Steven Kelsey Hazen has made his third significant contribution to The Hawthorne House Building Fund. On October 25, 2022, the Hawthorne Community Association received his donation of $10,000 for Phase II of the project for restoring and rebuilding the Hawthorne House. Steven is the son of Prudence Eleanor (Kelsey) Hazen and Franklin Graham Hazen, in whose honor the donation was made.
Mr. Hazen lives in California and is a long-time seasonal resident of the Casco-Raymond area. The summer home his family built in 1901 on Thomas Pond was one of the first seasonal homes in the lakes region. He was one of the early contributors to Phase 1 of the project when it was announced, with a $1,000.00 donation.
He has authorized the Association to acknowledge what his own family and acquaintances in Maine have known from the photo published in September 2021: the “anonymous” contribution also in the amount of $10,000.00 made then in honor of Clyde Stanley and Edna Pearl (Ames) Murch was from him, for a total to date of $21,000.00 in donations from commencement of the restoration project.
Mr. Hazen’s Grandfather, Warren G. Kelsey, and Clyde Murch were first cousins, grandchildren of George and Mary Jane (Nutting) Murch and great grandchildren of Thomas and Sally (Dingley) Murch. Sally Dingley was the sister of Susan (or Susanna) Dingley who married Richard Manning. Mr. Manning built the Hawthorne House for his sister Elizabeth Hawthorne and her son (nephew of Richard and Susan Manning), Nathaniel Hawthorne, after her husband (a mariner/trader) died of yellow fever in Dutch Suriname.
Mr. Hazen reports that the Hawthorne House has long held a special place in the heart of his family. His parents celebrated their 50th and 60th anniversaries there and, with his sister (Susan Hazen-Hammond) he co-hosted a Centenary Celebration in April 2021 for what would have been the 100th Birthday of their mother. A photo in the entry way of Hawthorne House includes his great grandmother, Annie Susan Murch, shortly before marrying his great grandfather, Arthur Woodman Kelsey.
Mr. Hazen congratulates the residents of the Casco/Raymond area for their support for this project and conveys his hopes that others with ties to the region generally and to the Hawthorne House specifically (including both seasonal and year-round residents) will be able to fund the remaining portion of the restoration project so that it can be completed in 2023. The Association holds federal tax-exempt status.
