".. steady, visual flow of events, people and landscapes, teeming with anecdotes that make its history accessible and engaging..." --
Maine Times"... a rare find. First, it is the most informative published work to delve into the activitiesof the Kennebec Proprietors since the 1975 appearance of Gordon Kershaw's detailed history... But more importantly, it is the first thorough examination of the life of the legendary Dr. Silvester Gardiner, who used many of his own resources to move the company forward and to plant the seeds for initial development of the community of Gardiner, Maine, the city that carries his family's name.... Coolidge provides excellent profiles of Silvester Gardiner's daughters, sons, and three wives as well as the Rev. Jacob Bailey and other contemporaries on the River and in Boston.... Danny Smith deserves credit for a yeoman's performance in constructing a bibliography of sources available for the period covered in the book. This work is a valuable addition to the Maine history bookshelf." --
The Times Record "...Beautifully designed book, by the renowned children's book author Olivia E. Coolidge.... This is a fine biography of a most interesting subject. The qualities that made Mrs. Coolidge a success in her other career are visible here in the details which bring Dr. Silvester Gardiner to life, and it is heartening to see after the lapse of almost a half century this excellent work reach its audience." --
New England Historical and Genealogical Register "...encompassing information with simplicity and in a lively style. It makes for smooth reading." --
Maine Antique Digest"...extends beyond his official and public achievements... portrayed in rich and lively detail." --
Nancy McGinnis, Sunday Kennebec Journal"Coolidge provides vivid descriptions of landscape, community, and personalities in telling Gardiner's story. His haughty demeanor, Anglican sentiments, and conservative values made him a Loyalist during the Revolution, a decision that cost him everything... This useful introduction to the Revolutionary period provides particularly good accounts of Colonial Boston and frontier Maine.... this well-written book will be of great interest to the general reader. Danny Smith's fine bibliographic essay providesadditional sources for those wishing to explore the subject more deeply." --
J.C. Arndt, James Madison University Choice "Maine character and spirit abound in the story of Dr. Silvester Gardiner, the18th century physician and businessman whom local historian Danny Smith declares was undoubtedly the father of civilization in central Maine.... worthy required reading in every Maine high school history class.... This biography extends beyond his official and public achievements to include aspects of his personal and domestic life, portrayed in rich and lively detail." --
Nancy McGinnis, Sunday Kennebec Journal "Nearly 50 years ago, Olivia Coolidge, author of many history books for children, researched and wrote about the amazing life of Silvester Gardiner (1708 -1786).... The life story of Silvester Gardiner, an intelligent and vigorous fellow with no small view of himself, intertwines with the early history of the medical community of Boston, the settlement of the Kennebec River valley in Maine, and Tory life during the Revolutionary War. Coolidge thoroughly and accurately researched details of the times and the extended Gardiner family, and she set down this encompassing information with simplicity and in a lively style. It makes for smooth reading." --
Maine Antique Digest "People of a certain age who tend to think history (or anyhow the exciting parts) began when they were born (or maybe a little bit before) need to read about people like this to learn what it was like to be on the wrong side of the government, to risk just about everything, lose it and keep going, and to be stubborn, hardheaded and focused on reality within a dream." --
Marilis Hornidge, Book Bag, The Courier-Gazette "This work is a valuable addition to the Maine History bookshelf." --
The Times Record
Olivia Coolidge was a very successful children's author for thirty years, with twenty-nine books published with Houghton Mifflin. She was also the recipient of the 1963 Newbery Award for the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for children! Coolidge wrote Dr. Silvester Gardiner's biography nearly fifty years ago, but her publisher preferred that she stay with children's literature, so the book was never published. The manuscript resurfaced, and Olivia Coolidge, now ninety-one, generously donated it to the Gardiner Library Association for publication. Danny Smith, who edited the manuscript and prepared its introduction, bibliography, and a genealogy, is a historian in the city of Gardiner.
