USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Livermore > Notes, historical, descriptive, and personal, of Livermore, in Androscoggin (formerly in Oxford) county, Maine > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14
At the annual meeting March 6, 1796, Elisha Williams was elected moderator; Samuel Hillman, clerk and treasurer; and Da- vid Learned, Sylvanus Boardman, and Thomas Chase, selectmen.
May 9, 1796, chose Isaac Livermore delegate to attend a conven- tion to be held in Paris.
March 6, 1797, Elisha Williams was chosen moderator; Cyrus Hamlin, clerk and treasurer; David Learned, Haines Learned, and Isaac Livermore, selectmen; Abijah Monroe, Samuel Hillman, and
61
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
Daniel Clark, assessors. Voted not to act on the eighth article in the warrant, which was to consider " the desire of William Lindsey and other inhabitants of the south-east part of the town requesting their being set off to the town of Littlesborough " (Leeds).
On the seventeenth of April of this year the line of the old cen- tral highway of the town was changed by vote of the town as fol- lows: Voted to alter the road running from the outlet of Saberdy Pond* by Mr. Nathaniel Dailey's to Mr. Isaac Lovewell's, viz., run- ning two rods the west side of Nathaniel Dailey's house, thence north within six rods of the west side of David Learned's houset to an oak stump, thence on north to the west side of Dr. Hamlin's house about two rods, thence on to Mr. Lovewell's where it is now traveled.
1798, March 5. At the annual meeting this day "the presence, aid, and blessing of the Supreme Law Giver was invoked by Mr. Elisha Williams in a prayer peculiarly elegant and pertinent." The following officers, among others, were chosen: Elisha Williams, moderator; Cyrus Hamlin, clerk and treasurer; Isaac Livermore, Abijah Monroe, and Daniel Clark, selectmen; Nathaniel Perley, Peter Haines, and Benjamin True, assessors.
1799, March 4. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin was chosen moderator, and Elisha Williams was chosen clerk and treasurer. Benjamin True, David Learned, and Abijah Monroe were elected selectmen, and Nathaniel Perley, Peter Haines, and David Morse, assessors.
1800. $1,000 was voted for highway repairs, also $100 for a road from John Records' to the south line of the town, and $100 for building a bridge at the outlet of Turner Pond.# $300 was raised for schools and $50 for town charges.
1801, March 2. Dr. Hamlin was chosen moderator, and Gen. Learned clerk and treasurer, and five selectmen were elected, viz., Sylvanus Boardman, Nathaniel Perley, Pelatiah Gibbs, Samuel Ben- jamin, and Uriah Foss. At au adjournment at the Baptist meeting- house $300 was voted for breaking roads in the winter.
1802, May 5. Voted that the representatives of Livermore be instructed to oppose the proposed bridge across Androscoggin River at Davis' Mills (the Falls) in Livermore and advocate the proposed bridge in Jay.
At the annual town-meeting April 6, 1812, Rev. Joshua Soule, afterwards Bishop Soule, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was elected moderator. He was a member of the school committee in
*Bartlett's Pond. tNow owned by heirs of Capt. Otis Pray.
#Now called Brettun's Pond.
62
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
1816, and was for several years a respected and influential citizen of the town.
In March, 1839, the town purchased of William Thompson the farm situated on the road from North Livermore to the Falls, the same now or recently owned and occupied by Leander Bigelow, on which to make provision for the support of its poor. This farm was sold in 1843, and that formerly owned by Thomas Chase, on the east side of Long Pond and northerly of Gibbs' Mills, was bought of Phineas Gibbs March 19, 1860, and is now occupied for a home for the poor. A practice had previously existed, and one which was common to a large number of the country towns in Maine and New England, of striking off the support of the town paupers in open town-meeting to the lowest bidder. At the spring meet- ing held April 2, 1821, the usual vote was passed "to set up the poor of the town at public auction," and Mrs. L- and four chil- dren were bid off at $2.99 per week; that is, the lowest bidder agreed to provide for and support them for a year for this sum. S-h C-e, a spinster who lived to be nearly one hundred years old, a member of one of the churches in town, and a famous tea drinker in her day, whose recipe for tea making of " a spunful for a pairson and a spunful for the pot" was favorably regarded by her old lady friends, was struck off at the price of seventeen cents per week! The auction continued until contracts were made for the maintenance of twelve human beings for a year at the smallest ex- pense for which any one would contract to support them. That such a practice at this day would seem inhuman, and have no toler- ance among the people of the town, is evidence that, whatever may be her relation to the past in respect to material interests, to out- ward growth or decay, in those matters which refer to our common humanity, and have regard to the influence of Christian civilization among men, she occupies a position greatly in advance of that which she held fifty years ago.
