2022 Western Lakes & Mountains Region

Publisher Jim Burch

Editor

Dennis Burch

Design & Layout

Liana Merdan

Field Representative

Don Plante

Contributing Writers

Jeffrey Bradley

J. Edward Ellis

Charles Francis

Fryeburg Fair

Ruth McGowan Knowles

James Nalley

Kenneth Smith

Brian Swartz

Discover Maine Magazine is distributed to town offices, chambers of commerce, financial institutions, fraternal organizations, barber shops, beauty salons, hospitals and medical offices, newsstands, grocery and convenience stores, hardware stores, lumber companies, motels, restaurants and other locations throughout this part of Maine.

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SUBSCRIPTION FORMS ON PAGES 47 & 62

Front Cover Photo: C.E. Shaw’s store in North Sebago. Item # LB2007.1.101901 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

All photos in Discover Maine’s Western Lakes & Mountains Region 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 collaboration with the Maine Historical Society and the Penobscot Marine Museum

It Makes No Never Mind

by James Nalley

When it comes to serious long-distance hiking, no conversation is complete without the mention of the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail (AT). As for Western Maine, there is the Mahoosuc Range, which straddles the border between New Hampshire and Maine, and includes the fourth-highest peak in the state: the 4,170-foot Old Speck Mountain. However, within this section, there is the notorious Mahoosuc Notch.

According to Gale Straub of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), “There are no mindless miles in the Mahoosuc Range…Hikers say each section of the AT has its own personality. Well, this section is contradictory: stubborn but forgiving, ambitious yet unassuming. Its dual nature adds to its mystery.

As for the name “Mahoosuc” itself, its origin has been debated in the circles. For example, the name probably comes from the Abenaki word meaning “home of hungry animals” or it might come from the Natick word for “pinnacle.” To hikers who have made it through Mahoosuc Notch, they tend to choose the latter.

In this regard, there are boulders on

this mile-long section that force hikers to climb over and under, with occasional 10-foot drops. There are also locations in which packs must be removed to squeeze beneath a boulder. Many hikers refer to this section as the “killer mile” or the “toughest mile.” To make it even more challenging, pockets of ice can be found under the boulders, even in the heat of July and August.

Surprisingly, as stated by Straub, members of the Randolph Mountain Club first cleared and marked the Mahoosuc Notch Trail in 1916, “encouraging the AMC to further extend the path” in 1918. “Although the AMC’s trail crew was understaffed due to World War I, two journeymen and a novice plugged away.” Moreover, she stated that “In a region as populated as New England, it is difficult to imagine a landscape as uncultivated as the Mahoosuc Range still is today. On foot, I find it even more difficult to imagine how the crew first decided where to site the trail back in 1918.”

When the fun of Mahoosuc Notch is over, there is the Mahoosuc Arm, which is probably the steepest climb on the entire AT. Specifically, it is approximately 1,500 feet of climbing over one

mile, which is similar to a set of stairs. However, the only difference is that these stairs consist of steep slippery rocks and tree roots. In this case, I am reminded of the quote by Galileo Galilei: “Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not.”

On this note, I will close with the following hiking-inspired jest: Tom and Paul decided that it was finally time to go on their planned multi-day hike in the forest. When they got to the trailhead, they came upon an advisory poster that stated: “Hikers who visit this forest should be aware that both black bears and grizzly bears can be found here. We suggest the following precautions. First, please wear small bells on your boots to alert wildlife of your presence so they stay away. Second, please have pepper spray with you at all times in case you should actually come in contact with a bear. Third, you can identify if there are bears in the area based on the feces you see on the ground. In black bear poop, you can see traces of plants and berries, whereas grizzly bear poop contains small bells and smells of pepper spray.”

Stagecoaches knitted Sebago region towns together

by Jeffrey Bradley

More than most, the Pine Tree State has an abundance of navigable waterways. In the unlikely event that a Mainer found time on his hands and a yen for visiting the next settlement over — but with no river handy —must needs use the old Indian paths or logging roads that slashed through the woods. It took a growing population, an expanding commerce, and a rapidly improving road system to bring about change.

Over time these footpaths became a track for single axle ox carts with big wooden wheels, a trail for horses or, widened and graded, a lane wagons could travel. After the Revolutionary War stagecoaches began replacing the

post riders that carried the mail along these primitive byways.

Original springless vehicles lurching over these rough thoroughfares bounced goods and people about with reckless abandon; still, a stage that took three days getting from Portland to Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1787 by 1825 took just 36 hours. Maine’s fickle weather often meant employing a lighter “mud wagon” with only a canvas top for protection. Its lower center of gravity enabled negotiating more treacherous terrain when carrying less cargo.

A stagecoach, or omnibus, was an enclosed four-wheeled public conveyance drawn by horses along a fixed

route on a regular schedule. Horses were changed every few hours at inns where the weary passengers could find lodging, which denoted the fact that a stagecoach made distance travel “in stages.” Especially scarce in western Maine before the 1820s, the stage remained the mainstay of overland group transport until the advent of railroads. Even then, rural folks continued to rely on them for local travel, and hotels used them to meet trains and take guests sightseeing.

Generally, stagecoach companies favored flat-topped vehicles. Many of these regional lines lasted throughout the late 19th century and into the early part of the next.

Spring systems initially consisted of wood but proved too crunchy and were replaced by steel. An elliptical spring smoothed the ride by affixing the carriage body directly to two durable leaf springs mounted over each wheel attached at the axles. Modified in 1873, a flexible wooden bar was run from front to back that greatly aided suspension. Coach design also evolved with greater turning capacity, better braking — even a feature to prevent the wheels from falling off! During the 1880s the famous Concord coach became popular, the stagecoach familiar to all those TV westerns. Not affixed to the axles but slung instead on leather straps, the body would rock and sway, in the words of Mark Twain, “like a cradle on wheels.” The arrangement also eliminated the bone-jarring jolts common to older designs. Inside, a jump seat and benches for six were located, with room on top for a passenger beside the driver. A style known as the Portland

Cutter featured a sharp angle at the bottom in back that rose in a distinctive elegant swoop.

A photo dated 1882 in Lovell shows two different types of stagecoach with one pulled by a team of six horses.

Travel between the Sebago Lakes region and the coast during the early 19th century was challenging. But by 1815 William Sawin of Waterford was already transporting people by stagecoach to Portland, then the state’s capital. In Harrison, Sumner Davis was beginning a stagecoach empire that would connect Waterford, Portland, Brownfield, and Bridgton and employ 30 drivers. The wily Davis found other ways to profit from the business: he discreetly delivered “tonics” and special items to customers who tipped handsomely! A rival once planted the “fake news” story that his passengers stood in danger of being devoured by wolves; it backfired when a gleeful Davis reported a surge in business for the opportu-

nity of

shooting one!

As there was always plenty of time for getting acquainted, a kind of “don’t do this” list developed that included:

*Don’t jump if a team runs away or your’re liable to be hurt

*Don’t drink “ranch whiskey” especially in freezing cold weather

*Don’t spit from the windy side of the coach

*Don’t lop over your neighbor while sleeping

*Don’t fire a pistol as it makes people nervous

*Don’t point out places where horrible murders have been committed — sound advice by anyone’s standards. Described mostly as “clumsy machines smelling badly of leather”, they often proceeded at the pace of a walk. Baggage might be piled half as high again as the coach, then secured with a flimsy rope. Wedged in like sardines on the hard seats, the frazzled passen(cont. on page 6)

(cont. from page 5)

gers were left to ponder exactly how many of them could be jammed aboard. Sometimes walking to spare the horses, they otherwise sat as the creeping coach churned up the thick clouds of chalky dust that seemed to settle everywhere.

While wealthy patrons could access fashionable summer resorts in cozy comfort, for the general riding public, not so much. Within a coach’s crowded confines “dovetailing,” the intimate art of successfully intertwining the legs of people that faced each other, helped prevent “outbreaks of ire.” Women, especially, were sensitive on this point. One reportedly of “uncompromising rotundity and snappish temper,” proved an “unsatisfactory companion” when she exited the coach in a huff — first berating the driver — after all attempts at dovetailing failed.

The Maine Central Railroad Depot on Empire Road in Poland, known as Elmwood Farm Station, ca. 1910. Item # 7621 from the collections of

Travel in snow-bound conditions by sleigh was possible but “not to be undertaken lightly,” according to a merchant “of high standing” in an 1834 newspaper article. First stopping at an overnight inn at which accommodations “were suspect and overpriced,” at three the next morning he was routed from bed and loaded into a “pang” (an open boxy little sleigh) and underway before breakfasting which, in his opinion, was the “greatest cruelty.” After many hours delay distributing the mail — while waiting fuming in the brutal cold —some 24 grueling hours later he finally arrived at his destination — well past midnight and “nearly frozen!”

A Gift Of Postcards

A record of life in Rangeley

by J. Edward Ellis

In the year 1997 the Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society was the beneficiary of the generous gift of a collection of three thousand postcards, all of the Rangeley Region. Perhaps on the surface this does not appear to be anything unusual, but it is a rare gift for two reasons. First, the mere fact that a little village of approximately fifteen hundred residents would have three thousand separate and different scenes is an oddity in itself. Second, this collection of postcards was appraised at over ten thousand dollars. So what is this phenomenon of collecting postcards?

The history of the postcard is an interesting one. They came into existence

in the 1890s for the purpose of advising insurance clients of the amount due weekly against insurance policies, generally on the order of fifteen cents a week. Picture postcards came into being in 1895. The first postcards featured a picture on one side and only lines for name and address on the reverse. In fact, it was against post office rules to write a message on the card. In the earliest days of postcards, they were more expensive to send than a letter.

As time went on, senders started sneaking a little two- or three-word message on the card. As a result, the manufacturers started arranging to have a little white strip on the picture side of the card that would accommo-

date a two- or three-line message and the die was cast for postcard messages.

In the early 1900s, the postcard went through another metamorphosis, and the postcard featured a picture on one side and a split back on the obverse so that half of the space would accept a message and the other half the address, much the same as we have today. Early postcards started out as black-andwhite pictures that were sent to Germany for coloring because the German method for print color was far superior to ours. However, when World War I came along this source was cut off and black-and-white postcards became popular by necessity.

Foreign coloring returned after the

war, but by that time our own color processes had improved. Still, blackand-white pictures remained equally popular and were cheaper to produce. For example, in Rangeley there was a small Kodak shop operated by Sherm Hoar, and it was his practice to photograph unusual sights and scenes such as celebrations, snow storms, hurricanes and the like, and produce photo postcards of them. Eastman Kodak made them, and still makes, papers with a postcard back and a sensitized face for these photos.

