USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > The history of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: with a notice of previous settlements, colonial grants, and changes of government in Maine > Part 56
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In 1786 there was a party in the parish desirous of with- drawing support from Mr. Smith, who was now eighty-four years old and unable to discharge the whole duties of his office; application was made to him to relinquish his salary, which he declined doing. After several meetings a salary was at length voted to him, and also the arrearages. Great excitement ex- isted at this time in the parish ; some were dissatisfied with the ministers, others with the location of the house, and the whole aspect of affairs foreboded a dissolution of the ancient society. The old meeting-house, pierced and shattered by the enemy, and suffering from subsequent neglect, was a melan- choly ruin ; many believed it unworthy of repair, and a commit- tee had reported that it would cost two hundred pounds to restore it. Some were for building a new house, another party was desirous to sell the parish lands, and others were for repair- ing the house, paying all arrearages, and taxing the pews to pay the expense. In 1787 a vote actually passed to pull down the old meeting-house and build a new one by subscription, and Samuel Freeman, one of the most active and influential men in the parish, opened a paper for the purpose. Matters were now brought to a crisis, and a separation of the disaffected party took place; they were set off from the first parish Sep- tember 12, 1787, by a vote of twenty-nine to thirteen, and formed a new, now the second parish in Portland.2 They pro- cured an act of incorporation in March, 1788, one of the
1 This made the whole salary of Dr. Deane but three hundred and eighty-five dollars a year until 1802, when five pounds were added, equal to sixteen dollars and sixty-seven cents for his release of the weekly contribution, which had to that period been gathered every Sunday.
2 The persons set off were John Fox, Thomas Sandford, Lemuel Weeks, Jo- seph H. Ingraham, John Curtis, Joseph Mclellan, Joseph Jewett, John Bagley, James Jewett, Hugh Mclellan, Abner Lowell, Joshua Robinson, William Moody, and Enoch Moody.
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SECOND PARISH.
conditions of which was that they should contribute to the support of the Rev. Mr. Smith one-quarter part of the amount voted to him by the first parish.1
The separation was not without pain, and was not readily granted ; at a meeting in August, a vote for that object could not be carried, and an attempt was made afterward to reconcile the difficulties ; another meeting was called on the 28th of August, when the following subjects were brought under dis- cussion, viz., "to take into consideration the expediency of building a meeting-house, the subscribers for pews to pay the expense of building, and the ministry to be supported by a tax on the pews. 2. To see if the parish will consent that the old meeting-house should be taken down and worked into a new one. 3. To see if they will take any steps to procure a lot whereon to set such new meeting-house," and what they would do with the old lot. But all attempts at conciliation failed. Immediately after the separation, the separatists wrote to the Rev. Mr. Murray of Newburyport to recommend a candidate to preach to them, who sent them the Rev. Elijah Kellogg. He had studied his profession under the direction of Mr. Murray, and came to Portland in October, 1787, when he preached four Sabbaths in the north school-house, which was situated at the foot of Middle street. The excitement which existed in town, the novelty of the occasion, and the peculiar and ardent man- ner of Mr. Kellogg drew around him a large congregation, and for a time almost overturned the foundation of the old parish.2 The next year the new society erected the meeting-house, which is now occupied by the parish, and on the 30th of Sep- tember a church was gathered, consisting of eleven male mem- bers; the house was first opened on Sunday, September 28,
I The number of persons named in the charter is fifty-nine including those mentioned in the preceding note.
2 Mr. Smith exclaims, October, 1787, "Poor Portland is plunging into ruiuous confusion by the separation. A great flocking to the separate meeting last Sun- day and this, in the school-house."
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
1788, and Mr. Kellogg was ordained October 1st following.1 It may be here remarked that the division of the old society was not occasioned by any difference of religious sentiment, and although they are now so widely separated by their modes of faith, nothing of the kind at the time of separation was exhib- ited or existed.
