Lumbermen -- Maine -- Social life and customs

Abstract 1913 Adin R. McKeown, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 13 – May 24, 1986, Crawford, Maine. McKeown discusses his experiences working in the woods and on drives along the Machias River; founding of Sullivan’s lumber business; salvaging burnt timber; shared drives between Sullivan’s and Machias Lumber Company; towing log booms on lakes; playing baseball when wind was unfavorable; importance of dams and water levels; pay in the late 1910s; tasks of a road monkey; description of a...

Abstract Alex Rouleau, interviewed by Mary Beth O’Conner for FO 107, November 30, 1973, Old Town, Maine. Rouleau talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; living conditions; leisure activities (gathering spruce gum, fishing, swimming, games); meals; stray logs; wages; Nebraska and Pea Cove booms; log jams; tools; rigging; beats; jobber’s marks; Rex Buzzell; Walter Buzzell; Gene Mann; Billy Mann. The interview is part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII:...

Abstract Alfonse Martin and David Seymour, interviewed by Mary Beth O’Conner for FO 107, October 1 and 8 and November 7, 1973, Old Town, Maine. Martin and Seymour talk about log-sorting booms on the Penobscot River, especially Argyle Boom; river drives; Penobscot Lumber Association (PLA); logging company marks used for sorting logs at the boom; construction and operation of boom; various jobs related to sorting and rafting the logs; tool and equipment used; living conditions for workers; other booms...

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Alphonse Martin, interviewed by Ann Pierter for AY 198, March 13, 1976, Old Town, Maine. Martin talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; the structure and operation of the sorting gap; scaling; log marks; wintering over; bosses Gene Mann, Billy Mann, Walter Drake, Harry Bowlee; diagrams of the gap. Interview was part of a project that led to the issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: “Argyle Boom.”

Abstract Alphonse Martin, interviewed by Elizabeth Warner and Jack Beard for AY 198, May 5, 1976, Old Town, Maine. 8 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ brief cat. Martin talks about the backway drive, which was for logs going to the International and Dan Cassidy mills in Orono, and Grey Canoe Shop mill in Stillwater; contractor Frank Davis; bosses Gene Mann, Billy Mann, and Walter Drake; sluices at Gilman Falls; use of wedges for rafting; shoring; endways or hedgehog rafting; cookhouse at Pea Cove; leisure...

Abstract 0575 Asa Flagg, inteviewed by Rhoda Mitchell for FO 107, October and November 1970, Carthage, Maine. Accession includes a cassette tape with the three interviews, a paper describing the fieldwork, and transcripts of the interviews. Flagg, a retired woodsman (b. 1898), talks about lumber camps; Sunday pastimes; cooks and cookees; getting hired; oxen and horses; singing and music; log jams; sorting; yarding; skidding; sluicing; meals; ax handles; Christmas; card playing and other...

Abstract David S. Brown, interviewed by Kenneth Whitney for FO 107 , October, 1973; by Susan Tibbetts for AY 125, November, 1975, Tenant’s Harbor, Maine. Brown talks about the Pea Cove log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; his work on the boom in the summers of 1902-04 when he was 12 to 14 years old; the jobs of rafters, sorters, and runners; use of wedges to build rafts; meals; bosses; his marriage and work at Mt. Kineo; breaking up jams; daily pay; construction of boom and crib-work piers;...

Abstract NA1078 Don Parker, interviewed by Joan Brooks, November 14, 1976, Danforth, Maine. Parker talks about working in Connecticut during World War II and then moving back to Maine in 1945; working as a teamster for Grover Morrison at his logging operation; the men’s camp; after dinner activities; picking potatoes for a living; and what Maine winters were like while he was in the camp. See NF XVIII: “Suthin’.” Text: 8 pp. catalog, notes, and newspaper article. Recording: (T 1101) Time: .75...

Abstract 1942 Earl Bonness, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, October 5, 1986, Grand Lake Stream, Maine. Bonness discusses his experiences working in the woods and river-driving along the Machias in the 1920s; moving the wangan; species of trees cut; Wilbur Day; a falling wedge and how it was used; murder of two game wardens by Calvin Graves; a drowning during a river drive; living conditions in a woods camp; method of dogging deer; old-time drivers who didn’t know how to swim; and making...

Abstract 0988 Edward C. Peverley, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, November 2, 1974, at Peverley’s home in South Paris, Maine. Peverley, age 88, talks about the Grand Trunk Wreck of Jan. 18, 1901: song about the wreck written by Joe Scott; recovered supplies; people jumping before the crash; it being a difficult fire to stop; biographical material; his family’s trades; his burned house; his teaching machinist trade in high school; how government mistreats veterans; customs and sorts of...

