One of the maps filed with the Cumberland County Registry
of Deeds on May 7, 1910, by the Portland, Gray & Lewiston
Railroad Company. The maps were part of the formal plan,
filed on May 3, 1910, describing the locations and
descriptions of certain lands in New Gloucester, Gray,
Cumberland, Falmouth, and Portland.
Do you currently live near the former right-of-way of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban? Do you currently own property that has the PLI ROW? Was there a rural waiting station on your property, like the one at Morrison Hill in West Cumberland? Do you have any PLI family stories you'd be willing to share with us?
The restoration of the only surviving Portland-Lewiston Interurban is progressing at Seashore Trolley Museum's Donald G. Curry Town House Restoration Shop in Kennebunkport. 1912, Laconia Car Company-built, National Register of Historic Places member, No. 14, Narcissus operated between Union Square in Lewiston and Monument Square in Portland. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus between the two Maine cities on August 18, 1914, and rode a PLI interurban again on August 31, 1916. Maine was very important to Theodore Roosevelt.
As mentioned in a previous post, research for materials that might be helpful for creating the interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project is an important task to complete in the next few months. The list of organizations to make inquiries in seeking Portland-Lewiston Interurban-related materials has expanded to more than twenty-five. Many of the organizations have been contacted, and in some cases, research has commenced. This post will shed some light on the early findings from the Cumberland County Registry of Deeds in Portland. Both the Androscoggin County and the Cumberland County Registry of Deeds were on the list, but a recent email from Beverly Cadigan of the New Gloucester Historical Society moved my visit to the two registries up on the list. On Friday, August 10, I spent two and a half hours in the office of the Cumberland County Registry. The registry office staff were very helpful and patient with me, thank you.
I have 190 copies of the pages of deeds and mandatory reporting of plans, all in sheet protectors and cataloged by the book (volume) and page. I'll be looking them over for details of the transfer of ownership and for calculating costs paid, etc. I'll be stopping in at the Androscoggin County Registry next Wednesday while I'm in the Auburn-Lewiston area for research meetings at Bates College and the Androscoggin Historical Society. So, keep checking in for blog posts with info as more materials are collected.
This interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project is, in large part, searching for materials that will help present the people-perspective story of how the Portland-Lewiston Interurban as a company, with its operations and its services, impacted people and their communities.
An example of research materials below is a copy of the deed for Fred S. Martin of New Gloucester that includes the various conditions that the railroad had to meet. It must be a significant amount of land with a purchase price of $1,200 in 1909, plus the railroad's additional expenses to meet the conditions in the contract.
Not seen in this image, but included at the bottom of
the deed is that the words "and one half" were written between
the second and third lines from the bottom of the first page
before signing. John A. Morrill. December 9, 1909, and
recorded in the registry on December 20, 1909.
The waiting station in Gray is referred to in the deed for John D. Anderson of Gray. He was paid $400 in 1909. If the construction didn't take place in two years, the land would revert to him.
John D. Anderson of Gray's deed, in 1909, has some
interesting stipulations.
Several deeds have a stipulation of "constructing for the use by the grantors a cattle pass". These were made of concrete, and there are still a couple of these in existence today. The cattle pass mentioned in the deed of Perley J. Leighton (and the other Leighton family members listed in the deed of 1909) is an example. In another deed from the Leighton family, there is a restriction to having the "easterly rail...shall not be nearer the most westerly corner of the grantor's house than fifty (50) feet." That's pretty darn close to the house!
Falmouth's Perley J. Leighton and other family members' deed
from 1909 with stipulations including construction
of a cattle pass.
Some deeds include provisions that the railroad had to build a crossing that was capable of handling the weight, etc., of vehicles hauling timber, and that the harvesting of timber could be done before the construction of the line, on land transferred to the railroad, or that the grantor had rights to access lands to harvest timber, thus the reason to have the rugged crossing constructed.
The Benjamin C. Jordan (from Alfred) deed of land in
New Gloucester has several interesting reservations
or provisions. One is if the railroad is discontinued in the
future or its location changes, the property ownership reverts
back to Jordan or his heirs. April 25, 1910.
Below are maps for four of the communities in Cumberland County with the list of people in Cumberland County impacted as the Portland, Gray & Lewiston Railroad Company (predecessor to the Portland-Lewiston Interurban Railroad ) acquired their land to construct the original thirty-mile right-of-way between Auburn and Portland.
Cumberland - Map 1 c. 1915 Scale 1"=100'
Courtesy of the Prince Memorial Library via
the Digitalmaine Repository
Cumberland - Map 2 c. 1915 Scale 1"=100'
Courtesy Prince Memorial Library via
the Digitalmaine Repository
Cumberland File Date of Deed
Shaw, Nelson M. - 12-20-1909
Shaw, Charles L. - 12-20-1909
Wilson, Lorenzo H. - 12-20-1909
Morrill, George W. - 12-20-1909
Wilson, Nathaniel L. - 12-20-1909
Trefethen, Melville W. - 10-14-1910
Legrow, Fannie F. - 03-30-1911
Ham, George A. - 03-30-1911
Leighton, Willis H. - 04-25-1911 (other grantor: Leighton, George R.)
