January 1892 -
Warm rain, river freshet and little snow started year that impeded regular
logging activity.
January 5, 1892 (Democrat)
Bethel: Benjamin R.
Bryant has contracted to haul 100,000 feet of pine to Kilborn’s mill in the village.
Charles A. Lucas is now running the Elms Hotel. Mrs. Gerrish left last week for
Brockton, Mass. J.M. Philbrook loaded a car with cows and
calves for Brighton last week. Mr. Frank Mason is at home from Harvard Law School. G.R. Wiley is sick at home. John and Isaiah
Coburn are to haul 100,000 feet of oak lumber from Albany for the Bethel Chair Co. Messrs.
Chaney & Sawyer have begun upon their contract to paint Cole Block. The
block is nearly completed. L.L. Mason is at home from Andover and his lumbering operations due to
scarcity of snow for his business.
Locke's Mills: Our
stage driver, C.G. Folsom, crossed the Androscoggin River
at Hanover
with a pair of horses on the ice, on the morning of Dec. 30th, and when he
arrived at the river at night it was all open. Second time this has happened in
December. C.P. Kimball has gone to Bethel
to work for the American Bobbin, Spool & Shuttle Co.
East Bethel: A warm
rain on the 28th has carried off snow and broken up the ice in the river.
Sleighing is a pleasure of the past. Z.W. Bartlett and H.O. Blake with their
teams have gone to Patch
Mountain to work. Helen
Bartlett has returned home from Hanover and Rumford where she has been
dressmaking.
January 12, 1892 (Democrat)
Bethel: The well known
firm of Woodbury & Purington was dissolved last week. Judge Woodbury
retires and Mr. Purington will carry on the business. Judge Woodbury leaves
active business thus at the age of 74 years. For twenty years he has been in
trade, and has always been numbered among the staunchest business men in the
vicinity. The firm has done and Mr. Purington will continue to do, a large
business in flour, grain and feed, besides keeping a full general stock. Mr. Woodbury has always taken a leading part
in all progressive movements, is prominent in church affairs, has filled a
number of public positions, and withal can now retire from business well
satisfied with his past life. He will go this winter to Pennsylvania, where he will remain some time
with his son Wesley, a prominent attorney.
J. F. Laighton, of the Hartford Life; Mr. West,
of the Massachusetts Benefit; and Mr. Morrison, were all here last week in the
interest of their several insurance companies.
The firm of C.E. Benson & Co., doing business on upper Main Street, has
been dissolved. Mr. Benson will continue the business. Union meetings were held
during last week at the Congregational church. E. Richardson & Son have
closed their mill in the village. The Bethel Chair Co. is to buy some 450 cords
of birch besides the usual supply of hard woods. A new popular allegory,
"The Tournament of Idylcourt" will be presented at Ideal Hall as the
fourth entertainment of the U.L.S.
All the carpenters except one or two who are
putting on the finishing touches are through work on Cole Block, and the
painters are well along with the inside work.
The chair factory is running again after a few days of holiday shut-down
for employee’s time off. There is a movement
a foot to form a farmers' institute here in the future. A.T. Kelliher of Bethel is in Alabama setting up a
line of his patent lumber carrier. A stock company has been formed in Chicago the business of
which will be to develop the patent. Mr. Charles N. Thomas of Boston will give his very interesting and
instructive lecture on “Heroes and Battlefields of the Civil War" at Gould Academy.
The academy has a flourishing lyceum, which has joined the Lyceum League of
America. The lyceum will hold a public meeting on Jan. 20th and all are invited
to come and hear the exercises and debate.
East Bethel: Ice freshet on January 3rd. Androscoggin River
clear of ice and full banks, rising four feet in one night. This is the third
time this winter the ice has broken up and gone out of the river. Fred Bean has gone up Sunday River
to work in the woods. E.S. Bartlett; has gone to Patch Mountain
tending sleds. Mr. and Mrs. Crooker and C. Swan now ride out in handsome new
sleighs.
Wilson's
Mills: John Olson had one of his horses badly hurt
recently. F.A. Flint and his son Arthur
are both out of the woods sick with the grip. Their cook is sick and Cliff
Wiggins is now cooking at the camp.
Gilead: T.G. Lary has over
300,000 feet of spruce yarded and not a stick on the river. The Wild River Lumber
Co. cars ran off the track the other day and nearly demolished two of them. The
old boxes in the post office have been replaced by new ones which look neat and
pretty. A.M. Whitman has moved back from
Gorham and will act as day operator at the depot. He has been day operator at
Gorham for a few weeks.
Locke’s Mills: W.H. Crockett, formerly a clerk for the
American Bobbin, Spool and Shuttle Co., has bought out the store and entered on
his own account, Jan. 1st. Hank White, Jr., gave two entertainments
at Mt. Abram Hall.
West Bethel: A beautiful display of northern lights
covered the skies Tuesday evening. The
late rain followed by colder weather has formed mammoth sheets of ice over the
perpendicular walls of Pine
Mountain looking like
immense bridal veils. A.S. Bean and J. Hastings Bean have loaded a car of
potatoes at this station paying 35 cents. A.W. Grover is getting out the second
carload of cedar for Aston of Shelburne. C.L. Abbott is getting out ash and oak
for the chair company at Bethel.
