Posts
Started another blog--Out and About
http://ridgehaven-outandabout.blogspot.com/
Monday, March 5, 2012
Columbia Falls, Maine Record site.
Have you checked this out? Really interesting history on here.
http://www.columbiafallsmerecord.org
http://www.columbiafallsmerecord.org
Monday, February 21, 2011
Genealogical researcher & Positive attitude
I have a general genealogical service to do general research, including local cemetery research, photography of gravestones, cemeteries, buildings and other important historical and local sites.
I do some searching on ancestors records for folks in the Pleasant River area.
I have a personal large library of published genealogies, ancestries, cemetery listings, photos, etc.of the local area.I will share info with anyone but would not like to find out that what I share they are getting paid to find for their own business. Also would like to be recognized that I gave them the information. If you want to hire me to dig a bit deeper, please contact me for a price. Will also help you on DAR and Mayflower lines of this area.
A positive attitude is a person's biggest attribute. We are faced with the negatives of life every single day and a smile and happy heart will win over the negative every time.--
Today whenever I need anything, I know that it will be provided.
I have fun in whatever I do, drive a bus, rake blueberries, wallpapering, painting houses, inside or out, organizing reunions, working at boyscout camps, going to Historical Society meetings, belong to six of them, doing genealogy, canning beans, visiting older folks, gathering ancestor photos, finding lost or nearly lost cousins, and losing some as well, talking and hiking with my daughter Didi, Taking photos of everything I see and writing for the local weekly paper.
I do some searching on ancestors records for folks in the Pleasant River area.
I have a personal large library of published genealogies, ancestries, cemetery listings, photos, etc.of the local area.I will share info with anyone but would not like to find out that what I share they are getting paid to find for their own business. Also would like to be recognized that I gave them the information. If you want to hire me to dig a bit deeper, please contact me for a price. Will also help you on DAR and Mayflower lines of this area.
A positive attitude is a person's biggest attribute. We are faced with the negatives of life every single day and a smile and happy heart will win over the negative every time.--
Today whenever I need anything, I know that it will be provided.
I have fun in whatever I do, drive a bus, rake blueberries, wallpapering, painting houses, inside or out, organizing reunions, working at boyscout camps, going to Historical Society meetings, belong to six of them, doing genealogy, canning beans, visiting older folks, gathering ancestor photos, finding lost or nearly lost cousins, and losing some as well, talking and hiking with my daughter Didi, Taking photos of everything I see and writing for the local weekly paper.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
England Trip 2004
This was an adventure with my daughter Diadem, one and only time I have been abroad. I sent this to the Machias Observer in Machias and they printing it.
Adventures of Ronie in England 2004 (My one and only trip)
by Ronie L. Strout on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 2:23pm
Adventures of Ronie Strout in England 2004
December 13th – December 27th, 2004
Hello All. This is the first couple days of the Adventures of Ronie Strout.
I arrived at Heathrow airport at 6:30 AM on December 14,2004 England time and after finding my bags I found Diadem, my daughter, holding a cardboard sign that hadRONIE on one side and MOM on the other. Diadem had brought me a sandwich to eat so we sat down with them and figured out how we were to get to the hotel. We took the underground trains to a station near our hotel the Kensington Close and dropped off our luggage, and started our wanderings of London.
We walked to Kensington Palace, which is where Princess Diana used to live. From there we walked around the Kensington Gardens where we saw swans and other birds; we walkeddown the Princess Diane Memorial Walk,andat the end saw the Albert Memorial.After all the walking it was time to go back to the hotel for a nap.Around 4 pm we went to the Science Museum, Natural History Museum,and the Baden Powell House, that has items on display from the first Boy Scout. We called it a day and walkedback to the Kensington Cross Hotel. Already our feet were hurting.
Wednesday wegot up early and started off for the Towerof London, took the tour and then saw all the other nooks that we were allowed to explore.There are two outer walls with towers, which we had to go up and check out.The royal jewels were on display along with a lot of armory, and also asection on torturing.After lunch and some chocolate to get the legs moving again we went up311 stairs to the top of The Monument, which is to commemorate the great fire of London, where the view was spectacular. We could see the lay out of London, the Tower Bridge, and the London Eye. Upon coming down from the Monument we received a certificate showing that we had completed the feat. From there wewent to the Southwark Cathedral, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, andTate Modern. Tate Modern is an abstract and alternative museum, which featured works by Salvador Dali and Picasso. We walked across theMillennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral and then decided to call it a day since the sun was setting.
Thursday we started at Trafalgar Square and walked under Admiralty Arch, took pictures of the statue of Captain James Cook, and walked down St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. In front of the Palace is a very large and impressive Queen Victoria Memorial. We decided not to see the art exhibit inside the Palace but did go into the gift shop where I got a tin plate made by Worcester, and a postcard showing a Diamond Diadem. On our way to Westminster Abbey, which is a grand church with lots of famous people buried within, we stopped into the gift shop of the Guard’s Museum. It had been raining all day since we started at the Arch but upon coming out of Westminster Abbey it was bright and sunny. So from there it was only a street crossing away from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Big Ben is a very impressive clock and tower and the parliament houses looked undoubtedly majestic. After all the days excitement it was time to check onto our bus and get home to University of East Anglia in Norwich where a hopefully soft bed was waiting.
Adventures of Ronie Strout Part 2:
The weekend of December 18 while Didi was working, I walked around and explored the Castle Mall and market. On Saturday evening we attended a movie called the Polar Express a Christmas movie. Sunday, we went to the Forum and Market and then to a church service at St. Peter Mancroft Cathedral. During the day there were Ice Queens, Angels, and Golden Statues holding on a gold ball going around in the market area; all to do with the Christmas Spirit in Norwich. In the evening we saw the Landscape of the Heart-Scarabveus Theatre aerial performance at the City Hall.
On Monday we traveled by train to Cambridge where we visited the Sedgwick Museum that had one of the world’s major collections of Fossils. In the museum we saw the largest deer an Irish Deer that was as big as a moose and had very large horns. We saw the Darwin’s Collections of fossils that some were as old as 3500 million years. We saw a replica of a very large spider, many different kinds of rocks, and a very interesting museum to go to. We also saw the University of Cambridge, St. Mary’s Church, King’s College, and visited the Whipple History and Science Museum and also saw a collection of scientific instruments.
We ate our lunch at the Eagle a 16th Century Pub that was popular with American Airmen in WWII. We enjoyed our menu of Bangers and Mash, and Steak & Ale Pie. We then continued to walk around the area and looked at more churches. While enjoying the area we saw a place that actually made fudge on the premise and enjoyed sampling some.
Tuesday we again went into Norwich and visited the Castle, saw the Castle Keep, where they had a very large doll house of the Castle, saw Egyptian mummies, we were able to build a arch in the children’s area, saw lots of fascinating Art, one of which had flatten silver that was arranged in circles and suspended from the ceiling. In this exhibit they used silverware, plates, cups pots and pans all in silver. We then saw a special exhibit of Teapots from all the different time lines. Then proceeded to the Natural History Galleries, which included the Mammal Gallery. There they had lions, tigers, bears and a baby elephant on display, a display of birds of the world on one wall, a giant anteater, and several types of deer and rodents and other animals. In the Bird Gallery, they had several species of eagles, owls, butterflies, bats, waterfowl birds, and scenes depicting birds in their natural habitat. We then went onto the Regimental Museum that had a lot of uniforms, medal badges and information of the different wars that have taken place in the past.
From the Castle we walked to the Norwich Cathedral and were impressed with the anti rooms with separate prayer rooms that were dedicated to certain people –i.e. Jesus. In one room we saw the silverware of the era that was quite notable. In the courtyard there was a labyrinth representing a spiritual journeys or life journeys. We ended the Cathedral tour with the Theological Library. From the Cathedral we walked around the area and saw many shops. I pointed out to Didi an older blue Mercedes Benz Station wagon that I saw.
We walked to the Forum and Library, had a pot of tea and then went to the Theatre Royal to see the pantomime of Sleeping Beauty, an awesome play. Some of the special features of this play, were some quotes, “That’s not my mom that’s a welsh bloke in a dress,” “I haven’t got a watch cause it hasn’t been invented yet,” “always be prepared,” “Ipswich football club has a trophy case but that doesn’t mean they are going to use it.” A lot of the quotes had to do with local British events like the football club; this created an interesting side to the play.
Other features included, spider man, batman, wonder woman, comic books, the space ship, unplugging the thorn bush, Dr. Who and his scarf and phone booth, tap dancing skeletons, Osborn’s jewelry, and the beautiful garments and costumes that they wore.
On Wednesday the 22nd we went into the city and walked to the Carrow House, a Costume and Textile Study Center, which is a specialist, study center for anyone interested in costumes and textiles. After this we visited some shops, the marketplace which is the largest in the country, the Forum and Library and then returned to the University and spent the evening knitting and watching the telly.
Thursday the 23rd we traveled to Ely via train, first we walked in the park and saw a rock that is like what the Ely Cathedral was made with and that was made into a fountain. We then strolled along the river with Didi trying to catch a duck. We enjoyed going through the antique shop on our way to the Cathedral. We toured the Cathedral and visited the Stained Glass Museum there. We walked to the Oliver Cromwell’s House and browsed awhile. On our way back to the train we walked behind the Cathedral and saw the horses and sheep in the pasture. After leaving Ely we traveled back to Norwich and went to the Library at the Forum, had a pot of tea before going to a movie at the theatre, called Lemony Snickers: A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Friday, December 24, we went into the city to buy groceries for our Christmas Dinner and spent the day doing chores, knitting and watching the midnight mass on television till after midnight.
Christmas Day, we went for a walk around the University grounds. We played with the ponies that are kept there and walked around the broad. We found a tree that people have put their fruit stickers on; it seems many students go out there for lunch. Now it is time for Christmas Dinner. Bon Appetite. I hope all of our readers have had a very Merry Christmas!
The Adventures of Ronie Strout Part 3:
December 25, 2004, Diadem and I enjoyed our home cooked Christmas dinner at her dormitory that we both cooked together. We made a call home in the afternoon and spoke with everyone at our household in Addison, Maine.
December 26, we went for a walk around the University after I did some packing. We had found out that the busses were not running on the 25 & 26 of December so we could not get into town to window shop at the Mall.
At 2 AM December 27th, England time I was waiting for the bus that would take me to Heathrow Airport in London. The walkway to the bus stop was very slippery, as the temperature had dropped.
Didi stayed till the bus showed up and then she returned to her room to sleep till 5 PM. It had been a very long day for her as well as for me.
I arrived at the Airport at 5:30 AM a half hour early. It was close to 8 AM before I was checked in and waiting for my plane to board.
After boarding at 11 AM I took off for Boston. I then set my watch to USA time, which would be 6 AM. The plane ride went smoothly, with some bumps due to the winds, but the pilot said he was taking a more southern route to Boston.
I arrived in Boston at 1:45PM our time. From there I waited for the bus to Bangor at 5:30 PM and arrived in Bangor at 10:30PM. My husband was waiting for me and we arrived home at 12:30AM on December 28th, 2004. All in all I had traveled 15 and half hours to get back to Addison, Maine with cold, winter weather and snow on the ground awaiting me.
My journey had ended.
A note from the travelers: Didi and I took sandwiches, a bottle of water and a snack everyday with us so that we would not have to eat in a restaurant and to save on money. We walked everywhere but we did get a day pass for the underground tube in London and then back in Norwich I bought a week pass for the bus that we took every day to go places, and Didi already had her pass for the school year.
There were not many escalators or elevators, just a lot of steps to go up and down.
What was the most interesting thing I saw? Everything, just seeing the history of the Cathedrals, The Tower of London Castle, the museums, the view from the Monument of London (more steps 311 of them), riding on the left side of road, the double Decker buses, the underground tube, and of the people. Plus of me going on this trip was most amazing of all and we did so much on so little money in so little time. Happy New Year.
In the Science Museum the gallery highlights were Energy-fueling the future, Welcome Wing-digital technology in Digitopolis, Making the Modern World, See iconic historical objects and inventions that have changed our world. From Stephenson’s Rocket to the Apollo 10 command module.
In the Natural History Museum the all-time favorites were Dinosaurs, Creepy Crawlies, the earthquake experience in The Power Within, Earth’s Treasury and the blue whale in Mammals. The all-time favorites were Dinosaurs
You can also discover more about the work of 300 scientists by visiting the Darwin Centre. There they have over 70 million specimens of zoology collections. You can investigate the meteorites to a giant tortoise skeleton in the Basement Gallery Q.
The Life Galleries offer Wonders of the Natural History Museum, Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles, Marine Invertebrates, Dinosaurs, Human Biology, Mammals, Mammals and Blue Whale, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Fossil Marine reptiles, Fossils from Britain, Ecology, Creepy Crawlies, Birds, Our Place in Evolution, Minerals, Meteorites, Primates, Plant Power and a Giant Sequoia.
The Earth Galleries offered Visions of Earth, Earth Today and Tomorrow, From the Beginning, Earth’s Treasury, The Power Within, Restless Surface and the largest escalator in the world.
The escalator went up three floors and through the earth’s globe a very unique experience.
The Baden-Powell House has accommodations and the rates are reasonable. It also has a small Boy Scout Museum with items on display.
A painting of Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell by David Jagger 1929 is displayed along with his Boy Scout uniform and other memorabilia.
Right across the street from the Natural History Museum is this spacious concrete building, erected in 1961 in memory of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement. Throughout the year, thousands of scouts and guides visit the house when in London, and the hostel - with 180 beds (all en suite) and conference facilities - plays host to around 300,000 people a year, from more than thirty different countries. Room charges are reduced for scouts and guides, but rates for the general public are still competitive.
The Tower of London
has 21 Towers, and we were allowed in only 14 of them. The Tower of London was a residence for the kings and queens of England as well as being a fortress. The rooms are shown as they may have appeared in the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). The Martin Tower houses the exhibition, ‘Crowns and Diamonds: the making of the Crown Jewels’. The Tower of London has been home to the world famous British Crown Jewels since the beginning of the 14th century.
In the guidebook as stated it says: Kings and queens of England have stored crowns, robes and other items of their ceremonial regalia at the Tower of London for over 600 years and since the 17th century, at least, this collection has been commonly known as the ‘Crown Jewels”. At the heart of the collection is the coronation regalia itself, a group of precious and highly symbolic objects used since 1661 to crown sovereigns of England. It is also home to a dazzling assortment of magnificent pieces of royal church and banqueting plate, some of which pre-date the great destruction of the English regalia in the mid-17th century. Among the jewels adorning objects in the collection are to be found some of the worlds most exceptional and historic precious stones-including Cullinan I and Cullinan II, the largest top-quality cut diamonds in the world, and the extraordinary Koh-I-Noor diamond.
However, perhaps the most remarkable and unusual thing about this collection is that it is not a museum display. Unlike most of its European counterparts, the regalia of England is not a beautiful but long defunct assortment of objects, instead it is a working collection that remains in active use today, 1,200 years after the coronation of the first English kings.
We were impressed with everything from this collection as well as the
The Diamond Diadem,
Part of The Crown Jewels
The Monument that we climbed was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City. This colossal Doric column contained cantilevered stone staircase of 311 steps leading to a viewing platform. We could see a spectacular view of London, The Tower Bridge, and the London Eye.
The Southwark Cathedrale
. The Southwark Cathedral dates from the 13th Century when it was a priory church following the rule of life of St. Augustine of Hippo. It has only been a cathedral since 1905, when the Anglican Diocese of Southwark was formed.
We viewed the inside of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre a reconstruction of the open-air playhouse designed in 1599.
The fascinating story of the re-creation of Shakespeare's Globe, the most important public theatre ever built. Unique opportunity of seeing an Elizabethan theatre building reconstructed using material, techniques and craftsmanship of 400 years ago
The Tate Modern is an abstract and alternative museum; the collection displays look at the art of the last one hundred years through he interpretation of four classic themes, the nude, landscape, still life and history painting.
Housed in the former Bankside Power Station, Tate Modern
displays the Tate collection of international modern art from 1900 to the present day, including major works by Dalí, Picasso, Matisse, Rothko and Warhol as well as contemporary work by artists such as Dorothy Cross, Gilbert & George and Susan Hiller.
The Unilever Series: is a series of contemporary displays, presenting recent or new work by international artists not widely exhibited in the UK. The third display in the series presents the work of Mohamed Camara, and the fourth presents the work of the artist collaborative group Simparch. In the fifth, Bruce Nauman has created a sound work that engages visitors as they progress through the space for the Turbine Hall. In the collection of 2004, Still Life/Object/Real Life we saw one exhibit of a scrapheap. Everything you throw out hung from the ceiling in any which way you look.
We walked across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral where we entered and decided not to pay to see the rest of the Cathedral.
