Proceedings of the Nantucket Historical Association: Thirty-ninth Annual Meeting

Nantucket Historical Association <g|ayg?

Thirty-Ninth Annual Meeting July Twenty-Sixth Nineteen Hundred Thirty-Three

PROCEEDINGS

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OF THE

Nantucket Historical Association

Thirty-Ninth Annual Meeting July Twenty-Sixth Nineteen Hundred Thirty-Three

To Our Members With our income reduced during the depression years we are try­ ing to save wherever possible. As stated in last year's Annual Report, the printing of our membership list more than doubles the cost of the book and increases considerably the postage. So once more it has seemed advisable to forego this extra expense. As soon as our finances will permit we hope to resume the printing of the names. Meantime copies of the 1931 Report, containing the complete list at that time, are still available at twenty-five cents, postpaid.

A further saving is being effected by mailing only one copy of the current Report to married couples where both are members. If, how­ ever, in any such cases an extra copy is wanted, it will be mailed on application.

We believe our members will understand the wisdom and purpose of these economies, and we ask their indulgence and cooperation until times are better.

More members, annual, sustaining or life, or cash donations for general or special purposes, are always welcome and appreciated.

Anyone who is interested is eligible. Bequests, by a clause in your will or a codicil added to it, to "The Nantucket Historical Association, Incorporated, of Nantucket, Massachusetts", will help us, or our suc­ cessors when we pass on, to carry on the work and insure its per­ manence.

THE COUNCIL.

List of Officers President WILLIAM F. MACY Vice-Presidents MILLARD F. FREEBORN G. LISTER CARLISLE, JR. FRED V. FULLER MRS. IRVING ELTING THOMAS H. GIFFIN DR. CHARLES E. CONGDON Secretary MRS. CATHERINE R. EGER Treasurer WILLIAM F. CODD Curator Emeritus MISS SUSAN E. BROCK Curator and Librarian MRS. WALTON H. ADAMS Auditors MISS EMMA COOK ALBERT G. BROCK MISS HANNAH G. HATCH

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Councillors MRS. GEORGIE L. WALLING MRS. FREDERICK L. ACKERMAN

Term Expires 1934 Term Expires 1934

BASSETT JONES KENNETH TAYLOR

Term Expires 1935 Term Expires 1935

CHARLES P. KIMBALL MISS OLIVE ALLEN

Term Expires 1936 Term Expires 1936

MRS. H. HOLLIS BENNETT HUNTLEY D. TAYLOR

Term Expires 1937 Term Expires 1937

Life Councillors MISS ANNIE BARKER FOLGER MRS. FLORENCE OSGOOD LANG

WINTHROP COFFIN SIDNEY MITCHELL

Committees—1933-34 Finance—Mr. Fuller, Dr. Congdon, Mr. Codd.

Publication—Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Bennett.

Buildings—Oldest House, Mr. Fuller, Mr. Kimball; Old Mill, Mrs. Ackerman, Mr. Giffin, Mr. Jones; Friends' Meeting House and Histor­ ical Rooms, Mrs. Adams, Mr. Giffin, Mrs. Bennett; 'Sconset House, Mr. Giffin, Mr. Herbert C. Gardner.

Whaling Museum—Mr. Macy, Mr. Fuller, Mrs. Adams, Mr. Codd, Dr. Congdon, Mr. Jones, Mrs. Ackerman.

Publicity—Mr. Kimball, Dr. Congdon, Mr. Taylor.

Junior Membership—Mr. Taylor, Miss Allen, Mr. Kimball.

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The Annual Meeting The thirty-ninth annual meeting of The Nantucket Historical Association took place in the Old North Vestry Wednesday afternoon, July 26, 1933, with about one hundred and fifty interested members and friends of the society on hand. William F. Macy, President of the Association, extended a cordial welcome to the gathering. As the report of the last annual meeting is always published, on motion of Moses Joy the reading of the report was dispensed with.

In requesting those in the rear of the room to take the few empty seats near the front, Mr. Macy reminded them of the remark of the old Quaker elder, who, when confronted with a similar condition, had said: "Fleet for'ard friends, there's too much weight aft."

Mrs. Catherine Ray Eger; Secretary, then read her annual report of the year's work, as printed herein. The next report was that of the Treasurer, William F. Codd, showing the financial condition.

The report of the Curator, Mrs. Nancy S. Adams, is always in­ teresting. Mrs. Adams spoke slowly and distinctly, which was much appreciated by the older members present. She had a number of important additions to the collections to report, and was very happy in her closing quotations, in which she noted the real benefit derived from history's teachings. Mrs. Adams was given warm applause as she took her seat.

Miss Mary E. Bigelow, chairman of the nominating committee, submitted its report with a list of officers for the ensuing year, and by unanimous consent the Secretary was instructed to cast one ballot for the nominees as reported, as follows: President—William F. Macy.

Vice-Presidents—Millard F. Freeborn, Dr. Charles E. Congdon, G. Lister Carlisle, Jr., Fred V. Fuller, Mrs. Irving Elting, Thomas H. Giffin.

Secretary—Mrs. Catherine R. Eger.

Treasurer—William F. Codd.

Curator and Librarian—Mrs. Walton H. Adams.

Councillors for Four Years—Mrs. H. Hollis Bennett Huntley D. Taylor. * The awarding of prizes for essays written by pupils of the Nan­ tucket Schools was the next order of business. These essays are sub­ mitted to the committee by number only, and are judged on the merits of original research as well as of literary quality. The awards were as follows: First Prize of ten dollars—Miss Marguerite Snow—"Lighthouses of Nantucket".

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Second Prize of five dollars—Miss Barbara Melendy—"Nantucket".

Third Prize of two and one-half dollars—Lincoln Dunbar—"Nan­ tucket and the Forty-Niners".

Miss Snow then read her essay in a very pleasing manner. That she fully deserved her prize was evident from the amount of research which her essay amply revealed.

The President then referred to the many deaths in recent months among the New Bedford group interested in whaling—speaking espec­ ially of Zephaniah Pease, President, and Frank Wood, Curator, of the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, both of whom will be greatly missed. William H. Tripp, Mr. Wood's successor at the Old Dart­ mouth, was then introduced, and in extending the greetings of New Bedford, he complimented the Association upon its large membership, about twice that of the New Bedford Society. Others who came down from New Bedford for the meeting were Pemberton H. Nye and Wilbur G. Sherman.

