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Volume 11 | Issue 2 | 2014

Maine’s History Magazine

Greater Kennebec Valley Region

The Skowhegan Indian Maine landmark is world’s tallest Indian

How Bowdoinham Got Its Name

Bowdoins left their mark on Maine

Reminders Of Waterville’s Past Technological relics spurred city’s growth

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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Inside This Edition

Maine’s History Magazine

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I t Makes No Never Mind James Nalley

4

Spindrift Sundays The retirement years Leon Anderson

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February Folk Traditions Early settlers brought Old World festivities Charles Francis How Bowdoinham Got Its Name Bowdoins left their mark on Maine Charles Francis

14 Augusta’s Horatio Bridge Paymaster General of the Navy

James Nalley

Greater Kennebec Valley Region

Publisher Jim Burch

Designer & Editor Liana Merdan

Editorial Assistant Kelly Merdan

Advertising & Sales Manager Tim Maxfield

Advertising & Sales

20 Chelsea’s John F. Chase A remarkable war hero and veterans’ advocate

Charles Francis

Michael Baumgardner Dennis Burch Chris Girouard Tim Maxfield Aaron Stoddard

24 Women’s Mental Health Circa 1900 An early history of AMHI

Charles Francis

Office Manager

30 The Skowhegan Indian Maine landmark is world’s tallest Indian

Terry Hamlin 34 Winslow’s French-Canadian Express

The story of Eddie Arsenault

Charles Francis 38 Mail Delivery By Boat The mail route on Belgrade’s Great Pond Clarence Bennett 42 The Near Drowning Of Gale Ellis Trouble on Porter Lake

Sherwood W. Anderson 44 A sa Gray’s Mt. Blue Botanical Library Farmington native was close associate of Charles Darwin

Charles Francis 48 Remembering The Pines Summer memories of childhood

Wayne J. Forbus 53 Reminders Of Waterville’s Past Technological relics spurred city’s growth Terry Hamlin

Liana Merdan

Field Representatives George Tatro

Contributing Writers

Leon Anderson Sherwood W. Anderson Clarence Bennett Wayne J. Forbus Charles Francis | fundy67@yahoo.ca Terry Hamlin James Nalley Published Annually by CreMark, Inc. 10 Exchange Street, Suite 208 Portland, Maine 04101 Ph (207) 874-7720 info@discovermainemagazine.com www.discovermainemagazine.com Discover Maine Magazine is distributed to town offices, chambers of commerce, fraternal organizations, shopping centers, libraries, newsstands, grocery and convenience stores, hardware stores, lumber companies, motels, restaurants and other locations throughout this part of Maine.

NO PART of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from CreMark, Inc. | Copyright © 2014, CreMark, Inc.

SUBSCRIPTION FORM ON PAGE 58

Front Cover Photo: Water St. in Skowhegan #102459 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org All photos in Discover Maine’s Greater Kennebec Valley edition show Maine as it used to be, and many are from local citizens who love this part of Maine.

Photos are also provided from our collaboration with the Maine Historical Society and the Penobscot Marine Museum.

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It Makes No Never Mind

by James Nalley

A

lthough the Kennebec Valley region includes the bustling capital city of Augusta, once you leave its borders (and accident-prone traffic circles) and head north, you will primarily see one thing: miles and miles of trees. In fact, the majority of this region is covered by lush forests that extend all the way to the Canadian border. For outdoor enthusiasts, this translates into four seasons of challenging fun that includes everything from hiking and whitewater rafting to hunting and snowmobiling. Plus, it is a good chance for the “suits” working in Augusta to don a plaid flannel shirt and carry a high-powered crossbow without getting strange looks.

Speaking of trees, such abundance really helped transform the valley from an untouched frontier into a thriving region focused on lumber. The details varied, of course, depending on whether a settler was felling and selling lumber to a local mill or a commercial logging company was clearing large swathes of forests. However, the result was always the same: the Kennebec River was jam-packed with lumber,

and brave men, known as “river rats” were armed with spiked poles and shoes to ensure that the precious cargo was headed in the right direction. Needless to say, this was dangerous work. The following is one of many typical reports: “Thomas Rogers was instantly killed on the 29th of January [1870]. The deceased [was] with a great load of logs that began turning over. He grabbed an ax and severed the cord that held the binder to prevent a larger disaster. The released binder flew back with such a force that it crushed his skull. This makes no less than nine men killed this month alone.” But, for generations, families of French Canadians found employment at these mills and their lives revolved around working long hours for pennies, braving the elements, and maintaining their proud cultural traditions.

Such history is what inspires this issue of “Discover Maine” and hopefully, you will enjoy the stories as much as the authors have found pleasure in writing them. Well, in honor of the toughness of lumberjacks, I will close with the following anecdote:

Two lumberjacks were working

at a mill and all was well until Bud accidentally leaned too far forward and got his arm chopped off. Bob yelled, “Oh no!” and placed the decapitated arm in a plastic grocery bag and drove to the hospital. The next day, Bob showed up to work expecting to work twice as hard since Bud was gone. But when he opened the door, Bud was there with his arm totally healed. Bob was puzzled but continued working as normal. Then, Bud carelessly leaned too far forward again and got his leg chopped off. Bob quickly put the dismembered leg into a bag and rushed off to the hospital. The next morning, Bob arrived at work to find Bud working away, as if his leg was never gone. Then, Bud did the same thing and leaned too far f o r ward and got his head chopped off. As standard procedure, Bob placed the head in a bag and drove to the hospital. After awhile, Bob decided to visit his friend. He asked a nurse about him, and the nurse said, “Oh, that guy? He would have made it, but some idiot put his head in a bag and he suffocated to death.”

In these pages you will see businesses from the Kennebec Valley region which take great pride in serving the public, and business owners and employees who also take pride in being Mainers.

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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Spindrift Sundays The retirement years

by Leon Anderson

H

ave you ever noticed on those late fall Sunday afternoons when the sunbeams are falling through the window and warming your shoulders how time seems to blow away like spindrift at the shore? You sit down after lunch to read a book or a magazine or to do the crossword puzzle in the Sunday newspaper. You say to yourself that maybe you’ll go out for a walk after a while, maybe walk over to the bookstore and buy some Christmas cards, but drowsiness comes over you like a pall and you drift off in sleepy reverie to a land far away that beckons like a light on a dark, deep sea.

The cat, Maggie is her name, creeps silently into the room on padded paws and leaps from nowhere to sit on your lap. She curls into a ball and goes

promptly to sleep. You can feel her tiny heart going thump – thump – thump as she settles into the warmth and security of a loving master knowing she’s safe.

There’s a crow high in a tree outside whose feathers are glowing a glossy black in the sun’s beams. He’s sitting on a droopy branch looking sullen as the freshening breeze, cool with the tidings of the winter to come, ruffles his feathers. He caws a melancholy plaint of loneliness for a family that has flown off and left him alone.

The commuter train running on its short Sunday schedule whistles in the distance its warning to the crosswalks.

Cars roll by in the street below your window in a monotonous drone that sounds like sheets of rain on a tin roof, the kind of roof that you used to have

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on the milk shed when you were a boy on your grandpa’s farm. Your mind drifts to those far off days when tires had inner tubes which became even more valuable and useful when they blew out, because then they made great slingshots.

You wonder if your children will call. It’s been a while since you last heard from them. Nobody writes letters anymore, so it’s pointless to go look in the mailbox. The only thing that ever comes by mail these days is bills and catalogues. You can see a red something or other blowing in the breeze from your mailbox out front by the curb. Looks like somebody forgot to check the mail yesterday. Probably coupons blowing apart! You decide that they can join the rusty leaves that are also blowing away in the chilly breeze

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coming down from Canada. It’s too cold to go out.

You stroke the cat’s ears between snoozes and listen to it purr in its drowsy contentment. It would be nice to have a cup of tea, maybe with some honey in it, but the kitchen is so far away. You lie back in the deep cushions of the armchair and listen to see if you can hear water boiling in the kitchen.

Maybe the gremlins will do it for you.

For some reason your eyes get heavy, your shoulders begin to sag and the sandman comes to claim an hour of your day. It happens swiftly without an introduction or even a sigh. The warm embrace of naptime sucks you right in, and you succumb like a lover to a lingering kiss.

Time passes in a miasma of scents when you have reached that unrushed, decorous stage of life where you don’t really have to be anywhere but where you are. The distant aroma of burning leaves floats by on butterfly wings, and

you can tell quickly that the young man next door is either smoking a cigar or burning his old socks again. The whiff of automobile exhaust that you barely notice while you are up and about suddenly seems like an intrusion while you are napping. Sometimes you can even smell your own aftershave lotion.

Ah, Sundays. Sometimes they drag on, but when you awaken and smell the soup or the pot roast cooking in the kitchen, it seems to make everything right again. A good woman and a good cook, too! How did you get so lucky to have such a great wife? Could it possibly be that some marriages really are made in heaven? It’s strange how so much time can creep by when you aren’t paying any attention, but she’s still there even if the children are gone.

The town of Bowdoin contained about 121 families when it was incorporated by the Massachussetts General Court on March 21, 1788, and named after the Bowdoin family.

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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February Folk Traditions

Early settlers brought Old World festivities

by Charles Francis

I

n the mid-1800s French from Quebec began moving into the Kennebec Valley in ever increasing numbers. First they came by wagon and cart or even on foot following the trails that the Indians had used, the same that Benedict Arnold had followed on his ill-fated march on Quebec City. Their numbers increased in the 1890s when the Canadian Pacific built across Maine and the railroad brought in workers from Quebec.

The Canadian French known as Quebecois brought a number of old world folk traditions with them. Among them were “la Fete de la Chandeleur” and the belief that animal behavior could foretell the weather. “La Fete de la Chandeleur” included the making of crepes or pancakes, or as they were sometimes called, galettes de rois. The crepes were

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made on what English speaking people called Candlemas Day. The tradition was a part of the festival which today is more popularly known as Mardi Gras.

While best known in this country in New Orleans, it is equally famous in Canada as the Quebec Winter Carnival, and is practiced in every region of the world where Catholics are to be found.

The belief that animals can foretell the weather has its best known manifestation in February’s Groundhog Day. The French who settled the Kennebec Valley and other parts of Maine did not look so much to the groundhog as their February weather prognosticator as they did to the black bear.

“La Fete de la Chandeleur” or Candlemas Day occurs February 2. The eating of crepes on this day stems from

the belief that consumption of the tasty treat will ensure a bountiful year, The practice actually has its origins in a Gaelic tradition, La theill Brighde nan coinnlenn, “the feast of Brighde of the Candles.” It was a pagan holiday that the Catholic Church altered and attributed to St. Bridget of Kildare. Originally the festival related to the fertile lands, childbirth and the blessing of homes.

The French tradition of “la Fete de la Chandeleur” as practiced by the Quebecois and to a lesser extent the Acadians who settled Maine called for every family member to flip their own crepes.

