History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 86

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1050

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Allusion has been made to the labors of Rev. Jesse Lee in this neighborhood during the last century, and the Poland circuit then established has since been one of the strongholds of Methodism. The church in Danville of this denomination was formally included in the Durham circuit in 1806, and was ministered to by Rev. Joshua Soule, Rev. I. Smith, Rev. B. Clay, Rev. J. Adams, Rev. N. B. Ashcraft, Rev. P. Ayer, Rev. J. L. Bishop, Rev. E. Blake, Rev. E. Case in the earlier part of this century, and by very many others since then. In 1863 and for several years thereafter it formed a charge by itself. In 1878 its membership was reported as 110, with 24 on probation.

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CHAPTER XL.

Educational History and Lewiston Falls Academy - Biographical.

E DUCATIONAL HISTORY AND LEWISTON FALLS ACADEMY. - One of the first acts of the newly-incorporated town of Pejepscot was to divide itself into seven school districts. These were subsequently increased to eleven, though the eleventh was lost with the portion of the town annexed to Auburn in 1859. Between these districts there was at times a healthy rivalry for the efficiency and success of their respective schools. This local interest accomplished much in the case of District No. 1, which embraced the territory adjoining Danville Corner and included among others the Sturgis, Giddinge, Witham, and Ingersoll families. This district claimed that its school corre- sponded exactly with its name, and it surely had the credit of sending the first Danville boy to college. This was the Rev. George Parsons Giddinge, D.D., who graduated at Bowdoin in 1823 as a classmate of William Pitt Fessenden, and was for many years rector of the Protestant Episcopal church at Quincy, Ill. While it is difficult to prove the assertion, there are some reasons for believing that the public schools were, throughout the history of the town, better than in the average farming communities of the state. The academy not only exerted a direct influence by furnishing a supply of teachers near at hand, but also indirectly by arousing and maintaining an interest in higher courses of study. Again, the appropriations of money seem to have been on a more liberal scale, taking a series of years together, than in most towns of the same size. The school population in 1820 was 493, and reached the highest point in 1856, when those between 4 and 21 years of age were reported as 703. The average attendance for years in which statistics are at hand varied from 41 per cent. in 1856 to 61 in 1859. For the first score of years the town raised $250 annually for the schools, but this amount was steadily increased and early in 1855 was $1,250, being several hundred dollars in excess of the amount required by law. Despite the falling off in valuation during the next decade, the town increased the amount expended for each pupil.

The year 1834 witnessed, perhaps, the most important event in the educa- tional history of the town in the incorporation of Edward Little, Tobias Purinton, James Goff, Jr, William R. Frye, Daniel Greene, Elisha Keene, Gideon D. Dickinson, Samuel Stone, Jonathan Raynes, John A. Briggs, and Enoch Littlefield, with their associates and successors, as the trustees of Lew- iston Falls Academy, "for the purpose of advancing science and literature and promoting morality, piety, and religion." Of these eleven persons, seven, and

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possibly eight, were residents of Danville. The records of the corporation show clearly that the first mentioned gentleman was the leading spirit in the enterprise. They seem to indicate, on the other hand, that three of the corpo- rators delayed the opening of the school by their failure to attend the meetings of the board. For we find that two years later six instead of nine was made a quorum by an additional act of legislature. The trustees thereupon promptly met, February 27, 1836, added to their number Josiah Little, Esq., Rev. Weston B. Adams, and Rev. Israel Newell, and chose Edward Little president, a position he held till his death in 1849; James Goff, Jr, vice-president ; Josiah Little, treasurer ; and Weston B. Adams, clerk. They decided a month later to erect a brick building similar in size and arrangement to Kimball Union Academy of Plainfield, N. H., of which Rev. Mr Newell was for many years preceptor. The cost was defrayed by a general subscription, to which the president of the board is said to have contributed $2,000, while his son Josiah gave $500 and an equal amount to be expended later for apparatus. The building was not completed and dedicated until the following spring. The academy itself, however, had meantime been opened under the charge of David B. Sewall, a young graduate of Bowdoin, class of 1836, since known throughout the state as a beloved and honored clergyman of the Congregational denom- ination.

