USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Gorham > Celebration of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Gorham, Maine : May 26, 1886 > Part 9
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Samuel Gilkey, an ingenious house carpenter, had the temerity to undertake the manufacture of linseed oil, in the basement of George L. Darling's shop. With a scanty supply of flaxseed, a grinding mill turned by one horse, and a press subject only to hand leverage, his operations were not large.
That business was left to more successful minds in other places. The trade of the place was so interwoven by exchanges, turns and offsets, without the use of much ready money, that the most skillful and prudent were the most successful, as usual.
The travel and teaming from the back towns to Portland was
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very extensive, passing along day and night, with large carts loaded with boards and cooperage, hauled by oxen.
The waterfalls of the town were converted to useful purposes. Beside the more common mills, valuable works by Willard But- trick, and subsequently by Peter Whitney, were located at Little River, beyond Fort Hill, for the coloring and dressing of woolen cloth, woven by the wives and daughters of the farmers. Good fulled cloth, suitable for men's clothes, was extensively provided here during the war of 1812, and afterward.
The hard-working men were not without their recreations. Beside the military trainings of four times in the summer, the general muster of the regiment, formed from the towns of Stand- ish, Gorham, and Scarborough, always paraded here. Especially the town was honored with the Grand Brigade musters of 1812 and 1816, held in the Jewett pasture, in near proximity to this spot. Other exhilarating customs were the raising of buildings and the haulings, with two long strings of thirty or forty yoke of oxen each, and Col. Frost, with his stentorian voice, giving the command.
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The farmers and mechanics, I think, gave their services with- out charge on those occasions, in conformity to custom, and the exciting and often comic and ludicrous proceedings of the occasion.
The highly respectable lawyers, Joseph Adams and J. S. Smith, the minister, physicians, and academy preceptor and oth- ers, with the social library, tended to promote the moral and religious sentiments of the community.
The prompt action of the property holders in 1817 and 1818 saved Gorham Corner from being cut off by an opposition road from beyond Fort Hill to James Mosher's, making nearly a straight course from Standish to Saccarappa, saving to the up "country people a mile in distance, and the obnoxious hills of the old road. Prompt measures were taken to counteract this meas- ure, and by an early survey of the route of the Standish road as now traveled, and another to Saccarappa, good substitutes were offered, shortening the distance nearly the same, and retaining the travel through this village.
As an inducement it became necessary to make a large private subscription to relieve the town in part of the burden of build- ing the roads.
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Before the decision of the court on the conflicting routes, a bond was signed, and contract made with the selectmen by David Harding, Toppan Robie, and Thomas Mclellan, that they would build the two roads (Standish and Saccarappa), and pay all land damages, for three thousand five hundred dollars, they relying on the private subscriptions for the balance. This agreement was signed January 14, 1818. (Amount of subscription not known.)
On account of this inducement, and for other reasons, the Cir- cuit Court ordered the roads to be laid out by Cornelius Barnes, July 28, 1818 :
Land damages on the Standish route, $1,027
Saccarappa, .. 765
Total,
$1,792
The roads were built and finished during 1818 and 1819. I had the honor myself of working on them, and was allowed therefor about one-quarter of my father's subscription of sixty dollars.
The solid men of Gorham have continued to be awake to secure other convenient modes of travel, such as the straighter roads to Gray and Buxton lower corner, and the railroad, all of which have been built since I left the town. The Academy, the Normal School, and the Soldiers' Monument, the Town House, and the churches, are (some of them at least) enduring witnesses to the public spirit, zeal, and pertinacity of some of your men who were foremost in securing their location here.
I will only add respecting myself, that after leaving the Acad- emy in August, 1821, I served two years in the variety store of Alexander McLellan, who also kept the post-office. Here, by the nature of his varied business, I had an opportunity to form industrious habits, and to obtain a good knowledge of men and things.
In response to " The Clergymen of Gorham," Rev. Edward Robie D.D., of Greenland, New Hampshire, spoke as follows : -
REV. DR. ROBIE'S ADDRESS.
