9 minute read
Tragedy On A Summer Afternoon Great loss to Rumford and Mexico families
Tragedy On A Summer Afternoon
Great loss to Rumford and Mexico families
Advertisement
by Charles Francis
Monday morning, June 30 1941, started out like any other workday in Rumford and Mexico. Men got ready to leave for their jobs at the mill. Their wives packed their lunches. School children, with the luxury of knowing that endless summer lay before them, lingered in bed or sat on front stoops thinking of all they would do in the coming weeks. Then phones, which the previous night had sounded a minor note of alarm, began ringing to spread a story that something was seriously amiss. Some thirty Rumford and Mexico area residents were missing and feared lost at sea.
Just the day before, a group of Rumford and Mexico millworkers, their wives and other family members and friends had set off for the coast for a day’s excursion on the ocean. The boat trip was to include a clam and lobster bake and a chance to enjoy an early summer day on the water. Now just over twenty-four hours later the pleasure seekers’ friends and family back home were being alerted by the Coast Guard that something was definitely wrong off the coast.
Eventually, all the Rumford and Mexico excursionists would be declared dead. While fourteen bodies would eventually be recovered from the sea, the ultimate fate of the rest would only be guessed at. The fate of the boat they set out on, the Don, would likewise only be guessed at. However, conjecture would run from everything to its having been the victim of sabotage to having been sunk by a German U-boat. There was even evidence that it might have blown up or that it had caught fire. In the final analysis, what happened to the Rumford and Mexico residents who set out for a Sunday afternoon sail in June of 1941 has gone down as an unsolved mystery. There are, however, a number of facts which came to light regarding the mystery that point to simple negligence rather that the possibility of foul play at sea or even an act of war causing the loss of so many unfortunate people.
The Don set out from Dyer’s Cove
Great Times Begin At...
• RV Parts • RV Accessories • RV Service
165 Wilton Rd. • Rt. 2 & 4 • Farmington, ME www.goodtimesrvsales.com
FARMINGTON FORD
531 Wilton Rd. • Farmington, ME 207-778-3334 │ farmingtonford.com John LaBrecque Master Electrician
RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • SERVICE CALLS ALTERNATIVE POWER • LIGHTNING/SURGE PROTECTION (207) 716-6600
Farmington, ME
“IF YOU’RE NOT AT HOME PURCHASING YOUR NEXT NEW OR PRE-OWNED VEHICLE YOU’RE AT THE WRONG ADDRESS”
FRANKLIN CHRYSLER
484 Wilton Rd. • Farmington, ME 207-778-9500 │ franklinchrysler.com EXOTIC AND DOMESTIC HARDWOOD Woods of the World in Mexico, Maine
Walnut • Mahogany • Cherry • Wenge Oak • Maple • Ziricote • Cocobolo Birch • Bubinga and much more!
Our Warehouse and Showroom are packed full for your browsing pleasure.
Or Shop and Order directly online: rarewoodsusa.com
in Harpswell on Sunday morning. Dyer’s Cove is on the east side of Harpswell above Orrs and Bailey islands. The vessel was to make a round trip to Monhegan Island, where a clam and lobster bake was to take place. It stopped at Phippsburg before heading out for Monhegan. That was the last time the Rumford and Mexico people were seen by anyone on shore. After that the ultimate fate of the Don and its passengers and crew enters the realm of hearsay and mystery.
Concern for the Don first began to manifest itself late Sunday. The official search for her began early Monday morning, when the Diligence, a one hundred and twenty-five-foot Coast Guard search-and-rescue cutter set out from Portland. By noon on Monday a number of concerned Rumford and Mexico citizens had driven to Dyer’s Cove to stand anxiously on the dock, peering out to sea. Eventually reports began to filter in that the last sighting of the Don had been somewhere off Bailey Island the previous day.
The first body of one of the passengers was found on July 2nd floating off Bailey Island. Then others were found. The first medical examinations indicated evidence that the bodies had been burned. Though this was later changed to the effects of long immersion in the water, it led to stories of a fire or an explosion. One theory was that a mine had broken free from Halifax Harbor in Nova Scotia and had followed the Labrador current to the waters between Bailey Island and Monhegan, where the Don encountered it. Tales like this and the possibility that the Don had been sunk by a U-boat continued to circulate for some time. Then investigators began to unearth more plausible explanations as to what might have happened.
A fisherman came forward who reported hearing a boat racing its engine as if it were trying to get off a ledge. The time element was about right for when
Cell: 207-779-4372
198 Luc Morin Rd. • Dixfi eld, ME 04224
Pools and Spas Sales and Service
The amazing power of water
the Don would have been somewhere off Bailey Island. The most telling facts involved the Don itself, however.
