Centennial history of Norway, Oxford County, Maine, 1786-1886, including an account of the early grants and purchases, sketches of the grantees, early settlers, and prominent residents, etc., with genealogical registers, and an appendix, Part 19

Author: Lapham, William Berry, 1828-1894. dn
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Portland, Me. : B. Thurston & co.
Number of Pages: 780


USA > Maine > Oxford County > Norway > Centennial history of Norway, Oxford County, Maine, 1786-1886, including an account of the early grants and purchases, sketches of the grantees, early settlers, and prominent residents, etc., with genealogical registers, and an appendix > Part 19


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66


November 1, 1826,


August, 1836,


November 1, 1834. July, 1845.


Rev. Charles Packard


66


September 7, 1845,


died


July 13, 1855.


Rev. Horace Pratt


66


left


1856.


Rev. Nathaniel Richardson


66


October 1, 1860,


66


1859. 1865.


Rev. J. Loring Pratt


May 13, 1866,


66


April 25, 1872.


Rev. Howard W. Pope


66


May 30, 1872,


June, 1873.


Rev. Nathaniel S. Moore


66


June 1, 1874,


66


1875.


Rev John G. Wilson


June, 1876.


Rev. Augustus H. Fuller


June 18, 1877,


1879.


Rev. George Allchin


June 9, 1879.


SECOND CHURCH.


Organized January 18th, 1853. Preaching a portion of the time had been enjoyed at the village, before the church was organized. The following have been the regularly employed ministers of this church :-


Rev. Asa T. Loring


came September 1, 1852, left


Rev. Philo B. Wilcox


October 1, 1860,


Rev. Amory H. Tyler


October 5, 1862,


Rev. Thomas T. Merry


October 1, 1866,


66


June 3, 1866. April 25, 1872.


Rev. George W. Kelley


66


December 28, 1872,


60


1873.


Rev. Nathaniel S. Moore


66


Máy 3, 1874,


May 3, 187 5.


Rev. Edward E. Bacon


66


September 13, 1877,


December 23, 1880.


Rev. Alexander Wiswall


April, 1881.


December 13, 1849.


Rev. Harrison W. Strong


April, 1850,


August 1, 1855, 1858,


October 18, 1866.


Rev. Thomas T. Merry


66


November 1, 1866,


November, 1874.


Rev. Charles L. Mills


66


May 3, 1875,


18 59. 1862.


EDWARD E. BACON.


Rev. Edward E. Bacon, pastor of the Congregational Church in Norway from 1877 to 1880, was born in Marshall, Oneida County, New York, August Ist, 1845. He graduated from Hamilton (New York) College in the class of 1873, and married, on leaving college Miss Clara Hoppin of Lebanon, New York. He was ordained and installed at Norway in September of 1877, and remained here three years. He went from here to Saccarappa, and is still pastor of the Congregational Church in that place. He has had three children, Mary


Rev. Charles Soule


Rev. Philo B. Wilcox


192


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


Gove, Lillian Hoppin, and Norval Foster, whose ages are respectively, thirteen, ten, and seven.


NOAH CRESSEY.


This name is sometimes spelled Crecy. Rev. Noah Cressey was born in Salem, New Hampshire, April 9th, 1777, graduated at Williams College, studied theology with Rev. Theophilus Packard, D.D., of Shel- burne, Massachusetts, was licensed to preach by the Franklin Associa- tion, and was ordained at Norway, September 12th, 1809. He had been preaching in Norway nearly two years before he was ordained. Dr. Balkam says of Mr. Cressey : "He was a man of excellent physical powers, orthodox of the old stamp, very plain and direct in his manner." Mr. Noyes says that " he seemed to be instrumental, under Providence, in greatly improving our affairs in regard to education. He went into our schools as a teacher winter after winter; he taught five days and a half in a week, and wrote his two sermons in the evenings and on Saturday afternoon. As soon as he got into his house, he took many scholars there, and instructed them in all the branches usually taught in our best academies, and especially such branches as were necessary to fit his pupils as teachers. It was but a few years after he came, before we had good teachers of our own to instruct all our schools, and others to send to the neighboring towns. He thus gave a strong and lasting impulse to educational matters in this town, the effects of which are felt to the present day. He visited the schools with fatherly care and his influence was as great and as useful, as though the town had paid him for his services in full." Mr. Cressey was dismissed from this society, December 7th, 1819, and October 11th, 1820, he settled over the church in North Yarmouth, where he remained until November, 1828. He then labored for twenty years in the missionary field, in the States of Vermont, New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He supplied in South Sanford, Maine, from 1850 to 1861, and in Shapleigh from 1859 to 1860. He resided in Portland for many years, but died in Boston, December 15th, 1867, aged ninety-one.


