USA > Maine > Hancock County > Traditions and records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert island, Maine > Part 7
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 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
One warm Sunday in July he preached with his accustomed vigor and at full length at Manset, then, without waiting for his noon meal he hurried up over the mountain to Beech Hill where he preached again at great length. For supper he ate freely of hot biscuits and raspberries and cream and was found dead in his bed in the morning. So his first pastorate was his last. He was buried in the little burying ground by the roadside at Beech Hill and his simple white stone records his age as thirty-three years. And still, after the lapse of nearly a century, incidents of his short life are remembered.
Benjamin F. Stinson, who was the minister at Southwest Harbor at three different times and who owned and lived for many years on the place now owned by Mrs. C. E. Cook, was the son of William Stinson, Esq., who came to Deer Island from Woolwich, Maine, in 1765. The son was settled for some time at Swan's Island from which place he came to Southwest Harbor in 1859. He was a resident here from that time to the day of his death.
He often took his boat on a sort of trailer behind his carriage, drove to Bass Harbor, put up his horse and rowed to Swan's Island where he held services and returned the same way.
70
TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
Mr. Stinson was an ingenious man and had many different occupations. While living in the parsonage which was on the site of the house now owned by Mrs. John F. Young, he invented some sort of liquid kindling for fire. This exploded and set the house on fire and it was destroyed. He then purchased the place where he lived the rest of his life. He carried on considerable farming, raised many cattle and was active in many ways.
Mr. Stinson served the Methodist church in Southwest Har- bor the second time in 1867-69. In 1870 Rev. E. C. Boynton and William Reed preached here and at West Tremont. In 1871 Rev. Joshua A. L. Rich served as minister for one year and then Mr. Stinson was minister until the close of 1875. The ministers since that time have been as follows: William H. Crawford, 2nd, 1876-77 ; Richard H. McGown, 1878; Charles Rogers, 1879- 81; James S. Allen, 1882-3. During the time Mr. Rogers and Mr. Allen were here they had as an assistant, J. H. Moors. Nelson Whitney and J. W. Day, 1884; Warren Applebee, 1885; Oliver H. Fernald and J. B. Conley, 1886; Oliver H. Fernald and Wes- ley C. Haskell, 1887-8; Wesley C. Haskell, 1889-90.
It was during the stay of Rev. Wesley C. Haskell in 1889 that the present Methodist church was built. The memorial win- dow in the front gable was given by Mr. Haskell and his brother in memory of their mother, Augusta C. Haskell. The pulpit set was given by Mr. and Mrs. Obadiah Allen of Somesville who were members of the church and regular attendants. The Sun- day School was organized that year with a membership of fifty- four. The dedication of the church took place on August 9, 1889 with Dr. N. A. Spencer of Philadelphia, Dr. J. N. Hamilton of Boston, Bishop Mallalieu of New Orleans and Rev. Norman La Marsh taking active parts. Miss Hattie Somes of Somesville was organist. The church was lavishly decorated and crowded to the doors at both morning and afternoon services. The sum of $500 was raised at each service by cash or by pledge so the building was declared free from debt. Rev. Sarah Treworgy of Surry spent some time in town soon after the church was dedi- cated and conducted revival services which added many members to the roll.
The parsonage was built in 1897.
71
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
In 1888 the members at West Tremont organized a separate church and soon after 1900 the church at that village was built. The Methodist ministers of Southwest Harbor have also preached at Hall Quarry and supervised a Sunday School there.
After Mr. Haskell came LeRoy Bates, Ph.D., 1890; Artemas J. Haynes, June 1892; Joseph L. Hoyle, Sept. 1892; Artemas J. Haynes, May 1893 (Mr. Haynes was a student and preached during vacations) ; Joseph H. Thompson, Dec. 1893; W. T. Johnson, May 1894; W. H. Powlesland, May 1895; D. H. Piper, April 1897 ; M. T. Anderson, May 1898; F. W. Brooks, May 1899; Harry Hill, May 1902; J. B. Aldrich, April 1904 to April 1906; Oscar G. Barnard, April 1906 to April 1910; Royal W. Brown, April 1910 to April 1912; G. C. Richardson, April 1912 to April 1913. Various supplies between 1913 and 1914. William Van Vallenburg, Dec. 25, 1914 to Sept. 1915 ; H. F. Doran, 1915 to 1916; Roy C. Dalzell, 1917 to 1918; Elijah Mercer, 1918, part of year ; T. L. Blaisdell, Sept. 4, 1919 to 1921; Lloyd E. Marble, May 1922 to May 1924; John E. Blake, 1924-28; Harold O. Wooster, Oct. 21, 1928 to 1930.
