Deasy, fudge 2/8/60 - 3/13/40 # 527 ANP. Judge Deasy beside Birch tree. Me.] IN MEMORIAM. 371 IN MEMORIAM SERVICES AND EXERCISES BEFORE THE LAW COURT AT PORTLAND, JUNE 4, 1941, IN MEMORY OF HONORABLE LUERE B. DEASY LATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT BORN FEBRUARY 8, 1860 DIED MARCH 13, 1940 SITTING: STURGIS, C. J., THAXTER, HUDSON, MANSER, WORSTER, MURCHIE, JJ. The Exercises were opened by HON. ARTHUR W. PATTERSON of the Hancock Bar Association who addressed the Court as fol- lows: MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT: In presenting the resolutions of the Hancock County Bar Association, it is my privilege to pay a brief tribute to former Chief Justice Luere B. Deasy. My tribute must be that of a younger man, who came to the bar when Justice Deasy was in the flower of his strength, a brilliant lawyer, and without doubt one of the most able advocates who ever appeared in the courts of Maine. Within a few years he was raised to the bench, but I had opportunity to observe him both in the preparation and trial of cases, and I was impressed, not only by the brilliance and ability shown in court, but by the thoroughness and at- tention to detail that were characteristic of Judge Deasy in every cause in which he was interested or with which he was associated. Other men who were his contemporaries can speak more fit- tingly of his work in life, SO I shall touch upon the facts but 374 IN MEMORIAM. [138 Me.] IN MEMORIAM. 375 HON. RAYMOND FELLOWS, Justice of the Superior Court, been journeying with him, and what a wonderful companion then paid the following tribute: have we had to travel with! What wit, what philosophy, what a source of inspiration and of joy! He had no equals, no com- MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT: petitors, and there are none to succeed him. He was, for a gen- Whatever it is, life is it strange condition. We each arrive in eration, my father's intimate friend; and I have therefore it mysteriously, and, so far as we know, without a settled state known him since I first started on this life adventure, In my of choice respecting it. We find our feet after a short period, boyhood it was impressed upon my mind that "Deasy is the and start on the road to learning and experience. We pass best lawyer that you will ever be acquainted with," and only through endless events, accomplishments, failures, joys, sor- a year last spring, Judge Deasy said to me, "I admired Oscar rows. All of us are on same adventure, but the course for each is Fellows more than any man I have ever known." The love of uncharted, and no two trips are alike. We have our own indi- each of these men for the other has been, and will be, one of vidual journey and we each preserve our own individuality. life's best and dearest memories. We function more or less imperfectly and ineffectively, al- Chief Justice Deasy was the most entertaining company X though some we meet have brains that seemingly operate with that any individual ever chanced upon in a long lifetime. He absolute precision. We associate with each other through forever sparkled with the electricity of a keen, quick wit; and choice or chance or environment. To some we are magnetically he illustrated his fascinating conversation with a multitude of drawn, some we tolerate, and by others we are repelled. Final- pointed stories that boiled and bubbled with his chuckles and ly, at some unknown time and under unexpected circum- twinkled with his eyes. He never lacked an enthusiastic and stances, comes disappearance. It is a startling development laughter-filled audience. In the serious hours, whether in the that ends the journey. There is no escape and no opportunity court-room or while engaged in matters that required careful to evade the conclusion. It is a strange career for each and all thought, the strain of concentration was relaxed when he saw, of us. It is a pilgrimage that is interesting, though impossible or when he thought, of something absurd or ridiculous. to understand. We begin without our consent, we travel to- A few years ago, while he was ill in a Boston hospital, he gether and separately with little power to guide the course, learned that his daughter - then in Paris - had been sent and finally against our wishes we are closed to existence. An in- for. IIe requested an immediate cable to her, advising her to distinct picture in the mind of some acquaintance is all that remain where she was, because he said, "On her account I have remains to prove that we have ever been. indefinitely postponed the funeral." We expect that we go on. L. B. Deasy was one of Maine's great lawyers. I early knew The idea of a future existence is no more wonderful than the this was true from every report; but I did not know, until I man-made miracle of radio. Where we go, or how, we cannot started in the practice of the law and was sometimes in the guess. We have no memory here of any former past, and we opposition, how great he really was. He knew his opponent's perhaps take no memory with us to the future. We have faith. case as well as his own. He anticipated every move upon the We have a faith that the Book of Books tells us "is the sub- legal checkerboard from declaration to disappointment. His stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." examinations and cross-cxaminations filled every gap that it Such is life; and such a philosophy, better expressed, have was humanly possible to fill. IIe seemed to know the law by we heard from the lips of our friend, Luere B. Deasy. We have intuition and his arguments were the masterpieces of a bril- 376 IN MEMORIAM. [138 Me.] IN MEMORIAM. 377 liant advocate. The only consolation that his opponents many verdict was rendered, he would offer consolation by saying, times had, was the fact that his skill and ability were great "You had no right to win and you couldn't beat fourteen of enough to cause defeat. Juries are apt to side with the inexperi- us." enced and incapable, and Hancock County jurors have been All lawyers have attended exercises such as these, and have known to remark that "Deasy was probably right but we re- listened to the friendly eulogy where love has blinded the fused to have him pull wool over our eyes." His legal practice senses and a man has been pictured who never did exist, or, as was most extensive. His ability, his fairness, his integrity and Judge Deasy once said concerning a similar occasion, "IIIs his unlimited acquaintance - in Maine and in those other own wife could not find any part of him for perfumery." Here states that furnish the summer colony of Bar Harbor- and now, however, is one of the few instances where high com- brought to him a wealthy clientage. No case of any moment mendation is not disproportionate to truth: and even an came to trial in Hancock County, during his years of practice, enemy (if he had one) could heartily endorse and echo our that did not have Lawyer Deasy on one side or the other. honest and deserved praise. The appointment in 1918 of Mr. Deasy to the Supreme Ju- Our late Chief Justice was a rare combination of the highest dicial Court, and his appointment as Chief Justice in 1929 intellectual ability and the calmest judgment. He was at once were considered by both lawyer and layman as fitting, proper, the good father, the kind husband, the beneficial citizen, the and more than justly deserved. safe and steady friend. He was - and this is the highest praise Judge Deasy never attended college. If he had, he might not he was Luere B. Deasy at all times and under all circum- have been able to apply himself with the industry that he ex- stances. Here was inspiration and example! "When comes ercised throughout his whole life. Colleges sometimes give such another?" full and complete courses in mental laziness, and "Commence- ment" is in fact the end. The man who never had opportuni- How. Louis C. STEARNS, President of the Maine State Bar ties exerts himself to make them. Judge Deasy's opinions Association, spoke as follows: have the clarity and conciseness of a Gettysburg Address, and MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT: one does not have to turn to the conclusion to learn what has been decided. Through the course of instruction that he gave In my capacity as president of the Maine State Bar Associa- to himself, he was able to convey his ideas to others. tion, it is my pleasure and privilege to add the tribute of that At nisi prius terms, formerly held by members of the Su- body to these memorial exercises for our late Chief Justice, preme Court, it was a pleasure to practice before him. His Luere B. Deasy, and to perpetuate in the permanent records of years in the "pit" had made him see the viewpoint of the trial this court, the Association's appreciation of and affection for lawyer. He was patient, quiet, and allowed the attorney to our late fellow-member. I use the latter term advisedly for ir- conduct his own case in his own way. His instructions to juries respective of his elevation to the bench, and later his appoint- were in such simple and ordinary language that each member ment as Supreme Justice and Chief Justice, Luere B. Deasy of the panel knew what was necessary to be decided and how remained always our fellow member. the law should be applied. He knew, too, how to shade expres- My brief remarks will not pertain particularly to our brother sion and emphasis when he believed justice demanded, as as a good busines man, lawyer or jurist, but will relate chiefly many of us know through bitter experience; then when the to his contact with and service to the association. 384 IN MEMORIAM. [138 Me.] IN MEMORIAM. 385 the adventitious aid of a college training he was by reason of earnestness of his address. In his prime there was no more ef- his wide reading and his ability to understand that which he fective user of the public spoken word in Maine. The most read one of the best educated men of my acquaintance; and by striking feature of his speeches was emphasis. Having made a his own unaided efforts he became the great lawyer and great point, sharp and clear cut, he drove it home with the blows of jurist that he was, an honor to the bar and bench of Maine. a blacksmith. It could not be shaken loose from the mind. IIe was a great man. His memory will long be held dear by In his lighter addresses he flavored his speech with such de- those who knew him and will be kept alive as splendid tradi- licious humor that his hearers were entranced, but in jury trials tion by those who succeed him. He will live in the future as - where he made his reputation as a trial lawyer of the first John Marshall lives, as Story lives, as Chief Justice Shaw of rank - he went straight to the business in hand. He pene- Massachusetts and Chief Justice Peters of Maine live. Loved trated the minds of the jury by lucid statement and clear logic, and honored in his lifetime by all of us, we pay homage today and obtained their verdict by the smooth flow of convincing to his memory, not in words of fulsome praise which he would argument, always dwelling with unforgettable emphasis upon have despised but in honest, sincere appreciation of his splen- the crucial points in the case. did qualities, his great brain and heart, his friendliness, his The blows he struck his adversary were hard and painful loyalty, to all that he was and still is, if immortality is real and but never below the belt. He well understood the importance not a dream. of thorough preparation, and the value of a picturesque pres- entation of evidence. In those days when the sporting element HON. JOHN A. PETERS, Judge of the District Court of the of a jury trial was a more prominent feature than now, his United States, addressed the Court as follows: scintillating talent had its best background in a packed court room. Even witnesses who had been badly mangled at his MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT: hands in the course of the event, admired the effectiveness of The first time I ever saw my friend Luere Deasy was in 1886 his approach and felt no personal bitterness because he was when he was addressing with noticeable vigor a small group of never cruel or unfair. Frequently the losing party against fellow Democrats in Ellsworth, urging them to stand firm in whom he tried the case would endeavor to engage the services the coming election and exhorting them to emulate the CX- of Mr. Deasy in another law suit. ample of Arnold Winkelried who gathered the spears to his Curiously enough he was unaware for many years of his real breast when facing inevitable defeat in battle. power as a speaker and a pleader at the bar. Settling in Bar The fact that I should remember that incident and that Harbor as soon as admitted to the bar in 1883, he soon associ- speech through all these years shows the powerful personality ated with himself a brilliant young lawyer of that time, John of the man, and illustrates the effect he had on his hearers T. Higgins, who himself carried sufficient self-confidence for even at his then early age. both members of the partnership. A sudden growth in the pop- The mellifluous words of some orators ring pleasantly in ularity of the great summer resort where they did business re- the cars of their hearers without making a lasting impression on sulted in bringing much litigation to the firm, which was large- the brain. Without using the obvious arts of oratory Mr. ly handled by Mr. Higgins who tried most of the many court Deasy always accomplished the purpose of the orator by the cases that came to their office. The senior partner, modest and lucidity of his statement, the logic of his argument and the retiring by nature, without a particle of vanity or jealousy in 386 IN MEMORIAM. [138 Me.] IN MEMORIAM. 387 his make-up, was glad enough to see his junior take the prom- fact, SO adequately and artistically did he do these things that inent place and gather the laurels, and years after Mr. Higgins he furnished a considerable surprise at times to eminent visi- died, at an early age, spoke of him as the most brilliant person tors who came to that summer resort from great seats of learn- he had ever met. He was mistaken. He underestimated his own ing and important centers in other parts of the country. A talents. He hinself was the more brilliant of the two, as well master of the light address and after dinner speech, he was a as the more substantial in ability. Beginning the trial of cases brilliant star on all occasions when they were in order. alone about 1890 Mr. Deasy almost at once became a leading His real service to the community, however, was of a more figure at the bar in his county and presently over the state, substantial and less showy character. His well merited reputation grew with his successes over the His sound advice and good judgment were constantly years until, in September, 1918, he had to choose between an sought and used in large enterprises, both public and private. appointment to the bench of your court and the offer of a re- He was a leading figure in the principal bank of his town for tainer which would have meant a fee of around $50,000, in an fifty years - as president for half that time - until he went important will case then about to be tried at Bangor. The op- upon the bench. The most important business and charitable portunity for service on the bench appealed to him more than organizations of the community were eager to obtain the bene- money, and he joined that body of able and distinguished gen- fit of his talents and his name. He was a tower of strength in tlemen constituting the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine and the numerous philanthropic activities of the locality which added to its reputation for learning and sound judgment in a never sought his aid in vain, holding among other similar posi- brilliant service of nearly a dozen years. tions, the chairmanship of the local branch of the American Of his work on the bench as Justice, and, for a short time be- Red Cross for more than twenty years. He was an asset to his fore he retired, as Chief Justice, it is for others more closely town and state more valuable than property - an asset ini- associated with his work to speak. I knew him better at home possible to duplicate. and in the environment where. to his neighbors, the perform- His early sporadic ventures into politics ended with his leav- ance of his judicial duties, after his appointment, seemed some- ing the Democratic party in 1896 at Chicago - where he had thing apart that should not interfere with his more important been a delegate to the convention which nominated Bryan on functions of leading citizen and public counsellor and friend; a free silver platform - and his joining the Republican group, for in that community where he resided for nearly fifty-seven after the Gold Democratic platform, on which he stood for a years he became an institution - an institution commonly while, sank under his feet. but respectfully and affectionately referred to as "Deasy." For ten years he kept clear of politics, and devoted himself Contrary to the proverb, he was a prophet with honor in his to his profession and his other interests with conspicuous suc- own country. His high character, ability and kindliness were cess; but in 1906 he was moved to run for the Maine Senate. I recognized and appreciated - and also made use of - by his well recall the county convention (an institution, now, alas! fellow citizens. If a library, museum or a bridge was to be ded- defunct) at which, after a hard fight, lie was nominated by one icated, a visiting statesman or delegation welcomed, or a great vote. His victory at that time was largely due to a rousing event to be commemorated, it was always Deasy who was speech in his behalf by Arno W. King, a member of the con- called upon to represent the town or the state, and he never vention whose career was singularly parallel to that of Judge failed to respond, and to do full justice to the occasion - in Deasy, they having studied law together in Judge Emery's office, practiced law successfully in the same county, left the laughed out of court what was said to be the shortest bill ever Democratic party at the same time, and later sat on the same introduced in a general court; a bill reading in its entirely, bench, though not simultaneously. Following his nomination, "The dog is a domestic animal." Mr. Deasy was elected to the Senate of the Seventy-third Leg- He voted, but did not speak, for a bill to remove the State islature, and to the same body in the Seventy-fourth Legisla- Capital to Portland. Possibly the arguments for that proposi- ture, when he was president of the Senate and when it SO hap- tion were not SO strong as the ties of friendship with many good pened that he and I occupied quarters together at the Augusta Portland citizens of that period. House and continued a close and friendly association that had It is a remarkable fact, in view of the many debates he took begun twenty years previously and lasted until his death. part in, that every proposition he favored in argument was Although a new member of the Seventy-third Legislature, passed, and every proposition he opposed in argument was Mr. Deasy became at once one of its leading figures, not sur- refused a passage. passed in influence or esteem by any other member of either As president of the Senate in the Seventy-fourth Legislature body in a total group which contained an unusually large num- he made a distinguished record, and incidentally, was largely ber of the able and influential men of the state - among oth- responsible for a piece of constructive legislation that has been ers, who later held office, three future governors and a future of great value to the state, representing a new departure in United States senator who was afterward judge of the United legislative fields - the creation of the Maine Forestry Dis- States Circuit Court of Appeals. trict. The work of a legislator was most agreeable to Senator This invasion of the political field by Mr. Deasy was only Deasy, which meant that he was admirably adapted to it. His for a brief period, but was highly successful. Had he chosen clarity of mind and good judgment, his readiness and effec- to continue in that line he would have gone far, and in all prob- tiveness in debate, together with a most attractive facility in ability made his mark in the U.S. Senate. Instead he chose to wit and kindly humor marked him from the beginning as a not- devote himself to his large private practice, and for another able addition to the many distinguished sons of Maine who ten years he was content to function as a country lawyer, have served in its legislative halls. adorning and enchanting the reputation of that highly useful From the first day of the session, when he untangled a legal group in our form of society. snarl relating to the returns of an election, to its last day - The year of his accession to the bench was a notable one in when he made a touching and effective speech in defense of a the history of this court as well as an important one for the state officer who while ill in bed and unable to defend himself four gentlemen who were appointed justices in the year 1918 had been the subject of proposed censorious legislation, he was Dunn, Morrill, Wilson and Deasy, making the greatest a shaper of legislative action, and always in the right direction. change in personnel of the court that ever occurred in any one His argument on constitutional law was largely responsible year. for the defeat of an important, and as many thought, iniqui- During the years that Judge Deasy sat upon the bench he tous measure connected with the railroads, the passage of added to the strength and prestige of the court, not only by his which would have placed upon Maine the stigma of repudiat- character, learning and clarity of mind. but by that peculiar ing its contracts. kind of wisdom we refer to as hard common sense, and which His humorous attack, mixed with sound legal argument, is not always - as in his case - the companion of learning. 