Collections
MF 033 Machias River Project
Number of
Interviews: 19
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1986
Time period covered: early twentieth century
Principal interviewers: Edward D. Ives
Finding Aides: transcripts
Access Restrictions: none
Description: This collection consists of nineteen interviews
totaling approximately thirty-two hours conducted by Edward D. Ives
in 1986 with men who worked in the woods and on the river drives
along the Machias River. The project was a follow-up to the video
From Stump to Ship. The informant list was derived from audience
response to the presentation of From Stump to Ship in various Maine
communities, including Ellsworth and Machias. This series of
interviews was sponsored by the Maine Humanities Council as a part
of the production of the video An Oral Historian’s Work.
1904 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
99 pp. Tapes: 2 and 1/2 hrs. approx. w/ trans. Interview and
follow-up with Frank Dowling about his experiences working in
the woods and on river drives along the Machias. Includes five pages
of handwritten manuscript and sketches by Dowling and Ives.
T1922, T1923, C435
1905 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
34 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ trans. Interview with Irving Bangs
about his experiences working in the woods along the Machias River.
C234
1906 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
27 pp. Tape: 45 min. w/ trans. Interview with Orris McKeown
about his one winter working in the woods as a road monkey. Also
information on George Magoon, Wilbur Day. T1924
1907 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
258 pp. Tapes: 1 hr. and 20 min. w/ trans. Interview with Richard
Gaddis, age 67, concerning his experiences as a woodsman and
riverdriver along the Machias River, particularly in connection with
the family lumbering and blueberry businesses. Other materials
include account book for Gaddis Camps from 1920-1940, with
occassional records beyond that; a daybook ("Memorandum") for years
1906-1908; Machias Log Driving Co. records for 1855. P6146 -
P6162 / T1925, T1926
1908 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Cutler.
159 pp. Tapes: 4 hrs. approx. w/ trans. Series of interviews with
Newell Beam (c. 80) about his experiences working in the woods
and on the drives along the Machias River. Also, two homemade
cassettes of his storytelling and singing. Includes hand drawings
and map. P6163 - P6166 / T1927, T1928, T1941, C249, C235, C236
1909 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine:
Jacksonville. Tapes: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with Maurice
Berry about his experiences working in the woods along the
Machias River. Includes collection of columns called "I Remember, I
Remember" from the Machias Valley News and Observer, 1985.
Reminiscences and notes of old times. T1929, T1930
1910 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
101 pp. Tapes: 3 hrs. w/ trans. Interview and follow-up with
Francis Healey concerning his experiences working in the woods
and on the drives along the Machias River for St. Regis Pulp and
Paper. T1931, T1932, C437, C438
1911 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
83 pp. Tapes: 2 hrs. w/ trans. Interview and follow-up with
Robert Wright about his experiences with the drives on the
Machias River, which he supervised in its last years. Also includes
five pages of commentary, "Water Use on Machias River During 1968",
written by Robert Wright. C237, C238, C432
1912 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine:
Jacksonville. 61 pp. Tapes: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with
Clarence Berry in which he describes his experiences working in
the woods and on the drives on the Machias River. Also includes
photocopy of a page of drawings (headworks, fireplace and beanhole)
and a three page description of a headworks written by Clarence
Berry. T1933, T1934
1913 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Crawford.
93 pp. Tapes: 3 1/2 hrs. approx. w/ trans. Series of interviews with
Adin McKeown in which he describes his experiences working in
the woods and on the drives along the Machias River. Includes
information on George Magoon and Wilbur Day. Also hand drawings
illustrating the setting of dynamite. C239, C240, C247, C248
1923 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Franklin.
63 pp. Tapes: 1 3/4 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with Gilbert Andrews
Sr. about the various jobs he had working in the Machias Lumber
Co. sawmill. Includes one hand drawing. C242, C243
1924 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine:
Harrington. 31 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ trans. Interview with Lowell
Vose in which he talks about his experience as a river driver on
the Machias in his youth. C244
1925 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Calais. 43
pp. Tapes: 1 hr. and 10 min. w/ trans. Interview with Philip
Armstrong in which he describes what it was like working in the
woods and on river drives along the Machias. C245, C246
1926 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
38 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ trans. Interview with Maxwell Gray
about his work in the woods and on the river drives along the
Machias. He also adds some notes about George Magoon and Wilbur Day.
Also included is a four page story about George and Wilbur written
by Gray. T1939
1927 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
25 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ trans. Interview with Charles Cunningham
about his experiences in the Machias Lumber Co. mill. He was a saw
filer and he discusses his work. P6331 - P6334 / T1940
1929 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: South
Princeton. 53 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ trans. Interview with Donald
McLellan about his work in the woods in the Machias River
region. Mr. McLellan has been an independent woodsman and operator
since WWII and he describes the operations he has worked on. Also
included are two articles from the Alexander-Crawford Historical
Society Newsletter; one photocopied picture of the Dog Brook area;
one roughly sketched map and one printed map of Pocomoonshine Lake.
T1943
1930 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Machias.
Tape: w/ trans. Interview with Francis Handy in which he
describes and discusses photographs of Machias, Machias Lumber Co.
and sawmill. P6167 - P6194 and P6344 - P6354 / C436, C439
1937 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Bangor. 4
pp. Tape: 1 hr. Interview with Charles Dowling in which he
describes his experiences on the Machias River drives and working in
the woods. Also some talk of hunting and fishing. T1944
1942 Ives, Edward D. Machias Project: 1986. Maine: Grand Lake
Stream. 48 pp. Tapes: 1 1/2 hrs. w/ trans. Interview with Earl
Bonness relating his experiences with woodswork and river drives
along the Machias. C433, C434
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