Narcissus 1912 Renovation Project: July 2022

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail - Star #17 - Mount Desert Island 1880

Summer of 1880 on Mount Desert Island, Maine.

"The Big Six." Theodore Roosevelt and Harvard Classmates.

(L-R) Front row: John "Jack" S. Tebbetts, Harry "Hal" B. Chapin, and

Henry "Harry" "Shaw" R. Shaw; back row: Richard "Dick" Saltonstall,

Christopher "Minot" Minot Weld, and Theodore Roosevelt.

TRC 520.12-010 Houghton Library, Harvard University

Updated 02-23-2023

I first started researching Theodore Roosevelt in 2010. As a volunteer at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine, overseeing the Narcissus project (Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914), I felt the need to learn more about Roosevelt's visit to Maine. That initial research piqued my curious nature to want to learn more about Theodore Roosevelt.

Twelve years later, that seed of curiosity has taken root and blossomed, into the development of what is the: Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail: Connecting Maine Communities. Insight throughout the State of Maine is what this trail provides by tracing and describing Theodore Roosevelt's connections with each of these communities.

Each community is identified with a star with a number or

a moose with a letter. The key to the logo landmarks is below.

Each moose represents a community that has an indirect

connection with Roosevelt, meaning he may not have paid the

community a visit, but there is a meaningful connection to

Roosevelt in that community. The stars indicate a community

that Roosevelt visited and probably engaged with the people

and or the local geography. As research continues, other

communities will be added to the logo.

Logo: "Designs by Reece" - Reece Saunders

Over the ensuing weeks, each of these

communities/landmarks with its Roosevelt

connections will have a separate page describing

details of TR's connections. Each will also

have a link(s) to local resources/venues.

Key by "Designs by Reece" - Reece Saunders

Today, we describe "Star 17" shown on the list (key) above - Mount Desert Island 1880

During the spring of 2021, I was introduced to Patrick Callaway, Collections Manager, and Raney Bench, Executive Director of the Mount Desert Island Historical Society. Patrick became involved and provided some great information, solid leads, and some referrals. Thank You :) This post may rekindle that connection to seek clarification on a couple of the issues mentioned in this post.

Theodore Roosevelt was an active writer starting at a very young age. He kept a journal for many years. Many of those journals are now in the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard University. They were a resource for this post.

Theodore Roosevelt graduated from Havard College magna cum laude on June 30, 1880. TR, his fiance', Alice Hathaway Lee, and some of their friends traveled to Maine and enjoyed several days on Mount Desert Island later that summer.

Alice Hathaway Lee would marry Theodore Roosevelt on

October 27, 1880. Theodore turned twenty-two

years old on their wedding day. Alice had turned nineteen

on July 29, while on Mount Desert Island, Maine, with his

fiance', Theodore, and several close friends.

Library of Congress image 96525603

On Tuesday, July 20, 1880, TR, Alice, Alice's cousins and next-door neighbors in Chestnut Hill (Boston), Rose and Richard "Dick" Saltonstall took the night train from Boston (research leads to thinking they traveled to Bangor), then boarded a boat (research leads me to think they probably boarded the steamer "Florence" at about 8 the next morning) and reached Mount Desert Island that afternoon of Wednesday, July 21.

In the foreground, is the steamer "Florence."

In the background is the sidewheel steamer "Forest City." Both

are at Clark Point Wharf in Southwest Harbor. c 1890

Item 6268 from Southwest Harbor Public Library digital archives

Alice and Rose would be staying with family friends, the Welds, (a family with connections with TR's father and also Harvard classmates with TR) and TR and Dick (another Harvard classmate) would be staying with a family of yet another Harvard classmate, Jack Tebbetts. Jack's connection is as a family member related to the George S. Hale estate at Schooner Head.

Bar Harbor Historical Society has a nice original 1904 map

of Bar Harbor with portions of Mount Desert Island.

The map identifies various estates, etc. Ibid

No. 15 is the F. M. Weld estate and next

door is No. 17, the George R. Minot,

et al. estate. The Minots and Welds are

connected through marriage. Ibid

Rose and Alice stayed with the Welds. The Harvard connection is through one of the above "Big Six" in the photo at the top of the post, Christopher Minot Weld, known to his friends at "Minot." Minot's cousin, Henry "Hal" or "Harry" D. Minot, was also a Harvard classmate with TR. TR's father and Hal's father, William Minot, were friends.

