Wrecks Around Nantucket Since the Settlement of the Island, and The

iiii(iiiai|sii 72 .N2G22 RVCU K "^-^ The Last Poi^t COMPILED SY CJass _i_l^L/^j^__ Copyright ]^^ COPYRIGHT DEPOSm Wrecks Around Nantucket Since the settlement of the island, and the incidents connected therewith, embracing over seven hundred vessels. Sfe Compiled by ARTHUR H. GARDNER. iSlir Jniiutrrr and jRirror JPrrae. Kaiiiiirkrt. Ccpyright 1915 by Arthur H. Gardner. JUN23I9I5 ©Cf,A401504 Introduction to First Edition. In presenting this book to the public, it may be well to say a few words in regard to the geographical position of the island, the nature of the coast, and the vast extent of dangerous shoals contigu- ous and stretching seaward for many leagues, which have ever proved a terror to mariners, and upon which so many noble vessels have "wound up their logs" for all time, consigning myriads of human be- ings to a watery grave. The island of Nantucket is situated some thirty miles southeast of Massachusetts, is fifteen miles in length, with an average breadth of four or five, and presents a coast line of about seventy-five miles. Owing to the peculiar shape of the island, and the indentures made by the harbor, the coast line, especially on the northern side, is exceedingly irregular. A light sandy beach extends around the island, and with the exception of a small reef in Muskeget Channel and a few isolated ones in the immediate vicinity of the shore on the north side of the island and Tuckernuck, the coast is entirely clear of rocks. But equally to be dreaded is the vast extent of shoals which encom- pass it on every hand, and upon nearly every one of which some vessel has been lost. The chapter of wrecks is, perhaps, one of the saddest, as well as one of the most interesting in the history of Nantucket. Lying as it does directly in the track of vessels plying between the principal American ports north and south of the island, the waves which dash upon its shores, or break in angry foam upon the shoals and rips near by, have reaped a harvest of shipwreck and death almost unparalleled upon the American coast. The list of wrecks, as now completed, dates back to the first settlement of the island by the whites, and em- braces upwards of five hundred vessels. While many of these have been gotten off with more or less pecuniary loss to their owners, the number of those lost in the vicinity of the island, but not contained in the list, will never be known. Many a noble vessel, never heard from after leaving port, has laid her bones upon the dangerous shoals which intervene between the South Shoal Lightship and Nantucket. Parts of vessels have also drifted ashor*-, from time to time, of which no mention has been made in the list. Upon various buildings on the island the name of some ill-fated vessel, the figure head, or a portion thereof, may be seen displayed— striking reminders of the shipwrecks and disasters that have occurred upon our shores. The record previous to 1800, and more especially that part of it embraced within the first century of the isalnd's settlement, is neces- sarily very meagre, but when we consider that in those early days, when the country was but sparsely populated, and the chief depen- dence of the settlers lay in their own agricultural productions, but little maritime commerce was carried on, and that mostly in open boats, it will be seen that a wreck on our island then must have been a rare occurrence, and therefore that portion of the list is not so in- complete as it might appear. Owing to the precautions taken by Government for the better protection of mariners, the number of disasters upon our shores have perceptibly diminished of late years. The first lighthouse erected in the United States was built on Brant Point about the year 1746, and was placed there by private enterprise. It was a sort of tripod ar- rangement, resembling an inverted leach tub, and the light, which was placed in the top, could only be approached by means of a ladder from the outside. This structure eventually blew down, and was re- placed by a more pretentious one, which was ceded to Government in 1759: The next lighthouse erected on the island was at Great (then called Sandy) Point. This also was erected by private enterprise and was ceded to the Government in 1784. The lighthouse at Sankaty Head was established by the Government in 1850. This light shows a brilliant flash of ten seconds duration once in every minute, and a fixed light during the remaining fifty seconds. Owing to the fact that the light on Gay Head is a flashing one, Sankaty Head light has been frequently mistaken for it, and a number of vessels have been stranded on the south side of Nantucket in consequence. In 