Lumbermen -- Maine -- Social life and customs

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2036 Jim Connors, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, summer 1988, Fort Kent, Maine. Connors, age 80, talks about his experiences as guide, woodsman and mechanic; recites some of his poetry as well as selections from Yeats, Kipling and others. Text: 54 pp. transcript. Recording: mfc_na2036_c0515_01, mfc_na2036_c0515_02, mfc_na2036_c0516_01, mfc_na2036_c0516_02. [C 0515, C 0516] 2-3/4 hours.

Abstract NA1072 Jim McKinnon, interviewed by Dona Brotz, Joan Brooks, and Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, Old Town, Maine for AY 125 (1976) in a series of interviews, McKinnon talks about Grover Morrison’s woods operation at Little Musquash. McKinnon talks about being a walking boss for Diamond Match; entertaining the crew with clownish behavior; cruising for lumber; how the camp was built; slang terms used in the camp; the naming of the camps’ roads; and cattle in the camp. The second side of the tape is...

Abstract NA4373 Joseph “Joe” Walsh interviewed by Edward D. "Sandy" Ives, September 1, 1965, at Morell Rear, P.E.I. Also, present Bobby and Stephen Ives. The sound of rambunctious child or children running around can be heard in the background. Walsh performs his version of Joe Scott's ballad, "Howard Carey" that he learned from Tom Keith in P.E.I., a schoolteacher who worked on the railroad and was killed in a train wreck. Walsh explains where in the song he "got it wrong" and advised Ives to use...

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John Costigan, interviewed by Mark LaFond for FO 198, April 22, 1974, Costigan, Maine. Costigan talks about the techniques of shoring logs after they had been sorted at the booms on the Penobscot Rive; the use of steam boats and bateaux to haul the rafts of logs to the appropriate spot on the shore; diagrams. Also included: two diagrams. The interview is part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: “Argyle Boom.”

Abstract NA4361 John R. Dignan, interviewed by Edward D. "Sandy" Ives, August 24, 1965, at Howland, P.E.I., Canada. Dignan, age 83, talks about meeting Joe Scott around 1902 when Dignan was 19 years old during his "first and only experience" working in the woods. Dignan was working with Tom Tracey's crew at the Wentwork [?] location on the Androscoggin River near the New Hampshire border. Joe Scott showed up at the camp selling his songs for 10-cents apiece. Dignan bought three or four of the songs....

Abstract NA1074 Leo Merrill, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, November 3, 1976, Passadumkeag, Maine. Merrill talks about working for Harlan Moores, a subcontractor that was hired for the Little Musquash Lake logging operation; the private camp built by Merrill and his wife; 2 and 3-man cutting teams; laying out “corners”; a typical day on the job; carting wood out of the forest; the Bangor rule for board measurement; scarf-cutting; twitching; and the type of axes used on the job. See NF XVIII:...

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 Leon Bussell, interviewed by Ralph Cook for FO 107, October and November 1973; by Susan Tibbetts for AY 125, October and November of 1975, UM Lambda Chi Alpha house, Orono, Maine. Bussell talks about log-sorting booms on the Penobscot River, especially Argyle Boom; hanging and taking in the booms; his own work along the shore; making rafts of the logs; kinds of rafts; dropping off; equipment and clothing; Captain Kidd’s buried treasure; steamboats and their use in river drives; rescues and...

Abstract 1924 Lowell Vose, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, May 18, 1986, Harrington, Maine. Vose discusses his driving experience on the Machias River; hiring on with the Machias Lumber Company and walking upriver; location of the Main River camp; working in the rear; two-log rafts; moving logs in booms on lakes; clothing and getting wet; camping along the river at night; predominance of local men, including Indians (Native Americans); his brief time working in the mill; specific jobs in the...

Abstract 1909 Maurice Berry, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 11, 1986, East Machias, Maine. Berry talks about his experiences working in the woods along the Machias River; his father’s cork boots; use of water carts to keep roads iced; stories of Wilbur Day; description of a staddle of hay; woods camp recreation; peeling hemlock; working the water cart; skidding roads; pisaghees and Johnny-jump-ups; how Blasphemy Swamp got its name; and stories about George Magoon. Also included:...

