Just before a major auction of the late Ellie Saunders’ possessions on Saturday, the historical society sorts through her donation of 211 scrapbooks.
A new collection has seemingly taken over the Westbrook Historical Society – and it’s been 94 years in the making.
Hundreds of scrapbooks – 211, to be exact – created over a number of decades by the late Ellie Conant Saunders were brought to the historical society’s space in the Westbrook Community Center last week from her historic home on Conant Street.
Saunders, who died Nov. 22, 2014, at the age of 94, was the wife of former Westbrook Mayor Donald Saunders, and was also a descendant of some of Westbrook’s first permanent settlers.
Piles of the scrapbooks lying in boxes and baskets lined one of the walls of the historical society Monday, as volunteers were still organizing the new trove of material. On an adjacent wall, an entire bookcase was already filled with scrapbooks, each showing a matching “Conant Collection” stamp in black ink.
Following her death, her family began organizing her belongings, including her home, for auction, but her scrapbooks on the history of Westbrook were always destined to stay in the city.
Mike Sanphy, historical society president, with volunteer Diane Dyer and treasurer Tom Clarke, were still processing Monday the amount of new items in the space. Saunders was closely involved in the historical society up until her death, and was a central figure in the organization’s founding in 1976.
Both Sanphy and Dyer were very much aware of the Conant Collection, but were still surprised at the sheer breadth of information and tedious organizing involved.
“She had two or three rooms that were filled,” Dyer said, referring to retrieving the scrapbooks from the Conant Street home recently.
Sanphy added that there were at least five closets in her home dedicated to the scrapbooks.
The books, usually made with three-ring binders, construction paper, and hard covers, range in a number of topics, all labeled with tags and years. Just some of the topics include the Presumpscot River, City Hall, city celebrations, obituaries, people, the community hospital, the bicentennial, recreation, parks and cemeteries, yearbooks, education, politics, arts, police, and buildings.
Dyer said there are five books on obituaries alone, which provide a great resource for residents interested in genealogy. She feels it’s one of the most important items they received.
“We might already have some of those, but they go back to years we don’t have,” she said.
The collection of scrapbooks isn’t randomly thrown together, either. Also included in the collection is an entire separate box containing an index of note cards, where the contents of the scrapbook collection are titled, with matching numbers.
“She was meticulous that way,” Sanphy said. “I always thought of her as the historical society. She was the driving force.”
Sanphy said that when volunteers picked up the scrapbooks, the contents of the house were already boxed up.
“She was dedicated to history,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for her.”
The next order of business for historical society members is digitally organizing and cataloging the scrapbooks, which even with a full slate of members, could take months. Another question is: where will they go?
Sanphy said he’d like to keep the collection together as its own entity within the space. He’s already spoken with Westbrook Superintendent of Schools Marc Gousse about utilizing the vocational school’s woodworking program, which could donate a series of bookshelves for the items.
Mike Corrigan, a nephew of Saunders who has been living at her Conant Street home since she died, said Tuesday that there was never a doubt the scrapbooks would go to the historical society. He also said there were about 40 more, dedicated to just family, which the family kept.
“We were really thrilled they went to the historical society,” he said. “Her whole life she kept this living history. It was so thorough that it makes pretty good archives.”
A public auction for the “Conant Homestead” is this Saturday at the Four Seasons Function Center in South Paris. Like the scrapbook collection, the list of items found in the house and up for auction is enormous. The sale will have between 600-800 lots, including furniture, rare items, vintage clothing, silver, pewter and rugs.
Corrigan said Saunders’ attention to detail could also be seen with the items in her home, many of which were labeled with years and other information.
The auctioneer, Paul Arsenault, said Wednesday that the auction has been most viewed in Maine and New England on the website AuctionZip.com for the last two weeks. He said while going through the house, they found “everything you’d expect to find in an 18th-century home.” Even the attic was full, he said.
Some of the items, such as hooked rugs, were made in the 18th century.
“There were tons and tons of wonderful things,” he said, adding that some Westbrook items are included in the auction, such as a lectern used by former Mayor Saunders.
“When an auction like this comes on the market, it does create a lot more interest than the average auction,” he said.
Corrigan said the number of boxes taken from the house was “incredible.”
A few years ago, Saunders looked into the possibility of gifting the home to the historical society, but still wanted her family to have partial ownership. Sanphy said that unless the property was entirely a gift, the city couldn’t take it on, owing to annual taxes and other expenses associated with an aging home of its size.
Corrigan said the proceeds from the sale of the home will be going to local charities, but did not disclose which ones.
“There’s a substantial amount that will go to Westbrook, which is very fitting, because the city was very important to her,” he said.
Westbrook Historical Society members, from left, Mike Sanphy, Diane Dyer and Tom Clarke, admire the dozens of scrapbooks made by the late Ellie Conant Saunders. The collection of 211 books was recently donated to the historical society.Staff photo by Andrew Rice
Hundreds of items that belonged to the late Ellie Conant Saunders, including this silk pattern made in Westbrook’s historic Haskell Silk Mill, will be auctioned March 21.Courtesy photo
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