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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol 43, no. 1 (Spring 1994), p. 74-78

The Nantucket Historical Association: Prelude to the Launching
By Edouard A. Stackpole

As the NHA's centennial year begins, it is appropriate to print this excerpt, edited by Doug Burch, from one of the late Edouard A. Stackpole's unpublished manuscripts.

Athough Nantucket has a history of remarkable scope and interest, the historical association that bears its name did not originate during that period when the island was an active part of America's maritime enterprise. That era had come and gone by the time the generation that was to inspire the idea of such an organization came on the scene. Even then, the middle of the nineteenth century, three more decades were to elapse before the Nantucket Historical Association was actually launched. The story of this beginning is not without a definite and unusual interest.

In the century that had elapsed since the settlers established themselves on the island, there had been no attempts to write their "annals," and it was not until 1792 that an islander named Zaccheus Macy, "a man well versed in the history of the settlement of the Island," wrote an account of the settlers, the Indians, and the subdivision of land, which was published in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

The publication of Obed Macy's History of Nantucket in 1835 was the first documented attempt to present the story of the inhabitants of this island for the nearly two centuries of its existence. Macy lived through some of the crises he describes, giving his account a distinctive touch. It would seem that a new awareness of the part Nantucket played in the larger history of the United States should have followed the appearance of this volume, but despite the recognition his work received at home and the understanding of the unique quality of Nantucket's history it presented, few people considered forming a historical society to preserve the island's past.

Many other issues dominated the concerns of Nantucketers at that time. The ranks of the Society of Friends were undergoing a division between factions, a crisis that was eventually to tear apart the Quaker hierarchy so long a controlling factor in the life of the island. The public schools had emerged as a vital part of island life. The whaling industry was nearing its peak and the refineries and candle factories were busy turning out the products that were to bring a strong tide of financial success to Nantucket. But that would soon change.

The collapse of Nantucket's whaling industry came on the heels of the Great Fire of 1846 and the California Gold Rush. The first was a disaster that destroyed most of the waterfront and business area of the town, and the second marked the migration of nearly a thousand islanders hoping to make their fortunes in the West. The Civil War era saw Nantucket's "banner town" response to the national emergency and the end of her fabled whaling days. The depression that followed found the old town virtually shorn of its shipping, its wharves falling into ruin, its population but half of what it had been only a decade earlier. Then came the discovery of a new economy, a new way of earning a livelihood — the summer business!

Whether as an emergence of a latent awareness of the exciting story of Nantucket's past or as a resurgence of pride in the island's accomplishments, a feeling that something should be done to promulgate and preserve the "Nantucket story" arose during the middle of the nineteenth century. The impetus for the project came with three reunions of Nantucket High School alumni in 1857, 1865 and August of 1866. If there was a specific catalyst, it was the enthusiasm that marked the third reunion.

That it was well organized was demonstrated by the schedule of events that had been so carefully arranged. For weeks preceding the reunion a series of letters appeared in the Inquirer and Minor. On 21 August 1866, the celebration opened with the strains of Gilmore's Band of Boston welcoming the crowd gathered in front of the Joseph S. Barney residence (now the Hadwen House) on Main Street. There was an "irresistible enthusiasm" in the air, and the response was such that the entire town reflected the good fellowship of the occasion. At a business meeting held at the Methodist Church, Joseph S. Barney was again nominated as president of the Alumni Association, with William Breed Drake, vice president; Charles H. Starbuck, secretary; and Henry D. Robinson, treasurer. The succeeding ceremonies took place beneath a "mamouth [sic] tent." Among those present were Governor Andrew of Massachusetts, the Reverend Ferdinand Ewer of New York, and other celebrities. The orator for the occasion, William Breed Drake of Pennsylvania, observed:

Allow me to say...that a written history of Nantucket is absolutely demanded by the needs of the present. At the second reunion Governor Andrew suggested that antiquarian researches might appropriately be made a specialty of the Alumni Association, by which the history of Nantucket could be fully and comprehensively learned. Some thirty years ago a history of Nantucket was printed, which answered very well for that day, but Nantucket has lived an age of history since. There is a mass of material at hand which needs only to be ferreted out and worked over, to make it of rare value to everyone who owns a birthright in the fair fame of the sea-girt isle.

Also among those present on the occasion was Alexander Starbuck. Following the 1866 reunion Starbuck became a key figure in the development of the Nantucket Historical Association. This devoted son of Nantucket would serve as president of the Association over a period of nearly twenty years during which he faithfully guided the destinies of the organization. His definitive History of Nantucket; County, Island and Town was published a few weeks before his death in 1925.

In 1869, following a meeting at the Atheneum during which several articles were drawn up as a recommended constitution for a Nantucket Historical Association, this slate of officers was proposed: president, Joseph S. Barney; vice presidents, Charles H. Starbuck, George B. Upton, George H. Folger, Alexander Starbuck, Reverend Ferdinand C. Ewer, George H. Cary, and Alfred Bunker; and secretary, Arthur E. Jenks.

This was an excellent slate, but as the Nantucket High School Alumni Association was planning another reunion, some of these officers were absorbed by the alumni group. Plans for the formation of the Historical Association were placed in abeyance while plans for the High School alumni's highly successful assembly went forward. The enthusiastic alumni continued to convene over two subsequent years (1872 - 73) and the proposed Nantucket Historical Association remained dormant.

This was understandable in light of the alumni group's ongoing enthusiasm. Further, most of the officers proposed for the Historical Association resided off island, those living here were engaged in busy lives, and the difficulty of gathering for meetings was obvious. However, interest in preserving Nantucket's history did not flag.

