A Souvenir Bracelet from the Belgrade Hotel
This lovely souvenir bracelet from the Belgrade Hotel (Look below) has quite a story behind it. It was found in a wooden barrel of old letters in a farmhouse attic. My husband, Tom, had inherited the farmhouse in 1966, and it wasn’t until 1976 that I found the bracelet. Even then, I knew I should keep the bracelet and letters safe from harm. The bracelet is made of hand-painted, quarter-inch, metal blocks set on a metal filagree base. It is not made of precious metal, but it was made to last.
In 1920, Ellen (Nellie) Collins was living in Roxbury, Massachusetts. She lived with her mother and worked in a paper box factory. She had worked in the same box factory for at least 20 years, but little did she know that her life was about to take a major turn. After her mother passed away, Nellie accepted a seasonal job as a housekeeper for the famous Belgrade Hotel of Belgrade, Maine. She traveled by train to Belgrade Depot where she was met by a coach driven by one of the staff of the hotel. At the hotel, she was introduced to fellow staff including the head gardener, Herbert Scribner. Herbert had grown up in Belgrade and had been working at the hotel for several years. By 1920, he was the head gardener of the famous sunken garden of the hotel. Charles Hill, the owner of the hotel loved flowers and took a great interest in his gardens.
During the summer of 1921, Herbert and Nellie got to know one another and before too long, they fell in love. At the end of the season, Herbert proposed marriage. Nellie returned to Massachusetts to sell her house and settle her affairs, and Herbert began work to renovate a farmhouse just two miles away from the hotel that he inherited as a home for his intended bride. All winter long Nellie and Herbert exchanged letters. One of the letters may have included this little bracelet. In the spring of 1922, Nellie returned to Belgrade and on April 22, 1922, she became Mrs. Herbert Scribner. She continued to work at the hotel that summer.
While it is unclear what the check covered, I do know it was for the full season. Herbert and Nellie lived on their farm on the Augusta Road (Route 27) for many years and were likely among the crowd that watched with heavy hearts as the Belgrade burned to the ground on October 3, 1956. Herbert passed away in 1957, and Nellie moved back to Massachusetts to live with her nephew, where she passed away in 1963.
Dianne Dowd is a member of the Belgrade Historical Society.
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