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Diocese of Alaine
One Hundredth Anniversary
Gc 974.1 P940 1845422
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01083 7000
١
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014
https://archive.org/details/onehundredthanni00epis_0
THE DIOCESE OF MAINE 1820-1920
C
ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF The Diocese of Maine 1820-1920
CHRIST CHURCH, GARDINER, MAINE MAY THIRTIETH TO JUNE THIRD
-
Gardiner, Maine
1920
D. B. UPDIKE . THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS . BOSTON
1845422
O God we have heard with our ears and our fathers have declared unto us the noble works that thou didst in their days and in the old time before them
CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
2
CENTENARY COMMITTEE
PROGRAMME
6
ORDER OF CENTENARY SERVICE 7
DIOCESAN OFFICERS AND CORPORATIONS 8
BISHOPS OF THE DIOCESE, 1820-1920
11
LETTER OF BISHOP GRISWOLD
12
HISTORICAL SKETCH BY MARGUERITE OGDEN 25
CHRIST CHURCH, GARDINER, BY JOSIAH S. MAXCY 47
THE BISHOPS OF MAINE, BY RT. REV. BENJAMIN BREWSTER, D.D. 75
LETTER FROM RT. REV. WILLIAM LAWRENCE, D.D. 92
LETTER FROM RT. REV. CHAUNCEY B. BREWSTER 94
CENTENARY SERMON BY REV. CHARLES LEWIS SLATTERY, D.D. 97
POEM BY REV. CHARLES FOLLEN LEE I06
ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER 107
CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE, 1820-1920 117
PICTURES OF MAINE CHURCHES 125
LIST OF CHURCHES AND SUMMER CHAPELS WITH STATISTICS 153
BIBLIOGRAPHY 160
[ vii ]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE 3
Bishop Tuttle
Bishop Griswold
13
Bishop Henshaw 15
Bishop Burgess
17
Bishop Neely
19
Bishop Codman 21
Bishop Brewster 23
Monhegan Island, Maine 25
Where the first service of the Church of England was held north of Virginia-August 7, 1605 -- by. Rev. Richard Seymour
Font used by Robert Jordan in 1660
27
Old St. Paul's Church 29
Built in 1802
Old St. Paul's Church
30
Remodelled and the name changed to St. Stephen's
Rev. Petrus Stuyvesant Ten Broeck 31
Rector of Old St. Paul's Church, 1818-1831
Dr. John Merrill 3.2
Sometime Warden of St. Paul's
Hon. John F. A. Merrill 32
Present Senior Warden of St. Luke's Cathedral Parish
St. Stephen's Church, Portland 35
Rev. George Colby De Mott 35
Present Rector of St. Stephen's
Simon Greenleaf 36
Wurden of St. Paul's, 1816-1831
St. Luke's Cathedral, Portland 38
[ ix ]
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE 39
Rev. William Henry Washburn, 1868-1895 Missionary of the Aroostook
Rev. Hudson Sawyer, 1873-1889 40
Soldier, Priest, Educator
Rev. Charles Talcott Ogden, 1883-1911 41
Travelling Missionary
Emmanuel Chapel, St. Luke's Cathedral, Portland 43
Communion Service, Christ Church, Gardiner 47
The lurger paten, a flagon, and a large chalice were given in 1804. In 1864 the chalice was made over into two and the flagon remodelled. The smaller paten was given in 1864. The flagon was also given in 1804 by Robert Hallowell Gardiner and was remodelled in 1864
Dr. Sylvester Gardiner 48
Christ Church, Gurdiner 50
The House of the Good Shepherd 51
Incorporated as a Diocesan Institution in 1899
St. Ami's, Gurdiner 55
Second building
Robert Hallowell Gurdiner, Esq., 1782-1864 58
Delegate from Diocese of Maine to the General Convention in 1820; Lay Delegate to Diocesan Convention in 1820 ; Member of the Standing Committee in 1820
Rev. Gideon W. Olney 61
Rector of Christ Church, Gardiner, 1820-1838
Robert Hallowell Gardiner, Esq. 67
Delegate to the General Convention, 1904-1919; Member of the Standing Committee
Rev. Robert Wetmore Plant 70
Honorary Canon of St. Luke's Cathedral, Rector of Christ Church, Gardiner, 1894 to date; Member of Standing Committee ; Secretary of Diocesan Board of Missions; Delegate to General Convention, 1904 to 1919
Rev. Charles Lewis Slattery, D.D. 96
Rector of Grace Church, New York City ; Special Preacher at the Centenary
Pictures of Maine Churches and Summer Chapels 125
[ x ]
FOREWORD
THE documents, addresses, and illustrations herein will recall to memory the Centennial Celebration of the Diocese of Maine, held at Gardiner, June 1, 1920. To those unable to attend, they will give as accurate an idea of the historical services and meetings as it is possible for the printed page to convey. Moreover, to future historians these pages will supply material of value, compiled from many sources, about the witness borne, on these shores of Maine, in the early Colonial days by members of the Church of England, as well as the providential guidance of loyal and devoted Churchmen here at the beginning of our national history.
