USA > Maine > York County > Kittery > Old Kittery and her families > Part 18
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The various departments of this summer school embrace also music, art, nature study, etc. The program for 1902 has some- thing good for each day in July and August. Distinguished lec- turers, not only of America but also from Japan, India and Per- sia, have had a place upon the program. The end sought is rest and growth for the soul and consequent health for the body.
Green Acre was purchased, in 1902, by James C. Hooe of Washington, D. C., whose intention is to continue the good work so well begun.
ROSEMARY.
Mrs. Moses G. Farmer, whose beautiful life has been beauti- fully written by Rev. AAugustin Caldwell, left in Rosemary Cot- tage a memorial of herself and of her little son who died in infancy. It was dedicated 31 May 1888, and is under the direc- tion of the Boston City Missionary Society. It is pleasantly situ- ated in Eliot, about six miles from Portsmouth. Hither come tired mothers and their children from Boston for a vacation of two weeks. Seven dollars pay the entire bill for each one. Here they find rest, health, happiness, abundance of food, cleanli- ness and the spirit of Jesus. No more practical and beneficent exhibition of Christianity can be found.
About forty persons can be accommodated here at one time. There is every convenience and comfort that a home can give. Here many children get their first acquaintance with green lawns and wild flowers and fruit trees. The country is a paradise to them. Here they can swing and tilt and romp and play to their hearts' content. An old barn is the play house for rainy days. Three thousand two hundred and seventy persons have already had here a glimpse of a "real heaven on earth," as a grateful mother expressed it. The home is open to as many as can be brought here, without distinctions of creed or color. Long may it endure as a blessing to tired mothers and little children and a memorial of the motherly and Christ-like love that prompted its erection.
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LIBRARIES.
In 1858 Miss Arabella Rice of Portsmouth, whose father was a native of Kittery, left a bequest of $30,000 to found the Rice Free Public Library. In 1874 the trustees organized for business and took charge of the funds. The Library was opened in a
...........
RICE FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
room in Austin Block and had about one thousand volumes. In 1889 the Library Building was erected at a cost of $18,500, including the lot and furnishings. The accumulated interest of the fund was insufficient for the purpose by $5,000, which sum was borrowed on the personal note of the trustees, and the debt was paid in five years from the date of the note. The trustees at the time of the erection of the building were Moses A. Safford, President, Ephraim C. Spinney, Treasurer, John Wentworth, Joel Wilson and Edward F. Safford. The library is for the use
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of all residents of the town and now has about six thousand volumes.
A bequest of about $80,000 was given by the late Dr. John S. H. Fogg of South Boston, a native of Eliot, for a library, to be known as the William Fogg Library. It is to be located on the William Fogg estate, and arrangements are being made to erect the building at once, although by the will the funds do not become available till the death of Mr. Fogg's widow. The building is not to cost more than $10,000. Mr. Fogg left also to the town of Eliot his large collection of historical and other books, valued at $10,000. Thus the building, books and fund will insure to the inhabitants of Eliot for all future time a well- equipped and constantly growing library. Few greater blessings can be conferred upon a town.
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XV.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Much that might be said in this chapter will be found in the genealogical notes. There are, however, some historical person- ages that demand a more full treatment than could well be given there. It is quite impossible to here mention all who have left an honorable record. A few out of many are introduced to the reader, of whom much has been written elsewhere.
THE PEPPERRELLS.
Col. William Pepperrell was a native of Ravistock Parish, Plymouth, in Devonshire, England, where he was born in 1646. His speech indicated that he was of Welsh origin. Nothing definite has been published concerning his ancestry. When a boy he was apprenticed to the captain of a fishing-schooner employed off the coast of New England and the banks of New- foundland. His parents died early leaving two or three sisters to be helped. One of these married a Phillips, and her sons settled in Saco and Kittery. Another probably married Hon. Robert Eliot.
William Pepperrell first began business in the fisheries at the Isles of Shoals. After a few years he married Margery, daughter of John Bray of Kittery, and in 1682 settled at the Point, where he built a house on a small lot given him by his father-in-law. Here he prospered in business and is said to have become the wealthiest man in New England. This did not then imply the possession of a large fortune. A man worth one hundred thousand dollars was then a very rich man. He built many fishing and trading vessels and sent them to the Banks, to the West Indies and to Europe. He became a leader in the affairs of the colony. He was justice of the peace thirty-five years and from 1715 till his death he served as judge of the court of common pleas. He had command of the fort near his place of
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residence with rank of captain and in the militia rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was one of the founders of the Con- gregational Clurch at Kittery Point and remembered it in his will.