If an individual was unsuccessful in flipping their crepes it was thought he or she might have bad luck for all the ensuing year. Often a token or coin was inserted into the crepe batter. The in-

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com dividual finding the token in their crepe was believed to be the recipient of an extra measure of good luck in the coming year. While crepes or pancakes are usually made with eggs, in the winter it was sometimes difficult to get them.

When this happened a crepe variation known as crepes de la neige or “snow crepes” was substituted. Snow crepes are made with a measure of hardpacked snow about the size of an egg.

The snow was supposed to produce an extremely light pancake. A traditional rhyme associated with Candlemas Day goes as follows: Candlemas Day, Candlemas Day Half your meat and half your hay.

The rhyme refers to the belief that on February 2 you still needed half your winter’s provisions to see you through the remainder of the cold month. Another Candlemas Day rhyme serves as a weather prognosticator and points on today’s Groundhog Day. It goes: If Candlemas Day be bright and fair, You’ll have two winters in one year.

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,

Winter will take another flight.

The above rhyme relates to the belief that the appearance of the sun on Candlemas Day would foretell the end of winter. The most common belief was that if the sun was obscured by overcast wintry skies more winter would follow. During the Middle Ages Europeans used animals ― most notably hedgehogs, badgers and bears ― as part of this weather forecasting.

Today, of course, this tradition is little more than a promotional stunt used by the communities where such famous groundhogs as Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil and Canada’s Gary the Groundhog live.

The early settlers of the New World didn’t find any hedgehogs here, so they relied on bears and badgers and added groundhogs for their weather prognosticators. February 2, Candlemas Day was the most common day for looking to see if any of these creatures were emerging from hibernation. Of course, what was motivating the bear or badger or groundhog to leave his comfortable

“digs” was the biological urge to find a mate.

The Quebecois who came to Maine most often looked to the bear as their weather prognosticator. The tradition was that “if a bear sees his shadow… he will go back into his den and stay six weeks longer.”

While the French used the bear for forecasting the weather, the early Germans who came to Maine used the badger. In fact, some had a special day for observing the creature known as daksdei. Dak is German for badger, dei is day. Daks-dei corresponded to Candlemas Day. February is also the month of two other major traditional celebrations, Shrove Tuesday and Valentine’s Day. Candlemas Day and daks-dei are more uniquely Maine traditions than either of these, however.

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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How Bowdoinham Got Its Name Bowdoins left their mark on Maine

by Charles Francis

I

n 1867 a French Protestant by the name of Pierre Claude Baudoin or Baudouin landed on the shores of Casco Bay. Baudoin was Huguenot. At the time, persecution of Huguenots was rampant in France and Pierre Baudoin came to America to find religious freedom and escape a possible death sentence at the hands of Catholic zealots.

In time, the family name was changed to Bowdoin. The names of the towns of Bowdoinham and Bowdoin as well as Bowdoin College bear testament as to how the Bowdoin family prospered in the New World.

Pierre Baudoin did not stay in Maine. He moved to Boston in 1690, where he and his descendants made

a fortune in trade. The most famous Bowdoin was James Bowdoin II, a major Massachusetts political figure.

Among other things, James Bowdoin II was governor of Massachusetts. While it is Governor Bowdoin who is most often associated with the founding of Bowdoin College, it was actually his son James Bowdoin III who is credited with the gifts of land and money which made its establishment possible.

The town of Bowdoin was named for the Governor, however. Most sources indicate Bowdoinham was named for William Bowdoin, a grandson of Pierre who owned vast tracts of land in the area. Other sources simply state Bowdoinham was named for the Bowdoin

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Both Bowdoinham and Bowdoin lie to the west of the Kennebec. Bowdoinham lies on the river’s bank, with Bowdoin to the west of it. Bowdoinham Village is on the Cathance River. Bowdoinham was incorporated in 1762, Bowdoin in 1788. Besides the Kennebec, Bowdoinham is bounded by the towns of Richmond and Topsham.

It is about halfway between Brunswick and Gardiner. Records indicate that William Bowdoin once controlled all of Richmond as well as parts of Topsham and Bowdoin. Richmond was incorporated as a separate town in 1823.

For a time there were a series of town line disputes between Bowdoinham (continued on page 10)

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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(continued from page 9) and Topsham. They centered on the Cathance Neck and were resolved in the 1820s.

Originally, William Bowdoin owned some 3200 acres along the Kennebec.

They were conveyed to him by the proprietors of the Plymouth Colony. William Bowdoin seems to have left little mark on the lands he once owned. The most prominent fact of his connection to Maine is his portrait which hangs in Bowdoin College’s Walker Art Building. It was Governor Bowdoin and later his son James Bowdoin III who took the most active interest in the area where the Bowdoin family name would feature so prominently.

Both Governor Bowdoin and his son were noted for their interest in education and the arts. Father and son were both graduates of Harvard. Governor Bowdoin was a close friend of

Benjamin Franklin. In fact, Franklin presented Governor Bowdoin’s work on phosphorescent marine life to the Royal Society in London. Governor Bowdoin was also the first President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. It comes as no surprise, then, that Governor Bowdoin would be one of the prime movers in the establishment of a college in Maine.

During the Revolution Bowdoin was regarded as one of the most dangerous of all Massachusetts radical leaders.

At the time of the conflict, Bowdoin was President of the Governor’s Executive Council. He also served as the presiding officer of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. Oddly, his greatest political antagonist was none other than John Hancock. In fact, the antagonism was so great between the two that Hancock would actively op-

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pose the establishment of Bowdoin College as well as the incorporation of Bowdoin ― most likely because of the name. One possible explanation for the enmity between Hancock and Bowdoin was that the Massachusetts political stage was simply not big enough for two such giants.

James Bowdoin was elected Governor of Massachusetts twice, in 1785 and 1786. During his second term in office, he successfully put down Daniel Shay’s populist uprising by calling out the militia. Because of this he failed to be reelected. His successful opponent was John Hancock. Hancock was governor at the time that Bowdoin College was proposed as a college for Maine.

Hancock’s antagonism towards Bowdoin extended to the incorporation of the college.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com Bowdoin College’s establishment dates from 1794. It would have been earlier but for the fact that Hancock, as Governor, refused to sign the bill granting the college official status. It was not until Hancock died that Governor Samuel Adams signed the bill. By then, James Bowdoin II was dead, too, however.

Bowdoin College officially opened its doors in 1802 with eight students.

The fact that the college finally opened was largely due to the beneficence of James Bowdoin III. Besides gifting the institution with land and funding, the younger Bowdoin also gave the college a collection of seventy paintings by Italian and Dutch masters. Bowdoin had collected them when he had served as United States Minister to France and Spain.

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as to whether Bowdoinham is named for William Bowdoin or for the Bowdoin family altogether, there is no question that the Bowdoins left their mark on Maine. Whatever the case, the naming of the towns of Bowdoinham and Bowdoin as well as Bowdoin College provides an intriguing insight into the political rivalry of two of America’s great political figures.

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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Monument Park in Augusta. Item #104052 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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Greater Kennebec Valley

14

Augusta’s Horatio Bridge Paymaster General of the Navy

by James Nalley

O

tually served in the U.S. Navy, it was Bridge’s appreciation of Hawthorne’s early writings and his overall faith in the man’s genius that helped him to continue on. In fact, Hawthorne later mentioned that “Bridge was solely responsible for my being an author” and one of his first books, The Snow Image, was dedicated to his close friend.

Horatio Bridge was born in Augusta, Maine on April 8, 1806. The son of James Bridge, a prominent judge and Bowdoin College Trustee, Horatio received his early education in some of the region’s best private schools, including Hallowell Academy. After graduating from Bowdoin College, he continued on to study law at Northhampton Law School in Massachusetts. Although the school was only open for a few years in the 1820s, it produced several well-

n a beautiful sunny day in May 1825, the crowds gathered at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine to watch the Class of 1825 receive their hard-earned degrees. Sitting among the proud graduates were two unknown names of the time ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne, who were both about to embark on their careers in the field of literature. Many of the graduates had either secured some type of employment or enrolled in further academic study. However, the field of literature was just as precarious as it is today, and Hawthorne contemplated another path.

Fortunately, Horatio Bridge, a fellow graduate and one of his closest friends, was there to encourage him. Although Bridge went on to law school and even-

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15

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com known alumni, including President Franklin Pierce. After being admitted to the bar, Bridge practiced law in Augusta and Skowhegan (then known as Milburn), Maine. After 10 years of practice, the field of law was not what Bridge had expected it to be, and in his own words, he found it “distasteful.”

In 1838, at the relatively late age of 32, Bridge joined the United States Navy as a ship’s purser, which was a far cry from serving in a more respectable position in the courtroom. But he found the travel refreshing, and his role as an officer responsible for all aspects of administration and supply, enjoyable. His subsequent tours took him to Africa, Europe, and the Pacific. Fortunately for Bridge, knowing his law-school classmate Franklin Pierce was an important connection. Upon election to the Presidency, Pierce re-assigned Bridge and appointed him to serve as Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Provisions and Clothing, otherwise known as the Paymaster General. This position managed the entire Department of the Navy’s materi-

el-support organization. Bridge held this post for many years past Pierce’s administration and throughout the Civil War. Bridge handled his position with skill and greatly pleased each subsequent administration with his innovative ideas. He also had the distinction of serving as the first man in the Navy to employ the notion of comprehensive fleet supply. Until that time, supply to the fleet was a haphazard distribution of food and supplies that was entirely unorganized, which allowed some ships to have lavish supplies while others lacked basic amenities. In regard to the skills and abilities that he showed in management of the Navy’s supply corps, Senator James Grimes from Iowa stated, “No Bureau of this government has been more admirably and accurately managed than the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing” and “I think a great reason, and a very important one, is because there is at the head of that Bureau an honest, vigilant, and faithful man.” Bridge was eventually promoted to the rank of Commodore due to

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his superior service to the U.S. Navy.

Commodore Bridge, at the age of 40, met and married Charlotte Marshall in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently had one daughter who unfortunately died at the age of five. During that difficult time, Bridge received a letter from Hawthorne, who attempted to appease his life-long friend in his usual eloquent and poetic style: I trust you will be able to feel that though it is good to have a dear child on Earth, it is likewise good to have one safe in heaven. She will await you there and it will seem like home to you now.

Affectionately, Nath Afterwards, Bridge returned to work and made many significant innovations to the Navy’s supply system such as advertising for competitive bids to enhance quality, and processing preserved meat, dairy, and vegetable products for organized distribution. Perhaps his most notable achievement was a reaction to the rum ration. In 1862, agitation due to the rum ration had become so pronounced (continued on page 16)

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Greater Kennebec Valley

16

(continued from page 15) that on Sept. 1, it was eliminated. As compensation, a sailor’s pay was raised five cents per day and Bridge’s proclamation was eventually immortalized in song: “They raised our pay five cents a day, and took away our grog forever.”

Meanwhile, Commodore Bridge occasionally “wielded a graceful pen” and contributed toward many periodicals during his free time. In addition, he was the author of The Journal of an African Cruiser, which was edited by Hawthorne himself. In 1869 Bridge resigned his position as Paymaster General but shortly after, he accepted the position as the nation’s first Chief Inspector of Clothing, which he held until the Navy passed a law barring any naval officer from active duty after the age of 62. He promptly retired from active service after an astonishing 55-year career.

