We're walking through the small town of Washington, Maine.

Yeah, we are. And it's a really small town, too.

Population just over 1,500, as of the last census.

We're in the area of Stickney Corner, which is as close to a downtown as we're going to find here in Washington.

There's a gas station and a

convene store. A few spaced out houses, small used car dealership, but not much else. Still,

this is our starting point. So we'll end up somewhere else on this one, right? Yeah, yeah. We're

going to have to travel out of New England to see how this one plays out, but I promise it'll be worth it. However, this, right here, Washington, is where it all started. We're searching for a legendary main outlaw named Elmer J. McCurdy. Hmm. I don't know if I've heard of him. Well, to be fair, Ray, he wasn't the best outlaw. Plus, he made more of a name for himself in death than he ever did in life.

Ray, we've come to the town of Washington to see the origins of Maine's outlaw mummy.

Hey there, I'm Jeff Belanger.

Welcome to episode 428 of the New England Legends podcast. And I'm Ray Osher. Thank you for joining us on our mission to chronicle every strange legend in New England one story at a time. If you've heard a legend about a ghost monster, UFO, old eccentric, or roadside auditing you think we might like. Reach out to us anytime through our website.

Hey, big announcement, Ray. Yes. We're throwing

our annual bash for charity on Saturday, February 14th, 2026 at the Double Tree Hotel in Milford,

Massachusetts. Can't wait. We used to call it the zombie prom. Yes. This year we're renaming it,

a little bit of a rebrand to the freak formal in an effort to cast a wider net. So come dressed as any weird thing you want. You could be a zombie if you want, but you don't have to be. You can be anything you want. We know it's Valentine's Day. No need to bring a date if you don't want to. Come with friends. Come solo. We'll have a cash bar, raffles, games, DJ for dancing. This is always such a fun event. Check out our website or the show notes for a link,

and all proceeds go to benefit Project Just Because. They provide food, clothing, and even school

supplies to people in need. So come hang out and party with us for a great cause. We'll go searching

for Maine's outlaw mummy right after these words from our sponsor. Now, Jeff, when I think of mummies, I usually think of ancient Egypt. Yeah, me too. Or Middlebury, Vermont. Remember way back in episode 71, we went searching for the grave of Prince Aminere Kepashev. That's right. The remains of the young ancient Egyptian prince were buried a long way from home. Crazy story. So Maine has its own mommy? It does.

An old outlaw named Elmer J. McCurdy, who was born right here in Washington, Maine, January 1st, 1880.

New Year's Day. That's right. 1880 BC? No, no, no, no, 80, you know, about a century and a half ago.

Okay, got it. So here's a little more background on Elmer McCurdy. He had a rough start to his childhood. His mom was only 17 years old. Sadie McCurdy was her name, and she was not married at the time of his birth. His actual father is unknown, but there's speculation that his dad was Sadie's cousin, Charles Smith. Sadie's older brother George and his wife Helen adopted Elmer to save what was left of

Sadie's social standing.

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