AFTER A two-month winter hiatus, the Laurel Museum reopened this week with an updated exhibit that illuminates a little-known corner of the town's history.
The exhibit, "George Nye and His Diaries," illustrates the history of Laurel Mills and life in our town in the 1870s. Nye was superintendent of the cotton mill, which stood on the current site of the Laurel swimming pool at Ninth and Main streets, from 1877 to 1885.
Karen Lubieniecki, former president of the Laurel Historical
Society, says little is known about Laurel's history. So finding these private records spanning eight years in the life of a mill superintendent was a stroke of good fortune for the museum.
In February 1997, on an otherwise slow day at the museum, volunteer Kenneth Skrivseth was idly playing on the Internet -- part of an exhibit commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Laurel Leader.
Brendan Gill, 12, who had stopped by to help his mother Inga in the museum's gift shop, wandered over to greet Skrivseth.
Brendan and Skrivseth were looking at some old maps of Laurel when they found the name Geof Nye and decided to look him up on the Internet.
After a few failed attempts, Brendan had the idea that the name Geof might be George -- not an abbreviation or nickname for Geoffrey.
They tried again -- and found a match. There was a Nye family home page, and descendants of the Nye family living in New England.
George Nye was born in Hallowell, Maine, and, after his eight years at Laurel Mills, returned to New England. He died in Roxbury, Mass., in 1910.
Laurel Mills was a large operation at its peak, employing 600 to 800 workers. But the mill was failing when Nye arrived, and despite his efforts, the mill closed in the mid-1880s, reopened about a year later and was abandoned around the turn of the century.
The building was torn down in the 1940s, and no one -- not even members of the historical society -- knew much about George Nye, beyond the location of his former home on old maps.
Nye lived on Church Street, across from St. Mary of the Mills. The street was later called Eighth Street, and recently renamed St. Mary's Place.
Learning about Nye and the descendants of his extended family in New England was a great discovery. And more was to come.
In e-mail conversations with the Nye family, the historical society learned that George Nye had been a quite a personage in his time. He was a professional cotton-mill manager, working in Toronto and his native New England, in addition to Laurel.
A major in the Union army, Nye fought in several campaigns, including the Battle of Antietam. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
The detective work gathered momentum.
Through the Nye family Web site, the historical society reached Nicholas Picerno, a Civil War buff in Vermont.
Skrivseth learned that Picerno owns more than 20,000 Civil War items -- among them a trunk that belonged to George Nye. It was filled with personal papers, including six of Nye's diaries from his years in Laurel.
After a great deal of Internet correspondence and phone calls, Picerno agreed to lend the items to the Laurel Museum.
The society transcribed the diaries, and in December 1997 acquired them. It was the museum's first purchased acquisition.
Lubieniecki and Skrivseth say it will take years to run down all the leads in the detailed diaries. Diaries covering two years -- 1883 and 1884 -- are missing.
The six diaries describe some long-forgotten Laurel landmarks, such as the Academy of Music that burned in 1917.
The building was on the site of the parking lot of the current postal facility on U.S. 1.
The diaries contain information about the temperance movement of the 1870s and 1880s. Nye, a believer in temperance, was active in making Laurel a dry town.
There are accounts of social life, although, curiously, for a man who seems to have recorded everything, including the weather, the diaries make no mention of the food he consumed.
The Nye diaries are a treasure trove for Laurel historians, and the society, which staffs the Laurel Museum, hopes to find more.
Information is needed about Nye's friends and contemporaries, particularly Shields Burr and Harry Steiger -- who married George Nye's daughters -- and their families, and the Plummer family, also friends of Nye. All were Howard County residents.
Picerno will give a talk about Nye's role in the Civil War at 3: 30 p.m. March 28 at the museum. Admission is free to museum members; $3 for nonmembers.
The museum, at 817 Main St. in Laurel, is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Arrangements can be made for tours and school groups and for visits at other times.
Admission is free.
Information: 301-725-7975.
Pub Date: 3/05/99