USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Augusta > Historical notes on Augusta, Maine > Part 7
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buildings. Advertisements of the era show that the same businesses continued as before the fire. William Chisam died in 1905 and in the 1915 and 1924 directories the Doran family is found living here. The place was occupied by George Hill in 1935. For the past years the place has been divided into apartments.
No. 17 Apartments - Owner, Wilfred Patenude.
This place is shown to be the property of F. Hamlen in 1879 and 1902 according to the maps put out at the time. For many years it has been an apartment house and occupied by various tenants.
No. 15 Apartments - Owner, Joseph Morin.
This house is said to have been built by the Charles Greenlief family in the late seventies or the early eighties and the family is listed as residents in the 1884 and the 1892 directories. Subsequently it was sold to the Coles and for many years rented to Mr. and Mrs. Otis Douglas who lived there with their three sons, Leon, Raymond and Stanley, for many years before and after the First World War. It was here that the famous Douglas Orchestra started, in which Leon Douglas played the piano and his brother, the late Stanley Douglas, played the drums. It is said that the orchestra lasted for over forty years. Subsequently the house was made into apartments.
No. 13 Apartment House - Wilfred Gagne, Owner.
This house appears on the 1838 map, but no owner is indicated. It was conveyed to the Greenwards by the Leonard heirs in 1871, and subsequently is shown as the property of Charles Greenward, who was a member of the firm of Williamson and Greenward, stove, furnace and tinware, on Water Street at the time. It appears that Frank W. Kinsman bought the house in 1882. Afterwards Charles Kinsman, Sr. of the same family and connected with the Capitol Drug Company lived in the house before the First World War. He married Hortense Powers of Houlton and they had a son, Charles, Jr., and a daughter Frances, now Mrs. Charles McAllister. Subse- quently he moved to No. 86 Winthrop Street and Theodore S. White- house of the Augusta Engraving Company owned the place until the Second World War. After his removal the house was divided into five apartments. It is interesting to note that the mansard roof does not appear on the 1879 pictorial map. The side porches were added when the building was made into apartments.
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No. 11 St. Mark's Episcopal Church Rectory.
This historic old house is believed to have been built by Judge Henry Fuller at the time of his purchase of the territory covered by the land west of State Street and south of Bridge Street, in 1818 to 1820. Judge Fuller sold the house to Judge Nathan Weston and moved to No. 122 Winthrop Street, it is believed. His life and accomplishments are mentioned in the writer's notes on Winthrop Street. Judge Weston was born in Augusta (then Hallowell) in 1783. He went to Hallowell Academy and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1803, read law in Boston and was admitted in 1806. He practiced in New Gloucester for three years and then came to Au- gusta. In 1834 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He married in 1809 Paulina B. Cony, daughter of Daniel Cony. They had six children. His daughter, Catherine Martin, mar- ried Frederic Fuller, son of Judge Henry Fuller, in 1830. He was a lawyer, practicing in Augusta. Their son, Melville Weston Fuller, who was to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was born in 1833. After two years of married life his parents separated and for several years he lived in his grandfather's house. The story of the Chief Justice is fully told in a book entitled “ Melville Weston Fuller " by Willard L. King, New York, 1950 and many in- teresting sidelights of early Augusta are related. He was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1853, prepared for the bar at Harvard and read law in the office with one of his uncles. He was admitted to the bar in 1855. In that same year he assumed the editorship of the Age ", the principal Democratic newspaper in Maine at that time. In 1856 he was elected President of the Common Council and City Solicitor of Augusta. However, in 1856 he moved to Chicago, having caught, it would seem, the Western fever, so prevalent at the time. He was engaged in private practice for a number of years and was appointed Chief Justice in 1888 by President Cleveland. He re- mained on the bench until his death in 1910. It is said that on summer vacations he would often visit Augusta and was fond of walking on Winthrop Street where he would greet old friends. The old mansion was bought by St. Mark's Church for use as a Rectory. In 1885 it was moved from Pleasant Street to make room for the present St. Mark's Church. The occupants of the Rectory, it is said, have been Rev. Samuel Upjohn; Rev. Walker Gwyn; Rev. Albert Snyder; Rev. G. W. Degen; Rev. Brian C. Roberts; Rev. V. O. Anderson; Rev. E. H. Knapp; Dr. S. B. Purves; Rev. Herbert Pressey;
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Rev. Putnam; Rev. Charles Clough; Rev. Thomas Regan; Rev. Edwin Grilley and the present rector, Rev. Herbert S. Craig.
