Preview
Description
This image, scanned from a black and white photograph, includes a note in handwriting on the back written by Judy Fiske Theriault in 1971. Her note indicates that this is the house that Henry David Thoreau stayed in on his trip through Medway in 1846. The back part would have been a log cabin at that time and the front part was built later and was thought to be the first hotel in Medway. The woman in the picture, taken around 1906, is Theriault's grandmother, Rebecca Hathaway Fiske, who later married Ray Patten. She died in Lincoln, Maine, in 1970. Theriault's note continues to say that in 1846, when Thoreau was up through Medway, this house was on the side of the river by the island Nicatou, where the ferry crossed, and he took the ferry and continued on his way up the West Branch of the Penobscot River to Katahdin (Ktaadn, as he spelled it in his "The Maine Woods.")
Rights and Access Note
Rights assessment remains the responsibility of the researcher. No known restrictions on publication. For information about the process and fees for obtaining higher resolution scans or another file format, contact Special Collections.
Recommended Citation
Requested credit line: Image courtesy of Special Collections, Raymond H.
Fogler Library, DigitalCommons@UMaine,
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/spec_photos/1736
Format
jpeg
Part Of
MS 499, Thoreau Fellowship Records
Keywords
Medway, Maine, Henry David Thoreau, Rebecca Hathaway Fiske, hotels, north woods
Image Location
Rights Statement
