2022 Western Maine edition

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Volume 31 | Issue 4 | 2022

Maine’s History Magazine

Western Maine

Winthrop’s Jonathan Whiting

A local militiaman remembered

Rangeley’s Wilhelm Reich A radical thinker

Farmington’s Barker Brothers Maine’s first Dodge dealers

www.DiscoverMaineMagazine.com 15,000 Circulation

Western Maine

Inside This Edition

2 3

I t Makes No Never Mind James Nalley

4

Yesteryears In Cornville Small town near Skowhegan fondly remembered Ruth M. Knowles

8

A Day In The Life A Maine Guide in 1899 John Murray

16 Lewiston’s Ernest Coombs Award-winning Canadian puppeteer James Nalley 20 Winthrop’s Jonathan Whiting A local militaman remembered Mike Bell 22 Ruth Mildred Barker Maine’s renowned Shaker singer James Nalley 28 From Grave To Cradle, The Circle Of Life Colorful names from Western Maine’s past Peter Lenz 33 Turner’s Solon Chase “Them Steers” and the Greenback Party James Nalley 37 Fairfield’s Ethel Atwood Founder of a first all-women orchestra James Nalley 41 Rumford’s James H. Kerr Giant of construction Charles Francis 45 Rangeley’s Wilhelm Reich A radical thinker James Nalley 50 T he Gulf Stream Trestle A Maine engineering wonder Charles Francis 54 Skowhegan’s Elise Fellows Legendary violinist and devoted wife Charles Francis 58 The Iconic Maine Moose A history of the beloved species John Murray 62 Farmington’s Barker Brothers Maine’s first Dodge dealers Charles Francis

Maine’s History Magazine

— Western Maine — Publisher Jim Burch

Editor

Dennis Burch

Design & Layout Liana Merdan

Advertising & Sales Dennis Burch Owen Davis Ryan Fish Tim Maxfield

Advertising & Sales Manager Tim Maxfield

Field Representative Don Plante

Subscriptions / Billing Liana Merdan

Contributing Writers Mike Bell • Charles Francis • Ruth M. Knowles Peter Lenz • John Murray • James Nalley

Published by CreMark, Inc.

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NO PART of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from CreMark, Inc. | Copyright © 2022, CreMark, Inc.

SUBSCRIPTION FORM ON PAGE 57

Front Cover Photo:

Water Street in Skowhegan, ca. 1893.

Item # 8159 from the Skowhegan History House and the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

All photos in Discover Maine’s Western Maine 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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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

It Makes No Never Mind

by James Nalley

A

t the time of this writing, Mainers will be in the thick (no pun intended) of mud season, the so-called fifth season in the state. According to the Wolf Cove Inn (www. wolfcoveinn.com) in Poland, “Mud season generally runs mid-March through the end of April. There are two ways you can tell it is mud season: 1) All the side roads are posted with red “Heavy Load Limited” signage; and 2) Well, the mud!”

Perhaps to give some hope during these doldrums, it is important to note that due to the snowmelt, there is a brighter side: With water sources aplenty, there is bound to be a waterfall nearby, especially in Western Maine.

First (and in no particular order), there is Angel Falls in Byron. One of the most beautiful in the state, this 90foot waterfall gets its name from the fact that the water takes the shape of an angel as it plunges down the rocks.

It can be accessed via a short, clearly marked hiking trail. Second, there is Dunn Falls near Andover. Consisting of two sections, the upper falls drop 70 feet, while the lower falls drop an additional 80 feet, which is enclosed

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by rock walls. It can be accessed via a moderate hike on a marked trail along the west side of the Ellis River.

Third, there is the Gulf Hagas Falls in Bowdoin. Located in the Gulf Hagas Gorge (also known as the “Grand Canyon of the East”), it is one of the most well-known waterfalls. It can be accessed via a moderately strenuous eight-mile hike along a dirt road.

Fourth, there is the Step Falls in Newry.

Approximately 250-feet high, it is one of the tallest waterfalls in Maine. Interestingly, this waterfall does not take a direct plunge, but it makes a series of gradual descents (e.g., cascades, slides, and smaller plunges). It is accessible via a 20-minute hike on a marked trail.

Fifth, there is Smalls Falls in Rangeley. Actually four sets of waterfalls (a total of 54 feet), it offers swimming holes to cool off on hotter summer days. It can be accessed via a short, marked trail near Phillips. Finally, there is Snow Falls in West Paris. Also known as Snow Falls Gorge, there are four distinctive cascades. The gorge, with walls up to 30 feet in height, is surrounded by fencing, making it family friendly and safe for children. From

the clearly posted and well-established parking/picnic area at the rest stop, you can descend towards the bridge spanning the Little Androscoggin River for one of the best views.

Keep in mind that the best time to visit is after mid-April. Otherwise, keep your Muck boots on. Well, in light of this month’s theme, let me close with the following jest: During the conflict between Great Britain and France in 1754, a French soldier was captured by the British. The captain told his interpreter to tell him, “If he doesn’t tell us where they have hidden all their gold, then we will burn his feet.” Through the interpreter, the Frenchman replied, “I would rather die than tell you.” The captain then threatened to hang the soldier if he didn’t tell him the location of the gold. Again, through the interpreter, the Frenchman replied, “I would rather die than tell you.” Then, the captain hanged the soldier from a tree and just before he passed out, the Frenchman gasped and told the interpreter, “The gold is behind a waterfall one mile over that hill.” The interpreter ran to the captain and said, “He would rather die than tell you.”

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Yesteryears In Cornville

Western Maine

Small town near Skowhegan fondly remembered

by Ruth M. Knowles

H

ome is where you were born.

Home is where character is built, and faith is taught. Each of us has a wonderful scrapbook that we always carry with us. It is a scrapbook of a memory.

There is a small town in our state of Maine that is very dear to my heart — Cornville. It is located in Somerset County just north of Skowhegan. It was settled in 1749 and incorporated in 1798. It was called Barnard’s Town in honor of the three men ― Joseph Hilton, Peter Sanborn, and Moses Barnard ― of Deerfield, New Hampshire, who purchased this large tract of land from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1795. Cornville was the name later given to the town because the soil was

so adapted to the raising of Indian corn.

One of the very important names from early records in Cornville was Judiah Flanders who migrated with his sons from Salisbury, New Hampshire.

In 1775 he purchased one thousand acres near the center of town. There were only seven other families that preceded him. Here they cleared land where the east branch of the Wesserunsett flows for waterpower to do milling.

The east branch of the Wesserunsett Stream separates the East Ridge from the West Ridge. Mr. Flanders and his sons built a sawmill, a grist mill, and later a tannery at this location. It was a busy town for awhile. Malburne Mills was built where the west branch joins the Wesserunsett Stream. Another

important man was Allan Freeman, a soldier of the War of 1812 who settled wild land in Cornville.

When Cornville was first settled, they worshipped in their homes, but in 1825 they erected a church. The site was chosen because it was approximately in the center of town. The meeting house was built of huge timbers and put together with pegs. Hammers were not heard of in those busy days, so wooden mallets were used for the work. The building was sixty feet in length, fifty feet in width and the posts were sixteen feet in height. No provision was made for heating the church.

Everyone sat with their wraps on. The ladies often brought foot stoves to keep their feet from freezing. They came

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com on ox sleds from many miles around.

Years ago, some received their education in this building. Years later they did not need this for their education, as the young people began to go to school in Skowhegan or Athens. Now it is used by the Wesserunsett Grange.

They replaced the flooring and put in electric lights. The gallery is used for a banquet hall and seats about one hundred people. The end has been taken as a kitchen. The building still stands, as straight and tall as it was built.

Warren Hill was named after George W. Warren (1809-1880) and Mahala Warren (1812-1877). George Warren bought land in Cornville on October 23, 1857, according to information sent to me by Lawrence Amazeen, a farmer, good friend and neighbor in Cornville.

When Aroostook County was having its reverses, their loss was Cornville’s gain. Numerous hard-working families along with my parents, the McGowans, moved to Cornville and bought farms in

the early 1920s and 1930s. The family of my sister’s husband came to Cornville at the same time from Arkansas.

They settled in several farms in northwest Cornville along the James Road, now named for them. One reason was that there are no poisonous snakes in Maine. My nephew researched them and provided me this information. Our home was located on the East Ridge Road near the center of town. The view at that time was fantastic. On a clear day you could see Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. The elevation from our home was 525 feet above sea level. The stream behind our property was 200 feet above sea level (information taken from a topographic map of 1855.)

Before our dad came to Cornville, he learned from a correspondence course from the University of Maine about growing fruit. He was well-known in the town for raising strawberries and raspberries for the markets in Skowhegan and for his regular customers.

The population of Cornville in 1920 was 637 and in 2021 it was 1715, according to the 1923 Register of the State of Maine and The Cornville Historical Society. Between 1630-1643, it is estimated that 20,000 people from all walks of life were carried in 200 ships from England in search of new life in America. While doing research to find the names of the ships on which my ancestors came to America, I found something interesting. A man by the name of John W. Davis was born on a very early ship coming to America with his parents, no date given. Many years later, John W. Davis came to Cornville following a spotted trail through the woods from Skowhegan, and afterwards he traveled this trail for years before a road was built. He built his home on East Ridge Road. Later he moved to Palmyra. He is credited for going to Turner on horseback and bringing the first wagon to Cornville. (cont. on page 6)

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(cont. from page 5) The East Ridge Road may be the first road to Cornville from Skowhegan. In 1850 a small church was built on the East Ridge Road, and it was well attended for years, including our family during the 1930s and 1940s. I especially remember the organ on the right side of the sanctuary which my mother was occasionally called upon to play. Over the years, the church was left to decay.

That’s when the Moody family (from Moody Town in Cornville) decided they were not going to let this happen, and inspired others to contribute time and money to make renovations and repairs to the building. Now it will become a historical church open to the public on certain dates. Many thanks to the Moody family.

For years my sister and I returned together to visit the site of our birth.

My sister went back again in 2021, visiting friends along the way. To me our family and home town is precious, and it still holds a place in my heart today.

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Church built in Cornville in 1825.

This building is currently the Cornville Town Hall. (courtesy of Ruth M. Knowles)

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

The Lincoln School students in Cornville, ca. 1937. Back row, left to right: Ruth McGowan, Gladys Staniski, Cynthia McGowan, Maplebell Mosher, Olive Mosher, Mary Staniski, Lawrence Quiron, Miles Jackson, Keldell Spaulding and Irving Huff.

Front row, left to right: Sidney Bruso, Richard Huff, Donald Bowman, Linwood Bowman, James Huff, Charles Jewett, Sumner Mosher and Franklin Brown. (photo courtesy of Ruth M. Knowles)

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A Day In The Life A Maine Guide in 1899

by John Murray

T

he early summer mid-morning sun glistened brightly off the surface of the wilderness lake.

Bright sun on the water can have the tendency to subdue the appetite of trout and salmon, and for fishermen this was commonly known as being “off the bite.” A fish that doesn’t want to eat can have a profoundly negative effect on fishermen, especially for those who have traveled a long way. That was indeed the situation on this June morning, because two of the three men sitting in the canoe on this lake had indeed traveled a long way. Seated in the stern of the canoe was their hired Maine guide, who was quite aware of the consequences of the bright sun shining upon

the water. The guide glanced at the two men in the canoe with him. These men who hired him for his services were a pair of fancy lawyers from Boston, and he knew that they did not want to be disappointed. Without hesitation, the guide paddled the handcrafted twentyfoot-long canoe towards a cove that was shaded by tall pines.

