People - Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center

“We cannot accomplish all that we need to do without working together.”

Bill Richardson

Webber Hospital Training School Graduates

Webber Hospital came into existence in 1906 on Pool Street. It was later moved to a newer building on Elm Street and was known as the Webber Hospital and Nurse’s Home.

It is unclear when the training school officially started or when it was closed. There are pictures of the nursing students evident from 1932 until at least 1942.

In 1911, the new hospital was built and named in honor of Moses W. Webber who, in 1899, at the time of his death, bequeathed $40,000 towards a hospital for the people of Biddeford. This picture, taken in 1911, shows the last class of nurses to graduate from the first hospital on Pool Street.

Photos courtesy of McArthur Library

Photo courtesy of McArthur Library

Israel Shevenell

Israel Shevenell is said to have been the first permanent French Canadian settler in Biddeford. It is reported that he travelled by foot. His many times removed grand daughter, Tonya Shevenell, has released a documentary where her own father travelled in his ancestor’s own footsteps.

Israel was proud of the fact that his first vote for an American president was cast for Abraham Lincoln. He was also one of the first members of the newly formed McArthur Library in 1902.

In 1905 when Biddeford celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary, Israel was in a parade as one of the citizens who had been living there as it first became a city. He reportedly carried a banner saying he was there in 1855. He was 79 years old at the time and called ” Grand Old Man”. Shevenell Park on Main Street in Biddeford is named in his honor.

St. Andre’s Camp
Boy Scout Troop 309
1946

Webber Hospital Training School Graduates

Israel Shevenell

Biddeford Cultural and Heritage Center

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