April 2009
click here for older issuesTraditions and Records:
Norwood Cove, Southwest Harbor, Greening Island, Manset, Seawall
Southwest Harbor Historical Society
Phil Whitney, President
Chris Rawls, Vice President
Rebecca Carlson, Secretary
Wayne Patton, Treasurer
Board of Directors
John & Becky Burnham
Bruce Komusin
Bernie Mauger
Joe Marshall
Janet Patton
Ralph Stanley
New Members
Monies Given in Memory of
Maurice Norwood
from Leon & Pat Allen
Elene Dolliver
from Agnes Dolliver Carr
Wallace Klauskey
from Grace Bernice Klauskey
Contributions
Agnes Dolliver Carr
Richard Dimond
Abner Goodwin
Ted Madara Family
Rod O'Connor
Erland Seavey Family
Visit us at:
www.SWHHS.org
Can You Identify?
No new names were received from the picture that was on the front of the last issue, but we did receive this:
...The picture on the cover of your January issue brought back memories to the Seawall Benson Clan. Our mother, Katherine (Gatcomb) Benson, came to the "Oceanhouse" summers as a young lady. She was an accomplished concert pianist and used the dance hall at the Oceanhouse to practice the piano. During her younger days she played concerts all over the world, including command performances for the King and Queen of England, and often in Carnegie Hall. Eventually her family bought a home on the Manset Shore where Bob Hinckley's home is presently located. Her heart was stolen by a local man, Peter T. Benson, my father. I'm not sure how they met, but my mother's family was not pleased when their lovely daughter very quietly eloped without notice to anyone.
Peter and Katherine enjoyed a long life together, having six children.
Looking Back
From the Bar Harbor Times archive at the Jessup Library in Bar Harbor
Jan. 14, 1903 according to the Bar Harbor Record
John L. Stanley and Sons of Manset are making plans to build an extension of 20 feet to their wharf in order that the steamboats may make a landing. At present the only landing is made at Southwest Harbor, which is nearly two miles by land. This has been a great inconvenience, especially in the summer season. All will appreciate Mr. Stanley's efforts to secure a better service.
Collected by: Janet and Wayne Patton
From the Archive Collections Committee:
If you have something that would help preserve the history of Southwest Harbor and can part with it, please let the Historical Society know:
Mail: P.O. Box 272 Southwest Harbor, ME 04679
Telephone: (207) 244-9264
E-Mail: swhhistory@yahoo.com
Rebecca Carlson
Web Site
Southwest Harbor Historical Society now has its own web site, with an easy-to-remember address: SWHHS.org (think SWH Historical Society organization.) The simple site offers a list of upcoming events, a sampling of historical photos, a partial archive of past newsletters, plus a mail-in membership form. It also includes a page of organizational details, such as the mission statement, telephone number, mail and e-mail address, Officers, Directors, and By-Laws. Bruce Komusin, a member of the Board of Directors, designs and hosts the site, at no cost to the society.
President's Message:
This is our first issue of the "Sou'West Voyage" since I assumed office as President. I hope we can continue the slow but steady progress made the past several years within the SWH Historical Society. We want to provide you, our members, with entertaining and educational reading which clearly records not only what our society has been doing in recent months, but also what the citizens of Southwest Harbor were doing in bygone years. Those of you fortunate enough to have attended some of our historical programs know that, through the efforts of our talented and energetic staff, and some excellent guest speakers, we have presented some wonderfully nostalgic, often humorous, and occasionally bittersweet chapters of the Southwest Harbor story. Those of you who missed some of the "performances" can console yourselves by reading about our efforts in these pages.
We hope to continue growing and improving our organization in the coming months. In this regard, we have added several sections to the newsletter to better reflect our activities: New Memberships, Members in Memoriam, Special Donations, Recent Historical Acquisitions, Historical Questions Corner and (possibly) a "Burnham Article" from our dedicated historical researchers, John & Becky Burnham.