It was the tail end of June during 1899 in western Maine. During this period, the Maine hunting and fishing travel industry was thriving, and large numbers of sportsmen were arriving in droves via the Maine Central Railroad. These arriving sportsmen were affectionately referred to as “sports” by the Maine guides that would provide

them a successful wilderness indoctrination. Maine Central Railroad vigorously promoted the hunting and fishing opportunities in Maine, as train travel was the only viable form of transportation into the Maine wilderness during this era. Recognizing the importance of ensuring that the arriving sports would have a quality experience, the Maine state legislature had passed a law two years before on March 19, 1897, that required the registered licensing of all guides. Licensing guides would ensure the professional integrity of the guide industry and generated needed funds for fish and game protection in the state. By 1899, Maine had more than seventeen hundred registered licensed

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com guides who were providing services to clients.

The flannel-shirted man seated in the stern of the twenty-foot-long canoe was a confident guide named Charles Harris, and he had quite a few years of experience in his chosen profession.

As the canoe silently glided to a stop in the shaded water of the cove, Charles steadfastly studied the water for a few moments, and then tied a grey ghost streamer fly to each of the men’s lines.

This gray ghost streamer fly was invented by Maine resident Carrie Stevens, who had acquired fame by creating fly patterns that successfully enticed trout and salmon. This grey ghost fly pattern perfectly imitated the smelt that lived in the lake, and smelt were frequently dined upon by the bigger trout and salmon. The experienced guide knew that a grey ghost fly was the correct choice. Charles pointed out the prime locations to cast into, and earnestly told the men to ready themselves for

the strike of the fish. Shortly thereafter, the lawyers were howling with delight as their fishing rods bent over from the weight of fat brook trout.

A seasoned Maine guide is proficient in three areas of expertise. First and foremost, the Maine guide has the almost uncanny, but expected ability to connect their client with fish and game.

The other form of expertise is being able to make the client feel comfortable and entertained in a wilderness setting.

The wilderness does have potential dangers, so making sure the client is safe is another facet of expertise that the Maine guide excels in. Charles excelled in all these areas, and after his clients were immensely satisfied with the successful fishing outing, he maneuvered the canoe towards the clearing on the wooded shoreline where the camp tent was pitched.

Placing the fishermen safely ashore, Charles quickly gathered a stack of firewood and started a cooking fire in

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the fire pit. With the fire crackling an increasingly warming heat, the freshly caught brook trout were soon grilled to perfection, and the two lawyers thoroughly enjoyed their dinner. Later that evening as the men sat alongside the fire, the seasoned Maine guide entertained the lawyers with a story about a territorial big bull moose that had charged a pair of fishermen on a nearby cove, and other exciting stories of trophy trout and salmon that had been caught in this beautiful lake. To dispel any doubts about the lack of trophy fish no longer existing in the lake, a tale was told about the giant brook trout that broke free alongside the canoe after an hour-long battle. As if on cue after the stories concluded, a nearby loon sang a soulful song in appreciation for the fine adventure stories. It was a fine conclusion for a wonderfully successful day on a wilderness lake, and tomorrow morning they would be departing so they could return to Boston. (cont. on page 10)

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(cont. from page 9) The next morning Charles arose early, boiled lake water for coffee and made a hearty breakfast for his two clients when they awoke. With breakfast completed, the guide packed the equipment for the one and a half mile walk to the logging road where the horsedrawn buckboard wagon was scheduled to meet them. This wagon would transport the men back to town, and the reliable Maine Central Railroad provided the return trip to Boston.

Content with their wilderness lake fishing experience that was expertly provided by a capable Maine guide, the lawyers told grand stories to their friends when they arrived back in Boston, and eagerly made plans for a return trip. When they returned, the Maine guide would be called into service again for another wilderness trip. To this day, the legacy of the professional Maine guide continues in earnest, with many satisfied clients to their credit, and many more to come.

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Own a piece of history!

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Lewiston’s Ernest Coombs Award-winning Canadian puppeteer

by James Nalley

I

n 1963, Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood fame, was offered a show at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). At that time, Rogers became close friends with a Maine-born man who served as his assistant puppeteer. When Rogers moved back to the United States three years later, his assistant remained in Canada and developed his own show, which eventually became one of English Canada’s longest running and most beloved children’s programs.

Ernest Coombs was born in Lewiston on November 26, 1927. After graduating from North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, his initial plan was to become a commercial artist. However, after graduating from the Pittsburgh Min-

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iature Theater, classmate Fred Rogers brought Coombs to Canada in 1963 to work as a puppeteer on his CBC television show Mister Rogers (the precursor to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood). As is well known, Rogers eventually found success as the host of his own show on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States.

When Rogers left, Coombs remained and worked on a television series called

Butternut Square (1964–1967), which introduced the character Mr. Dressup (portrayed by Coombs himself) and his sidekick puppets Casey and Finnegan (operated by the show’s principal puppeteer Judith Lawrence). After Butternut Square ended, Coombs developed the show Mr. Dressup, in which he presented arts and crafts, songs, stories, and games for children with friends Casey and Finnegan, a child and a dog who lived in a treehouse in Mr. Dressup’s backyard. Casey was purposely given a unisex name because the character’s childlike voice left Casey’s gender ambiguous. According to a CBC article on Casey and Finnegan titled, “Casey and Finnegan of Mr. Dressup Alive and Well on Hornby Island (2015), “When

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com viewers would ask Coombs whether Casey was a boy or a girl, he would ask, ‘What do you think?’ Regardless of how the questioner responded, he would say, ‘You’re right!’”

Eventually, when puppeteer Lawrence retired, Casey and Finnegan were replaced by a small cast of anthropomorphic animal puppets. As stated by the CBC, “Coombs believed in gentle, wholesome children’s programming that encouraged children to use their creativity and imagination. For instance, in each episode, Mr. Dressup would dress up in a costume from his Tickle Trunk, and lead children in an imagination game.” In addition to singing songs and making crafts, Mr. Dressup read from books, narrated short documentaries, and illustrated a short story. As always, children watching at home were encouraged to participate.

In 1992, Coombs planned to retire in Maine with his wife Marlene. However, tragically, she was struck and killed by an out-of-control car. Specifically, she

(Photo courtesy of Film Affinity Canada) was on the sidewalk in Toronto when the driver hit her. It was suspected that the driver had a seizure and lost control of the vehicle. She was buried at Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto. Nevertheless, Coombs continued his show and eventually became a Canadian citizen in 1994.

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The series continued until the final show was produced in February 1996, when Coombs retired. At that time, more than 4,000 episodes had been produced. Reruns ran on the CBC until September 2006. Amazingly, Mr. Dressup managed to capture 90% of (cont. on page 18)

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(cont. from page 17) its intended audience during the show’s 29-year run. It was apparent that children adored his character as well as his fun-loving, unassuming manner. In this regard, Coombs explained that he was “simply doing what any father would do with his kids.”

After his retirement, Coombs continued to work as an entertainer, playing roles in Canadian actor and producer Ross Petty’s Christmas pantomimes of Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Aladdin.

He also became an important spokesman for many children’s charities.

Additionally, he presented a traveling stage show titled, Tales from the Tickle Trunk, in which he would share stories about the making of Mr. Dressup as well as the origins, and in some cases, the fates of his beloved characters.

On September 10, 2001, Coombs suffered a major stroke. He died on

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September 18 at the age of 73. He had planned to spend time at his property in Maine. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the property. As for his legacy, he received numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children’s Broadcast Institute (1989), the Earle Grey Award for excellence in Canadian television programming (1994), the Order of Canada (1996), an honorary doctorate by Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario (2001), and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame (2019).

Despite these well-known accolades, perhaps the children who grew up watching him remembered him the best. Two posts on the CBC’s message boards are representative examples.

First, Lori Jo Coleman wrote, “Anyone who knows the name ‘Mr. Dressup’ is saddened today because we have lost

a true symbol of our childhood. We will always remember his smile and the way he could make you believe in the impossible.” Second, David Anstey wrote, “He taught us that you didn’t need expensive toys to have fun: a tickle trunk full of clothes, construction paper, and a sand box were all that was needed to have an adventure.”

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Winthrop’s Jonathan Whiting

by Mike Bell

A local militaman remembered

T

he inscription on the tombstone outside of Winthrop can be hard to read, especially in the shadows. But I recently found myself trying to read the words and pondering the life of the man who rests here. His name was Jonathan Whiting, and he was an early and well-regarded settler of this small town on the shores of Maranacook Lake. For me, Winthrop is the town “one over” from Manchester. We used to take our dog to the vet in Winthrop, would go to church in town and we have watched many a little league baseball game there as well. But why did I find myself sitting on a cold blustery day paying my respects to a man long departed from this world?

I’m not from Maine, but it turns out

I have a great many connections to this wonderful state I now call home. My father’s family hailed from up in the county. Members of my mother’s clan moved to this part of Maine prior to the revolution. On her side, Jonathan Whiting is kin. A bit distant, but we share a common ancestor in Nathaniel Whiting of Dedham, Massachusetts.

Like so many in our country’s history, some members of the Whiting clan grew restless and struck out for new opportunities. Indeed, some would eventually end up in Minnesota (where I was raised). And while Whiting may have traveled a good distance, he was still in Massachusetts. Maine did not become a state until 1820.

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in May of 1726, Jonathan grew up there, married a local woman, Elioenai Thurston, and soon became a father to a large family. A farmer as well as a stone cutter, he might simply have been looking for greener pastures when he arrived in Maine. Or perhaps he was searching for a place to ease back and enjoy the second half of life. After all, he was getting on towards fifty when he arrived. In any case, this part of Maine had been bustling with activity and settlement as part of the Kennebec Proprieters endeavors for many years prior to the 1770s. It was the place to be. The town that we now know as Winthrop was originally called Pond Town.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com stability, so the name was changed to Winthrop in honor of the Bay Colony’s illustrious puritan governor of y e a r s past, John Winthrop. Jonathan Whiting was among those who, not only “talked the talk”, he also “walked the walk” in getting this town up and running.

As Everett Stackpole wrote in his multi volume history of Winthrop published in 1925, “Nobody in Winthrop was more prominent than Jonathan Whiting.” And the public record bears that out quite clearly. He served at various times as town moderator, selectman, clerk, and treasurer. He was also a deacon in the church and the first Justice of the Peace. Not bad for a guy from away.

In January of 1770, while on a journey to establish his new home in Winthrop, Whiting got word of the passing of his wife. And that family connection to Wrentham never quite dissipated. He was visiting his hometown in April of 1775 when the alarm after Lexington and Concord went out. He joined up

with the local militia for a number of days until things quieted down. As the struggle for independence continued, he repeatedly served the patriot cause.

In addition to additional militia duty from time to time, Whiting later was a member of the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition in 1779 that resulted in a near disaster for patriot forces. Jonathan Whiting was also a member of the local Committee of Correspondence. Other Whitings also served the patriot cause.

Whiting’s son, John, joined Col. Bene-

dict Arnold’s Quebec expedition in the fall of 1775.

Serving with Oliver Colburn’s company of local Maine boys from Winthrop and Gardinertown, the young Whiting would die prior to the assault on the city.

After paying such a high price for the new nation, one might expect that a citizens such as Whiting would simply retire. But not Jonathan Whiting.

He would also bring his experience and wisdom to issues at the General Court in Boston in 1782, 1783 and 1786. He married a second time to Hannah Metcalf, the widow of Dr. Joseph Metcalf.

His house, in what is East Winthrop, was a gathering place for family and friends to the end of his days. He was regarded as a fair and honest man.

When death finally came in October of 1807, there were few in the area who could boast of a more illustrious career and satisfying life.