No. 9 St. Mark's Parish House.
This modernistic building was started in the spring of 1959 and opened in February 1960 replacing an outmoded structure erected in 1908 on the same site.
No. 7 Residence of Mrs. Hazel McCurdy.
This old home appears on the 1850 map, but no name is given. In 1867 it was listed as the residence of the Rev. Charles F. Penney, pastor of the Free Baptist Church situated at No. 43 State Street, now an apartment house. This church had an interesting history. In 1852 the Rev. Oren B. Cheney was a representative to the Legis- lature. An ardent Freewill Baptist he noted the lack of such a de- nomination in Augusta and in 1852 he began his labors to erect a house of worship. So successful was he, that building was commenced in the spring of 1853 and by November the church was dedicated. He remained pastor until July, 1856, when it is said he left to go to the Seminary in Lewiston, which ultimately became Bates College. It is related that in September of 1855 he had a dream which bade him go and found a Baptist College. Just where he lived at that time is not exactly known, but while he was in the Legislature he boarded with Uriah Pettingill, a shopkeeper on Water Street. In 1862 the Rev. Charles Penney, a graduate of Bowdoin College, ac- cepted the pastorate and served in all over a period of 27 years in Augusta. After the turn of the century it was decided to merge the Freewill and First Baptist and in 1907 the Penney Memorial Church on Grove Street was dedicated in honor of the Rev. Charles F. Penney. It is said that the present edifice was constructed of Hallo- well granite and that much of the stone was cut by Samuel White, a Scotchman who lived on outer Western Avenue. After the death of her husband Mrs. Penney continued to live there. Mr. and Mrs. Penney had a son, Charles T., of this city who was for many years connected with the Capitol Drug Company and a daughter, Mrs. Fred Kinsman, mother of Charles Kinsman, Sr. About 1925 the house was sold to Virgil Trouant of Trouant and Bates, an Augusta firm who sold wallpaper and also conducted an undertaking establishment. Mrs. Hazel McCurdy bought the home in 1955.
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No. 5 Residence of Morris Leighton.
This place is shown on the 1850 map with no name. It was for many years the home of George Hawes who owned a shoe store on Water Street as early as 1867. In 1906 the late Dr. Richard Stubbs lived here and it is said used the stable, since torn down, for his horse. About 1910 James W. Beck bought the place and renovated it, putting in the dormer windows. Mrs. Daniel Robinson bought the home afterwards. For many years it was the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Barnekov. Mr. Barnekov was a securities salesman. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Barnekov, the former Addie Hanks of this city, lived here for many years. In 1958 after her death the place was sold to Morris Leighton.
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Pleasant Street - West Side
No. 24 Titcomb Apartment, Corner Pleasant and Bridge Streets.
This old mansion was the home of Artemas Kimball in 1838. He was a trader and was town selectman in 1840. This house is shown on the Searle map which is said to have been drawn by Cyrus Searle in 1830. In 1845 Samuel Titcomb, a lawyer who was born in Bel- grade in 1820, married Julia A., daughter of Artemas Kimball. He was educated at Titcomb Belgrade Academy which was founded by his father. He then attended Waterville College. He read law with Richard Vose and also graduated from Harvard Law School in 1843. He was Mayor in 1869. At the time of his death in 1892 he was President of the Augusta National Bank. His son Lendall, born in 1848, carried on his father's law practice, which in turn was carried on by his son, the late Samuel Titcomb. After the death of Judge Titcomb, for many years the house was a rooming place. A few years ago it was modernized and made into apartments.
