Gorham Civil War Monument

It was so cold and I was displeased

November 13, 2013 around 3pm

Initial Notes: I actually wrote a paper about this monument my freshman year here at University of Southern Maine. I believe it was for United States History since the 1900s with Professor Eagan and we had to chose a monument or outside event to write a short paper on. So, not to sound like an absolute hipster (even though I certainly do look like one) I did know about this monument since my first week or so attending this school. Whereas, yes, a lot of students who attend this university do not know what this monument is and don't really care to take the few minutes to walk over to it to find out.

Reaction: The Gorham Civil War Monument is made out of Italian marble and granite. It cost a whopping $3,060 to create. The column is twenty-four feet tall and is surrounded by a black iron fence with a small gate at the front. The monument was designed by William Johnson who was from Malden, Massachusetts (so from away). The monument has military emblems and a eagle perched upon the very top of it. There are fifty-seven names inscribed upon the sides of monuments. What is interesting about this monument is not only are the men's names on the monument, but their birth date/death date, where they served, and where they died. This monument holds so much historical significance and information all in one place. No monuments I can think of have this much or detailed information about the people it is in memorial of.

Courtesy of Professor Libby Bischof, I have a lot of information on this monument that is helping me write this entry. I wish I had this information when I had to write my paper three or so years ago. The monument was erected and created because of the generosity of Toppan Robie who was a influential citizen of Gorham, Maine. Robie offered to erect the monument in October of 1865 and it was on October 18, 1866 that it was officially dedicated to the men who had perished during the Civil War. On the day it was dedicated hundreds of people showed up. Townspeople, families of the soldiers, veterans, and notable dignitaries were among the people who arrived to see the monument be dedicated. The amount of people in attendance shows how important this was to the town and to the people it was made for. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was also there and gave the primary oration "Dead on the Field of Honor".

Robie wanted to create the monument to honor all the men who perished on the battlefield or even afterwards from their wounds. He wanted it placed in front of the Town House, which leads to a fact I did not originally know. The art house on the Gorham campus used to the Gorham's town hall. So, back when it was originally erected everyone in Gorham saw the monument on a daily basis. It could not be ignored, so the sacrifices of the men who served were not forgotten because people could always see it and acknowledge it.

Now, however, that building is not the town house. It is an art exhibit on a college campus where most students don't take the time to find out what this monument is. This project has been both enlightening and somewhat depressing. There are so many historical things around this great state that have been forgotten. So many influential and important people that aren't recognized anymore, landmarks that are overgrown and destroyed. I may only be a History minor, but this project has made me want to see these historical sites revived and restored, acknowledged again!

The Gully

It was quite a ways up from the Gully where I was!

 November 9, 2013 around 2pm

Initial Notes: I have known about the gully with the oven shaped cavern on my road since practically my birth. I mean, how could I not? My road is named after it in Maine's quirky tradition of being super creative and original when it comes to naming things. My whole life I have received the same quizzical look when they hear I live on Gully Oven Road. 

"Gully Oven? What is that?"
"...There's a gully....shaped like an oven..." Is usually my tired, bored response, "We're real creative where I'm from."

But there is more to it than that now that I have done a little research. But before I go into my detailed reaction of the Gully Oven, I first want to mention I am happy it is in good condition. I had been done to it many times growing up since it is literally a ten minute walk from my house, but it was nice to see it hadn't been trashed. There were obvious signs that people have gatherings down there with a campfire pit, but it wasn't horrendous. The wooden path that leads down to it is actually still intact, along with the stone tables at the top of the "park".

Reaction: My road and its crowning glory, the Gully Oven, have been dubbed Lebanon, Maine's chief curiosity. Glamorous, I know. But in all seriousness, it is a really cool piece of natural history with an equally fascinating story. 