The first militia company in town was organized in 1800. David Learned was captain; William Coolidge, lieutenant; Henry Saw- telle, ensign. This company embraced all the territory west of the river. In 1803, the company was divided, making two companies on the west side of the river, and in the same year a company was or- ganized on the east side. Previous to the division Learned had been elected major of the regiment and Coolidge had moved away.
63
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
The first officers of the north company were Jesse Stone, captain ; Jacob Gibbs, lieutenant; Thomas Chase, jr., ensign. Of the south company the first officers were Henry Sawtelle, captain; James Starbird, lieutenant; Joseph Mills, ensign. Of the east company the officers first elected were Peter Haines, captain; Robert Morri- son, lieutenant; Theodore Marston, ensign.
In 1809, a company of cavalry was formed in Livermore, a majori- ty of whose members were residents of the town. The first officers were Samuel Atwood, captain; Isaac Talbot, of Turner, first lieu- tenant ; -- , second lieutenant ; Aaron S. Barton, of Dixfield,
cornet. Subsequently, the officers and members of the company were nearly always inhabitants of Livermore. The captains of the company elected after Captain Atwood were Simeon Waters, Daniel Coolidge, Alpheus Kendall, Isaac Strickland, Otis Pray, Hastings Strickland, Matthew M. Stone, Hezekiah Atwood, Elisha Coolidge, and Rufus Hewett. The company was constituted for many years, in large proportion, of the intelligent and active young men of the town, and was imbued with the true military spirit. It was the pride of the people. No boy or girl belonging to the town ever attended the "general muster," at Canton Point, and saw the " troopers " enter the field, mounted upon the finest horses that could be procured for the occasion, and clothed in scarlet, but was proud to acknowledge that he (or she) too hailed from Livermore.
From these organizations graduated many a local military celebri- ty, facile princeps among whom was Colonel Billy Benjamin, every inch a soldier, whose voice rich, but thunder-toned, and whose man- ly form and martial bearing as he rode upon the field on muster-day, calling "Attention, the regiment!" will not be forgotten by any person who was privileged to be present on one of those notable occasions.
In the late civil war the loyal men of Livermore rallied to the support of their country's flag with promptness and alacrity. She contributed, as they were called for, her full quotas of volunteers, made generous provision for the families of her absent soldiers, and has cheerfully paid to the last dollar all assessments made and all liabilities incurred on account of the war.
In the appendix will be found the names of those who gave their services to their country in its hour of peril. In what manner this ' inland country town performed her duty in " the uprising of a great people " may be inferred from this roll of honor. It contains ninety- four names in a population of less than fifteen hundred !
64
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
CHAPTER VI.
MATTERS RELIGIOUS AND ECCLESIASTICAL.
DEACON LIVERMORE, the founder of the town, was not only a Congregationalist, but the deacon of a church of that denomination in Watertown, before he came to Port Royal, and it would seem reasonable to suppose that his earliest care, after the planting of his settlement had well commenced, would have been to establish a church of his own faith among his people. Undoubtedly, this was his desire and purpose, and this presumption is supported by the fact that a special effort was made to this end about the year 1793, and that preaching was had, from time to time, by Rev. John Strick- land and others who were Congregationalist ministers. But from some cause, of which no positive and well accepted account remains, this attempt was unsuccessful. It is believed, however, that it will not be difficult to form from the facts which are known a satisfactory hypothesis as to what this cause was. Deacon Livermore was, in the first place, more a practical than a controversial or proselyting Christian, and, in the second place, he inclined to that school of his church which was arminian rather than calvinistic in doctrine. And while it is true that the larger part of the settlers during the early years of the town were Congregationalists, there were a con- siderable number who were not; and of the Congregationalists a portion were Calvinists. The Rev. Elisha Williams, a son-in-law of Dea. Livermore, was a Baptist and Calvinist, and a movement was made, in which some of the most earnest and zealous men in the town participated, to gather a Baptist Church. As all positive and sincere efforts are apt to be, this was rewarded with speedy and marked success. But it did not receive the sympathy of Dea. Liv- ermore, and so having failed to plant a church of his own denomina- tion, he found himself, as between the two sects which sought his favor and membership, more in sympathy with the Methodists, rep- resented in the town by Rev. Jesse Lee, and who had gathered about him not a few enthusiastic believers, than with the Baptists.
