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MATINICUS ISLE
its Story and its People
Gc 974.101 K77& 1195050
Property of P.R and Janet R. Philie Royal Bank apto Pettohugh (13) Pc
M. L .!
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Compl 3 1833 01091 7570 $
author,
Charles a. C. Long
Matinicus July 15, 1944 .
..
MATINICUS ISLE
Its
Story and Its People
By CHARLES A. E. LONG
IN TWO PARTS
Part One, Historical Part Two, Genealogical
Illustrated
LEWISTON JOURNAL PRINTSHOP
1926
Green | Seal Ledges
@@Zephyr
No Mans
Whaleback
Two Bush I
Northeast Pt
Field Point
Two Bush Ledge
Pasture Cove
High Head
MA T
I
U
S
West Point
· The Barrel
Ma
Burgess Cove
ficus
Little 1(
Wheaton
Halls
Ledges
Cover
Condon Point
~Curtis Pt Sandy Beach
South Point
Tenpound Island
Catò Cova
The Hogshead
udding !
Long Cor
Wilson Head
Criehaver
farsh Cove
Ragged Island
Green Ledge
Seal Ledge
CR
H AVE
Cove
Brig Ledge
Southwest Ledges
@South Breaker
Black Rocks
MATINICUS
Black 0
ill
1195050
Seal Island
Western Head(
ISLE
Malcolm Ledges
dge
0
Wilddrake Beach Frenchman Cove Stephens Head
Mood Cove
Wooden Ball Island
Back Core
Amicus Rock
HARBOR FROM MOUNT ARARAT
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PART ONE HISTORICAL
Copyrighted by CHARLES A. E. LONG 1926
CONTENTS-Part One
Geographical
9
Settlement and Growth.
17
Transportation and Mail Service.
43
Industries
53
Educational
65
Ecclesiastical
73
Houses
77
Burial Places.
83
Military History
87
Social Life and Societies, etc.
95
Criehaven
101
Matinicus Rock.
107
Wrecks
113
5
ILLUSTRATIONS-Part One
Harbor From Mount Ararat (Frontispiece )
A Few Lobster Traps
8
The Wave.
10
Gulls in the Harbor
12
The Breakwater in a Storm.
15
"The Silver Lining'
18
"Matinicus Harbor"
44
"The Julia Fairbanks"
45
"The Butman"
46
Excursion Day
47
Steamboat Day
48
"The Calista D. Morrill"
49
A Good Catch
52
Seine and Seiners
55
The Fish Harvest.
56
The Lobsterman.
58 61
On the Ways
63
School-House, Matinicus
66
School Children, 1915.
70
First Congregational Church.
72
Elder Plummer and Wife, Betsey
74
Alexander Philbrook House, on the
Site of Ebenezer Hall's House
77
The Ice Pond.
78
Oldest House on the Island.
79
Modern Homes
80
An Interior.
81
On Derry Hill.
81
Sandy Beach.
86
Marky's Beach.
87
K. of P. Hall, Matinicus
94
The Matinicus Band
96
Robert F. Crie.
101
Eben Crie's Store, Criehaven.
104
The Lights.
106
The Fog Bell.
108
Austin Beal, A. J. Beal, F. O. Hilt. 111
A Rugged Shore 114
6
The Wharf When First Built
FOREWORD
PART I
T is hoped that this story of Matinicus will prove of sufficient interest to compensate the author in some measure for his earnest endeavor to produce a truthful, accurate and trustworthy narrative. Although the reference is not always given, each statement and record is authoritative.
The following sources of information have been con- sulted in its preparation : Williamson's History of Maine; Eaton's Histories of Warren, Thomaston, Rockland and South Thomaston; Farrow's History of Islesboro; Willis' History of Portland; The Mass. Archives; Baxter's Docu- mentary History of Maine; Bangor Historical Magazine; the town records of Belfast, Vinalhaven, Matinicus, York and other places; Maine Wills; Registry of Deeds of Knox County ; York Deeds, etc., etc.
In addition, the author has received valuable assistance from many individuals, among whom are Capt. W. L. Ames, Mrs. Ellen Wallace, Miss Flora Young and others, to all of whom thanks are due, and are herewith extended.
With a few exceptions the photographs used for the illustrations are by the author himself. The older ones, which will prove of much interest, were loaned for the pur- pose by various individuals.
This work has been written not only for living genera- tions, but likewise for posterity.
Of course, in a work such as this, it would be impossible to please and satisfy everybody, so in this connection, the writer would say to the reader : "Take it or leave it."
