University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 2000 Exploring other worlds: Margaret Fox, Elisha Kane, and the antebellum culture of curiosity David Alexander Chapin University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation Chapin, David Alexander, "Exploring other worlds: Margaret Fox, Elisha Kane, and the antebellum culture of curiosity" (2000). Doctoral Dissertations. 2114. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/2114 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. EXPLORING OTHER WORLDS: MARGARET FOX, ELISHA KANE, AND THE ANTEBELLUM CULTURE OF CURIOSITY BY DAVID CHAPIN B.A. Kenyon College, 1988 M.A. Colorado State University, 1993 DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History May, 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 9969199 Copyright 2000 by Chapin, David Alexander All rights reserved. ___ __ <@ UMI UMI Microform9969199 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED c. 2 0 0 0 DAVID CHAPIN Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. ifeu/ Dissertation Director, J. William Harris, Associate Professor, Histg W. Jeffpey/Bolster, Associate professor, History Jan Golinski, Associate Professor, History Robert Mennel, Professor, History rigitte BMIey,Brigitte 1 Associate Professor, English Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For Helen A. Gallagher iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have incurred many debts in the course of researching and writing this dissertation. The Graduate School at the University of New Hampshire provided me with a generous year-long dissertation fellowship which has allowed me to write full-time during the past year. Additional funding was provided by a Mellon Residential Research Fellowship at the American Philosophical Society Library fora month of research in the Elisha Kent Kane Papers in the Fall of 1998. Permission to quote from the Kane Papers is gratefully appreciated. My greatest debt is to librarians and library staff at a variety of institutions. The staff in the reference, inter-library-loan. micro-media, and loan departments at the University of New Hampshire's Dimond Library have been invaluable. They tracked down countless sources for me, answered questions, and processed more inter-library-loan requests than can be imagined. I owe a debt of gratitude to the staff at the American Philosophical Society Library, including Rob Cox, Scott DeHaven. Roy Goodman, and Beth Carroll-Horrocks. who made my research visits to Philadelphia enjoyable and productive. The staffs at the Dartmouth College Baker Library Special Collections, the New York Historical Society, the New York Public Library, the American Antiquarian Society, and the University of Rochester Library Department of Rare Books and Special Collections also deserve my appreciation and thanks. I owe a debt to faculty at Colorado State University and the University of New Hampshire. Arthur Worrall, Eugene Berwanger, Ruth Alexander, and Martin Bucco at Colorado State all helped stimulate an interest in further graduate study. At the University of New Hampshire. Bill Harris, Jeff Bolster. Jan Golinski, Robert Mennel. and Briggs Bailey provided helpful instruction and thoughtful critique throughout my years at UNH. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. A number of friends, relatives, and fellow graduate students including Peter Chapin Jr., David Cecere, Beth McDermott, Scott Hancock, Mike Foley, Candace Kanes, Marcia Schmidt-Blaine, Judith Moyer, Karen Alexander. Aileen Agnew, Kim Brinck-Johnsen. Renee Bergland, Kathy and Bill Wisser. Gretchen Adams, Jill Silos, and Fran Lord have shared perspectives from their own research, provided helpful advice, and expressed diverse viewpoints in graduate seminars and informal discussion during the course of my research. They all have my thanks. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION....................................................................................................iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................. v LIST OF FIGURES...................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT........................................................................................................ix CHAPTERS PAGE INTRODUCTION: A CULTURE OF CURIOSITY...................................................................I I. THE NEW WORLD ENCOUNTERS THE OLD: ELISHA KENT KANE’S EARLY WORLD TRAVELS............................ 12 II. "COME AND INVESTIGATE”: MYSTERIOUS RAPPINGS IN WESTERN NEW YORK........................ 42 III. HUMBOLDTEAN SCIENCE AND THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN: THE FIRST GRINNELL EXPEDITION................................................... 72 IV. THE SPIRIT OF INQUIRY IN NEW YORK CITY........................... 101 V. CURIOSITY AND VALUES IN ANTEBELLUM LECTURE HALLS.... 132 VI. PRIVATE LIVES AND PUBLIC CURIOSITY.................................. 150 VII. SAILORS, SCIENTISTS, AND STRIFE: THE SECOND GRINNELL EXPEDITION.............................................. 172 VIII. THE HOME-FRONT, HOMECOMINGS, AND IMPERTINENT CURIOSITY..........................................................210 IX. BECOMING A HERO OF SCIENCE................................................235 X. PRIVATE LIVES AND A PUBLIC LEGACY.................................... 265 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................ 290 vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES 1. ELISHA KENT KANE AND MARGARET FOX.............................................. 8 2. ELISHA KANE’S TRAVELS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 1844 .............................. 21 3. KANE’S TRAVELS, 1843-1845 ............................................................................31 4. THE FOX FAMILY................................................................................................. 46 5. THE HOUSE IN HYDESVILLE.................................. 46 6. MAP OF THE ARCTIC...............................,......................:.................................. 85 7. MAP OF SECOND GRINNELL EXPEDITION ..................................................180 8. MAGNETIC OBSERVATION ...............................................................................188 9. INUIT TOOLS.......................................................................................................... 240 10. INUIT PORTRAITS.............................................................................................241 11. INUIT DOMESTIC SCENES............................................................................