USA > Maine > York County > Eliot > History of the centennial of the incorporation of the town of Eliot, Maine, August 7th-13, 1910 > Part 1
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Gc 974.102 EL4c 1207854
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
497:15
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01088 2675
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HISTORY
- OF THE
Centennial of the Incorporation - OF THE -
Town of Eliot
FORT MEY
Maine
AUGUST 7th-13th, 1910
Edited by
AARON B. COLE J. L. M. WILLIS
ELIOT Augustine Caldwell 1912.
Danthem -$ 15.00
1207854
CONTENTS
Invitation,
Preface, 2.
Committee, 5.
EXERCISES, FIRST DAY.
A Pastor's Memories, Rev. D. S. Hibbard, 6.
Eliot Neck, Samuel Dixon, 12
Reminiscences, Mrs. Mary A, Butler, 14
Schools and Churchs, J. H. Dixon, 17.
Our Eliot, Miss Ara Belle Hammond, 20.
The Musical Program, 23.
SECOND DAY.
Reception, 24.
Historical Tour of the Town, 24.
Eliot Academy, G. E. Hammond,
26.
The William Fogg House, Mrs. M. Louise Foye 29.
Home of Andrew P. Leighton, J. H. Dixon, 32.
William Everett's Tavern, Dr. J. L. M. Willis,
38.
Gen. Samuel Leighton, Dr. H, I. Durgin, 36.
The Old Ferries. James A. Coleman, 39.
Noah Emery, A. B. Cole, Esq., 42.
Rev. John Rogers, Rev. Augustine Caldwell 45.
Bronze Tablets. Inscriptions, 53.
THIRD DAY AT GREEN ACRE.
Address, Prof. Charles Zueblin, 56.
FOURTH DAY.
Prayer, Rev. George Brown, 52.
Introduction of the President of the day,
Dr. J. L. M. Willis, 64.
Introductory Address, A, B. Cole, Esq.,
65
Address, Gov. Bert M. Fernald, 69.
Address, Hon. James P. Baxter,
72.
Poem, Dr. William Hale, 99.
Remarks, Ex. Gov. John F. Hill, 95.
I.
ii.
Address, Mayor E. H. Adams, 96.
Address, Dr. William O. Junkins, , 89.
Address, Mr. James R. Philbrick, 102.
Remarks, Hon. Asher C. Hinds, 105.
Centennial Ode. Rev. Augustine Caldwell, 107.
-
Benediction, Rev. William B. Eldridge, 108.
Fireworks,
108.
FIFTH DAY
Parade,
109.
Decorations,
III.
Band Concert,
I13.
Awarding of Prizes,
II3.
SIXTH DAY
Historical Drama, at Lanier Camp, 116.
Text of the Drama, Prof. P. W. Dykema,
119.
Recital at Congregational Church, I27.
SEVENTH DAY
Field Events, I28.
Library and Grange Hall
小
Invitation.
ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY. -o-o-
1810.
1910, The Town of Eliot, Maine, is to celebrate its One Hundredth Anniversary by an Old Home Week, August 7 - - 13, nineteen hundred ten, and cordially invites its Sons and Daughters, and all of kin, to return once more, and visit the old Town by the Piscataqua.
"May here, among thy native hills, The thoughts of age depart ; And all the glow of sunny youth Come bounding through thy heart."
The Town of Eliot, By the Committee.
2.
refare.
This little volume contains a record of the exercises carried on during the Town's Celebration of its One Hundredth Anniversary ; and is sent forth with the hope that all who participated in those exercises may have some memento to recall the pleasant days spent in Eliot during that time.
The old town's sons and daughters are scattered through- out the length and breadth of the land; and it was thoughit by the committee having in charge the exercises of the One Hundredth Anniversary, that the collection of programs of that Week might well be worth preserving, in order that those who receive a copy may have their interest in their home town rekindled, and a renewed desire aroused to return for each summer vacation.
Eliot is rich in history and tradition, situated upon a broad estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, known as the Piscataqua River.
It was explored and settled by the traders who came to the New England shores in the early days of American History. It is said that in 1524, John Verrazani, an Italian navigator, in the employ of the French, or Franks, explored the Piscataqua ; and from this source came the name, Frank's Fort, which we have at the present time.
About the year 1600 there were many English explorers in the River, including Gosnold, Pring, Capt John Smith. In 1623, came the first permanent recorded settlement, begun by Alexander Shapleigh, and continued soon after by the Frosts, the Leightons, the Downings, the Emerys, the Nasons, the Pauls, the Remicks, the Hurds, the Spinneys, the Hanscoms, the Rogers, the Dixons, the Staples, and many other Eliot and Kittery names.
