| Here are some of the historic persons you can learn about. You can choose to listen to a CD featuring eight voices with music or just wander, look, read, and linger at the exhibits. | |
Joseph Bates, Jr., 1792-1872One of the three original founders of the Seventh Day Adventists |
William Bradford 1823-1892Native and lifelong resident of the part of Fairhaven that subsequently became Acushnet. Internationally renowned marine painter and photographer, commissioned by Queen Victoria of England. |
Cara Rogers Broughton 1867-1939Daughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers. Contributed money the town used to puchase Fort Phoenix from the Federal Government. |
F. Eben Brown 1890-1980Postmaster of Fairhaven and State Representative; patented a harpoon gun in the 1800s. |
John I Bryant 1850-1929Served in Civil War, served many years as a Fairhaven Selectman. |
John Cooke 1606-1695Came to Plymouth at the age of 14 aboard the Mayflower in 1620. One of the original purchasers of Old Dartmouth, he settled in what is now Fairhaven |
Edward A. Dana 1818-1897Dairy farmer, trout breeder and inventor who invented Dana Wind Engine a highly efficient windmill which was sold throughout the country. |
Elizabeth Delano 1845-1933Fairhaven artist noted for paintings of flowers. |
Sarah Delano 1854-1941Mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
Warren Delano II 1809-1898- the grandfather of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was involved in the China Trade of 1830 - 1860s |
Lemuel D. Eldred 1850-1921Marine artist also known for etchingsA brief biography with links to images and other information |
Major Israel Fearing 1758-1825Wareham militia leader who marched to Fairhaven with 100 to 150 men to help drive the British from Fairhaven Village during the raid in September 1778 |
Charles Gifford 1839-1904Artist of the Luminist School A brief biography with links to images and other information |
Weston Howland 1815-1901Purchased Ezekial Sawin mansion in 1867. Said to be the first person to refine petroleum. |
Charles Lewin 1902-1965The Editor-in-Chief of the New Bedford Standard Times, promoter of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. A friend of Joseph Kennedy, father of the President.in an era of great newspapers and great newspapermen, Fairhaven's Charles Lewin stood at the top of his profession. A speech about Lewin by Judge William H. Carey |
William LeBaron Jenney 1832-1907Fairhaven native, designed and built the world's first skyscraper in Chicago in 1886 |
William F. Nye 1824-1910Founder of Nye Oil Co. who began refining whale oil in the kitchen of his Fairhaven home in 1865. Today the company, now Nye Lubricants, provides oil for NASA's space shuttles. |
Manjiro Nakahama 1827-1898- First Japanese person to live in America. Shipwrecked, he was rescued and brought to Fairhaven by Captain William Whitfield. He helped to cement relations between Japan and the U.S. when Commodore Perry arrived in Japan |
Abbie Palmer Gifford Rogers 1841-1894Fairhaven native and first wife of Henry Huttleston Rogers, in whose honor the Town Hall was presented to Fairhaven. |
Henry Huttleston Rogers 1840-1909- Business genius of Standard Oil and benefactor of Fairhaven |
(Mary) Millicent Rogers 1902-1953Granddaughter of Henry Huttleston Rogers. She was a prominent socialite during the 1930s and her vast collection of turquoise jewelry and southwestern artifacts are housed in a museum bearing her name in Taos, New Mexico. |
Ezekial Sawin 1792-1870First president of the National Bank of Fairhaven. Builder of the first mansion in Fairhaven, featured in the movie "Down to the Sea in Ships" |
Walter Silveira 1901-1988Served the longest term as a Fairhaven selectman, 44 years, from 1944 until his death in 1988, which may be a Massachusetts record. |
Martha Simon 1796-1859Said to be the last full-blooded Wampanoag native in FairhavenA portrai of her by Albert Bierstadt is in the Millicent Library. |
Captain Joshua Slocum 1844-1909The first man to sail alone around the world. Left from Fairhaven on a boat provided by Eben Pierce |
Levi Morton Snow 1841-1915Operated the drug store at the corner of Main and Center Streets from 1876 to 1910 and was prominent in civic affairs, served as State Representative in 1900 |
Mary Ann (Mrs. Lemuel) Tripp 1810-1906She made two voyages on her husband's ship and became the first woman to sail around the world. |
Harry Tunstall 1870-1943Inventor of the Tunstall Comber, an important improvement in a machine vital in the production of industrial yarn |
Mark Twain1835-1910Author and humorist, frequent visitor to Fairhaven, close friend of Henry Huttleston Rogers, who rescued Twain from financial disaster |
Bartholomew West 1627-1703Grandson of John Cooke; West's house was one of several burned by the British during their attach on New Bedford and Fairhaven in 1778. In his eighties at the time, West was carried from the home by his servant, Hannah Sogg, before the British set fire to the building. |
Captain William H. Whitfield 1804-1886Fairhaven whaling captain who, aboard the John Howland in 1841, rescued Manjiro Nakahama and four other Japanese fisherman from an island in the Pacific and brought Manjiro home to Fairhaven. Manjiro was the first Japanese person to live and be educated in America. |
Captain Alexander Winsor 1811-1890- Captain of the famed clipper ship Flying Cloud, which set world records under Winsor's command |
Phillip Young 1885-1955Founder of the Acushnet Company, manufacturer of Titleist golf equipment and golf balls. |
Nathaniel Pope 1747-1817Fairhaven native who on May 13, 1775 commanded a group of villagers aboard the sloop Success in the first naval battle of the American Revolution, fought in Buzzard's Bay. |
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