2008 Kalloch Newsletter

1867 - KALLOCH NEWSLETTER - 2008

“To be ignorant of what happened before you were born
is to be ever a child.
For what is a man’s lifetime unless the memory of past events
is woven with those of earlier times.”
CICERO (106-43 B.C.) De Oratore

AT THE REUNION: Our 141st reunion will be held August 16 at the Wessaweskeag Historical Society Building in South Thomaston, which is located in the former red school house, corner of Route 73 and Dublin Road. The Historical Society will again cater the lunch. We had a great time there last year, and according to our President, this year will be even better. He has certainly spent a great deal of time working on the agenda and program. Do come and enjoy!

FROM THE PRESIDENT: The reunion committee has developed a program for the 141st reunion that we believe will really get your fancy. Simplified, it is a “PGP” event, meaning prizes, genealogy and photo-op. A raffle and auction will be added to events. We hope to add some entertainment as well, if we have a good turn out of attendees. There are events considered after the reunion, such as a tour of the area and/or dinner. As always, any donations will be appreciated to defray costs. Thank you. I look forward to seeing you all at the reunion.
Alex Gross, President.

NEWSWORTHY: We have several prolific writers in our midst who continue to produce interesting works. Kendall Merriam is a noted playwright, and author of poems and other literary works. Among his latest are The Owls Head General Store Poems, and
Katyn in Literature. He and Marta Crowl recently read poems in English and Polish from his book Hymn to Janina Lewandowska at the Rockland Public Library.

Peter Tufts Richardson, our historian, has written several books on psychology, history, religion and poetry. Last year in Baltimore he presented his new book, Archetype of the Spirit. The book traces patterns of human spirituality in motifs, symbols and practices from earliest examples in pre-history through to present times. All of his books are available for purchase.

Eleanor Motley Richardson is the author of three books: Hurricane Island, North Haven Summers, and Andover, A Century of Change. She recently talked about her new book, Mechanic Street: Uncovering the History of a Maine Neighborhood, at a gathering at the Rockland Public Library. The lecture was illustrated by old and new photos, old maps, and unpublished stories. She based her research on Mechanic Street, where she lives, about people who built their neighborhood. The book has just been published and is available.

NEWSWORTHY (cont'd):
Marilyn Morrison is an historian who consistently researches Kalloch/Keller records. She is the author of many essays included in our newsletters. Among recent essays are “Christopher Stover, Veteran of the Revolutionary War and Wars of 1812”, “Samuel Coombs and Rachael Boyd” and “Finley Keller IV and Jane B. Robinson”. Marilyn lives in Poulsbo, WA.

You may not know this, but our President Alex Gross is an expert in creating very nice gourmet wines, which are produced under the name of “Gross Grotto” Wines. A bottle or two have been offered for auction and raffle at our reunions.

Anita Fernald Nelson is proud to announce the birth of a granddaughter on Dec. 13, 2007. She was named Adrianna Lynne, daughter of Mike Fernald, Jr. and Athena Kiriakou.

Beth Eugley Aroyo, daughter of Sandra and Robert Zimmerman, was married to Nicholas L. Mirowsky on November 10, 2007 at Captiva Island, FL.

Norman Kalloch and Marshall Merriam attended their Rockland High School 45th class reunion October 13, 2007. They were members of the last graduating class of the high school, which is now Lincoln Street Center for the Arts.

Julie Kalloch Raye, owner of House of Cards, has relocated her business to 193 Park Street, Rockland, ME.

The First Baptist Church of Rockland celebrated their 175 Anniversary April 12, 2008 with a “Thanksgiving Dinner” and Special Program. April 13 offered morning and evening worship to its members. This church was founded in 1833 and the first Pastor was Reverend Amariah Kalloch, his son Isaac Kalloch later also preached there. See Page five for Peter Richardson’s essay on the church history.

