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,
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
Nantucket Atheneum; architect of; destroyed by fire; distinguished speakers; Maria Mitchell, librarian; rebuilding of