Radio Script #109
Little Talks On Common Things
May 20, 1951
Ttlere are probably several Waterville families who CQuid have been called trolley car fans half a century ago. know one of those families who were so fond of trolley rl des that husband and:’ wi fe took many long trips entl rely by trolley. One of their longest was from Waterville to ‘” Lynn·” Massachusetts, every foot of the way by success I ve changes of tro I ley car.
When that couple were married in 1903, they took a two weeks’ honeymoon through various parts of Central and Weste~n Maine without using the Maine Oen~ tra I Road except for the return journey from Gard I ner to Watervl lie. The I r trl p.1: .~ .: . began by team from Waterville to/}· Augusta, then out to T99uS by trolley, f,rom Togus to Gardl ner by the 01 d Kennebec Centra I narrow gauge, then by boat, to Bath, by trolley to Brunswick, Auburn, Lewiston, Portland, Old Orchard and Btdde.:;.·· I, ~” ‘,’ …ford; side trips to various towns, and eventually by trolley to Gardiner, where t~y ~ok their one broad gauge rai I road ride on the whole trip back to Waterville. That couple, married 48 years ago, are well known and great·ly respected citizens of. Watervl lie, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Vose.
In light of the ceaseless wrangling about hours of business for the Water vi lie stores”It is Interesting to see how they handle such matters In a.small town in Scotland. I have already told you that I see quite regularly the weekly issues of the Peeb lesh I re News, loaned me by the courtesy of that f.1 ne son of Peebles, John Burgess. The News of March 23 of this year devoted two entire col urnns to a meet I ng of the Peeb les Shopkeepers and Merchants Associ ati’on. At that meeting someone made a motion that shopkeepers who desired to remain open on Wednesday afternoons during the summer months should be “I lowed to do so. A member then pol nted out that such a vote would requl re an amendment to the by-laws, which speci fical Iy cal led for Wednesday afternoon closings throughout the year. Another member called attention to the statutory act, passed by Parliament, requiring the shopkeepers in any locality to show a twothi rds majorl ty J n each trade before putting into effect any change I n the exIsting plan of half holiday in each week, and to give six weeks’ notice of such change to all clerks.
The meeting voted to refer the matter to a conmlttee for consideration and prompt report. They agreed that tl:le statute woul d be obeyed, and that a II merchants would be bound by the outcome. It is both a virtue and a fault of the New England Yankee that he is deter·mi ned to protect and preserve his i ndi vi dua I independence. But even we Yankees are smart enough to know that, in order to get a long together, we must have the freedom of democracy, not the freedom of anarchy. There come ti mes when, for the sake of the common we I fare, we must bow to the wi ” of the major! ty. Where those Scotch merchants have the better of us Is In their abi Iity to enforce upon a re I uctant mi norlty the wi II of the majori tv. When wi II our Watervi lie storekeepers wake up to the same need?
Last wi nter I wrote a letter to the editor of that Peeb lesh ire News, praising one of his editorials which upheld the United States vigorously against vicious attacks from certain quarters of England and Scotland. One never knows how a letter like that will get around. I n the Peeb lesh f re News of March 23 appears another letter wri tten by an aged son of Peeb les now Ii vi ng I n Los Ange les. He wrote: ”We out here on the Pad fl c Coast of the Un I ted States were much interested in the letter of Dean E. C. Marrl ner of Co Iby Co liege, Waterville, Maine. We are as far from that 0011 lege as you are in Scotland. But the unusual thing about a letter from Waterville is that the News is read in all corne rs of the wor I d. Dean Marri ne r menti oned the Burgess fami Iy, we I I known to ne In rtPf young days. Far away In the Mohave Desert in California, I have a young friend naned Carolyn Burgess. On my next, visit to her town I shall ask her If she I s a re I at:. w of the 0 I d Peeb les family and of the p resent Burgesses of Waterville, Maine.”
