Raymond Casco Historical Society has unveiled a two-century-old flag that once belonged to the town’s militia, honoring both Flag Day and the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Historical Society Collection Manager Sue Pride said she first discovered the flag after talking with fellow historical society member Ingo Hartig about her program highlighting Revolutionary War veterans in Raymond and Casco. Hartig said there was an old flag, given to the historical society by the Rolfe family, which Pride eventually found stored in an old archival box.
According to Pride, the flag, which has 17 stars, is believed to have been flown during the Raymond Militia’s monthly rally meetings during the early 19th century. For nearly 200 years, the flag was stored in a wooden box in the attic of an old homestead, once owned by Willis H. Rolfe.
When the homestead was due to be burned in a Casco Fire Department training exercise, the box was discovered and saved by Rolfe’s descendants, and brought to the Portland Historical Society for examination. The Portland society determined the flag was a hand-sewn linen flag from the early 19th century, and gave it to the Raymond Casco Historical Society for safekeeping. Once again, the flag laid tucked away and forgotten, until it was found by Pride.
Pride said she spent a year trying to figure out how to get the flag framed in time for the 250th, eventually having it framed by Michaels at a discounted cost. The flag will eventually be placed in the museum’s exhibition of military artifacts.
Helping Pride present the flag were Bridgton historian Mike Davis and father and son reenactor duo Nate and Ron Richmond, all of whom were dressed for the occasion in period-accurate militia outfits.
Davis, who has been working in local history since the age of 12, said he was first asked if he would be willing to talk about the history of the militia over the winter, when the historical society was in the process of having the militia flag conserved. He said he was glad to have the opportunity to use the historic anniversary to highlight not just the standing army as founded by George Washington, but also the local militias which preceded them.
“It’s these questions of service, sacrifice, and protecting our homeland that we’re reassessing now as part of the 250th,” said Davis.
After the unveiling of the flag, Davis gave a lengthy presentation on the history of New England militias, with particular focus on the militia of his native Bridgton. He explained that every man in town between the ages of 16 and 45 was automatically considered a member of the militia, and obligated to attend militia training under threat of court martial.
Davis described the militia’s activities during peacetime in a lighthearted manner, noting the frequent drinking of New England rum at training sessions and Fourth of July parades, including an incident in which a militiaman gave brandy to a pig. He said the Grand General Muster, in which all the militiamen of Cumberland County gathered was, by the end of the 19th century, similar to a county fair.
Despite their frivolities, Davis made clear these were men living on the northern frontier of a new nation, in which an invasion from British Canada was still a realistic threat, ready at a minute’s notice to defend their homes. He spoke of the valor of Lakes Region militiamen both in protecting Portland during the War of 1812 and the Aroostook War of the 1830s, a low-intensity border conflict between Maine and Canada over what is now Aroostook County.
Davis ended his presentation by revealing that, despite the National Guard having largely assumed the role played by local militias, Maine’s militia laws are still on the books, and have even seen updates in recent years. The amendment’s language was reworded in 2019 and a 2024 law prohibiting paramilitary training specifies that only the governor has the authority to raise a militia.