USA > Maine > Cumberland County > New Gloucester > The bicentennial of New Gloucester : being an account of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the coming of the first settlers > Part 2
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By two o'clock a capacity audience had assembled in the Congregational Church. Governor Lewis O. Barrows, the Mayor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the ex-Mayor of Gloucester, the Honorable William J. MacInnis, who was present at the sesquicentennial, had been invited to attend, but all were unable to come.
The exercises opened with the presentation of a historical pageant written by Mrs. Mary Morgan Hobart, one of New Gloucester's daughters. The performance of the pageant was worthy of all praise and reflected great credit on the author, the directors, and the cast.
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Justice Guy Hayden Sturgis, who was orator of the day at the sesquicentennial celebration, then gave a felicitous ad- dress. It was greatly appreciated by the audience whose pride in New Gloucester's own sons found added satisfaction in the presence of this eminent example.
Then Mr. Harry Parker, who, in the costume of an old town crier, had announced the events of the day, rang his bell vigorously outside the church and made the welcome announcement that a second performance of the pageant would be given directly. Thus a goodly number of persons who had been unable to witness the pageant were now given an opportunity to do so.
The program was completed about half past four o'clock and people dispersed to the homes of friends or to their own where family duties or chores awaited them.
At eight o'clock in the evening the Old-fashioned Dance got under way in the New Grange Hall. This dance had not been planned for originally, but some of the General Com- mittee thought that it would be an appropriate close to the celebration. Members of a Volunteer Committee, who had already served on regular committees, worked with a will to carry out the hastily made plans. Natalie Hood and Rhoda McIntire decorated the hall, while Clarence McCann, Paul Woodbury, and Millard Marston attended to other details. The dance proved a great success both socially and finan- cially, and the members of the committee received deserved commendation for their conduct of the affair.
It was not the intention of the Board of Trustees to con- duct this celebration as a profit-making undertaking, but it was hoped that sufficient funds would be received to meet expenses. However, through the generosity of contributors and the prudence of the committees it was possible to turn over a substantial sum to the Treasurer of the Historical So- ciety. This money will be used eventually, it is hoped, toward the construction of a fireproof building for housing the large number of items of great historical interest which are now scattered in the homes of our people.
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IV THE SERMON By THE REVEREND JELLISON N. LELLO THEME: An Abiding Faith for a Changing World
T HERE is a mystical spirit permeating this sanctuary on this Sabbath morning. I sense it as you do. I feel it creeping over me and covering me like a blanket, warming me with its deep spirit of reverence. It is as if time were rolled back and we were all standing looking at one another in a new and changed perspective. You are thinking backward as I am this morning. Many of you are looking up toward me but you do not see me. You see another genera- tion, another day, when you, as a child, sat by your father's and mother's side and saw a different man behind this pulpit. And with ears tuned to your memories you hear the words of these noble men of God once more as they speak to you re- bukingly, persuasively, and lovingly of God and the Christ. And your silent prayers this morning are lifted up in thanks- giving for their unswerving devotion to this Church.
There are those of you who sit here and see, not the new faces and the familiar faces, but the faces of those who have gone before. And I believe if Samuel Foxcroft were standing in my place this morning he would look out upon this con- gregation and recognize many of you as grandchildren of his own loyal parishioners, those men and women who built this church, and worshipped their God and tilled the land. The settler of this town of New Gloucester hacked his way through virgin wilderness and fought off disease and hunger, and marauding bands of Indians to give to us this land of promise. And so it is to the Pioneer that I turn this morning for my message, for the pioneer is the hinge that opens the door to the history of this town and its future life.
I. Things have changed from what they once were and they are continually changing. Many of you see a big change
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in New Gloucester from what it used to be. The old Inter- urban is gone now, but it once flourished as an enterprise and brought business to the town. Families have moved out and new ones have come in. Change after change has taken place and there are those who do not like these rapid changes. Their desire is to cling to the past, intolerant of change.
But there are others who disregard the past. They want things to move forward and become modern, and they be- come impatient at any delay.