One final thought: We cannot continue to grow and improve without YOUR continued support as members. Membership fees and separate donations of money or historical documents and artifacts are always appreciated. But we also need your energy and talents to assist wherever you can: Serving on the Board of Directors, researching historical topics of your interest, supporting our work projects, perhaps even a guest appearance on an historical program? Please consider helping us in some way - we certainly share a lot of good memories and laughs when we meet!
Phil Whitney
President
NOTICE: The Historical Society has a time capsule that we would like to have filled. We need to have two or three people that would take on this project.
The Society will be responsible for having it sealed and buried but we need some extra hands to gather Information.
Please respond to 244-9264 or SWH Historical Society, PO Box 272, SWH, 04679 if you can help.
Recent Activities:
We normally slow down our pace during the winter months to recover from the hectic pace of our Summer Program season. This Winter has been no different. We have been concentrating our efforts on preparing a photo booklet for distribution this Summer on the history of Manset / Seawall. Several workshops have been held over the Winter, and members reviewed dozens of photos from the Patton Collection, selecting only the best quality and most historically significant for inclusion in the book. Ralph Stanley was able to provide some background history and little-known anecdotes for many of the photos. The final result should prove very informative and entertaining to purchasers, especially to those who grew up in that area of SWH.
Upcoming Events:
The Summer Season Program schedule is a work in progress. For the inaugural presentation in May, Board of Directors Member Joe Marshall (aka "Maurice Marshall" for autograph seekers) will present a program on "Town Characters of Southwest Harbor". This promises to be a funny and heart-warming look back at some of those unique individuals who made their contributions to our local history in unusual ways over the years.
Other projected programs which are planned include:
June 17
Park Theatre / McEachern & Hutchins Building Retrospective
July 15
Local Marine Archaeology / Shipwrecks
[topic changed to "Local Businesses" after newsletter was printed]
August 19
Summer Rusticators
September 16
Pemetic High School Sports Programs
October 21
SWH Fires
These shows are in the early stages of planning, and are subject to change.
Within the next several weeks, we will be spending time at the Chamber of Commerce offices (currently the Historical Society home) setting up an archive storage room and filing system for document storage
Phil Whitney
Last Issue's 'Where and When?'
This is Newman Wharf on the left and Parker Wharf on the right. The Parker wharf location is where Hinckley's dock is now. The only call we got on this was from Jarvis Newman, since it had belonged to his family. Thanks Jarvis!
Where and When?
As we have said before, we are starting to put together our first photo history book. This book will focus on Manset and Seawall. We have many pictures already, but are looking for new ones to add. Also, we are always looking for more history. Sources of history can be articles from newspapers, pamphlets, stories, books, programs, as well as personal knowledge. If you think you can help, come to our work-sessions, email us, write to us or call. Any help will be appreciated.
Wayne & Janet
McEachern & Hutchins is getting closer to being finished. By the time the next newsletter is published they will be settled into their new home. We wish them well.
We are starting to get queries from readers who are looking for answers to questions. We will answer what we can, but will also put the questions to other readers to see if they can provide more or different information.
QUERIES RECEIVED
We received this picture from Mary Opdyke and Amiee (Jellison) Wallace who wondered if we knew anything about these initials and who might have put them in the granite at Seawall. It is located on the Boston Ledge. Is there anyone who knows anything about this?
Another person is wondering if we know of a man who carved decoys and would have put "OB Ward, Seal Cove" on the bottom of a Canadian goose decoy.
If you can help us with either of these questions, please contact the Society. Also, if you have any questions you would like asked, or comments you would like to make, we would welcome them both.
We are saddened by the loss of several members of our community
In Memorium:
| Wayne P. Libhart | Karel Weissberg |
| Winfield Perry Murphy Jr. | Hilda Berry |
| Thirza Chandler Wass | Shirley Berry Soares |
| Elizabeth King |
We were all saddened to hear of the passing of Elizabeth King, who was the most recent holder of the Southwest Harbor Boston Post Cane. Elizabeth was given the cane last July and held it until her passing on April 20, 2009.
A reminder
If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about the newsletter please let us know at 