USA > Maine > Waldo County > Unity > A history of the Town of Unity, Maine > Part 7
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THE Two TOWN HOUSES
The town meeting form of government is as peculiar to New England, as pumpkin pie, or a boiled dinner. Town meetings date from the colonial times. Town meetings were held from the time of Unity's incorporation in 1804; previously plantation meetings were held. The first town meetings held in this town were held in the dwelling houses or often in barns.
The first plantation meeting was held at the house of Lemuel Bart- lett in August, 1802. The second plantation meeting was at John Chase's house the following year; and the third meeting, the last plan- tation meeting held in April, 1804, two months before the plantation was incorporated, was held at Benjamin Bartlett's house.
In March, 1805 (the town was incorporated on the 22nd of June, 1804), a town meeting was held at Benjamin J. Rackliff's house, which was called "the tavern". Rackliff, styled inn-holder, and the free- holders, so-called, met here and transacted the town's business. Thus it appears that the inhabitants assembled at different homes each year during the early town history. However, as the town's population increased, small dwelling houses were not large enough and at first barns were used for places for town gatherings and meetings. However, it was soon apparent that a more suitable place was needed.
In the March town meeting of 1822 an article appeared in the town warrant concerning building a town house. At this meeting it was voted to choose a committee "to take into consideration the expediency of building a town house, the place where, the time when, the size, and structure of the house and the method that shall be taken to build it and to report to the town next fall." At the same time it was agreed that the town house committee consist of three, Dr. Rufus Burnham, Col. Nathan Stanley, and John Chase. By August this committee sub- mitted a report, and a special town meeting was called. However, it seems that the townspeople were dissatisfied about the matter, for nothing was done; evidently there was such a divided opinion con- cerning the whole matter that, as often happens, there was a great deal of discussion with little result. But the town house subject was not forgotten, and the affair mulled along, until in 1826 another war- rant was inserted into the town warrant. In March of 1826 the citi-
28. The tannery was located on the bank of Sandy Stream nearly behind Harding's garage.
52
A HISTORY OF UNITY, MAINE
zens voted to choose a committee "to see whether a town house shall be built, and when and at what place and the business to be reported at the next town meeting." At this meeting another committee of five was appointed, consisting of Capt. Thomas Fowler, Hezekiah Chase, Henry Farwell, Benjamin Ayer, and Jacob Trueworthy. At the next meeting in April of 1826, the interested voters achieved some success in their efforts. They voted to accept the report of the committee, and at the same time voted to put up the building of the town house at auction. Benjamin J. Rackliff bid off the building of the structure for two hundred and sixty-eight dollars. Another committee was chosen to superintend and supervise the erection; those chosen were Hezekiah Chase, Robert Jackson, and Reuben Brackett.
For some reason after Benjamin J. Rackliff had agreed to build the town house for the amount specified, Rackliff refused to put up the town house. On what ground he declined to carry out his bargain we do not know. Rackliff seems to have been a man of changeable char- acter and easily put out by minor disagreements. It is possible that if he couldn't build the house the way he desired, he wouldn't do any- thing at all.
The Unity inhabitants decided to have their town house erected near the south part of the town. It was built between Peter Jackson's place and the Benjamin R. Stevens place, almost to the corner after passing over the crest of Quaker Hill almost opposite Quaker Church. The town house did not set square with the road, but rather at a diagonal. There was a door at the side rather than in the middle. It was a one story structure, and smaller than the present vacant town house.
Since Rackliff turned down the privilege of building the town house, the town had to find another bidder. In September, 1826, at a town meeting held in Jacob Trueworthy's barn, article five was "to see if the town will alter the place fixed at the last meeting for erecting a town house and see if they will take further measures for building same." It would seem that certain persons did not approve of the lo- cality picked out by the committee for the site. At any rate at this the meeting of September eleventh, 1826, Jefferson Sinclair bid off at auc- tion and agreed to build the town house for two hundred and ninety- four dollars.
Whether work on the building was begun at once, we are unable to say (as it was fall) ; probably nothing was done until the next spring. We do know that the new town house was finished by fall of 1827. In an old bill of accounts, which Joseph C. Small, selectman, presented to the town for his expenses, one of the items, dated April 7th, 1827, was: "To making out a lease for the site of the town house . fifty cents." This seems to be good proof that the town house was begun in the spring and completed by early fall. In a September, 1827, town meeting, the town voted "to accept the town house as built nearly according to contract."
