Bill Maxwell got to know Jean Lawrence, his former teacher, when they collaborated to produce a book celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the Waldoboro Fire Department. Jean must have been impressed with her former student. When the project ended, she invited Bill to the Historical Society’s annual meeting where she suggested that he be both the liaison with Fire Department and her Vice President. According to one of its founding members Richard Wallace, the Waldoborough (CK) Historical Society came about because Carolyn and Clayton Totman (CK) had begun to notice that antiques dealers were selling Waldoboro artifacts that were leaving town. With their loss, the Totmans feared some of the town’s history would be lost forever. So, they took things into their own hands: they filled a suitcase with memorabilia and spoke at various clubs about town, such as the Odd Fellows and the Rebekah’s. There, they proposed the idea for a museum and asked for donations. And they looked for a space where the historical items could be preserved. The Society opened its doors in 1968. After decades of moving around, the museum stands at its current site. The Society is 100% volunteers. Jean Lawrence is the current President until annual elections in July, and Bill Maxwell, its Vice President, a role he’s held since 2012. Like Jean Lawrence, the name Bill Maxwell is practically synonymous with Waldoboro, and not just for its history. For 33 years he served on the Fire Department. For thirteen years, he coached Little League; for nine years, he sat on the Budget Committee; and for the past fifteen years, he’s been a Mason in the King Solomon Lodge. This is the short list. Bill Maxwell is also the operations manager at the Jojoba Company. And in his spare time, he is scavenging for more Waldoboro artifacts, frequenting the antique shops and flea markets that populate the state.
I can’t give you the exact Great-Great-Great-Great version of it, but I’m related to Conrad Heyer, the first-born, white child from the German settlers. As I always state to anybody who’s from here: “If you originate from Waldoboro, chances are, you’re related to Conrad Heyer, too.”
But I never paid attention to my ancestors in between the Great-Great-Greats. It was Jean who was big into the genealogy. It helped her learn things. People would ask how she knew something, and she’d say, “Well, I’ve read it. I’ve read Stahl’s. I’ve read Miller’s. I research.”
Jean had passion for history. I had a fire for it, too, and being around her, talking with her, hearing the stories, I think she made it bigger. All the history sets me on fire. There’s an attic upstairs here with items that haven’t seen daylight since they were collected. Well, when it’s quiet, I just like rummaging through the boxes and looking at everything, to see what I find. And if I found something, I’d call Jean: “You won’t believe what I just found in there.” And she’d laugh and say: “Where you’d find that? Leave that out with my name on it so I can see it when I come into the museum.”
One time I found a report up there from back in the day when Waldoboro had all these individualized schoolhouses. A.D. Gray had written a report saying there should be a centralized school system. I think it’s about eight or nine pages, with his whole vision laid out for education in Waldoboro. Jean was all excited. She read it and said: “That man was well before his time.” And I only found it by asking, “What’s in this box?”
Jean taught me that you can always learn more, do that little bit more. You hear something out there? Maybe dig a little deeper before you come up with your own conclusion of what you think happened, or what you think the history was.
You may think you know the history of this town. But you don’t learn more unless you read. Research it. Get your details. Talk with some of the elders like Richard Wallace, who this barn is named after. He lived down in Dutch Neck. He knew anything you wanted to know about Dutch Neck. If Jean had a question, she would go to Richard. They would talk daily. He was the go-to guy.
Jean and I shared the same views of history. We’ve got pictures here, back in the day in town, in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, and they used to have minstrel shows. And they had people with black face. We’ve got pictures of those minstrel shows in this museum, of the black face. Well, that was part of the history. Her and I both strongly agreed on this. That helped us get along because we both had that vision: we don’t care what it is – it’s part of the history of this town. You don’t change history, you don’t hide it, you don’t re-write it. You learn from it. Maybe.
I think Jean’s gift was to teach everyone, young or old. She would tell the same stories to a group of schoolkids as she would to an 80-year man that would come through the door. She didn’t care. She wanted to teach everyone as much as she could about what she knew or who she’d talked to. She wanted to share that information.
She loved this town. She always said, “I know I’m not from here.” She was from away, from Rhode Island. But she fell in love with a local Waldoboro boy back in the day, and they moved to Waldoboro in the summer of 1970. She did a lot for this community and was involved in a lot of programs. She did love Waldoboro. I think that’s her thumbprint — to teach us all.
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