19th century ledger returned to Island Falls Local man discovers document via Internet

ISLAND FALLS – A little piece of history has returned to this Aroostook County town, thanks to the Internet.

Before the start of the annual town meeting Monday night, James Odgers, a member of the town’s historical society, presented to the town the original town treasurer’s ledger for the period 1860 to 1895.

“You’ve got yourself a gold mine,” Odgers told about 45 people who had come for the meeting, as he held up the book for display.

He noted that the roughly 11-by-18-inch ledger book contains the names of residents and town officials, as well as some cemetery records.

On Tuesday, Odgers said he had recently purchased a postcard over the Internet from an antiques dealer, who told him he knew someone who had “something of interest to Island Falls.”

The next day, Odgers got a call from another private dealer.

When Odgers found out what it was, “I almost fell off the chair,” he said. “It was incredible.”

It had long been assumed that all of the town’s early records had been burned in a fire around 1910 that destroyed the building that housed the town hall.

“I don’t know where it’s been all this time,” said Odgers, who speculated that perhaps someone had taken the book home to do some work and after the fire, it was never returned. “If this book could only talk.”

Island Falls was organized as a town in 1858, and Odgers said the ledger is the town’s first treasurer’s record.

He said the 1860 listing shows only four or five names.

“There was hardly anyone here,” he said. “As the years go by, there are more and more names in the book. It gives a good idea of who was in town at the time.”

There also are cemetery records, the names of town officials, and an entry about the town’s receipt of $14 in state funds for schools.

“That’s a far cry from today,” Odgers noted, comparing the figure with current state aid that runs into millions of dollars.

Odgers said the historical society obtained the ledger from a private dealer, who asked to remain anonymous as a condition of the town’s getting the book. Odgers said that was fine with him.

“This is invaluable,” he said. “How could you put a price on the history of the town?

“The town is hooked up with its first treasurer’s book and that’s neat,” he said.

The ledger is being transcribed so that a copy of the information it contains will be available for viewing and research. The original, Odgers said, will be stored in a fireproof container, “so that it will be around for another hundred years.”

Odgers said the historical society is always interested in acquiring artifacts from the town’s history. Anyone who might have something of interest should call Pat Given, historical society president, at 463-2252.