The town house which was built in 1827 was used for more than forty years. Annually the inhabitants traveled in the spring to attend the town meetings. Gradually the population shifted from the south part of the town to the village, and many thought it was an inconvenient location and should be moved nearer the center of town. Also the old building was in a state of disrepair. Consequently, a group of individ- uals went ahead and proposed that a new town house be built.
Details are missing, but the site of the new town house was decided opposite the Varney place. In June, 1874, the inhabitants of the town of Unity purchased a half acre of land from James B. Vickery, the site to be used for a town house as long as the town desired to use it for this purpose. In the same year the town had a new town house built, which was used until late in the nineteen thirties (1933.)
This town house was a one room affair with benches around the sides. There was a small ante room, where the selectmen might meet. At the end opposite the entrances was a raised platform, where the moderator and clerk and selectmen might stand or carry on the town meeting; and in front of the platform was a sort of walk made so that
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LIFE AND TIMES AND INCORPORATIONS
voters had to walk single file and pass the platform when they cast written votes. It was unfinished on the inside, natural wood. The en- trances were on the east side; two doors on either side.
On the south side was a small carriage house, where for many years the town kept the hearse. This hearse was bought in 1880, so it must have been about this time the small building was erected to store it in.
The hearse was an object of great interest when it was newly pur- chased. It was a real funereal looking vehicle with silver urns and black drapes and large plate glass windows. It was used for its first time over in the south part of town and many of the curious were eager to see the fine, new hearse, and as it passed, many gathered by the side of the road to get a good look. One admiring, elderly lady, quite pleased with its appearance, remarked, "My, don't that look invitin'."
The Town Farm
One of the outstanding problems of every town during the nineteenth cen- tury was that of providing assistance to the poor. During the first six decades of that century the towns partially solved the problem by auctioning off these unfortunate individuals to the highest bidder. This procedure occurred at town meeting annually, when the paupers were delivered to that individual, who agreed to keep them for the lowest sum. Town records testify to dozens of instances of such tactless arrangements. Some were too old to take care of themselves; some were neglected by shiftless providers; some were orphaned children farmed out to a family where they worked and lived a wretched existence.
As early as 1858 Unity had considered a plan, which had been adopted by other towns, of purchasing a town farm.29 In response to a letter written in March 1860 to Edwin Small of China, James Fowler, Jr. received a reply say- ing that China had profited by sponsoring a poor farm to provide for town paupers. However, because of the war, Unity did not do anything until the spring of 1867, when the town voted 31 in favor and 4 against buying a farm. James Fowler, Jr., Reuel Mussey, and Benjamin J. Woods were selected as a committee authorized to purchase a farm by April 9 of that year, along with furnishing it with stock and tools. A farm in south Unity was purchased for $2200. This was the Hosea Rackliff farm, which adjoined the land of John M. Thompson. The farm was placed in the hands of an overseer who directed the work and kept the accounts. The number of paupers who lived on the farm varied from three or four to eight or nine. The town farm proved useful for nearly half a century, but was sold in April 1912 to Henry Foster, and the poor were again put in custody of the selectmen.30
29. Town Meeting Records, March 15, 1858. In a town meeting the selectmen were appointed to investigate the "propriety of buying a town farm and report to next annual meeting." The matter was post- poned, but instead the town contracted with Abram Cookson to take care of the poor for $1700 for three years. (Apr. 9, 1860 to Apr. 9, 1863). Cookson refused to take care of wives of Civil War volunteers.
30. Town Records, Book III, March 18, 1867, p. 94.
CHAPTER V
CHURCH HISTORY
Since Unity was settled by descendants of the old Puritan and Pilgrim stock, it might be expected that most of the families were members of the established Congregational Church. While there was a remarkable unanimity of religious sentiment prevailing at the close of the American Revolution, there were other denominations such as the Friends, Methodists and Baptists making themselves felt in the frontier areas even more than were the Congregationalists. The Friends, or Quakers, first established themselves at Eliot in 1730, and grew stronger during the remainder of the century. Other Friends' churches were founded at Falmouth, South Berwick, Durham and Windham much to the consternation of the Congregationalists,1 who were alarmed at the other sects appearing in Maine. By 1783 the Baptists were already firmly entrenched. Like the Methodists who took root in Maine in a later decade, the Baptists were unconcerned about ministerial qualifications, "more was thought of ready gifts and fervent feelings, and less of sound learning."2
Early Baptists were called "New Lights" and "became disaffected to the 'Standing Order', as the Congregationalists were then called, and protested against paying parish taxes, and probably some nom- inally joined the New Lights for the sole purpose of evading taxa- tion."" However, the greater part of the Baptists apparently were conscientiously opposed to the Congregational doctrines and teach- ings. Many of the Baptist preachers preached without notes, which made them popular in an uneducated society.4 Indeed, it became an adage with them that "reading is not preaching."5 Both Baptists and Methodists were exceedingly emotional and revivalistic. Meet- ings were noisy, "sometimes disorderly", with frequent exhortations by members of the congregation and violent gesticulations; however, they were sincere and devout.
