Description: Willis B. Watson MD was a long time resident of Bernard, He was educated at Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. He was a businessman who built a community building that housed a country store, and the Town Hall. He married Viola Benson 1881-10-12 in Boston, MA.
Description: The two outside boats may be Clifton Melbourne Rich (1881-1970) boats. Postcard written by photographer W.H. Ballard to Mr. Howard Gray, Keeper, West Quoddy Head Light, Lubec, Maine - Southwest Harbor, October 25, 1948. "Dear Mr. Gray: - Am sending today a package of pictures for you, Mrs. Gray, and the Assistants. Many thanks & hospitality. I hope to have an article in "[Maine Coast] Fisherman" this winter. Will send samples of Xmas cards shortly. No obligation but they may interest you as a means of sending greetings this year. Sincerely, W.H. Ballard" [show more]
Description: The three most visible buildings - Left to Right: The Benjamin Benson II House - Tremont House Hotel - 125 Bernard Road, Map 17 - Lot 54 The Guy Hamilton Parker House - 119 Bernard Road, Map 17 - Lot 55 The Willis Watson Store / Town Office / Columbia Hall - Map 17 - Lot 56 - building demolished in 1936 - lot now Town of Tremont
Description: The three most visible buildings - Left to Right: The Benjamin Benson II House - Tremont House Hotel - 125 Bernard Road, Map 17 - Lot 54 The Guy Hamilton Parker House - 119 Bernard Road, Map 17 - Lot 55 The Willis Watson Store / Town Office / Columbia Hall - Map 17 - Lot 56 - building demolished in 1936 - lot now Town of Tremont
Document, Government, Death Record, Death Certificate
Creator:
State of Maine
Tapley, Thomas S.
Date:
1919-08-12
Place:
Tremont, Bernard
Description: Death certificate for Thomas Williamson Jackson. People Mentioned: Thomas Williamson Jackson, Richard Jackson, Mary Williamson, S. S. King
Description: Norwood was a local librarian in Bernard, Maine, who died of influenza at the age of 46 in 1918. Portrait of Amanda Richardson Norwood. Inscriptions on back read "Aunt Mannie" in pencil and "Amanda Richardson Norwood" in pen. People Depicted: Amanda Richardson Norwood Black and white
Description: Although the postcard says Bass Harbor, the beach is actually in what is now the village of Bernard. Date: Circa 1910 Media: Tinted Collotype Title: Old Barque Beach, Bass Harbor, Me. Subject: Barque Beach Photographer: Unknown Publisher: A.J. Huston, Rockland, Maine Original Printer: Unknown, Germany Divided Back: Y Bordered: N Mailed: N Postage: One cent USA – Two cents foreign Number: 31326 Postmarked: N Huston - Almer J. Huston (1870-1949) [show more]
Description: "The house was built by Martin Babbidge of Gotts Island, for Lewis Freeman Gott [c. 1885]. Babbidge built sailboats in the barn and won a number of silver cups racing them. Later Gott added an ell and made an apartment for his daughter. In 1946, Orville Trask bought the house from Gott's heirs. He and his wife Esther raised their five children there…" - The Historic Homes of the Town of Tremont…A perspective in Time, p. 24 - Published by the Tremont Historical Society, July 1998. [show more]
Description: "A typical Maine fishing crew. The men of the schooner "Emma" of Swan's Island gathered near the mainmast for a group portrait at Bernard Harbor in the town of Tremont, following a trip to the offshore grounds, c. 1900. Judging from the tubs of trawl along the port rail (center-right), they have been ground fishing. The "Emma" was an 81-ton (n.m.) vessel built at Bath in 1883. Note the crew's leather boots, standard fishing apparel throughout the nineteenth century." - "The Maine Sea Fisheries: The Rise and Fall of a Native Industry, 1830-1890" by Wayne M. O’Leary, 1996 [show more]
