USA > Maine > Hancock County > Blue Hill > Head of the bay : sketches and pictures of Blue Hill, Maine, 1762-1952 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Ellsworth American, April 21, 1887
19
The Library building, begun in 1938, was opened in 1940. It now houses a collection of about 15,000 books.
The BLUE HILL LIBRARY
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE TWENTY-YEAR INTERIM, BLUE HILL HAS HAD its own library from the last years of the eighteenth century to the present. A notice dated October 24, 1796, gives evidence of an even older county library. This notice reads: "The Proprietors of the late Hancock Library re- siding in Blue Hill, being separated from the Proprietors of said Library residing in Sedgwick, are hereby notified that in consequenee thereof, a Meeting will be held at the Sehool on Beech Hill on Monday, the seventh day of November at ten o'clock in the forenoon for the purpose of forming themselves into a Society & passing such votes for regulating the same as they shall think proper."
At the meeting which followed this notice, Ebenezer Floyd was chosen as moderator and Reuben Dodge as proprietor's clerk, and the new society was duly formed. "We (forty-four citizens of the town are named here), wishing to become acquainted with the customs and manners of the world and every other useful knowledge, do hereby form ourselves into a Society by the name of the Blue Hill Library."
At the same time, the proprietors formulated rules to govern their activity, among which appear: "The Librarian shall deliver and receive the books intrusted to his care etc. All books belonging to the Society shall be num- bered from one upwards. The name of the Library shall be wrote or printed in each book and the price thereof. Each right shall be subject to an an- nuity of twenty five cents. . .
"Annuities and fines not paid within 6 months shall be doubled . . . 12 months trebled and so on in that proportion. Any person lending a Library book shall forfeit the price thercof; and if he negleet to return it forfeit his right. ... Any person keeping a book more than 3 months shall pay 6 cents Ist week over, and for 2nd weck 10 cents and so on in that proportion until he shall forfeit his right."
Additional fines were to be levied for damages - two cents per page for a drop of oil or tallow, five cents per leaf for leaves torn apart, two cents for each leaf turned down, twelve and one-half eents for writing or marking on a book, and three cents for warped covers. Books were to be called in for inspection about once a year, and persons refusing to pay their fines would be deprived the use of the Library. Of other financial matters, we learn that the librarian, who was authorized to exchange books "only on Saturday in the afternoon," received four dollars per year for his services.
Records of subsequent meetings indicate continued activity through the first quarter of the nineteenth century:
November 4, 1799: "Voted, that half the amount of the Library in gen-
20
eral shall consist of Divinity and the other half of History. . . Voted, that the Select Committee procure a Bookcase for the Library."
November 3, 1800: "Voted, that the Proprietors of the Library be called The Proprietors of the Social Library of Blue Hill . .. (and that ) Blue Hill Social Library shall be wrote or printed in each book with the price thereof."
November 29, 1814: "Directed the Treasurer to cause a catalogue of the books to be printed."
November 6, 1815: "That the whole amount of books belonging to said Library at the retail price, $389.3922. Number of rights, seventy two (four- teen having been forfeited since 1796). Of the seventy two annuities which became due August last, forty nine only have been paid, twenty three un- paid of them, it is probable that twenty two only will be paid, as one right purchased by a British Officer last winter will probably be forfeited."
The sum of $29.05 then in the treasury was to be used for the purchase of seven divinity books ("Bellamy's Works, Spring's Essays, Rev. Mr. Frey's Memoirs, Life of Mrs. Newell, Life of Fanny Woodbury, Life of Rev. George Whitefield, Solitude Sweetened") and an equal number of history books ("Morses' Universal Geography, Clarks Travels in the Holy Land, The Life & Memoirs of Major General Lee, The Life & Memoirs of General Moreau, Goldsmiths History of England - Two Volumes"). Several years later, we learn, the proprietors moved to exchange the "least useful" books for "others considered to be more interesting."
Prominent among the officers of the library were Reuben Dodge, Samuel Wood, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Ray, Israel Robinson, George Stevens, Andrew Witham, Jonah Holt, and Bushrod Hinckley. The location of the library room is never stated in the records. (The room may have been above J. T. Hinckley's store (later Leighton's plumbing shop), for we know that meet- ings of the proprietors were held there. Other meetings appear to have been held in the Beech Hill School House, the Meeting House, and several dif- ferent stores.
In the succeeding ycars interest in the library appcars to have waned. At the meeting of proprietors called by Peter Parker in 1849 it was voted that "the library be divided among the Proprietors . . . that a committee be se- lected to divide it into lots . . . that the choice of lots be set up at vendue among the Proprietors . .. (and) that the money arising from the sale after paying the debts of the Society be equally distributed among the members."
