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Welcome to the
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NATHAN6 CHAPMAN III (NATHAN5, NATHAN4, NATHANIEL3, NATHANIEL2, EDWARD1) was born September 2, 1802 in Back Meadow, Damariscotta, Maine, and died March 19, 1894. He married (1) RUTH CLARK October 17, 1824. She was born January 13, 1797 in Union, Maine, and died December 15, 1874 in Bremen, Maine. He married (2) LUCY SIDELINGER April 16, 1878, daughter of LEWIS SIDELINGER and KATHERINE ROBINSON. She was born July 9, 1846 in Waldoboro, Maine, and died May 27, 1934 in Augusta Maine.
Nathan Chapman III as noted in the US Census of 1870 of Bremen, Maine, his occupation was a farmer and his real estate value was $2,500. The valve of his personal estate was $640. Carlton (Cliff) and Geraldine (Gerry) Chapman met Ernest Groth in September 2000, who now lives on Nathan's farm. He gave us some history on the farm. Ernest stayed at the farm as a young boy in the summer. In the late 1920's, the Treasurer and Comptroller of a sand and gravel company in New Britain, Connecticut, bought the abandoned farm in Bremen, Maine. The farm became a boys camp known as Camp Otyokwa. Thus started the "Tales of the Far North" which were stories about life at the camp. Indeed, Maine, at that time, was the "Far North" for boys living in Connecticut. The camp could be reached by a 14 hour car trip or a 12 hour train trip. Boys from several states would go there in the summer for their vacations. The camp buildings were built in 1935, and the camp opened in 1936 and operated through 1941. The maximum capacity of 45 boys, plus counselors and two nurses. There was no electricity or telephone at that side of the lake. Cooking was accomplished with the use of two kerosene-fired ranges and a kerosene hot water heater. Refrigeration was by natural ice from the Camp's ice house adjacent to the mess hall. The ice was harvested from Pemaquid Lake during the winter months. Lighting was by kerosene lanterns. The cost of attending the camp the first year for the 8 week season started at $125.00. In 1941, was the last summer the camp operated. Pearl Harbor and World War II changed all that. German submarines were active off the Maine Coast. Reports of spies being landed on the coast during the winter of 1941-42 were rampant. The Coast Guard patrolled the nearby shore roads with Jeeps and Dogs. Frank Munson closed the camp. Ernest Groth purchased the farm in 1984. The Munson's who owned the farm were old and had not been to the farm for 4 years. During that time, vandals trashed the camp and farm house. In 1984, Bremen, at that time, had the reputation of being the crime capitol of Lincoln County. There was no local law enforcement and the city depended on the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office in Wiscasset. A gang was terrorizing the area, breaking into homes, stealing cars and equipment and assaulting anyone who got in their way. There was also a growing wholesale drug trade. Federal pressure on the drug trade in Florida had driven it to the coast of Maine. Colombian freighters would lay off shore and discharge tons of marijuana and other drugs to local fishing and lobster boats. More money could be made in one trip than in a whole season of fishing. This activity was transferred to the camp. The house and land was destroyed. The crime wave did not end entirely but the Coast guard, DEA, FBI and other law enforcement agencies put 4 ring leaders and 12 others in different Federal penitentiaries for inter-state drug trafficking when an informant tipped them off to intercept a big shipment coming in from an off-shore freighter. Now the year is 2000 and Nathan's Chapman's apple trees and stone walls are a lot older. It is quiet at night and you can hear the loons call from the lake. Cars and the house are often left unlocked and peace has again returned to the land. We thank Ernest Groth for this information!