USA > Maine > Washington County > Dennysville > Memorial of the 100th anniversary of the settlement of Dennysville, Maine, 1886 > Part 5
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The children received their first instruction in their log homes from their parents. They were all competent to give this instruc- tion. According to Ridpath's United States History, "In the times preceding the revolution, there was not to be found in all New England an adult person, born in the country, who could not read and write." Mr. Bancroft says, " It was ever a custom, and in 1643 it became a law, that none of the brethren should suffer so much barbarism in their families, as not to teach their children and ap- prentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly to read the English language." In 1647, it was the law, that every township containing fifty householders, should support a teacher.
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DENNYSVILLE CENTENNIAL.
The first mention that I have been able to find of any school in this settlement was in 1802. At a plantation meeting in that year, it was voted to raise one hundred and fifty dollars for schools; it was also voted to appoint a committee of five to district the plantation, - and that the members of the committee be the heads of the districts. These districts, of course, included Pembroke and Dennysville. This is the entire record of the doings of the plantation for schools during its history, that is, up to the year 1818. But this brief record indicates that there were schools in the plantation before this, and of course they were kept up every year after this.
The first school house in this village was near the end of the lower bridge. We do not know when it was built. In the year 1803, a Miss Ellis, of Machias, was the teacher. Her name stands first on the long list of teachers here. The next teacher, so far as we can learn, was Mr. Benjamin R. Jones. He came in 1805, and began teaching in that year, and taught both day and evening schools for several years. In the year 1806, a Miss DeWolf taught here.
In the year 1817, a building was erected on the ground where this meeting-house stands, to be used for schools, and as a place of worship. It was not built by the district, but by a Company. The property was divided into twenty shares. A part was owned by persons living in Edmunds. Subsequently, the shares were bought by Judge Lin- coln, and sold to the district. This building has been known for a good many years as the old schoolhouse. The older persons present today, well remember that old schoolhouse. A remarkably graphic and charming sketch of the old house and the old scenes witnessed there, was prepared some twenty-five years ago, by the late Mr. Thomas Lincoln, for the Dennysville Lyceum. I am sure you will all be glad to listen to it.
THE OLD SCHOOLHOUSE.
" A few weeks ago, about this time of night, the little bell of an ancient schoolhouse, which once stood where the meeting-house now stands, was heard to ring out a few notes, after its dead silence of so many long years. Then was brought to mind its old gray walls once perched upon the brow of the hill, which overlooked the most beautiful river ever schoolboy gazed upon. The unbroken horizon of dark woods was not so far off in those days, and trees lined the river banks. There was no 'street' then, but a narrow and quiet
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cart road followed the course of the river. From the windows of that little perch, the bluish tops of distant hills in the woods could be seen, giving the little child his first and most vivid conception of how large the world really was. It did not enter his simple thoughts, that he was not exactly in the center of all things; for was not the highest point in the blue arch of heaven, directly over his head, and the further end of the world just beyond those hills ?
" Within and around the walls of that plain structure, the school days of many were passed, who still believe that there was some- thing in the scene, the air, the place, or the fellowship which made it well for them to be there. Of course, no striking events for good or evil, could have occurred to mar its quiet, and the writer ventures on these little reminiscences, only because he feels that, trifling as they may be, there are those who will welcome anything that reminds them of the days when, in that old house, they were called out to read, -and with what clear, ringing voices, -in the 'English Reader,' the 'Introduction,' and the 'Sequel.' Who of us has ever forgotton 'The Deserted Village,'-the fearful life-close of 'Altamont,' 'Gray's Elegy,' 'Seged,' or 'Corporal Trim' ? and many other pieces, both merry and sad ?
" On the front row of pine benches used to sit the older scholars,- those who studied in 'Adams' Arithmetic,' and copied out the whole book, sums and all, in manuscript. These were important and wonderful personages to the little ones who sat farther back in the room, and who would peer over to examine their mysterious doings, and long for the day when they too should get into the front seat, next the great chimney, and write in a large book, and read the Sequel.
