FRANKLIN RICHARDSON, MAINE’S FAMOUS VIOLIN MAKER

by Dale Potter-Clark

Franklin Richardson was born in Mercer in 1825 where he learned from his father how to play the fife at a young age. At age 14 Franklin heard the violin played for the first time and became enamored by the instrument. He was offered that violin for $3.00 and his father agreed to buy it if the boy could learn to play within a week. Franklin was able to play “Auld Lang Syne” in less than an hour. He soon learned to make violins as well.

To make a living Franklin became a tailor and set-up shop in Norridgewock at age 21. He continued in that trade for more than two decades except for three years in the Union Army and one other hiatus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  

In 1848, Franklin and a brother went to Milwaukee, where Franklin opened a dance studio. He also played in an orchestra on “The Empire State” – the largest steamer on the Great Lakes until it sank in July 1849. Whether Franklin was on board and escaped is not known, but it is known that he returned to Mercer soon afterwards and returned to tailoring.

He married Parthenia Chapman of Mt. Vernon in 1852 and moved to Mt. Vernon village where he continued tailoring and making violins. Parthenia died a year later and he wed Mary P. Neal of Vienna. They had seven children born 1857-1872. All but the youngest two were born in Mt. Vernon, including daughter Mary Neal Richardson in 1859.

Franklin enlisted in the Union Army in 1863 where he organized and led the brass band for the 10^th Maine Regiment under General Ulysses S. Grant. Soon after his discharge he moved his family to Canton, where he bought a farm on Canton Lake and continued his trades.

Following the Civil War, pre-made clothing became popular and Franklin’s tailor business steadily declined so he began a photography business – all the while making violins. He also played his instruments at special events and he gave dance lessons. Franklin was an old time dancing master until age 70. By age 83 he had made more than 200 violins. At the time they fetched a price of anywhere from $25 to $100. In the recent past a Richardson violin sold at auction for $3,375.

Although his children grew up in a creative home it appears that only Mary entered the arts as a profession. She became a nationally renowned artist who painted portraits and landscapes for decades at Fenway Studios in Boston, and at her summer studio in Canton. In 1909 Franklin was interviewed for a Lewiston newspaper article titled “Canton’s Famous Old Violin Maker”.  He was making four violins for his great-grandsons at the time and still farming his homestead on Canton Lake. Six years later the “Who's Who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women” listed both Franklin and his daughter Mary. He died the same year of senile dementia. His death certificate gives his occupation simply as “violin maker”.

Dale Potter-Clark writes about local history and old families. She recently co-authored “The Founders and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids’ Camps on Four Lakes in Central Maine.”

In April 2018, this article appeared in several Turner Publishing Maine newspapers in central and western Maine.

CHASE & SANBORN CONNECTIONS TO CENTRAL MAINE

by Dale Potter-Clark

In walking through grocery stores I sometimes wonder about the people on product labels. Chase & Sanborn recently caught my interest because one of my ancestral lines is Sanborn. Any connection, I wondered? A subsequent search revealed an interesting story about James Solomon Sanborn.

 

James was an only child, born in Wales, Maine in 1835. His grandfather, Moses, moved there from Epping, NH about 1808. The next two generations spread their tentacles into Winthrop, Monmouth, Leeds, Greene, Augusta, Lewiston and Poland.  James childhood was spent on Sanborn Road in East Monmouth where his father, Henry, and his maternal grandfather, Dr. Abial Daly, homesteaded. James lived or owned property in several of the aforementioned towns at some point, but a venture in Boston is where he made a mark that endured – Chase & Sanborn.

 

By 1870 James was living in Lewiston where he had started J.S. Sanborn, Co. selling spices, tea and coffee. In 1872 he moved his wife, widowed mother and four children to the Boston area. Caleb Chase had moved there from Harwich, MA and began a coffee roasting business. Since James was a coffee seller it was only a matter of time before they met.  The two men partnered to form Chase & Sanborn Coffee and Tea Co. in 1874 and established headquarters in a five-story building on Broad St. in Boston They were masters at marketing. Among their strategies was the application of placards across the entire width of their building, between every floor, touting the nature of their enterprise. Business flourished!

 

Until that time individuals bought coffee beans from local grocers and hand ground them at home. Chase & Sanborn ground and packaged them in sealed cans at their business in Boston. Their product was the first to be sold as such and it became a phenomenon in New England. They next hired salesmen throughout the U.S. and Canada, making Chase & Sanborn the first ground coffee to be sold from coast to coast. By 1893 their product had become so revered that Chase & Sanborn was chosen to supply all the coffee for the Chicago World’s Fair - a huge boon to their business!

