USA > Maine > York County > Parsonsfield > A history of the first century of the town of Parsonsfield, Maine > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
He was now in the prime of life, being thirty-two years of age when he made his first purchase in 1778, and with his wife, who was two years younger, and his children around him, was fairly settled down to the business of farming, which he pursued successfully and scientifi- cally, although he had never received any instruction in scientific farming. His whole mind was absorbed in his business. His land was fertile and his crops abundant. The log-house was succeeded in a few years by a neat one-story frame-house, and finally, in about 1812, a story was added to this, and the whole neatly finished and painted. It is now standing, and occupied by his descendant Samuel F. Piper. The lower story is nearly, if not quite, a hundred years old.
To each of two of his sons he gave a farm, and assisted the others in purchasing theirs. To each of his daughters he gave the usual sum of one hundred dollars, as her marriage portion. He always kept money by him, usually not less than one hundred dollars, and I have known him to have five hundred in his desk at a time, obtained from the sale of stock and products of the farm. He did not permit any of his neighbors to be in advance of him in any of their farm work, or sur- pass him in their farm products.
His farm stock was of good breed and carefully selected; and having good pasturage, and being fed in winter on hay cured in the best man- ner and of the best quality, it was unsurpassed in size and beauty by any in town. It, therefore, sold for the highest market prices. He kept one hired man through the year, and in the haying season one additional and sometimes two, if needed to secure the crop at the best
* I have often heard him speak of the Dark Day as being a very wonderful phenomenon. The darkness began about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and was so great that candles had to be lighted, common print could not be read, fowls retired to their roost, and cattle returned to the barn. It continued about four- teen hours. Its cause has never been satisfactorily explained. It was not an eclipse. Meteorologists think that it was caused by a very dense vapor, charged, perhaps, with foreign matter, which shut out the light of the sun; but how the vapor was produced is unknown. See an interesting account of it in a work entitled Our First Century, from which the preceding has been taken.
266
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
time for cutting it; so that his haying was always finished in season, generally about the end of July, and the hay was of the choicest kind.
In person, he was of middle size, quick and active, and of the Anglo- Saxon type. He was a religious man and never omitted to ask a bless- ing at the table. He died March 10, 1836, on the homestead, at the age of about ninety years.
JONATHAN PIPER
Was born in Parsonsfield, December 30, 1788, and for many years was a prominent citizen of the town and county in which he resided. He received a good common-school and academical education, the latter of which he completed at Fryeburg Academy, under the instruction of Daniel Webster, who had charge of the institution at that time and afterward became so distinguished as a lawyer, orator and statesman. He often spoke of Mr. Webster, and of the high estimation in which he was then held for his abilities, by the Trustees of the Academy.
He married Mary Burbank, of Parsonsfield, daughter of Silas Bur- bank, Captain in the Army of the Revolution, and had a family of three sons and one daughter. He settled in Parsonsfield, on the South road, opposite the residence of his father, where he lived many years, and where all his children were born. He subsequently, in 1837, moved to the North road. He adopted the business of farming and teaching for a livelihood. He was engaged in teaching a part of the time for about thirty years, and attained a high reputation as a good disciplinarian and thorough instructor. He was not, however, born for a farmer, and never took a deep interest in the business like his father; yet he made it a success, having begun with a farm worth a thousand dollars, and ending with a farm and other landed property worth at least six times that sum. He had a natural love for books and reading, and would often sit up till twelve o'clock at night, after the severe labors of the day on the farm, reading history, travels and poetry, so that he became well acquainted with the history and literature of his own and other countries. He had also some taste for music, could read it readily, and sung in the church choir for many years. On the tenor drum he was a first-class player, and major drummer of his regiment.
In politics he was a whig and subsequently a republican, but not a
Jonathan Piper
267
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
partisan ; and although he was unreserved in expressing his opinions, he never lost the confidence of his political opponents in his integrity. Notwithstanding the democratic party was largely in the majority, he was elected nine years in succession a selectman of the town, and most of the time was chairman of the board. He was a member of the superintending school committee for twelve years, a Justice of the Peace, and for many years was extensively engaged in land-surveying. He was also one of the surveyors appointed to determine the boundary line between Maine and New Hampshire, and County Commissioner for York County.
