USA > Maine > Oxford County > Woodstock > History of Woodstock, Me., with family sketches and an appendix > Part 9
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"Brothers, let your course be onward. Continue to walk hand in hand as conscience dictates and virtue directs, till victory proudly triumphs on your unsullied banner of temperance, never to be furled till the dark stains of in- temperance are forever obliterated from the moral and intellectual condition. of man. Then be united in this work. Our trust is still with you, to shield us from the insidious foe, intemperance-to keep our delightsome homes un- contaminated and free from its direful influence. Shall we be disappointed ? We answer no! Will you cease in your struggles and suffer the demon alcohol to enter our peaceful dwellings and render them dreary, desolate and cheerless ? With all confidence in you we answer decidedly and em- phatically, No ! NEVER ! !
" We cordially greet you as brothers in this noble cause; and while you,
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with true courage and laudable emulations, fight the battle of temperance, be assured the daughters of temperance will never prove treacherous, nor forsake you in any emergency.
" With this confidence in you, we present to you this token, the Holy Bible, in approbation of your labors of love. Let this faithful monitor ever remind you to walk uprightly in your high and commendable station-teach you ' love' and good will to your fellow men-' purity ' of motives in all your acts of life, and 'fidelity' to your brethren and the cause you have so honor- ably espoused. As a guide, it will point to Heaven and lead the way-direct you in the paths of virtue-strengthen you in the day of adversity-guard you against the wiles of the enemy-teach you wisdom and prudence in all your undertakings-and lead you to happiness superlative and perfect.
" Receive it, then, as a token of our esteem for your Order, and may its pre- cepts be so received and cherished that you may ultimately be received into that fraternal circle of which He, whose word this is, will alone be and ever remain WORTHY."
Rev. Ransom Dunham replied as follows :
" We have assembled here on this, our nation's anniversary, and have en- gaged in promoting the holy cause of temperance. And it becomes my duty, on this occasion, in behalf of Atlantic Division of the Sons of Temperance, to present to you and the ladies of Woodstock, our most cordial thanks for the valuable treasure you have conferred upon us. It is the word of life. It contains a perfect rule for our practice. It is a light to our path and a lamp to our feet. It is able to make us wise through faith unto salvation. And while we walk in accordance with its divine precepts, aided by your in- fluence, we are conscious that no weapon formed against us can ever prosper. It is true, amid all the light, the blessings and privileges Heaven has be- stowed on us as a nation, an enemy, that dread monster, intemperance, has invaded our land, and brought down upon us death and degradation. He has entered your domestic circles and driven from your firesides that peace and tranquillity you once enjoyed. He has blighted the fondest hopes of our mothers, wives and daughters. He has entered our halls of legislation and senate chambers, and threatened to overthrow the liberties we this day enjoy ; and alas ! his perfume has too oft been found in the sacred desk ! Amid all the moral darkness that has covered the earth and the gross dark- ness which has covered the people, beams of light have shone from Heaven upon the understandings of a portion of our fellow men. These good men, devout men, moved forward in the early part of this century ; and amid all the opposition, toiled manfully to.expel that dread monster from our land. They were soon aided by the heroes from Baltimore, and more recently by the Watchman Club, and our fraternal band. We are solemnly obligated and stand before you all pledged men ; and you may rest assured that we
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shall never leave the field until that foe is driven from our land. In conclu- sion, may you so move as to meet the approbation of God; and may His blessings rest upon you and your posterity."
After Bryant's Pond Village became an important center of business, and many of the leading members of the Division had moved there, the Lodge itself was moved, and there it continued to flourish for a while, when, in common with many others in the State, the novelty having worn off and the mutual pecuniary aid feature proving to be impracticable, it began to decline, and previous to 1860 the charter was surrendered and its name and number dropped from the list of Lodges in the State.
