Description:
Silver tablespoon with a downturned fiddle-end handle, pointed shoulders, and a pointed oval bowl, which is marked "W. HADWEN" in a serrated rectangle for William Hadwen (1791-1852), and engraved with the initials "GHS" in foliate script on the front of the handle. Born in Newport, RI, Hadwen visited Nantucket in 1820 for his cousin Nathaniel Barney's marriage to Eliza Starbuck (creator of the Barney Genealogical Record), and became acquainted with his future wife Eunice Starbuck, sister to Eliza. In 1829, Hadwen sold his silver and jewelry business to his apprentice James Easton (1807-1903), and went into partnership with cousin Nathaniel Barney as whale oil merchants and candle makers. The two men's father-in-law, Joseph Starbuck, was one of the most powerful whale oil merchants of the era. Hadwen and Barney's original factory was located on upper Main Street, but in 1849 they purchased the brick candle factory on Broad Street from Richard Mitchell and Sons for $6,200.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+P.482 |