London's Millennium Bridge is the first pedestrian river crossing over the Thames in central London for more than a century.
It is a 325m steel bridge linking the City of London at St. Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern Gallery at Bankside.
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square, London's most famous, was laid out in 1829 to 1841 to commemorate Nelson's victory at the Battle of the same name in 1805. Dominating the square, on a column that is 185 feet high, is the 17 foot high statue of Nelson himself
Around the base of the column are the four giant bronze lions by Landseer
Admiralty Arch
Leading from the southwest corner of Trafalgar Square into The Mall, this quintuple arched ceremonial gateway is one of London's most famous landmarks. The Admiralty Arch takes its name from the nearby Royal Navy headquarters, though the Arch itself has no naval association.
Admiralty Arch was designed in 1910 by Sir Aston Webb (who also worked on Buckingham Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum) to provide an elegant ceremonial passage from the hectic Trafalgar Square towards Buckingham Palace. Note that traffic does not pass through the massive central arch - that is only opened for state occasions. The small outer arches are for pedestrian traffic, and the remaining central arches for vehicles.
The Arch was originally commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, though Edward did not live to see the work completed. A Latin inscription on the underside of the Arch denotes this memorial connection.
As part of the same development scheme that saw the Admiralty Arch built, Sir Aston Webb also widened The Mall (the old Mall, which dates from the time of Charles II, still exists beside the current thoroughfare), and provided the gilt statue of Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace, that provides such a striking counterpoint to the Admiralty Arch at the other end of The Mall.
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is a living church as well as an architectural masterpiece of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. Founded as a Benedictine monastery over a thousand years ago, Edward the Confessor rebuilt the Church in 1065 and again by Henry III in the thirteenth century in the Gothic style we see today.
Known as the House of kings, the Abbey is the final resting place for monarchs including Edward I (called ‘Longshanks”), Henry III, Henry V and Henry VII who built a magnificent Lady Chapel here.
The abbey has been the setting for Coronations since that of William the conqueror in 1066 and is home to the Coronation Chair.
In Poets’ Corner memorials to Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and many others, will surround you. Great scientists and musicians are also remembered in the Abbey, from Newton and Darwin to Purcell and Handel. The grave of the Unknown Warrior is to be found in the Nave.
Norwich is known to have more medieval churches than any other city north of the Alps, and of these St. Peter Mancroft Cathedral is the finest. Like the castle and the market place, it was a Norman foundation the first church
being built here by Ralph de Guader, Earl of Norfolk, in 1075, and dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. The Church and market place have stood together for over 900 years.
On entering the church the whole interior can be taken in at one glance: its loftiness and openness are breathtaking. The tall arches of the nave arcade, eight on each side, rest on slender clustered piers, while above two continuous rows of seventeen clerestory windows, two to each bay of the nave, give a marvelous light to the roof. This magnificent wooden roof is one of the chief glories of the church. There is no structural division, no arch, between nave and chancel in either the main or aisle roofs. Only the gilded ridge ornaments, the suns-in-splendor, mark the importance of the chancel. It is a hammer-beam and arch-braced roof but the hammer-beams are concealed under the beautiful fan-like groining; this in turn rests on long wall-post supported by carved heads below, which are canopied niches.
The pulpit and lectern date from 1852.
The Norwich Cathedral
The Norman work of this cathedral, and the magnificent series of lierne vaults above its nave, choir, and transepts, are its most important features. The Norwich Cathedral Roof Bosses are a wonderful example of fine medieval sculpture. Set within vaulting, these beautifully carved keystones are unique. There are over 1000 of them, showing a huge variety of subjects and forms including scenes from the Bible, incidents from the lives of sints and images of green men. You can find grotesques-hybrid figures, part human and part animal-lurking among green foliage and lots of beasts and birds as well. The Roof bosses are great story telling cycles and educate the viewer in the biblical, historical and sociological beliefs of the medieval Church.
Norwich Castle is one of the city’s most famous landmarks. Norwich Castle was built by the Normans as a Royal Palace 900 years ago. Now a museum and art gallery, it is home to some of the most outstanding collections of fine art, archaeology and natural history.
Norwich Castle is an impressive stone motte and bailey fortress, with a hugh ornate Norman keep.
Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge
World-class collections
Discover fossils, rocks and minerals from around the world and explore more than 550 million years of Earth's history.
Learn about the earth and its history –
Take a walk through time, from the very earliest fossils to the age of the dinosaurs
Explore the marine world of 200 million years ago ...
After the dinosaurs, how has life developed into what we see today?
Discover what the Earth is made of and how it works, and find out about other planets in the Solar System ...
Explore the colourful diversity of the Mineral Kingdom ...
Local Geology
The rocks and fossils, and the story behind the scenery of Cambridgeshire and the Fens.
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs at the Sedgwick Museum
The Burgess Shale
Strange creatures from the Cambrian tell us remarkable things about how life evolved ...
Prehistoric wildlife in East Anglia
Mammoths, hippos, wolves and bears - the wildlife in East Anglia during and between the last ice ages (120,000 years ago) was very different to that of today ...
The Darwin Collection
Specimens collected by Darwin on his 1831
Woodward's Legacy
A unique, intact collection from the 17th century.
Adventures of Ronie in England 2004 (My one and only trip)
by Ronie L. Strout on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at 2:23pm
Adventures of Ronie Strout in England 2004
December 13th – December 27th, 2004
Hello All. This is the first couple days of the Adventures of Ronie Strout.
I arrived at Heathrow airport at 6:30 AM on December 14,2004 England time and after finding my bags I found Diadem, my daughter, holding a cardboard sign that hadRONIE on one side and MOM on the other. Diadem had brought me a sandwich to eat so we sat down with them and figured out how we were to get to the hotel. We took the underground trains to a station near our hotel the Kensington Close and dropped off our luggage, and started our wanderings of London.
We walked to Kensington Palace, which is where Princess Diana used to live. From there we walked around the Kensington Gardens where we saw swans and other birds; we walkeddown the Princess Diane Memorial Walk,andat the end saw the Albert Memorial.After all the walking it was time to go back to the hotel for a nap.Around 4 pm we went to the Science Museum, Natural History Museum,and the Baden Powell House, that has items on display from the first Boy Scout. We called it a day and walkedback to the Kensington Cross Hotel. Already our feet were hurting.
Wednesday wegot up early and started off for the Towerof London, took the tour and then saw all the other nooks that we were allowed to explore.There are two outer walls with towers, which we had to go up and check out.The royal jewels were on display along with a lot of armory, and also asection on torturing.After lunch and some chocolate to get the legs moving again we went up311 stairs to the top of The Monument, which is to commemorate the great fire of London, where the view was spectacular. We could see the lay out of London, the Tower Bridge, and the London Eye. Upon coming down from the Monument we received a certificate showing that we had completed the feat. From there wewent to the Southwark Cathedral, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, andTate Modern. Tate Modern is an abstract and alternative museum, which featured works by Salvador Dali and Picasso. We walked across theMillennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral and then decided to call it a day since the sun was setting.
Thursday we started at Trafalgar Square and walked under Admiralty Arch, took pictures of the statue of Captain James Cook, and walked down St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. In front of the Palace is a very large and impressive Queen Victoria Memorial. We decided not to see the art exhibit inside the Palace but did go into the gift shop where I got a tin plate made by Worcester, and a postcard showing a Diamond Diadem. On our way to Westminster Abbey, which is a grand church with lots of famous people buried within, we stopped into the gift shop of the Guard’s Museum. It had been raining all day since we started at the Arch but upon coming out of Westminster Abbey it was bright and sunny. So from there it was only a street crossing away from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Big Ben is a very impressive clock and tower and the parliament houses looked undoubtedly majestic. After all the days excitement it was time to check onto our bus and get home to University of East Anglia in Norwich where a hopefully soft bed was waiting.
Adventures of Ronie Strout Part 2:
The weekend of December 18 while Didi was working, I walked around and explored the Castle Mall and market. On Saturday evening we attended a movie called the Polar Express a Christmas movie. Sunday, we went to the Forum and Market and then to a church service at St. Peter Mancroft Cathedral. During the day there were Ice Queens, Angels, and Golden Statues holding on a gold ball going around in the market area; all to do with the Christmas Spirit in Norwich. In the evening we saw the Landscape of the Heart-Scarabveus Theatre aerial performance at the City Hall.
On Monday we traveled by train to Cambridge where we visited the Sedgwick Museum that had one of the world’s major collections of Fossils. In the museum we saw the largest deer an Irish Deer that was as big as a moose and had very large horns. We saw the Darwin’s Collections of fossils that some were as old as 3500 million years. We saw a replica of a very large spider, many different kinds of rocks, and a very interesting museum to go to. We also saw the University of Cambridge, St. Mary’s Church, King’s College, and visited the Whipple History and Science Museum and also saw a collection of scientific instruments.
We ate our lunch at the Eagle a 16th Century Pub that was popular with American Airmen in WWII. We enjoyed our menu of Bangers and Mash, and Steak & Ale Pie. We then continued to walk around the area and looked at more churches. While enjoying the area we saw a place that actually made fudge on the premise and enjoyed sampling some.
Tuesday we again went into Norwich and visited the Castle, saw the Castle Keep, where they had a very large doll house of the Castle, saw Egyptian mummies, we were able to build a arch in the children’s area, saw lots of fascinating Art, one of which had flatten silver that was arranged in circles and suspended from the ceiling. In this exhibit they used silverware, plates, cups pots and pans all in silver. We then saw a special exhibit of Teapots from all the different time lines. Then proceeded to the Natural History Galleries, which included the Mammal Gallery. There they had lions, tigers, bears and a baby elephant on display, a display of birds of the world on one wall, a giant anteater, and several types of deer and rodents and other animals. In the Bird Gallery, they had several species of eagles, owls, butterflies, bats, waterfowl birds, and scenes depicting birds in their natural habitat. We then went onto the Regimental Museum that had a lot of uniforms, medal badges and information of the different wars that have taken place in the past.
From the Castle we walked to the Norwich Cathedral and were impressed with the anti rooms with separate prayer rooms that were dedicated to certain people –i.e. Jesus. In one room we saw the silverware of the era that was quite notable. In the courtyard there was a labyrinth representing a spiritual journeys or life journeys. We ended the Cathedral tour with the Theological Library. From the Cathedral we walked around the area and saw many shops. I pointed out to Didi an older blue Mercedes Benz Station wagon that I saw.
We walked to the Forum and Library, had a pot of tea and then went to the Theatre Royal to see the pantomime of Sleeping Beauty, an awesome play. Some of the special features of this play, were some quotes, “That’s not my mom that’s a welsh bloke in a dress,” “I haven’t got a watch cause it hasn’t been invented yet,” “always be prepared,” “Ipswich football club has a trophy case but that doesn’t mean they are going to use it.” A lot of the quotes had to do with local British events like the football club; this created an interesting side to the play.
Other features included, spider man, batman, wonder woman, comic books, the space ship, unplugging the thorn bush, Dr. Who and his scarf and phone booth, tap dancing skeletons, Osborn’s jewelry, and the beautiful garments and costumes that they wore.
On Wednesday the 22nd we went into the city and walked to the Carrow House, a Costume and Textile Study Center, which is a specialist, study center for anyone interested in costumes and textiles. After this we visited some shops, the marketplace which is the largest in the country, the Forum and Library and then returned to the University and spent the evening knitting and watching the telly.
Thursday the 23rd we traveled to Ely via train, first we walked in the park and saw a rock that is like what the Ely Cathedral was made with and that was made into a fountain. We then strolled along the river with Didi trying to catch a duck. We enjoyed going through the antique shop on our way to the Cathedral. We toured the Cathedral and visited the Stained Glass Museum there. We walked to the Oliver Cromwell’s House and browsed awhile. On our way back to the train we walked behind the Cathedral and saw the horses and sheep in the pasture. After leaving Ely we traveled back to Norwich and went to the Library at the Forum, had a pot of tea before going to a movie at the theatre, called Lemony Snickers: A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Friday, December 24, we went into the city to buy groceries for our Christmas Dinner and spent the day doing chores, knitting and watching the midnight mass on television till after midnight.
Christmas Day, we went for a walk around the University grounds. We played with the ponies that are kept there and walked around the broad. We found a tree that people have put their fruit stickers on; it seems many students go out there for lunch. Now it is time for Christmas Dinner. Bon Appetite. I hope all of our readers have had a very Merry Christmas!
The Adventures of Ronie Strout Part 3:
December 25, 2004, Diadem and I enjoyed our home cooked Christmas dinner at her dormitory that we both cooked together. We made a call home in the afternoon and spoke with everyone at our household in Addison, Maine.
December 26, we went for a walk around the University after I did some packing. We had found out that the busses were not running on the 25 & 26 of December so we could not get into town to window shop at the Mall.
At 2 AM December 27th, England time I was waiting for the bus that would take me to Heathrow Airport in London. The walkway to the bus stop was very slippery, as the temperature had dropped.
Didi stayed till the bus showed up and then she returned to her room to sleep till 5 PM. It had been a very long day for her as well as for me.
I arrived at the Airport at 5:30 AM a half hour early. It was close to 8 AM before I was checked in and waiting for my plane to board.
After boarding at 11 AM I took off for Boston. I then set my watch to USA time, which would be 6 AM. The plane ride went smoothly, with some bumps due to the winds, but the pilot said he was taking a more southern route to Boston.
I arrived in Boston at 1:45PM our time. From there I waited for the bus to Bangor at 5:30 PM and arrived in Bangor at 10:30PM. My husband was waiting for me and we arrived home at 12:30AM on December 28th, 2004. All in all I had traveled 15 and half hours to get back to Addison, Maine with cold, winter weather and snow on the ground awaiting me.
My journey had ended.
A note from the travelers: Didi and I took sandwiches, a bottle of water and a snack everyday with us so that we would not have to eat in a restaurant and to save on money. We walked everywhere but we did get a day pass for the underground tube in London and then back in Norwich I bought a week pass for the bus that we took every day to go places, and Didi already had her pass for the school year.
There were not many escalators or elevators, just a lot of steps to go up and down.
What was the most interesting thing I saw? Everything, just seeing the history of the Cathedrals, The Tower of London Castle, the museums, the view from the Monument of London (more steps 311 of them), riding on the left side of road, the double Decker buses, the underground tube, and of the people. Plus of me going on this trip was most amazing of all and we did so much on so little money in so little time. Happy New Year.
In the Science Museum the gallery highlights were Energy-fueling the future, Welcome Wing-digital technology in Digitopolis, Making the Modern World, See iconic historical objects and inventions that have changed our world. From Stephenson’s Rocket to the Apollo 10 command module.
In the Natural History Museum the all-time favorites were Dinosaurs, Creepy Crawlies, the earthquake experience in The Power Within, Earth’s Treasury and the blue whale in Mammals. The all-time favorites were Dinosaurs
You can also discover more about the work of 300 scientists by visiting the Darwin Centre. There they have over 70 million specimens of zoology collections. You can investigate the meteorites to a giant tortoise skeleton in the Basement Gallery Q.
The Life Galleries offer Wonders of the Natural History Museum, Fishes, Amphibians and Reptiles, Marine Invertebrates, Dinosaurs, Human Biology, Mammals, Mammals and Blue Whale, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Fossil Marine reptiles, Fossils from Britain, Ecology, Creepy Crawlies, Birds, Our Place in Evolution, Minerals, Meteorites, Primates, Plant Power and a Giant Sequoia.
The Earth Galleries offered Visions of Earth, Earth Today and Tomorrow, From the Beginning, Earth’s Treasury, The Power Within, Restless Surface and the largest escalator in the world.
The escalator went up three floors and through the earth’s globe a very unique experience.
The Baden-Powell House has accommodations and the rates are reasonable. It also has a small Boy Scout Museum with items on display.
A painting of Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell by David Jagger 1929 is displayed along with his Boy Scout uniform and other memorabilia.
Right across the street from the Natural History Museum is this spacious concrete building, erected in 1961 in memory of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scout movement. Throughout the year, thousands of scouts and guides visit the house when in London, and the hostel - with 180 beds (all en suite) and conference facilities - plays host to around 300,000 people a year, from more than thirty different countries. Room charges are reduced for scouts and guides, but rates for the general public are still competitive.
The Tower of London
has 21 Towers, and we were allowed in only 14 of them. The Tower of London was a residence for the kings and queens of England as well as being a fortress. The rooms are shown as they may have appeared in the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). The Martin Tower houses the exhibition, ‘Crowns and Diamonds: the making of the Crown Jewels’. The Tower of London has been home to the world famous British Crown Jewels since the beginning of the 14th century.