In the early months of 1872 a group of Nantucketers, most of whom resided on the mainland, assembled in Boston to organize the Nantucket Historio-Genealogical Society. The 31 August 1872 issue of the Inquirer and Mirror published an article by Alexander Starbuck making a strong plea for gathering all existing records relating to Nantucket, including oral reports of the older citizens of the island, old ledgers and time-stained logbooks of whaleships, and previously forgotten accounts of the geology and physical geography of the island.

Two more articles appeared in subsequent issues of the newspaper, and an article by Tristram Coffin of Poughkeepsie, New York, giving an interesting account of "Tristram Coffin of Nantucket," ran in the American Historical Record and was reprinted in the Inquirer and Mirror on 28 September 1872. A week later that newspaper, under the heading "Doings of the Historio-Genealogical Society," published a long article by Reverend Ferdinand C. Ewer on the physical geography of Nantucket. Among his observations was a statement concerning how Smith's Point repaired occasional breakthroughs by nature's use of "the same forces that first formed it."

For a number of weeks following, several articles appeared in the Nantucket newspaper, some written by Alexander Starbuck (who often signed his pen name, "Nantucket, Jr."), and all documenting a number of important facts relating to the island's history. The mounting interest in the whole subject found expression in equal measure among the residents of the island with the series of pertinent articles in the local newspaper written by Nantucketers now residing in other parts of the country.

In 1874, Joseph S. Barney, who became the director of the Nantucket Steamboat Company, vigorously pursued a program of increased boat service with the slogan "Two Boats a Day"; Mark Salom of Boston, a summer resident, strongly advocated emphasizing Nantucket as a "Health Resort"; Henry S. Wyer, the photographer and art dealer, issued a special booklet of his excellent photographic studies of the town and island; and the Reverend Phoebe Ann Hanaford wrote essays in which her word pictures--especially of 'Sconset--attracted considerable attention.

The famous Coffin Family Reunion in the summer of 1881 was a gala affair. A new element entered the picture at this time with the introduction of the Nantucket Railroad, which originally ran to Surfside, the scene of the gathering of the members of the Coffin family. Among the attendees was Tristram Coffin of Poughkeepsie who, after viewing the Jethro Coffin House (known as "The Oldest House"), financed repairs, which created a veritable museum in time for its bicentennial in 1886.

All these different factors were now merging into a concrete plan for the establishment of an historical association on Nantucket. The effort accomplishing this was not as yet clearly defined, but the impetus had been given. Individuals like Alexander Starbuck, Frederick Coleman Sanford, Mrs. Susan Burdick Channing, George H. Folger, and Clarence A. Bunker all realized that the spirit of the proposition should not be permitted to become a lost opportunity.

Another decade was to elapse; another group of interested people was to appear on the scene; another key figure, who would become the catalyst for the eventual launching of the NHA, was to emerge. Then, suddenly and quietly, things fell into place, and, almost unannounced, the event happened.

For a number of years the Nantucket Atheneum had maintained a museum on the second floor that featured historical exhibits closely concerned with Nantucket. The collection included the lower jaw, nearly eighteen feet long, of a great sperm whale, an exhibit that had intrigued the famous showman Phineas T. Barnum when he visited the island. Barnum immediately offered to purchase it for his museum in New York City. Fortunately for Nantucket, the offer was refused.

Following the regular business of the Atheneum proprietors at the 1892 annual meeting in January, Maria Tallant Owen, a teacher of many years' experience both on Nantucket and on the mainland, and the author of an authoritative study of the island's botany, presented a photograph of the wallpaper then in the Union Street home of her grandfather, William Coffin. She had recognized the pattern in a recent visit to a historical exhibit at the Old South Meeting House in Boston. In her letter accompanying the gift Mrs. Owen wrote: "Seeing my old acquaintance in such distinguished company, I thought to myself, now if this paper is worth preserving in the Old South historical collection, it is worth keeping in Nantucket."

Her words prompted the Reverend Myron S. Dudley to suggest widening the sphere of the Atheneum's involvement in the formation of a "Historical Chapter." "But a bomb had been dropped! Here was a proposition to tamper with a sacred institution! The action was instantaneous—-and unfavorable!" wrote Miss Mary E. Starbuck, who had been present that day to hear the "temerarious 'Stranger.'"

Pastor of the First Congregational Church since 1889, young Reverend Dudley had accomplished the restoration of the sanctuary walls and ceiling, beautified with fresh paint and stenciled design, and had earned recognition as a vigorous worker in the best interests of the town and island. His efforts culminated in the formation of the Nantucket Improvement Society (forerunner of the Civic League), which succeeded under his energetic leadership. Today's Mill Hill Park bears witness to his vision.

Reverend Dudley became the successful catalyst who won the confidence and support of a number of townspeople for the purpose of creating an independent organization to establish a Historical Society. Among them were proprietors of the Atheneum, who were then considering in committee a "historical and antiquarian department." Mrs. Elizabeth Starbuck, widow of George Starbuck, who lived in Main Street's "West Brick," actively supported the energetic pastor. During the early weeks of 1894 she oversaw the organization of a small group to which Mr. Dudley advanced his ideas.

In May, some thirty members met at the Starbuck house. Mary E. Starbuck's stirring report, entitled "Our Beginnings," describes what transpired:

There was much talk and there were varying degrees of interest, of optimism and of pessimism regarding the possibilities. A young man, who was living here for a year or two, said that it wasn't any good to start such a society, for in twenty years there wouldn't be anybody on Nantucket anyway but a few fishermen and scallop-ers! He went away not long after that meeting, and we never heard from him again.

Fortunately, the dynamic personality of the Reverend Myron S. Dudley was never more in evidence. To those gathered in the west parlor of the Starbuck mansion, the words of Mr. Dudley and his supporters became inspirational. Before the meeting adjourned it was unanimously voted to form the Nantucket Historical Association.

The date was May 9, 1894.