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Volume 35 | Issue 5 | 2026

Maine’s History Magazine

Midcoast & Casco Bay

Brunswick’s Cabot Mill Child laborers go on strike in 1881

The Rockland Breakwater Feds built it after storms tore up the harbor

Belfast’s Amy Fradel

Author shares her family’s migration story

www.DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

Midcoast & Casco Bay

Inside This Edition

2 3

I t Makes No Never Mind James Nalley

Cape Elizabeth Military Camp Names A “Maine at War” exclusive Brian Swartz

Brunswick’s Cabot Mill Child laborers go on strike in 1881 Helen Anderson

12 Foot And Mouth Disease Hits Cumberland County A highly contagious threat Charles Francis 17 Stroudwater’s Francis Fickett Builder of the first transatlantic steamship Charles Francis 20 Yarmouth’s Drinkwater Home Family legacy lasted almost 200 years Brian Swartz 22 North Yarmouth’s Augustus W. Corliss Escape from Harpers Ferry Brian Swartz 28 Bath’s Charles Frederick Hughes Chief of Naval Operations James Nalley 32 Hallowell’s Martha Ballard 18th century midwife Wanda Curtis 36 Hollywood On The Kennebec Stars of the silent film era Charles Francis 41 T he Incredible Ordeal Of John Gyles Abducted by Indians in 1689 Charles Francis 44 The Rockland Breakwater Feds built it after storms tore up the harbor Brian Swartz 48 From Hollywood To Coastal Maine Kay Aldridge’s quiet place in Maine history James Nalley 52 Belfast’s Amy Fradel Author shares her family’s migration story Johanna S. Billings 57 Hallowell Publisher Speaks Out Protesting frivolous behavior on Memorial Day Brian Swartz 60 Unity’s Phineas Banning Blanchard One of the last American tall ship captains James Nalley

Maine’s History Magazine

MIDCOAST & CASCO BAY

Publisher Jim Burch Editor Dennis Burch Design & Layout Liana Merdan Contributing Writers Helen Anderson Johanna S. Billings Wanda Curtis Charles Francis James Nalley Brian Swartz

Published by Burch, LLC

10 Exchange Street, Suite 208 Portland, Maine 04101 Ph (207) 874-7720 info@discovermainemagazine.com www.discovermainemagazine.com Discover Maine Magazine is distributed to town offices, chambers of commerce, financial institutions, fraternal organizations, barber shops, beauty salons, hospitals and medical offices, newsstands, grocery and convenience stores, hardware stores, lumber companies, motels, restaurants and other locations throughout this part of Maine. NO PART of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from Burch, LLC | Copyright © 2026, Burch, LLC

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Front Cover Photo:

Man with lobster pots on beach near Island Inn on Monhegan. Item # LB2010.1.186 from the D.J. Lindsay Collection and PenobscotMarineMuseum.org All photos in Discover Maine’s Midcoast & Casco Bay issue 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.

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com

It Makes No Never Mind

by James Nalley

ay in Maine is the month when the state clears its throat, stretches its legs, and remembers how to be charming again. Along the mid-coast, from Brunswick to Rockland and all the harbors, islands, and backroads in between, spring does not arrive with fireworks so much as with a knowing wink. At the time of this publication, if you are paying attention, then it is the best month of the year. Start with the quiet return of the water. In May, the boats emerge from hibernation, but the crowds have not yet followed. Walk the docks in Boothbay Harbor or Camden and you will see lobstermen repainting hulls, rigging traps, and trading gossip that sounds half like poetry and half like a weather forecast. This is the ideal month for a harbor cruise without jostling for space, or for sitting with coffee and watching a working waterfront remember its rhythm. On land, May belongs to the walkers. Trails in Camden Hills State Park reopen in earnest, and the climb up Mount Battie feels less like a test of endurance and more like a conversation with the woods. Leaves are just beginning to unfurl, the views are generous, and the air still holds a trace of winter that makes every overlook feel earned.

Near Brunswick, the Cathance River Preserve and coastal paths offer muddy boots, birdsong, and the smug satisfaction of beating summer to the punch. Culturally, May is when mid-coast towns dust off their calendars with a mixture of pride and understatement. Local theaters launch preview performances, galleries open new exhibitions, and historical societies emerge with lectures that manage to be both scholarly and cheerfully gossipy. Opening receptions in Rockland or Bath often feel like social events disguised as art shows, where wine, maritime lore, and community gossip flow freely. Food, too, comes back to life, but cautiously at first. May is the month of fiddleheads and ramps, of rhubarb that insists on becoming pie, and of restaurants reopening with menus that read like love letters to nearby farms. Lobster rolls may still be scarce, but soups, chowders, and baked goods arrive with deep sincerity. Farmers’ markets reappear, sometimes bundled against lingering cold, offering early greens and the promise of better things to come. For those who enjoy Maine’s quieter eccentricities, May delivers. Smalltown festivals, shoreline cleanups that double as social gatherings, birding weekends, and boat launches treated

with near-ceremonial gravity all mark the month. There is something deeply satisfying about watching a freshly painted boat slide into the water, while someone’s dog barks encouragement from the dock. Perhaps the best thing about May on the mid-coast is its restraint. There are no ice-cream lines, no Route 1 snarls, and no sense that you are late for the party. Instead, you get space: on trails, in galleries, at tables, and a front-row seat to the season warming up. May does not shout. It simply opens the door and invites you in, which, in Maine, is the highest compliment. And on this note, let me close with the following jest: Police once investigated a stretch of Route 1 outside Brunswick after finding an alarming number of dead crows, fearing bird flu. A pathologist soon ruled this out, determining that the cause was vehicular impact. The mystery deepened when paint analysis revealed that 98% of the birds had been struck by trucks, with only 2% by cars. Ornithologists offered the following explanation: Crows always post a lookout when feeding on roadkill. Apparently, the lookout can shout a sharp, urgent “Cahh!” but, unfortunately, lacks both the vocabulary and lung power to shout “Truuck!”

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Cape Elizabeth Military Camp Names A “Maine at War” exclusive by Brian Swartz A military camp established in Cape Elizabeth during the Civil War never moved, despite undergoing multiple name changes — and state officials insisting that the camp was in Portland. Soldiers occupied various parts of Cape Elizabeth from 1861 to 1865. The regular army’s 17th U.S. Infantry Regiment garrisoned Fort Preble guarding the approaches to Portland Harbor. In 1861 the state established a 72-acre training camp at Island Trotting Park in Cape Elizabeth, near the Fore River and Vaughan’s Bridge connecting the town to Portland.

The 1st Maine Infantry Regiment had mustered that spring at Camp Washburn, located in East Deering in Portland. John Mead Gould, a 21-yearold private in Co. C, remembered Washburn as “a very healthy and pleasant spot of land. Two of its sides are the seashore, one other a row of bushes and the fourth the road to Martin’s Point Bridge.” The 1st Maine mustered on May 3, 1861, for three months’ service. The state decided to muster the 5th Maine Infantry Regiment elsewhere “at Portland, the camp being located near the

city, and known in those days as ‘Camp Preble,’” said Pvt. George W. Bicknell, a Portland trader who later became the regiment’s adjutant and historian. Camp Preble was actually in Cape Elizabeth, but no matter the facility’s name, “the destination Portland was used on official records” throughout the war, said historian Paul J. Ledman. The 5th Maine departed Camp Preble for Washington, D.C. on June 25, 1861. Formed in central and eastern Maine, the 6th Maine Infantry arrived at Camp Preble about the same day. Mustering into the army on July 15, the

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com soldiers received their first pay on July 16, and many traveled to Portland to see and taste the sights, get drunk, and tear the Forest City apart. The results weren’t pretty, Portland police sent the 6th Maine scofflaws packing, and everyone in Portland was glad to see the regiment leave for the war. In September, Governor Israel Washburn Jr. summoned the 1st Maine Infantry’s veterans to Portland and ultimately formed them into the 10th Maine Infantry. Based in Camp McClellan (the first name change for Camp Preble), the veterans marched across Vaughan’s Bridge to a Portland train station on October 6, 1861 and caught a train for Boston. That fall Camp McClellan became Camp Butler, named for Maj. Gen. Ben Butler, busy recruiting New England regiments for his expedition planned against Confederate-held Louisiana. The 12th Maine Infantry mustered at Camp Butler on November 7; the 1st

— Fort Preble —

Maine Battery mustered on December 18. Another name change occurred as “the camp we occupied, in honor of the first governor of Maine, was designated in orders as ‘Camp [William] King,’” said Edwin B. Houghton, a Portland clerk who enlisted in the 17th Maine Infantry Regiment in mid-July 1862. The name “Camp King” did not last

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for long. In early August the War Department ordered Maine to recruit nine infantry regiments for nine months’ service. Three regiments would form in Cape Elizabeth. In August, Maine Adjutant John L. Hodsdon announced that the Cape Elizabeth training facility would be named Camp Abraham Lincoln. However, Maine was already busy forming five infantry regiments for three years’ service. The 17th Maine was one; the last was the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, which also mustered at the Cape Elizabeth training facility. Joshua L. Chamberlain and his comrades called their temporary home Camp Mason, and the name appears in letters and official communications. The 17th and 20th Maine recruits had lived in tents. To house the ninemonth recruits, the state signed a contract to have 45 wooden buildings (including ten kitchens) constructed at Camp Abraham Lincoln, the name that (cont. on page 6)

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(cont. from page 5) supplanted Camp Mason. Work started in late August and ended in early September. So, three more regiments formed at the Cape Elizabeth camp. Numbered the 23rd, 25th, and 27th, the regiments shipped to Washington, D.C. in October and saw no combat before returning home in summer 1863. State officials later renamed the training ground Camp Berry to honor Maj. Gen. Hiram Berry, a Rockland resident shot and killed at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. He was the highest-ranking Maine officer to be killed in action during the Civil War. Camp Berry remained an active post well into 1865. Whatever its name, the Cape Elizabeth camp has long since vanished. Today its site is occupied by the Sprague Energy terminal along the Fore River in South Portland.

Major General Preston J. Brown on a floating biplane at Fort Williams, ca. 1928. Item # 104 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society / MaineToday Media and www.VintageMaineImages.com

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Brunswick’s Cabot Mill Child laborers go on strike in 1881

by Helen Anderson

hen crossing the Androscoggin River from Topsham into Brunswick, the prominent brick structure that was once the Cabot Mill is impossible to miss. What is now home to Cabot Mill Antiques and other businesses once provided jobs to thousands of Québécois immigrants who ventured south in search of mill work in the late 19th century. The men, women, and children who worked for Cabot Manufacturing Co. faced poor living conditions in Brunswick’s “Little Canada,” little pay, and unsafe working conditions. In the summer of 1881, the Cabot Mill child laborers went on strike for more pay and ultimately succeeded.

