The Homecoming

The Pickle Barrel Homecoming: A Sea Captain’s Final Voyage

Some homes hold their stories tight in the floorboards. Ours practically sings them.

Before it became known as The Pillars, this old house was the heart of a seafaring love story one of grit, loss, and an unbreakable bond between a captain and the family who carried him home.

Captain Obed Baxter was a master mariner, born in West Dennis, Massachusetts in 1831. He took to the sea early, following in the wake of his father aboard the brig Erie, ferrying goods from the West Indies up the Hudson River. By 21, he captained his own ship and his life became a tide of travels: to California during the Gold Rush, to South America with a cargo of coffee, even to the far shores of Japan.

In 1861, he married Helen Mars Nickerson, and together they had two daughters, Helen and Alice Maude. They built a life in this very house, where the captain returned after long voyages to the warm laughter and light within these walls.

But the sea, ever restless, called again.

In 1882, Captain Baxter set sail once more this time with his wife and daughters in tow bound for the Orient. They came ashore in Shanghai, capturing portraits under foreign skies. But on the return journey, the captain fell ill. Despite treatment at the American Hospital, he died at sea on November 27, 1883.

What happened next became legend.

Refusing to leave him to the deep, Helen Baxter with a sailor’s determination and a widow’s love preserved her husband’s body in a pickle barrel so he could be buried on home soil. She assumed navigational duties alongside the first mate and brought the ship, and the man she loved, safely home.

The crew, spooked by both a woman at the helm and the ghostly cargo below, whispered superstitions. But the voyage was successful. Love, as it turns out, is a powerful compass.

Helen and her daughters continued to live in The Pillars, turning the front room into a small shop to support themselves. The home remained in the family until 1922 and still breathes their presence today in the worn floorboards, the shifting light, and the unmistakable sense of story.

This isn’t just a house.

It’s a legacy.

A place that has weathered storms, welcomed sorrow, and wrapped joy in the folds of its wallpaper and wood.

The Pickle Barrel Homecoming reminds us of what it means to bring someone home. To keep their story alive. And to let love fierce, unshakable love chart the way forward.

Thank you for letting us share ours. We hope it gives you inspiration, ideas, and a spark to celebrate the stories your own home holds.