Aug 13 2012

Cape Cod’s Greatest Sea Captain

Published by at 7:27 am under American Society,Cape Cod,Chatham,Columbia Expedition,General,Hit and Run History,John Kendrick

Cape Cod’s Gumshoe Historians profile John Kendrick of the Columbia Expedition

O Captain! My Captain! The man picked to command the Columbia Expedition had a lifetime of experience. Militiaman. Whaler. Privateer. Gumshoe Historians Andrew Buckley and Matt Griffin track John Kendrick from the South Orleans/East Harwich shores of Pleasant Bay to Edgartown Harbor, then over to the house on Wareham Narrows bought with booty from the Revolution.

Locations: Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard & South Coast of Massachusetts.

Interviews: Alan McClennen, Nancy Cole, Thornton Gibbs, Benjamin Dunham

Captain John Kendrick of the Columbia Expedition copyright 2012 Thunderball Entertainment Group all rights reservedBoston rocker Shea Rose again introduces this episode, the second in this series from Hit and Run History. Creator and host Andrew Buckley and Assistant director Matthew Griffin start off in very familiar territory – just a couple towns over from their native Chatham. Sharing lineage with Columbia’s commander, the two start with an interview with Alan McClennen, Jr. of Friends of Pleasant Bay. The big question is what lessons would Kendrick have learned at an early age here, in this remote corner of New England, that would make him the man chosen to lead the first American voyage ’round the world?
Then it’s off to the Vineyard to hunt down any records of Kendrick’s young adulthood in the whaling port of Edgartown. A snow day greets the boys as they head off across Vineyard Sound and down the road to the Dukes County Registry of Deeds.
With a copy of an ancient record in hand, and with the help of Nancy COle of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, they’re able to pinpoint the location of Kendrick’s house during the American Revolution.
Wrapping up, a tour of the John Kendrick Maritime Museum in Wareham reveals a house that has changed little since the captain left it to the care of his wife, Huldah, over two centuries ago. Kendrick bought it with the booty from privateering in the Revolution. Buckley and Griffin follow up with an interviews with Ben Dunham and Thornton Gibbs of the Wareham Historical Society. The latter was the last interview given before Gibbs died a few months later.
This is where the Hit and Run History style really starts coming together. Ranging from one location to another, getting the interview and moving on to the locations where our characters lived. Irreverent, curious, but well-informed, the Gumshoes help us get into the head of historical figures like John Kendrick.

Watch “The Commander” here or subscribe to the Hit and Run History video podcast on iTunes.

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