After World War II, Kodachrome and Kodacolor processes came into being and pretty much since that time postcards have featured that very realistic and accurate coloring.

What is the appeal of postcards?

Over the period of over a hundred years, postcards are a wonderful record of scenes of the times. For example, in Rangeley there were in years gone by

approximately a dozen resort hotels. Today only one remains. The others either disappeared because of fire or demolition as they outlived their popularity. Through postcards, we still have a visual record of such places as the Rangeley Lake Hotel, The Barker, the Mooselookmeguntic House, Mountain View House and so on. The same is true with many sporting camps and resorts. Main Street with its dirt surface roadway and the wooden sidewalks are properly recorded.

And how does such a compact area come up with between three and four thousand different postcard scenes? There is a singular situation that pertains to Rangeley. To begin with, we are talking of a period of over one hundred years. More important, however, is the fact that with the many resorts in the area, any one resort made postcards of the main lodge and one of each of the cabins surrounding the lodge. Then

the vacationer could send cards home of “our cabin.” As well, he would probably send a picture of the beach area, the lake, the dining room, and on and on.

How this collection of postcards came into being is a story in itself. The collector’s wife was an avid collector of antiques and made an annual trek to Hallowell to visit the shops. Normally he sat in the car and waited for his wife to finish her tour. One summer it was unbearably hot in Hallowell, and he decided to roam the stores where it was somewhat cooler than the car. In doing so, he saw a box of postcards and on a whim, he looked for any postcards from Rangeley. There was one in particular postmarked 1927 which read, “Arrived here yesterday but it was too rough on the lake to look for the body. The men say it is dangerous when it is rough. Wish me luck tomorrow.”

(cont. on page 10)

(cont. from page 9)

What a disaster! Here was a poor, lonely woman writing a friend in Augusta about her husband or brother who had drowned, probably in a fishing accident. When the story was reported to his wife, her automatic question was “Did you buy it?” To which the answer was, “of course not!”

A year later, the same scenario took place and just for curiosity’s sake he went to see if the card was still there. It was, and he bought it. That single card grew to three thousand cards over the next twenty years.

At that time, postcards could regularly be purchased for between five and twenty cents. Today, the demand for postcards has increased a hundredfold, and it is not unusual to pay up to twenty dollars for a single card and even more in rare circumstances.

Postcards are sold regularly by postcard dealers. A typical show will take

over a banquet hall at a motel or similar large space and fifty to a hundred aluminum picnic tables are covered with boxes and boxes of postcards. Cards are sorted by subject such as Guns, Blacks, Nudes, Trains, Train Stations, etc. Each of the fifty states is a separate category as well as major cities and countries of the world. For example, a box of postcards (or perhaps several boxes) for the state of Maine should properly be alphabetized by city and town. However, in the case of Rangeley, postcards can be found not only under the letter “R” but also “B” for Bald Mountain Camps, “M” for Mooselookmeguntic, “K” for Kennebago, “U” for Upper Richardson and so on. In other words, almost every letter of the alphabet seems to pertain in one way or another to the Rangeley Lakes Region!

Now in place in the Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society, this collec-

tion of three thousand postcards is a permanent record of a hundred years of life in the Rangeley Region. Give

Bethel’s Patty Bartlett Sessions

The mother of Mormon midwifery

by James Nalley

In the 1800s, as the sparse Western frontier was being slowly populated, there was a growing need for trained birth attendants who could ensure that the mother and child survived the grueling labor and delivery process. In this regard, in 1846, Brigham Young instructed his Latter-Day Saints to head to Salt Lake Valley, which was then Mexico. His expedition was one of the largest and best organized Westward treks. Among the group was a woman from Bethel, Maine, who eventually assisted in and documented approximately 4,000 births over the course of her career, including the birth of the first male born in Salt Lake Valley. Over the next year, she had become one of the most trusted women in the midwife profes-

sion. Even today, the Mormon Church recognizes her as the “Mother of Mormon Midwifery.”

Patty Bartlett was born in Bethel on February 4, 1795. She was the first of nine children born to Enoch and Anna Bartlett. According to the article Wild Women of the West: Patty Bartlett Sessions (2019) by Chris Enss, “Like all her brothers and sisters, Patty was raised on the family farm and required to do a variety of chores.” Among such chores were spinning, weaving, and sewing/stitching, the latter of which would become important for her future medical profession. Although the women of the family were not required to attend school, Patty learned to read and write from the town’s schoolmistress.

(cont. on page 14)

Patty Bartlett Sessions

(cont. from page 13)

At the age of 17, Patty married (against her parent’s wishes) a local farmer, David Sessions, and immediately moved in with David’s parents in Ketchum, Maine. At that time, her new mother-in-law, Rachel, suffered from rheumatism and required constant attention. In this case, as David tended the crops, Patty took care of Rachel, who, by chance, was the midwife in the area. As stated by Enss, “One afternoon, she (Rachel) received a frantic summons to the bedside of an expectant mother who was extremely ill. Physically unable to get to the mother-to-be quickly, Rachel decided to send Patty. She reassured Patty that she had the compassion and common sense necessary to help.” When Patty arrived at the delivery, the expectant mother was in labor and extremely sick. “Patty’s presence and calming attitude comforted the distressed woman. She then took charge of the situation, ordering the expect-

ant mother to breath easily through the contractions. By the time the doctor arrived, the baby had been born, and both the mother and child were resting comfortably.” After they “received a clean bill of health, the doctor commended Patty and encouraged her to enter the midwifery profession.”

As in her other educational endeavors, Patty took the doctor’s suggestion seriously and pursued a well-rounded education. For example, she studied obstetrics with Dr. Timothy Carter, a physician in Bethel, and learned about natural herb remedies from the local Native Americans. This was in addition to interning with various midwives in the area and reading numerous books about childbirth.

Regarding her personal life, over the course of their 38-year marriage, Patty and David had eight children. However, typhus fever swept through Maine, claiming the lives of two of their chil-

dren as well as many other residents in the area. Although Patty effectively dealt with the losses, David fell into a period of depression. In 1833, a group of Mormon missionaries established a camp nearby and began ministering to the couple. Approximately a year later, Patty and David were baptized into the faith. Then, according to book In Sacred Loneliness (2001), by Todd Compton, “After attending a conference in 1836, where church leaders preached the importance of gathering the Saints, the Sessions family moved to Far West, Missouri, until they were driven out by the governor’s Mormon Extermination Order (in response to a clash between the Mormons and the Missouri State Militia, which made them “enemies of the state”). Leaving behind almost everything they owned, the family relocated to Nauvoo, Illinois.”

While in Nauvoo, Patty and David met the town’s founder, Joseph Smith,

who was also the President and Founder of the Mormon Church. Interestingly, as stated by Enss, “Smith was taken with Patty’s medical ability and the role she played as caregiver for other migrating Mormons. In keeping with the religion’s polygamist practice, in 1842, Patty accepted a proposal of marriage from Joseph Smith.” It is important to note that some of these marriages, including Patty’s, were performed with the consent of the first husbands, and considered “eternity-only” sealings, in which the marriage would not take effect until after death.

Over the next few years, Patty assisted in bringing hundreds of babies into the Mormon family, and she continued to offer her services to expectant mothers after their arrival in Salt Lake Valley. In addition, due to her education and expertise, Patty provided a variety of healthcare treatments to members of the congregation. Accord-

ing to Enss, “Those whose health she had helped restore lovingly referred to her as ‘Doctor Patty.’ The leaders of the Mormon Church wholeheartedly approved of her title and work, and even encouraged other females to enter the profession.

On August 11, 1850, after more than 38 years of marriage, David passed away. Approximately a year later, Patty married John Parry, who was the first leader of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Their marriage lasted for 17 years, until his death in 1869.

Most importantly, beginning in 1846, Patty maintained a diary, which included every birth that she attended, detailed lists of the activities of the Mormon Church, the families that she assisted, and the classes that she taught as well as recipes for certain ailments. For example, as stated in the book Mormon Sisters (1997) by Claudia Bushman, “Within one year of arriving in

Salt Lake Valley, Sessions delivered 248 babies. Over the course of her long career, she recorded 3,977 births, with only ‘two difficult cases.’ She continued to deliver babies until she was 85 years old.” On December 14, 1892, Patty died of natural causes and was buried in Bountiful, Utah, which was founded by one of her sons, Perrigrine Sessions. She was 97 years of age.

Throughout her career, which spanned more than seven decades, Patty, despite the devastating losses of her own children and husbands, never wavered in her Mormon faith and believed that her role on Earth was to serve God and help expand the Mormon population. Perhaps her devotion is best seen in one of her diary entries, recorded on the day that she assisted in the birth of the first male in Salt Lake Valley: “It was said to me more than five months ago that my hands should be the first to

(cont. on page 16)

(cont. from page 15)

handle the first-born son in the place of rest for the saints even in the city of our God. I have come more than one thousand miles to do it since it was spoken” (September 26, 1847).

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Cliff Hill’s St. Bernard, Sally, poses in a harness at Nature’s Playground in Oquossoc on July 17, 1938. Item # 1387 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

Stanley Twins

From farm boys to renowned inventors

by Kenneth Smith

Kingfield, so named for Maine’s first governor, William King, sits beside 7-Mile Brook (later the Carrabassett River). This river drains the watershed created by some of Maine’s best-known scenic mountains — Abrams, Bigelow, and Sugarloaf. Neither Solomon nor Apphia Stanley could have imagined that on June 1, 1849, they would become proud parents of not one but two of the most creative men Maine ever produced, Francis E. and Freeland O. Stanley. Father Solomon built a grist mill and dam on the banks of the Carrabassett in Kingfield. The rich soil made for excellent farming, and the twins learned early the value of hard work.

Play for the twins consisted of making small devices with ideas and encouragement provided by their father. Solomon was a farmer, teacher, politician, small businessman, and violinist. A stream behind the farm provided water-power to operate the twins’ first project, a miniature water wheel. They geared it to convert the wheel’s circular to reciprocating action, powering all manner of contraptions.

In the summer of their eighth year, Freel climbed from bed at 4:30 am, driving the neighbor’s cows to pasture, and back to the barn at night. Francis pulled double chores on the family farm. At summer’s end, they shared a two-dollar gold piece, which Freeland

promptly lost in a gravel pit.