)
COL. WILLIAM PEPPERRELL.
For some account of his family see Genealogical Notes. He died 15 Feb. 1734, and was buried in the middle of an orchard near his house. Here a marble structure was erected to his mem- ory by his son, William, about the year 1736.1 It was purchased in London at a cost of thirty-four pounds, eleven shillings and
1So it is recorded in Parsons' Life of Sir William Pepperrell. but the elder Pepperrell's daughter. Joanna Jackson, was "decently Interr'd in her Father's new Tomb" 24 Feb. 1725-6. See Old Eliot. Vol. IV. p. 46.
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four pence, and was repaired over thirty years ago by a descend- ant, Miss Harriet Hirst Sparhawk.
Margery (Bray) Pepperrell died about seven years later than her husband. She was mentioned in the Boston Post Boy, under date of 30 April 1741, as follows: "She was, through the whole
THE PEPPERRELL TOMB.
course of her life, very exemplary for unaffected piety and amia- ble virtues, especially her charity, her courteous affability, her prudence, meekness, patience, and her unweariedness in well- doing. She was not only a loving and discreet wife and tender parent, but a sincere friend to all her acquaintance."
The house built by Col. William Pepperrell in 1682 must have surpassed in grandeur any residence in the province. Its spacious hall and staircase are still admired and imitated by recent architects. The house was originally built with about its present dimensions. Sir William added fifteen feet to each end of it, and these additions were taken away by a subsequent owner, so that the present external appearance of the Pepperrell Mansion, saving the curb roof, is about as it was in the days of the elder Pep- perrell. The rooms are spacious and the outlook over the harbor is a commanding and delightful one. The cellar and foundations seem never to have been well built. It is reported that some have it in mind to purchase this house and use it as a public his-
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torical museum. Its associations demand this, and the people of Maine should see to it that this historical landmark be well cared for and devoted to patriotic and educational purposes.
The description of the Pepperrell mansion given by Mr. Pela- tiah Fernald in 1849, is sufficiently minute and accurate. "It was
MARGERY (BRAY ) PEPPERRELL.
a square house about forty-five feet long and of the width that it now is and had two chimneys, with a sharp roof. Col. Pepperrell carried on the fishing business. At his decease his son, Sir William Pepperrell, took possession of the estate. He made additions of about fifteen feet on both ends of the house and altered the roof to the present form and revised it throughout and built the wharf and four stores and built the tomb and extended his land from the partition wall between Capt. John Underwood.
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now Joanna Mitchell, and the now Thomas Hoyt, from this line westward up to the lane leading down to Capt. Robert Follet, now J. Lawrence. On the north of the Mansion House was the Great Orchard, so called, in the middle of which he built the tomb. After the war commenced Sir William Pepperrell's estate was called Tory property, and many thought that they might destroy it at pleasure. In the year 1774 my father moved
THE PEPPERRELL MANSION.
into the Mansion House, so called, to take care of it. Col. Spar- hawk having previously built a house for Lady Pepperrell, so called, widow of Sir William. Said house is owned by Capt. Joseph Cutts, where she lived the remainder of her days and died there. At the end of the Revolutionary War all Sir William's estate was considered confiscated or Tory property, because it belonged by will to William P. Sparhawk, who had fled his country and joined our enemies. Therefore our government had orders to sell at public auction all the land and buildings formerly belonging to Sir William Pepperrell as Tory property. Beginning with the Mansion House about the year 1790, as well as I can remember. Capt. Samuel Smallcorn bought the Mansion House and the two lots, one on which the house stands and the other owned now by Capt. Daniel Frisbee, together with the
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wharf. In the same or next year Thomas D. Cutts bought the said Mansion House of Capt. Smallcorn and commenced a tav- ern and carried on fishing and built the store that Capt. Daniel Frisbee now occupies. Major Cutts set out all those elm trees
SIR WILLIAM PEPPERRELL.