390 IN MEMORIAM. [138 Me.] IN MEMORIAM. 391 He was also one of the most popular of judges, wholly demo- and outward appearance he should have been a "run-of-the- cratic, hugely enjoying social contacts with lawyers and others log," down East, country lawyer; but he was not. He was while on the circuit, telling numerous whimsical anecdotes to unique. One recognized the influence of an exotic strain. His embellish his always sparkling speech. He had a mind of many alert and facile mind, delicate and sensitive; his scintillating compartments, not all of which were reserved for the law. His wit and imagination, with a sound and powerful mental equip- sensitive appreciation of literature gave him the stimulus and ment, ready for instant use - while a combination not un- enjoyment that others get from the physical exercise he never known in our native stock - is usually found in a less stag- indulged in. I well recall that he once repeated to me a few nant breed. lines from Thackeray which he said he regarded as the finest. It always seemed to me that a mixture of French blood sentence of written prose in the English language. might be the explanation, but it was that other Celtic strain He had a mind perfectly open to argument, and with little that has infused imagination and buoyancy into our national pride of opinion, but he was naturally on the conservative side blood stream for a hundred years. Also another illustration of of any proposition such as a suggested change of procedure. the opportunity this country has offered to the ambitious im- Not long before he died I asked his views on a proposed change migrant, with profit to itself. When the grandparents of Luere in federal court rules making the time for arguments to the Deasy came to Canada, from Ireland, in 1837, they little umor jury conform to the new state practice where the time is di- thought that one of the two small sons they brought with them vided into three parts, counsel for the moving party having the would shortly run away to sea, after the early deaths of his last ten minutes. Judge Deasy wrote me: parents and, finding friendly and charitable people in Maine, would grow up there to become the father of a future Chief "The new practice you mention was instituted after I Justice of that state; but such was the fact. passed away. I hardly think that I should like it. It must The future jurist tried being a sailor, like his father, who was require a timekeeper and a stop watch in addition to other a master of ships, but he was naturally a lawyer. The law af- court officers. Some difference should still be maintained forded the best field for the development and expression of his between a trial and a horse race." talents. Quick of apprehension, sound of judgment, felicitous He disliked watches. The members of the Seventy-fourth in expression, with natural feeling for the basic principles of Senate, who gave him a handsome one, might be surprised to the law, he found his foreordained niche. learn that he regarded the carrying and winding of a watch as In the history of the state his name will be written with those an unnecessary burden. of its great lawyers and judges. His life sheds lustre upon the administration of justice and will be an inspiration for the Time will not permit elaboration on the life or the qualities bench and bar as long as this is a government by laws and not of this unusual man. Perhaps a long, close friendship does not make the best perspective for that purpose; but my judgment by men. that he was a man not only with a great intellectual endow- ment, with most attractive personal traits, but one whom The response for the Court was by CHIEF JUSTICE GUY H. STURGIS: Nature had moulded with an uncommonly fine grain, will be concurred in by all who knew him. By environment, training DEASY: A MAINE MAN M.D. Bill Dee On June 4, 1941 the Supreme Court of the State of Maine convened for services and exercises in memory of one of their number who had died at the age of 81 on March 13, 1940. The solemn gathering of six sitting Justices and five invited speaking colleagues was called to remember and pay tribute to the life of the Honorable Luere Babson Deasy, former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court. The Honorable William R. Pattangall, a former Chief Justice himself, said of Deasy, "He moved my admiration, respect and regard as have few men with whom I have come in contact. He possessed the essential qualities of greatness, intellectual honesty, courage, integrity and a brilliancy of intellect unexcelled by any man of my acquaintance. His broad conception of life, his knowledge of human nature, his innate sense of justice, his power of analysis, the breadth and depth of his philosophy marked him as one who towered above his associates, with whom, nevertheless, he mingled with unaffected modesty on a common plane." The Honorable John A. Peters, Judge of the District Court of the United States, observed, "Without using the obvious arts of oratory Mr. Deasy always accomplished the purpose of the orator by the lucidity of his statement, the logic of his argument and the earnestness of his address. In his prime there was no more effective user of the public spoken word in Maine. The most striking feature of his speeches was emphasis. Having made a point, sharp and clear cut, he drove it home with the blows of a blacksmith The blows he struck his adversary were hard and painful-but never below the belt I knew him better at home and in the environment where, to his neighbors, the performance of his judicial duties, after his appointment, seemed something apart that should not interfere with his more important functions as leading citizen and public counselor and friend; for in the community where he resided for nearly fifty-seven years he became an institution-an institution commonly but respectfully and affectionately referred to as 'Deasy''. Who was Luere Babson Deasy? A son of coastal Maine, a common man, a husband and father, a skilled lawyer even without a liberal arts education, an institution in his community and founder of community institutions, a representative of his people in the state capital, an ascendant to the highest judicial appointment in his native state, and the essential bridge between sophisticated summer cottagers and the islanders whose cooperation eventually conserved Acadia, Deasy was, without question, among the most important residents of Mount Desert Island for more than half a century. He was, as well, the calm and eloquent public voice of the place that he chose, loved, and passed on much improved, to posterity. This essay follows the arc of his life on Mount Desert and listens to the voice through which this remarkable man served and guided his community. Deasy was born on February 8, 1859 in Prospect Harbor, Maine. He was the only son of Captain Daniel and Emma Moore Deasy. The Captain was probably an orphaned Irish immigrant who was raised by the Solomon Pendleton family of nearby Winter Harbor. Married into the old Gouldsboro families of Moore and Cole, Captain Deasy became a Master Mariner and sailed Babson family schooners out of Gloucester, Massachusetts in the early Caribbean banana trade. Following the Civil War, he settled in at Prospect Harbor as a respected merchant and community elder, functions he followed well into his 80's. His son Luere, whose unusual name was chosen to honor a John Luere Babson of Pigeon Cove, near Gloucester, chose a different tack. Educated in the common schools of Gouldsboro, he graduated from the State Normal School in Castine in 1881. Seeing the rise of his region and sensing, perhaps, the scope of his personal gifts, he chose to pursue a legal rather than teaching career. He studied at the offices of Hale & Emery in Ellsworth and then graduated from the Boston University Law School in 1883. After sitting for the Bar exam in 1884 he immediately began a law practice as the first attorney in the burgeoning town of Bar Harbor. The village and island to which Deasy came were in the midst of the transformation that would make them known throughout the world. Anchored by Somesville, Mount Desert Island had been a maritime-trades center earlier in the 19th century. Ships were still built, trees taken, and granite quarried throughout the 1800s, but with the influx of summer vacationers following the Civil War, a new era began. When Deasy arrived, the recreation industry was an established fact. Well known people from the fields of law, politics, business, education, religion and finance flocked to the shores of the island. They were known as 'cottage people' or 'rusticators'. These tourists were sometimes regarded suspiciously by the locals for their arrogance and conspicuous opulence, but the visitors helped to generate a profitable service economy. By 1886, the main thoroughfares of Bar Harbor were laid out. The political and business connections of many influential rusticators began to pay handsome commercial and development dividends by the 1880s. Visitors and permanent residents with the purse could choose from vendors of art, jewelry, dry goods, other 'fancy' goods, and specialty stores equivalent in quality to the great Eastern emporium. The Bangor rail connection alone, completed in 1884. soon brought some 15,000 passengers annually. While real estate brokers, contractors, building tradesmen, and gardeners were continually busy devising cottages, some 17 hotels were also in operation in 1887. As important as these visitors were in fostering elegant styles, creating markets, and distributing capital, they served as the catalysts rather than as mainstays of commerce. When the rusticators departed at the end of the summer, the economic superstructure remained vibrant and intact for the year-round residents. Some 124 businesses, representing bakers, barbers, blacksmiths, boat builders, coal dealers, fish markets, photographers, butchers, plumbers, one restaurant, sawmills, tailors, dentists, lawyers, doctors, and a fire department were regularly in operation in Bar Harbor from the mid-1880s. [Adapted from Marmon, Taking Care of Business Downeast.] Apparently no local lawyer served this dynamic community until Deasy arrived in early 1884. If advertisements and news commentary in the Mount Desert Herald (predecessor of the Bar Harbor Record/Times) are an accurate indicator, L.B. Deasy started a solo practice on January 17, 1884: "L.B. Deasy, Esq. has opened a law office in the Hamor Block, Bar Harbor, as can well be seen by his professional card in another column of this paper. Mr. Deasy is a graduate from the well known office of Hale & Emery, at Ellsworth, as well as of the Harvard Law School (sic) and comes among us with the highest recommendations for integrity and business habits." One year later the legal complement of Bar Harbor expanded to two. Deasy was joined by John T. Higgins, a very promising, some said brilliant, young attorney. Unfortunately, he contracted tuberculosis and moved to the higher elevations of Colorado in 1896, where he died. Deasy was again in a solo practice. In that same year Albert Harry Lynam established a Bar Harbor law practice and after five years or so, he and Deasy combined their offices into Deasy & Lynam, Attorneys at Law. We have a delightful indication from early 1886 that the young lawyer enjoyed the confidence of local folk and was confident enough to engage a leading light of the new Northeast Harbor summer colony. "Dear Sir: Mr. James Clement has placed in my hand two letters from you in answer to his letter enclosing a deed of certain land and privileges at Northeast Harbor. Mr. Clement requests me to say to you that he is not willing to convey the privilege of landing and bathing in the waters of his beach as appurtenant to using part of his five acre lot." Thus, three days after his 27th birthday, did L.B. Deasy, Attorney at Law in Bar Harbor, address Professor Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard University, America's preeminent public intellectual and revered leader of the cultured rusticators! The letter goes on to say that Mr. Clement will convey the lot and privileges to Professor Eliot for a consideration of $2000. We presume that the matter at hand was resolved, confirming that while the cottagers may have assumed certain rights to locally owned property, the locals were not without competent representation. We know that Deasy and Eliot were destined to collaborate on matters of real estate even more momentous than the right to bathe on Mr. Clement's beach-and that the eminent Eliot would come to respect the young attorney as a peer and his guide to matters of state law and island custom. Almost from the beginning, L.B. Deasy combined his law practice with banking. In 1887 he joined four other men to create the Bar Harbor Banking and Trust Company: Fred C. Lynam, George H. Grant, Andrew P. Wiswell and Everard H. Greeley. According to Edward Lee Marmon, author of Taking Care of Business Downeast, "Lynam and Grant were enterprising and industrious, but lacked the social and business connections needed to expand their exchange house in more ambitious directions. This need was answered by enlisting the support of a local lawyer, Luere B. Deasy, and the partnership of two Ellsworth businessmen, Wiswell and Greeley. These five men effectively created the Bank and were to serve as the original directors. As further described by Marmon, "Deasy was equally comfortable addressing the concerns of summer visitors like the Rockefellers, and serving the needs of permanent residents. Although a number of issues divided the two groups, Deasy believed that a community of interests outweighed the differences-in retrospect, he was usually shown to be right." He was president of the Bank from 1893 until 1929 and it "basked in the reflection of Deasy's prestige, while his law firm provided valuable legal assistance. His brilliant legal career and shrewd courtroom manner were rewarded by appointment to the Maine Supreme Court, first as an associate (1918) and then as Chief Justice (1929-1930)." As the Bar Harbor cottager community reached its Gilded Age apogee in the final decade of the 19th century, the town developed rapidly and Deasy's law and banking activities grew apace. The community looked to Deasy and Fred C. Lynam for leadership in government and civic affairs. Deasy's involvement deepened with his presidencies of the Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association and Bar Harbor Board of Trade. He was for many years chairman of the Bar Harbor Branch of the American Red Cross and was a charter member and trustee of the Bar Harbor YMCA. When the time came, he was also an incorporator of the Acadia Corporation. Deasy was soon valued for his ability to speak publicly. From a fairly basic formal education--teachers college and one year of law school--he was able to assemble the skills of the classic rhetorician. Whether he was trained in rhetoric, that art of persuasion to move audiences through the use of carefully crafted language, is not clear. He was extremely well read, both in the law and in the classics of literature and history. His court room skills as a trial lawyer were acknowledged by his peers, especially in his ultimate selection as Chief Justice. But in his local community he was frequently called upon to speak as the occasion required, whether to calm the public in a national crisis or to solemnify the dedication of a building or monument. Beyond lawyerly persuasion, Deasy's artful rhetoric was imbued with a sense of place and community. A relatively early example of his role and powers was the November, 1897 dedication of Eden's memorial to her sons who fought and bled in defense of the Union, the great structure which today stands between the Episcopal and Congregational Churches. The dedication was a large gathering and Deasy was the first speaker. After acknowledging General Grant's honorable Appomattox gesture to the defeated Confederacy-"Confederate officers and cavalrymen to retain their horses. They will need them for their spring plowing"-Deasy said, in part: "The best citizens made the best soldiers-those who left their country homes with tearful eyes, their mothers weeping over the vacant chairs and waiting, how often in vain, for the return of their loved ones. To soldiers such as these have we this day dedicated that shaft of New England granite. So shall it stand to coming generations. It shall speak of valor, of heroic self sacrifices, of military prowess that challenged the admiration of the world; and by its teaching it shall help to keep alive that same spirit against the time, which God grant may be far distant, when our country's dire need may call it into action. But it shall also speak, and in the concerted voice of all the heroic dead that it commemorates it shall say, that war is not a nation's true history-that a nation's true history is those homely pursuits of peace which were Grant's first thoughts at Appomattox-the spring plowing, the autumn harvesting, the school, the church, the home, the fireside, and all those conditions making for human progress and human happiness that exist where Peace dwells with Honor". Such words come from an uncommon mind and noble heart, one who, belonging to the generation following those whose last full measure of devotion he consecrated here, could remind his townsmen that the true history of a nation, and a village, was in the homely pursuits of peace made possible by their sacrifice. Within less than four years, we hear Deasy's public voice again, this time seeking to calm a people grieving for a slain leader. On September 18, 1901 a stunned Bar Harbor community met at the newly built Casino in the wake of President William McKinley's assassination. Deasy, chairman of the meeting, sought to place McKinley's death in context, reassuring the public of their federal government's stability: "He was not shot down for any real or fancied wrong. No man in public life had fewer enemies than he. His sterling worth and rugged integrity even his most bitter opponent was obliged to admit. He was shot because of the position to which he had been raised by the suffrage of the people. / urge upon the proper authority of this country that it take such means, calmly, dispassionately, yet firmly, to root out forever from the country those causes which lead to the committing of such crimes." To fully appreciate the calm voice here, we should remember that much of the nation and its press was in a lather of xenophobia driven by the ethnicity of the assassin. Not so in the Eden of L.B. Deasy. He called on his country to seek and eliminate the root causes of such crime. His demeanor is even more remarkable when we realize that during these waning weeks of summer in 1901 he had been summoned to one of the great duties of his long life. Rapid unplanned development on Mount Desert now troubled both summer colony cottagers and local leaders, such as Deasy. who cherished the natural beauty of the Island and knew that her communities needed sound infrastructure to guide growth. They were called to common purpose by President Eliot who, grieving for his recently deceased son, an early landscape architect and pioneer of public reservation land in Massachusetts, now resolved to honor his late son's vision of a Mount Desert whose exceptional beauty would be conserved forever and for all. Eliot framed the idea in a letter to George B. Dorr of Boston and Bar Harbor. dated August 12. 