In person, he was a little below the middle size, decided in action, and quick in all he did. He was of high integrity and moral charac- ter, and gained the confidence and respect of those with whom he associated. He died in Parsonsfield, July 11, 1873, at his residence near Parsonsfield Seminary, where he had lived after leaving the South road. He was eighty-four years of age at the time of his death.
REDMAN.
Captain Tristram Redman, late of Parsonsfield, son of David Red- man, was born in Scarboro, Massachusetts, 1770. His grandparents from England were early settlers in New Hampton, Massachusetts. At the age of eighteen, Captain Redman shipped as a common sailor on board a vessel, which sailed from Bath, Maine. In three years he became master of the same vessel,-studied navigation while perform- ing the duties of his subordinate position ; he soon rose into note as a man of strict integrity and a successful shipmaster. At the age of thirty, he married Miss Hannah Burbank, and located in Saco, Maine. During the French embargo, while on a voyage from Liverpool, his vessel was captured by a French privateer. With the assistance of his mate and small cabin boy, he retook the vessel, delivered his prisoners to the English Admiral, at Bristol, and brought his vessel safely into New York harbor.
Being engaged in navigation during the war with England, in 1812, Captain Redman met with heavy losses.
In 1815, he moved with his family to Parsonsfield, and engaged in farming and merchandising. He was a close observer of men and
268
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
events, and a great reader. He retained the powers of body and mind to a remarkable degree. Many times did he say that he never sailed into a foreign port without a feeling of noble pride in his country's flag.
He died in Parsonsfield at the age of eighty-three years. His wife died seven years previous. She was a true Christian. Of his three chil- dren only one remains, Mrs. Hannah (Redman) Lord,* who resides in Springfield, Missouri.
Doctor Tristram Redman, eldest son, died in Cherryfield, Maine, in 1861. Lorenzo, many years a resident of Parsonsfield, passed the later years of life with his only daughter, Mrs. Mendonca, wife of 'Bra- zilian Consul-General in New York City. He died in 1880, comforted by the assurances of the "Sacred Book."
REVEREND ASA DALTON, D. D.
No lineal descendant of Mr. Samuel Dalton remains in Parsonsfield, and only one bearing the name in Maine, viz. : Rev. Asa Dalton, D. D., Portland, who has been Rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in that city for nearly a quarter of a century. Dr. Dalton is by several years the senior settled minister in Portland, and his parish is the oldest of the Episcopal Churches, not only in that city but in Maine. He is a pronounced Protestant Episcopalian, being in hearty sympathy and most cordial and fraternal relations with the several Protestant churches of the city. He has also for more than a generation been actively identified with the various charitable and educational inter- ests of Portland and the state, having been for years a member and officer of the Maine Bible Society, Young Men's Christian Association, Portland Fraternity, Harvard Club of Maine, Maine Historical Society, etc. He has for a number of years given an annual course of free lec- tures on literary and scientific subjects, which have been largely attended and highly appreciated by the citizens of Portland. Many of these lectures have been repeated before college societies, normal schools and various clubs in different parts of the state.
Dr. Dalton is a graduate of Harvard, class of 1848. He is in good health and bids fair to live and labor for years to come in his native state.
* This sketch was prepared by Mrs. Lord, eighty-one years of age.
G&o. H. Walker & Co. Lith Baston
A Datlow
REV. ASA DALTON D.D. RECTOR . ST. STEPHENS CHURCH PORTLAND. ME. -
269
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
ADAM WILSON, D. D.,
Was born in Topsham, Maine, February 10, 1794, united with the Baptist Church in 1816, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1819, was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1820, and died January 16, 1871. His long and fruitful labors and ministry were given to his native state. He was pastor at Saco, Paris, Bangor and other important cen- ters, and was also for many years the editor and proprietor of Zion's Advocate, of which he was the founder and which he conducted with much ability. To this day, it is the recognized organ of the Baptists of Maine. As editor, preacher and pastor, he easily ranked among the able men of the state, whether of his own or other denominations. Calm, self-poised, faithful to his convictions and fearless of everything but wrong, his life was a great power for good to the world. Intem- perance and human oppression found in him an uncompromising foe, while the gospel of Christ, in its broad and blessed scope, in like man- ner, found in him an advocate and herald of marked ability, of clean- cut convictions and of high-toned Christian living. The cause of education also was to him a subject of much thought and of many sacrifices.