Description: The house was built by John "Talking John" Melbourne Rich, the first of his three houses. John owed his Uncle Jonathan Rich (1836-1907) a sum of money, so he swapped this Tremont house for Jonathan's older less valuable Richtown house. Emily (Rich) Trask (1884-1981), John Melbourne Rich's daughter, said in a 1975 interview that she was born in the house, "in that back bedroom up there… That was a big place. It was different from these days…it had a piazza clean around it and round the front. Father was great on building big places but he got in debt so much that he had to give up and go over to Richville [Richtown] and live." The main house, minus barn and ell, still exists in 2016, although covered in green asbestos shingles. The house was originally painted a cream color with brown trim. It sits back from the road just before the Tremont Congregational Church. The people in the photograph left to right: Jonathan Rich (1836-1907) Roseanna B. (Dix) Rich - Mrs. Jonathan Rich (1841-1916) Avah Dalton Rich, Sr. (1876-1908) Unknown lady in a white shirtwaist Unknown seated lady Rena “Teenie” or “Tiny” May Thurston - a dwarf (1866-1905) Unknown lady in a hat Unknown man in a suit [show more]
Description: The people sitting on the front porch are: Back Row - Left to Right: John Melbourne Rich (1853-1919) Clifton Melbourne Rich - John's son - (1881-1970) Frank Pettigrove Rich - John's son - (1887-1923) Front Row - Left to Right: Millicent F. Trask - later Mrs. Edwin F. Hamblen - (1903-1981) Emily Maria (Rich) Trask - Mrs. George Washington Trask - John's daughter - (1884-1981) - Holder of the Boston Post Cane Charlotte Baldwin (Kelley) Rich - Mrs. John Melbourne Rich - mother of Cliff, Emily, Lillian & Frank - (1856-1925) The photograph was taken before 1912 when both Cliff and Frank married and probably after August 1909 when their sister, Lillian (Rich) Reed (1889-1973) was married. [show more]
Description: Back Row – Left to Right: Unknown girl Vesta M. (Kelley) Robinson (1889-1949) – Mrs. William G. Robinson Unknown person Robert B. Farley (1907-1981) Bernice “Bessie” V. (Farley) Morris (1907-1963) – Mrs. William J. Morris Jr. Unknown woman Hattie May (Kelley) Farley (1876-1961) – Mrs. Herman Farley Possibly Jennie E. (Farley) Higgins (1900-1924) – Mrs. Robert Weston Higgins Unknown man Third Row – Left to Right: Eva (Kelley) Bunker (1882-) – Mrs. John Melvin Bunker William G. Robinson (1880-1945) Frank Albert Kelley (1881-) Unknown woman Unknown man Ella May (Kelley) Varnum (1870-1941) – Mrs. Austin D. Varnum Austin D. Varnum (1876-1934) Edwin Farley (1895-1984) Second Row – Left to Right: John Melvin Bunker (1868-1935) Unknown boy Raymond C. Farley (1893-1984) Elizabeth “Lizzie” B. (Norwood) Robinson (1906-1968) – Mrs. Linwood J. Robinson Linwood J. Robinson (1905-1959) Unknown boy Edward W. Higgins (1917-2003) Front Row – Left to Right: Possibly Harriett May Farley (1922-) – Mrs. Leonard “Hap” Roger Higgins Linda M. (Kelley) Ash (1880-1953) – Mrs. Thomas W. Ash Child in front of Linda Ash – Lester A. Kelley (1921-1987) Thomas W. Ash (1876-1930) Identification of people by Harriett (Farley) Higgins in 2011. [show more]
Description: The red house on the left is at 1 Windswept Way - MAP 17 - LOT 19 The house in the center of the photograph is the Bobby Farnsworth Rich house.