1901. He proposed a meeting of the Island village improvement societies to consider "the organization of a board of trustees or commission to hold reservations at points of interest on this Island, for the perpetual use of the public." Later he said, "I approach the undertaking myself from the cottagers' point of view, but I believe it to be a measure on which all persons interested in the preservation of this island as a place for healthful enjoyment could unite." Eliot, who knew how to lead, began with a small group of wealthy and gifted men, endowed with foresight, intelligence, influence and passion. An informal early gathering secured the support of essential summer colony luminaries such as George Vanderbilt, William Jay Schieffelin and S.D. Sargent, and Bishops Lawrence and Doane. From the beginning, Eliot envisioned the resourceful Dorr as the essential man of action. Joining Eliot and Dorr as the original incorporators of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations were summer colony stalwarts John S. Kennedy, a successful railroad investor, Edward B. Mears, a lawyer, Lea Mcl. Luquer, a New York attorney, and George L. Stebbins, a pioneer of the Seal Harbor summer settlement. Two local leaders joined the table: Loren E. Kimball, a year round resident and hotelier from Northeast Harbor, and Luere B. Deasy senior partner of the Deasy & 1 ynam law firm. From this vital first incorporator's meeting emerged a mission "to acquire, hold and maintain and improve for free public use lands in Hancock County which by reason of scenic beauty, historical interest, sanitary advantage or for other reasons may be available for the purpose." Below is a copy of the original document which requests what would become the first incorporator's meeting and contains signatures of the To Bortown E. 0347% Justice of #70 Pakes, 1-2 AVE for Handcok Country, State The undersigned Andre to be incorporates for - social, characting and hemevolent purposes including the purpose of requirise, and holding Lands and other proporty te said County for 23+ une, and Improving 234 and not Layles out and wilding skidds and in make our fry-rovements Apereon; ite therefore apply in writing to great no provided by Seatter I Claster se of the Reclasd Statutes of Mine to Lasue your directed is one AI your appli- cante, requiring him :- onl1 a marking for the purpose of organi 225 for Whee as is Bar Mains, Ls. August nath, 1961, General L Statemis Edward mean Law 2229 Lequis Charles m Eliok L. . Kimbace initial members. To Bertrand E. Clark, Justice of the Peace, in and for Hancock County, State of Maine. The undersigned desire to be incorporated for social, charitable and benevolent purposes including the purpose of acquiring, owning and holding lands and other property in said Hancock County for free public use, and improving the same by laying out and building roads and paths and making other improvements thereon; we thereon apply in writing to you as provided by Section / Chapter 55 of the Revised Statutes of Maine to issue your warrant to one of your applicants, requiring him to call a meeting for the purpose of organization at such time and place as you may appoint. Bar Harbor, Maine August 29th, 1901 Two years later, this statement coalesced into a corporation confirmed by a special Act of the Maine Legislature. The Act also provided for "the exemption of such lands from state, county or town taxation." The significance of this step was well understood by George B. Dorr who, in his memoirs writes: "Our counsel was Luere B. Deasy of Bar Harbor, later a Justice, and finally Chief Justice, of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine. At the next regular session of the State Legislature, convening January first, 1903, he obtained a charter for our association, incorporated as 'The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations' which made us, as a public service body, free of tax." Deasy's enabling achievement for the Trustees required his command of Maine law and considerable diplomacy in managing Eliot, whose hovering concern may at times have slipped from patrician to patronizing. But, to his credit, the President learned. Unpublished correspondence between them from early in 1903 captures the essence: Dear Mr. Deasy: / have signed the petition to the Maine Legislature which you prepared; and / have also drawn a short preamble which may, or may not, be put at the head of the petition, at your discretion. The case is so very plain that / cannot help hoping that you will succeed with the Legislature. Very truly yours, Charles W. Eliot Soon enough, Eliot wrote with further concerns: Dear Mr. Deasy: The draft of the petition to the Legislature of Maine seems to me rather inadequate for our purposes. / enclose a copy of the act of the Massachusetts Legislature in regard to the Trustees of Public Reservations. / shall be glad to send you later a letter which you could lay before the Legislative Committee. Very truly yours, Charles W. Eliot Deasy quickly replied, with firm diplomacy: My Dear Pres. Eliot: / beg to acknowledge your favor, with enclosures. / thank you for the copy of the Mass. Act. / will follow it as closely as the different conditions will permit in drafting an act to be presented to the Legislature, accompanying the petition. The petition, however, does not need to embody all the terms of the Act. Such petitions may be, and usually are, brief and general. The main purpose of the petition is to give notice of intended legislation the law requiring the petition to be published. / have re-drafted the petition, and herewith enclose the same. Will you please sign and return it, making any changes in the phraseology that you think necessary. / hope to receive this on Tuesday morning, inasmuch as the paper goes to press Tuesday night. Very truly yours, Luere B. Deasy Harvard President instructed. Jurisprudence class dismissed. Eliot came to realize the young lawyer's skills and his value in dealing with a sometimes skeptical Maine populace. With the leadership of Deasy, the Charter of Incorporation was approved by the State Legislature on March 28, 1903. Despite the successful legislation, Eliot worried to the point of despair about public acceptance, particularly among native Islanders. A letter to Lea Mcl. Luquer of August 25, 1903 states: "The damaging of the island roads by the electric light company, and the bad management of the town affairs by the present board of selectmen-which is the poorest one / have ever known to be elected in our town-has somewhat discouraged the summer residents of Seal Harbor and Northeast Harbor with regard to voluntary action looking to the beautification of the island. If the town authorities and the majority of the voters are incapable of learning that the Island of Mount Desert should be treated as a park, there seems little use in the summer residents' trying to preserve the natural beauties of a few spots. / must confess that / share this feeling of discouragement, and yet / doubt that it is reasonable." Looking to the rapidly developing eastern side of the island, he found little solace: "Have summer people in Bar Harbor never attempted to prevent or remedy the defacing of the roads and streets of Bar Harbor with double lines of poles bearing wires? The treasurer of the electric light company, speaking to several gentlemen from Northeast Harbor and Seal Harbor a few days ago at Bishop Doane's, said that the Bar Harbor people had never complained at all of poles on both sides of the streets, but on the contrary seemed to like them. He alleged, therefore, that his company had no reason to suppose that anybody would object to double rows of poles on any of the island roads." In a letter to Deasy four days later he says, "Have you any idea how we can persuade the voters on the island of Mount Desert that the island ought to be treated in every respect like a public park? This is the plain interest of every individual who lives on the island, whether in the summer only or all the year round. Yet the town meetings and the selectmen do not act as if they thought so Luere B. Deasy, having for two decades now lived as a year-round citizen of an island community, understood the complications of asking several thousand hard working and long established fellow citizens to suddenly begin treating their home island as, in every respect, a public park. It would become a major role for him to navigate the often conflicting, even treacherous, waters separating the interests of summer resident and native. Nowhere was the confrontation between Trustee and local Islander interests more clearly drawn than in the issue of public water supply Bar Harbor had experienced a typhoid fever outbreak in 1873 which had temporarily threatened further development of the summer resort. Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond, supplying water to Bar Harbor and Seal Harbor, were looked upon as pristine alpine water bodies, highly desirable as Trustee land acquisitions. Both were surrounded by a patchwork of privately held plots, many with buildings intended for seasonal residence, a potential if not actual source of pollution. In early 1911. the Trustees, with support from the Maine State Board of Health, petitioned the Legislature. House Bill #392 begins: "The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, a corporation existing under the laws of the State of Maine, is hereby authorized and empowered to take by devise, gift or purchase and to hold, and also to take as for public purposes by eminent domain, any land or any interest therein in the water sheds of Eagle Lake and Jordans Pond or either of them on Mount Desert Island, Hancock County, Maine, which corporation deems necessary to protect the waters thereof from pollution." The Trustees, in particular George B. Dorr, asked Deasy to communicate this to a skeptical public. In revising a rambling first draft attempted by Mr. Dorr, Deasy came straight to the point with his characteristic emphasis: "To the Citizens of Bar Harbor, Seal Harbor and Asticou: To avoid misunderstanding of the scope and objects of the proposed act of the legislature granting certain powers to the Trustees of Public Reservations, we have caused the full text of the proposed enactment to be published. No subject is more important to the welfare of the Mt. Desert resorts than the preservation of the purity of their public water supply. An outbreak of typhoid fever believed to be traceable to impure water would cause incalculable injury Nature has provided spring fed reservoirs of purest water. No man should be permitted for his own pleasure or profit to corrupt it or cast doubt upon its wholesomeness (In taking measures to preserve the purity of our water supply all private rights should be fully and carefully protected. A proprietor of land on one of the above named lakes should not be compelled to part with his property or any rights in it without just compensation. But no man should be allowed to compel a whole town full of people to drink his sewage.) The Trustees may never wish to acquire any land other than by voluntary purchase. It certainly will not unless it is necessary. But in case any person insists on occupying land on the margin of these lakes in such a manner as to menace the purity of the public water supply and the health and Laver welfare of the community, it asks the right by paying to the owner the fullest compensation, to take such land and hold it for the public benefit. Here we see the essential issue of 20th century island life, the relationship between the emerging Park and the surrounding communities, captured as only a leader of Deasy's gifts and common touch could. The Trustees will only seek land from willing sellers to whom they will give a fair price, but if a private owner should foul the commons and risk the public health and wellbeing, the Trustees have and will exercise the rights of the many against the befouler. The issue of eminent domain, clearly implied if not specifically stated in Deasy's public communication, was carefully defined in the final version of the petition and the bill was enacted in March of 1911. This legislative victory resulted from a careful proactive analysis of the opposing forces, typical of Deasy's legal style. As curtly stated in a January 7 1911 letter to Dorr: "There will be opposition to this measure even if it is fully understood. The opposition will not be intelligent but may be strenuous." Much of the opposition was anticipated by Deasy in his advice to Eliot of three weeks later: "After conference with Mr. Dorr / have stricken out the words 'Hadlock's Pond' from the bill. This / did because there seems to be a very general and strenuous opposition by the owners around Hadlock's Pond against the passage of the measure. The menace is not so great at the Hadlock's Pond as at Eagle Lake nor does there seem to be a strong feeling in favor of the measure there that exists among people here. We believe that if the bill can be put through for the protection of Eagle Lake and Jordan's Pond that the force of the example and precedent will enable us to later extend the protection to Hadlock's Pond. / have also taken the liberty to change the letter by striking out "Northeast Harbor" and inserting "Asticou", so as to cover and include all places supplied from Eagle Lake and Jordan's Pond." Knowing perhaps better than anyone the periodic tensions between the noble purposes of the Trustees and the concerns of permanent residents, and having done as much if not more than anyone to resolve them, we can imagine the deep satisfaction Deasy must have felt when, through the good works of George B. Dorr in Washington, the great day came when President Wilson, using the powers given him through the 1906 Antiquities Act, proclaimed the creation of Sieur de Monts National Monument on July 8, 1916. Soon thereafter the public gathered at Kebo's Building of the Arts to hear a series of speeches by Charles W. Eliot, George B. Dorr and, among others, Luere B. Deasy. Eliot introduced Deasy as " ...identified with the legal work involved in obtaining the great reservations knows the history of the enterprise knows what the meaning of the undertaking has been in the minds of those who promoted it." As Deasy spoke, he reviewed the many events leading up to the Proclamation, and then said: "The establishment of this Monument guarantees that it will be perpetually open for the use of the public, under due restrictions, not as a matter of suffrage but as a matter of right; it guarantees that it will be protected against devastation or commercial exploitation; that its animal, bird, and plant life shall be conserved- something that could not be accomplished under private or even corporate ownership. These guarantees are worth far more than the Park has cost. This great Park lies midway between Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor and Bar Harbor. It is equally accessible to them all. All have a common interest in it. It reaches out to each of these resorts and binds them together into one community. But to him who possess imagination and vision, the opening of this Park has a wider and deeper significance. That these mountains, standing at the very edge of the Continent, looking out across the ocean far beyond our Country's domain, should remain in private ownership, bought and sold by metes and bounds and used for private gain, is incongruous. That they should be held by the Nation in trust for all its people is their appropriate destiny. The man who lives in the interior of the country has very little to remind him of the Federal Government under which he lives. But go with me upon the crest of any one of these hills and look seaward; upon every headland a light house; upon every sunken ledge a buoy or spindle. The safe channel along the whole coast is clearly marked; and when the fog curtain falls, the Nation does not forget its children upon the water, but guides them to safety by signals. It is fitting that the Nation should be given this unique post of vantage, these mountains by the sea from which its most beneficent work may be observed. It is fitting it should hold them in trust for the public, because of the lessons they teach of ancient geologic history and Nature's ways; because of the exceptional variety and interest of the life they shelter, plant and animal; and because of their historic association with the early exploration of our coast and its attempted occupation by the French. For these, alike, and other reasons of which / have no need to speak, so familiar are they to all, we do well to celebrate this occasion." These were the views of a common man of the Maine coast, seasoned in law and politics, with the hard-won wisdom to entrust a precious part of the commons to the safe stewardship of our common will acting through the government. He saw a good future for the park and surrounding communities, sensed that the park could become a world heritage, and affirmed that this commons had been conserved from the degradation of division and development for profit by private hands. As Deasy did his good works with and for the Trustees, he was asked to assume greater responsibilities by the people of his Island and state. In 1906 he was elected to the Maine Senate. He was reelected in 1908 and became Senate President. During this time, his junior partner, Albert Harry Lynam. took on the lion's share of legal work for the Trustees. Indeed, Lynam became Dorr's legal assistant and would later become John D. Rockefeller, Jr's local legal counsel. While serving as Senator, Deasy was instrumental in drafting workers' compensation laws and was respected widely. Indeed, he gave close consideration to a gubernatorial bid which many think he could have won. In the end, however, he chose to return to the Island he loved and his law and banking practices. Deasy's grace as a public speaker was often evident, as three illustrations will show. In August 1911 the dedication of the Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor gave him an opportunity to reflect on the importance of books: "The gift of a library is the best and most perfect public gift. / say this not forgetting other forms of public benefaction touching more immediate human needs. The greatest and most significant human fact is achievement. All the discoveries and inventions of the past, all the pictures that artists and poets have painted, all the principles that patriots have fought for, all the truths that martyrs have died for are ours without money and without price. All this is true because of books. It is books that bring to and lay at the feet of each new century all the worthwhile wealth of past centuries. Books are the title deeds, the testaments under and by virtue of which a generation has and holds and enjoys the priceless treasures which in all ages of the past the exploring mind has brought from the cave of knowledge. " A decade later, a very different occasion gave Deasy an opportunity to reflect again on how we memorialize those lost in war and the enduring good done through public works well built. On Memorial Day of 1920, the people of Mount Desert Island celebrated an end to world conflict and the completion of Desert Bridge. It was a festive occasion, attended by an estimated 10,000 citizens. Also present were veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish War and the World War to whom the bridge was dedicated. Deasy delivered the lead address: "The public that / represent and speak for is not merely you and I...I speak for a much wider constituency, for the public that will use it when what is now a new bridge is an old bridge; for men and women who will cross it and see the same tide ebbing and flowing through these same arches a hundred years after all living have crumbled to dust. For this great public / gladly and proudly accept this structure And now we have erected this beautiful bridge and dedicated to living soldiers and sailors of the great war and to the memory of their dead and have also dedicated it to the use of all the people now and for the future. But some, thinking superficially, / believe, may say that to make a monument a thing of everyday utility betrays a sordid mercenary, unworthy spirit-but not so-not infrequently men and women in performing tasks that seem lowly and commonplace, but done from a sense of duty and for the benefit of others, build better than they know and accomplish great things. He who labors to make more beautiful and better the country that our heroes died for, may be making a fitter and more acceptable offering than he who ostentatiously mourns." The bridge dedicated that day has now been replaced, but the memorial plaque from the dedication, designed by then high school student Charles K. Savage, is still proudly affixed to the span that brings the world to the Island and links us to the mainland. A final Deasy speech, from his 70th year, shows his rhetorical gifts and ability to teach with a common touch undiminished. The occasion was the dedication of the Robert Abbe Museum at Sieur de Monts in August 1928. Dr. Abbe, an enthusiastic collector of Stone Age antiquities and long time summer resident, had died the previous year. "This dedication will necessarily be brief, because we have very few chairs to offer you. But / do not need to remind you that the people who made and used the articles of stone found in this Museum did not have chairs. One of the lost arts, lost since they lived, is the art of comfortably and gracefully squatting on the ground. Bar Harbor appreciates this Museum because it is a memorial of its loved and gracious founder. It appreciates it also because it will stimulate the study of American archaeology. 