The
A definition from the Dell Encyclopedia of Cats by Barbara Hazen….
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To qualify for a Maine Coon, it has to be like the above, and either born
in the State of
The Maine Coon cat is the only true American cat.
It is an offspring of the hardy shorthaired cat brought in by the early
settlers breeding with Captain Coon’s longhaired cats.
The first longhaired kittens to appear in a litter of kittens were called
Coon’s kittens.
The story which I have written begins when Captain Coon was a cabin boy
named Tom Coon before he had earned the distinction of being Captain of an
English sailing vessel. His love for
the longhaired cat continued over his many years of sailing the seas.
Lida
E. Choate
04074
The picture on the front is the Tarbox farm home on the
In the main barn were haylofts for the storage for hay for the winter
months. When I was growing up, our
farm barn was a living home for the farm animals.
This farm was sold in 1946, and is no longer used as farm property
At the foot of our farmland about one-eighth of
a mile is a body of water which shows on
The
Origin of the
Papa
would say to me, “so you love Coon Cats and Kittens.
I do too. Do you know how the
first Coon Cat and Kittens got into our barn?”
Of course I said, “No, but I want to know.”
Our barn was the home of many Maine Coon Cats
and Kittens. The special mother or
kitten was the Money or Lucky Cat or Kitten.
She would have large patches of orange and black on her back and white on
her underside. Her face would be
one-half deep orange and one-half black, we would call it a blaze.
Her nose would be a delightful pink and her under chin and front paws
would be the whitest white: The fur
would flow like a judge’s ascot. Her
eyes, reflecting a know-it-all expression, were like deep pools of amber.
So many times I have watched my father milking a
cow sitting on the milk stool and the steady rhythmic zing of milk striking the
pail with the force of a bullet. With
each educated pull of the udder, his head would press against the cow’s flank,
almost like a caress. Sitting
directly to his left and back of the cow forming a line would be a Coon Money
Cat, the mother with her half grown Coon Kittens, looking like statues watching
him intently as my father milked cow after cow.
Every so often with a move that was deftly made, he would aim the mild at
the waiting cats faces, yes. Then
they would take a few minutes for groom-up time, and sit and wait until it was
their turn again. The cow would be completely milked and stripped in about five
minutes. Then, papa would move to
the next cow, and the cats would move with him.
My father milked like a machine with no protest from the cow, and that is
an art, my friend. I might add that
I learned to milk a cow when I was so young that I believed I was born know how
to milk a cow.
I am going to turn back many years and tell you
about how the first Maine Coon cat and her kittens came to our barn.
My father’s grandmother told him that her mother was Mary Haley, but
everybody called her Molly, and her father was Jonathan Tarbox.
Molly’s parents owned the adjoining Haley farm.
The Tarbox farm and the Haley farm are both beautiful homes today.
The Haley house has had many stories written about it, talks of early
Indian encounters.
Jonathan and Molly walked through the fields
picking mayflowers, lady slippers, and violets which grew in abundance.
They would always end up their jaunts by going back to Jonathan’s
house.
They would seek out Jonathan’s father and
inquire of him if there were any new kittens in the barn.
If there were, his father would take Jonathan and Molly to where the
kittens were, and he would explain, “now these are newborn kittens.
They will not open their eyes for about ten days, they will be fully
dependent on their mother for about six weeks.
Do not disturb them because the mother cat will hide them from us”.
Jonathan and Molly agreed to keep it a secret.
At the foot of the Tarbox farm there is a body
of water known as “The Pool.” This
is from the
As my father went on with his story, according
to his grandmother, an American sailing vessel, the Glen Laurie, whose captain
was Enoch snow from
Tom Coon was thinking fast.
He just had to have this beautiful cat.
But how? Then he thought,
I’ll hide her I my cabin. His
cabin was just big enough for his bunk with a drawer under it for his
possessions. A bible his mother had
given him was carefully wrapped I his well-laundered shirt along with his Sunday
suit. He also had a footlocker at
the foot of his bunk. Tom Coon just
had to sneak this beautiful long-haired cat onto the ship and into his cabin.
It would be a great risk. The
cat had snuggled into his arms and was purring.
So, Tom Coon caught some large ships cats, put them carefully into sacks,
and buttoned his pretty cat under his coat. It was late when the sailors
returned and they were too boisterous to notice.
They put Tom Coon into the dory with his gunnysacks.
Tom Coon got his special cat into his cabin.
He carried part of his meal and anything else that he could find from the
galley into his cabin for the cat. He
had never been so happy since he shipped on this vessel.