1 Mr. Kellogg preached a dedication sermon on the opening of the house. At the ordination, Mr. Williams of Falmouth made the prayer, Mr. Thatcher of Boston preached the sermon, Dr. Hemmenway of Wells prayed before the charge, Mr. Browne of Falmouth delivered the charge, the fellowship of the churches was given by Mr. Clark of Cape Elizabeth, and Mr. Lancaster of Scar- borough made the concluding prayer. Mr. Thatcher's sermon was published. Father Smith, notwithstanding his strong feeling on the subject, attended the ordination. The setttlement was two hundred and fifty pounds; for his sup- port the first three years, Mr. Kellogg received, by his own choice, the voluntary contribution of the society, although a salary was voted him. He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1785, at the age of twenty-four, having previously served in the army of the revolution. The newspapers, speaking of commencement exer- cises, said, "In the afternoon, Mr. Kellogg opened the entertainment by an elegant and animated oration on eloquence." He was animated, popular, and drew full audiences. In July, 1792, he married Eunice, daughter of Joseph Mclellan, then a wealthy merchant in Portland, by whom he had several children. His two sons, Joseph M. and Rev. Elijah, seamen's minister in Boston, survive. He lost his popularity and influence by engaging in speculations and pursuits outside of his profession. He purchased a large tract of land on Washington street, with a view to improvements; and in 1799 he commenced building the large block of brick stores and connected tenements, at the lower end of Exchange street, which he named "Jones's Row," from Phineas Jones a former owner of the land. He built a fine house on Free street in I795, which he afterward sold to Judge Isaac Parker, who sold it in 1806, to Benjamin Willis, in whose family it now re- mains. He was a man of large enterprise and public spirit, and had he chosen a different field of labor, his life would have been crowned with more useful and profitable results. He commenced the beautiful work, since so successfully fol- lowed, of planting trees for the ornament of the town. His own grounds were filled with them, and he planted a row of poplars on Washington street, of which now, a solitary one, only remains.
He continued sole pastor until 1807, when he called to his aid the ardent and talented Edward Payson of whom and of whose wonderful career, we shall here- : after speak. Mr. Kellogg, after a varied and checkered life, died March 9, 1842, aged eighty-one years, eight months, beloved and honored for piety and benevo- lence.
649
FIRST PARISH.
After the storm which had resulted in a division of the first parish had subsided, the members who adhered to the ancient spot, bound more closely together by the troubles which pressed upon them, now resolved to use vigorous measures to sustain the society. For this purpose a committee was authorized to sell the parish lands and form a fund, the income of which should be applied to the uses of the parish. They also put in execution in 1788, a law which had been passed in 1786, allow- ing them to assess their taxes upon the pews, instead of the polls and estates as before practiced. This was a judicious measure, for though it caused considerable sensation at first, by throwing a number of pews into the market, it resulted in increasing and strengthening the society.1 Pews were sold for taxes as low as ten shillings six pence and twenty shillings, and the prospect was alarming ; but young men and mechanics being able to purchase a pew for a trifle, disregarded the tax of four or five dollars on a pew and joined the parish. This compelled the other society in 1789 to adopt the same course. In February, 1789, an act was passed authorizing the religious societies in Portland to tax pews.
The idea of building a new house was now abandoned, the most ardent supporters of that project having seceded; atten- tion was next directed to render the old house safe and com- fortable. For this purpose a committee was raised in 1792, and two hundred and fifty pounds appropriated for repairs. At this time the old building was completely resuscitated, the outside and the steeple painted, and an entire new countenance was put upon the affairs of the parish.
About this time the venerable Smith ceased from his labors.
1 The parish land in Westbrook, containing thirty-eight acres, was sold in 1796 for twenty dollars an acre, and the same year a sixty-acre lot at Presumpscot was sold at four dollars an acre. In 1797 the beautiful lot in Congress street adjoining the meeting-house lot was sold for one thousand three hundred and thirty-three dollars. The parish was at that time in debt four hundred and fifty- three pounds.
42
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
He died May 23d, 1795, in the ninety-fourth year of his age, after a ministry with the people here of sixty-eight years and two months.1 The whole parochial duty now fell upon Mr.