In his wife Sally H., daughter of Deacon Dominicus and Susanna (Perkins) Ricker, he possessed a companion of kindred qualities and aims. Together they wrought out results in their various fields of labor that, for generations to come, must prove a standing benediction to the race.
REV. JOSEPH RICKER, D. D. -
(BY DR. WM. B. LAPHAM.) (See page 57 for portrait.)
Joseph Ricker was born in Parsonsfield, June 27, 1814. He was the son of Deacon Dominicus Ricker by his second wife Susanna Per- kins, of Wells. Until he was eighteen years of age, Mr. Ricker lived upon the farm with his parents, and as soon as he was old enough, he assisted in cultivating the paternal acres. The next three years he spent in teaching and in study at Gorham Academy, Parsonsfield Sem- inary and select schools in the neighborhood of his home. During a considerable portion of the time he worked morning and evening in
270
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
payment for his board. He then entered Waterville College, now Colby University, and for lack of means he was, for long periods, obliged to board himself and practice the strictest economy. He received no assistance from education societies and scarcely any from individuals, being obliged to depend mainly upon his own resources for the means to pay his college obligations. He did not suffer these obstacles to interfere with his onward progress, and, indeed, they really became helps in developing those traits of independence and self- reliance which have characterized his career. He graduated from the college in 1839, at the age of twenty-five, with one of the highest assignments of his class.
Upon the completion of his college course, Dr. Ricker was called to the editorial charge of the Zion's Advocate, the organ of the Baptist denomination in Maine, then, as now, published in Portland. This was a responsible position for a young man just out of college, but he proved equal to the demands of the situation, and filled the place with marked ability for nearly four years. January 1, 1843, he retired from the paper and entered upon what he regarded as his life-work, and to which his previous labors and studies had only been preparatory -that of the gospel ministry. For a period of twenty-nine years to 1872, with the exception of two years and a half, when he served as chaplain of the Massachusetts State Prison, he was successively and continuously .employed by the Baptist Churches in New Gloucester and Belfast, Maine, Woburn and Milford, Massachusetts, and Augusta, Maine. Simultaneously with his pastoral labors in the two states, he served as Secretary of the Massachusetts Baptist Convention for seven years, of the Maine Baptist Convention for two years, and as chaplain of the Maine Insane Hospital two years. He was elected Secretary of the Maine Baptist Convention in 1869, and two years later he resigned the pastorate of the church in Augusta, that he might devote his entire time and energies to the superintendence of state missionary-work, supplemented by labors to promote the growth and efficiency of the educational institutions of his denomination.
In 1849, Doctor Ricker was elected a trustee of Waterville College, and in the period of service, since the death of Honorable Abner Coburn, he ranks all the members of the Board. He has never been
271
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
absent from Commencement since his election as trustee, and only in a single instance since his graduation. In 1868, the college, which had now become Colby University, conferred upon him the well-earned degree of Doctor of Divinity.
It has fallen to his lot to raise a large amount of money for the pur- poses of his denomination. A portion of this sum was for the building of church edifices, and for the supply of the current needs of the con- vention, whose interests he had in charge, and the remainder for the three training schools connected with Colby University, respectively located at Waterville, Hebron and Houlton. In the Houlton school, his sympathy and interest have been shown in a manner so marked, that, by recent legislative enactment, it is hereafter to be known as " Ricker Classical Institute." This change was made in response to the unanimous action of the Houlton Board of Trustees and the University Board, and in accordance with the expressed wishes of the friends and patrons of the institution, and is a fitting acknowledgment of the important services rendered by Doctor Ricker, whose personal gifts to the schools, it is understood, will amount to about ten thousand dollars. Nor is this all, since it was through his influence and agency that the sum of thirty thousand dollars was obtained for the erection of a building commensurate with its needs. This timely and munificent gift was from the widow of the late Judge W. E. Wording, who was a graduate of Colby University and a life-long friend of Doctor Ricker. The name of the new structure is to be Wording Hall, and it will be a fitting and perpetual monument to the memory of an able, honest and worthy man. Doctor Ricker's other gifts to his Alma Mater and to various missionary organizations connected with his denomination, aggregate about five thousand dollars.
After a perusal of the foregoing sketch of the work accomplished by Doctor Ricker, no one need be told that his life has been a very busy one. Such indeed is the fact. Few Maine men have led busier or more useful lives, and few, if any, have accomplished as much in the interest of the Baptist denomination as he. And the interests which he has been the means of promoting are among the most important, and will be perpetual and far-reaching in their influence and results. It was largely through his influence that the three training schools
.
272
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
and feeders to Colby University have been placed upon a sound and substantial financial basis, and that the University itself has attained high rank among the institutions of learning in the land. To accom- plish these ends, Doctor Ricker has labored untiringly and persistently, oftentimes under the most discouraging circumstances. And now, in the full fruition of what he has so ardently hoped and so long labored for, he is to be warmly congratulated. Not every one is thus permitted to witness the grand results of their many years of labor.
As a preacher, Doctor Ricker early took high rank, and as a concise and logical writer, he has no superiors among the ministers of his denomination in the State. He possesses naturally a logical mind, and his early editorial experience contributed its share in perfecting his clear and concise style of composition. His popularity as a pastor is abundantly shown in his long pastoral service and few settlements. He possesses those qualities of head and heart which endear him to all with whom he is brought in contact, whether it be in the church or in the secular affairs of life. He has been more than the good preacher and the good pastor ; he has been a good citizen, faithfully and conscien- tiously discharging all his duties as such. His popularity has never been limited to his own church or denomination. By his affability, his genial good nature, and his charitable toleration of the opinions of those who have differed from him, he has won and held the respect of all. His financial abilities are certainly deserving of brief mention. Not many ministers with the salary paid during his pastorate, could support a family and put aside enough so as to be able to donate fifteen thousand dollars to the cause of religion and of education. Economy, prudence and sagacity in the investment of his surplus funds, supple- mented by the helpful sympathy of his estimable wife, have accom- plished all this, and accomplished it without resort to speculation of any kind. And now, after such liberal donations, it is pleasant to know that he has a competency laid by for himself and for those dependent upon him.
Doctor Ricker is passing his declining years in Augusta, the city of his adoption, still laboring so far as his health and strength will permit, in overseeing the management of the Maine Missionary field; inter- ested in temperance, humanity and progress ; interested also in public
$
Gen H. Walker& Co.Lith. Baston,
H. Me. Paule
CAPT. HARVEY M.TOWLE.
273
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
affairs at home and abroad, and serene and happy in the consciousness of a well-spent life.
HARVEY MOORE TOWLE,
Son of Simeon and Betsy (Moore) Towle, and grandson of Levi and Ruth Towle, who were amongst the first settlers of Parsonsfield, was born in that town in 1801, and died in Bradford, Massachusetts, in 1877. He was twice married, first to Clarissa Knapp, who died in 1829, and afterward to Chastina S. Morse, who survived him a few years.
"Captain " Towle was for many years actively identified with the best interests of his native town, which he faithfully served as school teacher and committee, selectman and representative, and his influence over the young in favor of education was great. He was a man of positive opinions and strong feelings and sympathies, and ardently aided whatever he thought for the public good. For the last twenty- five years of his life he resided in Bradford, Massachusetts, of which town he was many years treasurer, and there, no less than at his old home, he had the confidence, respect and friendship of those most. actively interested in education, morality and religion.
HARRISON GRAY OTIS SMITH.
The first American ancestor of this family, John Smith, came from England in 1631, and settled near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His son or grandson located in Durham, whence Thomas, grandfather of Harrison G. O. Smith, came to Newfield when the town was a wilder- ness. Stephen Moulton, grandfather on the mother's side, emigrated from Hampton to that town early as 1777. Through these relations and their associates, Mr. Smith became familiar during boyhood with the names and history of many pioneers of Newfield and Parsonsfield.