In the guidebook as stated it says: Kings and queens of England have stored crowns, robes and other items of their ceremonial regalia at the Tower of London for over 600 years and since the 17th century, at least, this collection has been commonly known as the ‘Crown Jewels”. At the heart of the collection is the coronation regalia itself, a group of precious and highly symbolic objects used since 1661 to crown sovereigns of England. It is also home to a dazzling assortment of magnificent pieces of royal church and banqueting plate, some of which pre-date the great destruction of the English regalia in the mid-17th century. Among the jewels adorning objects in the collection are to be found some of the worlds most exceptional and historic precious stones-including Cullinan I and Cullinan II, the largest top-quality cut diamonds in the world, and the extraordinary Koh-I-Noor diamond.
However, perhaps the most remarkable and unusual thing about this collection is that it is not a museum display. Unlike most of its European counterparts, the regalia of England is not a beautiful but long defunct assortment of objects, instead it is a working collection that remains in active use today, 1,200 years after the coronation of the first English kings.
We were impressed with everything from this collection as well as the
The Diamond Diadem,
Part of The Crown Jewels
The Monument that we climbed was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City. This colossal Doric column contained cantilevered stone staircase of 311 steps leading to a viewing platform. We could see a spectacular view of London, The Tower Bridge, and the London Eye.
The Southwark Cathedrale
. The Southwark Cathedral dates from the 13th Century when it was a priory church following the rule of life of St. Augustine of Hippo. It has only been a cathedral since 1905, when the Anglican Diocese of Southwark was formed.
We viewed the inside of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre a reconstruction of the open-air playhouse designed in 1599.
The fascinating story of the re-creation of Shakespeare's Globe, the most important public theatre ever built. Unique opportunity of seeing an Elizabethan theatre building reconstructed using material, techniques and craftsmanship of 400 years ago
The Tate Modern is an abstract and alternative museum; the collection displays look at the art of the last one hundred years through he interpretation of four classic themes, the nude, landscape, still life and history painting.
Housed in the former Bankside Power Station, Tate Modern
displays the Tate collection of international modern art from 1900 to the present day, including major works by Dalí, Picasso, Matisse, Rothko and Warhol as well as contemporary work by artists such as Dorothy Cross, Gilbert & George and Susan Hiller.
The Unilever Series: is a series of contemporary displays, presenting recent or new work by international artists not widely exhibited in the UK. The third display in the series presents the work of Mohamed Camara, and the fourth presents the work of the artist collaborative group Simparch. In the fifth, Bruce Nauman has created a sound work that engages visitors as they progress through the space for the Turbine Hall. In the collection of 2004, Still Life/Object/Real Life we saw one exhibit of a scrapheap. Everything you throw out hung from the ceiling in any which way you look.
We walked across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral where we entered and decided not to pay to see the rest of the Cathedral.
London's Millennium Bridge is the first pedestrian river crossing over the Thames in central London for more than a century.
It is a 325m steel bridge linking the City of London at St. Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern Gallery at Bankside.
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square, London's most famous, was laid out in 1829 to 1841 to commemorate Nelson's victory at the Battle of the same name in 1805. Dominating the square, on a column that is 185 feet high, is the 17 foot high statue of Nelson himself
Around the base of the column are the four giant bronze lions by Landseer
Admiralty Arch
Leading from the southwest corner of Trafalgar Square into The Mall, this quintuple arched ceremonial gateway is one of London's most famous landmarks. The Admiralty Arch takes its name from the nearby Royal Navy headquarters, though the Arch itself has no naval association.
Admiralty Arch was designed in 1910 by Sir Aston Webb (who also worked on Buckingham Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum) to provide an elegant ceremonial passage from the hectic Trafalgar Square towards Buckingham Palace. Note that traffic does not pass through the massive central arch - that is only opened for state occasions. The small outer arches are for pedestrian traffic, and the remaining central arches for vehicles.
The Arch was originally commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, though Edward did not live to see the work completed. A Latin inscription on the underside of the Arch denotes this memorial connection.
As part of the same development scheme that saw the Admiralty Arch built, Sir Aston Webb also widened The Mall (the old Mall, which dates from the time of Charles II, still exists beside the current thoroughfare), and provided the gilt statue of Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace, that provides such a striking counterpoint to the Admiralty Arch at the other end of The Mall.
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is a living church as well as an architectural masterpiece of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. Founded as a Benedictine monastery over a thousand years ago, Edward the Confessor rebuilt the Church in 1065 and again by Henry III in the thirteenth century in the Gothic style we see today.
Known as the House of kings, the Abbey is the final resting place for monarchs including Edward I (called ‘Longshanks”), Henry III, Henry V and Henry VII who built a magnificent Lady Chapel here.
The abbey has been the setting for Coronations since that of William the conqueror in 1066 and is home to the Coronation Chair.
In Poets’ Corner memorials to Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and many others, will surround you. Great scientists and musicians are also remembered in the Abbey, from Newton and Darwin to Purcell and Handel. The grave of the Unknown Warrior is to be found in the Nave.
Norwich is known to have more medieval churches than any other city north of the Alps, and of these St. Peter Mancroft Cathedral is the finest. Like the castle and the market place, it was a Norman foundation the first church
being built here by Ralph de Guader, Earl of Norfolk, in 1075, and dedicated to St Peter and St Paul. The Church and market place have stood together for over 900 years.
On entering the church the whole interior can be taken in at one glance: its loftiness and openness are breathtaking. The tall arches of the nave arcade, eight on each side, rest on slender clustered piers, while above two continuous rows of seventeen clerestory windows, two to each bay of the nave, give a marvelous light to the roof. This magnificent wooden roof is one of the chief glories of the church. There is no structural division, no arch, between nave and chancel in either the main or aisle roofs. Only the gilded ridge ornaments, the suns-in-splendor, mark the importance of the chancel. It is a hammer-beam and arch-braced roof but the hammer-beams are concealed under the beautiful fan-like groining; this in turn rests on long wall-post supported by carved heads below, which are canopied niches.
The pulpit and lectern date from 1852.
The Norwich Cathedral
The Norman work of this cathedral, and the magnificent series of lierne vaults above its nave, choir, and transepts, are its most important features. The Norwich Cathedral Roof Bosses are a wonderful example of fine medieval sculpture. Set within vaulting, these beautifully carved keystones are unique. There are over 1000 of them, showing a huge variety of subjects and forms including scenes from the Bible, incidents from the lives of sints and images of green men. You can find grotesques-hybrid figures, part human and part animal-lurking among green foliage and lots of beasts and birds as well. The Roof bosses are great story telling cycles and educate the viewer in the biblical, historical and sociological beliefs of the medieval Church.
Norwich Castle is one of the city’s most famous landmarks. Norwich Castle was built by the Normans as a Royal Palace 900 years ago. Now a museum and art gallery, it is home to some of the most outstanding collections of fine art, archaeology and natural history.
Norwich Castle is an impressive stone motte and bailey fortress, with a hugh ornate Norman keep.
Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge
World-class collections
Discover fossils, rocks and minerals from around the world and explore more than 550 million years of Earth's history.
Learn about the earth and its history –
Take a walk through time, from the very earliest fossils to the age of the dinosaurs
Explore the marine world of 200 million years ago ...
After the dinosaurs, how has life developed into what we see today?
Discover what the Earth is made of and how it works, and find out about other planets in the Solar System ...
Explore the colourful diversity of the Mineral Kingdom ...
Local Geology
The rocks and fossils, and the story behind the scenery of Cambridgeshire and the Fens.
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs at the Sedgwick Museum
The Burgess Shale
Strange creatures from the Cambrian tell us remarkable things about how life evolved ...
Prehistoric wildlife in East Anglia
Mammoths, hippos, wolves and bears - the wildlife in East Anglia during and between the last ice ages (120,000 years ago) was very different to that of today ...
The Darwin Collection
Specimens collected by Darwin on his 1831
Woodward's Legacy
A unique, intact collection from the 17th century.
My Birthday with grandson
My birthday "day" with my grandson. Tuesday, Feb 8, 2011
Today my grandson came for the day, and what a time we had! First off I showed him a swim towel that I had found in the attic that I wanted him to have. He ran to his father and said quick take this home " now" just as his dad was going off to plow this morning. He started to play with two rulers, and some blocks where upon he asked if he could have some water so he could have a little sip, then he wanted to put the glass on the end of one ruler to see how long it would stay if he piled more blocks on the other end. I know what he wanted to do, so I gave him water in a juice bottle that he would not get water all over the floor. That kept him busy for awhile. Then I told him I had found a bucket of dinosaurs in the attic and they were all cleaned up for him to play with. He took them all out and told me their names. I am glad he did not ask me their names! He then put them all in order of their colors. After that, he wanted to know how to play with the dominoes that I had found that had animals on them, so we played that for a bit.
After that he wanted his scissors and paper where he cut and pasted and made me something that now hangs on my wall. He also had to pick through all of the markers that was in the bucket and check that they were good. He threw out a bunch because they did not work. One color he got rid of as he said he did not like that color. I was glad he could get rid of some of them and knew how to check them out. After doing that for awhile, he wanted to go to the attic and check it out some more. The attic coughed up some more goodies today, ( those attic elf's were at work again) we found several Fisherprice items; a telescope. a microscope and a box of musical instruments that we brought down to check out. More music noise and such fun in watching him play and put the stuff together, with him telling me all about them. He now knows there are goodies in the attic, and I think there will be more to find in time for him. When he came this morning he wished me a happy birthday, so cute! He is some smart cookie, he is! Love him to pieces...
Today my grandson came for the day, and what a time we had! First off I showed him a swim towel that I had found in the attic that I wanted him to have. He ran to his father and said quick take this home " now" just as his dad was going off to plow this morning. He started to play with two rulers, and some blocks where upon he asked if he could have some water so he could have a little sip, then he wanted to put the glass on the end of one ruler to see how long it would stay if he piled more blocks on the other end. I know what he wanted to do, so I gave him water in a juice bottle that he would not get water all over the floor. That kept him busy for awhile. Then I told him I had found a bucket of dinosaurs in the attic and they were all cleaned up for him to play with. He took them all out and told me their names. I am glad he did not ask me their names! He then put them all in order of their colors. After that, he wanted to know how to play with the dominoes that I had found that had animals on them, so we played that for a bit.
After that he wanted his scissors and paper where he cut and pasted and made me something that now hangs on my wall. He also had to pick through all of the markers that was in the bucket and check that they were good. He threw out a bunch because they did not work. One color he got rid of as he said he did not like that color. I was glad he could get rid of some of them and knew how to check them out. After doing that for awhile, he wanted to go to the attic and check it out some more. The attic coughed up some more goodies today, ( those attic elf's were at work again) we found several Fisherprice items; a telescope. a microscope and a box of musical instruments that we brought down to check out. More music noise and such fun in watching him play and put the stuff together, with him telling me all about them. He now knows there are goodies in the attic, and I think there will be more to find in time for him. When he came this morning he wished me a happy birthday, so cute! He is some smart cookie, he is! Love him to pieces...
Grandson visiting Nana & Papa
Konner visiting his Nana & Papa, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011
Took grandson for a walk in the snow, we gathered the neighbors eggs for them, then went to the bakery and got a juice. On our way there he said his little legs would not go through the snow. LOL After having the juice we then walked to get the mail where he told me to watch out for the big bad wolf that was in the woods. We had to run to get away from that wolf. When we got in the driveway he wanted to make a snow angel, threw himself down then jumped back up and said it's too cold get me in the house quick. From there we started putting puzzles together, He did three before his attention span went onto other stuff, then watched Clifford the dog on TV. After the program we went to the attic, Konner followed me and filled two big bags up of junk until we found the box of little vehicles and ninja turtles. He brought them down to play with. After the snack of a cupcake and milk, he said he had to take a nap, falling asleep in the dining room chair. Dad came and he was able to get him ready to go home. He had me find the packet of stuff that was his dad's that I was going to throw out, plus the traveling checker game that was his dad's . Off he went with some cupcakes and other stuff.
Great day, but am I bush!
Took grandson for a walk in the snow, we gathered the neighbors eggs for them, then went to the bakery and got a juice. On our way there he said his little legs would not go through the snow. LOL After having the juice we then walked to get the mail where he told me to watch out for the big bad wolf that was in the woods. We had to run to get away from that wolf. When we got in the driveway he wanted to make a snow angel, threw himself down then jumped back up and said it's too cold get me in the house quick. From there we started putting puzzles together, He did three before his attention span went onto other stuff, then watched Clifford the dog on TV. After the program we went to the attic, Konner followed me and filled two big bags up of junk until we found the box of little vehicles and ninja turtles. He brought them down to play with. After the snack of a cupcake and milk, he said he had to take a nap, falling asleep in the dining room chair. Dad came and he was able to get him ready to go home. He had me find the packet of stuff that was his dad's that I was going to throw out, plus the traveling checker game that was his dad's . Off he went with some cupcakes and other stuff.
Great day, but am I bush!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Mincemeat, Nor'easter, Book of Gold Rush
On Monday Jan 10th, 2011, I made a double batch of mincemeat from deer meat that I had in the freezer. I used 4 quarts of ground meat, 12 quarts of ground apples, 4 boxes of raisins and then added the spices, sugar and all that goes into it. I cooked it off in the oven. On Tuesday morning I got up and washed 13 quart jars and filled them with the mincemeat and bathed off all before my grandson Konner came for the day. Boy was I tired during the day. I was really tired after Konner left in the afternoon. Guess I did too much on Monday what with doing up the dishes that someone did not do for me before starting the mincemeat process. Today Jan. 12th I read a book called High Seas to High Stakes or Around Cape Horn to the Gold Rush by Ruth S. Nash. Very interesting book of Jared Nash of Addison, Maine who sailed around Cape Horn to the gold fields in California. On top of reading I made mincemeat cookies for a change. The Nor'easter storm dropped about a foot of snow today. We did not need to get out in this even though I visited with the neighbors and went out and got the mail before it got too bad.
My moose hunt, daughter's wedding and my eye operation
I finally got back to driving the bus in September, I was able to get some extra runs that helped me out in the paycheck department.
In October we had our daughter Diadem marriage on October 9, 2010, and the next day I was headed to Aroostook County for my moose hunt. I got a permit to shoot a cow moose in the October season. We --Carroll and I, along with Zebadiah Strout and his girlfriend Molly Ulku, and Zachary Strout my second shooter if I miss arrived late Sunday and stayed at Russell's motel in Caribou. Brent and Ryan McQuire of Columbia Falls also arrived at the Motel as they had a permit to shoot a bull with Zachary as Ryan's second shooter. Our friend Rudy St. Peter of Caribou arrived to talk with us. We should of called him earlier on, but needless to say he was able to go with us hunting on Monday. We all left about 5:15 am to travel to a place that we sat and waited till daylight to come. There was two moose there but they left before daylight came. We left there and was heading out to another place that Rudy thought we might see some moose. On our way out I spied two moose, a cow and calf. I told Zac to stop the truck and I jumped out, and made it across a deep ditch and into the field where I place two bullets into the 8 mm rifle that I carried. I aimed and shot at the cow moose. I saw her run and then disappear out of sight. I thought I had missed. I hollowed to Zac and said shoot. He said "Mom you got it" I saw where you shot at it. I thought he was wrong but we went up to the spot and started looking for her when Zac said "mom come on over here, you got her". Wow I was some surprised...Molly came up and took a picture of me and the moose on her phone and sent to her parent in Minn. Zac called Michelle and everyone knew I had killed my moose within 5 minutes. It was 6:30 am when I shot her.The boys Zac and Zeb field dressed the moose then Zac pulled it down to the road with his truck and they loaded it into Zeb's truck where we headed for the tagging station in New Sweden. The moose weighed in at 636 lbs field dressed. After we left the tagging station in New Sweden we took her to the butcher in Mapleton.
We were at Governor's Restaurant in Caribou eating breakfast by 9:30 a. m. Afterward's we went hunting for partridge as son Zeb wanted to get some. We rode over a lot of roads looking but did not see any.
The McQuires shot at a moose but missed as they did not find it after looking for it. That night we talked over my moose hunt and I went to bed happy. Tuesday arrived and Zeb, Molly, Carroll and I took off to look for moose and then to go partridge hunting again. Needless to say Zeb only got one partridge but by the time we had that we got a phone call and said that Ryan got his moose, to meet him at the tagging station in New Sweden. We all checked out of the motel before 11 am and was heading home after going to the butcher to pick up my moose that was all cut up and packaged. After getting home I wrote down all that I got for meat and weighted it out before placing into the freezers. On Wednesday I canned and bathed off the stew meat between my bus run.
November, I began my Christmas season, picking the brush, making kissing balls, wreaths, four table top trees, centerpieces etc. and driving the bus. Carroll went to the hunting camp and got a buck deer during the deer season and that was cut up and packaged by us for the freezer.
