MF 095 Dowsing and Dowsers in Maine Collection

0Northeast Archives of Folklore of and Oral History: MF 095 Dowsing and Dowsers Collection

Number of accessions: 59
Dates when interviews were conducted: 1984
Time period covered: 20th century
Principal interviewers: various
Finding aides: indexes and some transcripts
Access restrictions: NA0596, 0597, 0599
Description: A series of interviews and supplemental manuscript material on dowsing or water witching, most conducted as part of a class project in Edward D. “Sandy” Ives’ Oral History and Folklore: Fieldwork (AY 125) course at the University of Maine in 1984. Other accessions were added to the series because of their focus on dowsing. Dowsers discuss techniques and materials; uses of dowsing in archaeology learning to dowse; beliefs about dowsing; dowsing as a way of healing; locating ley lines; and tell dowsing stories.

0596 George Picard, interviewed by Carleton Webb for FO 2, April 19, 1971, Franklin, Maine. Picard, a water dowser, talks about dowsing. Text: 17 pp. transcript. Recording: T 0335 1/2 hour.

0597 P. H. York, interviewed by Michael Faunce for FO 2, spring 1971, Monmouth, Maine. York, a water dowser, talks about dowsing. Text: 24 pp. transcript. Recording: T 0335 3/4 hour.

0599 Marie Megquier, interviewed by Lawrence Gallant, Jr. for FO 2, May 8, 1971. Megquier talks about water witching or dowsing. Text: 10 pp. transcript. Recording: T 0336 1/4 hour. Photos: P 1008 – P l0l0.

0730 Theresa Couture, Wilson Shores, and Ronald Siviski, interviewed by David Taylor for FO 2, Waterville, Benton Falls, Orono, Maine. Couture, Shores, and Siviski talk about water dowsing. Text: 34 pp. transcript. Recording: T 0554 1 hour. Photos: P 0999 – P1004.

1037 Clarence Grover, interviewed by Jack Beard and Joan Brooks, April 10, 1976, Eddington, Maine. Grover talks about knowing the people who drove the stage along the Airline (now route 9); getting married in 1930; how the Airline used to go over Chick Hill; poaching; working in his father’s mill; the first automobile; working to build the road around Chick Hill; working in a lumber camp; songs sung in the camp and at home; the Grange Hall in Amherst; his father; people who owned stills during Prohibition; fishing; working horses and driving horses; water-dowsing or water-witching; Jim Cranie, a healer, specifically a blood stopper; the farmers’ almanac; working with oxen; barn raising; what Christmas was like; knitting with his mother; and river driving. Text: 32 page transcript. Recording: T 1050 1 hour.

1039 George Knox, interviewed by Joan Brooks, May 7, 1976, Holden, Maine. Knox talks about moving to Eddington, Maine, in 1902; raising their own meat; Frank Davis, a local market hunter; the route the old Airline road took; peddling in Bangor; trapping; poaching; Cal Graves; moose meat; going to dances; card games; what weddings were like; Halloween pranks; dowsing; weather lore; working in the woods; camp songs; men who made up songs in the area; working as a river driver; working for Great Northern; the other George Knox; and how he met his wife. Text: partial transcript. Recording: T 1052 1.75 hour.

1349 Charles Heath, interviewed by Gifford Stevens, Maine Folklife Survey, July 1, 1980, Hodgdon, Maine. 17 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Heath talks about techniques and materials used in dowsing; and dowsing stories; 4 slides. Slides: S 0226 – S 0229. Recording: T 1474 1 hour.

1559 Tyke McKay, interviewed by Christopher MacGregor for AY 125, fall 1981, Orono, Maine. 10 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. McKay talks about his experiences with dowsing. Text: 7 pp. catalog. Recording: T 1660 1/2 hour.

1560 Clark Brink, interviewed by Christopher MacGregor for AY 125, fall 1981, Old Town, Maine. 26 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Brink talks about dowsing. Text: 23 pp. catalog. Recording: T 1661 1 hour.

1726 Steve White, interviewed by Jane Collins for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 7 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. White talks about his experiences with dowsing and its specific uses for archaeological purposes. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0160 1/2 hour.

