Item 9535
Letter about living conditions in Aroostook County, ca. 1845 / Maine Historical Society
Chapter 8, page 251-252.
In this unsigned letter, ca. 1845, the author discusses the settling of Aroostook County and problems there.
The letter mentions the flight of French-Canadian immigrants from Nova Scotia, and describes their distinctive culture.
Problems included a lack of roads in the area.
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Item 9530
Chapter 8, page 250.
As farmers began to switch from grain and beef to vegetables and fruits, canneries began to buy from Maine farmers.
This 1888 blueberry lease between the Milbridge Packing Company in Cherryfield and John B. Sprague stipulates that the blueberries picked from the property be delivered to the company factories. Proper picking and harvesting procedures were stressed.
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Item 1467
Chapter 8, page 250.
A canning label for the Rosemary brand Maine blueberries from the Pleasant River Canning Co. in Columbia Falls.
Item 9605
Selected entries from the Chamberlain family day book, 1851 / Maine Historical Society
Chapter 8, page 248-249.
Many families, like the Chamberlains of Bristol, kept a day book or journal detailing events on the farm or homestead.
This page of entries, from 1851, records the agricultural activities of the family, and mentions crops of oats, barley, wheat, corn, beans, peas and pumpkins.
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Item 9164
Chapter 8, page 248-250.
The Maine Dairymen's Association was one of many new agricultural organizations dedicated to improving dairy farming in Maine in 1898-1899.
Item 6710
Chapter 8, page 250.
The Lovell Corn Shop was built in the early 1890s by James P. Baxter and Sons of Portland. Lovell farmers planted corn for the shop, and local residents worked husking corn at four and five cents a basket.
During this era, the canning industry was booming in Maine, and canned Maine sweet corn was known throughout the country for its superior quality.
Item 1471
Chapter 8, page 250.
The Jewett Canning Company packed corn as well as many other vegetables at its packing plants in Norridgewock and Wilton.
Item 1486
Chapter 8, page 250.
A sardine packing plant in Eastport shows the workers and working conditions in a typical packing factory.
Item 4149
Chapter 8, page 250.
The Portland Packing Company produced this label in 1867. The canning of fish, lobster, crab, vegetables and fruits became a very important industry in Maine during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Item 8178
Potato diggers with wagon load of potatoes, Washburn, 1910 / University of Maine at Presque Isle Library
Chapter 8, page 251-252.
Potato diggers work in Aroostook County in 1910. The horse-drawn wagon is loaded with potato barrels.
Item 4199
Chapter 8, page 252.
William Widgery Thomas was born in Portland in 1839 and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1860. He was sent to Sweden as a "war consul" by President Abraham Lincoln.
Thomas was impressed with Sweden and the people there and advocated for Swedish immigration in Maine.
In 1870, the Maine Legislature approved his plan to establish the colony of New Sweden north of Caribou.
He helped 51 Swedes, representing various skills and trades, come to Maine. They arrived in New Sweden July 23, 1870.
Thomas referred to these settlers as his "children in the woods" and they referred to him as "Father Thomas."
He lived among them for one or two years in his own log cabin. By 1895 New Sweden had grown to 1,500 residents.