 

Coffee was not James Sanborn’s only interest. In the 1890s he bought Maine Farmer, a popular weekly newspaper in Augusta, ME. Founded in Winthrop in 1842, it was moved to Augusta in 1844 where it remained until the Portland Press Herald bought it in 1921. Sanborn owned Maine Farmer until his death in 1903. In that interim he authored, "A Short History of the Ideal Gentlemen's' Road Horse Past and Present”, which leads us to his other interest - horses!

 

After residing in Boston for several years Sanborn yearned for country living. In 1886 he bought “Elmwood Farm”, an estate on 250 acres in East Poland, ME. It became his summer residence and the location for a stock farm from which he sold highbred horses. Building clientele required salesmanship so once again he put his promotional skills to work.  Three miles from there was the famous Poland Spring Hotel and one mile down the road was the Empire train station. Incoming guests arrived by train in those days and they disembarked at Empire Station.  Sanborn used his influence and convinced Maine Central Railroad to rename it the Elmwood Farm Station, giving his stock business name significant visibility with minimal effort and no cost. Many of his horses were sold to Poland Spring Hotel guests.

 

Within a year Sanborn added a 150x44 ft. two story barn - said to be the biggest and best in New England. It held a creamery, ice house, refrigerator, and a churn that could produce 40 lbs of butter at one time. The full, well-lit cellar was divided into manure vaults, pigpens, horse stalls, and space for vegetables. An 8 HP engine provided power for saws, churns, cutting silage and pumping water. Another wing stored carriages and farm implements. The second level held a workshop and sleeping quarters for the farm help and groom. Only one of two 12x14x36ft silos was filled at first – an indication the complex would be enlarged - and enlarged it was. Over the next few years Sanborn expanded Elmwood Farm to include 500 acres, an apple orchard of 600 trees, a Colonial mansion; six large stock barns; two farmhouses; two cottages; and blacksmith and carpentry shops. His farm animals included registered Holstein cattle, sheep, swine and horses. Windmills on the property provided the power that fed spring water to a tower large enough to supply every building. Sanborn also added a quarter mile trotting track and a 150x50 foot covered riding rink. These were used to train, exercise and show his horses.   

 

Sanborn sold registered French coach stallions and brood mares. His prize was Gemare, a thoroughbred Arabian stallion that stood 16 hands high, and weighed 1,250 pounds. Few living horses of the time held blood lines of so many famous equines as Gemare.  He was imported from France and Sanborn purchased him for $4,000 ($100,000+ in today’s dollars). From the time he bought Elmwood Farm in 1886 until his death in 1903 Sanborn built a reputation for producing superior road horses – some said the best in America. He sold hundreds of stallions, brood mares, drivers and young stock to patrons from all over the U.S. and Canada. Not to be outdone, his registered Holsteins also took prizes from the Holstein-Friesian Association of America.

 

Unlike Chase & Sanborn, there is no sign of Elmwood Farm today except for some foundation remnants. Lifetime Poland resident Louise Roberts, 84, recalls the last days of Elmwood Farm. “It changed hands many times after Sanborn owned it” she said. “A dance hall was even there at one time before it finally burned and there is nothing left there now.”

 

Oh yes, was he related to me you ask? Yes, James Solomon Sanborn was my 5^th cousin 5 times removed. Genealogy can be so much fun!

 

Dale Potter-Clark writes articles, monographs and blogs about local history and old families. She recently co-authored the book “Founders and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids’ Camps on Four Lakes in Central Maine”.

An abbreviated version of this story appeared in several editions of newspapers in central and western Maine in February 2018.

 

ALVIN ORLANDO LOMBARD – INVENTOR AND LEGEND by Dale Potter-Clark

Alvin O. Lombard was born in Springfield, Maine in 1856, the son of Johnson Lombard - a sawmill owner. When other boys his age were entering the third grade Lombard was bundling shingles in his father’s mill. He received little formal schooling but he had a brilliant mind and taught himself reading, writing, arithmetic and advanced mathematics.

By the time Lombard was twelve he was considered the most expert shingle-buncher in Maine. His father soon placed him in other positions as a lumberjack, swamper, river driver and sawyer. Those experiences and his creative genius melded and served him well. 

Lombard loved to build things and even as a child he had the remarkable ability to envision designs of machinery. As a young adult he conjured up the idea for a regulator with which to govern the power generated by water turbines. No one had ever heard of such a thing and did not take him seriously, but his younger brother Samuel was a machinist and agreed to build one for him. That invention was so successful that Lombard immediately built a bigger one and installed it on the water wheel that powered the Bangor street railway. He afterwards left the lumbering business to manufacture governors which he did for six years - until he sold his company and used the capital to become a full time inventor. Lombard was on his way to fame and fortune!

