All Things Maine

Maine's Apple Detective

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 05:01:00 +0000

Here's a wonderful article from Mother Jones about John "Bunk" Bunker's quest to rediscover America's heirloom apples.

Thurlow led Bunk to the abandoned intersection that had once been the heart of Fletcher Town [in Lincolnville], pointed to an ancient, gnarled tree, and said, "That's the tree I used to eat apples from when I was a child." The tree was almost entirely dead. It had lost all its bark except for a two-inch-wide strip of living tissue that rose up the trunk and led to a single living branch about 18 feet off the ground. There was no fruit, but Bunk was interested. A few months later he returned, took a handful of shoots, and grafted them to rootstock at his farm. A year later, both Thurlow and the tree died, but the grafts thrived, and a few years later, they bore the first juicy, green Fletcher Sweet apples the world had seen in years.

Bunker founded Fedco Seeds 30 years ago.

Mount McKinley Earlier Named for Maine Native

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:50:00 +0000

North America's highest mountain was earlier named for gold prospector Frank Dinsmore, a native of Auburn.

A prospector, Frank Densmore, spoke so enthusiastically after seeing the mountain from Lake Minchumina in 1889, that it was known for years among prospectors as "Densmores Peak." [Link]

Dinsmore returned to Auburn in 1897 to visit his ailing father. The Lewiston Evening Journal published an interview:

Mr. Dinsmore is a son of Mr. Charles Dinsmore, brother of Mr. Hiram Dinsmore of Dinsmore & Greenleaf, and he has lived in the West twenty-three years, this being his first home-coming. He was in Iowa a short time, but for seventeen years he has been engaged in mining operations along the great Yukon river in Alaska. He struck the Klondike country last December and is said to have become the owner of a number of very important claims at reasonable figures. [Link]

Dinsmore died a year later, his body returned to Auburn for burial.

Maine Street Views

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:50:00 +0000

My new webpage, Maine Street Views, drops you in the middle of a road somewhere in Maine. Click the "Jump" button to be transported to another random location.

The Pownalborough Court House

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 02:08:00 +0000

Cumberland and Lincoln Counties celebrate their 250th anniversaries this month. Both were carved off from Maine's original county, York, on June 19, 1760. Cumberland lost land with the formation of Kennebec (1799), Oxford (1805) and Androscoggin (1854) Counties, but it was Lincoln that had most to lose. It originally embraced 60% of the land of Maine—from Casco Bay to that part of Nova Scotia now known as New Brunswick, and north to the limits of the province. Residents of all this area were obliged to take much of their county business to Pownalborough.

It was voted in 1761 to build a court house in Pownalborough, on the parade ground of Fort Shirley in that part of town now known as Dresden.

In 1765, a young attorney named John Adams made the trip from Boston to try a case in Pownalborough.

Perhaps a desire to see his classmates there, with two of whom, at least, he had corresponded since their college days, was an additional inducement for the journey. At that period intercourse was maintained almost wholly by boats, as no roads existed. It was not until the present century that rivers and other watercourses ceased to constitute the most feasible means of communication between Maine settlements. Mr. Adams, however, traveled on horseback, finding his way through the woods from Brunswick to Fort Richmond by the aid of blazed trees. His biographer relates that "Pownalborough was then at almost the remotest verge of civilization, and it was with the utmost difficulty that he was enabled to reach it." After encountering the obstructions of nearly impassable roads, through an inhospitable region, he succeeded in arriving at the place, and gained his case, which was of magnitude, much to the satisfaction of the client who employed him. The verdict promoted his interest and reputation. It induced the Plymouth company, Doctor Gardiner, and other land proprietors, to retain him in their actions, which were numerous, causing his annual attendance at the appellate court in Falmouth, during the next nine years. [Link]

The courts were moved to another part of town, now called Wiscasset, in 1794. A 1767 petition suggests one possible reason for the move:

The inhabitants of Muscongus and Medumcook Plantations, represent that the Courts are held in Frankfort [Dresden], now in the western part of the County, and that a great part of the people who attend there have to lodge on the floor, or in barns, or set up all night by the fire; and they ask that the Courts may be removed to near the centre of the County. [Link]

The courts moved, but Pownalborough Court House remained, and still stands on Route 128 in Dresden. A celebration of Lincoln County's anniversary will be held there on Saturday.

