At Home and At Sea, cont.

On Nantucket, Eliza Brock knew what it meant to be a sailor's wife who suffered at home in her husband's absence. She missed her husband so much that she chose to accompany him to the Pacific on the Lexington on May 21, 1853. Captain and Mrs. Brock left behind three young children, and didn't see them again for over three years, until they returned in June 1856.

Eliza was soon to find out that she would suffer at sea as well. Rather than creating a home away from home on board the ship, she experienced opposition and resentment from the crew. Isolated as the only woman on board, she was relegated to the sidelines of whaling which was the point of the voyage. She missed her children and home life, her extended family and her friends on Nantucket.

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Martha's Vineyard Museum