Lot
769 
(Massachusetts) "Nantucket 7 Mo 10th 1776", Quaker-date dateline on folded letter sent privately from shipping merchant Christopher Starbuck endorsed "p Saml Starbuck" to Nicholas Brown at Providence R.I., letter concerns purchase of vessels and cargo of fresh fish, mention William Rotch, scion of the important Nantucket and later New Bedford shipping and whaling enterprise; some toning and edge splitting, Fine and scarce early Nantucket letter sent during the Revolutionary War. Estimate $200 - 300.
One of William Rotch's vessels, the "Bedford", was involved in the 1775 Boston Tea Party. The addressee, Nicholas Brown, was himself a member of a prominent Providence merchant shipping firm, who during the Revolution relocated to Nantucket following the British blockade of the Rhode Island coast. The Island of Nantucket was neutral during the Revolutionary War. Once safely on the island, he joined forces with Christopher Starbuck in a joint venture.
Realized: $200