My check up on my eye with Dr Hoffert came up on November 29 at 1:30 PM where I found out that my macula hole in my eye had reopened and I needed another operation to close it up again. I had to go back on Dec. 2 for some eye scan and paper work that I should of done when I was there on Monday the 29th of November. I drove bus on December 2 and 3rd. only. On December a storm came up with lots of rain etc. so we went to Brewer and stayed with our friend Dick and Alice Trott as I had to be at the hospital on December 7 at 5:30 in the morning. I was in the hospital till sometime after lunch I think, we went to Olive Garden where Carroll went in to get soup and salad to go and went back to the Trott's. We stayed there that night with my head down and I sat at their kitchen table all night with my head down. The next morning I was at the dr's office at 9:30 for my post op check up, then headed home....On Saturday December 11, Zeb's birthday, I felt a lot of pain in my eye and through out the weekend it was horrendous, I was quite miserably,I could not sleep or rest at all it was so bad, like a hot poker in my eye. On Monday December 13 I went back to Bangor for another appointment and found that my cornea had detached and that was why I had so much pain. Dr. told me I did not have to lay face down anymore and that I could get into my bed to sleep. She gave me a prescription for the pain that would help me. We got that filled and then headed home as quickly as possible after Carroll got something to eat at Frank's bakery cause he needed it immediately and I had to wait for him to eat. I was still in a lot of pain.
On Monday December 20th I returned for another checkup with my surgeon Dr. Hoffert again where she felt that everything was going okay. On Wednesday January 5, 2011 I had another follow up that the Dr. said she could see that the hole was closed up. I have another appointment on January 17th with my regular eye dr. in Ellsworth to check my other eye and then on January 24 with Dr. Hoffert in Bangor. I am trying to be very careful with what I do. No heavy lifting nothing that is over 25 pounds etc. I hope that everything will be okay and I will be back to work soon driving the bus. The gas bubble that was put in during the operation to help heal the hole is now down to about 20% and I hope by February it will be completely gone. At the moment today January 12,I have a lot of reflection from the bubble and it does not help to see. I think the dilation of my eye is back to normal so that will help in me driving soon. I have gone out and drove one day to the post office and found that the sun was too much for me even with glasses on. So will try again when the weather clears up from this Nor'easter we got today of 12 inches of snow. Will update this as I find out more on my eyes.
In October we had our daughter Diadem marriage on October 9, 2010, and the next day I was headed to Aroostook County for my moose hunt. I got a permit to shoot a cow moose in the October season. We --Carroll and I, along with Zebadiah Strout and his girlfriend Molly Ulku, and Zachary Strout my second shooter if I miss arrived late Sunday and stayed at Russell's motel in Caribou. Brent and Ryan McQuire of Columbia Falls also arrived at the Motel as they had a permit to shoot a bull with Zachary as Ryan's second shooter. Our friend Rudy St. Peter of Caribou arrived to talk with us. We should of called him earlier on, but needless to say he was able to go with us hunting on Monday. We all left about 5:15 am to travel to a place that we sat and waited till daylight to come. There was two moose there but they left before daylight came. We left there and was heading out to another place that Rudy thought we might see some moose. On our way out I spied two moose, a cow and calf. I told Zac to stop the truck and I jumped out, and made it across a deep ditch and into the field where I place two bullets into the 8 mm rifle that I carried. I aimed and shot at the cow moose. I saw her run and then disappear out of sight. I thought I had missed. I hollowed to Zac and said shoot. He said "Mom you got it" I saw where you shot at it. I thought he was wrong but we went up to the spot and started looking for her when Zac said "mom come on over here, you got her". Wow I was some surprised...Molly came up and took a picture of me and the moose on her phone and sent to her parent in Minn. Zac called Michelle and everyone knew I had killed my moose within 5 minutes. It was 6:30 am when I shot her.The boys Zac and Zeb field dressed the moose then Zac pulled it down to the road with his truck and they loaded it into Zeb's truck where we headed for the tagging station in New Sweden. The moose weighed in at 636 lbs field dressed. After we left the tagging station in New Sweden we took her to the butcher in Mapleton.
We were at Governor's Restaurant in Caribou eating breakfast by 9:30 a. m. Afterward's we went hunting for partridge as son Zeb wanted to get some. We rode over a lot of roads looking but did not see any.
The McQuires shot at a moose but missed as they did not find it after looking for it. That night we talked over my moose hunt and I went to bed happy. Tuesday arrived and Zeb, Molly, Carroll and I took off to look for moose and then to go partridge hunting again. Needless to say Zeb only got one partridge but by the time we had that we got a phone call and said that Ryan got his moose, to meet him at the tagging station in New Sweden. We all checked out of the motel before 11 am and was heading home after going to the butcher to pick up my moose that was all cut up and packaged. After getting home I wrote down all that I got for meat and weighted it out before placing into the freezers. On Wednesday I canned and bathed off the stew meat between my bus run.
November, I began my Christmas season, picking the brush, making kissing balls, wreaths, four table top trees, centerpieces etc. and driving the bus. Carroll went to the hunting camp and got a buck deer during the deer season and that was cut up and packaged by us for the freezer.
My check up on my eye with Dr Hoffert came up on November 29 at 1:30 PM where I found out that my macula hole in my eye had reopened and I needed another operation to close it up again. I had to go back on Dec. 2 for some eye scan and paper work that I should of done when I was there on Monday the 29th of November. I drove bus on December 2 and 3rd. only. On December a storm came up with lots of rain etc. so we went to Brewer and stayed with our friend Dick and Alice Trott as I had to be at the hospital on December 7 at 5:30 in the morning. I was in the hospital till sometime after lunch I think, we went to Olive Garden where Carroll went in to get soup and salad to go and went back to the Trott's. We stayed there that night with my head down and I sat at their kitchen table all night with my head down. The next morning I was at the dr's office at 9:30 for my post op check up, then headed home....On Saturday December 11, Zeb's birthday, I felt a lot of pain in my eye and through out the weekend it was horrendous, I was quite miserably,I could not sleep or rest at all it was so bad, like a hot poker in my eye. On Monday December 13 I went back to Bangor for another appointment and found that my cornea had detached and that was why I had so much pain. Dr. told me I did not have to lay face down anymore and that I could get into my bed to sleep. She gave me a prescription for the pain that would help me. We got that filled and then headed home as quickly as possible after Carroll got something to eat at Frank's bakery cause he needed it immediately and I had to wait for him to eat. I was still in a lot of pain.
On Monday December 20th I returned for another checkup with my surgeon Dr. Hoffert again where she felt that everything was going okay. On Wednesday January 5, 2011 I had another follow up that the Dr. said she could see that the hole was closed up. I have another appointment on January 17th with my regular eye dr. in Ellsworth to check my other eye and then on January 24 with Dr. Hoffert in Bangor. I am trying to be very careful with what I do. No heavy lifting nothing that is over 25 pounds etc. I hope that everything will be okay and I will be back to work soon driving the bus. The gas bubble that was put in during the operation to help heal the hole is now down to about 20% and I hope by February it will be completely gone. At the moment today January 12,I have a lot of reflection from the bubble and it does not help to see. I think the dilation of my eye is back to normal so that will help in me driving soon. I have gone out and drove one day to the post office and found that the sun was too much for me even with glasses on. So will try again when the weather clears up from this Nor'easter we got today of 12 inches of snow. Will update this as I find out more on my eyes.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Summer doings
Have been busy lately with doing some house cleaning for some folks in Brooks Maine and here in Addison. I have been working in the garden, trying to keep the lawn mowed, as well as clean the shed out. What a job, when you need to do something and it is hot and humid. I am trying to get rid of stuff and put the items in order so we will know where to find them.
I happened on a few books and sat down in the shed at my table and started to read Jean Auel the Clan of the Cave Bear, now I am now on the Valley of the Horses. I have read them many years ago when my daughter was reading them when she had mono in grade school. Of course I should not be reading as I have so much need to be done around the house. Oh well that's life I guess.
I have been able to go to another DAR meeting, I do enjoy them and have met many new folks. This Saturday July 10 we were at Barbara Maloy's home in Machiasport for the meeting. The speaker was Henna Castro of Machiasport who spoke on Victorian clothes and had some to show us from the Machiasport Historical Society. I just had to call my daughter and tell her about it.
Two new members of the Hannah Weston Chapter was at their first meeting, Karen Flagg of Eastport/Douglasville, GA and Janet Danbnaker of Machiasport, Maine.
Roberta Hammond is the regent for the next three years. I car pooled with Roberta and her sister Rosa Dykes of Alabama.
I also was able to attend some of the Addison Days events and took photos to put on Facebook. I missed the parade as I wanted to go to the DAR meeting.
This summer I have not been able to attend much due the fact of my financial situation. I missed the Cherryfield Days, Jonesport 4th and was not able to go any wheres for the 4th. I have not been to any public suppers or benefit dinners. Ijust could not do it. Besides I have been eating out of my freezers and that is good as the garden will be producing new vegetables later on this summer.
I really want to go to the house tours in Cherryfield, but will have to wait and see if I can do it next weekend July 17th.
Every Friday night we join three other couples for dinner at our friends cottage in Milbridge, so I do get to eat out even if it is a late meal.
I have been to Eastern Star meetings every month so that is good.
On July 12th I go for a cataract evaluation, and hope to get that taken care of soon.
I really need my eyes as I drive a school bus and that is my job. If I can't drive this fall I am going to be in financial ruin.
My husband seems not to be able to do anything constructive around here, if I am gone nothing gets done. Yesterday while I was gone he sat in his chair and watched tv waiting for a rain storm. He could not get out and do something because it might rain. He eats everything in site so I never know if I will have the item for a meal until I go and find it missing. That is life on the homefront.
I happened on a few books and sat down in the shed at my table and started to read Jean Auel the Clan of the Cave Bear, now I am now on the Valley of the Horses. I have read them many years ago when my daughter was reading them when she had mono in grade school. Of course I should not be reading as I have so much need to be done around the house. Oh well that's life I guess.
I have been able to go to another DAR meeting, I do enjoy them and have met many new folks. This Saturday July 10 we were at Barbara Maloy's home in Machiasport for the meeting. The speaker was Henna Castro of Machiasport who spoke on Victorian clothes and had some to show us from the Machiasport Historical Society. I just had to call my daughter and tell her about it.
Two new members of the Hannah Weston Chapter was at their first meeting, Karen Flagg of Eastport/Douglasville, GA and Janet Danbnaker of Machiasport, Maine.
Roberta Hammond is the regent for the next three years. I car pooled with Roberta and her sister Rosa Dykes of Alabama.
I also was able to attend some of the Addison Days events and took photos to put on Facebook. I missed the parade as I wanted to go to the DAR meeting.
This summer I have not been able to attend much due the fact of my financial situation. I missed the Cherryfield Days, Jonesport 4th and was not able to go any wheres for the 4th. I have not been to any public suppers or benefit dinners. Ijust could not do it. Besides I have been eating out of my freezers and that is good as the garden will be producing new vegetables later on this summer.
I really want to go to the house tours in Cherryfield, but will have to wait and see if I can do it next weekend July 17th.
Every Friday night we join three other couples for dinner at our friends cottage in Milbridge, so I do get to eat out even if it is a late meal.
I have been to Eastern Star meetings every month so that is good.
On July 12th I go for a cataract evaluation, and hope to get that taken care of soon.
I really need my eyes as I drive a school bus and that is my job. If I can't drive this fall I am going to be in financial ruin.
My husband seems not to be able to do anything constructive around here, if I am gone nothing gets done. Yesterday while I was gone he sat in his chair and watched tv waiting for a rain storm. He could not get out and do something because it might rain. He eats everything in site so I never know if I will have the item for a meal until I go and find it missing. That is life on the homefront.
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Church in Pleasant River Valley
Before 1820
By
Clarence Day: Copied by Ronie Strout
The pioneers who came to this down-east valley ‘now over’ two hundred years ago had keen eyes for both beauty and utility. They viewed the bold headlands and the sparkling waters of the bay and the rugged mountains in the distance, the broad marshes heavy with salt hay for their stock, and the primeval forests filled with towering pines for their sawmills and named their future home—Pleasant River.
Their settlements were not compact like those at Machias, but families were scattered at intervals here and there along both shores of bay and river from Cape split to the head of tide and beyond. For many years their only road was water.
Not only were the people scattered, like all frontiersmen they were poor. Lumber was almost their only source of income, and during the seven lean years of the Revolution English vessels patrolled the coast and ruined the lumber trade. The settlers were self-sufficient but they had little surplus for such things as schools and churches. In 1780 the number of people living within the present limits of the towns of Addison, Columbia Falls, and Columbia did not greatly exceed two hundred. More than thirty years elapsed before the pioneers at Pleasant River secured legal titles to their homesteads or had formed a town government.
While the Pleasant River settlements were slowly growing, the religious life of New England was experiencing profound changes. The established church was Congregational and its ministers were supported by taxation. They were influential, highly respected, and most of them were college graduates. For more than a century established church had the entire field to itself, but in the later decades of the eighteenth century new denominations had arisen, of which the Baptists and Methodists were most active. Their ministers, with notable exceptions, had little formal education, and their preaching was less intellectual and more emotional than that of their Congregational rivals.
The field was large enough for all. In fact it was too large for the number concerned. The district of Maine was growing rapidly and numerous settlements were too new and too small to support a settled minister even had one been available. The Reverend James Lyon of Machias was the only regular Congregational minister in Washington County from 1771 until his death in 1794. As late as 1820 Maine had only seventy-one congregational ministers and the pulpits in sixty-one churches were vacant. The same situation with the other denominations prevailed.
Methodists attempted to meet this challenge through their system of circuits and circuit riders. Congregationalists sent out men from time to time who made long journeys through the frontier settlements, preaching sermons, distributing literature, marrying and burying, baptizing infants and converts, and organizing little churches wherever a few earnest believers could be gathered together. Baptists did the same except that they did not believe in infant baptism.
One of the earliest and most active of these dedicated itinerants was the Reverend Daniel Little, pastor of the congregational church at Kennebunk from 1851 to 1801. He made so many visits to Eastern Maine that he was sometimes called “the Apostle of the East.” His first mission was in 1772 under the auspices of the “Trustees for Eastern Mission.” In 1774 he spent several weeks between Castine and Gouldsboro, and came east again several times after the Revolution. While there seems to be no existing record that he ever came to Pleasant River, it would appear probable that he visited here several times.
Edward E. Bourne, in his History of Wells and Kennebunk, wrote of Mr. Little: “His labors were very arduous. There were no roads, and he was obliged to travel on horseback through forests, and much by boat among the islands and on rivers, and was occasionally in much peril.” However, he “pursued his way with a cheerful heart. ‘The more labor, ‘ he says, ‘for the good or others, the more peace and comfort within.”
Of the Congregationalists, the Reverend Jotham Sewall, 1760—1850, labored most abundantly of them all. The Reverend Calvin M. Clark of the Bangor Theological Seminary wrote: “He had beyond question assisted in ordaining more Congregational ministers, and in forming more congregational churches, in every part of Maine, than any other Congregational minister in the whole history of these churches.
On his many missions to eastern Maine, “Father” Sewall preached 43 times at Addison, 30 times at Columbia, and 233 times at Machias. His first journey was in 1801 under the auspices of the Massachusetts Missionary Society. Sept. 13, he wrote in his diary: “rode to Columbia and preached in the evening to quite an assembly, and God graciously offered his aid both in preaching and in prayer, a solemn season. Thanksgiving and praise to my good Master.” Sewall went as far east as Eastport and on his return in October preached one afternoon at Columbia and that evening at Addison. One or two candles lighted the meeting place only and the dimness added solemnity to the occasion.
In spite of the labors of Little, Sewall, and others, Congregationalists never organized a church or gained a firm foothold in the Pleasant River Valley, perhaps because the Baptists were too strongly entrenched. In 1785 the Reverend John Whitney, then of Gouldsboro, preached for some time in this area. “Several persons professed piety and the character of the people considerably improved,” testified the Reverend Joshua Millett in his History of the Baptists in Maine. Whitney was a Free Baptist itinerant and was active at that time in preaching “in the eastern country.”
The first Calvinist Baptist of record to labor in the Pleasant River Valley was Elder Elisha Snow. A prominent businessman in Thomaston he was converted to the Baptist faith at a series of meetings held there by the Reverend Isaac Case, who later married his daughter. Mr. Snow was pastor of the Baptist church at Thomaston from 1794 to 1821.
Elder Snow visited Columbia in 1786. “He preached the gospel to them, “wrote Millett, “light celestial dispelled the darkness from many minds; the doctrines of grace supplanted their works of righteousness, and many became converts to the gospel as preached by Elder Snow. At their request he embodied them into a regular church. Although favored with but little preaching for many years, and in the midst of various modes of opposition, they lived in unity and love and prospered.”
The Baptist Church at Columbia was the first Baptist church east of the Penobscot, and the second Protestants church of any denomination in Washington County. It later became the mother of Baptist churches in Addison, Indian River, and Harrington. One would like to know more about this early church and its members but, as Millett says, “much of their early history remains in obscurity.”
Their first and only regular minister for nearly thirty years was the Reverend Joshua Young who served as their pastor from 1794 to 1797. Again Millett, who was at one time pastor of the Baptist church at Cherryfield, tells us that “Mr. Young found himself in the center of a vast community, comprising several settlements nearly destitute of the gospel. Among these he labored most assiduously. Nor were his efforts in vain. God blessed them. In 1796 a revival was experienced in Columbia and Addison, and was extended to other places.”
Alexander Baring, who later became Lord Ashburton, was in Pleasant river in 1796, and wrote: “It (Pleasant River) presents more the appearance of cultivation and of old countries than any other and I should certainly prefer it as a place of residence. The people are agreeable and when we were there they were getting their church ready by subscription and had appointed their clergyman and built him a handsome mansion.”
The same year James Murphy, a Baptist from Nova Scotia, who later served as pastor at Cherryfield and then at Eastport, joined the church by letter and received a license to preach. “Now commenced a train of circumstances adverse to their influence,” wrote Millett. “In 1797 Mr. Young and Mr. Murphy ceased their labors in Columbia, and for seventeen years the church had no pastor. In 1799 a Methodist minister came among them, who scattered seeds of contention, the fruits of which were, much wrangling and disputing about the doctrines “Divine efficiency,” ‘election’, and final perseverance. In their extremity Elder Case visited them and with the skill of a wise peacemaker he allayed the strife, and placed things again on their proper basis.”
Elder Case had already had experience with the Methodists who had built the first Methodist meeting house in Maine in Readfield where he had organized a Baptist church of which he was pastor. Some were fearful that the newcomers might try to make proselytes among his members but he declared that they were “Case-hardened.”
The Reverend Isaac case came to Maine from Rehoboth, Mass., and was pastor of the Baptist church at Thomaston from 1784 to 1792 and of the one at Readfield from 1792 to 1800. He was active in home mission work during that time and after 1800 devoted the remainder of his long life to that service. As Millett says: “Many of the churches in Maine owe their existence to his efforts, and multitudes of souls, their salvation to his instrumentality.” He earned a place beside Father Jotham Sewall in that respect.
Elder Case was probably in Columbia and Addison in 1796, since he aided Elder Young in holding revival services and organizing a church at Cherryfield that year. He came eastward many times later and was most helpful in keeping the little church alive and prosperous when they were sheep without a shepherd.
Elder Case preached at Addison in October 1805 when converts were made and thirty-four members were added to the church. The following December he visited Steuben, Columbia, Addison, and other places in Washington County. At Addison he baptized (by immersion) six persons. He noted in his diary: “The tide had ebbed about six inches, had it continued ebbing it would not have been so convenient; but as the Lord would have it, there came in an undertow, as they call it, and the water was higher than before. I think I was never in any place where Christians were more engaged in religion and where people took more pains to attend the word. Some came as many as twenty miles.”
Ministers of the established church were supported with tax money by the town. These taxes were extremely unpopular with Baptists, Methodists, and other newer sects. They had to maintain their own minister and help support the orthodox minister as well. So much opposition finally developed that the custom was abandoned. Two votes taken by the town of Columbia throw a ray of light on this situation. In 1801 the town voted to raise $75 for the support of the gospel and chose Deacon David Wass to secure a minister, presumably a Baptist since that was the only church in town. The next year the town voted that the $50 raised for that purpose be used instead for the support of schools.
From 1797 to 1814 the Baptist church was without a minister, but it was visited from time to time by itinerants among who besides Elder Case were Elders Henry Hale, Robert Low, and John Haines. In 1814 Elder Benjamin Lord of Surry was engaged as minister. He remained until 1816 and then returned to Surry. While he was here “another revival blessed the community and the church, ‘Second Addison’ was constituted,” under the leadership of Elder Isaac Bridges, with twenty-five members. It was at first called the Jonesboro and Addison church and was apparently located at Indian River some distance from the parent church.
The departure of Elder Lord issued in another time of trouble for the original church, which was now a member of the Eastern Maine Baptist Association. Millett relates the story: “1819 was a year filled with darkness, division, and painful trials. Elder McMasters, who was their minister, labored in vain to restrain the raging elements. Two parties, claiming to be the church, existed, and each reported itself to the Association as such. A committee was sent by the Association to look into their state, who visited them, and after examination and deliberation, reported to these brethren, that it was their decision that all those members who could unite in a renewal of ‘covenant’ was the church. Whereupon, a large majority of both parties signified union and fellowship, and soon most of the minority joined them. This method of settling the difficulty was accepted by the Association. It was not considered a re-organization, but a restoration of union.”
Meantime Methodism had come to Pleasant River from Canada in the person of the Reverend Duncan McColl of St.Stephen. Duncan McColl was a Scotsman who had served in the British Army in the War of the Revolution. He came to St.Stephen in 1785 and soon began to preach the gospel according to the Methodist faith. He continued to labor there and at Calais until his death in 1830. He was also endowed with the missionary spirit and preached at times in the smaller towns on both sides of the international boundary.
“One of his excursions,” says the author of the Annals of Calais and St.Stephen, “in 1787, reveals the condition of things then, in several respects. He went to Pleasant River in Maine, and spent several weeks in preaching and trying ‘to Build up Zion.’ Being ready to return; the good people of the place gave him as the reward of his labor, $3.50 in money, and three cheeses. He started homeward a happy man. He reached Indian Point in safety, but found there no vessel to take him home and no road leading up river. But go he must; and shouldering his three cheeses, he walked along the pathless shore of St.Andrews Bay, all the weary way to Robbinston. There he found a boat to take him to St.Stephen. The generosity of Pleasant River, the absence of roads, and the hardihood of the man, are characteristics of the times.”
However, not until the coming of Jesse Lee was any organized attempt made to plant the Methodist flag in the Pleasant River Valley. Jesse Lee has with reason been called the father of Methodism in Maine. He was one of the greatest of the early Methodist evangelists and his field of labor extended from Canada to Florida. He made several journeys to Maine, preaching, baptizing, and organizing churches. He preached what he considered the first Methodist sermon in Maine at Saco in 1793, and dedicated the first Methodist meeting house in the District two years later. He made two or more journeys east of the Penobscot and came first to Pleasant River in 1795.
Before 1820
By
Clarence Day: Copied by Ronie Strout
The pioneers who came to this down-east valley ‘now over’ two hundred years ago had keen eyes for both beauty and utility. They viewed the bold headlands and the sparkling waters of the bay and the rugged mountains in the distance, the broad marshes heavy with salt hay for their stock, and the primeval forests filled with towering pines for their sawmills and named their future home—Pleasant River.
Their settlements were not compact like those at Machias, but families were scattered at intervals here and there along both shores of bay and river from Cape split to the head of tide and beyond. For many years their only road was water.
Not only were the people scattered, like all frontiersmen they were poor. Lumber was almost their only source of income, and during the seven lean years of the Revolution English vessels patrolled the coast and ruined the lumber trade. The settlers were self-sufficient but they had little surplus for such things as schools and churches. In 1780 the number of people living within the present limits of the towns of Addison, Columbia Falls, and Columbia did not greatly exceed two hundred. More than thirty years elapsed before the pioneers at Pleasant River secured legal titles to their homesteads or had formed a town government.
While the Pleasant River settlements were slowly growing, the religious life of New England was experiencing profound changes. The established church was Congregational and its ministers were supported by taxation. They were influential, highly respected, and most of them were college graduates. For more than a century established church had the entire field to itself, but in the later decades of the eighteenth century new denominations had arisen, of which the Baptists and Methodists were most active. Their ministers, with notable exceptions, had little formal education, and their preaching was less intellectual and more emotional than that of their Congregational rivals.
The field was large enough for all. In fact it was too large for the number concerned. The district of Maine was growing rapidly and numerous settlements were too new and too small to support a settled minister even had one been available. The Reverend James Lyon of Machias was the only regular Congregational minister in Washington County from 1771 until his death in 1794. As late as 1820 Maine had only seventy-one congregational ministers and the pulpits in sixty-one churches were vacant. The same situation with the other denominations prevailed.
Methodists attempted to meet this challenge through their system of circuits and circuit riders. Congregationalists sent out men from time to time who made long journeys through the frontier settlements, preaching sermons, distributing literature, marrying and burying, baptizing infants and converts, and organizing little churches wherever a few earnest believers could be gathered together. Baptists did the same except that they did not believe in infant baptism.
One of the earliest and most active of these dedicated itinerants was the Reverend Daniel Little, pastor of the congregational church at Kennebunk from 1851 to 1801. He made so many visits to Eastern Maine that he was sometimes called “the Apostle of the East.” His first mission was in 1772 under the auspices of the “Trustees for Eastern Mission.” In 1774 he spent several weeks between Castine and Gouldsboro, and came east again several times after the Revolution. While there seems to be no existing record that he ever came to Pleasant River, it would appear probable that he visited here several times.
Edward E. Bourne, in his History of Wells and Kennebunk, wrote of Mr. Little: “His labors were very arduous. There were no roads, and he was obliged to travel on horseback through forests, and much by boat among the islands and on rivers, and was occasionally in much peril.” However, he “pursued his way with a cheerful heart. ‘The more labor, ‘ he says, ‘for the good or others, the more peace and comfort within.”
Of the Congregationalists, the Reverend Jotham Sewall, 1760—1850, labored most abundantly of them all. The Reverend Calvin M. Clark of the Bangor Theological Seminary wrote: “He had beyond question assisted in ordaining more Congregational ministers, and in forming more congregational churches, in every part of Maine, than any other Congregational minister in the whole history of these churches.
On his many missions to eastern Maine, “Father” Sewall preached 43 times at Addison, 30 times at Columbia, and 233 times at Machias. His first journey was in 1801 under the auspices of the Massachusetts Missionary Society. Sept. 13, he wrote in his diary: “rode to Columbia and preached in the evening to quite an assembly, and God graciously offered his aid both in preaching and in prayer, a solemn season. Thanksgiving and praise to my good Master.” Sewall went as far east as Eastport and on his return in October preached one afternoon at Columbia and that evening at Addison. One or two candles lighted the meeting place only and the dimness added solemnity to the occasion.
In spite of the labors of Little, Sewall, and others, Congregationalists never organized a church or gained a firm foothold in the Pleasant River Valley, perhaps because the Baptists were too strongly entrenched. In 1785 the Reverend John Whitney, then of Gouldsboro, preached for some time in this area. “Several persons professed piety and the character of the people considerably improved,” testified the Reverend Joshua Millett in his History of the Baptists in Maine. Whitney was a Free Baptist itinerant and was active at that time in preaching “in the eastern country.”
The first Calvinist Baptist of record to labor in the Pleasant River Valley was Elder Elisha Snow. A prominent businessman in Thomaston he was converted to the Baptist faith at a series of meetings held there by the Reverend Isaac Case, who later married his daughter. Mr. Snow was pastor of the Baptist church at Thomaston from 1794 to 1821.
Elder Snow visited Columbia in 1786. “He preached the gospel to them, “wrote Millett, “light celestial dispelled the darkness from many minds; the doctrines of grace supplanted their works of righteousness, and many became converts to the gospel as preached by Elder Snow. At their request he embodied them into a regular church. Although favored with but little preaching for many years, and in the midst of various modes of opposition, they lived in unity and love and prospered.”
The Baptist Church at Columbia was the first Baptist church east of the Penobscot, and the second Protestants church of any denomination in Washington County. It later became the mother of Baptist churches in Addison, Indian River, and Harrington. One would like to know more about this early church and its members but, as Millett says, “much of their early history remains in obscurity.”
Their first and only regular minister for nearly thirty years was the Reverend Joshua Young who served as their pastor from 1794 to 1797. Again Millett, who was at one time pastor of the Baptist church at Cherryfield, tells us that “Mr. Young found himself in the center of a vast community, comprising several settlements nearly destitute of the gospel. Among these he labored most assiduously. Nor were his efforts in vain. God blessed them. In 1796 a revival was experienced in Columbia and Addison, and was extended to other places.”
Alexander Baring, who later became Lord Ashburton, was in Pleasant river in 1796, and wrote: “It (Pleasant River) presents more the appearance of cultivation and of old countries than any other and I should certainly prefer it as a place of residence. The people are agreeable and when we were there they were getting their church ready by subscription and had appointed their clergyman and built him a handsome mansion.”
The same year James Murphy, a Baptist from Nova Scotia, who later served as pastor at Cherryfield and then at Eastport, joined the church by letter and received a license to preach. “Now commenced a train of circumstances adverse to their influence,” wrote Millett. “In 1797 Mr. Young and Mr. Murphy ceased their labors in Columbia, and for seventeen years the church had no pastor. In 1799 a Methodist minister came among them, who scattered seeds of contention, the fruits of which were, much wrangling and disputing about the doctrines “Divine efficiency,” ‘election’, and final perseverance. In their extremity Elder Case visited them and with the skill of a wise peacemaker he allayed the strife, and placed things again on their proper basis.”
Elder Case had already had experience with the Methodists who had built the first Methodist meeting house in Maine in Readfield where he had organized a Baptist church of which he was pastor. Some were fearful that the newcomers might try to make proselytes among his members but he declared that they were “Case-hardened.”
The Reverend Isaac case came to Maine from Rehoboth, Mass., and was pastor of the Baptist church at Thomaston from 1784 to 1792 and of the one at Readfield from 1792 to 1800. He was active in home mission work during that time and after 1800 devoted the remainder of his long life to that service. As Millett says: “Many of the churches in Maine owe their existence to his efforts, and multitudes of souls, their salvation to his instrumentality.” He earned a place beside Father Jotham Sewall in that respect.
Elder Case was probably in Columbia and Addison in 1796, since he aided Elder Young in holding revival services and organizing a church at Cherryfield that year. He came eastward many times later and was most helpful in keeping the little church alive and prosperous when they were sheep without a shepherd.
Elder Case preached at Addison in October 1805 when converts were made and thirty-four members were added to the church. The following December he visited Steuben, Columbia, Addison, and other places in Washington County. At Addison he baptized (by immersion) six persons. He noted in his diary: “The tide had ebbed about six inches, had it continued ebbing it would not have been so convenient; but as the Lord would have it, there came in an undertow, as they call it, and the water was higher than before. I think I was never in any place where Christians were more engaged in religion and where people took more pains to attend the word. Some came as many as twenty miles.”
Ministers of the established church were supported with tax money by the town. These taxes were extremely unpopular with Baptists, Methodists, and other newer sects. They had to maintain their own minister and help support the orthodox minister as well. So much opposition finally developed that the custom was abandoned. Two votes taken by the town of Columbia throw a ray of light on this situation. In 1801 the town voted to raise $75 for the support of the gospel and chose Deacon David Wass to secure a minister, presumably a Baptist since that was the only church in town. The next year the town voted that the $50 raised for that purpose be used instead for the support of schools.
From 1797 to 1814 the Baptist church was without a minister, but it was visited from time to time by itinerants among who besides Elder Case were Elders Henry Hale, Robert Low, and John Haines. In 1814 Elder Benjamin Lord of Surry was engaged as minister. He remained until 1816 and then returned to Surry. While he was here “another revival blessed the community and the church, ‘Second Addison’ was constituted,” under the leadership of Elder Isaac Bridges, with twenty-five members. It was at first called the Jonesboro and Addison church and was apparently located at Indian River some distance from the parent church.
The departure of Elder Lord issued in another time of trouble for the original church, which was now a member of the Eastern Maine Baptist Association. Millett relates the story: “1819 was a year filled with darkness, division, and painful trials. Elder McMasters, who was their minister, labored in vain to restrain the raging elements. Two parties, claiming to be the church, existed, and each reported itself to the Association as such. A committee was sent by the Association to look into their state, who visited them, and after examination and deliberation, reported to these brethren, that it was their decision that all those members who could unite in a renewal of ‘covenant’ was the church. Whereupon, a large majority of both parties signified union and fellowship, and soon most of the minority joined them. This method of settling the difficulty was accepted by the Association. It was not considered a re-organization, but a restoration of union.”
Meantime Methodism had come to Pleasant River from Canada in the person of the Reverend Duncan McColl of St.Stephen. Duncan McColl was a Scotsman who had served in the British Army in the War of the Revolution. He came to St.Stephen in 1785 and soon began to preach the gospel according to the Methodist faith. He continued to labor there and at Calais until his death in 1830. He was also endowed with the missionary spirit and preached at times in the smaller towns on both sides of the international boundary.
