The Great Gold Swindle of Lubec, Maine (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781626190085)

In 1897, a stranger named Reverend Prescott Jernegan arrived in Lubec and made a bold claim: he could extract gold from seawater. To do so, he used so-called accumulators of electrically charged rods in iron pots. Fooling many, he actually hid the gold beneath a wharf in the Bay of Fundy during the night. He and his accomplice, Charles Fisher, preached with fervent enthusiasm as they built their factory and encouraged inspections, which reversed doubters to greedy high-stakes investors. Hundreds of laborers accelerated factory expansion until July 1897, when Jernegan and Fisher fled. Although residents of Lubec attempted civil and criminal action, both men relocated, and fantasies of gold wealth flowed away. Relive the excitement, disappointment and anger of turn-of-the-century Mainers in this collection of accounts about the Lubec gold hoax.

Author: Ron Pesha
ISBN-10: 1626190089
ISBN-13: 9781626190085
Publisher: History Press
Language: English
Published: 04/16/2013
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.60d