USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Augusta > Historical notes on Augusta, Maine > Part 6
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Elm Street - East Side
No. 23 Residence of Charles Watts.
This address appears on the 1838 map as the house of T. Hamlen. Theophilus Hamlen was born in 1765, the son of Nathaniel Hamlen. He was a trader and later kept the Kennebec Hotel for many years. In 1816 he went south for a few years. He was married twice and had ten children. His daughter Ann married Luther Severance and several of his sons settled in Florida and founded Magnolia in 1820. Another daughter, Hannah, married Lory Bacon. In the 1867 di- rectory James Hamlen, a clerk at 128 Water Street, is shown living here. It is a large house and is said to have been used as a boarding house. It is said that General O. O. Howard, famous Civil War General, stopped here at this house for a short time after the War. General Howard was born in 1830, attended Bowdoin College and graduated from West Point. As a young lieutenant he was stationed at the U. S. Arsenal at Augusta from December 1855 to July 1856. He resigned from the regular army in order to accept the Colonelcy of the Third Maine Infantry. This regiment, which was raised from towns on the Kennebec, camped on the State Park in front of the State House. The regiment was ordered to move to the seat of war on June 5, 1861. Reveille was sounded at one o'clock in the morning; at 3:30 the regiment was marched to the railroad station. A large crowd was on the streets to see them off. When they reached the Augusta House Governor Washburn was on the porch and exhorted them in " eloquent and patriotic terms " to its defense. Colonel Howard replied, stating that " he should seek the honor and welfare of the sons of Maine committed to his keeping." He was commissioned a Brigadier General in 1863. At Fair Oaks he lost his right arm. He continued in the Army and was engaged at Gettysburg. After the War he was Commandant at West Point. Later he did much for Howard University. He died in 1909. In 1875 the house is given as the home of Miss Helen A. Morton, daughter of George A. Morton, who lived at the corner of Summer and Bridge Streets. In 1902 the place is shown as belonging to the Titcombs who rented it for many years to various families. For a
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time previous to the Second World War it was the home of Adjutant General Charles Davis. He cultivated a fine flower garden on the side lawn of the place. The Carney family occupied the house after the Second World War and in 1959 it was sold to Charles Watts, formerly of Lynn, Massachusetts.
No. 19 Residence of Leslie Trask.
This old home, known as the Judge True house for many years, is noticed on the map of 1838 as the home of D. Bailey. He was born in 1768 and died in 1846. His wife Sarah died in 1843 at the age of 68. D. P. Bailey is mentioned in North's History on page 589 as secretary of a meeting opposed to specie payments in 1837. In the 1871 directory Mrs. Hannah Bacon, widow of Lory Bacon, one- time Postmaster of Readfield, is shown living here. Lory Bacon died at the age of 76 years. Mrs. Bacon, who was the daughter of Theophilus and Sarah Hamlen, was born in 1793 and died in Augusta in 1877. Subsequently the place was the home of Judge Hilton True and his family. Mr. and Mrs. True had three sons, Harry, Gustave and Richard, and two daughters, Mary and Dorothy who married Hector Fearabay and will be remembered as a teacher in the Augusta schools. Judge True was born in Litchfield in 1834, attended Litch- field Academy and afterwards read law with Judge Titcomb and was admitted to the bar in 1858. He was Municipal Court Judge in Augusta from 1866 to 1882. Members of the True family have occupied the house since then. Mary True, great granddaughter of Judge True, married Leslie Trask of Hallowell after the Second World War. Her father was Walter, son of Gustave True.
No. 15 Universalist Church Parsonage.
