2011 Kennebec Valley Edition

Volume 8, Issue 2

Maine’s History Magazine

The Founding Of

Sigma Kappa

Sorority has long-standing ties to Maine

Honoring Clair Goodblood

Veteran of “the forgotten war”

Wallace Nutting: American Preservationist Extraordinaire

Minister, photographer found inspiration in Maine’s history

FreeFree

DISCOVERDISCOVER

MAINE2011

www.discovermainemagazine.com

Greater Kennebec Greater Kennebec

Valley RegionValley Region

— Greater Kennebec Valley Region —Discover

Maine2

~ Inside This Edition ~4 Charles Heywood

The boy Colonel from Watervilleby James Nalley

8 Del Bissonette: “Goin To The Show”Winthrop baseball player had a colorful careerby James Nalley

11 Gardiner’s Johnson HallDetermination and desire of the community has kept the hall aliveby James Nalley

14 Hussey’s General Store“If we ain’t got it, you don’t need it”by Penny S. Harmon

17 Wallace Nutting: American Preservationist ExtraordinaireMinister, photographer found inspiration in Maine’s beautyby Charles Francis

20 John L. Stevens: The Golden Hour Is NearFirst owner of The Kennebec Journal and foreign minister to the Kingdom of Hawaiiby James Nalley

23 Henry Herbert Goddard And The KallikaksVassalboro psychologist recognized as the father of intelligence testing in Americaby Charles Francis

25 Togus SpringsOne man’s folly becomes a home for veteransby Penny S. Harmon

29 Graveyard Hunting In GardinerWhat stories are told on those old headstonesby Penny S. Harmon

32 The Genealogy Corner: Tracing Mayflower Ancestryby Charles Francis

35 The Story Of Hazzard ShoeA famous name in shoes throughout the Northeastby Charles Francis

38 The Founding Of Sigma KappaSorority has long-standing ties to Maineby Charles Francis

42 Maine’s Own Lanteigne FamilyFive generations call Maine homeby Aimee Lanteigne

46 What Happened To The Judge?Judge with summer home in Belgrade disappeared in 1920by Penny S. Harmon

48 Freeman KnowlesFlaming Socialist by way of Harmonyby Charles Francis

54 The Waterville JuggernautUnlikely contender in 1944 New England tournamentby Charles Francis

58 The Cascade Woolen MillEnd of an eraby James Nalley

61 Honoring Clair Goodblood, Medal Of Honor RecipientVeteran of “the forgotten war”by Charles Francis

66 A Tale Of Two TeamsLawrence and Skowhegan High School girls of 1991 and 1912by Aimee Lanteigne

71 Sebastian Rale: I Pray My Work Will Save These Souls”Jesuit missionary directed the Abenaki mission on the Kennebec Riverby James Nalley

75 Walking Through Railroading History In Northwestern MaineTrain lover has collected much memorabiliaby Ian MacKinnon

77 Camp SpencerNorth woods POW camp used prisoners for lumber productionby Erick T. Gatcomb

79 Directory Of AdvertisersSee who helps us bring Maine’s history to you!

Published Annually by CreMark, Inc.

10 exchange Street, Suite 208Portland, Maine 04101

(207) 874-7720

[email protected]

PublisherJim Burch

Designer & editorMichele Farrar

Advertising & Sales ManagerCesario Rodriguez

Advertising & SalesTim MaxfieldCraig PalmacciEric Stinson

Office ManagerLiana Merdan

Field RepresentativesGeorge TatroAndrew Burch

Contributing WritersCharles Francis

[email protected] T. GatcombPenny S. HarmonAimee LanteigneIan MacKinnonJames Nalley

Discover MaineMagazine

Greater Kennebec

Valley Region

Front cover photo:Trolley station at Vassalboro

(File #112657 from the Eastern Illustrating & PublishingCo. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org)

All photos in Discover Maine’s Greater Kennebec Valley edition show Maine as it used to be, and many

are from local citizens who love this part of Maine.

Photos are also provided from our collaborationwith the Maine Historical Society and the

Penobscot Marine Museum

Discover Maine Magazine is distributed to fraternal organizations, shopping centers,

libraries, newsstands, grocery and convenience stores, hardware stores, lumber companies, motels, restaurants

and other locations throughout this part of Maine.

NO PART of this publication may be reproduced without written permission

from CreMark, Inc. Copyright © 2011, CreMark, Inc.

SubSCRIPTION FORM ON PAGe 65

Maps supplied by Galeyrie Maps &Frames, and are available for reprint at Galeyrie.com. See their ad on page 25.

— Greater Kennebec Valley Region —

DiscoverMaine 3

Notes From The Fayette Ridgeby Michele Farrar

Acouple of years ago I dropped mysatellite TV service. I had been laid offfrom one of my jobs, and had to cut

expenses. It was a bit of a shock at first — Ireally enjoy television. It didn’t take me long

to get creative, however. Iknew there were many showsavailable on the internet, aswell as several options forwatching movies “instantly.”

So I decided to hook mylaptop up to my TV. Soundseasy, I thought. I went online

to find out what I needed for equipment.After browsing many informational articles, Ifinally found what I needed, and ordered thepart. When it arrived two days later, I spentsome more time browsing internet videos thatprovided instructions on how to connecteverything. Several hours later, I was watchingstreaming video on my television.

My old friend Bob, who lives up here on theridge, came over one evening after I was allhooked up. We watched several networkshows. Many shows are available online, butyou have to wait until the next day to watchthem. No problem. Sunday shows becomeMonday shows, Monday shows become Tues-

day shows, etc. The first thing Bob noticedwas the length of the shows. A 30-minuteshow was now 22 minutes. A 60-minute showwas now 43 minutes. Some sites have com-mercial breaks, but it’s usually two 30-secondcommercials in the spot. Some servers withpaid subscriptions offer no commercials at all.Bob was thrilled.

About a year after making the transition tointernet TV, I took a trip to Virginia with mydaughter. We stayed in a hotel and watched“regular” TV. To our amazement, we werenearly unable to follow a show because of theincredible amount of commercial interrup-tions. We started keeping track. The predom-inant pattern was eight minutes of show, fiveminutes of commercials. We scratched ourheads and realized we had “unlearned” howto keep it all straight. We couldn’t wait to getback to our internet TV.

Of course, you can now watch televisionshows through DVR (or it could be DVD,DVD±R, DVD±RW, DVD-RAM — who be-sides a technician could keep all that straight?),which, although I’ve never had it, I believe al-lows you to skip commercials.

Recently I visited my friend Penny in Mas-sachusetts. We spent much of the weekend

watching TV. It’s hard not to do this at herhouse. She has a giant HD TV (I think it’ssomething like 56 inches), and she has everyoption available. There’s a premium cablepackage, “On Demand,” a Blu-Ray player, andsome other stuff I just don’t understand. Shehas three remote controls on the coffee table.One night after she went to bed, I spent about30 minutes trying to switch from a movie backto “regular” TV. I made it halfway there — Iwas unable to figure out the guide, so I couldonly “surf ” one channel at a time. The wholeexperience made my internet TV look fairlyprimitive. Yet, I was anxious to get back to thesimplicity of it.

When I got home, my friend Bob came overand I told him all about it. He has basic satel-lite and doesn’t watch much TV anyway. (Uphere on the ridge, satellite is your only option.There is no cable or fiber optics.) We found ashow from a couple of years ago that neitherof us had seen (most likely because it aired atthe same time as something else we liked), andwe had a marathon, watching 23 episodes overseveral days. Come open water fishing season,this will not happen. But for now, while thewoodstove is still burning and we’ve got the“winter lazies,” it’s most enjoyable.

Dyer’s Soda BlastingJim dyer, owner/operator

Eco friendly paint stripping and surface cleaning

Using Baking Soda or Crushed Glass

Marine • Auto • Motorcyclebrick • Stone

And more, CFMI

(207) 666-8386 • 504-1803www/DyerSodaBlast.com

Garage Doors & Electric Operators

Vienna

• Sales• Installation• Repair

491-0778 • 293-2334

Over 15 Years Experience

Phillip Pillsbury, Owner

Licensed & Insured Complete HydrauliC

JACKING & HOuSE MOVINGPAuL MuSHERO & SONS

Fully Insuredexcavation • Site Preparation

Foundations • Floors • Sill RepairsSteel Installation & Welding

Over 30 Years • Ask About Our 3 Year Guarantee

For Free Estimates Call Anytime Day or Night

800-453-2164 OR 453-9759


On March 8, 1862 a newly appointed captain in theU.S. Marine Corps was commanding the aft gundeck division on the U.S.S. Cumberland, a wooden

sail-powered vessel for the Union Navy. The ship was one ofmany patrolling Virginia’s James River near Hampton Roadsin search of Confederate vessels. After the ironclad C.S.S.

Virginia was spotted, the U.S.S. Cumberland was the first toengage the dangerous vessel with full force. Unable to steeraway in time, it was rammed by the C.S.S. Virginia and begantaking on water. As the sailors desperately abandoned the ship,the 23-year-old captain from Waterville, Maine, continued tofire the guns at the enemy ship, damaging its armor plates andsmokestack. At the last possible moment, he dove off thestern as the massive Union ship disappeared into the water.Subsequently promoted to major for his actions, the 23-yearold from Waterville would eventually become an influentialU.S. Marine Corps Commandant who helped transform thebranch of service into what it is today.

Charles Heywood was born in Waterville on October 3,

DiscoverMaine4

“Your Full Service CommercialMasonry Contractor”

BRICk VEnEER ~ BlOCk WORk

Fully Insured

933-2171 ~ 1-877-445-2171

Route 202 north Monmouth

Ed HodsdonMasonry

Santos Custom Builders•FreeEstimates

•FullyInsured

Pole Barns • Boat Storage

Buildings • Agricultural Buildings

Horse Barns • Riding Arenas

Storage Facilities

We Build the Best...and repair the rest!

Joe Santos474-8032

Skowhegan

bill Santos843-5265

eddington

Email: [email protected]

Lamoureux FloorSanding & Refinishing

Richmond, ME

(207) 737-4357 (800) 339-6921

All Wood FloorS

over 40 Years Experience

Commercial - residential

Fully Insured

Free Estimates

Thousands of historic Maine

images from over

100 collecting institutions

throughout the state

Order prints or digital files

Perfect for home, office or web

Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street,Portland ME 04101, (207) 774-1822

Vintage Maine Images is a project of the Maine Historical Society in conjunction with

contributing partners from throughout Maine.All proceeds benefit local history projects.

www.VintageMaineImages.com

B & B SepticTank Service

“Your #2 Problem Is Our #1 Business”Serving Kennebec, Lincoln, Knox & Waldo Counties

Owned & Operated by Tony Cowing

• Septic Tank Replacement• System Installation

• Risers, Covers and Baffles• 24 Hour Emergency Service

• Portable Toilet Rentals

445-4629160 Plummer Road, Palermo

Charles HeywoodThe boy Colonel from Waterville

by James Nalley

Col. Charles Heywood


1839. At the age of 18, when most youngmen would have graduated high school,Heywood was appointed as a second lieu-tenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and begana 45-year career as a decorated officer.From his appointment until the outbreakof the U.S. Civil War, he was stationed inWashington D.C. at the Marine Barracks,the New York Navy Yard, and performedspecial duties aboard the U.S.S. Niagara,and the U.S.S. St. Louis, where it wasbased in Panama, Central America. ByMarch 1861 he was assigned to the U.S.S.

Cumberland, and served with the ship inthe strategic destruction of the Navy Yardat Norfolk, Virginia, and at the Battle ofHampton Roads, where he performed hiscourageous act against the C.S.S. Virginia.

On August 5, 1864 the Union fleet (ledby Rear Admiral David Farragut) attackeda smaller Confederate fleet and three dif-ferent forts at the entrance to Mobile Bayin Alabama. In that strategic engagementknown as the Battle of Mobile Bay, MajorHeywood was in charge of two nine-inchguns and earned a special commendation

for his “distinguished gallantry in thepresence of the enemy.” After he receivedyet another promotion, this time to thebrevet rank of Lieutenant Colonel, heearned the nickname of “The BoyColonel,” according to Jack Shulimson inthe 2004 book, Commandants of the Marine

Corps.

After the U.S. Civil War ended, Hey-wood served as Admiral Farragut’s FleetMarine Officer, and received his “official”rank of major in 1876. During peacetime,he was assigned to a number of posts thatranged from Brooklyn, New York, to asfar west as Mare Island, California. Heeven commanded the Marine Barracks inWashington D.C., as well as 800 Marineswho were vital to the opening of thePanama Canal. In 1888 he was officiallypromoted to Lieutenant Colonel, andwithin three years was appointed toColonel and the 9th Commandant of theMarine Corps.

It was in this role as Commandant thatHeywood would become most influentialfor the U.S. Marine Corps as an important

branch of service. According to MarineCorps military history, “The energy, expe-rience and training which he had shownand obtained in his early days in the Ma-rine Corps were fully brought into playfrom the moment he assumed commandof the Corps.” Noticing that the MarineCorps were highly undermanned withonly 75 officers and 2,100 enlisted men,he filed his complaint into his annual re-port for the Secretary of Navy. In a No-vember 24, 1892, New York Times article,Heywood stated that, “the present smallforce is called upon for such varied em-ployment that it has been impossibleproperly to guard the Government prop-erty at navy yards, and the men are verymuch overworked, it being very rare thatthey have a day off while the men in thearmy never have less than five days offduty.” His annual complaints eventuallypaid off and the size of the Marine Corpswent from approximately 2,100 enlistedmen to 7,800, and the number of posts in-creased from 12 to 21 by the end of his tenure.

DiscoverMaine 5

(Continued on page 6)

Maine Roofing Service Specialty Metal & Copper Roofing

Asphalt Shingles1-800-924-6353

873-6353email: [email protected]

www.dhpinnette.comPO Box 307, Oakland, ME 04963

Est.1977

get your license.Tractor Trailer, Class a & B, Vehi-

cles & Motorcycles

SkOWHEgandRIVIngSCHOOl

FMI, Call 474-8524 or 1-800-281-0067

SkOWHEgandRIVIngSCHOOl

Not affiliated with any other driving Schoolestablished in 1984

Family owned & operated: Kevin Withee

206 Water St. • Skowhegan

Ron Stultz at

854-3702 or800-540-3702Fax 854-0261

639 Main Street, (Rt. 25)Gorham, ME 04038

OF GORHAM

.

Featuring Oak & Mahogany Furniture, Jewelry,

Pottery, Glassware, Fine Paintings & Prints,

Baskets, Books, Mirrors, Watches, Dolls,

Post Cards, Coins, Lamps, Maps, Linens,

Military Items, Banks, Old Tools, Etc.

FAIrFIEld AntIqUES MAll

route 201 - Fairfield, Maine

Tel: (207) 453-41002.5 miles north of i-95 exit 133

on Route 201-skowhegan Road

FivE FlOORs of Great Antiques

& Collectibles displayed by the

FinEsT AnTiquE dEAlERs

in the state of Maine

A unique and Fun Way to Shop!(something for everyone under one big roof)

Come In and See For Yourself!

• 30-day lay-away • FrEE Coffee and donuts• Gift Certificates • Plenty of Free Parking• All Major Credit/debit Cards Accepted

• We replace Curved Glass

Open 363 Days A Year, 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Closed thanksgiving and Christmas day only

www.fairfieldantiquesmall.com


Aside from the need for more man-power, he also created an improved sys-tem for promotion and commendationthat included officers’ training schools,regular examinations for promotion, andspecial medals such as the Marine CorpsGood Conduct Medal (which he de-signed). He also improved the overallfunction of the Marine Corps within theNavy and established better alignment ofranking systems between the two. In anOctober 29, 1901 article in the New York

Times, “He calls attention to the fact thatall the Bureau Chiefs of the Navy De-partment have the rank of Rear Admiral,which corresponds to that of Major Gen-eral in the army… and he requests thatCongress shall make the rank of theCommandant of the Marine Corps thatof Major General… (otherwise it) is em-barrassing to the position which would re-sult in his own promotion.” As predicted,he was immediately promoted and had be-come the first Major General in the U.S.Marine Corps. He served out his tenure

until his retirement on October 3, 1903.Eleven years later on February 26, 1915

Heywood died in Washington D.C., fromcomplications due to heart disease, andwas buried with full military honors at Ar-lington National Cemetery. Today, theheadquarters for The Basic School at

Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginiais appropriately named Heywood Hall andstands in honor of the “Boy Colonel”from Waterville who helped transform theU.S. Marine Corps into one of the top

military forces in American history.

DiscoverMaine6

(Continued from page 5)

Agent for Allied Van LinesAllied Van lines, Inc. u.S. DOT No. 076235

reliaBle, depeNdaBle

prediCtaBle• We Invite Customer Inspection of the Most

updated equipment & Storage Facilities

• local, long Distance & International Moving

• Detailed Free estimates

• Packing • Fireproof Storage

• Office, Display & electronic Moving

• a Family Operated Business Since 1947

BLANCHETTEMOVING & STORAGE CO.

(800) 371-742932 lexington St., lewiston Industrial Park, lewiston, Me (207) 782-7429

Marco

GrimaldiCONCReTe FlOORS

• Basement Floors

• Garage Slabs

• Modular Home Slabs

• Concrete Counter Tops

(207) 897-2479191 Warren Hill Rd. • Jay, ME 04239

Over 40 YearsExperience

Exceptional Products for Exceptional Results.435 Chain Saw

* Features: X-Torq® engine SmartStart® & Low Vibe®

* Air Injection™ removes up to 97% of debris before it enters the filter

* 41 cc. 2.2 hp, 9.3 lbs. without bar & chain, 16" bar

Price....$269.95

chase toys, inc.417 thorndike Rd. • Unity, Me 04988

207-948-5729

www.chasetoysinc.com

the atherton Furniture Store on main Street in Waterville is shown

in about 1905. the store opened in that location about 1902.

item #12828 from the collections of the maine Historical Society

and www.Vintagemaineimages.com


DiscoverMaine 7

swing into spring

special!

BUY YoUrGolF CArdtodAY And

SAvE $10

Discounts at over 120 golf courses, driving ranges and indoor golf facilities

throughout Maine, New Hampshire & the Canadian Maritimes.

to receive your savings use promotional code: dM

Order online lungne.org/golf or call: 1-888-241-6566 x 0306

A holE In onE For hEAlthY AIr

Give someone a special gift that will be enjoyed all year long...

A subscription to Discover Maine Magazine!

Subscription form on pg. 65

Or Call Today!1-800-753-8684

main Street, monmouth. item #108109 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and

www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

It was May 5, 1928, and the Brooklyn Robins(the future Dodgers) were playing the NewYork Giants. As the crowd cheered, a

Brooklyn rookie first baseman stepped up to theplate with the bases loaded at the top of theninth inning. This man was Del Bissonette fromWinthrop, Maine, and he was one of the topplayers in the National League, with an impres-sive batting average of .320 with 25 home runs in155 games, according to Baseball Almanac. As hetapped the bat on home plate, Giants managerJohn McGraw ordered pitcher Larry Benton tointentionally walk Bissonette. As he approachedfirst base, he had become only the third MajorLeague player to be intentionally walked with thebases loaded. This young rookie had a promisingcareer but after a heartbreaking injury, he wentfrom being a top player at “The Show” to a struggling minorleague player and coach for the rest of his career.

Del Bissonette, formally known as Delphia Louis Bissonette,

was born on September 6, 1899, in Winthrop.After spending some time at Westbrook Semi-nary, the University of New Hampshire, andGeorgetown University, he was noticed by base-ball scouts and signed his first professional base-ball contract at the age of 23 with the EasternCanadian League Class-B team, the ValleyfieldCap de la Madeleine. Recognized as a left-handedbatter and strong-armed first baseman, he was anatural hitter and accomplished high batting av-erages with great ease. By 1925, he signed withthe Class-A New York Penn League and batted a.381 average to the coaches’ amazement.

In 1927 at the age of 28, Bissonette signedwith the AA International League to play for the

Buffalo Bisons. It was on that team that he ex-celled enough where the National League’s Brook-

lyn Robins (Dodgers) noticed him. According to statistics byBaseball Almanac, by the time he signed a contract with the MajorLeague team the following year, he led the AA


Maine8

Ridge Road landscapingCommeRCial • Residential

Rockwalls • Retaining Walls • WalkwaysMowing Lawns •Installing Lawns

Planting and Pruning Trees and ShrubsLandscape Maintenance

Perennial & Annual Flower Beds (all types)

Spring and Fall Clean-UpsWe deliver mulch, loam, crushed rock & compost

We do all types of landscaping renovations

Robert Williams & Randy Beals761 Ridge Road, Bowdoinham

(207) 666-3691 • Cell 841-1664

Fully Insured ~ Free EstimatesMany References

OutsideStorage

available

1-800-696-6015

Exit 43Off295

24 Hour accessibility

K.d welding“From backhoes to buildings

K.d welds it all”

• portable welding

• residential

• Commercial

• over 10 yrs. experience

• Fully insured

• a.w.S. certified

Keith Kroesser

207-737-2499 • cell 841-7144

[email protected]

Jewett Builders

Jacking & Foundation ReplacementMoving • Sill Work • Excavation

582-1266www.jewettbuilders.com

The LitchfieldCountry Store

Fresh Meats • Fresh ProduceDeli Counter • Pizza • Fresh Baked Goods

Hot & Cold SandwichesGas • Propane Exchange

Open 7 Days

268-9910Corner of Rte. 126 and Hallowell Road

litchfield, Maine

Del Bissonette: “Goin’ To The Show”Winthrop baseball player had a colorful career

by James Nalley

Del bissonette

Ed Bouchard Electric, Inc.Master Electrician

837-3909Bowdoinham, Maine

[email protected]

• Over 25 years experience

• Residential

• Light Commercial

• Generator Installation

• Fully Insured


DiscoverMaine 9

d.B. IndUStrIESspecializing in demolition & steel Removal

dale Buteau

tel. 207-212-0189

148 Pond road

Wales, ME 04280

Licensed • Fully Insured

• vehicles

• Equipment

• steel structures

• loose steel

• Plant Cleanouts

• Fork lift service

• Ramp Truck service

• shed Moving

thE MEadOwsA Living Center for Seniors

P.O. Box 629, 433 Route 202,Greene, ME 04236

207-946-3007www.mainemeadows.com

Rebecca LaliberteProprietor

replacement parts and engines

Curtis Fox

BRIggS & StRAtton

HondA-tEcumSEH-RoBIn

mtd-muRRAy-mAnco

yARdmAcHInE-AyP-EHP

tRoy-BuIlt

207-933-417880 academy rd. • Monmouth, Me 04259

www.foxsmallengines.com

Fox Small engines STEVEnSeleCtriC & pump SerViCe iNC

24 HR

In Business Since 2002

Residential ~ CommercialPumps & Controls

Sales & Installations24 Hour Service

Confined Space Entry Certified

Maintenance Contracts Available

11 berry Rd, Monmouth, Me . . . .933-9638

Riverbend Campground

www.riverbendcampgroundmaine.com207-524-5711

Leeds, MaineFun Family Camping!!

Excellent Fishing

Boat Ramp Area,Large Waterfront Sites,Weekend Entertainment,

Activities and MORE!!

Riverbend Campground

Garden & Grill

“Where great people meet for good food.”

The Freshest seafood,Tastiest steaks and Mexican

dishes in the Area

377-8877357A Main street • Winthrop

International League with 168 runs, 229hits, 46 doubles, 20 triples, 167 RBIs, and31 home runs, all with a batting averageof .367.

As a rookie National League player, Bis-sonette continued to excel by hitting 25home runs in only 155 games with a bat-ting average of .320. A threat toany experienced pitcher (even as arookie), it was not a surprisewhen the Giants intentionallywalked him at such a crucial pointin the May 1928 game. Althoughhis batting average was down dur-ing the 1929 season, he was still awardedthe Gold Glove Award as a first baseman.By the 1930 season, he rebounded byscoring 113 runs with an overall battingaverage of .336. Unfortunately, that sea-son would prove to be his last productiveone as a Major League baseball player.

By the end of the 1931 season, Bis-sonette seemed to be in a slump. But as inthe past, he always rebounded by turningin high numbers and averages the follow-ing year. But he suffered a major tendon

injury that would sideline him for thecomplete 1932 season. With medical tech-nology not as sophisticated as it is for ath-letics today, he struggled to rehabilitateand his numbers continued to suffer. Dur-ing the middle of the 1933 season, he wassent back to the International League,

devastated but holding a five-seasonMajor League batting average of .305 witha total of 66 home runs. After severalyears in the International League and anuncertain future, Bissonette, under ad-visement from coaches, turned to manag-ing in the minor leagues instead.

In 1942 (after five years as a manager),Bissonette signed on as manager with theClass-A Hartford Club of the EasternLeague, which was the farm team of theBoston Braves. Using his experience, he

helped manage the team to 99 wins andthe 1944 Eastern League season pennant.Noticed by the head office of the BostonBraves, he was promoted to a coachingjob with the National League team. Hisfuture once again looked promising.

Bissonette served as a coach for 93games under the leadership ofmanager Bob Coleman during the1945 season. But with the Bravesstruggling in seventh place in theNational League, Bissonette re-ceived his big break: Coleman wassuddenly fired and Bissonette re-

placed him as manager for the remainderof the season. Unfortunately, the team,under his management, won only 25 moregames and lost a total of 34, whichprompted the owners to look elsewherefor Bissonette’s replacement. After theBraves hired Billy Southworth of the St.Louis Cardinals in 1946, Bissonette wassent to the Pittsburgh Pirates as a coachfor just one year. By 1947 he returned tomanage in the minor leagues with the


By the time he signed a contract with the Major Leagues in 1928, Bissonette led the AA

International League with 168 runs, 229 hits, 46 doubles, 20 triples, 167 RBIs, and 31 home runs,

all with a batting average of .367.

Portland Pilots with varying success andeven reached the AAA Toronto MapleLeafs in 1949. But he never managed aMajor League game again and eventuallyretired into relative obscurity.

Years later on a sunny day in June 1972,as the Major League baseball seasonmoved into its summer portion, Del Bis-sonette died from a self-inflicted gunshotwound in Augusta, and was buried atGlenside Cemetery in Winthrop. Perhapshe had reached his top of the ninth andwas ready to walk.

As stated in the Fireside Book of Baseball,

a short limerick by L.H. Addington im-mortalizes Del Bissonette, the all-timeleader in home runs for a baseball playerborn in Maine:

The Dodgers have Del Bissonette;

No meal has he ever missed yet;

The question that rises

Is one that surprises:

Who paid for all Del Bissonette?


Maine10


THOMAS

AGENCY

75 MAIn StrEEt

WInthroP, MAInE 04364

377-2122

rEAl EStAtE & InSUrAnCE

Home

Commercial

Auto

Umbrellas

Recreational Vehicles

Boats

We have the latest and hottest in the world of stamping, scrapping and paper crafting

• 14 years in business • Hundreds of Exclusive Stamp Designs available only at YMS• Scrapbook Papers • Templates • Collage Packages • Inks

• Address & Business Stamps • Extraordinary Stickers & Supplies • Stamp Library - use stamps here or “Check Them Out.” Great for Kids!

• Excellent Classes, Demos and Make it - take it.• Beautiful Ribbons & Fibers • Gift Certificates

168b Main Street, Winthrop, Maine 04364 • 207-377-4829Shipping Available • Hours: Monday-Saturday 10-4:30

Hoyt Hoyt ChiropracticChiropractic

CenterCenterdr. Michael A. hoyt, director

dr. richard Knipping (Associate)dr. lacaya hoyt

“Our Goal is Healthier Familiesin a Healthier World.”

