The Quarry Men
Second in numbers only to the seafarers on Eureka's rolls, were the quarry men. From the records and reliable information, 80 members and former members have been identified as having operated or worked in the quarries of St. George, and there are undoubtedly others.
The early years of the Lodge saw shipbuilding and coastwise sail in their heydays, but by the last quarter of the century, they had begun to decline rather sharply due to increasing competition from railroads and the steamship.
This naturally had an adverse effect on the St. George economy which depended greatly on these industries. Fortunately however this decline was paced by the ascendency of the granite quarrying industry. As the "Annals of St. George" of 1932 describes the transition:
"From approximately 1830 to 1890, the building of sailing vessels was an important industry in the Town, principally Tenants Harbor. . . In all about 70 vessels were built in the Town, and St. George vessels and seamen were found on all seas. But the day of the sailing vessel has past, and there remains little of this once thriving industry. As fewer and fewer vessels were built, the granite industry increased in importance and soon began to furnish much more employment than the shipyards ever did."
There were at one time, dozens of quarries in the community, ranging in size from one-man "motions" to large scale operations employing several hundred men. Clark Island and Long Cove were amoung the largest in Maine. The granite quarried there was used in all sorts of construction work, and the various forms produced included rough and dressed building stone, monumental stone, paving blocks, rip-rap and rubble, among others.
Granite from St. George quarries was of fine quality and widely used. It is known to have been used in such well known structures as the Standard Oil Building, the East River Bridge, Cathedral of St. John Divine, Ellis, Bedloe's and Governors Islands, the City Hall and Custom House, Forts Jay, Totten, Wadsworth, all in and about New York City; the Chicago Terminal, the Norfolk Drydock, the Congressional Library and Capital grounds, and nearer home, the Rockland and Bar Harbor Federal Buildings, the Maine State Prison, and many others.
It was shipped out in sailing vessels at first, and later by barge. The docks and bulkheads where it was loaded can still be seen, and a visit to the old Long Cove quarries for example, is most interesting. It is easy to imagine how they looked in the busy days gone by.
Granite quarrying and cutting is a highly skilled trade. First among the craftsmen are the stone cutters, who fashion the often elaborate ornamentation used in cornices, capitals and friezes. Next are the paving cutters who turn out the paving blocks of various sizes which were shipped from St. George by the hundreds of thousands for paving city streets; and the quarrymen who tapped, drilled and blasted the stone from the ledge for the cutters to shape. There were also associated trades which included the sharpeners, quarry engineers, laborers and apprentices.
Most of the granite quarries being located on islands or near isolated small communities, had to be nearly self sufficient. Work was likely to be seasonal and dependant on orders received. The company therefore had to provide everything for the workers needs. Boarding houses, stores and whatever amenities there were, were usually provided by the company. Several of the former boarding houses are still standing in St. George, used now as private homes.
Much of the quarry labor was transient, moving from job to job as opportunity for employment presented itself. There were also considerable number of men who established themselves and families in St. George on a permanent basis, and a substantial number of Eureka's members came from this group.
Many of the quarry workers were of Scottish origin, and it was not unusual for Eureka's minute books to record visitors from Lodges in Scotland. Some of these took an active part in the work of the Lodge before moving on to employment elsewhere.
Of the 80 known granite workers on Eureka's rolls, six served as its Master, and two as Secretary.
Foremost among these was James M. Smith, who served eight terms as Eureka's Master, and was the first member to be appointed District Deputy Grand Master. His biography appears elsewhere in these pages. Brother Smith, together with Joseph Hume, another member in Eureka Lodge, bought granite rights in Long Cove in 1878, and formed the Long Cove Granite Co., Ltd. When the company was puchased by Booth Bros, and Hurricane Island Granite Company in 1882, Brother Smith remained on as superintendent until his death in 1911.
Manfred Humphrey in his petition for the degrees in Eureka Lodge, gives his occupation as "paving cutter". His progress and abilities in his field of endeavor are indicated by a comment in Albert Smalley's book "St. George, Maine" that both William Pratt Sr. (another member of Eureka Lodge) and Manfred Humphrey knew their business as general superintendents." This comment was made in reference to the poor quality of granite in the Wildcat Quarry, and the resulting tremendous grout pile still to be seen from Route 131 at Haskell's Cove. Brother Humphrey served eleven years as Master of Eureka Lodge.
Other quarry men who served Eureka Lodge long and well were Edward H. Bickmore, Master in 1904; Frederick Chillis, Master 1927-28; Henry Paterson, Master 1931-32; Arnold T. Hocking, Master 1966; James E. Shrader, Secretary 1895-97; and George E. Allen, Secretary 1898.
George B. Smith, younger brother of James M. Smith and like him, a pillar of the Long Cove community, was quarry foreman at the Long Cove Quarry, and briefly superintendent, before retiring at the age of 64. He was also one of the moving spirits of the Long Cove Episcopal Chapel, serving as its treasurer for 37 years.
John Nairn was another of Eureka's granite workers, and was noted for his skill as a stone cutter. He is remembered as the maker of the stone cross monument on Allen's Island, placed there in 190S to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Weymouth's landing. He also cut the stone steps for the Long Cove Episcopal Chapel.
Alvin Fogg was, for a time, part owner of the Clark Island quarry, and is understood to have supplied granite for the Buffalo, N.Y. City Hall. He was also a partner at one time, with James Smith and Joseph Hume.
