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Contributed by Arthur S. Woodward 2007-02-23

BEALS ISLAND — Beals Reminiscences

By Arthur S. Woodward

It is January 2004 and I’m sitting in our home here in Braintree, Massachusetts. I am looking at a picture and reminiscing about Beals in the 1940s. The picture is the black and white one taken by John J. Riley, who used to work in the Merrill Trust in Jonesport. It’s an aerial view from over the Reach looking over Beals toward the southeast. It is a familiar picture, and it was used in at least the 1950 issue of the BHS “Ocean Breeze”. The shot encompasses the northerly part of Beals Island from Uncle Charles Henry Beal’s/Osmond Kelley’s wharf around to the Kelley Farm and from the Boat Cove on Great Wass Island around past Andrew Alley’s Point and on around the shore past the Back Field. In the distance is Head Harbor Island and some of the other islands in Eastern Bay. From the looks of the boats, wharves, roads, houses, boat shops, and other points, I believe the picture was taken on a Sunday afternoon in the spring of the year in around 1947 or 1948. Many lobster boats are on their moorings and there is no evidence of work being done. A lot of boats are hauled up and it appears the deciduous trees don’t have their leaves. There is a lobster smack tied up at Uncle Jerome (JP) Alley’s/Jerome Crowley’s wharf and it could be Dad’s (Vernal) smack “Pauline McLoon” in for spring painting. The picture was taken before we lengthened Dad’s wharf and before the Town Ferry wharf was built. Riley Beal and Sons had not built the ways on Perio’s Point where they built the lobster smack “Arthur S. Woodward” (1948 – 49), and the sardine carriers “Maine Queen”, “Bofisco”, and “Betsy and Sally”, all sixty feet long, or more. Moored in Alley’s Bay, off of where the schooner “Abbie C. Stubbs” died, is what I believe to be the sardine boat “Double Eagle”, before she was taken to Nova Scotia by Milford and Clyde Peabody to be rebuilt into a Novi model double ender. The town flagpole is shown standing in its small triangular patch of grass at the intersection near the sou’west corner of the cemetery. The roads in town do not appear to be tarred. The first tarred road was done, as I remember, when I was in high school, so that helps date the picture before 1950.

The State of Maine had a number of island communities. Several still exist as being completely separated from the mainland by water. Beals was one of those totally separate island communities. Physically, though, in 1958 the Jonesport - Beals bridge connected Beals to the mainland and made tremendous differences in the style of life in Beals. For a few years (from early 1950s) we had a car ferry that ran across the Reach, from about where the bridge fill in Jonesport is now to about where the Beals end of the bridge is. We drove on ramps on and off the decked scow, which was powered by a former lobster boat lashed on for propulsion and navigation, from and onto the beaches (tide and weather permitting). Prior to the town car ferry we had passenger ferries run by Uriah Beal, George Beal, and the Town of Beals, to name some. In the days of the picture there were only a very few motor vehicles on the island. There were maybe five or six trucks and a car or two. The people who owned cars usually kept them garaged in Jonesport, which meant, obviously, when you needed your car you had to go across the Reach in a power boat or row across, and then reverse the process when you came home. Cars and

trucks that were on Beals had come across the Reach on the deck of a lobster smack or sardine boat from a wharf in Jonesport to a wharf on Beals on the high water, or in an open scow from beach to beach. The small number of vehicles in town was a good thing for kids, as we had the roads mostly to ourselves for sliding in the winter. The Back Hill, Jerome’s Hill, and the hill down by our house were some favorites for sliding. Some ventured to Deep Cove Hill and Mud Hole Hill. Watching for traffic wasn’t much of a problem when playing marbles, hop scotch, or riding bikes, either. And, speaking of Mud Hole Hill, it was a significant achievement when you had climbed it on your bike for the first time! The native tribesman, Perio, became famous and the bald rock and the point were named for him because legend has it he could run up the steep side of the rock. To my knowledge, the first kid to ride up Mud Hole Hill never received any long lasting recognition, however.