• Thorough & Personalized Care• Office Hours by Appointment

377-21511354 US Route 202 • Winthrop, Maine 04364

Cape Hill Carpentry

• New Construction& Remodels

• Additions• Roofing• Decks• Wood Floors

Scott Banks: Owner

(207) 549-4798Cell: 350-0217

11 Cape Hill Road • Jefferson, ME 04348

Free Estimates • Fully Insured

Other businesses from this area are featured in the color section.

the lodge at Jackson’s Camps on lake Cobboseecontee.

item #114725 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


DiscoverMaine 11

Joe Curran Building

207-549-7689Cell 215-7104

Custom HomeBuilding

Remodeling

Renovation

215 Pittston Road • Whitefield, Maine 04353

Joe Curran, owner/operator

Fully Insured Nearly 15 years of experience

Performances, live music, theater, camps, community events, and more in

renovated first floor.

Performing Arts Center

280 Water Street • Gardiner, ME

207-582-7144

Historic 1864 Opera House

www.johnsonhall.org

Wendall’slaWn Care

Wendall Collins: Owner

• Over 15 years experience •

• small engine repair •

• small rototilling •

724-2125 • Cell: 215-2018West Gardiner, Me

Stamp-N-ScrapA Touch of Unique

^ Rubber Stamps

^ Scrapbook Supplies

^ Dream Weaver Stencils

^ Homemade Paper

^ Quilling Supplies

^ Classes

Decorate Your Books Or Journals -

We Have The Supplies!

207-582-45449 Old Brunswick Road

Gardiner, Maine(Across from Gardiner Federal

Credit Union)

hComplete Auto, Truck & Heavy equipment Repair

hEngine Diagnostics hAlignments & TireshAuto Air Conditioning hLube-Oil-Filter

hState Inspection Station

582-1500839 Brunswick Ave. (Route 201) hGardiner, Maine

FFleetleet SServiceervice“Don’t let the name fool you!”

On Tuesday, December 6, 1864, aGrand Ball was held in down-town Gardiner, Maine. Approx-

imately 500 guests attended the specialevening that consisted of a sumptuousdinner, live musical entertainment, and adance that went late into the evening. Ithad been a particularly difficult year forthe townspeople, and the evening pro-vided a welcoming and temporary retreat.The American Civil War was about toenter its fourth year with no end in sight,and the death toll of Gardiner’s volunteerUnion soldiers had reached 475. Locatedon Water Street, the venue was JohnsonHall, and afterwards it would continue tooffer a variety of entertainment for almosta century.

The building was a former livery stablelocated next door to the Johnson House

Hotel, which was owned by BenjaminJohnson, a longtime resident of Gardiner.After his announcement was made tobuild a facility for large gatherings andevents, he promptly had the stable re-moved and ordered the construction of afour-story brick building that could ac-commodate up to 1,200 people. Accord-ing to the Gardiner Home Journal’s

advertisement about the hall, it was astate-of-the-art venue complete with “hall,balconies, stage, dressing rooms, banquetroom, ticket office, and entrances fromboth Water and Mechanic Streets.”

Since the upper two floors consisted ofthe hall with all of its amenities, the for-mer stable and first floor of the buildingprovided additional revenue for Johnsonby serving as retail stores. After 1884 thevariety of stores ranged from dry goods

and pianos to sewing machines. For addi-tional glamour and notoriety, the hall’sname was changed to the Johnson OperaHouse on October 3, 1888 and had be-come one of the most popular multi-event facilities in the state. As written inthe History of Johnson Hall by Mary AnnOffer, “Performances in the 1880s in-cluded: The Minstrels of Lynn, Massa-chusetts; Methodist Society, Old FolksConcert; The Ella Hill Big BurlesqueCompany; Monarchs of Minstrelsy, theBarlow Brothers; Irish Vocalist andDancer Pat Rooney; Abbey’s Uncle Tom’sCabin Company, among many others.”Mary Ann Offer continues by stating that,“It should be noted that burlesque per-formances were advertised as being suit-able for ladies.”

Gardiner’s Johnson HallDetermination and desire of the community has kept the hall alive

by James Nalley



After the turn of the 20th century, twoevents had cast gloom onto the hall: Ben-jamin Johnson had died in 1902, and adevastating fire occurred in 1904. Ac-cording to an article in the Weekly Reporter

Journal dated December 30, 1904, “Firedamaged the first and second floors ofthe building, which included the drygoods store, offices and several guestrooms of the Johnson House. Damagewas estimated at $35,000.”

From 1902 to 1929 Johnson’s widow,Henrietta Loring Johnson, tried desper-ately to preserve the hall in its original de-sign and remained faithful to BenjaminJohnson’s wishes. But with the success of“talking pictures,” Henrietta Johnson hadno choice but to give in to her manager’sadvice and make dramatic changes to thetheater. The latest projection machine,along with center aisles and heavier chairswere installed, the balconies were re-moved, and the main floor was redesignedto pitch downward toward the stage. MaryAnn Offer writes, “The absence of the

balconies gives one a feeling of freedom,and a much higher auditorium.” After thesignificant renovations, the former“Opera House” had become a full-fledged movie theater that offered dailyand weekend showings for the commu-nity. The era of grand balls and live musi-cal shows had come to a bittersweet end.

As the Johnson Hall Opera Houseneared its centennial, it had struggled fi-nancially, and unfortunately closed forbusiness in 1959. According to Mary AnnOffer, “After the theatre was closed, thearea was used only as a storage room forthe variety store which occupied thedownstairs retail space. And it remainedthis way for (more than) 20 years.” Aftera brief revival in the early 1980s, it strug-gled once more to stay in the black andclosed its doors.

As the future for Johnson Hall lookedgrim, a group of community memberswith an interest in preservation formedJohnson Hall, Inc. in 1987, with the solepurpose of purchasing, renovating andmanaging the hall. It was purchased in

1988 and by 1991, with the help from do-nations and its status as a non-profit or-ganization; the first floor was completelyrenovated and transformed into a black-box theater that included a stage and 110moveable seats. Although the grandeur ofthe original theater was only a memory,the new theater was both manageable andfinancially sound.

Today, the facade is roughly the same asit was years ago and the windows havebeen fully restored. It offers a relativelyfull schedule of musical, dramatic andcomedy entertainment all year long. Mostimportantly, it stands as a shining exam-ple of determination and desire by com-munity members to preserve a structurethat was once a thriving entertainmentvenue. It remains one of the historic mon-

uments of Maine’s Kennebec County.

DiscoverMaine12


We are now a full service garden center with bulk materials,nursery stock, bagged goods, seed, bulbs, and much more.

• complete landscape service with materials on hand for purchase or complete install jobs

• delivery available on most materials

• limited design/consultation work for residential customers

special orders forunique plant

materials & gardensupply items

winGAtE lAndscApE colAndscApE dEsiGn / construction

contrActor

907 Brunswick Ave. • Gardiner, ME 04345

207-588-6146 • Fax 207-588-6180

[email protected]

New Location!

T&B TRAnsmissionseRvice

Specializing in Cars & TrucksComplete Automatic TransmissionServices Including Rebuilding & Repairing

Free Estimates

623-2784M-F 8-5

487 Hallowell Road • Chelsea

K.V.TAx SeRVICe, INC.

♦First Quality tax Returns♦competitive Fees♦E-Filing♦Serving you for over 50 years

582-4711 20 Kinderhook St.Randolph, mE 04346

Greg Dow, Owner

Specializing in Small Business and Individual Returns

Trussell’s Auto RepairOver 30 Years Experience

Foreign Or Domestic

Major & Minor Repairs

~ State Inspection Station ~

Brake & Exhaust Work

582-49121 Windsor • Randolph

www.TrussellsAuto.com

Free EstimatesOpen Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm

History withthe click of

a mouse

www.DiscoverMaineMagazine.com



DiscoverMaine 13

KENNEBECLawn Care

Jim Michaud • Owner

Fully Insured ♦ Residential ♦ CommercialMowing ♦ Hedge Trimming

Light Landscaping ♦ Driveway SweepingSpring & Fall Cleanup

592-0024P.O. Box 96 ♦ South Gardiner, ME 04359

Quality Used Cars & Trucks

24 HR. TOWInG & RECOvERy

PAyInG TOP$dOLLAR$

for junk cars & trucks

nATIOnWIdE LOCATInG SERvICE

582-25201-888-582-2520

Rt. 17 (23 Goodwill Drive), ChelseaTwo Miles East of Togus Gate

white’s autowhite’s autoNeW & uSeD AuTO PARTS

FOR MOST MAKeS & MODelS

You’ll drive a better bargain at...

Goggin’s268 Water Street • randolph • 582-3453

ONE STOP SHOPPING • 7AM-9PM 7 DAYS A WEEK!

Gardiner savingsfor all your banking needs

Open 7 Days

Community PharmacyMon.-Fri., 8am-7pm; Sat., 8:30am-2pm; Sun., 9am-1pm

588-2482

WE ArE hoMEtoWn Pr¤Ud

S&MRadiator King

“Established 1985”

• Full Service Auto Repair

• Air Conditioning Service

• Complete Radiator Repair

• Car, Truck, SUV

258 Windsor Rd. • Chelsea

582-1790 • 1-877-582-1790

Laundromat • dry Cleaning • Wash dry & Fold

26 Winter Street • Gardiner, ME 04345582-3800 • www.loadsoffunlaundromat.com

Come

See W

hat a

ll

Laun

dromat

s Sho

uld

Be Lik

e!!

LoadS

oF F

un

“You

r Full

Ser

vice

Laun

dromat

”

Kennebec light & Heat Co., Gardiner. item #100888 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


The sign in front of Hussey’s Gen-eral Store is unlike any other.“Guns, Wedding Gowns, Cold

Beer.” It cannot get any more general thanthis. In fact, you can get just about any-thing you need in the store. You can buya beautiful wedding gown, a frying pan,plumbing supplies, a fishing pole, meat fordinner, a washing machine, and even feedfor your animals — and not just the dogand cat. The fact is that this store reallydoes carry anything and everything.

Harland Hussey was the man behindthe store, and actually remodeled an oldstable in Windsor in 1923 to get it started.While he may have had the dream of op-erating a store and being his own boss, itcan almost be guaranteed that he neverthought that Hussey’s General Storewould become an icon in Maine.

DiscoverMaine14

rowell’sSelect Pre-owned Vehicles

feATuRinG A fine SeLeCTiOn Of PReOwneD VeHiCLeS fROM fLORiDA!

Credit Union Financing Available for Qualified Buyers!

20 Estes Ave., at the corner of US Rt. 2 & Rt. 152

Ell Hill, Palmyra, ME • 938-2144

www.RowellsAutoSales.comMon.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m. to Closing

Larry Rowell & Paul Vigue

LaundromatRt. 3 East

So. China

445-3422

Camper townSince 1992

384 Vassalboro Road • Rt. 32 N • South China • 445-3133

rV parts & repairs • Supplies • Hitches • awnings We cater to the needs of seasonal campers.

We come to you - at your location. We offer top quality portable shelters for rVs, boats, cars & trucks.

We also do work on mobile homes. We have handicapped

scooters and equipment on premisesOpen Year Round from 10am-5pm or Call for an appointment

Hosts: bob & Trudy

Hussey’s General Store“If we ain’t got it, you don’t need it”

by Penny S. Harmon

Open Monday through Saturday

7AM to 6PM

Sunday 8AM to 5PM

“if you can’t find it at Hussey’s,you don’t need it!®


My first experience with Hussey’s wasin 1985. A friend of mine was gettingmarried and was looking for the perfectgown. We’d been to several stores alreadyand nothing seemed right. When shementioned going to Hussey’s, I had noclue where we were going and what I wasabout to experience

When we first pulled into the parkinglot, I was even more shell-shocked. We’ddriven over 35 miles to the country. Ithought there had to be a mistake, espe-cially when I saw the building. It lookedlike an old country store, not anything likewhat I was expecting, and where someonewas going to find the perfect weddingdress. Entering the store, I was confused.Books, fishing gear, groceries, plumbingand heating supplies were found within.Upstairs, however, was another world, andit was here that the perfect wedding dresswas found.

As I had not been to Hussey’s before, Ithought I was bringing home a big secretto my family — that I had just discoveredthe most beguiling store in the state of

Maine. However, it was not so secret afterall. My mother told stories of how shewould go with her mother and father backin the 1940s and 50s to get supplies. Liv-ing in Woolwich at that time, it was quitea distance to go, but it was the best placearound to buy anything, including horse-shoes for their horses. They didn’t gooften, but when their list became longenough, the trip was on.

Harland and his wife may have startedthe store from an old remodeled stable in1923, but in 1954, they realized they hadto have more room. While others thoughtit was a risk, as supermarkets were justcoming to the forefront, he held faith thatit would all work out. In 2005 the Colby

Magazine of Colby College, from whereHarland’s son, Elwin, graduated in 1944,wrote an article in which Elwin stated,“My dad would say, ‘I would think therewould always be someone who wants tobuy a pound of hamburger and a poundof nails at the same time.’” Needless tosay, Harland knew what he was talkingabout.

Elwin Hussey, after serving for a timein the military, came back to the familystore. In fact, his military career led himto a great education in electronics. It onlyseemed appropriate that he bring hisknowledge to the store, and it was thenthat Hussey’s began selling televisions andother appliances.

As for the wedding dresses, Harland’swife, Mildred, wanted people in the com-munity to have options and not have todrive into the city to get what they needed.I, myself, am proof that her theoryworked. Even now, approximately 60years after the wedding dresses wereadded to the Hussey’s General Store in-ventory, they are still in high demand.

It wasn’t until Harland’s grandson, Jay,started to manage the store that the say-ing, “If we ain’t got it, you don’t need it”came into play. Jay put that slogan outthere and it stuck, and with good reason.If they don’t have it, you really may findthat you don’t need it after all.

Over 25 years have passed since I first

DiscoverMaine 15


SEt REntal inc.

Equipment & Tool Rental

for Contractors & Home Owners

“We Rent from a Shovel to an Excavator”

• Excavators

• Dozers

• Backhoes

• Masonry & Concrete

622-0007

548-0077423 E. Main St.

Searsport, ME 04974

622-00071011 Western Ave.

Manchester, ME 04351

R.J. Energy Services, Inc.

Fuel Oil & Propane DeliveryCommercial • Residential • Estimates

Complete Heating & Air Conditioning Systems

622-77202184 North Belfast Avenue • Augusta

www.rjenergy.com

YYoouurr HHeeaatt iinngg EExxppeerr ttss

Damon’sBeverage mart

~ Agency Liquor Store ~Discount Beer, Wine & Soda

Cold Cases, Cans & Kegs~ Open 7 Days A Week ~

623-986475 Bangor Street

Augusta

(Formerly Lou’s Beverage Barn)

White & Bradstreet, Inc.White & Bradstreet, Inc.Est. 1952

Reconditioned Heavy-Duty TruckRear Ends & Transmissions

New/Used Truck Parts & Trucks

1020 Weeks Mills Road • Augusta

622-2622 • 1-800-572-6199www.white-bradstreet.com

LoveweLL Logging

207-931-7900 - Josh207-931-8900 - Jay

Livermore, MaineChipping & TruckingFree Estimates & Fully InsuredReferences AvailableCompetitive Timber Prices

ExpErt tirE SErvicEroger obie: owner

“Trust your vehicle to the experts”

Open 8-6 Mon.-Fri.

Sat. 8-2

622-7656

91 Bangor St. • Augusta, ME


set foot in Hussey’s General Store. Theplace still holds the same charm for me.Whether I want to purchase a fishing rodas a gift for my son’s birthday or want thefixings for a special dinner, I know whereI need to go. While things have changed— such as deliveries that are now broughtin by the truckload, instead of on the OldNarrow Gauge Railroad and by horse —the history behind the doors of Hussey’sis right there in front of you. Ask anyoneyou know and it can almost be guaranteedthat they, too, have their own memories

of a trip to Hussey’s General Store.

DiscoverMaine16


1-800-464-7463 www.pineview1955.com

Pine View Homes has always been a family owned and orientedbusiness. Established in 1955, the original owners were Mr.& Mrs.Elmore Hustus. Eventually the corporation was sold to their daugh-ter and son-in-law, Anna & Stanton Ayer, who in 1994 sold it to theirson and daughter-in-law, Mike & Tracy Ayer.

Originally situated on 18 acres of land in Winslow, Pine View had19 park sites. Through the years, their park has grown to a mobilehome community of 45 sites, with providing single and double-wide lots.The park has ample sized spaces with picnic/park area and play-ground for the children. All road and driveways are paved withgarbage and snow removal services provided. In 2004, Pine Viewpurchased 17 acres of land on the east side of Route #201 and cre-ated another display lot to include both double-wide and modular home displays.

Originally Pine View was a furniture and gift store. This soon de-veloped into a mobile home park and travel trailer business. Mr.

Hustus was the first person in Maine to both sell and rent mobile homes and travel trailers. Pine View still maintains therental business but no longer handles travel trailers.

Pine View Homes is a company that not only provides fine quality, affordable homes for Maine families, but also one thatstands behind it’s products with a full time service department. We can deliver your new home, free of charge, to any lot inthe State of Maine. Our reputation is such that customers have purchased their first home from Pine View return again andagain to re-purchase other homes and often times bring their children to Pine View to buy their homes too!

Today the company has 19 employees, half of those with 10+ years of service. Pine View has diversified over the yearsand is involved in both the manufacturing and finance end of the business. We are members of the Chamber of Commerce, the Manufactured Housing Association of Maine, Volume BuyersLLC. and are in good standing with the Better Business Bureau.

Under the ownership of Mike & Tracy, the offices have been remodeled, but the business remains in the original homestead of his grandparents. They have maintained the family values and integrity – to providequality, attractive housing for the lowest price possible!!

History of Pine View Homes

Insurance Services Since 1848

businessowners, Professional, Work Comp, employment Practices,

Directors & Officers, bonds and employee benefits

One Market Square, Suite 201, Augusta ME 04330

phone 1-800-989-9049

www.maineinsure.com

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow...Macomber, Farr & Whitten is Here for You


Court House, augusta. item #100054 from the eastern illustrating &publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


In the summer of 1931Wallace Nutting convenedhis first old home gather-

ing and workshop service inthe Old Baptist Church inNorth Manchester, Maine. Itwas the beginning of a tradi-tion that would last almostuntil his death some ten yearslater.

Today Wallace Nutting isbest known for his States Beau-

tiful Series. They bear suchnames as Pennsylvania Beautiful

and New York Beautiful. There isalso a Maine Beautiful. At one time, having one of the States Beau-

tiful Series as a coffee table book was de rigeur in most every properAmerican home. Today the books are collector’s items.

Many collectors of Wallace Nutting’s work — which also in-cludes reproductions of antique American furniture — believethat the fact that there is a Maine Beautiful is simply because it isa part of the whole series. The fact is, however, that Wallace Nut-ting spent much of his early life in Maine, most notably in theManchester area, and that he owed much of his unique per-spective on the American nation to growing up in Maine.

Probably no one did more towards establishing the Americanpreservation movement in the country than Wallace Nutting.Nutting’s avocation was preserving America in pictures, buyingand reproducing American period furniture, and lecturing on oldAmerican homes. He once said “America, with its abundant re-sources everywhere for dwellings that might outlast the ages, willfail disgracefully unless she can learn that the monuments thatare nearer than any other to feeding the heart and enshrininghistory are old dwellings.” The viewpoint espoused in this state-ment is one that had its origins in the Kennebec Valley of Maine,where Nutting grew up.

DiscoverMaine 17


Flexible Class Schedule

Cosmetology • Nail-Tec

Esthetician • Barbering

Guaranteed Loan Program

Financial Aid (for those who qualify)

43 Bridge Street • Augusta, Maine

312 Water Street • Augusta, Maine

www.visage-spa.com(207) 621-9941www.capilo.com

Neighborhood Redemption

& Discount Beverage

Locally Owned & Operated ~ Roger Caron

NRCNRC

8-6 Mon. - Fri. • 8-4 Sat. • 9-2 Sun.

329 W. River Road, Augusta, ME

626-0032

Bottle Drives Welcome

Pizza and italians“Supporting all local sports since 1950”

• Pizza, Subs

• Dinner Baskets

• Steak Sandwiches and More!

We make all of our italian rolls, pizza dough and pita shells on premises!

244 Western Ave., Augusta

622-0551www.damonsaugusta.com

russell’sJewel of the Kennebec

Specializing in Tourmaline

Antwerp Diamonds

Gems

come see our beautiful largetourmaline and other faceted

gems in gold and silver settings.

132 water street • 621-1065 • Hallowell

Custom Designing

tues.-sat. • 10-5

albert’scomplete lawn mowing Services

Spring property cleanups

Serving the greater

Augusta/gardiner Areafree eStimAteS • inSureD

plowing & lAwncAre

Dan Albert

207-582-1916

wallace nutting: American Preservationist extraordinaire

Minister, photographer found inspiration in Maine’s beautyby Charles Francis


Although Wallace Nutting was not bornin Maine, he returned here often through-out his adult life, as if returning to thewellspring of much of his inspiration.And, indeed, Maine was where Nutting re-ceived his calling as a Congregational min-ister. In fact, his first formal religioustraining was in Maine in Manchester.

Wallace Nutting was born in Rockbot-tom, Massachusetts in 1861. He was thesecond of two children born to Albionand Elizabeth (Fifield) Nutting. His sisterEdith, two years his senior, died when shewas eighteen.

In 1862 Albion Nutting, Wallace’s fa-ther, enlisted in the Union Army. He diedin Washington, D.C. in 1864. He is buriedin Arlington National Cemetery. The nextyear Elizabeth Nutting moved her familyto Industry, Maine, where her brotherJoseph had a farm. Two years later theNutting family moved to Manchester.Wallace Nutting would spend the next tenyears of his life here.

Wallace Nutting attended common and

high school in Manchester and Augusta.After a brief stint of clerking in a pub-lishing house, he enrolled in Phillips Ex-eter Academy and then continued hiseducation at Harvard. His summers whilehe was at Harvard were spent working inhotels in seaside resorts, one of which wason Campobello Island.

Upon graduating from Harvard in 1887,Nutting took his first position as a pastorin Fryeburg. The ministry had been hisgoal in life almost from the age of three.In fact, when he was three, he had stoodup in church in Manchester and given thebenediction in a loud, clear voice, rightalong with the minister.

There is an intriguing folk tale associ-ated with Nutting’s childhood in Man-chester. The church he attended as a childis noted for having several mysteriousfootprints embedded in the stone wall ofthe foundation. When someone suggestedthe footprints were those of the Devil,Nutting later wrote that he respondedthey were “an angel’s step, accompaniedby that little child, whose hand he held.”

Nutting served as pastor of a numberof churches until 1904, when he wasforced to retire from the ministry becauseof a nervous breakdown. He also studiedtheology at a number of institutions, in-cluding Union Theological Seminary, andwas awarded a Doctor of Divinity degreeby Whitman College. His pastorships tookhim from coast to coast and includedSeattle and Providence. He also lived inNew York, Connecticut, Massachusettsand Vermont. The fact that he was famil-iar with a number of states from havinglived in them was one of the factors thatled to his States Beautiful Series.

Nutting began taking photographs in1899 while taking bicycle rides for health.Four years later he opened the WallaceNutting Art Prints Studio in New YorkCity. The change of occupation was re-lated to his nervous breakdown.

By his own estimate, Nutting sold someten million photographs. Only a few ofthem were signed. Today they are amongthe most valuable photographs ever pro-duced. Another of Nutting’s interests was

DiscoverMaine18


kennebec guns

Guns • Bought • Sold

New • Used • Antiques

Competitor Supplies

Certified Firearms InstructorState Junior Director of Shooting Programs

Julian F. Beale, III

622-115751 Cony Street, Augusta

AugustaCivic Center

Community Dr.

Augusta, ME 04330

Meetings, Receptions, Conferences,

Banquets and more!

The Augusta Civic Center is a full-service facilitywith a 25,000 square foot auditorium, 23 flexible

meeting rooms, including 2 ballrooms, a full kitchenand food service staff on-site. With over 35 years

experience in conventions, trade shows, conferencesand banquets, we stand ready to serve you!

for information call (207) 626-2405 or visit www.augustaciviccenter.org

JoHn BEcKEr, cArpEntEr

nEw worK • rEModElinG

KitcHEns • cABinEt instAllAtions

custoM FurniturE

25 YEArs ExpEriEncE • FullY insurEd

FrEE EstiMAtEs

207.212.0813lEEds, MAinE

John Marvin tower Chateau Cushnoc• On-site Management

• Federally Assisted Units for the Elderly

• Handicap Accessible

• 24-hour Maintenance

• Service Coordinator

• Emergency Call Buttons

38 townsend Street, augusta 36 townsend Street, augusta

• On-site Management

• Federally Assisted Units for theElderly and Mobility Impaired

• Handicap Accessible

• 24-hour Maintenance

• Service Coordinator

• Emergency Call Buttons

207-623-1112 tDD 1-800-545-1833

207-623-1112 tDD 1-800-545-1833


restoring “antique” houses. Altogether hedid five. This led him to furniture repro-duction. For a time another reproductioncompany operated under the Nuttingname. However, Nutting did not considerthat company’s work adequate and hetook it over.

Later Nutting reproductions are identi-fied by a burned-on impression of hisname in plain capitals. Nutting reproduc-tions were so accurate as to detail that un-scrupulous antique dealers would buythem, age them artificially, and sell themat prices 100 times above Nutting’s askingprice.

Wallace Nutting died in Framingham,Massachusetts in 1941. He is buried inAugusta. Today he is best remembered forhis States Beautiful Series, the series thatmore than any other effort has preservedmuch of an America which otherwise

would be lost forever.

DiscoverMaine 19

AuGuSTASeAFOOD

Mon.-Sat. 7 am to 5:30 pmClosed Sunday

bob and Jeff benedict

2002 North belfast Ave.,Augusta, Me 04330

622-6951lobstersretail.com

• lobsters• Clams• Scallops• Crabmeat• Shrimp

Fresh Daily!

Capital Area GuideMuseums, Shopping, State House, FineLodging, Great Dining, Historical Sites,Ski, Bike, Hike, 30 Lakes and Lots of

Friendly People in a Safe, Calm, Small City Environment.

For a Free Copy of our Capital Area Guide,

Call the

Kennebec valley Chamber of Commerce

207-623-4559www.augustamaine.com

34th Annual

Whatever Family Festivalcelebrates Kennebec River environment withfun activities from June 17 through July 4!

Special feature is Family Day at Capitol Park on June 25, 2011

bOnD brOOk panCake HOuSe

Your hosts: Mike & Kim

Homemade Soups & Dessertstake Out available

Mon.-Fri. 5am-2pmSat. 6am-2pm

Sunday 7am-1pm Breakfast Only

(207) 623-9656179 Mt. Vernon ave., augusta

Luncheon SpecialsBreakfast All Day


Water Street, Hallowell. item #101607 from the eastern illustrating &publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Tri-State

Staffing Solutionsfor your

Linda Veilleux

1-800-989-9112207-622-0470

Serving Augusta for over 10 successful years

225 Western Avenue • Suite 2 • Augusta, ME 04330

www.tristatestaffing.com


On July 17, 1893 President GroverCleveland submitted the Blount

Report (named after U.S. Com-missioner James Blount) that listed thenames of a number of people, includingJohn L. Stevens, a lifelong resident of Au-gusta. Unlike many other reports submit-ted that year, this one was much moreserious. It stated that there was “evidencethat officially identified the United States’complicity in the lawless overthrow of thelawful, peaceful government of Hawaii,”and that Stevens was guilty of inappro-priate conduct in support of the conspir-acy. After the charges were presented toStevens at his home in Augusta, headamantly denied his guilt and offered hisstern rationale of why the Queen herselfwas the immoral one and should havebeen dethroned. Forced to retire from of-

ficial public service, he spent the remain-der of his life publicly denouncing theHawaiian kingdom. The repercussions ofthe events would even have the U.S. Con-gress and President Bill Clinton sign theApology Resolution in 1993, which formallyapologized for the overthrow of theKingdom of Hawaii a century earlier.