Down to 1810, Eliot was known as the Second Parish of Kittery. Differences arose between the two sections of the
3.
PREFACE.
1
Town, of which Eliot, at that time, was the larger and more influential. At a meeting held on the 27th day of April, 1809, it was voted to petition the General Court of Massachusetts, that the Parish be incorporated into a town. The act of incorporation was passed, and duly approved, on the Ist day of March, 1810.
The Warrant for the first Town Meeting was issued on the 8th day of March, 1810, under the hand of- Andrew P. Fernald, Justice of the Peace, who was a Representative to the General Court, and who had been instrumental in securing the incorporation.
At the time of the separation of Kittery and Eliot,- Eliot contained 307 polls, and the valuation list amounted to seven hundred and two pounds and nineteen shillings.
From 1810 until 1850, the town continued to grow slowly in population and valuation, having, in 1850, a population of one thousand eight hundred and three; the largest in the history of the Town.
No industry, except that of brick-making, has ever located in Eliot ; and it is purely a rural town. Within its boundaries, many people find recreation during the summer months ; and since the establishment of Greenacre, the fame of Eliot as a summer resort, has been extended far and wide.
The Committee in charge of the Anniversary Celebration sent invitations to all former residents of the town, as far as their names could be ascertained; and as a result, several thousands returned, many of whom had not been in Eliot prior to that time for many, many years.
All entered into the spirit of the occasion; and the memory of that week, and the material benefit to the Town resulting therefrom have been great.
The Committee desire to thank each and every one who, in any way helped in the success of the Celebration ; and in sending out this record of the occasion, hope that this home-coming is but the first of many that will follow as the years go by.
The General Committee
-
Glipt Centennial.
FIRST DAY, SABBATH, AUGUST 7, 1910.
-0-
At the annual Town Meeting, March 14, 1910, it was voted that the Town celebrate the
One Hundredth Anniversary
of its incorporation ; and that a committee of twenty-five have charge of the occasion ;- of which committee, Dr. J. L. M. WILLIS should be Chairman, and the other members be appointed by the Moderator.
The town appropriated four hundred dollars, and the citizens nine hundred and fifty, to assist in the expenses of the celebration.
The Committee organized April 14, as follows,-
Dr. J. L. M. Willis, Chairman,
George Everett Hammond, Vice Chairman,
C. Edward Bartlet, Treasurer, Aaron B. Cole, Esq. Secretary.
-
Joseph H. Dixon, George E. Ireland.
Samuel Dixon,
Col. Francis Keefe,
Charles F. Drake,
George F. Kennard,
Dr. Henry I. Durgin, Howard P. Libbey,
John L. Emery,
Charles B. Gale,
Albert Lord, Charles A. Raitt,
John R. Goodwin,
Joseph H. Remick,
Moses E. Goodwin,
Alfred Spinney,
William L. Hobbs,
Calvin H. Staples.
George O. Athorne
F. A. Staples,
M. P. Tobey.
6.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
The exercises of the Centennial week began on Sunday, August 7. Appropriate historical sermons, reviews and allusions interested the assemblies in the various churches of the awakened town :-
At the Congregational Church,-the first organized within the limits of Eliot,-Mr. J. M. Dees, made appro- priate allusions to the interests of the week, the more than century church history ; and its early pastors of renown ;
In the Methodist Church, east, Rev. Wm. B. Eldridge,' the Methodist Church, west, Rev. Frederic C. Norcross, and the Advent Church, Rev. George W. Brown, - were made allusions in the pulpit exercises, to the interests of the Centennial week, and the historic traditions of the town.
At 7.30 p. m. a large assembly gathered at the Congre- gational Church, Dr. H. I. Durgin presiding. There were several interesting reviews and reminiscences of the earlier years ; and names once familiar were revived.
Among those who participated, were Rev. D. S. Hibbard, Samuel Dixon, Rev. G. W. Browne, Mrs. Mary A. Butler, who sent a paper, and Miss Arabella B. Hammond a poem written for the hour.
Each of the papers read are included in the following pages :- 1
A PASTOR'S MEMORIES.
The paper read at the evening service by a former Pastor, Rev. D. S. Hibbard, Gorham, Maine.
We are here to-night, my friends, to look back for a hundred years and more in the History of this good old town of Eliot.
