“ … an Elephant's Child—who was full of 'satiable curtiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions.” —Rudyard Kipling, Just So Stories: The Elephant's Child, 1902.

Flowers by Ann S. Collins, 1826. Cape Ann Museum Archives and Library

The Cape Ann Museum, which plays such a prominent role in the cultural heart of Cape Ann today, has a history which reaches back into the 19th century when few museums existed. This was an era when a growing number of people, with a curious and studious mindset, were beginning to desire greater involvement in enriching experiences and community. The advent of these activities on Cape Ann mirrored the historical times in the country and laid the ground for the eventual formation of the Museum.

In the 1870s Americans had become fascinated by the scientific discoveries being made in the world around them, seemingly on a daily basis. The periodic table of elements was mapped out, Stanley met Livingston in darkest Africa, Lister was propounding his theory of antiseptic surgery, Mendel published his Law of Heredity, and in 1876 America celebrated its centennial with its first World Expo.

Scientific discoveries became tools for economic growth, most significant of which were innovations in technology which increased efficiency in the workplace. These innovations contributed to a rise in the standard of living and gave the developing middle class both the leisure and the money to explore the fascinating world around them.

The early meeting minutes and accession records of what is now the Cape Ann Museum reflect that change, weaving a slightly quirky and, in today’s information age, a somewhat naive story of "satiable curtiosity." And a thirst for understanding the physical world.

The First Meeting of Like-Minded Friends, March 1875

It all began in March 1875 when Dr. Herman E. Davidson (1815-1890) invited a group of friends to meet in the front parlor of his house, which is now known as the Saunders House and forms part of the Sawyer Free Library.

The purpose was to discuss forming a club to study and advance Scientific and Literary knowledge. In doing so they were following a national trend to form small, community based, amateur lyceums and societies that focused on studying matters of interest in the fields of science and natural history. These friends were forward thinking men and women in their 30s and 40s, two or more decades younger than Dr. Davidson.

The initial group consisted of two doctors, three teachers, two ministers, two members of the Low family, a businessman and an activist.

The doctors were Dr. Davidson, who was elected president of the club (and incidentally was a close friend of the artist Fitz Henry Lane) and Dr. Edward E. Barden (1846-1875), who was a graduate of both Tufts & Harvard, and lived in Rockport.

The teachers were John W. Allard (1832-1905), who was a Dartmouth graduate and the Superintendent of Schools in Gloucester at the time; Miss Sarah G. Duley (1839-1920), who was a member of the Women's Suffrage Association, a high school teacher, and the first woman elected to the Gloucester School Committee; and Henry C. Hallowell (1829-1894), who was the principal of Collins School, and became the Secretary of the Board of Education in Philadelphia a few years later. Both Mr. Allard and Miss Duley were elected Vice Presidents of the Association.

The ministers were Rev. Minot G. Gage (1840-1897), who was a Harvard graduate and the Unitarian minister in town and Rev. Richard Eddy (1828-1906), the universalist minister at the Middle Street Church. Rev. Eddy He had earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from Tufts and had served as a Chaplain in the Civil War. Both ministers were elected secretaries of society.

The two members of the Low family were Maj. David W. Low (1833-1919), who was a Jack-of-many-trades, a Civil engineer, the Town Clerk, a Real Estate agent, a veteran of the Civil War and a founding member of the Cape Ann Historical Society (a similar organization) and was elected Treasurer; and Gorham P. Low, Jr. (1846-1894), who was a graduate of Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard, and a Civil Engineer focusing on hydraulic systems. He worked on projects all around the country and was another veteran of the Civil War.

The businessman was Col. Jonas H. French (1829-1903), who had been a Lieut. Colonel in the Civil War, had a distillery business and was President of Cape Ann Granite Co.

And the activist was Mrs. Maria H. Bray (1828-1921), who was the wife of the Thatcher Island Lighthouse keeper and is best known for her feat of keeping the Twin Lights ablaze for three nights during a snowstorm when her husband was away. She was also the Head of the Women's Suffrage Association in 1874, active in anti-slavery and temperance movements and a recognized authority on Marine Plants, especially Sea Mosses and seaweeds.

Cape Ann Scientific and Literary Association

The group discussed several names for the organization: Cape Ann Club, Cape Ann Institute, Cape Ann Scientific and Literary Association and Cape Ann Natural History Society and Museum. They finally chose Cape Ann Scientific and Literary Association as they felt it best showed the intent of the club, which was to study science and literature. The word museum, they said, "being incidental."