Although Bridge seldom visited his hometown of Augusta, he respected his friends there greatly. According to an article in the Kennebec Journal that

praised Bridge and his career, “Commodore Bridge was a man of sterling principles and rugged honesty, with a strong mind and a warm ear; a gentleman of the old school in all that means, of broad culture and with a genial polished manner.” In March 1871, Bridge moved to his country home in Athens, Pennsylvania, affectionately named “The Moorings.” There, he spent a relatively quiet retirement attending church as well as writing and publishing his Personal Recollections of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who had died in 1864.

Bridge himself died in March 1893 and was subsequently buried in Athens.

Despite his impressive career, Bridge never forgot about his life-long friendship with Hawthorne and respected all of this wishes. This relationship can be best seen in the following letter dated 1892:For many years, I have resisted the persuasions of friends and publishers to write something of Hawthorne’s life and character; to which

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end many recollections and not a little material, still in my possession, might, perchance, be profitably applied. But, I shall refrain and here limit my narrative chiefly to matters connected with his college days. I probably received more letters from Hawthorne, of a purely friendly character, than did any other man…but these letters were all destroyed at his request.

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Fair’s Cove, Cobbosseecontee in Gardiner. Item #100883 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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Stony Brook Farm in Winthrop. Item #112756 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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brings history to life!

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Greater Kennebec Valley

20

Chelsea’s John F. Chase

A remarkable war hero and veterans’ advocate

by Charles Francis

J

ohn Chase invented a knife and fork combination that could be used with one hand. There is a good reason why Chase came up with the clever device. He had but one arm, his left.

Chase lost his right arm at the Battle of Gettysburg. He lost his left eye at the same time.

In an interview in 1983, Bernadette Beatty, Chase’s granddaughter, remembered the Civil War veteran building a water distillery in the backyard of his home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Bernadette was seven or eight at the time.

The motivation for the distillery had to do with the fact St. Petersburg water was notoriously hard. What Chase had in mind with the distilled water project was selling the product door-to-door.

To this end he loaded bottles of fresh water along with fresh baked pastries and candies into a fringe-trimmed wagon and set out as a peddler. This would have been around 1903-1904 when the one-armed veteran was in his early sixties.

John Chase is a good example of the old adage you can’t keep a good man down. As to whether he is Maine’s most remarkable war hero, that is somewhat a matter of personal opinion.

He is at the very least among the most remarkable.

John F. Chase was born in Chelsea, in 1843. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861, at the age of eighteen. Mustered out of service after the Battle of Gettysburg, he returned to Chelsea to

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recover from his horrible wounds and begin a new life. That life would prove Chase was a strong-willed, indomitable force of a man.

John Chase went on to a career as inventor, lecturer and veterans’ advo-

21

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com cate. Chase’s inventions range from a collapsible hoop skirt with a bustle to a design for an airplane that may predate that of the Wright Brothers. His lecture topics included the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Chancellorsville. As a veterans’ advocate he proposed and initiated the Florida retirement community known as Veterans City. Veterans City was open not only to Union Army veterans but also Confederate. In addition, it was open to Black veterans, a remarkable act of integration when Jim Crow was the rule for polite southern society.

John Chase spent the majority of his life in the Kennebec Valley. He grew up a Kennebec River farm boy in Chelsea, not leaving the family farm until President Lincoln issued his first call for Union Army volunteers. That call took Chase to Augusta, where he enlisted with the 3rd Maine Volunteer Regiment on April 1, 1861.

The 3rd Maine was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. John Chase was with the 3rd until the summer of 1862 when he transferred to the 1st Maine Light Artillery as a cannoneer.

John F. Chase’s name stands out in the history books at two of the greatest confrontations of the War Between the States, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. For his actions at Chancellorsville Chase received the Congressional Medal of Honor. As a result of his injuries at Gettysburg Chase was “pronounced the most severely wounded survivor of the entire Civil War.” John Chase’s 5th Battery was in the heat of the fighting at Chancellorsville.

Chase and a compatriot were the last two members of the battery to continue firing. Chase’s Medal of Honor citation says “Nearly all the officers and men of the battery having been killed or wounded, this soldier with a comrade continued to fire his gun after the

guns had ceased. The piece was then dragged off by the two, the horse having been shot, and its capture by the enemy prevented.”

If what John Chase did at Chancellorsville was a display of courage above and beyond the call of duty (as it clearly was), then what happened to the soldier from Chelsea at Gettysburg was a descent into hell.

John Chase and the 5th Battery were stationed at Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg. This is where Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine repulsed the grey-clad Confederate volunteers from Alabama in what is called the turning point of the Battle of Gettysburg. What happened to Chase was this; a shrapnel shell exploded four feet from where he stood. Shrapnel shells were filled with bits of iron and bullets. Shrapnel took off Chase’s arm and took out his eye.

It broke ribs and punctured lungs. All told, Chase had forty-eight wounds. (continued on page 22)

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Greater Kennebec Valley

22

(continued from page 21) No one thought Chase could or would survive wounds of such grievous nature and extent. He was left alone, outside a barn, on the ground, with no protection from the elements or care.

He was left alone for three days to die.

But John Chase did not die.

When John Chase went on the lecture circuit he talked of his experiences at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. As a way of introducing himself to prospective audiences Chase had special calling cards made up. On one side there was a distinguished older man with a beard. The reverse side of the card showed a young, bare-to-the-waist youth missing an arm, with chest and bellies a mass of cross-hatched scars.

John Chase holds dozens of patents.

The bulk of them are for devices to help people with disabilities to function independently. By and large the inventions are the result of Chase’s recovery experiences in the Kennebec Valley

and his struggle to adapt to a life with just one arm.

John Chase spent some thirty years in Maine before doctors told him it was time to head for a warmer climate. This explains why he settled in St. Petersburg, Florida. Florida didn’t mean that Chase was ready to spend his days in the sun waiting for the final trump to call him to his last reward, though.

Chase arrived in St. Petersburg in 1895. His first venture there involved a sawmill. Then he invested in a seventy-foot passenger steamer. He was directly involved in the management and running of both. With the declaration of war by the U.S. on Spain in 1898, Chase personally organized and commanded a cadre of guards to prevent possible enemy contamination of the local reservoir. Then he took on the task of community betterment. It took him two tries to get the St. Petersburg town council to approve his plan for an

electric power station and public transit system. Then Chase came up with the idea for Veterans City.

John Chase introduced the idea for Veterans City in 1901. He got investors to purchase a tract of land on the white sand-bounded, gulf coast of Florida, purchasing 200 acres in his own right.

The idea was to sell house lots at $100 and up a lot. If a veteran wanted a bit more so as to have an orange grove, two and one half acres to five acres could be purchased. Chase’s place was advanced for the times. It included parks and other green spaces and community houses. Service providers such as the local trolley system were expected to contribute to the general maintenance of the community.

Veterans City was never a success.

Among other things businessmen in St. Petersburg saw the community as a threat to their future development. In addition, Chase’s war wounds were Owner: Brent Dow 18 Years Experience

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beginning to take their inevitable toll.

He didn’t have the energy to devote to maintaining his position as Veterans City’s chief promoter.

In her interview on her grandfather, Bernadette Beatty said she always felt bashful around Chase. Perhaps this had to do with the fact John Chase always conducted himself with military bearing. He also lived by military schedule, rising early to work on his inventions or other business tasks. He called his St. Petersburg home Camp Chase.

John Chase died in 1915. Veterans City was a flagging dream by that date.

Today the lots that were once laid out to sell to survivors of the War Between the States, be they Union or Confederate, are a part of Gulfport, Florida. And today John Chase, the Chelsea, Maine man who came out of the Civil War a legend, is looked upon as one of the founders of that community.

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Greater Kennebec Valley

24

Women’s Mental Health circa 1900 An early history of AMHI

by Charles Francis

A

round 1900, brittleness was regarded as one of the most telling symptoms for doctors dealing with women’s mental health issues.

One description of the condition reads “ it was if all the suppleness had literally leaked out of their tissues; so that where the healthy female is a relatively flexible manner of creature, the depleted specimens…[look] as if one were to tap them, they would give out a sound like glass shattering.”

Brittleness was just one symptom or a compendium of poor mental health manifestations generally lumped under the heading of female nervous disorders. Among the more clinical terms for female nervous disorders of the late

1800 and early 1900s one finds melancholia and its relative mania; neurasthenia, a disease whose hold on the weaker sex had greatly strengthened in the years following the Civil War; and hysteria, whose very name (from the Greek hysterikos, for womb) spoke to its female associativeness.

A fair number of doctors of the time period under discussion here believed that, more times than not, the original impetus to female disease was neurotic. Other opted to lump most female problems under the heading of neurasthenia. Neurasthenia symptoms included fatigue, anxiety, headache, neuralgia and depressed mood. It so typified the period of the post-Civil War years that

it was sometimes called “Americanitis.” In 1900 and earlier, melancholia was generally regarded as a mood disorder of non-specific depression. Its characteristics included low levels of enthusiasm and little eagerness for activity.

Each of the mental health issues mentioned above had their particular proponents. The great Harvard psychologist William James was a firm believer in the debilitating circumstances associated with neurasthenia.

It was James who coined the sobriquet “Americanitis.” Sigmund Freud spoke to hysteria. One of the more prominent authorities on melancholia was a Maine man, Bigelow Sanborn. Dr. Bi(continued on page 26) a Fe

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Maine Insane Hospital in Augusta. Item #100056 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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(continued from page 24) gelow Sanborn was Superintendent of the Maine State Insane Hospital. Sanborn considered melancholia one of the more common phenomena of mental disease of the day. Mania he considered a close second.

Bigelow Sanborn was a Bowdoin College Medical School graduate.

Born in Standish in 1839, he prepared for Bowdoin at Limington Academy. It took him three years ― standard for the day ― to earn his medical degree. In 1866, the year of his Bowdoin graduation, he was named first assistant physician at the Maine State Insane Asylum.

Today we know the institution as Augusta Mental Health Institute (AMHI).

Dr. Sanborn spent forty years at the Maine State Insane Asylum. He was named superintendent in 1881. When he died in April of 1910, he was still serving in that capacity.

Bigelow Sanborn entered the mental health profession at a time when asylums were just beginning to assume a somewhat modern approach towards the treatment of mental health problems. It was a time when many doctors rushed to the area because opportunities for experimental treatments were beginning to emerge. Because these doctors had no formal training in the field, many followed their own stipulations or beliefs about mental illness and tested their theories on patients in asylums.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, mental illness was often referred to as alienation, hence the term alienist to mean psychiatrist or one versed in the study of mental illness. Bigelow Sanborn often used the term alienation when referring to mental illness. Women evidencing alienation were deemed

to be highly susceptible to the condition as they did not have the mental capacity of men, and this risk grew greatly if the woman attempted to better herself through education or too many activities. In fact, women were seen as most likely having a mental breakdown sometime during their life as the maintenance of sanity was viewed as the preservation of brain stability in the face of overwhelming physical odds.

