In 1851 Herman Melville wrote his classic novel, “Moby Dick.” One of the primary characters in the novel is 30-year-old Starbuck, a Nantucket Quaker who is chief mate aboard the Pequod, a whaler out of Nantucket. Many of Melville’s characters are named after people who can be found in the Bible (Ahab, captain of the ship, Ishmael, a sailor aboard the Pequod and narrator of the story, etc.). One character, Starbuck, was named for one of the prominent families on Nantucket Island.
Edward Starbuck was born on 16 Feb 1604 in Leicester, Derbyshire, England. He, Thomas Macy (ancestor of the founder of the retail chain, “Macy’s”) and Peter Folger, among others, came to Nantucket Island, part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1635. They established the first English settlement there which, because of it’s location, became a prominent base for whaling in the American northeast.
Around two centuries later, in 1850, fourteen year old James Folger and two of his brothers, direct descendants of Peter Folger, traveled from Nantucket to San Francisco in search of gold after a fire destroyed their family’s livelihood. While his brothers worked in the mines, James found work with The Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills, where James eventually became a full partner. But following the Civil War the economy collapsed, resulting in the business going bankrupt. He convinced his creditors to pay off the company’s debts, and then bought out all the other partners, renaming the company J.A. Folger & Co. The rest is coffee history. (https://www.folgerscoffee.com/our-story/history)
About a century later, in 1971, Starbucks Coffee opened it’s first store in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. The name “Starbucks” was inspired by the classic tale, “Moby-Dick,” evoking the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders. According to the Starbucks website,
“In 1971, our founders got together with artist Terry Heckler to define their new brand. They wanted the company’s name to suggest a sense of adventure, a connection to the Northwest and a link to the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders. Co-founder Gordon Bowker, a writer, initially proposed calling the company “Pequod,” after the ship in Herman Melville‘s classic novel “Moby-Dick.” But Terry objected – would a cup of “Pee-kwod” appeal to anyone?”
“The brainstorming continued. While researching names of mining camps on Mt. Rainier, one of the best known landmarks near Seattle, Terry came across “Starbo,” which eventually led the team back to where they’d started. In “Moby-Dick,” the name of the first mate on the Pequod was, you guessed it, Starbuck. A brand was born.” (https://archive.starbucks.com/record/our-name)
So Starbucks coffee indirectly was named for the Starbucks family of Nantucket, since that was the source of the name of Melville’s character in Moby Dick.
Laura and I both love a couple of cups of good, flavorful strong coffee in the morning, but we don’t want too much caffeine, so for many years we have mixed regular coffee with decaffeinated coffee for our own special “blend.” Interestingly, we have found that the best, most flavorful half-and-half combination is one part Starbucks Espresso to one part Folgers Decaf. Works well together. Maybe it’s in our DNA.
My lineage from Edward Starbuck is shown below. More information about Edward Starbuck and the Starbuck family of Nantucket can be found on the Pierce Family History website, which is maintained by Susan Holmes. (https://thepiercefamilyhistorian.com/edward-starbuck-a-founding-father-of-nantucket)
Edward Starbuck 1604-1690
10th great-grandfather
Sarah Starbuck 1634-1719
Daughter of Edward Starbuck
Ebenezer Varney 1664-1753
Son of Sarah Starbuck
Stephen Varney 1697-1771
Son of Ebenezer Varney
Stephen Varney 1723-1787
Son of Stephen Varney
Eunice Varney 1765-1836
Daughter of Stephen Varney
Charlotte Roberts 1792-1873
Daughter of Eunice Varney
John Thompson 1812-1900
Son of Charlotte Roberts
Isaac Conley Thompson 1855-1941
Son of John Thompson
Viola Mabel Thompson 1881-1962
Daughter of Isaac Conley Thompson
Patience (Bowles, Richardson, Karlson) Haney 1908-1992
Daughter of Viola Mabel Thompson
Frederick Francis Bowles 1926-2013
Son of Patience (Bowles, Richardson, Karlson) Haney
Floyd Everett Bowles
Son of Frederick Francis Bowles