USA > Maine > Oxford County > Paris > History of Paris, Maine, from its settlement to 1880, with a history of the grants of 1736 & 1771, together with personal sketches, a copious genealogical register and an appendix > Part 26
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In 1792, the Baptist church of Paris was united with the Bow- doinham Association, then the only association of Baptist churches in the State. The missionaries designated by the association to visit No. 4, during the year 1793, were Elder Potter, Elder Stinson
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
and Elder Macomber. The Cumberland association was formed in 1811, and included the church in Paris. The first Deacon of the church was John Willis, who was ordained as an evangelist, March 7, 1810, and who died July 23d, 1812, aged 56. The following have been Deacons since the church was first organized :
John Willis,*
1791
Luke Chase, 1829
Wm. Parsons,
1797
Thomas Stevens, 1839
Stephen Chase,
1805
Joel B. Thayer, 1839
Daniel Fobes,
1806
Levi Thayer,
1854
Josiah Smith,
1811
Austin Chase,
1854
Joseph Lindsey,
1817
Henry F. Morton,
1874
Benj. Chandler,
1824
Wmn. Rice,
1875
Isaac Mann,
1826
The following have been clerks :
Levi Jackson.
1791
Austin Chase, 1839
James Hooper,
1799
Ebenezer Thayer,
1845
Luke Chase,
1829
Samuel M. King, 1857
The following members of the church have been ordained to the work of the gospel ministry :
George Ricker,
Geo. M. P. King,
John Willis,
Otis B. Rawson.
The following churches have been largely formed by members dis missed from Paris church for that purpose :
Second Buckfield,
Paris and Woodstock,
Norway,
Lincoln,
Woodstock and Greenwood,
Buckfield Village.
Hamlin's Gore,
Statistics of the church from the date of its organization to 1876, doubtless approximately correct, are as follows : Whole number of members, 651. Of these, 253 had been dismissed, 71 excluded, 151 had died, while 46 had been dropped for causes unknown. The membership at that time was 129. The number in 1884 was 114. The first known mention of a Sunday school connected with the
*Of him his pastor, Elder Hooper said: "Dea. John Willis and his wife were the first family that came into the town of Paris. He had great knowledge of the Bible, and was a sound predestinarian, and was able to vindicate the cause of God, and would not yield a hair's breadth to any man. He was meek and humble, and bore the infirmities of his brethren beyond any man I ever saw. Brother Willis was the most like his Master Jesus Christ of any man I ever saw."
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
church, was in the letter to the association in 1837, and since that time it has been sustained constantly.
REV. JAMES HOOPER.
As the first and only minister settled by the town of Paris, and one whose ministry began soon after the town was incorporated, and extended over a period of nearly forty years, Rev. James Hooper is entitled to something more than an ordinary notice. He was born in Berwick, Maine, in 1769. His father was William, and his mother Elizabeth Emery. His brother William was the first ordained minister of the Baptist denomination in the State ; he was ordained in 1776. Elder Hooper's parents were Congregationalists. He com- menced preaching on New Year's day, 1791, when twenty-two years of age. As an itinerant preacher, he travelled sometime in New Hampshire with Rev. Joshua Smith. He came to Cumberland county in 1793, first preaching in Minot. Then he preached three Sabbaths in Hebron, and from there went to New Gloucester and preached several Sundays for two dollars per week and board, which was all he asked. He first came to Paris and preached, November 6, 1794. In March, 1795, the church and town invited him to become their pastor and minister, and he was soon after ordained in Lemuel Jackson's barn. In 1795, he was united in marriage with Miss Sally Merrill of New Gloucester, who bore him two daughters, Polly and Eliza, but both died of scarlet fever in 1806, within a few days of each other. His wife had already died of consumption, April 19, 1802, aged 24 years. Before the end of the year, he had been married to the widow of Reuben Hubbard, who was the daughter of Benj. Stowell, Esq., of Worcester, Mass. The follow- ing notice of Elder Hooper is from the paper read by Rev. Dr. H. C. Estes, at the centennial celebration of the town :
"Elder Hooper was the first and only minister settled by the town. His ministry was longer than any other in our history, and it was nearly all spent here from its beginning to its close. He was a young man of twenty-five when he came here ; he was an old man of 73 when he died. He was a man of mark, eminent and influen- tial among the eminent men of the town throughout his generation. He was a man of great energy and force of character, rare powers of mind, quick perception, clear conception, deep insight, long foresight, strong will, indomitable persistency and courage, absolute fearlessness and independence, complete self-possession and self-
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