1 Mr. Smith was the eldest son of Thomas Smith, a merchant of Boston; his mother's maiden name was Mary Curran; he was born in Boston, March 10, 1702, graduated at Harvard College, 1720, and settled in the ministry here in 1727. His grandparents were Capt. Thomas Smith, a sea captain, and Rebecca Glover, great-granddaughter of Rev. Jobn Elliott of Boston. He was three times mar- ried ; his first wife was a daughter of Col. Tyng of Dunstable, whom he married in 1728, and who died October 1, 1742; the second was the widow of Capt. Sam- uel Jordan of Saco, her maiden name was Olive Plaisted, who originated in Ber - wick ; he married her in 1744 and she died in 1763; his third wife was widow Elizabeth Wendell, who survived him. He had eight children, all by his first wife, only two of whom survived him, viz., Peter, born in 1731, and Sarah, born in 1740, who both died in 1827. His other children were Thomas, born September 19, 1729, died the February following; Lucy, born February 22, 1734, married Thomas Sanders of Gloucester, 1751, by whom she had eight chil- dren, whose descendants are numerous in the name of Sanders, Sargent, Dolliver, Babbitt, Cushman, Saltonstall, etc. She married for her second husband, Rev. Eli Forbes of Gloucester in 1776, but had no children by him. His fourth child Thomas, born September 12, 1735, married Lucy, a daughter of Phineas Jones, and died without issue in 1776; William, born 1736, died unmarried, 1754; John, born 1738, educated a physician and died unmarried in 1773; Sarah, born 1740, married Dea. Richard Codman in 1763, and died September 10, 1827, in the eighty- seventh year of her age, having had two sons and three daughters. The eighth child born 1742, lived but two weeks. All the descendants of this venerable man are derived from his three children, Peter, Lucy, and Sarah. Peter had eleven children, who left numerous descendants in the names of Farwell, Smith, Anderson, Winslow, Thomas, etc. Services were performed at the meeting- house over the dead body of the ancient pastor, on which occasion Mr. Kellogg pronounced an address, from which we borrow the following eloquent passages : " On the record of Harvard's sons, we find his solitary name; to all around is prefixed the signature of death. The wilderness where he first pitched his tent, is now the place of vineyards and of gardens. Not a soul that first composed his flock is now in the land of the living ! He lived to see this town respectable in numbers and character, adorned with elegant buildings and rising in com- merce. He saw it also laid in ashes in one day ; himself and his flock scattered abroad to wander without shelter under inclement skies. He lived under the reigns of four different sovereigns. He saw death take one governor after another from the head of the province, judges from the bench, and ministers of God from his temple." Dr. Deane, in a sermon preached the Sunday after his funeral, thus speaks of the worthy patriarch : "He preached in his turn till the close of the
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FIRST PARISH.
Deane, who had been the colleague of Mr. Smith thirty-one years. The Dr. continued to sustain the charge until 1809, when Mr. Nichols was ordained colleague. Dr. Deane's health
year, 1784, and his mental faculties since that period have been so little impaired, that until within a year and a half of his decease he has assisted in the work of the sanctuary with ability and to edification by his public prayers. Though his voice was always feeble, the excellency of his elocution, accompanied with a venerable and becoming gravity, rendered his performances very acceptable. Possessing in a high degree the spirit of prayer, devotion could not but be excited in the breasts of the serious part of his audience. In sermons his composition was elegant and his language chaste and correct. Nor was he wanting in animation and pathos in his pertinent addresses to his hearers." Again: "blest with a singular strength of memory, which he retained with but little abatement to the last, and with a lively imagination, his conversation was at once instructive and entertaining. Perhaps the most striking traits in his religious character were his spirituality in devotion, and his most exact and scrupulous temperance in all things. His hearers can witness how often he enlivened their souls with the fer- vency of his addresses to the throne of grace in public; how ready he was in pri- vate to give a spiritual and heavenly turn to conversation ; and what a faculty he had of doing it with dignity and ease." The morning Dr. Deane preached the funeral sermon, the second parish and their minister attended in a body out of respect to his memory. Notwithstanding he was for a long course of years, the most distinguished preacher in this part of the country, but two discourses of his were published, one delivered at the ordination of the Rev Solomon Lombard in Gorham, the other to sea-faring men of his own parish, in 1771. Beside his clerical duties, Mr. Smith was for many years the only physician in town; in times of unusual sickness he was constantly occupied in this capacity. In No- vember, 1748, he says "I am perpetually hurried with the sick; the whole prac- tice rests on me."
During Mr. Smith's ministry there were baptized in his society, two thousand three hundred and sixty-three children and thirty-one adults, and three hundred and seventy-nine persons were admitted to the church. The whole number of persons admitted to the church from March 8, 1727 to December 31, 1842, was seven hundred and forty-three. From the settlement of Dr. Deane, 1764, to the ordination of Dr. Nichols in 1809, the number of admissions was one hundred and seventy-one. In Dr. Nichols's ministry from 1809 to 1855, there were three hundred and thirteen admissions to the church. The following points present Mr. Smith's views of Christian doctrines.