The first term of the new institution was held in the district school-house that stood near the present site of the county jail, and the second in the hall above Mr Goff's store, a site still marked by Goff Block. The academic year was a long one of 44 weeks, generally divided into four terms. The upper portion of the academy building was fitted up with dormitories for the use of those who came from a distance and could not secure rooms in the few houses that then made up the village of Goff's Corner. The growth of the school in subsequent years compelled the employment of this space for other purposes, and the lack of sufficient provision for inexpensive board and lodging for students was one of the obstacles successive teachers seem to have encountered regularly. While, as an early catalogue states, board in good families, including room, wood, lights, and washing, could be procured for $1.50 a week, the size of the place limited the number that could be thus accommodated. The tuition charge was four dollars a term and continued practically the same until war times, when it was increased about 50 per cent. The two years of Mr Sewall's principalship were prosperous ones. The academy was made to supply the need that led to its establishment and soon began to draw students from a widening circle. He received for the first year merely the tuition fees, for the second a salary of $450. After the completion of the academy building, Mr Little conveyed to the trustees the tract of land between High and Main streets and Elm street and the Little Androscoggin river, then valued at $3,000. A few years later he also gave the property on Main street,

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known as the Chapin house, and valued at about the same amount. This may seem a meagre endowment for an educational institution, as indeed it is, measured by the standards of to-day, but it was wisely managed and the income from the proceeds of the house lots as they were sold from time to time, proved sufficient to maintain the building in repair and to supplement the tuition fees in making up a reasonable salary for the teachers employed. The trustees believed that for an efficient and successful school, it was chiefly necessary to provide a building and apparatus, and that the instructors should by their ability attract scholars and obtain their compensation largely from them. It must be acknowledged that this theory worked better then than it would at the present day. The second principal, Benjamin Mead, was a Bowdoin graduate, as indeed were all his successors with two exceptions, and maintained the standing and character of the school, which averaged about 40 pupils during the two years it was under his charge. He was succeeded by Edward Payson Weston, than whom few have done more for the educational interests of the state. Teaching was Mr Weston's life work and the seven years he gave to the Lewiston Falls Academy were a period of marked progress and prosperity. The grounds were planted with trees and shrubbery, laid out with walks and surrounded by a fence. $600 was expended upon apparatus. A preceptress and two assistants were added to the teaching force and instruction in music and drawing was provided for those desiring either. In addition to the ordinary preparatory and classical course of study, one was offered made up of French and the higher English branches, geometry, sur- veying, astronomy, rhetoric, and mental philosophy. Certificates of fitness to teach were granted to those passing a special examination. A Literary Union had been formed among the students after the pattern of the general college societies at Bowdoin and in its charge was the library collected by Capt. William Ladd, of Minot, the well-known advocate of peace, and bequeathed at his death to the academy. The pupils in 1846 numbered 175, 111 being the largest number attending any one term. Of these, four were residents of another state and 85 of other towns than Danville, Auburn, Minot, or Lewiston. This increase of non-resident scholars led to the proposal of the trustees to erect a brick dormitory, 62 x 38 feet and three stories high. The cost was to be met by the sale at auction of twelve house lots. Unfortunately the bids did not reach the minimum price decided upon, and a few years later obtained at private sale, and the project was on Mr Weston's departure, the following year, allowed to slumber. It was revived at several different times subsequently, but never carried into effect. Alvin Boody, who graduated from Bowdoin in 1847, but who had experience in teaching and was afterwards principal of Fryeburg Academy, took charge of the school for about two years. He was succeeded by Jotham B. Sewall. The academy profited much by his scholar- ship and character, During the two years of his stay over $800 was expended