Now I cannot tell of what happened here a century ago. I happened not to be in this town at that time. But on looking back. I find it is almost a third of century, since, in 1878, I got off the cars at your station. A man was to meet me then ; but we somehow failed to connect ; and I took the stage for the home of Dr. Guptill, the only man in Eliot I knew anything about,
Rev. D. S. Hibbard
-
Congregational Church, 1895
7.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
After I had eaten a good dinner, with an all needless apology about it, as I had not been expected, the Dr. harnessed his horse, and took me to Alexander Shapleigh's where I was to stay a few days, until the widow Hanscom could get some papering and painting done, so as suitably to entertain the new minister. It was plain by this time that they were all a bit afraid of him ; but they got over that after a little while.
When we had a three weeks acquaintance, we arranged for a permanent relation : my household goods came down from the station, and then my house was well stocked with good Eliot apples, without money and without price.
It was just like Eliot.
And then came, in the same way, a very nice suit of " clothes. It was known to be the desire of some of the donors, that this should include a stove.pipe hat. Per- haps this was, that, as the new minister was not a very tall man, it might make him look up a little. But he had never worn a stove pipe hat ; and he has not to this day.
And so we began in what was then called "the old Church ;" although there had been two, at least, before it. It was needlessly large for the audience we then had. Our territory was considerable. It extended not much beyond Chandler Shapleigh's on the north, nor much beyond Dr. Guptill's on the south. Our border on the west, like that of the children of Israel, was the water ; while on the east, from the back road, which was mostly Methodist ground, came John R. Some of you may need to be told that this meant John R. Hanscom. We did not usually put on the last name. It was not necessary. We had many Hanscoms in town, but only one John R.
There was no more active man among us than Dr. Guptill. He was not a Congregationalist ; he was a Baptist. But as there was no Baptist church here, he joined us, and became a good working Congregationalist. There is more of that kind of union and co-operation in Christendom, than Christianity gets credit for. It doesn't get noised abroad as the divisions do.
The Dr. had a large class in the Sunday School, and
8.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL
with negligible exceptions, if any, he was always at church. He would start at 3 o'clock in the morning, to make the necessary calls; and if any of his patients disliked this early hour, I never heard of any friction about it. When the Lord's day came, he gave the Lord this day in full measure, without scrimping, He once told me of an inci- dent of his earlier practice :-
. A man came from the back part of the town for the Dr. to come and see his sick wife, on a Sunday morning. He naturally inquired somewhat into the case as Dr's do:
"How long has your wife been sick ?"
" About a month."
" Any worse this morning ?"
" No, perhaps not; but I thought it was about time to . have some help."
"I'll come to-morrow morning, and I won't till then."
Well, the Dr. lost his case, and lost his customer ; but that didn't trouble him any. There were enough left. In those days the Dr. had a good practice ; he served the church well, and if he was a little strenuous about the church employing its own Doctor, he had a pretty good right to be.
The Dr. was a Prayer Meeting man. We had a prayer meeting ; and it was not kept alive by sprightly music, and attractive quotations from the poets. There were enough to carry it on without. There came always another party than the Dr .- a husband and wife. Their voice was never heard. The husband was not a man of talk, and in those days women took no part in Congregational prayer meetings. But their presence could always be felt. I once talked with a deaf mute, who told me, "I always go to meeting ; I cant hear anything, but I can always feel the Spirit, if it is there." If Mrs. William Oliver Brooks was in a meeting, the Spirit was there. And there was spiritual telepathy ; just what is meant in the Apostolic creed, when it says, "I believe in the communion of saints ;" a thing which the unconverted man knows nothing of.
In those days our church shared with another the occu- pancy of the house ; we had it but three quarters of the
Dr. Calvin H. Guptill.
9.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
time ; and I had a spare Sabbath every month. So a few times I supplied the Advent Church, at South Eliot. I had preached there one day, had dined at Samuel Dixon's, and was sitting with them after dinner, when a hasty messenger announced that my church was burning up, and the parsonage in danger of going with it. So my host hastily got his team and carried me home, where I found the embers of the church still burning. The contents of my own house had been taken out, but put back when the danger was over. A house occupied by Mr. Ireland, at a similar distance from the church with mine, but under its lea, as the wind was, could not be saved.
And now we were without a place of worship. The Academy, with its hall, had been burned three years be- fore, and had not been rebuilt. It was a time in the his- tory of education in the country, when the old Academy was giving place to the High School,-the new High School.