The Beals young people were very competitive, then as now. We competed in numerous activities, including the fastest bike, fastest play boat, best kite, fastest runner, best hitter in baseball, fastest sled, best decorated bike in the parade, fastest rower, best shot with a basketball, best rank in school, best attendance, best basketball team, best band, best in speaking contests and other interscholastic competitions, and so on. This came naturally to us, as older people had the same good-natured competitive drive. Lobster boat racing, whether impromptu races when two boats would hook on for a race, or in organized races on the Fourth, is a good example. (One time I was out in the "Arthur S. Woodward” and I saw a sardine boat coming down the Reach. So, I went up the Reach and turned around to give him a little knurl. I guess the smack gave him about all he could handle, but I remember wishing I’d made my turn just a little sooner.)

Looking at the water around Beals and Great Wass, I’m reminded of the great abundance of seafood and the good livelihoods that those waters yielded. Think of the thousands of pounds of lobsters, the thousands of hogsheads of herring caught in weirs and seines, all the rollers of clams, the fish, and the scallops from those waters. Also, there were the good tasting sea birds and lumps that people would peddle around town. The sea water surrounding us gave Beals a distinctive characteristic that most communities did not have. Almost every thing we bought or used came to us by boat. Building materials and equipment for homes and buildings, lumber and materials for boats, a lot of the firewood, coal, kerosene, gasoline, fishing supplies and materials, bait, school supplies, furniture, household goods, church supplies, salt, general freight, most of the clothing, much of the food, mail, et cetera, came by water. [William Beal (“Billy Peck”) had a big dory that he rowed across the Reach carrying mail, milk, and freight, year round, unless the Reach was frozen over, in which case he’d go on the ice; his home, in the picture, was across the road from where the bridge now ends] There were some local things available. Erwart Lenfestey had cows and he was one who sold milk. We used to vie for the chance to lead his cows. Some folks had hens and sold eggs and chickens, and there would be some locally raised pork and beef available at times. Some vegetables, apples, wild berries, and “baked apples” that were picked down the island were available in season. Our electricity and telephone service came under the water via cable from Jonesport. The telephones were hand cranked and we’d get the operator in Jonesport. After chatting with her (which was common) you’d perhaps just tell her the name of the person you were calling and she’d connect you. Telephone numbers were short and to the point. Ours was 68 for quite a while.

I am thankful to have grown up in a community of faith. In the photograph are three of the five churches in town. We had some great life-changing meetings.

Our Beals Schoolhouse (also called the “High School”) is just about center in the picture. While our respective churches were important to us, the school was a common center of our lives for many of our years growing up, containing grades 1 through 12. The Alley’s Bay School is also in the picture. It served that part of town for the first several grades and then the students walked the approximately two miles to the Beals School for the upper grades, good weather or bad. Our schools celebrated the holidays. We’d have a parade on Memorial Day, and we’d go down to Jerome’s wharf and throw bouquets of hand picked flowers off the wharf in memory of those lost at sea. We would also visit cemeteries, and Willard Kelley and I would play “Taps”. For Lincoln’s Birthday and Washington’s Birthday we’d have their profiles cut out of construction paper hanging in the windows. We cleaned up the school grounds on Arbor Day. We celebrated Armistice Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Flag Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. There was a reading from the Bible, the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, and the Flag Salute each morning. We had a very efficient and effective school system in Beals. [Mama (Thelma), Dad, Lois, and I all taught in the Schoolhouse. After college and again after serving in the Army I had the privilege of returning to Beals High School and teaching with “Mrs. Alley”, as we all called her, who, many years later, became my stepmother (Sylvina)]

Near the High School was “The Big Pond”, a dug pond that used to supply ice. It was a good place to collect frogs’ eggs and tadpoles for school, and in winter it was good skating. Your boots on the bank would freeze while you skated. A lively game of hockey could be played with alder branches and a tin can. We also skated on the shallow pond that would form on Perio’s Point. That had a lot of rocks sticking up through the ice. Han Island Swamp was another skating place, but you would be well advised to watch out for trees and bushes. One day we had an ice storm. We could skate on the roads! I think I made it to the Flying Place before the ice melted.

