Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

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Volume 11 | Issue 3 | 2014

Maine’s History Magazine

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

The Demise of the Brady Gang

Houlton’s Merriam Bucksport’s Ghost The Sarah Ware Tragedy Brothers

Bangor’s Public Enemy Alfred Brady Bound to serve, bound for honor

( Aroostook County section pages 50-52 ) www.DiscoverMaineMagazine.com facebook.com/discovermaine


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Inside This Edition

Maine’s History Magazine 3 It Makes No Never Mind James Nalley 5 The Genealogy Corner Genealogy and longevity Charles Francis 8 Murder Most Foul Glenburn man found murdered in 1879 Charles Francis 12 The Demise Of The Brady Gang Bangor’s Public Enemy Alfred Brady James Nalley 18 The Lady Of Birdsacre Ellsworth’s eccentric & beloved bird lover Deale B. Salisbury 25 Bangor, Maine Postcard from a foreign town Paul McGregor 32 Bucksport’s Ghost The Sarah Ware tragedy Dave Bumpus 36 Trout Fishing In Carmel An early history Charles Francis 42 You Can See Forever The lonely life of a smoke-spotter Kenneth Smith 48 Modern Computers In The North Woods When computers came to Great Northern Paper Co. David M. Parker 51 Houlton’s Merriam Brothers Bound to serve, bound for honor Charles Francis 58 Marion Martin: Mother of Republican Women Kingman’s contribution to Maine politics Charles Francis 65 Reed Plantation’s Happy Corner Once a welcome spot for the weary traveler Charles Francis

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Publisher Jim Burch

Designer & Editor Liana Merdan

Advertising & Sales Manager Tim Maxfield

Advertising & Sales

Michael Baumgardner Dennis Burch Chris Girouard Tim Maxfield Brocton Rand Zackary Rouda

Office Manager Liana Merdan

Field Representatives George Tatro

Contributing Writers

Dave Bumpus Charles Francis | fundy67@yahoo.ca Paul McGregor David M. Parker James Nalley Deale B. Salisbury Kenneth Smith

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 70

Front Cover Photo:

Old city sprinkler in Brewer. Item #26127 from the MacEwen Collection and the collections of The Penobscot Marine Museum. www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org All photos in Discover Maine’s Penosbscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor 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

W

hen you examine the details regarding the Penobscot/Piscataquis/Greater Bangor region, there are characteristics that seem to lean toward the extremes. For example, Penobscot County (one of Maine’s largest at approximately 3,500 square miles) is one of the most populous counties in the state. In contrast, neighboring Piscataquis County, with its roughly 4,250 square miles of land, is the least populated. This colossal land mass also includes the state’s highest concentration of Republicans. So, it is easy to see why Maine is designated as a “blue state” by political strategists. Well, aside from political interests (and the danger of having my Republican readership numbers fall), there is the historically rich city of Bangor. Situated at the confluence of the Penobscot River and the Kenduskeag Stream (which, despite its small size, has played a considerable role in the works of Stephen King), this city is also referred to as the “Gateway to the Maine Highlands” by the tourist industry. Such pride in its history can be seen in the numerous monuments located throughout the

area. For example, there is one for Portuguese explorer Estevan Gomez. In 1525, in an attempt to discover a shortcut to the Far East and fulfill his dream of finding gold, he actually arrived “Down East” only to find plenty of Native Americans and lots of trees. Another interesting aspect was Bangor’s role in the Revolutionary War. In August 1779, after being routed by the British Navy, the fledgling American fleet escaped up the Penobscot River. After the conflict, Paul Revere (of “Midnight Ride” fame) was charged with cowardice for fleeing into the surrounding woods, and at least nine of the fleet’s remaining ships were scuttled to prevent them from falling into British hands. It was not until the early 1950s when the site was re-discovered and six well-preserved cannons were eventually hoisted from the riverbed of which five are now on display. In regard to the sixth cannon, a group of resolute Bangorians, in defiance of how the historic site was desecrated in favor of building a bridge, actually threw one of the cannons back into the river. Stories along these lines and others that highlight the region’s past are the subject of focus in this

issue of “Discover Maine.” So, regardless of where you are or where you are headed; take some time to peruse the following pages. Naturally, I am inspired by the angle of the aforementioned subject. So, in honor of explorers, I will close with the following: A French explorer, an English explorer, and a Bangorian explorer are captured by a band of crazed militiamen. The captain says, “We’re going to kill you, then use your skins to build a canoe. However, you get to choose how you die.” The Frenchman replies, “I will take zee poison.” The captain hands him some poison. As the Frenchman drinks it, he shouts, “Vive la France!” Then, the Englishman says, “A pistol for me will do.” As the Englishman shoots himself, he shouts, “God save the Queen!”Finally, the Bangorian says, “Gimme a fork.” The puzzled captain hands the man a fork as requested. Then, the Bangorian repeatedly stabs himself all over. The captain screams, “What are you doing?!?” In his final breath, the Bangorian shouts, “Good luck with your canoe!”

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Early view of St. Mary’s School in Orono. Item #108938 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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The Genealogy Corner by Charles Francis

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Genealogy and longevity

urrent wisdom suggests that we will outlive our parents. Statistics tend to add support to the conjecture. Until recently, most studies of longevity have focused on demographics. These have dealt with environmental factors like diet, exercise, and extraneous factors such as climate, air quality, and the level of education of those studied and so on. Now medical science, in the form of genetic inherited disease and sex-specific disease studies has taken up the quest as to what factors lead to the long life. The latter has in turn led to a utilization of genealogy ― family histories ― as they relate to long life in particular, as well as the recurrence of diseases and various physical conditions.

So far geneticists have yet to identify particular genetic sequences relating to long life. At the most, geneticists suggest that if one has parents and siblings who live beyond the average for the general population, one’s prospects of living beyond the average improve. However, there does seem to be an indication that parental age at time of reproduction might have a long-term effect on the longevity of offspring. In addition, there are studies that indicate a relationship among parents, offspring and blood pressure, and longevity. These latter relationships have led to an expansion of the study of medical family histories. Genetic counselors are now recommending that standard

(continued on page 6)

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medical family histories include fourth degree family members, and in the case of evidence of disease patterns in families, going beyond the fourth degree. (First degree relatives are parents, siblings and children, second degree is grandparents and uncles and aunts, third degree is first cousins and so on.) There are several major ongoing studies relating to family medical history and longevity at present. One involves well-known European aristocratic families. Another deals with America, and includes families of Maine. The former is being done at Moscow State University, the latter at the University of Chicago. The Maine families that have come under

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(continued from page 5) scrutiny are found in Family History Genealogies: Massachusetts and Maine, 1650s-1930s available as Family Archive CD from the Max-PlanckGellsellshaft. It lists 77,000 individuals, descended from 180 families. Most anyone with long-standing New England roots should find a familial connection in it. Ironically, the individual who just may be the oldest person to have lived in Maine is not included in the massive compilation. Though it is possible someone will dispute my contention, I believe the oldest Mainer to have been Grand Chief Joseph Orono of the Penobscot. If he isn’t the oldest in Maine, then I will put him forward as the only Mainer to have lived in three centuries, the seventeenth, the eighteenth and the nineteenth. Orono’s dates are usually given as C. 1688-1801. That would have given him a life of 113 years.

Joseph Orono is the individual for whom the town of Orono is named. Unfortunately, all we know of his genealogy comes by word of mouth. Tradition has it that Orono was the son of a French father and a half -French and half- Native American mother. Tradition also has it he was descended of the Baron Castin. Quite obviously, tradition cannot serve as a source for researching one’s family medical history. What is needed to do that is hard evidence, such as is being gathered by the above mentioned university studies. The Moscow study suggests inverse relationship between the age of fathers and daughters, but not between fathers and sons. The suggested reason is genetic. Only daughters inherit the parental X-chromosome. Daughters born to fathers between the age of fifty and fifty-nine showed a loss of 4.4 years of

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life when compared to daughters born of fathers between twenty and twenty-nine. In other words, the decrease was sex-specific. The Moscow study did not find any relationship between age of mothers between the age of twenty and forty and longevity of children. The Moscow study and the Chicago study is being conducted with a number of crossover individuals. So far each seems supportive of the other. As of this writing, the two studies suggest a link between the ages of fathers and daughters to one particular gene, a gene which requires further study. The blood pressure study was done at University La Sapienza in Rome. It involved parents between seventy-six and 102 and their first-born. The parents all had surprisingly low diastolic blood pressure. The conclusion, which included other factors, was that low di-

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astolic blood pressure was a factor in longevity. The studies discussed above explain how genealogy is coming to play a more important role in life studies in general, and longevity in particular. They illustrate a reason for drawing up an accurate medical family history. As for Grand Chief Joseph Orono of the Penobscot, does he indeed have the record as the oldest Mainer and the only Mainer to have lived in three centuries?

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Early view of the Eastern Steamship Co. Wharf on Front St. in Bangor Item #2611 from the MacEwen Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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Murder Most Foul Glenburn man found murdered in 1879

by Charles Francis

I

n 1888 the Boston Globe commented in a subtext heading of a feature article on murder in Maine titled “A State of Very Many Awful Crimes,” that there are “More Than Thirty Murderers Now Behind the Bars of Thomaston.” Another heading in the same article read “Tragedies That Rival in Horrors the Tales of Edgar Allen Poe.” It was a piece most definitely intended to catch a reader’s attention. The above-mentioned article went on to describe some eight or nine grisly murders. At that it missed some. “Grisly” is the key word here. It seems what the unnamed writer of the piece was interested in the gruesome and the horrific, the sort of thing that today’s tabloids

highlight and then go on to expand in gory detail. It is the sort of criminal act that Shakespeare and Agatha Christie called “Murder Most Foul.” The article in the Globe had a time frame of the previous two decades. The time frame gives the sense that, as far as the writer was concerned anyway, grisly murder was a recent occurrence, that it was somehow linked to a faster-paced modern lifestyle associated with travel: either the victim was a traveler or the perpetrator was a traveler. As an example of the traveler theme, the Globe article cited the murder of William Elliot of Glenburn. Elliot’s horribly mutilated body was discovered by a night watchman at the Maine Central Railroad

station in Bangor in February of 1879. This murder will be discussed momentarily. For now we will say that money probably played a part in the murder and most likely the perpetrator was a transient. There is nothing new to travelers carrying money meeting a gruesome fate. Back in 1835 Allen Brainerd of Guilford and Orono was murdered while staying at a hotel at Mattawamkeag Point. Brainerd was known to be wealthy or at least well-to-do. The examples cited above have one obvious fact in common, the murders are associated with travel routes leading to and out of Bangor. Our third example, our oldest, the murder of

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com Isaac Blake, shares this happenstance. Blake was murdered outside of Dover. He was carrying $1200 in gold. Blake had stopped in Bangor before heading north. All three of the murders cited above have another common element in addition to travel. They involve a mystery. Murders are mysterious, at least until the murderer, whatever his motivation, is discovered. This is why Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries were so phenomenally popular. Christie, of course, knew what she was doing when she titled one of her best known books Murder Most Foul. The phrase comes from Hamlet. The ghost uses it in addressing the Prince. The underlying idea is that the ghost is seeking revenge for his or its murder. Who was the murderer in Hamlet? The mystery is one of the themes that makes Hamlet click. This same question can be asked in regard to our three victims. We now move to our murders, keeping the ques-

tion in mind. William Elliot was Tax Collector of Glenburn. He was also a constable. He was known to carry sums of money on his person. Evidence of his demise was first discovered by a Maine Central watchman named Colson about 9 o’clock of a clear very cold winter night. Here are the events of that evening in brief: Colson saw a two-horse sled coming rapidly down the street. As to how cold it was, the sled runners screamed on the snow. Even given the extreme cold, the horses were steaming with perspiration and covered with lather. Colson later described the driver as having “his cap well pulled down over his eyes” and in a great hurry. Coming to a stop, the driver threw the reins across the horses and leaped off, demanding Colson to look out for his team. Then he went into the station. A train arrives. The driver doesn’t appear again. At this point Colson de-

cides to put a blanket on the horses. The blanket and several bags of grain are in the shed. Removing the blanket, Colson discovers a bloody axe with human hair on the haft. Blood is spattered about the sled. Shortly after, Colson notifies the police of what he found, and the body of William Elliot is discovered on the side of the road in the snow on the outskirts of Bangor. Elliot’s head has been split open, then beaten in by the haft of the axe and finally flattened by blows struck with the side of axe. There is no conclusion to the murder of William Elliot. Two or three persons were suspected of the crime but there was never any real proof. The murderer was seen by Colson. He was never again seen. Next we have the Brainerd murder. In 1828 Allen Brainerd and other members of his family built a sawmill on the outlet of Davis’ Pond in North Guilford. It was a profitable mill as (continued on page 10)

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(continued from page 9) there were vast quantities of timber in the immediate area. In 1834 the Brainerds sold their mill for a substantial profit. They then moved to Orono. In 1835 Allen Brainerd took a trip to New Brunswick. It was a sightseeing excursion. Brainerd enjoyed himself and spent a fair amount on his trip. On his return he stopped at a hotel at Mattawamkeag Point. Witnesses later said Brainerd was called out sometime in the evening by unidentified parties. He didn’t return. The next morning his body was found in the river. Authorities concluded there was no question as to his murder. Brainerd had left home carrying a substantial sum of money. Lastly we have the case of Isaac Blake. Blake’s story was once wellknown. It was written up in a number of publications over the years during the nineteenth century as “The Mysterious Disappearance of Isaac Blake.” Isaac Blake disappeared. That much

is certain. People, a fair number anyway, living in the vicinity of Dover, Sebec, Atkinson and Charleston and beyond believed he was murdered . Blake was known to be carrying doubloons worth some $1200 on his person. Isaac Blethen of Dover saw the gold pieces. The last place Issac Blake was seen was on Jameson Hill in Atkinson. Long after his disappearance a woman, believing herself near death, stated Blake had stayed at Jameson Tavern. She said she was at that tavern when Blake stopped there for the night, that she was sleeping in the room next to Blake’s. She said that late at night she heard footsteps of men, that she heard them go out of Blake’s room, carrying a heavy burden. Eventually the men returned and opened her door, but as she pretended to be asleep they left. She saw nothing of Blake the next day. Isaac Blake made a lot of money on the Mirimachi in New Brunswick. He

made it in lumbering and in cattle dealing. Isaac Blethen of Dover, who was engaged in similar enterprises on the Mirimachi, knew Blake there. He knew Blake left for Maine in 1824 with gold doubloons. Blake was known to have arrived safely in Bangor. He was known to have left Bangor. The last person to see him was a friend who encountered him at the top of Jameson hill. After that everything is a blank. The accounts of the disappearance of Isaac Blake are written in a sort of vague inclusive style popular in the nineteenth century. They suggest more than they state. For example, a newspaper from Ohio is cited in paraphrase form as containing the statements that “a certain man formerly known in these parts, had been executed there for murder; that he had confessed this and other crimes; especially, that he had taken part in the murder of a man in Maine.”