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7
A FEW LOBSTER TRAPS
8
GEOGRAPHICAL
Situated sixty miles east of Portland, eighteen miles south by east from Owl's Head, and twenty miles out of Rockland by boat, Matinicus is the largest of a small cluster of islands which guards the entrance to Penobscot Bay. Besides Matinicus, this group consists of Criehaven (formerly Ragged Island, corrupted from Racketash, the Indian name), Wooden Ball Island, Matinicus Rock, Seal Island, Tenpound Island, Noman's Land, Twobush Island, and numerous smaller ledges and rocks. The accompanying map depicts their relative positions and sizes.
The Indian name of Matinicus, according to one dialect, is Tenahcook. According to another dialect (the Wa- wenock), its name was Menasquesicook which signifies "a collection of grassy islands." Before its settlement, the centre of the island was covered by a dense forest growth. Encircling this growth, extending several rods from the shore, was a band of luxuriant grass land. This band had become so enriched by the guano from the sea-fowl which had previously lived there for untold years, that the trees refused to grow there, but the grasses and sedges found it an ideal habitat.
Matinicus is approximately two miles long, and of varying width, nowhere more than a mile wide, with an area of about seven hundred and twenty acres. The shores are mostly rocky ; in some places very precipitous. In other places there are long reaches of massive bowlders worn to a smooth roundness by ages of pounding by the relentless ocean. There are three small sand beaches which form ideal bathing spots, and furnish a favorable habitat for sand-loving plants. The general surface of the island is well elevated, but there are numerous bogs and marshes, and two or three extensive deposits of peat, the edges of which are exposed at the shore. In several places the ocean is slowly enroaching upon the land. Some of the coves are noticeably larger than they were in the youthful days of the older inhabitants. Each particularly furious storm claims its few inches from those localities where the soil itself is exposed to the action of the sea.
9
The highest point is at the south-western part, and was formerly the site of a tall flag pole used by herring catchers for the purpose of signaling to fishing vessels when herring were available for bait. Another eminence is a romantic and picturesque elevation known as Mount Ararat, situated near the harbor.
There are two small ponds, the "Ice Pond," and the "Black Duck Pond." The former is artificial and was originally formed to create a source of ice supply. It has been recently renovated, and a commodious house for the storage of the harvest has been built upon its bank. The
-
THE WAVE
"Black Duck Pond," near the north-west shore, is a small, shallow pool pent up by the beach ridge, and fed by seepage from springy land. The derivation of its name should be plainly evident.
The north-eastern portion of the island rests upon a granite foundation; the north-western is composed of rock of other varieties. On the north side is a great smooth bowlder of conglomerate. On the south-western side there is an immense block of granite which must have been carried a great distance to its present resting place. On this side there is also a large block of pudding-stone. All of these rocks seem entirely out of place as compared with their surroundings, and the theory of their existence as expounded by a competent geologist, would provide an interesting story. Many of the houses have underpinnings
10
of granite of an excellent quality which has been quarried on the island.
The Harbor is a cove on the eastern side, protected on the south-east by Wheaton's Island. It was formerly exposed to easterly and north-easterly gales, but is now protected on the north-east by a breakwater, built in 1911. The harbor furnishes adequate protection for the numerous lobstering and fishing boats owned in the community, and for many visiting craft. Its waters are not deep enough or extensive enough to accommodate many large vessels at the same time. Occasionally vessels of one hundred tons have found shelter here.
Extensive tracts of spruces and broad expanses of grasses form the characteristic vegetation of the landscape. Reliable testimony states that most of the cleared land was once covered by a dense stand of yellow birch and rock maple. This growth, however, has long since disappeared, used doubtlessly by the earlier inhabitants for fuel. The timbers for many vessel frames have also been procured here. At present the wooded growth consists principally of spruces (picea canadensis and picea rubra), with an admixture of a few firs. There are two colonies of pitch pines (pinus rigida) on rocky hills. A few birches, both yellow and white, poplars, willows and red maples, with a number of alder growths, make up the balance of the wooded area. Isolated specimens of white pine, hackma- tack and cedar have been discovered.
