ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
Officers for the ensuing year are elected at the April meeting each spring. Some of us would really like to have other members come forward to take offices in the Society. This year, however, continued the pattern of the past few years and the following were elected: Margery Brown, President; Florence Boorse, Vice-President; Joanne Wiliey, Secretary; Cheryl Brown, Treasurer; Allen Savage, Reuben Wood, and John Brace, Directors.
ESSAY CONTEST:
The prizes in the Dr. & Mrs. Laurence A. Betteridge Essay Contest were awarded on May 10th at the Cherryfield Elementary School. This contest is open to all 8th grade students in S, A. D. #37. The winners this year were:
First Prize: Theresa Strout, Columbia Falls, “The Old Bean Factory & Railroad Station at Columbia”
Second Prize: Jessica Ward, Columbia Falls, “Charles K. Worcester & The Silver Black Fox Farm”
Third Prize: Carrie Robinson, Milbridge, “Marine Blood Worms”
Honorable Mention: Jason Barrett, Columbia Falls, “The Sardine Industry in Washington County with Special Reference to the Sunset Packing Company of Pembroke”
Honorable Mention: Catrina Brace, Cherryfield, “The General Alexander Campbel1 Homestead”
We are very pleased each year with the participation of the students and the variety of subject with which they deal. The winners this year were all concerned with subjects familiar to each student’s family history and were well researched and contained much information acquired through personal interviews. We all find that we learn much about the local area from each of these essays.
DEPOT RESTORATION PROJECT:
This spring we have been very fortunate to have Dan & Marcia Ladrigan, new owners of the old Grammar School building, take an interest in this project. Mr. Ladrigan offered his services and those of his company to review the project and estimate the cost for setting the building on a foundation of posts. The estimate for materials is $1,000.00, and some labor will have to be hired for digging the holes. We hope to be able to get this job done soon, so that the building can be painted this summer and made to look more presentable.
YARD SALE:
WLBZ is holding a gigantic yard sale at the new Bangor Parking Garage. This sale is open to non-profit organizations only and will be held on Saturday, June 17th. Bill Conway has volunteered to represent us at the sale where we will be able to sell our publications and other items. We would appreciate receiving any “good” items which could be sold. We have been notified that “flea market” type items will not be allowed and brand-new goods will not be allowed. Anyone having suitable items should contact Margery or Joanne.
PARKING LOT:
Blueberry Ford, Inc. (new owners of the Ford franchise in Cherryfield) has been contacted about removing vehicles from the lot next to the museum. Plans are to clean up and landscape that area before summer. We very much appreciate the cooperation of the company in removing their vehicles so promptly.
RECENT DONATIONS:
“Descendants of Samuel Sturtevant” by Robert Sturtevant, has been given to the Society for our library. The author tells us that “Samuel Sturtevant played an active part in the early growth of Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first permanent settlement in the United States. Working with men of strength such as William Bradford, Myles Standish, Edward Winslow, Thomas Prince, William ColIyer, and Edmond Freeman – – – Samuel Sturtevant proved himself to be a valuable asset to the new Colony.” The book has 869 pages, size 8 1/2″ x 11″ and is hard-cover (Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 86-50436). The book is intended primarily for the Genealogical Sections of libraries. Further information and copies may be obtained from: Robert H. Sturtevant, 3001 Inverness Drive, Waco, Texas 76710
“Downeast Dicksons” by Katharine Dickson which is concerned with the Harrington Dickson and allied lines, has been presented by the author. Further information on this book may be obtained by contacting Katharine Dickson Brown, R. F. D. 1, Henniker, NH 03242.
Nolan and Beryl Rossi of Milbridge have donated a muzzle loader made by Tower of England, and a cardboard ice cream box printed “Victoria Rossi Dealer in Fruit and Confections and Manufacturer of Pure Ice Cream Wholesale and Retail. Ice Cream by Pint, Quart and Gallon. Also by Plate and Small Boxes. Cherryfield, Maine.”
FAMILY RESEARCH:
Member Gary W. Wilson, P. 0. Box 1892, Portland, ME 04104, has offered to help other members who are interested in lines he is researching – Curtis, Connors, Dyer, Dorman, Fickett, Harrington, Hartford, Hutchinson, Ingersoll, Keith, Leighton, Libby, Parker, Pinkham, Ridley, Rumery, Sawyer, Shaw, Shorey, Smith, Trundy, Tucker, Warren, West, Whitten and Wilson.
