USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 50
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 50
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
In 1864, Professor E. C. Smyth resigned the Chair of Natural and Revealed Religion. and was succeeded by Professor Alpheus S. Pack- ard, who was transferred from the Chair of Ancient Languages, to which, in 1865, Reverend Jotham B. Sewall, class of 1848, tutor in 1851, was chosen. In 1871, Henry L. Chapman was chosen Adjunct Professor of Latin, and in 1872 a full professor.
In 1865 the alumni of the college voted to erect a building to be called Memorial Hall, in honor of the graduates and students of the college who had died in the civil war. A subscription was at once started to carry the plan into execution, and a committee was raised for the purpose. A sufficient amount of funds was raised to warrant the prosecution of the work, and the corner-stone was accordingly laid in 1866. The outside of the building has since been completed, but enough funds have not yet been secured to enable it to be finished inside. When more prosperous times return, there is scarcely a doubt but that the original intention will be carried out.
President Woods resigning in 1866, Reverend Samuel Harris, S. T. D., a graduate of 1833, was elected to liis place in 1867. He took upon himself, also, the duties of the Professor of Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics, Professor Upham being that year honored with the Emeritus title.
In 1871 the eminent scholar, civilian, and general, Ex-Governor Chamberlain, was chosen to succeed President Harris, and at this time quite a reorganization of the college occurred. A scientific depart- ment was established and several new chairs of instruction were founded. George L. Vose, C. E., was elected Professor of Civil En- gineering ; Edward S. Morse, Ph. D., of Salem, Professor of Compar- ative Anatomy and Zoology ; Mr. James B. Taylor, Provisional Pro- fessor of Elocution and Oratory ; the Chair of Latin was separated from that of Greek ; and United States officers were brought here by
516
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSIIAM, AND HARPSWELL.
orders of the government, - Brevet Major J. P. Sanger, Fourth United States Artillery, as Professor of Military Science, and John N. MeClintock, class of 1867, of the United States Coast Survey, as instructor in Topographical Engineering.
In 1872, Professor Brackett was made Professor of Chemistry and Physics, and Robert L. Packard, class of 1868, Assistant Professor of Applied Chemistry, for one year. In 1873, however, Professors Brackett and Goodale resigned, and Henry Carmichael, a graduate of Amherst and of Göttingen, Germany, was elected Professor of Chem- istry and Physics, and Doctor Charles A. White, of Iowa, Josiah Lit- tle Professor of Natural Science. In the winter of the same year, Professor Rockwood resigned, and Charles II. Smith, a graduate of Yale, was Professor of Mathematics. Doctor White resigned in 1875. and the instruction has since been given by different persons, Professor A. S. Packard, Jr., class of 1861, giving an annual course of lectures on entomology; Mr. George L. Chandler, class of 1868, giving instruction in natural history in 1875-6; and Mr. Leslie A. Lee, a graduate of St. Lawrence University (Canton, N. Y.), class of 1872, in 1876-7.
In connection with the new plan, arrangements were also made for other instruction in various branches, should such be needed. Pro- fessor Paul A. Chadbourne was engaged to give the instruction in mental philosophy. Exercise in the gymnasium was made regular and obligatory, and military science and tactics were required to a certain extent, of all not specially excused. Professor Chadbourne was succeeded in 1873 by Reverend E. C. Cummings, and by Presi- dent Mark Hopkins in 1874. This year, however, the Edward Little Chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy was founded, and President Chamberlain was chosen as professor.
In 1875, Major Sanger's detail expired, and Brevet Captain Lonis V. Caziare, First United States Artillery, was appointed in his place as Professor of Military Science and Tactics. Mr. Charles HI. Moore has been instructor in Latin since Professor Chapman's resignation, except one year, when Professor A. II. Davis held the chair pro- visionally.
Professor Young, having accepted the office of treasurer, relin- quished the duties of his chair, and they were performed for one year by Instructor Moore, and since then by Charles E. Springer, class of 1874.
In 1873 the old Commons Hall was remodelled into a laboratory of analytical chemistry, and Mr. F. C. Robinson was chosen instructor
BOWDOIN COLLEGE AND THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF MAINE. 517
in that department of chemistry. The same year the lower floor of Memorial Hall was fitted up as a gymnasium. Honorable Peleg W. Chandler, of Boston, also, this year, remodelled old Massachusetts Hall into a beautiful room, called the Cleaveland Cabinet, in memory of the late Professor Parker Cleaveland.
