| The Holbrook Store on Linekin Neck, 1866 Part I About the Author - Barbara Rumsey Reprinted with permission of Barbara Rumsey | First published in the Boothbay Register January 2, 1997 |
| Gloria Knapp at Shop 'n Save always compliments me on my articles but adds, "Do one on Linekin Neck!'' So, here you are Gloria - sorry the Dodges hadn't made it to Linekin yet! Jere Coosard recently loaned the Historical Society an old E. & E. Holbrook store account book, and it makes very interesting reading, revealing aspects of mid-nineteenth-century life on Linekin Neck. Jere was given the book by Eliphalet Prentiss "Pete" Jones (1899-1991), a grandson of store-keeper Eliphalet Holbrook. The business, at least the general store, was attached to the Holbrook house (formerly owned by Al and Agnes Sirois' but now known as the Linekin Bay Bed & Breakfast owned by Larry Brown and Marti Booth) located on the flat stretch of Linekin Neck. Eliphalet and Ezekiel Holbrook are said to have started their fishing/store business in 1845 and it continued well into the twentieth century. The book, 216 pages with about 15 entries on each page, runs from May 1866 to September 1869. At a glance, it's obvious that most of the business consisted of repeat customers and repeat purchases. Near Linekin Bay, it was a village store catering to people within walking or rowing distance, although vessels and the booming pogie factories benefited too. The vessels, such as Arrival, Minnawarren, Sailor, Shannon, Western Belle, and Little Nell, bought supplies only in the mild months, roughly April to October. Linekin Neck Geography |
 | I'm sure many people are aware of how developers introduce seductive new names to entice lot buyers. So throughout Boothbay's history, the tip of Linekin Neck was Green Island Cove, later Grimes Cove, until developers subdivided it into a summer colony a hundred years ago, renaming it "Ocean Point." In the same way, Little River became ''Boothbay Shores" when W. T. Jackson attempted to develop it in the 1920s, and the back side of Perch Island Cove became a developer's "Paradise Point." The Upper Elbow became "Smuggler's Cove'' but the Lower Elbow has stayed untouched by developers. It does have another name, Tibbetts Cove, acknowledging the Tibbetts families, such as Ada Tibbetts, who have lived there for so long. |
| Growing up in East Boothbay village, I sensed that Linekin Neck started about at the turn to Farnham's Point and the vicinity was the point for the old school districts, with the children north of it walking to the village school, and those walking to the Linekin school below the turn to Little River. Years ago Hazel Poore told me that there was a clear boundary on the Neck too - you were either above or below the white gate, which was situated just south of the turn to Little River. Children knew they needed permission to pass beyond the white gate. Similarly I sensed in East Boothbay that if I went beyond Bill Tompkins' filling station near Meadow Cove Road or Grammy Luke's at the foot of Priest's Hill, I was on my own in unfamiliar territory. Linekin Neck Families The repetition of year-round family names builds up a map of the size and extent of the community that frequented the store. All the names from the book's first two months, May 12 to July 12, 1866, are shown in the box.
Many... Alley, Poor, Tibbetts, and Linekin - are familiar Linekin Neck names while others - Tarr, Nolan, Rowe, Amiro, Foster, and Wentworth - either were here fleetingly for a few decades or the families died out. Almost exclusively, the patrons lived between Grimes Cove and Priest's Hill. The number of houses between those two locations doubled from 15 to 30 between 1840 and:1850, reflecting, I believe, the Holbrooks' starting their business and drawing people to the area. Another 10 were built by 1860; and 15 more by 1870, reflecting the good times brought by the pogie factories. Generally, those who patronized the Holbrook store most frequently lived closest, while the further away the patrons lived the less they came. Family was primary - new people usually settled on the Neck because of marriage, but new can be a relative thing. The Alleys were new in 1774 when Samuel Alley left North Boothbay to marry Sarah Linekin and live at Linekin. In the mid-1800s, Nancy and Frederic Farnham married George and Orra Brewer, bringing Brewers in; Lucinda and Mary Farnham brought Jackson Tarr and George Martin to the area. Almost always a strange name can be explained by the marriage of a local family member with an outsider - a far cry from today's reasons for settling here or anywhere. Probably half the marriages took place between Linekin families. Rufus Tibbetts married Asenath Grimes, and Grimeses intermarried with Bennetts and Rackliffs, all now extinct Ocean Point families. Eliphalet and Ezekiel