Edward S. Smith’s flock of 200 Plymouth Rock hens is giving him from 79 to 80
eggs daily.
A.S. Bean is
running a dancing school in his hall this winter. Pleasant Valley Grange had
installation of officers and an oyster supper at their hall last Tuesday evening.
Albany: Miss Brooks of Norway closed a successful term of
school at the Corner New Year ’s Day. In the evening about 100 attended a
program of entertainment and exhibitions by the school and others in the vestry
of the Congregational church. Over eight dollars were raised toward a new
carpet for the church. Rev. Thomas M. Beadenkoff of Baltimore, Maryland,
made a short visit among his friends and former parishioners at North Waterford and Albany.
Sunday he preached at Albany.
The Coburn brothers
have a sizable job to accomplish as they haul a hundred thousand feet of oak
nine or ten miles to the Bethel
chair factory over a road that requires considerable snow. But, as this is
written we are having a ‘northeaster’.
January 29, 1892: (Democrat)
Maine Railroads: The Maine
railroads have saved considerable expense in not being obliged to use snow
plows thus far this winter.
Oxford
County: County Commissioners: John Barker, West Bethel, Chairman;
William Woodsum, West Peru; W.W. Whitmarsh, Norway. Albert S. Austin, Paris, Clerk Supreme
Judicial Court; Edward Walker, Lovell, County Attorney; John F. Stanley, Paris,
Register of Deeds; Annie R. Osgood, Fryeburg, Register of Deeds (Western
District); George A. Wilson, South Paris, Judge of Probate; Herrick C. Davis,
Paris, Register of Probate; George M. Atwood, Paris, County Treasurer; James L.
Parker, Norway, Sheriff; Deputy Sheriffs: Cyrus M. Wormell, Bethel.
Bethel: The Lincoln Club held a public lyceum at the Academy
and discussed the “Tariff Question”. Fifteen young ladies successfully
presented “Tournament of Idylecourt” under the direction of Mrs. E. C. Rowe.
Elmer Cole is in from Washington
for a few days to look over the large block which has just been completed for
his brother and himself at Bethel Hill village. Mary A. Livermore will speak at
the Congregational church this week on “A Dream of Tomorrow”.
Newry: The grippe is
abating on Bear River but Sunday River
has a good many sick ones and Thurston’s mill in Ketchum has shut down on account
of the grippe. School at Newry Corner had stopped on account of the grippe but
opened again Monday. Howard Thurston has moved from the Branch to the Corner.
Albany: Charles Grover is hauling “millwood” with his horses to
the depot for D.A. Cummings. Millwood used to be waste but is now quite
valuable. The grange hosted an evening of entertainment at their hall and
raised $8 for their library. Rev. Samuel
L. Gould has passed away. He was pastor of the Congregational church in Albany for 14 years,
leaving here in September, 1870 due to poor health.
East Bethel: J.S. Hutchins
closed his school term here on Jan. 22d. Parents visited the school to see the
scholars’ work. Miss Emma Brown has closed her school in South
Bethel; she will attend the spring term at Bridgton Academy.
Mason: Snow enough for
business on main roads but hardly enough in the woods. S.O. Grover and D.E.
Mills are drawing poplar to West Bethel and
C.F. Brown is drawing birch.
West Bethel: Charles L. Abbott
has been drawn juror for the February term of court. The Androscoggin
has closed for the fourth time this winter. Will Mason of Mason has gone to
work with his team of sorrels at Wild
River. Haselton was at
A.S. Bean’s store recently with his phonograph.
A.S. Bean has started his mill on birch and
is to put in his machine soon for sawing long lumber. Mr. Bean has just sent away two cars of
potatoes. Pleasant River
Lodge, I.O.G. T. elected delegates to the District Lodge to be held in West Paris on Feb. 10. Pack peddlers are nearly as common
here at the crows.
February 1892
– Honest voting, the Australian ballot introduction began and widespread “La
grippe” illness.
Feb 2, 1892
(Democrat)
Bethel: J.P. Skillings of Winchester, Mass.,
spent a few days here last week on business. There was a sociable and
entertainment at the academy last Tuesday. A movement is on foot to start a
butter factory here. Over $2,000 has already been pledged and the full amount
required will be easily obtained. It is much to be hoped that the move will be
successful. Mary A. Livermore whose fame as a public speaker is well known
spoke to a goodly audience at the Congregational church Thursday evening. Young people are talking up a sleigh ride
from here to Dixfield next week.
A large number belonging to the Universalist Circle
met last week at the home of Col. C. S. Edwards. The Lincoln Club of Gould
Academy has joined the Lyceum League of America. Their first debate was on
“Protection vs. Tariff for Revenue”. Arrangements have been made with the
Weather Bureau so that the academy receives the daily weather report and chart
and is to have the telegraphic reports and display weather signals as soon a
the new flagstaff is erected.