control, and self-confidence ; a magnetic power of influence and con- trol over others ; a man to lead and to command anywhere, a very Andrew Jackson in his sphere. Besides his work as a minister of the gospel, he was much engaged in business, and he mingled much with public men, lawyers and sagacious statesmen, and he always had their respect. He was a member of the convention that formed the constitution of this State, and he was a member of the committee appointed by that body on the constitution. He served several times as a member of the legislature, and was always a leader in his politi- cal party. He was a democrat, decided and thorough going, as shown in his communications to the Paris papers, and especially in his controversy with Henry Prentiss ; he was never afraid that it would hurt his fingers to handle hard money. He used to say that there were two things in which he was established-one was religion, and the other was politics ; and when he was established in any- thing, it was as Hooper's Ledge or Streaked Mountain is established. When he was settled as the minister of the town, he became entitled to four lots of ministerial land ; but he soon relinquished two of them to the town, and one of them was sold at auction for $701; while of the other two he made his farm. Late in life he said in his autobiography, 'I have had dealings with very many men, and I have had but little difficulty with any, but I should not advise any minister to buy and sell so much as I have.' During the first ten years of his ministry, he received no salary from his people only 'occasionally some presents ;' and afterwards he received but little more than $100 a year from the ministerial fund that had accrued from the land which he had given back to the town ; still he said -- 'The Lord has so prospered me that I was as- able to help the peo- ple as they were to help me.' Late in life, however, he said, 'If I had my life to live over again, I would do differently in the matter of salary.' In everything he was a man of strict punctuality, integ- rity and justice ; and whatever he said the people received as if they had read it in the Bible, or as if it were the law of the land. His preaching was plain, direct, positive, strong. His words were short, sharp and incisive as rifle shots. His sermons were of thought and energy 'all compact,' and, very short,-hardly more than twenty or twenty-five minutes in length, -for he had the rare ability to know precisely what he had to say, to say it, and be done. He was not the man to pay two dollars, or to use two words when one was enongh. His preaching was as sincere as it was plain. In it, as in
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
everything else, he was honest. He believed what he preached, and he preached what he believed. His convictions were his own ; they were positive ; and they appeared in his utterance as plain as light- ning in the night. Of every point of his faith and preaching he could say as he did of Election, 'If no man on earth believed it but myself, I should still believe as I now do; but as a man, I am as willing that any other man should enjoy his religion as I am to enjoy mine.' It is often said that he was stern and severe, rough and rugged ; and he was ; but still he had his gentle moods, and his soft inside, for the difference between him and others was that he was made up rough side out. He had the tender sympathies of a true, human heart ; his spirit, bowed in humble and adoring reverence before his God ; he honored man because he honored and exalted God ; and he loved little children though often they did not know it.
It is not given to many men to exert such an influence as that of Elder Hooper in Paris ; but that influence was no accident. There was something in him to account for it, and to produce it. Take him for all in all, he was no common man. Notwithstanding his limitations and his faults, he was one of those men who in church and state are pillars."
Elder Hooper was a friend of education, and had great faith in the common schools. In the early times, in districts where there were but few scholars and no school houses, he insisted on their hav- ing schools either in barns, blacksmith shops, or in private houses, if there was more than one room. In this way, he accomplished much in the way of educating the children of the early settlers. He had his peculiarities, his austere side, but his kind-heartedness and earnest desire for the good of the people of the town, made him very popular with all classes.
One who was well acquainted with Elder Hooper says of his per- sonal appearance, that he was rather tall and spare, had large lips, and was very plain looking. His redeeming feature was his eyes, which were large, intelligent, penetrating, and indicated great strength of character. He had a very harsh, unpleasant voice, but in the pulpit, after the introduction of his subject, his hearers forgot all about this, in their interest in the subject and his method of pre- senting it. He never wrote out his sermons in full, but sometimes had a few notes or reminders upon slips of paper. Though tena- cious of his own religious views, he was liberal toward others, and on one occasion invited Rev. Sebastian Streeter, the distinguished
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
Universalist preacher, to occupy his pulpit. Elder Hooper died December 24, 1842. In 1834, he published a pamphlet containing a brief sketch of his life, and an exposition of his theological views.
CALEB B. DAVIS.
