To the editor:
In May, 2015, the Pioneer printed my letter, “Richness of Memory,” about Aroline Howard, whose sister Annie married my father’s first cousin Brayley Webb, of Island Falls. I was concerned because my niece, a genealogist, said that no one living remembered Aroline. Discovering that I, with a memory from the age of about 6, was now the only one living, challenged me: there must be someone else.
Two weeks later an obituary appeared in the Pioneer for Clayton Webb, 91, son of Brayley and Annie (Howard) Webb; he had died on May 24th. I eventually called his widow Charlene, who was extremely cordial, and we talked like long lost relatives – which we were. We marveled at many coincidences, such as her husband’s sharing Porter’s 1885 birth date, just 39 years later.
Charlene and Clayton were both names of my cousins on the Hand side of the family, in Fort Fairfield and Carmel. I was surprised to hear that she knew his entire family – Phyllis and Reid, Ina’s brother, known in the Carmel area as Deacon, and the four boys, all in the Carmel school that Charlene attended. What’s more, the youngest of the four has her on his telephone list, so they talk often. She had visited his mother in Bangor not long before she died last year at 106.
Charlene thought that perhaps she had never heard her husband mention his aunts Annie and Aroline, because she was his second wife, but Clayton’s son did not recall their names, either. She suggested contacting Riva Hawkes, the Pioneer’s Island Falls News columnist, who was very helpful in recalling both the sisters. As a reader of her column, I already felt that it spoke directly to me – about people, but also all the birds, squirrels, groundhogs, deer and other creatures who share her yard.
In the Pioneer of January 13, 2016, I wrote of Lily, a quilter, over 90 in the 1970s, wondering if anyone could have known her then. Richard Hawkins, president of our Houlton High School class, wrote me on his Hawkins House stationery, “Quilting memories! I remember my mother Ethel – sisters Helen Mason, Ella Lizotte – sister-in-law Grace Bates – and friends Mrs. Higgins and Mrs. Romie Bates doing Quilting Bees. What great times and you can’t beat the food, misc. goodies and great pies. Don’t remember Lily, but there were many great quilters back then. Best regards. Dick. Son of a Blacksmith.”
He addressed the envelope with V.I.P. after my name, reminding me of how we used it in high school. When I stopped laughing, I thought, “ Aren’t we all?” The following day a card from a pizza place arrived in the mail, offering to put me on the VIP emailing list. The invitation was addressed to Resident.
Thanks to the Pioneer, I now feel blessed with connections to relatives, to my high school class, and to quilters from the 1940s. All VIPs.