After this, there were several open temperance organizations formed in different parts of the town, such as branches of the Oxford County League, &c., and the leading men in the cause were always active. Associated effort had declined somewhat, but so strong a public sentiment in favor of total abstinence had been developed, that drinking was very unpopular and in- dulged in only in secret. Whenever temperance or prohibition was in any way an issue in politics, the vote was always over- whelmingly on the right side.
A charter for a Lodge of Good Templars at Bryant's Pond, was granted by Nelson Dingley, Jr., Grand Worthy Chief Templar, and issued by F. G. Rich, Grand Worthy Secretary, Oct. 14, 1867. Unlike the Order of the Sons of Temperance, this order admitted both males and females, and had superseded the previous organization in many localities. The petitioners for this Lodge were Rev. E. W. Coffin, W. B. Lapham, Albert Bolster, Alanson M. Trull, Frank W. Lapham, Aldana Whit- man, Willie Small, Henry Berry, Ansel Dudley, Mary E. W. Coffin, Betsey Bolster, Eliza A. Jacobs, Mary Coffin, Augusta Burgess, Lizzie Rowe, Helen Bolster, Areanna Jacobs, Sarah Bowker, Elizabeth Richards, Louisa Jordan, Nathaniel W. Corliss and Mrs. M. A. Libby. The Lodge was organized in due form by Joel Perham, Jr., Deputy Grand Worthy Chief Templar, and the following officers were elected and duly in-
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stalled : Worthy Chief Templar, Wm. B. Lapham ; Worthy Vice Templar, Mary E. W. Coffin; Worthy Secretary, Albert C. Bolster; W. F. Secretary, Areanna Jacobs ; W. Treasurer, Alanson M. Trull ; W. Marshal, Frank W. Lapham ; W. Chap- lain, Rev. Ezekiel W. Coffin; W. I. Guard, Lizzie Rowe; W. O. Guard, Ansel Dudley. The following were the appointed officers : W. A. Secretary, Mary Coffin ; W. A. Marshal, Augusta Burgess ; W. R. Supporter, Mrs. Elizabeth Richards ; W. L. Supporter, Mrs. Sarah Bowker. The Lodge was named Mt. Christopher Lodge, No. 10, taking the number of some defunct Lodge. The Lodge prospered and had a large membership, but after a season, internal disagreements and dissensions began to be developed, the interest began to decline, some of the hard cases, which for a time had been restained from drinking, returned to it, and finally the organization was disbanded. The last recorded meeting under the old charter was holden" March 24, 1871. The meetings of the Lodge were held first in Stephens' Hall, and afterwards in the second story of the school house. After remaining defunct for a few years, the Lodge was revived under a new charter, and had a season of prosperity, when it again became dormant.
A Reform Club was organized at Bryant's Pond in 1875, and still continues its organization. In connection with the Ladies' Aid, it has accomplished much good. The ball was set in motion by the Auburn Reform Club, which visited this place and held a meeting December 12, 1875. The meeting was held in the Baptist Church, and Jefferson Lodge of Masons and the Ladies' Sewing Circle, whose meetings occurred on the same evening, both adjourned to attend the reform meeting at the church. Sixty signatures to the iron-clad pledge were obtained at this meeting, and it resulted in the organization of the Bryant's Pond Club, with Ezra Jewell, Esq., as President. No regular records of the club have been kept, but its work has been important in the temperance field, many of its chief workers having been men who had previously been more or
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less intemperate. The ladies have rendered valuable aid, as they always do in temperance movements.