HENRY A. MERRILL.


Rev. Henry Ambrose Merrill was born July 13th, 1795. He was at one time a teacher in Hebron Academy, and was one of the first


193


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


graduates from the Bangor Theological Seminary. He received a call to settle in Norway, September 19th, 1826, and was installed on the first day of November of that year. His first engagement was for five years, but he remained until near the close of 1834. From here, he went to Boothbay and was pastor of the Orthodox Church there for two years. From 1837 to 1840, he was at Biddeford, and from 1840 to 1844, in Limington. This was the end of his ministry, though he resided in Windham, Maine, ten years, following. He then moved to Granville, Ohio, where he died September 25th, 1872. He was an orthodox Calvinist of the straitest sect, a good preacher, and an excellent citizen. He had two brothers, Josiah G. and Stephen Merrill, who were Congregationalist preachers and preached more or less in Maine. Stephen had settlements in Biddeford and Acton, and Josiah G. at Cape Elizabeth and Rumford ; he was also engaged in preaching under the auspices of the Home Missionary Society. Rev. Henry A. Merrill was twice married, and his family record will be found in the Genealogical Registers.


THOMAS T. MERRY.


Rev. Thomas T. Merry is the son of John and Elizabeth Merry, and was born in Boothbay, March 21st, 1837. After fitting for college, he pursued his studies for awhile under a private tutor, then entered the Bangor Theological Seminary from which he graduated in 1863. He was ordained at Naples, Maine, June 9th, 1864, remained there until May, 1865, when he settled at Gorham, New Hampshire, where he labored until October, 1866. He was installed as pastor of the Con- gregational churches in Norway, November Ist, 1866, and closed his labors here, April 28th, 1872. He was then called to Machias, began his pastorate there in June, 1872, and closed it in October, 1874. Since then he has had no settlement, but has occasionally supplied churches not having a pastor. He is now engaged in the life insurance business in Auburn, Maine. He married, August 12th, 1863, Emma S. Bliss, of Readfield, who died at Gorham, New Hampshire, in 1865. He then married, December 12th, 1866, Malinda A., daughter of Nathan Church, of Naples. She died in Machias, April 8th, 1873. Children -by first marriage : -


I. Calla M., b. in Naples, May 21, 1864.


13


194


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


By second marriage : -


II. Edith A., b. in Norway, June 28, 1868.


III. Henry H., b. in Norway, February 28, 1870.


IV. Nathan A., b. September, 1871 ; d. August 1, 1872.


CHARLES PACKARD.


Rev. Charles Packard was born in Minot in 1818, graduated at Bowdoin College in the class of 1842, and at the Bangor Theological Seminary in 1845. His first settlement was over the First Congrega- tional Church of this town. He went from here to Harrison, and was there three years. On account of the delicate health of his wife, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where for one year, he had charge of an academy. He then returned to Maine, and was settled over the church in New Gloucester. He was subsequently settled at Limerick, Wool- wich, Waldoboro, and at East Alstead, New Hampshire. In 1873, he was called to the pastorate of the church in Windham, New Hampshire, and was there until 1881. He published a manual of the church at Alstead, and in 1876, a centennial sermon preached at Windham. He has ever been deeply interested in the cause of education, and served for several years as school committee and as trustee of several acade- mies. He married, in 1845, Hannah F., daughter of Uriah Holt Esq., of this town. They had five children, two of whom died in infancy. Three, a son and two daughters, are living. Mr. Packard died suddenly in February, 1881. Children born in Norway : -


I. Charles Franklin, b. October 19, 1846,


II. Anna Maria, b. August 5, 1849.


CHARLES SOULE.