In 1930 the Larger Parish plan was adopted.
Once during the history of the Methodist church of this vicinity, a camp meeting was held within its borders on the east side of Somes Sound, near its mouth and nearly opposite Fernald Point. The site was called for years Camp Meeting Point.
Methodist preachers from Southwest Harbor for many years preached also at West Tremont but in 1888 it became a separate charge and a church was organized in 1892. A hall was pur- chased for a meeting house and in 1900 it was torn down and the present church was built.
HISTORY OF SOUTHERN MOUNT DESERT MISSION PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL
by
Rev. R. L. Carson
Early in the 1900's Mr. Green of Bar Harbor and Mr. Jobe of Hull's Cove began missionary work at Seal Cove, holding ser- vices in private houses and in the public hall. Forty-four per-
72
TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
sons were baptized. There were several summer residents com- municants of the church on the western side of the island, and in order to minister to them and the local residents, it was decided to station a priest in charge of the mission as a permanent resi- dent. Bishop Codman was fortunate in his choice of a mission- ary in sending, in 1913, the late Rev. William T. Forsythe. This devoted missionary in his brief five years of service established the church as an abiding monument to his memory. He began with 19 communicants and 25 baptized.
During his ministry he baptized one hundred and eleven, con- firmed fifty and ministered to many outside the Episcopal church. He built three churches. Over bad roads and under very trying circumstances he carried on his work, frequently walking to all parts of the mission. He died in 1918 beloved by all who knew him, and his name is still held in reverence among the people for whose spiritual welfare he so self-sacrificingly labored.
The Church at St .- Andrew-by-the-Lake at Seal Cove was built in 1914. The ground had been donated by Mr. and Mrs. William Harper. The local residents raised five hundred dollars and Bishop Codman solicited the remainder toward erecting a fine church. The first service was held on January 2, 1915.
After Mr. Forsythe's death a bell was procured and dedicated to his memory.
Church of St. John-the-Divine, Southwest Harbor
Both because of its advantages in communication and also in education, Southwest Harbor had been selected as the site of a rectory for a married priest with children. Bishop Codman bought and presented the present rectory to the Mission. In 1914 there were no regular services in the Congregational and Methodist churches in that village and no resident ministers to those churches. Mr. Forsythe was called upon to look after the sick and to bury many. The Episcopal summer residents and some of the local residents wished him to hold services, which he did in the public hall. By 1918 a church had been erected. A few women organized as a Guild and by means of sales etc. have managed to defray most of the cost of building the church.
73
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
Since then they have added a chancel, parish room and vestry at a cost of $2000. Mr. Forsythe did not live to preach in the church he had so labored to build. His funeral was the first ser- vice to be held in it.
St. Columba's Church, Gott's Island
A lady from Philadelphia, Miss Peterson, had made Gott's Island her permanent home, building her cottage on a point on the outer or seaward side of the island, where the light from her window was a beacon for the fishermen. She was a very devout church woman and beloved by the residents.
It was her dream to build a little church on the island, which dream was ultimately fulfilled. In 1916 the baptism of Beatrice Elaine Boynton is recorded as having been performed in St. Columba's Church, Gott's Island, on September 17. Services had been held in the schoolhouse two years prior to that. St. Columba was a most appropriate name for this little island church. It reminds one of the long centuries of church history from Columba (A.D. 513-597) and his chapel on Iona.
Miss Peterson provided the building as well as its furnish- ings. But misfortune came to the little church. In 1925 Miss Peterson lost her life in a fire which burned her cottage in the night. Subsequently, the lure of the mainland drew away the inhabitants, until today the island is abandoned to a few tourists and the little church is falling into decay.
Such is the brief outline of the history of Southern Mount Desert Mission to date (1937). Little has been said of the loyalty and devotion of our island people to this mission, and of the splendid support of Episcopal summer residents and visi- tors. A group of ladies in the summer colony at Northeast Har- bor, known as the "Northeast Committee of Southern Mount Desert Mission" has kept the mission functioning through their efforts and generosity. It is a fine example of the Catholic spirit which has kept the Church maintained through the cen- turies. And what are the fruits of all the prayers and efforts of our people? Beginning with one resident communicant at Seal Cove in 1910 (Mrs. William Harper) 405 people have been bap- tized and 306 confirmed. Not much, in comparison with more
74
TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
populous and more receptive areas, but a great deal on the west- ern side of Mount Desert Island.
