Poem "The Maiden of Quoddy", by James De Mille (1833-1880)

Poem entitled "The Maiden of Quoddy, written by James De Mille (1833-1880), Maritime Canada author, poet and professor.

Found in the June 1930 issue of Canadian Geographical Journal, published by the Canadian Geographical Society at Montreal.

 

Hear Linnea Good's sublime rendition

The Maiden of Quoddy
By James De Mille

Sweet maiden of Passamaquoddy,
Shall we seek for communion of souls
Where the deep Mississippi meanders,
Or the distant Saskatchewan rolls?
Ah, no! in New Brunswick we'll find it -
A sweetly sequestered nook -
Where the swift gliding Skoodoowabskooksis
Unites with the Skoodoowabskook.

Meduxnakik's waters are bluer;
Nepisiguit's pools are more black;
More green is the bright Oromocto,
And browner the Peticodiac.
But colours more radiant, in Autumn,
I see when I'm casting my hook,
In the waves of the Skoodoowabskooksis,
Or perhaps in the Skoodoowabskook.

Let others sing loudly of Saco,
Of Passadumkeag or Miscouche,
Of Kennebeccasis or Quaco,
Of Miramichi or Buctouche;
Or boast of the Tobique or Mispec,
The Musquash or dark Memramcook;
There's none like the Skoodoowabskooksis
Excepting the Skoodoowabskook!

Think not, though the Ma-ga-gua-da-vic
Or Bocabec, pleases the eye;
Though Chi-put-nec-ti-cook is lovely,
That to either of these we will fly.
No! when in love's union we're plighted,
We'll build our log house by a brook
Which flows to the Skoodoowabskooksis,
Where it joins with the Skoodoowabskook.

Then never of Waweig or Chamcook
I'll think having you in my arms;
We'll reck not of Digdeguash beauties,
We'll care not for Popelogan's charms,
But as emblems of union forever
Upon two fair rivers we'll look;
While you'll be the Skoodoowabskooksis
I'll be the Skoodoowabskook.

From online research - corrections and/or additions requested: 

James De Mille (changed from DeMill) was born 23 August 1833 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, the son of Nathan S. and Elizabeth Tongue (Budd) DeMill.  His paternal grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Smith) DeMill.   John DeMill was a Loyalist from Connecticut who settled in New Brunswick, Canada.  Elizabeth was also from a Connecticut Loyalist family.

James De Mille's maternal grandparents were Elisha and Mary Ann (Bonnell) Budd.  Elisha Budd was a Loyalist from New York, who settled in Nova Scotia.  His father, James Budd, also a Loyalist, from White Plains, New York, was killed at his own door in 1778 by a party of Whigs who called themselves "The Cow Boys".  Mary Ann Bonnell's father Isaac was a Loyalist from New Jersey who settled in Digby, Nova Scotia.

James De Mille married Elizabeth Ann Pryor, daughter of Dr. John Pryor, first president of Acadia College.  

Click here for a biography of James De Mille at the site Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. 

Newspaper clipping about Fort Sullivan, Eastport, Moose Island, Maine, probably from the late 1870s.

Passing of a Fort
Eastport's Old Fort Sullivan to Be Divided Up Into Building Lots and Sold

Eastport, Me.  May 19 -- One of Eastport's oldest and most prominent landmarks narrowly escaped going up in smoke recently during a storm, and while a heavy wind was blowing.

Fire was discovered coming through the roof of the old-time building on Fort Sullivan, where several families live, and a large crowd soon collected, including members of the fire department, who rendered valuable aid in getting the fire under control and saving the building.  The damage was small, and the former Government building that was at one time occupied by the English soldiers is yet prominent on the high ground.

Fort Sullivan, on which the above building stands, was built by the United States Government in 1808, the result of the embargo act passed by Congress in 1807, and it is supposed that the old fort was named in honor of Gov. Sullivan.  It was during his administration that the Batterman act was passed, which gave settlers at that time, who had no title, a fair compensation for improvements or betterments.  The Government turned its attention to the fortifying of Eastport, or Moose Island, as it was called, in the spring of 1807, and in April of the following year instructions came from the Government for Col. Lemuel Trescott, then Collector of Customs at Machias, to build the proposed fort here.  It is known that he purchased for $180 three acres of land on Clark's hill and the earth works were soon begun, to be followed by the necessary buildings.  A crescent battery of stone mason work was completed which was laid in lime 11 feet thick, and sods six and one-half feet thick laid on top, making the platform for the cannon.  A block-house was built near of pine timber, two stories high and having walls 14 inches thick.

They also constructed a magazine 10 feet square, the walls two feet thick and the roof arched.  A company of United States Artillery arrived in Passamaquoddy Bay on the warship Wasp, and the garrison was first commended [commanded?] by Capt. Moses Swett, four 18-pounders being mounted.

During the War of 1812, the place was occupied and some time later a fleet of English men-of-war arrived in the harbor and soon took possession of Fort Sullivan, which they held up to the close of the troubles.  It is said that most of the buildings on the fort, of which the above-mentioned is one, were built by the British at that time, who improved the fortifications began by the American Government and many buried timbers are yet to be seen on the fort and near the building now standing.  American soldiers were stationed at Fort Sullivan at intervals up to 1875, when they were ordered away by the Government and since that time the houses have been occupied mostly by the poorer residents of the city.

Last year a careful survey of the fort property was made and it was divided into lots that will probably be sold at public auction at an early date, when the present buildings will be hauled away and the frontier fortifications of 100 years ago will disappear.

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Andrew Harrington Bibber, Civil War veteran, marine painter; Lubec, Maine; Eastport, Maine

Andrew Harrington Bibber, an officer in the First Maine Cavalry and Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers Infantry Regiment, and, later, a marine painter of some renown.

Bibber was presumably the Andrew J. Bibber born at Lubec, Maine, on 18 July 1837, the son of Charles H. and Adeline Ann (Harrington) Bibber. Perhaps he changed his middle name to honor his mother or maternal grandparents.  By 1860, the family had moved across Passamaquoddy Bay to Eastport, Maine.

Read more about Andrew Harrington Bibber in the Civil War Veterans Project database of the Orange County California Genealogical Society.

From online research, I found that the name Bibber likely goes back to the spelling Vibert, a European name that likely started out as a Christian name and over time became a surname. 

With President Lincoln's call to the states for 75,000 men, Maine responded, not with the one regiment requested, but with ten, fully armed and ready to serve for three years. 

According to a military record in the Maine State Archives. Bibber rose from 1st sergeant in the First Maine Cavalry to 2nd Lieutenant, Adjutant and Captain in Company F, First Maine Cavalry. After mustering out on 13 March 1865, he became a commissioned officer as Assistant Adjutant General of Volunteers Infantry Regiment. 

 

Andrew first married Sarah Houghton, daughter of Hon. Partmon Houghton (1806-1887) and Orinda Ann (Prince) Houghton (1807-1885). Partmon Houghton was a member of the Maine state legislature, but is probably best known today for a fund he endowed, still extant, whereby many elderly women in Eastport are given a gift of money during the holiday season. It would be interesting to know what inspired him to set up this fund.

Andrew Bibber had a dry goods business in Eastport, Maine, and enjoyed painting marine scenes, for which he was receiving some acclaim. Andrew and Sarah had two daughters: Edith Prince Bibber (1870-1964) and Sarah Parker Houghton Bibber (1871-1876). Less than two weeks after little Sarah's birth, Sarah (Houghton) Bibber died, likely as the result of complications of childbirth. 

 On 27 September, 1876, Andrew Harrington Bibber married again, to Annie Louise Ansley (1854-1938), (also seen in the variation Annesley), who was born at Saint John, New Brunswick, and educated at Saint John Young Ladies Academy and at Vassar College. Her father, John, a mill owner and government official, was the son of Devonshire immigrant Daniel Ansley, who became a successful shipping merchant at Saint John. 

 Annie's mother, Sarah (Hayden) Ansley, a descendant of John Alden, was born on Beacon Hill in Boston. Andrew's daughter from his first marriage, Sarah Parker Houghton Bibber, died shortly after her father's marriage to Annie. Andrew and Annie had a daughter, Alice Alden Bibber (1883-1960), born 30 October 1883 at Eastport, Maine. She would marry her cousin Roy whose surname was Van Bibber.

In 1890, Andrew, Annie, Edith and Alice moved to Orange, California, where they purchased twenty acres to develop an orange orchard. Andrew later resumed the dry goods trade, and in his later years, took up his brush again and became known for his seascapes. 

