Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602-1890

by Nathaniel Philbrick

  Captain Charles Low’s account of Sanford in San Francisco is from Some Recollections, Captain Charles P. Low (Boston, 1906); cited in “Memorial.” After two successful runs to China, Captain Coleman returned to Nantucket, with the command of the Houqua going to yet another islander, William Cartwright. On Cartwright’s second voyage, the ship and all hands were lost, including Henry Coleman’s son.

  The Nantucket waterfront seems to have been a favorite (and exceedingly dangerous) playground for children. NI (September 15, 1832) reports on the death of a seven-year-old boy while playing with some friends on a waterwheel in a blacksmith’s shop; he was caught between the spokes and crushed to death.

  The description of Sanford’s pleasure in farming comes from an undated article by Gustav Kobe included in the “Memorial.” The statistics on shipping in Nantucket Sound were assembled by William Mitchell and are included in Helen Wright’s previously cited article; Samuel Drake speaks of the many sails on the Sound.

  For Sanford’s own account of lifesaving on Nantucket see Godfrey’s 1882 guide. Sanford’s hypersensitivity to Crèvecoeur’s mention of opium may have been heightened by his involvement in the China trade, through which the Chinese population was ravaged by opium supplied by European and American trading vessels; see Ernest Dodge in Islands and Empires on the “Opium Wars” and the effects of the drug on the Chinese. Sanford ’s Crèvecoeur volume is at the NA, although his copy of The Pilot is missing; William O. Stevens in Nantucket, the Far-Away Island (New York, 1936) quotes Sanford’s comments about Long Tom Coffin and Reuben Chase. For an account of the history of “The Nantucket Tea Party,” see Guba; Sanford’s signed affidavit concerning the letter is in the “Memorial,” which also contains the account of the carriage ride with President Grant. Stevens says that Sanford was “often referred to as the ‘King of Nantucket.’ ” Alcon Chadwick in a previously cited article speaks of Sanford’s dignified, somewhat racy appearance. See HN (April, 1966) for a photographic record of the demolition of the F. C. Sanford House. Forman’s re-creation of old Siasconset contains references to the Sanford cottage.

  Epilogue

  Information concerning the Gay Head comes from Paul C. Morris and Joseph F. Morin’s The Island Steamers (Nantucket, 1977). Of interest is that in the early 1890s the Gay Head’s captain was Grafton L. Daggett, a descendant of the same Daggett who served as Thomas Macy’s pilot and “boarder” in 1659.

  In the Scrap Basket, Macy defines squantum as “the Nantucketer’s name for a party outing or picnic—differing from a ‘rantum scoot’ in that a squantum usually implies some definite destination for the cruise.” In his History Macy says of Siasconset: “As a summer resort, no place in the United States presents greater attractions for the invalid. . . . The village is compactly built on a level grass plat, near the edge of a steep cliff; the land rises in the rear, so as to cut off a view of the town of Nantucket, and serve as a barrier to the cares and bustle of a turbulent world. In front, the eye rests on a broad expanse of the Atlantic, and below, the surf rolling and breaking, gives animation to the scenes by day, and lulls to repose by night.”

  Josiah Quincy in NP speaks of both the pond-fishing whalemen and the annual sheep shearing. Abram Quary’s life as “the Prince of Nantucket caterers” is mentioned in a previously cited NI article by William Crosby Bennett; Gardner in his F. C. Sanford “Memorial” also speaks of Quary. John Steinbeck’s comments concerning our tendency to “celebrate an illustrious past” we never had were made in an article entitled “This is the Monterey We Love” written for the Monterey Peninsula Herald in 1967; he voiced a very similar attitude concerning Sag Harbor’s whaling past. (I’d like to thank Susan Shillinglaw, Director of the Steinbeck Research Center in San Jose, California, for bringing this article to my attention.) Crèvecoeur’s mesmerizing encounter with the surf off Siasconset caps the five-letter Nantucket sequence in Letters from an American Farmer; Emerson recorded his reaction to the Nantucket surf in his Journals.