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This tale was added to the Blake story. And it was expanded upon. People locally in Maine who knew the man executed in Ohio said he often frequented Jameson Tavern. They also said he sometimes went to New Brunswick so he could change doubloons for currency that could be used in Maine, currency that could be used without suspicion as to its origin. And that’s where the story of Isaac Blake stops. The Boston Globe article references Edgar Allen Poe. Poe created horror tales. In reality, murder is worse that anything Poe ever wrote. Shakespeare understood this. Maybe Agatha Christie did, too. The above cited accounts of Maine murders are accounts of the foulest deed imaginable. ❦ Other businesses from this area are featured in the color section.

Bangor Opera House, ca. 1890, destroyed by fire in 1914. Item #26105 from the MacEwen Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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The Demise of the Brady Gang Bangor’s Public Enemy Alfred Brady

by James Nalley

I

n late 1935, Alfred Brady, James Dalhover, and Clarence Lee Shaffer, Jr., formed an alliance for one purpose: to obtain a fortune through any means possible. Such plans began with simple petty theft and escalated to 150 robberies and two cold-blooded murders by April of the following year. Although they violated multiple laws, such infractions were only at the state level, so they did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). However, by 1937, Brady had earned a spot on the FBI’s “Public Enemies” list. In September of that year, the trio arrived in Bangor, Maine, where they made a crucial mistake: relaxing their guard. After purchasing an

excessive amount of weapons in downtown Bangor, they returned on October 12 in hopes of purchasing a Thompson submachine gun. Waiting for them inside the store and throughout Central Street were dozens of FBI agents and Maine State Troopers. Although the resulting gunfight lasted approximately five minutes, by the end, Brady and Shaffer had been hit with more than 60 bullets and the local fire department had to hose down Central Street due to the amount of blood. According to FBI files, Alfred James Brady was born in Indiana on October 25, 1910. After his father’s untimely death when Brady was two years Photo courtesy of the FBI

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(continued from page 12) of age, he and his mother moved to Indianapolis. However, in December 1926, Brady’s mother died when he was 16 years of age and his stepfather passed away just two years later. In July 1934, he was arrested for vagrancy under the name of James Reid and prior to his return to Indianapolis; he was arrested again for unlawful possession of stolen property. After his 180-day sentence at a state farm in Greencastle, Indiana, he visited a friend’s farm where he became acquainted with James Dalhover. James Dalhover was born in Madison, Indiana on August 24, 1906. At 11 years of age, he was sent to a reform school in Plainfield for robbing a grocery store and released in December 1918. In the spring of 1926, Dalhover began producing “moonshine” and by November of the same year, he and his brother George were arrested with a shipment of whiskey in Kentucky. Three weeks into their 100-day sen-

tence, the two brothers broke out, stole an automobile, and headed for Arizona. After the car broke down in New Mexico, they stole a 1926 Ford and were quickly apprehended. The brothers were sentenced to two years in the New Mexico State Penitentiary. After 13 months, they were given another twoyear sentence at the Kentucky State Reformatory for assault with intent to kill. Upon Dalhover’s release in November 1929, he returned to Ohio and continued doing what he was good at: producing “moonshine.” He used the substantial profits to purchase a farm where he would eventually meet Al Br ady. In March 1935, Dalhover’s farm was raided and he was sentenced to 60 days on the Indiana State Farm in Greencastle. After his release, Brady suggested that they form a gang and earn some quick cash. In October 1935, the newly formed “Brady Gang” brought Clar-

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ence Shaffer, Jr. into their fold. Shaffer, the youngest member of the gang, was born in Indianapolis in 1916. After the three men increased their criminal activities, Dalhover suggested purchasing an automobile so that they would no longer need to steal cars to commit new crimes. However, on January 14, 1936, Brady and Dalhover went to Anderson, Indiana, and stole a Buick at gunpoint. Afterwards, the trio’s string of robberies resulted in various police chases and gunfights across the state. In April 1936, the trio attracted the FBI’s attention by robbing $8,000 worth of jewelry in Ohio and crossing into Indiana. Within one week, the trio were arrested and charged with the murder of an Indiana police officer. The gang’s activities were cold and calculated, and the following transcript of Dalhover’s interrogation by the FBI is an example: As I was dodging my way through

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

the crowd, I heard a shot fired. The customers immediately began to run to the front door. As soon as they had cleared the place, I went back in; Brady was taking the money out of the cash drawer. I asked Brady what the shot was about and he said, 'some damn fool jumped me and I shot him and shoved him down the cellar stairs.' We got the money, went out the back door, and got in our car. Another car followed us for some distance, and I shot three times at it and it stopped. In September of the same year, Brady, Dalhover, and Shaffer were transferred to the Hancock County Jail in Breensfield, Indiana, where the plan was for them to remain there until trial. However, during breakfast on October 11, they assaulted the sheriff and escaped in a stolen automobile. For the following year, the trio, using one stolen car after another, committed

crimes in Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, New York, and Maryland. By June 1937, a $1,500 reward was offered for information leading to their arrest. On September 21, 1937, the trio arrived in Bangor after hearing that they could buy weapons there without any questions asked. Over the next two days, under the guise as hunters, they purchased two .45 caliber automatic pistols at Dakin’s Sporting Goods Store on Central Street and three .32 caliber Colt automatics from Rice and Miller’s Sporting Goods Store on Broad Street. Their inquiries and purchases aroused the suspicion of the store’s manager who immediately contacted the police. The trio returned to Dakin’s on October 5, 1937, purchased a third .45 caliber Colt automatic, and requested a Thompson submachine gun. The manager told them that he did not have that weapon in stock, but he could obtain one within a few days. After they

r o g n a B

left, the manager advised the police that the gang had returned and they relayed the information to the Maine State Police, who, in turn, contacted the FBI. Around 8:30 a.m., on October 12, 1937, a Buick with Ohio license plates stopped a few doors away from the sporting goods store. Leaving Brady in the back seat of the car, Dalhover entered the store and was immediately arrested by awaiting agents while Shaffer remained on guard. When the handcuffs were being placed on Dalhover, Shaffer fired shots through the front door and wounded an agent in the shoulder. As the agents in the store returned fire, Shaffer ran outside where he was immediately hit by a hail of machinegun fire from agents situated on the rooftops. His bullet-ridden body fell onto the sidewalk. Meanwhile, upon observing Brady in the parked car, two agents ordered him to get out of the car. Brady then (continued on page 16)

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 15)

Thompson Machine Gun photo courtesy of Stefan Kuhn

placed his hands in the air and started shouting, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, I’ll get out!” However, as he stepped out, he began shooting at the agents, who immediately returned fire. Brady’s dead body hit the street as the agents lowered their smoking weapons. Afterwards, iconic images of the scene were depicted in every major newspaper in the region. With no living relatives, Brady’s body went unclaimed, and he was buried in an unmarked grave at Bangor’s Mt. Hope Cemetery. Dalhover was eventually convicted for the murder of Indiana State Policeman Paul Minneman and sentenced to death. After an unsuccessful appeal process, Dalhover was electrocuted on November 18, 1938.

In 2007, Brady’s grave was finally marked with a stone and a brief religious ceremony was conducted. In addition, a stone marker on Central Street in Bangor identifies the spot where Brady had died. At the re-enactment of the shootout performed in October of the same year, living witnesses remembered that fateful day. One such person was Andrew Taber, who recalled watching (on his way to work that morning) the coins fall out of Brady’s pocket when his dead body was lifted into a basket. With a slight smile, he simply stated, “It’s a good thing I was a little late.” ❦ Other businesses from this area are featured in the color section.

Harold’s Transmission Repairs, Inc. Serving You For Over 30 Years Mike & Liz Flewelling: Owners

462 Main Rd., Holden, ME (207) 989-6700 • 1-800-893-0980 Hours: M-F 8:00-5:00

• • • • • •

S&S Enterprises Maine State Inspection Station Complete Auto Repair Towing Emergency & Ramp Truck Services Lockouts/Emergency Services Latest in Computer Diagnostic Services

SKIP SPRAGUE, A.S.E. Certified Master Technician GERRY SPRAGUE, Certified Technician

963-2919

295 Newman St. • Winter Harbor

MAINE’S OWN TREATS Come see and taste for yourself.

Free Statewide Delivery 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee 1031 Main Rd. (Rte. 1A) • Holden, Maine

207-843-7301 dorseyfurniture.com

Over 30 flavors of jams and syrups made here at our gift shop. Write or Call For Our Free Mail Order Brochure

www.mainesowntreats.com

Gift Packs Many other Maine Food Products Free Samples Wholesale & Mail Order

Open All Year

(207) 667-8888 68 Bar Harbor Road • Trenton, ME 04605


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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Ellsworth Foundry and Machine Works Garage in Ellsworth. Item #105713 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

mitchell-tweedie

COMPLETE TIRE SERVICE, INC.

HUGE SELECTION OF USED BOOKS!!

667-6834 SCOTTYBOOKS@YAHOO.COM

Complete Line of Commercial, R-V & Passenger Tires.

209 ROUTE 1, HANCOCK

Under Car Service

AHEARN’S AUTOMOTIVE

All Credit Cards Accepted

Full Service Automotive Repair

Celebrating 50 Years of Service!

Open 7 Days A Week

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207-479-6136

High Street, Ellsworth

207-667-5344

James Ahearn Owner

148 Bald Mountain Rd. Dedham, ME

funeral home 28 Elm St. • Bucksport 469-3177

Pre-Need Planning • Cremation Consultation

young

funeral home Albert C. Levesque

31 W. Main Street • Searsport • 548-2545

mitchelltweedie-young.com


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

The Lady Of Birdsacre Ellsworth’s eccentric & beloved bird lover

by Deale B. Salisbury

S

This woman in black was interested in our knowledge of birds. Kind of odd, I thought, this witch concerned with birds. Perhaps, it occurred to me, the birds had something to do with the flying we associated with witches. But, no, this was not the case. That summer’s day I remember looking at bird’s nests, noting the various colors and sizes of eggs, and viewing numerous pictures of birds (chickadees, in particular, I remember). This was my introduction into ornithology, a word I didn’t even know at the time. This woman interested in transferring her love, concern, care and interest in birds, to some passing Ellsworth students on summer vacation, was Corde-

he was standing in the side doorway of her home on Beckwith Hill in Ellsworth. The clothing she wore was a long black dress with a sheen and she was a tall woman; at least she appeared tall to those of us who were grade school students in the mid1940s. Beyond that she was known to us as “the witch.” It was a summer day when we noticed her as we were pushing our bicycles up the hill toward Trenton and Bar Harbor. When the hand on her outstretched arm beckoned us toward her, we responded positively. However, as we moved in her direction we did so slowly, for she was, after all, “the witch.”

ed’s automotive & consulting services llc

“Connecting business to community since 1991” 207.469.6818

Ed Rankin, Sr. - Owner, Tech. ~ Established 1975 ~

207-469-7554

160 State Route 46 • Orland, ME

Peterson Hill Farms Locally Owned & Operated by Andy Crosby

Stop by 52 Main Street in Downtown Bucksport, Visit us on the web www.bucksportbaychamber.com or join in the conversation online.

B&L auto Body Inc. Specializing in Antique & Classic Restoration • Engines • Exhaust • Transmissions • Suspensions

• Brakes • Tune-ups

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Grass Fed Beef Square & Round Hay Bales Silage Bales

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223-2578 223-5740

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19

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

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lia J. Stanwood, the lady of birdsacre. She “was a woman worthy of the most serious consideration.” This was the way Chandler S. Richmond referred to this naturalist, photographer and writer. Mr. Richmond spent some twenty years gathering, reviewing, sorting and writing Beyond The Spring, the life of Cordelia Stanwood, better known as Cordie. Additionally, he was the organizer of the Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary and served as curator and manager of the Stanwood Homestead Museum and Birdsacre Sanctuary; a position now held by his son, Stanley. Cordie, born in Ellsworth on August, 1865, came from a very strong and sturdy background; her parental side of the family was old New England stock that reached Ellsworth by way of Gloucester, Massachusetts and Eden (Bar Harbor) Maine over a period of time that stretched from 1652 to 1850, the year Captain Roswell L. Stanwood built his

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home on Beckwith Hill. Her mother, Margaret Susan Brown Stanwood, arrived in Ellsworth as the bride of Captain Stanwood in 1864. Margaret Stanwood came from the hard-working and industrious settlers of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Her marriage to the captain (whom she met when he was a visitor to her family home in Eskasoni) brought together, as is true of many Maine families, a Canadian from the Maritimes and an American from New England. Birdsacre was the name Cordie had given to her family homestead in Ellsworth. It was this area, and beyond, which she used in her field studies of birds, but not just birds alone, for she included the entire natural environment in her observations and writings. She was a naturalist as well as an ornithologist. The Birdsacre that Cordie named and loved was absent from her life for 25 years, from 1879 to 1904. During this

blacksheeptrading.com

C.A. Newcomb

& Sons

(continued on page 20)

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AMERICAN FENCE ASSOCIATION, INC.

