At least two months ago I contacted the Nobleboro Historical Society attempting to locate descendants of Fred S. Merrill, a Damariscotta merchant, who owned the pacer Merrill. I guess the significance is that the champion trotting stallion Nelson was his sire. Furthermore, Merrill was a great pacer in his own right. When the painting of Nelson was auctioned in Fairfield by the Poulin Auction House, a number of documents accompanied the painting. Several of the documents were newspaper articles about the horse Merrill. The newspaper articles presented Merrill as a horse that had huge potential, delivered that promise a few times, and at the age of eleven retired to a pasture with gnarled apple trees on a farm in Damariscotta Mills, Maine. Given my curiosity, I thought it might be a fruitful adventure to investigate the painting of Merrill and determine the location chosen by the artist. The artist was W. A. Treat, presumably a Maine-based painter. Fred Merrill commissioned the painting of Merrill around 1901. Treat also painted Nelson in 1888.
Currently, John Hilton and Mary Sheldon who as associated with the Nobleboro Historical Society are researching land owned by the Merrill family in Damariscotta Mills. The following images and storyboards are helping us determine the location.
The medium chosen by Treat to paint Merrill was pastels. For many years the painting was displayed by members of the Merrill family. Today the whereabouts of the painting is unknown. If anyone has knowledge of this painting, please e-mail lifework50@gmail.com.
I greatly appreciate the work being done by Carol Newbert at the Nobleboro Town Office, Mary Sheldon of the Nobleboro Historical Society, George Weston, a resident of Damariscotta Mills, and John Sheldon. June Tukey, the granddaughter of Fred S. Merrill, is apprised weekly on our progress!
Maps courtesy of the Nobleboro Historical Society
No comments:
Post a Comment