As before stated, the island has an area of seven hundred and twenty acres. Spread out over this expanse, there has been discovered, collected and named no less than six hundred and fifty species and varieties of flowering plants, ferns, and fern allies, growing wild. It is doubtful if there can be found elsewhere an equal contiguous acreage furnishing as large a number of varieties. A part of this vegetation consists of approximately thirty varieties of trees, and forty-five of shrubs. There are thirty-six ferns and fern allies, fifty-seven grasses, eighty-six sedges and rushes, seventeen orchids, and eighty-nine representatives of the Composite family. The remainder is divided among sixty-three other families. While some of these varieties are very plentiful, others are extremely rare, in a few
11
instances consisting of a single specimen. Generally speak- ing, the vegetation corresponds with that of the nearest mainland, but it also boasts many rare varieties. Many far northern plants find their southernmost limit here, while a few ordinarily southern growing varieties have here taken their most northerly station.
While the vegetable life of the island is truly remarkable for its infinite variety, no such boast can be made in regard to its animal life. Whatever may have been the situation previous to its settlement-and that we have no means of knowing-its animals of today are remarkable only for their scarcity. With the exception of rats and mice, no wild mammals are found; not a fox or a coon or a rabbit ; not a skunk or woodchuck or porcupine; no minks, otters, or fur-bearing animals; no squirrels of any kind-not even a chipmunk. If any of these animals, common enough on the adjacent mainland, ever found residence here (probably some of them did), they have become extinct. A few small snakes, frogs, toads and salamanders comprise the native land animals. There are adult persons living on the island who have never seen a single specimen of the above- mentioned animals.
The scarcity of the mammalia is more than compensated for by the denizens of the sea and by the birds of the air. During the spring and fall migrations, Matinicus seems to be in the path of countless numbers of land birds who stop here for a few days-or weeks-on their way north or south, as the case may be, and many of them breed here. However, it is its great flocks of numerous varieties of sea birds for which the waters of Matinicus and adjacent islands are celebrated. Although not as numerous as formerly, large numbers of coot and various kinds of ducks furnish splendid sport for the gunners, in their season. Wild geese, plover, and other game birds abound. Large colonies of Mother Carey's chickens breed on Seal Island and Wooden Ball Island, and terns of several varieties on Matinicus Rock. A pair of American ravens bred annually for many years on Noman's Land, until one spring, some- body destroyed their nest, when they disappeared. The following spring a pair, supposedly the same ones, took up their abode on Tenpound Island, and have reared their young in the same location each year since. Other water
12
birds are shags, old squaws, sea pigeons, sand pipers, gannets, loons, and others too numerous to mention. The most prominent of the feathered tribe are the herring gulls. In former years Noman's Land was maintained by the Audubon Society as a sanctuary for these birds, and countless thousands were hatched and raised there each season. In 1911, the owner of the island died. A new owner took possession and the cupidity of man was respon- sible for the introduction of a pair of foxes. It was the expectation of the owner that the foxes would subsist upon the gulls, thrive and increase in numbers at no expense to himself, netting him a tidy profit. Alas-"the best laid
GULLS IN THE HARBOR
plans, etc." The depredations of the foxes forced the gulls to leave the island, to the last pair. Reynard then subsisted for a time upon the lambs of a flock of costly sheep that the owner was pasturing there at the same time. The foxes were afterwards shot, when they both proved to be of the same sex.
When the gulls left, the greater portion of them migrated to Tenpound, and maintained a breeding place there. Since the elimination of the foxes, the gulls are gradually return- ing to Noman's Land. The past season saw a large colony nesting there. Prof. H. K. Job, the eminent ornithologist, has spent several seasons here for purposes of study, and his lectures and pictures have made the various bird colonies famous, the country over.
13
The waters about the islands abound in fish of many kinds. Cod, haddock, hake, pollock, mackerel, herring and halibut are the principal commercial varieties, and lobsters are abundant. Porpoises, seals and whales are often seen here, and sometimes sharks are very troublesome to the fishermen. At certain seasons squid, a small species of cuttle-fish, are plentiful and are caught and used as bait by the fishermen.
The education of summer visitors is not considered complete until he (or she) has been initiated into the mysteries of "squidding." The capturing of these little "devil-fish" is considered as one of the popular "summer sports." The customary manner of taking them is as follows: Late in the afternoon or early evening the boats, sometimes numbering twenty or more, gather at the "grounds" where squid are known to congregate. Each boat contains from two to half a dozen occupants, each encased in oiled clothes or other protective covering, and provided with a mackerel jig at the end of a small fish line. The boats spread out over the area and the jigs are dropped overboard and kept moving up and down, at varying depths. While so engaged each person is busily scanning the people in the other boats. Suddenly some one is seen to be frantically hauling in his line. Then hooroo! All of the other craft rapidly cluster around, the jigs are dropped overboard and the fun begins. Many of the expert can handle two lines at once. For a short time the squid take hold as rapidly as the jigs can be withdrawn from the water and returned. Now the need of the oiled clothes becomes apparent. As each squid is drawn from the water, it forcibly ejects from some portion of its anatomy a stream of dense black fluid known as "ink." In the excitement no thought is taken of this, and with the "ink" flying in all directions, faces, eyes, noses, mouths-all form fair targets. This hubbub lasts for a short while when, with no apparent reason, the squid cease "biting." The boats now scatter as before; the occupants are given an opportunity to cleanse their persons, when suddenly-hooroo !- the same tactics are re-enacted. If squid are plentiful and they are in a "biting" mood, a sufficiency for the next day's fishing is soon procured, and in a jovial mood, everyone returns to the shore.