Women then suppressed feelings, so as to not appear mad. Their chief mental state was passivity.

Bigelow Sanborn spoke before the Nurses’ Alumnae Association of the Maine General Hospital in 1903. The subject of Sanborn’s lecture was “Nursing in Mental Disease.” Specifically, his subject was “methods of nursing in excitement and depression of the mind.” For the doctor, excitement of

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the mind translated as mania; depression of the mind was melancholia.

The Maine State Insane Asylum served an ever-growing population.

In 1885 there were 480 patients. The number of women was a bit less than half this figure, around 215 ― it varied, as the turnover in female population at the Asylum was greater than the male.

At the time of Dr. Sanborn’s passing the Asylum numbered over 800 patients, some 350 being women.

Dr. Sanborn’s experience suggested that women were less likely than men to suffer from mania. While at least two women started fires in their rooms during Sanborn’s time at the Asylum, acts such as these were more likely to fall into the province of men. Women were more likely to evidence melancholia.

Dr. Sanborn defined mania as “emotional exaltation of the mind.” Symp-

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toms of mania included “fantastic and irrational delusions,” running about to no purpose, ripping and tearing at clothing and resistance to suggestion.

Manics might “become actually violent or dangerous.” Sufferers of melancholia were decidedly the opposite.

Though he never specifically called himself a ladies’ doctor, Bigelow Sanborn could very well be described as an expert in the field of women’s mental health issues. Not only did he speak before the nurses’ associations on numerous occasions, he brought M.E. Lowell, the first female physician, to the Maine State Insane Asylum. He was also responsible for Dr. Gertrude Heath of Gardiner joining the Asylum staff. The two lady doctors were hired specifically to serve the female population of the Asylum.

During his forty years at the Maine

(continued on page 28)

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State Insane Asylum, Bigelow Sanborn directly or indirectly had hundreds of female patients in his charge. As the Asylum was a mental health facility, mental health was Sanborn’s area of expertise. Therefore, Dr. Sanborn had close-hand experience of almost every type of the some fifty forms of mental disease that came under the general heading of alienation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

The symptoms of melancholia and to a much lesser extent mania were almost certain to include the following: lethargy, insomnia, and lack of appetite as well as some combination selected from a list of sick headaches, palpitations, fainting spells, muscle spasms, neuralgias, laughing or crying fits, cold hands and feet, and dyspepsia. And, of course, there was brittleness. The characteristics of the latter were decidedly

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(continued from page 27) physical: narrow chest and long thin limbs and ungainly back, an almost transparent fairness, deeply shadowed eyes, and a brittle, nervous posture.

If you are wondering about treatment for some of the aforementioned conditions, it included bed rest, bland food, refrain from mental activities (such as reading), daily massage, and seclusion or isolation. Read the latter as sensory deprivation.

Even given the negatives in some of the above, Dr. Bigelow Sanborn can only be viewed as one of the true ground-breakers in the field of mental health for women and in the field in general. One can understand, however, why the terms alienist and alienation are no longer part of the mental health lexicon.

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The Skowhegan Indian

Maine landmark is world’s tallest Indian

by Terry Hamlin

D

riving through downtown Skowhegan is like taking an adventure through the past without leaving the present. As you cross the Margaret Chase Smith Bridge, a tribute to our legendary Maine Senator from Skowhegan, you can gaze south down the Kennebec and imagine the thunderous sounds made by the millions of logs as they cascaded through the flumes and continued on there journey south to the mills. You pass the fire station and an old textile mill as you move into the downtown area with the brick façade that is so common among the historic downtown areas of Maine and New England. A quick glance north on Route 2 and you see the historic Opera

House where many shows and movies were seen by thousands back in the day.

You follow Route 201 north as it bends to the left in front of the former movie set for the HBO movie Empire Falls, around the Whittemore building and you catch a glimpse of the giant sentinel that stands watch over this quaint little downtown area, the Skowhegan Indian.

In 1969 Bernard Langlais completed his tribute to Maine’s Native Americans. Billed as the worlds tallest Indian, the sculpture stands at about 62 feet tall atop a 20 foot base. The statue depicts a proud Abenaki Indian. The Abenakis had lived, fished, hunted, farmed and traded in this area for centuries before the first white settlers ever arrived in

the Americas. “The first people to use these lands in peaceful ways,” is noted by one of the signs erected by the base of the sculpture. It is said that it was the Abenakis that helped the early Pilgrim settlers through their first couple of harsh winters in this area of the new world. Mr. Langlais passed away in December of 1977, and in 2010, after the passing of his widow Helen, (who grew up in Skowhegan) Colby College in Waterville received a large bequest of his artwork as well as the 90-acre property that he and his wife had occupied from 1966 till 1977. The Colby collection currently contains over 180 of Langalais’ works. (continued on page 32)

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(continued from page 30) The sculpture itself is made from white pine and was a three-year undertaking by Mr. Langlais who was from Old Town. He attended and was also a teacher at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. He was commisioned to do the work in 1966 by the Skowhegan Tourist Hospitality Association at a cost of $20,000; the work was completed and raised in observance of Maine’s 150th anniversary in 1969. It depicts a Native American holding a fish trap in his right hand while holding a spear in his left. For 44 years the faithful and proud-looking statue has stood sentinel over the downtown area of Skowhegan keeping watch as the rest of its surroundings have grown up around it. In a popular postcard from the 1970s the statue can be seen standing before a stark blue sky. This picture alone drew many visitors from away to see and photograph the icon and admire

its beauty. Over the years thousands have stopped by to marvel at the sculpture, to read the accompanying markers and appreciate the magnificence of the work of art. Originally the sculpture was to be the main focal point to a large park that included a nearby grist mill to be used as a museum, but the plans never materialized and local business grew up around the figure.

The years have not been kind to the statue, however. The right hand and forearm holding the fish trap were removed as was the spear from its left hand. The long-term exposure to the elements played havoc with the wood.

Several squirrels and many small birds have made homes for themselves within the folds of the statue’s face and within its interior, but the Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce did not turn a blind eye to the tribute and its place among the people of the town. In 2003

fundraising began, and in 2006 a local contractor took over and began some of the repairs to save the sculpture.

The interior brace was broken and needed to be replaced, stainless steel guy wires were installed to increase stability of the sturdy wooden statue.

Paint samples were taken and sent to a conservator in Virginia for analysis so that when the time came the paint scheme used by Langlais could be perfectly matched. Rusted bolts and flashing have been replaced and the legs have been treated with a special solution to deter decay.

The Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce has been active in the fight against the elements because it sees the value of their town’s icon. There have been thoughts of moving the statue to a more visible place in town, but due to its size that doesn’t seem feasible.

For now, the restoration continues and

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the tourists and sightseers still can be seen having their pictures taken at the base of the world’s tallest Indian, a majestic sculpture and a wonderful piece that the residents of Skowhegan can be proud of.

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Winslow’s French-Canadian Express The story of Eddie Arsenault

by Charles Francis

M

ainers stick together, no matter how far afield they travel.

And no matter how far they travel from their native state, they invariably take something of their birthplace with them. If there is a reason for this, it is something a bit deeper than simple geographic origins. It may have something to do with knowing the limits and potentials of oneself and other natives. That may be the reason why “Touchy” Gaul of Waterville encouraged high school sports star Eddie Arsenault of Winslow to enroll at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Had it not been for Frank “ Touchy” Gaul, it is doubtful that Eddie Arsenault would have ever heard of John Carroll,

much less decided to go to college there. After all, there are few Mainers today who have ever heard of John Carroll University. Back in the days of the Great Depression there were probably fewer still. And in those economically starved times of the 1930s what Mainer with a desire to further his education would have thought of venturing beyond a local, easily accessible institution of higher learning?

Of course, there are a couple of reasons why John Carroll would have appealed to Eddie Arsenault. For one thing it is a small college, about the same size as Colby. The chief reason, however, may be that John Carroll is a Jesuit school. Arsenault was Catholic.

Though Maine had no Catholic college when Eddie was looking around for a way to continue his education, one need not leave the secure confines of New England to find one. The nearest Catholic college back then was probably St. Anselm’s in New Hampshire.

Then, too, Massachusetts has Merrimac as well as Boston College, to name two more. Yet Eddie chose to leave Maine and New England for Cleveland.

Eddie Arsenault went on to become a John Carroll sports legend. He was a two-sport man there, football and hockey. John Carroll football fans called Eddie the French-Canadian Express. John Carroll hockey fans called him the Flying Frenchman.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com So why did Touchy Gaul encourage Eddie Arsenault to go to John Carroll?

Touchy Gaul is something of a sports legend in his own right. He starred in football, hockey and baseball at Waterville High. Then he went off to Notre Dame. He was an outstanding quarterback and baseball catcher there. He didn’t play hockey, though.

He boxed and was college light-heavyweight champ two years running.

When Touchy graduated Notre Dame, John Carroll hired him for its football and boxing programs.

Eddie Arsenault made a name for himself in Maine as a three-sport athlete. He was a football running back, a basketball guard and a track man, a high jump specialist. Touchy Gaul wanted Eddie for the John Carroll football team. That’s why Touchy recruited him. And recruit is the proper terminology. Touchy had to work to get Eddie to consider a school as far away as Cleveland.

Eddie Arsenault attended Winslow High School and Colburn Classical Institute. While Eddie was at Winslow his teams won state championships across the board, in football, basketball and track and field. Eddie was All-State in all three. In track and field he set a state record for the pole vault. At Colburn Classical Eddie led the institute’s football team to the prep school state championship. Eddie’s three-sport accomplishments stand testimony not just to his physical abilities but also to his mental acuity.

Eddie Arsenault was a thinking man’s athlete, an intellectual, if you will. At John Carroll he wasn’t popular with the fans because he got in fights or was a bruiser. When Eddie played football, you didn’t hear fans shouting “Kill Him” or “Flatten Him.” John Carroll fans went to football games to see the French-Canadian Express run. And they went to hockey games to see the Flying Frenchman skate. That’s why

they used the nicknames for him they did.

Eddie entered John Carroll in 1937.

He played football for three seasons, ‘37, ‘38 and ‘39. In 1936 the John Carroll football team went 2 - 7. In 1937 the college went 3 -5; in 1938, 6 – 2 and in 1939, 7-1. In 1940 John Carroll dropped to 2 – 6. Eddie didn’t play.

John Carroll built its football program around Eddie. He was a halfback, a tailback to be exact. This meant he was ‘the’ team’s principal ball-carrier.

And that’s why the press began calling him the French-Canadian Express.

Of course, the press had the spelling wrong. It should have been French-Canadien. One would suppose, however, it to be an understandable error. What is less understandable is how some of the same reporters started calling Eddie the Flying Frenchman when he took to the ice.

