Who Killed Captain Rumill? Near the end of the Great Age of Sail, Edna Hysom watched her sea-captain father go off on an ill-starred voyage from which he was never to return. By Nan Lincoln 0 N a late summer morning in 1905, Cap- the past half-century, become a vacation spot tain Edwin B. Rumill, of Pretty Marsh for city-weary summer residents and a bed- - a small village on the western shore room community for folks who work, shop, of Mount Desert Island kissed his wife, and find their entertainment either off-island or Lettie, and his two children goodbye. Dressed in the larger island towns of Southwest Harbor in his traveling clothes and carrying several and Bar Harbor. large canvas duffel bags, the captain climbed Village sawmills no longer rip out lumber into the single-horse buggy he had hired to take and barrel staves down the road from Captain him to the train depot in Ellsworth. The train Rumill's house. In summer, bare-chested men would take him to Boston, and from there to no longer pry slabs of granite paving stones Philadelphia, where he planned to meet his from a scattering of small quarries. Nor are ship. massive blocks of ice from Long Pond sluiced This was one of the captain's shorter as- down into the harbor to be carried off by sailing signments: a quick sail down the coast to ships. The insistent call of the school bell no Mobile, Alabama, to pick up a cargo of lumber longer summons village children to the little and carry it back to Philadelphia. He expected white clapboard schoolhouse, and the big hotel to be home before the last leaves had fallen where summer visitors once danced from the trees. As they had SO many times across the wide veranda, has long since been before, Lettie and the two children, ten-year- reduced to mossy foundation stones and shards old George and seven-year-old Edna, watched of broken chinaware. from the dooryard of their home as the little Still, if the restless spirit of Captain Edwin buggy rattled down the narrow dirt road B. Rumill were to return to the quiet island watched until the dust kicked up by the horse's village today, he would have no trouble recog- hooves and the rolling, iron-rimmed wheels nizing the place and, after eighty-four years, obscured their vision of their departing hus- finding his way home. Navigating along the band and father. now-paved roadway, the captain would surely As a matter of fact, this was the last time recognize the home of his neighbor, William Captain Rumill's family would ever see him. Gray, perched on a hilltop above rolling mead- Four or five weeks later, on October 11, his OWS of hay and wild daisies. Further up the disabled four-masted schooner, the Harry A. road, he'd be able to set his bearings by the big Berwind, with its cargo of lumber, was brought white farmhouse and barn where Lettie's grand- under tow into Southport, North Carolina. The father, John Smith, once farmed. He would vessel's blood-spattered decks, disheveledrig- have no trouble following the shimmering ging, and three shackled deckhands bore grim ribbon of saltmarsh, for which the village was evidence of mutiny and murder at sea. named, as it meanders through reeds, long Pretty Marsh has changed since the day grasses, and spruce-dotted hillsides, until it Captain Rumill set off on his final voyage. It is brought him to the village center. And there, on quieter now; the once-bustling village has, in (Continued on page 84) The Victorian house Captain Edwin Rumill bought for his family before his ill-fated voyage in 1905 is still home to his daughter, Edna Hysom, who sits surrounded by some of the exotica her father collected during his seafaring days. Heirlooms range from the shell-encrusted sailor's valentine she Sept 1989 holds in her lap to a pair of Polynesian lacewood fans (lower right). 