Welcome back!
Today we explore the
Nantucket–North Carolina Connection
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Artist Highlight: John Austin
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John Austin was born in North Carolina in 1918. He studied art in New York City, was briefly tutored by Edward Hooper in Truro, Mass., and served in World War II, drafting training manuals for the U.S. Army. As a full time painter, he retired to Nantucket in the 1970s, exhibiting for over thirty years at Reggie Levine’s Main Street Gallery.
Austin painted his canvases from inside the studio, using sketches and color notations from his walks outside. Locals and summer visitors, including families such as the Kennedys and Mellons, collected Austin’s realistic work. Preferring more humble clients, he accepted commissions for simple house-portraits, which are now cherished in many private Nantucket collections. Much of Austin’s work is held at the NHA, for the public heritage and enjoyment of all Nantucket.
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Coffin/Stroup Homestead (33 Orange St),
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History Topic:
Nantucket Quakers in North Carolina
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By Amelia W. Holmes
The first Friends arrived in what is now eastern North Carolina sometime around 1665. The first documented religious service was held in 1672 by Friends minister William Edmundson. Quaker founder George Fox also visited that same year.
Friends from eastern North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Nantucket Island migrated to the Piedmont region of NC during the 1750–1775 period. More specifically, settlers from Nantucket began to join the New Garden settlers in 1771; however, migration from present-day New England abruptly stopped with the outbreak of the American Revolution. New Garden is located in present-day Guilford County, and the New Garden Meeting House is located approximately six miles from the historic Guilford County Court House.
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Tune in for a live program performance of The Quakers this week!
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Thursday, June 4, at 5pm, FREE
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Inside the Manuscript Collection
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Even after Quaker families migrated away from Nantucket to various places on the continent, they retained a strong connection to the island community. The Great Fire of 1846 burned over a third of the downtown commercial and residential area of Nantucket, and the stories of losses resonated across the country. Many of the migrated families felt sympathetic to the plight of their former neighbors, and sent donations to help the town rebuild. The NHA holds two letters from Quaker societies in Raleigh and Salem that express sympathy and pledge support to the devastated community. The writers confessed that these contributions were “parsimonious,” but only because the “Financial State of [their] Divisions were not overflowing. Like the widow who casts in her mite, we give cheerfully of that which we have, only regretting our inability to do more.” Above:
MS37 Folder 12
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Torn from the pages of a journal, this short page tells of the death of Samuel W. Coffin, who died in Plymouth, North Carolina, in 1809, from a tragic accident of sailor’s flourish. Attempting to juggle his knives, he pierced his leg -- a wound from which he would not recover. The pages that follow this brief story contain lively elegies and valedictions: “an opera ball was nothing at all, compared to the style of his dancing.” Above:
MS150 Folder 65, item A.
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In this letter from September 1775, Seth Coffin (1742-1816), son of Benjamin Coffin and Jedidah Hussey, gives his father an update on life in Blews Creek in Surry County, North Carolina. Events are mixed: in good news, “we will have very beautiful crops this year, of wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat, and corn.” But while “it is a general time of health in this part of the country,... something sickly lurks below.” Seth reported that his neighbor, Anna Macy, and a few children from town are sick from the water. Seth had to end the letter soon, needing to continue his trip to Pennsylvania; but his father responded with sympathy and affection. Above:
MS150 Folder 65, item B.
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The signature on this 75-cent note, printed by the State of North Carolina in Raleigh on January 1, 1863, has faded. Perhaps it was issued to a Dewey, or a Doxey, or a Dixon -- modest but well represented Nantucket families. In any case, while most Nantucketers were known for their staunch abolitionism and Union sentiments, they still traded with ports all along the Eastern US coast, including Confederate cities. With wartime expenses so high on both sides, governments began issuing unique state currencies without a gold or silver backing. The movement of goods and debts -- so vital for the island economy -- partially inspired the desire to keep the coastal states unified and prevent further catastrophe in scarcity and credit default. Above:
MS415 Folder 2.
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Extraordinary Women:
North Carolina and Anna Gardner
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By Barbara Ann White
Anna Gardner went south during and after the Civil War to teach freedmen. Twice her assignments took her to North Carolina. In 1863, she traveled by military transport to the newly occupied city of New Bern, optimistic about the prospect of teaching freedmen. She returned to the state in 1871 to be the principal of a teacher training, or “normal” school” in Elizabeth City. After her eight years teaching in the South, she was much less optimistic, realizing that the promises of Reconstruction were unlikely to be realized in her lifetime.
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Kezia Coffin Fanning's diary provides an important first hand account of daily life on Nantucket, including births, deaths, marriages, fishing, whaling, commerce and trade, the robbery at the Nantucket Bank, and politics during the American Revolution. Fanning began her diary at age sixteen and continued writing until her death, filling 50 booklets, the majority of which have been lost, excluding the collection's original pages and copies made by family members seen here.
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Other extracts of the diary (as well as other Coffin/Fanning materials) are held in the Wood Family Papers at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, where Kezia and her family moved in the mid-1800s.
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Historic Nantucket
Summer 2003, Vol. 52, No. 3
Featuring
“The Best Nantucketer
of Us All”: Dr. Benjamin Sharp
by Frank D. Milligan (p. 4)
The NHA’s publication
Historic Nantucke
t draws readers into the history of the island. With over 80 issues available to read online,
Historic Nantucket
explores themes such as whaling, genealogy, and folk art and more! Written by contributing researchers and NHA staff.
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Activities for Kids
Enhance at-home learning by downloading free and easy-to-use ACKtivity kits added weekly and lesson plans for all ages.
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NEW
Enjoy a coloring book featuring members of the animal kingdom who migrate to or from Nantucket
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We look forward to welcoming you back to the Whaling Museum to enjoy an array of exhibitions and programs once the state and local authorities grant us permission to do so.
If you would like to support the NHA, consider joining as a member or making a donation today. Your support now directly helps staff perform our mission. Due to the CARES Act, donors now receive a higher deduction on their charitable gifts. To learn more,
click here
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