around the premises. He flourished for some time, but there was a leak under the house, and in a few years it leaked out and by mortgage became Richard Cutts' property. He carried on fish- ery and foreign trade for many years, but trusting too much to other people's honesty, he fell in the rear and sold the house and
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lands to Elder J. Meader and Capt. Jesse Frisbee. Capt. Frisbee in a few years was lost at sea. Elder Meader sold the old Man- sion House to Charles G. Bellamy, Esq., and Mr. Thomas Hoyt in the year 1848. They divided the land and took off the bend or room from each end of the house and left it in the same form on the ground that Col. William Pepperrell built it. It is now [1849] owned by Charles G. Bellamy, Esq., who has made a very large repair, and it is likely it may stand another century, except- ing fire, as it has stood through all the past."
Sir William Pepperrell was born 27 June 1696. He had only the meager education that could be obtained in the public schools of his time. He was taught to do business, to survey land, to sail a ship, to act as clerk, to manage men. By trading in fish, lum- ber and West India goods, by extensive ship-building, and by the purchase and sale of large tracts of land he became very wealthy. At one time he owned the greater part of Saco and Scarborough. Saco was first called Pepperrellborough in his honor. He was a justice of the peace at the age of twenty-one and captain of a company of cavalry. At the age of thirty he held the rank of colonel and was in command of all the militia of Maine. About the same time he was appointed one of the Governor's council and held that office thirty-two years, eighteen of which he was president of the board. The people of Kittery elected him as their representative in 1726-7. The office of chief justice he held from 1730 till his death. This obliged him to give some study to law, though he had been from youth familiar with court proced- ures, having been clerk of court. Like his father he was the owner of slaves. A boat's crew of them used to row him across the harbor. He seems to have been the banker of Kittery and a large region about, and many a mortgage in his favor is recorded in the York Deeds.
He was appointed in 1745 to command the expedition against Louisburg, and contributed out of his private fortune five thousand pounds toward the expenses of that campaign. All know the result. What had been regarded as an impregnable fortress surrendered after a brief sicge. In this expedition Pep- perrell was accompanied by many of his townsmen as soldiers, and fifty men under Captain Moses Butler went from Berwick. For his success at Louisburg he was knighted and received in London
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with many attentions. In 1756 he was commissioned Lieuten- ant-General in the royal army.
He united with the church at Kittery in 1734 and was promi- nent in its business affairs. George Whitefield was entertained at his house and consulted with reference to the Louisburg expe-
LADY MARY (HIRST) PEPPERRELL.
dition, though Pepperrell did not follow his advice. The honors received at home and abroad did not separate him from the com- panionship and sympathies of his townsmen. The remainder of his life was comparatively uneventful, and he died 6 July 1759.
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LADY PEPPERRELL'S HOUSE.
-
-
HALL OF LADY PEPPERRELL'S HOUSE.
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.
He was buried in the vault beneath the Pepperrell tomb, and the pall that covered his bier is still preserveil by the church at Kit- tery Point and draped the pulpit at the funeral services held in honor of President MeKinley.
He married Mary Hirst of Boston, in 1723. After his death or about 1765. she caused a house to be built near the church,
PARLOR OF LADY PEPPERRELL HOUSE.
where she resided till her death, 25 Nov. 1789. The house is now occupied by J. Chester Cutts. Its appearance without and within is about as it was in the days of Lady Pepperrell. The accompanying pictures tell more than words can. The hall and parlor have the same furniture as in the old days. The nicely laid wooden floors and the curiously carved post at the foot of the stairs evidence the fine workmanship of the builders.
Most of the property of Sir William Pepperrell was willed to his grandson. William Pepperrell Sparhawk, on condition that he should drop his surname on arriving at the age of twenty-one. This he did and became the second Sir William Pepperrell.
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The estates bequeathed by the first Sir William were confiscated in 1778, since their owner was a Tory. The large fortune accu- mulated by Sir William and his father was soon dissipated, and some of his descendants came to indolent pride and poverty. The name Pepperrell is extinct in America. An association of the descendants of the Pepperrells take some pride in their lineage and seek to perpetuate the memories of the great men who honored their town and their country by noble and patriotic ser- vices.
MAJOR CHARLES FROST.
