OTISFIELD – The Otisfield Historical Society will hold a special program Nov. 3 to look at the unsung historians who have recorded the town’s past.

Jean Hankins of the society will present “Holden to Spurr to Hankins: The Historians of Otisfield.” The program will follow a short business meeting at the Otsifield Town Hall beginning at 7 p.m.

“Most of us know about William Spurr who wrote ‘The History of Otisfield’ around 1950, but few of us have ever heard of Grinfill B. Holden, an earlier collector of Otisfield stories and information,” Hankins said.

Hankins said Holden, who died in 1902, wrote most of the material about the early settlers that Spurr included in his book, but the town refused to vote any money to pay for publishing Holden’s book.

The Holden work, Hankins said, was the first of a series of building blocks that now make up the town’s history.

“Bill Spurr was a notorious penny pincher, but he knew better than to ask the town to pay for printing his own book, written years later, so Spurr paid for the printing himself,” Hankins said. “Had he not done so, another historical building block would have been lost.”

In 1995, Hankins became another town historian when she wrote and published, though not at her own expense, the first of a series of essays involving Otisfield. The book is titled “A Cage for John Sawyer: The Poor of Otisfield, Maine,” and it appeared in Maine History. The essay concerns the way that Otisfield in the early 19th century coped with the perennial problem of supporting its poor citizens, she said.

The Nov. 3 program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Copy the Story Link