Probably in no town in Maine is public sentiment educated up to a higher standard upon this question than in Woodstock, but it is the result of persistent, untiring labor on the part of the friends of temperance and morality for more than forty years. At first, and for several years, it was a hand to hand contest, but since the opponents of temperance and prohibition became a minority, and could be easily beaten at the polls whenever an issue was made, it has not been a contest, but a watch and a work, to see that the cause does not lapse, and public sentiment, with the influx of new citizens, does not receive a set-back. Some of those who were active in promoting temperance have left town and are working in other fields, and many of the early workers in this field have gone the way of all the earth, but the influence of their lives and their labors remain to encourage and cheer on those who are still engaged in the humane endeavor to save men from the results of their own depraved appetites. "These being dead, yet speak." It is the duty of the people of this goodly town, both present and future, to continue the work so nobly begun and so earnestly carried on by their fathers, so long as men are to be saved from the thralldom of this sin-and that will probably be as long as humanity exists. Let each in his day and generation see that the holy cause of temperance receives no detriment through any act or neglect of his or hers. Remember the dark clouds of intemperance that once draped these hills and shrouded these valleys, and think of the persistent effort, the untiring labor it costs to free the inebriate from the thralldom of the intoxicating cup. The evil, thanks to the workers both past and present, is as much under subjection here as in any town of its size, population and business in the State; be it yours to keep it so, and as years of associated work was the price paid for your emancipation from this evil of evils, so is constant vig- ilance the price that must be paid for preserving your freedom.
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SCHOOLS.
Woodstock had been settled sixteen years before the establish- ment of public schools. For two years after the two half town- ships had united and organized for plantation purposes, while considerable sums were raised for the repair of roads, the in- habitants refused to raise a dollar for the support of schools. There were then forty or more families in the plantation and more than a hundred scholars. The neglect to raise money for educational purposes can be accounted for only on the score of poverty. They must keep their roads passable or do worse, but they were not obliged to raise money for the support of schools, or, if they were, they did not have the same reason to fear that the law would be enforced against them. David Ricker says : " The first school in Woodstock was kept by Polly Bird, of Paris or Norway, in 1815; I attended this school, and it was the first one I ever attended or heard of." As one hundred dollars were raised for the support of schools at the March meeting in 1814, and at a meeting held on the twenty-ninth of the same month, it was " voted to accept of the school districts as districted by the assessors," it is quite probable that schools were established in the summer of 1814. The sum raised this year and for the several subsequent years was very small, considering that there were five districts in town, but it was probably all they could afford. In later days, Woodstock has been very liberal in the support of education, and fully made up for the delinquency of their ancestors, if delinquency it can be called. The first division of the plantation into school districts was made in 1814, and was made by grouping families, without any reference to unsettled lands. The report of the committee appointed for that purpose is as follows :
" Whereas, it is necessary that the Plantation Number Three be divided into districts, for the convenience of schools therein, we recommend that. districts be formed in the manner following :
"The families of Noah Curtis, Morton Curtis, Seth Curtis, Isaac Cummings [he lived just over the line in Greenwood], Luther Briggs, David Ricker,
y
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Stephen Chase, Merrill Chase, Aaron Davis, Asa Thurlow, Amos Thurlow and Enoch Hammond, shall constitute one district, to be called the first western district.
"The families of Alexander Day, Jacob Whitman, Christopher Bryant, Luther Whitman, Gideon Swan, Solomon Bryant, William Swan and Samuel Bryant, shall constitute one district, to be called the middle western district.
" The families of Jotham Perham, Rowse Bisbee, Joseph Whitman, Joseph Cole, John Billings, Lucy Felt, Noah Curtis, Jr., Lemuel Perham and Lemuel Perham, Jr., shall constitute one district, to be called the second western district.
"The families of William Cotton, Cornelius Perkins, Richard Green, Benaiah Dow, David Dow and Lydia Dunham, shall constitute one district, to be called the first eastern district.
"The families of John Gray, Jr., Benj. Fobes, Lazarus Rand, George Townsend, George Townsend, Jr., and Josiah Dudley, shall constitute one district, to be called the second eastern district."
This arrangement was in force for only two years, when, by. vote of the town, another districting was made and accepted, as follows :
FIRST DISTRICT. The families of Lemuel Perham, Lemuel Perham, Jr., Rowse Bisbee, Jotham Perham, Thomas Farrow, Joseph Whitman, Joseph Clifford, John Billings, Edward Lothrop, Merrill Chase and Noah Curtis, Jr., and all who may hereafter come within the limits of said district.
