*sorry I didn't get it to you on Tuesday. I had it with me and forgot to give it to you. Then I was planning on giving it to you today but we don't have school!!
A Nutter Way to Live
Harold & Mille Nutter- St. Albans, ME
Ashlee Lawrence
Ms. Lind – Mr. Viles
Honors English/History
January 14, 2008
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Outline
I. Introduction
A. The lives of Harold and Mille Nutter, my grandparents.
B. The lives of Harold and Mille Nutter had an impact/influence on other people in Maine and around the world.
II. Wars
A. WWII
1. Amos A. Lawrence
2. Walter T. Nutter
3. George Harold Nutter
B. Red Cross Program
1. Changing Focus
2. Marjorie Heath Mower
3. State Oriented
C. Civil Defense Organization
1. Civil Defense Committees
2. What the Committees Do
3. St. Albans Evacuation Plan
III. Agriculture
A. Down on the Farm
1. This They Found, Poem
2. The Farm in General
3. Mille’s Parents on the Farm
B. Living on the Farm as a Child (Interview with Bonnie Lawrence)
1. Chores
2. Having Fun
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3. Influence on Life
IV. Transportation
A. Roads
1. Roads Today vs. Back Then
2. Highway Districts
3. Wagons
B. Ford Model T
1. “Car that put America on wheels”
2. Stats
3. Crank Start
IV. State Kids
A. Three State Children
1. Lane
2. Carol and Scott
B. Effects on Harold and Mille’s Kids
1. Jealousy
2. Sharing
3. Looking Back
V. Conclusion
A. The lives of Harold and Mille Nutter had an impact/influence on other people in Maine and around the world.
B. Wars, Agriculture, Transportation, State Kids
C. The lives of Harold and Mille Nutter had an impact/influence on other people in Maine and around the world.
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Ashlee Lawrence
Ms. Lind – Mr. Vales
Honors English/History
January 14, 2008
A Nutter Way to Live
Harold & Mille Nutter – St. Albans, ME
Harold and Mille Nutter live in St. Albans and are my grandparents. Mille was born February 2, 1927 in Dyer Brook, ME. She attended Dyer Brook school up to 7th grade and then went to St. Albans school her 8th grade year. For High School she went to the Hartland Academy. She graduated from Hartland Academy and went to Maine School of Commerce which is present day Husson College. She was married at 19, divorced at 30 and married Harold at age 31.
Harold was born October 18, 1926 in St. Albans, ME. He completed only grammar school at St. Albans. After grammar school he hauled milk to Detroit and worked in the Tannery in Hartland. At age 18 he joined the service. He was married at 21, divorced at 31 and married Mille at age 31.
Though Harold and Mille Nutter are just two people in a small town in Maine their lives have impacted/ influenced people in Maine and around the world. Harold served in WWII, they sold agriculture to the town and communities around them, and they raised children of the state who otherwise would have had a pretty hard childhood.
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St. Albans being the small town that it is was very active in wars over the years. I am very proud to say that I have family members who served in these wars. My great grandfather Amos A. Lawrence and my great uncle Walter T. Nutter served in WWII as well as my grandfather George Harold Nutter who was stationed in the Philippines and Japan. Over 100 St. Albans residents fought in WWII.
Along with the war servants St. Albans had a highly efficient Red Cross Program. This program organized in 1917 was a member of the Waterville chapter and was locally run. In the time of a year there were 100 members. The programs focus changed during WWII, focusing more on preparedness. It was lead by a Lady who had served in WWI in England and France, Marjorie Heath Mower. In helps to prepare people for anything that may come their way she conducted well attended First Aid classes and Community Safety classes. Over the years the program went from locally run to state oriented; this caused all actions to come from a central office and personal service in the program dwindled.
The use of the atomic bomb in WWII gave reason to have a Civil Defense Organization. In 1952 Civil Defense Committees were formed all throughout the United States. The Civil Defense office in Augusta appointed Everett Graham as director and Ruth Powers as the Women’s Civil Defense Chairman. These committees planned protection for many events including bomb shelters for schools, police duties, medical needs and fallout from bomb attacks. The organization in St. Albans was able to create an evacuation plan that would deliver all school children safely to their homes within 30 minutes of an enemy attack. After a few years, enemy attacks and threats had diminished and the organization became inactive.
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This They Found (In St. Albans, ME)
Logs for a cabin,
Wood for a fire
Moonlight for dreaming,
Land for desire.
Pine for a cradle,
Oak for a plow,
Black earth and sunshine
Breeze on the brow.
Dawn and day ending
In flame on the skies,
Sunlight for laughter,
Stars for their eyes.
