President Roosevelt addressed the large crowd at
Union Station in Portland on August 26, 1902. See the trains
on the storage tracks on the other side of Congress Street.
Trolley cars on the corner of Congress and St. John Streets.
TRC 560.51 1902-066 Houghton Library, Harvard University
Updated 2-7-2024
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 4" shown on the list (key) above - Portland 1902, 1912, 1914, 1916, 1918
1902 - Presidential visit and tour of Portland - map of the route and stops made - read his speech
August 26, 1902
Lewiston Evening Journal August 27, 1902 pg. 8
of President Roosevelt's train tour that included communities
in Maine. The Lewiston Evening Journal
EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902
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. Mostly this paper details the president's visit to Auburn & Lewiston but does include articles about Portland. 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 especially those folks who attended the events as they did in Portland or those that read about the activities in the newspaper.
President Roosevelt addressed the crowd from the stage.
This photo looks like it was taken from behind the stage at
Union Station with the corner of Congress and
St. John Streets in the background. Compare it with
the first photo above from August 26, 1902. The description
that Harvard has says that this photo was taken in Bangor
on 8/27/1902. TRC R560.51.T34-016
Houghton Library, Harvard University
This photo may also be of Union Station in
Portland on August 16, 1902.
Harvard also describes this photo as in Bangor.
TRC 560.51 1902-078
Houghton Library, Harvard University
And this one as well may actually be at Union Station
in Portland - August 26, 1902. Harvard has this as Bangor.
TRC 560.51 1902-077 Houghton Library, Harvard University
President Theodore Roosevelt addressed the crowd
assembled at Union Station in Portland on August 26, 1902.
Maine Memory Network item #104395 photo by Carl C. Coffin
William Pierce Frye served as Maine U.S. Senator
from 1881-1911. The Lewiston Evening Journal
EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902
The Lewiston Evening Journal EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902, covers the President's travels earlier in the day before arriving in Portland.
I will type the initial paragraph that has the transition to Portland:
"When the train arrived in Portland the crush was tremendous but City Marshal Sylvester had officers so stationed that the party had a clear line of march to the stand which was erected at the upper end of the depot.
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
President Theodore Roosevelt addressed the crowd
assembled at Union Station, Portland, Maine - on August 26, 1902.
The metal awning on the left is now at Thomspon's Point.
Maine Memory Network item #104398 photo by Carl C. Coffin
President Theodore Roosevelt addressed this massive crowd
assembled at Union Station on August 26, 1902.
Maine Memory Network item #104397 photo by Carl C. Coffin
This news clip intros the President's speech
that I retyped below.
The Lewiston Evening Journal
EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902
The Lewiston Evening Journal, Lewiston, Maine, August 26, 1902 publication of the President’s speech in Portland on August 26. 1902:
(autocorrect disconnected - text is as written)
Mr. Mayor, and you my fellow citizens, men and women of Maine:
I wish to say a word to you in recognition of great service rendered not only to all our country but to the entire principle of democratic government throughout the world, by one of your citizens. The best institutions are of no good if they won’t work. I do not care how beautiful a theory is, if it won’t fit in with the facts it is of no good. If you built the handsomest engine that ever had been built and it did not go, its usefulness would be limited. Well, that was just about the condition that Congress had reached at the time when Thomas B. Reed was elected Speaker. We had all the machinery, but it didn’t work, - that was the trouble, - and you had to find some one powerful man who would disregard the storm of obloquy sure to be raised by what he did in order to get it to work. Such a man was found when Reed was made Speaker. We may differ among ourselves as to policy. We may differ among ourselves as to what course government should follow; but if we possess any intelligence we must be united in the opinion that it shall be able to follow some course. If government can not go on it is not government. If the legislative body can not enact laws, then there is no use of misnaming it a legislative body; and if the majority is to rule some method by which it can rule must be provided. Government by the majority in Congress had practically come to a stop when Mr. Reed became Speaker. Mr. Reed, at the cost of infinite labor, at the coat of fierce attacks, succeeded in restoring that old principle; and now through Congress we can do well or ill, accordingly as the people demand, but at any rate, we can do something - and we owe it more than to any other one man to your fellow-citizen, Mr. Reed. It is a great thing for any man to be able to feel that in some one crisis he left his mark deeply scored for good in the history of his country, and Tom Reed has the right to that feeling.
