USA > Massachusetts > Nantucket County > Nantucket > Early settlers of Nantucket, their associates and descendants > Part 8
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THOMAS CHALKLEY, after alluding to visits in " the eaftern part of New-England," says:
" From thence I returned in order to get a paffage to the ifle of Nantucket; and from a place called Cufh- net, we failed over to the faid ifland in about ten hours, where we tarried feveral days and had five meetings. The people did generally acknowledge to the truth, and many of them were tender-hearted. Some of the an- cient people faid, That it was never known that fo many people were together on the ifland at once. Af- ter the firft meeting was over, one afked the minifter (fo called) whether we might have a meeting at his houfe ? He faid with a good will, we might. This minifter had some difcourfe with me and afked, What induced me to come hither, being fuch a young man ?
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Rise of Friends on Nantucket.
I told him that I had no other view in coming there, than the good of fouls; and that I could fay with the apoftle that a neceffity was laid upon me, and wo would be to me if I did not preach the gofpel. Then, faid he, I wifh you would preach at my houfe in God's name. So next day we had a meeting at his houfe; and on the firft day we had the largeft meeting that we had on the ifland. It was thought there were above two hundred people. The Lord in his power did make his truth known to the praife of his name. Oh! how was my foul concerned for that people! The Lord Jefus did open my heart to them, and theirs to him. They were alfo loving and kind to us. The chief mag- iftrat of the ifland defired that I would have a meet- ing at his houfe; there being no fettled meeting of Friends before I came; and after meeting he difputed about religion with me. I thought we were both but poor difputants; and I cannot remember all that paffed between us, but that in the clofe of our difpute, he faid, I difputed with your friends in Barbadoes and they told me, that we muft eat the fpiritual flefh, and drink the fpiritual blood of Chrift;
" And, faid the Governor, did over any one hear of such flefh and blood; for is it not a contradiction in na- ture that flefh and blood should be fpiritual ?
" O furely, said I. the Governor has forgot himfelf; for what flefh and blood was that which Chrift faid, except ye eat my flefh and drink my blood ye have no life in you. . . .
" And from that time forward they have continued a meeting, and there is now a meeting-houfe, and a yearly meeting for worfhip; it is a growing meeting to
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Early Settlers of Nantucket.
this day, and feveral public friends are raifed up amongft them who preach the gofpel of Chrift freely.
" At this time a friend was convinced, whofe name was Starbuck, who became very ferviceable, and lived and died an eminent minifter of Chrift on that ifland. Several fcores, of them came and accompanied us to the water-fide; and when we embarked on board our floop, they defired that I would come and vifit them again."
JOHN RICHARDSON says, "It was much with me, when on Rhode Island to visit Nantucket, where there were but very few * Friends. . . .
" We landed safe, and as we went up an Ascent we saw a great many people looking towards the Sea, for great Fear had possess'd them, that our Sloop was a French Sloop loaded with Men and Arms, who were coming to invade the Island; I held out my Arms and told them, I knew not of any worse Arms than these on board.
" They said, they were glad it was no worse, for they had intended to have alarmed the Island, it being a time of war. I told the good-like People, for so they appear'd to me, That Peleg Slocum near Rhode Island, was Master of the Sloop, and that we came to visit them in the Love of God, if they would be willing
* The facts that Richard Gardner and his wife were persecuted for "attending Quaker meeting " in Salem, that they removed to Nantucket to escape that persecution, and that in 1673 he was commissioned Chief Magistrate there, indicate that his fam- ily was among the " few " and we find recorded also that Stephen Hussey and John Swain were Friends, before there was any or- ganization of Friends on the island.
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Rise of Friends on Nanluckel.
to let us have some Meetings, amongst them. They behaved themselves very courteously towards us and said, They thought we might.
" We then enquired for Nathaniel Starbuck, who we understood was in some degree convinced of the Truth, and having Directions to his House, we went thither and I told him, We made bold to come to his House, and if he was free to receive us we would stay a little with him, but if not, we would go elsewhere; for we heard he was a seeking religious Man and such chiefly we were come to visit;
" He said, We were very welcome. And by this Time came in his Mother Mary Starbuck who the Islanders esteemed as a Judge among them for little of Moment was done there without her, as I under- stood.
" At the first Sight of her it sprang in my Heart, To this Woman is the everlasting Love of God. I looked upon her as a Woman that bore some Sway in the Island, and so I said and that truly, We are come in the Love of God to visit you, if you are willing to let us have some Meetings among you: She said, She thought we might. . .
