REDLONS OF HOLLIS, MAINE.
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about two hundred pounds, but he was never fleshy; his frame was gi-
gantic, and clothed with muscles that were strong as iron. No man con-
temporary with him ever claimed to be his equal in strength, nor ever
made an attempt to compete with him. His arms were so long that his
hands reached his knees when walking; his neck was short and very
thick; his head large and well formed; his forehead broad and high, and
in old age was very smooth and fair; his hair, which was worn quite long,
was jet-black, and fell in curls around his neck; his brows were exceed-
ingly long and thick; his eyes were dark gray, deep set, and small, but
remarkably sharp and expressive; his cheek-bones wide and prominent;
nose short and round at the end; mouth and chin broad, and his upper-
lip extremely wide and full. There was a peculiar, cool, determined ex-
pression always upon his face when undisturbed. He had great kindness
of heart and generosity of disposition, and a better neighbor could not
be found; but when his temper was aroused he was like a mad tiger let
loose, and woe to the man or beast that stood in his way.
He was a genuine pioneer adventurer, great woodsman and hunter, and
many stories have been told of his adventures in his tours through the
forests. He once called his dog, and with gun on his shoulder, started for
"Deerwander,' some four miles away, to find large game. He soon
heard his dog bark, and approaching the place he saw a large bear in the
forks of an oak. Taking good aim he brought bruin to the ground.
There was no means of taking his prize home but to drag it, and twisting
a withe into the bear's jaws, he took it over his brawny shoulder and
started toward the Saco River. When going down hill he made good
headway, but when he came to an ascent the bear was so heavy he was
compelled to go backwards and pull him along a few feet at a time.
reached the bank of the river just as the sun was going down, left the
bear on the ice, and returned home; the next morning he took a man with
him and drew the carcass home, and on weighing it the steelyards indi-
cated over four hundred pounds.
He
While coming from his timber-lot one day in the latter part of winter,
he discovered a bear's den under a large windfall. Taking his son Thomas
and his dog, and arming himself with a long-handled axe, he started for
the woods again. When he reached the den he placed the boy behind
him and set the dog a-barking before the opening where the bear had
gone in. He had not long to wait before her bearship put forth her head,
and in an instant the axe went crashing through her skull. When she
was taken out, two nice fat cubs were found in the den, which were also
dispatched, and the father and son returned home loaded with game.
He once fell from a mill-frame into the falls on Saco River, and it being
winter, he was carried under the ice. The people who saw him were par-
alyzed with fear, and no one supposed he would be seen again before the
ice left the river, but to their great astonishment they saw him crawling
out upon
the thick ice below the falls. When he returned to his work un-
harmed, the master-millwright approached him and said, "Well, Thomas,
I am glad it was you who fell in!" At this Mr. Redlon drew back his
arm and would have dealt the master-workman a blow, but he made haste
to apologize by saying, "Hold! hold! Thomas, I mean that no other man
could have gone under the ice and come out alive."
He was once hanging a boom on the west bank of Saco River, and in
company with several others was discussing some political question.
Among the number present was one Ed. Rogers, a saucy Irishman, and
