The Bethel Journals

The 1890 Journal

Part IV – October - December

May 3, 2007

Home 1890 Part I 1890 Part II 1890 Part III October 90 November 90 December 90

October

10/7/1890 Democrat:

Albany: W.W. Bird and Abel Andrews report a big crop of “White Elephant” potatoes. Andrews says four hundred bushels per acre. The coons have troubled Mr. Bird’s corn very much. His dog recently engaged with a large coon and the coon won. But the boy gave him a charge of cold lead and laid him out. It seemed to be an old veteran coon because he had lost one leg. Some people from here are attending the fair in Lovell. Abel Andrews has sold $400 worth of meat stock and horses from his farm this season.

North Albany: War, peace or famine, what? At least half a dozen girl babies have come to claim residence in this place during the past few months. Potatoes not taken by the grub worm are rotting badly. School in District 7 is being taught by Alma Johnson.

Mason’s correspondent also reported on rotting potatoes.

Bethel: A week of fair weather at Bethel has decided the farmers and horsemen to hold an exhibition and fair on Tuesday, October 7^th. They have an excellent track on the land of Moses A. Mason where the horses, sheep and cattle were exhibited; the dairy and fancy work will be exhibited in Pattee’s Hall. The Grand Trunk R.R. started taking water from the Bethel Water Company, Friday. A meeting of the village corporation is called for Saturday afternoon, to provide for horses, carriages and implements for fire purposes. The water company has the hydrants all in place and a few more days all of the mains will be completed.

Grand Trunk officials visited the reservoir and examined the works. They pronounce the system the best they have ever seen and the water incomparable.

Farmers are now bringing in their common apples to Wyman’s (canning factory). Wyman Bros. proposes to can all that are brought in. E.S. Kilborn is putting in the foundation for a dwelling house on Chapman Street. He purchased eight acres from the Chapman heirs which he is offering for house lots. Ira Jordan has put a plaza on the front of his store and treated the building to a coat of paint. He is putting in stock of general merchandise. The Universalist Society presented the popular drama “The Woven Web” at Ideal Hall. The house was well filled and actors sustained their parts.

Gilead: The party (from Island Pond, Vermont) that bought the large tract of land in Wild River valley are making preparation to build a steam mill; the expect to cut seven million (board feet) this winter and spring. The new parsonage is up and boarded in. John Wight is attending the academy in Bethel.

Newry: A good many Newryites have gone to the fair in Andover. The weather is fine for it.

West Bethel: The schools in town and the Flat started last Monday. Bert Bryant of Bethel teaches in the village and Miss Day of Lewiston teaches at the Flat school. A religious meeting at the church on Saturday was disrupted by three drunken men. They assaulted to at the meeting; according to the reporter the three men were foreigners in the employ of A.S. Bean. The sheriff was away at the time and no arrests were made.

10/14/1890 Democrat:

Bethel: The cattle show and fair at Bethel Tuesday was a grand success.

Pattee’s Hall was well filled with products from the farm and dairy, and the walls were filled with paintings that would do credit to an art gallery. Quilts, comfortables and stockings showed that wives and daughters had not neglected their useful duties of the household although they did find time to cultivate the ornamental.

The trotting park of M.A. Mason was the men’s center of attention. Fine cattle, horses, sheep and swine were on exhibit. The drawing matches were creditable to the oxen and horses and the trotting park drew much excitement. Some potatoes were still in the ground and apples on the trees when the season’s first snow came on Wednesday.

Some farmers have abandoned potato digging because they are so rotten. But James L. Chapman is sending away apples in bulk by the car load. The Wyman Bros. are canning apples at their factory. There is considerable nice winter fruit raised in the village. All the merchants have some land connected with their business and have not neglected orcharding and the small fruits.

Mason: Snow October 8^th and many have not finished picking apples or even started picking winter fruit.

West Bethel: A Good Templars Lodge was formed here with 41 charter member and five applications for the next meeting. Sheriff Wormell arrested the three who disrupted the religious meeting two weeks ago and they will be tried before Justice Rich.

Newry: The fair at Bethel drew a good attendance from this town.

