2023 Penobscot-Piscataquis-Hancock Counties

by James Nalley

According to Weather Spark, the cold season in this region lasts from December 3 to March 14, with an average high temperature below 39 F. The coldest month is January, with an average low of 13 F and a high of 30 F. If you have chosen to remain indoors as much as possible, then there is a good chance that cabin fever has set in, which can negatively impact your health. Thus, Healthline recommends connecting with nature and getting your body moving. In this regard, a possible activity is ice skating.

Ice skating most likely developed in Scandinavia as early as 1000 BC, with the first skates made from shank/ rib bones of elk, oxen, and reindeer. It is not known when metal blades were introduced, but early Dutch prints depict skates with metal ones. In 17th-century England, the first skating club was established in Scotland in 1742. In the late 1740s, British servicemen introduced ice skating to North America. There is even evidence of Marie-Antoinette skating at the French court in 1776 and Napoleon Bonaparte skating in Auxerre, France, in 1781.

The first artificially frozen rink was the Glaciarium which opened in Lon-

Never Mind

don, England, in 1876. Subsequently, the first such rink in the United States was installed at the old Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1879. Throughout the 20th century, an increasing number of public rinks with artificially produced ice appeared. However, in the colder states, with their constant below-freezing temperatures, it is easy to lace up a pair of skates and hit the ice outdoors.

Although there is a seemingly endless number of frozen ponds, lakes, and indoor/outdoor rinks throughout Maine, here are some suggestions (in no particular order) in this part of the state. First, there is Stillwater Park Playground in Bangor. This playground turns into ice skating fun in late December when the weather permits. The lights at the park also allow for evening skating. Second, there is the Penobscot Ice Arena in Brewer. Home of the Brewer Witches and the Hampden Broncos, this indoor rink offers public skating as well as youth and adult hockey. Third, there is the Piscataquis County Ice Area in Dover-Foxcroft. This $5.5 million indoor arena offers everything from public skating to skating classes, youth, and adult hockey, and even curling. Fourth,

there is the Bucksport Ice Rink. This outdoor rink, located at 29 Miles Lane is open from sunrise to 9 p.m. seven days a week. Finally, there is the Ellsworth Ice Rink. Located in Knowlton Park, this outdoor rink is managed by the Ellsworth Recreation Commission, and it temporarily closes for maintenance, due to the deer crossing the rink before the ice is solidly frozen.

Well, on this note, let me close with the following jest: A woman sits at a bar and orders a drink. The bartender grabs a glass, a handful of ice, and makes a drink. She says, “Ewww, I’m not drinking that! You touched the ice with your hands! Use the ice tongs!” The bartender replies, “Ma’am, my hands are in water all day and they are clean,” after which she says, “I don’t care! Use the ice tongs!” So, he makes another drink, carefully using the ice tongs. After she finishes her drink, she notices a string hanging off of the bartender’s fly. She asks, “Why is that string on your pants?” He says, I use it to unzip my pants when I go to the bathroom, so I don’t touch anything.” She ponders this and asks, “Well, how do you get it out of your pants?” He replies, “With the ice tongs.”

The 1863 Republican State Convention

Bangor’s hospitality industry was not prepared

by Brian Swartz

Some out-of-town delegates arriving in Bangor for the July 1863 Republican State Convention found the Queen City ill-prepared to handle such an event, but the political rah-rah-sis-boom-bah nevertheless radiated throughout the convention coinciding with the battle of Gettysburg.

Officially styled the “United States Convention,” the conflab drew hordes of delegates from all over Maine. The convention should have seen delegates renominate Governor Abner Coburn of Skowhegan, but after discovering he could not manipulate the indepen-

dent-minded Coburn, political bigwig James G. Blaine maneuvered to replace him with Samuel Cony, a War Democrat from Augusta who had switched parties. The convention’s outcome and Coburn’s fate were determined long before delegates crammed into Norumbega Hall on Central Street on Wednesday, July 1.

Bangor “never had her capacity to ‘take in’ strangers more thoroughly tested,” said a Portland delegate who rattled and swayed into Bangor aboard “a long train of cars from the west” on Tuesday, June 30. After disembarking

at the Maine Central Railroad station near the Penobscot River waterfront, the “passengers (mostly delegates) made a dash for the Bangor House.”

Businessman Orrin M. Shaw had leased the well-known Bangor House the previous fall. Upon taking over the hotel, he assured his potential guests “that no effort on his [Shaw’s] part will be wanting to render the establishment … every way worthy [of] the consideration of the traveling public.” Located at the intersection of Main and Hammond streets, the hotel then offered billiard rooms, bowling alleys, and “a

Lori Whitten President

large and commodious stable.”

That same day “a long special train came in from the west, with large delegations from the Kennebec [Valley], attended by the Gardiner Band,” a well-known organization that often performed at public functions across the lower half of Maine.

The Portland delegate and his five traveling companions discovered the Bangor House was already booked up. The men rushed to the multi-story Penobscot Exchange Hotel, built in 1827. “Not doubting that it in its broad dimensions would be found plenty of vacant lots,” he discovered that “it was no go.

“All [rooms] were crammed full, and sorrowfully did the cadaverous and dusty crowd turn away” to find rooms “at less pretentious houses,” the delegate said. “The Franklin and the Dwinel were sought and found crowded.”

The six men wondered if they might be “obliged to sleep on some friendly doorstep or some hospitable front

yard.” Then the men “dropped into a good-looking house that shall be nameless,” and the landlord offered each man a cot or couch for $20.