It has been the aim to make the bibliographical references complete. Especial credit is due to the late Rev. Charles Wells Hayes, sometime Canon of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Portland, and Secretary of the Diocesan Convention, afterwards an honored presbyter of the Diocese of Western New York, for his industry in collecting and bind- ing the Diocesan Journals, and gathering other material regarding the annals of the Church in Maine. To Miss Evelyn Gilmore, of Portland, Librarian of the Maine Historical Society, we are indebted for much valuable advice and material. Also, we would record gratefully the cour- tesy of the "Portland Evening Express," of the Parish of St. Stephen's, Portland, and of the publishers of the "North East," for the use of cuts for illustrations. Rectors and wardens of many parishes and missions, and friends of the Church in Maine, without the diocese as well as within, have also kindly assisted by forwarding photographs for cuts, and by valuable information.
But most of all, the undersigned wishes to express, on behalf of the Diocese and all the members of the Centenary Committee, the thanks due from us all to Miss Marguerite Ogden, of Portland, without whose editorial ability, persistent courage, and untiring labors this book, in any- thing like its present completeness, could not have been published.
The Chairman of the Centenary Committee, Mr. Robert Hallowell
[ xi ]
FOREWORD
Gardiner, over and above the unremitting care and thought given by him to every feature of the diocesan and parish celebration, has under- written the cost of this publication, thus adding one more item to the long list of services for which Maine honors the name of Gardiner.
The history herein outlined wonderfully manifests the guiding Hand of Almighty God. That the Centennial Celebration, recorded and sup- plemented by this book, may be for the glory of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and for the upbuilding of His Church far and near, is our earnest prayer.
BENJAMIN BREWSTER,
BISHOP OF MAINE.
.
THE DIOCESE OF MAINE
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING FOR THE CENTENARY OF THE DIOCESE OF MAINE
O GOD of our fathers, Who by Thy Holy Spirit dost guide Thy Church from age to age, we give Thee hearty thanks for Thy manifold mer- cies bestowcd on her in this nation and this state. By faithful witness, by the beauty of holiness, by the fruit of the Spirit, Thy servants of old have glo- rified Thy Holy Namc. Give us grace to follow the example of their stead- fastness in the Faith, obedience to Thy laws, and zeal for the good estate of the Catholic Church. Continue Thy loving kindness to us, their children, cleans- ing us from our sins, and making us fruitful in all good works. Give unto us, their children, and to those who shall come after us, the increase of faith, hope, and charity, that the Church in Maine may ever show forth Thy praise, and set forward the salvation of all men, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Biskop Tuttle
CENTENARY COMMITTEE
The Rt. Rev. BENJAMIN BREWSTER, D.D., Honorary Chairman.
Mr. ROBERT H. GARDINER, Gardiner Chairman.
Rev. ROBERT W. PLANT, Gardiner, Chairman of the Hospitality Committee.
Rev. ERNEST A. PRESSEY, Portland, Recording Secretary.
Miss MARGUERITE OGDEN, Portland, Registrar of Centenary.
President KENNETH C. M. SILLS, Brunswick.
Mr. JOSIAH S. MAXCY, Gardiner. Mr. HOWARD CORNING, Bangor.
Mr. CHARLES F. FLAGG, Portland.
Mr. SIDNEY ST. F. THAXTER, Portland.
Mr. FREDERICK H. GABBI, Portland.
Mrs. HERBERT PAYSON, Portland.
Miss MARY M. BURGESS, Portland.
[ 5]
PROGRAMME
SUNDAY, MAY 30
7.30 A.M. Holy Communion.
10.30 A.M. Service in Commemoration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Conse- cration of Christ Church. Preacher, Rt. Rev. DANIEL S. TUTTLE, D.D., Presid- ing Bishop.