The Methodists did not appear in Maine until 1790. Jesse Lee, the famous Methodist apostle, preached his first sermon in Saco on September 10, 1793, and while he was in Maine established the Read- field Circuit. The Methodists became true frontier ministers. Rea-
1. Williamson, "Religious Denominations - Maine at the Close of the Revolution." Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Bath 1876, Vol. VII, p. 221.
2. Ibid., p. 226.
3. Pierce, History of Gorham, p. 75.
4. Williamson, p. 226.
5. Ibid ..
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HOUSE BUILT BY HEZEKIAH CHASE, 1826
TI
BUILT BY LEMUEL BARTLETT ABOUT 1813
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LEFT TO RIGHT: STORES OF JOSIAH HARMON, T. B. COOK, JOHN CRIE AND J. R. TABER; BURNED 1871
STORE BLOCK FROM 1878 To 1928. J. R. TABER HALL AND STORE IN FOREGROUND. L. H. MOSHER'S STORE ON CORNER
UNITY VILLAGE ABOUT 1880
BENJAMIN R. STEVENS, 1787-1876, AND SARAH (RICH ) STEVENS, HIS WIFE
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%
MARGARET PATTEE FARWELL, WIFE OF HENRY FARWELL, 1787-1865; AND HENRY FARWELL, 1772-1865
SOLDIERS OF THE UNION, 1861-1865. LEFT TO RIGHT: LT. JOHN BERRY; THEON RANLETT; STEPHEN GORDOI:
FOUR DAUGHTERS OF LEMUEL BARTLETT UPPER LEFT : JANE BARTLETT AYER, 1795-1889 UPPER RIGIIT : ELIZA BARTLETT GILKEY, 1792-1880 LOWER LEFT: HARRIET BARTLETT FOGG, 1807-1863 LOWER RIGHT: HEPSIBAH BARTLETT BANKS, 1800-1876
WEST SIDE OF STREET ABOUT 1868. THESE STORES BURNED IN 1871
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CONNOR GRIST MILL BUILT IN 1815, DESTROYED BY FLOOD IN 1936
UPPER LEFT: JOSEPH CHASE, 1804-1876 UPPER RIGHT: CLEMENT RACKLIFF, 1775-1858 LOWER LEFT: MRS. NATHANIEL STEVENS, 1775-1856 LOWER RIGHT: JAMES GILKEY, 1780-1853
LOW
UPPER LEFT: JOSEPH FARWELL, 1815-1895, AND WIFE UPPER RIGHT: MRS. HENRY FARWELL, 1787-1865 LOWER: THREE YOUNG BELLES : SUSAN HASKELL, ALMEDA SPROUL, MARY FOWLER
...
UPPER: LYDIA BARTLETT VICKERY, WIFE OF DAVID VICKERY, 1787-1865 LOWER LEFT: ELI VICKERY, 1807-1877 LOWER RIGHT: CLARISSA VICKERY, 1809-1886
FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE ON QUAKER HILL, BUILT IN 1827
UNION CHURCH COMPLETED IN 1841 HOUSE BUILT BY JOSEPH GILKEY, 1842
THE CENTRAL HOUSE, HOSTELRY OF STAGE-DRIVING DAYS; BUILT ABOUT 1826, BURNED IN 1878
UNITY VILLAGE, 1880
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CHURCH HISTORY
lizing the need for religion in the remote rural districts, they sent circuit riding preachers into those areas. The Congregationalists denounced all of these newly arisen denominations. After making a tour of inspection of Maine the Reverend Paul Coffin, the ardent Congregationalist, in his journal denounced the Methodists for licens- ing preachers who were almost "totally void of ministerial qualifica- tions." This charge was largely true. He wrote that they destroyed "the order of the Gospel," and ruined "the fellowship of the Church- es."" Coffin concluded, "I think our new settlements are much to be pitied, as they are overrun with Methodist teachers. How truly lamentable is it, that New England should despise a learned ministry, or through covetousness, go destitute of it, till, by their ignorance and God's rigorous judgment they become fit for every wind of doctrine, and every ruinous error of delusion."?