Some men paid; the Portland delegate and others declined the pricey digs. All six delegates paid 50 cents for “a supper which could not be furnished except in shreds and bits.” The men swilled down tea that they discovered matched “the color of the bottom of the cups.”

Then the delegate and some companions not staying in that location “drifted to the Bangor House.” To their surprise Shaw offered each man an affordable couch. The men “were not long in transferring our collapsible carpet bag” to the Bangor House.

Meanwhile, their companions who shelled out twenty bucks apiece at the first location discovered the next day they had “had not only fought but bled for their rights, and that more delegates were found in their rooms than they had bargained for.” (cont. on page 6)

13HP

9.5’

(cont. from page 5)

Awakened during the night by creepy crawlies, a Wiscasset delegate “arose from his bed, struck a light, and found that his couch was literally alive with the biggest kind of bugs that ever congregated to do honor to a stranger,” the Portland delegate learned.

The Wiscasset delegate turned out the landlord and showed him the swarming bugs. The delegate said the couch was unacceptable. “Very strange, but some people never can endure bugs!” the landlord said as he moved his guest to another sleeping surface.

Blaine opened the convention with a pounding gavel around 11 a.m., Wednesday, July 1. Norumbega Hall “was crowded to its utmost capacity,” the Portland delegate observed. Officially 1,274 delegates representing 298 cities and towns packed the hall, where “the heat was intense” and the “patriotism and mercury were at a high figure.”

That afternoon Blaine stood and announced that Coburn (after realizing how strong the Blaine-inspired opposition to his nomination had become) “would cheerfully and most cordially” support the candidate selected at the convention. However, the first round of voting saw Cony receiving only 56 votes more than Coburn.

Standing amidst the crowd, a Skowhegan delegate announced that Coburn had authorized withdrawing his name from consideration. “Most loudly” cheering the news, delegates then voted overwhelmingly to nominate Cony to run as governor.

“Those who voted against” Coburn “did so from no feeling of hostility to him, but because they” thought the Maine Republican Party should approach the election “with a new man,” the Portland delegate said. “The proceedings moved forward with a harmony unbroken by a single ripple.”

After the convention adjourned in late afternoon, “the crowd rushed to the depot” and packed “ten large cars” for transportation to western Maine destinations, the delegate said. He and his companions boarded a train that would reach Portland at 1 a.m., Thursday, July 2.

Ellsworth’s Lucilius Alonzo Emery

Attorney rose to become Maine’s chief justice

by Brian Swartz

took an Ellsworth attorney to the top of Maine’s legal system in the early 1900s.

The son of James and Eliza (Wing) Emery, Lucilius Alonzo Emery was born in Carmel on July 27, 1840. The family moved to Hampden in 1850, and James Emery became a well-known merchant and shipbuilder. Lucilius Emery attended Hampden Academy and pursued a law degree at Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in 1861. He then studied law with Bangor attorney A. Willis Paine and gained admittance to the Penobscot County bar in August 1863.

That October, Emery moved to Ellsworth and partnered with attorney Samuel Waterhouse to practice law. The men continued their partnership for four years. Elected the Hancock County attorney in 1866, Emery replaced outgoing county attorney Eugene Hale, who was just launching his political career.

Emery married Anne E. Crosby, a Hampden native whose brother, Henry, had gone to war as the captain of Co. A, 22nd Maine Infantry Regiment. He immortalized the Crosby name in Hampden after being mortally wounded at Port Hudson in Louisiana in mid-June 1863. Lucilius and Anne Crosby would have two children: a daughter, Anne Crosby Emery, and a son, Henry Crosby Emery, named after his late uncle.

Emery and Hale opened a joint law practice in 1868. Elected to the Maine Senate in 1874 and 1875, Emery succeeded Harris Plaisted as Maine attorney general in 1876. Serving in that position until 1879, Emery won election

to the state senate in 1880.

Governor Frederick Robie appointed him to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court as an associate justice on October 5, 1883. Governor William T. Cobb named him the chief justice on December 14, 1906.

Throughout his judicial career, many people appearing before Emery regarded him as “a stern man,” but “nothing was ever farther from the truth,” a Maine newspaper claimed. “He has a splendid appreciation of humor” not evident in the courtroom, where Emery strove “by example and other means to maintain that dignity, which he felt the law and the court should have, to be effective.

“It is this dignity in Justice Emery which many mistake for sternness,” the newspaper explained. Friends often saw the other side of Emery, who could “relax, putting dignity aside, stick his feet up on a chair or veranda rail, while telling stories and having a jolly good time.”

When in court, Emery was not above reprimanding “an attorney for a breach of etiquette in the courtroom,” and he concealed his opinion no matter the case being heard. He presided over a particularly egregious trial in Bangor during the 1900s, but no one present could tell from his demeanor or expression how he felt as the day-long trial unfolded.

The state had charged a 38-year-old man for criminally assaulting a fouryear-old girl. The state’s attorney laid out the ample evidence, and onlookers thought the defendant’s “guilt was conclusive.”

Jury members watched as Emery “carefully guarded” the defendant’s interests; onlookers later agreed that as the judge delivered his charge to the jury, he “leaned, if at all,” toward the defendant, perhaps suggesting that Emery thought the man was innocent.

The jury found him guilty. Afterwards in his chambers, Emery told an (cont. on page 10)

(cont. from page 9)

attorney that “I feared it would be otherwise,” with the defendant going free. “I never saw a clearer case of guilt or heard of a more brutal crime than this. Hanging is too easy a punishment for that brute.”

