Ex-historical society chief linked to missing items

PHILLIPS – The former president of the Phillips Historical Society faces a felony charge arising from the disappearance of rare collectibles that included 19th century stock certificates for the Sandy River Railroad.

Kenneth Teele, 63, formerly of Phillips and now living in Gray, was charged with receiving more than $10,000 worth of stolen property.

The allegations that Teele put the items up for auction surfaced early this month after a railroad relics collector from Ohio notified the tiny museum that some antiques from its collection were on the block at Cyr Auction Co. in Gray.

The items were listed in the auction catalog as being from Teele’s collection. Teele served as president of the historical society for eight years before he resigned in 2000.

“This was stuff that was not supposed to be for sale,” said Detective David St. Laurent of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. “It’s something the museum wants to always keep.”

The museum directors contacted the Sheriff’s Department, which tried to halt the auction. But because the paperwork containing the inventory list was missing, directors could not document ownership of the items in question. On Feb. 5, Teele’s entire collection was auctioned off bit by bit, pulling in $31,600. The artifacts generating the most interest, eventually fetching around $12,000, were the stock certificate books, St. Laurent said.