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	var	timeline_json = {"title":{"text":{"headline":"The People of Allen Island","text":"This timeline chronicles <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the history of Allen Island through its ownership and use, highlighting changes in population of and the built environment on the Island. It tells the story of\u00a0how life on the St. George Islands is tied inextricably to the midcoast region and beyond through geographical, historical, and economic ties<\/span>."},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/dam-images-homes-2003-06-wyeth-hosl16_wyeth.jpg","caption":false,"credit":false}},"scale":"human","events":[{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1895"},"end_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1910"},"display_date":"1890s-1910s","text":{"headline":"Depreciation and Decline","text":"In 1895, the value of the fishstand dropped to $350-$500. This depreciation indicated a decrease in flow of goods out, and more importantly, into the islands. In addition, it foreshadowed\u00a0the rapid population decline that occurred in the midcoast region during the early 20th century.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nMcLane\u00a0<em>Islands of Mid-Coast Maine\u00a0<\/em>56 and Conkling\u00a0<em>Islands in Time<\/em> 13."},"media":{"url":"","caption":false,"credit":false,"thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Decprication.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1827"},"display_date":"1827","text":{"headline":"Samuel Brown Appears on tax records with fishstand","text":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This was the first time that the fishstand on Benner Island showed up in legal documentation. The fishstand ended up operating for about 100 years. The store was the first established commercial center on the islands. This means that there was a critical mass of people on the island that needed and wanted to buy goods from the mainland or from other islands. Within twenty years, the fishstand had a liquor license, showing the continual growth of both the fishstand itself as well as the islands it served.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Islands of The Mid-Maine Coast, McLane,56<\/p>"},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/IMG_0556.jpg","caption":"These wooden pegs that lobstermen would have bought to stick into their claws to impede their use and other goods used for fishing and lobstering were sold at the fishstand","credit":"Photo courtesy of Andrew DeStaebler","thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Benner.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1860"},"end_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1880"},"display_date":"1860-1880","text":{"headline":"Prosperity and Population","text":"In 1870, the Fishstand on Benner Island was valued at $600-$700. Related to the record high school enrollment ten years earlier, the value of the fishstand is relatively high for an island community which many believed to have an\u00a0isolated economy. This indicates a movement of goods through the area and a significant relationship\u00a0between Allen and Benner. During this time period, the population of the midcoast region peaked. The economic \"heyday\" of the midcoast region was in the 19th century, and the wealth from that time could explain why the fish stand was so profitable.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nAcheson\u00a0<em>Lobster Gangs of Maine<\/em> 23 and McLane\u00a0<em>Islands of the Mid-Maine Coast\u00a0<\/em>55."},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Matches.jpg","caption":"Matches, such as these, would be sold at the fishstand. ","credit":false,"thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Benner.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1930"},"end_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1935"},"display_date":"1930s","text":{"headline":"Fishstand Closes Its Doors","text":"There was no more reason to keep the fishstand open. After a period of population decline, exemplified\u00a0by the schools closing, there are not enough sustained visitors or residents of the islands to reconcile keeping it open, even seasonally. In 1903, the introduction of \u00a0engines on boats allowed lobstermen to expand their catch by traveling into new waters. It also led to more fisherman making mainland harbors their base of operations. By the time the fishstand closed, most infrastructure had fled the island. Allen became\u00a0feral territory and eventually\u00a0the decaying houses became no more than a seasonal home for fishing families.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">McLane\u00a0<em>Islands of Mid-Coast Maine<\/em> 56.<\/p>"},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Fishstand-Close-1.jpg","caption":"Due to technological advancements, industry, such as fishing, were changing. Tools such as this compass were being replaced or re-invented. This changing infrastructure of the region had a significant impact on the economy of the Island.  ","credit":"Photograph courtesy of Ben Lisle","thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/IMG_0856.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1870"},"end_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1910"},"display_date":"1870-1910","text":{"headline":"A Gradual Population Decline","text":"The population of the islands started to decline slowly. It is possible that as economic prosperity grew through the midcoast region, more people moved away from the Islands to the mainland to indulge in their fiscal success. This could account for the overlapping time period of increasing wealth in the region and a gradual decline in overall population.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nConkling\u00a0<em>Islands in Time<\/em> 13."},"media":{"url":"","caption":false,"credit":false,"thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Gradual-Decline.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"03","year":"1605"},"end_date":{"day":"01","month":"05","year":"1605"},"display_date":"Spring 1605","text":{"headline":"First Settlement in Maine","text":"Explorer George Waymouth and his crew settled on Allen Island for 2 months in the Spring of 1605. Here they held the first\u00a0religious service in New England.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nConkling Muscongus Bay, pg 61"},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/06062078-Copy-1.jpg","caption":false,"credit":"Courtesy of Theroux \"Betsy's World\" 142. 2003.","thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Captain_George_Weymouth_expedition_in_Maine.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1749"},"display_date":"Mid-Late 1700's ","text":{"headline":"John's Island","text":"The only residence shown in the St. George Islands on the British Admiralty chart \"Atlantic Neptune\" is a<span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">\u00a0homestead on the Northwest part of the island not yet named Allen Island. This is the residence of\u00a0John Allen, a fisherman who first settled on the Island in 1749 at the age of 29. \u00a0At the time, the island was\u00a0not yet considered to be under the jurisdiction of the Province of Massachusetts and as such, settlers considered these\u00a0islands to be \"available to a claim by anyone having the will and\u00a0tenacity to wrest them from the Natives.\" \u00a0He likely benefited from a brief period of peace between the English settlers and Indians following a formal agreement made between the two sides in\u00a01749.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Assessment of John Allen Site Pg. 11, and McLane from the islands of the Mid- Maine Coast pg. 56<\/p>"},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/John-Allen-site-1-page-11.png","caption":"British Admiralty chart \"Atlantic Neptune\" shows John Allen's residence in the Northwest part of what Allen Island, across the channel from the smaller Benner Island.","credit":"Assessment of John Allen Site Pg. 11","thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/john-and-his-island.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1820"},"display_date":"1820s","text":{"headline":"Beyond the Allens","text":"Before 1820, three families were settled on the Allen Island\u00a0including Gideon Allen (son of John Allen) and his family of eleven. After 1820, Gideon and his family do not appear on the tax records for the islands. He sells half of the western shore of Allen island to Thomas Burton of Friendship in 1823. This marks a turning point for the island as its population begins\u00a0to grow and include residents beyond the Allen family.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">McLane from the Islands of the Mid-Maine Coast, 56.<\/p>"},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/John-Allen-site-1-pg-21.png","caption":"This 1800s Geodetic Survey Map depicts 3 structures on the northwest corner of Allen Island.","credit":"Assessment of John Allen Site pt1 pg. 21","thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Change.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1837"},"end_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1857"},"display_date":"1837-1855","text":{"headline":"The Allen's Gradual Departure From the Island","text":"The Allen's ownership of the island persisted well into the 1800's. In 1837, Alexander Allen, a son of John Allen, gave two thirds of the island to his son in law, his wife, and his daughter. Over the next two decades, the Allen family passed down or sold off their portions of the land. In 1848, Gideon Allen died and left half of his holdings on the island to various beneficiaries who lived on the mainland. Finally, in 1855, Ann Allen, Alexander's wife, sold her half of the island to a family from Friendship. This marked the end of Allen's living on the island.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Assessment of John Allen Site Pg. 19; McLane, Islands of Mid-Coast Maine 56-57.<\/p>"},"media":{"url":"","caption":false,"credit":false,"thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/St.