(Mink is the small island inbetween the main land and Oak Island)
The family did a little winter "vacation" this past weekend. It was a balmy 26 degrees, got down to 15 at night. A wood stove and electric blankets kept us relatively warm. As did good company, good food, and a lot of wine.
Chippewa Bay was frozen as solid as black granite. (the ice was about a foot thick but you could look through it down to the river below)
Transportation out to the island was by snowmobile. It took 5 trips hauling wood, food, kids, adults, and a dog.
This is a picture of Honeymoon Island, situated a 100 yards or so off the right side of our dock.
Going into the 4th summer on Mink Island, I just learned the following Honeymoon island legend......
John Brown inquired about buying a small island. Found one near Oak Island. Bought it for $500.00 and built a small cabin on it. In the spring John Brown arrived with his bride, rented a skiff from George Forrester, loaded his provisions and new wife aboard. That was the last that was ever seen of either Brown or his wife. The skiff was found at George’s dock but nothing else was ever found.
Where did they go?
4 comments:
They fell through the ice in the winter!
They fell through the ice in the winter....
....and now they haunt the island every summer.
Here's the real story:
John Brown (aka J.J.) did take his new wife, Zelda, to Honeymoon Island to "consummate" the marriage, 1000 Islands style. It turns out that Zelda knew that John had over US $50,000 in cash stashed behind his father's barn on his Pennsylvania farm from a series of extortions he had done over 10 years. Zelda also found out that John was, well, let's just say he couldn't deliver his manhood on their wedding night. Zelda was hot for "gettin some" and when he couldn't make it happen, Zelda lost it and bonked John on the head with the paddle from George's skiff.
Zelda put John's (now finally stiff) body into the skiff and paddled to nearby Mink Island (then called Treasure Island), where she dragged him up into the middle of the island and buried him in a shallow grave, covered with rocks behind what is now the summer cottage of Hunter Grimes.
The ghost of John Brown has been seen on moonlit nights on nearby Little Fox Island. This has been confirmed by the fact that dogs have known to be so afraid of the ghost that they will swim away from the island leaving their owner's behind. A summer ritual to honor the ghost of John Brown is held each summer on July 4th on Little Fox Island.
Zelda Brown changed her name to Molly and with John's cash left America for a Grand Tour of Europe in 1912. The rest, as they say, is history...
hahaha! LOVE it. That explains so much! and this summer, on the 4th of July, we will pour a stiff one and raise our glasses to John Brown!
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