Moses Joy, venerable native of the island, who had come down from New York City for the meeting, was the next speaker. Mr. Joy, who has just passed the ripe age of eighty, was as usual full of anec­ dotes concerning his island home. He spoke of that now famous genealogist, Eliza Pollard, and stated that he was known as "Aunt 'Liza's Boy", because he was taken under her care when a young lad.

The audience was very much impressed as the white haired figure—a living symbol of how a strong memory makes old age so valuable recounted what he claimed was the correct version of the familiar story of Daniel Webster's visit to Nantucket, and of the brilliant lawyer's match of wits with the Quaker merchant, Aaron Mitchell.

H. K. Bush-Brown, the well known Washington sculptor, who has taken so much interest in Nantucket, was the next speaker. Mr. Bush-Brown said: "Nantucket has its greatest attraction for worth­ while peolpe because of the fact that here they feel the quality of spiritual stabilization."

The exhibition of Nantucket craftsmanship, to take place at the Candle House Studio, at the head of Commercial Wharf during the month of August, was explained by the speaker as a hopeful attempt to again start an export trade of Nantucket products. He urged all members and their friends to visit the exhibit.

Miss Mary T. Robinson, an artist from New York, representing the Frick Studio, was then introduced. Miss Robinson is at present at work studying the portraits of Nantucketers which were painted a century ago. ^ These portraits are in most cases by unknown artists, and Miss Robinson hopes to collect data which will connect them with other early American portraits, so that the identity of the artists may be revealed. It is said that a painter by the name of William Swain was on the island during the period when most of the portraits appear

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to have been painted. It is also known that Swain afterwards re­ moved to Virginia, where a number of portraits by him are said to be now in possession of Virginia families.

Miss Anna G. Fish then read a short excerpt from the diary of Jared Spark, President of Harvard University from 1849 to 1853, who was an interested visitor to the island in 1826. It contained some side lights on packet travel that were amusing.

President Macy, in his annual address, called attention to the financial difficulties due to the depression which the Council had had to face, and then gave a brief account of his recent journey to the states of Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. It was in the latter state that he found an interesting group of descendants of Nantucket emigrants, as described in his address printed hereafter.

The President's address was somewhat longer than usual, princi­ pally because he had several important matters to bring before the Association.

The meeting adjourned at five minutes before five o'clock after an enjoyable and profitable session.

Respectfully submitted, CATHERINE R. EGER, Secretary.

Secretary's Report Mr. President, Members and Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association: Each year the day that brings us together in this old North Vestry, so full of memories and pleasant associations, is more welcome.

The Annual Meeting of the Historical Association continues to hold a place of its own in our Island Community, as shown by the audience here today.

The reports of the officers of the Nantucket Historical Associa­ tion should necessarily be a pleasant task, since we are always assured a ready response of approval from the members at home and abroad.

In fact this very approval made our former officers optimistic in those early days of our commencement, and was a strong force in making this association what it is today—a living, prosperous one of which we are all proud.

The best work which we are accomplishing is naturally shown in the reports of the Treasurer and Curator. In this year and in coming years our desire is for increased membership, additions to our fine 7 j3-

collections, and growing interests among young and old islanders and off-islanders. Last but not least, we look to the continual renewing of the spirit in which members of our Council have always asked "how may I serve best?"

The Council during the past year has held its regular meetings.

Our first meeting was called according to custom as soon after the Annual Meeting as possible—on September 16, 1932, and committees were chosen for the ensuing year. Other Council Meetings for routine business were held on April 26, 1933, and May 25, 1933. Of course, scattered as our members are, they must leave the burden of the work to the discretion of the Council. However, every member should bear in mind that the Annual Meeting should be a time for free discussion, and that throughout the year, as occasion may arise, it is his privi­ lege to communicate to the Council any idea which, undertaken prompt­ ly, might enlarge our opportunity for service. It is that thought of service which your secretary would emphasize in looking back over the year just closing. All of us, islanders and off-islanders, are one in our love for Nantucket, and all of us, perhaps those who live here more keenly than others, must be aware of the needs which voice themselves on every side in Nantucket. It is the privilege of the As­ sociation to be a force for education. Naturally we realize that our influence in that line must be indirect, but what means are not at our disposal? It is not an idle boast when we say that we have something more than a pretty collection of curios to amuse the transient visitor for a rainy hour. This room in which we sit speaks of lofty things.

There are faces in our museums—faces on canvas, in which any one of us with the blood of Nantucket in his veins or the love of Nantucket in his heart may well take pride. Our Historical Association may reasonably play an important part in making that past of deep mean­ ing to our present day.

The routine business of the Council has been transacted in proper order. The meetings have all been well attended. With your permis­ sion I will dispense with the summary of all the details concerning the business of the year.

During the summer of 1932 two lectures were given for the bene­ fit of the Association by two famous Arctic explorers, namely Viljalmur Stefansson and Commander Donald B. MacMillan. Both lectures were well attended and yielded a substantial profit for our treasury.

What we owe to the generosity of our members and friends would indeed be a long story. However, one item new and of great interest this year, is a bequest of $1,000.00 from Joseph E. C. Farnham, a loyal Nantucketer and a long-time member of our Association, whose death occurred at his home in Providence, R. I., on February 11, 1933.

And now we come to the inevitable last page of the record, dedi­ cated as a tribute to the memory of those of our members who have 4 8 )&•

gone, "just away, where no shadows fall." In the midst of our present happiness and joy of accomplishment, let us pause in loving memory of those who have crossed God's threshold. Within the past month our good friend and for many years our secretary, Rev. Josiah Cole­ man Kent, died at his home in Marblehead, Mass. His memory will long be cherished by all who knew him. Many other members have been called from us and their presence will be sadly missed by us all.

In memoriam I would offer these lines: "We only know their barks no more May sail with us life's stormy sea, Yet, somewhere on the unseen shore They watch and beckon for you and me."

In spite of these unsettled days and the present turmoil in which the world finds itself, our membership continues to increase. Very gratifying are the little missives which I am receiving daily from our treasurer, which tell that one more has made the necessary deposit and has enrolled himself as a member. Our membership at present stands thus at the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1933: Life members Sustaining members Annual members Junior members

109 18 1,095 76

Total

1,298

In connection with the above let me add that it would be a great convenience to your secretary and treasurer to be informed promptly of any change in the address of members.

Thus we have reached our 39th birthday. There has been much accomplished, but there is yet much to be done. We have lived as an association through years of struggle with financial problems when we had to ask for much, but we have gone far and must ever keep step with the onward march of history.

In closing this—my third report as your secretary—my wish for the future of the Association is best expressed in the following bit of poetry: "With luck to pilot and all sails set, May you embark on the best year yet.

May joy, success and good friends too Take passage on the boat with you."

Respectfully submitted, CATHERINE RAY EGER, Secretary

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Treasurer's Report (SUMMARIZED)

OPERATING ACCOUNT RECEIPTS Cash balance July 1, 1932 Dues received Gifts Interest and Dividends accumulated on Investments Admissions, Fair Street $214.55 Admissions, Old Mill 80.00 Admissions, Oldest House 244.00 Admissions, Whaling Museum 1,288.50 (These are $1,314.95 less than last year)

$126.82 $714.00 9.00 1,155.32

1,827.05 Net receipts from Lectures Sales of books, cards, etc.

Use of 'Sconset house

161.95 125.15 100.00 4,092.47

Total Receipts

$4,219.29

EXPENSES Attendants, repairs, etc., at Fair St. Museum $505.90 Oldest House 284.43 Old Mill (including old repair bill of last year of $212.45) 424.75 Whaling Museum 1,761.58 'Sconset house 53.31 General Expenses Total Operating Expenses Balance of Account

3,029.97 935.02 3,964.99 254.30 $4,219.29

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WHALING MUSEUM ACCOUNT RECEIPTS Cash balance July 1, 1932 Sale of harpoon Gift from Mr. Winthrop Coffin for purchase of canes Pledges paid Transfer from General Account

$701.21 $12.00 500.00 65.00 50.00 627.00 254.30

Cash balance of operating account

$1,582.51 PAYMENTS Miscellaneous Equipment Purchase of canes On account of notes payable

$191.95 500.00 750.00 1,441.95 $140.56

Cash balance Unpaid bills, about $100.00.

INVESTMENTS 3 U. S. Coupon bonds 3% 1 U. S. Coupon bond 414

$150.00 50.00

IN NANTUCKET INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS Oldest House Fund $515.43 Ella M. Starbuck Fund 3,000.00 William Swift Fund 5,000.00 Mary E. Macy Fund 500.00 Permanent Fund—Life Memberships 2,488.22 Whaling Museum Fund—from Carnegie Corporation 2,578.68 $14,282.33 NOTES PAYABLE Due 5 members—Loans without interest Due Nantucket Institution For Savings— Mortgage on Whaling Museum at 6% interest

$3,000.00 10,000.00

Respectfully submitted, WM. F. CODD, Treasurer.

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Curator's Report The report of the Curator must necessarily be more or less the same each year, but we hope it may prove of interest to members and friends.

The Fair street Museum suffered greatly from the depression last year, the number of visitors being much less than in former years, but as usual those who did visit us were most appreciative.

The accessions the past year have been few, but some are of special interest. Among them are five framed photographs of the island of Nantucket taken from the air, showing the outline of the shores, the town and its buildings and the streets.

We have received from a good friend way out in Australia a book of Nantucket views compiled by the donor. This collection con­ tains many pictures taken from The Inquirer and Mirror calendar and from other sources.

Another keenly interested friend has sent us a great many photo­ graphic views of places around town and particularly of the bathing beaches, showing the modern fashion for swimming and beach re­ galia, which may seem smart now, but what will our descendants think of their ancestors' mode of dress when again the cycle of styles brings back full dress for beach wear ? Several small photo­ graphs of Nantucket people have been donated and one oil portrait of a child which was painted by Sally Gardner.

Just to-day we have had presented a book which has been pains­ takingly compiled by Miss Helen McCleary. This book contains the lineage of Rev. Phebe (Coffin) Hanaford's Nantucket lines, through both father and mother back to the first settlers of the island. She is descended eight times from Tristram Coffin and six times from Edward Starbuck and others. Twenty-one pictures of Mrs. Hanaford from youth to old age are in the book, and facsimiles of posters announcing her Lyceum and Temperance lectures; also photographs of her father, husband, children and grand-children. This book will be displayed in the case which is devoted entirely to Mrs. Hanaford.

We have received the Register of the Associated Alumnae & Alumni of the Nantucket High School, and a book containing a list of the pupils who belonged to the Coffin School from December, 1837, to June, 1839, and who did not enter High School. We have purchased the book of Records of the First Congregational Society, 1835, and the Record Book of the Presbyterian Meeting House, July, 1763.

Another donation was an old chest marked "Town's Records" "if 12

and containing a book of the Town Records of Nantucket during the time when the late George Marshall Bunker was clerk. We have also had donated the receipt book of Hezekiah Bunker when he was Col­ lector of Customs in Nantucket.

The Genealogical Library has been augmented by donations of family charts of the Macy-Polk family and a chart of the family of Ebenezer Gardner and Ruth Beard. Another valuable addition is a fine historical and genealogical record of the Swayne (Swain) family.

Because Benjamin Franklin's mother was a Nantucketer and Ben was almost born here, any relics of Franklin are always welcome.

The latest accession has been a brick from the house in South Orrianna street, Philadelphia, Penn., where Benjamin Franklin lived and died and where he wrote his immortal autobiography.

A donation has been received which is not in any way connected with Nantucket history, but is a relic of the world war; it is a champagne bottle brought home by an American soldier, the con­ tents having been prepared and bottled in Rheims cellars during the war within one mile of the German trenches.

We have added to the library a History of the 45th. Regiment Mass. Volunteers in the Civil War; four volumes of the Memorial History of Boston; a pamphlet of Boston Memories of Fifty Years, and a book of Quaker Biographies.

