The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1903-07-16
For the RgpoRrKA.
The Weston Reunion


Joseph Weston. whose former h8mH
was Ia concord, Mass. litst came q
Maine in the autumn Of l77l and butit
cabin on the banks of the Kenueb.a
which cabin formed the nucleus Of VIA
subsequently became the old town II
Canaan. Mrs Eunice Farnsworth Nes
ton, the wife Of Joseph. was 10 her
youth, according 10 local tradition, SD
handsomest gil that stepped mo Coz
cord meeting house,
OF the nine children thai spraug ffam
this union the majority married aud b48
large families Of their own. II is te.
corded on the tombstone Of Mrs Euuiae
Weston, who died in Isl, that her de-
scendants already numbered 20 Ja-
seph and Samuel, twin boys. headed tie
list of the niue pioneer children, Wiz
grew and tlouIished In the wilderness
samuel, though never strong 10 health.
became a man Of enterprise and ability
lie was Land surveyor aud the earliest
surveys Of somerset county were made
under his supervision The records If
his work, annotated IN hs bold, pic.
turesque handwriting, are still preserved
in the archives OF Massachusetts,.
In 1900 Samuel mad become the pos.
SCISSOR of ESQ acre. Of the best iand no
the Kennebec valley; he also owned a
store and potash mill, aud the growth
of his family had kept pace with that
of his prosperity.
In that year he began To build FOR
himself mansion, which should serve
to house his swarm of boys and girls.
and at the same time ftungly represent
his dignity as a man of affairs and Of
ample means. In SOP the great house
was finished and in the same year lis
builder died at the age of as, going away
from his fair domain while yet ia the
prime of manhood and Of hope leaving
behind MIN a widow aud thirteen chll
dren to weave around the new home
that halo of memories and associations
which makes it sacred today as the
cradle of a race,
Probably there are few houses iu
America which have survived the
chances aud changes of a hundred years
to present to the light of new century
a face 30 little altered as that of the cid
mansion where the Weston descendants
gathered ON Tuesday last. The long
ftonJ facade draped With fungIug
vines sees the river flowing ~ just ia Ia
the old days. The quaint purttco witb
the round, stone pillars has Loaf q utue
Of It's picturesque Communications The
many paued windows looking toward
the east see smooth meadows where
once the unbrokeu forest waved on the
south front the eapboards have been
bhstered by the suns of many seasons
and the hand wrought nails are begin
ming 10 drop from theIr places. bat the
stAunch Old mansi0n still looks good FIR
another century. The company which
gathered around its doorstone Iast Tues
day represented only "A small fraction of
The great army OF Weston descendants
Nr Benjamin Weston OF Madison, the
third of the name, Was the representa-.
ave of one hundred grandchildren OF
the second Benjamin; Miss susan Healey
turrier offered her credentials IA the
youngest Of Is grandchildren Of stephen
Weston, and yet another Weston de
Bceudant presented herself iumphantlY
as sample copy Of $50 first cousins all
Of Weston Observation-Disclosures which show
#astf fs.a ftrf
of estous bad no need 10 distress
themselves with approximations concern.
ing race suicide.
IL is now more than fifty years since
the old house, with lis environment OF
broad acres, passed out Of possession of
the Weston family, yet when Mr.. En-
erson, the present owner, Hospitality
opened its doors to the visitors on Tues
day, each son and daughter OF the race,
strangers though they might be, enter.
ing these ancestral rooms for the first
time, stepped over the old doorstone
with such thrill at the heart as chill
dren fee when they sec the home door
opening 10 welcome them back
The Interior of the house is bright
With fresh paint and paper. and sweet
with exquisite cleanliness. but except
that the great freplaces have been
cloted up, the general Proportions and
/ finish have remained almost unchanged
Here, just as of old, are the wooden
/ shutters pushed into the thickness of
the wall, and the curious door-latches
| lifted by brass rings, and connected by
a leather strap passed through the door
"a genuine latchstring
The older memb ers OF the party re-
mt inferred "Grandmother's room" the
room that was the heart Of the house
/ could point out the west room where
the spinning and weaving used to be
] done-a room where six windows let in
tho sunset glow-and relate many an
ecdotes preserved by personal remem
branee and family tradition
When the house had been thoroughly
explored the party gathered on the
green slope fronting the road and, sit
ting down under the trees, "brake
bread and a generous supply of other
yiands-together in token of the com
mon tie that united them all in one
family circle. As they ate and drank,
gazing at the same landscape that eyes
long closed had often looked upon,
many we're the discussions concerning
the old landmarks, the site of the first
cabin, the location Of the store and mill,
Grandmother portion of land, al.
nays referred To as the thirds "Aunt
Rory's island" Aunt Roxy's noun.
tain etc.
hen the lunch was finished Miss
Gertrude Weston IN order 10 settle dis
puted points TO the satisfaction of all,
+ read aalagfiapu from, 81 ppla EhaDf ~