Clergy serving this mission are: 1913-18, Rev. Wm. T. Forsythe; 1918-19, Rev. A. F. Freese; 1919-21, Rev. R. D. Mulaney; 1922-25, Rev. L. C. Morrison; 1926- , Rev. R. L. Carson.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCH OF SOUTHWEST HARBOR
In the spring of 1935 Christian Science services were held at the home of Mrs. Archie R. Salisbury in Southwest Harbor, con- tinuing through the summer and the following winter. During the summer of 1936 the society rented the Methodist church for their Sunday services and in the autumn they moved to a room in the Odd Fellows' building where regular Sunday services are held.
THE FIRST SEWING CIRCLE
The Mutual Improvement and Benevolent Society was organ- ized on June 28, 1853, at what is now Manset. The opening lines of the constitution say that the society "is to be devoted to work and useful reading and one hour is to be set aside for reading at each meeting." The refreshments are limited to "bread, butter, tea, cake and sauce with cheese occasionally." The gen- tlemen are permitted to come to supper and also to join the society as honorary members by paying a fee and many availed themselves of the opportunity. Evidently the first record book has been mislaid, as the first record at hand now tells of the events of 1860 when Mrs. Catharine Newman was president, Mrs. Mary Ann Hodgkins, vice president, and Mrs. Melvina S. Tucker, secretary and treasurer.
These worn record books tell of much work done by these faithful women, working for the good of their community. They contributed to the church, they painted it, they cleaned it, they made curtains for the windows. In 1860 they purchased a hearse and paid for a house to be built for it. The vehicle cost $125 and when its services were required in other communi- ties a small fee was paid.
75
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
On July fourth, 1861, they held a fair and a patriotic address was delivered by Arno Wiswell, Esq., of Ellsworth. The rec- ords say that the society voted "a vote of thanks to Arno Wis- well, Esq., for his patriotic address and we earnestly desire that the spirit therein manifested may wake an echo in every breast until rebellion shall be forever crushed and the bonds of Union indissolubly cemented."
They purchased the bell which now hangs in the steeple of the Manset church, paying $193.42 for it of Naylor and Co., Bos- ton. This was November 7, 1866.
Through the next few years there is but one mention in the records of the war that was ravaging the land. On May 31, 1864, the society met at Mrs. Durgain's and it is recorded that "Miss Hopkins closed by playing and singing Just Before the Battle, Mother. It reached all our hearts as our dear ones were fighting for our country."
About 1865 they purchased a sofa for the pulpit and also a new carpet.
They answered to the call of charity and one of the entries in the treasurer's accounts is of $1.50 paid for boards to make a coffin.
They loaned money on notes to their townspeople and col- lected their interest. Just before one of the fairs there is an entry of $1.50 paid to Mrs. Melville Moore for a frame for a hair wreath. These wreaths were made from human hair and were most ingeniously constructed with different colored hair woven into flowers and leaves and enclosed in a deep frame such as was also used for wreaths of wax flowers.
Then they decided to build a public hall and a meeting was called to decide the dimensions. Thirty by sixty feet were the dimensions adopted and Andrew H. Haynes, Henry Newman and Peter Moore were chosen as a building committee. It was located north of the church. This was in 1876. The books give the "whole cost of hall including painting $1106.95." The cost of building the chimney was $3.50 for labor, the society provid- ing all materials. A stage was added later and the walls plas- tered at a cost of $75.10. $32 was paid for chandeliers and in 1881 Nathan Stanley painted the outside of the building and
76
TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
furnished the paint for $30. That same year William Danby received $3.00 for "digging a well and doing some work around the hall."
In 1883 the tax on the hall was $5.05.
The records show much hard work done by this group of women. Several times they record that they met at the church and washed the floor and windows and they gave suppers, fairs and dances to pay for the hall. Little by little their funds grew until all bills were cancelled. Then, as this devoted group grew older and the younger generation had other interests, the work faltered and finally Centennial Hall was sold and moved to an- other location to begin a new order of usefulness.
