----- Original Message -----
From: "Josh Calder" <jcalder@...>
To: "Jesper & Nicolette Nielsen" <jesniel@...>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2001 5:31 AM
Subject: Province Island

> I just received this long history of Province Island, a small
> US-Canadian island divided between Quebec and Vermont. People in your
> group might be interested.
>
> la société d'histoire du Lac Memphrémagog
>
> Province Island
>
> by: Jacques Boisvert, President ©-Jan l988
>
> "Province Island was at one time occupied by Martin
> Adams, (the pioneer
> of Newport -1793). He cultivated a field there. Living
> on the main land,
> he and Mrs. Adams would go to the island daily by boat.
> She busied
> herself "with spinning wool and flax, tending the dinner
> pot and growing
> vegetables, being as industrious as her husband"
> (Beautiful Waters Vol
> 2)
> The Indians called it "MEM-TOAG", and they probably
> lived there at
> times. Today this island is officially named Province
> Island, after
> having been called Zabrieskie Island and Howard Island.
> It is the
> largest island in Lake Memphremagog, being 77 acres, of
> which 7 acres,
> are in the United States. The frontier between the two
> countries passes
> through the south end of the island and we can see where
> the
> International Border is by the 16 foot strip cut through
> the woods as
> the International treaty stipulates.
> Bouchette, Surveyor-General of Canada, indicates the
> island on his map
> of 1815, calling it Province Island. On the 1805 map, he
> also shows it,
> but does not give it a name. In a document addressed to
> the American
> Secretary of War in 1826, the Assistant Civil Engineer
> De Witt Clinton,
> says that the 45th degree passes through a small island
> named Province
> Island. After many years of discussion the Asburton
> Treaty was signed in
> 1842 establishing the frontier as it was first
> established by Collins in
> 1772 a little bit north of the 45th degree. The
> Canadians thus loosing
> some land, because the line was erroneously traced. La
> Commission de
> Toponymie du Québec places it at 45 degrees, 1 minute,
> as do many
> geographical maps.
> Why was the island once called Zabriskie's Island?
> According to stories Zabrieskie was a "stowaway" who at
> a young age
> left his native Poland to avoid compulsory military
> service and landed
> in New York.
> After his arrival in the United States he became a
> "pack peddler" and
> was very successful, then he started in the sugar
> business until he
> accumulated considerable wealth and became known as "
> The Baron of
> Sugar". About 1885 he purchased the island from the
> estate of either
> Carlos Pierce or Mr. Oliver Hutchinson. In the November
> 30, 1886 issue
> of the Express & Standard one finds the following: " N.
> A. Beach is
> fully engaged on the Province Island buildings he is now
> erecting for
> A.C. Zabrieskie of New York. Mr Beach has a great number
> of men under
> his direction in this enterprise, and when he gets
> through the island
> must shine".
> Again on June 23, 1887, the same journal, describes the
> work:
> A small party of ladies and gentlemen from this
> vicinity, on Friday last
> took a trip to the Lake, via Reed's Landing, taking row
> boats from there
> to Province Island. The day was fine and the country
> beautiful in its
> verdure and scenery. The first point of interest, of
> course, was the new
> residence of A.C. Zabrieskie, Esq., built for him by N.
> A. Beach of
> Georgeville. The house stands on the highest point of
> the island, from
> which fine views of the lake and mountain scenery can be
> had.
> The house, built for a summer residence, is of the Queen
> Anne style,
> with broad verandahs or galleries. The inside is
> finished in native
> woods, with hard wood floors. The general effect is very
> fine, the
> finish bringing out the beauty of the wood in artistic
> designs,
> reflecting great credit upon Mr. Beach, to whose taste
> the designing was
> left by the owner. Most of the rooms have fire-places so
> ,that in cool
> or stormy weather the inmates can enjoy the comfort of
> an open fire. The
> house is evidently thoroughly built and would be more
> comfortable in
> winter than many quite as pretentious outwardly. We
> reproduce a few
> paragraphs from "Lake Park Items" (The Stanstead
> Journal) as accurately
> describing the house:
> One prime attraction just now is the elegant
> establishment of Mr.
> Zabrieskie on Pi, which Mr. Beach, by permission of Mr.