Rev. Charles Soule was the son of Moses and Martha (Lane) Soule, and a lineal descendant of George Soule, a Mayflower Pilgrim. He was born in 1794, fitted for college at Exeter, and graduated at Bowdoin College in 1821. He studied theology at Andover, and graduated from that institution in 1823. He married Mrs. Phebe (Bartol) Veazie, who was born in 1784 and died in 1876. His first settlement in 1824 was at Belfast at two hundred dollars a year, which was afterward raised to four hundred dollars. On account of ill health and at his own request, he was dismissed at the end of his second year. He then took charge of


195


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


the academy in Bridgton, and was subsequently pastor of the church there. He then went to East Machias as principal of the Washington Academy, where he remained until he came to Norway in 1835. At the close of his ten years' pastorate here, he moved to Portland and entered the service of the Maine Missionary Society, supplying churches at Patten, Amherst, and Aurora. He was next pastor of the church in Gorham and later in Standish. He then returned to Portland where he died May 31st, 1869. He was a man of scholarly attainments, of fine literary taste, and a ready writer in both prose and poetry. The late Rev. Dr. William Warren said of him : " He was a complete man in outward form, dignity and grace of manner, and in mental and moral culture. His tastes were fine, his style clear and sententious, his discriminations nice, and his logic, when he assumed to argue, was severe. His inquisitive mind gave him a fondness for scientific as well as literary knowledge. In these he made commendable attainment. He had the modesty that connects itself with genius and rare excellence." Children : -


I. Martha, b. April 23, 1826; died August 10, 1847.


II. Ellen, b. September 28, 1828; m. Edward Prince Banks.


ALEXANDER WISWALL.


Rev. Alexander Wiswall was born in Glasgow, Scotland, August Ist, 1846. He came to Connecticut when four or five years of age, and from there he went to New Hampshire three years later. Here he became the adopted son of Mr. John T. Wiswall, and assumed his name: His family name was Mckinnon. He pursued a three years' preparatory course at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Academy, and then entered Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1873. He taught in the State Reform School at Westborough, Massachusetts, then taught a high school at Jaffrey, New Hampshire, and subsequently taught the Franklin, New Hampshire, Academy. He took a three years' course at the Bangor Theological Seminary, and was ordained and installed at Benton in 1879. He became pastor of the church in Norway in 1881, and remains here at the present time, giving very excellent satisfaction.


196


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


BAPTISTS.


The Baptist denomination has never been strong in Norway, and at the present time is nearly extinct. In the early times, Baptist minis- ters occasionally visited the town but with small encouragement. A small church of ten members was constituted here in 1806. These members were dismissed from the church in Paris to join here. William Parsons was the first deacon, and he was succeeded by Martin Stetson. The first clerk was Rufus Bartlett, who kept the records for many years, and was followed by Asa Thayer. The first pastor of the church was Rev. John Wogg, who was ordained in October, 1806, and officiated three years with little success. This was his first settlement, and he was never very successful, either in the work of an evangelist or pastor .* The church was now without a pastor for the space of eighteen years. In 1827, Rev. John Haines became pastor, and remained until he resigned in 1836. Mr. Haines was first ordained pastor of the church in Swanville in 1804. Two years later he was elected pastor of the church at Vinalhaven, where he remained until 1810. He then moved to Livermore and was pastor of the church there until 1821. Here he was very successful as pastor, and built up a large church. He was afterward two years at Fayette, and, in 1827, came to Norway. After he left Norway, he had several settlements, and was actively engaged in domestic mission operations. Rev. Reuben Milner succeeded Mr. Haines in 1836. Elder Milner retained the pastorate, with the exception of two years, to and including the year 1852, and was a member of the church until 1858. In 1845, Rev. Joseph B. Mitchell, a licentiate from Boston, preached for the church, and in 1851, Rev. J. P. Hunting, another licentiate. With the exception of the year 1860, when Rev. Adam Wilson, D.D., officiated as pastor, the church has been without a pastor since 1852.


Prior to 1829, the church had no house of worship, but generally held their meetings in private dwellings and school-houses. In 1829, John Rust, son of the proprietor of Rustfield, and a member of the church, gave a lot of land, and a church edifice formerly occupied by the Universalists was moved upon it. Elder Milner was an Englishman by birth. He itinerated a few years as a licentiate and, in 1823, was


* Millett's Maine Baptists, page 459.


