Family Folklore Or Just Tall Tales?

By Philip L. Bourdon
We all grew up with family folklore, stories that captured the personality and quirks of our relatives, while sometimes giving us a taste of our local history. They ranged from whimsical accounts of playful Aunt Ellen to the outrageous and peculiar behavior of Uncle Bob. Of course, the best stories were seasoned with a few shakes of embellishment, giving them a little more flavor and “oomph.” However, some of the stories may be more accurately classified as tall tales, stretching the limits even of our most eager desire to believe. For me, there was one family story that I had, with resignation, relegated to my personal scrap heap of “Who are we kidding?” subjects.

The story was one of the many that I heard from my Dad about his Father, Eli E. Bourdon of Claremont, New Hampshire. Grandpa Eli was a colorful personality who had a distinctly unique life; a man who chose markedly different paths from the proverbial crowd. One story, though hard to swallow, was difficult for me to disregard because it encapsulated who my grandfather seemed to be. It also portrayed him as heroic, and we all want that in our family pedigree.

We were told that Grandpa Eli grabbed hold of two runaway horses in the middle of a busy street in Claremont and single-handedly pulled them away from the crowd into a blacksmith’s stable, preventing serious injuries or even death. Yet I’ve wondered if even John Wayne in all his cowboy glory would try to film something as dramatic as that. However, if you allow me to tell you more about Eli Edward Bourdon of Claremont, New Hampshire, you just might say, “I still have my doubts, but if anyone could have done that, he could.”

Eli E. Bourdon was born in 1873 in Woodstock, Vermont. His father, Leander Bourdon, was a French-Canadian immigrant from outside Montreal who went on to fight in the Civil War out of the Vermont Regiment. His father became an alcoholic, perhaps as a result of enduring horrific suffering at the infamous Andersonville Confederate prison camp in Georgia.

Once because of his anger during a drunken state, Leander threw his son out of the house when Grandpa Eli was only about 13. It was still winter and in order to survive the frigid Vermont weather, Eli broke into a funeral home and took refuge by sleeping in a casket that night. They eventually reconciled, but even at this young age, Eli E. Bourdon realized that he would need to depend on himself and carve his own path.

Like so many in those days, he dropped out of school at a young age. He had developed a powerful build and took work in physically demanding jobs in factories (he was about 5’7” and weighed 160 lbs). He even took a turn as a shoemaker. He developed his body to such an extent that in the early 1890s he became a professional wrestler in the middleweight division. Those were the old days when professional wrestling was still essentially legitimate (like in boxing a fix was always a possibility). Of course, it helped to have some personality and color in your style, but wrestlers were still overwhelmingly “shooters” and not simply entertainers like they have been for so long (“shooters” as in “straight-shooters”). Some articles from period newspapers describing his matches will be quoted below. Yet, allow me in the meantime to create in your imagination the unique and entertaining character that was Eli Edward Bourdon.

Grandpa Eli seemed to have a propensity to choose what to most were unpopular beliefs and stands, ones that were often met with criticism and opposition. He was never half-way about anything, living with a sense of purpose and passion. Yet, behind it all was a man for whom character and values were the defining motivation.

It was one thing to choose a unique career such as professional wrestling, but in the late 19th and early 20th century he chose beliefs that were perceived by almost all as radical, ones that simply went against the common mores of society. The most dramatic stance he took was that became a socialist. At his core he was a free thinker who was committed to his beliefs and values no matter what it cost him personally.

Regarding socialism, it was much more than some theoretical political position for him. It was born out of his own experience as well as observing others in the struggle of the “working man” and how often the majority of them were exploited by big business which built its fortune on the backs of their expendable bodies. In his days, most employees in manufacturing jobs worked between 60-70 hours a week for minimal pay (many for seven days a week).

However, in the 1920s, there was an increasing concern and fear regarding communistic totalitarianism that was occurring in Russia, which later became known as “the Red Scare.” So, for his support of socialism, he was sometimes tagged as a “Bolshevik.” He actually took a stab at running for elected office as a socialist. In 1928 and 1932 he ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress and then in 1934 for governor of New Hampshire . However, he found out that the Granite State wasn’t quite ready for a socialist and he only received between 110 and 284 votes in these elections.

