Page 32 - John Anderson

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Anderson, Samuel Dow wrote John and said, "I have found God's
country. The hunting is good and the chances for a young man to
show his grit and nerve were never better. “Come on!” he wrote, and
John, being a true outdoorsman, arranged for a visit late in 1875 with
his cousin Sam at this secluded wilderness called Halifax Country.
John Anderson visited the New Britain colony and as anticipated by
Samuel Dow, was smitten. John soon returned to Portland, Maine
and made arrangements to terminate his employment with the First
National Bank of New York, put his personal things in order and begin
a new adventure in “God’s Country.”

In 1876, at the age of 23, John Anderson moved from Portland,
Maine to the colony of New Britain with his friend Charles Fox and
temporarily moved in with his cousin Samuel Dow. The three young
men lived in Dow's palmetto shack located on the corner of the
James Francis' property on the mainland riverfront until they could
secure a fitting parcel of land to begin their own orange grove and
cabin.

The men eagerly explored the area and soon found an 80-acre piece
of property on the peninsula that the owners were more-than willing
to sell. The story goes that Samuel Dow and John Anderson, while
looking for land on which to start an orange grove, sailed over to the
peninsula in the Old Tom Cat and began their search. As they walked
through the woods along the Halifax River
they heard the unusual sound of
women weeping. When they
investigated, both men were
surprised to discover two
women sitting precariously in
a pine tree, on an improvised
platform, built fifteen feet
above the ground. Nearby
were two unfinished crude shacks, and
the weeping women told the men that a few
nights before a prowling bear had gotten into the cabin in which they
were sleeping and terrified them half-to-death. Their husbands were

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