Mystery #1
Does anyone know how to really spell this man’s name? Sometimes it’s Pomroy. Sometimes it’s Pomeroy. Depends on which monument you look at and who you talk to. So, I’m just going to go with the spelling on his grave monument. Makes sense, right?
Mystery #2
Kids or no kids? Again, it all depends on who you talk to. Some say no, some say he had a son and a daughter named Eva and Thomas. I really don’t know and can not get a straight answer.
Mystery #3
Did this man of mystery have a manor, a mansion or a cottage. I mean the pictures say one thing (you’ll see), but again, wherever you look it says something different AND it depends on who you ask.
The original Pomroy cottage/manor/mansion. See what I mean? This is not my photo. I found it at the website printed on the top of the image.
Mystery #4
Clairvoyant????
Dr. Tom was born in 1832 in the smallest corner of the world in an itty bitty town in Downeast Maine. He was named after his older brother who died over a decade prior to his birth. (A little creepy, but who am I to judge.) He was the 6th of 10 kids. (I want to say “Yikes!” ….but I wont.)
As a young boy, he preferred scampering through the woods and being in nature, finding different plants and herbs to mess around with. (Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. No….Stop it.)
He would collect berries, plants, bark, all the good stuff and would mix it all up into this kickass tea and call it a remedy. But of course, a parent is going to kick and scream and yell “you’re on drugs!” or “get a real job.!” something to that effect and made him throw it all out. No one believed in poor Tom, even though he had this gift of healing and clairvoyancy from a very young age. Did they appreciate it? NO. Was he encouraged? Nope.
What’s a boy to do?
I mean, his Uncle Ben,(No, not THAT Uncle Ben) was a physician and a druggist, so it’s not like he was going out on the longest limb on the tree here.
He eventually grew into a young man (didn’t see that coming, did you?) and got a job at the Ironworks as a puddler (turned pig iron into wrought iron) and as a brick mason. While he was working the jobs expected of him, Tom was still learning what he could of herbs and natural remedies from Passamaquoddy locals and was eventually able to say “SEE YA! I HAVE A GIFT AND I’M GOING TO USE IT!” With a little help from his friends of course.
Dr. Pom(e)roy, with his gift of gifts would slip into a clairvoyant trance and while holding a personal item from the patient, would diagnose whatever ailed them. He was even able to treat them with his herbal remedies. His wife and/or his niece, depending on who lost the coin toss, would record the trance for him since he would have no memory of it.
He gained such a massive following that he set up shop in New York and also treated in Canada and London. (I told you, I’d be someone someday Mom and Dad!) Well. In 1887, Dr. Pom(e)roy was charged for practicing without a license (can’t this guy catch a break) in New York. He also published a book that same year titled “Clairvoyant Reminiscences and Herbal Recipes” (This is available if you look hard enough, you can’t just summon it. You’re not Pom(e)roy).
Two years later, Dr. Pom(e)roy was licensed as an Eclectic Physician in New York and continued to do what a determined man with a rare gift would do. Use it to the best of his ability no matter how many people had tried to hold him back. (YEAH! DO IT, DOC! YOU KEEP DOING WHAT YOU DO!)
In case it’s not obvious, I love this guy.
He loved his hometown so much, that he would leave his fancy schmancy New York/London lifestyle and return for the summer every year. In 1897-1898 he built what was to be known at Pom(e)roy Manor, high on a hill looking over the river and the Ironworks where he used to work. I’m sure as kind as Dr. Tom seems to be, he definitely would NEVER look over at the Ironworks and think to himself, “see this? Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh baby!!!” No. I think, Dr, Tom probably looked at the Ironworks and thought to himself, “I did it. I made it. Because I BELIEVED IN MYSELF AND I WORKED HARD. “ But what do I know. I didn’t know the man.
As luck would have it, the Manor burnt in 1946. The only remaining part of the manor was the ‘pool house’ which was moved to the street below and is currently being lived in. The foundations and the bandstand (yes, a bandstand. This guy knew how to party!) are still there. Even the concrete slabs that used to be the home of his lion statues are there (not the lions tho. Those were stolen because the world is full of putz’s). The ground is REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLY soft and there are fire ants taking over, but hit it just right and don’t be a damn fool and you will find yourself amongst what used to belong to one of the most interesting people ever to inhabit the earth.
I feel like since he lived to be 93 years old in the 1800s to the early 1900s, he must have known a thing or two about health and how to treat ailments. Think about it.
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