'But what value," someone asks, 'is the study of American archaeology?' No value at all to him who looks only for cash dividends. But to him who believes: 'That in all ages every human heart is human'; to him who is interested in the study of the labored steps by which the human race, not here alone but everywhere, has plodded its slow way upward, it is of profound interest. These tools and implements and ornaments and weapons which you find in this collection were not made nor used by your ancestors. But do not for this reason assume too great an air of superiority. For there was a time some ages ago when your ancestors and mine used just such tools and implements and ornaments and weapons as these. Indeed, there was a time some eons ago when your ancestors and mine had nothing as good as these. Then, after the passing of many centuries, some prehistoric Edison invented and made a stone axe and people undoubtedly gathered about it and examined it and exclaimed: 'Isn't it marvelous?' And they said, just as we say now: 'It isn't possible that future centuries will witness as great progress in the arts as we have seen.'' At the height of the Roaring 20's ("him who looks only for cash dividends"), in the infancy of American archaeology, at a time when Native Americans were hardly visible to the wider white world, a Maine man at his three score and ten could celebrate, with eloquence and humility, the true significance of the artifacts entrusted to the museum that day. No appreciation of Luere Babson Deasy should slight the dry wit and generous humor for which he was revered by high court colleagues and common townsman alike. An example of Deasy's humor can be found in this account: While serving as a district court trial judge, the defendant's attorney asked to approach the bench with his client. The rather nervous client said, "Your Honor, my wife is at home and about to become pregnant." The attorney corrected with, "Your Honor, I believe he means that his wife is about to be confined." Judge Deasy returned, "In either case your client is needed at home. Court is recessed." A final illustration of Deasy's good cheer, and his care as the good son of an aging father, was recently discovered by the author in the basement of the old Deasy & Lynam law firm. It is included because one of the joys of original materials research is the discovery of something entirely unexpected, something counter to the gradually perceived impression of the subject's character. In a thin file lay the following series of letters, labeled "confidential" and addressed from Arthur Whitman, reporter for the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The dated years of 1921-1922 are significant: "December 30, 1921 My Dear Mr. Rodick: Judge Deasy has just told me that his father, Captain Deasy, of Prospect Harbor, is not very well and has suggested that a small quantity of "spirits" might be very acceptable in his present condition. / have just suggested to the Judge that / thought you might be in a position where you could procure a little of this article, and that you would be glad to make a little effort in this direction for the sake of alleviating the situation. If you could obtain anything and could send it over there to the Captain, the effort would certainly be greatly appreciated... " "January 23, 1922 My Dear Rodick: / presume by this time Judge D. has seen you and expressed to you his appreciation of your efforts. It was really in consequence of his mentioning the matter of the need of Captain D. that / made the suggestion that you might be able to do something / don't know what the situation is in your vicinity in the way of a supply of this article, or in fact anything in that line, but if there is a possibility of obtaining anything / would be glad to send you a check and have you salvage something against a rainy day for me... " "January 24, 1922 My Dear Whitman: / have your letter of January 23. Don't send me any check, simply let me know when you can come to Bar Harbor either coming or going from your trip o Calais. Yours truly, Rodick DEASY: THE MEASURE OF A MAINE MAN Luere Babson Deasy was my great grandfather. It appears that he was also a great man. In writing this essay, I have been conflicted by the dual roles of responsible historian and admiring descendant. By all indications, he was a modest man and as his relative I would hope to be perceived in the same light. I did not seek to canonize him- indeed, my primary motivation stemmed from an intense curiosity to discover and understand his life and times. But the hours of research, especially as they revealed his written and spoken words, provided a window into the workings of what I now see as a broad and noble mind. His rhetorical skills are self evident, as well as his inner calm, humor and humility. His intellect and motivation allowed him to follow opportunity and become an institution in his town and state. And he was a decent man, a moral man who better than most understood his origins and his townspeople as they were confronted by enormous changes and challenges over the period of his long and accomplished life. We live in special place-this Island and its National Park-- conserved by the actions of men with great foresight. Implementation of their visionary ideas required the hard and dedicated work of ordinary, but extraordinary, people who cared intensely about this place. Deasy's words and good works provide a beacon by which we today can continue to see the spirit of caring. That is his legacy. Let us never forget it. Four Deasy Generations: Luere, Blanche, Robert and Daniel I would like to thank Douglas Chapman, Esq. for his assistance and generosity. A well known practicing Bar Harbor attorney since 1964, he is heir to and conservator of the original Deasy & Lyman law firm. My great friend, Jack Russell, provided a challenge and insightful editorial assistance in the preparation of this essay. He greased the ways and gave this little literary boat and its skipper a shove. I am deeply grateful. 5/31/2015 Maine Memory Network I Luere B. Deasy, Bar Harbor, ca. 1909 Maine Memory Network Maine's Online Museum Luere B. Deasy, Bar Harbor, ca. 1909 Contributed by Maine State Archives wwww.mainememory.het/item/22038 Colledtions:ofMaineStateArchiyes Item 22038 Luere B. Deasy, a native of Gouldsboro, graduated from Eastern State Normal School in Castine and the Boston University School of Law. In 1886, he opened an office in Bar Harbor. Deasy was well-known for his ability as a lawyer and his persuasiveness as a speaker. Until 1896, Deasy was a Democrat, but then became a Republican. He served two terms in the Maine senate, winning his first nomination by a margin of one vote. In the second term he was elected President of the Maine Senate. A successful businessman, as well as a lawyer, Deasy was eventually appointed by Governor Milliken to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Other Information Title: Luere B. Deasy, Bar Harbor, ca. 1909 Creation Date: circa 1909 Subject Date: circa 1909 https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/22038 1/2 5/31/2015 Maine Memory Network I Luere B. Deasy, Bar Harbor, ca. 1909 Town: Augusta, Bar Harbor County: Hancock, Kennebec State: ME Media: carte de visite Dimensions (cm): 7.6 X 5 Object Type: Image For more information about this item, contact: Maine State Archives 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084 (207) 287-5795 http://www.state.me.us/sos/arc/ Print This Record Cross Reference Searches LC Subject Headings Deasy, Luere B. Legislators--Maine Maine--Politics and government Cartes de visite Maine. Legislature. Senate Lawyers--Maine Maine. Supreme Judicial Court People Deasy, Luere B. Print This Record Share what you know about this item Or if there's a problem with this page, tell us. We do NOT offer appraisals on like items. Check our Note on Appraisals. Other MHS Websites: Maine Historical Society I Maine Memory Network I HW Longfellow I Vintage Maine Images Copyright ©2000-2015 Maine Historical Society, All Rights Reserved. Many images on this website are for sale on VintageMaineImages.com. Maine Memory Network is a project of the Maine Historical Society. Except for classroom educational use, images and content may not be reproduced without permission. https://www.mainememory.net/artifact/22038 2/2 ADDRESSES BY CHARLES W. ELIOT President Emeritus of Harvard University HON. JOHN E. BUNKER Secretary of the State of Maine HON. L. B. DEASY RIGHT REV. WILLIAM LAWRENCE, D.D. Bishop of Massachusetts GEORGE B. DORR DR. ALFRED G. MAYER Director of the Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Institution of Washington DELIVERED AT A MEETING HELD AT THE BUILDING OF ARTS BAR HARBOR, MAINE Thursday, August 22 1916 ADDRESSES ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT PRESIDENT ELIOT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LOVERS OF MT. DESERT: We come together here to celebrate a very important step in a long progress-long as we look backward, and longer still as we look forward. Some of us have known this Island for many, many years. The first visit I made to it was just fifty years ago, and I have long been intimate with the Island and its surroundings. Most of us, I suppose, have lived here many years, or at least many summers; but the great event we celebrate today-the taking of nearly half the hills of the Island as a National Monument-has awakened a strong interest also in the Island on the part of single-season visitors, and those who come here for a few days only-or even for a single day. That is an important new fact; be- cause the promoters of the present enterprise are looking for- ward to a large extension of the National Monument which will greatly add to the interest and attractiveness of this beautiful Atlantic Island at all seasons of the year. The old lovers of the Island expect to welcome many new lovers. We who have long known the Island know that it is unique on the entire Atlantic coast of the United States, with nothing even to approach it in varied interest and beauty. Now, the public spirited people who have got together by gift or purchase the lands which constitute today the National Monument have long been hard at work upon the matter-sometimes under discouragements; SO they feel that today is a day for rejoicing and mutual congratulation. The labors of years have been brought to a cheerful and hopeful 6 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 7 consummation. But these sentiments do not relate to their PORTLAND, MAINE, AUG. 21, 1916. LEURE B. DEASY, own experiences and their own happiness alone. One of the BAR HARBOR, MAINE. greatest satisfactions in doing any sound work for an institu- It is with sincere regret that I am obliged to inform you that tion, a town, or a city, or for the nation is that good work it will be impossible for me to be with you at the noteworthy done for the public lasts, endures through generations; and exercises by which you are to celebrate the establishment of the little bit of work that any individual of the passing gener- the first national park in the state of Maine on the Island of Mt. Desert, to be known as The Sieur de Monts National ation is enabled to do gains through association with such Monument. I am pleased, however, to take advantage of collective activities an immortality of its own. I have been the opportunity afforded by this occasion to extend in behalf accustomed to work for a University-in fact, I worked for of the people and state of Maine to you and your commit- one forty-nine years; but the greatest element of satisfaction tee and to those whose generous acts and earnest efforts have in looking back on that work is the sense that what I was resulted in the realization of a project at once SO admirable and so desirable my most sincere congratulations and hearti- enabled to do, with the help of many others, is going to last- est greetings. as good bricks built into a permanent structure. This is the OAKLEY CURTIS, great satisfaction of all the promoters of the enterprise we Governor. meet today to celebrate. We hope to hear during the meeting something about I have the honor to introduce to you the Hon. John E. the different stages of development of this enterprise. I hope Bunker, Secretary of State for Maine. we shall appreciate before we leave this hall what long-con- tinued service a few m n, and particularly one man, have HON. JOHN E. BUNKER rendered to this community through this work for the preser- vation of the Island's hills, woods, and water-supplies. I LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: We have assembled here this hope we are going to hear what needs to be done in the future summer afternoon for the purpose of formally observing the to the same ends. For example, we must understand that establishment of a great national park by our Federal Gov- other great hills of this Island need to be brought into reser- ernment; but more especially to show our appreciation of the vation, to be held first by the Hancock County Trustees of kindness that has made this occasion possible. We have Public Reservations and then by the Government of the gathered from near and far, not only the residents and sum- United States. And then I hope we are going to hear from mer residents of Mount Desert Island, but visitors from dis- a very competent source of the new interests which are about tant states and foreign climes, that by our presence we may to be developed in the wild life of the Island, in the trees, record our thanks for the generous devotion that has ex- shrubs, mosses and flowers, and in the animals that can pressed itself SO practically in this enduring Monument. thrive here on land or in the sea. This undertaking has In the absence of His Excellency, I am proud to extend a large forward look; and before this meeting closes, I think to you the greetings of the great State I have the honor to there will have been presented to us a picture of what we, the represent today, and to bring you the congratulations of our present enjoyers of the Island, can do for the benefit of Governor. All honor and credit to those whose generosity coming generations. and persevering work have resulted in an accomplishment so great. The story of the founding of Maine's National Park Governor O. C. Curtis has sent the following telegram to will be told to generations yet unborn. May they also learn the Hon. L. B. Deasy: the purpose and gain the spirit of its founders. 8 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 9 PRESIDENT ELIOT ton, a member of the earliest group of summer residents upon The next speaker has been identified with the legal work the Island. That same fall, through the initiative of Mr. involved in obtaining the great reservations which until a few Dorr and the gift of Mr. John S. Kennedy of New York, the days ago were in the hands of the Hancock County Trustees summit of the Island-the old hotel tract upon Green of Public Reservations. He knows the history of the enter- Mountain, belonging to the heirs of Daniel Brewer-was prise; he also knows what the meaning of the undertaking has acquired, to pass this summer into the Nation's keeping as been in the minds of those who promoted it. I call on the the highest point upon our eastern coast. Hon. L. B. Deasy. Dry Mountain, Newport and Pickett Mountains, Peme- tic-the only one that still retains an Indian appellation- Jordan, Sargent, and the Bubbles, in whole or in at least their HON. L. B. DEASY summit portions, followed steadily as the seasons passed, with MR. CHAIRMAN: Not forgetting the many who have the gorges and high-lying lakes that they include, till in 1914 rendered valuable assistance, who have made generous dona- an undivided tract, that seemed to Mr. Dorr and President tions of land and gifts of money to buy land, the chief credit Eliot worthy of offering to the Nation, had been secured. for the establishment of this National Park belongs to two Mr. Dorr went to Washington accordingly that spring men. and decided, on the strength of encouragement given him by It owes its inception as a public reservation to the far- the Secretary of the Interior, the Hon. Franklin K. Lane, to sightedness and public spirit of the distinguished chairman of seek its acceptance by the Government under what is known this meeting. as the Monuments Act, passed in 1906 under President It owes its successful accomplishment and ultimate Roosevelt, and widely since then made use of by the Govern- transformation into a National Park to the energy, the per- ment in western portions of the country-this Act being one sistence, the unfailing tact, the consecrated altruism of which authorizes the administration, upon the recommenda- George B. Dorr. tion of the Secretary of the Interior, to set aside by Presi- The movement for the creation of a great public reserva- dential proclamation lands of "historic, pre-historic, or tion on Mt. Desert Island started in 1901, when, at the sug- scientific interest" as National Parks, when previously owned gestion of Dr. Eliot the Hancock County Trustees of Public by it or freely offered to it from a private source. Reservations was organized under the general law. Two Two further years were spent in active work, in extend- years later, in 1903, the organization of this corporation was ing the Park's boundaries and securing its approaches, and confirmed by a special Act of the Maine legislature. The in studying and clearing the land titles of the tract, to bring purposes of the Corporation as stated in this Act were to re- them up to the high standard that the Government requires. ceive, hold, and improve for public use lands in Hancock In early June this year, 1916, Mr. Dorr again returned County which by reason of historic interest, scenic beauty, or to Washington, taking with him all necessary deeds for the any other cause, were suitable for such an object. Government's acceptance, and, aided by the hearty support It was not until 1908, however, eight years before the of Secretary Lane and his Assistant Secretary in charge of proclamation of the National Monument, that the Trustees Parks, Mr. Stephen T. Mather, obtained President Wilson's received their first gift of land, the Bowl and Beehive tract on approval of the Park, the proclamation creating it being Newport Mountain, from Mrs. Charles D. Homans of Bos- signed by him on July 8th. The establishment of this Park guarantees that it will SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 11 10 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT toric association with the early exploration of our coast and be perpetually open for the use of the public, not as a matter its attempted occupation by the French. of sufferance but as a matter of right; it guarantees that it We do well, therefore, to celebrate this occasion; we do will be protected against devastation, against commercial exploitation; it guarantees that its animal, bird, and plant well to express our appreciation of the work done by Dr. life shall be conserved, something that could not be accom- Eliot and Mr. Dorr, and of the important co-operation of the plished under private or even corporate ownership. These Secretary of the Interior and his associates; but let us re- member that all these efforts might have come to naught had guarantees are worth far more than the Park has cost. it not been that he who had to render the final decision and This great Park lies midway between Northeast Harbor, .do the final act was a man big enough to pause amidst the Seal Harbor and Bar Harbor. It is equally accessible to multitudinous duties and besetting cares of his great office to them all. All have a common interest in it. It reaches out give this matter consideration, and clear-visioned enough to to each of these resorts and binds them together into one perceive its real worth and value. community. But to him who possesses imagination and vision, the PRESIDENT ELIOT opening of this Park has a wider and deeper significance. That these mountains, standing at the very edge of the Con- In evidence of the interest which the President of the tinent, looking out across the ocean far beyond our Country's United States has taken in the cause and object of the meet- domain, should remain in private ownership, bought and sold ing today, I read this telegram from President Wilson: by metes and bounds and used for private gain, is incongru- THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C., Aug. 17, 1916. ous. That they should be held by the Nation in trust for all MR. GEORGE B. DORR, its people is their appropriate destiny. BAR HARBOR, MAINE. The man who lives in the interior of the country has Mrs. Wilson and I warmly appreciate your kind message but very little to remind him of the Federal Government under it is only too evident to me now that the constant demand of which he lives. He has the postage stamp and the income public duties upon my time will prevent our having the pleasure of visiting the new park this summer. tax, but scarcely anything else. But go with me upon the WOODROW WILSON. crest of any one of these hills in the National Park and look seaward; upon every headland a light-house; upon every We are to hear next from Bishop Lawrence, who, I am sunken ledge, a buoy or spindle; the safe road or channel sure, will speak some words of congratulation on the achieve- along the whole coast marked by buoys; and when the fog ment we are this day commemorating; I have a hope that he curtain falls, the Nation does not forget its children upon the will indicate to us also how considerable sums of money for water, but guides them to safety by signals. the carrying on of our project can be raised. It is fitting that the Nation should be given this unique post of vantage, these mountains by the sea from which its BISHOP LAWRENCE most beneficent work may be observed. It is fitting it LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MR. ELIOT: My present should hold them in trust for the public, because of the les- duty is that of congratulation. Whom shall I congratulate? sons they teach of ancient geologic history and Nature's Why ourselves, of course! It is always pleasant to congratu- ways; because of the exceptional variety and interest of the late ourselves on any happiness that comes to us. In the life they