7.00 P.M. Evening Prayer. Preacher, Rt. Rev. BENJAMIN BREWSTER, D.D., Bishop of Maine.
MONDAY, MAY 31
7.30 P.M. Service in Christ Church. Address of Welcome, Mr. ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDI- NER. Historical Address, Mr. JOSIAH S. MAXCY, of Gardiner.
TUESDAY, JUNE 1
8.15 A.M. Holy Communion.
10.00 A.M. Centenary Service and Solemn Te Deum. Address, Rt. Rev. BENJAMIN BREW- STER, D.D., Bishop of Maine. Sermon, Rev. CHARLES L. SLATTERY, D.D., Rec- tor of Grace Church, New York
3-5 P.M. Reception at "Oaklands."
7.30 P.M. Meeting of the MAINE EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY, followed by Service for the Nation Wide Campaign.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 2
7.30 A.M. Corporate Communion for all Convention Delegates, and all Delegates to the Woman's Auxiliary.
9.00 A.M. Morning Prayer.
9.30 A.M. Business Sessions of the CONVENTION, and of the WOMAN's AUXILIARY to the Presiding Bishop and Council.
2.00 P.M. Adjourned meetings of the CONVENTION and WOMAN'S AUXILIARY to the Pre- siding Bishop and Council.
[ 6]
ORDER OF SERVICE TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 10 A.M.
Processional Hymn, 307: O 't was a joyful sound to hear.
Opening Sentences.
Lord's Prayer and Versicles.
Psalm 48.
Gloria, Chant 6.
Lesson, Ephesians iii, 14, to iv, 16, inclusive.
Te Deum, Tours.
Creed.
Collects.
Hymn 445: O God our help in ages past.
Historical Address, Rt. Rev. BENJAMIN BREWSTER, D.D.
Hymn 457: Christ is made the sure foundation.
Sermon, Rev. CHARLES LEWIS SLATTERY, D.D.
Solo: The Lord is my Light (by Oley Speaks), Mrs. FREDERICK DAYTON HILL. Doxology.
Prayer. Benediction.
Recessional Hymn 519: Ancient of Days.
[ 7 ]
DIOCESAN OFFICERS
1920
BISHOP AND PRESIDENT OF THE CONVENTION, Right Rev. Benjamin Brewster, D.D .; Secretary, Rev. Arthur Thomas Stray, Auburn; Assistant Secretary, Rev. Edward W. M. Weller, Caribou; Registrar, Rev. Ernest A. Pressey, Portland; Treasurer, Hon. Charles Bailey Clarke, Portland; Librarian, Rev. Canon Philip Schuyler, Port- land.
STANDING COMMITTEE
Rev. Charles Follen Lee, Northeast Harbor, President ; Mr. Henry v. B. Nash, Wis- casset, Secretary; The Very Rev. Frank L. Vernon, D.D .; The Rev. Canon Robert W. Plant ; Mr. Robert H. Gardiner; Hon. John F. A. Merrill.
STANDING COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
The Rev. Canon Robert W. Plant; Hon. Charles Bailey Clarke; Mr. Herbert Payson; Mr. Henry Lewis; Mr. George H. Griffen.
DIOCESAN CORPORATIONS
THE MAINE EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY. Incorporated 1835
The Right Rev. the Bishop, President; The Rev. Canon Robert W. Plant, Secre- tary; Hon. Charles B. Clarke, Treasurer.
TRUSTEES OF DIOCESAN FUNDS IN THE DIOCESE OF MAINE. Incorporated 1849 Mr. Herbert Payson, Portland, Treasurer. Mr. Robert H. Gardiner, Mr. Henry Lewis, Hon. John F. A. Merrill, Mr. Sidney St. F. Thaxter.
THE CATHEDRAL CHAPTER. Incorporated 1879
The Right Rev. the Bishop, President ; The Very Rev. Frank L. Vernon, D.D., Dean; The Rev. Philip Schuyler, Canon Missioner ; The Rev. Robert Wetmore Plant, The Rev. Charles Follen Lee, The Rev. Richard Lapthorn Sloggett, Honorary Canons ; Mr. Stuyvesant T. B. Jackson, Mr. Robert H. Gardiner, Hon. John F. A. Merrill, Mr. Henry v. B. Nash, Dr. James A. Spalding, Mr. Herbert W. Robinson, Dr. Chauncey R. Burr, Hon. Charles B. Clarke, Mr. Hannibal H. Emery, Mr. Robert W. DeWolfe, Secretary, Mr. Philip I. Jones, Treasurer.
HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD, GARDINER, ME. Incorporated 1889 President, The Bishop; Secretary, Rev. Canon Robert W. Plant; House Mother, Sister Margaret Mary, C. S. P.
[ 8]
DIOCESAN CORPORATIONS
WOMAN'S AUXILIARY
Honorary President, Mrs. Charles T. Ogden; President, Mrs. Herbert Payson ; Vice-Presidents: Mrs. M. H. Blake, Miss Marguerite Ogden; Recording Secretary, Miss Mary B. Chadwell ; Corresponding Secretary, Miss Edith Anderson; Educa- tional Secretary, Miss Mary M. Burgess; Treasurer, Miss Constance Emery; Box Secretary, Mrs. W. W. Ingraham.
Advisory Committee: Mrs. John M. Glidden, Sr., Mrs. Clarence H. Corning, Mrs. Charles S. Hichborn, Miss Harriet S. McCobb, Mrs. Benjamin Brewster, Mrs. Wes- ton Lewis, Miss Mary Louise Rowe.
Junior Department: President, Mrs. Henry v. B. Nash; Vice-President, Mrs. Howard Corning; Secretary-Treasurer, Mrs. S. T. B. Jackson.
Altar Society: Secretary and Treasurer, Miss Grace Lawrence; Directresses of Silk and Embroidery: Miss A. M. Merrill, Miss G. A. Hobart; Directress of Linen Work, Mrs. Charles F. Johnson.
Church Periodical Club: Correspondent, Miss Leonora B. Williams.
Society of Isolated Churchwomen: Correspondent, Miss Annie Child.
Treasurer of United Thank Offering, Mrs. Edwin Lucas.
THE GIRLS' FRIENDLY SOCIETY
Diocesan Officers: Honorary President, Mrs. John M. Glidden, Sr .; President, Mrs. Joseph Battell Shepherd; First Vice-President, Mrs. Benjamin Brewster; Second Vice- President, Mrs. Charles M. Jewett ; Treasurer, Miss Gertrude P. Hall ; Secretary, Miss Mary E. Norton.
[ 9]
THE BISHOPS OF THE DIOCESE
THE RT. REV. ALEXANDER VIETS GRISWOLD, D.D. BISHOP OF THE EASTERN DIOCESE (which comprised Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island) Born April 22, 1766 Consecrated May 28, 1811 Died February 15, 1843
Maine was organized as a separate Diocese in 1820 under the episcopal supervision of Bishop Griswold
A copy of the letter sent by Bishop Griswold of the Eastern Diocese to the Rev. P. S. Ten Broeck, Rector of St. Paul's Church, Portland, calling the primary Con- vention of the Diocese of Maine one month and two days after the State was ad- mitted to the Union.
Bristol, April 17, 1820.
REV. AND DEAR SIR : Being in a low state of health and scarce able to write, I make this attempt, briefly to request that the few churches in the new State of Maine will by their delegates duly chosen, meet at Brunswick, in said State, on the first Wednes- day of May next, and forming themselves into a regular convention of the Protes- tant Episcopal Church, appoint delegates to attend the next General Convention of said Church. and do any other business which the canons and usage of said Church authorize or require.
Affectionately your friend and brother,
ALEXANDER V. GRISWOLD, Bishop of ye Eastern Diocese.
[ 12 ]
Bishop Griswold
[ 13 ]
THE RT. REV. JOHN PRENTISS KEWLEY HENSHAW, D.D. BISHOP OF RHODE ISLAND Born June 13, 1792 Consecrated August 11, 1843 Died July 20, 1852 In charge of the Diocese of Maine 1843-1847
"Preach the Word in simplicity, in purity, and in power." From the address of Bishop Henshaw to the Conrention of 1847.
[ 14 ]
Bishop Henshaw
[ 15 ]
THE RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D.D. FIRST BISHOP OF MAINE Born October 31, 1809 Consecrated October 31, 1847 Died April 23, 1866
"This soil was first trodden by the feet and first consecrated by the prayers of Chris- tians of our own communion. We need not dwell on the fact with undue earnestness; but it is at least a grateful remembrance." From the address of Bishop Burgess to the Thirty-second Annual Convention, 1851.
