Paul Pinkham, Jr. and his uncle, Silas Gardner came to Cape Porpoise from Nantucket in 1801. They had the two-story square house built on Pier Road that still stands today.

Paul’s son, Silas Gardner Pinkham, married Daniel Grant’s daughter Emily. In 1843, Silas was captain of a cod fishing schooner named The James and Henry. He was fishing in the Bay of Fundy in company with several other Cape Porpoise fishing vessels, including The Auronah, when a violent storm arose. Eli Hutchins, Sr. 43-year old captain of the Auronah and three of his crew, Eli Hutchins, Jr. 24, John Hutchins 15, and Joseph Wilder 30 were swept overboard. The James and Henry got separated from the other vessels and was never heard from again. Captain Silas Pinkham and his 6 crewmen were lost at sea.

Emily Pinkham was incapacitated with grief. She could only sit at home staring out to sea awaiting her husband’s return. Her father Daniel Grant became guardian of Silas and Emily’s children.

One of those children was Seth Henry Pinkham, who attended Kennebunkport schools and then apprenticed for Boston Architect and carpenter, George Nowell of Boston. Seth then went to work in New Orleans until 1848 when he and two friends made the long and dangerous journey overland through Mexico and Lower California to reach the gold fields. He successfully mined for gold but then went to San Francisco to use his architecture skills, erecting several beautiful buildings. Seth also became captain of a coasting freighter on the west coast.

He returned to Kennebunkport in the 1850s where he purchased most of Bickford Island, with a house and wharf and fish processing equipment. He also purchased the small island nearby we now call Pinkham’s Island and married Eliza Browne.

Seth built Pinkham’s Store and warehouse near the head of Pinkham’s Cove in 1868 where his son Winfield joined him in the retail business and later built the house next door. Seth’s 1892 obituary read “He was a man of superior endowments, tall and well-proportioned, with a noble and intelligent countenance.

See you at the Cape Porpoise History Slideshow tonight!