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THE IDOL'S CURSE
Charles and Ruben Hill were ship owners and merchants engaged in the China tea trade of the 1800s. Charles was a ship captain and, according to one account, he did more than trade tea. He is said to have, lived in China for many years, although his home was here in Naples, many attribute the building of that country's first railroad to his efforts. But the escapade that got the brothers into deep deep trouble - and brought on the curse- took place shortly before 1900 when the Chinese order of " Righteous and Harmonious Fists" was attempting to oust foreigners from their land in upheaval called the Boxer Rebellion. The brothers, who had a reputation for bold if not outrageous behavior, took advantage of the mayhem in China by forcing their way into a temple at coastal Tientsin Province and making off with the taller than life statue with clasped hands and quizzical smile on its gold enamel lips. No ordinary statue, the intricately detailed carving wears a coat of tarnished gold armor apparently made from textile lacquer over wood. It has a helmet-like topknot, and 10 small carvings of Pekinese dogs decorate its body. A professor of history at the University of Southern Maine who examined the photographs of the statue, Dr. Craig Dietrich, says the figure probably depicts an alms giver, or guardian. "It may have represented a person who had given to the temple," he says, 'Though more likely it is an abstract figure, perhaps a guardian supplicating a Buddhist deity. In any event the brothers rushed the guardian off to their ship, along with two or possibly three other small figures depicting people. It was' also said that the brothers stole $300,000 worth of rare jewels from the temple in the process. An alternative to that story was that the jewels were concealed inside the statue, and were discovered by Charles and Ruben months later in Naples when they unpacked their pilfered statuary. However they obtained the jewels, the brothers wasted no time spending the money. Against all objections of family, Charles tore down the old family homestead above long lake and used much of the $300,000 booty to build a 16-room mansion and a sprawling carriage house. The structure stood three stories high and, in the style of the Maine connected farmhouse, just seemed to go on and on. Mrs. Bea Mitchell remembers, "It was magnificent! I was rather small at the time but remember there was five entrances all going to the main hall." Right in the center of the hallway for all to see, the brothers placed the enormous stolen statue. But the two had precious little time to enjoy the palace they called Belvue Terrace and as tragedy after tragedy struck tenants of the place and townspeople became convinced that priests of the pilfered temple had placed a curse on the brothers and everyone else who would live in the mansion. Charles Hill probably died first. Or the two may have been slaughtered together. In one version of the tragedy the two returned to their Chinese temple for more booty, were recognized by the temple priest and summarily murdered. Another version was that Charles sickening with fever while traveling in China, then dying on his way back to the US in a hospital in Yokohama, Japan. In that version Ruben also dies, this time in an automobile accident in the early years of this century. Fearing the power of the Chinese statuary, heirs of the estate apparently removed the massive statue from their hallway and gave it to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The smaller statues were, legend has it, tossed into Long Lake and never seen again. The statues were gone but the grisly events did not stop. . The house sold at the turn of the century to John White, a Legislator and retired Lawyer who lived out his life and apparently escaped the curse. Ms son Charles was not so lucky. Charles was a writer and a poet. He published a book about Casco Bay and Portland called " By the Sea". He also built log cabins and cottages, before he died by the sea- murdered on the Portland waterfront. Passing into the hands of Charles Soden and his Wife, the mansion was renamed "the Hayloft". In summers it was opened as a restaurant-antique emporium for tourists, and Helen Dingley remembers it well. She spent winters there, between 1934 and 1936, When she was studying art in Portland and her parents were caretakers of the place. " The main house" says Mrs. Dingley, widow of Naples Historian Robert Dingley, "was all filled with antiques like canopy beds and that good stuff. They had a carriage house too, and the barn was a tea room. It was a beautiful place to live. But bad luck, or some would say the curse, caught up with Charles Soden and he hanged himself. The house passed on to Philip Clark and his wife. The Clarkes wanted to divest themselves of the curse when they threw out its old place name and renamed it " Serenity Hill". To this day townspeople refer to this property above Long Lake as Serenity Hill, and life was indeed serene there until one cold night in February of 1951. A fearsome fire engulfed the entire mansion. It destroyed all the buildings but the carriage house and killed Philip Clark. His body was found in the basement. Ms wife Dorothy died in a mental hospital. For nearly 30 years after the fire no deaths occurred. But serenity Hill became known all over as a dance hall of some infamy. It was run as such for many years and eventually closed. Next a church group bought it in the 1970's. The Pastor put his mobile home on the old foundation. He and his wife divorced and moved away. The next group to take it over held services in the carrage house and was a going church but it soon disbanded and the church moved."nbsp; In 1998 it was a mini golf course and restaurant. Again for sale. The managers son died of leukemia. The members of the Historical Society at the time believed that the statue belonged in the tiny museum behind the church. Bob Dingley made it one of his top priorities and, as it turned out the temple sculpture had only been displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts for only a few years. The curators there said they would be willing to part with the relic if the heirs of the original donor gave permission. Largely through Mr. Dingley's efforts, permission was given and in 1970 or 71 He brought the statue back from Boston himself This impressive 7 foot, wood and plaster, statue is now deteriorating in the "little" museum behind the church. There is a fund for restoration and donations go into it as well as other restoration projects.
This article was originally written by staff writer Lloyd Ferriss, of the Maine Sunday Telegram, November 29, 1987. 1 added the recent information as needed. |
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