" The next Consideration was Where shall this meet- ing be? She paused awhile and then said, I think at our House.
" I from thence gathered she had an Husband, for I thought the Word our carried in it some Power be- sides her own, and I presently found he was with us:
" I then made my Observation on him, and he ap- peared not a Man of mean Parts, but she so far ex- ceeded him in Soundness of Judgment, Clearness of
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Early Settlers of Nantucket.
Understanding and an elegant Way of expressing her- self, and that not in an affected Strain, but very natural to her, that it tended to lessen the Qualifications of her Husband.
" The Meeting being agreed on and Care taken as to the Appointment of it, we parted, and I lay down to try if I could get any Sleep, . .. but Sleep vanished away from me, and I got up and walked to and fro in the Woods until the Meeting was mostly gathered. I was under a very great Load in my Spirit, but the Occasion of it was hid from me, but I saw it my Place to go to Meeting, the Order of which was such, in all the Parts thereof, I had not seen the like before; the large and bright rubbed Room was set with suitable Seats or Chairs, the Glass Windows taken out of the Frames and many Chairs placed without very con- veniently, so, that I did not see anything awanting, ac- cording to the Place, but something to stand on, for I was not free to set my Feet upon the fine Cane Chair, lest I should break it.
"I am the more particular in this exact and exem- plary Order than in some other things, for the Seats both within and without Doors, were so placed that the Faces of the People were towards the Seats where the publick Friends sat, and when so set, they did not look or gaze in our Faces, as some I think are too apt to do, which in my Thoughts bespeaks an uncon- cerned Mind. The Meeting being thus gathered and Set down in this orderly and ample manner (although there were but very few bearing our Name in it) it was not long before the Mighty Power of the Lord
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Rise of Friends on Nantucket.
began to work, and in it my Companion * especially did appear in Testimony in the fore Part thereof. . . . I sat a considerable Time in the Meeting before I could see my Way clear to say anything, until the Lord's heavenly Power raised me and set me upon my Feet as if one had lifted me up, and what I had first in Com- mission to speak was in the words of Christ to Nico- demus, viz: Except a Man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God:
"As I was thus opened, and delivering these Things with much more than I can remember, the great Woman I felt for most of an Hour together, fought and strove against the Testimony, sometimes looking up in my Face with a pale and then with a more ruddy Complexion; but the Strength of the Truth increased, and the Lord's mighty Power began to shake the People within and without Doors; but she who was looked upon as a Deborah by these People, was loth to lose her outside Religion, or the Appearance thereof; When she could no longer contain, she submitted to the Power of Truth, and the Doctrines thereof, and lifted up her Voyce and wept.
" Oh! then the universal Cry and Brokenness of Heart and Tears was wonderful ! From this Time I do not remember one Word that I spoke in Testimony, it was enough that I could keep upon the true Bot- tom, and not be carried away with the Stream above my Measure. . .. I remember Peleg Slocum (before mentioned) said after this Meeting, that the like he was never at, for he thought the Inhabitants of the
* James Bates, who was born in Virginia.
NAR DEPART
JAN 15 1902
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Early Settlers of Nantucket.
Island were shaken, and most of the People convinced of the Truth. However a great Convincement there was that Day, Mary Starbuck was one of the Number, and in a short Time after received a publick Testimony, as did also her son Nathaniel."
It would appear from a journal of Thomas Story, who was at Nantucket three years later, in 1704, that there was no settled meeting of Friends until some- time after his visit, wherein he felt it required of him to lay his concern before Mary Starbuck as the " in- strument to bring it about."
Thomas Story says, "Before I proceed I think proper just to give a general Relation of the State of the People on the Island of Nantucket with respect to Religion at this Time. This small Island lies about 20 Leagues from the main Land of New England, in- habited by a mixed People of Various Nations and some among them called christianized Indians, but no settled Teachers of any Kind. .
" There was in this Island one Nathaniel Starbuck, whose Wife was a wise discreet Woman, well read in the Scriptures, and not attached unto any Sect, but in great Reputation throughout the Island for her Knowl- edge in Matters of Religion, and an Oracle among them on that Account, insomuch that they would not do any Thing without her Advice and Content there- in;"
It would appear that several ministers of other re- ligious denominations had visited the island from time to time, and had desired a settled maintenance there.