Lombard invented several machines that improved production in the lumbering, transportation and paper making industries: a de-barker; a pulpwood crusher; a pine knots separator; an automatic pulpwood chop saw; a road machine; a dog sled; a traction engine; and a tractor-truck as well as other smaller equipment. The invention he is known best for, and the one that made him an infamous millionaire, was the Lombard Hauler. By then he was a resident of Waterville and in business with his brother Samuel.

Why Lombard ended up moving to Waterville is not known. He married a Waterville girl in 1875, but they lived in Springfield for the next twenty years. More than likely he saw potential to build and market his inventions in the industrial towns of Waterville – Winslow. But, before they moved he made sure his only child, Grace, received a formal education that far exceeded his own. Following the primary grades Grace attended Lee Academy (Normal School), and graduated from Bangor Business School. Only then did her father move them to Waterville.

In 1895 Lombard bought land in Waterville at 225 College Avenue, where he set up a machine shop and used his skills as a blacksmith. In 1899 he met E.J. Lawrence, a Kennebec lumberman, who thought Lombard worthy of inventing a mechanical log hauler. Until then draft horses were utilized for this task, and there was some limited use of logging railroads, but horses tired and could only work for a few hours at a time; and rails also had significant limitations. Lombard had thought about such an invention himself, so rose to the task. He first built a wooden model of a steam powered machine. The front was supported on a pair of sled runners; the locomotive was equipped in back by a pair of endless tracks instead of large drive wheels. Lombard enlisted Waterville Iron Works to build a prototype, and he applied for the patent.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1900 the first ever continuous track machine, that Lombard affectionately called “Mary-Ann”, was fired up for the first time.  Lawrence was impressed and ordered three.  Years later Lombard would refer to “Mary Ann” as the granddaddy of all present day tractors. Five more of the 19 ton machines were built and sold in the next three years. The machine could haul sleds holding 300 tons of logs on snow iced roads. A crew of four was needed to operate the Lombard Hauler – an engineer, a fireman, a conductor who connected and inspected each sled, and a steersman who sat up front by the smokestack. His job was the most dangerous because he was often blinded by belching smoke. The Hauler hit 5mph at top speed but it had no brakes, so on a steep downgrade, with 200-300 tons of logs in tow, it provided some frightening rides and crashes. In spite of the risks it became a popular machine to men in the logging trade.

In 1904 there was great excitement when Lombard held a demonstration in Colebrook, NH. He hooked his Hauler up to a string of sleds holding 40,000 board feet of logs. “Thousands of people lined the road” Lombard said. “They came from Boston and from the lumber mills and the woods.” The demonstration so impressed one lumberman that he wrote a $5,000 check ($127,000 today) and bought the machine then and there. 

A contemporary of the Stanley (Steamer) brothers, Lombard developed a running steam-engine car in 1899 which gained attention when he drove it about town. He aborted that project, however, to build more Lombard Haulers - eighty-three of them by 1917. When gas engines came into vogue he designed two six-cylinder gasoline engines. About 10 years later he introduced a 10-ton tractor-truck powered by a diesel engine that could handle 250 tons on icy roads.  The gas and diesel versions did not resemble the steam haulers; the fronts were more like heavy duty trucks with front wheels instead of runners. They were used as heavy dump trucks and to push snowplows. The back end resembled WWII half-tracks. Speaking of which, Lombard’s track-wheeled vehicle served as a model for military tanks as well as today’s bulldozers and snowmobiles.

Lombard Tractor and Truck Company in Waterville

The business name was changed from Lombard Traction Engine Co. to Lombard Tractor and Truck Company in 1927. They continued to manufacture Lombard Haulers until 1937, when the company that made Caterpillar tractors seized the market. Lombard had retired from active participation in the company years before to pursue full time inventing. In fact, in 1929 he applied for a patent for a car-to-snowmobile conversion. Another forward-thinking creation!

The Alvin Lombard house at 65 Elm St. Waterville

Lombard bought land on Elm Street in 1908 and built a stately home. The property, although converted to apartments by daughter Grace in the 1940s, is still known today as “Lombard Estates”. His secluded workshop, located on a nearby stream, beckoned to him daily. His machine tools were powered by a water wheel that was regulated by the very governor he had invented years before, which he always considered his greatest invention. Sometimes, as a reminder of his youth, he took to the woods and chopped down some trees - always a woodsman at heart. Alvin O. Lombard died in 1937 – six years after his wife Mary. Both are buried in Waterville’s Pine Grove Cemetery.

Some Lombard Haulers have been restored and are on display across the country including in Waterville, Patten, Leonard’s Mills and the Maine State Museum. In 1982 the Lombard Hauler was designated as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Alvin O. Lombard’s legacy lives on in yet another realm. In 1960 the highest peak on the Cape Sobral Peninsula in Antarctica, was named Mount Lombard in honor of the man and his extraordinary invention.  

