136 THE ISLAND OF NANTUCKET. 



Lieut. Maury l c saw through " the whole thing iu a 

 moment, and expressed great surprise that it had never 

 been discovered before. He also said he would use his 

 best endeavor to obtain for Mr. Spoonersome substan- 

 tial recognition from government of the service he had 

 rendered navigation ; but Mr. Spooner never heard 

 anything from him. 



Mary StarbucJc. 



The " great Mary Starbuck," as she has often been 

 termed by her admirers, although not born at Nan- 

 tucket, was closely identified with the early history of 

 the place, having been the daughter of its first chief 

 magistrate, and the mother of the first white child 

 born upon the island. 



From Wm. C. Folger, Esq., the compiler has gath- 

 ered a few facts in relation to this celebrated woman 

 He says : — 



" Mary Coffin, daughter of Tristram and Dionis, 

 was born in Haverhill, Mass., Feb. 20, 1645, and came 

 with her parents to Nantucket in 1660 or 1661. She 

 married Nathaniel Starbuck, Sr., son of Edward 

 and Katherine (Reynolds) Starbuck, probably in 1661 

 or 1662. Their first child was a daughter named 

 Mary Starbuck, who was born March 30, 1663. She 

 married James Gardner, son of Eichard and Sarah. 

 They had four sons and two daughters. She died in 

 1696, and was the first white child born on the island 

 of Nantucket. The great Mary, her mother, had in 

 all ten children, four sons and six daughters. She 

 died Nov. 13, 1717, and was buried in the Friends' 