OBITUARIES: Ronald Walsh, husband of Brenda S. Kalloch, died November 28, 2007. He was Service Manager at Kalloch Fuel Co. in Rockland. Mr. Walsh is survived by his wife of 29 years, his son Andrew, daughter Krista, a brother, two sisters, one grandson, several nieces and nephews.

Elizabeth Adams Kalloch, widow of Robert Kalloch, died October 3, 2007, at Rockland. She is survived by her five stepchildren Donald, Katherine, James, Peter and Eileen, and her sister Sylvia Hocking.

OBITUARIES (cont'd):
Freeman Brewer, Jr., husband of the late Dorothy Rose Kalloch, died October 3, 2007, at Rockport. He is survived by two daughters Linda Hooper and Donna Rackliffe, his companion Muriel McFarland, five grandchildren six great grandchildren.

Barbara Fox Avery, daughter of Belle Kalloch Fox and Francis St. Joseph Fox, great granddaughter of Rev. Isaac S. Kalloch, died March 26, 2008. She is survived by her son Douglas K. Avery.

Fred Parmenter, husband of June Kalloch Parmenter passed away after a long illness, May 20, 2008, at Pinellas Park, Fl. He is survived by his wife June, and two sons, Gregory and Scott

Our condolences go out to the families of our deceased members. Full obituaries may be found on our web site http://kalloch.org .

QUILT SQUARES: We would still like to have more family quilt squares for our wall hanging. They need to be 12 ½ inches square (which allows for a ½ inch seam). Please mail to Evelyn N. Kalloch….thanks.

DONATIONS: Once again we welcome any donations you can give. We have no dues, nor any sources of income other than from the generosity of our members to defray costs of mailings and managing the website. The Kalloch Family Reunion Assn. is a nonprofit group which sponsors annual reunions, promotes research and publications of family genealogy, and undertakes projects of interest for the membership.

MANY THANKS TO: The officers and committees for the planning of our reunion. Thanks to Alex Gross, President for his great ideas for this reunion. Thanks to Norm Kalloch, Jr. who provides the data base and labels for our addressees. Thanks to Ken Kalloch who undertakes the responsibility of the Kalloch website. You will find the Kalloch Home Page at http://kalloch.org. Thanks to years of work by Peter Richardson, Historian and Dean Mayhew, Historian Emeritus, and now Ken Kalloch, we have a tremendous amount of Kalloch history and information.

Three Granddaughters

Finley and Jane (Robinson) Keller were early settlers in Washington Territory, arriving in the 1850s by sailing vessel from East Machias, Maine, and making their home at Port Gamble on Puget Sound. Port Gamble was the site of a new sawmill that Finley had assisted his nephew, Josiah P. Keller, managing partner of the Puget Mill Company, in establishing in 1853. Jane had joined her husband there in 1854. Finley and Jane’s story was told in the 2005 Kalloch Newsletter. Finley and Jane were in their early 50s when they left Maine, not a young age to begin pioneering. A Machias acquaintance who arrived in Washington Territory at about the same time was even less youthful in years, if not in spirit. Henry Harmon, probably widowed by wife Sarah (Berry) before leaving Maine in 1852, was a decade older than Finley and Jane. When he died in Seattle in1866 and received full military funeral honors as a War of 1812 veteran, his obituary gave his age as 80.

Henry Harmon and Finley and Jane Keller had more than their pioneer status and Down East Maine roots in common. They had three granddaughters, born to Henry’s daughter Elmira and Finley and Jane’s son Andrew. Elmira Harmon and Andrew Keller had been married October 9, 1851, in Washington County, Maine.

Andrew and Elmira had remained in Maine when their parents relocated, but soon followed them west. By 1860, they were parents themselves with three daughters: Isabelle, Sarah Jane and Adalana.

Andrew and Elmira were divorced January 17, 1860, by legislative act. Elmira, living then at Port Gamble, Washington Territory, was granted custody of the three children, each child listed by name in the act.

