The following two interviews were conducted by two Lincolnville School students. These interviews and other are part of the Oral History project headed up by Shelia Polson and soon to be published.
The O'Brien
Boys in their 'haunted house'
ED O'BRIEN
By Conor Mathews
Creaking stairs, doorknobs turning, and strange ghostly forms gliding around. Do you see these things in your house? Ed O'Brien says he might in his.
The house that Ed grew up in (Sleepy Hollow) is about 135 years old. It was built in 1872 by Jeremiah Frohock and his wife, Henrietta.
The people who lived in the house before Ed's family told a story. Each of these people had a son from a previous marriage. Both boys were killed in separate car crashes in the late 1960s. The people believed that the boys' spirits were still around. They would wake up in the middle of the night. The bed covers would be thrown across the room. A car could be heard pulling into the driveway and the car door would shut. The boys' room had been right above the kitchen. There were also other mysterious things that happened like the rocking chair rocking back and forth and doors opening and closing. The people thought it was the boys playing pranks.
When Ed was young, he would get a feeling like he was being watched, especially when he was in that room or the hallway upstairs. Like ghosts! One time, when he had that feeling, he got up and started walking down the hall. He felt static electricity. His hair was standing up on his arms and he ran. He also has seen the doorknobs turning from the stairs. Ed once thought he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye.
There's the story about his grandfather. He had died in their house. That night, Ed's parents were sitting in their chairs, talking. His mom said, "How could such a strong personality just be gone?" At that exact moment, all of the wood in the wood box fell over-crashed. Almost like he was saying, "I'm still here."
Ed thinks many spirits may live in his house. He thinks some people can feel the spirits' presence more strongly than others can. Some people never notice it at all. When I was leaving I thought I saw a strange figure in a downstairs window, waving to me, but it was only Ed.
RAMON COLLEMER
By Jake Cookson
Ramon Collemer was born in Lincolnville in 1931. He has lived here almost all his life, with the small exception of the few short years he lived in Morrill. But his roots here go back much further.
Ramon remembers his father and grandfather telling him stories about his great, great grandfather, Joseph Collemer, coming to what is now Lincolnville in the early 1790s. It was called Ducktrap Plantation then. Joseph Collemer came from Scituate, Massachusetts. He used to live on Slab City Road.
Ramon remembers walking to Lloyd Thomas' corner on High Street and then taking a bus to the Wiley School House on top of Moody Mountain. He says, "In mud season Pearly Wentworth would come up with a horse and buggy."
Ramon tells how his father used to farm strawberries. The strawberries were sold and trucked to Boston. His father also supplied wood for the schools.
The first job Ramon had was farming with his father. The first piece of equipment my dad had was a horse-drawn John Deere #3, six foot cut mowing machine, says Ramon. When he was grown he went to work for Penobscot Poultry for 19 years. During eight of those years the farm had 60,000 chickens. Later he went on to work for Robbins Lumber for 22 years before he retired.
When Ramon was asked if it was different to work with horse-drawn equipment he said it took more time, less maintenance, and was quieter.
Ramon says Lincolnville has changed in many ways. There is only one school now, it was a lot quieter then, and there were more dirt roads. The population has also grown by a few hundred people.
The Collemer family was among the first settlers in Lincolnville. They have liked it so much they have been here since the 1700s. Ramon has been here almost all his life and I don't think he's going anywhere. By the way, if you're going by his house on Route 173, check out the barn. It has been there since the 1850s.