Description: Fishing gear, "Lilly Iron" (harpoon) from Wesley Bracy, Jr. with swiveling piece on the barb that folds flat for easy penetration, but opens crosswise for increased grip, thus preventing loss of the fish; Bruce Komusin inserted a wooden boomstick handle and secured it with rope for display purposes.
Description: Interview Transcript from an interview with Richard 'Chuddy' Alley. The interview was recorded in the 2000's (exact year unknown) by Jessi Duma and Jenny Matthews, who both lived on the island for a number of years. Chuddy came to GCI as a young boy, and recounts many memories of Great Cranberry in the early to mid 20th century. He talks about agriculture and fishing extensively with Jessi. He moved over to Islesford and his son Ricky Alley speaks about fishing with a fish trap, and Pursing. Jessi was a Cranberry Island Fellow and became the general manager for GCIHS for a few years. Interview with transcribed by Hannah Gower-Fox. She was the Archivist and Museum Curator for GCIHS in 2023. [show more]
Description: Seeds. Collection of Polly Storey's Wild Island Farm seeds including three green wooden display boxes (A, B, and C) (with lids attached by brass chains) containing white and green paper seed packets ready for sale, and two shoebox-size cardboard boxes (D and E) with seed packets. There is also a folder of materials (F) relating to Wild Island Farm, the seed business, and a newspaper article “Polly Forbes Johnson Storey: A Spirit of Independence” (Bar Harbor Times, October 21, 1976). (See also GCIHS 1000.0.965 for another undated article about seeds business.) Seed packets indicate crop years were 1972 and 1992; but many packets have no crop years identified. Most of the seeds originated in Maine, but some are from Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Yugoslavia. Polly Storey’s daughter, Elizabeth Selim, recalls her mother germinating wildflower seeds on the property and remembers her mother’s seed business. Two of the green seed display boxes (A and B) contain packets of tree seeds. On the interior lids of these two boxes is a printed pamphlet: Tree Seeds from Maine* (and other exotic parts of the world), with text on why and how to plant tree seeds. Seed packets inside these two boxes include balsam fir, mountain ash, white pine, sugar maple, paper birch, and white spruce - all "Packed by Wild Island Farm, Cranberry Isles, Maine 04625." Balsam fir (Abies balsama): Purity 93%, Germination 50% March 1994; Crop year 1992, Origin Maine. Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana): Purity 80%, Germination 30% March 1994, Crop year 1992, Origin Tennessee. White Pine (Pinus strobus): Purity 98%, Germination 90% March 1994, Crop year 1991, Origin Maine. Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum): Purity 97%, Germination 55% March 1994, Crop Year 1992, Origin Pennsylvania. Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera): Purity 85%, Germination 95% March 1994, Crop year 1992, Origin Wisconsin. White Spruce: (Picea abies): Purity 98%, Germination 47.5% March 1992, Crop year 1990, Origin Yugoslavia. Several types of tree seed packets have bar-coded labels on reverse: “Acadia Shops, (seed name), $2.00”. The third green display box (C) contains mostly flower packets, but there are also four packets of White Cedar seeds in it. The interior lid of this box has hand drawn text and lovely small watercolor sketches of the types of flower seed packets it contains. White Cedar (Thuja occidentales): Text, printing and ‘packed by’ are slightly different: Purity 95%, Germ. 60% March 1973, Crop Year 1972, Origin Maine: Packed by Wild Island Seeds, The Farm House, Cranberry Isles, Maine 04625. Flower packets: Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum): No date packed etc. Blue Flag (Iris versicolor): No date packed etc, but an Acadia Shops sticker (no bar code) $1.50 on reverse. Evening Primrose (Onothera biennis): No date packed etc. Beach Pea (Lathyrus japponics): Empty envelope, no crop year etc. Lupine (Lupinus perennis): No crop year etc. Cattail (Typha latifolia): No crop year etc., sealed but seems empty. Blueberry (Vaccinium augustifolium): No date crop year etc., envelope stained. There are 5 small manila envelopes with handwritten labels: Beach Pea, Wild Rose, Blue Flag, Seaside Goldenrod, and Bunchberry. Inside a sixth, larger manila envelope (labelled in red ink: ‘Begonia seeds’) are 5 folded, white paper packets, only two of which are labelled: "Pink and white from Christmas cactus pot", and "Deep Red". Cardboard boxes: First box (D) labeled “M.D. Apothecary” contains 59 green and white paper packets of Rhubarb (Rhabarbarum) seeds, “Packed by Wild Island Farm, Cranberry Isles, Maine 04625”, no crop year etc., but Acadia Shops sticker (no bar code) $1.50 on reverse. Second box (E) contains 99 green and white paper packets of Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana) seeds: Purity 80%, Germination 30% March 1994, Crop year 1992, Origin Tennessee, Packed by Wild Island Farm, Cranberry Isles, Maine 04625, no sticker on reverse. Documents (F): 1970 to 1995, including 1992 correspondence with Aroostook Testing and Consulting Laboratory in Presque Isle, Maine, shows Polly submitted several varieties of tree seeds from Cranberry Island for testing and received germination rates for each. Information on how and when to gather seeds. Statements and business registration information. Newspaper article “Polly Forbes Johnson Storey: A Spirit of Independence” (Bar Harbor Times, October 21, 1976). Several letters from visitors who purchased the seeds at local hotels and wanted advice. Two loose 2"x2" square water color sketches of cranberry and fireweed. One 6"x8" color photograph of Polly Storey by Dick Berggren. [show more]
Description: George and Sam Gilley haying on Little Cranberry Island. [THIS MAY BE an NPS ACADIA PHOTOGRAPH.] Notes on reverse: "Janice Murch 7/000 Cat. No. 548, Acadia Ex. 705 George & Sam Gilley haying."
