A single grave stone stands alone, deep in the Lincolnville woods near Pitcher Pond. An elaborately carved marble stone, it reads:

“SACRED to the memory of William Delano who died March 15 1826 AE 26

His Saviors smiles dispell’d the gloom

And smooth’d his passage to the tomb”

A tumbled-down stone wall, about 40 feet on a side, surrounds it, as if enclosing a graveyard, but William Delano’s stone is the only one there. Not only are there no other stones, but no evident hollows, the tell-tale sign of an old grave, collapsed as the coffin beneath disintegrated.

 More than 12 years ago, Corelyn Senn came upon this strange one-grave cemetery and wondered. She certainly isn’t the first to see it, but she must be the first to turn idle wondering into a full-on search to “discover” William Delano. Early on, she was referring to him as “Willie”, and only recently, as she seems to be closing in on his identity, has she started calling him Bill.

Why is his the only grave in what appears to be a good-sized cemetery lot? Is his the only grave? What was this guy doing here in 1826, and what did he die of in March of that year? Did he fall through the ice of Pitcher Pond? Did he die of disease? Would a transient be buried with such a fancy tombstone? Was he betrothed to a local girl? One other oddity is the configuration of stonewalls. A typical boundary line stonewall marches through the woods, then stops right in the middle of one 40-foot side of the “cemetery”, as if to bisect it, then continues at the other side.

 Corelyn asked herself all those questions and more, approaching current land owners to see if any of them knew the story of the lone tombstone. Next she went to local records, searching census, deeds, marriages, etc. and turned up no William Delano. Nor did inquiries to local Delano family members produce any information: he wasn’t theirs.

 Most people would give up at that point.

 If you know Corelyn, giving up is not an option for her. Over the next 12 years here is what she’s found: It appears that William Delano’s is the only grave in the enclosed space, as Corelyn arranged for the property to be scanned with GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) and no other graves were found. The land the grave is on was mortgaged to George Ulmer in the late 1700s, but he, and subsequently Henry Knox, both were foreclosed on in turn and it ended up the property of Boston land agents Thorndike, Sears and Prescott. By 1809 they were selling parcels of 100 acres each, long, thin lots that ran from Pitcher Pond to the Ducktrap Stream with the road (North Cobbtown) cutting through the center. (By the way, the map which showed these divisions was apparently stolen from the Registry of Deeds in the 1960s. Though other copies must exist, no one, to date, has found one. Here’s a project for another dogged researcher!)

 By 1826, Lot 6 had been settled by two McCobb brothers, George and Andrew, who married Drinkwater sisters from Northport: Lois and Almira. Since William Delano’s grave lies right between Lots 5 and 6 (remember the boundary wall bisecting the little cemetery?) it is logical to assume that the young man had some connection with either the McCobb or Drinkwater families and that they buried him. Perhaps he was working for the brothers or was related to them.

 Corelyn writes: “William’s gravestone is a very beautiful stone, made of white marble, well carved as you can see from the photo. The footstone has different lettering and is made of different material (slate) than the headstone. It seemed striking to me that such a stone would have been ordered for this man who seemingly died without family up here and was buried in the woods rather than in an established cemetery. It means, I believe, that he definitely had significance to someone here, and he either had money of his own or someone was willing to spend money on him.”

Through following many dead ends, she’s now confident that the stone was carved by Boston stone carver William Brazier and shipped here. The extended Drinkwater family had, at the time, six ship captains sailing from Northport to Boston and would be familiar with gravestones ordered from there.

 But where did Willie come from? (Early on Corelyn had begun referring to her deceased subject familiarly!) By reading several published genealogies of the Delano family, searching websites and contacting Maine and Massachusetts historical societies and even hiring several researchers and consulting many others, she concluded that “there are not as many Williams as one might think and even the ones who were born around the appropriate time either lived only a year or else into old age. I only found one possibility …. [and that] was a reference to a William Delano who married Hannah Tallman on January 2, 1794 in New Bedford, Mass.; they had two sons, William and Henry. Then, while in Havana, Cuba, in 1800, William Sr. died. Although it also stated that both children died young, it seemed worth investigating.”

