History of Porter, Part 10

Author: Teg, William
Publication date: 1957
Publisher: Kezar Falls, Me. : Parsonfield-Porter Historical Society
Number of Pages: 342


USA > Maine > Oxford County > Porter > History of Porter > 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).


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129


AGRICULTURE


The third class is a sandy soil. This is frequently found on the high intervale of the rivers and on the extensive pine plains in differ- ent parts of the county. It is usually regarded much inferior to the other classes mentioned, but there is no doubt that such land may be much improved. It should be cultivated early and for early crops. Manure should be well composted and rotted for this purpose. By a frequent rotation of crops, a change of fields into pastures, and pastures into fields, a stirring, active, and sharp-sighted man will often be found thriving on this kind of land. One advantage may be noticed. Such land is almost always situated near a muck swamp, and on no soil is muck of greater value than on this. The nicest quality of potatoes which I ever saw in Maine, was raised on an almost literally barren sandhill, where muck directly from the swamp had been hauled on the previous autumn.


The fourth class is the upland, rocky soil, which is the most com- mon in this county. The elements of a good soil are abundant, but are coarse, and only in a partially suitable condition for the growth of plants. So far as the mineral elements are concerned, they are essentially the same as on the intervales, but the particles are not divided and sub-divided by water and frost, and other agencies as on these. The scientific farmer may draw a valuable hint from this point, on the importance of thoroughly and deeply pulverizing all the upland soils for the cultivation of our staple crops. Here are raised your fine crops of wheat, corn and fruit. Here you may plow in all the manure, and of every kind, which you can find. In some parts of this county the soil is three or four feet deep, and would bear stirring up to that depth, while in other places it is unfit for the plow, and must be forever devoted to wood and pasturage.


MANURE. No subject pertaining to the farmer's calling is of more vital importance than that of manure. How he shall in the best and cheapest manner accumulate a large quantity, every year, should constantly be before his mind.


I need not remind you, gentlemen, that economy is, and should be the watchword of the thrifty farmer; but under no circumstances, is it better practised than in saving his manures, and by increas- ing them in quantity and quality in every possible manner. It is


130


HISTORY OF PORTER


idle to talk of purchasing guano and superphosphate of lime, how- ever valuable they may be in some circumstances. The farmer of Oxford county will not in one case in five receive back his money paid out for such manures. The success of the farmer consists chiefly in his being in every sense a producer, and not a consumer. He must produce, as it were, out of nothing. The leaves of the forest, the muck swamp, the weeds in his garden, refuse straw, solid and liquid excrements of animals; everything that is good for nothing but manure, should be converted into that substance.


As the farmer becomes more intelligent, he will secure a greater range of manures. In some cases, he will find pure sand just what his land needs. In other cases, clay will satisfy the demand; while under other circumstances deep plowing will be necessary. The in- telligent and observing man will find by experience that lime or plaster is wanting. He will learn, too, that though these articles may be valuable they will not answer alone. Lime alone will im- poverish any soil, while in combination with other substances it may be exceedingly valuable. The intelligent farmer will look to the air as well as the earth, to heat and cold, to fire and water, as instru- ments by which to insure the rapid growth of vegetation.


I would here suggest an idea for your future consideration, on the propriety of thoroughly mixing your different kinds of manure. The course adopted by most farmers is to draw out from his largest heap and deposit it in the ground by itself. The hog pen is next visited, and its contents occupy a narrow strip of the corn field. The com- post heap, the sink spout, and chip manure, find a location in an- other direction. The result is this: The hog manure shows a rank piece of corn - rank in the blade, but I believe, not resulting in so good a yield as is usually anticipated. The chip and other poorer qualities of manure will exhibit a dwarfish growth. But the evil does not stop here. The crops of wheat the next year will exhibit the same inequality, and so, also, the subsequent crops of grass. Now would it not be better to arrange matters in such a way as to have a mixture as complete as possible, so that the crops shall ap- pear uniform?


I know of no law in chemistry which would forbid the complete


131


AGRICULTURE


mixture of all the substances usually employed as fertilizers, except that the alkalies, potash, soda, and lime in their caustic state, should not, under ordinary circumstances, be applied to animal manures. As it is said that the stomach will the better digest a vegetable din- ner made up of a variety of elements in their healthy and vigorous growth.