Fence & Guardrail Company

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period of time she had gone to live with an aunt in Providence, Rhode Island, where she attended school. Graduating from Providence Girls High School in 1886, Cordie continued her education at teachers training school and the Boston Normal Arts School. Seventeen years in education, primarily in art and drawing, found Miss Stanwood teaching in the Massachusetts communities of Springfield and Greenfield, Brookline, Braintree, Marion, Plymouth, and at the Quincy School in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1904, having suffered a nervous breakdown and spending several months at a sanatorium in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Cordie returned to the home her father had built in Ellsworth. Here she would spend the remaining 54 years of her life. Those 54 years, from 1904 to 1958, would find Cordelia Stanwood developing such an intense interest in the study of natural history – birds in par-

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20

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 19) ticular – that it would result in her work being recognized at the state, the national and even the inter-national level. Recognition and citations for Cordie’s work have been many, and even as recently as 1994, Cordelia J. Stanwood was nominated for the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame. She was a truly remarkable and unusual woman. Cordie is still remembered by many in the Ellsworth area as the woman who walked along Route 3 from in-town Ellsworth to the then out-of-town Beckwith Hill carrying a black satchel. That satchel contained the cards and writing paper she sold to local people as one means of providing for her livelihood. She found additional means of support as a free-lance writer for some national publications, including: The National Audubon Society’s Bird Lore, Nature Magazine, The Auk and Bent’s Life Histories of North American Birds. Using her exceptional skill as a photographer,

she would occasionally go beyond the realm of the naturalist and photograph some of the older, historical homes in Hancock County. Some of these interior and exterior shots Cordie used for her excellent illustrated articles that were published in The House Beautiful magazine. Whatever Cordie undertook to do she did it in a methodical and meticulous manner, from her naturalist field notes to her work in basketry. Basketry, by the way, was another of the many crafts used to help in her financial support. She learned basket making when she spent time living among the Penobscot Indians. Cordelia Stanwood was a most unusual and captivating individual. Yes, she can be considered eccentric; yes, she was somewhat of a recluse; but she was also an outstanding individual with a multi-faceted interest in life. As Chandler Richmond said of her, “She

was alone but never lonely.” I’ve mentioned that her interests went from that of naturalist, photographer, or writer, to basketry, weaving, hooking and braiding rugs or to crafts in general. She was, without question, an intriguing woman to know, and it’s still possible to know her today. You can read about her in Mr. Richmond’s book Beyond The Spring, or you can know her when you see samples of her photography, or look at some of her well-designed and skillfully made baskets. You can hear the rustle of her skirt in rooms of the family homestead – now on the national register of historic places. You can still wander the wooded acres she did, when making her field notes, and sense her presence with you. For the legacy and spirit of Cordie still lives at the Stanwood Wildlife Sanctuary. I invite you to take the time and visit with her when you’re in Ellsworth; it can be most rewarding!

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

Corinna Auto Body

Do You Enjoy Writing? Do You Love Maine? Do You Love History?

Collision & Painting • Towing Commercial Truck Painting Chassis Liner Frame Equipment ~ Joseph Foster, owner ~

If so, give us a call. We Are Always Looking for History writers to Contribute to our Magazine!

207-924-6464

Same Location for over 15 Years!

1167 Dexter Road • Corinna, Maine

Discover Maine Magazine (207) 874-7720 • 1-800-753-8684

THINKING ABOUT MOVING TO MAINE? THEN CHECK OUT

SEBASTICOOK VALLEY The central hub for where you want to live, work & play. Come see our diverse recreation & real estate and our comfortable lifestyle. www.ourchamber.org

COME PLAY HERE, COME LIVE HERE! Sebasticook Valley Chamber of Commerce

PO Box 464 Newport, ME 04953 • 207.368.4698 • info@ourchamber.org

“In the Middle of Everything That’s Maine”

Central Maine Maintenance & Builders

George Johnson Contractor Fully Insured Plymouth, ME 04969

Residential ~ New Construction Renovations ~ Garages ~ Decks Additions ~ Kitchens Interior & Exterior Remodeling Roofing ~ Metal Fabrication

(207) 341-5120 Let Us Bring Value To Your Home

Nickerson’s Septic Tank Pumping Service Service within 30 miles of Newport Family Owned & Operated For Three Generations ~ Scott Nickerson ~

257-2484 412 Clark Road • Plymouth, Maine


21

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

1938 Millinocket map courtesy of John Barrow and Galeyrie maps www.Galeyrie.com

A WICKED GOOD

PLUMBIN‛ & HEATIN‛ CO. Sales • Service • Installation Fully Licensed & Insured Natural Gas Conversions Free Estimates

~ No Job Too Big or Too Small ~ * Senior Citizen & Military Discounts Available *

24 Hour Emergency Service - 365 Days A Year! Terry W. Smith, proprietor 207-217-5706

263 Cards Ridge Rd. • Greenbush, ME

Bradley Redemption Center Susan Anderson, Proprietor

WALTER YOUNG BUILDER ~ 13 Years Experience ~

• Accepting All Brands of Bottles & Cans • Liquors, Wines, Etc.

Free Estimates • Fully Insured

827-5184

944-2320

106 Main Street, Bradley, Maine

Walter Young - Owner 991 West Old Town Road Alton, ME


22

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Early view of town hall in Orono. Item #108942 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

207-827-5193 Bradley, ME 04411

Email: milliganslanding@gmail.com

Family owned and operated since 2004

www.milliganslanding.com

24 Hour Towing

Accepting All Major Motor Clubs

827-2413

665 Stillwater Ave., Old Town

A. Michael Regan • 207-974-7742 (cell)


23

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Bangor Motor Co. (Union street building later used for central fire station). Print by L. Whipple ca. 1909. Item #26112 from the MacEwen Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

C

30 Victory Lane Glenburn, ME 04401

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827-1001 • 866-656-6824

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DIVERSIFIED SERVICES CONTRACTING/CONSTRUCTION Ceramic Tile • Hardwood • Laminates Consulting • Design Repairs • Remodeling J.W. SCHALLER, OWNER

(207) 299-6422 Dine-In Take-Out

martin heating Oil • Propane • Natural Gas Installations • Cleaning • Repair Perry Martin

207-217-2198

martinheating@yahoo.com Levant, Maine

Phone/Fax:

990-3400

Since 1955

Open For Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Now offering gluten-free pizza & beer

866-2111

11 Mill Street • Orono

www.dacarson.net Building Contractor • New Construction Remodeling • Commercial/Residential

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Uses only Insured & Licensed Sub-Contractors Members of: Home Builders Associaton of Maine, National Association for the Self Employed Inc. (NASE), National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Bangor Chamber of Commerce

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Kevin Call ~ 20 Years Experience ~

884-7786 • 991-2391 4206 Union St. • Levant, ME


24

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

University of Maine Orono football team in 1926. Item #5998 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

Visit the University of Maine’s window to the past Experience family and farm life in rural Maine from 1865 to 1940 Attend special events throughout the year Shop for Maine-made and historical reproduction merchandise in an old country store setting Book group tours by calling (207) 581-4100

www.umaine.edu/pagefarm/

Open Tuesday - Saturday, 9am-4pm

Admission is free. 12 Portage Road, Orono, Maine

A FAMILY TRADITION FOR OVER 60 YEARS

Stucco Lodge

Low, Low Prices! Daily • Weekly • Monthly Cable TV • Quiet Location In-Ground Pool • Phones

942-4817 For Reservations:

1-800-343-5158

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(207)941-9600 • (888)329-4950

Mon-Fri 7AM to Midnight • Sat 7AM to 2PM

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Mon-Fri 7AM to 5:30PM • Sat 7AM to 2PM

Canadian Money Accepted At Par Year Round Discounts Available for 5 Minutes North of Bangor Mall & I-95

1382 State Street, Rt. 2 • Veazie, ME


25

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Bangor, Maine Postcard from a foreign town

by Paul McGregor

I

’ve never been to Bangor, Maine. In fact, I”ve never been to America. But I could give you a pretty good description of the place, though. At least, the way it was back in 1963. That was the year Dad got a promotion and his firm sent him on his first business trip – to New York! He had talked about it for days before he left, so we were all excited when the postcard arrived. It was just before we left for school one day and Mum picked it up off the rug in the hall. I don’t know why, but she didn’t look excited at all. She read it quickly and then handed it to me. “They’ve diverted his plane,” she said.

“What is ‘diverted,’ Mummy?” my four year-old brother, Simon, asked. “It means they had to land somewhere else. There was a lot of snow.” I turned the postcard over to look at the picture. I still remember the disappointment. Where was the Empire State Building? Where was the Statue of Liberty? Nowhere. It was just some place called Bangor, Maine. Tom, my elder brother, pulled his school atlas out of his satchel and started looking for the place. “Here it is!” he shouted, pointing at a spot on the map just two inches from our home. “He could be back here tonight!”

I pulled the atlas out of his hands. “Not Bangor in North Wales, stupid!” I went to the Index. Bangor, UK, p. 11, B8. Bangor, USA, p. 39, L3. Turning to page 39, I ran my finger over Portland, Augusta… “Bangor! There it is!” I announced, trying to keep my finger on the spot on the map as I showed the page to Mum. I think she was proud of me for being able to use an atlas, but she also had that anxious look on her face, the look that hardly ever left her. I looked at the postcard again. It was the type with four small pictures instead of a big one. The words, Ban(continued on page 26)

McNally Land Surveyors Since 1998

Since 1932

Garth B. McNally, P.L.S.

Fuel Oil • Propane Gas

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Northport

Serving you, your friends and neighbors for 82 years. www.maineenergy.net

Professional Boundary Consulting Boundary Surveys • ALTA Surveys Mortgage Loan Inspections FEMA Flood Elevation Surveys Topographic Surveys

207-557-9209

44 Sherman Avenue • Bangor, Maine 781 Happy Corner Road • Patten, Maine

www.mcnallylandsurveyors.com

FAMILY FARMS ARE DISAPPEARING IN MAINE...

... and with each one goes another piece of our rich rural culture!

You Can Help Preserve Maine’s Rural Heritage! The Curran Homestead Living History Farm & Museum P.O. Box 107 • Orrington, ME 04472 • tel: 207-745-4426 • www.curranhomestead.org Artifacts and financial donations are tax deductible via 501(c)(3) non-profit status

Two Convenient Locations to Serve You

514 Coldbrook Rd. Bangor (beside Dysart’s)

35 Market St. Bangor

945-6431

We’re More Than Just A Tire Company

bangortire.com


26

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 25) gor, Maine, were printed in a circle in the middle. In the top, right-hand corner was the Bangor Public Library. It had a dome and white marble steps in front. Two men in shirt sleeves, carrying brief-cases, were walking up the steps. They looked so relaxed, just like all Americans, I thought. Our Dad never looked that relaxed. The next box showed a “Standpipe.” I had no idea what it was. It just looked like our Leasowe Lighthouse, just a lot fatter. On top of the City Hall was the American flag. The flag was my favorite part of the picture. I loved the straight, white and red horizontal lines, so bright, strong and no-nonsense. But it also had the fireworks and fun of the bright stars. It was much better than our British flag with its complicated diagonals and crosses and you could never remember which way up it had to be.

MCC

Then there was a single-story building with a green awning, casting a shadow over the pavement. (My Dad told me they call them sidewalks over there.) It was obviously always sunny in Bangor, Maine. On the awning I could make out the words, “The Lobster Basket, Seafood Specialties.” I wondered what lobster tasted like and whether my Dad had tried some. Maybe he’d eaten in that very restaurant. Next was a picture of some strange sculpture with a workman with no shirts on. Simon pointed at it with his grubby finger. “Daddy! Daddy in the garden!” he shouted, as his finger left a trail of jam on the card. Mum took the card off him, but a sticky red trail remained. We had to get to school, so Mum wedged the card in between the mirror and its frame, high up over the fireplace.

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It seemed a long time before Dad finally got back. I asked him to tell me all about Maine and New York. He just said that Bangor had an old railway bridge and that he especially liked the Buick motor cars that we never see in England. “Did you mind having to stay in Bangor?” I asked, still curious. “No, not really.” “Where did you stay?” “Oh… in a hotel.” That was all he’d tell me about Bangor, Maine. The postcard remained up there over the mirror for at least two or three years. I couldn’t reach it, so whenever I wanted to feel what it was like to be in America, I’d ask Mum to take it down for me. I’d stare at it and imagine I was there. As time passed it started to fold at the corners from the heat of the fire. Then one day it disappeared. It was about the time Dad also disappeared.


27

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Mum wouldn’t say where he’d gone. Many years later, after Mum died, I was reminded of Bangor, Maine once again. A letter arrived from a woman over there. She claimed to be my half-sister. She told me that our Dad had just died and that her Mum wanted to invite me or one of my brothers to Bangor so that she could get to know the side of the family she had never met. Her Mum was rich and would pay the airfares. I called my brothers and told them about the letter. They’d forgotten all about the postcard, so I had to remind them. We discussed making the trip. But finally we decided it was best not to reply. We all agreed that Bangor, Maine was probably much better the way it had been back in 1963.

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Bucksport’s Ghost The Sarah Ware tragedy by Dave Bumpus

S

ometimes it is difficult to fathom tragedy. The mere unfairness, ruthlessness, and anarchy of uncontrollable circumstances that leave us devastated, melancholy and bewildered. We can never give an answer as to “why.” We can just ponder time and time again whether this was part of the plan, or if it was necessary. When Sarah Ware, a native of Nova Scotia, moved to Bucksport, Maine in the late 1800s, it is doubtful she or anyone else would have expected her to fall into this category. She came with prospects of love, family and a new life. What she got was the title of Maine’s oldest unsolved homicide.