The ensuing twenty years found Blue Hill without any library. In 1868, however, at the request of subscribers and seven proprietors, a warrant was issued by Bushrod Hinckley to call a meeting for the purpose of organiz- ing one. At this meeting, held November 28, 1868, it was voted that a new
No. Bluehill
Library.
Know
thyself
ABOVE: The first Blue Hill Library bookplate, reproduced from the original block which Jonathan Fisher cut in 1796. This bookplate was probably discarded when the Society changed the name to the Ladies' Social Library. BELOW: Jonathan Fisher's presentation plate, which he also designed and cut himself.
Presented by
Jonathan Fifher
21
association "formed in pursuance of the Statutes of the State of Maine shall be known and called by the name and style of The Ladies' Social Library of Blue Hill. The officers shall be chosen annually on the first Monday in May by ballot. A President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer and an Ex- eeutive Committee of three. Any person may become a member by vote of corporation and by paying the sum of three dollars and signing the by-laws, each member paying fifty cents annually for the purchase of books and in- cidental expenses." The library was to be open on Thursday from one until three o'clock, and the librarian was to receive five dollars per annum for her services.
The first eleeted officers of the new library were: Mary Jane Clough, Presi- dent; Carrie Dodge, Vice-President; Frances B. Hinckley, Secretary and Treasurer; Sarah F. Hinckley, Eliza Chase, and Kate Means, Executive Com- mittee; and Sarah Fisher Hinckley, Librarian.
The records of The Ladies' Social Library make no mention of the loca- tion of the library room prior to 1889, when we learn the books were moved to a room over J. T. Hinckley's store. In October, 1892, a special meeting was called to determine if "the members of the Library are willing to have a reading room in connection with the Library," and the records show that "of the eleven votes cast ten were for and one against." ( At this time there were 885 volumes in the library.) It was also voted (ten for, one against) "that we expend one half the money on hand for books, one half to put away for a fund called the building fund." In the following year it was moved "that they should raise money so as to expend the sum of fifty dollars for books and magazines . . . (and that ) after expenses of the Library were paid all money remaining should be placed with the Library Building Fund." ( The means of raising money is not stated in this ease, but we know that three years earlier the treasury was enlarged by $29.52 from the sale of ice cream. )
In the records of 1894 we read that "the Committee have examined the books and find them in good condition considering the large circulation of the past year. The smallest issue of books to a share was one, the largest seventy four. The number of books one thousand twenty eight. In conclu- sion we would fix your attention upon the fact that while we have the nucleus of a fine Library, we have no building. Let us strive to add a little year by year to the building fund and bear in mind that well read men and women
are seldom either law breakers or a public charge."
Despite this excellent argument, the library was not to have its own build- ing for almost fifty years. However, at the meeting called in August, 1895, it was decided "after some talk that the members . .. would like for the sum of two hundred dollars, two rooms in the New Town Hall, to have and to hold, rent free, on the ground floor." Meanwhile, "Judge E. E. Chase offered us the use of his rooms over F. P. Merrill's store . .. until the room in the New Town Hall was completed." Later, the members voted to buy shelves from the Boston Shelving Company and "to hire thirty dollars of Julia Littlefield until May first 1897 without interest" to pay for them. A vote of thanks was extended to George H. Stover for the fine furniture pre- sented by him for the new town hall library.
The library prospered at its new location. A card catalogue was suggested and made by Miss Adelaide Pearson in 1901. Books donated by "friends in the village and members of the summer colony" brought the total collection to 1,662 in 1903, when more shelves were installed to accommodate the ad- ditions. The salary of the librarian was increased to fifty dollars a year, and the rooms were opened Wednesday afternoons, Saturday afternoons, and Saturday evenings. A special juvenile department was installed "as we hope to win the children to a love of the Library."
It would be impossible to list all those who were active in the library during this period, but the names which stand out by virtue of repetition in the reports are those of Frances B. Hinckley, Lizzie Hinckley, Mabel Chase, Fosta Hinckley, Abbie Stover, Lena Snow, Carrie J. Lord, Emma Jean Mc- Howell, Sarah Hinckley, Mary Wescott, Alice Holt, and Eliza L. Herrick. Their efforts and others' brought the library to a point where it had a cir- culation of three thousand and more books than the room would hold by the time Anne Hinckley was appointed librarian in 1931.
Plans for a new building were not formulated, however, until 1934. The ardent instigator of the project was Miss Adelaide Pearson. Despite a lack of money, she campaigned for the new building and was joined by hundreds of friends. Aid was seeured from the P.W.A. at the plea of Anne Hinckley, and the foundation for the new building was begun in December, 1938.