"Some will remember the gleeful days when we were all dismissed to see the trainers in the famous training times. Then too, what a rush when some kind hearted neighbor came to the door to announce that the falls' dam was going to be cut in about half an hour? There was certainly a jam broke at the doorway, in a very few moments, and a rush and tumble, in advance of that at the falls, The day before Thanksgiving, too, what a mellow time ! The Gov- ernors knew how to make skating on that day then, but have lost the art since. I well remember one of the boys jocularly informing his companions, after school, that he expected to cut up about two acres of ice at the big meadow on the morrow :- the big meadow 5
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was surrounded by tall green woods then, and there were two acres of ice apiece. Summer and winter, each brought their memorable happenings. Many lived at a long distance; these always carried a little red firkin or basket for their dinners. Some came two miles or more, all the way through the woods; and thought to give up their firkin and its valuable contents to the bears, if pressed too hard. With what childish wonder and dread, one day, we all gathered around a man in the road who was carrying the grim and bloody head of a bear, - all frightful and child-devouring as it looked ! If such dreadful objects roamed in the depths of those dark and silent woods, what wonder that we stood in awe of them !
" But it was not for its more specific purposes alone, that we re- member that old schoolhouse. There, one winter many years ago, we gathered a few evenings to learn to sing. For a long time I have not heard the songs we learned, nor one anthem we sung. But the richest of those grand old chants and symphonies continued to un- fold their meaning to us ever afterward. Others newer and more ephemeral, we then first heard. One evening when we first learned the strain to which these words were sung: -
' While with ceaseless course, the sun Hasted through the former year, Many souls their race have run, Never more to meet us here,-'
a man's voice was suddenly silent, and we saw tears in the eyes of one who is himself never more to meet us here.
" Here too were held the meetings on Sundays, and on such other rare occasions as happened. New seats near the desk were added in later years, to accommodate the greater numbers, and all were full. And it is among the earliest recollections of some of us, - our going up to meeting there as little children, -too young indeed to under- stand much of the services, but not too young to gaze off through the windows at the distant horizon, and the mysterious region, in- vested in the hues of our own dreamy and religious fancies, where the clouds of the sky and the earth meet together, and where - in the temple which God builds in the minds of little children, we held undisturbed our own meetings, till all returned home together.
" But school and meeting, week-day and Sunday, winter and sum- mer have all been receding into the past, while with ceaseless course
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the sun has hastened through these former years. When we re- member the young voices that once made musical, and the faces that lighted that old school room, - when we recall from the land of shadows, whole rows once seated there on Sundays, -of old and middle-aged and young, - now all swept away: - we should be un- worthy indeed if we did not revisit, in thought most tenderly, the place which once knew them to know them no more.
" There is a little drawing still in existence, taken nearly half a cen- tury ago, embracing the house and hill, and part of the landscape up and down the river, which would gladden the eyes of those who knew the scenes of old. There the schoolhouse stands just as it stood in that far off period which to them seems like time they dreamed of, or once spent in another world. They could not rest till they had timidly pushed open the door, or looked into the win- dows, to see if all was just as they left it when they wandered away."
Mr. Lincoln's touching memorial of the old schoolhouse brings us down to the year 1833. When, in that year, it was proposed to build a meeting-house, no lot seemed so fitting and desirable as the old schoolhouse lot on which to place the new meeting-house. Accord- ingly, the district sold to the proprietors of the meeting-house the larger part of the lot, and the schoolhouse was removed to the spot where the present schoolhouse stands. That house remained, doing faithful service as a place for mental training until 1857, when it was taken down and the present commodious and attractive school-build- ing was erected.
We have no record of the beginning of the school in the lower part of the town. In the early part of the century there was a schoolhouse there. That part of the town was then known as the Tide Mill District. The present schoolhouse in that district was. built in 1874.