62 DOWN EAST P62-63,84-87 Photograph by Kip Brundage WORLD'S SMALLEST Who Killed Captain Rumill? WEATHER STATION (Continued from page 62) a grassy knoll overlooking the place where the marsh and sea rush together at every changing tide, he would find his home, NEW ENGLAND the handsome, mansard-roofed, Victo- LOG HOMES rian-style house where he had brought his OF MAINE Founded in 1969 family to live at the turn of the new Log-home living is a wonderful experience. And century. no one knows better how to help you create the DIGITAR character of a unique log home than your New APTAIN Rumill's daughter, Edna, 350° England Log Home dealer. Don't compromise with the quality of your basic C still lives in her father's house. And structure. It's too important! New England Log at age ninety, her strong, even fea- Homes are pre-engineered, pre-cut-to-fit log homes. We provide free on-site technical assis- tures and clear, hazel eyes - the color of tance. the sea - would also be familiar to that Stop in and see our model home and let us show returning spirit. The determined curve of THE AMAZING WEATHER COMPUTER THAT you why NELHI is known as the quality log YOU CAN HOLD IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND. home. her jaw, the shape and color of her eyes, DIGITAR'S new WeatherPro weather station includes a computer, precision wind vane and speed sensor with We're there when you need us! clearly reflect the handsome face he would mounting hardware, and 40 feet of cable. For only $179. LIFETIME LIMITED WARRANTY With the optional, automatic-emptying Rain Collector FINANCING AVAILABLE have seen in the mirror every time he ($49.95) you can even monitor rainfall! Visit our model home today for a free brochure trimmed or waxed the tips of his thick, WIND RAINFALL (Optional) WIND DIRECTION TIME OF DAY or a copy of NELHI's detailed portfolio ($15). dark mustache. WIND CHILL AUTO SCAN Tom and Diane Caffyn WIND GUST RECORD PMETRIC/STANDARD RFD 3, Box 2830 DE Edna Rumill Hysom does not recall TEMPERATURE NICAD READY HI/LOW TEMP RECORD ONE YEAR WARRANTY Skowhegan, Me. 04976 that long-ago day in late summer when Add $5.00 for shipping, plus sales tax for California deliveries. Tel. 207-474-2126 her father said his final farewell. As the QUALITY ENGINEERING SINCE 1964 Model Home Hours: Wed.-Fri. 12-4 Sat. 10-4, Sun. 1-5 or by appointment daughter of a sea captain, whose voyages DIGITAR 3465 Diablo Avenue Model homes in Skowhegan, Alfred and Lincolnville to the South Seas, South America, the MADE IN U.S.A. Hayward, CA 94545 M/C & VISA Ivory Coast, the Far East, and the Orient ORDER TODAY: 1-800-678-3669 DE LAND ALSO AVAILABLE NEW ENGLAND LOG HOMES. INC M-F 7 AM-5:30 PM Pacific Time NELHI often kept him away from home for 14-Day Money-Back Guarantee FAX: 1-415-732-9188 months, she remembers nothing unusual about this particular leave-taking. Any sadness she felt at his frequent departures was always offset by the excitement of his anticipated return and the fascinating Save treasures from faraway places he would bring with him. Her last memory of her 20- father is not, therefore, a sad recollection of separation, but a sweet reminiscence of her father at home and the family 50% together. "I can see him clearly, sitting by that off suggested window," Edna says, smiling and gestur- Make retail ing toward a large sun-filled window, with a view of a grassy slope descending grand ANNE to the winding marsh below. "This living investment. room was the kitchen back then, and we Yamaha pianos KLEIN practically lived in here. My last memory and organs pay of him was sitting in a chair right there daily dividends in - in the sunlight, fixing a little ivory OUTLET musical pleasure. elephant he had brought back from India Maine's most to fit onto a necklace-chair for me." Then a darker memory clouds her complete musical store. eyes, chasing away that happy vision. "For months after we received the news Al Corey Music Center that my father had been killed, my mother 99 Main Street would sit at that same window and cry Waterville, Me. 04901 and cry for hours. She never talked about it. It was too painful for her. Once when Tel. 207-872-5622 I was a little older, I tried to read aloud VISA Freeport, ME one of the newspaper accounts of the Home of the North Conway, NH mutiny. She burst into tears and begged Big Band Kittery, ME me to stop. She was never bitter, but the Manchester Center, VT sorrow never left her." 84 DOWN EAST Perhaps because of their frequent sepa- One of a Kind! rations, the bond between Lettie and Seven beautiful panoramic acres directly on the ocean at the base of Mt. Edwin Rumill was particularly strong Megunticook, with accommodations for every discriminating taste - an inn, cottages and 2 modern motels. Our private beach overlooks Penobscot Bay, the and enduring. Strong enough, Edna says, islands, and open ocean. Our units are well off the road, affording a quiet, relax- to wake her mother up on the night of