USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Augusta > Historical notes on Augusta, Maine > Part 10
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 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
This ancient brick double house is noticed on the 1838 map as the home of a Mrs. Williams on the north side and that of Dr. Knapp on the south. In 1850 it was shown as the residence of R. T. Bosworth, merchant tailor, whose advertisements appear in the 1840 Kennebec Journals. On the 1875 map the place is given as the home of Charles K. Partridge on the north and Dr. Boland on the south. Charles Partridge kept the drug store opposite the Post Office on Water Street, which still bears his name. The stand was founded by Dr. E. S. Tappan, brother of the celebrated Parson Tappan, and Dr. William S. Craig. It was once the Ladd Drug Store and also the Potter Drug Store. Mr. Partridge, clerk of Charles Potter, bought out the business and in 1865 established the Partridge Drug Store, now operated by Winfield Edwards. As a boy, Charles Murphy came to Augusta from Pittston and was an office boy for Dr. Boland and Dr. Brickett. He was the father of Dr. Norman Murphy of Augusta. Subsequently Mr. Murphy bought the drug store at 157 Water Street, founded by Alfred C. Dana in 1869, now operated by E. M. Houdlette since 1929. In 1902 the names of Mrs. C. M. Tuck on the north side and that of Sereno C. Webster on the south appear; S. C. Webster was the operator of the Augusta Ice Com- pany which delivered ice in covered wagons before the days of electric refrigeration. He was a brother of Otis Webster of Bow- ditch and Webster, who had a drug store near D. W. Adams Store. One of their specialties which the older generation will remember was their jumbo chocolate soda which they put out for a nickel. The northern side of the house was eventually bought by the Webster family and has been occupied by them for years.
No. 71 State, Corner of Oak Street - Apartment House.
This house is shown on the 1838 map as the home of D. Waldron. The Waldrons were in the lumber business and the family occupied the place for many years. Mrs. Susan Waldron, the widow of Daniel, and her daughter, Miss Susan, lived there the early part of the cen- tury. Not so long ago the Waldron tomb in the old Burnt Hill Cemetery was broken into by pranksters. The home has been an apartment house for many years.
104
Oak Street crosses. . . .
No. 75 State, Corner of Oak Street - Offices.
This house was built by Harry P. Lowell, father of Mrs. Herbert Locke, of Augusta. Mr. Lowell was the son of J. H. Lowell of Hallo- well and was born in that city in 1865. He graduated from Hallowell Classical Institute and came to Augusta to learn the jewelry busi- ness in the store of Wheeler and Lord, afterwards Lord and Lowell. In 1906 the store was in the name of Harry P. Lowell, and for many years was considered one of the finest stores this side of Boston. The business was conducted with great dignity and it was the custom of one discriminating buyer of Christmas gifts to have the store opened privately so that he might choose and pick without the public eye. The home was sold to the Smith Randall family in 1925. Constance Randall, Librarian of the Lithgow Library from 1949 to her death in 1955, lived there for a number of years.
No. 79 State Street - Clark Buick Building.
Until recently the yard of this company was the site of the Ephriam Dutton house which was shown on the Searle map of 1823. Mr. Dutton was a storekeeper on Water Street. He was born in 1771, married Mary Perkins in 1806 and died in 1844. His widow died in 1853 at the age of 72. They had several children. On the map of 1838, Dr. Cyrus Briggs is shown living here. He was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, graduated from Harvard College in 1821 and from Harvard Medical College in 1827. He married Louisa Fisk of Boston in 1827. They had four children, among them Sarah Louisa who married in 1851 the Rev. Wheelock Craig. For forty-five years Dr. Briggs had a large practice in Augusta. He was interested in the civic life of the day. His name is mentioned in the formation of the Augusta Academy and subsequently in other matters pertaining to the general welfare. In the 1850 census he is found living here with his wife and four daughters. In his house- hold were mentioned three women and one girl evidently for house work and a coachman. It is interesting to note at that time and some time after it was customary to have the house work in the old time big houses done by servants who lived in the house. In the older directories are to be found the names of cooks, maids, coachmen and even butlers. It was the habit of these people to stay for generations under one roof and although their wages were low according to modern standards, their security was provided for even
105
after the death of their employers. Although they were listed as servants they were often regarded as " part and parcel " of the family. Dr. Briggs died in 1871 and his wife in 1890. The Rev. Wheelock Craig, mentioned before as the husband of Sarah Louise Briggs, was the son of Elias Craig, a merchant of Augusta, who lived in the brick house on the corner of Sewall and Court Streets. He married Eliza Wheelock, granddaughter of Eleazor Wheelock, founder of Dart- mouth College. The Rev. Wheelock Craig was graduated from Bowdoin in 1834 and studied at Bangor Theological Seminary. He was Pastor of the Fourth Street Trinitarian Church in New Bedford and died in Switzerland where he went for his health in 1868, aged 44 years. The journey to Switzerland was a long one in those days. The story of his life is told by his brother, the Rev. H. K. Craig, in a "Memorial to Wheelock Craig", published after his death. The book is full of extracts and showed the sincerity and unworldliness of the clergy of his day. After the death of Mrs. Cyrus Briggs in 1890 the house was occupied by Dr. George E. Brickett and his son, Dr. G. Hartwell Brickett. Dr. George Brickett was born in Vermont and graduated from Dartmouth Medical College in 1846. He was a Surgeon in the Civil War and was a member of the Augusta Board of State Pensioners for many years. Dr. G. Hartwell Brickett was born in China and studied medicine in Bellevue Medical College in New York City in 1885 and came to Augusta to practice. It is said that he was a ship's surgeon for several years. After the occupancy of the Bricketts the house was an apartment house for many years. It fell into disrepair and finally was torn down in 1959. It stood on raised ground and the site was leveled off for a sales yard. The salesroom and garage were built in the 1940's by another automobile company.
