USA > Maine > Hancock County > Traditions and records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert island, Maine > Part 16
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At the time the canning factory at the wharf was built, a Mr. Fairburn came from Boston with a crew of men to install the equipment for canning and to teach the process to local men. He brought with him four glass lamps for burning kerosene, the first to be seen in Southwest Harbor. He used them in his office and his room and when he left he sold two of them to Deacon Clark, one to William Lawton, who came from Boston to be manager of the new factory, and one to William Lawler. He also sold the gallon of oil which he had left-one quart for each lamp at one dollar a quart.
The lamps were considered a great advance in lighting and the neighbors came to enjoy the unaccustomed brilliance and soon to purchase like lamps for themselves. Previously the lighting in use in the homes was that of candles made of tallow in the old-time candle molds which each house possessed, and in some homes "fluid lamps", shaped like the Greek emblems of wisdom or like modern gravy boats. If emergency demanded it a feeble light could be obtained from a wick floating in a saucer of melted tallow.
The Lawler family have their lamp now in their possession.
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William Lawton built the house on the Clark Point Road opposite the Island Cottage in 1910 and Mr. and Mrs. Lawton moved into it on June 23rd of that summer. He also built the building at the shore on the same lot and there he canned fish and clams for some years. After the death of Mrs. Lawton in 1929 the place was sold to Robert G. Crocker of New York who has made extensive changes and additions and uses it as a summer home. Mrs. Lawton conducted a very successful tea room in her home for some years and it was a popular gathering place for the summer residents from all over the island. The little shop at the shore was taken down in 1936.
Miss Reeve and Miss Fisher built their cottage in 1920. Andrew E. Parker's house was built in 1915 with Charles E. Stanley of Manset as contractor and builder. The Lindens, the home of Capt. and Mrs. O. L. Mills, was built in 1902 on land purchased from the H. H. Clark estate. Dudley L. Mayo was the contractor and builder.
The Island House, owned by Deacon Henry H. Clark, was the first summer hotel on Mount Desert Island. Deacon Clark began the hotel business by taking into his hospitable home the first occasional tourists who came to the island for a short stay. He gradually enlarged his house until in 1885 it was entirely re- modeled and did a thriving business, employing many of the townspeople during the summer season. After his death the building was purchased by S. R. Clark who took it down and built two houses from the material. The Episcopal rectory is one of those houses and the residence of Rev. W. L. Woolsey is the other. Part of the Woolsey house is the original Clark house. The rooms have much of the old woodwork and doors, the mantels and the old fireframe that was in the Island House parlor. The front door, too, is the same through which the Island House guests passed for many years.
J. E. Wass bought his house from Harry L. Lawton for whom it was built in 1897. Fred Robinson bought his place from Joseph Parker who had it built about 1876. The building now owned by Mrs. Alma Savage Seavey was built by Alonzo Hodgdon in 1886 as a store. He was in business there for several years. In 1883 Amos Brown built for himself the large
ISLAND HOWSF.
Island House about 1875.
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house now the property of Thomas Seavey. It has had several owners during its existence. William D. Stanley's cottage was built in the summer of 1928. The house now owned and occu- pied by Clifford Robbins and family was built about 1888 for Lyman Stanley. Frank Johnson built his house in 1929. The house now owned by Mrs. Howard Mayo was built in 1918 for Thomas Savage. Fred A. Birlem's house was built in 1883 for Hosea Hodgdon.
The small building across the road was once a waiting room on a boat landing at Bar Harbor. One very cold winter it was carried out to sea by the ice and salvaged by someone who brought it into Southwest Harbor where it was purchased by Edward Mckay and hauled up on the bank on the lot where it now stands and which belonged to Mr. Mckay. In 1937 it was sold to Rev. Milton Hess of New York to be used as a summer home.
The house now owned by Richard T. Carroll was built by Rufus Mckay about 1878 and the Mckay family lived there for many years. Then it became the property of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Robinson and after Mr. Robinson's death his widow sold to Mr. Carroll. Mrs. Robinson owned a small house to the west of this place, once an addition to the Mckay house and in 1933-4 she had that building remodeled and enlarged into a house for her- self where she lived until her death in 1937.
Howe D. Higgins built his house in 1923.