Oc- ing ambience after a day full of activities - all within minutes of the inn. tober 10, 1905, in a cold, gripping fear. Featured in BEST PLACES TO STAY IN NEW ENGLAND "Mother said she had dreamed of great The Harvard Common Press commotion on my father's ship," Edna Write for our brochure today. recalls. "She was convinced that some- The thing terrible had happened to him and High when she saw my uncle, Loren Rumill, Your hosts Hendrick Tide Camden, Maine 04843 coming up the driveway a few days later, and Frances Conover Inn 207-236-3724 on the ocean she knew he was bringing her bad news." It was the worst news imaginable. Her husband, along with the three officers of his crew, had been murdered by mutinous deckhands and their bodies cast into the sea. Whirlpool A CCORDING to newspaper ac- Home Appliances counts published that week in the Bangor Daily News and The Ellsworth American, on October 11, Captain Rumill's ship, the Harry A. Ber- wind, was spotted sailing erratically off the coast of North Carolina by another Weston's sailing vessel, the Blanche H. King. The captain of the Blanche, J.W. Taylor, in response to a red signal light from the Waldoboro, Maine 04572 floundering ship, sent out a boarding party to investigate. Upon boarding Rumill's vessel, the Blanche's crew was shocked to find only four sailors on board, one bound hand and foot, another lying dead on the blood-washed decks, and the other MACK&RODEL two filled with grisly stories about the murderous activities of the previous night. The two frightened deckhands accused Cabinet Makers the third man, Henry Scott, of single- Custom furniture handedly murdering the ship's first mate, handmade by the two of us in solid steward, and engineer in their bunks, and hardwoods using traditional joinery. throwing the bodies overboard. Captain Rumill, they claimed, had disappeared Kevin P. Rodel Leighton Road during the same night, and they suspected Susan C. Mack Pownal, Maine he had been murdered by Scott as well. 207-688-4483 04069 They went on to claim that the mutiny had Brochure available. followed an argument with the steward over that morning's coffee rations. When they discovered Scott's mur- derous rampage, the two deckhands said, they had fought with Scott - who man- aged to shoot and kill the fourth crew member before they were able to subdue him. They had then tried as best they could to keep the under-crewed, captain- DARK HARBOR HOUSE less vessel on course until they sighted the Blanche and signaled for help. On the Island of Islesboro in Penobscot Bay, distinctive Accused murderer Scott had a differ- accommodations and fine dining in a gracious turn-of-the- ent story to tell. He claimed that he and century Georgian Mansion. An unhurried existence on the other three deckhands, who had all an idyllic island. Country roads. Winding lanes. Hidden come aboard in Mobile, had been part of coves. Magnificent vistas. a mutinous plot to kill the ship's officers Open from May through October and pirate the ship and its cargo to sell for Islesboro, Maine 04848 (207) 734-6669 their own profit in a distant port. He SEPTEMBER 1989 85 Bosebuck Mountain Camps further testified that when the other three on Aziscoos Lake WILSONS MILLS, ME 04293 deckhands realized they had underesti- Access to Parmachenee Lake and over 16 miles of prime mated the difficulties of handling such a rivers. Excellent fly-fishing for native salmon and trout. large sailing ship, they panicked. In an Located in the most remote section of the Rangeley region, at the north end of the effort to save their own necks by Aziscoos Lake, and mouths of the Little and Big Magalloway Rivers. Here you will experi- putting the entire blame on Scott ence the ultimate in a fishing and hunting adventure, surrounded by 200,000 acres had attacked and bound him, and in the of wilderness accessible by private road only. struggle he had shot the fourth deckhand We have 11 rustic cabins, a main lodge and dining room with all the good home-cooked in self-defense. food you can eat. American Plan For free brochure, write or call: After listening to the conflicting sto- Family rates for July and August Tom and Susan Rideout ries, the officers of the Blanche shackled Summer packages for 5 or more days Wilsons Mills, Maine 03579 Fly-fishing school in June and July 207-243-2945 all three men and towed the disabled Grouse and deer