This house, built at the turn of the century, is the youngest house on the street. It was built by Daniel Ward, a barber who kept a small shop on the corner of Bridge and Water Streets. He was a veteran of the Civil War and well known for many years by the Togus Civil War Veterans who used to come into his shop. His wife used to grow tulips for Easter sale and although she was of some faith other than the Universalist, willed the home to the Church for a parsonage, however allowing her husband a life tenancy in the event of her death before his. She was very explicit as to the details of her funeral, stipulating the dress, style of casket and so forth. When all was over, Mr. Ward, a dapper little man with a small
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goatee, doffed the rusty black coat and browned straw hat he had been accustomed to wear for years and went forth arrayed in a new light gray suit and brand new sailor straw. A solicitous friend, knowing that he was getting too old to ply his profession, asked how he was getting along. "Well," drawled Dan, "I have the house to live in as long as I like, ten dollars a week for the rent of my shop, a Civil War pension and if I get sick I can go to the Soldier's Home, thank you." The several ministers who have made their home in the place were: Rev. A. Francis Walch; Rev. George Magraw; Rev. Stanley Manning; Rev. Edwin Cunningham and the present in- cumbent, Rev. Douglas Robbins.
No. 13. Residence of Dr. Lorrimer Schmidt.
This Victorian style house was built by Mrs. Oliver P. Gould in the 1880's. She occupied it with her daughter Margaret for some years. Later Judge Oliver G. Hall of the Superior Court lived here. He went to Kents Hill Seminary and afterwards began teaching in Rockland, in the meantime reading law with Peter Thacher of that city. He was admitted to the Knox County Bar in 1860. For the next twenty-five years he held various positions in Rockland, includ- ing Municipal Court Judge. He was member of the Legislature in 1889. In 1890 he was appointed by Governor Burleigh to the Su- perior Court of Kennebec County. After his death his daughter, Miss Hattie, continued to live in the house until her death. During World War Two the house was sold to Wallace R. Prescott, an old time horse dealer who conducted a livery and sales stable on the corner of State and Bridge Streets where the Laundrymat now is. Mr. Prescott used to entertain the writer with accounts of the various horse trades he was involved in, and in these trades no matter how black the prospect appeared for him he always managed to come out on top. A gentleman of the old school he always drove a clergyman personally, instead of leaving the job to his drivers. After his death the house was sold to Dr. Lorrimer Schmidt, in 1950.
No. 9 Elm Street Residence of Mrs. Elizabeth Freeman.
This place is shown on the 1838 map as the home of B. Parker, believed to be a saddler in 1835. In the 1867 directory it is the home of Leonard Avery, furniture dealer on Water Street for many years. In the 1871 directory there is shown a John E. Avery, law student with W. P. Whitehouse, living at that address. L. C. Avery
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died in 1891 and his widow continued to make her home there. On the 1902 map the name of Cora B. Turner appears. The place was sold to Myron Davis in 1919 and transferred to Mrs. Walter Davis, widow of Walter Davis and sister of Elmer Parkman, station agent at the Maine Central Railroad Depot for many years. In 1930 the place was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. E. Maynard Thompson was born in Union in 1868, educated at Kents Hill and read law with Heath and Andrews. He was admitted to practice in 1894. He was City Solicitor, member of the Legislature and Clerk of the House. He married Ella Reid, daughter of William H. Reid of this city, for many years in the book binding firm of Smith and Reid. Mrs. Thompson, one of the oldest living graduates of Cony High School, died in 1959 at the age of 86 years. She willed the home to her niece, Mrs. Elizabeth Reid Freeman.
No. 7 Residence of Leon J. McCausland.
