The Great Brewster Island Adventure

"Ye Square Partie" on Great Brewster, 1891.

Helen Augusta Whittier Album, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

My Dream is of an island-place
Which distant seas keep lonely,
A little island on whose face
The stars are watchers only
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “An Island”

On July 15, 1891, four intrepid women from Lowell, Massachusetts, set sail to Great Brewster Island on an adventure they would remember for their lifetime. During their two-week-long trip, these four women, calling themselves the "Merrie Trippers," wrote a 58-page journal on their excursion titled, "Ye log of Ye Square Partie at Ye Great Brewster in ye pleasant month of July 1891." The journal included: entries describing in detail what they ate, photographs from the trip, water-colored paintings of Great Brewster and the surrounding islands, and even flooring details of the cottage they stayed in. Apart from referencing books or poetry they read while on their trip, the rest of the outside world never intruded through this journal.

Ye Square Partie

The four women described the day they departed from Rowes Wharf on their trek to Great Brewster Island as a warm 90-degree day with some breeze. In preparation for their trip, they did not pack light, with many of their parcels mostly including personal belongings. Many other belongings, such as groceries and household items, had been previously brought to Great Brewster days before. The Merrie Trippers also packed a Kodak box camera and a Kodak no. 2. These cameras were fairly new inventions, with the Kodak box camera only being introduced three years prior to this trip.

Throughout their journal entries, these four women also kept record of which books and poems they were reading during their trip, such as works from Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott. The four women spent time on their own artistic pursuits, such as painting and writing poetry. One entry from July 17 included a poem:

In our eastern chamber casement,
Early peeps (or glares) the sun;
And our bird, a meadow lark,
Sings his sweet little song.

The four women also kept a meticulous record of which foods they ate throughout their trip, including menus for each meal and recipes for various dishes.

After a few weeks of relaxing and spending time together on Great Brewster, it was finally time for these women to head home. On July 31, the four women awoke on the last day of their trip to the melancholy sound of the Fog-Horn from Boston Light. They cleaned the cottage, packed their bags, and gave one last look to Great Brewster Island, leaving behind the temporary escape of their daily lives. Although this may have been where their journey ended, the story behind their trip lived on through their journal.

Among the pages of the journal were watercolors, such as this one of Great Brewster Island.

Helen Augusta Whittier Album, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

Solving the Mystery of “Ye Merrie Trippers”

Throughout the journal, the women often referred to themselves in the 3^rd person using the following monikers: Ye Autocrat of Great Brewster, Ye Gentle Aristocrat, Ye Artistic Acrobat, and Ye Veracious Scribe. The mystery of the four women behind this journal prompted Stephanie Schorow and a group of researchers from the Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands to read through the journal to uncover any clues revealing the identities behind the monikers used. Through their extensive research, these women were identified as: Helen Frances Ray French (as Ye Autocrat of Great Brewster), Sarah Elizabeth Dean Adams (as Ye Gentle Aristocrat), Isabella Coburn (Ye Artistic Acrobat), and Helen Augusta Whittier (as Ye Veracious Scribe). In July 2023, they published their findings in a book titled, A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure: The Great Brewster Journal of 1891.

Although clues within the journal helped researchers identify these women, very little about their personal identities is revealed within its pages. So far, the researchers have uncovered only snapshots of the lives of French, Adams, and Coburn. Available records indicate their schooling, marriages, and club participation. However, Helen Augusta Whittier’s story is far more complete. She oversaw a mill business in Lowell, one of the only women at the time to have such a position. Whittier also dedicated time to artistic endeavors, specializing in painting, pottery, and photography.

Overall, the trip to a desolate island within Boston’s Outer Harbor provided not only isolation from the mainland for these women, but it also offered a temporary escape from 1800s societal standards for women. For a couple of weeks, they were able to let go of their identities, both figuratively and literally, and lived their lives as independent and resourceful women without societal responsibilities. While there is so much left to uncover about these women’s stories and their interests and motivations for this trip, this journal speaks to how many of us may see the Boston Harbor Islands as an escape from our daily lives and how we may try to record our travels to look back on in memory.

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Sources

"Album of Helen August Whittier, 1891." A/W625, folder 1. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

"Lowell Stories: Women’s History: Helen Augusta Whittier." University of Massachusetts Lowell Library. Last Modified March 28, 2024.

Schorow, Stephanie, and Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands. A Boston Harbor Islands Adventure: The Great Brewster Journal of 1891. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2023.