Back to Family Story outcomes, S22
by Bella Seligson
What would a person think if you told them that you had family beef with President George Washington? They would probably roll their eyes. Now, you can roll your eyes all you want, but I am here to explain the truth of my ancestors, and an island that was the center of their identity, called Islesboro.
At face value, Islesboro, Maine may look like a quiet, picturesque, luxury vacation island. From its ideal location on the vast Penobscot Bay, Islesboro is littered with gorgeous beaches, elegant homes, rocky coves, and untouched nature. However, the island is a time capsule of its own, and holds so much history that is significant to the story of my deeper ancestry.
Through my traditional and genetic genealogy research, I learned that I am a descendent of the founders of this special and historical island. My connection to Islesboro and the founders comes from my second great grandmother, Hazel Josephine Boardman. Hazel has European ancestry, which is mostly Welsh and English. While she unfortunately passed away before I was born, my great great grandmother is a very special person in my family, and was a huge role model and caretaker to all of the women on my maternal side. Hazel was not only a matriarch of my family, but she was a strong, defiant woman who was ahead of her time. The stories I have heard about Hazel have painted her as an elegant, proper, and intelligent woman who was extremely connected to her Old English routes. She married Harvey Loren McGrath, and divorced him years later, which is something that women rarely did at the time. Hazel remarried Massey Chicoette, a luxury hotel manager who managed the Lenox Hotel in Lenox, Massachusetts. My parents ended up getting married at this hotel, which is a very special homage to Hazel and Massey. Hazel’s ancestry is incredibly interesting, and she left us with a legacy of defiance, and a slew of ancestors who connected my family to such a unique place.
Islesboro is a small island in Penobscot Bay, Waldo County, Maine. The early native name for Islesboro is “Pitaubegwimenahanuk,” also known as “the island that lies between two channels.” It was called “Long Island” before it was renamed Islesboro in 1789. The narrow island is approximately fourteen miles long and cuts the right through the Penobscot bay, separating it by east and west. The island is made of slate, quartile, limestone, and greenstone, which the early inhabitants and settlers made income off at some point. English Captain Benjamin Church first encountered the island in August of 1692, where he faced conflict with indigenous and French people that were living there for the warmer months in the summer, fishing and scavenging. The Penobscot natives settled on the island during the summers due to the plentiful fish and wildlife. They eventually chased Church and his men away from the island, and he and his men returned to England after smuggling a large amount of beaver and moose skins from them. However, in 1620 England, King James I granted rights to the island to his noblemen, and these lands eventually were given to the New England settlers. The first settlers of this island were the Pendletons, Boardmans, Warrens, Hatches, Williams, and the Coombs families[1].
In my ancestry, I have found that I am both a descendent of the Pendletons and the Boardmans. They appear after my fifth generation of grandparents on my maternal side of the family. Of course, because of the closed off nature of the island the different families intermarried and had children together, meaning that I am likely a descendant of them all in some way or another. The first settler of Islesboro was named Shubael Williams, who arrived with his sons in 1764. Joseph Boardman (1753-1831) and Mary Pendleton (1758-1847), my 7th great grandparents, were also among some of the first settlers of Islesboro[2]. Through my Ancestry tree I was able to find ancestral connections to both Mary and Joseph, and found DNA matches with other people who are their relatives as well. Joseph Boardman left Boston after the Boston Tea Party and married Mary in October 1774. He was a participant in the Boston Tea Party and had apparently thrown a huge amount of tea overboard. His family had been from New England, so he did not have to travel too far to reach Islesboro. Mary Pendleton had been born in Connecticut and moved to the island with her family. Joseph and Mary had the first official wedding on Islesboro and the population slowly grew as time went on and more people arrived at the island. The earliest settlers of the island mostly relied on fishing and farming, and during times of war they would sell their resources and trade with British ships who were stationed in the Penobscot Bay because they were very limited in their options of making any sort of money while surrounded by English vessels.