Abstract Leon Bussell, Emile Leavitt, Ernest Kennedy, Stephen “Rex” Buzzell, interviewed by class of FO 107, November 8, 1973, November 15, 1973, November 20, 1973, and November 27, 1973 (respectively) Room B South Stevens Hall, UMaine, Orono, Maine. During the interviews, there was a model of Argyle Boom on the table, tools of the trade, maps, aerial photographs, and a number of Archives photographs available for the respondents to comment on. Bussell, Leavitt, Kennedy, and Buzzell talk about the...

Abstract Emile Leavitt, interviewed by Mark LaFond for FO 107, October 25, 1973, Old Town, Maine. Leavitt talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; construction of boom piers; checking, rafting, dropping off and other aspects of boom operation; use of wedges in assembling rafts; use of pickeroon; swings; the back way drive; meals and living conditions; Pea Cove and Nebraska booms; his work building dams for Great Northern Paper Co. The interviews are part of a project that led...

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Ernest Kennedy, interviewed by Ann Pierter & Bessie Dam for AY 198, May 4, 1976, Argyle, Maine. Kennedy talks about on the log-sorting booms on the Penobscot River. Topics covered include checking, prize logs, the stray raft, boom stick, scaling and marking logs, wintering logs, shingling logs, jail booms, the “high mark,” Pea Cove Boom, rafting logs, Mexico Boom. Interview was part of a project that led to the issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: "Argyle Boom."

Abstract Ernest Kennedy (b. 1889) interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, summer, 1977, at Kennedy’s home in Argyle, Maine. Kennedy, 88, talks about his life working in the woods, on river drives, and on the Argyle Boom. Kennedy was the principle informant for “Argyle Boom,” Northeast Folklore, XVII (1976) which explained the workings of the sorting boom on the Penobscot River where the logs from the river drives were sorted for delivery to the various saw mills. In this series of interviews he...

Abstract Leon Bussell, Emile Leavitt, Ernest Kennedy, Stephen “Rex” Buzzell, interviewed by class of FO 107, November 8, 1973, November 15, 1973, November 20, 1973, and November 27, 1973 (respectively) Room B South Stevens Hall, UMaine, Orono, Maine. During the interviews, there was a model of Argyle Boom on the table, tools of the trade, maps, aerial photographs, and a number of Archives photographs available for the respondents to comment on. Bussell, Leavitt, Kennedy, and Buzzell talk about the...

Abstract Ernest Kennedy, interviewed by Ken Whitney for FO 107, October and November, 1973; by Susan Tibbetts for AY 125, November, 1975; by Elizabeth Warner and Cindy Lamb for AY 125, October, 1975. Kennedy talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; jobs such as checkers, runners; tools such as hookaroons, jiggers; method of tying joints to buoy; marks and prize (unmarked)logs; spring floods and jams; bosses Isaac Mann, Alonzo Mann, Wallace Drake, Walter Buzzell, Stephen...

Abstract 0989 Everett Smith, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, November 2, 1974, at Smith’s home in Yarmouth, Maine. Smith, age 84, talks about the Grand Trunk Wreck of Jan. 18, 1901 and experiences as a woodsman: first man in the accident scene; farmers picked up meals for his animals; how some people jumped out the train; westbound train crew died on the wreck; mineral spring used as medicine; hunting animals in the woods; length of good trees; different tasks as woodman; driving the tow team;...

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0418 Faunce Bryant and Clarence Berry, interviewed by Muriel Watts for CP 180, fall 1963, Crawford, Eastport, and Perry, Maine; Oak Bay, New Brunswick. Paper deals with George Magoon stories; Wilbur Day, poacher; bear stories; forerunner; haunted house; devil stories; ghost stories: headless ghost; jokes: latest Quoddy story; songs. Text: 49 pp. paper.

Abstract Felix Cote, interviewed by Mark LaFond for FO 107, October 6, 1973. Cote talks about log-sorting booms on the Penobscot Rive; the Pea Cove and Argyle booms; marks logging companies put on their logs; prize or unmarked logs; the sorting operation; rafting logs; working conditions; Penobscot Lumber Association (PLA); living conditions and recreation; origins of boom names. Also included: two diagrams. The interview is part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: “Argyle...

Abstract 1910 Francis Healy, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 11 and October 3, 1986, Machias, Maine. Healy discusses his work in the woods and drives along the Machias River for St. Regis Pulp and Paper; camping out during river drives; blowing up a dam beavers had added to; the ‘Driving Rock’ which was used to tell when the water level was good for driving logs; using 300 pick-poles a season; 100 men working the drive; uselessness of young inexperienced men; road maintenance; building a...