“One of his excursions,” says the author of the Annals of Calais and St.Stephen, “in 1787, reveals the condition of things then, in several respects. He went to Pleasant River in Maine, and spent several weeks in preaching and trying ‘to Build up Zion.’ Being ready to return; the good people of the place gave him as the reward of his labor, $3.50 in money, and three cheeses. He started homeward a happy man. He reached Indian Point in safety, but found there no vessel to take him home and no road leading up river. But go he must; and shouldering his three cheeses, he walked along the pathless shore of St.Andrews Bay, all the weary way to Robbinston. There he found a boat to take him to St.Stephen. The generosity of Pleasant River, the absence of roads, and the hardihood of the man, are characteristics of the times.”
However, not until the coming of Jesse Lee was any organized attempt made to plant the Methodist flag in the Pleasant River Valley. Jesse Lee has with reason been called the father of Methodism in Maine. He was one of the greatest of the early Methodist evangelists and his field of labor extended from Canada to Florida. He made several journeys to Maine, preaching, baptizing, and organizing churches. He preached what he considered the first Methodist sermon in Maine at Saco in 1793, and dedicated the first Methodist meeting house in the District two years later. He made two or more journeys east of the Penobscot and came first to Pleasant River in 1795.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Venting on the Town of Columbia
Would you believe there are others in this area that knew that the Haags were fake last Sept. and did nothing about it? This person went to the Town Office and told them about this, and the town office did not call me on it back in Sept.
I say the blame could be that the Town Office should be ashamed on not contacting me and telling me this and had me get in touch with this person.
If everyone had reported what they had found out to the police we could of had them in jail sooner, instead the Haags were all packed and ready to run again when they were arrested.
The sheriff department just shrugged me off as a disgruntle person, and did not want to get involved. Think about it .....they did not want to get involved....but now it is to do with kidnapping etc. they get the pat on their backs for tracking them down.
I found out today the other church had found out they were fakes and did not call the police, but they are crying now that they were used and had things stolen from them. Go figure,...
The Town of Columbia thoughts are: -I don't want to be involved in this, but will than talk behind your back and say things like - why didn't I know this in the first place.....The people of Columbia know I am the only one that is concern with this church, do they want to help keep it, NO THEY DO NOT! They are so insecure in their life, and keep everything a secret, hide behind others, and look like the goody two shoes that they think they are. So what if your husband or wife is an alcoholic, or a jerk, or a no good for nothing...we all know it anyway,it is a small town and every one knows everyone and besides we are all related. Can't they live their life as an upstanding citizen and stop being such a jerk and make their town a place that people want to come to and live. No these same people want to put down everyone that can think for themselves and tries to make themselves a better person. They want you or rather me to fail, it must give them a high.
Now I am not saying they are all like this, there are a few and I mean a few that are decent people, but you know .. come to think of it, they came to Columbia to live, they had no ties to the town, they wanted to live in a small town and they are trying to make a better life for them and to make the town a better place. Of course I have heard comments from the locals saying these newcomers are trying to take over the town, putting them down before they know who they are and don't even welcome them to the town. Then complain know one wants to do anything. the locals are the ones that need readjustment in their life.
I grew up in Columbia in a large family, my grandmother, mother and I have tried to keep this church going. The society would meet every month to make quilts to sell for the upkeep for this church.They put on suppers, ice cream socials, shooting matches to earn money Do you think these people of my age helped? NO they did not, they wanted to be a member, but did not do anything to help in these projects.
What it amounts to is they are jealous of whatever "I"do and want to make me look awful. Well I will prevail over their simple minds! I will survive this, they won't!
I got a lot of flack when I started the Worcester Reunion up, I organized it,promoted it and took money out of my own pocket to get it going. Did they appreciate it? NO, the only appreciation that I got were from the older folks that came. My Dad was glad that I did this as he got to socialize with other folks that came from Columbia and moved away. It was a social event for the Worcester family of the older generation. The relatives in TOWN thought it was beneath them to come to this. When some came they put down all the work I did in organizing it, and my genealogy was put down as not being right. My own family (siblings) said I was stupid, I had researched a lot of the Worcester family and had a chart made on how everyone was related on the wall. This chart was done by someone out of town and given to me. It was everything that is in the genealogy book that Leonard Tibbetts wrote later and published. But oh I could not be right, I was stupid they knew better. I had a family member call me and told me in no uncertain words not to put down what I had found out about our family, it was history. Yup it is history, who really cares if you have been married more than once it is on paper, filed and anyone can research it.
Enough of my venting.....tonight. Life will move on, and in a week all of this on the Haag's will be old news and something else will take there little minds to talk about and entertain them for another day or so. Something they know more about and do nothing about!
I suppose I should edit this but oh heck I'm venting so why should I?
I say the blame could be that the Town Office should be ashamed on not contacting me and telling me this and had me get in touch with this person.
If everyone had reported what they had found out to the police we could of had them in jail sooner, instead the Haags were all packed and ready to run again when they were arrested.
The sheriff department just shrugged me off as a disgruntle person, and did not want to get involved. Think about it .....they did not want to get involved....but now it is to do with kidnapping etc. they get the pat on their backs for tracking them down.
I found out today the other church had found out they were fakes and did not call the police, but they are crying now that they were used and had things stolen from them. Go figure,...
The Town of Columbia thoughts are: -I don't want to be involved in this, but will than talk behind your back and say things like - why didn't I know this in the first place.....The people of Columbia know I am the only one that is concern with this church, do they want to help keep it, NO THEY DO NOT! They are so insecure in their life, and keep everything a secret, hide behind others, and look like the goody two shoes that they think they are. So what if your husband or wife is an alcoholic, or a jerk, or a no good for nothing...we all know it anyway,it is a small town and every one knows everyone and besides we are all related. Can't they live their life as an upstanding citizen and stop being such a jerk and make their town a place that people want to come to and live. No these same people want to put down everyone that can think for themselves and tries to make themselves a better person. They want you or rather me to fail, it must give them a high.
Now I am not saying they are all like this, there are a few and I mean a few that are decent people, but you know .. come to think of it, they came to Columbia to live, they had no ties to the town, they wanted to live in a small town and they are trying to make a better life for them and to make the town a better place. Of course I have heard comments from the locals saying these newcomers are trying to take over the town, putting them down before they know who they are and don't even welcome them to the town. Then complain know one wants to do anything. the locals are the ones that need readjustment in their life.
I grew up in Columbia in a large family, my grandmother, mother and I have tried to keep this church going. The society would meet every month to make quilts to sell for the upkeep for this church.They put on suppers, ice cream socials, shooting matches to earn money Do you think these people of my age helped? NO they did not, they wanted to be a member, but did not do anything to help in these projects.
What it amounts to is they are jealous of whatever "I"do and want to make me look awful. Well I will prevail over their simple minds! I will survive this, they won't!
I got a lot of flack when I started the Worcester Reunion up, I organized it,promoted it and took money out of my own pocket to get it going. Did they appreciate it? NO, the only appreciation that I got were from the older folks that came. My Dad was glad that I did this as he got to socialize with other folks that came from Columbia and moved away. It was a social event for the Worcester family of the older generation. The relatives in TOWN thought it was beneath them to come to this. When some came they put down all the work I did in organizing it, and my genealogy was put down as not being right. My own family (siblings) said I was stupid, I had researched a lot of the Worcester family and had a chart made on how everyone was related on the wall. This chart was done by someone out of town and given to me. It was everything that is in the genealogy book that Leonard Tibbetts wrote later and published. But oh I could not be right, I was stupid they knew better. I had a family member call me and told me in no uncertain words not to put down what I had found out about our family, it was history. Yup it is history, who really cares if you have been married more than once it is on paper, filed and anyone can research it.
Enough of my venting.....tonight. Life will move on, and in a week all of this on the Haag's will be old news and something else will take there little minds to talk about and entertain them for another day or so. Something they know more about and do nothing about!
I suppose I should edit this but oh heck I'm venting so why should I?
Bangor Daily News Article Comments
I was very disappointed in the article in today's paper, I am from Addison not from Jonesport, and they preached in Columbia and not in Addison, They have been in this area since last fall duping people. Also alleged thefts, they did take from the church, I had proof!. At least my name was spelt right for a change.
They have been preaching since Sept 5th in Columibia, and only was interviewed and maybe preached in Addison once or twice. So I guess the background check did not really happen to find that they were here since August?
Well I notice they have disabled the comment section? I don't think that should be disabled, there are a lot of folks riled up over this article and the comments should be there!
Suzie Burks Gowie
I take offense to the fact that this guy calls himself a minister and a preacher. He is not, nor has he ever been. A Good Shepherd protects the sheep, not take advantage of them. There is great responsibility that goes along with wearing the collar of a clergy-person. There is also great authority that some take advantage of. I'll get off my soap box now.
Muriel Tucker Smith
If they can't get it right then they should not write it
Geri Moore
That's odd that they did disable that comment section. They wpuld have gotten a few doozies !! Ronie, when did you move to Jonesport and move the Union Church to Addison? You should write your own article. Maybe they are saying "alleged" because they haven't been convicted yet. At least we know what happened to the old man and we won't be finding his body out behind the church!!
Kelley Church
I posted the article from the paper. We can write our comments there cause the paper wont let us write comments on their site.
Ronie L. Strout
They were packed and ready to run on Sunday when they got arrested.
Kelley Church
Thank god they didn't get that chance.
Dawn Tibbetts Robbins
You had the courage to stand up to him and you demanded that he returned the property which he stole, and I'm certain that played a big part in bringing this whole thing to the front.
Dear Ronie,
I only today read your message recounting the difficulty you and your church were put through by
dishonest people. I pray that all is returned to you and that you can recapture some of your faith in
in people. We all have to be alert for such people, and there are very few who have not been deceived
by falsehoods. I have encountered my share of deception, and sympathize with your trials. I admire
your tenacity and resolve in pursuing the matter. I pray that only good people come your way.
Keep the faith,
John Morrison
Geri Moore----GO RONIE GO !!!!
Donna-jean Metta
I can't believe he made his father live in the basement everywhere they lived. Probably thought his father would rat him out about everything including the kids.
I was told he was an alcoholic, but I did meet him and he seemed pleasant enough. I had wondered where he went to as nothing was mentioned of him the few times I was at the church.
They did not find anything of the church at the house the hymnals and table and candle holder is amongst the missing forever now.
Richard Farnsworth
looks like Addison has it's own version of Miss Marple
Kelley Church
They should of tried to get all of the facts straight before they printed this article.
Debbie Howe
you've done your good turn, my friend!
about a minute ago ·
They have been preaching since Sept 5th in Columibia, and only was interviewed and maybe preached in Addison once or twice. So I guess the background check did not really happen to find that they were here since August?
Well I notice they have disabled the comment section? I don't think that should be disabled, there are a lot of folks riled up over this article and the comments should be there!
Suzie Burks Gowie
I take offense to the fact that this guy calls himself a minister and a preacher. He is not, nor has he ever been. A Good Shepherd protects the sheep, not take advantage of them. There is great responsibility that goes along with wearing the collar of a clergy-person. There is also great authority that some take advantage of. I'll get off my soap box now.
Muriel Tucker Smith
If they can't get it right then they should not write it
Geri Moore
That's odd that they did disable that comment section. They wpuld have gotten a few doozies !! Ronie, when did you move to Jonesport and move the Union Church to Addison? You should write your own article. Maybe they are saying "alleged" because they haven't been convicted yet. At least we know what happened to the old man and we won't be finding his body out behind the church!!
Kelley Church
I posted the article from the paper. We can write our comments there cause the paper wont let us write comments on their site.
Ronie L. Strout
They were packed and ready to run on Sunday when they got arrested.
Kelley Church
Thank god they didn't get that chance.
Dawn Tibbetts Robbins
You had the courage to stand up to him and you demanded that he returned the property which he stole, and I'm certain that played a big part in bringing this whole thing to the front.
Dear Ronie,
I only today read your message recounting the difficulty you and your church were put through by
dishonest people. I pray that all is returned to you and that you can recapture some of your faith in
in people. We all have to be alert for such people, and there are very few who have not been deceived
by falsehoods. I have encountered my share of deception, and sympathize with your trials. I admire
your tenacity and resolve in pursuing the matter. I pray that only good people come your way.
Keep the faith,
John Morrison
Geri Moore----GO RONIE GO !!!!
Donna-jean Metta
I can't believe he made his father live in the basement everywhere they lived. Probably thought his father would rat him out about everything including the kids.
I was told he was an alcoholic, but I did meet him and he seemed pleasant enough. I had wondered where he went to as nothing was mentioned of him the few times I was at the church.
They did not find anything of the church at the house the hymnals and table and candle holder is amongst the missing forever now.
Richard Farnsworth
looks like Addison has it's own version of Miss Marple
Kelley Church
They should of tried to get all of the facts straight before they printed this article.
Debbie Howe
you've done your good turn, my friend!
about a minute ago ·
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Union Church pastor arrested...
More breaking news on the so call minister...of the Union Church of Columbia.
He was arrested on Sunday and is in the Washington County Jail. I have been researching him on the internet and found a site that he was impersonating a Navy Seal. I know you can't believe every thing on the internet, but my inkling was getting to me really hard, saying he sounds like a con man and why the police report did not help a bit. I had some folks edging me on to put it out to the community at large that he might not be who he says he is. The chit chat must of brought results as they reopened my case and started to do some investigating. Of course, I had begun my own snooping. I sent info off to a special agent in Texas, a kid I knew and asked him what he thought. Yup he said sounded like a con man. Than I got a whole of Haag's resume and photo of them and started to check in on his references that he gave. Looked up on the internet to get phone numbers to call and had started to make calls to some of them. Left messages that I wanted their references on this man. Took my camera and took pictures of their license plates and sent that off to the sheriff department and asked why they could not do a back ground check on this guy. Their car drove by my house three times casing my yard, while I watch from my front porch. The third time I waved at them to let them know I saw them. They did not come back by. Later I went to the Four Corners to get pictures of their license plates.I was determined to find out what they were up to.
This Colin Haag had changed his phone numbers three times that I know of, changed places where he lived and I believe he was in the process of running again on Sunday when he was arrested. Why else would they leave those girls in a motel room instead of at their residence in Jonesport?
I was hoping the Lenfesty's would catch him on some of the lies he was telling them, I guess he had to see proof that was captured on camera that Colin took the banner saying Victory Baptist Church down, when he had told Lenfesty that he didn't.
I notified Kim Look and told her that I believe he was a con man and to watch him, cause he might run off with anything that was not bolted down.
I had planned on following up on the phone numbers that I had, but had an operation on my eye that put me down for a week, and I mean face down a whole week, waking and sleeping. Since my head is now up, I was back into the research when it broke loose. I emailed a newspaper reporter and asked her if she could find out something for me. Told her this was the man that stole from the church in Columbia. See did and a story was in the making. The news is out and will be in the papers tomorrow and a bit on the TV tonight. I might not get any credit for ratting him out, but at least I know I did the right thing especially for those girls to be reunited with their father.
He was arrested on Sunday and is in the Washington County Jail. I have been researching him on the internet and found a site that he was impersonating a Navy Seal. I know you can't believe every thing on the internet, but my inkling was getting to me really hard, saying he sounds like a con man and why the police report did not help a bit. I had some folks edging me on to put it out to the community at large that he might not be who he says he is. The chit chat must of brought results as they reopened my case and started to do some investigating. Of course, I had begun my own snooping. I sent info off to a special agent in Texas, a kid I knew and asked him what he thought. Yup he said sounded like a con man. Than I got a whole of Haag's resume and photo of them and started to check in on his references that he gave. Looked up on the internet to get phone numbers to call and had started to make calls to some of them. Left messages that I wanted their references on this man. Took my camera and took pictures of their license plates and sent that off to the sheriff department and asked why they could not do a back ground check on this guy. Their car drove by my house three times casing my yard, while I watch from my front porch. The third time I waved at them to let them know I saw them. They did not come back by. Later I went to the Four Corners to get pictures of their license plates.I was determined to find out what they were up to.
This Colin Haag had changed his phone numbers three times that I know of, changed places where he lived and I believe he was in the process of running again on Sunday when he was arrested. Why else would they leave those girls in a motel room instead of at their residence in Jonesport?
I was hoping the Lenfesty's would catch him on some of the lies he was telling them, I guess he had to see proof that was captured on camera that Colin took the banner saying Victory Baptist Church down, when he had told Lenfesty that he didn't.
I notified Kim Look and told her that I believe he was a con man and to watch him, cause he might run off with anything that was not bolted down.
