This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Research Library at the Nantucket Historical Association. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the internet.
Summary
The Gardner family of Nantucket descended from Richard and John Gardner, sons of Thomas Gardner, a planter who came from England to Salem, Massachusetts in 1626. Their descendants became captains of whaling ships, land owners and merchants. This collection includes correspondence, deeds and other land records, poems, financial and legal papers, wills, certificates, obituaries, research notes, genealogical materials, inventories, and other papers of family members, relating to many phases of Nantucket history.
Collection Details
- Collection Number:
- MS87
- Title:
- Gardner Family Papers
- Date(s):
- 1717–1960
- Creator:
- Gardner family.
- Extent:
- 1.75 linear feet, approximately 450 items
- Repository:
- Nantucket Historical Association
- Language:
- Material is in English.
Information for Users
Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use: No usage restrictions.
Copyright Notice: Copyright is retained by the authors of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation: [identification of item], in the Gardner Family Papers, Nantucket Historical Association.
Acquisitions Information:
The items in this collection came to the Nantucket Historical Association from a number of different and unrelated sources.
Sensitive Materials Statement:Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual’s private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Nantucket Historical Association assumes no responsibility.
Subject Headings
-
Topical Term
- Ship captains' spouses
- Ship captains
- Women social reformers.
- Candle industry.
- Whale–oil.
Biographical Information
The Gardner family of Nantucket descended from Richard and John Gardner, sons of Thomas Gardner, a planter who came from England to Salem, Mass., in 1626. Richard married his stepsister Sarah Shattuck, daughter of Demaris Shattuck. Sarah Shattuck Gardner was a devoted member of the Society of Friends, for which she suffered during her residence in Salem, before she and her husband moved to Nantucket in 1666 or 1667. John Gardner and his wife, Priscilla Grafton, soon followed. The two brothers were originally in the fishing business but also began accumulating property. Their descendants became sea captains, land owners, and merchants.
Scope and Content
Correspondence, deeds and other land records, poems, financial and legal papers, wills, certificates, obituaries, research notes, genealogical materials, inventories, and other papers of family members, relating to many phases of Nantucket history. Includes papers of Anna Gardner (1816–1901), teacher and social reformer, pertaining to her membership in local women’s and temperance organizations; Charles Gardner (1769–1848), ship captain and merchant, concerning whaling and sales of whale oil and candles; William Edward “Dr. Will” Gardner (1872–1965), Episcopal clergyman, historian, and author, detailing research on his memorials honoring various Nantucketers; Paul Gardner (1730–1823) and Paul Gardner Jr. (1755–1835) relating to land transactions; Charlotte Coffin (1820–1882), Elizabeth Chase (1766–1840), and Susan Gardner (1789–1879), documenting voyages on the Sarah Parker and other ships taken with their whaling captain husbands, economic difficulties faced as widows, and other family matters; and Gideon Gardner (1759–1832), pertaining to problems encountered by islanders during the War of 1812. Other family members represented include Asa Gardner, Elisha Pope Fearing, George Gorham, Grafton Gardner, Jared Gardner, and Jemima Worth Gardner.