Another small book of great interest is one that contains in­ formation about the wax figure of the Dauphin which has been in our collection for many years. It states that this wax figure was brought to this country from France about the year 1786 by Capt. Jonathan Coffin. It was said to be taken from a cast of Louis Charles, Dauphin of France, second son of Louis the 16th and Marie Antoinette, and was purchased at a Nunnery. Helping to identify the wax baby as the Dauphin, we are told that in the museum of France there are similar life-like portraits in wax made by an artist of the date of the Dauphin's youth. This wax figure was given by the wife of Jonathan Coffin to Phebe Swain Coleman, whose descendants gave it to our Historical Association What will be rather unique in days to come are two cards printed by the Inquirer & Mirror press and displayed at the local banks the week of March 6, 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt, Presi­ dent of the United States, declared a Bank Holiday. One card reads: "Bank Holidays Extended Indefinitely Under Proclamation Of The President Of The United States." The other reads: "Open For Limited Business. Access To Safe Depoit Boxes: Make Change: New Deposits Of Cash Only Without Restriction As To Withdrawal."

Another donation of interest to future generations is a card of sulphur matches, nicely framed between glass.

This seems to have been a year of watches, as we have received four. One that bleonged to Mrs. Charlotte Pearson and is the mate 4 13 )§•

to the one already in our collection which was given to Capt. Enoch H. Aekley by passengers on his ship New Orleans in a passage from San Francisco to Panama, March 31, 1852.

Another was made in London in 1750 and was the first to pass through the Nantucket Custom House direct. It was given to the donor by her Grandfather in 1871. This watch was cleaned and re­ paired in 1815 by Walter Folger, as indicated by a label inside the watch. Two others are of the old hunting case type.

There have been no changes in the display of the collections at the Fair street museum, except that one case has been filled with relics of the great fire in 1846. New labels are being added all the time to replace those grown yellow with age.

At the Oldest House there have been a few changes; some old ship's name boards which have been in an up-stairs room have been transferred to the Whaling Museum, and in that room we have put an old four post bed and a cradle which have been down-stairs. We have also transferred several pieces of china from the Fair street museum to help fill up the pantry shelves. The attendance the past year was not large but encouraging.

Our fine whaling museum seems to be the center of attraction, for it is there you see visitors wandering around absorbed in looking at the portraits of old Nantucket whaling captains and the fine old prints that adorn the walls of the corridors and the ship room, or in Sanderson Hall gathered around the Captain, who tells them interest­ ing tales of the life aboard the whale ships or demonstrates with vividness the way to harpoon a whale from the bow of the whale boat, or perhaps dissecting a miniature whale. In the library you see them pouring over the old log books or reading exciting sea stories and enjoying the books containing pictures of ships, etc. We are in­ deed proud of our Whaling Museum. Many accessions have been re­ ceived the past year, new books have been added to the library and already we are beginning to look around for more room.

The Massachusetts Humane Society has presented the Assoc­ iation with some of the life saving apparatus which was in its build­ ing on Water street, which has been dismantled and sold.

We have placed in the South Sea Island room a case of very interesting curios brought home from the South Seas by our Nan­ tucket captains.

A long case has been made and placed in the ship room in which we have displayed the large collection of canes which were presented to the Museum by Mr. Winthrop Coffin.

The faithful attendants in all the buildings deserve special men­ tion. At the beginning of the season they were most willing in volun­ teering their services gratis, until the first of July. We certainly appreciate their interest and co-operation.

I feel there could be no more fitting close to this report than a 4 14

quotation from an old record in our society. "Those who respect and venerate the memory of their forefathers will be led by filial affection to treasure up their memories. Let us not think for ourselves alone, nor for those only who are living. To Nantucket thousands who have left her shores and their descendants will look with affection as the birthplace of their ancestors; and the sons of the Carolinas and Ohio and California will feel a manly pride in tracing their descent from the founders of Nantucket. Their annals are neither few nor simple, but are those of a people early and prominent in their efforts to secure religious liberty and moral reform and the increase and de­ velopment of National wealth." Can our Association do better than to pursue its work along these lines?

Respectfully submitted, NANCY S. ADAMS, Curator.

President's Address There are a few matters to which I wish to call particular atten­ tion this year, and as my message is supposed to be printed in our annual report, I have written out what I have to say so that it may be brought to the attention of all our members.

First, as to our financial condition. As our Treasurer's report shows, we are "sailing very close to the wind". So far we have man­ aged to "weather the reefs" and "keep off the lee shore." But our income has been greatly reduced, and though we have cut expenses wherever possible, there is a limit to what we can do in that direction without serious loss of efficiency in the service we are trying to render So much has been said about the well-known Depression that I don't want to dwell too much on it, but we want our members to realize that we have felt it, as everyone else has. You have, for the most part, stood by the ship through storm and stress. For this we are deeply grateful.

Our attendants, too, have shown a commendable spirit of co­ operation, accepting some necessary reductions in wages cheerfully and without complaint.

Collections of annual dues have been slower than usual, but with those who are somewhat in arrears, of which the number is propor­ tionately small, we have thought it best to be more lenient than heretofore and not drop their names from the rolls unless they ex­ pressly request us to so, believing that those who can will pay up 4 15 ^

when times are better, as some in fact have already done. Our com­ paratively small percentage of actually lapsed memberships and loss by death have been nearly, if not quite, made up by the accessions of new members, so that the net loss in membershp has been small, if any.

Our revenue from admissions to the exhibits has, as was to be expected in view of the two light seasons we have passed through, dropped off to approximately half of the amount received from this source during the flush times.

Our latest blow has been the reduction in the dividend rate on our invested funds from five per cent to three and a half, which means a further loss of income of over two hundred dollars annually with no corresponding reduction in the interest rate on our debt.

All these things mean, unless there is a very decided increase in revenue from one or the other or all of these sources, that, for the first time in many years, we may be faced with a deficit at the close of our fiscal year.

What is the remedy? We do not want to "pass the hat", nor do we want to close any of our exhibits or to reduce the number of hours they are open; nor can we safely cut down our staff of attend­ ants, all of whom are necessary for the proper showing and protec­ tion of the collections. Many museums have had to do one or all of these things during the past two years, but so far we have avoided it and managed to carry on.

There is one possible way out. Two years ago we amended our by-laws by adding a new class of members known as "sustaining" members, at five dollars annual dues. No special drive has been made to build up this class of membership, but, starting with only two, the number of such members has grown to eighteen. A hundred or two of these "sustainers" would increase our revenue from five hundred to a thousand dollars a year, which would make just the difference be­ tween constant financial worry on the part of the Council and com­ paratively easy sailing.

With the many pressing demands on our resources in these times, not all of us can afford to join this new class of members, but if those who can and are willing to help in this way will do so, it will be gratefully appreciated. Those annual members who have already paid their dues of a dollar can change to sustaining membership by paying four dollars additional, and if some are willing to do this even tem­ porarily, to tide us over the present emergency, they can later change back to the annual class if they wish when the situation eases up.