It is hard to say whether Eddie was

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(continued on page 36)

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(continued from page 35) the greater football player or hockey player; in fact it may be impossible. In the 1930s John Carroll was what would probably be termed a Division II football team today. Eddie was named to the All-Ohio team twice. The majority of those named to the team were from Ohio State and Notre Dame. That’s heady company. Eddie was also named Little All-American. In 1938 he was Ohio Football Player of the Year.

John Carroll played in the OhioPenn League in hockey. For three of the four years Eddie played hockey John Carroll won the Ohio-Penn League championship. During each of those three years Eddie was the league’s top scorer. The three year John Carroll hockey record was 37-6. When Eddie was a senior the team went undefeated. That year the Flying Frenchman was named Ohio’s Hockey Player of the Year. John Carroll no longer has a

hockey team. The Ohio-Penn League is now a thing of the past. However, the records for both still exists. Eddie Arsenault holds all scoring records for both.

Eddie Arsenault passed away on September 16, 1967. He was still a young man. He was a husband. And he was the father of two girls. He was fifty-two.

Eddie Arsenault stayed in Cleveland after graduating from John Carroll. He was a fixture of the community and especially of his alma mater. John Carroll University had planned to honor him with a ceremony and induction into its sports hall of fame just before his passing. The date of the ceremony was to have been October 6. Eddie knew of the impending induction into the John Carroll University Hall of Fame. What he did not know was that he was to be additionally honored as one of the college’s athletes of the century.

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Mail Delivery By Boat

The mail route on Belgrade’s Great Pond

by Clarence Bennett

T

his is the story of a mail route on the waters of Great Pond in the lakes region of the Belgrades.

The route has run continuously for more than 100 years.

The Belgrades are in the northwestern part of Kennebec County, 14 miles north of the state capital, Augusta. Bordering towns are Oakland and Smithfield on the north; Rome and Mount Vernon on the west; Readfield and Manchester on the south; and Sidney on the east. Belgrade was incorporated on February 3, 1796, and land titles originated with charter grants from English kings.

The town has three sections — Belgrade Lakes, North Belgrade, and Bel-

grade Depot — nestled among a chain of lakes and connecting streams. Because of its natural beauty, bountiful fishing, and proximity to the capital, it is a popular area for both year-round and part-time residents, as well as tourists. The population is around 3,000 and it doubles in the summer.

One of the lakes in the chain is Great Pond, the site of the mail route in this article. Great Pond has about 8,000 acres with 9 islands and 55 miles of shoreline. A stream connects it with Long Pond in Belgrade Lakes Village with a westerly flow. There has been a post office in Belgrade Lakes since 1829. It was first named Belgrade Lakes Mills Post Office, but became the Belgrade

Lakes Post Office.

The mail route on Great Pond started about 1900 with Captain Bert Curtis and his 35-foot steamboat. The history of the route mail carriers includes seven males up to Harold Webster. Harold’s son, David, got the contract in 1942.

When David entered the service during World War II, his brother John filled in.

David gave up the mail contract when he sold the Great Pond Marina in 1991.

The present delivery person is Norm Shaw.

My focus for the remainder of this narrative will be on the 49 years of David Webster’s stewardship of the mail route. I knew him well, and my two oldest sons — now in their fifties —

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com worked for him during summers at the marina. Three of my progeny had, to varying degrees, involvement in the mail delivery.

When Dave Webster took over there were 26 stops. The route grew to 106 stops, a product of growth through the continued building of both summer and year-round homes. Some were palatial, some quite modest, but all were called camps. Delivery at those camps might involve threading a path between owners’ boats, barking dogs, and sometimes difficult weather conditions. Stops also included boys and girls summer camps located on the islands. It should be noted that the arrival of the mail boat was eagerly awaited at all stops, but, in particular, at the boys and girls camps.

That could mean news from home, but also ‘care packages.’ It should be further noted that outgoing mail was also picked up on the route.

It was a four-month season, and

during David Webster’s tenure he missed only two delivery days. On one, he got caught in a hurricane and was forced to head for home. On the other, a hurricane warning did the trick.

I do not believe the famous postal code — “the mail must go through” — anticipated mail delivery on water routes during hurricanes.

With the financial struggles that the United States Postal Service has experienced in the last several years, one has to wonder how long this venerable delivery service can continue. But, if it is terminated, an era will have ended to the disappointment of many. The passengers have, for years, enjoyed the scenic ride and, in recent years, touring the lake where playwright Ernest Thompson spent his summers and wrote the touching story On Golden Pond, about an aging couple spending Maine summers on Great Pond. True, the movie was filmed on Squam Lake

in New Hampshire, but Dave Webster delivered their mail on Great Pond.

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Greater Kennebec Valley

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1938 map of Jackman (pl. 43) available at: www.Galeyrie.com

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Greater Kennebec Valley

42

The Near Drowning of Gale Ellis Trouble on Porter Lake

by Sherwood W. Anderson

I

t was a cold January in 1971 when Gale Ellis, 24, nearly drowned. He was trying to skid Albert W. Reed’s camp over the Porter Lake ice from Lake Street on New Vineyard’s shore to the Strong side, south of the public beach. Gale’s 10-ton, brand new, lease-purchase $23,000 John Deere four-wheel-drive bucket loader broke through sixteen inches of ice with him in it.

A month earlier, Harvey Gordon of Strong hauled the camp a couple hundred feet onto the ice with his skidder. The chains on his spinning wheels churned the ice beneath them into water and he had to leave the camp there. It became frozen to the ice. Now it was Gale’s try. The men found the ice thick enough by sawing straight down in several places with chain saws. They tried to no avail to cut the camp free of the ice with axes and chain saws. Gale worked to free the camp with his bucket loader for about two hours without much success. He moved the loader around to another side but his wheels slipped and spun. To gain traction he forced the bucket, blade side down, onto the ice.

The ice gave way beneath it. The loader disappeared with a whoosh, settling

25 to 30 feet below, with Gale inside. It was a weather-proof cab, heated and air tight but for two small openings. Gale was not heavily clothed. He waited until water filled the cab equalizing the pressure, pushed the door open and went out and up. He had taken in a little sliver of water. “It felt like a shot of whiskey.”

He clawed through the chunks cluttering the opening above. Those standing by saw his arm pop up and pulled him out. The air was thirty degrees colder than the water. Gale’s pants froze so hard he could not bend his knees.

Delbert A. Reed (Albert’s son), his wife Nanette Starbird Reed, a nurse, together with his mother Rowena, helped Gale ashore to a camp with a fire and got his clothes off. They rubbed him all over with warm water to get the blood circulating. It took quite a while. He went to the Farmington Hospital (the old one on Fairbanks Road) where he checked out well enough to go to the AmVets dance in Livermore that night!

Ervin White of Weld got the job of extracting the expensive machine from the bottom of the lake. His equipment included heavy cables, chain saws, hand saws and chisels. Ernest Vining brought his crane and braked it on the

shore. Ervin and his crew cut big logs and hewed them together at the ends to form a square. They cut a hole in the ice, chained the log square over it and put a big log across the square. They sent a diver down to attach cables to the top of the cab. They pulled the cables up over the middle log, acting as an axis, and drew them ashore to Vining’s crane. The crane winched the cables up and over the axis, lifting the bucket loader until the top of the cab became visible under water. Next Ervin White cut a foot-wide channel from the log square to the shore. He unchained it from its place on the ice and attached a cable to it, so that it became a sled.

Ernest Vining in the crane winched the log sled toward the shore, the loader hanging beneath. When the loader’s wheels touched bottom the men cut away the ice over the cab and Ernest Vining dragged the machine backwards onto solid ground. They returned the machine to the John Deere shop, drained and replaced the gas, oil and hydraulic fluid, and it was as good as before. And so was Gale Ellis.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Main Street in Livermore Falls ca. 1937. Item #198 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

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Greater Kennebec Valley

44

Asa Gray’s Mt. Blue Botanical Library Farmington native was close associate of Charles Darwin

by Charles Francis

O

n July 17, 1838, Dr. Asa Gray was appointed professor of botany and zoology at the University of Michigan. According to the 1959 biography Asa Gray, published by Harvard, this made Gray “the first permanent paid professor in the history of the university.” The appointment also gave him “the first chair devoted exclusively to botany in an American educational institution.” Four years later, Gray became a member of the Harvard University faculty where he established that institution’s botany department, as well as the famed Gray Herbarium.

Today Asa Gray is considered the father of American botany. The Flora of North America, which he co-au-

thored with John Torrey, and his Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States are viewed as the seminal works in American plant study. Among other things, they brought Gray in contact with Charles Darwin and made him one of Darwin’s chief supporters. In fact, Darwin acknowledged that his correspondence with Gray was a major factor in the creation of The Origin of the Species.

Somewhat ironically, however, the fact that Maine in general and Mt. Blue in Weld in particular served as one of Asa Gray’s natural herbariums has largely been ignored. In fact, it was some of Gray’s observations of alpine vegetation at Mt. Blue that most

intrigued Darwin. Beyond that, some of Gray’s work at Mt. Blue led to his comparative studies of American botany and the botany of Japan, which have been called “in point of originality and far-reaching results [Gray’s] magnum opus.”

Asa Gray’s research on Mt. Blue made him a lifelong friend of Alexander Hamilton Abbott, the owner and head of the famous Abbott School for Boys or “Little Blue School” in Farmington. Abbott himself was a naturalist, and accompanied Gray on his excursions to Mt. Blue. In turn, Gray led “Little Blue” students on regular specimen gathering expeditions to the mountain. (continued on page 46)

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

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Greater Kennebec Valley

46

(continued from page 44) Asa Gray was not a botanist by training. He had trained to be a physician in upstate New York, where he was born in 1810. As a teenager, however, he had begun to collect and identify plants.

After earning his medical degree in 1831, Gray began publishing the first botany texts and manuals in North America. Gray’s 1847 Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, which he continued to update throughout his life and owes some of its later revisions to the author’s Mt. Blue expeditions, is described as “an indispensable book for the student of American botany.”

It was Gray’s books on the distribution of North American plants, which came out in the 1850s, which led to his correspondence with Charles Darwin, at a time when Darwin was beginning to conceptualize his theory of natural

selection and survival of the fittest. In fact, in 1855 Darwin wrote Gray, suggesting that he “address the issue of the range of alpine plants in the United States.” This, in part, led Gray to Mt. Blue and his friendship with A.H. Abbott of the “Little Blue School.”

A.H. Abbott had been principal of Farmington Academy from 1841 to 1849. In 1850 he purchased the “Little Blue School,” which became one of the premiere private schools for boys in the country. Among other things, the school was noted as a pioneer in the field of nature studies. Every summer it hosted botanical expeditions to Mt. Blue. Abbott also spent some $75,000 developing the grounds of the school with ornamental gardens and a variety of plants, trees and shrubs. Asa Gray’s hand is clearly evident in all of these enterprises. Gray also recommended students to the school on a regular ba-

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The same time that Gray was involving himself in the interests of the “Little Blue School” he was also serving as one of the keenest critics as well as sympathetic exponents of Darwinianism. Two years after Darwin had written Gray on the issue of alpine plants, Darwin made Gray privy to his theory of the transmutation of species. He was the first American to be so honored.