Mill towns across New England saw an influx of Québécois immigrants upon the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865. During wartime, mill growth was thwarted due to a Union blockade of southern ports that prevented the supply of raw cotton that northern textile mills needed to operate. When the war ended and cotton became available again, mills needed laborers. At around the same time, Québec farmers faced a scarcity of fertile farming land, and it was difficult for them to obtain credit to purchase land that was available. Even those with land saw a drop in crop prices and short growing seasons. With jobs available in New England mills,

many Québécois saw the opportunity to move to the United States and assume readily available positions. The Cabot Mill was the largest mill in the area, and like many New England mills, needed workers in the aftermath of the war. To quell this need, Cabot Mill sent agents to Québec to recruit French Canadians. Québécois men would often move south and later call on their families to join them. By 1880, 2,000 people were living in the Little Canada tenements along the Androscoggin River. While there was work available in the mills, the conditions at both the workplace and in employee housing (cont. on page 10)

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(cont. from page 7) were poor. Little Canada consisted of four blocks of 75 dilapidated tenements built and owned by Cabot Mill along the Androscoggin River. Large families were crammed into the small living spaces and livestock lived between the houses. This environment resulted in the spread of disease, including typhoid and diphtheria. Life at the rat-infested mill was no better. Laborers were subjected to eleven-hour workdays, with a low daily wage. Grown men earned $1.42 a day, women $0.90, and children $1.00 a week. The hours were long, the pay was low, and the work was dangerous. While men and women were prone to injuries from machinery and tools, children were three times as likely to be injured as adults. Many children lost fingers, hands, legs, and even their lives. In August of 1881, 8-year-olds working at the Cabot Mill discovered that the children at the neighboring

Cabot Manufacturing Co. in Brunswick and tenement housing near the mill, ca. 1895. Item # 22738 from the collections of the Maine Historical Society and www.VintageMaineImages.com

Lewiston textile mill were earning a penny more a day. The boys at the Brunswick mill decided to go on strike against the Cabot Manufacturing Co. to obtain the same pay as those in Lewis-

ton. On August 12th, 1881, The Brunswick Telegraph reported a strike in the spinning and mule rooms of the cotton mill. The strike proved to be successful — the Cabot boys (ages 8 to 14)

DiscoverMaineMagazine.com earned a higher wage and inspired their adult counterparts to also strike. With the adults on strike, the mill closed for three days, until Cabot agreed to raise men’s daily pay to $1.50 and women’s to $1.05. While the Cabot Mill children and adults saw monetary victory in the summer of 1881, their working and living conditions continued to be poor. Little Canada’s living conditions did not improve until the state ordered the Cabot Mill to clean up the tenements in 1886. At the turn of the 20th century, the French population integrated into Brunswick by purchasing homes, an achievement precipitated in part by the young mill workers’ brave fight for economic justice. Thank you to David Vermette’s French North America blog, the New England Historical Society, Maine Mill, and Meander Maine for providing invaluable research information.

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Foot And Mouth Disease Hits Cumberland County by Charles Francis

A highly contagious threat

esidents, especially farmers, of towns like Gorham and Cumberland were in an uproar. Foot and mouth disease had been discovered infecting animals in Falmouth and Deering and people were afraid it would spread. The only known cure for foot and mouth disease was to destroy or at least quarantine not only the infected animal but also anything the animal had come in contact with like a barn. The outbreak could cause untold hardship for area farmers. In addition, it was known that foot and mouth disease could infect humans. Parents were concerned about

their children. The distraught citizens had someone to blame for the current state of affairs too — the Maine Commissioners of Contagious Diseases for Cattle. The commissioners had ignored the suggestions of one of the most noted veterinarians in the world, the Dean of the Faculty of the Montreal Veterinary College, and decided to use their own methods for dealing with the outbreak, methods that local residents considered inadequate. They had therefore drafted a letter to Governor Frederick Robie asking him to intervene in what they considered to be a crisis.

The year is 1884 and foot and mouth disease is running rampant not only in Cumberland County but throughout the entire state. The disease had entered the state through cattle imported from England. Foot and mouth disease is a contagion affecting cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats. Oxen are the most susceptible and are the most dangerous carriers. It can even affect humans, and in rare cases has caused the death of children. It can reach epidemic proportions. The symptoms of foot and mouth disease, which

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com is a virus, are horrendous. First there is a sudden increase in body temperature followed by the rise of blisters in mucous areas like the mouth and nostrils and the soft tissue of the hoof. When the blisters erupt, eating and walking become next to impossible. The disease is spread by contact with infected animals and anything they have contacted. The most common method of eradicating foot and mouth disease is to quarantine infected animals and disinfect anything they have come in contact with. The most serious recent outbreak of the disease occurred in Britain in 1967 and 1968 when over four hundred and thirty thousand animals had to be destroyed. Coincidentally, it was Britain that was the source of the foot and mouth disease that infected Cumberland County in 1884. On Saturday, February 4, 1884 the steamer Ontario, out of Liverpool, England, arrived in Portland Harbor. On

board were twenty-eight Hereford cows bound for the Illinois farm belonging to George Leigh. Dr. E.F. Taylor of the United States Treasury Commission inspected the cattle and declared them free of disease. The cattle were then unloaded and herded some three miles to the United States Quarantine Station in Deering. Three days later the Collector of the quarantine station requested Taylor to again examine the cattle as their attendant thought they might have foot and mouth disease. Taylor came the next day and again pronounced that they were disease-free. Taylor, however, was wrong. Foot and mouth disease from the Herefords had started to spread through Cumberland County as soon as the cattle had stepped ashore. Less than an hour after the Herefords had been driven down the gangplank of the Ontario, James West of Falmouth was delivering an oxcart load of wood to the Ontario wharf. The Her-

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efords were at least a mile from West and his team. Even so, they became infected with the dread disease. The damage was just beginning, however. On February 8 West sold his oxen to Samuel Rolfe of Deering. Rolfe had ten cows of his own. Within days, however, Rolfe sold the oxen to Charles Norton of Allen’s Corner. Norton, upon discovering that the oxen were sick, returned them to Rolfe. On the way back to Rolfe’s, they were passed by the oxen of James Pierce of Falmouth. West’s oxen had been infected on February 2. By February 8th they were showing all the symptoms of foot and mouth disease. Pierce’s and Rolfe’s cattle had been exposed to West’s oxen on the 8th. By the 11th Pierce’s oxen had the symptoms, and by the 13th Rolfe’s cows had them. The dreaded disease was getting stronger. However, the towns with infected cattle were quick to act. (cont. on page 14)

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(cont. from page 13) By February 15th the selectmen of Falmouth and Deering, acting in concert, had hired a local judge by the name of Cleaves as their council. Cleaves, in turn, hired a veterinarian, Dr. Bailey, to inspect the cattle. On the evening of February 15th Bailey notified the Commissioners of Contagious Diseases of Cattle of the situation, informing them that the cattle had foot and mouth disease. The commissioners immediately placed the property of West, Rolfe, and Pierce under quarantine. In addition, they had placards giving notice of the quarantine conspicuously placed on streets in the area of the infected premises. Subsequently, notices were placed in Portland papers. These measures were not enough, however. On February 24th foot and mouth disease was discovered in the cattle of Joshua Whitehouse of West Falmouth. Two days later, it hit the herd of John

Smith in Deering. Again, quarantine went into effect and notices were posted. All contact with the infected cattle, which now numbered forty-five, and the infected farms was prohibited except with the express order of the commissioners. Nothing was allowed to be taken from the farms. No visitors were allowed on them and anyone who worked there was to disinfect themselves and their clothing before leaving. Even the road leading to the wharf where the Ontario was birthed in Portland was quarantined. The commissioners were sure that they had taken all the steps necessary to stop the spread of the disease. However, to be sure, they wrote to the leading experts on foot and mouth disease. It was the response of Dr. D. McEachran, the Dean of the Faculty of the Montreal Veterinary College, which caused the controversy that brought about the public meetings lead-

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ing to the letter to Governor Robie. McEachran added several steps that should be taken in dealing with the disease. One of his suggestions was to wash all areas where the infected cattle had been with carbolic acid. His most controversial admonition, the one which ignited the storm of protest because the commissioners chose to ignore it, was to cordon off a onemile area around the infected premises. The commissioners chose to ignore this as it effectively would have isolated all the communities to the north and west of Portland. This action of the commissioners resulted in attacks on the commissioners in Portland papers — attacks that the commissioners responded to in a letter to Governor Robie in the following manner: “We have entirely disregarded the attacks of those newspapers which, while pretending to represent the agricultural interests of

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com our State, have, week after week, taken every opportunity to misrepresent and pervert facts, and by narrow-minded and ungenerous remarks have sought to poison the public mind by such damaging nonsense as could have no foundation but in the muddled brains of the inventors.” It was at this point that the governor stepped in. On April 1st Governor Robie held a joint meeting of the Governor’s Council, the commissioners and the selectmen of Deering and Falmouth at Portland. The result was a compromise. The quarantine was to stay in effect for sixty days after the last infected animal was either declared well or had been destroyed. Dr. Bailey, the veterinarian retained by Judge Cleaves for the towns of Falmouth and Deering, was to visit each infected area daily and inspect each animal daily. Bailey was also to actively oversee the disinfect-

ing of each area. In addition, an outside authority was to report on the progress being made. This outside authority was to be D.E. Salmon, a veterinarian with the United States Department of Agriculture. (Salmon would recommend the burning of stores of hay and even ripping apart barns and burning the resulting debris.) In addition, the commissioners were made appointed officials of the towns of Falmouth and Deering, so that the selectmen of those towns could directly oversee them. These measures were to prove successful. On May 31st the commissioners gave their final report to the selectmen of Falmouth and Deering. The report included an outside evaluation of the damages caused by the disease, done by the firm of Symonds & Libby, and the sworn and notarized oaths of the commissioners that they had carried out their duties. Deering was awarded

fourteen hundred and sixty-five dollars, and Falmouth two thousand and forty-four dollars in damages. With this, the possibility of foot and mouth disease spreading throughout the state and perhaps beyond ended for a time. Foot and mouth disease is always a threat, however, and farmers must always be on the watch for it.