We therefore make this special appeal at this time in the hope that some of our interested friends will respond to it.

Of course, we are always glad to welcome new members of the annual class, and every dollar helps, so we again ask you all to try 16 j&-

and get your friends to join, and so do your bit for the general good.

All present today who are not members are cordially invited to join.

This organization was founded in 1894, so next year will be our fortieth anniversary. It should be fittingly celebrated. Without ap­ pearing to boast, I think we may safely say that few societies of this kind have accomplished more, if as much, in the same length of time, especially in towns of our size.

Our membership roll is, I believe, one of the largest of any similar organization anywhere in the country, and our exhibits are among the best, both as to the buildings and collections. It is my wish to impress these facts upon you, that you may take pride in being a part of such an organization and show your loyalty to it by "talking it up" whenever the opportunity offers a.nd telling others what it means to you and what it may mean to them to be a member.

At the conferences which I have attended of the American Association of Museums, which I joined some years ago, I have been surprised and gratified to note how the fame of our Association and its exhibits has spread among museum people all over the coun­ try. Many officers and curators of museums to whom I have been introduced have said: "Oh, from Nantucket? We hear you have a great association down there and some fine collections". I have been honored this past year in being elected a member of the Council of this national association, which includes in its membership most of the leading museums of the country, and I had the privilege at one of the general sessions of the three-day conference in Chicago last month of telling something about our accomplishments here to one of the largest audiences of the three days of meetings.

You will not need to be told that I made the most of it, and gave Nantucket and our Association some good advertising, as a result of which several museum people who were present told me afterwards that they were coming down here to see for themselves what I had told them of.

I spent about ten days in the middle West on this trip, and though I had a chance to make several brief visits to the "Century of Progress" exposition while in Chicago, that was more or less in­ cidental. My main interest being Nantucket and the Nantucket His­ torical Association, I spent four days of my time in Indianapolis, where I was most delightfully entertained by some Macy relatives, whom I had never met, but with whom I have been corresponding for some years.

They have a group in Indianapolis known as the Descendants of Nantucket. It is quite an informal organization, with no fixed mem­ bership, and it includes many of Nantucket stock from other parts of Indiana.

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I was never more proud of my Nantucket blood than when I met many of this group of Hosier-Nantucketers or Nantucket Hoosiers (whichever they might be called), but my pride was as nothing to that of their own in their Nantucket ancestry. They were as fine a lot of people as I have ever met, and a credit to their Island forbears; and they were keenly interested in Nantucket and everything pertain­ ing to it.

Many of them seemed to have their family trees almost at their tongue's end, so to speak, and this is all the more surprising when we reflect that most of them are three, four or even five generations removed from the original Island home, having, in most cases, de­ scended from that body of Quakers who migrated from Nantucket in the 1770s, later crossing the mountains into Tennessee, and finally moving northward again into the middle West.

On one evening while I was there, I was invited to speak before a group of about thirty of these Nantucket Hoosiers. It was a very hot night, well up in the 90's, so we gathered on the lawn of the suburban estate where the gathering was held, and I talked Nan­ tucket for an hour or more. They plied me with questions for the better part of another hour, and we had a fine "gam". The general impression the affair left in my mind was that, while loyal Hoosiers, they were even better Nantucketers than many of us.

Since my return I have been in correspondence with several of them, and have written to others to whom they referred me for fur­ ther information. Well, I find I have "started something", and I don't know where it is going to stop, Like the proverbial snowball, it gathers momentum and accretions as it rolls. My inquiries have been passed along to others, and every mail brings an avalanche of letters from the South and West, each one adding a bit more to the data already in hand. I have hardly had time to read all this correspond­ ence, much less to classify it, and it will be impossible to-day to give any connected narrative of this great trek of the Nantucket Quakers.

Later on in the program, I hope to give you a brief outline of some of the high spots and a few samples of the correspondence, but the full details of the epic, (for it is an epic, comparable on a smaller scale with James Truslow Adams' great "Epic of America", and, in­ deed by no means an unimportant part of that narrative) must await further consideration.

Considering the comparatively small number of those pre-Revolution emigrants from Nantucket to the South, a most surprising number of distinguished and prominent names in various fields are found among their descendants, giving still further proof, if any were needed, of the sterling quality and virility of our Nantucket ancestors.

Just one more point. During the past year I have been re-reading at odd times all the thirty-eight annual reports of our Proceedings «§( 18 )&•

from cover to cover, as well as most of our publications on special subjects. Once more I have been greatly impressed with the value and importance of the work done by those pioneer members of our Association, and more particularly by the amount and the quality of volunteer service they rendered for the pure love of the job. Not only in the immense amount of research into our early records and private papers, but in the everyday hum-drum services in behalf of the cause which so many of them contributed so freely.

There are still a few willing workers, but (alas!) they are but few, and there is so much to be done! Surely, we must have some loyal members yet who would be willing to help if they knew what was wanted.

Among other needs is a volunteer typist. The correspondence is constantly increasing. We cannot afford a stenographer on our pres­ ent budget, though we really need one, and special typewriting work by the page is expensive. There are many documents to be copied for our records and much general work along that line to be done.

No doubt, some of our members have typewriters and would be will­ ing to help if we could locate them. (We would at least furnish the paper). Then there are many small jobs at the museums, such as pasting tight paper backs on many of our framed pictures to keep the dust out.

None of these tasks requires any special skill or training, but they all take time, which costs money if we have to hire it done. It would be a great help if a few volunteer attendants at the exhibits could be found—especially at the beginning and end of the season, when our receipts from admissions do not cover the payroll. We can­ not afford to run behind, and yet there is just enough business at those times so we do not like to close the museums.

All of this attendance was by volunteer workers during our early years. Otherwise we could not have kept the exhibits open. If a few interested members who have the time would be willing to help in these ways, it would be much appreciated. Please do not all speak at once!

This is, I believe, the longest "President's Address" you have had to listen to during my administration, and as I want some time later on to tell you about the Indiana visit, I'll close with one more appeal for cordial support from all our members in the work your officers are trying to carry on under some rather serious handicaps. And once more we ask for more members, especially sustaining members.

I thank you.

WILLIAM F. MACY, President.

