by Mary Grow From Rufus Matthew Jones, your writer goes backward and then forward in the Jones family. Rufus Jones was the nephew of Eli Jones and his wife Sybil (Jones) Jones, well-known Quaker missionaries. Rufus and Elizabeth (Cadbury) Jones’ daughter, Mary Hoxie Jones, born almost a century later than Eli Jones, was a historian […]
by Mary Grow Part of Rufus Matthew Jones’ story of his early life, in his 1921 book titled A Small-Town Boy, was summarized last week. This week’s article continues his story, starting with his primary schooling in one-room schoolhouses in South China and Weeks Mills. Jones wrote that he was “four years and six months […]
by Mary Grow China Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee members found only one of two applications submitted to their April 29 meeting met the requirements for TIF funding. Both requests, from the South China public library and The Town Line newspaper, were submitted under Project C.3 in China’s TIF plan, titled “Marketing the Town as […]
by Mary Grow China native Rufus Matthew Jones was another writer with a religious background, like Sylvester Judd, though both his religion and his writing style were quite different. Various sources describe him as a philosopher, religious leader, theologian and mystic; he was also a writer, magazine editor, historian and educator. Jones was born Jan. […]
by Mary Grow China select board members voted unanimously at their April 22 meeting to authorize assessor William Van Tuinen to update property valuations to bring them close to the state-required level. Van Tuinen told board members that the State of Maine says China properties are assessed at an average 76 percent of market value. […]
by Mary Grow China Transfer Station Committee members’ April 16 discussion of use and abuse of the waste disposal facility ranged from minutely detailed to widely philosophical. Two issues dominated, the free for the taking building and relations with Palermo. Palermo residents share use of China’s facility under a contract that China Town Manager Rebecca […]
by Mary Grow By the end of an almost-three-hour April 16 meeting, Vassalboro Budget Committee members had agreed to recommend the 2024-25 school budget as presented by the school board, and to recommend rearrangements and reductions in the almost-final municipal budget. The vote on the school budget was four in favor to three opposed, with […]
Town attorney rules protest letter does not meet requirement for petition by Mary Grow The April 18 Vassalboro select board meeting was in sections. After an hour and a half discussing road work, Vassalboro Sanitary District customers’ communication and other matters, board members recessed for an executive session with the town attorney. They then spent […]
by Mary Grow Another local writer mentioned in Thomas Addison’s chapter on literary people in Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history was Rev. Sylvester Judd, who was born in Westhampton, Massachusetts, and grew up in adjoining Northampton. James North, in his history of Augusta, wrote that Judd was descended from Deacon Thomas Judd, who came from […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro Select Board chairman Chris French postponed the April 11 public hearing on the amended marijuana business ordinance to discuss, first, planned 2024 road work and second, the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s (VSD) financial problems. Brian Lajoie, of the town’s public works department, and select board members discussed two road concerns: keeping up […]