Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1924-01-30
TALLEYRAND'S BIRTHPLACE.
j. Sherman Douglas Digs Il Little
Further in Lamoine History.

SaWtelle article? acknowledge
him to be an historian of known
ability, and have the honor of a
slight acquaintance with him. (Wish
l was better acquainted His muse
UNI at Islesford is a wonderful place.
| wish the State of Maine or Hancock
county owned it. Any person who
can spend an hour or a week at that
place would add untold local history
to his fund of knowledge.
But while | acknowledge his
superiority as to real history, l can
not forget the traditional history of
my own town, handed down from
generation to generation, by per-
fectly reliable people. Prof. Sawtelle
acknowledges, in his article of
January 16, that his is entirely from
deductions. Mine is from traditions
given me by people now living and
some that have passed on. He cites
some of the Passamaquoddy Indians
as saying that their ancestors con-
gregated in great numbers at Sor-
rento. | have it from Frank Loring,
big Thunder of the Penobscots,
who camped with the Penobscots and
the Quoddys in my fathers pasture
when | was a boy at Bar Harbor.
In the winter of 1900 and 1901,
the writer was chief of the special
police force at the Maine Sports
mans Exhibit, in Park Square Gar
den, Boston, and Big Thunder" had
some of his tribe there. One night
after the show, some of us gathered
around him, to listen to his tales of
Indian lore. Charles Lindall and
Fred Roberts of Bar Harbor were
in the little group, and heard the
same from his lips. He knew |
lived at Lamoine, and he answered
a question of mine in this way:
my people came there long time
ago; every year they come and fish
and make arrow heads. French mis-
sionaries used to be there; had
house, used to preach to my people"
Nowhere else on Frenchman's bay
can you find the large shell heaps, or
the number of relics that are dug up
here. Prof MOrehead, a few years
ago, got great many boxes of
them Prof Sawtelle took an
imaginary journey around French
mans bay, and deducted | know
that had his journey been real, he
French people here.
A tale of "old wives is to the eff
feet that. when Roger Googins, ST.,
came here in 1865, there was
French settlement on the point and
that he had some trouble with them
and went back, but came again the
next year to find them gone. My
Grandmother Higgins told me one
time that she had heard the old
folks say the Frenchmen were driven
out from here. | wish l had Ques-
toned her further, as she was a we'll
sducated woman of those times, and
a teacher in her young days. That
may account for Roger GoOgins'
child being born at North Yarmouth,
and may also account for the build
ing found here when the Des Isles
came 1t was the remains of the
original French people, among whom
Talleyrand was born.
Prof WinterbOtham, who mar
ried Melinda Des Isles, makes the as
sertion in his writings that such a
building stood here, and was fin
ished with lumber said to have been
brought from France. He also says
the Capuchins had a mission here as
early as 1858.
My Wife's father and his brother,
boys, while blowing on the bank that
makes to the shore in front of what
is now the U. S. cOaling station bar
racks, plowed up the cover to an iron
kettle, They paid no attention to it
at that time, but later, as they grew
older and listened to the tales told
of the old French people, they spent
a great many hours digging for that
kettle and left a description to his
children about where it was. There
might have been French coins in
that, as Mr.. Smith told me about dig
ging around the old French cellars
in his boyhood. There was no sys-
tematic digging, nor did he say he
found anything He is wintering in
Florida. | have written him.
I may not have offered any more
in the way of proof than Uncle Nick
Thomas did, but l have cited more
definite legends than he got from his
mother or stepmother, and whether
Lamoine was famous or infamous
as being the birthplace of Talley-
rand or not, around it clusters a
WuOl6 lOI Ol IUIndHllC SUITES
agree with Prof. Sawtelle that there
is no authentic history written and
published to substantiate the facts of
! the lame boy being born either at
Lamoine or Sorrento. AS regards
the Ebenezer Thorndyke land, the
farm of 200 acres on the west side
of Jordan's river is in the town of
Trenton now, and never was in La
moine. l cannot find that he built
his mill on Jordan's river, although a
mill was built on Mud Creek and
stones for grinding corn which were
used there are still in existence.
In looking over the records in the
Hancock registry of deeds, l find a
! Stevens line mentioned, and l locate
it near the original Roger Googins
grant of land-On land owned in my
family at the mouth of Shilling river