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Ruth Mildred Barker Maine’s renowned Shaker singer

by James Nalley

D

uring the mid-19th century, a Christian sect known as the Shakers peaked, with approximately 6,000 believers living in 18 communities across New England and the Midwest. This group, formally known as the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming, practiced a celibate and communal utopian lifestyle, which made them renowned for their simple living, architecture, innovations, furniture, and music. However, by 1920, their numbers had dwindled, leaving only a handful of communities, with even fewer followers. Eventually, with only a single community remaining (i.e., Sabbathday Lake in Maine), one woman was not only crucial in

Ruth Mildred Barker in 1967 (courtesy of John Loengard, LIFE Magazine)

spreading the word of the Shakers, but she was also vital in preserving the more than 1,000 Shaker hymns. In her words, “We’re just a small group, but it’s something that the world needs.”

Ruth Mildred Barker was born on February 3, 1897, in Providence, Rhode Island. In July 1903, at the age of 6, she joined the Shakers after her newly widowed mother placed her under the care of the Alfred village in Maine. According to the biographical article by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), Barker stated, “I was very much attracted to the spirituality of the music…Perhaps it was the music that convinced me to become a Shaker.

When my mother came to get me, I was

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com not ready to leave and stayed on. And I’m still not ready to leave.”

In this regard, during her time in the community, Barker was asked to assist the very elderly sister Paulina Springer, who taught Barker many Shaker songs, including Mother Has Come with Her Beautiful Song. When Springer died in 1905, she, on her deathbed, asked Barker to always remain a Shaker, which she promised to do. Accordingly, when her mother wanted her to leave at the age of 16, she elected to remain. Afterwards, Barker’s inclination towards Shaker music continued, and she aimed to learn as many of the songs as she could over the course of her life.

As for the Shaker hymns, they were widely influenced by Anglo-American folk songs, and they had one purpose: to help the members unite in worship.

As stated by the NEA, “Shakers were encouraged to sing at any time, while working and while attending religious services. The songs were not the formal

hymns used by other Christian denominations, but rather hymns composed of simple, direct verses.” For example, the song Come Life, Shaker Life (1835) simply refers to the movement of men and women: Come life, Shaker life, come life eternal. Shake, shake out of me all that is carnal. I’ll take nimble steps, I’ll be David. I’ll show Michael twice how he behaved.

In 1918, at the age of 21, Barker chose to sign the covenant, binding herself as a member of the Alfred community. According to Stephen Paterwic in the book The A to Z of the Shakers (2009), “In 1931, the Alfred community closed, and Barker moved to the Sabbathday Lake community in New Gloucester. There, she was placed in charge of the Girls’ Order, in which the girls and young women wrote poetry, practiced recitations, and studied the Bible.” She was also placed in charge of making jams/jellies and candy, especially hand-dipped chocolates, all of

What’s going on in there?

which were sold at the village store.

In the 1940s, Barker had become the de facto spiritual leader of the Sabbathday Lake community, despite some friction between her and Gertrude Soule, the appointed Eldress of the community. Soule would eventually leave for the Hancock village in Massachusetts.

In 1950, in addition to overseeing the jam/jelly and candy-making industries, Barker was charged with running the businesses and managing the finances for the entire village.

In 1960, Theodore Johnson joined the Shakers. With the common goal of widening the exposure of the Shaker religion (and extending its lifespan as a whole), Johnson and Barker launched The Shaker Quarterly, a journal and magazine that published scholarly articles on theology and the Shakers, shared news from the village, and even advertised products by the community.

According to Paterwic, “Barker served as business manager for the publica(cont. on page 24)

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tion from its founding until 1974, and frequently contributed articles as well as the regularly occurring newsletter column Home Notes.” It was mostly through Barker’s leadership that Sabbathday Lake decided to re-open their religious meetings to the public.

Meanwhile, for many years, Barker worked with historian and musicologist Daniel Patterson to preserve Shaker music. In this regard, she stated, “I didn’t realize for a long time how important it was. It was a feeling that I got myself from the old songs, the music. It suddenly came upon me that I was keeping the tradition alive, which meant everything to me.” According to the members of the Sabbathday Lake community, “Sister Mildred knew more than 1,000 songs, which at a moment’s notice, she was able to sing.”

Moreover, “she not only collected and catalogued hundreds of manuscripts of songs, but she also recorded hundreds that had never been written down.”

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com Over the course of her career, she appeared on four recordings, including Early Shaker Spirituals.

In 1983, in recognition of her contributions to traditional Shaker music, Barker was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the NEA in Washington, D.C. This was in addition to the Catholic Art Association award (1965) and the Maine Arts Commission award (1971). On January 25, 1990, Barker died after a several month-long battle with cancer. She was 92 years of age.

For her memorial service, American composer and musicologist Roger Lee Hall composed a hymn based on one of her most moving poems, A Prayer, which ends with the following verse: I am so small alone, and weak, Defeat I often see; But by the strength of Thy right hand, A conqueror I’ll be.

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Main Street looking west in Brownfield, ca. 1915. Item # 25803 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

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From Grave To Cradle, The Circle Of Life Colorful names from Western Maine’s past

by Peter Lenz

I

t all started sometime back when my daughter Aurora, now eighteen, was four years old. It was at this time that we literally walked into an unexpected and wonderfully enriching experience, and, eventually a publishing project.

We’d been excited to hike on discontinued and abandoned roads after black fly season was over. One fine sunshiny day we found ourselves up on Young’s Hill in West Paris. At one time, a very long time back, a road went over the top of the hill and down to North Pond and the Milletville district of Norway.

At some point in our trudging along,

one of us, I think it was “the baby,” noticed man-made objects in the brush.

“Daddy, look!” Off to the side of the path, several partly-covered and hauntingly beautiful stones appeared in the tall grass, struggling, it seemed, to be noticed and not forever forgotten.

We had stumbled across a “lost,” very old, long abandoned graveyard.

Taking no time to think about it, Aurora immediately began spelling out the letters of names. There, peeking out at us were several of unusual beauty, like precious gems: AURELIA, DULCE, NEWBEGIN, JERUSHA, SEABORN,

CERCULE, and ELEANCE. I don’t know about Aurora, but I had a sweet, poignant feeling about the forgotten souls there. A sad beauty, intensified by such lovely names, overtook my heart. I think it was as much to honor these cemetery folk as to save and hold onto such precious names, that I thought to list them on the few blank scraps of paper in my wallet. Then, before leaving, we removed much of the dead wood and weeds obstructing the headstones.

We learned later from a friend who is a history buff that the graveyard’s

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com namesake, Nathaniel Young, was clerk to General George Washington! When we returned to our old farmhouse, I took out the scraps of paper and piled them over by the base of my desk lamp.

After visiting our two young musical friends, Heidi and Erica Keyser in North Waterford, I thought we could take a hike in the woods to scout for an old Indian trail. Behold! We found another cemetery! The overgrown headstones here yielded more old-time, lovely first names. We discovered: NOBLE, SELVINA, ROYAL, TRISTAM, DESIAH, and SOLSTICE. Again, out came the pen and wallet to scribble down these names. And again, the scraps were piled by the old jug lamp.

A year passed. A group of special education students and I had embarked on an oral history project of our own creation. We armed ourselves with audio and video recorders and went out to interview some of our area’s elders —

living treasures — who welcomed us to hear their personal life stories. Several old-timers, such as Doris and Hal Thurston, Ruth Noble Greenleaf, Nester Taminen, and Norman Chew, mentioned the “wonderful old time roads,” they loved and missed. Discontinued, they did not exist anymore, except as overgrown forest trails and memories.

To show some of their locations, the Thurstons took me out on several driving tours in their van. Norman Chew, a nonagenarian expert on the physicality of C.A. Stephens’ Old Squire Country (North Norway), took me out on guided tours as well. Aurora and I thus had additional places to hike and explore.

And several of these old abandoned roads also had small companion graveyards. More scraps of paper, and for sure, more delightful names like SENECA, DESIRE, CENTA, TAMARA, JULIAN, COLUMBIA, SATIRIA, PERSIAN, SIBAE, and TAMSEN.

We searched out our new oral history friend Lettie Day Brooks’ family homestead. Our car was able to make it up an old road path to the Curtis Hill Cemetery. Here we found many graves marked only with jagged stones, a sign of either poverty or plague-like illness.

Looking out over breathtaking mountain landscapes, we were treated to headstones with names like ANNAH, MARINER, RUHANNAH, and ALLETHRE. Behind the old, now yellow meeting house in Oxford, Aurora insisted on cleaning out the illegible letter indentations filled with fungus on one particular stone. To accomplish this she found herself a firm little stick. After a time of patient work, she was rewarded with the name EXIBANNE. This “restoration” would become her new time-consuming practice.

On the old trail that goes over Patch Mountain in Greenwood, we met Kevin (cont. on page 30)

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(cont. from page 29) and Dee Farr and their kids. Kevin was preparing to mow the grass and weeds, and clean the headstones in the historic cemetery where ancestors of the great Addison E. Verrill and Atherton B. Furlong were interred. We asked for and received a very thorough lesson in the care and cleaning of gravestones. Later, as a result of that lesson, we sometimes were able to repair some of the smaller, toppled stones we encountered.

By this time someone had given me a small computer. Aurora was making progress at reading and she wanted to practice typing. So, looking over at the heap of paper scraps on my desk, she grabbed some and began to type in the names we’d collected. Before long, nice alphabetized lists began to appear.

By then, she and I had discussed how trendy the practice of naming babies had become. Here, I’ll quote from Aurora’s introduction to the book that

would eventually follow. She wrote, “I made this book so I could be with my dad and to help people find new beautiful names for their kids.” She went on to say, “There are about 10 Kellys I know. And Kelsey has been used so much. So have Ashley, and Megan, Chelsea, Erick, and Jason. But where are people with names like Destiny, Aura or Celestia?” Before you knew it she was working on alphabetizing the names that we would offer up as potential names for babies.

Inspired now with the noble mission of putting out lists of local, gorgeous and unusual first names to contribute to babydom, we increased the amount of time we spent visiting cemeteries.

We found beautiful cemeteries in Otisfield, Buckfield, Waterford, Lovell, Stoneham, Woodstock and Hebron, and in districts still known by their old, folksy, more-localized names. Some of

these included Hungry Hollow, Tuelltown, Scribner’s Mills, Panther Pond, Pugglyville, and Richardson Hollow.

We were finding not only beautiful first names but wildly creative and unique ones. One was STOPLION! Later we guessed that the poor fella’ beneath the headstone probably was always called by his nickname, “Stop Lyin’.” Not so great a name for a respectful burial or monument.

We also had discovered some pretty outrageous, if not horrid and ugly, names too, but wrote them down just the same. One was AZHOLE, another BIAL, and yet another, ZANITOSE. We could hardly believe it when we found NAUSEAS, FEAR, and VASECTEMA. And yes, there was even a VIAGRA! Yikes! In a small graveyard in downtown Norway, on a Saturday morning, we found the name TUBAL ... just weird. An hour later, in Oxford,

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com we found its apparent companion, LIGATION. I kid you not!

We knew, of course, that the people and souls within and beyond these places should not be disparaged because of the awful names their parents had given them. There were others we really liked, however. Imaginative names like LETTICE, OMITTA, BIRDIE, GOTCHA, HASTY, AMAZIA, and PLEAMAN, although we didn’t expect people to borrow them for use today.

It seemed smart to us to also write down any nicknames that were mentioned on the placid old stones. Some of these, as Aurora used to say “had lots of pep!” AUNT SALLY POPPY, ELDERBERRY BERRY, LONG BILL, BUNGlE GERRY, WIMBLE BETTY, ROLLIN’ HOBBS, and CROOKED DICK. At one little cemetery in Otisfield we fittingly found OTISSA. And among the Snow family plot on Menotomy

Road, we found Ivory: IVORY SNOW, catchy. Little Erika L. came along with us when we visited the Ryerson neighborhood cemetery behind Paris Hill.

