The lush, verdant grounds of the Pownalborough Courthouse provided an idyllic backdrop for a well-attended Memorial Day Service May 31.
Members of a Revolutionary War reenactment group, the 11th Massachusetts, decorated the graves of area veterans, most from the War of 1812, in the Courthouse cemetery. Father Bruce Alexander read short biographies of each veteran and Jonathan Yellowbear performed a “Micmac honor song.”
At the courthouse flagpole, Alexander spoke in honor of Steven Powell, a World War II veteran and member of the Lincoln County Cultural and Historical Association, the group that owns and maintains the Courthouse and surrounding land. According to Alexander, Powell lived in Dresden and was “very active here at the courthouse for years.”
The 11th Massachusetts read a roll call of the members of Captain George White’s Company, many from Lincoln County (Maine was a part of the Massachusetts colony at the time of the Revolutionary War) and fired a musket salute in their honor.
Another service, held behind the courthouse on the banks of the Kennebec River, dedicated the Courthouse steps and a nearby bench in memory of Association members Katie Thompson and Marguerite Rafter.
Marguerite Rafter’s son, Sean Rafter, said his mother, a founding member of the Association, was “very enthusiastic about historical preservation” and said the event marked “an appropriate dedication.”
John Robbins, the Association’s Executive Director, invited attendees to the June 19 celebration of Lincoln County’s 250th anniversary at the Courthouse. According to Lincoln County Magazine, the event “promises to be a full day of fun with Court House tours, an encampment of local militia and camp followers from 1760, and other surprises.”
