Name/Title
Sextant | From Sea Chest of Capt. William Grant | Eastport, Maine | Late 18th CenturyDescription
From Annual Report of the Border Historical Society, 1976:
QUADRANT
From the sea chest of Capt. William Grant (1828-1914)
A sextant was referred to by old time seamen as a quadrant, a navigational, celestial instrument for observing the moon and stars for longitude at sea. The angle between two bright stars was measured by two pieces or colored glass which, when adjusted, acted as reflecting telescopes bringing two stars at almoat any distance to coincide. Sextants were in use as early as 1660. Capt. Grant's English quadrant dates back to the 1750's.
Gift to the Border Historical Society museum by granddaughters:
Emily Hurley
Pauline Hurley
Maude Huckens Webster
The Grant display is a tribute to Capt. William (Billy) Grant and grandson, Leslie (Les) Grant, Road Commissioner who served the Eastport area for forty years
CAPT. WILLIAM GRANT... 1828 - 1914
Born in Hull, England..Capt. Grant’s father was a whaling skipper. Whalemen of that era were born in ports, seamen in their ’teens, whaling masters in their twenties, born by the sea and of tbe sea, celestial navigators by instinct, they were explorers and discoverers of uncharted oceans from Arctic to Antarctic in all parts of the world.
Capt. Grant began his sea career at the age of nine; a stowaway on the English whaler "Jane" reaching latitude 82 1/2 degrees. At twelve went to Russia on a bark (salary $3.50 month) returning to port immediately went to South Africa to another ship, Served a four year apprenticeship on the English “Bonacord” bound for Greenland, 'l'he “Bonacord” and Scotch whaler “Alfred” nearby, were caught in an ice flow. The crews (100 men) abandoned the stricken ships in whale boats; survivors picked up months later by the “Prince of Wales”, “Traveler” and “Resolute” famed whalers searching for the lost explorer, Sir John Franklin. Young Billy Grant joined a private search party on board the “Abram”. In 1850 applied as seaman on the “Investigator” but the crew was made up. On that voyage, the “Investigator” - Capt. McClure discovered the Northwest Passage.
Capt. William (Billy) Grant came to Eastport 1859, followed the sea until 1886. He had a remarkable memory, never wore glasses. Capt. “Billy” as he was affectionately known around town delighted "Landlubbers" with his unforgettable tales covering a life span of fifty years before the mast, starting life as a homesick, seasick boy of nine voyaging to the high Arctic region encircling the North Pole before discovery and still shrouded in mystery. Many explorers and whaleships in search of the illusive North Magnetic Pole vanished, leaving a fragment here and there to tell the tragic story. Capt. Grant was of that heroic race of whale men now immortalized in history.
The old Grant homestead, County Road, preserved over the years by various owners is the fine residence of Dr. N. W. Stott, M.D.
Letters on cover of sextant box read: "HUGH.MURCHIE"