Y. M. C. A. Building, Corner Winthrop and State Streets.
This building was erected in 1914 and was the gift of the Gov- ernor John F. Hill family. It stands upon the site of the original Kennebec Gaol which is described and discussed in the writer's notes on Winthrop Street.
State Street crosses. .
This stone court house, built in 1829, was on the site of a house in which Nathaniel Hamlin lived. On the gable of his house was a large clock dial attached to a clock which he kept in operation as a sign of his business. He was a house carpenter and also made
106
wooden clocks and spinning wheels. He came to Hallowell, then Augusta with his family in 1795. He died in 1834 at the age of 92. His wife by whom he had eight children died in 1830 at the age of 78. His children, among them Theophilius, Lewis, Perez and Lot, are identified with the early history of Augusta. The first court house was built in Market Square in 1790, and the second on the site of the present County Jail. The Court of Sessions of Kennebec at the December term, 1827, upon the memorial of Frederick Allen and other members of the Bar asked that a more convenient build- ing should be erected for the accommodation of county and public offices. A committee was appointed and James Cochran and Robert C. Vose were chosen to erect a building. On May 29, 1830 the cornerstone was laid by General Joseph Chandler in the presence of a few witnesses and some workmen. A plate was deposited under it, on which was engraved the date, names of the Governor of the State, Judges of the Supreme Court and Court of Sessions and Mr. Berry, the master builder. James Cochran had the credit of planning and superintending the erection of the building, which was occupied for the first time on Tuesday, the first day of June, 1830, when Judge Mellen commenced the Supreme Court Session. The building was enlarged in 1851. A brick house, then used as a residence, was taken down at that time to make room for the addition. This place stood on the southeast corner of the lot and until 1816 was the head- quarters of the Kennebec Bank, which was in reality the Hallowell Bank. The first and only President was E. T. Warren and the cashier Joseph Chandler, who was succeeded by Jesse Robinson. A build- ing for the purpose of housing the Probate Court was erected on the south side of the lot in 1907.
Court Street crosses.
No. 115 State Street, Corner Court - Kennebec County Jail.
This building was erected in 1858 on the site of the old court- house lot. It was designed by G. J. F. Bryant, a Boston architect who had previously designed the then new County Jail at Auburn. In the fall of 1858 the foundation wall was nearly laid, but on account of the severity of the weather, the work was suspended until spring. Sheds were built and the stone prepared during the winter. A full description of the building is given in North's History. It was of course the most modern of its kind in 1859. The old court house, which stood on this spot, was eventually moved across the street
107
to where the Ingraham Apartments now are on the corner of State and Court Streets. The workhouse which stands at the southeastern corner of the present jail lot was built the early part of this century.
No. 125 State Street - Residence of Percy Vickery Hill.