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Stroudwater’s Francis Fickett Builder of the first transatlantic steamship

by Charles Francis

n May 20, 1933 the United States Congress designated May 22 of each year as National Maritime Day. The day was set aside by Congress to honor the men and women of the American Merchant Marine who have given of themselves in furthering the economic growth of the country and her defense. The date of May 22nd was chosen because that was the day the SS Savannah, the first transatlantic steamship, set out on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic. The SS Savannah set out from its namesake in Georgia in 1819. Her commander was Captain Moses Rogers of New London, Connecticut, a veter-

an steamship captain and associate of Robert Fulton. Her engines were commissioned by Stephen Vail, a Savannah mill owner, and designed by Samuel Carson of the Speedwell Company. Carson had trained under James Watt, inventor of the steam engine. The vessel itself was built in the New York shipyard of the concern of Samuel Fickett & William Crockett. The man who is credited with the actual construction of the Savannah is Francis Fickett, Samuel Fickett’s younger brother. This, of course, makes Francis Fickett the builder of the first transatlantic steamship, a fact which goes ignored every May 22nd when the President signs his

annual proclamation commemorating National Maritime Day. Samuel and Francis Fickett, along with their brother George, were downeast shipbuilders who had left Maine for New York to seek their fortune at the end of the War of 1812. President Jefferson’s embargo prior to the start of the war, as well as the war itself, had put the family’s Casco Bay shipyard out of business. The three Fickett brothers were born in the Stroudwater section of Portland. Their parents, Jonathan and Dorcas Plummer Fickett, moved to Portland — or as it was then called Falmouth — in 1769 from the Barren Hill area of Scar(cont. on page 18)

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(cont. from page 17) borough. It was Jonathan Fickett who established the family shipyard, which by the turn of the century was being run by Samuel. The SS Savannah, as designed and built by Francis Fickett, was a typical downeast vessel. It was one hundred and nine feet by almost twenty-six feet by twelve feet. She weighed in at three hundred and twenty tons and was designed to carry twenty-two passengers as well as freight. Its single-cylinder steam engine developed seventy-two horsepower to turn the vessel’s two sidewheels. The engine’s piston was five feet in diameter, the largest in use at the time. Altogether, the Savannah cost fifty thousand dollars. The money came from a Savannah investment group. Even though the Savannah was small by today’s standards — about the size of a tugboat — Fickett designed her specifically to withstand Atlantic storms.

The Savannah left New York for her home port on the Savannah River on March 28th. She carried no passengers or freight. The reason for this was that she was being referred to as a “Steam Coffin.” When the engine started up it spouted great volumes of black smoke and sparks, which most felt were sure signs that the vessel would catch on fire. It took the Savannah over nine days to sail down the coast to the port of Savannah, an extremely unimpressive time. Once in Savannah, however, she elicited a good deal of curiosity and enthusiasm. President Monroe came aboard to inspect her. Secretary of War James Calhoun made an inspection of local defenses from her decks. Then on May 22nd she set out to make history as the first steamship ever to cross the Atlantic. However, she again carried neither passengers nor freight. The Savannah’s destination was St.

Petersburg, Russia, with stopovers at Liverpool and Stockholm. It took just over twenty-three days to make the crossing. Fishermen off the coast of Ireland who saw her first reported that there was a ship on fire because of all the smoke. When rescue vessels came out, however, Captain Rogers demonstrated the Savannah’s versatility by sailing directly into the wind. Altogether, the Savannah’s European visit was something of a triumph for American ingenuity. The fact that she was the first steam vessel to navigate the high seas successfully was a major accomplishment. In Sweden, King Charles XIV offered to purchase her for one hundred thousand dollars worth of hemp and iron. The offer was turned down in hopes of an even more substantial one in Russia. The Savannah’s visit to Russia was another success. The Czar even offered Rogers exclusive steamship rights on the Baltic and

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com Black seas if he would stay. This Rogers was loathe to do, and in December he returned to America, where again there was little interest in the Savannah. Eventually, the Savannah’s engine was removed, and she was sold for use as a packet in Long Island Sound. In 1821 she was wrecked on Fire Island. The problem with the Savannah was that transatlantic steamship travel, like all travel using steamships, was simply too new a venture to be trusted. However, the Fickett & Crockett Shipyard became one of the most successful in New York because one of its vessels had crossed the Atlantic under steam. Francis Fickett, the designer and builder of the Savannah, went on to become one of the most respected businessmen in New York as well as an alderman. Lobster shed at the South Freeport Yacht Basin. Item # LB2010.9.119248 from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org

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Yarmouth’s Drinkwater Home Family legacy lasted almost 200 years

by Brian Swartz

he house that Captain Nicholas and Mary Anne Drinkwater built in future Yarmouth remained in their family for almost 200 years and still attests to the town’s Drinkwater legacy. According to the Yarmouth History Center Executive Director Katherine Worthing, four Drinkwater brothers came to North Yarmouth from Taunton, Massachusetts in 1731 “and settled on Cousins Island and parts of the mainland.” One brother, Joseph, had 11 children, and most Drinkwaters later associated with Yarmouth were his descendants, stated local historian William H. Rowe. The shore directly opposite Cousins Island became Drinkwater Point

Nicholas and Mary Anne Drinkwater constructed their two-story colonial house in 1831 on land that became today’s 420 Prince’s Point Road. The house was solidly built, according to contractor Will Zell, who is remodeling it. The Drinkwaters used handhewn beams, water-powered pit-sawn boards, wooden pegs, and hand-crafted nails to build their home. The two-story house faced the road, and “there were four big windows on the first floor and five up above,” said Dana Drinkwater Thurston, a descendant who grew up in the house with his sisters Gladys Hilton, Jean Slingsby, Ruth Coffey, and Rachel Van Houten. “The front door had window lights on either side and an arch above it.”

Downstairs had a living room, a dining room, and a small kitchen. Stairs accessed the two bedrooms upstairs. The Drinkwaters heated the house with four fireplaces. Nicholas and Mary Anne Drinkwater had four sons: Nicholas Jr., Joshua, John, and Sumner. All but Joshua became sea captains. He stayed in the 1831 house and married Harriet Robie. Their only child, Elizabeth, was born in 1902. A year later Joshua became Yarmouth’s first rural route mail carrier. Joshua and Harriet raised Elizabeth in the 1831 house, connected by an ell to a barn. Dana and Gladys recalled that several enclosed sheds comprised the ell and that the barn extended over a gully where Joshua kept his sleigh and

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com wagon beneath the barn’s wood floor. Elizabeth Drinkwater married Alfred Curtis Drinkwater, her distant cousin, in September 1931. Harriet Alfreda Drinkwater, their only child, went by her middle name, Alfreda. Her father died shortly before she was born, and she was raised by her mother and her grandfather, Joshua Drinkwater. After Joshua’s last horse died, Alfreda and her mother “walked everywhere,” including to Lafayette Street to catch a bus to shop in Portland, Gladys said. When Alfreda graduated from North Yarmouth Academy in 1951, Joshua was too ill to attend the ceremony, so Alfreda wore her cap and gown to the nursing home where he lived and showed him her diploma. Alfreda caught a bus to work at Owen Moore in Portland, as did Yarmouth resident Clifford Leon Thurston Jr. “That’s how they met,” Gladys said. Married on March 1, 1953, they raised their five children in the 1831 house.

Bedroom space was tight. “There were five kids crammed into two big bedrooms,” Dana said. His father, who worked in construction, converted the first shed in the ell into a kitchen and installed an exterior door. Later he converted the attic above the kitchen into a bedroom. Leon also lifted the ell and poured a concrete foundation and floor for a laundry room and a workshop. Dana, Gladys, and Ruth recalled the good times they had growing up in the 1831 house. One enjoyable adventure involved the ell, through which “we could ride our tricycles,” make a righthand turn, and pedal “down the ramp leading to the barn,” Gladys said. Well into the 20th century, Drinkwaters owned much acreage along Prince’s Point Road, but started selling land most distant from their homes to meet financial needs. Leon died in 1998, and Alfreda sold “the last piece of Drinkwater land” across from her house in 1986, Gladys said. “She was

the last Drinkwater to own that house.” Alfreda fell ill in May 2022 and died that July 13 at age 90. Afterwards her children decided to sell the house, and the new owner hired Zell’s Maine Renovation to remodel. While cleaning out the house, the family found many historical documents, such as ship captains’ logs, old tools, and “letters from our grandfathers and grandmothers,” Dana said. Rarest of all were 18th- and 19th-century nautical charts, “some with hand-written notes made by our ancestors” who sailed local and far-away seas. The Yarmouth History Center received from the family “a beautiful 1844 watercolor of the barque Henry Kelsey” that had hung in the 1831 house, Worthing said. The ship’s skipper was “Capt. J. A. Gray, who was related to the Drinkwaters through his mother.”

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North Yarmouth’s Augustus W. Corliss Escape from Harpers Ferry

by James Nalley

n the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865), numerous volunteer cavalry squadrons were formed, which included well-known ones such as the 1st Cavalry Regiment, the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and the Texas Cavalry Brigade. These squadrons were mainly used for reconnaissance and raiding, often serving as the “eyes” of the Union army. In this regard, the 7th Rhode Island Cavalry Squadron was formed in Providence, Rhode Island, and mustered into service in June 1862. It consisted of two companies, under the command of a major from North Yarmouth. This squadron

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would go on to serve at the Defense of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, escape through enemy lines, and participate in the capture of approximately 100 supply wagons of Confederate General James Longstreet (Robert E. Lee’s second-in-command). Augustus Whittemore Corliss was born in North Yarmouth on March 25, 1837. The son of Robert Corliss and Asenath Field, he graduated from North Yarmouth Academy in 1851, at the age of 14. After the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, Corliss volunteered and was appointed as a lieu-

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com tenant in the 1st New England Cavalry. He then served on the North Carolina Expedition (February–June 1862), also known as the Burnside Expedition. This was a key Union operation that focused on capturing coastal North Carolina, for the purpose of controlling the Albermarle and Pamlico Sounds and disrupting Confederate blockade-running. In early 1862, he helped form a new mounted unit, designated as the 7th Rhode Island Cavalry Squadron. This cavalry included two companies, mainly consisting of students from various colleges such as Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Norwich, and Amherst. Since nearly all the members were college students, the squadron was appropriately named the “college cavaliers.” On September 8, 1862, Major General Wool of the Union Army received word that enemy forces, numbering 15,000–20,000, were approaching. On September 11, after some reconnaissance, it became clear that Camp Wool

(the nearest garrison) in Martinsburg, Virginia, with only 2,500 men, would be unable to hold them off. Accordingly, they evacuated Martinsburg and boarded trains, with plans to join the garrison at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, commanded by Colonel Dixon Miles of the 8th U.S. Infantry Regiment. According to Don Caughey in the article, The Cavalry Escape from Harper’s Ferry (2007), “At this point, the cavalry assigned to the garrison included the 8th New York Cavalry under Colonel B. F. Davis, the 1st Maryland Cavalry Squadron under Captain Charles Russell, the 7th Rhode Island Cavalry Squadron under Major Augustus Corliss, and the 1st Maryland Potomac Brigade Cavalry Squadron under Captain H. A. Cole.” Meanwhile, there were three communities surrounding Harpers Ferry: Bolivar Heights (500 feet above), Loudoun Heights (600 feet above), and Maryland Heights (900 feet above). As stated by Caughey, “It became clear

that if the Confederates successfully placed artillery on any of these three heights, they would be able to fire downhill into Harpers Ferry at a range of just under a mile” Over the next two days, the Union cavalry units, including Corliss and his 7th Rhode Island Cavalry Squadron, actively performed reconnaissance. Despite the Union forces’ attempt to hold off these strategic points, they successively fell into Confederate hands. As Caughey wrote, “On the morning of September 14, the Confederates took command of Loudon Heights, and the Union defenders could clearly see them signaling to those on Bolivar Heights during the late morning. Maryland Heights was abandoned to the Confederates before 4 p.m. that day.” Around 2 p.m., the Confederate artillery began to fire down on the cavalry at Harpers Ferry. Around 7 p.m., Lieutenant H.C. Reynolds (the aide to Colonel Miles) (cont. on page 24)

