History uncovered in court

FARMINGTON – A conference table slated for the dump has found a third chance in life at the Franklin County Superior Courthouse Lawyer’s Room, thanks to the help of Attorney David Sanders. After sitting for the last 60 years in the Lawyer’s Room, the unassuming piece of furniture was ordered to be replaced last winter. When Sanders heard the news he began the process of restoring the piece that he knew to hold historical value.

Seized from a cottage in Rangeley in 1954, the table once served as an illegal roulette table before being confiscated by former Franklin County Sheriff Earl R. Hawkens. According to newspaper archives from the Biddeford Daily Journal, Hawkens was ordered by the municipal court to destroy the table along with two dice game setups and two cases of liquor. Despite orders, the table was reconstructed with a masonite top and left at the courthouse to continue out its days as a conference table.

“I just thought it was a shame to see it covered up and more or less forgotten about,” Sanders said.

Sanders began practicing law in Franklin County in 1976. He had heard bits and pieces of the table’s history, but had never uncovered the full story until this spring. Teamed up with Kents Hill woodworking instructor Dale Perkins, Sanders began bringing the table back to its original state- complete with a reconstructed roulette surface.

“I probably could have just bought it, but I just felt it belongs here,” Sanders said.

Perkins worked on restoring the table for most of the summer- sanding and staining the piece back to its original dapper self. The most challenging part, he said, was the concave circle where the roulette wheel once spun.

“It took me three tries to get it right. It needed 38 pieces which meant cutting 76 angles…it was a lot harder than it looked,” Perkins said.

The table will not include an actual wheel, but rather a representation of the spinner made by Sign Works, framing the circular indent. The typical green felt will cover the top, complete with the gaming numbers, all covered with a slab of glass. Perkins said he wasn’t the first to put work into the table. Someone along the line had repaired the large clawfeet with wood glue. Overall, he said, the table was in good shape.

“It’s held up well considering how old it is,” he said.

While Perkins brought the table back to life, Sanders dug for more of its history- revealing the Biddeford Daily article of the raid and an identical replica of the table which he found online. Matching the online version, the table was most likely made in Chicago, Illinois in the 1920s, during the prohibition era of smuggled booze and backroom gambling. According to the article, Alfred Roberts of Boston pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of equipment intended for gambling and was released after paying a fine of $157.