Marker for Maine Law Enforcement Officer Killed in the line of duty.

Killed in the Line of Duty

This is the story of the death of Game Warden Lee Parker in 1927. The history of the Warden Service provides context.

Ryan Jahn

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Photograph of Maine moose taken in 19th century

Bibliography

“Murder of Game Warden Parker Stirs Aroostook.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), September 3, 1927, p. 1.

“U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of registration card for Lee H. Parker, June 5, 1917.

“1900 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for George Parker, 1900.

“1920 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for Lee H. Parker, 1920.

“Murder of Game Warden Parker Stirs Aroostook.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), September 3, 1927, p. 1.

“Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922.” Ancestry.com. Digital image of the record of marriage for Lee Herbert Parker and Alice W. Doughty, August 18, 1909.

“1920 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for Lee H. Parker, 1920.

“Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922.” Ancestry.com. Digital image of the record of marriage for Lee Herbert Parker and Alice W. Doughty, August 18, 1909.

“U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current.” Findagrave.com. Lee H. Parker. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180717420/lee-h-parker.

“Harry Wood on Trial for Murder Unmoved by Testimony Given.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 7, 1927, p. 8.

“Murder of Game Warden Parker Stirs Aroostook.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), September 3, 1927, p. 20.

Moon phase information from Moongiant.com, https://www.moongiant.com/phase/09/02/1927/.

“Harry Wood on Trial for Murder Unmoved by Testimony Given.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 7, 1927, p. 8.

“Harry Wood Tells His Story of Night When Parker Was Shot.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 8, 1927, p. 7.

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Inflation data from https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/.

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Sneddon, Rob. “Introduction.” Life and Death in the North Woods by Eric Wight, 1985. Down East Books edition, 2014, p. 11.

“Warden Service History.” Maine Warden Service. Warden Service Documents. Paper 4, 1989. http://digitalmaine.com/warden_docs/4.

Sneddon, Rob. “Introduction.” Life and Death in the North Woods by Eric Wight, 1985. Down East Books edition, 2014, p. 10.

Wight, Eric. Life and Death in the North Woods, 1985. Down East Books edition, 2014, p. 25.

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Ives, Edward D. George Magoon and the Down East Game War: History, Folklore, and the Law. University of Illinois Press, 1993, p. 56.

“Warden Service History.” Maine Warden Service. Warden Service Documents. Paper 4, 1989. http://digitalmaine.com/warden_docs/4.

Sneddon, Rob. “Introduction.” Life and Death in the North Woods by Eric Wight, 1985. Down East Books edition, 2014, pp. 13-15.

Ives, Edward D. George Magoon and the Down East Game War: History, Folklore, and the Law. University of Illinois Press, 1993, p. 255.

“Warden Service History.” Maine Warden Service. Warden Service Documents. Paper 4, 1989. http://digitalmaine.com/warden_docs/4.

Wight, Eric. Life and Death in the North Woods, 1985. Down East Books edition, 2014, pp. 29-30.

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Associated Press. “Game Wardens to Go on Full Time Pay.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), February 25, 1928, p. 1.

Wight, Eric. Life and Death in the North Woods, 1985. Down East Books edition, 2014, p. 33.

“Maine, U.S., Birth Records 1715-1922.” Ancestry.com. Digital image of the record of birth for Harry A. Wood, July 9, 1950.

“1900 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for James Wood, 1900.

“U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of registration card for Harry Alfred Wood, September 12, 1918.

“1900 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for James Wood, 1900.

“1910 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for Sylvester Wood, 1910.

“Maine, U.S., Birth Records 1715-1922.” Ancestry.com. Digital image of the record of birth for Harry A. Wood, July, 9, 1950.

“Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922.” Ancestry.com. Digital image of the record of marriage for Harry A. Wood and Mrs. Minnie Smith, December 1, 1906.

“Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922.” Ancestry.com. Digital image of the record of marriage for Harry Wood and Lenora Newton, April 27, 1910.

State v. Wood, no. 225. State of Maine, September 1910.

“Harry Wood Tells His Story of Night When Parker Was Shot.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 8, 1927, pp. 1, 7.

State v. Wood, no. 15. State of Maine, November 1928. From the indictment of Harry A. Wood.

State v. Wood, no. 15. State of Maine, November 1928. From Harry A. Wood’s petition for the exhumation of the body of Lee H. Parker, April 27, 1928.

Chew, Stephen L. “Myth: Eyewitness Testimony is the Best Kind of Evidence.” Association for Psychological Science, August 20, 2018. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/teaching/myth-eyewitness-testimony-is-the-best-kind-of-evidence.html.

“1900 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for Charles Hodgdon, 1900.

“U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of registration card for George Lora Hodgdon, June 5, 1917.

“Criminal Docket.” The Aroostook Times (Houlton, ME), November 21, 1906, p. 6.