Born on August 1, 1820 in the town ofMount Vernon, John L. Stevens eventu-ally attended the Maine Wesleyan Semi-nary where he planned to spend his life asa minister in the Universalist church. After10 years as a minister and a communityactivist, he was urged by the Governor ofMaine (Anson Morrill) to leave the churchand spend his energy in two areas: as anewspaper publisher and politician. Al-most immediately, Stevens and his part-ner, James Blaine, purchased The Kennebec

Journal in 1854 and began a collaborationthat would last for 14 years. The publica-tion also served as a platform for Stevens’development of the Maine RepublicanParty, where he served as a delegate in1860 and actively participated in the 1876Presidential campaign as the Chairman ofthe Republican Committee of Maine.Due to his energy and support of thepresidential candidate, he was awarded anappointment as a minister for the U.S.State Department and continued his rapidascent to more important roles and even-tual trouble.

After joining the U.S. State Department,his successive appointments as foreignminister included a long list of countriessuch as Paraguay, Uruguay, Sweden andNorway. But after his former partner(James Blaine) was appointed as the U.S.

DiscoverMaine20

TTHHEE MMAAIILL IINNGG CCEENNTTEERRany Size, any Weight, anywhere!

Pick-up Services AvailableAuthor ized

Copies • Faxes • Color Copies • boxesMon.-Fri. 8:30-5:30 Sat. 8:30-1:00

621-0234126 Western Ave., Capitol Shopping Center, Augusta

Cooks Corner, Brunswick • 250 Center Street, Auburn

www.mailingctr.com

Steve Thomas

BuIldERS

685-9476 • cell 446-6907Free estimates

New Home ConstructionRoofing • Siding

Remodeling • Garages

“From Our Forest to Final Form”

AUthorIzEd SAlES CEntEr

new Equipment Sales & Service

ross Clair, Manager/Sawyer

(207) 645-2072

Fax: (207) 645-3786

541 Borough rd., Chesterville, ME 04938

of Maine Webster’s Mini excavationI’ll play in the dirt

so you don’t have toBarry Webster

• Ditching

• Driveway & Lawn Repair

• Stump Removal

• Septic Systems

~ Fully insured ~

577-8978 • 897-6938

John L. Stevens: The Golden Hour is near First owner of The Kennebec Journal and foreign minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii

by James Nalley

Full Line Of Equipment, Parts, Service & AccessoriesRoute 104, Downtown Sidney

547-3345www.kramersinc.com

kramers inc.


Secretary of State, in an act of nepotism,Stevens was urged to serve as foreign min-ister to the Kingdom of Hawaii. As statedin the New York Times article on February9, 1895, his “title was changed to the Min-ister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraor-dinary.”

After his arrival in Hawaii, Stevens ac-tively wrote and published his thoughtsand feelings about the islands with not-so-subtle titles such as Advice to Young Hawai-

ians, and The Hawaiian Situation.

Afterwards, he publicly expressed his con-cerns about the relationship of the UnitedStates and its allies. At the same time, hisfriend, the Secretary of State, also sug-gested that the United States “draw theties of intimate relationship between usand the Hawaiian Islands so as to makethem practically a part of the Americansystem without derogation of their ab-solute independence.” Between the twomen, plans were beginning to evolve.

By January 1891 the King of Hawaii(who had been in agreement with the in-terests of foreign businessmen), suddenly

died and was succeeded by his sister,Queen Lili’uokalni. After receiving infor-mation about the Queen’s animosity ofher brother’s wishes, Stevens, perhaps ina moment of panic, requested that theU.S.S. Boston be sent to Honolulu Harboras an intimidation tactic.

In March 1892, an impatient Stevenswrote the Secretary of State to ask howfar he was allowed to deviate from stan-dard protocol if a Hawaiian-native revo-lution occurred. As stated in his letter,“The golden hour is near at hand… Aslong as the island retains their own inde-pendent government there remains thepossibility that England or Canada mightsecure one of the Hawaiian harbors for acoaling station… Annexation excludes alldangers of this kind.” Approximately 10months later, the queen attempted toannul the 1887 constitution, which wouldhave restored many of the powers of themonarchy. After that act of defiance,Stevens secretly met two businessmen(Sanford Dole and Lorrin Thurston) onthe night of January 14, 1893 to launch

the plan to overthrow the queen and forceher country to become part of the UnitedStates.

In a rapid series of events, a new groupknown as the Committee of Safety wasformed. The committee’s primary con-cern was the safety and property ofAmerican residents in Honolulu, but italso began drafting documents to estab-lish a provisional government on the side.On January 16, 1893 with an official com-mittee’s support behind him, Stevens re-quested that U.S. Marines and navalpersonnel from the U.S.S. Boston take uppositions on the island.

Although the troops were ordered to re-main “neutral” on the island, two aspectscaused great alarm with the natives: thesoldiers were incredibly armed, and theywere positioned only around the Royalresidences and government buildings in-stead of the American residences. As his-torian William Russ wrote in his 1992book, The Hawaiian Revolution (1893-94),“The injunction to prevent fighting of anykind made it impossible for the monarchyto protect itself.” Due to the Queen’s de-sire “to avoid any collision of armedforces, and perhaps the loss of life,” theQueen ordered her forces to surrender.The American troops subsequently tookover all of the government buildings anddisarmed the Hawaiian Royal Guard. Al-most immediately, Stevens declared a pro-visional government on behalf of the U.S.State Department and requested thatHawaii be annexed. Within a month, Pres-ident William Henry Harrison had signeda request to the Senate that the HawaiianKingdom be annexed on February 16,1893.

Everything appeared to go smoothly forStevens and his supporters until PresidentGrover Cleveland took office. Soon afterhis inauguration, he sent a memo to theSenate canceling the annexation. As statedin the New York Times article, PresidentCleveland sent “Mr. Blount, to report onthe situation and ordered the protectoratewithdrawn as unnecessary.” At that point,Stevens was forced to resign and returnedto Maine. But he continued to publicly

DiscoverMaine 21


G.A.P.S.

GROuP ADAMSPROPANe SeRVICeS

Serving Residential, Commercial,

Camps & Remote Areas

Locally owned and operated

independent propane sales and service

16 Depot St. • Livermore Falls

897-5367 • 888-834-5367

Serving Businesses and Homeowners since 1997


denounce the Hawaiian monarchy as seenin a self-published New York Times articleon November 30, 1893, that claimed thatthe Blount Report was mostly “false-hoods… made by that gentleman …which were prejudiced, and unwarranted.”Afterwards, Stevens’ influence wasstronger than expected for PresidentCleveland, which forced him to abandonthe matter due to a lack of Congressionalsupport. By February 26, 1894 Stevensand his collaborators were found not

guilty by the U.S. Congress in another in-vestigation and report entitled the Morgan

Report.During the remaining years of his life,

Stevens continued working with the Re-publican Party, published a number of ar-ticles, lectured and tried to repair histarnished image. One of his final publica-tions was the strangely titled 1894 mem-oir: Picturesque Hawaii: A Charming

Description of Her Unique History, Strange

People, Exquisite Climate, Wondrous Volcanoes,

Luxurious Productions, Beautiful Cities, Cor-

rupt Monarchy, Recent Revolution and Provi-

sional Government.

At 4 a.m. on February 8, 1895 John L.Stevens died at his home in Augusta aftera battle with depression and heart disease.Three years later, perhaps as a fitting senseof irony, the United States government

officially annexed Hawaii.

DiscoverMaine22


-finish work-

FullY INSuReD • quAlITY WORK

DAVID DeSROSIeRSOver 30 Years Experience

building & Remodeling

207-212-0121

♦ Free eStimateS ♦

A. MAurAis& sON

3 generations of reliabilty and service since 1929

~ Phillip & Stacie Maurais, Owners ~

Plumbing & Heating

897-30277 Hillsdale Road • Jay, Maine

Stevens Forest Products

Master Logger Certified

Low Impact Logging - Cut To Length

547-3840Philbrick Road • Sidney

Alan’s cell: 215-8752


post office in Fayette. this original building is now the Fayette Country Store. item #100785 from the

eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


Back in the 1920s fictitious families like theJukes and the Kallikaks were part of the pop-ular parlance. They were synonyms for fami-

lies viewed as criminals and idiots begotten bymiscegenation and thought to be breeding out ofcontrol. The fictitious Jukes and Kallikaks, however,did have a basis in reality. Both names were applied toreal families by the early psychologists who producedthe studies on them.

The study on the criminal Jukes family was doneby Richard Dugdale in 1875. The study on the feeble-minded Kallikaks by Henry Herbert Goddard wasdone in 1912. Both the Jukes and the Kallikaks enjoya certain degree of notoriety today. The same cannotbe said of both of the men who produced the stud-ies. Richard Dugdale’s assumptions have now come to be viewedas spurious. Vassalboro-born Henry Hebert Goddard, however,is recognized as a pioneer in the field of American psychology.Among other things, Goddard is credited with introducing in-telligence testing into the United States, and with drafting thefirst law in the country mandating special education.

Today Henry Goddard is recognized as the father of intelli-gence testing in America. He either oversaw or participated inevery major intelligence testing program in the country in thefirst decades of the twentieth century. It was Goddard whotranslated the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale into English and

introduced it into the country in 1908. Today most are familiarwith its later form as Stanford-Binet.

Between 1908 and 1915 Goddard almost single-handedly dis-tributed over 22,000 copies of the Binet-Simon test and nearly100,000 answer sheets for it to public schools across the coun-try. During World War I he was a member of the Army’s Alphaand Beta Team, the first mass intelligence testing program con-ducted by the United States government. He was also the firstnationally recognized educator to suggest that normal childrenmight benefit from the instructional techniques employed by

DiscoverMaine 23


Freddie’s Service Center

• Wrecker Service

• Body Shop

• used car Sales

• Repair Service

923-9419378 Main St. • E. Vassalboro

lanCe’s autO serviCe

COMPLETE AUTOMOTIVE REPAIRS

ELECTRICAL DIAGnOSTICS

COMPUTERIzED WHEEL ALIGnMEnT

29 randlett rd.

MOntville, Me. 04941

LAnCE PHILBROOk 382-3053

DAVIS DIRT WORKS&e x C AVAT I O N

derek t. davis

www.davisdirtworks.com

• Driveways• Septic Systems• Underground Utilities• Houselots & Homes• Landscaping & Earthwork• Hay Mulching

117 Fowler Rd.Thorndike, Me 04986

Business: (207) 568-3260Cell: (520) 609-8521

Shaw’s

Auto Salvage

Mike Shaw, Owner

119 Myrick Rd., Troy, ME 04987

Full Service Mechanic

State Inspections

24-hour Towing

207-948-3106

“For all your automotive repair needs”

Towing Service Available

609 Belfast Road/Rt. 137 • Knox, Maine~ Dan Melanson ~

568-3306 • Fax 568-1006

Double DTruck & Auto Repair

Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm

hilltop stoReOn the way tO wOrk Or hOme

StOp at hilltOp

ross & rhonda merry,

Owner/operators

Full Service GasMovie Rentals &

“Good Groceries”

382-6197route 137 • knox ridge

Henry Herbert GoddardAnd The Kallikaks

Vassalboro psychologist recognized as the father of

intelligence testing in Americaby Charles Francis

those who worked with retarded children.Henry Goddard was also a eugenicist.

As such, he believed that human intelli-gence was inherited. Specifically, he be-lieved that feeble-mindedness was passedon from one generation to another by asingle recessive gene. To back this up heproduced his study The Kallikak Family: A

Study in the Heredity of Feeble-mindedness.

Today some of Goddard’s theories thatcame out of the study, such as compul-sory sterilization, are quite understandablyless than popular. However, it should benoted that his proposal for dealing withthe feeble-minded was humane institu-tionalization.

Henry Hebert Goddard was born inVassalboro on August 14, 1866. The God-dard family was one of the oldest in thetown, going back generations to the firstsettlers. They were also Quakers. Becauseof his family’s religious persuasion, the fu-ture father of American intelligence test-ing spent the first 20 years of his life as aQuaker school teacher and principal.

After attending local Vassalboroschools, Henry Goddard went on to studyat Haverford, a Quaker college in Penn-sylvania. Here he earned both a B.A. andM.A. in mathematics, the latter in 1889.He then secured a position at the Univer-sity of Southern California as a footballcoach and instructor of history andbotany. He left California after a year tobecome a high school teacher. Goddard’slongest period in the secondary schoolranks was spent back in his hometown ofVassalboro as teacher and principal at OakGrove Seminary from 1891 to 1896. In1899 he earned a Ph.D in psychology atClark University.

From 1899 to 1906 Goddard taughtpsychology and teaching methodology atWest Chester (Pennsylvania) NormalSchool. Then in 1906 he accepted the po-sition of Director of Research at theTraining School for Feeble-minded Boysand Girls at Vineland, New Jersey. It washere he produced his controversial studyon the Kallikaks.

The Kallikak name is contrived. Itcomes from the Greek Kallos meaningbeauty, and Kakos meaning bad. WhatGoddard did with the Kallikak study wasto trace two branches of the same family.One branch was “beautiful” or normal,and one was “bad” or feeble-minded.Both stemmed from a single male pro-genitor, Martin Kallikak. Martin Kallikakhad been a soldier in the Civil War.Through a liaison with a feeble-mindedtavern girl he produced a feeble-mindedillegitimate son. That son went on to pro-duce generations of feeble-minded de-scendants, who led lives characterized by

illegitimacy, alcoholism, prostitution,epilepsy and lechery. Sometime after hisbarroom liaison, Martin Kallikak marrieda woman of a “good” Quaker family. Thedescendants of that line were all normal.Its members were some of the finest andmost respected citizens in the communi-ties in which they lived. Goddard believedthat the difference in the two Kallikaklines was the result of genetic input fromthe two women Martin Kallikak had chil-dren by.

Henry Goddard actually studied some300 families in arriving at his “Kallikak”theory. In the years following the study hewas attacked on any number of occasionsand by any number of reputable psychol-ogists for his conclusions. Even though helater repudiated much of what he firstsaid, including the tests he used to definethe term “moron,” he is still rememberedmore as an elitist for his Kallikak studythan he should be for his pioneering workin intelligence testing.

Thanks to Henry Herbert Goddard, ad-vances in dealing with mental retardation,special education and clinical psychologyhave been made that otherwise might nothave. Those advances, coupled with theoverall applications of intelligence testingin fields ranging from public education forthe “normal” student to military pre-paredness are a remarkable legacy of theman who was once a Quaker schoolmas-ter at Oak Grove Seminary in Vassalboro,

Maine.


Maine24


Mitchell’s Roofing & sheet Metal, llc

Over 40 YearsExperience

~ Fully Insured ~

Specializing In StandingSeam Steel Roofs

Anything In light Sheet Metal

Serving All Of Kennebec Valley

382-6370

Rototilling

Bush Hogging

Post Hole DrillingKinney Compost

(Delivered)

Firewood(Cut, Split & Delivered)

568-3147

Over 20 yearsExperience

Gift certificates available

Mac’s

Start Right. Start Here.

• Hardware • Paint• Plumbing Supplies• Nutrena Feeds for

Pets, Horses, livestock

948-3800289 School Street

unityMon.-Sat., 7:30-5:00

Sun., 9:00-3:00www.TrueValue.com



In the mid-1800s everyone was look-ing for a cure for ailments, includingaching bones and sore muscles. It was

a well-known fact that natural mineralsprings were thought to heal skin ailments,muscle problems, and other health issues,including digestion problems. In this eraeveryone was looking for a way to make itbig, and one man, a businessman fromRockland, Horace Beals, hoped his dreamwould come true with Togus Springs.

Togus, coming from the Indian word“Worromontogus,” meaning mineralwater, seemed to be the perfect name forthis area of Chelsea, just on the outskirtsof Augusta, the state capital. With naturalmineral springs, Beals was hoping to de-velop a place where all his visitors couldheal themselves naturally. He expectedboth the invalids and elderly to be a big

part of his business. His dream was to cre-ate a place where people could come tosimply relax and to drink the mineralwater that he could provide.

It was 1859 when Beals was ready toopen his Togus Springs to the public.Beals, wishing his new resort to be similarto that of Saratoga Springs, had built anexquisite hotel, race track, stables, a bowl-ing alley and a farmhouse on the property,and invested a lot of money to beautifythe landscape. According to previous pub-lications, Beals invested more than$250,000 of his own money, hoping thatTogus Springs would bring in an incomethat exceeded his earnings in the granitebusiness. In today’s world, his initial$250,000 investment would exceed$6,000,000.

Horace Beals actually had already

proven his success in business. He was co-owner of the successful Dix Island Gran-ite Company, which had been purchasedin 1856. Beals may have been a man look-ing for wealth, but this didn’t stop himfrom being fair. According to the January,1900 publication of Granite, Beals was aman of intensity and one with various re-sources. He claimed that he may havefailed a few times, but that it “…was goodfor man. He used to say that a man neverknew what there was in him until he hadbeen on his business uppers two or threetimes. He said that if a man began makingmoney right away, he was likely to get itinto his noodle that it always grew thatway, and he’d be worse off than everwhen he found out that it didn’t.”

However, what Horace Beals did not

DiscoverMaine 25


Galeyrie maps & Custom Frames

190 Us Route 1, Falmouth, me 04105

207-781-3555 [email protected]

www.Galeyrie.com

maPs oF maine(and most eveRyWHeRe else)

maps shown in this issue of

Discover Maine are available online.

see the “discover” page

at Galeyrie.com

Karen Barstis Bart Barstis

207-485-1745

147 Upper Pond Rd. • Litchfield, ME 04350

www.upperpondstables.com

Inc

Serving you quality water since 1975

1-877-666-3026 • 833-5011

♦ well drilling-pump service and repair ♦

♦ geothermal heating and cooling systems ♦

♦ hydrofracturing ♦ complete filtration ♦

Togus Springs One man’s folly becomes a home for veterans

by: Penny S. Harmon

lamoreauimprovements, inc.

shawn lamoreau

• Custom Homes• decks & additions• Roofing & siding• Remodeling• seamless Gutters• Fully insured

241 Carding machine Rd. • Bowdoinham, me

[email protected]

Div. of Jim’s used Cars

Specializing in Antique & Classic Cars

292 alexander-reed rd.richmond, Me 04357

www.klassicklunkers.webs.com

207-737-7058207-737-7058


count on was the Civil War. From 1859until 1861 Togus Springs did receive a fewvisitors. However, whenthe war began in ‘61, peo-ple were no longer able totravel. What this meantfor Beals was not good.His business began to failand just a few years later,he had no choice but toshut it down. The year of1863 became the end ofhis dream and the localsnicknamed the area“Beal’s Folly.”

Beals’ failure turnedinto another dream. In1865 President AbrahamLincoln signed an act forthe National Asylum,later to become the Na-tional Home for Disabled Volunteer Sol-diers. With the Civil War, thousands ofmen needed treatment for their injuriesfrom the war and a place to recuperate.

The government ended up buying TogusSprings for just $50,000 (just over a mil-lion in today’s economy), and quickly

turned it into one of the first of many vet-erans’ homes.

When the home opened to the first vet-eran on November 1, 1866, there had

been little work done to the area and itlooked very similar to what Beals haddreamed. The hotel had simply been re-

modeled to accommo-date the needs of theCivil War soldiers. How-ever, with the needs ofthe soldiers growing,Togus soon began tohouse as many as 3,000soldiers at one time. Bar-racks were built, the race-track covered up, and,soon, a cemetery wasmapped out.

Unfortunately, manyof the buildings that Ho-race Beals built on theland are now gone. Morebuildings were put up assturdier quarters wereneeded. What does re-

main, though, is the comfortable and re-laxing atmosphere that Beals was hopingfor. A drive down the narrow, tree-linedroad is quiet, and the campus offers both

DiscoverMaine26


201 Northpoint Rd.Litchfield

Between Lewiston & AugustaP.O. Box 302

Litchfield, ME 04350www.thebirches.com

207-268-4330

lakefront CampingCampsitesCottages

Waterfront ActivitiesSpecial Events

Recreational Facilities

Sales

Parts

Service

Waterman Farm Machinery

827 Sabattus Road, Route 126

Sabattus, Maine

375-65611-800-439-6561

www.wfm1956.com

lawn & garden Equipment

• Tillers • Lawn Mowers

• Lawn & Garden Tractors

• Zero-Turn Z SeriesRiding Mowers andAttachments

• Easy Financing

50th Anniversary Edition(GTX 2154 LE)

togus V.a. Hospital, augusta

Enterprise FarmsGreenhouse & Garden Center

467 Main St. (Route 197), Richmond

737-4502White Road, Bowdoinham

737-4733

Birdseed, Pet Food, Large Animal Feed & Supplies

PROdUCTS SOLd HERE!


solitude and comfort to those who are themost deserving.

While Beals may not have wanted hisdream to fail, that dream turned intosomething good. Shortly after his business

failure, Beals passed away and was unableto see what became of Togus Springs.However, it can almost be guaranteed thatif he was able to see what Togus Springshas become today, he would be proud of

his accomplishments and know that hebecame part of something even bigger

than what he expected.

DiscoverMaine 27

Displays On Site • Free EstimatesExpert Installation • Cash & Carry

• Chain Link• Vinyl/PVC• Custom Wood

Fencing

• Post & Rail• Pool Fence• Aluminum

Fences

1-800-287-4533(207) 588-0600

1174 Lewiston Road, Litchfieldwww.ptfence.com

Stop And Visit Pine Tree Stove Shoppe,

Located On Premises

pump & Well drilling, inc. Franklin electric

“Call us forall your

water needs”

• nEW & RECOndITIOnEd PUMPS • TAnkS & InSTALLATIOnS •SUMP PUMPS

• WE THAW WATER LInES • ROTARy dRILLInG • HydROFRACTURInG

RT 126 SABATTUS1 MILE FROM LEWISTOn LInE

TOLL FREE 1-800-357-4661www.suncodrilling.com

richardSand & Gravel, llC

AggregatesExcavationAll types of site work

leeds, Me207-524-7863207-441-5866

eRiC BRoWn

leeds, maine

oFFiCe 207.224.2226Cell 207.754.1701

u ADD uP THE SAVINGS

2+2=4 2+2+2=6

RooFinG

sidinG

RemodelinG

neW ConstRUCtion

WWW.BRoWnsConstRUCtionandsons.Com

two men working with ice block equipment at the Consolidated ice Co. operation in Bowdoinham ca. 1895.the man on the right is lining each block up to be lifted by the steam powered conveyor belt into the ice house

nearby. this operation on the Kennebec river was run as a monopoly at the turn of the 19th century by Charles W. morse of Bath. item #1202 from the collections of the maine Historical Society and

www.Vintagemaineimages.com


Maine28

207-377-2124www.winthropcreditunion.org

Marion L. Healy Building94 Highland Avenue • winthrop, Maine

Sully’sREStauRant & tavERn

“Winthrop’s Finest Casual Dining Experience”

Full Menu FeaturingSeafood, Prime Rib,

Steaks and Specialty Dishes

Open 7 days from 11am • Tavern open until 1am

6 Union Street, Winthrop • 377-5663

quAlITY COllISION RePAIRour reputation is as important

to us as your car is to you!Expect nothing less -

Perfection

Over 35 yearsExperience

• Free InsuranceEstimates

• Direct InsuranceBilling

• Loaner Cars• Spray-in Bedliners• Antique Car Sales

Phone 377-230047 Main Street, Winthrop, Maine

207-377-8020www.winthropchamber.org

PO Box 51, winthrop

Own Ice Cream“Voted 2008 Best Ice Cream in New England”

We Make Our Own!• Indoor Dining• Lunch & Dinner Daily• Breakfast

on Weekends

Lobster Rolls • Deluxe BurgersSteak Bombs • Foot Long Hot Dogs

41 Main St., Winthrop377-3340

512 Main St., Wayne685-8181

Two Great Locations!

Discover Maine Magazinehas been brought to you free through the generous supportof Maine businesses for the past 19 years, and we extend a

special thanks to them. Please tell our advertisers how muchyou love Discover Maine Magazine by doing business with

them whenever possible. Thanks for supporting thosebusinesses that help us bring Maine’s history to you!

Grammar School building, Farmingdale. item #100739from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co.Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


DiscoverMaine 29

When passing by a cemetery, it israre to give any thought to whothe people are that are buried

there. Usually if one gives it any thoughtat all, it is likely forgotten as soon as theyleave the cemetery. Cemeteries intrigueme, as I have always been interested in thelives of those in our past. Not long agosomething compelled me to visit thecemetery beside the Christ Church in Gar-diner. Established in 1771, the history ofthis building is amazing, but what is evenmore amazing is the history in the grave-yard outside.

One of the first headstones I read wasthat of John Merrick and his wife, Re-becca. He, born in 1766, lived to be 95years of age — a somewhat rare occur-rence in the difficult times of the 1800s.His wife, Rebecca, passed just 10 years

prior and had lived to be 85. What doesthis tell us about these individuals? Theylived long, and hopefully happily. Under-neath Rebecca’s name the epitaph reads,“She lived not for herself but us.”

In 1798, just a year after returning toEngland, John Merrick married RebeccaVaughan, sister to Benjamin. That sameyear they returned to this country, settlingin Hallowell. He became a prominentmember of the community, eventuallyearning several notable titles includingTrustee of Hallowell Academy, and wason the Board of Overseers at BowdoinCollege. Much of his socialization wasspent with Robert H. Gardiner.

Born in 1782, Robert Hallowell eventu-ally changed his name to Robert Hallow-ell Gardiner, as requested in hisgrandfather’s will. His grandfather, Dr.

Sylvester Gardiner, had left him his estatein Maine. Also on the Board of Overseersat Bowdoin College, he would sit andwatch for John Merrick and his family toarrive by canoe. His family is also buriedin the graveyard at the Christ Church.

My venture into the graveyard at ChristChurch led me in the direction of visitingmore gravesites in the area. The OakGrove Cemetery, just a short distanceaway, is the resting place of many notablearea families. Perhaps one of the most fa-mous is Edward Arlington Robinson, awell-known poet who grew up in Gar-diner. His family monument is large andholds the name of many of his ancestors.

Buried alongside Edward ArlingtonRobinson are hundreds of others whohad much to do with the history of the

Countryside ConcreteMike Weston & Scott Peasley, owners

Residential & CommercialConcrete Forms • FoundationsRetaining Walls • Frost Walls

Slabs • Jacking • barn Restoration

582-4214West Gardiner, Maine

TOM’S BUILDING & REMODELING

better buildling

for better living

582-2244 • Cell 446-422411 Valley St. • Gardiner, ME 04345

Tom Valley

“Come visit historic

downtown Gardiner”

6 church street • Gardiner, Maine 04345

207-582-6888

GArdinEr

www.GardinerMaine.com

Excavation Workloam • Fill • Gravel • Sitework • Homesites

driveways • Waterlines • Roads & Parking lotsSewer & Septic Systems

RESidEntial & CommERCial

Experience does Count

For Estimates & Scheduling

582-1687Reliable

& On-TimeSince 1973

Graveyard Hunting in GardinerWhat stories are told on those old headstones

by Penny S. Harmon


dun-WRIgHT

582-2728512-6917cell

Mowing • Raking • Clean up

Rototilling • Odd Jobs • Snow Plowing

Retaining Walls

Chuck mclaughlin

152 High Holborn St. • Gardiner, Me 04345

582-2728512-6917

laWn CaRE


Maine30

gEothERMAl DRilliNg

fREEEstiMAtEs

CoMplEtE sERviCE fRoM WEll to housE

WAtER puMps • sAlEs & sERviCE

www.rolfeswelldrilling.com

622-4018 • 582-4324488 Northern Ave., Farmingdale

In Business Over 35 Years, Insured & Licensed

Family Owned & Operated

hyRDRo-fRACtuRiNg

MoDERN AiRhAMMERMEthoDs

our “Senior Community” offers senior housing and health care in three beautiful

historic homes overlooking the Kennebec river. Prices from $1000-$4000+/month.

582-6674www.MESeniorCare.com

270 Maine Avenue, Farmingdale, ME

area. From the Hazzard family, whoowned a shoe company and employedmany in the area, to Alcander Fuller andhis wife Lydia, buried with their daughterAnnie, who passed away at just threemonths and 19 days.

