Person Record

Metadata

Name

Morton, Paul George Chapman (1910-2000)

Born

Apr 30, 1910

Birthplace

Concord, VT

Father

Halley Morton

Mother

Amy (Chapman) Morton

Notes

Married in 1940
Buried in Cemetery No. 4
Taken from the Spring 2016 Newsletter:
"Those who knew Paul Morton well, remember him
as an eccentric, a hoarder, and a jack-of-all-trades. He
spent most of his life in Conway, Denmark, and Lovell
as a butcher, carpenter, store owner, historian, postal
clerk, and Yankee trader. In a 1996 Bridgton News
article, Morton said "with an impish expression spread
across his face," he had experienced most jobs "except
midwifery." Many residents recall his Odd Fellow’s
Shop on Screw Ball Corner (5 Kimball Road) in
Lovell. He filled it with antiques, books, bric-a-brac,
and "just plain junk," but Paul tried several jobs before
he and his wife invested most of their time selling their
treasures.
Born in Concord, Vermont April 30, 1910 to Halley
and Amy (Chapman) Morton, Morton’s early years
were spent in Vermont, but eventually his family
moved to North Conway, and he attended Kennett High
School, graduating in 1928. In high school he worked
for Conway Box Company and made $70 per month.
After high school he learned the trade of butcherer
and worked in Conway Center Grocery Store as a
meat market clerk, a skill and job he used many times
throughout his life.
Morton considered food his life. While working in
the Conway Center Store, a man in a Model A Ford
with a little box on the rear asked Morton to help
peddle meat. Morton said this was the only business he
ever knew. "I could lead your cow right up here, kill
your cow, and hang it up, and when he gets tenderized
and in good shape, I could bring it into the house, take
it in the kitchen and carve it the way you wanted, steak
or whatever, and I put it through the oven, serve it at
the table, wait on the table, everything."
He made deliveries three times a week to people
who lived on the lakes in the area. They transported
meat in a locker and provided groceries at the same
time. "Many of the store’s patrons were wealthy
socialite types from New York and Connecticut who
were quite fussy about the way their pork chops and steaks were cut." This business brought him to Lovell,
and he purchased the Center Store (Morton’s Market)
in 1940, known as the Center Lovell Market now,
and sold it six years later. He recalls, "I bought it on
my birthday and sold it on Memorial Day." When he
owned the store, he "didn’t beat anybody – didn’t lose
any – didn’t make much, either – but that was all right.
People knew where to get their soup bones!"
During the Great Depression from 1932 to 1937,
he appeared in Lovell working for Everett Heald as
a meat market clerk, making $80 a month. Morton
spent the rest of the 30s until 1952 working at the
Denmark Inn near the outlet of Moose Pond in
Denmark village during the summers. The inn served
the parents of children who spent time at Camp
Winona and Wyonegonic. Morton remembers acting
as a bellhop, chambermaid, and anything else the
owner needed or wanted, and his wife’s title was
Housekeeping Counselor making sure everything
in the inn was clean and tidy. He remembers Rose
Kennedy and other "rich" parents of campers, but
considered Kennedy a "nice person." During the
winter he traveled with the camps’ owners, the Cobb
family, to Vero Beach, Florida, where he served as a
chauffeur. Morton said the Cobbs were "fine people."
In 1940 he married Winona Gertrude Warren who
was born in Steep Falls and attended Baldwin schools,
graduating from Standish High School. Morton met
Winona when he was "peddling roasts and chops and
chickens. She was working in Fryeburg, and I had a
customer out that way." She and Paul shared many
interests. They liked to collect coins and stamps and
had a strong interest in local history. "Nona" and Paul
never had any children, and she died in 1987.
From 1952 until 1961, Morton was a carpenter for
Ralph McAllister of Lovell, working at private camps
mainly around Kezar Lake. "I had quite a few camps I
took care of, and I refinished the whole inside of one."
He began another career as a postal clerk at age
61. While newspaper articles reported otherwise,
postal documents show that Morton took the Civil
Service Examination on April 21, 1971 and signed
papers, took the oath of office, and became "Officer
in Charge" of the North Fryeburg, Maine, U.S. Post
Office, September 24, 1971. Eventually he worked
at the Center Lovell Post Office as a clerk. Everyone
stated he was too old to start another career, but
Morton obviously enjoyed switching jobs and
learning new skills.
Morton thought it was a "crazy thing" to add zip
codes to the mail. Before zip codes "we had a post
office in Sweden, they had one in Fryeburg Harbor,
two or three in Fryeburg Center, West Fryeburg, East
Conway, every little place had a post office. Now they
do not have any." He believed it slowed the mail.
"That’s progress, I suppose, but I don’t call it that."
Paul and Winona Morton and Reverend and
Mrs. John Dallinger started the Lovell Historical
Society March 25, 1973 by meeting informally at
the Reverend’s home. They discussed the pros and
cons of the items in the booklet "Forming a Local
Historical Society." After this initial meeting, it
was decided a group representing areas of the town
meet at the Center Church Vestry. The group was
chosen for "their known interest in the preserving
of town history and historical items." When Lovell
residents viewed the Historical Society exhibit at the Bicentennial celebration, they became excited about
collecting items and finding a place for the collection.
According to Roberta Chandler, an early member of
the Society, Morton was always there to help with
fund raising and was "our greatest cheerleader." It
was "one of his dreams" to create a historical society
the town would appreciate. He served as president in
1985 and 1986, and he was actively involved until the