-


1


GEO. H. WALKER & CO. LITH. BOSTON


Nathan Millet


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


197


ordained pastor of the church in Bluehill. He also supplied the church at Woolwich for one year ; he preached for the first church in Thom- aston in 1828, in Bowdoinham in 1830 and 1831, in Bridgton in 1832, in Kennebunkport Village in 1835 ; from this place he came to Norway. He was a good preacher and worked for very small pay. In 1840 he reported a revival, when eight persons were baptized and united with the church. Among the early and later leading men in the church, were William and John Parsons, Edmund Merrill, William Cox, Rufus Bartlett, James Stinchfield, Martin Stetson, John Rust, David Young, Asa Thayer, Isaac Bennett, Nathan Millett, John Bird Jr., and Sumner Burnham. John Bird Jr. was deacon in 1859 and subsequently.


The following table shows the representation in the Association for each year, with the exception of 1812, 1814, and 1824, when no dele- gates attended, from 1806 to 1864, since which the church has not been represented. Ordained ministers' names are in small capitals, licen- tiates in italics, and lay delegates in Roman. The figures at the end of each line show the number of members reported for each respective year. It will be noticed that the highest number reported is fifty in 1843, and the lowest number in 1884, which is nine : -


1806 JOHN WAGG, Wm. Parsons.


17


1807 JOHN WAGG, Wm. Parsons, Edmund Merrill.


20


1808


JOHN WAGG, Wm. Cox, James Stinchfield jr.


25


1809°


William Cox, Edmund Merrill.


24 24


1810


William Parsons, John Parsons.


18II Willis Sampson, Wm. Cox, Edmund Merrill.


22


1812


22


1813 1814


Wm. Cox, Wm. Parsons, Rufus Bartlett.


23


1815


John Parsons, Willis Sampson.


23


1816


John Parsons.


25


1817


Willis Sampson, Wm. Cox.


25 26 26


1820


William Parsons, Rufus Bartlett.


26


1821


Wm. Parsons, Rufus Bartlett, Jonathan Saunders.


26


1822


Wm. Parsons, Rufus Bartlett.


26


1823


William Cox.


27


1824


27


1825


Wm. Cox, John Parsons, Martin Stetson.


30


1818


William Parsons.


1819


Wm. Parsons, Asa Lovejoy, Rufus Bartlett.


2I


198


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


1826


Martin Stetson, William Cox. 32


1827 JOHN HAINES, Wm. Parsons, Martin Stetson, Wm. Cox. 42


1828 JOHN HAINES, Wm. Parsons, Martin Stetson. 42


1829 JOHN HAINES, Wm. Cox, Willis Sampson.


40


1830 JOHN HAINES, John Parsons, Wm. Parsons, Rufus Bartlett.


44 46


1831 JOHN HAINES, Dea. Wm. Parsons, John Rust.


1832 JOHN HAINES, John Rust.


43


1833 JOHN HAINES, Ephraim Barrows, Wm. Cox, Rufus Bartlett,


43


1834 JOHN HAINES, Dea. Wm. Parsons, Ephraim Barrows.


39


1835 JOHN HAINES, Ephraim Barrows, Wm. Cox.


39


1836 JOHN HAINES, REUBEN MILNER, Wm. Cox, Ephraim Barrows.


43


1837 R. MILNER, M. Stetson, P. Morse, Wm. Cox, E. Barrows, Rufus Bartlett.


41 38


1838 REUBEN MILNER, Dea. M. Stetson, W. Sampson.


1839 REUBEN MILNER, Dea. M. Stetson, Wm. Cox.


38


1840 REUBEN MILNER, Dea. M. Stetson, J. Millett, Wm. Cox jr.


48


1841 R. MILNER, D. Young, Asa Thayer.


47


1842 R. MILNER, Dea. M. Stetson, Asa Thayer, Isaac Bennett.


47


1843 R. MILNER, Dea. M. Stetson, and four others.


1844 R. MILNER, Dea. Daniel Young, Asa Thayer, Nathan Millett.


1845 Joseph B. Mitchell, REUBEN MILNER, Thomas Ellis, Asa Thayer.


1846 REUBEN MILNER, Nathan Millett, Thomas Ellis.


1847 R. MILNER, Dea. M. Stetson.


42 37


1849 R. MILNER, N. Millett.


35


1850 R. MILNER, Asa Thayer.


33


1851 J. P. Hunting, R. MILNER, Dea. T. Ellis, John Bird jr.


38 35


1853 R. MILNER, Dea. Thos. Ellis, N. Millett.


34


1854 R. MILNER, Dea. T. Ellis, J. Bird jr., N. Millett.


32


1855 R. MILNER, T. Ellis, J. Bird, N. Millett. 30


28


.