For many years the town raised for schools about one dollar per scholar. At the present time, more than five dollars per scholar are. expended for our schools. From an official connection with the schools for about twenty years, and from a still wider knowledge, I am glad to be able to say, that the town has carefully and generously attended to the needs of her schools.
Besides the public town schools freely and generously supported, private schools have from time to time been sustained. My sketch
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would not be complete if I did not speak of the Dennysville Acad- emy. This institution was incorporated in 1846. Some of the citi- zens of the place felt the need of better privileges for their children than the town was able to give. And so, without any fund or en- dowment, with only the limited means afforded by the people them- selves, the school was opened. A suitable and substantial building was erected, and apparatus was furnished. The successive teachers were generally well qualified and successful. Scholars came here from other parts of the county. The Academy continued in active operation for about eight years. But it was found that the cost of sustaining it was too great a burden upon the few who were inter- ested in it. It was found too, that the absence of the best scholars from the public schools, and the special interest in the Academy had been unfavorable to the other schools. Therefore the proprietors of the Academy gave up the enterprise; but the fact that in this little hamlet, these few men, with no outside help, should plan and exe- cute this enterprise, is most creditable to their educational zeal, and to their wisdom and liberality. We doubt if anything like it has ever been done elsewhere under similar circumstances and con- ditions. It was an anticipation of our present high school system. The founders of the Academy were thirty years ahead of the times.
In closing this educational sketch, I must mention the Public Li- brary. There was a Public Library here many years ago, but the organization expired, and the books were scattered. The present Library Association was formed in 1868. Its books have increased from year to year, until now it has about seven hundred volumes.
I proceed now to sketch the moral and religious history of the town. The town has always had a name and reputation for order and mor- ality. Those who have access to the records of the courts of the county, tell us of the conspicuous absence of the name of Dennys- ville, in the lists of criminal cases before the Grand Juries. There has been from the first, a thoroughness and integrity in the character of the people, which is seen in all their work. They built their houses of the best material, and in the most substantial manner. Gales and fire have not destroyed them. It is a fact of significance, that in all these one hundred years, only one dwelling-house has been destroyed by fire in this village, and that fire occurring over seventy years ago, originated in an unfinished room, used for an evening school.
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The excellent roads of the town, show the moral character of the people. There is a close connection between the morals of a people, and their physical health. This town has been unusually free from severe forms of sickness, and from death. As an example of the health of the town, it was noticed that prior to 1881 in this village, containing on an average from eighty to ninety persons, between the ages of one and twenty-one years, only one of them died in a period of thirteen years.
This town was settled in the years when rum drinking was uni- versal. The temperance reformation began in the country about the year 1826. In that year the municipal officers granted five licenses to retail spirituous liquors: - two in this village and the rest in Pem- broke. In 1828, three licenses were granted, - probably all that ap- plied, -showing that the wave of reform had reached the place. In the next year only one license was granted, - probably because only one was sought; and the next year, it is recorded on the town books, that the selectmen, town clerk, and treasurer met for the purpose of granting licenses to retail intoxicating liquors, - and granted none,- because no one applied. And never afterward do we find any granting of such licenses.
On the tenth of August, 1828, only two years after the beginning of the temperance reformation in the country, a few people in this remote little settlement held a meeting for the purpose of forming a temperance society. Only seven persons were present. They ap- pointed a committee to draft a constitution, and voted to meet again in one week. August 17th, the meeting was held for the permanent organization. Ebenezer C. Wilder was chosen president, Benjamin R. Jones, secretary, and William Kilby and Benjamin Foster, com- mittee. Their pledge reads as follows: "We will not use any ar- dent spirits, - except when necessary as a medicine, -nor offer it to others by way of entertainment; and other things being equal, will give the preference to those laborers who do not use it." The number of members was fifteen. The next meeting was held in January, 1829; number of members, nineteen. The first annual meeting was held June 1, 1829. E. C. Wilder was chosen president, Benjamin R. Jones, secretary, and Benjamin Foster, William Kilby, and Aaron Hobart, managers. At this meeting it was voted to in- vite the ladies to become members; and John Kilby, William Wood,
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and Bela R. Reynolds were made a committee to extend the invita- tion to them.
