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Captain J. Henry Sears
The Pilgrim Monument, unofficial symbol of Provincetown, exists today largely due to the efforts of Captain J. Henry Sears, a retired shipmaster from Brewster.
Born on June 8, 1829, Sears took command of his first vessel at the young age of 22. During his career he captained many ships including the Wild Ranger, the Titan, transporting troops and arms for the French government during the Crimean War, and lastly, the Franklin Haven, sailing between California and Australia.
Sears retired from the sea in 1861 and opened a shipping business in Boston with some partners. J. Henry Sears & Company acted as agents for ships sailing to the south, Liverpool and London. Perhaps the most famous ship the firm was connected with was Donald McKay’s Glory of the Seas. In 1898 Sears retired from business and moved to Brewster. It must have been difficult for someone who had been so active to retire, therefore it’s not surprising that Sears didn’t remain idle for long. In 1902 Captain Sears was elected as the first chairman of the board of trustees of the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association and became one of the major organizers behind the drive to build a monument at Provincetown commemorating the landing of the Pilgrims.
Early in 1892 a group of patriotic, public-spirited citizens formed an organization whose purpose was to raise money to erect a monument to commemorate the landfall of the Pilgrims on Cape Cod. They called the organization the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association (CCPMA), and immediately began collecting funds to build a monument honoring the Pilgrims. Within a little more than a year they raised $1,200 dollars. This sum was deposited in the bank to earn interest until enough had accumulated to build a suitable monument. The money sat in the bank until 1901 when, at a meeting of the Pilgrim Club of Brewster, J. Henry Sears made an impassioned plea to the members to take up the cause and renew the effort to build a monument at Provincetown. Sears told the group he thought the harbor at Provincetown had been given scant attention by historians when telling the Pilgrim story. “Here in this harbor was the first landing made, the first prayers said, the Compact — that immortal charter of civil liberty — drawn and signed. It is surely fitting,” urged Captain Sears, “that the project of erecting a great and grand monument to commemorate these remarkable historical events should be pushed to completion at an early date.” To bolster his plea, Sears had asked several members of the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association to attend the meeting. A committee was formed to gauge interest in the project and ultimately the Brewster Pilgrim Club merged with the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association. J. Henry Sears was elected as chairman of the board of trustees of the new organization. Under his leadership in less than a year funds in the treasury were doubled.
Next a petition was made in 1902 to the General Court of Massachusetts for an appropriation. Sears and several other members of the CCPMA traveled to Boston to address the Joint Committee on Ways and Means. How long would it take for the group to raise funds to match a $25,000 appropriation one committee member asked? “The reply of Captain Sears came promptly and vigorously,” according to Edmund Carpenter who was present at the meeting. “We have now some twenty-five hundred dollars in the treasury. If you will give us until the fifth day of July 1905, I will guarantee that the entire sum of twenty-five thousand dollars will be raised and in the treasury,” Sears pledged. Sears’ enthusiasm impressed the members of the committee and the resolve passed. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis’ estimated consumer price index, $25,000 in 1905 would be worth $569,500 in 2007 dollars, an impressive amount to raise in less than three years. Yet, true to their word, the members of the CCPMA, under the leadership of Captain Sears, met their fundraising goal several months before necessary. Indeed the treasurer’s report presented at the annual meeting in July 1905 showed a balance of $50,646.72, well over a million dollars in today’s money. At this meeting J. Henry Sears was elected president of the CCPMA replacing Moses N. Gifford.
With this objective achieved, the natural next step was to approach the Congress of the United States for support. Again a request for an appropriation was made. For three consecutive winters J. Henry Sears took up residence in Washington, D.C., at his own expense. During these years he devoted all his energy to the passage of the bill. For two years the bill failed to pass only because a vote was not taken before adjournment. Finally, the third trial was successful. The bill was now referred to the House Committee on Library. Once again J. Henry Sears made an impassioned plea for the appropriation. “In the center of the town of Provincetown, which is on the shore of the harbor of Cape Cod, is a hill about one hundred feet high, and we propose to put up a monument on that hill just as high as we have money enough to build. We can build for one hundred thousand dollars, or perhaps a little less, a monument two hundred and fifty feet high, of rough rock. ... We think that it would be an excellent object lesson to those coming into the country, both as a landmark which shall point out the place of the first landing of the New England settlers and as well as a commemoration of the execution of the first charter of a true democratic government known in human history.” J. Henry Sears prevailed, and President Theodore Roosevelt signed the act appropriating the money in June 1906. At the Annual Meeting of the Association held in July 1907, with $92,000 in the bank, the directors were authorized to make all necessary arrangements for the laying of the cornerstone of the proposed monument on August 20 of 1907.
[Laurel Guadazno is curator of education for the Pilgrim Monument & Provincetown Museum.]
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May 31st, 2007