H. C. T.P. Woodlaws/BleakHouse P.O. Box 1478 WOODLAWN Phone, 207/667-8671 Ellsworth, ME 04605 Fax: 207/667-7950 M S E M The Black House "Woodlawn, including the land, buildings, furniture, and pictures therein shall be kept as a public park" -George Nixon Black, Jr. December 8, 2001 Dr. Ronald H. Epp 2500 North River Road Manchester, NH 03106-1045 Dear Ronald, Thank you for becoming a new member of the Woodlawn Museum/The Black House on December 7,2001. Your membership at the Individual Level will help Woodlawn reach many of its goals presently and in the future. People like you are SO important to the future success of the museum. We hope that many others will join you in the campaign to realize our vision of a museum that is more responsive to the community's needs, celebrates our rich cultural heritage, and assures future generations the benefit of George Nixon Black's wonderful gift to the region. Your membership entitles you to admission to the museum for tours of the house and outbuildings, to view the collection and to hear from our guides about the legacy of the Black Family and their influence upon the financial, cultural, and political development of the region. Additional benefits at the Individual Level are outlined on the sheet that accompanies this letter and your membership cards. The trustees, the staff, and the volunteers of the Woodlawn Museum thank you for becoming a member and look forward to your continued support. With Warmest Regards, Ron, The Sorry I missed seems you off. Let us know it we Joshua Campbell Torrance Executive Director can be of more help. Thank you for becoming a Member! Josh Torrane This letter is an official receipt. Your gift is tax deducible in the extent permitted by law. No goods or services were offered or provided to you in exchange for your gift. file://Untitled Director of Libraries 200 Bloomfield Avenue University of Hartford William H. Mortensen Library West Hartford, CT 06117-1599 Phone 860.768.4268 Fax 860.768.4274 Email repp@mail.hartford.edu 17 January 2001 CAT To Whom It May Concern: I am trying to establish contact with someone representing the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. I am engaged in research regarding Goerge Burnham Dorr and his role--with Charles Eliot--in establishing the Trustees. I would like to determine whether the early years of the Trustees are documented and--if so--where these records are located. The Maine State Library is unable to provide a lead to the current Trustees or the presumed documentation. I am working with the National Park Service, the Jesup Library, the Bar Harbor Historical Society, and the curator at Acadia National Park Library. Any assistance that you could provide would be much appreciated. Sincerely, Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. Director of Libraries University of Hartford West Hartford, CT 06117 c/o Trustees P.O. Box 178 Elloworth, Marie 04605 1 of 1 1/18/01 2:01 PM Colonel John Black Mansion - Ellsworth, near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park wysiwyg://30/http://www.ellsworthme.org/cbmm/index.html The Colonel Black Mansion "Woodlawn" P.O. Box 1478 Route 172 (Surry Road), Ellsworth, Maine (207)667-8671 Near the Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park Area email: museum@downeast.net Located in Ellsworth, Maine, and situated amidst stately pine, hemlock, spruce and horsechestnut trees sits "Woodlawn," " the 300 acre estate of the Colonel John Black family. The graceful brick mansion, positioned for an expansive view, was built between 1824 and 1828. It was the home of Colonel and Mrs. Black and their children and also contained an office from which John Black managed his lumber business and dealings as land agent for the vast holdings of the William Bingham estate. Colonel Black's wealth allowed the family to import such fine furnishings as Queen Anne, Chippendale, Jacobean and Sheraton. The sizable butler's pantry is stocked with beautiful china and glassware such as Canton, Spode, Staffordshire, Waterford and Sandwich. Among the items of historical significance are a rare volume of Massachusetts Colonial Law, a miniature of George Washington presented to Mary Black's father, General David Cobb, after the close of The Revolutionary War. Although the home houses many museum quality antiques, clocks, art work, textiles and china, visitors find themselves drawn into the atmosphere of intimate family life during the early 19th century. Woodlawn was bequeathed to the public in 1928 by George Nixon Black, Jr., grandson of Colonel Black. The home remains as the family left it, dignified yet comfortable, enticing visitors to linger and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. One might choose to visit the Carriage Houses with several rare and interesting carriages and sleighs, stroll through the Formal Gardens, sip tea on the lush Tea Lawn, walk the Horse Trails originally used to exercise the Blacks' horses, or browse in the Gift Shop. Whatever way you choose to spend your time at Woodlawn, you will come away with a renewed sense of appreciation for an era gone by. A pleasant drive from any section of Maine, Woodlawn is located near downtown 1 of 3 1/18/01 2:11 PM ^unily documents received RONALD EPP 9/15/2020 3:51 PM Re: documents received To steve@gsmassoc.org Steve, I compared what I sent you against seven other documents that I now know I did not send you. All of the unsent concern a three month period (Feb. to April 1915) where Eliot-Dorr-and JDRJr. are negotiating the Dorr-Eliot request from JDRJr. of $17,500 to help cover the cost of clearing deeds as part of the federal government requirements for national monument status which they will secure the next year. What is interesting here is that this is their first effort at working together. Yet at the very first letter from Jr. on page 1 he states: "Should this monument be created, what would be the situation with reference to roads made or to be made through the valleys that would then be a part of the monument? Who would care for them? What, if any, restrictions would there be on them with reference to their use by automobiles. " You get the drift. He has forced Dorr-Eliot to consider what I believe had not been given much attention by either of them. Kln the last letter Eliot makes clear that to Dorr that Jr. always takes care of #1 in his land negotiations: "You perceive that in this way of transacting business one gets no record of Mr. Rockefeller's action." Send or not? Ron Ronald H. Epp, Ph.D. 7 Peachtree Terrace Farmington, CT 06032 603-491-1760 eppster2@comcast.net On 09/15/2020 10:20 AM steve@gsmassoc.org wrote: https://connect.xfinity.com/appsuite/v=7.10.3-6.20200722.054552/print.html?print_1600199552473 1/2 The Woodlawn Museum, an Extended History Page 1 of 7 WOODLAWN M The Black House WOODLAWN- AN ESTATE OF HISTORY Woodlawn Museum (the Black House) stands as a testimony to the exceptional accomplishments of Colonel John Black. However, its true significance can be grasped only in the context of major developments which comprise much of Maine's history, especially that of Down East Maine in the nearly one hundred years following the onset of the American Revolution. It is a history of which Col. Black is a major author. Still a part of Massachusetts at the end of that war, Maine was characterized by an abundance of natural resources-coastline, woodlands, and rivers. Yet, other than Native Americans, it could claim but few settlers, by necessity stouthearted individuals who managed to eke out an existence on the water, in the woods, or out of the soil. The need for money was the impetus that caused Massachusetts in 1786 to institute a lottery to encourage settlements in the eastern sections of Maine, subsequently to be referred to as the Kennebec (large portions of today's Somerset County) and Penobscot (the current areas of Hancock and Washington Counties) tracts. This effort's failure to translate Maine lands into money occasioned a renewed attempt-- but also unsuccessful-to sell townships to those Massachusetts citizens of means. In 1791, real land speculation took off. Henry Knox and William Duer, both well-known Americans, completed with the Massachusetts Land Committee a highly-leveraged deal to purchase the above- referenced two tracts of land, roughly one million acres each, at approximately 10 cents per acre. Their efforts to find buyers were to be influenced by the collapse of a so-called Scioto Company whose Northwest Territory holdings were envisioned as appealing to French Noblemen who stood to lose much in the ultimate outcome of the French Revolution. One of those who had left a tumultuous France for the new United States of America was Madame Bacler de Leval whom Mr. Duer tried to interest in the Maine lands as the site of her envisioned French asylum. But Mr. Duer went bankrupt; no French nobility arrived; Madame de Leval married and moved to New York. The apparent rescuer of the Maine adventure was the prominent, very wealthy Philadelphia citizen, Mr. William Bingham, who, through his agent, negotiated the purchase of Mr. Duer's claims and part of those of Mr. Knox. With his national and international reputation as a successful business man and his important connections with such European banking houses as Barings of London and Hopes of Amsterdam, he set out in 1793 to attract buyers/settlers to these two tracts of Maine wilderness bordered by the