For those who do not welcome a change I say they must accept it. And for those who are impatient, let them take their time. Each would do well to look back and see what has gone before. Our forefathers changed things, yes, but they did it slowly, deliberately, and surely. They did not forget what had gone before. They drew upon the resource- ful experiences of the past to guide them in plans for the future and we must do likewise.
To be sure, there are many things that they did which we can not condone. But I believe the spirit of the settlers of New Gloucester renders us a service similar to that of the rear-view mirror in a car - it enables us to look back and see what is behind us while we are going forward. That was the first lesson my father taught me when I first learned to drive. He told me to use my rear-view mirror as often as I used my forward vision. "Know what is behind you. If there is a car behind, then you can take care not to be bumped by him as you make your turns." I learned my lesson well. A car sel- dom passes me on the highway without my knowing, before it goes by, where it is from, the make of the car, and the number of people in it.
So in our daily walks of life here in New Gloucester, we must take that backward look. That backward look will prevent us from veering toward the novel and the radical, and it will prevent us from being bumped by some old fallacy coming behind. "Progress is made through capitalizing on the wisdom of the past." We need the long look backward to give us wisdom and assurance for the future. If we look at
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our own generation, our own scene, we get pessimistic; but when our eyes sweep the long cavalcade which has come down from the past we find there a faith that will hold against all time.
Karl Wilhelm Humboldt, who died over one hundred years ago, once made this remarkable statement: "The things of the world are ever rising and falling, and in perpetual change; and this change must be according to the will of God, as He has bestowed upon man neither the wisdom nor the power to enable him to check it. The great lesson in these things is that a man must strengthen himself doubly at such times to fulfill his duty and to do what is right, and must seek his happiness and inward peace from that which can not be taken from him."
The lives of our forefathers should inspire within us a firm will to grasp the faith that built this church. Faith can not be taken from us. Faith endures through change. In their fellowship together here in this wilderness, the peo- ple found much of pure joy. They were out in the open. They gloried in the fair face of the fields and the winged birds of the air. They looked at the red sunset in the sky and read the signs. They watched the numberless stars as they marched across the night. And they were alone-alone ex- cept that they lived in their sure faith of an everlasting God. Faith is not an impractical thing, as they have proven. Faith works! They did not build this church nor this town for themselves alone. They built it for their children and their children's children, and for all generations to come. And they built it, believing too, that you would not "let them down." They had faith to believe that you would carry on the work they had begun. This town and this church are a monu- ment to their faith. This church is a house where God and ourselves may unite together for guidance and religion. Our duty is to maintain their faith. And to maintain that faith requires a faith of our own. But our faith will come only when our will is obedient to the will of God. When man so
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desires, he opens his heart and mind for God's revelation and it is then that faith is born in man. Where faith is weak and uncertain life is bound to be confused.
The old Prophets learned the way to faith. The Bible is filled with stories of victorious faith. Again and again faith has brought mankind out of chaos and confusion. Today the world needs faith in God, in His purpose for human life. When the Church seeks to establish faith in God, then it prays for faith; when it resolutely sets its will and refuses to let go until faith comes, faith does come and the people are strengthened and fortified to face any uncertainty. Faith is of that spirit that attempts the impossible; faith is that spirit that steers toward the ports that are out of sight; faith has in it that which creates out of the non-existent, something worthy to abide.
This is what the founders of New Gloucester had. This is what we must know and carry on. When we learn the faith of our fathers we can face a world "gone mad."
2. But the pioneer had much to do on his own initiative. It was an individual affair with him. The pioneers of New Gloucester came here in a small band and each member of that band had to work for himself. They did not need the complex organization that we have today. For example: Our traffic laws must take a different slant from the "horse- and-buggy day" law. Traffic control must be organized. Again: We can no longer leave charity to the lone Samaritan. The unemployed and the homeless and the hungry number thousands. They must be clothed and fed, and organizations are planned for this purpose. Then, too, in the "little red schoolhouse" where twelve or fifteen children made up the nine grades, it was not a problem to care for them in case of fire. But today, in our modern schools where there are hun- dreds of children in one building, there has to be an organized fire drill and the pupils must know the routine and practice it.
This is true of everything. If we are to live and move in our complex and crowded modern world we must have or- ganization and plans. And this applies in the Church as well.