West Bethel: The blizzard of
Tuesday and Wednesday stopped all teaming in this vicinity. Strongest wind we
have had this winter. A government
pension agent was in this place looking up claims. Greer Morrill lost his job in Boston when the business
was sold.
Mason: No new cases of
scarlet fever; all who have had it are doing well. There is much sickness in town.
Albany: Mr. Qualey is
hauling birch to Libby’s mill for A.G. Bean; Wallace E. Cummings is hauling his
poplar to the river. Amos L. Bean is at Bridgton Academy again. H.G. Wilbur is hauling
his birch to Fernald & Flint’s mill along with the owners putting much of
their own lumber into the mill. Austin
Hutchinson has put in his stock of ice.
A fair number of cases of sickness are reported around town.
Gilead: We now have about a foot of snow. T.G. Lary
has ten horse teams drawing yarded lumber for him to the river. William Chapman is cutting some spruce and
pine which he leaves on the river. John Wight is cutting birch and drawing to
his mill for the spring sawing. The
river has closed up for the fourth time this winter, something very uncommon.
Quite a number of our people are sick with the grippe.
East Bethel: C.M. Kimball has
been appointed sub-registrar for East Bethel.
Farmers are selling their potatoes at thirty cents per bushel. Mrs. Z.C. Esters
of Boston
recently visited her old home in this place. Mrs. Mary Estes returned to Boston with her. A number
of residents in this village are sick with the grippe.
Newry: C.A. Baker came
home from the logging camp in Parkertown due to his sickness from the grippe.
He reports fifteen men sick in camp and others falling ill every day. Bear River
is now frozen over. Winter is here with
its first real old fashioned blow. A
number in this town are sick.
February 9, 1892
Oxford
County Grand Jury: Two area men were appointed grand jury
members for the February 1982 term, S.A. Eames, Newry; Horatio N. Upton,
Bethel. Traverse jurors included: Charles L. Abbott, Bethel; and S. Irving French, Bethel.
Bethel: Jasper Wyman of the firm of J. & E.A. Wyman was
here on business connected with their corn canning business. Mr. A.T. Kelliher
is home from Alabama
where he has just finished setting up three-fourths of a mile line of his
patent lumber carrier. He left it operating successfully. Chickering’s Railway
Studio has been here for the past week. A photographic studio in a palace car
is somewhat novel.
The necessary amount of money for a butter
factory has been pledged and now all that remains to make this industry a success
is the pledge from the farmers that they will keep the number of cows
sufficient to furnish cream. A large
quantity of ice has been cut and stored by the people of the village during the
past two weeks. A leap year party is to
be given at the Bethel House next Thursday.
Right now the sledding in Bethel
could not be better. Streets are full of teams hauling wood, bark, pulp wood,
spool stock and long lumber.
The lumber teams in Riley, Andover and around the lakes, which take
their supplies from Bethel,
are doing a good business in hauling from the “yards” to the river and lakes.
Generally sick people in the village are improving. George K. Ring is again at
this livery stable.
Middle
Interval:
The local correspondent has been away for about three months which accounts for
no news items from this part of town. E. G. Annas has bought the George Farwell
place and is living there now. Twelve or more in this area are suffering from
the grippe epidemic.
West Bethel: A.S. Bean loaded about twenty cars per week
at the West Bethel station with good pulp wood
and spool stock. Other parties have
loaded several cars every week. A. W. Grover has loaded another car with cedar
posts and poles to go to Shelburne,
N.H., for W. K. Aston of New York.
The Good Templars elected officers last
Wednesday evening, electing Miss Cora Mason, C.T. Next week they will install
officers and enjoy an oyster supper.
Messrs. Wyman & Carter are canvassing
for acreage of sweet corn for the corn ship0. They promise the farmers more
than they paid last year (three and one-fourth cents per can).
Newry: Thurston’s steam
mill at Riley started up last Monday but they are still bothered to keep a crew
on account the grippe. Alonzo Fifield, an old resident of Riley died Tuesday of
grippe. E.B. Knapp, our blacksmith, has an order for a dozen bear traps, which
he is at work on. Mason Bartlett, son of
C. R. Bartlett, our hotel keeper, is contemplating going to Southern
California, for his health.
Northwest Bethel: William Chapman
has had his ice house filled. Seth Mason and his wife have returned from
Buckfield. Mrs. Eva Chapman was up from Portland
recently and took her little girl back with her. The fine colt, “Josephene” at
the (Chapman) Homestead
is being educated in the way to go, by one of the workmen. “They say” those
Luckston (Luxton) boys know how to handle the ribbons to perfection.
Albany: J.J. and Willis McAllister are hauling the last of
their poplar from the Roberts lot; John Flint is driving a team for them at
$70. a month and board himself. Elmer Saunders is stopping a while with his
brother Ora at the old homestead. Mr. Willis has the misfortune to break all
the teeth of his board saw and had to send it to New York for repairs.
