USA > Maine > History of the Baptists in Maine > Part 15
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York Association did not share in this otherwise general prosperity. The Corresponding Letter for 1824 included this remark : "For several years we have had but little to encourage us from without ; and even now, dark clouds intercept the rays of the sun of righteousness." But there was unshaken confidence in the word and faithful- ness of Jehovah.
The churches in the Lincoln Association in 1825 reported a membership of 3,128. Many of the churches found it difficult on account of the great distance which the dele- gates must traverse to have a representation at the annual
personal, shall be used and improved to the best advantage, and the annual income thereof, and so much of the principal as the trustees shall judge proper, together with the annual subscriptions, donations and contributions which shall be made to said cor- poration, shall be applied to the sole use and purpose of diffusing Christian knowledge, in such manner as the said corporation shall judge will best promote and answer the design of their incorporation.
SECT. 5. Be it further enacted, That the powers granted by this Act may be enlarged, restrained or annulled at the pleasure of the Legislature.
SECT. 6. Be it further enacted, That the Rev. Thomas B. Ripley of Portland be, and he hereby is authorized to fix the time and place of holding the first meeting of said cor- poration, by publishing a notification thereof in two of the newspapers printed in Port- land, at least three weeks successively before the time of meeting.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
associational meetings. Evidently the time had come for a division of the association, and at the meeting of the association held at Nobleborough, Sept. 22 and 23, 1825, it was "Voted, that the churches in the north of this asso- ciation have liberty to convene and form themselves into a separate association ; and such churches so formed will be considered dismissed from this association." A meeting for the organization of the association, to be known as the Penobscot Association, was held in January. The follow- ing churches comprised the Penobscot Association as then organized : Harmony, Etna and Carmel, Dixmont, Hamp- den, New Charleston, Guilford, Parkman, Athens, Dover, Ripley, Corinth, Corinna, Sangerville, Atkinson and Dex- ter. When the association met in New Charleston Sept. 6 and 7, 1826, the following seven churches were received : Frankfort, North Hill, Palmyra, Newport, Bangor, Monroe and Cold Stream. Hopefulness characterized the mem- bers of the churches who assembled at New Charleston. "But a few years since," reads the Corresponding Letter, "this section of our country was the residence of sav- age men and savage beasts; but the wilderness has blos- somed as the rose." New Charleston reported the largest membership of the churches in the association, namely, seventy-seven. Parkman was next, with a membership of seventy-two, while Bangor had a membership of twenty- five.
There were now five associations in the State, York, Bowdoinham, Lincoln, Cumberland and Eastern Maine. These comprised one hundred and ninety churches with a membership of 11,519. According to an address by Rev. Adam Wilson at the meeting of the Maine Baptist Con- vention at Nobleborough, June 22, 1825, more than one- third of these churches were destitute of pastors. Many of them were small and unable to support pastors. But the missionary spirit was still strong in the membership of these churches and the regular ministrations of the gospel were easily supplied.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
ASSOCIATIONS IN 1825.
Ministers.
Churches.
Additions.
Dismissed.
Excluded.
Died.
Members.
York.
16
28
28
60
17
26
1292
Bowdoinham
41
52
497
61
59
32
3331
Lincoln ..
31
54
184
77
73
29
3128
Cumberland
17
30
280
45
13
25
2171
Eastern Maine.
16
26
206
73
13
10
1597
121
190
1195
316
175
122
11519
12
CHAPTER XI.
EDUCATIONAL BEGINNINGS.
The educational work of the Baptists in Maine had its beginning in the opening years of the nineteenth century. Before this time these hardy pioneers had been engaged in making homes for themselves, very largely in the wilder- ness, and also in providing such houses of worship as they were able to build. But they were not unmindful of the need of educational advantages for their children. There was a law establishing grammar schools in towns having more than one hundred families, but as so few of the set- tlements in the District of Maine had that population prior to 1800 the law was largely inoperative. Here and there accordingly academies were established in the decade pre- ceding the opening of the century : Hallowell Academy, in 1791; Berwick Academy, in 1791; Fryeburg Academy, in 1792; Washington Academy, at Machias, in 1792, and Portland Academy, in 1794.