This beautiful mansion of 25 rooms was built by Percy V. Hill, son of Governor John F. Hill, in 1914. It stands on the site of the Robert C. Vose house which is noticed on the 1838 map as the home of the Widow Vose. Robert C. Vose was born in 1773 and came from Milton, Massachusetts. He was a clerk in the store of his uncle, Peter Vose. He became a trader and was in partnership with various merchants. He was Clerk of Courts, Representative to the Legislature. It is said that he was small and corpulent and that he was troubled with apoplexy and was advised to take cold baths, which he did, sometimes in the river through a hole cut in the ice. When building his house, which was quite expensive for its day and time, he remarked in allusion to it that "it was a man's privilege to commit a folly once in his life." He died in 1836. His wife, who was the former Caroline Gage, daughter of Captain Joshua Gage, died in 1838 as the result of a fall from a carriage while riding near Loudon Hill. The horse ruptured an artery and fell dead, over- turning the vehicle. The home was afterwards sold to Asa Reding- ton, Esq., born in Vassalboro, graduate of Bowdoin in 1811 and at one time was Judge of Common Pleas and a Court Reporter. He moved to Lewiston and was given an honorary degree by Bates in 1873, the year before he died. He sold the place to Artemas Libby, Esq. of Augusta and the property passed into the hands of Thomas S. Lang in 1870. He was a woolen manufacturer, the son of John D. Lang of Vassalboro. He moved to Oregon with his family in 1874. In a letter to her cousin, Miss Jennie Cochrane of Hallowell, formerly of the State Library, in 1946, Miss Ann S. Lang, then 84 years of age, speaks of her childhood in Augusta. She said they lived in what was known as the Redington place, just south of the jail and that it extended east to the Bradbury place. She wrote how this spot was a gully and that it made a perfect place to play. She recollected a large tree at the top of the gully, as it was called, with a large limb extending over the abyss; from this a stout rope hung with a cross stick at the end. To run back with the rope, then swing one's legs over the bar and sail over the gully was bliss. She speaks further of the so-called Indian Grave which still exists on the
108
lawn in front of the Hill mansion. She says it was a small grave with an uncut stone, no grave of a pet animal in her day. She said her playmates were Audrey Patten, Lottie Morrill, Edith Potter (next door) and Helen Child. She speaks of Mrs. Daniel Williams and Miss Ann Williams. She tells of going over the old covered bridge to see Julie Armitage at the Allen Lambard's who lived just south of the old barracks. (She doubtless referred to the old mansion recently torn down in back of the Augusta Water District Office.) The " old barracks" were probably part of the arsenal buildings, now part of the State Hospital. She also mentions a brown house which had a Latin Cross on the side, thought it was the Judd house, now the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Ingraham. This was a picture of life in Augusta in the sixties. It is recorded that T. S. Lang sold the property to Carrie Alden Vose in 1874. She was the wife of Gardiner Vose, Esq. whose father was Richard Vose, leader of the Kennebec Bar previous to the Civil War. Her father was Darius Alden, President of the Granite National Bank. G. C. Vose was born in 1835, read law with his father, married Carrie Alden in 1867. They had two sons, one of whom, Alden, settled in New York. Darius Alden is shown living here in 1884, after the death of his wife. Gardiner Vose died in 1889 and his widow, Carrie Vose, sold the place to Dr. John F. Hill in 1895. The main house was moved to the corner of State and Court Streets where it is now an apartment house.
No. 133 State Street - Office Building.
This brick residence, until recently the home of Dr. Richard Stubbs, was shown on the 1838 map as the home of J. Lunt who was an early Augusta merchant. General Alfred Redington, the first Mayor of Augusta, is shown as the resident on the 1850 map. He was the son of Samuel Redington of Vassalboro and came to Augusta in 1822. He started as a trader until he went to Magnolia, Florida in 1829. Returning he went into the dry goods business. As soon as it was known that the Kennebec Dam would be built in 1837 he purchased real estate in Augusta and engaged in speculation. He made a fortune and built the wooden part of what is now the Augusta General Hospital as a residence and is shown living there on the 1838 map. In a few years the speculation burst and he lost his property. However, he undertook the rebuilding of the dam in 1840 and was successful and became connected with the company
109
owning the water power and was its agent until 1852. He was a prime mover in reviving the Kennebec Locks and Canal Company which resulted in the erection of sawmills, machine shops and the early cotton mill. He was a member of the Legislature in 1837 with Dr. Robert A. Cony, who was the ancestor of the late Judge Robert Cony of Augusta and Daniel Cony of Portland. He was Adjutant General of the State from 1842 to 1851 and, as stated, the first mayor of Augusta. In 1852 he went to California, where he became general agent for a steamboat company on the Sacramento River and engaged in manufacturing flour. While in Augusta he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Church Williams, in 1837. She died, leav- ing an infant son who died at the age of 11 months. In 1846 he married Lucy Kimball of Bath and they are shown living with two small sons in the 1850 census. Ultimately the house was sold to the Potter family and George Potter is shown as the resident in the 1867 census. He was a merchant who afterwards engaged in the invest- ment business with his brother Barrett, who lived at No. 132 State Street, now the Downing residence. In 1906 Dr. James W. North, son of the historian, James W. North, Esq., appears as the resident. He was educated at Bowdoin College and Medical School and served as a surgeon in the Civil War. He was city physician in 1867, prac- ticed in Jefferson for some years and then returned to Augusta. He married Virginia Freer of North Carolina in 1865 and they had two daughters, one of whom, Martha, married Dr. W. H. Harris of this city. Their son is Charles W. Harris who resides at No. 99 Winthrop Street. Subsequently the house was sold to Dr. Richard Stubbs, a graduate of Bowdoin and Harvard Medical School. He married Ethelyn, daughter of Governor Burleigh, and they had a son, now deceased. Dr. Stubbs practiced for many years in Augusta. He died in 1957 and the home was sold to Dr. Alonzo Garcelon, dentist, who converted it into offices.