Bucksport is nestled in Hancock County, surrounded by locations such as Silver Lake and Verona Island, and boasts a list of historical attributes. Just across the Penobscot River sits Fort Knox, which served as a refuge during the Civil War and was named a National Historical Landmark in 1970. The town was settled in 1763 by one Jonathan Buck. More than 100 years later, Sarah MacDonald moved to Bucksport with hopes of a lifelong marriage to Edward Ware. The marriage did not last due to domestic disputes, and Sarah, now a mother of two, was forced to fend for herself as a single mom. She took up work as a housekeeper. When both

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com of her children moved away, she was left with virtually nothing but a broken heart, the new title of Sarah Ware, and shattered dreams of what would have been a new start. Her only option at the time was to seek shelter with a Mrs. Robert Miles (her first name was never disclosed by newspapers). On September 17th, 1898, Sarah left the Miles’ home to make a trip on foot to C.W. Fogg’s general store. She said she would be back in a couple of hours. This would be the last time the Miles’ residence would see Sarah Ware alive. She first stopped at the home of one John Buldoc, a local widower of whom Sarah was a close friend. She then is reported to have continued to C.W. Fogg’s store, where she purchased a 2 cent cigar. She exclaimed to the clerk that she was going home and left the store… and that is all. That is the moment where history stops in Sarah Ware’s waking life. Nobody knows for sure exactly what happened to the

young lady from Nova Scotia after that visit to the store. All that we do know is that she was murdered. When Sarah disappeared, two weeks passed before a search party was constructed. A mere two days later, on October 2nd, the crew noticed a foul stench in the woods on Miles lane. Upon investigation, they made the gruesome discovery. It was indeed the badly decomposed body of Mrs. Ware. She was recognizable only because of her clothes. She had been savagely beaten; so badly that when the body was moved, her head detached. Later investigation revealed that Sarah had suffered vicious blows to the head and neck with a blunt weapon, which attributed to decapitation. The head was prepped to prevent further decomposition, and kept in holding as evidence, while the rest of Sarah Ware was given a proper burial. Word of the murder quickly spread through the town of Bucksport, and it

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was all anyone was talking about. Police swiftly began investigating and interviewing anyone who would talk. It was not long before they spoke with a one Joseph Fogg, who told them that he had helped a man named William Treworgy to move a body. For reasons unknown, he quickly recanted this statement. But under the threat of perjury Fogg agreed to testify. As police staked out both Fogg and Treworgy, Treworgy is documented as saying to police officer Dan Davis, “… if ever this murder is hunted out, there will be more men go to Thomaston as you’ve got fingers and toes, Dan Davis, and they’ll be white shirt men too.” What Treworgy meant by this comment remains unknown. But the case would remain silent for the next four years. When the trial began, little had come to rest in terms of gossip about the murder. The townspeople continued to spread their own theories as to what

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 33) happened. Over 100 witnesses were called; 100 people except for Joseph Fogg. He had recanted his testimony once again, a testimony that the prosecution was highly reliant on. Because of this blow (amongst other holes in evidence), William Treworgy was let loose a free man. Many local historians to this day believe in his innocence. Although he did help move the body, they say, it is more likely that Sarah was the victim of an attack by several men, who may have had enough stature in the town to keep the scandal quiet. The most bizarre aspect of this story is Sarah Ware’s severed head. After the trial, it was returned to evidence and forgotten about. Throughout the years, Sarah has become a bit of a local legend in Bucksport, from crazy rumors, to even ghost stories that surround the area where her body was found. One such story involves people hearing sounds of a woman shrieking and howling during the night. It wasn’t un-

Sometimes it is difficult to fathom tragedy. The mere unfairness, ruthlessness, and anarchy of uncontrollable circurmstances that leave us devastated, melancholy and bewildered.

til September 11th 1998, a mere 6 days short of the centennial of her death, that Sarah Ware’s head was reunited with the body it was stripped from, and she was re-given a proper burial. Reportedly, the shrieking stopped. Whether or not Sarah Ware’s ghost was haunting the town of Bucksport is neither here nor there. What matters is that this murder was never solved. And the likelihood that it ever will be remains doubtful. As tragic as the events of that night back in 1898 were, they have long been buried under a vast pile of history and rumors. Tragedy seems to have a way of fading out as each day, then month, then year passes. It is said that time heals all wounds; but does it really? There are still those out there trying to find answers as to what happened to Sarah. In the face of tragedy, we undoubtedly are prone to seek answers. But the sad truth is that, sometimes, they never come.

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Trout Fishing In Carmel An early history

by Charles Francis

I

f you want a mess of trout for supper, what’s the surest way of catching it? If you lived in Carmel a long time ago and you were the Reverend Paul Ruggles, you had a foolproof method for procuring that trout dinner. You got it from the Souadabscook. Actually, you got it from a brook that emptied into the Souadabscook, a brook that Ruggles named after himself, Ruggles Brook. For as long as I can remember the Souadabscook has been famous for its canoe race. In fact, that’s how the race is known, as “The Souadabscook.” I don’t know if the Souadabscook was ever known for its trout in the way it has been for its canoe race. Accounts

from the past would seem to indicate it was. Certainly the Reverend Ruggles and his family would have thought so. Carmel is one of the oldest farming communities in Penobscot County. Its history dates back to when it was acquired from Massachusetts by Martin Kingsley in 1795. Kingsley didn’t settle there, though. The Reverend Paul Ruggles and his brother Abel are most often cited as the first settlers of the township. Ruggles gave Carmel its name. The name was chosen to honor Elijah’s vision of God on Mt. Carmel in the Holy Land. Actually it is not quite correct to identify the Reverend and his brother as the first settlers of the township that

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com would become Carmel. There was a third. The third settler was the Reverend’s wife Mercy. It is because of Mercy Ruggles that we know something of what life was like in Carmel’s early days. Paul Ruggles was the son of Edward Ruggles of Hardwick, Massachusetts. He lived in Hardwick until he was twenty-six. In 1796 he married his childhood sweetheart Mercy Dexter. Two years later the couple and Paul’s brother Abel decided to chance homesteading in the Maine wilderness. The snowy spring of 1798 found them in Hampden ready to set off for the interior. The trio’s meager belongings were traveled by ox-drawn sled. They followed in a sleigh. Their route followed the Souadabscook. They stopped in what is now Hermon. Paul and Mercy and Abel stayed for several weeks with the Garland family in Hermon waiting for spring to real-

ly settle in. Their next mode of travel was by dugout on the Souadabscook. They built the dugout. There was no other ready method of transportation to Township No. 2, as Carmel was then known. There weren’t any roads, not even the sort that are swamped out by loggers. The whole area was virgin, unsettled wilderness. Long after the events being described here Mercy Ruggles was interviewed as to what her pioneering experiences were like. The interviews took place in the late 1860s. The descriptions here come from those interviews. The three intrepid pioneers paddled up the Souadabscook into the central part of Township No. 2, landing near the mouth of a beautiful, clear stream. Mercy described the stream as “swarming with trout.” Later they called the stream Ruggles Brook. The mouth of Ruggles Brook was the location of the trio’s first wilderness home, a log

house. Eventually, when others moved to the township, the log cabin was replaced by one of planks. For the time being, however, their neighbors were wildlife ― moose, deer, beaver, and the like. In her interview Mercy Ruggles recalled waking one summer morning just before sunrise to see “a very large owl sitting upon the head-board of the bed looking down with the utmost gravity.” She said “The door of the cabin had been left partly open, and the owl, without stopping to knock, had thus unceremoniously entered....” Mercy Ruggles was an elderly lady when she was interviewed. She loved recalling events and stories from her past. One of them involved the method used by the Reverend Ruggles to catch trout. Mercy called it her husband’s particular “invention.” Paul and Abel Ruggles built a mill the first year they were in their new (continued on page 38)

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 37) home. When the mill was shut down the water behind it turned to shoal, trapping anything swimming there. Mercy described the shoal as seeming “literally alive with those beautiful, glittering fish — the speckled trout, from three to four inches to a foot in length.” This was where Paul Ruggles fished. What the Reverend Ruggles did was to place boards in the stream. The boards formed a funnel to a bushel basket. He then drove the trout through the funnel into the basket. He then had a bushel of fish from which to choose the best. And the best is what he took and just enough for a meal. The rest were released. Paul Ruggles lived just over nine years in Carmel. That was how long he lived after coming to Maine. Reverend Ruggles was Baptist. He was a very popular preacher. In the nine years of his life in Maine he preached more than twelve hundred sermons. Bud’s

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Most of these sermons were given in the Penobscot region. He did travel, as far as the Somerset region and even to Moose Island, where Eastport now is. The Reverend established five churches in his immediate area ― in Newport, Stetson, Exeter, Hermon and Charleston. The Reverend Paul Ruggles was thirty-eight when he died in 1820. Mercy Ruggles died at age ninety-three in 1870. She outlived her husband by fifty years. In 2011, when Maine Representative Michael Michaud stood up on the floor of Congress to pay tribute to the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of Carmel, he named Reverend Paul Ruggles and his brother Abel as Car-

mel’s first settlers. Michaud included Mercy Ruggles along with the Reverend and his brother. Michaud described Carmel as growing “from 387 people at incorporation in 1811 to nearly 1,400 people by 1870.” He went on to say Carmel “is a town steeped in the history of Maine, growing from a small farming village into a mill town renowned for its textiles, boots and shoes.” In concluding, the Congressmen emphasized that the town’s residents continue to push ahead through new challenges.” One thing Congressman Michaud did not speak to, however, was that trout played a part in Carmel’s history.

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

You Can See Forever The lonely life of a smoke-spotter

by Kenneth Smith

F

ire! As with the most natural forces, it is both slave and master. By the turn of the century fire had ravaged most of the Maine forest, and continued to do so. In 1900, early warning was the smell or sight of smoke on the horizon. The man responsible for the quantum leap in detection and location of forest fires was Elmer Crowley, a 22 year-old forester. In June of 1904 Crowley, who had just graduated from UMO, stepped from the train at Greenville with his diploma and a job offer from the M .G. Shaw Lumber Co. The very next day he hitched a ride on a supply wagon to a lumber camp oper-

ating on the south side of Big Squaw Mountain Township. After observing the operation, Mr. Shaw suggested that he and Crowley climb to the summit of Big Squaw Mountain to observe the lay of the land. Shaw pointed out various landmarks. Crowley noticed that the smoke from area mills was clearly visible and allowed that the mountaintop would be a good site for a forest fire watchman, who could do more good than 100 men prowling the woods searching for fire. Up to this point in time, that is exactly how blazes were located. Later that summer Shaw approached Crowley, remarking that putting a man on Squaw Mountain was a

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“pretty good idea.” Just one year later, June 10, 1905, young Bill Hilton of Greenville climbed up a rickety wooden tower atop Squaw, becoming the nation’s first fire tower lookout. Later, more than 6,000 men and women would follow as fire tower lookouts or “watchmen.” Hilton’s ability to spot and locate fires before they burned out of control was clearly demonstrated that first season. Private funding was provided that same year to build lookout towers on the bald domes of Attean and Bigelow Mountains. In 1909 when the Maine Forestry District was formed, providing state-

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43

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com wide fire protection for 10 million acres of unorganized townships and plantations, the nine lookout stations then in operation came under state jurisdiction. Evolution of materials, construction, maintenance, and communication of lookout towers was rapid. The same applied to tower access, living, and working conditions. The people who occupied these remote lookout towers were a special and select group. Arriving in early spring they remained until late fall. Many never even got to the nearest town. Most were experienced woodsmen, content with their own company. Some could not deal with the isolation and left early on. Initially, most smoke-spotters lived in small log cabins below the tower. Later, milled lumber was carted in to build larger living quarters. Rain barrels attached to gutters provided drinking, cooking, and wash water, the only plus from violent storms which plagued

the mountains. Boredom was not a problem since the watchman’s day was filled. Lookouts cooked, gardened, mended, canned, and picked berries along with their regular duties. Scanning the far horizons for smoke, writing and calling in daily reports, doing cabin chores, hauling up supplies, cutting trails, repairing phone lines, and dodging thunder storms left little down time. Strange that the watchman’s handbook, prepared by the Maine Forest Service, urged lookouts to “take every opportunity to get around your territory and study the area.” A lucky few had wives, but most were loners. Supplies were toted to the base of the mountain by wagon or packhorse, loaded in pack baskets, and sacked up the mountain. Later planes tried parachute drops, but most missed the summit. Lightning was a serious threat to lookouts. There was a standing order

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to leave the tower if a thunderstorm was imminent. Since these same thunderstorms caused many fires, the watchmen were torn between duty and personal survival. At one time or another, most towers received direct strikes, and lightning which often came in on telephone lines cooked many phones beyond recognition. Early towers were simply long, three-log tripods topped with wooden platforms. Tiny log ‘cabs’ were added. Later, four steel legs replaced the logs, the cabs were enlarged and shingled, and some were steel-framed. Getting tower materials to the site was a major task. Trails, and ultimately roads, to and up the mountain, necessitated hard labor and feats of engineering. Holes for eyebolt cables, which guy-wired the tower and secured the legs, had to be hand-drilled into solid granite and then filled with molten lead. Gales of Autumn and the ice and snow storms (continued on page 44)

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 43) which followed provided the ultimate in tower testing. Many failed, and collapse was not rare. At the end of the fire tower era, a few complete towers were air-lifted to mountain tops by helicopter. During the period between 1905 and 1973, over one hundred lookout towers were built in Maine. Forest fire location and suppression results of the fire tower concept were dramatic, bringing the annual fire menace under a measure of control. Maps were key to pin-pointing fires, and the panorama-profile map was invaluable. This was a carefully prepared, circular topographic map with a 15-inch radius. It was placed in a glasstopped, round table equipped with a 360-degree rotating device which resembled two slotted, vertical rulers. Using these “panorama alidades,” the

watchman could usually give a very accurate fire location. Even the first watch towers had telephones, and over time the Maine Forestry District developed a complex 3,500-mile communication system, which linked all towers with district headquarters. The original lines were single strands of heavy-gauge galvanized wire, requiring constant repair. Annually, fallen trees and bull moose

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tore down hundreds of miles of line. Moose would tangle their antlers in the wire, dragging down a half mile of line, and often strangling to death. Watchmen spent many long days repairing and replacing downed wire. The advent of radio solved both moose and communication problems. In 1950 the decline in lookout towers began. By 1962, 59 of the original 106 remained, and in 1973 just 13 were in operation. The increased use of airplanes corresponded directly with the decline in manned towers. Stories, books and movies have romanticized the fire lookout’s life, but the reality was that the job was difficult, dangerous, and lonely. Their task was accomplished, and the role they played helped revolutionize the control of forest fires in Maine and across America.

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Fire Tower Map of Mt. Kineo tower. This map was hand colored by John Barrows of Galeyrie Maps in Falmouth, ME.

www.Galeyrie.com These circular maps show a regular map in plan view oriented in 90 degree segments with a diorama view of the mountain and lakes on the horizon. Compass delineations mark the circumference of the map. An instrument called an “Alidade” was used to determine the exact bearing of the rising smoke. This “bearing” was coordinated with another firetower and a triangulation fixed the location of the fire. Crews were then dispatched.

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

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48

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Modern Computers In The North Woods When computers came to Great Northern Paper Co. by David M. Parker

A

s my wife and I drove into Millinocket, we could hardly take our eyes off the horizon. There, glowing brightly in the morning sun, was snow-covered Mt. Katahdin. We had caught glimpses of it during our journey, but now that we were nearer, the view was stunning. It was early spring in 1967. Joyce and I, along with our six-month-old daughter Karen, were moving from Bangor to Millinocket, where I had accepted a position with Great Northern Paper Company. For the next few years this familiar mountain silhouette would be a constant part of our lives. In this unlikely setting of north woods serenity and mountain

grandeur, I would discover the world of modern computers. At the time of our arrival Millinocket was one of the most prosperous towns in the state. Since the early 1900s, Great Northern Paper Company had been the economic driving force in the area. The company initially built a large mill in Millinocket and later added another in East Millinocket. These mills required an enormous amount of softwood to feed their grinders and digesters. To meet this need, the company had established vast woodlands operations across northern Maine. The pulpwood harvested on company lands was conveyed to the mills by river,

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truck and train. Electric power to operate the mills came from the company’s own dams and generating plants. Great Northern was actually one of the largest power producers in the state. Every day trains left the two plants, carrying large rolls of paper to printing facilities around the country. The main types of paper manufactured were newsprint, telephone directory paper and glossy coated paper for catalogues. Wages were very good and the work was steady. Nearly all who lived in the area derived their living directly or indirectly from the mills. At Great Northern I started work as a technologist in the Applied Math

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49

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com Group of the Pioneering Research Department. For visitors to this small town the terms “Applied Math” and “Pioneering Research” may seem strange. Actually Great Northern maintained an ambitious engineering and research program. The staff worked in its own building (called simply the “E&R Building”), which was located near the main entrance to the mill. The research people were engaged in projects related to every area of the company’s operations. Some were designing technical improvements to the paper machines. Others were exploring ways to improve the quality of pulp being produced in the chemical digesters. Still others were developing new grades of coated paper for catalogues and magazines. Personnel from research were regularly flown on the company airplane (piloted by the company pilot) to printing companies around the country to see how the paper was performing in the presses.