In the report of the board of managers at this meeting, they say that -" For several years past, many of the inhabitants of this little neighborhood, extending less than three miles in any direction, and containing less than forty families, have viewed with much anxiety the very general use of ardent spirits as a common drink. Attempts have been made by many individuals to curtail the use of them in their own families and to induce others to do the same. Scarcely daring to indulge the hope that a sufficient number could be induced to unite in a society on the principle of total abstinence, the effects of their exertions were but partial. About the first of August last, a constitution was drawn up and signed by about seven names, and on the seventeenth of August the first meeting was held for organ- ization, and eight names were added. From that time to the second Monday in January last, to which time the meeting was adjourned, four more members were added, making, at that time, nineteen. At that meeting your managers reported that, 'according to appear- ances, the public opinion was daily growing more favorable to the views and object of your society, and that there was a pleasing pros- pect of a considerable increase of their numbers shortly. In this pleasing anticipation they have not been disappointed, and they have now the satisfaction of announcing to the society, that since the last meeting, a term of less than five months, thirty new members have set their hands to the constitution, making the present number fifty. All of them are males, and more than half of them heads of fam- ilies; and although several of them have but lately united themselves to the society, they have all, or the most of them, voluntarily ab- stained from the use of ardent spirits on ordinary occasions, for a considerable time previous to signing the constitution. We have also an increased conviction that the influence of the society extends far beyond its immediate members. In our opinion, there are not at this time, within the limits of the neighborhood which comprises every member of the society, so many as ten individuals who are in the habit of using ardent spirits on ordinary occasions."
This extract from the report of the managers of the society in 1829, shows that the principles of temperance, at the very beginning of the great reformation, commended themselves to the good judg- ment of this community. This record seems very remarkable, when
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we remember that only a year or two before, many of these persons were not only in the habit of using intoxicating liquor, but had ac- quired that appetite for it which its use creates. This first temper- ance movement here, not only became almost universal in the com- munity, but it was also permanent and abiding. From that day to this, this community has been almost wholly free from the use of intoxicating drinks. Total abstinence has been the law of the place. For upward of sixty years the sale of rum has not been allowed, and the curse of its use has scarcely been known. Thank God for that early temperance movement here.
The report of the managers of the society refers to the territory in the limits of the society as containing "less than forty families." A list of the heads of the families, with the number of persons in each family, is appended to the report. The list is as follows: -
H. Reynolds,
7 Z. Wilder,
A. Gardner. 2
8
T. Lincoln jr., 9
7 Wm. Kilby,
9
7 Thos. Eastman, 5
7 D. C. MeLaughlan, 6
S. Foster,
3
8 J. Mayhew,
7
7 Eph. Wilder,
5
J. Preston, 3 Jas. Farley, 9 R. Dudley,
4 N. Preston,
6 3
C. Benner, 5 A. Hobart, 7 B. R. Jones,
8
N. Preston, 6 N. Jones, 7 D. Smith,
8
A. Gardner jr., 5 T. W. Allan, Benjamin Foster, 9 E. C. Wilder, J. Kilby, 12 T. Kilby. John Smith, 10 J. Reynolds, B. Short, 6 Theo. Lincoln, 10 B. R. Reynolds, 5 A. Stiles, S. Page, 7 T. Wilder, E. C. Wilder jr., 5 D. Sprague, J. W. McCabe, 4 Wm. Smith, 4 9
This old society continued its organization for quite a number of years. In 1834, Theodore Lincoln jr., was its president, and Ben- jamin Foster, its secretary. In 1836, E. C. Wilder was its president, and Isaac Eastman, its secretary. After this came the Washingto- nian movement. That gave new interest to the subject, though its results were generally transient. A division of the Sons of Temper- ance was formed here in 1847; this continued some ten years. An- other division was formed in 1863. After this came the Good Tem- plars, and then the W. C. T. U., which still survives. For more than fifty years this community has been remarkably free from the evils of intoxicating liquors. God grant that it may so remain.