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This Church, at one time, did not feel it necessary to take up a morning offering. But that was due to the fact that one or two families with the wealth kept the church going. That sort of a system has to change in this day. If a church is to grow and move forward it must be organized and coopera- tive. The finances of the Church cannot be left to the loyal few any longer. It is not an individual affair; it is an organ- ized and highly cooperative enterprise or it fails and its doors must close.
Roger W. Babson has written a book called Religion and Business. In it he makes a statement like this, "If the aver- age business were run as the average Church is run it would go into the hands of the receiver in six months' time." And he goes on to say that "for the very reason the Church con- tinues to go on generation after generation, century after century, in spite of its defect, that in itself is vital evidence for the conclusion that the Church has within itself something you will not find in any other institution."
The pioneer stood for simplicity. His habit of life was un- ostentatious, thrifty, democratic, plain. But today we have come upon a degree of luxury in American life, of tasteless extravagance and competitive foolishness, which has tainted our social life with sensualism. I have heard it said that the greatness of Israel's glory lay, not in its achievements, but in its unconscious preparation for a better future. And this applies not alone to Israel, but to our forefathers as well. They built in preparation for the better future. We must take the pioneer ideals and fit them to this changing world of our time.
Reverend Henry O. Worthley, fifteen years ago, said to this congregation, "What a great part the Church has played in making and keeping this town one that is distinguished as a typical old New England village of the finer type." That is our responsibility today. Macaulay once wrote, "A people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of its ances- tors, will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered by its descendants." I lay that down as an axiom to
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be remembered by all of us. The church is necessary to to the life of any town and its individuals. Our personal reli- gious habits are vitalized by our common worship. If our forefathers had not believed this they would not have left this church as a reminder. The church is necessary ary. "We are like ships in a lock. The sluice gate is closed as the vessel comes in at a lower level, and the sluice gate is thrown open before it. Then the water comes up under the keel, lifting the ship to a higher level, and as it goes through the lock it sails off safely." So, when man comes into the House of God he closes his mind to his secular affairs and opens it on the Godward side. Then the inspirations of God flow into him like the waters of life and he is lifted to a higher plane, whence he sets sail again, better able to carry his responsi- bilities.
I prophesy that this town will grow, not in comparison to a city, it will never be that, but it will be a haven of rest for the tired and weary business man. All who chance to visit this town find here a sort of peace and quiet that is difficult to find elsewhere. This town will grow as a residential dis- trict if the spirit of the pioneer inspires us to keep faith in this town. But the pioneer could not maintain his faith without the church and the Spirit of God.
Reverend Frank Fitt said, "When the currents of a civi- lization are flowing easily, undisturbed by any rapids or whirlpools, the tendency is for people to lose the deeper con- victions and the sterner disciplines." This generation is apt to take things easy and assume that peace and contentment and security will last forever. It is similar to the experience of coming indoors on a frosty night and finding the warm fireplace affecting us. We have settled ourselves before its warmth and its peace, and our energy has slackened. Some- how the energy of the frosty past has been weaned from us, as we have settled ourselves before the genial conditions of the present time. The pioneer's faith, like his climate, was harsh, but it was bracing. His God, like his soul, was hard, but it was a God who made him do his duty when that duty,
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also, was hard. And so the blessings of the present have their roots in that sterner past. We do not outgrow the past, we grow out of the past.
We must recognize the fact that this is a time of great change and we must rethink our message of God. For us of today that means a new awareness of the spiritual Christ. We need a definite sense of the living divine Spirit illumi- nating our ways. If this is the heritage that we are to pass on then these years of tumult and confusion are also years of meaning and reward.
Faith of our Fathers, God's great power Shall win all nations unto Thee; And, through the truth that comes from God, Mankind shall then indeed be free; Faith of our Fathers Holy faith, We will be true to Thee till death.
The summary of our lesson learned from the pioneer is this: The faith of our fathers must be our faith. The ideals of our fathers must be made to fit into this new order of things. The spirit of God must be kept flowing through this com- munity by means of this Church. And the pioneer counsels us to keep an abiding faith for these changing times.