A picture gallery has also been finished in the chapel, over the library. Two fine pictures have been added to the panels of the chapel, one given by Mrs. William S. Perry, in memory of her husband, the subject being "The Transfiguration"; the other, " Moses giving the Law," which is the beautiful memento left by the class of 1877. The last makes the seventh of the pictures which have been, from time to time, added to the chapel panels.
Since 1872 over $25,000 have been given the college as scholarships to aid deserving students, and $100,000 towards a general endow- ment of the college.
Measures have been taken to endow a " Longfellow Professorship of Modern Languages," and a " Cleaveland Professorship of Chemis- try and Mineralogy." Efforts are also being made to add the " Upham Professorship of Mental Philosophy."
Many valuable gifts have been made the college in the way of books and natural-history collections. Especially notable are the collection of Mrs. Frederick Allen, of Gardiner, comprising more than one thousand specimens, including many from Mount Etna, presented by her daughter. Mrs. Elton. of Boston ; the Cushman collection of birds of Maine ; and the Blake herbarium.
The whole number of graduates from the college up to 1876 is one thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven. The number of students at present is about one hundred and thirty-seven, and of officers of instruction, fifteen.
The number of volumes in the college library is 17,500; in the medical library, 4,000 ; in the libraries of the Athenaan and Peucin- ian Societies. 13,100 ; and in the Historical Society's library, which is placed in a room of the college chapel, 3.000 : making a total of books accessible to the student of 37,600 volumes. Large additions have also been made to the chemical and physical apparatus.
The public buildings of the college are at present : -
MASSACHUSETTS HALL, containing the Cleaveland Cabinet, lecture- room, and treasurer's office.
WINTHROP HALL, containing, on the lower floor, the engineering- rooms and recitation-rooms, the upper floors being used as dormitories.
MAINE HALL, having on the lower floors the Athenaan and Pen-
518
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
cinian Societies' libraries and recitation-rooms ; and on the upper floor, dormitories.
APPLETON HALL, containing dormitories.
KING CHAPEL, containing the picture gallery, library-rooms, and Historical Society's rooms.
ADAMS HALL, containing the lecture-rooms of chemistry and phys- ies, and the rooms of the Medical School.
ANALYTICAL LABORATORY and MEMORIAL HALL, containing gymna- sium. These buildings, with the exception of Adams Hall and the Analytical Laboratory, will, when the original plan is completed, form a quadrangle, the side towards the public road being open.
The present total estimated value of the college property, real estate and permanent material, is $375,000 ; the productive funds are $244,000 ; the total annual income is $30,000.
Besides the three literary societies of the college, already men- tioned, it is proper to add that there have been, from time to time, several secret associations formed, which are presumably for literary purposes. The principal ones, if not all, are designated as the Alpha Delta Phi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Chi Psi, Psi Upsilon, and Theta Delta Chi. The history of these societies is, of course, known only to the initiated.
THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF MAINE.
In 1820 an Act was passed by the legislature, establishing a Medical School, to be connected with Bowdoin College, and also making an annual grant of $1,000, during the pleasure of the legisla- ture, for the promotion of the objects designed in its establishment. Doctor Nathan Smith, a member of several societies, both in this country and in Europe, founder of the Medical School of New Hampshire, and an eminent physician and surgeon, was appointed Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine. He also assumed the duties of instructor in anatomy and surgery. He was assisted in the latter branches by Doctor John D. Wells, who had just taken his medical degree at Cambridge. At the close of the first course of lec- tures, Doctor Wells was chosen to fill the Chair of Anatomy, and immediately sailed for Europe, where he spent nearly two years, pre- paring himself for the discharge of the duties of his office. After a short but brilliant career as a lecturer at this college, at the Berkshire Medical Institution, and at Baltimore, he died, and was succeeded in 1831 by Doctor Reuben D. Mussey.
In 1825 the Chair of Obstetrics was founded, and Doctor James
BOWDOIN COLLEGE AND THE MEDICAL SCHOOL OF MAINE. 519
McKeen was appointed professor. Doctor McKeen prepared him- self for the duties of his office by a preliminary study in the lying- in hospitals of Europe, and served acceptably until 1839, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Ebenezer Wells, M. D., as lecturer.
In 1846 the Chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics was founded, and Doctor Charles A. Lee was chosen as lecturer, and in 1854 as professor. He resigned in 1859, and was succeeded by Doctor Israel T. Dana as lecturer and afterwards as professor in full. Doctor Thorndike resigned in 1861, and was succeeded by Doctor William C. Robinson.
