The Lost Trotting Parks Storyboard Archives

The Lost Trotting Parks Storyboard Archives

Friday, February 12, 2010

Fairgrounds of the North Kennebec Agricultural Society

A wide diversity of soils is found in this town so that almost every crop that can be successfully cultivated in this latitude has been and is to-day grown successfully within our limits. On the river below the city the soil is light and sandy, while on the "neck" so called, it is underlaid by a slaty ledge which lies very near the surface and often crops out. On the Messalonskee the soil is clayey, but all is strong and productive, and yields the best of crops.
Waterville was fortunate from an agricultural point of view in having among its early settlers a goodly number of men of means who were agriculturally inclined. As a result of this good material there was a desire manifested very early in the life of the struggling young town to have an agricultural society organized, and this agitation resulted in the North Kennebec Agricultural Society, which was incorporated by the Maine legislature July 31, 1847, and its first exhibition was held in Waterville in October of that year. The annual address, which in those days was a very important part of an agricultural exhibition was delivered by Dr. E. Holmes of Winthrop. The original limit to this society included the towns of Fairfield and Smithfield in Somerset county, Waterville, Belgrade, Winslow, Clinton, Sebasticook now Benton, China and Albion in Kennebec and Unity and Burnham in the county of Waldo, from the records of the society from its inception, now before me, kindly loaned by Mr. Geo. Balentine, I find that the officers chosen at the organization of the society were as follows, Samuel Taylor, Jr., president; Ebenezer H. Scribner and Thomas Fowler, vice-presidents; Harrison A. Smith, secretary; Joseph Percival, treasurer and collector; Stephen Stark, agent; William Dyer, librarian ; Samuel Taylor, Jr., Asher Hinds, Sumner Percival, John F. Hunnewell and Reuben H. Green, trustees. A glance through the subsequent elections shows that the society kept up its prestige for selecting men of ability and influence as its officials. We would like if space would permit to give the entire list of officers, but must be content with simply naming a few of the number who held the office of president of the society. After Samuel Taylor, Jr., the first president, came Sumner Percival, E. H. Scribner, Robert Ayer, Thomas S. Loring, Isaac W. Britton, Col. Isaiah Marston, Daniel Jones, B. C. Paine, Joseph Percival, and many others of equal calibre.
One of the first acts of the society, even before it had a home was to raise $75 for the purchase of standard agricultural works for a library. This indeed was starting an agricultural society on a firm enduring foundation, and the vote and the class of gentlemen who were invited to give the annual addresses gives us a good insight into the makeup of the men who formed this organization. In 1850 we find by the records that the society voted to send a petition to the legislature for a State Board of Agriculture, showing that at that early day even, they realized the need of a state organization around which they could build their local society. One of the votes recorded a half a century ago also gives a hint of the old time urbanity that prevailed in those days, also the appreciation of the power of the press in the efforts of this organization. Here is the vote: "Voted to instruct the secretary to furnish the proceedings of this meeting to the public press."

One of the strange things about the records of this society, wonderfully well preserved as they are, is that great pains was taken to record the list of premiums offered with the committees of awards, but no record was kept of who won the prizes. This omission will readily be seen as a serious defect as the historian of to-day is unable to pick out the names of the successful exhibitors, as he might have done had the list of the winners been recorded. But one vote recorded is worthy of more than a passing notice, and that is where the trustees vote that unless an animal exhibited possesses superior merit no awards shall be made to such animal, but if the owner desires, a statement shall be made and published that such an animal was the best one shown at the exhibition. Let the average agricultural fair manager think for a moment what the commotion would be if such a rule should be enforced by one of our Maine societies to-day, and yet who shall say that it would not have a salutary effect on exhibits as well as exhibitors.
If space would permit, we could fill the entire limits of this book with interesting data taken from the records of this society. One item that catches our eye is a vote of thanks passed at a meeting of the trustees October 4, 1859, to Col. Thomas S. Lang for his liberality in always giving to the society all purses won by his horses, and as the record adds, "He ever strove to win all the prizes that he could in order that the society might be the more benefited thereby."
In January, 1854, it was voted to appoint a committee to ascertain what grounds could be secured for a track, and upon a favorable report the grounds located in the southern part of the city were purchased and a fine half mile track constructed thereon. Later this track was leased to the Waterville Horse Association for their annual exhibition. The original lease of this property is pasted in the records before us, and is well worthy a word of attention. We think only one of the men whose names are upon it is alive to-day. It bears the signatures of Ira R. Doolittle, J. A. Judkins, Gideon Wells, T. S. Lang, J. L. Seavey, Foster S. Palmer, Asher Savage and Ruel Howard, and is dated August 22, 1863. We think Mr. Savage is the only survivor of this list of notable men of their day. This horse association was short lived and only lasted a few years, just how many it is difficult to ascertain as we have been unable to find any records of the society whatsoever.
The North Kennebec Agricultural Society survived the drain upon it made during the War of the Rebellion and gave successful exhibitions each year until the early '8o's, when owing to the multiplication of societies in the nearby towns included in its original territory, the interest began to decline, until finally the annual fairs were given up and the track leased to private parties and the property was finally sold for the enlargement of our present beautiful cemetery.
-- Excerpted from The Centennial History of Waterville --



Note: Hod Nelson leased the track to train his horses. From 1887 to 1897 he owned the fairgrounds. He sold the fairgrounds to the City of Waterville.

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