When not in court, Emery had an established routine. Getting up early every morning and drinking coffee, he voraciously read about specific topics, enjoyed his breakfast, and then went into his chambers to research legal precedence and write opinions on current cases. After lunch and a short rest period, he resumed work until mid- to late afternoon, when he would go for a long walk. Until a few years prior to retiring as chief justice, Emery was often seen riding a bicycle around Ellsworth.

Writing Governor Harris Plaisted on Monday, June 26, 1911, Emery indicated he would resign effective Wednesday, July 26 (the day before his 75th birthday). “He has earned a long vaca-

tion. He has been a tremendous worker,” a local newspaper praised Emery. “No judge on the bench has ever given more time and energy to the duties than he. This is saying much, for the court of this State is not made up of drones.”

The Emerys traveled to Brunswick in spring 1911 to attend the festivities surrounding the 50th anniversary of the Class of ’61. Bowdoin conferred honorary degrees on Anne Crosby Emery (who had married Francis G. Allinson) and Henry Crosby Emery, an 1892 Bowdoin grad. A political economy professor at Yale University from 1901 to 1909, he had become the U.S. Tariff Board’s chairman.

The Maine State Bar Association honored Emery with a banquet held at the Bangor House in Bangor on July 27. The judge enjoyed his retirement until dying at his Hancock Point cottage on August 26, 1920.

A MUST READ!!!

Written by Maine at War blogger and Discover Maine contributor Brian Swartz, the new book Maine At War, Volume 1: Bladensburg to Sharpsburg tells the story of Maine’s involvement in the first 18 months of the Civil War, as experienced by Maine men and women who answered the call to defend and preserve the United States. Maine At War Volume 1 draws on diaries, letters, regimental histories, newspaper articles, eyewitness accounts, and the Official Records to bring the war to life in a storytelling manner that captures the time and period.

Released by Epic Saga Publishing. Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers: 492 pages, 313 photos and illustrations. $30.00

by James Nalley

uring World War II, Operation Overlord (often referred to as D-Day) became the largest seaborne invasion in history. Occurring on June 6, 1944, this invasion began the liberation of France and laid the foundation for the Allied victory in Europe. Interestingly, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had tentatively set June 5 as the date, but the high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft. In addition, the low clouds prevented any aircraft from finding their targets. Thus, on the evening of June 4, Eisenhower met with Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force. Leading the U.S. team was a Bangor-born U.S. Army Air Force Officer who, as chief meteorol-

ogist, helped convince his superiors to select June 6 as the date. Besides, another postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, due to an impending storm.

Donald Norton Yates was born in Bangor on November 25, 1909. After graduating from Bangor High School in 1927, he went on to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. According to William Cassidy, a classmate of Yates, he was “bright and wellliked. He was an outstanding cadet, a very outgoing and happy person with an explosive laugh.” Yates graduated in the top third of his class in 1931. After West Point, he departed immediately for pilot training at Kelly Field, Texas.

His first military assignment was with the 23rd Bomb Squadron in Luke Field, Hawaii. However, in 1938, he enrolled as a graduate student in engineering and meteorology at the California Institute of Technology. He received his Master of Science degree in meteorology in 1939.

In 1941, Yates was the Assistant Chief of Weather at the Office of the Army Air Corps. However, after the outbreak of World War II in December of that year, he was appointed Deputy Director of Weather at Army Air Force Headquarters. This led to his involvement in the planning of D-Day in June 1944. Approximately six months before the invasion, teams of U.S. and British meteorologists (including Yates) prepared by studying weather charts from the past. According to the article D-Day Meteorologists Had Pressure Everywhere (2020) by Judith Miller, “Meteorologists (weather forecasters) did not have computers or data from satellites

during World War II. Instead, they used instruments on the ground, at sea, and in the air to collect weather data. For example, temperature was measured by a thermometer, wind speed was measured with anemometer, wind direction was determined by a wind vane, and precipitation was measured with a rain gauge.”

Needless to say, planning was difficult, since the ideal weather conditions were calm seas, clear skies, and light winds, none of which were regular occurrences in the English Channel. As stated earlier, British meteorologist James Stagg and U.S. Army Air Force Chief Meteorologist Yates noticed a break in the weather for June 6, after which Eisenhower set the invasion date. Stagg eventually wrote a book titled Forecast for Overlord (1971), which, according to many scholars, includes the most famous weather forecasts ever made.

Upon his return to the United States

in January 1945, Colonel Yates was made Chief of the Weather Division, which was eventually transformed into the Air Weather Service. He commanded this organization at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, until 1950. In 1947, he was promoted to brigadier general and officially transferred to the U.S. Air Force. In March of that year, he flew the first scheduled weather reconnaissance mission over the North Pole. By 1952, Yates had been promoted to major general and was the Director of Research and Development at U.S. Air Force Headquarters.

From 1954 to 1960, Yates was the commander of the Air Force Eastern Test Range, which extended from the eastern United States mainland through the south Atlantic Ocean and eastward into the Indian Ocean. This included all stations, sites, ocean areas, and air space necessary to conduct missile and space vehicle test and development. In this capacity, he helped launch one of (cont. on page 14)

(cont. from page 13)

the country’s first Earth satellites, the Navy Vanguard, and the Polaris ballistic missile. As stated by David Jones, a retired Air Force major general, “He was one of the pioneers in the missile business. There’s no question about that.”

In 1960, Yates was transferred to the Pentagon to become Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering. There, he helped formulate national policies regarding all space- and missile-related matters for the country. Upon his retirement in 1961, Yates worked for approximately 13 years with the Raytheon Co., which was (and still is) a multi-national aerospace and defense conglomerate, and one of the largest manufacturers of aerospace and defense products in the world. He rose to executive vice-president before retiring to Florida in the late 1970s.

