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Tilden, George
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George Tilden was a lifelong resident of Castine. According to William Witherle's diary, George accompanied Lane and Stevens on their 1852 boat trip. The inscriptions from the drawings from the 1850 excursion indicate that he was on that trip as well.
George Francis Tilden, 1825-1883, was the son of Capt. Charles K. Tilden and Mary Reed of Castine. George was in partnership with his father at Castine, and though the family was a minor player in the cod fisheries, they still ranked 5th in terms of relative wealth in 1850. Capt. Charles K Tilden supplied lumber to the shipyards of Belfast and Castine, and had business interests as far afield as Vinalhaven. George had his own enterprise and invested in sawmills and timberlands at Cherryfield. Charles William Tilden, 1832-1914, the youngest son, would later enter the family enterprise. Charles would rise to prominence as a Col. in the 16th Maine Regiment, during the Civil War, and would earn the brevet of Brig. Gen. The expedition in 1852 began at the wharf of Capt. Charles K Tilden at Castine.
-Mark Honey
References:
Doudiet, Ellenore W, "Majabigwaduce, A History of Castine, Penobscot, and Brooksville, Castine Scientific Society (Wilson Museum), Castine, Maine, 1978.
Honey, Mark E, "Abigail & Sarah Hawes of Castine," Navigators & Educators, with Lois Moore Cyr, 1996.
Honey, Mark E, "Before the Mast," Volume IV, articles 7-9, Holbrook Island and the Holbrook family, and in particular, Robert Applebee, "Vessels of the Penobscot Customs District," Stephan Phillips Memorial Library, Penobscot Marine Museum, Searsport, which source also has the diaries of Capt. Jonathan Holbrook and the genealogy of the Holbrook family in the Priscilla Jones collection. The "Before the Mass" series can be found in the collections of the Castine Historical Society and the Wilson Museum, both in Castine.
Wheeler, Dr. George Augustus, "Four Flags," A History of Castine, Penobscot, and Brooksville.
Personal diary
Wilson Museum, Castine, Maine (A00060-1a-1h)
Description of an excursion taken by Joseph Stevens, Jr., Lane, Witherle, Samuel Adams, Jr., and George Tilden around the islands of Maine near Mt. Desert. The group hired the Sloop "Superior" which was owned by Pilot Getchell. In his diary, Witherle mentions multiple times that "Lane took a sketch" especially when the water was calm. Lane often stayed on board the boat, while the others went ashore.
Excerpts of the diary include:
August 16: "Lane has a knack for frying fish."
August 17: "leaving Lane to take a sketch, we took a climb."
August 19: "went to ascend one of the highest mountains. 3/4 the way up we had to wait – once in a while for Lane who with his crutches could not keep up with us – but got along faster than we thought possible . . .Lane got up about an hour after the rest of us."
The entire text is transcribed in an account published by the Wilson Museum.
View related Fitz Henry Lane catalog entries (6) »
Also filed under: "Superior" (Sloop) » // Adams, Samuel, Jr. » // Biographical information » // Blue Hill » // Castine » // Chronology » // Diaries / Ledgers / Etc. » // Mount Desert Island & Rock » // Somes Sound » // Stevens, Joseph, Jr. » // Witherle, William Howe »