Amos F. Gerald

He ran a curtain rod business, a woollen mill, a spring water company and a dairy which produced thousand of gallons of cream which was sold to Boston.

[3] Continuing his enterprising ways, Gerald created a patent on an invention which improved the head of a sewing machine, for which he received $16,000.

[1][4] After regular visits to New York City, Gerald turned his interests to railways,[3] and he became one of the directors of the Waterville & Fairfield Horse Railroad Company in 1887.

[1] Gerald left Maine briefly for Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he oversaw the regeneration of the town's failing street railway system.

It was Gerald's second such attempt; the first, the 140-acre (57 ha) Merrymeeting Park,[3] in Brunswick, Maine, was a failure due to the town's small population.