When it started to rain she broke into lovely ballet steps. Dancing around and through the graveyard, she occasionally picked a flowering weed, without losing stride. When she finally stopped, it was in front of a headstone that read THULIE THULIE, where she lovingly placed the flowers. Later, when we got to our penny candy clubhouse, Minnie’s Restaurant in South Paris, and were relaying our amazing name finds, our old friend broke out with, “Oh, Thulie. I knew her well. A sad girl she was, thank you for the flowers.”

One of our high points was coming across the grave of Pedro Toovokan Parris. Pedro had, as a young African child, been stolen into slavery.

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loving home atop Paris Hill. Later, as a brilliant young man, he tutored area children and then traveled about New England delivering anti-slavery lectures. When he died, more mourners than had ever before been recorded in western Maine attended his graveside funeral — over three thousand! Obviously, color and race made no difference to the people then and there. After kneeling down and “talking with him” softly a good while in the little cemetery out behind his home, Aurora laid her treasured purple Easter egg on his snowy grave. I was sad in the cemeteries at times, but I often felt inspired! It seemed that ethereal, inaudible voices were saying, advising, “Live, live ... don’t waste your life, live fully, purposefully, today!”

We gave the little book we were putting together a wicked-lengthy title: From Grave to Cradle: the Circle of (cont. on page 32)

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Western Maine

(cont. from page 31)

Life . . . Lovely, Luscious, Poetic, Creative, Old-Timey Names from western Maine Headstones... Honoring Those Who Have Come Before. Showing her ever-sweet innocence, Aurora wrote, “If you were or are the baby and got one of these names, and you are older now, and reading this, I hope you were given one of my very favorites: Wellcome, Electa, Kaisa, Lura, Angelia, Salucia, Renew, Hopestill, Sabra, Kyrie, Talia, Arria, Oriza, Ranah, Africa, Deliverance, Fidelia, Elestia, Garland, Lovica, or Dulcina.”

The Post Office in West Bethel. Item # LB2007.1.102918 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

33

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Turner’s Solon Chase “Them Steers” and the Greenback Party

by James Nalley

B

etween 1874 and 1889, the Greenback Party (also known as the Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party based on an anti-monopoly ideology. In this regard, the party’s name referred to non-gold backed paper money or “greenbacks” that had been issued by the North during the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865). The party also opposed the lowering of prices paid to producers, which was due to a return to a gold bullion-based monetary system (favored by both the Republicans and Democrats). Meanwhile, in Maine, a Turner-born man is credited with founding the Greenback Party in

— Solon Chase in 1909 —

the state. Specifically, as a farmer, he aimed to develop an independent movement of farmers and workers and made numerous stump speeches to promote his beliefs and gain followers.

Solon Chase was born in Turner in 1823. Prior to the U.S. Civil War, he was a member of the Whig Party.

However, during the war, he joined the Republican Party and served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives (1862–1863). Subsequently, his ideology changed, and he became a staunch supporter of the emerging Greenback Party. According to the book Our Money Wars (1894) by Samuel Leavitt, “Chase, having been a hard-money (cont. on page 34)

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man, set about starting a Greenback movement in Maine. His efforts were initially confined to his own county, largely to the towns of Turner and Buckfield, the people of which were farmers.

Their land was poor, their season short, their products few. But as a means of increasing their gains, it was customary to keep breeding-stock for dairy and farm use.” Additionally, “When Chase attempted to sell his then last two-year old, he found that he could get no more for her than he could have a year earlier.” After asking around, he noticed that all his counterparts had the same problem. He also realized that tending “them steers” was solely for the benefit of the financial elite (e.g., “the idle rich man with bank stocks”), not his town, county, or state. He also argued that “labor, enterprise, and production have thus become the road to poverty.”

Chase spoke to his fellow citizens

and asked them, “For whom were they at work?” Quickly, “them steers” had become the rallying cry for all farmers, and his catchphrase became nationally known. As stated in The New York Times (November 1909), “During the height of the Greenback campaign, Chase stumped the country as far as the Midwest, driving a pair of steers hitched to a hayrack from the rear end of which he delivered his unusual stump speeches.”

In January 1875, Chase began publishing a newspaper titled, Chase’s Chronicle, from his farm in Turner. By 1879, the publication had a circulation of more than 6,000. Due to its initial success, Chase moved the publication to Portland, where it was renamed the Greenback Labor Chronicle. Meanwhile, based on his rising reputation, Chase became known as the “farmer’s friend” and was nominated for U.S.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com President by fellow Maine delegate Frank Fogg at the Greenback National Convention in June 1880. However, in the first vote, Chase only received 89 votes, which was a distant 5th place from the eventual nominee, Congressman James Weaver from Iowa. Although Chase remained in the spotlight for his unwavering support of the party, his political aspirations were not as successful. For example, in 1882, Chase was the nominee of the Greenback Party for Governor. He ran against Republican nominee and eventual winner Frederick Robie. Chase only received 0.9% of the total vote (1,324 votes).

During the following year, the Greenback Labor Chronicle was discontinued. To revive the publication, a stock company created Chase’s Enquirer. However, in early 1882, the publication was suspended. In his final attempt, Chase formed another news-

paper called, Them Steers. It also failed within the year. Chase’s impact was waning. As for the Greenback Party itself, the fourth national convention was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 12, 1888. Only seven delegates were in attendance. After no nominations were made by the delegates, the party permanently disbanded.

On November 23, 1909, Chase died at his farm in Maine. The following notice was included in the annual report of the Maine Commissioner of Agriculture: “In the death of Solon Chase, the orchard interests of Maine lost a firm friend. He had more than 600 Northern Spy apple trees in his orchard.” He also affectionately referred to him as the “spy king of Maine.”

As for his slogan, Them Steers, which made him somewhat famous, Chase was always fond of it and was quick to bring it up in conversation. In

this regard, Chase (in his peculiar style of speech) wrote the following in The Lewiston Journal: “I was robbed of my hay and the same bond that would buy my steers at three years would buy ‘them steers’ at four years old. Through this operation, the bond holder not only gets the growth of the steers between the ages of three and four, but he also gets the hay that made ‘em grow…

That was the makin’ of me. If I had said ‘those steers,’ it would not have attracted any attention. But ‘them steers’ was what I used to call the ‘tramp of the cowhide boots flocking to join the Greenback throng’ and made the people sit up and take notice.”

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The Delta Kappa Epsilon House at Colby College in Waterville, ca. 1951. Item # LB2010.9.117686 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Fairfield’s Ethel Atwood Founder of a first all-women orchestra

I

by James Nalley

n 1888, an all-women orchestra was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, by a Maine-born violinist and orchestra musician. The original group of six instrumentalists quickly expanded to 30 within the first year. They also became known for performing the latest classics and wearing shimmery gowns to match. This attracted the attention of renowned vaudeville manager B.F. Keith, who booked them in his theaters throughout the country. Over the course of its 30-year run, the group had performed more than 6,000 concerts, with approximately half of them as headliners in first-class vaudeville theaters.

Ethel Atwood was born in Fairfield on September 12, 1870. She began

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studying the violin at the age of eight, but the lack of means and competent teachers in the area prevented her from acquiring the proficiency to become a violin soloist. However, by her midteens, she realized that to find work and make a living, a move to a major city was necessary. In this case, she headed for Boston, which was extremely active. In fact, by the turn of the 20th century, the city had become a hub for the performing arts. For example, there was the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1881), the Boston Orchestral Club (1885), the Boston Opera Company (1909), the Boston Flute Players Club (1920), and the Boston Saxophone Or(cont. on page 38)

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chestra (1925). Within this wide array of groups, Atwood found a niche: an all-women orchestra.

Subsequently, Atwood teamed up with violinist/conductor Caroline Nichols, who is credited as one of the first women in the United States to make a successful career out of conducting.

Together, they formed the Fadette Ladies’ Orchestra, eventually known as the Fadettes of Boston. After the original group of six expanded to 13 and then to 30, the full-sized orchestra consisted of a first violin/director, four first violins, four second violins, two violas, two cellos, two contrabasses, timpani, two flutes, two clarinets, two trumpets, two French horns, three trombones, and percussion.

Being a smart businesswoman, Atwood immediately had the name of the orchestra copyrighted. She also rented an office, which served as her business headquarters. As stated earlier, the pro-

The 1907 cover of The Gartland March featuring the Fadette Ladies’ Orchestra.

fessionalism, musical selections, and uniformed shimmery gowns attracted the attention of vaudeville manag-

er B.F. Keith. According to an article about the orchestra in the Pittsburgh Press (September 20, 1902), the “Fadettes played marches, waltzes, songs and arias by European composers such as Daniel Auber and Karl Michael Ziehrer.” Within seven years, the same newspaper would state, “The Fadettes of Boston: The Greatest Organization of Women Musicians in the World.”

As the orchestra created a following and reputation, it was also solely responsible for training more than 600 women for professional careers as orchestra musicians. Most importantly, it became instrumental in helping women become financially independent, which was unheard of at the time. Meanwhile, the orchestra traveled all over the country and maintained an extremely busy schedule performing to packed audiences at first-class vaudeville theaters.

Although many orchestra members came and went, Nichols remained as its

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com conductor and Atwood continued as the group’s violinist and business manager.

Meanwhile, not one to rest on her laurels, Atwood found lucrative work in other areas. For instance, after discovering that prompting (i.e., a person who cues actors/dancers when they forget their lines or neglect to move to a certain point on stage) was a well-paying career, she went on to become one of Boston’s best prompters. In fact, at the time, she was listed as the only female prompter in the U.S. business listings.

By the 1920s, interest in vaudeville performances waned. Contrary to popular belief, the loss of interest was not due to the emerging silent film industry.

According to the article Vaudeville: A History of the Musical (2003) by John Kenrick, “The most truthful answer is that the public’s tastes changed and vaudeville’s managers (and most of its performers) failed to adjust to these

changes.”

In 1920, the Fadettes of Boston disbanded after more than 6,000 performances. Nichols retired in Boston but continued to train women as potential orchestra members. She died in Boston in 1939 at the age of 75. Meanwhile, Atwood continued her work, both as a prompter and as a musician for hire.

She eventually died on April 9, 1948, at the age of 78.

Interestingly, as a sign of the times, audiences were not necessarily amazed at the Fadettes of Boston for their musical performances. Instead, it was due to the ongoing myth that women did not have the lung capacity to sustain long notes when playing wind/brass instruments. Audiences also believed that women lacked the strength to physically play string instruments for an extended period without losing musical integrity.

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American Legion Building in Farmington. Item # LB2007.1.100762 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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Rumford’s James H. Kerr

I

by Charles Francis

Giant of construction

t is a well-established fact that immigrants have played an important role in helping to build Maine. Swedish immigrants were among the early farmers of Aroostook County. The Irish formed the backbone of the labor force of the Bangor waterfront during that city’s heyday as a lumber port. Germans and Russians made major contributions to such towns as Waldoboro and Richmond. And, of course, Maine would not be Maine without the infusion of the vital French culture that runs from Biddeford in the south, through central Maine cities like Waterville, Lewiston and Auburn, and all the way to the St. John Valley in the north. While these immigrant groups and others like them

have put their stamp on the state, another group of immigrants goes almost unrecognized in Maine. These are the Scots, one of whom, James H. Kerr, left an indelible mark on his adopted state and the city he settled in, Rumford.

James H. Kerr was an extraordinary builder. He built roads and bridges all across Maine as well as business offices, industrial structures, and even parking garages and theaters outside of the state. In fact, one of his bridges, the ornate Hancock and Sullivan Bridge in Downeast Maine, was considered the most beautiful structure of its type in the country at the time of its construction.

Rumford, where James Kerr settled

and where he had the headquarters of his construction business, owes some of its first major business and industrial structures to Kerr. Kerr was also instrumental in developing the Mt. Zircon Spring Water Company, which at one time was second only to Poland Spring as a purveyor of mineral water in the northeast.