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(cont. from page 23) issued the following order: The cavalry force at this post will make immediate preparations to leave here at 8 o’clock tonight, without baggage wagons, ambulances, or led horses, crossing the Potomac over the pontoon bridge, and taking the Sharpsburg Road. The senior officer, Col. Voss, will assume command of the whole, which will form at the quartermaster’s office, without noise or loud command, in the following order: Cole’s Cavalry, 12th Illinois Cavalry, 8th New York Cavalry, 7th Rhode Island Cavalry, and the 1st Maryland Cavalry. No other instructions can be given to the Commander than to force his way through enemy lines and join our army. This order was extremely risky. In other words, more than 1,000 horsemen had to cross an improvised bridge under the enemy’s artillery in the pitchblack dark. After crossing the bridge, they had to climb a narrow road near

the edge of Maryland Heights. If they were detected, then they would be close enough to the Confederate guns. Located near the rear of the column, Corliss addressed his men stating: “By next morning, you will either be free, prisoners, or dead.” According to the first-hand account by Captain William Luff in “The March of the Cavalry from Harpers Ferry, September 14, 1862” (1894), during the first hour, the escape appeared to be going smoothly. However, well ahead of the column was Captain George Shears and the 12th Illinois Cavalry, who took a wrong turn. Almost immediately, they approached Confederate pickets outside of Sandy Hook, where a hail of gunfire turned them back (fortunately without casualties). After they faced additional pickets, and considering the even larger numbers of Confederate troops behind them, the decision was made to change their route, taking

country lanes (off the main roads) west toward Falling Waters on the Potomac River. After traveling more than 20 miles, the weary soldiers (some asleep on their horses) made it to Hagerstown turnpike in Maryland. At that point, they heard the sounds of approaching wheels, which turned out to be a train of army wagons, each with a small Confederate escort. According to Caughey: Four or five infantrymen walked by each wagon, with a small detachment of cavalry at the rear. Colonel Davis boldly rode in to halt the lead wagon. He warned them of Federal cavalry in the area and told them to turn right at the next fork in the road. Fooled by his deep southern drawl and unable to see the color of his uniform in the darkness, the teamsters complied. As each wagon passed, troopers of the 8th New York Cavalry fell in alongside the wagon, while the 12th Illinois Cavalry whisked

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com the surprised escorts off into the woods to the south. In this manner, the entire train was captured without a halt, and most of the teamsters did not realize until the sun rose that they were being escorted by Union cavalrymen with drawn pistols. As for the 7th Rhode Island Cavalry Squadron, it was only a three-month volunteer regiment. They were mustered out on September 26, 1862, less than two weeks after their exciting escape from Harpers Ferry. Regarding Corliss, he became lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Rhode Island Cavalry Regiment and served the remainder of the war in that position. When the war ended in 1865, Corliss officially joined the U.S. Army and received a commission as a first lieutenant in the 15th Infantry Regiment. In 1872, he was in command of a military escort during the Yellowstone surveys of the Northern Pacific Railway. In

the following year, he was promoted to captain. However, he would remain as a captain for the next 24 years, most likely due to the wait for an open vacancy at the rank of major (which was common at that time). In 1897, Corliss was finally promoted to major, after which he served in Cuba and the Philippines. In 1901, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and then colonel of the 2nd Infantry Regiment. He retired in March of that year. In recognition of his long military service, a special Act of Congress appointed him to the rank of brigadier general in 1904. During his retirement, he was an active member of many national/regional organizations, including: the Sons of the American Revolution; the Society of the War of 1812; the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; the Society of the Army of Santiago de Cuba; and the Society of Foreign Wars.

On September 4, 1908, Corliss died at his home in Denver, Colorado. He was 71 years of age. He was subsequently buried at Fairmont Cemetery in Denver. As for his legacy, the life of Corliss and his family between 1869 and 1898 is documented in the Augustus W. Corliss and Family Papers at the Denver Public Library. Specifically, it contains three handwritten diaries, with 15 additional loose pages, which were kept by Corliss during his military service. Moreover, between 1877 and 1884, Corliss published Old Times in North Yarmouth, Maine, which was a quarterly publication that covered the history and genealogy of the town.

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Chief of Naval Operations

uring the Spanish-American War (April–December 1898), Admiral George Dewey’s Asiatic Squadron patrolled the Philippine Islands, which included the USS Olympia (the flagship), the USS Baltimore, the USS Raleigh, and the USS Boston. In May of that year, the squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Battle of Manila Bay, effectively taking control of the Philippines. The victory was decisive, with eight Spanish ships sunk and more than 150 killed, while the Americans only suffered slight damage. Serving in this squadron was a newly promoted lieutenant (junior grade) from Bath, who not only went on to become an admiral himself, but the fourth person to occupy the office of Chief of Na-

Admiral Hughes (right) with Rear Admiral C.P. Plunkett (left)

val Operations. Charles Frederick Hughes was born in Bath on October 14, 1866. He received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1884 and graduated in June 1888. At the time, the requirement was to serve two years at sea preceding a commission as an ensign. Not only did he serve his two years with distinction and receive his commission in 1890, but he continued to serve more than a decade at sea. According to his biographical article by Naval History and Heritage Command, “In the monitor USS Monterey during the Spanish-American War, he participated in the bombardment of Manila’s defenses, and later, while on board the USS Concord, took part in operations

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com against Philippine insurgents.” Hughes was promoted to lieutenant in March 1899. From there, he performed various duties, including hydrographic work, torpedo instruction, and a two-year tour ashore with the Bureau of Equipment (the branch responsible for equipping ships). Over the next five years, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and commander in 1905 and 1909, respectively. In 1911, Hughes assumed command of the USS Birmingham, which patrolled the troubled waters along the Mexican Gulf Coast. However, after the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912, the Birmingham was assigned to the first ice patrol ever formed by any nation. In July 1914, he was promoted to captain, after which he returned to shore duty to serve with the General Board, an advisory body of the U.S. Navy that consisted of senior officers who could “deliberate selflessly and objectively on matters ranging from

strategies to ship characteristics.” In October 1916, prior to the U.S. involvement in World War I, Hughes was assigned to command the USS New York (Battleship No. 34), which was the lead ship of her class. The battleship was one of the American squadrons that joined Great Britain’s Grand Fleet during the war. It pri-

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— USS Charles Hughes in 1945 — marily patrolled the waters of Scapa Flow, a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Its sheltered waters have played an important role in travel, trade, and numerous conflicts throughout history. During the war, and under the command of Hughes, she was involved in two incidents with German U-boats. Although no single ship is (cont. on page 30)

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(cont. from page 29) universally recognized as the only one to sink a U-boat during World War I, the USS New York had sunk one, due to an accidental collision. Hughes left the New York just before the war ended in November 1918. In the previous month, he was promoted to rear admiral, after which his first assignment was as commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The Philadelphia Navy Yard was the first U.S. Navy shipyard, with a history that dates back more than two centuries. However, as in much of his career, he went from administrative shore duty to being assigned fleet commands of ever-increasing responsibility. For example, in 1920, Hughes became Commander of the 2nd Battleship Squadron, Atlantic Fleet, and by 1921, he was commanding Divisions 7 and 4 of the Battle Fleet. According to the 2nd Fleet, its mission is “to employ forces to support

strategic objectives, empower the fleet as a weapon system, engage with allies and partners to deter adversaries, and execute mission command.” Coming ashore again in 1923, Hughes received the cozy appointment as President of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, complete with the president’s expansive residence. However, by the following year, he was assigned as Director of Fleet Training. Notably, with his fourstar rank, he assumed command of the U.S. Fleet in September 1926 and in the following year, he became the fourth Chief of Naval Operations. He served in this role until September 11, 1930, and retired on November 1 after a 42-year career. On May 28, 1934, Hughes died at his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He was 67 years of age. He was subsequently buried with full military honors at Arlington Na-

tional Cemetery. In honor of his many years of service, including wartime duties in both the Spanish-American War and World War I, two ships were named in his honor. First, there was the USS Charles F. Hughes (DD-428), which was a Benson-class destroyer that served during World War II. This ship, along with other American destroyers, provided convoy escort in the western Atlantic. She was even present at the signing of the Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri. Second, there was the USS Admiral C.F. Hughes (AP124), which was Benson-class transport responsible for transporting numerous troops, officers, and even prisoners of war, not only during World War II, but also during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. With more than two decades of service, with no incidents, perhaps this was a testament to the long career of her namesake.

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Hallowell’s Martha Ballard 18th century midwife

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ne of Maine’s notable women was Martha Ballard, a Hallowell midwife. She traveled the Kennebec River, in sometimes dangerous conditions, delivering more than 800 babies between 1785 and 1812. She also assisted physicians who delivered babies. She provided medical care to many people in Hallowell using homemade remedies. Martha’s now famous online diary, containing about 10,000 entries, describes her home life and work. It provides valuable information about women’s role in society and medical practice during that time. The diary was the source for the award-winning

book A Midwife’s Tale, written by historian Laura Thatcher, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her work. Martha Moore was born in Oxford, Massachusetts on February 9, 1735. Her parents were Elijah and Dorothy Moore. Her uncle Abijah Moore and brother-in-law Stephen Barton were both physicians. Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, was her sister’s granddaughter. Martha’s great-great granddaughter Mary Hobart was an obstetrician. Martha married Ephraim Ballard, a land surveyor, in 1754. They had nine children, three of whom died during the diphtheria epidemic in 1769. Ephraim

moved to the Kennebec Valley for surveying work in 1777. Martha followed him two years later and they eventually settled in Hallowell. Though she never received any formal training, Martha’s diary reveals that she practiced as a midwife and treated people in Hallowell for burns, rashes, sore throats, coughs, and colic for at least 27 years. She used homegrown herbs, salves, and other homemade remedies to bring healing to the rural community. According to Martha Ballard, Midwife, As Good As, In Some Ways Better Than, The Best Doctors, Martha traveled by canoe and horse (which

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com she sometimes fell off) to visit her ailing patients along the Kennebec River. Martha traveled in very bad weather and dangerous conditions to visit her patients, sometimes risking her own life to help bring a new life into the world or rescue another life. The author of Martha Ballard, Midwife, As Good As, In Some Ways Better Than, The Best Doctors reported that, in addition to her midwifery and medical work, Martha stayed busy picking, spinning, combing, dyeing, and carding wool, flax, and some cotton to help clothe her family. She also kept busy with other household activities such as cooking, gardening, and raising six children. Martha began keeping her diary at the age of 50. She recorded events with home-made ink and a quill pen. She shared details about her experiences as a midwife, her family life, and the so-

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ciety in which she lived. She recorded medical information about her patients that was not available anywhere else. PBS adapted A Midwife’s Tale into a documentary. They reported that Martha recorded details regarding her own personal experience and the society around her during a time when less than half the women in America were literate. They said that she recorded “incidents that reveal the turmoil of a new nation — dizzying social change, intense religious conflict, economic boom and bust — as well as the grim realities of disease, domestic violence, and debtor’s prison.” Unfortunately, Martha’s husband was one of those thrown into debtor’s prison. That created great hardship for Martha as she had to manage the household alone and carry out her midwifery responsibilities at the same time. Her son moved into the home with his fam-

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ily and took control of Martha’s home, which was difficult for her. It was very noisy with many people living in the house. After Martha’s death, her diary came into the hands of her daughter Dolly Lambard. It was then passed on to Lambard’s daughters when she died. They gifted it to Martha’s great-great-granddaughter, Mary Hobart, who had a medical background. She later donated it to the Maine State Library where it was discovered by historian Laura Thatcher. She recognized its value and gleaned information, contained inside the diary, to compose the award-winning book A Midwife’s Tale.