This old brick house was the home of S. Branch, a carpenter, in 1838. At that time the doorway faced Summer Street. In 1871 the name of Mrs. B. A. Howe appears as conducting a boarding house on the Elm Street side and Stephen Branch, a carpenter, occupied the Summer Street side. In 1884 Eugene S. Fogg, a lawyer, is shown living on the Summer Street side. He was born in 1846, read law with Daniel Robinson and was admitted in 1878. An 1892 adver- tisement shows his home at No. 6 Summer Street. He was married to Carrie S. Hodges in 1871. Mrs. Fogg, said to have been a grad- uate of Mount Holyoke, kept a private school for "Young Ladies and Little Gentlemen " in the 1880's and 90's. Miss Mabel Connor, who attended the school in the 80's, says that fellow pupils at the time were Hope Haynes, Woart Lancaster, May Johnson, Caroline and Martha North, Percy Colman, Erwin McDavid, Will Hamlen, Burt Hamlen, Harry Hamlen and Kitty Otis. Several of her pupils went on to various academies and colleges. It is said that she was an excellent teacher and interested her pupils in the cultivation of the mind. After the death of her husband she sold real estate and was an agent for reference works. In 1929 she died and left the property to the Baptist Church with a life estate to her daughter, Cassie. In 1950 Leon McCausland bought the place and remodeled it, removing an old wooden ell and shed which was on the Elm Street side. It was recorded that Caroline Fogg bought the house from Thomas Fuller in 1884. Thomas Fuller acquired the property
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from Stephen Branch in 1874. Stephen Branch bought the property from Elihu Robinson, a carpenter and one of the founders of the Methodist Church in Augusta, May 8, 1833. He was a native of Massachusetts, joined the Methodists in Cumberland, Rhode Island and in 1800 removed to Wrentham, Massachusetts, where he was a Class Leader. He started the second class in Augusta in 1807, the members being besides himself and wife, Timothy Page and wife and Sally Howard. In 1818 he conducted a school in his home for those preparing for the ministry. According to the records of the Green Street Methodist Church of Augusta he resided at that time "in a large house in the rear of the (present) Universalist Church on Win- throp Street and owned the land between Winter and Summer Streets." Subsequently his school came to the attention of Luther Sampson, who was planning to open an academy at Kents Hill. He persuaded Mr. Robinson to move his school to Kents Hill in Read- field and on February 24, the school was opened. He was Principal for the first year and afterwards turned his attention to the construc- tion of buildings to house the new school. After an absence of several years he returned to Augusta where in 1828 the Green Street Church was dedicated on November 27, when the dedicatory sermon was preached by the celebrated John Newland Maffit of Portsmouth. The first pastor was the Rev. Daniel B. Randall who was followed by many others. The present pastor is the Rev. Victor P. Musk. The original church building was enlarged in 1848 and has been im- proved from time to time. The original parsonage was built in 1847. Outgrown, it was replaced by another in the 1890's. Recently a new home for the pastor on outer Winthrop Street was built and it is said that the old parsonage will be used for church school ac- tivities. To return to the life of Elihu Robinson, he was the father of George Robinson, a graduate of Bowdoin in 1831, studied law with Ruel Williams and was afterwards editor of the "Age". He married Almira Emery, daughter of Joseph Emery, who lived on Flagg Street where his father had moved after selling the property on Summer Street. It is believed that this house is still standing. He died in 1840 and his widow married Judge Richard Rice. Elihu Robinson died in 1854 and it is said that he is buried in Forest Grove Cemetery in the Richard Rice lot.
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Summer Street - West Side
No. 20 Residence of Mrs. Mildred Smith.