I thas been some tl me s I nee we have mentioned the Kennebec town of Benton. :,’,: It is thei r turn toni ght, and for the i nformatl on wh I ch I pass on to you about that town I am I ndebted to Mr. Chester E. Basford of Benton Station, who was the chairman of the committee which arranged the celebration of Benton’s one hundredth annt versary In 1942. The original, Incorporated name of the town, when,lt got Its charter tn 1842 was Sebasti cook. How the name happened to be changed In 1850, to honor the great Democratic Senator from Ohio, Thomas H. Benton, Is not entirely clear, but that comMiilitywhi,ch was to become, a strong center of Republican polities In later days was, at any rate, ~amed for a prominent Democrat. The tatn was ort gina Ily a part of Cltnton,and events which led up to the separation Incl uded bt tter strl fe between Benton Falls and Hunter’s Mills over the annual election of selectmen. Hunter’s Mi lis was the old nane of Clinton Village. The original selectmen of the new town In 1842 were Daniel Brown” An …drew RI chardson and Andrew Grant. Benton ,!s fi rst representatl ve to the Leg’s …lature w·as Orrin Brown. A lot of men have gone to Augusta to represent Benton since then, but I am told that the only man from Benton who ever serwd In the State Senate Is Ralph W. Pillsbury.
In the old days Benton Falls was quite a place. The David Reed home, nat owned by Dick Dyer, publicity man for Colby College, was a well known Inn on the stage route from Port land to Bangor. Here Maine’s on Iy vi ce-p res I dent of the United States, H~nnibal Hamlin, was a frequent visitor. Here were held community neettngs of all kinds from pol itlcal gatherings to religioUs services. Here, from the bar which stl II remains In the front room, the genial landlord dispersed his beverages. Hann I ba I Hamli n had other associ atlons with Benton bes I des stopping at the David Reed tavern. In 1874 he was elected president of the Kennebec Fibre Company, whIch started what was long to continue as Benton’s principal industry, the paper ml II at Benton Falls, now unhapp I Iy defunct. The treasurer and general manager of The ml II was Col. Francis E. Heath of Watervl lie. He used to dri ve dally from/hi s home In Waterville to the mill at Benton Falls. His team was a sprightly pair of horses, and alongside ran his constant co.,.,anlons, two beautiful seTter dogs. Col. Heath Is said fo have enjoyed especially fine relationships with his employees, a policy carried on and even Increased by his son and successor in the bus I ness, Edward W. Heath.
In 1899 was built one of the most un’.;que electric railroads in the country, from Fal rfle I d to Benton Fa lis. On Iy Inci denTa lIy meant to carry passengers ~ Its rna In purpose was to transport the products of The. ml II to the steam ral I road. The I I tt Ie road was known as the lib roan stl ck tra in”. I t had a sing Ie car for passengers, what carne to be called a funny Ii tt Ie car, wi th motorman and cooductor a II the sane man .. The Congregational Church at Benton Falls c·laimS file taSf f)etl cast at the Paul Revere foundry In Canton, Mass. This was In 1828, several years after Paul’s own deaTh. There 15 a legend, for which no-historical proof exists, that, when the bell was being removed from the flat boat which had brought It up the Sebastlcook River, It was dropped overboard, and that Its 720 pounds gave quite a task to many. men and oxen before It was finally hauled up to what was then the new dlurch. For 123 years that Pau I Revere be I I has hung and swung I n the be 1 fry of the old meeting house at Benton Falls. wonder t f any other Kennebec town outs I de of Benton has a memori a I school desk? I n the. schoolhouse of what was long ca lied Dlstrl ct No. 5 at Benton Fa lis, is a desk bearing a memorial tablet. It reads: “Asher C. Hinds, 1863-1919. Scholar, statesman, parI iamentarian, when a boy studied at this desk.” Asher HI nds was one of Benton’s most noted sons. He 1 s sti II known as the greatest of Cong ress i ona I pa r I I amenta ri ans, se rv in gin th at cap aci ty un de r the two great czars of the nati onal House of Representatives, Speakers Thomas B. Reed and Joseph G. Cannon. So, 21 years ago, In 1930, the peop Ie of Benton honored the memory of Asher Hinds by placing a marker on his old desk In the Benton Fa II s school house.
