Calais Dry Docks, c1910
William Paxton, Artist

This little gem came up on EBay at a very inexpensive price and I knew I had to have it. It’s an 8 x 10 painting of the Calais, Maine dry docks  in the early years of the 20th century.

Because my 2X great grandfather, Calvin Segee Adams, was a Calais boat builder, as was his own father Daniel Adams, this little painting appealed to me.

Here are a couple of postcards depicting the harbor from the same time period:

Postcards in my personal collection

My new painting looks very much like Calais Harbor in these postcard photos and I can imagine Calvin Adams working on a new project.

Calvin Adams, right

It seems like I don’t find as many treasures coming up for sale on EBay as I did in the past, or perhaps it’s just that I’ve purchased so many out of a very limited group in existence.

However, I still check regularly and I’m glad I did. Otherwise, Mr. Paxton’s artwork wouldn’t be sitting on a table in my den. 🙂

If you don’t make it a habit to check online auctions for genealogy items, you are missing out on a great opportunity!