On my first day at work I learned that the company was beginning to explore applications of computer technology. In the Administration Building there was an IBM 1440 computer which was used for accounting, payroll, and billing. This machine occupied a large air-conditioned room filled with cables and auxiliary equipment. Programming and data entry was done with punch cards. The front panel of the computer displayed an impressive array of blinking lights and looked a bit like something from an early sci-fi movie. I soon learned that the company had just signed an agreement with IBM to lease a Model 1130 computer to help with quality control and reporting. My group was asked to write all the necessary programs. I was handed training manuals on the programming language FORTRAN (formula translation). Soon our group was busy compiling

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programs for entering lab test results, doing statistical calculations and producing detailed reports. The computer finally arrived on a large truck and was hoisted by a crane to the second floor lab where it was installed. Soon the whole system was up and running. Here is how it worked. Samples of paper from each of the ten paper machines were collected and sent to the testing lab. There the paper was tested for weight, brightness, strength, smoothness and other qualities. The test results were given to a data entry clerk who typed the results into the computer through a keyboard. For the order running on each machine, the computer kept track of the test results and did statistical calculations to assure that measurements were within target limits. Whenever a machine finished a certain order, the computer would calculate and print a detailed statistical report of quality test results. This information was helpful

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50

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 49) not only to the machine operators, but also to the customer for whom that order was made. Another program that we developed was a digital model of the company’s system of rivers, lakes, dams and power generation plants. The program allowed the company to evaluate different operating strategies to see which ones gave the greatest consistency and efficiency of power output. The entire town buzzed with excitement on the day that Great Northern announced a major new project. The company planned to install an eleventh paper machine in a new building at the Millinocket site. This machine, rivaling some of the largest in the country, would dwarf the existing machines at the plant. It was called simply “Paper Machine # 11” and would produce huge quantities of telephone directory paper. Since management wanted this ma-

chine to have the latest control technology, they ordered a computer process control system from Foxboro Company in Massachusetts. Members of our team traveled to Foxboro to become acquainted with the system and to learn the Assembly language with which the computers were programmed. After the huge machine was completed and the computer system installed, members of the team spent long days and nights in the control room working the kinks out of the system. Back in the Administration Dept. the old 1440 computer was replaced with a next-generation IBM 360. Members of the engineering and research staff were thrilled to have this new computer available to assist with their projects. The optimism within the mill was reflected in the whole life of the town. There were nice stores and shops along the main street of Millinocket. A new

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plaza was built on the hill leading into town. Many Millinocket residents drove to Bangor monthly to shop at new stores and malls. My own family was involved in many social and church activities in the town. We especially loved to explore the back roads and find a new vantage point from which to view the wonders of Mt. Katahdin. Yes, I was involved in fascinating work with some of the latest in computer technology. And yes, my family enjoyed living in a vibrant, thriving community. But the frosting on the cake was this – we were constantly surrounded by the splendor of the north woods, and for a brief time each day our vision was captured by the sight of that beautiful mountain.

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Houlton’s Merriam Brothers Bound to serve, bound for honor

by Charles Francis

T

he older brother left Colby to join the Union Army. The younger brother graduated Colby to become a physician. The older brother was Henry Clay Merriam; the younger, Cyrus Knapp Merriam. Both were born in Houlton. Both made their greatest marks in life on the Pacific coast, with Washington State figuring large in their lives. A third brother, Lewis, served his country honorably. Henry Clay Merriam left the greatest imprint in the history books. He was retired when Congress recognized his contributions to the country and the military by raising him to the rank of major general. Major General Henry

Henry Clay Merriam

Clay Merriam is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Dr. Cyrus Knapp Merriam’s last resting place is Washington State. Spokane and the state as a whole recognize him as one of the great pioneer medical men of the turn of the twentieth century. Lewis Merriam, like his brother Henry, was a career military man. He left his country’s service with the rank of captain, later to be promoted to major. Like Henry, Lewis lies in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1865, in Louisiana, Colonel Henry Clay Merriam led the attack on Fort Blakely. The citation Merriam received as a result of the action states his “courage and bravery contributed to the

Katahdin

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(continued on page 52)

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 51) capture of 6,000 Confederates.” That citation is the Congressional Medal of Honor. Cyrus Knapp Merriam was serving as a U.S. Army physician when he was stationed at Fort Spokane in 1882. He mustered out in 1887 to establish a private practice in the rapidly expanding Pacific slope community. He became one of the Spokane County Medical Society’s most active members, serving as the Society’s chief organizer. Dr. Merriam went on to serve a similar function with the State Medical Society. Today the State Medical Society traces its origins to Dr. Merriam’s organizational skills. The Merriam brothers were the sons of Lewis and Mary Ann (Foss) Merriam. Lewis and Mary Ann Merriam had ten children, eight boys and two girls. At least one other of the Merriam boys served in the military. This was Leon-

ard, a member of the First Maine Cavalry Band. The band’s war record is of a somewhat ambiguous nature. On at least one occasion it proved more of a hindrance for the First Cavalry than an asset, “tootling” during an actual battle. But that is a story for another time. Lewis Merriam came to Houlton from his birthplace of New Salem. He was a farmer and a mill owner. Mary Ann Foss Merriam was a native of Oromocto, New Brunswick. The Merriam family would appear to have been Unitarian or at least to have had decided Unitarian inclinations. As was typical of the time of Unitarians, Lewis and Mary Ann Merriam placed high value on education and service. This point is made in part to explain the accomplishments and interests of the principal subjects of this piece. Henry Clay Merriam was a second year student at Colby when he dropped

out in 1862 in response to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers. Merriam did more than just volunteer his services to the Union Army. He went home to Houlton and raised a company of volunteers. Those volunteers became Company H of the famous 20th Maine. Merriam was the company’s Captain. He would not be with the 20th Maine and its famous commander Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top, though. In 1863 Henry Merriam took command of the 1st Louisiana Native Guard. This regiment – renamed 73rd Regiment Infantry U.S. Colored Troops – has the distinction of being one of or possibly the very oldest of Black regiments of the U.S. Army. The regiment served gallantly at the Battle of Port Hudson and then at the capture of Fort Blakely. Following the War Between the

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States Henry Merriam was assigned to frontier duty during some of the fiercest fighting of the Indian Wars of the southwest as well as to the Idaho and Washington region, where he was in charge of Indian affairs. In 1866 in Texas, Merriam met Lucy Getchell. The couple was married in 1868 in New Mexico. They had one child, Mamie. In 1870 both Lucy and Mamie lost their lives in a flash flood. Four years later Merriam married Una MacPherson. The couple had five children. While there is a good deal of contention regarding the settlement of Native Americans on reservations in Washington and Idaho in the 1880s and 1890s, Henry Merriam is generally credited with enforcing federal directives fairly and equitably and most notably, peacefully. It is for the peaceful settlement of Native Americans of the northwest on reservations that he most deserves

to be remembered. During the Spanish-American War Merriam was placed in charge of the entire Pacific coast. In this position he saw to the training and equipping of men bound for the Philippines. Merriam is credited as inventor of the Merriam Pack, an infantry pack used by American soldiers in the first decades of the twentieth century. Cyrus Merriam graduated Colby in 1875. His medical training came at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital and City College of New York, his specialty being surgery. In 1880 he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Dr. Merriam’s billets were the frontier forts of the west. He was surgeon at Fort Spokane from 1882 to 1887. While at this last posting he met Miriam Tannatt, daughter of General Thomas Tannatt. Upon his retirement from the U.S. Army, General Tannatt made Walla Walla his home, and served as land agent for the Oregon Railroad

and Navigation Company. Cyrus Merriam and Miriam Tannatt married in 1905. In 1941 and again in 1951 members of the Tannatt family donated family papers to the Washington State University Library. Miriam Tannatt Merriam served as one of the university’s head librarians. The Tannatt family papers include the memoirs and papers of Cyrus Merriam. Like Henry Clay Merriam, Lewis Merriam was a veteran of the War Between the States. Like his brother, Lewis served with a colored regiment, two in fact, the 61st and 65th. Lewis Merriam was a second lieutenant in both instances. He retired in 1893. He and his wife Annie Burnham Merriam are buried in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery. Nearby, one finds the stone of Major General Henry Clay Merriam and his wife Una.

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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 53) Addenda Elizabeth Tappan Tannatt, the mother of Miriam Tannatt, wife of Cyrus Merriam, was a member of the New England Tappan family. The Tappans were noted abolitionists associated with such figures as William Lloyd Garrison, Reverend Theodore Parker and Ralph Waldo Emerson. With the end of the War Between the States the Tappans as well as the Tannatts became active in the Native American rights movement. It was an extension of nineteenth century Unitarian liberalism that played an important part in the formation of the character of the Merriam brothers. Colby College has a collection of Cyrus Merriam papers. Cyrus Merriam was not the only notable member of the Class of 1875. Included in the Cyrus Merriam collection is a picture of Mary Caffrey Low. Low, also in the class of 1875, was the first woman to graduate

Colby. She went on to become State Librarian in Augusta. One can only note that Low and Cyrus Merriam’s wife Miriam were head librarians. Henry Clay Merriam, although leaving Colby to enlist in the Union Army, is listed as a graduate of Colby University. It would appear the listing is either gratuitous or honorary. Regardless, the Major General continued his education studying law.

Corinna-Newport Insurance Agency

• Wednesday, July 2nd At American Legion: Horseshoe Tournament & BBQ Kiddie Parade At Newport Elementary School: Carnival commences, running Wednesday through Saturday

Newport Glass Serving you for over 25 years

Serving you successfully since 1931

Auto • Residential Commercial

Complete Insurance Service

1-800-660-3700 368-5698

~ Dana W. Freese ~

207-368-4601

264 Moosehead Trail • Newport, Maine

24 Hour Service

Moosehead Trail Professional Building

341-0906

Newport, ME

Sunshine Apothecary at Endless Herbs 134 Main St., Newport, ME • 207-368-7743

N All

atu

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MIRACULOUS PAIN CREME ~ Effective in Minutes! ~

Flea Juice

for cats & dogs

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: • Monday, June 30th At Newport Cultural Center: Opening Ceremony/Dignitary Comments Opening of the Time Capsule Art & Flower Show • Tuesday, July 1st At Newport Recreation: Chili Cookoff Pie Judging Contest

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

C N I

23 Water Street • Newport, ME (207) 368-4410

* Baby Butt Juice * for diaper rash

M in M ade ain e!

Bug Juice

insect repellant

www.endlessherbs.com

• Thursday, July 3rd At Newport Recreation Center: Beauty Pageant At Newport Elementary School: Pedal Tractor Pulls • Friday, July 4th At the Swim Front: Canoe Race Fireman’s Muster Rubber Duck Race • Saturday, July 5th Parade & Float Judging Motorcycle Show Car Show At the Swim Front/Rec Center: Street Dance & Beer Garden Boat Parade Fireworks • Sunday, July 6th Masons Pancake Breakfast Closing Ceremony/Raffle Drawing North Newport Church Service * Schedule of events is subject to change

Come Join Us To Celebrate Newport’s 200th Birthday! Please Visit Our Website for more information & schedule updates:

www.NewportMaine.net


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1938 map of Newport courtesy of John Barrows available at www.Galeyrie.com

Brown Funeral Home & Cremation Service Center “The comfort of a home, the understanding of a friend”

Philip W. Brown Director

~ Over 35 Years Of Personal Service ~

207-368-5380 800-439-5380

34 High Street • Newport, ME

www.philipbrownfuneralhome.com

BROOKS TIRE & AUTO “Sitting right on the 45th parallel for 45 years”

Norm Cookson Realty Homes • Farms • Camps Commercial • Land 924-7902 or 924-3594 www.normcookson.com

“Drop in for a free catalog or talk with one of our 10 qualified agents” 175 Spring Street

Dexter

Tires • Shocks • Brakes Custom Exhaust Fine Line of Quality Used Cars and Pickups

207-924-7149 • 1-800-339-7149 Also home of

“We Rent For Less”

207-924-5884

Rte 7 • 397 Corinna Road • Dexter, ME

SEAMANS

ELECTRICAL SERVICES, LLC Commercial & Residential

Providing all your electrical needs

207-924-7466 Dexter, Maine

FREE ESTIMATES • FULLY INSURED


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Corn huskers in East Corinth. Item #100577 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

J. Wilbur Construction • Home Renovation • General Carpentry • New Construction • Additions • Siding • Roofing • Garage Package • Jacking • Leveling • Concrete Under Existing Buildings • Insured

207-717-6393 Dexter, Maine

www.jwilburconstruction.com

DEXTER LUMBER COMPANY Serving You for Over 25 Years Lumber & Plywood • Hardware Building Materials • Glidden Paints Welding & Supplies • Plumbing Electrical Supplies • Kitchen Cabinets

924-6408 21 Jennings Hill Road Dexter, Maine 04930

SHERWOOD’S AUTO REPAIR We Will Install Your Parts

Tune-Up • Engine Repair • Front End Transmission • Brakes • Exhaust Shocks • Struts • CV Joints Maine State Inspection Station

~ 20 Years Experience ~

Home: 884-6348 • Cell: 745-1594 20 Cushman Road • Corinth, ME

~ Serving for you 48 years ~

Full Service ~ Burial Cremation (Individual Personalized Services)

THOMPSON FUNERAL SERVICES Raymond E. Thompson ~ Director

285-3377 East Corinth

278-4853 Corinna

www.thompsonfuneralhome.org

Pizza • Steak Sandwiches Subs • Soda 325 Main Road • East Corinth, ME


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Smart’s Restaurant in Rockwood, ca. 1940. Item #6494 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

H.A. Higgins & Son, Inc. ~ Established 1952 ~

•Foundations/Slabs •Frostwalls •Septic Systems •Driveways •Excavating •Gravel / Loam Robert Higgins - President

1-800-280-3404 or 285-3404

24 Main Road • Charleston, Maine

McKusick Petroleum Co.