Description: "Ida Miriam (Lewis) Dix (1869-1956) was a great-granddaughter-in-law to William Dix Jr. (1776-1814). Ida Miriam Lewis was born on January 29, 1869 to Stephen A. Lewis and Mary J. (Comeau) Lewis in Waterford, Nova Scotia. Ida came to Tremont in 1884 when she was 15. When she was 18 she married Hiram A. Dix Jr. (1861-1947) a fisherman, son of Hiram A. Dix and Emily Jane (Norwood) Dix, on March 15, 1887 in Tremont, Maine. In 1895 the Dix family acquired their house in Bernard, Maine. Hiram and Ida moved to Portland in 1918 and stayed there until 1950 when they came back home to “Dix Cottage” in Bernard. They had come there for summer vacations while they lived in Portland. Hiram fished out of Portland, probably on a trawler, for all his working life. Ida Miriam (Lewis) Dix died on July 12, 1956 at the hospital in Bar Harbor, Maine." [show more]
Description: "It is a little known fact that Mount Desert Island men participated in one of America's earliest and most storied industries - whaling. In 1776 Benjamin Benson, great grandfather of Ralph Benson of Bernard, sailed out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the whaling vessel which he captained, He finally dropped anchor at Bass Harbor, which he selected as a base for his operations. He built a try house on a point of land at the mouth of the harbor and used his ship and crew for hunting whales in the surrounding waters, particularly near Mt. Desert Rock. The try house, a small frame structure, stood on the point behind the present home of Farrell Davisson almost directly across the harbor from the Underwood sardine plant until it was finally demolished about 1910. By the time the building was torn down the equipment used in the rendering process was gone. However, Ralph Benson owns the muzzle-loading gun for shooting, the harpoon and a whale oil lamp. The grapnel used for hauling the whale behind the ship is also in Bernard. Whalebone, which was discarded during the oil extracting process, is still occasionally dug up from the sand during, excavations along the shore of the harbor. The whale was located by the ship. When one was found, a part of the crew put out in a small boat and carefully rowed as near the prey as possible. The whale was shot with a harpoon from the muzzle-loading gun. If the carcass sank, it was raised with a four-hook grapnel weighing about 200 pounds and towed by the ship to the rendering plant. The several inch thick layer of blubber under the skin was the only part of the whale used here. The blubber was stripped off and placed in huge iron kettles to cook over a slow fire. The round-bottomed kettles, holding about 150 gallons each, were some four and a half feet in diameter at the top. A flat lip encircling the rim was supported on a brick fireplace holding the kettle off the fire beneath. The oil thus rendered was used as the fuel in whale oil lamps, which were the first development for home lighting after candles. The little lamp in Mr. Benson's possession was part of the stock of his grandfather's general store located on the same site as Benson's present wharf. The clear glass base, which held the fuel, is about eight inches across the bottom and tapering to the top. The opening is capped with metal on which there are two small spouts through which the wicks were run. There was no chimney to the lamp. The whale oil trying industry lasted until about 1860 or 1870 when the discovery and development of petroleum wrote a finis to it. Whales, some of them 80 feet in length, are still seen in the waters around here yet. Mr. Benson saw one recently when he was out fishing, and we have one or two other reports of them this season. A good-sized whale can create a hazard for a small boat. They apparently like to rise under a boat which is 1 riding without its motor running to 1 scratch their backs on the vessel's bottom, Without the least malevolence on the part of the whale, this can make for difficulties. Around here whales usually appear in June and are gone in September. They pasture on plankton, the same food as that eaten by the herring. "Plankton," says one writer, "is to the sea what grass is to the land - the basic food. All forms of plankton are very small, often microscopic...!” One authority has figured that in the food chain of the sea it would take 1 million pounds s of mackerel flesh (fragment missing). If your arithmetic is better than ours, perhaps you can figure out how many pounds it would take to support a whale from which 150 gallons of oil were rendered. The try house at Bass Harbor was run by Benson from the time it was built until the process was discontinued. At one time there were four Benjamin Bensons in the community. The original one who came from New Bedford