Photos below are from an edition of Popular Science Magazine 

From the Kennebec Journal in 1937.

LAFAYETTE MASONIC LODGE IN READFIELD GETS A FACELIFT

In driving through Readfield Corner these days one cannot help but notice a change taking place. The green exterior of the “Masonic block” has disappeared and is being replaced by new gray siding. “I do not recall it being any other color but green” said Evelyn Adell Potter, 86, lifetime resident and Readfield Historian. A surprise discovery was made when it was removed - the original brown clapboards, added in 1921 when the building was constructed, are still in place. Ed Dodge of Readfield, Mason and treasurer for 50+ years, said “They don’t look too bad but maintenance of the wooden clapboards would create too much labor and expense.” He and the lodge secretary John Lord both shared that Readfield Masons are able to install the new siding, and they’ve also repaired the roof, because of a bequest from Readfield native Thomas Adell, who died in February of 2013. He was a member of the lodge for more than 50 years and the Post Master at Readfield Corner Post Office for nearly 30 years, which is located on the first floor of the building. “He loved the Masons and did a lot for them through the years” said Potter, his niece.

 

The Masons have existed in Readfield for 190 years but, as a “secret society”, their ceremonies and the services they provide have been conducted more discreetly than this building project. In 1909 a comprehensive history of their Lafayette Lodge No. 48 was compiled. The book gives details of various members including support extended to some Masons in need, their surviving widows and children and community events. For instance, when they found one fellow Mason’s widow was “feeble in health and destitute of funds...” not only did they help her at that moment but they supported her for the following twenty-six years.

 

The first record of the Mason’s presence in this town was in 1817 when Temple Lodge in Winthrop invited some Readfield men to join them. Over the next few years ten men joined the Winthrop group and in 1825 they petitioned for their own charter. Purportedly they chose “Lafayette Lodge” as the name because of the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Maine that same year. The charter was granted on January 13, 1826 and the first three meetings were held in homes at Readfield Corner. Almost immediately arrangements were made to construct a hall on the second floor of a store on the north side of Main Street. Concurrently the new lodge members made plans to lay a cornerstone for the Union Meeting House (UMH) and help with its construction. Many of the UMH founders were also Masons and over the years they held a number of events and ceremonies there.

 

Meetings were held regularly until the “Dark Days of Masonry” - a national movement against the Masons that arose following a scandal in New York. Meetings ceased in Readfield from 1832 until September of 1849 when a few members came back together after seventeen years of silence. The revived order leased the second floor of a building on the south side of Main Street; steady growth ensued to eventually reach an active membership of 156, according to Lord. Lafayette Lodge expanded their space to include the third floor and in 1917 they purchased the entire building.

 

On June 11, 1921 lightning struck a kerosene barrel in the store adjacent to the Masonic Lodge. With that, a fire started that destroyed most of the buildings at Readfield Corner. According to an account by the late Roy Giles, he and another Mason were able to save an armful of record books, papers and the secretary’s desk from the Masonic Lodge but all other contents were destroyed. The Masons rebuilt on the original foundation but plans for a larger structure required additional land so an adjoining lot was purchased. Three months after the fire a ceremonial setting of the cornerstone was held.  They took out a mortgage to rebuild which was not discharged until 1969 when, interestingly enough, Thomas Adell was Master of the lodge.

 

In 1974 the Masons bought property on the east side of the Masonic Hall, tore down the deteriorating house and turned the vacant lot into a parking area. The Lafayette Lodge has rented their first floor to several entities since 1921 including merchants, insurance agents, a radio and TV repairman, beauticians, gift shops, bakeries, the Readfield Telephone and Telegraph Company and, since 1963, the U.S. Post Office. Lodge membership has dwindled to sixty-five, according to Lord, but dedicated members continue to meet on a regular basis. The Temple Masonic Lodge and Abenaki Eastern Star from Winthrop meet at Lafayette Lodge now as well.

 

Thanks to Adell’s bequest roof repairs have been completed and the installation of new siding is well underway. “This is an expensive project” said Dodge. “Adell’s bequest gave an excellent kick-start but we do need to raise more funds to completely finance the job.”  Dodge explained that a longtime member has pledged $20,000 if Lafayette Lodge can raise an equal amount. Letters have gone out to members and contributions have come in from some of them. Several townspeople and family members of Masons have given as well. “We appreciate any help people are willing to give towards reaching the $20,000 match. The results of these efforts will last through our lifetimes and we hope for a long time into the future.” Contributions can be sent to Lafayette Building Corp. PO Box 243 Readfield, ME 04355. Those with interest in joining the Masons can contact any member they know, or can call John Lord at 685-4266.