I am happy, Mr. President, to be permitted on this occasion to say a few words in memory of the clergy of Gorham. We have
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heard this afternoon that at the time the General Court of Mas- sachusetts made a grant of seven townships to the Narragansett soldiers, it was imposed, as one of the conditions of the grant, that the persons to whom it was made settle a learned Orthodox minister, and set apart a certain portion of the township for his support. It is on record that the first settlers of Gorham did so. At the very first meeting of the proprietors it was voted to build a meeting-house for the worship of God in this town, thirty-six feet long and twenty-six feet wide, and to make provision for a preacher. The name of the first minister was Benjamin Crocker.
But my memory does not go back to those early times. The first minister of Gorham I ever saw was Rev. Asa Rand. At the time of his leaving Gorham in 1822, I was too young to have much personal remembrance of him now, but I remember well the reverence and love with which my father and mother used to speak of him. I remember also with what regard and honor he was received by the people when some years afterward he spent a day in this place. I believe it would require some of the best and richest words in the English language to tell the indebted- ness of this town, or of the people of this town, for their general intelligence, their knowledge of Christian truth, their high moral and religious character, to that one man, Asa Rand. He was obliged to resign his ministry on account of ill health, some bod- ily infirmity. He moved to Portland, and started the Christian Mirror, the first religious newspaper in the State, and one of the first in the country. For a time he was editor of the Boston Recorder, and by his writings, as well as by his ministrations in the pulpit, he was an eminently useful man, and " being dead, he yet speaketh."
His successor, the minister of my childhood, was Rev. Thad- deus Pomeroy, whom many of you here present well remember ; an able, efficient minister, a chronic invalid, yet a constant worker. Sometimes on Saturday he would be prostrate with an attack of bleeding at the lungs, and on Sunday he would preach his two sermons, and hold a service in the evening, as though he had never been sick; ever quick and ready in speech and action, sometimes, perhaps, too quick. He was fond of a good horse, was reputed to have the best horse in town. Once having spent a winter at the South for the benefit of his health, he came home
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from Savannah, Georgia, all the way on horseback, walking the horse nearly the whole way, for it was a fast walker; and I remember that on the day after he reached home, Dr. Peabody and other citizens went to his house, or rather to his back yard, to see the horse which had brought their minister home on this journey of nearly a thousand miles.
Mr. Pomeroy was interested in village improvements, and had a row of shade-trees planted the whole length of the street on which he lived, superintending the work with his own hand. He had in his garden a nursery of fruit trees, and was glad to give them to those who would cultivate them, and taught the farmers how to bud and graft them. He was greatly interested in the cause of education, and was the chief agent in enlarging the old Gorham Academy into Gorham Female Seminary, which for a number of years was quite a noted institution. He traveled all over the State to obtain funds for its endowment. He was a wide-awake man, and endeavored to keep his people awake. One Sunday afternoon, when he observed that the congregation was drowsy, he paused in his sermon, and asked the choir to sing the doxology. After they had done so, he resumed his discourse, and had the attention of the people to the end. He did not hes- itate to reprove and rebuke as well as exhort with all fidelity and affection, and sometimes his hearers felt hurt by his remarks ; but I have no doubt that the smart they felt was needed and deserved. He was a whole-souled, generous man, one who in Christian simplicity and godly sincerity, and not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, had his conversation in the world, and more abundantly among this people. When he had been dismissed many years, and was an old man, he made you a visit, and you gave him quite an ovation, alike honorable to him and to yourselves. Since his day you have had a numerous suc- cession of ministers. I don't know as I can recall the names of all of them; Davenport, two Adamses, Strong, Parker, Ferris, Huntington. The trouble is, within the last fifty years you have had too many ministers. Why, when you have a good minister, why do you not keep him fifty years ?