1857 R. MILNER, J. Bird, N. Millett.


27


1858


R. MILNER, J. Bird, N. Millett.


26


1859 N. Millett, J. Bird jr.


21


1860


ADAM WILSON, D.D., J. Bird, S. Burnham, N. Millett. 1


27


1861 Dea. J. Bird, N. Millett.


25


1862 Nathan Millett.


25


1863 Dea. J. Bird, N. Millett.


28


1864 Dea. J. Bird, N. Millett. 27


From that date no representatives were sent to the association, but the number of members reported each year is as follows :-


1865, 24; 1867, 19; 1868, 23; 1869, 23; 1870, 18; 1871, 17; 1872, 17; 1873, 15; 1874, 14; 1875, 14; 1876, 14; 1877, 14; 1878, 12; 1879, 11 ; 1880, 10; 1881, 10; 1882, 10; 1883, 10; 1884, 9.


50 44 48 45


1848 R. MILNER, N. Millett.


1852 R. MILNER, J. Bird jr., T. Ellis.


1856 R. MILNER, Dea. T. Ellis, Peter Kimball.


199


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


The losses during the later years were generally by death, and there is certainly something sad in witnessing this church, which was organ- ized by the early settlers eighty years ago, and representing a form of religious faith cherished by many of our honored citizens, dwindle away, the members one by one being called to the home beyond, and each of the reduced number awaiting the summons. There is every prospect that the Baptist Church of Norway will become extinct.


REUBEN MILNER.


Rev. Reuben Milner, for many years the pastor of the Baptist Church in Norway, was born in Molton, Yorkshire, England, April 11th, 1780. He married his first wife in Nova Scotia, and she died without issue. After coming to Maine he itinerated a few years, and in 1823 was settled over the Baptist Church in Bluehill. He preached in Woolwich three years, in 1828 was at Thomaston, and in 1830-I in Bowdoinham, in 1832 in Bridgton, and at Kennebunkport in 1835. In 1838 he came to Norway, and remained here until his death. For second wife, he married, March 26th, 1835, at Livermore, Miss Fanny Hillman of Chil- mark, Martha's Vineyard. Elder Milner, as he was called, was an upright man, a good pastor, and as a preacher, above the average. He died April 3d, 1859. His second wife still survives, and resides at the village. They had one child, a son,


I. Charles Grosvenor, b. January 19, 1839, who married Margaret Stillman. She died leaving two children, Maggie, and Effie who married Charles Akers. Another daughter, Lena, died young. The father resides at Troy, New York, and the children have been cared for by their grandmother, Mrs. Milner.


METHODISTS.


Elder Jesse Lee, of Prince George County, Virginia, was the chief instrument in the establishment of Methodist Societies in New England. He formed a circuit in the southern part of Connecticut, in 1789, and was at Boston the year following. He formed a class at Lynn in 1791, and that year a society was formed, and a meeting-house built. This was the first society of this denomination formed in Massachusetts. In 1793, Elder Lee was appointed to travel through the Province of Maine, and on the 10th of September he preached in


200


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


Saco the first Methodist sermon preached in Maine. He visited the towns on the Kennebec, Penobscot, and Sandy Rivers, and formed the first circuit on the west side of the Kennebec, which was called the Readfield District. Elder Philip Wagner was appointed to labor in it. The whole of Massachusetts, including Maine and New Hampshire, then formed one district known as the " Boston District." Elder Lee was the presiding elder. A class was formed at Monmouth, and another at Readfield, in November, 1794, and were the first formed in Maine. A class was formed in Portland in 1795, and the first Metho- dist Quarterly Meeting held in the State was in Poland in 1796. In 1797, the Boston District was divided, and Maine became a district by itself, of which Elder Joshua Taylor was presiding elder. Several circuits had been formed prior to 1800, and that year the Bethel circuit was constituted, comprising all the upper settlements on the Andro- scoggin and vicinity. There were then seven circuits in the State, extending through all the settled portions. In 1800, the membership in this State amounted to eleven hundred and ninety-seven, supplied by eight itinerating preachers and one presiding elder. The Poland circuit included the lower part of Oxford County, including Norway, although it was some time after that a movement in the interests of this denomination was made in this town. In 1820, there were three districts in Maine, twenty-seven circuits, six thousand, one hundred and ninety-two members, twenty-eight preachers, and three presiding elders.