Street Scene in Caribou, 1940

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:14:00 +0000

From the Library of Congress, a photograph taken by Jack Delano on a Caribou street in October 1940.

Macon B. Allen, America's First Black Lawyer

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:20:00 +0000

Macon Bolling Allen of Portland was the first African American admitted to the bar in the United States. This item appeared in the Portland American of Sept. 4, 1844:

A Coloured Lawyer.—Macon B. Allen, of Portland, and formerly of Boston, Massachusetts, a coloured gentleman, whose application for admission to the bar in April last, under the new act, was, as we stated in our paper at the time, refused on the ground that the applicant was not a citizen of Maine, in the contemplation of said act, subsequently applied under the old law to be admitted by examination. He was thereupon called before the examiners, a committee of the Cumberland bar, and sustained a satisfactory examination—the committee recommending him to the Court as a fit candidate—and accordingly he was admitted in the District Court, to practice as an attorney and counsellor at law in the courts of this state.

Allen soon discovered, though, that "Maine was not a good place for a black man to practice law as an attorney," and removed to Boston, where he was admitted to the bar in May 1845. He died in Washington, D. C., Oct. 10, 1894, after fifty years of service as an attorney and judge.

The Ancient Pavings of Pemaquid

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:41:00 +0000

In his 1899 book Ancient Pavings of Pemaquid, J. Henry Cartland described a stretch of cobblestone pavement discovered decades past in the town of Bristol. Cartland had excavated a portion of the site and gathered evidence from area residents, including Capt. Lorenzo D. McLain:

"When I was a small boy, about 1855 I think it was, I helped your uncle Jim plough this field. He had got a new No. 8 plough and was going to plough his land deeper than he had been doing. He had Capt. Alfred Bradley (still living) and Willard Jones with two yoke of oxen, and my job was to hold down the plough beam and keep it clear.

"Every time we came 'round on this side of the field the plough would come up some ways in spite of all we could do and it appeared to slide along on something like a ledge, but we could not think a ledge would be so even.

"At last he got out of patience and turning to me said 'Jemes rice,' that was his swear expression; 'boy, go up to the barn and get a hoe and the crowbar and we will see what there is here.' Then we found this paving and where we first cleared it off it seemed to be laid in cement and we had to dig a long time with the crowbar before we could get out the first stone."

This discovery gave rise to the claim that Pemaquid had the first paved roads in America. But W. Mead Stapler, in the Summer 1998 NEARA Journal, offered an alternative interpretation:

The village had about 30 houses, a tavern, blacksmith, customs house, as well as the fort and many outbuildings. There were also two impressive cobble stone streets which bisected the village. These labor-intensive constructions have been a puzzle to many historians but the answer is in the New York Colonial Archives. Gov. Andros decreed, "fish might be cured upon the islands but not upon the maine (land), except at Pemaquid, near the fort". Thus, as some suspected, the cobble stone streets were really drying beds for sun curing the salted fish.

The Fat Men's Convention of 1870

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:38:00 +0000

The Lewiston Evening Journal of Jan. 21, 1870, reported on the proceedings at the Fat Men's Convention held at Auburn Hall.

The Committee announced that they would proceed to weigh the fattest men and conduct the contest for the prize. It was agreed that the prize lay between Mr. Brackett of North Hermon, and Mr. Haven of Chelsea. Those gentlemen were escorted from the rostrum which trembled under their tread, amid uproars of applause, and the Committee proceeded to their duty. The scales were Fairbanks', noted for their accuracy, courteously furnished for the occasion by Messrs. Owen & Little of this city.

