Saturday, July 4, 1908 began with games and merriment as young church goers celebrated the nation’s birthday with a fun-filled picnic and sailing excursion on Sebago Lake. The day would end with a horrific tragedy that would grip the Windham community in unimaginable grief.
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| From left, Benjamin Larrabee, 29, Gertrude Lowell, 19, Margaret Hawkes, 21, and Harvey Jaquis, 19, all from Windham, were bright, popular and highly respected. They drowned tragically in Sebago Lake while celebrating the July 4 holiday in 1908. COURTESY OF WINDHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY |
The decision to sail was a spontaneous idea; George Moses, known to be an expert boatman, agreed to take the four in his 21-foot boat that had one sail. The plan was to sail three-to-four miles from White’s Bridge to Moses’ cottage on the east shore near the Images (Frye’s Leap). The lake was free of heavy waves and in some spots described as dead calm, so the trip until just before arriving at Moses’ landing was uneventful.
The first sign of distress occurred when the vessel was about 10 feet from the landing at Moses’ cottage; speculation was that one of the boat’s occupants may have reached or leaned in to grab the landing causing the single sail to jibe, capsizing the boat, and throwing all five occupants into the water. Only two, Moses and Larrabee, could swim. Moses managed to right the boat and climb back in; he then attempted to pull one of the girls back into the craft, but the effort only caused the boat to again overturn, throwing them both back into the water. Moses tried several more times to save his four young passengers as they splashed about helplessly; their watery scuffle becoming an agonizing and futile attempt to save themselves. Ultimately, Moses made his way to shore, breathless and exhausted.
Larrabee also tried in vain to save the others, but according to later speculation it was believed that he suffered a hard bump to the head against the overturned boat, causing him to go under.
The screams and cries for help brought residents from nearby cottages to the scene. Several tried swimming out to help, but all four of the doomed quartet, exhausted from their hapless, panicky attempts to stay afloat and weighted down by the heavy clothing of the day, were now disappearing from the surface.
The whole ordeal occurred within 10 feet of George Moses’ landing, in 6 feet of water. No one, including Moses, could explain the cause of the mishap. There were no eyewitnesses.
All the victims were retrieved from the bottom of the unforgiving lake with the use of boat hooks. Resuscitative efforts began immediately and went on for over an hour, but to no avail.
A steamer (vessel) was summoned to the scene to transport the bodies back to Whites Bridge. Aboard was a Dr. Parker, Rev. Thomas Ingrahm, pastor of the Friends Church and relatives of Miss Lowell. From there, undertakers took the victims to their respective homes where it was reported their families were inconsolable.
Equally distressed, George Moses blamed himself for, in some way, causing the whole incident. His friends, however, would offer him comfort by recalling the respect he earned over his many years of successful sailing.
Margaret Louise Hawkes and Gertrude Lowell had graduated from the Gorham Normal School the previous month. They were said to have been “unusually bright,” respected and well-liked throughout the community and had a great many friends. Their deaths stunned the residents of Windham and neighboring towns and caused a deep malaise to envelop over the entire region. The late Florence Hawkes, a descendant, told The Windham Eagle several years ago that Margaret’s father, Frank N. Hawkes, did not speak of the incident for the rest of his life. And if the subject came up, he would walk away. Margaret was a sister to the well-known Windham Center farmer Alley Hawkes.
Funeral services for the four drowning victims were held in their respective homes; the pastors of Friends Church and Windham Hill Church officiated. Floral tributes swamped each home, including a bouquet of pinks from Margaret and Gertrude’s ’08 classmates of Gorham Normal School, where they were held in high esteem and predicted to be great teachers.
Margaret and Gertrude were buried in Friends Cemetery, Benjamin and Harvey in nearby Smith Cemetery, both located at Windham Center. Longtime Windham residents will recognize the names of the pall bearers at the various services: Leon Hawkes, Lincoln Lamb, Orville Haskell, Fred Lowell, Phillip Allen, William Hawkes, Charles Hall, Harry Philpot, Harry Kennard, Alley Hawkes, Burleigh Loveitt and Phillip Hawkes.
A Portland Press Herald story described the 4th of July outing as “…one of the saddest accidents that has ever occurred on Sebago Lake.” Of the families of the four victims, the newspaper reported that all were “members of well-known and respected families that are among the best in town.”
The tragic event of 1908 dampened 4th of July festivities for decades. Folks acknowledged and celebrated the national holiday, but did not forget the painful event that brought deep anguish to so many. <
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