The Tate House

On Tuesday morning Kathryn and I visited one of the oldest homes in the Portland area...The Tate House. It was built before the Revolutionary War and now is a museum. We don't know for sure if we are related to the Tates (George and Mary Tate) that built this house or not, but there is a good chance they could be distant relatives since my great grandfather was also a George Tate from Maine and in the lumber business. Unfortunately, the shop and house were closed most of the time I was there...however I was able to get a hold of the director and she gave me a personal tour of the home since I am a "Tate". It was very interesting and she shared a lot of history of the family and the area. Unfortunately, there is scaffolding around the front of the house so the picture isn't so great. They are replacing the roof right now. The top pictures are of the garden in the back and the Stroudwater waterfall which is just down the road from the house.

This diarama shows what the house and land looked like when it was first built. The Tates were in the Mast business and would cut down trees to be used as British ship masts and then load them into the hulls of the ships to be taken back to England where they were then used on British ships. Well as you can imagine after the war, business wasn't so good and they went bankrupt. The son who had taken over the business was forced to sell the house and everything in it and then stole away back England leaving his family behind so that he would not be put in Bankrupty prison. He lived out his life over in England and would send money back to his wife and children here. There were several sons and daughters born to George and Mary Tate so we are going to have to do some research to find out what our relation might be. The director was very helpful and exchanged emails in hopes of keeping in touch, particularly if we find out we are decendants of this George Tate.