death of his wife.
Morton collected antiques and junk. He always
believed he could recognize a bargain and turn it
around and make a profit. He reflected, "I’ve been at
it [buying and selling] all my life; when I was a kid,
I swapped jackknives." He and his wife launched the
Odd Fellow’s Shop together. She finally joined him in
his hobby out of frustration. He came home one night
with a load of things Winona considered junk. She
faced the truth that her husband could not stop himself
from "dickering and collecting." Winona lamented he
would buy "just about anything from anybody." She
decided to create a trading center, and this is how the
Odd Fellow’s Shop began. Morton purchased items,
and Winona sold them. He noted, "I could buy a sugar
bowl for five cents that was worth $5. I could smell a
good trade and make a few dollars." Morton always
poked in people’s yards, looking for items to buy. He
was the true definition of a Yankee trader.
For 40 years, just about any unusual item could be
found at the Odd Fellows Shop on the first floor of the
Morton home on Route 5. One journalist found china,
glassware, wall telephone, bear trap, farm machinery
which predated the Model T, and magazines published
in the 1800s all on the same day. Grammar and high
school students, who caddied at the golf course
nearby, walked the few feet to the shop to buy candy
and soda. Morton puffed on a pipe, blinked his eyes,
and joked, "Oh, my God, Man." Everyone who knew
Morton considered him eccentric!
He became famous when a national television
show interviewed him about author Stephen King
who Morton referred to as "Steve." Later on, a Boston
television station came to Maine to interview Morton.
In addition, journalists from The Bridgton News, The
Boston Herald, and Yankee Magazine wrote articles
about him.
When asked about the quality of life in Lovell,
Morton insisted that "quality of life is just what you
make it. If you want friends, you can have friends. If
you don’t want friends you don’t have to have them.
And if you want them and like them, they’re there."
He thought Lovell was the best town he ever lived, but
he liked people, and he met them half way to become
friends. For entertainment he visited neighbors. A
nearby friend, a widow, used to play the piano and
Morton played the drums. She was the only one he
could talk to about the old times.
In 1995 when Morton lived alone at age 85, he
looked back at his time in Lovell and considered how
the quality of life had changed. He observed how new
people move to the area and old people "drop out." An individual cannot keep track of the changes unless he
or she works at the town office. "To know everyone
is impossible" since many are summer or weekend
visitors.
The village changed over his lifetime according
to Morton. A large grocery store, hardware store,
furniture store, telephone office, and gas pumps
existed for many years, but the roads were not much
improved until the late 1920s. Morton laughed that
"a mortician was on duty at all times." The old wood
mill disappeared in a flood in 1953. Electricity was
added in the village in 1927 and ran up the village
through the center, but it didn’t get to Slab City until
President Roosevelt and the Rural Electrification Act.
Morton remembers that’s "when they branched out
and went into little country hamlets."
Kezar Lake changed over the years, also. When
Morton first peddled meat in 1931 around Kezar
Lake, few owned motor boats. People mostly rowed
a boat and fished. When "boys from Harvard" came
here in 1889, they returned every summer to camp on
Sheep and Rattlesnake Islands. Five of them bought
Rattlesnake Island in 1900, and the growth around the
lake exploded. Morton said the visitors to the lake
"probably made part of the town." Rudy Vallee owned
a place on the lake along with other affluent people
who lived in their vacation homes part of the year.
In 1995, Morton shared his favorite memory of
Lovell:
It’s a silly one I know but I came in here, I was a
young man then, I was 21 when this fellow brought
me in peddling meat. Every tarred-paper camp -
I’m talking about shacks we call ‘em - and the
poorest of ‘em had rambler roses and usually a
trellis. They were poor; they were honest people
but they were poor. And there were bigger houses,
the more affluent and they had bigger trellises but
they all had rambler roses and that is the first
memory of Lovell I have. That was the thing I saw.
That isn’t history but it’s fun.
Paul George Chapman Morton died November
17, 2000 at the age of 90. He was survived by his
sister, Louise Helen Morton Perrin of Ann Arbor,
Michigan, and his friend, Priscilla Beckloff of
Lansdale, Pennsylvania, who grew up with the Morton
family. His "just plain junk" was auctioned off by J.H.
Morrison Co., and their advertisement for the auction
included the following:
Mr. Morton was a life-long antique enthusiast
whose discerning eye was well known of
frequenters of his antique shop. A true Maine
Yankee, Mr. Morton sold only to fuel his passion
of the hunt, packing away his favorites. Every
closet, spare room and crawl space was packed
with boxes and trunks, brimming with local
history. Mr. Morton was always interested in the
past and the objects that brought it to life, and
was a founding member of the Lovell Historical
Society, as well as a member of the Concord,
Vermont Historical Society.
Paul Morton lived a simple life, trying a variety
of jobs, but his passion revolved around history. He
enjoyed objects and persons who represented time and
place. He listened to yarns from old-town Mainers,
and he shared a narrative history with everyone
he met, keeping Lovell alive with his laughter and
storytelling. He learned to poke fun at himself and
life. He refused to worry about things he had no
control over. He reminisced with a sigh, "I’ve had a
good life. It’s had a lot of ups and downs, and that’s
all right. You get out of life what you put into it."