Kennebec River and the earlier-settled coastal areas. Highlighted in the promotions were the regions great natural resources. Mr. Baring's appeals to wealthy Europeans, through both letters and the personal efforts of his agent, Mr. William Jackson, to invest in the land were about as fruitful as those earlier attempts of Messrs. Duer and Knox. It was then that Mr. Bingham decided to appoint an on-site agent to protect his holdings from timber thieves, to survey the territories, and to find buyers for parcels of land. Populating this earlier purchased property was a condition attached to his acquiring the land from Massachusetts. In 1795, General David Cobb of Taunton, Massachusetts, was so employed. He was a man with a reputation as a doctor, an army officer, a patriot in the Revolutionary War who fought in various battles and was an aide to General George Washington, a judge, a representative to the Massachusetts General Court, a Speaker of the House, and a representative from Massachusetts to the Third US Congress. Having lost a 1795 contest for re-election, he was receptive to Mr. Bingham's offer to serve as his agent in Maine. Meanwhile, Mr. Bingham had acquired additional seacoast property in Gouldsborough, Trenton, Ellsworth, and Mt Desert. Consequently, General Cobb had oversight of over 2,000,000 acres, "most of http://www.woodlawnmuseum.org/historyfull.html 5/24/2014 inc woodiawil vuseum, an Extended History Page L of / it unsurveyed, unexplored, and uninhabited." (Anonymous, The Black Mansion: Historical Introduction (p. 10). He began at once "the puffing of Maine" (lbid., p. 11) in local Boston papers. The generous incentives offered those who would settle in this vast, resource-rich wilderness simply did not yield the desired results. Upon retrospect, it was General Cobb's vision of the agricultural potential of these woodlands that may have doomed all his efforts to but the most modest of success. In fact, he boasted of his focus on farmers "of the first breed of the Old Colony-the descendents [sic] of Ancestry from the West of England and untainted with disorganized blood either Savage or Civil, and whose industry will make a wilderness to blossom like the Rose and the flinty surface of the Rocks to rejoice with fertility." (lbid., p. 11) Such optimism is all the more remarkable when seen in the context of all the problems he was to encounter, such as those created by the pre-1784 settlers who appropriated to themselves a right to lands not owned and the conditions created by nature. Following his June 8, 1795 arrival in Gouldsborough, he wrote to Mr. Bingham about "people almost blind by the bites of flies and musketoes [sic]." He went on to project, that Mr. Bingham could "have no conception of the hosts of these devils that infest the thick forest in summer months." (lbid., p. 13) Efforts to sell land to the extant settlers were crippled by their poverty. So, to advance his vision of these Maine lands, appeals were made to "wealthier farmers" of more settled sections of the nation. General Cobb viewed the unrestrained cutting of forests the reason for the devaluation of the soil that he, possibly without close investigation, described as the "finest in the world." He passionately urged respect for property and the growth of agriculture. Consequently, he spared no effort to reign in the lumber trade to protect Mr. Bingham's investments. For Mr. Bingham, the Maine purchase represented enormous expense and little return, a situation that was to strain the Bingham-Cobb relationship. He continued to seek European buyers through the efforts of Mr. William Jackson. In November of 1795, General Cobb was called to Philadelphia, in anticipation of the arrival of the son of Sir Francis Baring, Alexander, who was coming to America on behalf of a group of European bankers, particularly Barings of London and Hopes of Amsterdam, now interested in purchasing land. The deal, completed in February of 1796, gave Mr. Baring one-half interest in the "Penobscot million" and one-half interest in a third tract of acquired property north of this million-acre expanse. Sir Baring, to become Lord Ashburton, was himself to play a role in both the economic and political history of Maine in general and Down East Maine in particular, Along with Daniel Webster, he negotiated the treaty that resolved the disputes over Maine's northwest boundary. But history continued to follow a bumpy course after 1796. The strain on Mr. Bingham's resources from the Maine investments (he had spent $60,000 from 1796-1801 alone) and other developments, both personal and financial, caused him to seek a way out of the deal-but not at any cost. He died in 1804. Nor was General Cobb happy. The ongoing trouble with timber thieves, the tensions that had developed between him and Mr. Bingham over finances and general expectations, the lack of any concrete achievements-these factors took their toll. He did not know how to proceed after 1804, although the trustees of Mr. Bingham's estate had assured him of support. By the time that estate was settled, there were the consequences of the War of 1812 with its embargo, especially hard on eastern Maine, thereby making more difficult an economy in trouble. To the very end, General Cobb envisioned Maine's success primarily in terms of its agricultural potential. In 1822, the General returned to Taunton, Massachusetts where he died in 1830. Obviously, such conditions could never have permitted the construction of Woodlawn. That another vision of Maine would prevail is explained by the role of Colonel John Black who looked beyond the trees to see the forests as Maine's greatest financial resource. It is Sir Francis Baring or Lord Ashburton who is responsible for bringing John Black to Maine and thereby for measurably shaping its economic history. An Englishman born in 1781 in London, John Black was hired by Sir Francis to serve as a clerk to General Cobb and to Sir Francis' agent, Mr. John Richards. He arrived in Gouldsborough in 1799. His exceptional talents resulted in his assuming an ever-increasing role in the affairs of the Bingham-Baring Maine partnership. In 1802, he married General Cobb's daughter, Mary. When the Ellsworth sub-agent, Mr. Donald Ross, died in 1805, Mr. Black was eventually appointed his successor and moved to http://www.woodlawnmuseum.org/historyfull.html 5/24/2014 ne woodlawn Museum, an Extended History Page 3 of / Ellsworth in 1810 where he would live and transform Mr. Bingham's original investment into a high-yield performer. Mr. Black took part in the War of 1812 and was broadly recognized for his patriotism, his friendly personality, his honest ways, and his exceptional business abilities. As his father-in-law, General Cobb, was edged out of the picture, Col. John Black was moving to its center. He was eventually appointed general agent of all the Bingham estate's Maine properties. It is important to note that his focus was not on agriculture but on lumber trade, which was to grow exponentially in the 1830's, 40's, and 50's. The contrast between the Cobb's early home in Gouldsborough and the Black Mansion in Ellsworth can be viewed as a critique of the different visions for the area held by these two men. Woodlawn Museum (The Black House) in Ellsworth captures the essence of the history of post-Revolutionary War and mid-Nineteenth Century Maine. Rebecca Robbins, in her monograph, "Colonel John Black of Ellsworth," published in 1978, claims, "Black can indeed be credited with helping launch Maine's lumbering industry, for he quickly saw that timber was the State's prime resource." Col. Black's duties as Mr. Bingham's agent, his success in the lumber business which made him not only very wealthy but provided the heirs of Mr. Bingham resources undoubtedly beyond his fondest dreams, and his success as a retailer brought him into contact with many people. His voluminous papers, located at Woodlawn, are estimated to contain materials relating to over 3200 individuals. He built Woodlawn between 1824 and 1828 and furnished it with items dated as early as 1650. There he and his wife, Mary Cobb, raised a family. After his death in 1856, his second wife and widow remained in residence at Woodlawn until her death in 1874. Son George, who inherited his father's business enterprises and Woodlawn, left Ellsworth for Boston in the 1860's, returning but occasionally. In 1865, he ended his agency of the Bingham lands and liquidated in 1870 the family's businesses. His son, also named George, inherited Woodlawn in 1880 and spent summers in Ellsworth until his death in 1928. His will bequeaths Woodlawn to the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations "as a public park: the house and grounds and wood roads to be kept as they now are the main house to be always kept in order and open to visitors under reasonable regulations but not to be occupied." And so stands, today, in Ellsworth a magnificent estate, essentially unaltered, on 180 wooded acres with magnificent trails. The red brick house, of the Federal period, with features and contents truly remarkable, is a treasure. To appreciate fully Woodlawn's significance, one should view it as an embodiment of national and international developments that would help give shape to America- particularly the Down East section of the Pine Tree State. The Black House connects a difficult, challenging past and the present. It serves as a testimony to the vision