ANDROSCOGGIN HISTORY February, 1996Newsletter of the
Androscoggin Historical Society No. 17

Contributed by Androscoggin Historical Society
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DR. AMMI R. CUTTER'S CHILDREN by Douglas I. Hodgkin

Although genealogists place significant reliance
upon official records, they recognize their
fallibility. The following account, which of course
could be mere gossip, illustrates one sort of
problem.

The Society has photocopies of two notebooks labeled
"Early items of interest and genealogy, by Ben D.
Bryant." In one, on page 88 we find:

Major John Burbank Hooper of Greene, related to me
today, September 7, 1882, an occurrence that
concerned a number of parties then resident of
Greene, and that Mrs. Hooper, who is 73 years of
age, says is substantially true. [Editor's note:
Mrs. Hooper was not testifying from personal
knowledge; she apparently was born in 1809.] That in
the year 1807 there resided near Greene Corner a
physician by the name of Ammi R. Cutter whose wife
was a Miss Curtis from Freeport, Maine, a woman of
much personal beauty, but for some time childless as
was said by reason of the impotency of her husband,
Dr. Cutter, yet both of whom were extremely anxious
that the wife should become a mother. After much
deliberation it was mutually agreed that their
neighbor, Mr. Marshal Mower should receive a cow
from Dr. Cutter, if he, Mower would have sexual
intercourse with the wife, which was consummated by
the wife's giving birth to a child that is now
living in Auburn, Maine by the name of John Loring
Cutter, aged 75 years. The wife not long after gave
birth, under the same arrangement, to a second child
that bore the name of William Cutter, an own brother
to John Loring Cutter. That Marshal Mower was the
father of these two children, was admitted by Dr.
Ammi Cutter and his wife, it was said, and that
Mower received a cow from Dr. Cutter for his agency
in this transaction was not denied by them.

Mower's History of Greene devotes half a page (412)
to the Cutter family, but mentions only Dr. Cutter.
He is described as "A popular physician, and
prominent in town affairs. He was town clerk for
several years, selectman, and was given other
responsibilities and trust for which he was
eminently fitted." There is no indication of any
sons.

However, elsewhere in the book, John L. Cutter is
mentioned as a merchant at Greene Corner (p. 42),
and he is of Bangor when he marries Eliza J.
Kimball, 26 Dec 1829 (p. 149). William Cutter is
listed as marrying Malendia (p. 150) or Malindia (p.
252) E. Robbins.

Benjamin Cutter's A History of the Cutter Family of
New England records the family of Ammi Ruhahmah
Cutter (p. 186). He married Deborah Curtis, daughter
of Captain Thomas and Abigail (Studley) Curtis 28
October 1792. The Cutters then moved to Greene,
where Dr. Cutter "was regarded as honest and upright
in every respect, and was beloved and esteemed by
all of the community in which he lived." Moreover,
the two sons are listed as "his issue."

John Loring Cutter (born 19 June 1807) had three
children by his first wife, but apparently none of
them had children. All three died by 1863. When he
died 19 October 1884, his will dated 22 November
1865 left his estate entirely to his second wife
[Androscoggin Probate, #2408].

William Cutter (born 24 September 1813) had eleven
children. It appears that eight were still living
about 1871, the time of publication of the
genealogy. It is possible, therefore, that there are
descendants. If they attempt to trace their
ancestry, there appears to be no record except in
Bryant's gossip that Ammi R. Cutter may not be their
biological ancestor.

What of Marshall Mower? He had settled in Greene
from Charlton, Mass., with his father Jonathan
Mower. He married Charity Curtiss, daughter of Rev.
Caleb and Charity (Combs) Curtiss of Worcester,
Mass. They had fourteen children born between 1790
and 1815. He moved to Calais, Vermont, the latter
part of 1813 (Mower, 271, 328).

GENERAL RALPH B. SKINNER AUBURN'S HISTORIAN by
Robert L. Taylor

Ralph B. Skinner was born in Hartland in 1892 and
resided in Auburn since boyhood. His newspaper
career began with the Lewiston Evening Journal in
1911, and, except for interruption during World War
I and immediately after, he was employed there as a
newsman and special writer for 21 years.