The founders decided on three primary areas of study with the intention of learning all they could about each subject through debates, readings, demonstrations, lectures, and classes.

The first area of study was Natural History, which embraced Geography, Geology, Minerology, Botany and Zoology. Second was Physical Science, which included Natural Philosophy, Astronomy, Chemistry and Microscopy. Third was History and Literature, which encompassed Modern and Ancient History, and General Literature. They then set about electing the officers as mentioned before and finding a place to hold their meetings.

For the first two years the monthly gatherings were held in the GAR Hall, which they rented for $60 per annum, including light and heat. Then they moved to the hall above the City National Bank, renaming it Scientific Hall, for $240 per year. This building was located near where the Police now build their lobster-trap tree every winter.

Despite their rejection of the word museum in the title, their first official action was to accept a cabinet of minerals for display in the Hall, and an essay on The Snail by Mrs. Bray which was placed in the Association's Archives. Three years later they had five display cabinets containing an eclectic collection of curios, as well as settees, chairs, map cases, and the beginnings of a library.

In May 1875 they examined the flow of blood in a frog's foot with a microscope supplied by Dr. Conant; Miss Duley read an essay on the Scientific Romance of two Butterflies; and Miss Young read an essay on the Secular Hypothesis (the belief that science would make religion obsolete). Heady stuff.

Collections of Unusual Objects – From the World

In June they received their first book, The Fishes of New England, a gift from Samuel E. Sawyer. In September they voted to hire a curator and chose Miss Lucy P. Burnham, who was reported to have a "well cultured mind." She was the oldest daughter of the fourteen children of Parker Burnham, one of the owners of the Burnham Brothers' Marine Railways, and with her appointment the association began to seriously collect unusual or interesting objects to discuss and display.

However, these objects were not limited to those with local connections. The association's members were fascinated with the entire world, not just Cape Ann. Among the first donations were a Parrot fish, a mongoose, two starfish, and a "Peculiar fish from India." All of which had hopefully passed through the hands of a competent taxidermist, perhaps Dr. Davidson himself as he had invented a method of mounting fish for study called Ichthy-taxidermy.

In February 1876 they purchased a burglar and fireproof safe to store their growing collection of coins. These were an American $20 gold piece and a rare East Indian gold coin as well as a collection of coins given to the Association for safety by the city. Later, a gift of a sponge attached to a rock found by a fisherman at 60 fathoms on George’s Bank gave rise to much excitement and led them to take notice of a large, yet untapped, local resource—the numerous fishermen on Cape Ann—and to a decision to encourage local mariners to present any unusual finds. This led to oddities like a long-horned beetle found on a salt barque from Spain, a piece of worm-eaten plank from a ship sailing in southern waters and a deep-sea crab.

Many of the gifts continued to be somewhat eccentric. A branch from a Palm Tree, a Zulu spear, a coin embedded in lava from Mt. Vesuvius, two salamanders (which gave rise to a discussion on the difference between a salamander and a lizard), the head of an alligator, a bat. The United States Fish Commission gave a full set of samples of marine life collected around Cape Ann, although the Association had to provide the jars and preserving alcohol. The first picture, a sketch of the West Gloucester Meeting House, and the first painting (which was of Rev. Daniel Fuller the minister at West Gloucester from 1770 to 1827) were both donated in 1879.

Some association members were not impressed with the gifts so far. Mrs. Bray, reporting on the donations acquired in 1879, which included her own gift of 23 stuffed birds, commented “I should not feel justified in stating that the contributions have been very numerous, or of great worth, but most of the specimens have possessed some intrinsic value.”

The “intrinsic value” of at least two of the gifts proved to be a little troublesome. A live turtle that had been donated and given into the care of twelve-year-old Roger Conant was reported to have escaped. Miss Clark donated two specimens of a freshwater fish called a Mud Puppy, and four months later it was reported that the Mud Puppies were "found to be still alive."

The Animated Meetings of the Association

Almost every meeting included a debate, a reading, or a lecture on a variety of wide ranging and specific subjects. For instance, a dramatic poem from King Rene's Daughter, a "lyrical drama" by Henrik Hertz published in 1867, performed by two association members. Other discourses were on subjects such as “Africa Translated,” “Ferns,” “the Trap Door Spider,” “Geology,” “the Dodo,” “the Telephone,” “Corals,” “Glaciers,” “Primeval Man,” “the Phonograph,” “Flowers,” “Architecture” and “Japan.” These readings were often given by association members from articles found in various magazines such as Scribners and The Naturalist, which they took out a year's subscription to. The subject of one such reading was Darwin's Theory of Coral Reef Formation. Another time, Dr. Conant talked on the subdivisions of the animal kingdom with an illustrated chart of comparative anatomy, which led to a discussion on the theory of evolution, a hot topic in the 1800s.