shelter, plant and animal; and because of their his- first place, then, please try to recall the thought that came 12 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 13 into your mind as you heard of this National Park. Presi- henceforth can take them from her. To my mind this Park dent Eliot claims, and has the right I think to claim, seniority is fitted remarkably to be a park for urban people. I feel here; but others of us, too, are running close back to fifty oppressed by big national parks. Their distances are too years ago this summer. But whether we go back a single great. They do not appeal to one's capacity for achieve- year or fifty there is not one of us here who has not some de- ment. But here we have hills which those accustomed to lightful association with this spot. And when we heard the city life may mount, and walks they may use to gain strength. President had signed that proclamation I think our first im- Here we have a park naturally formed in its smallness of dis- pression was relief. No one now can come down and spoil tances, in its quintessence of beauty, to help city-dwelling these lands the Government has taken under its protection. men to gain new energy for heavy work in winter. No fire can sweep through them. We are content in the thought that they are in the hands of the Government, and, PRESIDENT ELIOT knowing how it has administered other parks, we therefore congratulate ourselves that the Nation has assumed control, Bishop Lawrence certainly has given us a pleasing pic- ture of the results of the conservation of the Island for our- feeling assured that what it has taken will remain forever beautiful. selves, for our descendants, and for the world at large; but it apparently slipped his mind to tell us how the money we yet In the second place, may we not congratulate those who need is to be raised. I take his place on that subject with have been instrumental in the creation of the Park? Un- one item. A lady spoke to me after our meeting in the Union doubtedly; but that has been SO well expressed by Mr. Deasy church at Northeast Harbor last Sunday, and said she wished that it is needless to say more. That these mountains should to send me a check to be applied to the preservation of this have remained endangered so long when it was clear that beautiful Island. The next day I got a note from her. private ownership might claim them is a mystery. That "Dear Mr. Eliot: more people have not come forward and given of their wealth Enclosed find? check to be used towards the to save them is a wonder. Transfer the value of a thousand preservation of the mountains of this wonderfully beautiful feet in New York City, covered with nothing but steel and Island, which we old Northeasters love," mortar, to one of these mountains, and a large part of it is I found in the note a check for one thousand dollars. bought. How small that sum compared with the happiness Before I call on the next speaker I venture to correct one that it will give. Think of the good sense and joy of giving statement in the otherwise entirely accurate remarks of Mr. as some have given, and of the opportunity that remains to Deasy. He attributed to me the early conception of what give as others will give. For we may be confident that this might be done here for the developing of a noble public park, Park will not remain bounded with its present lines, but will thereby securing for future generations this Island as a great increase until in time it covers the beautiful parts of the health and pleasure resort. He did me more than justice. whole Island. The conception in my mind was derived from my son, the I feel that we may congratulate Mr. Dorr on having had landscape architect, who died in 1897. Moreover, the con- the privilege of being one to whom the achievement of a great thing has come, and that we may add the thanks and con- ception of a Hancock County Board of Trustees, which has been applied on this Island, was copied from the Massachu- gratulations, too, of future generations. People will gather setts Board of Trustees of Public Reservations which my son here from all parts of this country, from all parts of the world. New England has won these mountains and none not only conceived, but carried into effect. So it is to my 14 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 15 son, and not to me, that the merit of the conception belongs. come to see, should be secured. The areas adjoining it that I have, however, had a continuous function with regard are fertile in wild life-exceptional forest tracts, wild orchid to the work of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reser- meadows and natural wild-flower areas of other type, the vations, of which I have been President. This function has pools haunted by water-loving birds, and the deep, well- been one of consultation, advice, encouragement, and now wooded and well-watered valleys that lie between the moun- and then incitement; but this advice, this encouragement has tains-are necessary to include in order to make the Park been addressed to just one person, Mr. George B. Dorr, the what it should be, a sanctuary and protecting home for the principal worker in the enterprise, one great step of which we whole region's plant and animal life, and for the birds that ask are now celebrating. I hope Mr. Dorr will say a few words to its hospitality upon their long migrations. Make it this, and you not only on the nature of the enterprise itself, but on the naturalists will seek it from the whole world over, and from future work which ought to be done for it; because he is not it other men will learn similarly to cherish wild life in other only a man of persistent enthusiasm and devotion to what- places. ever he undertakes for the public good, but also a man of wise The influence of such work, beneficent in every aspect, and far-reaching vision. I present to you Mr. George B. travels far; and many, beholding it, will go hence as mission- Dorr. aries to extend it. We have a wonderful landscape, to deep- en the impression, and, now that the Government has set its GEORGE B. DORR seal of high approval on it, wide publicity will be given to all that we accomplish. MR. CHAIRMAN: By taking the opportunity given us by the richly varied My thought turns forward, rather, to the great opportu- topography of the Island, by its situation on the border be- nity that springs from what is now achieved, than back tween land and sea, by the magnificent beginning made, and toward the past, save for the memory of those I would were the Government's co-operation, we can do something now here to be glad with us at this first stage attained. It is an whose influence will be widely felt. And here I wish to say a opportunity of singular interest, so to develop and preserve word which falls in singularly well with the thought of the the wild charm and beauty of a spot thus honored by the far-reaching influence this work may have. Nation that future generations may rejoice in them yet more Charles Eliot, Dr. Eliot's older son, was a landscape than we; and SO to conserve, and where there is need restore, architect of rare ability and enthusiasm. Moved by a public the wild life whose native haunt it is that all may find de- spirit that he derived alike from his own nature and the home light in it, and men of science a uniquely interesting field for influences that helped to form him, he initiated in Massachu- study. setts the system of Public Reservations on which our own was For both purposes we need more land, as anyone may modeled. To him Mt. Desert owes that debt of leadership, see by studying the Park and Reservation bounds on Dr. while he, in turn, might never have been awakened to the Abbe's wonderfully illuminating relief map. We have begun value and importance of such work had it not been for the an important work; we have succeeded until the Nation itself inspiration, the love of nature and the quickened conscious- has taken cognizance of it and joined with us for its ad- ness of beauty, drawn from boyhood summers passed upon it. vancement; let us not stop short of its fulfilment in essential During the early summer, when I was at Washington points. Adequate approaches to the National Monument, working on this matter of the Park's establishment and was which men and women from the country over will henceforth plunged for weeks together in its oppressive heat, it struck SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 17 16 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT morning from Professor Francis G. Peabody, who has now me what a splendid and useful thing it would be if we could his summer residence at Northeast Harbor, but who used to provide down here, in a spot so full of biologic interest and live in Bar Harbor. All through his early married life he was unsolved biologic problems, so rich in various beauty and a resident at Bar Harbor. locked around by a cool northern sea, a summer camp-some simple summer home-for men of science working in the MY DEAR PRESIDENT ELIOT: Government bureaus, in the museums and universities. I am prevented by a cold from attending the meeting at They would come down to work, as Henry Chapman and Bar Harbor today, but wish to express my keen interest in Charles Sedgwick Minot used to do, on a fresh field of life, its purpose. To one who has tramped over these hills almost every bird or plant or animal, and then go back invigorated, ready summer for forty-six years, the assurance that this privilege to do more valuable work the whole winter through in con- is to be secured for all later generations is a peculiar happi- sequence of this climatic boon and stimulating change. ness; and I trust that the obligation laid on residents along the Western shore to guard their mountains and water-sup- This is one opportunity. Another, which is urgent, is to plies may be as obvious and imperative as it has been to their secure now, while it may be done, tracts of special biologic neighbors at Bar Harbor and Seal Harbor. interest not yet secured, irreplaceable if lost in private owner- May I add one personal reflection? Mr. and Mrs. ship or through destruction of their natural conditions,as Charles Dorr were, from my point of view, late comers to Bar well as adequate approaches to the National Park, con- Harbor, having settled there not more than forty years ago; but they were the first to discover the possibilities of the shore venient and scenically worthy of the national possession to for landscape-gardening, and to transform the wild beauty which they lead. Both of these are essentially important at surrounding their hospitable home into a well-ordered and this time. No one who has not made the study of it which I unspoiled park. have can realize how truly wonderful the opportunities are How happy it would now make these devoted parents to know that among the names to be forever associated with the which the creation of this Park has opened, alike in wild life unique loveliness of this Island was that of their beloved son! ways and splendid scenery. To lose by want of action now Cordially yours what will be so precious to the future, whether for the de- FRANCIS G. PEABODY. light of men or as a means to study, would be no less than tragic. Mr. Peabody has in this letter referred to the need of guard- Do not, therefore, look on what has been accomplished ing other mountains-Brown Mountain, Robinson Mountain as other than a first step attained upon a longer way, which and Dog Mountain. should be followed only the more keenly for the national Mr. Dorr spoke to us of another development which co-operation that has been secured, the national recognition ought to take place on this Island-the study of its wild life won. of all sorts, its trees, shrubs and flowers, marine animals and land animals. Such studies add greatly to the interest PRESIDENT ELIOT of such a place as Mount Desert, both for adults and for children; and they afford exquisite delights to the people You see, ladies and gentlemen, that this celebration of an of whom Bishop Lawrence spoke as urban. important step in the progress of a large public work has in- In Mr. Dorr's work to secure these reservations on Mt. evitably brought in the mention of simple domestic loves, of Desert and put them in the hands of the Government he has transmitted affections and dispositions. found need of advice from scientific experts in all branches of I want to read at this stage a letter which received this 18 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 19 natural history. This occasion would have been incomplete of the new National Park, tells me he has noted more than unless we had been enabled to hear from one of these scientific 140 species of birds during his residence at Bar Harbor, a experts. I present to you Dr. Alfred G. Mayer, Director of wonderful list for any single area. Fully a hundred of these the Department of Marine Biology of the Carnegie Institu- are land birds, many of whom will soon become delightfully tion of Washington. tame under the Nation's kindly and protecting care. The rest are wanderers along the coast and strangely interesting, DR. ALFRED G. MAYER often, in form and habit. The scientific study of this region is singularly rich in LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: interest in many fields, with its fascinating geologic history, There is something essentially American in this gift to its glacial scars upon the ancient rocks, its grand fjord, the Nation, American in the sense that it must ever remain Somes Sound, its splendid sea-cut cliffs and deep ravines; stimulating and constructive in regard to the character of its while the forest, with its "murmuring pines and hemlocks," recipients, never arresting as SO often were the gifts of older its golden autumn foliage and dark green spruces, its density times. Yet was it an English friend of our land, Smithson- and interesting forest floor, is to me in its wild state the most a lover of freedom and a man of noble dreams-who first attractive in the world. established this modern form of giving in our country, when Alone among the nations we possess a coast line extend- he bequeathed to it in his will funds for the establishment of ing from the pine trees to the palms, from the gray and all but the Smithsonian Institution. arctic waters of Maine to the sparkling blue sea of Florida's At first men feared the very breadth of possibility it Gulf Stream. opened; but a great and leading spirit, Joseph Henry, so Our Government has, strangely, never established a shaped this possibility into definite achievement that today permanent laboratory north of Cape Cod for our fisheries' no other single agency for the advancement of science upon benefit, yet no richer or more promising field for biological this continent has succeeded so largely in constructive work work exists than that offered by these fruitful northern as the Smithsonian. How fortunate you are, then, in having waters, nor a more desirable and practical station for such similarly, as founders of this present enterprise, two other work than that offered by the tract of sheltered and deep- great and leading spirits-our famous and distinguished watered coast at Mount Desert now dedicated to the mem- chairman, Charles W. Eliot, and his far-sighted associate in ory of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. this project, George B. Dorr. How deeply we need more information respecting our For it is a project that contemplates far more than its fisheries is all too evident. Why was it that in 1911 our mere gift of land, important though that be. fishing fleet obtained not more than one quarter of its usual To Natural Science this gift, carried to its completion and expected catch of Cod? Think of the millions that according to the plans now made, should prove inestimable; might be saved, the loss and misery averted, could we but and it is as a naturalist that I must look upon these beautiful predict the fisheries catch as we now do the crops on land. forests with their soft green moss and clustering ferns, and In Norway, where the study of the practical problems of the on the old gray rocks that bear SO rich a growth of lichens. sea has made more headway than with us, they are able even But it is a meeting ground not of floras only; both the to predict in accurate measure the seasonal growth of trees Canadian and Appalachian faunas meet here too, and so along the coast, and to determine ahead the earliness or late- rich in bird life is it that Mr. Henry Lane Eno, ornithologist ness of the spring by observing the temperature of the neigh- 20 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT 21 boring ocean waters. Similarly a relation has been dis- covered between the abundance of those floating plants, the contamination by Bar Harbor or other sewage; and your in- diatoms, and the fluctuations of the herring in the North Sea. tended station there, with its well protected anchorage and Many a problem of vital import to our race awaits the ready access to the sea, constitutes a far better site for a solution of these ocean problems, and the science of marine laboratory than any one of those now occupied by our Fish biology, with all the advance that it has made, is yet but in Commission at Woods Hole, Beaufort, or Key West; for, good its infancy. as these sites are in some respects, none of them are imme- Let us hope that the guiding spirit of this foundation, diately adjacent to the pure waters of the open ocean. George B. Dorr, and his wise counsellor, Dr. Eliot, may be The tide-pools are far richer in marine life than those of given opportunity to establish it safely upon this larger basis, Newfoundland and compare favorably with those of East- now that its first and hardest stage has been completed, and port, Maine, before that region became contaminated by to continue the undertaking in like spirit to the past till a sewage. The marked variety, too, in the character of the priceless heritage be secured to future generations, in an en- shore, with its rocky tide-pools, its muddy or gravelly beach- during opportunity for important work in a locality so fa- es, its luxuriant growth of Fucus, Laminaria and other sea vorable. weeds, and the shade of the well-developed sea-caves in the cliffs, are all of them important factors, rendering the site PRESIDENT ELIOT superior to that of Newport in its best days for a Marine Laboratory. The address to which we have just listened contains so The surface "tow" showed that the floating life is that of many points of interest, SO much of science and suggestive the cold Shore Current which creeps down our coast from the thought, that we must all hope that we may be enabled to Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Cod, and of which a remnant read it. It ought to be printed for wide circulation. even reaches Cape Canaveral in Florida. Now, in August, This congratulatory meeting is now ended. We part the animals are sub-arctic in character, but in the spring and with rejoicing in our hearts at what has been accomplished, early summer I should expect to find many truly arctic forms and I am sure also with strong hope that the good work will maturing rapidly in the warming waters around Bar Harbor. be vigorously carried forward. Curiously, our Government has never established a perma- nent laboratory for the study of the sea north of Cape Cod, yet this region is that of the Cod and Haddock fisheries par The following letter received from Dr Mayer since the excellence, and, with the exception of the oyster, nearly every meeting is published here as adding, by a fresh expression, great fishery centers off the New England Coast north of to the already great interest of his address. Cape Cod. Thus your intended laboratory on Mt. Desert would meet a long-felt want. Gloucester, Mass., August 28, 1916. With our Country's past history in marine exploration, Dear Mr. Dorr: with such names behind us as Maury, Boche, and the Agas- During my recent stay with you at Oldfarm I was able sizs, father and son, we should not now be content to permit to inspect the shores and to make surface hauls in the waters the little nation of Norway to surpass us; yet this it has done, surrounding Mt. Desert. The tests I made show clearly and able as our men of science are they are powerless in the that the water off Salisbury Cove is practically free from absence of support for such researches. It is a great work, accordingly, that you and the public- 22 SIEUR DE MONTS NATIONAL MONUMENT spirited men associated with you are contemplating, and I hope if you do establish such a laboratory on Mt. Desert Island in connection with the Sieur de Monts National Mon- ment it will be one worthy of your aim and sufficiently endowed to enable it to conduct research work of interna- tional importance that will bring back once more to our Country the honorable position it once had of leadership in the study of the sea, its physics, its chemistry and its life. I have not spoken of the land, for this may be beyond the scope of the statement you desire from me; but nowhere along our entire coast is there such varied terrestrial environ- ment as is afforded by your abrupt, rocky mountains, post- glacial meadows of peat, your lakes and fjords, and your dense forests of Mt. Desert. A meeting place for both the Canadian and Appalachian faunas, it offers suitable habitats for