Occupation

Owner operator of the "Odd Fellow's Shop" Stamp & Coin & Antique Dealer
Postal Worker, Caretaker.
Worked at camps Winona and Wyonagonic in Denmark

Spouse

Winona Gertrude (Warren) Morton

Deceased

Nov 17, 2000

Deceased Where

Fryeburg, ME

Titles & honors

With his wife founding members of the Lovell Historical Society

Related Records

29. Jonathan Hatch Tape 1 - Donald Chandler, Paul Morton, Ed Nista - 1995.05.0025
In 1995, for his Senior Project at the College of the Atlantic, Jonathan Hatch interviewed and photographed 26 residents of Lovell. His purpose was "not only to interpret but to portray and represent the various perspectives of a small rural town in Maine". He gave exclusive rights to the tapes and accompanying transcripts to the Lovell Historical Society.

Record Type: Archive
Bud Wilson at Morton's Market - 2012.04.0169
Bud Wilson in front of Morton's Market, in Center Lovell. Taken from Photo CD #7. Used in the Spring 2016 Newsletter.

Record Type: Photo
Chronicle's "Kezar Lake", 1990 - 2009.19.0001
A copy of a Channel 5 Boston show titled Chronicle. The show was aired in 1990 and focused on Kezar Lake. Among the people interviewed were: Pete Koutrakis, Jane Orans, Rob Littlefield, Ric Eland and Paul Morton.

