Nathan Swain

Nathan Swain is mentioned twice (as far as I can remember), the first time being on p. 27, when Ishmael describes the interior of the Spouter-Inn, decorated with a "heathenish array of monstrous clubs and spears" that make "you shudder as you gaze, and wonder what monstrous cannibal could ever have gone a death-harvesting with such a hacking, horrifying implement." Also hanging on the wall alongside the "storied weapons" of heroic whalers like Nathan Swain, who "fifty years ago did kill fifteen whales between a sunrise and sunset."

The second mention of "young Nat Swain" is on p. 85-6 when Peleg stops Bildad from preaching scripture to Queequeg, afraid of his "spoiling our harpooneer": "Pious harpooners never make good voyagers--it takes the shark out of em'; no harpooner is worth a straw who aint pretty sharkish. There was young Nat Swain, once the bravest boat-header out of all Nantucket and the Vineyard; he joined the meeting, and never came to good. He got so frightened about his plaguy soul, that he shrinked and sheered away from whales, for fear of after-claps, in case he got stove and went to Davy Jones."

I did a google search for Nathaniel Swain and found some genealogical records for the Swain family, who apparently were among the founding families involved in the settlement of Nantucket, forced to move from Puritan New England to the island for sympathizing with Quakers. It appears that there was a Nathaniel Swain alive during the 18th century. Several records claim that Nathaniel's father Benjamin was "killed by a whale." Whether Melville knew of a historical Nathan Swain or was just using a typical Nantucket surname to create a fictional whaler-hero, there is still the dusting of a pretty sweet (and relevant) storyline here: Quaker son takes to the sea to avenge his father's death and becomes a whale-killing legend.