Description: Fishing gear. Collection of twelve wooden tools: (A) Eight wooden needles for mending nets, making and repairing bait bag netting: snowshoe-shaped implements with U-shaped end, closed tangs, and pointed ends. (B) Net needle: wood with large rectangular eye hole. (C) Wood rectangle with hole in the middle and a loop of rope through two other holes: lobster fishing assemby that keeps the line from getting tangled. (D and E) Two wood implements that come to a smooth point. [show more]
Description: Art, pen and ink drawing titled "LOBSTER TRAP ON BOTTOM" by C. Gilley, showing an old fashioned round top wooden lobster trap on the sea bed, with a rope going up to an intermediate float (a glass bottle), the rope continuing further up to a bullet shaped float on the surface; also a lobster boat approching it on the surface
Description: Fishing gear. Harpoon head: wood handle with threaded metal collar and 5-pronged metal barbed harpoon head. Wood handle is a sawed-off tree limb; metal collar possibly an old pipe fitting; harpoon head is inserted into handle; collar turns freely. One tine missing its barb. From Victor White's old garage summer 2013.
Description: Tool. Ladle, iron used for pouring lead. Probably from Lou Ladd's workshop. Lou Ladd was a blacksmith, shoemaker, and handiman who lived in the barn that is now part of Ruth "Robin" Freeman's property (2013).
Description: Tool. Soldering iron. Bullet-shaped copper head with a bit of solder on it; wood handle. From Lou Ladd's workshop. Lou Ladd was a blacksmith, shoemaker, and handiman who lived in the barn that is part of Ruth "Robin" Freeman's property now (2013).
Description: Fishing gear. Metal Fishing Buoy, round. It is stamped on one side PHILLIPS PATENT GUARANTEED LIGHTWEIGHT MODEL. and on the other, PATENT No 331163 NOTICE OF INFRINGEMENT REWARDED. The patent number is from Great Britain.
Description: Photo. Negative and 11"x14" photo of Lewis (Lew) Stanley's boatyard located on the pool during the wintertime with the pool frozen. The boatyard was later sold to Heliker and LaHotan and they tore it down because it was a hazard and in rough shape. Mickey Macfarlan who said that towards the end of his life Lew Stanley was hard up for money and could no longer repair the boatyard. Mickey said Lew was always complaining that people were stealing from the boatyard - the second floor of it was chock full of all sorts of things. Mickey mentioned that the boatyard itself was "tremendously large" [show more]
Description: Newspaper complete page, Ellsworth American 1 Jul 1971, "Cranberry Tales" by LaRue Spiker. About the Hadlock family, Capt. Sam Hadlock, Jr., with photos of Arthur Spurling, the old Ben Spurling house, Islesford Museum, Old Wm. Preble House, Church.
Description: Newpaper, "The Working Waterfront" Aug 2001, see page 10, article "Great Cranberry Island Historical Society Builds a New Museum from Scratch"
Description: Exhibit. Previously used museum display about Ice Harvesting on Cranberry Island. Included in the publication "A Day on an Ice-Field" by Alvaro Adsitt.
Description: Boats. Looseleaf Binder, "Cranberry Island Notes" by Charles Liebow. Contains maps 1607-1881, "List of Vessels From Notes made by Chuck Liebow (Typed & some notes added by Hugh Dwelley 11/1994" (also on cranberryisles.com website), 1912 petition to establish boundaries of roads, census data 1839-1860, the cranberry register 1909-1910, boat building, Liebow's notes on books and articles, miscellaneous, photos, houses showing owners then and now, families, deeds. [show more]
Description: Newpaper clipping, Bangor Daily News, 6 June 1956, pp. 17-18 & 21-22, "Maine Greets Opening of Yarmouth-Bar Harbor Ferry," about the new ferry terminal in Bar Harbor, and the Bluenose ferry.