February 16, 1892 (Democrat)
Oxford County: For the coming
September 1892 elections, the Australian ballot system will go into
effect. The Oxford Democrat newspaper’s
front page on February 16 carried a large illustration of the typical election
area set up that would be a county and state standard for this new system to be
implemented.
Illustration
printed by the Oxford County Democrat on February 16, 1982 for the purpose of
informing readers of the forthcoming change in voting procedures – used for county,
state and national elections.
Newry: A continuation of
illness from the grippe is the main news in this town. Report that our minister
at Newry attended five funerals in eight days; and since then has attended one
more. C. A. Baker has recovered but the first selectman and the tax collector
are both laid up and March town meeting is coming right along.
About all the news from this place is to report the sick ones: Charles F
Brown’s family, Milford Brown’s family and Daniel Mills’ family, N.G. Mills and
Charles Dunham’s families. Will Mason
was home from Wild
River Sunday. He is at
work for Rob Hastings drawing spruce timber.
Our people are all interested in the
proposed creamery which seems to be a sure thing now. It will be located at
Bethel Hill.
West Bethel: Milton Holt and
his wife are improving. Holt’s customers are anxiously waiting for the snow to
be shoveled from his door and hitching posts. E.B. Shaw and A. W. Grover are
loading a car of potatoes of their own raising. Many of the farmers have these
for sale yet.
Bethel: Hon. E. W. Woodbury has started for Pennsylvania; he will be away for some time
– staying with his son. Mr. Clyde Bean
left for his home in Iowa.
Mr. Bean, very well liked by customers, has been in the store of G.P. Bean in
our village for some eight years but he does not intend to return. School at
the academy closed last week for a two weeks vacation.
A meeting of the signers of the articles of
association executed for the purposes of organizing a corporation for carrying
on a dairying business at Bethel
will be held at the lock-up in Bethel Hill village Saturday, Feb. 27th
– they will adopt an association name and by-laws.
Mrs. Fanny M. Merrill has received
acknowledgement from Kidder, Peabody & Co. bankers of Boston for receipt of $28 collected (in dimes
and dollars) for the suffering Russians relief fund.
The leap year supper given at the Bethel
House under the auspices of the Ladies’ Social Union of the Congregational
church, and for the benefit of the Garland Memorial Chapel attracted fifty
couples despite a severe storm.
February 23, 1892 (Democrat)
Mason: Plenty of snow and
business lively. The sick ones are all better except for two. S.O. Grover is
drawing birch from the land
of N.G. and D.E. Mills.
L. H. Tyler, H. Hutchinson and others are putting in a supply of ice from the
mill pond of F. I. Bean. A. S. Bean of West Bethel
has started the birch mill here with Milford Brown in charge.
Newry: The coldest snap of the season. The selectmen
have settled with the treasurer and are making up their report for March
meeting. The continued illness of Mr. Widber, the chairman, leaves the business
in the hand of the two remaining members of the board; our tax collector
remains too ill to tend to business. The Sunday River
family of L. J. Sargent is all down with the grippe.
Albany: Many of our
people are still sick but slowly improving. Mr. Wilbur is selling and
delivering hay. High wind gusts tipped over two loads which he was able to
recover without having to re-load the hay. Charles Grover and his son are
hauling poplar for O.M. Phelps. The Ladies Circle met
with Mrs. Charlotte S. Cummings. Men who
are sick and lame are speaking well of the Odd Fellows fraternity. Theron
Cummings has filled his ice house. Mr.
Jewett of the Waterford
creamery was heard to say that he had paid Austin Hutchinson $60 for the cream
of ten cows for one month. Mr. Hutchinson takes good care of his cows.
East Bethel: A number are still
suffering from the effects of la grippe.
An old fashioned snow storm reminded us of winter and the road breakers
were out for the first time. We had a magnificent display of northern lights on
February 13th. A number of
scholars from here are preparing to attend Gould Academy.
Bethel: O’Neil W. R. Hastings, son of Maj. G.A. Hastings, died
Tuesday morning at the age of 32. He had suffered for a long time with
consumption of the bowels (colon cancer?) despite expert medical care. He had been postmaster in our village for
some years having been appointed during the Cleveland administration. He had been a school board member for a long
time. His funeral was held at the Hastings home on Broad Street with
Rev. F. E. Barton officiating. Music was touchingly rendered by Mrs. Florence K
and Miss Jennie Gibson and Miss Alice Billings.
Rev. A. C. Herrick will lecture at the academy
on “Rome, Pompeii, Partum”. The Universalist parish of Bethel is contemplating an addition to their
present church to be used as a vestry.
West Bethel: Twenty inches
of snow cover the ground. The storm a week ago produced enough drifting to
require breaking out with teams. Milton Holt is still confined and his store
has been closed for three weeks. His wife is slowly recovering. Other sick ones
are improving. Lumbermen are all busy.
March 1892 – Town meeting month; canvassing of farmers to support a Bethel butter factory
underway.
March 1, 1892 (Democrat)
Newry: S.B. Widber died at his residence on February 24th after a
long illness with liver and lung troubles brought on from an attack of la
grippe.
Mason: The writer has just received a statement of county finances for 1891
which appear to be well managed.