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Rise of Friends on Nantucket.
This was opposed by Mary Starbuck as " being con- trary to the practice of the Apostles and Primitives and the Nature of the Maintenance of a Gospel Minis- try, but she would consent so far, as that when any Preacher came among them, that they liked and staid some Time, and took Pains among them, every Family might give unto such what they pleased for the Help of themselves and their Families, if they had any, as Indian Corn (Maze) or other grain, Meal, Flesh, Fish or such other Provisions as they happened to have at the Time to spare, and Wool &e for Cloathing, but nothing certain or settled: For Ministers of Christ ought to travel abroad in the World in that Calling, and not to sit down in one place, unless they have Families to take care of and cannot leave them.
" And Some Time before this John Kinsey, one of our Ministers from Philadelphia, had been to visit them with good Acceptance and had good Service for Truth among them, and had been instrumental in the Hand of the Lord to beget a good liking in them to the Way of Truth, but received nothing from any of them, (for that is not our Way) on account of His Ministry; And I finding a like Concern at this Time and accompanied by Several Friends of both Sexes, wo on the 13th Day of the Fifth month," about the tenth Hour in the Morning, set Sail for the said Island in a Shallop belonging to our Friend Peleg Slocum, before mentioned, which under divine Providence. he himself chiefly conducted, and landed there the next Morning about six.
1704.
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Early Settlers of Nantucket.
" At our landing we went up to the House of the Widow Mary Gardner where, after some Refreshment had, came to us Nathaniel Starbuck (Husband of Mary Starbuck before mentioned) and his son of the same name, and we proposed to them to have a Meeting that Day, but there being a court to sit then by Special Commission, ... we found it improper at that Time, and some of our Company went Home with Nathaniel Starbuck, the elder, and others with his Son, where we were kindly entertained, tho' Strangers, and they at that Time, not in the Profession of Truth with us.
" On the 15th we had a Meeting at the House of Nathaniel Starbuck, the elder, which was pretty large and open, several of the People being tendered and generally satisfied with what they heard and felt of the Goodness and Mercy of God.
" On the 16th being the First Day of the Week, we had another Meeting there, which was not so large as was expected, by reason of two Priests, an elderly Man and a young one, the first from the Isle of Showles, and the other from Martha's Vineyard, who had a Meeting near us, the former being come to try if he could obtain a settled Maintenance among that People.
" And several being curious to hear this new Preacher in the Presbyterian Way, it made our Meet- ing something less than otherwise it might have been, yet it was considerably large, very open and encour- aging, for the good Presence of the Lord was with us."
" Many of the Inhabitants of this Island are con- vinced of the Truth of some Points of the Doctrine of Truth, and some of them have been reached by the divine Virtue and Power of it, but some other Things
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Rise of Friends on Nantucket.
they do not yet see, and, if there were no Cross, would, in all Appearance, come generally under our Profes- sion; some few are for a Priest and to allow him some Maintenance (for they walk not by Faith but Sight), but the Majority is against it. So that one of these not being able to effect his Purpose went Home in a few Days, but the other staid a little longer. . . .
" This evening we ascended toward the upper Part of the Island to John Swains (one who came to our Meetings and there was only one more, that is Stephen Hussie, in all that Island under our name)."
" But one night before we returned from this Island my sleep was taken from me under a concern of mind for the Settlement of a Meeting there; (And though there were two Men under the Profession of Truth among them . . . the chief Instrument pointed to in my Thoughts, by the Truth, for this Service, when we should be gone was Mary Starbuck, before mentioned, to whom I made it known, and in the Opening and Mind of Truth laid a Charge upon her to endeavor to have a Meeting established in their Family once a week at least, to wait upon the Lord with all who were con- vinced of Truth in the Neighborhood, and in the Island as they had Conveniency.
" This she received with Christian Gravity and it affected her much and became her Concern.
" Having first mentioned it to the Friends who were with me I proposed it likewise to her Children (her Husband being freely passive only in such Things, and naturally good temper'd) who were all discreet young
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Early Settlers of Nantucket.
Men and Women, most of them married and hopeful; being all convinced of Truth, they were ready to em- brace the Proposal.
" Then I advised them to wait sincerely upon the Lord in such Meetings (for they had no instrumental Teachers) and assured them that I had a firm Confi- dence in the Lord that he would visit them by his Holy Spirit in them, in his own Time, if they were faithful, held on and did not faint or look back.
