Oscar of Orient Maine

     Oscar Sidney Maxell was born in Orient, Maine on June 1, 1879 on Maxell Settlement Road. He held the position of deacon in the Orient Baptist church longer than anyone else.  He was a confectioner who had his own candy store on Congress Street in Portland, Maine.

Oscar was a staunch republican, who held the position of state representative for two terms. He was on the Temperance Committee. A fitting committee due to the fact he was against alcohol and managed to keep the state of Maine dry for years.  He was also House Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. 

Oscar vacationed in Florida with his wife Susie and daughter Shirley every winter. He became president of the Maine-Florida Society of more than 200 members. Here he would promote the state of Maine and all that it offered. 

On March 3, 1931, Oscar sailed aboard the SS Governor Cobb out of Tampa, FL for a five-day trip to Cuba.  In his diary, he summed up his visit to the island this way: "The Cubans are a friendly people and hold U.S. of America, and its people, in high esteem.  The Cubans its (sic) all America, both North and South, but they always emphasize the United States of America to which they belong.  On every hand, the names of General Wood and Teddy Roosevelt, and others, are, to them, sacred, and they avoid being connected with Spain...even say 'we speak the Cuban and English language, and not Spanish', where as a matter of fact, it is Spanish."  Oscar, a strong prohibitionist, firmly believed that "with the Cubans taking the U.S. as their example, someday will adopt prohibition."  He truly believed in the "words of Gifford Gordon: 'Hold on, America!  The son follows in the footsteps of the father and one day Cuba will follow their father in prohibition'."

Oscar was well-known throughout the Aroostook County of Maine. New Newspapers would often have stories of his him, and his family. Stories of his political career, stories of his family in Florida and how his daughter Shirley was crowned Queen in the Maine-Florida Society. They led a privileged life.

Oscar was interviewed frequently by the news media. This newspaper article read, "Grandson of Pioneers.”

Oscar’s father, Sidney P Maxell was born in Orient, Maine on June 7, 1848 to Thomas Jefferson Maxell and Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Colson.  Oscar was one of six children.

The article went on to quote Oscar.  “There were six in our family and we children found plenty to do on father’s one hundred acre farm. My grandfather, Thomas, was one of Orient’s earliest settlers.  I still possess the old family Bible that came from the old county. He took a plot in the wilderness in Orient, built a log cabin, and cleared the forest and brush for planting crops.”

“I heard my grandmother, Betty, tell how often at night it was necessary for him to go forth with an axe and drive away bears from the wheat patch. Grandmother said she was often awakened at night by the howling of wolves, and when grandfather was away she would let the fire go out because she was afraid to go to the wood pile because of prowling Indians.”

“There were no roads in those days and when grandfather had wheat to be found he carried it in a bag on his back through the woods to the grist mill at Hodgdon. (The town borders the province of New Brunswick, Canada to the east and Houlton to the north.) After living in a log cabin for a considerable time grandfather put up a frame building which burned. After that disaster, he built the old Maxell homestead in which I was born”.

“When I was a boy all the famers for miles around engaged in mixed farming, cattle, sheep and hog raising.  Every fall each farmer sold eight or ten head of yearlings and these cattle were driven to Danforth and shipped to Bangor. Sometimes these herds included several hundred head of cattle. Hundreds of sheep were also driven to Danforth.”

“When I was 15 years old, I joined three other boys in driving a large flock of sheep to Danforth and I shall never forget the experience. We started at 6:00 a.m. and it was 3:00 p.m. before we pulled into Danforth. We were exhausted from chasing those sheep. Often the leader would head for a noise in a fence and the entire flock would follow him. Sometimes it would be an hour before we got the flock back on the road and headed in the right direction.”

Oscar Goes To Cuba

Oscar Sidney Maxell was born in Orient, Maine on June 1, 1879. He was one of six children born to Deacon Sidney P Maxell and Alice Brown.

He married Susie May Whitmore on November 7, 1903. Oscar had one daughter, Beatrice Wyman, that he and his wife adopted.. He and Susie had no children together.