Feeling a bit out-of-place in their rough, homespun clothes, Mom had promised to make them new school outfits if they bought the cloth. Deciding to enter the maple sugar business, they spent a winter making sap buckets. Needing a pan to boil the sap down, they approached the local storekeeper. He had just the ticket, but they did not have the $8.00 to buy the pan. One late winter afternoon, they spied a large mink frolicking near its riverbank den. Freel struck for home to collect an old smoothbore musket while Francis kept watch. He returned in time to shoot the mink. Hurrying to the village store, they traded the animal for the sap

pan. Later the twins took the $25 syrup money they made, hiked the 40-mile round trip to Farmington, buying cloth for next year’s clothes.

The twins took life seriously but enjoyed practical jokes. It was impossible to tell them apart. Even their girlfriends had a problem, and the boys took full advantage.

Francis, the leader, wanted to be a lawyer. Not much older than his students, he taught school in Andover, Farmington, and Lisbon, eventually enrolling in Hebron Academy. Both twins attended Farmington Normal School. In the fall of 1873, at age 24, Freeland enrolled at Bowdoin. He lasted a year. College President General Joshua Chamberlain insisted all underclassmen take military science and drill. This caused a major revolt. Finally, in the spring of 1874, Joshua sent all dissidents home, which just about shut Bowdoin down.

Freeland didn’t recant and was one

of the few who never went back. He became principal of Mechanic Falls High School. Here he met and married Jane Tileston. It was a 63-year commitment. After a short stay in Pennsylvania, Freeland returned to teach at Farmington Normal School. Poor health forced him to leave. He entered business designing and manufacturing drawing, drafting, and school supplies.

In 1876 Frank married Augusta Walker. They had two girls and a son. Frank’s dream of becoming a lawyer faded before his new interests. A gifted portrait artist, he developed and patented an airbrush technique. So many people commissioned him to do pastel portraits that he opened a studio in Augusta, becoming a commercial artist.

Sensing photography was the wave of the future, he left canvas for camera. At that time the wet-plate developing process required the subject to sit absolutely still for two minutes, or the picture would blur. In 1886 he joined with

brother Freeland to form the Stanley Dry Plate Company. The process they invented revolutionized photography and attracted worldwide attention.

In 1890 the Lewiston operation was moved to Newton, Massachusetts, for access to supplies and markets. In 1904 they sold out to George Eastman of Eastman Kodak. Money worries ended, and their focus shifted to steam-powered, self-propelled carriages.

In 1885 in Germany, Daimler and Benz developed a successful gasoline engine of the type used in today cars. The twins decided they could build a superior vehicle. In one year they did.

First they dealt with two basic problems — enough steam to power the vehicle, and control of steam generation so fire tending could be ignored. They decreased boiler size to 14 inches in diameter. To reduce weight, copper was substituted for cast iron. The engine was two-cylinder with a two and onehalf inch bore and three-inch stroke. (cont. on page 20)

(cont. from page 19)

Ball bearings were used to cut friction. The engine was placed over and geared to the rear wheels, eliminating the troublesome chain drive. To obviate the need to stop every few miles to replenish water, a steam condenser was added. The roofless, four-passenger, two-seater body included compartments for fuel and water. The entire vehicle weighed only eight hundred pounds. The twins created not a locomotive on wheels, but a slick-looking car.

The first Stanley Steamer was completed in the summer of 1897 at their Newton factory. In 1900 they motored from Newton to Lewiston, over little more than cow paths. The Steamer averaged 18 m.p.h. and got 7 m.p.g. on kerosene fuel. This car later broke the land speed record, traveling 27 m.p.h.

By 1899 the Stanley brothers had made 210 Steamers using another innovation, standardized parts. Experts described the vehicle as the “Best Car in the World.” In 1904 Freeland and his wife tackled the Mt. Washington carriage road, demonstrating the Steamer’s traction and endurance. In two hours they had reached the summit, the first motor car to make the ascent.

The twins sold their patent to Locomobile Company for $250,000. However, they continued to make cars with important design modifications. Reduced sales forced Locomobile to sell the patent back at a huge loss. Next, the brothers formed the Stanley Motor

Carriage Company. In the face of fierce competition from over a hundred other U.S. companies who made steam cars, theirs was clearly superior.

In 1906 the Steamer took the Dewar Cup Race in Ormond Beach, Florida officially clocked at 128 m.p.h. and unofficially at 190 m.p.h. No one knows then or now just how fast the Steamers would go.

By 1910 automakers were using gasoline engines. Henry Ford’s assembly line concept buried the Stanleys, who could not keep manufacturing pace. The Steamer proved hard to start and slow to generate steam. Not stilted for long-distance travel, it had an open fire, and steam burns were sometimes a problem.

The most telling blow occurred when Francis, returning to Newton from Boothbay Harbor, was tragically killed on the Newburyport Turnpike. He topped a rise and, confronted by two hay wagons, swerved off the road,

crashing into a tree. Freeland never recovered from Francis’ death. By 1925, after producing 10,960 cars, the business had failed. Freeland moved to Estes Park, Colorado, where he died in 1940.

Had Francis lived, what might the Stanleys have created? The steam car they did build was the finest of its kind. These Kingfield farm boys became two of the most successful inventors in American history.

Skowhegan’s Margaret Chase Smith

by Ruth McGowan Knowles

Margaret Chase Smith was born December 14, 1897, in the small town of Skowhegan, the daughter of George Emery and Carrie Murray Chase. Margaret Chase Smith was the only lady to have served her state in both the United States House of Representatives (1940-1949) and the United States Senate (1949-1973) ― four terms in both chambers.

Margaret made history because she was so different from others in Washington. You can recall moments when Smith’s human side was demonstrated. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, she removed her rose (which she always wore) and silently placed it on a desk where he had sat as a Senator. She was on hand to applaud

A life of courage

Democrat Patrick McGowan in 1990 when he launched his campaign against Olympia Snowe. When asked by the media why she was there, she replied, “Skowhegan is a small town, and I have been a friend of the McGowan family for years.” The late Governor John H. Reed of Maine remembered visiting Washington D.C. in 1939 with a group of high school students from Maine. The group didn’t have a place to stay to spend the night, so Mrs. Smith invited them to stay at her house. She even got up the next morning and made them breakfast!

Margaret married Clyde Smith on May 14, 1930. Clyde Smith lived in a thirty-two room mansion in Washington, D.C. When he was elected to

Senator Margaret Chase Smith and Ruth M. Knowles (Photo courtesy of Ruth M. Knowles)

the United States House of Representatives, Margaret was very excited to move to Washington. Clyde didn’t like Washington and wanted to return to Maine and run for Governor. Unfortunately, he died suddenly on April 8, 1940, at the age of 63 years. It was Clyde’s deathbed wish that Margaret take his place in Congress.

Margaret stated: “A life of public service was thrust on me; I didn’t have time to choose whether to be a homemaker or something else.” She never considered any other place except Skowhegan, her residence during her thirty-two years living in Washington.

Margaret was a strong military supporter. She worked hard to make certain that the United States would be ready for any crisis or attack. Therefore, she always maintained a great interest and support of the shipbuilding work being done at Bath Iron Works. When Margaret began her senate career in 1949, she chose Major Bill Lewis as

her administrative assistant for the 24 years she worked in the senate. Lewis had been a lawyer and a staff member of the Congressional Armed Services and Naval Affairs Committees. Margaret said, “I always wrote my own speeches, but I would discuss things I felt should be talked about, with Bill.”

In the late 1940s something called the Red Scare was sweeping the United States. Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin began unjustly accusing many Americans of being Communists. Innocent people were losing their jobs. No one dared to speak up against Senator McCarthy ― no one except Margaret. One June 1, 1950, in the Senate, Margaret gave her now famous “Declaration of Conscience speech”: The right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; and the right for individual thought. The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood. Otherwise,

one of us could call our souls our own.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) and Margaret Chase Smith didn’t always see eye to eye, but we found them later agreeing with one another. In 1964 Margaret made the following announcement in the town of Canaan. She began her speech by explaining why she should not run for President: She didn’t have enough money, most thought there was no chance she could win, and many thought a woman wouldn’t have the energy for a national campaign. “Because of these very impelling reasons against my running, I decided that I shall!” It was Senator George Aiken from Vermont who nominated Margaret for President of the United States of America. Even though Margaret knew she couldn’t win, she didn’t want to miss seeing her name placed in nomination for presidency. After losing the Presidential nomination, Margaret served in Con(cont. on page 26)

(cont. from page 25)

gress for eight more years.

Many years later on June 6, 1988, when St. Albans was celebrating its 175th Anniversary, we invited Margaret Chase Smith to be our “Senior Grand Marshall.” Margaret was 91 years old at the time, and she was very happy to come. This is how I came to know her personally. She invited me to her home in Skowhegan and asked me to go out to dinner with her. Our friendship continued for several years. We enjoyed each other’s company but stayed away from discussing politics. I’ll never forget the day she told me in person that the saddest day of her life was losing her mother in 1952. She said they were always very close. One day her chauffeur wasn’t there, and Margaret said, “Ruth, you are going to have to drive my car today.” I sure didn’t take any shortcuts, and I carefully obeyed all the stop lights!

On Margaret’s 96th birthday in

1993, she was invited to the governor’s mansion in Augusta to a party hosted by Governor John R. McKernan and his wife, Olympia Snowe. Governor McKernan proclaimed December 14 to be Margaret Chase Smith Day in Maine

and gave her a framed copy of the proclamation in which he stated that Smith is a true symbol of what is great about Maine and our country. More that a hundred of us turned out for her birthday celebration. Margaret, with a twin-

The Senior Grand Marshall in St. Albans for its 175th year celebration, June 6, 1988. (Photo courtesy of Ruth M. Knowles)

kle in her eyes, said “I’ve never felt better as both Republicans and Democrats are here to show their respect.”

Mrs. Smith passed away on May 30, 1995 on Memorial Day. Former President George H.W. Bush said that day, “My friendship with Mrs. Smith dates to the days when she served in the Senate with my father.” Senator William S. Cohen said, “This country has lost a voice of decency, a person who did not avoid difficult issues and was a friend and confidante.” Two bridges and an elementary school in Skowhegan are named for her, as is a library center that is an extension of her home. Her passing away was just a few hours after the Skowhegan Memorial Day parade passed through her town. She was 97 years old.

Margaret Chase Smith did not witness history, she was history.

The Farmington-Hawaii Connection

Harvesting sugar cane

by Brian Swartz

Their woodstoves well stoked and aglow, Franklin County farmers sat at their kitchen tables in the snowy cold of early February 1901 and opened the latest edition of the fourpage Franklin Chronicle.

Right there on page 1, under the headline Among Sugar Cane, the farmers read an incredible tale of sugar-cane farming in the Hawaiian Islands. Comparing sugar-cane farming with growing corn in Maine, “former Farmington boy” Benjamin H. Norton detailed how farmers in a world dominated by warm breezes and swaying palms grew their cash crop.