Contents
Folder ¼ Abel Gardner: deed, 1754
Folder ½ Abigail Myrick Gardner: receipts and quitclaim, 1812–1855
Folder 1 Abigail Gardner Pinkman: letter to sister, undated
Folder 2 Anna Gardner: speech “Education”, undated
Folder 3 Anna Gardner: speech “Frances E. Willard”, 1889
Folder 4 Anna Gardner: speech “Mind Care”, undated
Folder 5 Anna Gardner: speech “French Revolution”, undated
Folder 6 Anna Gardner: speech “John Greenleaf Whittier”, undated
Folder 7 Anna Gardner: speech “Should Women Study Politics”, 1892
Folder 8 Anna Gardner: speech “25th Anniversary of the Nantucket Sorosis Club”, 1897
Folder 9 Anna Gardner: speech “Spinoza”, undated
Folder 10 Anna Gardner: speech “Teaching in Virginia”, 1865
Folder 11 Anna Gardner: speech “William the Silent”, undated
Folder 12 Anna Gardner: speech “Women and Politics”, 1898
Folder 13 Anna Gardner: speech “Women’s Christian Temperance Union”, undated
Folder 14 Anna Gardner: essay “No One Lives for Himself Alone”, undated
Folder 15 Anna Gardner: lines commemorating the 1st National Women’s Convention, undated
Folder 16 Anna Gardner: fugitive pages of manuscript, undated
Folder 17 Anna Gardner: poetry, undated
Folder 18 Number not in use
Folder 19 Anna Gardner: letters–in, 1894
Folder 20 Arthur Gardner: papers, 1896, 1921, undated
Folder 20 ¼ Barzillai Gardner: letter, 1785
Folder 21 Benjamin Gardner: letter and receipt, 1814–1825
Folder 21 ¼ Benjamin A. Gardner: letter, 1840
Folder 21 ½ Benjamin F. Gardner: warrant, 1832
Folder 22 Charles Gardner, Capt.: letters out, 1812–1821
Folder 23 Charles Gardner, Capt.: letters in, 1818–1819
Folder 24 Charles Gardner, Capt.: bills and business papers, 1808–1882
Folder 25 Charlotte Coffin Gardner: journal, 1852–1855
Folder 25 ½ Crispus Gardner: accounts of death, 1805
Folder 25 ¾ Ebenezer Gardner: sale of land, 1724
Folder 26 Ebenezer Gardner: biography, 1859
Folder 27 Edith Gardner: teacher’s certificate, 1884
Folder 28 Edmund Gardner: letters out, 1807–1872
Folder 29 Edward Gardner: receipt, 1850s
Folder 29 ½ Eliphalet Gardner: legal documents, 1784
Folder 30 Elisha Pope Tearing Gardner: writings, 1904–1911
Folder 31 Eliza B. Gardner: letters, 1824–1835
Folder 32 Eliza Way Joy Gardner: “The History of Kitty Victoria Whitford”, 1864
Folder 32 ½ Elizabeth Gardner Sisson: will of Isaac Sisson, 1832
Folder 33 Elizabeth Chase Gardner: letters out, 1824–1825
Folder 33 ¼ Francis Gardner: deed and bill, 1799, 1854
Folder 33 ¾ George Gardner: will, 1825
Folder 34 George Gardner: deed, 1833
Folder 35 George Gorham Gardner: letters out, 1824–1825
Folder 36 Gideon Gardner: bill and letters, 1759, 1832
Folder 36 ¼ Gideon Gardner: letters, 1795–1805
Folder 36 ½ Gideon Gardner: notes on the War of 1812, 1876
Folder 37 Grafton Gardner: will and deeds, 1787, 1789
OP-87/2 Grafton Gardner: deed, 1829
Folder 38 Capt. Grafton Gardner: letters out, letters in, indenture, 1802–1829
Folder 39 Capt. Grafton Gardner: receipt bills, 1793–1815
Folder 40 Capt. Grafton Gardner: account books and receipts bills, 1815–1824
Folder 41 Capt. Grafton Gardner: receipt bills, 1825–1838
Folder 42 Capt. Grafton Gardner: receipt bill settling estate, 1839–1856
Folder 42 ¼ Hannah Gardner: deed, 1846
Folder 42 ½ Ichabod Gardner: deed, 1822
Folder 43 Jared Gardner: will and financial papers, 1816–1852
Folder 44 Jemima Coffin Gardner: deed, 1837
Folder 45 Jemima Worth Gardner: letters of complaint, undated
Folder 45 ½ Jeremiah Gardner: will, 1777
Folder 46 Jethro Gardner: settlement of estate, undated
