SANGERVILLE, Maine — Although machine gun inventor Hiram Maxim was born in Sangerville, many artifacts from his life were almost donated to the Dexter Historical Society.
But thanks to some gentle persuasion from resident Kathy Starbird, the Sangerville Historical Society has nine classic photos, a certificate denoting an honor from the French Foreign Legion, a medal and even an asthma inhaler formerly owned by Maxim.
One of the photos depicts one of Maxim’s flying machines — which apparently never got off the ground — and a rare photo of Hudson Maxim, Hiram Maxim’s brother.
“He didn’t like to have his picture taken,” Starbird said, noting Hudson Maxim’s stern look.
In addition to the machine gun, Hiram Maxim owned patents on 271 items, including a curling iron, an apparatus for demagnetizing watches, magnetoelectric machines, eyelet and riveting machines, aircraft artillery, a flying machine and various oil, steam and gas engines.
He was less successful with aircraft, but one of his biplane creations was converted into an amusement park ride.
Maxim also was one of two Sangerville residents — along with Sir Harry Oakes — who were knighted by the British government. Maxim was born in Sangerville in 1840 and later moved to England, where he died in 1916.
So how did these rare items from the Maxim family nearly wind up in Dexter?
Merritt Maxim, the great-great-grandson of Hiram Maxim, brought his family to Sangerville this summer to celebrate the town’s 200th birthday.
Merritt Maxim is a part-time resident of Bethel and later mentioned that he had an “overflow” of memorabilia from his famous relative.
So he considered donating the items to the Dexter Historical Society because that’s where Hiram Maxim first tested his machine gun.
“He was searching for the highest point in the area, so he picked a ridge near Lake Wassookeag,” Starbird said.
Also, Merritt Maxim didn’t realize that Sangerville had its own historical society.
“He does now,” Starbird said with a smile.
In addition to the Maxim family donations, the Sangerville Historical Society also was presented with a vintage map of the community by Guilford Town Manager Tom Goulette from his personal collection.
The 1911 map, which is in excellent condition, depicts many buildings in downtown Sangerville that are gone, restored or relocated. In the 1880s through the early 1900s, Sangerville had a grist mill, three sawmills, a tannery, shingle mill and a woolen mill, which employed about 50 people.
The Sangerville Historical Society meetings are held at 6:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesdays of the month in the town hall meeting room. Visitors are always welcome.