Someone left a clipping from the Personals section of a paper – no
doubt a New Bedford one – on a table in the Bell School. When it was
left, and why it had remained on that table, is just another of the
mysteries that one encounters in a society like our own. The paper
dates from September, 1916 but we do not know the day:
“Mrs. A. C. Sherman has announced the engagement of her daughter Helen
Herschel to Russell John Paul of Newport, N. H. It will be remembered
that Miss Sherman, the daughter of the late Captain Albert C. Sherman,
was born on the steam whaler Beluga at Herschel Island, and was the
first white child born north of the Arctic Circle.”
It should be remembered as well that Captain Sherman, a whaling captain
who visited the arctic frequently, sailing out of San Francisco, was
born in Westport June 23, 1849, son of Peleg and Hannah Allen Sherman;
he died in New Bedford in 1912. He was married (to his first wife) in
Westport August 5, 1880; she was Mollie Allen, and died May 17, 1881.
Helen was the product of his second wife, Carolyn L. Nye Kirschbaum
(1858-1896), who died in the Arctic. The Mrs. Sherman of the notice was
his third wife. Helen Herschel did indeed marry Mr. Paul, and lived in
various locations, particularly in Hartford CT.
Helen Herschel Sherman was thus a daughter of Westport, and Herschel
Island (in the arctic north of Alaska) is just another of the many spots
Westporters – or their descendants – have reached.
There are references to sailing into and out of Westport in several whaling logs. We print here – with a few comments – selections from some of them. We are grateful to Michael Dyer, Librarian of the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library for permission to print these extracts. The first is an entry in the log of the bark Solon’s 1854 voyage, and contains very early sailing directions to the wharves at the Point:
"Directions for sailing in & up West Port river bound up from wharf steer to hide a peeked rock just in from the hous of Grinell on the east side then keep that course untill the crack rock comes in range with Leander Brightman hous & that will carry you over the shoal then steer to go round the turn of chanell & up to the wharf at W. Pt."
These are the earliest known sailing directions to the Point, and are interesting as well in that they indicate that whaling ships did stop at Westport (as well as at other places) upon completion of a voyage. Interesting, too, is the fact that only a local person would be able to understand the directions. The channel cannot have been marked in those days, though there were buoys shown on a map of 1860.
Getting out of the river was also hazardous, as we learn from an entry in the log of the Westport whaler Greyhound for June 21st, 1862:
"At three P. M. the tug took us in tow and after pounding a few times on the bar took us out to Hen & Chickens there made all sail and beat out the bay with a fresh breeze at sunset Nomans Land bore east three miles distant had a fine breeze thru the night heading S.S.E. Latter part more moderate and baffling saw blackfish."
Returning to Westport was not always easy either. The following comes from the log of the Solon from another voyage, this one ending in March, 1860. The handwriting of the captain, Joseph Smith, is almost illegible, so we cannot guarantee all the readings in what follows:
3/24 “At 11 PM saw a light apparently a revolving light & supposed it Gay Head & worked accordingly & soon saw ?? bearing NW supposed it Cuttyhunk I worked ship accordingly to get into Westport at 12 midnight [set no?] a thick snow storm lost site of all the lights & at 7 AM cleared off some land all along to North supposed it mainland & I stood for it but soon found a mistake & found the ship down off the west end of Nantucket”
The captain made his way to Martha’s Vineyard, where a pilot came out and took him to Edgartown. On the 26th he worked out of the harbor; on the 27th he anchored at “Tarpauling Cove, a good harbor.” The final entry is for the 28th:
3/28 “At sunrise in the morning was off Quixos hole started to go through wind came out north but ship through & then started for New Bedford beat all the way & came to anchor at Clarkes Pt at 11 1/4 AM furled all sails crew started for shore in sharkes (?) boats I payed off the Pilot his charge was 15 dollars from Edgartown to Clarkes Pt. so I had 30 dollars pilotage but go along very well I left the ship at 1 1/2 PM being the last to leave when the ship keeper took charge”
I add from the Atlantic Coast Pilot Atlantic Coast (Department of Commerce and Labor, 3rd. Ed., 1912):
"Westport River has a narrow and crooked channel, with a depth of 7 feet on the outer bar and 5 feet on the inner bar below the village of Wesport Point, which is about 1 1/2 miles above its mouth, on the point of land between the two branches. The channel is well marked by buoys, but is too narrow and crooked to be followed, except with local knowledge; 9 feet is the deepest draft that can be taken to the village at high water. There is a depth of 10 feet alongside some of the wharves. In southerly gales a heavy sea breaks on the bar at the entrance, making it unsafe to enter the harbor. About 1 mile above its mouth the Westport River divides into two branches, East Branch and West Branch, which have narrow and shallow channels and are only navigated by small craft.
Vessels should not attempt to enter at night. On the western side of the entrance is a peculiar, rounded nubble, about 30 feet high, on which a flagstaff is erected, which serves as a guide to the entrance.
Tides. – The mean rise and fall of tides is 3.1 feet
The tidal currents set in and out of the entrance with considerable velocity, and should be allowed for.”
W. F. Wyatt