I also stopped in at Riverside Cemeteryin Pittston. In this cemetery lies one ofthe most notable men of the 19th century— Major Reuben Colburn. As he was ashipbuilder, he and his crew offered theirassistance to Colonel Benedict Arnold. Infact, when Benedict Arnold and a volun-teer soldier only 19 years old by the nameof Aaron Burr, came to Maine, theystayed with the Colburn family until theymoved up the river to Fort Western.Major Reuben Colburn is buried alongsidehis wife, Lydia. The epitaph at their grave-stone reads, “They rest, their sleep issweet.”

It is not possible to pass a graveyard andnot wonder about those who are buriedthere. How did each one contribute to thecommunity and the history of our greatstate? In many cases, all you have to do isread the gravestone.

In Oak Hill Cemetery, another grave-stone stood out. George E. Webber, diedJuly 11, 1863 of wounds received at theBattle of Gettysburg while defending theconstitution and laws of his country. Hewas just 22 years old. His wife, Melissa J.Webber, had passed away just two yearsprior. If you search the cemeteries in thisarea, you are bound to find others whoalso gave their life for your freedom.

Anyone who is interested in the historyof their community needs only to look in

the local cemetery. Take some time andchoose a gravestone that stands out toyou. Quite often, a certain name will sparkan interest. Perhaps choose one with a

great epitaph. Do some research and seewhat you can discover about the person,and you may just be surprised by what you

come up with.


ladd’S pluMbingremodels • residential • Commercial

mAsTeR

PlumBeR

Fully

insuReD

Water systemsWell Pumps

Drain cleaning

Freeestimates

592-1326

442 nelson Rd. • chelsea, me

C HRoofIng & ConSTRuCTIon

all Types of RoofsROOF REPaIR & REPlaCEMEnT

Siding • garages • MasonryRoof Shoveling • Snow Plowing

FREE ESTIMaTES • FullY InSuREd

724-3265 Cell: 557-4141273 Collins Mills Road, West gardinerwww.chroofingandconstruction.com

Free Baptist Church, Gardiner. item #100887 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co.

Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


DiscoverMaine 31

Custom Garages • Cottages • Homes

room additions • mobile Home roofs

Vinyl Siding • Garage doors

Shingled roofs • replacement Windows

445-27201-800-761-2720

Route 3South China

[email protected]

Organic Food• Locally raised

organic meat

• Chicken, eggs,ham,pork chops,bacon & flavoredsausage

“All meat sold by the pound”

www.PagettFarm.com

• Exceptionallyfurnished yurtsand tents

• Large and variedfarm breakfast

• Convenient toLake st. Georgeand sheepscotPond

2986 Rte. 3, Palermo • 993-2500 2986 Rte. 3, Palermo • 993-2500

A bed and breakfast with adventure.

second wind Farmnigerian dwarf

dairy GoatsAGs & AdGA registered

• Milk Goats• show Quality

Goats• pet Goats• cheese Yogurt• Milk

Free adviceFree manure(might be thesame thing)

suzanne & doug McKnight2 Jackson road., Montville • 589-4059

www.secondwindfarm-me.com

Visitors Welcome

aerial view of China. item #100412 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection andwww.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

• Residential & Commercial• Statewide M.L.S.• Buyers / Sellers Brokerage• Relo-Nationwide Referrals

www.spragueandcurtis.com

623-112375 Western Avenue, Augusta

GreatPeople

•GreatPlaces

The All-InclusiveFamily Resort

1270 Lakeview Drive, China, ME 04358

(207) 968-2581www.chinalakecabins.com

1, 2 & 3 bedroom Rustic Cottages at Reasonable Rates

Family Vacations • Family ReunionsClass Reunions • Church Retreats

Youth Groups • Weddings


For those caught up in the burgeon-ing hobby of building a family tree,the lure of claiming descent from

one of the Pilgrims who sailed on theMayflower is a great one. To mixmetaphors, being able to claim Mayflowerdescent is something akin to catching thebrass ring while riding a merry-go-round.It’s the almost unattainable grand prize ofthe genealogy sweepstakes.

As one would expect — given thehopes some hold out that they will dis-cover they are indeed Mayflower descen-dants — there are a fairly large number ofspurious or faked and false lines that haveevolved over the years purporting toprove Mayflower lineage. A good many ofthese can be found on that unfortunatelyall-too-often source of false facts and ru-mors — the Internet. Here it is possible to

find fictional lines of descent leading backto such prominent Pilgrim figures as JohnAlden and William Brewster.

One rather common misrepresentationhas it that John Alden had several sons, ei-ther illegitimate or by a wife not includedin the record. Their names usually appearas Zachariah and Henry, but there areother alternatives. In like manner, ElderWilliam Brewster is often said to havemarried a Mary Wentworth or a MaryWelles. There is no supporting data forthis. In addition, a William Brewster ofJamestown is sometimes put forth asElder William Brewster’s son and a Natha-nial Brewster of Connecticut as a descen-dant. At best, these are nothing more thanwishful thinking and at worst, out-and-outfabrications. In short, it should be saidthat there are much better ways of tracingone’s ancestry back to the Mayflower thanonline.

It is relatively easy to trace Mayflowerdescent. One reason for this is that nogroup of early American settlers and theirdescendants have been researched morethan the Pilgrims that landed at PlymouthRock in 1620, and those children andgrandchildren who sprang from them.And, a good many of Pilgrim descendantsended up in Maine. This happenstancehelps account for the fact that there is aMaine Mayflower Society.

There are a number of commonlyfound Maine family surnames that traceback to that famous Plymouth Rock land-ing. One of them is Mayo, a well-knownsurname of the Kennebec Valley. SallyAnn Mayo of Hallowell, who marriedSamuel W. Huntington of the same com-munity, serves as an example of theMayflower descendants who settled theKennebec region.

The Hallowell Mayo family, which in-cludes Sally Ann Mayo, is one of the fam-ilies that can claim legitimate descent from

DiscoverMaine32

The Genealogy Corner: Tracing Mayflower Ancestry

by Charles Francis

Great Golf, outstanding dining,

tennis and a private Beach.

Call to see how affordable all this can be.

(207) 623-3021(Trial rates available.)

IP Telephony

Traditional and Hostedbusiness Phone Systems

Phone & Data Cabling

Fiber Optics

Computer & Telephone Systems Specialists1-800-287-8044

www.cmctq.com

CMCTechnologygroup


Elder William Brewster. The family canalso claim descent from another promi-nent Plymouth Colony figure, GovernorThomas Prence.

Thomas Prence married Patience Brew-ster, daughter of Elder William and MaryBrewster. There is no accepted maidensurname for Mary Brewster. Sally AnnMayo is descended from Thomas and Pa-tience (Brewster) Prence through theirdaughter Mercy, who married John Free-man. John and Mercy (Prence) Freemanwere the parents of Hannah Freeman,who married John Mayo.

Ebenezer Mayo, a descendant of Johnand Hannah (Freeman) Mayo, marriedSarah Burgess. They moved to Hallowelland were the parents of Ephraim Mayo.Ephraim Mayo married Sarah Laughton.The latter were the parents of Sally AnnMayo. Samuel W. Huntington, Sally Ann’shusband, was a prominent Hallowell man-ufacturer who prospered during the CivilWar producing clothing for the UnionArmy.

Samuel L. Huntington, the son of

DiscoverMaine 33


brothersbrotherstransportatIon servIcetransportatIon servIce

-TaxI-Rapid Responselong distance

Flat Rates

-SEdan-Time Calls:

To & From Workappointments

Augusta-Gardiner Area

airport Service Throughout new England

242-9681242-9681623-0276 582-0276(BRO)

Voice • VOip • Data

Optical Fiber

low Voltage Cabling

testing & Documentation

administration labeling

Fire Stop

emergency Services

Amy LeGasse126 Western Ave., #172Augusta, Maine 04330

Phone: 207-622-3375

Fax: 207-622-3372Email: [email protected]

www.milestonecomm.com

1890 Augusta area mapCourtesy University of New Hampshire Library Digital Collections Initiative

Available at: www.Galeyrie.com


Samuel W. and Sally Ann (Mayo) Hunt-ington, was a prominent figure in Augustaand Damariscotta. His interests includedthe Augusta firm of Huntington, Nason& Company, a well-known clothier of thelate nineteenth- and early twentieth-cen-turies.

If you intend on researching Mayflowergenealogy, there are several unimpeach-able resources to use. The foremost ofthese are the Massachusetts Society ofMayflower Descendants Research Library,and the New England Historical & Ge-nealogical Society Research Library. Theformer is located at 150 Wood Road,Braintree, Massachusetts, and the latter at101 Newbury Street, Boston. Before driv-ing all the way to the Boston area, how-ever, it is worthwhile to visit the locallibrary to see if they have or can accessthrough interlibrary loan materials pub-lished by either society. In addition, theMaine Mayflower Society is well worthlooking into.

The Maine Mayflower Society was

founded in 1901 by Archie Lee Talbot ofLewiston. Talbot, who served as a DeputyGovernor-general of the national society,initiated research into Maine Mayflowerdescendants. It can be reached care of theMaine Mayflower Historian, P.O. Box 622,Yarmouth, Maine.

Once a Maine resident has documentedthat they are a Mayflower descendant,they become eligible to join the MaineMayflower Society. The only requirement— besides being a Mayflower descendant

— is age. Applicants must be 18 or over.

DiscoverMaine34


grilled Meats – sMoked Meatsseafood – vegetarian entrÉeseAT in • TAKe OuT • CATeRinG

300 water street, augusta, Maine

(207) 622-8899www.riverfrontbbq.com

Augusta’s classiest loungeOpen Thurs.-Sat. 3pm to midnight for food or drink

your hunger goes where the river flows800-621-9285 • www.centralmainepyrotechnics.com

• Weddings• Birthdays• Family Reunions• Private Parties• Corporate Events• Holidays• Festivals and Fairs• 4th of July• Town Celebrations

Water Street and post office, augusta ca. 1910 item #11885 from the collec-tions of the maine Historical Society and www.Vintagemaineimages.com


In the first half of twentieth centurythe name Hazzard was one of thebest-known in the Kennebec Valley.

Among other things the name representedstable employment. Men and womencould count on lifelong jobs in Hazzardfactories in Gardiner, Augusta andSkowhegan. In Gardiner, Hazzard alsomeant the community spirited RobertParks Hazzard, for it was here the manwho is most associated with the Hazzardbusiness enterprises made his home.

In the manufacturing world of the firsthalf of the twentieth century RobertParks Hazzard and the name Hazzardwere most often associated with HazzardShoe, the company which produced theshoes made in Gardiner, Augusta andSkowhegan. The two were also associatedwith Beck-Hazzard, the company whichoperated a chain of close to 200 shoestores throughout the Northeast. At thenational level Robert Parks Hazzard wasidentified with such organizations as theNational Boot and Shoe ManufacturingAssociation and the federal government’sNational Industrial Conference Board.

In the world of civic responsibility andcommitment to community, the namesHazzard and Robert Parks Hazzard wereassociated with endeavors ranging fromMaine to Florida. In Maine Robert ParksHazzard was a strong supporter of the en-vironmental issues of the day, and was a

noted sportsman and outdoorsman. InGardiner, Robert Hazzard’s largessehelped build the high school and a wingof the library. Far to the south, in Sara-sota, Florida, Robert Hazzard donated thewherewithal ($8000) for the constructionof a fountain (Hazzard Fountain) whichstill graces that community’s municipalbuilding.

While both the name Robert ParksHazzard and Hazzard Shoe are mostoften associated with Maine — most no-tably Gardiner — the origin of both beginelsewhere, and the association of thename Hazzard with the shoe industry be-fore the birth of Robert Hazzard.

Robert Parks Hazzard entered the shoeindustry in 1887 in Jamestown, New Yorkat the age of nineteen. His father and hisuncle operated a shoe factory in that city,Parks-Hazzard. In 1895 Robert Hazzardleft the family company to strike out onhis own in what was then the capitol ofthe boot and shoe industry in the UnitedStates — Brockton, Massachusetts. Therehe founded Fields-Hazzard. Then, in 1902Robert Hazzard moved to Maine.

What drew Robert Hazzard to Mainewas opportunity. Hazzard became super-intendent of the Commonwealth Shoe &Leather Company of Gardiner andSkowhegan. This was the company thatmanufactured the classic Bostonian shoe.

In 1906 Robert Hazzard founded the

Snow-Hazzard Company. In 1910 Snow-Hazzard became the R. P. Hazzard Com-pany. In 1913 Robert Hazzard purchasedthe Beck Shoe Company. Beck Shoe op-erated a chain of retail shoe stores. Haz-zard changed the name to Beck-Hazzard,Incorporated. Robert Hazzard was presi-dent of both R. P. Hazzard and Beck-Hazzard.

It is almost impossible today to realizethe importance of R. P. Hazzard in theKennebec Valley of the early 1900s. In theRoaring ‘20s the Gardiner factory em-ployed some 900 workers. The Augustaplant employed another 200. TheSkowhegan plant, a bit less. During thistime period the R. P. Hazzard Companyhad an annual payroll of about one mil-lion dollars. The key to the company’s suc-cess was its target group. The companymanufactured a medium grade ofwomen’s shoes. This meant customerswere, for the most part, middle classwomen, women who were willing tospend money for footwear that had a rep-utable brand name. And they boughtthese shoes on a regular basis.

Robert Parks Hazzard’s name was well-known in Maine for more than just shoes.He had fishing and hunting camps scat-tered across the state. They were a bitmore than camps, however. They wereopulent log homes. The one near

DiscoverMaine 35


RiseRs, CoveRs, baffles

tank loCatoR

RepaiRs

gRease tRaps Cleaned

waterville, Maine

dRainage fields Rejuvenated

fRozen seweR lines thawed

yeaR-Round seRviCe

all disposal in aCCoRdanCe

with dep Regulations

Residential & Commercial

a l’sertifiedutoepair

CaR

dealershipQuality at

IndependentPrices

• locally owned & family operated• Your Automotive Repair Specialists

622-4747316 State St. • Augusta

OPeN MON.-FRI. 7:30-5:30

The Story Of Hazzard ShoeA famous name in shoes throughout the Northeast

by Charles Francis


Gardiner, where Hazzard made his per-manent home, was noted for its rustic mu-nificence — if the latter terms cannot besaid to be mutually exclusive.

In the mid-1920s Robert Hazzard alsobuilt a summer home at Grand Beach inOld Orchard Beach. In style it was likenothing ever seen in the state of Maine. Itwas Spanish architecture! It was on GrandBeach Avenue, and commanded a view ofthe ocean that was considered unparal-leled.

Hazzard Shoe, like the Maine shoe in-dustry as a whole, went into a period ofdecline as foreign competition came to thefore. Today the records of Hazzard Shoeare largely a subject for the historian.About 1970 Hazzard Shoe companyrecords became the property of SpecialCollections of the Folger Library at theUniversity of Maine. Beck-Hazzard ShoeStores, however, continue to sell shoes inNew Jersey and elsewhere.

As for Robert Parks Hazzard, the timehas come for a biography of this remark-

able man who made Maine and the Ken-nebec Valley his home, and in so manyways left his mark on both. Perhaps one

will be written in the not-too-far future. It

is more than overdue.

DiscoverMaine36


And

(207) 623-4583www.axells.net

803 Western Ave., Manchester, Maine • 2 Miles West of Augusta - exit 109 off I-95

Axell Auto rentalAvailable on site

All GueSTROOMS HAVe:• Private bath• Wi-Fi• Cable tv• Coffee• toaster/Microwave/Fridge• Extended stay guestrooms available

with full kitchens

overnight &

Extended Stay

GRIllS, CASuAl FuRNITuRe

www.mcvetyshearthandhome.com

207-622-6040

THRee CONVeNIeNT lOCATIONS

200 Capitol Street, Augusta

162 Hospital Street, Augusta

81 Grove Street, Waterville

800-540-8707

www.mainestatecu.org

the elmwood Hotel, readfield.

item #111080 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co.

Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


DiscoverMaine 37

The new england denture Centers

denture ServicesliCenSed denTuriSTS

William D. buxton, lD

William F. buxton, lD

Sherry M. bodge, lD

Rebecca J. Stevens, lD

Stephanie R. buxton, lD

Patrick D. Allen, lD

“A denTure ServiCe direCT To THe puBliC”

visit our website at

www.nedenturecenter.com

• new Full dentures

• MaineCare & Aspire Accepted

• Same day relines & repairs

• 5% discount/retired Military

• Interest-Free Financing Available

“wHen QuAliTy CounTS AS well AS CoST”

FREE COnSulTaTIOnS12 Stillwater Avenue, Suite 6 • Bangor, Maine

941-6550 or Toll Free 1-877-941-6550Call for more information or to make an appointment

BAnGOR12 Stillwater Ave., Suite 6

Bangor, mE 04401

(207) 941-6550

LInCOLn43 West Broadway

lincoln, mE 04457

(207) 794-3300

ELLSWORTH14 toothaker lane, Suite 4

Ellsworth, mE 04605

(207) 667-8263

TOPSHAM10 monument Place

topsham, mE 04086

(207) 729-6600

AUBURn730 center Street

Auburn, mE 04210

(207) 777-0088

AUGUSTAlee Farm mall

12 Shuman Ave., Suite 1

Augusta, mE 04330

(207) 621-2904

WESTBROOk395A Bridgton Road

Westbrook, mE 04092

(207) 797-0988


Sigma Kappa Sorority is one of the

most unique philanthropic institu-

tions in the country, having as it does

long-standing ties to Maine. The national

college sorority has as one of its philan-

thropies the Maine Seacoast Mission.

Among other things, the Maine Seacoast

Mission operates the famous Sunbeam V, the

mission ship that operates out of Bar Har-

bor and serves the islands of the Downeast

region and Maine counties of Hancock and

Washington. Sigma Kappa has been one of

the mission’s benefactors since 1918, con-

tributing to its programs which provide re-

lief to the needy in the form of clothing,

food, shelter and medical supplies in times

of crisis.

Sigma Kappa chose the Maine Mission-

ary Society as one of its philanthropies be-

cause the sorority was first established in

Maine. It was founded at Colby College in

the school year 1873-74. Colby College was

the first men’s college in New England to

admit women.

In 1871 Mary Chaffrey Low became the

first woman to attend Colby. In 1873 she

was joined by Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida

May Fuller, Frances Mann and Louise Helen

Coburn. These five, being the only females

on an all-male campus, drew together to

form a society modeled on Phi Beta Kappa

to promote social and literary functions for

women.

Two of my family members joined Sigma

Kappa at their respective colleges. Both

have Maine ties. Katherine Howe was a

Sigma Kappa at Jackson College of Tufts

University. Until the time of her death she

summered at Bailey Island. Sarah Howe, her

niece, joined Sigma Kappa at the University

of Massachusetts. She worked at the Mon-

hegan House on Monhegan Island in the

summers to help defray her college ex-

penses. My cousins are just two examples of

Sigma Kappas who have felt the draw that

Maine has on this nationwide sorority that

supports the Maine Seacoast Mission. In-

triguingly, the five unique women — and

they were unique — who founded the first

Sigma Kappa chapter at Colby also all had

Maine ties. Perhaps this in part explains why

this sorority with 105 college chapters and

135 alumnae chapters has endured and

grown as it has, and why it continues to sup-

port a worthy Maine institution like the

Maine Seacoast Mission.

Mary Chaffrey Low was born in Water-

ville to Ira and Ellen (Chaffrey) Low in

1850. Ira Low was a successful Waterville

pharmacist.

DiscoverMaine38

Rocky’s sales and service

over 30 Years of Experience

MhPMasterhearth

Professional

Stove Shoppe

an authorized Jøtul dealer

2445 North Belfast Avenue (Route 3)Augusta, Maine 04330

(207) 622-3410www.rockysStoveShoppe.com

Certified technicians to help keep you safe and warm this winter and next.

Ballard Meats and Seafood

Retail • Wholesale

Fresh Lobsters &

Seafood

Year Round

55 Myrtle Street, Manchester

622-97641-800-564-6328

fax: 621-0242

SIdnEY, MaInE

A trUstEd nAmE For proFEssIonAl WorkmAnshIp

Residential Roofing Specialists!nEw ROOfs • RE-ROOfs • REPaIRs

asPhaLt shInGLEs • ROLLEd ROOfInGFUlly InsUrEd • FrEE EstImAtEs •ovEr 40 yEArs ExpErIEnCE

www.kasie-JoInc.com • auguSTa

The founding Of Sigma KappaSorority has long-standing ties to Maine

by Charles Francis


Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, born in 1857,

was another Waterville girl who grew up at-

tending the same Quaker Meeting House as

Mary Low. Unlike Mary Low, Elizabeth

Hoag grew up fatherless. She and her

mother lived with her grandmother.

Ida May Fuller was a Brunswick native.

Born to Joseph and Annie (Brown) Fuller

in 1858, she came from a family whose male

members traditionally attended Colby. Her

brother Blin, who had the typical masculine

attitudes of the day regarding education for

women, refused to attend Colby because Ida

was a student there. Ironically, his two

daughters went on to higher education, join-

ing Sigma Kappa in the process.

Frances Mann was from Yarmouth. Her

parents, William and Charlotte, operated a

prosperous farm in Freeport. Frances was

teaching in Rockport, Massachusetts when

she decided to attend Colby.

Louise Helen Coburn came from one of

the most prestigious families in Maine —

the Coburn family of Skowhegan. Her fa-

ther Stephen, a Colby graduate, was a con-

gressman, and her Uncle Abner was a

governor of Maine.

Of the five founders of Sigma Kappa all

but one lived into old age. Elizabeth Hoag

died when she was eighteen in 1875. The

cause of her death was tuberculosis.

The other founding sorority members

lived to play roles in the expansion of their

sorority and to see the Maine Seacoast Mis-

sion become one of the sorority’s philan-

thropies in 1918.

Mary Low was Colby valedictorian in

1875. She went on to marry and teach

school in Augusta. Her later years were

spent living with her daughter in Cambridge,

Massachusetts. There she entertained Sigma

Kappas from Boston University and Jack-

son College. Katherine Howe, my cousin,

attended Low’s teas and listened to her tell

what a worthy cause the Maine Seacoast

Mission was. It was Low’s stories of Maine

that led my cousin and her husband to pur-

chase a summer home on Bailey Island. In

turn, it was Katherine Howe who encour-

aged her Sigma Kappa niece to get a job on

Monhegan Island.

Ida Fuller moved to Kansas and married

there. Her niece Abby, daughter of Blin

Fuller, founded the University of Kansas

chapter of Sigma Kappa. Ida Fuller served

as the chapter’s housemother for a number

of years.

Frances Mann married a fellow Colby stu-

dent, George Hall. The two were career

teachers.

Louise Helen Coburn had a notable ca-

reer as a writer and botanist. Involved with

Colby all her life, she, along with Mary Low,

fought the move to return Colby to all-male

status by creating a separate women’s divi-

sion in 1890. Their effort failed. Coburn be-

came the college’s first female trustee.

Colby banned all fraternities and sorori-

ties at in 1984. The reasons in part had to

do with hazing. Undoubtedly, the five

founders of Colby’s Sigma Kappa would

have deplored some of the practices

adopted by latter day fraternities and soror-

ities. One can be just as assured they would

approve the fact that Sigma Kappas across

the country still feel ties to Maine — ties

that are demonstrated with the sorority’s

support of the Maine Seacoast Mission.

DiscoverMaine 39

Stephen L. Vorpagel

Quality work • fully insuredfree estimates

Chimneys • new Granite Stepsfireplaces

~ Custom work ~

207-685-3516PO Box 173 • Readfield, ME 04355

Rodney Ellis Jr.

ConstructionNew Homes

GaragesCampsBarns

Additions

293-2364539 Townhouse Rd • Vienna, ME 04360

Fully Insured ~ Free Estimates

Mid-MAiNEEquine & Canine Therapeutics& Wind Swept Acres Arabians

massage therapy Rehabilitationdog Grooming

doggie daycare/BoardRiding lessons & training

Trisha J. Davis

ESTM-CMT Certified Massage Therapist

491-0410 • 293-3003539 Townhouse Road, Vienna

windswept-arabians.com

buyeR of standing tiMbeR

seleCtive Cutting

Road & house lots CleaRed

fiRewood • Chipping • tRee ReMoval

liCensedaRboRist 897-5945

livermore, Maine

Lobster Co. & Redemption CenterFour Winds Too

• Large Barbecues• Family Functions• Company Parties

68 Main Street - Livermore Falls, ME 04254www.4winds2.com

897-6648Open Daily9-6

We Do LargeOrders

John & Patrick Elsman


Maine40

Shamrock

StoneworkS &LandScaping, inc.

“We Build yourdreamscapes”

Paver Patios

Walkways

Poolscapes & Driveways

ICPI Certified Installer

Licensed Landscape

Arborist

Mulching Planting

Techno-Pro Installer

207-242-7983 or 207-685-4480www.shamrockstoneworks.com9 kentwood Drive kents Hill, Maine 04351

new homeConstruction

roofing • Siding • Porches • decksGarages • Additions

Fully insured

Home Builders & RemodelersAssociation of Maine

• design/Build

• Over 30 Years

Experience

• Green Building

Practices For The

Environment

hIllSIdE hoMES, llCserving all of central Maine

GrEGG rIChArdS

897-2696 or 779-0001

Hand Crafted Granite Countertops

www.SalemStoneworks.com(207) 897-4164

Tony HughesLivermore, Maine

113 river rd., livermore

897-4200 or 1-800-515-0221www.donsstoveshop.com

• Sales • Installation • Service“In Business Since 1986”

Building • carpentry • Finish/trim

custom cabinetry • Home offices

645-5375 • Jay, Maine

1912 Livermore/Fayette area mapCourtesy University of New Hampshire Library Digital Collections Initiative



DiscoverMaine 41

Plumbing • Heating • Cooling

GEOTHERMAL • SOLID FUEL • SOLAR • COMFORT CONTROLS

207-645-2711RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL

PO box 743 • Wilton, Me 04294

www.abtmech.com~ Austin Foss ~ Brian Drumm ~ Terry Smith ~

main Street, Kents Hill. item #107364 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection

and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

if your family goes

back in Maine

history 5 or more

generations and

you’d like to have a

story done,

give us a call.

is your family part ofMaine history?

(207) 874-7720Discover Maine Magazine


Icannot remember how many times in my life I’ve seenmy name, both first and last, mangled beyond recogni-tion. And yet, I chose to keep this quirky, French sur-

name even after I was married. Call it what you will, but Iguess I am as proud of my heritage as any man would be ofhis.

The Lanteigne name originated in the Brittany region ofFrance. Sometime in the early- to mid-1700s Louis deLanteigne migrated to the shores of New Brunswick,Canada, thus planting the first of countless generations ofLanteignes in the New World. They say the Lanteigne con-stitution is strong, that we all live to a ripe old age, and thatthere is something in the salt air that seems to pulse in theblood of anyone with that last name.

Five generations of Lanteignes have called Maine “home”beginning with my great grandfather, Pierre UrbainLanteigne, affectionately known as “Reuben.” He was born in1899 in a beautiful fishing village called Caraquet, New

DiscoverMaine42

Annuals Perennials Hanging

Baskets Trees & Shrubs Pet & Farm Supplies Open Mon.-Sat. 10-5

54 Greenhouse lane, thorndike, Maine

568-3738www.halfmoongarden.com

C&CSprayfoam

Up to 40% In Energy Savings!Fully insured • Free estimates

Brian Currie - Owner

314-1023Clinton, ME

[email protected]

“Specializing in Happy Customers”

www.cncsprayfoam.com

PLUMBInG HEATInG & AIR COnDITIOnInG19 North Street, Waterville • 872-6762

www.houlesphac.com

sAvE 75¢ - $1.00 pEr gAllon. It’s gotto BE systEm 2000

• Saves up to 30-40% off fuel!• Quieter than a microwave!• The highest efficiency boiler manufactured!• Proudly made in the USA!

With fuel prices at over $2.50 per gallon and typicalsavings of up to 40%, it’s like saving 75¢ - $1.00 pergallon, year after year, with virtually unlimited hot

water. Call now for our free in-home estimate!

