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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com
Fryeburg’s Jigger Johnson The last old-fashioned lumberjack by James Nalley
A
mong the numerous figures that have secured their places in American folklore along with Paul Bunyan, Casey Jones, and Johnny Appleseed, there was a man from Fryeburg who was known for his superhuman exploits, extraordinary strength, and drunken brawls. He was none other than Jigger Johnson or simply, “the Jigger.” In fact, logging historian Robert Pike, in his book titled Tall Trees, Tough Men, referred to him as the “last old-fashioned lumberjack” who “could cut a swath of timber from Maine to Oregon” and “yelled like crazy devils when they pounded the bars in Bangor,
Saginaw, St. Paul, and Seattle.” Born in Fryeburg on May 12, 1871, Albert “the Jigger” Johnson was the son of a mother and father who called themselves “true Yankees.” Over time, his legendary exploits even produced stories regarding his birth and schooling. For example, according to the book Holy Old MacKinaw: A Natural History of the American Lumberjack by Stewart Holbrook, “When the Jigger was born, he came out of his mother’s womb with a wad of tobacco in his lip, caulk boots on his feet, and a peavey (a cant hook used for logging) in one hand and an axe in the other.” In addition, (cont. on page 46)
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