65
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
These, then, were the militant and aggressive religious and ecclesi- astical forces in the town; and a vigorous contest was maintained by each to justify by the results it achieved the superiority of its faith to that of its rival, and its better adaptedness to the needs and condition of the people. But all this while many settlers who, like Dea. Livermore, had been connected with Congregationalist Churches, or (if not church members) with Congregationalist fami- lies and parishes, and who, like him, were not inclined to attach themselves to a church or society of Calvinists, unlike him, were not attracted to the Methodists. They were men who would have been glad to be connected with a church or parish of the "Standing Or- der" if there had been one, and who, if such an organization had been made, would very probably have gone, in after years, with that section of the denomination which followed Dr. Channing and the Wares in their revolt against the orthodoxy of the day. And so, be- ing left as sheep without a shepherd, when, during the last years of the eighteenth century, Rev. Isaac Root and Rev. Thomas Barnes, itinerating disciples of the Universalist faith, came among them, they felt at liberty to hear and give hospitable reception to the doc- trines of these pioneers, the only champions with them of the Broad Church. These denominations, the Baptist, Methodist, and Univer- salist, have been the principal and almost the only organized ecclesi- astical bodies in town to the present time. Their relative strength, as exhibited by the per capita division of the ministerial fund for 1871, and which does not greatly vary from the average returns for the last half century, is Baptists, thirty parts; Methodists, twenty- eight parts; Universalists, fifty-eight parts; all others, thirteen parts. This fund was derived from the sale of lots of land in the town which had been reserved and set apart, in the original grant, for this object. The land was sold many years ago and the proceeds were funded, the income only being used by the several denomina- tions, according to their respective numbers.
The zeal and interest in religious matters exhibited by the people of the town in the first stage of its history are illustrated in some notes by Thomas Chase, Esq., made in 1852, in the blank pages of Major Fish's Journal,* of which the following extract is given "Livermore was famous for producing preachers at an early day. The first was Henry Bond, of Watertown, Mass., about 1797. He
*This Journal may be found in the appendix.
66
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
died in Livermore." (There are two errors in this extract ; first, Mr. Bond-if his son, Dr. Bond, is correct in his "Genealogies"-was not a clergyman, but was a school-master, and secondly, he died in March, 1796. But Perez Ellis, not mentioned by Mr. Chase, was a Baptist minister about this time.) "The second was Otis Robinson. He moved to Shapleigh, then to Salisbury, N. H. The third was Elisha Williams. . The fourth was Zebedee Delano, from Win- throp. He went to Lebanon. The fifth was Samuel Hillman, from Martha's Vineyard, a Methodist. He died in Monmouth; was one of the ' four partners.' The sixth was Samuel Simmons, of Connec- ticut. He was a soldier of the Revolution; was at the taking of Montreal, the battle of Quebec under Gen. Montgomery, the taking of Gen. Burgoyne under Gen. Arnold, and many other battles, and lastly, at the battle of Monmouth. He died in Canton, Oxford County." (Franklin Simmons, the sculptor, who is now living in Rome, is the great grandson of this man.) "The seventh was Sylva- nus Boardman, from Martha's Vineyard. He died in New Sharon ; was one of the 'four partners.' The eighth was Thomas Wyman. He died at Livermore; was a son of Abram Wyman, of Woburn, Mass., an Indian fighter. The ninth was Levi Walker, from Milford, Mass. He was son of John Walker, who went with Benedict Arnold to Quebec; was first a Methodist, afterwards a Baptist. He went to Massachusetts. The last I knew of him he was at Stoning- ton, Conn. The tenth was Pliny Brett. He returned to Bridge- water, Mass., where he originated; was a Methodist. The eleventh was Ransom Norton, from Martha's Vineyard. He died at Liver- more and was one of the 'four partners.'"
The "four partners," mentioned above, the names of three of whom are here given-the other was James Norton-came from Martha's Vineyard to Livermore about the same time, and under some agreement to share with each other their gains and losses.
BAPTISTS.
