Unfortunately, other than one letter to a granddaughter, the accounting book is all that is left behind from Mary Coffin Starbuck. As I imagined her personality and penned a journal for her, I kept in mind what I had gleaned about her and sought to create a woman ahead of her times, intelligent, wise, admired by all, yet a believable character too. It’s a heavy responsibility to try to re-create the complex personality of a woman who lived three centuries ago. I hope I have done her justice.
There’s more to discover about Great Mary and her impact on young Nantucket, but that will have to wait for the next book in the series.
Historical Notes
What’s True and What’s Not?
True or False: Did whaling captains take their wives along on voyages?
True. The addition of tryworks on a whaling ship, along with seeking out new breeding grounds for whaling, meant that voyages could last as long as four or five years. In the nineteenth century, more captain’s wives did come along, as well as their children.
True or False: Could anyone really have a bout of seasickness like Phoebe Starbuck?
True. Mystic Seaport contains the Charles Morgan, the only wooden whaling ship left in the United States. On it is a “cuddy,” a small wooden room built for the captain’s wife who could find no relief from seasickness. That’s where I got the idea for Phoebe’s mal de mer. Most people are affected by seasickness; most recover as their bodies adjust, but not all.
True or False: Could Phoebe Starbuck have gotten addicted to opium (laudanum) after just a few uses?
True. Opium has a highly addictive nature. One can become addicted to it after just one use. Frenchman Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur visited Nantucket in the eighteenth century and wrote of his observations. He claimed that this “Asiatic custom . . . prevails here among the women.”
True or False: Mary Coffin was a historical figure. Was Phoebe Starbuck?
False. Phoebe Starbuck was entirely fictitious.
True or False: Is there really a man named Peter Folger (or Foulger) who Christianized the Wampanoag Indians?
True. Peter Foulger was a fascinating man . . . and just so happened to be the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin. You can see the resemblance in their keen intelligence and curiosity about all things. The Whaling Museum in Nantucket is named for Peter Foulger and is well worth a visit.
True or False: Quakers were severely persecuted in the colonies in the 1600s, yet in the 1700s, Nantucket was predominantly Quaker.
True. It is amazing how quickly public opinion can change. As for Nantucket Island, you can find out more about its rapid transition to Quakerism in the next two books of the Nantucket Legacy series.
The Quakers of the 17th and 18th Centuries
Quakers are members of the Religious Society of Friends, a faith that emerged as a new Christian denomination in England during a period of religious turmoil in the mid-1600s. The movement was founded in England by George Fox (1624–1691), a nonconformist religious reformer.
At the age of nineteen, George Fox left home as a seeker, filled with unanswered spiritual questions. A few years later, he heard a voice: “There is one, even Christ Jesus, who can speak to thy condition.” He felt a direct call from God to become an itinerant preacher and promote the concept of the Inward Light, or Inner Voice. He believed God’s Spirit to lie within every person’s soul. Everyone had the capacity to comprehend the Word of God and express opinions on spiritual matters. His belief came from Scripture: “The true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9 KJV).
The tenets of the movement’s foundation soon developed:
Every man and woman had direct access to God; no hired clergy or “steeple houses” (churches) were needed.
Every person, male or female, slave or free, was of equal worth.
There was no need in one’s religious life for elaborate ceremonies, rituals, creeds, dogma, or other “empty forms.”
Following the Inward Light led to spiritual development and toward individual perfection.
Fox taught his followers to worship in silence. At meetings, people would speak only when they felt moved by the Holy Spirit. Fox promoted simple living and prohibition of alcohol; followers were against holidays, frivolous entertainment, and opulence of any kind. They distanced themselves through simple clothing and plain language—such as the use of “thee” and “thou” in place of the more formal “you.” Fox’s early followers thought of themselves as friends of Jesus and referred to themselves as “Friends of Truth” (John 15:15), eventually shortened to “Friends.”
The movement came into sharp conflict with England’s Puritan government: Friends refused to pay tithes to the state church, to take oaths in court, to practice “hat honor” (doff their hats to the king or other persons in positions of power), or to engage in a combat role during wartime. They showed an intense concern for the disadvantaged, including slaves, prisoners, and inmates of asylums. They advocated for an end to slavery, and for improvements in living conditions in penitentiaries and treatments in mental institutions.