The Committee, through Mr. Ham, Chairman, reported as follows: That the heaviest man in the convention is Mr. A. G. Haven of Chelsea, 19 years old a few days since, weighing 354 lbs. without overcoat or hat. "He is a gentleman—whatever his occupation."

The next heaviest man is Mr. George Brackett of North Hermon, 57 years old, 5 feet 9½ inches high, and weighing 347¼ lbs. without hat or overcoat. Both men were received with roars of applause. The committee then introduced a contrast—a Lilliput—Mr. Aaron Nutting of Lisbon, jeweler, weighing 92 pounds, and 3 feet 2 inches high. He was born in Lisbon; his father was small before him, and he has a brother nearly as small as he is. [Link]

The contestants, with their weights, are listed here.

Maine’s Civil War Sesquicentennial

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:27:00 +0000

Maine History News reports on a new website devoted to the state's upcoming commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. The list of Civil War monuments in Maine towns and cities is excellent.

Historical Maine Maps Added to Rumsey Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:32:00 +0000

The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection has added five more maps of Maine, dating from 1844 to 1862. This brings the total number of Maine maps in the collection to 222.

Last Sardine Cannery to Close

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 04:04:00 +0000

On April 18, America's last sardine cannery, located in Prospect Harbor, will close.

Maine was once a frenetic hub of the sardine business, starting in the 1870s. The industry reached its peak in the early 1950s, when it employed thousands of workers at more than 50 canneries.

Ben Fuller, curator of the Penobscot Marine Museum, was working with a film crew on Monday, gathering material for a historical record intended for the Library of Congress.

“You’re bringing to a close 135 years of sardine packaging on the coast,” he said over the whoosh of water that cleansed the frozen herring before machines sliced off their heads and tails. “This really built up a lot of the towns here.” [Link]

Update: Here's a time-lapse video of the cannery in action.

The World Typewriter

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 06:26:00 +0000

The World Type Writer Company of Portland—incorporated in Maine Aug. 19, 1886—patented the World Typewriter two months later.

Two models of this delightful machine were produced with small variations. The World 1 wrote capital letters only. The World 2 wrote capitals and small letters.

The machine worked as simple as the other index writers. The user would point at a letter with the swinging index pointer and then stamp the letter onto the paper, using the keys over the platen on the left. This brought down the printing hammer onto the semi-circular rubber type sheet that was attached to the top of the index. An ink pad kept the type constantly inked. [Link]

Mabel Loomis Todd used a World Typewriter when setting Emily Dickinson's poems in type for the first time.

Birthday Man Dies

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:15:00 +0000

Elwyn W. Lancaster, who died Sunday in Lee, had a peculiar talent.

Elwyn had a remarkable memory for dates and numbers and was known in the community as the "Birthday Man." He loved to greet people by their birth dates as he sat at McDonald's. Often times, he would receive birthday cards signed only with birth dates. He could recite hundreds of birthdays, anniversaries and social security numbers. He was even interviewed by the local news station for this tremendous talent.

Bruce McToose Visits Norway

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:43:00 +0000

A program on "Intrepid Traveler" Bruce McToose's visit to the exotic land of Norway will air on MPBN this Sunday at 11pm and again Saturday February 27 at 11am.

[Producer Steve] Hrehovcik said "The Norway Show" was the inspiration for their continued work on the series.

"In future shows we will be traveling around the state to various cities with foreign connections. In Paris, Maine Bruce will hope to climb the Eiffel Tower; in China he'll want to stroll on the Great Wall; in Mexico he'll search for some Aztec artifacts. Also on our list of "distant lands" are Poland, Naples, Rome, Denmark, Sweden, Moscow, Egypt and several others," he said.

Hrehovick said Bruce McToose's travels are "all in good fun and an excellent way to explore the world without leaving the state of Maine." [Link]

Old News from Southern Maine

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:35:00 +0000

Old News from Southern Maine offers interesting episodes in York County history. Such as when Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh's honeymoon cruise was interrupted by gawkers.