Capt. B. R. Simmons had his house built in 1932 by Fred S. Mayo. Mr. and Mrs. Amos Bracy had their house built for their own home and since the death of Mr. Bracy and the removal of Mrs. Bracy to Portland to the home of her son, the house has been rented to different families and is now owned by Merrill Stanley.
Elwell Trundy had his house built in 1930. Fred S. Mayo built the house owned by Mr. and Mrs. Milton Dolliver in 1932-3. R. M. Norwood built Willis H. Ballard's house in 1935 and Ralph Phippen's in 1936. The small cottage near the shore owned by heirs of Amos Dolliver was built over from a building once owned by S. H. Mayo. Lewis Newman's cottage was built in 1928.
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Everton Gott's house was built for himself as a home and he now lives there.
This completes the houses on Clark Point and we will now return to the place on the Main Road where we left off the record.
Raymond Whitmore's house was once the shoemaker's shop of Robert Ash. He built it at Cranberry Island where he lived for a time and was in business, and then it was hauled to the water's edge and towed up to Southwest Harbor and placed on its present site. Mr. Ash enlarged it from time to time and since Mr. Whitmore purchased it he has rebuilt and remodeled the building. The small cottage across the road from the Whit- more house was built by Joseph Robinson and is now owned by Lewis Closson.
The next house was built by Arad Young about 1852 and was the home of his family for many years. It has been owned by Stephen Harmon who enlarged it and is now the property of Mrs. Nellie Robbins Hanna. The land on which it stands was purchased by Mr. Young from Smith Robinson.
The house at the shore which was long the home of Robert Ash and family was built about 1845 by Capt. Levi Robinson. He sold it to Mr. Ash and the widow of his son now owns it.
The sardine factory was built about 1885 by John T. R. Free- man. William Lawton canned fish there for a few years and Alton E. Farnsworth came here in 1887 to work for him. Later, Mr. Lawton and Mr. Farnsworth managed the business together and then Mr. Farnsworth bought Mr. Lawton's interest. After a while he sold his interests to the Sea Coast Canning Company (1901) and they retained him as manager for several years during which time the buildings were enlarged and many im- provements added.
Mr. Farnsworth purchased the factory at Brooklin, Maine, and for a while he divided his time between the two plants, fin- ally selling the Southwest Harbor property to the Addison Pack- ing Company, which also purchased the wharf and buildings which had been owned all this time by J. T. R. Freeman.
Mr. Freeman retained a portion of the wharf and some build- ings for his coal business which is now carried on by his son-in- law, Fred A. Walls.
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J. E. Wass came to Southwest Harbor in 1914 as manager and part owner of the factory. He added considerable machin- ery and greatly increased the output. The first year the product was 16,000 cases, which grew to 60,000 cases in the three succes- sive years following. In 1930 Mr. Wass bought out one of the other stockholders and in May 1931 he sold his interests to J. W. Stinson and Son who now operate the place with Austin Mitchell as manager.
Melville Mitchell's cottage was built in 1922. He moved to Prospect Harbor and sold the house in 1928 to Capt. Grover Wills. M. F. Mitchell, Sr., built his house just south of that of his son. The row of similar houses at the shore were built by the owners of the Addison Packing Co. for their employees.
Arthur Allen built his house in the autumn of 1937 and moved in the last of December.
Andrew Bickford's house was built in 1924 and Chase Bick- ford built his in 1923. This house was first built by John Dolli- ver at Seawall. It was partly taken down and brought to its present location, where it was built into a residence by Bert Robinson for Mr. Bickford. The Lowell Bickford house was a building from the Bert Robinson place. Mr. Bickford purchased it on his return from the World War in 1918, moved it to its present site and had it built into a home for himself and family.
The Jacob Walls house was built in 1887 as was also a house for Mrs. Smith Robinson which was burned in 1908 and Harry Jordan built his house on the same site about 1912.
Byron Robinson begun the building of his bungalow in 1923 and has done most of the building and grading the grounds with his own hands.
Frank Whittaker built his house in 1903 and sold it in a few years to Leman Mayo who still owns it.
The house south of this one was built in 1883 by Bert Robinson, who sold it to C. M. Gott. He sold to Mrs. Bloomfield Reed and it later became the property of Mr. and Mrs. Barclay Burgess who own it at this time (1938).