Now a word or two more. I was greeted here not only by your mayor, not only by other men standing high, but by you, General Chamberlain, to whom it was given, at the supreme moment of the war, to win the supreme reward of a soldier. All honor to the man, and may we keep ourselves from envying because to him came the supreme good fortune of winning the medal of honor for mighty deeds done in the mightiest battle that nineteenth century saw - Gettysburg.
I see everywhere I stop - in Maine, as in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut - men who in the times that tried the nation’s worth, rose level to the nation’s need and offered gladly all life itself upon the nation’s altar - the men who fought in the great Civil War from ‘61 to ‘65. They taught us much by their life in war time, and they have taught us as much by their life ever since. They were soldiers when we needed soldiers, and they were of the very best kind, and when the need was citizenship in civil life they showed us they could give the highest kind of citizenship. Not merely did they leave us a reunited country; not merely did they leave us the memory of the great deeds they did, to be forever after an inspiration to us, but they left us the memory of the way the deed was done. All the time, gentlemen, we have people - often entirely well meaning - who will rise up and tell us that by some patent device we can all be saved in citizenship or in social life. Now, General, and you, you veterans who wear the button, when you came down to the root of things in war time you had to depend upon the qualities of manhood which had made good soldiers from the days when the children of Israel marched out of Egypt, down. Rifles now instead of boys then, but the man behind the rifle is more important than the rifle itself.
So with our laws. We need good laws. We need a wise administration of the law, an upright and fearless administration of the law, an upright and fearless administration of the law. But the best constitution that was ever devised by the wit of man and the best laws that were ever put upon the statute books, will not avail to save us if the average citizen has not in him the root of right living. The Army of the Potomac could never have seen Appomattox if it had not for the spirit that drove you from the office and the factory and the farm to take up the burden of war, and when you went to war to stay there until you saw it through. They did not conquer in war by hysterics. Doubtless you will remember that after Bull Run there were some excellent people that thought the war was over, and over the wrong way. It was not over. Three years and nine months had to elapse and then it got over the other way.
About the worst quality you can have in a soldier is hysterics or anything approaching it, and it is pretty nearly the worst quality in civil life. We need in civil life the plain, practical, every-day virtues which all of us admit in theory to be necessary and which when we all practice will come mighty near making a state perfect. Brilliancy is a good thing. So is genius. Every now and then the chance comes to render some such great service as I told you about Tom Reed’s rendering, some such service, General, as you rendered at Gettysburg, but normally what we want is not genius but the faculty of seeing that we know how to apply the copy-book moralities that we write down, and as long as we think of them only as fit for the copy-book there is not much use in us.
We need in our public life as in our private life the virtues that everyone could practice if he would. We need the will to practice them. There are two kinds of greatness that can be achieved. There is the greatness that comes to the man who can do what no one else can do. That is a mighty rare kind, and of course it can only be achieved by the man of special and unusual qualities. Then there is the other kind that comes to the man who does the things that everyone could do but that everyone does not do; who goes ahead and does them himself. To do that you first of all have got to school yourselves to do the ordinary, commonplace things.
Now, General, I was a very little time in my war; you were a long time in yours. I did not see much fighting, but I saw a lot of human nature. I recollect one young fellow who came down to join a cavalry regiment. He was filled with enthusiasm, thinking he was going to look all the time like my friend in that smart khaki uniform who welcomes me over there, who welcomes me and whom I want to thank for coming to meet me. After three days the young man came down to me and said, “Colonel, I wish to make a complaint, sir; I came down here to fight for my country, and the captain has put me to work digging kitchen sinks.” I asked the captain about it and he said, “Yes.” The captain was a large man from New Mexico, and he explained to that excellent youth that he would go right on digging kitchen sinks, and when the fighting came he should have all the fighting there was, but at present his duty was to dig kitchen sinks. In other words, he had to do the small duties that were done, and thereby best fit himself to do the big duties that might loom in the future.