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Hollywood On The Kennebec Stars of the silent film era

by Charles Francis

magine the Governor of Maine appearing in a movie with a Hollywood ingenue of stunning good looks. Imagine the movie is set not far from the state’s capitol in Augusta. The movie has some showings and then fades into obscurity. Then imagine that within a few short months the unknown ingenue appears opposite a giant of the silver screen in one of the biggest movies of the decade. She rockets to the stardom and notoriety that only the Hollywood press can generate. Well, what about that movie she made in Maine? Is it resurrected to become a staple of the new Hollywood star’s loyal fans? Well, no it isn’t. The above scenario did take place

— Mary Astor in 1933 —

— long ago in the silent movie era. And even though it took place so long ago, the names of the Hollywood ingenue and the Maine governor are still wellknown. The name of this long-gone governor is as well-known as any of the recent past, even the past twenty years. It was Percival Baxter, the man who gifted the State of Maine with the beginnings of Baxter State Park. As for the ingenue, she was a teenager named Mary Astor. If you look at a standard biography of Mary Astor, you will find her first movie, the one that is identified as her debut movie, listed as The Beggar Maid. The year is given as 1921. She had a bit part in the film. Shortly after that, Astor

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com appeared opposite the legendary John Barrymore in Beau Brummell. It was released in 1923, and it was the movie that introduced the star quality that was to become Astor’s trademark. Mary Astor was a big-time star and left an enduring film legacy. Anyone who knows The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre, knows Astor. She also won an Academy Award for The Great Lie. Even today, teenagers are still mesmerized by her performance in the terror classic Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. These films and a good many more are all a part of Astor’s listed standard filmography. But what about the films she made on the banks of the Kennebec? Just before Mary Astor appeared in her bit part in The Beggar Maid, she was in two one-reelers that were filmed in the Augusta area. She had a bit part in My Lady of the Pines, and she was the female lead in Wings of the Border. The other listed actors for Wings of the

Border are Holman Day, Bradley Barker, and Percival Baxter. Baxter is identified as playing himself. The director was Philip Cane. As for the others besides Astor, Bradley Barker was an established Hollywood actor. In total, he has some sixty movies to his credit. Although seldom a leading man, he had important supporting roles in major productions like Silas Marner and Alexander Hamilton. He was also the first voice for Leo, the MGM lion. Philip Cane was a legitimate Hollywood director, usually working as an assistant in charge of action shots. Holman Day, however, wasn’t much of an actor. In fact, he once admitted it. Day was important for other reasons, though. Today, Holman Day is known as one of Maine’s first great journalists and as an author. He was managing editor of the Lewiston Sun. Columns he wrote for the paper are still printed in collections today. Many of his novels, including his best known, King Spruce, (cont. on page 38)

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(cont. from page 37) are still in print. A lesser-known fact about Day is that he had his own movie production company, Holman Day Productions. It was this company that produced the two films with Mary Astor. Day even spent time in Hollywood as a scriptwriter and his book King Spruce was made into a movie there. Holman Day wasn’t the only movie producer in the Kennebec Valley. He probably worked with most of the others, though. These included Edgar Jones of Edgar Jones Productions and William Williamson. Nor was Mary Astor the only early Hollywood star to appear in the Kennebec Valley. Although less well-remembered than Mary Astor, Evelyn Brent also appeared in at least one silent film made in the Augusta area. She also appeared in the Bangor-linked Love’s Greatest Mistake. Brent appeared opposite such established stars as William Powell. Her career lasted until the late 1940s. There is no doubt that Holman Day

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was the first “big time” movie producer in Maine with Hollywood connections. Bearing this out is the documentary, All But Forgotten: Holman Francis Day, Filmmaker. The documentary was put together by Everett Foster, an aficionado of early Maine films. Foster makes much of the fact that Day worked with Mary Astor, who was just sixteen at the time. Foster also has clips of films Day made with Edgar Jones. The latter have the wonderfully appropriate Maine titles of Knight of the Pines and Cupid, Registered Guide. The early history of film making in the Kennebec Valley using Hollywood actors and actresses probably rates the smallest of footnotes in the long history of the silver screen. Nevertheless, it is possible to trace one small root of the giant tree that is Hollywood to the river that flows from Moosehead Lake to the Atlantic.

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The Incredible Ordeal Of John Gyles by Charles Francis

Abducted by Indians in 1689

he early history of Maine is filled with stories of white children raised by Indians. Some of these children were brought up through Indian kindness because their parents died. Others, however, were ripped from the bosom of their family by Indians less than friendly to white settlers. One of those was a nine-year-old boy by the name of John Gyles. John Gyles was abducted from his home in what is now Bristol in 1689 by Malecite Indians from present-day New Brunswick. He then spent almost nine years on the St. John River. Six of

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them were as a Malecite slave enduring torture, severe frostbite due to inadequate clothing, threat of losing his life at almost any moment, and three of them as a slave of a kindly French family. While he was a captive, Gyles learned a variety of Indian dialects as well as French. In later years Gyles used this acquired language skill to become an important leader in Maine as well as commander of the garrison at St. George. In 1736 Gyles wrote an account of his ordeal as an adolescent. It was published as Memoirs of Odd Adventures, Strange Deliverances, &c. In

the Captivity of John Gyles, Efq., Commander of the Garrifon on St. George’s River. Here is his story. John Gyles was working in a field with his brother James, other family members including his father, Thomas Gyles, and some area farmers on a hot July day when a group of some forty Malecite, Micmac, Penobscot and Passmaquoddy Indians attacked. The attack came as a surprise and a complete victory for the Indians. Settlers were killed or taken prisoner. Young John heard the cries of his father as he was dispatched by hatchets. John, his (cont. on page 42)

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(cont. from page 41) brother James, and his mother were among those marched to the Penobscot summer encampment in present-day Castine. Along the way they were separated, with John becoming the property of a Malecite named O-ski-tchin. In Castine a French Jesuit priest tried to buy John. The possibility that a priest might buy him was an even greater fear for John than being held captive by the Indians. At their parting, his mother had said “I had rather follow you to your grave or never see you more in this world, than see you sold to a Jesuit; for a Jesuit will ruin you, body and soul.” O-ski-tchin refused to part with his property, however. Ironically, as the years passed John and O-skitchin would develop a sort of friendship and much later, when John Gyles was a soldier, the two would have a reunion. At that time O-ski-tchin would say “I always wanted to bring up a warrior.” John would experience much and suffer

much before then, however. Young John was taken to the Malecite village of Meductic on the St. John River. Here he immediately joined six other prisoners for execution. The prisoners were taken, one by one, and held by hands and feet. They were then flung into the air and slammed onto the ground so their backs broke. As John’s turn came, he managed to muster a smile for his captors. Something in his demeanor must have impressed the Malecite, for instead of killing him they gave him a pipe to smoke. At this point he became a slave. At Meductic John became friends with another slave his own age. This slave was a boy named Jack Evans. Jack had a small dog which followed him everywhere. Before John arrived at the Malecite village, the dog had been Jack’s only friend. The two, however, would die tragically and in a manner which would seem typical for adoles-

cent slaves of the Indians of the period. Jack was part of a hunting party one winter. A storm came up when the hunting party was returning to its camp. Jack couldn’t keep up and was left behind. Later he was found frozen solid sitting with his dog, that was also frozen, in his arms. John Gyles almost suffered the same fate as his friend one winter. On one occasion, he and an Indian boy about his age were sent to collect part of a moose which had just been killed. John — unlike Indian youngsters — was never given proper winter clothing. On the trip to get the moose meat, the temperature took a major drop and John got wet. His poor clothing froze to his body, especially to his feet. When he finally made it back to Meductic he was severely frostbitten. Later Gyles said “the skin came off my ankles whole, like a shoe, leaving ... the ends of my great toe bones bare ... so that I was

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com obliged to cut the first joint off with my knife.” When John had been a captive for almost six years, he learned that his brother James had been killed by Penobscots some three years after he was captured. James and another captive had escaped only to be captured again almost within sight of the Gyles home. Since they had tried to escape, they had been tortured to death. Their noses and ears were cut off and they had been forced to eat them. Then they were burned at the stake. John Gyles almost came to a similar end. About the same time John had learned the fate of his brother, he was the property of an old women. O-skitchin had given John to the old women’s husband who had been unable to provide for himself. When the man died, O-ski-tchin wanted John back. The old woman refused, demanding the solution to the argument was to kill

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John. Another solution was found, however. John was sold to a French family named Damours, who lived on the St. John and the money was split between O-ski-tchin and the old women. For the next three years John lived with the Damours. They taught him French. Because he was a good and loyal servant, the Damours let John free. He then traveled to Boston and eventually back to Maine, where he was reunited with those of his family who had survived the attack of some nine years before. John Gyles, his great ordeal over, went on to become a successful interpreter, merchant, and soldier. According to his memoirs he never harbored any ill-will for his captors.

