Special to The Star-Herald
Thus read the North Star (predecessor to The Star-Herald) headlines May 1, 1873. It was April 30, 1873 – 135 years ago – that the darker side of history reared its ugly head in central Aroostook. The events of those times, although having happened so long ago, have remained fresh in the minds of the people of Maine, becoming the stuff that legends have been made of! In those event filled days 135 years ago, James Cullen was swung into eternity at the hands of a lynch mob in Mapleton. From that time to the present, locals have told the hair-raising tale of the only lynching in New England. There are few events in the history of the Northeast that can match the story of the lynching of Jim Cullen. It involved brutal axe murders, the mob lynching of the accused murderer, and the burial of the lynched man at the town dump; along with the eventual decapitation and removal of Jim’s head by a phrenologist who hoped to prove criminals had differently shaped heads than non-criminals.
The story of the lynching of Jim Cullen, a story so horrible in many details, has been kept alive through countless retellings over several generations. Aroostook County and New Brunswick old-timers have spun the grisly yarn to fascinated listeners for 135 years. The story has become part of the tradition of the area where residents never seem to tire of its many variations and embellishments. Losing nothing through details added over time, the story has developed a life of its own.
I, like so many residents of this area, grew up hearing the tales and began collecting them when I was about 14 years old. Based upon research of original documents, secondary sources, oral interviews, and a bit of my own imagination, the following abbreviated version adapted from my book, They Lynched Jim Cullen, New England’s Only Lynching, is what I really believe most likely happened during those tragic few days in the spring of 1873.
Growing up in Peel, New Brunswick, Canada, Jim Cullen had developed into a tall man standing over six-feet tall. He weighed about 183 pounds and was very athletic and quick, according to contemporary reports. He grew a beard that was fiery red like his hair. Jim was known as a strong man and took advantage of every opportunity to show off his strength by lifting sticks of timber that other men could not lift.
Over the next few summers after his 18th birthday, he spent summers on his farm in Peel, and winters working in the woods. In the fall of 1870, he was headed to work in the woods of the Ashland, Maine area, like so many other New Brunswick axemen of his time. On his way, he stopped at the home of a friend in Castle Hill, John Twist. Jim also met John’s new bride, Rosellah Twist. She was a pretty woman by the standards of the day, as wide as she was tall.
The next spring when Jim came out of the lumber woods, he again visited John Twist. When he left to head back to Peel, Rosellah and her baby son, Edwin, went with him. After spending that summer in Peel, they returned to Mapleton. John Twist had left the area so they moved into the home he and Rosellah had occupied. Jim took work in the local mills in Mapleton and Presque Isle. The first chance he got, Jim went to see Justice of the Peace C.T. Daniels and published his intentions to marry Rosellah. At that point, was, so far as I can learn, Rosellah was still married to John Twist – which could account for the persistent folklore referring to her as “Mrs. Twist” even though she married Jim Cullen Aug. 2, 1871. At some time thereafter, she gave birth to Jim’s son who is only referred to in the records as “Dummy Cullen.” I have been unable to locate any document giving his actual name. The child was deaf. They also had a daughter, Mary May, who later married a Mr. Brown and lived in Fort Fairfield.
A recession hit the area and work was hard to find. Jim was having difficulty supporting his family. He worked at odd jobs, including assisting a recluse named John Swanback in Chapman with making shaved cedar shingles.
Into the area arrived young William Thomas Hubbard, known as “Thomas.” He was looking for a farm to buy, and to settle in the area. He and Jim became good friends, and apparently, he and Rosellah became even better friends. Thomas decided to buy the farm where Jim and Rosellah were living and asked Jim to leave – Rosellah and the children would stay.
On Saturday night, April 26, Jim entered the barn at his home, where Thomas’ horse was stabled. Someone, supposedly Jim, stabbed the unfortunate horse. Leaving the horse to die, he walked to David Dudley’s store in Mapleton, where, by cover of darkness, the person broke into the store and stole some goods. It is supposed these things were done by Jim in preparation to going back to Peel in New Brunswick. The horse, by the way, did live for several days as reported in the newspapers of the time, so presumably it survived the attack.
