Browse Items (56 total)
- Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Dr. John George Gehring and His Bethel Clinic: Pragmatic Therapy and Therapeutic Tourism
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Dr. John George Gehring and His Bethel Clinic Pragmatic Therapy and Therapeutic Tourism by William D. Andrews Dr. John George Gehring, 1912. As this photograph suggests, Gehring was slight, trim, and dapper. He wasknown to smoke cigars and…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Metallak
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Metallak by Peter Smith Bean State of New Hampshire marker near Metallak's grave site Editor’s Note: This brief memoir about the Indian Metallak is found in the Oxford County Advertiser of 17 January 1890. The author is Peter Smith Bean, who…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
John Howell Crosby (1867-1936)
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John Howell Crosby (1867-1936) By Donald G. Bennett J. Howell Crosby in 1909. Courtesy of Donald G. Bennett Editor’s note: This is the second “Grandfather’s Theme” to be published in The Courier since the request for such manuscripts went out…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Barn Redux: Bethel's Most Modern Barn in 1950
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Barn Redux: Bethel's Most Modern Barn in 1950 by Donald G. Bennett Introduction The idea for this story came from two sources: the 2005 display of the Smithsonian exhibit “Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon” at the Bethel Historical…
Tags: Barn Motel (Bethel, Me.) | Bethel (Me.) | Breau's Dairy (Rumford, Me.) | J. A. Thurston Company | Mayville (Bethel, Me.) | River View Resort (Bethel, Me.) | Thurston Farmstead (Bethel, Me.)
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Bethel's First Meetinghouse Re-Discovered
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Bethel's First Meetinghouse Re-Discovered by Randall H. Bennett Portland's Cumberland County Courthouse of 1785, which served as the model for Bethel's first meetinghouse, built in 1807 From Portland in the Past (1886) Thanks to the research…
Tags: West Parish Congregational Church (Bethel, Me.) | West Parish Congregational Meeting House (Bethel, Me.)
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
The Robertsons of “Robinson Hill”
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The Robertsons of “Robinson Hill” By Randall H. Bennett The origins of Bethel's early placenames, and the meaning(s) they convey, have long been a popular subject of discussion among scholars and family historians, and many of these researchers…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Dr. True As Historian
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Dr. True As Historian by Randall H. Bennett The productive years in the life of Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True (1812-1887) were a propitious time for antiquarian efforts. Indeed, the ground work of what we know today of Bethel's beginnings is in…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Bethel's Elusive Androscoggin Steamboat
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Bethel's Elusive Androscoggin Steamboat by Randall H. Bennett Steamboat landing site on Androscoggin River at Bethel, circa 1910 "I know of no place in the United States where as varied and rich scenery can be witnessed as when on the…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
The Railroad Comes to Bethel
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The Railroad Comes to Bethel by Randall H. Bennett Grand Trunk Railway station at Bethel, circa 1880 Editor’s Note: The following is an edited version of remarks made by Society Curator of Collections Randall Bennett on 10 March 2001 at…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Bowler versus Chisholm, and the Ill-fated Bethel-Rumford Electric Railway
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Bowler versus Chisholm,and the Ill-fated Bethel-Rumford Electric Railway by Randall H. Bennett In 1882, Canadian-born Hugh J. Chisholm (1847-1912), a lumber enthusiast and successful partner in the Portland based Chisholm Brothers…
Tags: Rumford Citizen (Rumford, Me.) | Rumford Falls and Bethel Street Railway Company | Rumford Falls Times (Rumford, Me.)