“Maine, U.S., Marriage Records, 1713-1922.” Ancestry.com. Digital image of the record of marriage for George Lora Hodgdon and Gertrude E. Pomeroy, May 29, 1912.

“1930 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for George Hodgdon, 1930.

“U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current.” Findagrave.com. Barbara Alice Beckstrom. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/165946681/barbara-alice-beckstrom.

“1930 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for George Hodgdon, 1930.

“U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current.” Findagrave.com. George Loren Hodgdon. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161343868/george-loren-hodgdon.

“U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current.” Findagrave.com. Gertrude Hodgdon. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161343914/gertrude-hodgdon.

“Murder of Game Warden Parker Stirs Aroostook.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), September 3, 1927, p. 20.

“Harry Wood on Trial for Murder Unmoved by Testimony Given.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 7, 1927, p. 8.

Pajón, Laura and Walsh, Dave. “Examining the Effects of Violence and Personality on Eyewitness Memory.” Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law: An Interdisciplinary Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 24, no. 6 (2017): 923–935. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2017.1327313.

“Harry Wood on Trial for Murder Unmoved by Testimony Given.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 7, 1927, p. 8.

“Wood Pleads Not Guilty at Houlton.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 6, 1927, p. 3.

“Harry Wood on Trial for Murder Unmoved by Testimony Given.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 7, 1927, p. 8.

“Harry Wood Tells His Story of Night When Parker Was Shot.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 8, 1927, p. 7.

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“Wood Held Without Bail for Murder of Warden Parker.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), September 5, 1927, p. 1.

State v. Wood, no. 15. State of Maine, November 1928. From Harry A. Wood’s petition for the exhumation of the body of Lee H. Parker, April 27, 1928.

State v. Wood, No. 15. State of Maine, November 1928. From a letter written by Frank H. Jackson to Judge Charles P. Barnes, September 12, 1928.

State v. Wood, no. 15. State of Maine, November 1928. Approval found in a letter written from Herbert T. Powers, attorney for Harry Wood, to Judge Charles P. Barnes, August 13, 1928.

“Harry Wood Tells His Story of Night When Parker Was Shot.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 8, 1927, p. 7.

Shrestha, Rijen; Kanchan, Tanuj; and Krishan, Kewal. “Gunshot Wounds Forensic Pathology.” StatPearls Publishing, July 20, 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556119/.

“Harry Wood Tells His Story of Night When Parker Was Shot.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), December 8, 1927, p. 7.

Guns & Ammo Editors. “Winchester Model 1894—‘Gun Stories.’” Guns & Ammo. March 20, 2019. https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/winchester-model-1894-gun-stories/.

“Murder of Game Warden Parker Stirs Aroostook.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), September 3, 1927, p. 20.

State v. Wood, no. 15. State of Maine, November 1928. From a report filed December 3, 1928.

Robbins, Allan L. "Information Regarding the Maine State Prison, Thomaston, Maine 1824-1953.” Maine Bicentennial, 123 (1953), pp. 4-6.

“Union Scales of Wages and Hours of Labor 1927-1928.” U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin no. 476 (February 1929), pp. 9, 16.

Robbins, Allan L. "Information Regarding the Maine State Prison, Thomaston, Maine 1824-1953.” Maine Bicentennial, 123 (1953), pp. 4-6.

Pardon, no. 47. State of Maine, October 3, 1934. From Harry Wood’s petition for pardon, March 13, 1934.

Pardon, no. 47. State of Maine, October 3, 1934. From a letter from the Secretary of State to J. Frederick Burns, April 23, 1934.

Pardon, no. 47. State of Maine, October 3, 1934. Newspaper clipping published in unknown newspaper on May 17, 1934.

Pardon, no. 47. State of Maine, October 3, 1934. From an undated, unsigned vote count sheet.

Pardon, no. 47. State of Maine, October 3, 1934.  From a certificate of pardon acknowledging Governor Louis J. Brann granted a pardon to Harry Wood. October 4, 1934.

Pardon, no. 47. State of Maine, October 3, 1934.  From a letter written by R. E. Thurston and addressed to Robinson C. Tobey. October 6, 1934.

Robert Tweedie in conversation with Dr. Kimberly Sebold, March 2022.

“1930 United States Federal Census.” Ancestry.com, in association with National Archives and Records Administration. Digital image of census records for Winnifred Parker, 1930.

“$16.65 Weekly for Wife of Murdered Game Warden Parker.” The Bangor Daily News (Bangor, ME), October 3, 1927, p. 2.

Wight, Eric. Life and Death in the North Woods, 1985. Down East Books edition, 2014, pp. 33-34.

Smithsonian Office of Educational Technology. “Decoding the Past: The Work of Archeologists.” Smithsonian Education. http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/decoding_the_past/puzzle.html.