It’s got to be

debraachramowicz

CPa, Pac e r t i f i e d p u b l i c a c c o u n t a n t

873-7100

166 College Ave., PO box 215Waterville, Me 04903-0215

www.az-cpa.com

Serving small businesses & individuals

Maine’s OwnLanteigne familyFive generations call Maine home

by Aimee Lanteigne

my great grandfather, pierre "reuben" lanteigne,

circa 1940, New york.

NatanisGolf Course

“Maine’s Only36 Hole

Golf Course”

• the largest golf facility north of Boston

• driving range • Golf carts

• Professional instruction

• Air conditionedclub house

• Pro shop

www.natanisgc.com

For informationphone Rob Brown at

207-622-3561

735 Webber Pond Road, vassalboro


Brunswick. He had five brothers and foursisters — not uncommon for a FrenchCatholic family. Reuben moved to Mainelooking for work. He first worked as a car-penter, and then gained employment atWyandotte Worsted Co. as a millwright inWinslow where he worked for twentyyears. My great grandfather was the firstof four Lanteigne generations represent-ing the proud French-Canadian contribu-tion to the manufacturing sector ofMaine’s mills.

The second generation of mill workersin the Lanteigne family was representedby Francis Eugene Lanteigne, born in Wa-terville in 1915. Gramp lived with hisAunt Vesta and Uncle Lafey on their farmin Rome. When he married my grand-mother Alice Reynolds in 1936, they livedwith old Lafey and Vesta. Gramp workedmost of his professional career as a mill-wright at Keyes Fibre in Waterville. Hecarried on the blue-collar tradition ofgood, honest work at a mill begun by hisfather. He retired in 1979 after twenty-four years of service and died in 1998.

DiscoverMaine 43


• Daily Features

• Fresh Baked Bread

• Everything Made Fresh Daily

• Gift Certificates Available

• Business Meetings, Parties, ReceptionsCheck out our

bountiful omelettes!

105 College avenue, waterville • 859-8761

Open Mon.-Sat. 6am-2pm • Sunday 7am-2pm

reStaurant • SpiritS • banquetS

Eric’s

2011Annual Events

June 6thChamber Golf Classic

36 teams compete for prizes to include

gift certificates from Chamber businesses,

golf products, cash awards up to $20,000

and a new car.

August 3rdtaste of Greater Waterville

Area residents and tourists enjoy live

music and entertainment while enjoying

the area’s finest cuisine under the stars

on Main Street. Brought to you by

Colby College, Maine General,

Morning Sentinel,

New Dimensions Federal Credit Union

and Valley Distributors.

Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce50 Elm Street, Waterville, ME 04901

Tel. (207) 873-3315 Fax (207) 877-0087

www.midmainechamber.com

september 28thSuper raffle dinner Show

A festive evening including a

sit-down dinner and super raffle

with over 150 fabulous gifts and a

winning ticket worth $3,000 in

cash. Brought to you by Coldwell

Banker Plourde Real Estate.

Asphalt Repair & MaintenanceCommercial • Residential • Municipal

Asphalt Sealcoating

Hot Rubberized Crack Filling

Hot Asphalt Repair • Driveway Removal

Gravel/Loam/Stone • Excavation Work

465-8396 • 1-888-634-3777

Tom boyce, OwnerE-mail: [email protected]

199 Snow Pond Road, Oakland, ME 04963

whitneybuilding

Matt WhitneyBelgrade, ME

Fr a m e t o F i n i s h

New ConstructionRemodels • Additions • Decks

Drywall • Finish Interior/Exterior

207-431 -2532

Fully Insured • Free Estimates

Caraquet: l to r Germaine lanteigne, pierre "reuben" lanteigne,Gene lanteigne, Judy (lanteigne) Buzzell circa 1955, Caraquet,

New Brunswick, Canada. this would be my great-great-grand-

mother, great-grandfather, grandfather, and aunt.


My father represents the third genera-tion of mill workers in the family. Chris-tened Eugene Henry Lanteigne, my fatheris known to everyone as “Buddy.” Aftergraduating from Williams High School inOakland in 1962, he enlisted in the U.S.Marine Corps. Eventually my fatherworked eight hours a day, seven days aweek, for thirty-four years at Keyes Fibre,where his father had worked most all ofhis life. He retired in 2002 and eventhough he no longer “works” for a living,he never rests and for this reason nevergrows old.

My brother and I represent the fourthgeneration of Lanteignes. Josh is em-ployed by one of the few remaining man-ufacturing plants left in Maine and may bethe last in line of those Lanteignes carry-ing out the hard but proud work in man-ufacturing. I graduated from theUniversity of Maine at Farmington in1995, the first Lanteigne to graduate fromcollege, and became a teacher. As papermills die out and the economy shifts, thecurrent and future Lanteigne generations

DiscoverMaine44


excavation & Septic Systems

lOAM GRAVel SAND

465-3815cell: 314-0314

P.O. box 146 • belgrade, Maine 04917

Mike WainerPlumbing & Heating

licensed & InsuredCommercial/Residential

New Homes/Remodels/RepairsHourly or Flat-Rate Pricing

169 Rome Rd.Rome, Me 04963

(207) 397-4475Cell: (207) 692-3153

BLOWn In CELLULOSE, ATTICS & WALLSBLOWn In FIBERGLASS

WInDOWS • DOORS20 years Experience • Quality Work • Fully Insured

You can save 30-50% on your heating bills

by weatherizing your home.

453-9399

Front row, l to r: Keeling dorogi, alice lanteigne, Braden dorogi

Back row, l to r: louis dorogi, Buddy lanteigne, aimee lanteigne


will move into 21st century jobs, such asthose in technology and renewable energy.

My children represent the fifth genera-tion of Lanteignes. There was much angstafter finding out our first baby was goingto be a boy. The Lanteigne name must goon, yet how could I deprive my husbandof passing on his last name? A “deal” wasstruck. While our son would get my hus-band’s last name, I would choose his firstname, Keeling. In 2003 our second sonBraden was born in Waterville, the townof his mother’s, grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s birth. While my boys do notshare my last name, I hope that somehow,someday, they will find a way to keep thename alive. I doubt they will find employ-ment in the manufacturing sector whenthey are older — they will be part ofMaine’s new economy.

We are a family much like any otherMaine clan, but our roots are deep in thisgreat state. The Lanteigne family has lived,worked, and died in central Maine for overa hundred years. If it’s true what is saidabout the Lanteigne constitution, I don’texpect that to change anytime soon.

DiscoverMaine 45

A State of the Art G.I. Endoscopy Unit Specializing in Colonoscopies and Upper Endoscopies

• AFFORDABLE - A Fraction of the cost of hospital procedures• Special payment arrangements for clients with no insurance,

high deductibles or Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)• No lengthy registration process• Comfortable waiting room• Medicare certified - accepting all insurance carriers

John Irwin D.O.Medical Director

40 Airport roadSuite 2, Waterville

• Convenient and easy access location• If you live more than 30 miles away, stay the night

before at the Hampton Inn in Waterville on us• All phone calls answered during business hours by

a staff member (not a machine)

www.centralmaineendoscopy.com8am - 5pm Monday - Thursday • 8am - 3pm Friday

Check out our new web site:

680-2070

Hair Services:• Color/Color Correction

• Specialty Hair• Hair Removal

• Gift Certificates

The Spa At Remedy:• Facials • Massage• Manicure/Pedicure

• NEW! Relaxing Foot Soaks• Now offering Juvederm

& Botoxindividually or parties up to 6

207.859.8886 10 Railroad Square, Waterville

Kelly Paquette, Proprietor

History withthe click of

a mouse

www.DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Hillcrest Farm filling station on the Belgrade road, Waterville.

item #102875 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


August of 2010 marked the 80thanniversary of the disappearanceof Supreme Court Justice Joseph

F. Crater. At 41 years of age, he disap-peared after traveling from his summerhome in Belgrade Lakes to NewYork City. He told only his wife,Stella Wheeler Crater, that he hadbusiness to attend to in the city,and more than ten days passed be-fore his wife began to worry.However, it wasn’t until the Au-gust 25th when he missed a courtappearance that his friends startedto take the disappearance seriously. It was-n’t until September 3rd, almost a monthafter his disappearance, that the police ac-tually got involved.

For the first few years after his disap-pearance, the rumors were many. Because

he often had dealings with both womenand disreputable characters, it was thoughtthat he was probably murdered by either aformer mistress or someone who was un-happy with the outcome of a business

deal. In fact, though, all of the evidencepointed to the fact that he was probablymurdered by someone he had taken for aride.

Others thought he may have wanted outof his life and simply checked out to be-

come someone new. This is what most be-lieved, especially after his wife came homefrom a trip in 1931 to find a dresserdrawer containing four envelopes. Oneheld almost $7,000, another held stock

certificates and bonds, and an-other held life insurance policiesand the deed to their property inBelgrade Lakes. The last containeda note to her that ended, “Am veryweary. Love, Joe.” The police hadnot found these envelopes whenthey had earlier searched thehouse.

When the police put out a poster offer-ing a $5,000 reward for information re-garding the whereabouts of Judge Crater,calls came in by the hundreds. For manyyears the police were overwhelmed bycalls, but none actually produced a good

DiscoverMaine46

384 Somerset Avenue, Pittsfield(Exit 150 off i-95)

1-800-427-5115 or 487-5111www.varneychevrolet.com

Varney ChevroletSales

& Service on all new

or usedGM products

ADA Fence Company, Inc.

“the professional Fence people”

www.adafence.com1110 Main Street • Palmyra

Toll Free1-888-891-4564

local 938-2530

Installation & Sales of AllTypes of Fences & Gates

Serving you SuccessfullyFor 15 years!

Ke

nn

eBeC MOnTeSSOR

i

SCHOOLNurturing a love of learning for over 30 yearsPreschool, Kindergarten and

elementary programs for children ages 2.9 to 9

before and After Care Available

453-6055

WWW.KeNNebeCMONTeSSORI.ORG

Fairfield, Maine

[email protected]

Two Great Businesses... One Great LocationBenton Family Fun Park

Build yourown teddy

bear!

neck Road • Rt. 139 • Benton • 453-2001

Fun forthe Whole

Family

Reserve your Teddy Mountain Birthday party now!

yankee trophy

batting cages

ice cream • mini golf

go karts

what Happened To The Judge?Judge with summer home in Belgrade disappeared in 1920

by Penny S. Harmon

When the police put out a poster offering a $5,000 reward for information regarding the whereabouts

of Judge Crater, calls came in by the hundreds. For many years the police were overwhelmed by

calls, but none actually produced a good lead. However, many still believed that Judge Crater

had simply changed lives.


lead. However, many still believed thatJudge Crater had simply changed lives.

This all changed in April of 2005 whenStella Ferrucci-Good, from Bellerose, NY,died at the age of 91. She left a note be-hind that was marked “Do not open untilmy death.” In this note, she claimed tohave knowledge of Judge Crater’s death.

She claimed that her late husband,Robert Good, and Charles Burns, bothpolice officers with the NYPD, along withFrank Burns, Charles’ brother and cabdriver, had killed Judge Crater. She alsostated that he had been buried on ConeyIsland, under the boardwalk, where theNew York Aquarium is currently located.

After this note surfaced, it was foundthat a Charles Burns did serve from 1926until 1946 on the NYPD, and some ofthat time was spent on Coney Island. Itwas also discovered that when the aquar-ium was under construction in the 1950s,skeletal remains were found. Unfortu-nately, as they did not have the technology,those remains could not be linked to anymissing person, including Judge Crater.

Many wonder why the remains of thoseskeletons found on Coney Island have notbeen exhumed so that the technologyavailable today could be used to clarifywhether they do indeed belong to JudgeCrater. Sadly, these skeletal remains werereburied in Potters Field on Hart Island inunmarked mass graves. To find the rem-nants of what could be Judge Craterwould require digging up the coffins thatare stacked three high, two across, and inrows of 25. In other words, it is an im-possible feat.

Others wonder whatever happened toJudge Crater’s wife. After his disappear-ance, Stella spent a lot of her time at herhome in Belgrade. Stella did write downher thoughts about her husband’s disap-pearance and it was published in 1961.“The Empty Robe” gives a solid accountof the details of her husband’s disappear-ance, but, more importantly, it gives in-sight into her belief that her husband wasan honorable man, despite what themedia, friends, and associates stated.

Her belief in her husband may have

been the reason that she held onto theproperty in Belgrade Lakes for so longafter his disappearance. Having spent a lotof time there with her husband, she prob-ably felt closest to him by the lake. Shedid, however, remarry in 1939 to KarlKunz. Unfortunately, this marriage didnot work out for her. She did hold ontothe property in Maine for another 10years. Since 1949 the property has onlychanged hands one more time, being soldto the current owner in 1977. Stella passedaway at the age of 82 in 1969.

While the disappearance of JudgeCrater still remains a mystery 80 yearslater, everyone has their own thoughtsabout what really happened. The case wasclosed in 1979, only to be reopened whenMs. Good’s letter came into play. Unfor-tunately, we have no way of knowing howthis man with connections to Maine died.Was he murdered and buried on Coney Is-land? Or did he make the choice to leavebehind his wife, who continued to honor

him even after he disappeared?

DiscoverMaine 47

DeCato BuildersYour specialists from the ground up since 1972

Design & BuildConventional, Log, Post & Beam Homes

All Work GuaranteedEstimates Given • Fully Insured

474-3284171 Back road, Skowhegan

randy’S Full SerViCe auto repair

Voted “best auto repair”

in greater Skowhegan 11 years running!

we offer a full range ofauto repair services in

our 8-bay garage!

• Shocks & Struts

• 2 & 4 Wheel Alignments

• Brake & Exhaust Systems

• Transmissions

• Engine Rebuilding & Installation

• Tires

• Drums & Rotors Turned

• A/C Service & Repair

• General Tune-ups

204 Madison Ave • Skowhegan, ME 04976

(207) 474-7580 • (800) 474-758024-hour towing

www.downtownme.com/randysautorepairApproved

FLOOrMAsTEr

NOrTHOwned & Operated By Bruce & Geoff Reynolds

474-5220Route 201

227 Waterville RoadSkowhegan, Maine

Sales, Service & installation

Carpet • Inlaid • Tile • laminateMaine Traditions Hardwood Floors


Freeman Knowles’ last resting placeis Mount Moriah Cemetery. Hisgrave is well up this particular for-

mation of South Dakota’s Black Hills.Not far from where Knowles lies onefinds gravestones of some of the most fa-mous of Old West icons. James Butler“Wild Bill” Hickok is here. So is MarthaCanary, A.K.A. Calamity Jane.

Mount Moriah is in Deadwood. Thecemetery encapsulates more than a mod-icum of local history and some historythat extends beyond the immediate locale.Seth Bullock, credited by some for givingTeddy Roosevelt the idea for forming theRough Riders, has his final resting placehere. Bullock was Deadwood’s first sher-iff. He spearheaded the drive to have thefirst Black Hills memorial to Teddy Roo-sevelt placed atop nearby Mt. Roosevelt.

Mount Moriah Cemetery has a chil-dren’s section. It speaks to nineteenth cen-tury diseases like scarlet fever anddiphtheria. It has a mass grave filled bymill workers that died in a hotel fire. Italso has a Civil War section. FreemanKnowles could have been placed here. Hefought in the war. He was a veteran of thefamous 16th Maine. Knowles isn’t here,though. He has his own special place atMount Moriah. The reason for this hap-penstance may have something to do withthe fact Knowles was a Congressman. Heonly served a single term, though.Knowles’ accomplishments as a veteranstand above those of his tenure in theHouse of Representatives.

Freeman Knowles was best known inDeadwood and the surrounding region aseditor and publisher of the Lead Lantern.

The Lantern serves as the link to Knowles’real notoriety. That notoriety rests onKnowles’ reputation as a “flaming” out-and-out Socialist.

Freeman Knowles was a Populist. Thismeans he was friend to the working man.In the Dakotas, working man meantminer, and, to a lesser extent, farmer andmill worker. Knowles stood up for thesegroups when he was in Congress. Hisgreatest service on behalf of the BlackHills working man came with the Lantern,however. And it was the Lantern thatbrought about Knowles’ downfall. TheLantern brought Knowles to the attentionof William Randolph Hearst. The power-ful yellow journalist didn’t like it that alocal paper could steal some of his ownself-generated thunder as the friend of theworking man.

DiscoverMaine48

Car accidentsPersonal Injury

206 Water Street, Suite 2, Skowhegan(next to Skowhegan Post Office)

[email protected]

WOODlAWNREHAB & NURSING CENTER

Physician DirectedRehabilitation Program

Long-Term Care hSkilled CareRespite Care

Secure Care Protection

474-9300donwoodlawn@firstat lant ic .com

59 W. Front St. Skowhegan

finish line

construction

Over 20 Years Experience!homeS • windowS • gARAgeS

cAmPS • AdditionS deckS

fRee eStimAteS • fully inSuRed

399-4932mAdiSon lARRy findley, owneR

fiNE liNEpAviNg & gRADiNgREsiDENtiAl & CoMMERCiAl

driveways • Walkways

Parking lots • Repairs

Sealcoating & Rubberizedcrackfilling

Fine grading

Jim Peters

207-696-8805 Cell: 207-431-1217629 Main Street • Madison, ME 04950

FREE ESTIMATES

b u I l D e R SHomes & More

• new Homes• additions • Remodels• Garages • decks• Roofs• Vinyl Siding • Replacement Windows• Hardwood Floors• Ceramic tiles

207-491-6641homesandmorebuilders.com

insured

freeman KnowlesFlaming Socialist by way of Harmony

by Charles Francis


The above few allusions are indicativeof the fact that Freeman Knowles was afighter. It just might be more appropriateto identify him as first of all a fighter, andthen “flaming” Socialist, though the twodo seem inseparable in this particular in-stance.

Deadwood is in Lawrence County,South Dakota. Lawrence County wasmost definitely Knowles’ county. He wasthe Socialist movement there and with hispassing the movement passed, too. Thatpoint aside, just how much of a fighterwas Freeman Knowles?

When Freeman Knowles signed upwith the 16th Maine in June of 1862 hewas barely five months shy of his six-teenth birthday. How did he get away withenlisting? The answer is that the teenagerlied about his age. Knowles said he waseighteen.

The muster list of the 16th Maine givesyoung Freeman Knowles’ hometown asSkowhegan. That’s not quite right, either.Actually he was from Harmony. He wentto school in Skowhegan, though. He wentto Bloomfield Academy. These few factsnow bring us to the 16th Maine.

The 16th Maine is one of the state’sgreat Civil War regiments — one of thetruly remarkable ones. Were it not for thevagaries of popular history we mightknow as much of the 16th as we do of the20th Maine. The fame of the 16th Mainerests on events leading up to Gettysburg.That story is as follows.

Union and Confederate troops are jock-eying for position along the Chambers-burg Pike. Chambersburg Pike leads toGettysburg and Cemetery Ridge.

Whichever side gains control of the Pikewill have the advantage in moving troopsto high ground. This is the situation whenthe 16th Maine comes to the fore. This isthe situation when the 16th leaves its markin the battle that is referred to as the turn-ing point of the War Between the States.

The 1st Corps, which includes the 16thMaine, is assigned to stop the Confederateadvance. The 11th Corps is brought up assupport. The two corps are unable to stopthe Confederates. They retreat to regroup.As the mass of Union forces retreats, the16th is ordered to provide cover. As to theexact number of the 16th at this point,that figure seems conflicted, however, 275appears more than once. Incredibly, theactions of these 275 allow for the orderlyretreat of the two corps. Though the 16theventually capitulates, the Confederatesdo not have the satisfaction of taking theregiment’s colors. The men of the 16th ripthe regimental flag into small pieces. Eachtakes a swatch. The record states justthirty of the 16th escaped to fight again.There are dead and wounded. 169 are

taken prisoner. Freeman Knowles is oneof these. He is eventually paroled.

After the war Knowles seems to havealternated between living in Maine and thewest. He married and fathered six chil-dren, five of them girls. All of his childrenare born in Maine. 1869 finds him prac-ticing law in Denison, Iowa. In 1879 theentire family is living in Crawford, Iowa.Here Knowles supports himself and fam-ily as a carpenter. From Iowa it is on toNebraska, and then the Black Hills. It is atthis point Knowles finds his life work asan activist and as a newspaper publisherand editor. He publishes two papers andthen the Lantern.

Freeman Knowles makes the Lead

Lantern the mine workers’ voice. Biting ed-itorials for better pay and hours at mineslike the Homestake are Knowles’ entryport to politics. He is elected to Congressin 1896 as a Populist, the party of thewest. His one term in Washington is col-orless. The same is not the case upon hisreturn to the Black Hills.

DiscoverMaine 49


residential, Commercial, & municipal paving

excavation, Fine Grading, aggregate Sales & Hot mix asphaltmake your Spring plans Now!

Phone: 207-696-5881 / Fax: 207-696-8589 • 32 Barton Hill Road - Anson, Maine 04911

LUCE’SMAiNE-gRoWN MEAtS

We specialize in supplying some of Maine’s best restaurants with

Maine-grown meats of the finest quality.

207-635-2817North Anson, Maine

~ W h o L ES A L E - R E t A i L ~Slaughterhouse • Custom Smoking

rick’s garage

Owned &Operated by theSpooner Family

Route 201a north anson

696-8183~ Complete Diagnostic & Repair ~

A tradition ofMaine’s outdoor

enthusiasts

PO Box 124 • North New Portland, ME 04961

Summer: 207.628.2819Winter: 207.628.3612

Hunting

Fishing

FamilyVacations

Since 1904

Guides Available


In 1906 William Randolph Hearst runsfor Governor of New York. He runs asthe friend of the working man. In linewith this he sends an investigative reporterto the Black Hills. Hearst knows there istrouble at the Homestake Mine. FreemanKnowles has covered it in the Lantern.Part of the problem is hours. The Home-stake has a ten-hour day. Hearst has al-ready attacked a mine with an eight-hourday. There is no compensation for injuryat the Homestake. Homestake workersand guards have clashed. Guards havekilled workers. All of this has been re-ported in the Lantern.

Ironically, William Randolph Hearstdoesn’t try to one-up Knowles by takingafter the mine owners with his powerfulchain of newspapers. He supports theowners. He wants to destroy Knowles. Hisploy is to support libel cases againstKnowles. He does it with money and inhis papers. Knowles comes out the loser.His paper folds and he goes to jail.

Freeman Knowles died in 1910. It waseither during surgery or as a result of sur-gery. Today the boy who left BloomfieldAcademy and lied about his age to join theUnion Army is famous in Deadwood andthe entire Black Hills region as “the flam-ing” Socialist who championed the rightsof the working man. What more couldone ask than to be remembered as stand-

ing up for the underdog?

DiscoverMaine50


Offering

“Home Cooking”

in a Warm

Friendly

Atmosphere

Full Menu Includes: Steak h SeafoodChicken h Pork • burgers h Salads

Sandwiches and More...Full bar Serving Cocktails

breakfast Till 11AM

Mon-Thurs 4AM to 8PM h Fri 4AM to 9PM

Sat 6AM to 9PM h Sun 6AM to 2PM

(207) 668-4222

located at the Corner of main St.& Spruce, Jackman

m

ama bear’s Den

Snowmobiles & ATV’s Sales & Service

Phone: (207) 668-44421-800-287-SNOW • Fax: (207) 668-7741www.jackmanpowersports.com549 Main Street, Jackman, Me 04945

tHE SHop

207-534-8808

Route 15, PO box 265 • Rockwood, Maine 04478

Open 7 Days from 11:30 a.m.

207-534-9787

The Shop Restaurant

D. R. SalisburyFoundations & SlabsDarrell Salisbury, owner

643-2308

Solon,

Maine

Residential Specialistsestimates • Fully Insured“over 25 years experience”

need a reason to ride to Rockwood?

sundownCabins

Soup’s on at Sundown Cabins

Friday & saturday 8am-2pm • 5pm-8pmsundays 8am-2pm

We have ample parking and limited seating... all with a full view

of mt. Kineo

207-534-7357www.sundowncabins.com

• open year round• Fully equipped• light housekeeping• Pets welcome!

1912 Harmony area mapCourtesy University of New Hampshire Library Digital Collections Initiative



DiscoverMaine 51

3642 Rockwood Rd.Rockwood, Maine 04478P.O. Box [email protected]

Lot Clearing • DrivewaysSeptic Systems • LandscapingRoad Building & MaintenanceSnowplowing & Much More!

Office: (207) 534-9734 • Fax: (207) 534-7500

SERVInGROCkWOOD &

SURROUnDInG AREAS

A Maine Traditionfor more than 80 yearsOpen year round with bungalow-style

cabins accommodating up to 10 people.We offer 2 fully-equipped efficiency cabins

Fish house rentals availableDining room open from May to mid-October.

Child friendly environment.Convenient to ITS 86.

Maynard’s in MaineP.O. Box 220, Rockwood, ME 04478

(207) 534-7703

(888) 518-2055www.maynardsinmaine.com

Solon

Superette

Pizza • Hot & Cold Sandwiches

Cold Cuts • Groceries

Sunoco Gas

Main Street, Solon

643-2500

Discover Maine Magazinehas been brought to you free through the

generous support of Maine businesses for thepast 19 years, and we extend a special thanks tothem. Please tell our advertisers how much you

love Discover Maine Magazine by doing businesswith them whenever possible.

They bring Maine’s history to you!

l.C. morse Cottage, liberty. item #107506 from theeastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and


Week-old fawn at maynard’s in rockwood. item#110142 from the eastern illustrating & publishing

Co. Collection and ww.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


Maine52

5 Church St., P.O. Box 498, Searsport, ME 04974

(207) 548-2529email: [email protected]

www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

The photography Archivesat the Penobscot Marine Museum

contains more than 85,000 images fromdozens of collections including the

archive of the Eastern Illustrating &Publishing Co. The images are

available for research, licensing, education and beautiful fine art prints.

the Square in North anson. item #101791 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and



DiscoverMaine 53

• licensed First Classlandscape andutility Arborist # FCl2209

• licensed MaineCommercialMaster Pesti-cide Applicator

• #CMA40630/3A6A 6b 6D

• 2009 Certified in eHAP, CRP andFirst Aid

• 2009 OSHA Compliant in electricalline Clearance under ANSI Z133.1-2006

• Fully insured

Complete tree removal

pruning

large & smalltree plantings

hazard tree Assessments

street tree Inventories

Custom stone Work

Walls • patiosWalkways

Arbor technologies

877-4128P.O. box 1611 • Waterville, Me 04903

www.arbortechnologies.net

“Leo from Arbor Technologies provided the quote, endured typical obstacles and prevailed, then finished the job on time & on budget.I can recommend Leo & his teamwith confidence.”

— Philip RoyGrondin's Certified Cleaners

www.arbortechnologies.netwww.arbortechnologies.net

leo st. peter


Everybody likes a winner. It’shuman nature to identify with awinner. That’s why so many of us

wear a T-shirt or hat or sweat shirt em-blazoned with the name of a particularteam or player. And inevitably the name isthat of the very best we can find. For anynumber of reasons no one wants to belinked to a loser.

Back in the winter of 1943-44, fans ofthe Waterville Purple Panthers boys’ bas-ketball team had the great fortune ofbeing associated with, or being able toidentify with, a group of Maine athleteswho went all the way. The 1943-44 PurplePanthers amassed a perfect record thatbasketball season.

The perfect 28-0 Purple Panther seasonis unique in Maine schoolboy hoop his-tory. It includes something more than

being a state champion. True, Watervillewas state champ. In reaching this loftygoal Waterville defeated Millinocket’sStearns High Minutemen in the Region-als. Any team that notches a win overStearns is worthy of note. From the Re-gionals the Purple Panthers went on tobeat Portland. That meant Waterville hadbragging rights as the best of Maine’sbest.