A.S. Bean’s birch
mill traffic is lower than normal for this season. C.F. Brown is drawing birch to Bean’s mill
however. And S. O. Grover is loading poplar for Bethel parties. F.I. Bean has a carload of
poplar for sale. D.E. & N.G. Mills have several carloads nearly ready to
ship.
Dr. John Tyler
seems to be quite popular with some of our people and is seen in town quite
often.
West Bethel: Ed Elliott was shot and died instantly a his home in Albany. He had been a machinist for A.S. Bean
for about five years. He allegedly borrowed a pistol from a fellow worker for
shooting a dog that had previously torn his sleigh robe.
The Good
Templars enjoyed an oyster supper thanks to Brother A.S. Bean who furnished the
supper. County Deputy
Tracy of Norway visited
this grange at a special meeting and found it in flourishing condition.
Bethel: Judge Foster is holding court in Aroostook County
and his family is with him.
Ceylon Rowe
has just painted the inside of his store making a great improvement in
looks. Good weather has been taken
advantage of by the men working on the Methodist Church.
C.H. Adams has the work contract and so far has done most of the work alone.
The spring
term at Gould Academy opened Tuesday with good
attendance. Professor Hall is the principal.
Friday coroner
E. B. Goddard held an inquest over the body of Ed Elliott of Albany who was killed by the discharge of a
revolver. The jury found a verdict of death by accidental discharge of a
revolver in his own hands.
The Young
People’s Christian Endeavor held a social at the home of Mrs. J.U. Purington.
The group enjoyed a box supper. The
Universalist Society have made arrangements to redecorate Pattee’s Hall for
their use. They have purchased a large lot of dishes which will remain at the
Hall where there is a stove and all conveniences. They are prepared to let it
for suppers. At their last meeting 60
attended and took supper while young people enjoyed games.
Photographer
C.S. York has engaged D.H. Forsyth as an assistant. W.S. Parker will be on the
road as a salesman for the Bethel Chair Company. Previously he was in the
company’s employ but has been in Manchester,
N.N., for some time.
The screen for
the top of the counter in the Bethel Savings Bank is in place. It is a handsome
quartered oak frame set with plate glass and runs the entire length of the
banking room.
Letter from Judge Woodbury: He was traveling to Pottsville, Pennsylvania.
We had traveled from Bethel
to Milford, Mass., and when applying for a ticket at the
Milford Station we were surprised to find M. Donahue, Jr., at the ticket
office, who was formerly assistant ticket agent at Bethel. Leaving for New York on the 8:30 a.m. train over the N.Y. and N.E. Road we
arrived in New Haven
without incident where we changed cars for New York by the N.Y. and N.H. Road and left all traces of snow and
ice. Arriving at the New York Central
Station transfer coaches were in readiness to take us to the Pennsylvania
Central Station. We took the Lehigh
Valley cars for Pottsville, PA.,
at 5 p.m. arriving in Pottsville at 9:15 p.m. making 166 miles in 4
hours and 15 minutes (nearly 40 M.P.H.). Pottsville
is the shire of Schuylkill
County, the railroad
center for that region, the Reading,
and the Lehigh Valley and the Pennsylvania having stations here. (Pottsville is located in
the eastern half of Pennsylvania
between Scranton
and Harrisburg.)
March 8, 1892 (Democrat)
Bethel: Attorney R.A. Frye attended a meeting of the
Democratic State Committee at Augusta.
Quite a large number from Bethel
went to Portland
to hear Paderewski (1860-1941 Polish born pianist). The I.O.G.C. gave a leap
year supper and entertainment at Pattee’s Hall. The West
Paris drama club presented the drama entitled “Strife” at Ideal
Hall.
Miss Maud Kimball has opened a kindergarten
in rooms over Miss E.E. Burnham’s store and has some twenty pupils.
The social event of the season was a leap
year party given by Misses Alice Purington and Abbie Adams at the house of Miss
Purington. Written invitations were given to young ladies with strict
injunction that each young lady should bring with her a gentleman. Evening
entertainment consisted of games, music and refreshments.
The signers of the articles of association
for the purpose of establishing a butter factory here met February 27th
and organized the association, chose officers and adopted by-laws. The next
step will be to see what number of cows will be pledged to support the
enterprise.
The Bethel Lock-Up on High
Street was used for business meetings and court trials. Built in 1889, its use showed a small income
from annual rentals. In 1891 H.C. Barker was paid $9.00 for its upkeep and
$2.00 was spent for a cot. Income from 27 courts and one auction amounted to
$28.50 for a net income of $17.50. At times, however, correspondents disparaged
the town selectmen for not using the lock-up for selectmen’s meetings.
The
organizational meeting held here on February 27, 1892 for the Bethel Dairy Association proved to be a
successful step for Bethel
area dairy farmers. The association was still in existence in 1914, when this
announcement appeared in The Oxford
County Bethel Citizen:
“NOTICE to the Milk Consumers of Bethel.