The first denomination fairly in the field was the Baptist. A brief but interesting history of this church has been contributed by its pastor (1873), Rev. Carleton Parker, and is as follows :
" HISTORY OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH .- The formation of the first Baptist Church in Livermore was the result of a revival which oc- curred in a somewhat singular manner in the year of 1793. Mr. Z. Delano, who subsequently became a Baptist preacher, but then a
67
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
thoughtless sinner, while on a visit in Winthrop, heard a sermon preached by Elder Case, in the Congregational meeting-house, from Romans i. 5. While listening to the preacher the Lord discovered to him his wretched condition as a sinner. He returned home, filled with a sense of his own sinful ways, and remained for some time in a distressed state of mind. At length he submitted his heart to Christ and commenced the worship of God in his own family, but revealed not his new-found hopes to his neighbors. His light, how- ever, was not long hidden; an interesting providence of God brought it forth. Elisha Williams, son of a Congregational minis- ter, of East Hartford, Conn., a liberally educated young man, was at that time in Livermore teaching school. One morning, while pass- ing to the school-house, he called on Mr. Delano and found him en- gaged in his religious devotions with his family. Being himself thoughtless, and not knowing of a pious family in town, this unex- pected event made a deep impression and was blessed of God to the salvation of his soul. Before reaching his school-house he was so overpowered with a sense of his lost condition that he called upon God for mercy. God heard, and he was soon rejoicing in a Saviour's love. This was the commencement of a work of grace among the people. The converts had distinct and cheering views of the doc- trines of the gospel, and were bold to invite sinners to Christ. As usual, opposition became violent, but the grace of God prevailed, and many were made new creatures in Christ Jesus. Several be- came Baptists, and on the 7th of August, 1793, a regular Baptist Church was duly organized, consisting of seventeen members .* The organization took place in a barn, now owned and occupied by Mr. James Chase. Frequent and large additions were made to this church. For a time they met in a school-house; then they built a small meeting-house in which they worshiped until 1807, when they erected a new meeting-house at the Corner, now called North Liver- more. In the first revival Elder Case, of Readfield, and Mr. Smith, of Fayette, were the principal Baptist ministers. Mr. Smith aided the church a short period after it was organized. Rev. Sylvanus Boardman and Rev. Ransom Norton were among those whom God called at that time with an holy calling. Rev. Zebedee Delano and
"The names of original members are as follows: Daniel Holman, Pelatiah Gibbs, Isaac Lovewell, Elisha Williams, Otis Robinson, Henry Bond, James Delano, Zebedee Delano, Thomas Wyman, Peter Godding, David Reed, Anna Gibbs, Hannah Robinson, Mary Delano, Susanna Wyman, Grace Delano, Catherine Walker.
68
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
Rev. Elisha Williams entered at once upon the work of the minis- try. Six others also have gone out of this church as ministers of the gospel, viz., Henry Bond,* Otis Robinson, William Goding, Thomas Wyman, Jason Livermore, and William Wyman. Isaac Lovewell, one of the original members, distinguished himself by his benevolence and liberality. He sustained a large share in the erec- tion of their second house of worship, and at his death he made a donation to the church of $810 to aid the support of the gospel.
The following are the names of the pastors, with the year of their settlement : Rev. Sylvanus Boardman, 1802; Rev. John Haynes, 1811 ; Rev. David Nutter, 1824; Rev. R. Milner, 1834; Rev. Na- than Chapman, 1836; Rev. Charles Miller, 1839; Rev. John Billings, 1844; Rev. A. B. Pendleton, 1846; Rev. David Nutter, 1849; Rev. Lucius Bradford, 1853; Rev. William A. Durfee, 1859; Rev. E. S. Fish, 1861; Rev. Carleton Parker, 1871.
This church has, by numerous dismissions, aided in the organiza- tion of four churches in its vicinity. Notwithstanding these dismissions, and numerous others to individuals who have removed their relation to churches where they now reside, God in mercy has, at different times, made additions. Within the last two years twenty-nine have been added to this church; the whole number of members is now ninety-six. The meeting-house built in 1807 was burned down in 1847, and the present one was dedicated to the worship of God in 1848. In the summer and fall of 1871 this house was thoroughly repaired, painted, and carpeted. A nice chandelier was presented to the church by Mr. Arad Thompson, of Bangor, Me., and Mr. Erastus Thompson, of Hopkinton, Mass., sons of the late Dea. Ira Thompson, of Livermore."
It appears by the town records that on the 2d of October, 1807, the town voted " to accept the Rev. Sylvanus Boardman as town minister, to have the remaining part of right of land by giving secu- rity for $450 to be divided between the Methodist and Universalist so- cieties." For some reason this plan was not carried into execution, 110 payment or security was made to the other societies, and Mr. Board- man labored rather as the minister of the Baptists than of the town. He was, however, greatly respected by the people, without regard to church or sect, and exercised a large and wholesome influence in the town. He was a representative from Livermore in the legislature of
*As to Mr. Bond see page 66.