The real bragging rights of the 1943-44Purple Panthers doesn’t just rest on beingstate champs, though. The laurels herehave to do with being New Englandchamps. The Maine Sports Hall of Famefairly trumpets the fact that the ‘43-44 Wa-terville team is the only Maine team to wina New England championship when thefield included representatives from eachof the New England states, including

Connecticut.In winning the New England Inter-

scholastic Basketball Tournament of 1944Waterville beat another undefeated team,the Eastern Massachusetts regional win-ner Somerville. The reason whySomerville is noted as being the easternMassachusetts winner is that Massachu-setts and Connecticut sent two teams eachto the New Englands at this time. Theother New England states only sent one.

Sports buffs love sports history. It ishistory that makes the stuff of legend andWaterville had the stuff of legend back inthe ‘43-44 season. That legend includes aFreshman starter named Ted Shiro. It in-cludes flashy guard John Mitchell drib-bling out the clock against Somerville in afeat of ball-handling perhaps never seenat the high school level. And it includes

DiscoverMaine54

Maroon insurance agencyCelebrating over 50 years of service and for generations to come

Auto • Home • Life • BusinessAllstate Insurance Company, Allstate Indemnity Company,

Allstate Life Insurance Company, Home Office: Northbrook, ILwww.allstate.com

102 Silver St. (Corner of

Silver and Gold)

Waterville

873-5200Kevin Charlie Sam

Gallant FuneralHome,inc.

Funeral Prearrangement SpecialistsWaterville’s Only Independent &Locally Operated Funeral Home

John O. Gallant, Director

873-339310 Elm Street, Waterville

Accessible to the Handicapped

222 College AveWaterville, Maine207-872-5602

135 Waldo Ave.belfast, Maine207-338-5160

www.kswfcu.org

USdA, FdA to EPA listed Analysis for:

• Drinking & Waste Water• Radon Air & Water• Mold & Indoor Air Quality• Food Analysis• Solid & Hazardous Waste

Courier Service & Field Sampling

tel. (207) 873-7711 • Fax (207) 873-7022227 China road • Winslow, ME

www.nelabservices.com

$5.00 oFFFULL WATER TEST

with this adOrder your kit today!

www.nelabservices.com

A.E. HodSdon EnGinEERSEstablished 1974

Civil hMechanical henvironmentalSpecialists in the Water utility Field

Site Development & Permitting

10 Common Street hWaterville

873-5164Email: [email protected]

~ Engineers Who Still Practice As Professionals ~

g&D Auto REpAiRg&D Auto REpAiRdEALERSHIP qUALITy AT REASOnABLE RATES

Complete Auto & Truck service

•Brakes • Exhaust

•Alignments (2&4) Wheel

•Shocks • Struts

• Tune Ups

•Transmission & Coolant Flush

• Computerized diagnostics

• Full A/C Service

877-6610877-6610218 College Ave • Waterville

The waterville JuggernautUnlikely contender in 1944 New England tournament

by Charles Francis


one team member, Red Noel, leaving thePurple Panthers in January to serve withthe Marines in the Pacific theater.

That Waterville was 1944 New Englandchampion is remarkable in itself. The rea-son has nothing to do with the competi-tion. That reason is that the tournamentmight not even have occurred. The 1943tournament didn’t. It was the war. WorldWar II was raging in Europe and the Pa-cific.

There is another reason why the ‘44tournament is remarkable. Connecticutdidn’t have a team in the final. Connecti-cut dominated the tournament as no otherNew England state had. The moderntournament began in 1921. From that yearuntil 1962, Connecticut won the NewEnglands twenty-six times.

When Somerville made it to the finalsand there was no Connecticut opponent,the Massachusetts high school was ex-pected to emerge as New England hoopchampion. After all, Waterville was viewedas having sort of backed into the champi-onship game by defeating two of the tour-

nament’s weaker teams, the New Hamp-shire representative from Portsmouth andDe Lasalle Academy of Newport, RhodeIsland. The score of the first game hadbeen 58-38; the second 42-37. It didn’tmatter that back in Maine the Purple Pan-thers had defeated Stearns and Portland— teams that would have been competi-tive in the New Englands — by 66-39 and53-33 respectively.

The New England Interscholastic Bas-ketball Tournament of 1944 was held inProvidence, Rhode Island, at Brown Uni-versity. The Brown venue didn’t have theaccommodations of Boston Gardenwhich would see standing-room-onlycrowds of 13,000 for a New England final— nevertheless, the Providence crowdswere the biggest the Purple Panthersplayed in front of that year, and Watervillepresented them with a treat no one out-side of Maine could have foreseen, forWaterville was, indeed, a juggernaut.

The word juggernaut may be capitalizedor lower case. Capitalized, it refers to anIndian idol that was drawn on a gigantic

cart. Devotees of the Hindu god wouldthrow themselves under the cart’s wheelsto their destruction. When lower case, jug-gernaut is used to identify an overpower-ing force such as a great battleship orunbeatable sports team.

The Somerville basketball team ranafoul of a juggernaut at Brown Universityin the New England championship game.That this was the case was clear to everyfan in the stands from the beginning. Thescore at the end of the first quarter was

DiscoverMaine 55


locally owned & operatedby T. J. & donna Bolduc

• Carpet & upholstery Cleaning• Mold Remediation• Smoke & Water Restoration• Janitorial Services• Fully Insured

873-1241 • 1-800-564-124157 Water Street, Waterville

www.advance1clean.com

Open sunday & Monday 5-8

Tuesday - Thursday 4 - 8

Friday & saturday 11 - 9

variety of Fresh Salsaslunch Specials

daily dessert Specialshomemade Flour tortillas

(207) 861-46494 Chaplin Avenue • Waterville

(At Railroad Square)

Rolling to Your Doorto Meet ALL Your

auto h HomeBusiness

Security Needs

Appearances In HairUnisex Salon• Manicures

• Hair Removal• Evenings by appt.

C&DShellac

Available

www.appearancesinhair.com

83 Kennedy Memorial Drive, Suite 3

Waterville, Maine

877-7336Mention discover Maine Magazine for

20% Off Product!

gIve.Support more than 30 local programsthat help over 13,000 individuals and

families every year.PO Box 91, Waterville, ME 04903

207-873-0686

aDvocate.Raise your voice and raise awareness!

Sign up for our newsletter: “Be Way connected” at

www.unitedwaymidme.org

voLunteeR.Share your abilities and vision. visit:

www.volunteermaine.org

FREE: Nutrition; Physical Activity;Tobacco Cessation Policy;

Colorectal Cancer Prevention; andChronic Disease Prevention.


18-2. For the rest of the game, Watervilleplayed ball control. It was a frustrating ex-perience for the Massachusetts team.

There are a few Maine basketballcoaches who have been masters of ballcontrol. George Wentworth of Stearnscomes to mind here. Wentworth coachedDave Pound, who went on to coach atSearsport and Cony. He, too, was a masterof ball control. Wally Donovan, the Pur-ple Panther coach, was another master ofball control. And Donovan had a masterball handler in Johnny Mitchell.

Somerville simply couldn’t adjust to thePurple Panther’s style of play. The firstquarter had been run and gun. After thatWaterville was deliberate. That’s why thefinal score was 47-34. Capping off Water-ville’s deliberation was Mitchell’s dribblingexhibition with 3:55 left on the clock toend the game.

The backdrop for the 1944 New Eng-land tournament is World War II. War isbrutal and destructive. Its opposite is civ-ilization. Civilization must be learned

anew every generation. One way of civi-lizing new generations is through sport.We see this with Wally Donovan and theWaterville Panthers of 1943-34. Othersdid, too.

The Purple Panthers returned to Wa-terville to be met by fans and dignitaries.Waterville’s mayor, George Doyle, was agreeter. So, too, was Congressman HarryGillson. Mrs. Sumner Sewell, wife ofMaine’s Governor, made a brief welcom-

ing speech.If one accepts that history repeats itself

then one may look to the past for bothgood models and for bad. If each gener-ation must be civilized as to what is high-est and best, then one may consider thePurple Panthers of 1943-44 as an appro-

priate model for that which is best.

DiscoverMaine56


Buy 1 Meal at regular price and get the 2nd Meal at

1/2 price*

*MusT PrEsENT ThIs COuPON. gOOD TuEsDAY Thru sATurDAY ON DINNEr MENu ITEMs INCLuDINg sPECIAL BOArD. Cannot be combined with any other special offer. Expires April 2, 2011.

GEorGE’s rEstuArAntAmerican and Lebanese Cuisine

4 union street, waterville • 872-2629Between Front and Main Street • Around the corner from joseph’s Meat Market

now opEn tuEsdAY For dinnEr 4pM-9pMwednesday-saturday, 11am-9pmjoiN uS For

LuNCh SpeCiALS!

Poor Bob’s storageSnowmobiles • boats • Cars • Furniture • etc.

• Household & Business

• Monthly & Annual Rates

• Your Lock & Key

• Owner Resides on Property for

Security Reasons

• We Plow, Sand and Shovel All Doors

4 Miles From

Waterville

Over 385 Spaces

12 different Sizes5x10 to 12x30

Call Anytime453-7108

4 Poor Bob’s Lane (just off Unity Rd) Benton453-2926

46 Bridge Street (top of the hill) Benton

Kim’s GarageKim’s Garage& 24 Hour towing service

• Auto Body Repair & Painting

• Damage Free Wheel Lift & Flatbeds

• All Types of Automotive Repairs

873-2376873-2376800-308-8869

serving the Communitysince 1973

Sunbeam Farm, Waterville. item #102876 from the eastern illustrating &publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

Val Shell’sPawn Shop

Specializing in Immediate Cash Loans Against Your Valuables

top dollar on gold in Any condition

vAl Shell’S PAwn ShoP

Always Buying, Selling and Loaning

3 Spring Street Connector, Waterville.............. 873-6324



DiscoverMaine 57

WA InSLOWLUMInUM

VInYl & aluMInuM WIndOWS• Vinyl Siding

• Doors • Awnings • Canopies

• Gutters • Shutters

Fully iNSured • Free eStimateS

1-800-924-0412 • Fax: 873-7899Rt. 201 Augusta Rd. Winslow 873-0412

35 YEARSEXPERIEnCE

HoTHAmconcReTe

Larry Hotham

“Life begins with a good foundation”

Foundations • Floors • SlabsResidential & Commercial

Free estimates • Fully Insured

873-2679 • Cell 465-5194winslow, Maine

Silver FoxStamps and

More

Scrapbooking and Stamping Supplies, Classes, Latest Products, and More!

phone: (207) 873-5249383 Benton Avenue, Winslow, ME 04901

[email protected]

www.silverfoxstamps.com

Mention Discover Maine Magazine for your Discount

B & F Fresh VegetablesVegetables

Flowers Lobsters • ClamsChristmas Trees

& Wreaths

Open 7 Days A Week

7am-7pm, May-December

Frank Kent, proprietor

873-4345327 China Road, Winslow, Maine

cRanbERRy HaRboR natuRalS

Clean Burning & Highly Fragranced Organic Wax Candles

Natural and Organic Bath & Body Products

LiSA OSEngA, PROPRiETOR

199 McGrath Pond Road

Oakland, Maine 04963

(207) 992-7931

Hand-crafted in Maine

www.cranberryharborcandles.com

[email protected]

Winslow post office. item #102939 from the easternillustrating & publishing Co. Collection and


Fort Halifax, built in 1754 as an outpost against theindians. item #102940 from the eastern illustrating

& publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


At approximately 12:30 a.m. on

January 24, 2010, a phone call

was placed by a resident of Oak-

land, Maine, to report that there was a fire

in a downtown building. But this was not

just another building, it was a his-

toric landmark known to many

residents as the former Cascade

Woolen Mill. By the time the first

crews arrived on Cascade Mill

Road, they found the five-and-a-

half story wooden building com-

pletely engulfed in flames.

According to Fire Chief David Coughlin,

“More than 100 firefighters from 13 area

fire departments helped put out the fire.

Nobody was injured.” The next day, for-

mer co-owner Betsy Tipper surveyed the

still-smoking grounds and was saddened

by the loss. It was the last remnant of

Oakland’s historic past that dated back to

the 1880s, and it was now gone forever.

Established in 1882, the Cascade

Woolen Mill was one of many different

industries located along the Messalonskee

Stream. Like many businesses, it struggled

during its first few years but eventually

found its position in the highly competi-

tive textile industry by creating custom-

made wool and blends for a variety of

outerwear and furniture upholstery. Its

biggest competitor was the Oakland

Woolen Company (located at the top of

the Messalonskee), but after it burned

down in 1933, only the Cascade Mill re-

mained as the lone successful sur-

vivor.

In 1933 a British-born immi-

grant named Frederick Tipper

bought the mill during the Great

Depression for a very reasonable

price. According to his grandson,

Gerald Tipper, “He was living in

New York and was selling for Milliken,

and they owned the mill. They were a

large national textile company.” Seth Mil-

liken (from Portland, Maine) was one of

five founders of the mill. Tipper further

added, “My dad came up and ran it, and I

DiscoverMaine58

Buddies Meats& Groceries

CCOOMMPPLLEETTEE GGRROOCCEERRYY SS TTOORREE

Deli • BakeryFresh Meat & Produce

... and best of all FRIeNDlY SeRVICe!

43 Main St. • Oakland, Maine • 465-2621Hours: mon.-Sat. 7:30am-9pm • Sun. 8am-9pm

OPEn

7 DAYS

A WEEk

scoTT -n- scoTTie’s, inc.qUALITy COnSTRUCTIOn

New Homes • Remodeling

Additions • Decks • Kitchens

(207) 465-9796Fax 465-7861

89 Water St. • Oakland, ME 04963

Weeks & Sons dRiLLiNG

Family Owned and Operated For Over 50 Years

Specializing in Hammer drilling

Your CompletekitChEn

&bathCEntER

shOwROOMFrEE CuStOm dESIGn

Full Lines kitchen & Bath Cabinets All Styles

873-6467All Wood Custom Cabinetry

8 Lithgow Street, WinslowopEN MON.-FRI. 7AM-5PM • SATURDAY 7AM-1PM

The Cascade woolen MillEnd of an era

by James Nalley

“More than 100 firefighters from 13 areafire departments helped put out the fire.

Nobody was injured.”— Fire Chief David Coughlin

PAUL HANNA’ S PLUMBING• New Homes

• Remodels

• Camps

• Water & Sewer Pumps

• Water Filtration

Paul Hanna, Licensed Master Plumber

Serving you successfully for over 25 years

207-495 -3805Belgrade Lakes, Maine


came in 1967, after I

came out of graduate

school and worked for

Corning, to take over the

running of the mill…

then in 1973 we merged

with a company in Con-

necticut called Charles

House. Then I bought

the company back in

1984.”

By the mid-1980s and

early 1990s the mill was at

the peak of its overall

production,and included

250 employees from the regional area,

making it the largest employer in Oakland.

“We were doing just fine,” said Tipper, but

the success slowly transformed into the

beginning of a long and slow demise due

to a competitive foreign market. In a Jan-

uary 2010 interview with the Morning Sen-

tinel in Waterville, Tipper stated,

“Originally they [the manufactured items]

were made in the United States; then, in-

creasingly, it became more in places like

Honduras and Asia, the Far East… The

imports started coming in, and it became

just very difficult to compete with cheap

imports… and our customers started

manufacturing their garments all offshore.

They were no longer manufacturing in the

United States.”

From 1992 to 1997 the competition

against foreign-made fabrics had become

too great for the mill,

which showed in its an-

nual losses five years in a

row. Tipper recalls, “It got

so bad we could not pay

all of our taxes to the

town.” With hopes of a

revival, attempts were

made to merge the mill

with an important Aus-

trian fabric company. Un-

fortunately, negotiations

failed and the fate of the

mill was sealed. By 1998

the Cascade Mill had offi-

cially closed its doors and was turned over

to the town in exchange for more than

$400,000 in back taxes. During the fol-

lowing decade, the city-owned structure

provided space for several different ten-

ants, but K-D Display & Design has the

unfortunate distinction of being the final

business to occupy the historic building

before the devastating fire.

DiscoverMaine 59


north bay eStateSRoute 8 • North Belgrade

~ f o r S a l e ~

Craig AlexanderCustom Built Homes

1 & 2 acre lots with lake views fromGreat Pond overlook

Craig Alexandercell (207) 649-3749 • [email protected]

Belgrade Performance & repairs

MoBile MeChaniCsThe Full Service Garage That Comes To You!

Scott lancaster, Owner

(207) 399-9104 (Cell)Machine Shop Service

(207)495-4002 (Shop)139 Depot Rd. • Belgrade, ME 04917

Auto Repair • Heavy equipmentTruck Repair • Marine Repair

Portable Welding~ Fully insured ~

Jason Stevensexcavation & earth Work

• Septic Systems

• Bulldozing

• Gravel/Sand/Loam

• Free Estimates

• Fully Licensed

• Insured

314 Horse Point Rd. Belgrade • ME 04917

465-8254 • 649-8070

Inc.Ronald J. Bellavance, Pres.

“Featuring thestate-of-the-art

Jahn’s Jacking system”

• Foundations under homes and camps

• sill repair

• Camp jacking/Pads & Posts

Fully insured

RAy’S AUTO REPAIRExhaust • Brakes • Tune-Ups

Commercial Inspection

Heavy Truck Repair

State Inspection

24 Hour Towing

465-3528 Mobile 314-3864

Rte. 8 & 11 (Dustin Dr.) •BelgradeMon.-Fri. 8am - 5pm • Sat. by appointment

Family Owned & Operated

messalonskee Stream at oakland


Due to the valiant efforts of the fire-

fighters, the four additional buildings of

the Cascade Mill were fortunately spared

with no loss of life or injury. The blaze

was controlled but the task was not easy.

Members of the 13 area fire departments

had successfully maneuvered the narrow

street with their equipment, battled the

freezing January temperatures, and man-

aged the frozen surfaces by using dirt for

traction. But in the end, all that remained

was a pile of charred steel and wooden

ashes that once supported the magnificent

structure. Perhaps in the future something

could be rebuilt in its place, but until then,

the location will just remain a memory of

former prosperous times in a quaint New

England town. As Tipper commented, “It

makes me feel sad that this piece of his-

tory is gone from Oakland, and I’m just

happy that I had a chance to be part of

that history and sad that it’s gone.”

DiscoverMaine60


B’s Home ServiceBarbara Russell

home, BusinessCamp, Yard & Garden

fall, spring orweekly Cleaning

wallpapering • PaintingRemodeling

207-397-2007Rome, Maine

webber weldingJeffrey A. webber

portable welding

AwS Certified unlimited

insured

(207) 685-9793Cell (207) 215-5119

885 Plains Road

Mount Vernon, ME 04352

@ Home electricServing you Since 1978

Steven H. Mallen, Master electrician

Commercial/Residential

Electrical Installations

24 Hour Emergency Service

Cell: 242-2227293-2140

31 Poplar Point • Mt. Vernon, ME


if your family goes back in Maine

history 5 or more generations and you’d like to have a

story done about your family history, give us a call.

is your family part ofMaine history?

(207) 874-7720• 800 753 8684www.discovermainemagazine.com

Discover Maine Magazine

Bathing scene at alden Camps, oakland. item #103620 from the

eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and



DiscoverMaine 61

BuTCHER’SCHOICE

“Where good food and good friends meet!”

29 Main Street, Fairfield • 453-4794

Come and see why we arethe Waterville area’s

Best Steakhouse 14 years in a row!

Serving Breakfast

Fri., Sat. & Sun.

OPEn 7 daYSMon-Thurs 11am-8pm

Fri & Sat 7am-9pmSun 7am-3pm

The Best In Hand Cut Steaks

stAnlEy’sSeptic Tank Service & Construction

Specializing in Sewer LineReplacement & Video Inspection

1.800.660.78267 Middle Road

Fairfield, ME 04937

Bus. 453.9819

Fax 453.6962

Check out our

16x24 pArty pIzzAstarting at $21.00!

146 Main Street • Fairfield

453-7624 • 453-7822

Open Mon.-Sat.

9am - 10pm

l.n. VIOlETTE CO., InC.

GeNeral CoNtraCtorS

SiNCe 1923

HOMeS • ADDITIONS

ReNOVATIONS

KITCHeNS • bATHS

COMMeRCIAl CONSTRuCTION

COOPeRATIVe

lAND DeVelOPMeNT

lOTS AVAIlAbleNo General Contractor Markup On Materials

We Stock A Complete Line Of Building Materials

453-9323www.lnviolette.com

Po Box 59 • 1 SAvAgE StREEt • FAIRFIEld

That Maine does not forget its honored dead and its vet-erans goes without saying. Even the smallest of Mainetowns have their carefully tended memorials to those

who fought in wars past. In fact, it is doubtful if there is any-where in the state where there isn’t a war memorial either under

construction or in the process of being re-furbished at this very moment.

The honoring of Maine veteransbegins in the spring. Early everyMay, local municipal officials ortheir designates can be found plac-ing small flags at veterans’ gravesites prior to Memorial Day. Formany, the preparations leading up

to Memorial Day — the holidaythat came into existence to honor the

veterans of the War Between the States— and its accompanying ritualsmarks the real end of winter andmud season. It is when time is set

aside to clean up around and otherwise straighten or repair thewar memorials and cemetery markers dedicated to those whoserved their country at home and abroad. Veterans Day on No-vember 11 — the holiday that was set aside to mark the close ofWorld War I — marks the end of this annual practice.

The more recently constructed of Maine war memorials arethose dedicated to the veterans of the country’s most recentwars, such as the Gulf War and Viet Nam. Though it may seema bit odd, Korean War memorials fall into this category. The odd-ity is, of course, that the Korean War is now over half a centuryin the past.

Fifty years and more would seem enough time for a goodmany Korean War memorials to have been constructed and ded-icated in Maine as well as across the country as a whole. Yet, forsome five and more decades, few were. One wonders, why? Per-haps the best answer to this particular “why” lays in the fact thatmany writers and historians of today now call the Korean Warthe “forgotten war.”

1992 marks the date that Mainers really began to be aware of(Continued on page 62)

Honoring Clair Goodblood, Medal Of Honor Recipient

Veteran of “the forgotten war”by Charles Francis

Cpl. Clair Goodblood

pouliN-tuRNERuNioN hAllusW loCAl #9

All OccasionsWeddings • class Reunions • All Holidays

Private Parties up to 250 PeopleBring your own food - ByoB - or select one of our caterers.

GReAT lOW RATeS!

Call 474-0400Route 201 Skowhegan

Evening & Weekend Appointments Available


Maine62

Maurice & sonauto Body shop Inc.

Specializing In Collision Repair With Custom Painting

Professional Auto Body Repairing • Custom PaintExpert Frame Straightening • Priority Repair For Most Insurance Companies

Foreign/Domestic Cars & MotorcyclesSuperb Workmanship, Attention To Detail At Very Competitive Prices!

family Owned & Operated • fRee eSTiMATeS

I-Car Gold Class • Since 1967 • Michael O. Bard ~ Owner

Have Insurance? You DO have a choice - be INFORMeD.

25 West Street • Fairfield, ME 04937 207-453-6533 [email protected]

Ct’s Outside Storageboats & rV’s

Quality ServiceAffordable Rates

We Also Shrink Wrap

Start Making Your Fall Plans Now!

ctoutsidestorageboatsandrvs.com

207-314-6246207-465-9593

Residential • Commercialdesign/Build

General Contractorserving You since 1988

nitramexc.comNeed Details?

the sacrifices Maine men made in Korea.That year marks the formation of thestate’s Korean War Veterans Association.It also marks the year that efforts beganto build a Maine Korean War memorial.Today that memorial can be found in Mt.Hope Cemetery in Bangor. As of thiswriting that memorial is yet to be com-pleted.

Bangor saw the formation of the firstKorean War Veterans Association chap-ter, the Burton-Goode-Sergant Chapter.It has been followed with the formationof more chapters. One of these is the Cpl.Clair Goodblood chapter of Augusta.

Cpl. Clair Goodblood died in action onApril 25, 1951. He was posthumouslyawarded the Medal of Honor. He was justtwenty-one when he died.

Clair Goodblood was born in FortKent. He grew up in Burnham. On Me-morial Day 1998 the Corporal ClairGoodblood Chapter, Korean War Veter-ans Association dedicated a memorial toCpl. Goodblood in Burnham. It is a fit-

ting memorial. One must see it to under-stand how fitting. Pictures are not enough.It must be seen to appreciate its emotionalimpact.

Clair Goodblood became a member ofthe United States Army at the age of sev-enteen. He was a machine gunner.

Cpl. Clair Goodblood lost his life hold-ing a position that he must have realizedwould be overrun. He held his position sothat members of his company might with-draw. He held his position with a single as-sistant. When that assistant was severelywounded, Goodblood ordered the assis-tant’s evacuation, maintaining his positionto provide covering fire for the continuedwithdrawal. When Cpl. Goodblood’s bodywas recovered, some 100 enemy deadwere found within his field of fire.

Cpl. Goodblood was attached to Com-pany B of the 7th Infantry at the time ofhis death. His company had been orderedto withdraw in the face of overwhelmingodds at the time of the action in which helost his life. Cpl. Goodblood and his as-sistant had volunteered to stay behind to

cover the withdrawal.Cpl. Goodblood and his assistant were

defending their position when an enemygrenade was thrown into their fortifica-tion. Seeing the grenade, Cpl. Goodbloodthrew himself on his assistant as a shield.Both were wounded. Clair Goodblood’sactions were of the highest caliber.

One may wonder why men like ClairGoodblood do what they do. Why theycommit to the ultimate in sacrifice, inbravery. Why they fight. Why, in the faceof all human logic, they continue on intothe whirlwind of certain destruction.

Some might use words like patriotismor love of country to explain such gal-lantry. These extraordinarily brave men dowhat they do for family, for mothers or fa-thers or wives or sweethearts. They dowhat they do for a colonel or a lieutenant.These explanations seem lacking some-how.

Perhaps the best explanation for acts ofbravery like those of Clair Goodblood isfound in the word friendship. The heroicfew do what they do for their closest



DiscoverMaine 63

Phil Carter’s Phil Carter’s GarageGarage

“serving you since 1960”

Air Conditioning SpecialistRegistered With International Mobile Air

Conditioning Certification Association (IMACA)

From Foreign & Domestic to 18-Wheelers

When It Comes to Air Conditioning,Phil Carter’s Garage Is the only name!

Tune-Ups • Exhausts • BrakesComplete Car Care Needs

453-63101 Pleasant Drive, Benton Station

dAC dIStrIBUtorS, InC.Auto Parts & Accessories

domestic & ForeignCar & truck

radiators • drums & rotors turned • We Make hydraulic hosesBench test Starters & Alternators • Most Parts Same day Service

Open Mon-fri 7am-6pm, Sat 7am-2pm

1153 Main Street, Clinton 426-8402

B & D WellDrillingDon Emmert, owner

948-3170Cable Tool • Old-Style Drilling

Pump Installation • Rotary DrillingAir Hammer • State License

~ Free Estimates ~

30 north Horseback RoadBurnham, Maine 04992

Propane exchange • Movie Rentals

GASUnleaded • diesel Fuel

Cold beer • Deli Case

4 Pond road • Burnham

207-948-3388

Pizza • Subs • Baskets • Cigs • Soda

PAttErSon’SGEnErAl StorE

oPEn 7 dAYS

Animal House“Home of all your pet needs!”Pet Supplies, Inc.

We offer:• Chicken Soup• Premium Edge• Solid Gold• Merrick• Science Diet• Taste of the Wild

80 Main St., Fairfield • 238-9228

“Your pets are alwaYs welcome!”

Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-6pmSat. 9:30am-5pm


friends, the men they are physically closestto. These are men with whom they eat andsleep in the worst of conditions — con-ditions like those where the enemy is justmoments away. It is under conditions likethese where men’s lives become so woventogether that they are as whipcord. Underthese conditions you cannot let someoneas close as a friend go down under fire.

If you want to learn more about Cpl.Clair Goodblood’s career in the militaryor his early life, the book Above and Beyond

the Call of Duty: The Corporal Clair Good-

blood Story, by Michael O’Brien is wellworth the time spent locating a copy. Un-fortunately, as of this writing, the book isout of print. However, if your local librarydoes not have a copy, it should be avail-

able through interlibrary loan.

tibbett’s Shoe Store, Benton. item #115963 from the eastern

illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


Maine64

David Rickett: Owner, Operator

Check out our

expandedmenu!