After the published act of the legislature, a legal divorce under the laws of the Territory, we find only one more record of the life of Andrew Keller. He is listed on the 1860 U.S. Census for Teekalet (Port Gamble), August 1, 1860, as a 33-year-old lumberman.

The published divorce act is also the only record we have found of the existence of Andrew and Elmira’s daughter Adalana.

Elmira would lead a long and active life. She was married and divorced three times. Her other husbands were Elijah McAlmond and John Martin. The 1910 U.S. Census for Colorado Springs, Colorado, finds her listed by her maiden name, single, and 70 years old. We do not know how she got from Washington Territory to Colorado. However, there are several Harmons from Maine listed in the Colorado State Census of 1885. She was still there in the year 1930 when another U.S. Census shows her aged 92. She died May 13, 1933, and is buried with other Harmons in the Evergreen Cemetery, Colorado Springs.

Sarah Jane Keller was born about 1853. She was married to James W. Demons June 30, 1867, in the Protestant Methodist Church in Seattle. Both Sarah and James were born in Maine. They had one son, Edward Demons, born about 1869, who would grow up to become a fire department chief in Spokane, Washington. Sarah married again, probably as a widow, to Nathaniel D. Toby March 20, 1879, in Jefferson County, Washington Territory. Nathaniel was also born in Maine. In the U.S. Census for 1880 she is shown living in Port Townsend, Washington Territory, as his wife. With them are her son from her first marriage and her sister Isabelle (Keller) Murphy, a widow.

Isabelle Keller was born in Maine on May 6, 1854. She appears in the U.S. Census for 1870 as a 16-year-old single woman, servant, living in Port Townsend, Washington Territory. She married James B. Murphy March 4, 1872, in Jefferson County, Washington Territory. James was a 23-year-old farmer, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He died sometime before 1880.

Isabelle’s second marriage was to Benjamin McFerran October 25, 1880, in Seattle. Benjamin was born in Missouri, as were his parents. Isabelle had five children, three living, according to the 1900 U.S. Census. The Benjamin McFerrans were then living in Hauser, Idaho. Benjamin was working as a wood chopper. Three children were listed; Charles, born December (29) 1884, in Washington Territory; Walter, born October 1889; and Lulu, born March 1892. Walter and Lulu were born in California. No record has been found regarding the other children.

Isabelle and Benjamin were living in Vancouver, Washington, when the U.S. Census for 1910 was taken. Benjamin was not working at the time. Perhaps he was disabled from an injury or illness. Isabelle was listed as a laundress, at home. Daughter Lulu was working as laundress in a steam laundry. Her sister Sarah Jane was also a member of the household. She was employed as a servant for a private family. Her name was shown as Sarah J. Allen, widow, with a son Albert, age four. Albert was born in California. It is not known what happened with her second husband, Nathaniel Toby.

Isabelle died of "apoplexy" in Oswego, Oregon, January 14, 1924. She was buried in Oswego Pioneer Cemetery, Lake Oswego, Oregon, according to DAR records. However, no gravestone has been found.

Charles Harrison McFerran would marry and become a widower by 1910. The U.S. Census for that year shows him living in Cliffs, Washington, working as a laborer. His daughter, Olive E. McFerran, age three, was living next door with her maternal grandparents, Salem and Sarah Elizabeth (Lawrence) Campbell. Salem was a druggist. Ten years later Olive would be living with her widowed grandmother, Isabelle, and her father, Charles, in Portland, Oregon.

Charles registered for the draft September 12, 1918. He was then a resident of Portland, Oregon, working for a ship building company. His mother, Isabelle, was living with him. The record gives his physical description as medium height, medium build, blue eyes and sandy hair. He had "stiff fingers on right hand and broken ankles." Charles died February 13, 1964, in Clackamas County, Oregon.

Walter B. McFerran died September 12, 1909, in Clark County, Washington. He was 19 years old.

