For most island men, Vineyard waters continued to be their “factory.” There were men who were employed as pilots guiding larger vessels through the sometimes dangerous Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. A few men worked at herring runs loading them into barrels bound for New York. Others tended their fish traps, harvested shellfish and fished for cod in the summers. During the cold months many of them cut and harvested ice from the ponds to be used on fishing boats and in fish markets in the warmer months.
Although the whaling industry continued to decline in the decades following the Roman, it is no wonder that Captain Jared Jernegan continued to be an active player. It was as much for his own economic survival as it was because that life was what he knew best. As much as he loved his family and wanted them near him, the sea clearly continued to call the Captain until his permanent return to Edgartown in April 1888.
Martha's Vineyard Museum