William
Hadwen
The
Hadwen House
William
Hadwen
William Hadwen (1791-1862) was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1791,
and originally came to Nantucket in 1820. He was apprenticed to the jeweler's
trade as a young man, and saw one of his partners, Jabez Gorham, go on
to form the Gorham Manufacturing Company, which would later become the
well-known Gorham Silver Company of Providence, RI.
William visited Nantucket in 1820 for his cousin Nathaniel Barney's marriage
to Eliza Starbuck (creator of the Barney Genealogical Record), and became
acquainted with his future wife Eunice Starbuck, sister to Eliza.
In 1829, Hadwen sold his silver and jewelry business
to his apprentice James Easton, and went into partnership
with cousin Nathaniel Barney as whale oil merchants
and candle makers.
The two men's father-in-law, Joseph Starbuck, was
one of the most powerful whale oil merchants of the
era. Hadwen and Barney's original factory was located
on upper Main Street, but in 1849 they purchased the
brick candle factory on Broad Street from Richard
Mitchell and Sons for $6,200. Today this building
is the site of the NHA's
Whaling Museum.
