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About the same time Captain Brewster was tilling the fields at Brewster Point, four sons were born in Freedom, Maine, into a farm family who could trace their New England roots back over two hundred and fifty years. Determined from a young age to stick together and go out and make their marks on the world, the Smith boys succeeded beyond their wildest imagination, amassing fortunes in the printing business, in gold mining, in banking, in meatpacking, and in real estate.
In the early 1880’s at the height of their success David Smith returned to Maine and bought a few acres of what was by then called Brewster Point. His brothers soon joined him in buying up some 500 surrounding acres to create what would become known as Warrenton Park, the Smith family’s ancestral home, and one of the most valuable estate properties in Maine.
Over the course of seven summers the land was transformed from rough pasture to handsome grounds including miles of driveways, rolling fields, trim-cut lawns, beautiful land and seascapes, and two beautiful homes – Clifford Lodge and Warrenton, the latter designed by noted architect Stanford White. All four brothers lived together with their families at Warrenton Park.
When Benjamin Smith died in 1927 – the last surviving of the four farm boys – he was declared in front-page news to be “the wealthiest man in New England.” |
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