1895 may be remembered most clearly by recalling two events: The Club House addition to the Poplar Tavern in North Newry and the first edition of The Bethel News.

The Poplar Tavern’s Club House under construction

Courtesy Mrs. Doris Fraser photo collection

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First edition of The Bethel News

Courtesy Bethel Historical Society

The 1895 Journal

January 1895

Oxford County: Decided! The vote to move the county seat was sustained by the Law Court. “Fraud cry and legal technicalities had no weight.” The court ruled that not enough fraudulent or illegal votes were proven to change the result of the county vote. The challenge that $30,000 was not enough to erect suitable county buildings was set aside until later. Building will begin the spring on the lot purchased by the county (on the hill overlooking the South Paris railroad station.

Bethel:

William F. Brown and Sarah W. Grover were married on January 1st by Rev. F.F. Fickett. Ceremony performed at the home of Carrie Sanborn. Farmers are cutting ice. Bethel Chair Factory is putting in several thousand cords of birch and a million or more of long lumber. Eben Kilborn is putting a large amount of birch and dry lumber into James N. Hodgdon’s mill. Twenty horses from Rangeley have gone to Gilead to haul lumber. Some ten million in logs will be cut and put into the Androscoggin this winter. No finer turn-out on our streets than that of Abiel Chandler Jr., with his gay looking team. Herbert C. Rowe returned to school at Chauncey Hall in Boston where he is preparing for the Technology Institution. Brown Post and Women’s Relief Corps installed their officers at Grand Army Hall. Steam Mill news reported family visits, social activities and a good snow storm. Due to ill health, C.E. Benson is selling out his store goods at a discount. There were 22 marriages in Bethel in 1894 compared to 25 in 1893. Bethel: Bethel firemen are anxious to purchase a better bell because the present bell is not loud enough to be heard throughout the village. They plan to have entertainment to raise funds around Washington’s birthday. Abiel Chandler Jr., has the agency for the celebrated Farmington sleighs costing from $40 to $80. Large amounts of lumber are being landed at Bethel Chair Factory.

Steam Mill news: All who have ice houses are busy storing ice. When a mill saw and ax were the only tools used, it was considered a hard job. But the advent of the ice plough and other modern tools makes quick work—saves lots of hard work. The Tennis Club has planned an entertainment program to be put on at Garland Chapel. Those participating are Joan Stearns, Norman Gehring, Fred Merrill, Florence Carter, Robert Foster, George Farnsworth, Alice Russell, Bertha Wiley, Walter Lawrence, Barry Glidden, Eva Twaddle and Ethel Richardson. The Advertiser is available at G. R. Wiley’s for 4 cents each. J.G. Rich is agent for the Advertiser. Last Saturday the Odd Fellows gave a fine reception at their hall. There was a good sprinkling of ladies and gentlemen from Bryant’s Pond, Paris and Norway who came on the 8 P.M. train. Mount Abram Lodge I.O.O.F. installed the following men as new officers: L.S. Coburn, H.C. Philbrook, C.S. York, S.I. French, Henry Farwell, J.W. Smith, A.C. Frost, W. Gunther, Charles Mason, Thomas Kendall, George Lawrence and C.S. Sanborn.

South Bethel: R.J. Virgin is putting several new machines into his mill. Trains get stuck almost daily on the (up) grade here. South Bethel: E.F. Cushman is cutting and hauling his pine to Virgin’s mill. Charles Snow and Elias Bartlett are cutting it for him.

West Bethel: The laborers at the village mill of our lumber king (A.S. Bean) struck for shorter days—desiring a 10 hour day. Papers were signed and sent to the proprietor. He took the matter calmly saying he hoped that he would not have to call for government troops to quell the riot and keep the peace. The matter has been settled and the men go about their work with smiling faces.

North Bethel/ Sunday River - J.A. Thurston is moving the machinery from his old mill in Ketchum to Swan’s Corner.

Albany: Round Mountain Grange officers were installed by State Deputy Valentine of Bethel. Several visitors from Bethel Grange were present. Songo Pond District - Roscoe Emery is hauling pine for Frank Emery to Mr. Hodgdon’s mill in Bethel. Albany: A Mr. Hodgdon (see September 1894, dam and mill near old corn shop) of Bethel is buying birch and pine of F. Emery.

Northwest Bethel: Hannibal Chapman from Colby and Miss Marion from Smith College and Master Jack Chapman from Hebron Academy spent holidays at the “Homestead”.

East Bethel: Our new postmaster, F.B. Howe, has appointed W.H. Tracy assistant postmaster and moved the post office into his store. Charles W. Howe and G. Forrest Bartlett of Butte, Montana are visiting family and friends here.

Locke’s Mills: Our station agent, Walter F. Carr, has left for home in Canada due to notice that his mother was dangerously ill.

Mason: Asa Prescott has moved from West Bethel into A.S. Bean’s new house at the mill. He will run the engine by day. A.S. Bean’s steam mill has started sawing spool strips.

