Elvanda Benjamin Coulthard (1920-1978)

 

From the Portland Evening Express, November 6, 1960.

  The 1961-62 session of the Maine legislature was home to a trio of curiously named state representatives. Serving alongside Vinal Garfield Good and Tedcastle Bigelow Perry was Elvanda Benjamin Coulthard, a leading farmer in the town of Scarborough. The owner of the Coulthard Brother's Farm at Pleasant Hill, Coulthard was a WWII veteran and a local fire department commissioner. The son of William and Goldie (Aldridge) Coulthard, Elvanda "Van" Coulthard's birth occurred in Cumberland County on October 27, 1920.

   Removing to South Portland Maine during childhood, he attended the Lincoln School in that area and later attended the South Portland High School. He married ca. 1940 to Eleanor Smith (1920-1999), with who he had three children, Elvanda Jr. (1947-2005), Judith, and Nancy. He enlisted in the Navy during the Second World War and was a Seaman 2nd class onboard the USS Leo, being honorably discharged in January 1945.

  Following his return stateside he joined with his brothers John and James in farming on a forty-acre area of land in Pleasant Hill, an area that would become the Coulthard Brother's Farm. The trio was profiled in the June 12, 1949 edition of the Portland Press, where extensive mention was given to the brother's growing of iceberg lettuce, sweetcorn, cucumbers, and squash. The Press gave further note as to "Van" residing in a small bungalow near the cornfield, and that:

"The Coulthard's have ''been coming to the farm'' over a period of seven years, one of them explained. This was ''during and after the war.'' They are young men, from 23 to 29, and all have done valiant service for Uncle Sam." 

  In addition to farming Coulthard made inroads into several areas in the Scarborough community, including a lifetime membership in Engine # 3, Scarborough Fire Department, where he was a past commissioner. A member of the local American Legion post, Coulthard was a vice chancellor in the Knights of Pythias lodge, as well as a Mason. In 1960 he announced his candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives and later won the Republican nomination. That fall he defeated Democrat Earl D. Jones and took his seat at the start of the 1961-62 term. During this session, Coulthard served on the committee on Agriculture, and in November 1962 won reelection, besting Democrat Arthur Vernon Lent by a vote of 1,043 to 659.

  Coulthard's second term (1963-65) saw him continue on the Agriculture Committee and in 1964 was defeated in his bid for a third term by Arthur Vernon Lent. After leaving the legislature Coulthard continued farming in Scarborough until his death on November 3, 1978, shortly after his 58th birthday. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Black Point Cemetery in Scarborough.

From the Biddeford Journal Tribune, November 5, 1978.