SECOND DISTRICT. The families of Solomon Bryant, Wm. Swan, Gideon Swan, Lucy Swan, Luther Whitman, Christopher Bryant, Jacob Whitman, Alexander Day and Solomon Bryant.
THIRD DISTRICT. The families of Noah Curtis, Morton Curtis, Seth Curtis, Asa Thurlow, Amos Thurlow, Aaron Davis, Aaron Davis, Jr., Josiah Churchill, Stephen Chase, David Ricker, Richard Green, Luther Briggs and Consider Fuller.
FOURTH DISTRICT. The families of Cornelius Perkins, Wm. Cotton, Enoch Hammond, Benaiah Dow, David Dow and Lydia Dunham.
FIFTH DISTRICT. The families of John Gray, Jr., Benj. Fobes, Lazarus Rand, Geo. Townsend, Geo. Townsend, Jr., Thayer Townsend, Josiah Dudley, John Starbird, Daniel Dacy and John Lunt.
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The town was re-districted again in 1820, not only with re- gard to families but with reference to unsettled lands. The committee, " after establishing the territorial limits of each dis- trict by metes and bounds, reported the several districts by families, as follows ":
Samuel Bryant, Alexander Day, Jacob Whitman, Samuel Stephens, Gideon Swan, Luther Whitman, George Berry, Thomas R. Carman, William Swan, Oliver Swan, William Swan, Jr., John R. Briggs, Solomon Bryant and Artemas Felt, with their families, constitute the first district.
Asa Thurlow, Amos Thurlow, Noah Curtis, Morton Curtis, Seth Curtis, Daniel Curtis, Luther Briggs, Abner Dolloff, David Ricker; Stephen Chase, Wm. E. Brooks, Charles B. Brooks, Jonathan Fickett, Consider Fuller, Josiah Churchill, Aaron Davis and Aaron Davis, Jr., and their families, to constitute the second district.
Charles Curtis, Seneca Landers, Noah Curtis, Jr., Stephen Packard, Edward Lothrop, Joseph Whitman, Jonathan Cole, John Billings, Caleb Bessee, Merrill Chase, Rowse Bisbee, Cyprian Bowker, Jeremiah Felt, Joel Perham and Jotham Perham, with their families, to constitute the third district.
Samuel Dunham, Samuel Durell, Wm. Davis, Cornelius Perkins, Wm. Cotton, Enoch Hammond and Lemuel Perham, and their families, to constitute and be called the fourth dis- trict.
Josiah Dudley, Moses Dudley, John Gray, John Starbird, Benaiah Dow, Azariah Howard, John Lunt, Betsey Rand and Daniel Dacy, with their families, to constitute and be called the fifth school district in the town of Woodstock.
For some reason or other this districting was not satisfactory, and another was ordered in 1822, and accepted at a meeting holden March 16th of that year. It was as follows :
" The families of Alexander Day, Jacob Whitman, Samuel Stephens, Luther Whitman, Gideon Swan, William Swan, William Swan, Jr., Solomon Bryant and David Ricker, to constitute the first district.
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"The families of Daniel Dudley, Luther Briggs, Morton Curtis, Seth Curtis, Noah Curtis, Job Lurvey, Amos Thurlow, Asa Thurlow, Aaron Davis, Aaron Davis, Jr., Josiah Churchill, Abner Dolloff, Stephen Chase, Wm. E. Brooks, Jonathan Fickett and Samuel Nute, to constitute the second district.
"The families of Charles Curtis, David Dudley, Seneca Landers, Stephen Packard, Merrill Chase, Merrill Chase, Jr., Joel Perham, Jeremiah Felt, Jotham Perham, Cyprian Bowker, Joseph Whitman and Jonathan Cole, to constitute the third district.
"The families of John R. Briggs, Oliver Swan and Samuel Bryant to con- stitute the fourth district.
"The families of John Billings, Caleb Bessee, Rowse Bisbee and Thomas Farrow to constitute the fifth district.