In the first year of the new century the people in Hebron and some of the adjoining towns had become so numerous that the establishment of an academy was agi- tated. Prominent in this movement were William Bar- rows, a deacon of the Baptist church in Hebron, and Rev. John Tripp, the pastor of the church. Through the. efforts of Deacon Barrows, a building for the academy was erected in 1803, and application was made to the General Court of Massachusetts for a charter. The charter was granted Feb. 10, 1804. The original incorporators were John Tripp ; Rev. James Hooper, the somewhat eccentric pastor of the Baptist church in Paris; Samuel Parris of Hebron, and the father of Gov. Albion K. Parris ; Ezekiel Whitman of New Gloucester, a young lawyer, afterward
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Maine; Dr. Cyrus Hamlin of Paris, clerk of the court; John Greenwood of Hebron, a local magistrate, and a man of character and reputation in the community ; Dr. Luther Cary of Turner, who served as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, State Senator and Representative for many years ; Jesse Rice, the first practicing physician in Minot, and William Bar- rows, who was so largely instrumental in the establish- ment of the academy.1
The corporation met for organization June 6, 1804. The charter was accepted and two committees were appointed, one, consisting of Messrs. Hamlin, Cary and Hooper, "to solicit donations for the academy," and the other, consist- ing of Messrs. Whitman, Cary and Rice, "to form rules and regulations for this academy." John Greenwood was elected president of the corporation, and continued to act in that capacity until his death, April 6, 1807. Rev. John Tripp was elected clerk, and held that office until his death, Sept. 16, 1847. Dea. William Barrows was elected treasurer, and served the corporation in that office until his resignation in 1828, retaining his place on the board of trustees until his death, Nov. 22, 1837.
July 1, 1805, rules were adopted for the government of the academy.2 September 2d, the academy building,
1 "We remember that deacon when he had become an old man-we remember his bald head and whitened locks. We remember well the traces of firmness and kindness, of wisdom and benevolence in his noble countenance. Even now we seem almost to hear his well-known voice, and to listen to his words of good sense and piety, as they were wont to flow from his lips." Dr. Adam Wilson's address at the semi-centennial celebra- tion of Hebron Academy, Sept. 5, 1855.
2 The 8th and 12th were as follows :
"8. The following books are to be used in the course of education, viz., in the morning and evening before prayers the Holy Bible; at other times the Beauties of the Bible, Columbian Orator, Webster's 3rd part, Welch's Arithmetic, Morse's Geography, Mur- ray's or Alexander's English Grammar, and such Greek and Latin authors as students are usually examined in to obtain admission at the universities.
"12. It shall particularly be the duty of the preceptor to endeavor to impress upon the minds of his pupils a sense of the being and attributes of God, and of His superintending and all-wise Providence, and of their constant dependence upon and obligations to Him, and their duty at all times to love, serve and obey Him, and to pray to Him. And to inculcate the doctrine of the Christian religion regularly and at stated times at least as often as once a week. And also instill into their minds the whole circle of social duties, love, respect, and obedience to parents, esteem and respect to superiors, and politeness
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
erected by the donations of the people in 1803, was dedi- cated. Rev. John Tripp preached the sermon and Zacha- riah Soule, a brilliant young lawyer of Paris, delivered the oration. This was the first public building in the town, and was designed for use as a meeting-house and a school- house. "It was of wood, one story, yet towering in its height somewhat above the one-story buildings in its vicin- ity. Near the centre of the house was one chimney, with a fireplace on each side. Front of the chimney was an entry, and back of it were folding doors. When these doors were closed we had two good rooms for study and recitation ; when the doors were open, all was one hall for declamation, and on the Sabbath, one sanctuary for worship."1
The building and land were valued at that time at $1,400. Mr. Joseph Barrows, a brother of Dea. William Barrows, gave the land, while the cost of the building was divided into seventy shares, which were taken by the people in that vicinity. Deacon Barrows took twenty- one shares, and accordingly paid almost one-third of the cost of the building.2
The academy was opened Sept. 3, 1805, under the charge of William Barrows, Jr., son of the deacon, and then a senior in Dartmouth College.3 Bezaleel Cushman,
and condescension to all men. And also the beauty and excellency of truth, justice, honesty, fidelity, and every principle of morality. and the superior advantage of regulat- ing and governing their conduct thereby. And also to caution and warn them against the vices of Sabbath-breaking, profane swearing, lying, stealing, quarreling, gaming, cruelty to the brute creation, and all manner of indecency and wickedness whether in word or behaviour."