I have no faith in applying plaster alone to a worn out pasture to render it any thing more than temporarily productive; nor do I yet believe that guano or superphosphate of lime will alone keep up the annual fertility of our soils. There is a large amount of vege- table mould in every well conditioned soil. Nature in her cultiva- tion for trees keeps on the surface a large quantity of this substance. I am aware that on many farms such a substance is only a thing of tradition - or, at least, known only by the oldest inhabitant; but rest assured, gentlemen, if, when you have mowed your land the second year, you do not see a thick black coat of vegetable matter on the surface of the soil, that you are exhausting your land, or else it was poor land originally.


A skillful farmer of this county assured me the present season, that in order to keep up the fertility of the soil from year to year, it was necessary to double the amount of manure usually made from his stock; and my own experience and observation go to confirm the statement.


The greatest fault I have to mark against the farmer, is the simple fact, that he does not know how happy he is, or may be, compared with the merchant or professional man of his neighborhood. He does not know how well he lives, or can live, compared with men of the same amount of wealth in other professions. It is rare that when a farmer comes into possession of land, that he need lose it; while he, who procures a shop full of goods, may stand trembling, and dreading the approach of the neighboring sheriff. At the close of harvest, the farmer goes into his cellar, and it is filled with potatoes, apples, and other vegetables, and his barrels full of meat; step into his dairy-room, and, there arranged in order, are rows of cheese and firkins of butter, the housewife's pride. Pass into the granary, and there are the heaps of corn and grain, looking as if the


132


HISTORY OF PORTER


owner was in the wholesome trade. Go on further to the barn, and it is filled with hay and stock. This scene is not exhibited once in a lifetime, but it is repeated, and may be witnessed every year. There is something ennobling to the mind of the man who has a title to a piece of land - a title not received from his fellow-man, but as it were from Heaven itself. He at once feels conscious that the spot of land around him is his own. No feudal lord ever felt safer than he, as he surveys his fields. Whenever I meet with a really intelli- gent farmer, who loves his calling, loves his family, his neighbor, his country, and his God - a man who is surrounded with the comforts of life, and really enjoys them in the highest develop- ment of his social, intellectual and spiritual natures, I feel as though I was surveying the man who was best fitted of any one on earth to go back to that Eden of other days.


Much has been said and written respecting a farmer's occupation, as though it were really a very low calling, and required special effort to relieve it from that imputation. But, gentlemen, it is a low call- ing to him who will make it so. The man who is determined to be a merchant, may go into one of our large cities, traverse the streets and ditches, and pick up the bits of rags and paper and sell them, and be a merchant, but his calling, though honest, will be a very low one.


No, gentlemen, farming is honorable, just as you make it so. If you seek for improved modes of cultivation, if your eye is quick to detect the advantages of a new implement or machine, if you strive to make home comfortable, convenient, tasteful, but not extravagant, read a good agricultural paper, and other works on the same, and kindred subjects, learn to be a thinking as well as a working man, you are rendering your calling an honorable one. Lay aside the nar- row prejudices of narrow minds, and look at your neighbor and your fellow man with expansive feelings of good will and benevolence, and feel that you are not alone in the world, but members of one great brotherhood. In this way you will honor your calling as farmers, and sustain the character of noble men."


XX


SUCCESSFUL FARMERS OF THE PAST


"Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever He had a chosen people."


- Thomas Jefferson


Ansel Alley


Elias Garland


Edgar Bickford


Frank Gilman Albert Holmes


Jesse Bickford


Ebenezer Blazo


Darling Huntress


Frank H. Brooks


Warren Libby


Lyman Burbank


George W. Libby


Nathaniel Burnell


Walter J. Libby


John Bradeen John Cartland


Fred L. Mason Frank L. Mason


Hanson L. Chapman


Eben Cousins


Moses Cross


Seth Day


John Durgin


Clinton Durgin David Fogg


Daniel J. Fox & son Sheridan Jonathan Fox George W. Fox


Moses Fox


Jacob French


Warren French


Alpheus Gilpatrick


Moses Moulton Gilman Norton Leslie E. Norton Noyes Norton Richard Norton W. T. Philbrick Frank Pendexter


Daniel D. Ridlon David A. Ridlon Edwin Ridlon Henry Ridlon Herbert L. Ridlon Samuel Ridlon Amos Roberts


Spectacle Pond from Fox Ridge. Green Mountain, N. H., far right. Libby Hill at extreme right.


O


Libby Hill (Bald Face) as seen from the Woolen Mill before 1910. The open area below the summit, now grown up to forest, was a portion of the extensive Gibbs property that formerly included the Kezar Falls area, Porter side of river. In the upper part of this open space is the cellar of the George Gibbs home, bought in 1831 of Enoch Cousins, and sold in 1855 to Ezra Towle. The area round about Libby Hill is the oldest part of Porter, comprising the allotments of the first four settlers, John, Stephen, and Meshach Libby, and Michael Floyd.


