The Island: Adventures on Matinicus Isle

By Stephen Cronin, David Jones and Marian Wells Cronin

When Stephen's dad is lost at sea in the mid-1800s, his life begins to unravel. His devoted mother Ellen, an Irish wash-woman, can't keep an eye on Stephen and his brother while trying to make enough for the family to live on.

At her wits' end, Ellen sends Stephen to a farm upstate, but Stephen doesn't take to it. Stephen is f

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edmonds Press
• Release date: Aug 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781940105185

Book preview

The Island is a book that somehow takes the reader on a grand adventure while at the same time inspiring a feeling of coziness that makes one want to stay awhile. The reader will cheer Stephen on to do the right thing while laughing at his antics. This book shows us how a boy learns the value of honesty, hard work, and family while sprinkling everything with humor. Mr. Cronin gives us a rich glimpse of life on a fishing island in the 19th century. The Island is a coming of age tale that leaves the reader happy to have visited this wonderful time and place.

LAURA BERGHUIS

Librarian, Rogers High School

A book about life in the mid-1800’s that helps you envision what life was like back then, told by a person who lived it. A fulfilling and descriptive account that makes that time period come alive.

JOHN BRANDON

Author and Columnist

Watertown, Minnesota, USA

Copyright © 2021 David Jones

Original story by Stephen Cronin and Marian Wells Cronin is in the Public Domain. The copyright to this updated version is held by David Jones.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021935661

Primary printing in the United States, POD in other locations.

Published by Edmonds Press, an imprint of Excegent Communication, LLC.

www.edmondspress.com

The Island: Adventures on Matinicus Isle, David Jones

Cover Design, Map, and Layout by Najdan Mancic

Maps on p 10, 11 by Daniel Jones

Copyedit by Hazel Walshaw

Stephen W. Jones, General Editor

Additional resources are located at

https://www.edmondspress.com/the-island

ISBN: 978-1-940105-16-1 Paperback

ISBN: 978-1-940105-17-8 Hardcover

ISBN: 978-1-940105-18-5 Kindle

ISBN: 978-1-940105-19-2 Ebook

YAN006030 YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION / Biography & Autobiography / Historical

HIS036100 HISTORY / United States / State & Local / New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)

HIS036050 HISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877)

This text is dedicated in deep appreciation to every adult whose calm, patient guidance has steadied the lives of children and helped them find their way to a productive and value-guided adulthood. Such is the very embodiment of love.

This true story is also a reminder that every person alive today is preceded by generations and generations of forbearers whose daily struggles and decisions made it possible for the next generation to survive. Countless family lines did not. Wisdom and perspective suggest we should always bear in mind the debt and appreciation we owe those upon whose shoulders we each stand.

DAVID JONES

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

A Note to the Reader

Preface

CHAPTER 1: Escape

CHAPTER 2: A Home

CHAPTER 3: Insults

CHAPTER 4: Fire

CHAPTER 5: Casting Off

CHAPTER 6: At Sea

CHAPTER 7: Home

CHAPTER 8: Routine

CHAPTER 9: Outlander

CHAPTER 10: Fate

CHAPTER 11: Testing the Limits

CHAPTER 12: A Warm Winter

CHAPTER 13: Fishing

CHAPTER 14: The Drake

CHAPTER 15: The Militia

CHAPTER 16: A Hard Lesson

CHAPTER 17: Getting By

CHAPTER 18: At Sea

CHAPTER 19: Big Changes

CHAPTER 20: The Storm

CHAPTER 21: Home Again

CHAPTER 22: Dory Fishing

CHAPTER 23: Wreckage

CHAPTER 24: A New Beginning

Afterword

Photos

Index

Learn More!

Endnotes

Acknowledgements

At the outset of this book, it is necessary and right to acknowledge that Matinicus Island, Rockland and other locations mentioned in this text are located in the ancestral homelands of the Penobscot Nation, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered and taken care of these lands. I respect the Penobscot Nation’s sovereignty and their right to self-determination, and honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and the water.¹

Refreshing the original version of The Island has been a work of several years, supported by many who have been generous with their encouragement, information and time. I wish to thank the following for their assistance:

• Suzanne Rankin, Matinicus Historical Society, whose knowledge of the history of Matinicus Island spans generations and extends in all directions.

• Warren and Harriet Williams, whose love for the island and its history motivated our many interactions.

• Daniel, at inov8design, who patiently tweaked the maps in this text to eventually satisfy the author’s seemingly endless requests.