Mrs. Kay Stevens, 4423 Newport Woods, San Antonio, TX 78249 would like to know where the Masonic records for Maine are kept. She is trying to locate the place and date of marriage of Wilmot W. Nash (1831-1861) of Cherryfield and Clara V. Orcutt (1833-1894), who was born in Bucksport.
There is now a Worcester Family Association for those researching Wooster/Worcester/Worster lines in Maine. They issue a quarterly newsletter and dues are $5.00 per year. Checks may be sent to Ralph & Alice Long, Mount Desert, ME 04660. (Bangor Daily News – 1989)
The following obituary appeared in the-Portland Press Herald and was sent to us by Marjorie Allen, a member of the Society. It may be of interest to those researching the Small family. Dated: Windham – Jennie Handy Roy, 103, died at the home of Ella Young on the Cook Road Thursday. She was the widow of John T. Roy. She was born in Cherryfield January 5, 1885, a daughter of William and Mary Small. She lived at one time in Waldoboro, then moved to Portland, where she lived for 60 years. After leaving Portland, she lived with a niece, Marion Savage, in Melrose, MA, for seven years and then moved to Windham three years ago. Survivors include a sister, Nena Larochelle of Melrose, MA, five nieces and a nephew. Burial will be in Brookland Cemetery, Waldoboro.
TOWN BASEBALL TEAM:
We have acquired two pictures of local baseball teams which require some identification. One is a postcard of the Academy (?) team with one older man wearing a suit, tie and wedding ring (coach?). Two of the other eight people have “C A” on their shirts, one has “C” on his jacket and one has “Highland” on his jacket. The card was mailed in 1915 to Mrs. John Sproul, Cherryfield, and was from “Effie”. The postmark was “Calais & Bangor” so must have been canceled aboard the train. This card came from a collection of papers given to us from the Joseph Ramsdell house – John Sproul was Mrs. Ramsdell’s father.
The other picture is marked “Cherryfield B.B. Team, 1913”. One person is dressed in a suit and one has a suit coat on over his uniform. The others have an baseball uniforms with “C” on the shirts.
POSTCARDS:
Frank Winslow, of Cherryfield, made postcards of most of the surrounding towns as well as hunting camps, mountain tops and ponds. None from the area around Deblois and Beddington have come to our attention. If anyone has any from these areas, we would like very much to borrow them to have copies made.
REQUESTS:
The Northeast Archives of Folklore & Oral History at the University of Maine is compiling a book (project publication date, September 1989) of the derivation of Maine place names. They are interested in unusual names given to sections of towns* anecdotes connected with the names, etc. They had heard of our “Devil’s Garden” and information has been forwarded on that. Anyone having knowledge of other places, such as streets, hills, or special places with stories connected, contact us and we will send the information along.
The Maine Chiefs of Police Association has undertaken a project to erect a permanent memorial to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty in this state. They have contacted historical societies in hopes of locating those men who died prior to the turn of the century. These records might be found in personal family histories, old newspaper accounts, or other materials. Anyone having information on any officer killed in the line of duty should send the information to us and we will forward it to the Association.
PURCHASES:
“The Vessels of Way Down East” by Joyce Kinney of Eastport is a recent addition to our library. This is a very well researched book that covers all of the ships built in the towns east of Machias. The book is 8 1/2″ x 11″, soft cover, 156 pages with many illustrations of ships and related papers. The book is available from Mrs. Kinney for $20.00 pp.