He was schooled to become a confectioner and eventually owned a candy store at 251 Congress Street, in Portland, Maine; that he operated from 1907-1915. He was listed in the city directory as selling ice cream and confections. Then in 1915 he returned to Orient, his beloved Maxell Hill and built his forever home. Sleeping in a tent until completed. 

Oscar was elected to the House of Representative  for the years 1937-1938 and 1949-1950. During the 94th legislature he served on the Indian Affairs and Temperance Committees.  Of personal importance to him was the Temperance Committee, for he alone managed to keep the state of Maine dry for many years. He was proud of the fact he held the position of Deacon in his church longer than his father.

On March 3, 1931, Oscar sailed aboard the SS Governor Cobb out of Tampa, FL for a five-day trip to Cuba. In his diary, "Impressions of a visit to Gay Havana, The Paris of the Western Hemisphere" he summed up his visit to the island this way: "the Cubans ae a friendly people and hold U.S. of America and its' people in high esteem".

The Cubans its (sic) all America, both North and South, but they always emphasize the United States of America to which they belong. On every hand, the names of General Wood and Teddy Roosevelt, and others, are to the sacred and they avoid being connected with Spain., even say 'we speak the Cuban and English language, not Spanish, where as a matter of fact, it is Spanish'.

Oscar toured the country via taxi or walking. Havana, he reported had 58 cigar factories, 2500 policemen, a population of 500,000 and 7000 bars. Oscar was impressed by the beauty of Havana and its magnificent buildings.

He visited cemeteries and learned how they buried their own. Went to many churches and spoke of Lady Lourdes her statue and a small metal box that held her ashes. He spoke of Columbus Temple, here Christopher Columbus held the first mass under a "Free Sabor" tree, meaning cotton and Silk. He spoke of beautiful paintings of the first mass, the first Congress and the first inauguration.

He tells of the square that was used to sell slaves and where slaves were put to death, often times, for trifling matters. In the old city the slaves built a wall to defend and protect against pirates. The slaves carried the stones on bare shoulders and worked under the lash at all times.

Oscar, a strong prohibitionist, firmly believed that "with the Cubans taking the U.S. as their example someday will adopt prohibition". He truly believed in the words of Gifford Gordon, "Hold on, America! The son follows in the footsteps of the father and one day, Cuba will follow their father in prohibition".

Oscar died December 31, 1961.

(Cuba was founded on October 10, 1868. The island was inhabited by various cultures prior to the arrival of the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. After Columbus' arrival, Cuba became a Spanish colony, ruled by a Spanish governor in Havana. In 1762, Havana was briefly occupied by Great Britain, before being returned to Spain in exchange for Florida. A series of rebellions during the 19th century failed to end Spanish rule. However, the Spanish-American War resulted in a Spanish withdrawal from the island in 1898, and following three-and-a-half years of subsequent US military rule, Cuba gained formal independence in 1902.)

The Lockhard Story

A brief history:

In early times this name was spelt "Locard" or Lokart." Like so many Scottish families, the Locards came from England there they were among those dispossed of lands by William the Conqueror. There were lands of Lockards (note name) near Penrith in the 12th century and later in Annandale, where the town of Lockerbie is said to be named after them. The family finally settled in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, where they have held land for over 700 years.

The earliest paper in the family archives is a Charter of 1313. By this, Sir Symon Locard bound himself and his heirs to pay out of the lands of Lee and Cartland an annual rent of (franc) 10. Stephen Locard, grandfather of Sir Symon, founded the village of Stevenston in Ayrshire. His son, Symon, acquired lands in Lanarkshire and, like his father, called a village which he founded Symons Toun (today Symington) after himself. Symon, the 2nd of Lee won fame for himself and his family fighting alongside Robert the Bruce in the struggle for Scottish Independence. He was knighted for his loyal service. Sir Symon was among the knights, led by Sir James Douglas, who took Bruces heart on crusade in 1329 to atone for his murder of John Comyn in the church of Grefairs in 1306. The crusade was ended prematurely when Douglas was killed fighting the Moors in Spain, but to Commemorate the adventure and the honour done to the family, their name was changed from Locard to Lockheart, which afterwards became Lochhart. The heart within the fetterlock was from then on included in the arms of the family, and the dead is also commerated in the moto.

