Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry continues her series about the founders of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and their descendants, showing photos of long-ago islanders taken from scrapbooks. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.
Today I resume my series on the scions of the founders of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and for this article I am featuring scrapbook images of the islanders courtesy of the Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) collection.
Seven Island Ladies, 6 July 1888
This photo shows seven Nantucket Island ladies: (standing bottom row): Charlotte Elizabeth Wyer, daughter of Samuel and Charlotte (Coffin) Wyer, married John Morrisey Jr.; (seated, left to right): Lizzie Skinner, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Cunicliffe) Skinner, married Arthur Darius Skinner; Charlotte Puffer Baxter, daughter of Captain David and Mary J. (Hussey) Baxter, married Henry Pease Starbuck; Clarissa Wilson, daughter of John and Lydia (Gibbs) Wilson, married Eben W. Allen; Mary Abby Hallett, daughter of John and Clarissa (Cook) Hallett, married William S. Wakeman: (standing top row, left to right): Mary Eliza Macy, daughter of Philip and Susan (Wilson) Macy; and Floretta Upham, daughter of David and Mary (Tobey) Upham.
Family Group Entitled “Our Wedding Souvenir,” December 1887
This photo shows a family group: (bottom left): George Washington Ray, son of Obey and Laurania Swain Ray, married to Lucy Starbuck: (middle, left to right): Franklin Folger Sr., son of William and Lucy (Folger) Folger, married to Mary Myrick Gardiner; and Franklin Folger Jr., son of Franklin and Mary Myrick Gardner Folger, married to Elizabeth Hall Ray: (top, left to right): Elizabeth Hall Ray, daughter of George Washington and Laurania Swain Ray, married Franklin Folger, Jr.; Mary Myrick Gardner, daughter of Timothy and Lydia (Dow) Gardner, married Franklin Folger Sr.
A note on this photo reads:
George Washington Ray Sr. (1814-1891), grandfather of Florence Kempton Folger, daughter of Franklin and Elizabeth Hall Ray Folger, who married William Arthur Webster, great uncle of Clinton Mitchell “Mitch” Ray, son of Charles and Deborah (Chadwick) Ray.
George Washington Ray and his brother Captain Charles Ray both were basket makers and are featured in a New England History blog article from Yankee Magazine: “Nantucket Baskets.”
Nantucket Artist Plies His Basket Trade, 1945
I also found that descendant Clinton Mitchell Ray (mentioned above) followed in the tradition of basket making carried on by his father and uncle. Here is a clip dated 1945 from one of NHA’s Scrapbook Collection: Scrapbook 25.
This photo caption reads:
Mitchell Ray works on a basket at his Starbuck Court shop in Nantucket. He spends most of the Winter months making baskets which have been ordered by visitors to the Island.
The Ray clan picked up the basketmaking art aboard the South Shoal Lightship from Captain Thomas S. James, son of Thomas James and Elizabeth Winslow. Mitchell Ray was 71 when this photo was taken. He had just finished a basket for Senator Owen Brewster of Dexter, Maine. His most famous client was American aviator Charles Lindbergh. Many of his baskets fetch good money on the auction blocks.
Nantucket’s Triplets, 24 March 1934
This photo shows Mrs. George Sylvia, born Ida Brown Garland, daughter of John and Harriet “Hattie” Brown Chase Garland. These new babes are the offshoots of several Island generations that can be traced back to such settlers as Tristram Coffin, Richard Gardner, Thomas Macy, Edward Starbuck, William Bunker, Sarah Shattuck, and Peter Folger. This is from one of NHA’s Scrapbook Collection: Scrapbook 23.
There is a photo caption for this picture:
Mrs. George Sylvia and her three little ones, born at the Nantucket Hospital on the 3rd of February, posed for The Inquirer and Mirror before Boyer’s camera. The triplets have been named Arthur, Arline, and Adelaide, and all are healthy youngsters, already showing that they are enjoying life on Nantucket Island.
The triplets made their first visit to the printing office (where their mother was formerly employed) and the whole force rushed to extend them the glad hand, Arline being the first to receive congratulations, and then Adelaide and Arthur. Before her marriage Mrs. Sylvia was Miss Ida Garland, granddaughter of the late Alexander Chase and Nancy Wilson. She is 24 years old and, besides the triplets, is the mother of a 4-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.
Nantucket Centennial Celebration, 1895
I love this photograph of Quaker ladies celebrating the Nantucket Centennial in 1895. Unfortunately, there is no identification for these women. The photo shows the group of women sitting in front of 78 Main Street, Nantucket. Signs reading “1795” and “1895” have been placed on two trees. A possible identifying clue are two portraits of a wife and husband placed in lower windows of the house. On the left is a portrait of the wife, Eliza McArthur Coffin, daughter of Arthur and Elizabeth (Folger) McArthur. On the right is a portrait of her husband, Charles Gardner Coffin, son of Zenas and Abial (Gardner) Coffin.
My guess is that some of these women are the daughters of Eliza and Charles. I would love to hear from readers who have any information.
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Note on the header image: flag of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Credit: NuclearVacuum; Wikimedia Commons.
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