Tag Archives: Scarborough Historical Society

Sorting Letters at the Cemetery

Posted on November 12, 2025 by Don Taylor

While visiting Dunstan Cemetery, cemetery historian Ron Romano noticed unusual initials—“IMP’D O.R.M.” and “T.O.T.E.”—on Millard Whitten’s grave. They revealed Whitten’s membership in the Improved Order of Red Men, a once-popular fraternal organization. Romano explores these symbols and others found on Maine gravestones, uncovering how fraternal orders once shaped community and remembrance. Continue reading →

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Scarborough Town Farm Cemetery

Posted on June 30, 2025 by Don Taylor

Ron Romano’s The Graves of Scarborough’s Paupers: The Town Farm Cemetery, 1867–1891 offers a moving, thoroughly researched account of Scarborough’s 19th-century approach to caring for its poorest citizens. When the town purchased the Brackett Farm in 1867, it became a … Continue reading →

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