Circa 1880, Norton had moved to Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands (as

Hawaii was then known) to work on a sugar plantation and then as an engineer “on the steamers plying between Honolulu and the other islands of the group.” The steamers served the sugar-cane plantations that dominated the local economy.

“These islands are all of volcanic formation, mountainous in the interior,” Norton told his Franklin Chronicle readers. Dependent on sufficient rainfall, many sugar-cane plantations stretched “from the sea back to the hills,” from which “flumes and ditches” steered runoff “for several miles” to the cane fields.

Irrigation was vital to growing sugar cane. Owners of one Maui plantation

had spent $750,000 to construct an irrigation system extending “into the mountains over thirty miles” and incorporating “heavy iron pipes” to span “deep gulches,” Norton observed. Where the natural runoff proved inadequate, plantation owners sank artesian wells “four to eight hundred feet in depth” and “eight to twelve inches in diameter.” Interconnected wells fed “immense pumps,” some able to handle 12 million gallons a day, according to Norton.

While smaller plantations relied on horse-drawn plows to till the fields for planting, the larger plantations used steam-powered equipment. “Two large engines, something like a locomotive, (cont. on page 30)

(cont. from page 29)

are placed one on each side of the field about five hundred yards apart,” Norton wrote.

Then eight plows, each “about sixteen or eighteen inches [wide] on a heavy triangular frame,” were connected to the engines “by a wire cable.” Set four across on the cable, four plows faced one side of the field and the other four plows the other side.

On signal, the No. 1 engine driver “winds up the cable.” The four plows facing the No. 2 engine rose from the ground, and No. 1 engine pulled the four plows facing it “across the field, plowing a strip the width of the four plows,” Norton wrote.

No. 2 engine repeated the process in its direction, and both engines moved forward until they had plowed the field. “In the corners and narrow strips [horse] teams are used,” Norton informed Franklin County farmers.

Irrigation required fields to then be crisscrossed by mule teams dragging “a double plow” that created “a lot of crooked ditches,” Norton wrote. “The land is now ready for planting.”

Franklin Chronicle readers could not imagine a place like Hawaii, where planting extended from May to October or perhaps November, the time

when all crops but the root vegetables would have been harvested in Maine. As planting got underway in the Pacific isles, “pieces of cane” (with each sporting a bud) were “planted in the bottom of the furrow as left by the double plow,” then covered by about 3 inches of topsoil, Norton wrote.

Afterwards the furrows were wa-

tered “two or three times per week or as often as necessary,” he noted. Resembling “young corn,” cane sprouts soon popped through the soil, and farm workers weeded the sugar cane like Maine farmers weeded a cornfield.

Sugar cane “grows until a year from the following November when it tassels,” Norton continued comparing the Hawaiian crop to corn. The cane ripened until being harvested and shipped to sugar mills for grinding. Farmington-area farmers cut their silage corn at ground level — and so did Hawaiian sugar-cane workers, who then loaded cut cane “on wagons or cars and hauled it to the mill,” Norton wrote. A few plantations had sufficient water to sluice harvested cane to the nearest mill, “but on most of the plantations it is hauled to the mill with a locomotive.”

Sugar cane could grow “sometimes as thick as a man’s arm” and measure 18-20 feet in length, “but the most common size is about one and a half

inches thick and eight or ten feet long,” Norton noted.

Grinding cane for approximately six months, a mill needed “from seven or eight tons of cane to make one ton of sugar,” he observed. A plantation with average soil produced “six to eight tons of sugar per acre,” a plantation with exceptional soil more than 13 tons per acre.

Although sugar cane resembled silage corn in growth and harvest, the former grew a second crop without being replanted. Once the cane stalks were harvested, farm workers burned off the leaves, cleaned out the ditches, and diverted water into them again.

Then “a volunteer (or ratoon) crop springs up from the roots” to tassel “the next November” before harvest, Norton explained. Thus, a plantation owner harvested a single planting twice, and “in some places they take off several ratoon crops,” he pointed out.

“A good ratoon crop yields about

two-thirds as much as plant cane,” Norton commented.

Besides silage corn, Farmington-area farmers also raised cob corn that local mills ground into flour. The small mills along Franklin County streams were no match for Hawaiian sugar-cane mills, each “a mass of machinery both massive and expensive,” Norton wrote.

Harvested cane went through a crusher, then “immense rollers weighing from nine to fourteen tons each, a second “set of rollers,” and finally “the third and last set of rollers,” he observed. The rollers squeezed the “juice” from the cane pulp, then the juice boiled in “clarifiers” and “containers” before ultimately reaching “the centrifugal” that produced “No. 1 sugar.”

Norton believed his story “may interest the many readers of the Chronicle.” He was correct.

“IF

Discover Maine

Elihu Washburne

Ulysses Grant’s man in Washington

by Charles Francis

Lincoln “has doctrines, not hatreds and is without ambition except to do good and serve his country.”

The above statement comes from an address entitled Railsplitter, and was made by congressman Elihu Washburne on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of Abraham Lincoln for the Republican nomination for President.

Elihu Washburne, who will always be associated with Galena, Illinois as well as Livermore, Maine, knew what he was talking about for the simple reason that he had known Lincoln for more than a dozen years, and had been one of his chief supporters in his un-

successful run for the United States Senate against Stephen A. Douglas. In fact, Elihu Washburne, along with two of his brothers, Israel and Cadwallader, had been among the more influential figures in the establishment of the Republican Party. After Lincoln was elected to the nation’s highest office, Elihu Washburne would become the chief promoter in the nation’s capital of the military career of none other than Ulysses S. Grant. Later, Grant would appoint Washburne Secretary of State and then minister to France.

Elihu Benjamin Washburne was a member of one of the most remarkable families this country has ever pro-

Elihu Washburne

duced. He and his four brothers, all of whom were born in Livermore, left a mark on the country that has never been equaled by any other children of the same parents. And, most remarkably, only one of them made Maine his sphere of operation. While Israel made his mark in Maine political circles, the rest of the Washburne brothers moved farther afield to establish themselves in politics and business in places like Wisconsin and Minnesota. Of all of the Washburne siblings, however, it was Elihu who played the most significant role during the turbulent Civil War years with his support of Ulysses S. Grant.

Elihu Washburne was born in Livermore in 1816. After attending grammar and common schools in Livermore, Washburne apprenticed in the printing trade, moving on to become an assistant editor at the Whig-supported Kennebec Journal in Augusta, while study-

ing law at the same time. In 1839 he left Maine to continue his study of the law at Harvard. Then, in 1840 he went west, settling in Galena, Illinois.

Washburne opened an office in Galena, and proceeded to make friends with two of the town’s best-known residents. One was Charles Hempstead, Galena’s foremost Whig attorney. (Washburne would eventually marry Hempstead’s niece, Adele Gratiot, who, because she spoke fluent French, would be an invaluable helpmate to him, especially when he became minister to France.) The other was a then down-and-out shopkeep, Ulysses S. Grant, who had served as a captain in the army during the Mexican War.

Politically, Washburne campaigned for Whig candidates running for office, and even ran a successful campaign for the United States Congress as a Whig in 1852. By the mid-1850s, however, Washburne was an avowed Republi-

can. In fact, he had been a delegate to the founding of the party in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he and his brother Cadwallader had helped define the party’s initial platform. (Back in Maine, Israel Washburne had, along with Hannibal Hamlin, been doing much the same at the state level.

Elihu Washburne was a member of Congress from 1853 until 1869. As such, he was in Washington during what some historians identify as the most important years in the country’s development. When Lincoln made his run for the presidency in 1860, Washburne served as one of his chief advisers on matters in the nation’s capital. Then, when Lincoln became president, Washburne was one of his strongest and most vocal House supporters. It was also at this time that he became one of the chief advocates for Ulysses S. Grant to be named commander of the Union army.

(cont. from page 33)

During the first stages of the War Between the States, the Union army went through a variety of commanders like Joseph Hooker and George McClellan, none of whom seemed able to make any real progress towards bringing the conflict to an end. Most sources credit Elihu Washburne with keeping Grant’s name in the Washington eye at this time so that he was elevated to a command position in the west, and then to overall commander of the Union army. In addition, when rumors of Grant’s drinking began to surface, along with criticism of his strategy which seemed to bring about an exceptional number of Union casualties, it was Washburne who was his most vocal supporter.

Elihu Washburne resigned his position in Congress in 1869 to accept an appointment as President Grant’s Secretary of State. It was an appointment that only lasted a few days, however. Washburne was later to say that it was a position he really did not want and was

not suited for. Grant then made him Ambassador to France.

Elihu Washburne served as America’s representative in Paris during the period of the Franco-Prussian war. At one point during the conflict, Paris came under siege. At that time, Washburne distinguished himself by protecting the lives of German civilians when they came under attack by irate Parisians. Later, when the government

of Napoleon III fell to the violence of the Paris Commune, Washburne was the only foreign diplomat to remain in Paris, where he made the American flag the chief protection of an untold number of foreign nationals.

At the end of Grant’s second term of office, Elihu Washburne retired from public life. He and his wife moved to Chicago, where he devoted himself to writing the memoirs of his experiences in France and to his position as the president of the Chicago Historical Society.

Elihu Washburne died in Chicago in 1887. Today his home in Galena is a state historical site run by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Back in Livermore the Washburne family home, Norlands, proudly displays portraits and memorabilia of Elihu Washburne and the other members of the Washburne family that so distinguished themselves during the mid-nineteenth century.

President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869.

George Perkins Merrill

Auburn’s renowned geologist

by James Nalley

In the 1860s, it became necessary for a young Auburn-born man to do his part towards supporting the family, as one of seven children of Nathaniel Merrill, a local carpenter. In this regard, he performed chores for the neighbors, worked as a farmhand, and even found employment in shoe factories. As he stated, his early education was “necessarily scrappy.” However, with determination, he worked his way to earn multiple degrees at the University of Maine and by chance, became the Head Curator of the Department of Geology at the Smithsonian’s U.S. National Museum (now the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.). He was also one

of the country’s earliest petrographers (i.e., one who focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks, including their mineral contents and textural relationships).

George Perkins Merrill was born in Auburn on May 31, 1854. At the age of 22, Merrill had finally earned enough to enter the Maine State College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (currently, the University of Maine), where he supported himself, majored in chemistry, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1879. He eventually received his master’s and doctorate from the same institution in 1883 and 1889, respectively.