Shaw, Nelson M. - 04-25-1911
Leighton, Oscar W. - 04-25-1911
Leighton, Enoch M. - 05-23-1911 (other grantor-Dearborn, Albra A)
Wilson, Lorenzo H. - 11-22-1911
Wilson, Nathaniel L. -11-22-1911
Ham, George E. - 05-18-1912 (other grantor-Ham, Edna R.)
Leighton, Willis H. - 08-08-1912 (other grantor-Leighton, George R.)
Morrison, Rufus B. - 09-06-1912
Wilson, Scott - 09-06-1912(all grantors-Wilson, George N., Herman, M, Loemma P., Alvah L.)
Wilson, Lorenzo H. - 06-07-1913
Morrison, Rufus B. - 06-13-1913
Wilson, Scott - 07-19-1913(all grantors Wilson-Wilson, Mildred F., H. M., Loemma P., George N., Ella A. J.)
Ramsey, Sarah J. - 02-08-1915
Falmouth 1909 - Map 1 - CCRD
Falmouth 1909 - Map 2 - CCRD
Falmouth 1909 - Map 3 - CCRD
Falmouth 1909 - Map 4 - CCRD
Falmouth
Merrill, Alfred - 12-20-1909
Watts, Mary E. - 12-20-1909
Leighton, Perley J. - 12-20-1909 (other grantors: Leighton, Susan A, Elmer J., Eugene R.)
Dingley, Henry M. - 04-02-1910 (other grantor: Gross, Edward W.)
Pratt, Milton B. - 02-09-1911
Harmon, Isaac - 03-30-1911
Hicks, Howard - 03-30-1911
Leighton, Roland - 03-30-1911
Hampson, John A. - 04-25-1911
Roberts, Richard - 04-25-1911(other grantors-Roberts, Orestes E., Wilson, Julia L.)
Stuart, Harriet E. - 04-25-1911
Woodbury, John F. - 05-23-1911 (other grantor-Sommers, Susan J.)
Blake, Fred M. - 05-23-1911
Huston, Julia L. - 05-23-1911
Noyes, Arthur S. - 06-17-1911
Field, James A. - 12-30-1911 (other grantor-Field, James A.)
Leighton, Edith J. - 06-19-1912
Pancoast, Edith F. - 08-08-1912 (other grantor-Pancoast, Clara B.)
Marston, Fred - 10-30-1912
Marston, Elmer - 12-12-1912
Cole, Charles M. - 10-27-1913
Gray 1909 - CCRD
Gray
Merrill, John T. - 12-20-1909
Cole, Hewett D. - 12-20-1909
Fogg, Frank C. - 12-20-1909
Bishop, Stanley - 12-20-1909
Yeaton, Victor H. - 12-20-1909
Humphrey, S. G. - 12-20-1909
Osgood, Elmer L. - 12-20-1909
Crosby, George J. - 12-20-1909
Caswell, Edgar S. - 12-20-1909
Hancock, James T. - 12-20-1909
Anderson, John D. - 12-20-1909
Webster, Martha(Mary) A. - 02-15-1910
Cummings, Ruth J. - 02-15-1910
Colley, Charles W. - 02-15-1910
Hunt, Julia E. - 04-02-1910
Merrill, John T. - 04-02-1910
Webster, Frank W. - 04-02-1910
Hill, Ardelia M. - 04-02-1910
Emery, Rebecca F. - 04-02-1910
Emery, Fred W. - 04-02-1910
Cushing, Louis T. - 04-02-1910
Hancock, Wilbur P. - 04-02-1910 (other grantor-Harriet F.)
Frank, John W. - 04-02-1910
Hill, Luther W. - 04-02-1910
Skillings, B. F. - 04-02-1910
Thompson, Mary A. - 04-02-1910
Verrill, Ernest R. - 04-02-1910
Clark, Charles F. - 04-02-1910
Dunn, Walter C. - 04-02-1910
Chipman, William A. - 04-25-1910
Libby, Florence Hunt - 04-25-1910
Hill, Charles F. - 04-25-1910
Carey, Albert A. - 04-25-1910
Latham, James W. - 05-18-1910(all grantors: Latham, Levi B., Philbrook, Betsey M, McGowan, Sarah M.)
Thompsom, William - 07-19-1910
Webster, Simon - 09-22-1910 (other grantor-Dolloff, Sarah A.)
Alden, Alton R. - 04-25-1911
Latham, James W. - 04-25-1911(all grantors: Latham, Levi B., Philbrook, Betsey M, McGowan, Sarah M.)
Osgood, Elmer L. - 12-13-1911
Latham, James W. - 06-19-1912(all grantors: Latham, Levi B., Philbrook, Betsey M, McGowan, Sarah M.)
Webster, George L. - 09-16-1912(all grantors: Hirst, Charles W., Lillian R., James T., Ellen A., Nute, Eva C., Webster, Toy W.)