All helped with the construction - some with materials, some with labor, some with financial donations. The books were moved to the handsome new building in March, 1940.
22
THE NEED FOR A HOSPITAL IN THE BLUE HILL AREA HAD BEEN RECOGNIZED for some time before concrete plans for starting one were brought forth by Caroline A. Richards in 1920. A committee ( Caroline A. Richards, Virginia H. Holden, Edith A. Farnsworth, and Dr. R. N. V. Bliss) formed at that time decided to lease for two years the two-and-one-half story house at "the head of the bay" on Water Street. This house, which had been built in 1831 by Thomas Coggin, is no longer standing. Its original fan doorway is preserved in the very much enlarged hospital building of today. The com- mittee (as trustees) gave what funds were necessary until plans for con- tinuous financial support of the hospital could be formulated.
From the beginning, the Coggin house cared for as many patients as its limited quarters would allow. Before the lease was up, Mrs. Richards bought the building, and The Blue Hill Memorial Hospital was incorporated on October 10, 1924. Somewhat later, an addition more than doubling the building's capacity was given by Gertrude Haskell in memory of her husband.
In 1929, a bad fire destroyed the original hospital building. The new part, which had been built by Mrs. Haskell, was badly damaged, but much of it was saved. What equipment could be rescued was moved to the Blue Hill Inn on Tenney Hill, and the hospital continued to function there. Re- building was started at once - restoring the old building and repairing the new. Mrs. Haskell generously built a much larger new ell, with a well- equipped operating room.
A neighboring house on the opposite side of the street (built by Robert P. Ewer, about 1846) was bought in 1931 by Mrs. Haskell and given to the hospital for a Nurse's Home. Another important gift, an up-to-date X-ray machine, was given by Mrs. Jane P. Chisholm and William P. Palmer, Jr., in memory of their father and mother.
From the time of its opening, the hospital has been under the supervision of Dr. Bliss. Through his able guidance and the efforts of a fine corps of nurses, it has benefited not only Blue Hill, but also surrounding towns and islands off our coast. Since income from patients is not sufficient for the sup- port of the hospital, subscriptions, endowments, and material donations from villagers and summer friends have helped it to carry on.
The hospital build- ing and the new ell as they look today.
BLUE HILL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
-
23
A schooner at the Town Wharf at low tide. The shore in the middle foreground is the location of the George Stevens shipyard.
INDUSTRIES
OF THE MANY VARIED INDUSTRIES WIIICH HAVE OCCUPIED BLUE HILL inhabitants, lumbering was probably the first to be practiced here on a major seale. In early days, it would be a common sight to see a half dozen vessels at anchor off shore receiving lumber for Boston and other ports. Cordwood and saw-logs from the interior were scowed from a landing at Long Cove on the Salt Pond to vessels loading below The Falls. More wood was hauled to the Neck shores each winter to await spring and summer loading; and, in the village, hundreds and thousands of cords of wood, hemlock bark, and other forest (and farm) products were piled on the town landing ready for ship- ment each year.
It was on this same town landing that Spofford and Robinson established potash works in 1790, when the town voted "That Messrs. Spofford & Robin- son shall have the privilege of the land whereon their potash works stand . . . for twenty years, with the proviso that the Inhabitants of the Town shall not ineumber to the disadvantage of their business nor shall they in- cumber any part of said Town landing to the disadvantage of the Inhabitants of said Town."
Many years later, between 1850 and the 1860s or 70s, there was a ean- ning factory on the town landing. Local cattle were slaughtered for this factory, and some idea of its activity may be had from the fact that Ben- jamin Snow slaughtered 82 cattle in his barn in 1863. ( It was this industry which brought William [or Billy] MeHowell, a never-to-be-forgotten charac- ter, to Blue Hill. Among his outstanding peculiarities was the practice of painting his Leghorn hens' tail feathers bright red to distinguish them from neighbors' flocks. It was also his custom to remove the shoes from his horse when he left town for a day or so- to prevent his wife and daughter from "hitching up" to go driving. )
The first Blue Hill sawmill, the Endeavor, was built at the Tide Mills be- tween Mill Island and the mainland in 1765. Its power principle was un- usual; flood gates opened when the tide flowed in and closed when it flowed out - to form a dam to send the waters turning the mill wheel. In 1768, when a grist mill was built near the Endeavor, it was still possible for the entire Blue Hill population to gather around one table for the dedication.
