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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Spring 2004)
Edumund Fanning, I Presume:
Or, How to Flesh Out a Life Through Local Records
By Betsy Tyler
AS A LIBRARIAN, I SPENT A NUMBER OF YEARS helping people research a variety of topics in Nantucket history, from agriculture to zoology. Once I even assisted a woman who had been regressed by her psychiatrist to a former life as a man on colonial Nantucket and came here to look for the setting of her life in old Sherburne. She remembered Nathaniel Starbuck's blacksmith's shop, at the bottom of a hill. Every time I fetched a logbook, diary, or a particularly bulky folder of family correspondence for a researcher, I wished I could be the one spending hours getting to know a person, or a house, or a small island in the Pacific.
So I left my library job and became a free-lance researcher. One of my first clients was lan Strange, an author, artist, naturalist, and conservationist who lives in the Falkland Islands, dividing his time between Port Stanley, the capital, and New Island South, a small island on the western side of the Falkland group, home to thousands of rockhopper penguins and albatrosses, lan is interested in the history of New Island South and its first New England contacts, who were whalemen and sealers from Nantucket; Dunkirk, France; and Milford Haven, Wales (where Nantucketer Francis Rotch set up a whaling operation during the American Revolution). For background reading he suggested I might be interested in Marooned: Being a Narrative of the Sufferings and Adventures of Captain Charles H. Barnard, Embracing an Account of the Seizure of his Vessel at the Falkland Islands, etc., 1812-1816 (Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1979) and Edmund Tannings Voyages and Discoveries in the South Seas 1792-1832 (Salem, Mass.: Marine Research Society, 1924).
A man named Edmund Fanning was one of the partners in the voyage of the brig Nanina, out of New York, a voyage that left Charles H. Barnard marooned on New Island South in 1812 with four of his crew, with no provisions and little hope of rescue, through two subarctic winters. Barnard's narrative of his suffering is a great read. He portrays himself as resourceful, humane, determined—a Shackleton-like figure—one you would want to be marooned with, if you had to be marooned. You would also want to be accompanied by his faithful dog, who in my mind turned out to be the real hero of his tale. In the collection of the NHA Research Library there is a log of the Nanina, kept by first mate Henry Ingman Defriez. He paints an entirely different portrait of Charles Barnard in the following log entry:
I shall now proceed to make some remarks of the transactions on board from the commencement of the voyage—the first dispute that took place was settled to the satisfaction of all concerned—the next [g]revious misunderstanding that took place, was on the morning of the fourth of July, I say [g]revious misunderstanding, when one man threatened to blow anothers brains out what was certainly the case with Capt Barnard Jun who in my hearing threatened to blow capt Fanning & Pease out without giving them any chance for his Life—and indeed I am sorry to say it but the whole passage as been one continual term of quarreling which in my opinion was entirely from the disposition of Capt Barnard Jun,—the treatment I have received from him as been such as I should be ashamed to give to a dog He has abused me shamefully and even threatned to kick me over the bows so that I considered my Life in danger—I have endeavoured to conduct myself in such a manner as to demand the treatment and respect that is due to a chief officer, which can be attested to by Capt Fanning, Hunter and Peas and I believe the crew are ready at any time to assent the truth; without bribery should we ask them ...
After reading Henry's account of the voyage one wonders if the abandonment of Charles Barnard was an accident. And who is the Edmund Fanning on this voyage? Edmund Fanning, the author of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Seas, was forty-three years old in 1812. According to the Dictionary of American Biography, Fanning's great success in his voyage in the Betsey, 1797-98, enabled him to devote the remainder of his life to promoting the South Seas trade. "He lived most of the time in New York, occasionally visiting Stonington where he had a shipyard. As agent for a group of New York capitalists, he promoted and acted as agent for more than seventy expeditions to the South Seas, occasionally taking part himself." The Nanina sailed out of New York. Could this be one of the voyages that the famed Capt. Edmund Fanning joined? On January 22, 1813, Henry notes in his log
yesterday morning we where informed by Capt Barnard, of the arrival & departure of the ship Hope— Capt. Chase,belonging to Edmund Fanning of New York which place she left on the 12th of July – bringing with her the melancholy News of a war with Great Britian which took place on the seventeenth of June
Would Henry have not clarified that the owner of the Hope was with them on the Nanina, if that were the case? I imagine so. So who is the Edmund Fanning in the Falklands in 1812?