14
A comparatively small body of land, surrounded on all sides by the Atlantic Ocean, Matinicus enjoys a more equable climate than sections of like latitude situated inland. During winter the temperature registers ten degrees warmer, and in summer ten degrees cooler than in Rockland and other places on the mainland. During the summer the climate is ideal, with warm days tempered by refresh- ing breezes, and cool nights conducive to restful slumber.
During the winter a comparatively small amount of snow falls, and the strong winds and damp, salty air generally make short work of that. At all seasons of the year long foggy spells are prone to make an appearance. A feature
THE BREAKWATER IN A STORM
of the climate during the fall, winter and spring are the occasional fierce, driving wind and rain storms, which shake the buildings, and drive the rain through every minutest crevice, and it would seem, through places where no crevice exists. During one of these storms, the ocean breaking upon the rocks, or rolling up the beaches in gigantic, foam- topped waves, forms a truly impressive and thrilling spectacle, though this is generally lost to the inhabitants by reason of the tremendous damage inflicted upon the lobstering gear.
The frost leaves the ground very early in the spring, but the weather remains raw and chilly, so that planting time is much later than on the mainland. Corn, tomatoes and other heat-loving crops are handicapped and cannot be
15
relied upon to mature, but potatoes, cabbages, turnips and other vegetables do remarkably well. Strawberries thrive, and there is an abundance of wild ones. The bogs abound in cranberries, and those bearing the "Matinicus" brand find a ready sale in any market. Destructive frosts and freez- ing weather are extremely late in arriving. Farmers have been known to plow land late in December. Mr. Ernest Young states, and his wife corroborates him, that while plowing on New Year's Day, in the year 1896, grasshoppers arose in clouds in front of the oxen. In the year 1915, during the first week of November, there were collected no less than fifty-four varieties of wildflowers, in bloom. This was no exceptional case, but rather the usual thing.
Like the climate of all sections, that of Matinicus is a combination of the desirable and undesirable, the former or the latter predominating, according to the point of view.
16
SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH
About ten centuries ago a Norseman named Lief the Lucky sailed from Greenland to explore the land discovered a few years previously by a fellow-countryman named Biarne. Sailing southward along the coast of Maine, he reached a "fair, pleasant country" where they made a temporary settlement, calling it "Vineland the Good." Since then many other explorers, adventurers and colonizers -Norse, English, French and Spanish-have skirted our shores. After the vikings left, for nearly 500 years the canoes of the Indians were the only craft to traverse the bays and thoroughfares. Then in 1498, Cabot in his explorations, sailed along our rugged shores, followed two years later by Corte-Real of Portugal. Then came Veraz- zano, a Florentine, in the service of France. The Spaniard Gomez visited the Penobscot, and the river for many years was known as the Rio de Gomez. Thevet followed Gomez, in 1556, and in the next century came Gosnold, Pring, Way- mouth and Smith.
In all probability, Matinicus was sighted by some of these earliest explorers, and it is not inconceivable that for some reason or other, one or more of them landed here.
At a very early period the island was recognized as an advantageous fishing station. The French fishermen occupied it probably in the sixteenth century, and cured their fish here. The remains of early stone houses(1) were found here which were thought to have been built by the French voyagers.
John Josselyn in his account of New England, printed in 16712, says: "Sagadehock to Nova Scotia is called the Duke of York's Province. Here Pemaquid, Matinicus, Monhegan, Cape Anawhagen, where Capt. Smith fished for whales, * * are all filled with dwelling houses and stages for fishermen, and have plenty of cattle, arable lands and marshes."
1Williamson's Hist. of Me., vol. 1, p. 63.
2 Maine Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. 1, p. 551.
17
THE SILVER LINING
18
In 1686, John Palmer, Commissioner of Sagadahoc, forbade Baron Castin his threatening the subjects of the English King, and among others, those dwelling on the Island of Martinique." As this referred to the country between Pemaquid and St. Croix, this can not refer to any other island than our Matinicus1.
