USA > Maine > York County > Parsonsfield > A history of the first century of the town of Parsonsfield, Maine > Part 3
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Nicholas Emery was the first lawyer who settled in Parsonsfield, so far as I have any information. He was a native of Exeter, N. H., born September 4, 1776, entered Exeter Academy at the age of twelve, the same year that Mr. Ab- bott, the distinguished educator, commenced his fifty years' instruction in that institution. Young Emery, having been thoroughly prepared, entered Dartmouth College in 1791, and was graduated, with the honors of his class in 1795. The old time mode of dress had not then passed away. We should now be amused to see a graduate decked out as he appeared on Commencement day. He wore a black coat, vest and small clothes, with large silver knee buckles, black silk stock- ings, and shoes with silver shoe buckles, black silk gloves, and the head sur- mounted with a black, three-sided cocked hat. His hair was queued down the back almost to the hips with a black ribbon, his head dressed and powdered white as snow.
After leaving college, he pursued the study of law with Mr. Livermore, of Portsmouth, an accomplished lawyer and learned scholar, and he diligently availed himself of the advantages of such an instructor. During this period, in 1796, he was for a few months assistant instructor in the academy, and had Dan- iel Webster for one of his pupils. He entered upon the practice of his profession thoroughly equipped for success. He was a carefully trained and well-read law- yer, a ready speaker, a cultured gentleman, of fine personal appearance and ad- dress.
Parsonsfield at that time offered an extensive field for a young man in the profession of the law. The county was new and growing, business was done on credit, and the imperfect surveys left the boundaries of many farms uncertain, offering a broad theater for suits for the collection of debts, and the determina- tion of controversies growing out of disputed titles, uncertain boundaries, and contracts between disagreeing parties.
Upon his admission to the bar, Mr. Emery came to Parsonsfield in 1798, opened his office and settled here. His accomplishments as a lawyer, and his pleasing address, soon secured for him numerous engagements, and an extensive and lucra-
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
tive practice, that extended over a wide circuit in this State, and into the border- ing towns in New Hampshire. After eight years of successful practice here, he removed to Portland, in 1807. He immediately took rank amongst the eminent lawyers in that city, side by side with Mellen, Longfellow, Whitman and others, and continued his labors and success, until he was appointed to a seat upon the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court in 1834. He held this position for seven years, the term for which he was appointed, and filled it with honor. As a judge he was patient, impartial and just, always seeking to have justice done and the law sustained.
As an advocate, he was persuasive and eloquent. As a lawyer, he was learned, acute, and over cautious in giving an opinion, and perhaps so in forming one. He hesitated and balanced in reaching a decision, through honest fear of mistake, and this habit clung to him to the last. No man, however, could question his honesty. He had not much taste for public life, and seldom took part in political affairs. He was a delegate from Portland to the convention which formed the constitution of Maine, and was one of the three representatives from that city to the first legislature of the State, by which the government had to be organized, and the whole code of statute laws, reported by the Board of Commissioners ap- pointed for that purpose, had to be examined, revised, amended and adopted. He held, and faithfully discharged other public trusts. His public life closed with the termination of his judicial office. He died in 1848, respected and lamented.
Samuel Cushman was the next lawyer who settled in the town. He was the immediate successor of Judge Emery, and in 1807 he took the office the Judge had built at the Middle Road Village, and continued to occupy it until 1816, suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of his profession. He descended from Puritan stock, and was a native of our State.
Robert Cushman, the common ancestor of the Cushmans in New England, was one of the band of Pilgrims who came to Plymouth in 1621, leaving England to find a home in the wilderness, where they could enjoy the privilege of religious freedom. These were men of convictions, ready to sacrifice the homes of their childhood that they might worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. If they were not perfect, they were still a noble body of men, ahead of their time. Religious toleration is a virtue of slow but steady growth. Nations do not leap at a bound into toleration or civilization. It has taken a thousand years to bring England up to her present standard of civilization.
Mr. Cushman, the subject of this notice, was born in Hebron, in the county of Oxford, July 21, 1783. His parents were Job and Priscilla (Ripley) Cushman, who were natives of Plympton, Massachusetts, where they continued to reside until their removal into Maine, in 1772. Job Cushman was a prosperous farmer, and in the latter period of his life he was licensed to preach. He raised up a large family of children, ten in all, but was unable to afford them the highest advan- tages of education.
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
Samuel received the best instruction that the common schools and academies afforded. He then applied himself to the study of law under the instruction of the Hon. John Holmes of Alfred. In 1807 he was admitted to the bar, and immediately went to Parsonsfield and opened his office, and practiced law there about nine years. He was a fair lawyer, honorable in practice, and averse to useless litigation. By his integrity and urbanity he won and retained the confidence of the community, and was held in high esteem. He held various positions of trust during his residence in town. He was postmaster at the village during President Madison's administration, and as a member of the school committee, he took much interest in visiting the schools, and offering premiums to stimulate to improvement. I remember well his presence at an examination, at the close of a term of school at the village, when I was very young; and I kept with care for years, the book he awarded me on that occasion.