In 1849 the Chair of Medical Jurisprudence was founded, and Hon- orable John S. Tenney was chosen as lecturer.
In 1857 the Chair of Anatomy was separated from that of Surgery and joined to that of Physiology, and Doctor David S. Conant was elected, at first as lecturer, and afterwards as professor. He was succeeded in 1863 by Doctor Corydon L. Ford. Edmund R. Peaslee, M. D., who had been chosen as Lecturer on Anatomy and Surgery in 1843, and as a professor in these branches in 1845, was in 1857 appointed Professor of Surgery.
From 1820 until his death in 1858, Professor Parker Cleaveland gave an annual course of lectures on chemistry to the medical students.
Under the influence and by the exertions of these gentlemen and their successors, this Medical School has enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. At first, and for many years, the lectures were given in the upper room of Massachusetts Hall, but in 1861 the Adams Hall was built expressly for the accommodation of this school.
The present accommodations are ample, and the school has a valu- able cabinet and an excellent library of choice works and expensive plates. Clinical instruction is given several times a week, and students can have the privilege of occasional visits to the hospitals of Portland at but slight expense.
This school, during the fifty-seven years of its existence, has grad- uated one thousand one hundred and seventy-four pupils, of whom seventy have been alumni of Bowdoin College. The last class num- bered ninety members, and the present number of instructors is ten. The following is a list of the professors and lecturers not already mentioned : -
Of Chemistry, Professors Paul A. Chadbourne, Cyrus F. Brackett, and Henry Carmichael ; of Theory and Practice, Henry H. Childs, Daniel Oliver, Professor John De La Mater, Professor William
520
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
Sweetzer, William Perry, James McKeen, Israel T. Dana, Fro- fessor Alonzo B. Palmer, and Alfred Mitchell, Adjunct Professor ; of Anatomy and Surgery, Jedediah Cobb, and Joseph Roby : of Anatomy and Physiology, Professors Thomas T. Sabine and Thomas Dwight ; of Anatomy, Professors Thomas Dwight and Stephen H. Weeks ; of Physiology, Professors Robert Amory and Burt G. Wilder ; of Surgery, Professors Timothy Childs, David S. Conant. and William W. Green ; Lecturers, Alpheus B. Crosby and Thomas T. Sabine ; of Obstetrics. Benjamin F. Barker, Professor Amos Nourse, Theodore H. Jewett, Professors William C. Robinson, Edward W. Jenks, and Alfred Mitchell ; of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Professors Dana, William C. Robinson, George L. Goodale, and Frederic H. Gerrish ; of Medical Jurisprudence, Cyrus F. Brackett, John Apple- ton, and Professor Charles W. Goddard.
This school has exerted a very marked influence on the interests of medical science, and also upon the general interests of education in the State, and has annually sent forth a corps of physicians qualified not only to cope vigorously with the unseen, though certain foe of the human race, but who have also shown themselves, hitherto, alive to the material welfare and best interests of the State, and have thus far more than repaid the amount expended upon the school by the State.
1
521
PUBLIC LANDS, ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC.
CHAPTER XIX.
PUBLIC LANDS, ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC.
PUBLIC LANDS.
IN addition to the ministerial lot, lot for the first settled minister, and the school lot which were granted to Brunswick and Topsham, there was another tract of land given to the town of Brunswick to be owned in common by the inhabitants, and sundry pieces of marsh land, which did not come into the lots as laid out by the proprietors in the several towns, were allowed to be used in common by the set- tlers upon whose lands they bordered.
BRUNSWICK TOWN COMMONS. - The Town Commons of Brunswick originated in a vote of the proprietors, May 8, 1719, " That one Thousand Acres of Land with in the Township of Brunswick be Laid out ; To L' in General & perpetual comonage to ye sª Town of Brunswick Forever."1
Nothing further was done until February 3, 1742, when the pro- prietors passed a vote that " the one thousand Acres as laid down in the Plan of the Township of Brunswick which was granted by the Proprietors of Brunswick the eighth day of May 1719 be reserved for a General and perpetual Commonage to the Town of Brunswick for- ever." 2
No further action was taken until June 10, 1771, when, at a meet- ing of the proprietors, it was voted that their agent be authorized to execute a deed of the 1,000 acres given for a Town Commons to any committee appointed by the town to receive it.3
The next year the town at its annual meeting voted to choose a committee " to lay out that 1,000 acres of land that was granted to this town by the Proprietors for a town commonage." It will be noticed that this committee was not chosen to receive a deed of the land.