a remarkable range of animal life. The smallness of the Island, in view of this, is a decided advantage, enabling one to travel readily from one environment to another of a wholly different character. It should afford a remarkable opportunity, also, for experimental plant-acclimatization, and with the co-operation of our Department of Agriculture interesting results should be achieved in this direction. In your gardens even now we find plants from the Carolinas growing by the side of others from Labrador. In the name of science I wish you all success, and shall esteem it a delight to render all service in my power to aid your project for the advance of learning and the appreciation of that rare beauty which is our Country's own. Yours truly, ALFRED G. MAYER. Page 1 of 4 Re: L.B. Deasy & SMNM Addresses From "Jack Russell" To Cc Date 12/16/2009 03:33:48 PM Attachments A MAINE MAN-1 Bill Final 130 words added to 8-22-1916 Quote.doc [ 1.00 MB Bretheren, I am confident Bill will join me in affirming what a pleasure it is to have Ron in the room -- and giving us amateurs some attention even while he is confined and in labor! Thank you, sir. I did not realize that my message might seem a mild criticism of Mr. Dorr. Not knowing the provenance of SANP as Ron does, I was guessing at what pressures for concision there may have been. In context, and having read the other printed addresses, I give GBD high marks for how much of LBD he included. My Jihad to affirm local contributions to ANP drives my advocacy for the first full paragraph of the famous 130 added words. (And I think by 1942 Mr. Dorr was both nearly 90 and totally blind -- right? We should all do so good!) On the path from Monument to Park, I find it fascinating that Wilson (or his drafting staff) referenced "park"-- lower case in his brief note. i missed that on first reading. (I am not a ww fan sanctimonious southern prig!). I suppose some of the context here is to what extent there was an understood possible path from Monument to Park in 1916. The Monuments Act was a decade old, but the NPS just created. Were other established monuments seeking and making the migration? I do not want to puff up LBD inappropriately (Bill would never allow that) but if he had a strategic intent in his frequent use of the "P" word in his address, Bravo for him! Ron, I will act with confidence on Bill's behalf. (This is always an intense week for him.) Attached please find the draft of Bill's essay as it stands now. I have only one remaining criticism: the very last sentence on page 15 is far too generous. Enjoy. Fraternally, Jack On Dec 16, 2009, at 2:01 PM, eppster2@myfairpoint.net wrote: Hi Jack and Bill, The enthusiasm that rings through your discovery of the Sieur de Monts Publication made me recall my feelings eight years ago as I tracked down 20 of the 23 extant titles in this series. I would have told you of the "Addresses" but assumed that you two were aware of it. Sorry. A careful comparison of The Story of Acadia National Park with the the content of the Addresses does indeed reveal two versions. You'll recall that the SANP is actually a compilation of Dorr's 1942 publication, Acadia National Park which was combined with a collection of notes that his Estate Trustees cobbled together to form part two, editing the content as they saw fit. On the issue at hand, I cannot account for Dorr's deletion of Deasy's meaningful content--and frankly, the short 1942 version would be better if it had been left in as Jack clearly implies. In a letter to President Eliot dated two days after the celebration Dorr states in the first sentence: "I have Deasy's and Dr. Mayer's addresses and my own I will write out from memory as soon as I find time. If you can send yours--and all your words and introductions--over in form for printing, together with what your stenographers were able to get down from Bishop Lawrence's, I will see what can be done to print the whole in some simple form for distribution to the summer residents [illegible word] the Island who may care for it as a memento of the Park's creation." (Records of the President of Harvard University. Charles W. Eliot. B. 95. Harvard University Arcfhives). Note: Dorr also omitted from SANP addresses by Hon. John Bunker, Reverend http://webmail.myfairpoint.net/mail/message.php?index=2169 12/16/2009 Page 2 of 4 Lawrence, and President Wilson's letter of regrets (the latter included a reference to the "park."); moreover, Dorr omitted references therein to Dr. Abbe that were contained in the Addresses. Jack suggested that I might find in the Hancock County Trustree Minutes references to the the paths taken in pursuit of national park status. Having reviewed my notes and the minutes I'm sorry to report that Harry Lynam did not document such discussions, if they took place with the context of their formal meeting. The Trustee Minutes that are extant are a disappointment for rarely to they report the content of discussion. Instead, they detail some property acquisitions, some overtures to and from Mr. Rockefeller Jr., and resolutions to transfer property to the federal government. This silence on important matters makes Deasy's choice to look at the path to full national park status all the more significant! And you can quote me on that! If Bill could share a draft with me of the article for Chebacco, I'd be highly appreciative. Best Wishes for the Holidays! Ron Quoting Jack Russell : Bro Bill, It is always a good day when more of Luere Babson Deasy comes into our lives. Yesterday at the MDI Historical Society Board Meeting Paul Richardson fraternally passed on to me copies of some of his papers, including a copy of the official program for the August 22 1916 event "Sieur de Monts National Monts National Monument -- Addresses Upon Its Opening." It contains what I take to be the complete speech by LBD on that momentous occasion. We may be pleased and proud that George B. Dorr devoted a full three pages (on 53-56) of his short book on The Story of Acadia National Park to the remarks of LBD that day, and proud as well of how LBD was clearly regarded by Dorr and Eliot, but it appears that, faced with the challenge of concision, Dorr did take the liberty to excise some words from LBD's speech as offered in his book. And WHAT he left out!! Just after LBD's wonderful paragraph, the first one you quote in your superb essay for Chebacco, the one that begins "The establishment of this Monument [It appears that Deasy actual said "Park" rather than "Monument" -- which I believe is significant -- see below] there come one sentence and two paragraphs that I believe express beautifully the distinct local and national vision which Deasy brought to the Trustees and the long labors and great achievement celebrated that day. To quote from the text Paul passed on to me, beginning with the Dorr-deleted final sentence of your first paragraph: "These guarantees are worth far more than the Park has cost." This great Park lies midway between Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor and Bar Harbor. It is equally accessible to them all. All have a common interest in it. It reaches out to each of these resorts and binds them together into one community. But to him who possess imagination and vision, the opening of this Park has a wider and deeper significance. That these mountains, standing at the very edge of the Continent, looking out across the ocean far beyond our Country's domain, should remain in private ownership, bought and sold by metes and bounds and used for private gain, is incongruous. That they should be held by the Nation in trust for all its people is their appropriate destiny." Jesus!! So much is done in these 130 words. First, LBD spoke of the "Park" rather than the "Monument" the then-legally correct term used, we presume with care, by Dorr and Eliot that day. O clever man! Let's remember that he was perhaps the only and surely the best lawyer on the stage. Having overseen and driven much of http://webmail.myfairpoint.net/mail/message.php?index=2169 12/16/2009 Page 1 of 2 Hold the Presses! A Gift for You! From "Jack Russell" To "Bill Horner" Cc "Emily Beck and Geoff Young" , Epp" , "Judy Goldstein" , "Jack Russell" , "Mount Desert Island Historical Society" , "Sandy Wilcox" Date 12/15/2009 10:27:27 AM Bro Bill, It is always a good day when more of Luere Babson Deasy comes into our lives. Yesterday at the MDI Historical Society Board Meeting Paul Richardson fraternally passed on to me copies of some of his papers, including a copy of the official program for the August 22 1916 event "Sieur de Monts National Monts National Monument Addresses Upon Its Opening." It contains what I take to be the complete speech by LBD on that momentous occasion. We may be pleased and proud that George B. Dorr devoted a full three pages (on 53-56) of his short book on The Story of Acadia National Park to the remarks of LBD that day, and proud as well of how LBD was clearly regarded by Dorr and Eliot, but it appears that, faced with the challenge of concision, Dorr did take the liberty to excise some words from LBD's speech as offered in his book. And WHAT he left out!! Just after LBD's wonderful paragraph, the first one you quote in your superb essay for Chebacco, the one that begins "The establishment of this Monument [It appears that Deasy actual said "Park" rather than "Monument" -- which I believe is significant -- see below] there come one sentence and two paragraphs that I believe express beautifully the distinct local and national vision which Deasy brought to the Trustees and the long labors and great achievement celebrated that day. To quote from the text Paul passed on to me, beginning with the Dorr-deleted final sentence of your first paragraph: "These guarantees are worth far more than the Park has cost." This great Park lies midway between Northeast Harbor, Seal Harbor and Bar Harbor. It is equally accessible to them all. All have a common interest in it. It reaches out to each of these resorts and binds them together into one community. But to him who possess imagination and vision, the opening of this Park has a wider and deeper significance. That these mountains, standing at the very edge of the Continent, looking out across the ocean far beyond our Country's domain, should remain in private ownership, bought and sold by metes and bounds and used for private gain, is incongruous. That they should be held by the Nation in trust for all its people is their appropriate destiny." Jesus!! So much is done in these 130 words. First, LBD spoke of the "Park" rather than the "Monument" -- the then-legally correct term used, we presume with care, by Dorr and Eliot that day. o clever man! Let's remember that he was perhaps the only and surely the best lawyer on the stage. Having overseen and driven much of the close legal work to acquire the land for the Trustees, rescued the biscuits in August at least once, and was surely grounded in the federal Monuments Act, Deasy was not a man to be fuzzy on these fundamental nouns! And yet, 8 times to 1 n his speech, he chose "Park" rather than "Monument." In this deliberate preference I hear the agenda of a sage politician steering his influential audience toward the future objective of designation as a true National Park, to be achieved in 1919. (I assume this path had been discussed by the Trustees by then. Ron would know. But how interesting and fitting that Deasy chose to look down that path in public, at the first great celebration.) But beyond this interesting choice, in the 130 Deasy words deleted by Dorr we hear the unique voice of the local island leader. Who else would see the Park as it was then as a bridge between the three villages on the east side of the island, a gift equally accessible to each (via connector trails!!), a matter of their common interest, and a bond to bind them into one community! And then, having done all that in 42 words, he balances his https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/mail/message.php?index=2151 12/15/2009 Page 2 of 2 appreciation of the local meaning of the Park with by far the best affirmation that day of its national significance! In three sentences and 77 words we are invited to envision the deeper and wider significance of what became Acadia. Appreciating the unique position of our place as the highest headland of Atlantic America, perhaps already gently encouraging understanding of Acadia as a world heritage ("far beyond our Country's domain"), Deasy does not flinch from affirming the conservation from capitalism celebrated that day. The Trustees, and the people of America acting through their elected President, have preserved this land for its appropriate destiny, rescuing this part of our place from the indignity of constant division and development for profit in private hands. Go, Luere! [On that interesting term "metes" I seek help. My Shorter OED fails me. I doubt it was intended as "meters" since why the foreign term? Probably a common usage now lapsed -- can anyone help?] Bro Bill, I hope you share my enthusiasm for the found 130 words. Would you consider asking Charlotte and Emily (CCed here) to have them added to the long quote on page of 11 of your great essay. I think they are fully consistent with and nicely enhance the dimensions of Mr. Deasy that you have done so much to restore to our understanding and appreciation. Fraternally, Jack (aka 70) https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/mail/message.php?index=2151 12/15/2009 Page 1 of 3 Re: CCC From "Jack Russell" To Date 12/13/2009 02:18:03 PM Attachments ASC 2011 Course Prospectus.doc [62.00 KB ] Dear Ron, What wonderful news! Bravo!! How the passage must sing in your veins. Although I have no right, given the slow pace of my own writing, I occasionally allow a fantasy of what it would feel like to actually finish the final essay, at least to my own satisfaction, lift my hands from the keyboard, look at them, and say, incredulously, "Done?" So allow me to live vicariously through your achievement and milestone. "Well done, sir!" -- and also, in the same voice, "Thank you." You chose your adventure and have done the research and writing for history, Mr. Dorr, and yourself -- but you will deliver a great gift to all those who care about the history of Acadia, the national parks, and the ethic and traditions that created and conserve them. Those many thousands, most of whom you will never know, are in your debt. So, as one of the beneficiaries who does have the privilege of knowing you, on behalf of all, I say "Thank you." Our lives will be richer for your huge effort. Not such a shabby a "Kilroy" my friend. With just modest notice of your visit I'm sure a replunge into the Dust Bin of Chapman would be easy to arrange, probably through Bill -- and I am sure that Bill and I and perhaps our better halves would enjoy breaking bread and toasting your milestone. (My only constrains as far as I know are a one-nighter to PA on 2/9 to preside at the retirement dinner of a venerable colleague and then, from 3/6-4/13, Jack and Sandy's Excellent Adventure, a 38 night, 21 state, 12 National Park Blueline Highway On the Road and goodbye to Mud Season trek to Arizona and back!) So come on up and be sure of a warm welcome. One of the most enjoyable and rewarding labors of this fall was working in modest editorial sport of Brother Bill on his very fine essay on Luere Babson Deasy. I think he has done an excellent appreciation and sober celebration of the man's substantial contribution to this place and, with generous quotes, reintroduced to the ears of today one of the finest voices that every rang in this bright island air. Even dour Charlotte, a tough hurdle at Chebacco, has used the term "home run" -- so my brotherly enthusiasm for Bill's work is confirmed by a significant other. I'll encourage Bill to send you a e-copy of the essay; he'll understand that it may take you some time to turn to it, given your priority. Retirement is excellent, thanks. I remain beyond the reach of debtor's prison and have accepted that the sum of civic commitments plus my own thinking-reading- writing constitute at least a full time job -- the difference is that I don't get paid. Lili Pew has asked me to serve as the Chair of our new Friends of Acadia Advocacy Task Force (likely to become a standing Committee at our May 2010 Board https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/mail/message.php?index=2139 12/13/2009 Page 2 of 3 Meeting). Done properly, this is perhaps a one-week-a-month serious commitment. I am also the convener of an Acadia Senior College "Coffee Clash" on the First Year of the Age of Obama on 1/15 -- I will perform at a table of 30+ of the Island's more serious political thinkers, so must come loaded for bear (or elephant). And I am very pregnant with a blessedly short-term task for the MDI Historical Society -- co-chairing, with Becky Cole-Will, our Planning Committee for the 2011 year-long celebration of 250 years of permanent island settlement by white folks. Good team, big task. (I attach for your "read later" file a "note" -- prospectus, really -- for the 3-course, 18-class ASC sequence I am considering teaching, with help, in 2011 via the Senior College. As you can see, its structure follows my plan for the book of essays -- and I want to believe that doing the course would advance that work as well.) My current knife in the brain is finishing the first essay, "Fire, Ice and Life" before we leave for a week with granddaughters in Arizona on 12/21. We'll see. So I am busy, and happy. Bravo, again, Ron! Fraternally, Jack On Dec 13, 2009, at 11:57 AM, eppster2@myfairpoint.net wrote: Hi Jack, I wanted you to be among the first to know that a couple of days ago I completed the last chapter of the Dorr biography. After my ghost editor responds with his critique of the last four chapters and I make the necessary correctings (and migrate the embedded footnotes), I'll be ready to send off the last half of the book to the publisher (the first half was submitted in July). I'm already responding to the publisher edits of the first couple of chapters. The Chapman Archive was of considerable help and I know that there is much more to learn about Deasy and Lynam in the months (and years?) ahead, but I had to bring closure. I do need to get to MDI in the next couple of months to finalize arrangements for the illustrations. Perhaps you, Bill, and I can get together-- and have another look at the Chapman Archive? The other night our PBS affiliate ran an hour long documentary on the CCC which contained superb historical footage and protracted interviews with four surviving cam members, though none from Acadia. I taped it on VHS. If you have a tape player and haven't seen it, I'll gladly send it off to you. How's your own retirement unfolding? Your writing? I miss our discussions! ! Our Best Seasonal Wishes for the Holidays! Ron Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 47 Pondview Drive Merrimack, NH 03054 (603) 424-6149 eppster2@myfairpoint.net https://webmail.myfairpoint.net/mail/message.php?index=2139 12/13/2009 BOR TIMES 940 5 CENTS A COPY No. 1341 BEAM JUDGE LUERE B. DEASY DIED SUDDENLY IN PORTLAND WEDNESDAY Had Served As Chief Justice Of The Supreme Court Of Maine; Unusually Brilliant Career SELECTMEN MAKE Judge Luere B. Deasy, Ex-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maine, died at the Eastland Hotel APPOINTMENTS in Portland on Wednesday morn- ing following a short illness. Judge Deasy was born in Gouldsboro on AT MEETING February, 1860 and there obtained his early public school education. He completed the courses of East- ern State Normal School at Cas- Entire Police Department Is tine, and began preparation for the profession of law in the office Reelected; John Higgins of former Chief Justice Lucillius Named To Fire Dept. A. Emery, completing his studies at Boston University Law School. Judge Deasy was admitted to At the regular meeting of the the bar of Hancock County in Bulletin Board of Selectmen on Thursday 1884 and in 1886 opened an office evening, appointments for the vari- in Bar Harbor. He practiced alone ous town departments were made for one year, then formed a part- including the Chief of Police, Po- nership with the late John T. Hig- leased By licemen, Reserve, Parks Foreman gins, practising as Deasy & Hig- and assistants,/permanent man at gins from 1889 until 1896. He the Fire House, Building Inspector again was in practice alone until and Custodian of the Municipal 1905 when he entered into part- sionary Soc. Pier. nership with the late A. H. Lynam, George C Abbott was re-elected the firm, Deasy & Lynam, continu- Chief of Police 28 were the pres- ing until the elevation of the sen- ent patrolmen, Harry Thomas, ior partner to the Supreme bench. Howard McFarland, Washington Judge Deasy practised in all State of New Sunbeam And What Grant and Harry Willey. The and Federal courts of the district present Police Reserve were also and through his frequent appear- ted Communities On Coast re-elected. Otis Keene was re- ances became well known in the appointed foreman of the Parks court. Reverend Neal D. Bousfield, Su- with George Watson, Jr., and Ce- On Semptember 1, 1918, Judge cil Hamor as assistants. perintendent of the Maine Sea Deasy was appointed to succeed Coast Missionary Society, has just John Higgins received the ap- (Continued on Page 4-No. 9) released the 1940 Spring bulletin