In May, 1812, he married Miss Maria J. Salter of Portsmouth. They had a large family of twelve children, two of whom were born in Parsonsfield.
In 1816 he removed to Portsmouth, N. H., and resided there until his death. Such was the esteem in which he was held that he was often called upon by his fellow-citizens of Portsmouth, to serve them in various places of trust. He was at different times town agent, assessor of taxes, overseer of the poor, and chair- man of the school committee. He was also county treasurer for a number of years. In 1834 he was elected to Congress, and served as member of the House of Representatives two years from March 4, 1835. He was postmaster under the administration of President Van Buren, and navy agent during the administration of President Polk. In 1850, when Portsmouth became a city, he, was appointed police magistrate under the new organization, and served in that office until his death, which took place May 22, 1851.
Rev. Doctor Peabody, who then resided in Portsmouth, said of him, that " of the regard in which he was held in life, and is cherished in death, by citizens of Portsmouth. without distinction of sect or party, it is impossible to speak too strongly." His professional abilities and attainments were such as might have enriched a less selfish man, but his time and his best services were always at the command of the poor, the friendless, and the public. He was prominent and dis- interested in every effort for the general good, and never labored more cheer- fully than when consciousness of being useful was the only reward. He sought to compose, not to stir up strife.
In political life, Mr. Cushman, previous to his removal to Portsmouth, usually acted and voted with the Federal party. Upon his residence there, he became in- timately conversant with many prominent statesmen and politicians, and was led to revise his opinions; and from conviction and principle he became a supporter of Democratic principles. So thorough were his convictions, that he became warm and earnest in the advocacy of his political views, alike when they were in the ascendency, and when his adherence to them was to his own apparent injury.
GEO. H. WALKER & CO. BOSTON
Rufus Wwwline -
HON RUFUS MCINTIRE.
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
As a citizen he took a deep interest in the cause of temperance; and among the departments in which he exerted a beneficent influence a prominent place should be given to the cause of common school education.
It was said of him that no man has done so much as he, for the public schools of Portsmouth. But his highest claim to regard was as a christian. For many years a member of the church of Christ, it is testified of him, that he adorned his profession, alike by fidelity to the ordinances, and obedience to the precepts of his religion.
The next lawyer of importance who settled in the town, was Rufus McIntire., a descendant in direct line of Malcom McIntire, a Scottish Highlander who was banished to this country shortly after the battle of Dunbar, by Oliver Cromwell. He was born in the town of York, December 19, 1784, and was of pure Scotch de- scent. He was a graduate of Dartmouth college, in 1809. After pursuing his legal studies for three years he was admitted to the York county bar in 1812. He was a patriot who loved his country with devotion. In the war of 1812, brought on by the repeated and intolerable aggressions of England, determined, it would seem, to test the question whether our. Republican government could stand the strain of a war, Mr. McIntire took sides with his own government, amidst the denun- ciations of its opponents. He received the commission of captain in the regular army, and served faithfully upon our frontier during the war. . After its close he spent a year with his brother Alexander, in York. He was bred a farmer, and always retained his love of agriculture. In 1817 he came to Parsonsfield, and opened an office at the Middle Road Village, and commenced the practice of his profession there. His character and bearing were such that he acquired the con- fidence and respect of the community as soon as he became known. His towns- men elected him their representative to the first legislature, after Maine became a state.
In July, 1820, he was appointed to the office of county attorney of the county of York, which office he held for a number of years, and discharged its duties to the entire satisfaction of the public. In September, 1827, he was elected a mem- ber of the House of Representatives of the twentieth Congress, to fill the vacancy arising by the death of Hon. William Burleigh. At the annual meeting in Sep- tember, 1828, he was elected to the twenty-first Congress. for the full term. At the annual meeting in 1830 he was elected a member of the twenty-second Congress; and again at the annual election in 1832, he was elected to the twenty- third Congress, making in addition to his election to fill the vacancy, three elec- tions for three full terms, and this in the intelligent old county of York. No better evidence of confidence and appreciation can any man desire or hope to at- tain.
January 25, 1839, Mr. McIntire received the appointment of land agent of the state. This was during the controversy respecting our northeastern boundary. The northern part of our state was situated between New Brunswick and Canada,
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
thus separating these two British provinces. England, coveting this intervening territory in order to establish a connection between their provinces for military and other purposes, trumped up a groundless claim to it, and the people of New Brunswick were stimulated to take possession.