and abilities of a man who saw the heart of the Maine economy in the 19th century to be in those very trees that others viewed as a barrier to agricultural development of the land. That Col. Black named his residence Woodlawn appropriately summarizes the story. The governance of the Black House is essentially determined by the will of George Nixon Black and by the purposes and bylaws of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. A brief examination of each of these instruments is instructive. The will of George Nixon Black specifies that the Black Estate, "called Woodlawn, including the land, buildings, furniture, and pictures therein," was to be bequeathed to the City of Ellsworth, Maine as a public park; the house and grounds and wood roads to be kept as they now are, a caretaker to be employed, who shall be permitted to occupy the kitchen and adjoining rooms in the "L" of the house only; the main house to be always kept in order and open to visitors under reasonable regulations, but not to be occupied. The will further states that Mr. Black was "greatly interested in not having the trees cut for any purpose whatever." Also given to the City of Ellsworth were the portraits of General David Cobb, my great grandfather, and the portraits of my grandfather and grandmother Black, my father and mother, my sisters and myself, and all furniture which belonged to General Cobb, now in Boston, Manchester or Ellsworth houses, and direct that they be marked as such http://www.woodlawnmuseum.org/historyfull.html 5/24/2014 ne woodlawn Museum, an Extended History Page 4 of 7 respectively and kept as a memorial at said Woodlawn. I also give to the said City of Ellsworth the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars, to be safely invested; the income of said Fund to be used forever in keeping the house, land, roads and property in order and repair, and to pay for a caretaker. In a second codicil to this will, dated August 3,1911, Mr. Black directed that the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations, a corporation organized under Chapter fifty-five of the Revised Statutes of 1883 of the State of Maine, its organization having been ratified by chapter three hundred sixty-nine of the private and special laws of 1903 of the legislature of said State of Maine rather than the City of Ellsworth be the recipient of the estate. He regarded the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations to be more experienced than was Ellsworth in administration, "more suitable for the care of such a trust." The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations itself has a fascinating history. Its creation is in large measure the result of a vision or concern of Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard from 1869 to 1909, who had been for years a summer resident of Northeast Harbor. In 1901 he suggested to neighbors and friends the formation of an organization to conserve and maintain the natural beauties of Mt. Desert. The impetus for this suggestion was the increase in private ownership of vast areas of the Island, a trend President Eliot saw as resulting in depriving the public of access to "many beautiful hills, points and beaches." (The Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations: An Historical Sketch and a record of the Holdings of the Trustees, 1939 (p. 7). To avoid this, he envisioned an organization "to secure and maintain reservations for public use." (lbid., p. 7) President Eliot was following a precedent established by his son, Charles, who created an organization whose members were substantial Massachusetts citizens to be known as the Trustees of Public Reservations who "would be empowered to acquire parcels of real estate possessing natural beauty or historical interest and to hold them for public use and enjoyment." (Ibid., pp. 7-8) The Maine counterpart to this Massachusetts entity was to have a similar purpose, namely, "to acquire, hold, and maintain and improve for free public use lands in Hancock County which by reason of scenic beauty, historical interest, sanitary advantage or for other reasons may be available for the purpose. (Ibid., p. 8) The meeting called by President Eliot for considering this proposal was held September 12, 1901. Thus was born the organization to be known as the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. Its incorporation was confirmed by the Maine legislature in 1903. Eight men incorporated this entity. It was headquartered in Bar Harbor and claimed 44 members in its first year. Its original intent, as a volunteer organization, was simply "to preserve for public enjoyment the scenic and historic sites of Mount Desert." (lbid., p. 7) The organization received from wealthy individuals thousands of acres, all tax exempt. In 1913, there was an unsuccessful Maine legislature attempt to deny the HCTPR its tax exemption-an effort initiated in response to the growing concern of the Island residents about the large tracts of land which were being removed from the tax rolls. However, the issue was sufficiently weighty to cause the Trustees to look for alternative ways to accomplish their purposes. So, in 1914, Mr. George B. Dorr, First Vice President of the corporation, went to Washington to have the Trustees' holdings consolidated in a "national monument or a park." (Ibid., p. 12) On July 8, 1916, President Wilson signed the executive order "establishing [sic] the Sieur de Monts National Monument." (Ibid., p. 13) Three years later, Congress passed an act establishing Lafayette National Park. In 1929, President Coolidge approved a bill changing the name to Acadia National Park "and authorized the inclusion in the Park holdings of lands beyond the boundaries of the Park." (lbid., p. 12) The record noted that in 1929 the Trustees received under the will of George Nixon Black of Boston the "noble old Black Mansion (Woodlawn) at Ellsworth." The bequest included the house with its unique collection of old time furnishings and pictures, the http://www.woodlawnmuseum.org/historyfull.html 5/24/2014 the Woodlawn Museum, an Extended History Page 5 of 7 carriage house and its ancient vehicles, the well-kept gardens and grounds, the remarkable woodlands accessible by the roads built by Colonel Black more than a century ago, and a modest fund for insurance, repairs, and upkeep. The Estate is administered by a special committee of the Trustees of which Mr. Richard W. Hale has been the efficient chairman ever since the trust was accepted. (lbid., p. 13) The vast previous holdings of the Trustees had, for all practical purposes, passed on to the Federal Government for care and maintenance, leaving "the Black Estate [as] the largest and most important unit under the care of the Trustees." (Ibid., p. 13) Today, Woodlawn is legally owned by the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations. Its purpose is defined by the articles of incorporation of this organization; its responsibilities are additionally prescribed by the will of George Nixon Black. The governing body of the Corporation is identified as the Board of Trustees, to be composed of the elected officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer) and individuals duly elected by the Nominating Committee. The Board of Trustees may have up to 21 members but no fewer than 11. The Bylaws (included in the appendix of this handbook) state that the Board of Trustees shall have general management and control of the business, property and work of the Corporation" and that the Board "may, by general resolution, delegate to committees of their own number, to the executive director or to officers of the Corporation such powers as it sees fit and shall specify the manner and frequency with which they shall report to the board." (Article III, Section 1). WOODLAWN'S NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE Located in Ellsworth, ME, Woodlawn is a late Federal-style brick house built between 1824 and 1827 based on Plate 54, "Plan and elevation for a house which is intended for a country situation," in Asher Benjamin's American Builder's Companion. Advanced for its time, the house remains a significant example of early 19th century domestic architecture in Maine. The house was occupied for 100 years by three generations of the Black family. The furnishings of the house are all original, allowing present day scholars to study one of New England's most comprehensive family collections still in tact. Woodlawn is also the repository for the extensive Black family archives which help illustrate the economic and political development of Maine, and the house stands as a reminder of the nascent historic preservation movement of the early twentieth century that resulted in the saving of important historic sites and the founding of Acadia National Park. The property was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 as a site of local significance. However, the national significance of this property is multifaceted and needs to be recognized for the many ways that the individuals associated with it influenced the economic growth and political definition of our nation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Four of the broad National Landmark themes can be used to assess Woodlawn when considering its significance in the national context. The shaping of the political landscape, the development of the American economy, the transforming of the environment, and