On August 28, 1993, Yates died at his home in Longwood, Florida. He

Surface Weather Analysis Map on June 5, 1944

was 83 years of age. He had been suffering from emphysema and heart complications. He was subsequently buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His many honors include the Order of the British Empire, the French Legion of Honor, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, the U.S. Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the U.S. Army Legion of Merit. But perhaps the latter award summed up his service the best: “Through Yates’s good judgment, skill, and sound leadership, reconciliation of the differences in forecasting methods were affected, resulting in a procedure capable of utilizing the talents and facilities of both nations (U.S. and U.K.) and all services in a unified manner. It has since been proven that the day selected for the continental assault was probably the only day during the month of June on which the operation could have been launched.”

Bangor Hydroelectric Co. No. 54 passing No. 66 at the Westland Avenue Turnout, ca. 1938. Item # 6017 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

Bangor’s Richard Golden

by James Nalley

Down East comedian

Regarding humor, there are clear regional differences across the United States. For example, there is Southern humor, which, according to the Library of Southern Literature, is “boisterous and physical, often grotesque, and generally realistic.” As for Maine, there is Down East humor, of which its name can be traced to nautical terminology. Specifically, in the warm months, the winds along the coast of New England and Canada blow from the southwest, meaning ships sail downwind to go east. As such, the northeastern portions are said to be “Down East” in relation to cities such as Boston. Regarding the humor, it is usually dry with few words. For example, there is the typical exchange between a tourist

and a local: “Lived here all your life?”

“Not yet.” In this regard, there was a Bangor-born man, who, before the turn of the century, was an American stage actor whose play helped create and na-

tionalize the genre of Down East humor and made him one of the celebrated comedians of his generation.

Richard Golden was born in Bangor on July 6, 1854. The son of an Irish immigrant and dry goods merchant, he was not one to focus on school or assume that he would work in his father’s business. Instead, at the age of 13, he joined Allie’s Allied Shows, a Mexican-based circus touring the United States. In his mid-20s, he joined the Dora Wiley Opera Company and traveled the country performing operettas and comic operas. The leader was Dora Wiley, a renowned American soprano who performed operas and concerts in the United States, England, and Australia. Born in Bucksport, she earned

Richard Golden in 1901

Over time, Wiley and Golden married and continued to tour, despite the ups and downs of the field. According to The New York Times (August 1885), “The Dora Wiley Opera Company was stranded in Albany, New York, and Richard Golden, the comedian and husband of Miss Wiley, was laid up with malaria. They had been presenting 10cent operas at the Pavilion for the past month.” However, the couple’s fortunes had turned by 1888, when Wiley was invited to sing “Home, Sweet, Home” in front of President Grover Cleveland at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. In the following year, Golden co-wrote (with William Gill) the play Old Jed Prouty, which premiered at the Union Square Theatre in New York on May 14, 1889 and moved to the Harlem Opera House later that year. Golden impressed audiences with his comedic portrayal of an old, cranky

Maine Yankee tavern owner living in the coastal town of Bucksport, Maine. Conveniently, Wiley had a prominent singing part in the production.

In 1890, due to its success and rave reviews, the play began touring nationally. Although Golden would take on roles in other plays, he would continually revive Old Jed Prouty over the course of his career. He ultimately played the role more than 3,000 times throughout the eastern half of the United States.

Approximately two years later, Golden’s lucky streak had ended. Wiley divorced Golden and married her much younger manager, after which they returned to Bangor. With Wiley gone, Golden shut down his play in 1893 and joined the Pauline Hall Opera Company at the Tremont Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. However, by 1895, Golden was broke. According to The New York Times (June 1895),

“Golden appeared in debtor’s court declaring that he had ‘not a cent in the world.’” In the following year, Golden was in the alcoholic’s ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.

During the turn of the century, Golden was either broke or he quickly revived Old Jed Prouty, most likely for some badly needed funds. Meanwhile, newspapers reported that he was either “critically ill in a hotel room” or drawing large, appreciative audiences in various comedic roles. Despite his misfortunes, Golden eventually turned things around and became one of the most celebrated stars of American comic opera. In 1908, he even took part in the London production of The Dollar Princess, a German light opera. According to the Los Angeles Herald (August 1909), “Richard Golden died suddenly on board the houseboat Stroller, in Gravesend Bay (New York), where he was the guest of John New-

ton Porter. They were preparing to take a trip to Maine, when Golden became suddenly ill. Bright’s disease (i.e., inflammation of the kidneys, caused by toxins, infection, or autoimmune conditions) was the cause of death.” He was 55 years of age. He was subsequently buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor.

Aside from his once-prominent stage career and being one of the most celebrated comedians of his generation, he was the namesake of the former Jed Prouty Tavern and Inn in downtown Bucksport. Converted into a tavern and inn around 1820, it once hosted Daniel Webster and Presidents Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison. However, it remained largely vacant in the late 20th century. However, perhaps as a fitting homage to the old, witty (or cranky) stage character of Jed Prouty, the historic building now stands as the Jed Prouty Assisted Living Center.

Bucksport’s Frank Dunbar Beloved town barber for 54 years

by Brian Swartz

When Frank Manly Dunbar opened his barber shop on Main Street in Bucksport in 1962, he could not imagine that 60 years later his hometown would honor him and his business.

Born in Bucksport to Don and Kay Dunbar on January 5, 1939, Frank met Jacqueline Willett in grade school. They dated while attending Bucksport High, but their relationship “was not serious” until their senior year, Jackie recalled.