Governor Fairfield was informed that some two or three hundred desperate men had gone into the Aroostook territory, and were engaged in cutting and pre- paring to run down the St. Johns, the immense timber upon it. He immediately dispatched Mr. McIntire, the land agent, with a posse of a hundred men, to pro- tect the property of the state, stop the plundering, and arrest those who persisted. While in the act of executing these orders, the land agent was seized by an armed force, and carried beyond the limits of the state.
The intelligence of this outrage upon the authority of the state, created an in- tense excitement. Our people were ready for war, if war was necessary to vindi- cate the honor of the state, and protect its rights. I have never witnessed more intense indignation than on this occasion.
The governor immediately demanded of the acting governor of New Bruns- wick, whether this seizure was under the authority of the government. He forth- with dispatched a large posse to co-operate with those in the territory, in main- taining possession and arresting the plundering.
He also issued an order as commander-in-chief to raise by draft, or otherwise, from the state militia, a large military force to proceed at once to the scene of disturbance, to take and hold possession of our imperilled territory. This was promptly done. The often assailed militia was then sufficiently organized to fur- nish by draft, on two or three days' notice the required force, armed and equipped and ready to march to the scene of action.
This forcible seizure of one of our most distinguished citizens, representing the authority of the state, brought matters to a crisis, and led to such action as re- sulted in a settlement of the boundary question.
By the treaty between the United States and England, known as the Ashburton treaty, to which the state of Maine was persuaded by our government to yield its assent, there was paid to the states of Maine and Massachusetts three hundred thousand dollars, for the land constituting the northern part of England's pre- tended claim.
During the time that Mr. McIntire held the office of land agent, its duties and responsibilities were greatly increased by the unsettled condition of affairs, all of which he met with his accustomed good sense and fidelity.
During the administration of President Polk he received the appointment of United States marshal for the state. President Pierce also recognized the value of his services, and appointed him surveyor of the port of Portland. This closed his public career.
It is due to his memory to add, that in all the various positions he occupied in a long and somewhat eventful life, in every public trust confided to his care, he showed himself able and faithful to his trust.
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
As a lawyer he excelled more as a counsellor than as an advocate. He had a clear, discriminating mind, and a good knowledge of the law, and he argued his cases with force and precision, without any effort at display or eloquence. He had a scorn for any advantage by unfairness, and was ever honorable in his prac- tice.
He was a good citizen, a firm friend, and a kind and devoted husband and father. In the family circle his excellent qualities were as marked as his integrity in public life; so patient under the misfortunes that came upon him in his latter years, and so devoted to the daughters that ministered to him for years after the death of his second wife.
He was married to Miss Nancy Hannaford in 1819. She died in 1830. In 1832 he married Mary Hannaford, a sister of his first wife. She died in 1838. Three daughters, children of the first marriage, and one son and one daughter, children of the second marriage, are now living. Tenderly cared for by his daughters after the death of his last wife, he died April 26, 1868. Long will his memory be cherished by the good citizens of Parsonsfield.
Noah Tebbetts was another worthy lawyer who settled in Parsonsfield. He was born December 26, 1802, in Rochester, N. H., where his ancestors had resided for a century before him. His father was a respectable, industrious blacksmith .. Noah, being apt to learn and of delicate health, was sent to the academies at Wakefield and Saco to fit for college. He first entered Dartmouth University at Hanover, and when that institution closed, he went to Brunswick, and entered Bowdoin College, where he was graduated with high rank in his class in 1822 .. He then read law in the office of Jeremiah H. Woodman at Rochester for three years, and was admitted to the bar of York county, Maine, in 1825. He then settled at the North Road Village in Parsonsfield, and began the practice of his profession there. In 1827 he moved to the Middle Road and entered into part- nership with the Hon. Rufus McIntire, who had been elected a member of Cong- ress, and continued there until 1834, when he removed to Rochester, his native town.
He had a good knowledge of the law, and was a safe adviser and a fair practi- tioner; the field for training as an advocate was not large, and he had not that ambi- tion and push which characterized his neighbor in the adjoining town, Hon. Nathan Clifford, and he did not attain to that eminence as an advocate to which his abilities would have justified him to aspire. He was a useful citizen, active in carrying forward all social enterprises that he believed would promote the gen- eral welfare. The public schools, the Sabbath schools, and the cause of temper- ance, all engaged his attention. I remember very well the movement he started in 1828 for ornamenting the village by planting trees by the sides of the road.
In June, 1828, he was married to Miss Mary E. Woodman, of Rochester. His eldest son, born in 1820, became a clergyman of prominence, but died early in life.
In November, 1834, Mr. Tebbetts moved to Rochester and continued his prac-
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
tice at the Bar for eight years, unmarked by any unusual events. In 1842 he was elected Representative to the State Legislature, in which he was an active member.