Thomas went to see David Dudley that next Monday and learned of the store break-in, supposed to be the work of Jim Cullen. Thomas and David left Mapleton and went to Presque Isle where they located Sheriff Rufus G. Kalloch at the Northeastland Hotel. As Kalloch listened to their story, a crowd gathered at the hotel. Shortly, young Granville Hayden, a prominent and well-loved businessman from Presque Isle with a store across the street from the hotel, came to hear what was happening. He offered to go after Cullen rather than Kalloch. Supposing there would be no problem, Granville was sworn in as a Deputy Sheriff and told Kalloch he intended to find Jim Cullen, tell him of the arrest warrant now sworn out for his arrest, and let him escape in the night if he agreed to return to New Brunswick and never come back to Maine again. This was a common practice of the period, however Kalloch advised Granville against this plan.
Deputy Sheriff Granville Hayden, along with William Thomas Hubbard (whom legend has also named a law officer although he was not); set off for Mapleton to find Jim Cullen. When they arrived, they met up with 15-year old Minot Bird, who agreed to show them the way to John Swanback’s camp where it was believed Jim Cullen had gone. Suspecting no trouble, the three set off for Chapman to Swanback’s camp. When they arrived, both John and Jim were there. After supper, Hayden took Cullen outside and presumably told him of the arrest warrant and told him he planned to let him escape in the night so long as he agreed to leave Maine and not ever return. Apparently, the plan was agreed to because Cullen was not restrained in any way when the men bedded down for the night.
During the night, Jim got up and left the camp. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and rolled over to go back to sleep. However, during the night, Jim returned, and supposedly killed Hayden and Hubbard with one blow each from the blunt end of the axe. Swanback and Bird were able to escape. To this day, I personally have many questions about what actually happened in that camp that night. There are reasons to suspect that Jim Cullen may not have been the killer. These are, unfortunately, questions that will remain forever unanswered at this point.
When Bird and Swanback escaped, they were able to call for help and groups of men set out in every direction looking for Cullen, who had returned to his home and was hiding in the cellar. His wife, however, told officials, “he’s not here” while pointing down to the cellar – thus giving him away. There are many stories of his capture in the cellar, but whatever actually happened, he was captured and taken to David Dudley’s store in Mapleton where he was given a box to sit on, and tied to a post all that day.
Crowds gathered to see him. Among the crowd was George Rowell, a local reporter who went on to become a distinguished reporter in southern Maine. Rowell was so sure that Jim would be lynched that night that he wrote his reports of the lynching and sent them to the outside papers – even before the lynching occurred! How much of a part Rowell played in being sure his reports were validated through being sure the event actually happened, can only be speculated at this point.
Plans were made that Cullen would not reach Presque Isle alive. There were actually two lynch mobs, the first and supposedly more “civil” group, decided they should take matters into their own hands before the much larger group “abused” Cullen. Just outside Mapleton village, heading toward Presque Isle, they hung Jim Cullen to a tree. When they headed for Presque Isle with his body, the larger mob – waiting further down the road – scattered when they learned he was already dead.
Shortly after he was killed, the demonizing of Jim Cullen began. There were stories he had killed a lawyer in New Brunswick; had escaped from Houlton Jail by shaking the bars of his cell so hard the wall fell down; etc. Not a shred of this is true. Jim Cullen had no record of any sort prior to this incident. Typical of lynching in most places, however, the stories making him a monster began almost immediately after his death, and continue to this day! It was one way those involved justified their actions that fateful night.
There are many fascinating twists and turns to this story, including what became of Jim Cullen’s skull after his death. What happened to Rosellah, and so many other fascinating stories that space does not allow to be told here.
Readers are invited to attend a public talk on the many aspects of the stories surrounding the lynching that will be held April 30 at 6 p.m. (the exact anniversary of the lynching 135 years ago) at the Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle. This is a free program and everyone is welcome to attend. Come early as seating is limited. Dr. Winslow will be available after the talk to answer questions and sign books.