In March, 1701, Capt. Sylvanus Davis gave an account of several English settlements that he had formerly known of, to the eastward of Kennebec or Sagadahoc along the seacoast to Mentincus, in which he said that Montinicus had twenty fishing vessels.
In 1725-28 William Vaughan, one of the most prominent merchants of New England, then residing at Damariscotta, came to Matinicus and established a fishing station employ- ing several vessels, and built houses for himself and men2. On account of severe storms which damaged and destroyed their wharf and shipping, these people became discouraged, and the station was abandoned. The remains of a wharf in "Old Wharf Cove," and cinders and scraps of iron, the debris from an ancient blacksmith's forge, found on the Tolman farm, are probably relics of a part of their equip- ment. In his will? Vaughan mentions debts contracted on estate at Mintinicus and bequeaths his estates in lands there to his brother Elliot and sister Jane and others.
For untold ages Matinicus had probably been visited by Indians from the mainland, who at certain seasons of the year would spend some time here in fishing or sealing, or in taking sea-fowl or gathering their eggs. These birds then bred here in vast numbers, and their eggs as well as their flesh, formed a welcome addition to the larders of passing or camping fishermen as well as to the Indians.
The following is an extract from a letter from Capt. John Giles to Lt. Gov. Dummer of Massachusetts Bay Colony, dated at St. Georges River, Feb. 27, 1726-7:
"one thing more I must aquaint you of yt is about ye 7th currant or 10 Days Past 12 of the tribe wear over to Montinecous Islands to kill Sils (seals) but finding not any & being Detained thier sundd Days by wind & wether they Lit of a Cow & hoggs belonging to the English which they Kild & must Pay for."4
1 History of Castine, p. 31.
2History of Sheepscott, p. 162.
3Maine Wills, pp. 453-455.
4 Documentary History of Maine, vol. X., p. 355.
19
Extract from a letter from Capt. Thos. Smith to Lt. Gov. Dummer1, dated at St. George, March 6, 1726-7:
"Capt Lewe was here the first of this Inst. and acquainted us, that about the begining of Last month Twelv men of the Penobscot Tribe (Amongst whome was Victor and his son's) being by bad weather detained on ye Isle of Montenicus for some time; were by hunger Necessitated to Kill a Cow & a hog they found there (which I understand belonged to Mr Vaughn of Pascataqua) and were ready to pay for them; on ye second of this Inst, Victor, his two sons were here. One of them owned he had killed three piggs there, tho at first they denied it, & as I saide nothing to them about paying, so neither did they say anything about them, only that they were all so poore they would have died of themselves if they had not killed them":
Letter- from Lt. Gov. Dummer to Capt. John Giles Mar. 21, 1726 :
Sr I Recd your Letter of the 27th of February last And am Glad to hear of the safety of the Captives & doubt not, by the Care of the Tribes I shall soon see them returned.
much Displeased at the Action of the Indians at Meintenicus in Killing the Creatures there; Upon which Occasion You must Inform the Sachem & other Chief men as well as the immediate actors as follows.
"That I very much Resent this Liberty they have taken in Killing the Creatures which belong to the English, which is contrary to the Articles of Peace And that Common Justice which the English and Indians owe to one another, Not to Hurt one another in their Just Rights and Properties; Which Fault is much aggravated from the Constant Care I have taken to have them supplied with all manner of Necessaries at the Trading Houses: And as it was one View I had in this free & Generous Trade which I have carried oll with them, To prevent such ill practices from them, So I flattered myself it would have that good Effect; And that as Justice & Honesty are the surest Methods to preserve the Peace, so, on the Contrary Violence & Robbery have a direct tendency To disturb ye friendship & good Agreement wch I have Endeavored to maintain with the Indians & which I hope will subsist between us & them to the latest Posterity: That if they have not already made full satisfaction for the damage done, I expect They do it without delay, And that I insist upon it that their Chiefs do frequently warn all the Young Men That They never Meddle with any of the English Cattle or other things belonging to them: And that I expect They will make strict inquiry whether this Action was done through Rashness and Wantonness or by the Instigation of Such as are both theirs and Our Enemies, who may have a wicked Design to make a Misunderstanding between us; And that in this and all other the like Cases They do Exemplary Justice to the Offenders, in order to deter others from Doing the like Mischief. This is what you are to say to them. No more at present from Your Humble Servt
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