Nancy Luce | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Nancy Luce, island eccentric, and her bantie hens. | |
| Born | August 23, 1814 [1] |
| Died | April 9, 1890 (aged 75) |
| Occupation(s) | Folk artist, poet, businesswoman |
Nancy Luce (August 23, 1814 - April 9, 1890) was a poet and folk artist who lived in West Tisbury, Massachusetts on Martha's Vineyard.
Luce was orphaned by her parents, Philip Luce and Anne Manter, in her late twenties and suffered a debilitating disease leaving her nearly homebound at the family farmhouse. [1] She raised bantam hens to survive, often giving them fanciful names such as Ottee Ophete, Pondy Lilly and Letoogie Tickling. [2] She wrote and self-published poetry pamphlets about her chickens and got professional portraits done of them and herself. [3] Tourists would come to her cottage and small store on the property to visit with her and purchase keepsakes to bring home. [2] As she buried her chickens on the property, her collection of chicken gravestones became its own tourist attraction. She was considered "one of the Island's most well-known historical figures." [4]
When Luce died, the chicken gravestones were given to the town library. Luce herself is buried in the West Tisbury cemetery, where her marble gravestone is decorated with chickens. [1]
Luce's chicken names live on in the names of chickens at the Los Angeles Zoo. [5] Composer Thomas LaVoy is currently working on a commissioned choral piece based on her writings. [6] Vineyard artist Daniel Waters has created a series of linoleum block prints featuring Luce and her chickens. [7]
Nancy Luce's manuscripts and other related material are at the John Hay Library at Brown University. [8]
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the smaller adjacent Chappaquiddick Island, a peninsula, currently connected to the Vineyard. It is the 58th largest island in the U.S., with a land area of about 96 square miles (250 km2), and the third-largest on the East Coast, after Long Island and Mount Desert Island. Martha's Vineyard constitutes the bulk of Dukes County, which also includes the Elizabeth Islands and the island of Nomans Land.
Nantucket is an island about 30 miles (48 km) south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government in the state of Massachusetts.
Dukes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,600, making it the second-least populous county in Massachusetts. Its county seat is Edgartown.
Aquinnah is a town located on the western end of Martha's Vineyard island, Massachusetts. From 1870 to 1997, the town was incorporated as Gay Head. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 439. Aquinnah is known for its beautiful clay cliffs and natural serenity, as well as its historical importance to the native Wampanoag people. In 1965, Gay Head Cliffs were designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
Chilmark is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,212 at the 2020 census. The fishing village of Menemsha is located on the western side of the town along its border with the town of Aquinnah. Chilmark had the highest median home sale price of any town or city in Massachusetts in 2013.
Edgartown is a town on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. The town's population was 5,168 at the 2020 census.
Oak Bluffs is a town located on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,341 at the 2020 United States Census. It is one of the island's principal points of arrival for summer tourists, and is noted for its "gingerbread cottages" and other well-preserved mid- to late-nineteenth-century buildings. The town has been a historically important center of African American culture since the eighteenth century.
Tisbury is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,815 at the 2020 census.
Vineyard Haven is a community within the town of Tisbury, Massachusetts on the island of Martha's Vineyard. It is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 2,114 as of the 2010 census.
West Tisbury is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. Along with Chilmark and Aquinnah, West Tisbury forms "Up-Island" Martha's Vineyard.
The heath hen is an extinct subspecies of the greater prairie chicken, a large North American bird in the grouse family. It became extinct in 1932.
Lieutenant The Hon. Edward Wyndham Tennant was a British war poet killed during the Battle of the Somme.
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.
WMVY is a non-commercial community-oriented radio station based in the town of Tisbury, Massachusetts, and licensed to serve Edgartown, both on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The station is owned by Friends of Mvyradio, Inc., and broadcasts an adult album alternative format.
Enid Yandell was an American sculptor from Louisville, Kentucky, who studied with Auguste Rodin in Paris, Philip Martiny in New York City, and Frederick William MacMonnies.
Governor Thomas Mayhew, the Elder established the first European settlement on Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and adjacent islands in 1642. He is one of the editors of the Bay Psalm Book, the first book published in the Thirteen Colonies. His assistant Peter Foulger was the grandfather of Benjamin Franklin.
The Ritter House is an historic house on Beach Street in Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, USA, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is one of the few remaining Federal period buildings in Vineyard Haven. It has had a succession of occupants and uses, and as of 2007 served as a retail establishment.
Conviction is a 2010 American biographical legal drama film directed by Tony Goldwyn, written by Pamela Gray, and starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell. The film premiered on September 11, 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the US on October 15, 2010.
The concept of the position of Martha's Vineyard Poet Laureate was formally initiated in 2011 by the Martha's Vineyard Poetry Society. This was the first time in Martha's Vineyard history that a position was created to designate an island-wide poet laureate. On similar note, the Martha's Vineyard Poetry Society (MVPS) is the first island-wide poetry organization with membership in the history of Martha's Vineyard. MVPS was founded in 2008 by island poet/author/musician, William Waterway.
The Cleavelands were a family of whalers from the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States, from the seventeenth though the nineteenth centuries. They are related to many of the other whaling families of the islands, including the Mayhew, Athearn, Coffin, Look, Luce, and Pease families.
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