19

Nantucket Lighthouses

By Marguerite Snow, winner of first -prize in Nantucket Historical Association Essay Contest.

Before beginning the history of lighthouses of Nantucket, let us go back to find the origin of such words as lights and beacons. An old French writer said that "a beacon is the sailor's altar light". Many nights in storms or even in calm, if he has a home, what sailor isn't thinking of it? Maybe he is even humming a tune that his mother taught him long ago, and as he resumes his watch the lighthouse flashes him a welcoming light, which is a signal that he has reached his destination safely.

Beacons, from which lighthouses undoubtedly developed, are of very ancient origin. That they were in use among the Jews is almost certain. Aristotle, too, telld us that the king of Persia could learn in the short period of twenty-four hours if anything were wrong in any part of his kingdom by means of a system of beacons. The word "beacon" is derived from the Scotch "beacen", a pitch barrel placed on the top of a long pole on some eminence, to be fired at night and emit smoke by day.

In a country as wild and warlike asf was Scotland the beacon was a wonderfully rapid means of communication and was constantly used.

The victory often fell to the chieftain who first succeeded in gathering his clans about him, and this depended on the rapidity of lighting the beacon fires.

The erection of beacons, sea marks, and lighthouses has always been in England a branch of the royal prerogative. The right to erect beacons in certain districts was awarded to a few individuals in pay­ ment for services rendered the country when in danger of invasion, and some noble families have a beacon among the quarterings of their coat-of-arpis, but Queen Elizabeth had an act of Parliament passed giving this prerogative to the Corporation of the Trinity Board, and to this day it remains in their hands.

Though beacons have long since given place to lighthouses, there is not an English fishing village on the coast where the land is un­ dulating that does not still boast its beacon-hill. Now that we have discussed their origin, we come to the Lighthouses of Nantucket.

The Brant Point lighthouse at the entrance to Nantucket Harbor is one of the oldest in existence. It was one of the first eight in use in the United States and the station has an interesting history.

We do not know exactly when the first lighthouse was erected, but we do know that it was destroyed by fire in 1759. The government records say that it was first established about 1746. Another light­ house was built on Brant Point soon after the first was destroyed, but it was blown down in a heavy gale. A third was erected and was destroyed by fire in 1783.

20

The first light maintained on Brant Point was at the expense of the ship owners of Nantucket, but a few years after it was established the town, and then the state, took possession, the government of the United States not assuming control until the year 1791, when Brant Point, with the seven other lighthouses then in existence, was trans­ ferred to the government by an act of Congress passed in August, 1789.

The first three lighthouses on Brant Point were cheaply con­ structed and after the destruction of the third, the town, for economy's sake, built the next one on somewhat different lines from its prede­ cessors. A wooden lantern was hoisted between two spars, with grooves to protect and steady the lantern. This lamp gave a very dim light, often compared to a lightning bug; hence it received the name of "bug light", which term was later also applied to the light located near the Monomoy shore. A few years later, the "bug", not proving sotisfactory, was replaced by a fifth light—merely a frame fitted at the top for the lamps. This outfit was wrecked in a heavy storm during the year 1788.

The following year the act passed by Congress authorized the government to furnish the sea coast with lighthouses, and as the towns­ people were tired of caring for the lighthouse, the land at Brant Point was ceded to the United States, and the government built the next lighthouse, the exact date not being known.

The building aged and was condemned, and a seventh was con­ structed. To this was attached a dwelling house for the keeper and his family. Demand for a more powerful light caused the government to construct a brick edifice. This was in 1856, and the brick tower and keeper's dwelling are there today, although the lamp was removed from the tower in 1901, when the new beacon light was established at the very end of the point. Six years later, the keeper's dwelling was rebuilt. The next year the two range lights were erected on Brant Point and in 1920 a fog bell was placed there.

Great Point, although not so old as Brant Point, ranks as "one of the oldest on the coast". It was established in 1769, but the first keeper is unknown.

In 1820, the "Nantucket beacon" was established on the south side of Nantucket harbor. This light was locally known as "Bug Light".

It was kept sixty years but was discontinued as a station by the government in 1880. The first keeper was Caleb Cushman and the last keeper Benjamin F. Wyer. For several years after the light was discontinued, the government remained in possession of the property and employed Charles Henry Gibbs to live there as caretaker on a salary of one dollar per year.

The "Cliff Range Beacons", located a half mile or so northwest from the Brant Point station, near what is today known as "the bathing beach", were established in 1838. The first keeper was Peleg Easton and the last keeper George E. Dolby.

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In 1848, Congress passed a bill appropriating $12,000 for the con­ struction of a lighthouse and keeper's dwelling at Sankaty Head, Nan­ tucket. Two years later this light was established. It was lighted for the first time on the 1st of February, 1850. The first keeper was Alexander D. Bunker.

As I have given all the facts I could find about the lighthouses, I will try to vary my theme a bit by reproducing from scraps found in F. C. Sanford's scrap book, dated 1880, a formal quarrel about facts of the two lighthouses, Brant Point and Beaver Tail.

Beaver Tail Light is located on Conanicut Island, at the western entrance to Narragansett Bay. The following are the most interesting parts of the scraps: The first entry is dated August 14, 1880, and simply says that the Beaver Tail Light was the oldest on the coast, also mentioning Brant Point as "one of the oldest". The next is an answer to this article, signed "Islander", some of which I shall present to you: "In a recent letter to your paper from Nantucket I took occasion to correct a statement of a writer over the signature of F. D., which he had previously made in an article to a Providence paper relative to the 'oldest lighthouse on our coast'. In my said letter, I stated that the first and oldest lighthouse was on Brant Point at the entrance to Nantucket Harbor, giving the date of its erection as 1746. I also gave the date of the erection of the Beaver Tail lighthouse as 1761."

From the Town Records of Nantucket, I quote the following: adopted in Town Meeting, January 24, 1746, 'Voted, to build a light­ house upon Brant Point. Voted, that 200 pounds sterling should be ralsed for the town's use.

Voted, that Ebenezer Calif Jabez Bunker and Obed Hussey be a committee to take care of and build the light­ house.

"Again at a town meeting held at Nantucket April 28, 1746, it was voted, that, whereas there is a lighthouse built at the charge of the town in supposition that the owners of, or others concerned in 5*PR»W. will maintain a light therein, the town doth give and grant the liberty to maintain the said light as/ they shall think to be most tor their convenience during the town's pleasure.