1 Rev. Adam Wilson's address at the semi-centennial celebration of Hebron Academy, Sept. 5, 1855.
2 Hon. Percival Bonney in the Hebron Semester for November, 1891.
3 Mr. Barrows returned to college at the close of the term, and on his graduation, in the summer of 1806, he again assumed charge of the academy, continuing the relation through the year 1808. "After teaching at Fryeburg, he was again principal at Hebron for two years from August, 1812. He was not long after admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession at Yarmouth, Maine, where he died Nov. 18, 1821, at the age of thirty-seven years, leaving three daughters and one son, Hon. William Griswold Barrows, whose distinguished services on the Supreme Bench of Maine, and other departments are well known." Hon. Percival Bonney in Hebron Semester, November, 1891, pp. 12, 13.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
a native of Hebron, who was graduated at Dartmouth in 1811, and was for many years principal of Portland Acad- emy, was his assistant teacher. The students, who were from Hebron and nearly all the neighboring towns, were of both sexes and between sixty and seventy in number.
"The General Court of Massachusetts was willing to aid the young institution, as was and has ever been the policy of the State, but would not make any grant until the people in the vicinity showed some interest in the enterprise. Thereupon Deacon Barrows at once began the work of securing subscriptions, $3,000 being required. The full sum not being in hand within the limited time, he became personally responsible for the balance. In 1807, through his efforts, aided by William C. Whitney, Esq., then a representative to the General Court, a grant of 11,500 acres of land was made, and the same was after- ward located by him in what is now the town of Monson. This land was surveyed and divided into lots of 1,000 acres each, and offered for sale at 50 cts. per acre. Ten lots were sold at once, thus producing a fund of $5,000. In the same year Andrew Craigie gave 150 acres of land, valued at $800. Mr. Craigie was a large land-owner in the town. William C. Whitney, Esq., was his agent, and it was doubtless through his influence that the generous gift was made." 1
The academy continued its work with frequent changes of preceptors. In 1819, in the early part of the year, the academy building was destroyed by fire. Deacon Barrows was at once appointed "to solicit donations for rebuilding the academy upon the same spot where the other stood." It was decided now to discontinue the joint use of the new building by the church and the academy, and the trustees voted in June, 1819, "that William C. Whitney be authorized to agree with the proprietors of the meeting- house proposed to be built in this vicinity, upon what con- ditions the board will let them have land to build said proposed meeting-house upon." The church building was
1 Hon. Percival Bonney in Hebron Semester, November, 1891, p. 13.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
erected the next year, and is still standing, but was remod- eled in 1892.
The burning of the academy building was the occasion of an agitation in some of the neighboring towns for the removal of the institution. At the annual meeting of the trustees, in June, 1819, there was a request of Capt. Wil- liam Lowell and others to have the academy removed and erected near Bridgham's Mills, so-called, to which the trus- tees replied that it was not contemplated to remove the academy, and that they could not attend to requests of that nature. But agitation continued, and at a meeting of the trustees held Dec. 14, 1819, Mr. Stephen Emery of Paris appeared and urged the removal of the academy to that place. The proposition fell upon the ears of the ven- erable Dea. William Barrows like a peal of thunder, and for a full hour he addressed the trustees, tracing the gen- eral history of the two towns, the one rich, the other poor, and setting forth the sacrifices Hebron had made in founding the academy. "By daylight and by starlight" said the deacon, "they had toiled and succeeded.
And now the purse-proud people of Paris, taking advan- tage of their misfortune, had come down to steal away this 'little ewe lamb, that they had nourished in their bosoms,' the offspring of their prayers and tears and toils." When the deacon closed the question of location was settled, and nothing more was said in favor of removal.1
The question of location having been settled and the necessary funds having been secured, work upon the new building was commenced. It was built of brick, two stories high, one room on each floor, and was ready for use at the beginning of the spring term in 1821.