After earning his undergraduate de-

George Perkins Merrill in 1925 with the largest perfect crystal globe in the world.

gree, Merrill became a laboratory assistant (working on the chemistry of foods) at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. There, he met G. Brown Goode, former curator of Wesleyan’s museum collections and the then current head of the U.S. National Museum. Goode subsequently appointed Merrill to the staff of the survey of fisheries for the 10th Census in 1880 and then as the aid to George Hawes in 1881. Hawes had just become curator of the geological collections at the museum.

Meeting these two men apparently changed the entire direction of Merrill’s career and influenced him to study mineralogy and geology. For example, according to the Merrill’s biographical memoir by Waldemar Lindgren (1935), “Under Hawes, he began petrographic studies and learned the preparation of thin sections of rocks. As one of the earliest petrographers in the United States, he later worked with George Williams

at Johns Hopkins University.” In a sudden turn of events, Hawes died in 1882, after which Merrill was put in charge of petrology and physical geology. In 1897, he became the Head Curator of the Department of Geology at the U.S. National Museum, a position that he held until his death.

Interestingly, as stated by Lindgren, “Although Merrill was not primarily a field geologist, his experience was quite extensive.” For instance, in 1887 and 1888, he assisted in the mapping of the “Three Forks Folio” in Montana. He also attended the Geological Congress of 1897 in St. Petersburg (Russia), visited the Ural Mountains, and examined the collections of numerous museums in Europe. Moreover, in 1905, he traveled throughout Baja California to investigate onyx deposits and the United States to study meteorites.

Overall, Merrill made major scientific contributions in five distinct areas.

First, as a museum administrator, he built up the Department of Geology and made it one of the greatest (and best-organized) geological collections in the world. Second, introduced by Hawes to the then new technique of microscopic study of thin sections of rocks, he applied the same procedure to the large collection of stones in the 10th Census. According to Lindgren, “This not only led to the publication of his most widely read book Stones for Building and Decoration (1891), but it also established such a reputation for him that he was influential in the selection of stones for many governmental buildings, most notably the Lincoln Memorial. Third, these studies shifted Merrill’s attention to the processes of rock weathering (i.e., the breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on the Earth’s surface). In this regard, his Treatise on Rocks, Rock Weathering, and Soils (1897) was hailed by both European (cont. on page 38)

(cont. from page 37)

and American geologists, which “led to his recognition in the agricultural field as the outstanding authority of his time.” Fourth, Merrill was one of the first to recognize meteorites as “world matter” and correctly identified and supported Daniel Barringer’s discovery of Meteor Crater, Arizona, as an impact crater. In this case, Merrill analyzed two new varieties of sandstone at the site, and proved that the force that created the crater could not have come from below. Finally, his three works on the history of geological science (1906, 1920, and 1924) are indispensable to the field.

On August 15, 1929, Merrill, died from a heart attack in Auburn. He was 75 years of age. He was subsequently buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Auburn. Always the scientist, his grave marker includes the following inscription: “The search for truth is the noblest occupation of man. Its publication a duty.”

Pine Grove Camps in Lewiston. Item # LB2007.1.101452 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

by Charles Francis

Twenty-mile Falls on the Androscoggin offers one of the most spectacular sights in Maine each Spring as water from snowmelt roars over its massive ledges. In late March and early April, sightseers come to North Bridge and West Pitch to take in the spectacle of the rapids at what the Indians called Amitigonpontook.

Since the days when Native Americans camped here to fish for salmon, the falls have played a prominent role in the history and development of the Androscoggin Valley. Legend has it that a war party from the Indian village above the falls intent on attacking the settlers at Brunswick were lured to their doom by the lights of woodsmen

Falls Where it all began

who learned of their intent. The lights were placed so that the Indians were swept to a watery grave in the turbulent rapids. Later an attempt was made to dynamite the rapids to make the river navigable. Around the same time, the falls were the subject of a court case between Massachusetts and the Pejepscot Proprietors — or more particularly one Josiah Little who held a controlling interest in the Pejepscot Patent. Little, the individual who had tried to blow up the falls, claimed they were a part of his company’s lands which Massachusetts disputed. Therein lies the story.

Josiah Little was the son of Moses Little. Moses Little, along with Joseph Bagley, had been one of the principal

movers in bringing settlers to the area around the falls. Both were members of the Pejepscot Company which had been granted a five-square-mile tract of land in 1768 on the northern side of Twenty-mile Falls, provided fifty families settled there before 1774. The first settlers began arriving about 1770, and well before the deadline of 1774 the Plantation of Lewiston and Gore was a reality. The problem was that the bounds of the five-square-mile tract had never been clearly defined except in terms of an earlier grant, that of one Thomas Purchase. Unfortunately, it had never been clear what Purchase had actually claimed or where he had settled.

(cont. on page 40)

(cont. from page 39)

The matter came to a head after Josiah Little inherited his father’s shares in the Pejepscot Company.

The Littles were land speculators from Newbury, Massachusetts where they were influential figures in the political scene on both the local and state level. Moses Little was a shareholder in several proprietorships in Vermont and New Hampshire as well as the dominant figure in the Pejepscot Company. He passed on his holdings to his son Josiah who not only followed in his father’s footsteps by trying to expand the family holdings but also with an aggressive plan of improvements which included surveying, apprehension of timber thieves, and an attempt to blast the rapids of the Androscoggin. In the latter endeavor Little, who was personally supervising the blasting, lost a hand. It was when Little began to survey lots well above Twenty-mile Falls, however, that Massachusetts took the

Pejepscot Company to court.

The claims of the Pejepscot Proprietors in the area around Twenty-mile Falls were based on deeds Thomas Purchase had acquired from the Indians. Purchase had supposedly dug a cellar hole and built a house somewhere in the area of the falls. If the site where he had done this early in the 1700s could be identified, it would have substantiated the claims of Josiah Little and the Pejepscot Company, which meant that the company would realize a substantial amount for the sale of lots and timber there.

At the trial, which was held before the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1796, the Pejepscot Company presented some evidence as to the location of Purchase’s cabin. Josiah Little had secured depositions as to where Purchase’s cabin had been and even had some rusty nails he claimed to have dug out of the

ground at the site of Purchase’s cabin to back up the company’s contention. The jury, however, did not think the evidence sufficient, and decided in favor of Massachusetts. However, the justices threw the decision out when it was learned that one of the jurors had made statements to the effect that he had dug the cellar hole in question himself. The second trial went pretty much as the first with the jury deciding in favor of Massachusetts. However, the justices again threw out the verdict based on technicalities. At this point, Massachusetts suggested using an arbitration panel to settle the matter, and the Pejepscot Company in the person of Josiah Little agreed. The panel accepted Little’s evidence as to the basis of its claims, which gave the Pejepscot Company exactly what Little wanted. However, the panel said that any settler who had already established himself only had to pay a modest sum for his claim.

Little accepted this and then proceeded to charge whatever he wanted for a lot. If the money was not forthcoming, Pejepscot Company agents moved against the settler.

Josiah Little was probably the most unpopular figure in the Twenty-mile Falls area. Whenever he visited there to search out alleged timber thieves, identify newly settled lots, or attempt to get money from struggling settlers, he was greeted with animosity. Several times houses he was staying in were fired upon. In succeeding years, when the Courts failed to throw out the claims of the Pejepscot Company, settlers resorted to out-and-out violence against the company’s agents and supporters, who had their property vandalized. Eventually, the furor died down as more people moved into the area and settlers began to have a larger voice in what was now the government of the State of Maine. Eventually, the original course of

the Androscoggin was altered by the canal that powered the textile mills which became the base of the economy of Lewiston. During spring freshet sea-

son, however, the ledges of Amitigonpontook again look as they did in the days when Josiah Little lost his hand trying to dynamite them.

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The Great Falls on the Androscoggin River in Lewiston. Item # LB2009.13.384 from the J.E. Perkins Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

The Town Of Norway

The wood pulp paper industry’s birthplace

by Charles Francis

Through much of history, record-keeping and the storage of information was done on rags or paper that was made from rags. By the Civil War era, however, paper had become the chief medium as well as one of the most vital components of big business and bigger government. Because of these changes in society and culture, it was increasingly difficult for the paper industry to find an adequate supply of rags for its mills. The quest for a substitute fiber for paper took on an added dimension.

In the late 1850s a German scientist named Henrich Voelter perfected the

first practical method for turning wood pulp into paper, and the paper revolution was on. By the mid-1860s there were small wood-pulp paper plants in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts as well as one in Maine at Topsham. All of them failed, however, primarily due to a lack of capital. Then a Norway and Mechanic Falls visionary by the name of Adna C. Denison saw that Maine offered just the right combination of timber and water power, and began opening wood pulp paper mills on the Androscoggin River.

Denison began operation of his first paper pulp mill in Norway in 1869.

This mill was almost immediately followed by five more, further downriver at Mechanic Falls. Eventually he had an entire complex of mills, the farthest from his first one in Norway was located in Brunswick.

Adna Denison’s mills either used poplar or wood waste from lumber mills as their source of wood fiber. For the most part, the poplar was harvested by farmers rather than logging companies. The poplar logs were floated downriver behind regular drives. The farmers who supplied Denison’s fledgling paper industry did not see this task as a secure source of additional income,

however. Because they were the chief source of material for the paper plants, this created a problem almost from the beginning.

Initially, Denison’s Norway Mill looked as if it would be a success. It provided needed employment for approximately twenty men and from three to five women. Each day the mill turned out around a ton of pulp which translated into about half a ton of paper which Denison had no problem selling on the open market. Then in 1873 a depression hit, and Denison’s source of poplar for his Norway mill dried up as farmers went under.

The majority of the Norway workers moved downriver to Mechanic Falls, however, where the mills had been relying on mill waste from the area sawmills for its pulp rather than on farmers. For the next five years, the Mechanic Falls mills produced approximately

ParisHillsCamper RentalsLLC

five tons of book paper a month. In 1879 another depression hit and Denison almost went bankrupt as contracts for paper were not renewed. His chief problem was his inability to see or adequately prepare for fluctuations in the national economy by keeping a reserve of capital. As a result, his mills went into receivership. With only a fistful of new government contracts, which he managed to get some fifteen months into the depression, Denison was able to get his mills out of receivership and back into operation. Unfortunately, he began overextending himself all over again by building mills at Canton and Poland.

The Canton mill should have been a success. Denison had learned his lesson with the failure of his Norway mill when his poplar supply had dried up and had negotiated contracts with area lumber companies for mill waste.