" The families of William Davis, Joseph Bryant, Wm. Cotton, Enoch Ham- mond, Cornelius Perkins, Lewis Fuller, John Merrill, Luther Perkins, Jona- than Billings, Lemuel Perham and Luther Whitman, Jr., to constitute the sixth district.
" The families of John Gray, John Starbird, Benaiah Dow, Moses Dudley, * Azariah Howard, Josiah Dudley, Samuel Durell, Antepast Durell and Samuel Dunham, to constitute the seventh district.
"The families of Daniel Dacy, John Lunt, Sylvanus Dunham, J. Moore and William Rand, to constitute the eighth district."
The ninth district was made up of a section of territory in the north-east corner of the east part of Woodstock, and at the time of this districting contained no inhabitants.
The tenth district embraced the territory at the north-west corner of the east part of the town, and had no inhabitants at that time. It has since been divided, and forms the schools in the Billings district and in Sigotch. The committee to re- district on this occasion was made up of Seth Curtis, Josiah Dudley, Jonathan Cole, Luther Whitman and John Merrill, and was the last formal districting that was ever made.
In 1823, the town voted to unite the 6th and 7th districts. In 1826, the second district was divided and the center district formed. In 1834, William Rowe, Simeon Rowe and Enoch French were set off from district number 3 to district number 5. The same year, Cornelius Perkins, Lewis Fuller, William Cotton, Jr., Charles Robbins and Enoch Hammond were set off from district number 7 to number 6. In 1842, the town voted to set off Richard T. Lurvey, with his property, from the second
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WM. M. BROOKS.
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school district to form and constitute a school district by him- self. In 1843, the large district in the north-east part of the town was divided, forming the Billings and Sigotch districts. The same year a school district was formed from part of the old 9th, "running from the 78th to the 113th lot, on the north line of the town, and on the south line of said district from lot number 82 to 109." In 1845, the 8th district was divided by taking of lots numbers 92, 85 and 71, and “ continuing north- westerly to the district where Edmund Chase now lives."
The school districts, as to area and outline, remain essentially the same as then, but the center of population and business has changed several times, and the schools in certain districts have undergone corresponding changes. In 1822, at the last general districting, there were only three families in district number four, and these all lived at the head of Bryant's Pond. This is now the Bryant's Pond district, the largest and the only graded school in town. A school house was not built in this district until 1857, thirty-five years after the district was formed.
From the small beginnings toward the establishment of schools in Woodstock, which we have described, there was steady progress, and for the last forty years the cause of education in this town has received every needed attention. The schools have taken high rank, and no town in the County, of the same population, has furnished more or better teachers. Many of these teachers received all their education and training in the common schools of their town and at teachers' institutes. Some of these teachers were the sons and daughters of those who voted to raise no money for the education of the one hundred children in the plantation, and others were their grandchildren. Among those who were either born in Woodstock or received their common school education here, and who became successful teachers, were Richard T .. Lurvey, Sidney Perham, Alden Chase, Henry H. Packard, Orsamus Nute, Geo. Cushman, George F. Leonard, Herrick C. Davis, Charles O. Whitman, Harrison S. Whitman, Wm. M. Brooks, Oren Stephens, Nehemiah Davis,
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
A. Fitzroy Chase, Joel Perham, Jr., Geo. W. Whitman, F. Wyman, Chas. P. Knight, Jeff. C. Gallison, Herbert C. Bacon, Geo. E. Whitman, Augustus Knight, Cyrus Davis, Marcius Knight, Martha E. Perham, Etta D. Cole, Ella F. Cole, Cynthia A. Perham, Amanda M. Perham, Viana Perham, Lorenda Packard, Clara J. Knight, Maria G. Farnum, Linda Day, Nancy F. Whitman, Lavina Whitman, Ruth Ricker, Corrina Davis, Florence Davis, Lavina Davis and Clara Bryant. There are probably others whose names are not now recalled. Some of these teachers not only taught successfully in Woodstock, but achieved a high reputation in other towns. In some of the districts, the number that attend is greatly reduced from what it formerly was. In district number 3, the seats were generally crowded summer and winter, but now a majority of them are empty. This is due to the fact that, while the number of families have not much diminished, there are fewer children. The same is true of other districts in town, notably in the first, second and center districts. The districts generally have con- venient school houses and all needed apparatus. The Bryant's Pond school house, built in 1857, is two stories high and has a primary department. A high school has been successfully taught here, spring and fall, for several years.