  Acknowledgments

  HAVING SPENT THE GREATER portion of a year taking up space in their often cramped and crowded quarters, I would first like to express my gratitude to the staffs of several important island institutions: the Nantucket Historical Association (especially Jacqueline K. Haring, Betsy Tyler, Michael Jehle, Maureen Dwyer, and Peter MacGlashan), the Nantucket Atheneum (Charlotte Maison, Barbara Andrews, and Lee Burne), and Jane Stroup of the Maria Mitchell Science Library. Thanks also to the staffs of the Registry of Deeds, Probate Court, Superior Court, and Town Clerk’s Office in the Nantucket Town Building.

  Special thanks to Albert “Bud” Egan, Jr., not only for publishing this book but also for the Brant Point bourbon; to Mimi Beman and Dwight Beman for pushing me in the right direction at an early stage; to Helen Winslow Chase for sharing her knowledge and setting me straight; to Wes Tiffney for a Sunday morning of consultation that immensely improved this book; to Susan Beegel for her support and wide-ranging input; to Peter Dunwiddie and his comments on Indians, snakes, and the environment; to Elizabeth Little for her advice on “Old Saul”; to Robert Oldale for his hunches on Jeremiah’s Gutter; to Dr. Timothy Lepore for his waiting-room words on roadkill, Indians, and inbreeding; to Bruce Courson and his “Argument Settlers on steroids”; to Amy Rockicki for all her research help; to Mike Gordon and his dream of Lily Pond; to Lisa Norling for the xeroxes and conversation; to George Dawson for bringing an important resource to my attention; to Hank Kehlenbeck and his picture of Maria’s cupola; to Charly Walters and his legend of Kezia’s tunnel; to Rick Blair and a legend of a different sort; to Nancy Thayer, for listening; and to Edouard Stackpole and Louise Hussey, the two sages of Old Nantucket; and to Fred and Diane Swartz for their design and production work.

  The editing of this book would not have been possible without the help of many “off-island” friends and family members: Peter Gow, soulmate and editing wizard—this book is as much yours as it is mine; Elizabeth Douthart, my indexing mother-in-law from Maine; Marc Wortman, whose late-inning advice and enthusiasm kept me going; and my parents, Thomas and Marianne Philbrick, the dissertation advisors I never had. Final thanks to my wife, Melissa D. Philbrick, and to our children, Jennie and Ethan—I couldn’t have done it without you.

  Index

  Acushnet River

  Adams, John

  African Americans, xiv, See also Absalom Boston; Racial discrimination

  Agriculture: Native Americans, during 19th century, resurgence of during Revolution, soil depletion,

  Alcohol: effect on African Americans, effect on Indians, John Gardner supplying to Indians, grog shops, Polpis, Puritan laws concerning, on Tuckernuck, on whalers

  Alexander (Wamsutta)

  Altar Rock: John Gibbs and Philip, location, naming of

  Andros, Edmund

  Apess, William

  Architecture: from English style to lean-to, Kezia Coffin’s influence on See also Frederick Brown Coleman

  Arthur, Chester

  Atheneum. See Nantucket Atheneum

  Attapehat

  Audubon, John J.: animals on Nantucket, calashes, description of inhabitants

  Autopscot

  Baptists

  Barnard, John and Bethiah

  Bay of Islands, New Zealand

  Belcher, Jonathan

  Bellomont, Earl of

  Blacks. See African Americans

  Bookkeeping barter

  Boston, Absalom

  Boston Congregational Commission: letter to Indian congregations about Timothy White, letter to Timothy White; relationship with Nantucket Congregationalists,

  Boston Tea Party

  Bosworth, Bellamy

  Brant Point: lighthouse, saltworks, shipyard,

  Brown, Moses,

  Bunker, Elihu,

  Bunker, George,

  Bunker, Jabez,

  Bunker, Jonathan,

  Bunker, William

  Burial grounds: African-American, Native American, Prospect Hill, Quaker,<
br />
  Burke, Edmund, xiii

  Byers, Edward: on “combative hierarchy” of whaling merchants, Indian churches as “buffers,” “social cement” of Quakerism,

  Calashes,

  California Gold Rush,

  “Camels,”

  Capaum Pond, xi; drowned sheep, part of Cappamet Harbor, Tristram Coffin’s home on shore of,

  Cape Cod: Boatmeadow Creek and Jeremiah’s Gutter, home of Maushop, proximity to Nantucket