was called “Grand Sir.” He had a son named for him who was called “Just Plain Ben.” One of Grand Sir's daughters married another Benjamin Benson who had come here from New Hampshire. He was called “Country Ben.” Just Plain Ben had a son also named Benjamin. He was called “Little Ben.” - “MDI's Short Lived Whaling Industry Began In Bass Harbor” by LaRue Spiker appeared in the Bar Harbor Times on November 3, 1960 and was reprinted in the Tremont Historical Society Newsletter - V5 #3 - July, 2001. Atlantic Menhaden Brevoortia tyrannus (A.K.A. - Alewife, Bunker, Pogy, Bugmouth, Fat-Back) "And lastly, there are the Menhaden. More often called “Pogies” here in Maine, they once provided a robust seine fishery that rivaled herring. The Pogies were a great source of oil. Their oil and fat content were suitable for extraction. Ground-up fish were cooked in big kettles (try-pots) much the same way that whale blubber was and the resultant oil was valuable. That was all before my time and it is legend now. But the names remain. “Try-House Point”, “Fish House Point” and “Try-Kettle Cove” are still here even though the reasons for their names have long since gone." www.fishermensvoice.com/archives/atlanticstatesnews0905.html, Accessed 2007. “The Menhaden Fishery - It is claimed by the fishermen of Surry that the menhaden fishery of the United States originated with the people of that town. For many years menhaden were abundant in all of the shore-waters of the district, being particularly so in Frenchman's and Union Bays. At first they were taken only in small numbers for use as bait in the shore-fisheries, but later, when it was discovered that marketable oil could be obtained from them, the fishery increased enormously, and hundreds of fishermen provided themselves with nets and kettles for engaging in the work. Between 1855 and 1863 it is estimated that not less than a hundred try-houses, with two to four kettles each, were in operation between Lamoine and Gouldsboro. Since 1870 the fishery has been less important, and for a number of years, owing to the absence of menhaden from these waters, it has been entirely discontinued.” - The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States by George Brown Goode, Washington Government Printing Office. Section II, p. 28 – 1887 “Since the days of Captain John Smith, 1614, no systematic attempt to capture Fin Whales on the coast of New England appears to have been made until about 1810, when according to R. E. Earll, a shore-fishery was begun and successfully prosecuted for a number of years, from Prospect Harbor, in Frenchman's Bay, Maine. This industry was undertaken by Stephen Clark and L. Hiller, of Rochester, Mass., who "came to the region, and built try-works on the shore, having their lookout station on the top of an adjoining hill. The whales usually followed the menhaden to the shore, arriving about the 1st of June, and remaining till September... Ten years later they began using small vessels in the fishery, and by this means were enabled to go farther from land. The fishery was at its height between 1835 and 1840 when an average of six or seven whales were taken yearly... The business was discontinued about 1860, since which date but one or two whales have been taken." It is probable that Humpback Whales constituted the chief part of the catch, if indeed any others were taken at all. Clark further informs us that "shore-whaling in the vicinity of Tremont, [Maine] began about 1840. Mr. Benjamin Beaver and a small crew of men caught three or more whales annually for about twenty years, but gave up the business in 1860. No more whales were taken from this time till the spring of 1880, when one was taken and brought into Bass Harbor, and yielded 1,200 gallons of oil but no bone of value.” - “The Whalebone Whales of New England” by Glover Morrill Allen, published by the Boston Society of Natural History, printed for the society with aid from the Gurdon Saltonstall Fund, 1916 [show more]
Description: "This house was built for Samuel G. Rich, after he purchased the land in 1837. The exact construction date is unclear." - "The Historic Homes of the Town of Tremont…A perspective in Time," p. 25 - Published by the Tremont Historical Society, July 1998. Samuel G. Rich (c. 1808-1871)
Description: Postmasters at Bernard were: George W. Billings (1859-?): Postmaster - 11/26/1906 Hiram H. Condon (1871-1957): Postmaster - 10/17/1914 Mrs. Harriet C. Hinton (1904-1984): Acting Postmaster - 10/31/1941 Mrs. Harriet C. Hinton (1904-1984): Postmaster - 03/25/1942 Mrs. Hilda Erclin Sylvia (1912-2006): Officer-In-Charge - 06/20/1974 Mrs. Hilda Erclin Sylvia (1912-2006): Postmaster - 10/26/1974 Alice Ann Tracy - Officer-In-Charge: 05/01/1987 Linda (Sawyer) Musson (1949-): Postmaster -10/10/1987 Harriet Hinton was the postmaster - then her son Paul Hinton, had the antique store in this building. [show more]