In her introduction to the 1979 edition of Marooned, maritime historian Bertha Dodge states that "Edmund Fanning . . . was a name already to be conjured with, the older and more famous Edmund Fanning having been an explorer of note. Nantucket -born co-partner Fanning, also Edmund, according to Mr. Edouard Stackpole, Director of the Peter Foulger Museum on Nantucket, was the explorer's nephew who, before 1812, had been commanding vessels trading in West Indian and South American ports." Ms. Dodge apparently had not seen the log of the Nanina kept by Henry Ingman Defriez when she wrote her lengthy introduction to the book. She does not mention Barnard's malevolent side.
These uncertainties about Edmund Fanning and Charles Barnard stayed in the back of my mind as I examined other logbooks for mention of New Island. Of the hundreds of logbooks and journals at the NHA—and hundreds more at New Bedford and Mystic and other maritime libraries—how does one narrow down the choices and select those most likely to yield information? The best method I have found is to use the indexes and databases that are available, published and unpublished, to discover which vessels were in an area of interest during a specific time period. Once I have access to a logbook, or a microfilm copy of it, I note the record of latitude and longitude, which is almost certain to be entered into the logbook on a regular basis. New Island South happens to be in the vicinity of latitude 51 south, longitude 61 west, so I am able to pinpoint when a ship is in the area pretty quickly. This is a more foolproof method than relying on the creatively spelled place-names that are common in most logbooks. What I look for in the log entries are sightings of other ships in the area, which leads to the search for their logbooks, as well as mention of crew going ashore for wood, water, and provisions (including penguin eggs and wild hogs), descriptions of wildlife, terrain—anything that helps to paint a picture of life in that small corner of the ocean two hundred years ago.
One of the logbooks I found with a lengthy description of a visit to New Island is that of the Jane Maria, on a sealing expedition to the Falkland Islands in 1817. On the cover of the logbook, in the unmistakable handwriting of Edouard Stackpole is the note "Log kept by Edmund Fanning of Nantucket." After the Jane Maria reached the Falklands, the crew constructed a sloop, smaller and more manageable than the mother brig, for cruising among the islands to find seals and sea elephants. The sloop was christened the Magelan [sic], and her master was Edmund Fanning, written in bold script across the top of each page of the log during the time the Magelan was at sea. The brig Jane Maria stayed anchored in a safe harbor. On December 9, 1817, Edmund makes the following entry:
Fresh winds at SE and good weather—at day break got under weigh and at 1 PM we Anchord at Georges Island where we got the Blubber of 51 Elaphant on board which Filled the sloop full Got underweigh—at 10 arrived at our Brig where we found 2 officers belonging to the Ship Sea Fox Capt Fanning 80 days passage from New York. She belonging to the owners of our Brig— I Imediately got into her Boat to Get on Board of her. She Laying at Barnards Island. Ends with a Fresh wind at NW good weather
So in 1817 Edmund Fanning, reputedly of Nantucket, left his sloop and went on board the Sea Fox to greet Edmund Fanning of New York. Was he going to see his uncle? Is he the same Edmund Fanning who was on the Nanina five years earlier? Unfortunately, there is no further mention in the log of the meeting between the two Edmund Fannings.
In the context of the research I am conducting for lan Strange, the identity of the Edmund Fanning of Nantucket is not that important. It's just that not knowing who this Edmund Fanning of Nantucket is drives me crazy. My first thought is that perhaps he is the son of Phineas Fanning and Kezia Coffin Fanning, well-known figures in Nantucket history. So I spend some of my free time trying to find out.
This leads to the subject of genealogy, which is the backbone of so much historical research. Luckily for students of Nantucket history, the genealogy of the inhabitants of this island is well documented. The NHA's Eliza Starbuck Barney Genealogical Database (or Barney Record) contains vital records for the first settlers and their descendants almost to the end of the nineteenth century. I immediately opened the Barney database and typed in Fanning, Edmund. In the database there are two of them, and sure enough, one is the son of Phineas and Kezia.