They were spotted off Isle of Shoals on June 6th by two New York press planes. The next day the Mouette tied up for gas and provisions at Hartley Philbrick’s fish wharf in York, Maine. Try as he might, Hartley could not engage Mr. Lindbergh in meaningful conversation. While they were loading supplies in relative silence, a 13 year old girl recognized Lindy and ran off to spread the word at the town’s high school graduation celebration. Within minutes, more than 100 people crowded onto Philbrick’s wharf to get a snapshot of the elusive aviator.

Proposed Maine Counties

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:35:00 +0000

Following up on this list of Maine towns proposed but never incorporated, here are some Maine counties that never came to be:

Waterford County (1796) — Proposed nine years before the incorporation of Oxford County, it would have comprised the "northerly part of the county of York and the northwesterly part of the county of Cumberland."
Casco County (1835) — No details are available, but the name suggests a bifurcation of Cumberland County.
Mattanawcook County (1841) — To be taken from the northern part of Penobscot County (several towns in this section would be annexed to Aroostook County in 1843).
Androscoggin County (1846) — To be formed from the eastern part of Oxford and the western part of Franklin County. The name would be used for a county created in 1854 from parts of Cumberland, Kennebec, Oxford and Lincoln Counties.
Sebasticook County (1848) — The residents of Albion remonstrated against it.
Ticonic County (1852) — To be created from parts of Kennebec, Waldo and Somerset Counties.
Kings County (1853) — The residences of petition and remonstrance signers suggest that this would have included many of the same towns as Sagadahoc County, established in 1854.

Portland Native Nominated for Oscar

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:44:00 +0000

Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick is a Portland native and Deering High graduate.

At Deering High, Kendrick's former drama teacher, Kathleen Harris, wasn't surprised by the Oscar nomination.

"Maybe I should be, but when she came to my drama class as a freshman or sophomore, she had already been on Broadway. And she has truly worked for everything she's gotten," Harris said. "She always did well at memorizing, improvisation, and she was always just one of the kids. Just a delightful kid. She never talked about things she had done unless someone asked her."

When she was 12, Kendrick played the kid sister in a revival of "High Society" on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award. [Link]

Proposed Maine Towns

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:25:00 +0000

Among the introduced legislation found in the Maine Legislative Index are the petitions of Mainers seeking to create new towns. Here are a few proposed towns that ended up in the legislative graveyard:

Brutus (1822) — To be set off from part of Chesterville.
Truxton (1822) — The town now known as Hudson would be incorporated as Kirkland in 1825, and adopt its current name in 1855.
New York (1829) — To be made from a piece of Old York.
Maineport (1830) — To be created from part of Prospect.
London (1832) — To be composed of parts of Carthage, Wilton and Dixfield.
Weskerangan (1841) — Clinton would have been divided under this proposal.
Genoa (1849) — Proposed by residents of Belfast Academy Grant in Aroostook County. They would be incorporated as Ludlow in 1864.
Louisville (1854) — Proposed by the residents of what is now Magalloway Plantation.
Umbagog (1854) — This was Upton's first attempt at incorporation. They succeeded in 1860.
Madocawando (1861) — To be created by dividing Penobscot. Madocawando was a Penobscot sachem who made peace with the English in 1676.

Previously: Rejected Town Names

Pvt. Eben E. Smith of Eastbrook

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:32:00 +0000

I just blogged over on the Maine Genealogy Network about Eben E. Smith—one of only 11 Union soldiers to survive an amputation at the hip joint. (Images somewhat NSFW.)

Lewiston Newspaper Archives Online

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:10:00 +0000

Google News Archive now has digitized copies of Lewiston newspapers going back to 1861. Here are the links to search the Lewiston Daily Sun (1890-1989), the Lewiston Evening Journal (later the Lewiston Journal) (1861-1989), the Lewiston Saturday Journal (1870-1929), and the Lewiston Sun-Journal (2005-2006). Or just use this link to search all the Lewiston papers.