  Cape Codders: islanders’ attitude toward, emigration to Nova Scotia

  Cappamet Harbor

  Chalkley, Thomas

  Chase, Joseph

  Chase, Owen, See also Essex disaster

  China trade: art treasures from, Low Brothers’ clipper ships, Wing Ling’s visit to island (1807),

  Churchman, George,

  Clannishness of Nantucketers,

  Clark, John, See also Nantucket Bank robbery

  Clendon, James R.,

  Clio,

  Clipper ships: Great Republic, Houqua,; N.B. Palmer,

  Coasting trade. See Commerce

  Coatue: formation of, gift to Edward Starbuck, haul-over, murders on, timber on,

  Codfish,

  Coffin, Charles,

  Coffin, Christopher,

  Coffin, Cromwell,

  Coffin, Dionis,

  Coffin, Henry,

  Coffin, (Sir) Isaac,

  Coffin, James,

  Coffin, Jethro,

  Coffin, John,

  Coffin, Kezia,

  Coffin, Levi,

  Coffin, Long Tom,

  Coffin, Mary (Gardner),

  Coffin, Micajah,

  Coffin, Nathaniel,

  Coffin, Owen, See also Essex disaster

  Coffin, Peter,

  Coffin, Tristram,

  Coffin, Tristram, Jr.,

  Coffin, William,

  Coffin, William, Jr.,

  Coffin, Zenas,

  Coffin School. See Schools

  Coleman, Barnabas,

  Coleman, Elihu,

  Coleman, Frederick Brown,

  Coleman, Isaac,

  Coleman, John,

  Coleman, Thomas,

  Colman, Benjamin,

  Commerce: bookkeeping barter, China and India trade, coasting trade, London trade, Nantucket’s central role in, war-time smuggling, West Indies trade,

  Commercial district: description of (1832), destruction by fire, modern-day appearance,

  Comstock, Samuel,

  Congregationalism: among English, among Native Americans,

  Cooper, James Fenimore,

  Corduda,

  Coskata,

  Cottle, Mrs. Edward,

  Cotton, John,

  Courtship,

  Cows,

  Crèvecoeur, Hector St. John de: on behavior of whalemen, description of waterfront, on elderly people, independence of women, Indian customs, Indians after the plague, isolation of islanders, Kezia Coffin, migration of islanders to mainland, mindset of Nantucketers, opium use, purchase of land in North Carolina, sheep, surf, trade (1770), whale stations, women’s role,

  Daggett,

  Daggett, Grafton,

  Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,

  Davis Strait,

  Debt servitude of Indians,

  Deer,

  Delano, Reuben,

  Democrats,

  Dionis Beach

  Disease: on mainland, Plague of 1763; smallpox, in Taumkhod village,

  Dodge, Ernest,

  Dogs,

  Douglass, Frederick,

  Dover, New Hampshire,

  Drugs. See Opium use

  Dudley, Paul,

  Dunkirk, France,

  Education. See Schools

  Emerson, Ralph Waldo: on concentration of wealth, George Pollard, island landscape, looting after Great Fire, “Nation of Nantucket,” xiv; surf

  Emigration from Nantucket, See also Settlements, off-island

  Episcopal Church,

  Erosion,

  Essex disaster,

  Ewer, Peter Folger,

  Falkland Islands,

  Fanning, Kezia (Coffin): attitude toward off-islanders, bank robbery testimony, contempt for Continental soldiers, daughter’s marriage, family’s misfortunes, on smuggling,

  Fanning, Phineas,

  Federalists,

  Fires, See also Great Fire

  Fishlot Division,

  Fitch, Beriah,

  Fitch, Obed,

  Folger, Benjamin Franklin,

  Folger, Eleazer,

  Folger, Peleg,

  Folger, Peter,

  Folger, Mrs. Peter,

  Folger, Phebe,

  Folger, Phoebe,

  Folger, Timothy,

  Folger, Walter,

  Folger, Walter, Jr.

