Added: Town Register – Scarborough – 1905 – Includes early Scarborough history, businesses, “military matters” (French & Indian, Revolutionary, & Civil wars), schools, churches, landmarks, and the 1905 Town Census. The town census is particularly interesting because it includes many non-residents and where they live when an individual’s parent still lives in Scarborough. Married daughters are also identified and their married surname is included. Available at Digital Maine, as a local download, and as a searchable book at Internet Archive.
I added: Early Documents Methodist Church – 1817-1819 – Various Papers Certifying members including Philemon Rand, Simon Libby, John Woodbury, George Libby, John Libby, Solomon Hartford, Joseph Emerson, and Joseph S. Jewett.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Added October 13th through 19th
TOWN OF SCARBOROUGH COLLECTION
CHURCHES: METHODIST SOCIETY – 1817-1819
Paper certifying that Philemon Rand a member of the Methodists of Scarborough signed by Joshua Fabyan. 17 March 1817 – Front – Back.
Same as above except certifying Simon Libby. 7 April 1817 – Front – Back.
Paper certifying John Woodbury, a member of the Methodists signed by Michael Nason – preacher & John Emery- town clerk – 31 October 1817 – Front – Back.
Paper certifying Simon Libby & George Libby members of the Methodists in Scarborough signed by Asa Heath -teacher – 9 February 1818 – Front – Back
Paper certifying John Libby, a member of the Methodists of Scarborough signed by Joshua Fabyan – 16 March 1818 – Front – Back.
Same as above except certifying Solomon Hartford. 17 March 1818 – Front – Back
Same as above except certifying Joseph Emerson, Esq, – 21 March 1818 – Front – Back
Paper certifying Joseph S. Jewett, a member of the Methodists of Scarborough signed by Asa Heath, teacher. 29 December 1819 – Front – Back.
Added 2 photos of the North Scarborough Free Church.
North Scarborough Free Church (Beech Ridge & County Roads) – c. 1870.
North Scarborough Free Church, ca. 1907 — Looking west along the County Road, at the junction of Saco Street. The church was erected 1871-72; dismantled 1936), is shown on the left, at the southwest corner of the intersection.
The O. E. Sherman store is visible on the right, along the north side of the County Road.
The building in the distance (left of center) and along the south side of the County Road is the residence of Harry L. Sherman, brother of the store’s proprietor, Orra E. Sherman. The home of a third brother, William Sherman, for many years Scarborough’s tax collector, can partially be seen through the trees, beyond the store.
Updates
Updated Article: “The Wayland & The Saint Louis Home for Boys”
With a new photo of the St. Louis Home and School.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Added 29 September to 5 October 2020.
I Scanned 89.9.57 N SCAR BAPTIST CH FC 13 from the Bill Tolman Memorial Database. These are the transcribed records of the North Scarborough Free-Will Baptist Church. The Book is now available on Digital Maine and on Archives.Org.
The Free Will Baptist Church was organized June 28, 1827, in North Scarborough. This book is a transcription of the records including the names of all that have been members of the church from its organization up to Jan. 1, 1857. A second section of the book includes Church Members 1949 to 1858. There are also transcriptions of Deeds and other Church Records. This is Book 1 of 2.
Organizations
First Congregational Church
Marriage Records of the First Congregational Church were published in the Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, Volume 3 (1886) and are available at Internet Archive. For specific dates see:
On the Organizations page, I added the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Maine and added The Scottow Stockade Fort Located on Black Point, Scarborough, Maine – 1681-1690 – Pamphlet 1931. Also available at Digital Maine.
This is another of our most sought after books we have for early records. When using the Bill Tolman Database and a result says to check 89.9.63 – DEATH BOOK, that is this book.
It is a transcript of the
“Deaths kept 1st by Sam’l Libby, 3rd, then by his son, Ebenezer Libby Sr. then for a brief period by Lucy dau. of Ebenezer Sr. (from 1795 to 1900). At first it was for the 1st parish only, after 1900 the record here is copied from the Annual Reports of the Town, and included all deaths also all burials.
Augustus K. Small (Copyist)
Microfilm images of the original 1st Parish records are available at a Family History Center or at a FamilySearch Affiliate Library (Note: The Scarborough Public Library is an Affiliate Library. See: https://scarboroughlibrary.org/research for details.) If you are not in Scarborough, there is a map of FHCs and Affiliate libraries here:
Entries from the Town Reports are also digitized and are available through our Town Reports Webpage and include deaths until 29 January 1945.
Bill Tolman Database
I scanned: Vital Records – Second Congregational Church – 89.09.61 and posted for download. This record is a transcription of Baptisms, Full Communion, Marriages, Burials, & Church Meetings. [SECOND PAR CONGO MISC FC 2] See our Microfilm page to see how to access the original images.
