Daily Kennebec journal., 1899-09-16

In, Beecher. Benton, Everett and other
forming and directing minds Of the
present century. II was again e.
larged in 1854. by the addition Of 20
feet to the rear, and eight feet to the
height. making a room of the ample
dimensions Of 80 feet by 80, and 20
\ feet high.
The remaining years the building
stood in this position are interesting in
the extreme, but the required space
prevents more than casually referring
to them. Col. Henry Staples. whose
father owned the building all these
years, has kindly written his recollec-
tions, and so interesting are they that
| cannot do better than to give them
in full.
| My first recollection Of the old town
house was when it stood q little way
back from the street on the lot where
is now the residence Of Mrs. Joseph
Anthony on Winthrop street. The
building was sold at auction to Al
staples in 1S4S, and moved to the cor
ner lot next east: there il was placed
upon substantial stone cellar. the
lot before that being deep bog hole.
| and the street in front a deep depres-
sion crossed by a high bridge. An
| addition of 30 feet was built in the
| rear. together with two buttresses con-
| tanning each a broad staircase leading
to the hall above. The business Of the
new hall started in very auspiciousIy,
and continued without abatement for
| many years. On the lower floor was a
central hall for entrance. with rooms
at the sides and rear. The rooms were
rented constantly, together with q
suite of rooms for housekeeping on the
north side. The room on the right was
occupied for long time by 3. Frank
Ladd, the celebrated painter; ana
afterwards by Franklin Simmons as
his first studio, and it was here that
he modelled his first bust, which was Of
Lot Morrill,. The second right hand
room was occupied by the Augusta band
under the leadership of Prof Horatis
F'ales of Waterville. Among its mem
bers were Thaddeus Chick, Mansfield
Pettengill, Charles Lothrop, S. S. Brick,
Arthur Locke, and many others This
room was afterwards occupied as =
reading room and library by the "Au-
gusta Dialectic Club" composed Of
young men of Augusta. a prominent
member of which was Melville Weston
Fuller. Under Mr.. Fuller's leadership
the club at times wrestled with Hamlet
and other leading Shakespearian plays
During the rendition Of Hamlet one
evening, the draw curtain, in care Of
II. Eugene Winslow, refused to work.
and Mr. Winslow in making a desper-
ate effort to pull it along to close the
scene, fell down the steps Of the stage,
taking the entire scenery composed Of
American flags. with him, exposing the
actors. who were in various stages of
undress. to fun view Of the audience.
Then there We're concerts of every
name and nature, and balls innumer-
able, panoramas and dioramas. sleight
or hand performances. fairs. religious
services. Professor Morse there intro
duced his working telegraph. sending
messages around the hall to small
incredulous audience. p. T. Barnum
exhibited Tom Thumb there State,
district and county conventions of all
parties We're held there, and there the
great Republican party had its birth.
In 1854 the building underwent a
great change. The hall was raised ts
a height of 20 feet and an extension Of
80 feet added to the rear, the seats in
the new part being placed on an in
cline 20 afford better view. A dance
hall 80 by 20 feet was added in the new
part on the first floor. This added
greatly to the attractions 81 the place,
and young and old of all classes
flocked to the building from all quar-
ters for general amusement. In the
newly constructed hall were given ex-
hibitions by the Augusta Dramatic
Club. Among its members were ]. D.
Myrick. young Russell p. Eaton. How
ard Owen, Charles A. Wadsworth, Will
liam p. Drew. Rufus and Charles F.
Bailey. and many others. This club
was succeeded by the Augusta Dirige
Club.
Toward the close of the war the
business of the place was diverted to
the new Granite hall on Water street.
A move was made to convert the
building into shoe factory. Applica-
ton was made to the board of alder
men for license to erect and main
tain an engine and boiler house. This
met with strong opposition from many
citizens, especially among the residents
in that vicinity. To prevent it's con-
summation the opposition dubbed to-