1. That God made man after his own image, holy, just, and good, and there- fore perfectly happy.
2. That man fell from this state of perfect rectitude, and thereby brought upon, or subjected himself to eternal misery.
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
and strength had failed considerably several years before Mr. Nichols was associated with him, and the parish had procured persons to assist him in his labors. Among these were Rev. Samuel Cary, afterward of the Stone Chapel, Boston, Joseph Mckean, afterward Prof. of Elocution in Harvard College, Rev. Mr. Ely, Rev. S. Thacher, and Rev. John Codman.
Mr. Codman preached four Sabbaths in 1808; he had re- cently returned from England, and was earnest and animated ; he was connected with the family of Deacon Codman, one of the most considerable in the parish. Dr. Deane was weary and needed relief, and urged his settlement. He said in a letter to Deacon Freeman, "I dread to be left alone, for I am not equal to preaching twice in one day. Mr. Codman is greatly admired by many. He is orthodox and ingenious, and I think very generally esteemed. I wish we may be directed to do what is best."
But Mr. Codman was too orthodox for the existing senti- ment of the parish, and although the church voted six to three to invite him to a settlement, the parish did not concur, only three voting for him. Mr. Payson in a letter spoke of Mr. Codman as "a young gentleman of independent fortune. He has been studying divinity in Scotland and preaches the doc- trines of the gospel in a clear and distinguishing manner." What he means by this expression, may be seen in another
3. That God so loved the world, that he gave his only son Christ Jesus to re- deem mankind from this state of punishment for sin, who made an atonement therefor by his sufferings and death, and thereby purchased the grant of repen- tance.
4. To enable man to repent, he promised to send his Holy Spirit to them who ask it. If ye being evil, etc.
5. Therefore to recover a state of happiness we are by the assistance of the Spirit to repent and be obedient, and by so doing, we shall obtain eternal life. For a more full biography of Mr. Smith, I refer to my edition of Smith's and Deane's Journals, pp. 7, 34. I annex a fac-simile of his signature.
Thứ. Smith
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FIRST PARISH-DR. DEANE.
letter of October 10, 1808. "I have had some relief of late by Mr. Codman's being here, at the old parish, and preaching such doctrines as I do." He was subsequently settled at Dor- chester, Massachusetts.
In January, 1809, Mr. Nichols first preached here, and supplied the pulpit four Sabbaths. On the 27th of February the parish unanimously concurred with the church in extend- ing an invitation to him to settle with them, and voted a salary of twelve hundred dollars a year. He accepted the invitation on the 20th of March, and was ordained on the 7th of June following. The ordaining council was composed of the Cum- berland Association of ministers, to which was added by invi- tation of the pastor elect, Dr. Lathrop, Dr. Kirkland, and Mr. Buckminster of Boston, Mr. Cary of Newburyport, Dr. Bar- nard of Salem, and Mr. Abbott of Beverly ; the venerable Dr. Lathrop was moderator. The services were performed as fol- lows: The first prayer by Dr. Kirkland, sermon by Dr. Bar- nard, the pastor and instructor of the candidate, ordaining prayer by Mr. Lancaster of Scarborough, the charge by Dr. Deane, the right hand of fellowship by Mr. Buckminster, and the concluding prayer by Mr. Abbott. All the services were of a high order. It was desired that Mr. Payson, who had been recently settled over the second society, should extend the fel- lowship of the churches to the new pastor, but he deferred an answer until the examination of the candidate before the coun- cil, which not being satisfactory to him on doctrinal views, he alone of the council, refused his approbation, and declined taking any part in the ordination. He says in a letter, "The ordination is just at hand and engrosses universal attention in town. The candidate is a fine scholar, has an amiable dispo- sition * * and has treated me in that frank, open, friendly manner, which is calculated to win me over to his side * I hope I shall be able to act as duty requires." This incident increased the unfriendly feelings which existed between the two socie- ties, which was made more bitter in 1811, by the refusal of the
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
pastors of the second parish to permit Mr. Nichols to preach in their pulpit by appointment of the association of ministers to which they all belonged. Mr. Nichols was afterward excluded from the association on doctrinal objections, and the breach between the societies in pastoral relations, became permanent. -See Deane's Journal, .p. 395.