Record Type: Archive
Earle Keniston at Paul Morton's Home - 2011.03.0096
Identified as "Paul Morton's Estate" with Earle Keniston furthest to the right. The other two men are not identified. Taken from Photo CD #6.

Record Type: Photo
Journal of Paul Morton, 1925 - 2001.04.0023
Paul Morton's daily journal from January 1 to April 29, 1925. Located in Journals & Diaries, Box 2.

Record Type: Archive
Lovell Cemetery Records, Volume I & II - 2007.31.0001
An update of Lovell's Cemetery Records, originally compiled by Irene St. Germain in 2006 and 2007. A major update was done in 2015, 2019, and 2022. Volume I has an index of names to be found in all Lovell cemeteries and the details on the #4 Cemetery . Volume II has the details on the Center Lovell Cemetery, Fox Cemetery, Lord Cemetery, North Lovell Cemetery, Village, West Lovell Cemeteries, private cemeteries, and an Appendix. The Appendix con...

Record Type: Archive
Morton, Paul - 1974.02.0864
Collection of information about Paul Morton's and his antique shop known as the Odd Fellow's Shop. Located in the file category "People". Paul was the subject of the Spring 2016 Newsletter.

Record Type: Archive
Obituaries - 1974.02.0692
Nine notebooks of obituary newsclippings, all indexed.

Record Type: Archive
Paul G. Morton - 1995.05.0003
Eight photos of Paul Morton at his shop. Taken from the Word & Portrait Stories Collection by Jonathan Hatch. In 1995, for his Senior Project at the College of the Atlantic, Hatch interviewed and photographed 26 residents of Lovell. His purpose was "not only to interpret but to portray and represent the various perspectives of a small rural town in Maine". He gave exclusive rights to the tapes and accompanying transcripts to the Lovell Historical...

Record Type: Photo
Paul Morton and Lissa Perrin - 2008.03.0006
Paul Morton, age 87 with his niece, Lissa Perrin, age 48. The photo was taken in July 1997 in front of Paul's house at #4.

Record Type: Photo
Paul Morton and Rachael Sholder - 2008.03.0005
Paul Morton, age 87, with his great-niece, Rachael Sholder, age 16. The photo was taken in July 1997 in front of Paul's house at #4.

Record Type: Photo
Paul Morton at North Fryeburg Post Office - 2007.20.0003
Two photos of Paul Morton working at the North Fryeburg Post Office, dated Jan. 1972. Taken from Photo CD #11.

Record Type: Photo
Paul Morton at the Post Office, 1972 - 2007.20.0002
Paul Morton working at the Post Office in North Fryeburg. The photo is dated January 1972. Taken from Photo CD #11.

Record Type: Photo
Paul Morton, Priscilla Johnstone & Peg Evans - 2007.20.0004
Paul Morton at the Center Lovell Post Office with Priscilla Johnstone and Peg Evans. Taken from Photo CD #11.

Record Type: Photo
Paul Morton with Flowers - 2018.13.0001
Paul Morton holding a bouquet of flowers. The camera photo date is 4/30/1998.

Record Type: Photo
Paul & Winona Morton - 2011.03.0042
Paul and Winona Morton. Taken from Photo CD #6. Used in the Spring 2016 and Summer 2024 Newsletters.

Record Type: Photo
Paul & Winona Morton in Costume, 1976 - 2015.35.0032
Paul and Winona Morton dressed in costume for the Bicentennial celebration on July 6, 1975. Taken from Photo CD #11. Used in the Spring 2016 Newsletter.

Record Type: Photo
Scrapbook 35 - Paul Morton - 2007.20.0001
Scrapbook compiled by Winona Morton of her husband Paul's postal career in the early 1970's. The book includes photographs and stamps when he worked in North Fryeburg and Center Lovell.

Record Type: Archive
Word & Portrait Stories by Jonathan Hatch - 1995.05.0024
Transcripts of oral histories Jonathan Hatch took in 1995. This was a Senior Project he conducted at the College of the Atlantic. The tapes have been transferred to CDs and are also available on the computer. There are also slides.

Record Type: Archive