In my boyhood a High School was a tuition school. It was held usually in the common school house, in the fall and spring, when the public school was not in session ; and it furnished instruction in higher branches than were allowed in the common school.
The Eliot Academy was burned ; and for a good while there was nothing to take its place. But the High School has come now. Eliot does uot start perhaps as quickly as some towns, but when it starts it usually gets there.
The rebuilding of the Church hung poise for a little. We were paralyzed. Meetings were held in the parsonage parlor. It accommodated all who came. Many came not, knowing that the room was scant. The general feeling was that the fire ended the Congregational Church. For some years it had labored under special difficulties ; and now all was ended. But we did not stop. The regular Sabbath service was always held.
As soon as the weather permitted, we went into Capt. Jenks grove, by the river, and held our services in camp meeting style for thirteen consecutive Sabbaths, with never
IO.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
a drop of rain to interfere,-save only on one occasion, a very slight shower somewhat thinned the five o'clock meeting. It had well dried out, but some were afraid.
One result of our camp meeting worship was that it ended the preacher's use of a manuscript, which hitherto he had always used part of the time. It did not seem adapted to the camp meeting, and by the time that worship was over he was weaned of sermon reading. And this brings to mind an incident which touched me a little, and two other men of Eliot were in it, which I have repeatedly told before, but never in Eliot :-
By way of exchange I was supplying one of the other churches in town. They had Sunday School in the fore- noon and preaching in the afternoon. I attended Sunday School, and when I went with a brother to dinner; my manuscript which was somewhat bulky, and written in short hand which no one there could read, I left under the desk to be used in the afternoon. But, when I went into the desk at the hour of service, my. manuscript had disappeared ! In this old Book I am to go by, is a com- mandment which runs, "Be ye angry and sin not," On this occasion I think I obeyed the first part of that command- ment. I am not quite as certain about the second part ; but in my indignation I said to myself, " No matter, I can preach well enough for these Methodist thieves without any manuscript." So I fired away.
When I got up and looked over the audience, I could see two men who knew about that manuscript. I could see it just as plainly as if I had seen them carry it off .- Now, if either of these men are in this crowd tonight, (and both of them may be here, ) there need be no apprehension. I am not on the war path; and I have entirely forgotten who they were. However, at the close of the services, during the last hymn, under some discarded packs of Sunday School literature on a shelf beneath the desk, I rescued my manuscript, carried it home,-and the incident was closed.
Our Church was gone! But after lying stunned for a while, we arose and built,-I with the rest. I got more
Congregational Church
II.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
credit in the matter than I deserved. I made some mis- takes ; but when a great work is going on, and the people have a mind to work, it is easy to move on and leave mistakes behind. In about a year the new building was dedicated, free from debt. It was proposed to ask help of the Congregational Church Building Society ; but that would require that the building be mortgaged to the Society to secure it to the denomination. But we did not want a mortgage, so did not ask for help.
It was a busy year for some. We had a sociable and served ice cream every week, for about a year, regardless of weather. If it was cold we made the house warm. The young people ate the cream out of a sense of duty, to help pay for the church.
In each of the two longest pastorates of my life, I have come in contact with Church building. In the other case the pastor (who was my predecessor, ) under whom the church was built, told me that building was the bete noir of his life ; he hoped never to build another.
And to be sure the building tore the church organization into two hostile and embittered factions. Then the church was in a distracted and reckless condition, and the building just bound it together, and set it on its feet again.
There was one circumstance in the matter which it would be hard to parallel in the annals of building. The architect and the chairman of the building committee, and the contractor, were one and the same person :-
F. J. Paul made the plan ; let the job to himself ; and then built the Church, -and there was neither graft nor dissatisfaction at all in the case.
When the work was nearly done, but before the pews were put in, a fair was held in it to help defray the expenses. During the evening some one called order, and announced that John R. wished to make a speech. We all gave attention. I do not think I had ever heard John R. make a speech in public. I doubt if any one had. His speech was short, and right to the point, but not specially classic. He said :
" When this ere house is done, I'll give it a ten hun- dred pouud bell."
I2
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
I recollect no applause. Perhaps it was received like Lincoln's Gettysburg speech,-in silence.
When it came to making the purchase, the cost was more than the old man had expected ; and I had fears of its being cut down ; but when the bell came, it came in full weight, with hangings and rope for ringing.
With less dramatic presentation, our friend, Abraham Hill, then of Brooklyn, N. Y. gave a carpet for the church.