1831, some fourteen humane houses were built by private enterprise, pro- visioned, and placed at various points around the island, that shipwrecked mariners might find food and shelter near at hand. The most of these houses are still standing. Some three years since, a build- ing known as "Life-Saving Station, No. 14" was erected at Surf- Side, just east of the Miacomet Pond, and during the winter months, men from this station patrol the beach nightly for miles on either hand. The Massachusetts Humane Society have also erected a build- ing in town and furnished it with apparatus to be used in cases of shipwreck. The writer is under acknowledgments to Hon. William R. Eas- ton, Captains Matthew Crosby, William Baxter, Samuel Winslow, Messrs. Alexander Starbuck, F. C. Sanford, Joseph S. Barney, I. & P. Macy, Hussey & Robinson, the Trustees of the Atheneum, and many others, for files of Nantucket papers, old records, and items of information, which have tended to. 'ihcrease the correctness and interest of the work now presented. ARTHUR H. GARDNER. Nantucket, Mass., August, 1877. Introduction to Revised Edition. The former edition of "Wrecks Around Nantucket" was compiled in 1876, and first appeared in The Inquirer and Mirror as a se- rial contribution. The interest it aroused prompted the author (who was a recent graduate of that office) to publish it in pamphlet form, and the proprietors, Messrs. Hussey & Robinson, kindly tendered the free use of their office and material for that purpose. To cover the cost of paper alone for the proposed edition required an assured sale of 100 copies; but a preliminary canvass by the com- piler failed to secure the requisite guarantee. Nevertheless he as- sumed the risk (?) and as that represented practically the whole out- lay (the type-setting, press work and binding being done by himself) the venture proved fairly remunerative in the end. Shortly after its publication the project of improving the en- trance to Nantucket harbor to make it available as a harbor of refuge was brought to the attention of Congress, and the data contained in this work proved a valuable argument in support of the proposition. In fact, it was stated that the copies of the pamphlet on wrecks placed in the hands of the congressional committee aided materially in securing the favorable report which resulted in the construction of the jetties. The edition, which was limited to less than 500 copies, was ex- hausted many years ago and its republication has been often urged and long contemplated, but other duties and interests have hitherto interfered. Now, after the lapse of nearly forty years, the author has yielded to renewed requests to again take up the pen and complete the record to date. A few corrections and additions have been made to the former list, which, supplemented by the record since its publication, swells the number chronicled by the revised edition to about seven hundred and fifty. Many of these disasters have called forth deeds of daring and heroism by the hardy boatmen of Nantucket, who have never hesitated to risk their own lives to rescue shipwrecked mariners. The trained life- savers of the several stations, who unflinchingly face danger and hard- ship and possibly death when duty calls, can receive no compensation other than their stipulated salary, but extra hazardous service by vol- unteer crews and individuals is recognized and encouraged by the Mas- sachusetts Humane Society by the awarding of medals and money and on one or two occasions has received special recognition by the U. S. government. A list of recipients is appended to this work and is an honor roll of which any community might be justly proud. Since the former publication three life-saving stations have been added—one at Coskata in 1883, one on Muskeget in 1883, and a third at Great Neck, Maddaket, in 1891. The crews of the four stations patrol some twenty-five or thirty miles of the most dangerous section of our coast line, the Great Neck and Surfside beats joining and extending from Smith's Point on the west along more than half the southern seaboard. Coskata station covers Great point and the section north of Wauwinet, while Muskeget station covers that entire island. Meantime marked changes have occurred in the coast line of Nan- tucket. Smith's Point originally extended some miles westward of its present terminus and is sometimes referred to as Smith's Point Island in the former edition. At various times since the settlement of the island, during a severe storm the sea has made a clean sweep across the point, cutting a channel through it to the southward of Tuckernuck, and transforming it into an island.

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