James H. Kerr was born on March 7, 1874 in a Nova Scotia town bearing the fanciful name of Pugwash.

Pugwash lies on the Northumberland Strait which separates northwestern Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

When James Kerr was growing up there, Pugwash and the nearby coastal (cont. on page 42)

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towns were prosperous centers of shipbuilding and boasted a profitable mercantile trade.

The area surrounding Pugwash was settled primarily by Scots in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The Kerr family came from Helensburgh, Scotland, which is where the actress Deborah Kerr was born. When James Kerr was growing up there, Pugwash had several large construction companies in addition to one of the largest foundries in Nova Scotia, a factor which undoubtedly led Kerr to the construction business in Maine.

When Kerr was twelve he shipped out as a cabin boy on one of Pugwash’s coastal traders. At eighteen he was captain of his own vessel, and by the time he was in his early twenties he had established himself as one of the most successful of Nova Scotia’s master mariners.

The late nineteenth century saw Nova Scotia undergo a serious eco-

nomic depression. For this reason a significant number of the province’s residents, many of whom were Scots like James Kerr, emigrated to the mill towns of New England in search of work. Kerr left the province, however, not so much because he was looking for work but because he was searching for new and lucrative endeavors in which to invest what he had made as a ship captain. The place he chose to do this was Rumford, which in the last decade of the nineteenth century was just beginning to develop as an industrial and manufacturing center.

James Kerr arrived in Rumford in 1897 when he was just twenty-five years old and established the construction company which would make his fortune and reputation. Just five years earlier a power generating plant had been built at Rumford Falls. Prior to that the only industries Rumford had boasted had been saw and grist mills.

The power plant had, however, spurred

the growth of what would become Rumford’s commercial center, where a number of brick buildings were going up. Kerr immediately secured contracts for building more.

James Kerr’s first major contract was to build the vast sprawling buildings that became Rumford’s Oxford Paper Company plant. He built a bank in Norway and a five-story parking garage in Haverhill, Massachusetts as well as theaters in Rumford and a number of other Maine towns. In addition, he branched out into public works construction, building roads, dams, and bridges all across Maine. At the same time, Kerr began to diversify his business interests in Rumford.

Among James Kerr’s other Rumford-related businesses was the Rumford Ice Company which he served as president. In addition, he was vice-president and general manager of the Mt. Zircon Spring Water Company and was in part responsible making Mt.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com Zircon Spring Water a household name throughout New England by marketing it out of Boston. In fact, had fire not destroyed the hotel which was associated with the spring sometime before 1903, Mt. Zircon, with its famous Moontide Spring, might have come to rival the Poland Spring House as a watering hole and health spa for the wealthy.

James H. Kerr was just one of the Nova Scotia Scots to leave their native province and come to Maine where they became valued members of the communities in which they made their homes. The main reason why the Scots are not looked upon as a single group the way the Irish or the French are is that most of them, like James Kerr, were rugged individualists who set out to create a life for themselves on their own rather than by settling as groups in a single area.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Rangeley’s Wilhelm Reich

by James Nalley

A radical thinker

I

eccentric outcast, it is possible to understand how he came to be based on his life’s patterns.

Wilhelm Reich was born in Dobzau in present-day Ukraine on March 24, 1897. The son of Leon Reich, a farmer, he, and his brother were brought up to speak only German, even though both parents were Jewish. When he was young, Reich watched his mother having a repeated affair with his tutor.

According to the book Wilhelm Reich: Psychoanalyst and Radical Naturalist (2003) by Robert Corrington, “He told his father, and after a long period of beatings, his mother committed suicide in 1910, for which Reich blamed himself.” This exposure also spurned his

n 1956, an Austrian psychoanalyst was found guilty of violating an injunction and sentenced to two years in prison. In this case, he was ordered to destroy every “orgone accumulator” as well as all labeling referring to “orgone energy.” As he claimed, these cabinet-like devices, constructed of layers of organic materials (to attract the energy) and metals (to radiate the energy towards the center of the box), could aid in the cures for impotence, cancer, the common cold, etc. He also believed that traumatic experiences blocked the Jim Wilson flow of life-energy in the human body, Valley Crossing Building leading to physical and mental disease. Carrabassett Valley, ME 207-235-2642 However, regardless of whether he was — Wilhelm Reich in 1922 — 83 Main St., Kennebunk, ME considered a brilliant innovator or an 207-985-3361

(cont. on page 46)

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46 (cont. from page 45)

interest in sex/sexuality. For example, in his teens, he regularly visited brothels and later wrote about his disgust for the women.

After serving in World War I, Reich headed for Vienna, where he enrolled as a law student, but quickly switched to medicine. In 1919, he met Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, and asked for a reading list concerning sexology (i.e., the scientific study of human sexuality). Apparently, he made a good impression because Freud allowed Reich to start meeting some of his patients that year.

One of Reich’s first patients was 19-year-old Lore Kahn, one of many patients with whom he would have an affair. As stated by Christopher Turner in the book Adventures in the Orgasmatron: Wilhelm Reich and the Invention of Sex (2011), Kahn became ill in November 1920 and died of sepsis. However, Kahn’s mother suspected that she

— FDA file photo of Reich’s Orgone Accumulator — had died after a botched illegal abortion. Reich later wrote that the mother had simply been attracted to him and attempted to damage his reputation.

She eventually committed suicide,

after which Reich again blamed himself. Two months later, Reich accepted Kahn’s friend, Annie Pink, as a patient, and began their affair. They married in March 1922.

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com As a doctor, Reich began working in Freud’s psychoanalytic outpatient clinic, the “Vienna Ambulatorium,” which offered free/reduced-cost psychoanalysis to men suffering from shell shock after World War I. After becoming the assistant director, he sought out patients who had been diagnosed as psychopaths, believing that his psychoanalysis could cure them. Beginning in 1924, Reich published various papers on “orgastic potency” or the ability to release the emotions from the muscles through orgasm. According to the book Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich (1994) by Myron Sharaf, “His work on orgastic potency was unpopular from the start and later ridiculed.

He became known as ‘the prophet of the better orgasm’ and the ‘founder of a genital utopia.”

After recovering from tuberculosis in 1927, Reich experienced a political and existential crisis, eventually writing about human irrationality and joining the Communist Party of Austria.

Reich also opened sex-counseling clinics in Vienna and Berlin. Called “SexPol Counseling” (German Society of Proletarian Sexual Politics), he offered a mixture of psychoanalytic counseling, Marxist advice, and contraceptives. Meanwhile, following a series of affairs, his marriage ended in 1933.

From 1930 on, Reich expanded the limits of psychoanalysis. For instance, he began to communicate with his patients by using touch, instead of stock questions such as “How you are feeling?” In this regard, Sharaf wrote, “He asked his male patients to undress down to their shorts, and sometimes entirely, and his female patients down to their underclothes, and began to massage them to loosen their body armor.” The purpose “was to retrieve the repressed memory of the childhood situation that had caused the repression.” Unsurprisingly, Reich was forced to constantly move throughout Europe, since each country refused to extend his visas.

From 1934 to 1939, Reich conduct-

ed what he called “bion experiments.”

In this case, he examined protozoa and grew vesicles (i.e., structures within or outside of cells) using grass, sand, iron, and animal tissue. After heating the materials, he wrote that he had seen bright, glowing blue vesicles. He called them “bions” and believed that they were a rudimentary form of life, halfway between life and non-life. Naturally, major European scientists referred to it as “total nonsense.” (cont. on page 48)

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(cont. from page 47) After Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Reich’s contact at Columbia University, Theodore Wolfe, arranged to guarantee his visa to the United States.

In 1939, Reich sailed for New York and began teaching at The New School in Queens. There, he conducted experiments on mice with cancer, injecting them with bions. In the same year, Reich stated that he had discovered a “biological or cosmic energy” called “orgone energy.” According to Turner, “He argued that orgone was in the soil and air, was blue or blue-gray, and that humanity had divided its knowledge into aether for the physical aspect and God for the spiritual.”

In 1940, he built his first “orgone accumulator,” with the first human-sized box completed in December. Not surprisingly, patients were expected to sit inside naked. By July 1941, Reich wrote, “Orgone is definitely able to destroy cancerous growth. This is proved

by the fact that tumors in all parts of the body are disappearing or diminishing.” Although he was not licensed to practice in the United States, he began testing the boxes on humans diagnosed with cancer and schizophrenia. The same summer, Reich lost his position at The New School after boasting that he had saved several lives in secret experiments with his accumulator. In December, Reich was arrested by the FBI, and questioned about his communist commitments. Although he was eventually released, he was placed on the “Key Figures List.”

In November 1942, Reich purchased an old farm near Rangeley. He called it “Orgonon” and started spending summers there. By 1948, he had built a laboratory and an observatory, and by 1950, he had decided to live there year-round. Meanwhile, although he received a favorable review in the Journal of the American Medical As-

sociation and was listed in American Men of Science, legal problems were quietly building. For example, in July 1947, the Federal Trade Commission wrote to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking them to investigate his orgone treatment. By that time, more than 250 accumulators had been built. According to Sharaf, “The FDA concluded that they were dealing with ‘fraud of the first magnitude.’ From that point on, Reich had become increasingly watched by the authorities.

To make matters worse, in 1950, Reich established the Orgonomic Infant Research Center (OIRC). With the purpose of preventing muscular ‘armor’ in children, up to 30 therapists would treat the naked children by touch. Consequently, charges of sexual assault emerged, but were dropped after Reich agreed to shut down the OIRC altogether. Then, one year later, Reich claimed to have discovered another

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com form of energy: deadly orgone radiation (DOR). He also designed a “cloud buster,” with rows of 15-foot aluminum pipes mounted on a mobile platform.

He believed that it could unblock energy in the atmosphere and cause rain.

As stated by Sharaf, “Two farmers in Maine even offered to pay him to make it rain to save their blueberry crops. Reich used the cloud buster on the morning of July 6. Based on an eyewitness account, rain began to fall that evening and Reich received his fee.”

In February 1954, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine filed a 27-page complaint seeking a permanent injunction to prevent interstate shipment of orgone accumulators. After Reich refused to appear in court, the injunction was granted in March 1954. Then, one his associates sent an accumulator part through the mail to another state, after which Reich and his associate were charged with contempt of court. Rep-

resenting himself, he admitted the violation, but pleaded not guilty. The jury eventually found him guilty, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.

In June 1956, two FDA officials arrived at Orgonon to supervise the destruction of the accumulators. Reich’s friends as well as his son then chopped the accumulators up with axes. The agents then returned to confiscate and burn six tons of books in a public incinerator. It has since been cited as one of the worst examples of censorship in U.S. history.

As for Reich himself, he appealed the verdict, but to no avail. As stated by Turner, “On March 12, 1957, Reich was sent to Danbury Federal Prison. Richard Hubbard, a psychiatrist, examined him on admission, recording paranoia manifested by delusions of grandiosity, persecution, and ideas of reference.”

One week later, Reich was transferred to the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary,

after which he wrote the following in a letter to his son: “I am calm, certain in my thoughts, and doing mathematics. Do not worry about me.” In his last letter, Reich wrote that he was “looking forward to being released on November 10, 1957, having served one-third of his sentence.”

On November 3, Reich failed to appear for roll call and was found dead in his cell. The prison doctor stated that he had died from sudden heart failure. According to Sharaf, “He was then buried in a vault at Orgonon that he had asked his caretaker to dig. He also left instructions that there was to be no religious ceremony, but that a record should be played of Schubert’s Ave Maria sung by Marian Anderson.”

Meanwhile, not one academic journal published an obituary.

