Published by The History Press
Charleston, SC
www.historypress.net
Copyright 2018 by Thomas Dresser
All rights reserved
Front cover, top: Chasing a whale, sketch by a whaleman aboard the Iris. Courtesy of the Marthas Vineyard Museum.
Front cover, bottom: Charles W. Morgan under sail to the Vineyard, 2014. Courtesy of the Vineyard Gazette; photograph by Ivy Ashe.
First published 2018
e-book edition 2018
ISBN 978.1.43966.432.2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017963928
print edition ISBN 978.1.62585.903.7
Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
FOREWORD
We all love whales. To see one swimming in the waters off Marthas Vineyard is a treasure, a wonderful experience.
In September 2009, we watched a juvenile humpback whale make its way through Edgartowns inner harbor. We were worried the twenty-plus-foot baby was in trouble, but that didnt happen. The large animal found its way out, avoiding the sandbars, the mooring lines and the many docks. For years weve retold the story, reinterpreting the significance.
Imagine, a baby whale swims into the harbor where, in the 1800s, whale ships that had traveled the globe used to come in and unload their oil. What would the great-grandparents of this whale have thought?
I have a favorite memory of seeing a sperm whale spout in the waters of Georges Bank, many miles east of Nantucket. I was so touched, a tear clung to the edge of my eye. Whales are returning.
We want more whales around us today, and we know so much more about them than we did a century ago. The story of the whale and this island community is bigger than one generation, bigger than our cultural age and our presence here. The story is bigger than our concern for our coastal environment. And the story of our pursuit of whales alone is beyond measure.
Whales and their migration across the seas of the world were a part of the lives of this ancient island coastal community, a relationship that goes back before us. To pursue the whale, these navigators paid attention.
I, along with others, am a descendant of whalemen, and I have many friends who share in that living tale. Our story and our connection to this place is colored by that distant reach, how far those sailors went to pursue their catch. The blood and might of both men and whale are caught in the mystery and magic of their chase. These Vineyard captains and their crews helped build America. Their labors forged this countrys young infrastructure. Whalemens efforts underwrote the cost of the expansion of the railroad heading west. And their handwritten notes on their navigational charts helped document the extent of vast areas of ocean.
Whaling was intertwined, touching every facet of life on the Vineyard, from the great farming land of the Vineyard to the dockside shanty. In West Tisbury, you can connect today to whaling, taking a walk on the long and winding Dr. Daniel Fisher Road, where goods were brought to Edgartown to be used in readying a ship for a whaling journey. There were whaling captains in Vineyard Haven. Or look to the Gay Head Lighthouse, which was a sentinel for the start or end of a New Bedford whaling ships voyage.
So I am especially connected to the story of whales and whaling. I welcome with extended arms Tom Dressers efforts to share the whaling story. It is an old story, but it is also a new story.
For in our changing world, the value and perspective of looking back through time increase. We all could use a better understanding of where this islands residents have gone, to understand the gifts theyve left behind.
I feel it when I sit in a relatives Chappaquiddick home that once belonged to a celebrated whaling captain, where one of the cutting tools of whaling hangs on the wall. I feel it when I look through the many collected items in the Marthas Vineyard Museum.
There is relevance in sharing the stories today as we treasure newer ways to appreciate this island, our planet and its finite gifts. Today, we know so many new limits to what our forebears shared.
The giant Edgartown Whaling church, with its clock tower rising over my community, is a significant mark in our history. I cant walk past those tall columns without thinking for a moment of those builders. I cant sit in a pew without thinking of those who filled the church on Sundays and at Christmastime so many years ago. They must have had a far greater apprehension of the deep sea and whales and their mens pursuit of whales.
When fathers and sons went to sea, mothers, siblings, relatives and friends were left behind. No one on the land knew how long those sailors would be away. In todays terms, those sailors could be going to Mars.
So much beyond these waters was unknown. The earth and its oceans, the weather and the oceans bounty were far less understood. Spirituality and devotion to church was how they must have made sense of it all, along with all the other big challenges of their day.
We treasure their story, for we behold those who hunted for whales and those related to them in our fabric. We already know the pursuit influenced this community in subtle and not so subtle ways. This little island off the coast of Massachusetts was a worldly place, more worldly than some of the more cosmopolitan inland places in that day. Sailors and sea captains who lived here were travelers, having ventured far off to pursue their catch. That meant that when they returned home, there were more stories to be shared.
Being a worldly place meant we were open to afar, open to sailors from every place, open to the value of friendship, lifesaving friendships. The sailors on ships at sea knew more about the value of connecting dots, racial, cultural and about the human spirit.
I am certain that one of the reasons this place feels like home to so many and is sought after by friends from afar is our history of welcome. We have a long history of watching visitors and our residents go down to meet the boat, whether back when it was a square-rigged whaleship returning after a three-year sail or a modern diesel-powered ferry returning after a forty-five-minute trip.
It only takes half a day to fly from here to places that would have taken a year or more on a whaleship. The meanings associated with distant sailing, the value of whales, the environmental part of our connection to our planet have all been rewritten. Whaling is a different story today than it was a century agonot because of changes in them but in us.
I like to sing old sea chanteys, especially songs that were sung by long gone whalemen. By feeling closer to whalemen, I feel closer to my island and the soil under my feet and especially the ocean lapping on the craft I sail. I think we all feel a need to connect, and taking in Tom Dressers whaling story should be part of our journey.
