Part 2

We continue where we left off last week with our story about Malaga Island and some of its connections to South Portland. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a false science known as “eugenics” was gaining popularity. Eugenics theorized that people of different races had inherent genetic traits, such as intelligence. The now-debunked science was later used by the Nazis to justify their treatment of Jews, Slavs, and other people they saw as racially “different.” These prevailing scientific theories undoubtedly played a part in the removal of some of Malaga’s residents.

John and Sarah Louise Murphy. John Murphy, once known as the King of Malaga Island, later married Sarah Louise Moore Tyler in 1924 and they lived at 78 Pickett St. in South Portland. South Portland Historical Society photo

According to Marnie Darling Voter, the state of Maine sent a judge, doctor, and local sheriff to the island in December of 1911. They congregated at the home of two of the island’s residents, Jacob and Abigail Marks. Mrs. Voter maintains that the testing conducted by the doctor on the residents of Malaga was designed so that they would fail. The doctor had eight (some accounts say nine) of the residents committed to the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded (today known as Pineland Farms) despite the fact that most of these individuals had no intellectual or mental disabilities.

An article from the Daily Kennebec Journal dated Dec. 13, 1911, stated under the headline “Feeble-minded Members Of Colony Committed” states, “Judge James S. Lowell of the Sagadahoc probate court, today, committed the following feeble-minded persons to the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded, they being residents of the much-talked-about Malaga Island, at the mouth of the New Meadows river: James Marks, Etta Marks, Lizzie Marks, Lottie Marks, Abbie Marks, Mrs. Annie Parker.”

The other residents, about 45 individuals, were told that they had until July 1, 1912, to remove themselves and their possessions from the island. Some of these people were also sent to institutions while the others were left to fend for themselves. The remains of 17 people buried on the island were exhumed from the cemetery and placed into five coffins which were then reburied at the Maine School for the Feeble-Minded.

Among those sent to the School for the Feeble-Minded were Jacob and Abigail Marks and their children, Lottie, Etta, Izzie and a 2-year-old son James, as well as Etta’s son Willie. They were not permitted to bring any of their clothing, Bibles, or other possessions with them because these were considered “dirty.” The men and women were forcibly separated once they reached the institution. Jacob died soon after his arrival at the Maine School. James died at the institution around the age of 25 of tonsillitis. Abbie was released at some point, as was her daughter Lottie. Lottie was released at the age of 25 and Mrs. Voter believes that Lottie could have been sterilized since she never had any children of her own. Lottie lived to be 102 years old and had memories of her childhood on Malaga Island, but she had blocked out all of her memories from her time at the School for the Feeble-Minded. All of the remaining family members perished at the school. Today, a memorial bench for the Marks family sits on the grounds of Pineland Farms.

The John and Sarah Louise Murphy home at 78 Pickett St. in South Portland. The home was one of many that were demolished during World War II to make way for the Liberty Shipyards. South Portland Historical Society photo

An article from the Spokane Chronicle dated July 6, 1912, stated, “The inhabitants of Malaga island at the mouth of the New Meadows River below Portland, Me., are moving away and taking their homes with them. Some of the houses, which are one-story affairs little larger than an average-sized room, are being loaded on empty casks and towed upstream to their new locations by a power boat. Instead of a village on the island the colony has been changed to a village on the water. Many of the former inhabitants have not picked out another definite location yet and are living in houseboats off the shore of the island. The Malaga islanders are said to be indolent and shiftless and the state has obliged them to move where it can more easily exercise jurisdiction over them.”

Some of the former residents of Malaga made their way to South Portland. Ben Darling’s great-grandson George was among them. George’s son, William Franklin Darling, was Marnie, Carol, and Lorna’s grandfather. His son, William Everett Darling was Lorna and Carol’s father. He was one of 13 siblings. According to Lorna Kierstead, “Half of his siblings were fair and half had dark complexions.” Some of the family made a livelihood fishing in Casco Bay. Marnie, Lorna, and Carol are proud of their connection to Malaga Island. Recently-elected South Portland City councilman Richard Matthews, Marnie’s nephew, is also proud of this familial connection to the community that once called Malaga home.

William Franklin Darling’s home at 228 Front St. (the home no longer exists). William Franklin Darling was a descendant of the Darlings from Malaga Island. Etta Gregory Watts Collection/South Portland Historical Society

Malaga Island was never developed and no one has resided on the island since its inhabitants were evicted over 100 years ago. Today, local fishermen store their fishing gear and lobster pots on the island.

John Murphy: The King of Malaga Island

Historically, the best fisherman in a town or island was given the title “King.” Such was the case with John Murphy, the King of Malaga Island, who spent his later years here in South Portland, living at 78 Pickett St. and working at Portland Shipbuilding in Ferry Village. His death record from 1932 states that he was born in Bath, Maine, in 1874 and lists his occupation as “clam digger.” He left behind a wife and four children.

Murphy married into his “royal” status when he took Louisa McKinney as his first wife. Louisa passed away from typhoid fever in November, 1921. Her father, James McKinney, had been the island’s previous King. A lengthy article in the Aug. 21, 1911, edition of the Lewiston Evening Journal described “King McKinney” and his kingdom at length. He was listed as “white” and his home was described as the best-kept residence on the island.

A year before the inhabitants of Malaga were forcibly removed, an article printed on Aug. 7, 1911, mentioned John Murphy: “Called the King of Malaga, [John Murphy] is undoubtedly the most intelligent and the only self-supporting inhabitant of Malaga. He owns his own motorboat and makes a good living lobster fishing and taking summer visitors sailing and fishing … Murphy is a genuine white man, a Yankee that came from a respectable family up the Kennebec, but who somehow drifted to Malaga. He is the father of three children, all boys. His wife is a good-looking negro woman.” His obituary stated he was, “one of the few squatters on Malaga Island who could read and write. He was a lobster fisherman on the New Meadows River many years when he married the daughter of James McKenney [sic] and become ‘Crown Prince’ of the island. Eventually he succeeded his father-in-law as ‘King.’”

South Portland Historical Society continues to search for other connections between our city and the descendants of Malaga. If you have information related to this topic, please contact the society at sphistory04106@gmail.com or 207-767-7299.

Seth Goldstein is development director for the South Portland Historical Society and also serves as the director of the society’s Cushing’s Point Museum. He can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com. South Portland Historical Society volunteer Jackie Dunham provided research for the column.