This fine old colonial type house is shown on the 1838 map as the residence of George P. Morton, early Augusta banker and busi- nessman. A firm by the name of Anthony and Morton is found in the 1849 Business Directory of Maine. He was in the Legislature in 1837 and was listed as one of the founders of the Augusta Savings Bank, in 1848. He married in 1821 Sarah Carter and had six children, two of them girls. He died in 1862 at the age of 64 and his widow in 1887 at the age of 87. His daughter, Miss Helen A., is shown living here according to the 1884 and 1892 directories. Miss C. F. Sinclair was the occupant in 1902 and 1906. In 1913 the place was bought by Job Cartledge, since deceased, and he and his family lived here until 1950. Job Cartledge was at one time foreman of the Glenwood Springs Bottling Plant, which was on lower State Street near the State Registry of Motor Vehicles. For many years the water used by the city came from the Kennebec River at a point just above the dam and many people objected to the taste and bought drinking water from various bottling companies who used springs in the area. James Devine, a druggist, was the pioneer in supplying Augusta with pure tap water. He laid an aqueduct from springs located south of the city and for some years supplied a few families. Owing to the lack of capital his project remained small. The Augusta Water Company was organized in 1870 and a dam was built below the springs, aqueducts laid and the supply of water was much increased. In 1885 a new company was formed to take water from the Kennebec River. A large reservoir was built on a hill west of the city, into which water was pumped from the river above the dam. For several years after the turn of the century typhoid fever was prevalent and in the winter of 1902 there were several hundred cases and some deaths. It was the general belief of those who gave the matter study that it was caused by the water supply which was badly polluted by the sewage of other cities and towns. A Water District was formed which resulted in a new source of supply from the waters of Carleton Pond in Manchester and a
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line was laid from there to the reservoir in 1905-06. Since that time the water has been judged pure and the business of selling spring water has ended.
No. 18 Residence of Mrs. Fred Eaton.
This house is said to have been built by Lendall Titcomb as a home and occupied by him in the 1880's. He was born in Augusta in 1848, the son of Samuel Titcomb, Esq., educated at Harvard Col- lege and Law School. He married Lydia Stone, daughter of William Caldwell, one time State Treasurer. They had two sons, William and the late Samuel, and two daughters, Miriam and Lucy, all of Augusta. Mr. Titcomb was Mayor of Augusta in 1902 and carried on his father's law practice for many years. Subsequently Walter Davis of the firm of E. E. Davis Clothing Company lived here. He had two sons, Harlow and Myron. Harlow was a graduate of Bates College and the father of Bette Davis, famous actress and screen star. His brother Myron was a patent attorney. George Webber, then of the Webber Auto Electric Company, lived here after the First World War. He was the son of Frank Webber, old time grocer, and Alice Randall and his brothers were Ralph and Howard of Augusta. At the time of his death he was with Standard Brands Company in New York City. The home was sold to the late Fred Eaton of the State Planning Board in 1956.
No. 16 Residence, Vacant.
This old house with the adjoining lot was the residence of Watson F. Hallett from 1838 to 1879. He was a prominent businessman and his advertising appears in the Kennebec Journals of ancient lineage. He was a trader with his father, E. Hallett, in the 1840's. He was born in 1798. In 1867 he was President of the Freeman's National Bank, in 1871 President of the Kennebec Savings Bank. He died in 1884. John Webber of the firm of Webber and Gage, sash and blind manufacturers, appears as living here in the 1884 directory. His daughter, Miss Katherine, and Miss Caro Hamlin lived there after his death. After the Second World War the place was acquired by Dr. Monroe Beverly, an osteopath.
No. 12 Residence of Frank S. Carpenter.
This fine old brick and wood mansion is given on the 1838 map as the residence of William L. Wheeler, merchant who for many years was engaged in a large lumber business in Augusta under the
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name of Wheeler and Perkins. He moved to Bangor in 1848 and died there in 1859. He married Malvina, daughter of Theophilus Hamlin, in 1827 and they had seven girls. In the 1867 directory the name of Edward Nason, merchant, appears. He was the son of Barthelomew Nason, early settler. Edward A. Nason commenced business in Augusta in 1830 in company with Elias Craig in the dry goods and grocery business. He was a member of the successive firms of Nason and Hamlen, E. A. Nason and Company, and Nason, Hamlen and Company. For many years he was a deacon in the Congregational Church. His eldest daughter, Miss Margaret Nason, made her home here for many years after her parents passed away. Frank S. Carpenter bought the place from Ann Ruttkay, one of the Nason heirs, in 1945. Her mother was Delia E. Collins, daughter of Elizabeth Huntoon Nason, sister of Edward Nason. Delia Collins married on November 14, 1858 Louis Ruttkay of New York, a Hun- garian and nephew of Kossuth, the leader of the Hungarian Revolu- tion of 1849 which won independence from Austria. Lewis Kossuth received a hero's greeting in the United States in 1851. Mr. Carpenter, State Treasurer, makes his home here with his sisters, Miss Laura and Miss Doris.