No. 221/2 Residence of Forrest Pelletier.
This small house, built some time ago as a store, is now the residence of Forrest Pelletier.
No. 22 Apartments - Leonece Pepin, Owner.
This old house is noted as the Nehimiah Flagg residence in 1838. Nehimiah Flagg was born in 1801. He came to Augusta in 1817 as a clerk for Theophilus Ladd. Afterwards for many years he was en- gaged in trade and running a line of packets between Augusta and Boston. He went to California in February 1852. After a residence of 13 years he returned East and settled in Boston. On the 1875 map the house is shown as the home of Daniel Whitehouse, who was a member of Whitehouse and Company, dry goods. It was occupied by him for many years. Finally it was sold and made into apartments.
No. 20 Residence of Mrs. Emma Finley and Miss Cristobel Laurie.
This old home is shown as the residence of Silas Leonard in 1838. In the Kennebec Journal for January 2, 1840 there is a notice of
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Silas Leonard, Esq. being married to Miss Emeline Rogers, daughter of the late Leon Rogers. He was Cashier of the Granite Bank in 1836 and subsequently engaged in business affairs. He is shown living here in the 1867 directory. In the 1871 directory the name of Miss Kate Leonard appears as the occupant. Frederick Hamlen of Fowler and Hamlen, dry goods on Water Street, is listed as the occupant in 1879 and 1892. He was the son of Lewis Hamlen and was born in 1835. In 1864 he married Olivia Wheeler, daughter of William Wheeler who lived at No. 12 Summer Street. The Hamlens had three children: Melville, Frederic and William. Mrs. Frederic Hamlen is shown living here in 1915. In the 1924 directory the name of Mrs. Caroline Weeks is shown as the occupant. She lived here until 1952 when the Finley family bought the place.
No. 16 Plummer Funeral Home.
This house appears as the residence of S. F. Robinson, a whole- sale grocer on Water Street on the 1876 map. In 1884 it is shown as the home of E. E. Davis of the E. E. Davis Clothing Company on Water Street. He died in 1905 and subsequently the place was the residence of Professor Edward Wass, teacher of music and organist and choirmaster of St. Mark's Church. He left Augusta to become Professor of Music at Bowdoin College. His son Ethelbert was a member of the Lafayette Esquadrille in the First World War. After- wards the place was owned by Joseph Roderick who sold it to Henry Plummer, well known undertaker for several generations. Since his death a few years ago the establishment has been carried on by his sons, Norton and John Plummer.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church - Reverend Herbert Craig.
This beautiful granite edifice was built in 1886 and dedicated February 2, 1887. It replaced an old wooden structure which stood where the First National Stores are on State Street. The present St. Mark's is built of ashlar granite from Maine laid in irregular courses. The pillars supporting the clerestory are polished red granite from Mount Desert with capitals carved from Nova Scotia sandstone. The doors are of hard pine; the pews, woodwork and massive doors are of quartered oak. In the tower are a set of chimes presented by Ellen W. Kling in 1925. It is said that the Rev. Walker Gwynne was the first pastor.
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From the church southerly there is a lawn to St. Mark's Home for Elderly Women, which has a side entrance on Pleasant Street. The home was given by Allen Lambard, a prominent layman of St. Mark's in the 1870's. Many elderly women of well known Augusta families have found a comfortable haven in their old age. There is a small chapel in the Home. For many years Miss Elizabeth Smiley, well known for her piety, was the matron. In later years the matron has been Mrs. Mary Farrow.
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Pleasant Street - East Side
No. 23 General Ice Cream Corporation.
This building contains an office and garage. It has not been used for several years.
No. 19 Residence of L. G. Pepin.