32 Summer Street • Dover-Foxcroft 207-564-3406 ___________________

Harmon’s 31 Main Street • Milo 207-943-2561 ___________________

LP Gas • Heating Oil Heating Systems • Sales & Service Emergency Service: 1-800-564-3835 www.mckusickpetroleum.com

Dover Audiology

And Hearing Aid Sales Christopher Clukey, Audiologist, MA, CCC-A

“Terrific Solutions For Those Suffering From Hearing Loss” • Major American-Made Hearing Aids • Sales and Service

207-564-3337 859 W. Main St. • Dover-Foxcroft “At the Red Door”

Daniel L. Steinke, D.D.S. Hillary S. Caruso, D.M.D. 24 Hour Emergency Care For Our Patients!

We emphasize comprehensive preventive care in a comfortable, caring environment. Quality Orthodontics, Relaxation Dentistry, Root Canal Therapy, Gum Disease Treatment, Oral Surgery and Implants, and other specialties right in our office.

DOVER Start Right. Start Here. STIHL CHAINSAWS SALES & SERVICE We Are Now Your Supplier For Building Materials 69 East Main St. • Dover-Foxcroft • 564-2274 ~ Come See Us For All Your Home Projects ~ DoverTrueValue.com

BRAGDON BUILDERS Call for all your building needs: New construction, remodeling, asphalt and metal roofing

FREE ESTIMATES • FULLY INSURED

285-7743 home • 570-6510 cell BIFF BRAGDON General Contractor

564-3455

5 Winter Street, Dover-Foxcroft

Live by the Word and Build on the Rock.


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Marion Martin: Mother of Republican Women Kingman’s contribution to Maine politics

by Charles Francis

There can be no woman president.” That’s what Marion Martin said shortly after she became Maine’s first woman Commissioner of Labor and Industry back in 1947. The reason Martin gave for her pronouncement — one that many would consider sexist today — had to do with the fact there were not enough opportunities for women to acquire the experience needed to fulfill the office of the nation’s chief executive. What Martin believed was that women needed opportunity to become “president of the Chase National Bank,” or assume similar positions of responsibility. Marion Martin had the credentials to serve as Maine Commissioner of Labor and Industry. She was well educated,

had served eight years in the Maine legislature, and close to ten as a professional political organizer. In the latter capacity she is credited with founding what is known today as the National Federation of Republican Women. It was being fired as head of the latter organization — which was then known as the National Federation of Women’s Republican Clubs — by the chairman of the National Republican Committee that brought Martin back to Maine to become Commissioner of Labor and Industry. Marion Martin is sometimes called the Mother of Republican Women. Apparently the cognomen has a connection to Mother’s Day. At least it seems to have made its first appearance in

Dover Small Engine Repair

ANDERSON BUILDING & WOODWORKING CO.

• Lawn Tractors • Mowers • Snow Blowers Larry Crockett

24/7 Non-profit Fitness & Community Center

207-876-4813

450-9111

31 High St., Suite A • Guilford, ME

3 Whittier Street • Dover-Foxcroft, ME

www.comfitme.com

or 564-2667

DAVE’S GARAGE “We Do It All...Give Us A Call!” New & Late Model Auto Repair Dave Draper 15 Years Experience

Garage: 207-876-4095 Cell: 207-561-0746

11 Glass Hill Road • Guilford, ME

friendsofitness@myfairpoint.net

Rideout’s Seasonal Services

• Lawn Mowing • Landscaping • Camp Maintenance • Fall & Spring Cleanups • Plowing, Etc.

717-8158

Kris Rideout

Dover-Foxcroft, ME

- BUILDING CONTRACTOR “Professional Building Services”

• • • • •

Complete Log Homes Custom Homes Additions Garages Full Scale Remodeling

~ FREE ESTIMATES ~ FULLY INSURED

Scott D. Anderson

Cell: 207-441-7093 scottandersonbuilding@gmail.com


59

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com conjunction with an article, or series of articles, written in 2000 as part of that year’s Mother’s Day commemoration lauding the accomplishments of Maine women in a variety of fields. Marion Martin was a small-town girl. She was born in Kingman, an agricultural community of about 600 on Mattawamkeag Stream. How does a girl from a small town in eastern Maine get to be a power in Republican Party politics at the national level? She does it by graduating at the top of her class at Bradford Academy in 1917, and then going on to prestigious Wellesley College. Of course, it also helps if your mother is something of an activist and suggests you run for the Maine legislature. That’s what Florence McLaughlin Martin told her daughter as the elections for the Maine House of Representatives of 1930 were approaching. 1930 is the year Marion Martin became the youngest woman to be elected up to that time to the Maine

legislature. What made Marion a success was her lifelong willingness to learn. She had an inquiring mind. She was not set in her ways and was always open to new ideas. At Wellesley she studied chemistry and mathematics. Martin also attended the University of Maine. There she studied government, accounting and economics. Marion Martin was a Republican. The 1930s, the era of the Great Depression, were not Republican years. Maine was one of the few states where Republicans stood a chance of being elected to office. Most everywhere else, an aspirant to political office had to be a Democrat. It was a matter of coattails — the very long coattails of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Marion Martin served two terms in the Maine House. Then she was elected to two terms in the Maine Senate. As a Senator she served as chair of the Legal Affairs Committee. She was one of the

very few non-attorneys to hold the position. The lack of legal background led her to enroll in law classes at Yale. She took the classes when the Maine Legislature was not in session. Yale was indirectly responsible for Martin getting involved in national Republican politics. Glen Saxon, one of Martin’s law professors, happened to be head of the Research Division of the Republican National Committee. It was Saxon who suggested Martin work for the Republican National Committee. What Saxon probably had in mind was recruiting Marion Martin to work for him. What it meant for Martin, however, was becoming a Republican National Committeewoman. In 1937 John Hamilton, chair of the Republican National Committee, asked Martin to become assistant chair for women’s activities. The primary responsibility of the job was that of organizing Republican women. Republican women’s clubs had been campaigning (continued on page 60)

School Street Redemption

KIMBALL INSURANCE, L.L.C.

Draper’s Garage

Please have your bottles emptied!

Monday-Thursday: 10am-4:00pm Saturday: 10:00am-2:00pm Closed Friday and Sunday

Michelle: 343-2398 Jerilyn: 717-0185 11 School Street • Guilford, ME

HARTLAND

CHRISTIAN SCHOOL A ministry of Hartland First Baptist Church Hartland, ME

Educating the Youth & Communities of Hartland for nearly 40 years David Michaud, School Administrator

207-938-4250

AUTO - HOME - COMMERCIAL FINANCIAL SERVICES LIFE & HEALTH INSURANCE

Variable Annuities • Retirement Planning Mutual Funds • IRA’s • 401K • LTC

PERSONAL IN-HOUSE SERVICE

(207) 876-9777 • (877) 844-3388

35 Hudson Ave. • Guilford, ME 04443

www.kimballinsuranceagency.com *Securities offered through United Planners’ Financial Services of America, a Limited Partnership. Member FINRA, SIPC.

KC‛s

Steve Draper, Proprietor

Auto, Truck & Equipment Repair

~ Open Monday thru Friday ~

876-4080

2 Draper Road • Guilford, ME

Country

Store Burnham Tree Service OFFICIAL TAGGING STATION Open 7 Days

Hunting & Camping Supplies Sit-down Breakfast Every Day

Licensed & Insured Arborist Tree & Brush Removal Free Estimates

678 State Hwy (Rt. 150) Parkman, Maine

Lloyd Burnham - Owner

876-4111 Hours: 5am-8pm • Fri. & Sat. 5am-9pm

207-356-0531

25 Smart Road • Parkman, ME 04443


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 59) for their party for over fifty years, but they went their own way and did not coordinate their work. After meeting with other national committeewomen, Martin called a conference at the Palmer Hotel in Chicago, for September 22-23, 1938. The National Federation of Republican Women’s Clubs was founded at that time. Martin was head. Within a year, clubs with 100,000 members had affiliated. By 1946 the federation had 400,000 members. 1946 was the year Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress. It was also the year Marion Martin was fired. The firing has been put down to party factionalism. Martin worked to get more women involved in Republican Party politics as activists. This meant women getting elected to office and serving as national committeewomen. It would seem Martin’s own activism made her enemies at the national level. The activism cost her.

Lumberjack lodges OPEN YEAR ROUND

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Hunters Welcome!

However, the state of Maine would profit from Martin’s dismissal. Marion Martin served as Maine Commissioner of Labor and Industry from 1947 until her retirement from public life in 1972. She was first appointed to the position by Governor Horace Hildreth. Hildreth said of his choice that Martin was neither “pro-labor nor pro-capital.” This is the sort of observation that can only be made by an educated person. Marion Martin was a highly successful commissioner. The reason for this is due to the fact that she did not approach her responsibilities from the standpoint of already having the answer or solution to a problem. Martin’s appointment as commissioner carried with it a number of secondary positions. She was Chairman of the Boiler Board and a member of the Industrial Accident Commission. For the former, Martin went back and reviewed her college physics. For the latter, she dug out her law books to re-

Drummond Construction Excavating Septic Systems Site Work & Driveways Fully Insured

Free Estimates

search torts. There is a lesson here. Marion Martin saw her appointment as Commissioner of Labor and Industry as a test. If she failed the test she was, in a sense, failing her gender. She said “...the effect of my appointment to this job will be in favor or against the appointment of other women to high executive position. If I do a good job, it will make people... more inclined to appoint other women. If I do not, people are going to say, ‘We won’t appoint a woman. See what Marion Martin did.’ Others will say, ‘Just like a woman.’” Governor John Reed described Martin as “a giant in her field.” Few, if any, deserve the accolade who have not devoted countless hours to education. Without education, no one can realize great responsibility, even if opportunity exists. That just may be the true message of Marion Martin’s life — her legacy. ❦ Other businesses in this area are featured in the color section.

Lakeshore House LODGING & PUB

Full Bar & Great Food! ~ Take Out Available Live Music every Sunday in the Summer: 2-5pm

Open at noon for lunch & dinner Tuesday thru Sunday (Closed Mondays) Family Friendly

9 Tenney Hill Road Route 15 in downtown Monson, Maine

ITS Accessible

207-683-2000 • Harmony, Maine

876-2834 / 343-3380 Abbot, Maine

www.lakeshore-house.com

Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce

Shaw’s Lodging

Ellis’ Greenhouse and Nursery

* Restaurant Open Friday-Sunday *

www.lumberjacklodges.com

www.mooseheadlake.org

Email: info@mooseheadlake.org

Moosehead Lake ~ The Way Life Should Be ~ Serving: Beaver Cove, Greenville, Kokadjo, Monson, Northeast Carry, Rockwood, Seboomook & Shirley

(207) 695-2702

Monson, Maine on the edge of the 100-mile wilderness

Guided Hikes • Outdoor Enthusiasts “Best Breakfast on the Appalachian Trail”

207-997-3597

P.O. Box 72 • 17 Pleasant St., Monson, ME 04464

shawslodging.com

207-997-7069

Celebrating Over 30 Years in Business Since 1980

• Bedding Plants • Annuals • Perennials • Professional Forestry

Member Mid-Maine Greenhouse Growers Association

207-327-4674

P.O. Box 71 • 218 Old Town Rd. • Hudson, ME 04449

www.ellisnursery.com


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1938 map of Lagrange courtesy of John Barrows available at www.Galeyrie.com

GROCERIES MEATS PRODUCE PIZZA

ROGER’S MARKET INC. GENERAL MERCHANDISE

207-327-2228

CUMMINGS

HEALTH CARE FACILITY, INC.

2335 HUDSON RD. HUDSON, ME 04449

Skilled Care / Long Term Care Assisted Living Respite & Day Care Services

BEVERAGES HARDWARE GAS PROPANE

5 Crocker Street • Howland 732-4121

The General Store And More General Store • Restaurant • Laundromat Redemption Center • ATM

GAS AVAILABLE Breakfast, Lunch, Pizza • Ice • Beer & Soda Groceries • ATV & Snowmobile Registrations Hunting & Fishing Licenses & Supplies • Clothing TAGGING Seasonal Items • Gifts • Lottery • Propane STATION Agency Liquor Store • Snowmobile Park & Ride Lot

1497 Main Road, Brownville • 965-8100 www.thegeneralstoreandmore.com

KING BROS.

GENERAL CONTRACTORS • Earth Moving • Trenching • Road Building • Excavation • Land Clearing • Ditching • Leveling • Septic Tank & Leach Field Design & Installation • Building Demolition

OVER 50 YEARS OF SERVICE

290-1098 732-3641 944-0593

WEST ENFIELD, ME


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Early view of Center Street in Danforth. Item #100468 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

Enfield Citgo

COLD STREAM STORAGE

& Service Center

Greg Clukey, owner

SELF STORAGE UNITS

• Full Service Auto Repair Facility • Quality Used Cars And Trucks • Gas, Tires, Oil, Kerosene

3 SIZES

10′x20′, 10′x25′ and 10′x30′ Reasonable Rates

732-4959 Rte. 155  Enfield

207-732-4270 • Fax: 732-5335 Cole Memorial Building • 789 Hammett Rd., Enfield, ME 04493

Mike’s

TATE BROOK TIMBER CO., INC.

• Cut to Length Timber Harvesting • Buying Land & Standing Timber • 20+Acres Preferred • Forest Road Construction

FREE LOT EVALUATION

732-6033 • Cell 907-0915

Environmentally Friendly, Done Your Way Wesley Dube, Prop/Forester/Master Logger Cert.

732-5434

Corner of Rts. 155 & 2 • West Enfield, ME

AUTO REPAIR Michael Tompkins & Sons

794-6121

Lincoln Plaza Lincoln, Maine

Complete Mechanical Services Minor & Major Repairs Tires • State Inspections

794-2335

At our original location... Corner of Clay and Main Streets • 119 Main St., Lincoln (Across from Thornton Bros.)


63

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Vassalboro Manufacturing in Enfield, ca. 1899. Item #1056 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

TH’S BOUNTY R A E Dr. Durwin Libby, D.M.D. Providing Complete Dental Care to All Ages

Natural Foods & Health Store

New Patients Accepted • Emergency Service

57 Fleming Street, Lincoln

794-6144

Tues-Fri 10 to 6, Sat 9 to 2:30

224 Enfield Road • Lincoln, ME 04457

794-8266

www.drdurwinlibby.com

ROGER’S Small Engine Repair

DBA: Bill Noonan Peter Lyons Owners

LINCOLN POWERSPORTS Quality Vehicles for Less SKI-DOO & CAN-AM DEALER

Our service department is open for all your major or minor repairs 265 W. Broadway • Maine State Inspection • (across from WalMart) Lincoln, Maine

accessautome.com

jump into spring!

