The Adventures of a Westport Farmer

This program was presented by Richard Donnelly on June 18 2015

What was it like to live in Westport in the early 19^th century? Why did young Westporters go a- whaling? A recently discovered journal provides a unique look into the life of Westport residents during the 1830s. Richard Donnelly recounts the story of Frederick Allen of Westport, MA, derived from daily entries Allen made in a journal from June 5, 1833, to March 1, 1838. From March through August 1835, the Allen family built a home to replace their original 1709 homestead. In 2014, an initial search for the house found it missing and likely destroyed, but further research found it moved to a new location five miles from the original site. The final year of the journal describes Allen’s life on a whaling voyage on the brig Mexico out of Westport Point to hunt for sperm whales.