• The team at Edmonds Press, who helped plot this voyage from launch to final arrival, providing hours of consultation and a steady hand that kept the project on course.

And, finally, thanks to my great-grandfather, Stephen Cronin, whose migration from Rockland to Kansas, from street hooligan to community leader, was shaped by the loving guidance he received while growing up on Matinicus Island. Recognizing the value of those impactful years, at age 89 he took the time to recount the events in this book. I have learned that members of the Penobscot Nation respect and learn from their elders. May all of us follow their wise example.

DAVID JONES

A Note to the Reader

Matinicus Island sits quietly 22 miles off the coast of southern Maine, at the entrance to Penobscot Bay. A scant two miles long and only a mile wide, it rises no more than 100 feet above the ocean at its highest point. It is the furthest inhabited US land off the east coast into the Atlantic Ocean. The name Matinicus comes from an Abenaki word for far out island.

Throughout the island’s history, humans have fished, farmed, and grazed their animals, drawing on the natural resources which abound on and around this rise of rock in the Atlantic. Until the mid-1700’s, the native Penobscot people hunted seals and gathered bird eggs on the shores of Matinicus and many other nearby islands. When, in 1750, Ebenezer Hall attempted to become the island’s first permanent European settler, his intrusion onto traditional fishing and sealing sites alarmed the Penobscot people. They wrote to the Boston based representatives of King George II, asking that Hall be removed. After waiting four years, when no action was taken, they raided Matinicus and killed Hall. However, within months of Hall’s death other European settlers arrived on the island, and by 1840 the island was organized as a Plantation. These new white settlers established permanent farms and constructed shacks for drying fish and for boatbuilding.

The events in this autobiography take place in the mid-1800’s, as the island population peaked at 277 hardy individuals. Residents fished for cod, mackerel, or herring; raised vegetables, or planted grains for their cattle. Life was difficult on the island. The isolation from the mainland compounded the rigors of Maine winters, the dangers of fishing in the North Atlantic, and the challenges of farming in rocky soil during short growing seasons. As Stephen remarks, People on the Island accepted birth and death the same way they accepted the weather--not much one could do about it so you might as well accept it. This was the indomitable spirit and equanimity that enabled residents to manage life on this tenuous, fog shrouded spot of land far out into the ocean.

At the age of 11, my great-grandfather, Stephen Cronin, was sent by his widowed mother to live with Freeman and Patience Hall to help tend their Matinicus Island farm.

Many years after leaving Matinicus Island, Stephen Cronin recounted these childhood memories to his daughter-in-law, Marian Cronin. In this updated edition of Stephen’s history, I have modernized phrases, removed outdated idioms, and added additional historic references. Despite these adjustments, the core story remains unchanged. This unique treasure is now reprinted for others to enjoy in a more accessible version.

Stephen Cronin’s life on Matinicus Island illustrates the rural maritime culture of European-background settlers in southeast Maine during the mid-1800’s. Stephen’s account of his life, friendships, and growing pains provides an authentic window into the challenges and the bare-bones simplicity of life on Matinicus and throughout much of the Northeastern United States in the mid-1800’s.

Readers who wish to learn more about the history or residents of Matinicus Island and the region in general are directed to the Learn More list of resources in the back of this book. Suzanne Rankin, of the Matinicus Plantation Historical Society, along with Warren and Harriett Williams, and others who value the lessons to be learned from our past have generously provided rich background on the Island and its remarkable history.

DAVID JONES

Edmonds, Washington, 2021

Preface

The events that made up my childhood took place many years ago, and my memory is a bit dim when it comes to dates and places, but there is nothing hazy in my mind regarding the great debt I owe to the three people who guided me through the challenging years of my youth. If some of the names of places and people are not exactly accurate, I ask for your understanding, as it has been over sixty years since these events took place. It is my intention to share with you as accurate a history as I can.

Certainly, there is one thing that will always be accurate—my memory and description of the goodness and kindness of my mother Ellen, and of Grandfather and Grandmother Hall. It is my sincere hope that my children and grandchildren never forget these three. I hope they pass on to others, as I’ve tried to, the sacrifices, care, and love Ellen gave me and the patient guidance and generosity the Halls provided me when I was a homeless Irish boy.

Ellen was a hardworking and God-fearing woman who put the welfare of her two fatherless boys above everything else, even when that meant giving us away for others to raise. No matter how difficult the challenges and hardships she faced in her life, she never wavered