Details concerning the life of this man have already been given in these pages. He was one of the first men of his times and town in civil, military and ecclesiastical affairs. He was honored by election as Deputy to the General Court in 1658 and held that office five years. The date of his commission as cap- tain in the militia is 6 July 1668. He was commissioned as Ser- geant-Major, 23 Aug. 1689. to govern and exercise the military forces of the Province of Maine as the law directs.1
His own petition to the General Court says that "quickly after the death of Major Hooke in the month of January 1694-5 Your petitionr was Ordered by the Right Honble the Lt Governr to take the Conduct and Governmt of all the officers & Souldiers under his Majtys Pay in the County of Yorke."? He was actively engaged in military service during a large part of his life, leading expeditions for the defence of Kittery and other towns. The Indians hated him for the part he had in their betrayal at Dover in 1675. They assaulted his garrison house and finally laid in ambush for him on his way home from church and so had their revenge.
He served for many years as Justice of the Peace, was one of the Associate Judges of the Province of Maine, and was a
'See his commission, Old Eliot. Vol. II. p. 137.
'Coll. of Me. Hist. Society. Vol. V. p. 434.
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member of the Governor's Council in 1693. Perhaps no citizen of Kittery has held more public offices or held them more worth- ily than he. His own family and those with which the Frosts were connected by marriage were the first families of the Pascat- aqua settlement. For many years the Frosts of Maine and New Hampshire held a commanding influence in the affairs of town and province.1
GEN. WILLIAM WHIPPLE.
Capt. William Whipple of Ipswich, born 28 Jan. 1695-6, married, 14 May 1722, Mary, daughter of Robert Cutt 2nd. He settled in Kittery, living in the old Cutt-Whipple garrison house, which is still in use. His children were recorded as follows : Mary b. 13 Jan. 1728, m. Hon. Robert Traill I Sept. 1748, d. 3 Oct. 1791; William b. 14 June 1730; Hannah b. 15 Feb. 1734-5, m. Dr. Joshua Brackett of Portsmouth 14 April 1760, and d. 24 April 1825; Robert Cutt b. 6 April 1736 and d. 4 May 1761 ; Joseph b. 14 Feb. 1737-8. Capt. William Whipple died 7 Aug. 1751 and was buried in the cemetery at Kittery Point. His wife died 28 Feb. 1783, and was buried by her son in the North Cemetery, Portsmouth.
Gen. William Whipple, son of the one just mentioned, was fifth in descent from Matthew Whipple of Ipswich. His oppor- tunities of education were only those of the common schools of his time. At the age of twenty-one he had command of a vessel and brought negro slaves into this country. When twenty-nine years of age he settled in Portsmouth, N. H., and engaged in mercantile life. Here he married his cousin, Catherine Moffat. He had two slaves said to have been sons of an African prince. The fight for freedom in the Revolution led one of his slaves to ask and receive his liberty.
He was chosen Representative to Congress, 23 Jan. 1776, and served also for the three following years. This gave him the
1For other particulars of his life see article by Miss Elizabeth M. Bartlett in Old Eliot, Vol. I. pp. 85-101.
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opportunity to sign the Declaration of Independence. In 1777 he was appointed Brigadier General of the New Hampshire troops, and he took part in the battles of Stillwater and Sara-
GENERAL WILLIAM WHIPPLE.
toga. In 1782 he was made Judge of the Superior Court. All these offices were filled with honor to himself and good services to his country. He died 28 Nov. 1793. aged fifty-four years, leaving no children.1
'For fuller sketch of his life see article by Moses A. Safford. Esq., in the Proceedings of the Me. Hist. Society. Vol. VI. pp. 337-357.
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HON. MARK DENNETT.