Time and the season
Set by their toil,
Strength in blue distance,
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Pride in tilled soil.
Peace like a prayer,
Unbroken sod,
Where man walked along
And listened to God.
(History of St. Albans Maine pg.55)
This poem written by Ramona Vernon is the perfect picture of a St. Albans farmer. Living off the land that God has blessed you with. My grandmother Mille Nutter grew up on a farm. Her family had a large assortment of animals including, horses, cows, sheep, turkeys, hens, pigs and ducks. In the spring they would sheer the sheep and sell the wool and in the fall they would sell the lambs. That was just one part of the farm. They also planted potatoes, “Because that’s what you did in Aroostook county” according to Mille. They had big gardens to grow vegetables in to sell and they also had an apple orchard. When Mille was a child her father, “Almost acting as a vet” went around to the different farms and fixed the horses teeth and helped keep the animals in good health. Her mother would also go around to the different farms, but she picked up cream and delivered it to Patten to be made into butter.
My mother Bonnie is the daughter of Harold and Mille, therefore she grew up on a farm. She says it was a lot of hard work. You had to shovel manure, feed the animals, water the animals and catch them when they got out. It wasn’t all work though. You got to ride the horses and ponies, “We even rode our cows”, she said, “and there were always baby animals around so
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that made it fun too”! Farming can be looked at as a job, but I believe it’s a lifestyle. When asked if growing up on a farm influenced her life today, Bonnie said yes. It makes me think twice before going out and getting pets like horses or cows because I have been there and done that and I know how much work it is. The animals may be fun to have around but they are almost like a child, they depend on you for a lot and you have to be ready to take care of them. It has also influenced my life in that I am country girl, home raised. Farming brings you closer to the earth that God has created for us. You learn to love the outdoors and enjoy working with it.
In the early days traveling was on a strictly need to go basis. There were no roads but the paths that were taken were beaten down by horses and feet. The planning and ingenuity of the people back then is very much appreciated as many of the roads that we travel today in St. Albans follow those same paths that were beaten down many years ago.
One of the earlier surveyors of St. Albans was Capt. Ambrose Finson who helped lay out roads and townships. In the 1820’s St. Albans was divided into Highway Districts. This resulted in better quality roads as men were appointed at the town meetings to take care of a certain district. This also made the roads accessible to vehicles, which would be a big help starting in 1840. Wagons without springs, although a bumpy ride, were a great improvement from walking. They were introduced in 1840 and around a decade later spring wagons were seen in the town.
The first car that Harold and Mille had was a crank start Ford Model T. These Model T’s were generally regarded as the “first affordable automobile, the car that put America on wheels”. They had a 4.9 Liter, 4-cylinder motor mounted on the front. They averaged about 13 to 21mpg and were capable of running on gasoline or ethanol with a ten gallon tank. The process of the
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crank start was basically generating enough energy to create a spark to ignite the engine; equal to what today’s alternators do.
Somewhat like Foster Care now, my grandparents Harold and Mille had state children. Mille applied and the people came and talked to her. She ended up having three children. Lane, a three year-old was their first state child and then a while later they got Carol and Scott who were five and six. Carol and Scott only lived with them for about three years. After that they went to what is now Skills, in Hartland. There was some jealousy between Harold and Mille’s kids and the state kids. It was nice having a bunch of kids around when it was time for chores but the Nutter’s were unable to go places a lot because they had so many children and it was hard to take them all. Bonnie says that it was definitely different having even more children around. When you don’t have much to share in the beginning and then you have to share it with even more people that kind of stinks. She had to share her room again, and her sisters and she were quite often jealous of the state kids. Looking back now she sees that it helped them a lot and is glad that she was a part of it.
The lives of Harold and Mille Nutter had an impact/ influence on other people in Maine and around the world. St. Albans as a town was very active in the wars with the many soldiers and organizations they had. The farms were very important parts of lives; including income, recreation and influence on later lives. The roads have changed while still remaining the same and the mode of transportation has evolved. Last but not least, the lives of somewhat helpless children where saved by the Nutter’s. All in all, without the Nutter family there would have been one less WWII soldier, one less farm to produce agriculture for the community and state, one
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less Ford Model T bought, and three more state children raised by the state with no real family. The lives of Harold and Mille Nutter had an impact/influence on other people in Maine and around the world.
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Works Cited
“Ford Model T” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 8 January 2008. 13 January 2008
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T>
Knowles, Ruth. Gladys Bigelow. History of St. Albans Maine. Ruth Knowles Gladys Bigelow, 1982
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Works Consulted
Nutter, Harold & Mille
Personal Interview, 2 December 2007
Lawrence, Bonnie
Personal Interview, 13 January 2008