the changing role of the United States in the World community are all understood better at a national level when examined through the lens of Woodlawn. A brief history of the individuals associated with Woodlawn is a good beginning for the investigation of these four themes. In 1793, William Bingham of Philadelphia speculated in the rapid settlement of the Maine frontier by purchasing two million acres of land that became known as the Kennebec Purchase and the Penobscot Purchase. He hired General David Cobb, once a top-ranking aide to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War, to act as his land agent for the Penobscot Tract. The sale of land did not proceed as hoped and soon Mr. Bingham found himself overextended financially. He sold half of his interest in the land to the Baring and Hope banking companies of London. John Black, a nineteen-year-old clerk in the Baring Bank, was sent to America to assist General Cobb in the administration of the land. Over time, this assignment proved advantageous to all involved. From this business relationship William Bingham found financial security, Alexander Baring began a long personal, political, and successful business association with America, and John Black found a new home and his life's work. While David Cobb served as the first Land Agent in Gouldsboro, Maine, it was not long before John Black was overseeing the business. Black soon became a naturalized citizen, married General Cobb's daughter, and succeeded his father-in-law as Penobscot Agent, eventually taking over the administration http://www.woodlawnmuseum.org/historyfull.html 5/24/2014 The Woodlawn Museum, an Extended History Page 6 of 7 of both the Kennebec and the Penobscot Tracts. He has been cited by Richard Wood, in his book A History of Lumbering in Maine 1820-1861, as the most active of all the land proprietors in the District of Maine (then part of Massachusetts) and the agent responsible for abandoning the misguided plan to promote the agricultural development of Maine lands, and redirecting it to the exploitation of the natural timber resources. Thus, Black promoted the development of the lumbering industry that still fuels Maine's economy today. Many individuals profited from John Black's vision for the land, but few attained the success that Black himself did. He manufactured lumber, exported his own, and that of others, on ships he owned and then imported goods through businesses he set up for his sons to run. At one time, Black and his sons were shipping lumber to Europe, the Caribbean, points along the east coast, and even to the Pacific coast. As his success as agent for the Bingham lands grew so did his personal wealth. When he died in 1856, an article in the Ellsworth American boasted that he left" probably the largest estate ever left by any person in the state east of Portland." During his lifetime, Black was associated with many of the personalities who helped shape the early nation. Although he never held state or national office himself, Black widely influenced the politics and commerce of Maine as it entered Statehood in 1820, and up until his death in 1856. At various times John held the position of town clerk, Justice of the Peace, and Colonel in the Massachusetts Militia. He often lobbied in the State government for issues that would benefit the economy and political well-being of Maine. Associated with Woodlawn is the significant archival collection that is housed there. All of the business records of Colonel Black and his sons exist as do significant personal letters, schooner records, and business letters that link Colonel Black with over 3,200 individuals or businesses in Maine and beyond. Other documents in the archives include maps, receipts for purchases made for Woodlawn when it was built as well as later on, and letters between other members of the Black family. Although the Colonel's grandson, George Nixon Black Jr., bequeathed numerous other family papers relating to General David Cobb to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts in 1928, some primary documentation pertaining to General Cobb remains at Woodlawn. This collection of nineteenth century documents is vital to an understanding of the lumbering industry in down east Maine from both an economic and a political point of view. One particularly important part of the Black archives is a set of correspondence between John Black and his English employer, Alexander Baring (more widely known as Lord Ashburton). The correspondence occurs at the time Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton were negotiating the U.S.-Canadian border in 1842. During the period of negotiations, Colonel Black traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with Lord Ashburton. Few Englishmen had a greater affection for and understanding of Maine than did Lord Ashburton and John Black. It is evident that Ashburton held John Black's opinions in high esteem and that Black may have influenced the course of the boundary dispute talks. By honesty, astute observation, and a broad national and international sensibility John Black rose from the position of clerk to become one of the wealthiest men in Maine. But the significance of Woodlawn and those associated with it is not limited to John Black alone. His son and grandson maintained and augmented the family fortune and influence. Both George Nixon Black and George Nixon Black Jr. conducted their business from Boston. While there is still much to be learned about the social position of the Blacks, it parallels that of many families who attained great wealth during the industrial revolution. George Jr. was influenced by his peers in Boston and participated in many of the interests common to the upper class at the close of the nineteenth century. He built the famous shingle style summer cottage "Kragside" in Manchester Massachusetts and collected fine European and American art and furniture. His legacy reflects his interest in preserving the colonial American heritage, and honoring the men who built this nation. George was a member of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. At his death he bequeathed large sums of money and his collections to cultural institutions, the most significant being the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It was he who left Woodlawn to the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations to be kept as a public park in perpetuity. The influence that John Black and his family had on the development of Maine is still affecting the State today. When John Black arrived in the District of Maine, it was generally viewed as the last frontier left in New England. His role as land agent for William Bingham and the Baring Bank of London put him in a http://www.woodlawnmuseum.org/historyfull.html 5/24/2014 The Woodlawn Museum, an Extended History Page 7 of 7 position to assess the potential of this land. Seeing the success of smaller lumbering operations, he quickly ascertained that the future of Maine lay its woods, bringing him great personal wealth. Lumbering became the economic backbone of Maine and marks the first and still continuing effort to harvest America's vast natural resources. For two generations the Blacks profited from the land. By the third generation, it is significant to find George Nixon Black Jr. transferring Woodlawn and its surrounding 180-acres to the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservation, an organization that was founded to preserve forests and scenic lands in the area. This group donated much of the land that is now Acadia National Park to the federal government, making it the largest gift of land to the government east of the Mississippi and the only private group to found a national park. Thus, the principle member of the third generation of the Black family sought to maintain his grandfather's legacy through the twentieth century practices of land conservation and historic preservation, shifting the family's interests from commerce to land conservation. www.woodlawnmuseum.com ©2008 Woodlawn Museum http://www.woodlawnmuseum.org/historyfull.html 5/24/2014 WOODLAWN M u S E u M The Black House MAINE'S PREMIER HISTORIO ESTATE Summer 2006 A Property of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations vol. 3 no. 3 Curious George: Woodlawn's Enigmatic Benefactor by Jane Goodrich On the frosty morning of November 1, 1928, the citizens of Hancock County awoke to find they had been given a marvelous gift. A few days earlier, on October 29, George Nixon Black, Jr. had died in his Beacon Street home in Boston of the effects of arteriosclerosis. 