With the advent of a lovely spring, we welcome our friends to another issue of our newsletter.

Is This Your Family?

We occasionally come into possession of items which do not seem to belong at the Ruggles House, but should be passed on to the appropriate parties.

We have acquired a framed family document for the Drisko family that was found in the Narraguagus Estates' apartment of Joan Bailey. It was not retrieved by the family after her death and fell to the Estates management. Kathy Upton of the Cherryfield-Narraguagus Historical Society took it and passed it along to Ellen Tenan of The Ruggles House Society. If there is a Drisko descendant who would like this rather large document, it is at the Ruggles House. We would like to give it to some family member. There are three generation listed, starting with grandparents, George (1854) and Sarah (1859) Drisko and James (1854-1905) and Mary (1856-1930) Clark. The next generation lists parents, Ellis James Clark and Inez Winniford Drisko (1882). Children listed are, Elizabeth Drisko (1875-1900), Harry Drisko (1878), Mae Drisko (1880), Joseph Drisko (1885), Hugh Drisko (1892-1915), Etta Drisko (1894), George Drisko (1898), Myrtie Clark (1878), and Alna Clark (1880). There are middle initials and marriage dates for some people. The antique frame is not in good condition but intact with glass insert. Please contact Ellen Tenan at 546-7903 if you are interested.

Spring Into A Wealth of Knowledge:
This year an historic herb garden extends the learning space of the Ruggles House Museum outside the walls of the historic home. Located near the kitchen entrance of the home, the garden was designed and planted by two high school interns, Grace Avakian and Danielle Eaton, under the direction of board member, Lucile Harrington.

The project was funded by a grant from the Robert N. Haskell and Gladys M. Stetson Fund of the Maine Community foundation as a means of connecting youth with the history of their community. The interns explored the uses and culture of herbs commonly used during the early 19th century. They discovered gardening skills they could transfer to future projects, and found connections to the history of the area, the home and the Ruggles family.

The garden will be named in honor of Mary Ruggles Chandler who was the first registered pharmacist in the state, who often collected wild herbs to use in her pharmacy. The Board has chosen to call it Aunt May's Herb Garden. She was called Aunt May by many local residents so the naming is most fitting. Speaking of gardens, volunteers are always welcome to help out with the work involved with plants. We need some more old fashioned herbs for this new venture. Weeding, pruning, etc. needs to be done all summer long.

Long Overdue Thanks to Some Very Important Friends of Ruggles House:
We at the Society often think of those who have gone before us as historical societies frequently do. Rarely is there anyone left who was associated with the early restoration of the Ruggles House. Most people realize that the house was the life-long work and dream of Mary Ruggles Chandler, great-granddaughter of Thomas and Ruth Clapp Ruggles, the builders of the House. Few people realize that she did not work alone but in the 1920's was part of a family group who set out to save the house after granddaughter Lizzie Ruggles died leaving no direct descendants. Soon Miss Chandler was working alone as other family members passed on. In the 1930's several men from the Bar Harbor area, including the author Arthur C. Train and Richard W. Hale, took an interest in her project and invested some money in repair of the exterior and foundation. With the advent of World War II the house sat for some years with nothing else done as Miss Chandler had no means to continue improvements. Edward Browning Jr. visited Miss Chandler at the House after the war ended and was shocked at the state of disrepair still evident. He was the catalyst that Miss Chandler needed to move the restoration forward. He and his wife, Ellen Douglas Browning, enlisted others to help and the present Ruggles House Society was formed to make a non-profit museum that would ensure the restoration effort was continued and the House opened to the public.

We look at those early people as our "Founders" and have contemplated many options to recognize their part in creating the present museum. Miss Chandler and those folks intended the House to be an example of early family living, as the Ruggles family would have occupied the house, as well as emphasizing the exemplary architecture of the building. We have resisted placing plaques or signs directly on the House as it will detract from this vision. We know there were several persons and families other than the Brownings, which included Mrs. Edward Browning Sr., that were big players in this picture of the late 1940's and early 1950's. Miss Chandler died in 1955, but everything was in place for the others to continue with the work. The McCormick/Collier family members were part of this group, especially Miss Mildred McCormick, Mrs. Chauncey McCormick and Robert McCormick. Another lady who was most generous in those early years was Mrs. George C. Langhorne. She took a special interest in the dining room. Mr. and Mrs. Donald Blagden gave many of the lovely antique furniture pieces that were used to fill out the rooms where there was not Ruggles furniture They also bought the vacant lot next to the Ruggles House that had been occupied by the large store building which housed Miss Chandler's drugstore and Gus Barton's store, along with apartments upstairs. This building burnt in January of 1945 and so did several other buildings to the left. The Ruggles House took some scotching on the roof trim but was spared because of wind direction. At the time of the purchase by the Blagdens, it was an empty cellar hole full of debris. The Blagdens had it cleaned, the cellar filled, parking lot graveled, fence built and roses planted; then gave it to the Ruggles House Society. This House had some wonderful friends. And there were others we are sure, but monetary records so not exist.

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Madeira started donating to the House in 1973 and Mrs. Madeira has continued ever since that first gift. Her interest has grown over the years and she visits each summer to see "Her House". A very generous contribution by her to the capitol campaign for the rebuilt ell made it possible for us to make that project feasible for this small museum. The Society expressed a desire in 1954 to have that ell back some day. It took us fifty years to do it. It was possible because of wonderful people like Helen Madeira. A simple thank you does not seem enough for this lovely lady and others of her kind. We certainly express it in any way that we can.

Since the inception of this society in 1949, we have a very long list of thanks to express.

Early Postcards of Columbia Falls:
Last year the Society hosted a presentation by Kevin Johnson, from the Penobscot Marine Museum, of early postcards of Columbia Falls and the local area. The glass slides of Maine and northern New England, 40,000 of them, were donated to the Marine Museum. Linda Long, of our Board, has been volunteering at the museum to enter them into their computer system. She has acquired a disk of those postcards of interest to our area. We are contemplating posting them on our web site so others may view them at their leisure. To those who have not seen them, they are fascinating. Identifying those in the photos is of great interest to us. Perhaps the public can help. We'll inform you by newsletter when these go on line. There are 7,000 more of these glass slides for sale, which the Marine Museum is hoping to collect enough funds to purchase. Donations are being accepted. Go to their website at www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org for more information.

New Hours for Sunday:
We will be open on June 1st as usual, but will be closed for July 5th (Monday) and Labor Day. These holidays are very slow so the decision was made to not open on those days and to not open Sundays until 12:00, instead of 11:00. This hour had low visitation over the years. Otherwise the hours for the summer season are 9:30 to 4:30 on weekdays and NEW 12:00 to 4:30 on Sundays, with NO NEW TOURS STARTING AFTER 4:00.

You may call during those hours at 207-483-4637 or at other times 207-546-7903. The web site is www.ruggleshouse.org. and the email goes to etenan@ruggleshouse.org.

DON'T FORGET THE ICE CREAM SOCIAL, FREE TO ALL, ON JULY 11TH AND ON MAY 29TH AT 9 AM, THE ANNUAL PLANT SALE WILL HAVE ALL TYPES OF PLANTS, INCLUDING HERBS. PLEASE DONATE PLANTS.