This house was built about 1908 by the late Frank Hewins of the firm of Knowlton and Hewins, undertakers. It was subsequently sold to Judge Emery Beane. Judge Beane is the third generation of lawyers; his father was Judge Fred Beane of Hallowell and his grandfather was Judge Emery O. Beane of Readfield. Judge and Mrs. Beane have a son, Emery, who is also a member of the Ken- nebec Bar, and a daughter, Eleanor, who is Children's Librarian at the Lithgow Public Library. The place was later sold to Edgar Dow. The present owner bought in 1945.
No. 90 Oak Street, Corner Pleasant Street - Congregational Parsonage.
This old brick house is noted on the 1838 map as the residence of E. Dole, a merchant on Water Street. It was occupied by Dr. Bell in 1879. The Congregational Church has used it as a parsonage since the 1890's; the first minister to occupy it was the Rev. J. S. Williamson, the last the Rev. Harvey Ammerman.
Oak Street ends. . . .
Parking Lot of the First National Stores, on State Street.
No. 7 Residence of Mrs. E. S. Hodges.
On the 1838 map there is shown a house on this site as belonging to J. Wyman. In 1879 there is shown a house occupied by J. Russell, a carpenter. Subsequently it was sold to W. H. Moody, owner of a livery stable, which stood on the western end of the lot. For the past twenty-five years it has belonged to the Hodges family.
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State Street - West Side
Smith Grammar School, Corner State and Bridge Streets.
This brick schoolhouse was built in 1870 as a High School. In 1881 the present Cony High School building, greatly altered and enlarged after the First World War, was built and this building was then used for a grammar school. In 1891 it was named William R. Smith Grammar School in honor of William R. Smith (see notes on Elm Street), who had done much for the Augusta School System. On the 1838 map there is shown a high school on this site. This was a private institution built of brick with four Doric columns, probably similar in style to the old Hallowell Academy which has been recently remodeled for a dwelling. The school did not pay and the building was taken over by the town and used as a high school until the present one was erected. Before the high school of 1838 there is said to have been a wooden schoolhouse on the spot, which burned in 1803. The memorial on the State Street side of the school is in honor of Stephen Tracy Webster who was killed in World War One. He was a pilot in the Air Force and was killed in flying in France. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Webster and in his boyhood lived at No. 65 State Street. Tracy, as he was familiarly known, attended Smith Grammar, graduated from Cony High School in 1914. While in Cony he was known as a brilliant debater. Afterwards he attended the University of Maine, was granted a Service degree as of the Class of 1918.
No. 62 Residence of Thomas Buckley.
This old mansion was built by Lot Hamlen in 1803 and was the first house to be built on the hill between Bridge and Winthrop Streets. Lot Hamlen came to Hallowell in 1795 and was a clerk in Captain Weston's store that year. He was afterwards a painter and glazier and for many years was a surveyor of lumber. He had four children and died in 1869. On the map of 1838 the house is shown as the home of Greenwood C. Child, a wealthy merchant who was born in 1745. He married Lucy H. Palmer in 1815 and they had eight children. He died in 1855. Afterwards the place was pur-
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chased by Dr. Joseph Ellis, who was City Physician from 1850 to 1856. It is said that he built the main house and that the original house is now the ell. It has been said that the " ell" or back part of old New England houses was often built first and as the owner prospered the main house was erected. In the 1867 directory the name of Artemas Libby appears as the resident. He was born in Waldo County in 1823. He read law with Samuel Warren, a nephew of General Warren of Bunker Hill fame, and was admitted in 1844. He was in the Legislature and was member of the Governor's Council in 1856. He practiced law in Augusta for many years and in 1875 was appointed a judge of the Supreme Judicial Court. About 1897 Thomas A. Buckley, Sr., an Augusta businessman, bought the old home and it has been in the family ever since. In the 90's Mr. Buckley was in the dry goods business with Harry C. Goodrich, later in the real estate business. He was councilman from Ward Three from 1912 to 1914. He married Helen Sumner of this city and they had two sons, Sumner of York, Pennsylvania, Thomas A. Jr., of this city and three daughters including Mrs. Cecila Hickey of Augusta. On March 16, 1808 the jail which was on the site of the present Y. M. C. A. Building burned and the prisoners under guard were lodged in this house. It was rumored at the time that white men disguised as Indians had threatened to burn the court house and jail and destroy the county records. This uprising was the re- sult of hard times on account of the Embargo of 1807 which pro- hibited trade with European nations. Actually, according to North, it was the work of one Captain Jones, an inmate of the jail.
