In examining local history, we often do not know a lot about women from our community’s past. Prior to 1920, women did not have the right to vote and were seen simply as someone’s mother or wife.
Women were not legally “allowed” to own property in the U.S. until 1900. And, although women could own businesses as early as the 17th century, these businesses were not always seen as respectable. It wasn’t until 1988, when President Reagan signed the Women’s Business Ownership Act into law, thus eliminating the requirement for women to have a male co-signer for business loans, that women truly had governmental support as business owners.
Further, women who did not marry also carried a very negative social stigma in our society, being called “old maids,” “spinsters” and sometimes worse.
Presque Isle has a very few women who stand out in our history. One such interesting woman was Alice Kimball. Born in 1878, she was the step-granddaughter of George Parsons, for whom Parsons Road and Parsons Street were named. Alice never married and was a local businesswoman.
George was considered one of the founding fathers of our area. He built a successful 200-acre farm (the “Elmbrook”) on the Parsons Road, served as secretary of the North Aroostook Agricultural Society (Northern Maine Fair), built the first cheese factory in Presque Isle, and was instrumental in building the Unitarian Church and our library. The barn on his farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and removed in 2013 due to deterioration and, ultimately, its collapse. It was the largest barn under one roof in the State of Maine.
One of Alice’s great loves was traveling. Her passport listed places such as Montreal, Germany, Monaco, France and England. It is interesting to note that passports at that time did not include a photograph. Instead, a physical description was listed at the bottom. Although she was a Kindergarten teacher, the passport amusingly listed her as a “kindergartner.” This was even more amusing given her very petite stature.
Alice was a graduate of LaSalle College, Columbia University and the Boston Conservatory of Music. After returning to Presque Isle in 1914 following the death of her grandmother, she gave voice lessons locally.
Kimball was also an activist and a philanthropist. She served as chairman of the local suffragette movement and held an old-fashioned “singing” to raise funds for the Presque Isle Public Library.
Perhaps the one thing Alice Kimball is best known for in the history of Presque Isle – and even that of the United States – is that the 1959 National Christmas Tree came from the Elmbrook Farm.
Beginning in the 1920s with President Calvin Coolidge, there has been a National Christmas Tree on the grassy ellipse behind the White House in Washington, D.C., which is always lit by the president. Prior to 1959, the national tree was always cut from a national forest, and always from west of the Mississippi.
In 1959, in celebration of Presque Isle having been a town for 100 years, a local committee petitioned the National Park Service for permission to provide the national tree. The petition was granted and then the search was on to find the best of all possible trees. This marked the first time in U.S. history that the national tree came from east of the Mississippi and from private land.
Close to 500 trees were examined, and finally a 70-foot white spruce from Alice Kimball’s farm was chosen. The tree arrived in Washington on Dec. 4, 1959.
Kimball said of her donation of the tree, “It is a rare privilege and great honor to send this beautiful tree to Washington to be the National Christmas Tree for 1959 and the focal point of the Pageant of Peace. It is my gift to President and Mrs. Eisenhower and to the entire nation. It is my hope that when this tree is lighted December 23, its light will shine into every corner of the world and carry the good will of the people of the United States to every nation and bring us, one and all, the enduring peace which we so much need and desire.”
Kimball passed away on Feb. 9, 1961, at the age of 82 and is buried in the Fairmount Cemetery.
Kimberly R. Smith is the secretary/treasurer of the Presque Isle Historical Society.