So it is with us in the work of everyday citizenship. I believe that the nation will rise level to any great emergency that may meet it, but it will only be because now in our ordinary work-a-day life, the times of peace, in the times when no great crisis is upon us, we school ourselves by constant practice in the commonplace, everyday, indespicible duties, so that when the time arrives we shall show that we have learned aright the primary lessons of good citizenship. I thank you.
(Lewiston Evening Journal, Lewiston, Maine, August 26, 1902.)
Following the president's speech at Union Station, President Roosevelt boarded a carriage drawn by a team of four beautiful white horses and toured Portland. Three scheduled visits were made. One of those visits was to Captain John Parker. Capt. Parker had boarded the President's train when it was in Dover, NH earlier in the day. Below are two articles featuring Captain John Parker.
The Lewiston Evening Journal
EXTRA - 8:30 p.m. August 26, 1902
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
President Theodore Roosevelt enjoyed the view from
his carriage of Casco Bay from Portland's Eastern Promenade
as he approached Fort Allen Park on August 26, 1902.
TRC 560.51 1902-069 Houghton Library, Harvard University
President Theodore Roosevelt tips his hat while passing through
the crowd of people as his carriage exits Middle Street to
rejoin Congress Street (at the Center Street intersection) at
Monument Square in Portland, August 26, 1902. The next stop
will be to visit the Longfellow House.
Maine Memory Network item #104394 photo by Carl C. Coffin
President Theodore Roosevelt tips his hat to the passengers
on the Portland Railroad Company trolley car as his carriage
approaches Congress Square at the High Street intersection.
In the background is the Charles Q. Clapp block and the Free
Street Baptist Church (Portland Museum of Art).
TRC 560.51 1902-067 Houghton Library, Harvard University
President Theodore Roosevelt's carriage followed the
Portland Railroad trolley tracks onto High Street from
Congress Street to see the Cumberland Club at 120 High Street.
Notice the Libby Mansion is in the background on the left on
the corner of Congress and High Street. August 26, 1902.
President Theodore Roosevelt passed through crowds of
people and by a Portland Railroad trolley car as it passes 122
High Street in Portland, with the First Universalist Church on
the right, on August 26, 1902.
President Theodore Roosevelt paused to visit the former
Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives, Thomas
Brackett Reed, outside of the Reed house at 32 Deering
Street in Portland, on August 26, 1902.
Maine Memory Network item #157 photo by O. E. Gerrish
Ibid
Ibid
President Theodore Roosevelt's tour route
of Portland on August 26, 1902, as
described in the newspaper article above.
PWM Collection
Map Key for landmarks in Portland
map from 1928. PWM Collection
Map used to show the tour route during
the 1902 visit. Map copyright 1928
PWM Collection
March 23, 1912
Theodore Roosevelt's visit to Portland, on March 23, 1912, was politically important as he was seeking the Republican party nomination from the State of Maine Republican representatives. That vote would be taking place in the days following his visit to Maine. The current President of the U. S., William Howard Taft, was seeking the Republican nomination to run for reelection that fall. The Maine newspapers knew the significance of Roosevelt's visit and provided a lot of insight into the impact of Roosevelt's visit.
.jpg)
This book does a nice job following the
timeline and the details of Roosevelt's
challenges while seeking re-election in 1912.
PWM Collection
Daily Eastern Argus, Saturday Morning,
March 23, 1912
Postcard of Union Station - the arched main entry in the center
on the left is where the former POTUS exited the station into
a large crowd.
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_029
Theodore Roosevelt was about to depart Union Station in
Portland by automobile on March 23, 1912.
