The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine

by Ron Pesha (Editor)

In 1897, a stranger named Reverend Prescott Jernegan arrived in Lubec and made a bold he could extract gold from seawater. To do so, he used so-called accumulators of electrically charged rods in iron pots. Fooling many, he actually hid the gold beneath a wharf in the Bay of Fundy during the night. He and his accomplice, Charles Fisher, preached with fervent enthusiasm as they built their factory and encouraged inspections, which reversed doubters to greedy high-stakes investors. Hundreds of laborers accelerated factory expansion until July 1897, when Jernegan and Fisher fled. Although residents of Lubec attempted civil and criminal action, both men relocated, and fantasies of gold wealth flowed away. Relive the excitement, disappointment and anger of turn-of-the-century Mainers in this collection of accounts about the Lubec gold hoax.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2013

Reviews

[Mark Fallon]

This book is a great reminder of the importance of "amateur historians", who keep alive local histories that may be overlooked by the PhDs residing in universities.

Also, while the swindle may appear "obvious" more than a century later, the descendants of Jernegan and Fisher are busy today, finding new ways to extract gold from the pockets of investors.

[Judy]

Interestingly written - a compilation of 1940s and 50s articles that summarized 1890s articles and added information from interviews of those still living that witnessed the swindle. Because of this and the amateur writing, it is a little confusing at times but easy to deduce what was meant.

[Maureen]

A fun local history! The narrative is a bit choppy because it includes old newspaper articles.