> Zabrieskie.,
> takes pride in showing to appreciative visitors; and he
> may well be
> proud of the work which he has done. Laboring under the
> disadvantage of
> being upon an island and far from shops and
> manufactories, he has
> nevertheless achieved a success. The windows are of
> plate and cathedral
> glass and the inside finish is entirely of our native
> woods wrought in
> panels, each chamber being finished in a different kind,
> which gives to
> it a distinctive name. The assembly room with its
> capacious fire-place
> and grand stairway, is particularly attractive. The
> study adjoining this
> room, is a gem, paneled in birds-eye maple, and bears
> evidence to the
> skill of Beach junior, as a fine wood worker. The house
> is approached
> from the dock by a broad graveled drive winding up the
> hill with
> faultless curves and grades. At he north side of the
> dock a beautiful
> yatch house 40 x 60 feet is now nearly completed. Its
> architectural
> design is faultless and its constructions substantial
> and permanent. As
> architect Mr. Beach has done wonders, hampered as he has
> been by two
> serious personal accidents. His ability is first class
> and his energy
> "immense" Mr. Zabrieskie is to be congratulated on
> having such a man to
> do the work.
> During this week the place will be open for inspection
> of visitors. Mr.
> Beach is building the hull of a 30-ft steam launch which
> will do duty
> until a larger and faster yacht shall have been
> completed, when, we
> suppose the launch will be used for marketing, etc..."
> ( The cost
> estimated in those days was in excess of $90,000.)
> Zabrieskie was an enigmatic person, and his story is
> near legend.
> General Butterfield, who lived not far from Zabrieskie ,
> decided one day
> to meet this eccentric. He went, in his cruiser
> "Kittemaug", to
> Zabriskie's wharf. Once docked, the General stood up and
> said: Mr.
> Zabrieskie, I am General Butterfield and I have come to
> make your
> acquaintance." Hands behind his back and in a voice
> without equivocation
> the response came rapidly: "Thank you, General
> Butterfield, when I wish
> to make your acquaintance, I will make it known to you,
> Goodby!"
> Some say that he brought with him young men whom he
> posted like
> sentinels and when he dressed in a military uniform he
> marched and
> galloped on his horse shouting orders to them.
> One day while accompanied by an instructor, who was
> showing him how to
> operate a new gasoline launch boat, the motor exploded.
> Not knowing how
> to swim the two men cried: "HELP". They were saved by a
> young lady who
> was on the neighbouring Tea Table island. Zabrieskie
> married this lady
> and they had two children, a boy and a girl. On the
> other hand, Austin
> Hawes, in another report says: " Recently a story has
> been circulated
> that Zabrieskie married a local woman who saved his
> life when his
> naphtha launch burned. I feel sure that this is not so.
> He married a lady
> from New York and she had a son, came to the island once
> or twice but
> apparently did not like it"
> Mrs Carrie M. Barbour, in a writing of 1955, tells
> that: "Zabrieskie
> was reported to be a "woman hater" and had all male
> servants and would
> have no woman on the island. This he did alter, for one
> reason he did
> have his mother there. We were none of us welcome on his
> island when he
> was there. One day I was fishing, sitting in my rowboat
> and a few feet
> off the wharf of his island, with my back to the island,
> Zabrieskie
> walked down to the wharf and small stones began to drop
> in the water
> around where I was fishing. I paid no attention him and
> soon he left."
> A tale came intro being which claimed the island was
> haunted" : because
> on a very black night with high winds Mrs. Zabrieskie
> fell ill. Her
> husband was away on a trip . She sent his manager to
> the mainland to
> find a doctor. On their return, Mrs Zabrieskie could not
> be found, and
> has never been seen again....except on nights of great
> storms when she
> comes back to haunt the island.
> The Island's other owners
> The father of Senator Charles B. Howard bought the
> island in 1917.
> They called it Howard's Island. Mr. Howard, a native
> of Beebe, had
> dreamt since his youth of becoming the owner ot this
> enchanting place.
> He wanted it so badly that he gave a duly signed blank
> cheque to Captain
> Bullock of the Lady of the Lake, and told him to buy the
> island for him.
>
> And old employee told me that the first artificial
> inseminations in
> Canada were done on the island, with the herd of Jersey
> cows which Mr.
> Howard possessed.
> Around 1955 the pheasant hunts were started. Each
> spring 300 to 400
> young pheasants were brought from a farm in Oka. They
> were kept in a
> barn, for several months and then were released on the
> island. About
> 1960, the island was sold to the present proprietors:
> "Province Island
> Fish and Game Club Inc" with Mr. Jan Pick, Dr Hector
> McDougall, Enest
> Gilbey, John J. Dunn, well known insurance broker and
> The Canadian
> Ingersoll Rand as shareholders. Since then Robert J.