Open at 11am Mon. - Sat.117 Somerset Ave. • Pittsfield, ME

487-2500

Homemade dough • daily specialsCalzones • Hot & Cold subs

salads • soupsAnd More!

MId STaTE gaSThe Energy Company

~ residential & Commercial ~

• Gas Appliances • heating Systems

• lP Gas Bulk delivery• Sales & Service

487-6622235 stinson street, Pittsfield

Established 1956

for all your

concrete needs

Slabs • Foundations • Additions

Driveways • Sidewalks • Etc.

call

daVid F. bowdenFoundationS

684 Merrill Pond Road, Hartland, ME 04943

Home: (207) 938-2027 • Cell: (207) 858-5989


bbeennnneetttt’’ss

CuSTOM CARPenTRy

~ Residential Homes ~• Remodeling • Vinyl Siding •

• Garages • Jacking •• Decks • Tree Work •

• Roofing • Free Estimates •

♦

938-3347Bruce Bennett Sr.

St. Albans, ME 04971

SNOWMAN’S OIl & SOIl“We’re Happy to Serve You”

938-4528160 Hartland Road

St. Albans, Maine 04971-7307

St. Albans Mini MartPizza, Hot & Cold Sandwiches

and More

938-41506 Main Street

St. Albans, Maine 04971

post office, Benton. item #115964 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and



DiscoverMaine 65

& daughter

Amos Ashlee

938-4098

Home & Camp Jacking & LevelingSill Replacements

Earthwork & Concrete Contractor

Commercial & Residential

Fully Insured

St. Albans, ME

linKletter

& sOns, inC.Athens, Maine

207-654-2301

Professional loggers for 45 years.

We selective cut, buy lots

and buy stumpage

Enjoy Discover

Maine All Year!

Discover Maine Magazineis published nine times each year in

regional issues that span the entire State of

Maine. Each issue is distributed for pick up,

free of charge, only in the region for which

it is published.

It is possible to enjoy Discover Maine year

‘round by having all nine issues mailed

directly to your home or office. Mailings are

done four times each year.

Subscription Rates: $40Schools, libraries, and Historical Societies receive 10% off!

Name

Address

Phone Send payments to: Discover Maine Magazine

10 exchange Street, Suite 208, Portland, Maine 04101or call 1-800-753-8684 to subscribe with Visa or masterCard

main Street, Hartland. item #101011 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and



The doors to the gymnasium werelocked at 5:30, a full hour and ahalf before the game was to begin.

Every seat in the house was taken. It wasstanding room only. The air buzzed withanticipation. The entire town had comeout to witness history in the making, theirfirst-ever girls’ basketball team winning astate championship.

If you guessed the 1991 Gold BallTeam from my alma mater, LawrenceHigh School, you’d be right. If youguessed the 1912 Skowhegan High Schoolteam, you’d also be right. The tale of twoteams nearly eighty years removed hasmore in common than you might think.The teams represented small, centralMaine mill towns, they won their school’sfirst ever girls’ basketball championship,

DiscoverMaine66

SMaRt & EDwaRDSFunERal hoME

Funeral directorBenjamin Cayford

183 Madison ave. • Skowheganwww.smartandedwardsfh.com

207-474-3357

a to ZCustompicture

framing

MAts & MoreNow Carrying Archival

Museum Quality Protection

system. Keeps Photos,

Documents and Art From

Fading and Discoloring.

Central MaineArtists

~Gallery~

presents

Group Showsby Various

Artists

Tuesday - Friday 9-5 • Saturday 9-2

72 West Front Street • Skowhegan

858-0797

oak Pond Millworkslocally owned and operated

By stephen P. dionne

• Cabinetry

• Furniture

• Architectural

Woodworking

96 Blue heron lane, Skowhegan

474-6762 • 858-5117

Support Our Local

Humane Societylocated on Route 104 S.

SkOwHeganTelephone 207-474-6493

Providing a home for stray and

missing animals

toll free 877-269-3290

Kindness counts

SomerSet Humane Society

Donations

Accepted

The BankeryLLC

aRtisiCally desiGned CaKes & PastRies

WWW.tHeBanKeRy.Com

87 WateR stReet

sKoWHeGan, maine 04976

207-474-BaKe207-474-2253

[email protected]

Now Combined With

Skowhegan Fleur Iste & Formal Wear

miCHael HUnt mattHeW dUBois

A Tale Of Two TeamsLawrence and Skowhegan High School girls of 1991 and 1912

by Aimee Lanteigne

the 1991 lawrence High School women’s basketball champions.

Cindy Blodgett is in the front row, fourth from right, touching the

gold ball. aimee lanteigne is in the front row, far right. (Continued on page 68)

EvERgREEnS E l F - S t o R a g E

Over 200 Units • 24 Hour Access

All new Units • Large 9 Foot doors

Sizes From 6x10 to 10x40

Easy Access

877-483-2473 • 453-7131

Located at Hammond TractorExit 132 West off I-95, Rte. 139261 Center Road, Fairfield 1/2 oFF

FIrst month3 mon.

minimum


DiscoverMaine 67

GrafM e c h a n i c a l

19 east streetskowhegan, Me 04976

474-3910Plumbing • Heating • HVAC WorkLP & Natural Gas • Drain Cleaning

Home Freeze-ups • Local 24 Hour Service

~ Free Estimates ~ Fully Insured ~

KKaatt ii ee QQ..Convenience

Cold beerGasSnackslots of items

Open 5am - 10pm

7 Days for your convenience

260 Water StreetSkowhegan, Maine

260 Water StreetSkowhegan

386 Madison AvenueSkowhegan

60 Fairgrounds Marketplace at Wal-Mart

1573 Main StreetPalmyra at Wal-Mart

164 Main Street, Route 148Madison

247 Main Street at Canaan One Stop

Canaan

2 Great Businesses – One Great location!

the 1912Skowhegan

girls basket-

ball teamchampions.

margaret

Chase Smithis second

from right.

Collections ofthe margaretChase Smith

library; Courtesy of

maine memoryNetwork,

online item#9819,

used with permission.


and they forged the dreams of two bright-eyed young girls — stars in the making —who would steal the hearts of thousandsand who would win the love and respectof their fellow Mainers.

The world in 1912 was not the same asthe world of 1991, and certainly a far cryfrom the world of today. The earth hadnot yet known a World War, women couldnot vote, and the Titanic sailed the highseas. It was in the midst of those halcyondays that a handful of young girls ap-proached the school administration of asmall, central Maine town about forminga competitive basketball team. Not onlydid those girls earn the honor of formingthe first-ever girls’ basketball team atSkowhegan High School, they beat theboys to the punch. The young men of thecommunity had not yet fielded a team bythe time the ladies took the court bystorm.

The coach of that 1912 Skowhegangirls’ team was Miss Marion Stewart. Oneof the young charges on her team — a vi-

vacious freshman, was a Miss MargaretChase. Margaret played right center. Therules that Miss Chase had to abide by in1912, listed at the University of Wiscon-sin’s “Women’s’ Basketball” website, arehardly recognizable now. Many women’steams across the country played by men’srules, but just as many played by women’srules, of which there were at least five dif-ferent versions. In general, however, sixplayers were on the court at one time. Thecourt was divided into two zones. Onlythe centers could play both halves, butthey were not allowed to shoot. Snatchingor batting the ball was not allowed. Hold-ing the ball for more than three secondswould result in a foul. Four fouls meantyou were out of the game. You could onlydribble three times before you had to passor shoot, and the ball had to bounce knee-high. Shots were two handed and countedfor one point only. Women were also notallowed to enter the lane on free throw at-tempts. These rules were developedlargely because early twentieth-century so-ciety believed that women could not with-

stand the physical and emotional pressureinherent in competitive sports. Further-more, it was a concern that jumpingwould be harmful to the female repro-ductive system.

Is anyone else laughing with me?Coach Stewart and her 1912 team be-

came the toast of the town. DorothyHamlin reported that the club traveled allover central Maine, playing teams fromMadison, Rockland, Cony, Coburn, Farm-ington, Waterville, and Oakland, accord-ing to her March 1949 article in thePortland Sunday Telegram. Skowhegan heldthe best record in the state. The same canbe said of Lawrence’s 1991 team. And weplayed all the same teams with the excep-tion of Rockland and Coburn, the latterof which no longer existed as a school.Of Miss Chase, Coach Stewart noted she“played all over the lot (court)” and was afast player who covered her position inunusual shape. I think Coach BruceCooper could say as much about his bud-ding freshman star, Cindy Blodgett, in1991. One notable difference between the

DiscoverMaine68


474-3449www.quinnhardware.com

125 Waterville RoadSkowhegan

Since 1865

Skowhegan’sOldest

business

OPeN 7 DAYS A WeeK

Kyes MotelThe Kyes family invites you to enjoy our

lodging and meeting facilities just one half milefrom downtown Skowhegan, Maine, one half

mile west of Route 201 on State Route 2.

Come find out why people in the Skowheganarea and beyond recommend the Kyes Motel,

and why our guests return year after year.

Over Fourteen Acres Bordering The Kennebec River

Route 2West, Skowhegan

Guests of our 28 rooms and cabins enjoy ourriverfront property with a private nature walk, ourfamily coffee shop, and full-size swimming pool.

Coffee Shop • GamesBoating • Pool

For Reservations Call:207-474-3384

1-800-981-1355

www.kyesmotel.net

BlanchetBlanchetBuilders, l.l.C.Builders, l.l.C.

Custom Built Homes

474-845934 Willys Way

Skowhegan, Maine

• New HomeConstruction

• light CommercialConstruction


two teams was that subs did not get topose for the team photo in MargaretChase’s day. Only the six “starters” smiledfor the camera’s lens. Guess I wouldn’thave been in that picture!

In the early 1900s, sports teams traveledby train and spent the night in the homesof their opponents, often forming lastingfriendships. Even in 1991, our team trav-eled to the wild and woolies ofMillinocket where we spent a weekendcompeting against teams from the North-ern Maine wilderness, or so it seemed tous. No wonder these Stearns girls are sogood, we thought to ourselves. There’snothing else to do up there!

One of the players on that earlySkowhegan team found a lucky penny justbefore her first game. She carried it allthrough the season from town to town.Where the penny went, the team won.Upon graduation, the girl and her pennymoved on, and shortly thereafter theSkowhegan team faced their first loss everto Waterville on the road. The luckypenny was eventually presented to the

school to end the superstition. AtLawrence, however, superstition was ourmiddle name. We never lost in our whiteuniforms all year, so Coach predicted vic-tory from the start when we arrived at theBangor Auditorium for the playoffs wear-ing our home uniforms. We all wore whitescrunchies in our hair and the exact samepair of sneakers. One of us carried a littlerosary to every game, and we’d always hitthe lights and say the “Our Father” in thedarkness of the locker room before burst-ing out onto the court. (What would ourathletic director say if he knew we girlswere praying down there? God forbid!)

Miss Chase and Miss Blodgett playedbasketball all four years of their highschool careers, racking up the champi-onships each year they played. MissChase’s coach declared that Margaret alsoserved as team manager, was a goodsportswoman, a good athlete, and a per-severing player with an even dispositionwho remained unruffled in times of cri-sis. Thank goodness Cindy kept her coolwhen we were down seven points with

only four minutes left in that state cham-pionship game back in 1991.

Upon graduating at age eighteen, MissMargaret Chase would take over as coachof the Skowhegan girls’ basketball teamstarting in 1916. She was apparently verystrict, but this led to countless victories forher squad. (I had a coach like that once,too.) When she was not coaching, shechaperoned the team, especially on theirout-of-town jaunts. She helped officiatethe games on the evenings she had tochaperone the girls, that is until one nightin a game against Cony, she was removedfrom the floor with the explanation thatshe was “too close to the team” to be im-partial. And of course, Lawrence’s sweet-heart would go on to play in the WNBAand all over the globe before eventuallylanding back home as the head coach ofthe University of Maine women’s basket-ball team.

It is comforting to know, though worldsapart, that the tale of these two teams isso similar — that young women in 1912

DiscoverMaine 69


Kyes MotelCelebrating 100 years

of dedication and service to Central Maine

Our longevity hasproven that price is what

you pay and value is what you get!

MAdISon

(207) 474-7171

hIGht

SKoWhEGAn • (207) 474-7171

FArMInGton • (207) 778-3354

hIGht

SKoWhEGAn

(207) 474-3334

hIGht

now representingAll domestic

Manufacturers

Memorial day 1911We pride ourselves on servicing what we sell.


weren’t so different from young women in 1991, or fromyoung women today. They all benefited from the physicaltest, harkened to the thrill of victory, and cherished thememories of playing for a championship team before aproud hometown crowd. Hey, it’s true what they say: girls(of all eras) just want to have fun! Of course we know ourheroine, Margaret, would go on to become Senator Mar-garet Chase Smith, Maine’s best-known and best-lovedpolitician and the first woman to ever be nominated by amajor political party for president of the United States.Who knows if the similarities between those Skowheganand Lawrence teams will continue in the future, but, Cindy,wherever you are, if you decide to run for office… you’ve

got my vote. Resources:

Hamlin, Dorothy. “Women In Sports.” Portland Sunday Telegram 26 Mar. 1949.Print.The Maine Memory Network, Maine’s Online Museum, a Project of the Maine Histori-

cal Society. Web. 18 June 2010. <http://www.mainememory.net>.Schultz, Jenny. “Women’s Basketball.” University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Web. 16June 2010. <http://www.uwosh.edu/archives/sports/wbasket.htm>.Wheelock, Helen. “WomensBasketballOnline: Women’s Basketball Timeline:1900-29.” WomensBasketballOnline.Com. Women’s Basketball Online.com. Web.16 June 2010. <http://www.womensbasketballonline.com/history/time-line1900_29.html>.

DiscoverMaine70


ComputerimProvements

new and custom

computers

upgrades

Business & Personal Systems

SAleS & SeRVICe

— Mark LeBlanc —

207-474-3151 • 474-2323101 Water St. • Skowhegan

computerimprove.org

R.F. AuTOMOTIVe RePAIRRoss Frazier, Owner/Operator

Complete Diagnostic ServiceChassis Dyno Testing

(207) 474-9656188 Madison Ave., Skowhegan

A/CSERVICInGnew & Old

Gerald G Dunn, OD, PAD. Alex Pakulski, OD, PA

David Benes, OD

• Family Eye Care

• Sports/Safety Glasses

• Contact Lenses

• Fashion Eye Wear

10 High StreetSkowhegan, ME 04976

474-9613

It’s time to make that appointment!New Patients Welcome

Insurance Welcome

DuNN & PAkulskI

SkOWHEganSkOWHEganEQuIPMEnT & TOOlEQuIPMEnT & TOOlFaRMIngTOn REnTalFaRMIngTOn REnTal

REnTAL & SALES• ExCAvATORS

• SKID STEERS

• ROLLERS

• BULLDOzERS

PLUS HOMEOWnER REnTALS

474-6543474-6543Rt. 201, Skowhegan

Norm the “Happy Pumper”

207-587-4387Mercer, ME

offers affordable, quality service

Bliss Septic Services

24 hour Emergency

Service

Mon-Fri • Weekends by Appointment

Wish

Offering you a fine selection ofhome and garden decor

14 Madison Ave., SkowheganOpen Tues. - Sat. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

474-7352


Water Street, Skowhegan. item #102472 from the

eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection and



“I pray my work will save thesesouls…” That is what Sebastian Ralehad written in a letter to his brother

in 1723. The Jesuit missionary was sent in1694 into what is now Norridgewock,where he directed the Abenaki mission onthe Kennebec River. An unwavering be-liever of the Roman Catholic religion anddevoted Frenchman, his strong anti-Eng-lish sentiment would eventually get himmurdered. At the time of his death, thecontrasting stories had claimed that hewas either a martyr who sacrificed himselfat the foot of a cross, or a “bloody incen-diary” who the English claimed was shotwhile reloading his pistol. But whether itwas for his religious teachings or ques-tionable hostile actions, no one ever de-nied his tireless devotion.

Born in Pontarlier, France, on January

4, 1657, Sebastian Rale eventually studiedin Dijon and joined the Society of Jesusat the age of 18. After teaching the Greeklanguage and rhetoric, he volunteered toserve in the church’s missions in NorthAmerica and joined an expedition led byGovernor and General Louis de Buade deFrontenac of New France in 1689. Fasci-nated by the Abenaki language, he learnedit fluently and admired it enough to beginwriting an Abenaki-French Dictionary in1691. By 1694 Rale was assigned to directthe Abenaki mission at Norridgewock,and devoted himself completely to teach-ing the Abenaki tribes about the Catholicreligion in hopes of their future indoctri-nation. As written in a letter to his nephewfrom a collection in the Maine HistoricalSociety:

“As it is needful to control the imagination of

the savages, too easily distracted, I pass few work-

ing days without making them a short exhortation

for the purpose of inspiring a horror of the vices

to which their tendency is strongest, and for

strengthening them in the practice of some virtue.

My advice always shapes their resolutions.”

Meanwhile, tension mounted betweenthe territories of New France and NewEngland and resulted in Queen Anne’sWar (1702-1713), which was the second ina series of French and Indian Wars foughtbetween France and England. Sensing thequestionable loyalties of the Abenakitribes, Massachusetts Governor JosephDudley arranged a meeting with tribalrepresentatives in 1703 and proposed thatthey remain neutral. But his request wasnot heard in favorable conditions. Fol-lowing years of poor treatment by Eng-

DiscoverMaine 71


Portable ToiletsGUARANTEED SPOTLESS (and we keep ‘em that way)

YearRoundService

• Wheelchair Units

• Hand Sanitizers

• Handwash Stations Available

• Weddings • Family Reunions

• Construction Sites

• Septic Tank Service

Central Maine Septic& Portable Toilet Rentals

CMS

DEP Licensed & Insured

for photos, helpful info: www.centralmaineseptic.com

Toll Free 1-866-WIl-PuMP

474-7216Skowhegan

Wedding? Party? See our

Boudoir toilets

Don’s Seasonal ServiceDonald Wing, owner

We CareHow You

Look!

Lawncare & LandscapingSnowplowing & Sanding

Serving the Somerset Area~ insured ~

Cell 431-7740

Short CircuitElECTRICal COnTRaCTOR

Commercial & ResidentialCompetitive Pricing • Free estimates • Fully Insured

New Construction • Remodels • Code updates • Telephone

Now accepting all major Credit Cards

474-7238 • cell: 431-2779 Craig Jewellmaster electrician

Sebastian Rale: “i Pray My work will Save These Souls”

Jesuit missionary directed the Abenaki mission on the Kennebec Riverby James Nalley

Family PetConnection

Everyday Low Prices!

Mon. 9-5 • Tues.-Thurs. 9-6 • Fri. & Sat. 9-7 • Sun. 10-5

474-7700Skowhegan Village Plaza • Skowhegan,ME

www.familypetconnection.com

Great Selection of Petsand Pet Supplies

& Grooming


lish border settlers who felt that Indianswere “vicious and dangerous wild ani-mals,” any request by the English was nottrusted. The French, on the other hand,gained the trust and support of the tribesthrough its missions that included reli-gious leaders such as Rale.

By 1713 several treaties were drawn,such as the Treaty of Utrecht and theTreaty of Portsmouth, to provide someform of peace. But the boundaries re-mained contested, and the support fromthe Abenakis for the French was unwa-vering. In August 1717 MassachusettsGovernor Samuel Shute (the successor ofGovernor Dudley) met with tribal repre-sentatives of Norridgewock and otherAbenaki leaders in Georgetown, Maine,and kindly threatened that any continuedcollaboration with the French would bringthem “utter ruin and destruction.” At thesame time, Rale continued his preachingand the tribes became more violent to-ward the English by destroying propertyand killing cattle. As stated in a letter by

the Governor-General of New FrancePhilippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil in 1720,“Father Rale continues to incite Indiansof the mission (at Norridgewock) not toallow the English to spread over theirlands.” Even when peace was consideredby the tribal leaders, Rale stated, “Anytreaty with the governor... is null and voidif I do not approve it, for I give them so

many reasons against it that they ab-solutely condemn what they have done.”Angered by the thought of the possiblepeace treaty, Rale sent an urgent letter toGovernor-General Vaudreuil asking forreinforcements. He promptly received 250Abenaki warriors from Quebec.

On July 28, 1721 the warriors, dressedin war paint and flying French flags,

DiscoverMaine72


www.skowheganchamber.com

2011 Event ScheduleFebruary Annual Dinner

FAB Fair

March Maine Maple Week

April Skow-pendous

May Lakewood Theater Opens

June Riverfest

August Harvest Days Golf TournamentBike NightMoonlight MadnessSkowhegan State Fair

October Haunted Hayrides

December Holiday Stroll

Please check with the Chamber office (474-3621) for

exact dates and times. Also there are other events

throughout the year with dates TBD such as Skowhegan

Opera House Concerts, Concerts in the Park, horse

shows and other town activities.

207-474-3621

Gerald e. vermette

d.d.s., f.a.g.d.

robert e. Clukey, Jr.d.m.d., f.a.g.d.

Center forDental Medicine

CDM

tel. 474-9503

fax 474-5271

59 Pleasant street

skowhegan,

Maine 04976

www.dental-holistic.com

Our Reputation Is Spotless!

Maine Maids Housekeeping

20 years Serving the augusta/Waterville area

Residential CottagesOpening & Closing of Camps

One Time, Weekly, Bi-Weekly or Monthly

Fully InsuredRental Property CleaningSpring & Fall Clean Ups

Window Cleaning

Debbie Clough, Owner

696-5838800-480-5838

death of Father Sebastian rale of the Society of Jesus. Killed by

the english and mohawks at Norridgewock, aug. 23, 1724


landed in Georgetown in 90 canoes. In-cluded in the flotilla were Rale and the Su-perior of the Missions, Pierre de laChasse, who delivered a letter to Gover-nor Shute demanding that the Englishwithdraw all of their settlers fromAbenaki territory. A reply response waskindly requested within two months andany response other than a “yes” would beretaliated with burned houses and mur-dered occupants. The English, in retalia-tion, immediately boycotted the sales ofgunpowder, ammunition, and vital food tothe Abenakis.

In January 1722, 300 soldiers under theleadership of Colonel Thomas Westbrook(the colonel in charge of Maine’s militia)raided Norridgewock with plans to cap-ture Rale. But he was alerted to their pres-ence and escaped into the forest. Foundamong the priest’s possessions, however,was his strongbox (which still exists todayin the possession of the Maine HistoricalSociety), with letters implicating Rale andhow the French were urging local tribes toattack New England settlements. Accord-

ing to the Androscoggin Historical Soci-ety, Westbrook also surveyed the locationand found an inscription on the outerdoor of Rale’s church that stated:

Englishmen.

I that am of Norridgewock have had thoughts

that thou wil’t Come and Burn our Church and

Our Father’s House to revenge thyself without

cause for the houses I have burnt of thine. It was

thou that didst force me to it, why didst thou build

them upon my Land without my Consent.

I have not yet burned any, but what was upon

my land; Thou mayest burn it, because thou

knowest that I am not there, such is thy Gen-

erosity, for if I were there, Assuredly thou

shouldst not burn it., although thou shouldst

Come with the number of many hundred Men.

As revenge for the raid on Norridge-wock, the tribe burned the town ofBrunswick on June 13, 1722. Conse-quently, on July 22, as a result of the es-calating conflict, Governor Shute officiallydeclared war on the Abenaki. In January1723 Shute left for England and left hisLieutenant Governor, William Dummer,in charge. The war with its number of

skirmishes would eventually be known as“Dummer’s War” and lasted until 1725.

On August 22, 1724 a force of approx-imately 200 soldiers led by Captains Jere-miah Moulton and Johnson Harmon, leftFort Richmond (now Richmond) withplans to assassinate Rale and destroy theentire settlement. The following day, thesoldiers ambushed the village and killed26 warriors, an Abenaki chief, and Rale,whose body was further mutilated andscalped. After the massacre, the villageand church were burned down as a finalact of revenge. When the fires died, 150Abenaki survivors who had fled in theearlier ambush returned to the ruins andburied the dead. Afterwards, they packedup their belongings and left for Quebec.They never returned.

As a fitting final resting place, Rale wasburied beneath the altar where he hadpreached to all of his followers. In 1833Benedict Joseph Fenwick (the Bishop ofBoston), dedicated an 11-foot obeliskmonument placed over his grave at what

DiscoverMaine 73


Maple Syrup • CandyJams • Honey • Gifts

Open Mon-Fri 8 to 5449 Lakewood Road, • Madison, ME 04950

1-800-310-3803

www.mainemaple.com

Mention Discover Maine Magazine for a 15% discount

expires 6/30/11

“We do real estate with you in mind”

“Fast, Friendly, Honest Service”

207-696-4247www.hearthandhomerealty.com

274 Main Street

Madison, ME 04950

taylor’s drug Store“Your Friendly

Prescription store”

Gifts

Cosmetics

Office Supplies

2 old Point Avenue • Madison

tel. 696-3935

Celebrating100 years ofdedication

Automotive & Recreation

MadisonDennis Johnston: Owner

• Foreign & Domestic Auto Repair• Full Marine Service• Lawn Equipment• Bedliners• Shrink Wrapping• State Inspections: Motorcycle

& Commercial

Open Mon.-Fri.

8am - 5pm

173 White School House Rd. (Rte. 148)Madison, Maine

696-5523

Bob’sCash Fuel

• Heating Oil • Kerosene • Propane• Diesel • Gasoline •

• 24-Hour Repair Service •• Complete Heating Installations •

• Central Air Conditioning •

Locally owned & operated

696-3040 • 1-800-598-FUEL424 Main Street • Madison, Maine

to heat or cool, and propane too! Call...


is today St. Sebastian’s Cemetery at OldPoint in Madison. As stated in John Fran-cis Sprague’s book A Maine Tragedy of the

Eighteenth Century:

The world’s highway over which civilization has

advanced has ever been marked by blood and has

ever been the scene of carnage and suffering.

It is always the strong against the weak, who

are all unconscious participators in the eternal

struggle of the fittest for supremacy. In all history

no better illustration of this fact may be found

than in the story of the Anglo-Saxon and the

French pioneers in New England, Acadia and

New France in North America

Their brave endurance of hardship and priva-

tion, their fierce battle with the elements in a

boundless wilderness, their continual war with

savages, their constant conflict with each other,and

the ultimate triumph of the Anglo-Saxon, read

like the tales of romance.

DiscoverMaine74


Structural Repair & Restoration

Leveling & Jacking on Camps & Barns

Kurt Lambert

399-6634Rough Frame to Finish

Fully Insured • Free Estlimates

Madison, Maine

Sun Auto & Salvageused Auto PartsOpen

Mon-Fri8am-5pm

474-5176 • FAX 474-6461 • 1-800-843-5176586 Skowhegan Road (Route 2)

PO Box 630 • Norridgewock, ME

• Late Model Parts• 90-Day Warranty On Most Parts• Free Parts Locating Service• Member of Maine Auto Recyclersand Auto Recyclers of America

Jt’s FInEst kInd sAWSaws • Tractors

Brush Cutters • Ice Augers

579 Skowhegan Rd. (Rte. 2)

Norridgewock

www.finestkindsaw.com

474-9377

WHITEWaTERFaRM MaRkET

Russ dodge, Jr.

All natural Meats

natural and Organic Livestock Feed

Hay ~ Straw ~ Shavings ~ Pet Food

U.S. Route 2, new Sharon, ME 04955

(207) 778-4748Open: Mon. - Fri. 9-7 • Sat. 8-5

Decks • Additions • Remodeling • SidingINTeRIOR & exTeRIOR FINISHFully insured • Free estimatese

Mercer, Maine

207•313•3604

Cell 314-6402

168 Warren Hill RoadSmithfield, Maine

362-5652


arnold’s road, anson. item #103963 from the eastern illustrating &

publishing Co. Collection and www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org


Although he never worked for a railroadand seldom traveled by train, WalterMcDougall of Milo knows all about

the railroad lines that once crisscrossed Pis-cataquis and Somerset counties.

