Radio Script #684

Little Talks on Common Things

March 20, 1966

Last week we didn’t have time to get all we wanted out of the Waterville Directory of 1887, so let us see what more we can find in it.

I have long been curious to know where, before the dawn of the present century, members of the Colby College faculty used to live. When the local directory of 1887 was printed, two men who would later be presidents of Colby were students at the college: Arthur J. Roberts in the Class of 1890 and Franklin W. Johnson in the Class of 1891. When we stop to consider that Roberts, who was President for nineteen years, has now been dead for nearly 40 years, we are talking about a very long time ago when we speak of the days when he was still a college student.

In 1887 the President of Colby was George Dana Boardman Pepper. Named for Colby’s first graduate of the Class of 1822, the missionary to Burma, George Dana Boardman, Pepper had come directly from his graduation at Newton Theological Seminary in 1860 to be pastor of Waterville’s First Baptist Church. After intervening years as a professor at Crozer Seminary in Pennsylvania, he had returned to Waterville as president of the college.

At that time College Avenue was still called College Street, and President Pepper lived at No. 14, a small house that stood on part of the lot where Foss Hall was later built. Next door at No. 12 lived John B. Foster, the professor of Greek. The large brick house on the other side of College Street that would be the home of future Colby presidents was then occupied by Dr. Nathaniel Boutelle, son of Colby’s first treasurer and Waterville’s leading citizen, Timothy Boutelle. On the same side of the street with Dr. Boutelle lived Shailer Mathews, instructor in rhetoric at No. 19, Laban Warren, professor of mathematics at No. 25, and Julian Taylor, professor of Latin, near the railroad crossing, at No. 37. Over on Main Street, near the corner of Getchell, was the home of Edward W. Hall, professor of modern languages and college librarian, who lived at 159 Main. Next door at No. 157 was William Rogers, professor of physics.

We have now accounted for seven members of the faculty whose total number in 1887 was only ten, and we have seen that those seven all lived within five minutes walk of the Colby campus. As for the remaining three, Samuel K. Smith, the venerable professor of rhetoric, lived almost out in the country, near the corner of College and High Streets.

Albion W. Small, professor of history and later Pepper’s successor as president, made his home at 7 Morrill Avenue, and William Elder, professor of chemistry, lived at 58 Elm Street. So not one of those three resided further away than ten minutes walk from his classroom.

So respected was the colored janitor of the college, Samuel Osborne, that his name was always carried in the catalogue on the faculty page. Sam lived in the house where his daughter Alice still resides, at 3 Ash Street.

Now let us see what the 1887 directory has to say about Coburn. Only a few years earlier the Coburn family had erected the handsome new building for the school near Memorial Park on Elm Street. Still at the head of Coburn was the venerable James H. Hanson, who in less than ten years would be succeeded by a young man who was in 1887 only a freshman at Colby, Franklin W. Johnson.

Not generally known today is the fact that in the 1880’s the college preparatory course at Coburn was for three years, not four. There was, however, a terminal course for girls that consisted of three preparatory years and an additional year at college level. It was called the Collegiate Course for Young Ladies. The school offered also a non-college program styled the English and Scientific Course, and a shorter two-year plan called the Introductory Course. Tuition was $6.00 a quarter, $24 for the year. The school then had no dormitories. For out of town students board and room had to be obtained in private families. The Coburn ad in the 1887 directory stated: “Board and room in private families costs $3.00 to $3.50 per week. Room alone in private home, furnished, $1.00 to $1.50 per week. A student can board himself, when his landlord permits, for about $1.50 a week.”

In addition to Principal Hanson, the Coburn faculty had four full-time persons in 1887. Miss Harriet Esty was head of the Ladies Department; Asa Lane taught science and mathematics, while Mrs. Hanson and Miss Julia Winslow were assistants in other subjects. Part-time faculty included James Soule and Emily Phillips in music, Miss Sarah Allen in drawing and painting, and K.J. Knowlton in penmanship.

A curious fact comes to light when one notes what the 1887 directory says about Waterville churches. In that year Waterville’s oldest church, the First Baptist at the corner of Elm and Park Streets, had no morning service, although its Sunday School did meet at 10:45. Its first preaching service was at 2:30 p.m. The same was true of the town’s second oldest church, the Universalist, which held an evening service each Sunday. The Baptists, Congregationalists and Methodists called theirs prayer meetings, while the Unitarians and the Episcopalians held a Sunday evening service called vespers. At all the Protestant churches except First Baptist and Universalist the Sunday worship service was at 10:30 a.m. The evangelical churches all held mid-week prayer meetings.