" The people of Maine will also be reminded that the first debt of historical rever- ence is due to men who never withdrew themselves from the Church of their native land with apostolic episcopate and liturgy." From an address given by Bishop Burgess at Fort Popham, 1863.
[ 16 ]
Bishop Burgess
[ 17 ]
THE RT. REV. HENRY ADAMS NEELY, D.D. SECOND BISHOP OF MAINE Born May 14, 1830 Consecrated January 25, 1867 Died October 31, 1899
"We bear a commission, and are under obligations which will not suffer us to content ourselves with merely sustaining and strengthening our present scattered organi- zations. We must not wait to be called of men, for we are already called of God." From the address of Bishop Neely to the Convention of 1867.
[ 18 ]
-
Bishop Neely
[ 19 ]
THE RT. REV. ROBERT CODMAN, D.D. THIRD BISHOP OF MAINE Born December 30, 1859 Consecrated February 24, 1900 Died October 7, 1915
"The Church is the home, the training school, wherein we are taught and trained to hold personal communion with God through Jesus Christ." From the charge in 1902 by Bishop Codman.
[ 20 ]
Bishop Codman
[ 21 ]
THE RT. REV. BENJAMIN BREWSTER, D.D. FOURTH AND PRESENT BISHOP OF MAINE Born November 25, 1860 Consecrated June 17, 1909, Missionary Bishop of Western Colorado Transferred April 21, 1916
[ 22 ]
Bishop Brewster
[ 23 ]
.
The Island of Monhegan, Maine
Where the Weymouth expedition landed, August 7, 1605. The Vessels are thought to be the "Mary & John" and "The Gift of God"
HISTORICAL SKETCH BY MARGUERITE OGDEN
I HE history of the first one hundred year period of the Diocese of Maine reaches, technically and literally, from the present back to the first Diocesan Convention on May 3, 1820, when the two Churches in Gardiner and Portland selected delegates and for- mally organized the Diocese. But the Diocesan life is so direct an out- come of the religious affiliations of the early settlers that any recital of Church history would be incomplete unless it were preceded by some account of the Church life before 1820. For the early settlers in Maine. like those of Virginia, brought with them their Church associations, their religious conservatism, and dependence on ecclesiastical teaching. They came for commercial purposes and not for religious freedom. Their Church was to provide them godly comfort and sacramental rites, primarily, and was not to be an outlet of zealous missionary endeavor, as were the proselytizing settlements of the Jesuits and Puritans.
Thus when George Weymouth landed in 1605 on an island which
[ 25 ]
THE DIOCESE OF MAINE
he called St. George's - probably Monhegan - he set up a cross as a token that he had taken possession of the new land in the name of the Church and the King of England. At the foot of this cross, we may safely conjecture, were first heard on the coast of Maine, the words of our liturgy.
The first recorded service in English held on the coast of New England was conducted by the Rev. Richard Seymour in 1607. Hecameover with the George Popham expedition, which landed on St. George's Island at the mouth of the Kennebec, and "near where the cross stood he preached" and held what might be called the first "Thanksgiving Ser- vice." It is interesting to note that this beginning of the English Church on the shores of Maine occurred some thirteen years before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
Still later, when a royal grant was made to Sir Ferdinando Gorges to establish a settlement at Winter Harbor on the Saco River, it was expressly provided that he should "nominate ministers to all churches that might be built within the province." The Rev. William Morrell was accordingly sent to this Plantation, and although there is no record of his sacerdotal acts, yet his mere presence proves the claim of the Church of England to a care and responsibility for the spiritual inter- ests of the Maine colonists.
