Moving from Dover to Nantucket
The 1660s brought tremendous change to Edward’s life. Early in that decade, as he approached sixty, he uprooted his family and moved to the Island of Nantucket.
This removal, to territory previously unsettled by Europeans, wasn’t accomplished in one go. It started in 1659 and took a couple of years to complete. And he didn’t move far from water – he merely exchanged the rivers of Dover for the streams and coves of Nantucket.
There is more than one version of how Edward first explored Nantucket. One has him, Tristram Coffin (father-in-law of Edward’s daughter, Sarah), Peter Folger (who spoke the Algonquin language of the Native Americans) and young Isaac Coleman visiting the island in the summer of 1659.[2] Another story stated Edward and Thomas Macy sailed from Salisbury and wintered on Nantucket, returning to their homes in the spring to bring their families back.[3] Yet another account has Thomas Macy, his wife and children, Isaac Coleman, and Edward Starbuck traveling from Salisbury to Nantucket in a small, open boat.[4] Several other authors added James Coffin to the group.[5]
Whenever or however Edward made it to Nantucket, the authors agree he stayed on Nantucket for a few months then went back to Dover to move his wife and unmarried children to the island.
The stories do not include how Edward came to know about the opportunities awaiting him on the “faraway island,” (as Nantucket is believed to mean in Algonquin).[6] What we do know is that Tristram Coffin, whom Edward must have known, began gathering a group to settle Nantucket in 1659. At a meeting in Salisbury, Massachusetts on 2 February (others place it summer or fall), a group of men who had previously shown interest in Nantucket met to take on partners for the venture. Edward partnered with Thomas Macy and Edward’s son Nathaniel was partnered with Tristram Coffin, who would soon become his father-in-law.
Thomas Mayhew, who held title to Nantucket, was willing to sell a large part of the island to the Salisbury group, and made himself one of their members, a fellow share holder.[7] Over the course of 1660-1661 Edward also helped facilitate treaties and deeds with the Native Americans on Nantucket to obtain permission from them as well for the Salisbury group to settle the island.[8]
Making a Living on Nantucket
After moving to Nantucket, Edward could have restricted himself to farming or herding on the land he received as his part of the division. He likely did some farming, but he also returned to what he knew best. Though no town record states how it came about, a 1664 Nantucket deed referred to the weir of Edward Starbuck and Thomas Macy as a property boundary.[10] This indicates their weir (likely built for fishing purposes) was a well-known location in Nantucket by 1664. Edward also had sheep on the island.[11] Like his fellow shareholders, he received additional property through the 1660s from various land divisions as more of the island was explored and opened to settlement and commerce.[12]
Edward and the Native Americans
Some of the histories of Nantucket and of the Starbucks make reference to Edward being called on to deal with issues related to the Native Americans on the island. They state he had a rapport with the inhabitants. That appears to be true, judging by several entries in the town records:
- In January 1660/61 Edward bought more land directly from the Native Americans on Nantucket [13]
- In February 1667/68 Edward and others negotiated with the Native Americans for additional lands [14]
- In 1668 Edward and Peter Folger were empowered to make deals with the Native Americans concerning whales which washed ashore [15]
- Later in 1668 Edward and others were assigned to help the Native Americans sort out the boundary line dividing the land of Wanachmamak & Nicanoose [16]
- Stepping over into 1670, Edward was chosen with Tristram Coffin to help manage “The government among the Indians.” [17] This strongly suggests Edward was called on to manage affairs between the town and the Native Americans.
Tragedy and Joy
The 1660s also brought tragedy to the family. Edward’s son Jethro died on the 27th of May 1663.[18] The death record itself gave no details, but several historians have passed down the story that Jethro was run over by a cart, possibly at the age of twelve.[19]
The 1660s were also a time of rejoicing. Edward’s three oldest children were all married. Each was having children, and Nathaniel and Mary (Coffin) Starbuck’s three young ones lived nearby.[20]
[1]Unknown cartographer, Chart of Nantucket Island and the Eastern Half of Martha’s Vineyard (London, England, Joseph F. W. Des Barres, 1776); digital image, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3762n.ar097700/?r=0.358,0.307,0.294,0.176,0).