Thus it is easily seen that the old order Congregationalists of a stern calvinistic theology did not entirely dominate the religious scene at the close of the 18th century. The long struggle for religious free- dom was reaching its fruition. The voices of many liberal thinkers were having tremendous influence upon the people of the day.
Consequently, in 1783, when the religious history of Unity begins, there was a pronounced animosity among rival denominations. With the exception of the Friends, who maintained their doctrines of peace and sobriety, the denominations looked upon each other with sus- picion and disdain. Such a situation could not but have its harmful effects upon the small plantation towns of Maine.
From almost the beginning Unity was beset with religious quarrels. Mrs. Hannah Gilpatrick, a neighbor of Thomas Fowler, observed, "The people here are of two sorts; one swallows all kinds of preach- ing; the other, sick of false religion, have grown indifferent, even to the true."8 Between 1783 and 1793 the ministrations of the gospel were provided by Stephen Chase, a lay preacher, and John Whitney, a Baptist preacher of no exceptional ability. Chase and Whitney frequently quarreled. The petty controversies concerned the inter- pretation of church doctrines; therefore, the congregations were con- fused and misled because of the hair-splitting heard in the frequent sermons. No settled minister or church was built in Unity until the second decade of the nineteenth century. The religious quarrels dampened the ardor of the people. This enthusiasm combined with their slight incomes to support any church delayed the religious development of the town. The situation in Unity was typical of the prevailing religious conditions in Maine.
At the close of the eighteenth century the Methodists were com- mencing to win followers throughout the union. Quick to see the opportunities in the unsettled towns of the interior of Maine, the
6. Coffin, "Missionary Tour, 1796," p. 334.
7. Ibid., p. 336.
8. Coffin, "Missionary Tour, 1797", p. 352.
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A HISTORY OF UNITY, MAINE
Methodists sent their circuit riding missionaries into the small back- woods places to establish churches.
The history of the Methodist church in Unity began in the year 1793, when the Reverend Jesse Lee visited Unity.ยบ In 1795 Jesse Lee preached in Unity again. This second visit was made in April of that year when he experienced some success with his preaching, and it was recorded "there had been a gracious revival."10
In those days there was only a spotted trail through the forests; here and there was a cleared settlement with a cabin and few acres of cultivated land. The roads were bad, often almost impassable. Like the other circuit riders of the time, Lee rode on horseback, the gen- eral mode of travel. He used two horses, alternating on each. His outfit consisted of his saddle-bags, stored with hymn book, Bible, and a few other books for propaganda use, and a small supply of clothing. Thus we may visualize this purveyor of the gospel, astride his horse, riding along the lonely trails, stopping where he could gather a few people together to hear his message. Though his appearances in Unity attracted some attention, no church was organized until later. Mrs. Peter Ayer, daughter of Lemuel Bartlett, said that she remem- bered his visits to her home. She related that Lee preached to a few at a private house. She also remembered his traveling with two grey horses, riding one a while, the other following, then alternating.11
By no means were the Methodists alone in carrying the word of God to the remote country districts, then undergoing a transformation from frontier to settlement. The Congregationalists, likewise, sent their agents into the field to combat the inroads of the revivalists. One of the more prominent Congregational missionary ministers was the Reverend Paul Coffin of Buxton. Coffin was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, attended Harvard College, from which he was gradu- ated in the class of 1759. In 1763 he became the permanent minister of the town of Buxton, where he remained until his death in 1821 ended one of the most remarkable careers and pastorates in the Con- gregational Church. He was brought up a strict Calvinist, as were most of the ministers of his time. This will account for his attitude toward rival denominations, which he looked upon as usurpers and heretics.
Paul Coffin began his first tour of eastern Maine in the early sum- mer of 1796. On this trip he preached at Monmouth, Readfield, New
9. Jesse Lee was born in Virginia in the year 1758. During his first years he preached through the South, but in 1789 he came to New England where he was received with considerable success. He preached in Connecticut and Massachusetts before his coming to Maine in 1793. He was a man of vigorous mind, of popular eloquence, and tireless energy possessing both physical and spiritual strength. He did not possess a great intellect. Stephen Allen, History of Methodism in Maine, Augusta, 1887, p. 12.