Abstract 1908 Newell Beam, 1903 - 1995, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 10–May 25, 1986, Cutler, Maine. Beam talks about his experiences working in the woods along the Machais River; breaking through heavy snow; a block of land owned by two companies; logging around Fifth Lake in the early 1920s; pay fluctuations and what the company provided; description of photographs; construction of camp buildings and beds; lice and ridding the camp of lice; superiority of selective cutting; camp...

Abstract Nick Ranco, interviewed by Lucinda Lamb, November 21, 1975, for a class project, at Ranco’s house on Indian Island, Maine. Ranco talks about his work on the river which he worked “all his life”: the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; construction and operation of the booms; French, Bangor and Indian crews worked different sections; living conditions; meals; jams; rafts; salvaging rafting poles and rope to sell; leisure activities. Recording is in English. The interview part of a...

Abstract 1906 Orris W. McKeown, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 9, 1989, Alexander, Maine. McKeown talks about the winter in the late 1920s he worked on a logging road; keeping the main road clear; construction of woods camp; lack of local men; process of making roads; branch roads and main roads; how to skid a rock and skid a turn; good food fed to workers; tools used to maintain the roads; Wilbur Day; and George Magoon, his grandfather. Text: 23 pp. transcript. Recording: T 1924 45...

Abstract NA1082 Orville Moore, interviewed by Stephen Ballew, November 3, 1976, Baring, Maine. Moore talks about yarding logs for Grover Morrison’s Little Musquash Lake operation; sleeping in the Teamster’s shack; what a walking boss’ job was; living conditions in the camp; Jim McKinnon (referred to as “McKenna”); stubbing; the introduction of the chainsaw into the camp; regulations; the bucking board; and going into the logging business for himself after the operation ended. Transcript includes two...

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1925 Philip Armstrong, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, May 23, 1986, Calais, Maine. Armstrong describes working in the woods and river drives along the Machias; driving skid-team; filing saws; trigging in order to pile logs; moving logs on lakes with a capstan; building a tennis court; risks of river-driving; sleeping arrangements during a river drive; city camps (depot camps); and hunting stories. Text: 42 pp. transcript. Recording: C 0245 – C 0246 1 hour 10 mins.

Abstract 1907 Richard Gaddis, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 10, 1986, in East Machias, Maine. Gaddis discusses working along the Machias River, particularly with his family lumbering and blueberry business; log driving; explanation of photographs and documents; wages in the 1930s; use of housing on horses; logging season dictated by need for frozen lakes and ground; construction of woods camps; use of both horses and tractors; sizes of wood desired; company supplying horses and tools;...

Abstract 1911 Robert Wright, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, March 12 and October 6, 1986, Machias, Maine. Wright talks about his experiences driving and supervising the final years of Machias River drives; quantities of logs; dates for river drives; job positions in a woods camp; location of dams; the ‘Driving Rock’ in the Machias River; names of river branches; splash dams on small streams; tradition of eating four meals daily; reasons for the end of river driving; scows; the fun of riding...

Abstract Stephen R. “Rex” Buzzell, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives for FO 107, October 23, 1973, Old Town, Maine. Buzzell talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; the spring flood and resulting log jam of 1923; construction of jam piers; Sunkhaze, Nebraska and Pea Cove booms; use of shear boom; buildings on White Squaw Island; living conditions and recreation; structure and operation of boom, gap, beats, jigger, marks, swings, stray raft, dropping off; tools. The...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Argyle Boom Collection consists of approximately seventy-five hours of tape recorded interviews (now digitized). The interviews deal with Argyle Boom, which was one of several locations at which logs that had been cut upriver and floated or “driven” down the Penobscot River were sorted before being sent on to the lumber mills in Old Town, Orono, Veazie, Bangor, and Brewer, Maine, from approximately 1900 to 1930. The material includes interviews with people who had worked on the boom and...

Abstract Stephen "Rex" Buzzell, interviewed by Jack Beard and Elizabeth “Betsy” Warner for AY 198, May 5, 1976, at Buzzell’s home in Old Town, Maine. Buzzell talks about on the log-sorting booms on the Penobscot River: people he worked with at the boom; recounts humorous stories; free time; food; how different company’s logd were rafted at the boom; wintering; scaling; stray raft; running; wangan; living conditions; his father business and crews; cook John Duplessis. Also present: Buzzell’s wife....

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1446 Jean Poulin, interviewed by Scott Wright for AY 13 (Bowdoin College), fall 1980, Brunswick, Maine. 20 pp. ms. Poulin talk about being a woods worker and carpenter. Text: 20 pp. paper.

