Radio Script #102
Little Talks On Common Things
April 1, 1951
Thanks to Mr. Jotham Hobbs of Fairfield, I have had a chance to examine a copy of Appleton’s Railway Guide for the year 1864. It contains, as the title page says, “time tables, stations, distances, and connections upon all the railways throughout the United States and the Canadas, together with 75 railway maps, delineating the principal routes east, west, north, and south”.
By 1864 the Androscoggin and Kennebec from Portland to Waterville via Lewiston, and its counecting road, the Penobscot and Kennebec, from Waterville to Bangor, had become the Maine Central, but the road from Portland via Augusta to Waterville and on to Skowhegan was still a separate line, the Portland and Kennebec Railway. In 1864 Hollis Bowman was president of the Maine Central and C. M. Morse of Waterville was its superintendent. B. H. Cushman of Augusta was Superintendent and General Manager of the Portland and Kennebec.
There was only one train. daily each way between Portland and Waterville via Lewiston, but two trains each way between Waterville and Bangor. Likewise there were two trains each way on the other road between Portland and Augusta, but only one between Augusta and Skowhegan via Waterville. One way fare from. Portland to Bangor via Lewi6ton was $5.00; from. Portland to Skowhegan via Augusta it was $3.00. Way fares were three cents a mile. The running time from Portland to Bangor was 6~ hours; from Portland to Skowhegan 5 hours.
Some of the stations on the P & K bear names unfamiliar to mauy people today. Between Freeport and Brunswick was a station called Oak Hill. Fairfield Station is listed as Kendall:’s Mills ,Shawmut as Somerset Mills, Hinkley as Pishon Ferry. On the other road, however, the stations are almost exactly the SSE as today. Those between Waterville and Bangor were Kendall’s Mills, Clinton, Burnham, Pittsfield, Newport, East Newport, Etna, Can.l and Hermon Pond. You will note there was then no station at Benton, and none at Northern Maine .Junction, because there was no such junction, 1864 being much earlier than the building of the Bangor and Aroostook.
Another Maine railroad listed in the guide is the Androscoggin Railway, from Brunswick to Farmington. The stations were Little River, Lisbon, Crowley’s, Sabbatusville, Leeds Crossing, Leeds Center, North Leeds, Strickland’s Ferry, East Livermore, Livermore Falls, North .Jay, .Jay, Wilton, East Wilton and Farmington -a total distance of 63 miles, for which the fare was $2.25.
Another road was called the Calais, Baring and Lewey’s Island Railway. Its original line was six miles between Calais and Baring; the later extension from Baring to Princeton was 17 miles. The time table announced that the trains connected at Calais and Princeton with steamboats to and from Portland and Boston. w. W. Sawyer of Calais was the road’s superintendent.
Still another road was the l3angor, Old Town and Milford, a thirteen mile line on which the fare was 40 cents. It ran three daily trains each way, the first leaviDg BaDgor at 6:00 A.M., and the last returning at 6:30 P.M. A noticeable feature of all these early railroads of Maine is that none of their passenger trains reached their terminus later than 7: 30 P.M. In 1864 the Grand Trunk extended as far west as Toronto and Detroit. I thad four di viaiODS, one of which (the Portland division) was the line so well known to Maine people from Portland to Montreal. .Just beyond Island Pond, Vermont was a station called Boundary Line, and twenty miles farther into Canada was the station of Waterville. Forty 1Diles this side of Montreal was Britannia Mills.
The time table announced, ”’Xrains are run between Portland and Island Pond by Portland time, between Island Pond and Montreal by Montreal time.”
I suspect few people now living ever heard of the Portland and Oxford Central Railway. About it in 1864 the guide made the following a tatement: “This road ia now open between Mechanic; Falla and Sumner (55 miles) .”and is in progress to Canton Point on the Androscoggin River. The intermediate stations are West Minot, Bearce Road, Eas t Hebron, Buckfield, Sumner and Hall t s Mills. At )fec:hanic Falls this road” connects with the Grand TrUDk. No time table received’.’ The modem traveler will recogu1ze” this old Portland and Oxford Central as the begiuning of what later became the Runford Division of the Maine Central.
Of course 1864 was long before the coming of Maine’s ten famous narrow guage railroads, all of them now extinct.
Now bear in mind that this guide covers all the railroads in the United States. There was no railroad yet through to the coast, though the Un.ion Pacific was fast nearing completion. In 1864 the farthest west one could get by continuous rail j,ouraey was St. Joseph, M:1ssouri, and the statement of the North M:1ssouri Railway in this old guide we find especially interesting: “All persoas going West into Northem Missouri, to St. Joseph or the State of Kansas, and all points west of that state, should be careful on purchasing their tickets to see that they are by the North Missouri Railway. ‘!hus the traveler comes through St. Louis, the Great City of the West. Connection is made at St. Joseph with the Missouri River Packet Company’s line of splendid steamers for all points on the Missouri River.
Also steamers to Leavenworth and Kansas City, and stages to all points in the interior of Kansas.”
Another western road, the Mississippi and Missouri, an extension of the Rock Island road, extended to Council Bluffs, Iowa, across the river from Omaha, Nebraska, almost due north of St. Joseph. So, by either road, the traveler could get about the same distance west.
I am sure all of my listeners know that the early railroads were richly endowed with lands by a generous government, and the guide statements of all the western roads contain offers of land. The North Missouri said: “On this line the road lands are low and exceedingly fertile. No better lands in Illinois and Iowa are selling for four times our price for these lands. Persons residing on this line can get their products to market every day of the week except Sunday.”
