To the editor:
Reading an article in the Bangor Daily News this week about Acting Police Chief Daniel Pelletier arresting a Houlton town councilor on charges of domestic violence assault, I was struck by the irony and the timing.
Last week, I wrote to Chief Pelletier to make him aware of what I believed was an inappropriate use of his department’s staff and equipment in the motorcade/parade being held next weekend to honor and celebrate the return of Civil War veteran Jewett Williams to Hodgdon.
With my letter, I sent a clipping from the Presque Isle Sunrise from 1871 which includes a record of the divorce proceeding between Williams and his first wife Emma Niles. The court granted her the divorce.
In the record, Emma detailed how both she and her mother had suffered at the hands of her husband, including abuse, neglect, threats and terrorizing. Williams abandoned Emma when she was a few months pregnant with their child and provided nothing for their support. He later came back to get all of their furniture and belongings. When she fled to her mother’s he followed and “threatened to break into her mother’s house and to take away the child.”
Soon after, Williams fled Hodgdon, and spent more than a half century out West, never to return. Well, until now at least. Next weekend he will be welcomed back with a big celebration in Hodgdon. The parade for Williams even includes an unnecessary side trip through downtown Houlton escorted by Houlton Police, Aroostook County Sheriff’s deputies, and Maine State troopers.
While the leaders of the other two law enforcement agencies replied to my letters of concern politely and promptly, I never heard back from Chief Pelletier. In contrast, Aroostook County Sheriff Crandall was the epitome of respect and class. He told me that he had not been made aware of Williams’ violent history and would be cutting back on his department’s participation where it extended beyond the necessary safety and traffic control.
I wrote similar letters to those planning the celebration for Jewett Williams and had only one other response. It was from one of the planners who tried to justify the celebration by separating the man from his actions. The Town Manager in Hodgdon did not respond directly, but according to an article in the BDN, he notified state authorities that he had received a “threatening” letter.
I certainly hope that the “statute of limitations” on a community’s rejection of domestic violence and terrorizing does not expire after one’s death even after a century has passed. People should recognize this horrible behavior for what it is, not hold parades to celebrate those who commit it.
Next weekend, Jewett Williams will be laid to rest in the Hodgdon Cemetery, not very far from the grave of Susan Niles, the mother-in-law he terrorized a century and a half ago. I will be curious to see how many people show up to gather near her final resting place and honor the man who caused her suffering.