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upon the building and the grounds, which then assumed the appearance so familiar to the old residents, the plain but neat brick structure with wooden belfry, guarded on either side by the terraced pines, remnants of the primeval forest, and approached by the long walk shut in by the cedar hedge. Mr Edward Little's death, which occurred at this time, brought a bequest of $2,500 to the academy funds, which now amounted to about $6,000. The entire income was with few exceptions expended each year and there were no subsequent additions of moment save from the sales of the lands. Two Bowdoin classmates of 1847, Rev. Ebenezer S. Jordan and Prof. William M. Baker, had charge of the school during the next few years, with an average attendance of 85 to 90. Under the next principal, George Woods, since chancellor for a score of years of the Western University of Pennsylvania, the names of Spanish students appear for the first time in the annual catalogue. Several young men from the West Indies, especially from Cuba, were for a series of years pupils at the academy. In the spring term of 1856, the last of Mr Woods's principalship, the attendance of students was 138. Several teachers were employed during the next three years for short periods, of whom at least two should be mentioned, Hon. Enos T. Luce, now of Waltham, Mass., and Rev. Dr Edwin P. Parker, of Hartford, Conn. In 1859, Warren T. Webster, a graduate of Brown University, assumed charge of the institution. The eight years that followed were the most prosperous the academy had seen. The number of students increased until in the fall term of 1865 they reached 250. The assistant teachers included some of the ablest and most faithful workers the town has ever known.

In 1864 the building was remodelled and enlarged, and two years later the name of the institution was changed by an act of legislature to the Edward Little Institute. At the close of the war the so-called commercial college came into fashion and Mr Webster's energy and interest in education led him to add to the English and Classical course that had been taught so long on the hill, a commercial department which occupied the two largest halls down town and employed several special teachers. The undertaking was not successful from a financial standpoint. The additional work and worry which it brought seriously affected his health and led to his resignation, which the trustees regretfully accepted in July, 1867. . His successor, Charles C. Rounds, had been an assistant for the two preceding years, and a year later became prin- cipal of the State Normal School at Farmington. Death had now removed from the board of trustees, Rev. Elijah Jones, who had served as president since the decease of the founder, Josiah Little, who, though a non-resident, retained the strong interest in the school of which he had previously given practical evidence, Edward T. Little, who had long and ably served as the treasurer and a member of the executive committee, and, a short time later, Samuel Pickard, who, from the first, had been one of the most active and

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efficient members. The growth of Auburn, on the other hand, made it desirable that the academy should be closely connected with the system of public schools and open to all free of charge. Accordingly the trustees gave the use of the building for a free high school to the city of Auburn, and four years later, in 1873, formally transferred their title to the entire property, then valued at $25,000. The chief conditions of the transfer were that the city should maintain at least 33 weeks in each year a first-class high school, to be always known as the Edward Little High School, and should erect a statue of the person thus commemorated, at a cost of $7,000. These conditions were duly carried out. Under a succession of able teachers, students from old Danville have enjoyed the privileges of academical study previously offered by the institute. In the studio at Rome of the distinguished Maine sculptor, Franklin Simmons, was made an admirable portrait statue, which was cast in bronze at Munich, and, in October, 1877, erected in front of the new and larger building that was then replacing the old academy. On that occasion an able oration was delivered by Judge Nahum Morrill, long an active and prominent member of the trustees, and a pleasing and appropriate poem read by Mrs M. S. Read, one who answered of old to the academic bell pealing from out the "pine trees' living sheen." The space given to this sketch of the Lewiston Falls Academy is only justified by the influence, direct and indirect, which it exerted on the town within whose limits it was established. There was hardly a family in Danville whose name does not occur in the list of its students. The various natives and residents of the town, who are college graduates, received their preparatory course there, with but few exceptions. The facilities it offered had an important, if an unnoticed part, in changing the village of Goff's Corner into a large and prosperous community.

Biographical. - As the limits of this sketch do not admit of extended biographical details the writer has confined himself to a brief mention of all heads of families known to have been resident in town a hundred years ago, and concludes with a fuller account of two men who were representative, each in his way, of the generation that has now passed away.

John Merrill, a native of Newbury, Mass., was probably the first permanent settler in the town. He married, July 20, 1773, Molly Royal, of North Yar- mouth. They had seven children, and with their sons Charles and Jeremiah, who were then married, were living in the first school district in 1803. Aunt Molly, as she was commonly known, had the reputation of being a witch. Superstitious people observed that her opposition or dislike to any person or thing brought strange and serious accidents. Her husband once sold against her will a pair of oxen ; the next morning the new owner found them lying dead, with their horns implanted in the ground. If a neighbor borrowed a sled of Goodman Merrill without her consent, he was likely to find it so bewitched that all his efforts and all his ingenuity could not keep the load in place.