10/21/1890 Democrat:

Bethel: Bethel was excited last week over common apples. Competition from three buyers resulted in farmers getting rid of their cider apples at a very fair price. Mr. Foye of Sumner is buying for the Libby’s of Portland paying twenty cents a bushel for cider apples and $2.00 to $2.30 per barrel for winter fruit. He has loaded three cars and thinks that he will get as many more. Farmers are holding back their Spyes and Kings for a better price. Twelve teams loaded with apples were gathered at the station at one time waiting to be unloaded.

Newry: This is the season of the old fashioned “husking” and “apple bee” but the universal raising of sugar corn has nearly done away with the former and I have heard of only one apple bee and that is in Hanover.

West Bethel: Justice Rich fined the three who disturbed the religious meeting $10. each plus costs, $19.50. A few sales of winter apples have been made at $3.50 per barrel. Canning apples are selling at the car for 40 to 45 cents per hundred (weight?).

Gilead: S.D. Hobson who has bought the land in the Wild River valley has formed a company with G.H. Fitzgerald and S.S. Robertson of Island Pond and will take the name of Wild River Lumber Company. They have some fifty men at work clearing land for a mill site.

10/28/1890 Democrat:

Bethel: The Bethel Water Company has practically completed their works and is installing service pipes to individual customers. They have 50 orders for new service on file and more orders arrive daily. At the corn factory the employees are very busy sorting and labeling, packing in boxes and shipping to New York, Chicago and the Pacific states. They are also busy canning apples. (This is the latest date in the fall season that the corn factory has continued canning operations in the last several years.) House carpenters are busy covering buildings to enable them to work inside during the winter months. J.U. Purington is approaching completion on his re-modeled home on Main Street. He is currently installing new conveniences after having added a new first story to his home.

West Bethel: Rufus K. Morrill of Norway bought and drove ten head of cattle from here and Mason last Tuesday. Hannah Watson has sold her stand to Hewall Walkey and moved to Bethel Hill. No more disturbance since McFee and friends have been lodging in the county stone house.

November

11/4/1890 Democrat:

Newry: The C.C. Harlow place was sold at auction last week. Squads of men are now seen daily on the road bound for the logging woods. Orrin Foster is hauling his apples to Bethel. He has sold 100 barrels to parties in Gorham and Berlin for $3.25 a barrel and a Mr. Cummings has bought several lots in Bear River for the same price.

Gilead: T.G. Lary will move into the woods next Monday. He will put in one million of spruce for the Androscoggin Water Power Company. Good No. 1 apples are selling for $3.50 a barrel and potatoes are selling at 50 cents a bushel. West Bethel: The Good Templars are flourishing finely for a new lodge. A.S. Bean has treated them to an oyster supper at their last meeting. E.B. Shaw and A.W. Grover are loading a car of potatoes bound for Hebron. Apple buyers are busy and seem anxious to buy all the stock at fair prices. White of Vermont has taken a number of orders here for his sap evaporator for delivery in February. Stock in fine condition are coming in from back pastures to their winter quarters.

Bethel: The Water Company of Bethel has notified the village corporation that it is prepared to provide water for fire protection as per contract. They are busy putting in service pipes and many are rejoicing in having the luxury of having Chapman Brook water in their homes. The Odd Fellows hall is nearly complete and they have leased their elegant store to Calvin Bisbee for two years. Bisbee intends to put in lines of fancy and dry goods while he will continue to run his general store as before. S.D. Philbrook and Son have a sale stable where they are doing a good business in selling horses. J.M. Philbrook is sending cattle to the Brighton market.

11/11/1890 Democrat:

Bethel: A.M. Carter, Esq. of Bethel is elected one of the four clerks to the valuation commission. E.W. Woodbury one of the Oxford County Commissioners left Bethel Tuesday for Augusta. Deacon J.U. Purington has the outside of his house completed and will be ready for the plasters next week. A.E. Herrick, Esq., Representative elect from Bethel will visit Augusta next week. Prof. G.A. Robertson has filed application with the Bethel Water Company for water service connections to his houses in Bethel.

Newry: Mrs. C.R. Bartlett of the Poplar Hotel is quite ill this week. Orrin Foster has gone to Berlin, NH to look after the apples that he has already shipped there.

West Bethel: Pleasant Valley Grange has just purchased 50 hardwood chairs for its hall and will also add a chandelier. Pleasant River Lodge of Good Templars occupies the hall ever Wednesday evening and attracts an attendance now of seventy. A.S. Bean’s new barn is nearing completion. He will build a tenement in the new barn for a hostler and his family. Our village school term has been cut short due to whooping cough.