10. Ibid., p. 19.
11. Reverend W. H. Pillsbury, History of Methodism in East Maine, Book II, Augusta, 1887, p. 92.
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CHURCH HISTORY
Sharon, Farmington, Starks, Fairfield, Clinton, and finally at Unity, which he reached on the second of August. Coffin spoke of a visit to Daniel Whitmore's, where he presumably presented his first ser- mon. He recorded in his diary, "Preached to a few from 'Hebrew's 4:12' ".12 Where the inhabitants were so scattered, it was difficult to inform them of a special meeting of divine worship, so there were seldom more than a dozen listeners to these ministerial discourses. They were held in cabins or houses, in barns, and sometimes in the open under the trees of the forest.
Feeling discouraged and wrought up during his first visit to Unity, the next morning (August 3rd) Coffin rode to Joseph Stevens' and preached another sermon from Acts, 17:30, 31. The Reverend John Whitney was there and listened to Coffin. When Coffin had finished, Whitney got up and preached. "My sermon seemed to be his text and Whitney spoke loudly and vehemently," wrote Coffin. Whitney added nothing of any weight, or profundity to what Coffin had spoken. "The people were angry with Chase for secreting more than pub- lishing my presence and lectures; for some lost the opportunity of hearing me by his guile,"13 wrote Reverend Paul Coffin before he departed from Unity, not especially impressed by the conditions he found here. Coffin continued his tour proceeding to Albion, then to Montville, and Belfast, where he turned south and went to Union, Bristol, Edgecomb, Wiscasset, North Yarmouth, Falmouth, then to Gorham and home. He had traveled more than five hundred miles, preached fifty-six sermons and visited forty towns.
Like the other missionary minister, Jesse Lee, the Reverend Paul Coffin rode horseback and carried in his saddlebags extra books and pamphlets which he distributed to his listeners. At Unity Coffin gave away books called Warning to Churches, a religious tract, which cau- tioned them not to accept the dogmas of the Methodists and Bap- tists. Also he delivered to appreciative individuals of the town, Dodd- ridge's Ten Sermons.14
A year later Paul Coffin made another missionary visit to the re- mote communities east of the Kennebec. On the tenth of October 1797 he arrived in Unity from Winslow, Clinton and Sebasticook, and again lodged with the Whitmores. On this visit he remained longer and delivered seven sermons, two on Sunday. He called upon Thomas Pearson, John Mitchell, Stephen Chase, whom he left soon after dinner because "Father" Chase talked of the double meaning of every text, to which Coffin was unable to agree.
Another missionary minister, the Reverend Jotham Sewall15 of
12. Coffin, "Missionary Tour, 1796", p. 318.
13. Ibid., 320.
14. Ibid., p. 336.
15. The membership of the Congregational Churches in Maine at the close of the eighteenth century was amazingly low; church mem- bership had dwindled to only a few members in even the large towns like Falmouth and Scarboro.
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A HISTORY OF UNITY, MAINE
Chesterville assumed the task of converting and forming new churches in the remote localities where there was a strong need. A native of York, Jotham Sewall was regarded as the greatest missionary minis- ter of the Maine Congregational Church in the nineteenth century. Sewall settled at Chesterville, where he resided with his family. Since he was traveling a great part of the time, he was not a permanent pastor there until 1820. He was responsible for forming many of the Congregational Churches of southern and eastern Maine between 1801 and 1835. "Father" Sewall preached in Unity sixty-three times. 16
In late September 1803, on his first visit to Unity, Sewall, astride his horse, drew up at Mr. Perley's in south Unity with the intention of organizing a Congregational society. Only a small number, five, got together in the afternoon. "Five persons attended a conference with a view of being embodied into a church, but could not get comfortable evidence of more than one ... felt obliged to refuse embodying them; exhorted, prayed with them and dismissed them being unequal."17 The same evening he preached to a small group, taking his text from the first chapter of John, seventh verse. Achieving a degree of success he called it "a comfortable season."18 However, it was not an en- couraging situation. Even the fleas at Mr. Perley's, where he lodged, bothered him after he retired late that night. The next morning riding on to Beaverhill,19 a large number assembled to hear him.
It was five months before the good parson came to Unity again; this time preaching at Mr. Hopkins' house. "Quite a solemn time. O that it might do good." Nevertheless, the lack of interest was dis- heartening, and the prospects for an increase were dim.
Sewall spoke here again in March when he stayed with Thaddeus Carter. He noted that Mrs. Carter "appears to be a Christian," perhaps he thought less of Thaddeus' inclinations. Just a year later he visited the Carters again. The conversations with them pro- foundly shocked him, as Sewall did not accept any of the doctrines then being circulated on Universalism.
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