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50

The Gulf Stream Trestle

by Charles Francis

A Maine engineering wonder

I

t was late in the afternoon when an inspector for the Somerset Railroad spied the rope dangling from a support timber of a step on the Gulf Stream Trestle. It was a shiny rope that looked as if it had been recently purchased. It swayed in the wind that almost always blew through the deep Gulf Stream Gorge. The end of the rope was rough and frayed. Then he noticed a neatly folded coat lying in the shadow of the track. Looking down into the depths below the spidery, steel legs of the trestle, the inspector was just able to make out the twisted shape of a figure next to one of the concrete piers. Had the Gulf Stream Trestle taken a life? Not bothering to attempt a descent from the trestle,

the inspector jumped onto his handcar and hightailed it as fast as he could go to the nearest doctor. When the doctor and his nurse reached the bottom of the gorge, they found a lumberjack gasping out his last breath. A length of rope was around his neck. The Gulf Stream Trestle had seen its only suicide.

The Gulf Stream Trestle on the Kineo Branch of the Somerset Railroad was one of the great wonders of the Maine north woods. Spanning a distance of seven hundred feet over the one hundred and twenty-five-foot deep Gulf Stream Gorge, it allowed the railroad to carry tourists in luxurious Pullman cars through one of the wildest and most inaccessible sections of Maine.

The Kineo branch of the Somerset Railroad had been built primarily to carry summer visitors to Kineo Station at Rockwood, where they transferred to the boats of the fabulous Kineo House on Mount Kineo for a vacation.

The Somerset Railroad was the creation of John and William Ayer, father and son respectively. Chartered in 1860, the Somerset was to link the farms and mills of the upper Kennebec Valley to the railway terminus at Waterville. As originally conceived, it was to pass into the hands of the Maine Central Railroad, which purchased fifty thousand dollars worth of Somerset stock in 1868. This did not happen, however, until 1907. This was due, in part, to the

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com Ayers’ sense of proprietorship as well as their idea that the Somerset might become a part of a giant international rail system linking Wiscasset with the Province of Quebec. This scheme might actually have come to pass had it not been for the Panic of 1873. Prior to the Panic, several other railroads had been chartered in Maine along the proposed route, and forty miles of track had been laid in Canada going from Quebec City towards Maine. Even with the demise of their great plan, the Ayers were able to build one of the most utilized small railroads in the State of Maine, linking towns like Madison, Embden, and Bingham to markets in the southern part of the state, and building the spectacular Gulf Stream Trestle on the Kineo Branch.

John Ayer was the first and only president of the Somerset Railroad.

His son, William, was its manager and chief engineer from 1881 until it was absorbed by the Maine Central.

In 1874 the Somerset laid its first track from Oakland to Madison. The money for this construction came from the fifty thousand dollar stock purchase by the Maine Central and a stock purchase by the town of Madison. This section of the line was an immediate success with Madison businesses like the Madison Woolen Mill, area quarries and farmers utilizing the line for shipping freight. John Ayer proceeded to interest towns beyond the Madison terminus to invest in the railroad. In 1875 tracks were laid to North Anson.

The next step was to extend the track to Embden. To accomplish this, that little town of barely three hundred people borrowed enough to purchase forty thousand dollars worth of Somerset bonds. It took seven years, however, for the line to finally reach the town.

The faith of Embden citizens in the Somerset never wavered even when they had to raise special appropriations to pay the interest on the bonds.

The railroad was finally extended to Bingham, bypassing Solon, which had refused to invest in it. (Solon was ultimately connected with the line when it realized it was in its best interests to have a rail connection with the outside world.) Because of the Somerset, towns of the upper Kennebec Valley had their heyday, as goods and the produce of mills and farms had ready access to the markets of the more populous regions of the state. The Somerset took on a romantic cast with the construction of the Kineo Branch, which was primarily the creation of William Ayer.

William Madison Ayer was one of the most enterprising men in the upper Kennebec Valley. Born in Bangor in 1856, he came to Oakland at the age of one when his parents moved there.

He attended Westbrook Seminary and Maine Wesleyan Seminary — now Colby College — and became a civil engineer. He was a member of the engi(cont. on page 52)

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neering team that surveyed the Somerset line from North Anson to Bingham.

For three years starting in 1876, he was the general ticket agent for the railroad.

In 1881 he became superintendent and general manager, and in this position oversaw the extension of the railroad from Bingham to Kineo Station.

The Kineo Branch of the Somerset was an immediate success. Over it, Pullman cars carrying the wealthy of southern New England were able to pass directly into Maine and have their cars directly transferred to various Maine lines until they finally made connection with the Somerset. The Pullmans to Kineo Station were not the only out-ofstate cars to use the Kineo Branch. The Somerset advertised its excursion trips to Moosehead Lake in the summer, fall foliage sightseeing tours and hunters’ specials. In addition, work trains carrying local passengers and freight to and from Greenville passed over the branch

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line. Then a spur was run toward Moxie Pond to serve timber interests deep in the north woods. This was when the Gulf Stream Trestle was built.

William Ayer was much more than a railroad manager and civil engineer. He was senior partner in Ayer and Greeley, a coal company, superintendent of the Dunn Edge Tool Company, president of the Oakland Woolen Company, a director of the Cascade Savings Bank, and a director of the Central Maine Power Company. He had vision and expertise in many fields, but there was one challenge he knew was beyond his capability — bridging Gulf Stream Gorge. For this reason, he brought in Henry Hill, one of the leading experts in bridge construction of the time.

The new Somerset spur ran along Austin Stream before reaching Gulf Stream Gorge. This route was difficult because there were countless smaller streams constantly eroding their banks

and ready to eat away railway embankments. And then there was Gulf Stream Gorge. When Henry Hill made his initial survey, he realized there was no way he could avoid the gorge. It had to be bridged. The building of the Gulf Stream Trestle was to be one of the great engineering feats of the turn of the century.

The Boston Bridge Company, one of the foremost bridge builders of the time, was brought in to build the trestle.

To bring in materials for the footings and piers, an old tote road had to be used. However, by the time the tracks reached the gorge, everything was ready for the steel girders that came in over the line. Slowly the tracks proceeded out over the gorge as the girders were swung from a huge crane sitting on a flatcar. Amazingly, not a life was lost in the construction of the trestle.

The Somerset now used pictures of the great span in its advertising, and count-

53

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com less tourists took a ride over it just to gaze, mesmerized, into the yawning chasm below.

There was never a train accident on the great trestle. Once a bear jumped off to his death when a train came smoking and huffing towards it. It was a good thing, too, for the bear could have caused a derailment. Another time, a worker fell to his death when a hand car hit him when he wasn’t looking. These deaths along with the suicide of the lumberjack are the only recorded fatalities connected with the Gulf Stream Trestle.

The Somerset was taken over by the Maine Central in 1907, the same year it purchased the Kineo House. In 1933 the Kineo Branch was discontinued.

The Kineo House had had its heyday.

For a time, planks over the Gulf Stream Trestle allowed vehicular traffic. However, when the supporting piers began eroding, the trestle was dismantled in 1936.

After the Somerset was acquired by the Maine Central, William Ayer began to devote himself more and more to public service. He was a three-term member of the State Senate. In 1913 Governor Haines appointed him to the first State Highway Commission.

He served on it for ten years and was chairman for three. During this period Maine developed its first comprehensive program for highway construction and maintenance. As he had been in

Water and Bush Streets in Skowhegan. Item # LB2010.9.121507 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org the development of the upper Kennebec Valley with the construction of the Somerset Railroad, William Ayer was now a major figure in the development of a modem highway system for the State of Maine.

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and aunt had taken a train ride over it some years earlier on their honeymoon.

My great uncle was all set to drive across the trestle when his wife put her foot down and refused to be a part of the adventure. Her words were, “If you want to take your own life on that crazy bridge, Everett, you let me and the children out of this car right now!”

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Skowhegan’s Elise Fellows Legendary violinist and devoted wife

by Charles Francis

W

hy would a woman who was capable of studying violin with one of the greatest teachers of her day — which she did studying with the legendary Franz Kneisel — choose to live in the wilds of western Canada in a rough and ready, and most definitely rowdy, mining boomtown just before the turn of the twentieth century? If there is an answer to this question involving the most accomplished concert violinist ever born in Maine, Elise Fellows, it is that she did it for the love of a man named Bruce White.

Elise Fellows married Bruce White

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on November 16, 1898. The couple then settled in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada on the western shores of Kootenay Lake. At that time, Nelson was very much a boomtown, only having been in existence since March of the previous year. Bruce White managed a silver mine there.

Prior to the move to Nelson, Elise Fellows was on what some today might call a fast track to fame and fortune as a serious musician. It was a track which had included, besides study under the above-mentioned Franz Kneisel, four years at the New England Conservatory, and participation in concerts at

Boston Music Hall. Following her move to Nelson, Elise Fellows White would make one significant appearance in 1904 in Spokane, Washington. Her other appearances would be in western Canadian towns. Not until 1914 would she, again, make a series of appearances in the United States.

Elise Fellows was born May Fellows in Skowhegan on November 14, 1873.

Her parents were James and Deborah.

James Fellows was a bank cashier. The couple came to Skowhegan from New Hampshire.

Elise Fellows’ study of the violin began with local music instructors

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com when she was eight years old. Her formal study began at the New England Conservatory in Boston, which she attended for four years after she graduated from Skowhegan High School.

Fellows’ most important break came when she was participating in one of the New England Conservatory’s famous Quarterly Concerts. Franz Kneisel was in the audience. It was 1885. At the time Kneisel was first violin with the Boston Symphony.

Franz Kneisel would go on to found the world-renowned Kneisel Quartet.

He also founded Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill. Fellows studied with Kneisel for seven years and was a member of his student quartet. She also studied under Kneisel’s own teacher in Vienna, Jacob Grun. Her studies included a number of the notable teachers of the day, and she toured under the respected agency of the Wolfshon Musical Bureau. Her early solo performances came while she was in Vienna, at Boston’s King’s Chapel, and for the prestigious Boston Cecilia Club.

While it is difficult to pinpoint when Elise Fellows and Bruce White first met, the meeting probably came sometime late in 1895 or early in 1896. At that time, Fellows was on a Wolfshon tour which included cities like Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, as well as Chicago and Winnipeg. Most likely, the couple met in Seattle, as the city was the jumping-off point for Kootenay Lake.

Nelson is closer to the Alberta border than it is to the Pacific. To get to Nelson back in the last decades of the nineteenth century, travelers took a boat up the Columbia River from Washington state to British Columbia. Until a railroad was put in, they then traveled by horseback, wagon, or stagecoach to the lake.

The first Kootenay silver strike, the Silver King strike, was made in 1886.

It consisted of what would become four major mines, and became the present-day city of Nelson. When Elise Fellows White arrived in Nelson, the town was already sporting Victorian mansions and hotels. Simply put, the bonanza was that great. In fact, the Silver King strike and others in the Kootenay region would eventually amass something like thirty-five billion dollars in silver, zinc, and lead. That figure more than equals the combined figures of the California, Klondike, and other western gold strikes of the United States and Canada.

Elise Fellows White lived in Nelson until her return to Maine in 1914. Her three children were born in Nelson. The reason for her return to Maine was the death of her husband. He died during World War I. (Canada entered the war as an ally of Great Britain at the very beginning of the conflict.)

Although Elise Fellows made regular visits to Skowhegan, she made her home on Fessenden Street in Portland.

She was a member of Portland’s Rossi-

ni Club and wrote numerous articles for music publications, as well as Maine newspapers like the Lewiston Sun. She contributed to the History of Music in Old Bloomfield for the Skowhegan Town History. She also composed songs, a madrigal for thirty women’s voices, and appeared on radio in Portland and Boston. But, for the most part, she led a quiet and withdrawn life. One would assume she spent much of the remainder of her life mourning the death of her husband. She died at age seventy-eight.