No. 15 is the F. M. Weld estate and next door is No. 17,

the George R. Minot, et al. estate. The Minots and Welds were

connected through marriage. Ibid

TR and Dick Saltonstall stayed with their classmate, John "Jack" S. Tebbetts, and his relatives in the George S. Hale properties in Schooner Head. Schooner Head is about three and a half miles from Bar Harbor.

Nos. 255 and 257 and lots across the

road on the left out of the image above

were the Hale properties. Ibid

A portion of the description on the photo above says...

Constructed in 1876 by George Hale, this is the

summer home for many years of Richard Warden

Hale, Massachusetts lawyer, member of the House

of Representatives, and a U. S. Commissioner

for eighteen years. His son, Richard W. Hale, Jr.,

was the author of The Story of Bar Harbor.

The photo page is from that book.

This copy of The Story of Bar Harbor

by Hale in the Jesup Memorial Library,

Bar Harbor, MDI.

Inside the front and back covers of

The Story of Bar Harbor by Hale depicts natural

sites that are to this day, very popular to visit on the island.

Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Harbor, MDI

Of the members of the "The Big Six" in the photo at the top of the post, you have read four of them. Harry "Hal" B. Chapin, and Henry "Harry" "Shaw" R. Shaw. Hal and Shaw were also close friends and Harvard classmates of TRs and were also on MDI during TR's visit to MDI.

The visit lasted until Friday, August 6, when TR's journal entry has; Shaw, Chapin, Saltonstall (Dick), Rose, Alice, and myself all left. Alice and I reached Chestnut Hill late at night.

This was 1880, so no automobiles were around. Entries that have "rode over" or "drove" most likely described using a horse and carriage.

Several entries mention playing tennis. Additional research is needed to identify the location of the court(s).

On the afternoon of Friday, July 23, he "...walked round to see the various sights; the scenery is perfectly magnificent."

TR was not feeling well off and on for a few days.

On the afternoon of Sunday, July 25th, Jack drove TR over to Otter Creek.

On the 26th, TR and Dick moved from the Hale's in Schooner Head to the Welds in Bar Harbor.

On the afternoon and evening of the 27th, TR and Alice together investigated the rocky shores and the woods.

On the 28th, TR took Alice out for a ride in a horse and buggy. Later that evening, they attended a "very pleasant party."

Thursday, the 29th was Alice's nineteenth birthday. TR expresses his deep love for Alice in his journal.

On Friday, the 30th, TR is pretty sick again. He truly appreciates his friends for how they rally around him to care for him. Of, in particular, Alice. He writes of the "Big Six," listed them (Sammy, Chip, Jack, Dick, and Minot) with Alice being the 6th. This list of "Big Six", based on names doesn't match up fully with "The Big Six" which are Harvard classmates in the first photo at the top of the post. Additional research is needed to clarify.

On Saturday, July 31, Alice took first prize in the ladies' tennis tournament. Additional research is needed to hopefully find some additional information...perhaps a local newspaper feature?

On Sunday, August 1st, TR attended church and made an entry that it was a very good sermon. Additional research is needed to try and identify the specific church he attended.

Monday, August 2nd: "The Welds are just too sweet to us for anything. In the evening, if we can't go out on the rocks, Alice and I generally retire to the kitchen by ourselves."

Tuesday, August 3nd, TR walked up Newport Mountain. I located one local map that lists the altitude of Newport Mountain as 1,060 feet above mean high tide :)

Wednesday, August 4th was rainy. "Hop in the evening." I'm going to say "hop" might be a dance :) Research needed :)

The final day on the island. Thursday, August 5th: "Drove Darling Queenie over to drive at Schooner Head."

I'm thinking he wanted to show her the Schooner Head area and then continued traveling along the pathway enjoying the incredible vistas that the MDI coastlines offer.

Over the weekend of August 11 and 12, 2017, I paid a visit to Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor. I did some research at Jesup Memorial Library and at the Bar Harbor Historical Society. The facilities were easy to access and the staff at both were very helpful. Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor are "must visit" venues :)

Additional resources that were helpful.

