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| #4:
The Triumph of Captain William A. Martin |
By Elaine Cawley Weintraub
"Farewell
to thee for a time
Days lingering sun is over
this heart will never awaken it
to one bright moment more the hope
... cherished here within
day by day through life's flow."
From the Journal and Log Book of the Europa, kept by William A. Martin, First Mate, 1853
Portrait
of William Martin by John Belain |
The story I tell begins with the brutality of enslavement and ends
with the triumph of an African-American man sailing as Master of
Whaling Ships out of Edgartown and New Bedford. The name of this
man was William A. Martin, and he was the only African-American
Whaling Captain from Martha's Vineyard. He was the great-grand child
of a woman from Africa enslaved on Martha's Vineyard. His grandmother,
born into enslavement, ended her life as a woman feared for her
supernatural powers in the maritime community of Edgartown.
William A. Martin, who began his life in a situation of dire
poverty, achieved the distinction of becoming the only African-American
Master of Whaling Ships on Martha's Vineyard. Born only one generation
away from enslavement he became a respected member of a sea faring
community.
He
was born in Edgartown in 1829. His mother's name was Rebecca and
she was twenty years old at the time of his birth. He lived with
his mother and his grandmother, Nancy, in Edgartown and became
involved in the maritime trade. He married Sarah Brown, a Native
American woman from the Chappaquiddick Plantation. The census
of 1850 carried out in Edgartown shows Sarah Brown, then aged
18, living as a maid in the Morse family home in Edgartown. In
1857, following the voyage of the Whaler Europa on which he sailed
as keeper of the log, William Martin married Sarah Brown at the
Baptist Church on Martha's Vineyard. They made their home with
her family on the Chappaquiddick Plantation.
Captain
Martin and his wife, Sarah, lived in the Chappaquiddick Plantation
which was the area of Chappaquiddick Island regarded as Indian
land. A Report to the Governor and Council by John Milton Earle
of 1861 indicates that although this was a Native American community,
people of other ethnicities lived there. Attached to the report
to the Governor is a list which describes the ethnicity of each
person living in the community. It shows:
Abraham Brown (Sarah's father) listed as "mixed for'ner";
James W. Curtis "colored for'ner" a mariner of Edgartown;
John Ross "colored for'ner" mariner and farmer;
William Johnson "colored for'ner" state pauper;
William A. Martin "colored for'ner" mariner;
William H. Matthews "colored for'ner -Light Boat Keeper - away
supposed dead";
John E. West "colored for'ner" barber of New Bedford.
All
other persons listed are defined by their Native American ethnicity.
A
Native American community existed on Chappaquiddick Island until
this century though now only one Native American family still
lives there. Life in that community could be quite difficult.
A Report to the Governor on the Condition of the Indians of the
Commonwealth dated 1861 shows how land was held in severalty,
and a Guardian appointed to direct the affairs of the community.
The report recommended continuing the guardianship though it expressed
some sympathy for the Indian community. Reference is made to the
role of the guardian. Members of the community could not "sue
or be sued without the consent of the guardian, could not receive
wages for any voyage if payment be forbidden by the guardian,
may be sent to sea as Ôhabitual drunkards, vagabonds and idlers'
and their wages withheld by the guardian, and cannot under any
circumstances alienate their lands or any portion of them."
The
author of the report made the point that such restrictions "may
mostly be necessary; still in the hands of a guardian disposed
to abuse such powers they might become insupportably oppressive
to the Indians." Concern is expressed about the extremely high
death rate of the community on Chappaquid-dick and reference is
made to a Commissioners' Report of 1849 which found the location
to be healthy. The report of 1861 states that "without any fatal
epidemic having been among them, they dwindle away and disappear.
The sea faring life, which nearly all the men follow, to a greater
or less extent is, unquestionably, unfavorable to the increase
of the population, but it is not sufficient to account for the
diminution that has occurred." The author of the Report offers
three "satisfactory" reasons for this mortality.
"1.
The comparatively sudden change from the habits and modes of living
of barbarous life to those of civilization, without waiting for
the progressive physical and mental development which takes place
when the process is more gradual, and which would adapt them to
the change.
2.
The habits of intemperance and licentiousness which always for
a time, follow the contact of civilized and barbarous races, which
not only carry off their victims prematurely, but so far impair
the constitutions of their immediate descendants, as to make them
more vulnerable to the ravages of disease.
3.
The destitution, want and suffering, resulting from poverty which
operate so powerfully to increase mortality in all the lower walks
of life."
(Report
to the Governor and Council, John Milton Earle, 1861).
The
official attitude of racism toward Native American people at this
time would obviously color the perceptions of those gathering
the information, but it is clear enough that life on Chappaquiddick
Plantation during the early years of William and Sarah Martin's
marriage was extremely difficult.
Despite
their poverty, the seafaring community of Chappaquiddick did have
some advantages uncommon among seamen of color. The most significant
of these was the fact that they owned land which meant that they
could live in a somewhat settled and supportive community. Sailing
was the only way that the Native Americans and other people of
color could make a living because of the constant loss of land
as a result of their white neighbors expansionism. In 1805, the
"Indian natives and colour'd people inhabiting the Indian lands"
on Chappaquiddick complained that "they consider (themselves)
injured and oppress'd by many of the White inhabitants of Said
Island." (Bolster, page 164).
Mr.
Milton Jeffers, an oral historian and surviving member of the
Chappaquiddick community, also makes reference to the high mortality
rate that prevailed within that community. He concedes the point
about the dangers of the sea faring life and the ravages of extreme
poverty, but adds another dimension to the discussion. He recalls
his mother mentioning "that people would become sick and start
to cough, and then become too weak to leave the house and shortly
after they would die." His belief, and that of his community,
was that they were extremely vulnerable to "white" diseases such
as tuberculosis which had a decimating effect on them. (Interview,
Milton Jeffers 1991).
The
insight into the difficulties of the life of the Native American
community on Chappaquiddick offered by this report coupled with
the documented experiences of three generations of his family,
give us some understanding of the remarkable achievements of Captain
William A. Martin. In October, 1853 when the Europa sailed from
Edgartown, The master was John H. Pease and the keeper of the
log, William A. Martin. The voyage ended on June 24, 1857.
A
drawing of the house in which Sarah and Captain Martin made their
home can be found in the Journal and Log Book kept by him on the
voyage of the Europa in 1853 when he was First Mate and Keeper
of the Log. He obviously had artistic talent not only because
of the remarkable accuracy of the drawing but throughout the log
there are many wonderfully elaborate drawings of whales, sometimes
as many as six or seven on a page. It seems likely that the house
was Sarah Brown's family home before the marriage. Above the drawing,
William Martin wrote:
"Farewell
to thee for a time
Days
lingering sun is over
this
heart will never awaken it
to
one bright moment more the hope
.........
cherished here within
day
by day through life's flow."
Some
of the words are impossible to decipher on the microfilm, but
clearly William Martin was sad to be leaving the island of Martha's
Vineyard, and the home of Sarah Brown. Whaling voyages were long,
and conditions were very poor so it is very likely that the young
man was feeling both lonely and apprehensive as he began his voyage.
William Martin wrote with a very fine hand, and obviously enjoyed
writing. On the title page, he experimented with several styles
and decorated the lettering.
He
is listed as Joint Master and keeper of the log book with Thomas
E. Fordham of the Eunice H. Adams on a voyage to the North Atlantic
from October 16, 1867 to March 18, 1870 (Whaling Logbooks and
journals).
He
captained the Emma Jane, an eighty-six ton schooner on her voyage
to the Atlantic Whaling grounds. The voyage began on October 9,
1883 and he returned on March 27, 1884 with 140 tons of sperm
oil (Starbucks). He captained the Golden City out of New Bedford
in 1878, and in 1887 the Eunice H. Adams out of Edgartown. His
was a long and successful career spanning more than thirty years.
On
July 2, 1907, Captain Martin and his wife Sarah celebrated their
fiftieth wedding anniversary, which event was recorded in the
Vineyard Gazette of July 11, 1907. The tribute to Captain and
Mrs. Martin is cordially worded and it appears that they were
held in high regard by the Edgartown community.
The
article praises Captain Martin's whaling skills and refers to
his early voyages on the Almira and Europa of Edgartown. He sailed
for the agents Samuel Osborne, Jr. and Son, as First Officer of
the bark Clarice and Master of the Emma Jane. It appears that
his last voyage was in command of the Eunice H. Adams. The article
makes reference to the fact that "Captain Martin has been a paralytic
for the past seven years and is now practically helpless." The
tribute poignantly concludes: "To all those who remember Captain
Martin as he appeared some twenty five years ago, and recall his
quick, alert movements and crisp decisive speech, qualities which
went far to make a successful whale man, it is difficult to realize
his utter helplessness at the present time and he has the deep
sympathy of all in the community." (Vineyard Gazette, July 11,
1907.
It
is clear that Captain Martin was enormously successful in the
maritime community of Martha's Vineyard. His skills as a "whale
man" were deeply appreciated in a community that held such skills
in very high regard. It is difficult across the gulf of time to
make a judgment on how delicate a line William Martin stepped.
He did not live in Edgartown among the grandiose homes of the
other Whaling Captains, but in a modest house on a Native American
plantation on Chappaquid-dick. His success did not challenge the
social organization of an island where, despite some apparent
racial harmony, restrictive covenants relating to race and religion
were placed on many property deeds. (Research, Registry of Deeds,
Edgartown).
He
is buried in a Chappaquiddick graveyard where his gravestone,
though an expensive one, is facing the opposite way from the rest
of the stones in the graveyard.
During
the years of their marriage, his wife worked as a housekeeper
for the Pease family of Edgartown where she was praised for the
quality of soap that she made. (interview, Penny Williams, descendant
of Sarah Brown). The Pease family seem to have played a significant
role in the lives of William Martin and Sarah Brown. It is from
the diaries of Jeremiah Pease that I have found valuable information
about William Martin's mother and grandmother, and Martin sailed
as Keeper of the Log on the vessel Europa under John H. Pease
as Master. Other members of the Pease family were involved in
the surveying of the Chappaquiddick Plantation where William Martin
and Sarah Brown made their home.
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