Although the establishment of Hebron Academy was due to local influences, it was not long before a genuine conviction in the hearts of some of the Baptists of Maine with reference to higher education began to find expres- sion. In a Circular Letter prepared for the Bowdoinham
1 Address of Mr. Stephen Emery at the semi-centennial of Hebron Academy, Sept. 5, 1855.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
Association, and read Sept. 23, 1807, Rev. Sylvanus Board- man referred to the "ministers of Christ, pressed with the weight of their own infirmities and trials from a view of their own insufficiency to the discharge of their office, perhaps laboring under many inconveniences from their own ignorance and want of education, not under- standing their mother-tongue," and compelled "to devote their time to study, even to obtain a competent knowl- edge of the English language, sufficient to qualify them to acquire knowledge in logic, mathematics or philosophy."
First of all facilities for the better education of minis- ters must be provided. The matter began to be discussed, and then the question of means came under consideration. At the meeting of the Bowdoinham Association held at Livermore, Sept. 26 and 27, 1810, this action was taken : "It being in contemplation to establish an institution in the District of Maine for the purpose of promoting liter- ary and theological knowledge, Brethren Blood, Boardman, Merrill, Titcomb and Tripp were appointed a committee to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning the General Court for incorporation, &c." This committee suggested to the association the propriety of appointing a committee "to digest the subject systematically, in con- cert with brethren from Lincoln Association, and report thereon at the next annual meeting," and Elders Blood, Low and Boardman were appointed for this purpose. It was also voted to recommend to the churches in the asso- ciation "to endeavor to obtain subscriptions to promote the proposed institution," and to forward the same to this committee.
At the meeting of the Bowdoinham Association at Read- field, Sept. 26, 1811, the matter was again before that body, probably by report of the committee appointed the previous year, and "Brethren Low, Francis, Billings, Kill- gore, Palmer, Swett and Robinson were appointed a com- mittee to petition the General Court, with such as may join them from the Lincoln and Cumberland Associa- tions."
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
Lincoln Association, at its meeting at Woolwich, Sept. 19, 1811, "Voted to appoint the following brethren a com- mittee to sign the petition to the Legislature, viz. : Daniel Merrill, Samuel Baker, Joseph Bailey, Samuel Stinson, Hezekiah Prince and Benja. Burton."
The Cumberland Association, at a meeting at North Yarmouth, Oct. 3, 1811, appointed a committee of seven for the same purpose, viz. : Caleb Blood, Thomas Green, Sylvanus Boardman, Benjamin Titcomb, John Haynes, Ransom Norton, and Dea. Thomas Beck. Rev. Caleb Blood was appointed to present the petition to the Legis- lature. Mr. Blood doubtless gave early and earnest atten- tion to the business entrusted to him, but he failed to obtain the desired charter. Early in 1813, Rev. Daniel Merrill of Sedgwick, who was deeply interested in the proposed undertaking, went to Boston and devoted himself to the task of securing the desired action on the part of the General Court. He found there many adversaries. When at length the matter came before the General Court, as Mr. Merrill wrote to his wife Feb. 21, 1813, "The opposers of our King formed themselves in battle array. Their most eloquent orators came forward in their might. One infidel doctor, one Babylonish minister, three lawyers and one judge, with I know not how many others, spoke in opposition. One pious doctor, two respectable lawyers and many pious souls, by their prayers helped."
Mr. Merrill's efforts were crowned with success. The Senate Committee, of which Hon. John Phillips was chair- man, reported Feb. 19, 1813, leave to bring in a bill. The bill was introduced, and after the adoption of trifling amendments it was passed, and the Governor added his approval Feb. 27, 1813.