Folder 46 ½ John Gardner: letters out, 1747, 1781
Folder 47 John C. Fremont Gardner, copie de lettre, 1821
Folder 47 ½ John Gardner: request of payment, 1800
Folder 48 Capt. John J Gardner: receipts, 1848–1856
Folder 49 John M. Gardner: financial papers, 1822, 1825, 1846–1847
Folder 50 John M. Gardner: receipt and bills, 1848–1850
Folder 51 John M. Gardner: receipt and bill, 1852–1856
Folder 52 Joseph Gardner: will, 1743
Folder 53 Latham Gardner: deed, 1800, 1804, 1826
Folder 54 Libni Gardner: deed, 1742–1816
Folder 54 ¼ Lydia Gardner: poem and receipt, undated
Folder 54 ½ Lydia Gardner: deed, undated
SV-87/1 Lydia Gardner: Record of Deaths, 1819-1855
SV-87/2 Lydia Gardner: Record of Deaths, 1819-1870
SV-87/3 Lydia Gardner: Record of Deaths, 1870-1880
Folder 55 Lydia Barnard Gardner: letter, 1821
Folder 55 ¼ Mary Jenkins Butlers: deed and will, 1791, 1798
Folder 55 ½ Matthew Gardner: marriage certificate, 1898
Folder 55 ¾ Obed Gardner: will, undated
Folder 56 Oliver C. Gardner: receipts, 1817
Folder 57 Paul Gardner: notes on land transaction, undated
Folder 58 Paul Gardner: land transactions, 1780–1808
Folder 59 Paul Gardner Jr.: notes on land transfer, 1796–1807
Folder 60 Paul Gardner Jr.: land transactions, 1792–1799
Folder 61 Paul Gardner Jr.: land transactions, 1800–1809
Folder 62 Paul Gardner Jr.: land transactions, 1810–1819
Folder 63 Paul Gardner Jr.: land transactions, 1820–1821
Folder 64 Paul Gardner Jr.: land transactions, 1822-1824
Folder 65 Paul Gardner Jr.: land transactions, 1825–1829
Folder 66 Paul Gardner Jr.: land transactions, 1830–1833
Folder 67 Paul Gardner Jr.: deed, 1801
Folder 68 Prince Gardner: complaint to court of common pleas, 1805, 1837
Folder 68 ½ Richard Gardner: indenture, 1718
Folder 68 ¾ Richard Gardner: 7 acre grant plan, undated
Folder 69 Sarah B. Gardner: papers, 1824, 1851
Folder 69 ½ Sarah Mooer Gardner Cathcart: will, undated
Folder 70 Silas Gardner: deed of sale, 1795
Folder 70 ½ Solomon Gardner: deed, 1743
Folder 70 ¾ Stephen Gardner: instrument of protest, 1797
Folder 71 Susan A. Gardner: teacher’s certificate, 1866, 1891
Folder 72 Susan Gardner: letters, 1824–1827
Folder 72 ½ Timothy Gardner: deed, 1834
Folder 73 Thomas Gardner: deed, 1799
OPF-87/1 Thomas Gardner: Navy appointments, 1868–1878
Folder 73 ½ Uriah Gardner: act against the estate, undated
Folder 74 William C. Gardner: deed, 1858
OP-87/1 William Edward Gardner: diploma, 1895
Folder 75 William Edward Gardner: papers, 1903–1960
Folder 76 William Edward Gardner: research notes, memorials on Dr. Rey Gilpatrick, 1942–1943, 1960
Folder 77 William Edward Gardner: research notes and memorials on Frederick Sanford, 1862
Folder 78 William Edward Gardner: research for The Clock that Talks, 1952–1954
Folder 79 William Edward Gardner: research on Walter Folger Jr., 1949–1954
Folder 80 William Edward Gardner: research on Walter Folger Jr., 1949
Folder 81 William Edward Gardner: notes on Walter Folger Jr., 1949
Folder 81 ½ William E. Gardner: How We Can Help the New Rector of St. Paul Church, 1944
SV-87/4 William E. Gardner: “Locations, Maps, and Studies” scrapbook, circa 1940
Folder 82 William F. Gardner: note of passing, 1876
Folder 82 ½ Zenas Gardner: deed, 1829
Folder 83 Unidentified members of the Gardner Family: papers, 1774–1856
Items Separated
- OP-87/1-2
- OPF-87/1
- SV-87/1-4
Processing Information
Processed by Thomas Perich, June 2022. Finding aid by Ashley Miller, July 2022.
Materials in this collection were digitized with support from Connie and Tom Cigarran.