1993 publication by John P. Ascher

1880 publication Farrarr's Illustrated

Guide Book to the Moosehead Lake

and Vicinity

This is a wonderful resource. Kohn has

edited TR's diary writings with footnotes,

etc. PWM collection

A portion of my collection of TR-related books :)

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

Androscoggin Historical Society, Lewiston

Eliot Historical Society, Eliot

Gray Historical Society, Gray

Kennebec Historical Society, Augusta

Letterpress Books, Portland

Maine Historical Society Store, Portland

Morph Gallery & Emporium, Kennebunk

New Gloucester Historical Society, New Gloucester

Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Welshpool, NB, Canada

Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport

Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shops, All Locations

Thompson's Orchard, New Gloucester

Winthrop Maine Historical Society, Winthrop

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-running 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!

Theodore Roosevelt on the Narcissus when addressing

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

The Narcissus in the restoration shop in 2022 PWM

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 on a monthly basis. 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

* 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

* Seal Cove Auto Museum

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.

Patricia Pierce Erikson photo

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

Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail - Star #9 - Lewiston 1902/1914/1916

An image of the President on the front

page of the Lewiston Evening Journal

EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902.

TR's very first visit to Lewiston as well

as to Androscoggin County. During

his New England Presidential Tour,

TR spent two days traveling by train

in Maine. Roosevelt was again in

Lewiston on August 18, 1914, and

August 31, 1916.

Read on for more details :)

Updated 12-16-2022

Each community is identified with a star with a number or

a moose with a letter. The key to the logo landmarks is below.

Each moose represents a community that has an indirect

connection with Roosevelt, meaning he may not have paid the

community a visit, but there is a meaningful connection to

Roosevelt in that community. The stars indicate a community

that Roosevelt visited and probably engaged with the people

and or the local geography. As research continues, other

communities will be added to the logo.

Logo: "Designs by Reece" - Reece Saunders

Over the ensuing weeks, each of these

communities/landmarks with its Roosevelt

connections will have a separate page describing

details of TR's connections. Each will also

have a link(s) to local resources/venues.

Key by "Designs by Reece" - Reece Saunders

Today, we describe "Star 9" shown on the list (key) above - Lewiston 1902/1914/1916

I appreciate the involvement of Dot Perham-Whittier (City Hall, Lewiston), Marcela Peres (Library Director, Lewiston Public Library, and Steven Bouchard (Librarian, Lewiston Public Library)

Auburn is also in each description of Theodore Roosevelt's visits to Lewiston, as he arrived at, or departed from, the train station in Auburn on some occasions when visiting Lewiston.

August 26, 1902

Top of the front page of the Lewiston Evening Journal

EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902. The center column states

"over 30,000 people in line." Based on the write-ups, I believe

this estimate includes all people lining the streets for the

mile-long trek of the President's tour, via horse-drawn carriage,

from the Auburn train station to City Park in Lewiston.

Click Here to go online to the August 26, 1902, issue of the Lewiston Evening Journal EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. It is full of great coverage/descriptions of President Roosevelt's visit through Google News Archive Search. I will include a few clips in this post to give readers a sense of the significance of the impact Roosevelt had on people in Maine during his visits and especially those folks that attended the events as they did in Auburn & Lewiston or those that read about the activities in the newspaper.

Itinerary of scheduled visits for day one, August 26, 1902,

of President Roosevelt's train tour that included communities

in Maine. Ibid

President Theodore Roosevelt's special train of five luxury

Pullman coach cars would stop here, at the Maine Central

Railroad station in Auburn. The Auburn station was built

in 1875, and the interior was extensively refurbished in 1884.

The building was razed in 1956. Photo and info from

the 1986 publication; DOWNEAST DEPOTS:

Maine Railroad Stations in the Steam Era by Robert F. Lord

Let's begin with the telling of how much effort the two cities put into decorating for the President's visit.

The title of this column is: Flags and Bunting

Ibid

Lewiston City building Ibid

The new DeWitt Hotel on Pine Street, Ibid

Text in between the last clip and the clip below: "...is coming to take tea. The store and office windows were washed and, in short, never has so much preparation been made before in the history of the Auburn and Lewiston for any event, as was made for the visit of the nation's most distinguished man."

Ibid

A photo of the stand in Lewiston's City Park for

the dignitaries. Ibid

Ibid

Excerpts in writing in addition to actual clips from the column "Our Own Greeting" in the Lewiston Evening Journal EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902:

(autocorrect disconnected - kept as written:) :

The Presidential train into Auburn was twelve minutes later arriving at the station at thirteen minutes of six o'clock.