In addition, the town of Canton aided him with a substantial tax abatement. By the end of 1880 the Canton mill was producing five tons of pulp a day. Then Denison again turned to buying poplar from farmers. By 1882 production was at two hundred tons a month, and two years later this had more than doubled. The problem was that Denison had again used up his capital and couldn’t meet his immediate payrolls. What he had done was invest in a company that produced rifles. When it went belly up due to a minor recession, Denison found himself unable to buy logs or pay his employees. Denison subsequently lost all his plants. The only one that survived into the twentieth century was the Poland plant, but it was under new ownership.

Adna Denison ended up as a buyer for the newer companies that were opening in Maine such as the giant In(cont. on page 44)

(cont. from page 43)

ternational Paper Company. For the rest of his life, he hovered over the paper pulp industry like a prophet of doom, declaring that, based upon his own experiences, industry expansion was all too rapid.

Adna Denison’s ventures into the wood pulp paper industry were definitely ahead of their time, and Denison was clearly in the vanguard of one of Maine’s most profitable industries. His inability to foresee the vagaries of shifts in the economy in no way, however, detracts from his being a visionary as far as the paper industry was concerned. It also in no way detracts from Norway’s claim to being the birthplace of the state’s wood pulp paper industry.

Karl Rankin’s Career

The U.S. Diplomat and his Maine connection

by James Nalley

In many instances, U.S. diplomats travel the world performing their various duties, mostly outside of the spotlight of Washington D.C. However, in some cases, they are caught at the “wrong place at the wrong time” and put in precarious positions. For example, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and invaded the Philippines in the same month, one U.S. diplomat was in Manila, where he was soon interned by the Japanese. He spent the next 21 months in detention before being repatriated in a prisoner exchange. Yet, upon his return, he continued to work in various official roles, after which he retired and called Maine his home.

Karl Rankin was born on September 4, 1898, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and grew up in Topeka, Kansas. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War I (1918), Rankin attended the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Switzerland before receiving his degree in civil engineering from Princeton University in 1922. After graduating, he became a field engineer in Turkey and supervised construction for Near East Relief in the Caucasus of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1925. He subsequently returned to the United States to manage a real-estate development company in Linden, New Jersey. (cont. on page 46)

Karl Rankin delivering remarks at National Taiwan University Hospital in 1953.

(cont. from page 45)

However, in 1927, his travels inspired him to enter the Foreign Service. As an official for the U.S. State Department, Rankin began his career as Assistant Trade Commissioner in Prague, Czechoslovakia, from 1927 to 1929, after which he served as Commercial Attaché in the same city. Similar assignments soon followed in Athens (Greece), Tirana (Albania), and Brussels (Belgium). After excelling in these positions, Rankin earned the rank of Consul in 1941, while serving in Belgrade (Serbia).

Needless to say, foreign service sometimes comes with risks, especially during times of turmoil. There were three prominent examples in Rankin’s career. First, in 1940, he was in Brussels when the Nazis overran Belgium. Second, in 1941, he was in Belgrade when the Nazi Luftwaffe blitzed the capital. Third, and most importantly, he was on his way to a new assignment

in Cairo (Egypt) in late 1941 via Manila (Philippines). However, two hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan declared war on the United States and immediately invaded the Philippines. Rankin was detained for 21 months until he was repatriated. After completing his assignment in Cairo, the troubles did not end. According to The New York Times (February 9, 1991), “He was sent in 1944 to what should have been a relatively peaceful post in liberated Greece. But in December of that year, rioting in Athens swelled into a Communist attempt to seize power. When the British Government sent in troops and the Royal Air Force to defend the Greek Government, Rankin found himself again in the thick of combat.”

As Economic Officer, Rankin was subsequently assigned to Vienna (Austria) from 1946 to 1947, and then returned to Athens as Counselor for the next two years. In 1948, he was ap-

pointed as Career Minister, traditionally the highest rank for non-political appointees in the U.S. State Department. A year later, Rankin was the U.S. Consul General in Canton (China) and Hong Kong until 1950. This set the stage for his leap into a major diplomatic assignment: U.S. Ambassador to Taiwan, a position usually reserved for wealthy or influential members of the President’s political party. He remained the Ambassador from 1953 to 1957. Finally, from 1957 to 1961, Rankin returned to Yugoslavia, serving as U.S. Ambassador to the country, after which he retired from the Foreign Service and moved to South Bridgton.

In 1964, Rankin published his memoir titled China Assignment, which focused on his seven years of work in Taiwan. Interestingly, his book was divisive. On the one hand, Rankin clearly explained why he felt it necessary to exaggerate his arguments in order to

accomplish his objectives as an American ambassador to Nationalist China during the 1950s: Some of these excerpts may sound unwarrantedly alarming or seem to support unduly the side of Nationalist China. This was done deliberately, for my pervading purpose was to assistthose in Washington who shared my own sense of urgency about China and the Far East in general and who believed that a positive and active American strategy was indispensable. On the other hand, the book received a blistering review in The China Quarterly, published by Cambridge University Press in February 2009. For example: The image of the ambassador, super-suave, hyper-sophisticated, and dedicated to the interests of the nation at great personal sacrifice, is usually triumphant. However, Karl Rankin, a diplomat to the Republic of China from early in the decade until 1957, might better have refrained from publication

of these memoirs. They tend to destroy the glittering image, replacing it with a picture of a diplomatic establishment primarily concerned with making friends, rather than executing policy, secondarily obsessed with its own dignity and comfort, and, finally, engaged in no intensive political or intellectual activity which is not generally known to the public and the Press.

After being active in the community, attending the local Congregational church, and spending a relatively quiet retirement, Rankin died of prostate cancer on January 15, 1991, in Kennebunkport. He was 92 years old. Aside from his book, his diplomatic papers were given to Princeton University and are on file in Firestone Library.

Fryeburg Fair, established in 1851, will host its 172nd annual eightday Fair from Sunday, October 2nd thru Sunday, October 9th

Big news this year – we welcome Dreamland Amusements as they debut spectacular rides to Fryeburg fairgoers! This is their first time in the state of Maine. Dreamland ride tickets can be purchased online. They accept credit cards on site and we expect this to make a big difference in ticket lines. Try the Dream Catcher, Super Himalaya, Starship 200 & Wacky Worm Coaster! Go to Dreamland’s website www. dreamlandamusements.com for more information.

Back this year – Sunflower Farms

Pizza & Vinnie Lanovara in a fresh new location near the Dairy Bar! Plenty of great seating and garlic olive pizza after two years without!

Let’s talk traffic and some insider tips on avoiding it! Tip #1 - arrive early and stay late if you can. Plenty of seating and resting spots at the Fair. Enjoy an easy day. Tip #2 - Weekends and perfect fall weather days are busiest. Adjust your plans accordingly. Tip #3 – come into the Fair arriving from the North and leave the same way if possible. Good news – our ticket lines

move fast and even faster if you buy them online.

Our full program is available at www.fryeburgfair.org and printed copies are available now at the Fair office and all around the grounds during Fair week. All entry forms for exhibitors and vendors can be found online.

This year is the 85th consecutive year of our Baby Beef Show and we’re proud of this agricultural milestone. Randy Hall, the superintendent of the Beef Department at Fryeburg Fair says, “Fryeburg is the longest running baby beef show in New England and it is, by far, the premiere show of them all. Every kid dreams of winning

Fryeburg. It was that way when I was in 4H as a youngster and it is now.” Hall, now 60, knows what he’s talking about as he won in 1977, 1980 and 1981. His mother, Pauline Small, won three times in the 50’s. They are the only parent/child to have won it three times each. Fellow Mainers and three-time champions include Morris Keane in the 40’s, Julie Jack in the 70’s and Amy McGee in the late 90’s/00’s.” To give more background on this show, Hall adds, “Each year Fryeburg Fair donates eight steers for the calf scramble held on Friday morning at the Grandstand at 10 a.m. Ten 4H kids participate in the scramble and eight of them win a steer. The next year those steers and the kids who have raised them from scramble calves return to the Fair for showing and auctioning. The auction is held at the Livestock Show Arena on Fridays after the scramble. Anyone can bid on them. These animals are where your grocery store prime rib comes from. It’s the best of the best, the top cuts. In the last few years the price has been $2.50 per pound live weight. So a thousand-pound steer goes for $2,500.” The 2022 Fryeburg Fair annual fair poster with artwork by Johanna Hoffman of Saco honors our Baby Beef program.

David Andrews, General Superintendent, says, “We’re always making improvements at the Fair. We’re very excited about Dreamland Amusements. The midway is going to feel new and better this year. We’ve added another 50 picnic tables and have focused on improving seating and rest areas in order for fairgoers to enjoy all we offer. We have more ATM machines, expanded food options, and have made the midway more spacious. It’s going to be a great year.”

The 2022 Fryeburg Fair opens at 7 a.m. on Sunday, October 2nd and highlights include the Firemen’s Muster, 4H Horse Show, Sheepdog Trials, the first of four Pig Scrambles, Ox and Draft Horse Pulling, Flower, Poultry, Dairy Goat, Fleece, Fiber and Sheep Shows,

Wreath making, Baking Contests, a Duck Herding Demonstration (new this year!) and the very popular Tractor & Big Rig Pull! Check our program for times and durations.

Woodsmen’s Field Day is on Monday, October 3rd starting at 9 a.m. and is the largest spectator woodsmen’s event in North America. Contestants come from all over the U.S. and Canada to compete in over 34 woods skills events. The Fair’s very popular Women’s Skillet Throw starts at noon followed by the Men’s Anvil Toss. Both events open to members of the public who wish to throw heavy objects!

Tuesday, October 4th is Senior Citizen’s Day ― and we celebrate being that young by giving free admission to all those 65 and older!

This year’s Night Show 2022 roster brings you Nouveau Redneck (Rock-Monday), The Eli Young Band (Country-Tuesday), Dirty Deeds-The AC/DC Experience (Wednesday), Rave X, The Outer Limits Tour (Freestyle Motorsports Show-Thursday), Alexandra Kay (Country-Friday followed by our annual fireworks show. Saturday’s Night Show has yet to be announced but is coming soon.

The Grand Parade on Saturday, October 8th begins at 10 am. Grab your coffee and breakfast and don’t miss this

narrated showcase of the Fair’s best livestock, floats, bands, businesses and antique cars.

We’ve got great food vendors, including certified gluten-free options, shopping, crafts, gifts, musicians, entertainers, flower arts, fiber arts, farm & history museums, two beer tents, 3,000 head of cows, horses, oxen, poultry, rabbits, and more. To enjoy one of our 3,200 campsites call 207-935-2912 or email camping@fryeburgfair.org. Meet your friends and have an easy, fun stay at Maine’s largest & best fair.