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Midcoast & Casco Bay

The Rockland Breakwater Feds built it after storms tore up the harbor by Brian Swartz

late-winter nor’easter that roiled Rockland Harbor in 1864 typified the nasty storms that led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the Rockland Breakwater. A large harbor into which ships could scurry to safety as storms plied against the Maine coast, Rockland faced east. Any wind from that direction could push the sea into the harbor and endanger ships moored there. The breakwater could have come in handy in early March 1864 when “the most severe storm of the season, a violent north-easter of wind and rain,” swept the Midcoast, noted the Rockland Gazette. Mainers know that late winter and

even early spring can bring nor’easters more damaging than early winter storms. Arriving after dark on Saturday, March 5, this storm edged father inland that most nor’easters do. The temperatures remained above freezing along the coast, but gradually dropped northward, and interior Maine primarily received heavy, blowing snow. The spring equinox was March 20 that year, but Mainers faced a long climb up March hill. The storm howled and blew through Sunday and overnight into Monday, March 7. Fortunately, “both wind and rain sensibly diminished through Monday afternoon,” the Gazette reported. Gathering along the shore, brave

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Rockland residents watched on Sunday as “a heavy sea was driven into the harbor by the violent and long-continued gale, and the tide rose so high as to submerge many of the wharves and set considerable quantities of wood and lumber afloat. “Some of the wharves suffered somewhat from the heavy wash of the sea, but the damage has not been great,” the Gazette reported. Nicknamed the Lime City, Rockland was home to many lime kilns. Lime and salt water do not mix well, and people worried about shed-stored lime being soaked by the sea. Fortunately, “most … lime-manufacturers had raised the lime in their sheds above the reach of

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(cont. on page 46)

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but “the vessel was uninsured” and for 1864 at least, was of no use to her owners. “As early as 1832 a small sea wall was built to protect the wharves and vessels during storms,” reports the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form filed by the National Park Service prior to the breakwater being named to the National Register of Historic Places. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers surveyed Rockland Harbor in 1834 and recommended constructing a larger breakwater. “Two storms battered the extensively developed shoreline and destroyed several vessels” in the 1850s, the NPS noted, and the March 1864 storm only added impetus for a new breakwater. The 46th Congress appropriated $20,000 in 1880, and the Corps of Engineers started building the breakwater in 1881. Plans called for placing the breakwater “at the eastern edge of a small cove on the southernmost tip of Jameson Point,” according to the

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the tide,” the paper observed. The ocean “reached and set on fire” much lime stored “in the shed of Mr. Jonathan White, but the fire was arrested [by Rockland firefighters] before serious damage had been done,” according to the Gazette. Out in Rockland Harbor, “on the schooner Leach, Capt. Sherman had anchored near and to the southward” of “the schooner R. B. Pitts, Capt. Paul, loaded with a cargo of lime.” The shifting wind swung the Leach; its bow struck “the quarter of the R. B. Pitts, staving her and causing her to fill and sink in a few minutes.” Aboard the R. B. Pitts were “two boys,” who “made their escape at the last moment in her [ship’s] boat,” the newspaper reported. Nobody was aboard the Leach, which “had just been purchased by Capt. Sherman, upriver, and brought down light” to Rockland. An R. B. Pitts co-owner, John Wheeler wholly owned the lime aboard her. He had partially insured the cargo,

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Midcoast & Casco Bay

(cont. from page 45) NRHP registration form. Jameson Point is on Rockland Harbor’s north shore. About a mile of open water lies between the breakwater’s end and the harbor’s south shore. A second breakwater intended to extend 2,640 feet from South Ledge north toward Jameson Point was not funded. When completed in 1900, the Rockland Breakwater extended 4,346 feet southeast into the harbor. Workers constructed a rubble base, measuring 175 feet in width, that rose “at a 45-degree angle from the base of the structure to a point 14 feet above mean high water on the west [harbor] side. “The 30-degree slope on the eastern [ocean] side was more gradual, but larger in mass and [was] designed to withstand constant battering from the waves,” the NPS indicated. Visitors like to walk along the 43-foot-wide breakwater to check out the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse, a separate project and on the National Register of Historic Places. Work-

ers capped the breakwater’s top with “a course of flat, rectangular granite blocks, laid three across.” Surprisingly, the disjointed top originally was so smooth that “automobiles … [could] travel to the lighthouse,” according to the National Park Service. Because many blocks have slightly shifted, modern visitors must walk carefully to avoid tripping. The seaside of the breakwater “consists of less carefully laid, irregular granite blocks that taper from the flat cap to the submerged base,” the NPS indicates. Some “697,627 tons of granite” went into the breakwater, making it among the larger granite-using projects in Maine. The National Park Service reports that “the exposed stones show evidence of three splitting technologies: pin and feather, steam-powered rock hammer [,] and pneumatic drill.”

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Midcoast & Casco Bay

From Hollywood To Coastal Maine Kay Aldridge’s quiet place in Maine history

by James Nalley

or many visitors to Camden and Rockport, local history is told through shipyards, painters’ studios, and the legacies of sea captains. Yet tucked quietly into this coastal landscape is the final chapter of a woman once seen by millions on movie screens around the world. Katherine “Kay” Aldridge, a Hollywood actress of the 1930s and 1940s, spent her later years in Camden and was ultimately laid to rest in Rockport — a reminder that Maine has long drawn those seeking refuge from public life and its demands. Aldridge was born on July 9, 1917, in Tallahassee, Florida, into a household shaped by both precision and creativity, with her father a surveyor and her

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mother an artist and writer. That balance tilted early. When her father died while she was still a toddler, Aldridge’s mother moved the family north to Lyells, Virginia, where Kay and her four siblings were raised with the steady guidance of formidable great-aunts who worked as schoolteachers. It was a home where discipline mattered, but so did imagination. Aldridge would later recall an upbringing in which “books, lessons, and expectations mattered as much as talent,” a philosophy that quietly prepared her for the scrutiny of public life. She attended high school in Westminster, Maryland, before enrolling at St. Mary’s Female Seminary. There, Aldridge proved

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com herself versatile, appearing in stage productions, playing basketball, and joining the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority. Even then, she displayed the poise and adaptability that would soon carry her far beyond the classroom. After graduating in 1934, Aldridge headed to New York, where she signed with the prestigious John Powers modeling agency and quickly became a fixture of American visual culture. Her face appeared on the covers of Life, Ladies’ Home Journal, Redbook, and Look, magazines that defined middlebrow glamour in the 1930s. In 1937, she was named one of the ten most photographed girls in the world, a distinction that all but guaranteed her passage west. Hollywood swiftly followed, along with a screen debut in Vogues of 1938, a glossy musical comedy designed to showcase style as much as story. Yet from the outset, her fame extended well beyond the films themselves. Fan

Kay Aldridge in Daredevils of the West (Courtesy of Carey Cameron Ferrero)

magazines and studio publicity departments regularly featured her in lavish photographic spreads, reflecting her central role in the era’s image-driven star system. As one contemporary pub-

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licity profile observed, “Aldridge’s face was instantly recognizable — even to audiences who might not recall a single title.” In an industry that heavily relied on glamour photography to shape pub(cont. on page 50)

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(cont. from page 49) lic perception, various publications, such as Photoplay and Motion Picture Magazine, helped cement her presence. This intensity of exposure makes her later retreat from public life all the more striking. Her most historically significant screen appearance came in Citizen Kane (1941), now widely regarded as one of the most influential films in American cinema. In this case, Aldridge played the young wife of financier Walter Parks Thatcher in a brief but memorable scene. While her role was minor, film historians, such as Robert Carringer, have noted that “even small performances in Citizen Kane are preserved through the film’s lasting cultural impact.” For Aldridge, it secured a subtle yet enduring foothold in cinematic history. Throughout the 1940s, she maintained a steady film presence, appearing in titles such as The Falcon’s Brother (1942) and China Sky (1945). Reviewers consistently praised her as “poised and polished,” although she rarely escaped the confines of conventional romantic roles. As film scholar Jeanine Basinger observed, “actresses of this period were frequently limited by rigid studio expectations, particularly if they did not fit dominant star archetypes.” By the end of the decade, Aldridge quietly stepped away from acting. Unlike some of her contemporaries, she

neither pursued television roles nor attempted public reinvention. Instead, she left the industry entirely. According to Turner Classic Movies, “she had little desire to relive her Hollywood years, viewing them as a closed chapter rather than a defining identity.” It was in Maine that Aldridge found the anonymity she had long sought. She settled in Camden, a town whose quiet rhythms, bustling harbors, and seasonal cycles stood in sharp contrast to the carefully orchestrated, image-driven world of Hollywood. Long a haven for artists, writers, and retirees seeking solitude amidst natural beauty, Camden offered the perfect refuge for a woman determined to live beyond the glare of public attention. Local memory of Aldridge is quiet but respectful. She rarely spoke of Hollywood glamour, and many neighbors had only a vague sense of her past career. According to recollections preserved by the Camden Historical Society, Aldridge lived modestly, avoided attention, and participated in community life without ever drawing focus to herself. One resident later remembered, “She was kind and reserved. You would have never known she’d been in movies unless someone told you.” Her death on January 12, 1995, marked the quiet conclusion of a life that had long turned away from fame. Aldridge was buried in Rockport, a

neighboring town whose cemeteries honor generations of locals and newcomers alike. Her grave, like many others there, offers no hint of celebrity. Instead, it places her firmly within the regional landscape that she had chosen as home. From a regional history perspective, Aldridge’s life exemplifies a broader pattern: Maine as a sanctuary for retreat and reinvention. Throughout the 20th century, the state attracted individuals from public-facing professions, including entertainers, artists, and intellectuals, seeking respite from the pressures of national scrutiny. As cultural historian Thomas Schatz notes, such withdrawals often signal “a deliberate redefinition of success away from visibility and toward personal autonomy.” Today, Aldridge’s Hollywood films remain available through various archives and classic movie channels, yet her later years belong more to Maine’s local history than to cinema lore. She stands as an example of how nationally recognized cultural figures can quietly weave themselves into regional narratives, leaving traces that are subtle, understated, and deeply rooted in place.