1727 Carol Bombard, interviewed by Jane Collins for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 10 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Bombard talks about her experiences with dowsing or water witching; how she learned and how she practices it. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1844 1/2 hour.

1728 Kathy Fox interviewed by Jane Collins for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 18 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Fox talks about her experiences with dowsing; how she started, her technique, and basic belief as to why it works. Text: catalog. Recording: T1845 1/2 hour.

1729 Daniel LaPoint, interviewed by Jane Collins and Patrice Mutchnick for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 40 pp. Tape: 1 hr. audio; 1 hr. video, both w/ cats. LaPoint talks about dowsing techniques, theories, and experiences; his psychic abilities and its connection with dowsing. Video tapes demonstrate the various tools used for dowsing, including L-rods, Y-rods, aura meter, and pendulum. Text: catalogs. Recordings: T 1846 60 min./ V 0045 – V 0046 (Beta?) 60 min.

1730 Erling Skorpen, interviewed by Patrice Mutchnick for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 12 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Skorpen talks about his experiences with dowsing a well on his property; theories behind why it works. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1847 1/2 hour.

1731 Dana Hashey, interviewed by Patrice Mutchnick for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 46 pp. Tape: 2 hrs. w/ cat. Hashey talks about his experiences as a dowser, how he got started, how to do it, and why it works; dowsing as a way of healing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1848.

1732 Leon Shute, interviewed by Patrice Mutchnick for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 15 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ cat. Shute talks about how he learned to dowse and his experiences dowsing wells on the coast of Maine. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1849 3/4 hour.

1733 Edward Ames, interviewed by Mark LaPlante AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 7 pp. Tape: Video, 1/4 hr. w/ cat. Ames demonstrates dowsing techniques and teaching others to do it. Text: catalog. Recordings: V 0044 20 min.

1734 Albert Bean, Sr., interviewed by Mark LaPlante for AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 11 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Bean talks about his dowsing experiences; dowsing as a medical tool to diagnose illnesses. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1850 1/2 hour.

1735 Anonymous, interviewed by Mark LaPlante for AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 9 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Interview an anonymous woman about past life regression; dowsing with a pendulum; premonitions; and her experiences under hypnosis. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1850 1/2 hour.

1736 Ralph Fielding, interviewed by Mark LaPlante for AY 125, spring 1984, Orrington, Maine. 12 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Fielding talks about dowsing; demonstrations and discussion about how and if it works. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1851 1/2 hour.

1737 Jim Fastook, interviewed by Mark LaPlante for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono, Maine. 7 pp. Tape: 1/4 hr. w/ cat. Fastook talks about dowsing his own well and another local dowser (Dale Kitchen) who has been successful; discusses geology and offers some ideas about finding water. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1852 1/4 hour.

1738 Dale Kitchen, interviewed by Mark LaPlante for AY 125, spring 1984, Costigan, Maine. 14 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ cat. Kitchen talks about dowsing; how he traced a vein; the magnetism of his body and how it affects him. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1852 3/4 hour.

1739 George “Pete” Sawyer, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Ashland, Maine. 9 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Sawyer talks about his contact with water dowsing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1853 1/2 hour.

1740 Dr. William Forbes, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Presque Isle, Maine. 19 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Dr. Forbes talks about his contacts with water dowsing as a well driller and as a geologist. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1853 1 hour.

1741 Adam Lewis, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Yarmouth, Maine. 14 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/cat. Lewis talks about his experiences and theories on water dowsing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1853 1/2 hour.

1742 Jenny Landa, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 29 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Landa talks about water dowsing and healing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1854 1 hour.

1743 Duane Bunker, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Penobscot, Maine. 13 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Bunker talks about water dowsing; Paul Eastman, a prominent dowser in the area. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1854 1/2 hour.

1744 Paul Eastman, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Penobscot, Maine. 20 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Eastman talks about his experiences dowsing for people; his fishing experiences in the 1910s and 1920s. Text: 17 pp. catalog. Recording: T 1855 1 hour.

1745 Shaun Hutchinson, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Beverly and Newburyport, MA. 18 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ cat. Hutchinson talks about his contact with two dowers he knew while growing up; also describes the Beverly, Mass. area and tells of its history. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1856 3/4 hour.