Asa Gray had been brought up as a fundamentalist evangelical Presbyterian, a stance that he maintained throughout his life. As such he was well qualified to deal with the allegations that Darwin’s theories were nothing more than atheistic attacks on “doctrine of design.” Gray taught that “the most puzzling things of all to the old-school [theologians] are the principia of the Darwinian.” Specifically, Gray held that “the present species are not special

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

creations but rather derived from previously existing species.”

Today Asa Gray’s accomplishments are memorialized in Harvard’s Gray Herbarium. Many of the plants there are descended from specimens Gray collected on Mt. Blue. The Abbott School for Boys closed its doors in the Depression. While some of the ornamental gardens A.H. Abbott created there have been lost, portions have been maintained by the University of Maine at Farmington, which now owns the former school grounds that once played host to the father of American botany. Those who pay a visit to Mt. Blue State Park might take time to envision a Harvard professor leading a group of young boys up Mt. Blue slopes pointing out various examples of alpine plants, plants whose ancestors played a small role in the development of Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

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Greater Kennebec Valley

48

Remembering The Pines Summer memories of childhood

by Wayne J. Forbus

T

urning off at the interval of route 201A and the old Norridgewock Road heading south, I follow the road as it heads down over the hill towards a place we all call “The Pines.”

But, there is also a feeling of regret.

And that is how little I know about the man who died here in 1724. His name was Father Sebastian Rasle. As a young Jesuit priest he first worked with the Illinois and Huron Indian tribes. Around 1688 he came to Maine and was stationed in the town of Norridgewock with the Abenaki Indians.

As a young boy growing up in Madison we spent countless weekends at this stretch of land along the mighty Kennebec River. Sometimes as many as fifty of my aunts and uncles and

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cousins would come to the pines and had cook outs with us. The air was always dry and very still.

In order to have a fire in the large fireplace at the pines our mothers would send out all us kids to find kindling and branches to burn. Off we would go in a hundred directions to gather wood. As soon as we had a good bed of coals, my mother would wrap corn in aluminum foil and lay it in the fire to cook.

I wonder how many summers the Abenaki and Father Rasle spent on the banks of the river enjoying the fruits of their labor? I’m sure along with corn they had potatoes and squash, tomatoes, and probably beans.

Today we’re having, in addition to corn on the cob, salad, hot dogs, ham-

burgers, Kool-Aid and the ever-present biting mosquitos. When you burned pine cones and pine needles it would create a smudge and help to keep them away. You always had Old Woodsman fly dope around. Always!

We kids would climb trees, or collect some of the sweet succulent blueberries that grew along the railroad tracks. Hide and Seek, Red Rover, and Simon Says would keep us occupied for hours.

I can only imagine what games they played so long ago along the river and fields they called their home. I’m sure in the back of his mind the good priest was thinking about the British as the children played their games. For months the British had been giving him

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49

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com a lot of trouble. Twice they had sent troops to kill him and his followers.

Soon my mother would call out “If you kids are hungry, come and get it.”

There was no need to call out twice.

Later that night we all sat around the campfires and sang songs we knew.

Songs we didn’t know we hummed. I remember thinking how great life was.

Fifty people, four bushels of corn on the cob. What a feast!

Nowadays “The Pines” aren’t used as much by people in town. Today’s kids don’t want to know what their parents did when they were kids. They only want to know when they can get another CD or Nintendo game.

The mill where I work owns the land and they have set hours on when you can use it.

There aren’t any tall stone or brick fire places anymore, only small metal ones with a steel one-legged brace to hold them in place. Many of the tall majestic trees I remember as a child

are gone now. Lost to storms, or some plague that ate away at them till they had nothing to hold them fast to the ground.

There is a plaque attached to a large rock along the side of the road just before you enter the cemetery. At the far end there is an even larger monument that honors Father Rasle and his commitment to the Abenaki people.

These days I remember “The Pines” every time I eat an ear of corn, the sweet butter dripping down my chin.

The feelings and memories I have of this place will last me a lifetime.

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2014 Event Schedule SACC Annual Dinner & Awards Night Indian Summer Luck of the Draw Auction FAB Fair 2014 at SAHS Maple Festival Week* April Skow-pendous Family Fun Night* May Memorial Day Parade Lakewood Theater Opens* Horse Shows at Fairgrounds* July Kneading Conference* Concerts in the Park* RiverFest Begins RiverFest– Moonlight Madness August RiverFest– Golf Tournament RiverFest– Rotary Lobster Bake Skowhegan State Fair* New Balance Tent Sale* September Unveiling of the Restored Indian Landmark October Haunted Hayrides December Holiday Stroll* * = Member Events that the SACC does not run, but SACC does support

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Greater Kennebec Valley

50

1938 map of Skowhegan (pl. 47) available at: www.Galeyrie.com

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207-948-3388

Cold Beer • Deli Case

Dave Kerr & Sons Trucking & Earthwork Contractor

Local and Long Distance Equipment Hauling Well Pumps & Water Systems • Building Demolition Concrete Slabs & Foundations Gravel, Stone, Loam & Fill Trucking

Certified in Septic Installation DEP Certified in Soil Erosion Control Dave Kerr Home: 207-487-3160 Cell: 207-341-0048

Aaron Kerr Cell: 207-341-6300

148 Beans Corner Rd. • Pittsfield, ME 04967

~ Serving Pittsfield & surrounding area for 34 years! ~

Mike’s Auto Body Complete Auto Body Repair & Painting

Free Estimates • Loaner Cars Used Cars • Glass Work Frame Straightening

487-3179

366 Hunnewell Ave., Pittsfield Mike Braley, Owner/Operator

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Water Street in Skowhegan. Item #102463 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

LINKLETTER & SONS, INC. Athens, Maine 207-654-2301

PEN-BAY TRACTOR CO. Call Us Before You Buy FARM

WINCHES CHIPPERS

Professional loggers for 50 years.

We selective cut, buy lots and buy stumpage

Doug’s Garage

CLYDE WISHART 426-8594 DANIEL F. WISHART 649-6199

Complete Car Repair HARDY MOWERS

LOG LOADER TRAILERS

1707 BANGOR RD. CLINTON, ME

WWW.PENBAYTRACTOR.COM

DAC DISTRIBUTORS, INC. Auto Parts & Accessories Domestic & Foreign Car & Truck

Radiators • Drums & Rotors Turned • We Make Hydraulic Hoses Bench Test Starters & Alternators • Most Parts Same Day Service

Open Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat 7am-2pm 1153 Main Street, Clinton 426-8402

Domestic & Foreign

Air Conditioning Service & Repair Exhaust, Brakes, Tune-ups, Shocks & Struts Tire Sales & Service • Computer Analysis State Inspections Open M-F 7:30am-5pm

453-7720

425 Albion Road, Benton

R

and

D

Self Storage We have the space to keep your stuff safe!

453-8113 • 649-7222 451 Bangor Road • Benton, ME

Greater Kennebec Valley

52

Whitcomb’s antique dealership on Oakland Rd. in Waterville. Item #102877 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co.collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

Dan’s Used Cars & Parts •From Economy to Luxury Vehicles •Great Selection of Cars, Trucks & SUVs •Used Auto Parts

ALL CREDIT TYPES!

453-2391

1309 Clinton Avenue • Benton

EVERGREEN SELF-STORAGE Over 200 Units • 24 Hour Access All New Units • Large 9 Foot Doors Sizes From 6x10 to 10x40 Easy Access

Located at Hammond Tractor Exit 132 West off I-95, Rte. 139 216 Center Road, Fairfield

L.N. VIOLETTE CO., INC.

FIRST MONTH

FREE 4 month minimum

877-483-2473 • 453-7131

GENERAL CONTRACTORS SINCE 1923 HOMES • ADDITIONS RENOVATIONS KITCHENS • BATHS COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION COOPERATIVE LAND DEVELOPMENT LOTS AVAILABLE No General Contractor Markup On Materials We Stock A Complete Line Of Building Materials

453-9323

www.lnviolette.com

PO BOX 59 • 1 SAVAGE STREET • FAIRFIELD

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Reminders Of Waterville’s Past

Technological relics spurred city’s growth

by Terry Hamlin

A

nyone who has driven south on route 201 through Waterville has seen the rusting behemoth that stands adjacent to the Pan Am railyard. The “Old 470,” as it has become known to residents and train enthusiasts, has the unique and also sad distinction of being the very last scheduled steam passenger train ever to run on the Maine Central line. After passing under the railroad overpass and driving south past the shops of Waterville’s downtown area the road crosses the Kennebec, but just before crossing the Waterville/Winslow Bridge another mechanical wonder sits almost forgotten. Enclosed to protect it from the elements and possible vandals sits the Lombard Log Hauler. These two machines are familiar fixtures to the city’s

landscape, but few know of their important past.

The locomotive is a typical Pacific-class passenger engine built by the American Locomotive Company for the Maine Central Railroad in 1924.

On June 13, 1954, this 4-6-2 made its final trip from Portland, passing through Waterville and ending in Bangor. The 4-6-2 describes the wheel arrangement of the locomotive; 4 leading wheels on two axles, 6 powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and 2 trailing wheels on a single axle. The 4-6-2 Pacific design was by far one of the most popular express passenger designs worldwide, with a total of 7,300 being built by Baldwin and the American Locomotive Co. The train was a gift from Maine Central to the city of

Waterville marking the railroad’s 100th birthday in the fall of 1962. Maine Central Railroad is long gone now and the property adjacent to the “Old 470” has changed hands a few times since, but the majestic looking steam engine still remains as a reminder of Waterville’s past. The railyard in Waterville was Maine Central’s locomotive shops, where all of the railroad’s major repairs were done, making Waterville a vital stop not only for passengers and frieght, but for maintenance and repairs along the Maine Central route.

The train itself is in desperate need of repair. The many years of being exposed to harsh winters and humid summers have taken a toll on the mechanical marvel. Vandals have also taken their toll as well by removing (continued on page 54)

Phil Carter’s Garage “Serving you since 1960”

Air Conditioning Specialist

Registered With International Mobile Air Conditioning Certification Association (IMACA)

From Foreign & Domestic to 18-Wheelers When It Comes To Air Conditioning, Phil Carter’s Garage Is The Only Name!

Tune-Ups • Exhausts • Brakes Complete Car Care Needs

453-6310

1 Pleasant Drive, Benton Station

A.E. HODSDON ENGINEERS Established 1974

Master Heating Technician Lic# MS20005994 Master Plumber Lic# MS2703

453-4997

cell: 877-3203 brianbickford@gmail.com

16 Bickford Drive • Fairfield, ME

Civil  Mechanical  Environmental Specialists in the Water Utility Field Site Development & Permitting 10 Common Street  Waterville

207-873-5164

aehodsdon.com ~ Engineers Who Still Practice As Professionals ~

eurO-K

Specializing in Audi & Volkswagen since 1998

Low Labor & Parts Rates New & Used Parts Diagnostic Testing

453-7446

euro-k@hotmail.com 326 Neck Road • Benton, ME

Greater Kennebec Valley

54

(continued from page 53) several dials and guages, adding grafitti and breaking glass and other parts. It is one of only three remaining Maine Central steam locomotives still in existance and the only one still in Maine.