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The surname Jordan has been one of the most frequent and prominent in the annals of the town. Four families of the name came previous to 1790. The two brothers, Humphrey and James, sons of James and Elizabeth (Jordan) Jordan, of Cape Elizabeth, were probably the first. Humphrey served through- out the War of the Revolution and also in that of 1812. He married Joanna Bryant, who died February 13, 1856, in her 90th year. They lived in the fourth school district, and had two sons, Abraham and John, and a daughter, Eunice, who died unmarried. James m. Elizabeth McKenney, lived in the fifth district, and had 14 children. Dominicus Jordan, of South Auburn, is a grand- son. Two other brothers, Ebenezer and John Weiman, sons of Lt Benjamin and Hannah (Weiman) Jordan, of Cape Elizabeth, cleared up farms for themselves in Danville shortly after those just mentioned. Ebenezer settled in the sixth district, and lived there much respected till his death, March 24, 1854, in his 90th year. It was said of him that during his long life he never used tobacco or spirituous liquors. He married Sarah McKenney, and had nine children, Eben D. Jordan, the well-known merchant of Boston, is his grandson, while in Auburn he is represented by another grandson, Ebenezer Jordan, Esq. John Weiman Jordan married Margaret Pepperell Peables, settled in the seventh school district, and had 10 children. Charles P. Jordan, of South Auburn, is his grandson.

Patrick Arras, a native of County Kilkenny, Ireland, came to Pejepscot with his wife, Anna Jordan, from Cape Elizabeth about 1780. They lived in the first school district, and had eight children.

John Vosmus, who was born in Cologne, Germany, August 15, 1747, married Hannah Libby, and cleared as early as 1787 the farm now occupied by Domin- icus Jordan near " the trap." They had nine children, and among their descendants may be mentioned Thomas Vosmus, for many years on the police force of Auburn, and Tascus Atwood, late county attorney.

Among the early settlers in the southern part of the town were Mrs Dorothy (McKenney) Libby, widow of Luke Libby, of Scarborough, who is said to have served in the Revolutionary army, and her five sons, Dominicus, Luke, Isaac, William, and Humphrey. They came in 1789, and each of the brothers cleared and occupied a farm on or near Libby Hill. Dominicus, the eldest, married his cousin, Dorothy McKenney. They had ten children, of whom all died at home unmarried save four. His only living descendant bearing the name is Mr John Nelson Libby, of South Auburn. Luke married Elizabeth Mitchell, and died September 13, 1800, leaving two children. Deacon William T. Libby, of South Auburn, is his grandson. Isaac m. Dorothy Meserve, and had ten children, of whom all but two married. The homestead is still occupied by his grandchildren, William M. and Moses H. Libby. William married his cousin, Hannah McKenney, and had six children, none of whom have descendants living. Humphrey, the youngest of the five

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brothers, served in the War of 1812, and died of fever at Sackett's Harbor, September 9, 1813. He married Keziah Meserve, and had seven daughters, all of whom married. Dennis Libby, son of Ichabod and Mary (Fickett) Libby, a distant relative of the brothers just mentioned, was born in Scar- borough in 1771, and came to Danville on attaining his majority. He married Betsey McKenney, a sister of William Libby's wife, and cleared a farm near the Durham line. He had 11 children, all but three of whom married. His sons were officers and active members of the Methodist church, and a grandson is Rev. Charles E. Libby, of Rust University, Mississippi. The rep- resentatives of this family, now resident in Auburn, are Messrs Gershom C. and Moses L. Libby.

John Stinchfield, a native of Windham, with his wife, Sarah Lake, settled in the fourth district, abont 1788, had nine children, and left many descend- ants to keep the name alive.