LAWN MOWERS • LAWN & GARDEN ATV’S • SMALL BOAT ENGINES SNOW SLEDS NEW & USED PARTS • REPAIRS

794-6620 794-8100

ROGER TROTT, JR. 260 MAIN STREET LINCOLN, ME


64

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Priest boarding house in Enfield. Item #105775 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

Luncheon Specials MON. THRU SAT. 11AM-4PM SUNDAY BUFFET - 12 NOON - 3PM

~ COCKTAIL LOUNGE ~ ~ TAKE-OUT SERVICE ~ BUFFETS AVAILABLE FOR LARGE PARTIES

60 MAIN ST. LINCOLN 794-3001

618 MAIN STREET LINCOLN • 794-2914 compliments of:

Yates Lumber, Inc. Yates Trucking, Inc.

established in 1996

Manufacturers of Hemlock Lumber Products Biomass Chipping/Bark Mulch Alton & Scott Yates, owners

Lee, ME

~ CALL FOR RESERVATIONS ~ MONDAY - THURSDAY 11AM-9PM FRIDAY & SATURDAY 11AM-10PM SUNDAY 12 NOON-9PM

BOB & TOM’S GUN SHOP BUY SELL TRADE Mon-Fri: 4:00pm-9:00pm • Sun: 8:00am-3:00pm

Bob Berg

207-736-7843

30 Willow Street • Mattawamkeag, ME 04459

DISCOVER YOUR ADVENTURE llrcc@myfairpoint.net TEL/FAX: (207) 794-8065 256 West Broadway, PO Box 164 Lincoln, ME 04457

www.lincolnmechamber.org

WINN SERVICE CENTER Car & Pickup Repair USED CAR SALES

Diesel Repair

Expert Service For All Your Heavy Equipment and Trucking Needs Monday - Friday, 8AM - 5PM, Saturday by appointment

736-4403

1001 Route 2 • Winn, Maine


65

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Reed Plantation’s Happy Corner Once a welcome spot for the weary traveler by Charles Francis

W

hat better place to live than a place called Happy Corner. The name alone would seem enough to make someone want to be there. Just being able to answer the question “Where do you live?” with “Happy Corner.” would bring a smile to most anyone’s face. Or just suppose you had a business at Happy Corner. You could name it the “Happy Corner Bed & Breakfast” or hotel, or motel, or restaurant; whatever sort of business you had, you could attach Happy Corner to it. Long ago there was just such a Happy Corner in southern Aroostook County. It was in Reed Plantation. There was

Raymond’s Variety & Diner

gas • beer • groceries wine • sporting goods restaurant • eat in or take out pizza & subs Route 6 • Lee • 738-2558 open 3:30AM to 8PM

Kinney Auto Center

Labor Rates As Low As $40/hr • Full Service Bay Work • Heavy Diesel Sales & Service • Tractors, Buses & Skidders • Oil Products • Logging Supplies • Tires • Batteries

Under New Ownership!

448-2494

Rte 1, Danforth

a hotel there, a prosperous one. This was back in the mid to late 1800s. This was back when the most important road connecting the Aroostook region and Bangor and beyond ran through Happy Corner. That road was the Military Road. Even then it was known as the “Old Military Road.” Today the Old Military Road is Route 2-A. A corner such as Happy Corner implies another road, an intersection, a juncture. The road that intersected with the Military Road at Happy Corner was the Baskahegan Road. In the mid to late 1800s it, too, was considered old. It was known as the “Old Baskahegan Road.” The name related to Baskahe-

CARY BROWN

TRUCKING & EXCAVATING • Sand • Gravel • Loam • Septic Systems • Sitework

207-592-1018 cell 207-448-7752 home PO Box 243 • Danforth, ME 04424

Hanington Bros., Inc. A Full Service Logging Company

STEaD Timberlands, LLC A Full Service Land Management Company

488 US Rt. 2 Macwahoc Plt., ME 04451

207-765-2681 hanbrosinc@yahoo.com

gan Stream. Today it is known as the Bancroft Road and the Danforth Road, depending where you happen to be. It connected to the road from Calais heading into the Aroostook region. Today the latter is Route 1. The Old Military Road and the Old Baskahegan Road were stage roads. They had a lot of traffic, especially the Old Military Road. George Winship had a hotel at Happy Corner around 1900. For a time business was good for him. Today 2-A is a secondary road. I-95 has replaced it as the major connector with Aroostook County and the rest of Maine. The Happy Corner section of (continued on page 66)

KNIGHTS’ GROCER Shurfine Food Store Quality Meats • Produce Deli • Bakery Weekly Sales Flyer

448-2461 Central Street

Danforth


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

(continued from page 65) Baskahegan Road is dirt. It may have been a man named Gorham Rollins who named Happy Corner. If it was, he was not that inventive or creative in coming up with a place name. There are a number of Happy Corners in Maine. Two can be found not all that far from our Happy Corner. There is a Happy Corner in Kingsbury Plantation in Piscataquis County. Patten has or had one. There is a Happy Corner Road in Patten, though the actual corner no longer shows up on maps. Gorham Rollins built a log house and stable for the purpose of putting up teamsters and travelers on the Military Road. This relates to the transportation of supplies for the Army garrison at Houlton. There were also big lumber operations working in the vicinity. Their men and teams made for lively business. Given the free-wheeling nature of lumberjacks and teamsters we have one possible origin for the name

Just being able to answer the question “Where do you live?” with “Happy Corner” would bring a smile to most anyone’s face.

Campbell’s Service Center Lennie’s SUPERETTE OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

Mon-Sat 5am-10pm Sun 6am-10pm

“The biggest little store, north of Bangor” Non-Res. & Res. Hunting & Fishing Licenses Fishing Supplies - Bait Souvenirs Hot & Cold Sandwiches Pizza • ATM • Gas • Gift Cards

We’re yourd hunting an fishing . .. headquarters 746-5100 Jaimie & Michelle Wallace: Owners

2154 Medway Rd. (Rt. 157) • Medway Lenniessuperette.com

“Serving you for over 50 years from the same location” Evan M. Campbell Owner

General Auto Repair for Trucks and Automobiles Open Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm

255 Aroostook Ave. • Millinocket, ME

723-6330

Rick’s Market

Pizza • Breakfast • Salads Sandwiches • Homemade Soup Daily Specials • Beverages Monday - Saturday 5:30am-10:00pm Sunday 6:00am-9:00pm

Call ahead! 746-5597 99 Main Street East Millinocket, Maine

~ Full Line of Groceries ~ • Excellent Meats • Cold Beer & Wine • Homemade Sandwiches • MEGABUCKS & Salads • Lottery Tickets

~ Open 7 Days a Week ~

Mon.-Sat. 5:30am - 10pm • Sun. 7am - 9pm

207-723-8816 116 Somerset Street • Millinocket

Happy Corner. John James Audubon stopped at Happy Corner in 1834 when he visited the Aroostook region to draw birds. He describes a log structure. This may have been the one built by Gorham Rollins. Happy Corner would have had other famous visitors, including Daniel Webster when he was acting as commissioner on the northern boundary question. Webster, along with British Lord Ashburton, would have stopped at Happy Corner in 1842. It is possible to come up with a general time as to when Happy Corner in Reed Plantation was named. Captain John Clifford is given as the first permanent settler to the area. Records indicate he settled to the south of Happy Corner. Clifford arrived in 1832. Happy Corner could not have been named before 1827. That’s the year work on the Baskahegan Road was begun. That Happy Corner was deserving of

Crandall’s Hardware

Glidden Paints Makita & Dewalt Tools

(207) 746-5722 8 Main Street East Millinocket

www.crandallshardware.com


67

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com its name ― or at least it was once ― is borne out by George Winship. Winship didn’t just have a hotel there. He had a farm of eighty acres. Forty acres were timber and forty were arable soil under cultivation. This description is from the early 1920s. By then, though, the hotel was suffering. About this same time an observer noted that “like nearly all the old landmarks along this road, [the hotel and its outbuildings] show unmistakable signs of neglect, caused by the withdrawal of travel and traffic from the road.” George Winship was not the first proprietor of the hotel. There were others operating hostels there between his and that of Gorham Rollins. Winship took the hotel over about 1901. He provided meals when stages stopped to change horses, and a bed for overnight guests. Crossroads and inns have always had special significance from a literary standpoint. This may say something

about the naming of Happy Corner. Chaucer set his Canterbury Tales at an inn. Longfellow set his Tales of the Wayside Inn at a tavern. From a literary standpoint, crossroads and inns are something out of the ordinary: most often inns are settings for comedy, less often for mystery and tragedy. Whoever named Happy Corner may have had a particular reason for doing so. Perhaps the individual had a vision of things to come. Or maybe it was just a hope. After all, back around 1830 the entire southern Aroostook region was nothing but forest. And it stayed that way for a long time, too, even when the Old Military Road was ‘the’ grand thoroughfare of northeastern Maine. Happy Corner is just to the south of the town line separating the woods of Glenwood from those of Reed Plantation. Below Happy Corner the road runs through woods for a good three miles before coming to the location where John Clifford made his home

back in 1832. At least this is the way it was for a good hundred years. From Happy Corner the Baskahegan Road runs in a southwesterly direction across the northeast corner of Reed. It then crosses the Mattawamkeag River in Bancroft and then continues on until it intersects the Calais Road in the southern part of the town of Weston. A hundred years ago this region was all forest. Travelers don’t know Happy Corner today. Those who pass by it in their cars, bent on reaching their destination, probably don’t even blink. To appreciate Happy Corner one must be able to think back to what it must have been like for a nineteenth century traveler emerging from the woods. Happy Corner would have been a gay place, one catering to weary travelers, lumberjacks and teamsters. It would have been an oasis living up to its name.

LEVASSEUR’S

Sweet Seniors Guest House

Fish Stream Kennels

Hardware

Start Right. Start Here.

Tru-Test Paints & Supplies • Plumbing Supplies Windows & Doors • Insulation • Siding Automotive Supplies • Power Mowers Builders’ Hardware • Janitorial Supplies Roofing Supplies

The Assisted Living Home With Heart

• Residential Care • 24-Hour Staff • Cozy Home Setting With Home-cooked Meals

“Over 50 years of service”

207-746-3111

225 Aroostook Avenue Millinocket, Maine 04462

30 Pine Street East Millinocket, ME 04430

207-723-8600

Linscott’s Auto Body CLINT LINSCOTT - Owner

~ Towing & Auto Body Repair ~

(207) 746-9995

68 Main Street East Millinocket, Maine

Timberland Owners Wanted

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

Robert Emery

207-463-2387

102 Crystal Road Crystal, Maine 04747 Boarding • Doggie Wash Doggie Day Care • Training • Grooming Pet Pick-up • Golden Retriever Breeding

www.FishStreamKennel.com

Looking for Long Term Lot Improvement?

MILLINOCKET

If You Own Timberland Call For A Free Consultation

HOUSE OF PIZZA

Cunningham Brothers, Inc.

207-365-4028 Benedicta, ME

40 years experience in woodlots Certified Professional Logger

Tuesday-Sunday: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. ~ Delivery Service Available ~

723-4528

782 Central Street Northern Shopping Plaza • Millinocket


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Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Danforth Garage in Danforth. Item #100470 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

KEITH MITCHELL & SONS TRUCKING

MAPS OF MAINE (AND MOST EVERYWHERE ELSE) Search Your Town

Full Service Pharmacy Floral Service

www.galeyrie.com

Maps make Wonderful Gifts!

Joel Fitzpatrick, R. Ph. 20 Main Street • Patten, ME

207-528-2244

We‛re ! Bigger

Jerry’s Shurfine

To Serve You Better! Full line of Groceries, Fresh Meats & Fish, Produce, In-Store Bakery, Cold Beverages, Beer & Wine, Frozen Foods, Ice, Film, Live Lobsters (seasonal), Live Bait, Fishing Supplies • Agency Liquor Store

Galeyrie Maps & Custom Frames 190 US Route 1, Falmouth ME 04105 207-781-3555 Galeyrie@mac.com

www.Galeyrie.com

Check Our Weekly Flyer for Great Buys Throughout the Store Mon-Wed 7AM-6PM, Thurs-Sat 7AM-7PM, Sun 9AM-5PM

463-2828 Route 2, Island Falls, Maine

207-365-6006

133 Gallison Road • Sherman, ME 04776

Pro Industrial Plus Rentals • Sales • Service Serving the Homeowner, Commercial & Industrial

Backhoe Loader • Excavator Bobcat • 6” Chipper • Compactors Aerial Lifts • Scaffolding Gates Hose & Fittings Floor Care/Sanders & Buffers

207-463-2039

101 Houlton Rd. • Island Falls, ME 04747


69

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Mattawamkeag Lake in Island Falls. Item #107153 from the Eastern Illustrating and Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

Bring a piece of history home!