  Forests. See Trees

  Forman, Henry C.,

  Fothergill, Samuel,

  Franklin, Benjamin,

  Freeman, James: on effects of bank scandal, Indian dress and cooking,

  Friends, Society of. See Quakerism

  Gardner, Albert,

  Gardner, Anna,

  Gardner, Charles,

  Gardner, Edmund,

  Gardner, John,

  Gardner, John, Jr.,

  Gardner, Joseph,

  Gardner, Paul,

  Gardner, Richard,

  Gay Head,

  Geology,

  Gibbs, John (Assassamoogh),

  Gibbs Pond,

  Glover, John,

  Gookin, Daniel: on conversion of Indians,; murder of shipwreck victims on Coatue,

  Gosnold, Bartholomew,

  Grant, Ulysses S.,

  Great Fire,

  Great Harbor (Edgartown),

  Great Point,

  Greville, Lord Charles,

  Gulf Stream,

  Gull Island,

  Hackett, Marm

  Half-share grants

  Half-Share Revolt

  Half-share whalemen

  Harris, Samuel

  Hart, Joseph C.

  Harvard College

  Hawaiian Islands

  Hawthorne, Julian

  Hawthorne, Nathaniel

  Heathlands

  Hiacoomes

  Hidden Forest

  Hinchman, Lydia

  Holmes Hole (Vineyard Haven)

  Horses

  Hudson, New York

  Hummock Pond

  Hussey, Benjamin

  Hussey, Cyrus

  Hussey, Martha (Bunker)

  Hussey, Stephen

  Hussey, Sylvanus

  In-breeding, genetic

  Indians. See Native Americans

  Jenks, Samuel

  Jennings, Francis

  Joel (son of Hiacoomes)

  Josselyn, John

  Joy, David

  Kanakas. See also South Sea Islanders

  Kendall, Phebe

  Kennebec River, Maine

  Khauds

  King Philip’s War

  Landowners, twenty original

  Land use

  Lay, William

  Lay system

  Lifesaving stations

  Lily Pond; grist and fulling mills on; Gull Island fort; loss of

  Ling, Wing. See China trade

  Little, Elizabeth

  Long Pond: Madaket Ditch; original homesite of Edward Starbuck

  “A Looking Glass for the Times,”

  Loper, James

  Loper banquet

  Macy, Alice

  Macy, Caleb

  Macy, Deborah

  Macy, John

  Macy, Judith (Folger)

  Macy, Obed:; defense of proprietary; on early tree growth,; effect of alcohol on African Americans,; first historian; on Peleg Folger,; History of Nantucket; Indian-English relations; Indian lifestyles; Indian whalemen; Indians and alcohol; killing whales; on King Philip and John Gibbs; on Richard Macy; Madaket settlement; origins of whaling; rumors of Indian uprising; schoolteachers; shore whaling in winter; smugglin
g; treatment of Indians; trying out blubber on shore

  Macy, Richard

  Macy, Sarah

  Macy, Silvanus

  Macy, Thomas

  Macy, William C.

  Macy, Zaccheus: bonesetter; on descendants of Tristram Coffin; Indian-English relations; Indian religious services; Indian workers; role during plague (1763)

  Macy family

  Macy’s department store

  Madaket: Indian massacres in; site of first settlement

  Madaket Ditch

  Madequecham Valley

  Maoris

  Martha’s Vineyard: genetic inbreeding; habits and speech patterns of inhabitants; legends of; Richard Macy in Holmes Hole

  Massachusetts Bay seal

  Maushop

  Maxcey’s Pond

  Mayhew, Matthew

  Mayhew, Thomas

  Meeting houses: Congregational; Native American; Quaker

  Melville, Herman

  Mendon, Massachusetts

  Merrimack Valley

  Metacom. See also Philip

  Methodist Church

  Miacomet: Indian burial ground; Indian settlement; sheep shearing

  Migrations of Nantucketers. See Settlements, off-island

  Milford Haven, Wales. See Settlements, off-island

  Miriam Coffin

  Mitchell, Eliza

  Mitchell, Maria

  Mitchell, William

  Monkey, Abraham

  Monomoy

  Mooney, Robert

  Moors. See Heathlands

  Morrell, Moses

  Morrison, Samuel Eliot

  Mott, Lucretia

  Myrick, Phebe

  Nanahuma

  Nantucket, town of: growth; physical appearance; sanitation; sections of; waterfront