Beginning September 1, 1914,
the price of milk will be raised from 6 to 7 cents per quart and cream will be
sold 50 cents per quart for thick and 40 cents for thin. The change is
necessary on account of increased costs for grain, labor and cows. BETHEL
DAIRY ASSOCIATION”
Mr. A.T. Kelliher left for Pottsville, Pa.,
(where Judge Woodbury is staying for the winter) where parties wish to examine
workings of his patent lumber carrier and may contract to have a line
constructed. Mr. Kelliher also has received notes of interest from parties in Indiana.
Middle
Interval:
Several here are getting a supply of ice for summer use. The sick are nearly
all on the gain. Several from this place are attending school at the academy.
West Bethel: Stock seems to be wintering well and hay is plentiful
with the mild weather. Milton Holt is gaining slowly though yet feeble and his
store is still closed. A.S. Bean is
custom sawing shingles and long lumber. Some of his teams have had narrow
escapes from injury while hauling birch from the mountains in Fryeburg Academy
Grant. Some places have required four and even six horses to haul empty sleds
to the top.
The Good Templars
will discuss the following question at their next meeting: Resolved, that the
city offers greater advantages toward a prosperous and happy life than the
country.
Newry: Funeral services for S.B. Widber, our
recently deceased first selectman, were held last Sunday under the auspices of
the Masons.
A report circulating here says that the
Poplar Hotel is sold to parties in Berlin,
N.H.
Albany: John O. Severy and son of Stratford, N.H.,
have purchased of H.O. Wilbur the farm formerly owned by Stephen Cummings.
The Albany correspondent
reports that as he has been shut in for several weeks he “mustered” enough
courage to ride to Bethel
on Wednesday. He called on Col C. S.
Edwards, Samuel Philbrook and Mr. K. B. Goddard, the undertaker and furniture
store owner. On the road he had met five two horse teams hauling oak from the
Warren Lots to the chair factory. So he visited the company’s finishing rooms
on Main Street
where he found so many young ladies and no one to introduce him that he decided
to withdraw.
March 15, 1892 (Democrat)
Town Meeting
Elections:
Bethel: Moderator: A.W. Grover
Clerk: L.T. Barker
Selectmen: E.S. Kilborn, Henry Farwell,
H.N. Upton
Treasurer: J.U. Purington
Collector and Constable: T.H. Chapman
Supervisor (Schools): N. F. Brown
Newry: Moderator: N.S.
Baker
Clerk and Treasurer: J.A. Thurston
Selectmen: J.S. Brown, M.L. Thurston, W. L.
Wight
Town Agent: J.S. Brown
Collector and Constable: T.S. Littlehale
Supervisor of Schools: Mary Powers
Gilead: Moderator: D.L.
Austin
Clerk: J. W. Kimball
Selectmen: Albert Bennett, S.A. Coffin, S.
W. Potter
Treasurer: T.G. Lary
Collector: Seth Bemis
Constable: Phelman Harriman
Supervisor: S.W. Potter
Bethel: At the town meeting the usual officers were elected
and the appropriations seem to be about $2,000 less than last year. Everything
passed off quietly until the article for appropriating money for the academy
was called. Then there was considerable wrangling, some speechmaking, etc., but
after two or three votes it was voted by a small majority “that the town
authorize and instruct its supervisor to contract with and pay the trustees of
Gould Academy for tuition of its scholars in accordance with chapter 167,
Public Laws of 1889.” $800 was appropriated for this purpose.
Mr. and Mrs. A.E. Herrick left on a trip to
visit New York,
Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore. J.F. Young, who has had the
management of C. Bisbee’s lower store since it was opened, goes on the road
soon for a prominent Boston
boot and shoe house.
The ladies of the Universalist Society
furnished dinner to all who desired at the hall town meeting day.
E.E. Whitney & Co., marble workers of this
place, has just received a car load of fine marble from Portland.
Mr. J. W. Holden gave a unique lecture at
the academy. He attempted to prove that the earth is flat, this it does not
turn on its own axis nor revolve around the sun. We have not yet heard of any
converts to his theory.
A nice time was enjoyed at the Universalist Circle
at Pattee’s Hall. Mrs. E.C. Rowe, Miss Maud Kimball and Mrs. E. C. Park
entertained.
Butter
factory:
Parties are now canvassing the Bethel
area for cows for the butter factory. Quite a number of cows have been
pledged. The factory is to have the
capacity to handle the cream of 1,000 cows and 500 must be pledged before the
company will proceed. The contract with the patrons contains a clause to the
effect that whenever the subscribers shall organize into an association for
conducting the business and will guarantee a certain per cent annually
invested, then the company shall turn to such association, etc. leaving it all
in the hands of the farmers.
Elmer D. Cole is here from Washington, D.C.,
and will see to the furnishing of the hall and the completing of the work on
Cole Block, of which he is one of the owners.
East Bethel: Sleighing is
disappearing; it seems like spring weather. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Holt of Washington have returned
to their farm and will spend the summer in Bethel.
Porter Farwell has purchased a shingle
machine and intends to put up a mill on Willow Brook near C.C. Kimball’s. E.G. Young has sold his farm to Judson
Bartlett.