Vintage MAINE Images VintageMaineImages.com Discover 26,000+ Historical Images Prints | Digital Files | Creative Use Licenses VINTAGE MAINE IMAGES IS A WEBSITE OF MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Camera Club on Brown’s Wharf, Portland, 1898 Item #13723

D & D Paving, Inc. ~ Residential & Commercial ~ • Paved Driveways • Parking Lots • Asphalt Grinding & Reclaiming • Fully Insured

463-2325 1-800-464-9125

207-774-1822 info@VintageMaineImages.com 489 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101

R.H. Auto Sales New & Used Car & Truck Sales Utility Trailer Sales 26 Sherman St. • Island Falls 106B Houlton Rd. • Island Falls

463-2829 Cell: 446-6703

Discover Maine Magazine has been brought to you free through the generous support of Maine businesses for the past 21 years, and we extend a special thanks to them. Please tell our advertisers how much you love Discover Maine Magazine by doing business with them whenever possible. Thanks for supporting those businesses that help us bring Maine’s history to you! 414 Lakewood Rd, Rt 201 | Madison ME


70

Penobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

Early view of Main Street in East Millinocket. Item #105504 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Directory of Advertisers Business

Page

A Wicked Good Plumbin’ and Heatin’ Co. ............................................21 A.E. Robinson ......................................................................................40 Abbot Village Barber Shop .................................................................43 ABM Mechanical, Inc. ..........................................................................27 Access Auto .........................................................................................63 Affordable Paving ..................................................................................6 Affordable Plumbing ...........................................................................47 Affordable Restaurant Equipment ......................................................14 Ahearn’s Automotive ...........................................................................17 Al Benner Homes ................................................................................31 Albert Fitzpatrick .................................................................................52 Alexander’s Drivers Education ............................................................8 All Aboard Restaurant .......................................................................38 Al’s Diner .............................................................................................50 Ames Construction ............................................................................41 Anderson Building & Woodworking Co. ..........................................58 Any Degree ...........................................................................................11 Aquatic Development by Tapley ........................................................14 Aroostook Milling Co. .........................................................................49 Auto Radiator Service ........................................................................27 B&L Auto Body, Inc. ............................................................................18 Bangor Area Visiting Nurses ..............................................................4 Bangor Frameworks ............................................................................12 Bangor Motor Inn & Conference Center..............................................4 Bangor Pipe & Supply, Inc. ...............................................................12 Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce ............................................10 Bangor Tire Company .........................................................................25 Bangor Truck & Trailer Sales, Inc. .....................................................15 Bangor Window Shade & Drapery Co. ............................................27 Barnes Law Office .................................................................................5 Bear Brook Kennels ............................................................................13 Bear Paw Inn ........................................................................................52 Big House Sound, LLC .....................................................................33 Blackwell Insurance Agency ...............................................................6 Blaze Restaurant .................................................................................10 Bloomer Law Office .............................................................................5 Bob & Tom’s Gun Shop .....................................................................64 Bolster’s Rubbish & Recycling .......................................................53 Bowman Constructors .......................................................................55 Bowman Mini Storage .......................................................................55 Bradley Redemption Center ..............................................................21 Bragdon Builders ................................................................................57 Brewer Veterinary Clinic ....................................................................28 Bricks ‘N Stones ................................................................................43 Brookings-Smith .................................................................................. 11 Brooks Equipment ...............................................................................49 Brooks Tire & Auto ..............................................................55 Brown Funeral Home .........................................................................55 Brown’s Metal Recycling .................................................... 34 Bucksport Bay Area Chamber of Commerce ....................................18 Bucksport Monuments & Sandblasting ............................................33 Bucksport True Value ...........................................................................6 Bud’s Shop ‘N Save ............................................................................38 Burnham Tree Service ........................................................................59 C&I Custom Builders, LLC ..................................................................46 C.A. Newcomb & Sons Fence & Guardrail Co. .................................19 C.R. Marcouillier Building & Remodeling.........................................48 C.W. Martin Concrete ..........................................................................14 Call Construction ................................................................................23 Cambridge General Store & Restaurant ..........................................39 Campbell’s Service Center ............................................................. 66 Caribou Inn & Convention Center......................................Back Cover Carmel Oil ............................................................................................34 Carousel Diversified Services ...........................................................23 Cary Brown Trucking & Excavating .............................................65 Central Maine Maintenance & Builders ..........................................20 Chapman Services ........................................................................... 19 Coach House Restaurant .................................................................13 Coastal Napa Auto & Truck Parts ...................................................... 6 Cold Stream Storage .........................................................................62 Cole Land Transportation Museum .................................................. 7 Colin Bartlett & Sons, Inc. ............................................................... 4 Colonial Health Care ........................................................................ 6 Complete Tire Service ........................................................................17 Corey Recycling ..................................................................................14 Corinna Auto Body ..........................................................................20 Corinna-Newport Insurance Agency ...............................................54 Corinth Plumbing & Heating ..........................................................39 Corrado’s Pharmacy of Corinth ......................................................40 Country Junction Greenhouse & Garden ........................................45 Cowan’s Service Station ..................................................................12 Cox Law Offices ................................................................................38 Cozy Corner ........................................................................................52 Crandall’s Hardware ...........................................................................66 Cummings Health Care Facility, Inc. .................................................61 Cunningham Brothers, Inc. ..............................................................67 Curran Homestead Living History Farm & Museum ....................25 Currie Roofing ....................................................................................48 Custom Memorial Designs .................................................................22 D&D Paving, Inc. ................................................................................69 D.A. Carson Carpentry, Inc. ..............................................................23 D.L.C. Cedar .........................................................................................5 Daigle & Houghton, Inc.......................................................................24 Dave’s Auto Repair & Towing ..........................................................32 Dave’s Garage ....................................................................................58 Dean’s Motor Lodge ....................................................................... 52 Designed Living .................................................................................43 DeWitt-Jones Realty ...........................................................................45 Dexter Lumber Company .................................................................56 Discovery House ................................................................................26 Doane Foundations ............................................................................17 Dorsey Furniture .................................................................................16 Doughboys Pizza Shoppe .................................................................56 Dover Audiology & Hearing Aid Sales ..............................................57 Dover Small Engine Repair ..............................................................58 Dover True Value .................................................................................57 Dr. Durwin Libby, DMD .....................................................................63

Business

Page

Draper’s Garage ..................................................................................59 Drummond Construction ........................................................................60 E.H. Downs General Contractor .............................................................64 Eagle’s Lodge Motel .................................................................................32 Earth’s Bounty Natural Foods & Health Store ....................................63 Eastern Maine HomeCare ...........................................................................4 East Road Electric, Inc. ...........................................................................44 Ed’s Automotive & Consulting Services LLC .......................................18 Ellis’ Greenhouse & Nursery .................................................................60 Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce ..........................................................31 Endless Herbs ..........................................................................54 Enfield Citgo & Service Center .................................................................62 English Auto .............................................................................................34 Evergreen Auto Salvage ..........................................................................42 F.A. Peabody Company..............................................................................5 Family Forestry ..........................................................................................29 Fireside Inn & Suites Portland ..............................................................36 Fish Stream Kennels ...............................................................................67 Forest Society of Maine ........................................................................10 Four Seasons Camp .............................................................................46 Freightliner of Maine .............................................................................10 Friends and Family Market ......................................................................31 Friends of Community Fitness ..............................................................58 Frost Septic & Sons, LLC .........................................................................8 G. Drake Masonry .....................................................................................34 Galeyrie Maps & Custom Frames ...........................................................68 Gerald Pelletier, Inc. .................................................................................49 Global Self Storage ..................................................................................23 H.A. Higgins & Son, Inc. ..........................................................................57 Hammond Lumber Company ..................................................................27 Hampden Redemption Center .................................................................14 Hanington Bros., Inc. ...............................................................................65 Hanks Husqvarna Outlet ..........................................................................38 Hanks Repair .............................................................................................38 Hannaford Lincoln ....................................................................................62 Harley Plumbing & Heating Plus ..............................................................13 Harmon’s ....................................................................................................57 Harold’s Transmission Repairs, Inc. ......................................................16 Harris Drug Store .....................................................................................44 Hartland Christian School ..................................................................... 59 Henretty’s Construction ......................................................................... 12 Hermon Meadow Golf Club .................................................................. 11 Hermon Redemption Center ...................................................................15 Hobnobbers Pub .......................................................................................45 Hogan Tire .................................................................................................53 Houlton Higher Education Center ...........................................................51 Houston-Brooks Auctioneers ...................................................................3 Howland-Enfield Federal Credit Union ...................................................46 Ireland’s Concrete Construction .............................................................46 J. Wilbur Construction ...........................................................................56 J.F. Niles & Son Builders .......................................................................41 J.M. Brown Construction .........................................................................26 Jackman-Moose River Chamber of Commerce .......................................61 JDL Towing & Salvage ............................................................................53 Jerry’s Shurfine ........................................................................................68 Jerry’s True Value ........................................................................................6 Jim’s Small Engines .................................................................................30 John Firth Builders ..................................................................................42 Johnson Foundations .............................................................................41 Katahdin Cruises ......................................................................................44 Katahdin Valley Motel ..............................................................................51 KC’s Country Store ................................................................................. 59 Keith Mitchell & Sons Trucking .............................................................68 Kimball Insurance, LLC ............................................................................59 King Bros. General Contractors ..............................................................61 Kinney Auto Center ..................................................................................65 Knights’ Grocer ..................................................................................... 65 Lakeshore House Lodging & Pub ..........................................................60 Lane’s Collision Center ............................................................................53 LaPierre’s Cleaning Service ...................................................................66 Lennie’s Superette .................................................................................. 66 Levasseur’s True Value Hardware ..........................................................67 Lincoln Powersports ................................................................................63 Lincoln Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce .................................... 64 Link View Motel ...........................................................................................9 Linscott’s Auto Body ...............................................................................67 Lovell’s Guilford Hardware .......................................................................42 Lucky Dog Boarding House ...................................................................52 Lumberjack Lodges ..................................................................................60 Maine Art Commission ............................................................................21 Maine Collision Center ......................................................................... 26 Maine Crafts Association .........................................................................21 Maine Energy, Inc. ...................................................................................25 Maine Equipment Company .....................................................................5 Maine Highlands Federal Credit Union ...................................................39 Maine Historical Society ...........................................................................69 Mainers to the Bayou .................................................................................50 Maine’s Own Treats ...................................................................................16 Martin Heating .......................................................................................... 23 Matheson Tri-Gas ......................................................................................28 Maynard’s In Maine ................................................................................. 45 McKusick Petroleum Co. .........................................................................57 McNally Land Surveyors ...........................................................................25 Midas .......................................................................................................... 3 Mike Stevens Plumbing ............................................................................38 Mike’s Auto Repair ...................................................................................62 Milford Motel ...............................................................................................8 Milligan’s Landing Embroidery ..............................................................22 Millinocket House of Pizza .....................................................................67 Mitchell-Tweedie Funeral Home .............................................................17 Moosehead Building, Inc. ........................................................................44 Moosehead Historical Society & Museums...............................................44 Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce .................................60 Moosehead Marine Museum ...................................................................44 New England Salt Co. ...............................................................................10 New Hope Hospice, Inc. ...........................................................................31 Newport Glass ..........................................................................................54

Business

Page

Nicastro’s Landscaping & Property & Facility Management...............47 Nickerson’s Septic Tank Pumping Service .............................................20 Norm Cookson Realty ..............................................................................55 North Country Harness Shop .................................................................51 North Woods Real Estate .....................................................................48 Northeast Applicators, LLC .......................................................................3 Oliver’s Heating & Plumbing ................................................................. 30 Owen Gray & Son, Inc. ............................................................................28 Page Farm Custom Beef ..........................................................................42 Page Farm & Home Museum ..................................................................24 Pat’s Pizza .................................................................................................23 Patten Drug Co. .........................................................................................68 Penobscot Marine Museum .....................................................................35 Penobscot Nation Cultural & Historical Preservation ..............................9 Penobscot Valley Hospital ................................................................... 63 Penobscot Valley Primary Care ........................................................... 63 Perkco Supply, Inc. .................................................................................39 Perry O’Brian, Attorney at Law ..............................................................11 Peter’s Truck & Trailer Repair ..................................................................49 Peterson Hill Farms .................................................................................18 Pine Grove Crematorium .........................................................................11 Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce .......................................................41 Pleasant River Lumber .............................................................................40 Possibilities Gifts .....................................................................................46 Presque Isle Inn & Convention Center ....................................Back Cover Pro Industrial Plus ...................................................................................68 R.A. Thomas Logging ..............................................................................43 R.H. Auto Sales .......................................................................................69 R.J. Morin, Inc. ...........................................................................................7 Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. ..............................................28 Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. .............................................48 Raymond’s Variety & Diner .....................................................................65 Red’s Automotive .....................................................................................33 RF Jordan & Sons Construction, Inc. ....................................................32 Rick’s Market ......................................................................................... 66 Rideout’s Market ..................................................................................... 66 Rideout’s Seasonal Services ................................................................ 58 Rockwell Properties .................................................................................49 Rocky Ridge Motel ....................................................................................33 Rogan’s Memorials ................................................................................ 33 Roger’s Market Inc. ................................................................................ 61 Roger’s Small Engine Repair ...................................................................63 Route 2 Antique Mall ................................................................................19 Rustic Rail Fence Co. ..............................................................................47 S&S Enterprises ......................................................................................16 S.F. Eastman, LLC .................................................................................33 Sam’s Trucking & Excavation ...................................................................8 Sandman Painting .....................................................................................14 School Street Redemption .......................................................................59 Scotties Bookhouse .................................................................................17 Seaman’s Electrical Services, LLC .......................................................55 Sebasticook Family Doctors ....................................................................37 Sebasticook Valley Chamber of Commerce ..........................................20 Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union ........................................... 37 Shaw’s Lodging ........................................................................................60 Sherwood’s Auto Repair ..........................................................................56 Shorey Oil Inc. ...........................................................................................37 Sign Services, Inc. .....................................................................................19 Spin A Yarn ................................................................................................28 Spiral Stairs .................................................................................................7 STEaD Timberlands, LLC .......................................................................65 Steinke & Caruso Dental Care .................................................................57 Stewart’s Wrecker Service .......................................................................30 Stone Ridge Stables .................................................................................56 Stone’s Earthwork .....................................................................................18 Storage Plus .............................................................................................32 Stucco Lodge ......................................................................................... 24 Sturdi-Bilt Storage Buildings, LLC ........................................................ 4 Sullivan’s Wrecker Service .....................................................................22 Summersweet Landscaping ....................................................................30 Summit Sound ............................................................................................9 Sunshine Apothecary .............................................................................54 Sweet Seniors Guest House ....................................................................67 Swett’s Tire & Auto .....................................................................................11 T&S Market ...............................................................................................51 Targett & Son Plumbing & Heating ........................................................30 Tate Brook Timber Co., Inc. .......................................................................62 The Blacksheep ..........................................................................................19 The Blue Ox Saloon ................................................................................48 The General Store & More .........................................................................42 The Maine Store ..........................................................................................7 Thomas W. Duff Financial Advisor ........................................................28 Thomas W. Duff Financial Advisor .......................................................48 Thompson Funeral Services ...................................................................56 Tim Merrill & Co., Inc. ...............................................................................41 Tim’s Plumbing .........................................................................................45 Town Auto Sales .................................................................................... 31 Town of Enfield .........................................................................................62 Town of Hampden .................................................................................. 30 Town of Lincoln ......................................................................................47 Town of Newport ....................................................................................54 Tree Monkeys ............................................................................................48 Tri-City Pizza ..............................................................................................11 Tucker Auto Repair ...................................................................................15 Vacationland Inn ..................................................................................... 29 Vigue Construction ....................................................................................39 Vintage Maine Images ..............................................................................69 Walter Young Builder ...............................................................................21 Whitten’s 2-Way Service, Inc. ................................................................29 Willard S. Hanington & Son, Inc. ..............................................................5 Wing Wah Restaurant ..............................................................................64 Winn Service Center ................................................................................64 WKIT/WZON ................................................................................................27 Yates Lumber, Inc. .....................................................................................64 Yates Trucking, Inc. ................................................................................ 64 York’s of Houlton .....................................................................................52 Young Funeral Home ...............................................................................17


72

Bangor 2014 Penobscot-Piscataquis-GreaterPenobscot-Piscataquis-Greater Bangor

1938 map of Bucksport courtesy of John Barrows available at www.Galeyrie.com


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