The Mayo family at one time owned much of the land in this vicinity. Isaac Mayo built a house on his land where he lived for many years and finally sold to Smith Robinson, Jr., whose
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home it was for the remainder of his life. The house was pur- chased by Mr. Robinson from Henry Mayo after the death of his father.
Josiah Mayo built a small house to the west of the Isaac Mayo place where he spent his life. His son, Augustus Mayo, built a house at the head of the harbor in 1885 and it is still owned by his heirs. Benjamin Mayo's house was built in 1882 and it is now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Lulu Mayo James. Henry Bickford built his house about 1892. The work was done by Simon Ash of Sullivan.
The house now owned by Mrs. Grace Bartlett and family was built for Roland Carter about 1882. The work was done by John Manchester, who afterward was the successful proprietor and manager of the Belmont Hotel at Bar Harbor. Mr. Carter was killed by the falling of a block from aloft on shipboard soon after the building of the house. His widow married Byron Carter, a brother of Roland and they continued to live there. Mr. Carter was a very successful school teacher and taught many terms in this vicinity. After Mrs. Carter's death, he re- mained in the home and when he died, it was left by will to Mr. Bartlett, who was his nephew and with whom he spent the last months of his life.
There used to be a small, unpainted old house a little west of the site of the Carter place. It was built by David Robinson, the ancestor of all the Robinsons in Southwest Harbor; then it became the property of Horace Durgain who kept a store at what is now Manset, where he carried on an extensive business in many branches. Mr. Durgain lived in this house until he built a new home near his store and rented the old one for some time to different families. Roland Carter finally bought it and lived there until the new house was completed when it was taken down and some of the lumber used in building a shed.
Thomas Robinson, Sr., built his house on the foundation of the one owned by his father, Smith Robinson, Sr. The place is now owned by the heirs of John L. Whitmore. There was a house between the Robinson place and the Bass Harbor road, belonging to Isaac Whitmore, which was burned in 1859 and Mr. Whitmore built another house the same summer on the Bass
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Harbor road where he and his family lived. At his death the place became the property of his son, George C. Whitmore, who sold it to his nephew, John L. Whitmore, and it now belongs to his heirs, and is occupied by Mrs. Whitmore.
The house now owned by Robert Roberts was built by Lewis Robinson in 1894.
Edwin Lord's house was built by Thomas Robinson, Jr., about 1903. The small bungalow near these houses was built by Donald K. Mayo and is now owned by his heirs. Newell Robin- son had his house built by James Whitmore about 1840 and at his death it became the property of his son Sam whose life was spent there. It is now owned by Mrs. Donald K. Mayo and occupied by tenants.
Byron Mayo built his house in 1883 and it is now the prop- erty of his daughter, Mrs. Eva Mayo Joy.
The Knowles house was built by Thomas Savage in 1889, and sold to Fred Knowles a few years later. George C. Whit- more's house was built for Elmer Stanley in 1887 who afterward sold it to Capt. Thomas Norwood, Mrs. Whitmore's father, and later it became the property of Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore.
The large house now occupied by James and Gladys Whit- more was built about 1830 by David and Daniel Robinson, brothers of Smith Robinson, Sr., and sons of David Robinson. They sold it to Enoch Newman before it was completed. Mr. Newman traded with James Whitmore in 1838 for his place at Seawall and the Whitmore family have owned it in direct suc- cession ever since. The first house was a small, one-story building and William H. Whitmore, grandson of James, who inherited the place, had the roof raised and the second story added. Charles Davis of Trenton was the builder.
Daniel Robinson moved to Washington County and David built a house in the woods in what is now the Mayo pasture.
Robert Brown, son of William, had five acres of land from his father's estate and built a house opposite the Whitmore place, near the spring. He died before the house was completed and it was sold to Charles Dolliver, who had it moved to Seawall on the site of the house now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Judkins, where it burned. Mr. and Mrs. John Brown bought the land where it first stood and it is now owned by their heirs.
