One fascinating person in South Portland’s past was Jesse Dyer, Jr. He was part of a line of South Portland Dyers who were mostly active as farmers and grocers, not to be confused with the Dyers who were shipbuilders.

Jesse Dyer, Jr., was born in 1823 on the family farm in Cape Elizabeth, son of Jesse and Mary Dyer (Jesse, Sr. was also born in Cape Elizabeth). Jesse, Jr., was an unusual person for his time in that he seemed to change careers every 10 years or so. It was far more common in the 1800s for people to stay in one field. He started working at a young age and was, circa 1840, putting up telegraph lines between Boston and New York. He then worked as a section boss on the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad, and then took a job with the Kennebec Railroad where he worked through the 1840s and into the early-1850s.

Portrait of Jesse Dyer, Jr. South Portland Historical Society image

In 1853, he left the railroad and began operating a grocery at Cape Elizabeth Depot (on the corner of Broadway and Evans Street). He was appointed postmaster of Cape Elizabeth Depot on June 21, 1853, and he operated the post office from inside the store. In 1857, he sold his grocery business, stepped down as postmaster, and went back to work for the railroad for a time.

In the 1860s, Jesse Jr. established a brickyard in partnership with his brother George, called “Dyer Brothers.” The brickyard was located at the end of Mildred Street (the area is now covered by a pond, which you can see from the Greenbelt). Jesse would later buy out his brother’s interest in the brick business and continue with it on his own for many years.

According to the 1896 book, “Leading Citizens of Cumberland County, Maine,” Dyer “built up a large trade, furnishing brick for many buildings, including the Portland Kerosene Oil Works, Hyde’s Oil Factory, the North School building, and many others. Although he never served an apprenticeship, Mr. Dyer picked up a good knowledge of the mason’s trade, in which he did a great deal of very successful work, taking contracts for building foundations and cellars.” Dyer even laid the foundation wall for the Brown’s Hill Church.

During this time, Jesse Dyer, Jr. was also involved in real estate development. He bought up a lot of land locally, on which he would lay the house foundations and hire others to do the carpentry work. He also was involved in land speculation. He took a trip around 1864-65 to the oil lands of Pennsylvania. This was when the Portland Kerosene Oil Company was in full swing in Ligonia.

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Jesse Jr. toured some land there and bought a half interest in 56 acres of oil/coal land for $40,000. He put $5,000 down and came home to find other investors to join him, thinking that the oil and/or coal to be found on the land would more than cover the purchase price.

The 1871 FW Beers & Co. atlas shows the location of Jesse Dyer’s house on Broadway and the brickyard. South Portland Historical Society image

In the mid- to late-1860s, Jesse was again operating a grocery, this time on Congress Street in Portland.

The 1870s brought about another entirely new line of business. In 1874, Jesse Jr. bought the mill privilege at the mouth of Mill Creek from Charles Oxnard. He built a dam and constructed an ice house in order to enter the ice business. He learned the ice trade, but it was hard to compete against the larger ice houses, so the following year, he brought in a partner, Norris Curtis, to grow the business. Doing business as “Dyer & Curtis,” the men opened an office in Portland and stayed in business together for three years.

On a side note, because he held the mill privilege, Dyer had the rights to close the dam which allowed for the water to flood the area of what today is Mill Creek Park. In the winter of 1879-80, his former partner, Norris Curtis, cut 5,000 tons of ice from that reservoir, resulting in Jesse Dyer Jr. filing a lawsuit, claiming that it was his ice. The judge ruled in Curtis’ favor, maintaining that Dyer might have the deed to the mill and the mill privilege, but it didn’t give him the rights to the ice cutting or the title to the ice.

An 1876 advertisement for Jesse Dyer’s partnership with Norris Curtis. South Portland Historical Society image

In 1877, Jesse Dyer Jr. started down the path of yet another line of business. On Oct. 1, 1877, he bought the lot of land on the corner of Cottage Road and E Street. He constructed a building on that corner and, in 1878, opened a hay and grain store. It was a two-story building with the store on the first floor and an apartment on the second floor.

Jesse Jr. did very well in the hay and grain business in Knightville. After 10 years of operating that business, he sold the entire operation on July 25, 1887, to Elbridge Matthews (sadly for Elbridge Matthews, that building would be destroyed by fire in 1894).

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Dyer went back into the ice business in 1887, building an ice house in Knightville with a capacity of 2,000 tons. After a few years of building that ice business, he sold the ice house and harvesting privileges. Around 1892, he went back into the hay and grain business, this time with Frederick W. Jordan at a location on Main Street in Ligonia, doing business as “Dyer and Jordan.” Once the business was up and running well, Dyer sold out his interest to Jordan on Jan. 1, 1895, and retired. Jesse Jr. came back out of retirement in 1899, going back to work in the hay and grain business in Knightville, but perhaps given his age, that comeback was short-lived. That grain store was sold in August 1900 and Dyer retired again.

Jesse Dyer, Jr. had at least seven children with his wife, Martha Fickett. In early years, they lived at 129 Evans St. In later years, they lived in a house at 287 Summer St. (after the street was renamed Broadway, that house became known as 841 Broadway). One of his sons, John A.S. Dyer, became a popular Knightville grocer who served as mayor of South Portland from 1910 to 1913. Jesse Jr. was able to see his son serve as mayor before his own death in 1911.

Note: The South Portland Historical Society is actively researching and documenting local history. We are also currently preparing to double the content of our Online Museum. If you enjoy reading about South Portland history, please consider renewing your membership, or becoming a new member of the South Portland Historical Society.

A one-year family membership is only $25 and supports our mission of preserving local history. Donations can be made through our Online Museum website at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com, or if you’d prefer to donate by check, please make it payable to South Portland Historical Society and mail to us at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106. Thank you. If you need to contact the Society, we can be reached by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com or by phone at 207-767-7299.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.

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