His political views greatly influenced my Uncle Earl Bourdon, who became well known not only in Claremont but in New Hampshire. Earl was a negotiator for the United Steel Workers of America, Sullivan County AFL-CIO president, New Hampshire Labor Council national board member and on the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee. He also became an advocate of seniors’ rights and the Earl M Bourdon Center stands as a testimony of that. Indeed, Eli E Bourdon’s influence still lives after him.

Despite his lack of a formal education, Eli E. Bourdon was an avid reader and true self-taught man who was familiar with classic English prose and poetry as well as history and political theory. He used to correspond with Clarence Darrow, Jack London, Upton Sinclair as well as socialists Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas. He became a skilled and proficient chess player (he taught my dad who later became a rated chess expert). I was told that he also once had lunch with the former world champion boxer and famous personality, African-American Jack Johnson over in Bellows Falls, Vermont Johnson was a man who certainly knew what it was like to face opposition for his choices.

I was told that he also became an atheist. Regarding spiritual beliefs, I sensed that what he did not like was what he saw as the lack of independent thought in religion as well as the willingness of so many to forget the teachings of peace and brotherhood to support war. I also think that he simply was too practical a man to accept the stories of supernatural events.

In those days public speaking was an art that attracted large large crowds and was essentially a popular form of entertainment. Being someone who professionally went head to head with other men in the ring, he seemed to relish debates. I remember many years ago seeing a photo of him in a suit involved in a public debate in a town square. The bottom line for him was the conviction that in America every person had the right to express his/her views.

Yet what seemed to be most important in my Grandfather to my Dad was his commitment to being a “straight shooter”, a man of your word who gave it your best no matter what the cost and no matter what the crowd was doing. Dad told me many times how Grandpa Eli would tell him, “If you’re digging in a ditch, do your best, even if all the others are leaning on their shovels.”

After his wrestling career ended, he promoted both wrestling and boxing matches. Over the years he was able to attract nationally known boxers and wrestlers, including world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis, a wrestling immortal. He was able to give the local people great entertainment and attract highly rated professionals because of the way he conducted his business. His motto was, “If you don’t keep your word and do your best for the boys who fight for you, they won’t satisfy the customers who pay their good money for an honest bout.” (from the Claremont Eagle, 12/5/1944)

One story that I loved to hear from dad was how one night there was a quick and unpopular result in the boxing main event. A lot of money was lost on bets and talk rapidly spread that there had been a fix and that perhaps the promoter had profited by it. In the dressing room Grandpa’s friends told him that trouble was brewing and that there was a crowd that wanted his hide. They suggested that he should make a break for it out the back door. For Eli E Bourdon, that was not a possible option.

He told his friends, “I have no reason to hide or run away and nothing to fear. It was a square fight and I’m not about to back down.”

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Grandpa was the most powerful man in the building, but what motivated him was if he had run a show that was legitimate, he had nothing to apologize for. So, despite the anger and “heat” in the crowd, when he walked out of the dressing room, he put his shoulders back and held his head high. In fact, he walked more slowly and deliberately than normal so that he could look the men straight in their eyes. He said in a loud and distinct voice, “Hello boys, thanks for coming out.” With the most aggressive looking ones, he extended his powerful hand to give theirs a shake, saying their name and thanking them. He accurately anticipated that they would not resist that. The men, who had been crowded closely together, literally stood aside to let him pass through. So, besides his courage to stand up for himself, he clearly knew how to influence people.

Of course, there were other stories regarding his strength. One was that Grandpa placed his heels and head on two chairs and was able to support a 200 lb man carrying a 70 lb weight on top of him (I was pleased as that story was confirmed in an article focusing on him from the Boston Globe 9/24/1900 which noted quite a few of his feats of strength). Yet I still had no way to validate the story of the runaway horses.

