The
Marble Records are now available for in-library
research at the Skowhegan
Free Public Library (home of the business), Bangor Public Library,
and
Maine State Library.
After
you find the name you're researching in the Marble Index, you can
request a copy of that page from any of the above libraries. As a service
to MOCA,
they will provide up to 10 pages of data free. Please do not ask
them to do your research for you as this is not a part of our
agreement.
Carolyn Ballantyne presents 
the Marble Records and Index.
History
of the Marble Records
By
Carolyn
Ballantyne
In 1846
the original monument company was started on Elm Street in Skowhegan by W. A.
F.
Stevens. It was purchased August 15, 1853
by Harrison Baker and Charles C. Emery.
Charles C. Emery was from Waldoboro where he had been associated
with a
monument business. Harrison Baker had
joined the gold rush to California in 1849 and possibly
made the
first gravestone from California marble during his stay
there. It is said that he received the
fabulous sum of twenty dollars a day for his work there[1]. The shop was moved to the Washington Hall
building in Skowhegan where it remained until the business ceased in
1960. Mr. Emery sold to John F. Judkins in
1863 and
the firm became “Baker and Judkins”. The
partnership continued until 1906 when Mr. Baker sold to Edwin Warren
Marble who
operated the business until his death in 1916.
Edwin’s son, Gerald Coker Marble, who was then a student at the University of Maine, purchased the
business from the
estate. In the early 1920’s Gerald C.
Marble also purchased a granite quarry in Norridgewock.
Gerald’s interests were divided between the
quarry, the monument businesses and his profession of suspension bridge
construction. The business ceased in
1960, after more than 100 years of continuous operation.
Gerald C. Marble died in 1972.
Mrs. Priscilla Marble,
widow of Gerald
C., graciously presented the record books of the firm, spanning over
one
hundred years, to the Maine Old Cemetery Association [hereinafter
referred to
as MOCA] in 1976. After much discussion
and recognizing the need to preserve this valuable historic
information, MOCA,
with the approval of Mrs. Marble, turned the collection over to the
Maine
Historical Society [hereinafter referred to as MHS] in Portland, Maine for permanent
preservation.
The
first record book is dated April
15, 1855. The
firm originally recorded the information
chronologically. The method of recording
changed at the beginning of 1918 to alphabetical entries.
The
original record books remain at the
MHS, where there is a partial card index compiled by MOCA volunteers. In 1999 MOCA made arrangements with the MHS
to obtain a photocopy of the record books and was granted permission to
make
two additional copies. The records
were
then computer indexed by Carolyn Ballantyne for MOCA and compliment
these
volumes. The computer index includes,
where the information is given, the name of the deceased, the name of
the
cemetery and the town where the stones were set as well as any other
names
associated with the order. Maiden names
of spouses are cross-indexed.
Occasionally there were orders for other engraved or carved work
which
are also included in the index.
[1] From a speech given
by Gerald C. Marble in 1956