Amanda Skofield Memorial
<p><strong>Inscription on gravestone:</strong><br />Amanda M. Harris<br />wife of<br />Charles E. Skofield<br />February 9, 1837<br />September 5, 1920<br /><br /><strong>Inscription on temple:</strong><br />Erected to the Sacred Memory of a Gentle and Loving Mother by her Devoted Sons MCMXXVII<br /><br /></p>
Amanda Melvina Harris Gilpatrick Skofield was born February 9, 1837 in Weston, Maine, in Aroostook County.<br /><br />Between December 1859 and July 1882, Amanda give birth to 13 children: Martha Ella, Thomas J., Charles R., and George H. Gilpatrick by her first husband, Thomas; and Frederick, Abbie Blinn, Blinn Williams, Ray Lester, Myrtie, Don Donworth, Dicky, Perley Fiske, and Frank by her second husband, Charles Ellis Skofield. Remarkably, each of her 13 children was a life birth and only two children, Thomas J. Gilpatrick and Myrtie Skofield died in childhood, at ages two and four, respectively.<br /><br />Mrs. Skofield’s ultimate claim to fame appears to be the love and devotion of her sons, who build a Tholos temple over her gravesite, similar in form to that found at the Oracle of Delphi. The reason for this architectural form may be due to news of French excavations at Delphi, starting in 1892, that would have appeared in newspapers and magazines of the day proclaiming the revelation that Delphi was a feminine deity shrine.<br /><br />Five of Mrs. Skofield's children with their spouses and children are buried in a ring surrounding the Greek-style temple.
Temple: 1927
Photographs: 2012
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
<a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=39264130" target="_blank">Amanda Melvina Harris</a> Skofield at Find A Grave.
Marble
English
Greek Revival
Grave site of U.S. Vice President Hannibal Hamlin
<strong>Inscription:</strong><br />Hannibal Hamlin
Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was the 15th Vice President of the United States (1861-1865), serving under President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War. He was the first Vice President from the Republican Party.
Prior to his election in 1860, Hamlin served in the United States Senate, the House of Representatives, and, briefly, as the 26th Governor of Maine.
Stone: ca. 1891
Photograph: 2013
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2013 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
Granite
English
Greek revival
Burial Lots for Charity
Home for Aged Women
Founded 1872
As industrialization and urban centers expanded in the 19th Century, the traditional extended family infrastructure degraded. In urban settings, family units became fractured and de-centralized, leaving sick and elderly family members without family to take them in when they were no longer able to work or care for themselves. This necessitated a marked the emergency of charitable “homes” and “asylums” to provide refuge for the indigent.
Mount Hope Cemetery Association made several charitable contributions to the City of Bangor in the late 19th Century by setting aside burial lots for Bangor’s Home for Aged Women, the Female Orphan Asylum, and the Children’s Home. Spanning into the early 20th Century, the Cemetery Association also set aside lots for unmarked graves for the Good Samaritan Home (for the unmarked graves of babies born to poor, young, unwed women), the Maine Charity School (later Bangor Theological Seminary) and the Home for Aged Men.
The lot for Bangor's Home for Aged Women includes 53 burials. The first burial in the lot is that of Nancy C. Blagden, who died Nov. 15, 1876. Edna B. Shute, 1897-1971, was the final occupant of the home with a dated interment at the site.
