LB2007.1.72075

LB2007.1.72075

Ladies boarding the Sagadahock House stage coach The Sagadahock stage coach, for many years, carried people in Bath and conveyed passengers from Bath to Rockland and returned before the days of the Knox & Lincoln Railroad came into being. In the late 1940sit began active service at a famous ranch in Arizona, where it carries guests from the railroad station to the ranch's beautiful lodge. The coach was purchased some time ago by Paul Litchfield, for coaching parties into the dessert from the Wigwam ranch at Litchfield Park, a project of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. on one of its cotton plantations near Phoenix, Arizona. Mr. Litchfield, who was chairman of the board of that great business concern, was no stranger to Bath, where he spent his Summer vacations, with his aunt, Mrs. Alvord, and where, as a young lad, he watched the great wooden vessels, and later the steel ships, come into being in the famous shipyards. In recent years he has visited here occasionally, and at Squirrel island, and he was a frequent visitor at Central church, which his mother attended, and which he has held in fine regard because of these tender memories. The old coach has a most interesting history. It was built about 1849 by the Abbot & Downing Co. of concord, N.H., to the order of William Jewell, a retired sea captain of Phippsburg, who was the father of William Jewell, lately deceased at Phippsburg, at the age of 77. Capt. Jewell established a stage coach route from Bath to Small Point for a number of years, and in the late 60s the coach was put on the run with the Berry coaches of Rockland, continuing in that service until the opening of the Knox & Lincoln Railroad in 1871 when it was acquired by the late H.A. Huse, father of honorable Augustus Huse, night clerk at the Sedgewick. Mr. Huse was co-partner with Jerre Shanon, father of the late Mrs. J.R. Andrews, operating in connection with the Sagadahock block at Front and Center streets. It was at this time that the coach was redecorated by John Berry and also re-equipped and was given the name Sagadahock House. The Bath to Rockland run was established by the Berry Stables of Rockland and included the Bath coach. The coach left each city in the morning and returned in the evening, about 50 miles each way. Two stops were made each way and four wearied horses were changed for fresh ones; at Warren and at Sheepscot. The roads were rough, which nothing but Concord built coaches could stand. And the passengers were jolted considerably on the journey. But they were always on time to connect with the ferry between Bath and Woolwich. Mr. Berry speaks well of the driver of the Berry coach, a gentleman as well as a great four horse coach driver. His name was William L. White of Rockland, later of Bath. Later he became the first to run Rockland and continued in that service until he was promoted to be the superintendent of the Knox & Lincoln Railroad with his office in Bath. Mr. White was the father of Miss Minnie White, who now resides at the Cosmopolitan Club in bath. The driver of the Sagadahock coach was William Witham, father of the late Fred and William Witham, and he was followed by the late Charles Carter of the Carter homestead on Middle street. This colored gentleman was about five feet five inches in height and weighed about 180 pounds. He was as nimble as a cat in his spring and mount over the wheel to the driver's seat. Gathering the reins of the four horses in his left hand he would reach for the whip and with a long whoop give his "Ya hoo" and sharply crack the lash about the ears of the lead horses and off they would go on the leap for the ferry. Mr. Jackson says that many a time he has seen Charles Carter swing out of Ferry street into front street coming from the ferry at top speed to pull up at the Elliot house in the brick building now occupied by McFadden's Pharmacy and Cohen's grocery store. After depositing his passengers and baggage Mr. Carter would mount nimbly to the driver's seat, crack his whip over the lead horse's ears with a "Yep-Yah," swing in a complete circle at the head of Arch street and drive into the alley to the stables at the rear. He was considered one of the best drivers of four horses in Maine. During the service with Sagadahock House the coach was operated between the hotel and the railroad station and was driven by the late George M. Duley. For several summers he operated a stage route from Bath to Parker Head. For the many years the old coach was in the Huse family it was the greatest delight of young Gus Huse to handle the ribbons over four lively horses with a merry crowd bound to the Fair, or to a dance, or party in the country. After Gus Huse left Bath to travel in the theatrical world, where he made a name for himself, the coach was driven by the late Joseph Avery until it went into service at the "dude' ranch in Arizona, still going strong after nearly 90 years of service, a credit to superb New England workmanship. Abbot and Downing; Abbot, Downing & Company; Abbot Downing Company The original company of J. S. Abbot and Lewis Downing formed in 1826 and lasting until 1847 was named the Abbot Downing Company. Abbot Downing Company was known the world over for its Concord Stagecoach but actually it manufactured over 40 different types of carriages and wagons at the wagon factory in Concord, New Hampshire. Abbot Downing Company was best known for its western market in the United States, the Abbot Downing Company stagecoach sold throughout South America, Australia and Africa. The first Concord stagecoach was built in 1827. Abbot Downing Company employed thorough braces under their stagecoaches which gave the ride of the stagecoaches a swinging motion instead of the jolting up and down of spring suspension. The Concord Stagecoaches were built as solid as the Abbot Downing Company reputation and became known that they didn't break down but just wore out. Over 700 Concord stagecoaches were built by the original Abbot Downing Company before it disbanded in 1847. Abbot formed a partnership with his son and thrived with J. S. and E. A. Abbot and Company until 1865 as well as Lewis Downing and his two sons forming Lewis Downing and Sons about the same time. With the retirement of Lewis Downing in 1865, his two sons merged again with the Abbot company becoming known as Abbot Downing & Company. Once again the brilliance of the two families was under one company. A name change in 1873 with incorporation saw the firm renamed as Abbot-Downing Company. From 1847 through 1899 the various company names saw a production of three thousand Concord coaches. Built high and wide to handle the rough, rutted roads of a new country, the design of a classic American vehicle was perfected in Concord, New Hampshire. Carriage builder J. Stephens Abbot and master wheelwright Lewis Downing built the famed stagecoaches of Wells Fargo & Co. The curved frame of the body gave it strength, and perhaps a little extra elbow room. Perfectly formed, fitted, and balanced wheels stood up to decades of drenching mountain storms and parching desert heat. The unique feature of these coaches was the suspension. Instead of steel springs, the coach body rested on leather "thorough braces," made of strips of thick bull hide. This feature spared the horses from jarring and gave the stagecoach a (sometimes) gentle rocking motion, leading Mark Twain to call it, "An imposing cradle on wheels." (Roughing It, 1870) Concord Coaches weighed about 2,500 pounds, and cost $1,100 each, including leather and damask cloth interior.