As well as a new name, the family gained a precious heirloom on the Crusade: the mysterious charm known as the Lee Penny. Sir Walter Scott used the story of its acquisition by the family as a basis for his novel, The Talisman. Sir Symon captured a Moorish Amir in battle in Spain and received from the man's mother as part of his ransom, an amulet or stone with healing powers. The Amir's mother told Sir Symon that the stone was a remedy against bleeding, fever, the bites of mad dogs and the sicknesses of horses and cattle. The amulet was later set in a silver coin which has been identified as a four penny piece of the reign of Edward IV. The coin is kept in a good snuffbox which was a gift from Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, to her general, Count James Lockhart. Such was the believe in the amulet's powers that a descendant of Sir Symon, Sir James Lockhart of Lee, was charged with sorcery, an offense which could carry the death penalty. After examining the accused, the Synod of the Church of Scotland dismissed the case, because 'the custom in only to case a stone in some water and give densest cattle thereof to drink and the same is done without using any words such as charmers use in the unlawful practices and considering that in nature there are many things seem to work strange effects whereof no human wit can give reason it having pleast God to give the stones and herbs a special virtue for healing of many infirmities in man and beast.'

Alan Lockhart of Lee was killed at the Battle of Pinkie in 1547. Sir James Lockhart of Lee, born in 1596, was appointed a gentleman of the Privy Chamber of Charles I and was knighted. In 1646 he was appointed to the Supreme Court Bench, taking the title of 'Lord Lee.' A zealous royalist, he was captured at Alyth in 1651 and conveyed to the Tower of London.

His son, Sir William, who inherited the estates in 1777, also saw service on the Continent where he rose to be a county of the Holy Roman Empire, A Knight of the Order of Maria Theresa and a general of that empresses' imperial forces. The title Count became extinct when James's only son, Charles, died without issue (male child).

Although the family seat, Lee Castle, has been sold, the estates are still owned and managed by the present head of the family, Angus Lockhart of the Lee.

Sidney Maxell - Cartoons Are For Adults Too

The Maxell family
Sidney is holding his daughter, Heather
Sidney 1922-1933

Sidney Maxell, my husband's first cousin once removed, was from the great state of Maine.  Sidney was 5 feet, 10 inches according to steamship records, served on liberty ships during WWII, including two that he had designed/built.  He was art director from 1956-1963 for WCSH-TV and developed the Channel 6 Bear, the station's logo. 


 He developed the first computer animation commercial for Country Kitchen Bakery.  He began his cartooning career at the Guy Gannett Publishing Co. and in 1963 formed the Brown and Maxell Advertising Agency, developing the Tidy Coon logo for the state of Maine and Penelope the Purple Cow and Keen Eye for the Maine Hunting Safety Program.  He was honored by President Eisenhower for his political cartoons, and three are on display in the Margaret Chase Smith Library which is located on 15 picturesque acres in Skowhegan, Maine, on the banks of the Kennebec River, located at the Northwoods University.


We called the Library in advance of our visit to let them know why and when we would arrive.  They greeted us warmly and had collected and copied many items of Sidney's along with books they graciously gave us. This is one of the cartoons they provided.  It was when the republican party was trying to woo Margaret Chase to be Eisenhower's running mate. But she decided to stick to her knitting, another words, her work in the Senate for the state of Maine. 

He wrote a letter, that was Sidney's response to a request from the Margaret Chase Smith Library to release his works to the Washington DC Capitol Visitors Center. Less than 9 months after Sidney wrote that letter he died of cancer.

Sweets For The Sweet

My husband's grandfather, Oscar Maxell (1879-1961) owned a candy store at 251 Congress Street, Portland, Maine, that he operated from 1907-1915. He was listed in the city directory as selling ice cream and confections. 

Below are some of his candy receipes

written in his own hand.

He would put customers orders up in this pretty little victorian box