1 He was 86 years old. In a will in which Mr. Black had painted a dozen institutions with a very charitable brush, his hometown had not been forgotten. Woodlawn now belonged to everyone. It was an astonishing final act, but one which had been foreshadowed. Thirty years earlier, in 1897, Mr. Black had gifted Ellsworth with a new library remodeled from the handsome Tisdale house, another jewel in the city's architectural crown. Although George Nixon Black, Jr. had lived in Boston for nearly 70 years he always cherished his Maine roots. Woodlawn, along with its furnishings and history, was probably his most valued possession. He relished his summer visits to Ellsworth where he indulged in his horses, dogs, parties and antiquing trips. When needed, he remodeled and decorated Woodlawn with great care, judiciously adding objects that reflected his colonial revival tastes but wisely leaving the furnishings chosen for the house by his grandparents, John and Mary Black, in place. He enjoyed telling the stories of his great-grandfather General David Cobb's role in the Revolutionary War, and especially prized General Cobb's close connection to George Washington. fings Arim Bluck That he conceived of Woodlawn as a museum and public park is no surprise, as he desired to keep his family history Photo of George Nixon Black, Jr., circa 1864, from alive. Woodlawn collections. Yet, due either to humility or design, his own history is strikingly absent. Woodlawn contains thousands of letters, Continued on page 3... Curious George (continued from page 1) business records, deeds and travel journals, but fewer than a dozen were penned by George, Jr. A small collection of historic photographs exists, but there are more prints and paintings representing George Washington in the Woodlawn collection than there are pictures of the George who bequeathed it. In fact, George, Jr. has SO successfully slipped behind the curtain of his own ancestry that today few people know he was never called George at all. To distinguish him from his father he was always called Nixon. Nixon was born July 11, 1842 in Ellsworth. He was the second child and the only son of George Nixon Black, Sr. and his wife, Mary Peters Black. He was educated by private tutors, often along with his sisters, Marianne and Agnes Black. When he was eleven he took dancing lessons and he may have had some painting and drawing lessons as well. In 1860, when he was 18 years old, he moved with his family to Pemberton Square on Beacon Hill in Boston. It must have been an amazing change for a young man of artistic sensibilities after growing up in small-town Maine. At the time, Boston was the fifth largest city in the United States with a population just under 180,000. 4 Miniature portrait of George Nixon Black, Jr., painted by Boston was also undergoing great physical change. Laura Coombs Hills. Woodlawn Museum collections. The area north and west of Beacon Hill where the family lived is today tree-lined and quaint, but was, in 1860, one that a man take a military part in the war but many students huge construction site. The massive work project of filling from both the North and the South left Harvard to join their the Back Bay began in 1858 just west of the present Boston respective forces. The nation was in a tumult. Financial Public Garden. In those years 35 train cars, loaded with markets were in a panic. Nothing would ever be the same. gravel were making the 9-mile run from a quarry in West It took a steady hand and an astute eye to negotiate Needham, every hour, twenty-four hours a day, six days a a real estate business through these years of exaggerated week. 5 This filling continued (although at a slower pace) growth and crisis, but fortunately George Nixon Black, Sr. for the next 36 years, finally finishing in 1894 in the Fens possessed both. Determined and painfully hard working, near the present Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Houses the elder Black had grown the wealth left to him by his and shops were built on this "new land" almost as quickly own father's businesses to a size never dreamed of by the as it was leveled and graded, and a great migration of the first generation. Following Nixon's failure to matriculate population of Boston was underway. Derided at the time at Harvard, and after allowing his son a year of travel in by Henry James "as a tract pompous and prosaic", it was in Europe, George, Sr. brought Nixon into the family business. the Back Bay that Nixon's generation of men "established The two men worked together for the next 14 years building Boston as one of the centers of world culture in the arts and a commercial real estate empire. sciences. ,6 It is difficult to imagine how a young man interested It was also a frightening time. Nixon entered Harvard in art, history and horses took to the drudgery of real estate College in the fall of 1860 but he had trouble there and work. We know very little of Nixon's life during these attended for less than a year. The Civil War had broken out years, but it seems that he accepted his duty and did his best and although Nixon did not enlist, many students dropped to work well at it. Small glimpses of the man he was to out at this time and classes were half-empty with their become are evidenced in two contemporary letters. In one, departure. The culture of the time by no means insisted Nixon's interest in, and expertise on the opera are spoken 3 of. In later years he was a constant box holder at the Boston New Jerusalem" and depicting John's Biblical vision on Opera. In the other, Nixon's father writes, "Nixon and Patmos, the window was installed in the west wall of the Agnes are visiting the museum this afternoon." North Transept during the winter of 1883-1884. It was the The Boston Museum of Fine Arts became one of Nixon's first memorial window commissioned from master artist lifetime passions. At the time of his death, the MFA was his John LaFarge who was also responsible for the painted major beneficiary. Incorporated in 1870, the Museum was decoration inside the church. In creating the window, LaFarge first housed on the top floor of the Boston Athenaeum, very employed every innovative technique in his repertoire using close to the Black's home at 81 Mt. Vernon Street. The six different types of glass and extensive jewel work. The 1870's marked the infancy of the years in which America amazing window, still visible at Trinity today, was the first was emerging from its long dependence on European and finest artwork Nixon ever commissioned. culture. A new nationalism was overtaking the country to The early 1880's also gave rise to thoughts about culminate in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. housing for Nixon and his family. After 22 years of living In Boston, the apex of this new expression was to be found at Mt Vernon Street they moved to 57 Beacon Street early at Art Square. Built on land created by the filling of Back in 1883. It was at this address that Nixon, his mother and Bay in the mid 1860's, Art Square (today's Copley Square) younger sister all lived for the remainder of their lives. The was anchored by the opening of the new Museum of Fine Beacon Street house was one of a pair of bowfront row Arts in July 1876. The following February Trinity Church houses designed by Ephraim Marsh in 1819. Both survive was dedicated. In 1896 the square was finished with the today, although #57 has now been separated into several addition of the masterpiece Boston Public Library building, living units. creating one of the most architecturally distinguished public Most Bostonians of the upper classes did not spend squares in America, both then and now. summers in the city. No record exists of where the Black Whether Nixon and his family supported the MFA in family may have traveled before the death of George, Sr., these early years is not known. What can be suspected is but soon after Nixon began thinking of a summer home that a man of Nixon's interests could not have helped but by the sea. In this regard, he turned to his old college be excited and moved by these wonderful cultural changes classmate and friend, Robert Swain Peabody. Peabody, happening in Boston in the mid 1870's. It would have to an accomplished architect in his own firm of Peabody and wait until he was the head of his own household to see what Stearns was, in 1883, working at the height of his youthful he would do on his own. creative powers. In October 1880, George Nixon Black, Sr. died, - By January of 1884, local newspapers reported that the probably at Woodlawn- while on a trip to Ellsworth. More framed roof of George Nixon Black, Jr's Kragsyde was disturbing perhaps for Nixon, was the death of his sister, Marianne Black, the following year. Tradition indicates that Marianne was in poor health due to a weak heart for much of her life, but the sudden death of the unmarried 42 year-old woman following so closely the death of her father left the remainder of the family shocked and shaken. Thrust suddenly into the role of being "the man of the family" seems to have been for Nixon a form of liberation. Finally free to make his own decisions, and to exert his own tastes, he wasted no time in doing The deaths of his father and elder sister provided an opportunity for Nixon to commission an artwork and honor his family at the same time. What better memorial than a stained glass window to be placed in the new Trinity Church at Art Square? The resulting window is one of the great George Nixon Black, Jr. Manchester-by-the-Sea estate, stained glass masterpieces of Trinity Church. Named "The Kragsyde. From the author's private collection. 4 showing above Smith's Point in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts." The diaries of Robert Peabody indicate visits to the building site with Nixon in February and July of 1884. 