The McKenneys (the name is often spelled in the records Mckinney ), like the Jordans and the Libbys, with whom they so frequently intermarried, trace their origin to Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough, and so naturally contributed largely to the settlement of Danville. It appears that at least five different families of this name came previous to 1791. First may be mentioned Temperance, widow of Jacob McKenney, who with her two sons, Jacob and Stephen, and two daughters, lived in the fourth school district. Lieutenant William McKenney, who served in the Revolutionary War, married Miriam Jordan and settled here after its close. They had seven children, of whom the youngest has but lately passed away. His brother Isaac married Hannah, a sister of Miriam, probably came about the same time, and had a family of five children. Another William McKenney, who died May 25, 1793, married Mary Jordan, a sister of Humphrey Jordan mentioned above, and had five children, all save the first born here. His widow married Abraham McKenney, by

whom she had two sons. She survived her second husband, who died at sea in December, 1800, and died, March 1, 1838, in her 75th year. Charles McKenney married Lurany Richards, and lived in the seventh school district. They had seven children, who all had families. He was, perhaps, the last of the early settlers to pass away, dying June 9, 1859, at the age of 92 years 5 months and 13 days.

Among the first to settle in the central part of the town, not far from Danville Corner, were Jonathan Rowe and his wife, Alice Easkott, with their four sons and two daughters. They were natives of Gloucester, Mass., the town which furnished most of the early settlers. The father died July 1, 1795, before the incorporation of Pejepscot, and his widow survived him seven years, dying at the advanced age of 90. Jonathan, the eldest son, was twice married, but left only one son, Moses, the father of Henry R. S. Rowe, of Boston, and of the late William W. Rowe, of Auburn. The third son, Stephen, married Mary

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Lane, and had 10 children, nearly all of whom married and lived in Danville. The late Dominicus J. Rowe, of South Auburn, was his grandson. The fourth son, Thomas, married Polly Goss, and had 13 children. Of the two daughters, Alice married Aaron Dresser and Rachel died unmarried.

The kingdom of Portugal supplied one of the citizens of Danville in the person of Joseph Saundres, who married Jemima Merrill, of Newbury, Mass., and settled in the west part of the town nearly 25 years before its incorpora- tion. They had 11 children, of whom at least two married and had families living in the first school district in 1802. Another early family, which, like the preceding, has no representatives of the name living here now, is that of Consider Glass, a native of Duxbury, Mass., and of Hannah Parsons, his wife, who died December.19, 1803. They came about 1786, lived in the seventh school district, and had 10 children. The names given some of these, Ezekiel, Consider, Thankful, Esther, suggest descent from good Pilgrim stock. In the same district lived Tobias Goold, a native of Kittery, and his wife, Rhoda Hanımon, who moved from New Gloucester about 1792. They had 12 children, but none of the name are at present resident in the city. There were three persons by the name of Thomas Goss, father, son, and grandson, resident in Danville previous to 1800, and each had large families. The first Thomas Goss was born in Gloucester, Mass., May 19, 1730, and had nine children, all of whom, save two, settled in Danville. He died November 20, 1819. Thomas Goss, his eldest son, married Tammy Finson, came to Danville about 1787, and died there December 26, 1799, leaving seven children. Thomas Goss, son of Thomas and Tammy (Finson) Goss, was born at Gloucester, Mass., May 29, 1780, married Elizabeth Witham, and had nine children. John Goss, son of the first Thomas Goss, married Anna Parsons, had six sons and four daughters, and died March 10, 1848. Of the many representatives of this family now living in Auburn, may be mentioned the well-known merchants, Messrs Almon L. and Elery F. Goss. A full account of the later generations is given in the " Goss Family Chronicles," written by William H. Boomer.

The first perhaps of the early settlers to die was John Allman, who at his death, May 17, 1791, had been a resident for two or three years. He married Mary Goss, widow of Hugh Parkhurst, of Gloucester, Mass., and had two daughters, Betsey, who married Nathaniel Moody, of Minot, and Sally, who married John Witham.

William and Susan Royall settled in the center of the town on the farm now occupied by John Gowell in 1780. They had five children, Jacob, Susan, William, Elizabeth, and Isaac. The two first mentioned, on the death of their parents, became members of the family of Samuel and Rebecca (Stinchfield) Tarbox, who in 1803 lived in the first school district.

Matthias Vickery, who settled in the eastern part of the town not far from the Androscoggin river, between 1782 and 1784, had by his two wives, Ruth

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History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 86

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co. Number of Pages: 1050

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1050