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Mess Hall and beach at Camp Modin on Lake George in Canaan. Item # LB2007.1.111589 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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Enjoy Discover Maine All Year!

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Western Maine

58

The Iconic Maine Moose A history of the beloved species

by John Murray

W

hen Maine is mentioned, many people envision the moose. This distinctively large species is truly an iconic animal and has a widespread population throughout the state. The moose that is present today was not always in the region, and there was a time when another species of moose preexisted it.

If we traveled back in time to a period that was 12,000 years ago, the landscape of Maine would be vastly different from today. During this previous era that occurred after the initial glacial retreat, Maine had immensely large grassy plains that were segmented by smaller tracts of conifer decidu-

ous woodland which was dominated by spruce. This environment of the past was the habitat of many extinct species, including long horn bison, wooly mammoths, saber tooth tigers, dire wolves, giant ground sloths and stag moose.

Stag moose, known in the scientific community as Cervalces Scotti, were

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the initial moose that lived here, and this species is thought to have become extinct 11,500 years ago.

Stag moose were physically large animals. With a body size that attained lengths of more than eight feet and massed a weight of fifteen hundred pounds, this ancient moose was equal to the size of moose existing today.

Female stag moose were smaller than the males, and the males would often weigh a hundred pounds or more than the females. Along with the larger body mass, male stag moose grew a massive antler system atop their head, and it was more complex in appearance than the concave, shovel- like antlers of a moose

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com in our current period. The antlers were not the only difference between the stag moose and the moose of today. Instead of the large, rounded snout that today’s moose exhibit, stag moose possessed a snout that more closely resembled the narrowed facial features of an elk.

Facial features that do not resemble the moose of today would indicate that the stag moose had a different diet. The ancient region that came after the ice age was mostly grassy tundra that had smaller tracts of newly emerging spruce forests, and the stag moose is presumed to have fed on the branches and buds of these common trees in the forests – and its facial snout was perfect for that diet. In contrast, the current moose is quite suited for the vast areas of water that are present in modern Maine.

The moose of today preferably dines on the underwater vegetation found in marshes and the edges of lakes, and its large lengthy rounded nose is cus-

tom-designed for this type of feeding.

It has been recently discovered that the nostrils of the moose will automatically close when subjected to underwater pressure, and this stops any water from entering the nose. This function allows the moose to eat the vegetation when underwater.

The fact that the stag moose had a different diet which corresponded with the available terrain and vegetation of that previous time was one of the reasons linked to its ultimate extinction. As the landscape transformed following the retreat of the ice pack, food supply for the stag moose – and other species of animals previously present — became less available. Another factor was increased predation, including hunting by humans. Humans had an increasing presence in the region during the same tail end period that these extinct species existed. Discovered skeletal remains certainly indicate that humans that (cont. on page 60)

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lived in the past had interactions with all these extinct animals, including the stag moose.

Another factor to the extinction of stag moose was prior migration to escape the previous onslaught of glacial ice. The Laurentide ice sheet pushed southeast and covered Maine with a 1.5-mile ice depth 25,000 years ago.

The ice began its melting retreat 21,000 years ago. The oldest known fossil of a stag moose in North America is estimated to be 30,000 years old, and this fossil was found in Iowa. This time element would imply that the stag moose existed in Maine before the last glacial ice sheet covered our state and surviving stag moose migrated southward to escape the encroaching ice pack. Considering this, the glacial ice event would have already stressfully impacted the population numbers of the stag moose that migrated back to Maine after the

ice retreated. To compound the problem, the grassy tundra that primarily existed with limited and lesser amounts of emerging spruce forest tracts would not have been enough to support a large population of stag moose. This may have been another factor that led to its extinction.

The altered landscape of Maine unquestionably had dire consequences for the stag moose but would create a most favorable environment for a new resident. When the dense glacial ice pack melted and retreated from the region, the new landscape became vastly different from the previous geographical features that existed before the area was overtaken by ice. With the melting of massive amounts of ice, lakes were now present, and the new landscape also had numerous large boggy marshes.

As fate would have it, the demise

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of the stag moose would not mean the end of any moose living in the region of Maine. During the period that the glacial ice retreated, the current moose of today migrated into North America — and into Maine via the Bering land bridge. The newly formed ecological environment of Maine would be a perfect habitat for this moose species.

With ample food sources, combined with good habitat, the population of the modern-day moose rapidly grew. In comparison to the stag moose, the modern-day moose species is also a large animal, and is the second largest land animal on the North American continent.

After native humans reoccupied the Maine region when the ice age ended, the new species of moose became an important element for the native Indians. The large animal was eagerly harvested for food, and the leather and

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com dense warm fur was used for clothing.

In the language of the native Indians of the region, the animal was called “moosu.” This given name means “he strips off,” and this is in reference to the animals preference for underwater feeding of vegetation. When the European settlers arrived in the region during the 1600’s, the settlers would use the same name for the large animal and called it a moose.

European settlers also harvested the moose for food, and the animal would provide needed nourishment for an entire family throughout the winter months. Decades of unregulated hunting caused a large decline in the moose population in the 1800’s, but that was corrected by establishing a hunting season with limits. Controlled harvest of the Maine moose is allowed today, and biologists conclude that this controlled harvest promotes a healthy pop-

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ulation of these animals in relation to available habitat. Moose were thriving throughout the state of Maine up until the 1990’s, and this current decline in moose population is linked to an increase in the tick population. Despite the downward trend in the current moose population, the state of Maine

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Western Maine

62

Farmington’s Barker Brothers Maine’s first Dodge dealers

by Charles Francis

I

n 1914 James and Walter Barker of Farmington became the first Dodge dealers in Maine. In fact, the Barker brothers were among the very first Dodge dealers in the country.

1914 was the year John and Horace Dodge’s Dodge Brother’s Bicycle and Machine Factory of Detroit began production of their line of cars as Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. The Dodge brothers began production of the line of cars in competition to Henry Ford. Because Dodge cars were a more upscale line of automobiles, however, they weren’t in direct competition with Ford’s Model A.

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When the Dodge brothers began producing cars in 1914, they were already one of the largest automotive concerns in Detroit. John and Horace Dodge were largely responsible for Henry Ford’s early success. They built the complete chassis for the first Ford Model A in 1903. They also played a significant role in the development of the Oldsmobile, building the engines for that company. Following this the Dodges concentrated on manufacturing parts for Henry Ford’s cars.

The two Dodge brothers were shareholders in the Ford Motor Company.

It was their money that enabled Hen-

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The fact that James and Walter Barker of Farmington became Dodge dealers is rather remarkable. It is remarkable in that the Dodges didn’t accept just anyone to handle their line of cars. Because of the Dodge brothers’ reputation, hundreds of potential dealers from all across America applied to handle their line of cars in 1914. The Dodges vetted the requests carefully and accepted just fifty of these appli-

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com cants. (A Dodge dealer in Nashville, Tennessee claimed the honor of being the very first Dodge dealer for years but there is no way to substantiate this.

That honor might very well belong to James and Walter Barker.)

James and Walter Barker identified their business simply as J.W. & W.D. Barker. Advertisements from the time the Barker brothers company got started do not show anything else appended to the company name. James Barker founded the concern that became J.W. & W.D. Barker as an automotive accessory and repair business. The first Dodge cars that the Barker brothers sold had all the reliability of the Ford Model T. The Dodge car also had refinements that the Model T did not.

These refinements included electric starters, sliding-gear transmissions, and rear-wheel brakes.

The Barker brothers were born in Fryeburg. James, the older of the two,

was born in 1878. Walter was born in 1895. Their father, Frank Barker, was a farmer. Walter Barker served in the infantry during World War I. While he was away from Farmington, James continued to operate the business.

Dodge did not manufacture trucks for the commercial market until after the close of World War I. The first Dodge trucks were a refinement of the ambulances the Dodge brothers built for the Army. They were basically Dodge cars that had been cut down — they even had the same wooden spokes that Dodge cars had. Unlike Dodge cars, however, they didn’t have a full passenger side or driver side door. There was a pull-down curtain to keep out the elements. The first Dodge trucks came off the Dodge assembly line because dealers like Farmington’s Barker brothers reported there was a demand for them.

John and Horace Dodge both died in 1920. The widows of the two brothers (cont. on page 65)

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com (cont. from page 63) successfully operated the company for some five years after that. Starting in 1921 J.W. & W.D. Barker sold Graham Brothers Trucks. Dodge made a substantial amount of the parts for Graham Brothers Trucks and marketed them through the Dodge line of dealers. In 1925 the widows of John and Horace Dodge sold the company to a New York investment firm, Dillon, Read & Company, for one hundred and forty-eight million dollars. Some sources indicate

this was the largest cash transaction in history up to that time.

In 1928, Dillon, Read sold Dodge to Walter Chrysler. With that sale, Dodge ceased to exist as an independent firm.

J.W. & W.D. Barker, Maine’s first Dodge dealers, continued to operate as Dodge dealers well after this. Walter Barker, the last link to the earliest Dodge dealers in Maine, died in Farmington in 1982.

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5/13/13 1:48 PM

R.F. Automotive Repair ROSS FRAZIER, OWNER/OPERATOR

33 Years of experience keeping Maine running

Complete Diagnostic Service Chassis Dyno Testing •A/C Servicing

(207) 474-9656 9 Locust Street, Skowhegan

1890 PRIMITIVES

Find us on Facebook under 1890 Primitives

207-431-2877

219 North Ave. Skowhegan, Maine 10-5, Wed.-Sat.

Todd West welcomes you to

JIMMY’S SHOP ‘N SAVE Convenient to ITS 87 Ready-To-Go Chicken Baskets & Hamburgers Brick Oven Pizza

• Custom Fresh Cut Meats • Fresh Produce • All Your Grocery And Snack Needs • Agency Liquor Store MAIN STREET • BINGHAM

