In 1894 Arno Preston Stanley (1865-1937) wrote a letter to his fourth cousin, Mabelle Estelle Stanley (1868-1955), daughter of Robert S. Stanley and Phoebe Jane (Gilley) Stanley, [both descended from Sans Stanley (1702-) and Mary (Charder) Stanley (1706-1748)] and asked for her hand in marriage: "Dear Mabel I love you with all my heart and I am willing to part with all on earth for your presents if you will join with me now at the present time but after you read this, and don’t see fit to join with me I will say no more about it and give up and die in despair I shall feel as if I have not a friend on earth if you say no if you choose others ways I hope you will be happy Through life and when I die I hope to meet with you in heaven if god is willing for me to please write on this peper and give me ether way you choose This is the way I feel I trust in god that we may be happy through life if you ascept please answer yes or no and give me this piece of peper back Yours Truly Arno. P. Stanley Live or die I shall think of you as a friend and one that love you well and you may think as you please" Mabelle added a penciled note, “Yes Dear,” in the space provided in his letter. They filed their intention to marry on October 25, 1894 and were married on November 3, 1894 at Cranberry Isles. Mabelle died on March 24, 1955, at the age of 86, at the Bay View Nursing Home in South Portland, Maine. She had saved the hopeful, loving letter Arno had written to her 61 years before. Her family buried her near Arno in the Stanley Cemetery No. 3 (Map 6 – Lot 1), Great Cranberry Island, Maine. Arno would have been living at his father, Enoch Boynton Stanley's house at Great Cranberry Island when he wrote the letter. Mabel's name was spelled Mabelle on her gravestone and curators use that spelling, but have left Arno's Mabel as it appears in his letter. Arno and Mabel's grandson, Ralph Warren Stanley, surmises that she was known as Mabel and that her relatives put on airs when they changed it to Mabelle on her gravestone.
Description: In 1894 Arno Preston Stanley (1865-1937) wrote a letter to his fourth cousin, Mabelle Estelle Stanley (1868-1955), daughter of Robert S. Stanley and Phoebe Jane (Gilley) Stanley, [both descended from Sans Stanley (1702-) and Mary (Charder) Stanley (1706-1748)] and asked for her hand in marriage: "Dear Mabel I love you with all my heart and I am willing to part with all on earth for your presents if you will join with me now at the present time but after you read this, and don’t see fit to join with me I will say no more about it and give up and die in despair I shall feel as if I have not a friend on earth if you say no if you choose others ways I hope you will be happy Through life and when I die I hope to meet with you in heaven if god is willing for me to please write on this peper and give me ether way you choose This is the way I feel I trust in god that we may be happy through life if you ascept please answer yes or no and give me this piece of peper back Yours Truly Arno. P. Stanley Live or die I shall think of you as a friend and one that love you well and you may think as you please" Mabelle added a penciled note, “Yes Dear,” in the space provided in his letter. They filed their intention to marry on October 25, 1894 and were married on November 3, 1894 at Cranberry Isles. Mabelle died on March 24, 1955, at the age of 86, at the Bay View Nursing Home in South Portland, Maine. She had saved the hopeful, loving letter Arno had written to her 61 years before. Her family buried her near Arno in the Stanley Cemetery No. 3 (Map 6 – Lot 1), Great Cranberry Island, Maine. Arno would have been living at his father, Enoch Boynton Stanley's house at Great Cranberry Island when he wrote the letter. Mabel's name was spelled Mabelle on her gravestone and curators use that spelling, but have left Arno's Mabel as it appears in his letter. Arno and Mabel's grandson, Ralph Warren Stanley, surmises that she was known as Mabel and that her relatives put on airs when they changed it to Mabelle on her gravestone. [show more]
