The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-10-19

| Queenstown Letter In Nav York Sun. }
| The disappearance Of the plnk-eysd
Pitteleys IL fast being accomplished. and
ID Is probably only question OF few
years when the albinos CT Massachrs tn
will live only in tradition. Not dozen
Of the white-haired, pink.eyed people can
NON be fou nd in the region where more
than so lived at one time quarter Of a
century ago. So fsw are they that the
younger generation about here includes
many children who have not yet seen IN
albino, where aibinos were familiar
sights to their fathers and mothers. Some
people may see in this only another evil
denoe of.the law Of supply and demand.
For many years the attractiveness Of al
binos in dime museums and circuses mas
been diminishing, and the births of the
queer little babies have also bscoms
fewer. This Is q theory which is vahe-
mently denied by the albinos them sal YES.
They are altogether too shy AMI naughty
to permis themselves to b. hired out to
show folks. Indeed, they haugttiy deny
any suggestion that Bsrnum and lis con-
temporariss ever were abls to induce any
OF tn IL pi1k-syed. whi.e-haired ances-
tors to figure ia side-shows, although tr
dillon has nurtured the beli,f that thii
region formerly furnished all the eli mos
used by museums and tircuses for exli 1
tion purposes.
| The more probable theory IL that the
ldisappearance Of the albinos is due solsl
10 the falling OF OF iutermarriages anon
tbs fittsleys and Reynoldses, and
their Observance of the laws OF conan
guinity. The women, while more IT,
serevd and clannish than the men. even,
have without design or forethought
brought this about by marrying into
families with which the PittsIeys had
never been allied. These later mari ges
have taken them out OF the unhealtt full
methods of life that existed among them,
and have probably resulted in the restora-
ton of the rizment in their blood to such
an amount that the family chara cteristio
does not appear In the children OF such
marriages. 1t may be due to thi', or IL
you believe the Pittsleys, 1t is only that
the hand Of fate has been lifted from
them.
The story of the albinos begins more
than a century and a half ago. 1t was
about then that traces OF them appeared
IN the records Ct the county and town 10
suoh fashion that there is no doubt
about the length OF the altino line.
Members Of the Pierce family Of Free
town, who have been connected with the
administration Of town affsiIs since the
foundation of the settlement, have taken
J sufficient interest in the altino cases 10
keep some track of their appearances 10
the locality. The albtuos began with the
tragedy OF Acadia. When the English
Ideported Evangeline and her friends,
not only Louisiana, but other settlements
also along the Atlantic coast received
their quota Of the exiles. Freetown was
one OF thess places. IL had been unable
to supply Its quota OF soldiers TO the
army. and at Ereetown accordingly the
Engliah left IL men aud some women.
! The miserable ones who were landed In
Freetown without means OF sustenanoe
went into the woods in their wrstched-
ness and built huts and cabins for shell
! ter. Some Of the descendants Of the
! Acadians are still living about Freetown.
, and are highly respected and in comfort
able circumstances. just which of the 10
: Acadians became the ancestors of the
, nibinos, the records do not show, but the
name on the town and county records IL
given variously rs Pittsley, Piggsley and
even Hoggsley. They are generally known
: as "Jucket folks,n and this 10 traced
back to an Acadian with the name Of
Jaoquet, which was corrupted into Juok-
ct. None Of the name Of "Juoket' has
, Of the Dame did live 1t was in missr able
cabins and huts in out-of.the-way plac es
in the woods. The name Jucket was ac-
cordingly applied TO such rude habitations
: wherever found. And they were almost
always found occupied by albinos or
white-headsd Pittsleys. Early In the 18th
century q Robert Pittslsy made his ap-
pearanoe In the records as an albino. He
was first heard Of in 1871, aud was CON-
nected In some way with the Anadian
Jaoquets.
The Pittsleys were clannish, and the
appearance Of each baby with the pink
oolored eyes attracted SO much attention
to them that they acquired a habit of
moving frequently from one lonely ioca-
tion TO some other equally remote, jwhere
protected the largest families. Sometim es
as many as IS adults and children oocu-
pied ems room, with loft ON top, reached
by q ladder.
The PittsIeys resented the curiosity
aroused by their appearance in villages,
aud resolutsly burrowed deeper AMI deep
er into the woods. while the children
grew up like little savages and led a
gypsy existence, until every horse.trading
yarn or story OF swap In the region was
lAlu TO White-neaoeu Fittsiey. Inc
morality of the women has always been
above reproaoh. and the marriage tie al
ways held in almost fanatical esteem.
Medical authority holds the cause of
albinism to be the absence Of pigment In
the body, and that IL may be hereditary.
About 100 albinos have heen born since
Robert Pittsley, and the characteristic
seems to be transmitted through the
male and the female line. In one case
there were six albino children In Pitts
ley family. one only being a girl. She
married and had three pink-sy babies In
her own family. One of these has mar
ried into family of entirely different
social position. She Is a really beautiful
woman, with rioh, ruby eyes, marked
with the pecu liar vibrations seen In the
syes of albinos. Her hair Is exquisite.
Her husbands name Is that Of one of the
most famous historical rulers Of the Mas
sachufetts colony. None of her children
has yet appeared with the albino featur, s.
Il Others OF the same generation have left