Old Bristol Historical Society and Maine Historical Society are asking the communitys help to finish their collection of the Pemaquid Messenger. Upon completion, the digitized copies will be available to the public for free. (Photo courtesy Old Bristol Historical Society)
The Old Bristol Historical Society, working in collaboration with the Maine Historical Society, is seeking to compile as complete a run as possible of the Pemaquid Messenger, which was published for 11 years from 1886-1897, for digitization.
Although both societies have copies of the Messenger in their collections, out of 552 issues originally published, the two societies are still missing 99 whole issues, plus portions of 44. They are reaching out to the public in the hope that some of the missing or incomplete issues might surface and be loaned for inclusion in the digitization project.
After digitization, the loaned copies will be returned.
Old Bristol Historical Society Collections Committee member Belinda Osier is leading the project. This past summer she gave a lecture – now available on the Old Bristol Historical Society YouTube channel – in which she shared the story of the Pemaquid Messenger, as well as historical information that she said she learned only by reading through the Messengers.
While doing her research, Osier said she was struck by two things: first, the importance of this source material, and second, the extremely fragile condition of the surviving copies. In December, Osier met with Jamie Rice, deputy director of the Maine Historical Society, to discuss her concerns about the eventual deterioration and loss of this important resource and to suggest that the two organizations collaborate in a digitization project. That suggestion was met with enthusiasm.
The two societies have since been in contact with Advantage Archives, a company that specializes in the digitization of old newspapers and recently digitized The Lincoln County News.
Once as many issues of the Messenger as possible have been gathered, the integrated collection will be sent to Advantage Archives. The project is estimated to cost approximately $5,000 and when completed, will be accessible to the public online for free.
Below is the list of missing and incomplete issues. Anyone who has any of these issues is asked to email Osier at oldbristolhistoricalsociety03@gmail.com or call 653-6685.
1886: July 7, 14, 21; Aug. 11 through Sept. 22; Oct. 27; Dec. 29
1887: May 4, 11, 18; June 1, 15; July 27
1888: May 17, 24, 31
1889: June 27; July 4
1890: Oct. 23; Nov. 20; Dec. 18
1891: March 12, 26; July 16, 23; Sept. 3; Nov. 19; Dec. 24
1892: March 10; April 28; June 30; Aug. 11
1893: May 4, 18; June 8; Aug. 24, 31; Sept. 21, 28; Oct. 5, 19; Nov. 2, 16, 30; Dec. 21, 28
1894: Jan. 11, 18; Feb. 22; March 1; April 26; May 17, 31; June 7, 14; July 5, 26; Aug. 2; Sept. 13; Nov. 1; Dec. 20, 27
1895: March 7 to April 25; May 2, 9, 23, 30; June 6, 20, 27; July 11; Aug. 21, 29; Nov. 7; Dec. 5, 12
1896: Jan. 9 to Feb. 27; March 12; April 2, 9, 16, 23; May 7, 21, 28; June 4 to July 30; Aug. 20 to Dec. 31
1897: Jan. 7 to Feb. 25; March 4, 11, 25
