There was quite a guy.
He was handy with tools and his seed cutting knives and screen doors were known in our area. It was good workmanship. He also built bobsleds.
After Herbie's death I was asked to look over his writings to see if some or all of them might be placed in a historical society's hands. Frankly, they would not be suitable for that.
The Washburn native kept a record of events in the county in his diary. But the only things you can truly use, contain items of general interest concerning fires, funny happenings, ice going out, etc.
I met Herbie at the Presque Isle Nursing Home. He was always sociable, but not exactly happy about being restricted to that residence. He was always an outdoor man. He was a familiar figure with his badge and policeman's cap and moved around the county a lot. He always got a ride to where he wanted to go. He stopped many people with his whistle and some of them were quite irritated, especially when they found out he was not a regular policeman. I never knew or heard of the Washburn man ever doing anyone any harm.
He was a faithful attendant of the Pentecostal Church in Washburn, and enjoyed their yearly picnics, which he seldom missed.
And if there was an accident in the area, Herbie was usually right there, taking a few notes. According to his records, when Mr. Inman borrowed money, he paid it back, which is something quite a few people do not do.
One of his notes says that on July 5, 1939 here in Presque Isle at 2:10 it hailed. The hailstones were 5/8 inches thick. The next day it hailed in Fort Fairfield. Mr. Inman also speaks of a grass fire at Gardiners Creek. I have heard that place mentioned, but never knew its exact location.
I know that Carl Hansen used to have carloads of draft horses brought into Presque Isle to sell, but I did not know carloads of horses were also delivered in Washburn. If I sometime figure out the name, I will tell you who the buyer of the horses was over in Washburn.
I see by one of Inman's [missing text] break their arm cranking their car to get it started? If you took hold of the handle a certain way there was no danger of an injury to you, as I understand it.
Speaking of broken arms, the Washburn native stated that a person in his town back in February, 1940 broke his arm rolling potatoes. I wonder just how they could do that.
Herbie also states that Oct. 19, 1939 at 6:55 there was a light earthquake in Washburn.
The crust of ice was 6 inches thick March 11, 1940. I bet Herbie measured it too. He was quite accurate on things like that.
According to Inman's writings, the old grist mill in Caribou burnt April 4, 1940. The mill was about 100 years old.
A very interesting item from Herbie's writings is that Mr. Dave Barker was the first man in the town of Washburn to own a Reo car. That was in the year 1908.
According to Inman, there was quite a lot of fires in the year 1940.
Ike Wilder cleaned Herbie's watch for $2.00 back in 1941.
Once when he was in Caribou, Inman found a wrist watch on the street and took it to Mr. Johnson's Jewelry Store and found out it belonged to Bill Anderson. Herbie went to Anderson's home, and the owner of the watch gave him a box of chocolates. That's a little insight into the type of man Inman was.
According to the writings of the Washburn man, Aroostook County had its biggest snowstorm in 25 years Saturday and Sunday March 22, 1942.
In Herbie's notes the ice ran out of the Aroostook River from 1936 - 1946 mostly in the month of April, though in 1936 and 1946, the ice moved out in March.
In his writings, Inman listed the left handers in Washburn and people there 70 years old or over.
Inman also records the time when the Aroostook Valley Railroad called on the Canadian Pacific Railroad to use their steam engine to haul freight over the Aroostook Valley Railroad line. That was Jan. 20, 1943, going through Washburn and coming back through Saturday night at 7:50.
[missing text] have some hot battles in that theater years ago.
Another fire Inman noted was that of the Bill Milliken saw mill in Presque Isle. It was destroyed by fire Aug. 11, 1944. And when you recall the sound of that mill on the Presque Isle Stream, how can you forget the man who owned it, genial Bill Milliken, now gone to greener pastures. Bill loved his basketball team, and did not mind backing it up with some good old U. S. greenbacks. Don't you miss the sound of those old saw mills, and the smell of lumber in them? I sure do. It just seemed to make the community alive.
Herbie mentioned the time Walter Christie's barn burnt, which I think took place in October of 1947. And that was quite some barn.
I noted that Herbie was shaved by a Mr. Giberson here back in 1946, which cost him 50 cents. I noticed just below the writing that Herbie scribbled the words "black market." I don't get a shave at the barbers today so don't know the going price.
Yes sir, Herbie, you were quite a guy. A lot of people are going to remember that man with the whistle, badge and policeman's hat for years to come.
BIRTHDAY -- George (Herbie) Inman celebrated his 79th birthday at the Presque Isle Nursing Home recently. He was born in Washburn Jan. 14, 1901. He is well known in central Aroostook, because for many years he traveled from Houlton to Caribou and the Washburn area doing odd jobs and making screen doors and seed cutting knives. He was a resident of the nursing home since April 11, 1972.
WASHBURN -- George (Herbie) Inman, 79, died July 19, 1980, at a Presque Isle nursing home. He was born Jan. 14, 1901, the son of George and Jessie (King) Inman. He had been a resident of Washburn most of his life. Friends may call at Grave's Funeral Home, Presque Isle, Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home Tuesday at 10 a.m. with Rev. Bernard Patten officiating. Burial will be in Riverside Extension Cemetery, Washburn.
Herbie's policeman's hat and whistle remain on display at the Salmon Brook Historical Society Museum.