In 1789, General Henry Knox, who served as the Secretary of the Department of War under President George Washington, started to acquire land around the Waldo County area through his wife Lucy Flucker, who had been a descendent of the Waldo family. The Waldo family owned a large portion of Waldo County, so you could definitely say that General Knox hit the jackpot. This was just after the Revolutionary war, and because several Waldo family members remained Loyalists, they lost a lot of the property that belonged to them in Waldo County[3]. However, due to the vulnerable position of Islesboro during the Revolutionary War, my descendants were forced to trade with both sides, and some people were drafted to the British army against their will. By using this as their scapegoating tactic, General Knox was able to temporarily take their land by labeling them as Loyalists, which was approved by President George Washington. The people of the island did not like General Knox, nor did they like the President. No one believed General Knox’s claims to the island and were incredibly upset that the home they had established was being taken from then by a federal order. The angry people of the island drafted a petition for the General Court, which unfortunately ended up ruling in favor of General Knox in 1799[4]. Eventually he ended up getting ownership of a large portion of land and he sold most of it back to the islanders. So eventually they ended up getting their home back, but not without paying a large price.
Islesboro was the location for a monumental scientific development as well. On October 27th, 1780, Reverend Samuel Williams, who was Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University, recorded the official first total eclipse in American history[5].
During the War of 1812, Islesboro faced a lot of hardship due to its position on the Maine coastline. People were forced to fight for the British, and the British ships completely cut off their supply lines, so the few families on the island had to rely on one another to get by and survive, especially in the winter months. The Maine winters were devastating, but the islanders persevered. They had little money, and with prices increasing during the war they had to sell their produce to the English. There were not too many inhabitants at this time, which made things difficult, but they did what they had to do to survive, even if it was not patriotic.
Following the Civil War, luxury real estate developed on the island during the Gilded Age, and many wealthy people from New England began to spend their summers in Islesboro, many of whom also brought large boats[6]. A large part of the economy in Islesboro was built on fishing, clamming and ship building[7]. But as the island began to attract more summer visitors, the service industry began to heat up. However, many early inhabitants were ship captains, and boating remains a very prominent element of Islesboro’s small culture[8]. Interestingly enough, the inhabitants of the island voted to prohibit the use of automobiles on public roads in 1913 to maintain the peace and quiet, and cars stayed off the island until 1933. Soon after, in 1936, a ferry system was established so that cars could be transported to and from the island more easily. Islesboro also has a very small airport, and the ferry is still in use today. Because transportation was difficult in Islesboro’s earlier days, a lot of the settlements are spread out, so there is a lot of open space and untouched land, which is one of the characteristics of Islesboro that makes it special and so desirable. The culture of Islesboro reflects the simplistic and quaint lifestyle of the early settlers, which makes this hidden gem of an island so unique.
Islesboro’s population today stands at around 550, and doubles during the summer due to the tourism[9]. There is a plethora of attractions on the island, including beautiful harbors, coves, ponds, and untouched beaches to explore. Cell service on the island is limited, and the lifestyle on Islesboro remains loyal to the simplistic and nature-centered values of the earliest settlers. Since many wealthy people visit during the summers, there is an evident gap between the two socio economic groups of the island. However, Islesboro locals are welcoming, and maintain the traditional values of the island, since many of them are descendants of the founding families and have immense pride for their colonial roots. Islesboro has resisted complete commercialization, which makes it so incredibly unique since it is such a small, yet defiant community.
Islesboro is home to a unique history and a beautiful landscape that I hope to visit someday. The inhabitants of Islesboro left a legacy of resilience and strength that will always be a part of the island, and a part of my family’s identity.
[1] http://islesboro.mainememory.net/page/1049/display.html
[2] http://www.workingwaterfrontarchives.org/2002/05/01/the-boardmans-of-islesboro-seven-generations-going-strong/
[3] http://islesboro.mainememory.net/page/1049/display.html
[4] “History of Islesboro Maine” https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1206&context=mainehistory
[5] http://islesboro.mainememory.net/page/1049/display.html
[6] https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/74496
[7] http://islesboro.mainememory.net/page/1049/display.html
[8] http://www.workingwaterfrontarchives.org/2002/05/01/the-boardmans-of-islesboro-seven-generations-going-strong/
[9] https://www.legacysir.com/localguide/islesboro-me-usa