10 Although neither man could have known it at the time, Kragsyde not only became Peabody and Stearns' one great masterpiece, it also became the masterpiece and icon of the entire shingle style of architecture. Rambling, haunting and evocative, the beautiful house set high on a dramatic headland was famous in its day and was published several times both in Europe and America. Nixon and his family occupied the house every summer from May until October to the end of their lives. Sadly, the house did not share the same fate as Woodlawn and was torn down in 1929, the year after Nixon died. The choice of the shingle style was a natural one for Nixon. The opposite of the showy marble and stone palaces of Newport, Rhode Island which aped European styles, the shingle style, appealed to the quieter Bostonian taste. Broad open porches, furnished with simple rocking chairs and rows of uneven shingles greying in the salt air, reminded even these millionaire cottagers of their colonial roots. Containing many elements of the later colonial revival style, this engaging type of building gave a quiet Several prominent Manchester residents pose as pilgrims nod to Yankee Puritan virtues, and silent approval to the in 1895. Nixon is standing second from right behind young age and endurance of Boston money. Raw, unmanicured boy. Courtesy of the Manchester Historical Society. landscapes and tumbling masses of flowers provided the backdrop against the very coast where the ancestors of these and soldiers from the Colonial wars. Parades, tea parties, cottagers arrived in America. At Kragsyde, there also stood picnics, bell and gun salutes ensued as well as a reenactment a picturesque carriage house and a large greenhouse where of the famous (and historically dubious) landing. 11 In Nixon engaged in his hobby of growing and exhibiting a photograph of the day we find Nixon, grinning, in full specimen plants, flowers, and vegetables. Puritan regalia standing as a member of Winthrop's party on By 1895 when Nixon was 53 years old he was probably the float at the Manchester Yacht Club. at the fullest and happiest point of his life. Deeply influenced It was also in 1895 that Nixon again expressed his by the colonial revival and his own family history he was interest in both the visual arts and the colonial revival. at this time actively engaged in collecting furniture, china, Portrait miniatures painted on ivory were coming back into silver and paintings. Much of this collection was gifted to vogue after being out of fashion for half a century. In Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts at his death. It was probably about the artist Laura Coombs Hills led the revival of miniature this time when he began decorating the "colonial" middle painting. Already acclaimed for her watercolor and pastel kitchen at Woodlawn and he was certainly in the planning paintings of flowers, Miss Hills visited England in the early stages of the remodeling of the Ellsworth library. 1890's and saw her first miniatures there. She brought home On July 18, 1895, Manchester-by-the Sea celebrated some of these ivories and began to teach herself the art of the 250th anniversary of the landing of John Winthrop and painting on them. By 1897 she was elected to the Society his party aboard the Arbella. In what was a colonial revival of American Artists as its first miniature painter. 12 Her style extravaganza, citizens of the town dressed in costume as John was fresh and painterly and avidly sought by collectors. She Winthrop and his party, Chief Masconomo and his Indian greeters, continentals, local lady spinners with their wheels, Continued on page 10. 5 Curious George (continued from page 5) kept a detailed diary of her sitters and it is no surprise that a Harvard education and then later endowed libraries. A Nixon was one of her first, as well as one of the few men she curious blend of humility and fierceness, he had both the painted (see image on page 3). Nixon's mother also sat for courage to insist upon his unconventional life and the her own miniature, but it is Nixon's that is the most striking. humility to commemorate it in the simplest manner possible Hearty, happy and with vivid blue eyes and a stylish fur coat on his tiny marble headstone at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in he smiles out at us from the small oval of ivory as one of Cambridge, Massachusetts. the finest male miniature subjects Hills ever painted. This Yet, it was as a patron that Nixon was his most singular. commission tells more than the story of Nixon's love for Possessed of the confidence and discrimination to recognize the colonial revival. It speaks also of his support for all talent, and yet restrained enough not to meddle with it, he artists, male or female. In fact, of the two portraits Nixon is was responsible for breathing life into several enduring known to have commissioned of himself, both were made pieces of art. His greatest genius may well have been the by female artists. ability to coax not only good work from his artist friends, On November 11, 1904 events occurred which led to but their best work. Nixon's last great gift to the artistic and cultural community in his lifetime. On this day a disastrous fire swept through 1 Death certificate October 29, 1928 Massachusetts State Archives the Harcourt Building of artists' studios, located just west 2 Will- George Nixon Black, Jr. Suffolk County Courthouse, of Art Square. Several artists barely escaped with their Boston, Massachusetts lives and many others, including such notables as William 3 Manchester Breeze, July 21, 1906 M. Paxton and Joseph DeCamp, had their life's work 4 When in Boston, A Time Line & Almanac, Jim Vrabel, destroyed. Almost immediately, a group of prominent Bostonian Society 2004 5 When in Boston, A Time Line & Almanac, Jim Vrabel, artists approached a group of prominent businessmen and Bostonian Society, 2004 the Fenway Studios Trust was born. Working quickly, 6 Quoted from Lewis Mumford architects engineered a studio building that the artists had 7 Woodlawn Museum Archives. designed, and subscriptions were solicited to raise funds for 8 Facts About Trinity Stained Glass, Trinity Church, 2004. the new structure. In just three months two trustees and 9 Cape Ann Advertiser, January 18, 1884 10 Diaries of Robert Swain Peabody, Boston Architectural fourteen subscribers had raised the money and donated Center, Boston, Massachusetts the land. Of course, Nixon signed on as a subscriber at 11 Official Programme Peabody Essex Phillips Library, Salem, the onset. Amazingly, the new building was finished and Massachusetts occupied within a year of the Harcourt fire. The artist 12 Laura Coombs Hills, A Retrospective- Historical Society of occupants who used the building were among America's Old Newbury, 1996 13 Fenway Studios, The Evolution of an Artist's Community in most famous, and teachers from the Museum School used Boston, Nancy Allyn Jarzombeck, 1998 the studios for classes. Fenway Studios remain today as they were intended, fully occupied by a new generation of artists plying their trade. 13 In the end, biography always falls short. The subject, aided by the silt of time still manages to elude our grasp. Nixon remains a delightful enigma. In 1842 when he was born, the northern border of the state of Maine had barely been settled with New Brunswick. (It would take a GEORGE remarkable youth to develop a love of art while growing up NIXON in a place where he barely saw it, and a strong swimmer to get from the icy, frontier waters of the Downeast coast to the BLACK important artistic and intellectual currents of his time So too, his powers of observation and self-interrogation must have been notable. He was after all, a man who declined 10 beth F. Call, Mr. & Mrs. REBECCA ROBBINS 1. Johnson, Mr. Theodore Mrs. Valerie Nichols, Mrs. J. Young, Jr. Scarborough: Colonel John Black of Ellsworth tland: Mrs. Anne J. Phillips (1781-1856) Malcolin Yarmouth; Mr. Morgan, Jr. Colonel John Black, agent for the estate of William ank: Mrs. Helen E. Craig Bingham, was one of early Maine's most ambitious and Dudley C. Lunt NEW hard-working businessmen. A meticulous record keeper, yd T. Smith NEW YORK his papers provide a detailed picture of his widely-ranging Marchon PENNSYLVANIA activities. Though largely consisting of business records, Thompson, Sr. RHODE the Black Papers, from the family mansion, "Woodlawn", Paoli VIRGINIA Arlington: at Ellsworth, contain some personal material as well. These letters, bills, receipts and memos allow one to get a more intimate glimpse at this extraordinary man. As Colonel bers Black's business dealings have been dealt with at length ; E. Lord elsewhere, it is the private aspect of Mr. Black's life which irginia will be focused on here. T. Pierce First, however, it will be helpful to provide some back- W York ground information on the so-called "Bingham Lands" in Maine.2 In 1793, William Bingham, a prominent Philadelphia businessman, purchased two large tracts in Maine, of approximately one million acres each. These became known as the Kennebec Purchase, en- compassing a large part of what is now Somerset ). 