Fox was imprisoned many times. Once, when hauled into court, he suggested that the judge “tremble at the word of the Lord.” The judge sarcastically referred to Fox as a Quaker and it stuck. It became the popular name for the Religious Society of Friends. During the second half of the seventeenth century, over 3,000 Quakers spent time in English jails for their religious beliefs; many hundreds died there.
The Quakers sent missionaries to the New World despite the fact that most of the colonies viewed them as dangerous heretics. They were deported as witches, imprisoned, tortured, or hanged. In 1688, a group of Friends in Germantown, Pennsylvania, took a public stand against slavery. It was considered the first stirrings of abolitionism in the New World.
Initial opposition toward Quakers eventually lessened and they became accepted as a denomination. As a group, they became identified and respected for their industriousness and high moral character. Today, worldwide, there are over 300,000 Quakers.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to . . .
. . . Karen MacNab, a docent at the Peter Foulger Whaling Museum, who met with me through a request by Matt Parker, the owner of the Seven Sea Street Inn. She answered countless questions about early Nantucket, Quakerism, and whaling. She also provided me with resources, including a printout of her thoughtful “Quaker Lecture.”
. . . Andrea Doering, Michele Misiak, Barb Barnes, Hannah Brinks, Karen Steele, Cheryl Van Andel, and the entire staff of Revell Books, for their dedication to make each author’s book the best one possible. It is a privilege to work with all of you.
. . . Wendrea How, Tad Fisher, and Lindsey Ciraulo, for your honest critiques. Your feedback is invaluable, always listened to, and hugely influential!
. . . And you, my readers. Thank you for your enthusiasm about my books and for sharing them with your friends and book clubs. I’m thankful for each and every one of you!
. . . Above all, thanks and praise to the almighty God for this wonderful opportunity to share the wonder of story. Great is thy faithfulness.
Resources
These books provided invaluable background information that was helpful to try to imagine and re-create what life was like for Mary Coffin in the seventeenth century as well as Phoebe Starbuck in the eighteenth century. Any blunders belong to me.
Cook, Peter. You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on a 19th Century Whaling Ship! Danbury, CT: Franklin Watts, a Division of Scholastic, Inc., 2004.
Forman, Henry Chandlee. Early Nantucket and Its Whale Houses. Nantucket: Mill Hill Press, 1966.
Furtado, Peter. Quakers. Great Britain: Shire Publications, 2013.
Karttunen, Frances Ruley. Law and Disorder in Old Nantucket. North Charleston, SC: Booksurge Press, 2000.
Karttunen, Frances Ruley. Nantucket Places & People 1: Main Street to the North Shore. North Charleston, SC: Booksurge Press, 2009.
Karttunen, Frances Ruley. Nant
ucket Places & People 2: South of Main Street. North Charleston, SC: Booksurge Press, 2009.
Karttunen, Frances Ruley. Nantucket Places & People 4: Underground.North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Publishing, 2010.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People, 1602–1890. New York: Penguin Books, 1994.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. New York: Penguin Books, 2000).
Philbrick, Thomas, ed. Remarkable Observations: The Whaling Journal of Peleg Folger, 1751–54. Nantucket: Mill Hill Press, 2006.
Whipple, A.B.C. Vintage Nantucket. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1978.
Suzanne Woods Fisher is the bestselling author of numerous series—Amish Beginnings, The Bishop’s Family, Lancaster County Secrets, The Inn at Eagle Hill, and Stoney Ridge Seasons—as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace. Suzanne is a Carol Award winner for The Search, a Carol Award finalist for The Choice, and a Christy Award finalist for The Waiting. She lives in California. Learn more at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and connect with Suzanne on Twitter@suzannewfisher.
Books by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World
Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life
Amish Values for Your Family: What We Can Learn from the Simple Life
A Lancaster County Christmas
Christmas at Rose Hill Farm
The Heart of the Amish
LANCASTER COUNTY SECRETS
The Choice
The Waiting
The Search
STONEY RIDGE SEASONS
The Keeper
The Haven
The Lesson
THE INN AT EAGLE HILL
The Letters
The Calling
The Revealing
THE BISHOP’S FAMILY
The Imposter
The Quieting
The Devoted
AMISH BEGINNINGS
Anna’s Crossing
The Newcomer
The Return
NANTUCKET LEGACY
Phoebe’s Light
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