Mason: Town meeting passed
off very quietly with nearly the same officers as last year. Snow is fast
disappearing leaving lots of timber in the woods.
D.E. Mills got his poplar all out and is
now drawing birch leaving it on the road to be drawn to West
Bethel on wheels. George Bennett, C. F. Brown and Charles Merrill
are all rushing to get out timber before the snow is gone.
A.S. Bean has almost 300 cords of spruce
bolts for pulp which he intends to drive down Pleasant River
the coming spring. Since this will be
his first drive attempt across the meadows he is feeling anxious about the
outcome. He really wants six weeks of sledding in March.
Albany: The town voted
to purchase a road machine and that the highway tax is to be paid in money and
be expended by the selectmen.
J.J. McAlister shifted his team’s work from
poplar to hauling birch to his new mill in Stoneham. Sickness is still upsetting the
lives of some families here.
West Bethel: S.B. Twitchell is canvassing this part of
town in the interest of the prospective butter factory. He doubts success in
securing enough cows.
West Bethel’s correspondent is
glad to see the interest in educational matters expressed at the Bethel town meeting. Good
Templars will present entertainment at Bean’s Hall.
Eben E. Chapman started for Haverhill, Mass.,
with a car load of potatoes he has raised. The profit of raising and marketing
potatoes this year comes on the wrong side of the ledger. A.W. Grover is loading a half car of cedar
for Aston of Shelburne, N.H.
Newry: J.F. Eames
fractured several ribs when he fell from his load of ice. The school term has
closed at Newry Corner. The town appropriated $20 for the Brown Post G.A.R. of Bethel.
March 22, 1892 (Democrat)
Tipping
in New York: A New York Tribune correspondent has declared
that a decent meal cannot be obtained in New
York unless the waiter is “tipped” before his
customer is served. He adds: “The waiter will not trust you. You must not only
pay dearly for what you eat, but landlords allow you to be subjected to the
insults of unpaid waiters. There are hotels and restaurants in New York which are
shunned by many people because they will not voluntarily subject themselves to
such abuses. And this feeling of opposition to the extortions of waiters is rapidly
growing, and will continue to grow. The hotel and restaurant that will adopt
the stand taken by many similar places in Europe, and put up signs reading, ‘It
is requested that no fees be given to waiters,’ will forthwith see their daily
receipt increase. There is no reason why the public should be compelled to make
up salaries paid by stingy proprietors.
Newry:
Poplar
Hotel:
Irving Stearns and family of Berlin Fall, N.H., have been visiting friends in
town lately. Mr. Stearns, according to reports, has lately traded with C. R.
Bartlett for the Poplar Hotel in this town.
The cold snap of this week was a god-send
to the loggers, as it gives them a chance to complete their operations in the
woods and clear yards of logs.
The winter school at Newry Corner has been
taught by the pastor, Rev. A. K. Bryant. Although a twelve weeks term, owing to
sickness and deaths it was prolonged to
fifteen weeks. When school closed, an exhibition was given at the
church.
Bethel: On March 14,
the Bethel Village Corp., held its annual meeting. Officers elected were:
Moderator, R.A. Frye, Esq.; Clerk, G.R. Wiley; Assessors: Charles Mason, E.S.
Kilborn and H.A. Andrews; Treasurer, E.C. Rowe; Collector, N.F. Brown;
Engineers: J.C. Billings, G.R. Wiley; and N.F. Brown. Appropriations were made
for hydrant service, etc., $200 was appropriated for repairing and lighting
street lamps for the next six months. A committee of J.H. Barrows, Ceylon Rowe
and C.S. Edwards was chosen to investigate changing street lights from kerosene
to electricity. We are to have another town meeting to reconsider the vote that
appropriated $800 for paying Gould
Academy tuition.
Between 300 and 400
cows have been pledged so far for the Bethel Dairy Association. Farmers who at
first had not pledged have now done so and the goal of 500 cows pledged is
expected to be reached soon.
Rev. F.E. Barton of
the Universalist Church read his resignation in church
last Sunday as he has accepted a call to Mechanic Falls.
He has done much to strengthen the church here.
Middle Intervale:
Fine weather. Sick ones are getting better. John Swan and son are
getting wood from the Cummings lot. Ned Carter is attending the academy.
Mason: Good weather for business.
A.S. Bean has extra teams at work to get out his wood.
Albany: We hope la
grippe is over here; only one new case and that was Elmer Saunders, 26, but it
was fatal. He was a member of the Masons, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.
In he latter he was in the “Relief” and assigned $1,500 to his youngest sister.
Many attended his funeral where Rev. Barton of Bethel officiated.
The Grangers had a festival and box supper
at their hall.
Herbert I. Bean and Lucian Andrews will be
re-employed this summer by the same parties in Andover, Mass.,
that they worked for last summer.