No. 10 Residence of Francis Finnegan, Esq.
This old home is shown on the 1838 map as the residence of E. Hallett. In the Kennebec Journal for January 14, 1840 there was an advertisement for the sale of molasses by the barrel by E. and W. F. Hallett, indicating that the Halletts were traders. Elisha Hallett was also a soldier in the War of 1812 and received a pension for his services. He died in 1848, aged 53. His wife, Tamson, died in 1884 at the age of 87 years. In 1852 his daughter Harriet married Seth C. Whitehouse and in the 1867 directory he is shown living here. He was born in Vassalboro in 1820 of a family of nine children. He was considered better adapted for a business career than farming and went into a Vassalboro store, thence to New York City where he worked in a cousin's store. Returning, he went to Vassalboro Academy for several terms. He went back to New York and clerked for four years in a dry goods store. In 1846 he and his brother Owen who had been in New York with him founded a dry goods store in Augusta under the name of S. C. and O. C. Whitehouse. They did a large business and in 1855 their brother Daniel went in with them. In October 1849 Seth took passage in the bark James A.
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Thompson, 244 tons, Captain Macy for a voyage to California via Cape Horn. He arrived in San Francisco in March 1850. After four months in the gold fields he started for home via the Isthmus and arrived in Augusta in September. He was active in church and civic affairs and was Mayor in 1884. The Whitehouses had two children, Edward and Harriet; the former graduated from Harvard in 1874, was a member of the Kennebec Bar and afterwards removed to Washington, D. C. Miss Harriet is shown living here in 1906. Later the property was acquired by Judge Sanford Fogg, graduate of Bowdoin in 1889. He read law and was Judge of the Municipal Court in Bath and Deputy Attorney General of the State. He was Mayor of Augusta in 1921-22. He married Jessie K. Moody and they had two sons, Hervey and Sanford, who like his father was Mayor of Augusta, serving a term before and one after the Second World War. Mrs. Fogg sold the place to Francis Finnegan in 1956.
No. 8 Residence of Edgar S. Marden.
This old brick house is shown as the residence of Joseph Ladd in 1838. He was a druggist in Augusta, married Sarah Eveleth Potter in 1836 and they had seven children. He died in Florida in 1853. His widow is shown living there in 1871. Subsequently the property passed to D. C. Robinson as shown on the 1875 and 1879 maps. Daniel C. Robinson married Mary E., daughter of Thomas Lambard, the manufacturer, in 1874. In 1884 Joseph Robinson is shown living here. He was born in 1839, the son of George Robinson whose widow married Richard Rice in 1840. In 1871 he was store- keeper for the Portland and Kennebec R. R. He married Helen Stevens Cook of Rockland in 1871. In 1884 he is noted as President of the Bond Brook Ice Company. It is interesting to note at that time ice was the only dependable coolant known. Ice was taken from Bond Brook and from above the dam on the Kennebec River. Great ice houses stood on the banks of the Kennebec at Hallowell, Gardiner and Dresden. In 1892 it was estimated that the total ca- pacity of some twenty ice houses on the Kennebec was 567,000 tons. The ice was exported to Boston, New York, and as far as Baltimore. In May the schooners began to come up the river in droves. Charles E. Allen of Dresden, according to the Maritime History of Maine by Rowe, reported that he had seen more than sixty, three and four- masted schooners lying at anchor between Cedar Grove and Rich- mond Village. The ice industry afforded much employment to farmers
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and others in the vicinity. By 1915 it began to wane on account of artificial refrigeration and one by one the huge houses disappeared. In 1884 Joseph Robinson died and his widow continued to live in the house, but in 1906 she is shown living in the Lawrence House on Grove Street. The place remained unoccupied for many years. About the time of the First World War, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Robin- son returned and renovated the house which was very much run down. Daniel Robinson had a cottage at Lake Cobboseecontee, situated some ten miles from Augusta. A summer colony started there before the days of