Rev. Caleb B. Davis, the second pastor of the Baptist church on Paris Hill, was born in Methuen, Mass., July 3, 1807. His father was Capt. Bailey Davis of Methuen, and his mother was Miss Han- nah Swan of the same town. Having completed his preparatory course, he entered Newton Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1837. He married Oct. 29, 1837, Miss Louisa, daugh- ter of Thomas and Mary Griffin of Derry, N. H. He commenced his ministry with the church in Paris in Oct. 1837, and remained until, on account of failing health, he was compelled to resign the pastoral office Aug. 23, 1852. He died in Portland, January 12, 1855. Of his qualities as a man and minister, Rev. Dr. Estes thus speaks :
"He was singularly adapted to his place and to this work. Calm, deliberate, thoughtful, patient and persistent; gentle and firm ; endowed by nature with much good sense and sensibility ; well trained and cultivated in the schools ; never rash or in haste to act, but straightforward and tenacious of his purpose, when once he had decided upon his course ; wise to see what needed to be done, and skilful in adapting means to ends to secure his object ; always devout and reverent, but not wanting in the grace of a genial humor ; kind, courteous, and in nearly all his intercourse with men, a singular sense of propriety, decorum and order showing itself in whatever he said and did ; he seemed to have been specially raised up, called, and qualified for the work that needed to be done in Paris, to take up the work into which he entered when Elder Hooper left it; to set in order the things that were wanting ; to change what needed to be changed ; to lead the church into a true and hearty sympathy with the Christian spirit of the age, and the various enterprises of educa- tion, temperance, missions and all that pertains to Christian benevo- lence, reform and progress ; and all this so quietly, silently, and imperceptibly, as to cause no jar or discord, but make the change seem more like growth than change. Very delicate, difficult and important was the work which he had to do ; but in the good provi- dence of God, when the hour came the man was ready."
His temperance work in this and other Oxford county towns,
-
· 280
HISTORY OF PARIS.
deserves special mention. When he came into the county, there were many towns in which scarcely any temperance work had been done, and in none of them had the cause become established. In Paris, the powerful influence of Elder Hooper had always been in an opposite direction, and it required tact as well as courage on the part of Mr. Davis, to combat the deeply rooted prejudices of many of the elderly members of the parish. But having the co-operation of some of the leading citizens of the village and town, he went bravely to the work and marvelous was the change in public opinion which was wrought in a few years. His success in the ministry is shown in the fact that 151 persons united with the church during his pasto- rate. During these years, he solemnized 69 marriages and attended 201 funerals. "His influence was felt for good not only in his own church and 'town, but in all the churches of the association with which he was connected, in the counsels of the convention and the. Missionary Society of the State, and in the Board of Waterville College, of which he was a trustee, from 1842 till his death." His widow became the wife of Joel B. Thayer, long one of the faithful Deacons of the church.
ADAM WILSON.
Rev. Adam Wilson, D. D., was born in Topsham. February 10, 1794, was baptized and joined the Baptist church in July, 1816, and graduated from Bowdoin College in the class of 1819. From the college he went to Philadelphia and studied theology under Rev. Dr. Stoughton and Rev. Alvah Chase. He was ordained an evangelist at Topsham, Dec. 20, 1820, and first supplied a pulpit at New Haven, Conn., at the same time continuing his theological studies under Dr. Fitch of Yale College. His first regular charge was at Wiscasset, where he stayed four years, and during the next four years, was at Turner and New Gloucester. In 1828, he established in Portland, a denominational paper, the Zion's Advocate, of which he was both owner and editor. He continued in charge of the paper, at the same time, preaching on the Sabbath, nine years. He then removed to Bangor and took charge of the Baptist church there, where he remained three and one-half years. He was then at Tur- ner two years, and then returned to Portland and to the charge of the Zion's Advocate, where he remained until 1848, when he disposed of the paper and moved to Hebron. where he was pastor three years. In 1851, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Water- ville College, and the following year came to Paris. Dr. Wilson
.
T
REV. ADAM WILSON. D.D.
