Dorothy Jean (Gemmer) Schroedersays:

September 25, 2010 at 1:35 am Edit

When my grandmother Daisy Thomas came to Machias in 1898 with three toddlers, my grandfather Bert Thomas had come ahead of her and he was the depot agent. Like Warner said, there were seven saloons. She went to work and formed a temperance society, and the Ladies Aid to raise funds for building a church. The church was dedicated in 1905 and fifty years later, she was the only charter member still living. However, the town didn’t burn until about 1918-19 when my mother Lorus (Thomas) Gemmer was at Normal school. The second school burned in 1906 and it was replaced by 1909 by the one that was torn down in 1969. I have a photo of the 7th and 8th graders in the 1909-1910 term that was taken on the steps of the new school. My mom and Luther Jones are both in the picture.