The wait had been propitious if not prophetic. Up out of the west had floated and grown a big black cloud, that for half an hour had threatened to drop its rain upon the thousands and thousands of waiting people all along the route of the procession. But fate had something else in store; for out of the cloud came a brilliant rainbow bending high in the east - a prophecy and a promise of all good things.

Never have we been more proud of these busy industrious cities than this day of welcome. For three days, there has been busy work among our people. The entire route of the passing of the presidential party had been decorated, hardly a single vacant place in the line of color along the route. All day Tuesday the people have been gathering. Such an outpouring of the men and women from the homes, the shops, the mills, the farms, and the firesides is rarely seen with us."

Ibid

"A few minutes later Mayor McGillicuddy of Lewiston drove up in a cab and he was soon followed by Mayor Eveleth of Auburn and by other members of the committee dressed in frock coats and silk hats and gloves in full honor to the occasion.

At 5:30 City Marshal Taylor of Auburn, closed the entrance to the little courtyard opposite the Auburn Maine Central station by stationing the squad of mounted police at the Court Street entrance and by drawing up a cordon of police about the southern entrance where the equipages were stationed. The presidential carriages, a handsome barouche from Poland Spring livery, was drawn by four black horses. A feature of the turn-out were the long white reins that guides them and the(y) made a striking contrast to the glossy black coats of the Maine horses."

Ibid

Description of Roosevelt and guests step off the coach and then board a horse-drawn carriage. The procession of a dozen or more carriages with dignitaries and guests then traveled from the Auburn train station to Lewiston's City Park.

Ibid

Ibid

Ibid

Ibid

Ibid

Ibid

Click Here The Lewiston Evening Journal, Lewiston, Maine, August 27, 1902 publication of the President’s speech in Lewiston on August 26. 1902:

(autocorrect disconnected - text is as written)

Mr. Mayor, and you, my fellow countrymen and women of this beautiful State:

In the first place, Mr. Mayor let me in thanking all of you for your greeting, thank especially the Mayor, the official representative of the city, for the kindness with which he has spoken. Mr. Mayor, I can hardly imagine any man able to occupy the Presidency of this people and not feeling, with all his faith, that he was indeed the servant and the representative of the people, but if it were necessary to have such feeling words like yours would supply it.

My fellow citizens, coming here this afternoon I saw along the streets and here and there I see in the audience before me men who wear the button that shows that in the times that tried men’s souls they proved their truth by their endeavor; they rose level to the nation’s need. It always seems to me when I see such men that the lesson they taught by what they did during the war, and by the way in which when once the war was over they turned to the works of peace, is a lesson peculiarly applicable to us under the strain to of the enormous and complex development of our industrial civilization.

Here in Maine, you combine as in but few states both the old conditions and the new. In your country districts, on your beautiful farms, on the edges of the great northern forests, among your seafaring people on the coast, you have men leading substantially the lives, under substantially the conditions that obtained in the days of our forefathers who founded this Republic; and then, again, in industrial centers like this city of which, Mr. Mayor, you are the chief executive - in these centers, we perceive the full play of the great forces which have brought about that marvelous material progress of which we are so proud, but which at the same time have bought us face to face with problems of a wholly different type from those that we confronted in the simpler life.

These problems are very difficult. I might put it more strongly than that. It is impossible to devise any one perfect solution, and one complete solution, for all the problems of our latter-day industrial civilization.

But there are certain elementary truths which we tend to forget, but which nevertheless, remain operative in the biggest city, in the most feverish industrial center, just as much as on any farm in the countryside.

Fundamentally, through the qualities by which the success of the individual is attained, must the success of the nation be wrought, and these are the same qualities the showing of which made the foundation of this nation possible.

The man who fought in the Civil War fought with different weapons from those carried by Washington’s Continentals at Trenton and the Brandywine, through the dark days of Valley Forge, and at the ultimate triumph of Yorktown. And now, in the warfare of today, the weapons have changed again, and the tactics have changed with them, but the man behind the gun has got to be of the same old stuff, or the best gun won’t save him.