Edmond [sic] Fanning (b.1790) son of Phineas Fanning and Kezia Coffin. Married ? Lewis. One daughter Ann Francis Fanning
This Edmund's father, Phineas Fanning (1750-98), was in turn the son of Col. Phineas Fanning (1724-96) and Mahitable Wells of Long Island. Another son of Col. Phineas Fanning was Barclay Fanning, who married Caroline Henson Orne on Nantucket in 1784. They also had a son named Edmond, or Edmund—the spelling varies depending on the source consulted.
Edmond Fanning (1785-1822) married Abigail (Nabby) Giles, tie died at sea in 1822. He and Nabby had three children: Edmond F. A. Fanning, Barclay Fanning and Louisa Fanning.
Either of these Edmund Fannings would have been the right age in 1812 (either twenty-two years old or twenty-seven years old) to be on the Nanina. And as it turns out, the two Edmund Fannings were first cousins. Are they the nephews of Edmund Fanning, author of Voyages and Discoveries in the South Seas? Well, this is where the Barney Record ceases to be of assistance, since the families moved to Nantucket from other parts.
I decided to see if there was a published genealogy of the Fanning family that might reveal the relationship for me. Searching the Library of Congress online catalog I found that in 1905 Walter Frederick Brooks had written and had privately published a History of the Fanning Family: A Genealogical Record to 1900 of the Descendents of Edmund Fanning, the Emigrant Ancestor in America, who settled in Connecticut in 1653. Unfortunately, an interlibrary loan request revealed that no library in the country had a circulating copy. So I turned to the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. As a member I can use its online search capabilities to examine all references to Edmund Fanning within their various databases. I discovered, in volume 100 of the NEHGS Register, published in 1946, an article titled "Nantucket Supplementary Records." These are death records kept by Isaac Coffin of Nantucket, and not included in the five-volume Nantucket Vital Records published in 1925. Edmund Farming's death in 1822, in Coquimbo, is listed there, but with startling new information—he shot himself!
Now I really had to know more. First of all, where the heck is Coquimbo? It turns out to be on the coast of Chile, so Edmund was likely on another voyage. I decided to check deeds and probate records for other clues. Both the Nantucket Registry of Deeds and the Nantucket Probate Court are in the Town Building, and their records are public. By searching the grantee indexes in the Registry of Deeds under the name Fanning, I found three interesting documents. In Deed Book 23, page 446, there is a deed from John Beard, cooper, to Edmund Fanning, mariner, for 16 rods of land with a dwelling house, bounded on the west side by Orange Street. Edmund Fanning paid $1,400 for this property in 1816. It was located somewhere on the east side of Orange Street between land of the heirs of Matthew Beard on the north, and by John Beard on the south. It was not clear from this deed which of the two local Edmund Fannings bought the house.
The next two documents cleared up that mystery. In Deed Book 25, Page 34, Edmund Fanning gave a power of attorney to his wife Nabby on July 20, 1818. This allowed Nabby to "grant, bargain sell and convey all my real estate of every kind and description situated at Nantucket aforesaid to such person or persons as she may think proper and for such price or prices ..." It was a fairly common practice for Nantucket mariners to give powers of attorney to their wives when they went to sea. We know that one of the Nantucket Edmund Fannings went sealing on the Spartan in 1818; he was the same Edmund who was on the Jane Maria, and who captained the sloop Magelan in 1817. The logs of all of those voyages are in one logbook, kept by Edmund. The log of the Spartan begins on July 22,1818, two days after the power of attorney was signed, so fairly solid circumstantial evidence would point to Edmund Fanning (1785-1822) as our man in the Falklands. The other Edmund, son of Phineas and Kezia, died in 1848 in Nova Scotia, according to the Nantucket Vital Records, which add in brackets that he, too, died at sea on December 24,1822. This confusion about Edmunds has a long history.