We speak of the great gifts of Rockfeller and Carnegie. But the gifts of these men, were more than those of the multi-millionaires.
Well, we worshipped in the new Church about four years; and I took my leave. possibly too soon. I know not that any one wished me to go. But these are days of change ; and it is better to go considerably too soon, than to stay a little too long. Talking afterwards with an Eliot man about different ministers, he remarked that every minister had his friends and his enemies.
I know not how many enemies I had in Eliot. nor who they were. And yet there lies another and serious question under that. Using phraseology of recent intro- duction, it may be asked, " If Christ had been just in my place those six years, would he have made any enemies ?" . He made many while on the earth, and he knew who they were. But if it could be made known to me that Christ would have made enemies if he had been in my place, still I could by no means undertake to decide who they would have been.
ELIOT NECK.
The Paper written, and read at the evening service by SAMUEL DIXON.
We shall confine ourselves principally to the state of affairs on what is called Eliot Neck :-
About seventy-five or eighty years ago, the male inhab- itants were mostly fishermen; sailing each spring in Portsmouth schooners, "Down in the Bay," or "On the Banks," where they spent the summer months, returning in the fall to pass the winter at home ;- sometimes fishing at the harbor in their boats, or digging clams in the coves
Samuel Dixon
13.
FIRST DAY.
and creeks, where they abounded, or setting nets for the plentiful lobster ; finding a good market for these products at the "Town" of Portsmouth, a short distance below.
The Neck contains about a hundred and twenty acres of land; on which at that time there were only thirty-three houses, all of them, except two, of one story,-where now there are one hundred and five dwellings, a school house with two schools, a Post Office, and three stores : showing greater improvement along these lines than any other part of the town.
Our parents attended school in what was called the old brick school house, at the junction of the roads, near the home of George A. Fernald, where they were taught by Parson Chandler and teachers of his class. The few weeks of Gram nar School each year, being held in a distant part of the town, was of no advantage to them.
For religious services they had to walk about four miles to the Congregational Church. One devout couple attend- ed the Methodist Church at Spruce Creek, going there on foot every Sunday. Meetings were sometimes held at the School House, by Elder Mark Fernald and others.
There were then few mechanics or farmers. In process of time with the building of railroads and vessels, our people changed their occupations, becoming mechanics in various branches of trade,-principally ship-building,-finding employment at the shipyards of Portsmouth and Kittery ; fishing being nearly abandoned.
We will now call attention to the Roads in town :
The Cedar Road, extending from Moses Paul's to Sturgeon Creek, was originally laid out on the north side of the depot. After the building of the Eastern Railroad, it was changed to its present location,
As to the time of the building of what was formerly known as the Back Road, now Goodwin Road, running from South Berwick to Kittery past Moses Paul's and the homes of the Goodwins, we have no knowledge.
That portion of the road from Gould's Corner to Kit- tery, between Joshua Downing's, now Tucker's Corner, and Thomas Hanscom's, now Leibman's Corner, was in- dicted in 1696 ; this shows the age of the road, which con-
14.
ELIOT CENTENNIAL.
tinued on to Kittery, passing by Tobey's Corner and the present Methodist Church. The road from the Elm Tree near Jasper Shapleigh's, to Eliot Academy, was built in 1843. The road from Farmer's Corner, over Bolt Hill to Kittery line, was built In 1825.
The Hanscom Road was built in 1827.
The original road over the Neck was laid out in 1692, by the river bank.
A road was laid out in 1807, leaving the river bank a short distance below the Advent Church, and ending at the Town Landing near Nathan Spinney's.
-0
REMINISCENCES.
The paper prepared for the occasion by MRS. MARY A. BUTLER.
The old Shorey house, near Shorey's brook, was a true specimen of old time houses, built in Queen Anne's reign, as the last owner used proudly to say. Four or five gen- erations grew to mature life beneath its roof; - the last tenant living to be nearly one hundred years.
It was an ancient tavern; and many celebrities have been entertained there.
In my remembrance it was a treasure house for ancient relics, which were the delight of children, and valuable only for their age; and many hours we spent looking them over, and listening to stories told of their owners of long ago.
The house owned by the late William G. Emery, and used by him as a summer home, is noted as being the residence of the first native lawyer ; and the room he used as an office is still in a state of preservation. It was for many years the home of Miss Harriet Emery, who lived alone, and tilled her garden and cared for its products .- The house is still in good condition, and bids fair to sur- vive another century. It contains many relics of the olden time that are quaint and interesting.
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