No improvement in firearms, no perfection of equipment, no change in tactics will avail unless back of them all lies the spirit that sent you and your fellows from ‘61 to ‘65, again and again against the Confederate lines; that sent you after defeat back again just as if you had won, and after defeat again back again, until from defeat you had wrenched the victory.

The great battleship of today would have seemed veritable nightmares to Howe and Perry in the 1812 and ‘14, and as for the guns, why in those days, - in 1812, the commander of a small vessel walk up and down the quarter-deck with an entire broadside of cartridges in one coat-tail pocket!

But we won completely in ‘98 and with such little effort because we had men with the spirit of 1812, with the spirit of Farragut’s fleet in the Civil War, back of the guns and the ships. I is the man behind the gun, the man in the engine room, the man in the conning-tower,- these are they who fundamentally govern. Of course, you have got to have the weapons, but you can’t win with bows and arrows.

But it is no matter how good the weapons are which you have, you must have good men to use them.

And more than that, it is not only courage that counts, it is thoroughness in training. That made a big difference between Bull Run and Gettysburg. Now in our Navy and Army, if you ever have to face a foreign foe, we want to train in advance, so that Gettysburg may come without Bullrun, and there must be preparedness in advance. This is why we want to keep our fleet trained and practiced.

Any one of you who sees a great modern warship must realize that no one can learn and be trained to handle that trade in a week, any more than the ordinary unskilled laborer could learn to become a skilled machinist or a watch manufacturer in the same length of time. Put men who mean well but who do not know, on a good ship and send them up against a competent foe and you invite not merely disaster but a good deal worse - disgrace. Have the men trained in advanced - months and years in advance. That is how the victory comes.

At Manila and Santiago, there were plenty of brave men amongst the Spaniards but they didn’t know how to shoot, and they didn’t know how to keep their machinery in gear, and our men did because they had taken the time in advance, because they didn’t expect off-hand, in one day, to solve the problem of carrying on the war. Month in and month out, year after year out, the ship-wright, the officer, the enlisted man afloat and ashore, had done their several duties in making ready the great ships, in maneuvering with them at sea, in drilling the crews at target practice, until when the final day came we had men who could rise level to the demand upon them.

Now, my fellow citizens, the same thing is substantially true in our civil life. Exactly as back of the gun stand the man behind the gun, and more important, so behind legislation, behind the best that can be done by constitutions and by-laws, must stand a high average of decent citizenship, if we are to get good results in this Republic. We need good laws, good constitutions, and upright and honest administration of the laws. We need all these, just as in the navy we need good ships and guns, but they are not enough. You have to have men honestly bent on doing the best that is in them under those laws in order to get the best results.

And, now, gentlemen, how about doing the best? Is it a work of special genius? Not a bit of it. In the army, you developed two or three or half a dozen geniuses. You had a Grant, a Sherman, a Sheridan, with Farragut on the sea; but the great thing is that you developed the average American citizen who had gone into the ranks and developed himself into a first-class fighting man, and he was so developed by those over him, not through genius, but by doing well all of the small things that were to be done. In any new regiment, there is always a certain proportion of recruits who want to be heroes, but they don’t want to go through the preliminaries - they don’t want to dig out kitchen sinks. Sentry duty does not appeal to them; keeping the camp police is rather repulsive. They want to win a great battle without preparing for it. That sort of man doesn’t make a hero. He doesn’t even make an ordinarily good soldier.

Now, in our civic life, distrust the man who thinks that if some great emotional crisis came he would rise up and reform everything, but meanwhile doesn’t want to do his ordinary common-place duty! This is a work-a-day world, and we can get along in it only if we show the work-a-day qualities. It is a very essential thing to be able to show the other qualities. It is a very fine thing. It is necessary for the nation that you shall have men eager to volunteer when some man like Cushing starts out to do a deed of daring, where death stares every man in the face, but before the Cushings can get their chance, there has got to be any amount of wearisome blockading, of standing on and off before the ports, of training the men until they can follow the Cushings.

And so in our civic life, we shall never have any healthy government in any community until the citizens of that community perform their own duties of citizenship, - not spasmodically or hysterically, but day by day, regularly, as they come in.

Duties of citizenship. Now, of course, the first business of citizenship is that the man shall care for those dependent upon him; that the man shall be a good breadwinner; deal well by his wife and the children. I am of an archaic temperament, and I wish you all large families by the way.