 

As for future projects, Lord and Dodge shared that Lafayette Lodge #48 wants to meld the past with the present by establishing an area of recognition and memoriam inside the Masonic Lodge. “Family members sometimes contact us to offer memorabilia from Readfield Masons who have passed” said Dodge. We would like to create a place of honor and remembrance for them.”

 

Dale Potter-Clark is a local author, founding member and consultant for Readfield Historical Society and organizes "Readfield History Walks". FMI readfieldmaine.blogspot.com 

(c) 2016 All Rights Reserved by Dale Potter-Clark

This article appeared in Lakes Region Reader Nov. 2016

CAMP SKOGLUND’S WILBUR NELSON CELEBRATES 60 YEARS RUNNING A SUMMER CAMP

Soon after the close of WWII Wilbur Nelson, a young Navy veteran from “the Garden State,” entered the New Jersey State Teachers' College. At about the same time he was hired to work for several summers as a counselor at Camp Winnebago in Fayette. He expected to become a teacher but little did he know that owning his own boys’ camp was also in his future.

 

In the years that followed Wilbur spent two weeks to a month of each summer in Maine which gave him ample time to explore and become familiar with the area. “During all the early years of me coming here” related Wilbur “the (original Mowana) camp in West Mount Vernon stood idle. I asked around about it and someone told me to go see Charlene Adams in Readfield; she owned it but I was told it wasn’t for sale” said Wilbur. He found out from Charlene it could be and the two of them struck a deal. He bought the camp in 1956.

 

“It was a small piece of land a little over an acre with 350 feet along the shore. All there was for buildings was a two story house with a walkway down the middle. There were rooms for the kids upstairs, the mess hall was downstairs. That same summer Wilbur bought some abutting land from Ruth and Stanley Hight to increase the size of his camp’s grounds to twenty-eight acres. The expansion provided space for an athletic field and more buildings.

 

During the spring of 1956 Wilbur took the existing structure down and burned it, then he cleared an area and built four 15x15 ft. sleeping cabins that could accommodate six to eight boys each. He put up an A Frame recreation hall which also served as the lodge. Then he named the camp Skoglund which is Norwegian for “Woodland” explained Wilbur. “Both of my parents were born in Norway.”

 

Skoglund opened in 1957 with twenty-five boys in attendance. Enrollment gradually increased to seventy-five and ultimately to one-hundred campers ages 9 to 15. They came from New Jersey, Sweden, Germany, Mexico, Japan and other parts of the U.S. All of the counselors had been campers themselves at one time or another which helped assure smooth operations.

 

Activities included athletics, water games, canoeing and swim meets. Campers also trekked to the Rangeley area and Moosehead Lake for canoe trips; and to the White Mountains and Tumbledown Mountain for hiking and climbing. More locally an annual canoe adventure down “Thirty Mile River” was enjoyed. Each morning the boys were provided with music books and they joined together in song. This author, who once lived a short distance from Skoglund, well remembers hearing their bugle reveille every morning through most of July and August. It was a welcome sound that cast the vision of a group of hearty, smiling boys who were eager to begin their day on the lake.

 

When asked if he had any humorous stories to share Wilbur told about his strategy when the boys got rowdy in their cabins late at night. “We had midnight rides. I loaded them up in the camp truck and drove them out to the Armstrong (Five Seasons) Road and dropped them off. They were ready to sleep by the time they walked back to Skoglund.” The “night walkers” did not know that adult eyes were watching from a distance to make sure they safely returned.

 

“Uncle Will”, as his campers called him, soon gained a reputation as a “second Dad” – for some he was the only Dad they ever knew. Many of the boys worked through problems and gained self-confidence at Skoglund according to Wilbur. One former camper explained that Uncle Will liked the lost cause kids. “He took them under his wing, turned them around and had a big impact.” Another revealed that if it had not been for Wilbur he probably would not be here today. “I was an angry kid. My father had just left… Coming to Skoglund was a make it or break it for me” he said with a quiver in his lip. He made it! One alumnus described his experience as “empowering”. And yet another related that his years there were the happiest in his life and that he still thinks about the camp all the time. In hearing a dozen or so former campers speak about Skoglund and Uncle Will their love and admiration is undeniable! One remarked “He commanded respect and you gave it without question. Wilbur Nelson is the best human being I have ever met”.

 

Nelson is the late comer compared to other camp founders. But unlike most of them who kept up the fast pace of running a kids’ camp for fifteen to twenty years at most, he did it for thirty-three years! Skoglund ceased operating as a boys’ camp in 1990 but Wilbur wasn’t done yet. He and his daughter Rondi converted Skoglund into a family summer resort. “I’m so happy that Rondi is interested” he said “and that it will still go on.” Since they converted to rental cottages many Skoglund alumni return to stay there with their families during the summer. “I can still hear the kids playing on the waterfront” said Wilbur. “I like that.” 