In 1636, the Rev. Richard Gibson came to the settlement at Saco, then owned by an English merchant, Robert Trelawny. This clergy- man lived on Richmond Island, which lies on the southerly side of Cape Elizabeth, near Portland, and he exercised pastoral care over the large number of men engaged in the profitable fisheries in that vicinity. Mr. Gibson was bold in his expression of loyalty to the English Church and, as the result of an open controversy with a Puritan minister in Dover, New Hampshire, was brought before the Court of the Massachusetts Colony and tried for being "wholly addicted to the hierarchy and disci- pline of England." After several days'confinement he was allowed to go free on condition that he leave the country. The Rev. Robert Jordan, who succeeded Mr. Gibson in 1640, was a prominent and influential man in the annals of western Maine. He was the first clergyman to settle permanently in the district. Through his marriage with the daughter of Mr. Winter, the agent of the settlement, he became a man of property and set himself to resist stoutly the encroachments of the Massachu-
[ 26 ]
HISTORICAL SKETCH
setts colony in Maine. This, coupled with his zealous adherence to the Episcopal Church, brought him into constant disfavor with the Mas- sachusetts government. He was frequently censured for exercising his ministerial office in marriages, baptisms, and other rites. After baptiz- ing three children in a portable font, still preserved in the rooms of the Maine Historical Society in Portland, he was summoned before the General Court in Boston and required to desist from such practices in
Font used by Robert Jordan in 1660
the future ; but he continued his priestly duties among the inhabitants of Scarboro, Casco (now Portland), and Saco. His house was burned in the Indian War incited by King Philip and he narrowly escaped with his family to Newcastle, New Hampshire, where he finally died in 1679 at the age of sixty-eight. He left six sons, from whom have descended thousands of the name. Robert Jordan was a strong and courageous character, a noble pioneer in both Church and State.
After the death of Mr. Jordan, the regular ministrations of the Church in Maine were suspended for eighty years. In 1755, at the request of the settlers of Frankfort (now Dresden) and Georgetown, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent out to them the Rev. William McClenachan. He was not well fitted for his task and after four years departed, to be succeeded by the Rev. Jacob Bailey, known as the " Frontier Missionary." Mr. Bailey was a graduate of Harvard who
[ 27 ]
THE DIOCESE OF MAINE
offered himself for missionary work in this field and, being accepted, went at once to England for ordination. He returned to Maine and reached Pownalborough, which included the plantation of Frankfort, in July, 1760. He had the spirit of a pioneer and was a man devoted to his people and his work, laboring with untiring zeal amid great difficulties of nature and sectarian prejudice. He extended his efforts to Brunswick, Harpswell, and the county of Lincoln, where he found fifteen hundred families without any religious teacher of any denomination.
In 1767 Mr. Bailey, conscious of his inability to cover so large a field, petitioned the S. P. G. for an assistant missionary, and the next year the Rev. William Willard Wheeler, of Concord, Massachusetts, was or- dained by the Bishop of London and assumed charge at Georgetown and over a district extending twenty miles westward and twelve miles eastward from that settlement. He left the mission in 1772 and went to Newport, Rhode Island.
The most lasting evidence of Mr. Bailey's faithful work in this region is the church in Gardiner, which has for over one hundred years played such a conspicuous part in the Church life of Maine. St. Ann's Church, here, dedicated in 1772, was erected largely through the instrumentality and generosity of the Gardiner family, from whom the town is named. This building was burned in 1793 by a madman who thought he was commissioned from on high to burn the church and murder its minister. A new St. Ann's was built the next year by courageous townspeople, a parsonage given by Mr. William Gardiner, and a rector called at the munificent salary of three hundred and sixty dollars a year. The position of the Church in the community at this early date can be gained from this suggestive paragraph quoted from the History of the Parish by Gil- more: "It is a noticeable fact, in a time so deeply scarred with traces of religious battles as were the years between 1790 and 1820, that Maine's Episcopalians should have kept such a neutral ground. Not only did our people invite the co-operation of the sects, but they also found much to admire in their beliefs."
The need of a larger church in Gardiner becoming apparent, the present stone edifice was erected and consecrated by Bishop Griswold on October 18, 1820. The Rev. Gideon W. Olney, then rector of the church, was a delegate to the first Convention of the Diocese of Maine,
[ 28 ]
HISTORICAL SKETCH
with Mr. Robert Hallowell Gardiner, an able man and loyal churchman, of whom it is written: "The beauty of Mr. Gardiner's character found its best expression in his future dealings with the House of the Lord. For nearly sixty years he was the stay of Gardiner's Church and a
Old St. Paul's Church
staunch supporter of her teachings in many parts of the country. Both clergymen of the parish and those who have visited the place bear grate- ful witness to his tireless hospitality and precious friendship."
After a long interval of more than twogenerations, there was a renewal of services in Falmouth, now Portland. The Rector of Trinity Church, Boston, attending Governor Shirley of Massachusetts as his chaplain, preached in the Congregational Church in Portland and, to quote verbatim, "carried on in the old form." Ten years later a number of persons declared in writing their desire for a meeting-house to be erected and devoted to public worship according to the Church of England. This building was erected in 1765, and Rev. John Wiswell, who had been in charge of the new Casco Parish (Congregational), declared for the Church of England, was invited to become the rector
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