Some years later (about 1810), John Peters built a sawmill by a stone dam on Peters' Brook. Logs which supplied this mill were largely cut and rafted from Long Island. Another Peters sawmill, built about one hun- dred yards upstream from the first, was supplied with logs from Peters' own back lots. Three other mills - the Carletons' on the south end of Salt Pond, one on the Mines Road on the outlet stream from Wood's Pond to Douglass
2 4
Pond, and one on the Mill Brook below the old wooden Main Street bridge - were operating in the early part of the nineteenth century.
The Mill Brook was an important and busy stream at that time - the Matthew Ray edge tool shop, the Curtis furniture factory, the Daniel Os- good grist mill, a threshing mill, stave mill, cooper shop, and George Stevens' carding and fulling mill were all located above the Main Street bridge. (George Stevens also operated a cotton mill - one of the first in the country - above the High Street bridge. Cotton warp produced there was in great demand and brought the princely sum of one dollar a pound. )
The carding mill was an essential part of the early Blue Hill scene. Byron Darling writes: "The early settlers soon learned the importance of raising sheep, both for food and clothing, and most of the farms . .. kept quite a number. On the old Darling farm in the days of my early manhood there were sixty to seventy. . .. After the sheep were washed and sheared the wool was picked by hand by women and children and taken to the mill to be carded. When the rolls were received, came the spinning and after that the weaving into cloth by the women."
As for transporting the wool, Byron Darling describes the construction of an interesting canoe or float. "They would select a straight grained pine, say from three to four feet in diameter, fell it, cut off a section from ten to fifteen feet long, then midway bore a hole halfway through, or more, put in some powder and split it in halve. Then with augers and axes and other tools they would dig it out, leaving a shell of the sides and bottom from two to three inches thick, and after taking off the bark and shaping the ends, as desired, they had a craft that would carry quite a large load, and which, as there were no carriages in those days, they found quite convenient to go to the mill. . "
SHIP BUILDING
Ship building, a continuously important Blue Hill industry, was carried on from 1792 until as late as 1891. Throughout these years many of the Blue Hill inhabitants worked at the various shipyards. According to tra- dition, their wages included a small grog, usually rum, which was served them each day at eleven o'clock. When my father was a boy he held the job of serving the daily grog at the shipyard where my grandfather, Asa Clough, Jr., worked as ship carpenter and master builder.
Most of the vessels built in Blue Hill yards were owned locally. Construc- tion costs were customarily divided into sixteenths, and sixteen investors would buy shares for cash, goods, or labor. This investment procedure is
borne out by the following entry, which appears in my grandfather's ledger:
1846 The Barque Sarah E. Snow
Cost of Hull $6490.00
Cost of 1/4 $1622.50
Cost of 1/16
$ 405.62
Paid on my part $ 383.15
Due twenty two dollars. 47 cents
Ships were built in the Cove at the Tide Mills, along the shore of the Inner Bay, at East Blue Hill, and even on the shores of the Salt Pond. In the Cove, the Sinclairs built the schooner Conquest, the brig Mentus, the bark Virginia, and the ship Tahmaroo: Samuel Candage built the schooner Kleber; and John Cheever built the Sarah Jackson, the brig Dellie, and the brig Equator. (The names of the many other vessels built in the Cove by these builders are unknown. )
One of the most important yards in the Inner Bay was on the Reuben Dodge shore, where there was a large wharf. (This was reached by a cart road, running down from the village Main Street between the Congrega- tional Church and the Asa Clough place. Dodge's Lane, as it was called, was the original road to the Dodge and Parker places.) Among vessels built in this yard were the barks Antioch and R. G. W. Dodge. Two other yards were located alongside the town wharf (one on either side). The George Stevens yard was on the bay shore just east of the Millbrook outlet, and another was established by John Peters in Peters' Cove in about 1812. In 1813, when Mr. Peters' first vessel was nearly completed, English officers from Castine (which they then held captive) seized her. Rather than have the boat confiscated or burned, Mr. Peters is said to have paid a large sum for ransom.
R. G. F. Candage has compiled a list of 119 vessels built in Blue Hill be- fore 1891. Their managing owners in all but three cases were Blue Hill men. The list includes 77 schooners (ranging from 100 to 180 tons), 24 brigs (120 to 266 tons), 9 barks (196 to 595 tons), and 4 ships (250 to 498 tons ). It must have been a fine sight to see these boats sailing out of the harbor - the full-rigged merchant ships with square sails on three masts, the barks with square rigs on two masts and fore-and-aft sails on the third mast, the brigs with two square-rigged masts. Many were commanded by Blue Hill captains, and many in the crews were Blue Hill boys.
The following list of Blue Hill vessels draws on Candage's list and on Old Blue Hill Vessels, a manuscript paper by Dr. Otis Littlefield.
