By Isabel Morse Maresh
June 18, 1992
It's that time of year again. Summer has arrived and it is time to head out to the family reunion. Time to meet and greet uncles, aunts, cousins by the dozens — some you've grown up with and some you've never met.
Sunday, June 21, the Lermond clan will meet at 1 p.m. at Tranquility Grange Hall on Route 52 in Lincolnville. The family is proud of their Scotch-Irish ancestry. The welcome mat is out.
A cousin recently said to me, "Isn't it too bad that to be in 'Out of the Past,' you have to have been deceased." That made me do some thinking. Many of our older friends and relatives have a lot to share from out of their past.
One of our beloved relatives has shared moments of her life with us to be included in the upcoming Lermond book. This one's for you, Aunt Cal.
Caroline Maud Lermond was born Feb. 23, 1905, at the homestead in Lincolnville, the second of six daughters born to Richard J. and Annie Maria (Marriner) Lermond. She was Caroline (Clark) Marriner. All of her life she was called "Callie," as was her maternal grandmother.
Callie grew up on the Marriner farm in the Millertown section of Lincolnville where she attended the one-room Miller school with her sisters. Her daughters attended the same school.
Callie married J. Everett Morse who was born in Belmont at midnight Jan. 22, 1903, the son of John W. and Jennie (Levenseller) Morse. After their marriage in 1923, the couple purchased the Fredson place near her parents' farm for $500. It was there that their three daughters, Jennie Annie, Marion Isabel, and Madeline Louise were born and raised. Tragedy struck the family in 1928 when 8-month-old Madeline died.
Everett built a new home in Lincolnville in 1940, near the old house, as well as a three-story chicken house which was their means of support. Both Everett and Callie worked long hours in the poultry business. Upon retirement, Everett built their second home in Searsmont near their daughter Jennie. He also worked on the Drinkwater School in Northport after it had burned, and helped rebuild his brother Amon's farm buildings in Northport after a fire in 1955.
Callie recalled that when she and Everett were married in 1923, he earned $12 a month on the Dickey farm in Lincolnville. He had worked in a shoe factory, as a woodsman and other jobs. Wages were 33 1/2 cents an hour.
Callie has been a member of Tranquility Grange for many years, joining when she was a teenager. Their first car was a Model T Ford in about 1924. They then bought a Phaeton Ford for $300.
Callie recalls life on her father's farm, which was self-supporting. Her father bought winter staples by the barrel and bag. Crackers came by the barrel which set at the foot of the stairs. Flour, sugar, and salt came in cloth bags. The cellar was stocked with barrels of apples, potatoes, and salt pork. Cider, vinegar, and liquor were made by the barrel. The shelves were lined with all sorts of canned goods, which included vegetables, fruits, meats, and fish.
The snow was so high in the winter that you could walk over the hen pen. There were no plowed roads in the winter, no cars, and no electricity. Fun and games were invented by the girls, for entertainment, often by lamplight. The spring mud was hard for horses and wagons to get through. In the wintertime, a hole had to be cut in the ice in the brook for the cattle to drink.
The ice house was filled with ice packed in sawdust in the winter for use in keeping the milk cool in the summer. Callie remembered how cold it was to cut the ice from the pond and haul it home. One time, Everett's feet were so cold when they came home that "Gram" Annie Lermond said that she'd put pepper in his boots to warm them up. Callie said, "He like to have died before he got back, his feet were burning so. We tried everything to keep warm."
The houses were heated with wood cut in the winter for the next year. Houses were not insulated as today. There was no running water in the house, nor indoor plumbing. The outhouse was at the end of the shed.
Callie got her first washing machine in 1940. Everett stayed home from work that day to see that it started and worked. Callie is presently at the Camden health Care Center in Camden. She would welcome visits and cards from old friends. She suggests that when mailing cards to shut-ins to tuck the flap inside the envelope as the sealed envelope is hard to open when you've been ill.
Callie's daughter Jennie Pearse of Searsmont and Marion Norwood of Appleton, visit her daily.
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