Update: I have found that copies of the Sun Journal from 1989 to 2008 are available by adding [source:"Sun Journal" source:"Google"] to the query.Search other Lewiston papers by adding [source:"Lewiston" source:"Google"] to the query.

Update: Searching has been made more difficult, but you can also browse these newspapers:

Seth Sturtevant's Memories of Valley Forge

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:45:00 +0000

Seth Sturtevant of Sumner and Hartford served at Valley Forge, and for more than two years as a member of General George Washington's Life Guard. He sat down in about 1847 to write about his experiences:

Gen. Washington divided his men into parties of twelve, and ordered each party to build a hut for its own accommodation. These rude structures, sixteen feet long and fourteen feet wide, with walls six and a half feet high, were built of logs and lined with clay with rough chimneys. The officers' quarters were like these but a little larger. The weather became bitterly cold and the sufferings almost beyond endurance. Both Washington and Congress were powerless to provide new clothing. Our bare feet were through our worn-out shoes, nearly naked from the tattered remains of our only pair of stockings, our breeches hanging in strings, our faces thin from hunger, and a forsaken look on all. The horses died of starvation, and the men harnessed themselves to sleds and hauled their wood and scanty provisions.

Seth noted at the end of his account, "I write this statement of my life at the age of 87 years. With the few dates kept while in the service it has been written from memory and without the aid of glasses."

Chester Chase's Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:21:00 +0000

YouTube user iomene has uploaded a great collection of 16mm films made by Chester Chase of Whitefield around 1950. Chase even attempted some aerial photography.

On a hazy summer day in the 1950's Chet Chase found a new opportunity to use his 16mm movie camera. Hank Markow offered to take Chet, Mike McCormick and Hack Olsen up for a spin around the skies of Whitefield. The little, 4 place, single engine plane must have found some "bumpy air" on that summer day, for it seems the camera is somewhat less than steady. Nevertheless, these remarkable images provide a new view of our town at a time when any moving pictures - let alone those from the sky - were rare.

The Eastport Sardine and Maple Leaf Drop

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:23:00 +0000

I totally missed the fifth annual Sardine and Maple Leaf Drop in Eastport on New Year's Eve.

The first drop will be the Canadian maple leaf, to honor Eastport’s Canadian neighbors. The giant sardine will be dropped at midnight — a nod to the area’s historic sardine fishing and canning past. [Link]

Fortunately, there's YouTube. The good stuff starts at 1:10.

Lewiston Millworkers, 1909 and 1973

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:50:00 +0000

In 1973-1974, Alex MacPhail walked across the country, from Maine to Oregon, taking photographs along the way. The book he planned—"an intimate portrait of America that would coincide with the Bicentennial"—was never published, but he did publish his photographs on a blog in 2008.

I started my walk in Brunswick, ME, towards the end of August and spent a lot of time in and around Lewiston, ME, fascinated by the mills and the city. I was graciously granted permission to shoot in some of the mills like Bates which was a bit of luck because no photographers had been allowed in Bates, at least, since Lewis Hines took pictures there for his book deploring child labor in the late 1800s.

Lewis Hine's photographs of Lewiston millworkers, taken in April 1909, may be found here.

Millinocket's Little Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Chris) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:19:00 +0000

Maine has only one "Little Italy"—established in 1899 to house the families of immigrants imported to build the Great Northern paper mill.

Italian immigrants coming to the area were unfamiliar with the land and the language. Fred Peluso was working as a clerk for John Merrill, and he was appointed to watch over the new workers. Peluso saw to their every need by placing them in jobs, providing them with food, acting as translator, and helping them start their homes. Peluso built a substantial home with some outbuildings that become known as Peluso's Square, and it was complete with cobblestones. He started a store that catered to the homesick Italian immigrants and provided traditional Italian foodstuffs that could be purchased on credit. As more immigrants arrived, they settled in an area that ran along the Millinocket Stream just across from the mill. The small settlement was to become known as Little Italy, and Peluso was called the padrone or king of Little Italy. [Link]

Of Millinocket's 1,002 residents in 1900, 432 were natives of Italy.