Abbey Burnham spoke on “The Eastern Question,” Europe's response to the so-called Turkish War, another hot topic. Rev. Eddy's wife, Sarah, made one meeting "very interesting" by reading notes on the courtship and marriage of the English poet John Milton, from his The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, in which he argued that marriage is not always compatible, and the church should allow its annulment. This seemed an unusual topic for the era, which may have had a subtext as Mrs. Eddy and her husband divorced several years later.

Some of the members were experts in various fields and the association rarely invited guest lecturers. For instance, local artist D. Jerome Elwell gave a talk on Italian Art, illustrated with photographs. Elwell had spent several years studying art in Italy under the patronage of local philanthropist Samuel Sawyer. Dr. Conant described a new way to locate a "bullet lodged in a man's body" (presumably women did not get shot). Mr. Herne of Rockport, who was Superintendent of the Commercial Cable Co., discussed submarine cables, and Mrs. John J. Babson read a paper on her three-year study of the wasp. Some matters under discussion are still relevant today. Climate Change and Cape Ann as a summer settlement for Indigenous people, for instance. When they did invite an expert to talk, they expected large crowds, so the event usually took place in City Hall, as in 1907, when they engaged Commander Perry to talk on his recent Arctic expedition.

And there were classes, which were held almost every evening of the week, often in the homes of the teachers. Early on subjects on offer were political economy, geology, English literature, French, German and history. Later offered were music, economics, Spanish, sanitary science, Shakespeare, Greek, Hebrew and biology. And, for men only, "practical working men's courses." Mathematics and physics were added, followed a few years later by the even more practical Steam Fitting and Electrical Engineering.

Field Meetings and Open-Air Singing

Outdoor events were popular. Called Field Meetings, they were held during the summer months and usually consisted of a themed walk followed by lunch or dinner and musical entertainment. In June 1876 there was a stroll along the Magnolia Shore the purpose of which was not mentioned, although when it was repeated a few summers later they examined rare wildflowers. In both instances the walk was followed by dinner at Mrs. Bray's summer boarding house, the Philota Cafe. In July there was a boat trip to Thacher Island with a talk on pine trees. Were there ever pine trees on Thatcher Island? Or was the speaker taking advantage of a captive audience? In August they had a picnic at Rafe's Chasm where John J. Babson gave a talk on the early settlement of the area and Miss Lillian Tappan read from Longfellow's poem the Wreck of Hesperus.

In 1877, they enjoyed a visit to a member's Annisquam home and a half hour of open-air singing and a visit to the Bay View quarry where diamond steam drilling, blasting, hoisting, and dressing stone were demonstrated, followed by a clam bake and a sing-along. The quarry trip proved so popular that they offered it again in 1879 and 500 people turned up.

Field Meetings were not cancelled due to inclement weather. When a heavy thundershower interrupted a visit to Pigeon Cove in August 1878, they retreated to the Ocean View House and listened to a talk on the native version of the sundew, followed by lunch. In 1901 they enjoyed a picnic after a walk through Dogtown guided by a map showing the cellar holes, copies of which were deposited in the Archives. And on Patriots Day in 1903 they witnessed a demonstration of a rescue at sea using the breeches buoy. Such a serious topic warranted no mention of lunch or musical entertainment.

Paper records such as books, documents and maps, which are the nucleus of today's Library and Archives, were exceedingly rare in the early years. In fact, at the April 1879 Meeting a member, rather dryly, suggested that perhaps "the bookcase might be filled with books" adding that there would be no need to hire more staff as the curator would also act as the librarian. The United States Fish Commission promptly donated their five-volume report and several members presented an unrecorded number of unidentified books including five “ancient" ones from Mrs. Bray.

Some of the donated books were rather esoteric. For example, Complaint or Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality, which is a poem in blank verse published in 1766 that is still in the collection of the Cape Ann Museum. Also, a 1717 edition of Meat Out of the Eater or Meditations Concerning the Necessity, End and Usefulness of Afflictions Unto God's Children, which is no longer in the collection.

Membership Waned

There were difficulties as enthusiasm waxed and waned among the membership. Sometimes gathering enough people to attend meetings was a problem, even though a quorum was just seven members. At one point the Corresponding Secretary reported that his onerous labors had consisted of writing just one letter the entire year.

1887, a well-attended music program. Cape Ann Museum Archives and Library.

