Browse Items (103 total)

Farming and Bethel Text adapted from The Family Farm, a 1975 Bethel Historical Society exhibit guidecompiled and written by Stanley R. Howe Bethel's Agricultural Heritage Earliest Days The potential for making maple sugar from the numerous…

The History of Gilead Address of Prof. A. J. Roberts Grand Trunk Railway station, Gilead, circa 1895 Gilead, Me. July 14 (Special) — The chief feature of the formal program today, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the town of Gilead,…

Gilead's Centennial To-Day This Oxford County Town Fittingly Celebrates Her 100th BirthdayHer Sons and Daughters ReturnThe Parade Led by Indian Rangers - The Dinner - The Formal Program - Field SportsFull Story of the Day Gilead, Me. July 14…

History of Gilead by Dea. George W. Chapman George Whitefield Chapman (1780-1875)Photo from William B. Lapham's History of Bethel (1891) George Whitefield Chapman's "History of Gilead" was originally published in 1859 in the Bethel Courier…

The Boys of ’61.Bethel, May 4, 1901 This day, forty years ago, our lovely village was excited as never before in its history. In the early morn, carriages were seen coming in from every direction, in some cases, wives to bring their husbands, in…

ECHOES FROM THE SIXTIES. By Col. C. S. Edwards. Bethel, May 3, 1900. Thirty-seven years ago this day, was fought the great battle of Chancellorsville, commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, who at that time was commander of the Potomac Army. We…

ECHOES FROM THE SIXTIES. Official Report of One of the Most Bloody Conflicts of the Civil War. [Continued from last week.] Soon the shouts of the enemy immediately in our front, warned us that they were advancing, and every man stood ready to…

ECHOES FROM THE SIXTIES. Official Report of One of the Most Bloody Conflicts of the Civil War. The following is the official report of the Fifth Maine at Fredericksburg, as given by Col. Edwards to General John L. Hodsdon.It has not been revised…

DEATH OF GEN. CLARK S. EDWARDS An Honored Citizen—A Distinguished Soldier—A Noble Hero and Patriot has gone to his rest. Passed quietly away at his home last Sunday Evening, at 8.45 o’clock, after an illness of but a few days. A hero and patriot…

COL. EDWARDS’ LETTER. Bethel, Jan. 25th, 1896 My dear friend Stevens:— Your kind letter came to hand in due time; many thanks for the same. You say I may have forgotten you; my answer is, No, I well remember you and other sergeants of that old Co.…

FRAGMENTS OF LOCAL HISTORY. Concerning the Bethel Common. Number 2.—By a Sudbury Native. In the previous number we have endeavored to outline in a crude, unpolished manner, an upward growth in our Common’s physical condition; from an uncleared…

FRAGMENTS OF LOCAL HISTORY. Concerning the Bethel Common. Number 1.—By a Sudbury Native. It is an every day saying that persons, objects or things which drift into our environment for a long, unbroken period, often sink to the level of the common…

The Bethel Antiquarian Suppers of the 1850s Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True (1812-1887) Founder of Maine's first Farmer's Club (1853) at Bethel Originator of the Bethel Antiquarian Suppers (1855-1857) American life in the mid-nineteenth century…

The Bethel Agricultural Fair and Riverside Park by Yvonne B. Nowlin Grandstand at Riverside Park fairgrounds, ca. 1895 Editor's Note: The following history of the Bethel Agricultural Fair and Riverside Park was originally written as an…

Western Maine Saints [Part 4]: The York and Carter Families by Carole York Conversion to Mormonism and Western Migration “I first embraced Mormonism in 1834 in the town of Newry, Oxford County, State of Maine. The first elders I ever heard…

Capt. Charles A. J. Farrar Wilderness Writer and Adventure Provider by William B. Krohn On October 13, 2012, Dr. William B. Krohn, retired wildlife scientist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Maine in Orono, presented the annual Hall…

Barn Redux: Bethel's Most Modern Barn in 1950 by Donald G. Bennett Introduction The idea for this story came from two sources: the 2005 display of the Smithsonian exhibit “Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon” at the Bethel Historical…