He served in both World Wars and in 1947 retired
from the service with the rank of Brigadier General.
He returned to journalism in 1950 as historical
commentator and newsman at radio station WLAM in
Lewiston. During his twenty years at WLAM, General
Skinner produced a series of commentaries on local
historical subjects entitled "Historically
Speaking," for which transcripts for 1963-1970 can
be found in the Androscoggin Historical Society
files.

As the author of two books, Historically Speaking on
Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Churches and Auburn, 1869-
1969: 100 Years a City, he was described as the man
who "filled a void in the recorded history of our
cities."

General Skinner died on October 1, 1980, after six
decades of work in preserving and interpreting the
historic heritage of Androscoggin County. He was a
member of the Maine Historical Society, Society of
Sons of the Revolution, several military
organizations, and an honorary director of the
Androscoggin Historical Society.

We begin in this issue the publication of an
inventory of his "Historically Speaking"
transcripts: 1963

Nov. 3How Turner Got Its Name

Nov. 9Those Turner Pioneers

Nov. 10 A Way Through the Wilderness

Nov. 16 How the Auburn Home for Aged Women Started

Nov. 24 The Passing of an Old Church

Nov. 29 The Cobb-Watson Closing

Dec. 1 Lewiston's Early Churches

Dec. 7 Time Table of Home History

Dec. 8 Where Danville and Durham Fit In

Dec. 15 How the Androscoggin County Towns Came to Be

Dec. 21 They Used to Call Them Quilts

Dec. 22 The Lewiston City Seal

Dec. 24 The Long Trail to Leeds

1964

Jan. 4 The Pioneer Picture of Lewiston

Jan. 5 The Hard Road to Religious Worship

Jan. 11 The Drama in Local History

Jan. 12 A Mob Scene of Early Days

Jan. 18 The Emergence of Bates College

Jan. 19 Why Bates College Located Here

Jan. 25 The Old Clough Meeting House

Jan. 26 An Old Church Lives Again

Feb. 1 Lewiston's Early Methodists

Feb. 2 The Family Side of Church History

Feb. 8 Those West Auburn Hotels

Feb. 9 We're All in History

Feb. 15 Auburn's First Framed House

Feb. 16 Looking Over the Landmarks

Feb. 23 How the Church Came to West Auburn

Mar. 7 Auburn's First Baptist Church

Mar. 8 How East Auburn's Church Grew

Mar. 14 Congregational Trail

Mar. 15 Congregationalists Near a New Name

Mar. 21 Lewiston-Auburn Universalists

Mar. 22 North Auburn's Churches

Mar. 29 When the Logs Stopped Coming Down

Apr. 4 More on the Lake Auburn Spring House

Apr. 5 Those Other Lake Auburn Hotels

Apr. 11 Those Early Lewiston Quakers

Apr. 12 The Quakers Move On

Apr. 18 The Catholics Come to Lewiston Falls

Apr. 19 St. Joseph's . . . Then to Now

Apr. 25 Saints Peter and Paul Parish

Apr. 26 The Dominican Influence

May 2 The Founding of St. Patrick's Parish

May 3 An Old Church in a New Light

WOMEN IN MAINE COTTON MILLS -- 1908 Part II

This is the second installment of Miss Eva L.
Shorey's report on investigated working conditions
in (Lewiston) Maine cotton mills as reprinted in the
Bridgton News, December 18, 1908.