In 1773 the town voted to accept the gift of the Commons and of
1 Brunswick Records in Pejepscot Collection. 2 Ibid. 8 Pejepscot Records.
522
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
the roads, granted the town by the proprietors, with the proviso that the town should not be obliged to clear any roads which were not needed.
In 1774 the seleetmen were instructed to lay out the 1,000 aeres of Commons and have it marked and a plan made in order that the town might get a deed of it.
At a town meeting, held May 12, 1778, it was voted to have the Commons laid out, but the elause in the warrant relative to applying to the proprietors for a deed was laid on the table till the next meet- ing. At a meeting, held on the tenth of June, of this year, it was voted " to lay out the Commons agreeable to the minutes that were read, viz : - Said Commons to be bounded on the head of Middle Bay lots and to extend northerly between and adjoyning upon the lots that fronts upon the twelve rod road and the lots that fronts upon Mericonege Marshes and upon the lots that fronts upon New Mead- ows River until 1000 aeres be completed." Captain James Thomp- son protested against this vote. Captain William Stanwood, Jr., Mr. Andrew Dunning, and Captain John Simmons were chosen a commit- tee to superintend the laying out of the Commons, and Stephen Getehell was chosen as the surveyor. At a meeting, held December 25, it was voted to accept the survey of the Commons as laid out by the above-named committee. It was also voted "not to accept of a deed of said Commons from Doctor Noyes by Esquire Hinkley's survey"; and Thomas Skolfield, Deacon Samuel Stanwood, and Andrew Dunning were chosen a committee to correspond with Doctor Belcher Noyes, proprietors' elerk, concerning the Commons.
At the annual meeting in 1779 the seleetmen were directed to pro- eure a deed of the Commons as soon as possible, and the committee that was chosen to lay out the Commons were directed to complete their work as soon as possible. The selectmen were also instructed to take the most effectual way to secure for the benefit of the town the lumber growth on the Commons. . In response to the notification of the selectmen, Belcher Noyes, the proprietors' agent, executed the following deed : -
" TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME BELCHER NOYES OF BOSTON IN THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK & COMMONWEALTH OF THE MASSACHUSETTS ESQ
"SENDS GREETING.
" Whereas in the first Settlement of the Town of Brunswick there was allowed & granted by the Original Proprietors of said Township One thousand Acres of Land within the said Township to be laid out,
523
PUBLIC LANDS, ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC.
to lay in general and perpetual Commonage : And whereas the said Proprietors at their meeting duly warned according to law held by Adjournment at Boston June 10th 1771 Voted, That Belcher Noyes Esq be and hereby is impowered to execute a Deed of said one thousand acres as laid down in the plan of said Township to the Selectmen of said Town of Brunswick in trust for that purpose.
"Now know yee, That I the said Belcher Noyes, in pursuance of said vote impowering me hereunto, and to the intent that the Town of Brunswick may hold & enjoy the Benefitt of said Grant of one thou- sand acres of Land for the purpose above mentioned, for & in consid- eration of Twenty shillings by me received of Nathaniel Larrabee, Andrew Duning, & William Standwood, the present Selectmen of the Town of Brunswick in the County of Cumberland & said Common- wealth Do by these presents Grant convey & confirm unto the said Nathaniel Larrabee, Andrew Duning, & William Standwood, the Selectmen of said Town of Brunswick in Trust to and for the use & improvement of the Inhabitants of said Town forever One thousand acres of Land within the said Town of Brunswick as described & laid down in the Plan of said Township taken by James Scales Surveyor, as follows viz* :
" Extending from the rear Line of the Lotts at Maquoit & Middle Bay, on a course northeast till you come to the County road, leading to New Meadows, including all the Land bounding Northwest on the rear of the Lotts on Maquoit road & Southeast on the rear of the Lotts at New Meadows up to said county road, to bound northeast on said county road according to the course thereof & southwest on the rear line of the Lotts at Maquoit & Middle Bay. And in case there should be more than one thousand acres of Land contained in said Bounds above described, the overplus be it more or less is hereby appropriated & granted for the support of the Gospel in the said Town of Brunswick forever : that is to say, To the use & improve- ment of the Reverend Mr. John Miller the present Pastor of the Church in said Town of Brunswick & his successors in said office forever.