Gully Oven was a long kept secret of New England geologists because of how beautiful and unique it is. It is part of the Gully Oven Formation. As the article on Fosters.com I found says, "Deeply gouged thousands of years ago into a steep bedrock cliff by swirling glacial melt water, Gully Oven was likely used for centuries as a Native American meeting place. It was the site of a 18th century Indian captivity episode." Gully Oven is beloved by geologists because it contains so many rare and unique properties, it is no wonder they tried to keep it a secret! 

Gully Oven is full of graffiti. When Zack and I went we thought it might have just been local teenagers who had carved their names into the walls, but in fact it wasn't. We thought to ourselves, "This graffiti looks too elegant. Too clean." Turns out it was local Victorian era people who lived in Lebanon who had left the graffiti. So, as it turns out, Gully Oven is actually a place where there are surviving examples of 19th century graffiti. (Pictures of these can be seen on Zack's blog)

Gully Oven has many other interesting stories, one of which includes a 19th century Norwegian virtuoso violinist by the name of Ole Bull. Bull was a performer and composer. He was internationally famous for his work. He was also a leading philanthropist of the Kingdom of Norway. In the summer of 1871 he came to West Lebanon, Maine to spend his summer. His daughter and heiress, Olea Bull Vaughan, was born that summer and lived her life there. Where Bull and Gully Oven connect is the story of one summer night in 1871 he gave an outdoor concert for the local townspeople in Gully Oven. I had heard stories and rumors of a violinist who played in the Gully Oven because the acoustics and echo were really great there, but never really thought much of it until now. 

A story that dates back far before the story of Ole Bull, is the story of Phillip Door. During the Old French/Indian War, Phillip was only eleven years old. He was captured by Indians six miles from Gully Oven, but on the their way back to Canada, they spent the succeeding night in the Oven. Door was detained for many years by the Indians that originally captured him, but he was finally returned. Door said when he was captured he had been sitting on a fence singing "As sure as eggs are bacon/I'll go to Canada and won't return/Till Canada is taken." It is kind of ironic he was then captured and brought to Canada. Phillip Door actually ended up being one of the founders of my town, Lebanon, after his return. Also, fun fact, Lebanon was originally called "Towow" or "Towwoh". 

There is so much history surrounding this natural phenomenon on my road! It was kind of hard to believe so much had happened there and that it is actually this really rare piece of history and I live right next to it!

To give you an idea of how high up I was and how big the Gully is!

This stone at the top of the "park" had a memorial etched into it, but it was hard to read.

Camp Hill Cemetery

November 9, 2013 around 1pm

Initial Notes: It is apparent that this cemetery has been long forgotten. Well, maybe not long forgotten since there were pretty new American flags placed next to a majority of the headstones. But it is quite evident that there is no one who actually maintains the cemetery. As you can see from the pictures it is completely covered in, probably, a good six inches of leaves. A lot of the headstones are broken, have fallen over, and are so worn from the weather that you can't even read the names on them. Although, fallen branches had been dragged off to the side, but not disposed of. This was actually the first time I had ever actually stepped foot into the cemetery. What struck me as well was how randomly the graves were spread out. There were clusters of headstones then large expanses of nothing, then were were be three or four squished together, and then some evenly spread out. There was no exact or precise layout to the cemetery. 

Reaction: According to the very little I could find out about this cemetery it is very, very old. Many of Lebanon's early settlers are buried within this cemetery, which is why it is such a shame that it has not been maintained. It is surprising the lack of care it has received when other structures such as the Town Pound have received so much attention. It could be because Lebanon is such a small town or that no one really knows it is there. I mean, my road, Gully Oven Road, was only just finally completely paved a few years back. So, to say the least, Lebanon is a bit behind the times and usually forgotten in general. 