Green Street crosses. . .
No. 135 State Street - Offices of the New England Tel. and Tel. Co.
This modern building, housing the latest equipment in the dial system, was built in 1955 replacing a building now used by the Veterans of Foreign Wars near the foot of Winthrop Hill. On the northeast corner of this lot stood an old mansion, which in 1838 was the home of General Rufus Vose, the son of Solomon Vose. His brothers were George How, Richard Hampton, Esq. and Edward J.
110
Richard was the father of Gardiner Vose, Esq. who acquired the property after his grandmother, Mrs. Eliza Vose, died in 1862. He sold it to Erastus Bartlett, who in turn sold it to Herbert M. Heath, an Augusta attorney in 1892 who remodeled it extensively. He was the father of Gardiner K. Heath and Mrs. Max Wilder of Augusta and Herbert Heath of Phoenix, Arizona. He died in 1912 and the family occupied the place for some time afterwards. Finally the building was used as a hotel until its demolition. It is said that the granite steps from this building were taken to the Maxcy resi- dence at No. 81 Winthrop Street, American Legion Home, corner State and Chandler Streets.
The front entrance of this large old mansion faces Chandler Street and for many years the address was given as No. 1 Chandler Street. It faces Monument Park. It is said that when the J. Man- chester Haynes residence on Western Avenue was torn down a few years ago the doors of that house were substituted for the original doors of the Home. This building is shown on the 1838 map as the residence of General John Chandler, whose brother, General Joseph Chandler, built the house. General John was a soldier in the Revolution, member of the Legislature, Sheriff of Kennebec Coun- ty in 1808 and was elected Major-General of the Maine Militia and sent to the northern border in 1812. He served the first term as Senator in Congress from Maine and afterwards was Collector of the Port of Portland. He ended his days in this house in 1841 at the age of 81 years. His brother Joseph was in command of forts in Portland Harbor in 1808. Subsequently he was Clerk of Courts in Kennebec County, then Cashier of the Kennebec Bank. He was chosen Major-General of the Militia in 1828, hence the title. He died in 1846 at 66 years of age. In 1850 the name of Judge Richard Rice appears as the resident. He was born in 1810 and in early life was a printer. He went to Hallowell Classical Academy and afterwards opened a bookstore in 1836 which he advertised quite extensively at the time. He sold his bookstore to D. C. Stanwood in 1839 and studied law with James W. Bradbury. It is interesting to note the career of Senator Bradbury, called Augusta's "Grand Old Man" in the Centennial Exercises of June 9, 1897, commemo- rating Augusta's one hundred years existence as an independent town. He was born in Parsonfield in 1802. He was graduated from Bowdoin in the famous class of 1825, among his classmates being Nathaniel Hawthorne, the novelist; John S. C. Abbott,
111
the historian, and Henry W. Longfellow, the poet. He read law with Judge Shepley of Saco. He came to Augusta and was associated with Lot M. Morrill and Richard D. Rice. In 1846 he was elected United States Senator for the term ending 1853; a period of unusual interest in legislative matters, when the great men of the pre-Civil War generation, Webster, Clay and Calhoun, were dis- cussing the Mexican War and the slavery question. During his term and by his influence the first appropriation for deepening the channel of the Kennebec at Augusta was made. At the expiration of his term he resumed the practice of law. He married in 1834, Eliza Ann, daughter of Captain Thomas Smith of Augusta. He had four sons, all of whom have since passed away. In 1897, when he was 95 years of age, he was President of the Day commemorating Augusta's Cen- tennial and delivered an address, introducing Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller, a native of Augusta. For many years Senator Brad- bury lived in a mansion on the lot now occupied by the Central Maine Power Company office building on Green Street. The facade of the old Bradbury home is now the front of the Stanley Hussey cottage at Ocean Point and a part of the house is now known as Bradbury cottage at Three-Mile Pond. To return to Judge Rice and his career, from 1844 to 1848 he was editor of the "Age". Upon the resignation of Judge Redington he was appointed Judge of the Common Pleas and in 1852 he was elevated as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He resigned from the bench to become Presi- dent of the Portland and Kennebec Railroad, now the Maine Central. In 1858 while still a Judge, he and Dr. Hiram Hill, who was noted for his interest in science, discussed the possibilities of a "horseless