[2] Alexander Starbuck, The History of Nantucket County, Island, and Town (Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company Publishers, 1969), 17.
[3] Linda Hinchman, Early Settlers of Nantucket, third edition (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1993), 20. Original edition printed 1896.
[4] William F. Macy, The Story of Old Nantucket (unknown location, Cook & Turner, 1915), 16. This same story appeared in Obed Macy’s History of Nantucket, but without mention of Isaac Coleman.
[5] R. A. Lithgow-Douglas, Nantucket, A History (New York, New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1914), 62.
Alonzo Hall Quint, “Genealogical Items Relating to the Early Settlers of Dover, New Hampshire,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 8 (1854): 68; digital images, NEHGS (www.americanancestors.org : accessed 6 July 2022). p. 1, 2, 3.
American Historical Society, Encyclopedia of Massachusetts Biographical-Genealogical vol 3 (New York/Chicago : The American Historical Society, 1916) 142–143; Internet Archive (archive.org : accessed 14 April 2022).
[6] Definitions.net, definitions.net (https://www.definitions.net/ : accessed 12 Dec 2022), Nantucket.
[7] Starbuck, The History of Nantucket County, Island, and Town, 17.
[8] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 2: 8, Edward Starbuck, 1659/60, FHL film 906,232, item 2, image 132/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022).
Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deeds Book 1: 7, Edward Starbuck, 1660/61, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 55/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022), 3 Jan 1661.
Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deeds Book 1: 7, Edward Starbuck, 1660/61, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 55/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022), 5 Jan 1661.
[9] Alexander Starbuck, The History of Nantucket County, Island, and Town (Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc, 1969), between pages 56 and 57.
[10] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 5, Edward Starbuck, 1664, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 5/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022).
[11] Ann Smith Lainhart, “Nantucket Ear Marks” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 150 (1996): 204; American Ancestors (www.americanancestors.org : accessed 13 September 2022).
[12] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 5, Edward Starbuck, 1664, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 5/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022).
Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 13, Edward Starbuck, 1667/8, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 58/621 digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2022).
Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 15, Edward Starbuck, 1667/68, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 59/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2022).
Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 21, Edward Starbuck, 1669, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 62/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 January 2022).
[13] Dukes County, Massachusetts, Land Records 1620-1986 Book 1: 339, Edward Starbuck, 1660/61; FHL film 911,711, item 1, image 202/445; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 February 2022).
Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deeds Book 1: 7, Edward Starbuck, 1660/61, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 55/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022). Deed 1, Deed 2.
[14] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 7, Edward Starbuck, 1667/68, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 12/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022).
[15] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 8-9, Edward Starbuck, 1668, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 13/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022). This was essentially the beginning of Nantucket’s whaling industry that would dominate the island in the 1700s and 1800s.
[16] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 8, Edward Starbuck, 1668, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 13/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022).
[17] Nantucket, Massachusetts, Deed Book 1: 15, Edward Starbuck, 1669/70, FHL film 906,232, item 1, image 16/621; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 January 2022).
[18] Nantucket, Nantucket, Massachusetts, “Births, marriages, intentions of marriage, publishments, and deaths, ca 1662-1835,” in FHL collection Massachusetts, Town Clerk, vital and town records: 1, death of Jethro Starbuck, 1663, FHL film number 906,220, item 1, image 7/257, digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 24 February 2022).
[19] D. Hamilton Hurd, History of Rockingham & Strafford Counties (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, J. W. Lewis & Co., 1882), 823; digital image, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 Mar 2022), 773.
Alonzo Hall Quint, “Genealogical Items Relating to the Early Settlers of Dover, New Hampshire,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 8 (1854): 68; image copy, NEHGS (www.americanancestors.org : accessed 4 August 2022).
Alexander Starbuck, History of Nantucket (Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1896), 658.
Lydia Swain Mitchell Hinchman, Early Settlers of Nantucket, their associates and descendants (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Ferris & Leach, 1901), 21.
[20] New England Historic Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Nantucket Massachusetts to the Year 1850 vol 2 (Boston, Massachusetts: NEHGS, 1926), 496, 505, 507.
