New volume recalls stories of Drew area

You’d be hard pressed to say exactly where the main street of Drew used to be many decades ago. It took a couple of young boys to take Eleanor Currie Parsons and her cousin, Helen, through the woods of central Penobscot County to the grown-over spot where the women lived and played as youngsters.

Now a plantation, Drew – which is east of Kingman and north of Prentiss – was incorporated in 1821 and repealed in 1933.

Parsons was still a child when she left Drew in 1922 with her family and moved to Hartland, where the family ran a grocery store.

Yet something about the small town of 200 stayed with her and inspired her to write the 112-page “A Town Called Drew & Beyond.”

Long a resident of Rockport on Cape Ann in Massachusetts, Parsons has written other books, including “Rockport, The Making of a Tourist Treasure.”

Parsons tells of family members such as her maternal grandparents, Featherson Hoar Bishop and Evelyn King Bishop, who, “with a reputation for superb cooking skills, unrivaled in serving hearty meals to hungry woodsmen, were hired to operate the only boarding house for itinerant workers.”

Mince pie for breakfast? Those are my kind of ancestors.

Parsons’ grandfather Bishop, by the way – the son of Daniel and Asenith Bishop – was descended from the British in Nova Scotia who had displaced his wife’s French ancestors.

Parsons’ paternal grandparents were James Kelvie Currie and Elizabeth Eleanor (Gallagher) Currie.

While the book is about Drew, it also contains many reminiscences of growing up in Hartland. These include memories of taking part in the Chatauqua programs, an experience that inspired local children to put on their own programs during summer vacation.

Then, too, there are the recollections of working in the family store with her brother, Darrel. The book concludes with Parsons telling how she and cousin Helen found their way back to Drew, with a little help from local youngsters.

“A Town Called Drew” is charming, as I expect the author is. It was published by the Sandy Bay Historical Society and Museum at $14.95. In the Bangor area, the book is available through BookMarc’s in Bangor, the University of Maine Bookstore in Orono, and the Bangor Museum and Center for History shop at 6 State St. in Bangor.

The Maine State Museum will open its newest exhibit, “… to the Highest Standard,” 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 14, in the museum in Augusta.

It’s appropriate that this will be Flag Day, because the exhibit is all about Civil War flags. Bands, flag bearers and Civil War re-enactors will take part.

No doubt many who visit the exhibit will be fascinated by the flag of the 20th Regiment Maine Infantry Volunteers, which was retired after Gettysburg.

The exhibit was made possible by the “Save the Maine Colors” campaign, which raised more than $170,000, matched by more than $400,000 in state and federal funds.

To learn more about the exhibit, check the Web site at www.mainestatemuseum.org.

Admission is free. Do see this exhibit, and take a youngster with you. For information, call the Friends of the Maine State Museum at 287-2304.

The Pleasant River Historical Society will meet at 7 p.m. June 9 at the Indian River Variety Store on Route 187 in Addison. Margery Brown will speak about genealogical research. For information, call Bonnie Thompson at 483-4036.

3235. GOWELL-PRAY. Need help on Jane (Gowell) Pray, b. 1825, Belgrade, d. 1901. Birth date on head stone. Buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Belgrade. She md. Reuben Pray. They are my great-great-grandparents. Their son, Milton Pray, buried in family lot. Stone is below ground, no dates visible. Already have data on Reuben. Any help appreciated. Dorothy Simmons, 22 Vine St., Bangor, ME 04401; Simmons0927@msn.com.

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