Welcome to the Pine Tree Patriots blog! We named this blog after the proposed film about Col. Allan's life. But really, if you are reading this blog, then you probably consider yourself a Pine Tree Patriot too. Many of you signed a petition during the Margaretta Days/Allan Family Reunion in June to have the island off Eastport, where John Allan had his business after the Revolution, and where he and his wife Mary and some of their children and grandchildren are buried, once again called “Allan's Island”. A letter was sent to the owners of record, the Abrams-Weiss Family of Potomac, Maryland, with no reply. As it turns out, for one reason or another, they did not receive it. So, friend and fellow John Allan admirer, Chris Groden, decided to see if he could reach someone by phone. He spoke for over an hour with Ellen Weiss, a daughter of Dr. Arnold Abrams, who with his friend, Victor Zilaitis, purchased “Treat” Island over 50 years ago. They put the legal title to the island in their children's names some decades ago, and it came as a complete surprise to Ellen that Col. Allan's family members are interred there. Her father never told his children, if he knew, that anyone was buried there. It seems unlikely that he did know (or I should say does, as he is still alive), because he is a big Revolutionary War buff, who has even taught a seminar on the Founding Fathers at Harvard. I was happy to hear that they have no intentions to ever build anything there, or to sell it to anyone who would. In fact, as Ellen told Chris, their biggest concern was the potential to disturb a nesting eagle they had been informed had made the island home. He assured her that we would be equally concerned, and that the Allan Family might find it rather appropriate, given that it has become our national symbol, representing everything that Colonel John Allan, and many millions since, fought to establish, and to preserve. Ellen told him that as long as it would not cost them any money, she could see no impediment from them to the island being renamed, and nominated to the National Historic Register. Actually, this is only half the job, as we still need to contact the Zilaitis Family to see where they are at on this subject. Chris is following up on some leads as I post. That and filing the NPO application for JACSARM (the John Allan Center for the Study of the American Revolution in Maine) are the current items on our agenda, along with research and development of the eventual screenplay for “Pine Tree Patriots”, the working title of our proposed film about the life of John Allan and his relations with the Wabanaki Indian Nations. One possible form for the John Allan Center's Board of Directors would be to have 4 members from the Allan Family, 1 member from each of the 4 Wabanaki Nations (Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Mi'kmaq, and Maliseet), and 4 prominent members of the Washington County community, chosen by the aforementioned 8 directors. Let us know what you think of this arrangement, and please don't hesitate to make any other suggestions that occur to you. This effort has to this point been funded out of the limited personal finances of a small core group of interested parties, and in order to continue and grow, needs to identify and seek support from sources interested in seeing it continue. Any help would be most welcome, and once we have filed non-profit corporate papers with the State of Maine, we may find an established 501(c)3 organization willing to accept funds on our behalf, while we file for our own non-profit tax status. There also exists the opportunity for investment in the production company being set up to produce the film. If you have any interest or know of any other interested parties, let us know. It is our intent that this venture, besides its obvious educational benefits to the public, benefit primarily those groups who were closest to John Allan's heart, his family, and his Indian friends. That is the way it should be, and we will try our best to honor that principle.
We will be updating the blog at least every other week, so keep checking back. You can also subscribe to receive feeds (see below). And please, feel free to leave a message on this blog (also below). We hope to hear from you all soon!
FYI...I will also be inviting Chris Groden to be an author on this blog since he is the one "leading the charge" at this point.
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1 comment:
Greetings,
I have been trying to find out the origin of my original Moose Island ancestor, Andrew Harrington. My impression is that he was a pre-loyalist who had land in a bunch of places including the farm at Harrington Cove on Moose Island. In a petition to the Gov. of NB that was sent after the War of Independence, Andrew asks for compensation for land he had to leave when he was run off by Col. Allan and his men. He went over to Deer Island and returned to Moose after the war and got back his claims. Do any of the documents from Col. Allan mention Harrington? Seems my ancestor played both sides of the street and did a bit of trading, fishing, farming, and smuggling.
Thanks,
Ken
Kenneth Harrington McKeever
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