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From Our Files

The Gray Public Library Association and the Gray Historical Society conducted historical tours of beautiful Gray Village Cemetery in October, 2013 to teach visitors about some of Gray’s most influential citizens. Tour highlights included Henry Pennell, Lt. Charles Colley, “The Stranger” & Sara Jane Foster. Proceeds from ticket sales benefitted both the Gray Public Library Association and Gray Historical Society.

This this highly skilled craftsman trained in Massachusetts and made his way to Portsmouth, NH advertising his skill and a “flock of Italian marble and Quincy slate stone” in his possession. After his brief time there, he settled in Portland and married Charlotte Neal in 1804. When he set up shop, he immediately offered people in this area a faster and more cost-effective means to purchase gravestone markers. Prior to his arrival, graves were marked with either a found fieldstone or…

Our resident photographer, Nathan Tsukroff, captured the siren installation at the Gray Historical Society.

Born and raised on a farm in the small town of Cumberland, Maine, life in the mid 1900s was simple for me. Hard work yes, but there was always time for fun and relaxation. Family picnics down by the brook on a Sunday afternoon, or a game of horseshoes under the huge maple trees was normal family time. I am the last born of six children, and back then, quickly learned the importance of teamwork. I also learned, at a young age the importance of a close bond with family and relatives. Not until…

In 1977 Maynard Colley, M.D. distributed to members of his extended family, copies of The Family Line, his collection of family stories, genealogy and pictures. Since his first cousin, George Richard "Dick" Colley (my father) had died in 1976 , a copy was sent to Mary C. Colley, his widow, in Orlando, Florida. Eventually this copy was passed along to me, Mary Colley Stierer, a long time friend (as well as relative) of both Maynard and Olive. The story of the Colley's trip across country in…

The Cumberland County Registry of Deeds is a vast resource for property transactions, family links, and so much more. This plan of the Town of Gray, ME was compiled and drawn from a plan belonging to Samuel Weymouth, and from the U.S. Geological Map Scale of Plan 100 rods per inch Compiled and drawn by H.W. Foster CE Cumberland Mills, ME – May 5th 1906; Retraced March 1932; Filed 16 Sept 1938

This year will be a year of many celebrations in the whole country and also in our State of Maine.  Four hundred years ago in 1620 a Merchant ship called the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, a port on the southern coast of England, to a place they named Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Many states in the country have celebrations planned for this occasion. 

In the first of our new series, “From Our Files”, is this class photo from West Gray School in October of 1941. The reverse of the photo identifies the class thus: Front row, left to right: Wayne Manchester, Barbra Pollard, Catherine Thurlow, Richard Pollard, Robert Skilling, Myrtle Thurlow. Second Row: George Thurlow, Percilla Pollard, Patricia Carll, Mary Thurlow, Hubert Cobb, Everett Thurlow, Kenneth Skilling. Back Row: John Cobb, Jr., Austin Kuch

The history of this town began with the granting of a township to Thomas Gray, and others, in 1735. The tract of land selected was called New Boston in 1756, which name it bore until 1778 when the town was incorporated with the new name of Gray, in honor of its earl land owner. Settlement began in 1750. By 1754, the proprietors had built a meeting house, erected 36 dwelling houses, and cleared lands.