Spotlight on CHARLES GARNER FOX

 Once again, we return to featuring a local citizen who has been prominent in the history of our towns. This time the spotlight is on: CHARLES GARNER FOX.

Charles Garner Fox was born in Lewiston, June 12, 1893, son of Charles T. and Alice (Garner) Fox.  He attended local schools and graduated from Parsonsfield Seminary in 1911.  He also graduated from the Philadelphia Textile Institute.  He was employed by the Kezar Falls Woolen Company for a short time and then became Assistant Superintendent of M. T. Stevens Woolen Company in Haverhill, Massachusetts where he remained for three years. 

He married the former Gertrude Wentworth of Parsonsfield in 1915.  They returned to Kezar Falls and he became associated with his brother, Carleton T. Fox in the manufacture of wood bobbins for the textile industry.  The Glen Bobbin Company in South Hiram was organized in 1918 as an owner-operated company that was incorporated in 1919 and employed 20 to 25 people. 

Photo of Charles and Gertrude in 1965. 

Charles and Gertrude resided for 15 years in the house on Glen Street, South Hiram near the bobbin mill.  While a resident of South Hiram he served on the Hiram Board of Selectmen.  They returned to Kezar Falls purchasing a home on Elm Street, on the Parsonsfield side of Kezar Falls and he served several years as selectman of Parsonsfield.

Charles retired from the bobbin mill business in January 1957 and sold his shares to his brother, Carleton.  The business continued to operate until October 1959.  

Charles was active in his community.  He was a director of the Kezar Falls National Bank for more than 30 years, a charter member of the Kezar Falls – Cornish Kiwanis Club serving as president, a member of the Riverside Methodist Church, a member of the Ossipee Lodge K. of P. and was a member of the Parsonsfield-Porter Historical Society.

Gertrude and Charles had two daughters: Constance who died young in 1936 and Mavis who married Carlton McDonald – commander of the U.S. Grant nuclear submarine (in 1965) and they had 4 children.

Charles had many interests.  He was an avid sportsman and played baseball and basketball while in school and played for the Kezar Falls baseball team for many years.  He was skilled at woodworking and made many pieces of furniture for himself, his family and various community projects.  After retirement he became interested in tree farming and had a 500-acre tree farm in Parsonsfield.

Charles died March 31, 1970, after a long illness and is buried at the Kezar Falls Burial Grounds.

BILLBOARD MONUMENTS OF MAINE

Parsonsfield-Porter Historical Society’s last public meeting of the season will be held on October 22, 2022 – 2:00 pm at History House, 92 Main Street, Porter.

A free program and book signing will follow the meeting at about 2:30 pm presented by Ron Romano.  Both of his books may be purchased at this time.

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 A unique form of grave marker was produced in New England in the mid-1800s.  Consisting of large stone slabs usually held aloft by granite posts, these monuments resemble signboards and have been named “billboard monuments” by cemetery historian and author Ron Romano.

Rare and often overlooked, only 42 have been discovered in Maine --- one of the most unique of which is in Parsonsfield. Ron’s research into this intriguing form of grave marker led to his 2020 book “Billboard Monuments of Maine” which featured the 38 monuments known in the state at the time. Readers of the book then found four more in the state. In 2021, Ron expanded his search for these interesting monuments beyond Maine, ultimately discovering four in New Hampshire and 27 in Vermont. All of the newly-discovered ones are featured in his new book, “Curious Gravestones in Northern New England: Billboard Monuments, Volume II.”

In a presentation rich with images and stories of the people these monuments memorialize, Ron presents his original research into this unique monument form, discussing the origin, construction features, dates of production, and makers.

Ron Romano is author of four-cemetery and gravestone-themed books. He’s designed tours for more than a dozen historic cemeteries in southern Maine. He is an officer on the board of the Association of Gravestone Studies, the leading organization in America for cemetery and gravestone studies, and he serves locally on the board of friends of Portland’s oldest burying ground, Eastern Cemetery (established in 1668).

(Image above, Lord family billboard monument – Parsonsfield, Maine.)