Starbucks Coffeehouse

Who is the lady with the river hair streaks,

Anointed with a pentagram crown?

She looks dead and lovely like a coffin queen,

And even more famous than she is now...

The name Starbuck became well known once Edward Starbuck, a proprietor in the region of New England, was appointed manager of the fisheries in the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1644. Part of the Colony was Nantucket Island, which was eventually purchased by 9 men, most notably Tristram Coffin in 1659, as part of the British settlement over the Indians.

Later, Esward's son, Nathanial Starbuck, married Tristram's daughter Mary Coffin, a lady who grew to be one of the leading members of Quakerism, a mystical religious movement that enveloped the island during that time. When Edward died, his son Nathaniel took over the fishing duties with the help of his Quaker wife Mary Coffin (Quakers are known to have good business sense). The Starbuck family went on to profit so much from thier port facilities that they eventually became a whaling dynasty.

Yet, at the very same time a this was going on, around the mid 1600s, another notable family name, embarking from England to Massachusetts, reared its head. It was the Folger family, the very same family who became famous for Folgers Coffee. And as luck would have it, years later in 1720, Ann Folger married William Starbuck, a staright descendant from Nathanial and Mary Coffin Starbuck.

There is no telling why Starbucs would hide behid a mere novel, essentially watering down the cream of its own heritage. Is it just easier for a company to act independently, rather than deal with centuries of accumulated wealth? Could the woman of renown gracing the Starbucks logo actually be Mary Coffin, as a tribute to the legacy she built on Nantucket Island? Whatever the answer is, such a fish-coddling aroma should help you wake up and smell the coffee!