pointment of permanent man at which gives a complete picture of the Fire House; Jesse Higgins, cus- the launching of the new Sun- dian of the municipal pier; and beam, the trial run, its acts of M. Milliken, building inspector. SOUTHWEST HBR. Mrs. Gilbert Foster was appointed mercy and excerpts from the to the Board of Child Welfare. Workers' logs. Dr. Bousfield also 154TH CCC CAMP commemorates the passing of Was Charles P. DeLaittre, who was a member of the Board of Directors. Bar Harbor Boy TO BE CLOSED on In speaking of the launching of the new Sunbeam, Dr. Bousfield states in part: "The new Sunbeam Promoted In Conn. slid into the icy waters of the Large Amount Of Work Pea- Damariscotta River on December Done On Island Since unced 27, 1939. In spite of low tempera- Wm. S. Carter Made Chief Opening In 1933 d's life; Maurice Stilli- John Wescott, Harold Carter and adia National Park on Fred Carter. Interment was in ley's parents. B of Nature"; Mrs. E. Irving Spurling and Warre Ledgelawn Cemetery. There was were in Bangor on Saturday leaves on the subject a profusion of beautiful flowers. Word has been received C of Movies and Radio" death of Miss Jennie Willist [va Seeley of the high If on "Dramatics and No. 8 Somerville, Mass. Miss Wil seion as an Aid to Per- has been a summer visitor he development." (Continued from Page 1) many years. She leaves h a MacLeod, telephone ther, Belvin Williston, to act. as transportation Feverish Blues," Lloyd, Marilyne deepest sympathy is extend will supply room in a Barnes; "Armistice," Tull, Gard- all his many Island friends. nyone who telephones ner Hethcoat; and "Fleurette and Frank Bartlett, Lewis F Parent Teacher Associa- Company," Dane, Ruth Higgins. and Eugene McCallaster hav ern having cars are un- Miss Ivy Seeley, teacher of Ex- to Ellsworth for a few we [uested to invite other pression, is in charge of the pro- work. o ride with them. Any- gram, and Miss Pauline Frew of Mrs. Walter Hadlock h : room in a car is asked Pemetic, Southwest Harbor; Prin- turned from a visit in Mrs. MacLeod of the cipal Rolf B. Motz, Mt. 51 Desert Mass., with her son. Mrs. I hich can be accommo- High, and Miss Ruth Pineo of Ells- Spurling is visiting her for worth will act as judges. weeks. bers are urged to attend Mrs. Riley Faulkingbar No. 9 daughter have moved up Jonesport. No. 4 (Continued from Page 1) Mrs. Eva Joy and W. A ling are visiting in Bangor George E. Bird as Associate Jus- week end. nued from Page 1) tice of the Supreme Indicial Court Mrs. F. W Morse and of the State of Maine and on Morse were in Portland las d McQuinn. Several of lement shoke of their ex- October 12, 929, became Chief and Mrs. John firemen in the early He resigned on abruary Gilley retu Justice 1930, and became emb of the firm, De nam odic Mrs. Gilber Whitney sp Island introduced the 1 elatives in ind Harok Rodick, retiring on lounge chair boro. 1932 erIn addition to the law business charge of ar. Judge Deasy was one of Bar Har included Shirleyed bon's ablest business men and public spirited citizens ever ready The mail who makes no Serenus Ass Hodgkins, Rodick to give of his time and ability. does not usually make amor. The smoker any movement affecting the public Page Four good He of the Bai Harbor THE BAR HARBOR TIMES Trust Company and on his chairman of its Board of Directors An Independent Weekly Newspaper Judge Deasy was also of the Robert Abbe Museum Published Thursday by the Public Antiquities, past presi Nar Harbor Times Publishing Company dent of the Bar Harbor Village Asa V. Wangatt, Editor office Times Dutidies Main Street, Bar Harbor provement Association, and one of the Hancock County trustees of Telephones 709-710 Public Reservations, whose Idea of Member of the Maine Press Association, Bar Harbor Merchants' Asso- preserving scenic lands for public use developed into the establishing clailion and the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce of Acadia National Park. During Mrs Foreign Advertising Representative The American Press Association the European war, he served as Mrs SUBSCRIPTIONS chairman of the Exemption Board Payable In Advance of the first Maine district and also $2.00 la United States; $3.00 Foreign Countries as chairman of the Bar Harbor Lai branch of the American Red Cross. Max United as second class matter, July 10, 1914, at the postoffice at In politics, a Republican. the re- IN Bar Harbor, Maine under Act of March 5, 1879 presented his district in the Maine ret Legislature and in 1909 was presi- Mr dent of the Senate. He was ap- pas pointed by Governor Haines as No. 1 was enjoyed by all, meeting as they did to honor the former chief chairman of the Maine Public hav and pledge themselves to the new Utilities Commission, but that hon- wh (Continued from Page 1) chief, Arthur McQuinn. or was declined. Judge Deasy was the a member of Bar Harbor Lodge, and a student intern at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. His intern- No. 5 Free and Accepted Masons; Mount the Kebo Chapter, Royal Arch Masons last ship was served at a Worcester, and Blanquefort Commandery, ano Mans. hospital and the two years (Continued from Page 1) Knights Templar. pli were completed with a term as Judge Deasy married Miss Em- De house surgeon. lating. All those present are very ma M. Clark of Gouldsboro, on you From 1934 for three and a half grateful to Prof. Brush for his December 25, 1885, who passed a years, Dr. Joy practiced at War- help. away on February 23, 1938. In the nor, New Hampshire, when he re- The committee planning the fo- April, 1939, he married Mrs. Mar- fav caived an appointment as obste- rum were delighted with the splen- cia Killman, who survives him as wo trician at the French Hospital in did representation of young people do two. daughters, Mrs. Asa H. wo Now York, remaining there for from the various communities of Hodgkins and Mrs. Frank W. Gray. fin one and one-half years, six months the Island: McKinley, Southwest There are four grandchildren, Mrs. Le training and one year as Chief Harbor, Northeast Harbor and W. Rea Horner of Portland, Rob- fre Resident obstetrician before an Seal Harbor, as well as Bar Har- ert Hodgkins, Marguerite Hodg- we appointment in the obstetrical and bor. All enjoyed the subsequent kins and Theodosia Gray of Bar At gonocolical department at the sociability. Harbor. on United States Naval Hospital in Arthur Berry took charge of the Funeral services will be held at ut Brooklyn. meeting. After Prof. Brush's talk two o'clock on Friday afternoon at in Dr. Joy sailed for Europe last and discussion, a social hour was the Congregational Church with July where he studied for three held so the young people from the the Rev. J. Homer Nelson officiat- CO months in outstanding hospitals of various parts of the Island could ing. th France and Switzerland. He was mix and feel free to ask Prof. caught by the war and returned Brush questions. The girls served No. 10 th home on the Ile de France. A refreshments and Miss Annette fo month later he returned to Europe Fuller and Miss Lois Pierce poured. as ship's surgeon on the United Sandwiches were furnished by Mrs. (Continued from Page 1) ha States Lines S. S. Washington. Neal Bousfield, Mrs. Theodore Em- Dr. Joy holds a commission of ery, Mrs. Harris McLean, Mrs. ure of $210,000 represents the sh da Lieutenant in the Medical Corps Chauncey McFarland, Mrs. Wil- value of the improvement and de- CI of the United States Naval Re- liam Russell and Mrs. John Whit- velopment work done in the Park serves and has many interests out- comb of the Girls' Work Commit- by this camp. Truck trails, foot fu side of his profession in the field tee. trails, water storage basins, water M of civic service. and sewer systems, campgrounds, No. 6 and other public facilities have te No. 2 been constructed, bringing Park se Continued from Page 1) development to a point which un- en der ordinary circumstances might by M PRESIDENT DIRECTORS FLETCHER T. WOOD, ROBERT ABBE MUSEUM OF STONE AGE FLETCHER T. WOOD CLARENCE C. LITTLE TREASURER ANTIQUITIES BENJAMIN L. HADLEY R. AMORY THORNDIKE WILLIAM J. SCHIEFFELIN ROSCOE C. E. BROWN CLERK BAR HARBOR, MAINE MRS, HERBERT BROWN WENDELL S. HADLOCK R. AMORY THORNDIKE MRS. J. D. CAMERON-BRADLEY CURATOR HENRY G. WOOD WENDELL S. HADLOCK Through the death on March 13, 1940 of Judge Luere B. Deasy the Robert Abbe Museum of Stone Age Antiquities lost one of its oldest and most faithful members, and Bar Harbor one of its most distinguished and useful citizens. Judge Deasy was an embodiment of the independent spirit and sturdy character of Eastern Maine. Born in Gouldsboro in 1859, he was educated at the Eastern State Normal School in Castine and studied law in Boston University. After practicing law in this commu- nity for many years and taking a leading place in its business and financial affairs, he was appointed to the highest court of the State in 1918 and served as an associate justice for eleven years until 1929 when he was named Chief Justice. After his retirement on reaching the con- stitutional age limit the following year, he resumed his active part in the life of Mount Desert. Judge Deasy was one of the original members of the Robert Abbe Museum of Stone Age Antiquities, which corporation was formed on October 11, 1926 under the name of the Lafayette National Park Museum of Stone Age Antiquities. From the beginning until his death he was a director and the treasurer of the Corporation and with great skill and foresight he carried on the financial affairs of the Museum during the business depression which has played such sad havoc with endowment funds. In 1929 he was chosen president of the Museum and continued in that office until he insisted on retiring in 1936. In token of their personal affection for their associate and of their high appreciation of his long service to the Museum, the members of the corporation at this their annual meeting direct that this memorandum be entered on their minutes, and that a copy of it be sent to the family of Judge Deasy. FILE NO. 2682-A HALE AND DORR Hendock ORIGINAL FILE COPY sensed NOT TO LEAVE THE OFFICE RWH/JAC 3 September 22, 1939 E. K. Dunham, Esq. Seal Harbor Maine Please forward. Dear Mr. Dunham: At the H.C.T. of P.R. annual meeting I took off my hat to the Dunham deficit fund. Tell me what was remitted to you. George B. Dorr sotto voce tried to substitute Benjamin L. Hadley, real head of the Park, as Vice- President in his place. I don't want it. Do you? Deasy and Dorr are bad lives. We should be prepared. I want Samuel Eliot Morison 1. as Vice-President now, 8. as President when, &0. Also I want Dorr always Vice-President, and when Dersy goes Honorary President." Will you join me in planning for this? Yours very truly, Richard W. Hale Richard W. Hale sen SEP 23 1939 1535 Great Maine Men HONORABLE WILLIAM ROBINSON PATTANGALL WILLIAM R. PATTANGALL Deasy, King. Allen, Powers, Sewall, Gillen, Leavitt, and a score or two more. One can hardly blame them [October 1, 1909) for going at the time, free silver was strange doctrine to Maine Democrats. But, one cannot help wondering LUERE B. DEASY how they managed to stay where they are if they really believed in the political creed which they eloquently preached in the campaigns from 1884 If Governor Fernald lives until the first Wednesday to 1892. Local option men, all of them then, low of January. A.D., 1911. he will have the pleasure tariff men too, it must come hard for them to talk of noticing that his successor is a Democrat. If he the cant of prohibition and high protection. Most dies, resigns, [fancy Governor Fernald resigning?} of them have met material reward for their apostasy. or. by reason of any disability. is unable to continue but that does not wholly suffice. Now and then, they in office until that time, he will be succeeded by must tire of the flesh pots and long to toil once more a man who has been a Democrat more years than with the slaving hosts of Israel and have a home in he has been a Republican. Now. he is a member in Canaan to look forward to. good standing of the great party of righteousness Mr. Deasy was some time gaining real recognization and illegal expense accounts, of graft and morality. as a Republican. The state machine was a mighty Our laws provide that the President of the Senate close corporation during the years immediately shall become Governor in case a vacancy occurs in following 1896. Stockholders were welcome in it, the latter office. Hence. but one life, albeit a provided they gave their proxies to the nearest member remarkable robust one, stands between Luere B. Deasy of the ring. when election day came on. But. seats and the Governorship of the State of Maine which at the directors table were hard to obtain. When is as close to the Governorship as Senator Deasy Democracy woke up in 1904, and began once more will ever get. to be a vital force in state affairs, all this was changed. Luere B. Deasy was born in Gouldsborough, Hancock Then, men of ability were needed to do the work County. in 1859, of well-to-do, but honest, Democratic of the machine. The old crowd had grown inert and parents. When he was 24 years old, after graduating helpless from long rest and little exercise. Deasy. from Castine Normal School and Boston University being a man of ability. of extraordinary ability indeed. Law School, he was admitted to the bar. He has not only as a lawyer. but in any line to which he turned practiced law in Bar Harbor ever since. his mind. gained recognition. Up until 1896, Mr. Deasy was a Democrat. In In 1906. he desired office and became a candidate fact. in 1896, he was a delegate to the Democratic for Senator. Dr. Patten was his opponent in the National Convention in Chicago. and heard (W.J.) convention. It was a great day for the delegates. Bryan deliver his famous "Cross of Gold" speech. Men, who had borrowed car fare to take themselves That speech captured the convention, but it did not to Ellsworth to cheer for prohibition and pure politics. capture Mr. Deasy. who came home from Chicago could have ridden home in automobiles if they so nearly Republican that he soon became a recognized had cared to do so. Most of them preferred to keep member of that organization. the money. It was good Bar Harbor money too. Money What an array of leaders free silver lost to Maine which our friend Deasy had earned legitimately in Democracy! Men of sufficient talent for politics his lucrative law practice and was willing to spend that they have since become Republican leaders 45 44 The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations was founded in August and September 1901. The first formal meeting for incorporation was held on August 29, thirty nine years ago tomorrow. Through those thirty nine years Judge Luere B. Deasy, whose death occurred in Portland on March 13, 1940, was a leader in its work. He was one of its original incorporators and a member of its first Executive committee. On the death of Charles W. Eliot, the first President of the Trustees, in 1926 Judge Deasy was chosen President, and he continued in that office until his life's end. Judge Deasy was born in Gouldsboro in 1859, received his academic training at the Eastern State Normal School in Castine, and studied law in Boston University. After many years of law practice and leadership in business and financial affairs in this community he was appointed an associate justice of the highest court of the State in 1918 and after eleven years service in the court he became Chief Justice of Maine in 1929. After his retire- ment on reaching the constitutional age limit a year later he re- turned to the practice of the law in Bar Harbor. The shrewd wisdom, trenchant wit, kindly humor and inflexible integrity of New England character at its best marked Judge Deasy's personality. He deeply loved Mount Desert, and was a pioneer in the movement for the preservation of its unique beauty, and the conservation of its shores and mountains for the enjoyment of the whole people. As a native, rooted in the soil of Maine and com- manding the universal confidence of the all-year residents, he helped to bring popular support to the work of this body, and to overcome the feeling that woodlands should remain on the tax rolls and under private ownership, which would have inevitably doomed 2 them to lumbering and devastation. The success of the Trustees of Public Reservations, culminating in the development of the Acadia National Park, is due in no small measure to his loyalty and devotion. In token of their personal affection for, and appreciation of the character of their long-time associate the members of this corporation at this their annual meeting direct that this semor- andum be entered on their minutes, and that a copy of it be sent to the family of Judge Deasy. August 28, 1940. [Roscoe C. E.Brown] PRESIDENT DIRECTORS FLETCHER WOOD ROBERT ABBE MUSEUM OF STONE AGE FLETCHER T. WOOD CLARENCE C. LITTLE TREASURER ANTIQUITIES BENJAMIN L. HADLEY R. AMORY THORNDIKE WILLIAM J. SCHIEFFELIN ROSCOE C. E. BROWN CLERK BAR HARBOR, MAINE MRS. HERBERT BROWN WENDELL S. HADLOCK R. AMORY THORNDIKE MRS. J. D. CAMERON-BRADLEY CURATOR HENRY G. WOOD WENDELL S. HADLOCK Through the death on March 13, 1940 of Judge Luere B. Deasy the Robert Abbe Museum of Stone Age Antiquities lost one of its oldest and most faithful members, and Bar Harbor one of its most distinguished and useful citizens. Judge Deasy was an embodiment of the independent spirit and sturdy character of Eastern Maine. Born in Gouldsboro in 1859, he was educated at the Eastern State Normal School in Castine and studied law in Boston University. After practicing law in this commu- nity for many years and taking a leading place in its business and financial affairs, he was appointed to the highest court of the State in 1918 and served as an associate justice for eleven years until 1929 when he was named Chief Justice. After his retirement on reaching the con- stitutional age limit the following year, he resumed his active part in the life of Mount Desert. Judge Deasy was one of the original members of the Robert Abbe Museum of Stone Age Antiquities, which corporation was formed on October 11, 1926 under the name of the Lafayette National Park Museum of Stone Age Antiquities. From the beginning until his death he was a director and the treasurer of the Corporation and with great skill and foresight he carried on the financial affairs of the Museum during the business depression which has played such sad havoc with endowment funds. In 1929 he was chosen president of the Museum and continued in that office until he insisted on retiring in 1936. In token of their personal affection for their associate and of their high appreciation of his long service to the Museum, the members of the corporation at this their annual meeting direct that this memorandum be entered on their minutes, and that a copy of it be sent to the family of Judge Deasy. 20 Horner Collection Horner Collection Homepage 2_(https://mdihistory.org). > History Harvest Collections (https://mdihistory.org/historyharvest/). > Horner Collection Description: n 1859, a schooner called the "Break O'Day" was launched from Gloucester, Massachusetts. Her captain, Cpt. Daniel Deasy, had immigrated from Ireland to Prospect Harbor, Maine, where he named his son, Luere Babson Deasy, after the ship's owner. Luere Babson Deasy went on to establish a thriving law practice in Bar Harbor through the '20s and '30s. In this oral history, Bill Horner shares a family story with the help of two artifacts: an oil painting and a photograph. idihistory.org/historyharvest/horner-collection/ 1/9 120 Horner Collection (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eD2I (https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UM5 Vh Mass Ws5XqGgbHEacje3gginQQd2HqrMdrINT DgAYOvqA- (ca. 1911) of Luere standing), Bob Deasy (center), and Capt. (right). Oral History: 00:00 00:00 Oral History Transcription: /mdihistory.org/historyharvest/horner-collection/ 2/9 120 Horner Collection JB: This is Jenna Beaulieu interviewing History Harvest participant Bill Horner at the Sound Schoolhouse on July 12th, 2018, as part of the Mount Desert Island Historical Society's History Harvest Trial Run. JB: And you have two artifacts that you brought today? 