So where is Stow? Not Stowe, Vermont, but Stow, Maine, on the western Maine border near Fryeburg.

David Crouse has been publishing history, biography, genealogy and other items about the area since 1993 in the Cold River Chronicle.

Crouse has quite an interesting collection of ancestors – Curtises in Freeport and Stetson and Exeter, Bradfords in the Mayflower line, Crouses from Friendship and Stow, even Jacob Kraus, a German soldier who served with the British in the Revolution.

The newsletter covers Stow, Lovell, Stoneham and Fryeburg in Maine, as well as the New Hampshire town of Chatham.

In fact, Crouse points out, “The northern half of Chatham is ringed by high mountains and is accessible only through Maine,” to the point that Chatham students attend schools in Maine.

The August issue of the newsletter includes Robert B. Hanscom’s article on “The Four Wives of Ivory Hanscom.” It is the fascinating tale of a Chatham native who was married to three women at the same time, and ended up divorcing two of them in order to marry his fourth wife. A 19th century soap opera, for sure.

Robert B. Hanscom, by the way, lives in Andover, Mass., and publishes The Hanscom Family Newsletter.

In the April issue of the Cold River Chronicle we find Crouse’s “The Penalty for Truancy 1894: The Trials of Guy and Ernest Crouse,” as well as information on the family of Abel and Lucinda (Brickett) Andrews of Stow.

The December 1999 issue revisits the 1725 Battle of Lovewell’s Pond in Fryeburg, and also the work Fannie Hardy Eckstrom did in correcting previous versions of the story.

Crouse publishes Cold River Chronicle three times a year. Subscriptions are available for $7 a year and his address is 18 Blanchard St., Bangor, ME 04401-3302. You also may e-mail him at DACnCRC@cs.com, or call him at 942-2930.

A couple of weeks ago, a segment on CBS “Sunday Morning” focused on the reinstallation of the “16 Elm Street” exhibit in the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington.

The exhibit is a pre-Revolutionary structure that stood for many years at 16 Elm St. in Ipswich, Mass.

The home’s first occupants were Abraham and Sarah Choate, while the second family to live there was that of Revolutionary War soldier Abraham Bunker and his wife, Bethiah.

Abolitionists Lucy and Josiah Caldwell lived there in the 1800s, and in 1865, Irish immigrant Catherine Lynch and daughter Mary rented half of the subdivided home for $50 a year. The Mary Scott family rented the first floor during World War II.

For each family mentioned, a portion of the home has been restored to that era. It sounds as though some work has been done on the exhibit since it originally went on display years ago. Certainly there are many Mainers who can count some of these families as cousins, if not direct ancestors. Find out more about “Within These Walls” on the Web site athttp://americanhistory.si.edu/house/home.asp.

Maine’s Finnish people will be the topic of an interesting program sponsored by the Mid-Coast Genealogy Group at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the LDS Church on Old County Road, Rockport. The speaker will be Art Jura of Union, a third-generation Finnish American who wrote “Fenni: The Finns Among Us.” For information on the meeting, call Marlene Groves at 594-4293.

3049. HENDERSON-INGRAHAM-HAMMOND. Traveled from Oregon to Caribou and Houlton this summer seeking info on my dad and his family; didn’t find much. Hoping to find info on Odber Arthur Henderson, 1887-1985, son of Elmer Nicholas Henderson, b. Nov. 13, 1858, Houlton, md. in Houlton Dec. 14, 1883, to Jennie Margaret Ingraham, daughter of Arthur and Eliza (Davis) Ingraham. Elmer was son of Edward Henderson of Newcastle, England, and wife Catherine Hammond, who was daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Scott) Hammond. Am very curious about Andrew Hammond, 1800-1869. I have a photo of him in what appears to be a naval officer’s uniform. It’s my understanding that the Hammonds came from Donegal, Ireland. Ingrahams were from New Brunswick. The rest of the clan came through there from Ireland and England. Hendersons may have been from New Castle on the Tyne area, with Edward in the shipbuilding business with an uncle after being orphaned. Edward pursued that business after jumping ship in New Brunswick from one of the uncle’s ships. MarDee Henderson McDougal, 1339 N. Irvine, McMinnville, OR 97128; or e-mail redhen@viclink.com.

3050. SPEED. Seeking maiden name and ancestry for Priscilla, wife of Benjamin Speed, who was son of John and Elizabeth Speed, possibly from Stratham, N.H. Priscilla d. June 15, 1870, age 86 years, 7 months; Benjamin d. May 1, 1859. Both buried McDowell Cemetery, Washington, Maine, as is their daughter Ruth Speed, who d. Oct. 27, 1887, age 68 years, 6 months, 22 days. Priscilla and Benjamin also had son David Speed, b. about 1789, md. Sarah Mills of Nobleboro. Danny W. Howard, DECF Box 428, Machiasport, ME 04655.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or e-mail familyti@bangordailynews.net.