The settlers that landed here one hundred years ago, brought the Bible with them. They brought with them the principles of moral- ity and religion which had been taught them in the churches and homes from which they came. But in the new settlement, in the
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struggle for a home and a living, they could not have the religious privileges of older and larger settlements. Probably pioneer mis- sionaries came here and held meetings in the early years, but we have no record of them till the beginning of the present century. On the fifteenth of September, 1801, toward night, three men were noticed coming out of the woods on the western side of the settle- ment. They were Rev. Jotham Sewall, Rev. Abijah Wines, and Rev. Jonathan Fisher. They had come from Machias, through more than twenty miles of unbroken forest. They were faint and weary when they reached this settlement. Probably they were too tired to hold a meeting, for no meeting was held. After resting for the night, they proceded to Pembroke. Messrs. Fisher and Wines went on to Robbinston. Mr. Sewall remained at Pembroke and held a meeting. On the following Sabbath he preached in Eastport. On Monday, September 24th, he returned to this village, and in the evening the people gathered for a religious meeting. Father Sewall preached from the text, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation." He records in his diary, that during the services, " some were in tears." This is the first record of preaching in Dennysville. Evidently the preacher found here a people interested in the gospel. It may have been the first sermon some of them had heard since they left their homes in Massachusetts, many years be- fore. The occasion called to mind privileges which they once enjoyed and prized. These memories touched their hearts, and caused the tears to flow. Perhaps, too, in the rough scenes of frontier life, and in the absence of religious privileges, their characters had lapsed in some degree. The Bible and the Sabbath had been neglected. The claims of the Saviour and their spiritual interests had been forgotten. This sermon caused the tear of penitence to fall, and awakened as- pirations for a better life.
The good missionary left for Machias on the following day. We do not know of any preaching here again for more than two years. On the last day of the year 1803, Rev. Jotham Sewall came again to this place. The first day of the year 1804 was the Sabbath. Mr. Sewall preached both morning and afternoon from the text, "This year thou shalt die." He says in his diary, "I do not think I ever had a more solemn day. It seemed to me that the declaration would be fulfilled on some then present; and I afterward learned that two or three of the congregation died before the year expired." Six
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persons on that day were led to begin a Christian life. The next day was spent by Mr. Sewall in fasting and prayer. In the evening he preached from the text, "And he was speechless." The assembly seemed to be deeply moved by the services. In October, of the same year, he returned again, and found that the good seed he had sown had taken root. A meeting was held at Pembroke, then a part of this town, to consider the expediency of forming a Congrega- tional church, but no organization was then effected.
Near the middle of October, 1805, the same missionary came to Denny's River once more; and at this time the question of forming a church in this village was considered. Several persons were de- sirous of forming a church, but the most of them were open com- munion Baptists. They had been baptized in infancy, but were not satisfied with this; they wished to be immersed. He determined to ask for guidance from God, by spending a day in fasting and prayer. In seeking for a retired place, he was directed to the barn out in the " Big Meadow." There he spent the entire day. No action respect- ing a church was taken till nearly a fortnight afterward. Then it appeared that some change of views had taken place. Ten persons were ready to form a Congregational church. Four of them wished to be immersed, and this wish was granted. The church was organ- ized on the Sabbath, October 27th, 1805. The names of the mem- bers were :- Nathan Preston, Bela Wilder, William Kilby, Samuel Jones, Jonathan Reynolds, Theophilus Wilder jr., Samuel Sprague, Samuel Jones jr., Persis Reynolds, wife of Jonathan Reynolds, and Hannah Wilder, wife of Bela Wilder. The Wilders and Reynolds lived in Pembroke, the Joneses lived in Robbinston, and the rest lived here. At that time there were only two churches, of any de- nomination, in this part of the State, the Congregational church in Machias, formed in 1782, and the Baptist church in Eastport, formed in 1798.
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