Pitcher Belfast, Me.

Pitcher Belfast, Me.

"Pitcher Belfast, Me." Large House "W.E. Davenport & N.C. Matthews Double House, Northport Avenue." --Earle Shettleworth, 2011 Ham-Condon / Pitcher House The double tenement of Dr. John Chellis Ham and Alvin T. Condon was built on Northport Avenue in 1896. The house is a double one with a solid partition between the two parts except in the attic. A. T. Condon owns and occupies the north side and Dr. J. C. Ham, the south. The residence was damaged by fire on Sunday night (Sept. 8, 1901)., Dr. Ham was called away from the house about 6 o'clock and returned about midnight, and no one was in his part of the house. Mr. Condon and his family were sitting up reading and about 10 o'clock a neighbor called and told them their house was on fire. The alarm was given and the department was quickly on hand and soon had the fire extinguished. The fire apparently started in Dr. Ham's sleeping room on the second floor, and burned up into the attic, across the to the Condon side and down through the attic floor and into a sleeping room on that side. A considerable portion of the roof and some of the wall on Dr. Ham's side were burned out and there were a few holes through the roof on Mr. Condon's side. The fire was confined to the room in which it started, the attic, one other room and a corridor on Dr. Ham's side; the attic, one room and the corridor on Mr. Condon's. The other parts of the house and much of the contents were damaged by water. The Mayor and the Aldermen met Wednesday to investigate the fire and adjourned to Friday afternoon. Adjusters, representing the insurance companies, are in town to arrange for the settling the losses, which are fully covered by insurance. In 1906 F. S. Holmes, real estate broker, sold the Ham-Condon house on Northport Avenue for the Belfast Savings Bank to Mrs. Elbridge S. (Emma) Pitcher. Elbridge S. (1865-1949) & Emma Belle Pitcher (1865-1949) married since 1889, as well as their daughter Gladys (1890-1995) dedicated themselves to music education in all of its spheres. Their contributions spanned more than a century of musical life in Belfast. Elbridge, a native of Waldoboro settled in Belfast where he made a living repairing pianos but most of all he was a facile teacher and talented musician. He participated in countless community musical endeavors including plays, concerts band recitals and impromptu sing-alongs in their summer home at the Battery. He was a founder and active supporter of the annual Maine Music Festivals which helped popularize fine music throughout the state. Emma, also born a Pitcher, but no relation, was an alto, pianist and the first person to introduce music into the public schools of Maine. She was, also, the supervisor of music for the Belfast public schools, a high office for a woman to hold in those days, eventually becoming a state supervisor for music education. She and her husband were trendsetters, using such modern devices as a Victrola and projected slides in their teaching as early as 1916. Both remained active in vocal, band and choral productions until they both died in 1949. Their daughter, Gladys (1890-1996), a pianist, cellist and music educator, was born in Belfast, Maine to music educators Elbridge and Emma Pitcher. Gladys Pitcher graduated from Belfast High School in1907 and went on to study cello and piano at the New England Conservatory of Boston, from which she graduated in with honors 1910. In 1914 she married James T. Sleeper, the Director of the Music Department at Beloit College in Wisconsin, and replaced him temporarily as Director when he left to serve during World War I. She was also Dean of Women at the college. Following the War, Pitcher settled in New England and taught music in the public school systems in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey. In 1926 she was hired by C.C. Birchard, a music publisher in Boston, where she acted as editor-in-chief until her retirement in 1957 after 31 years with the comapny. Following her retirement, she continued to write and edit music for the Willis Music Company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and continued to edit after settling in Belfast, Maine in 1962. In the 1970s she composed "Reflections of an Old Hymn" that was played at the rededication of the Tracker organ at the First Church. A friend once wrote of her, "She is gracious, unflappable, extremely humble, lavish in her praise of others, supportive to struggling amateur musicians, a ruthless poker player and wonderful company". Gladys Pitcher died on March 24, 1996 at the age of 105 One time home of W. E. Davenport & N. C. Mathews On August 12, 1992, the landmark Pitcher house on Northport Avenue was heavily damaged by a fire which originated in the attached barn with no loss of life. Most residents thought the historic Queen Anne Victorian would be torn down but the owner spent $425,000.00 to restore it. The restoration was performed by Whitecap Builders and was reopened in 1993.