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William Brown built a log house to the north of the present Brown buildings and in 1844 he built the house now owned by Mrs. Fred Knowles, which she inherited from her father. Jonathan Brown, father of William, built a house on this same lot but near the shore where the outlines of the cellar may still be seen. Toward Bass Harbor, on the right, is a clearing where day-lilies and cinnamon roses blossom every spring and show that a home was once on that site. A house was built there by Smith Robinson, Jr., who had lived for a while in the Josiah Mayo house to the north of the Whitmore place. About 1841 he built his new home, but his wife died not long after and he sold the place to his brother-in-law, Robert Gott, whose home it was for many years. There was a house opposite it on the south side of the road built by Nathaniel Higgins, whose wife was Sally, a daughter of William Brown. There were also several houses and cabins built in the woods in this vicinity, including one built by Ezra Robinson who afterward traded with Robert Gott for the Lawler place on Fernald Road, and one built by Benjamin Robinson which was partially destroyed by fire and later purchased by Seth Higgins and rebuilt on the Main Road into the house now owned by Mrs. Alice Gilley. There was also a good-sized house built on the bank between the road and the shore almost opposite the road leading to Bass Harbor. This was owned by James Cockle who once owned all the Whitmore property. He seems to have been a man of in- telligence and was said to have considerable gold in his posses- sion. He lived alone but for a negro servant who looked after the household cares. In 1785 he petitioned Governor Bernard for title to his land. He had been granted "300 acres of upland and 10 acres of marsh" but on inspection he was dissatisfied with the grant and asked that he be granted land in another place. He claimed that he had received a letter from a son of Sir Francis giving him permission to choose 300 acres of upland which might suit him better. Mr. Cockle made a choice but did not have it recorded. He spent 11 years on the land improving it and "Spending Large Sums of Money on it." Then during the Revolutionary War "a party of armed men" unknown to him, came and treated him cruelly and plundered him of his personal
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possessions including the letter and the deed of his first lot. So he petitioned that a deed of his land may be given him. He adds on June 13, 1785 that the land in question "Is situate at the head of South West Harbour on the Island of Mount Desert and He prays your Honour that his Frontage to the said their bout may commence south of the site of the Old Houses Erected hereto- fore by Sir F. Bernard, and be extended Northward on the Beech of the South Harbour. Until it shall include the Three Hundred Acres of Upland Etc."*
So, in this vicinity, at the head of the harbor is the place where Sir Francis Bernard intended the settlement to be and where he built the houses which were the beginning of the town of Southwest Harbor. In another writing, Mr. Cockle says that the ruins of the old houses may be seen.
Mr. Cockle died a few years later and Nathan Jones was appointed administrator of his estate in July, 1791. At that time he was owner of "300 acres of land appraised at 2210£, 10 acres of marsh near South West Harbour and 30£ in money." The negro servant had disappeared before the death of Mr. Cockle but not before he had told tales of gold buried by him under direction of his master and considerable digging has been done in times past, hoping for the discovery of buried treasure. There were whispers of foul play and murder, but a slave was a slave in those days, Mr. Cockle was a man of influence and nobody cared to meddle. Mr. Cockle died before long and the story was ended.
Frank Black's house was built near the home of Thomas Robinson, Mrs. Black's father, and was moved to its present site on the Manset Road near the corner of the Bass Harbor road in 1916.
It was in this vicinity, at the head of the harbor, that Tally- rand is supposed to have been born. The story is doubted by many, but there is a strong tradition of the coming of a warship to the harbor, the friendship of one of the officers for the daughter of a fisherman, the birth of a boy, the accident which befell the child leaving him lame for life, and the return of the
* The records of the town meeting held June 10, 1776 state that it was voted "that Mr. James Cockel be allowed a share in the marsh equal to other settlers and no more."
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ship taking away the boy and leaving gold with the family. Many families have handed down this story from their ances- tors. It is told elsewhere in this volume.
Edward Black built a house in 1924 near that of his father, Frank Black, and later had it moved to a lot near the Seal Cove Road. Harry Brown built his house about 1900 and he also built the bungalow south of his house about 1927. Across the road toward the shore is still a cleared field in the woods where stood the Jonathan Brown house which was sold to Deacon Clark and moved to Clark Point opposite the Parker property where it still stands. Two log cabins have been built along this road in recent years.
Joseph LeGros (called LeGrow, probably Le Grosvener) took up a lot of land in this vicinity where he lived alone for some years in a small house. He was a soldier of the Revolution and when he became too infirm to live by himself, a family by the name of Spurling on Cranberry Island took him to care for and was recompensed by his pension. When he died, he was buried on the island and his grave there is marked by a stone.
The small stucco house was built by Melvin Farrar and his family lives there.
The Kimball cottage was built in 1883 for Samuel Kimball of Bangor as a summer home. His widow left it by will to relatives who now own it.