 

Wilbur is still going strong at age ninety-one - six decades after he founded Camp Skoglund for boys. Today he and Rondi run Camp Skoglund for their love of the place and the people who return year after year. These words on their web site convey their sentiments well – “We want to continue sharing our idyllic summer home…”

 

This story is an excerpt from a newly released book “The Founders and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids’ Camps on four lakes in Central Maine”, co-authored by Dale Potter-Clark and Charles L. Day, Jr. Copies of the book can be purchased online at http://readfieldmaine.blogspot.com 

(C) 2016 All Rights Reserved by Dale Potter-Clark

This article appeared in Lakes Region Reader August 26, 2016.

Wilbur died peacefully in his sleep Oct. 14, 2016 at his home in Summit, New Jersey soon after Rondi had returned him there from Camp Skoglund after sixty successful seasons. Rest in Peace, Wilbur.

THE LEGACY OF DR. WARREN A. WRIGHT

Dr. Warren A. Wright is a name that appears often in Readfield’s historical records and narratives. The youngest of six children, he was born in Palmyra, Maine in 1837 to Ruel and Fanny (Strickland) Wright. The Wrights are an old New England family - Dr. Warren Wright’s 5^th great grandfather, Deacon John Wright, immigrated to Massachusetts from England before 1630. The first of this line to move to Maine was his father Ruel about 1815, when most of Maine was still wilderness. To function as a country doctor in 19^th century Readfield Dr. Wright had to have high principles, a strong work ethic and commitment to his community. From what we know about him, that was all true.

Warren Wright received his secondary education from Hartland Academy in Hartland, ME. He also attended “Corcuma Academy”- presumably the study of pharmaceuticals. According to the Harvard Alumni Directory he attended Harvard Medical School in Boston 1861-62. The Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929 says he received his Maine license to practice allopathic medicine in 1862. That same year our subject appeared on the Readfield tax roll as a 25 year old physician. He must have endured some scrutiny as a newcomer! For nearly 75 years the people of Readfield had been treated by two doctors who were father and son - the doctors Currier. Old Dr. Samuel Currier had been the physician in our town for decades when he died in 1848 and then his son, Dr. George Currier, carried on their practice. The son Dr. Currier died in 1863, the year after Dr. Wright arrived. Perhaps Dr. Currier had an awareness of his own declining health which motivated him to recruit the young doctor? Whatever the case Dr. Wright must have been a welcome addition at a vital crossroads in our town’s history!

 Dr. Warren Wright was a busy man from the first and, in spite of his youth, he soon proved himself worthy of respect. He came to Readfield in the throes of the Civil War and our town was reeling from its affects. Readfield’s population was 1,500+ in 1860 and an astounding 10% enlisted for military service in the three years that followed. During Dr. Wright’s first two years in Readfield twenty-seven families were impacted because their sons were wounded, killed in action or died in prison camps. The emotional wounds and physical toll on the men who returned home, and on their families, was beyond measure. The railroad had come to town a few years prior and had brought with it new problems and unanticipated financial strain to the town – such as itinerants, who often required medical attention. Multiple factories and farms meant injuries and infections were common. Since there were no antibiotics those infected wounds or fractured limbs often meant amputation – then emotional scars and financial strain soon followed. The childbirth rate was increasing and complicated births and the death rates of mothers, infants and young children was distressingly high everywhere. Consumption, diphtheria, kidney disease, heart failure and scarlet fever were all too common in addition to other afflictions. But Dr. Wright was up to the challenge and settled in for an admirable lifetime medical career that lasted nearly 60 years. He came to be a much beloved physician among our townspeople.

Dr. Wright delivered many children in Readfield and the surrounding area during the mid 19^th into the early 20^th century. He devotedly ministered to the poor as well as to those who could afford medical care. He took his call to service very seriously – sometimes placing himself in peril to do so. When Readfield’s roads were still dirt, and in poor condition, people sometimes chose to travel the frozen lakes rather than riding the rutted and muddy roads. It is said that in late winter / early spring, when the ice was getting dangerously thin, Dr. Wright often took chances in order to reach a laboring mother or sick child in time. His carriage could be seen flying across our ponds as he whipped his horse to full speed. Fortunately he always managed to keep ahead of any breaking ice, but on more than one occasion he and his horse and carriage nearly fell through.  This story leads me to believe he must have sported a sense of adventure.

In the midst of his busy medical practice Dr. Wright also took interest and found time to become involved in a business. In 1880 Thomas U. French of Chesterville purchased the old carding and fulling mill in West Mt. Vernon and had it moved south and across the road. The next year those buildings provided a start when, for $14,000, French and Dr. Wright partnered to build a tannery and chimney at the head of Taylor Pond. The tannery had become one of the most important industries in the area when they sold in 1900. The massive building burned later, in 1912, and the business died but the chimney in West Mt. Vernon remains a landmark to this day.