General Admission continues to be $12 daily and includes the 8 pm Night Show. Tickets can be pre-purchased online or at the gate in person. Weekly passes (all 8 days) are $80 and must be purchased at the Fair in person. Children under 12 are always free. Tuesday is Senior Citizen’s Day (65 & over are admitted free). Gates open at 7 am. Harness Racing starts at 1:30 Tuesday thru Sunday. Group tickets sales available from the Fair Office. For further information on Fryeburg Fair, visit www.fryeburgfair.org or email info@fryeburgfair.org or call (207) 935-3268.

Fryeburg Fair is a family tradition. Love it as a child and come back with your own children and grandchildrenwe’ll be waiting for you.

Ted Powers from Rhode Island with his oxen Apple and Cider (courtesy of Rachel Andrews Damon)

M*A*S*H’s Hiester Richard Hornberger, Jr.

by James Nalley

In June 1950, military forces of communist North Korea immediately (and surprisingly) headed south across the 38th parallel in their attempt to conquer non-communist South Korea. By the time the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in July 1953, approximately 40,000 Americans had died in action, with more than 100,000 wounded. Among those drafted to (or near) the front lines were newly graduated medical doctors, including one Bowdoin College graduate who eventually practiced in Waterville. Based on his dramatic and sometimes comedic experiences as a wartime army surgeon, he would eventually write “MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doc-

tors” (1968), which was adapted into “M*A*S*H” (1970), the award-winning and commercially successful film starring Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce and Elliott Gould as Trapper John McIntyre, and the long-running television series under the same name (1972-1983).

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, on February 1, 1924, Hiester Richard Hornberger, Jr. (better known under the pseudonym Richard Hooker) attended The Peddie School (a college preparatory school) in Hightstown and went on to graduate from Bowdoin College in 1945. According to a 1973 “TV Guide” interview with Hornberger, he (cont. on page 54)

Hiester Richard Hornberger, Jr. (courtesty of Anthony S.)

(cont. from page 53)

stated that “Bowdoin was not exactly motivational…I had the lowest marks of any pre-med student in the class.” Despite his academic performance, he was an active member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and the editor of the Bowdoin Orient, the college’s newspaper. He eventually managed to get into Cornell University Medical School, after a “chemistry teacher stated in his application that Hornberger was ‘peculiar, but worth taking a chance on.’” By the time of his internship as a new doctor, the Korean War had broken out and Hornberger was drafted under the Doctors Draft Act of 1950. He was then sent to Korea and assigned to the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M.A.S.H.) unit, which, as one doctor in the unit stated, “was not on the front lines, but pretty close.”

According to the article “Korea’s Real M*A*S*H Doctors” by Sarah Buckley, “Many of the doctors were

Phil Carter’s Garage

in their twenties, many with little advanced surgical training.” There were also “long periods when not much of anything happened, which created an atmosphere of apparent safety, with plenty of time to play. When things were quiet, they would sit around and read. Sometimes the nurses would have a little dance.” However, during the battle campaigns, the various units saw as many as 1,000 casualties a day, which overwhelmed the doctors. Meanwhile, in many instances, “the

operating rooms consisted of stretchers balanced on carpenter’s sawhorses with substandard lighting.”

As for Captain Hornberger, a colleague interviewed by the Hartford Courant in November 2010 described him as a “very good surgeon with a tremendous sense of humor.” In a related book titled, “MASH FAQ” by Dale Sherman, “Hornberger shared with the other doctors a tent that was referred to as ‘The Swamp,’ which would be found in both the film and television series.” Hornberger would eventually spend a total of 18 months overseas, the majority of which was in the 8055th At that time, Hornberger stated that his philosophy was, “Do the job well, and after that, do as you please. We were out there in the middle of nowhere. What could they do, fire us?” According to Sherman, this attitude was also seen in Andrew Carroll’s book titled, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspon-

A M.A.S.H. unit in Korea in 1951 (courtesy of the U.S. Army Medical Department)

dences from American Wars, in which “one of Hornberger’s letters explained more about the drinking and partying he and others in the unit did than about any of the more depressing elements of his work. However, Hornberger did discuss the irony of seeing more men come in with wounds due to friendly fire and accidents than from enemy fire, which fed the ‘war is crazy’ attitude found in the subsequent versions of “M.A.S.H.”

After the war, Hornberger worked for the U.S. Veterans Administration and qualified for his surgical boards. As stated by Sherman, “He settled in Broad Cove (erroneously called ‘Crabapple Cove,’ the home of Captain Hawkeye Pierce in the film and books) and built a home for his wife and family just a short distance from his mother’s house. He then began working six to seven days a week as a thoracic surgeon for Thayer Hospital in Waterville, where

he specialized in gallbladder, hernia, and lung operations until his retirement in 1988.”

As mentioned earlier, his experiences as a captain in the 8055th inspired him to write his first novel, which took approximately 12 years to complete. After being rejected by many publishers, William Morrow and Company accepted the book in 1968. The book would go on to inspire the 1970 film directed by Robert Altman, which was the third-highest grossing film that year, and the CBS television series, one of the most popular shows in television history. Moreover, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards and won Best Adapted Screenplay. As for the television series, it was nominated for more than 100 Emmy Awards and won 14, along with the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series in 1981 and six Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in a Television Series for

Alan Alda.

On November 4, 1997, after a battle with leukemia, Hornberger died at a hospital in Portland. He was 73 years of age. He was subsequently buried at Hillside Cemetery in Bremen.

Interestingly, according to his son in The New York Times (dated November 7, 1997), “He modeled the character of Captain Benjamin Pierce after himself. Partly for that reason, he disliked the television series and almost never watched it.” However, “He liked the film because he thought it followed his original intent very closely. But my father was a political conservative, and he did not like the liberal tendencies that Alan Alda portrayed Hawkeye Pierce as having.” He added, “My father did not write an anti-war book, it was a humorous account of his work, with serious parts thrown in about the awful kind of work it was, and how difficult and challenging it was.”

Monmouth’s Samuel Thurston Politics in Oregon

by James Nalley

In 1850, as the United States was rapidly expanding into the West, the Donation Land Claim Act was enacted to promote homestead settlements in the Oregon Territory. Subsequently, thousands of white settlers and their families made the arduous journey along the 2,170-mile Oregon Trail to claim some land and start a new life. In fact, by the time the law expired in 1855, 7,437 land patents had been issued. Arguably, the law only allowed white men and partial Native Americans (only mixed with white) to work on a piece of land for four years, after which they could legally claim it as their own. Instrumental in the passage of this law was a Bowdoin College graduate who was the first delegate from the Oregon

Territory to the U.S. Congress.

Samuel Thurston was born in Monmouth on December 3, 1816. The only child of Trueworth Thurston and Priscilla Royal, Trueworth died young, after which Priscilla moved with Samuel to Peru. According to the biographical article of Thurston by Margaret Riddle (2010), “He became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and even in his teens, he was locally known as a persuasive speaker at church revival meetings and Democratic rallies. Adults naturally encouraged him to pursue a career in the legal profession.”

After completing public school, Thurston attended Wesleyan Seminary in Readfield, and then Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Samuel Thurston

Subsequently, he studied law at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, graduating with honors in 1843. In the following year, Thurston was admitted to the bar. During his studies, Thurston caught the attention of Maine’s ex-governor Robert Dunlap (1794–1859), who mentored him in his law firm. This enabled him to gain valuable first-hand experience and make many important contacts in the field.

After graduating from law school, Thurston married Elizabeth McClench, after which the couple moved to Brunswick, where he established his first law practice. In 1845, the couple moved to Burlington, Iowa, where Thurston edited the Burlington Gazette for approximately two years. Then, with the draw of the West, they (including a one-yearold son) traveled by ox team and wagon along the Oregon Trail to Hillsboro in the Oregon Territory, where he began practicing law.

As stated by Riddle, “The popu-

lation of which for decades had been primarily native tribes, fur trappers, and missionaries, was rapidly changing with the increasing number of settlers.” Although this situation appears as a textbook example of American expansion, the reality was much more complex. For example, when the Organic Act of 1843 was introduced, it gave all claimants 640-acre parcels in the region. However, when the Oregon Territory was officially established in 1848, the claims were nullified. When Thurston was selected to represent the Oregon Territory in the 31st U.S. Congress (1849–1851) the following year, this was his first order of business.

Meanwhile, although the Oregon provisional government upheld the anti-slavery laws of the time, the settlers brought their own pro- and anti-slavery views with them, causing heated debates. Fueling such discussions was the fact that politicians could oppose slavery in the new territory, while allowing

it to continue in the South. The slavery debate greatly slowed the process of Oregon statehood. In 1857, a territorial constitution was drawn, after which the issue was subject to a public vote. In this case, the Oregon voters upheld the anti-slavery law. However, according to Riddle, they “excluded African-Americans, as well as Hawaiians from Oregon when it became a state. Hawaiians had made up a large portion of the territory’s workforce and most soon returned to the islands.”

As for the local tribes, they struggled for their existence. For instance, the Clatsop and Tillamook tribes met with the local Superintendent of Indian Affairs in 1851 and signed respective treaties. Although the treaties were sent to Washington D.C., the processes were blocked by Oregon Territory Representative Joseph Lane, who replaced Thurston after his term. This not only created more legal problems for the tribes, (cont. on page 58)

(cont. from page 57)

but they were left out of future treaties altogether.

As stated earlier, Thurston’s major political achievement was helping to pass the Donation Land Claim Act in 1850, which granted 320-acre parcels (at no charge) to qualifying U.S. citizens and 640-acre parcels to married couples who would cultivate the land for four years. Riddle stated, “The passage of this act was not an easy task, considering that influential people, including American statesman Daniel Webster, declared the Northwest worthless, and government attention was mainly focused on the growing tension between the slave and free states.”

In regard to free African-Americans, Thurston had strong words against them, as shown in the following excerpt of his 1850 address to Congress: “It is a question of life or death to us in Oregon. The negroes associate with the Indians and intermarry…then, a mixed race would ensure inimical to whites. These savages would become much more formidable than they otherwise would, and long bloody wars would be the fruits of the comingling of the races. It is the principle of self-preservation that justifies the actions of the Oregon legislature.”

Furthermore, within the Donation Land Claim Act, Section 11 was a personal vendetta against former Hudson Bay Company (HBC) agent John

McLoughlin. At one point, the British HBC and its chief agent, McLoughlin, politically dominated the region and attempted to thwart any settlement of Oregon lands. In response, Thurston planned to deny McLoughlin of any land claim in Oregon City on the basis of his citizenship. According to Riddle, “He further accused McLoughlin of repeatedly trying to stop territorial development and personally profiting from

which the legislature agreed that approximately half of his land was legally subject to seizure. Despite the situation, Oregon City currently includes the McLoughlin Neighborhood District.

