Family Heirlooms & Mysteries in Maine

Submitted by ancientgenes10 t3_120whzm in Maine

Hey! My name is Jack. I'm really into genealogy, and was recently shocked to find out that my family comes from a line of carriage makers in the Chesterville area. There are apparently carriages they made there over a century ago at the historical society! I stumbled across a ledger on eBay, of all places, from their company (Lovejoy Bros.) from 1880-1908.

I'm curious -- is anybody else descended from carriage makers or Lovejoy's? I thought this might be a fun place to share that random, yet exciting, discovery and see if anybody else is familiar or has interesting Maine family history stories of their own (carriage related or not).

I wrote up a 2-minute read on the specifics of finding the ledger/what it means too, if you're interested in more of the story: https://open.substack.com/pub/jackpalmer/p/stumbling-across-a-long-lost-family?r=1y5e6e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

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Looking forward to your responses!

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Anonymous-Z t1_jdjb31n wrote

Wow interesting read! I also checked out your blog and it’s super cool! Lots of interesting finds you’ve had with not just your family but also others. Also just good writing in general. I look forward to what else you’re planning on posting. Subscribed ✔️

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layne135 t1_jdk3qfv wrote

I am a member of the Farmington Historical Society (next town over). Big lover of history, and we had the B.F. Watson Carriage Makers in Farmington Falls. Would love to chat more. I’ll contact some people who may have connections to Chesterville if you’d like more info.

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ancientgenes10 OP t1_jdkc1be wrote

u/layne135, that would be fantastic. I would love to chat more, too. I know the area was huge for carriage making in that late 19th and early 20th century period. Just a fascinating history. Thanks for connecting, good to meet you!

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Earthling1a t1_jdl4pdy wrote

My great grandfather was a minister in Mars Hill about a hundred years ago (among other places). I have the rolltop desk he bought in 1909, along with the receipt.

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ancientgenes10 OP t1_jdmfmty wrote

That is so neat. Was it passed down, or did you stumble across it in auction/somewhere else?

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Earthling1a t1_jdmqxwv wrote

Went from him to my grandfather (I remember learning to play cribbage with him on one of the pull-out writing shelves). When he died it went to my cousin, and when she died it came to me. I have a few other artefacts from great-grandpaw's time with the desk including a tintype photo of him in front of one of the churches he praught at (teach -> taught :: preach -> praught) and a book of his somewhat religious poetry that he self-published.

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ancientgenes10 OP t1_je017y9 wrote

That is incredible. My grandfather taught me cribbage, too! Funny coincidence -- he lived up in the Rangeley area before he passed. The tintype photo sounds like a special compliment to the desk. Thanks for sharing that. So neat.

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