-Georges-Map.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1856"},"display_date":"1856","text":{"headline":"Full Time Islander","text":"Joshua Thompson of Bristol appeared on the St. George tax records for the first time. in 1856. At this point his family were the only year round residents of Allen Island. Thompson was a tenant farmer who's children were enrolled at the school on Allen Island. While Thompson was the only full time resident at this time, the Island's school enrollment during this time was high, which indicates how significant the Allen Island School was to its neighboring islands.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nMcLane from the Islands of the Mid- Maine Coast, 57 and Assessment of John Allen Site Part 1."},"media":{"url":"","caption":false,"credit":false,"thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/School-Etching.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1830"},"display_date":"1830s","text":{"headline":"School is Now in Session","text":"Summer school began on Allen Island. The school was not just for residents of the island but also for children from surrounding Georges Islands. Enrollment of the school peaked at 85 student. While the school's exact location on the island is unknown. It may have been on the north side of the Island nearby where the sail-loft converted museum currently stands.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nConkling <em>Islands in Time<\/em> 57."},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Screen-Shot-2016-10-24-at-7.50.48-PM.png","caption":"Seen above is a chart displaying the enrollment of students at the Allen Island school, broken down by Island. The total enrollment is on the far right. ","credit":"\"Table of School Enrollment, St. George Island 1841-1893\" courtesy of McLane, Islands of the Mid-Maine Coast. 50-51. ","thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/School-is-now-in-session.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1894"},"display_date":"1894","text":{"headline":"The School Closes","text":"The school on Allen Island closed. As it became easier and easier to go back and forth from the mainland, there was less need for a school out on Allen Island. Policy changes regarding schooling changed how life on the island functioned. There were still pupils on the Island to teach, but with advanced transportation they would go to the mainland. Life on the Island continued to become even more interwoven with the mid-coast region.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\nConkling\u00a0<em>Islands in Time\u00a0<\/em>61."},"media":{"url":"","caption":false,"credit":false,"thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/School-Close.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1675"},"end_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1725"},"display_date":"Late 1600s - Early 1700s","text":{"headline":"The Indian Wars","text":"The first Indian War\u00a0broke out in 1675 after almost 70 years of growing hostility following George Waymouth's visit. The conflict between the settlers and Indians was a result\u00a0of\u00a0their different concepts of property rights and the terrible acts committed by Waymouth and others to kidnap and enslave natives. \u00a0As a result,\u00a0island settlement was slow to develop because colonists feared to venture far from the Pemaquid Fort on the mainland (shown in background image). \u00a0The conflict\u00a0continued into the 1700s, with the fourth Indian War lasting from 1722-25. \u00a0Although the last of the Indian Wars did not end until 1760, Maine's Indian tribes were nearly exterminated\u00a0by 1725. \u00a0This allowed for increased settlement of islands across mid-coast Maine.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Conkling, \"Muscongus Bay: The Fishing Place\"\u00a063<\/p>"},"media":{"url":"","caption":false,"credit":false,"thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/pemaquid_me.jpg"}},{"start_date":{"day":"01","month":"01","year":"1979"},"display_date":"1979","text":{"headline":"Betsy Wyeth Buys Allen Island","text":"Without ever setting foot on Allen Island, Betsy Wyeth purchased the 450-acre island. \u00a0Since purchasing Allen Island,\u00a0which at the time she considered\u00a0to be a \"whole hunk of nothing\" at the time, she has built 2.5 miles of roads, dug out acres of earth to create 5 large ponds, cleared 60 acres of woods, and installed\u00a0an underwater cable from the mainland for electricity.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Ralston, \"Betsy Wyeth's World Is an Island in Maine\" (2006)<\/p>"},"media":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Betsy-Wyeth.jpg","caption":"Betsy Wyeth sitting on a swing in the barn she build on Allen Island.","credit":"Betsy's World, Theroux pg. 117","thumbnail":false},"background":{"url":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/allen-island\/files\/2016\/10\/Benner-Island-.jpg"}}],"language":"en"};
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