SUCCESSFUL FARMERS OF THE PAST


135


Charles K. Garland Frank Robbins


Charles Roberts Elisha Stanley


Alonzo Rounds


William Taylor


Stephen Rounds


Joseph Towle


Freeman Sawyer


William H. Sawyer


George E. Stacy


Charles Trueworthy Andrew Varney & son Milton Ashley Weeks


Jordan Stacy Oliver Stacy


Irving Weeks


William Weeks


George Stanley


Daniel Wentworth


XXI


NONAGENARIANS


AGE


DIED


Amanda H. Stanley, (Mrs. John)


99


1944


Ellen M. Mason, (Mrs. John C.)


98


1926


Walter J. Libby


97


1952


Ezra Eastman


97


1948


Susan B. Norton, (Mrs.


)


97


1910


Daniel Towle


95


1875


Ruth (nèe Gould) Stacey, (Mrs. John)


94


1865


Francena French (Mrs. John)


93


1950


Herbert Ridlon


93


1953


Mary (née Gould) Lord (Mrs. John)


94


1906


Almira Libby (Mrs. Daniel)


94


1929


Reliance Libby (Mrs. Nehemiah)


93


1931


Susan Holmes (Mrs. Albert J.)


93


1927


John Mason


93


1867


Stephen Libby


92


1855


Angie Fogg Stanley (Mrs. Elisha)


92


1921


Susan Sawyer (Mrs. Sewell)


92


1943


Fred Weeks


92


1909


William French


92


1869


Sarah T. Libby (Mrs. Randall)


92


1911


Charles D. Jordan


92


1936


Samuel Billings


92


1892


Vellie M. Gilman (Mrs. Frank)


91


1944


Olive Weeks (Mrs. Orin)


91


1948


Frank Pendexter


91


1952


Joel T. Libby


91


1918


Lestina Garland (Mrs. Charles)


91


1943


137


NONAGENARIANS


Phebe Stacy (Mrs. Samuel)


91


1921


Eliza N. Goodwin (Mrs. Frank P.)


90


1950


Miss Abbie McDonald


90


1924


Eben Cousins


90


1910


Major James French


90


1888


Ebenezer Blazo


90


1892


Abner McDonald (stonecutter)


90


1898


Hannah L. Gilpatrick (Mrs.)


90


1910


Ella Ridlon Cotton (Mrs. Wyman)


90


1944


Edward J. Stanley


90


1946


Clara Fowler (Mrs. Walter S.)


90


1949


Daniel Ridlon


90


1868


Nonagenarians (still living)


Jennie Spring (Mrs. Seth)


b. 1862


Georgia L. Durgin (Mrs. Clinton)


b. 1865


Lewis Thompson


b. 1865


XXII


WHO WAS DOING WHAT IN 1856


(Source of information: The Maine Register & Business Directory of 1856)


Auctioneers: L. F. Cummings


Benj. Laribee Daniel Wentworth Ephraim Wentworth Cabinet Maker: Alexander Berry


Carpenters: J. Heard George W. Lord


Clergyman: Joseph Stanley. Freewill Baptist.


Confectionary: Hazen W. Harriman


Country Stores: Ebenezer Blazo


George G. Stacy Lorenzo D. Stanley & Moses N. Stanley William Stanley


Edge Tool Maker: Leonard F. Cummings


Harness Maker: Stephen Danforth


Sawmills: James French Stanley & Brooks Postmasters: Porter Village, William Stanley Kezar Falls, Gideon M. Randall


XXIII


BUSINESS PLACES OF 50 YEARS AGO


A survey of the business places in Porter, including all of Kezar Falls, reveals many changes during the past 50 years. Not only have business heads changed and signs disappeared, but a number of lines that were important business enterprises then have almost entirely dropped out of sight due to changed conditions and modes of living.


Auctioneer: Isaac M. Stanley.


Barbers: Fulton Davis. James Virtue.


Blacksmiths: Daniel Wentworth & son Everett. Stillman Pierce. Dennis McGraw.


Bobbin Manufactory: J. M. Merrifield & son William O. Boot and Shoe Manufacturer: Moses Stacy. (Shop where Misses Avery and Lindberg live.)


Canning Factory: E. R. Batchelder, Supt.