When the picture was taken there were at least five, and maybe about seven stores in Beals and Alley’s Bay. Uncle JP’s store, up across the road from the wharf, had a well in the cellar. We could go in to the wharf and carry water down aboard the smack to fill the water tank. The stores were interesting places. They carried a wide variety of items, they had good smells, and they were good places to loaf in the evening. A double decker icecream cone was ten cents. “Drummers” (traveling salesmen) would come around periodically and take orders from the storekeepers, then the freight would come by boat.

The picture shows at least three boat shops. They were great places to hang around. The builders would take time to talk with us and explain what they were doing. They turned out beautiful wooden boats. [Years before the picture was taken Guy Carver’s smack “Susie O. Carver” was built up in the head of the dock. Papa’s (Lad Simmons) smack “Thelma” was built beside the shop Harold Gower had]

As I go around the shore in my reminiscing I am recalling several places that were frequented by kids. Osmond’s wharf had tanks in the building in which there would be some very ripe bait. We possibly could find there some smoked herring sticks for making kites. The area between Osmond’s and Jerome’s wharves was known as the dock. There was a ways to the left as you went down on Jerome’s wharf. There is a boat on the ways in the photo. The dock was a good place to swim when the tide was up. We used to gather on Jerome’s wharf to play group games, such as Red Rover, May I ?, and Simon Says. You could go the full length of that wharf on the stringers and ballast beds. The end of the wharf was built over the hulk of the vessel “Neptune”, so we used to go and look at what was left of her when the tide was down. When the tide was just right we could push my rowboat through a place from one side to the other. Vessels bringing cord wood and other things would come in and unload. Vessels also loaded salt cod that was processed there and took it to market to the west’ard. Northerly past Harold (“Cracker”) Gower’s boat shop was Uncle Lewie Woodward’s wharf, and I learned to swim in the landing there. Dad’s wharf was where I spent a lot of time. I played there, swam, fished, and worked there. Some of us baited trawls there, and on Jerome’s wharf, when it was haking season. It was not unheard of to get a herring in the side of the head when baiting trawls. Dad had a gasoline pump on the wharf, and candy and supplies in the building. His lobster car was moored off the shore, northerly from Grammie Rose’s (Woodward) house. I spent a lot of time at her house and playing in the barn. And, I spent a lot of time on the car buying lobsters. Easterly from Grammie’s house were the Shelter Woods where we played for hours on end. In the winter we would chop fresh water ice on the rocks below the woods, for making homemade icecream. Our beach below our home was a good place to play, including batting rocks into the water. Between our breakwater and past Uriah’s wharf, and on to Perio’s Point were wonderful places for sailing boats and playing under the shore. The wharf at the end of Perio’s Point, and the store at the head of the wharf, probably were owned by Beals Cooperative at the time of the picture. That complex was built by Grampie “Will” Beal (F. W. Beal), my great grandfather.

One feature of Beals that is symbolic of the town and shows clearly in the photograph is the network of paths. The paths were well-worn ways to walk to one place from another. Paths usually traversed private properties, and generally no one seemed to mind that. Interestingly, the access routes to the Schoolhouse were more paths than roads. Paths often brought you close to people’s doors. It was perfectly acceptable to walk into a home without knocking. Beals is a networked community of folks who have concern for each other and who give help in time of need.

The next time you see a copy of John Riley’s 1940s aerial photograph of Beals and Alley’s Bay I hope these reminiscences bring back pleasant memories, if you are old enough. If you were born after this period, or if you’ve become familiar with Beals since that time, this will give you some insight into the time and place where growing up was our privilege.