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Western Maine Saints [Part 3]: A Bethel Family (Frost)
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Western Maine Saints [Part 3]: A Bethel Family (Frost) by Jayne W. Fife, with Roselyn Kirk Mary Ann Frost Stearns Pratt. Photo courtesy of Jayne Fife Mary Ann Frost Stearns was a small determined woman, a widow with one child, when she…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
In His Home: Memories of Dr. N. T. True
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In His Home: Memories of Dr. N. T. True by Marian True Gehring Entrance hall, Dr. Nathaniel Tuckerman True residenceBethel, Maine, circa 1885 Many appreciative words have kept my father’s memory green, coming from many sources, and gratefully…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Lost in the Woods of Shadagee
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Lost in the Woods of Shadagee by Larry Glatz The “Shadagee” section of Norway was later known as Noble’s Corner, shown above (center). From Caldwell & Halfpenny, Atlas of Oxford County, Maine (Philadelphia, 1880). Practically every county…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Women in the Grange
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Women in the Grange By Jean F. Hankins The following article is based on a paper delivered in September 2008 at the Bethel Historical Society’s conference on the Grange. Jean F. Hankins, of Otisfield, Maine, is an independent scholar, active in…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Gilead Memories
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Gilead Memories by Emeline V. Heath Old and New Androscoggin River Bridges at Gilead, 1920s Editor's Note: The following sketch was written by a Gilead native and Society member whose roots were deep within the town. Miss Heath, a former…
Tags: Gilead (Me.)
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Life on the Home Front: Bethel During the Civil War
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Life on the Home Front: Bethel During the Civil War by Stanley Russell Howe Major Gideon A. Hastings (1821-1905), 12th Maine Battalion Editor's note: Few events in American history have received more attention than the Civil War. A neglected…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Bethel's Civil War Soldier's Monument Dedicated 100 Years Ago
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Bethel's Civil War Soldier's Monument Dedicated 100 Years Ago by Stanley Russell Howe The year 2008 year marked the centennial of the dedication of Bethel’s Civil War Soldier’s monument on Memorial Day 1908. The account of this event in the 4…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Twenty-five Years of the Courier: A Personal Memoir
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Twenty-five Years of the Courier: A Personal Memoir by Stanley Russell Howe Masthead from an issue of Bethel's first newspaper, The Bethel Courier (1858-1861) When I became Director of the Bethel Historical Society in 1974, there was almost…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Bethel’s Robert A. Chapman and Frances C. Chapman
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Bethel’s Robert A. Chapman and Frances C. Chapman by Stanley R. Howe Hon. Robert Andrews Chapman and Frances Carter Chapman Photo from Maine: A History (1919) Hon. Robert Andrews Chapman, the second owner of the Bethel Historical Society's…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Enoch Foster, Jr.: Third Owner of the O'Neil Robinson House
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Enoch Foster, Jr.: Third Owner of the O'Neil Robinson House by Stanley R. Howe Sarah W. Foster and Enoch Foster, Jr. Photos from Maine: A History (1919) Enoch Foster, the third owner of the Society’s O’Neil Robinson House, was born in…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Lafayette Grover: Would-Be President Maker
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Lafayette Grover: Would-Be President Maker by Stanley Russell Howe Lafayette Grover1823-1911 Born in Bethel, Maine, on 29 November 1823, the third son of Dr. John and Fanny Lary Grover, Lafayette Grover was educated at Gould Academy and…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
General Oliver Otis Howard Speaks at Bethel
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General Oliver Otis Howard Speaks at Bethel by Stanley R. Howe Oliver Otis Howard (1830-1909), ca. 1865 Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission Civil War General Oliver Otis Howard spoke at Bethel on the afternoon of 15 July…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
William Berry Lapham: Local Historian and Genealogist
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William Berry Lapham Local Historian and Genealogist by Stanley Russell Howe William Berry Lapham 1828-1894 William Berry Lapham (1828-1894) was one of the most prolific compilers of local history and genealogy that Maine produced during the…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Lucy Larcom's Bethel
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Lucy Larcom's Bethel by Stanley R. Howe Lucy Larcom (1824-1893) Observing nature was a major focus of the life of Lucy Larcom (1824-1893), who spent much time in the White Mountain region and especially in the western Maine town of Bethel.…
Tags: Bethel (Me.)
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier
Edward Sylvester Morse: Dr. True's Star Pupil
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Edward Sylvester Morse: Dr. True's Star Pupil by Stanley Russell Howe Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925) Courtesy of the Maine Historical Society Few connected with Bethel's Gould Academy are aware that one of the leading figures in the fields…
Collection: Featured Articles from The Courier