And in addition to being straight at home, each man has got to be straight with his neighbors, has got to be a decent man in his ordinary work, and if he is not decent at home, if he is not a faithful loyal man in whom you can trust in the ordinary business relations, in the factory, in the shop, and on the farm; if he is not that, he is not going to be a good citizen.

But besides all that he has got to show certain other qualities. He has got to remember that in addition to his duties to those nearest to him, under our republican system of government he is not to be excused if he fails to do his duty to himself and his neighbors and to that representative of himself and his neighbors, the State, the government.

He does not need to have any unusual grace to make himself a good citizen in this way. He has got in the first place, to be honest and decent. That first of all. No amount of smartness will avail to make up for these, the root of righteous living, of righteous dealing with his neighbors. Don’t forget that. There is nothing I dislike more than having some scoundrel spoken of with admiration, as when someone says. “He is a smart fellow, but you can’t depend on him.” Distrust the man about whom that is said, and the man who says it.

You have got to be honest first. And that is not enough. In the Civil War, you had to have patriotism first, but the patriotism was no good if the man wanted to run away. The honest man who is timid isn’t of any use. With honesty, you must have courage. Honesty and courage! And they are not enough. I do not care how brave and how honest the man is, if he is a natural-born fool you can do nothing with him. You have to have honesty and courage and then to them the saving grace of common sense. And you need it. You need the common sense in the management of the state just as much as you need it in the management of your own individual affairs.

The sum and substance of it all is, the greatest problem, the real problem, is the problem of keeping our average citizens good, upright, sensible, and brave men and women.

(Lewiston Evening Journal, Lewiston, Maine, August 27, 1902)

Ibid

August 18, 1914

Lewiston Evening Journal, pg. 8, August 18, 1914

collage of photos taken during Theodore Roosevelt's

visit while campaigning for the Progressive Party

candidates.

On August 18, 1914, Theodore Roosevelt traveled by train from Boston to the Auburn train station. He arrived in Auburn a little after 2 p.m. He was campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates. He would travel by automobile to the City Hall in Lewiston where he made a speech, followed by a brief speech at the Empire Theatre. TR then was transported to the Portland-Lewiston Interurban station on Middle Street in Lewiston, where he would then board the Narcissus. TR would travel in luxury on the Narcissus to Monument Square in Portland, with stops along the way in Lower New Gloucester, Gray, and West Falmouth. Upon arriving in Monument Square in Portland, TR would be transported to the Falmouth Hotel for dinner before attending a reception at Portland City Hall before traveling to Union Station in Portland to take the train back to Boston later that night. Below are some newspaper clippings describing some of these activities.

Click Here to access the August 18, 1914, online issue of the Lewiston Evening Journal through Google News Archive Search.

Tuesday morning, August 18, 1914, Lewiston Daily Sun,

prepping readers for what's to follow that day of TR's visit.

Click Here to access the August 18, 1914, online issue of the Lewiston Daily Sun through Google News Archive Search.

"Roosevelt Here This Afternoon" clip - Ibid

"Roosevelt Here This Afternoon" clip cont. - Ibid

The schedule for the day - Ibid

Lewiston Daily Sun, August 19, 1914 -

The last sentence in the opening paragraph

mentions TR boarding the

special car, Narcissus, on the day before.

Click Here to access the August 19, 1914, online issue of the Lewiston Daily Sun through Google News Archive Search.

As you can see, sometimes the scanning of

vintage newspapers leaves portions of the

text difficult to decipher. Ibid

The clip above mentions Roosevelt departing

Lewiston on the Narcissus from the PLI station on

Middle Street at 4:20 p.m. and that he arrived at

the Falmouth Hotel in Portland at 5:10.

Roosevelt, as a passenger on the Narcissus, departed the PLI station on Middle Street in Lewiston at 4:20 p.m. The total distance from that location, by rail, to Monument Square in Portland is 35 miles. During Roosevelt's trip, there were scheduled and unscheduled stops along the route to Portland. And once in Portland, disembarked the Narcissus and then traveled to the Falmouth Hotel, where he arrived at 5:10 p.m. 50 minutes total travel time to get to the hotel from Lewiston. That's pretty darn fast in 1914 :) The Narcissus had four-90-hp motors and was known to reach speeds up to 78 mph, though during normally scheduled trips, 60 mph was the norm during the longer distances between stops. Ibid

The Portland-Lewiston Interurban (PLI)

station on Middle Street in Lewiston.