They graduated in June 1958. That November Frank enlisted in the Army for three years and trained as a Nike missile technician. He came home at Christmas and proposed to Jackie.

Then, arriving home on leave in August 1959, Frank “told me and everybody we were going to get married,” Jackie said. The wedding took place on September 1; “it was a Tuesday, and it was raining,” she remembered.

Frank returned to his California post. Jackie flew west to join him in October and started working for Bank of America. “We got to see the 71st [Annual] Tournament of Roses Parade,” an event she warmly remembers, but the Army soon sent Frank to a Nike missile battery in Georgia. Then he shipped to Thule Air Base in Greenland “a week or two before our first anniversary,” Jackie recalled, and Thule is where Frank’s lifelong barber career began.

After moving in with her parents in Bucksport, Jackie sent Frank a Sears & Roebuck barber kit with which he cut airmen’s hair to earn extra money. Frank enjoyed barbering; he returned home for good in August 1961 and attended the nine-month Hanson’s Barber School in Lewiston. The Dunbars’ first daughter, Diana (Dee Dee) was born while he learned barbering; her sister, Molly, was born 18 months later.

Renting space from businessman Ivan Braun, Frank opened his first barber shop on Main Street in Bucksport on June 22, 1962. According to Jackie, “there were seven other barber shops then in a small town, and he said, ‘What was I thinking?’”

for the haircuts, but to chat with Frank. “He was a home boy” who made many friends, Jackie said.

Frank operated his barber shop from seven different Main Street locations over his 54-year career. “He was known as the barber who moved the most in the State of Maine,” Jackie noted.

“He loved his town and his state,” she said. When Bucksport shifted from selectmen to town councilors, Frank won election to the first town council in 1970 and served until 1977. Belonging to the local Jaycees, he helped launch the waterfront clean-up that ultimately resulted in the popular Bucksport Waterfront Walkway. Frank served on Bucksport’s board of assessment and economic development committee.

“He loved his veterans.” Jackie said. Besides volunteering as the American Legion Post. No. 93 chaplain, Frank was a charter member of the Veterans’ (cont. on page 22)

Frank Dunbar (photo courtesy of the Dunbar family)

(cont. from page 21)

Memorial Committee that spearheaded placing the Bucksport veterans’ memorial near where Ivan Braun’s store (and Frank’s first barbershop) once stood.

A Bucksport Historical Society member, Frank had a keen interest in history, especially pertaining to World War II. “He liked keeping things alive that are important,” Jackie said.

Trained as an expert marksman while in the Army, Frank became a Maine firearms-safety instructor. He and Jackie enjoyed fishing, and “we hunted together all the time,” she said. “We hunted deer on our own land. We didn’t get a lot of deer, but we had a lot of fun.”

The Dunbars also hunted moose. Permit in hand, Frank borrowed a .300 Savage and a snowmobile trailer in autumn 1983, and “we tented 10 miles back in the woods” near Smyrna, Jackie said. “We had done our own scouting. I can do a pretty good moose call,” which lured in the first bull moose the Dunbars ever shot. Frank was a long-

time vice president of the Bucks Mills Rod and Gun Club and belonged to the Maine Antler & Skull Trophy Club for 20 years. Later in life he was appointed to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Advisory Commission.

Trained as an auctioneer in 1968, Frank traveled part time around Maine to run auctions for the next 12 years. Licensed as a notary public in 1989, he became “The Marrying Barber,” officiating at many weddings (including a grandson’s and a granddaughter’s).

Committed Christians, the Dunbars helped start the Nazarene church in Belfast and later the River of Hope Church of the Nazarene now meeting in the same Main Street building as Frank’s Barber Shop. His faith was vitally important to Frank.

His daughters Dee Dee and Molly both became licensed barbers. In the past Molly filled in for her father when available, and Dee Dee has worked

more than 28 years at Frank’s Barber Shop. She has continued operating it since her father retired in 2016, but even after retirement “he’d be in here,” Jackie said. “”He loved it. He would come into the shop and visit with his friends.

“He loved people. He was a great judge of character,” she said. “Integrity: His father had integrity, and he did, too.”

Frank fell seriously ill in December 2021 and died on Christmas Day. His family scheduled Frank’s celebration of life for June 25, 2022 and the Bucksport Town Council declared that Saturday as Frank Dunbar Day “in honor of his contributions to his country, his state and his community, and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the small business he started in Bucksport,” stated Bucksport Town Council Chairman Peter Stewart.

Pass on a tradition that will last a lifetime.

Tragedy Struck Maine’s Famed Washburn Family

Adapted from “Maine at

War”

by Brian Swartz

Foxcroft doctor happily married into an up-and-coming Maine family on June 3, 1857 — but tragedy would tear apart his own little family just six years later.

Born to Salmon and Abigail (Blake) Holmes in Foxcroft on September 8, 1827, Freeland Salmon Holmes grew up Piscataquis County, carved out of Penobscot and Somerset counties by the Maine Legislature in March 1838. After graduating from Bowdoin College in 1850, he studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Job Holmes, who lived in Calais.

Freeland Holmes then completed his medical education at Columbia College in Washington, D.C. He returned to Maine in 1854, practiced medicine in Orono, and later took over the medical practice established by Dr. Josiah Jordan, who moved to Foxcroft.

