The next day as Cullen "lay in state" in Barker's store, the locals were allowed to drop in and view the body of the evilest man ever to cast a shadow. It was said that several women stuck hat pins into Cullen as they passed by his lifeless body stretched out on boards laid across 2 barrels. No such act would ever have occurred to any one of them, but their hearts were filled with hatred for the worst act of violence about which they had ever heard. Along towards noon the county coroner, a Mr. Daniel Foster of Fort Fairfield, arrived at Barker's store. The coroner's purpose was to organize a group of locals in order to conduct an inquest. Foster appointed a jury of 6 members: James Phair, then living on Second St. (the house was later the home of Edna Smith right across the street from the telephone office on the corner of Second and Hall Sts....the house still stands, but has been modified several times since); Nathan Perry, who built the house on the SE corner State and Third (the house still stands); Francis Soule; B.B. Glidden, who owned property on the corner of Third and Church Sts.; Fred Barker, who built the house which was the rectory of the Episcopal Church (the old Thompson homestead) and H.B. Forbes, who owned a business next to Granville Hayden's store almost directly across from the Reed Hotel (present site of the Northeastland Hotel). That jury found the following:
"That the said James Cullen came to his death on the night of April 30th, 1873 by being hung [sic] by a rope around his neck, to a tree, in the Plantation of Mapleton, in said county of Aroostook, and that the person or persons who were engaged in or participated in said hanging, are to your jurors unknown." This was the conclusion of Coroner Foster after hearing testimony from Constable Hughes, Dr. Parker and a few others. The body was identified beyond any shadow of doubt. The coroner then ordered the body be buried that very evening. An inquest as to the murders of Hayden and Hubbard would follow in a day or two.
No one believed Cullen deserved a formal burial. The decision was to simply dig a hole in the village dump a short ways out on the Mapleton Road. Although the ground was still frozen, in that particular spot the earth would be warmed by the constant burning of waste through the winter months. Most believe the site was right off the north-south runway just off the old Mapleton Road; the new Mapleton Road was built sometime in the early '40's to accommodate new runways for the military which took over the airfield in 1940.
A group of volunteers arrived at the chosen site in the early evening, each carrying a shovel or a pickaxe. The hole was dug and the crude box which contained Cullen's body was lowered into the hole without ceremony. That box, ironically, was the same box which had been procured by Cyrus Hayden in order to bring his brother's body back from Swanback's camp before it was realized that the bodies had been burned to mere ashes. At the coroner's inquest Hayden allowed that the box be used to bury Cullen. Cullen lay buried until late October of that year, when, yet, another chapter of this gruesome story would begin to unfold, but not the final chapter.
That Friday, May 2nd, the funeral for Hayden and Hubbard was scheduled. Private services were first held at the home of Hayden. It's not known exactly where Hayden lived at that point; perhaps he and his family still lived on the Hayden homestead just a few miles from town on the Easton Road, perhaps not. Church services were to be conducted at the old Congregational Church on Church St. That church burned in a devastating fire in 1909 and was rebuilt the following year. The church was packed to capacity. It shall be assumed that services were also held for Hubbard; little reference to Hubbard is made by local newspapers.
Granville Hayden was a Mason and had attended the meetings at the Masonic Hall then located on State St. where the Burleigh home is today,.....practically across the street where the present Masonic Hall was built in 1941. A contingent of 100 Masons gathered at the Hall that day around noon and, together, marched to the church (up State, left on Third and then down to Church St.) in order to take charge of the funeral after the services. Thousands from P.I. and surrounding communities lined Main St. as the procession left the church, down Church St. and then proceeded left onto Main towards the Fairmount Cemetery. The funeral procession would take perhaps 40 minutes when all would gather to view the interment. In the local newspaper, "The Sunrise", dated May 7th, there is brief mention of Hubbard. However, one must infer that the procession included both bodies; it's certainly not clear when reading that, in fact, it was so.
It's been said for many years that the bones and ashes of Hayden and Hubbard had been placed into the same coffin. Recall that when Cyrus Hayden rode out by horseback to Swanback's camp to retrieve his brother's body, only bones and ashes along with a few personal items were found. It would have been impossible to distinguish between the
remains of Hayden and those of Hubbard. So, readers, it's quite plausible that at least a portion of Hubbard's remains was buried in the same coffin as Hayden's. I leave it to you to believe or not believe....it matters not.
Next week, another chapter in the saga of Jim Cullen. If you think Cullen had been buried for good, you're probably wrong. Stay tuned for next week's story, but not the final chapter. Thanks for reading "Forgotten Times"......it's a pleasure to write the column. I can assure you there's many more to come.