This painting (above left) of the Favor House was painted by Samuel Guernsey for Martha T. Favor, wife of Z.T. Favor, about 1894.
This bell (above right) was used to summon the guests of the Tavern to meals, and for the early-rising of such patrons as wished to take the Bangor-Greenville stage coach, which tarried there for the night, at the “half-way” of the journey. The Bell was a treasured possession of Eugene S. Favor, son of the original proprietor of the Tavern, who was a generous benefactor of the Thompson Library.
The Favor House Tavern operated starting in 1834 and was located just west of the library directly in front of the police station. Dr. Thompson’s sister Amanda (Thompson) Favor and her husband Caleb purchased the majority of the Favor property (including the tavern) in 1867. Previously, Dr. Thompson’s brother, E. G. Thompson (also a doctor) had owned the tavern before moving to Massachusetts.
Caleb Orrin Palmer (Dec. 23, 1825-Sep. 6, 1894) (above left) owned the Favor House tavern along with his wife Amanda (Thompson) Palmer from 1867 until his death on Sep. 6, 1894.
Amanda Thompson Palmer (Feb. 9, 1830-Aug. 17, 1905) (above right) was the sister of Dr. E. A. Thompson. She owned the Favor House from 1867 with her husband Caleb.
Tragically, Caleb was killed in a fire in the tavern’s stables while trying to save his prized horses September 6, 1894. Oddly, in the following week’s Observer, on the same page as the account of the fire, the Piscataquis Observer detailed a “spook” appearing “to the terror of women and children and not a few timid men” throughout town. Odd timing considering the tragic events at the Favor house. However, the Liston Evans, the Observer’s editor, tried to dismiss any ties to Caleb or any supernatural entity by ending the article with “[t]he spook theory is too absurd to be entertained for a moment.” This seems like another attempt to sway public opinion away from something he didn’t want (his friend’s death being associated with a ghost) and towards something he did want (more blame placed on tramps and the insane–themes found throughout his editorials).
The following year, in 1895, Amanda tore down the Favor House Tavern. She resided roughly where the police station currently sits and set the vacant tavern lot aside as the Caleb Orrin Palmer Library Reservation, to be used for the beautification of the library (and her house as well!) The land was given to the town for the library finally in 1906 following her death, but for years after her heirs still held power over what could and could not be planted, placed, built, or done there. To this day, nothing is to be built on this reservation.
To further confuse an already convoluted set of deeds, the eastern lot at the library was still owned by Eugene Favor, of the original Favor family, and the lot did have a house on it. This has led people to believe the “Favor house” was located to the east of the library. Those people aren’t wrong, it just wasn’t a tavern.
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