Article 21

The Saconesset Auction

by Pearson Bowerman

[Residential Address withheld]

            The Saconesset Homestead on Cape Cod, Friday and Saturday, May 27^th and 28^th, 1983, West Falmouth, MA starting at 10 am each day, preview 8 to 10 am, will have contents of a 1678 house/museum, spanning nine generations, sold on site.

            News of the above auction sank into Bowerman family members across North America with feelings ranging from stunned to sadness and deep frustration.

            Bill Bowerman in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, said, “I can’t describe it, it gives me an eerie feeling.”

            Early Friday morning, on May 27^th, the wind rippled out of Buzzard’s Bay through the stunted oaks of the old Bowerman farm, and the rain came down. People hurried to get into the big tent set up by Willis Henry Auctions Inc.

            Very few members of the Bowerman family knew about the sudden announcement of Mrs. Dorothea Gifford, the owner of Saconesset, to hold an auction of the contents of house and the gift shop.

            My Cape Cod Connection and friend. Cecelia Bowerman Fuglister, had hastened to get this information out to as many as possible, adding in her letter, “the house is not to be open, it is now a private home, and not for sale to anyone. Dorothea Gifford’s young unmarried son is expected to live in it.”

            The only advertising for the auction that I saw was in the Cape Code Antiques Monthly, a trade publication.

            Dealers and collectors were there in abundance. The americana cleaned out of the house Friday came to over $70,000.

            Examples of prices knocked down were: two-tiered pipe box $5750; knife box $400; four Windsor chairs $800 each; Dan Bowerman’s carpenter chest (1873) $300; tiger maple desk $4000; two pewter teapots $225; child’s blanket chest $650; cherrywood chest $2750.

            Prices seemed to drop in late afternoon after the dealers left. Glass and dishes went for reasonable bids also at this time.

            The next day was sunny and clear. A smaller crowd came to see the Victorian items in the gift shop (glass, china, porcelain, tools, etc.) go for lower prices.

            It was time to go back to Canada. We had spent four wonderful days in the Cape and had spent many hours with Cecelia discussing family lines. One niggling thought above all others: the future of the old Bowerman Homestead.

            Perhaps it is too late to bring the Bowerman Homestead back into the control of the Bowerman family. It may even be too late to save Saconesset. The family has no  surety that at some future date the property could not go to developers.

            The formation of a family organization is probably long overdue.

            A good example of a family organization is the Wing Family of America, Inc.,  dating back to 1912. They own their original homestead near Sandwich on the Cape. they have a caretaker and part-time resident archivist.

            Cecelia is looking into the organizational structure of the above family and will have something to add to the above proposal in the near future. Perhaps other family members will have input on this idea.

            Before leaving I walked south from the house toward a railway track, around rocks where sheep grazed in the 1680’s. The ground was thick with nettles and wild strawberries. And the air had a flavor of salt.