The image above, of the PLI terminal building, was also the carhouse for the majestic interurban coaches. The dispatcher's office was upstairs above the doorway to the waiting room where tickets could be purchased. Photo from the incredible scrapbook containing more than 200 images collected during four reunions of former PLI employees and their families. Reunions were in Gray during 1938, '39, '40, & '41. The scrapbook was put together by Charles D. Heseltine and is among the O. R. Cummings Collection at Seashore Trolley Museum. The scrapbook and its contents are currently being cleaned, professionally photographed, and conserved thanks to generous donations to the Narcissus Project.

What's not reported in this clip above, is what transpires while TR is onboard the Narcissus while awaiting its departure to Portland from the PLI station on Middle Street in Lewiston. See the next clip below :)

Lewiston Evening Journal, August 19, 1914, page 5,

"Of Local Interest." After reading this clip, look at the

photo below with TR on the Narcissus speaking to the crowd

in Gray less than an hour later. Where do you think that

8.5-pound lake trout was kept in the Narcissus? :)

Click Here to access the August 19, 1914, online issue of the Lewiston Evening Journal through Google News Archive Search.

The caption for this photo in O. R. Cummings 1967

publication, Maine's Fast Electric Railroad, states in part;

Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, shown in the train door of

the Narcissus, addresses a gathering at Gray on August 18,

1914. At the left of Roosevelt and peering out of the coach

window in the conductor, Joseph N. "Joe Happy" L'Heureux.

Photo courtesy of the Gray Historical Society

On page 37 of his 1967 publication, Cummings mentions TR and the Narcissus when in Portland:

Upon (the) arrival of the car in Portland, the ex-president voiced his pleasure over the "bully" ride he had enjoyed and gave the motorman, Charles H. Mitchell, and the conductor, Joseph N. L'Heureux, better known as "Joe Happy," each a tip of $10, a not inconsiderable sum in those days.

Lewiston Daily Sun, August 19, 1914. After the

reception at Portland City Hall, TR travels to

Union Station and departs Portland for Boston.

The New York Times also had a story published about Roosevelt's visit on August 18. Of course, the "special trolley" mentioned in the piece is the Narcissus. The portion of the piece about the girl tossing the bouquet into the rear of the car generated an interest in me to consider this interaction with Roosevelt to self-publish a national award-winning book, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride, by multi-award-winning Maine author, Jean Flahive. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus :) As the copyright owner, publisher, and distributor of the book, the proceeds I receive are contributed to the Narcissus Project.

Published: August 19, 1914

ROOSEVELT GREETED BY CROWDS IN MAINE

PORTLAND, Me., Aug. 18, -

Waves the Farmhouse Bouquet.

Col. Roosevelt left Boston at 8:55 o’clock this morning and got to Lewiston at 2:30 o’clock. As soon as the train entered this State crowds began to appear at all of the little way stations and at several of the stops the Colonel went to the rear platform to shout a few remarks. Lewiston was alive with interest and on the streets and at the meeting, the Colonel was hailed repeatedly as “Our President in 1916.” The enthusiasm seemed to “get to” Col. Roosevelt and make a new man of him.

There was a big overflow meeting at Lewiston, but Col. Roosevelt only had time to say a few words to the crowd before he took a special trolley car for Portland. He was expected all along the route and was given many cheers. As the car slowed up for a curve near a farmhouse a pretty girl ran out and tossed a bouquet of flowers into the rear of the car. The Colonel jumped from his seat and ran to the platform. The last picture that the little family in front of the farmhouse saw was Col. Roosevelt, his face wreathed in smiles, waving the bouquet above his head. Halpert P. Gardner, the Progressive nominee for Governor, exclaimed to THE NEW YORK TIMES correspondent;

“They will talk about that at milking time for months to come. If the Colonel could make a tour of the State like this the Progressive Party would sweep both old organizations out of power.”

The Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. Below is some historical background of the majestic coach.

O. R. Cummings 1967 publication

on the Portland-Lewiston Interurban history.