I had planned on following up on the phone numbers that I had, but had an operation on my eye that put me down for a week, and I mean face down a whole week, waking and sleeping. Since my head is now up, I was back into the research when it broke loose. I emailed a newspaper reporter and asked her if she could find out something for me. Told her this was the man that stole from the church in Columbia. See did and a story was in the making. The news is out and will be in the papers tomorrow and a bit on the TV tonight. I might not get any credit for ratting him out, but at least I know I did the right thing especially for those girls to be reunited with their father.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
So now the waiting begins, on Monday April 12 will be at the hospital at 9:30, operate around 10, recover (if I can do that)stay overnite and get checked out sometime in the morning hopefully. Ride home with my head on pillows and down. Get home and try to get comfortable and hope someone will be able to help me out and I don't have to worry about the little things. Go figure it won't be about HIM now it is about me and what I need. So trying to get organized here at home, bills to be paid on line, paper work filed, house cleaned, clothes washed up , beds made, and get ready for son to arrive with his girl friend on the 18th. As Zeb said to me. "So we're gonna be a pretty bunch at the strout house. Dad already bumbles around on one leg, you're gonna be face down blind, and I'll be sucking food through a straw with a face that looks like it got run over by the tractor." ( Wisdom teeth pulled) LOL....
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Eye problems
Okay as of Monday morning Apri1 12, 2010, I will be out of commission...having eye surgery for a hole in my eye. Out of work till -- unknown and if I have regained my sight. Don't know what I am going to do about working. I have to to survive, but I can't cause if I want to see I have to do what the dr. says. Plus a problem on the other eye which will be hopefully taken care of after this one heals. I will have sight in one eye for awhile. No lifting, driving, housework, for a couple of weeks or so. Have to keep head down looking at the floor at all times. Now....the thing I need the most is prayers that the dr. does not have to remove my lens and that it is a success and that I get my sight back so I can work.
I had photos of my eyes:
first picture shows the hole in the center....looks like a volcano this is my right eye. the bad one. I can still see out of it, but not good.
2nd one shows my left eye and on the right the stringy thing has to be fixed but not at the moment
the lasts pictures tells about it.
Have to go on Friday to put dye into me for a picture to be taken. Got to go and get medicine to take before I have surgery Monday. Get the wash done and clothes where I can get to them. Will have to be face down for up to 7 days....not what I want to be doing right now or anytime. Plus I need to get my hair done as I won't be able to for sometime to have that done. How to h--- can I keep my self together to get through this, I suppose all things will come to pass, but I live from paycheck to paycheck. No help from someone in the house....that thinks it is all about him. Thinks that I brought this onto myself just to spite him...wonder why I might be depressed and upset and I don't know ....just about everything that can go wrong can go.
I suppose I am just down at the moment, and hope to be back up to my old self. Gees I can't drive after Monday, can't do anything....can't walk outside, probably not allowed to cry, and God forbid that I tell anyone how I am feeling at the moment, it might make HIM look bad. Gee is that just to bad. When I am sick, HE thinks he is sicker, go figure.
My daughter will come home from Boston but she is taking a class at Harvard, I do not want her to foul up on that. She still might be able to come on the weekend, the other daughter who knows what she can do, just got over her operation and trying to get back to work, a day at a time.
I guess enough of this pity,there are people worse off than me like Theresa Demsey and Buddy Farren with their brain tumors. Maybe it helps to think I don't have cancer like them, I guess by writing it down might help, get it off my chest or whatever, I don't know,--- think I need to make me a smoothie and think about bed or TV or whatever and stop my self pitying, life goes on one way or another, shucks this is a good excuse not to finish the attic or clean the basement or, or, or ....whatever.
Besides I am thankful, for my family, my friends, my home, my granddaughters, and my wonderful grandson. Everything that I need will come to me that is what I am going to say everyday, and try to be positive about everything. That this happened for a reason.
I had photos of my eyes:
first picture shows the hole in the center....looks like a volcano this is my right eye. the bad one. I can still see out of it, but not good.
2nd one shows my left eye and on the right the stringy thing has to be fixed but not at the moment
the lasts pictures tells about it.
Have to go on Friday to put dye into me for a picture to be taken. Got to go and get medicine to take before I have surgery Monday. Get the wash done and clothes where I can get to them. Will have to be face down for up to 7 days....not what I want to be doing right now or anytime. Plus I need to get my hair done as I won't be able to for sometime to have that done. How to h--- can I keep my self together to get through this, I suppose all things will come to pass, but I live from paycheck to paycheck. No help from someone in the house....that thinks it is all about him. Thinks that I brought this onto myself just to spite him...wonder why I might be depressed and upset and I don't know ....just about everything that can go wrong can go.
I suppose I am just down at the moment, and hope to be back up to my old self. Gees I can't drive after Monday, can't do anything....can't walk outside, probably not allowed to cry, and God forbid that I tell anyone how I am feeling at the moment, it might make HIM look bad. Gee is that just to bad. When I am sick, HE thinks he is sicker, go figure.
My daughter will come home from Boston but she is taking a class at Harvard, I do not want her to foul up on that. She still might be able to come on the weekend, the other daughter who knows what she can do, just got over her operation and trying to get back to work, a day at a time.
I guess enough of this pity,there are people worse off than me like Theresa Demsey and Buddy Farren with their brain tumors. Maybe it helps to think I don't have cancer like them, I guess by writing it down might help, get it off my chest or whatever, I don't know,--- think I need to make me a smoothie and think about bed or TV or whatever and stop my self pitying, life goes on one way or another, shucks this is a good excuse not to finish the attic or clean the basement or, or, or ....whatever.
Besides I am thankful, for my family, my friends, my home, my granddaughters, and my wonderful grandson. Everything that I need will come to me that is what I am going to say everyday, and try to be positive about everything. That this happened for a reason.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Church update April 2, 2010
Today April 2, 2010.
I placed a call to the so call preacher, he would not answer. So another lady "LC" offered to go with me to see him. At 1 P.M we arrived at his church place at the Four Corners.
We both went in and I asked about the light bulbs and he said they are in the corner over there.
The lady "LC" caught him on a statement he made to me about the missing emblem on the cross. He describe it quite well...said it was on the piano at the church that it had fallen off and he did not have time to fix it.
Also asked about the other key he had, and he said "oh I was up to the church on Wednesday evening to get the key but could not find it". I had asked him to stay away from the property! So now I believe he was actually in the church again!
The emblem appeared in a pile of hymnals. We picked over the hymnals and placed them on a pew, a lot are missing especially the ones that had the information inside who had bought them for the church. I am disappointed in finding that the ones that had the old folks names in them are no longer there. A couple of them only says donated by the Union Church Society. My great grandparents had one donated in their memory as well as other folks from the town. Sad to say those are no longer there. Just the second-hand hymnals that was given to be used. Of course in this box is where we found the emblem.
I mention to "LC" that the box of books did not appear to be the same way they were on Sunday. They looked different to me, in other words arranged differently. Do I need to take photos every-time I go there to document the inside of the church?
Soooo now I really need to get the locks changed, Don't know how to go about doing it or who to do it for me. That is it for the time being on the saga of the church.
I guess it is time to get rid of my interest in this historical church, as I can really see that no one in the town really cares what happens to it. If they did why aren't they stepping up to the plate and get involved? My mother on her death bed said "Ronie you need to take care of the church for me." "Well MOM I tried and have done the best I could."
I placed a call to the so call preacher, he would not answer. So another lady "LC" offered to go with me to see him. At 1 P.M we arrived at his church place at the Four Corners.
We both went in and I asked about the light bulbs and he said they are in the corner over there.
The lady "LC" caught him on a statement he made to me about the missing emblem on the cross. He describe it quite well...said it was on the piano at the church that it had fallen off and he did not have time to fix it.
Also asked about the other key he had, and he said "oh I was up to the church on Wednesday evening to get the key but could not find it". I had asked him to stay away from the property! So now I believe he was actually in the church again!
The emblem appeared in a pile of hymnals. We picked over the hymnals and placed them on a pew, a lot are missing especially the ones that had the information inside who had bought them for the church. I am disappointed in finding that the ones that had the old folks names in them are no longer there. A couple of them only says donated by the Union Church Society. My great grandparents had one donated in their memory as well as other folks from the town. Sad to say those are no longer there. Just the second-hand hymnals that was given to be used. Of course in this box is where we found the emblem.
I mention to "LC" that the box of books did not appear to be the same way they were on Sunday. They looked different to me, in other words arranged differently. Do I need to take photos every-time I go there to document the inside of the church?
Soooo now I really need to get the locks changed, Don't know how to go about doing it or who to do it for me. That is it for the time being on the saga of the church.
I guess it is time to get rid of my interest in this historical church, as I can really see that no one in the town really cares what happens to it. If they did why aren't they stepping up to the plate and get involved? My mother on her death bed said "Ronie you need to take care of the church for me." "Well MOM I tried and have done the best I could."
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The Church in Pleasant River Valley Before 1820
The Church in Pleasant River Valley
Before 1820
By
Clarence Day:
The pioneers who came to this down-east valley ‘now over’ two hundred years ago had keen eyes for both beauty and utility. They viewed the bold headlands and the sparkling waters of the bay and the rugged mountains in the distance, the broad marshes heavy with salt hay for their stock, and the primeval forests filled with towering pines for their sawmills and named their future home—Pleasant River.
Their settlements were not compact like those at Machias, but families were scattered at intervals here and there along both shores of bay and river from Cape split to the head of tide and beyond. For many years their only road was water.
Not only were the people scattered, like all frontiersmen they were poor. Lumber was almost their only source of income, and during the seven lean years of the Revolution English vessels patrolled the coast and ruined the lumber trade. The settlers were self-sufficient but they had little surplus for such things as schools and churches. In 1780 the number of people living within the present limits of the towns of Addison, Columbia Falls, and Columbia did not greatly exceed two hundred. More than thirty years elapsed before the pioneers at Pleasant River secured legal titles to their homesteads or had formed a town government.
While the Pleasant River settlements were slowly growing, the religious life of New England was experiencing profound changes. The established church was Congregational and its ministers were supported by taxation. They were influential, highly respected, and most of them were college graduates. For more than a century established church had the entire field to itself, but in the later decades of the eighteenth century new denominations had arisen, of which the Baptists and Methodists were most active. Their ministers, with notable exceptions, had little formal education, and their preaching was less intellectual and more emotional than that of their Congregational rivals.
The field was large enough for all. In fact it was too large for the number concerned. The district of Maine was growing rapidly and numerous settlements were too new and too small to support a settled minister even had one been available. The Reverend James Lyon of Machias was the only regular Congregational minister in Washington County from 1771 until his death in 1794. As late as 1820 Maine had only seventy-one congregational ministers and the pulpits in sixty-one churches were vacant. The same situation with the other denominations prevailed.
Methodists attempted to meet this challenge through their system of circuits and circuit riders. Congregationalists sent out men from time to time who made long journeys through the frontier settlements, preaching sermons, distributing literature, marrying and burying, baptizing infants and converts, and organizing little churches wherever a few earnest believers could be gathered together. Baptists did the same except that they did not believe in infant baptism.
One of the earliest and most active of these dedicated itinerants was the Reverend Daniel Little, pastor of the congregational church at Kennebunk from 1851 to 1801. He made so many visits to Eastern Maine that he was sometimes called “the Apostle of the East.” His first mission was in 1772 under the auspices of the “Trustees for Eastern Mission.” In 1774 he spent several weeks between Castine and Gouldsboro, and came east again several times after the Revolution. While there seems to be no existing record that he ever came to Pleasant River, it would appear probable that he visited here several times.
Edward E. Bourne, in his History of Wells and Kennebunk, wrote of Mr. Little: “His labors were very arduous. There were no roads, and he was obliged to travel on horseback through forests, and much by boat among the islands and on rivers, and was occasionally in much peril.” However, he “pursued his way with a cheerful heart. ‘The more labor, ‘ he says, ‘for the good or others, the more peace and comfort within.”
Of the Congregationalists, the Reverend Jotham Sewall, 1760—1850, labored most abundantly of them all. The Reverend Calvin M. Clark of the Bangor Theological Seminary wrote: “He had beyond question assisted in ordaining more Congregational ministers, and in forming more congregational churches, in every part of Maine, than any other Congregational minister in the whole history of these churches.
On his many missions to eastern Maine, “Father” Sewall preached 43 times at Addison, 30 times at Columbia, and 233 times at Machias. His first journey was in 1801 under the auspices of the Massachusetts Missionary Society. Sept. 13, he wrote in his diary: “rode to Columbia and preached in the evening to quite an assembly, and God graciously offered his aid both in preaching and in prayer, a solemn season. Thanksgiving and praise to my good Master.” Sewall went as far east as Eastport and on his return in October preached one afternoon at Columbia and that evening at Addison. One or two candles lighted the meeting place only and the dimness added solemnity to the occasion.
In spite of the labors of Little, Sewall, and others, Congregationalists never organized a church or gained a firm foothold in the Pleasant River Valley, perhaps because the Baptists were too strongly entrenched. In 1785 the Reverend John Whitney, then of Gouldsboro, preached for some time in this area. “Several persons professed piety and the character of the people considerably improved,” testified the Reverend Joshua Millett in his History of the Baptists in Maine. Whitney was a Free Baptist itinerant and was active at that time in preaching “in the eastern country.”
The first Calvinist Baptist of record to labor in the Pleasant River Valley was Elder Elisha Snow. A prominent businessman in Thomaston he was converted to the Baptist faith at a series of meetings held there by the Reverend Isaac Case, who later married his daughter. Mr. Snow was pastor of the Baptist church at Thomaston from 1794 to 1821.
Elder Snow visited Columbia in 1786. “He preached the gospel to them, “wrote Millett, “light celestial dispelled the darkness from many minds; the doctrines of grace supplanted their works of righteousness, and many became converts to the gospel as preached by Elder Snow. At their request he embodied them into a regular church. Although favored with but little preaching for many years, and in the midst of various modes of opposition, they lived in unity and love and prospered.”
The Baptist Church at Columbia was the first Baptist church east of the Penobscot, and the second Protestants church of any denomination in Washington County. It later became the mother of Baptist churches in Addison, Indian River, and Harrington. One would like to know more about this early church and its members but, as Millett says, “much of their early history remains in obscurity.”
Their first and only regular minister for nearly thirty years was the Reverend Joshua Young who served as their pastor from 1794 to 1797. Again Millett, who was at one time pastor of the Baptist church at Cherryfield, tells us that “Mr. Young found himself in the center of a vast community, comprising several settlements nearly destitute of the gospel. Among these he labored most assiduously. Nor were his efforts in vain. God blessed them. In 1796 a revival was experienced in Columbia and Addison, and was extended to other places.”
Alexander Baring, who later became Lord Ashburton, was in Pleasant river in 1796, and wrote: “It (Pleasant River) presents more the appearance of cultivation and of old countries than any other and I should certainly prefer it as a place of residence. The people are agreeable and when we were there they were getting their church ready by subscription and had appointed their clergyman and built him a handsome mansion.”
The same year James Murphy, a Baptist from Nova Scotia, who later served as pastor at Cherryfield and then at Eastport, joined the church by letter and received a license to preach. “Now commenced a train of circumstances adverse to their influence,” wrote Millett. “In 1797 Mr. Young and Mr. Murphy ceased their labors in Columbia, and for seventeen years the church had no pastor. In 1799 a Methodist minister came among them, who scattered seeds of contention, the fruits of which were, much wrangling and disputing about the doctrines “Divine efficiency,” ‘election’, and final perseverance. In their extremity Elder Case visited them and with the skill of a wise peacemaker he allayed the strife, and placed things again on their proper basis.”
Elder Case had already had experience with the Methodists who had built the first Methodist meeting house in Maine in Readfield where he had organized a Baptist church of which he was pastor. Some were fearful that the newcomers might try to make proselytes among his members but he declared that they were “Case-hardened.”
The Reverend Isaac case came to Maine from Rehoboth, Mass., and was pastor of the Baptist church at Thomaston from 1784 to 1792 and of the one at Readfield from 1792 to 1800. He was active in home mission work during that time and after 1800 devoted the remainder of his long life to that service. As Millett says: “Many of the churches in Maine owe their existence to his efforts, and multitudes of souls, their salvation to his instrumentality.” He earned a place beside Father Jotham Sewall in that respect.
Elder Case was probably in Columbia and Addison in 1796, since he aided Elder Young in holding revival services and organizing a church at Cherryfield that year. He came eastward many times later and was most helpful in keeping the little church alive and prosperous when they were sheep without a shepherd.
Elder Case preached at Addison in October 1805 when converts were made and thirty-four members were added to the church. The following December he visited Steuben, Columbia, Addison, and other places in Washington County. At Addison he baptized (by immersion) six persons. He noted in his diary: “The tide had ebbed about six inches, had it continued ebbing it would not have been so convenient; but as the Lord would have it, there came in an undertow, as they call it, and the water was higher than before. I think I was never in any place where Christians were more engaged in religion and where people took more pains to attend the word. Some came as many as twenty miles.”