More investigation turned up the fact that the Don was less than seaworthy. She had been sitting for an extended period — at least the whole winter — docked with no maintenance performed on her engine. Her captain and owner, Paul Johnson, hadn’t the wherewithal to keep her seaworthy. Moreover, she was a converted rumrunner on which an excessively burdensome superstructure had been added. Knowledgeable seamen thought she was ripe for capsizing. The fact that her engines hadn’t been up to snuff led to the theory she had lost power, causing her to run onto a ledge. Possibly Captain Johnson had got her off the ledge only to run her into deep water to sink from damage from the grounding. The other theory was that she had suddenly capsized. This was backed up by the fact
(cont. on page 36)
Retail • Wholesale Maple Sugaring Equipment
207-578-0411
420 Masterman Neighborhood Rd. Weld, ME www.mainemademaplesyrup.com
Experience Small Town Maine Gateway to the Western Mountains
Town of Mexico mexicomaine.net
(cont. from page 35) that none of the bodies that had been recovered wore lifejackets. If the Don had capsized there wouldn’t have been time for the passengers to put on floatation gear.
Today what happened to cause the loss of some thirty men and women from Rumford and Mexico in the summer of 1941 is as much of a mystery as it was then. Of the fourteen bodies that were recovered most were found in the general area of Bailey Island. A paper worker from Mexico named Earl Decker was found on Orrs Island. Other bodies were found extending out to the tip of Bailey Island, either on the rocks or floating at sea.
The waters of Orrs and Bailey islands can produce serious swells, which could easily lead a top-heavy craft to capsize. There are also a number of ledges that a boat could run on. Any could punch a hole in a craft.
In Rumford and Mexico, funerals
Rumford Falls Sulphite Mill, ca. 1890, located on the Androscoggin River. Item #1445 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com
and memorial services were held for the dead and missing. It was a sobering time. One that would be repeated in the summers to come as Rumford and Mexico men suffered the ravages of the war in Europe and the Pacific.
Home • Auto • Business
Recreational Vehicles • Renters • Flood Life • Annuities • Medicare Supplements
Weber Insurance 670 Wilton Rd • Farmington 207-778-3300 _______________
Weber Insurance 20 Main St. • Livermore Falls 207-897-4313 _______________
Advantage Insurance 160 Congress St. • Rumford 207-364-8293
Bessey Insurance
10 Snell Hill Rd. • Turner 207-225-2334
• Propane • Kerosene • #2 Heating Oil
Fueling Station ~ On-Road Fuel
located at Rt. 108 • Peru, ME
207-562-0972 • www.dixfi elddiscountfuel.com 1180 Rt. 2, Suite 6 • Rumford, ME
Weekly Online News - Seasonal Guides
~Serving the Western Mountains of Maine ~
LOCAL! LOCAL! LOCAL!
Local News • School News & Sports Photos • Events • Arts • Local Columns www.TheIrregular.com
~ Locally Owned & Operated ~
239 Main St. • Kingfield, Maine 04947 207-265-2773 Subscribe Today!
Follow us on Facebook!
info@theirregular.com
207-265-6286
A Multi-Faceted Site Construction Company
• Site Development • Site Clearing • Storm Drainage • Road Building • Water Service • Trucking / Hauling • Retention Ponds • Detention Ponds • Asphalt Paving • Sanitary Sewer • All Types of Curb • Underground Electric • Excavation / Grading • Landscape Construction • Snow Plowing / Sanding • Grader Service
The Camera Club Excursion Train on the Portland & Rochester Railroad at Sugarloaf Mountain on June 25, 1899. Item #13716 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com
Your Local Source for:
Lumber & Building Materials Roofi ng Materials & Masonry Products Honda Generators & Power Equipment Husqvarna Chainsaws & Mowers Excavation & Site Work
Free Estimates On-site Sales Assistance Free Delivery Service
1-800-750-2231 207-265-2231 SAFE CLEAN WATER
Professional Water Treatment
J.P. Clarke
Plumbing Services
Jim Wilson
207-399-7210
jpclarkeplumbing@gmail.com
Valley Crossing Building Carrabassett Valley, ME 207-235-2642 83 Main St., Kennebunk, ME 207-985-3361
139 years of trusted service.
Home • Auto • Commercial • Life • Marine
Jim Wilson 207-235-2642 Valley Crossing Building Carrabassett Valley, ME
Jim Harrison 207-985-3361 83 Main Street Kennebunk, ME
Jim Harrison 207-439-5981 27 Walker Street Kittery, ME