Carpenters and Builders: Charles O. Stacy. Frank Palmer. Wil- liam Palmer. Wyman Cotton. W. F. Gilman. Elmer E. Ridlon.


Dressmakers: Mrs. Nettie Holmes. Mrs. Estelle Crowther. Miss Susan Chapman.


Grocers: Alvin Stanley & Amos Mason, at Porter Village. Ne- himiah Holmes and son William (Now Ridlon Bros. Store). Jacob L. Libby (K. P. Hall).


Harness Makers: Wm. Chapman & son James E. (Cor. Main and School Streets).


Hotel: Hotel Malvern, J. L. Quint, Prop.


Meat Markets: James W. Chapman & son Elmer E. David Stearns & son Frank E.


--


Kezar Falls Woolen Mill as it appeared in 1882. The only personnel here who have been identified are George W. Towle, first on right, one of the owners, and Allen F. Garner, fourth from the right, the first manager. The management and the ownership have been in the Garner family ever since. So efficiently has this mill been run that it is one of the very few remaining small-town woolen mills still in operation in New England. From the left side, the 11th is Sam Newton, the 16th Evans Sargent. Probably the 3rd from the right is Dr. Frank Devereaux.


Allen Garner, Manager, then owner of the Woolen Mill and of the first auto in Kezar Falls - around 1899 - seated with his daughter Eva.


141


BUSINESS PLACES OF FIFTY YEARS AGO


Jeweler: Irving Mason.


Masons: Charles Garland & John H. Weeks, & Jacob Ridlon.


Millinery: Miss Florence Perkins. Mrs. Nettie Chapman Hickey. Monumental Works: Joseph W. Gilpatric


Newspaper: Ossipee Valley Weekly.


Painters and Paperhangers: Edwin Edgecomb. Charles Wakefield. Harry Cutting. Fred Weeks. Walter Ridlon. John W. Rice. Sumner Boynton.


Photographer: Herman Pike.


Trucking: George Weeks - the father of Harold, Clark and Wil- lard Weeks. John Ridlon.


Undertaker: Eugene F. Stanley.


Veterinarian: Silas A. McDaniel. Wagon and Sleigh Maker: Oris L. Mason - the father of Jacob L. Mason.


XXIV


WHO IS DOING WHAT IN 1956


Apparel Shop: Miss Erma Giles, proprietor of "Giles Apparel Shop," K. F.


Auto Salesmen: Loring Champion; L. Randolph Churchill, Pres. Churchill Motors.


Banker: J. Malcolm Stanley.


Barbers: Delbert Mason; James Toothakef.


Beauty Salons: Mrs. Martha Fadden, proprietor of "Fad-Mor Beauty Shop"; Mr. & Mrs. Warren Mason, proprietors of "Mason's Beauty Shop"; and the Flaggs, proprietors of "Flagg's Beauty Lounge."


Bookkeepers: Gordon Davis; Clayton R. Locke; Myron T. Locke. Carpenters: John Chapman; Paul W. Stacy; Ralph H. Tucker; Fred Hammond.


Civil Defence: Gordon C. West.


Dentist: Dr. George E. Doe.


Druggist: Myron H. Ridlon.


Electricians: Whitman E. Day; Adrian Jenkins; Fairfield McDonald; Raymond Staples.


Farmers: Jesse Brooks; Curtis Chapman; Frank Chapman; Maurice Durgin; Ray Garland; Arthur G. Gilman; Rinardo Giovan- ella; William Hasty; Ernest Lewis; Frank Littlefield; Harry Marston; LeRoy Metcalf; Winfield Norton; Rupert Norton; Lloyd E. Trueworthy; Ralph H. Tucker; Clarence Turner; Charles Walker; Frank Weeks.


Fire Department: Kezar Falls Fire Dept.


Game Warden: Murray Gilpatrick.


143


WHO IS DOING WHAT IN 1956


General Stores: Frank P. Goodwin, "Goodwin's General Store." K. F. Clarence Edgecomb, clerk. Norman Edgecomb, clerk. Robert Edgecomb, clerk. Jens K. Johansen, "General Store." Porter Village. Joseph W. Ridlon, "Ridlon Bros. General Store." K. F.


Grocers: Claude L. Kelly (retired), "Kelly's Cash Market." K. F. Carleton McLucas, "Kelly's Cash Market." K. F. Herbert McDonald, "Grocery." Porter Village. Raymond Ward, "Ward's Cash Market." K. F. Hardware: Mrs. Ernest G. Caston, Clerk, Stationary, Norton's Hard- ware Co. K. F.