Description: Daniel Cough (1840-1906) Daniel Cough's house - "The Della & Wills Dow House (Daniel Cough Homestead), Bernard circa 1868 - Daniel Cough, who was originally from China, built this lovely home on property purchased in 1868 from Dorcas Booth. Cough operated a store next door. The exterior of the house is basically unchanged, other than the addition of the door and porch on the north side, and the replacement of windows and siding. The interior has been renovated, replacing the pantry with a laundry and bathroom. In 1908, the original property was split between Ezra Cough and A. Bird Cough. Tax records reveal tha in 1912 Ezra R. Cough sold the house to Harold L. Holmes. The Dows acquired the house in 1952." - “The Historic Homes of the Town of Tremont…A perspective in Time,” p. 10 - Published by the Tremont Historical Society, July 1998. Daniel Cough's store - "The Rosemary & Robert Tilden House, Bernard circa 1878 - It would appear that the current house at one time was a store. It was occupied by Daniel Cough, then called "Old China." The original building may have been constructed as early as 1873. Cough heirs include Ezra R. Cough and A. Bird Cough. Other names on deeds include Omar W. Tapley, Mary Ethel Mitchell, George L. and Katherine M. Higgins, Kenneth Eugene Sawyer and Clifford S. and Rosemary W. Stillwell. According to the present owners [the Tildens], the house seems to have been "thrown together" using any scraps and spare lumber available. During renovation, the Tildens found a mail slot, a snack counter, remnats of Mitchell's ice cream shop and a horse whip." - “The Historic Homes of the Town of Tremont…A perspective in Time,” p. 23 - Published by the Tremont Historical Society, July 1998. Daniel Cough was also called "John Chiney" or John Chinaman. He is said to have opened his store in the 1860s. [show more]
Description: John Melbourne Rich took the design for his new house in Tremont from Design 24 in the 1888 version of Palliser's "New Cottage Homes and Details." The Pallisers had moved to New York by this time and advertised themselves as Palliser, Palliser & Co., Architects, 24 East 42nd Street, Second Block West of Grand Central Depot, New York. They offered to "Prepare Designs, Drawings and Specifications for Every Description of Buildings for Erection in any part of the World. Also give special attention to the Remodeling of Existing Structures and the designing of FURNITURE, INTERIOR DECORATIONS AND MONUMENTS - Consultations on all matters pertaining to Building, Drainage, Sanitary Works, Ventilation, Machinery, Valuations, Etc., Etc. The Pallisers showed two versions of Design 24. One, a modest house without a tower, and one, a showpiece with tower that could be built for a "cost of $1,700." For this amount one received, "plans, elevations, details and perspective view of a comfortable, convenient cottage home of six rooms, with tower which is designed to command a view of the surrounding country where erected." John Melbourne Rich chose the showy tower version with which to command a view of Tremont. He probably did not pay $1,700 for the plans, being an experienced builder, perfectly capable of building what he wanted by looking at the plans in the prospectus. John Melbourne Rich built his house in 1896. [show more]
Description: The gambrel roofed cottage just visible at the far right was the summer home of Paul Shields and his family. The cottage is at 41 Gunlow Road, Richtown, Maine - Map 3 - Lot 73 A.
Description: Left to Right: Helen Trippett (Leffingwell) Farnsworth Ross (1897-) - 10 months old in this photograph Caira Caroline (Dodge) Leffingwell (1832-1912) Ethel Trippett (Leffingwell) Blodgett Sample (1895-1977) – 3 years and 2 months old in this photograph The inscription on the back of the photograph lists the names and then the ages of the children and then reads, “F’m Cara with Ethels love, Sep – 15 – 98” – probably a gift to someone from Caira in the name of Ethel. [show more]
Description: John Melbourne Rich took the design for his new house in Tremont from Design 24 in the 1888 version of Palliser's "New Cottage Homes and Details." The Pallisers showed two versions of Design 24. One, a modest house without a tower, and one, a showpiece with tower that could be built for a "cost of $1,700." For this amount one received, "plans, elevations, details and perspective view of a comfortable, convenient cottage home of six rooms, with tower which is designed to command a view of the surrounding country where erected." John Melbourne Rich chose the showy tower version with which to command a view of Tremont. John tore the top story of the three-story tower off when he found that the chimney smoked. This view of the house shows the two-story tower. [show more]