SOUVENIR CARD:
Philip Champagne of Thomaston, Maine, has sent us a souvenir card of the Upper Corner Primary School ― Winter Term 1902 ― Alice L. Riley, Teacher ― G. G. Freeman, Supt. A picture of Miss Riley is on the front of the card. Inside is a list of pupils, as follows:
Corliss: Agnes, David, James, Marian, Marada and Leroy Davis: Harold and Hazel Dunbar: Lawrence
Grimes: Freddie Haycock: Preston
Haynes: Dora McDevitt: Bertha and Marjorie
Mathews: George and Margaret Oakes: Albert and Walter
Prosser: Lavinia Silsby: Mabel
Savage: Marian Schoppee: Georgie
Sproul: Ada and Henry Smith: Gladys
Stevens: Norman Tenan: Glenwood
Thompson: Neil Tracy: Howard and Rosilla
Tucker: Ethel Wass: Helen and Lawrence
Willey: Beatrice, Doris, Eva and Earnest Mr. Champagne found this in a box of papers he bought at an auction in Bremen, ME. Alice Riley’s sister was married to a minister who served churches in the Knox County area which would account for this card being there. Alice married E. A. Coffin of Harrington between 1902 and 1905.
RECIPES:
Coffin Small (1854) – “Cheap paint for roofs”: Mix one bushel of good lime into a smothe whitewash in 40 gal. of water, if any lumps strain out, then add slowly, stir thoroughly 20 lbs Spanish whiting, 17 lbs rock salt, 12 lbs sugar. Keep the mixture well stirred while using put on thin 2 or 3 coats. It will keep white and preserve shingles better than paint and much cheaper.”
Coffin Small – Liquid Graftings “One lb of rosin over a slow fire remove when hot stir in one oz of tallow cool a little add 1 02 of spirits of turpentine 5 02 of alcohol keep in a corked bottle- It is good for all abrasions of the skin of the trees or of animals.”
RESEARCHER:
Margaret Kelley Ashe Colton, 92, of Milbridge, ME and New Britain, CT, died 26 Dec 1988 in Redding, CA where she had lived in recent years to be near her daughter. Mrs. Colton will be remembered by many genealogists for the tremendous amount of research she has done on Washington County families over the past fifty years. She had given copies of her work to this Society, as well as the Bangor, Steuben and Machias libraries. She was active with the Maine Historical Society, Maine Old Cemetery Association, and a member of the Hannah Weston Chapter, DAR. Mrs. Colton said she always took her suitcase of genealogical records with her when she spent winters in California and summers in Maine and Connecticut. She found that family research was more entertaining than television. She spent a good part of her winter time in the Los Angeles Public Library genealogy room. The time eventually came when she could no longer drive to the west coast, but she enjoyed flying and her suitcase of records went with her.
BUSY MEMBERS:
Our members are concerned with current issues, as well as the past. A letter in the January 1989 issue of AARP News Bulletin supports that conclusion:
“My husband and I very much enjoyed the article about Action for Children’s Television and Peggy Charren in your November issue. We have supported that group for many years because of our grandchildren, and other children, of course. Unfortunately, despite a strong vote in both the House and Senate, President Reagan pocket-vetoed the bill. That means that a new House and Senate and president will have to be educated: I suggest that we all start immediately by writing to our representatives in Congress in the strongest terms. We grandparents can do a lot, as Mrs. Charren has shown so well.” Patricia Eden, Bethesda, MD (& Cherryfield, ME)
CHERRYFIELD DAYS:
Plans are moving along for the annual Cherryfield Days Celebration which will start this year on Thursday, June 29th and end on Sunday, July 2nd. We hope everyone can schedule their visits to Cherryfield to coincide with these events. The calendar thus far shows the following:
Thursday: Cherryfield Follies – “The Kid in All of Us”
Friday: Fire Department Breakfast
Saturday: Breakfast at the Congregational Church Assembly Hall Parade
Historical Society Museum and Hot Dog Stand Open Kids Games – Blueberry Pie Eating Contest Cherryfield Follies – “The Kid in All of Us” Sunday: “Glory Land Quartet” – Church of the Open Bible Softball Tournament – Elementary School Field Salmon Run —- – Narraguagus River Rally Anyone with other events planned should contact Ruth Curtis (546-7416) as soon as possible.
CHERRYFIELD ALUMNI ASSOCIATION:
The 77th reunion of the Cherryfield Alumni Association will be held on Saturday, June 3rd at the Cherryfield Elementary School. The festivities will begin at 2:00 p.m. with a gathering to meet and greet old friends and classmates. Please bring your old yearbooks and pictures.
The evening activities begin at 6:00 p.m. with a banquet, followed by the business meeting and a dance. Joe Foster will be the toastmaster this year and music for dancing will be provided by Larry Smith and his orchestra.