I am sure you haven’t forgotten what was going on in our nation in 1864 -a great fratricidal war between North and South. Now there were plenty of railroads in the South. What about their time tables in 18641 ‘l’here just wet:en’t any. Most of the Virginia roads were by that time in Northem hands or completely disrupted by the war. The same disruption was true throughout the South. The guide gives the list of stations of as many as forty Southe~ roads, but no train times. A mmber of the lines, especially in Westem Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee are labeled flU. S. Military Railway”.
An interesting old newspaper was the Portland Tr8DScript. Through the courtesy of Hrs. Grace Thompson I have had the pleasure of going through two years of that old weekly paper, the years 1842 and 1843. Unlike most of the papers of that time — and this was especially true of the Augusta and Waterville papers — the Transcript was not a political paper. It took pride in the fact that it represented no party. Its editor was Olarles P. Ills ley , and he called his eight page sheet “A weekly journal devoted to literatut:e, news, etc. 1f It contained a lot of literature and a lot of etc., but precious little news. Host of its so-ca1led news items were in fact editorial eouaents on the news rather than factual accounts.
In 1842 the railroad reached Portland, and that must have been a big event. But Editor Illsley was not exhilarated; he was only peeved. Be wrote: lYe see by the papers that the railroad was opened with jollification on Monday last. We notice a1s0 that gentlemen of the press were invited. The directors, however, took good care to extend courtesies to the gentlemen of the political press only. We trust their aiggared courtesy was not owing to the presumption that there are no other gentlemen of the press save those who wallow in the mire of poUties. It It was in 1842 that William Mathews, older brother of the Edward Mathews who was murdered by Dr. Coolidge five years later, started the Waterville paper called the “Yankee Bladen. The Portland Transcript took note of its new contemporary in these words: ”Mr. Mathews’ Yankee Blade is a neat folio sheet and is of true stuff~ highly tempered, keen as a razor, and we trust it will continue its way deep into public favor. We like the fresh, independent style of its editor. Success to him.”
Editor Illsley apparently liked our Kennebec Valley. In his issue of June 11, 1842 we find the following account:
“The editor of the Maine Cultivator says he has been invited by all the editors this side of the Connecticut to send them a Kennebec salmon. To do this would be too much of a tax on his generosity. He however extends an invitation to us, saying, tWe wi1l entertain you with the fattest salmon the market affords. Besides, if you have never seen Old Kennebec, you have not seen the garden of Maine. We have not only the best salmon in the world, but the fairest country, the noblest river, the best farms, the prettiest villages and the handsomest maidens. fit Editor I11s1ey replies: “It would be a pleasure to accept his offer. We subscribe to all he says about Old Kennebec. We have been there frequently, have tasted its salmon and feasted our eyes on its lovely maidens. If ever we should pull up stakes, we know not a place where we would so soon pitch our tent as in the delightful Valley of the Kennebec.”
A marriage notice in the old Transcript intrigues me. It says: “Married in Brunswick, June 18, 1842, Mr. William Thompson to Miss Elizabeth Marriner”. I wonder if Miss Elizabeth could have been any relative of mine.
There are a lot of items in the Transcript that deal with marriage, but none more unusual than two which appear on the same page of the issue for September 17, 1842. One item reads: ”Married in Athens on Monday, August 8 at 10 0 f clock P.M. by C. H. Herrick, Esq., Henry Stimson and Charity FoX.” The other item is this one: “Caution. The public are cautioned against harboring or trusting my wife Charity, lately Charity Fox, as she has refused to live with me, and I will pay no debts of her contracting. Henry Stimson. Athens, August 12, 1842.11 A vel:)’ short marriage indeed. Henl:)’ may have been chiefly to blaa, but it is also possible that the girl was moxeFox than Charity.
When we were telling you about William Bl:)’ant’s diary, we quoted his xeference to the disillusioned Hillerites, when their pmdiction of the end of the world in April, 1843 failed to come true. But in an issue of the Portland Transcript -that of August 27, 1842 — we find the most amusing item we have ever encountexed about the Millerites. Bere is Editor Illsley’s ca.ent: ”’l’he Millerites axe pmphesying that the world will come to an end next April. Yet at the same time, in this month of August, 1842, they am taking subscriptions for a newspaper one year in advance. What’s the matter? Don’t they believe their own prophesy?”
Although Editor Illsley claimed non-partisanship on political issues, he was not without bias. On September 10, 1842 he wrote: ”It has been said that Pxesident Tyler intended to travel through the States; but it is now said that he is not coming. Well, who cams? We would not give a fig to see his ugly mug.” Bow many of you xemember Portland’s old United States Hotel? The building still stands, facing Monument Squaxe, and now houses Edwards and Walker Barclwaxe . Company. On his fxequent trips to Portland to visit the wholesale grocers, my father always stopped at the United States Botel. For many years it was Kaine’s most famous hostelry.
Well, Editor Illsley was present at the opening of that hotel, and he tells us about it in his issue of October 29, 1842: ”Messrs. Dunlap and Kingsbul:)’ have taken the establishment long known as the Cumberland House and have xechristened it the United States Botel. They have mpapered, repainted, recarpeted and refurnished — in a word, have regenerated the whole place so as to make it rank A No. 1. Those who want regalement, xefreshment, repose and reclusion should drop in on our friends Dunlap and Kingsbul:)’. It was our privilege to be invited to the opening dinner which they gave to prominent citizens and all representatives of the local press. It was a magnificent affair — a menu of twelve courses and the finest decorations. Take our word for it~ as the man said of the fat oyster, it opened rich.”
Year: 1951