A Glance into the Weave Room

As you open the door to the weave room in a large
mill, a great wave of hot, moist air comes out to
you, and a medley of sound as of innumerable railway
trains greets your ears, while the floor appears to
be swaying and trembling as if the "train" was
rounding a curve. Yet those who are employed there
say that after a little while you will not notice it
at all. It is one of the things in the workaday
world to which one becomes accustomed. This
department is the goal toward which many an employe
[sic] in other parts of the factory is aiming, as
weaving is skilled labor and an expert can make more
running six or eight looms than at any other work in
the mill. Girls as young as fifteen are sometimes
seen at the looms, but for the greater part the
wage-earners are older men and women, and many of
them have spent a life time at the work which seems
so hard and nerve-racking to the occasional visitor.
"I love to weave," said a woman who had spent over
forty years at this business. "My set of looms seems
like old friends." Another said, in reply to the
remark that it was interesting to watch the work,
that it might be interesting to watch, but it got
pretty tiresome when you had to do it. It is
difficult to describe the actual work of the woman
at the loom to give a correct idea of what she has
to do, as there are so many duties in tending from
four to six machines. There is a loom fixer, a man,
who attends to the machinery when it "gets sick,"
the part of the weaver being to see that the warp is
in proper condition, to keep the shuttle filled, so
there may be a good weave, to mend the threads as
they break or become tangled, and to watch the cloth
to note any imperfections or roughness. Sometimes,
while attending to one "bad place," some difficulty
will happen to another of the six looms which will
necessitate spending several minutes, or possibly a
longer time, in taking out the threads and starting
again. During that interval, there is no cloth being
woven on that loom and therefore, no pay. A habit
which cannot fail to be harmful is that of threading
the shuttle, by placing it in the mouth and drawing
the thread through by the suction of the breath.
There is much stretching of the arms, and consequent
straining, in adjusting a broken thread. When the
"cut" is completed, the operator sews a ticket on
the end and carries it to some central point. Some
of the cuts of cloth are quite heavy. The woman has
a chair in which she may sit and watch the machines,
and when conditions are favorable she gets some time
to herself. There is little chance for sociability,
however, the uproar created by the machinery
rendering the only conversation possible that which
is shouted at the top of the lungs. Operators do not
become acquainted easily and often do not know their
next door neighbor. This is partly due to the fact
that a woman speaking only French, or some other
foreign language, and one conversing only in
English, is often side by side; and further because
there is a certain social grading in the mill, as in
general society. This is not strange when observing
the various types of humanity gathered under one
immense roof. The few old and original mill
operatives, from good New England stock; the man or
woman who once worked in the great mills of
Manchester, England; the Scotch, the German-
Americans, the Irish-Americans, the higher class of
French-Canadians, all these are in a separate and
distinct class from those who figure in some of the
crowds one sometimes encounters in a city where the
mill population is large and varied.

To a visitor in the weave room the air, particularly
in the winter and spring, seems very oppressive.
When the double windows are removed and the windows
opened, the cool breezes from the canal make a great
difference in the atmosphere. But there is
difficulty in this respect, as the workers near the
windows stand in a draft, while those in the center
of the room obtain but little benefit. It is claimed
that the "humidifiers," which render the warp moist
and pliable, and other devices, are a benefit in
improving ventilation, but the sallow, tired faces
of some of the weavers show that the air they
breathe is not as invigorating as it should be.
Often at noon, or at night, they come out with
garments damp from perspiration. The pay is by the
cut, a certain number of yards to a cut. To show the
wide difference in amounts made, depending on the
number of looms run, the following is given for
thirteen weavers on sheeting taken from a pay roll
for one week's work. The weavers of seersuckers and
"dobby," or fancy ginghams, etc., make higher wages
than those on plain goods. Four earned $5.47 each;
3, $6.50 each; 1, 7.42; 2, $8.65 each; 1, $9.87; and
2, $11.42 each. This is an average of $7.60 a week.
The general average on higher class goods is $8.10
for four narrow looms, and $10.20 for six looms.
Average wages on broad looms, for quilts, etc., are
from $8.40 to $10.11. Some women weavers average
$9.00 and $10.11 every week, and sometimes make as
high as $13.00 a week.

[To be continued]

MEETING NOTICE

The next meeting of Androscoggin Historical Society
is Tuesday, February 27, 1996, at 7:30 P.M.

