(Taken from the Massillon Museum's 1962 Fall Bulletin. Written by "HBH.")

In the year 1813 Captain Mayhew Folger with his wife Mary left Nantucket and moved to Kendal for she had insisted that he leave the seven seas he had sailed searching for seals and whales. He picked Kendal to settle in not only because his friends were there but it was far away from the salt water he loved so much. He sold 1,000 acres at $4.25 an acre in the “Plains” between Massillon and Navarre; when the canal was put through he was one of the first purchasers of lots; he became the town’s first postmaster; he operated an Inn at the northeast corner of Main and Erie Streets.

Successful, happy and comfortable in Kendal, enjoying the company of other retired sea captains, the Rotches, and the thrill of living in this raw and booming country, Captain Folger hardly missed the excitement of his seafaring life, of fighting off cannibals and pirates, of piloting his ship through hurricanes, and of sailing his vessel through uncharted waters.

In looking back over his past his greatest and most rewarding adventure was undoubtedly his rediscovery of Pitcairn Island, the British mutineers of the good ship Bounty’s paradise. Everyone knows the story of the “Mutiny on the Bounty” by Nordoff and Hall, of the British sailors mutinying against tyrannical Captain Bligh, setting him adrift in an open boat, themselves settling on Pitcairn and establishing a colony there.

Six years before his move to Kendal, Captain Folger sailed from Boston on a sealing voyage on the ship Topaz. The Topaz was seeking islands never before visited by sealing craft and Captain Folger knew only too well the fabulous cargo awaiting him if she should ever discover such an island. His search, then, was for specks of land in the ocean wastes of high latitudes. It was to be a voyage of discovery, but not as he planned.

Many years later while the United States was at war with England, Captain Folger finally communicated with the heads of the enemy navy, reporting his discovery to the Admiralty of the last survivor of the Bounty mutineers on Pitcairn Island. His letter, written at Nantucket on March 1, 1813, follows: “My Lords: The remarkable circumstances which took place on my last voyage to the Pacific Ocean will, I trust, plead my apology for addressing your lordships at this time.

“In February, 1808, I touched at Pitcairn’s island in lat. 25 deg 2 min. sou long. 130 deg west of Greenwich. My principal object was to procure sealskins for the China market; and from the account given of the island in Captain Carteret’s voyage I supposed it to be uninhabited; but on approaching the shore in my boat I was met by three young men in a double canoe with a present of some fruit and a hog. They spoke to me in English and informed me that they were born on the island and their father was an Englishman who sailed with Captain Bligh. I landed with them and found an Englishman by name of Alexander Smith, who informed me that he was one of the Bounty’s crew and that after putting Captain Bligh in the boat with half the ship’s company, they returned to Otaheite (Tahiti) where part of the crew chose to tarry; but Mr. Christian with eight others, including himself preferred going to a more remote place; and after making a short stay at Otaheite, where they took wives and six men servants, they proceeded to Pitcairn’s Island where they destroyed the ship.

About six years after they landed at this place their servants attacked and killed all the English except the informant and he was severely wounded. The same night the Otaheitan widows arose and murdered all their countrymen, leaving Smith and the widows and children.

I remained but a short time on the island and on leaving it Smith presented me a time piece and an azimuth compass, which he told me belonged to the Bounty. The timekeeper was taken from me by the governor of the island of Juan Fernandez after I had had it in my possession about six weeks.

The compass I put in repair on board ship and made use of it on my homeward passage. I now forward it to your lordships thinking there will be a king of satisfaction in receiving it.”

(signed) Mayhew Folger

Of all the mariners who touched at Pitcairn, the man who rediscovered it has a claim to a king of immortality. As far as finding seals are concerned his voyage was a failure. But, in finding Pitcairn, he had a great satisfaction of a new discovery- of solving the mystery of the Bounty’s hideaway.

(We would like to express our appreciation to Miss Edwina Pratt for her research and help with this article. – HBH)

Back to list of Massillon history topics