Maine Memory Network

Hallett Elliot and son, 1910

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1910 Location: Portland Media: Photographic print

Linwood S. Elliot with fish, Patten, ca. 1913

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1913 Location: Patten Media: Photographic print

Hallett property, N. Side Edwards Street, E. Back Lot 213, Peaks Island, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: George F. Hallett Use: Summer Dwelling

Assessor's Record, 30 Rosemont Avenue, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Hallett C. Elliot Use: Land only

John Martin: Expert Observer - Intro to pages 0-46

"Kimball Thomas A. Jones John D. Conley Edward L. Appleton Albert L. Chick George W. Snow Ichabod E. Leighton Ancil C. Hallett George H. Yeaton"

Julia Winters and Life in Lewiston/Auburn, Maine
by Judy Zaccagnini Flynn, granddaughter

6 year old sent to Maine foster home when her parents were unable to care for her

Longfellow Studies: "The Jewish Cemetery at Newport"

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Longfellow's poem "The Jewish Cemetery at Newport" opens up the issue of the earliest history of the Jews in America, and the significant roles they played as businessmen and later benefactors to the greater community. The history of the building itself is notable in terms of early American architecture, its having been designed, apparently gratis, by the most noted architect of the day. Furthermore, the poem traces the history of Newport as kind of a microcosm of New England commercial cities before the industrialization boom. For almost any age student the poem could be used to open up interest in local cemeteries, which are almost always a wealth of curiousities and history. Longfellow and his friends enjoyed exploring cemeteries, and today our little local cemeteries can be used to teach little local histories and parts of the big picture as well. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow visited the Jewish cemetery in Newport, RI on July 9, 1852. His popular poem about the site, published two years later, was certainly a sympathetic portrayal of the place and its people. In addition to Victorian romantic musings about the "Hebrews in their graves," Longfellow includes in this poem references to the historic persecution of the Jews, as well as very specific references to their religious practices. Since the cemetery and the nearby synagogue were restored and protected with an infusion of funding just a couple years after Longfellow's visit, and later a congregation again assembled, his gloomy predictions about the place proved false (never mind the conclusion of the poem, "And the dead nations never rise again!"). Nevertheless, it is a fascinating poem, and an interesting window into the history of the nation's oldest extant synagogue.