At night he would cradle his beautiful cat in his arms and think while he
listened to her steady, melodious purr. As
the days passed, he kept his secret, but he noticed that his precious cat was
making a nest in his footlocker. One
morning when he got up, his cat was not curled up in her usual place on his
bunk. Tom almost panicked with fear
that he had lost his cat, so he first checked his footlocker.
There was his beautiful cat with three wee wee baby kittens plying their
tiny paws into her stomach, nursing the mother cat.
Tom was overjoyed, but it complicated the situation.
He had to think of something. He
had never had a responsibility like this before.
Tom Coon’s mind was working overtime.
His beautiful cat with kittens so small he could cradle one in his hand
and completely enclose it… Tom put
this tiny bundle of fur close to his cheek.
He was living, for the moment, in ecstasy.
He would dream he would someday be a ship's captain, and all his s hip
cats would be beautiful longhaired cats.
Still, Tom Coon had to come up with a plan.
He finally decided to go directly to the captain and ask for his help.
This was a great decision. He
was so fearful that the captain would be angry and possibly take drastic actions
toward his beautiful cat and her kittens. The
time must be right. His plan must be
well prepared. So, each night he
would rehearse it with his beautiful mother cat and her babies.
With a wee baby kitten cradled in one hand and running his fingers
lovingly along the mother cat’s back, he would tell her of his plan.
She would open and shut her eyes as if nodding her complete approval, and
with all kinds of ideas chasing around in his head he would fall asleep.
The weeks passed quickly and the kittens were
now rolling over and playing with one another, still in the footlocker.
They were always listening for Tome Coon to appear.
He would pick each kitten up, press it to his cheek tenderly and
carefully, and whisper to it, “you dear, dear little babe.
I just have to get a home for you. The
best home in the whole world, where you will get plenty of good, rich cow’s
milk, all you want to eat, and a warm place to live with someone who will love
you just like I love you.” The
kitten tucked in his hand would look directly into his eyes seeming to say,
“you will, Tom Coon, you will,” and Tom Coon would say aloud, “I will, I
will.” My mother used to tell me,
“Where there is a will, there is a way.”
So Tom Coon decided that tomorrow would be the
day he would go to Captain Snow with his big problem.
When he awakened, he was excited and his heart was pounding.
He said a prayer asking God’s guidance and help.
This was Sunday, and on the Glen Laurie Sunday was a special day.
Captain Snow held services, which the sailors were welcome to attend.
Tom Coon sat silently in the corner until
Captain Snow had finished reading from the Bible and announced, “Here endeth
the services,” then repeated the benediction.
Tom Coon prayed for God’s help and walked up to the captain.
In his most mature voice he said, “Captain Snow?”
Captain Snow replied, “Yes, Tom Coon?”
Then Tom said, ‘I need your help.”
Captain Snow said, “I am ready to help you, what is your problem?”
Then Tom Coon poured out his whole story, how he had stowed h is
beautiful cat in his cabin, and about her kittens born in his footlocker.
As Tom Coon talked he was so engrossed that he hardly noticed that
Captain Enoch Snow, who was looking down on him, was such a giant of a man.
He was about six feet three inches tall, his kind face was lined as if
etched by the salt sea spray, and his brown eyes were like bottomless pools that
seemed to penetrate into the very soul of mankind.
When Tom Coon had finished, Captain Enoch Snow gently laid his large hand
on Tom Coon’s shoulder and softy said, “it’s OK, Tom Coon.
You see, in a couple of weeks we will be sailing into
As my father talked on, my child’s mind saw a
picture of Tom Coon giving his beautiful long-haired cat and her three kittens
to him, and the Coon Cat and her three half-grown kittens sitting waiting for a
zip of milk were the coon cat and Coon Kittens he was telling me about.
Now while I am telling you this, Papa’s story
of the Maine Coon Cat and Kittens, he told it to me sixty years ago.
And, while I am reminiscing, sitting watching me is my Maine Coon Cat, a
beautiful large orange male with a bright pink nose and a flowing white bib,
with large double paws. He must be a
descendant of the Tom Coon Kittens born on the Glen Laurie.
April 1979
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Requires regular grooming
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Friendly with children
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Good-natured
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Healthy and robust
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Active and playful
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Efficient mouser
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Moderately quiet
The Maine Coon is an old American breed whose
ancestry traces back to the cats brought to the northeastern
Maine Coons are large-boned, solidly built cats.
They tend to mature slowly. Their
heavy, shaggy coats, will-tufted “snowshoe” paws, and busy tails are ideal
for harsh climates. Maine Coons
require regular grooming, but their coats are less inclined to mat than most
other long-coated breeds, except during heavy-shedding periods.
The breed comes in practically every possible cat color or coat pattern.
They are friendly and devoted (most love to hug), and males of the breed
are reported to be more affectionate than the females.