However, I recently discovered, through the library of Congress and the University of Vermont, quite a few newspaper articles online describing the promotion of Grandpa’s wrestling matches as well as the results. Each of these was from over a hundred years ago and what a great thrill it was to find them. Let me share some of them with you.

I found an article in the Barre, Vt. Daily Times of 10/21/1908. It described the results of a bout between Grandpa Eli and a younger New York opponent at the local opera house before 700 people “including ladies” (apparently although women weren’t yet allowed to vote for their favored political candidate, they were free to root for their favorite wrestler). Grandpa was able to defeat the younger, “skilled wrestler” because of his “greater strength”in two out of three falls. Above the article was a studio photo of grandpa Eli in the common front biceps pose, the energy of it accentuated with his shaved head.

Besides reading about skilled wrestling, I enjoyed the lively writing abilities of the reporters. One, from the Barre Daily Times in 12/1908 described how the “strength, skill and endurance displayed by the two clean-cut athletes aroused no little enthusiasm in the crowd present.” The reporter also stated regarding the opponent from Marlboro, Massachusetts that it was “clearly evident that he was out of his class” because of Bourdon’s “years of experience.”

In the many articles from other Vermont newspapers, Grandpa Eli won the overwhelming majority of them, but there were two in which prominent opponents were able to defeat him. There were a number of challenges and responses made by the wrestlers given through the newspaper which added drama and interest for future bouts. Overall, in both Vermont and New Hampshire it was clear that for many years Eli E. Bourdon was a well-known and highly touted grappler as well as later on, an active and successful promoter.

However, in a couple of articles in December 1895 (Grandpa would have been 23), it was apparent that the then-young wrestler whipped a couple of men somewhere out in the street which ended in him being arrested and arraigned for “assault and threatening.” It stated that he did plead guilty to the charge. It was interesting that the article also stated that Wm E Johnson and G.A. Davis “appeared to urge the clemency of the court and asked for a fine to be inflicted” (instead of jail time, I assume). Though as a young man Grandpa’s temper got the better of him, it was pleasing to see that he had friends who supported him.

However, I did begin with discussing a family tall tale that seemed more than a bit exaggerated, didn’t I? Near the end of my reading about forty articles was one from the Woodstock, Vermont newspaper, Spirit of the Age dated 07/27/1907 (My Dad would have been just one month old at the time, while Uncle Earl was not born until 10 years later). I’ll allow the article to speak for itself.

“Eli Bourdon of Claremont, New Hampshire, an athletic son of Leander, who is well known here, put his strength to heroic use the other day in stopping a runaway and probably saving several lives. A Claremont dispatch says:

‘A circus parade was coming down Tremont to Broad Street, when a pair of heavy horses attached to an ice wagon frightened by the elephants, ran away and were starting down the easterly side of Broad Street when Bourdon caught their heads and managed to turn them into the Sullivan House stables, where they were stopped. Bourdon, who is a powerful young athlete, had a narrow escape from death, but refused to accept any praise saying he was thinking of the children lining Broad Street.’”

As you might imagine, I was simply astonished that the tallest of all the Bourdon family tales, a story that I had hoped was true but honestly doubted, was confirmed in a newspaper, with even the details noted on which streets and direction it happened. Whose family folklore gets confirmed in the newspaper?

Of course, I’m biased as this was my grandfather (whom I never met). He certainly was a unique and interesting character, being a professional wrestler, a wrestling and boxing promoter, a socialist and an atheist. Yet where I heard the most feeling from my dad about his father was not about his beliefs or his athletic escapades, but in his character and his unwavering commitment to it being reflected in his life. For me, the runaway horses story fleshed out this commitment.

On that hot July day in 1907, one of those moments in life came, a challenge that appears where there is no time to think, consider or ruminate , no time to count the cost or perhaps to even reconsider. It was one of those moments when who the person is inside, his character, his courage and his spirit is forced to be disclosed by circumstance. In this case, it was revealed right in front of the whole town. I’m proud to say that Eli Edward Bourdon’s character was tested and proven on that day, in those moments. If you still don’t believe it, you can look it up!