The then well-known former Rangeley and Phillips hotelier Sam Farmer authored the following article for the February 7, 1908, edition of the Maine Woodsman newspaper. At the time of this writing Farmer had moved on and was seeking a new life in Kansas. He was a prolific writer and had been a successful promoter of Rangeley prior to his move west. Among those efforts was a popular tourist guidebook of the region. Enjoy what follows and be sure to make some great Rangeley “recollections” of your own!

(Contemporary commentary shared in Italics).

RANGELEY DURING THE WAR (Civil War)

SAM FARMER WRITES OF THE EARLY BEGINNINGS IN 1860.

Hotels Around the Lakes That Entertained Sportsmen and Something About Hay and Sheep in Those Early Days.

Written for Maine Woodsman. Arkansas City, Kan., Jan. 1, 1908 – This will be a description of Rangeley and vicinity from 1860 to the present time. Forty-eight years ago, my first trip up there was the next day after voting for Abraham Lincoln the first time in 1859. I bought the Burke farm, where the sons of the late Joel Hinkley now live, and was all winter until March getting moved and taking possession. It was the hardest job of my life. There was but one way to get there and that was over Blake hill, and such snow drifts I had never seen. My first load was a dozen or more barrels of green apples. When ascending Beach hill, I got into snow drifts and was four hours getting to the top of the hill. If it had not been for the late Luther Nile, who overtook and helped me out, I would have had to leave the apples to freeze and taken shelter at a house on top of the hill. As it was, I got through at 9 o’clock, and never in my life was I so tired and sick of my undertaking, but the old saying proved true, “a bad beginning is liable to make a good ending.” No doubt there have been many others who have seen harder times and suffered greater hardships in going over the road from Madrid to Rangeley than we, but they deserve lots of sympathy. At that time there were but a few log houses on that road and their accommodations were very limited to entertain, overnight especially. We had no idea of what was coming to Rangeley when we moved there but went there knowing it to be a great grass country, and raising stock was what we wanted to do. Our farm was then cutting 100 tons of hay annually, so things were coming our way. As it happened, the war broke out in 1861. I knew not why, but I was impressed to buy a large flock of sheep, I had heard of down in Farmington, which was offered for $1.50 a head, and lambs $1.16 2-3 apiece. I bought the lot, 160 head. The pastures were dry, feed short and sheep thin, hut our grass was good and fresh, and the sheep gained rapidly. The war broke out and great demand was made for clothing for the soldiers, so sheep and wool went up by leaps and bounds. I bought our sheep in August of ’61 and in November a part of the sheep had got fat and sold readily for $6 a head, so less than 1-4 of my flock brought enough cash to pay the cost of the whole flock. The next season wool sold for $1.00 a pound. I kept increasing my flock until I had 500 head and the wool kept up for a number of years, also the sheep.

(It is hard to imagine but by this point Franklin County actually had more ‘improved acres’ or ‘cleared’ land purposed for dairy and sheep farms than it did FORESTED land! The axe had felled the majority of the wooded lands from Rangeley to the south. However, a thriving lumbering economy remained in the northern part of the county).

In 1861 the south bombarded Fort Sumpter and war – was declared and everything was set whirling. Soldiers were enlisted everywhere and there was a great stir among the people everywhere. Many were going into the army, others were skedaddling (Draft dodging) to Canada and other places and quite a few were seeking shelter in the woods in the vicinity of Rangeley and Dead River. At that time there was no hotel in the whole section though in a few places people were entertained in private families at such places as sportsmen had been wont to stop among which was one at the head of the lake at Greenvale where Uncle David Hoar had entertained sportsmen for many years, another was Uncle Jos. Hoar’s one mile up the lake. Still another at Sam Farmer’s on the J. A. Burke place one-half mile further up and beside was the old Haley place where Rangeley village now is and at Quimby Pond Uncle David Quimby entertained some. This was then on the way to Kennebago lake. Also, Cornelius T. Richardson and George Soule each had camps at Indian Rock. We had a new house with 12 rooms and two barns, one 101 feet long and 40 feet wide, the other 36 feet square, and could do but little but entertain company, free, but I soon found I must put out a sign and I named it Mooselookmeguntic House. It was the first hotel sign ever hung out this side of Beech Hill (big Hill just north of Phillips), and as we had the post office, it at once became the most central point at the lakes. My old friend, E. D. Prescott, had bought the David Hoar place at the head of the lake, which was then headquarters for fishermen, an old-fashioned farmhouse of moderate size, but a very hospitable place. Mr. Prescott had started in to do a hotel business and commenced to enlarge his quarters, and a few months later put out his sign, The Greenvale House, named for the plantation. Ot course a little competition was the result. We had both come from the south part of the county and were quite well acquainted with most all the people. But the few squads of sportsmen coming there at that time knew no other place to stay. Besides it was one of the best points for early fishing in the spring of the year when the fish commenced running up the stream coming from Long Pond, a most famous place. Of course, we did not expect the sportsmen to leave such a famous place, where they had always received such fine treatment at the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Prescott and daughter, Miss Emma, who then was a small girl and now is the wife of Mr. Eugene Shepard of Phillips, and mother of two grown up children, Arthur and Everdene, the latter now married. Notwithstanding our competition we were always the best of friends and remained so. We were most sorry for Uncle Darwin, who suffered so much the last few years of his life with rheumatics. There are but few people we 1 like so much to see as Mrs. Prescott to whom we paid a short visit last August while in Phillips. She is holding her age remarkably and looks as though she is good for a hundred or more years. But to return to our story. As near as I remember there were less than half a dozen guides in all the Rangeley country in 1860; viz., Uncle Pearly Smith and George Soule, both having camps at Indian Rock, Uncle Sam Clark and G. L. F. Ball, whose son is now located at Grand Lake Stream. The four were all the regular guides we remember. There were a few others who were employed occasionally. Mr. Soule enlisted and went into the army, leaving but three who made guiding a business. C. T. Richardson bought out Uncle Pearly Smith’s camp, boats and paraphernalia at the Rock and afterwards leased or sold the whole thing the Oquossoc Angling association composed mostly of Boston parties with George Shepard Page at the head. We paid Mr. Soule $100 for his camp, furniture and boats, consisting of four awkward looking things. The furniture consisted of some blankets, bedding, some stools to sit on and cooking utensils, etc. At that time there were but very few boats on the lakes, besides bateaux which were used by lumbermen ai d for log driving. Mr. Clark lived in our house and Mr. Ball made headquarters with us. They all built boats of an inferior quality. As the war progressed the travel increased, and some; times our house was packed full and dozens camped in the barn. The only way to Kennebago then was by the Quimby pond with oxen and sleds across, Johns Pond by boat.

-Sam Farmer.