![Mayhewfolger](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Mayhew_Folger.jpg)
Mayhew Folger (March 9, 1774 – September 1, 1828) was an American
whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
who captained the sealing ship ''Topaz'' that rediscovered the
Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...
in 1808, while one of 's mutineers was still living.
Early life and family
Mayhew was born on March 12, 1774, in
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
, the second child of William Folger and Ruth Coffin. Mayhew was a member of the Folger whaling family of
Nantucket
Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...
, who were prominent Quakers. He was the great-great-great grandson of
Peter Foulger
Peter Folger or Foulger (died 1690) was a poet and an interpreter of the American Indian language for the first settlers of Nantucket. He was instrumental in the colonization of Nantucket Island in the Massachusetts colony. He was the maternal ...
and
Mary ''Morrill'' Foulger and, through them, is the first cousin, three times removed, of
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
.
He married his second cousin, Mary Joy, on March 7, 1798, on Nantucket. Mayhew was the uncle of
Lucretia Coffin Mott
Lucretia Mott (''née'' Coffin (surname), Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an Quakers in North America, American Quaker, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had for ...
, daughter of his sister, Anna Folger, and Thomas Coffin. Folgers grandson,
William Mayhew Folger (1844-1928), became a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
rear admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
.
Rediscovery of the Pitcairn Islands
Mayhew Folger captained the ship ''Topaz'' that left Boston on April 5, 1807, hunting for seals. They rediscovered the
Pitcairn Islands
The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...
on February 6, 1808. At that time, only one of the original mutineers, Alexander Smith, whose real name was
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
, was still alive. ''Topaz'' remained at the island for only ten hours.
The ''Bountys Chronometer
Captain Folger was given the ''Bountys
azimuth compass
An azimuth compass (or azimuthal compass) is a nautical instrument used to measure the magnetic azimuth, the angle of the arc on the horizon between the direction of the sun or some other celestial object and the magnetic north. This can be compare ...
and
Larcum Kendall
Larcum Kendall (21 September 1719 in Charlbury, Oxfordshire – 22 November 1790 in London) was a British watchmaker.
Early life
Kendall was born on 21 September 1719 in Charlbury. His father was a mercer and linen draper named Moses Ke ...
K2
marine chronometer
A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or in the modern ...
by Adams. The K2 was the third precision marine chronometer made after the H4, designed by
John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English Carpentry, carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of calculating longitude while at s ...
. The chronometer was taken by the Spanish governor at
Juan Fernandez Island. The chronometer was later purchased by a Spaniard named Castillo. When he died, his family conveyed it to Captain Herbert of
HMS ''Calliope'', who had it conveyed to the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
around 1840. The chronometer is now in Greenwich, London.
Accounts of the rediscovery
The discovery was reported by Folger to the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in 1808, a report of which reached the
British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
on May 14, 1809, which was then published in the ''
Quarterly Review
The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River ...
'' in 1810. Captain Folger also related an account of the discovery to a friend, Captain
Amasa Delano
''Benito Cereno'' is a novella by Herman Melville, a fictionalized account about the revolt on a Spanish slave ship captained by Don Benito Cereno, first published in three installments in '' Putnam's Monthly'' in 1855. The tale, slightly revi ...
, who published it in his book, ''A Narrative of Voyages and Travels in 1817''; the narrative is also included in the book ''
Pitcairn's Island'', written by Charles Nordoff and James Hall.
Later years
Folger and his family migrated to
Kendal, Ohio The plat for the town of Kendal, in Stark County, Ohio was entered on April 20, 1812. It was named by its founder, Thomas Rotch (1767–1823), after the town of Kendal, in Cumbria, England. Kendal was absorbed into the town of Massillon, Ohio in 1 ...
in 1813. He became the first postmaster of neighboring
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city in Stark County, Ohio, Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately west of Canton, Ohio, Canton, south of Akron, and south of Cleveland. The population was 32,146 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Mass ...
when the post office was created there in 1828.
[Footprints: Presbyterianism in Massillon, Ohio by R. Paul Hildebrand & Virginia Hildebrand] He died September 1, 1828 in Massillon.
See also
*
History of the Pitcairn Islands
The history of the Pitcairn Islands begins with the colonization of the islands by Polynesians in the 11th century. Polynesian people established a culture that flourished for four centuries and then vanished. They lived on Pitcairn and Henderson ...
* A quote about the Folger family from
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...
is in the entry for
Mary Morrill
Mary Folger ( Morrell (Morrel/Morrill/Morrills/Morill); –1704) was the maternal grandmother of Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States. In Herman Melville's ''Moby-Dick'' she was cited as ancestor of the Folger whalers.
P ...
.
External links
Mayhew Folger's account of meeting the Bounty descendantsBook by Nordoff and Hall which includes Folger's account of the rediscoveryAnother link to Nordoff and Hall's book The Larcum Kendall Bounty Watch in the National Maritime Museum
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Folger, Mayhew
1774 births
1828 deaths
People from Nantucket, Massachusetts
Benjamin Franklin
Sea captains
Mutiny on the Bounty
Sealers
American people in whaling
Explorers of the Pacific