By Karen Donato
Special to the Pioneer Times
Recollections by Ruth Watson Williams
The Ellery Watson family is a well-known name in the town of Littleton and surrounding areas. Settling on the North Road just beyond the town office back in the early 1900s, Watson drilled wells just about anywhere in Maine. The family continues in this business today with grandson, Jamey and great-grandson James doing the day-to-day work.
Watson and his wife, Muriel had three children, Lawrence, Ruth and Iola. Lawrence worked with his dad in the business joined later by his sons Jamey and Oral. Ruth Cain Williams became a teacher and owner of the Monticello Hardware Store with her husband Jim and Iola Kneeland, became a beautician.
Watson purchased a Model T Ford truck in 1918 after World War I. He bought it at the Ingraham’s Garage in Houlton, located on Bangor Street where Carquest is now.
This new truck was delivered with no seat, cab or body at a cost of $400. It was the first truck in the town of Littleton and remained in service until the mid-1950s.
The cab was never enclosed and the truck was also the family’s primary means of transportation. They made trips to Bangor with the children sitting on the back. This was the first vehicle that Ruth drove with the spark and gas lever on the steering wheel and the gears and brakes on foot pedals.
The family even rode in it during the winter. Ruth remembers her father bringing her home from Ricker Classical Institute and Ricker Jr. College on the weekends from 1935-1941. The truck was used later to haul potatoes.
Ruth who is now 91, drew a caricature of the truck in 1998 to give as a gift to several family members with its story included. This drawing is also part of the Southern Aroostook Museum collection and on display at the Littleton museum.