In 1887 Waterville had only one Catholic church, St. Francis de Sales, under the beloved pastor, Father Narcisse Charland. Only two masses were held each Sunday, at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday school was at 2:30 and vespers at 3:00. At the close of the St. Francis announcement appeared this interesting statement: “Instruction in English every second and fourth Sunday; in French every first and third Sunday.”

Now let us take a look at the business and commercial life of Waterville in 1887. The town then had four banks, all located on the west side of Main Street between Silver and Temple. At No. 70 was the Merchants National, at 92 the Savings Bank, at 104 the Peoples National, and at 110 the Ticonic.

There were two hotels, the Elmwood and the Waterville House, the latter on Common Street. The old Williams House, later to become the City Hotel, was not in service as a public inn in 1887. If there were few hotels, there were 26 boarding houses. Among these were Hannah Burbank’s at the corner of Pleasant and North, Mrs. Dunbar’s on Temple Court, Mrs. Angie Smith’s at the corner of Elm and Temple, and Mrs. Webster’s on Union Street.

In the days before the automobile a familiar sight and smell in every town was that of the livery stable. In 1887 Waterville had six: the Elmwood Stables operated by George Jewell, who not only had charge of this big stable back of the hotel, but also ran under the same name a stable on Silver Street; F.M. Hanson, whose stable was also on Silver; C.A. Hill, with his stable in Mechanic Square, the old name for the junction of Main and Temple Streets; W.T. Clarksons, who had a third stable on Silver Street; and George Shorey, whose livery was behind Otten’s Bakery on Temple Street.

Although factory-made shoes had become common by 1887, Waterville still had three men termed boot and shoe makers, not just shoe repairers. They were Ezra Perkins at 77 Main Street, J.F. Murdock near the junction of Main and Water Streets, and Joseph Raymond on Ticonic Street.

Of course carriage and harness makers did a lot of business before the automobile age. Making carriages in Waterville were L.M. Davis on Morrill Avenue, A.R. Farnham at 16 Front Street, and Thomas Sweet near the corner of Mill and Cool Streets. Mill Street, you will remember, was the old name for Western Avenue. The town also had three harness makers: W.F. Johnson at 18 Main, W.T. Page at 47, and Fred Robbins on Silver Street near its junction with Elm. Waterville had four blacksmiths: C.P. Sherman and Aaron Simpson on Common Street, Frank Walker on Temple and Sylvester Ronco down on Water Street.

The town was literally full of dressmakers, 22 of them scattered allover the community. Some who are still vaguely remembered, as older residents recall what their own mothers used to tell them, were Miss McNelly on Pleasant Street, Miss Edna Springfield on Main Street, Mrs. Abbie Savage in the Dunn Block, and Mrs. Kidder on Temple Street.

Of course there were plenty of stores to furnish materials for the dressmakers. The largest was that of L.A. Presby in the Dunn Block on Barney Square. David Gallert was doing a thriving business at 33 Main, and the young L.H. Soper had only recently opened his store at 54 Main, a place he would soon develop into Waterville’s largest department store at the turn of the century.

Many men had their suits custom made by local tailors in 1887. Waterville had five of those merchant tailors, all on Main Street: Richard Barry, Samuel Heath, David Shorey, George Carpenter, Elmer Small and Walter Wheeler. But already by 1887 ready-made clothing had become popular with men. Waterville’s oldest store in that line was operated in 1887 by J. Peavy and Son. It had been a Peavy store even forty years earlier when in its second floor offices had been committed the murder of Edward Mathews by Dr. Valorus Coolidge. Waterville had other prominent clothing stores in 1887: Perham Heald at 102 Main, L.A. Rusby in the Dunn Block, and Dolloff and Dunham, forerunner of the modern Dunhams. Other smaller clothiers were the Boston Clothing House and Stephen Marston, directly opposite each other at 48 and 49 Main Street.

The camera had been around long enough so that picture taking was good business in 1887. The leading photographer was C.G. Carleton at 66 Main, but he was already being given a run for his money by Sebastian Vose, a veteran of the Civil War, who with his son operated a studio at 15 Main Street. Other photographers were J.H. Flanagan on Common Street and Gideon Picher down on the Plains.

Who made people’s glasses in 1887? The single town oculist was J.D. Titcomb at 79 Main. General practitioners in medicine were, however, numerous. Besides Dr. Nathaniel Boutelle, whom I have already mentioned, there were Dr. F.C. Thayer, Dr. J.F. Hill, Dr. Nathan Pulsifer, Dr. George Howard and half a dozen others.

In the days before pickup trucks and station wagons, how were goods moved about town? Waterville had six truckmen, some of whom used the big, low slung vehicles called jiggers, on which freight was hauled from the railroad to the town merchants. And your trunk would be carried to and from the railroad station by one of Waterville’s numerous ten-cent teams.

Well, that is what the old directory tells us about Waterville 79 years ago.

Year: 1966