the electric railroad and many Augusta families had summer homes there. They used horse and buggy transporta- tion. Mr. Robinson was a pioneer in the social and sporting activi- ties of the region. He was a leader in the yachting affairs and is said to have sponsored the lighthouse on the lake. The boats used in the nineties were rowboats, small sailboats and one or two small steamers, similar to the one restored by John Fowler used on the lake a few years ago. Then there were the naphtha launches powered by a heat engine using naphtha, which although slow in speed was comparatively silent and more reliable than the existing gasoline boats. Naphtha launches were owned by Henry Heath, Governor John F. Hill, William H. Reid, John Gould, Fred Kinsman of Au- gusta and Ben Tenney of Hallowell. A curious " bicycle boat ", which consisted of a bicycle frame and pedals which drove a small paddle wheel mounted on a catamaran, was used by Max Wilder of this city. Mr. Wilder says at one time there was a gasoline powered catamaran on the lake. The various craft went about five or six miles an hour, very slow as things are now, but as one old timer put it, "fast enough in those days." Afterwards the Robinson house was occupied by Harry Pierce of the J. Frank Pierce Bookstore; Lewis A. Burleigh, Jr .; Alden Hichborn; and General Wallace Philoon, who graduated from Bowdoin and West Point. The present owner, Edgar S. Marden, pioneer automobile dealer, bought the house from General Philoon in 1949.
No. 6 Residence of Mrs. George A. Coombs.
This house was built on the front lawn of the Fogg house in 1912 which is described in the article on No. 7 Elm Street, and has always been occupied by the late Dr. George Coombs and Mrs. Coombs, the former Miss Georgia Brown, whom he married in 1911. Dr. Coombs was born in Auburn in 1874. He was educated in
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Brunswick High School and graduated from Bowdoin Medical School in 1900. He was assistant surgeon at Togus National Home for Disabled Veterans, then entered private practice in Augusta for over fifty years.
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Summer Street - East Side
No. 21 Corner Bridge Street.
On the 1838 map a house is shown in this spot, but no name is given. The name of W. H. Chisam is given in the 1871 directory. W. H. Chisam was a men's clothing dealer before the Civil War and for several years afterwards. He advertised quite extensively in the Kennebec Journal. At one time he used to receive cut clothing from Boston and employed many hundreds of women in the area making up the garments. He lost several buildings in the Great Fire on Water Street which occurred September 17, 1865. The fire consumed practically every building between Market Square and Bridge Street, besides the railroad depot which was on Commercial Street and parts of Dickman Street. There had been a drouth ex- tending from July 25th to October 15, in all 81 days, and the wooden sidewalks which extended the length of Water Street were as dry as tinder and made it easy for the fire to spread rapidly. The fire burned out every bank, the post office, two hotels, every dry goods and millinery store, every shoe store, every clothing store and every lawyer's office. In all 49 brick buildings and 32 wooden buildings were consumed. It is said that the fire was the work of an incendiary, George W. Jones of China. He had been in the city during the summer selling lobsters. Some were taken from his cart by soldiers and not receiving police protection he threatened vengeance against the city. He was in Portland the day after the fire and his cart was run into and the person alleged to have done the damage refused to pay and his house was set on fire that same night. A woman saw a man strike a match and apply it to some shavings and the fire was put out. The shavings were made with a knife having two gaps in the blade. Jones was arrested and found to have a knife with two gaps in the blade. He feigned insanity, but was found sane and sent to the State Prison. Immediately after the fire the work of removing the debris and piling up the bricks and so on was commenced. Some of the bricks were used in rebuilding. In four months one sixty-foot block was completed and furnished and by two years later the street was practically restored with new brick
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