 After the death of their father, Gilbert Russell, an uncle, was appointed guardian to the two young boys, William and Henry. By 1805 their mother was dead, as well. Henry does indeed seem to have “died young” as he effectively disappears from the record. However, his brother William (Willie?) grew up in New Bedford with his guardian, Gilbert Russell. From 1819 to 1823, Corelyn has found records that he was on a whaling ship, voyaging to the Pacific and back, a young man 5-foot, 8-inches  tall, with sandy hair, blue eyes and light skin.  According to a diary entry she read at the New Bedford Whaling Museum a contemporary of William’s, wrote: “August 6, 1823 The ship Charles arrived last night from the pacific Ocean full of sperm oil. an officer in the Patriot service came passenger in her. Bill Delano also came home in her.”

 Although she was disappointed that her research in New Bedford’s records didn’t reveal William’s Maine connection, either to the Drinkwaters or the McCobbs or whatever it was that brought him to the shores of Pitcher Pond in Lincolnville, Maine, in 1826, Corelyn, as well as the many researchers who’ve helped her along the way, is pretty certain that she’s found him. So certain that she no longer calls him Willie; “he was Bill to the people who knew him” she says. So Bill he’ll stay.

School News

As of this writing students have been in school for just two days, last week. A great way to keep up with what’s going on at school, for both parents and community members without school-age children, is to check the Lynx, the school’s weekly newsletter. Each week’s issue is archived so you can look back. If you’re interested in following school sports a link takes you to athletics. Busline League Cross Country starts up this week with runners in grades four through eight. The first meet of the season is this Thursday, September 8 at Great Salt Bay. The course is a dramatic sweep of land in the Damariscotta River Preserve, a beautiful spot to watch a race. The Cross Country team has meets every Thursday until October 12. This week the girls run at 4:00 and the boys at 4:45.

Library News

Come Learn All About Apps! Jared Leadbetter, technology specialist with the Maine State Library, will present “All About Apps,” a free program for anyone interested in learning more about using such software on Android and Apple phones and other mobile devices, on Wednesday, September 7, 7 p.m. at the Lincolnville Community Library. 

What is an app? How are the scores of apps now available changing aspects of people’s lives? Which apps might one use to make traveling easier, learn a new language, or help deal with a medical condition? Jared will discuss all these questions and also demonstrate some of the most unique and uncommon apps now available. People are encouraged to bring their own Apple and Android devices to use during the program.

A fun Library fundraiser is coming up next week, Thursday, September 15 from 4 to 7 p.m., when Andy’s Brew Pub will host a special happy hour to benefit the Lincolnville Community Library. Local dance band King Pirogi, led by Tom Jamrog, will entertain with their lively music. And everyone who signs up to join or renew their membership in the Friends of the Library will have a chance to win a gift certificate to the Beyond the Sea Book and Gift Shop. In case you haven’t visited Lincolnville’s only brew pub, it’s located within the Lobster Pound Restaurant at 2521 Atlantic Highway in Lincolnville Beach. 

This week’s pick is a toss-up. A long and convoluted thread wandered through our Lincolnville Bulletin Board emails this week, a thread that started with some chickens spotted in the road; that led, naturally, to chicken-crossing-the-road jokes which morphed into a riff about guinea hens, which turned into a comment on politicians, then back to birds.

But my favorite had to be this one: “I admit it. I hid TWO watermelons in our garden just so my three grandsons could find them. They arrived, jumped out of the car and said “Lets go see if there are any watermelons this year!” (We had not planted any) My wife stalled them with ice cream and I drove to Wentworths, bought two, rushed home and hid them. They were thrilled! Two days later they said “lets go look again maybe we missed some!” – back to the store. I love it.

GaGa”

 Which brought this response: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man will lay down supermarket-bought watermelons for his grandkids."