In an article that appeared in the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal in September of 2012 it was indicated that the cost to repair this treasure sits somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million. The train sits as a reminder of a once-booming industry that was lost as Mainers and Americans moved toward cars and trucks as a more viable mode of transportation for themselves and the goods that were produced here in central Maine. The railyard is still busy, owned now by Pan Am Railways.

There are no passengers now ― only box cars, tankers and cars loaded with pulp wood or lumber heading to mills or to markets far away. The “old 470” is simply a reminder of when getting there was half the fun and a true adventure could be found just in the journey.

In contrast, the Lombard Steam Log hauler was a marvel of ingenuity and necessity. It was invented by Alvin Lombard who acquired a patent in 1901 on a track that would give the wheels traction in mud and snow. The track system was the forefather to all of the other track type or “crawler” type vehicles to follow. It was during that same year that Mr. Lombard built the first log hauler at the Waterville Iron Works, which was located in the Head of Falls area of Waterville. The first two log haulers were used near Eustis. They had upright steam boilers and were steered by using a team of horses.

Later models resembled a steam locomotive, and instead of being steered using horses, a steersman’s platform was added in front of the boiler over a large pair of skis. Each loghauler required a 4-man crew to operate it. The steerman at the front, an engineer and fireman in the cab behind the boiler, and a conductor who rode on the sleds and signaled

the others using a bell rope or wire. The early models were deigned to pull three sleds, but later designs pulled on average eight. A train could carry anywhere from 40,000 to over 100,000 board feet of lumber, or more impressive, close to three hundred tons! A perilous job that was once done by horses over icy and snow-covered roads in the cold depths of winter was now done by a machine that itself weighed close to 30 tons and had a top speed of five miles an hour.

When it was going downhill, the machine’s top speed was decided by gravity. The loghaulers did not have brakes.

Eighty-three Lombard Log Haulers were built up until 1917, when production shifted away from steam power to the internal combustion engine. In 1912 the Lombard Traction Engine Co. developed a gasoline driven log hauler that was rated at 100 horsepower. The new machine was much lighter than its steam counterpart, and that increased its manuverability. In 1934 Lombard

Larsen’s Jewelry ~ Serving You Since 1962 ~

“Our Customers Come First!”

222 College Ave. 135 Waldo Ave. Waterville, Maine Belfast, Maine 207-872-5602 207-338-5160 Now serving Unity, Thorndike & Belfast

www.kswfcu.org

Serving Central Maine Builders and Remodelers since 1925

14 North Street Waterville, ME 207-873-3371

www.warebutler.com

Watches • Diamonds Expert Watch Repair Stonesetting • Goldsmithing

207-872-6301 1-800-697-1874

57 Main Street • Waterville, ME larsensjewelers.com

207-314-6352

www.sabasphotography.com 223 COLLEGE AVE WATERVILLE ME 04901

MORRISSETTE INC.

AUTO DETAILING 207-872-2601

www.morrissetteinc.com

Do you love Maine like we love Maine?

Subscribe to Discover Maine Magazine Call 1-800-753-8684 • (207) 874-7720 www.discovermainemagazine.com

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built a diesel model, but trucks were becoming far more common, and the days of the Lombard Log haulers came to an end.

The haulers were used mostly in Maine, New Hampshire and Quebec, but a few ventured away, one as far as Russia. Though their span of use was short, the Lombard Log Haulers were vital in the woods and were innovative for their time. The invention of the track system alone was ahead of its time and helped to move our nation’s military and construction industry forward.

Waterville, like the rest of Maine, has a vast and rich history, full of marvels and technological advances that don’t seem like much by today’s standards, but with each small step came a grander view of the world. Waterville is always looking ahead to the future, but it never has forgotten its past. So the next time you are in the “Elm City” swing by the “old 470” off College Avenue,

or park on Front Street and walk down to the Log Hauler on display down near the end of the bridge and marvel at the history that is involved with these two pieces of ancient machinery. Maybe they will inspire you to create the next innovation that will advance mankind the way these two machines did in their day.

Kim’s Garage

Weeks & Sons WELL DRILLING

& 24 Hour Towing Service

Serving the Community since 1973

DID YOU KNOW? Skowhegan’s Daniel Dole, a missionary to the Hawaiian Islands, became the first president of Oahu College.

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

Family Owned and Operated For Over 50 Years

Specializing in Hammer Drilling

A Quilt in Time Your Long Arm Quilters Jill & Bill Robinson Owners

• Auto Body Repair & Painting • Damage-Free Wheel Lift & Flatbeds • All Types of Automotive Repairs

873-2376

420 China Rd., Winslow, ME

D&L Country Store ~ Open 7 Days A Week ~

Redemption Center Guns • Beer and Wine Sandwiches - “Home of The Belly Buster” Dawn & Lou Vasvary

207-465-3439

573 Smithfield Rd. • Oakland, ME

lufkinrobinson@roadrunner.com 29 County Road Oakland, Maine

207-716-2093 cell: 649-4398

427 E. Side Trail • Oakland, ME 04963

Winslow Automotive & Tire Support Your Local Automotive Repair Business

Kelly Grenier - Owner

207-872-7200

Excavation & Septic Systems LOAM GRAVEL SAND

465-3815 Cell: 314-0314

207-692-2123

25 Augusta Road • Winslow, ME 04901

P.O. Box 146 • Belgrade, Maine 04917

Greater Kennebec Valley

56

1938 map of Bingham (pl. 46) available at: www.Galeyrie.com

jimmy’s automotive

36 Rome Rd. Rome, ME 04963

Jimmy Davie

Owner/Mechanic

The Tree Man

•Brakes •Exhaust

GATEWAY RECREATION AND LODGING 7 Fully Equipped Cabins for Snowmobilers, ATV’s & the Outdoor Enthusiast!

Trimming, Take Downs & Brush Chipping

•Used Tires

Serving Central Maine & The Belgrade Lakes Region

•Bodywork • Computer Engine Diagnostics

Work: 207-616-0301 • Cell: 207-877-5307

~ Licensed and Insured ~ 30 Years Experience Paul LaBonte

748 Augusta Road • Winslow, Maine

207-397-2086

Wide Open

Todd West welcomes you to

Welding Fabrication & Design Machine Shop Services

Randy Cates rscates59@aol.com

Home: 207-672-3834 Cell: 207-858-3972

10 Windy Drive • Bingham, ME 04920

JIMMY’S SHOP ‘N SAVE Convenient to ITS 87 • Custom Fresh Cut Meats • Fresh Produce • All Your Grocery And Snack Needs • Agency Liquor Store MAIN STREET • BINGHAM

672-5528

JIMMYSBINGHAM.COM

Route 201 • Bingham, ME

1-800-440-0053

www.gateway-rec.com • lodge@gwi.net

E.W. Moore & Son Pharmacy Established 1894

Big Enough To Serve you...

Small Enough To Care

Prescriptions • Health & Beauty Boyds Bears • Yankee Candles Maine Souvenirs & Postcards Jewelry • Toys, Games & Models Chet Hibbard, R Ph.

(Tel) 672-3312 1-800-814-4495 337 Main Street, Bingham

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Early view of Main Street in Bingham. Item #104257 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

The Gateway to the Maine Woods Bingham Moscow Solon Caratunk The Forks West Forks

ITS 84 & 87

Accommodations & Restaurants

207-672-4100

www.upperkennebecvalleychamber.com ukvcofc@yahoo.com Upper Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce

BERRY’S STORE Gas • Groceries • Beer Lottery Tickets • Agency Liquor Pizza • Deli • Sandwiches 663-4461 • West Forks, ME Winter Hours 5am - 7pm

M.A. VINING CONCRETE Matthew Vining Owner/Operator

207-668-2034

Forms • Slabs • Foundations Free Estimates • Fully Insured

423 Main St. • Jackman, ME 04945

Phone: 668-9594 • Cell: 399-2690

Email: MargarettePoml@live.com

16 Forest Street • Jackman, ME

www.oldcanadaroadinn.com

maviningconcrete@gmail.com

Greater Kennebec Valley

58

Company A 1st Regiment Portland Light Infantry in Augusta ca. 1892. Item #5450 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

Enjoy Discover Maine All Year!

Discover Maine Magazine is 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.

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Directory of Advertisers

Business

Page

18 Below Raw Bar & Grill Lounge ...............bk cover 3 Springs Greenhouse ................................................28 3D Home Improvements ........................................... 22 A Quilt In Time .......................................................... 55 A to Z Custom Picture Framing ............................... 50 A.E. Hodsdon Engineers ........................................... 53 A+ Home Maintenance LLC .................................... 47 A1 Diner ..................................................................... 24 ABT Plumbing, Heating & Cooling ......................... 26 ADA Fence Company, Inc. ........................................ 32 All-Seasons Automotive .............................................21 Alpha Video ................................................................14 At Home Electric ........................................................26 Augusta Civic Center .................................................14 B&J & Daughters .......................................................39 B&T Quality Firewood ..............................................12 Back Road Auto Repair .............................................34 Ballard Meats & Seafood ...........................................24 Bear Mountain Repair ...............................................43 Berry’s Store ...............................................................57 Black Bear Graphics & Supply .................................45 Blanchet Builders, LLC ............................................ 31 Blanchette Moving & Storage Co. ............................. 3 Bob’s Cash Fuel ..........................................................46 Bowdoin Town Store ....................................................5 Brian Bickford Plumbing & Heating .......................53 Brickyard Cafe ...........................................................44 Bruce A. Manzer, Inc. ............................................... 29 Bryant Stove & Music, Inc. ....................................... 12 C&D Mosher Construction & Remodeling ............ 37 C&S Market .............................................................. 15 C.Caprara Food Service Equipment ....................... 18 Canaan Motel ............................................................ 33 Canty Construction, LLC ........................................ 24 Caron and Son Screening Company ....................... 47 Carrabassett Real Estate & Property Mgmt ......... 39 Castonguay Meats ......................................................43 Central Maine Pig Roasting ......................................21 Central Maine Services ............................................. 21 China Area Wash & Dry & Self Storage ................. 22 Conlogue’s Building & Property Management .......27 Cushing Construction ................................................26 D&L Country Store ................................................... 55 D.H. Pinnette & Sons, Inc. ......................................... 3 D.P. Welding & Fabrication, Inc. ..............................46 D.R. Salisbury & Son, LLC ...................................... 39 DAC Distributors, Inc. .............................................. 51 Damon’s Beverage Mart ........................................... 16 Damon’s Pizza & Italians ......................................... 13 Dan’s Used Cars & Parts .......................................... 52 Daryl Horak Logging ................................................ 12 Dave Kerr & Sons .....................................................50 David Stevens Exacavation & Septic Systems.......... 55 Decker-Simmons American Legion Post 51 ............ 37 Dionne & Son Builders ..............................................32 Double D Truck & Auto Repair ................................ 12 Doug Tourtelotte Excavation ..................................... 9 Doug’s Garage ............................................................51 Downtown Diner ........................................................15 Dream On A Stream Alpaca Ranch ..........................18 Drywall Unlimited ......................................................17 Dunkin Donuts ............................................................ 4 Dunn & Pakulski Optometrists ................................48 E.W. Moore & Son Pharmacy ................................. 56 Ed Hodsdon Masonry ................................................10 Elmer’s Barn & Antique Mall ...................................11 Eric’s Restaurant , Catering & Banquets ............... 36 Euro-K ........................................................................ 53 Everclean Water Treatment Systems ........................23 Evergreen Self Storage .............................................. 52 Fairfield Antiques Mall ............................................... 8 Family Fitness Tao Karate Club ...............................18 Family Pet Connection & Grooming ........................48 Farmington Farmers Union ......................................44 Farrin’s Country Auctions ........................................20 Fat Toad’s Pub .......................................................... 24 Fayette Country Store ............................................... 18 Fine Line Paving & Grading .....................................30 Finish Line Construction ...........................................31 Fireside Inn & Suites Waterville .............................. 35 Fleet Service ................................................................24 Floormaster North ..................................................... 30 Framemakers ............................................................. 35 Franklin Savings Bank ............................................... 5 Franklin-Somerset Federal Credit Union ................ 6 Frederick Heating ...................................................... 47 Friendly Neighbor Redemption ..................................9 Fusion Dining & Entertainment ...............................20 G.A. Doughty Construction .......................................21 Galeyrie Maps & Custom Frames ..............................6 Gateway Recreation and Lodging ............................56