1
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
remained here from 1852 to 1857, five years. After his removal from here, he labored with various churches in the State, residing near the college at Waterville, where he died January 16, 1871. Dr. Wilson was a man of decided ability, and as a preacher, pastor and editor, took rank among the ablest of the clergy in his denomi- nation in this State. He was a warm friend of education, and an efficient worker in the cause of temperance and other moral reforms. Few men have commanded more respect in the communities where he has lived, than Dr. Wilson, not only by the members of his denomination. but by the people generally. Calm, dignified and self-possessed, a man of commanding presence, yet always affable and kind, he at the same time won the respect and esteem of those with whom he came in contact. January 23, 1833, Dr. Wilson mar- ried Sally H., daughter of Dominicus and Susanna (Perkins) Ricker of Parsonsfield, and a sister of Rev. Joseph Ricker, D. D., of Augusta, by whom he had four children, among whom was John B., born Feb. 24, 1834, graduated at Waterville College, class of 1854, also in medicine, was surgeon of one of the Maine regiments during the late war, settled in Dexter, where he married Semanthe T. Per- kins, and died March 15, 1866, and Geo. A. Wilson, now an Attor- ney at Law at South Paris, and Judge of Probate for Oxford county. Dr. Wilson was a trustee of Waterville College, now Colby Univer- sity, for many years, and by his industry and perseverance in its behalf, he did much in bringing about results which have placed it upon its present substantial foundation.
WM. H. S. VENTRES.
Rev. Wm. H. S. Ventres was born in Haddam, Conn., Oct. 3, 1832. His father was Sluman Ventres, and his mother Mary W. Shailer, sister of the late Dr. Wm. H. Shailer of Portland. He graduated at Harvard College in 1855, and at Newton Theological Seminary in 1858. He was ordained at Portland in 1858, and came to Paris the same year. He remained here until 1866, and his sub- sequent settlements have been as follows : Hyde Park, Mass., 1866 to 1870 ; Hudson, Mass., 1871 to 1878 ; he is now settled over the church in North Livermore. He married Nov. 23, 1858, Eliza Murdock of Brookline, Mass., and has seven children as follows : Wm. R., b. Aug. 28, 1859; Mary E., b. Nov. 26, 1861; J. War- ren, b. May 16, 1864 ; Edward C., b. Sept. 15, 1866 ; Albert S., b.
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
Sept. 12, 1868 ; Henry W., b. Oct. 16, 1871 ; Ernest E., b. April 7,1874.
WM. H. WALKER.
Rev. Wm. H. Walker was the son of John and Elizabeth (Pratt) Walker, and was born at Lexington, Mass., in 1824. He fitted for college at Phillips Exeter Academy, studied at Brown University, and studied theology at Newton Theological Seminary. He com- menced preaching in 1855, was at Webster, Mass., three years, at- Natick two years and seven months, at Hampton Falls, N. H., three years, and then came to the church on Paris Hill, where he remained three years. From here, he went to Greenville, N. H., where he remained three years, at Warner eight years, then went to Edgar- ton, Martha's Vineyard, where he yet resides, and is on his fourth year at that place. He was married July 11, 1855, to Miss Martha R. Cram of Medford, Mass., and has two children, Lillie J., and William Henry.
ALBERT A. FORD.
Rev. Albert Aaron Ford was born in Boston, August 27, 1840. His father, John Ford, was a newspaper-man, publishing at one- time, the Boston Journal, and subsequently the Cambridge Chronicle. Albert A., was educated in the public schools of Cambridge, at. Phillips Academy, and at Newton Theological Seminary. He was ordained as pastor of the church here, Nov. 2, 1870, having pre- viously been preaching with the church about a month. He married Estella O., daughter of Alden and Lucy (Cole) Chase, then of Paris, now of Woodstock. Mr. Ford resigned his pastorate of the church in October, 1872, on account of failing health. He has since had settlements at Belfast, Auburn and Waldoborough. In June of 1879, he received the complimentary degree of Master of Arts from Colby University. His health being much impaired, by the advice of physicians, he has temporarily retired from active work.
HIRAM C. ESTES.