Lulu McFerran was also living with her widowed mother in 1920. She was listed in the U.S. Census then as Lulu L. Anderson, married.

No records have been found for Adalana Keller. Perhaps she died young, or went by another name. She may have been the five-year-old child, Mary, living with Finley and Jane Keller in Teekalet, Washington Territory, as shown on the 1860 U.S. Census.

Essay Submitted by Marilyn Morrison

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF ROCKLAND, l75^th ANNIVERSARY, 2008.

My Great Aunt, Mabel (Kalloch) Rollins, was a member of this church and lived 105 years, over half its history. As a child I attended worship with her down front in pew three, the family pew. In 1958 she wrote a history of the church through the eyes of her grandmother, Achsah (Ingraham) Kalloch. I will celebrate our relationship with the Baptists through Achsah but in the third person. Her parents and grandparents walked or rode by sleigh or farm wagon to attend worship at the region’s oldest Baptist church located at the “Keig” (South Thomaston). Her grandmother’s sister, Mrs. Robbins, was noted in Elder Case’s Journal as “the only Baptist in the region.” First meetings were in her barn. Achsah was born 13 years before the Third Baptist Church in Thomaston (now Rockland) was founded in 1833. Amariah Kalloch, minister in South Thomaston, transferred his ministry to the Shore Village. Quickly the church grew to become the largest in the local Baptist Association. Achsah’s parents immediately transferred membership to Rockland but her grandparents continued at the “Keig.” (Keag was spelled “Keig” in the Ingraham Diaries.) Her father, Henry Ingraham, was the church’s first Treasurer and a Deacon. Her grandfather (Nathaniel Lindsey) gave the land for the church and 400 dollars towards the organ. In 1837 Achsah married her minister’s brother, Rev. Joseph Kalloch. Her husband was one of three brothers who were Baptist ministers, another brother was a deacon in the Warren Baptist Church. His remaining brother was the undertaker in Rockland, but a Universalist! His grandfather, Alexander Kalloch I, was one of the 16 founders of the Warren Baptist Church in 1800. Cousin Kellers were among the founders of the Baptist Church in West Camden (W. Rockport) where Amariah had his first pastorate. Achsah Kalloch was psychic and would receive letters out of the blue from strangers, including one from Houdini. But as a Baptist minister’s wife these all found their way into the flames of her kitchen range. Her nephew, Isaac Kalloch, of “golden tongue” fame, was fourth minister of Rockland’s First Baptist, following his father, Amariah. But he was called to Boston’s Tremont St. Temple, a church so deep in debt that it was on the brink of collapse. He “saved” the church and burned the mortgage. But accused in court of adultery he came home to visit his aunt. He sat down in the kitchen rocker, tucked his feet in the oven, and asked Achsah, “You don’t believe what they are saying about me do you?” “No dear.” Shortly after he was acquitted. Achsah’s son, Frank Seavey Kalloch, my great grandfather, was Deacon of First Baptist for 25 years and sang bass in the choir. He was a tinware peddler and created the Reunion Coffee Pot. His wife, Almeda (Thomas) Kalloch founded the Kalloch Class which regularly drew 100 women on Sunday mornings. Achsah’s husband, Rev. Joseph Kalloch, served churches in St George (First and Tenants Harbor), Union, South Thomaston, Waldoboro and Rockland (Second Baptist on Cedar St.). He and twin sister, Nancy Wall, founded the Kalloch Reunion in 1867. After ten years Achsah was so impressed by the Kalloch gatherings, she founded the Ingraham Reunion, also meeting in August ever since. Every summer I was immersed in these stories and more! I came by the ministry honestly and feel a special connection with Achsah and Rev. Joseph. Two of my treasured possessions are Joseph’s concordance to the Bible and his Notes on the New Testament by Sylvanus Cobb (a Maine Universalist!).

Peter T. Richardson
Co-Historian