Hotel: Harold Jones, proprietor, Malvern Hotel, K. F.


Insurance: Willard L. Champion.


Jeweler: Carl J. Hammond.


Machinists: Michael A. Birnbach; Ernest L. Edwards; Carlton T. Fox, "Glen Bobbin Mill"; Curtis A. Fox, overseer, weaving dept., "K. F. Woolen Co."; Arthur Cartland (retired); Elton D. Merrifield; Harry A. Merrifield; Joseph W. Ridlon, "Kezar Falls Milling Co., Inc."


Mechanics: Cecil R. Gilpatrick, "Gil's Texaco Station." K. F .; Glen Leavitt, "Leavitt's Garage." K. F.


Milk Dealer: Rodney Stacey.


Mortician: Preston J. Stanley.


Nurses: Beulah Devine; Phyllis Eitel; Florence Garland; Minerva King; Maxine Lyle; Eloise Paulin; Mabel Sawyer (retired); Grace Smith (retired); Madeline Wakefield; Julia Warren; Phyllis Weller; Carolyn Wishman.


Nursing Home: Riverside View Nursing Home, K. F. Oil Distributors: Harold Perkins; Howard Wescott.


Painters: Keith W. Cutting; Kenneth L. Wright.


Pastors: Miss Virginia Avery; Miss Dagmar Lindberg; Rev. Henry O. Megert; Rev. Irvin Verrill.


Photo Portrait Retouchers: James W. Reed; Horst Schulte.


Playhouse Theatre, Mgr. Harold Jones.


Center Schoolhouse (1918), near the Pound and the Porter Old Meeting House.


Center School (1918), with stiff pine seats, typical of district schools.


145


WHO IS DOING WHAT IN 1956


Sheriff: Verne Black.


School Teachers: Edith Cartland; Dorothy Davis; Gloria Stanley Davis; Evelyn Day (retired); Georgia Durgin (retired); Alice Edgecomb; Clara Lou Edgecomb; Lillian Emerson; Dorothea Hallett; Ellsworth Lebroke; Marion Lord; Arline Marsh; Leattrice Martin; Ruth Merrifield; Marie Norton; Maisie Searles; Wayne Stacy; May Stanley (retired); Harry True; Helen Wakefield (retired); Evelyn S. Wat- kins (retired); Verna Wentworth; Beryl Wescott. Town Officers: Clerk, Mrs. Jessie Stacy.


Selectmen, Frederick A. Chapman; Whitman E. Day; Rinardo Giovanella.


Treasurer, Gordon Davis.


Tax Collector, Roland Stanley.


School Board, Paul W. Stacy; George E. Doe; Clifford Irving. Superintendent of Schools, Carroll B. Ronco. Road Commissioner, Sidney Libby. Constable, Ellsworth Lebroke.


Trucking: Orion R. Stanley.


Variety Stores: Mrs. Phyllis Clark, "Phil's Yarn and This 'n' That Shop." K. F .; C. A. Parot, "Parot's Variety Store." Porter Village. Arnold Chase, "Variety Store," Porter Village. Adrian Jenkins, "Radio and Tele- vision Repair Shop," Porter Village. Frank E. Holmes, (retired), "Dry Goods," K. F.


Porter Census (1950): 1052 Persons.


Here's some additional data respecting "who is who in business in Parsonsfield section of Kezar Falls":


L. F. Stacey & Sons, Elm Row Milk Farm. Manuel Stacey, Construction. Oxford Land and Lumber Company. Industrial Box & Lumber Co., Inc. J. F. Howe, Howe Oil Co. Cornish and Kezar Falls Light and Power Co.


146


HISTORY OF PORTER


Neil Hamilton, Norton's Hardware Co.


Hazel B. Estabrooks, Estabrooks Restaurant.


Arthur A. Allard, Allard's Service Station.


Physicians: P. G. Marston, M.D. Russell J. Patterson, O.D.


Lawyers: Sidney R. Batchelder.


Robert S. Batchelder.


Carroll S. West Post No. 123, of the American Legion.


XXV


OBITUARIES


Notices of deaths with biographical sketches of persons either natives of Porter or in other respects intimately associated with the town.


Banks, Olin L. (84), d. 1854. He was born in Parsonsfield, the son of Israel and Elvira Moulton Banks. Survived by his widow, Mrs. Mildred Boothby Banks; two nieces, Mrs. Gertrude Fox of Kezar Falls, and Mrs. Marion H. Watson (d.) of Boston, Mass., and one nephew, Frank Wentworth of Parsonsfield.