 He died on 6 October 1913.  Annie, Edith and Alice remained in California after his death. Annie died at Los Angeles on 5 February 1938. Edith, a Vassar graduate like her stepmother, was a music teacher who gave private lessons at her home; she died in 1964, at Los Angeles.  Alice Alden Bibber graduated from the Girls' Collegiate School of Los Angeles and later married her first cousin, Roy Bibber, who had by then changed his name to Dion Ray O. Van Bibber. The marriage ended in divorce.  Alice died in 1960 at Los Angeles. 

If you have corrections and/or additions to the information above, please leave a comment.

Notice that Eastport, Maine, and Lubec, Maine, are close as the crow flies, but far apart by land, thanks to Cobscook Bay, the second largest estuary along the Atlantic seaboard.

Gem Tintypes of Clarence and Tillie Ellenwood of Maine, possibly Eastport, Maine, and likely Ellingwood

Attached gem-sized tintypes of a son and mother identified as Clarence and Tillie Ellenwood.  Likely Ellingwood.

The seller of this grouping indicated that Clarence and Tillie were son and mother from Eastport, Maine, with the surname Ellingwood. It's worth mentioning, however, there was another Clarence and Tilly Ellingwood in the Winterport and Frankfort, Maine, area.

From online research on the Eastport pair, hopefully correct - corrections and/or additions requested:

Clarence A. Ellingwood (1854-1905) was born 8 March 1854 at Eastport, Maine, son of Marshall Alden Ellenwood (1830-1898) and Matilda Jane (Pendleton) Ellenwood (1830-1913).  

I found sources that indicated Marshall Alden Ellenwood was born 15 October 1831 at Eastport, Maine, but he indicated Canada on the Censuses.  It wasn't uncommon for people living on the Canadian islands of Passamaquoddy Bay to have their children born at Eastport, Maine, where there was a doctor.  

Matilda Jane "Tillie" (Pendleton) Ellenwood was born 17 June 1829 at Deer Island, New Brunswick, across from Eastport, Maine, the daughter of Isaac Gilkey Pendleton and Mary (Jamison) Pendleton.

Clarence had a younger brother, Dr. Charles Victor Ellingwood (1858-1924).

At some point the family moved from the Passamaquoddy Bay area to New York and the Midwest.  Clarence married Marietta "Mattie" Fowler, daughter of Oscar and Charlotte (Card) Fowler and had a daughter Ethel, born about February 1881 at Eaton, New York.

In case someone who has these same or similar photographs recognizes the mother/son pair not as the Passamaquoddy area Ellingwoods, but rather the Waldo County Ellingwoods:

This Clarence Ellingwood was born about 1869 in Maine, son of Manley Ellingwood and Matilda (Carlton) Ellingwood (1847-1947).  

If you have corrections or additions to the information above, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

1933 letter to the editor about St. Croix Island, settled in 1604 by deMonts & Champlain - by Mrs. Ida Vose Woodbury

July 27, 1933 newspaper clipping describing a letter to the editor written by Mrs. Ida Sumner (Vose) Woodbury (1854-1934) in which she objects to the fact that St. Croix Island was misidentified as Dochet Island in Senator Wallace H. White's bill proposing that the island become a national park.  [Wallace Humphrey White, Jr., (1877-1952)]

St. Croix Island is the site chosen by French explorers Sieur deMonts and Samuel de Champlain to establish a settlement in 1604.  The island is located in the St. Croix River not far from where it empties into Passamaquoddy Bay near St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada.  

Sadly, the island proved to be a site poorly suited for what would be an unusually harsh winter.  On the island, the party of 79 had felt they would be safer from the Wabanaki natives, in case of conflict, and yet it was the Wabanakis whose help and know-how they came to rely on, albeit too late for many of the men, 35 of whom succumbed to scurvy, sickness and cold.  

The following year the party moved its settlement to Port-Royal, Nova Scotia.

Today St. Croix island is regarded as a site of international significance.  The United States and Canada operate historic parks on their sides of the river facing the island.  
     US side, Red Beach section of Calais, Maine 
     Canada side, Bayside, New Brunswick 

Transcription:

THIS ISLAND CALLED DOCHET.
In a recent letter to a Portland newspaper Mrs. Ida Vose Woodbury voices a strong protest against the use of the name "Dochet" as applied to the historic islet in the St. Croix River where DeMonts and Champlain spent that disastrous winter in 1604.  Her letter was prompted by the introduction of a bill in Congress by Senator Wallace H. White of Maine asking that the island be made a national park and a monument erected there, and she writes:

"My object in writing this article  is a protest against the name which Mr. White used in speaking of the island.  He called it Douchet.  That was one of the many names applied to it.  Another was Dosia, connected with a local tragedy on the island.  It was also called Big Island, Great Island, Neutral Island and many other things.  But when DeMonts and Champlain first came to the island they named it St. Croix for the river in which it is located.  The river takes its name from a crude cross which is readily distinguishable from the river itself or from the "English side" (so called) especially at high tide.  Oak Bay forms the head, and the Waweig, flowing from New Brunswick with the river itself which is the Maine boundary, make the arms of a cross which give a reasonable foundation for the name St. Croix.  When DeMonts came to the island, he named it the same.  Champlain, the geographical member of the expedition, corroborated it.

"In 1904, a ter-centenary celebration of the settlement of the island was held.  There were two assemblies; one on the island itself and the other in the Opera House in Calais.  Representatives from Maine, from New Brunswick, and from France were present.  The secretary of the committee brought a petition from the historical town of St. Andrews, which took the form of a resolution that the island should henceforth and forever be known by the name of St. Croix.  This resolution was unanimously adopted.  Later the city of Calais, on the Maine side of the river, and the city of St. Stephen on the New Brunswick side, by official action confirmed this resolution.  It seems to me that we should not go back of these actions.  I approve heartily of Senator White's plan if the country ever has money enough to indulge in parks and monuments, but I plead for the name of St. Croix, the only legal name for the island."

That is straightforward and conclusive enough to set straight the record which has gone somewhat astray since the celebration nearly 30 years ago.  It is rather surprising that the name Dochet clings so tenaciously when the name of the river is a constant reminder of the proper, legal name of the island.

Interestingly, I once read a school report of a Robbinston, Maine schoolgirl on the tercentenary celebration mentioned in Mrs. Woodbury's letter.  She mentioned that three French warships attended the celebration.  Robbinston abuts the Red Beach section of Calais where St. Croix Island is located.        

In 2004, a ten-day quadrennial celebration marked the event.  Unfortunately, it was hampered by unending torrential rain and fog, in an echo of the harsh weather of 1604.  

1856 Invoice from S. P. Bradbury Grave Stones, Bangor, Maine, to Caleb Hersey, Jr. of Pembroke, Maine

May 17, 1856 invoice from S. P. Bradbury & Co. Grave Stones, at Bangor, Maine, to Mr. Caleb Hersey, Jr., at Pembroke, Maine.  The invoice notes that the stone is intended for the grave of Mr. Hersey's daughter.

From online research, hopefully correct - corrections and/or additions requested:

Caleb Hersey, Jr. (1799-1866) was born 13 March 1799 at Dennysville, Maine, or at Passamaquoddy, Maine, son of Caleb and Lydia (Dunbar) Hersey, Hingham, who were Massachusetts natives who had moved to Pembroke, Maine.  

On 21 December 1823 at Dennysville, Maine, Caleb, Jr. married Eliza DeForest (1805-1853), daughter of Henry and Sarah (Woodworth) DeForest of Nova Scotia. Henry may have been born in Connecticut, or in Nova Scotia, of Loyalist immigrants from Connecticut. Sarah Woodworth was born at Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.

Caleb, Jr., and Eliza had at least five sons and two daughters:

•  Elizabeth Ann (Hersey) Hersey (1825-1865)
•  Caleb Washington Hersey (1827-1905)
•  Sarah Lydia Hersey (1830-1856)
•  Henry Jackson Hersey (1833-1853)
•  Heman Nickerson Hersey (1836-1892), twin
•  Charles Emerson Hersey (1836-1896), twin
•  Darius DeForest Hersey (1841-1925)

The gravestone was presumably intended for the grave of daughter Sarah Lydia Hersey.

If you have any corrections or additional information regarding the Hersey or DeForest families, please leave a comment.

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1912 Photograph of an Outing to Bliss Island, New Brunswick, Canada; perhaps by a Group from Eastport, Maine

September 22,1912 photograph of an outing by boat past the cliffs of Bliss Island, which is located in Passamaquoddy Bay, near Deer Island and mainland St. George, New Brunswick, Canada.

Someone wrote North Perry under the photograph but crossed it out. North Perry is on the US side of Passamaquoddy Bay. Perhaps the group hailed from there or left there or the caption writer was at first mistaken.

Because of the American flag and other photographs found with this one, I believe this is a group from Eastport, Maine out for a day of sightseeing in an area of stunning views of islands, coves, beaches and whales.  