Up until now the Association had been a private club where prospective members had to formally apply and be accepted by the board. Then in 1882, less than a decade after the inauguration, they contemplated opening to the public on some afternoons so that non-members could view their collections, at the same time proposing that some lectures also be open to the public.

In 1887, they were ecstatic when ninety people attended the performance of the music class. But by 1900 interest had again waned, to the extent that it was suggested that they disband and donate their funds to the Addison Gilbert Hospital and their collections to the schools and the Sawyer Free Library. Fortunately for us they chose to work on renewing interest, developing new classes such as outdoor sketching taught by Mary P. H. Hale, an artist and professor of art; a study of birds led by Mr. Walton the Hermit of Ravenswood; and a Kipling Evening with non-members charged $1.00 to attend.

From New Hall on Middle Street to the Captain Elias Davis house on Pleasant Street

Their efforts were successful enough that two years later they purchased the building on the corner of Middle and Center Streets and rented space on the second floor to the Christian Scientists. By 1904 New Hall, as it was known, was open to the public on Wednesday afternoons during the summer months. The Association remained there until they bought the Captain Elias Davis House on Pleasant Street in 1923, which became, and remains, the core of the Cape Ann Museum.

The purchase of New Hall was the start of the Association becoming focused on the history of Cape Ann and the accomplishments of its residents. It was also when the Library and Archives began to garner its own intriguing collection, starting in 1903 with acquisitions of “whatsoever was desirable” from the disbanding Cape Ann Historical Society, the organization Major Low had been associated with. The Cape Ann Historical Society had incorporated in 1892 to investigate, record and perpetuate the history of Cape Ann through the collecting and preserving of ephemera, documents, books and memoirs that illustrated local history and the individuals associated with it. However, it was not until 1926 that the Association finally added the word Historical to their name and ordered new stationery headed with the words Cape Ann Scientific, Literary and Historical Association.

The Cape Ann Museum has continued to collect items of local significance and interest and to periodically reassess its holdings, culling items that were once considered of interest but are no longer pertinent, such as Miss Hovey's gift of The Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold, an epic poem describing the life and teachings of Buddha, which is no longer in the library, while items that are relevant to Cape Ann's history are still carefully preserved in the Museum's Archives.

Paper attesting to the former slave Fortune being free. Cape Ann Museum Archives and Library.

Among the most ancient are: The scrap of paper that told anyone questioning the former slave Fortune that he had been freed by Nathaniel Haskell in 1777. A page from an account book listing money paid out by the captain of the schooner John for repairs, provisions and wages for the seven named crewmen for a fishing trip in 1795. A paper certifying that John Babson was the master of the schooner Lark and a citizen of the United States in 1796. A permit for the ship Flora, owned by local merchant David Pearce, to take on board 88 barrels of sugar in Gloucester in 1797.

At the end of the first year, 1875, total membership had reached 69 and they spent a lot of time in debate and discussion of a wide range of subjects. They would have greatly appreciated the 26 lectures that Cape Ann Museum offered in 2022, with titles like A Geological Timescale of Cape Ann and T.S. Eliot's New England Roots. As well as activities like the Earth Day Picnic and the Courtyard Concert Performances. Today's curriculum focuses on the arts rather than steam-fitting, Shakespeare, and German, and in 2022 the museum held 500 Classes on subjects such as Sculpting Self and Balance in Motion. More than 11,000 people attended these courses, including over 3,500 children and teens, age groups the founders never even considered accommodating.

Within our period of the first thirty years the final lecture was in April 1905 when Miss Honora Lane gave a talk on her experiences in Greece and the Levant. The last class was on Shakespeare and there were no Field Meetings proposed. The final musical event was in December when a large audience attended the event and "listened to classical music rendered by the Victor Talking Machine," courtesy of Isaac Patch.

Almost 200 years ago those eleven men and women gathered in Dr. Davidson's front parlor were excited about actively engaging in the study of the unexplored world around them. Today the Cape Ann Museum still encourages its members to follow that path with that same "satiable curtiosity."

Stephanie Buck received a BSc from London University in England before relocating to Gloucester in 1970. She has had several careers including that of Librarian/Archivist at the Cape Ann Museum, retiring in 2018. She is the author and co-author of various lectures, articles, essays and books, including Fitz Henry Lane: Family and Friends, with Sarah Dunlap, in 2005; the installation catalogue Strong Breezes and Passing Clouds for the Cape Ann Museum, which received an Honorable Mention in the NEMA publication Award Competition in 2015; and co-author with Mary Ellen Lepionka of the evolving Cape Ann Slavery and Abolition website.