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V THE PAGEANT OF NEW GLOUCESTER By MARY MORGAN HOBART
L IFE for the pioneers of New Gloucester was a con- stant struggle for existence against the prowling Indians and savage beasts. Today their descend- ants and others are enjoying the fruits of those hardships. Now we are to turn back the pages of history and trace the story of New Gloucester from the coming of the first white settler to the time when this then Province of Maine was admitted to the Union as a state.
That first settler was Jonas Mason. Others followed in his footsteps-those intrepid men of Cape Ann who blazed a trail through the wilderness for a home, not only for them- selves but for the generations to come. This day, as we look about us, gratitude fills our hearts and minds for what they gave to us, their descendants.
Mr. John J. Babson, the historian of Gloucester, Massa- chusetts, tells us that the main reason for this trek into the wilderness was that nearly all the arable land in this region was under cultivation, so that nothing was left for the youth of that time but the sea. We shall now turn our attention to Gloucester, Massachusetts, and see Jonas Mason in the setting of his youth. The first scene represents the home of David Mason, Jonas's father. As the scene opens we see Mrs. Mason, familiarly called "Aunt Martha," sitting near the table, knitting. The time is October, 1735.
The characters in this and the three following scenes are:
MR. DAVID MASON Mr. Walter Berry
MRS. DAVID MASON Mrs. Warren Tufts JONAS MASON Mr. Arthur G. Thompson
MR. HASKELL.
Mr. Lewis True
MRS. HASKELL. Miss Alma Tripp
SALLY HASKELL Miss Helen Small
DEBORAH PARSONS Mrs. Ruth Burton
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ACT I
SCENE I
The Masons' sitting room, with an old-fashioned lamp on the table; a book or two; four or five chairs. MRS. MASON sits by the table, knitting. A door is heard to close and a voice is heard.
SALLY. Where are you, Aunt Martha?
MRS. MASON. Here in the sitting room, child. Come right in.
[Enter SALLY HASKELL, a girl of eighteen or twenty.]
SALLY. I have brought you a pig's liver, Aunt Martha. We butchered yesterday and mother sent it over. You know since Silas went to sea, no one eats it at our house.
MRS. MASON. That was real nice of your mother. We all like it here. It will be our dinner tomorrow. How is mother?
SALLY. Pretty good, but she does worry about Silas since he went on Captain Jones's sailing vessel-so afraid he'll be lost at sea. She wants him to settle down, have a home and be a farmer, as the men of the family have done for so many years. But you know all the farm land has been taken up and going to sea seems to be all there is to do. He just could not get work, so Capt. Jones took him on. Jonas was lucky to hire out on the Pulcifer place.
MRS. MASON. Yes, he was, but he feels a bit uncertain since John Pulcifer came home. John doesn't like the sea, so Jonas feels he may decide to stay at home and work on his father's farm. That would throw Jonas out of work, for the two of them would not be needed; but it ain't decided yet -- leastways they ain't said anything yet.
[A door is heard to close and JONAS enters.]
JONAS. Hello, mother. How do you do, Sally?
[JONAS sits down nonchalantly, after a pause, then speaks.]
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JONAS. Well, when the Nancy Parsons sails next time, the Captain will have a second mate. John is going to stay at home on the farm. They don't need two men, so here I be. Father don't need me now that Davie is big enough to take a hand at the farm work. I don't like the sea, neither.
[DAVID MASON enters.]
DAVID. Well, well, mother. Havin' a party? Hello, Sally. Well, Jonas, what brings you here at this time of day?
JONAS. Well, you see, father, John has decided he ain't goin' in the vessel no more, so Mr. Pulcifer paid me, and I don't know what next.
DAVID. As I come along I met Nat Eveleth. He, too, thinks we must do something for you boys. He says there's a movement on foot here in the town to see if the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay won't give some land for a township, mebbe to the east'ard. There ain't any cleared land to speak of hereabout that ain't already taken. His boy Bill is in the same fix that you are in, Jonas, and others, too, that I could name.
SALLY. And they would make a home in the wilderness! My, but think of the Indians!