Holbrooks sister Fanny married an Ocean Point Bennett, then a Rowe; their sisters Sally and Dorcas and Lucy married Nathaniel Foster, Joseph Farnham, and Joseph Grimes respectively. Store Goods The store was truly general, selling kerosene, matches, lamp chimneys, baskets, papers of stove polish, pails, chamber pots, bowls, pans, brooms, hoes, nails, axes, shot, powder, and gun caps. Material, such as print, cotton, tweed, and thread and buttons were carried for sewing homemade clothes. Stocked clothing were boots, hats, stockings (socks), and "mittings." And it's not hard to tell that ''mk jigs'' are (mackerel jigs), when it's July in Maine and you're situated next to the water! Medicine and what we now call "personal care products" were sold. "Hair renewer" was sold to some who regretted going bald: Ruglas Poore, John Nolan, Albion Poore, and Simon Farnham all traded money for the dream of a hairy head. Simon was particularly hopeful, buying two bottles. However, it is remotely possible that instead of being poured on the head the hair renewer was taken internally; in a "dry" state, people were inventive about their sources of alcohol. William Keller and others purchased lung balsam repeatedly, and other general medicines sold by the Holbrooks were "panacea" and "catarrh snuff." Some local people reduced their store bill by selling produce to the Holbrooks. For instance, Mary Amiro, Victoria Poor, Sarah Tibbetts, Elizabeth Alley, Jane Blake, Rufus Tibbetts, and John Nolan occasionally sold eggs to the store at 20 cents a dozen, equal to the cost of a pound of sugar, a pound of coffee, or a quarter bushel of potatoes. Mrs. Blake and Mary Amiro supplied mittens, Probably for normal winter wear and for fishermen. George Whitehouse was credited with caulking a boat. Labor and Rented Commodities The Holbrooks boarded people and animals, performed work themselves, repaired shoes and boots, and let out animals. They charged Martin Priest for stoning a cellar in 1866; perhaps Priest was busy building a house on Priest's Hill. On January 11, 1869 Nathaniel Wentworth moved from one house to another, renting oxen to haul his furniture. Nathaniel Bennett was billed December 4, 1866 by the Holbrooks for going to the Holbrooks four times and for digging two graves at $1 each. Nathaniel's wife Vashti Grimes Bennett and their ten year old son both died in October. When the Holbrooks were busy, they hired labor. So May 8, 1869, Simon Alley did some furrowing and hilling out for them. For swift transportation, Holbrook horses were rented, almost always to fetch a doctor. Ruglas Poor did so August 16, 1867, as did W.G. Reed the same day. I remember Hazel Poore telling me that the people on Linekin Neck and elsewhere called East Boothbay "the Mills," short for Hodgdons Mills. May 4, 1867, Andrew Tarr rented a horse to go to the Mills. Next week. Groceries and Pogie Factories on Linekin Neck. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Barbara Rumsey | Barbara Rumsey has lived in Boothbay Harbor since she was six years old. She presently serves as the Executive Director of the Boothbay Region Historical Society. She has written one book herself titled"Hodgdon Shipbuilding and Mills" and is currently working on another solo effort. She has also contributed to several other books about the history of the Boothbay Region, and has had many of her shorter works published in the local newspaper - The Boothbay Register. |
| About the Boothbay Region Historical Society & Museum.... The Boothbay Region Historical Society was organized in 1967 for the purpose of bringing together individuals interested in local history and collecting and preserving records and artifacts relating to this region and the people who have lived and worked here. The Historical Society has on exhibit documents and artifacts from the Indian days and the periods of active fishing, shipbuilding, and trading, into the present century. Fishing gear, tools, and nautical instruments are displayed and a guide will be glad to explain their use. A number of photographs of sailing ships, steamers, and "how it was in the good old days" are mounted and many more are on file. Prints may be ordered at modest cost. The Society also has a collection of models of Boothbay vessels built by local artists. Books and monographs on the history of the region written by local authors are for sale. Within our files is a wealth of genealogical material as well as manuscripts, memorabilia, videos, and newspapers dealing with local matters. Our Society is an active research facility focusing on all aspects of local history. Contributions for the support of the museum are gratefully received, and new members of the society are welcomed enthusiastically. Boothbay Region Historical Society & Museum HOURS | |
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