69
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
the Commonwealth in 1802. His son, the Rev. George Dana Boardman, the distinguished and devoted missionary, was born in Livermore Feb. 8, 1801. He died in Burmah Feb. 11, 1831. He graduated at Waterville College in the class of 1822, studied at the Theological Seminary in Andover, and was ordained at North Yar- mouth, Me., Feb. 16, 1825. He sailed for Calcutta in the same year, where he arrived on the 2d of December. He acquired the Burman language and entered upon his labors at Maulmain in 1827, and planted a mission which became the central point of all the Baptist missions in Burmah. He was earnest, faithful, and successful, but fell a victim to the exertions which his zeal and fidelity urged him to make. He has left a very precious name, not in his own church only, but throughout christendom.
The Rev. John Haynes, the second minister, enjoyed the longest pastorate of any of the ministers of this church. Nathaniel Haynes, Esq., a graduate of Bowdoin College, and a lawyer and editor in Bangor, who died about 1835, and Col. Isaac C. Haynes, of Hamp- den, formerly editor of the Bangor Democrat, were his sons. A daughter married the Hon. Calvin Hopkins, of Mt. Vernon, Me.
The next long pastorate was that of Rev. David Nutter, an Englishman, a man of ability, and in his first settlement exhibiting remarkable power as a revivalist. Mr. Nutter has recently died at the age of eighty years. Mr. Nutter was during his first pastorate in Livermore a frequent correspondent of the periodicals of his church. The church and parish have been fortunate on the whole in the character of their ministers. They have been good men and citizens as well as acceptable pastors and teachers.
Among the members who were earnest and active in carrying forward the work of the church and promoting its prosperity in its early days were Deacons Ransom Norton, Sarson Chase, Pelatinh Gibbs, William Sanders, John Elliot, Charles Barrell, Ira Thompson, Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, Messrs. Henry Bond, Jesse Kidder, George Chandler, James and Mayhew Chase, William Thompson, James Walker, and Elder Thomas Wyman.
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH .- A small meeting-house was built by the Baptists in the southerly part of the town about 1810, and a church was gathered of people living in the neighborhood, some in Turner, but the majority in Livermore. The Rev. Ransom Norton was for nearly thirty years its faithful and devoted pastor, traveling 6
70
HISTORY OF LIVERMORE.
on every Sunday from his home, nearly six miles distant, to minister to his little flock. His compensation was in his work, and not in his fee, for his pecuniary reward must have been very small. Since the decease of Elder Norton the church has experi- enced many changes. Its old house of worship has been abandoned and a new one erected near North Turner Bridge. Mr. Norton was not brilliant or learned, but he was a grave, honest man, who wrought in a "sad sincerity " for his people and the truth as he un- derstood it.
CHURCH IN EAST LIVERMORE .- Before the division of the town a church was organized in 'East Livermore, at a place, about a mile below the Falls, called "Shy." It was afterwards removed to the Falls, where it has enjoyed a good measure of prosperity, and has recently erected a commodious and handsome brick church. The Rev. Jared F. Eveleth is its present pastor; its first was Rev. Rob- ert Low.
FREE BAPTISTS.
Recently a church of this denomination has been organized in town, which holds its meetings at the Center, in the meeting-house formerly occupied by the Methodists. It has for its minister the Rev. Hezekiah Atwood, son of the late Capt. Hezekiah Atwood, of Livermore.
METHODISTS.
In the year 1793, the Rev. Jesse Lee,* of Virginia, while on a preaching tour in the district of Maine, visited Livermore, where he remained for some time and planted the seed from which grew up, at length, a strong and vigorous tree. He labored earnestly and with much success to teach the doctrines and commend the polity of the church founded by John Wesley. It was favorable to the pur- pose of Mr. Lee that, in the absence of any religious organization holding arminian or moderately calvinistic views, Dea. Livermore became interested in his work and gave to it his sympathy and aid. When, two years after the advent of Mr. Lee, the first Methodist
*Mr. Lee was born in 1758 and died in 1816. The new American Cyclopædia says, " He be- came a preacher among the Methodists in 1783 and a traveling companion of Bishop Asbury. His notes have been the basis of much of the early history of Methodism in America. He was chaplain to congress during six successive terms. He is best known as the apostle of Metho- dism in New England."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.