Nabby Fanning used her power of attorney immediately. In August of 1818, she sold their dwelling house to mariner Edward Clark for $1,600. The property description in Deed Book 25, page 35, matches that in the earlier deed book, when Edmund bought the property in 1816, so I know it's the same house. Nabby's and Edmund's children were nine years old (Edmond E A. Fanning) and four years old (Barclay Fanning) in 1818. Their third child, Louisa, was born March 27, 1819, nine months after Edmund left on the Spartan. There are no more deeds or other documents recorded under the names Edmund or Nabby Fanning in the Nantucket Registry of Deeds.
Probate records often reveal quite a lot about a person's life, in small details that don't show up anywhere else. Edmund Fanning wrote a will, dated June 17, 1818, recorded in Nantucket Probate Book 6, page 243. With a young family and a dangerous occupation, he certainly acted responsibly. He left his wife half of his household furniture and
the use and improvement of all the rest and residue of my Estate both real and personal during the time she shall remain my widow; and at her second marriage, or decease, I give to my son Berkley [sic] Fanning the whole of my Estate (the one half of my furniture afore-said excepted) to him his heirs and assigns forever, unless my wife should have another child, in which case, the child shall inherit my Estate equally with my son Berkley—I have omitted giving any thing to my son Edmund Frederick Augustus Fanning from a consideration of his being already provided for by the late General Edmund Fanning deceased
General Edmund Fanning! Who was he? The Dictionary of American Biography describes this Edmund (1739-1818) as a loyalist during the American Revolution who practiced as an attorney in North Carolina after his graduation from Yale. He was so thoroughly hated by the people of North Carolina that he was practically run out of the state. After the war he moved to Nova Scotia. He became Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, where he was accused of tyranny. And in 1808 he became a general in the British Army. General Fanning moved to England in 1813 and died there in 1818. Little Edmund Frederick Augustus Fanning was obviously one of his heirs. One has to wonder why.
The big question now is what happened between 1818 and 1822 that would drive Edmund to take his life in Coquimbo, Chile? The log of the Spartan ends October 15, 1819, so Edmund must have gone out on another voyage that took him around Cape Horn to Coquimbo, but there is no local record of that voyage. In perusing volume five of the Nantucket Vital Records, the "Deaths" volume, I noticed that John B. Fanning, son of Barclay and Caroline Henson Ornes (and thus the brother of Edmund) died October 24, 1822, "on board the United States School Shark." The Barney Record, to confuse facts even more, states that John B. died on board the "W.S. Schooner Shark." The best interpretation of both garbled notes might be "U.S. Schooner Shark." John B. at twenty-six years old was quite a bit younger than his brother Edmund, who was thirty-seven years old in 1822. Did John's death have something to do with Edmund's suicide two months later?
One other note before I leave you hanging. Edmund Fanning died with an estate that was deemed insolvent and insufficient to pay his debts. His whole estate was valued, in January 1823, at $111.17 and included some simple furniture, bedding, and crockery. Three pictures, his most valuable possessions, were appraised at $60. Perhaps they were family portraits. Of Edmunds. An addendum was made to his estate inventory a year later, when the following items were appraised for $28.59.
4 jackets
8 pair trowsers
2 waistcoats
7 shirts
1 pair stockings
1 pillow
1 coat
1 clothes bag
5 handkerchiefs
1 bag thread etc.
1 sea quilt blanket and shirt
2 Coast Pilots
Malham's Gazzetter [Gazetteer]
4 small volumes
3 white shirts
3 pair pantaloons
1 thin jacket
1 white waistcoat
4 napkin
3 silk handkerchiefs
1 small trunk
These items were obviously returned to Nabby from the ship that Edmund had been on during his last voyage.
I have a lump in my throat thinking about Nabby and her boys, and baby Louisa, and wondering what happened to Edmund and his brother. Their connection to Edmund Fanning the famous explorer and author became less of a burning question as their lives on Nantucket unfolded a little. What are my next research steps? Perhaps examining the Inquirer for 1822 to see if there is any information about Edmund or his brother John; looking for records of the American Consul in Chile; finding out about the U.S. Navy's schooner Shark; learning more about Edmund's children and who they married and who their descendants are; and of course getting my hands on The History of the Fanning Family.
Betsy Tyler is a free-lance researcher and writer living on Nantucket. Her articles on the "Heritage Society Research Project" appear regularly in Historic Nantucket.