I must not forget on this occasion to speak of ministers of sis- ter churches here, who, however separated in forms and minor matters, have been united in love and in the zealous pursuit of
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the same ends, and with like success. I remember a Methodist preacher, Elder Lewis, whom I loved to hear, whom everybody loved to hear, who had a voice loud enough to make the deaf hear, and who used to inspire all who heard him with something of the same loving enthusiasm which evidently filled his own soul. Other ministerial brethren might be named, as Abbott, Jaques, Morse, Hutchinson, Colby, Wetherbee, Tyrie, Jones, Bragdon, and among the Free-will Baptists, Bean, Hutchinson, and the venerable Elder Newell, and doubtless many more not personally known by me, whose excellent and useful Christian ministries have been of great benefit to the people of the town, and whose influence is still felt among them. These sister churches and brother ministers of different name have been working harmoniously together for the same noble end, of pro- moting Christian righteousness and truth in this community.
Our country towns are not what they once were. The coun- try town life, which used to be the glory and strength of New England, is largely a thing of the past. Great manufacturing cities have risen, and have sucked into them the life of the coun- try. The spinning-wheel has left the farm-house, and gone into the city. The country tailor and harness-maker, hatter and shoe- maker, carpenter and cabinet-maker, and blacksmith, have fol- lowed. The few mechanics, tradesmen, and farmers even, that remain, find their line of work and of business different from what it was fifty years ago. I should be trespassing on forbidden ground on this occasion were I to presume to give the causes of this changed condition of things. But the fact of the change is apparent to every observer. This changed condition of things affects the country churches and the country clergy. When I was a boy yonder church used to be filled with a congregation, one-half of whom, I think I may say two-thirds of them, came in their carriages, many of them three or four miles, to church. How many families now attend these village churches from a dis- tance of three or four miles ? Much is said of the unchurched masses in our cities, and our practical Christianity has a hard problem to solve, and a hard work to do, in elevating and Chris- tianizing the masses in our cities. But I apprehend that if a fair census were taken, it would be found that the scattered popula- tion in the outlying districts of our country towns who do not
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attend church, exceed in numbers those in the cities; and if the question be as to their moral condition, which is the better or worse, it would not be easy to answer. Still the country town is the constituent unit of our political life. The country town- meeting is the primary school of our great republic, and not- withstanding the increasing influence of our rapidly growing cities, the welfare of our republic, the healthy life of our nation, is yet more dependent upon the condition and character of our country population. May old Gorham keep up her character. The best and noblest monument we can erect to the memory of our fathers is a pure and upright character. The clergy my pass away, the form of church organization be dissolved, but the principles which they represent, and for which they are supposed to stand, must be maintained if our beloved republic is to live. May they not only be maintained, but continually strengthened, and as the years and centuries pass on, may the character of our people be lifted nearer and nearer to that perfect standard of righteousness set before us in the teachings of him whom God hath sent to be the king of truth, the Lord of all. So shall our prosperity be as sure and certain as the movements of the stars, as lasting as are the laws of nature, which are laws of God.
Doctor H. H. Hunt, of Portland, a native of Gorham, and for many years an able and successful practitioner in this town, was called upon to speak for "The Physicians of Gorham."
DR. HUNT'S RESPONSE.
In response, Dr. Hunt said he had prepared some exceedingly interesting remarks, but owing to the lateness of the hour, would detain the audience only long enough to cite the dreadful fate of one of Gorham's physicians who early forsook the ranks of his brothers, and who today, instead of standing proudly at the head of his profession, is found in the governor's chair.
After music by the band, President Robie proposed "The Ladies of Gorham," adding that "the magnetism of their intel- ligence, their virtues, and their beauty, have attracted many a one of the youth of other towns to come among us for his better half."
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Rev. George Lewis, of South Berwick, whose wife, a daughter of the late Hon. Hugh D. Mclellan, is a lineal descendant of Elder Hugh and Elizabeth Mclellan, responded briefly and gracefully. It is to be regretted that Mr. Lewis' felicitous speech can not be given in full, but the following is all of it that the committee have been able to obtain.
REV. GEORGE LEWIS SAID : -
If I could respond to this sentiment, as happily as I have lived for the past twenty years with one of the women of Gorham, you might well be proud of your representative. It is sometimes asked why there is so little said about women in his- tory; it is because man writes her history, or rather does not write it. Wherever civilization goes, woman goes. She travels ahead of the minister, the lawyer, the teacher, and side by side with the doctor. Life without woman would be too dreadful to contemplate. She is God's best and greatest gift to the world.
