One of the least-remembered legends of the Midcoast was a woman who pushed societal boundaries, became a hero on the open water and made a place for herself in Maine’s history.

Lillian M. Holbrook was born in West Bath to Alpheus and Elissa Jane (Hall) Holbrook in 1870. She grew up on the family farm at Foster’s Point and spent her childhood playing and exploring along the banks of the New Meadows River.

Lillian was educated locally and grew to become a notable presence at New Meadows as a young woman “who was a good rifle and pistol shot … and an expert woods gunner.” On April 18, 1886, at the age of 16, Lillian married West Bath sea captain Hiram Brown, and they settled on the family farm at New Meadows.

Capt. Hiram Brown was engaged “in a coastwise trade … [as] captain of a four-master,” and he brought his young wife on many cruises where she “learned all about boats … and knew every rope on board.”

After suffering the loss two children — newborn Raymond in 1901 and 12-year-old daughter Lila to typhoid fever in 1904 — Lillian focused on the farm, her home and a new business venture on the New Meadows River.

There at New Meadows grew “a vacation colony” described as “one of the most attractive spots found … on the east shore of the New Meadows River” at a cozy cottage-settlement called Rosedale.

“During the hot weather cottagers found the place delightfully cool … far from the dust and whirl of life,” and Lillian saw a business opportunity.

By July 1908, Lillian received a permit to “operate a motor driven boat” and became the first woman in the state commercially licensed to carry passengers. Lillian knew “every inch of the New Meadows River from its headwaters to the sea … and [was] well acquainted with Casco Bay.”

Lillian’s “23-foot open launch … was propelled by a single cylinder engine … and named the Lillian B.” Passengers could “hire” the Lillian B for day trips to as far south as Portland, Cundy’s Harbor and Peaks Island.

Summer vacationers at Rosedale and visiting “one-dayers” could also board Capt. Brown’s boat at New Meadows and take a brief  10-minute ride down the river where she unloaded “her happy but hungry passengers” at the “Rosedale wharf.”

There, families could swim in the cool waters and enjoy leisurely walks, and children could play games and “frolic from morning until bedtime.”

These vacationers also enjoyed “royal hospitality” and as “fine a shore dinner as you ever tasted.”

“Gallons of clam chowder … bushels of steamed clams … dozens of lobsters … and delicious frozen pudding,” often filled the tasty bill of fare.

By evening, “the toot-toot” of the Lillian B’s whistle signaled the end of another marvelous summer’s day, “and soon the one-dayers were sailing [back] up-river to New Meadows to board the trolley cars for home.”

Lillian’s business was a “smooth-sailing success” and her name and reputation was fast becoming known far and wide to both Mainers and visitors alike. Capt. Brown is said to have ferried over 500 passengers each summer.

In her free time, Lillian also belonged to the West Bath Grange and the Red Cross, but her heart belonged to the open water of the New Meadows River. She was described as being “a thorough business woman,” one who was very busy on “pleasant days, and stormy ones too. Rain or fog has no terrors for her.” And “all the men are willing to admit … few motor boat owners handle them any better … than Mrs. Brown.”

On June 29, 1931, a 61-year-old Capt. Lillian Brown was piloting her launch out of New Meadows when she noticed something odd. She quickly steered closer and soon “saved from drowning … three Bath businessmen … [who]clung to their overturned boat … in the choppy New
Meadows River.”

When Brown discovered “Maurice Libby, Gardiner Rogers, and Arthur McDonald” in the cold water, these men were “near the exhaustion point,” and Capt. Brown fished them out, brought them back to the wharf at New Meadows and became an instant hero.

In November 1937, 67-year-old Capt. Lillian Brown died in her sleep while visiting a friend who was staying at the Eastland Hotel in Portland. Lillian was brought home to West Bath, her funeral was held at her home on Foster’s Point and she was interred at the Orchard Hill Cemetery.

Today, Capt. Lillian M. Brown is remembered as a true New Meadows legend and one of Maine’s history-making women, as well as one of the lesser-known sea-faring figures in our maritime Stories from Maine.

Lori-Suzanne Dell is a Brunswick author and historian. She has published four books and runs the “Stories from Maine” Facebook page.