In 1851, following a U.S. Congressional session in Washington, D.C., Thurston traveled by ship through the Isthmus of Panama, which was the quickest route home to Oregon at the time. On his journey, he contracted “Panama fever” (yellow fever) and died aboard the California on April 9. He was buried in Acapulco, Mexico. He was only 34 years of age.

the land sales.” However, in the book Dr. John McLoughlin, the Father of Oregon (1907) by Frederick Holman, McLoughlin defended himself by stating, “I declared my intention to become an American citizen in May 1849, as anyone may see who will examine the records of the court. Mr. Thurston knew this fact – he asked me for my vote and influence. Why did he ask me for my vote if I had not one to give?? I voted and voted against him, as he well knew, and as he seems well to remember.”

McLoughlin’s claim was denied, after

Two years later, the Oregon territorial legislature returned his remains and re-buried him in Salem’s I.O.O.F Cemetery, currently known as the Salem Pioneer Cemetery. His service was attended by large crowds, and a publicly funded monument made of Italian marble was erected. Its inscription reads: “Here rests Oregon’s first delegate, a man of genius and learning. A lawyer and statesman. His devotions equaled his wide philanthropy, his public acts are his best eulogium.” Today, Thurston County, Washington (originally part of the Oregon Territory), is named in his honor.

Discover Maine

The Norway Muster

by Charles Francis

In the late spring of 1805 the first muster of the Oxford County militia took place in Norway. The county’s first official regimental muster was, among other things, the first major social event of the year. Whole families from as far away as Buckfield, Livermore and Hebron as well as Otisfield in Cumberland County and Livermore in Androscoggin County were there. In fact, an area had been set aside just so the women in attendance could prepare a huge community meal. Elsewhere, children who had spent the whole winter in the relative isolation of family farms took advantage of the opportunity to play in large groups. Then there were the young single girls of the region who saw the muster as an opportunity to meet the younger unattached militiamen who had come for their regular training. The Norway muster was one of the places where a good many of the young people of Oxford and adjoining counties met their future spouses.

Although the 1805 Norway muster was not the first muster held in the town — that had occurred in 1802 — it was the first for Oxford County, which had come into existence by an act of the Massachusetts General Court in

A people’s army

March of 1805. Nor was the muster the first for all of the men in attendance. Many of the older men taking part in the military exercises of that particular spring-training exercise had military experience stretching back to the Revolution. In fact, Jacob Frost, who had settled in Norway around 1800, had fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

The Norway muster was part of a New England military tradition stretching back to the days of colonial Massachusetts, and took place because of laws enacted by the Massachusetts General Court. Among other things, these laws stipulated that every county maintain and train a militia regiment. All able-bodied men, with a few exceptions, between the ages of sixteen and sixty were expected to be a member of a militia company. Those few who were exempted from militia training included ministers and college students. A county’s regiment was made up of companies from the county’s towns. Generally, each town was expected to produce a company as Norway did. The Norway company was the Norway Light Infantry.

The fact that the Oxford County militia regiment included companies from

outside of Oxford County had to do with a number of considerations. One of these was the fact that Oxford County had been formed from two other counties, York and Cumberland. Another had to do with the relative isolation of the towns of the interior of western Maine from the coast. As inland communities like Norway and neighboring Paris, Rumford, and Livermore began to acquire enough settlers to support a militia company, it had become apparent that a central training location in the interior of western Maine was needed for a new regiment. Norway was the obvious location.

Throughout the colonial period and down through the War of 1812, almost every Maine town of consequence had a militia company which drilled on a regular basis. Periodically these companies would form up into regiments for regimental training. The Oxford County regiment was made up of companies from Norway, Paris, Livermore, Rumford, Buckfield, Hebron, and Otisfield. Each company was by law to consist of at least sixty-four men. If it was impossible for a single town to come up with the required sixty-four, it (cont. on page 60)

(cont. from page 59)

could join with another to make up its required allotment. If a company went over two hundred members it was broken up into two or more companies, a company of one hundred being considered the optimum size.

Company officers were captain, lieutenants, and ensigns. These officers were elected by the company as a whole. Sergeants and corporals were appointed by the company officers. Each company also had its own colors and supplied its own flags, drums, and bugles and fifes. Company musters usually took place at some central point in town such as the town common or a field close to town.

Regimental officers, colonels, lieutenant colonels, and majors, were political appointees made by the governor and approved by the Massachusetts

General Count. (The structure and organization of the militia did not change after Maine became a state in 1820.)

Regimental musters like those held in Norway served a number of functions, the chief of which was recruiting. At a regimental muster, the colonel would have drummers “Beat their Drums” in hopes of inspiring those about to turn sixteen to sign up for militia service.

The companies of the Oxford County regiment took an active part in the War of 1812 and the Aroostook War of 1839. The fact that the regiment continued to function and hold musters well after the War of 1812 made it somewhat unique in Maine. Following the War of 1812, and as the country entered into what is called the “Era of Good Feelings” of the 1820s, militia drills became fewer and fewer. By the

late 1840s there were only a few active militia companies left in Maine. One of the most notable of these was the Norway Light Infantry, which had George L. Beal as captain.

In 1861 the Norway Light Infantry continued the tradition which had begun almost fifty years earlier with the Norway muster by becoming one of the first militia companies to answer President Lincoln’s call for volunteers. Along with nine other Maine companies, most which were from Portland, it formed the 1st Maine Infantry. Captain George Beal went on to become a general and one of the most decorated of all Maine volunteers to take up the Union cause.

Discover Maine

Discover Maine Magazine

published eight 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 eight issues mailed directly to your home or office. Mailings are done four times each year.

Name Address Phone

Dyer Septic Service & Excavation......................................................44

Ed Hodson Masonry, Inc. .................................................................57

Edmunds Market.................................................................................8

Emerald Janitorial.............................................................................38

Engine 5 Bakehouse..........................................................................54

Engstrom's Auto Service...................................................................21

EverClean Water Treatment Systems.................................................26

Farmington Farmers Union & Union Rental.....................................55

Fine Line Paving & Grading..............................................................23

Firefly Boutique.................................................................................45

Five Fields Farm..................................................................................4

Franklin County Chamber of Commerce............................................54

Franklin Savings Bank......................................................................29

Franklin-Somerset Federal Credit Union............................................5

Freeport Antiques and Heirlooms Showcase...................................13

Fryeburg Fair.....................................................................................48

Full Circle Artisans Gallery................................................................50

G&G Cash Fuels.................................................................................35

Garden Spot Market..........................................................................35

George's Banana Stand.....................................................................25

Giberson Funeral Homes...................................................................22

Glen Luce Logging, Inc. ....................................................................35

Goin' Postal - Norway.......................................................................60

Gray Family Vision Center.................................................................41

Greenwood Orchards Farmstand & Bakery.......................................35

Greg's Auto Repair.............................................................................52

Gridiron Restaurant & Sports Pub....................................................36

Grimaldi Concrete Floors & Countertops..........................................32

Griswold's Country Store & Diner......................................................20

H&R Block - Dover-Foxcroft..............................................................11

Hall Implement Co. ..........................................................................44

Hammond Lumber Company............................................................29

Hardys Motorsports..........................................................................52

Harris Drug Store...............................................................................20 Heart & Hand Inc. .............................................................................46

Highland Lake Resort........................................................................44

Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch..............................................40

Hodgdon Well Drilling, Inc. ...............................................................6

Hog Heaven Bar & Grill.......................................................................8

Home Auto Group.............................................................................31

Hungry Hollow Country Store.............................................................5

Rangeley Saddleback Inn..................................................................17

Rangeley Vacation Rentals................................................................18

Rare Woods USA...............................................................................15

Record Building Supply, Inc. ............................................................59

Redington Fairview General Hospital...............................................23

Richard Wing & Son Logging Inc. ...................................................43

Ricker Hill Orchards...........................................................................34

Rideout's Seasonal Services..............................................................22

Rita's Catering...................................................................................53

Rita’s House of Pizza.........................................................................53

River's Edge Sports............................................................................16

Rob Elliott Excavation & Trucking.....................................................18

Robert W. Libby & Sons, Inc. ..........................................................5

Rock Enterprises................................................................................50

Rod's Cycle & RV...............................................................................23

Ron's Market.....................................................................................55

Ron's Transmissions..........................................................................57

Roopers Beverage & Redemption.....................................................37

Rottari Electric..................................................................................57

Route 26 Antiques & Flea Market.....................................................41

Rowell’s Garage Car Wash.................................................................11

Rowell's Garage Sales & Service........................................................11

Russell & Sons Towing & Recovery..................................................41

S.A. McLean, Inc. .............................................................................50

Sackett and Brake Survey, Inc. .........................................................25

Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce................................61

Shenn Corp. Landscape & Hardscape................................................16

Siragusa Builders..............................................................................56

Smile Again Dentures, Inc. ..............................................................36

Smile Solutions of Maine.................................................................28

Smokingoodtimes.me.................................................................52

Solon Corner Market.........................................................................25

Sounier Flooring................................................................................33

Spencer Group Paving, LLC................................................................34

Steinke & Caruso Dental Care...........................................................11

Sterling Electric.................................................................................31

Stevens Electric & Pump Service Inc. ...............................................4

Strong Hardware & Building Supply...................................................8

Sturdy Hardware...............................................................................35

Styling Dog Grooming Boutique.......................................................57

The Apple Farm.................................................................................27

The Black Horse Tavern.....................................................................46

The Raven Collections.......................................................................43

The Sterling Inn Bed & Breakfast......................................................19

The Wood Mill of Maine...................................................................54

Thompson's Orchard.........................................................................40

Three Lakes Storage..........................................................................54

Tim Merrill & Co., Inc. ......................................................................22

Todd's Discount & Gift Shop.............................................................15

Town of Carthage...............................................................................6

Town of Mexico.................................................................................15

Trail's End Steakhouse & Tavern..........................................................9

Trash Guyz.........................................................................................39

Twin Town Homes, Inc. ...................................................................58

Valley Gas & Oil Company....................................................................9

Vintage Maine Images.......................................................................6

Wadsworth Woodlands, Inc. ............................................................46

Weber Insurance Group....................................................................14

Webster Tree Service.........................................................................39

Western Maine Glass.........................................................................60

Whitewater Farm Market..................................................................54

Wilson Excavating, Inc. ....................................................................60

Wilsons on Moosehead Lake.............................................................21

Winslow Supply, Inc. ......................................................................52

Woodlawn Rehab & Nursing Center.................................................23

Wood-Mizer of Maine.......................................................................56