Abstract 1904 Frank Dowling, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 8 and October 3, 1986, Machias, Maine. Dowling discusses his experiences working in the woods and on river drives along the Machias; work for the Machias Lumber Company in the early 1900s; running logs down Third Lake; supper while running logs and description of a baker; definitions of log-running terminology; seeing Haley’s Comet in 1910; importance of releasing correct amount of water from dams; hemlock bark used to tan...

Abstract 0375 George Scully, Susan Scully, and Gordon Winslow, interviewed by Susan Scully for CP 180, November 1964. Recording features material recorded at the Scully home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine (first 16:40 minutes of mfc_na0375_t0251_01 and 35:45 on in mfc_na0375_t0251_02) and the home of Gordon Winslow (who is S.S.’s stepfather; a bunch of people are also present and participate in the conversation) in Needham, Massachusetts (16:45 on in mfc_na0375_t0251_01 and first 35:40 of...

Abstract NA1075 Goldie Averill, interviewed by Dona Brotz, November 2, 1976, Brewer, Maine. Averille talks about being the only woman in the Little Musquash Lake operation; working as a cook with her husband, Blaine; the kitchen set up at the camp; the type of food she and her husband would make for the loggers; and after-dinner activities. The transcript includes an ingredient list for Blaine’s Molasses Filled Cookies, a sketch of the double loading stoves they had in the kitchen, and a sketch of...

Abstract NA1071 Grover Morrison, interviewed by Joan Brooks, October 9 and October 29, 1976, in Lincoln, Maine. Interviews about poem “Suthin’” and related woods operation at Little Musquash Lake, 1945-1946. Morrison talks about putting a road up around Matagamon Lake in order to farm the lumber there for Diamond Match Company; building lumber camps; getting snowed in at Trout Brook Farm; the meaning of the poem, “Suthin’;” where many of the surviving workers of his woods operation are living now;...

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0679 Harold Stuart, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives on July 27, 1971 in Machias, Maine. Interview with Harold Stuart about life in the lumber woods along the Union and Machias Rivers; work in lumber mills; stories about George Magoon, and Wilbur Day, poachers, and Calvin Graves. Text: 72 pp. transcript. Recording: T 0386 - T 0388 / CD 2052 - CD 2054 2 hours

Abstract Harry Twitchell, interviewed by Leslie “Dusty” Carr for FO 107, October 26, 29, November 27, 1973; by Lucinda Lamb and Elizabeth Warner for AY 125, November 14, 1975, Greenbush, Maine. Twitchell talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; tools and techniques for rafting, checking, and sorting logs; dropping off; swings; Sunkhaze Rips; Pea Cove; Nebraska boom; Cow Island; White Squaw Island; Birch Island; building piers; hanging the boom; the boom house, meals and living...

Abstract 1059 Herbert Hanscom, Sr., interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, May 3, 1976, at Hanscom’s home in Machias, Maine. Hanscom talks about life on the river drives and in the woods; hunting; poaching; George Magoon; Wilbur Day; poachers; the scene of logging from the mills up into Machias along East Machias, Big Machias, and Middle River; hunting with dogs to catch deer and bear; working on a shipyard. Also present: Barbara Hunter, a UMaine student. Text: 6 pp. catalog Recording:...

Abstract 1905 Irving Bangs, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 8, 1986, Machias, Maine. Bangs discusses his experiences working in the woods along the Machias River beginning in the late 1930s; driving logs using a splash-dam; driving boom logs; how he began scaling; surveying work as mediating a fight; building roads to transport pulpwood; French-Canadians as good workers; no need to replant because seedlings were left standing; skidders as wasteful; introduction of chain saws and problems...

Abstract NA1079 Ivan Daigle, interviewed by Dona Brotz, November 13, 1976, Lee, Maine. Daigle talks about starting to work in lumber camps in 1934, when he was 29 years old; working for Grover Morrison before the Little Musquash Lake operation; the layout of the Little Musquash camp; Jim McKinnon; the scalers on the job; logging teams; log cutting competitions; how the camps have changed over the years; the Hovel; and dinner etiquette at camp. The transcript includes a rough sketch of the Hovel and a...

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J. Kenneth LaFlamme, interviewed by Ralph Cook for FO 107, October 10, 1973, Hancock, Maine. LaFlamme talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; his work at age 12 and 13 on the boom rafting logs; PLA; bosses; pay; lice and wet clothes; cook house and bunk house; music. Accession also includes correspondence and handwritten notes from LaFlamme. The interview is part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: “Argyle Boom.”