Browse Items (103 total)

From The Courier, Vol. 31, No. 2 (2007): The Diary of Edgar Harvey Powers Edgar Harvey Powers (1843-1894) Photo courtesy of Bethel Masonic Lodge # 97 AF & AM Editor’s Note: This transcription has been made from a small diary that was…

John Howell Crosby (1867-1936) By Donald G. Bennett J. Howell Crosby in 1909. Courtesy of Donald G. Bennett Editor’s note: This is the second “Grandfather’s Theme” to be published in The Courier since the request for such manuscripts went out…

Women in the Grange By Jean F. Hankins The following article is based on a paper delivered in September 2008 at the Bethel Historical Society’s conference on the Grange. Jean F. Hankins, of Otisfield, Maine, is an independent scholar, active in…

Western Maine Saints [Part 3]: A Bethel Family (Frost) by Jayne W. Fife, with Roselyn Kirk Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt. Photo courtesy of Jayne Fife Mary Ann Frost Stearns was a small determined woman, a widow with one child, when she…

Western Maine Saints: A Newry Family Who Joined the Latter-Day Saints in Seeking a Home in the West by Mary E. Valentine Martha Fifield Wilkins, author of Sunday River Sketches, at the Sessions-Chapman-Bennett House near North Newry in…

To Improve the Farmer's Lot: The Grange in Maine by Stanley R. Howe For over half a century, beginning in the 1870s, the Grange in Maine numbered some 50,000 members in more than 400 locations throughout the State. Active on behalf of Maine's…

Western Maine Saints: Mormon Missionaries in the 1830s by Mary E. Valentine Umbagog Lake from the highlands of Letter B Township, now Upton, Maine Editor’s Note: The area discussed in this article, and subsequent installments, includes the…

Commemorating the 200th Anniversaryof Hannibal Hamlin’s Birth Editor’s Note: On August 7, 2009, the Bethel Historical Society’s annual Hall Lecture was presented by H. Draper Hunt, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor, University of Southern Maine. His…

Eva M. Bean and East Bethel Road A Fifty Year Perspective By Stanley R. Howe Eva Marion Bean (1895-1969) Editor’s Note: A version of this essay was delivered during a Society program held on 14 May 2009. It has been edited and expanded for…

Bowler versus Chisholm,and the Ill-fated Bethel-Rumford Electric Railway by Randall H. Bennett In 1882, Canadian-born Hugh J. Chisholm (1847-1912), a lumber enthusiast and successful partner in the Portland based Chisholm Brothers…

The Railroad Comes to Bethel by Randall H. Bennett Grand Trunk Railway station at Bethel, circa 1880 Editor’s Note: The following is an edited version of remarks made by Society Curator of Collections Randall Bennett on 10 March 2001 at…

Crossing by Ferry on the Androscoggin by Frank Worcester West Bethel Ferry, Androscoggin River, circa 1910 The ferryboat was retained in its proper position on the river by means of a large steel cable suspended across the river from two large…

Bethel's Elusive Androscoggin Steamboat by Randall H. Bennett Steamboat landing site on Androscoggin River at Bethel, circa 1910 "I know of no place in the United States where as varied and rich scenery can be witnessed as when on the…

Addison Emery Verrill Eminent Zoologist by Stanley Russell Howe Addison E. Verrill (1839-1926) One of the most eminent zoologists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Addison Emery Verrill was born on Patch Mountain, Greenwood, Maine,…

In His Home: Memories of Dr. N. T. True by Marian True Gehring Entrance hall, Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True residenceBethel, Maine, circa 1885 Many appreciative words have kept my father’s memory green, coming from many sources, and gratefully…

Dr. Nathaniel T. True by William B. Lapham Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True1812-1887 Editor’s Note: This sketch of Dr. True was read by Dr. Lapham before the Maine Historical Society, 17 March 1892. Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True was born in that…

Ernest M. Skinner by Stanley Russell Howe Ernest Martin Skinner 1866-1960 In Bethel’s Woodland Cemetery, not far from the Gothic Revival tomb, is the grave of Ernest M. Skinner, one of America’s leading organ makers whose fame spread across…

O'Neil Watson Robinson First Owner of the Robinson House by Stanley R. Howe O'Neil W. Robinson (1797-1867) As certain as can be currently determined, the Broad Street building acquired by the Society in 1998 was built about 1821 by O’Neil…

Edward Sylvester Morse: Dr. True's Star Pupil by Stanley Russell Howe Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925) Courtesy of the Maine Historical Society Few connected with Bethel's Gould Academy are aware that one of the leading figures in the fields…

Lucy Larcom's Bethel by Stanley R. Howe Lucy Larcom (1824-1893) Observing nature was a major focus of the life of Lucy Larcom (1824-1893), who spent much time in the White Mountain region and especially in the western Maine town of Bethel.…

William Berry Lapham Local Historian and Genealogist by Stanley Russell Howe William Berry Lapham 1828-1894 William Berry Lapham (1828-1894) was one of the most prolific compilers of local history and genealogy that Maine produced during the…

General Oliver Otis Howard Speaks at Bethel by Stanley R. Howe Oliver Otis Howard (1830-1909), ca. 1865 Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission Civil War General Oliver Otis Howard spoke at Bethel on the afternoon of 15 July…

Dr. True As Historian by Randall H. Bennett The productive years in the life of Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True (1812-1887) were a propitious time for antiquarian efforts. Indeed, the ground work of what we know today of Bethel's beginnings is in…

Lafayette Grover: Would-Be President Maker by Stanley Russell Howe Lafayette Grover1823-1911 Born in Bethel, Maine, on 29 November 1823, the third son of Dr. John and Fanny Lary Grover, Lafayette Grover was educated at Gould Academy and…

Atherton Bernard Furlong: Artist, Singer, Poet Atherton Furlong (1849-1919) Photo courtesy of the Greenwood Historical Society Editor’s Note: The following obituary of Atherton Furlong appeared in the 24 October 1919 issue of the Norway…