672-5528

JIMMYSSHOPNSAVE.COM

24 Hour Gas

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

DIRECTORY OF ADVERTISERS BUSINESS

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1890 Primitives.......................................................................................66 @ Home Electric......................................................................................61 A-1 Seamless Gutters............................................................................22 ABC Pool & Spa Center...........................................................................16 ADA Fence Company, Inc. .....................................................................34 Advanced Land Services.........................................................................53 Advantage Insurance..............................................................................43 Affordable Well Drilling Excavation & Forestry.......................................18 Allied Realty - Deanna Singer.................................................................54 Allied Realty - Heather N. Blodgett........................................................52 Andrew Ames Logging.............................................................................4 Archie’s Inc. Rubbish Removal..............................................................63 Azul Tequila Mexican Restaurant & Bar................................................22 Back Office Solutions of Maine..............................................................36 Bald Mountain Camps Resort.................................................................47 Bay Haven Lobster Pound & Restaurant...............................................25 Bean Maine Lobster................................................................................13 Beaulieu Garage Doors...........................................................................61 Bessey Insurance....................................................................................43 Bethel Chamber of Commerce...............................................................59 Betty’s Laundry.......................................................................................28 Bingham Motor Inn & Sports Complex..................................................50 Blanchet Builders, L.L.C. .......................................................................55 Blanchette Moving & Storage Co. ...........................................................7 Bob’s Cash Fuel.......................................................................................66 Boos Heating Company..........................................................................30 Bowley Brook Pure Maple Syrup............................................................41 Boynton’s Greenhouse............................................................................54 Brown’s Construction..............................................................................21 Bulldog Camps & Lodge.........................................................................14 Castonguay Meats...................................................................................34 Central Tire Co. Inc. ...............................................................................24 Chalet Moosehead Lakefront Motel........................................................48 Chuck Wagon Restaurant.......................................................................33 Clark Auto Parts.....................................................................................65 Cobb’s Pierce Pond Camps.....................................................................64 Cole Harrison Insurance.........................................................................45 Collins Enterprises...................................................................................39 Colonial Valley Motel..............................................................................39 Computer Improvements........................................................................54 Conlogue’s Building & Property Management.......................................40 Cooper Farms..........................................................................................31 Copy Kat’s Printing & Design.................................................................10 Cote’s Transmission...................................................................................7 Coulthard’s Pools & Spas Inc. .................................................................42 Cushing Construction..............................................................................35 D.A. Wilson & Co. ....................................................................................31 Damboise Garage....................................................................................37 Dan’s Automotive Repair & Sales.........................................................64 Danzig Painting & Home Improvements...............................................31 Den’s Automotive Services, Inc. ...........................................................11 Design Architectural Heating.................................................................16 Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers.....................................................62 D&H Insurance........................................................................................43 Dirigo Waste Oil......................................................................................36 Dixfield Discount Fuel, Inc. ...................................................................43 Dutch Treat..............................................................................................40 Dyer Septic Service & Excavation...........................................................30 Ed Hodsdon Masonry, Inc. .....................................................................8 Edmunds Market.....................................................................................64 Ed’s Grove Discount Warehouse..............................................................24 Ellis Variety..............................................................................................62 Engine 5 Bakehouse................................................................................61 EverClean Water Systems.......................................................................36 Evergreens Campground & Restaurant.....................................................5 Farmington Farmers Union & Union Rental..........................................63 Fast Eddies..............................................................................................21 Fine Line Paving & Grading....................................................................51 Finelines Collision Center........................................................................28 Firefly Boutique.......................................................................................27 Franklin Savings Bank.............................................................................38 Franklin-Somerset Federal Credit Union..................................................4 Freeport Antiques and Heirlooms Showcase.........................................13 Freightliner of Maine Inc. ......................................................................4 G&G Cash Fuels.......................................................................................20 George’s Banana Stand...........................................................................51 Giberson Funeral Homes........................................................................50 Gingerbread Farm Perennials..................................................................21 Goin’ Postal - Auburn.............................................................................19 Gray Family Vision Center......................................................................23 Greater Bridgton Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce.......................26 Greg’s Auto Repair..................................................................................65 Grimaldi Concrete Floors & Countertops................................................34 Hall Implement Co. ................................................................................22 Hammond Lumber Company.................................................................41 Hardys Motorsports................................................................................66 Harris Drug Store....................................................................................48 Heart & Hand Inc. ................................................................................26 High Tide Low Tide Seafood....................................................................49

BUSINESS

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Highland Farms Logging, LLC.................................................................11 Highland Heat.........................................................................................44 Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch...................................................19 Hodgdon Well Drilling, Inc. ......................................................................6 Home Auto Group...................................................................................40 Homestead Realty...................................................................................20 Hungry Hollow Country Store...................................................................5 J.P. Clarke Plumbing Services.................................................................44 J.R. Nunes & Sons Excavation.................................................................44 J.T. Reid’s Gun Shop.................................................................................4 JT’s Finest Kind Saw................................................................................51 Jay, Livermore, Livermore Falls Chamber of Commerce...........................59 Jean Castonguay Excavation...................................................................33 Jimmy’s Shop ‘N Save.............................................................................66 Joel Torrey Painting................................................................................64 Johnny Castonguay Logging & Trucking................................................34 Jordan Lumber Co. ...............................................................................44 Kash for Kans Recycling, LLC..................................................................10 Keith Hadley Inc. ..................................................................................60 Kersey Real Estate..................................................................................41 Knowles Lumber Company.......................................................................8 Korhonen Co. .........................................................................................30 Kramers Inc. ..........................................................................................37 L.R. Nadeau Inc. Excavation...................................................................20 Lake Region Trailers...............................................................................28 Lakes Region Power Systems................................................................46 Langlois’ Auto Body & Auto Sales.........................................................16 Larsen’s Electric.......................................................................................63 Lavallee’s Garage.....................................................................................66 Law Office of Brian Condon, Jr, Esq. ......................................................20 Leighton’s of West Paris.........................................................................32 Lenny’s at Hawkes Plaza.........................................................................23 Liberte Auto Sales..................................................................................18 Lincoln Street Radiator Shop....................................................................6 Linda Bean’s Maine Kitchen & Topside Tavern......................................13 Linda Bean’s Maine Wyeth Gallery........................................................13 Linda Bean’s Perfect Maine Vacation Rental.........................................13 Linkletter & Sons, Inc. ..............................................................................3 Long Green Variety.................................................................................60 Luce’s Meats & Maple.............................................................................49 Main Street Mercantile Co. .....................................................................21 Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.......................................55 Maine Family Federal Credit Union.........................................................7 Maine Forest Service...............................................................................65 Maine Historical Society...........................................................................5 Maine Lakes Brewfest.............................................................................26 Maine Pellet Sales LLC.............................................................................6 Maine Roof Solutions.............................................................................50 Maine Veterinary Medical Center...........................................................15 Mainely Puppies Plus, LLC.....................................................................59 Marston Industrial Services Inc. ...........................................................37 Maynard’s in Maine................................................................................48 McAllister Accounting and Tax Services.................................................60 McNaughton Construction......................................................................37 Mel’s Raspberry Patch............................................................................24 Memco Supply........................................................................................60 Mike Wainer Plumbing & Heating..........................................................51 Mills Market............................................................................................64 Montello Heights Retirement Community.............................................18 Moose River Lodge & Motel..................................................................49 Moosehead Motorsports.........................................................................48 Morrell’s Septic Tank Service & Excavating.............................................9 Mountain Greenery Greenhouses...........................................................31 Mount Blue Motel..................................................................................39 Naples Packing Co., Inc. .........................................................................64 NewGen Powerline Construction............................................................56 Niedner’s Floor Finishing.........................................................................60 North Camps...........................................................................................46 Northeast Laboratory Services.................................................................4 Norway/Paris Soft Serve.........................................................................59 Ogunquit Beach Lobster House...............................................................13 Old Mill Pub Restaurant.........................................................................54 Otis Federal Credit Union.......................................................................34 Our Village Market.................................................................................65 Oxford Casino & Hotel...............................................................back cover Oxford Federal Credit Union...................................................................29 Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce.......................................................59 Packard Appraisal, Inc. ..........................................................................28 Pat’s Pizza - Auburn...............................................................................18 Pawz & Clawz Petz..................................................................................9 Peck’s Family Acupuncture.....................................................................24 Penobscot Marine Museum...................................................................12 Percy’s Tire & Auto Repair LLC...............................................................10 Perkins Management..............................................................................35 Phil Carter’s Garage................................................................................61 Pine Tree Orthopedic Lab Comfort Shoe & Footcare Center...................34 Pitcher Perfect Tire Service.....................................................................38 Presidential Pest Control........................................................................16 Prime Financial, Inc. .............................................................................35

BUSINESS

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Profenno’s Restaurant & Pub.................................................................23 Quinn Hardware......................................................................................55 R&B’s Home Source................................................................................50 R&P Auto.................................................................................................65 R.E. Lowell Lumber Inc. ........................................................................33 R.F. Automotive Repair..........................................................................66 R.W. Day Logging....................................................................................58 Randy’s Full Service Auto Repair, LLC....................................................56 Range Pond Campground.........................................................................8 Rangeley Electric....................................................................................47 Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce................................................45 Rangeley Saddleback Inn.......................................................................46 Rangeley Vacation Rentals.....................................................................45 Rare Woods USA.....................................................................................42 Record Building Supply, Inc. .................................................................58 Redington-Fairview General Hospital.....................................................53 Richard H. Lewis & Son Building & Remodeling..................................58 Richard Wing & Son Logging, Inc. .........................................................24 Ricker Hill Orchards................................................................................33 Rick Labbe Construction........................................................................62 Rita’s Catering.........................................................................................61 River Valley Chamber of Commerce.......................................................64 River’s Edge Sports.................................................................................46 Rob Elliott Excavation & Trucking..........................................................43 Robert W. Libby & Sons, Inc. ..................................................................6 Rock Enterprises......................................................................................25 Ron’s Market...........................................................................................63 Ron’s Transmissions...................................................................................8 Roopers Beverage & Redemption..........................................................17 Rottari Electric..........................................................................................8 Route 26 Antiques & Flea Market..........................................................28 Roy’s All Steak Hamburgers & Golf Center.............................................19 Russell & Sons Towing & Recovery........................................................28 S.A. McLean, Inc. ...................................................................................25 Sackett and Brake Survey, Inc. ...............................................................55 Sarge’s Pub & Grub.................................................................................45 Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce..........................................9 Sebago Lakes Spirits Festival....................................................................9 Shenn Corp. Landscape.........................................................................31 Skowhegan Regional Chamber of Commerce.......................................52 Sky High Tree Service.............................................................................25 Smile Again Dentures, Inc. .....................................................................16 Smile Solutions of Maine........................................................................35 Solon Corner Market..............................................................................51 Sounier Flooring.....................................................................................20 Spencer Group Paving, LLC.....................................................................33 Stacy’s Service Center.............................................................................58 Sterling Electric.......................................................................................38 Stevens Electric & Pump Service Inc. ....................................................7 Strong Hardware & Building Supply......................................................65 Sturdy Hardware.....................................................................................20 Styling Dog Grooming Boutique..............................................................6 Tangeré Massage Therapy and Wellness...............................................10 The Black Horse Tavern..........................................................................26 The Farmhouse Beer Garden & Restaurant...........................................38 The Kingfield Woodsman Restaurant.....................................................43 The Raven Collections............................................................................30 The River Jack Tavern.............................................................................36 The Sterling Inn Bed & Breakfast............................................................49 The Village Donut Shop & Bakery.............................................................9 The Wood Mill of Maine.........................................................................62 Three Lakes Storage................................................................................62 Toad Hill..................................................................................................26 Todd’s Discount & Gift Shop...................................................................42 Town of Carthage...................................................................................63 Town of Mexico.......................................................................................42 Trail’s End Steakhouse & Tavern..............................................................65 Trash Guyz...............................................................................................22 Twin Town Homes...................................................................................58 Vintage Maine Images..............................................................................5 Violette Earthwork..................................................................................40 W.L. Sturgeon, Inc. ................................................................................11 Wallace Dumpster Rental.......................................................................22 Wallace Trailer Parts, Sales & Service.....................................................22 Weber Insurance - Farmington & Livermore Falls.................................43 Webster Tree Service..............................................................................19 Welch’s Hardware & Lumber..................................................................10 Western Maine Builders.........................................................................43 Western Maine Glass..............................................................................11 White’s Land Management....................................................................41 Whittemore & Sons Outdoor Power Equipment.....................................51 Wilson Excavating, Inc. ..........................................................................59 Wilson Funeral Home................................................................................3 Wilsons on Moosehead Lake..................................................................49 Winslow Supply, Inc. ..............................................................................62 Woodland Valley Disc Golf.....................................................................11 Woodlawn Rehab & Nursing Center......................................................54 Wood-Mizer of Maine.............................................................................60 Woodsome’s Feeds & Needs...................................................................11

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— 2022 Western Maine —

Western Maine

ALWAYS OPEN,

ALWAYS FUN! Maine’s home for wicked good fun, with 24/7 casino action and our convenient hotel and pub!

OxfordCasino.com

Experience round-the-clock casino excitement on our expanded gaming floor, including nearly 1,000 slot machines and 30 table games! With a hotel featuring over 100 rooms and a pub-style restaurant offering the best in Maine and New England cuisine, we’re building excitement every day!

Oxford Casino Hotel is just minutes from the Maine Turnpike on Route 26!

Persons under 21 years of age may not enter the gaming area or restaurants unless licensed as employees. Gambling problem? In Maine, call 2-1-1 or (800) 522-4700 for help.