1746 John Murphy, interviewed by Nathan Lowrey for AY 125, spring 1984, Beverly, MA. 8 pp. Tape: 1/4 hr. w/ cat. Murphy talks about his experiences with a local contractor who used “L” rods to locate pipes and underground wires. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1856 1/4 hour.

1747 Thomas Beaulieu, interviewed by Sara Flipse for AY 125, spring 1984, Fort Kent, Maine. 12 pp. Tape. 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Beaulieu talks about his experiences with dowsing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1857 1/2 hour.

1748 Carl Heilsberg, interviewed by Sara Flipse for AY 125, spring 1984, Marshfield, Maine. 12 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Heilsberg talks about his experiences with dowsing; information about Mr. Buford Grant, a dowser in Camden, Maine. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1858 1/2 hour.

1749 Kenneth Merrill, interviewed by Sara Flipse for AY 125, spring 1984, Lincoln, Maine. 27 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Merrill talks about his experiences with dowsing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1858 1 hour.

1750 Paul Glidden, interviewed by Sara Flipse for AY 125, spring 1984, Houlton, Maine. 21 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ cat. Glidden talks about his experiences with dowsing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1858 3/4 hour.

1751 Roslyn Strong, interviewed by Matthew Day AY 125, spring 1984, Bar Harbor, Maine. 11 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ cat. Strong talks about her experiences with dowsing and with “Ley Lines,” which traverse the earth and intersect at “Power Spots.” Text: catalog. Recording: T 1859 3/4 hour.

1752 Robert Frye, interviewed by Matthew Day for AY 125, spring 1984, Hull’s Cove, Maine. 8 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr w/ cat. Frye talks about his experiences with water dowsing; has successfully dowsed 50 to 60 wells. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1860 1/2 hour.

1753 David Harding, interviewed by Matthew Day for AY 125, spring 1984, Bar Harbor, Maine. 13 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr w/ cat. Harding talks about his experiences with dowsing; parapsychology; looking for ghosts in haunted houses; performing “psychometry.” Text: catalog. Recording: T 1860 1/2 hour.

1754 Gordon Barton, interviewed by Matthew Day for AY 125, spring 1984, Winter Harbor, Maine. 17 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ cat. Barton talks about his interest in a wide range of “psychic phenomenon,” including dowsing, non-medical healing, parapsychology, and past-life regression. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1861 3/4 hour.

1755 Michael Kimball, interviewed by Matthew Day for AY 125, spring 1984, Bar Harbor, Maine. 9 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Kimball talks about his experiences as a beginning dowser; water dowsing; map dowsing; the location of “Ley Lines.” Text: catalog. Recording: T 1861 1/2 hour.

1756 Charlie Washington, interviewed by Matthew Day for AY 125, spring 1984, UMaine, Orono, Maine. 12 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Washington talks about his one experience with dowsing. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1862.

1757 Mr. Kelsie Fish, Jr., interviewed by William Waters for AY 125, spring 1984, Millinocket, Maine. 10 pp. Tape: 1/4 hr. w/ cat. Fish talks about his experiences with dowsing and how he learned to dowse. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1863 1/4 hour.

1758 Harley Murchie, interviewed by William Waters for AY 125, spring 1984, Lincoln, Maine. 24 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Murchie talks about his experiences with dowsing and E.S.P. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1864 1 hour.

1759 Doris Clifford, interviewed by William Waters for AY 125, spring 1984, Lincoln, Maine. 29 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Clifford talks about her experiences with dowsing and supernatural occurrences such as spiritualist messengers and E.S.P. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1865 1 hour.

1760 Professor John Wilson, interviewed by William Waters for AY 125, spring 1984, UMaine, Orono, Maine. 24 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Professor Wilson talks about potential for supernatural experiences to occur and how they relate to dowsing; automatic writing, the Ouija board, and energy. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0161 1 hour.

1761 Preston Cote, interviewed by Anne Bergwall for AY 125, spring 1984, Caribou, Maine. 20 pp. Tape: 2 hrs. w/ cat. Cote talks about his experiences with dowsing; how he learned to dowse, why it works for him, what equipment works best, and how he reads the lay of the land. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0162 – C 0163 2 hours.

