Cranberry Isles 

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Cranberry Isles is a town in Hancock County, incorporated on March 16, 1830 from a portion of the town of Mount Desert. In 1849 it annexed additional land from that town to complete its current area.

1. On March 16,1830, by act of the Maine legislature, the two Cranberry Islands, Button's, and Baker's and Bear Islands were set off from Mount Desert, and incorporated into a town by the name of Cranberry Isles. Samuel Hadlock, Enoch Spurling, and Joseph Moore were chosen the first Board of Selectmen.

The earliest settlers on the Cranberry Isles had made no permanent stay. They spent a year or two fishing and cutting staves, and then moved on. The Bunker, Spurling, and Stanley families were the first to establish themselves permanently. Benjamin Spurling, who came from Portsmouth, N. H., in 1768, was, as we have seen, the founder of a large and prosperous family that has for four generations flourished on Great Cranberry. The lot of Aaron Bunker, containing one hundred acres, was laid out by John Peters in 1790. His descendants still occupy the land and are numerous in the community. John Stanley, who died on Great Cranberry in 1790, was the ancestor of many families of the Stanley name on the islands and in Hancock County. His widow's lot of sixty-two acres was at the entrance of the Pool, which is the characteristic feature of Great Cranberry Island.

Button's Island, or Lancaster's Island, as it was originally called, was first settled by Joseph Lancaster, who came from Sullivan, and by Isaac Richardson, son of James Richardson, town clerk of Mount Desert. William and Joseph Moore were also early settlers. Sutton, from whom the island takes its present name, was apparently a squatter, who, it is said, was a sympathizer with the British in the War of 1812 and " moved on " to the Provinces. William Moore kept sheep on Bear Island, and later moved there and was the first keeper of the Bear Island lighthouse. William Gilley settled on Baker's Island in 1812, and he too became the keeper of the lighthouse built in 1828. His descendants still live on the island. The first inhabitants of Little Cranberry were John Stanley, son of the John Stanley who died on the greater island in 1790, and Samuel Hadlock, who, as we have already seen, moved from Hadlock's Pond to Little Cranberry. Samuel Hadlock the younger cleared a large tract and engaged successfully in farming, but his first money was gained by a fishing-trip on the Labrador coast. There he dried his fish and then proceeded with them to Spain in a schooner of forty-eight tons, making a successful voyage and very profitable sale of his cargo. He then built a store on the west side of the island at Hadlock's Cove, where he did a good business in general merchandise. He died on the island at the age of eighty-four years in 1854, and his wife Sarah (Manchester) died in 1861 at the advanced age of ninety. Edwin, the youngest son of Samuel Hadlock, succeeded his father in business. He also built and commanded vessels, as had his father before him. The last vessel built at the island was named the Samuel Hadlock and commanded by Edwin for several years. She was a brigantine of 120 tons, and was finally wrecked off Cape Hatteras. The other sons of Samuel Hadlock were also seafaring men, and died or were lost at sea in distant parts of the world. His daughters married and moved away, excepting Abigail, who married Captain Samuel Spurling of Great Cranberry Island. Edwin died on the island in 1875, and his sons William Edwin and Gilbert Theodore then conducted the business on a larger scale. They greatly improved the wharves and buildings, and sent vessels to Labrador, Grand Banks, and other distant fishing grounds. They also engaged in mackerel and herring fishing nearer home.

Colonel William Edwin Hadlock, the oldest son of Edwin Hadlock, was born at Little Cranberry Island in 1834, and was educated in the Winthrop School of Boston and the Classical Institute of Yarmouth, Me. After some years of business life in Portland he returned to the island to engage with his father in the ship stores and fishing business established by his grandfather. He was elected to the legislature of Maine in 1861, and served as a member of the House in the session of 1862, and was then commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 28th Regiment of Maine Infantry. After a year's service at the front, in which Colonel Hadlock distinguished himself for ability and personal bravery, he was obliged to retire from the army because of impaired health, and again resumed his business at Cranberry Isles. He was twice elected senator from Hancock County, and was chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in the sessions of 1872 and 1873. In 1876 he was again elected to the House of Representatives. Colonel Hadlock has for many years maintained an influential position in the affairs of his native town, and to his enterprise is largely due the development of the island and village of Islesford.

Gilbert T. Hadlock, another son of Edwin, was one of the builders of the Life Saving Station established at Islesford in 1879, and served as the first keeper. Captain Hadlock held this position for several years, and then resigned to establish a steamboat route among the islands. He holds a medal from the government for heroic service in the saving of life. Captain Franklin Stanley succeeded Captain Hadlock as commander of the Life Saving Station, and with his efficient crew of hardy surfmen has prevented many wrecks and brought much credit to the service. Harvey Denning, the youngest son of Edwin Hadlock, chose the legal profession, and was employed in important cases in Bucksport and Portland, and later in Boston, New York, and Washington. He was a man of marked personality, who died suddenly in Boston, in the height of his power, on the 13th of April, 1897.

The 200 acre cranberry marsh on Great Cranberry Island influenced Governor Bernard in 1762 to name the town, which is composed of this and four additional islands: Islesford, Baker, Bear, and Sutton. Sutton was purchased by Ebenezer Sutton in 1755.

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