Business

Page

Geno’s Garage ............................................................ 11 George’s Banana Stand ............................................. 49 Goggin’s IGA ..............................................................10 Goodwin’s Roofing .....................................................33 Graf Mechanical .........................................................48 Green Bean Coffee Shop ........................................... 22 Greene Village Pharmacy ..........................................20 Griswold’s Country Store & Diner ...........................40 Group Adams Propane Services ................................43 Grover Hinckley American Legion Post 14 ..............33 Hammond Lumber Company ...................................25 Hardy’s Motorsports ................................................. 47 Harris Drug Store ...................................................... 41 Harris Real Estate ..................................................... 27 Harvest Time Natural Foods .................................... 23 Hight Chevrolet ........................................................... 7 Hilltop Store ............................................................... 12 Holly & Doug’s Country Diner .................................29 Hurricane Cleaners ................................................... 32 Hydraulic Hose & Assembly ...................................... 4 Image Auto Body ........................................................47 Indian Summer Tanning & Beauty Salon ................31 Insulation Solutions Inc. ............................................37 J. Landry Builders ......................................................30 Jackman Auto Parts ...................................................40 Jackman Power Sports ..............................................40 James A. Wrigley Well Drilling .................................. 8 James’ Eddy ................................................................17 Jay-Livermore-Livermore Falls Chamber .............. 43 Jean Castonguay Excavating .....................................27 Jen’s Hair Studio ........................................................49 Jimmy’s Automotive .................................................. 56 Jimmy’s Shop ‘N Save ............................................... 56 JRD Electrical Services ...............................................9 JT’s Finest Kind Saw .................................................46 June’s Restaurant .......................................................11 Katie Q. Convenience ..................................................4 Kelley Petroleum Products, Inc. ................................48 Kennebec Guns ...........................................................14 Kennebec Metal Recycling ........................................47 Kennebec Montessori School ....................................33 Kennebec River Artisans ...........................................16 Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce ................16 Kim’s Garage ............................................................. 55 Kincer Funeral Home, Inc. .........................................9 Knowles Lumber Company ....................................... 9 Kokernak Generator ..................................................17 Kramers Inc. ...............................................................36 KSW Federal Credit Union .......................................54 KV Tax Service, Inc. ...................................................10 L.N. Violette Co. Inc. ..................................................52 L.R. Nadeau, Inc. ........................................................25 La Fleur’s Restaurant ................................................26 Ladd’s Plumbing ........................................................20 Lakeview Lumber Co. ................................................13 Lakewood Continuing Care Center .........................35 Laney’s Pit Stop ..........................................................50 Larsen Masonry .........................................................36 Larsen’s Jewelry .........................................................54 Last Chance Garage & Custom Fab ........................ 25 Lavallee’s Garage .......................................................57 Law Office of Brian D. Condon, Jr., Esq. .................25 Leavitt Realty ............................................................. 26 Leland’s Masonry ...................................................... 37 Liberty Sports .............................................................21 Linkletter & Sons, Inc. ...............................................51 Luce’s Maine-Grown Meats ..................................... 28 M. Thai Restaurant ................................................... 32 M.A. Grant Logging .................................................. 22 M.A. Mathews .............................................................16 M.A. Vining Concrete ............................................... 57 Macomber, Farr & Whitten ...................................... 15 Maine Historical Society ............................................. 6 Maine Solar .................................................................45 Maine State Credit Union ......................................... 23 Maine-ly Elder Care .................................................. 38 Mainers to the Bayou .................................................42 Marshall’s Automotive Machine, Inc. ...................... 31 Masonry & General Contracting ..............................45 MC Auto Body ............................................................46 McAllister Accounting & Tax Services .....................44 Meadow Lanes ........................................................... 44 Merle Lloyd & Sons Earthwork Contractors ..........46 Merrill’s Bookshop .....................................................16 Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce ......................... 35 Mike Wainer Plumbing & Heating ...........................38 Mike’s Auto Body .......................................................50 Ming Lee Chinese Restaurant ...................................34 Monkitree ....................................................................24 Moosehead Sled Repair & Rentals ........................... 41 Moosehead Motorsports ........................................... 41

Business

Page

Morrissette Auto Detailing, Inc. ...............................54 Morrow’s Garage .......................................................38 Motor Supply Co. .........................................................5 Mt. Blue Drug .............................................................27 Nadeau’s Ground Works ...........................................13 New England Mechanical ..........................................36 Northeast Laboratory Services .................................. 8 Northern Mountains Real Estate ..............................40 Old Canada Road Inn ................................................57 Old Mill Stream Ice Cream Shoppe ..........................18 Olympic Awards & Recognition ............................... 53 Omnigraphique ......................................................... 53 Orr Excavation .......................................................... 28 Out On A Limb Tree Service .....................................21 Parsons Small Engine, Archery & Gun Shop ...........13 Patterson’s General Store ..........................................50 Pen-Bay Tractor Co. ...................................................51 Penobscot Marine Museum .......................................19 Performance Automotive Restoration ......................10 Perkins Management .................................................35 Phil Carter’s Garage ..................................................53 Pinkham’s Elm St. Market ........................................46 Plum Creek .................................................................34 Poulin Electric Motors ...............................................15 R&D Self Storage ....................................................... 51 R.F. Automotive Repair ............................................. 50 R.J. Energy Services, Inc. ..........................................14 Ramada Inn - Lewiston & Conference Center ........ 20 Randy R. Thompson Carpentry ................................44 Randy’s Full Service Auto Repair .............................30 Ray’s Gun Shop ..........................................................18 RDM Electric ..............................................................45 Redington-Fairview General Hospital ..................... 31 Rick’s Garage .............................................................28 Robert Riggs Realtor ................................................. 26 Robert’s Auto Center .................................................. 9 Robin L. Day & Sons ................................................. 38 Roche Enterprises, Inc. ............................................. 23 Rod’s Cycle and RV ................................................... 29 Rolfe’s Well Drilling Co. ........................................... 23 Route 17 Auto Sales & Scrap Yard .......................... 11 S.D. Childs & Sons Excavation ................................ 12 Saba’s Photography ...................................................54 Sackett & Brake Survey, Inc. ....................................49 Shampoo Hair Salon .................................... .............15 Shamrock Stoneworks & Landscaping, Inc. ...........27 Siegler Stringed Instruments .................................... 45 Skowhegan & Waterville Tire Center ......................49 Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce ................49 Skowhegan Driving School, LLC ..............................47 Slate’s Restaurant & Bakery .................................... 17 Solon Corner Market ................................................ 39 Solon Superette .......................................................... 39 Sprague & Curtis Real Estate .................................. 23 Staples Hardware & Building Supply ..................... 40 Stevens Electric & Pump Service Inc. ...................... 8 Stevens Forest Products .............................................37 Sun Auto & Salvage ................................................... 48 Sunset Flowerland & Greenhouses ...........................52 T.E. Berry Excavation & Trucking ...........................22 Tanglz Hair Studio .....................................................29 Taste of Greater Waterville ....................................... 35 Taylor’s Drug Store ....................................................29 Temple Well Drilling, Inc. ..........................................20 The Black Frog ........................................................... 41 The Blue Willow Tea Room .......................................20 The Carrabassett Group, LLC ..................................39 The Depot ....................................................................25 The Meadows ..............................................................10 The Tree Man ..............................................................56 Tindall’s Country Store & Dam Diner .....................28 Tom Finn Shoe Repair ............................................... 13 Top Dollar Coin & Currency .................................... 39 TP Construction ......................................................... 41 Trudeau’s Lumber 2 ................................................. 28 Twins Country Store ................................................. 14 Upper Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce .... 57 Vasvary Electric ........................................................ 17 Village Market ........................................................... 34 Vintage Maine Images ................................................ 6 W.D. Bickford Machinery ..........................................34 Ware-Butler, Inc. ....................................................... 54 Weeks & Sons Well Drilling .......................................55 White’s Auto ................................................................11 Whittemore Realty Group .........................................26 Wide Open Welding & Machine Shop ..................... 56 Winslow Automotive & Tire ..................................... 55 Woodlawn Rehab & Nursing Center ....................... 30 Wood-Mizer of Maine ................................................43 Yay It’s Fix’d ...............................................................37

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2014 Greater Kennebec Valley Edition Greater Kennebec Valley

Welcome to Waterville’s Newest Restaurant RAW BAR ENTREES Oysters on the half shell Bermuda Onion Crusted Little Neck Clams Yellow Fin Tuna Panko Crusted Lobster Cutlets APPETIZERS Caramelized Diver Sea Scallops Oysters Rockefeller Maine Crab Stuffed Haddock Maine Crab Cakes Chipotle Grilled Collossal Shrimp P.E.I. Mussels Maple Glazed Cedar Plank Salmon Pan Seared Yellow Fin Tuna Seafood Paella Rosemary Marinated Rack of Lamb Char~Grilled Prime NY Strip AMAZING FARE Spinach & Roasted Tomato Stuffed PLEASING ATMOSPHERE Portabellas TRENDY AND BEAUTIFUL LOUNGE

All Items Listed On This Menu Are Fresh, Never Frozen, Locally Procured When Possible From Maine Farmers & Fishermen. Enjoy!

CORRECT SERVICE THINK GLOBALLY ACT LOCALLY DRESS CASUALLY

TUESDAY ~ SATURDAY 4PM~1AM 18 SILVER STREET • WATERVILLE • 861-4454

Ranked #1 in Waterville!

1834 map of the Kennebec River available at: www.Galeyrie.com