> Dunn and Robert
> Gagnon owner of l'Auberge Hatley Inn have replaced some
> founding
> shareholders.
> They, now, bring in 4000 young pheasants from May
> through July, which
> they feed about 30 tons of grain . At the beginning of
> October the
> pheasant hunt starts, going on each weekend until the
> end of November.
> Not more than 8 guns are used at each hunt. The
> pheasants become nervous
> but are incapable of flying across the lake to the
> mainland. Hunting
> dogs go after any escapees and bring them back. In
> winter the foxes and
> "poachers" cross the ice to pick up any survivors.
> During the years l960
> to l970 the pheasants came from the State of New York.
> They were
> deposited on the American side of the island and crossed
> the border
> themselves without too many "customs or immigration"
> problems.
> About 1968, the residence of Mr. Zabrieskie was
> completely demolished
> because it was too expensive to maintain. The woodwork
> was sold in the
> cities of Quebec, New York and Montreal. The demolition
> took a year and
> a half. The blocks of granite from the foundation are at
> a place known
> as the "sand bar" on the Canadian south west side of the
> island not far
> from the boundary line between the USA and Canada.
> Mr. Leopold Pruneau, of Shebrooke, live on Province
> island form 1945 to
> 1970. After Mr. Howard death, the island became the
> property of his son,
> Charles B. Howard, who treated Mr. Pruneau like and
> adopted father.
> (Charles B. Howard was the Federal Liberal Deputy from
> 1925 to 1940,
> Mayor of Sherbrooke from 1950 to 1952, and named a
> senator in 1940.
> Domaine Howard or "Howardene" in Sherbrooke was, also,
> his property.
> Island Trivia
> In November 1986 I found a wreck of a boat east of the
> island. Mr
> Pruneau believes that it is a boat named: "The Lady of
> the Lake"
> property of Senator Howard which exploded about 1945
> with Mr. Belisle
> aboard. He was the caretaker of the island before Mr.
> Pruneau (Mr.
> Belisle suffered only burns in this accident). It also
> could be the boat
> belonging to Zabrieskie that exploded? Who knows?
> Another incident reported by the manager of the island,
> Mr. Doyon, show
> that animals sense more danger than man. One night, in
> early winter, the
> widow of Mr. Benjamin Howard telephoned to have Mr.
> Doyon pick her up at
> Cedarville. Mr. Doyon harnessed the horses to a sleigh.
> At mid point
> they stopped short. The ice was not very thick, so Mr.
> Doyon returned
> and made some reins about 100 feet long and head back
> across the ice
> towards Cedarville. Again the horses stopped. He yelled
> at them and the
> horses advanced. The ice gave way and the horses and
> sleigh were lost.
> Deer sometime swim across to the island and some
> caretaker are
> surprised to find the garden ravaged. Before the arrival
> of Mr. Pruneau,
> the local farmers brought their cattle across in the
> spring to pasture
> for the summer. In the fall they swam them back to the
> mainland.
> One of the old caretakers told me that to control
> mosquitos Zabrieskie
> had imported bats on the island. He said: "With the
> years there were so
> many bats that we had difficulty seeing the moon on a
> night of the full
> moon....!!!"
> The island has had many out of the ordinary owners and
> occupations. It
> always has and probably will always be a much talked
> curiosity of Lake
> Memphremagog. Nevertheless " Even "Memphré" have been
> sighted near this
> beautiful island a few times.
> A last note on Zabrieskie before closing. In 1915 he has
> given to the
> Goodrich Memorial Library of Newport a collection of
> rare books
> concerning the history of our region and many times I
> was able to tell
> you stories of Lake Memphremagog coming from his
> archives funds. He real
> name is: Andrew Christian Zabriskie.
> Note from the author: In order to write these articles,
> archives are of
> the greatest importance to us and we count on your
> generosity. Please do
> not hesitate to contact us at: La société d'histoire du
> Lac
> Memphrémagog, 446 Main West, Magog, J1X 2A9 or call at:
> (819) 843-9936
>
> voilà- jacques boisvert
>
> PS- the ownership was changed 2 years ago and it id the
> largest island
> of the lake.
>
> --
> société internationale de dracontologie
> Lac Memphrémagog
> http://www.memphre.com
>
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