It was hoped that Hon. Cyrus Woodman, of Cambridge, Mass., would respond to the following sentiment, but he was unexpect- edly called away by telegram.
" The towns of Buxton and Gorham represent No. 1 and No. 7, two of the seven Narragansett towns which were given to the soldiers of the memorable Narragansett fight in 1675, by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The carly traditions and fam- ily connections of the towns of Gorham and Buxton come from the same heroic and brave ancestry. Hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, these two towns have stood together in all the conflicts of civil liberty, material and social advancement. We have here today a native of Buxton, who was educated at our Academy, who is a worthy representative of Narragansett No. 1, the Hon. Cyrus Woodman, of Cambridge."
Rev. Joseph Colby, a worthy and beloved army chaplain, was expected to respond to the following : - "The Veteran Soldiers of Gorham in the War for the Union."
Mr. Colby was unavoidably absent, but that, had he been present, he would have paid an honorable and deserved tribute to the memory of the soldiers, none who know him and his personal loyalty and devotion to his country, can doubt.
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The last address was by Charles W. Deering, Esq., who re- sponded to " Agriculture in Gorham."
C. W. DEERING'S ADDRESS.
MR. PRESIDENT :
It was the custom in the early days of the Christian era, to reserve the best of the wine till the last of the feast. But sir, today, you have seemed to reverse this order. You think that those who are not tired out with the oratory of the doctors, lawyers, and ministers, can stand a ten minutes speech from a farmer.
THE FARMERS OF GORHAM IN 1736, AND THE FARMERS OF GORHAM IN 1886.
As we take a retrospective view of the circumstances which surrounded our forefathers one hundred and fifty years ago, the obstacles they had to contend with, and to overcome, the dangers that stood in their every pathway, not only from the wild beasts of the forest, but from the more savage and wary Indians, may we not pause and ask ourselves the question, should we have been equal to such emergencies ? Should we, like Caleb of old, have felt that we were able to possess the land ? The first settlers of our town were from a noble stock, the direct descendants of the Pilgrims. Almost all the first inhabitants were from the old Colony ; nearly every town on Cape Cod contributed one or more settlers for Narragansett No. 7 (which is now Gorham ). The wives and daughters of the first settlers of Gorham shared in all the toils and wants of their husbands and fathers. They used to labor in the fields and the forests, carry burdens, go to mill, gather the harvests, and assist in the defences of their house- holds and their property. Our early inhabitants partook largely of the character of their ancestors. They were a hardy, enter- prising, virtuous race of men, of indomitable courage, unbending firmness, uncompromising integrity, sober, industrious, frugal, and temperate in all things. They were distinguished for endur- ing fortitude, and open-handed hospitality. Rigorous was the climate, thick and heavy were the forests they had to clear, and hard the soil where they chose to dwell. Here a countless train of privations and sufferings awaited them, privations and
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sufferings that might have made the less brave and energetic quail. Cold and hunger, and fear of midnight slaughter, or cruel captivity by savage bands of Indians, was their portion. Under this load of evils, what, but a firm belief in the sacredness of their cause, and the consolation derived from the sublime truths of Christianity, could have sustained them ? To their religious belief, their exemplary lives, their untiring perse- verance, and indefatigable industry, are we indebted for the blessing of freedom, plenty, and knowledge, now enjoyed by our citizens. Great are our obligations to our brave and virtuous fathers ; great also to our noble and heroic mothers, who dwelt here in the first and middle of the last century. Though we have often heard of their labors and sufferings, it is difficult fully to appreciate them. Their misery was great; for months they had neither meat nor bread, and often they knew not where to get food for the morrow, yet in all their wants and trials, their confidence in the goodness of God was never shaken. The first sixteen years after the settlement of Gorham were years of great anxiety and suffering; at one time all the provisions the family of Capt. Phinney had for some days, were two quarts of boiled wheat, which had been reserved for seed. And notwith- standing all their poverty and the circumstances which were so much against them, yet by their indomitable courage and perse- verance, they surmounted every obstacle that came in their pathway. "Advance " was their motto. We have no accurate data by which to determine the number of the inhabitants, or the amount of their property, prior to the Revolutionary War. In 1772, there were seventy-seven horses owned in town; at that time there were but four men in town that owned two horses each.