A science teacher at Penquis Valley HighSchool in Milo for some 30 years, McDougalldeveloped a passion for railroading in hisyouth, and started exploring abandoned rail-road right-of-ways in Maine. He has walkedmany a mile, has acquired many a railroad ar-tifact, and has created an extensive collectionof railroading memorabilia.

Railroading “is sort of in my blood,” Mc-Dougall said. His parents hailed from Russell,Massachusetts, where his maternal grandfatherworked as a station agent and his fatherworked as a Boston & Albany Railroad sec-tion chief “when he was young.”

The elder McDougall became a Congrega-tional minister and was pastor of the FirstCongregational Church in Bingham for morethan 30 years. That Kennebec River town

“was the end of the Maine Central [RR] Som-erset Branch,” Walter McDougall recalled.

The standard-gauge MCRR, which ownedthe Kineo House on Moosehead Lake in the1920s, would bring tourists to Bingham fortransfer to the narrow-gauge Somerset Rail-road. Plunging northwest through the thickSomerset County forest, that railroad reacheda multiple-siding terminus at Rockwood.

“The Depression helped kill tourism toKineo,” and “the railroad to Rockwoodstopped running about 1933, the year I wasborn,” McDougall said. The railroad pier stillextends into Moosehead Lake next to theRockwood boat ramp.

After the Somerset Railroad closed, haulinglumber still “was the gravy” for the MCRR,and World War II spurred train activity alongthe upper Kennebec River, McDougall re-called. “We had a train a day, hauling to the bigQuimby veneer mill. They made veneer for PTboats. There was a lot of mahogany hauled inand a lot of veneer hauled out.”

While the trains still ran into Bingham,“when I was a boy, the engineers would let meclimb into the cab to work the controls,” hesaid. “Sometimes they would even let you takethe engine off the [round] table very gingerly.That was a grand chance.”

Passenger trains had ceased running fromBingham years earlier. “The only passengertrain I remember coming into Bingham wasthe train that brought in the German prison-ers for the big prison camp up at SpencerLake,” McDougall said. “I remember goingdown as a small boy and watching that traincome in. The trucks came down and pickedup the prisoners and hauled them off.”

Throughout the 1960s the Maine CentralRailroad abandoned various branches, includ-ing its Somerset Branch. Still fascinated withrailroads, McDougall started exploring aban-doned right-of-ways during his spare time.

“I concentrated on the Somerset Railroad,”he said. “After they pulled up the track andties, we drove it steadily because my father wasa tremendous fisherman, and we fished allalong the upper Kennebec. We drove that, theold railroad bed, as a way to get to fishingholes.”

McDougall started collecting railroad itemshe found during his travels, whether along theSomerset Railroad, MCRR’s abandoned Som-erset Branch, or abandoned Bangor & Aroos-took Railroad branches in Piscataquis County.Track removal crews often tossed spikes aside;“wherever I went along the old right-of-ways,I picked up spikes,” he said. “The only smartthing I did was to tag them all. It’s amazinghow spikes all look exactly the same. I think I

DiscoverMaine 75


Somerset Home Improvements“Serving you for over 30 years”

Specializing In Double lockStanding Seam Metal Roofing

• Remodeling • siding• Replacement Windows

• decks • Additions

643-2505Solon, maine

Complete excavating ServicesSeptic • land Clearingearthwork • driveways

walking Through Railroading History in northwestern Maine

Train lover has collected much memorabiliaby Ian MacKinnon

eARTHWORK CONTRACTORSSAND • lOAM • GRAVelCRuSHeD PRODuCTS

696-3084

D.P. WelDING& FAbRICATION, INC.

• AWS certified

• Fully Insured

• 24-Hour EmergencyService Available

• FREE ESTIMATES

64 Rusty driveEmbden, mE 04958

(207) 566-0052 • CELL (207) 431-1650

darren Priest, Owner

20 Years Experience

MOBILE SERVICE OFFERED


Maine76

have a spike from almost every railroad in thestate.” After acquiring a metal detector, hefound spikes buried deep in old railroad beds.

“Some early railroaders would build a tim-ber trestle to cross a gully, and then they’dbuild a culvert from granite, even arch tres-tles,” McDougall said. “You see all this sort ofstuff as you’re walking along an old right-of-way. You see the way the railroads had to beditched to keep the water away from thetracks. You can see where granite was hand-drilled to be dynamited in a quarry.”

“Railroading is something that’s built intoyou,” said McDougall, explaining his passion.“When I was a kid, I would stand there atBingham Heights or up on the Indian Pondstretch, and I would imagine the trains comingdown through. They became part of thisworld that I never saw. It was a fascinating, ex-citing world that existed before I did.”

His railroad collection includes model trainstations. “When I got out of college, I beganbuilding all of these little train stations thathad been along the Somerset [Railroad],” in-cluding the Bingham and Solon stations, Mc-Dougall said. “It was a wonderful thing for anapartment. It becomes a world where you canimagine all kinds of things going on.”

In time, McDougall met Bangor & Aroost-

ook Railroad engineer Wayne Duplisea, a Her-mon resident who shared McDougall’s abid-ing love for railroading. Duplisea suppliedMcDougall with locomotive and car parts sal-vaged from scrapped equipment. McDougall’scollection includes a hydrostatic lubricator anda steam locomotive injector from the B&A.

McDougall gradually expanded his rail-roading collection. Explaining that “railroadgauge is measured by the weight of a yard ofrail,” he displays pieces of 45- and 100-poundrail; he also possesses a short section of 65-pound rail, which he believes “is a piece oforiginal rail from the curve going into thebridge at Norridgewock.”

McDougall displays “a piece of the GulfStream Trestle,” which stood 110 feet highand spanned a ravine “about eight miles northof Bingham.” The trestle remained standingmany years after the Somerset Railroad failed.

“The trestle itself had a spider-web look toit,” he said. “It didn’t look all that strong. I’veseen a picture of probably a dozen fullyloaded log trucks on that trestle at one time.Log trucks drove across it in the winter beforethey finally tore it down.”

McDougall acquired many railroad tools, in-cluding tampers and a large spike puller.“These are all section tools” donated by rail-road workers he has known over the years,

McDougall said. He developed friendships with many rail-

roaders, from section hands to engineers.“When I first came to Milo to teach, they werestill running steam [locomotives] on the CP(Canadian Pacific),” McDougall said. “I hadseveral close friends who were engineers, andthey would take me up to Megantic (Quebec)and down to McAdam (New Brunswick).

“I slept over in the bunkhouse. It gives yousort of a romantic view of railroading that youwouldn’t have if you had to do it every day,”he said. “They were good men, and they werekind to let me do that.”

While teaching in Milo, he learned that “thiswas a big railroading area. There were a lot ofjobs. Some of my students dropped out ofhigh school, joined the railroad, and mademore money than I did as a teacher. I won-dered sometimes about working for a railroad.

“I have a tremendous respect for railroadmen. I think they had a tremendous amountof skill and a tremendous amount of brainpower,” McDougall said.


Todd West welcomes you to

• Custom Fresh Cut Meats

• Fresh Produce

• All Your Grocery And Snack Needs

• Agency Liquor Store

mAin StReet • binghAm

672-5528

jimmy’SmARket

e.W. Moore & sonpharmacy

Established 1894

Big Enough to Serve you... Small Enough to Care

Prescriptions • Health & BeautyBoyds Bears • Yankee CandlesMaine Souvenirs & Postcards

Jewelry • Toys, Games & Models

Chet Hibbard, R Ph.

(tel) 672-3312

1-800-814-4495337 Main Street, Bingham

Solon Corner Market~ Full Service Grocery Store ~

Fresh Meats & Produce GroceriesPizzas & SandwichesMovie Rentals

Mon-Thurs, 6AM-8PM • Fri, 6AM-9PM

Sat 7AM-9PM • Sun 8AM-8PM

~ Agency liquor Store ~

John Dayhoof, Owner

643-2458South Main Street, (route 201), Solon

lIVe lObSTeR YeAR ROuND

north Country variety

Featuring:Chester Fried Chicken • Pizza

Hot & Cold Sandwiches

Homemade French Fries

Groceries • Beverages

Gas • Oil • Plugs and Belts

lower Main Street (just off ITS 87)bingham

Open 7 days for your convenience

207-672-3132

84 Stream Road • Moscow

We Now Do:

Four Wheel AlignmentsGeneral Auto RepairA/C WorkState InspectionsTowing

Serving you since 1990

672-4951 • 612-8779



DiscoverMaine 77

Maine’s woods have always been shroudedin mystery and legend. From Native Americanaccounts of supernatural happenings to mod-ern sightings of Bigfoot, the dark northernforest has spawned incredible tales for millen-nia. Usually they are unbelievable and discred-ited by the general population. Nonetheless,sometimes they are true.

During World War II, some 400,000 Ger-man prisoners of war were sent back to theUnited States to be held in various POWcamps across the country. There were at leasteleven of these facilities in New England,which no doubt housed a large population ofthe captured Germans. Many people are fa-miliar with Camp Houlton, the largest MainePOW camp which, at its peak, had 3,700 pris-oners within its confines, but the smallercamps tend to be lesser known. Some are evenreduced to the status of being tall tales or un-founded rumors. For many years, CampSpencer held this unfortunate standing.

Located near Jackman, Maine, CampSpencer housed roughly 250-300 Germanprisoners from 1944 to 1946. Situated on onlyone and a half acres, the camp consisted of22 insulated buildings, several of which werelarge, dormitory-style structures. Five barracksmeasuring 20 feet by 100 feet were set up withdouble bunks.

The mess hall measured 140 feet by 20 feetand would comfortably seat the 250 prisoners.Cooking was done on three ranges, and therewas an electric refrigeration-equipped storeroom on one side of the building. A barricadeof barbed wire contained the stockade, messhall, barracks, wash house and a building thathoused a post exchange and workshop andserved as the chapel. A medical facility was setup with beds, a store room, a doctor’s officeand a surgery. Outside the barricade, four largesentry towers stood at each corner of thecamp, equipped with large spotlights and 30-caliber machine guns.

On July 10, 1944 the Waterville Morning Sen-

tinel ran a story which described the Germanprisoners arriving by train at Bingham stationat 3:00 in the morning amidst a convoy of U.S.Army trucks and onlookers, “young men rang-ing from 18 to 27 years of age, blonde andblue eyed” and having “W.P.” marked on thebacks of their jackets and shirts. They wereloaded into Hollingsworth and Whitney Com-pany trucks and departed at daybreak in thecompany of U.S. Army vehicles, bound fornorthern Maine.

The war brought an increased demand forpaper and the pulp wood needed to manufac-ture it. Due to the large number of men fight-ing overseas, Maine faced a labor shortage,especially in the northern woods, and theseGerman prisoners of war were seen as a tem-porary solution to the shortage. The land sur-rounding Camp Spencer was owned byHollingsworth and Whitney Company, which

Camp SpencerNorth woods POW camp used prisoners for lumber production

by Erick T. Gatcomb


Street view, Jackman. item #107183 from the eastern illustrating & publishing Co. Collection andwww.penobscotmarinemuseum.org

the Gateway to themaine Woods

BinghamMoscow

SolonCaratunkThe Forks

West Forks

accommodations & Restaurants

207-672-4100www.upperkennebecvalleychamber.com

[email protected]

Upper Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce

its 84 & 87Jean paul Carrier

lOGGING CONTRACTOR

207-668-4457PO BOx 489 • JACKMAN, ME 04945


MouNtAIN CouNtRy

suPERMARkEt

A ShurFine Storeopen 7 days A WeekAtm & FAx Services

Full line of groceries,Spirits & Sundries

207-668-5451

KORi’S KAP

668-4004Bakery - Deli

And More!

554 Main Street, Jackman, Maine

new, Full Housekeeping Cabins on Long Pond.

Hiking, Boating, Fishing, Biking, RaftingPets Welcomed - Tent Sites

Free Canoe, Paddleboat & kayak Use with Camp Rental

12 Loop Road, Route 15Jackman, Maine 04945

long pond Camps& guide service

$30/night pp • kids ½ Price

longpondcamps.com207-668-4872

OPEn yEARROUnd

the Jackman-Moose River

chamber of commerce

P.O. Box 368 DM • Jackman, Maine [email protected]

www.jackmanmaine.org

(207) 668-4171 • 1-888-633-5225

Four Seasons VacationlandAtving • Mountain Biking • Canoeing

Whitewater rafting • hiking

Fishing • Snowmobiling

Do you havea great ideafor a story in

DiscoverMaine?

Just contact our office with the details and we’ll put our writers to work pronto!

Email us:[email protected]

Write to us:10 Exchange Street, Suite 208

Portland, Maine 04101


Maine78

ran a large lumber operation out of Winslowand Madison. The prisoners cut pulp woodwhich went through a series of waterways be-fore reaching its final destination. As detailedin the Waterville Morning Sentinel, “the pulpwood cut on this operation will be drivendown Spencer Lake, through Little SpencerStream and Dead River, and down the Ken-nebec River, boomed across the 14 miles ofWyman Lake, sluiced at Wyman dam and thendriven down the Kennebec” to theHollingsworth and Whitney Company mills.

It is generally agreed upon that Germanprisoners were treated well in the Mainecamps. Able to earn money (80 cents per day)and fed well (one former POW raved aboutthe baked beans and biscuits served at CampSpencer), many of these Germans were im-pressed with the hospitality that they received.(It’s interesting to note that several formerprisoners decided to settle in Maine after thewar ended, one eventually buying a camp righton Spencer Lake as a summer retreat.)

The remote location and harsh winterswere generally a deterrent against escape, butthere were the occasional attempts. Several re-tired soldiers who were stationed at CampSpencer have told stories of Germans escap-

ing, only to wander back to camp seeking awarm meal and shelter from the hostile Mainewilderness. One Heinz Jacob had attemptedescape twice before at other camps. He madehis third attempt at Camp Spencer and was in-tercepted by border patrol within a day’s time.There is no record of any successful escapefrom Camp Spencer. The camp was closed in1946.

Covered by 60-plus years of forest debris,the camp is barely recognizable today. A fewfoundations remain and various relics litterthe site. If you stroll around the woods, youcan still see old stoves, barrels and remnantsof buildings — mostly rotting shingles andsteel doors. Off the beaten path is a smallstream, the banks constructed of landfill. No-table objects include old medicine bottles,empty Carling Black Label beer cans, moun-tains of rusty wire, Prince Albert tobacco tinsand cans which once housed non-perishablefood.

After the Army packed up, sportsmenwould occasionally use the barracks as hunt-ing camps until they were completely removedyears later. Very few people were even famil-iar with Camp Spencer while it was in opera-tion, and after its closure it was almost entirely

forgotten.That all changed in 2005 when Debbie

Achey and her Forest Hills School 8th gradeclass did an excavation of the site, uncover-ing shoes and other artifacts which were do-nated to the Jackman Historical Society.

Disappointed that such an important his-torical site went unrecognized for generations,the group worked with Elias Monuments ofMadison and the town of West Forks to havea granite monument put in place. Exactly 12miles down an unpaved logging road (SpencerRd.), located in front of an old brick oven, themonument sits proudly as a reminder of thecamp and the students’ efforts to shed light

on it.


American Lung Assocation . . . . . . . .7A to Z Picture Framing . . . . . . . . . . .66A. Maurais and Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22A.E. Hodsdon Engineers . . . . . . . . .54A.P. Lawrence & Daughter . . . . . . . .65ABT Plumbing Heating & Cooling .41ADA Fence Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Advance 1 Cleaning Service . . . . . . .55Albert’s Plowing & Lawncare . . . . . .17AL’S Certified Auto Repair . . . . . . . .35Animal House Pet Supplies . . . . . . . .63Appearances In Hair . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Arbor Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53At Home Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Augusta Civic Center . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Augusta Country Club . . . . . . . . . . . .32Augusta Seafood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Axell’s Scandinavian Inn . . . . . . . . . .36B & F Fresh Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . .57B&B Septic Tank Service . . . . . . . . . .4B&D Well Drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63B. Lamarre Carpentry . . . . . . . . . . . .74Ballard Meats and Seafood . . . . . . . .38Bean & Sons Pumps & Septic Services .35Belgrade Performance & Repairs . . .59Bellevance Construction Co., Inc. . . .59Bellevance Jacking Co., LLC . . . . . . .59Bennett’s Custom Carpentry . . . . . . .64Benton Family Fun Park . . . . . . . . . .46Bill Allen Land Services . . . . . . . . . .24Blanchet Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68Blanchette Moving & Storage . . . . . . .6Bliss Septic Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Bloom & Bloom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48Bob’s Cash Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Bond Brook Pancake House . . . . . . .19Boy Locksmith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Brothers Transportation Service . . . .33Browns Construction & Sons . . . . . .27Bruce A. Manzer Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . .49B’s Home Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Buddies Meats & Groceries . . . . . . .58Buen Apetito Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Butcher’s Choice Restaurant . . . . . . .61C & C Spray Foam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Camper Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Canty Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Cape Hill Carpentry . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Capilo Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17Captain Lewis Residence . . . . . . . . . .30Central Maine Endoscopy Center . . .45Central Maine Pyrotechnics . . . . . . .34Central Maine Septic . . . . . . . . . . . . .71CH Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Chase Toys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Chateau Cushnoc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18China Area Wash & Dry . . . . . . . . . .14CMC Technology Group . . . . . . . . .32Cobb’s Pierce Pond Camps . . . . . . . .49Coldwell Banker/Thomas Agency . .10Computer Improvements . . . . . . . . .70Countryside Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . .29Cranberry Harbor Naturals . . . . . . . .57

CT’s Outside Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . .62D.H. Pinnette & Sons, Inc. . . . . . . . . .5D.P. Welding & Fabrication Inc. . . . .75D.R. Salisbury Foundations . . . . . . . .50DAC Distributers, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . .63Damon’s Beverage Mart . . . . . . . . . .15Damon’s Pizza & Italians . . . . . . . . .17David F. Bowden Foundations . . . . .64David Stevens Excavation & Septic .44Davis Dirt Works & Excavation . . . .23DB Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Debra Achramowicz CPA . . . . . . . . .42DeCato Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Denis Frigon Logging . . . . . . . . . . . .51Don’s Chimney Care & Stove Shop .40Don’s Seasonal Service . . . . . . . . . . .71Double D Truck & Auto Repair . . . .23Dube Environmental Inc. . . . . . . . . .38Dunkin Donuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Dunn & Pakulski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Dun-Wright Lawn Care . . . . . . . . . . .29Dyers Soda Blasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3E.H. Ward & Son . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73E.J. Carrier Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78E.W. Moore & Son Pharmacy . . . . . .76Ed Bouchard Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Ed Hodson Masonry . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Enterprise Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Eric’s Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Evergreen Self Storage . . . . . . . . . . .66Expert Tire Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Fairfield Antiques Mall . . . . . . . . . . . .5Fairfield Drafting & Construction . .62Family Pet Connection & Grooming . .71Fine Line Paving & Grading . . . . . . .48Finish Line Construction . . . . . . . . .48Finish Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Fleet Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Floormaster North . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Four Winds Too Lobster Co. . . . . . .39Fox Small Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Franklin Savings Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Freddies Service Center . . . . . . . . . . .23G&D Auto Repair & Sales . . . . . . . .54Galeyrie Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Gallant Funeral Home Inc. . . . . . . . .54George’s Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Gerald Vermette, DDS . . . . . . . . . . .72Goggins IGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Graf Mechanical Service Inc. . . . . . .67Group Adams Propane Service . . . .21Grover Woodworking . . . . . . . . . . . .40Half Moon Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Hammond Lumber . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44Healthy Maine Partnership . . . . . . . .55Hearth & Home Realty . . . . . . . . . . .73Heritage House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Hight Dealership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69Hillside Homes, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Hilltop Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Homes & More Builders . . . . . . . . . .48Hotham Concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Houle’s Plumbing & Air Conditioning . .42

Hoyt Chiropractic Center . . . . . . . . .10Hussey’s General Store . . . . . . . . . . .14Hydraulic Hose & Assembly . . . . . . . .5Insulation Solutions Inc . . . . . . . . . .44Jackman Power Sports . . . . . . . . . . . .50Jackman-Moose River Chamber . . . .78Jason Stevens Excavation . . . . . . . . .59Jewett Builders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Jimmy’s Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Joe Curran Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11John Becker Carpenter . . . . . . . . . . .18John Castonguay Logging & Trucking .39John Marvin Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Johnson Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11JT’s Finest Kind Saw . . . . . . . . . . . . .74K.V. Tax Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Kasie-Jo Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Katie Q Convenience . . . . . . . . . . . .67KD Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Kennebec Guns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Kennebec Lawn Care . . . . . . . . . . . .13Kennebec Montessori School . . . . . .46Kennebec Savings Bank . . . . . . . . . .78Kennebec Valley Chamber . . . . . . . .19Kim’s Garage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Klassic Klunkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Knowlton Hewins Roberts . . . . . . . .34Kramers Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20KSW Federal Credit Union . . . . . . . .54Kyes Motel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68L.N. Violette Co. Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . .61Ladd’s Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Lamoreau Improvements Inc. . . . . . .25Lamoureux Floor Sanding . . . . . . . . . .4Lance’s Auto Service . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Lavallee’s Garage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Legacy Home Improvements . . . . . .31Linkletter & Sons, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . .65Litchfield Country Store . . . . . . . . . . .8Loads of Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Long Pond Camps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Lovewell Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Luces Maine-Grown Meats . . . . . . . .49Macomber, Farr & Whitten . . . . . . .16Mac’s True Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Madison Automotive & Recreation .73Maine Historical Society . . . . . . . . . . .4Maine Maids Housekeeping . . . . . . .72Maine Maple Products Inc. . . . . . . . .73Maine State Credit Union . . . . . . . . .36Mama Bear’s Den . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Maranacook Masonry . . . . . . . . . . . .39Marco Grimaldi Concrete Floors . . . .6Maroon Insurance Agency . . . . . . . .54Maurice & Son Auto Body . . . . . . . .62Maynard’s in Maine . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51McCormack Building Supply . . . . . .58McVety’s Hearth & Home . . . . . . . . .36Merle Lloyd & Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75Mid Maine Chamber of Commerce .43Mid Maine Self Storage . . . . . . . . . . . .8Mid State Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Mid-Maine Equine & Therapeutics .39

Mid-Maine Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44Mike Wainer Plumbing & Heating . .44Milestone Communications . . . . . . .33Mitchell’s Roofing & Sheet Metal . . .24Mountain Country Supermarket . . . .78Natanis Golf Course . . . . . . . . . . . . .42Neighborhood Redemption . . . . . . .17New England Denture Centers . . . .37Nitram Excavation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62North Bay Estates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59North Country Variety . . . . . . . . . . .76Northeast Laboratory Services . . . . .54Oak Pond Millworks . . . . . . . . . . . . .66On the Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74Pagett Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Pattersons General Store . . . . . . . . . .63Paul Hanna’s Plumbing . . . . . . . . . . .58Paul Mushero & Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Penobscot Marine Museum . . . . . . .52Peppers Garden & Grill . . . . . . . . . . .9Phil Carter’s Garage . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63Pine Tree Fence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27Pine Tree Orthopedic & Foot Care .41Pine View Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Pinkham’s Elm Street Market . . . . . .75Pittsfield Village Pizzeria . . . . . . . . . .64Poor Bob’s Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56Poulin-Turner Union Hall . . . . . . . . .61Pro-Menders Body Shop . . . . . . . . . .28Proseal Asphalt Repair . . . . . . . . . . .43Quinn Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68R.F. Automotive Repair . . . . . . . . . . .70R.J. Energy Services, Inc. . . . . . . . . . .15Randy’s Full Service Auto Repair . . .47Ray’s Auto Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59Redington Fairview General Hospital . .47Remedy Salon & Spa . . . . . . . . . . . . .45Richard Gibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39Richard Sand & Gravel . . . . . . . . . . .27Rick’s Garage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49Ridge Road Landscaping . . . . . . . . . . .8Riverbend Campground . . . . . . . . . . .9Riverfront Barbeque & Grill . . . . . . .34Rockwood Excavation . . . . . . . . . . . .51Rocky’s Stove Shoppe . . . . . . . . . . . .38Rodney Ellis Jr. Construction . . . . . .39Rolfe’s Well Drilling Co. . . . . . . . . . .30Rowells Auto Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Russell’s Gems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17S&M Radiator King . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Sackett & Brake Survey, Inc. . . . . . . .72Salem Stoneworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Santos Custom Builders . . . . . . . . . . .4Scott-N-Scotties Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . .58Second Wind Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31Senator Inn & Spa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Set Rental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Shamrock Stoneworks . . . . . . . . . . . .40Shaw’s Auto Salvage . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Short Circuit Electrical . . . . . . . . . . .71Silver Fox Stamps & More . . . . . . . .57Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce . .72Skowhegan Driving School . . . . . . . . .5

Skowhegan Equipment & Tool . . . . .70Smart & Edwards Funeral Home . . .66Snowman’s Oil & Soil . . . . . . . . . . . .64Solon Corner Market . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Solon Superette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Somerset Home Improvements . . . .75Somerset Humane Society . . . . . . . .66Sonny’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61Sprague & Curtis Real Estate . . . . . .31St. Alban’s Mini Mart . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Stamp-N-Scrap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Stanley’s Septic Service . . . . . . . . . . .61Steve Thomas Builders . . . . . . . . . . .20Stevens Electric & Pump Service . . . .9Stevens Forest Products . . . . . . . . . .22Sully’s Restaurant & Tavern . . . . . . . .28Sun Auto & Salvage . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74Sunco Pump & Well Drilling Inc. . . .27Sundown Cabins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50T&B Transmission Service . . . . . . . .12Taylor’s Drug Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73Temple Well Drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . .25The Bankery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66The Birches Family Campground . . .26The Cabins at China Lake . . . . . . . . .31The Mailing Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20The Meadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9The Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50Tom’s Building & Remodeling . . . . .29Town of Gardiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29Tri-State Staffing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Trussell’s Auto Repair . . . . . . . . . . . .12Tubby’s Ice Cream . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28United Way of Mid Maine . . . . . . . .55Upper Kennebec Valley Chamber . .78Upper Pond Stables . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25Val Shell’s Pawn Shop . . . . . . . . . . . .56Varney Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Vienna Garage Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Visage Salon & Dayspa . . . . . . . . . . .17Warren Bros. Construction . . . . . . . .74Waterman Farm Machinery . . . . . . .26Webber Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Webster’s Mini Excavation . . . . . . . .20Weeks & Sons Drilling . . . . . . . . . . .58Wendall’s Lawn Care . . . . . . . . . . . . .11White & Bradstreet Inc. . . . . . . . . . .15Whites Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Whitewater Farm Market . . . . . . . . .74Whitney Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Wingate Landscape Co. . . . . . . . . . . .12Winslow Aluminum . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57Winthrop Area Chamber of Commerce .28Winthrop Area Federal Credit Union . .28Wish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Wood Mizer of Maine . . . . . . . . . . . .20Woodlawn Rehab & Nursing Center . . .48Yankee Trophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Your Maine Stamper . . . . . . . . . . . . .10


DiscoverMaine 79

Directory of AdvertisersBusiness Page Business Page Business Page Business Page Business Page

Please tell our advertisers how much you love Discover Maine Magazine

by doing business with them whenever possible.

Thanks for supporting those businesses that help us bring Maine’s history to you!

Discover Maine Magazine has been brought to you free through the generous

support of Maine businesses for the past 19 years,

and we extend a special thanks to them.

Greater Kennebec Valley Region

senatorinn & spa

Augusta, Maine

Join Us...For the Senator Inn Experience

Looking for somewhere with great packages, comfortable rooms, dining, and spa treatments - all under one roof?

Try the Senator Inn & Spa with packages starting at $129.00.

284 Western Avenue - Exit 109A off I-95Call us: 1-877-772-2224

www.senatorinn.com

2011 Kennebec Valley Edition

Documents

northeastby charles

kennebec journal

charles heywoodthe boy

watervilleby james nalley8

veteransby penny

itby penny

longstanding ties

railroading history