The parish after the secession in 1787, gradually gathered strength as it advanced, and rose with the prosperity of the town to a highly flourishing condition. The meeting-house, which in every well regulated society is an object of proper regard, was not neglected in this ; in 1800 the steeple and vane were repaired, and in 1803 and 1804 the remainder of the building outside and within was thoroughly painted. In 1801 the town placed a clock on the tower, the first which was introduced in the town or the State ; in 1804 a new bell was procured from England weighing seventeen hundred and twenty-one pounds, to supply the place of the old one which had been many years cracked.1 The first bell had been in use forty-six years ; the second was placed in the tower September 7, 1804, and had a peculiarly rich and sweet tone. It also, in its turn, became cracked, and in 1862 a new bell was procured from Troy, New, York, which weighed three thousand three hundred and forty pounds, the largest in the city, and is of a deep and powerful tone. It bears upon its sides the following inscriptions :
"Old First Parish, Portland, Me. Thomas Smith, 1727.
Samuel Deane, 1764. Ichabod Nichols, 1809. Horatio Stebbins, 1855. 0, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.
First bell, 1758.
Second. 1804. Third, 1862.
Jones & Company, Founders, Troy, N. Y., 1862."
1 Belknap's psalms and hymns were introduced in 1801 instead of Tate and Brady's; which in turn were superseded by Greenwood's in December, 1832. "March 10, 1756, Voted, That twenty-five pounds be raised to purchase Tate and Brady's Psalm Book, with the tunes annexed."-Parish Records.
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FIRST PARISH-DR. DEANE.
It was hoisted to its destined place September 8, 1862, just fifty-eight years from the time the same service was rendered to its predecessor. Its key note is E flat; that of the Second Parish, A flat ; State Street, F ; St Luke's, the second largest, E flat, a little sharp.
Dr. Deane lived to see the parish established on a firm foun- dation, and its spiritual concerns in the guidance of able hands. He died on the 12th of November, 1814, in the eighty-first year of his age, and the fiftieth year of his ministry.1
I Dr. Deane was descended from Walter Deane, the first of the name in this country, who emigrated with his brother John from Chardin, Somersetshire, England, in 1636. He was in the fifth degree from Walter through his son John. After remaining a year in Dorchester near Boston, he moved to Taunton, where he died, having had six children. Dr. Deane was the eldest son of Deacon Samnel Deane and Rachel Dwight, and was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1733. He graduated at Harvard College in 1760, with a high reputation as a scholar ; was appointed tutor there in 1763, and continued in the office until he accepted the call of the first parish the next year. While at Cambridge, he composed a Latin poem, which with a volume of complimentary effusions from the University, was presented to George III, on his accession to the throne .* The poem was highly spoken of. He also published several other poems, the longest of which was Pitchwood Hill in hexameter. His largest work and one to which he was most devoted, and which will longest preserve his memory is, his "Georgi- cal Dictionary, or New England Farmer" first published in 1790. The Dr. ardently devoted himself to agricultural pursuits and has preserved the practical results of his experiments in this valuable volume; a new edition was published by Mr. Fessenden of Boston. Beside the foregoing works the Dr. published an oration delivered July 4, 1793, an election sermon delivered in 1794, two dis- courses to the young men of his parish, an'd some other sermons. He was a man of good personal appearance and of grave and dignified deportment, but in hours of relaxation he was fond of indulging in social conversation which he enlivened with pleasantry and wit. Several anecdotes of the quickness of his repartee are remembered of him. On one occasion when he was a tutor in College, he was showing a stranger the curiosities of the Museum, among which was a remarkably long sword; the gentleman asked the history of it. Mr. Deane replied, he believed it was the sword with which Balaam threatened to
* This volume was entitled "Pietas et Gratulatio Contabrigiensis Apud Novanglos." Mr. Deane's poem was in English and numbered ten in the collection .- See Biographical notice of Dr. Deane, in my edition of Smith and Deane's Journals.
656
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
As the parish increased, the inconveniences of the old meet- ing-house began to be seriously felt, and in 1821 a project was suggested for altering the form of the pews to increase the accommodation of the society. This did not prevail, probably from a desire in many to erect on the site of the old house a new one more suited to the wants and condition of the parish. After much conversation and effort on the subject, the society in November, 1824, came to the conclusion to build a new meeting-house on the spot occupied by the old one, to be com- menced early the next spring and to be finished without delay. In pursuance of this vote, the present church was constructed of undressed granite in 1825.1 The ground floor is eighty-two feet long by sixty-two feet wide, and contains one hundred and thirty-eight pews ; in the gallery there were thirty-eight pews, beside the orchestra. The house was finished in January and
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