" And accordingly, some time after we departed the Island, they did meet, and the Lord did visit them and gathered many unto himself, and they became a large and living Meeting in Him and several living and able Ministers were raised by the Lord in that Family, and of others, to the Honour of His own Arm, who is worthy forever."
The fact that each of the three ministers-Thomas Chalkley, John Richardson and Thomas Story-in turn felt satisfied that his visit brought about the awakening which led to the large meetings of Friends on Nan- tucket, is most natural.
The account of each in his journal is the best record we have, and indicates that in 1698, in 1701 and in 1704 there was a considerable revival among many of those people, and the encouragement given to each mis- sionary was sufficient excuse for the satisfaction ex- pressed .*
*As early as 1664, " Jane Stoakes," an Englishwoman, visited the island, and in a written record, accompanied by dates and believed to be authentic, Jane Stoakes is referred to as the first visiting Friend; again, in 1688, a Friend, who is not named, vis- ited the settlement.
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Rise of Friends on Nantucket.
From such detail we conclude that the tendencies were strong towards Quakerism before the beginning of the eighteenth century, during which the principles of the Society of Friends were embraced by a large ma- jority of the people.
Friends' Records of Nantucket Monthly Meeting state that it was established in 1708.
The following is a copy of the " minute of petition " of the Nantucket Friends, sent to Rhode Island Yearly Meeting:
" To Friends at ye yearly Meeting to be held on Rhoad Island
" Pursuant to ye good order of Truth as we have been informed by our friends Ebenezer Rocomb & Patrick Henderson & by whose advice also We do think it Would be for ye good of friends here to have a monthly meeting of bufiness among ourselves uppon this island of Nantucket hoping it Will tend to our Comfort & Preservation. We do Propose to friends at ye yearly meeting to be held on Rhoad Island ye 11-12 & 13 Days of ye 4 month nex yt if they see good it should be so they may make an Entry thereof. but if they see cause otherwise then Leave without making any Entry: & if friends alow us to have one, then to advise us what Quarterly meeting may be thought most convenient for us to be Joyned unto yt there we may apply ourselves in any necessary matter as we may have ocafion. and farther we do think it would be of Good service & acceptable to us if friends think Good yt we should have a General meeting for worship once in ye year & if fuiting With friends con- venience to be in ye same month which ve vearly meet-
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Early Settlers of Nantucket.
ing on Rhoad Island is held on, as soon as possible after ye said yearly meeting is ended. So with the salutation of our Love to you We conclude your friends.
" Signed With advice of friends here by
Mary Starbuck
Nathl Starbuck Jr
Ann Trott Stephen Hussey
Dorcas Starbuck Jethro Starbuck
Priscilla Coleman Barnabas Starbuck
John Coleman Jr
" Nantucket ye 26 day of ve 3 º 1708."
For many years the Society prospered, and its large meeting-houses were well filled.
The experience of Nantucket has been a repetition of the history of the Society of Friends in many localities; other religious denominations have attracted the younger people, and the older members, one by one, have passed from works to rewards, until at present no member of the Society of Friends resides on Nan- tucket.
In 1894 one meeting-house on the island was sold, and is at present the property of the Historical Society. Since that date the last meeting-house belonging to Friends has been sold to another denomination.
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CHAPTER XVI.
AN IMPARTIAL JUDGMENT.
A PENNSYLVANIAN writing of Nantucket one hun- dred years after the settlement, having visited the island for the purpose of studying its manners and cus- toms, says,-
". . . Here we have none but those which adminis- ter to the useful, to the necessary and to the indispen- sable comforts of life . . . The inhabitants abhor the very idea of expending in useless waste and vain luxu- ries the fruits of prosperous labor. . . . At home the tender minds of the children must be carly struck with the gravity, the serious, though cheerful deportment of their parents; they are inured to a principle of subor- dination arising neither from sudden passions nor incon- sistent pleasure. They are corrected with tenderness, nursed with most affectionate care, elad with that decent plainness from which they observe their parents never to depart; in short by the force of example, more than by precept, they learn to follow the steps of their parents and to despise ostentatiousness as being sinful. They acquire a taste for that neatness for which their fathers are so conspicuous; they learn to be prudent and saving; the very tone of voice in which they are addressed establishes them in that softness of diction which ever after becomes habitual. If they are left with fortunes, they know how to save them, and how to enjoy them with moderation and decency; if they have
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Early Settlers of Nantucket.