"Front Row – Left to Right: Unknown boy Elmer Adelbert Spurling (1901-1984) Second Row – Left to Right: Elva Leone Spurling (1898-1980), later Mrs. Harvard Riley Beal Elva Lena Bunker (1901-1997), later Mrs. Ora Joseph Mountain Lena Marion Wedge (1897-1965), later Mrs. Harold Leslie Stanley Esther Mabelle Stanley (1895-1984), later Mrs. Francis Milton Spurling Hazel Belle Bunker (1900-1965), Mrs. Carl Raymond Hardy Vincie Millicent Bunker (1895-1993), later Mrs. Charles Stephen Hulbert Third Row – Left to Right: Unknown boy Ina “Inie” Mildred Bunker (1898-1945), later Mrs. Walter Richard Stanley Bertha “Bertie” Moore Stanley (1899-1918) Enoch Arno Stanley (1897-1977) Unknown boy Fourth Row – Left to Right: Teacher – possibly George Russell Hadlock (1881-1958) - lawyer Ralph Clifford “Cliff” Stanley (1897-1988) Unknown boy"
Collection of the Great Cranberry Island Historical Society
Description: "Front Row – Left to Right: Unknown boy Elmer Adelbert Spurling (1901-1984) Second Row – Left to Right: Elva Leone Spurling (1898-1980), later Mrs. Harvard Riley Beal Elva Lena Bunker (1901-1997), later Mrs. Ora Joseph Mountain Lena Marion Wedge (1897-1965), later Mrs. Harold Leslie Stanley Esther Mabelle Stanley (1895-1984), later Mrs. Francis Milton Spurling Hazel Belle Bunker (1900-1965), Mrs. Carl Raymond Hardy Vincie Millicent Bunker (1895-1993), later Mrs. Charles Stephen Hulbert Third Row – Left to Right: Unknown boy Ina “Inie” Mildred Bunker (1898-1945), later Mrs. Walter Richard Stanley Bertha “Bertie” Moore Stanley (1899-1918) Enoch Arno Stanley (1897-1977) Unknown boy Fourth Row – Left to Right: Teacher – possibly George Russell Hadlock (1881-1958) - lawyer Ralph Clifford “Cliff” Stanley (1897-1988) Unknown boy" [show more]
Left to right: Edwin Marion Spurling (1896-1977) Francis Milton Spurling (1896-1958) - brother to Hervey Merton Spurling (1899-1971) Francis and Hervey were third cousins once removed from Edwin. There is a sidewheel steamer, possibly the "Mount Desert" in the background.
Description: Left to right: Edwin Marion Spurling (1896-1977) Francis Milton Spurling (1896-1958) - brother to Hervey Merton Spurling (1899-1971) Francis and Hervey were third cousins once removed from Edwin. There is a sidewheel steamer, possibly the "Mount Desert" in the background.
Ralph Stanley and Charles B. Morrill went out to the Cranberry Isles in Ralph's boat, "Seven Sisters", on October 29, 2009 to photograph the boiler for the story in SWHPL 9935. While searching for the rock they came across this old 2 cycle, 2 cylinder Knox engine. Ralph remembered that the engine, an old "hand cranker, had originally belonged to his grandfather, Arno Preston Stanley (1865-1937). He never did anything with it. Ralph considered putting it in his first boat, but it was too heavy. The engine lay on the wharf for years and when the wharf was blew down in a storm c. 1978 the workers tossed it, or it fell, onto the rocks below where it is today. "The Boiler" started out at the end of Fish Point on Great Cranberry. Ralph is standing near the point of the arrow on the map where the boiler is now. The blue house in the background of the photograph was Charles "Peter" Emery Richardson's boat house. Peter was born to Meltiah Jordan and Mary Catherine "Carrie" Stanley Richardson on January 14, 1885. Peter married Nellie G. Curley who was born in 1884 and died in 1957. Peter died on July 14, 1971.
Description: Ralph Stanley and Charles B. Morrill went out to the Cranberry Isles in Ralph's boat, "Seven Sisters", on October 29, 2009 to photograph the boiler for the story in SWHPL 9935. While searching for the rock they came across this old 2 cycle, 2 cylinder Knox engine. Ralph remembered that the engine, an old "hand cranker, had originally belonged to his grandfather, Arno Preston Stanley (1865-1937). He never did anything with it. Ralph considered putting it in his first boat, but it was too heavy. The engine lay on the wharf for years and when the wharf was blew down in a storm c. 1978 the workers tossed it, or it fell, onto the rocks below where it is today. "The Boiler" started out at the end of Fish Point on Great Cranberry. Ralph is standing near the point of the arrow on the map where the boiler is now. The blue house in the background of the photograph was Charles "Peter" Emery Richardson's boat house. Peter was born to Meltiah Jordan and Mary Catherine "Carrie" Stanley Richardson on January 14, 1885. Peter married Nellie G. Curley who was born in 1884 and died in 1957. Peter died on July 14, 1971. [show more]