East Bethel: J.S. Hutchins closed his eighth term of school in East Bethel, November 7^th. On his invitation parents and others visited the school to witness the closing exams and exercises; the audience expressed satisfaction on a thorough advance in all studies despite the threat of whooping cough that could have closed the school.

11/18/1890 Democrat:

Bethel: A.E. Herrick who was recently elected as the Bethel District representative to the legislature has gone to Augusta to find temporary lodging there. The Water Company is overrun with applications for laying service pipes. Lumbermen are getting ready for a busy winter of logging. The Androscoggin Water Power Co. of Lisbon and the Bearce and Wilson Co. of Lewiston plan to greatly increase the amount of timber put into the river this year over last winter.

North West Bethel: A crew of men from the Chapman homestead was at work in the Mayville Cemetery on the 12^th. The bridge over Mill Brook has been newly planked.

Albany: J.P. Kimball has taken a job of hauling oak from Albany to the Bethel Chair factory.

West Bethel: There are still many good winter apples that are unsold. Cummings Brothers of Portland are buying in large quantities and shipping. Asa Prescott has bought the Francis Barker place on the Flat. The migratory birds, even the crows, have disappeared indicating a cold winter is coming. Frost in the ground has hindered plowing here.

Newry: C.A. Baker has taken a job to haul birch for J.A. Thurston. Fred Howard has moved into town and will work for C.A. Baker. Heavy oxen for working in the woods are scarce and sell for better prices that last year. Sheep are in good demand at high prices; H.S. Hastings is buying all he can find. Eli Stearns has gone to Brighton with cattle to sell. School in District 4 closed. The teacher reports that the books have not been damaged but that some parents prefer to buy their own.

East Bethel: Mary Estes Bean has had a very handsome monument from the Whitney Bros. erected on her lot in the cemetery. Dana Grant has sold his store and stock to Mr. E. Crooker who has taken possession. The Crooker’s are boarding with E.W. Bartlett. Mr. Grant intends to spend the winter in Florida. Mrs. S.E. Folsom visited this place with a full line of millinery

11/25/1890 Democrat:

Bethel: The Gould Academy Athletic Association gave an exhibition at Ideal Hall on November 14^th. The program consisted of a variety of gymnastic events including the parallel bars and the high kick. The high kick was won by Archie Grover with a kick that reached 7 feet and 10 inches. Young ladies presented a dumb bell drill - all of this from the careful coaching of Prof Hall.

Newry: C.A. Baker is at work on his roads and camps. He will be moving into his (logging) camps soon. J.S. Allen has bought stumpage of A.W. Powers and will be cutting oak, birch and pulpwood. Roads are very muddy. Different parties are still hauling apples and potatoes but the potatoes are rotting badly. South Bethel: Hiram Hodsdon has his stable nearly completed. O.P. Chandler has taken J.G. Abbott’s farm for one year.

Mason: The mountain tops are covered with snow and the ground is freezing at mid-day. Some cattle remain unsold but sheep are selling well.

Gilead: Members of the G.A.R. from Gorham and Bethel held a campfire at the Gilead town hall on November 18^th. After supper there was music and speeches by the G.A.R. boys. Judge Foster of Bethel was in attendance.

West Bethel: The Cummings Bros. (of Portland) shipped a carload of apples from the depot last Thursday but have many lots to pack yet. The Templars number about 70 members but are still adding new members at every meeting.

East Bethel: After a short vacation J.S. Hutchins commenced school’s winter term on November 24^th. School in District 26 will not open until December 8^th on account of whooping cough.

December

12/2/1890 Democrat:

Newry: Today is Thanksgiving and there is good sleighing above Grafton Notch. The Nahum Frost and Frank Bisbee families have left here for work in the Albany Basin.

West Bethel: The temperature on Thanksgiving morning was 14 degrees. Buyers of apples and potatoes are busy and anxious to trade. The Templars initiated three last evening and received applications from eleven.

12/9/1890 Democrat:

East Bethel: There was a heavy snowstorm Wednesday night followed by wind on Thursday. Loaded teams crossed the river on ice December 3^rd.

West Bethel: J.M. Philbrook took a number of cattle from this vicinity in his car sent from Bethel. A.W. Grover sent a fine three-year old colt to Mrs. J.A. Torrey of Rockland, Mass., in the same car. The Good Templars had a good turnout last evening in spite of the cold weather.