It is said of James Riley that "he was an independent soul, well educated. . . a stone cutter from Scotland of outstanding ability." Margaret Neeson in her book "On Solid Granite" says that he was raised a Roman Catholic but that when he complained that the Masons wouldn't accept Catholics, he was told that it was his Church that wouldn't permit it. Checking this with a priest and finding it to be true, he promptly left the Roman Catholic Church and became an Episcopalian. He became active both in Eureka Lodge (Honorary Member in 1932) and in the Long Cove Episcopal Church (Warder in 1912-13).
Several Generations of Hockings, members of Eureka Lodge, have worked in or operated granite quarries, beginning with Thomas Hocking who was superintendent of the Clark Island quarry (on the mainland). After his death in 1916, Alfred Hocking succeded him, and eventually took over and operated the quarry. On his death in 1951, his sons Arnold and Darold operated it until its closing in 1968, one of the last quarries in Maine to succumb.
William T. Hocking, also a member of Eureka Lodge, is known to have been superintendent of the John Meehan & Son quarry at Clark Island in 1932, but does not appear to have been related to the other Hockings.
Quarrying was a hazardous operation at best, and not the least of the dangers was the affliction then called "consumption", or "stone cutters' disease", caused by inhaling the dust resulting from drilling, cutting and grinding the granite. At least 3 of Eureka's members, Charles R. Hupper, Hudson Smalley and John Nairn are understood to have died from this cause.
Shortly after the turn of the century, the granite industry began a gradual decline, due to the increased use of portland cement in the building industry. For a number of years it had occasional periods of prosperity, but they were brief. In time, it went the way of the sailing coaster, and today only abandoned quarries, rusting machinery and memories remain of this once thriving industry. Today Eureka's rolls carry only a few of the former quarry men.
Granite quarrying lacks the "glamour" sometimes associated with seafaring, and the comings and goings of the quarrymen were rarely noted or documented. Consequently records are scarce. The following is a list gathered from the Lodge archives and various other sources, of Eureka's members who are known to have followed their vocations in the granite quarries of St. George.
Those who are still members are noted by an asterisk.
Eureka's Quarry Men
| George E. Allen | Paving cutter |
| Albion Andrews | Paving cutter |
| George W. Andrews | Paving cutter |
| Charles Baum | Paving cutter |
| Abraham Benson | Granite Worker (?) |
| Edward H. Bickmore | Quarry Engineer |
| James Blake | Stone cutter |
| Alfred Butman | Stone cutter |
| William J.Caddy | Stone cutter |
| Frederick Chillis | Quarry Boss |
| Horace A. Clark | Stone cutter |
| William Clark | Stone cutter |
| Thomas Coltart | Paving cutter |
| *William V. Dennison | Quarryman |
| John Dorman | Stonecutter |
| Sherman Downing | Stone cutter |
| Lester Elwell | Quarryman |
| Albin Falla | Paving cutter |
| Alvin Fogg | Quarry Engineer |
| Fred A. Foster | Quarry Engineer |
| John H. Gardner | Quarry Superintendent |
| Henry A. George | Stone cutter |
| Robert A. Harrington | Stone cutter |
| Herbert H. Hawkins | Quarry Engineer |
| John Hawkins | Paving cutter |
| Samuel Hawkins Jr. | Paving cutter |
| Alfred C. Hocking | Quarry Superintendent |
| *Arnold T. Hocking | Quarry Operator |
| *Darold B. Hocking | Quarry Operator |
| Thomas Hocking | Quarry Superintendent |
| William T. Hocking | Quarry Superintendent |
| Henry S. Holdridge | Stone cutter |
| Nathan Howell | Stone cutter |
| Joseph Hume | Stone cutter |
| Manfred Humphrey | Quarry Superintendent |
| Charles R. Hupper | Stone cutter |
| Wilho Hyvarinen | Quarry Foreman |
| Waino Kangas | Paving cutter |
| John Kilpatrick | Stone cutter |
| Earl E. Kinney | Quarryman |
| Rueben Maker | Paving cutter |
| Toivo Makinen | Quarryman |
| Robert M. Marriott | Paving cutter |
| Thaddeus Maxwell | Paving cutter |
| John McKinnon | Stone cutter |
| John E.W. Merritt | Stone cutter |
| John Miller Sr. | Paving cutter |
| John A. Murray | Stone cutter |
| Hugh Murray | Stone cutter |
| George W. Nairn | Stone cutter |
| John Nairn | Stone cutter |
| Henry Paterson | Paving cutter |
| Harold A. Pratt | Paving cutter |
| William Pratt Sr. | Paving cutter |
| George L. Putman | Stone cutter |
| James Riley | Paving cutter |
| John Riley | Stone cutter |
| George H. Robinson | Paving cutter |
| Patrick P.Robinson | Sharpener |
| David D. Ross | Paving cutter |
| James E. Shrader | Paving cutter |
| James Simpson | Stone cutter |
| George Slingsby | Paving cutter |
| Albert Slingsby Jr. | Quarry Boss |
| Hudson Smalley | Paving cutter |
| James M. Smith | Quarry Superintendent |
| George B. Smith | Quarry Superintendent |
| John S. Smith | Stone cutter |
| Murdock S. Smith | Paving cutter |
| Forbes Taylor | Sharpener |
| Arthur M. Tostevin | Stone cutter |
| *Merle Tracy | Stone cutter |
| Walter Ulmer | Stone cutter |
| George H. Underwood | Paving cutter |
| George W. Waldron | Stone cutter |
| Charles C. Wall | Paving cutter |
| James Weed | Stone cutter |
| Francis Williams | Stone cutter |
| George Wood | Paving cutter |
| Joseph Wood | Paving cutter |
>> Next Page