The views from boat, car and ferry are still stunning one hundred years later.

Samuel Bliss, a Loyalist from Massachusetts, was given 500 acres in the area in 1784 and operated a farm on the island.  Read more here at the lighthousefriends.com site.

Map of Bliss Island, New Brunswick:  zoom out a few clicks to see Passamaquoddy and Fundy Bays.

Photograph of an Unidentified Young Man; by the Fairfield Studio of Eastport, Maine

Photograph, perhaps a graduation photograph, of an unidentified young man. The photograph was taken by the Fairfield studio of Eastport, Maine,

If you recognize him from your family photographs or research, please leave a comment.

1915 Boynton High School Commencement Issue - Eastport, Maine

Reprinted, with permission, from the blog Heirlooms Reunited

Mold-damaged copy of the Boynton High School Commencement Issue of 1915, Eastport, Maine.  Images of all pages, including the advertising pages, and a satellite map of Eastport, Maine on Moose Island in Passamaquoddy Bay are below.

Teachers:  Moholland, Patten, Mitchell and Grindle

Graduates:

Lewis Gerald Atwood

Frances Atwood

Samuel Arthur Baker

Alice Kathryn Bishop

Agnes Mabelle Butterfield

Laura Josephine Carlan

Muriel Bernica Cleland

Helen Jane Cleland

Victoria Marguerite DeCorey

Stafford John Dore

Charles Burrows Emery

Etta M. Farris

Elsie Lucille Fitzgerald

Harriet M. Flaherty

Fletcher Garnett

Howard Bruce Gregory

Francis Whitney Harrington

Frances Lorena Malloch

Geneva A. Trafton

Ronald B. Wadsworth

William M. Ward

Oscar Livermore Whalen

O. L. Whalen, Editor-inChief

A. K. Bishop, Asst Editor-in-Chief

L. H. Carlan, Business Manager

V. M. DeCorey, Asst Business Manager

F. W. Harrington, Athletic

E. M. Farris, School

R. B. Wadsworth, Alumni

G. A. Trafton, Exchange

Teachers

College Prep:

A. K. Bishop - Alice Kathryn Bishop

A. M. Butterfield - Agnes Maybelle Butterfield

S. J. Dore - Stafford John Dore

E. M. Farris - Etta M. Farris

English:

F. J. Atwood - Frances Atwood

G. Atwood - Lewis Gerald Atwood

S. A. Baker - Samuel Arthur Baker

M. B. Cleland - Muriel Bernica Cleland

C. B. Emery - Charles Burrows Emery

E. L. Fitzgerald - Elsie Lucille Fitzgerald

F. W. Harrington - Frances Whitney Harrington

G. A. Trafton - Geneva A. Trafton

R. B. Wadsworth - Ronald B. Wadsworth

William Ward - William M. Ward

O. L. Whalen - Oscar Livermore Whalen

Business:

L. J. Carlan - Laura Josephine Carlan

H. J. Cleland - Helen Jane Cleland

V. M. DeCorcy - Victoria Marguerite DeCorey

H. M. Flaherty - Harriet M. Flaherty

F. Garnett - Fletcher Garnett

H. B. Gregory - Howard Bruce Gregory

F. L. Malloch - Frances Lorena Malloch

Valedictorians

1875 - John Ellery Tuttle

1879 - Fred W. Deering

1880 - William F. Brown

1881 - Seward B. Livermore

1882 - Ida Bishop

1883 and 1884 - Mabel Camplin

1885 - George A. Lincoln

1886 - Wary Wood

1887, 1888, 1880 - No Graduation

1890 - Alice Isabel Morton

1891 - Harriet F. Holmes

1892 - Edith A. Irving

1893 - William R. Bibber

1894 - Lisle M. Irving

1895 - Jessie M. Nutt

1896 - Stella B. Damon

1897 - Florence Farris

1898 - No record

1899 - Nellie Louise Denison

1900 - no record

1901 - No Valedictory given

1902 - Mary L. Corbett

1903 - Florence Buxton

1904 - Mary Corthell

1905 - Katherine F. Leighton

1906 - Bessie M. Huckins

1907 - Frances Leeman

1908 - Florence Emery

1909 - Annie C. Barrett

1910: No Valedictory - James Lewis, Welcome Speech

1911: Josephine Emery

1912: Margaret M. Ives

1913: Kristine Kirwin

1914: Louise Bucknam

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