Sometime during the next few years Holmes met Caroline Ann Washburn, almost six years younger than him. She hailed from Livermore, where she was born to Israel and Martha (Benjamin) Washburn on January 30, 1833. A surviving photograph indicates that she was an attractive woman with bright,

clear eyes and dark hair, possibly brown in color. She attended the Waterville Liberal Institute and the Gorham Female Seminary; perhaps she and the good doctor crossed paths prior to his arrival in Orono, but how Caroline and Freeland became acquainted is unknown.

An H.L. Leonard performed their wedding in Orono. Freeland likely did not realize that Caroline hailed from a talented Maine family just stepping onto the national stage.

His bride was the youngest of eleven children, of whom ten survived to

adulthood. The oldest child (and son) was Israel Washburn Jr., a self-effacing attorney rising to prominence in the Republican Party. Elected Maine’s governor in autumn 1860, he guided the state during the first two years of the Civil War.

Algernon, the second child, became a successful Hallowell banker. The Washburns named their third child Elihu (possibly after the Book of Job character). He moved to Illinois and added an “e” to his surname. Venturing into politics, he befriended fellow lawyer Abraham Lincoln and helped steer his rising political star into the White House.

The Washburns’ fourth child, Cadwallader, practiced law in Wisconsin and won election to Congress from that state. He commanded the 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry during the Civil War, returned to Congress afterwards, and then won election as Wisconsin’s governor. A major general when the war

ended, he became the “general” in General Mills.

The fifth Washburn sibling was Martha, followed by brothers Charles and Samuel, sister Mary, and two brothers William. The surviving William (known as “W.D”) moved to Minnesota (as had Mary and her husband), worked in Cadwallader’s milling company, ran a railroad, and founded the Pillsbury-Washburn Milling Company (known today as the Pillsbury Company).

Caroline followed W.D. She lived quietly with Dr. Freeland, who relocated his medical practice to Foxcroft. “He was very highly-esteemed here in the practice of his profession, became a universal favorite, and seldom failed to secure the confidence of all who employed him,” recalled Dover newspaper publisher George Edes.

Holmes was “one of the best educated Physicians in the State” and “was not one of those who made friends by

flattery and fawning, but ever sought truth and right as his guide in all his transactions in life,” Edes said.

A daughter, Fanny, was born to the Holmes in 1859. Caroline was pregnant with her second child when her husband became the 6th Maine Infantry Regiment’s surgeon on March 13, 1862. Freeland would have known many Piscataquis County men (including residents of Dover, Foxcroft, Guilford, and Sebec) who had enlisted in the regiment in spring 1861.

The War Department commissioned Freeland on March 25, 1862. His son, Frank, was born on June 8. The good doctor’s “departure for the army was a cause of very general regret,” Edes said. Patients whom Freeland often treated in their homes looked forward with “high expectations to the time when he should return to us improved and matured by the practice of a profession he loved.”

(cont. on page 28)

(cont. from page 27)

His patients hoped that Freeland “might again apply his skillful healing to their various ailments,” Edes said.

Freeland Holmes cared for the 6th Maine’s sick and wounded soldiers during the Peninsula Campaign and during the winter of 1862-1863, a particularly brutal period for the Army of the Potomac. He looked after the multiple 6th Maine soldiers wounded during the Chancellorsville campaign in May 1863, and he should have accompanied the regiment to Gettysburg.

“But it was not meant to be,” Edes admitted. Freeland caught diptheria as his regiment headed for Maryland; confined to an army field hospital in Germantown, Virginia, he died on June 23, 1863. His embalmed body was shipped home by rail; probably unloaded from a Maine Central Railroad train in Newport, the casket would have been transported to Foxcroft by a horse-drawn hearse or wagon.

The heart-broken Caroline would have received both the casket and visitors in her home until the funeral held in the Foxcroft Congregational Church at 2 p.m., Thursday, July 2. She laid Freeland to rest in the Rural Grove Cemetery, located on modern Route 15 on the western edge of Dover-Foxcroft.

Caroline never remarried. Still living in Foxcroft with her children in 1870, she moved with them to Minneapolis by 1880. Her brother, William, lived nearby. Caroline died at age 87 in Minneapolis on November 15, 1920. She lies beside Freeland in the Rural Grove Cemetery.

Dover-Foxcroft’s Alfred

Buck Abolitionist and civic leader

by James Nalley

In 1918, a 20-year-old Maine man wrote that he supported “immediate emancipation,” rather than “gradual emancipation” for enslaved African Americans in the Southern states. He also stated that “the slavery interest is simply too dug in for a gradual process…if such a process were to begin, it would have had to have begun over 40 or 50 years ago.” His outspokenness on the subject would continue throughout his service as Lieutenant Colonel of the 91st U.S. Colored Troops Regiment during the U.S. Civil War, as an officer in the Freedmen’s Bureau (an agency assisting freedmen in the South), and as a U.S. Congressman in Alabama.

Alfred Eliab Buck was born in Dover-Foxcroft on February 7, 1832. The son of Benjamin Thomas Buck and Elmira Todd Buck, he was one of five children. After attending Foxcroft Academy, he entered Waterville College (now Colby College) and graduated in 1859. With plans to become a teacher/administrator, he taught for one year in Hallowell and then accepted a position as principal of Lewiston High School. However, as seen in the earlier quote, his feelings changed prior to the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War. He also outspokenly praised the work of “radical abolitionists” such as the Boston Vigilance Committee and the Massa(cont. on page 34)

Alfred Eliab Buck, ca. 1870

(cont. from page 33)

chusetts Anti-Slavery Society. As for the former, it was an abolitionist organization formed in Boston to protect escaped slaves from being kidnapped and returned to slavery in the South. Regarding the latter, it was also based in Boston, and was organized as an auxiliary of the American Anti-Slavery Society, which viewed slavery as immoral and non-Christian.