Lewiston Evening Journal, March 25, 1912 edition
Click Here to access the online edition of the Lewiston Saturday Journal, August 23, 1912, and the editions of the Lewiston Evening Journal for Monday-Wednesday, August 25, 26, & 27, 1912, (all with articles related to Roosevelt's visit to Portland) through Google News Archive Search. The link opens in the August 23 edition of the Saturday Journal and you must scroll right to locate each page of the Evening Journal editions for the dates mentioned above...FYI. Some of the excerpts and photos from those editions are shown in this post and so noted.
Lewiston Saturday Journal, Saturday, August 23, 1912 -
page 18.
Left to right - Crowd surrounding Roosevelt's auto at
Union Station. Roosevelt is seen waving his hat in the center.
The crowd at the entrance of Union Station waiting for
Roosevelt's arrival.
Lewiston Evening Journal, March 25, 1912
Left to right - Reception Committee arriving at Union Station.
Making Moving Pictures of Roosevelt's arrival. Part of the
crowd at Union Station.
Lewiston Evening Journal, March 25, 1912
Lewiston Evening Journal, March 25, 1912
Lewiston Saturday Journal, Saturday,
August 23, 1912 - front page.
The parlor in Roosevelt's suite.
Lewiston Evening Journal, Monday, March 25, 1912 - page 6
Dining Room at the Falmouth Hotel
Lewiston Saturday Journal, Saturday,
August 23, 1912 - front page.
Lewiston Saturday Journal, Saturday,
August 23, 1912 - page 18
Roosevelt before returning to the Falmouth Hotel for public
activities. The house is still present at 99 State Street today.
Portland Evening Express & Advertiser
- Saturday, March 23, 1912
Ibid
Portland Sunday Telegram, Sunday, March 24, 1912
- Front Page
Roosevelt greeted and shook hands with the general public.
Lewiston Evening Journal August 25, 1912 - page 8
The Auditorium at City Hall - Portland
The platform (stage) at the Auditorium where Roosevelt was to address the audience collapsed to the floor just as he took a seat next to the others sitting on the platform. No one was hurt. Roosevelt made a comment to those around him :)
Lewiston Evening Journal,
Monday, March 25, 1912 - page 8
August 18, 1914
Click Here to access the August 18, 1914, online issue of the Lewiston Evening Journal through Google News Archive Search.
.jpg)
The "Hester"
Ibid
Kennebunk Station
Ibid
B & M locomotive #2360
Union Station, a portion of
Portland's "train shed"
is now at Spring Point
Click Here to access the August 18, 1914, online issue of the Lewiston Daily Sun through Google News Archive Search.
The schedule for the day -
aLewiston 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.
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 for Portland 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
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.
August 31, 1916
Colonel Roosevelt made another summer visit to Maine on August 31, 1916. As he did two years earlier, he again was a passenger on one of the Portland Lewiston Interurbans. This time he traveled on the Clematis, 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 :)
A "parade" of up to seventy-five automobiles followed Roosevelt's auto from Union Square in Portland to Monument Square, where he would board the PLI Clematis for the trip to Lewiston.
Portland Evening Express &
Advertiser, Friday, September 1,
1916
Advertisement for the "Big Rally"
in Lewiston that Roosevelt will be part of
after he traveled from Monument Square
to Auburn/Lewiston as a passenger
aboard the high-speed, luxury
coach, Clematis, of the Portland-Lewiston
Interurban. Lewiston Evening Journal,
August 31, 1916, page 5
Published by Lewiston Daily Sun
9-1-1916
Portland, ME - (Thursday, August 31)
by the Lewiston/Auburn Roosevelt reception committee
to transport former POTUS, Theodore Roosevelt from
Monument Square in Portland to L/A. Ibid
Ibid
Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on
the Clematis from Portland to Lewiston.
