Nantucket Only Yesterday: An Island View of the Twentieth Century

Nantucket Only Yesterday: An Island View of the Twentieth Century, Revised and Indexed, by Robert F. Mooney

1900: Nantucket was a town of walkers and talkers. People walked everywhere and enjoyed the company of their neighbors. Although the population was declining, the farmers and fishermen tended to have large failies whose boys and girls went to work at an early age. The island yeared for a revival of its maritime trade, which had been beset y problems of weather, distance, and declining capital investment. The local fishermen had a hard life and made little money. The farmers were always in debt to the bank. Yet friends and relations helped one another. There were few luxuries, no vacations, but many good times. Like most New Englanders, Nantucketers lived a hard and independent life, and did not complain.

- from Nantucket Only Yesterday