In January, 1843, he was appointed by the Governor, circuit justice of the court of Common Pleas, a position he was well fitted by his abilities and integ- rity, to fill with honor. But his career was cut short by his death in the following August. During the short time he was upon the Bench, he showed such candor, patience and clearness of conception of the questions involved, and of the facts applicable to them, and such judicial fairness in his rulings, as gave promise of great excellence as a judge. He opened his court at Guilford in August and was soon compelled to adjourn it from illness. He returned to his home and died in a few days, leaving behind him an honorable record and name.
A great change has taken place in the country since the time to which my memory goes back. The increase of wealth and the perfection of machinery have led to a change of the manner in which much of the business of the country is car- ried on. It is now done to a large extent by corporations and men of great capital. They receive the net profits, and employ the laborers, men, women and children, on wages. Competition is so fierce, and the love of profit sometimes so strong, that the wages of the laborer are only sufficient to afford a moderate support while at work. Few are able to lay up much, if anything, to provide against sickness or old age. And this state of dependence, aggravated by the competition of non- citizen labor (against which no protection is afforded by the government), must continue to increase. The future holds out little encouragement for improve- ment and relief from dependence for that class of our citizens.
Agriculture is largely free from this dependence. Yours is an agricultural town. The soil is hard, but sufficiently fertile to reward the laborer with a fair return. By industry and economy he can sustain himself and his family in com- fort. He has a home; he is not dependent on the caprice or misfortune of others for his bread. Depression in business, or loss of favor does not turn him out of doors, or leave his family without food.
You have a cold climate, but it is a healthy one. You have good schools, and come from a good stock. You have the elements for comfortable homes in which to rear your children, and to furnish inducements for enough of them to remain to keep your population good. Let them remember that four times as many are being educated to get their living by their wits, without work, as can succeed. Let education be practical; educate the hand as well as the head.
I have said you have good schools, but there is still a chance for improvement. You have noticed how many cases have occurred within a few years of men of education and high standing who have fallen under temptation, and been guilty of frauds and breaches of trust, no better than larceny or robbery.
Is it not possible that this often springs from defective education - educating the intellect and not the moral faculties ? the head and not the heart? The earliest training and the most persistent should be of the latter.
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
Would it not be a wise thing to do, to require every teacher in our common schools to take a few moments at a set time, almost daily, to inculcate honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, kindness, unselfishness, temperance, reverence for God in the' entire school, young and old, so as to imbue the minds of all the pupils with an abiding sense of the obligations and nobility of the virtues, and of the meanness and degradation that is sure to follow the contrasted vices.
Think you that such discipline and instruction, commencing in childhood, would be valueless ?
We often hear it said that the safety of our Republican Institutions, the pres- ervation of our national liberty, depends upon the education of our citizens. But the education of the intellect is not sufficient. The moral powers must also be trained and developed. Otherwise, strengthening the intellect alone, may increase the power for evil.
We may well ponder upon the words of the Father of his country, in his fare- well address to his countrymen almost a century ago: -
"Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. . And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion."
I feel a natural pride in my native town. I should like to see such attention to your schools, and to education adapted to your needs, -such support of your churches and religious societies and attendance upon their services, and the cul- tivation of friendly relations between them, and such attention to your homes and farms, as shall make these homes the best nurseries of the coming generations; that they may be so trained in the practice of every virtue, and in the abhorrence of every vice, as to be valuable citizens in every condition in which they may be laced.
While you are doing what you can by adopting the best mode of cultivation, and availing yourselves of the scientific knowledge of the fertilizing that your soil needs, it will still be true that while you can, by a variety of products, secure an adequate supply for your comforts, you will not have any large surplus of any one article for export.
Maine men are found in every state of the Union, and as a whole they have reflected honor upon the land of their nativity. We rejoice in their prosperity, while we regret their loss. Let us not undervalue the privileges and the com- orts we have in our own state, and let us strive to make our homes and society so attractive, as to retain a goodly share of the coming generations within our own borders.
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HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD.
AGRICULTURE OF PARSONSFIELD FOR A CENTURY.
BY JOHN TUCK .*
To be a Roman citizen was once accounted a high honor. Now a nativity among the mountains of New England is a better passport to favor with the gathering millions in the increasing states of the West, than a birthplace in any other country on the globe. Parsonsfield, our mother town, and not the least among the townships that cover the New England map, has therefore, no son so recreant as to withhold from her willingly, his cordial greeting on this occasion, with profound veneration; no son or daughter so forgetful of her people, as to meet them with less than a brotherly regard, or a sisterly devotion.
To the touching and eloquent address of welcome by the president of the day, there are, however, absentees not a few, whose only response can be the falling tear dropped in silence under the roof of a far distant home. Such are not for- gotten by their friends today.
Parsonsfield, like most other towns in York county, was first settled by a farming population, which emigrated thither to pursue that occupation, and from 1785 to the present time, agriculture has been the chief employment of a vast majority of her people.
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