Mr. Smith worked on his father's farm till of age, attended the dis- trict school winters till seventeen, and later, prepared for college at Limerick Academy. Followed teaching more or less up to 1850, when he removed to Parsonsfield and engaged in farming. He was superin- tending school committee from 1852 to '56. Represented Parsonsfield
18
274
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
and Cornish in the Legislature in 1870 and 1871. In 1885, he was chosen a member of the Centennial Committee and by that committee assigned to the investigation of historical events.
He was author of the paper on grants and surveys, early settlements, acts of incorporation and organization, which was presented at the cen- tennial celebration, and which is incorporated in the "History of Parsonsfield," Second Part of this work, of which he is author.
IRA MORE,
Youngest son of Isaac More, born May 20, 1829. Thrown on his own resources in his twelfth year by the death of his father, he struggled up through boyhood with some difficulty ; went to Massachusetts in 1847 ; graduated at the State Normal School, at Bridgewater, in 1849; after- ward taught in the same school and in Hingham, Milton and Newbury- port ; graduated at the Scientific Department of Yale College in 1855. Was elected first assistant of the Chicago High School in 1856, and helped to organize that institution, especially the normal department of it. Married that year, Lucy C., the youngest daughter of Winborn Drew, of Newfield. In 1857, was elected to the mathematical depart- ment of the Illinois Normal University at Bloomington. In the sum- mer of 1861, enlisted in the Thirty-third Regiment Illinois Infantry. Saw three years of hard service, the siege and capture of Vicksburg being one of the campaigns. Resigned as Captain of Company G in the summer of 1864, broken in health by the malaria of the western Louisiana bayous. Removed to Minnesota in the spring of 1865. Was professor of mathematics in the University of Minnesota at Min- neapolis, 1867-69. In this latter year was appointed principal of the Minnesota State Normal School at St. Cloud. Emigrated to California 1875, and taught in the State Normal School at San Jose until 1883, since which time he has been principal of the State Normal School at Los Angeles, California.
Although he has visited Parsonsfield but few times since leaving the state of Maine in 1847, his recollections of boyhood days are very vivid. Living with his grandfather, on the next farm, was a boy of the same age as himself, Samuel K. Towle, now Doctor Towle, of Hampton, Virginia. The two boys were inseparable playmates, a
Y A Walkel Co Boston
Ir a More.
PRINCIPAL MORMAL SCHOOL LOS ANGELES CAE
275
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
friendship that has held to the present time, letters still occasionally passing back and forth between their widely separated homes. Not far away, in the same school district and neighborhood, and nearly of the same age, was William D. Knapp, now Judge Knapp of Somersworth, New Hampshire. Among the boys of the same school were L. O. Emerson, famous for his musical work, and Daniel Wentworth, lately laid to rest with many tears at the Chicago Normal School, and suc- ceeded in his work by Colonel Parker, of Quincy fame.
The little old square schoolhouse where the four roads met, and the stern-faced men and women who made themselves a terror to the evil- doers therein, will not soon be forgotten. The steep and rounded hills made fine coasting ground, and the hollows filled by the January thaw made skating almost equal to flying. In the summer, too, the pebbly soil furnished excellent material for training the arm muscles. The writer remembers feelingly the descent of a stone sent upwards by the stalwart arm of Sam Tibbetts. It broke through the cap, both cloth and lining, but was safely stopped by an extra thickness and toughness of skull. He remembers too, with sorrow, that a random stone from his own sling cut a deep gash in the upper lip of Judge Knapp, the mark of which may be very plainly seen to this day.
The sling of those days was made after the old King David pattern, of two long leather thongs, attached to a wider piece with a hole in the center to keep the stone from slipping out. It was swung two or three times around the head, and discharged by loosing the hold upon one string. The stone went with great force but very uncertain in direction. We were not Benjamites, who could "sling at an hair and not miss." In fact, I knew one unlucky fellow who took a barn-door for target and sent a stone crashing through a window high up in the gable end of the barn. Perhaps the boys of that school district still sling stones as their predecessors did fifty years ago ; but more prob- ably it is one of the " lost arts " of a vigorous but semi-barbarous age.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.