Original handbrake handles from early trolley cars of the
Benton and Fairfield Railway were acquired for Seashore
Trolley Museum this spring from Alice Brown Hanson.
Alice's father, Herman L. Brown, was the corporate clerk for
the Benton and Fairfield Railway. Photo by Alice B. Hanson
As we approach Maine's Bicentennial year (2020), this blog will release posts that relate to many electric railway operations throughout the State of Maine. Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine.
Seashore Trolley Museum, - Museum of Mass Transit, is celebrating its 80th Birthday in 2019!
Special Events are scheduled - Public operations started on May 4, 2019.
Click Here for the 2019 Events & Special Activities for the 80th Anniversary Season, with hot links.
On February 26, 2019, this blogger released the Maine Bicentennial post about the Benton and Fairfield Railway. The post was shared on FaceBook and on March 3, 2019, to the closed group, Fairfield and Waterville Maine...Sharing Memories. That share to the group prompted a private message to this blogger from Alice Brown Hanson. I am so grateful to Alice for reaching out to me. Seashore Trolley Museum is owned and operated by the New England Electric Railway Historical Society. The Museum's Library will be the recipient of all the items that Alice so kindly made available to the Museum. Here is a post describing those items and a short bio on Alice's father, Herman L. Brown, who was the corporate clerk for the Benton and Fairfield Railway. The items were passed down to Alice. I hope you enjoy these summary images of what will become the Herman L. Brown Collection.
March 5 & 6, 2019
Message from Alice Brown Hanson:
Hello Phil.
My Dad left a couple of "handles from one of the Fairfield electric cars. Also, in his things were some letters from the man who wrote the book you mentioned in your (blog) post (Cummings?). I wanted to establish communication with you after seeing your Facebook post. I no longer live in Fairfield, although I grew up there. Amos Gerald was my 1st cousin, 3x removed. My Dad, Herman L. Brown died in 1969.
I have found the paper good items:
* Three real-photo postcards of a trolley on tracks walled in by 8'-10' of snow; a crew of six shovelers is shown in two. These were likely taken between Benton and Fairfield.
* One small catalog from John Stephenson Company, Ltd., Car Builders, New York, illustrated with photographs
* 1955 correspondence between Herman L. Brown and OR Cummings
* 1935 annual report of the Benton and Fairfield Railway Company to the PUC (filed by Dad, as "Clerk")
* Agreement between MCRR & B&F Ry - Poles and trolley wire at Fairfield, April 8, 1916
* Large, fragile, map of Street Railroads of Maine - patented in 1891, printed in 1898
& Five tickets to ride on the Benton and Fairfield Railway
A single original page from the 1890s for tracking the freight shipping of merchandise on the Benton and Fairfield.
Benton, April 29, 1901 - Looks like a draft Freight agreement between the Benton Mill and the Benton and Fairfield Railway. This original letter is clearly in very fragile condition and requires emergency room-type conservation attention. This page along with the map below will be dropped off at the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, MA next week (June 5) when I visit to pick up the conserved, cleaned, repaired, and professionally photographed, 1909, 28.5-foot-long, original elevation, and grade map of the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad (name before becoming the Portland-Lewiston Interurban in 1914). Also being picked up at the same time will be, a one-to-one 28.5-foot-long high-quality facsimile map that will be used as part of the interpretation of the Narcissus Project programming being developed now for 2021.
Five tickets for passage on the Benton and Fairfield Railway were clearly stamped as prepaid and for use probably by employees of a mill. When asked what she thought the "U.B.B. & P. Co., Benton Falls, Me." referred to, Alice's reply was; "I'd say, the BB is for boxboard. I remember a stack of sample products that were in our attic; it was an amazing array of heavy-duty materials that Dad brought home with him from his study of the manufacturing process in Indiana. It was definitely not corrugated cardboard!"
U. B. B. & P. Co. Benton Falls, Me., is most likely for United Box Board & Paper Company as seen in the postcard below. Benton and Fairfield Railway electric vehicles would provide the freight service to the mill.
Postcard courtesy of Alice Brown Hanson
One of the two, brass brake handles (goosenecks) from electric railway vehicles of the Benton and Fairfield Railway. This one with a patent-pending date of December 13, 1892.
Cover and a couple images from the John Stephenson Company promotional booklet...no dates :(
Correspondence between O. R. Cummings and Herman L. Brown 1953/54 about information concerning the Benton and Fairfield Railway that O. R. would publish in a 1955 book.