Bachelder, Edward Richardson (77), d. 1937. Born in Baldwin, the son of the late Edward Franklin and Elizabeth Guptil Bachelder. His father, who was a soldier in the Civil War, passed away on March 26, 1864 and was buried in Alexandria, La.


Bachelder's youth was spent in his native town. He worked many years for Nathan Sanborn, later for the MCRR; then for Fred Flint. He moved to Kezar Falls some time later, at which place he ran a hardware store for many years. He was one of the founders of Sokokis Lumber Company. He was a charter member of Hiram Lodge K of P and a member of Greenleaf Lodge of Masons at Cor- nish. His wife, the former Maria A. Lovejoy, died in 1928. Having sold his hardware store, about the year 1917, he ·operated a sheet metal shop until the time of his death. He served as town auditor for over 20 years, and as town treasurer. He was also a game in- spector. He and Robert Fulton Wormwood - publisher of the Oxford County Record, used to go out on fishing and camping trips together for 25 years; and for two months each year, the two sports- men spent the time at Bachelder's camp on Colcord Pond in Porter.


148


HISTORY OF PORTER


Benton, Peleg W. (74), d. 1937. He was the son of Albion and Sarah Wadsworth Benton, and was born in Hiram. He came to Parsonsfield at the age of three with his parents, and until 1923 was engaged in the milk business on the Benton Farm. He served on the board of selectmen at different periods for twenty-five years, be- sides holding the office of treasurer and tax collector. He was a State Representative in 1912-13; a member of the Knights of Pythias, Masons and Odd Fellows. He made Hotel Malvern his home for the past ten years. He is survived by a son, Albion Benton, and a granddaughter, Mary Benton of Biddeford, also a sister, Mrs. Free- man Newcomb.


Bowie, Gertrude Ridlon (69), d. 1951. She died at her home on Thorn Mountain, Jackson, N. H. Mrs. Bowie was born in Porter, the daughter of Herbert L. and Ella R. Ridlon. She married Free- man Bowie of Baldwin in 1904. Her father died in 1953 at the age of 94.


Bradeen, John G. (57), d. Aug. 21, 1924. Mr. Bradeen was the only son of John and Hannah Fox Bradeen, and was born on a farm in the "Lord Neighborhood" of Porter, Aug. 14, 1867. He left the following survivors: One sister, Mrs. Eliza Goodwin of Kezar Falls; three nephews, several nieces and cousins. Rev. William Cotton officiated at the funeral services. Burial was in the family lot at South Hiram.


Brooks, Mrs. Nellie R. (84), d. 1953. Born in Porter, she died at the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Stanley.


Mrs. Brooks was the daughter of George and Mary Ridlon. She attended the Porter schools and later taught in Porter and Parsons- field. She married Frank Brooks in 1886 and he died in 1941. She was a charter member of the Pythian Sisters, a member of the Porter Baptist Church and of the Methodist Women's Society. Surviving besides her daughter are four nieces in Massachusetts.


Burgess, Mrs. Hazel D. (59), d. 1944. Mrs. Burgess was born in Hiram; became a school teacher. She was the daughter of Silas B. and Maybelle Wadleigh Durgin. Surviving, besides her husband, Edwin W. Burgess, is one daughter, Mrs. Beryl Wescott of Kezar


149


OBITUARIES


Falls; two grandchildren, Marilyn and Edwin Wescott; one uncle, Henry Wadleigh of Limerick, and three cousins, Mrs. Jennie Chellis of Kezar Falls, Miss Nina Wadsworth of Cornish and Mrs. Leslie Warren of Portland.


Caston, Dr. Ernest G. (54), d. 1944. Dr. Caston was born on Feb. 11, 1890, in Pittston, Maine. He graduated from Bridge Academy, Dresden, Maine, in 1908, and from the University of Pennsylvania Dental School in 1913. He came to Kezar Falls to practice dentistry in the same year and remained there until his death, March 14, 1944. Dr. Caston was a member of the Masonic Lodge, The Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias, and was President of the Kiwanis Club in 1943.


Chapman, Chauncey W. L. (53), d. 1946. Assistant professor of forestry at the University of Maine. He died at his home, 13 Park Street, Orono, Me. Prof. Chapman passed much of his early life at Porter and Kezar Falls. He served, with the rank of Major, in the First World War. He joined the faculty of the U. of M. in 1919. He is survived by his widow, Mildred Lombard Chapman; twin daughters, Mary Joan and Mildred Lombard, all of Orono.




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