Newry: J.F. Coolidge hauled the remainder of the steamer to Upton last week. The large wheel had been at E.R. Lane’s since the boat was taken up. (See 1894, 12/18/1894, Newry – refers to moving the steamboat, North Star, from Hanover to the lakes)

North Newry: Frank Bennett is keeping 14 head of cattle and 9 milch cows this winter. He sends his cream to the butter factory in Bethel. He also has 6 horses, 37 sheep and four hogs. Ed Chapman has nine cattle and keeps seven cows for the butter factory. C.A. and J. B. Littlehale and Dennis Kilgore have been getting their ice. Orin Foster has two teams hauling ice for him. At Bart Knapp’s, Mrs. Knapp showed us presents from her daughter, Mrs. (John) Danforth. Mrs. D spends her summers at Parmachenee and her winters in Florida.

Gilead: D.R. Hastings, 2d, is surveying (scaling ?) logs at Staples mill. J.B. Harriman of Lisbon is surveying (scaling ?)logs for the Androscoggin Water Power Company in town and in the vicinity. Ice is being cut and stored. T.J. Kimball of Albany is in Gilead building a mill furnace for Mr. Staples.

Hastings: D.R. Hastings has a contract to deliver several hundred cords of birch to J.W. Bennett of Gilead. Part will be hauled by teams and part by rail cars.

Wilsons Mills: Mrs. A. W. Fickett is spending a few weeks at John Olson’s.

February 1895

Bethel: The Women’s Relief Corps is busy making bedding and clothing to send to the Soldiers’ Home at Newport. From a trip to Locke’s Mills correspondent Chandler reported seeing a lively business. The Tibbett’s Spool Mill is doing well. New machinery has been set up and several new men are employed there. At the Steam Mill in Bethel, things are at a standstill for a few days on account of the storm. J.P. Skillings is replacing his mill engine with a small one to save on fuel. At the Middle Intervale a road machine is in action to break out our roads due to a large amount of snow. Gould Academy gave an athletic exhibition at Odeon Hall assisted by Prof. George Foster of Bowdoin who is the best indoor gymnastics coach around. The program included ladies and gentlemen dumb bell drill, jumping, horizontal bars, tumbling, boxing, tambourine drill by the ladies, parallel bars, fencing, Indian club drill and the program ended with a social dance. Music was provided by a five piece orchestra from Dixfield. (This did not actually occur until about Feb 18th; it was postponed because of snow and extreme cold.)

A funeral procession for the Hon. George H. Brown of Mason was stuck in a snow drift trying to get to Mason from Bethel. The travelers had gone via Songo Pond and Albany. They had to leave their team at Mr. Heath’s and foot it through a blinding blizzard at 10 degrees below zero. L.T. Barker drove the hearse and eventually made it on time after being shoveled out several times along the way. He had to stay in Mason over night.

Mrs. C.S. Littlehale, Miss E.E. Burnham, Anna Cross and Mrs. M.C. Bean of the Women’s Relief Corps and Abiel Chandler, Jr., and S.B. Frost of Brown Grand Army Post attended the Grand Army encampment at Skowhegan. The Home and Foreign Missionary Society under the charge of its President Calvin Bisbee gave a concert to a full house at the Methodist Church. Eben Kilborn has put in some 400 cords of birch into James Hodgdon’s mill to be sawed into spool and dowel strip stock. He has also put into Morrill’s mill below (Hodgdon’s mill on Mill Brook) a sea of lumber to be sawed into boards. The banks of the stream and the ice in the pond are just covered with long timber drawn mostly from Albany (by Kilborn) and his 800 acre lot in Bethel. Bethel Chair Company is doing big business. A large amount of timber is being hauled from Chapman Mt. by teams from West Paris.

The Reading Room Association has decided to continue another year with the same board of directors, Rev. Barton, Annie Cross and Annie Frye. This year the reading room will open at 3 P.M. instead of 2 P.M. No magazines or books are to be taken from the room (in Odeon Hall) - these books and magazines are loaned by families who support the reading room program. Bethel has had very cold weather with temperatures in the 17 to 20 below zero range. It is blustering weather, too, which has deterred students from attending school and Gould Academy closed due to lack of numbers (of scholars). The firemen’s entertainment at Odeon Hall raised $85 towards purchasing a new fire alarm bell for installation at the hose company’s station next to the Common.

Officer C.H. Barker reported that he had cared for 157 tramps at the Bethel Lock-Up and four female tramps during the last year. He has had 50 prisoners to care for and has also set up and maintained the lock-up’s court room for 19 court cases. Bethel’s best talent is rehearsing for an old folk’s concert at Dr. Gehring’s home. Their performance is scheduled for a few weeks hence. J.A. Thurston has fitted up a mill at Swan’s Corner and will start up soon. He has several thousand cords of birch to be cut into spool strips. Bethel’s snow plough drawn by six horses under management of Benjamin Kimball assisted by Eddie Bean and Wallace Farwell is doing the work on our streets. Mr. Kimball handles his six horses with greatest ease and leaves a smooth road behind. S.B. Twitchell our tax collector has collected $7,000 of the $12,000 tax of 1894.