The early evolution of Alfred E. Wickett as a canoe builder

[Benson Gray]

Very little has been known about the early evolution of Alfred Wickett as a canoe builder before he started working for the Indian Old Town Canoe company in 1900. It has been speculated that he may have started building canoes at George Gray's hardware store in 1898 although no documents had been found previously to confirm or refute that assumption. All of this is well before the Indian Old Town Canoe company transitioned into the Robertson and Old Town Canoe company and then to simply the Old Town Canoe company as shown at https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/42379/ in 1903. A document appeared on eBay today that may help solve some of this mystery as shown below.

This is a letterhead from the I. W. Bussell Boat and Canoe Company that lists A. E. Wickett as the manager from January, 1899. The company was only listed in the Maine Register and three other business publications during 1899 and 1900. The document identifies them as being the "successors to Rollins & Bussell" whose 1898 letterhead at https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/41468/ has no mention of Wickett. The previous reference to Wickett's employment as a canoe builder was in December, 1895 at https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/32006/ where he was said to be "engaged for the winter by Mr. E. M. White at his canoe building establishment at Pushaw." Alfred's marriage record as shown below from 1894 lists "Carpenter" as his occupation so he was probably not building canoes before that.

There are still some big holes in the information available but the puzzle is starting to come together. Please let me know if you have more information to add or any questions. Thanks,

Benson

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

very interesting , I never see the word "Batteaux" with two T ...

Batteaux on the New - New River Gorge National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)

www.nps.gov

Thank you

 

[Benson Gray]

I never see the word "Batteaux" with two T ...

The Oxford English Dictionary considers that version to be "less correct" as shown below although several of their examples have it spelled this way including one from Thoreau. His full comment was "At Oldtown, we walked into a batteau-manufactory. The making of batteaux is quite a business here for the supply of the Penobscot River." The link below has more details.

Benson


https://www.thoreau-online.org/the-maine-woods-page2.html

 

[ALCEDO ATTHIS]

thank you for your answer , I read many books on Acadie and north America ... It was the first tim I read "batteaux"
I think it was a mistake , but no ...

 

[1905Gerrish]

Benson,
Here is an article to help you fill in some blanks. I think that hardware store speculation just went by the wayside.
Zack

 

[1905Gerrish]

Bussell's was up in smoke so Alfred was looking for work again.

 

[Benson Gray]

Bussell's was up in smoke so Alfred was looking for work again.

This is outstanding. Is the rest of that article available? Thanks,

Benson

 

[1905Gerrish]

Sure Benson, nothing exciting though.

 

[chris pearson]

Wow, so cool you found this…….

 

[Roger Young]

Perhaps it might be of interest for me to add some photos of one of the first canoes that Alfred Wickett is said to have made. This is a 42" wood-canvas sample model complete with two hand-carved paddles. Wickett Family lore holds that Alfred made this model canoe intending it to be shown at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893. Benson Gray believes that date may be a bit early, given that Alfred would have been only 20 years of age at the time, and that its build characteristics suggest a date several years later, perhaps the very early 1900's. That could then suggest a possible intention to display at the World's Fair in St. Louis, 1903. In any event, this is a very early piece and has remained in pristine, near mint condition, original throughout. It is likely that it passed on Alfred's death to his first son, Laurence ("Chum"), and thence on to his second son Chester, when Chum passed. Chum worked in the canoe business, "Meramec", in St. Louis, alongside Alfred. Chester was a life-long bachelor school teacher/principal in Massachusetts, with little or no real interest in canoes. One of Chester's students, Norman Parsons, went off to fight in WWII, later returning home where he married and settled nearby Chester. The two became close friends with Norman often acting as chauffeur for Chester (who didn't drive), while Norman's wife was house cleaner, purchased groceries, etc. They also had summer camps near one another, with Norman providing transportation, etc. Out of gratitude, Chester gifted the little canoe to the Parsons, whose son Linwood was given his middle name, Chester. When Norman and his wife passed on, Linwood (also known as "Loon", and famous as a Master Maine Guide for many years) inherited the canoe. Linwood and his wife Betty, "Chickadee", and I came into contact through WCHA some years back, whereupon I was fortunate to later acquire the model. All credit for its wonderful preservation and care throughout its 120-plus years is due to the Wickett and Parsons families and the happy coincidence of our meeting through WCHA.

 

[Benson Gray]

Wickett Family lore holds that Alfred made this model canoe intending it to be shown at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893.

This does seem a bit early since he listed his occupation as a carpenter on his 1894 marriage record shown in the first response above. The newspaper article shown at https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/white-wickett-dec-28-1895-jpg.37017/ from December 28th, 1895 is the first reference to him making canoes. This style of a display canoe looks more like something from the late 1890s or very early 1900s to me.

Benson

 

[chris pearson]

This does seem a bit early since he listed his occupation as a carpenter on his 1894 marriage record shown in the first response above. The newspaper article shown at https://forums.wcha.org/attachments/white-wickett-dec-28-1895-jpg.37017/ from December 28th, 1895 is the first reference to him making canoes. This style of a display canoe looks more like something from the late 1890s or very early 1900s to me.

Benson

Carpenter…..canoe builder. Tomato, toe mato.

 

[Benson Gray]

Carpenter…..canoe builder. Tomato, toe mato.

This may be true, but he answered the occupation question in the 1900 census with "canoe manufacturer" as shown below. It is also interesting to note that this question was asked in June after the May fire at the Bussell Canoe factory that put him out of work and before October when the Indian Old Town Canoe Company was organized.

Benson

 

[chris pearson]

Interesting…

 

[Michael Grace]

Seems reasonable to be listed as a carpenter in 1894 if that's what he was, and then to call himself a canoe manufacturer (as opposed to builder?) in June 1900 if that's what he had been doing most recently and expected to continue doing when he had only been out of work for 4 weeks or less because of the Bussell fire.