1762 Margaret Forbes, interviewed by Anne Bergwall for AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 15 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Forbes, a member of the Bangor Dowsing Society, talks about dowsing as a diagnostic technique in healing ailments. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0164 1 hour. Photos: P 5992 – P 5994.

1763 Lorne Boyles, interviewed by Anne Bergwall for AY 125, spring 1984, Portage, Maine. 21 pp. Tape: 21 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Boyles talks about his dowsing ability; his theory of why it works. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0165 1 hour. Photos: P 5986- P 5989.

1764 Vernon LeVesque, interviewed by Anne Bergwall for AY 125, spring 1984, Caribou, Maine. 21 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. LeVesque, a well driller who often employs a dowser to find water, discusses his beliefs about dowsing and describes how veins run and how drilling is practiced. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0166.

1765 Jasper Cote, interviewed by Anne Bergwall for AY 125, spring 1984, Woodland, Maine. 18 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Cote talks about his dowsing experiences, including the types of devices he uses to find water. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0167 1 hour.

1766 George Gallagher, interviewed by Anne Bergwall for AY 125, spring 1984, Caribou, Maine. 26 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. G. Gallagher talks about his experiences with dowsing and the use of brass, “L” rods and coat hanger as dowsing devices. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0168 1 hour. Photos: P 5990- P 5991.

1783 Robert Stetson, interviewed by Deanna Webb for AY 125, spring 1984, Brewer, Maine. 11 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ cat. Stetson talks about his experiences with dowsing. He is not a dowser himself. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1872 1/2 hour.

1784 Martha Croasmun, interviewed by Deanna Webb for AY 125, spring 1984, Orono Maine. 5 pp. Tape: 1/2 hr. w/ partial cat. Croasmun talks about her experiences with dowsing. Text: partial catalog. Recording: T 1872 1/2 hour.

1785 Allen Faloon, interviewed by Deanna Webb for AY 125, spring 1984, Hermon, Maine. 34 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Faloon talks about his experiences with dowsing over the last forty years. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1873 1 hour.

1786 Linda Maynard, interviewed by Deanna Webb for AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 15 pp. Tape: 3/4 hr. w/ cat. Maynard talks about her experiences with dowsing and why she thinks it works. Text: catalog. Recording: T 1874 3/4 hour.

1787 Eileen Farrell, interviewd Deanna Webb for AY 125, spring 1984, UMaine, Orono, Maine. 7 pp. Tape: 1/4 hr. w/ cat. Farrell talks about her experiences with dowsing and how she learned to do it.
Text: catalog. Recording: T 1874 1/4 hour.

1807 Bangor Chapter of the Society of American Dowsers (Dana Hashey, et al.), recorded by Erle Morse for AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 23 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ cat. Recording of a monthly meeting of the Bangor Chapter of the Society of American Dowsers. Presentations by Dana Hashey, et al. Text: catalog. Recording: C 0188 1 hour. Photos: P 5924 – P 5956.

1829 Warren Southworth, interviewed by Deanna Webb for AY 125, spring 1984, Bangor, Maine. 24 pp. Tape: 1 hr. w/ partial cat. Southworth talks about dowsing. Text: 21 pp. detailed catalog. Recording: T 1894 1 hour.

2023 Edward D. “Sandy” Ives for AY 325, spring 1984, Maine. 91 pp. ms. Miscellaneous materials on the subject of dowsing collected in conjunction with Ives’ fieldwork course in which dowsing was used as a common project. Includes mimeographed article “A Brief History of Dowsing” by Norman E. Leighton; references to other accessions containing material on dowsing; reprints of articles; a brief interview guide; references to articles in the Bangor Daily News. Text: 91 pp. manuscript.

2369 Blanche Parent, interviewed by Don Cyr for AY 425, fall 1994, Van Buren, Maine. 50 pp. Tape: 1 w/ transcript. Parent describes the Catholic Church in Lille, Maine; her childhood; the history of Lille; the Daughters of Wisdom (an order of nuns); dowsing for buried treasure; dowsing; music; outbreak of plague; and various people she has known. Also include: table of contents and Xeroxed photographs. Text: 47 pp. of transcript, table of contents, interviewer’s journal, copies of photos. Recording: C 1418.