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 Osier.

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 a roadside auditing you think we might like, reach out to us anytime through our website.

We'll go searching for Maine's outlaw mummy right after these words from our sponsor.

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

Kepachev. 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 cousin, Charles Smith. Sadie's older brother George and his wife Helen

adopted Elmer to save what was left of Sadie's social standing. Now, Elmer's adoptive father,

George, died from TB in 1890, and that's when Elmer's birth mother, Sadie, and his adoptive

mother, Helen, moved to Bangor, Maine. That's when Elmer's birth mother, Sadie, and his adoptive mother, Helen,

...