The mysterious ‘Hermit of Monson’ may have smuggled opium out of Maine in the 1920s

Bangor Daily News

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The mysterious ‘Hermit of Monson’ may have smuggled opium out of Maine in the 1920s

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in August 2019. He moved to town in 1895, taking up residence in a cabin on Lake Onawa, about 8 miles from the Piscataquis County town of Monson. Nobody in town knew where he came from or why he chose to live in the Maine wilderness. One thing was almost certain, though: Jim Whyte was hiding from something. Whyte, known as the Hermit of Monson for the 30-plus years he lived in Maine, is the sub…