March 29, 1982
Country Life on
Abandoned Farms
Taken
from a front page article in The Oxford County Democrat:
Some of those who have obtained the
catalogs of “abandoned farms,” which have been issue by Massachusetts and some
other states, find many of the farms cheap enough, but they object to them
because of the distance from schools and other educational facilities, as
churches, libraries, lecture-rooms, etc., for their children or themselves and
because of the sparsity of population make a small school and perhaps a short
term necessary from lack of funds. Yet upon those same farms, or others near
them or like them, have been reared some of the smartest men and women of the
present day, in more than one of the walks of life.
There are always two sides to a
question. The long walk to and from
school has furnished the exercise needed to get up a healthy development of
muscles, and the “sound mind in the sound body” is better fitted to succeed in
life than the overworked brain supported by a body dwarfed in its muscular
development, and supplied with super-sensitive nerves that are every ready to
bread down at the least departure from a certain monotonous routine or to break
because the routine keeps them always strained to the highest point or as a
musician would say, “ always up to
concert pitch,” where no good instrument can be safely kept long.
If the library is not easily reached, there
may be less of promiscuous reading and more careful perusal of a few good
standard works which it is not difficult or expensive to provide.
(In
1916, my grandparents bought what would be considered an abandoned farm located
in the Sunday River valley for a vacation and
retirement home. Their walking was not
to school or to libraries but in the mountains surrounding them. Note by the
author.)
Newry: Loggers as a
general thing have done well so far; if those who have the driving to do should
succeed as well it will be a prosperous season for all parties. M.L. Thurston
and brother have finished their logging job in Dunn’s Notch and are about to
break camp. C.A. Baker has returned from his logging job in Magalloway.
Wilson’s Mills: J.M. Philbrook and Eli Stearns were in
town from Bethel
last week. Dr. George Hazelton and Dr. Walker, veterinary surgeon of Norway Lake
were at Flint’s
Hotel over Sunday. Furniture and furnishing for indoors and out are going up
each week for the Parmachenee Club’s camp above here. Bearce & Wilson were in town Saturday
(preliminary to spring drives.)
Leap
Year Ball at Bethel: Last Thursday
evening witnessed one of the most successful and prettiest affairs of its kind
seen in Bethel
for a long time - Leap Year Ball at Ideal Hall. Organizers were: Misses Alice Billings,
Jennie Gibson and Maude Kimball. Mrs.
J.F. Young was floor manager. The Opera
House was handsomely decorated (first mention of ‘Opera House’). The party was
large and the galleries filled. Twenty two ladies are listed and their gowns
were described. At eight o’clock
the grand march formed; it was led by Dr. Hill and Miss Alice Billings. Refreshments of ice cream, cake and coffee
were served at intermission.
Magalloway
Plantation Officers:
Moderator:
W.W. Linnell
Clerk: W. W. Fickett
Assessors: H.W. Fickett, Lewis Leavitt,
W.L. Fickett
Treasurer:
D.M. Sturtevant
Collector and Constable: J.G. Wilson
Supervisor: A. W. Linnell
March 31, 1892:
Bethel: Special town
meeting on this date. Warrant: 1. To choose a moderator; 2. to see if the town
will voted to rescind a vote made at the annual meeting to raise and
appropriate $800 to be expended in a contract with Gould’s Academy trustees for
the tuition of scholars in the town of Bethel; 3. to see if the town will
authorize the selectmen to take a lease of Cole’s Hall and one of the offices
to be used for town purposes for the term of 10 years at a yearly rental not to
exceed ($) five dollars per annum.; 4 to see if the town will authorize the
selectmen to purchase a safe to be kept in the office of the selectmen and town
clerk; 5. to see if the town will raise and appropriate an additional sum of
money to defray miscellaneous expenses of the town; 6. to transact any other
legal business brought before the meeting.
R.A.
Frye was chosen moderator. On art 2, it
was voted to rescind the previous vote about contracting with the trustees of
Gould’s Academy. The meeting voted to
‘pass over’ articles 3, 4, and 5.
|
|
Gould Academy: About twenty-five per cent of our
teachers have come from other towns. I think having a few teachers from
other towns creates an interest and we get an insight into different
methods of teaching, but the preference should be given to teachers from
our own town. These are mostly educated at Gould’s Academy. Mr. Hall, the principal
takes great interest in town schools, and has a class for those intending
to teach, and endeavors to have them well fitted for their work, and I
notice that the teachers from our Academy compare favorable with those from
other Institutions in the State. Extract from the
1892 Bethel Schools Report by school Supervisor N.F. Brown
|
|
On
March 26, 1892
Editor
Democrat:
Fulfilling
a promise I made to your readers, last week, I will give you extracts from a letter
received from Dr. G. J. Gehring of Bethel
since his arrival in Berlin.
The doctor needs no introduction from me, yet it may be interesting to your
readers to know that Dr. Gehring is of German parentage, a highly educated
physician, a professor in a medical hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.
His health being much broken, he came to Bethel
some years ago, and became acquainted with Mrs. Susie Marion Farnsworth,
daughter of Dr. N. T. True, and two congenial souls were united in marriage. He
says: Click here to read the letter from Dr.
Gehring.
Click here to continue reading the 1892 Journals