hunting in October and November Winter Telephone: 207-486-3238 schooner into Southport, where the muti- neers were arrested by local authorities and charged with murder. Months later a Wilmington, North Carolina, jury found GALWAY FOR LESS! all three men guilty of mutiny and mur- Save on all of your favorite crystal der, and the ringleader Scott was hanged. Baccarat Gorham Galway Orrefors Waterford The other two men, according to newspa- and much more per accounts, were imprisoned for life. GALWAY MARMALADE GIFT SET The bodies of Captain Rumill and his three officers were never recovered. (includes marmalade jar and 12 oz. of Irish whiskey marmalade) Galway's List Price $60.00 Crystal Factory $47.95 U.P.S. nationwide Phone orders accepted E DNA'S father was only forty-five years old when he met his death. But already his career on the sea had Call for prices and orders 2 Depot Street, Freeport, Maine 04032 been a long one, beginning at age four- teen when he was signed on as cabin boy 207-865-3670 aboard a ship owned by his father, Cap- MasterCard and Visa accepted tain Joseph B. Rumill. Since the mid- eighteenth century, the Rumill family had hailed from Seal Cove, a few miles south of Pretty Marsh. A seafaring fam- MAINE-LOOK & MAINE-BUILT ily, Edwin's father, uncles, and four broth- Informality at its best. ers all, at one time or another, plied the Concepts in Comfort builds trade routes along the North Atlantic coast a complete line of in three- or four-masted schooners, known handsome and affordable furniture. as "coasters". They carried lumber, gran- ite, popplestones (for cobbling city Custom building, too! streets), ice, and salt fish to the big cities CONCEPTS along the coast and brought back textiles, Showroom Factory hardware, china, and other manufactured Concepts in Comfort BradCo Mfg. Company 9 Circus Time Road RFD #2 Peppermint Corner goods to their homeports down east. So. Portland, Me. 04106 Lisbon, Me. 04250 207-775-4312 207-353-4447 By age twenty-one, Edwin was in COMFORT command of his own ship, and although The Casco Cupboard Solid wood furniture made in Maine Edna is not certain of the routes of his $162 early voyages, she speculates that he probably began his own commercial ventures on a coaster in the familiar waters An Excellent Example of 19th-Century Living of the North Atlantic. Before long, however, the lure of THE visiting exotic faraway countries, the promise of the fortunes to be made from COLONEL trading in the distant continents, and his BLACK growing confidence in his own skills led young Captain Rumill to sell the shares in MANSION his own vessel and sign on with some of at the great sailing ships that were then Ellsworth, Maine circumnavigating the globe. After a few years, when he had learned the routes and Weekdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. the hazards of transatlantic sailing and June 1 to October 15 had successfully rounded the horns of Guide Fee $2. - Children $1. Africa and South America, he was given his own command. 86 DOWN EAST Edna's home is filled with the evi- painting, of the four-masted schooner dence of her father's many distant jour- Charles E. Balche, used to adorn Captain neys. The mantel over the sitting room Rumill's quarters on long voyages. Both THE PULPIT HARBOR INN fireplace is graced with multicolored, deli- the painting and its owner, Edna says, cately carved jade and marble figurines once survived a shipwreck off some for- from the Orient. A procession of three eign coast. "I can't remember where it Enjoy comfortable lodging and ebony elephants from India lumbers happened," she acknowledges, "but ap- deticious mo-cooked meals across one bookshelf. "There used to be parently his ship fetched up onto a reef, in a small country inn on North four," Edna admits, rather sheepishly, and Father was able to row ashore and Haven Island. Open year-round. "but I played with one of the babies when find a lighter boat to help pull them off. I was a little girl and dropped it, knocking When he returned to his ship the below (207)867-2219 its head off." decks were awash and this painting was Other shelves hold a pair of ornate floating around in his cabin." alabaster vases, a painted ostrich egg, her Another painting, of the schooner North father's fine porcelain mustache cup, and Monhegan, bears the proud legend several "sailor's valentines" intricate "Schooner