3H: Yes. JB: The first one is this oil painting on canvas from 1859. So, could you tell me a little bit about it? 3H: Yes, this is a family artifact, if you will. When I was a little boy, there was a farmhouse with a fireplace called the Deasy farm. And this painting hung over the fireplace. Occasionally | would ask the adults around, "Why is this there?" and they would say, well, you have an ancestor who was a sea captain, and that was his ship. Years passed, and the farm was sold, and the painting came to be in my parents' home where | grew up, from about 1952 on, and again hung over the fireplace. And my mother was one that kept a calendar every day. And kept photographs, and everything. As | got a little bit older and more inquisitive, I kept asking the question and getting the same general answer, and SO finally, when I came back to Maine and was practicing medicine up in Bangor, and particularly as | was approaching retirement, | thought, this might be a good object for research. So this is where my history career began. /mdihistory.org/historyharvest/horner-collection/ 3/9 20 Horner Collection The painting is unsigned. The type of vessel is clearly a schooner. Schooners are characterized by having usually two masts, and the foremast, the one in front, is shorter than the main mast. But there are a couple of other peculiarities about this particular painting, because it's obviously celebratory: a working schooner would not carry a huge pennant, for example, where it says "Break O'Day" off the main mast. It would not carry a huge American flag like that; that's put been out of proportion. And then the interesting thing to me was that the burgee that's flying off the foremast has the letter "B" on it. I thought, well, if that's the captain Deasy's vessel, why isn't the letter "D" on it? Trying to figure out when this is painted and where led back into family history, and through that, finally down to Gloucester, Massachusetts, and specifically down to Essex, Massachusetts, which was a schooner building center back in the days of sail, when :hey were sailing off to the Grand Banks for codfish or off on Georges Bank for mackerel. So, | brought the second artifact because it relates directly to the painting and the story about solving the riddle. This is a family photograph, which shows four individuals: each represents a generation. The youngest here, this little boy, is my uncle Bob, who had been my mother's brother. My mother hadn't been born yet. The woman forming the center of the triangle here is my grandmother, my mother's mother, and her maiden name was Blanche Deasy. And on the left side of the picture is her father, Luere Babson Deasy, who would become an attorney in the town of Bar Harbor, a member of the /mdihistory.org/historyharvest/horner-collection/ 4/9 20 Horner Collection Hancock County Trustees, and a member of the Wall Court. So he had very significant aw practice in the 80s, on through the '20s and '30s. And finally, we have this elderly gentleman, on the right-hand side, who is Luere Babson Deasy's father, Daniel Deasy. And Daniel is the captain. Whence came these people-i isn't clear. But I've been to New England genealogical and historical societies, looking and genealogies, and censuses, and SO forth. We think that Daniel himself was an Irish immigrant, who most likely came into New Brunswick. He died at the age of 88 in 1911 or SO. If we extrapolate, he was probably born in the early 1830s. And somehow made his way to Prospect Harbor, Maine, which is over on the Gouldsboro peninsula. And then through other documentation that I've discovered along the way, I've learned that he subsequently earned the seafaring trade, as many young men his age did, as an apprentice to a young man from Prospect Harbor, and made his way down to Gloucester. The son, the attorney Luere Babson Deasy-you always say, what's in a name?-and his name was actually the key to figuring out the connection to the painting. And the letter "B" on the burgee. Babson is a well-known family down on Cape Ann, Gloucester. And if you look in he Babson geneaology, you find that indeed, there was a fellow named John Luere Babson, who was about the same age as Captain Daniel Deasy. So it's clear that when my great-grandfather was born in 1859, he was named for Captain Deasy's employer, essentially. Luere Babson. And SO, with that information, I was able to go to the Gloucester Ship's Registry, and the Cape Ann Museum, and the Essex Shipbuilding /mdihistory.org/historyharvest/horner-collection/ 5/9 20 Horner Collection Museum, where they have a database of all the schooners built in Essex, and lo' and behold, I found the "Break O'Day"; | found the year that she was launched, 1859. The ownership was one John Luere Babson, and her master was Daniel Deasy. So everything just all came together. So, getting back to the painting-I indicated circa 1859, but it could have been more recent than that, | suppose. But it's obviously to celebrate the launch of this new vessel. And that was the beginning of my history career. With the detective work involved, it's ascinating. Talking to many many many people, doing a lot of recording myself, online searches, but also going out to art galleries-the Peabody Essex Museum down in Gloucester, and other places that | mentioned-it's really ignited a passion for history. And the family connection just sweetens the pot. JB: That's great, I love how they're connected. Do you know when the photo was taken? 3H: | know when my uncle was born, and by extrapolating to his likely age there, which ooks to be about three or four, | guess- would say it was taken around 1910 - 1912. And t's obviously a posed photograph. At that time, the lawyer, the judge, was well- established in town in Bar Harbor, where he moved with his family and had a thriving law practice. So they could afford to have a formal family portrait taken at the local studio. /mdihistory.org/historyharvest/horner-collection 6/9 20 Horner Collection The dominant one in that area, based on other research on what was going on in Maine Street and Cottage Street businesses then, it was probably a fellow named Bradley who look the picture. JB: Very interesting. Well, thank you very much! 3H: It's a pleasure! Contact Information PO Box 653, Mount Desert, ME 04660 (207) 276-9323 leah.lucey@mdihistory.org (mailto:leah.lucey@mdihistory.org) f Like Us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mdihistory/) Watch The Webcam (/somesville-bridge-camera/) /mdihistory.org/historyharvest/horner-collection/ 7/9 1/16/2021 1 - 25 of 36 results lhe History Trust Improvement Association Item bhvia-1045 Item jml-2844 only Enlowerth, Maine, March 30th 1934. Hon. Harbort Work, Secretary of the Interior, Manhington, D. 0. My doar Mr. Secretary:- A dourt insasion will prevent my attendance nt the Park hearing March 26th. I nua deeply interested in the Lufayatta National Park. From my birth my home has always been within eight of its hills. Under Dr. Charlen W. Eliot Procident, I HAIR an officer of the public corporation that through way itifts, duvines and purchases secured title to the Park and presented 1 $ to the Fadern. Government. I was must statified when your the late Sharetary Lane, visited and inspeated the Park and again liter when I new the plan of Park ronda approved, after carsful examination, by the Park Service. these offi- dially upproved tondo extend but a for miles through ten thousand noros of park land. They are borevox admirably planned no as to Afford protection to the Park and to make some of ito beauties accessible to the great major ity of us who from naousnity or choice arm not mountain climberu. I was especially plaused when Goorge B. Dorr wns Appointed custodinn of the Park and Rivon charge of its roads. In public apirit, enthusis.com, energy and interrity Mr. Dorr in unted by #11 who know him at ons hundred per cont. Mr. Dorr was sivon explicit authority by the Park Service to raime Honey from private gourges, and to proceed with the road aunetruo- tion. This, without compensation or possibility of personal benefit, he proceeded to do. From gonarous and public spirited citimona he secured large contributions and has carried on the work procisely, I believe, in apportance with the officially approved plan. A ohort #1100 ago I learned with natonishment that there was opposition to the contimunon of the work on the roads no officially planned and from done Hourded opposition no 11 Park romin. I believo that some part of all public parka should be made accessible to the public. This the opposition nay is an erronaous theory. Ite Objections from some pourdea go only to details, Wauther in respect to details any modification would improve the plan should at course be enrofully considered, though to my mini no rediffication that has boon suggested 1H necessary OF decirable. I AUTO that apponition to the road building plan no a whole is confined to a very, very san12 fractionn1 part of the persons familiar with, and interested In the Park, and while sincere 18 not in the internat or the public. Yury sincerely yours, fredge Deary y B Clease S Lil Ite Luere B. Deasy to Hubert Work Letter, March 20, 1924 Bar Harbor Village Improvement Association https://historytrust.net/digitalarchive/find?query=Deasy&view=4 4/5 6/7/2021 Gmail :Luere B. Deasy M Gmail Ronald Epp Luere B. Deasy 3 messages Ronald Epp Tue, May 25, 2021 at 8:25 PM To: Bill Horner Hi Bill, I found some interesting comments to Deasy that I do not recall you referencing in your 2010 Chebacco article. Right Reverend William Lawrence, D.D., L.L.D. spent more than 70 summers in Bar Harbor and was much involved with the BHVIA. Robert Abbe, and George Dorr. Having read Memories of a Happy Life, his autobiography, I picked up today the biography of his retirement years by Henry Knox herrill--William Lawrence: Later Years of a Happy Life.. After discussing at some length Lawrences' life on MDI, he notes that: "The Bishop expressed his feeling in this regard [the future protection and use of MDI] to Judge L.B. Deasy. It is an interesting letter. in that it reveals Bishop Lawrence's love of the past, and especially his dislike of the many and inevitable changes; but it also shows his realistic acceptance of facts. and is, as was true of all he said and did, forward looking in his desire to see the needs of all the people met. He wrote: Since I came here sixty years ago [circa 1870} and found only a fishing and farming village, a few boarding-houses, and three cottages just built in the Field, there have come changes and more changes. In those days the whole Island was ours to roam over. We climbed the pathless mountains, we had the summits of Green, Newport, and Sargent to ourselves, and felt the thrill of exploration. As to vehicles, we started with mountain wagons, then came buckboards, bench wagons, cut-unders, and. to our horror, some New York swells brought victorias and broughams. Meanswhile, much of the charm of the old, narrow and winding roads has gone in the straightening, widening, and grading. Honestly, I wanted no more changes; but as an old inhabitant, I felt that I ought to face the situation with an open mind Frankly, I hate to write this letter. I turn my eyes from the scarred mountainsides which only time will heal. I dread the increasing multitudes of trippers; I shall miss the informal rough roads; I am weary of smooth surfaces and suburban-like surroundings. With this said, I am convinced against my own wishes that it is our duty as residents of this beautiful island to make it as open as possible to the whole people. This is a National Park; it belongs to the Nation, not only we, are supporting it; they have equal rights with us to iits use. Millions will enter into the enjoyment of what thousands of us have hitherto delighted in." Bill, the above is inserted in the narrative after referencing his "friendly discussions with Mr. John D. Rockefelleer, Jr., Mr. George Dorr, and others." No date is given for the letter and I https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=7c5f299744&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-a%3Ar-3386237707584337104&simpl=msg-a%3Ar-33845852. 1/3 6/7/2021 Gmail - :Luere B. Deasy wondered if you had come across it. Perhaps in your research on the Chebacco auto roads article? I do not recall much attention being given to rev. Lawrence in diverse accounts of Bar Harbor culture. surprises me that support from Lawrence was not secured along with Deasy, Peters, and scores of other individuals who offered testimong at the 1924 Hearings before Secretary Work regarding Rockefeller's road expansion. This statement of his has power and should be incorporated into the conservation literature! Your thoughts? Ron Bill Horner Fri, Jun 4, 2021 at 8:24 AM To: Ronald Epp Thanks for this, Ron, and I apologize for the unconscionable delay in getting back to you. I have no documentation or memory of communications between Bishop Lawrence and LBD. But, Pauline may be of help here. Have you contacted her? As you know, when Doug was alive, she managed to catalog quite a lot of material from the firm. And then, we have the rescue operation following his death, with the resulting files now stored at Margaret Jeffries' law office and of which Pauline did a major "sorting" over several months. Her memory may help here. Bill [Quoted text hidden] Pauline Angione Fri, Jun 4, 2021 at 1:25 PM To: William Horner , Ronald Epp I found this in the JDR boxes but it is in box 4, file 275 at Colby (that box/folder has not been scanned) Eliot Report: PRELIMINARY PLAN the Future of Mt. Desert Island, Report prepared for Plan Committee, Village Improvement Societies of Mt. Desert Island. By Charles W. Eliot, 2nd., Landscape Architect, October 1, 1927. One report over 50 pages missing the title page. One 29 pages with a transmittal letter from Eliot to Rt. Rev William Lawrence, Chairman, Plan Committee, Bar Harbor Village Improvement Society. Both are carbon copies on onion skin paper But doesn't sound like what you are looking for. If it does seem worth following up on we could ask the archivist at Colby to scan and send to us. Ron, are you familiar with the Report mentioned? hhttps://mail.google.com/mai/u/0?ik=7c5f299744&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-a%3Ar-3386237707584337104&simpl=msg-a%3Ar-33845852.. 2/3 6/7/2021 Gmail - :Luere B. Deasy wondered if you had come across it. Perhaps in your research on the Chebacco auto roads article? I do not recall much attention being given to rev. Lawrence in diverse accounts of Bar Harbor culture. It surprises me that support from Lawrence was not secured along with Deasy, Peters, and scores of other individuals who offered testimong at the 1924 Hearings before Secretary Work regarding Rockefeller's road expansion. This statement of his has power and should be incorporated into the conservation literature! Your thoughts? Ron Bill Horner Fri, Jun 4, 2021 at 8:24 AM To: Ronald Epp Thanks for this, Ron, and I apologize for the unconscionable delay in getting back to you. I have no documentation or memory of communications between Bishop Lawrence and LBD. But, Pauline may be of help here. Have you contacted her? As you know, when Doug was alive, she managed to catalog quite a lot of material from the firm. And then, we have the rescue operation following his death, with the resulting files now stored at Margaret Jeffries' law office and of which Pauline did a major "sorting" over several months. Her memory may help here. Bill [Quoted text hidden] Pauline Angione Fri, Jun 4, 2021 at 1:25 PM To: William Horner , Ronald Epp I found this in the JDR boxes but it is in box 4, file 275 at Colby (that box/folder has not been scanned) Eliot Report: PRELIMINARY PLAN the Future of Mt. Desert Island, Report prepared for Plan Committee, Village Improvement Societies of Mt. Desert Island. By Charles W. Eliot, 2nd., Landscape Architect, October 1, 1927. One report over 50 pages missing the title page. One 29 pages with a transmittal letter from Eliot to Rt. Rev William Lawrence, Chairman, Plan Committee, Bar Harbor Village Improvement Society. Both are carbon copies on onion skin paper But doesn't sound like what you are looking for. If it does seem worth following up on we could ask the archivist at Colby to scan and send to us. Ron, are you familiar with the Report mentioned? https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=7c5f299744&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-a%3Ar-3386237707584337104&simpl=msg-a%3Ar-33845852 2/3 6/7/2021 Gmail - :Luere B. Deasy Pauline V. Angione Phone/Text/Messages: 207.632.4962 pangione@gmail.com Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2076324962 Forwarded message From: Bill Horner Date: Fri, Jun 4, 2021 at 8:25 AM Subject: Fwd: :Luere B. Deasy To: Pauline Angione [Quoted text hidden] Ronald Epp Mon, Jun 7, 2021 at 3:38 PM To: Pauline Angione , Bill Horner Hi Pauline, Just back yesterday from a six day seven state (plus D. of Columbia) tour to visit friends not seen since the pandemic. I am delighted that you were able to find your entry for (b.4, f.275) at Colby of the C.W. Eliot II Report on "The Future of Mount Desert. Island." It is a much overlooked yet absolutely pivotal document for how MDI could have developed in the last 90 years if the Harvard President's grandson had had his way. This report was undertaken two years after the death of C.W.E. an event that led to great uncertainty about the future of the park and the fate of the Rockdefeller road initiatives. I have long wanted to write an article on this essay-- which contains brilliant colored maps that I have not seen elsewhere-- knowing that the Dorr biography could only make passing reference to it. I have an original, not a copy--and it is 29 pages plus a couple of pages of indexing. Would you like me to scan it for you? What intrigues me in your reference is the "One report over 50 pages missing the title page" was about which I would much like a scan. And I would also like a scan of the "transmittal letter from Eluiot to Lawrence" to compare against what I quoted from the Henry Sherrill biography of Lawrence. Will you please ask the Colby archivist if this is possible? Hope this is helpful. Any movement on the estimates issue? Ron [Quoted text hidden] https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ik=7c5f299744&view=pt&search=all&permthid=thread-a%3Ar-3386237707584337104&simpl=msg-a%3Ar-33845852. 3/3 PRESIDENT DIRECTORS FLETCHER T. WOOD ROBERT ABBE MUSEUM OF STONE AGE FLETCHER T. WOOD CLARENCE C. LITTLE TREASURER ANTIQUITIES BENJAMIN L. HADLEY R. AMORY THORNDIKE WILLIAM J. SCHIEFFELIN ROSCOE C. E. BROWN CLERK BAR HARBOR, MAINE MRS. HERBERT BROWN WENDELL S. HADLOCK R. AMORY THORNDIKE MRS. J. D. CAMERON-BRADLEY CURATOR HENRY G. WOOD WENDELL S. HADLOCK Through the death on March 13, 1940 of Judge Luere B. Deasy the Robert Abbe Museum of Stone Age Antiquities lost one of its oldest and most faithful members, and Bar Harbor one of its most distinguished and useful citizens. Judge Deasy was an embodiment of the independent spirit and sturdy character of Eastern Maine. Born in Gouldsboro in 1859, he was educated at the Eastern State Normal School in Castine and studied law in Boston University. After practicing law in this commu- nity for many years and taking a leading place in its business and financial affairs, he was appointed to the highest court of the State in 1918 and served as an associate justice for eleven years until 1929 when he was named Chief Justice. After his retirement on reaching the con- stitutional age limit the following year, he resumed his active part in the life of Mount Desert. Judge Deasy was one of the original members of the Robert Abbe Museum of Stone Age Antiquities, which corporation was formed on October 11, 1926 under the name of the Lafayette National Park Museum of Stone Age Antiquities. From the beginning until his death he was a director and the treasurer of the Corporation and with great skill and foresight he carried on the financial affairs of the Museum during the business depression which has played such sad havoc with endowment funds. In 1929 he was chosen president of the Museum and continued in that office until he insisted on retiring in 1936. In token of their personal affection for their associate and of their high appreciation of his long service to the Museum, the members of the corporation at this their annual meeting direct that this memorandum be entered on their minutes, and that a copy of it be sent to the family of Judge Deasy. DEASY: A MAINE MAN BILL HORNER, M.D. On June 4, 1941 the Supreme Court of the State of Maine convened for services and exercises in memory of one of their number who had died at the age of 81 on March 13, 1940. The solemn gathering was called to remember and pay tribute to the life of The Honorable Luere Babson Deasy, former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court. In attendance were six sitting Justices and five colleagues who had been invited to speak. The Honorable William R. Pattangall, a former Chief Justice himself, said of Deasy, He moved my admiration, respect and regard as have few men with whom I have come in contact. He possessed the essential qualities of greatness, intellectual honesty, courage, integrity, and a brilliancy of intellect unexcelled by any man of my acquaintance. His broad conception of life, his knowledge of human nature, his innate sense of justice, his power of analysis, the breadth and depth of his philosophy marked him as one who towered above his associates, with whom, nevertheless, he mingled with unaffected modesty on a common plane. The Honorable John A. Peters, Judge of the District Court of the United States, observed, Without using the obvious arts of oratory Mr. Deasy always accomplished the purpose of the orator by the lucidity of his statement, the logic of his argument and the earnestness of his address. In his prime there was no more effective user of the public spoken word in Maine. The most striking feature of his speeches was emphasis. Having made a point, sharp and clear cut, he drove it home with the blows of a blacksmith 'lbe Honorable Luere Babson Deasy The blows he struck his adversary were hard and painful - but never below the belt I knew him better at home and in the environment where, to his neighbors, the perfor- mance of his judicial duties, after his appointment, seemed hebacco XI (2010):6-31. something apart that should not interfere with his more important functions as leading citizen and public counselor