To this "F. D." replied that Brant Point Light, though established before 1749, could not be called a permanent light until it was legally established. He claimed that Beaver Tail was legally established in 1749, while Brant Point, though in existence was not legally estab­ lished until some time after that.

"Islander" came back with the statement that "F. D.'s" argument was almost too foolish to answer, and he hoped that any fair-minded intelligent reader could distinguish the facts in both cases and arrive at a proper conclusion. He says in closing': "Here I rest the case, well-knowing that the truth of the claim made will stand on its own merits." (Signed) "Islander".

And thus, the historical dispute between Rev. Frederic Denison (F. D.) for Beaver Tail Lighthouse, and J. E. C. Farnham (Islander) for the Brant Point Lighthouse, ended—and we all know in whose favor.

4 22

Daniel Webster at Nantucket (As told by Moses Joy).

Aaron Mitchell, having a case in court, went to Boston to see Webster. "What will thee come to Nantucket for?" he asked the great lawyer. "Fifteen hundred dollars," said Webster.

"That is an awful price," protested Mitchell. "Well, it will take the whole week, and if I go, I would just as soon try every case on the docket," replied Daniel. "All right," said Mitchell," I will engage thee."

Returning to the island, friend Mitchell asked each one who had a case what he would give to have the great Webster try it for him, making a bargain at a fixed price with those litigants who would pay most. When Webster arrived on the packet he was told by Mitchell that he was to try every case on the docket. During the trial of one case Webster asked a witness what he was doing while the oil was being inspected. The reply was, "I was putting a snoodle-dog in the deck." "A snoodle-dog?" said Webster, "And what may that be?"

"What!" exclaimed the sailor, "You, the great Webster, maker of Webster's dictionary, and you don't know what a snoodle-dog is?"

(At this point Mr. Joy asked how many of those present knew what a snoodle-dog is?" Only two raised their hands).

As Webster was boarding the packet to return to the main­ land he asked Mitchell how he had come out on the deal. "Well, Friend Daniel, I will tell thee," was the reply, "I got my own case tried for nothing and cleared sixteen hundred dollars."

Continuing his story, Mr. Joy said that when he went to Boston in 1880 to get his charter for the Water Works he was referred for legal advice to Judge Joseph Healey, then City Solicitor. Relating the incident to the judge, the latter said, "I can confirm that, for I was a junior partner in Mr. Webster's office, and I have often heard him tell the story of how the old Quaker got the better of him."

[Note—A "snoodle-dog" is a wedge or a patch put into the deck or other surface to fill in a crack, a hole or a worn place.]

-t 23 j§f

Migrations of Nantucketers to the South and West (Gleaned from interviews and correspondence with many of their descendants, and doubtless subject to many corrections, which, as well as any additions to the record, will be welcome).

Many references are to be found in the reports of our "Proceed­ ings" and elsewhere in the literature about Nantucket to the early migrations of large groups of Nantucket Quakers to various points in the South and West. So far as I have been able to discover, how­ ever, there has never been any very complete connected narrative of these movements, which constitute a most important and interesting extension of Nantucket history into other lands. What I have to offer today is little more than an introduction to the subject, which I shall hope to add to from time to time as the data now in hand can be classified and compiled and new information is available.

Beginning about 1771 and extending over several years prior to, during, and immediately after the American Revolution, several quite large groups of Nantucket Quakers migrated to the South, settling largely in Guilford County, North Carolina, at or near the townships of New Garden, Center and Deep River. Many other Friends from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and other sections, had already moved to this neighborhood, and several Friends Meetings were established and maintained for many years, some of which, I believe, are still in existence today. Hundreds if not thousands of the descendants of these Island families are still living in that vicinity.

Certain families later moved up into Virginia, and eventually over into Ohio, but a considerable body of them, along with Quakers from other sections, about the year 1800 crossed the mountains into Tennessee, where they formed a settlement around a place known as Lost Creek in Jefferson County. Here they again set up their Friend's Meetings. This village was later known as Friendsville, and, after the railroad came, as Friends Station. Some of these Quakers re­ mained there permanently, but in or about the year 1815 a large number moved north into Indiana where they settled, some in Union, Fayette and Rush Counties, but more in Wayne County, in the vicinity of what is now known as the city of Richmond, which is still one of the leading centers of Quakerism in America. From there these Quakers spread to other parts of the state, into Ohio, Illinois, and throughout the middle West.

For some reason this particular branch of the Quaker stock <§{ 24

seems to have been particularly tenacious of its Quakerism, for wherever any number of them went they established a Friends Meet­ ing, and several of these Meetings have survived and are still carry­ ing on, while Quakerism as an organized religious body passed out of existence in Nantucket more than a generation ago.

While the Revolutionary War seems to have been one of the principal reasons for so many of the Quakers first leaving Nantucket, these later pilgrimages may be ascribed to the slavery queston. It is well known that the Quakers were among the earliest anti-slavery advocates and abolitionists, and it appears in various of the docu­ ments I have received that many of this Southern group suffered great persecution for their opinions, which had much to do with their ultimate migration to the free-soil states. Once established there, they were long active in the abolition movement, and especially in the traffic over the "underground railroad". One Levi Coffin was the arch conspirator in this humane if illegal business, and it is said that he assisted over two thousand slaves to cross the free-soil border and eventually escape into Canada beyond the reach of our nefarious fugitive slave law.

So many of my correspondents have been helpful in furnishing me with facts and traditions in connection with this investigation that I can hardly mention any individuals without doing injustice to others, but I am particularly indebted to Mrs. John S. Macy, of Indianapolis, at whose home I stayed while there, for her keen interest and un­ tiring efforts in looking up references and digging out facts from the local records at the Indiana State Library, as well as for the list of authorities to whom she referred me for further data. Mr. Frederick Anthony Swain, of New York, gave me some valuable pointers, and he has sent me a very complete and finely-compiled genealogy of some of the branches of the Swain family, which is a valuable acces­ sion to our genealogical library.