No. 64 Residence of John Newbert.
This old house of peculiar design was built by Dr. Hiram Hill, who was born in Turner, Maine in 1810. At the age of 16, he went to live with Dr. Dexter Baldwin of Mount Vernon and there the desire to become a physician seized him. He attended the village school and in his leisure hours devoted himself to the study of natural philosophy as the sciences were then called, chemistry and the classics. He read medicine with Dr. Franklin Gage of Augusta, who was a graduate of Bowdoin College and who removed to Bangor in 1834. Afterwards he studied with Doctors Amos Nourse and John Hubbard of Hallowell. He attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated from Bowdoin in 1836. He opened an office in Augusta and practiced here for over fifty years. He was
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interested in chemistry and his observations on wasps making their nests of pulp from wood fiber led to the process of making paper from wood pulp. In collaboration with Judge Rice he built the famous " horseless carriage " in Hallowell in 1858, an episode which is treated in the paragraph on the American Legion Home, No. 1 Chandler Street. Dr. Hill was considered a leading physician of the State in his day and it is said that he was very blunt in his manner, which doubtless impressed some of his patients, some of whom are alive to this day. He died in 1889 and left his home to the Augusta
General Hospital. It was subsequently purchased by the Rev. Elmer Newbert and has been in the Newbert family for many years. He was born in Waldoborough in 1861, educated at Bowdoin and Harvard and prepared for the ministry at Bangor Theological Semi- nary. At one time he was Pastor of the All Souls Unitarian Church in Augusta. In 1906 he retired from the ministry and went into the real estate business. He was City Clerk of Augusta and Democratic Mayor in the years 1913-15. He was also a member of the Legisla- ture and State Treasurer. Mr. and Mrs. Newbert had two sons, Brooks and John, and two daughters, Mrs. John Wadleigh and Mrs. Roy Flynt.
No. 70 State Street, Corner Oak Street - All Souls Unitarian Church. Rev. Joseph Craig, Pastor.
This church edifice was dedicated on December 18, 1879. It replaced an old building which was erected in 1833. It was said that the building was very old at the time and on one June summer afternoon a large congregation of people were gathered to witness a wedding there. The bride and groom were at the chancel and just at the moment the minister was pronouncing them. man and wife, the floor of the auditorium collapsed, so as to cause a most unseemly interruption. Happily there was no cellar and so, although pandemonium reigned, it is not recorded that any one was seriously hurt. The history of Unitarianism begins in Augusta with the forma- tion of Christ Church (Unitarian) in April 1825. In September Daniel Cony and 52 others petitioned the legislature to divide the South Parish and in 1826 an act was passed forming the East Parish. In 1827 Bethlehem Church was built at Cony and Stone Streets. Ow- ing to many of the parishioners being located on the west side of the river a new building was erected in 1833 where the present church is. Many pastors filled the pulpit during the life of the parish, but the most famous one was the Reverend Sylvester Judd,
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pastor from 1840 to 1853, whose life and writings had a profound influence on the cause of liberal religion. He was the son of Sylvester Judd of Northampton, Massachusetts, and was born in 1813. He graduated from Yale in 1836 and was fitted for the ministry at Har- vard Divinity School. North says "he was young and ardent and infused new life into the parish ... and that he was beloved for his artless simplicity and transparency and singleness of his heart and purpose." His death occurred in 1853. During his life he published three volumes, entitled " Margaret ", "Philo " and "Richard Edney", and his friends published after his death "The Life and Character of Sylvester Judd " by Arethusa Hall. While in Augusta he lived on the east side of the river in an old time house, now occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Howard Ingraham. As befitted the pastors of the parish in their role of liberal religion, some were candid in their views and philosophy. It is said, according to an old parishioner, that one minister gave as the reason for his demission that he wished to go to some place where his words had not been heard.