Unidentified
Lot: 1876
Photograph: 2013
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
Marble
English
Block stone
Rufus Dwinel Sarcophagus
1804 Rufus Dwinel 1869
Rufus Dwinel was a former mayor of Bangor and a millionaire lumber baron. His greatest competitor was Samuel Veazie whose pride, Dwinel is said to enjoy tweaking. <br /><br />Dwinel, was one of a group of prominent Bangor businessmen who organized the April 13, 1861 mob attack on the Bangor Democrat newspaper. The editor of the Democrat, Copperhead Marcellus Emery, was a supporter of State’s Rights. In order to protect the Bangor troops from “fire from the back” the mob was formed to destroy the presses, throwing them into the street and burning them along with the office furnishings.<br /><br />Dwinel and all other prominent businessmen were found not guilty during the following trial, held in Waldo. Samuel S. Mann and John Tabor were among the four men appointed by the mob to smash the press, were found guilty of charges and ordered to pay $916.60 in restitution, which was said to have been covered by the wealthy co-conspirators. In January 1872, Dwinel's estate settled with Emery for the destruction of the Bangor Democrat in the amount of $3000 in consideration of a legal release and discharge of action "from all parties with an interest therein..."<br /><br />During his life, Dwinel was noted to be a gregarious personality who was consistently pursued by mothers on behalf of daughters in need of a mate. Dwinel, however, never married. Following his death on September 29, 1869, Dwinel's Last Will and Testament reveals Dwinel's generous nature as he bequeathed more money and gifts than his estate possessed. <br /><br />His most significant bequest was to Emmeline Thomas, his loyal housekeeper of 20 years. In addition to the sum of $1250 per year for the remainder of her natural life, Dwinel gave his housekeeper $5000 to purchase a home for herself, her parents, and sisters, $1000 to furnish the house in addition to $1500 worth of Dwinel's own furnishings, $3000 worth of books and pictures, his silver service and silverware, as well as his horse "Billy, sleigh and harnesses. Finally, he provided $1000 annually "for her to use for charitable objects and purposes." <br /><br />Although legend holds that Dwinel is interred within the sarcophagus, the marker is in fact carved from solid Tennessee sandstone and Dwinel is interred beneath the monument.
Edward F. Meany, marble and freestone worker, Boston, Massachusetts
Last Will and Testament of Rufus Dwinel.
Stone: 1872
Photograph: 2013
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
Tennessee sandstone with granite pillars
English
Elevated sarcophagus
mhc_2012.8
Gravestone of Charles A. Thatcher
Inscription:<br />Charles A. Thatcher<br />Capt. U.S. Navy<br />Killed near the mouth of the Red<br />River, Louisiana, while in the<br />service of his country,<br />commanding U.S. Gunboat<br />Gazelle<br />Nov. 26, 1864,<br />Aged 27 Years.<br /><br />
Lieutenant Charles A. Thatcher, son of George A. and Rebecca Billings Thatcher of Bangor, Maine, commander of the Union gunboat <em>U.S.S. Gazelle</em>, a side-wheel steamers, on the Red River, Mississippi, when he was attacked and killed by two Confederate guerrillas at Raccourci, near Williamsport, Mississippi. <br /><br />Lieutenant-Commander John J. Cornwell, U.S. Navy, commanding Second and Third Districts, Mississippi Squadron, reported to Brigadier-General Daniel Ullmann, that the two rebels not only murdered Thatcher but mutilated his body. Cornwell pledged retaliation and carried out an attack against local residents, burning stores of corn, sugar, and molasses as well as the buildings in which the resources were stored. He also commandeered all the livestock that was found.<br /><p>Thatcher’s mutilated body was returned by rail to Bangor, Maine for burial using funds from his own estate, which he provided for prior to leaving to serve. A gold pocket watch believed to be Thatcher’s was also sent to the family, which returned it after confirming that the watch did not belong to the Lieutenant. Thatcher is buried in the family plot in Mt. Hope Cemetery, located directly across from the Superintendent’s house. </p>
Stewart, Charles W. (1914). <em>Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion</em>, Series 1, Volume 26. Washington, D.C. <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=sT1AAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA745&dq=Report+of+Brigadier-General+Ullmann,+U.S.+Army,+requesting+instructions+as+to+retaliation+for+the+death+of+Acting+Master,+U.S.+Navy,+November+25&hl=en&sa=X&ei=UPpjVOaPBPGZsQSf1IDoAg&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Report%20of%20Brigadier-General%20Ullmann%2C%20U.S.%20Army%2C%20requesting%20instructions%20as%20to%20retaliation%20for%20the%20death%20of%20Acting%20Master%2C%20U.S.%20Navy%2C%20November%2025&f=false" target="_blank">pp. 745-746</a>. Online.