O. R.'s September 1, 1955 publication below included those few pages on the Benton and Fairfield Railway.
In the first image below, read the first paragraph in O.R.'s book about the Benton and Fairfield Railway...then look at the last paragraph in the 2nd image below. That image is of the draft of the book sent in a letter to Mr. Brown in December 1953 seen in the above correspondence.
Cover page of the 1935 annual report of the Benton and Fairfield Railway to the PUC and signed by Alice's father as the corporate clerk.
Cover letter from Maine Central RR to Benton and Fairfield Ry. October 16, 1916, concerning the blueprints and agreement for poles
A section of the blueprints
Signature page of the agreement
The map is indeed very fragile and is in dire need of conservation work, including repair, cleaning and to be professionally photographed. Then the original map can be properly stored and the digital file(s) could be utilized in exhibits, displays, and online programs.
The signature of A. J. Long is written on the outside edge of the map. Alice emailed me with some background on A. J. Long: Alonzo Jasper Long was born on June 23, 1849, in Bluehill, Maine, and died on March 25, 1919. Alonzo was married to Alice's great-aunt, Alice Anna Brown, for whom Alice Brown Hanson was named. Alonzo was a traveling piano salesman. Alice does not know why or how Alonzo happened to have the map. Perhaps, she surmised, it was to help him in his travels throughout Maine during his sales trips. Thank you, Alice, this additional info will be great to add to the provenance of this map and the entire Herman L. Brown Collection.
Herman L. Brown - 1902-1969
By Alice Brown Hanson:Herman L. Brown was born in Benton, Maine on March 23, 1902, and died on June 19, 1969.
Dad was employed by the United Paperboard Company, during the time the Benton and
Fairfield Railway operated. He was also the clerk for the railway, which was used by the paperboard company to transport materials between its two factories, one in Benton, and one in Fairfield.
After attending Lawrence High School in Fairfield, Dad graduated from Thomas Business College in Waterville. The paper company sent him to Indiana to learn the paperboard manufacturing business. I
have his 1928 list of "Office Work for Each Day of the Week," which included Saturday. It involved handling the payroll and invoices and making/filing many kinds of reports. "Form 9" was used "for charging or crediting any person or firm, as we credit the B&F Ry. Co. at the end of each month for the amount of freight hauled, or, we charge any concern that ships in any materials and overcharges us the same. This form is made up of sets of five sheets. The pink sheet is kept for our files and the rest are sent to the New York Office attached to form 41 or 41-A according to whether it is a credit or a charge, with the exception that when made against the B&F Ry. Co., or the Fairfield mill when the white copy is also kept with the pink copy for our files."
In 1947, both Benton & Fairfield mills were purchased by Joseph P. Day, Inc. a real estate and auction company. Dad was involved in liquidating the properties and purchased some of the real estate, which he rented and eventually sold. I remember visiting the old cement building in Benton, which was used to raise broiler chickens. We enjoyed the beautiful wool blankets made from the "felts" which were used in the papermaking process. Dad had one dried red and made it into a hunting jacket.
In addition to the two trolley handles, Dad had a rather large device that counted passengers. Each time someone boarded, the driver (conductor/motorman) would pull a rope and a bell would ring and the number on the face of the "counter" would increase by one. This device hung in our garage for years and I rang it every time I passed by. When my mother sold the house, it went into a yard sale. I have a bell, which my husband says is too large to have been on a trolley; perhaps it was used to mark lunch breaks for the Benton mill workers? I still have the old roll-top desk from the Benton mill office, which my Dad used in his insurance agency office.
Other posts that feature Street Railways in Maine
Click Here for the post: Ninety Communities in Maine with Electric Railway Service!
Click Here for the post: 57 Million Passengers Carried on Electric Railways in Maine in 1915!
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - A Look Back - Riverton Park 1896-1933
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of the Portland Railroad 1860-1941
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of the Calais Street Railway 1894-1929
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of Aroostook Valley Railroad 1909-1946
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Fryeburg Horse Railroad 1887-1913
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - "The" Norway and Paris Street Railway 1894-1918
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Skowhegan & Norridgewock Railway 1894-1903
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Benton and Fairfield Railway 1898-1928
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Somerset Traction Company 1895-1928
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Fairfield and Shawmut Railway 1903-1927
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Waterville, Fairfield, & Oakland Rwy 1887-1937
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Trolleys to Augusta, Maine 1889-1932
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Rockland, South Thomaston, & St. George Rwy
We are still in need of funds for creating the interpretation programs that will tell this fascinating 100+-year-old story of the Narcissus. For information on donation options, scroll down this post and find the one that best fits your position. Fund 816 to help with the restoration and Fund 817 (PLI Education-Interpretation programs ) should be noted when making a donation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click Here for the post that has the short virtual 3-D video of the digital model of the Narcissus, with components added to the file from earlier this year (the gold leaf file had not been added yet).