Ibid
Ibid
Girl with the Bouquet
Ibid
Click Here to access August 30, 1916 (page 12 only) and the full online edition of the Lewiston Evening Journal through Google News Archive Search. You'll actually be seeing the heading as the online search as being Lewiston Saturday Journal, but the actual newspapers posted are page 12 only of Wednesday, August 30, 1916, and Thursday, August 31, 1916, edition of the Lewiston Evening Journal :) Roosevelt coverage starts on the far left with August 30 being next to the front page of August 31, 1916...FYI
Lewiston Evening Journal, August 30, 1916
- page 12
Lewiston Evening Journal,
August 30, 1916 - page 12
March 28, 1918
Theodore Roosevelt made one last public trip to Portland (ME) on March 28, 1918. He would attend the state Republican convention in Portland.
He would, however, make his final trip to Maine later in 1918.
As detailed in Chip Bishop's book, Quentin & Flora: A Roosevelt and a Vanderbilt in Love during the Great War, Theodore, and his wife would travel to the community of Dark Harbor, in Islesboro, ME, in August of 1918, to grieve the loss of their beloved son, Quentin. Quentin was a pilot during World War I. He was mortally wounded in an aerial battle and his plane crashed in France.
TR himself would die six months later at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, NY - in January 1919.
As detailed in Chip Bishop's book, Quentin & Flora: A Roosevelt and a Vanderbilt in Love during the Great War, Theodore, and his wife would travel to the community of Dark Harbor, in Islesboro, ME, in August of 1918, to grieve the loss of their beloved son, Quentin. Quentin was a pilot during World War I. He was mortally wounded in an aerial battle and his plane crashed in France.
TR himself would die six months later at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, NY - in January 1919.
Roosevelt on his way by automobile from Union Station
to the Falmouth Hotel, stops to pose for Portland Express-
Advertiser photographer.
Front page of the March 28, 1918, Portland Evening
Express & Advertiser.
The headline in the Portland Evening Express & Advertiser
March 28, 1918.
Roosevelt's health is mentioned.
Ibid
past visits to Portland use the
Falmouth Hotel for his headquarters.
Ibid
The photo below was sent to me by the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dickinson, ND. I was asked if I knew the date, location, and the event of the meeting of the gentlemen posing in this photograph. They knew the names of the gentlemen and each of their political accomplishments, but nothing more. Early in January 2017, I was able to report the successful findings. Scholl down this page to read the story.
Theodore Roosevelt with four prominent Maine Republicans.
Left to right: Bert (Albert) M. Fernald (Governor of Maine 1909-1911,
Maine U. S. Senator 1916-1926), Frederick Hale (Maine U. S. Senator
1917-1941, Hale served as U. S. Senate Chairman of the Naval Committee),
Theodore Roosevelt, Charles B. Clarke (Mayor of Portland, Maine 1918-1921),
Carl E. Milliken (Governor of Maine 1916-1921).
Photo courtesy of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, Dickinson, ND
Dickinson State University in North Dakota is the home of the Theodore Roosevelt Center. The collection is immense and online access to digital archives is expanding nearly every day. Sharon Kilzer is the project manager for the TRC. Early in December 2016, Sharon sent me an email and connected me to Shanna Shervheim. Shanna is the North Dakota Communications Manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation in Dickinson, ND. A gentleman from Switzerland posted an image of TR (see above image) to the TR Presidential Library Facebook page and asked for help identifying the people with TR in the photo...and for any other details concerning the image. Shanna and Sharon found info on the individuals, but no info on the circumstances (place, date, etc.) for which these gentlemen were staging this photo. Knowing that I had been doing research on TR and his connections in Maine, I was asked by Sharon and Shanna if I could help answer these questions.
At that time, I had copies of a few newspaper clippings of info concerning TR's visits to Maine during his 1902, 1912, 1914, and 1916 visits to Maine. My research had been narrowed to the communities he visited and the transportation he used. I hadn't focused any of my research on the political aspects of his visits. So, my personal archives helped clarify some connections between TR and Mr. Hale, but not in answering any of the questions pertaining specifically to the image in question.