From what I could see and read on the worn medals and headstones a lot of the people buried within the cemetery served in the Revolutionary War and Civil War. In fact, most of the cemetery is made up of veterans of these two wars. Apparently, for the War of the Rebellion, Lebanon offered 121 three years men for the army, but apparently they never received any credit from authorities. I believe some were even firefighters if I could read the medals correctly. It is a little melancholy to see all these bright new American flags with old, crumbling medals on them placed next to headstones that have been sitting there being worn down by all the elements for countless years. The people buried in this cemetery probably don't even have any living relatives left or maybe relatives that don't even realize they have ancestors in this cemetery. The fact that so many war veterans are buried in this cemetery is baffling to me that there is not more attention given to it. There isn't even a sign or anything noticeable to mark that it is even there. Honestly, if I didn't live on the road and know it was there I probably would have never noticed it. 

I think this cemetery is an example of how history can be lost in small towns. There are no extremes to living in a small town it seems. It can be like the town pound where there is a society that is paying to maintain it and keep its history and story alive, or it can be forgotten when the people who did originally care or know about it pass away or move away. Small towns are treasure troves of history, but people need to take the time to realize it is there.

Lebanon Town Pound

November 9 2013 around Noon

Initial Notes: Honestly, I have noticed this thing sitting on the side of the road since I was young. I've lived in Lebanon my entire life (other than the three or so days I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts after my birth which apparently make it so I am "from away"). I have never given much thought to it growing up, just thinking it was some weird stone thing that no one really cared about. Then I took this class and when this project was mentioned I instantly thought of this thing. It is in really great condition for being so old and no on really seems to bother it. It has never been vandalized and there was no trash around it. The grass was cut and nothing was overgrown. The town seems to really care about this piece of history.

Reaction: The Lebanon Town Pound for stray farm animals was built in 1813. In 2001 it was restored by the Lebanon Historical Society. It was restored in memory of Harriette M. Hersom and unfortunately I could not find any information on her. I can only assume from the plaque that she donated a lot of money and time to the Lebanon Historical Society in life, so they decided to restore this piece of history in her memory.

After some research I have found that these types of pounds were common in New England early in the colonial era. According to Susan Allport author of Sermons in Stone and Elizabeth Banks MacRury author of Town Pounds in New England, these town pounds in Massachusetts alone date back to 1635. Town pounds were initially made of wood fencing, but they often times had to be rebuilt due to wear and tear. This led to towns preferring to make their pounds out of stone because it lasted a lot longer (obviously since we can still find them in New England towns). This transition began in 1740 and by 1800 all town pounds were made of stone. The point of the town pounds was to have a common area that people could bring stray animals that were lost, a problem, or illegally roaming around. The pounds were common and regularly used from the 1600s till the late 1800s. 

Town pounds that have survived represent many different time periods and building techniques. We can see from looking at the ones that are still around the way buildings have changed and techniques. A lot of the pounds were restored in the 20th Century by historical societies looking to maintain their town's history (as is what they are for). The restoration usually only involves replacing stones that may have fallen because the bases of the walls tend to be pretty sturdy and reliable. 

The Lebanon Town Pound is located on Center Street. It is a round pound that has an open entrance. The entrance is topped with a lintel stone and has a vertical stone slab on either side of the entrance. This is apparently an unusual feature of town pounds. 

What I love so much about my town's pound is how interesting its history is. If I hadn't taken this Maine History course I never would have thought to actually research the pound. I just always thought it was a random stone wall, but now apparently the stone walls and structures around New England and my hometown are quite important to American History. There are people who have written entire books about these things! What else I love is how this concept shows how close knit small communities and towns were back in the 1600s. The towns just build a round circle out of stone and were like "Hey, if anyone's cows get loose just put them in here". I mean, I'm sure it was more elegantly discussed and decided, but that's the gist of the concept. People in New England, and Maine especially, were and even still today very close knit. The communities of people that live in Maine trust each other, but not outsiders and people from away. They could trust that their livestock and any other animals would be put into these town pounds for them to retrieve. I just really admire the collective idea of the towns and people to have thought to build these structures. 

It was really freaking windy that day at the Pound

Zack got lost, so I brought him to the pound

The wind eventually died down so I could get my selfie