Organizations partner to preserve
dairy farming history
By Dena L. Winslow, Ph.D.
Special to The Star-Herald
“When I was a small boy, cows were always part of the living here, one way or another. I don’t remember that they always sold milk, but much of the time they did, and they also sold butter or cream and sometimes buttermilk. Most of the excess produced that was not used by the farmer’s family went to stores in town and was swapped for groceries,” recalls Carl Winslow of Mapleton. It is a way of life that has essentially disappeared from central Aroostook with only a handful of small dairy farmers now making a living at the enterprise in this area.
NELLIE BLANCHE CHANDLER, who was born Sept. 2, 1866, wife of Frank Winslow of Mapleton, sister to Minnie Chandler Creasy, also competed at the Northern Maine Fair with her fancy butter. 
This undated picture shows Nellie standing in front of her barn with a display of her butter for the Fair. The caption on the back of the photo reads: “This on the stand is the fancy butter that I had at the Fair and got first Premium of $8. If you have a magnifying glass or a reading glass it will show plainer. I didn’t slant it enough to make it show good. The object to the left (herself) wasn’t supposed to be there. Nellie.”
The Haystack Historical Society of Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill is teaming up with the Aroostook Valley 4-H Dairy Club to gather and document the rich dairy farming history in central Aroostook. This year at the Northern Maine Fair Historical Pavilion, the two groups will be displaying items from dairy farming of the past and are asking the public for its help in creating a permanent collection to be displayed at the museum. In particular, the groups are looking for pictures of the dairy farms from central Aroostook which could be reproduced so that the original picture can be returned to its owner; and any objects connected to dairy farming such as milk bottles and cans; as well as anything connected to butter making.
One farm photo that is especially being sought is a picture of the McCreedy Farm which was located on the old Mapleton Road – before it was moved to create the runways for the airport in Presque Isle. Mr. McCreedy purchased milk from many of the local farmers who delivered it to him, and by 1938, he had the first pasteurizer in the area. He had one of the early Ward Log Cabins for his milk room from the period when the Ward Log Cabin Co. was originally located on Mechanic Street in Presque Isle. The cabin had a cement floor and inside was a steam jenny which ran the pasteurizer and the bottler. This was in the days when milk came in glass bottles and was delivered to the door of the customers. In addition, Mr. McCreedy had a large bottle washer in the milk room and there was a large door which would accommodate the farmers backing into the building with their milk deliveries.
Photo from Agriculture of Maine, 1897
BUTTER EXHIBIT — Mrs. Charles E. Creasy (Minnie Mayville Chandler – born July 28, 1862, daughter of William Chandler and Martha Jane Record of Castle Hill) 
lived on Creasy Ridge in Mapleton with her husband and family before the family moved to California. In 1897, she displayed her butter creations at the North Aroostook Fair.
During good weather, farmers hauled milk to Mr. McCreedy in whatever vehicle they had available. Alvin Winslow, Carl’s father, had a little red sled made for the purpose which he used with a horse in the winter months to deliver his milk there. The sled held two or three of the then-in-use milk cans with covers and was delivered to Mr. McCreedy every morning. At that time, the milk was kept cold with ice water.
Most farmers of that era didn’t milk a lot of cows because this was before the days of mechanized milking machines and all milking was done by hand twice a day.
At the time that the government came to Presque Isle and built the Presque Isle Air Force Base, they purchased the McCreedy farm, as well as the Hanson farm which was located near it; and both were torn down to build the current runways.
The Historical Society is especially interested to know if anyone has any information on a milk bottle with McCreedy’s name or logo on it — similar to many of the other farms in the area — or other milk bottles from the Aroostook County area.
After McCreedy’s farming operation closed, Perley Ramsdell on Ramsdell Hill located on the Caribou Road, bought out McCreedy’s equipment which he used in addition to the pasteurizer he had, and took over the McCreedy’s business to expand his own. Mr. Ramsdell got his first cow when he was 15 years old and started delivering milk around Presque Isle at that time. He stayed in business until into the 1950s or so, but the Historical Society would like to obtain any information on this dairy operation, as well.
In those days, dairies didn’t make or sell butter. That was a homegrown industry of the farm wives on the small dairy farms. As noted above, the farmer would exchange his butter, cream, and eggs, as well as other produce for groceries and the butter would then be sold to other grocery store customers. Each year at the Northern Maine Fair, farm wives competed to put on the best display of their homemade butter.
The Haystack Historical Society and the Aroostook Valley 4-H Dairy Club are interested in collecting pictures, items related to dairy farming such as milk bottles, and also butter-making items. If anyone has any of these items they would be willing to donate to this new collection, or are willing to loan, please contact Dena Winslow at 764-2357. The organizations are also interested in collecting residents’ stories about dairy farming and butter making, and will have a tape recorder available at the Northern Maine Fair Historical Pavilion to record such memories.