I was interested in helping Shanna, so, I visited and did research at the Brown Library at the Maine Historical Society on Congress Street in Portland, ME. With the help of one of the research librarians and Curator of Library Collections, Nicholas Noyes, I was able to see many documents and newspaper clippings concerning the gentlemen in the image. We could not find any specific clues that related directly to the image. One idea that was suggested, was looking into any archives that may be available through the Republican Party. I thoroughly enjoyed my four hours at Brown Library :)
Next, I sent an email to Wells State Representative, Robert Foley, with a request for help with the image, via any Republican Party or State archives. Bob is a family friend and has served Wells, with distinction, in the State House of Representatives. Bob was happy to forward the request to the State Historian. Here is the response from Earle Shettleworth, State Historian via Representative Foley:
Phil,
Please see the info below that we were able to get from the state's Historian. I hope it is helpful.
My Best,
Bob
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Shettleworth, Earle
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2016, 10:24 AM
To: Knorr, David
Cc: Foley, Robert, Mohney, Kirk
Subject: RE: Theodore Roosevelt Photo
Dear David,
Kirk Mohney has asked me to respond to your inquiry about the Theodore Roosevelt photograph.
First, please let me say that I have never seen this photograph, and it is a wonderful image for the history of Maine politics.
I would interpret the picture to have been taken sometime between 1916 and 1919, the year of Roosevelt's death. I would suggest the political campaign of 1916 because Senators Fernald, Hale, and Governor Milliken were running for office that year. Hale and Milliken were not on a statewide ballot before 1916. Philip Morse's research indicates that Theodore Roosevelt was in Portland and Lewiston on August 31, 1916, a likely date for the photograph, considering that Maine's elections at the time were held in September. Checking the Portland and Lewiston newspapers for late August-early September 1916 may shed more light on the meeting of these five political figures. A case could also be made that the photograph was taken in 1918, because of the presence of Charles B. Clarke, who was mayor of Portland at the time, but this is less likely. Theodore Roosevelt did spend some time in Maine during the summer of 1918, but the purpose was personal. After the death of his son Quentin on July 14, 1918, in World War I, Roosevelt and his wife Edith sought privacy with relatives at the summer resort of Dark Harbor on Islesboro. At the end of their stay, the former president agreed to give a speech to the public on the island. I am not aware that he made any other appearances in Maine that year.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance in this manner.
Sincerely,
Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.
Maine State Historian
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Shettleworth mentions that the photo could have been taken in 1918 due to the presence of Portland Mayor Charles B. Clarke. My research shows Theodore Roosevelt made a trip to Portland for political reasons on March 28, 1918. Maybe this is the date the photo was taken? I then continued my research and focused on the March 28, 1918, visit.
On January 6, 2017, I traveled to the Portland Public Library to use the microfilm available in the Portland Room. I zeroed in on Theodore Roosevelt's visit to Portland (ME) on Thursday, March 28, 1918. With assistance from a staff member, Tom, the first reel loaded into the reader was from the Argus. Sure enough, TR came to Portland on the 28th to attend and give a speech at the Republican State Convention. The center for the activities was the Falmouth Hotel in Portland. The picture in question (above) was not printed on the paper that day.
The second reel loaded into the reader was the Portland Express-Advertiser. One of the articles (see below) clearly states that all five gentlemen in the photo above dined together. The photo above was not in the paper. So, I'm feeling quite confident that the photo above was taken in Portland, ME at the Falmouth Hotel on March 28, 1918 :)
Falmouth Hotel in Portland was located at 212 Middle Street
and hosted many large functions. PWM postcard
I did research at the Maine Historical Society's Brown Library
in Portland and utilized the microfilm inventory in the
Portland Room at the Portland Public Library. From previous
research, I had a list of dates that TR had visited Portland and in
reading through film strips, found the answers to the above photo.
March 28, 1918, at the Falmouth Hotel during the Republican
Party State Convention.
Portland Evening Express & Advertiser
March 28, 1918.
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.
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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 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 every 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
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