Latham, Abbie J. - 01-30-1914 (other grantor-Latham, Abbie)
New Gloucester 1909 - CCRD
New Gloucester
Edwards, Mary A. - 04-29-1909
Merriam, Harry M. - 04-29-1909
Edwards, Estella - 04-29-1909
Tripp, Alfonzo - 04-29-1909
Whitman, Sophia H. D. - 04-29-1909 (all grantors-Dawes, Walter E., Dawes, James S.,
Witham, John P. - 04-29-1909
Lane, J. M., - 04-29-1909 (other grantor-Lane, C. H.)
Frost, Warren - 04-29-1909
Tarbox, Addie - 04-29-1909
Proctor, Charles A. - 04-29-1909
Greeley, Thomas J. - 04-29-1909
Eveleth, Nathaniel - 04-29-1909 (all grantors-Eveleth, George L., Eveleth, Frank A., Jordan, Margaret E., Eveleth, George L. P.(heirs))
Adkins, Benjamin S. - 12-20-1909
Martin, Frederick S. - 12-20-1909
Bodge, William - 12-20-1909
Humphrey, John W. - 12-20-1909
Bonney, Henry S. - 12-20-1909
Sawyer, Joseph W. - 02-15-1910
Bailey, Hanson L. - 02-15-1910 (other grantor-Bailey, Mary E.)
Snow, Lizzie M. - 02-15-1910
Bennett, Charles P. - 02-15-1910
Woodbury, Nellie E. - 02-15-1910
Snow, William H. - 02-15-1910
Edwards, Estella - 04-02-1910
Tripp, Alfonzo - 04-02-1910
Tarbox, Addie - 04-02-1910(all grantors: Gilbert, John A., Gilbert, Nellie M., Loring, Dora E.)
Lane, John M - 04-02-1910 (other grantor-Lane, Charles H.)
Proctor, Charles A - 04-02-1910
Merriam, Harry W. - 04-02-1910
Jordan, Emeline K. - 04-25-1910
Witham, John P. - 04-25-1910
Jordan, Benjamin C. - 04-25-1910
Dawes, Walter, E. - 07-19-1910(all grantors-Dawes, James S., Whitman, Sophia H. D.)
Chandler, Charles P. - 07-30-1910(all grantors: Chandler, Andrew C., Roland C., Fred H.)
Thompson, Arthur E.- 10-13-1910
Bennett, Charles P. - 11-09-1910
Tufts, Frank M. - 03-30-1911
Huston, Elijah - 11-18-1911
Small, B J R - 11-18-1911
Sawyer, H. M. - 11-18-1911
Edwards, Wallace W.- 11-22-1911 (other grantors-Edwards, Mary A., Edwards, Helen B.)
Frost, Warren - 02-23-1912
Carsley, George F. - 03-07-1912 (other grantor: Carsley, Harriet B)
Haskell, Maud W. - 10-30-1912
Greeley, Fred P. - 06-29-1914(all grantors-Greeley, Millard, G. H., Greeley, Thomas, Bryant, Laona
Portland
Bedlow, Horace D. - 06-13-1910 (all grantors: Bedlow, Lucy C., Bedlow, Joseph J., Titchener, Sophia K.)
Davis, Charles - 04-26-1911 (All grantors-Gurney, Andrew H., Cobb, Gardener, Cobb, Hannah M., Cobb, Albert C, Cobb, Frederick H., Cobb, Frank W., Cobb, John C.)
Cobb, John C.(heirs) - 04-26-1911 (all grantors-Cobb, Frederick H., Dole John(heirs), Kuch, W. F., Dole, William H. H., Knight, John F., Wilson, Wallace, Harris, N. W., The New England Land Company, True, Norman, Central Park Improvement Company, Parmenter, J. G. (heirs), Parmenter, Maria B., Parmenter, Lena C., Bean, Nellie B., Parmenter, Mae D., Parmenter, Clara M., Richardson, A. L., Bailey, W. B., Brown, M. B., Goodridge, Charles L., Hammond, John H.)
Parmenter, Mae D. - 05-23-1911 (other grantor: Parmenter, Clara M)
Wilson, Wallace H. - 05-23-1911
Parmenter, Lena C. - 09-25-1911
Permenter, Nellie D. - 09-25-1911 (other grantor-Parmenter, Maria B.)
Bryant, Lucy S. - 09-16-1912 (other grantors-Bryant, Hubbard W.)
Brown, Martha B. - 12-12-1912
Richardson, Charles E. - 01-30-1913(all grantors: Richardson, Eliza J., Herbert A., Macomber, Mary E., Bryant, Florrie A.)
Bryant, Judson B. - 01-30-1913
Cobb, Hannah M. - 03-15-1913
Cobb, Frederick H. - 01-08-1917(other grantor-Cobb, Margaret, Riverton Company, )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click Here: For the list of links to Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail Posts in Easy Order to View
We continue the restoration work on the 1912 Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
Click Here: Narcissus Restoration-Related Posts
Being more than a century old, the stately "Elegant Ride," Narcissus, is a gem. This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including time, places, people, and events, that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents first captivate, fascinate, then generate interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by making a donation today!
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The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition narratives.
Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban
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.
Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the Narcissus Project
Independent book publisher, Phil Morse, holding
Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