The old-fashioned house on the right, opposite the Kimball place, was built by Peter Stanley whose first house was on this same lot near the shore. About 1840 the present house was built and was the home of the family for three generations. In 1935 it was purchased of the Stanley heirs by Harry E. Bennett who now lives there. The mill stones used as front doorsteps at the cottage at Fernald Point owned by Mrs. Louise Fernald Gould- ing, were used for grinding grain at the old Peter Stanley home. Sans Stanley, a brother of Peter, gave them to Daniel Fernald and thus they became the property of the Fernald family.
There were several houses in the woods west of the village of Manset. On the ridge of land where Mount Height Cemetery now is, a man by the name of Ohio Gros lived and the high land in that vicinity from him got the appelation of Hio, which it
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has been called for many years. The stone wall which Mr. Gros built around his home still stands around his crumbling cellar.
John Stone Grow lived on his land in that region. Timothy Smallidge, first of that name on Mount Desert Island, owned two houses there, one in which he lived and another where another Smallidge made his home. A man by the name of John Trufry also had a house and lot in those woods, but almost over to Bass Harbor. Peter Dolliver and his wife lived on a little farm west of the Manset schoolhouse. Mr. Dolliver requested that he be buried on his home lot and his grave may be seen in a corner of what was once his grassy field but is now overgrown with trees and underbrush. His son, Hiram Dolliver, lived in a house in that region. The Hiram Dolliver house is now a part of the kitchen of the Ocean House.
The large cottage now owned by Mrs. Frederick Fox of Bangor was built for Dr. Abby M. Fulton about 1886 and re- mained the property of her family until it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Fox.
Ambrose Stanley built his house in 1887 and his daughter, Mrs. Cora Stanley Kent, now occupies it with her husband. Capt. Charles Stanley's house was built in 1879. His family occupied it for many years and then moved to Northeast Harbor and the house was sold to Vinal Beal who now lives there.
The next house was begun by Henry Moore about 1866, but he did not complete it. Capt. John L. Stanley bought the place and finished the house, doing much of the carpenter and mason work himself. It was the home of Capt. and Mrs. Stanley all their married life of more than sixty years and is now owned by their heirs.
Fred Noyes built his house in 1901-2 and has lived there ever since.
In 1884 William King built his house and in 1896 he sold it to the Baptist society to be used as a parsonage. In 1935 the society sold it to Leslie S. King whose widow now lives there. Timothy Smallidge, Jr. had a house between the Noyes house and the schoolhouse. The well which he dug may still be seen. The school house was built in 1901, replacing one built on the same site about 1860.
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The Ocean House, now owned by George Bond of Phila- delphia and managed every season by members of his family, is on a lot once owned by Horace Durgain, who was a stirring business man before and after 1850. His residence was built on the site of the hotel and was a large house of ornate design with many turrets and much ornamentation. Mr. Durgain owned the wharf and store at the foot of the hill and carried a large stock of goods of a wide variety. He also built sailing craft on the nearby beach and built at least one good-sized brig, the Romp. The Teague family bought the place and began to take summer tourists during the season. The location of this spot is unsur- passed for loveliness of the widespread view and it attracted many guests. In 1885 the house was enlarged by Nathaniel Teague to its present size and soon after the Ocean Cottage was built on the corner of the Main Road and the road leading past the hotel. This was an annex to the main house. After Mr. Teague's death, his family continued to manage the hotel until, in 1928, it was sold to the present owner, who bought the cottage which had previously become the property of another family, and moved it near the hotel where it now stands.
There was a small cemetery at the southern corner of the Main Road and the hotel road which was moved many years ago.
When the United States Customs Service was established in Southwest Harbor, it was set up in the old Ward house just south of the schoolhouse, and Daniel Somes of Somesville was the first officer in charge.
The first house on the left, going south after passing the corner of the Main Road and the road leading past the Ocean House, was built by Charles Stanley and back of it is a small bungalow owned by the heirs of Elmer Stanley. The adjoining house was built in 1901 by William Dolliver and sold to Everett G. Stanley in 1912. William Keene built his house in 1878 and in 1935 it was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Fred A. Birlem. Everett G. Stanley bought the workshop where Capt. Keene had built many boats, and moved it a few feet onto his own lot where it is now used as a salesroom.
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