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Midcoast & Casco Bay

Belfast’s Amy Fradel Author shares her family’s migration story by Johanna S. Billings

n 2011, after her mother died, Amy Fradel found the motherlode of research material. While cleaning out her mother’s house, the Belfast resident found a box containing 70 letters, dozens of photos, citizenship papers, magazines and memorabilia that her dad had stashed before he died. The documents told an important part of a fascinating family story that began in a small village in Slovenia, from where her paternal grandparents had come. “I thought it would be a short project,” said Fradel. However, it took 12 years and 18 rewrites for the research to evolve into her book, Four

Acres Under Slavnik: A Slovenian Migration Story, published in 2023. Four Acres refers to the farm that her grandfather had inherited in 1919 when his father died from the Spanish flu. The phrase “under Slavnik” refers to a valley situated below a small mountain known as Slavnik, located in western Slovenia. The book tells the story of both family members who migrated and those who stayed behind. Fradel is no stranger to international travel, having visited countries all over the world after graduating high school in Aberdeen, Maryland. While visiting Europe, she met her husband, Archie, who she described as a “good Kiwi

bloke,” in a youth hostel. “He came home with me and, many letters and a few airplane rides back and forth, we got married,” she said. By the time she began her book, she had already researched Archie’s family roots in New Zealand and, at his suggestion, started researching her own family. The new material she found in her mother’s attic provided inspiration and motivation. “I said to my husband, ‘I do not care if anyone else ever reads this book, I am going to write it,’” she said. After discovering remnants of her father’s story, she reached out to other family members, asking for more infor-

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com mation. Her relatives obliged, sending letters her grandmother had written to them as well as letters written by an aunt about time spent in Europe during war time. One large box she received contained 270 letters written by her grandparents between 1913 and the 1970s. “I had to know what those letters said,” she recalled. “They were written in an archaic dialect, without punctuation, with words no longer in use, misspellings and words running together.” Fradel had visited Slovenia in 1977, honoring a promise she made to her grandmother to visit the home she left in 1913. She found the descendants of her uncle living in the same house. They welcomed her and introduced her to all her living cousins and took her to visit the graves of those who had passed. With her research underway decades later, she contacted her cousins to (cont. on page 54)

Fradel and Archie (Courtesy of Johanna S. Billings)

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(cont. from page 53) see what else she could find out. They had been unable to help her with translation, saying, “No one talks that way anymore.” In addition, most of them knew little about the lives of their ancestors because, they said, people did not talk about the past. Fradel was fortunate to find a Slovenian translator of scientific manuscripts who translated the letters into what she described as “an awkward English.” The process itself took two years. Halfway through, she said, she realized the letters “told a powerful story of ordinary farmers living through cataclysmic events.” These historic events included not only World War II but also the postwar rise of communism. The Austro-Hungarian Empire ended and the new communist state of Yugoslavia swallowed up coastal Slovenia. Lesser known but also significant was the occupation of coastal Slovenia and Croatia by the Italians, who had intended to cleanse it of Slavic language and culture. Her relatives encouraged Fradel, inviting her and her husband to visit. The couple made the first of many trips in 2014. “My younger cousins all spoke excellent English and the older ones knew how to find people and connections,” she said. “They became my enthusiastic research team.” Fradel said that, by this time, she realized this project was not just about translation. “I felt that I had been ap-

Fradel’s cousin (Courtesy of Johanna S. Billings) pointed by my ancestors to tell their story and I had an obligation to do so,” she said. She feared all the bits of information she had gathered would eventually be lost if she wasn’t able to publish the story. Even before she completed the book, her work was recognized beyond family lines. After learning that the Slovenian Union of America has an annual literary competition, Fradel polished the first chapter of the book and entered it. “I was surprised to learn that I won,” she said, adding, “This little boost gave me the confidence to contact the history department at the University of Primorska.” This resulted in her being connected with two universi-

ty professors who were interested in the project. One even fact checked the first six chapters. Later, a Slovenian American editor helped her organize the story and trim excess. “The letters are the guts of the story, and I had to edit, condense them, and put them into modern English,” she said. The voices of those who wrote the letters “bring the characters to life and the story flows like a novel although everything is factual.” The paperback version of the book is available for $18 at the Left Bank Book Store in Belfast. The e-book version is $8.99 and available on Amazon.

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Hallowell Publisher Speaks Out Protesting frivolous behavior on Memorial Day by Brian Swartz

s Memorial Day 1898 passed into history, a Hallowell newspaper publisher noted the changing generational attitudes toward the holiday’s meaning. That particular Memorial Day fell on a Monday, typically a day of commerce and entertainment. The G.A.R.’s national headquarters urged veterans, “If need be, in order to prevent … desecrations of this day, petition city government or town officials, for its protection.” On the local level, “as members of the G. A. R. of the State of Maine, we protest against races or games of any kind which interfere or interrupt or detract from, our solemn services” on May 30, stated the G.A.R.’s Department of Maine.

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A full generation past 1865, fewer people valued both Memorial Day and the veterans’ sacrifices. “By holding [Memorial Day services] upon a weekday their solemnity is marred by many things,” commented Hallowell Weekly Register publisher Walter F. Marston. “There are many thoughtless persons, most of whom are too young to appreciate the significance of the day,

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to whom a holiday is one for pleasure rather than sadness, and they are more given to pleasures and sports ...” On Memorial Day 1898, morning rain muddied the local streets, forcing parade organizers to shorten the planned route and to delay the parade’s start until 10:30 a.m. Forming in downtown Hallowell, the parade moved south to the Hallowell Village Cemetery, where residents had dedicated a Civil War monument on July 27, 1869. Designed by Alexander Currier of Hallowell and William Hogan of Bath and sculpted from Hallowell granite by W.G. Cunningham, the monument had cost $3,000, with the city kicking in $2,500. (cont. on page 58)

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(cont. from page 57) Hallowell police led the procession, and the Augusta Cadet Band provided music. Marston said the Hallowell Uniform Rank from the Knights of Pythias “gave excellent escort service, making a fine appearance.” The local veterans from John B. Hubbard Post No. 20, GAR followed the K of P contingent, and behind the “Ex-Soldiers and Sailors” came “a liberal number of school-children” supervised by Capt. H.R. Gatchell. The youngsters walked; not so their elders (“members of city government” and “clergy” and “citizens”) riding in carriages bringing up the rear of the parade. Gathering around “the beautiful soldiers’ monument,” parade participants and onlookers listened to a prayer and a G.A.R. officer “reading general orders” issued by the state and national headquarters. Veterans then fanned out across the Village Cemetery “and other cemeteries near” to decorate comrades’

graves. More formal observances took place that evening in the third-floor theater at Wilson Hall, which Hallowell resident Charles Wilson had spent $10,000 to construct in 1872 as “a place of public entertainment.” Marston attended the event and noticed the “unusually large gathering.” The solemn program featured music, with Dennis’ Orchestra performing “The Stars and Stripes” and some 20 schoolchildren singing the then popular “National Memorial Hymn,” its opening lines urging that “God bless our soldiers, who did the Union save from thraldom’s wrongs!” Nine young women read Hallowell’s Roll of Honor, local ministers provided the opening and closing prayers, Reverend C. Everett Bean delivered the oration, and the audience sang “America.” Marston acknowledged that “the program was of unusual length.”

Bean’s “oration “was greatly enjoyed by those fortunate enough to hear all that was said,” and people often applauded the minister’s message, much of it printed in the Weekly Register’s next issue. Connecting the Civil War’s dead with the current Spanish-American War, Bean described “Remember the Maine” as a valid reason to free enslaved Cubans — “a persecuted people” — just as Union soldiers had freed “the black man.” Despite the evening’s gravity, a low buzz (perhaps a loud buzz) erupted inside the theater. Marston inferred that some people could not “hear all that was said,” and he separately reported that “the thoughtless conduct of young people and others at Wilson Hall” that evening had “robbed the ceremony largely of its sacred dignity. The same has been the case for the past few years — showing the indifference of those attending.”

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com He believed “that the public hall is not the place for memorial services.” A church was a better location. Citing the past national “movement … to change Memorial [Day] services to Sunday,” he believed that people entering a church “generally respect it or are told to do so.” No matter what May date the Hubbard Post officers scheduled for their Memorial Day services, the aging veterans “should insist that their exercises be accorded the same respect tendered the ordinary gathering of law-abiding people,” Marston stated.

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Unity’s Phineas Banning Blanchard One of the last American tall ship captains by James Nalley

n maritime history, the “Golden Age of Sail” refers to a period that lasted from the mid-19th century to (arguably) the early 20th century, during which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare peaked, due to their size and complexity (e.g., Clippers and Windjammers). Although sailing ships continued to be an economical way to transport bulk cargo into the 1920s and 1930s, steamships soon pushed them out. It was during that time when a Searsport-based captain became one of the last tall ship captains of the American merchant trade. Phineas Banning Blanchard was born at sea off the coast of California on February 20, 1879. At the time of

— Phineas B. Blanchard, ca. 1930 —

his birth, his father, Captain William Blanchard, and his mother, Clara Pendleton, were on the bark Wealthy Pendleton, which had been grounded on a mud flat near Santa Catalina Island. The Blanchard family was among the oldest in Searsport, which included several generations of sea captains. According to the article Searsport Sea Captains: A Collection of Photographs (1989) by Frederick Black, “Phineas Banning Blanchard and his five siblings, including three brothers, spent the majority of their childhood in Searsport and would all become future sea captains.” As for his name, his father chose the name Phineas Banning to honor his friend of the same name, whose drive

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DiscoverMaineMagazine.com and ambition laid the foundation for what would become one of the busiest ports in the world: the Port of Los Angeles. Meanwhile, as a young man, Blanchard returned several times to San Pedro, California, to work for the Wilmington Transportation Company, which his namesake (Banning) founded in 1884. Blanchard went on to serve eight months in the U.S. Navy, during which he participated in the Spanish-American War (1898). Specifically, he served as a Boatswain’s mate first class (BM1) on the auxiliary cruiser Prairie. In the following year (at the age of 19), Blanchard received his first command, as captain of the American bark Herbert Black. He had relieved his father, who served as captain of the same ship in 1890–1891, 1896, and 1900–1901. Blanchard’s second command (1902–1904) was on the bark Willard Mudgett. Tragically, the ship was lost at sea on September 14, 1904, after be-

ing caught in a storm between Newport News, Virginia, and Bangor. According to the article “Along the Waterfront” (1902) in The Boston Post, “At the time of her disappearance, Blanchard’s older brother, Frederick, was in command, with their father, William, as a passenger.” Blanchard’s final command of a sailing vessel (and as one of the last American tall ship captains) was the ship Bangalore. His first voyage was in 1906, from Philadelphia to San Francisco, which he made as a newlywed with his wife Georgia Maria Gilkey. From 1907 to 1913, Blanchard piloted steamships in the Pacific Coast Service, including almost every boat in the Wilmington Transportation Company’s fleet. As a fitting end to his maritime career, he commanded the steamship Cabrillo, which made daily recreational excursions from San Pedro to Santa Catalina Island, where he was born. After retiring from the sea, Blanchard

moved to New York City. For the next 40 years, he was instrumental in the development of maritime activities in the Port of New York, especially regarding freight handling. In fact, he started as a manual laborer on the docks and rose the ranks to become the president of Turner & Blanchard, Inc., a company that contracted stevedores (dock workers who unload cargo). The company was originally formed by Salon Turner and Blanchard’s brothers, Albert and Scott. Turner & Blanchard Inc. continued operations at the Port of New York until 1964. For the rest of his life, Blanchard remained incredibly active in the field. First, he was Chairman of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York’s Committee that compiled the Maritime Safety Code for Stevedoring and Freight Handling Operations. This particular manual for the safe handling of cargo to prevent personal injuries was distributed by the U.S. Department (cont. on page 62)

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(cont. from page 61) of Labor and used by the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. Approximately 30,000 copies were distributed. Second, Blanchard served as 34th President of the Marine Society of the City of New York (1933–1934) and as President of the Maritime Association of the Port of New York (1939–1941). As stated in the New York Daily News (March 1948), Blanchard was recognized by the Association for “His distinguished contribution to the development of maritime activities in the Port of New York.” Third, in March 1949, as President of Turner & Blanchard, he testified before the U.S. Senate Committee of Labor and Public Welfare in hearings regarding overtime compensation in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Specifically, he strongly supported the International Longshoreman’s Association, while opposing adjustments in overtime pay.

