Blockade Runners event to honor legacy of Paul Cuffe

The legacy of Paul Cuffe is infused in the waters of the South Coast. 

From opening the first integrated public school in 1797 in Westport, to bringing free African Americans and freed slaves to Sierra Leone, Cuffe is known for his progressive patriotic acts. 

Less noted, until recent years, are his derring-do days on Buzzards Bay. But all that is about to change.

Friday, Aug. 14, marks the beginning of a multi-day and multi-port voyage by Plimoth Patuxet Museum’s Mayflower II’s Fuller Shallop honoring Cuffe, a wealthy Black and Native American Quaker merchant and activist who made an impact on the South Coast and beyond.

The shallop, a 33-foot replica of the boat that would have been brought over on the original Mayflower, will dock in Westport Point, Padanaram, Cuttyhunk Island (Cuffe’s birthplace and home for nine years) and Nantucket, with programming at each of the ports focused around Cuffe and the Fuller Shallop. 

With the Elizabeth Islands as home, and three whaling trips under his belt by 1776 — only 14 years old on his first voyage — Cuffe was no stranger to the dark seas when he began bringing supplies to Nantucket during the American Revolution. 

David Cole, Cuffe historian and author of numerous papers examining Cuffe’s life, said that Cuffe was vital to supplying the island when Quakers on the South Coast were forced to lay up their boats and discontinue any trading ventures due to the presence of the British Naval blockade. This, however, opened the door to Cuffe, who resided in the area, to borrow neighbors boats for his own excursions. Cuffe is known to have built a good relationship with one of the most prominent families of Nantucket at the time: the Rotches. 

“So you had this convergence here of native people, Quakers, and freed slaves or slaves who became free,” Cole said, “Those three cultures were very intensely mixed here on the South Coast.”

“And with an openness by the Quakers,” Cuffe historian Betty Slade added. 

Because of the narrow channels and stealth required to navigate through the British naval blockade, it is likely that Cuffe used a shallop to complete these missions. Though it is an educated guess, “it just made sense that the shallop was the boat he would use,” Slade said. Cole added that the make of the boat — with its shallow draft and lack of keel or center board — would be necessary for the voyage today. 

“It has leeboards that you lift up on the side and so you could run it right up on shore,” Cole explained.

“And, you could hide easily,” Slade added.

The event began as a conversation between Cole and Slade, who are husband and wife. Over a year ago, Cole wondered what they could do for the 250th anniversary of American Independence that would pay homage to the history along the coast and Cuffe’s escapades evading the British blockade. He called the Plimoth Patuxet Museums, asking to speak with the captain of the Mayflower II. Captain Whit Perry agreed. 

Perry, along with a three-person crew made up of a bosun/marine repair supervisor and maritime artisans, will be sailing (with an occasional tow or electric motor propulsion) the Fuller Shallop through the channels that represent a similar path Cuffe would have traveled during his blockade running days. The crew will be dressed in 17th century garb, said Sam Allen, one of the shallop crew members, though Cuffe would have been operating in the 18th century, Allen added, laughing.

“It helps us set a stage for shallops as a general concept that spans centuries,” Allen said, “This is a, I wouldn’t call it an ancient design, but it’s a fairly rudimentary design that is classic enough to not need much modification over the many years of its use.”

Perry was on board with the plan and said he saw it as an ample opportunity to showcase the smaller boat, while also honoring Cuffe. 

“Cuffe was able to take advantage of his local knowledge to beat these guys,” Perry said, adding that while everyone knows of the Mayflower, the shallop is a lesser known, smaller exploration and trading vessel. It dates back to 1620 in American history, Perry said, where it would have been transported over the ocean on the Mayflower and assembled to bring passengers ashore. 

Even as the Mayflower returned across the Atlantic to England, the shallop would have been left with the settlers. 

Cole said the shallop’s history goes back further, to Bartholomew Gosnold who landed on Cuttyhunk Island and established a short-lived settlement there — “a little fort and a little house,” Cole described it — and used a shallop to get from the ship to the shore. As Gosnold came down the coast of what is now New Hampshire, he and his crew encountered a group of Indigenous people in a shallop coming out to greet them, Cole said, indicating the shallop’s deeply rooted presence in maritime history. 

The boat’s origins go back even further, with roots as a coastal exploration vessel on the shorelines of France, Spain, Portugal and England before making its way across the Atlantic. 

The shallop, on this month’s voyage, will be accompanied by the William Underwood, a retired sardine carrier from Maine captained by Richard Armstrong, which will provide lodging and accommodations for the crew.

The biggest challenges the crew anticipates are weather-related, with Buzzards Bay known for its powerful southwesterly winds in August and a current of strong, short waves. Successfully getting into these ports, that Cuffe likely stopped at in his own day, will shine a spotlight on South Coast maritime history, Perry said. 

Events at each port differ, but will include “open hours” where people can inspect the shallop, meet the crew, and participate in numerous educational panels on the history and legacy of Cuffe. Robert Cox “Chief Two Running Elk,” a descendant of Cuffe, is expected to speak on the panels. The new 15-minute film “Cuffe: Taxed”, which premieres Aug. 13 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, will be screened at the various ports.

Slade said the history of Cuffe and his partners, as well as his presence on the maritime history of the South Coast, is “not known enough.” She said the project has taught a lot of people about Cuffe already and hopes that the shallop’s travels will continue to spread information about his life.

Blockade Runners will be at the Westport Point wharves beginning Friday, Aug. 14.  Ship viewing hours are from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, and Sunday, Aug. 16, along with kid’s activities and refreshments at the Paquachuck Inn. 

“Cuffe: Taxed,” accompanied by a meet-and-greet with writer, producer and director Anita Allison and actor Tyson Brown, will be showing both Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Native drumming and singing led by Robert Cox will occur at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and local historians will join Cox in a panel discussion from 1 to 2:15 p.m. at the Paquachuck Inn both days.

The shallop will arrive in Padanarum the morning of Aug. 17, and ship viewing will be open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Apponagansett Landing. Town officials, Slade and the captains of the Fuller Shallop and the William Underwood will give remarks upon the shallop’s arrival, with merchandise available for purchase, reenactors, and information tables at the Landing while the shallop is docked.

Cuttyhunk arrival is planned for the evening of Aug. 17, with programming beginning Aug. 18 with a meet-and-greet of captains and crew at the Fish Dock. At 1 p.m., Allie Thurston, a local expert on the island, will lead a walk titled: “Paul Cuffe, Cuttyhunk’s Native Son: From Origin to Opportunity,” and “Cuffe: Taxed” will play at 7 p.m. in the Cuttyhunk Church, with a Q&A  with director Anita Allison. The Eastern Medicine Singers, an intertribal drum group, will perform on Aug. 19 at 11 a.m. on the Cuttyhunk Historical Society lawn.

Ending in Nantucket, the shallop will be open for visitors at the Town Pier from 9 to 11 a.m. on Aug. 21. “Cuffe: Taxed” will be screened from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with a panel discussion including director Anita Allison, Cole and other local historians, and Cox.

Email Anna Albrecht at aalbrecht@newbedfordlight.org.