Voices Across the Field
by Dr. Patricia Walker
The idea for this collection of vignettes emerged from sustained reflection on my own experiences in the front field at Borderwood—a modest, eight-acre hay field that has been part of the Walker family landscape since at least 1837. Over time, it became clear that this field holds not only my own memories, but those of many others: Walker family members, friends, and visitors, each carrying their own stories shaped by time spent in this place.
This project brings together a selection of those experiences—some lived, some remembered, and others shared through stories and photographs contributed by family and friends. In describing the meaning of place, Juan Arellano uses the term querencia: “that which gives us a sense of place, that which anchors us to the land.” That concept closely reflects my own relationship to this field, which has long served as a physical and emotional anchor across generations.
The field lies in Fryeburg, Maine, separating two Walker family dwellings: Walker Hill Farm and a former seasonal camp now known as Borderwood. Situated just north of Borderwood, across Route 302 (the Roosevelt Trail), and just south of Walker Hill Farm, the field is unassuming in scale yet expansive in meaning.
This work is not intended as a formal genealogy, but rather as a collection of family and community stories. While the Walker, Colby, Brewster, and Frye families can be traced to early colonial settlement in the seventeenth century, the narrative here is grounded locally. In particular, it centers on James Walker Sr. and his wife, Anna Harnden Walker, who moved to Fryeburg around 1797–1798, establishing roots at Island Farm that would shape the family’s presence in this landscape for generations to come.