With the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in April 1861, Buck helped raise the 13th Maine Regiment, for which he was commissioned as a captain in Company C in October 1861. According to the book Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama (1905) by Walter Lynwood Fleming, “His brother, Charles Miller Buck, also enlisted (as a private) and the regiment was mustered in at Augusta on December 4, 1861. The regiment was attached to Major General Benjamin F. Butler’s Expeditionary Force on February 8, 1862.” This regiment

primarily “saw garrison duty in various regions around the Gulf of Mexico before being assigned to the defenses of New Orleans, Louisiana, in December 1862.

In August 1863, the Union Army was looking for leaders of the 20th Louisiana Corps d’Afrique (consisting of free people of color), which eventually became the 91st U.S. Colored Troops. Buck was appointed as lieutenant colonel and led the regiment until it was transferred to the 51st U.S. Colored Troops in October of the following year. On April 1865, he was brevetted to Colonel of Volunteers for his gallant conduct in battle, after which he served as Inspector General for western Louisiana until he and his unit were mustered out of service in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in June 1866.

After the war, like many northerners at the time, Buck and his family settled in Alabama. However, unlike others

who sought to immediately capitalize on money-making opportunities, Buck became an officer in the Freedmen’s Bureau. This U.S. government agency operated from 1865 to 1872. As stated in the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill by the U.S. Congress, its purpose was “To direct provisions, clothing, and fuel… for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering freedmen as well as their wives and children.”

Although Buck ventured into various businesses, such as the manufacture of turpentine in Mobile, Alabama (until a fire destroyed the factory in 1867) and iron-smelting with his brother-in-law William Wood, his interest in politics grew. In 1867, Buck was appointed by General John Pope, Governor of the Reconstruction Third Military District, as Clerk of the Mobile County Court. Soon after, Buck was chosen as a Republican delegate to

Constitutional Convention. According to Fleming, “This convention, which largely consisted of Republicans, ratified the document in February 1868, opting not to disenfranchise former Confederates, while pushing for African American equality and creating a system of public education. It also enabled the state to rejoin the Union.”

In March 1869, Buck was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama’s First Congressional District. However, he only served one term (March 1869 to March 1871) and declined to run for re-election. His congressional seat was taken by African American politician Benjamin Turner, a well-known business executive, civic leader, and proponent of reconciliation who sought to restore political rights for former Confederates. Naturally, Buck endorsed Turner and even campaigned for him in Mobile. In 1873, Buck was appointed President of the

Mobile City Council.

In the same year, Buck moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he took a position as Clerk of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts (1873–1887). During this period, he was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Georgia. From 1889 to 1893, he served as the U.S. marshal for the northern district of Georgia and was a member of the Georgia delegation to every national convention from 1880 through 1896.

In 1896, Buck, as leader of the Republican Party of Georgia, presided over the election of delegates at the 1896 National Convention. According to the book Republican Party in Georgia: From Reconstruction Through 1900 (2021) by Olive Shadgett, “There was a dispute over the delegates, which Buck attempted to preempt by passing a ‘harmony’ slate of delegates outside of standard procedure. However, the slate did not include Emanuel Love’s friend,

Richard Wright, who many believed would be a delegate. The convention erupted in protest and a representative of Buck’s attempted to adjourn the meeting, after which the Buck faction left the hall.” Meanwhile, the faction loyal to Love and Wright “remained and Love took the chair, electing a new slate of delegates, including Love.” In a strange turn of events, Buck was still elected as a delegate, with Wright as an alternate.

With Buck’s reputation rising even further, in 1897, Republicans from across the South petitioned President William McKinley to appoint Buck as the U.S. Minister to Mexico. However, the post went to Powell Clayton of Arkansas, after which McKinley appointed Buck as U.S. Minister to Japan in April of that year.

On December 4, 1902, while on a duck-hunting expedition with the Japanese Emperor, Buck suffered a fatal (cont. on page 36)

heart attack. He was 70 years of age. His body was returned to the United States from Tokyo, Japan, and he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

(cont. from page 35) Residence of W.H. Mishoe in West Enfield. Item # LB2008.19.114871 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

A.N. Deringer, Inc. ............................................................................37

A.R. Whitten & Sons Inc. ..................................................................4

ABM Mechanical, Inc. ......................................................................13

Action Septic Service........................................................................21

ADA Fence Company, Inc. ................................................................23

Auto Radiator Service.......................................................................14

Bagel Central.......................................................................................5

Bangor Natural Gas...........................................................................13

Bangor Truck Equipment...................................................................16

Bangor Window Shade & Drapery Company....................................14

Bar Harbor Inn..................................................................................22

Bark Harbor.......................................................................................22

Bean Maine Lobster..........................................................................11

Bennys Body Shop & Automotive Repair.........................................32

Blacks Heat Pumps............................................................................12

Blazed and Infused Cannabis............................................................23

Blue Hill Cabinet & Woodwork..........................................................19

Blue Hill Co-Op....................................................................................9

Bowers Funeral Home.......................................................................37

Brookings-Smith .................................................................................4

Brooks Tire & Auto............................................................................25

Bucksport Regional Health Center....................................................21

C.A. Newcomb & Sons Fence & Guardrail Company............................3

Caron and Sons Screening...................................................................5

Carousel Diversified Services.............................................................12

Carroll Drug Store.............................................................................10

Cary Brown Trucking & Excavating....................................................30