2) County, often referred to as the "Million Acres"; and the 87, para 3, line 13, Zetas read Penobscot Purchase, located in Washington and Hancock d Asher; p. 87, para 3, line 16, counties. In 1796, Bingham, faced with financial diffi- read after; p. 90, para 4, line 1, culties, succeeded in selling a half-interest in his lands to line 5, verticle read vertical; p. Alexander Baring, who represented the banking houses 92, para 4, line 1, Ashur read d Asher; p. 97, para 2, line 11, of Baring Brothers and Hope and Company of London. line 17, usually read unusually; Baring is better known as Lord Ashburton, who, with judgment; p. 101, para 2, line Daniel Webster, negotiated the treaty settling Maine's 1, Kamph read Kramph. [The northeastern boundary. For an excellent history of the Owen for the above errors Bingham Lands see the two volume work, William 3'] 121-161 Maine Historical Socrety Quarterly 17,#3 (1978). WOODLAWN M u S E u M The Black House MAINE'S PREMIER HISTORIC ESTATE Summer 2006 A Property of the Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservations vol. 3 no. 3 Curious George: Woodlawn's Enigmatic Benefactor by Jane Goodrich On the frosty morning of November 1, 1928, the citizens of Hancock County awoke to find they had been given a marvelous gift. A few days earlier, on October 29, George Nixon Black, Jr. had died in his Beacon Street home in Boston of the effects of arteriosclerosis. 1 He was 86 years old. In a will in which Mr. Black had painted a dozen institutions with a very charitable brush, his hometown had not been forgotten.² Woodlawn now belonged to everyone. It was an astonishing final act, but one which had been foreshadowed. Thirty years earlier, in 1897, Mr. Black had gifted Ellsworth with a new library remodeled from the handsome Tisdale house, another jewel in the city's architectural crown. Although George Nixon Black, Jr. had lived in Boston for nearly 70 years he always cherished his Maine roots. Woodlawn, along with its furnishings and history, was probably his most valued possession. He relished his summer visits to Ellsworth where he indulged in his horses, dogs, parties and antiquing trips.3 When needed, he remodeled and decorated Woodlawn with great care, judiciously adding objects that reflected his colonial revival tastes but wisely leaving the furnishings chosen for the house by his grandparents, John and Mary Black, in place. He enjoyed telling the stories of his great-grandfather General David Cobb's role in the Revolutionary War, and especially prized General Cobb's close connection to George Washington. George Arim Black That he conceived of Woodlawn as a museum and public park is no surprise, as he desired to keep his family history Photo of George Nixon Black, Jr., circa 1864, from alive. Woodlawn collections. Yet, due either to humility or design, his own history is strikingly absent. Woodlawn contains thousands of letters, Continued on page 3... Curious George (continued from page 1) business records, deeds and travel journals, but fewer than a dozen were penned by George, Jr. A small collection of historic photographs exists, but there are more prints and paintings representing George Washington in the Woodlawn collection than there are pictures of the George who bequeathed it. In fact, George, Jr. has SO successfully slipped behind the curtain of his own ancestry that today few people know he was never called George at all. To distinguish him from his father he was always called Nixon. Nixon was born July 11, 1842 in Ellsworth. He was the second child and the only son of George Nixon Black, Sr. and his wife, Mary Peters Black. He was educated by private tutors, often along with his sisters, Marianne and Agnes Black. When he was eleven he took dancing lessons and he may have had some painting and drawing lessons as well. In 1860, when he was 18 years old, he moved with his family to Pemberton Square on Beacon Hill in Boston. It must have been an amazing change for a young man of artistic sensibilities after growing up in small-town Maine. At the time, Boston was the fifth largest city in the United States with a population just under 180,000.4 Miniature portrait of George Nixon Black, Jr., painted by Boston was also undergoing great physical change. Laura Coombs Hills. Woodlawn Museum collections. The area north and west of Beacon Hill where the family lived is today tree-lined and quaint, but was, in 1860, one that a man take a military part in the war but many students huge construction site. The massive work project of filling from both the North and the South left Harvard to join their the Back Bay began in 1858 just west of the present Boston respective forces. The nation was in a tumult. Financial Public Garden. In those years 35 train cars, loaded with markets were in a panic. Nothing would ever be the same. gravel were making the 9-mile run from a quarry in West It took a steady hand and an astute eye to negotiate Needham, every hour, twenty-four hours a day, six days a a real estate business through these years of exaggerated week.5 This filling continued (although at a slower pace) growth and crisis, but fortunately George Nixon Black, Sr. for the next 36 years, finally finishing in 1894 in the Fens possessed both. Determined and painfully hard working, near the present Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Houses the elder Black had grown the wealth left to him by his and shops were built on this "new land" almost as quickly own father's businesses to a size never dreamed of by the as it was leveled and graded, and a great migration of the first generation. Following Nixon's failure to matriculate population of Boston was underway. Derided at the time at Harvard, and after allowing his son a year of travel in by Henry James "as a tract pompous and prosaic", it was in Europe, George, Sr. brought Nixon into the family business. the Back Bay that Nixon's generation of men "established The two men worked together for the next 14 years building Boston as one of the centers of world culture in the arts and a commercial real estate empire. sciences.' It is difficult to imagine how a young man interested It was also a frightening time. Nixon entered Harvard in art, history and horses took to the drudgery of real estate College in the fall of 1860 but he had trouble there and work. We know very little of Nixon's life during these attended for less than a year. The Civil War had broken out years, but it seems that he accepted his duty and did his best and although Nixon did not enlist, many students dropped to work well at it. Small glimpses of the man he was to out at this time and classes were half-empty with their become are evidenced in two contemporary letters. In one, departure. The culture of the time by no means insisted Nixon's interest in, and expertise on the opera are spoken 3 Curious George (continued from page 5) kept a detailed diary of her sitters and it is no surprise that a Harvard education and then later endowed libraries. A Nixon was one of her first, as well as one of the few men she curious blend of humility and fierceness, he had both the painted (see image on page 3). Nixon's mother also sat for courage to insist upon his unconventional life and the her own miniature, but it is Nixon's that is the most striking. humility to commemorate it in the simplest manner possible Hearty, happy and with vivid blue eyes and a stylish fur coat on his tiny marble headstone at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in he smiles out at us from the small oval of ivory as one of Cambridge, Massachusetts. the finest male miniature subjects Hills ever painted. This Yet, it was as a patron that Nixon was his most singular. commission tells more than the story of Nixon's love for Possessed of the confidence and discrimination to recognize the colonial revival. It speaks also of his support for all talent, and yet restrained enough not to meddle with it, he artists, male or female. In fact, of the two portraits Nixon is was responsible for breathing life into several enduring known to have commissioned of himself, both were made pieces of art. His greatest genius may well have been the by female artists. ability to coax not only good work from his artist friends, On November 11, 1904 events occurred which led to but their best work. Nixon's last great gift to the artistic and cultural community in his lifetime. On this day a disastrous fire swept through 1 Death certificate October 29, 1928 Massachusetts State Archives the Harcourt Building of artists' studios, located just west 2 Will- George Nixon Black, Jr. Suffolk County Courthouse, of Art Square. Several artists barely escaped with their Boston, Massachusetts lives and many others, including such notables as William 3 Manchester Breeze, July 21, 1906 M. Paxton and Joseph DeCamp, had their life's work 4 When in Boston, A Time Line & Almanac, Jim Vrabel, destroyed. Almost immediately, a group of prominent Bostonian Society 2004 5 When in Boston, A Time Line & Almanac, Jim Vrabel, artists approached a group of prominent businessmen and Bostonian Society, 2004 the Fenway Studios Trust was born. Working quickly, 6 Quoted from Lewis Mumford architects engineered a studio building that the artists had 7 Woodlawn Museum Archives. designed, and subscriptions were solicited to raise funds for 8 Facts About Trinity Stained Glass, Trinity Church, 2004. the new structure. In just three months two trustees and 9 Cape Ann Advertiser, January 18, 1884 10 Diaries of Robert Swain Peabody, Boston Architectural fourteen subscribers had raised the money and donated Center, Boston, Massachusetts the land. Of course, Nixon signed on as a subscriber at 11 Official Programme Peabody Essex Phillips Library, Salem, the onset. Amazingly, the new building was finished and Massachusetts occupied within a year of the Harcourt fire. The artist 12 Laura Coombs Hills, A Retrospective- Historical Society of occupants who used the building were among America's Old Newbury, 1996 13 Fenway Studios, The Evolution of an Artist's Community in most famous, and teachers from the Museum School used Boston, Nancy Allyn Jarzombeck, 1998 the studios for classes. Fenway Studios remain today as they were intended, fully occupied by a new generation of artists plying their trade. 