none they know how to venture; how to work and toil as their parents have done before them. . . . As the sea excursions are often very long, the wives are neces- sarily obliged to transact business, to settle accounts, and, in short, to rule and provide for their families. These circumstances being oft repeated give women the ability, as well as the taste for that kind of superintend- ency to which, by their prudence and good management, they seem to be in general very equal. This ripens their judgment and justly entitles them to a rank superior to other wives. To this dexterity in managing their hus- band's business whilst he is absent, the Nantucket women unite a great deal of industry. They spin or cause to be spun, abundance of wool and flax, and would be forever disgraced and looked upon as idlers, if all the family were not clad in good, neat and sufficient home- spun cloth. First days are the only seasons when it is lawful for both sexes to exhibit garments of English manufacture, and even these are of the most moderate price and of the gravest colors."
This being the judgment of an outsider surely was impartial, and all of Nantucket descent will be willing to accept the views of a writer so flattering, especially as we have no means of judging of those times except- ing by tradition.
Nearly one hundred and fifty added years have wrought many changes, and still we find a justifiable pride in all who claim descent from Mary Starbuck and her contemporaries.
If " the evil that men do lives after them," the lives of the carly settlers must have been exceptionally ex-
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An Impartial Judgment.
emplary; there seems to be little recorded disereditable to any of them.
Necessity made them what they were; there could be no idle hands among them; they must work or they must starve; and, at a very early date, the peace of a Quaker influence spread over them proportionate to that of Colonial Philadelphia, and to-day may be heard even among those who belong to the so-called " world's people " " the Thee and the Thou of the Quaker."
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DETAIL OF DESCENT FROM PROPRIETORS AND SETTLERS.
KEY TO REFERENCES.
In the following genealogical pages the small letters in the mar- gin refer to the authorities in the code given below.
The volume and page are printed with the date in the marginal note.
Names in italies indicate that the ancestor so designated de- scends from one or more of the early settlers or their associates and that the detail of her ascent to said settler will in its turn be given.
CODE.
a-Nantucket Town Records. b-Nantucket Probate Court Records.
e-Nantucket Friends' Marriages.
c S-Sandwich Friends' Marriages. e L-Lynn Friends' Marriages. e N B-New Bedford Friends' Marriages. e N C-North Carolina Friends' Marriages.
d-Nantucket Friends' List of Members (births and deaths). d S-Sandwich Friends' Births and Deaths. d L-Lynn Friends' Births and Deaths.
( NB-New Bedford Friends' Births and Deaths.
dNC-North Carolina Friends' Births and Deaths. e-Published Genealogies.
e C-Coffin Family, by Allen Coffin.
e Cl-Coleman Family, by Silas B. Coleman.
e NC-Clarke Family (Descendants of Nathaniel Clarke).
e H-Hazard Family.
e K-Kimball Family.
e S-Swain Family. e Sr-Sears Family. e W -- Wing Family, edition of ISSI.
f-Savage's New England Families.
g-New England Historical and Genealogieal Register.
h-Macy Genealogy.
i-One Hundred and Sixty Allied Families (Austin's).
j-Rhode Island Genealogical Dictionary (Austin's).
k-Wyman's Charlestown Estates.
1-Otis's Barnstable Families.
m-Barker Family, by Barker Newhall.
m-(without figures) Barker Chart, by Barker Newhall.
n-MSS. of Win. C. Folger, of Nantucket.
o-Arnold's Vital Statistics of Rhode Island.
p-Boyd's History of Watertown (Mass.). q-American Ancestry.
r-History of Hingham, Mass.
8-Dow's History of Hampton, N. H.
t-Hoyt's Old Families of Salisbury and Amesbury. u-Family MSS.
u M-Mitchell Family MSS., by Rebecca G. Mitchell. 1 St-Stanton Family MSS. u Cr-Cornell Family MSS.
v -- Hobart Memorial.
x-Shattuck Memorial.
y-Nantucket Inquirer, 1862, Gardner Family, by W. C. Folger.
z-Freeman's Cape Cod. + After. - Before. ± About.
NOTE .- One who has no knowledge of Nantucket will find what will appear a needless repetition in the family lines given, but the Mary Coffins, Mary Starbucks, etc., were almost legion in different generations, therefore, for absolute clearness, "daughter of," etc., will be repeated in each instance.
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