The South Bristol Historical Society’s presentation on Samuel A. Miles by SBHS member Stan Wells has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Rutherford Library, 2000 Route 129, South Bristol. The board will hold a brief meeting at 6:30 p.m.; the presentation will follow. The public is invited to attend both the 6:30 meeting and the talk. In the event of inclement weather, a cancellation notice will be posted on the historical society’s Facebook page. People are also welcome to contact Sue Edwards at 644-1045 or Donna Plummer at 644-8443 to confirm whether or not the presentation will be held.
Briefly, Samuel A. Miles is the “Miles” in Miles Memorial Hospital (now LincolnHealth – Miles Campus) and the owner of what was once the largest estate in South Bristol. Details of Miles’ career and family have gone largely unnoticed over the years, though the bare outlines have been told before. Miles came to this country penniless in the mid-19th century, made a fortune producing automobile shows, bought land in South Bristol – some 141 acres – in the early 1900s where he built an impressive home and tower, and established a summer camp for needy children there in 1924. He was rumored to have been a driving force behind the movement to separate South Bristol from Bristol in 1915.
Isabel Miles donated the land on which Miles Memorial Hospital was built, named in memory of Miles, who died in 1932. Miles’ rise represents the quintessential rags-to-riches story that is sure to interest all.