Abstract 0361 Various, interviewed by Doris Stackpole for CP 180, spring 1962, Bridgewater, Maine. Informants include: Nall Bradbury, Mood Tompkins, Howard Lewis, Frank McKeen, Stanley Finnemore, and Charles Finnemore. Accession includes a description of Bridgewater, Maine, where material was collected; biographical sketches of informants. Bradbury, Tompkins, Lewis, McKeen, S. Finnemore, and C. Finnemore talk about devil stories; witch stories; forerunners; Indian superstitions; tall tales about corn...

Abstract NA0004 Various, interviewed by Elsie Appleby for CP 180, spring 1962, Island Falls, Mt. Chase, Houlton, Warren, Patten, Ashland, Maine. Informants include Cyril Drew, Harry Kennedy, Linwood Willette, Ray Emerson, Tom Donham, Clara Hathaway, Gladys Estes, Nadine Robinson, Mrs. George Torne, Mildred Schurman, Robert Pendleton, Josephine Williams, and Harry Sands. Paper records stories about folk heroes: Levi May, Emi Lee; skip-rope verses; tall tales; jokes; ghost stories; woods stories;...

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0163 By Paul Goodine for CP 180, spring 1965, Skowhegan, Maine and Grand Falls, New Brunswick. Informants include Ambrose Goodine and Margaret (Whelan) Goodine, Skowhegan, Maine; Alan Banister, York Harbor, Maine; and Karl Turner, Eastport, Maine. Paper deals with tall tales; poaching stories; local character: Ike Goodine; lumbering stories; legends; Boone Island; place names; riddles; jokes. Text: 43 pp. paper

Abstract 0300 Various, interviewed by Sandra MacDonald for CP 180, spring 1967, Haynesville, Maine. Paper deals with stories about the area: best soil on earth; the big pumpkin; Mattawamkeag River; naming the Baskahegan Stream; stories about local people: card game, devil plays cards, how to grow a good head of hair, Gustie A. Kitchen, losing a pint of rum on a worm bet, jacking trip, the one that got away, strongest man in the area; lumbering stories: Canadian Jay, sign of warm weather, don’ts for...

Abstract 1928 Victor Archer, interviewed by Edward D. “Sandy” Ives, May 21, 1986, Machias, Maine. Archer speaks about woods work and river driving along the Machias River; where he drove; moving logs down Fifth Lake; capstan rafts; log jams; driving Fifth Lake Stream; progression of the drive downstream; the unprofitable state of the blueberry business in 1986; spending winters in the woods with his family as a boy; pay rates; Wilbur Day and his autobiography; and John Bacon. Text: 31 pp....

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Victor Shorette, interviewed by Leslie “Dusty” Carr for FO 107, October 2, 1973, Bradley, Maine. Shorette talks about log-sorting booms on the Penobscot River; logging companies; sorting long logs from pulp and spruce from hemlock and poplar, etc.; hanging and taking in booms. The interview is part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: “Argyle Boom.”

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Wallace “Del” Soule, interviewed by Lucinda Lamb for AY 198, spring 1976, Costigan, Maine. Soule talks about the Nebraska and Argyle log-sorting booms on the Penobscot River; running; rafting; shoring; hanging and taking in booms; the work of bateaux crews and steamboats. Interview was part of a project that led to the issue of Northeast Folklore, XVII: “Argyle Boom.”

Abstract Wallace “Del” Soule, interviewed by Mark LaFond for FO 198, March 8, 1974, April 17, 1974; by Lucinda Lamb for AY 125, October 25, 1975, Costigan, Maine. Soule talks about the Argyle log-sorting boom on the Penobscot River; the use of steam boats and bateaus in moving the rafts and swings that had been made up at the boom to the logging company’s designated stretch of shore or mill. Also included: maps and diagrams. The interviews are part of a project that led to an issue of Northeast...

Abstract 0713 Willard Jalbert, interviewed by Frederick Pratson, September 16 -17, 1972, Round Pond, Maine. Jalbert, with additional input from his son, talks about life and work in northern Maine through the early and mid-twentieth century; fighting in lumberjack camps; experiences as a lumberjack foreman; interactions with wildlife; chopping trees and tending sled; lumberjack camp food and the prevalence of beans; 1961 trip on the Allagash River with Supreme Court Justice Douglas; experiences as an...