Cedar Ridge Gunworks........................................................................7

Champion Concrete Inc. ..................................................................18

CMD Powersystems.............................................................................6

Coldwater Seafood, LLC Market & Smokehouse................................19

Colin Bartlett & Sons, Inc. ..................................................................5

Complete Hydraulics, Inc. .................................................................24

Complete

Crandall's Hardware..........................................................................38

Crockett

Cummings

Danforth's

Dean's

DeWitt-Jones Realty..........................................................................28

Dexter

Dirigo

Doane

Dover

Feed Commodities International......................................................24

FFW Mechanical................................................................................28

Freeport Antiques and Heirlooms Showcase....................................11

Freightliner & Western Star of Maine..................................................5

Gateway Inn......................................................................................31

Gordius Garage & Island Motors.......................................................10

Greenhead Lobster, LLC....................................................................20

Guilford Hardware.............................................................................34

H&R Block - Bangor..........................................................................14

H&R Block - Dover-Foxcroft..............................................................32

H&R Block - Houlton & Millinocket..................................................31

Haley Power Services........................................................................23

Hammond Lumber Company............................................................15

Harborview Motel and Cottages.......................................................22

Harold's Transmission Repairs, Inc. .....................................................7

Harris Drug Store..............................................................................28

Herrick Excavation.............................................................................27

Hogan Tire.........................................................................................38

Hometown Health Center..................................................................25 House in the Woods...........................................................................29

Ideal Recycling Inc. ..........................................................................24

Ireland's Rubbish Service, Inc. .........................................................36

Island Auto Repair.............................................................................21

Island Fishing Gear & Auto Parts.........................................................9

J. McLaughlin Construction, LLC........................................................31

J.D. Logging, Inc. .............................................................................27

J.M. Brown Construction General Contractor, Inc. ..........................15

Jerry's Shurfine.................................................................................38

Jimar Construction Products LLC .....................................................16

John R. Crooker Insurance Agency....................................................21 Johnson Foundations........................................................................26

Judd Goodwin Well Company..........................................................28

Kimball Insurance, L.L.C. ..................................................................33

Leclair Construction............................................................................6

Levesque Business Solutions............................................................15

Lincoln Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce....................................36

Linda Bean's Maine Kitchen & Topside Tavern...................................11

Linda Bean’s Maine Wyeth Gallery....................................................11

Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Vacation Rental.....................................11

Magoon Realty, Inc. ...........................................................................8

Magoon's Transportation & Energy, Inc. ............................................8

Maine At War....................................................................................10

Maine Collision Center.......................................................................16

Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife....................................23

Maine Equipment Company................................................................3

Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union..............................................25

Maine Historical Society......................................................................4

MaineWay Mechanical......................................................................30

Maritime International Coins & Currency...........................................16

Milford Motel on the River................................................................12

Momo's Cheesecakes.........................................................................18

Moosehead

North Woods Real Estate..................................................................31

Ogunquit Beach Lobster House.........................................................11

Parker Ridge Retirement Community................................................19

Pat's Pizza - Ellsworth.......................................................................18

Pat's Pizza - Orono, Holden & Hampden...........................................13

Peavey Manufacturing Co. ...............................................................18

Penobscot County Federal Credit Union............................................15

Penobscot Marine Museum.................................................back cover

Perkco Supply....................................................................................26

Perry O'Brian Attorney at Law.............................................................5

Pine Grove Crematorium.....................................................................4

Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce...................................................27

Plymouth Village Store & Café...........................................................32

Prevention Works Dental Hygiene Services.......................................13

Prouty Auto Body..............................................................................34

Rainwater Solutions..........................................................................10

Ramsay Welding & Machine Inc. .....................................................36

Ray Builders Inc. .................................................................................7

Red's Automotive..............................................................................22

Rogan’s Memorials............................................................................20

Roger's Market..................................................................................35

Rowell’s Garage Car Wash.................................................................33

Rowell's Garage Sales & Service.......................................................33

Sackett and Brake Survey Inc. ..........................................................26

Savage Paint & Body..........................................................................31

Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union...........................................23

Steinke & Caruso Dental Care............................................................33

Stone Artisans...................................................................................20

Sturdi-Bilt Storage Buildings LLC......................................................30

Sullivan's Wrecker Service................................................................13

Summit Sound Home Audio & Theatre...............................................6

Swett's Tire & Auto.............................................................................4

T.G. Dunn Plumbing, Inc. .................................................................10

Tate Brook Timber Company.............................................................29

The County Federal Credit Union......................................................31

The Merle B. Grindle Agency.............................................................19

The Pioneer Place, U.S.A. Country General Store...............................37

Thomas W. Duff Financial Advisor - Brewer......................................17

Thomas W. Duff Financial Advisor - Millinocket................................31

Timberland Trucking Inc. .................................................................37

Town of Bucksport............................................................................20

Town of Enfield.................................................................................35

Town of Lincoln................................................................................29

Tucker Auto Repair..............................................................................6

Vancil Vision Care..............................................................................10

Varney's Newport Ford......................................................................32

Vintage Maine Images........................................................................4

W.S. Emerson....................................................................................17

Wardwell Construction & Trucking Corp. .........................................21

Ware's Power Equipment..................................................................36

West's Coastal Connection................................................................16

Whited Truck Center..........................................................................17

Whitney's Family Supermarket.........................................................25

Whitten's 2-Way Service, Inc. ........................................................17

Williams & Taplin Well Drilling Services..............................................9

Williams Family Farm..........................................................................7

Wilson Museum..................................................................................9

York's of Houlton...............................................................................37