Concerning the persons mentioned in the act of incor- poration, Dr. Champlin says : "Daniel Merrill, formerly a Congregational minister, was at this time pastor of the Baptist church in Sedgwick; Caleb Blood was pastor of the Federal St. Baptist church in Portland; Sylvanus Boardman was pastor of the Baptist church at North Yar-
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
mouth, and Thomas Green had been a former pastor of the same church and was still residing there ; Robert Low was pastor of the Baptist church in Readfield ; Benjamin Titcomb, pastor of the Baptist church in Brunswick ; Thomas Francis, pastor of the Baptist church in Leeds ; Ransom Norton, pastor of the Second Baptist church in Livermore; Daniel McMasters, pastor of the Baptist church in Sullivan ; Samuel Stinson, pastor of the Baptist church in Woolwich; John Haynes, pastor of the First Baptist church in Livermore; Samuel Baker, associate pastor of the Baptist church in Thomaston ; Joseph Bailey, pastor of the Baptist church in Ballstown, now Whitefield ; Phinehas Pilsbury, pastor of the Baptist church in Noble- borough. Of the other corporators, Alford Richardson was a prominent member of the Federal St. Baptist church of Portland; John Neal, a member of the Second Baptist church in Litchfield ; Moses Dennett, a member of the Second Baptist church in Bowdoin; John Hovey, a member of the Baptist church in Mt. Vernon ; David Nel- son, a member of the Baptist church in New Gloucester ; the Hon. James Campbell, better known as Judge Camp- bell, a prominent member of the First Baptist church in Cherryfield, and Hezekiah Prince, a member of the Bap- tist church in Thomaston." 1
The institution thus established was restricted in its location to the "township of land six miles square, to be laid out and assigned from any of the unappropriated lands" of the district. The township selected was on the west side of the Penobscot river, constituting now the towns of Alton and Argyle, about fifteen miles north of Bangor. "It proved an excellent territory for timber, and the institution in process of time realized a very handsome sum from it," says Dr. Champlin. "But the very excel- lence of the township for timber unfitted it, of course, for the location of a school. Even common schools have not long been established in that township, much less could a theological school have been established there. The
1 Historical Discourse at the Fiftieth Anniversary of Colby University, pp. 14, 15.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
restriction was indeed a singular one, and one cannot help suspecting that it was a cunning device to defeat the whole project, or, at least, to secure in this case, as formerly, that if the voice of John the Baptist must be heard at all, it should be heard only 'crying in the wilder- ness.' "'1 But the friends of the new institution believed that sooner or later this restriction would be removed, and they at length presented a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts asking for its removal. The petition was granted, and by an act approved June 15, 1816, the corpo- rators were empowered "to locate and establish their buildings in any town within the counties of Kennebec or Somerset."
The value of an educational institution in a new and growing community was recognized, and several towns were desirous of securing the prize. At a meeting of the corporation in the year following the passage of the supplementary act of 1816, a committee was appointed "to visit those towns which had used their efforts and given encouragement to have the institution located with them, viz., Farmington, Bloomfield and Waterville, and report at the next meeting." This committee reported in favor of Bloomfield, but for some reason not fully explained2 in the records, the trustees at a meeting held in Bath, Oct. 1, 1817, voted to establish the institution at Waterville.
At the same meeting of the board in which this action was taken, a committee was appointed to select a site in Waterville for the proposed institution, and another com- mittee to report candidates for professorships at the next meeting in February, 1818. The plot purchased was the so-called Vaughan lot, eighty-six rods wide, extending
1 President Champlin's Historical Discourse at the Fiftieth Anniversary of Colby Uni- versity, Aug. 2, 1870, p. 4.
2 "Possibly," says Dr. Champlin, "this action may have been in consequence of larger sums having been pledged by Waterville than by the other towns. These, however, we should not consider at the present day anything very alarming. The town, as a corpora- tion, pledged, but on account of legal objections never paid, three thousand dollars, while the inhabitants of the town and vicinity subscribed two thousand dollars for the benefit of the institution, in case it was established at Waterville." Semi-Centennial Discourse, pp. 4, 5.
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HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN MAINE.
from the Kennebec to the Emerson stream, and contain- ing one hundred and seventy-nine acres. This was bought in 1818 of R. H. Gardiner for $1,797.50.1
The committee on candidates for professorships reported the names of Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin of Danvers, Mass., for professor of theology and Rev. Irah Chase of Westford, Vt., for professor of languages. They were accordingly elected, and it was provided that instruction in the insti- tution should commence May 1, 1818. Rev. Irah Chase declined his appointment. Upon Mr. Chaplin, therefore, - as no other appointment was made, -devolved the ardu- ous task of laying the foundations of this new educa- tional enterprise.2 Mr. Chaplin was graduated at Brown University with the highest honors of the class of 1799, and for two years was a tutor at Brown. He then studied theology with Rev. Thomas Baldwin of Boston, and in 1802, or 1803, became pastor of the Baptist church in Dan- vers, Mass. Here he remained until 1818, with the excep- tion of a year spent in New York, in 1804, as pastor of the First Baptist church.
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