

There were always the wandering Syrians with silks, or rugs, and lit­ tle baskets of sweet grass for your sewing, or handkerchiefs.

There are so many 'Sconset people from those early days one should recall. Jim Coffin I have mentioned. There was Ed too, his brother, with whom we often rode. One of the people I remember with affection and respect was Henry Coffin whose big farm with grazing sheep stret­ ched away westward from back of the Golf Links. He came to us with vegetables in his farm wagon; he was one of the quiet, pleasant people one was glad to see.

I recall that as a little girl I was allowed to bicycle out to Mr. Coffin's home for sweet peas which he grew in his garden. (Why does no one grow those wonderful flowers now?) I loved them and so did my mother and, if I am right, I recall being allowed to pick the flowers, then take the bunch to Mr. Coffin for a reckoning.

Once, after I had been absent some time from the island, indeed it was after my parents were gone, Mr. Coffin's farm wagon stopped at our entrance on the lane and I hurried out to greet him. "I am glad to see someone from this family back again", he said in his quiet way. It surprised and touched me.

Coffins, Pitmans, Folgers, Morrises, their grandsons and nephews and cousins became our friends and helpers.

George Rogers in our first early years was one of the most important people in the village. He lived in a cottage on the Main Road, not far from the present Post Office, with his wife and two sons, who have since become mainstays of the village life as was their father. George was very short and fair-haired- and he could mend anything! His back

MEMORIES OF OLD 'SCONSET

31

yard was littered with mechanical problems, as was his workroom; in our childhood, of course, there were many bicycles. Truth to tell he was often behind in work, and when one went for one's bicycle, inquiry was met with "I've been so busy, I haven't got to it yet." He also took care of summer houses in winter, closed and opened them for the owners, an important function in the life of that day - and today. When my father bought the house on the bluff for us, George was our caretaker. He was a loyal and sympathetic friend, and I remember with gratitude his help in the house on the day of my father's death in October, 1916.

But as I think back on those long summers, I savor in memory the sense of peace, of fresh sweet air - of growing things, sun drenched, giving off subtle odors - bay, sweet fern; of the masses of wild roses; and with all the visual loveliness, was always the rhythmic sound of the surf.

"Sounds and sweet airs, - that give delight and hurt not."

In the deep stillness of the night that sea sound carried one on it and sometimes one might sense a different tone, as the tide along the shore changed.

The nights were beautiful - there was space to stand and look up at the heavens, the brilliant stars - and no street lights glared into your eyes, or contended with the light of the sky.

On little journeys from house to house at night, or to the weekly dance at the Casino, one carried a little lantern to light the way. Some of these were oil lanterns. A simpler affair was a candle in the glass shade. Such lanterns were part of household equipment. So also was the yellow oil skin coat and oil skin hat, essential in bad storms. (another section in next issue)

The Old Skipper and Restaurant in 1928