South Bethel: Lyceum met Friday evening.

North West Bethel: Marion and Alger Chapman are home on vacation from Bridgton Academy. They are feeding silage at the Chapman Homestead farm and the stock seems to take to it with the same avidity that a hungry boy takes to sweet cake. Some cattle prefer the chopped corn to their grain. Miss Brownie Stearns picked some clusters of lovely full blown Mayflowers on the 20^th of November.

12-16-1890 Democrat:

Albany: Rev. W. C. Wood visited the Albany Basins this week with the snow six inches deep. It was pretty good for a Boston minister. A good time for yarding timber and our people are improving it. Many sheep fell of coming to the barns. Whether they fell due to being snowbound or fell to dogs and bears is not known. W.W. Bird purchased about sixty hens and chickens from J.H. Lovejoy. It looks like a fowl deed to me.

East Bethel: H.A. Packard and wife have moved to Bethel Hill for the winter.

West Bethel: Fritz Tyler is learning the blacksmith trade with A.C. Frost at Bethel. A.S. Bean has a contract for 500 cords of pulp delivered yearly for three years to the West Bethel depot. He has lately completed a three mile road ranging from the Ira Mason place in North Albany three miles to Stoneham Mountain, where it opens up a large tract of timber of all kinds. The terrible cough that is so prevalent does not seem to be the common whooping cough. Zero weather is not uncommon this winter and 20 degrees below is not a stranger. Hay is going fast and fresh meat is keeping well.

South Bethel: School begins December 15^th with Miss Vertie Cushman teacher. There was an oyster supper at A.S. King’s last Monday night and everyone had a good time. Lyceums are well attended.

Newry: E.F. Stearns is butchering cattle, sheep and hogs. He has bought a number of lots of hay around here and has a crew pressing it. C.O. Moore is hauling underpinning stone from L.W. Kilgore’s for J.M. Philbrook who intends building next summer.

North West Bethel: Miss Isabel Dry of Lewiston is teaching District No. 5. Charles and Will Stearns are working for George Chapman.

12-23-1890 Democrat:

Bethel: C. Dana Philbrook who for some time past has been away learning the jeweler’s trade has returned and opened a shop on Main Street. He has put in a stock of watches and jewelry and does general repairing. Mr. C. Bisbee has stocked his new store in the Odd Fellows Hall building; it is one of the best stocked, commodious and largest stores in the village. The new firm of Roberts and Caper has opened its new store on Main Street to the public. They offer clean groceries of all kinds and a clean and carefully selected stock. Kilborn’s sawmill started up last week and much timber is being hauled to it. Large quantities of wood are being hauled to the village from outside. Eben S. Kilborn is pushing work on his house on Chapman Street. On December 11^th, the popular drama “Anita’s Trial” was presented at Ideal Hall under the auspices of the Universalist ladies society. A large audience enjoyed the performance in every way.

Middle Intervale: Ladies Aid met December 11^th with Mrs. A. Bean. 12-30-1890 Democrat:

Newry: Wednesday evening a Christmas entertainment at Newry Corner with Christmas tree and the usual accompaniments. This is the last (Democrat’s correspondent) card of the old year, 1890 will soon be of the past. As it draws to a close like an old friend we will regret its going. It has given rain and sunshine, days of sorrow and days of joy. As we look back on it we are conscious that it has fared with us as well or better than we deserved.

Albany: Plenty of snow and teams are very busy. Rev. W.C. Wood has closed his labor here and we are sorry to see him go. Eugene Andrews expects to start Monday for Andover, Mass to ply his trade there with B. Cummings.

West Bethel: A.S. Bean recently purchased four horses in Boston for teaming purposes. One pair of fine grays tipped the beam at 3000 pounds. Several of the farmers and lumberman save money by buying provender in South Paris and Norway and freighting it here. Not right. A late letter from a friend in Kansas reports the ill health of Alonzo J. Grover, a native of Bethel. He owns a large stock farm containing one square mile of land; he is breeding fine cattle assisted by his sons. The present seekers are out in full force despite the zero weather. Sleighing is first class and the nags move briskly bringing the driver to some of our many shops where he can puzzle his brain over deciding what to buy for the baby and friends.

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