(This is the 11th column about Adelaide Butman, who spent her early years in Round Pond between 1888-1904, having in the final two years attended Westbrook Seminary (College) in Portland. Adelaide’s memoir writing, in addition to its literary merits, intimately captures with the eye of a close and affectionate observer the vitality of village life and the surprising diversity of its inhabitants. What follows is the third installment of Adelaide’s account of her time at Westbrook, written when she was 92).
We were allowed to walk with the boys around the quadrangle between football practice and supper. The lucky couple got the Spoon Holder. This was an unused doorway facing the tennis courts, just a little removed from the beaten track. There was a lively competition for that desirable spot.
My first boyfriend was Harry Phinney. I was scared to death. I had never had a boyfriend. I was 15. We had armchairs, all right handed, and we used to pin notes under the arms. Harry Phinney stuttered. His backyard adjoined Henry W. Longfellow’s backyard, and their garden inspired Longfellow to write his first poem:
Mr. Phinney had a turnip
And it grew behind the barn
And it grew and it grew
And the turnip did no harm
Fred Lowd was the steward, and “Mother” Lowd presided over the kitchen. Fred Lowd was a philosopher. He could figure out just what kind of homes the students came from. He said the first ones to complain about the food were those who never had any at home. When Harry Phinney and I walked passed, he would go “ffftt” because Harry stuttered.
The food followed more or less a set pattern. The main meal was in the middle of the day and many of the students were day-hoppers and stayed for that meal. On Wednesday and Saturday nights we had baked beans. On Tuesday night we always had oyster stew. Mr. Curl, who taught Latin hated oyster stew, so he always absented himself on Tuesday nights and ate out. On Saturdays when, when we did not have a date, we had New England boiled dinner – corned beef and cabbage. On Sundays we had ice cream or Judge Peter’s Pudding (Jello with fruit, nuts and real whipped cream).
Those of us who had to wait tables had to get up at 6:30 to set the tables. One time Mrs. Lowd told us that the Board of Trustees were coming to dinner and that we would have to clean all the silver. There was a party at Riverton Casino that night to which we were permitted to go. Elizabeth Brown (Kimball) and I, and I don’t remember who else, couldn’t go because we had to polish the silver. So the boys, instead of going to Riverton, came down to the dining room and cleaned silver too.
Sometimes we went to Bowdoin and sometimes to Bates for interscholastic track meets. These were gala days. Of course, Miss Morton went with us, and other members of the faculty as the number of students required. We were not allowed to go to Keith’s Vaudeville – but we were allowed to go to the special plays at the Jefferson. Miss Wells (Oh, Genevieve!) was usually the chaperon for five couples. It was there I saw [Sir] Henry Irving [a celebrated English stage actor], which was a must at the time.
When I entered Westbrook, they were doing “Ingomar” (at the Jefferson). I thought Alice Priest was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She had the lead. And who her leading man was I cannot remember. Alice Priest, Rebecca Dyer and Beryl Spencer were big girls and very popular. I remember Mary Stowell’s beautiful blond braids, and Berth Caldwell.
In winter the campus was flooded and everyone skated. We also skated in Evergreen Cemetery. Grace Leighton White came up to skate and that was how I met her and formed a lifelong friendship. One day a beautiful woman walked by. She had lots of hair piled on top of her head. I asked Grace who she was and she said, “That is Dora Leighton” – the Dora Leighton Wish who devoted her life to Westbrook Seminary.
When Thomas Bracket Reed, the parliamentarian of Congress died, we all stood around the grave while they buried him.
(Michael Uhl is a writer living in Walpole. For more information, email michaeljohnx@gmail.com or go to shorturl.at/hsHN9.)