How grateful we should be to the good folks of a hundred years ago who patiently kept diaries. Such a man was Wi I Ii am K. Lunt JI who was just starting in the business of what was to make him Benton’s most famous storekeeper when he recorded in his diary: “December 31,1842. This is the last day of the old year; tomorrOil begins the new. It fl nds me in bus I ness for myse If, and I hope by strict attention to business, I shall gain the favor, goodwi II and patronage of my townsmen as well as personal friends.” William Lunt was 21 years old when he wrote those diary lines. He kept that store at Benton Falls unt! I old age compelled his retirement. At one time he had a rival in Leonard Alexander, but how much a rival may be judged from a story Benton people used to delight in telling. One day a nei ghbor chi Id came Into Mr. Alexander’s store and sai d, “Alec, give me a cent.” ”Why, Edna,”, said Mr. Alexander, “what do you want of a cent?”, at the same time pull lng a penny out of his pocket and handing it to the little girl. The chi Id grasped the coin and started for the door. Turning a roun d, as she was about to cross the th resho I d, she sa i d: “I’m tak i ng It ove r to Bi II Lunt’s store; he gives more for a cent than you do.’!
Does anyone sti II I iving remember Benton’s old merry-go-round? Near where the Foot Hill Cab I n now stands, near the east end of the three brl dges, there stood, sixty years ago, the home of James F. Tibbetts. About 1890, when Mr. Tibbetts was a mil Iwright In the old Toiman mills, he decided to bui Id a merry go-round. It was the fl rst constructed In Maine, and Mr. Tibbetts took a tour of the Maine fairs. It had no prancing or flying horses, but only chariots with seats. In the center sat a Fat rfleld man, Nate Tuttle, turning a wooden crank, providing the motive pOfer. Mr. Tibbetts’ most famous passenger Is said to have been the heavy-weight champion of the world, John L. SUllivan, who proved hlmoself a better prize-fighter than merry-go-round rider, for his ride on Mr. Tib .. betts merry-go-roUAd at the Unity Fair made John L. sea-sick.
One of Benton’s great ciTizens died only a few months ago. He was John Reed, who had been born in the George W. Reed home In Benton, had been a pupil In the same No.5 schoolhouse that has the Asher HI nds memoria I desk, and had married Ell zabetb” granddaughter of the fi rst Asher Hinds, who had bul It at Qentoo Fa lis the attracti:’te. spacious dwelling where the Hinds ,fami Iy were so long to live. In recent yea rs thl s has been the grac I ous home of John and E I I zabeth Reed, for back to the old, home they came on Mr. Reed’s retirement from a distinguished career.
Graduating fran the University of Maine In 1889, with a degree In Clvi I Englneerlng, he turned at once to rail road construction, working for various roads on the Atlantic seaboard until 1901. Then began his notable career In foreign lands.”He bul It the first electric rai Iways in New Zealand and In the Phi lipplnes, and made a survey and cost ana Iys Is of the much hera lded Tr.ans-Andean Rai I road In SO’uth , …. :.,’. America. For seven years he was engaged in the Federal Valuation of Railroads. He was one of America’s greatest railway constructloo engineers.
Like most Maine towns, Benton once had an academy. On the site of ‘he presentNo.5 Schoolhouse at Benton Falls stood what was known In 1842 as, the CI in ..ton Academy.Op.ened in 1830, I t carried on for 00 Iy 28 years. I t was bul It by a company of citizens, who intended to make it a female seminary. Unable to com-plete the job, the company irurned the building over to the Methodist society, which finished It and opened a co-educatlonal academy. When the building was destroyed by fire In 1870, its use as an academy had already ceased, but for several years its new owners had reserved the right to hold a high school In It two terms each year. Whether such high school terms were ever held, after the academy ‘offlcl.aIIY ceased to function, we do not know.
Anyhow, Benton I s one of the Kennebec Va II ey ‘s fine 0 I d towns I with a memorable history and a prosperous present. All Kennebec citizens may be proud of It.
Year: 1951