Monhegan, Capt. E.B. Rumill mosaic designs made from hundreds of 28 days Boston to Sierra Leone, Africa, pearly, pastel-colored shells gathered August, 1900." from the coral beaches of the Caribbean But the painting that hangs over Edna's and the South Seas. mantlepiece- this one of the M.B. Millen Sometimes the treasures her father re has a particular significance for the turned with could not be kept on shelves. captain's daughter. In the foreground of Edna remembers a fat little black and the painting, the M.B. Millen tears along PenobscofMeadows white goat and painted goat cart the cap- under full sail on a roiling sea. A steam- tain brought home for her brother, George. ship approaches off her starboard bow, Country Inn & Restaurant "I was very jealous and used to hang off and off her port stern, a square-rigger is Enjoy 4-star-rated country dining (Maine Sunday Telegram) in this beautifully re- the back of the cart and try to upset it disappearing in the hazy distance. stored turn-of-the-century inn overlooking when George drove it around," she re- "I'm certain that the artist was telling Penobscot Bay. The charming rooms, all calls, then smiles, remembering the dress a story with this one," Edna explains, with private baths, include a continental breakfast. Call or write for brochure. she ruined when she finally succeeded in leaning back in her chair to get a better her mission. view of the painting. "When it was painted Route 1, Belfast, ME 04915-338-5320 She also recalls the monkey who slept the big square-riggers had already been in a cage they kept in the kitchen, until replaced by the faster schooners, which one winter day he escaped from the house in turn were beginning to give way to the to scamper across the snow-covered newer steam-powered ships. think that's fields. After he had been recaptured, the why my father must have been SO fond of monkey died of exposure, despite Mrs. it." Rumill's efforts to save him. Edna says The painting also reminds her of a Whitehall Inn her father tried to bring back parrots from career decision her father once made- Since 1901 South America well. But by the time he decision that may have cost him his life. reached homeport the sailors had taught "A few years before he was killed, my Box 558 D, Camden, Maine 04843 the birds such shocking vocabulary he father realized that the days of the sailing didn't dare bring them into the house. ships were numbered," she says. "He Lodging - Fine Food decided he'd better learn how to com- Wines - Spirits L IKE the sailors who put such effort mand one of the new steam vessels. He Room and dining reservations into training the profane parrots and signed on as mate aboard the U.S.S. Nero, 207-236-3391 making the shellwork "valentines," a government collier ship [a steam-pow- Edna's father developed his own creative ered boat used to service the larger ocean- diversions to while away the long hours, goers] and spent a winter in the Mediter- days, and weeks when his vessels drifted ranean." KEEPER'S through the windless doldrums. Edna "He absolutely hated "Edna laughs. has a complete set of handsewn nautical "He was bored to death. My mother said signal flags, several tightly woven marlin he couldn't stand the inactivity - just boxes, and a couple of enormous forty- sitting around waiting for a call from one two- and forty-four-star American flags of the big steamers. He said it was like Isle au Haut, Maine her father sewed and flew from his mast- being in the doldrums- all winter long. heads. His well-worn leather and cork When he finished that assignment he went AN ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE INN palm guard, used to protect his left hand right back to the schooners." She pauses Guests arrive on the mailboat from Stonington as he stitched uprents in the heavy canvas for a moment and picks up the braided Rates include all taxes and all meals sails, is another clue as to how he spent gold officer's patch her father wore on his Adjacent to Acadia National Park those dreary, drifting days. uniform while serving on the Nero. She P.O. Box 26 On the walls of Edna's home hang sighs, "It's too bad, really. If he could Isle au Haut, Me. 04645 paintings of some of the sailing ships her have given up the sailing ships, he might Off-island telephone: 207-367-2261 father commanded during his career. One have lived." SEPTEMBER 1989 87