In his History of Norway, Mr. Noyes says, respecting the Methodist denomination, that he "had not a scrap of any record to refer to," and the same is true of the writer of the present volume, so far as the early Methodists are concerned. It is said that about the year 1812, a Mr. Parker preached in Norway a few times, and he is supposed to have been the first Methodist preacher here. At the Quarterly Con- ference, holden in Poland in 1818, William Pingree, of Norway, con- tributed seventy-five cents, and this is the first contribution to the Methodists reported from this town. The first Quarterly Conference holden in Norway was October 9th, 1819, at the house of Stephen Pingree, and at this meeting, William Pingree was licensed to preach. At a Quarterly Meeting at Pigeon Hill in 1808, a license to preach was refused to Benjamin Stevens, but he was licensed to exhort


!


.


201


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


October 17th, 1818, and again November Ist, 1823. Mr. Stevens was previously of Norway, but then of Otisfield. The Quarterly Confer- ences were held in Norway in 1822, 1827, 1828, 1830, and at Swift's Corner in 1831. Waterford circuit was set off from Poland in 1826. At a Quarterly Meeting holden at the Jones school-house in Norway, September 5th, 1838, it was voted that the members in Albany join the Norway circuit.


William Yates, of Greenwood, was licensed to exhort, and then to preach quite early, and though a hard working farmer through the week, he held meetings in Greenwood, or in the adjoining towns, including Norway, nearly every Sabbath. Rev. Edward Whittle, a native of the South, but an early settler in Greenwood, was also a Methodist exhorter and preacher, an exemplary man, and much beloved by the early Methodists of this and surrounding towns. He often preached here, and he and Mr. Yates were familiarly called " Fathers Whittle and Yates." From small beginnings, a field was soon opened, and the Conference appointed circuit preachers to supply, at stated times, the church in the north part of the town, and the one near the village. As the denomination gained strength, it outgrew the accommoda- tions offered by the school-houses, and built church edifices of its own. In 1837, a convenient church edifice was erected about midway between the village proper and the Steep Falls, and the following year, the Methodists in the north part of the town and the lower part of Green- wood united and built a small meeting-house about three-fourths of a mile west of Swift's Corner, which is still occupied as a house of worship. Subsequently, this society built a parsonage house near Noble's Corner, for the accommodation of the minister.


The church in the south part of the town flourished for a few years and then suffered a decline, becoming so weak as to be unable to sustain public worship, and finally sold their church edifice to the Congrega- tionalists. This decline was partly due to the fact that there was a large and flourishing church at South Paris, only a little more than a mile distant, and partly to other causes. In 1876, a class was formed at Norway Village through the influence of Rev. John B. Lapham, pastor of the church at South Paris. Mr. Lapham was succeeded at South Paris in 1877 by Rev. Fred C. Rogers who took charge of the


202


HISTORY OF NORWAY.


Norway class. An important revival closed the third year of the newly constituted class. In 1879, the class was connected with the society at South Paris, and the foundation of a church edifice in Norway Village was laid in July. The building was finished, and was dedicated in February, 1880, and Methodism was re-established in Norway Village. The church has been highly prosperous. During 1885, three were added by baptism, fourteen from probation, seven by certificate, and twenty-two on probation. At that time there were seventy-one full members, nineteen Sunday-school officers and teachers, and one hun- dred and fifty scholars. The offerings for the conference year ending in April, 1885, amounted to over one thousand dollars. From 1880, for three years, Rev. E. W. Simons was pastor of the South Paris and Norway church, and he was succeeded, in 1883, by Rev. George L. Burbank. In 1884, by request of the Norway Society, Norway was made a station, and Rev. Oliver H. Pillsbury was appointed pastor, which relation he still sustains. At the quarterly conference holden at South Paris in July of this year, the officers of the Norway Episcopal Church were elected, and August first, at a meeting holden for that purpose, the church property at Norway was transferred to the trustees of the Norway Church.




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