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Islesford’s Ted Spurling Remembers
His Roots
Ted Spurling is making sure that the town takes more care and
interest in the Hadlock/Stanley Cemetery. |
Fortunately for the
77 year-round residents of Islesford, Ted Spurling has a life-long
appreciation for local lore.
He is one of only
three Islesford’s elderly who was born on the island and remains
there. Now, at 82, Spurling is making sure that Little Cranberry’s
past isn’t forgotten.
After 10 years of
mowing the Hadlock/Stanley Cemetery, and mulling over how it could
be better kept, Spurling spoke up at the last town meeting in March.
“We want to make
sure this cemetery is looked after,” the former fisherman said.
He asked the town
to take it over and take special care of the graves that go back to
the 1830s.
Dale Hadlock, who
is 80, joined with Spurling in supporting the plan. He has been
sharing the mowing responsibilities with him for several years now.
Both men have put
donations toward a cemetery fund.
Keeping an eye on
the past is dear to Spurling, who lives in his grandfather’s 1886
house.
Spurling family
roots go back to 1785 when Benjamin Spurling settled on Great
Cranberry. As befitting a descendent of one of the Isles’ original
families, Ted Spurling penned a small history of the town several
years ago.
Retired from a long
career in the U.S. Merchant Marine, combining 30 years of lobstering
when he wasn’t at sea, Spurling now is Islesford’s unofficial
greeter of newcomers and visitors both.
Of Cranberry Isles,
he wrote in his booklet: “It is a place where a man can still walk
in friendship with his neighbor.”
And, with his
family. Ted Spurling Jr., his wife, Jeri, and their three daughters,
are the newest generation of Spurlings at Islesford. |