Description: The house was built by John "Talking John" Melbourne Rich, the first of his three houses. John owed his Uncle Jonathan Rich (1836-1907) a sum of money, so he swapped this Tremont house for Jonathan's older less valuable Richtown house. Emily (Rich) Trask (1884-1981), John Melbourne Rich's daughter, said in a 1975 interview that she was born in the house, "in that back bedroom up there… That was a big place. It was different from these days…it had a piazza clean around it and round the front. Father was great on building big places but he got in debt so much that he had to give up and go over to Richville [Richtown] and live." The main house, minus barn and ell, still exists in 2016, although covered in green asbestos shingles. The house was originally painted a cream color with brown trim. It sits back from the road just before the Tremont Congregational Church. [show more]
Description: John Melbourne Rich took the design for his new house in Tremont from Design 24 in the 1888 version of Palliser's "New Cottage Homes and Details." The Pallisers showed two versions of Design 24. One, a modest house without a tower, and one, a showpiece with tower that could be built for a "cost of $1,700." For this amount one received, "plans, elevations, details and perspective view of a comfortable, convenient cottage home of six rooms, with tower which is designed to command a view of the surrounding country where erected." John Melbourne Rich chose the showy tower version with which to command a view of Tremont. John tore the top story of the three-story tower off when he found that the chimney smoked. This view of the house shows the two-story tower. [show more]
Description: Back Row - Left to Right: Sara Herrick (1941-) Not Visible - girl? Sandra Murphy (1939-) - Later Mrs. Julian Y. Harper Jr. and Mrs. David C. Black Robert C. McKee (1940-1975) Theolyn Mitchell (1940-) - Later Mrs. Clayton E. Gilley George Sawyer (1942-2010) Ralph M. Tate (1940-1993) Shirley J. Galley (1940-) - Later Mrs. Clyde H. Harper Unknown boy Eva Jean Higgins (1941-1999) - Later Mrs. Allen W. Murphy Middle Row - Left to Right: Leila Parker Robert S. Milne, Jr. (1941-) Muriel Trask (1941-) - Later Mrs. Farrell Davisson and Mrs. Charles Francis Fahey Richard Charles Everbeck (1942-1997) George Robert Trask (1944-) aka Bud Pauline E. Albee (1940-1984) - Later Mrs. Merle H. Gray Avis Reed (1940-) - Later Mrs. Manuel Silva in front of Avis - Winifred J. Everbeck (1943-) - Later Mrs. Alan C. Howie James B. Sawyer (1943-) Shirley Norwood Richard Graves Robert "Chummy" Colson Rich (1940-) Front Row - Left to Right: (kneeling except as noted) Stephen Higgins standing - Judith Lawson Rich (1943-) - Later Mrs. William deBray standing - Faith E. Mallinson - Later Mrs. Shepard E. Page and Mrs. Anderson Walter Cecil Rich (1943-) Richard M. McKee (1941-) Norman Albee (1942-2010) Leslie B. Thurston (1942-) Robert E. Thurston (1942-) Additions and corrections welcome. [show more]
Description: The house was built by John "Talking John" Melbourne Rich, the first of his three houses. John owed his Uncle Jonathan Rich (1836-1907) a sum of money, so he swapped this Tremont house for Jonathan's older less valuable Richtown house. Emily (Rich) Trask (1884-1981), John Melbourne Rich's daughter, said in a 1975 interview that she was born in the house, "in that back bedroom up there… That was a big place. It was different from these days…it had a piazza clean around it and round the front. Father was great on building big places but he got in debt so much that he had to give up and go over to Richville [Richtown] and live." The main house, minus barn and ell, still exists in 2016, although covered in green asbestos shingles. The house was originally painted a cream color with brown trim. It sits back from the road just before the Tremont Congregational Church. After Jonathan Rich's death in 1907 his widow, Roseanna B. (Dix) Rich sold the house to Joseph E. Wooster. Roseanna built a house on the water opposite. A later owner, Alvah Dalton Rich, Sr.'s widow, Evelyn Frances (Pomroy) Rich's second husband, Charles Edwin Hamblen, tore off the barn and ell during the depression to save money on taxes. The house had no electricity until 1942. [show more]
Description: Notice the two children standing in front of the small structure located just left and below center of the photo. The building at the left on the point just to the top right of the trees is the Try House for boiling whale oil. The house on the far right is the Freeman and Vesta Gott house - the Trask house in 2006.