Stone: ca. 1864
Photograph: 2012
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
Marble
English
Tablet
mhc_2012.7
Charles A. Peavey Monument
Inscription:<br />Charles A. Peavey<br />1846-1891<br />His wife<br />1850 Martha Howard 1924<br />1872 Ralph A. Peavey 1934<br />His wife<br />1877 Louise C. Peavey 1961
Charles A. Peavey and James H. Peavey were the grandsons of Joseph Peavey, inventor of the peavey logging tool that combined a solid socket cant hook with a pike to create a reliable, versatile tool used by workers in the logging industry.<br /><br />Demand for the tool was such that the business quickly outgrew Peavey's blacksmith shop in Stillwater and relocated to Old Town. Following Joseph Peavey's death, his grandsons moved the company to Exchange Street in Bangor. The Bangor Edge Tool, Co. shared a forge with Job Collett, manufacturer of files and rasps. The company continues to operate today under the name Peavey Manufacturing, Co., in Eddington, Maine.
S.P. Bradbury & Sons
Monument: ca. 1880-1900
Photograph: 2012
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
<a href="http://peaveymfg.com/" target="_blank">Peavey Manufacturing Company</a>
Granite
English
Ball and pedestal
Grave of George A. Thatcher
<strong>Inscription:</strong><br />George A. Thatcher<br />Son of Samuel & Sally<br />Thatcher<br />Born Aug. 21, 1806<br />Died Dec. 1, 1885<br /><em>My faith looks up to Thee</em>
The husband of Rebecca Jane Billings Thatcher, a cousin to Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau referred to George Thatcher as "the relative" who accompanied him on his trips in the word, <em>The Maine Woods</em>.
S.P. Bradbury & Sons
Stone: ca. 1885
Photograph: 2012
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
Marble
English
Tablet
mhc_2012.5
City of Bangor Receiving Tomb
Constructed in 1868, the Receiving Tomb served as a storage facility for the bodies of citizens who died during the winter months when interments could not take place due to the frozen ground. Designed by architect, Charles G. Bryant.
Charles G. Bryant
<a href="http://bangorinfo.com/Focus/focus_mount_hope_cemetery.html" target="_blank">Bangor in Focus: Mount Hope Cemetery</a><a href="http://bangorinfo.com/Focus/focus_mount_hope_cemetery.html" target="_blank"><br /></a>
Tomb: 1868
Photograph: 2012
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
Granite
Gothic Revival
mhc_2012.2
Grave marker of Joseph H. Marie Junin
<strong>Inscription:</strong> <br />Here lies the Remains of <br />Joseph H. Marie Junin <br />of La Rochelle in France <br />who departed this Life <br />the 18th Feby AD 1791, <br />In the 32d Year of his Age, <br />& the second Year of the <br />E'ra fo the French Liberty <br />Carrying with him <br />to the Grave <br />the sorrows of all <br />who knew him <br />May his soul rest in peace
Joseph H. Marie Junin was the first European settler murdered in Bangor, Maine. Junin was a French merchant, trapper, and trader who was suspected of acting as a British agent in 1777, using his influence with Native American tribes to generate trouble for the American Revolutionaries.<br /><br />On the evening of February 18, 1791, Junin's nephew, Louis Parnneau, raised a public alarm claiming that members of the local Native American tribe were planning to kill his uncle. While a posse of settlers were searching the forest for the alleged troublemakers, two shots were heard.<br /><br />Junin was found dead in his bed, shot twice through the head as he lay sleeping and Paronneau was missing. Paronneau was later located down river and arrested. Paronneau reached out to the French consulate in Boston and was granted legal representation. The nephew was ultimately found innocent and released.
Unidentified stone carver.
<a href="http://onagravesubject.blogspot.com/2012/01/mt-hope-virtual-tour-merchant-of-bangor.html" target="_blank">Mt. Hope Virtual Tour: The Merchant of Bangor</a>
Stone: 1791
Photographed: 2012
Kimberly J. Sawtelle
© 2012 Kimberly J. Sawtelle. All rights reserved.
<a href="http://onagravesubject.blogspot.com/2012/01/mt-hope-virtual-tour-merchant-of-bangor.html" target="_blank"> </a>
Slate
English
Shouldered tablet
mhc_2012.1