Friends Of
Whitefield
Newsletter
- December 2019 -
Welcome
to our 12th issue of the "on-line" "Friends of
Whitefield" newsletter. This is a free, un-official, and occasional
e-zine about matters of our wonderful town,
Whitefield, Maine.
David Chase -editor
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I've been thinking about interesting ways to learn about and see our town. The LENS that we look through to get a fresh view is almost always chosen for us and often lacks originality .
So.... my lens for this little post is "AUCTIONS" .
Click on that picture of
Governor Daniel Cony to learn of his role in this
Whitefield auction
project...
At times auctions were so common and expected that even the auctioneer was unsure if they would indeed happen......
Often regular townspeople are called upon to
perform the duties of auctioneer. Over the years Butch Joslyn, Lyndal Bailey,
Roger Majorowicz, Mike Shaw, Brian Huntley and others have stepped up to
perform.
We also have had our licensed auctioneers
F.E.Ware in the last century and Jeff Dowdy (today who runs auctions at
his "Sawyers Way"
in Boothbay) are among those professionals.
Here, I have animated an old photo by our
own Horace "Hoddy " Kennedy.
It is a interestingly composed picture of a classic farm auction
of the last century. Farm implements and animals were the main features of these
important economic and social events.
Today that site is a decidedly different place -
back then, a large barn and outbuildings surrounded by wooden wheeled machines.
Today,
a golf course
buzzing with motorized canopied carts
carrying nattily attired men of leisure chasing a small white ball.
Later there will be a cold beer while sitting on a deck looking out over the old
cow pasture now trimmed to standardized length to assure a proper roll of the
ball.
Up in Coopers Mills, Ed Howe seeing diminishing rewards from
his once booming fur trapping business, envisioned satisfying the desires of the
burgeoning firearms buying public with a GUN AUCTION !
His auctions in the 60s and 70's were multi-day, Big-Top events - drawing buyers
and dealers from all over the East. He sold all manner of weapons from Civil War
swords to 18th century cased matching flint lock pistols . Elmer Wilson cut his
teeth here.
The year 1923 must have seemed like a very depressing year,
here in Whitefield !
It started off when on New Years eve the Convent at Saint Denis burned ! The
once busy site of Saint Joseph's Academy and Orphanage now in ruins - the 3rd
story gone ! Only the walls standing !
The promising WW&F Railroad was showing signs of trouble. Their fabled engine No 9 was sold in 1923.
Fred Chadwick had invested heavily in his "Chadwick
House" as an inn for the train travelers to come... they didn't..
In 1923 Fred decided to AUCTION the Inn and his store (where the Superette now
stands) .
They were going WEST !
In 2015 Mary Majorowicz wife of sculptor Roger Majorowicz had a memorable auction of Rogers EXTENSIVE collection of tools, art and stuff ...In case you missed it here is an impressionistic memory...
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words about "auctions" to ponder.......