Harkening back to simpler times, Curator Becky Delaware has put together an exhibit remembering Valentine Days gone by. Visit the Scarborough Historical Museum now through February 9th and see the curated displays.
Curator Becky Delaware and the 2019 Valentine Display
The Museum is open Tuesdays from 9AM until Noon and the second Saturday of the month from 9AM to Noon. That means the Saturday before Valentine’s Day we are open (Feb 9th).
Annual Reports of the Town of Scarborough. Some of the reports are from the personal collection of Rodney Laughton, others are from the files at the Museum. Individual reports will indicate their source in the Identifier as presented on Digital Maine. The Annual Reports typically include information regarding the support of the poor, the almshouse, various town bills, costs of town roads and bridges, school costs, & teacher salaries.
On January 6th, 2019, Michael Davis gave a presentation to the Scarborough Historical Society titled “Scarborough’s Black Point – A Century of Conflict.” Below are the images of that presentation. A video of his excellent presentation is here.
Posted Postcard “Old King Homestead” – Old King House where 1st Governor of Maine (William King) was born. Dunstan Corner, Maine. The center section dated to the time of the King Family. The set of buildings was torn down about 1910.
Moulton House Collage
The Moulton House was an inn, restaurant, and cocktail lounge at Dunstan Corner. Over the years, the Inn had several forms (2 story, 3 story, & 4 story) and several names:
Scrapbook A2018-35-1, is a collection of newspaper clippings. The vast majority of the clippings are unlabeled and unidentified as to the newspaper or the date. However, some of the clippings have handwritten dates on them identifying them as from as early as 1931 to as late as 1950. The majority of dates are 1933. The donor of this scrapbook was Margaret Small.
Internet
Scarborough Town Reports
Rodney Laughton Personal Collection
Digitized, OCRed, & uploaded “Finance and School Reports of the Town of Scarborough for 1854—55 to Digital Maine.
Digitized, OCRed, & uploaded “Finance and School Reports of the Town of Scarborough for 1861—62 to Digital Maine.
Digitized, OCRed, & uploaded “Finance and School Reports of the Town of Scarborough for 1869 to Digital Maine.
Digitized, OCRed, & uploaded “Finance and School Reports of the Town of Scarborough for 1876 to Digital Maine.
Digitized, OCRed, & uploaded “Finance and School Reports of the Town of Scarborough for 1878 to Digital Maine.
This scrapbook, accession number 2018-35-1, is a collection of newspaper clippings. The vast majority of the clippings are unlabeled and unidentified as to the newspaper or the date. However, some of the clippings have handwritten dates on them identifying them to be from as early as 1931 to as late as 1950. The majority of dates are 1933. The donor of this scrapbook was Margaret Small.
The clippings primarily include marriage announcements and obituaries with many entries regarding the accomplishments of various Scarborough people.
In its 53 pages there are 74 instances of “Scarboro” six of “Dunstan,” 14 of “Oak Hill,” 22 of “Black Point,” 30 of “Pine Point,” and two of Higgins beach.
The scrapbook was scanned at 400 DPI, cropped as appropriate, and rotated as needed, then it was OCRed using FineReader and exported as a searchable PDF file on Digital Maine.
I recently received a question regarding the life of Corporal Lucian Thomas Libby of Scarborough. Lucian died of wounds during World War I. His questions were, do we know which battle he died in and if there are relatives in the area?
My “go-to” place for his first question is Family Search. There, I was able to quickly find the Grave Card for Lucien T. Libby[i]. It indicated that he is buried in Black Point Cemetery, in section A, and that he died on 22 October 1918 in Souilly, France. Souilly was the headquarters for General Pershing during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Lucien served with the 13th Company, Coast Artillery, Maine National Guard (Battery F, 103d Field Artillery Unit). The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was, according to Wikipedia, the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I. The offensive, also known as the Hundred Days Offensive, brought the war to an end. 26,277 American lives were lost. Corporal Libby was wounded on 11 October 1918, exactly one month before the end of the war. The 24-year-old lived 11 days before succumbing to his injuries.
Further research revealed his name was Lucien Taylor Libby, not Lucien Thomas.”
Lucien was born in Scarborough the son of Charles E. and Sarah F. Libby. Both the 1900[iii] and 1910[iv] Censuses indicate that Lucien had two siblings, George and Lena.
Charles Libby set up a fund at the Scarborough Public Library to purchase books which exists to this day.
Lucien Taylor Libby is remembered through the American Legion’s Libby-Mitchell Post #76 in Scarborough, whose name honors him and World War II casualty Donald Mitchell.
I will remember Lucien, and his ultimate sacrifice, which helped bring an end to the Great War.
And yes, there are descendants of Charles Libby living today.
Endnotes:
[i] “Maine, State Archives, World War I (WWI) Grave Cards, 19141950,”
database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP4Y-VXW – accessed 30 October 2018), Lucien T Libby, ; citing Burial, Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine, United States,; Maine State Archives, Augusta.
[ii] “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZFR-9ZM – 13 March 2018), Lucian Taylor Libby, 1917-1918; citing Cumberland County no 2, Maine, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,653,905.
[iii] “United States Census, 1900,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMLF-NR9 – accessed 28 November 2018), Charles E Libby, Scarborough town, Cumberland, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 78, sheet 14B, family 346, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,591.
[iv] “United States Census, 1910,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MR3M-Z4P – accessed 28 November 2018), Charles E Libby, Scarboro, Cumberland, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 101, sheet 16A, family 376, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 538; FHL microfilm 1,374,551.
Recorded the November 2018 presentation of the Scarborough Historical Society’s monthly meeting, “I Feel Your Pain:19th Century Patent Medicine” by Roberta Ransley-Matteau and posted it to YouTube with a link from the Video page.
The presentation at the Scarborough Historical Society’s September 2018 meeting, Tide Millsby Bud Warren was edited and posted to YouTube with a link from the Video page. There now 10 SHS videos available for viewing on YouTube.
Added scan of newspaper clippings regarding “Once upon a Time” [In Scarborough] from the Bruce Thurlow Collection. The Society Post points to Digital Maine (Maine State Library) to download.
Scrapbook clippings from newspapers regarding “Once Upon a Time” [in Scarborough]. The articles include newspaper images and short write-up regarding various Scarborough objects, businesses, and places. Download from the Maine State Library.
