Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1890-05-15
Lewiston Journal1
The Story of an Old Buoksport Fisherman


say. you might ies a. well tell me the sun
| want no Capn Kidd and that he didn't
leave no treasure along this here coast
/ The speaker was an old man. who stood
one day last week on Bucksport wharf,
, He was admiring a small and trim three
master which was lying at the head of
the pier taking in Ice. and it was easy to
assume that he might be Judge Of ma
rlue beauties of this class, for he looked
Ike sea dog. was dressed Ike a sea dog,
had the rolling gait Of a sea dog, and now
aud then II this vas wanting Ia prove him
sea dog, he gave that peculiar nautical
twist and hitch Of the hips, which no land
lulhcr can duplicate. and which j. only ap-
preached by woman in the adjustment
# her hustle, after leaving a crowded
horse car. Or just before meeting some
femiuiu, rival.
The journal representative had accostcd
The old fellow q few minutes before; a
conversation had sprung up, and at once
the old salt had turned it towards the
craft, remarking that even the clippers Of
Captain kldd'> time. didn't look no more
smart nor pert than that Yer schooner"
He was asked f hr really thought there
had ever been a Captain Kidd, aud If 50, If
the shores Of Pcnohscot BAY. and the an
>wer was the nr>t paragraph Of thl~ arti-
Gle
And he followed 1t mp with another
statement.
Il don't only think Kidd was down here
and left treasures, hu, know some men
who found chest full Of it; they found
enough mean - fill chest. and they an
thcr children have cr been >Hashiug around
hcreaDoutS, YES and in this town too. on
the money, putting On airs enough 70 I'll
The canvas Of a full riggett ship They say
they made il in speculation, but knows
better"
The old man evidently had some feeling
about tie matter Both he and the report
cr were waiting for the Boston boat. but a
fog had settled down upon the river, the
steamer was reported an hour late, the
other walters left the wharf, and under
the lee Of the sinrehou>" and under the in
>pjration Of 4 good cigar, the old tar let
The "cqt out ther bag" aS he expressed il,
and told the following tale
lie wa> born on the shore OF lcuobsCnt
Bay. in l>n5- His father was a fisherman
and owned rude boat which he had built
himself and which served him well. for
Al that time ali kinds Of sea FISH came in
past the headlauds and little or no danger
WAS experienced in the work He passed
hi- boy hood there. and cannot Remember
the time " hen Kidd and the battle at Cas-
tine were not familiar topics Of conversa-
ton among the growu-up folks When
old enough, he went ia the boat with his
father after fish. and when about ten years
OF age went across 10 Belfast, this being
The year when he tir>t heard Of the coming
State Of Maine
The next year he went up the river with
hi> father to Buckstown. now Buck-port
and here he met for the first time, hs un-
Gle, a brother of hls father. who was a
fisherman. too, but who f>hcd only for
salmon. sturgeon and shad This uncle
was rather >hIftlc>s man. 20 the father
said, who WAS eternaliy bunting for hldd'>
gold. which he believed 10 be hidden along
TIE banks of the Penobscot river, and for
This reason he fished here, never going be-
low Brigadiers Island, but keeping along
the banks. between Buckstown and the
mouth Of the river
During that vislt, the uncle. who by the
way, left al his descendants rich. and
whose name i now borne by some of the
best people OF this section, showed the
father
PARCHMENT, WRITTEN N SPANISH,
ami having on il diagram. which he had
found in an Old birch tree on Orphans Is
land. This island j. in the river just be-
low Ills town. i long and narrow, and pc
Cuilar in il shore formation. To this day,
all h.ud> " nsh which come into the river
arr caught along the shore. Salmon welrs
ana smtt nets are in abundance, and the
uncle always considered it excellent
ground too. He told the father that this
particular birch tree had stood close to the
pebbiy shore and had been blown inland
by some blast from the river. When the
tree fell the roots were pulled from the
Soil on the river side, and they took up
much dirt and some stones with them.
After this, the uncle pulled in there, and
desiring TO make the boat fast, struck the
roots in order to knock of the dirt, when
a bunch fell, which proved 10 be an iron
box about the size of two quart measure,
rusty and locked.
IL was peculiar shaped affair, and all
efforts to open it by common means were
vain. The uncle did not care to break it
open with a sledge, for be reasoned if
there were jewels or costly stones inside,
they might be ruined. He did not dare to
take the box to strangers to open, and so
with the secret Juggling at his heart he
box could be secretly inspected. He f.
nally hit upon a scheme. Down where he
kept his boat, he made hiding place in
which he concealed his treasure, and whe u
! he vert upon the river he took the box
with him, and during his spare moments
filed steadily away at one corner. All
the time great hopes filled his breast. The
country was thinly settled thereabouts,
this box was of foreign make, and he ar
+ gued that none of the natives or the In
f dians could have ever owned or concealed
it. Visions of wealth fioated through his
head as he fshed and as he filed, until at
/ last, getting at the
/ INSIDE OF THE BOX
/ he found only the ancient parchments with
/ the rudely drawn plan and the old Spanish
writing. II made him heartsick, that dis
| appointment, but as he again and again
/ looked at the plan it had familiar sug-
/ gestion.
! He was seated in his boat and in the
shade of the lake, and as he happened to
/ look dowa and then up the river, the PIC
lures seen were the original of the plan,
and but another glance sufflced to show
him the parchment had evidently been care
fully prepared and hope again reigned in
/ his breast. Might not the words give a
I clue to the whereabouts of the treasure
For firmly did the boatman believe he held
in his hand the handiwork Of Captain Kidd.
In those days, Boston was as far away
from the Penobscot as she is now from
Liverpool Indeed the usual length of
time for the rude sailing crafts between
the two places was seven days, sometimes
more. The finder of the box had no mon
ey, his boat was an open one only and he
urged the father to take his sail boat,
which he used for bay fishing and sail to
Boston, where he hoped to find some Span
ish sailor. who could translate the parch-
ment writing. The father took no stock
in the alleged value of the find he had a
family on his hands and would enter into
no wildcat schemes. The argument grew
hot, the Buckstown fortune hunter cursed
his brother and drove him from his house,
and never after did they speak.
"And that is why" said the salt, ''all
my family are poor, while my cousins are
rich. Nv father made G mistake for as |
told you, my uncle and partner got a
chest full of treasure, though they always
said they made it speculatng in lS49,
when nv uncle was over fifty-five years
old. perhaps sixty
The Buckstown man kept his secret
well. The trouble of 1912 came on the