By Elnora Merrill Pace
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| Dora & Jesse on their wedding day, May 7, 1917 |
My grandparents, Jesse Albion Merrill and Dora Agnes Chubbuck Butters, were married while WWI was still in process. L.L. Bean opened it's doors that same year. The women of Maine were fighting for suffrage and making progress. It was a time of change and a time of uncertainty but also a time of progress.
My grandmother was only 17 at the time of their marriage. My grandfather was four years her senior. They were born almost 100 miles apart (Carroll--next to Springfield and Mars Hill respectively) but because of family moves they both ended up in Prentiss, Maine (also next to Springfield). Living in the same small town they were undoubtedly aware of each other and Jesse at some point asked Dora to a dance. As far as we know, that was their one and only date. It must have been love at first sight since it didn't take more than that for them to be ready to join their lives together. (For an idea of the size of the town, in 2000 there were only 214 people!)
My grandmother was the oldest child of Maybelle Chubbuck and the illegitimate daughter of Alvra Butters. Maybelle had gone to Springfield (or Drew?) to take care of her sister who was sick. Her sister did not get better and died. Maybelle stayed to take care of the little girls; Laura and Cora. It was at this time that she got pregnant with Dora. When Maybelle's mother found out that she was pregnant, she took Maybelle away to Carrol and Alvra Butters wasn't informed of the pregnancy. Dora didn't meet her biological father until she was about 43 years old. She was at the Springfield State Fair with her children Leta, Lois, and Jesse. Her mother brought a stranger to her and said "Dora, I'd like you to meet your father." Alvra said "If I had known, I would have done the right thing." He then took Dora to meet her
half-sisters, Laura and Cora, who were running a hot dog stand. Maybelle was only 17 when she gave birth to Dora. She had a boy, Harris, a year after Dora was born, and then married Harris' father, Fred Glidden, a year after that in 1902. Maybelle had a total of 19 children but six did not survive to adulthood. Her last child was a stillborn baby girl and arrived the same night that Dora gave birth to her fifth child, Leta. Maybelle was 42 years old.
Dora had been sent to Deluth, MI when she was about 4 years old to live with her Aunt Effie. She was then brought home at about the age of 11 to help tend her half brothers and sisters. Her mother's response on seeing her daughter after the seven year separation was "You haven't grown a bit!" Dora was a good worker, though, so I'm sure she was a big help, despite her small size. Dora did not care for her step father and for good reason. Fred Glidden, who was 1/4-1/2 Indian, had a problem with alcohol. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to molest his step-daughter.
So, when the opportunity for marriage presented itself early in life, it is understandable why she was ready. After Dora and Jesse were married by the Justice of the Peace at his home, they returned to live with Jesse's parents, Albion Franklin and Margaret Palmer Merrill, until Jesse was able to build a house of their own. This house that they referred to as the "little place" was home for the birth of most of their 8 children. Their youngest child, Shirley, was the only one to be born in a hospital. It is possible that their eldest two daughters, Elnora and Eunice, were born while the newlyweds were still living with Jesse's parents. (The children of Jesse and Dora are Elnora, Eunice, Haley, Clint, Leta, Lois, Jesse, and Shirley.)
Jesse worked in the woods mostly but he also built a barn and had a few cows. When Jesse Jr. was about 4 1/2 years old, Jesse Sr. purchased a larger home the "Jess McLaughlin place" for his family with a larger barn. They would separate the cream and Dora would make butter. Jesse would then go once a week to Vanceboro on the Canadian border to peddle his wares of butter, buttermilk, eggs etc. He had a pickup truck at this point with a storage box built on the back to hold his products.
The "Jess McLaughlin place" was in sight of the "little place" and Jesse's parents lived between the two homes so family was always close by.
My father, Jesse A. Merrill Jr., has two memories of life while living at "the little place". He vividly remembers someone coming to dehorn the cows and can just remember seeing a lot of blood. His other memory was when he was just a little guy between the ages of 2 and 4. He was outside and his older brother's old red rooster attacked him. Fortunately his Uncle Richard (Dora's half brother) was walking by on his way to visit his mother and came to young Jesse's rescue. (Richard had the same problem with alcohol as his father and several of his brothers and later died in a tragic car crash as a result.)
Lois and Eunice shared a few other memories that they had while they lived at the "Jess place". Their brother, Clint, always wanted to know if it was true that a bumblebee couldn't sting twice. He would grab a bumblebee and hold it in his hand and let it sting him with the intent to keep holding it to see if it would sting a second time. The problem with his experiment was his inability to hold onto it after the initial sting!
The barn had a tall beam at the top with no support. The kids were not supposed to climb up on the beam but Clint and the girls would climb up to walk along it. One time Clint dared the girls to jump off. Leta did. Her knees buckled into her stomach. She felt so sick and went to bed but nobody dared tell Grandma what had happened!
A teacher that they had at this time was very strict with lots of rules. The children's name for her was "Ms. Knock-'m-Stiff. Clint got the strap several times. She would hit the kids if they had to go to the bathroom. One time she hit a little girl across her legs when she didn't know her sounds. The poor little girl had memorized the sounds in order but she wasn't able to say them out of order.
This same teacher also had a "band". She made red capes and hats for them to wear using oatmeal lids. They would play along with the Sousa march. Clint played the drums. Leta played the bells. Haley played the tambourine and Lois played the shingles but eventually graduated to the sticks.
They would also put on 3 act plays and sell homemade ice cream afterwards. One year they were able to buy shades for all the windows of the schoolhouse with their proceeds.
Dora was only able to complete the 8th grade since her help was needed at home. The majority of her children received the same level of education since the high school was six miles away and they had no transportation available. However, Eunice would walk 2 1/2 miles to catch a ride to high school. But then, her junior year her ride quit. The superintendent came and asked her is she would come back to school if he could find her a place to board and work. Eunice agreed if he would let her make up the 1/2 year she missed. She went on to graduate as the salutatorian of her class!
Jesse and Dora's youngest two children, Jesse Jr. and Shirley, were also able to attend high school (but in Hartland) and they too graduated as the salutatorians of their classes!
They remember it being so cold that there would be frost on the bed sheets and even when there was a roaring fire in the fireplace, a pot of water right next to it would freeze!
Leta got to a point where she was "too old" to play with her little brother but Lois still wanted to so she would drag Jr. around. One time they went sliding on the crust. She put Jr. on the sled, belly down, spread his legs apart and knelt between his legs. The crust didn't hold and the sled went down and she landed on top of him and bloodied his nose. She would also drag Jr. to go skiing with her.
Jesse Jr. turned 10 on October 27, 1944 and on November 1 the Merrill family moved to St. Albans, Maine (close to Pittsfield on the above map)and purchased the Almon Avery farm. At this point they had 16-18 cows but the herd was expanded once a new barn was built. The milk was now sold to a creamery and the trips to Vanceboro were discontinued. Jesse and Dora would remain at their St. Albans home until their death. Jesse Jr. took over the family business and continued to farm long after his parents "retired".
possible childhood picture of Alda...Jesse A. Merrill Sr. sister...below are possible photographs of Alda and husband Seward E. Worcester? Alda was supposedly his second wife after first wife died??? I just found these on heirloomsreunited.blogspot.com...they came from an early 1900s photo album of Alda's....Jesse A. Merrill Sr.'s picture in the Geo. H. Barnes Photo. mat was on here as well. If this is Alda she looks like quite a character and I would be excited to claim her! So fun to see old pictures with character!