Finally, in an interesting turn of events, Blanchard (again as President of Turner & Blanchard) testified in a racketeering trial for Gerardo “Jerry” Anastasia, brother of Albert, the onetime head of Murder, Inc. (an organized crime group active from 1929–1941). This particular group was the “enforcement arm” of the National Crime Syndicate, a closely connected criminal organization that included the Italian-American Mafia, the Jewish Mob, and other criminal organizations in New York. At the time, Anastasia was one of the waterfront’s most feared individuals. As stated in the article, “Killer Anastasia Hides in Bed from Crime Probe” (December 1952) in the New York Daily News, “Taking the stand, Captain Blanchard told how Anastasia and Frank Russo attempted, through extortion, to be put on the payroll for $200 per week. Blanchard stated, ‘I was so

enraged. I wanted to throw them out. I told Jerry Anastasia to go and see his brother and ask him how much chance he had of getting any money out of me.’” Anastasia’s sentencing was postponed for several years due to his ill health. In January 1957, he was finally sentenced to one year and a day in federal prison for perjury. On April 23, 1962, Blanchard died at his home in Brooklyn, New York. He was 83 years of age. His body was returned to Maine, where he was buried at Gordon Cemetery in Searsport. In addition to his importance in the maritime industry, especially at the Port of New York, Blanchard was a master woodworker who created dozens of fine ship models. Today, some of his models are in museum collections, including the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News and fittingly, the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport.

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201 Tire, Battery & Service................................................................34 Affordable Well Drilling Excavation & Forestry................................13 American Awards, Inc. ....................................................................33 Artsake Custom Framing...................................................................37 Asian Café.........................................................................................34 Asian Noodle Bowl............................................................................34 Azul Tequila Mexican Restaurant & Bar...........................................14 A Twist of Moody’s............................................................................43 Bailey Island General Store...............................................................28 Balmy Day Cruises.............................................................................40 Bart Flanagan Tree Service, LLC......................................................24 Bath Antique Sale - Gurley Antiques...............................................28 Bath - Brunwick Chamber of Commerce...........................................29 Beaulieu Garage Doors.......................................................................3 Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce..................................................53 Bell The Cat.......................................................................................52 Bessey's Positive Paws......................................................................57 Best Western Plus Augusta Civic Center Inn....................................35 Bin There Dump That........................................................................12 Bonnie's Place...................................................................................49 Boothbay Harbor Chamber of Commerce.........................................38 Boothbay Railway Village Museum..................................................39 Brillant & Son's Inc. ...........................................................................6 C&J Chimney & Stove Service, LLC......................................................3 Camden Harbor Cruises.....................................................................51 Cameron's Lobster House..................................................................24 Capital Area Tree Service...................................................................32 Caron & Son Screening Company........................................................5 Cates Real Estate...............................................................................48 Cayouette Flooring, Inc. ...................................................................59 Cedar Haven Family Campground.........................................back cover Central Exterminating Services.........................................................50 Chase Farm Bakery............................................................................33 China By The Sea...............................................................................58 Coastal Car Wash & Detail Center......................................................39 Coastal Maintenance Painting..........................................................41 Colburn Shoe Store............................................................................53 Colby & Gale......................................................................................59 Colonial Theatre................................................................................52 Comfort Inn Civic Center...................................................................35 Copeland's Garage............................................................................44 Cornelia C. Viek, CPA...........................................................................7 Country View Golf Club.....................................................................53 Creamer & Sons Landwork, Inc. .......................................................28 Daffy Taffy Factory & Fudge Factory.................................................38 Dale Rand Printing............................................................................15 Damariscotta NAPA...........................................................................37 Dark Harbor Boat Yard......................................................................60 Dave Blackwell Plumbing & Heating...............................................23 Design Architectural Heating...........................................................12 Dirigo Waste Oil.................................................................................13 El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant............................................................20 Elmer's Barn & Antique Mall...............................................................7 Emerson House Inn...........................................................................56 Emery's Meat & Produce Inc. ..........................................................33 Fairground Café.................................................................................22 Feed Commodities International.......................................................55 Field of Greens..................................................................................54 Five Islands Lobster Co. ....................................................................31 Five K Arborist LLC............................................................................36 Flux Restaurant & Bar.......................................................................24 Friends of Fort Knox..........................................................................56 G&G Cash Fuels.................................................................................33 Generations Antique Mall.................................................................47 Genuine Automotive Services...........................................................48 Gerard's Pizza....................................................................................57 Granite Hall Store..............................................................................42 Greg's Used Cars & Service................................................................31 Griffins - The Other Place...................................................................60 Grimaldi Concrete Floors & Countertops...........................................13

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Gulf of Maine Books...........................................................................7 Gutter Werks of Maine......................................................................12 Haley Power Services........................................................................55 Hamilton Marine Boaters' Store.......................................................10 Hammond Lumber Company...........................................................19 Hampton Inn - Bath..........................................................................30 Hampton Inn - Freeport....................................................................23 Hannaford - Bucksport.......................................................................61 Harborside Grill @ Holbrooks............................................................27 Harbour Towne Inn...........................................................................41 Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster Company............................................21 Harvest Time Natural Foods..............................................................33 Hatch Well Drillers............................................................................58 Hawkes' Lobster & Gifts....................................................................27 Hazel's Take-Out...............................................................................48 Heat Pumps Maine...........................................................................36 Island Candy Co. ..............................................................................28 J&H Marine.......................................................................................59 J. Edward Knight Insurance..............................................................58 Jack's Property Service.....................................................................20 Jess's Market.....................................................................................44 John's Ice Cream Factory...................................................................52 Katahdin Cruises...............................................................................14 Ken's Place........................................................................................15 Kirkpatrick's Service & Repair...........................................................57 Kon Asian Bistro................................................................................19 L.R. Nadeau Inc. ..............................................................................33 Ladd’s Plumbing...............................................................................13 Laer Realty Partners - Julie Peacock.................................................32 Lake Pemaquid Campground............................................................37 Liberty Graphics Fine Printed T-Shirts..............................................17 Lincoln County Historical Association...............................................57 M.A. Storck Co., Inc. .........................................................................21 Macomber, Farr & Whitten Insurance...............................................58 Maine At War....................................................................................46 Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife....................................56 Maine Historical Society.....................................................................5 Maine Lighthouse Museum..............................................................44 Maine Lobstermen’s Association.......................................................51 Maine Narrow Gauge........................................................................19 Maine Optometry..............................................................................15 Maine Pellet Sales...............................................................................6 Maine State Music Theatre...............................................................26 Maine's Northwestern Mountains....................................................13 Mama D's Café..................................................................................39 McNaughton Construction................................................................12 Mi Sen Thai Noodle Bar....................................................................18 Midcoast Collision.............................................................................38 Monhegan Boat Line........................................................................43 Moody's Diner...................................................................................43 Moody’s Gifts....................................................................................43 Moody’s Motel & Cabins...................................................................43 Morning Glory Natural Foods............................................................24 Morse's Sauerkraut.............................................................................4 Mr. Tire & Company..........................................................................45 Nathan's Wellness Pharmacy & Apothecary...................................39 Northeast Laboratory Services...........................................................6 Northeast Truck and Refrigeration....................................................60 Oakland Park Bowling Center...........................................................49 Ocean Point Marina..........................................................................40 Owls Head General Store..................................................................45 Owls Head Transportation Museum..................................................45 Palmer Spring Company...................................................................18 Pat's Pizza - Brunswick & Yarmouth.................................................22 Pat's Pizza - Scarborough..................................................................14 Pemaquid Craft Co-op......................................................................42 Pen-Bay Glass Inc. ............................................................................45 Penobscot Marine Museum................................................................8 Phippsburg Center Store.....................................................................7 Pinkham's Gourmet Market..............................................................40

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Pizzaiolo......................................................................................16 Precision Garage Door Service...........................................................16 Puffin's Nest......................................................................................47 Quick Turn Auto Repair & Towing.......................................................37 R.W. Glidden Auto Paint & Body Specialists......................................43 Rainwater Solutions..........................................................................61 Red's Automotive..............................................................................55 Red's Eats..........................................................................................30 Reilly Well Drilling.............................................................................30 Renoster............................................................................................11 Reunion Station Restaurant..............................................................59 Richard's Restaurant.........................................................................25 Rio Bisbee Band................................................................................12 Rising Tide Co-op..............................................................................37 Riverfront Barbeque & Grille............................................................36 Rob's Hardware.................................................................................55 Rockport Automotive........................................................................49 Sail, Power & Steam Museum...........................................................47 Saint George Realty..........................................................................46 Salt Cod Café.....................................................................................28 Sam Patterson & Sons Paving.............................................................9 Santana Excavation...........................................................................60 Sewall House Yoga Retreat................................................................15 Seymour Excavating Inc. ...................................................................21 Shaw's Fish & Lobster Wharf Restaurant..........................................42 Smush Cookie Creamery...................................................................34 South Bristol Fisherman's Co-op......................................................41 Sprague's Lobster..............................................................................29 St. Pierre Concrete Services...............................................................23 Steve Brann Building.........................................................................19 Stone's Earthwork.............................................................................61 Storer Lumber...................................................................................59 Sweetz & More..................................................................................29 Thai Garden Restaurant....................................................................20 The Cabin Brick Oven Pizza..................................................................7 The Chimney Doctor............................................................................6 The Dairy Port...................................................................................55 The Driftwood Inn.............................................................................25 The Gin Mill.......................................................................................36 The Great Impasta.............................................................................25 The Great Lost Bear...........................................................................15 The Harbor’s Choice..........................................................................39 The Holbrook Store...........................................................................27 The Lincoln Home.............................................................................38 The Seagull Shop..............................................................................42 The Tidewater....................................................................................48 Thomaston Grocery...........................................................................41 Tim's Heating & Cooling..................................................................32 Tony's Donut Shop............................................................................16 Trafford Truck Equipment..................................................................22 Trailing Yew.......................................................................................44 Tri-State Staffing...............................................................................57 Two Maine Guys Restaurant & Food Truck........................................34 Unique Spiral Stairs...........................................................................49 United Realty....................................................................................52 Urethane Foam Insulations..............................................................36 Vancil Vision Care..............................................................................61 Vasvary Electric.................................................................................57 V.I.P Eyes...........................................................................................16 Warren Auto Barn.............................................................................43 Waterfront Flea Market......................................................................6 Western Maine Screen Doors............................................................11 Wilson Funeral Home.........................................................................5 Windsor Chairmakers........................................................................51 Wiscasset Antiques Mall...................................................................32 Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum......................31 Yankee Yardworks.............................................................................22 Yarmouth Clam Festival....................................................................20 Young’s Lobster Pound......................................................................53

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