Restoration work continues on the Narcissus. The Narcissus is more than 110 years old now and has so many incredible stories to share. The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one of those incredible stories.
The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.
Independent book publisher, Phil Morse, holding
the Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
the Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
Seashore Trolley Museum Promo Video
The paperback edition of Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride can be purchased online through the Seashore Trolley Museum's store website. Books purchased through the Museum's website directly benefit the Museum and the Narcissus project.
Click Here to go to the Museum Store web page to order online
Click Here to go to the Amazon page to order the ebook or audiobook online
Paperback books are available at these local bookstores in Maine:
Center for Maine Crafts, West Gardiner Service Plaza
The Book Review, Falmouth
The Bookworm, Gorham
Letterpress Books, Portland
Maine Historical Society Store, Portland
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad, Portland
Morph Gallery & Emporium, Kennebunk
New Gloucester Historical Society, New Gloucester
Nonesuch Books and More, South Portland
Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport
Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shops, All Locations
Thompson's Orchard, New Gloucester
Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride
by Jean M. Flahive
Illustrations by Amy J. Gagnon
Listen to a 2-minute, 30-second, Retail Audio Sample of the Audiobook
Millie Thayer is a headstrong farmer's daughter who chases her dreams in a way you would expect a little girl nicknamed "Spitfire" would run full tilt and with her eyes on the stars. Dreaming of leaving the farm life, working in the city, and fighting for women's right to vote, Millie imagines flying away on a magic carpet. One day, that flying carpet shows up in the form of an electric trolley that cuts across her farm. A fortune-teller predicts that Millie's path will cross that of someone famous. Suddenly, she finds herself caught up in events that shake the nation, Maine, and her family. Despairing that her dreams may be shattered, Millie learns, in an unexpected way, that dreams can be shared.
A resource for teachers
Companion curriculum State-standard-based units,
vocabulary, and reading activities for use in grades 3-8
are available online as downloadable resources through
Seashore Trolley Museum's website
www.trolleymuseum.org/elegantride/
Maine Historical Society has created eight companion lesson units in Social Studies and ELA that were inspired by Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride - These State-standard-based lesson plans for use in grades 6, 7, and 8 are easily adapted for use in grades 3-5. Vocabulary and Reading activities for grades 3-8 along with the eight lesson plan units are available free and may be downloaded through Seashore Trolley Museum's website www.trolleymuseum.org/elegantride/
Go to the Teacher Resource Page in the pull-down for more details.
A 60-second intro to Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride by author, Jean Flahive
Click Here to watch the video on YouTube
Award-winning author, Jean M. Flahive
Please Consider a Donation to the Narcissus Project to help us tell the incredible story of the Narcissus through the interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project.
Here is an example of how donations to the Narcissus Project now will help with the interpretation portion of the project. The interpretation programming will include exhibits, displays, and education programming. In 2019, through generous donations to the Narcissus Project, we were able to conserve, replicate, and have high resolutions digital image files made of the original, 1910, 28.5-foot long, surveyor map of the elevation and grade of the 30-mile private right-of-way of the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad (Portland-Lewiston Interurban) Click Here
Thank You!
the crowd gathered in Gray, Maine on August 18, 1914.
Image courtesy of Gray Historical Society
The Narcissus as the Sabattus Lake Diner in Sabattus, Maine,
circa 1940. Photo by John Coughlin in the Kevin Farrell
Collection at Seashore Trolley Museum
L. Henri Vallee (right) and family members in the
Narcissus, when it was Vallee's summer camp in
Sabattus, Maine circa 1958. Photo courtesy Daniel Vallee
Inside the Donald G. Curry Town House Restoration Shop, the Narcissus is in the midst of major work as we strive to complete its restoration. We are now planning the interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project. Donations to the Narcissus Project may be used in the future to help tell the incredible 100-plus-year-old story of the Narcissus. Your donation to the Narcissus is helping to make the dream of the project's success, a reality.