Dr. Warren Wright had bought property on the west side of Church Road in 1866 on which there was a small Cape Cod house. In 1877 he bought a lot across the street and had his Cape Cod house moved there (25 Church Rd), where it still stands today. He then had a large house built on his lot adjacent to/north of the Union Meeting House, which has been known as the "Dr. Wright house" ever since. 

Dr. Wright married Mary Jane Goodwin and they had six children between the years 1867-1879. Three died in infancy – including their youngest child and only daughter, Julia. Four days before Christmas in 1899 Mary Jane Wright died. She was 58 years old and the cause of death was listed as rheumatic neuralgia. In 1913 his eldest son Willis, who was a farmer in Mt. Vernon at the time, developed bladder disease and died of uremic poisoning. Dr. Wright signed both Mary Jane’s and Willis’ death certificates as attending physician. How saddened he must have been that he could not save the lives of his own wife and four children!

The widowed Dr. Wright and two of his grown sons, Arthur and Charles, lived at the big house alone for three years until he married Ellen Dorothy Fogg – a maiden lady from a well known family in town. He was 65 and Nellie, as she was called, was 44. There was a grand wedding at the Fogg Homestead. Engraved invitations were mailed, the best table settings were brought out and guests came from miles around dressed in their finery. Among artifacts and other Fogg family memorabilia Nellie’s wedding dress was recently donated to Readfield Historical Society by the Fogg family where it is now on display. Dr. Wright and Nellie lived in the big house on Church Road throughout their 17 yrs of marriage. Dr. Wright carried on his busy medical practice for the rest of his life, and he continued to hold the admiration of townspeople. He was also revered by Nellie’s family according to Joanne Fogg Fournier who says: “One of the little family idiosyncrasies that I always found interesting was that, as a couple, the old folks in the (Fogg) family ALWAYS referred to them as "Nellie and Dr. Wright" - never as "Nellie and Warren". Indicative, I think, of the great respect everyone had for the good doctor.”  Nellie and Dr. Wright never had children of their own. His sons Arthur and Charles moved to South Paris, ME where they lived until the end of their days.

 According to his death certificate Dr. Wright began suffering from the affects of nephritis in 1916. I suspect he detected his own declining health before that because he signed his property over to his wife Nellie in 1913 – the same year his eldest son Willis died. No doubt he did this to make sure Nellie would be taken care of after he was gone.  Dr. Wright died in 1919 at 81 years of age. He was buried at Readfield Corner Cemetery along with his first wife Mary, four of his children and a daughter-in-law. He had lived his life of service well - with dignity, integrity and loved by all.

 Nellie remained at the Wright house where she was living alone in 1920. In 1921 she remarried to Ernest Lewis, a widower from Jay, Maine. They lived there for about 2 years and then sold the Wright property to E.C. Frost. Later that decade Nellie married a third time to another widower, Frank S. Willard, and she moved with him to Los Angeles, California. Nellie died in 1934 and was brought home for burial in the Readfield Corner Cemetery. There she lies beside her parents and other members of the Fogg family.

(c) 2013 All Rights Reserved by Dale Potter-Clark

This article appeared in Lakes Region Reader in April 2013.

NELLIE FRENCH STEVENS, A DEDICATED ADVOCATE FOR MAINE'S YOUTH

The Industrial School for Girls in Hallowell opened its doors in 1875 as a place of refuge and learning for neglected and vagrant girls ages seven to fifteen. The founders believed that with kindness, practical training and physical activity the girls could be groomed for useful and honorable lives.

The school was placed under state control in 1899, and in 1915 the name was changed to the State School for Girls. Early accounts of its conditions were somewhat unfavorable. Conditions at most institutions like this were not ideal in those years and the inmates, as they were then called, did not have a well-intentioned advocate like Nellie French Stevens until later.

Stevens has been described as gentile, humble, strong willed, capable and a maverick. She was also completely dedicated to reforming the school and “her girls” from the day she arrived in 1933. Her approach was new, even ground breaking and helped set a national trend.

Nell, as she was warmly called, was born in 1891, the youngest daughter of Charles H. and Charlotte (French) Stevens of Readfield.  Her father was a successful farmer and, for many years, the treasurer of the Kennebec County Agricultural Fair. He was given much credit for its being the largest and most successful county fair in Maine. Stevens’ 150 acre farm was ideally located near Lake Maranacook, a half-mile from the bustling village of Readfield Corner, and two miles from Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Female College (Kents Hill School). Nell received training at the Morse Conservatory of Music at the Seminary, became an adept pianist and pursued music as her career. But her course was set in another direction long before she realized it.