carriage " and as a result the McClench Brothers of Hallowell built one, using a steam engine and boiler for power. Its trial trip was a memorable event in Hallowell. George B. McClench was “ chief engineer " and Judge Rice " took the tiller " and "sat upright on the seat ", his hands encased in black gloves and with his tall hat and stock " made an imposing figure". The machine started in the old part of Hallowell, known as "Joppa", which is near the old brick shoe factory on Water Street, moved northward to the "plains " at "a good speed " and then returned without accident. It is said to have made numerous trips, but after the novelty had worn off it was stored by the McClench Brothers at the old foundry for a number of years and then taken apart and probably found its way to the scrap heap. Judge Rice married twice, his first wife being Annie
112
Smith of Hallowell by whom he had two children. His second wife was Almira Robinson, widow of George Robinson, whose father was Elihu Robinson, said to be one of the founders of the Kents Hill Seminary. She had three children by her first husband, among them being Susan Howard Robinson who was born about 1836. She married John N. Goodwin, a lawyer from South Berwick who was the first territorial governor of Arizona, in 1861. Richard Emery Goodwin, one of their three children, was born in Arizona in 1861. He is found listed as the resident of No. 1 Chandler Street in the 1892 Directory. He was prominent in banking circles, being Treasurer of the Augusta Savings Bank for many years, a Trustee of the Lithgow Library and prominent in church and civic affairs. His family occu- pied the home until the Second World War. He had two grandchil- dren, one of whom, Richard Kendall who married Mary Briggs of Augusta, lives in Auburn with their eight children. During the Second World War the old mansion was used as a hospitality house for soldiers and sailors. Afterwards it came into the possession of the Fitzgerald-Cummings Post of the American Legion, who have used it as headquarters ever since. Levi T. Williams, Mayor of Augusta in 1943-45, once remarked that the Chandler Street property would be a good site for a new City Hall. He felt that the city was grow- ing westward and in the future the city center would be at this point. It would seem by the way the city has grown in this direction during the past decade, this prophecy may come true. Levi Williams was born of old Yankee stock in Phillips and with his parents moved to Augusta in a hayrack when he was 14. He attended local schools and the Dirigo Business College, now Gates. He worked in the Post Office as clerk and carrier. He was in the coal business in Hallowell for 45 years after which he founded the Levi T. Williams Agency (real estate). As mayor Mr. Williams organized the first Planning Board and was one of the early proponents of the Augusta Parking District, of which he was Chairman for several years. He was actively engaged in business at the time of his death in his 87th year.
Chandler Street. . .
Monument Park, Corner State and Grove Streets.
This triangular park is called the "Mall" on the 1838 map. It was the resting place of the Kennebec Valley troops mustered for the Civil War in their march from the encampment grounds to the
113
depot. In June 1879 the park was conveyed to the city in trust as a site for the erection of a monument to the Civil War dead. Their principal donors were Judge Rice and Mrs. Abbie Farwell. The conditions attached were that the city should maintain per- petually the grounds as a park and protect the monument from injury. The monument was designed by Maurice J. Power of the National Art Foundry of New York and was dedicated on September 21, 1882. A full account of the ceremonies may be found in the Ken- nebec Journal of September 22, 1882. The granite for the monu- ment was from the Hallowell Granite Company and the bronze panels and surmounting figure of " patriotism " were from the National Art Foundry. The cost was about ten thousand dollars. The entire height is said to be fifty feet. Trees were planted around the park at the time of the dedication and it is said that the first one planted was in honor of General Selden Connor, noticed by the writer in the article on 16 Elm Street. When the traffic circle was installed in 1949, many were removed. A World War One Memorial, which was presented to the city by Mr. and Mrs. George E. Macomber, stands at the southern end of the park. There were formerly a number of Civil War cannon in the park which were donated to the scrap drive in the Second World War. In 1949 the new bridge crossing Gage Street was named "Memorial Bridge" in honor of the participants of the Second World War.
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.