See below for Donation options -
It starts with YOU
Your Donation Matters
Make a Donation TODAY
Please Help the Narcissus.
Donation Options to Help the Narcissus Project:
The New England Electric Railway Historical Society
is the 501c3 organization that owns and operates the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME, and the National Streetcar
Museum in Lowell (MA).
The New England Electric Railway Historical Society registered with the IRS (EIN# 01-0244457) and was incorporated in Maine in 1941.
Check or Money Order ***** should be made payable to:
New England Electric Railway Historical Society
In the memo: for a donation to the Interpretation programming
please write: PLI Education Fund 817
For a donation to help with the restoration write: Narcissus Fund 816
Mail to: Seashore Trolley Museum
P. O. Box A
Kennebunkport, ME 04046
Credit Card ***** donations can be one-time donations or you
may choose to have a specific amount charged to your card
automatically each month. Please contact the Museum bookkeeper, via email at finance@trolleymuseum.org or by phone, at 207-967-2800 ext. 3.
Online Donations - may be made by using a Credit Card:
Click Here to make an online donation through the Museum's website - When at the Donation page: Fill in donor info, etc., when at "To which fund are you donating? Scroll down to "Other" and type in 816 Narcissus, then continue filling in the required information.
Click Here for PayPal - to make an online donation: you can use email: finance@trolleymuseum.org and in the message box write:
For "Narcissus Fund 816" - if supporting the restoration
For "PLI Education Fund 817" - if supporting Interpretation programs
Donation of Securities ***** We also accept donations of
securities. You can contact the Museum bookkeeper, via email at finance@trolleymuseum.org or by phone, at 207-967-2800 ext. 3,
for brokerage account information for accepting donated securities.
BONUS ***** If you work for a company/corporation that will
"match" an employee's donation to an approved 501c3 non-profit
educational organization, please be sure to complete the necessary paperwork with your employer so that your donation is matched :)
Questions? ***** Please contact Narcissus project sponsor:
Phil Morse, narcissus@gmail.org or call 207-985-9723 - cell.
Thank You :)
Thank You for our Current Funding Partners
* 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation - 2020/2018 - Major Gift, 2017/2014 Matching Grants
* Renaissance Charitable Foundation (LPCT) by Fiduciary Trust Charitable Giving Fund
* Renaissance Charitable Foundation (LPCT) by Fiduciary Trust Charitable Giving Fund
* Mass Bay RRE - 2018 Railroad Preservation Grant
* Thornton Academy (Saco, ME) - Staff & Alumni - Matching Grant Challenge 2014
* New England Electric Railway Historical Society (Kennebunkport, ME) - Member Donations
* Amherst Railway Society - 2015 Heritage Grant
* National Railway Historical Society - 2016 & 2015 Heritage Preservation Grants
* Enterprise Holding Foundation - 2015 Community Grant
* Theodore Roosevelt Association - Member Donations
* John Libby Family Association and Member Donations
* The Conley Family - In Memory of Scott Libbey 2018/2017/2016/2015
* The W. S. Libbey Family - Awalt, Conley, Graf, Holman, Libbey, McAvoy, McLaughlin, Meldrum, O'Halloran, Salto, - 2018/2017
* The Hughes Family 2017/2016/2010
* New Gloucester Historical Society and Member Donations
* Gray Historical Society and Member Donations
* Gray Public Library Association - Pat Barter Speaker Series
* Scarborough Historical Society - PRR/PLI
* LogMein - Matching Employee Donation
* IBM - Matching Employee/Retiree Donations
* Fidelity Charitable Grant - Matching Employee Donations
* Richard E. Erwin Grant - 2017/2016
The Narcissus, with interior back-lit, stained glass windows is majestic.
Make a donation today to help restore the interior of this Maine gem.
Help Theodore Roosevelt's Maine Ride get back on track! Once restored,
you will be able to ride in luxury on this National Register Treasure at
Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.
PWM photo
Please Consider Making a Donation to the project of the National Register of Historic Places member, Narcissus. We are currently raising funds to advance the restoration and to tell the incredible story of this Maine gem.
Various News stories during the summer of 2015 about the
Narcissus and its connection to Theodore Roosevelt. TR
was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914.
Photo by Patricia Pierce Erikson
The Narcissus - July 31, 2015. Make a donation today.
Help Theodore Roosevelt's Maine Ride get back on track!
Once restored, you will be able to ride in luxury on this
National Historic Treasure at
