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Lewis (b. January 1830), Ethan Allen (b. January 1832), and Martin Van Buren Chase (b. October 1835) were all born in Turner, Maine to parents Nathaniel and Eunice (Wescott) Chase. Eunice passed away in 1842. By the 1850 Census, Nathaniel, Ethan, and Martin had relocated to Sidney, Maine and were working as farmers. Lewis and Ethan moved to Rochester, NY in the spring of 1868 – Martin stayed in Augusta. The three brothers were in business together as nurserymen.

Lewis married Elvina Dyer in 1855 and they had four children: twins Charles and Helen in February 1859, Arthur in August 1860 (d. April 1863), and Ada in April 1865. Lewis initially built on Lot 30 c. 1873 – he sold this cottage to the Webber family in 1877 and later built the current Thompson cottage on Lot 24 in 1887. This cottage remained in his family until 1914. Lewis died in Rochester in 1911.

Ethan married Augusta Field in November 1860 and they had six children: Frank in June 1862, Florence in April 1865, Harry in April 1868, Lewis in June 1873, Martin in 1877, and Ethan Allen in July 1879. Ethan built his cottage on Lot 27 in 1871 – it was the third to finish construction during Squirrel’s first year as a summer colony. He started leasing out the cottage pretty quickly and under the management of Mrs. Harriet Noble it eventually transformed into the Chase House boarding house/hotel. The Chase House burned down in 1893 with seven neighboring cottages and the Squirrel Inn was built to replace it in 1895. Ethan died in California in 1921.

Martin married Helen Waite in 1862 and they had three children: Fred in 1862, Eunice in 1867 (d. 1870), and Fannie in 1872. Martin built his cottage on Lot 30 c. 1873 (he and Lewis built two cottages on the single lot) – this cottage was lost in the Chase House fire. He did not rebuild. Martin served as President of the SIA three times: 1874-1880, 1894-1898, 1899-1900. He died in Maine in 1905.

Ethan provided an account for Squirrel’s 50th Anniversary article in the Lewiston Evening Journal that covered how the brothers came to know about the Island and the auctioning of lots. Below is an excerpt from his account:

[Martin] told me that one day from curiosity they landed on Squirrel Island and met there Jacob Ham and Israel Mitchell; Mr. Ham and Martin had served together in the legislature; Mr. Ham said that he and Nelson Dingley had bought the island the previous year and they with other Lewiston parties had arranged for the steamer “Spray” to meet them on a certain day at Bath and take them to the island where they were to select locations for their hosues; he invited Martin to join them; Martin seemed elated with the idea and said to me “I have often heard you say that sometime you hoped to have a seaside home; now is your change; let us join the Lewiston party.”

Without giving the matter much thought I said: “All right.” We met the party on the day appointed, June 22d, and went to the island; as we sailed toward the island I said to Martin “We will locate on that point” where the hotel now stands. We sailed in by the wharf which was nearing completion and landed on the rocks and went to the farmhouse for dinner as previously arranged; being an hour before time for dinner Mr. Dingley proposed to look the island over and select our locations, then come back for dinner, and as two or more might chance to select the same location he proposed to auction off choice of lots, highest bidder having first choice and so on down.

My brother and I at once went to the place I had designated which was very satisfactory and we agreed to bid up to twenty-five dollars for first choice; if others overbid us we would next go to the heights above where Frank Dingley later built his house, and run that up, if necessary, to twenty-five dollars.

In due time we returned to the farmhouse and after dinner went in to the parlor and Mr. Ham acting as auctioneer asked for bids; the bidding was not very sharp; a dollar at a time.

When Martin named seven dollars Mr. Dingley remarked that as the Chases had joined them from the outside he would propose that they have first choice at price named; Mr. Dingley took second choice, as I remember, at $3.50, and Mr. Ham third, at less, and Mr. Mitchell fourth at still less; and so the bidding went on down to a small figure.

Martin married Helen Waite in 1862 and they had three children: Fred in 1862, Eunice in 1867 (d. 1870), and Fannie in 1872. Lewis and Ethan moved to Rochester, NY in the spring of 1868 – Martin stayed in Augusta. The three brothers were in business together as nurserymen.

Ethan provided an account for Squirrel’s 50th Anniversary article in the Lewiston Evening Journal that covered how the brothers came to know about the Island and the auctioning of lots. Below is an excerpt from his account:

[Martin] told me that one day from curiosity they landed on Squirrel Island and met there Jacob Ham and Israel Mitchell; Mr. Ham and Martin had served together in the legislature; Mr. Ham said that he and Nelson Dingley had bought the island the previous year and they with other Lewiston parties had arranged for the steamer “Spray” to meet them on a certain day at Bath and take them to the island where they were to select locations for their hosues; he invited Martin to join them; Martin seemed elated with the idea and said to me “I have often heard you say that sometime you hoped to have a seaside home; now is your change; let us join the Lewiston party.”

Without giving the matter much thought I said: “All right.” We met the party on the day appointed, June 22d, and went to the island; as we sailed toward the island I said to Martin “We will locate on that point” where the hotel now stands. We sailed in by the wharf which was nearing completion and landed on the rocks and went to the farmhouse for dinner as previously arranged; being an hour before time for dinner Mr. Dingley proposed to look the island over and select our locations, then come back for dinner, and as two or more might chance to select the same location he proposed to auction off choice of lots, highest bidder having first choice and so on down.