Topic: D. D. Coombs -- Artist in Retrospect

Speaker: Genetta McLean, Director, Museum of Art,
Bates College

Location: Our museum in the County Building

DIARY OF ANNA DAGGETT

The Society has the 1878 and 1886 diaries of Anna
(Bailey) Daggett, who was of Cambridge, Maine, when
she married Converse R. Daggett of Greene. Their
daughter, Emma Rose, was born in 1880. Anna was "a
lady of gifted piety and musical ability who served
the local choir many years." She died 21 July 1914,
at age 69. Her husband attended Bangor Theological
Seminary. He was a pastor in Somerset and
Androscoggin Counties, last serving in Greene. He
served on the Greene school board and in the
Legislature. (Mower, History of Greene, p. 244). The
following are selections from the 1878 diary:

Jan. 23. Had two callers before we arose this
morning. Mr. A. B. Parker called to relieve his mind
on several subjects. He has been very much
disturbed; but I hope he will look away, and above
to Jesus only, so he can hear His voice saying -
"peace, be still!" Jan. 24. At work on my "Greene"
al bum quilt.

Feb. 14. Hard at work preparing for a donation visit
from our friends. . . . Mr. Isaac Cole and Miss
Addie F. Hunt came to be united in marriage. Her
sister, Mrs. Rogers, and her husband accompanied
them. Enjoyed their call. The evening brought quite
a little company of our friends to our home,
bringing with them tokens of their sympathy and good
will. [A list of 53 persons follows; 8 others are
named as sending gifts.] The donation amounted to
about $34.00, $30.00, cash - and $4.00, in other
things.

Feb. 16. We went to Lewiston with Mrs. Washburn and
Charlie. Went with her to the different music stores
to examine and price musical instruments. Also went
to Mrs. Heath's to see her piano. Not pleased with
it. Did shopping at Moore's new store.

Feb. 20. This evening the friends of Rev. Mr. Mrs.
Pinkham make them a pound party.

Feb. 25. Mr. Oliver Hooper called to inform us of
the death of Mrs. Wilbur Mower and to request Mr.
Daggett to attend the funeral. O how sad how very
sad her death seems! She has always been so well and
robust; and in a few short days stricken down by
that dreadful disease - diphtheria!

Mar. 16. Doing Sat.'s work and sewing. Eve. John
called. He and Converse went to the F. B. ch. to
hear Mr. Solon Chase lecture on "Greenback"
question.

Apr. 2. Stella Washburn, Nettie Pratt, and Florence
Manson came to be examined for school teaching. They
passed a good examination. Glad for them.

June 25. This P.M. I went to Lewiston in company
with Mr. V. H. Sprague and daughter and son to
attend the Bates Commencement.

June 26. Walked . . . to the Cong. church to attend
the State Conference. Listened to the Secretary's
Report (Dr. Adams) and sermon by Rev. Mr. Woodbury.
In the afternoon enjoyed the Woman's Missionary
meeting. . . . Went to Dea. Silas Sprague's to spend
the night.

June 27. . . . went to City Hall to enjoy the Class
Day exercises, and the conferring of Degrees. Saw
our Gov. Connor for the first time. . . . Enjoyed a
part of the exercises very much - some of them too
light to be agreeable.

July 26. Baking and making preparations for the Camp
Meeting Convention.

July 27. I started for the depot. . . . We had a
pleasant, prosperous journey, and arrived at Old
Orchard at about 2 o'clock.

July 30. The Lord revealed Himself to me as He had
never before. I saw clearly how He had long been
extend-ing this blessing to me. [On the cover of the
diary she wrote, "Old Orchard, Received the Divine
Comforter."]

Aug. 5. Mrs. Haskell, Lillie and I left Old Orchard
in the 11:40 train for our home.

Aug. 15. In the afternoon husband and I went to the
"old folks" meeting at the Bap. church. By a
singular coincidence the day appointed for this
gathering occurred on the 85th anniversary of the
church.

Aug. 20. Mr. Daggett, in company with our neighbors
went to Monmouth and Livermore in search of the
missing boy - John Furbish - who left his father's
home last Sat.

Nov. 2. Baked ten pies and did other hard work so I
could not go to the Conference: but it is not right
- and I hope I shall have a different arrangement in
the future. Churned 5 lbs butter.

Dec. 25. We all spent Christmas at Bro. Almeron
Parker's. Mrs. Crosby, and Nellie with little Maude
were there. Mr. Daggett gave me a basket. Recd. a
letter from sister Rose containing $5.00. God bless
her.

Douglas I. Hodgkin, editor