Editing Nantucket (section)

===Nantucket settlers===

European settlement of Nantucket did not begin in earnest until 1659, when Thomas Mayhew sold nine-tenths of his interest to a group of investors, led by [[Tristram Coffin (settler)|Tristram Coffin]], "for the sum of thirty pounds (equal to £{{Inflation|UK|30|1659|fmt=c}} today) also two beaver hats, one for myself, and one for my wife".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Worth|first1=Henry|title=Nantucket Lands and Landowners|date=1901|publisher=Nantucket Historical Association|pages=53–82|edition=Volume 2, Issue 1}}</ref>

The nine original purchasers were Tristram Coffin, Peter Coffin, [[Thomas Macy]], [[Christopher Hussey (died 1686)|Christopher Hussey]], Richard Swain, Thomas Barnard, [[Stephen Greenleaf]], John Swain and William Pile. Mayhew and the nine purchasers then each took on partners in the venture. These additional shareholders were Tristram Coffin Junior, James Coffin, John Smith, Robert Pike, Thomas Look, Robert Barnard, Edward Starbuck, Thomas Coleman, John Bishop and Thomas Mayhew Junior. These twenty men and their heirs were the Proprietors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nha.org/research/nantucket-history/history-topics/who-were-the-proprietors/|title=Who were the Proprietors?|work=Nantucket Historical Association|access-date=December 9, 2023}}</ref>

Anxious to add to their number and to induce tradesmen to come to the island, the total number of shares was increased to twenty-seven. The original purchasers needed the assistance of tradesmen who were skilled in the arts of weaving, milling, building and other pursuits and selected men who were given half a share provided that they lived on Nantucket and carried on their trade for at least three years. By 1667, twenty-seven shares had been divided among 31 owners.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=Florence|title=A Grandfather for Benjamin Franklin: The True Story of a Nantucket Pioneer and His Mates|date=1940|publisher=Meador|page=183}}</ref> Seamen and tradesmen who settled in Nantucket included Richard Gardner (arrived 1667) and Capt. John Gardner (arrived 1672), sons of [[Thomas Gardner (planter)|Thomas Gardner]].<ref>Gardner, Frank A MD (1907). ''Thomas Gardner Planter and Some of his Descendants''. Salem, MA: Essex Institute. (via [https://books.google.com/books?id=k6hLAAAAMAAJ&dq=thomas+gardner+planter&pg=PA1 Google Books])</ref> The first settlers focused on farming and raising sheep, but [[overgrazing]] and the growing number of farms made these activities untenable, and the islanders soon began turning to the sea for a living.<ref name="philbrick2001">{{Cite book|last=Philbrick|first=Nathaniel|title=[[In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex]]|publisher=Penguin|year=2001|isbn=978-1-101-22157-0|location=New York, NY|author-link=Nathaniel Philbrick}}</ref>

[[File:The town of Sherburne in the island of Nantucket (NYPL b12610613-422499).jpg|thumb|300px|right|The town on Nantucket Island, when it was still called Sherburne, in 1775]]

Before 1795, the town on the island was called Sherburne.<ref name="Sherburne">{{cite book|last1=Brookes M.D.|first1=Richard|title=A General Gazetteer ... Illustrated with maps ... The fifteenth edition, with considerable additions and improvements|date=1819|publisher=J.Bumpus|location=London|page=471|edition=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neBhAAAAcAAJ&q=sherburne+massachusets&pg=PR3|access-date=September 20, 2017}}</ref> The original settlement was near Capaum Pond. At that time, the pond was a small harbor whose entrance silted up, forcing the settlers to dismantle their houses and move them northeast by two miles to the present location.<ref>{{cite web|title=Discover Nantucket|url=http://www.discovernantucket.com/history.php|website=discovernantucket.com|publisher=The Inquirer and Mirror|access-date=September 20, 2017}}</ref> On June 8, 1795, the bill proposed by [[Micajah Coffin]] to change the town's name to the "Town of Nantucket" was endorsed and signed by Governor [[Samuel Adams]] to officially change the town name.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gardner|first=Will|title=The Coffin Saga|publisher=Whaling Museum Publications|year=1949|isbn=|location=Nantucket Island, Massachusetts|pages=}}</ref>