Ministers of the established church were supported with tax money by the town. These taxes were extremely unpopular with Baptists, Methodists, and other newer sects. They had to maintain their own minister and help support the orthodox minister as well. So much opposition finally developed that the custom was abandoned. Two votes taken by the town of Columbia throw a ray of light on this situation. In 1801 the town voted to raise $75 for the support of the gospel and chose Deacon David Wass to secure a minister, presumably a Baptist since that was the only church in town. The next year the town voted that the $50 raised for that purpose be used instead for the support of schools.
From 1797 to 1814 the Baptist church was without a minister, but it was visited from time to time by itinerants among who besides Elder Case were Elders Henry Hale, Robert Low, and John Haines. In 1814 Elder Benjamin Lord of Surry was engaged as minister. He remained until 1816 and then returned to Surry. While he was here “another revival blessed the community and the church, ‘Second Addison’ was constituted,” under the leadership of Elder Isaac Bridges, with twenty-five members. It was at first called the Jonesboro and Addison church and was apparently located at Indian River some distance from the parent church.
The departure of Elder Lord issued in another time of trouble for the original church, which was now a member of the Eastern Maine Baptist Association. Millett relates the story: “1819 was a year filled with darkness, division, and painful trials. Elder McMasters, who was their minister, labored in vain to restrain the raging elements. Two parties, claiming to be the church, existed, and each reported itself to the Association as such. A committee was sent by the Association to look into their state, who visited them, and after examination and deliberation, reported to these brethren, that it was their decision that all those members who could unite in a renewal of ‘covenant’ was the church. Whereupon, a large majority of both parties signified union and fellowship, and soon most of the minority joined them. This method of settling the difficulty was accepted by the Association. It was not considered a re-organization, but a restoration of union.”
Meantime Methodism had come to Pleasant River from Canada in the person of the Reverend Duncan McColl of St.Stephen. Duncan McColl was a Scotsman who had served in the British Army in the War of the Revolution. He came to St.Stephen in 1785 and soon began to preach the gospel according to the Methodist faith. He continued to labor there and at Calais until his death in 1830. He was also endowed with the missionary spirit and preached at times in the smaller towns on both sides of the international boundary.
“One of his excursions,” says the author of the Annals of Calais and St.Stephen, “in 1787, reveals the condition of things then, in several respects. He went to Pleasant River in Maine, and spent several weeks in preaching and trying ‘to Build up Zion.’ Being ready to return; the good people of the place gave him as the reward of his labor, $3.50 in money, and three cheeses. He started homeward a happy man. He reached Indian Point in safety, but found there no vessel to take him home and no road leading up river. But go he must; and shouldering his three cheeses, he walked along the pathless shore of St.Andrews Bay, all the weary way to Robbinston. There he found a boat to take him to St.Stephen. The generosity of Pleasant River, the absence of roads, and the hardihood of the man, are characteristics of the times.”
However, not until the coming of Jesse Lee was any organized attempt made ot plant the Methodist flag in the Pleasant River Valley. Jesse Lee has with reason been called the father of Methodism in Maine. He was one of the greatest of the early Methodist evangelists and his field of labor extended from Canada to Florida. He made several journeys to Maine, preaching, baptizing, and organizing churches. He preached what he considered the first Methodist sermon in Maine at Saco in 1793, and dedicated the first Methodist meeting house in the District two years later. He made two or more journeys east of the Penobscot and came first to Pleasant River in 1795.
Blueberries on the Barrens
Blueberries on the Barrens:
By Ronie Strout
Did you know that Washington County, Maine can be proud of the fact that the first naval victory in the War of the American Revolution was won in Machias Bay? Washington County can claim other first, the first sardines, the first lobsters, and the first blueberries were canned “Down East.” Clarence Day writes that Washington County was canning blueberries for a generation or more before they were canned commercially elsewhere in the United States.
The blueberry industry began on “the barrens,” a wild, desolate treeless tract of land many thousand acres in extent. The barrens are located chiefly in the towns of Beddington, Deblois, Cherryfield ,Columbia, and townships numbered Eighteen and Nineteen.
Tradition says that the Indians were burning over the barrens to promote the growth of blueberries long before the first white settlers entered the valleys of Pleasant River and the Narraguagus.
Mr. Day writes that the first reference to the barrens seems to be made by Alexander Baring who saw them while on a journey through Washington County in 1796. Alexander Baring wrote: ”In the corner of No. 12 (now Columbia) between 11 (Cherryfield) and 5 (Harrington) there is a plain of two or three miles in diameter very poor and barren. The soil is perfectly barren and covered with a short kind of heath and no wood. It has the appearance of having been burnt but the soil is so hard that it can never have been good.” Here is the evidence that the barrens had been burned over many years before 1796 and that they were then much smaller than now.
Gathering blueberries on the barrens was a public privilege for more that a hundred years after the nearby towns were settled. Whole families came from near and far to obtain berries for their own use and for sale. A news item of 1860 reads: “The pickers are doing a smashing business on Epping Plains just now. They gather about forty bushels a day and sell them for seven cents a quart. Purchasers carry them to Rockland and to Bangor to market.”
The Civil War brought a demand for canned food for the Union Army, and several factories began to can fish, lobsters and blueberries. It has been stated that as early as 1866 blueberries were being canned in Cherryfield, and Milbridge. The berries were gathered from Epping Plains and some days they used 300 bushels of berries.
About 1868 Arthur L. Stewart began to can blueberries at Cherryfield and founded the oldest blueberry canning concern now in business in this country.
In 1883, Maine’s Secretary of State, in his Statistics of Maine, lists only six factories that were packing blueberries. They were: Cherryfield, A.L.Stewart; at Columbia Falls, Joseph A. Coffin and the Columbia Falls Packing Company; at Harrington, A.M.Nash & Co.; at Machias, Burnham & Morrill; and at Milbridge, Jasper Wyman & Co. The six factories employed sixty-two hands during the packing season.
For several years after the canning business began, the public still considered the berries on the Epping Plains to be common property; that all changed in 1871 when William Freeman, a lawyer living in Cherryfield decides that the public was trespassing.
Freeman asked the packers to pay him a royalty of half a cent a quart on the berries that they received from his land, since he believed they had stolen from him. Most all agreed except the William Underwood Company and Freeman filed a suit against the company. After a five year legal battle the case came before the Supreme Court of the State of Maine. That court upheld the verdict of the lower court and awarded Freeman damages amounting to $1,176. The court also established the right of owners of blueberry land to collect “stumpage” on berries gathered on their property.
About this same time the blueberry rake came into use, some were made of wood and wire sometimes called saltbox rakes. Around 1882 Abijah Tabbut, already making metal rakes, adopted the ideas of another Columbia Falls man, Franklin P. Tabbut, and the present Tabbut rake came on the market. The fanning mill that was ever-present in the fields was the one used by farmers for winnowing grain.
The berries were picked and shipped by boat before the Washington County Railroad was opened in 1899. A writer of those early days says: “During the fall of the year flat-bottomed vessels from Boston would come up the Narraguagus River and often swap flour and other needed commodities for blueberries.”
Eben Allen of Columbia Falls reported that in the season of 1899 it was estimated that the Wyman factory at Cherryfield put up eleven thousand bushels and the other four factories in Cherryfield, Harrington and Columbia Falls, seven thousand bushels each. This made a total of thirty-nine thousand bushels in the three towns. At $1.28 a bushel paid by the factories the value of the fruit would be nearly $50,000. Add to this, Allen said “the money paid by the factories for wages and the money received for berries shipped fresh, and it will be seen that the amount of money distributed is no small sum.”
In 1922 the frozen blueberries came onto the market and increased from less than six percent to 21 percent of the total crop. The canned berries averaged about eleven million pounds annually during the period of 1938 to 1942.
Today the blueberry crop has involved from people gathering berries on the barrens by hand, by the Tabbut rake in 1882 and machines in 2004. Now more than 230 years later another lawsuit is going on with the growers and the Companies on the price of berries.
My father Orrin L. Worcester told me how his parents would go onto the barrens and pick berries to send to the market fresh by train every summer. They would take large tents and spend days there on Township 25. After all the expenses were taking out their profit for the year 1916 were $221.97. and in 1917 their profit was $269.38. and in 1922 my grandmother Ronie Worcester wrote that they earned better than $300.00. In my grandmothers journal she wrote that they were paid to haul the blueberries at 40 cents a bushel and paid to pick the berries anywhere from $1.50, $2.50 to $3.00 a bushel.
By Ronie Strout
Did you know that Washington County, Maine can be proud of the fact that the first naval victory in the War of the American Revolution was won in Machias Bay? Washington County can claim other first, the first sardines, the first lobsters, and the first blueberries were canned “Down East.” Clarence Day writes that Washington County was canning blueberries for a generation or more before they were canned commercially elsewhere in the United States.
The blueberry industry began on “the barrens,” a wild, desolate treeless tract of land many thousand acres in extent. The barrens are located chiefly in the towns of Beddington, Deblois, Cherryfield ,Columbia, and townships numbered Eighteen and Nineteen.
Tradition says that the Indians were burning over the barrens to promote the growth of blueberries long before the first white settlers entered the valleys of Pleasant River and the Narraguagus.
Mr. Day writes that the first reference to the barrens seems to be made by Alexander Baring who saw them while on a journey through Washington County in 1796. Alexander Baring wrote: ”In the corner of No. 12 (now Columbia) between 11 (Cherryfield) and 5 (Harrington) there is a plain of two or three miles in diameter very poor and barren. The soil is perfectly barren and covered with a short kind of heath and no wood. It has the appearance of having been burnt but the soil is so hard that it can never have been good.” Here is the evidence that the barrens had been burned over many years before 1796 and that they were then much smaller than now.
Gathering blueberries on the barrens was a public privilege for more that a hundred years after the nearby towns were settled. Whole families came from near and far to obtain berries for their own use and for sale. A news item of 1860 reads: “The pickers are doing a smashing business on Epping Plains just now. They gather about forty bushels a day and sell them for seven cents a quart. Purchasers carry them to Rockland and to Bangor to market.”
The Civil War brought a demand for canned food for the Union Army, and several factories began to can fish, lobsters and blueberries. It has been stated that as early as 1866 blueberries were being canned in Cherryfield, and Milbridge. The berries were gathered from Epping Plains and some days they used 300 bushels of berries.
About 1868 Arthur L. Stewart began to can blueberries at Cherryfield and founded the oldest blueberry canning concern now in business in this country.
In 1883, Maine’s Secretary of State, in his Statistics of Maine, lists only six factories that were packing blueberries. They were: Cherryfield, A.L.Stewart; at Columbia Falls, Joseph A. Coffin and the Columbia Falls Packing Company; at Harrington, A.M.Nash & Co.; at Machias, Burnham & Morrill; and at Milbridge, Jasper Wyman & Co. The six factories employed sixty-two hands during the packing season.
For several years after the canning business began, the public still considered the berries on the Epping Plains to be common property; that all changed in 1871 when William Freeman, a lawyer living in Cherryfield decides that the public was trespassing.
Freeman asked the packers to pay him a royalty of half a cent a quart on the berries that they received from his land, since he believed they had stolen from him. Most all agreed except the William Underwood Company and Freeman filed a suit against the company. After a five year legal battle the case came before the Supreme Court of the State of Maine. That court upheld the verdict of the lower court and awarded Freeman damages amounting to $1,176. The court also established the right of owners of blueberry land to collect “stumpage” on berries gathered on their property.
About this same time the blueberry rake came into use, some were made of wood and wire sometimes called saltbox rakes. Around 1882 Abijah Tabbut, already making metal rakes, adopted the ideas of another Columbia Falls man, Franklin P. Tabbut, and the present Tabbut rake came on the market. The fanning mill that was ever-present in the fields was the one used by farmers for winnowing grain.
The berries were picked and shipped by boat before the Washington County Railroad was opened in 1899. A writer of those early days says: “During the fall of the year flat-bottomed vessels from Boston would come up the Narraguagus River and often swap flour and other needed commodities for blueberries.”
Eben Allen of Columbia Falls reported that in the season of 1899 it was estimated that the Wyman factory at Cherryfield put up eleven thousand bushels and the other four factories in Cherryfield, Harrington and Columbia Falls, seven thousand bushels each. This made a total of thirty-nine thousand bushels in the three towns. At $1.28 a bushel paid by the factories the value of the fruit would be nearly $50,000. Add to this, Allen said “the money paid by the factories for wages and the money received for berries shipped fresh, and it will be seen that the amount of money distributed is no small sum.”
In 1922 the frozen blueberries came onto the market and increased from less than six percent to 21 percent of the total crop. The canned berries averaged about eleven million pounds annually during the period of 1938 to 1942.
Today the blueberry crop has involved from people gathering berries on the barrens by hand, by the Tabbut rake in 1882 and machines in 2004. Now more than 230 years later another lawsuit is going on with the growers and the Companies on the price of berries.
My father Orrin L. Worcester told me how his parents would go onto the barrens and pick berries to send to the market fresh by train every summer. They would take large tents and spend days there on Township 25. After all the expenses were taking out their profit for the year 1916 were $221.97. and in 1917 their profit was $269.38. and in 1922 my grandmother Ronie Worcester wrote that they earned better than $300.00. In my grandmothers journal she wrote that they were paid to haul the blueberries at 40 cents a bushel and paid to pick the berries anywhere from $1.50, $2.50 to $3.00 a bushel.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Church items missing March 28, 2010
I have had a very trying day, March 28, 2010 as I had to confront a minister about items taken from the church that he had been preaching in. I actually had to walk in to his office and new place of worship to get back the Church Bible, candles, communion dish, and piano bench, note book on the church and the key. He had three keys on the holder and said another person also had a key.
I asked him to return the light bulbs all 15 of them, and the candle holder that is missing and found later that he had taken the emblem off of the cross that he left in the church.
He gave me this look like how did she find out?.... He even took the latch off the back door of the church. ( He said he had not been in the church for a few weeks, well I was in it a week to half ago and the latch was on the door which I found in the box of candles that I got back)
I asked him if he was going to take the garbage out and the wreaths down from the windows that he left. He and his family, along with another family followed me to the church...
They did take garbage out but than said another man said the items were his to give to them...
I told this minister how can you give away something that is not yours and that belongs to the church? I had been trying for a month to get in touch with this so call minister and left messages for him on his phone and with his friends that I needed to talk with him. Today -I did talk to him after their church service because I went to his new place of worship!
To say that I am upset is one thing but I am really upset that I was that gullible to be taken in by a man of the cloth....I hope I have learned my lesson...
How can a minister steal and still preach and get away with it?
I have found a picture of the candle holder and cross with emblem on it for proof to show what is missing.
Plus on top of this he has taken the hymnals that were in the church and accuses this other man for given him the stuff.
I am debating on rather I need to call the police to get to the root of this. If only he would return the items and not LIE about it.
And on top of this he was working under the Aspire program for money!
Now I need to find someone to change the locks on the door at the church.
Posted at 2:11 P.M.
I asked him to return the light bulbs all 15 of them, and the candle holder that is missing and found later that he had taken the emblem off of the cross that he left in the church.
He gave me this look like how did she find out?.... He even took the latch off the back door of the church. ( He said he had not been in the church for a few weeks, well I was in it a week to half ago and the latch was on the door which I found in the box of candles that I got back)
I asked him if he was going to take the garbage out and the wreaths down from the windows that he left. He and his family, along with another family followed me to the church...
They did take garbage out but than said another man said the items were his to give to them...
I told this minister how can you give away something that is not yours and that belongs to the church? I had been trying for a month to get in touch with this so call minister and left messages for him on his phone and with his friends that I needed to talk with him. Today -I did talk to him after their church service because I went to his new place of worship!
To say that I am upset is one thing but I am really upset that I was that gullible to be taken in by a man of the cloth....I hope I have learned my lesson...
How can a minister steal and still preach and get away with it?
I have found a picture of the candle holder and cross with emblem on it for proof to show what is missing.
Plus on top of this he has taken the hymnals that were in the church and accuses this other man for given him the stuff.
I am debating on rather I need to call the police to get to the root of this. If only he would return the items and not LIE about it.
And on top of this he was working under the Aspire program for money!
Now I need to find someone to change the locks on the door at the church.
Posted at 2:11 P.M.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
As far as the property that is missing, it probably will never be found or returned.
So the moral of this story is have a contract when you out of the goodness of your heart let someone use the church or anything. You can't trust anyone.
All I can say now is what goes around will come around and the good Lord knows the truth.
I checked into the restraining order. I can't get one to keep him away from the church property, only if he tries to do harm to me, but this is now in the system so if it happens again to someone else they will have documentation of this if they press charges.
Maybe with folks knowing what has happened in this little town is all that needs to be done as everyone will know what kind of a person he is.
I just got a dead bolt for the church, now need to get someone to put it in for me and see if it will keep out honest people.
12:45 p.m on March 31, 2010