Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1923-04-25
A STORY AND INVITATION.
"Sherm" Douglas Invites Legislature
to Shore Acres.

(From the Legislative Record)
Mr.. Douglas of Lamoine: Mr..
Speaker, | rise to a question of per-
sonal privilege, for the purpose of
telling a story.
The Speaker The Chair recog
nizes the gentleman from Lamoine,
Mr.. Douglas, for that purpose.
Mr.. Douglas: A long, long time
ago, in France, on the shores of
beautiful bay, there was an old man
World, they brought back to the old
living in a thatched-roof, white
washed, stone cottage, beadmaker
by trade. On the hill back of his
cottage was monastery, the home of
some of the Jesuit Fathers, who at
that time were visiting the New
World and Christianizing the In
dams. He furnished those Jesuit
Fathers with beads and, as they re-
turned from their different trips
across the Atlantic into the New
beadmaker wonderful stories of that
beautiful country and the chance
they had of Christianizing those In
dams.
At the feet of the old man played
a grandson, Francois Van Bartte.
childhood friend of Francois,
Mademoiselle Lavalle, dwelt in the
chateau on the hill back of the
of that grand range of mountains on
village. They, too, listened to the
Jesuit Fathers and the old man, as
they told those wondrous tales
brought from the New World, and
they became imbued with the spirit
and the thought that, as they grew
up, they would like to visit that Won
derful country. Sure enough, when
the young man grew up he became
an officer in the French navy. The
girl grew to womanhood, her parents
died. and she became an heiress.
Being a Protestant, she had differ
ent idea of Outstanding the In
dams, and her idea was to take her
wealth, go to the New World and
found a city, making of the Indians
mechanics, artisans, tradesmen, and
to teach them and civilize them un-
til they formed city self-supporting
in itself.
She took her wealth and came
across to Philadelphia. In Philadel
phia she chartered a vessel, bought
grant of land in the then province of
Maine. She sailed along our coast
until she came to the rockbound
shores Of Maine, and she gazed in
wonderment and awe at that beauti-
full green world, clad in the verdure
of June AS she came along our
coast she came to the beautiful high
mountain that is now Lafayette Ma
tional park on Mount Desert island.
She landed at the small settlement
at Fernald's Point; but she found,
when she got ashore, that it was a
Jesuit settlement, and she was not
welcome, as it was not her grant OF
land. The vessel that she was in
then proceeded farther east until she
entered that beautiful bay called
Frenchman's bay, the largest land
locked harbor in the world to-day.
AS she sailed up that beautiful
Frenchman's bay, she saw pine
point jutting down into the bay.
That was her grant of land, and from
by woman. She went into the
that point of land she had another
view of Lafayette park, another view
Mount Desert island. There she pro-
ceeded to build her home, her log
CdDll, lOIly lCCI WiuO, CiShSy ASSI
long, and two and one-half stories
high, in which she kept, in one end,
her cattle, and in the other end she
lived with her retinue of servants,
artisans and mechanics.
She donned male attire, knee
pants, probably the first knicker-
bockers ever worn in the New World
woods with her engineers, laid out
streets upon which she intended to
build this large city. She found that
the mill that she had bought in
Philadelphia was not large enough
for her needs, and that she needed
more mechanics. So she chartered a
vessel and sailed again to Philadel-
phia, there to purchase what she
needed.
In Philadelphia she met again
Francis Van Bartte, commander of a
French frigate. They fell in love
and were married. Before she was