DAVID. I know, Sally, but the time has come when we must make a move. Some day this is going to be a big country and we shall be the pioneers-and pioneers in any move- ment must take risks-yes, sometimes great risks. Of course we don't know yet how it will be, but the movement is on foot, and it does seem as if the time had come when we must do something to acquire more land and spread out a little.
JONAS. That is good news, father. I felt quite down- hearted when I first came in, but this does cheer me up.
DAVID. Well, son, just remember this: Here is your home. The crops this year will be good-plenty for us all. [With a twinkle in his eye] You might try one trip on the sea, just for the experience. Doings by the Court are slow, so it may be some time before a definite move is made.
SALLY. Oh, but the Indians!
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JONAS. Well, by that time some settlement may be made so they will be more friendly. The French are the ones who are stirring them up. When the French and the English can agree on something, the Indians will go north again.
SALLY [rising]. I must be going home.
MRS. MASON. It was real nice of you to come over, Sally. Oh, David, Mrs. Haskell sent us a pig's liver. They butch- ered yesterday and Silas is the only one who eats it. Thank your mother, Sally, and tell her how much we shall enjoy it.
DAVID. Yes, indeed. I can about eat my weight in it any time.
MRS. MASON. Sally, tell your mother what Nat told David. That may cheer her up a bit about Silas.
[SALLY says good-bye and leaves the room, followed by JONAS.]
MRS. MASON. Poor Jonas! I think he is fond of Sally, but as yet he has nothing to offer her.
DAVID. I know, mother, but they are both young. I do have hopes of that settlement being opened up to the east- 'ard. Who knows? We may be driving Rosie or her colt down there some day to visit our grandchildren! Well, I'll go out to the barn and see to the stock.
MRS. MASON. And I'll go and see about supper.
[MR. MASON goes out first. MRS. MASON winds up her yarn and then disappears.]
SCENE II
ACT I
MRS. MASON sits knitting. There is a dish of apples on the table. JONAS enters, takes an apple and sits down.
JONAS. Where's father?
MRS. MASON. He's to the meeting of the proprietors. Seems to me he's been gone some time-a protracted meetin', I should say.
JONAS. Where did they meet-at Broom's Tavern?
MRS. MASON. No. I think this time it was at Ann Per-
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kins'. They like her tavern. Your father says it's a nice sociable place.
JONAS. They are so slow in coming to any decision. It's all of three years since father came home that day after he had talked with Nat Eveleth; but then, I suppose it's better to go slow and be sure. I think now they have settled about the location, which seems much better than the first one, and so things are moving. How many proprietors are there?
MRS. MASON. I think your father said there were sixty, but that was some time ago. There may be more now. Here comes your father.
[Enter DAVID MASON.]
MRS. MASON. Well, you had a long meeting.
[DAVID MASON sits, then speaks.]
DAVID. Yes, we had much to talk over; and now the place is named. That was the main thing we did.
MRS. MASON. You did! Well, do tell us what it is.
DAVID. You would never guess. We spent some time in discussion. We tried names with North and East as the first part but nothing seemed to suit. We might have been there now if Solomon Pulcifer hadn't said, "It's a new town. Why not call it for the old one-New Gloucester?" And the vote on that was unanimous. John Millet is going down to make a good way from Cousins River to the lot in the new town- ship, reserved for the church. Then we decided to give thirty pounds to any proprietor who next spring would go forward with a settlement for three years; twenty pounds for those who would go the next year; and ten pounds for the third year. I think, son, about next year, 1739, you may be able to go, if you still have the urge.
JONAS. Gee, father! I'm ready to go tomorrow if it means a home where I can take Sally!
[All exeunt.]
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1
[The following is to be read before SCENE III.]
In 1739 the line between New Hampshire and Maine was fixed after a long dispute by the King and Council. Jonas Mason went that year, and it is recorded that he made a clearing on the easterly slope of what we today know as Harris Hill. Other men from Gloucester joined him. This scene shows the return of Silas Haskell, Jonas Mason's friend, to Gloucester, Massachusetts.
SCENE III
The sitting-room of the Masons. MR. and MRS. MASON are sitting by the table.
DAVID. We may hear some news, if the boat gets in from the north'ard.
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