Flyrod Crosby

Cornelia Thurza Crosby was born on November 10, 1854 in Phillips, Maine. An avid outdoorswoman, her fishing successes earned her the nickname “Fly Rod” Crosby and led to her recognition as Maine’s first licensed guide.

“Fly Rod” converted to Catholicism while convalescing in a Catholic hospital. She raised the money for the chapel by traveling and soliciting her many contacts in the sporting community for her project, eventually raising the necessary $5000. She credited the success to her patron saint, Saint Anthony. 

From a story in the Bangor Daily Commercial on Jan. 10, 1907,
“On the spot where the chapel is to be erected, there was not so long ago only a blazed trail….and Miss Crosby first passed over this route, when a girl out on a hunting expedition....Today the Portland and Rumford Falls railroad has its terminal station within a stone’s throw of the place and school houses, stores and dwellings dot the large clearing there, while a good carriage road passes through from the Moosehead (Mooselookmeguntic) lake to the Rangeley itself, not far away.These things bring the chapel very close to civilization and to the scores of sportsmen who spread all over the region ... within easy reach of the new church.”

Cornelia Crosby died on November 11, 1946, a day after her 92nd birthday. She is buried in Strong, Maine, next to her mother, father and brother. On the occasion of her death, the Rangeley Record said, “Rangeley has lost one of its most famous people and America has lost its most famous woman sportsman. May her soul rest in peace.”