My brother and I at once went to the place I had designated which was very satisfactory and we agreed to bid up to twenty-five dollars for first choice; if others overbid us we would next go to the heights above where Frank Dingley later built his house, and run that up, if necessary, to twenty-five dollars.

In due time we returned to the farmhouse and after dinner went in to the parlor and Mr. Ham acting as auctioneer asked for bids; the bidding was not very sharp; a dollar at a time.

When Martin named seven dollars Mr. Dingley remarked that as the Chases had joined them from the outside he would propose that they have first choice at price named; Mr. Dingley took second choice, as I remember, at $3.50, and Mr. Ham third, at less, and Mr. Mitchell fourth at still less; and so the bidding went on down to a small figure.

Frank Lambert Dingley was born in Unity, Maine on February 7, 1840 to parents Nelson and Jane (Lambert) Dingley. His brother, Nelson Dingley Jr., had been born in 1832. Frank received degrees from Bowdoin College in 1861 (A.B.) and 1863 (A.M.). He “helped his older brother Nelson in the mad dash required to put together the first issue of the Lewiston Daily Evening Journal as the Civil War heated up in 1861” (Sun Journal) and went on to serve as the Journal’s editor until his death in 1918. Frank married Lucinda Mary Greeley in October of 1862 and together they had seven children: Parke (May 1864), Jane (July 1866), Anna (March 1868), Bret (January 1871), Daisy (Feb 1872 d. July 1872), Blanche (May 1873), and Florence (June 1877). His son Parke started the Squirrel Island Squid in 1876 with his first cousin, Edward – likely with significant help from their fathers.

Having initially shared Nelson’s cottage on Lot 41 (now owned by Beth Hastings), Frank built his own cottage on Lot 48 in 1874 – this lot is now vacant following a March 1948 fire, but Frank’s architectural contributions to the Island didn’t stop there. The Squid Office was added to Lot 48 in 1877. Following a lull in Island visits through the 1890s and early 1900s when his cottage was rented to the Alden family, Frank built five cottages between 1909 and 1912 – “Dingley Dell”, “Cleft Rock” (Big Cinelli), “The Chalet” (Tindal), “The Aerie,” and the Salaun cottage. Dingley Dell and the Aerie were used by the family until they sold in 1957 and 1945 respectively. The others were generally rented out and were sold within 10-20 years.

The Newbury family descends from Frank through his son Bret. The poet Anne Sexton was his great-granddaughter through his daughter Jane – Squirrel and the family cottages feature in some of her poems. Frank’s house in Auburn, ME (built 1867) is on the U.S. National Register of Historical Places.

Nelson Dingley, Jr., was born in Durham, Maine on February 15, 1832 to parents Nelson and Jane (Lambert) Dingley. His brother, Frank Lambert Dingley, was born in 1840. Nelson Jr. graduated from Dartmouth in 1855 and purchased the Lewiston Journal in 1856. Daily editions of that paper were added under his direction in 1861. He married Salome McKenney in June of 1857 and they had their first son, Henry, in August of 1858. They went on to have five more children – Charles in June 1860 (died May 1863), Edward in August 1862, Arthur in July 1867, Albert in December 1869, and Edith in December 1871. His son Edward started the Squirrel Island Squid in 1876 with his first cousin, Parke G. Dingley.

Nelson had a long career in State and Federal government. He served in the Maine House of Representatives from 1862 to 1865, 1868, and 1873 (he was Speaker in 1863 and 1864), served as Governor from 1874 to 1876, and represented Maine’s Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from September 1881 until his death in January 1899.

In 1870 Nelson and his family joined other families from Lewiston and Auburn on a camping trip to Boothbay Harbor. Finding the Harbor pretty crowded, they took a trip out to Squirrel and discovered it was for sale. J.B. Ham purchased the Island on July 21, 1870 on behalf of the group. He conveyed ownership to the Squirrel Island Association in February 1871 and the first twelve cottages were built that summer. Nelson’s cottage, now owned by Beth Hastings (his great-great-granddaughter), is one of four cottages remaining that were built in 1871.

Jacob Barker Ham was born in Lewiston, Maine on March 24, 1824 to parents Col. Ebenezer and Judith (Barker) Ham. He was the first of eleven children. Following his school years at the Lewiston Falls Academy, Jacob owned a hay and grain store on Main Street in Lewiston. Jacob married Lucinda Golder in December of 1846 and they went on to have four children: Anna in April 1850, Orland in July 1855, Edmund in May 1857, and Eben in January 1860.

Jacob was a member of the State Legislature in 1854 and 1856, was a Selectman in Lewiston from 1859 to 1862, and was elected Lewiston’s first Mayor in 1863. He was re-elected as Mayor in 1864. His occupation in the 1860 Census is given as Farmer. In 1870 it’s listed as Corn and Flour Dealer, and in 1880 as Miller.

Jacob and family were part of the camping group in 1870 that used Squirrel as a picnicing spot. When they discovered the Island was for sale by Squire Greenleaf’s heirs they decided to purchase it. Jacob made the initial purchase for $2200, which included two farmhouses, two barns, and many sheep. He conveyed ownership to the Squirrel Island Association once it was incorporated in February the following year.

Jacob built one of the twelve cottages constructed in 1871 – it is now owned by Jane Cartmell, but renovations over the past 150 years have left it unrecognizable. The cottage stayed in the Ham family until 1941 when it was sold to the Hapgoods. Jacob’s son Orland also briefly owned the Judge Spaeth cottage in the 1880s.