A "singular creature, whose secluded life and remarkable eccentricities have long made her an object of peculiar interest” is described in the 1876
A guide to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. This woman, Nancy Luce (c 1814 to 1890), published books of poems and information about her chickens. Her first book was
Poor Little Hearts and her second was
A complete edition of the works of Nancy Luce ... containing God's words--Sickness--Poor little hearts--Milk--No comfort--Prayers--Our Savior's golden rule--Hen's names, etc. Here’s part of
Poor Little Hearts and here’s
Lines composed by Nancy Luce about poor little Ada Queetie and poor little Beauty Linna, both deceased ... . A sad poem – “I hope I never shall have a hen, to set so much by again ... “ is quoted in this
account of a visit to her grave. She put up a
gravestone (NYT, 1873) to one of her hens, Tweedle Dedel Bebbee Pinky.
Luce’s papers were sold by the town authorities to pay her burial expenses, and are now at
Brown University Library. The papers were used by Walter Magnes Teller in his biography,
Poor I: The Life and Works of Nancy Luce –
NYT review.
There are several pictures of her:
with one hen;
with two hens;
sitting outside her house;
sitting in the doorway of her house; and what looks like a
postcard of her and her house. Luce has become important in the local history and tourism of Martha’s Vineyard. There is a tradition of putting
model chickens on her
grave. Artist and gallery owner
Ruth Adams says she is inspired by Luce – here’s a small image of her
sculpture of Luce. Other artists have also used Luce as a starting point; Jennifer Langhammer’s
Broken Hearted puts lines from one of Luce’s poems on an egg, and Victoria Marks makes her own
chicken books.
During her life, however, Luce’s relationship with tourism was more difficult. Although she made her living from tourists, and the 1876 guide says “It is always best to go with a party: the fun is apt to be proportionately greater,” it doesn’t sound like much fun for Luce. The poet and printmaker Daniel Waters, who has made a
linocut of Luce, quotes a letter she wrote in 1879 saying she was “murdered alive”: see his poem
The Hag of Tiah’s Cove.
posted by paduasoy at 11:01 AM on February 21, 2009