Oak Street crosses. .
No. 72 State Street - Filling Station.
This gasoline filling station erected in the 1940's stands on the site of an early Augusta home. On the 1838 map it was given as the Dr. Myrick residence and for many years was the home of the Myrick family. It seems that Lot Myrick formed a partnership with Jacob Stanwood and in an advertisement for this firm in 1840, 175 barrels of Boston N. E. rum are offered for sale at their place of business at No. 5 Arch Row, which was on Water Street. It was stated by S. E. Goodrich in his "Pictorial Geography of the World ", published in 1840, that the great curse of New England was strong drink, particularly rum. At that time a growing interest in temper- ance was arising and in Augusta a state-wide meeting was held in the Baptist Meeting house February 3-4, 1840. Some of the dele- gates from Augusta were the Rev. Benjamin Tappan, Luther Sever- ance, W. A. Brooks, Thos. W. Smith, Benj. Parker, W. K. Weston, Elias Craig, Jr., D. Bailey, Stephen Winslow, M. Nason, Rev. J. H. Ingraham, Artemas Kimball, H. W. Fuller, Jr. and others. The move- ment culminated in the passage of a state-wide prohibition law in 1846.
No. 76 First National Supermarket.
This market was built in 1941 and was the second supermarket built in Augusta, the first being built by the A. and P. Stores on
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Grove Street in 1939, which was torn down on account of the right of way given to Memorial Bridge. This market was built on the site of a fine old showplace built in 1890 by Dr. George W. Martin. It contained 16 rooms, eight fireplaces and the interior was of quartered oak and the house boasted a carriage porch. Dr. Martin was born in 1834 in Pittsfield and was educated at Westbrook Semi- nary and graduated from the New York University Medical School in 1858. He served in the Civil War as a surgeon. Robert Martin, his son, was born in Boston in 1864, read medicine with his father and graduated from New York Medical in 1887, being second in a class of 150. He was the first to use the Koch lung treatment in Maine. He married Carrie Burleigh, daughter of Governor Bur- leigh, in 1887. Their son is Burleigh Martin, Esq. of this city. Dr. George Martin married for the second time Mrs. Persis Paine, widow of the Rev. Paine. She was the daughter of Governor Joseph Bodwell who organized the Hallowell Granite Works in 1866. The quarries of this large undertaking are still to be seen on the road to Manchester two and a half miles from Hallowell. They are now half filled with water, but the giant derricks used for hoisting the stone are still standing. The granite from this quarry was used in the construction of the State Capitol at Albany, New York; the Maine monument at Gettysburg; Equitable Life Insurance Company in New York; in local churches and monuments. The business flour- ished for many years, but by 1915 when steel and concrete began to be used, the business began to go. Charles Paine, son of Mrs. Martin, was the last President of the Company, it is said. His mother left him the old residence and he sold the property in 1938 and in 1940 it was torn down. On this same site before the Martin place stood the first Episcopal Church in Augusta which was consecrated by Bishop Griswold, then Senior Bishop of the United States, in 1842. The first minister was the Reverend Frederick Freeman. In 1886 the beautiful granite St. Mark's Church was occupied and it is in- teresting to note that the main body of the old wooden church after being used as a paint shop for years on the upper part of Green Street, was moved from there and is now the residence of William Garside at No. 8 Johnson Street.
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