13 In the end, biography always falls short. The subject, aided by the silt of time still manages to elude our grasp. Nixon remains a delightful enigma. In 1842 when he was born, the northern border of the state of Maine had barely been settled with New Brunswick. It would take a GEORGE remarkable youth to develop a love of art while growing up NIXON in a place where he barely saw it, and a strong swimmer to get from the icy, frontier waters of the Downeast coast to the BLACK important artistic and intellectual currents of his time. So too, his powers of observation and self-interrogation must have been notable. He was after all, a man who declined 10 FILE NO. record HALE AND DORR ORIGINAL FILE COPY NOT TO LEAVE THE OFFICE #3 60 State Street Boston, Massachusetts March 24, 1933 A. H. Lynam, Esq. Bar Harbor, Maine Dear Mr. Lynam: As we are taking up again the question of the Bingham Trustees and their records with special reference to the Black House, I dictate from memory this picture of the situation which I will revise and have ready for you at such time in May as you may need it. Hanpock County, Mt. Desert Island, and the Bingham Trustees have a rich and interesting history and there are many records of it. There is no place in the nature of a public library or museum at the present time which has any equipment for receiving and making available such records. If you wanted to see an old record of the Bingham Trustees or an old chart of the shore of the island in the early days, or the records of some first settler, you would be hard put to it to find a place in which two or three such things had been gathered together and there is no place in which any considerable quantity of such things could be properly handled. On the other side, it is equally clear that there is only one right place for such a museum. The history of the Bingham Trustees and of their agents the Blasks and of the HALE AND DORR ORIGINAL FILE COPY A. H. Lynam, Esq. the TO LEAVE THE OFFICE Black House make that estate the correct place for such a museum. It is at the county seat, it is accessible from all parts of the county, and it begins with the Black records which are themselves of absorbing interest and require arrangement and development. Under those circumstances Mrs. Beatrix Farrand, who is heartily in favor of the project I am outlining, has caused Mr. to study with her what will be an adequate museum building. Mrs. Farrand has determined upon its proper site. The site is interesting in itself because the old Bingham agent used to gase on the mountains of Mt. Desert Island from his house. But the trees of his exit avenue now ecneeal that, Just beyond them toward Surry is a field which is the ideal site for the missum and from its southern windows the beautiful old view of the island is restored. I shall be sending you with this letter the plan and a picture of the proposed building, Briefly it provides for a miseum room (not unlike Sawtelle's in opportunity for display) for proper fireproof storage, and for one or two cubicles or other places adequate for research, study, and preparation of material. Such a building would have sub- stantially no depreciation, it would have no extra upkeep cost. The Black House is gravely underendoved at the present time and some additional endowment would make matters safer. FILE NO. HALE AND DORR ORIGINAL FILE COPY NOT TO LEAVE THE OFFICE A. H. Lynam, Esq. -3- To such a building there should be transported, First, all the miscellaneous material for the history of the county including the island and the park. Second, the contents of the Black House safe which is not, from modern fireproof notions, a safe at all. Third, the Hanoock County records of the Bingham Trustees which according to my information are in a safe in some vacant store in Ellsworth today. No one can see them. Perhaps the best example of the benefit which would arise from what I am recommending is the story of the Peters plan and the Peters notebook. The actual original Peters plan of Mt. Desert Island is one of those records. It was made by Peters from surveys which are recorded in notebooks, Those notebooks themselves contain exciting and interesting material for the history of the island. Substantially all the titles on Mt. Desert Island derive from that Peters A particular instance of this is in order here. On the old Sibley Richardson farm in the little village in the town of Mt. Desert called by the picturesque name of Sound is the site of the second saw mill erected upon Mt. Desert Island. Mr. Hamlin has told me that the Peters note- books contain his record of his day's journeys on the day when he was survey tagtWemeand the record that his instrument was set up for the purpose of surveying on the site of that FILE NO. HALE AND DORR ORIGINAL FILE COPY NOT TO LEAVE THE OFFICE A. H. Lynam, Esq. saw mill. The Richardsons and their sudnessors in the ownership of that farm have preserved a parallel tradition describing just how Peters came there that day and how they told him that the saw mill was metherie handwrite used it as the point of departure for his surveys. If this information comes from accident, think what more would come from study (The first saw mill was that belonging to Mr. Bomes on the brook at Somesville, And the lie that will not down about Talleyrand being born on Mt. Desert Island mist be located there in the Somes or in the Richardson families and at one or the other of these sites. The vital records of those families are seriously inconsistent with the myth.) The next bajaht of these records 18 those in the possession of the Bingham Trustees in Pennsylvania. Now the first step toward having an adequate massum is to get this great bulk of stuff to put into it, The time is just ripe for that. The Bingham Trustees in Hancock County and on Mt. Desert Island have substantially completed their sales. At the present moment they are paying taxes only on two items. A. The great swamp or marah on Great Cranberry Island assessed, I think, for $1,000. Its boundaries are uncertain, it has no value for summer development, it ought to be in public ownership. FILE NO. HALE AND DORR ORIGINAL FILE COPY A. H. Lynam, Esq. NOT TO LEAVE THE OFFICE B. The land on the sea side of the Schooner Head road about two miles out of Bar Harber lying between the estate of Mr. Potter Palmer and the estate of Mrs. Merris Hawkes. of course that is not all to which the Bingham Trustees have paper title. They are automatically the residuary legatees of the Mt. Desert Island title and again and again some example turns up indicating that a release deed is desirable. Specific instances of this are the Island of Thrumcap title to which derives under a Bingham release deed. Also rarious places where old deeds mentioning high water mark only and deed to low water mark was in order. Then there are islets and ledges which being "in front" of Mt. Desert are part of the Louis XIV grant which controls the definition of the Bingham area. For a guess the bar between Bakers Island and Little Cranberry Island may well be found to be Bingham property. It has no com- mercial value but it has grave importance from the point of view of getting into public ownership areas which might other- wise be abused. The excavation of the gravel from the "nubbin" on that bar would be a public injury. Back in the woodland of the county there are lots of land to which the Bingham Trustees have paper title but which they have long since ceased to carry for tax purposes. FILE NO. HALE AND DORR ORIGINAL FILE COPY A. H. Lynam, Esq. -for TO LEAVE THE OFFICE Probably these will be found in the actual adverse owner- ship of others who should have released 11 that is the case. But if abandoned under adverse titles, it would be good for the county to have these the property of the reservations, In my opinion after one has extinded the Cranberry marsh and the Schooner Head Road property;andvery small sum if any would amply compensate the Bingham Trustees. I believe they take part and Mr. Hamlin takes part of the consideration of each release deed. I do not believe that the Binghan part of these release deeds more than pays for the cost of keeping up the organization and taking care of the papers and knowing what is going on about Hancock County, Maine. Professor Samuel Eliot Morison, who goes to Seal Cove in the summer and is one of the active men in the Colonial Society of Mansachusettn, is ready to make progress with the development of these records when they are available. For instance, he would be likely to require a research student to camp in Ellsworth during the summer season and write 2 thesis upon the Bingham Trustees, the Captain Black agency, or even perhaps the relationship of Colonel John Black to the Ashburton treaty and the international boundary disputes. I submit that for a very moderate expenditure for building, perhaps additional endowment, and the Bingham records a public service could be date of romantia interest and importance. FILE NO. HALE AND DORR ORIGINAL FILE COPY NOT TO LEAVE THE OFFICE A. H. Lynam, Esq. The panic of 1837 can be traced in many interest ing developments in Colonel Black's letter book and other papers. Your a very truly, RICHARD W. HALE Richard #. Hale. B.E.K. MAR 24 1933