This man was one of the most influential characters in the history of Kittery. Among his papers is found a record of some events in his early life, written by himself. He was born 28 Aug. 1786, son of William and Mary ( Adams ) Dennett. He says, "In early boyhood I hated the school until about nine years old, when my fancy changed anl I liked the school and began to stand at the head of my class. Our school privileges were very limited. 1 attended to nothing at school but reading, spelling and writing until I was thirteen years old ; but I progressed in the old arithmetic at home under the instruction of my father and brother to the rule of three. At thirteen years I commenced the arithmetic at school and during winter term I mastered about one-half of Merrill's Arithmetic. In the spring of 1800 at a short term of six weeks of Grammar School. I progressed in English Grammar so that I could parse simple sentences. In September a term of Grammar School commenced and I attended to the study of Latin. and during the winter I advanced into Virgil and Ciccro. In the spring my father said that I must help him on the farm. In the winter of 1801-2 there was no Grammar School, and I mastered the last half of the arithmetic. In the winter of 1802-3 I studiel Latin at home and recited my lessons once a week with Rev. William Briggs., Oct. 25. 1803. my father died and the care of the farm devolved on me, and I was thus deprived of school privileges. During the winter of 1803-4 I devoted every spare hour by day and very long evenings to the study of Greek, and in December. 1804. I received a certificate of qualifi- cation for teaching the Grammar School from three ministers who were college graduates. Jan. 1. 1805. at the age of eighteen, I commenced teaching the Grammar School in Kittery. and excepting two or three years ( when otherwise employed) I con- tinued to do so several months each year until I was sixty years old. when my hearing failed and I declined the service.
"In 1807. my mind being religiously impressed. I was bap- tized and joined the church, of which act I never repented."
Mr. Dennett was much interested in local history and left some valuable papers that have been utilized in the preparation of this book. lle was honored as a leader in his town, serving as selectman for seventeen years. Ile was deputy to the General
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Court, 1814-19, and was a member of the first legislature of Maine. He was State senator several times, justice of the peace, and captain and major in the militia. He died 30 April 1883, in the ninety-seventh year of his age. See genealogy of the Dennett family, chiefly compiled by him.
GEORGE MELVILLE FROST, M.D.
GEORGE MELVILLE FROST. M.D.
Son of Joshua and Catherine Shapleigh ( Paul) Frost, was born April 27. 1843. He received an academic education at South Berwick Academy, and afterwards was admitted to Bow-
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doin Medical School. There he received his degree in 1869. He settled at once in Peabody, Mass., and began practice that stead- ily increased in extent and success.
An epidemic of small-pox broke out soon after his arrival and he came into prominence, both as a physician and a member of the Board of Health. He was a man of strong individuality and clung tenaciously to his opinions until he was convinced they were wrong. This was especially true in respect to the method of treating diseases.
He was a close student of professional literature and spent much time in London hospitals in 1876.
His general ability as a physician won for him the confidence of constantly growing practice. He was the oldest physician in town, both in years and time of residence, a period of twenty-nine years. His untiring devotion to his duties, continued after he knew of his own mortal illness, endeared him to large numbers. And many tributes were paid to his worth both at the public funeral and subsequently by his associates in the Massachusetts Medical Society. Dr. Frost married 9 Oct. 1873, at Beverly, Mass., Asenath Marshall, daughter of Paul F. and Anna (Lefavour) Ober, who survives him without children.
JOHN SAMUEL HILL FOGG, M.D.
Dr. John Samuel Hill Fogg, son of William and Betsey ( Hill) Fogg, was born in Eliot, May 21, 1826. He was fitted for col- lege at Eliot Academy, then under the charge of Israel Kimball. After graduation he studied medicine with Dr. Theodore H. Jewett, of South Berwick, attended lectures in the medical departments of Bowdoin, and Harvard, and received the degree of M.D). from Harvard in 1850. He settled in South Boston the same year, in the practice of his profession, and resided there until his death. He served many years on the Boston School Board, and was representative to the Massachusetts Legislature in 1855. He was a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society ; of the New England Historic Genealogical Society; of the Virginia Historical Society; and a corresponding member of the Maine Historical Society.
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Twenty-one years before his death, which occurred October 16. 1893. Dr. Fogg was stricken with paraplegic paralysis, con- fining him closely to his room and making him a constant sufferer. A taste for genealogical and historical research, and a youthful interest for collecting autographs, occasionally gratified in
JOHN SAMUEL HILL FOGG, M.D. ,
maturer age, afforded employment and solace in these years of affliction. and from this slight beginning a collection of auto- graphs was formel in a systematic manner with reference to historical data. the value of which at the time of his death was estimated at twenty-five thousand dollars. His will provided
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that this collection should become the property of the Maine Historical Society, and provided also for the establishment of a free public library in his native town.
"His unfailing brightness of mind, and patience under the most excruciating suffering, together with the work that he has accomplished, make his case one of the most marvellous in the annals of invalidism."
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