PWM Collection and photo

The Narcissus was built in 1912 in Laconia, New Hampshire, at the Laconia Car Company Works, for the Portland, Gray & Lewiston Railroad (PG&L), based in Lewiston, Maine. This high-speed, luxury, wooden interurban with its exquisite mahogany interior, resplendent in copious ornamental brass components, including forty ornate leaded stained glass windows, its center ceiling panels embellished with gold leaf fleur-de-lis, with alternating red and green interlocking rubber tile on the floor and it was all appointed by the intrepid builder of the PG&L, W. Scott Libbey.

Libbey also personally named each of the original six coaches after his favorite flowers. A seventh coach was purchased in 1920, which was named, Maine, in honor of Maine's Centennial. The 46-foot coaches had green plush Mohair upholstered, reversible seats, and a smoking compartment with two, six-foot-long, leather-covered bench seats, making the seating capacity 52 passengers. With its four-90 hp Westinghouse motors, speeds over 70 mph were reached from time to time.

Artwork by Maine artist, Amy J. Gagnon

August 31, 1916

Colonel Roosevelt made another summer visit to Maine on August 31, 1916. As he did two years earlier, he was a passenger on Portland Lewiston Interurban, No. 16, Clematis. This time he traveled from Portland to Lewiston. The newspaper reports mention in several places that "moving pictures were taken" and "movie men" were on the scene. Of particular interest is the report below that mentions a movie being taken of TR entering the "special" interurban, Clematis, before departing Monument Square for Lewiston. How I would love to see that footage. One other anecdotal observation is, while in Gray, he calls out from the rear of the interurban, for the whereabouts of the young girl who gave him a bouquet of sweet peas two years earlier. That story is below. (These points and the actual name of the young girl that gave TR the bouquet are also included in the award-winning book, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride by multi-award-winning Maine author, Jean Flahive :)

Published by Lewiston Daily Sun

9-1-1916

Portland, ME - (Thursday, August 31)

Portland-Lewiston Interurban No. 16, Clematis, was used

by the committee. Ibid

Ibid

Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on

the Clematis from Portland to Lewiston.

Ibid

Girl with the Bouquet

Ibid

Promo for Roosevelt's visit to Lewiston on August

31, 1916, in the Lewiston Daily Sun, August 31, 1916,

edition.

Page 6, headline and intro to the story of Theodore

Roosevelt's impending visit from the

Lewiston Daily Sun, Thursday, August 31, 1916.

Click Here to access the August 31, 1916, online issue of the Lewiston Daily Sun through Google News Archive Search.

Ibid

The frontpage headline of Roosevelt's visit to Lewiston

on August 31, 1916, in the September 1, 1916, edition of the

Lewiston Daily Sun.

Click Here to access the September 1, 1916, online issue of the Lewiston Daily Sun through Google News Archive Search. The September 1st edition is in the same file as the August 31 edition. Once August 31 is open, scroll right and you'll see the September 1st edition.

Page 4 of the September 1st edition of the Lewiston Daily Sun has five columns describing Roosevelt's visit to Lewiston on August 31st. Click on the link above to read the full coverage.

In the September 2nd edition of The Lewiston Saturday Journal, there is a nice side story of Roosevelt while having a meal at the DeWitt Hotel in Lewiston, with his long-time friend from Island Falls, William W. Sewall, on August 31, 1916.

Click Here to access the September 2, 1916, online issue of the Lewiston Saturday Journal through Google News Archive Search

Ibid

A great source of information for the railroad

stations in Maine. 1986 publication by

Robert F. Lord - PWM Collection and photo

A portion of my collection of TR-related books :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

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

Androscoggin Historical Society, Lewiston

Eliot Historical Society, Eliot

Gray Historical Society, Gray

Kennebec Historical Society, Augusta

Letterpress Books, Portland

Maine Historical Society Store, Portland

Morph Gallery & Emporium, Kennebunk

New Gloucester Historical Society, New Gloucester

Roosevelt Campobello International Park, Welshpool, NB, Canada

Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport

Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shops, All Locations

Thompson's Orchard, New Gloucester

Winthrop Maine Historical Society, Winthrop

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/

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.

Thank You!

Theodore Roosevelt on the Narcissus when addressing

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

The Narcissus in the restoration shop in 2022 PWM

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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.

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please write: PLI Education Fund 817

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BONUS ***** If you work for a company/corporation that will

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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

* 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

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* 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