The farmers of Gorham, as a class, have been bold and courageous, enterprising and industrious. Perhaps their thrift and increase of wealth cannot be more clearly shown than by referring to our town valuation of fifty years ago, and comparing it with the town valuation of today. In the year 1835, the town valuation was one hundred and twenty thousand and forty-six dollars. In the year 1885, the town valuation was one million, two hundred and twelve thousand, one hundred and two dollars, which gives us an increase of more than tenfold in our valuation
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while the poll tax payers have not increased fifty per cent in number for the last fifty years. And when we consider the fact that the increase of our population has been very slight, that there has been a constant draft of our best citizens to the large cities and to the Great West; and also that within the last half century we have passed through a four years' Civil War, wherein many of our most noble farmers and citizens laid down their lives to maintain the Nation's Flag and the Nation's Honor, and the Freedom and Liberty which we now enjoy. I say in consid- eration of these facts, and the enormous taxes that have been paid for war purposes, we stand in wonder and amazement at our own wealth and prosperity today. And should we ask the ques- tion, " Can this ratio of increase of wealth be continued for the next fifty years ?" we doubt if one could be found who would dare to say it can be. And yet "Advance " is our motto.
There has been a wonderful improvement in all agricultural implements. Today you have seen the old wooden plow of fifty years ago, superseded by the new steel plow and the sulky plow ; the hand scythe by the many improved mowing machines; the sickle and the cradle are superseded by the great reaper and binder of the West; the old wooden tooth harrow is followed by the Thomas smoothing harrow, the Shares harrow, or the Disc harrow. These are all labor saving utensils, some of them saving labor more than one hundred-fold. And yet there is room for improvement, not only in agricultural implements, but in the management of our farms.
We find prominent among the farmers of the first century after the settlement of Gorham, the names of Phinney, Alden, Longfellow, Lombard, Mclellan, Mosher, Morton, Merrill, Irish, Whitney, Robie, and many others too numerous to mention here. Many of the families of these noble pioneers occupy the same farms today that their ancestors settled on one hundred years ago or more. But what a contrast between the early days of the settlement of this town, and the present time. Instead of the dense forests, inhabited by the wild beasts and the savage Indians, today we see the broad fields of grass and grain, waving under a high state of cultivation, and yielding an abundant harvest. The soil tilled with implements of modern improve- ment, and the crops are harvested with mowers and reapers, and
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with a rapidity that astonishes the world. Several of our farms in Gorham produce annually more than one hundred tons of hay each. Gorham has nineteen District schools, two Free High schools, and a State Normal school located here, and six churches with regular preaching upon the Sabbath, which gives us one school for about every one hundred and fifty inhabitants, and one church for about five hundred and fifty inhabitants. The farm- ers of Gorham early learned to co-operate in self defence, and also in the maintenance of public education and public worship.
When the Revolutionary War broke out, the inhabitants of Gorham felt the full weight of the responsibilities resting on them, and bravely determined to be faithful to their sacred trust ; faithful to themselves, and faithful to posterity. They avowed themselves ready at all times to aid the cause of freedom. The people of Gorham have always been noted for their great liberal- ity. When Portland was burned by a British fleet in October, 1775, the people of Gorham sent teams and men to assist the distressed inhabitants in saving their effects, and moved many of them to this town. And again at the great fire of July 4th, 1866, at Portland, Gorham furnished timely aid. The supposed value of Narragansett No. 7, was twelve hundred pounds at the time it was located. But History says that the first one hundred and twentieth part of this grant that was sold, was sold for five pounds, which makes the real market value but six hundred pounds, or less than three thousand dollars.
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