THE SECOND SEWING CIRCLE
The second "Ladies Sewing Circle" in Southwest Harbor was organized April 6, 1855, with thirty-four members. Mrs. Joanna H. Lurvey was the first president, Mrs. Comfort Thompson, sec- retary, Mrs. Priscilla Lurvey, collector and treasurer. The direc- tors were Mrs. Ann Louisa Holmes, Mrs. Abigail P. Day and Miss Elizabeth Harman. The by-laws provided that the officers should stand for three months and then new ones should be chosen. The second by-law regulated the refreshments by pro- viding that they should "consist of tea, bread and butter and either sauce or cheese, as one may choose."
The object of the society was to "pay the existing debt on the Tremont parsonage and to finish the said parsonage." This parsonage was a house on the site of the one now (1937) owned by Mrs. John F. Young. Not long after the organization of the society the parsonage burned and the house now belonging to Mrs. Young was built by the community and used as a home for the minister for many years. All denominations belonged to the sewing circle and helped with the work but the parsonage was later known as the Methodist parsonage and the ministers of that church occupied it.
The ladies made men's clothes and on June 11, 1857, they made a price list providing that fifty cents must be paid for making trousers of thick cloth and twenty-five cents for those of thin cloth. A coarse, single-breasted vest would cost fifty cents
77
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
for the making and a double-breasted vest brought in the sum of sixty-two and a half cents. The making of flannel shirts was worth thirty-three cents. This was before the days of sewing machines and all pockets as well as seams were made by hand.
The ladies would knit a pair of stockings for seventeen cents and the records say "gentlemen can come to tea by paying ten cents."
Gentlemen were admitted to membership in the circle by the payment of fifty cents and many availed themselves of the privi- lege and their names are recorded in the book kept by the secre- tary. If a woman wanted a calico dress cut and made it could be done for fifty cents and a fine shirt would be made for a dollar. Seventy-five cents was the price of a pound of stocking yarn. The meetings were held only in summer probably because of snow-blocked and unbroken roads and the difficulty of heat- ing "the spare room" or parlor in cold weather. In 1855 most of the houses in this community had fireplaces for cooking as well as heating.
On April 28, 1868, the sewing circle, which had been more or less neglected during the war, was reorganized under the name of the Tremont General Benevolent Society under which name it continued for many years. The parsonage which had burned in 1867 was rebuilt and much charitable work done and the society seems to have been the source of much of the social life of the community. Fairs were held, sometimes at the parsonage; and from one it is recorded that they cleared the sum of $194. The suppers were largely attended every week and the rules changed so that the hostesses could serve "tea, bread and butter, one kind of cake and one other article."
Although the members were from all parts of the town, the early meetings were held in the vicinity of Norwood's Cove and the officers seem to have been chosen from that vicinity. For several years the record book gives only the place of meeting and the money expended. They completed paying for the parsonage, they fenced the cemetery, they sewed for the needy and for mothers of large families and made articles for the fairs.
This was the beginning of all the church sewing societies in the community. In later years the societies began to be called "Ladies Aids."
78
TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
The time-stained old record book carries on its pages the names of many of the ancestors of those who are now carrying on the work of the women's organizations in the churches.
SCHOOLS
The first menton of an effort to establish a school on Mount Desert Island is in the account of a town meeting held June 15, 1790, when it was voted to raise eighteen pounds for the support of schools. On September 6 of that same year the whole island was divided into school districts as follows:
"Voted that one School District shall be from Capt. Youngs Down as far as Mr. Lynam's including both familys. The next shall be from Capt. Thompson's up to John Cousins including both familys ; the Next from thence to the mouth of the Northeast Crick, the Next from Sd. Crick to the Northwest Cove; the Next to Consest of Pritty Marsh together with Robinson's Island and Sile Cove; the next to Consist of Bass Harbor together with Duck and Goose Cove and Gotts Island; the Next Southwest Harbor together with both of the Sandy Points; the Next Division shall be Both of the Cranberry Islands; the Next above the hills with Beech Hill. Next Bartlett's Island.
Attest James Richardson, Town Clerk."
Mr. Lynam, mentioned in the first division then lived at Schooner Head; John Cousins lived near the shore a short distance southeasterly from the Ovens; Capt. Young lived at Duck Brook; Capt. Thompson lived at Hull's Cove near where Calvert Hamor was living in 1902.