MASONIC.
The dispensation of Jefferson Lodge, No. 100, is dated Feb- ruary 8, 1860, signed by Hiram Chase, G. M. The petitioners, James B. Currier, John B. Merrill, Joshua Young, Nathaniel F. Jacobs, James Russ, George H. Webber, William B. Lapham and Caleb Bessee, Jr. Under that dispensation the G. M. ap- pointed James B. Currier, .W. M .; John B. Merrill, S. W .; James Russ, J. W. The first meeting under it was held Feb- ruary 14, 1860, and the W. M., J. B. Currier, appointed W. B. Lapham, T .; Caleb Bessee, Jr., S .; N. F. Jacobs, S. D .; G. H.
RUFUS K. DUNHAM.
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Webber, J. D., and Joshua Young, Tyler; and at that meeting the petitions of Rufus K. Dunham, Joel Perham, Jr., and Thomas R. Carman were received, and they were initiated March 13, 1860, in the order named above. They were the first three masons made under the dispensation. Rev. David Ricker was the next, being initiated March 27, 1860, Rufus K. Dunham was raised at that meeting and acted as Secretary till the Lodge was chartered.' The charter of the Lodge is dated May 8, 1860, and the following names appear in the charter : James B. Currier, John B. Merrill, Joshua Young, Nathaniel F. Jacobs, James Russ, George H. Webber, William B. Lapham and Caleb Bessee, Jr.
The first meeting under the charter was held May 17, 1860, when the following officers were elected: J. B. Currier, W. M. ; J. B. Merrill, S. W .; James Russ, J.W .; W. B. Lapham, T .; R. K. Dunham, S .; N. F. Jacobs, S. D .; G. H. Webber, J. D. The W. M. appointed Joel Perham, Jr., S. S .; T. R. Carman, J. S .; Rev. David Ricker, C .; Caleb Bessee, Jr., Tyler. These were the first, officers of the Lodge under the charter. The officers were installed and the Lodge constituted the same day by R.W. Timothy J. Murray, presiding officer.
Jan. 8, 1861, elected J. B. Currier, M; R. K. Dunham, Sec. Jan. 13, 1863, J. B. Merrill, M .; G. W. Bryant, Sec. Jan. 10, 1864, J. B. Merrill, M .; R. K. Dunham, Sec. Jan. 10, 1865, N. F. Jacobs, M .; R. K. Dunham, Sec. Jan. 9, 1866, W. B. Lapham, M .; R. K. Dunham, Sec. Jan. 8, 1867, W. B. Lapham, M .; R. K. Dunham, Sec. Jan. 14, 1868, David Ricker, M .; R. K. Dunham, Sec. Jan. 12, 1869, G.W. Bryant, M .; R. K. Dunham, Sec. Jan. 11, 1870, Ezra Jewell, M .; Charles R. Houghton, Sec. Jan. 10, 1871, Alden Chase, M .; C. R. Houghton, Sec. Jan. 9, 1872, Alden Chase, M .; C. R. Houghton, Sec. Jan. 14, 1873, Alden Chase, M .; C. R. Hough- ton, Sec. Jan. 13, 1874, Alden Chase, M .; C. R. Houghton, Sec. Jan. 19, 1875, Rufus K. Dunham, M .; A. C. Bolster, Sec. Jan. 11, 1876, R. K. Dunham, M .; A. C. Bolster, Sec.
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