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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol. 44, no. 2 (Summer 1994), p. 27-28

Nantucket Surreys
By Margaret Fawcett Barnes

Horse-drawn taxis and train at Steamboat Wharf.

Surreys, with or without fringe, and with or without tops, were in use on this Island as long ago as the 1870s and 1880s, and continued to be the chief mode of pleasurable transportation until the 1920s, when the motor car began to take over.

Nantucket ladies went shopping in a horse-drawn surrey, they paid calls in them, and families went on picnics and were met at the boat by them. To drive from Siasconset or Madaket, or any of the outlying districts, to Town in a surrey, over rutted roads, winding across the low moorland, at an ambling gait, was an adventure to a youngster, and a restful, enjoyable experience if you were older. And if you were lucky enough to induce Jimmie Coffin, in 'Sconset, to take you on an afternoon jaunt in his surrey, over secluded roads, where he knew the name and variety of every wildflower, it was a treat not ever forgotten. Sometimes the road could be washed out and the surrey would veer and haul like a schooner under sail in a high wind, but invariably the careful maneuvering of the horse and carriage by the driver would bring you on an even keel, with no wheels or shafts broken.

These surreys, though light in weight, were expertly built by the best carriage makers, who made them especially sturdy and easy to handle. They used carefully selected wood, black or sour gum for the hubs of the wheels, oak or ash for the spokes, and beech or fresh ash for axles. Also, their design fitted admirably into the life of the past era. Ladies in long ruffled skirts found it not too difficult to climb in and out of the comfortably upholstered seats, and there was room to raise a parasol on a sunny day when slanting rays might otherwise have tanned a perfect pink and white complexion. And for rainy days, leather flaps unrolled from the top, snapping in place, to keep rain from sides and back. Sometimes even the front seat had a covering, which encased the occupants completely, with only an opening for the reins and an isinglass window, especially appreciated on a rainy night when the boat was late and the long, hour and a quarter drive to 'Sconset could be a wet one.

At times, as many as sixteen surreys or more would be waiting to meet the boat on Steamboat Wharf. Once your favorite driver was found, you and your luggage were lifted into the "two-seater" (as they were sometimes called) and you would be drawn through the quiet streets to the accompaniment of the klomp-klop of the horse's hooves. Even the well-remembered smell of a surrey, particularly on a damp day when the felt upholstery and the leather fittings produced a pungent odor, brings back a yearning for those genial times. And there is an anecdote about Captain Billy Baxter, noted for his salty humor, who carried the mail to Siasconset in a surrey. He would often take passengers along, and was prone to spot a bridal couple and inveigle them into his carriage, pretending all during the drive he was very deaf. When they finally reached their distant destination, he would reveal that he hadn't been so deaf after all, which sometimes left the bride blushing.

Although surreys were mostly "two-seaters" holding four people, three passengers and a driver, there were also some known as "three-seaters," imposing in length, drawn by two horses and carrying nine people. These were used for gala occasions, like clam-bakes or trips between Nantucket and 'Sconset for special events, such as golf or tennis tournaments or public entertainments.

Of the several livery stables in Nantucket Town, one of the best known was "]. H. Wood and Son," owned by the same family who run a Taxi Service today, and which by now is one of the oldest continuous businesses of the Town. They had as many as twenty horses at one time, with two barns, one back of the present Monument Store and another on the Cliff, at the site of the present garage. Other well-known livery stables were "Covill and Pease" and "John Ayers." Later there was "Pease and Ayers," who, before they went out of business, used part of the building now known as The Straight Wharf Theatre, as one of their carriage houses. "W. H. H. Smith's Livery Stable" was located at head of Steamboat Wharf, at the present location of the Railway Express Office. There was also Clinton Folger and others on the Island who would have a surrey and horse for hire. One of these was Tom Hoy, who in the early nineteen hundreds could be found every morning at nine-thirty in front of the William Barnes home on Orange Street, waiting to take the family or their friends on morning errands.

Bringing surreys up-to-date, two of those remaining on the Island were used most effectively in the Main Street Fete last summer. One has been bought by the Historical Association, to be treasured for future generations. The other is owned by Francis Holdgate and was driven for hire about the Town this summer by his daughter Suzie. Presumably the derivation of the word "surrey," used for the name of a carriage, came from the name of the county in England. However, it has been mainly used as such in the United States, and the vehicle was popularized almost exclusively in this country.