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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;komokwa, post: 367326, member: 301&quot;]I could be off...about the whale aspect......</p><p>I can&#039;t confirm the info below....</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]125885[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>John Clark donated these harpoon tips invented by F. Gilbert Hinsdale for swordfishing. <i>(Photo by: Georgia Sparling) </i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><br /></p><p>“From Scrimshaw to Survival: Sophia Means’ Descendants and the Town of Mattapoisett” is the new summer exhibit opening at the Mattapoisett Historical Society Museum on July 1.</p><p><br /></p><p>“It’s a look at how one family contributes to Mattapoisett over a century,” says Curator Elizabeth Hutchinson.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1902, Sophia Means, a Boston woman with two daughters, purchased the property at 20 Water Street and built a home there. Means’ family tree would branch off to include Hinsdales, Todds, Fields and Mellos.</p><p><br /></p><p>The exhibit began to form after the 20 Water Street property and a Todd family residence on North Street were sold. Means&#039; descendants split up the artifacts inside and some family members offered, several to add to the collection, others to borrow.</p><p><br /></p><p>Many of the pieces in the collection come from F. Gilbert Hinsdale, who married Means&#039; daughter Martha. The two split their time between New York and the Water Street home for decades.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hinsdale was a collector, an art lover, an inventor and an avid swordfisherman.</p><p><br /></p><p>“Hinsdale was interesting because he was a whaling era memorabilia collector. He collected all this whaling memorabilia that people at the time weren’t thinking about collecting,” said Hutchinson.</p><p><br /></p><p>As such, Hinsdale preserved some of Mattapoisett’s whaling history. Much of his collection of whaling harpoons and scrimshaw, engraved bone that usually comes from whales, was donated to the New Bedford Whaling Museum in 1959, but some of it stayed in the family.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mattapoisett native John Mello, a descendent of the Means family, loaned the museum several intricately carved pieces of scrimshaw from Hinsdale’s collection.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hinsdale’s own inventions also appear in the museum. Though he worked in textiles in New Bedford, he also spent a lot of time on the sea. Hinsdale invented a number of harpoon darts for swordfishing, including one moveable tip that splays out after snagging its catch.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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