" To Have and to Hold the said one thousand acres of Land & no more as above described, unto them the said Nathaniel Larrabee, Andrew Duning, & William Standwood, the present Selectmen of the Town of Brunswick & their Successors in said office forever to and for the use and improvement of the Inhabitants of said Town of Brunswick forever and no otherwise. And the overplus Quantity contained in said Bounds more than said one thousand acres to be
524
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
and remain for the support of the gospel ministry in said town as above mentioned forever: And it is the true intent and meaning of these presents : That the said Inhabitants of said Town of Brunswick shall hold the said one thousand acres of Land above mentioned free and clear of and from any claim or Demand of the said Proprietors of said Town of Brunswick their respective Heirs and assigns forever in as full and ample a manner as the same is derived to them by any ways or means whatsoever. And in Testimony that this Deed shall be held good & valid by them the said Proprietors of said Town of Brunswick at all times hereafter, I the said Belcher Noyes by virtue of the said vote impowering me hereunto do sett my hand & seal to this Instrument as their Act and Deed this fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred eighty one.
" BELCHER NOYES
and a seal
" Signed Sealed & Delivered in presence of us, JAMES CHACE THOMAS PENNELL
" SUFFOLK SS Nov 20 1783
"Then the above named Belcher Noyes Esq. acknowledged this Instrument Executed by him to be his Act & Deed
" Before me, " JOSEPH GREENLEAF
Justice Peuce."
After receiving this deed, the town appears to have taken no further measures in regard to the land until 1808. At the annual meeting of that year, however, a committee was appointed " to apply to the Grant- ors of the Town Commons, Ministry and School lots, and Marsh," for permission to sell and dispose of them, the interest arising from the fund thus obtained to be appropriated for the use of the schools or in such other way as the town might, think proper. A Committee was also chosen to ascertain the limits of the Commons, in order to ascer- tain if there was any surplus land for the First Parish. No reply of the proprietors to the request for permission to sell the lands referred to above lias been found, but it is evident that no permission was given so far as the sale of the Town Commons was concerned.
In 1811, Isaac Gates, Esquire, and Peter O. Alden, Esquire, were chosen agents of the town to petition the legislature for authority to divide, set off, and convey to the president and trustees of Bowdoin College the two hundred acres of the Commons, which by vote of the
525
PUBLIC LANDS, ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC.
town, May 2, 1791, afterwards confirmed by a vote of the proprietors, was granted to the before mentioned officers of the college.
On July 4, 1834, the committee chosen by the town at the annual meeting in May, to examine into the bounds of the Town Commons, reported substantially as follows, after recapitulating the foregoing votes of the town and of the proprietors.
They state that the land was not measured until February, 1741, when Scales's plan of the town was made, at which time the Commons were located. They say that this plan had governed the proprietors in making all their deeds and grants, and that a copy of this plan was the only one ever recognized by the town. At or soon after the time the town received the deed of the land, several surveys were made of the Commons, one of which was made by Stephen Getchell for the town. The proprietors employed Aaron Hinkley and John Merrill to survey the Commons. These two surveys were made from the same description, but differed from each other by the amount of four hun- dred and ninety-nine acres. As the town and proprietors could not agree as to the contents of what was included within the given boun- daries of the Commons, and as the proprietors were unwilling, in con- sequence of a disagreement with the town in regard to the taxation of their lands. to deed any more than the 1,000 acres which they had pre- viously granted, they agreed, in order to settle the controversy, upon the bonndaries as settled in the deed, but with the reservation that any surplus that there might be should "go to the support of the gospel in said town of Brunswick forever."
The Commons remained without any authorized survey on the part of the town until 1811, when the legislature of Massachusetts empow- ered Jacob Abbot and John Perry, Jr., to set off to Bowdoin College its two hundred acres. They performed their duty, and monuments were placed around the two hundred acres. In 1816 a committee of the First Parish applied to the town to join them in setting off the overplus of the Town Commons. This was done October 28 of that year. The object of the parish was effected, and they sold the over- plus to Mr. John Given, and their boundaries were still kept up, though at that time the Commons were without permanent boundaries. The committee proceed to state that they had followed the courses of the previous committees, and had measured their distances, but found them leading far from the truth, no two reputed monuments or marks of trees agreeing with each other. They decided not to make a new survey on account of the expense and owing to the fact that the okl First Parish would have reaped the benefits at the town's expense.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.