Spotlight on Collections: Whalebone Road Wagon

Did seeing the Whalebone Road Wagon on display in the Industrial History Center pique your interest? It should. There’s so much more to the Dennett story, but the carriage is a good place to start.

Together with other members of the family, Moses Dennett's great-grandson Scott Dennis and his cousin John Howe spearheaded the effort to raise the money to move the carriage from where it resided in Washington D.C. to the Amesbury Carriage Museum, and to restore and conserve it.

“The family felt that since the carriage had been made in Amesbury,” ACM Director Kelly Daniell said, “the Museum was a fitting home for the carriage.”

“For nearly 75 years, the Dennett carriage and I shared the same address, from Maine to Massachusetts to Texas to Washington, D.C., waiting for the day when this stewardship could lead to its restoration - and recognition. After traveling over 4,000 miles, that day has come - with its return home to Amesbury and the Museum. This means so much to me,” said John Howe.

Designed by the Bailey Company and manufactured by C. M. Dennett Carriage Company, the carriage was on display for about a year at the Industrial History Center and is now a valued piece of the ACM carriage collection and stored with our other carriages.

"The Moses Dennett carriage and story provided us with an opportunity to take a fresh look at an often-told local tale,” Daniell said, “the industriousness and ingenuity of the Amesbury carriage maker. The process of hearing from the descendants, moving it, restoring it, and researching how and exactly why it ended up where it did, was fulfilling for ACM and involved many hands.

“ACM was blown away by the dedication and generosity of the descendants of Dennett and their commitment to bringing the carriage back to Amesbury for visitors to enjoy. There is no better way to gain an understanding of history, than through hands-on examination of historical artifacts, and we are so thankful that the family chose ACM for that journey."