In 1865 Nell’s great-uncle, Rev. John L. Stevens, and her maternal grandfather, E.R. French, had witnessed the incarceration of a fourteen year old girl for a minor offense, and they began advocating for a school for wayward girls. The family rallied around the concept from the beginning, and E. R. French gave the first fundraising donation in 1870 towards building the Industrial School for Girls in Hallowell.  Stevens’ aunt, Fannie French Morse, was a pioneer in this field, having been superintendent at three Industrial Schools - in Lancaster, Massachusetts, Sauk Center, Minnesota, and lastly in Hudson, New York. Two of Stevens’ relatives served as housemothers at the school in Hallowell and her sister Edwina worked there as a “farm lady”, years before Stevens arrived. The mission had subtly become ingrained in her soul.

Stevens had been assistant director at Coburn Classical Institute in Waterville for ten years when she took a one-month absence to visit her aunt Fannie at the Industrial School for Girls in Hudson, NY. Stevens immediately became drawn to that mission and remained as French’s assistant for three years. She then joined the staff at the Massachusetts Reformatory for Women, for nine months, until she was offered the superintendency at Maine’s State School for Girls. By then the school in Hallowell was described as “penal and corrective in nature” – a deviation from its original purpose.

In 1937 Superintendent Stevens presented the annual report saying: “…the girls ‘crimes’ consist mostly of truancy, running away from home, disorderly conduct and ‘wanton and lascivious behavior’… only two or three of them were accused of anything as serious as assault or larceny… the school tries hard to improve the girls but the institution cannot work miracles such as changing the habits of fourteen or fifteen years…”. She had a big job ahead of her, but she was up to the task.

Stevens’ grand-niece, Susan Welsh of Wayne, tells how her aunt Nell spoke about “her girls” in glowing terms. So much so that Welsh, as a youngster, perceived the State School for Girls as a boarding school where young women were trained in the finer things, attended teas and learned music, arts and the classics. In fact, Stevens did expose “her girls” to all that and more in her quest to improve their chances for a good life as adults. In January, 1958 Portland Sunday Telegram ran a feature story about the school and Stevens. The reporter interviewed staff and young residents and returned with glowing reports of Stevens’ efforts and the school’s positive impact on the girl’s lives. He wrote: “While she has brought about gradual change since her administration began one fundamental principle has guided her.” He quoted Stevens by adding “…These are not problem children. These are children with problems… Young people want emotional security more than anything else under the sun and that’s what’s been lacking in their lives when they get into trouble. We try to give it to them here.”

Nellie Stevens served as Chair of the National Conference of Women Superintendents. She was also treasurer of the Maine Welfare Association, and active in other professional organizations.  In 1957 she was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters by Nasson College and thereafter called Dr. Stevens. A short time before her retirement she attended a national seminar in New York.  Afterwards she told her sister “I must be getting out of touch. The only person I knew there, who I could carry on a conversation with, was Margaret Meade!” Perhaps that was when she decided to retire.

Stevens’ final year at the school was in 1959 when, as she presided over her final graduation, a special announcement was made. The State School for Girls would be officially renamed the Stevens Training Center in Dr. Stevens’ honor.

Stevens’ longtime friend, Grace Burleigh of Wayne, tells of one time several years after Stevens’ retirement, when the two women went to observe the Maine State Legislature in session. “We quietly made our way to the balcony”, said Burleigh, “No one knew we were coming, but the Speaker of the House spotted Nell and announced to the legislators they had an important visitor.” The entire House rose, turned to face the balcony, and gave Stevens a standing ovation. “She stood up to receive their applause”, said Burleigh, “but only because I insisted. She was a very humble lady.” Burleigh also related that Stevens continued to support and care about downtrodden youth throughout her days, and told Burleigh she thought the State of Maine made a mistake when they closed the Stevens School in 1970.

After retiring Stevens set-up residence in her cozy bungalow in Wayne, adjacent to her sister Edwina and husband.  This could be the end of her story, but far from it. She continued to serve on various welfare committees, was given a certificate of merit by the Maine Welfare Association and was in demand for public speaking engagements. She dove into music as church organist and choir director at Wayne Community Church. She became well known for the bell ringer groups she started in Wayne, Winthrop and South Portland, where she travelled weekly to direct a group of ringers at the South Portland Training Center. According to Welsh many of the gals who Stevens mentored over the years stayed in touch, and her pride and interest in them never waned.

Nellie French Stevens died in 1988 at age ninety-eight. She is buried with her parents and two siblings in Readfield Corner Cemetery, a short distance from her childhood home.

(c) 2015 All Rights Reserved Dale Potter-Clark
This story appeared in Discover Maine Magazine, Western Lakes and Mountains, 2015-16