At that time there were but few families living at what is now Northeast Harbor, then called Sandy Point, but it would seem quite a hardship to transfer children from there to South- west Harbor to attend school. There was a considerable popula- tion on the Cranberry Islands. According to this division the children would have to be brought from what is now Islesford to Big Cranberry. The districts were so large that distances must have made it impossible for young children to attend school.
79
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
It was some time after these divisions were made before any schools were opened.
On April 4, 1791, the town meeting voted "not to raise any money for schools." There must have been dissension over this action as on May 2, 1791, another meeting was held and it was voted "to raise 50 pounds for support of schools to be paid in Produce of the Country at the Currant Market price", and the same vote was passed at a meeting the following year.
On May 7, 1792, as there were four families on the North side of North East Crick and three on the South Side who requested to be formed into a Separate School District, this was granted by the town meeting. At this same meeting the vote against separating Maine from Massachusetts was thirty-four votes with fifteen for the proposed separation.
At this same meeting, the Bass Harbor school district "was divided by the River into two Districts for the purpose of keep- ing school from this time forth" and also "Seal Cove with the Inhabitants adjacent thereof be a Separate District for a Sake of keeping a school."
"Forty pounds to be payed in cash" was the sum raised for school purposes in 1793.
Forty-eight votes were cast at this town meeting on April first, 1793 for John Hancock as Governor of the Commonwealth, forty-eight for Samuel Adams as Lieut. Gov. and forty-eight for Senator Alexander Campbell. It would seem that the popu- lation of Mount Desert was at that time of the same political belief as there was no opposing votes mentioned.
In 1796 the sum raised for schools for the whole of Mount Desert Island was $133.33 "to be divided according to the Number of Scholars in each District that is above five years old and under twenty one."
The first school in Southwest Harbor was held in the old Harmon house, which stood on the Main Road just south of the property now owned by Miss Grace M. Simmons and which all formerly belonged to the Harmon estate. At the time the school was held in this house only one room was finished and one of the pupils who lived to a great age, said that the children amused themselves at recess by hopping from timber to timber in the
80
TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
unfinished and unfloored rooms. This first school was a "dame school", said to have been taught by Mrs. Polly Milliken.
Knitting and sewing were a part of the instruction for every girl and later, when the terms of school were longer, men were employed as teachers in winter when "the big boys" attended, and the science of navigation was taught to them with more or less skill, according to the ability of the teacher.
The first schoolhouse to be built in Southwest Harbor was at Norwood's Cove directly across the road from the house now owned by Mrs. John F. Young and at the top of the hill. It was also used for religious meetings and occasionally for town meetings. This was soon after 1795. It was a "hip roof" building with seats around three sides of the room. This building served as an institution of learning until 1860 when a new schoolhouse was built farther along on Fernald Road. This school was dis- continued in 1914 and the pupils sent to the building at the village center. Allston Sargent of New York bought the old schoolhouse and it was taken down in the spring of 1937.
In 1839 we find mention in church records of the school- house at South Norwood's Cove which is the name by which what is now the village center was called. Later this is referred to as "the Freeman school." This first school building was a single-room, substantial house with home made seats, capable of seating from fifty to sixty pupils. It had a box stove and a wide crack in the floor which the pupils were required to "toe" made for straight lines when the spelling classes stood up for their oral spelling lesson. Rev. Edgar M. Cousins, a native of Southwest Harbor, wrote as follows on his school days :
"From 1850 to 1860 when the writer's personal recollec- tions begin, both houses were crowded in winter and in- struction was given by schoolmasters of whom any town might be proud. Among these teachers were three natives of the town; the Fernald brothers, Oliver H. and Charles H. and William W. A. Heath. The Fernalds, who were then obtaining the education which fitted them for their im- portant places in the world, divided their time between their home district in the old Norwoods Cove house at the head of the Cove and other parts of the town, especially district
81
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
No. 3 in the 'Durgain District' at the south side of the harbor, and some of the Bass Harbor districts.
"In the village schoolhouse Mr. Heath taught for at least seven successive winters, beginning about 1855 and ending in 1862 or 3 and then only on account of the intense political strain induced by the Civil War, then at its height. He taught the first term of school in the 'upstairs room' of the new 'Freeman schoolhouse.' He was a progressive and inspiring teacher and in addition to leading his pupils in the perennial struggle with Greenleaf's Old and later New National Arithmetic and the Parsing book, he induced them to take up the study of Algebra, astronomy, navigation, geometry and trigonometry."
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.