Posted inUncategorized|Comments Off on Added Week of September 8th thru September 15th.
Wreck of the Sagamore, January 14, 1934 Scarborough Historical Society collections
It was snowing on Saturday evening, January 24, 1934, when the steel freighter, Sagamore, left Portland Harbor, bound for Boston with a hold filled mainly with large bolts of woolen material and oilcloth. The storm had intensified with a strong northeast gale when the Sagamore struck Corwin’s Rock off Cape Elizabeth, tearing a hole in the hull and disabling the steering mechanism. Fearing the ship would go to the bottom, Captain Ralph McDonough drove it as fast as he dared, hoping to beach it on land. The Sagamore grounded on the rocks off Prouts Neck, where the crew of 26 endured a terrifying night with the ferocious storm sending towering waves over the vessel. They were able to send flares to broadcast their position and in the morning the entire crew was rescued by the Coast Guard.
News of the shipwreck spread rapidly throughout Scarborough, a community that at the time was suffering through the Great Depression. Little was thrown away by families. Every home had rag and button bags, and zippers would always be saved for reuse. The final chapter of clothing was to have the material braided into a rug. Bent nails were hammered straight for recycling. Nothing went to waste.
Many people at that time were wearing threadbare clothes, with so few clothing items in a few families that kids took turns going to school. Housewives home canned vegetables from their large gardens, and many families had chickens. The cloth bags that chicken feed and flour came in were turned into clothing, dishtowels and pillowcases, with manufacturers often making the bags in patterns and colors to facilitate their reuse.
Carpenter’s Chest & material salvaged from the Sagamore From the collections of Rodney Laughton
It was in this climate that Scarborough residents heard that the shipwrecked Sagamore was carrying woolen material. Elaine Frederick Killelea remembers vividly as a small child going with her parents to the rocks not far from the Prouts Neck bathhouses where people from the town had a big bonfire going against the January cold. She watched as small dories and rowboats made trip after trip to the stranded ship, salvaging bolts of the double-faced wool material and bright red or green oilcloth. Her mother fretted, because like most men at that time, her father had never learned to swim. For his reward, Walter Frederick got a china cup from the ship, which he always used for his coffee, and Elaine’s mother made him a gray coat from the material. Elaine got a new snowsuit, tan wool on the bottom and brown plaid on the top, made on an old treadle sewing machine purchased at the Prouts Neck rummage sale.
Officers of the Sagamore Standing left to right: K.B. Glover, Third Of- ficer; Perley Lawry and T. Bond, Second Of- ficer; Seated: Capt. Ralph W. McDonough, Master of the freighter From the collections of Rodney Laughton
The grounding on the rocks had further crippled the Sagamore, and with her bottom gone, many more bolts of material were released into the water. Lots of them washed up on the beaches as far away as Pine Point, where they were eagerly gathered up. Eventually, people from farther away flocked to the Sagamore. On that Sunday morning, the Dunstan minister had announced the shipwreck from the pulpit, advocating his congregation to “Go forth to get material for our church!” And the Blue Point church got its first seat cushions covered with dark gray cloth from the Sagamore. Pine Pointers were accustomed to traveling by water to Prouts Neck, so perhaps many came to the scene by boat, resulting in a flotilla of lobster boats bringing salvaged cloth home.
This 1934 photograph of the Black Point students includes Elaine Frederick, the fifth little girl from the left in the front row. The author’s mother, Barbara Harmon, was the teacher. Photo courtesy: Scarborough Historical Society Collections
Elaine remembers that all the material was very wet and stiff, and that which had washed up on the beaches had to be spread out and cleaned of salt and sand, not an easy task. All the clotheslines for miles around were filled with the material being dried after cleaning. My mother was the teacher at the Black Point district school in 1934, and she had a suit made of the material. She remembered that most of the children in her class came to school wearing clothing made out of the same lovely woolen material, but nobody seemed to care. Residents were happy to have warm coats, dresses, jackets, and trousers.
What a boon the Sagamore’s cargo proved to be for the town of Scarborough! Those resourceful people provided the energy, expertise, and sewing skill to turn into a gold mine material that today would quickly go to a landfill. The Sagamore was never able to be refloated, and the masts of the ship were visible for years from the cliff walk.
*With greatly appreciated input from Elaine Frederick Killelea and Susan Snow.
[Note: This article was first published in two parts — Part 1 in the July-August 2020 issue of Owascoag Notes and Part 2 in the September-October 2020 issue.]
Deeds – I created a database of the Deeds and other records in File Cabinet #17 – Deeds. Made it a “Table Press” Table and linked to it from a post. Also included information regarding other locations for Deeds. Posted as: Deeds – FC-17.