Rev. Hiram Cushman Estes, D. D., is the son of John and Sarah (Andrews) Estes,* and was born in Bethel, July 27, 1823. He was
*The grandfather of Dr. Estes was Stephen Estes, who came from Shapleigh to Bethel quite early, and married Relief, daughter of Enoch and Elizabeth Bartlett. The father of Stephen was Daniel, who formerly lived in Berwick, afterwards in Shapleigh, and when quite aged came with his four sons, Stephen, Benjamin, John and Richard to Bethel. The father of Daniel was probably Joseph of Dover, N. H., who married in 1719, Mary, danghter of Timothy Robinson. The father of JJoseph was Matthew Estes, born to Robert
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
brought up on a farm, but early developed a love of learning and a passion for books. Like many other New England youths, he was obliged to depend mainly upon his own efforts for the means neces- sary to a course of study, and in his case as in many others, the fact was demonstrated that a determined will is quite sure to open a way. After leaving the town school, he attended Bethel Academy, the Turner High School and at Hebron Academy, working upon the farm portions of each year, and teaching in winter to meet his expenses. He entered Waterville College, now Colby University, in 1843, and graduated with honor in 1847. He studied Theology at the Cambridge (Mass.) Divinity School, and was ordained to the work of the ministry at Auburn, in this State, in 1850. For three years, from 1852 to 1855, he was agent for the American Baptist Union in the State of Maine ; settled over the church in Trenton from 1855 to 1860; at Leicester, Mass., from 1860 to 1862; at Jericho, Vermont, from 1862 to 1872; over the Baptist church in Paris, from January 1, 1873 to July 1, 1883, and since September 1, 1883, at Winchenden, Mass. While at Trenton, he was elected to the Legislature in 1858, and served as chairman of the committee on Education on the part of the House, to which position he was admirably adapted. The degree of Doctor of Divinity was con- ferred upon him by his Alma Mater in 1872, and never has this important degree been more fitly bestowed by that institution. Dr. Estes is a profound scholar, a forcible and interesting writer, and whatever he undertakes to do, he does well. He has written and delivered several lectures which have been highly spoken of by those best qualified to judge. His only published volume is an essay entitled "The Christian Doctrine of the Soul," which appeared in 1873, from the press of Noyes, Holmes and Company of Boston. It is a duodecimo of 163 pages, and a model of concise and logical writing. It was well received by all denominations of Christians. Several of his occasional sermons have been printed and widely read. Dr. Estes married Sophia B., second daughter of Dea. Eli and Dor- cas (Bartlett) Foster of Bethel, and has had three children. The oldest, David Foster Estes, graduated from the University of Ver- mont, studied Theology at Newton, and was an able and popular
and Dorothy Estes in Dover, England, in 1645, came to Dover, N. H., and married, April 14, 1676, Philadelphia, daughter of Ronald and Ann Jenkins, and widow of Edward Hawes of Kittery. The early families of this name in this country belonged to the Society of Friends. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Estes was Jeremiah Andrews, who came from Temple, N. H., to Bethel, and whose wife was Elizabeth Sawtelle.
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
preacher until he accepted a position as teacher in the Baptist Semi- nary at Atlanta, Ga. The second, Walter Hatch Estes, a young man of great promise, while reading law at Richford, Vt., drank water from a poisoned well and thereby lost his life. His remains repose in this town, and the spot is marked by a beautiful marble monument erected by his family. The third, a daughter, is yet with her parents.
J. E. COCHRANE.
Rev. J. E. Cochrane was born in Monmouth, Maine, July 4, 1854. His father, also J. E. Cochrane, was the son of Dr. James Cochrane, a descendant of the Scotch-Irish immigration from the north of Ire- land to Londonderry, N. H., and late a well-known physician in Monmouth. The parents of the subject of this sketch, moved to Aroostook county and lived there quite a number of years. The son fitted for college at the Waterville Classical Institute, graduated at Colby University, studied Theology at Rochester, N. Y., and commenced his first regular pastorate with the Baptist church in · Paris, August 1, 1883. He preached some every year during his educational course, a portion of three years in Mariaville, Hancock county, where he was ordained as an evangelist, August 6, 1879. He was married Sept. 3, 1877, to Miss Hattie M. Chick of Water- ville. He is earnest, energetic and devoted to his profession, and good results have followed his ministrations wherever 'he has preached. He is yet a young man, and his reputation as a pastor is yet to be made, but the indications are that he will prove a worthy successor to the distinguished ministers who have been settled over this church.
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH.
The Baptist church at North Paris is known as Paris and Wood- stock church, because its members live in each town. It was organ- ized March 11, 1828, with twenty-one members, many of whom were dismissed to join here, from the Baptist church on the Hill. This church first sent delegates to the association in 1828, and the names of those representing the church for a series of years are given below. The names of ordained ministers are in small capitals, the licensed preachers in italics, and the figures at the end represent the number of members that year.
1828. Jacob Whitman, Christopher Bryant, William Berry .- 35. 1829. Jacob Whitman, Thomas R. Carman .- 39.
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