Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1925-06-03
REFORE THE DROUGHT.
Tradition Regarding the Naming OF
Teddy Pond.

(By Dr. r. l.. Grindle, Mt. Desert
1t is quite evident that if any BIZ
ography is to be written about me,
must write it myself, SO, from now
on. at times, | will write of some
things l have seen, heard, sad or
done.
Right now it comes to me that L
must say something about my an
cestors, otherwise people might think
that | am ashamed of them. l Will
say frankly that | feel very sure mat
II descended from Adam through
Seth. on to Noah, for, according TO
the scriptures, no son OF cam got
into the ark. They all perlshed IN
the deluge.
So. with my ancestors safe IN the
ark. I will rest little. am quite
sure that my readers are familiar
with the scriptures, and know that
Noah had three sons-Ham, Shem
and Japheth. l will try to make II
clear which OF these men was my
ancestor. l am very sure that IL
was not Ham, for he was man OF
very dark complexion, had curly
hair. and dwelleth in Africa even I'M
to this day. The scriptures say:
"God shall enlarge Japheth, and ne
shall dwell in the tents OF Shem, so
think | must have descended from
lambeth. But of these Aryan races
there are so many families, L couid
not seem to locate any OF our 1olkS.
So. honestly, what | have written
above is all that I know about my
ancestors.
Having informed my readers
about my ancestors, | will now write
something about myself. | was born
in Surry at Maple Cove, on the
shores of Teddy pond. This pond
lies between the towns of Surry and
Penobscot, and empties its waters
into the town of Orland. But why
is it called Teddy pond? Tradition
says that, many years ago, two men
tome named Ames, the other Burns)
we're crossing this unnamed pond on
the ice. Each man had an axe on
his shoulder, and Ames had in one
pocket pipe and tobacco, ana IN
the other a bottle of New England
rum. Burns had in one pocket some
biscuits and boiled eggs, and in the
other a. bottle of molasses.
Ames offered Burns drink OF
rum. He tasted it, and said: It's
too strong; let us fix it, SO they
cut hole in the ice about ten inches
wide and four inches deep, and
scooping out the ice chips, turned
the rum, chips and molasses into
the hole, stirred it up, drank of it,,
and called it toddy
IL: n1
and fuddled their brains, so That
they walked around this hole in the
ice till late in the evening. Then,
filling the empty rum and molasses
bottles, they got ready to go.
But suddenly new idea struck
them, and Burns said: Now, II
some wayfaring man discovers this
hole in the ice, he should know that
this toddy is as free as salvation, and
that it was good christian men who
put it here" SO they laid a board
near the hole, and on it wrote the
words of Samuel: "Hitherto hath
the Lord helped us" Signing this,
Games and Burns, BRETHREN they
struck the trail for Patterns bay.
The moon was shining brightly,
ana With Il JOY LUZ leCiihso my '''h ,
the tune est. Thomas" with the
words:
Come ye that love the Lord
And let your joys be known
But suddenly, thinking that
original words would be much more
appropriate, they sang:
We men OF Surry have found
Good cheer begins below,
Refreshing drinks from Teddy pond
Abundantly do flow.
| So let our songs resound,
| AS we do onward go,
| We're marching to the sunshine
ground
Where Patterns bay doth flow.
This is the first time this was
called Teddy pond. So much about
the naming Of Teddy pond, and now
a little about the place of my birth.
On the shores of Maple Cove were
many acres of fertile land covered by
a grove of very large rock maple
trees. My father, Robert Grindle,
cut down enough of these trees to
open a space on which to build a
small house. With the little house
up and boarded and shingled over
head, he, with his wife, Mercy, and
one child Robert L., moved in.
1t was on the floor of that house
that | learned to creep All de-
scendants from Adam must learn to
creep before they can walk. Evo-
luton? Science? Nonsense! Neither
monkeys, chickens, nor calves creep.
1t is only the human being who must
pass through the creeping stage.
We had been in this house but a
few days when there came a storm
with a furious wind. AS my father
looked out, he saw those huge trees,
sixty or seventy feet high, swaying
hnnl1 and forth in he gale. and the