Among others whose assistance is greatly appreciated are: Miss Laura D. Worth, Librarian of Guilford College, North Carolina, a Friends School still flourishing; Mrs. Irene Macy Strieby, of Chapel Hill, and S. J. Erwin, Attorney, of Morgantown, both in North Caro­ lina; Harlow Lindley, Curator of History at the State Museum, Co­ lumbus, Ohio; 0. Herschel Folger, Pastor of the Friends Church, Wilmington, Ohio; Charles E. Lukens, Marion, Ohio; Percival Brooks Coffin, of Chicago, Albert W. Macy, of Pasadena, California, Thomas W. Marshall of Washington, D. C., and the following from the Hoosier State: Christopher B. Coleman, Director of the State Historical Library, and William E. Osborn, both of Indianapolis; also Mrs. W. W. Gaar, President of the Wayne County Historical Society, Walter C. Woodward, editor of the American Friend, both of Richmond, and

4. 25 )•>

William O. Barnard, Attorney, of New Castle. Mrs. Gaar even wrote a letter to the local newspaper asking for information, and she has sent me a number of interesting replies from Nantucket descendants, and promises me more as they come in.

Mr. Thomas W. Marshall, of Washington, who claims many lines of Nantucket ancestry, has sent me for reference a 32 page typed manuscript, containing all the certificates of membership from the Nantucket Friends Meeting to those at New Garden and Center, N. C., with later records of the children of many of these as members of the Meetings. Also the names of those who were disowned for marrying "out of unity," or for other causes, of those who condemned their marriage out of unity, etc. These entries show nearly six hundred individuals of unmistakable Nantucket birth or lineage, if we may judge by the names. For once the Macys are in the lead (the Coffins usually beat us numerically) with 175 entries. The Coffins number 104. There are 66 Starbucks, 65 Swains, 55 Gardners, 39 Worths, 36 Husseys, 25 Barnards, 18 Bunkers, and, strangely enough, only one Folger. (Probably the Folgers went west by a more direct route). In many cases the entry is of a whole family admitted by certificate, without giving all the individual names, which, as families were large in those times, would greatly increase the total; and if we reckon the daughters of those Nantucketers who marred Quakers of other names from Pennsylvania or elsewhere, as the records show many of them did, and their descendants, there must have been a great many thousands with Nantucket blood in their veins who came from this North Carolina group of emigrants from our island.

I have only a partial list of some of the descendants of this stock who became famous or prominent in some field, but I am on the track of many more, awaiting definite confirmation. Here are a few of the names which have come to my notice in this brief study.

Jonathan Worth, a descendant in the sixth generation from Will­ iam Worth and Sarah Macy, whose marriage was the first solemnized in Nantucket, became Governor of North Carolina in the late 1860's.

His sister, Ruth Worth, married Sidney Porter and their son, Alger­ non Sidney Porter, married Mary Jane Swain. This couple were the parents of William Sidney Porter, better known to the world as the famous writer of short stories, "0. Henry." Worth Bagley, the first American killed in the Spanish American War, was, as his name indicates another descendant from the same stock. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War in Lincoln's cabinet, was another, through the Macy and other lines. Rear Admiral William Mayhew Folger, U.S.N., our Association's most generous benefactor, was of one of the Ohio families from Nantucket, and his nephew, Walter Folger Brown, was Postmaster-General in Mr. Hoover's cabinet. Charles J. Folger

•slif 26

of that line, was once Secretary of the Treasury, and later Republican candidate for Governor of New York, being defeated by Grover Cleveland. Eugene M. Antrim, another, is now President of Oklahoma City University, and Robert Worth Bingham is one of the latest to come into the public eye as our present Ambassador to Great Britain.

The list includes such widely different characters as "Uncle Joe" Cannon, John Greenleaf Whittier and Phillips Brooks, with many more yet to be catalogued. Further information will be welcomed, especially as to other notables among the descendants of Nantucket stock, to add to the already known large list of our Islanders who have made their mark in the world.

NOTES In the course of my inquiry it came to my knowledge for the first time that I was fourth cousin, only three times removed, to Daniel Webster. This is through the line of Reverend Stephen Batchelder, founder of Hampton, N. H., whose son Nathaniel was Daniel's great, great, grandfather, and whose daughter Theodate was the wife of our first Christopher Hussey; so all of you who have any of the Hussey strain can claim a similar, or perhaps a nearer, relationship. I am willing to share Daniel with any such.

I also learned that I am doubly a Mayflower descendant on the Macy side, and as my mother was a Winslow of the Plymouth stock, I am perhaps as good a Pilgrim as a Puritan, for which I am not sorry, for of the two I prefer the Pilgrims as ancestors.

I have the catalogue of the Mayflower Society of Indiana, in which 128 names are listed. Of these 31, or nearly one quarter, are known to be of Nantucket stock.

The Levi Coffin before referred to, who came to Newport, Indiana, in 1826, and his wife, are said to be the originals of Simeon and Rachel Halliday of "Uncle Tom's Cabin", and Eliza, of that epoch-making book, is supposed to have spent three days in their home on the way to freedom in Canada.

WILLIAM F. MACY.

27 )&•

PUBLICATIONS of the Nantucket Historical Association

Quakerism on Nantucket since 1800, by Henry Barnard Worth.

Vol. 1, 1896, out of print.

Timothy White Papers, by Rev. Myron Samuel Dudley.

Vol. 1, No. 2, 1898, 50cts.

Nantucket Lands and Land Owners, by Henry Barnard Worth.

The Title and The Nantucket Insurrection.

Vol. 2, No. 1, 1901, 50cts.

The Settlers, Their Homes and Government.

(Map).

Vol. 2, No. 2, 1902, 50cts.

The Indians of Nantucket.

Vol. 2, No. 3, 1902, 50cts.

Sheep Commons and The Proprietary.

Vol. 2, No. 4, 1904, 50cts.

Ancient Buildings of Nantucket.

Vol. 2, No. 5, 1906, (reprinted in 1928), $1.00.

Indian Names, Wills and Estates, Index.

Wills and Estates Continued.

Vol. 2, No. 6, 1910, 50cts.

Vol. 2, No. 7, 50cts.

A Century of Free Masonry on Nantucket, by Alexander Starbuck.

Vol. 3, No. 1, 1903, 50cts.

Proceedings of the Annual Meetings of the Nantucket Historical As­ sociation, from 1895 to 1933, (with the exception of 1899, which is out of print).

25cts.

The Horseshoe House, by William F. Macy.

50cts.

"Ye Olde Mill", by William F. Macy.

25cts.

4 28 }S-