25
1792 Schooner Sally. Vespasian Ellis, managing owner; 20.03 tons.
1796 Schooner Hancock. Robert Parker, managing owner; 111.71 tons.
1797 Schooner Unicorn. Jonathan Ellis, managing owner; 127 tons.
1800 Ship June. Dudley Carleton, managing owner; 250 tons.
This ship was built in Salt Pond. The date 1800 is approximate.
1802 Schooner Hannalı. John Allen, managing owner; 102 tons.
1806 Schooner Rising States. Andrew Witham, man. owner; 128.42 tons. Schooner Minerva. Jedediah Holt, managing owner; 132.20 tons.
1810 Schooner Sally & Betsy. Reuben Dodge, managing owner; 110.32 tons.
1811 Schooner Sally. Nathan Ellis, managing owner; 140.42 tons. Schooner Lady Washington. Jedediah Holt, man. owner; 128.25 tons. Brig Tern. Andrew Witham, managing owner; 181.42 tons.
1812 Sloop Jewel. John Peters, managing owner; 101.40 tons.
1813 Schooner Gallcon. Stephen Norton, managing owner; 261.16 tons.
1816 Schooner Orion. Jonah Holt, mangaing owner, 147.93 tons. Sloop Packet. Elisha Allen, managing owner; 79.24 tons.
1817 Schooner Volant. John Peters, managing owner. 121.33 tons. Schooner George. George Stevens, managing owner; 98.52 tons.
The Ocean Ranger, built in 1854. The painting is owned by Roland Howard.
1819
1820
Schooner Infant. Ebenezer Carlton, managing owner; 111.13 tons. Schooner Eliza Holt. Jonah Holt, managing owner; 118.33 tons. Schooner Conquest. Dudley Sinclair, managing owner; 99.75 tons.
1822 Schooner Champion. Stephen Holt, managing owner. 134.87 tons.
1823 Schooner Hebrew. Jeremiah T. Holt, managing owner; 153.67 tons. Schooner Empress. John Stevens, managing owner; 180.17 tons.
1824 Schooner Alert. Otis Little, managing owner; 70.60 tons.
1825 Schooner Two Sisters. Built by Joel Long, Sr., 70 tons. Schooner Julia Ann. Jeremiah T. Holt, managing owner; 113.46 tons. Schooner Invincible. Amos Allen, managing owner; 117.41 tons. Schooner Brilliant. Stephen Holt, managing owner; 126.64 tons. Brig Mentor. William Sinclair, managing owner; 171.75 tons.
1826 Brig Jasper. Varnum Stevens II, managing owner. 235.77 tons. Schooner George. George Stevens, managing owner; 122.55 tons. Schooner Conductor. Stephen Norton, managing owner. 140.91 tons. Schooner Kleber. Jeremiah T. Holt, managing owner; 118.76 tons. Schooner Lygonia. Lemuel Peters, managing owner; 147.38 tons. Schooner Edward. Nathan Ellis, managing owner; 115.68 tons. 1827
Collided with schooner Caroline of Frankfurt in a gale on White Head, May 13, 1849, when bound for Orland with a cargo of mer- chandise. Both vessels went ashore before they could be separated, and became total losses.
Schooner Grandee. Andrew Witham, managing owner; 141.74 tons. Brig Samaritan. Stephen Holt, managing owner; 200.61 tons. Schooner Mary. Nathan Ellis, managing owner; 127.56 tons.
1831
Brig Osceola. John Stevens, managing owner. 120.58 tons.
1832 Schooner Rushrod. Samuel Smith, managing owner; 80.75 tons. Schooner Gem. Israel Chase, managing owner; 80.47 tons. Schooner Fox. Andrew A. Fisk, managing owner; 52.89 tons.
1833 Schooner Syrian. Built by Joel Long, Sr., at East Blue Hill. Brig Honduras. William Hopkins, managing owner; 202.86 tons. Schooner May Flower. John Closson, managing owner; 103.64 tons. Schooner Magnolia. George Stevens, managing owner; 109.15 tons.
This was the first vessel of fore-and-aft rig to have three masts built in this country. It was wrecked at the mouth of the Merrimac River about 1875. The Magnolia, which was owned in Blue Hill for most of her forty-odd years of successful life, was constructed by my grand- father, Asa Clough, Jr., Master Builder.
26
1833 Topsail Schooner Syrian. Joel Long, Sr., managing owner; 106.86 tons. Built by Joel Long, Sr., at East Blue Hill.
Bark Virginia. William Sinclair, managing owner. 284.17 tons.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.