Located at the corner of Myrtle St. and Rt. 111, Biddeford, Maine
GPS: Lat:N43.48807 Lon:70.45889
A marker was placed at the Thomas Emery School. Thomas Emery was a teacher in the ”Summer Street Grammar School.” He studied medicine and was an assistant to the surgeon of the 11th Maine Volunteers. He gave up his commission because of his bad knees, and used a wheelchair for years. In 1865, he started teaching school and was a teacher and principal in the Biddeford School System for over 40 years. The Rebecca Emery Chapter NSDAR, with the help of his former students, purchased a tablet. A ceremony took place on June 21, 1914, to honor Mr. Emery, a descendant of Rebecca Emery. Years after the city closed the Emery School, two members of the Rebecca Emery Chapter NSDAR went to get the plaque from the wall only to find it gone along with the picture of Thomas Emery that had been donated. About a month later, City Hall called the chapter and informed them that they had found the plaque in the back of the janitor’s closet. Our regent at the time, Natalie N. Johnson, attempted to clean the plaque to no avail. Roger Ciufo, Assistant School Superintendent, arranged to have it cleaned professionally. After about a year, the picture was found in the same closet that the plaque had been stored. On October 1, 1992, a rededication took place at the Biddeford Adult and Education Center in Biddeford, Maine, for the “Thomas H. Emery Plaque.” The marker is now in good condition and still hangs on the wall at the Ross Center.
The inscription starts with Mr. Emery’s quote:
