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 MOTHERS OF MAINE
 
 / cannot tell how the truth may be ; 
 I say the tale as 'twas said to me." 
 
 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 HELEN COFFIN BEEDY 
 
 PORTLAND 
 
 THE THURSTON PRINT 
 
 1895
 
 Copyright 1895, by 
 Helen Coffin Beedy
 
 IS' 
 
 TO THE 
 
 DAUGHTERS OF MAINE, 
 
 "mothers of Maine" 
 
 IS LOVINGLY dedicated.
 
 Dear Mothers of the long ago ! 
 
 Your children's lullabies, 
 By cradles that the ages know 
 
 Ascended to the skies. 
 You sang the song of hope and faith, 
 
 Of courage and content — 
 A song that sweetly echoeth 
 
 Across the continent. 
 
 Dear Daughters of the grand to-day ! 
 
 We sing the song to you. 
 O listen we'll, and watch, and pray — 
 
 Strive nobler deeds to do, 
 And when the years to hundreds swing 
 
 And other centuries come, ; 
 May new grand-daughters better sing 
 
 The Mother and the Home.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IT would be difficult to define the motive that 
 first led the writer of these pages to the study 
 of ancestry. There has always been to her a 
 fascination about the dear old Grandmothers. 
 
 In preparation for a paper, The Pioneer Women 
 of Maine, read before the first annual meeting of 
 the State Federation of Women's Clubs at Skow- 
 hegan, October 9, 1893, she found in the state and 
 local histories a few thrilling experiences of women 
 recorded but very little of their lives of heroism. 
 Addressing letters to many of the representative 
 men and women of Maine, asking them if they 
 would kindly give her items of interest in regard 
 to their maternal ancestors, she received such 
 ready responses containing so much valuable mat- 
 ter that she was led to continue the research. 
 
 Many avenues were opened to her. She trav- 
 eled many miles, searched many records and inter- 
 viewed many people. The material collected 
 seemed too valuable to be lost and, at the earnest 
 solicitation of friends, she consented to give it to 
 the public, hesitating only because of its incom- 
 pleteness. It has been her purpose, as far as pos- 
 sible, to let the mothers speak for themselves.
 
 12 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 An old letter, a leaf from a diary, or sayings cher- 
 ished in the heart of a friend, have been incorporated 
 when possible. 
 
 The " Mothers of Maine " includes many of the 
 women who have aided in laying the foundations 
 of the institutions on which the Commonwealth of 
 Maine stands to-day. 
 
 The writer desires to express here her personal 
 thanks to all those who have so kindly assisted her, 
 especially to librarians who have been untiring in 
 their efforts to advance the work.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Pa^e. 
 
 ChapUr. 
 
 I — Dusky Mothers, '9 
 
 II — French Mothers 33 
 
 III — Loyalists, 39 
 
 IV — The Real Mothers of Maine, .... 5^ 
 V — Indian Depredations, 59 
 
 VI Mother and Lady Phips, 73 
 
 VII — Forest Neighbors, °^ 
 
 VIII — Revolutionary Dames °9 
 
 IX — Sarah Emery Merrill, io3 
 
 X — Deeds ok Daring, . , "3 
 
 XI — Lucy Knox, '3' 
 
 XII — Business Women, • ^39 
 
 XIII — Social Customs, ^59 
 
 XIV — Early Religious Teachings i7« 
 
 XV — Ministers' Wives, ^^3 
 
 XVI — Mothers of Longfellow, 209 
 
 XVII — Temperance Reform, 219 
 
 XVIII — Antislavery Movement, 231 
 
 XIX — Mothers in Israel, ^45 
 
 XX — Homekeepers, ^5 
 
 XXI — Patty Benjamin Washburn, 291 
 
 XXII — Sunday Schools, 
 
 299 
 
 XXIII — Teachers, 309 
 
 XXIV — Physicians and Nurses 323 
 
 XXV — Preachers, 33^ 
 
 XXVI — Famous Hostesses, 343 
 
 XXVII — Authors, 349 
 
 XXVIII — Philanthropists 3 7 
 
 XXIX— Hannah Touey Shapleigh Farmer, . . . -383 
 
 XXX — Amy Morris Bradley, 393 
 
 XXXI — Dorothea L. Dix, 405 
 
 XXXII— Women's Clubs Forfshadowed 419 
 
 XXXIII — Other Mothers, 4^9
 
 The new woman came to Maine with the first 
 family. She has been the fiew woman ever since 
 — strong in the oldness of her newness.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 IN these days when Maine is heralded as the 
 summer playground of all America, when 
 there comes trooping to her shores, mountains and 
 lakes tourists from every part of the broad domain, 
 when poets and novelists find here their immortal 
 themes, artists scenes unrivalled in beauty, when 
 her homesick sons and daughters in their exile are 
 sighing, 
 
 O Motherland of Maine, 
 
 it becomes the home children to rise up and call 
 her blessed, doubling their diligence to rescue from 
 oblivion the memory of those worthy pioneers 
 whose names are not found in the records of her 
 history. 
 
 There are many stories of the early pioneer life 
 in Maine cherished in the memories of those who 
 are rapidly passing beyond human questioning. 
 These should be sought out and preserved. 
 
 There have been developed in the woods of 
 Maine lives of noble daring, self sacrifice and de- 
 votion that only the winds have breathed, the rocks 
 echoed and the birds sung — 
 
 The heroic in common life.
 
 l6 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Rapid transit has annihilated distance. The 
 tourist who takes her seat in a parlor car in Boston 
 and speeds eastward along the Atlantic, beside 
 lakes, among valleys, through thriving farm lands 
 and cities, with here and there only a scanty pine 
 grove, can form but a faint idea of what a journey 
 to Maine meant in the days of her grandmothers. 
 Or if she continue still eastward from Bangor and 
 note the massive stump fences, which for nearly a 
 century have remained as now, she gets only a hint 
 of the monarchs of the forest that once gave char- 
 acter to the Pine Tree State.
 
 DUSKY MOTHERS
 
 I 
 
 DUSKY MOTHERS 
 
 The path she is treading 
 Shall soon be our own. 
 
 Whittier 
 
 Vain was the chief's, the sage's, pride ; 
 They had no poet, and they died. 
 
 OF the native women of Maine — the dusky 
 mothers — we know but little. They were 
 the burden-bearers of the tribes. It may be ques- 
 tioned whether their lives were always " lives of 
 hardship." 
 
 The Indian brave had his duties, hunting, fish- 
 ing and fighting. He would have thought his 
 squaw out of place with a gun or fishing-rod. 
 
 The women constructed the wigwams, cultivated 
 the corn, prepared the food and reared the children. 
 They were skilled in the manufacture of baskets 
 and snowshoes ; they braided mats and embroid- 
 ered in beads; they made small cradles into which 
 
 19
 
 20 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 they strapped their young. These they bound 
 upon their backs when they journeyed, often rest- 
 ing themselves by leaning cradle, " baby and all," 
 against a tree. The story is told that a tired 
 squaw, entering a house, left her pack outside, and 
 that the neighbor who followed found the baby in 
 its strapped cradle, with its head downward. They 
 often hung these rude cradles upon the branches 
 of the trees. To this custom we owe our cradle 
 song : 
 
 Rock-a-by baby upon the tree top, 
 
 When the wind blows the cradle will rock. 
 
 The Indian women were the business agents — 
 having the direction of the trade. The English 
 noticed that whenever the Indians came with 
 their furs, they were accompanied by a squaw, at 
 whose nod the trafific was stayed or progressed. 
 The women always had the care of the money. 
 
 The first Portland mother of which there is any 
 record is the dusky queen spoken of in the diary 
 of Christopher Levett, who built the first house 
 within the limits of Falmouth. He spent the 
 winter of 1623 on an island in Portland Harbor. 
 He says: "I found here a king and a queen who 
 accompanied me to York." The queen bade him 
 welcome, drinking to his health. He adds : " She 
 drank also to her husband and bade him welcome
 
 DUSKY MOTHERS 21 
 
 to her country, for you must understand that her 
 father was sagamore of this place and left it to 
 her at his death, having no more children." 
 
 "She was queen not only of Casco, but of York." 
 As early as 1640, Sir John Jocelyn wrote of the 
 Indian women, whom he had observed at Black 
 Point, in the vicinity of Portland : 
 
 The women, many of them, have very good features, all 
 of them black eyed, having even, short teeth and very white ; 
 their hair black, thick and long ; broad breasted ; handsome, 
 straight bodies and slender, considering their constant loose 
 habit ; their limbs cleanly straight and of a convenient stature ; 
 generally as plump as partridges and, saving here and there 
 one, of a modest deportment. 
 
 Their garments are a pair of sleeves of deer or moose skin 
 dressed and drawn with lines of several colors into arabesque 
 work, with buskins of the same ; a short mantle of trading 
 cloth, either blue or red, fastened with a knot under the chin 
 and girt about the middle with a zone wrought with white and 
 blue beads into pretty works. Of these beads they have 
 bracelets for their neck and arms and links to hang in their 
 ears, and a fair table curiously made up with beads likewise, 
 to wear before their breasts. Their hair they comb backward 
 and tie it up short with a border about two handfuls broad 
 wrought in works as the other with beads. 
 
 The mother-love was not wanting in these dark- 
 browed women. 
 
 As the wife of Squando, the last of the native 
 Sokokis, was floating quietly down the Saco River
 
 22 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 in a canoe, with her baby, some English sailors, for 
 the fun of seeing an Indian papoose swim, over- 
 turned the canoe. The baby soon sunk to the 
 bottom of the river. The mother plunged in to 
 rescue her child, which did not survive the shock. 
 Can that mother be blamed if over the lifeless form 
 of her murdered babe she begged Squando to 
 avenge her great wrong? 
 
 There is a legend that the Passamaquoddy tribe 
 originated in the claim of equal rights on the part 
 of a Penobscot squaw. She married a St. John 
 brave but refused to be taken to his tribe, and he 
 declined to accept the invitation to join hers. 
 They compromised by settling on the banks of the 
 St. Croix, and became the progenitors of a new 
 tribe, the Passamaquoddy. 
 
 Hannah Susup, the wife of Pierpole, the last of 
 the natives upon the Sandy River, was a daughter 
 of the Norridgewocks and partook of their proud 
 spirit. 
 
 Wisest squaw of all the Sandy 
 Best of all the forest women, 
 
 was Pierpole's estimate of her. She perpetuated 
 her family name in that of her daughter, whom she 
 called Molly Susup Pierpole. Like other Indian 
 women, she would not learn the language of the
 
 DUSKY MOTHERS 23 
 
 English and always looked upon the settlers with 
 distrust. When she had watched two of her dark- 
 browed daughters fade and die, she believed the 
 curse of God was upon them and begged Pierpole 
 to leave the river. 
 
 "Cursed of God," 
 
 Said Hannah Susup, 
 "Cursed of God, oh will you hear me, 
 Will you go to your own people ? 
 Will you leave the pale-faced robbers ? 
 Pierpole, I will go without you." 
 
 " We will go," 
 
 Said Pierpole sadly, 
 " If the curse of God be on us, 
 We will leave the fatal valley, 
 We will go, I say not whither." 
 
 Then the sad-faced, broken Pierpole, 
 Strong and brave as he was gentle. 
 Made canoes from birch and willow, 
 Placed his Hannah and the children 
 By his side, and down the river 
 Floated, chanting as he floated. 
 Down the current Pierpole floated 
 And beyond the settler's vision 
 Vanished his canoe forever. 
 
 A steamer on the Rangeley Lakes bears the 
 name of Molly Chunkomunk, the wife of Metal- 
 luck, the last remaining Indian of the Umbagog
 
 24 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 and perhaps of the Rangeleys. 'Tis said : " after 
 her death her husband took her body to Canada 
 on a hand-sled, that it might rest in consecrated 
 ground," that while he waited for the roads to 
 admit of travel he smoked the body to preserve it. 
 In the ethnological collection of the Maine 
 Historical Society may be seen a birch-bark box 
 made by Molly Locket. Beside it is a small case 
 made of porcupine quills which bears the inscrip- 
 tion : 
 
 Old Moll Locket 
 Made this pocket. 
 She was a Pequawket 
 And last on the docket. 
 
 She is said to be the last squaw to leave Poland 
 Springs. Mrs. Wentworth Ricker treated her 
 with great kindness, often administering to her 
 ailments. 
 
 The following story is recorded in the Poland 
 Springs circular of 1891 : 
 
 On returning from a long journey to Canada, where she 
 had been to consult with a priest about having her husband 
 (sanap) removed from purgatory, she related the following: 
 The priest told her to put down her money, which she did 
 without retaining any for herself. He then prayed for her 
 husband. When he had concluded, Moll asked : 
 
 " Is he out } " 
 
 "Yes."
 
 DUSKY MOTHERS 2$ 
 
 " Are you sure ? " 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 She then snatched up the coins and started to leave. 
 
 " Hold ! " cried the priest, " if you take that money I'll pray 
 your husband back into purgatory." 
 
 With a twinkle in her eye she answered : 
 
 " Oh no ; my sanap cunning ! Whenever he got into a bad 
 place, he always stuck up a stick." 
 
 On the shore of the beautiful lake, Moosehead, 
 lived an Indian and his wife. 
 
 Their boy Kineo was the pride of his mother. 
 
 The brave became very cruel and deserted his 
 wife and son. 
 
 The youth was devoted to his mother, but as he 
 grew older began to develop the characteristics of 
 his father. He neglected his mother and finally 
 left her, making his home on the lofty rock that 
 rises so precipitously above the lake, and now bears 
 his name, Kineo. 
 
 Kineo 
 But wrathful, jealous, quick to strife. 
 He lived a passion-darkened life ; 
 Even Maquaso, his mother, fled 
 His baneful lodge in mortal dread. 
 
 Frances Laughton Mace. 
 
 His mother waited and watched, but could hear 
 no tidings from him. Broken hearted, she found
 
 26 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 her way to the smaller eminence near the lake, and 
 there kept her fire burning, hoping for the return 
 of her son. 
 
 Long years afterward Kineo espied the distant 
 light, and thoughts of his lone mother filled him 
 with remorse. He resolved to go in search of her, 
 but found her too late. She only lived to recog- 
 nize him. 
 
 Poor Kineo ! he lifted up his voice and wept, 
 filling the land with his tears, and now there 
 springs up, wherever they fell, the pure white Indian- 
 pipe, and the mountain is known as Squaw Moun- 
 tain to this day. 
 
 Molly Polassis, of the Penobscot tribe, was a 
 familiar figure throughout the state for an entire 
 century. She claimed to be one hundred and 
 twenty years old at her death. 
 
 In advanced life she became very corpulent 
 weighing nearly three hundred pounds. 
 
 Her tribe often camped in the vicinity of Frye- 
 burg, where Molly and the other women became 
 famous for their baskets and cheese drainers. 
 
 Molly was much sought after as a fortune-teller. 
 She also taught children to dance, the girls delight 
 ing to be called minance and the boys skenosis. 
 
 As she became feeble with age she was an object
 
 DUSKY MOTHERS 2/ 
 
 of veneration in Bangor, where she was always 
 known by the sweeter name, Molasses. 
 
 Gen. Samuel Veazie instructed his conductors 
 on the Old Town railroad: "Let old Molly ride 
 free." Benevolent individuals did not think of 
 passing her without depositing in her hand the 
 piece of silver she had learned to expect, and 
 which she thankfully received. 
 
 She was urged to have her picture taken, but 
 could never be induced to do so, having a supersti- 
 tion that it would be the signal for her death. The 
 picture now owned by the Tarratine Club of Ban- 
 gor is that of her daughter, Sally Polassis. 
 
 Maria Neptune was a woman of great force of 
 character, and as the daughter of the governor was 
 greatly respected by the Penobscots. 
 
 Longfellow has immortalized the daughters of 
 Madockawando. 
 
 These women of the Tarratines in their native 
 haunts on the shores of the Penobscot were 
 
 Glorious as queens 
 And beautiful beyond belief, 
 And so soft the tones of their native tongue, 
 The words are not spoken, they are sung.
 
 28 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 The home of Baron Castine and his swarthy 
 wife is described as a long, low, irregular building, 
 constructed partly of wood and partly of stone. 
 The windows were small and quite high, so that 
 no one could look in from the outside. The fort 
 surrounding it contained twelve guns, a well, a 
 chapel with a bell, and several outbuildings. A 
 garden containing quite a number of fruit trees 
 was attached to it. This was located on the penin- 
 sula of Castine, near the site of D'Aulney's fort. 
 
 Longfellow makes the Baron take his bride to 
 his ancestral home in the Pyrenees. 
 
 As the curate waits her coming he looks 
 
 To see a painted savage stride 
 
 Into the room with shoulders bare 
 
 And eagle feathers in her hair 
 
 And around her a robe of panther's hide. 
 
 Instead he beholds with secret shame 
 
 A form of beauty undefined, 
 
 A loveliness without a name, 
 
 Not of degree but more of kind, 
 
 Nor bold, nor shy, nor short, nor tall, 
 
 But a new mingling of them all. 
 
 On the shore of Lake Megantic, near the border 
 line of Maine and Canada, lived an Indian family. 
 
 The two daughters engaged with their father 
 and mother in the fur trade. They were skilled in
 
 DUSKY MOTHERS 
 
 29 
 
 trapping mink, otter, sable and other small fur- 
 bearing animals, and hunted the bear, deer and 
 moose. 
 
 They sometimes acted as guides to hunting 
 parties. They were familiar with the haunts of 
 the animals. Fatigue was unknown to them. 
 
 They often took the journey to Dead River to 
 exchange their furs for family supplies. One of 
 these maidens left her home with a heavy pack of 
 furs and set out alone for that region. She seemed 
 like a thing of the forest as she bounded away in 
 all her native grace and beauty. The family 
 waited long in vain for her return. She came not. 
 In their anxiety they went in search of her. They 
 found the little cabin, in which she was wont to 
 spend the night when on the journey, in ashes. 
 Their worst fears were realized when in the small 
 pond near by, several rods from the shore, her 
 body was found, weighted with a stone to conceal 
 it in the shallow water. 
 
 There were evidences that she had been foully 
 dealt with. The perpetrator of the deed has never 
 been discovered. Her name has never been vin- 
 dicated. Let it be written here as The Noble 
 Indian Maiden who defended her honor even unto 
 death.
 
 30 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 There is hardly an overhanging cliff, projecting 
 headland or lofty boulder on our coast or beside 
 our lakes that has not its legend of some Indian 
 maiden, with aspirations beyond her environments, 
 who met her fate by plunging into the foaming 
 waters below — the rock ever after known as 
 Lover's Leap. 
 
 Caroline Dana Howe is authority for the follow- 
 ing statement : 
 
 It is recorded in history than an Indian maiden, forsaken by 
 her lover and broken-hearted with grief, climbed to the top of 
 Jockey Cap and threw herself into Lovewell's Pond. 
 
 When we consider that Jockey Cap is a huge 
 boulder rising two hundred feet from the pine 
 plains of Fryeburg, and that Lovewell's Pond is one 
 mile and a half distant, it must be regarded as a 
 stupendous leap even for a forest maiden.
 
 FRENCH MOTHERS
 
 II 
 
 FRENCH MOTHERS 
 
 W/ty all this toil for triumphs of an hour? 
 
 Young. 
 
 THE first French woman known to be directly 
 associated with the earl}' history of Maine is 
 Madame de Guercheville. 
 
 In 1603 De Monts received from Henry IV. of 
 France a patent securing to him all the territory 
 in America between the fortieth and forty-sixth 
 degrees north latitude. This was the Acadia of 
 the French. De Monts, being unsuccessful in his 
 attempts at colonization, surrendered his grant to 
 Madame de Guercheville. She was a lady of 
 wealth and a favorite in the courtly circle. 
 
 The king confirmed her in her right, making her 
 proprietor of a large part of Maine. 
 
 By the aid of Maria de' Medici and other ladies 
 of the French court, she fitted out an expedition 
 in 161 3 to take possession of her lands. 
 
 3 ZZ
 
 34 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Madame de Guercheville was a devout Catholic, 
 and partook of the reHgious spirit that character- 
 ized the early French missionaries. 
 
 She determined to send the gospel to the Indians 
 on the Penobscot. 
 
 The expedition, delayed by adverse v^inds and 
 storms, failed to reach the river, and was obliged 
 to land at Mt. Desert. Here they planted the 
 cross and named the place St. Saviour. This 
 colony was entirely uprooted by the English. 
 
 The first woman of rank who came to Maine 
 and entered personally into the bitter contests of 
 the rival claimants for the possession of Acadia 
 was the beautiful and accomplished Madame La 
 Tour. Her husband's claim was disputed by 
 D'Aulney, who had fortified himself at Castine. 
 
 Acadia then extended from the Penobscot to the 
 St. John River. La Tour was obliged to build his 
 fort at the eastern extremity. 
 
 Madame La Tour was a woman of undaunted 
 courage. She took her place beside the men in 
 the feeble garrison and, it is said, quadrupled its 
 strength by her intrepidity. She undertook an 
 ocean voyage to Europe in behalf of their cause. 
 
 On her return she took passage on an English 
 vessel, stipulating that she should be landed at St. 
 John.
 
 FRENCH MOTHERS 35 
 
 Regardless of the compact, after a circuitous 
 voyage and a long and tedious passage, she was 
 taken to Boston. 
 
 Knowing that she could not reach St. John 
 without being exposed to capture by D'Aulney, 
 she at once commenced suit against the captain 
 and merchants who had chartered the ship, for 
 unnecessary detention of nearly six months. 
 
 She was successful and procured damages of 
 two thousand pounds, enabling her to employ three 
 ships to take her to St. John. On her arrival she 
 found the garrison weak and disheartened, her 
 husband having been absent for days. 
 
 She immediately took command of the fort and 
 when D'Aulney, who had closely watched her 
 movements, landed his force for an attack, she 
 defended it so skilfully that after twenty of his 
 men had been killed and others wounded he with- 
 drew his remaining forces to his ships. 
 
 The following year he succeeded in taking the 
 fort, plundered it and carried the garrison prison- 
 ers to Castine. 
 
 D'Aulney had chosen his opportunity, knowing 
 La Tour again to be absent from the fort in quest 
 of supplies. 
 
 On his arrival at Castine with his proud 
 prisoner, D'Aulney introduced her to his wife as 
 his greatest enemy.
 
 36 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Alone, crushed in spirit, a prisoner in the hands 
 of D'Aulney, Madame La Tour survived her cap- 
 tivity only a few weeks. 
 
 D'Aulney lived but a short time after this event. 
 
 La Tour reconciled the rival claims by marrying 
 Madame D'Aulney. He is said to have wooed 
 her with the argument : " Your husband and my 
 wife could never agree — let us live in peace."
 
 LOYALISTS
 
 Ill 
 
 LOYALISTS 
 
 We have been slow to learn that the greatest thing in the luorld is 
 love. 
 
 THE Loyalists believed that "the powers that 
 be are ordained of God." Patriotism to 
 them meant loyalty to the king of England. 
 
 " The Declaration of Independence changed the 
 meaning of the word." 
 
 The}' could not change, and sacrificed their homes 
 and estates to what they considered patriotism. 
 
 The spirit of '76 had very little sympathy with 
 the Loyalists. In many cases their property was 
 confiscated and offered to the State as though the 
 owners were dead. 
 
 The first settlers of Kittery were Mr. and Mrs. 
 John Bray, who, in consequence of religious perse- 
 cution, came from Plymouth, England, in 1660, 
 bringing with them their infant daughter, Margery. 
 
 In her wilderness home, under the careful 
 
 39
 
 40 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 guidance of a wise mother, the child grew to be 
 an attractive young lady. 
 
 On the Isles of Shoals were a company of fisher- 
 men, among them a young Englishman, William 
 Pepperell. 
 
 He often had occasion to go to Kittery Point in 
 the interests of his business, Mr. Bray being a 
 shipwright. 
 
 The beautiful Margery was an object of great 
 admiration to him. It may be questioned whether 
 the boats always needed the repairs for which they 
 were ostensibly brought. 
 
 When Margery had attained to her seventeenth 
 year he ventured to ask her father if he might 
 become her suitor. Mr. Bray objected on the 
 ground of her tender years, and hinted that the 
 young man lacked the fortune requisite in the hus- 
 band of his daughter. 
 
 William Pepperell, knowing that "a faint heart 
 never won a fair lady," did not repine, but devoted 
 himself more closely to business. He purchased a 
 right in the Muscongus Waldo Patent and became 
 a proprietor of large tracts of land in Maine. He 
 constantly kept an eye to all vessels or boats need- 
 ing repairs and attended to the matter personally. 
 
 Margery Bray became his bride, her father pre- 
 senting him with the site of the present Pepperell
 
 LOYALISTS 41 
 
 mansion, which he built and which was ever after 
 their home. 
 
 Here were born their seven children, Mary, 
 Margery, Joanna, Miriam, Dorothy, Jane and 
 William. 
 
 The daughters were early trained in domestic 
 duties, which were far more numerous than at 
 present, each household being a community of its 
 own and supplying all its wants. 
 
 Mrs. Pepperell inherited a large estate in her 
 own right, which enabled her to employ graduates 
 from Harvard as teachers in her household. One 
 of these, Rev. John Newmarch, subsequently mar- 
 ried one of her daughters. 
 
 Encouraged by their father, the girls became 
 interested in trade. Probably each young lady 
 had her boat or canoe, which she paddled inde- 
 pendently over the Piscataqua as she trafficked for 
 furs, fish and other articles. These they sent on 
 some of their father's numerous vessels to Europe 
 or the West Indies, receiving in exchange choice 
 fruits from the West Indies and rich garments 
 from London. Several of these daughters became 
 owners of vessels ; bills of sale of which are still 
 preserved. 
 
 Madam Margery Pepperell died April 30, 1741, 
 surviving her husband seven years.
 
 42 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 She is spoken of through the whole course of 
 her life as "exemplary for unaffected piety and 
 amiable virtue — especially her charity, her courte- 
 ous affability, her prudence, meekness, patience 
 and her unweariedness in well-doing." 
 
 The son William, afterward Sir William, like 
 his sisters, was well educated. He was associated 
 with his father in business, which often took him 
 to the more thickly settled parts of the country. 
 He was a welcome guest in the most cultured 
 families. 
 
 William Pepperell married Mary Hirst of Bos- 
 ton, a young lady of culture and refinement. 
 
 The Pepperell mansion was enlarged and both 
 families lived under the same roof. 
 
 The story of Louisburg — the conquest of Cape 
 Breton — which gave peace to Europe, the one 
 hundred and fiftieth anniversary of which has so 
 recently been celebrated (June 17, 1895), is too 
 familiar to need repeating here. Sir William 
 waited long for the tardy honors — the monument 
 and the medals. 
 
 Sir William Pepperell died July 6, 1759, leav- 
 ing by will to his wife one-half of his real estate ; 
 four negroes ; use of all the furniture during her 
 natural life ; increase of all live stock on all his 
 farms ; his chariot, a chaise ; her choice of two
 
 LOYALISTS 43 
 
 horses ; all the wines and other Hquors, and one 
 thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 She built for herself a smaller house near her 
 daughter's and the church in the village, where 
 she resided, much loved and respected for her 
 deeds of mercy during the thirty years of her 
 widowhood. 
 
 Both of these houses are now standing in 
 Kittery. 
 
 When Victoria, England's honored queen, was 
 recently presented with a medal struck from the 
 old cannon used by Sir William in the defense of 
 her ancestral domains, in her woman heart she 
 read another story, the patriotism and devotion to 
 high ideals of the woman at Kittery Point, who 
 bade her husband Godspeed in his perilous enter- 
 prise; who defended the home-altar they together 
 had reared ; who waited, watched and at last wel- 
 comed him back, receiving at his hand the title of 
 Lady, which she so proudly honored during her 
 lone life. 
 
 'to 
 
 The princely fortune of the Pepperell's that required a cen- 
 tury to construct, was in a brief hour overthrown and demol- 
 ished and its fragments broadcast by the confiscation act of 
 1778. 
 
 Sir William's plate was given to his grandson, Sir William, 
 and was allowed in the confiscation act to be taken away from 
 the dwelling at Kittery. Col. Moulton of York, with six sol-
 
 44 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 diers, guarded its conveyance to Boston, whence it was shipped 
 to England. 
 
 It is written of Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir 
 William and Mary, who, like her brother Andrew, 
 had been well educated, that few, if any belles of 
 her day possessed equal attractions. An heiress of 
 rare accomplishments and winning manners ; high- 
 bred maternal connections ; the only daughter of a 
 distinguished merchant, high in official station, 
 military, political and judicial; of commanding 
 influence, and above all a lady of sound religious 
 principles and abounding in Christian graces — she 
 was truly " a gem of the first water." 
 
 It is further said that " many were the admirers 
 that clustered around her, ambitiously courting her 
 benignant smiles." 
 
 She married Nathaniel Sparhawk, a son of Mrs. 
 Samuel Waldo by a previous marriage. They 
 made their home in Kittery. 
 
 Hannah Waldo, the mother of Lucy Knox, was 
 the heroine of one of the most interesting ro- 
 mances of the early history of Maine. 
 
 She was betrothed to Andrew Pepperell, the only 
 son of Sir William and Mary Pepperell. In 1748, 
 according to the custom, they were published, but 
 for various reasons, sickness and loss of property, 
 the young man postponed the marriage.
 
 LOYALISTS 45 
 
 Again the wedding-day was fixed. Miss Waldo 
 had made elaborate preparations at her Boston 
 home. 
 
 A few days before the time she received a letter 
 from young Pepperell stating that another day, 
 which he named, would be more convenient for 
 him. To this Miss Waldo made no reply and 
 kept her own counsel. 
 
 When the time arrived, Andrew Pepperell, 
 accompanied by a retinue of friends, presented 
 himself at the luxurious home of Miss Waldo. 
 Preparations for the wedding had been made in 
 princely style, befitting the rank of two of the 
 wealthiest families in America. Young Pepperell 
 had built an elegant house for his bride near his 
 father's, at Kittery. 
 
 When the hour for the ceremony arrived, Miss 
 Waldo met her lover, not to be his wife, but to tell 
 him before the assembled company that the young 
 man who had twice deferred their wedding-day 
 could not have the regard necessary to their future 
 happiness, and that she could never be his wife. 
 
 After the first postponement of the marriage, 
 Gen. Samuel Waldo wrote to Sir William Pep- 
 perell : 
 
 As to the long talked of affair between Mr. Pepperell and 
 my daughter, I am at a loss what to think about it. You know
 
 46 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 matches are made in heaven and what's appointed must be. 
 It is not best for any to be anxious, but to govern with pru- 
 dence, on which head no caution is necessary to you. I am 
 very much obliged to Lady Pepperell, as well as yourself, for 
 your good liking of my daughter, and more especially that she 
 should become yours. The proposed union gave me great 
 pleasure, and the more so as I knew she could not fail to be 
 happy in your family, and I promised myself it was not in her 
 power to misbehave. I had never, sir, any reason to doubt of 
 yours or your lady's heartiness in the affair ; but if there be 
 not a mutual good liking between the young people it will not 
 be best they should come together, but I leave the affair to 
 them. 
 
 In less than six months Hannah Waldo became 
 the bride of Mr. Flucker, the royal secretary of 
 Province of Massachusetts. 
 
 Very little is written of Mrs. Joan Cleeves, the 
 first white woman to settle in Portland. She prob- 
 ably came from England with her husband bring- 
 ing her only child, Elizabeth, in 1637. This 
 daughter married Michael Mitton to whom her 
 father gave Peak's Island as a marriage dower. 
 She conveyed the island to John Phillips of Boston, 
 the father of Mary Munjoy. 
 
 The colonial dames had their own appropriate costume ; 
 high headdress, rich stomachers, brocade gowns of ample 
 folds with ruffles at their elbows and necks and scarlet or
 
 LOYALISTS 47 
 
 crimson cloaks. This was the dress of the women in the 
 homes of the wealthy proprietors in the earliest days. 
 
 The gentlemen who accompanied them were arrayed in 
 cocked hat — often laced — flowing wigs, ruffles at their necks 
 and wrists, embroidered vests, rich small clothes with orna- 
 mented buckles at the knee and on the shoes, and gold-headed 
 canes, short scarlet cloaks.
 
 THE REAL MOTHERS OF MAINE
 
 IV 
 
 THE REAL MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Domestic happiness, thou only bliss 
 Of Paradise that has survived the fall / 
 
 COWPER, 
 
 THE Real Mothers of Maine, those who gave 
 character to the state and permanently 
 affected its institutions, were the women who 
 one by one found their homes within its borders. 
 They were often the silent force controlling an 
 entire expedition. Wherever they set foot there 
 was a center of light and whatever of comfort the 
 wilderness afforded. 
 
 History records but few of their deeds. It is 
 not unusual to read of the early pioneers that he 
 came to the woods of Maine ; he felled the trees ; 
 he cleared his five-acre lot ; he built his log cabin ; 
 he reared his large family of children, and he died. 
 Not even the name of the mother recorded. In 
 the lonely churchyard, near his grave, you must 
 kneel to brush away the overgrowing grass that on 
 
 51
 
 52 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 the lowly tombstone you may read : " Here lies 
 the relict of such a man ! " 
 
 Happy mother ! that in those other mansions 
 thou art thine own sweet self and not the remnant 
 of another. Happy, too, art thou, if thy life-work 
 is recorded in the hearts of thy loved ones, and 
 happy the day when thy descendants recognize thy 
 great worth and teach their children to lisp thy 
 name, preserved through many generations ! 
 
 Sad it is — but it is true — there are living in 
 Maine to-day men and women who do not know 
 the names of their grandmothers nor aught of 
 these lives of self-abnegation. 
 
 The wives and daughters of the first settlers of 
 Gorham shared in all the toils and perils of their 
 husbands and fathers. They labored in the fields 
 and forests, carried burdens, went to mill, gathered 
 the harvest, assisted in the defense of their house- 
 holds and property, and when the men were called 
 to defend the province, they womaned the fort. In 
 the annals of Calais we read : 
 
 All the houses of these people were constructed of logs, and 
 were destitute of brick chimneys. They contained very little 
 furniture and few if any glass windows. Their chairs, tables, 
 beds, culinary utensils, were of the most primitive style. Yet 
 these rude homes were comfortable and rendered pleasant by 
 the presence of loving, faithful wives and mothers.
 
 THE REAL MOTHERS OF MAINE 53 
 
 'Tis said that the noble-spirited women who first 
 penetrated the forests of Maine were as much 
 gratified on their arrival at their log cabins with 
 the prospect before them, as is a bride of to-day 
 with all the wealth and luxury of her modern man- 
 sion. For — 
 
 Every place whereon they rested grew 
 Happier for pure and gracious womanhood. 
 
 Home is where the heart is. Here were true and 
 loving hearts. These women made homes. Their 
 log cabins were converted into abodes of comfort, 
 unaided by the cabinet-maker or the upholsterer. 
 
 All the elegance in the world will not make a home, and I 
 would give more for a spoonful of real hearty love than for 
 whole ship loads of furniture and all the gorgeousness that all 
 the upholsterers of the world could gather together. 
 
 Theodore Parker. 
 
 The little clearing soon produced corn, which 
 they ground in mortars hollowed in the rocks. 
 The intervales furnished sustenance for the cow, 
 which in turn yielded food for the household. 
 
 The pioneer woman found pleasure in her care 
 of the domestic animals. 
 
 Many women lived their pure lives and reflected 
 their intelligence in the remotest corners of the 
 state, while there grew up at the more thickly set-
 
 54 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 tied centers a cultured society that has never since 
 been surpassed. 
 
 These early mothers were royal entertainers. 
 The ornaments of their homes were the strangers 
 who frequented them. 
 
 Eleanor Fostor Coffin, who died in Portland in 
 1832, is spoken of as a lady of the old school. 
 One whose amiable temper and graceful and digni- 
 fied manners inspired universal respect and regard. 
 Both she and her husband were remarkable for 
 their great personal beauty. 
 
 King Street, Portland, seems to have been famous for the 
 beauty and grace of the members of the Coffin, the Tucker, 
 and the Weeks families. 
 
 It is not a matter of wonder that the Maine 
 people possess great personal beauty. It was the 
 handsome people from Massachusetts and other 
 parts of New England who emigrated to Maine. 
 And they grew handsome as they grew older in 
 its sunshine and invigorating breezes. 
 
 The grandmother of Senator Frye was one of 
 the famous beauties of her day. No less beautiful 
 in life and character. 
 
 Mary "Robinson came from Andover as the bride 
 of Joseph Frye, and it was said of them, as of
 
 THE REAL MOTHERS OF MAINE 55 
 
 many others: They were the handsomest couple 
 that entered the church. 
 
 Mrs. Sarah B. Purington, one of Maine's 
 worthy daughters, writes : 
 
 There were many sweet lives in the old days, both men and 
 women. One of my great-grandfathers walked three miles to 
 buy a piece of white ribbon for his daughter, my grandmother, 
 to wear at a school exhibition. And my mother has told me 
 of his love for flowers, that he always gave her roses when they 
 were in bloom. 
 
 Much has been written, and justly so, of the 
 courage and heroism of Mrs. Peary, who accom- 
 panied her husband in a finely equipped expedition 
 to the Arctic regions. We admire the daring and 
 bravery of Mrs. French Sheldon, in her explora- 
 tions of Africa ; but when we consider that Mrs. 
 Sheldon's sedan-chair afforded ample room for 
 herself and maid, that it could be easily converted 
 into a sleeping apartment, that she was attended 
 by fifty native porters, and that these journeys were 
 taken not from necessity, but for the love of adven- 
 ture, the true heroism of the pioneer women of 
 Maine, who turned sad but brave faces to an alien 
 land, to make homes in the heart of its wilderness, 
 stands out all the more grandly.
 
 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS
 
 V 
 
 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS 
 
 If trouble comes not, ourjears are vain. 
 If it does, fear but augments the pain. 
 
 SCATTERED throughout the state, one hun- 
 dred years before the Revolution, there were 
 in Maine six thousand inhabitants. 
 
 So treacherously had the early voyagers dealt 
 with the Indians, they had become the deadly 
 enemy of the early pioneers. How great were the 
 sufferings of the women in consequence of their 
 constant invasions we, at this day, can but feebly 
 comprehend. They were wily foes and delighted 
 most in attacking the weak and defenseless. They 
 were wont to lurk stealthily about the tog cabin in 
 the absence of the husband and father and intimi- 
 date the wife until she attended to their demands. 
 
 The Indians found a ready market in Quebec 
 and Montreal for their women captives, who were 
 
 59
 
 6o MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 sought after as houshold servants. Mothers often 
 saw their homes desolated, husbands and children 
 slain, while they were forced to take the long and 
 weary journey to Canada, to become the slaves of 
 those who were enemies to their people. 
 
 To this period belongs the story of Hannah 
 Swarton, who lived near the fort in Falmouth, 
 1690. The family was surprised, the husband 
 murdered, the children separated from her, and she 
 was made to carry a heavy burden through the 
 woods to Quebec. This is only a single picture of 
 the many that may be found in the early pioneer 
 life of Maine. 
 
 The mothers did not run when an opportunity 
 for self-defense was afforded them. In these 
 stirring times women became adepts with the 
 musket, defending themselves and the children, 
 even winning the respect of their savage captors. 
 
 Maine had her Hannah Dustans. Yet many 
 and many a Maine woman fell beneath the savage 
 tomahawk. Our poet governor, Lincoln, in his 
 " Complaint of an Indian Chief," makes him 
 defiantly sa^ : 
 
 The fair tresses which hung in our cabins can tell 
 
 How deeply you 've felt for the wrongs we have borne ; 
 
 By the death-dealing blows of Revenge as they fell, 
 
 From your wives and your children these tresses were torn.
 
 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS 6l 
 
 It was a common thing in the Kennebec Valley 
 for women during attacks by Indians to melt 
 pewter platters, and in some cases the silver 
 (though requiring such a different degree of tem- 
 perature), for bullets. One woman gathered up 
 the bullets that had been fired into the house and 
 remolded them. The mothers were not without 
 their bullet molds, and they rendered efficient 
 service in times of sudden attack. 
 
 In those olden days of Indian wars in Maine, 
 implying unforeseen dangers, sufferings and depri- 
 vation, the courage displayed by the mothers in 
 their home life would reflect honor upon the 
 bravest soldiers. 
 
 As early as 1725, during that terrible Indian 
 warfare, when Lovewell's Pond ran red with the 
 blood of the slain, Jonathan L. Dresser left his 
 home to the care of his brave wife while he joined 
 Lovewell's expedition against the Indians. 
 
 Elizabeth Walker Dresser did not yield herself 
 to fear; she had dealt kindly with the natives, feed- 
 ing them freely and receiving at their hand many 
 favors. One night as she was preparing the even- 
 ing meal for her children, she saw five dusky faces 
 peering in upon them. With a single glance at 
 the men, she interpreted their hostile intent.
 
 62 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 She hurried her children up the ladder into the 
 loft, according to plans arranged in case of 
 danger, and then turned to face her intruders alone. 
 They came in with fierce demands for food and 
 gestures that threatened trouble. With small 
 supplies she immediately began preparation for 
 their supper, giving them even her children's 
 bread. 
 
 The savages gathered around the large, open fire- 
 place, and their huge dog stretched himself along 
 the hearth, waiting for the repast. 
 
 As she went back and forth from the fireplace 
 preparing the food, she accidently trod upon the 
 outstretched foot of the animal. Instantly he 
 sprang upon her and bore her down to the floor; 
 his still more enraged master rushed forward and 
 with his tomahawk would have ended her life, had 
 not one Indian leaped forward and caught his 
 uplifted arm while another dragged back the in- 
 furiated dog. 
 
 A terrible struggle ensued before the dog could 
 be pacified, and when another savage lifted the 
 trembling woman to her feet, his eyes glared upon 
 them both dangerously. It was a narrow escape 
 from a terrible death, and it was long before their 
 uncouth jargon seemed to convince the owner that 
 she meant no injury to his dog.
 
 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS 63 
 
 During the next hour she was in constant terror 
 from his threatening looks, and for many years 
 afterwards did not feel safe from an attack by hos- 
 tile savages. 
 
 Elizabeth Walker Dresser lived to care for her 
 twelve children many years after the death of her 
 husband. In her daughter Elizabeth she perpetu- 
 ated a name which comes down to us to-day in that 
 of her granddaughter, Caroline Elizabeth Dana 
 Howe. 
 
 The first settlement of Bethel had been entirely 
 destroyed. The Indians had murdered the brave 
 pioneers, burned the homes and taken wives cap- 
 tives to Canada. Again the little cabins were 
 planted upon the ashes of former homes. 
 
 David Marshall, with his frail little wife Lucy, 
 had hoped that the Indian depredations were over. 
 It was a lovely June morning. Mr. Marshall had 
 gone to the clearing while his wife prepared the 
 morning meal. In the cradle was a baby only a 
 few days old, and beside her played a boy of three 
 years. 
 
 All the earth seemed to be in tune. 
 
 Lucy Marshall had no thought of fear. Her 
 own physical weakness was forgotten, as she
 
 64 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 listened to the prattle of her boy and the sweet 
 songs of birds through the open door. 
 
 A breathless messenger rushed into her cabin 
 and bade her flee for her life as the Indians were 
 again on the war-path, and were fast approaching 
 the settlement. She protested that it would be 
 utterly impossible without the aid of her husband ; 
 but the messenger assured her the only safety was 
 in immediate flight, and in the meantime he would 
 alarm her husband. 
 
 She caught the baby from the cradle, seized the 
 hand of her boy and rushed from her home ; but 
 in her alarm Lucy Marshall was not unmindful of 
 their future wants. She snatched also the spider- 
 cake browning before the open fire. 
 
 Her husband soon overtook her, and finding her 
 strength unequal to further flight concealed her 
 and the children in a thicket while he climbed 
 a tree near by. The terrible war-whoop of the 
 Indians drew nearer, but Lucy Marshall was 
 hardly conscious of their presence as she poured 
 out her soul before God, that He would keep the 
 babies from crying, that their hiding-place might 
 not be revealed. 
 
 The Indians passed so near they might have 
 heard the least wail of the children, but Lucy 
 Marshall prayed. When the immediate danger
 
 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS 6$ 
 
 was over Mr. Marshall signaled from the tree that 
 the Indians must return by the same path at night, 
 and that they must remain in concealment the 
 entire day. And Lucy Marshall continued in 
 prayer. 
 
 Paris was twenty miles distant. The family did 
 not deem it safe to return to their home, but 
 immediately set out for this settlement. They 
 had not journeyed far before Mrs. Marshall's 
 strength failed. The flesh was weak but the spirit 
 strong. And still Lucy Marshall prayed. 
 
 She now had to be carried in her husband's 
 arms ; he going on before with their clothing and 
 little David, would place him upon the bundle and 
 tell him to keep still till papa comes back with 
 mama and the baby. 
 
 They were making slow but sure progress when 
 Mr. Marshall discovered, in the open space before 
 them, a horse. He never questioned that the 
 horse had been provided for his special need. He 
 placed his wife and the children upon it and slowly 
 guided it to their desired haven. The family after- 
 wards settled in Hebron. 
 
 Mr. Marshall built a mill and for years sawed all 
 the lumber that went into the large, strongly-built 
 houses of Shepherdstown, as Hebron was then 
 called. They educated their children at the 
 
 5
 
 66 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Hebron Academy, and in her prosperity Lucy 
 Marshall still prayed. 
 
 The story of Mrs. Elizabeth McLellan has been 
 graphically told by one of her descendants. The 
 reader is referred to " Good Old Times," by Elijah 
 Kellogg. He calls it " Grandfather's Struggle for a 
 Household," but in the self-sacrifice, daring and per- 
 severance of Elizabeth McLellan we have a picture 
 of a worthy Mother of Maine in the early days of 
 our pioneer life. 
 
 In the days of the French and Indian wars, 
 previous to 1759, Woolwich was known as Mon- 
 sweag or Nauseag. Near the sawmill a garrison 
 house had been built to which all the people fled 
 in time of sudden alarm. The older women and 
 children remained there, while the men and some 
 of the women went out to work during the day. 
 
 The Indians had been watching their oppor- 
 tunity for a sudden attack upon the garrison. 
 Frances Gray's unerring eye discovered them from 
 her station in the watchtower. She g-ave the 
 alarm, but only one man succeeded in reaching 
 the little fort. 
 
 Then did the true heroism of the mothers 
 manifest itself. They bravely aided in defending
 
 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS 6/ 
 
 the garrison, loading the guns as fast as the man 
 could fire them. 
 
 Mary Brookings Gray sat all night in the watch- 
 tower with her baby Martha in her arms, giving 
 the alarm whenever she discovered the approach of 
 the Indians. 
 
 The garrison was relieved in a short time by a 
 party of friends who had come to their rescue. It 
 was found that the chief of the tribe, Sagadahara, 
 had been killed. His body was thrown into the 
 brook near by, and the spot is known to this day 
 as Sagadahara's Hole. 
 
 Martha Gray, " the baby in the watchtower," 
 married Daniel Leeman of Edgecomb. Her hus- 
 band became a Revolutionary soldier, and Martha 
 defended the home in his absence as bravely as 
 her mother had defended the garrison. She was 
 left a widow in 1813, with the care of six children. 
 She was a woman of marked integrity, strictly 
 religious, a consistent member of the Congrega- 
 tional church of Newcastle, the same church of 
 which Mrs. Abigail Goodhue Bailey was a member, 
 and which made itself immortal in its generous 
 gift of three hundred dollars toward the establish- 
 ment of the Bangor Theological Seminary. 
 
 In her advanced life Mrs. Leeman entertained 
 her great-grandchildren by narrating to them
 
 68 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 many incidents of her early life. When a girl of 
 eighteen, visiting her sister, who was married and 
 lived in Dresden, she stood upon the banks of the 
 Kennebec and watched Arnold's expedition as, in 
 glittering array, its ten transports moved up the 
 river to Fort Weston. She heard the music as it 
 floated over the water, and saw the troops as they 
 disembarked from their boats on the opposite 
 shore. Mrs. Leeman lived to be ninety-seven 
 years old. 
 
 Mrs. Joseph Weston was the first white woman 
 that lived in Somerset County. She came with 
 her husband and eight children (the youngest but 
 a year old) from Lancaster, Massachusetts, to Fort 
 Halifax, now Winslow, in the fall of 1771, and 
 spent the winter in the blockhouse and vicinity. 
 
 In April, 1772, they proceeded up the Kennebec 
 River by boat, landing near the present town of 
 Skowhegan where they made the first permanent 
 settlement in Somerset County, bearing bravely 
 the hardships of pioneer life. 
 
 Mr. Weston tanned the hides of his cattle, and 
 made leather breeches for himself and boys and 
 shoes for all the family. He died in 1775, from a 
 fever caused by exposure in assisting Arnold's 
 expedition to pass the falls at Skowhegan.
 
 INDIAN DEPREDATIONS 69 
 
 Mrs. Weston, left a widow with a large family, 
 toiled on with hope and courage, amid great trials 
 and dangers, often driven by hostile Indians to the 
 blockhouse, built on an island in the river. She 
 raised a family that became an honor to the 
 county. 
 
 Her son, Benjamin Weston, was one of the first 
 settlers in Madison. At his death he tilled a farm 
 of nearly one thousand acres. 
 
 Among the descendants of this worthy pioneer 
 mother were the Westons, the Flints, the Spauld- 
 ings, the Coburns and many others who have 
 greatly honored the Pine Tree State. Gov. Abner 
 Coburn who served the state so ably in 1863 was 
 her great-grandson. 
 
 Miss Ann Collins, of Philadelphia, married Ed- 
 ward Cloutman (Cloudman), and came with him to 
 Gorham. There were then eighteen families in 
 the little settlement. 
 
 In consequence of the invasions of the Indians, 
 many of these had given up their homes and were 
 crowded into the garrison, where they were obliged 
 to remain four years. The Reeds, the Bryants, the 
 Cloutmans, and a few others braved the danijers 
 outside, preferring the quiet of their own log cabins 
 to the turbulent garrison.
 
 70 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 In the spring of 1746 they were surprised by the 
 Indians, many of them killed, others taken prison- 
 ers, among them Mr. Cloutman. Mrs. Cloutman 
 struggled on alone, caring for her little family and 
 eagerly watching for the return of her husband. 
 With the end of the war he did not come, and she 
 was forced to the conclusion that he must have 
 perished in his attempt to escape from his captors. 
 She subsequently married Abraham Anderson and 
 spent the remainder of her life in Windham. 
 
 It is related of her that she sold the weddingr- 
 dress that had served on the occasion of her two 
 marriages, and with the proceeds bought land, 
 which she divided equally between her Cloudman 
 and Anderson sons. The land is retained in the 
 families to-day.
 
 MOTHER AND LADY PHIPS
 
 
 VI 
 
 MOTHER AND LADY PHIPS 
 
 They did the duty that they saw; 
 
 Each wrought at God 's supreme desigtis, 
 
 And under lovers eternal law 
 
 Each life with equal beauty shines. 
 
 From " Mistress ok the Manse. 
 
 MAINE was very much mothered in Mrs. 
 Phips. Cotton Mather styles her the 
 fruitful mother of Sir William Phips. Her fam- 
 ily consisted of twenty-six children, of whom twen- 
 ty-one were sons. She was left a widow, with the 
 care of the family. 
 
 Sir William was born February 2, 1651, and 
 remained with her until he was eighteen years old. 
 Though she found no time to teach him to read 
 and write, we may be very sure it was her training 
 that led him into habits of industry and virtue. 
 In consequence of these habits he was enabled to 
 perform the deeds for which he was knighted 
 by the king of England, and afterward made 
 
 73
 
 74 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 governor of the united provinces of Maine and 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 While yet a boy he aided in the support of the 
 numerous family with his meager income received 
 for tending sheep. 
 
 He longed to become a sailor; made a few short 
 voyages, then apprenticed himself to a ship-builder. 
 He soon established himself in the business at 
 Sheepscott. With the assistance of some Boston 
 merchants he built a vessel, which he engaged to 
 load with lumber in return for the aid received. 
 The vessel was launched on the day of one of 
 those terrible Indian massacres, that drove the 
 people in despair from their homes to the ocean. 
 
 Their only place of refuge was the vessel owned 
 by William Phips. This great-hearted man 
 received them all, and soon bore them beyond the 
 reach of Indian depredations. Among those who 
 left Maine for Boston at this time was Mother 
 Phips and her family. There is no record that 
 she ever returned. 
 
 Mary Fairfield Brookings and her four children 
 were also among the passengers. Her husband 
 was shot through the open door of the log cabin 
 as he was kindling the fire on the hearth in the 
 morning. 
 
 Mary Brookings fled with her children, and
 
 MOTHER AND LADY PHIPS 75 
 
 reached the vessel in safety. She afterward re- 
 turned to Woolwich, where she enjoyed a peaceful 
 old age, surrounded by children's children. 
 Cotton Mather says of William Phips : 
 
 When sailing near the Kennebec with his soldiers he pointed 
 to the little home in Woolwich, and said : " Young men, it was 
 on that hill that I kept sheep a few years ago, and since you 
 see that Almighty God has brought me to something, do you 
 learn to fear God and be honest and mind your business, and 
 follow no bad courses, and you don't know what you may 
 come to." 
 
 While yet a boy, penniless and unlettered, 
 William Phips met his afhnity in Mrs. Hull, a 
 widowed daughter of Captain Roger Spencer of 
 Saco. She was older than he, and possessed of 
 some fortune. Their affections seem to have been 
 mutual. Her faith in her boy-lover never faltered. 
 She listened to his prophetic visions of a bright 
 future that awaited them, and which he never 
 doubted. 'T is said : 
 
 She entertained these passages with a sufficient incredulity, 
 but he had so serious and positive expectation of them it is 
 not easy to say what was the original thereof. He was of an 
 enterprising genius, and naturally disdained littleness. 
 
 He often assured her he should yet be captain of a king's 
 ship ; that he should come to have the command of better men 
 than he was now accounted himself ; that he would build for 
 her a fair brick house in Green Lane of North Boston, and
 
 ^6 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 that may be this would not be all that the Providence of God 
 would bring him to. 
 
 Her faith was more than realized. On his 
 return from England, having commanded the 
 king's ship, and being knighted by the king for 
 having brought vast treasures into the kingdom in 
 the time of great need, he proudly conferred on 
 her the title of Lady Phips, she being the first of 
 Maine's daughters to wear the honor. He also 
 presented her with a golden cup, valued at five 
 thousand dollars, sent to her by the Duke of 
 Albemarle as an acknowledgment of the honesty 
 of her husband. 
 
 The fair house — the first one made of brick in 
 Boston — was built in Green Lane, and from it 
 went forth a hospitality, gentle and sweet as the 
 character of the lady who presided over it. 
 
 Cotton Mather further says : 
 
 But if other people found him so kind a neighbor, we may 
 easily infer what a husband he was to his Lady. 
 
 The love, even the fondness with which he always treated 
 her, was a matter not of observation, but even of admiration — 
 that every one said the age afforded not a kinder husband. 
 
 This kindness appeared not only in his making it no less his 
 delightful study to render his whole conversation agreeable to 
 her, but also and perhaps chiefly in the satisfaction which it 
 gave him to have his interests in her keeping. 
 
 Before he first went abroad upon "wrack designs," he, to
 
 MOTHER AND LADY PHIPS JJ 
 
 make his long absence easier to her, made her his promise, 
 that what estate the God of heaven would then bestow upon 
 him should be entirely at her disposal, in case she survived 
 him — and when Almighty God accordingly bestowed upon 
 him a fair estate he not only rejoiced seeing so many acts of 
 charity done every day by her bountiful hand, but he also, not 
 having any children, adopted a nephew of hers to be their heir, 
 leaving his large fortune entirely at her disposal during her 
 life. 
 
 From these glimpses of her character we may 
 learn that Lady Phips' influence was very marked 
 upon the troublous times in which she lived. 
 
 It is related that " while Governor Phips was 
 absent in Maine his kind-hearted wife signed an 
 order for the release of a lady who had been 
 imprisoned for witchcraft." 
 
 So orreat was the excitement that she herself was 
 accused of being a witch for the act. When the 
 governor returned his eyes were opened to the 
 enormity of the great evil, and it is said to have 
 been this reflection upon the character of his wife 
 that led Governor Phips to perform his greatest 
 deed of mercy. A writer says : 
 
 By wise counsel he relieved the country from the terrible 
 delusion of witchcraft.
 
 FOREST NEIGHBORS
 
 VII 
 FOREST NEIGHBORS 
 
 So delicate with her needle. 
 
 An admirable viiisieian\ 
 O she could sing the savageness out of a bear 
 Of so high and plenteous ivit and invention. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 S 
 
 HAKESPEARE must have had in view, 
 women of Maine when he drew his ideal 
 
 woman. 
 
 The recent death of Rev. Samuel Wheeler, the 
 oldest minister of the Free Will Baptist denomina- 
 tion in the United States, recalls an incident of the 
 wonderful presence of mind and brave daring of 
 his mother. 
 
 Charity Linscott Wheeler's home was in the 
 woods of Chesterville. On a bright morning in 
 May, 1801, having provided for her husband dur- 
 ing her absence, she set out alone, with her baby, 
 6 81
 
 82 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Samuel, in Her arms, to visit her mother, two miles 
 away. She had gone through the woods one mile 
 when to her horror she saw in the narrow path in 
 front of her a large bear. 
 
 It did not take Charity long to decide what to 
 do. She had heard that there was a power in the 
 human voice before which even bears quailed. 
 Instead of attempting to run, which would have 
 been sure death to herself and child, she faced 
 Bruin and set up a loud halloo, shouting at the top 
 of her voice. The bear slowly moved into the 
 bushes near by and she, hugging her baby still 
 closer, bounded past the spot. She visited with 
 her mother during the day and was accompanied 
 to her home at night by her brother. 
 
 One of the attractive features of Lincoln Park, 
 Chicago, is the bear pit. Partaking of the general 
 enthusiasm of the Columbian year, one of the bears 
 scaled the walls of the pit, and in the early dawn 
 of the spring morning found its way out of the 
 park to a neighboring residence. It had climbed 
 to the open window in the second story, when the 
 family were aroused by a scream. They rushed to 
 the chamber to find its occupant in a fainting con- 
 dition, and the bear quietly looking on from a tree 
 near by.
 
 FOREST NEIGHBORS 83 
 
 We do not wonder that the modern woman of 
 Chicago should faint at the sight of even a civil- 
 ized bear, intruding itself into her chamber window. 
 But the pioneer women of Maine could not faint 
 when their own and the lives of their little ones 
 were at the mercy of a savage bear. 
 
 Mr. Paul Sawyer, of Durham, now (1895) 
 ninety-five years old, says : 
 
 Women were more courageous in my youth than they are 
 to-day. My mother in my father's absence used to get up in 
 the middle of the night to drive the bears out of the corn. 
 
 One night, when her husband was away and she 
 alone with her children, Mrs. John Dow, of Dover, 
 was alarmed to see the hog spring into her cabin 
 and hide itself behind the big stone fireplace. 
 She soon discovered that it was pursued by a bear. 
 She could not shut him out as only a quilt sepa- 
 rated her from the forest. 
 
 With her womanly forethought she had provided 
 an ample supply of wood, and her only means of 
 protecting her family was the blazing fire, which 
 she piled high during the entire night, so frighten- 
 ing the bear that he dare not enter, though he 
 prowled about until the day dawned. 
 
 Mrs. Dow spent her last days in Sebec, living to 
 be ninety-seven years old.
 
 84 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 The inventive power of the mothers was unlim- 
 ited. While Mr. Pitts fretted that he had no 
 bullets with which to kill the bear that was prowl- 
 ing around destroying his young cattle and tramp- 
 ling his corn, his good wife, Mary Ellis Pitts, came 
 to his relief. She cut up her pewter spoons, with 
 which her husband loaded his gun and killed the 
 bear. 
 
 One of the first white women to enter the Sandy 
 River Valley was Mrs. Elizabeth Titcomb. In 
 1784 she came from Massachusetts with her hus- 
 band to Hallowell, where she spent the winter 
 while he prepared their future home at Farming- 
 ton. During his absence she exchanged her wed- 
 ding dress for sheep, which they drove before them 
 in the spring as they found their way on horseback 
 by means of spotted trees to their log cabin. 
 Beside many of their household goods, which were 
 packed about the saddle, she carried in her arms 
 her babe less than one year old. 
 
 Her descendants recall that she often expressed 
 her delight at the first view of the Sandy River 
 Valley, then as now, with its sparkling waters, 
 banked on either side by green intervales dotted 
 here and there with graceful elms. From her 
 daughter, known in Farmington as Aunt Lydia 
 Titcomb, the writer learned the following story :
 
 FOREST NEIGHBORS 85 
 
 One day when her husband was working in the clearing, 
 beyond the reach of her voice, she heard an unusual commo- 
 tion among the sheep, and looked to behold an immense bear 
 about to enter the pen. A woman who could sacrifice her 
 wedding-gown for sheep, upon which depended the future 
 clothing of her household, would not yield them up to a sav- 
 age bear without a struggle. She bravely defended them, 
 keeping the bear at bay until the return of her husband. 
 
 Mrs. Titcomb's sisters greatly deplored her isola- 
 tion in the woods of the Sandy River, but her 
 husband assured them that he had a path bushed 
 out for her all the way to Bath, a distance of about 
 sixty miles. 
 
 To their query : " Sister, how did you feel to 
 enter that howling wilderness.?" her reply was 
 characteristic: "Oh, I felt like a queen!" And 
 never queens ruled over more loyal subjects than 
 did these royal mothers.
 
 REVOLUTIONARY DAMES
 
 VIII 
 REVOLUTIONARY DAMES 
 
 W/ierf 's the ccntmrd that -would not dare 
 Tofiglit for siiih a laud. 
 
 Scott. 
 
 MOST Maine women during those stirring 
 times were Revolutionary Dames. Around 
 their hearthstones they taught the same patriotism 
 their husbands and sons enforced upon the battle- 
 field. A new impetus was given to emigration to 
 Maine at the close of the Revolution. Many of 
 the citizen soldiers were obliged to accept "land in 
 Maine," in return for their military services, and to 
 the state these noble heroes brouofht other Revo- 
 lutionary Dames. 
 
 Kata Nixon, daughter of Colonel Thomas Ni.xon, 
 of Framingham, Massachusetts, was born 1758. 
 She was a girl of rare intelligence, culture and 
 courage. At the time of the battle of Bunker Hill 
 she went out on the Boston Heicrhts and witnessed 
 
 89
 
 90 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 the contest in which her father and lover were 
 engaged. She also witnessed the hanging of two 
 men and a woman. She was full of daring, and 
 often had experiences of like nature. 
 
 In 1780 she married William Stowell of Worces- 
 ter, Massachusetts, and two years later came to 
 Maine to live in a home prepared by her husband 
 on land grants of 1771, afterward South Paris. 
 Her first house was built of logs, but with her 
 higher culture and wonderful adaptability to cir- 
 cumstances, by papering it throughout with birch 
 bark and fitting it up tastefully, she succeeded in 
 making it a home of refinement quite unusual to 
 early log-cabin life. 
 
 She was a fine rider and often visited her friends 
 in Framingham and Worcester. When ready to 
 return she would cut a whip from some favorite 
 tree, to plant at her new home. At the present 
 time (1894) there are several beautiful trees stand- 
 ing, to commemorate her visits. She was very 
 fond of flowers. Years after her body had mingled 
 with the dust beautiful flowers bloomed on the site 
 of her log-cabin home — where she had planted 
 them in her youth. 
 
 Unlike most of the early settlers she retained 
 her aristocratic notions, never allowing herself to 
 be affected by her environments. She brought
 
 REVOLUTIONARY DAMES 9I 
 
 her servants with her, applying her own social 
 code to her household. She was fond of fine 
 clothes, and always had rich silks and other beau- 
 tiful garments, in which she delighted to array her- 
 self. She was a woman of superior beauty. At 
 the time of her death, having attained to fourscore 
 and four years, she was said to have the complex- 
 ion of a child. 
 
 Few names are spoken more kindly in connec- 
 tion with the early history of the Kennebec than 
 that of General Henry Dearborn. He made his 
 home for a short time on the eastern side, now 
 called Pittston. 
 
 His wife, Dorcas Osgood, is spoken of as a 
 woman of culture and sweet manners. There 
 were also, members of the family at this time, two 
 daughters by a previous marriage. The youngest, 
 Augusta, was very beautiful. She so won the 
 hearts of the people that the name Harrington, 
 which had been the incorporated name of the town 
 for two months, was changed to Augusta. This is 
 said to have been done at the suggestion of Judge 
 Cony. 
 
 The mother of Augusta was Mary Bartlette 
 Dearborn of Newbury. She never came to Maine. 
 
 General Dearborn was much loved by the Indi-
 
 92 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 ans, and when their chief, learning that a new baby 
 had come to the household, asked that he might 
 name it, General Dearborn complied with his re- 
 quest, and the musical cognomen of Julia Caska- 
 lina was conferred upon the child in honor of his 
 squaw, Caskalina. The name is retained in the 
 family, being worn to-day by that baby's great- 
 granddaughter, Octavia Caskalina Carroll. 
 
 Julia Caskalina married Joshua Wingate and 
 lived in Portland ; she was famed for her 
 hospitality. 
 
 When LaFayette visited Portland in June, 1825, 
 he requested the honor of calling on Madam Julia 
 C. Wingate, in memory of her father, whom he 
 greatly respected. Madam Wingate invited her 
 lady friends, and the courteous Frenchman was 
 greatly pleased to be introduced to the fair daugh- 
 ters of Portland. 
 
 General Dearborn's third wife was Sarah Bow- 
 doin. She was the widow of the patron of 
 Bowdoin College. The writer is impressed that 
 she never lived in Maine, but includes her name as 
 the wife of one whom Maine delights to honor. 
 
 The portrait of Mrs. Sarah Dearborn may be 
 seen in the Stuart collection of the Bowdoin Art 
 Gallery. It is an attractive face, partially hidden 
 by the profusion of lace that forms the head-dress 
 and drapes the bust.
 
 REVOLUTIONARY DAMES 93 
 
 Sally Kingsbury Hale came with her husband to 
 Turner in 1802. The sailing vessel that brought 
 them from Boston to Falmouth was three weeks 
 on the passage. 
 
 The spirit of the early mothers is strikingly 
 illustrated in the view she took of what her ori-and- 
 daughter to-day would consider a long and almost 
 unendurable journey to Europe. To her the mem- 
 ory of her ocean voyage was a constant delight, 
 and she ever after attributed to it her improved 
 health. As no means could be devised for taking 
 the children with them through the woods, they 
 were obliged to leave two little girls of five and 
 seven years at Falmouth. 
 
 Like so many of the pioneer women she brought 
 to her wilderness home a well-developed mind. 
 She was familiar with the story of the Revolution, 
 in which her brother Joseph Kingsbury, afterward 
 Doctor Kingsbury, was a soldier. Years afterward 
 her grandchildren sat around her, entranced as she 
 described to them the battles of the Revolution, 
 giving the plans and maneuvers as well as results, 
 and the situation of the forts and the distribution 
 of the soldiers. 
 
 She loved the trees and flowers. Her husband, 
 thinking to gratify her with a more extended view, 
 cut away some beautiful trees, saying to her as he 
 entered the house: " Now you can see Buckfield."
 
 94 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 In relating the incident to her granddaughter 
 years afterward she said: " I thought with tears in 
 my eyes that I would rather see those beautiful 
 trees than all Buckfield." 
 
 "Singing she wrought." In her advanced life 
 she was fond of minor tunes, especially Hallowell, 
 and if the old house could be made phonographic 
 to-day one could hear ringing within its walls, 
 
 As on some lonely building top 
 
 The sparrow tells her moan, 
 Far from the tents of joy and hope 
 
 I sit and grieve alone. 
 
 Senator Eugene Hale says of her: 
 
 My grandmother was a woman of marked character, domes- 
 tic and religious in her tendencies, and brought up a large 
 family upon whom her influence was great. 
 
 General Frye, known as the " Indian Fighter," 
 brought his wife, Mehitable Poor Frye, to " the 
 Hills" in the town which now bears his name, 
 Fryeburg. When he located his farm he said he 
 wanted the best man in town for his next neigh- 
 bor, and the adjoining farm was given to Rev- 
 erend William Fessenden. 
 
 Mehitable Poor Frye braved the hardships of 
 the early pioneers with a Christian heroism. She 
 so influenced the lives of her children that her own
 
 REVOLUTIONARY DAMES 95 
 
 integrity and uprightness of character are reflected 
 in the legislative halls of the nation to-day, in the 
 person of her great-great-grandson, Maine's much 
 honored senator, Hon. William P. Frye. 
 
 Mary Gordon Frye, the wife of Samuel Frye, is 
 spoken of as a lovely Christian character — a 
 woman of refinement and of unusual attainments 
 for her days. She taught her children to read from 
 the family Bible, and gave them careful religious 
 instruction. She was greatly beloved by them. 
 The late Dr. William Greene, of Portland, was 
 one of her descendants. She was also the mater- 
 nal ancestor of Jane Frye Coolidge, who writes of 
 another ancestor, Isabella Stark Sterling: 
 
 It was while living in Fryeburg she saw a deer and taking a 
 gun she went out and shot it and dressed it herself. 
 
 She often shot small game for the family. There 
 were times when food was scarce, and these moth- 
 ers knew what hunger was. She often practiced 
 shooting with her three officer-brothers, one of 
 whom was the famous General John Stark ; and 
 't is claimed that she never failed to hit the " bull's 
 eye," being a better marksman than either of her 
 brothers. 
 
 Mrs. Etta Osgood, of Portland, the first president 
 of the Maine Federation of Woman's Clubs is a
 
 96 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 great-granddaughter of this famous shooter. No 
 wonder she goes straight to the mark. 
 
 Susanna Curtis Cony, the daughter of a clergy- 
 man, was reared in a home of culture and refine- 
 ment. She married Dr. Daniel Cony, better 
 known in Maine as Judge Cony. Soon after their 
 marriage (November 14, 1776) her husband joined 
 General Gates at Saratoga as adjutant of the regi- 
 ment, and she early learned the deprivations and 
 loneliness of a soldier's wife. Two years later they 
 came to Hallowell, then Fort Weston, on the Ken- 
 nebec, where they acquired a large estate. Mrs. 
 Cony's first great sorrow came to her in the loss of 
 her only child, an infant daughter. In time, other 
 daughters came to brighten the heart of this de- 
 voted mother. She was a quiet home-woman, 
 happy to reflect her husband's fame and to train 
 her four daughters, whose names are familiar in 
 the history of Maine. She was much loved by the 
 poor and unfortunate, who found in her a kind 
 sympathizer and a constant friend. After fifty- 
 seven years of married life she died having attained 
 fourscore and one years. She lived to see her 
 daughters well married : Susan Bowdoin to General 
 Cony; Abigail Gould to Rev. Joseph Ingraham; 
 Paulina Bass to Judge Weston; and Sarah Lowell
 
 REVOLUTIONARY DAMES 97 
 
 to Hon. Ruel Williams. They are all remem- 
 bered as fine conversationalists. Their father 
 being judge of the district, they greatly aided him 
 in entertaining the distinguished guests who often 
 came to the capitol during the session of court. 
 
 Mrs. Ruel Williams gave a party in honor of 
 Chancellor Kent, at which her father was present. 
 The judge was very stately and dignified and must 
 have been greatly shocked as the merry chancellor 
 slapped him upon the shoulder in a manner quite 
 unfamiliar to the judge, saying: "You ought to be 
 proud to be the father of four such daughters." 
 After his daughters were educated, Judge Cony 
 founded in Augusta the Cony Female Academy 
 for the benefit of the daughters of others less 
 favored than his. 
 
 The grandchildren to-day revere the memory of 
 Grandma Cony. They speak of her as the loveliest, 
 sweetest old lady, who always had a pocket and 
 that pocket was never without sweetmeats for them. 
 Never a grandma more modest and beautiful. 
 
 Another worthy member of the Cony family who 
 came to live at Fort Weston was Priscilla Cony, a 
 sister of the judge, who married Thomas Sewall. 
 She is the grandmother so lovingly referred to by 
 Mrs. Priscilla Webster Sewall Pao^e in her " Per- 
 sonal Reminiscences." She says maidens were 
 7
 
 98 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 more thrifty in those days than now. Grandma's 
 spare room was fitted up with bed-curtains and 
 counterpane of white linen spun, woven, bleached 
 and embroidered with her own hands. 
 
 Rebecca Gould Sewall was married to John 
 Ordway Webster in 1802. They resided for sev- 
 eral years at Vassalboro, afterward removing to 
 Gardiner, on the Kennebec. She was the mother 
 of nine children, of whom Mrs. Priscilla Sewall 
 Webster Page was the youngest. 
 
 Mrs. Paofe writes of her mother: 
 
 *&^ 
 
 With all her cares my mother always found some time for 
 reading. Our library was not extensive ; it contained " The 
 Pilgrim's Progress," Young's " Night Thoughts," Milton's 
 Poems, some biographical and historical works — perhaps 
 twenty volumes in all. My mother's connection with the Epis- 
 copal church gave her access to a pretty good library and her 
 friends, who were people of refinement and culture, were always 
 ready to supply her with reading matter. Aftei: the children 
 were tucked in bed at night, she used to sit with one candle 
 close to the dying fire and read for an hour or two before 
 retiring. 
 
 As she possessed a most retentive memory she never forgot 
 what she read and could repeat any number of hymns and 
 pages of poetry, as well as give a most interesting account of 
 such characters as she had made herself acquainted with 
 through books. Beside these evening readings my mother 
 always kept a book with which to employ herself while giving 
 the baby its refreshment, as at such times she could neither
 
 REVOLUTIONARY DAMES 99 
 
 knit nor sew. Time did not hang heavily upon her hands in 
 those days, you may be sure. Clothes to make and mend ; 
 food to be prepared ; the house to be kept clean and orderly — 
 for my mother was a most particular housekeeper — and always 
 baby to be attended to But she was strong and healthy, brave 
 and full of courage, never neglecting a duty and finding time 
 amid all her cares to visit and comfort the sick, and means to 
 administer to the wants of the poor and destitute, of whom 
 there were many around her. 
 
 Mrs. Page has given to her descendants a price- 
 less legacy in her " Reminiscences." She has pre- 
 served for the future student many delightful 
 glimpses of the cultured homes on the banks of the 
 Kennebec : the Conys, Sewalls, the Websters, 
 the Aliens, the Evans, Swans, and many others. 
 
 Mrs. Hallowell Gardiner and her five dauijhters 
 are spoken of as remarkably lovely women.
 
 SARAH EMERY MERRILL
 
 \^^^' 
 
 
 #^^fe-#<3?^^^^^feg^lfeSi^X) 
 
 IX 
 SARAH EMERY MERRILL 
 
 T/ie reason firm, the temperatewill. 
 Endurance, foresight, strength and skill ; 
 A perfect woman, nobly planned 
 To ivarn, to comfort and command. 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 SARAH EMERY was born at West Newbury, 
 Massachusetts, July 14, 1753, and was mar- 
 ried to Ezekiel Merrill, of the same place, June i, 
 
 1773- 
 
 At the breaking, out of the Revolutionary war 
 
 Mr. Merrill enlisted in the Continental army, in 
 which he served by repeated enlistments through- 
 out the war. He participated in the capture of 
 Burgoyne at Saratoga. 
 
 About 1787 a company was formed, composed 
 principally of those who had been comrades in 
 arms, who determined to emigrate to Maine, where 
 land was cheap and plenty, offering with its fertile 
 
 103
 
 I04 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 soil greater inducements than could be found in 
 any other part of the United States. 
 
 A party of explorers went as far east as Belfast. 
 On their return they visited Sudbury, now Bethel, 
 and were told of the beauties of the Ellis River. 
 They spied out the land and afterward pur- 
 chased it. 
 
 In 1788 Deacon Merrill moved his family of 
 seven children to Maine. The road ended at 
 Fryeburg. He then made up a train of sixteen 
 sleds, drawn by men, and reached Bethel, thirty 
 miles away. Here the family remained fourteen 
 months, while Mr. Merrill penetrated the forest 
 and built his camp on the site of their future 
 home. 
 
 In May, 1 789, with a fleet of birch canoes, paddled 
 by Indians, the family were taken down the Andro- 
 scoggin to the mouth of the Ellis River, where they 
 encamped for the night. The next day they pad- 
 dled up against the current to the forks, where 
 they were hospitably received by the friendly In- 
 dians, whose canoes had been hired for the journey. 
 
 The next morning Mrs. Merrill and the older 
 children threaded their way two miles through the 
 woods, but the little ones were landed from canoes 
 only a short distance from their home. 
 
 For two years Mrs. Merrill was the only white
 
 SARAH EMERY MERRILL IO5 
 
 woman in the place. They were beyond the reach 
 of manufactured articles of all kinds ; transporta- 
 tion was almost an impossibility, and they were 
 obliged to make out of the crude material what 
 they most needed. For many years every article 
 used in Andover was made there. Even in 1831, 
 when Henry Varnum Poor, Mrs. Merrill's grand- 
 son, left to enter Bowdoin College, every article he 
 wore had been made from the raw material in his 
 native town, and largely on his father's farm. 
 
 The experiences of the Merrills were not unlike 
 those of Robinson Crusoe. The roof of their log- 
 cabin was covered with bark. The chinks were 
 filled with moss. The huge fireplace was built of 
 stones. The windows had no glass, and were 
 closed when necessary by slides made of splints. 
 Pins of wood took the place of nails. No boards 
 could be obtained. 
 
 Their household utensils were largely made of 
 birch bark, the bedcord from the bark of the elm. 
 Their food was procured with difficulty. 
 
 They had no domestic animals. A cow was 
 hired from Bethel the first summer, but as they had 
 no hay it was driven back through the woods in 
 the late fall. The sables took up their abode in 
 the camp and made themselves useful in catching 
 rats and mice.
 
 1 06 MOTHERS OF MATNE 
 
 The family lived largely on fish and game in 
 summer and on cross-bills in the winter. These 
 birds, about the size of a robin, were caught in 
 nets made of twine, operated by Mrs. Merrill and 
 the children, by means of a cord carried into the 
 cabin through an aperture in the wall. The roots 
 of the wild hop, horsement and watercress were 
 used for seasoning. Many wild herbs were used 
 for "orreens." The twiors and bark of the bass 
 wood were boiled in milk for puddings. The In- 
 dian women explained the uses of many of these 
 things to Mrs. Merrill. When the first crop of 
 corn matured it was pounded in a mortar, hol- 
 lowed in a stump, with a stone for a pestle. 
 
 Mrs. Merrill, beside being a woman of dauntless 
 courage, had refined tastes and social and religious 
 aspirations. She lived cheerfully and contentedly, 
 aiding her husband in many ways. She found time 
 to teach her children in all the rudiments of knowl- 
 edge. Her practical common-sense and sound 
 judgment led her to bring up the children to assist 
 their parents in the struggle they were making to 
 establish a home in the wilderness. 
 
 Metalluck, the " Lone Indian of the Magallo- 
 way," had great admiration for Mrs. Merrill and 
 taught her many of the Indian arts. He was very 
 proud of his pupil, when he saw the garments she
 
 SARAH EMERY MERRILL lOJ 
 
 had manufactured out of the skins of animals he 
 had tausfht her to tan. 
 
 o 
 
 Mrs. Merrill had been in her wilderness home a 
 little more than a year when there was born to her 
 a daughter, July 13, 1790. The Indian women 
 showed great kindness in their care of her at this 
 time ; but she trembled as they took her helpless 
 babe in their arms, fearing it would not endure the 
 treatment to which they subjected their own ; but 
 the baby Susan lived, grew to noble womanhood, 
 and became the comforter of her mother's declining 
 years. 
 
 There were now eight children in the Merrill 
 family, and the father and mother could not con- 
 template for a moment the idea of their children 
 being deprived of any educational advantages 
 within their reach. Roger, fifteen years of age, 
 and Sarah the next oldest, were sent to Fryeburg 
 to school. Deacon Merrill took the two children 
 in a birch canoe down the Ellis River to Bethel. 
 From this place the father and son walked to Frye- 
 burg, leading a horse which carried the daughter 
 and a pack of furs, the proceeds of which were to 
 pay the board and tuition of the children. 
 
 In 1 791 other settlers moved in. Roads were 
 soon opened, mills built and comfortable homes 
 erected. The Merrill homestead, a fine specimen
 
 I08 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 of colonial architecture, still standing at Andover, 
 was built at this time. The new country produced 
 an inexhaustible supply of the finest timber, as may 
 be seen in the width of the boards of the wainscot- 
 ing of the house. The other materials were col- 
 lected with much difficulty. Mrs. Merrill set every 
 pane of glass in the windows, and it is believed did 
 much of the paneling of the mantelpieces and the 
 casements of the doors and windows. 
 
 In the large hall of the new house, Indians were 
 often permitted to lie stretched along the floor, 
 wrapped in blankets, with their heads toward 
 the great brick fireplace. The Merrill home was 
 never closed against the needy of any race or color. 
 Mrs. Merrill had borne with cheerfulness the hard- 
 ships of her early pioneer life. She now appeared 
 to equal advantage as the mistress of a large and 
 ever-open mansion. 
 
 It is related of Mrs. Merrill that on one occasion, 
 when a horse could not be procured in Bethel, she 
 walked the entire distance of twenty miles on snow- 
 shoes, so great was her anxiety for her children, 
 who had been left alone for several days. 
 
 Another instance of her courage is shown in her 
 defense of her home against some drunken Indians, 
 who insisted upon entering, finding her alone with 
 her children.
 
 SARAH EMERY MERRILL lOQ 
 
 The family were subjected to few perils of this 
 nature, in consequence of the friendship of Metal- 
 luck, who was unchanging in his devotion, and was 
 never weary of serving the Merrill family. 
 
 Deacon and Mrs. Merrill were the founders of 
 the Congregational Church in 1800. The church 
 edifice was built in 1830. 
 
 In consideration of Mrs. Merrill's services in 
 encouraging the settlement of the town, she was 
 assigned a lot of land in her own right. This she 
 afterwards sold, and with the proceeds purchased 
 eight handsome Bibles, which she presented to her 
 children. One of these can be seen at the old 
 homestead, owned by her great-grandchildren. 
 
 Mrs. Merrill lived to see all of her eight children 
 married and settled in homes of their own. Dea- 
 con Merrill died March 30, 1830. His wife sur- 
 vived him eighteen years, having reached the age 
 of nearly ninty-five years. Courage and industry 
 have rarely been better illustrated than in the life 
 of this noble, energetic and Christian woman. Her 
 life was rounded out with good words and works. 
 She will ever be held in loving remembrance by 
 children's children through many generations. 
 
 The oldest daughter of Deacon and Sarah 
 Merrill, Sarah, married Peregrine Bartlette of 
 Bethel.
 
 no MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Susan Merrill married Nathan Adams. They 
 made their home on the banks of the Androscog- 
 gin, at Rumford, ten miles from Andover. The 
 sudden death of her husband left Mrs. Adams a 
 widow with six children, the oldest being only ten 
 years of age. She had inherited many of her 
 mother's virtues. 
 
 Mrs. Adams showed great skill, prudence and 
 sagacity in the management of her affairs which 
 excited universal admiration. All of her business 
 interests prospered so that she was enabled to pro- 
 vide for the education of her children. She was a 
 member and liberal supporter of the church her 
 parents had founded and fostered. She passed 
 to the higher life in 1868. Her son, John Milton 
 Adams has long been known as the popular editor 
 of the Portland Eastern Argus. 
 
 The daughter Mary, married Dr. Sylvanus Poor. 
 Her grandson, Henry Varnum Poor, now owns the 
 Merrill homestead, which overlooks a beautiful 
 valley — the abode of comfort and refinement. 
 It is to-day one of the most intelligent communi- 
 ties in New England.
 
 DEEDS OF DARING
 
 X 
 
 DEEDS OF DARING 
 
 The bravest are the teitderest, 
 The loving are the daring. 
 
 Bayard Taylor. 
 
 THE women of Maine never faltered in devo- 
 tion to their country. Urging their hus- 
 bands and sons to the common defense, they 
 turned brave faces to their desolated homes, often 
 encompassed by dangers ; even manning the forts 
 when the men were stricken down. 
 
 A Maine girl of fifteen years may be termed the 
 heroine of King Philip's war. Her name and fam- 
 ily are unknown, but her noble deed should be re- 
 corded among the annals of the brave. 
 
 The little settlement in which she lived, near the 
 mouth of the Kennebec, had been surprised and 
 destroyed by the Indians. All about her were the 
 burning cabins, and the shrieks and groans of the 
 wounded and dying. She thought of other settle- 
 ments still farther down the river, and determined 
 8 113
 
 114 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 to warn them of their danger. She had started on 
 her way when she was pursued by an Indian and 
 taken back. As he saw her trembling with fear 
 he told her she was safe, but her desire for the 
 safety of others was greater than for her own safety. 
 Watching her opportunity she again stole away 
 on the perilous journey. She eluded her pursuers 
 and traveled fifteen miles through the woods to 
 Sheepscott. She had little difficulty in convincing 
 the people of their danger. They immediately left 
 their homes and fled to the fort at Cape Newag- 
 gan, where they were saved from the terrible mas- 
 sacre to which all the other inhabitants were 
 exposed. They had abundant reason for grati- 
 tude to their youthful deliverer. 
 
 Jonathan Keys of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, 
 and his wife Sarah (Taylor) Keys, were the first 
 settlers of Rumford. This locality was often vis- 
 ited by roving bands of Indians on their way to 
 and from Canada. During the absence of her hus- 
 band a party of painted savages approached the 
 house. Mrs. Keys went out and asked whether 
 they were for peace or war. They answered, 
 "Peace." "Then," said she, "hand me your 
 guns." They obeyed, and having received the 
 weapons she gave the savages bread and maple
 
 DEEDS OF DARING II5 
 
 sugar. After they had eaten they took their guns 
 and passed along. Her husband, on his return, 
 not Hking the aspect of things, took his family and 
 started at once for New Gloucester ; a wise precau- 
 tion, probably, as the Indians made raids into Liv- 
 ermore and Bethel about this time. Mrs. Keys, 
 the great-grandmother of Judge W. W. Virgin and 
 the maternal ancestor of the Keyses of North 
 Jay, a prominent family of Franklin County, sev- 
 eral of whom, like Judge Virgin, were heroes of 
 the late war — as ready to face their country's foe as 
 was their great-grandmother to hold at bay Indians 
 in war-paint and feathers. 
 
 Machias was the scene of the first naval engaee- 
 ment of the Revolution. Captain John O'Brien 
 had erected a liberty-pole. The captain of the 
 Margaretta, an armed British schooner in the har- 
 bor, had ordered that it be taken down. Indigna- 
 tion meetings were held and messengers were sent 
 to the Pleasant River settlement — now Jones- 
 boro — for assistance in its defense. 
 
 Hannah Weston of Jonesboro was a great-grand- 
 daughter of Hannah Dustan, and inherited much 
 of the fortitude and heroism of her worthy ances- 
 tor. When the call came to Jonesboro she assisted 
 her husband and brothers in their hasty prepara-
 
 Il6 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 tion for the defense of Machias, and encouraged 
 the women as they bade the Httle band Godspeed. 
 The men had but a few charges of powder, and 
 one powder-horn could not be found. She urged 
 them to proceed, and immediately set herself to 
 gather up all the powder, pewter and lead, going 
 from house to house throughout the settlement. 
 Only one able-bodied man had remained at home. 
 Hannah Weston had her eye on him, but when her 
 load of forty pounds was ready he was not to be 
 found. What should she do ? What would any 
 brave Maine woman, to-day, do? Carry it herself! 
 Nothing daunted this heroic woman, taking 
 as a companion her husband's sister, a girl of six- 
 teen, found her way through the woods, following 
 the path marked out by the spotted trees, a dis- 
 tance of sixteen miles. The Margaretta had been 
 taken before she reached Machias, but the ammu- 
 nition she carried was used in a subsequent engage- 
 ment. For this brave deed Hannah Weston was 
 presented with twelve yards of camlet at four shil- 
 lings per yard, six of which she gave to her 
 companion. 
 
 The islands of the Maine coast very early 
 attracted settlers. On Rutherford's Island lived 
 Sylvanus and Mary Williams Coombs. She was
 
 DEEDS OF DARING II7 
 
 of Welsh descent ; a woman remarkable for her 
 bravery and patriotism. The British often called 
 at the island for supplies. On one occasion she 
 overheard a conversation and learned that they 
 were to seize an American schooner. Like Lydia 
 Darrah, she determined to thwart the enemy's plans. 
 She communicated the intelligence to her hus- 
 band, who being closely watched by the British did 
 not dare to absent himself. 
 
 In order to reach the cove where the vessel lay 
 at anchor, it was necessary to travel through a dense 
 wilderness inhabited by wild beasts. Even this 
 circumstances did not daunt the intrepid spirit of 
 Mary Coombs. She took the journey in the dark- 
 ness of the night, informing her friends in time for 
 them to strip the vessel, rendering it useless to the 
 enemy. 
 
 Four children gladdened the island home of 
 Mary and Sylvanus Coombs. The mother was 
 highly domestic, but did not fail to educate and 
 train her children to habits of industry and virtue. 
 For many years she practiced as midwife and nurse, 
 being the only physician of the region, often travel- 
 ing miles in the darkness of midnight to administer 
 relief to the suffering. 
 
 Her son, Captain Samuel Coombs, received from 
 France, as a mark of respect and honor, a coat of
 
 Il8 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 arms bearing the motto : " Vincit omnia Veritas.''' 
 (" Truth conquers all things.") His wife, Hannah 
 Coombs, was eminent in her domestic virtues. 
 The care of her seven children devolved largely 
 upon her in consequence of the necessary absence 
 of her husband. Both Mary and Hannah Coombs 
 witnessed the contest between the Boxer and 
 Enterprise. 
 
 Among the names of those who defended their 
 homes, even at the point of the bayonet, should be 
 written that of Mrs. Sophia Dorman of Harrington. 
 
 In the early thirties Sophia Rice Baker, with her 
 husband and three children, accompanied an expe- 
 dition from Massachusetts to the St. John River. 
 They traveled a distance of two hundred and fifty 
 miles, their only means of conveyance being two 
 birch canoes, which the men carried from river to 
 river on their backs. Mr. and Mrs. Baker selected 
 for their home a site on the north bank of the 
 St. John, near a small stream now called Baker 
 Brook, six miles below Fort Kent. As the bound- 
 ary line between the United States and British ter- 
 ritory was unsettled, they afterward purchased the 
 land from Coffin and Irish, land agents for Maine 
 and Massachusetts.
 
 DEEDS OF DARING II9 
 
 Mrs. Baker was a woman of commanding pres- 
 ence, benevolent, intelligent, broad-minded, kind 
 and affectionate; a faithful wife and mother. 
 
 Loyal to the United States, Mrs. Baker deter- 
 mined to "show her colors"; but alas! she had 
 no flag. How should she obtain one ? The near- 
 est trading-post. Grand Falls, was many miles 
 away. The only means of conveyance was a 
 pirogue, a boat made by digging out a log. Mrs. 
 Baker ventured. Thirty miles down the river in a 
 log, accompanied only by a single oarsman, was no 
 obstacle to her patriotism. 
 
 Bunting was not a commodity of the St. John 
 River of that day, but with womanly instinct she 
 selected the red, the white and the blue. 
 
 Again thirty miles on the river, now against the 
 current. There is a legend that on her return 
 Mrs. Baker poled the log boat alone. With skil- 
 ful fingers the triad of colors was woven into the 
 starry flag. Aided by her husband she flung it to 
 the breeze on the Fourth of July. 
 
 This act was thought, by those in sympathy 
 with Great Britain, to be disloyal, and out of it 
 grew the Aroostook war and the final settlement 
 of the northern and eastern boundary line of the 
 United States. 
 
 Even to extreme old age Sophia Baker loved
 
 I20 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 her country's flag. At the sight of it her counte- 
 nance would light up with patriotic enthusiasm. 
 To her it was " Old Glory." 
 
 Her daughter, Mrs. Adeline Slocombe, partakes 
 very largely of her mother's patriotic spirit. She 
 inherits her loyalty to the starry banner. She par- 
 takes also of her mother's faith. She is a Baptist 
 in religion, as loyal to her church as to her flag. 
 After her marriage she resided a while at Baker 
 Brook, but settled permanently at Fort Fairfield. 
 Here she tenderly cared for her mother, left a 
 widow in her declining years. 
 
 Mrs. Baker lived through a century save two 
 years, being ninety-eight years of age at her death. 
 She was buried at Fort Fairfield. It was a con- 
 stant source of grief to Mrs. Slocombe that her 
 father's body rested on alien soil. Through her 
 efforts, even at fourscore, aided by her son-in-law. 
 Captain Scates, the legislature of 1894 and 1895 
 appropriated two hundred and fifty dollars for the 
 removal of Mr. Baker's remains, and the erection 
 of a suitable monument at Fort Fairfield to the 
 memory of Mr. and Mrs. Baker. This was un- 
 veiled, with appropriate ceremony, October 3, 1895. 
 It bears the inscription : 
 
 John Baker, Jan. 17, 1796 — Mar. 10, 1S68. 
 Sophia, his wife, Mar. 17, 1785 — Feb. 23, 1883.
 
 DEEDS OF DARING 121 
 
 The story of the flag is recorded in song by one 
 of Maine's worthy sons — the Hon. John D. Long, 
 ex-governor of Massachusetts : 
 
 They pitched their tent at last, and dwelt 
 Just on the British border-belt, 
 But in her heart rose all the higher 
 Her country's love, the patriot's fire ; 
 And when the clouds of war arose. 
 Right under the British lion's nose, 
 With scanty means, but loving hand. 
 She wrought the flag of her native land, 
 And on the Independence morn, 
 Fearless of neighbor's hate or scorn, 
 The starry banner she flung abroad 
 In liege to country and to God. 
 
 The penalties of treason fell : 
 
 Her husband thrust in a felon's cell ; 
 
 But when they threatened her goods and home, 
 
 They met a matron straight from Rome, 
 
 Who, braving the mob and the British throne, 
 
 With but a broomstick held her own. 
 
 Immortal woman of Fredericktown, 
 Let Sophia Baker share your crown ! 
 Of patriot heroines not the least 
 This Barbara Freitchie of the East. 
 
 During the war of 1812 the coast towns and 
 settlements on the large rivers were in constant 
 danger of an attack by the British fleet. Eastport,
 
 122 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Machias, Castine, Belfast and Portland were con- 
 stantly menaced. Many families left their homes 
 and suffered great hardships. The British officers 
 were often outgeneraled by the Maine women. 
 They buried their silver and other valuables. At 
 Hampden the men were all taken prisoners and 
 carried to Castine ; their houses were plundered ; 
 their wives insulted and subjected to many indigni- 
 ties. One of the ofBcers ransacked the home of 
 Mrs. Rebecca C. S. Wheeler, and finding she had 
 concealed most of her valuable articles he seized 
 her feather bed and started for his boat ; but Mrs. 
 Wheeler followed and demanded its restoration. 
 'T is said the officer was glad to drop it and run. 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Wheeler Crosby sent most of her 
 children to the home of a friend in a remote part 
 of the town. She kept her boy, Daniel, with her. 
 One little girl, more delicate than the others, she 
 put to bed — it is thought the bed contained many 
 valuables — and hung out a flag of sickness, refus- 
 ing to leave the house till the officer in command 
 gave her a guard. 
 
 The boy was terribly frightened, and begged his 
 mother to leave, but she stood firm until she saw 
 the guard stationed. Balls were whizzing through 
 the air as she went to look after the safety of her 
 other children.
 
 DEEDS OF DARING 123 
 
 Even the carefully prepared trousseau of her 
 dauo^hter Sarah fell into the hands of the maraud- 
 ers. The linens were homespun, but her gowns 
 had been brought from abroad in General Crosby's 
 ships. 
 
 Their home was completely stripped ; what 
 could not be removed was mutilated. Many valu- 
 able articles were thrown into the hopper of the 
 mill and ground ; heads were knocked out of bar- 
 rels containing molasses and other liquids. So 
 thorough was the destruction that when the pillage 
 was over Mrs. Crosby and her daughters were 
 obliged to borrow clothing of their friends in Ban- 
 gor till they could spin the thread, have the cloth 
 woven, and make new garments. 
 
 When Mrs. Crosby and her children returned 
 to their desolated home the girls were heartsick, 
 but this brave Maine mother was equal to the 
 emergency. 
 
 Among the legacies cherished in the family is 
 Mrs. Crosby's counsel on this occasion : 
 
 Well, girls ! This is no time for crying or mourning ! Our 
 work is before us, and we must set about it with a will. 
 
 On his return from Castine General Crosby 
 brought back a part of Sarah's bridal outfit. 
 
 The following letter, addressed to Mrs. Evelyn
 
 124 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Whitehouse by her cousin, contains a mental pho- 
 tograph of their grandmother, Mrs. Crosby, too 
 valuable to be abridged: 
 
 ToPEKA, Kansas, Oct. 6, 1895. 
 
 Mv Dear Cousin : — Your letter has just reached me and I 
 hasten to tell the little I know of our grandmother. 
 
 Her maiden name was Sallie Wheeler. She married our 
 grandfather, General John Crosby, at Hampden about 1785. 
 I think Hampden was her native place, as the Wheelers were 
 among the pioneer settlers in Penobscot County. 
 
 My father was a reticent man and talked but little of his 
 early life. I have dim memories of stories that gave us chil- 
 dren the impression that his mother was the embodiment of 
 goodness and courage. Alas ! they are too indistinct to be of 
 much use ! 
 
 I can remember being told of her running bullets all night 
 before the famous Hampden battle. I have often heard the 
 story of her rowing, when only a girl, by the light of a pine 
 torch on a dark night, five or six miles for the doctor, there 
 being no one else to go. 
 
 I am sure she was a large-hearted, noble woman, much given 
 to hospitality. One chamber in her home went by the name of 
 the " Prophet's Room " and was seldom without its guest. 
 
 Our grandfather was an active member of the Congregational 
 church and deacon for many years. I presume his wife had 
 the same faith. 
 
 My mother used to often say that the poor and distressed 
 always applied to grandmother for aid, and were never refused, 
 and that her good deeds were done in the most quiet and un- 
 obtrusive manner. 
 
 There are stories too of her independence and energy that
 
 DEEDS OF DARING 1 25 
 
 show she was equal to any call upon her time and strength. 
 
 I am not able to give particular cases, and have only a gen- 
 eral idea of a strong, energetic, kind-hearted woman, whom we 
 may be proud to call our grandmother. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 E. K. Crosry. 
 
 Many of the deprivations of the early Maine 
 mothers were repeated in the experiences of the 
 Swedish women of the first colony to New Sweden, 
 Aroostook County. There were fifty-one colonists, 
 eleven of whom were women. They are described 
 as industrious and expert in the use of the spin- 
 ning wheel and the loom. 
 
 A visit to the thriving village which has recently 
 celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary impresses 
 one with the industry and integrity of these 
 adopted citizens. But there are tales of heroic 
 endurance and patient suffering known only to the 
 mothers whose diffidence and modesty induced 
 them to bear all things without complaining. 
 
 The story of the bunch of shingles has been 
 made familiar in prose and verse. It is briefly told: 
 
 A Swedish woman, whose husband was sick, found that her 
 provisions were almost out, and she, instead of obtaining aid 
 from the authorities, went into the woods, cut the rift, and with 
 her own hands shaved a bunch of shingles, and taking them 
 upon her back walked to the store of Sawin & Teague, a dis- 
 tance of three and one-half miles, where she exchanged them 
 for medicine and provisions.
 
 126 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 This bunch of shingles can be seen in the State 
 House at Augusta, but the name of the woman has 
 never been given ; and now comes the remarkable 
 circumstance. After repeated efforts to obtain the 
 name in full, the following letter was received : 
 
 New Sweden, Oct. 8, 1895. 
 
 My Dear Madam : — Yours of the 7th inst. is at hand, 
 regarding the inquiry of the lady who made and carried a 
 bunch of shingles five miles for the purpose of procuring med- 
 icine for her sick husband. The woman's name is Mrs. John 
 Carlson. Her Christian name being Kerstin. She is a lady 
 of good health and of fine muscular development, and if 
 pushed by any emergency would not hesitate a moment to per- 
 form the task over again. (Remember this is my judgment in 
 the case.) I have had several inquiries of late in regard to this. 
 
 As a matter of course I instituted some search, and would 
 you believe, Madam, there are over a dozen claimants for the 
 honor, and I believe every one tells the truth. Some even 
 claim to have made several thousand shingles and carried them 
 further than the party in question. 
 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 
 F. O. Landgrave. 
 
 Duringr the Civil war there lived in Eastern 
 Maine an aged couple whose political views dif- 
 fered widely. The mother had given her sons at 
 the country's call, and followed them with all the 
 yearnings of a mother's heart ; but the father, a de- 
 vout religionist, given to long and loud prayers, 
 had always been a sympathizer with slavery.
 
 DEEDS OF DARING 12/ 
 
 One day, in that dark period when many stout 
 hearts quailed and questioned, the husband had 
 shut himself into the barn and was praying. For 
 him to pray was to shout and to weep. He impor- 
 tuned God that he would bless the cause of the 
 South — that he would send confusion into the 
 camp of their enemies The good mother endured 
 the prayer as long as she could, then caught her 
 broom and hastened to the spot. Bringing it down 
 in no light manner on the head of the suppliant 
 she vehemently cried : " I'll strike one blow for my 
 country, you old rebel ! " 
 
 O, what a broomstick unexpected ! 
 
 Goethe in Faust.
 
 LUCY KNOX
 
 XI 
 LUCY KNOX 
 
 Yesterday the greatest question was decided xvhich ever was debated in Amer- 
 ica ; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. 
 
 John Adams to Abigail Adams, July 3, 1776. 
 
 BEFORE the Revolution the London Book 
 Store on Cornhill, Boston, kept by Henry 
 Knox, was a fashionable resort for British officers 
 and Tory ladies of literary tastes. Henry Knox 
 was of Boston birth and culture, which made him 
 a favorite with the scholars of that day. 
 
 Lucy Flucker, the daughter of Hannah Waldo 
 and Secretary Flucker, was a " high-toned loyalist 
 of great family pretensions." As a young lady she 
 developed literary tastes, and was permitted to in- 
 spect the books of the young merchant at her 
 pleasure. As Lucy studied books Henry Knox 
 studied Lucy, and evidently thought though she be 
 
 The daughter of a hundred earls 
 she is the one to be desired. 
 
 131
 
 132 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 They were married on the sixteenth of June, 
 1774, and both espoused the cause of the Revolu- 
 tion. Her family opposed and bitterly deplored 
 her marriage, predicting that she would eat the 
 bread of poverty and dependence. 
 
 During the exciting days of 1775 and 1776 all 
 her family friends left Boston for Halifax, and sub- 
 sequently made their home in England. Lucy 
 Knox turned from all that had before been dear to 
 her to follow the fortunes of her husband. 
 
 When General Gage denounced as rebels all 
 who were found aiding the cause of the colonists, 
 and forbade any one to leave Boston without per- 
 mission, Mr. and Mrs. Knox quietly quitted the 
 town, Mrs. Knox preserving her husband's sword 
 by quilting it between the linings of her cloak. 
 
 They joined the American camp at Cambridge. 
 'T is said of Lucy Knox : 
 
 She followed the army, and her presence and cheerful man- 
 ners did much to diffuse contentment and enliven scenes. 
 
 The soldiers could not murmur at privations 
 which she endured without complaint. 
 
 " Sad it is," says Mrs. Ellet in her history of 
 " Women of the Revolution," that " no record re- 
 mains of the ministrations of women in thus soft- 
 ening war's grim features." The good they did.
 
 LUCY KNOX 133 
 
 however, was at the time acknowledged with re- 
 spectful gratitude. There is reason to believe that 
 General Knox often deferred to his wife's judg- 
 ment, regarding her as a superior being, and it is 
 said that her influence and superiority were owned 
 by Washington himself." 
 
 As the wife of the brilliant secretary of war, 
 Lucy Knox ranked next to Mrs. Washington in 
 the social scale of the nation. 
 
 Lucy Knox inherited from her grandfather, 
 Samuel Waldo, a part of the famous " Waldo Pa- 
 tent." General Knox, by purchase, secured the 
 remaining shares. Their estate comprised the 
 greater part of the present counties of Penobscot, 
 Waldo and Knox. 
 
 In 1795 they established their home at Thomas- 
 ton, selecting a charming sport on the banks of the 
 George's River. 
 
 In the Old South Meeting-house, Boston, may 
 be seen a pen and ink sketch of Montpelier, the 
 home of General and Madam Knox. It is to be 
 regretted that a building so famous in the early 
 history of the nation should have been permitted 
 to fall into decay. 
 
 This French villa, with its grand staircase, and 
 broad halls with open fireplaces and carved wood- 
 work was the scene of many festivities. The hos-
 
 134 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 pitality of General and Madam Knox was unlim- 
 ited, and many distinguished visitors were among 
 their guests. Louis Philippe and Talleyrand 
 brought letters of introduction to General Knox, 
 and were made welcome beneath his roof. 
 
 It was not unusual for shiploads of people from 
 Philadelphia and other cities to arrive at Montpe- 
 lier. At one time the entire tribe of Penobscot 
 Indians were their guests. 
 
 How Lucy Knox managed her cuisine we are not 
 told, but of their larder Sullivan tells us : " An ox 
 and twenty sheep were killed every Monday morn- 
 ing." A hundred beds were made up daily in the 
 house. In the stable were twenty saddle-horses 
 and several pairs of carriage-horses. No finer 
 equipage was seen on the streets of Boston than 
 that of Lucy Knox. 
 
 In those early days when the roads of Maine 
 would hardly admit of land travel from Thomaston 
 to Boston, she must have taken horses, carriage, 
 coachman and footman on board of the sailing 
 vessel on which she herself embarked, reaching 
 Boston only after days upon the ocean. 
 
 The busy, gay life at Montpelier was brief. 
 General Knox died in 1806, leaving Madam Knox 
 greatly embarrassed financially. Of twelve chil- 
 dren only three survived their father.
 
 LUCY KNOX 135 
 
 Lucy Knox is remembered by her neighbors as a 
 woman of commanding presence. Even at three- 
 score she had brilhant black eyes and. a florid coun- 
 tenance. They always deferred to her intellectual 
 superiority, but had very little sympathy with her 
 aristocratic pretensions. She often deplored death, 
 mourning most of all that her head must lie as low 
 as others. Her manner of living was severely 
 criticised by the clergy, and yet many ministers 
 were among her guests. Though restricted in 
 means, Lucy Knox continued active in her chari- 
 ties and in the exercise of her generous hospitality 
 during the eighteen years of her widowhood.
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN
 
 XII 
 BUSINESS WOMEN 
 
 Methinks we see thee as in olden lime — 
 
 Simple in garb majestic. 
 Thou didst not deem it woman^s part to waste 
 
 Life ill inglorious sloth. 
 
 SiGOURNEY. 
 
 AMONG the business women of Portland be- 
 fore the Revolution, we find the names of 
 Barbara Robinson, Mary Moody, Mary Bradbury, 
 Mary Woodbury and Esther Woodbury. 
 
 Mrs. Mary Phillips Munjoy, of the early days of 
 Portland, was a Boston woman of great strength 
 of character. After the death of her husband, 
 George Munjoy, the title to her lands was ques- 
 tioned. Mary Munjoy, as a business woman, ap- 
 pealed to the general government of Massachusetts. 
 The selectmen of the town of Casco were induced 
 to grant her claim. It was agreed that the " Said 
 Mary shall have, retain and enjoy the easterly end 
 of said Neck of land whereupon her husband's 
 
 139
 
 140 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 house stood, also House Island and other small 
 islands." 
 
 Mary Munjoy established her home upon the 
 hill that bears her name to-day. 
 
 Mrs. Mehitable Bangs Preble impressed herself 
 upon the business community of Portland as a 
 woman of energy, well fitted for the arduous du- 
 ties that devolved upon her. Under her wise man- 
 agement the business interests of the family were 
 largely increased and property improved, while her 
 husband was called to attend to his various polit- 
 ical and military duties. When the town of Fal- 
 mouth was burned by Mowatt, he gave the people 
 a few hours in which to remove their goods. Mrs. 
 Preble even thought of the pigs, and liberated 
 them with her own hands, saying: " It would be a 
 shame to leave dumb creatures to be burned." 
 
 She outlived the stormy period of the Revolu- 
 tion, surviving her husband many years. She died 
 in 1805, one of the few women of that early time 
 who made her will. She divided her property 
 equally among her seven children, leaving a legacy 
 for the benefit of the poor widows of Portland. 
 
 Madam Dorcas Milk Deering of Portland man- 
 aged the business interests of the family during
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN I4I 
 
 the Revolution, while her husband was called to 
 sacrifice his home to the welfare of the nation. 
 
 She gave personal attention to the details of the 
 business in the little store at Clay Cove. She is 
 spoken of as sagacious, shrewd and enterprising. 
 After the death of her husband she maintained the 
 dignity of her mansion-house, which occupied the 
 site of the present post-office. 
 
 Madam Preble, so often spoken of in the later 
 history of Portland, was Mary Deering Preble, 
 daughter of Madam Dorcas Deering, and the wife 
 of Commodore Preble. An interesting letter is 
 published in Gould's " Portland of the Past," writ- 
 ten by Commodore Preble to his future mother-in- 
 law, showing that the young men who would win 
 the daughters must first conciliate the mothers. 
 It is a dignified epistle and worthy the attention of 
 all young men with like aspirations. 
 
 Mrs. Sarah Fairfield Hamilton, of Saco, kindly 
 furnishes the following sketch of her mother, Anna 
 Paine Fairfield. Her family name was Thornton. 
 She was named for her aunt, Anna Paine Cutts, a 
 sister of Dolly Paine Madison. 
 
 My mother was a person of strong character — a 
 singularly retiring person — her real personality
 
 142 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 was known only by her own family and a few 
 friends. She was really a very genial, fun-loving 
 woman ; but when a stranger entered her home 
 life, she seemed to retire within herself ; and occa- 
 sionally was seen, what is not rare with reserved 
 persons, a sort of hide-and-go-seek of the two per- 
 sonalities. When occasional glimpses of the gen- 
 ial wit made the desire for more too decided upon 
 the part of the visitor, the jocose, playful woman 
 disappeared, and the reserved manner was thrown 
 over her like a veil. In later years the real 
 woman gained the victory, and the forbidding 
 aspect melted away into a genial, sunny old age. 
 
 My mother was the daughter of Thomas G. 
 Thornton, who held the office of marshal of Maine 
 (when Maine was a district of Massachusetts) for 
 many years, and until his death. Her mother was 
 a daughter of Colonel Thomas Cutts, the landed 
 proprietor of this region, who, it was said, could 
 travel on horseback from Saco to Canada and sleep 
 in his own house, on his own land, every night. 
 My mother was reared in luxury that only the few, 
 even, knew at that day. She was the especial 
 favorite of her father, and often accompanied him 
 on his long drives. He spoke of her facetiously, 
 as one who had good " attic furniture." 
 
 At her father's death she inherited, with eleven
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN 1 43 
 
 brothers and sisters, what was considered at that 
 time a comfortable httle sum of money. But she 
 knew nothing of it herself. At her marriage it was 
 given to my father by her guardian, and she never 
 really knew the exact sum herself. It probably 
 occurred to none of them that there was any other 
 way to dispose of her money. Later it was all lost 
 with so much other capital in the state in the 
 " Eastern Land speculation." 
 
 My father was very early in life singled out as 
 one to sacrifice his private life and interests to the 
 good of his town, state or country. It left my 
 mother with the care of a family on a less income 
 than his regular law practice would have brought 
 to them. A letter is in my possession in which 
 he urges a friend of larger means to allow himself 
 to become the candidate for governor, in which 
 he says, " I with my little growing family, cannot 
 afford to take it. You must take it," His friend 
 replied, "You are the man, the people demand 
 you ; " and four times he was chosen governor. 
 
 At the time of his first election, before the days 
 of telegraphs or even railroads in Maine, a courier 
 was sent by night from Portland to Saco with the 
 news of the election. My mother went to the door 
 to enquire the cause of a visitor at that time of 
 night. Upon learning his errand she simply
 
 144 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 thanked him, and concluded that a good night's 
 rest was worth more to her sleeping husband 
 than the announcement of his governorship at that 
 hour. So she returned to her slumbers, and in the 
 morning quietly, but with a little sly fun, informed 
 him of his election. 
 
 After his first entrance into public life until his 
 death, at the age of fifty, in 1847, he was absent 
 from home a large part of the time. My father and 
 mother had purchased a farm, thinking it a better 
 place for rearing a family of children. 
 
 My father's death was the result of an unsuccess- 
 ful operation upon his knee, by the culpable care- 
 lessness of an intoxicated physician in Washington, 
 The news of his death came like a thunderbolt 
 from a clear sky to my mother. She was left a 
 widow with eight children, the eldest in college 
 and the youngest a baby in her arms, with a farm 
 to cultivate, and less than three hundred dollars 
 income. 
 
 The first evening, after the tidings of my father's 
 death in the morning, my mother was alone with 
 her children, the remembrance of her quietly put- 
 ting out one wick of a common oil-lamp, saying, 
 " Children, we cannot afford to burn two wicks of 
 the lamp when one will answer," has always been 
 vivid in my mind ; but the grim pathos of the act
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN 1 45 
 
 was only appreciated in mature years. That same 
 fortitude and calm acceptance of the present situa- 
 tion always characterized her. In the long strug- 
 gle before her she needed it all. 
 
 My father's death occurred three weeks after the 
 opening of the session of Congress at Washington. 
 He left a letter to my mother telling her of the in- 
 tended operation, leaving it to finish after it was 
 over, to thus save her an anxious moment. The 
 letter was never finished. 
 
 It seems strange now in these days of pensions 
 and lavish expenditures of money that my father's 
 salary through that session of Congress was not 
 paid. It ceased at his death, and although he had 
 sacrificed himself and family in a pecuniary way, 
 for what his party considered the good of his coun- 
 try, no pecuniary recognition was made of it to his 
 family. 
 
 The same spirit my mother showed when she 
 picked down one wick of the lamp was carried out 
 through all her affairs. Had she been a man she 
 would have been a great financier. She kept her 
 family together; gave much personal supervision 
 to her farm; gave such attention to details that 
 there were no leakages from bad management that 
 were not discovered and the plans changed. She 
 lived thirty-five years after my father's death, and
 
 146 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 having educated her family and seen them married 
 and settled in life, by wise management and invest- 
 ments, she died leaving a larger property than my 
 father left to her. 
 
 She was economical in the unessentials — often 
 depriving herself of what to other people seemed 
 comforts that she might give to those more needy 
 than herself. As children we were always taught 
 to think of other people and not ourselves. She 
 made little calico bags to carry on our arms to 
 school, which she filled with apples, to give to the 
 school children who had none. If we remon- 
 strated, as we sometimes did, as the road was long 
 and the apples heavy, and the bag not handsome, 
 she would say very quietly, " Then go without 
 apples yourself until you know how much other 
 children like them who have none"; and with 
 flowers the same, we were always sent with baskets 
 of flowers. 
 
 As I look back, we seemed to be a kind of a 
 flower and fruit mission all by ourselves. 
 
 We were all early taught to work, as my mother 
 said she knew the disadvantage of the lack of the 
 knowledge herself. It has helped us all over 
 many hard places, and made us people ready for
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN 1 47 
 
 Mrs. Sophia Brewer was a business woman of 
 Calais. She owned the first chaise ever seen upon 
 its streets. Her husband introduced the first 
 wagon, but the chaise was sent as a present to Mrs. 
 Brewer after the death of her husband. 
 
 Sally Cobb Robinson of Orrington blended 
 many noble traits of character. In 1798 she came, 
 a bride, from Wrentham, Massachusetts, to the 
 woody banks of the Penobscot, where her husband 
 owned broad acres. She is described as a little 
 woman with bright black eyes, such as may be 
 seen in her descendants throughout Maine to-day. 
 In her little kitchen, ten by fifteen, she was mother 
 of the household, teacher of her own and the chil- 
 dren of the scattered neighborhood, secretary to 
 her husband and lawyer to the town. Her ser- 
 vices were much sought after as nurse and 
 physician. 
 
 When Sally essayed to go to market or to the 
 store, several miles away along the bridle-path, she 
 placed upon her horse the saddle, fastening to it 
 behind her butter and eggs. In front on one side 
 she hung by a strap through the handle the molas- 
 ses jug. Taking her three-year-old boy in her 
 arms, Sally mounted and went on her peaceful 
 errand, following the banks of the Segeunkedunk
 
 14^ MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 to Brewer — a ride not so famed as John Gilpin's 
 but fraught with consequences far greater. 
 
 Sally was no timid rein's woman, and when the 
 path would admit of it the molasses jug was made 
 to move in rhythm with the legs of her boy, bal- 
 ancing it on the other side of the saddle. 
 
 Sally Robinson was born July 14, 1772, and was 
 married April 18, 1798. Seven children were born 
 to her. 
 
 Mr. Robinson was the first selectman of the 
 town for many years. The town books were en- 
 trusted to Sally's supervision. Mr. Robinson 
 always managed that the last meeting before town- 
 meeting day should be at his house, where the 
 town accounts were straightened out, not by the 
 three officials who sat by, but by Sally Cobb 
 Robinson. 
 
 Mary Cooke Coffin, with her husband Richard 
 Coffin, came from Nantucket to Pleasant River 
 about 1770. In the same vessel with them came 
 also Barnabas Coffin and his widowed mother, both 
 of them Quakers. 
 
 Mary Coffin was the mother of eight children. 
 Her son Temple married Anna Thorndike. She 
 was born in Portland, and is remembered as a bril- 
 liant girl, having had superior educational advan-
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN I49 
 
 tages. While on a visit to her sister in Mil- 
 bridge, then a part of Harrington, or No. 5, she 
 first met Temple Cofifin, who fell desperately in 
 love with her. 
 
 After their marriage they made their home in 
 Harrington, on the western side of the little 
 stream, their farni including nearly all the land 
 occupied by that part of the village at the present 
 time. 
 
 Temple Cofifin built a carding mill, and for many 
 years was the leading business man of that section 
 of country, greatly respected for his integrity and 
 uprightness of character wherever known. 
 
 Anna Cofifin was never fond of domestic service. 
 She early trained her daughters to the work of the 
 household and gave herself to business which she 
 heartily enjoyed. Through her executive ability 
 the family were helped over many hard places. 
 She raised large quantities of flax, which she man- 
 ufactured into household linen, providing each one 
 of her four daughters, Sophia, Charlotte, Jane and 
 Betsey, with a wedding outfit manufactured from 
 the raw material by her own hands. She cared 
 personally for the sheep, wrought the wool into 
 yarn, and was known to knit a pair of mittens in a 
 day. She was a fine rider and often took journeys 
 through the woods on horseback, her only guide
 
 150 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 being the spotted trees. She had very little respect 
 for the tariff laws on the eastern border of the state, 
 and delighted to take the goods she had manufac- 
 tured "over the lines," a distance of nearly eight}^ 
 miles, and smuggle home articles that were luxu- 
 ries to the early pioneers. She did this at the risk 
 of great personal danger. One of her grand- 
 daughters says she has worn many a gown smug- 
 gled over the lines by her grandmother. 
 
 Three miles from her home in Mill River lived 
 her friend, Joanna Roberts Strout, who like herself 
 had found her way from Portland to this section of 
 the country. The two women had great pleasure 
 in their friendly visits as they sipped tea out 
 of choice china — the little round turnback table 
 being drawn up before the big open fire — and re- 
 called their girlhood days in "dear old Pooduck." 
 One of their granddaughters remembers the mar- 
 velous stories of Indian depredations and witchcraft 
 these dear old ladies talked over long after the hour 
 for retiring. The butter of a neighbor had refused 
 to come ; believing it to be bewitched she had 
 dropped a red-hot horseshoe into the churn, which 
 broke the spell, and they were not at all astonished 
 that a certain woman was burned and ever after 
 bore the mark of a horseshoe upon her.
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN I5I 
 
 Joanna Strout was much loved and respected by 
 the poor and unfortunate, who were constant re- 
 cipients of her bounty. The home of Aunt Joie 
 and Uncle Ben was one of the stopping-places for 
 the ministers who were obliged to journey through 
 that part of the state. They made long days on 
 the road that they might rest beneath this friendly 
 roof. 'Tis said that even the horses knew that 
 Uncle Ben's barns brimmed with plenty. 
 
 Mary Rust and Jonathan Pulsifer were among 
 the pioneer settlers of what was then known as 
 Poland Empire. They, with their two children, 
 came in a vessel from Cape Ann, Massachusetts, 
 to Yarmouth. They brought with them a horse, 
 two cows, and their household goods. From Yar- 
 mouth they were obliged to find their way by the 
 spotted trees, then the only means of indicating a 
 path through the woods. To Mrs. Pulsifer the 
 ride was a very trying one — it was with great dif- 
 ficulty she kept her seat upon the horse's back, and 
 held the two children. 
 
 The motion of the animal increased the disa- 
 greeable sensation she continued to experience 
 from the tossing of the vessel. Had it not been 
 for the care of her husband, who walked beside 
 her, she must have fallen.
 
 152 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 They at first made their home under the same 
 roof with Mr. Pulsifer's father, who with three sons 
 had preceded them. There were really three fami- 
 lies in a small house. The land was soon after 
 divided among the sons, by lot. 
 
 Mary Pulsifer was a strong, energetic woman. 
 She entered upon her new life in the spirit of 
 the true pioneer. With characteristic foresight 
 she saved the seeds of the apples brought with 
 them from Cape Ann. These she planted and 
 cared for, and in a few years supplied her family 
 with fruit of her raising. 
 
 Her husband soon learned to entrust the busi- 
 ness of the household and farm to her supervision. 
 
 She considereth a field and buyeth it. 
 
 A cousin to Rufus Choate, she had inherited 
 with him a legal mind, which the training of a cul- 
 tured home and early school advantages had devel- 
 oped and strengthened. 
 
 She did the work of a farmer's wife of that day, 
 even providing her firewood that the work of the 
 men in clearing the farm might not be interrupted. 
 The spinning-wheel and loom were in constant 
 use. She manufactured the household goods in 
 woolen, cotton and linen. She was fond of em- 
 broidery, and many specimens of her needlework 
 are in the possession of her descendants to-day.
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN I 53 
 
 She made on a quill very delicate lace buttons for 
 her husband's shirts. He was known in the gates 
 for his fine linen. 
 
 She was obliged to practice the strictest econ- 
 omy in her household. If the table was provided 
 with cheese, the butter was withheld. One gallon 
 of molasses brought from Yarmouth furnished the 
 family with sweets from the fall till maple syrup 
 was made in the spring. 
 
 With no money these pioneers cleared their 
 farm, became independent, and gave to their two 
 children the advantages of a liberal education. 
 
 There was in the household for many years a 
 baby, but only a baby watched and tended by her 
 loving care ; folded all too soon by the Great Shep- 
 herd. Only two of their twelve children lived 
 through childhood. 
 
 Rachels and Ramas, and a wailing Egypt, 
 
 'T is the old story of the long ago, 
 The little life just trembling in the balance, 
 
 The waiting angel, and the mother's woe ; 
 Six thousand years that cry has been repeated, 
 
 And its eternal youth is ever new. 
 And shall be till the heavenly choir completed, 
 
 The last white wings shall sweep the portal through. 
 
 Mrs. Pulsifer was a devout Methodist, and the 
 latchstring of her home was always out to the itin- 
 erant ministers of that day. Her kitchen was for
 
 154 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 many years the meeting-house, and the white 
 scoured floor did not fail to impress the lesson that 
 cleanliness is next to godliness. 
 
 She was a constant student of the Bible. In 
 advanced life she loved to quote her favorite pas- 
 sages and to repeat hymns learned in early woman- 
 hood. She lived to be ninety-four years old. 
 
 Mrs. Pulsifer frequently entertained her friends 
 with stories of her pioneer life. She never forgot 
 Betsey Gilbert, the daughter of a wealthy mer- 
 chant at Cape Ann. After Mrs. Pulsifer's removal 
 to Maine, Miss Gilbert often urged her return to 
 Cape Ann for a visit, but she could never be in- 
 duced to do so, no matter how homesick she was, 
 until she could go in a style befitting the luxurious 
 home of her friend. 
 
 Many years elapsed before her husband drove 
 her up to the door of Betsey Gilbert's home — 
 having taken the journey all the way from Poland 
 to Cape Ann in their own " hansum kerridge," the 
 one-horse chaise. It was a proud moment to Mary 
 Pulsifer. 
 
 Mrs. Lydia Purrington Frye, as a girl, had the 
 advantages of the best schools of Portland, which, 
 added to her natural endowments and industrious 
 habits, made her a woman of rare culture. She
 
 BUSINESS WOMEN 155 
 
 married Thomas Frye, a merchant of Vassalboro, 
 and was the mother of two children 
 
 The house of colonial architecture in which they 
 lived is still standing — recalling the famed hospi- 
 tality of Mr. and Mrs. Frye. Both were elders in 
 the Society of Friends. They entertained liber- 
 ally. During the Quarterly Meeting it was not 
 unusual for Lydia to reset her table several times. 
 The door of their home was never closed to the 
 poor and unfortunate who sought aid or shelter. 
 
 They were supporters of the antislavery move- 
 ment, and lent a hand in the escape of fugitives 
 through the state to Canada, when to do so was 
 considered by some almost treason against the 
 United States. 
 
 In person Mrs. Frye had the bearing of a trained 
 athlete. She comprehended the whole technique 
 of correct movements of the body. 
 
 She used the plain language correctly. The 
 nominative thou was never sacrificed to the objec- 
 tive thee. She was one of the original trustees of 
 the Oak Grove Seminary, now Bailey Institute, 
 Vassalboro, proving herself a wise counselor. Her 
 executive ability was acknowledged by her associ- 
 ates. Even after the death of her husband she 
 continued her interest in the school. Her home 
 was open to the students, who found in her a faith-
 
 156 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 fill friend. She encouraged boys in saving their 
 pennies by promising to add five to every dollar 
 they would put in the bank. 
 
 Mrs. Frye had a remarkable intuition and insight 
 to character. She replied to one of her young 
 friends who waxed impatient over the stupidity of 
 a public functionary, " My dear, thou canst never 
 make an oak ax-handle out of a piece of pine." 
 
 On one of her yearly visits to the Annual 
 Meeting at Newport, Rhode Island, stopping over 
 night on the way, her trunk was stolen from the 
 station. It was carried into a field and rifled of 
 its contents. The rich silk shawls, with Quaker 
 gowns and bonnets to match, all of Philadelphia 
 make, was too great a loss for Mrs. Frye to sustain 
 without an effort to secure justice. She brought 
 suit against the railroad. They withstood her 
 claim. After two years her opponents were 
 obliged to acknowledge that Mrs. Frye knew too 
 much law for them. She won her case.
 
 SOCIAL CUSTOMS
 
 XIII 
 SOCIAL CUSTOMS 
 
 How long we live, not years but actions tell. 
 
 Watkins. 
 
 THE social life of Portland from 1765 to 1795 
 centered in the tavern kept by Alice Ross 
 Greele. A pen and ink sketch of this plain, una- 
 dorned building can be seen in the library of the 
 Maine Historical Society. Alice Ross as a girl 
 evinced great strength of character. She shrank 
 from no hardship. It is recorded that Alice Ross 
 was paid four dollars per week for her services as 
 nurse when Portland was suffering from the scourge 
 of small pox. 
 Says Willis : 
 
 It was common for clubs and social parties to meet at the 
 tavern in those days, and Mrs. Greele's, on Congress street, 
 was a place of most fashionable resort both for old and j'oung 
 wags before and after the Revolution. It was the East-cheap 
 
 159
 
 l60 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 of Portland and was as famous for its baked beans as Boar's 
 Head for sack. We would by no means compare honest Dame 
 Greele with the more celebrated, though less deserving, hostess 
 of Falstaff and Poins, Dame Quickly. 
 
 When Falmouth was bombarded by Mowatt, 
 October i8, 1775, rendering nearly three-fourths of 
 the people homeless, when many men and women 
 fled in despair from the town (Reverend Thomas 
 Smith records, " I went to Windham just before 
 the firing began as did Mrs. Smith yesterday,") 
 Alice Ross Greele stood at her post. 
 
 Her house, located upon the corner of Hamp- 
 shire and Congress Streets, then Greek's Lane and 
 Back Street, was surrounded by burning buildings. 
 Shell, cannon-ball and grape-shot filled the air. 
 The torch of the incendiary aided in completing 
 the work of destruction. Amid it all Alice Greele 
 defended her home. It was repeatedly set on fire ; 
 but braving all danger with a heroism worthy a 
 trained veteran, she succeeded in extinguishing the 
 flames and saved the little hostelry, which proved a 
 welcome retreat to many of the homeless citizens. 
 
 The story is told that as the hot balls were fall- 
 ing around the house Mrs. Greele gathered them 
 up in a tin pan and threw them into the street, 
 remarking that Mowatt couldn't fire much longer, 
 that he must be getting short of ammunition as he
 
 SOCIAL CUSTOMS l6l 
 
 could not wait for the balls to cool but fired them 
 hot. 
 
 As this story reflects somewhat upon the sound 
 judgment of this brave woman, the inference is, 
 that the messenger who reported it must have been 
 so thoroughly scared by the bullets whizzing 
 through the air, that he was incapable of inter- 
 preting her language correctly. 
 
 This tavern served for court house from this 
 time, 1775 to 1784. During these dark days 
 stormy conferences were held beneath its roof, and 
 many men of Revolutionary fame were the guests 
 of Alice Greele. 
 
 There was little improvement in the social life 
 of the extreme western part of the state for many 
 years. Women were forbidden to live there; dis- 
 reputable men had brought to the islands weak 
 women, owning them in shares as they did their 
 boats. 
 
 It was in the interest of the moral development 
 of the community that the following petition is 
 recorded : That contrary to an act of court which 
 says: 
 
 No woman shall live in the Isles of Shoals, John Reynolds 
 has brought hither his wife with an intention to live here and 
 abide. 
 
 II
 
 l62 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Your petitioners therefore pray that the act of court may be 
 put in execution for the removal of all women from inhabiting 
 there. 
 
 It were needless to add that all such efforts at 
 colonization were failures ; men alone could not 
 make homes. 
 
 In the records of York are preserved many hints 
 of the social customs of that early day, December 
 2, 1665, Joan Ford was presented to the court. 
 She had called a constable a cowhead rogue, for 
 which she received nine stripes at the whipping- 
 post. Again for reviling her neighbors and abus- 
 ing the constable she received ten lashes. 
 
 In Wells, in 1665, the court ordered every town 
 to take care that there be in it a pair of stocks, a 
 cage and couching (ducking) stool to be erected 
 between this and next court. This stool was the 
 old instrument for the punishment of common 
 scolds. It consisted of a long beam, moving like a 
 well-sweep upon a fulcrum, one end of which could 
 be extended over the water and let down into it at 
 the will of the operator. On this a seat was fixed, 
 upon which the culprit was placed and then im- 
 mersed in the water. To what extent this was 
 used, if ever, in Maine, is not known. 
 
 March 8, 1725, that the wife of Sewall Banks be requested 
 to sit as becomes a wife, in the woman's fore seat.
 
 SOCIAL CUSTOMS 163 
 
 Voted, That the wife of Philip Adams, being somewhat thick 
 of hearing, have liberty to move forward in the meeting-house. 
 
 We read in the journal of Reverend Thomas 
 Smith of Portland : 
 
 February 4, 1763, Wednesday morning : — Brigadier Preble, 
 Colonel Waldo, Captain Ross, Doctor Coffin, Nathaniel Moody, 
 Mr. Webb and their wives and Tate sat out on a frolic at Ring's 
 and are not yet got back. 
 
 February n: — Our frolicers returned from Black Point, 
 having been gone ten days. 
 
 Snowshoe parties were more select than now. 
 In the same diary it is recorded : 
 
 I married Samuel Green and Jane Gustin. They came on 
 snowshoes across the Cove from Captain Ilsley's to my house. 
 
 Many women witnessed the execution of Drew 
 on Munjoy Hill. Mrs. Abigail Chase rode on a 
 pillion behind her husband from Limington to 
 Portland, a distance of twenty-eight miles, to see 
 the man hang. Sad dearth of recreation when 
 
 . . . curious thousands thronged to see 
 A brother at the gallow's tree. 
 
 The early mothers were skilled in needlework. 
 Mrs. Nancy Frost, of Wayne, though in her 
 ninety-fourth year, is still an adept with her needle. 
 In the home of her daughter, Mrs. Nancy Fuller, 
 of Wilton,^ may be seen many articles of embroidery
 
 164 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 and netting made recently by her. She now re- 
 sides with her daughter, Mrs. L. W. Fillebrown, in 
 Piqua, Ohio, where she does not allow the time to 
 hang heavily on her hands, but often spends the 
 entire day in reading and embroidering. Her 
 work is of rare beauty and will compare favorably 
 with that of the most famous needle guilds of the 
 present day. Many of her friends in Maine have 
 been made happy in receiving specimens of her 
 delicate handiwork. 
 
 Mrs. Martha Coffin Rice, now living in Dorches- 
 ter, Massachusetts, in her ninety-second year, re- 
 calls many interesting events in connection with 
 her early home at Saco. She says the first cook- 
 stove in Saco was owned by Ezra Haskell and 
 wife. It was such a curiosity that people flocked 
 to see it, and it became a common form of saluta- 
 tion : " Have you seen Mr. Haskell's cook-stove ? " 
 
 She was at the home of her uncle, Edward 
 Coffin, in Biddeford, when the council of ministers 
 dined there who assisted at the ordination of the 
 Rev. Mr. Tracy, the Unitarian minister, and helped 
 her cousins wait upon the table. They took great 
 pains to tastefully arrange upon it the bottles of 
 rum, brandy and gin. 
 
 She is one of the few living persons who shook
 
 SOCIAL CUSTOMS l6$ 
 
 the hand of the nation's guest, General LaFayette 
 in 1825. 
 
 The spinning-wheel and loom were in every 
 house. The girls were early trained to their use. 
 The family clothing and household linen were all 
 manufactured at home. The spinning-bee was one 
 of the merry-makings of the olden time. 
 
 We are told that in order to make soap one 
 woman carried her material three miles, on foot, to 
 the home of a neighbor who had the necessary 
 utensils. Desire for companionship may have cre- 
 ated the necessity. 
 
 In Winthrop lived the Fairbankses and the 
 Woods, miles apart, but the two families kept up 
 pleasant personal relations then as now. It was 
 no hardship for Mrs. Fairbanks to saddle her horse 
 and take a morning gallop to the home of Phebe 
 Morton Wood. 
 
 Not having seen her friend for weeks, she in- 
 duced her husband to pillion his horse and go to 
 bring Mrs. Wood for a day's visit at their home. 
 When Colonel Nathaniel Fairbanks arrived, Mrs. 
 Wood was "just kneading a batch of rye and 
 Indian bread," for this good woman looked well to 
 the ways of her household, and they ate not the 
 bread of idleness.
 
 1 66 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Having no one to whom she could entrust the 
 baking of her bread, Mrs. Wood felt obliged to de- 
 cline the invitation, but Mr. Fairbanks assured her 
 that that should be no obstacle to the visit, as 
 he could take the kneading-trough along with 
 them ; indeed, had it been necessary, he would not 
 have hesitated to take the oven also. 
 
 Mrs. Wood mounted the pillion, and Mr. Fair- 
 banks placed the bread-trough in front of him on 
 the saddle, and they rode gaily along the bridle- 
 path. The big brick oven was heated, and the 
 bread was baked while the two women spent a 
 happy day together. At night Mrs. Wood re- 
 turned to her home in a similar manner, the 
 trough laden with steaming loaves. 
 
 The launching of a ship was usually made the 
 occasion for a gala-day. Men and women rode 
 miles on horseback to witness it. 
 
 Polly Patrick lived in Gorham. She often as- 
 sisted in the work of the farm, her father declaring 
 that Polly was as much help as the boys. It was a 
 monotonous life, with few amusements, but Polly 
 wrought singing, and often planned feats of daring 
 for herself and brothers. They had anticipated 
 attending the launching at Stroudwater for days. 
 When the time arrived they were told that they
 
 SOCIAL CUSTOMS 167 
 
 could not have the horses. But Polly was not to 
 be daunted. She secretly arranged that her older 
 brother should bring from the pasture a horse and 
 colt, and saddle them behind the barn. She 
 agreed to ride the colt if her brother would only 
 saddle it. When they had stolen off their time 
 was limited, and Polly proposed that they ride 
 "cross lots," leaping walls and ditches. This they 
 did, and bounding away at such a rate they reach 
 Stroudwater just as the ship 
 
 Decked with flags and streamers gay, 
 In honor of her marriage day 
 
 . . leaps into the ocean's arms. 
 
 Jane Woodbridge was the daughter of Reverend 
 John Woodbridge, and Mercy Dudley, who was 
 descended from Governor Dudley of Massachu- 
 setts. She was born at Newcastle in 1787, and 
 married Jotham Donnell, a farmer and ship- 
 builder. As a young wife she cheerfully set her- 
 self to the various tasks awaiting her, attending to 
 the farm and at the same time receiving to her 
 well-laden table many of the carpenters engaged in 
 the shipyard. Near her lived her friend Nancy. 
 
 It was a proud moment when the two young 
 ship-builders launched their staunch vessel, bear-
 
 l68 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 ing the names of their wives on her colors: "The 
 Nancy Jane." 
 
 Mrs. Donnell was a fearless rider. One day as 
 she was going to a quilting alone on horseback, 
 the horse, being balky, stopped so suddenly that 
 she was thrown forward, and landed on the top of 
 her head. She soon remounted and continued her 
 journey. As she incidentally told the company of 
 her adventure they were inclined to doubt that 
 such a thing could happen without more serious 
 consequences. Mrs. Donnell referred them to her 
 bonnet in evidence. This was of white drawn 
 muslin. They were convinced when they found 
 the top of it covered with grass stains. 
 
 Her friends recall her fortitude in submitting to 
 a surgical operation before the days of anaesthet- 
 ics. One of the surgeons fainted during the 
 removal of a tumor from her throat, but she sub- 
 mitted to the trying ordeal without flinching, and 
 when it was over, with her throat bandaged, pre- 
 pared the dinner for the surgeons. 
 
 After she was eighty years of age she stamped 
 two tons of butter, four thousand pounds. The 
 mothers did not need creameries. They were in- 
 stitutions in themselves. 
 
 This woman attained to the age of ninety-two 
 years.
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS
 
 XIV 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS 
 
 The old, unhappy, far-off things. 
 
 Truths that wake to perish never. 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 DOUGLAS JERROLD pictures Mr. Job 
 Caudle as one of the few men whom 
 " Nature in casual bounty to women sends into the 
 world as patient listeners." What might not this 
 famous wit with his "flashing insight" have said of 
 the listening mothers? Mrs. Caudle's harangues 
 must have been music to the ninthlies and tenth- 
 lies, so familiar to their ears. 
 
 In the year 1770 there were only thirty-five set- 
 tled ministers in Maine. These were all of the 
 ** standing order " except two Episcopalians and 
 two Presbyterians. In those Revolutionary days, 
 when there seemed no secure earthly foundation, 
 the hearts of the mothers in the wilderness yearned 
 
 171
 
 172 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 for the higher spiritual consolation. It is related 
 of many women that they walked barefoot many 
 miles through pathless woods, putting on their 
 shoes before entering the place of worship. 
 
 Such women were Mrs. Polly Small and Mrs. 
 Jonathan Boothby of Limington, who thought it 
 no hardship to cross the Saco River in a dugout, 
 sometimes even fording it, wending their way to 
 Standish Corner, a distance of eight miles. 
 
 These frontier women were good listeners. 
 They had to be. 
 
 Let your women keep silence in the churches, it is not per- 
 mitted them to speak. She is not fitted for speaking in public. 
 She may have mind enough, but she wants the physical quali- 
 ties, the voice and nerve which are requisite. The voice of 
 woman, like the susceptibilities of her heart, is delightfully 
 formed for her sphere, for the tones of love in her family, for 
 the enlivening converse of the parlor, for the tender offices of 
 sympathy, but is no more formed for the public assembly than 
 the lute for the camp. 
 
 So said the church fathers. The Spartans did 
 march to battle to the sound of the lute. They 
 were so thrilled with military ardor the sonorous 
 drum would have disbanded them. These early 
 religious teachers builded better than they knew. 
 The more highly cultured the public audience the 
 more effective the lute.
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS 1 73 
 
 It is related that when Colonel Foxcroft visited 
 the settlement in the town which now bears his 
 name, he found the pioneer, as yet, had not ob- 
 served the Sabbath. At his suggestion a meeting 
 was appointed for the following Sunday. 
 
 Singers were there ; an old schoolmaster had 
 brought a book of sermons, but the most anxious 
 inquiry was, " Who will pray ? " Not a man in 
 Foxcroft or Dover had piety and confidence 
 enough to perform so simple and natural a duty. 
 Still they were not willing to omit that essential 
 part of divine worship. 
 
 Mrs. William Mitchell, a mother in Israel, had 
 kept up prayer in her family from the beginning of 
 her pioneer life. She knew how to pray. She 
 loved to pray. Notwithstanding the anathemas 
 against woman's voice being heard in the public 
 assembly, rightly interpreting the teaching of Paul, 
 and hearing again the sweet voice of the Master, 
 " Ask and it shall be given you," she consented to 
 pray, and the Piscataquis settlement was humbly 
 but fervently dedicated to God by Mother Mitchell's 
 public prayer. 
 
 In her " Reminiscences of the Churches and 
 Pastors of Kennebec County," Sarah B. Adams 
 says:
 
 174 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 The prayer-meetings were usually held at private houses in 
 winter and schoolhouses in summer. Then, as now, there 
 were some who were always present unless detained by some- 
 thing beyond their control, and always strictly obedient to 
 the Pauline injunction, " Let your women keep silence in the 
 churches." 
 
 A declaration of war could not have produced more commo- 
 tion than did the rising of a sister " to speak in meeting." 
 Indeed it was in a sense a declaration of war against an old 
 prejudice. So strong was the feeling that in some instances, I 
 have been told, ladies have been rebuked for venturing upon 
 anything so unseemly. 
 
 Phebe Lord Upham, born in Kennebunk, was 
 the wife of Thomas Cogswell Upham, professor 
 of mental and moral philosophy in Bowdoin Col- 
 lege from 1825 to 1867. Mr. and Mrs. Upham 
 were wedded in mind as well as heart. They 
 found congenial companionship in their literary 
 research — much of his metaphysics and religious 
 experiences published to the world was worked out 
 at the fireside. Together they pored over the 
 pages of Tauler, Gerson and other mystics of the 
 middle ages ; studied Madame Guyon and the Gos- 
 pel of St. John. 
 
 They exemplified in their lives the truth they 
 taught to others. Like Tauler, they associated 
 with the " friends of God ; " like Gerson, they 
 "loved little children;" and like Madame Guyon,
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS 1/5 
 
 Mrs. Upham, if need be, would have gone to prison 
 for her religious opinions. Their domestic affec- 
 tion expressed itself in taking to their otherwise 
 childless home six orphan children for whom they 
 lovingly cared and to whom they \^re father and 
 mother. 
 
 Mrs. Upham should be remembered to-day as a 
 pioneer in the religious work of women. She was 
 one of the first in the Congregational church who 
 dared to rise in the public assembly and speak of 
 the faith which was burning within her. The 
 religious beauty underlying the act did not appeal 
 to her pastor. He saw only a woman out of her 
 sphere. Mrs. Upham became a revelation to him. 
 When she first rose to speak the good man, in hor- 
 ror, waved his hand, and bade her repeatedly, " Sit 
 down, madam ! Sit down ! " But Mrs. Upham 
 did not sit down — she could not. In the counsel 
 with other brethren over the matter her pastor, in 
 despair, said, " I don't know what we are going to 
 do with Mrs. Upham." 
 
 The Portland minister, on an exchange at Bruns- 
 wick, was equally shocked to see a woman stand 
 on her feet in the social meeting. As she rose, 
 he leaned forward and said: "Short and sweet, 
 madam ! " 
 
 But Mrs. Upham's speaking in meeting was but
 
 176 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 the surface ripple of her deep rehgious nature, 
 which could not be repressed. Both she and her 
 husband knew of the doctrine because they were 
 constantly obeying the command : " Do the will 
 of my Father." 
 
 Professor Upham identified himself with every 
 movement for the advancement of the kingdom of 
 the Master. His consistent life was an object- 
 lesson to the young men who sought the instruc- 
 tion of the college. His name stands on the first 
 temperance pledge circulated in Brunswick. 
 
 Mrs. Upham was constantly seeking opportuni- 
 ties for doing good. She established the first 
 Sunday-school at the poorhouse. Miss Harriet 
 Stanwood, who assisted her in teaching the 
 younger classes, recalls that she gathered into the 
 school, the children of the neighborhood, thirty in 
 all ; that she furnished them with books and 
 assisted in clothing them. 
 
 In 1854 a Christmas tree was arranged for these 
 poor people who never before had seen one. Mrs. 
 Upham furnished caps for all the old ladies, which 
 were hung for them on the tree. Some of those 
 interested thought tracts would do for the children, 
 but Miss Stanwood, realizing that poor children 
 love bright, pretty things just the same as other 
 children, proposed picture-books for them. When
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS I77 
 
 she laid the matter before Mrs. Upham she said, 
 " If you want to spend five dollars for Cock 
 Robins, here is the money." 
 
 Mrs. Upham 's charitable and philanthropic work 
 in Brunswick ceased only with her removal from 
 the town in 1867. Her devoted collaborator has 
 continued her loving service at the poorhouse 
 through thirty-seven years without an omission. 
 
 She says: " There are only a few there now, but 
 they still anticipate my coming at Christmas time." 
 The room remains the same as it was when she 
 accompanied Mrs. Upham there years ago, but she 
 sees there what others cannot, the saint-like face of 
 Mrs. Upham, as she told her listeners the old, old 
 story. That face was a benediction. 
 
 Mrs. Upham sent her six children to a school 
 taught by a widow with the care of several chil- 
 dren. That she might teach her boys to be useful 
 she had them take their leather aprons along, 
 instructing them to fill the vvoodboxes or do any 
 work the teacher would permit them to do. The 
 college students were often invited to Mrs. 
 Upham's parlor for religious conference. She was 
 greatly respected and beloved by them. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Upham in later life made their 
 home in New York, where they studied and exem- 
 plified the higher Christian life.
 
 178 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 One who knew Mr. and Mrs. Upham writes : 
 
 Professor T. C. Upham, as you are aware, was widely known 
 as an instructor in mental philosophy and his published works 
 are invaluable. 
 
 I think there was entire harmony between the husband and 
 wife in all their religious belief and experience. 
 
 They had no children, but showed their great benevolence 
 by the adoption of six children, four boys and two girls, 
 orphans ; all of whom lived to mature age except one who was 
 drowned when young. They all exhibited in their lives the 
 result of their careful training. 
 
 Mrs. Upham's countenance had attractive sweetness and her 
 manner was cheerful and cordial. She was a blessing to many, 
 and her name will be long remembered. She was several 
 years a widow. Her end was peace. She died in New York 
 City in the early eighties. I think she was buried in Bruns- 
 wick. A handsome monument bears the name "Upham." 
 
 Brunswick, October 11, 1895. 
 
 Their religious philosophy is expressed in the 
 following lines from Professor Upham's pen : 
 
 Going to Heaven Alone. 
 
 High in the hills the wild bird hath its nest, 
 
 And utters loud its melodies of song ; 
 But vain its music, if no other breast 
 
 Is there to mate it and its notes prolong. 
 
 And so in Heaven think not to dwell alone, 
 
 In cold and hopeless solitude apart ; 
 For Heaven is love ; and love would leave its throne 
 
 If at its side there were no other heart.
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS TEACHINGS 1 79 
 
 Then heavenward soar, but carry others there, 
 And learn, that heaven is giving and receiving; 
 
 It hath no life, which others do not share ; 
 Its life doth live by its great art of giving. 
 
 T. C. Upham.
 
 MINISTERS' WIVES
 
 
 XV 
 MINISTERS' WIVES 
 
 W/ioso findeth a wife findeth a good thing. 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 MINISTERS' wives of these early days were 
 not always permitted to develop their lute- 
 like voice in the parlor. On them largely de- 
 volved the care of the parish farm, the care of 
 the family and the care of the minister himself. 
 Their homes were well-known places of resort and 
 entertainment for clergymen and strangers who 
 visited the place. 
 
 One of the first ministers' wives in Maine was 
 Sarah Winter Jordan. She came from England 
 as early as 1637, and resided with her parents, Mr. 
 and Mrs. John Winter, on Richmond's Island, 
 Portland Harbor. The Rev. Richard Gibson, the 
 first settled Episcopal minister of the vicinity of 
 
 183
 
 184 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Portland, was often a guest at their home. It is 
 hinted that Mr. Winter regarded him favorably as 
 a future son-in-law. Then as now — 
 
 The best laid schemes o' mice and men 
 Gang aft a-gley. 
 
 The fair Sarah became the wife of his successor, 
 the Rev. Robert Jordan. They made their home 
 at Spurwink, though their parish extended from 
 Falmouth to Portsmouth. The large estates re- 
 ceived from her father and the opposition to the 
 Church of England involved her husband in many 
 serious controversies. At one time he was im- 
 prisoned in Boston for exercising the rites of his 
 church. 
 
 In the general massacre of 1675 it is recorded 
 that the Rev. Robert Jordan escaped from his 
 burning dwelling and fled to Portsmouth. Mrs. 
 Jordan and the younger children probably accom- 
 panied him in his flight. We find the family 
 living in Portsmouth Harbor four years later. 
 
 Mr. Jordan died in 1679, Mrs. Jordan surviving 
 him many years. 
 
 Through nine generations one hundred and 
 seventy-three of her descendants have borne the 
 name Sally, or Sarah, in loving remembrance of 
 Sarah Winter Jordan.
 
 ministers' wives 185 
 
 Rev. Thomas Smith came to Portland in 1725. 
 Three years afterward he brought his bride, Sarah 
 Tyng Smith, on horseback from Massachusetts. 
 His people went out to Scarboro and escorted 
 them to their new home, " regaling them with a 
 very noble supper." She died in 1742, leaving a 
 family of eight children. Her husband wrote of 
 her: 
 
 Never did I see in any person a more remarkable tender 
 conscience, afraid of the least appearance of evil. 
 
 The people of this place all esteemed and delighted in her 
 beyond anything of like kind that has been known, and if 
 their united prayers could have kept her alive she had not 
 died. 
 
 You cannot conceive the grief and mourning her death has 
 universally caused. 
 
 A home without a mother became unedurable to 
 the good minister. After nearly two years, with 
 great care, he selected another companion and 
 counselor, Mrs. Olive Jordan of Saco. She was 
 several years his senior and the mother of seven 
 children, the youngest of whom was eleven at the 
 time of her marriage with Mr. Smith. The oldest 
 of her adopted flock being about eleven and the 
 youngest two, there was no break in the continuity 
 of her motherhood. 
 
 For twenty years Mrs. Smith proved herself a
 
 1 86 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 worthy and devoted mother to her family of fifteen 
 children. She died January 3, 1763. 
 
 Mr. Smith's third wife was Elizabeth Wendall, 
 who survived him. She was a lady of fine man- 
 ners, well educated and dignified. At a wedding 
 in which her husband officiated she assisted in the 
 entertainment by dancing a minuet to the admira- 
 tion of the company. 
 
 In his diary, Rev. Thomas Smith writes : 
 
 May 27, 1745. — I set out with my wife in our chaise for Bos- 
 ton. 
 
 October 5, 1746. — I had concluded to send away my 
 family to Harwick, but my wife negatived it. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Deane was ordained associate 
 pastor with the Rev. Thomas Smith over the First 
 Parish, Portland. 
 
 He was unmarried and to " complete his happi- 
 ness " sought the kindred soul among the fair 
 maidens of his flock. 
 
 From his diary we find he was often a guest of 
 Moses Pearson, whose daughter Eunice subse- 
 quently became his wife. He takes great pains to 
 record that the wharf of Captain Pearson was in- 
 jured by a violent storm and he no doubt called to 
 talk it over with the family. Other records follow 
 of " dining with the relatives of Eunice Pearson,"
 
 ministers' wives 187 
 
 "waited upon Eunice Pearson," and April 3, 1766 
 we find written, "My wedding — none present 
 but relatives." 
 
 The house built by Mr. Deane and to which he 
 took his bride, after living a short time at her 
 father's house, is still standing on Congress Street 
 near the church, though removed from the original 
 foundation. 
 
 On the destruction of the town by Mowatt the 
 family went to Gorham, where they resided seven 
 years. Here they enjoyed the society of many 
 distinguished visitors from abroad and exchanged 
 many social visits with their parish. Mr. Deane 
 sings of Pitchwood Hill as he terms the eminence 
 near his home : 
 
 Hither I'll turn my weary feet 
 Indulging contemplation sweet — 
 Seeking quiet, sought in vain 
 In courts and crowds of busy men. 
 
 Among the many interesting items of Dr. 
 Deane's diary, we read : 
 
 July i, 1778. — The family met at Freeman's about apprais- 
 ing. 
 
 July 2. — In the division of plate Eunice drew the small 
 can, buckles and snaps, the large glass, large gold ring, dozen 
 of silver jacket buttons, gallon pot. 
 
 May I, 1788. — Spinning day.
 
 l88 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 This is explained to be a festive occasion. One 
 hundred of the ladies of the parish gathered at the 
 parsonage for a spinning bee. Sixty spinning- 
 wheels are said to have hummed the entire day, and 
 at the close " Mrs. Deane was presented with two 
 hundred and thirty-six seven-knot skeins of excel- 
 lent cotton and linen yarn, the work of the day, ex- 
 cepting about a dozen skeins which some of the 
 company brought in ready spun." The portrait of 
 Eunice Deane beside that of her husband on the 
 walls of the Parish House, with its high head- 
 dress, folded kerchief and elbow sleeves, is a 
 fair representation of the dress of a lady of the 
 period in which she lived. The artist has given a 
 hint of a genial nature in her mild, blue eyes, and 
 love for the beautiful in the rosebud she holds in 
 her well-rounded hand. 
 
 Having been the faithful companion and wise 
 counselor of her husband forty-six and one-half 
 years, Eunice Deane died October 14, 181 2, at the 
 age of eighty-five years. Her husband survived 
 her about two years. They had no children. 
 
 Abigail Titcomb Sewall came to York from 
 Newbury, Massachusetts, with her husband, Henry 
 Sewall. She was a woman of marked piety and 
 early indoctrinated her five children in the cat-
 
 ministers' wives 189 
 
 echism. Her son, Rev. Jotham Sewall, honored 
 and loved as " Father Sewall," devoted a long life 
 to missionary labors in Maine, under the direction 
 of the Massachusetts Society. He says of his 
 mother's teaching : 
 
 The instruction thus received impressed my mind while I 
 was very young. I recollect having had many serious in- 
 quiries respecting the existence of God, the creation of the 
 world and my own existence when I was about three years old. 
 And from that time forward I had more or less serious 
 thoughts. In the absence of my father, my mother frequently 
 prayed with us, and some of the expressions she used im- 
 pressed me. When teaching us the catechism she often inter- 
 spersed such remarks and exhortations as made me weep. 
 
 Mrs. Jenny Sewall, the wife of the Rev. Jotham 
 Sewall, was a native of Bath. They were married 
 in 1787. Previous to this Father Sewall had laid 
 the foundation for their home by building a camp 
 in the woods of Chesterville. 
 
 March 6, 1778, it is recorded in his diary that 
 they arrived at night with their goods, and com- 
 menced living in a family state at their own habi- 
 tation, having taken the journey from Bath with a 
 team. 
 
 Jenny Sewall had been religiously educated, but 
 had never received in her soul what she believed 
 to be the witness of the spirit. This was a matter 
 of great anxiety to her future husband.
 
 1 90 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Often did he pray with her previous to their marriage, and 
 press the subject of religion upon her, while she would be 
 bathed in tears. 
 
 Mrs. Sewall was fortunate in having resources 
 within herself, as her husband's parish extended 
 from New Brunswick to Massachusetts, taking 
 him constantly from home, and when bodily pre- 
 sent his mind was often weighed down with the 
 care of souls, so much so that he yearned to be 
 alone with God. Even when taking his wife 
 through the wilderness to her future home in 
 Chesterville, he says he seized a few moments for 
 retirement on the road, and poured out his soul to 
 God with much affection. The next morning he 
 writes in his diary : 
 
 Got a sweet time alone this morning. 
 
 In 1801, with six living children, the youngest 
 but a fortnight old, Mrs. Sewall was left alone with 
 the care of the family and the farm. Her hus- 
 band, kneeling by her bedside commended her to 
 the Lord, praying that she and the children might 
 be preserved and provided for in his absence. 
 This was the beginning of his work as state mis- 
 sionary, which he continued through his life. 
 
 After fifty-four years of toil, patient watching 
 and waiting, Jenny Sewall passed to the higher
 
 MINISTERS WIVES I9I 
 
 life. Her husband was bowed in grief over her 
 loss. His sympathy was excited in her behalf by 
 remembering that his absence for the work of the 
 ministry had thrown upon her the care and labor 
 of training a numerous family, and had imposed 
 upon her, in many respects, a heavy weight of anx- 
 iety and responsibility, which probably bent her 
 erect form sooner than it would otherwise have 
 stooped, and might have induced the very infirm- 
 ities under which she finally sank. She attained 
 to the age of seventy-three years. Her husband 
 wrote of her: 
 
 She was a discreet, prudent, faithful, patient, industrious, 
 loving, persevering, good wife. 
 
 Rev. Paul Ruggles, with his wife Mercy Dexter, 
 penetrated into the heart of the present town of 
 Carmel, and made the first settlement. On their 
 arrival they caught trout with a basket, dipping 
 them as with a net. 
 
 Mrs. Ruggles awoke one morning to see a large 
 white owl perched on her bedpost. 
 
 Mr. Ruggles was a famous preacher for many 
 years, and Mother Ruggles looked well to the 
 home and farm. She lived to be ninety-eight 
 years old, and greatly enjoyed watching the pro- 
 gress and improvement of the country on whose
 
 192 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 soil she was the first white woman " to set her 
 foot." 
 
 Mrs. Mary Richmond Loring of Yarmouth 
 greatly aided her husband in the affairs of their 
 parish. She so impressed all with her quiet dig- 
 nity that her people styled her " Madam Loring." 
 She trained her ten children to habits of industry 
 and economy. 
 
 Her family was a helpful object lesson to the 
 flock. In warm weather they went to meeting 
 barefooted that those who could not have shoes 
 might not stay at home. 
 
 Rev. Isaac Rogers brought his bride, Eliza 
 French Rogers, from Newburyport, Massachusetts, 
 to Farmington, Maine, in a one-horse chaise. 
 This vehicle was ever after a prominent feature in 
 their parish work. Mother Rogers usually accom- 
 panied her husband on his pastoral visits. 
 
 Mr. Butler, in his history of Farmington, says 
 of her: 
 
 She was a women of remarkable intelligence, of a brilliant 
 intellect and of great executive ability as well as deep piety. 
 Without children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers were like 
 father and mother to all the youth of the parish, and the love 
 given to them was deep and fervent. Mrs. Rogers died April 
 27, 1867.
 
 MINISTERS WIVES I93 
 
 When questioned in regard to her condition by 
 those who lovingly watched by her dying bed, she 
 replied: "I do not know; I have never been 
 dying before." 
 
 Mother Rogers had the courage of her convic- 
 tions. When once decided upon a conscientious 
 course she was not easily moved from her 
 purpose. 
 
 She was an omnivorous reader, fond of romance, 
 believing that in these work-a-day lives of ours 
 was needed something more to arouse the imagina- 
 tion and stimulate the affection than the simple 
 routine of daily cares and duties. There was a 
 merry twinkle in her dark blue eyes, so often mis- 
 taken for black, as she told how one of her lady 
 parishioners had interviewed her in regard to the 
 character of her last book, questioning whether 
 the minister's wife ought to read a book classed 
 among light literature. She would assume rather 
 a supercilious pose as she imitated her questioner : 
 " Is it a true story, Mrs. Rogers ? " 
 
 In some ways she was the opposite of her hus- 
 band, being in many respects more strongly 
 orthodox than he. That she was his affinity was 
 never questioned. He was a devoted husband and 
 in sweet accord they pursued their chosen work. 
 The world loves a lover still. 
 
 13
 
 194 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 A leader in the social life of her people, Mrs. 
 Rogers was always present at the sewing circle, 
 where the younger women and children gathered 
 about her, to listen to the story she was always 
 ready to tell them. One of them, then a little 
 girl, remembers that she worked on one end of a 
 sheet, while Mother Rogers hemmed the other, 
 and at the same time told her the story of the 
 last book she had read. 
 
 Though lenient in many ways, she was opposed 
 to dancing as an amusement at church circles. 
 At one of these gatherings the young people, 
 watching their opportunity when the older ones 
 were busily engaged in the parlor, had shut them- 
 selves into the big kitchen, and were enjoying the 
 mazy tread, when Mother Rogers' ever-watchful 
 eye discovered that there was " something gone." 
 She immediately felt the need of warming her feet 
 by the cook-stove and went to the kitchen ostensi- 
 bly for that purpose, to the dismay of the merry 
 dancers who scattered at once. 
 
 Not inclined to be domestic, she made no pre- 
 tentions to being a pattern housekeeper, yet dis- 
 charged the many duties that devolved upon her 
 cheerfully. The minister's home in those days 
 was seldom without its guests. The hotel near 
 her did a smaller business in consequence of her 
 open door.
 
 MINISTERS WIVES I95 
 
 President of the Mothers' Association, she led 
 the meetings in prayer, joined with them in sing- 
 ing and counseled the younger mothers in regard 
 to the training of their children. 
 
 Of the monthly missionary meeting she was the 
 entire institution. She was president, secretary, 
 treasurer and collector. The meetings were held 
 at her parlor, and if a member absented herself 
 Mother Rogers knew the reason. 
 
 Before starting for the weekly prayer-meeting 
 she was wont to furnish herself with matches and 
 kindling, knowing by previous experience that the 
 lighting of the fire in the stove might devolve 
 upon her. This fire she might kindle, but the 
 sacred fire in the hearts of their people could be 
 lighted in the public assembly only by Father 
 Rogers, however much the unspoken word might 
 burn upon the lips of Mother Rogers. 
 
 Hannah Bridge Jewett, the wife of Rev, Henry 
 C, Jewett, is remembered in Winslow to-day as " a 
 delicate-looking lady, refined and gentle." The 
 women of the town, after the manner of the times, 
 had presented her with a new spring bonnet, but 
 in making their purchase had consulted the pre- 
 vailing style rather than the recipient. As the 
 minister's wife she did not dare to slight the gift,
 
 196 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 but appeared in church greatly disconcerted at the 
 unbecoming effect of the expensive headdress. 
 
 Jerusha Bryant was a native of Newcastle. She 
 was born in 1801. Her family removed to Ban- 
 gor, where she enjoyed superior educational advan- 
 tages. She was deeply religious. As a teacher in 
 the public schools of Bangor, she impressed her 
 strong personality upon her pupils, many of whom 
 through her influence were attracted to the Chris- 
 tian life. 
 
 She was a consistent and helpful member of the 
 First Baptist church, always in her place at the 
 social meetings and in the Sunday-school. 
 
 In his autobiography Rev. Royal Crafts Spauld- 
 ing says : 
 
 I was married to Miss Jerusha Barstow Bryant of Bangor, 
 October 7, 1828. So then I had a domestic home and an 
 ecclesiastical home in the little town of Levant and there we 
 continued and labored until 1834. In January of that year I 
 resigned my charge at Levant and became pastor of the 
 Baptist church of East Corinth, where we labored nine years 
 with that dear people and formed precious friendship in both 
 of these towns that we trust will be perpetuated in the 
 heavenly world. 
 
 Under the auspices of the Maine Baptist Mis- 
 ionary Board, as pioneer missionaries, Mr. and
 
 MINISTERS WIVES 1 97 
 
 Mrs. Spaulding subsequently labored in Aroostook 
 County thirty years. 
 
 How thoroughly they were coworkers may be 
 learned from their correspondence before she was 
 able to join him there, and from the testimony of 
 those with whom they labored. 
 
 In one of his letters he asks her to prepare a 
 circular letter to the Baptist sisters in Linneus, in 
 Limerick and Houlton. She entered upon the 
 active missionary work as soon as her family cares 
 would admit. They always kept their "domestic 
 home " in Houlton a quiet retreat from which they 
 journeyed and to which they often returned for 
 rest. 
 
 Mrs. Spaulding was an orderly housekeeper and 
 was often quoted by mothers in encouraging faith- 
 fulness to details, in their daughters. The fact 
 that Mrs. Spaulding, the expected guest, would 
 like to see the work nicely done, was an incentive 
 to well doing. 
 
 Summer and winter Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding 
 journeyed on their mission of love. The children 
 of the scattered neighborhoods learned to watch 
 for their carriage. They waited for it by the road- 
 side that they might escort to their homes these 
 much-loved missionaries. Their visits among the 
 people are delightful memories to-day. The little
 
 198 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 trunk, filled with the best literature which they 
 always carried, "was an exhaustless fountain of 
 intellectual and moral nourishment for almost a 
 generation of people." Nothing like a bookstore 
 was kept in Aroostook County till twenty years 
 after they began their work. 
 
 Over all this region in hamlet and lonely cabin in the woods 
 the tracts, Bibles, devotional, historical and biographical 
 books, out of this wonderful trunk, were spread with a gener- 
 ous hand. It was not for money returned that the work was 
 done. 
 
 Truly Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding went about doing 
 good. Their very presence was a benediction. 
 
 It was largely through Mrs. Spaulding's efforts 
 that the first Baptist meeting-house in Houlton 
 was built. Among the wealthy business men of 
 Bangor were some of her former pupils, to whom 
 she unfolded her plans. From them she collected 
 the first money for the building of the church. 
 With this she purchased the lot and logs for the 
 lumber. With the completion of the building and 
 a settled pastor in Houlton, Mr. and Mrs. Spauld- 
 ins: were somewhat relieved of their active labors. 
 
 Mr. Spaulding failing in health, Mrs. Spaulding 
 had the great privilege of " having him to herself," 
 and of caring for him through a prolonged illness.
 
 MINISTERS WIVES 1 99 
 
 She survived him only a few years, and when she 
 too went home, it was reverently said : 
 
 This woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which 
 she did. 
 
 And all the widows stood by him weeping and showing the 
 coats and garments which Dorcas made while she was with 
 them. 
 
 Rev. Cazneau Palfrey was for many years pastor 
 of the Unitarian church at Belfast. The state 
 conference was holding its annual session in the 
 city. It was a large gathering. At the close of 
 the afternoon service Mr. Palfrey, in the most 
 cordial and impressive manner, invited all min- 
 isters and their wives and the delegates to take 
 supper at the parsonage. This was the first inti- 
 mation that Ann Crosby Palfrey, his wife, had of 
 his intention. There was not much time for pre- 
 paration. The guests might reach her home 
 before she could get there. 
 
 Her feelings are better imagined than described. 
 She smiled sweetly, but her friends were not slow 
 to interpret the inner conflict between the house- 
 keeper and the minister's wife ; but every woman- 
 heart of her parish was beating in sympathy with 
 hers. 
 
 When did Maine women ever fail to rally to the
 
 200 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 aid of their ministers wife in such an emergency? 
 Mrs. Eliza Simonton White, whose home was op- 
 posite the parsonage, knew the condition of her 
 neighbor's larder. At her suggestion the women 
 were soon on their way to Mrs. Palfrey's home 
 well laden with food from their own households. 
 An hour later when the guests arrived they were 
 welcomed by the hostess and her two daughters. 
 
 When the good minister led his company into 
 the dining-room the well-filled tables abundantly 
 supplied with all the delicacies of the season were 
 no surprise to him. He never questioned the 
 source. 
 
 It never dawned upon his consciousness that he 
 was not fed like the prophet of old — by the 
 ravens, and to the end of his life he never dreamed 
 of the shock sustained by every woman of his 
 parish at his untimely hospitality. 
 
 Sarah Clement, wife of the Rev. William Fes- 
 senden, of Fryeburg, Maine, was the daughter of 
 Samuel Clement, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, 
 where she was born April 6, 1752, O. S. She died 
 in Portland, Maine, at the residence of her son. 
 General Samuel Fessenden, April 7, 1835. In 
 early life she went to Dunbarton, New Hampshire, 
 to live with an uncle, Caleb Page, a man of note
 
 MINISTERS WIVES 20I 
 
 and property for that day. Here she met her hus- 
 band, who had gone there to preach, and there 
 married him, August 4, 1774. In that year a 
 body of pioneers had begun a settlement in the 
 wilderness in what is now the beautiful town of 
 Fryeburg. The settlers invited her husband to 
 become their minister the following year, 1775. 
 He accepted, and remained their pastor till his 
 death in 1805. 
 
 The early years of his ministry were full of 
 toil, hardships and privation, and imposed heavy 
 burdens upon the young wife. Their house was 
 built in the fashion of that day, two rooms and an 
 entry in front, with a large kitchen and small bed- 
 room in the rear. The kitchen, with its big fire- 
 place, and oven on one side, was the living-room. 
 It had its settle, where one could keep warm in 
 the coldest weather. Here she sewed in the even- 
 ing by the light of a pine torch — all the light they 
 had, and here her husband wrote his sermons, 
 while she sewed or spun. Behind was the dresser, 
 with its shining pewter plates, the round table 
 with its six legs. The dish on which the food was 
 served was a huge pewter platter, which was after- 
 ward used in the house of one of her children, as 
 a cover for the flour barrel. 
 
 Most of the garments were of home manufac-
 
 202 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 ture. She spun the nicest thread, and one of her 
 grandchildren still preserves an apron of Madam 
 Fessenden's spinning. 
 
 In this house she bore her husband the large 
 family of nine children, besides performing her 
 domestic duties, rearing her children, and assisting 
 her husband in his parish. She had no help ex- 
 cept such as was occasionally rendered by a neigh- 
 bor or friend. 
 
 The work was hard and the fare scanty, but 
 with all the privations she did not neglect the edu- 
 cation of her children. She taught them all to 
 read, and to love to read and study. One who 
 knew her said she was a born teacher. Though 
 not having the early mental training and educa- 
 tion of her husband, her excellent sense, native 
 good taste and great intellectual powers soon 
 made her a woman of cultivated mind, while her 
 strong character made her a fit helpmate for a 
 pioneer clergyman. 
 
 Left a widow with a large family, under trying 
 circumstances, she reared her children in the high- 
 est principles, the accomplishments of a liberal 
 education and the training for laborious and useful 
 lives. Two of her sons were graduated at Dart- 
 mouth and one at Bowdoin College. All of her 
 descendants felt the profoundest reverence for her
 
 MINISTERS WIVES 2O3 
 
 strong and beautiful character. Willis, the histo- 
 rian, speaks of her as " the wise and genial woman." 
 Senator Fessenden, her grandson, looked up to 
 her with the warmest affection and respect. How 
 she performed her part toward her children in 
 what was a frontier village may be seen from a de- 
 scription of her oldest daughter in an oration 
 delivered concerning its history : 
 
 Reared in the wilderness, with few schools, and constantly 
 employed in domestic concerns, what could you expect and 
 what do you find ? A mind of great native strength, well 
 trained, and cultivated with history, theology, biography and 
 poetry ; familiar with Milton, Thomson, Young, Pope and 
 Shakespeare. To the question, How is this possible ? I 
 answer, that her mother, Madam Fessenden, had an herculean 
 mind, and left its impress on her offspring. To originality, 
 strength, and vigor of intellect in her was added a taste for 
 poetry and music, with a melodious voice of great compass. 
 In the family circle was the best training for children and 
 youth, the father, a warm-hearted, educated, gentlemanly man, 
 gifted with unusual skill in leading and teaching the inquiring 
 mind. At an early age, in addition to common studies, the 
 children became historians, biographers, geographers, and even 
 theologians, and mostly acquired in their leisure from their 
 domestic and agricultural employments, not from books only, 
 but from the oral communications of their parents. 
 
 In her old age she would teach her grandchil- 
 dren to recite poetry, and would have them dance 
 while she sang for them. On Sundays she in-
 
 204 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 structed them in the catechism. Her memory 
 was prodigious, and she could repeat all the 
 psalms and hymns used in public worship. Mil- 
 ton was one of her favorite poets. In personal 
 appearance she was tall and commanding, with a 
 courteous manner, which she retained even to old 
 age ; bright gray-blue eyes, a fair complexion, and 
 an uncommonly fine head. She was eminently 
 religious, an omnivorous reader, yet the Bible was 
 her companion, and daily she " entered into her 
 closet." 
 
 The affection which this remarkable woman 
 inspired is seen in an extract from a letter written 
 to her by her husband on hearing she had been ill : 
 
 My Dear Companion : — Thou whom next to heaven I 
 love. I received your kind letter yesterday, but how can I 
 express the concern I have on account of the ill state of your 
 health. Oh, my Sally, what is the matter with you ? All that 
 you say in your letter about your health is, that you are in a 
 poor state. Why, oh why, did you leave me on the rack ! Oh, 
 my Sally, you can't think what anxiety of mind I am in on 
 account of your health — that health which is so dear to me. 
 Did you but know how much I prize you, how much I love 
 you, you would not wonder at my uneasiness of mind when I 
 hear that you, the beloved of my soul, are unwell. To hear 
 that you were so well as that you were spinning, is no allevia- 
 tion of my uneasiness, because I fear you spin when you are 
 unable. Is my charmer in a poor state of health ? Oh, that 
 God in his infinite wisdom would appear to you, and remove
 
 MINISTERS WIVES 20$ 
 
 your illness, and restore you to health again ! My mind is so 
 perplexed I do not know what to do. One time I think I will 
 set off and come to you immediately. My dearest wife, I 
 charge you as you value my love to be careful of yourself. 
 Don't be so intent on work, for I had rather go out to day la- 
 bor and procure a maintenance for you, than to have you 
 worry yourself when you are unwell. Oh, be careful of your- 
 self, do everything that you think would be for your health. 
 Spare no cost for anything you want, if it is comfortable. Oh, 
 my Sally, my tenderest esteem and truest love 5^ou have, and 
 my prayer to God is that this letter may find you well, and 
 your love to me unaltered. I subscribe myself as I really am, 
 your affectionate, and constant, and loving husband, 
 
 William Fessenden. 
 
 The husband of this noble woman has been 
 described in publications concerning Fryeburg as 
 generous and hospitable to a fault. " He ever 
 kept open doors, and always bade a hearty wel- 
 come to all the hospitalities he was able to furnish, 
 not merely to acquaintances and friends, but to the 
 stranger and passing traveler, and all who sought 
 a temporary asylum under his roof." But it should 
 be remembered that if the husband welcomed the 
 stranger and the wanderer to his house, it fell to 
 the wife to provide them with food and a resting- 
 place. The care and the labor fell upon the 
 helpmate. 
 
 Their hospitality is proved by the following inci- 
 dent. The family had been living for some weeks
 
 206 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 on simple and meager fare. It was at last resolved 
 to have a feast by sacrificing all that was left of 
 their flock of fowls, a solitary rooster. Just as he 
 was prepared for the oven, a minister and his wife 
 appeared. The children were told that their 
 guests must be fed first of all. The boys and 
 girls watched the meal from the outside. The 
 rooster gradually disappeared before the good 
 appetites of their guests, until at last one of the 
 boys announced to the others, with a cry of disap- 
 pointment, " There goes the last drumstick." 
 
 The monument erected to her husband and her- 
 self bears the following inscription : 
 
 Sarah Clement Fessenden, 
 
 wife of the Rev*^ William Fessenden. Born at Haverhill, 
 Mass., April 6*^ 1752, O. S. Died at Portland, Maine, April 
 7^^, 1835. Endowed with an admirable understanding and 
 warm affections, early impressed by religious truth, and trained 
 in the practice of Christian virtue, she afforded through life 
 a bright example of all that is excellent in woman. A bless- 
 ing to her husband, her children and her children's children, 
 loving and beloved to the last, she left of herself only the 
 most refreshing memories. 
 
 Indulgent memory wakes, and lo, they live.
 
 MOTHERS OF LONGFELLOW
 
 XVI 
 MOTHERS OF LONGFELLOW 
 
 Elizabeth Bartlette Wardsworth. 
 ZiLPAH Wardsworth Longfellow. 
 Lucia Wardsworth. 
 
 She lives whom we call dead. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 ELIZABETH BARTLETTE was a Ply- 
 mouth girl with a line of ancestors center- 
 ing in the Mayflower. In her veins flowed the 
 blood of John Alden and Elder Brewster. 
 
 When Peleg Wardsworth, after graduating at 
 Harvard, taught school in Plymouth, only a short 
 distance from his home at Duxbury, it was but nat- 
 ural that he should marry Elizabeth Bartlette. 
 
 Mrs. Henrietta Rovve, in her recent New Eng- 
 land stories, has reviewed some of the experiences 
 of Elizabeth Bartlette Wardsworth. The Portland 
 Daughters of the Revolution have perpetuated her 
 memory in the Elizabeth Wardsworth Chapter. 
 14 209
 
 2IO MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 After the defeat of the Penobscot expedition in 
 1779, General Peleg Wardsworth was entrusted 
 with the command of the entire District of Maine. 
 He established his headquarters at Thomaston, 
 having a garrison of six hundred soldiers. Mrs. 
 Wardsworth must have joined her husband the 
 following summer, 1780. She brought with her 
 three children, the youngest a babe in arms, born 
 in Boston, September 21, 1779. 
 
 She was accompanied by her friend, Miss 
 Fenno, of Boston. They were brave women, fa- 
 miliar with the scenes of pioneer life. They had 
 experienced Lexington and Bunker Hill. Mrs. 
 Wardsworth had joined her husband, not to be 
 cared for, but to aid and comfort him in the trying 
 duties that devolved upon him. From her we 
 learn how greatly distressed General Wardsworth 
 was at being obliged to execute the penalty of the 
 law in the case of Baum, who was hanged at 
 Thomaston for aiding Tories to escape to Castine. 
 
 The term of service of his soldiers having ex- 
 pired. General Wardsworth was left with a garri- 
 son of only six men, intending to take his family 
 to Boston in a few days. This information having 
 reached the commander of the fort at Castine, he 
 sent a party of twenty-five men to capture him. 
 He was surprised, wounded, and taken prisoner in 
 the night, February 18, 1780.
 
 MOTHERS OF LONGFELLOW 211 
 
 Mrs. Wardsworth concealed her three children 
 so adroitly in the bed that, though bullets were 
 fired in every direction and the bed searched by 
 the soldiers, they were unharmed. Zilpah Wards- 
 worth, afterward Mrs. Longfellow, was one of the 
 babies in the bed when it was poked over by 
 British bayonets. She was three years old at the 
 time. Mrs. Pierce recalls hearing her mother tell 
 the story as she learned it from her mother, Eliza- 
 beth Wadsworth. 
 
 General Wardsworth bravely defended his home 
 until he was wounded in the arm ; he then surren- 
 dered and was hurried away in the darkness. Mrs. 
 Wardsworth sustained her husband through the 
 sad parting, though she was denied the privilege 
 of caring for his wounded arm. Neither of them 
 then knew the fate of the children, whether they 
 were alive even or not. It was two weeks before 
 General Wardsworth could learn of their safety. 
 Though she might never see him again, Elizabeth 
 Wardsworth could not linger to watch the dis- 
 appearance of her husband, as he was torn from 
 his devastated home. The groans of the dying 
 soldiers, the cry of the children, demanded imme- 
 diate service. The windows of the house had 
 been shattered, the doors burst from their hinges, 
 the floor covered with blood, and to her dismay 
 she discovered her home was on fire.
 
 212 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 With all her added cares Mrs. Wardsworth, 
 determined to visit her husband at Castine, where 
 he was imprisoned. After four months the com- 
 mander of the fort yielded to her importunity. 
 
 Accompanied by her friend, Miss Fenno, she 
 remained at Fort George, Castine, two weeks, and 
 there learned that her husband was not to be ex- 
 changed, as she had so fondly hoped, but to be 
 taken a prisoner to England. She was not allowed 
 to convey this intelligence to him, but bore the 
 bitter parting for his sake with true heroism. 
 
 It was the purport of her mission to Fort 
 George to ascertain the fate of her husband. We 
 may be very sure that it was through her efforts 
 that a vessel from Boston, with a flag of truce, was 
 sent soon after by the governor, asking for the 
 exchange of General Wardsworth, and offering a 
 large sum of money for his release. All their 
 efforts were unavailing. General Wardsworth and 
 Major Benjamin Burton, who were confined in the 
 same room, soon became aware of their fate. If 
 sent to London they felt sure death awaited them. 
 They effected their escape and after many perils 
 found their way to Thomaston, in June, 1780. 
 
 After the Revolution, General Wardsworth and 
 family made their home in Portland. He built the 
 first brick house in Portland, 1785 and 1786. In
 
 MOTHERS OF LONGFELLOW 21 3 
 
 this house, still standing on Congress Street, 
 centered much of the refinement and culture of 
 the social life of that period. 
 
 General Wardsworth subsequently purchased a 
 large tract of land in what is now the town of 
 Hiram. Here he built a fine house which is well 
 preserved to-day. He moved his family to Hiram 
 in 1807. 
 
 General and Mrs. Wardsworth identified them- 
 selves with all the religious, educational and phil- 
 anthropic movements for the advancement of the 
 social life of the community. They were much 
 loved and respected. 
 
 In the small cemetery on the home farm, Eliza- 
 beth Bartlette Wardsworth was laid to rest in 1825, 
 General Wardsworth survived his wife only four 
 years. Of their eleven children eight outlived the 
 parents. 
 
 Zilpah Wardsworth Longfellow was well moth- 
 ered, inheriting cheerfulness and fortitude. Born 
 in Duxbury, Massachusetts, January 6, 1778. She 
 was seven years old when the family came to 
 Portland. 
 
 We have but few glimpses of her girlhood. 
 When a young lady of twent3^-one years, she was 
 chosen by the women of Portland to present a 
 banner to the first uniformed company of Maine.
 
 214 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 The company was drawn up in front of her home 
 on Congress Street for the occasion. 
 
 From this home, Zilpah Wardsworth was mar- 
 ried to Stephen Longfellow in 1804, and to it, four 
 years later, she returned with her two children, her 
 father's family having moved to Hiram. 
 
 To her father's country seat, Zilpah Wardsworth 
 Longfellow often took her children. Her letters 
 written at this time show how truly she was in 
 sympathy with nature in all its aspects. She 
 would sit by a window during a thunder storm and 
 enjoy the excitement of its splendor. 
 
 She was a constant reader of the Bible, and was 
 especially fond of the Psalms. She commended 
 religion by her daily walk and conversation. Fa- 
 miliar with military scenes in her childhood, she 
 had no liking for war, and ever advocated peace. 
 
 Samuel Longfellow speaks of his mother as 
 beautiful in her youth and retaining her beauty 
 through years of invalidism, " fond of music and 
 poetry ; a kind friend and neighbor ; a devoted 
 mother to her children whose confidant she was ; 
 the sharer of their little secrets and their joys ; the 
 ready comforter of their troubles, and the patient 
 corrector of their faults." 
 
 Her sister, Lucia Wardsworth, lived with her 
 and was like a second mother to her children.
 
 MOTHERS OF LONGFELLOW 215 
 
 She is remembered by the elderly people of Port- 
 land to-day for her quiet, unostentatious manner. 
 
 Mrs. Annie Longfellow Pierce, daughter of 
 Zilpah Longfellow and youngest sister of the poet, 
 the only one of the family still living in the old 
 homestead, very kindly told the writer of her 
 sweet and gentle mother. Mrs. Pierce loved to 
 recall her devotion to her children. 
 
 She said it was her mother's habit to go out to 
 meet her children on their return from school, that 
 she might know the character of the children with 
 whom they associated. She looked well to their 
 studies, educating them not only in classic English, 
 but in French, being herself a fine French scholar. 
 
 In one of her letters to her brother, Mrs. Long- 
 fellow, speaking of her little Henry, then eight 
 months old, said: "Just like all children you will 
 say. No doubt of it, but it is the same to parents 
 as if their child was the first in the world." 
 
 " First in the world " seems almost prophetic 
 when we contemplate this same Henry, the first 
 poet of America, given a place in the Poets' 
 Corner of Westminister Abbey, loved alike in 
 Maine, America, England and the world.
 
 TEMPERANCE REFORM
 
 XVII 
 TEMPERANCE REFORM 
 
 Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Gal. 6 : 7. 
 Totich not ; taste not ; handle not. CoL. 2: 21. 
 
 THE heroism of the Maine women impresses 
 itself upon us when we realize to what an 
 extent intemperance prevailed among the early 
 pioneers. There were dark shadows over their 
 homes. Mr. Elwell, in his History of Maine, tells 
 us: 
 
 The evil was confined to no class of society. The high as 
 well as the low, the rich as well as the poor, fell victims to the 
 insidious habit, and the brightest and most promising young 
 men of the community were destroyed body and soul by it. 
 
 The launching of a vessel was usually a gala- 
 day, and an ample supply of intoxicants was pro- 
 vided. The bottle was thought to be indispens- 
 able at all gatherings for cooperative work, as at 
 raisings, huskings, log-rollings and rafting timber. 
 
 219
 
 220 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 In a bill of expenses incurred at an ordination in 
 the vicinity of Kittery, there are charged eight 
 quarts of rum and two of brandy for the clergy. 
 
 The picture seems almost too dark when we 
 learn that even funerals were made the occasion 
 for circulating the intoxicating cup. 
 
 The Maine mothers brought their innate tem- 
 perance principles to their forest homes. Women 
 very early in the history of the state banished the 
 decanter from the sideboards ; refused, from prin- 
 ciple, to offer wine to their guests, and substituted 
 coffee and other nourishing drinks for intoxicants 
 at raisings, huskings, and other gatherings. 
 
 There are many indications of a temperance 
 renaissance beginning soon after Maine became 
 a state. This was principally instituted and car- 
 ried on by the women, though their influence was 
 not then acknowledged. 
 
 The mothers of Maine anticipated the great 
 Washingtonian movement of 1840. 
 
 The first temperance society organized in Indus- 
 try was composed entirely of lady members from 
 Industry and adjoining towns. Though the exact 
 date of its formation is not known, it is probable 
 that this society existed prior to 1829. 
 
 The following extract from the constitution of 
 this society is an interesting study :
 
 TEMPERANCE REFORM 221 
 
 We will discountenance all addresses from any of the male 
 sex, with a view to matrimony, if they shall be known to drink 
 spirits, either periodically or on any public occasion. 
 
 We, as mothers, daughters and sisters, will use our influence 
 to prevent the marriage of our friends with a man who shall 
 habitually drink any of the ardent spirit. 
 
 Ladies' Aid and other temperance societies were 
 established by the women in various parts of the 
 state. There was organized in Winthrop a Mar- 
 tha Washington Society and a Division of the 
 Daughters of Temperance, which rendered valua- 
 ble aid in the cause of temperance. 
 
 The Hon. Neal Dow assured the writer that 
 he inherited his temperance principles from his 
 mother. Dorcas Allen Dow was a temperance 
 woman. 
 
 The Dows were Quakers, and every month at 
 the public meeting they were interrogated with : 
 "Are Friends careful to abstain from intoxicating 
 drinks except for a medicine ? " 
 
 When young people, Neal Dow and his two sis- 
 ters, Emma and Harriet, were to give a party to 
 return the courtesy of their many young friends. 
 The youngest sister proposed that they have no wine. 
 The brother and older sister were very much per- 
 plexed over it, fearing it might do more harm than 
 good, and were afraid their friends would think it 
 shabby. The youngest sister settled it by saying :
 
 222 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 " No matter what others may think, let us do what 
 we think is right, and not be troubled about what 
 people will say." 
 
 Their example was followed in many of the 
 homes of Portland, and the young people never 
 had occasion to regret this initiatory step in tem- 
 perance reform. To their knowledge their course 
 was never criticized. The custom was never de- 
 parted from in the household. 
 
 Mrs. Cornelia Durant Dow was a woman of rare 
 executive ability. She was an efficient manager, 
 and for many years treasurer of the Old Ladies' 
 Home of Portland. She identified herself with 
 the philanthropic and temperance work of her hus- 
 band, giving to him her fullest sympathy. 
 
 The women of Allen's Mills organized a Ladies' 
 Temperance Band. It was a large society. Mrs. 
 Elbridge Gerry was chaplain. They made a spe- 
 cialty of administering to the sick and needy. 
 They worked in every line of the philanthropies of 
 that day. Mrs. Susan Norton and Elizabeth 
 Allen were active workers. 
 
 Many women were members of a temperance 
 society organized in Wilton in the twenties, of 
 whom Mary M. Allen is the only member living. 
 Though now in her eighty-third year she recalls
 
 TEMPERANCE REFORM 223 
 
 that the women were asked to place their names 
 upon the pledge ; but it was not thought proper 
 for them to have any part officially. They were to 
 be lay members. Betsey Robbins was a member 
 of this society. 
 
 Sarah Sutherland and William Johnston were 
 married at their home in Miramachi, New Bruns- 
 wick, and came to the States on the Sandy River. 
 Here six children were born to them. They sub- 
 sequently lived in Woodstock, New Brunswick, 
 but settled in the Aroostook, at Fort Fairfield. 
 
 Mrs. Johnston knew all the hardships and dep- 
 rivations of a pioneer life. Their house became 
 the travelers' home, and none were refused en- 
 trance. She was often called upon to administer 
 to the sick and suffering. Her services were 
 never withheld, even from the most repulsive case. 
 The drunken debauchee was cared for with all a 
 mother's tenderness. She taught temperance by 
 her deeds of love and mercy as well as by precept. 
 
 She was mother of ten children. Her daughter, 
 Mrs. Agnes C. Paul, inherits much of her mother's 
 fortitude. She is known throughout the state as a 
 temperance worker and philanthropist. 
 
 Mrs. Susan Merrill of Buxton was an earnest 
 advocate of temperance. She often spoke at the
 
 224 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 schoolhouse. She was fearless in her denuncia- 
 tion of the evil of intemperance, and moved her 
 audience by her eloquent appeals. In religion she 
 was a Baptist. 
 
 During one of her addresses some boys annoyed 
 her by laughing. She afterward learned that they 
 understood her to say alcohorn for alcohol. When 
 an opportunity presented itself, she assured the 
 boys it was not an unsuitable name, for it had 
 hooked many a man into the gutter. 
 
 One of the most effective agencies of the 
 Washingtonian movement in Maine was the 
 Martha Washington Cooperative Society. The 
 Marthas were auxiliaries to the Washingtonian 
 Society. They were very general throughout the 
 state. The Martha Washington Society at Har- 
 rington was formed in 1842 and has continued to 
 the present time. It celebrated its fiftieth anniver- 
 sary in 1892. The meetings were held at first 
 monthly, afterward fortnightly. It was a sewing 
 and knitting circle, and has been through all the 
 phases of a village improvement society. They 
 built the sidewalks, purchased a hearse, and in 
 many ways made themselves helpful in the com- 
 munity, besides establishing and sustaining a cir- 
 culating library. The society very soon partook
 
 TEMPERANCE REFORM 22$ 
 
 of a literary nature. Readers were appointed at 
 each meeting for the next. Addresses were given 
 at stated times. 
 
 The following extracts are taken from the con- 
 stitution of this society. 
 
 It shall be the duty of every member of this Society to pre- 
 sent to the world an example of practical temperance and to 
 labor for the good and promotion of Washingtonian temper- 
 ance by principle. 
 
 Nothing of a party or sectarian nature shall be introduced 
 into the deliberations of this Society. 
 
 The meetings shall be opened by reading a portion of the 
 Bible and closed by singing. 
 
 A part of the address of the first president, 
 Ruby Strout Coffin, given at the home of Mrs. 
 Sophia Wilson, March i, 1843, is appended below: 
 
 Let us picture to ourselves the situation of the inebriate's 
 wife. Perhaps no being in the universe excites more pity than 
 she. Doubtless she left her youthful home with high hopes 
 and anticipations as bright as those who have escaped the 
 vortex of intemperance. She entrusted her future happiness, 
 her all, to one who promised to protect her through all the 
 vicissitudes of life ; but, alas, intemperance came in an unex- 
 pected hour and marked him for its prey. Imagine for a 
 moment the feelings of that disconsolate wife, where now can 
 she look for happiness and consolation. Her paternal roof no 
 longer shelters her. 
 
 In the presence of this degraded lump of humanity, by 
 intemperance made lower than the brute, with no kind voice to 
 
 15
 
 226 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 salute her ear, or friend to sympathize with her, I ask can there 
 be a more unhappy being in the universe ? Those who have 
 escaped this dreadful evil have reason for gratitude. We who 
 have sons coming on the stage of action cannot train them too 
 closely in the paths of temperance. Many a mother has looked 
 upon her son with fond hopes that he would be the support of 
 her declining years, but before she was aware, intemperance, 
 the foe to human happiness, had been undermining her future 
 prospects, and marked this intelligent youth for his own, leav- 
 ing the devoted mother to mourn over the vices of a degraded 
 son. Who can portray the anguish of her widowed heart ? 
 
 Another grand object of this society is to benefit ourselves 
 and children in after years. Perhaps there is no greater source 
 from which we can derive benefit than a library. Who among 
 us does not wish to stow her mind with useful knowledge ? 
 Information is valuable. Who does not admire a fine conversa- 
 tionalist ? Should we succeed in our efforts to procure a library 
 our children and a generation yet unborn will reap the reward 
 of our doings. 
 
 There is something satisfactory in the thought, that when we 
 are slumbering in the dust the succeeding generation will share 
 the benefit and profit by the zeal manifested by this benevolent 
 society. 
 
 In later years the women have been identified 
 with all temperance movement. 
 
 The most aggressive work has been carried on 
 through the Women's Christian Temperance 
 Union, which very early in its history found able 
 advocates in Maine. 
 
 The national society had hardly completed its
 
 TEMPERANCE REFORM 22/ 
 
 organization before the Maine women fell into line. 
 The first state president was Mrs. Ruth S. Allen. 
 She was succeded by Mrs. Susan M. Sargeant. 
 
 Mrs. L. M. N. Stevens, who had served as treas- 
 urer, was made the third president. She has con- 
 tinued with increasing popularity to the present 
 time. 
 
 Mrs. Stevens was born in Dover. Her family 
 name was Ames. She was educated at the Fox- 
 croft Academy and Westbrook Seminary ; was a 
 teacher for several years ; married Michael Tit- 
 comb Stevens in 1865. They made their home at 
 the old homestead in Stroudwater. Here their 
 only child, Gertrude, was born, and received the 
 most careful training of a devoted mother. 
 
 Mrs. Stevens is a systematic housekeeper, enter- 
 ing into all the details of her household. She 
 entertains with a generous hospitality. She has 
 taken to her home and heart many homeless 
 children. She is identified with the state philan- 
 thropies, and has filled many positions of trust in 
 the state and nation. She is an untiring: worker, 
 a keen observer, an independent thinker, a devoted 
 wife and mother. She is loved best by those who 
 know her best.
 
 ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT
 
 XVIII 
 ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT 
 
 Mere surface shadow and sunshine ! 
 
 While the sounding unifies all. 
 One loi'e, one hope, one duly theirs. 
 
 No matter the time or ken. 
 There never was separate heart-beat in all the races of men. 
 
 John Boyle O'Reilly. 
 
 With malice towards none, 7vith charity for all, with firmness in the right, 
 
 as God gives us to see the right. 
 
 Akraham Lincoln. 
 
 ESTHER WELD was born in Livermore. As 
 a girl she evinced great interest in the ques- 
 tion of slavery. She married E. P. Gibbs of Peru 
 and found in the husband of her choice a warm 
 sympathizer with her antislavery principles. 
 
 In 1853 a Ladies' Antislavery Society was 
 formed at Peru, of which Mrs. Gibbs was made 
 president. During the following two years, other 
 societies were formed in Androscoggin, Cumber- 
 land, Franklin, Kennebec, Oxford, Somerset and 
 
 231
 
 232 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 York counties, Mrs. Gibbs giving herself freely to 
 the work wherever called. She addressed meet- 
 ings at Sanford and Readfield. Conventions were 
 held at New Portland, Milton and Peru, at all of 
 which she presided and delivered addresses. 
 
 July 3, 1854, delegates from these societies met 
 upon the camp-ground at East Livermore and 
 organized a state Antislavery Society, of which 
 Esther Gibbs was made president. On the fol- 
 lowing day, July 4, through the instrumentality of 
 Mrs. Gibbs, was held one of the most notable 
 gatherings ever convened in the groves of Maine. 
 It was the first political meeting in the state at 
 which a woman presided and was its acknowl- 
 edged leader. 
 
 Mrs. Gibbs introduced Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
 Stowe, who at that time was claimed as a Maine 
 wom^an, having resided at Brunswick long enough 
 to gain citizenship. There were present also the 
 Rev. D. B. Randall, Prof. Calvin Stowe, Austin 
 Willey, Dr. Pearson Peck, United States Senator 
 John P. Hale of New Hampshire, a colored orator 
 named Gloster, and other leading abolitionists of 
 that day. Many are now living who recall the 
 enthusiasm of the occasion and the grace and 
 dignity of the presiding officer. 
 
 February 22, 1855, the Ladies' Antislavery So-
 
 ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT 233 
 
 ciety held a great convention in Winthrop Hall, 
 Augusta, which was crowded to suffocation. Mrs. 
 Gibbs was in the chair, and introduced as speaker, 
 Miss Watkins, a colored woman, now famous as 
 Mrs. Francis Watkins Harper, the national super- 
 intendent of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
 Union work among colored people. The notable 
 antislavery men and women of the state were 
 present. The following day Mrs. Gibbs, in behalf 
 of the Ladies' Antislavery Society, presented the 
 governor of the state, the Hon. Anson P. Morrill, 
 a very large and rich cake. 
 
 The Ladies' Antislavery Society existed in more 
 or less activity till 1856, when its special work was 
 adopted by the leading political party of the state. 
 
 It must have been the spirit of freedom which 
 has always actuated the Maine people, that in- 
 spired Mrs. Stowe to write that " Evangel of 
 Freedom," Uncle Tom's Cabin, of which Macaulay 
 said : " It is the most important book of Ameri- 
 can literature." Mrs. Stowe said of the book : 
 
 I could not control this story, it wrote itself. The Lord 
 himself wrote it. I was but the humble instrument in his 
 hands. 
 
 The inspiration for the great work came to Mrs. 
 Stowe while seated at the communion service in 
 the college chapel at Brunswick.
 
 234 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Elizabeth Gordon Pattee, born at Georgetown, 
 Arrowsic Island, February 8, 1772, was a woman 
 of unusual intelligence and force of character. 
 She came of a long line of illustrious ancestors. 
 The family moved to Vassalboro, when there were 
 neither schools nor churches there. Careful in- 
 struction at home in all the common branches of 
 study, supplemented by industrial training, fitted 
 Elizabeth for the great work of her life. At Unity, 
 in the midst of the woods, she says, " I taught 
 school six months, enjoying the work, and finding 
 much leisure for reading." Her mind at this time 
 was awakened religiously, and Elizabeth Pattee 
 became an ardent disciple of the Great Teacher 
 and grew in knowledge and grace to the end of 
 her life. 
 
 September 31, 1801, she married Rev. Daniel 
 Lovejoy. They made their home in Albion on 
 the old homestead, bordering Lovejoy's Pond. 
 The farm was centrally located for the good 
 minister's work. He was settled over three par- 
 ishes, preaching in turn from Sunda}'^ to Sunday. 
 
 On Mrs. Lovejoy, devolved the care of the home 
 and the farm. She was a constant inspiration to 
 her husband, unfolding to him the hidden truths 
 of the Bible as she read and pondered them in his 
 absence. She knew the sacred book by heart, and
 
 ANTISLAVEKY MOVEMENT" 235 
 
 brought up her five sons and two daughters in 
 compHance with its teachings. Four of her sons 
 became clergymen and three famous aboHtionists 
 when to suggest a belief that slavery was wrong 
 was heresy. 
 
 Elijah Parish Lovejoy gave his life for the prin- 
 ciples of freedom taught him by his mother. 
 
 In her advanced life, Mrs. Lovejoy made her 
 home in Princeton, Illinois, with her son Owen 
 Lovejoy, who served his country as an antislavery 
 leader in Congress during the stormy debates 
 before the civil war. In his mother, he always 
 found a wise counselor and deferred to her 
 judgment. 
 
 The impression she made upon the grandchild- 
 ren fortunate enough to remember her was 
 wonderful, showing that she retained her remark- 
 able personality to the last. It was not the 
 slightest use for her gay young brood to hide their 
 catechisms, for if she could find no book, suspect- 
 ing the state of affairs, she would say mildly: 
 " Never mind, children, I think I remember all the 
 questions." Mrs. Lovejoy was slow to chide, tender 
 hearted, full of thoughtful charity for all. Her 
 granddaughter, Caro Lovejoy Andrews, unites 
 with her many friends in bestowing upon her 
 to-day the beautiful commendation of Scripture : — 
 " Her price is far above rubies."
 
 236 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 The Friends have always been advocates of 
 reform. Men and women equally protested 
 against slavery. Among those of Portland who 
 were identified with the antislavery movement 
 were several young women whose names should be 
 written in the annals of history : Emma and 
 Harriet Dow, Miriam and Ruth Hussey, Maria 
 and Phebe Cobb. 
 
 A mother of Maine who "builded well" in the 
 superstructure of state was Mrs. Elizabeth Wid- 
 gery Thomas, born in New Gloucester, 1779, she 
 possessed great personal beauty, a keen wit and a 
 logical mind capable of comprehending the affairs 
 of home and of state. She became the wife of 
 Elias Thomas of Portland, September 26, 1802. 
 Dr. Deane in his diary speaks of her as " the 
 excellent mother of a large family of children." 
 
 Mrs. Thomas interested herself in private and 
 public charities. Her home, her church, and her 
 state received her first care but she was broad 
 enough to take in with heartfelt sympathy all 
 humanity. A colaborer with Garrison, Pillsbury, 
 Phillips and all connected with the great anti- 
 slavery conflict, her home became an important 
 station of the underground railroad system. Many 
 a fugitive slave did she shelter and assist on the
 
 ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT 237 
 
 way to Canada. From her door in the darkness of 
 the night, with money and food, they went forth 
 to freedom. 
 
 In religion Mrs. Thomas was a Unitarian. Her 
 creed was a living one, which expressed itself in 
 food for the hungry and clothes for the naked, 
 with a helping hand to all. 
 
 She was a fearless woman. In the stormy anti- 
 slavery discussions she was known to take her 
 place beside the speakers, protecting them from 
 violence by her presence, which even the mob 
 respected. 
 
 Mrs. Thomas had no sympathy with the 
 maudlin sentimentality that good mothers ought 
 not to attend to any work outside of their homes. 
 She found time to rear her large family, help the 
 world and cultivate her mind. It was her habit 
 to inform herself in current events and practical 
 economics. She argued that women should keep 
 themselves in touch with literary and business 
 affairs. She abhorred laziness. Her children and 
 grandchildren were all taught to repeat : 
 
 Lose this day loitering, 
 
 'Twill be the same story : 
 To-morrow, and the next day 
 
 Only more dilatory. 
 This indecision brings its own delays. 
 And days are lost lamenting over days.
 
 238 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Are you in earnest ? Seize this very minute ; 
 What you can do, or dream you can, begin it. 
 Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. 
 Only engage and then the mind grows heated. 
 Begin, and then the work will be completed. 
 
 Elizabeth Widgery Thomas inherited humor, 
 tact and daring from her father, William Widgery. 
 He was a judge of the Common Pleas and was 
 elected to Congress in 181 1. For his independent 
 position in the war of 181 2, he was mobbed at 
 Newburyport. When a demand was made for his 
 life, he came forward and said : " Gentlemen ! 
 Fire ! Here is old Widgery 's head ! Take it ! " 
 They were so struck with awe at his courage that 
 they did not fire, but dispersed without violence. 
 
 The descendants of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have 
 filled places of responsibility in the legal and medi- 
 cal profession ; won distinction in mercantile pur- 
 suits, and have qften been called to places of 
 honor in the political affairs of their native city. 
 All are highly musical. Their daughter, Elizabeth 
 Thomas Varnum, the mother of twelve children, 
 still resides in Portland, where through her long 
 life, she has been doing good in quiet ways. 
 
 Of Mrs. Varnum it can be said her life has been 
 one continuous song. Though an octogenarian, 
 she still finds pleasure in her piano recitals. It is
 
 ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT 239 
 
 her habit to entertain her friends and amuse her- 
 self daily with the sweet " concord of sound " that 
 only those who are " born to music " can render. 
 
 Miss Charlotte J. Thomas exemplifies her 
 mother's teachings in her fearlessness for the 
 right. She is fond of the opera and the drama. 
 Her home is a resort for all music-loving people. 
 Her hospitality is unaffected and cordial. As a 
 girl she was in full sympathy with the antislavery 
 principles of her mother, and to-day advocates 
 equal rights regardless of color or sex. 
 
 Miss Thomas is an optimist. In Women's 
 Clubs she sees the evolution of women from petty 
 narrowness into broader and higher thought. It 
 would seem that she herself has discovered the 
 fountain of perennial youth, 
 
 Mrs. Lydia Neal Dennett was born at Eliot in 
 1798. She was educated in a Quaker home; mar- 
 ried Oliver Dennett and afterward lived in Port- 
 land. Mr. and Mrs. Dennett were amono: the 
 pioneers of the antislavery movement in Portland. 
 
 They were personal friends of Garrison, Parker, 
 Phillips, Douglass, the Pillsburys, and many other 
 abolitionists to whom their home was always open. 
 
 On the occasion of a lecture by the antislavery 
 apostle, as he was termed, Stephen S. Foster, when
 
 240 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 excitement ran high and mob violence forced him 
 through the window of the church in which he 
 attempted to speak, Mrs. Dennett walked on one 
 side of him and Mrs. Elias Thomas on the other, 
 and succeeded in escorting him to a place of 
 safety, though his coat was badly torn from him. 
 He was taken to the Chase House next door to 
 the First Parish church. So violent had been the 
 assault upon him he was prostrated, but afterward 
 taken to the home of Mrs. Dennett, where he was 
 carefully nursed by his wife, Abbey Kelley Foster. 
 
 Ellen Crafts, the mulatto woman, who with her 
 colored husband was rescued from slavery, was 
 sent from Boston to Mrs. Dennett. Mrs. Crafts 
 found her way from the South, having her right 
 hand bandaged so that she might not be obliged to 
 register at the hotels. She passed off her husband 
 as her servant. Mrs. Dennett secured their pas- 
 sage on the first steamer that ever sailed from 
 Portland to England. Mrs. Crafts became the 
 protege of some of the nobility of England, was 
 finely educated and after the war returned to her 
 native land. 
 
 Mrs. Dennett's home was on Spring Street not 
 far from Park. It was a well-known station in the 
 underground railway system that became so effec- 
 tive in assisting slaves to freedom. They were
 
 ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT 24I 
 
 sure of rest and protection here. If search was 
 instituted for them they were kept concealed until 
 the excitement was over, and on some dark and 
 stormy night started on their way with ample pro- 
 vision for their journey. A closed carriage with a 
 fine pair of horses was kept by the antislavery 
 society for this purpose. 
 
 Mrs. Dennett was left a widow in 1852. She 
 continued her interest in philanthropy and all 
 forms of advance for women. She died in 1881. 
 
 In appearance Mrs. Dennett was a stately 
 woman. She was remarkable as a conversation- 
 alist ; expressed herself clearly; argued eloquently; 
 was the equal of men and women of mark. She 
 was a fine story-teller, and possessed an un- 
 conscious power of personation that made her a 
 rare entertainer. Whittier was among her per- 
 sonal friends. 
 
 16
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL
 
 XIX 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 
 
 To see her is to love her. 
 
 Burns. 
 
 T^HE Maine women were deeply versed in the 
 1 ^ Bible. They taught it to their children and 
 gave it to their sons on leaving home, as the Spar- 
 tan mother gave the shield — " With it my son." 
 John S. C. Abbott relates that it was the presenta- 
 tion of a Bible by his mother as he was leaving 
 home, that led him to become a student of the 
 sacred volume. 
 
 Mrs. Nancy Nichols was a conspicuous figure in 
 the early history of Monmouth. She came from 
 New Hampshire, accompanying her husband all 
 the way on horseback, as so many of the pioneer 
 women delighted to do. She adopted the relig- 
 ious views of Jesse Lee, who visited Maine as a 
 
 245
 
 246 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 missionary in 1793. She joined the first Metho- 
 dist class formed in Monmouth, and for twenty 
 years was its leader, walking circumspectly before 
 her little flock, who learned from her example that 
 Christianity is essentially life — the living life of 
 consecrated men and women. She was the 
 mother of thirteen children, and lived to oe ninety- 
 three years old. Among her many descendants 
 are John Palmer and M. G. Palmer, well-known 
 business men of Portland. Her daughter. Miss 
 Irene Nichols, was the heroine of the romance, 
 " The Kennebec Factory Girl in the Hall of the 
 Montezumas." 
 
 Early in the century some German capitalists 
 came to Mexico, to engage in the business of rais- 
 ing cotton and manufacturing it into cloth. They 
 brought their machinery with them, but sought 
 among the intelligent operatives of New England 
 factories for teachers to instruct the native peons. 
 Irene Nichols went to Mexico in the service of this 
 company. She is described as a girl of fine phy- 
 sique, superior intelligence, fearless and level- 
 headed. Among the company was a young Ger- 
 man bookkeeper, very proud of his ancient family 
 name, Houschild. He soon became interested in 
 this Maine girl, as she unhesitatingly and in a true 
 womanly manner performed her duties at the mill.
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 247 
 
 In the darkest night and the bright daylight, 
 
 In earth and sea and sky, 
 In every home of human thought 
 
 Will love be lurking nigh, 
 
 Willis. 
 
 Young Houschild was finally accepted as the 
 lover of Irene Nichols, but to their great disap- 
 pointment they learned that the marriage cere- 
 mony could not be solemnized in the land unless 
 the parties embraced the Catholic religion. In 
 this dilemma Irene Nichols announced her pur- 
 pose to visit her home in Monmouth, having been 
 absent several years. 
 
 Her affianced husband, with a mounted guard, 
 escorted her a distance of seven hundred miles to 
 Vera Cruz, placing her on board a vessel, gener- 
 ously feeing the officer to whose care he consigned 
 her. 
 
 Few young ladies to-day would, perhaps, have 
 undertaken a journey under such circumstances. 
 But Irene Nichols had plans that she did not un- 
 fold. How honorably to marry the man of her 
 choice was the one problem over which she 
 brooded. That was not the day of telegraphs or 
 telephones, but she had plans of a marriage by 
 proxy, and left no stone unturned to effect it. 
 After visiting her friends at home she went to
 
 248 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Philadelphia. Having thoroughly studied the 
 question, and having had all the necessary papers 
 made out for the marriage, accompanied by a 
 friend who stood as a representative of her in- 
 tended husband, she went to the altar and regis- 
 tered her marriage vows. She then took her 
 bridal trip alone to Vera Cruz, where she was met 
 by her husband, and escorted in triumph to her 
 home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Houschild spent many happy 
 years in Mexico. Three beautiful daughters came 
 to gladden their home. The family subsequently 
 moved to New Jersey, where Mrs. Houschild, an 
 octogenarian, still resides. 
 
 Mrs. Nancy Woodward Caldwell is remembered 
 to-day for her consistent Christian character. Her 
 grandchildren have published to her memory a 
 tribute of love in the little volume entitled, " Walk- 
 ing with God." Her parents were pioneers of the 
 Maine wilderness. She married William Caldwell 
 at the age of nineteen, and for sixty-three years 
 they lived their peaceful lives in the town of 
 Oxford. 
 
 Her struggle with herself in erecting her family 
 altar; the happy cooperation of her husband ; the 
 lighting of the sacred fire that never went out in
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 249 
 
 their home, is all simply told by herself in her 
 diary kept through many years. 
 
 After the death of her husband Mrs. Caldwell 
 made her home with Doctor and Mrs. Clark of 
 Portland, where she lingered only a few years. 
 During her last sickness, when asked by Doctor 
 Clark if her sufferings were mental, she replied, 
 " Oh, no! not a doubt or a fear. I have not served 
 God seventy years to have Him forsake me at the 
 last." 
 
 Anna Leland Adams of Bangor was one of the 
 " Mothers in Israel " who greatly aided in building 
 up the Congregational church. Hers was a quiet, 
 pure life, best known within the limits of her 
 home, but whose Christian example was a blessing 
 to the community in which she lived. She had a 
 sweet voice, and was much loved by the circle of 
 friends who gathered about her as she led them in 
 song. 
 
 Mrs. Thomas Bartlette was one of the leaders in 
 the early church history of Bangor. She had set 
 apart for the social prayer-meeting one of the 
 rooms of her house, which stood where the First 
 National Bank now stands on Exchange Street. 
 When the red-coated officers searched her house
 
 250 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 for concealed arms, she had fastened the door of 
 this room as a place too sacred for the ravages of 
 the plundering soldiers. But as she obeyed the 
 command to open it she said : " You will find here 
 an old Bible, a few hymn books, and the sword of 
 the Spirit." 
 
 Mrs. Coombs of Bangor is held in loving re- 
 membrance for her many Christian virtues. She 
 felt a personal responsibility for the Christian de- 
 velopment of the young women of the community. 
 With the aid of her sister, known as Aunt Sarah 
 Harrod, she was wont to gather the girls into a 
 mission school. She cut and prepared the gar- 
 ments and led them through the intricacies of 
 over-and-over, back stitching, felling and gathering. 
 She instructed them to take great care in putting 
 the needle in, but to pull it out quickly. Her 
 pupils recall that she taught them to save four 
 stitches in putting in a gusset. 'T is said of these 
 two sisters : " They grew handsome as they grew 
 old." 
 
 Dorcas Lord, mother of General Hodsden, was 
 an eminently pious woman, and her long life was 
 full of good deeds.
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 25 I 
 
 The grateful children of Mrs. Eliza Otis 
 Howard Gilmore have compiled to her memory a 
 pamphlet, " Our Mother." The Rev. Roland B. 
 Howard and General Oliver O. Howard are 
 among her honored sons. Of how many mothers, 
 as of her, can it be said : 
 
 As to the sacred and persistent heroism of her life, her sons 
 and daughters, whom she reared and trained and imbued with 
 her own spirit, are her witnesses. 
 
 In the bitterly cold month of January, 1804, ^ 
 pioneer family consisting of father, mother and 
 seventeen children, took the wearisome journey 
 from Raymond, New Hampshire, to Cornville, 
 Maine. Their principal means of transportation 
 were sleds drawn by oxen, and hand-sleds, which 
 could be used to much better advantage at this 
 season of the year. We have no record of the 
 long weary days and nights this shelterless, fearless 
 family toiled on, neither can we imagine how it 
 was possible for Ruth and Samuel Fogg to care 
 for the family during the journey. Sixteen of 
 these children lived to be heads of families, the 
 eight sons attaining to an average age of sixty-six 
 and one-half years, the eight daughters to seventy 
 and one-half years. 
 
 The baby of the household, Nancy Fogg, was
 
 252 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 four years old when the family settled in Cornville. 
 In 1828 she married Benjamin McDaniels who 
 died in 1878. Left a widow and bereaved of a 
 much-loved son, at the age of eighty, Nancy 
 McDaniels kissed the rod and, like Deborah, 
 sung praise to the Lord the God of Israel. She 
 was truly a " mother in Israel," loved in the 
 community by those who knew her best for her 
 Christian faith exemplified in noble deeds. 
 
 Her daughter, Mrs. John E. Palmer of Portland, 
 is well known as state regent of the Daughters 
 of the Revolution. 
 
 At Maplewood farm in Strong, one may hear 
 to-day the simple story of the life of Eleanor 
 Fossett, who married David Hunter, in Bristol, in 
 1796, and accompanied him through the wilder- 
 ness to their future home. Here for more than 
 three-quarters of a century they together wrought 
 out the great problem of living. 
 
 Mrs. Hunter when young was very handsome 
 and had been well educated. It was the writer's 
 privilege to visit the aged couple when both were 
 nearing the century line. Mrs. Hunter's voice 
 was still musical and her eye had lost none of its 
 brightness. There was a merry twinkle in it as 
 she assured her guests in an undertone that her
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 253 
 
 husband was getting a little forgetful, for he had 
 hinted, that his wife was older than he. He 
 died at ninety-eight years of age. She outlived 
 him a few years, attaining to nearly the same age. 
 She was the mother of eight children, and beside 
 these she received to her home two girls and two 
 boys to whom she was as mother. On her wed- 
 ding-day her father presented her with a horse and 
 saddle, on which she rode to Strong. This town- 
 ship had been previously settled by William Reed. 
 There were living within its limits about a dozen 
 families when the three brothers, John, James and 
 David Hunter made their homes there. 
 
 When David Hunter first came to Strong the 
 prospect before him was rather discouraging. He 
 sighed : 
 
 Oh ! for the breath of the salt sea air 
 And a glimpse of the ocean blue. 
 
 It is said he would have returned to his friends 
 on the coast, had it not been for the perseverance 
 and courage of his wife. 
 
 This seems remarkable when we recall that she 
 had left a luxurious home, and that her sisters had 
 all married sea captains, whom they accompanied 
 on foreign voyages, and that their homes were in 
 striking contrast with her humble cabin. But 
 Eleanor Fossett Hunter had within herself what
 
 254 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 was of far more worth than wealth and all its atten- 
 dant advantages ; she had health, a brave heart and 
 a love for independence. 
 
 Mrs. Hunter's horse was made to do good ser- 
 vice. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter often rode many 
 miles to attend religious service. It was their 
 custom to make an annual visit, on horseback, 
 to Bristol. From these visits Mrs. Hunter usu- 
 ally returned laden with rich stores, which her 
 sisters had brought from foreign lands. 
 
 Mrs. Hunter was very fond of company. She 
 often made parties, her guests coming from far 
 and near. She was a provident hostess and her 
 table, decorated with rare old blue china, imported 
 by her friends, was made very attractive with its 
 roast pig, roast goose and "fixings." Her 
 daughter Sally McCleary, now past eighty years, 
 says, " my mother knew how to make her girls 
 work." Her niece speaks of her as "a smart, 
 proud-spirited old lady." She was familiarly 
 known as Aunt Nelly. 
 
 Travelers found a resting-place at the Hunter 
 home, and ministers were always welcomed to their 
 open door. The Congregational church of Strong 
 was organized at their home, and was an object of 
 their love and care. It can be truly said of this 
 venerable couple that they did justly, loved mercy
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 255 
 
 and walked humbly before their God. Their 
 many descendants are known for their lives of vir- 
 tue and temperance. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hunter were very friendly with 
 the Indians. The state had reserved a lot in the 
 town for Pierpole. He was often visited by his 
 friends who found shelter and food on their way at 
 the Hunter home. Hannah Susup, the wife of 
 Pierpole, though distrustful of the English, had 
 great respect for Mrs. Hunter. One of Hannah's 
 guests had displayed a very beautiful shawl. 
 Hannah at once recognized it as Mrs. Hunter's. 
 She knew its bright colors had proved too great a 
 temptation for the gay-loving squaw. She imme- 
 diately took it away from her. 
 
 In the meantime Mrs. Hunter had missed her 
 shawl and searched her house in vain for it. She 
 valued it much as a gift from her sister. She was 
 pleased to receive it again from the hands of her 
 faithful friend, Hannah Susup. 
 
 Mrs. Julia Eastman Stubbs was the daughter of 
 Jane Hiscock and Samuel Eastman. She was 
 born in Strong, in the early part of the present 
 century, one of a family of twelve children. Miss 
 Eastman married Philip M. Stubbs, August i, 
 1834. Her husband was a lawyer, a man of influ- 
 ence in the community.
 
 256 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Mrs. Stubbs was of commanding presence, tall, 
 dignified, proud-spirited, but gentle and sympa- 
 thetic. Her hair was always plain, almost severe, 
 in its smoothness. She wore the surplice waist 
 with white illusion arranged about the neck and 
 throat, which gave a refined softness to her whole 
 attire. To her small white headdress, in later years, 
 she added a touch of lavender. 
 
 Mrs. Stubbs endeared herself to young and old. 
 In her home she was queen, but her scepter was 
 love. She was a fine conversationalist, her words 
 and manner being always the reflection of her own 
 affectionate nature. The portrait of " Ma chere 
 mere," drawn by Fredrika Bremer in " The Neigh- 
 bors," is, to one of her nephews, a striking likeness 
 of Aunt Stubbs. 
 
 She died in 1894, surviving her husband but a 
 few years. 
 
 Elias and Deborah Barrows Nelson came from 
 Middleboro, Massachusetts, and settled in Win- 
 throp. They were both of sturdy Pilgrim par- 
 entage and were religiously educated according 
 to the custom of the times. Their daughter Deb- 
 orah, was born in Winthrop. In 1820, she mar- 
 ried Leonard Norcross. Of her nine children, her 
 three daughters became successful teachers. Two
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL ^57 
 
 of her sons entered the ministry of the Congrega- 
 tional church. 
 
 Her husband Leonard Norcross, was a skilful 
 mechanic and devised many useful articles, several 
 of which were patented. His submarine dress, 
 now extensively used in all parts of the world, was 
 his chief invention. During his last years he 
 devoted himself to missionary work. 
 
 Mrs. Norcross was a woman of great force of 
 character. She loved virtue and truth, and hated 
 most intensely all immorality and deception. She 
 was self-reliant, of keen insight and good judg- 
 ment. In the vicissitudes of life she never grew 
 impatient or uncharitable, more anxious apparently 
 at all times to promote the happiness of others 
 than to seek her own gratification. She was 
 faithful in every relation of life as daughter, wife, 
 mother and friend. Perhaps her best encomium is 
 the integrity and high moral character of the 
 children she reared. The last years of her life 
 were passed at the home of her son Rev. Flavius 
 V. Norcross of Union. 
 
 Her death was a fitting close to her beautiful 
 life, as her spirit winged its flight, those who 
 watched by her bedside heard the testimony so 
 often borne by dying saints. " I have not trusted 
 my Savior so long, to have Him forsake me now."
 
 258 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 The many friends of Mrs. Isabel Shapleigh 
 Tobey Knowlton, cherish her name as a sweet 
 memory to-day. She is spoken of in the commu- 
 nity and by those who knew her, as one of the 
 sweet singers of Israel; a woman who for the last 
 twenty years of her life lived in serene composure 
 of mind, unruffled by anger or malice. 
 
 Isabel Tobey was born in Eliot, where 
 her ancestors for seven generations had lived. 
 Her father was a ship carpenter and assisted in 
 building vessels at Portsmouth. The care of the 
 small farm devolved upon his wife. 
 
 In the family of eight children, Isabel was one 
 of the oldest, and was early trained to out-of-door 
 work. With the aid of her sisters she cultivated 
 the garden and raised the flax from which the 
 household linen was made. The girls also tended 
 and cared for the sheep. Maine has had many a 
 lovely shepherdess unchronicled in song. All of 
 the linen and clothing of the family were manu- 
 factured from the raw material at home. It was 
 the pride of the mother, that her daughter's wed- 
 ding outfit should be largely the product of her 
 own hands. 
 
 Living on the banks of the Piscataqua, Isabel 
 Knowlton paddled her own canoe. The young 
 ladies often took the products of their garden to
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 259 
 
 the commercial towns down the river. The girls 
 were also well disciplined in all the domestic arts. 
 The cooking for the family was done over the fire 
 and in the brick oven. Cook-stoves were unknown. 
 The Thanksgiving turkey and sparerib were 
 baked and browned in a tin kitchen before the 
 open fire, and the young lady who did not turn 
 the spit at the right moment was unfortunate. 
 
 Notwithstanding the discomforts of sitting 
 through two preaching services in a big, bare 
 meeting-house without any means of heating, in 
 the howling blasts of winter, the children were 
 taken there and regularly disciplined to endure the 
 Sunday worship. In this case it may be ques- 
 tioned if " the winds were tempered to the shorn 
 lambs." 
 
 Isabel was married to James Knowlton, Feb- 
 ruary 24, 182 1. She was the mother of nine 
 children. Upon the death of her oldest daughter 
 she took to her home and heart the orphaned 
 babe and tenderly reared it to womanhood. 
 
 Mrs. Knowlton united with the Methodist 
 church, of which her husband was a member, and 
 greatly endeared herself to all with whom she wor- 
 shiped. She had the gift of song as had her 
 mother before her. After her husband's death, in 
 1880, she made her home with her daughter, Mrs.
 
 260 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Lucy J. Frost, of Eliot. In January, 1895, at the 
 age of ninety-five years, she ceased her earthly 
 singing, and the sweet voice that had been heard 
 nearly half a century in the village choir went 
 singing through the gates of paradise. 
 
 For thirty years, from 1820 to 1850, Phebe 
 Jacobs, a colored woman, was a familiar figure in 
 Brunswick. She was born in slavery in 1785, but 
 when a child, was given to Mrs. Wheelock, the 
 wife of the president of Dartmouth College, to be 
 an attendant of her daughter, Maria, who married 
 President Allen of Bowdoin College, Phebe 
 came to Brunswick with them and remained in the 
 family until Mrs. Allen's death. She then lived in 
 a small house near the college, where she sup- 
 ported herself by washing and ironing for the 
 students. 
 
 Phebe was a devout woman and greatly re- 
 spected for her piety, which was deep, fervent and 
 practical. To her Christ was a living presence 
 and she walked softly before Him. She was so 
 filled with His spirit that its radiance was felt by ^^ 
 
 those who entered into her inner life. One could 
 not pass her upon the street, visit in her home, or 
 sit beside her in the house of God, without the 
 consciousness of the divine presence. Phebe
 
 MOTHERS IN ISRAEL 261 
 
 drank deep at the fountain of truth. Her Bible 
 was her constant companion, and morning, noon 
 and night she entered her closet, shut the door 
 and talked with God. 
 
 Phebe loved the house of God. It was the very 
 gate of heaven to her waiting soul. She would no 
 more have thought of excusing herself from its 
 services, which were food to her hungry spirit, 
 than she would of neglecting to supply her physi- 
 cal wants. Phebe hungered and thirsted after 
 righteousness. When in her failing health she 
 was too feeble to walk to church, she was taken 
 there and remained during the intermission. This 
 was a happy hour to her. Many of her friends 
 came before the time for service that they might 
 enjoy a little visit with the saintly Phebe. 
 
 Says Mrs. Upham in her " Narrative of Phebe 
 Ann Jacobs : " 
 
 The wife of the pastor, Rev. Dr. Adams, died the same 
 night with Phebe, and perhaps at the same hour of the night. 
 We may think of them as ascending together to the mansions 
 of the blessed. 
 
 To die with Phebe was a privilege ; and the pastor remarked 
 on this occasion that if his wife had been permitted to choose 
 a companion to accompany her " through the valley of the 
 shadow of death," and into the open portals of heaven, she 
 would have chosen Phebe. 
 
 She was heard to say: "I am perfectly happy; Christ is
 
 262 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 sufficient for all my necessities ; I never supposed I could 
 enjoy so much ; there is no one on earth I would exchange 
 places with but Phebe." 
 
 At the funeral of Phebe there was no relative, no kindred of 
 the flesh. Those following nearest her remains were President 
 Allen and daughter who, informed by telegraph, had come 
 nearly two hundred miles to testify their respect and affection 
 for the deceased. 
 
 Her remains were borne out from the church and accom- 
 panied to the grave by officers of the college and others who 
 might have been chosen for this purpose had the most 
 honored and most beloved among us fallen. A long proces- 
 sion followed her remains and gathered around her grave.
 
 HOMEKEEPERS
 
 XX 
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 
 
 The Lord cannot be everywhere, so He made Mothers 
 
 Jewish Rabbi. 
 
 THERE are no truer pen-pictures of the home 
 life of western Maine one hundred years 
 ago than are found in the letters of Eliza South- 
 gate Bourne. Mrs. Eliza Southgate, the wife of 
 Doctor Southgate, of Scarboro, was a worthy 
 Maine mother. 
 
 Mrs. Sally Procter Burr came from Salem to 
 Brewer a bride. She was a cultured, dainty little 
 woman, having been tenderly reared in a city 
 home. To her the banks of the Penobscot were 
 "woodsy, wild and lonesome." She could not 
 adapt herself to the privations of her new life. 
 After weeks of utter homesickness, in which she 
 wept continually, her husband consented that she 
 might return to Salem. He put her upon a small 
 
 265
 
 266 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 vessel, and after a wearisome voyage of three 
 weeks she reached her native city. But, alas ! it 
 was not the Salem of her girlhood. 
 
 Again she was homesick, and found no content 
 until she decided to return to Brewer. Her new 
 home on the banks of the Penobscot was trans- 
 formed into the most attractive spot on earth to 
 her, from which she never again desired to journey. 
 
 To the Burr home there came eleven children. 
 Mrs. Burr taught her girls, while yet young, the 
 ways of the household. They all became famous 
 housekeepers, but the mother herself had very lit- 
 tle love for domestic service. She was fond of 
 embroidery, delicate needlework and reading. 
 
 Left alone with her children when the British 
 ascended the Penobscot River in 1814, she 
 watched the devastations of the soldiers on the 
 opposite shore, expecting her home to suffer a sim- 
 ilar fate. Mrs. Burr was a plucky little woman, 
 and did not purpose to yield up her household 
 stores to feed the plundering crew without resist- 
 ance. She concealed her pans of milk, her cheeses 
 and other articles of food under the floor of the 
 chamber. 
 
 When the black ships were seen to leave the 
 harbor, she proposed to the girls that they cele- 
 brate the event with a spread, making for the occa-
 
 HOMEKEEPERS Tfyj 
 
 sion delicate biscuit out of the cream so cleverly 
 saved. The daughter who prepared the dough 
 was so excited and alarmed, fearing the ships might 
 return, that though "she put therein great lumps 
 of fat as big as my two hands," she did not stop 
 to mould the biscuit, but baked it in one piece, 
 making a cake which Mrs. Burr split and buttered. 
 It was served with a cream sauce. The dish is 
 famous in the Burr family to-day, and is styled the 
 British shortcake. 
 
 Tea was a luxury that many of the early settlers 
 were obliged to forego, but Mrs. Burr always man- 
 aged to serve herself a cup in the buttery after the 
 family meal. 
 
 She outlived her husband, and was constantly an 
 object-lesson to her grandchildren in the dainti- 
 ness of her attire. It was her custom to wear 
 black silk mitts even at the table. Her grand- 
 daughter, Mrs. A. B. C. Keene, is well known 
 through her class work in connection with 
 women's clubs in Bangor and Deering. 
 
 Charlotte Knight Boothby, the grandmother of 
 the genial General Passenger Agent of the Maine 
 Central Railroad, was born in Falmouth, July ii, 
 1796. As a child she had superior educational 
 advantages. She imbibed culture with her native
 
 268 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 air. Her sunny disposition made her a favorite 
 with her associates. 
 
 Left an orphan in her girlhood, she engaged in 
 teaching, at the same time caring for a younger 
 sister. She continued to teach in Bath until her 
 marriage to Ichabod Boothby, of Saco, April 2, 
 1817. 
 
 In her little home, with its one room, eighteen 
 by twenty, which served for kitchen, storehouse, 
 dining-room, parlor and bedroom, Charlotte Knight 
 Boothby worked out the economic problems of her 
 day. 
 
 She was the mother of five children. One of 
 her sons recalls to-day the busy scenes of his child- 
 hood home — the big brick oven, with its savory 
 contents, the huge fireplace, before which hung 
 the suspended goose or sparerib, the dripping-pan, 
 and the apples sputtering in a row, and every- 
 where his mother, the sweet presiding genius. It 
 is a happy home where boys love to congregate. 
 
 Mrs. Boothby was "Aunt Charlotte " to every 
 boy of the neighborhood, many of whom remem- 
 ber the delicious flavor of her gingerbread to 
 this day. 
 
 She was loved alike by young and old. En- 
 dowed with rare social powers, she never lacked 
 for interesting and helpful matters for conversa-
 
 IHOMEKEEPERS 269 
 
 tion. She was gifted also in song. During her 
 short life of fifty-two years she drew about her a 
 charmed circle of friends, who lovingly cherish her 
 memory. 
 
 Patty Barrett was born in Chelmsford, Massa- 
 chusetts, January 31, 1740. She married Benjamin 
 Spaulding, November 29, 1764. Her husband was 
 one of the famous minute men of Massachusetts. 
 He engaged in the battles of Lexington and Bun- 
 ker Hill. Having become involved in a business 
 failure, as an endorser for his brother, his entire 
 property, which was considered a competency, was 
 lost. He resolved to regain his fortune in the 
 woods of Maine. He was the first settler of the 
 town of Buckfield. After spending a winter and 
 part of the summer, he founded a home in the 
 woods, to which he moved his family in 1778. 
 They came in the cold of winter and must have 
 suffered many deprivations. The nearest mill was 
 in New Gloucester, forty miles away, where all the 
 corn had to be taken for grinding. We may be 
 very sure that Mother Spaulding made many a 
 cake from corn she had pounded in an improvised 
 mortar. When all other food supplies failed the 
 mothers boiled greens, made ivory tea and served 
 them with a smile.
 
 2/0 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Squire Buck came with his family to live in the 
 town the same year with the Spauldings. His 
 clearing was three miles distant. The two women 
 soon had their blazed paths through the woods 
 and along the banks of the river, and often " ran 
 in " to each others' homes after the labors of the 
 day were over. The distances, the darkness of 
 the night, the density of the forest, and the prowl- 
 ing animals, were no obstacles to their social 
 intercourse. Goodwife Buck was famous for the 
 excellent beer she concocted from the herbs of the 
 forest. 
 
 One of the granddaughters of Patty Spaulding, 
 who in childhood lived with her grandmother, 
 bears testimony to-day of the high integrity and 
 fortitude of this pioneer woman. She was gener- 
 ous to a fault, a failing she shared equally with her 
 husband. Their home became the asylum for the 
 poor and needy of the vicinity. The grand- 
 daughter declares that it was not unusual for the 
 applicant to their bounty to take home with him a 
 hundred weight of corn and half a cheese. Patty 
 Barrett Spaulding died in Buckfield, October 4, 
 18 19. All of her nine children lived to manhood 
 and womanhood, and the many descendants of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Spaulding to-day, reflect credit upon 
 their worthy ancestors.
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 2/1 
 
 Lydia Ann Chase was born and educated in 
 Limington. One who recalls her early woman- 
 hood says : " I do not remember to have ever 
 looked upon a handsomer girl;" her hair of a deep, 
 rich brown was always tastefully arranged, greatly 
 enhancing the beauty of her fair complexion. 
 She was a fine scholar and had the happy faculty 
 of imparting her knowledge to others. She had a 
 cheerful disposition and fulfilled Florence Night- 
 ingale's directions to her nurses, " Bring sunshine 
 to the sick room when you enter." 
 
 She married Blossom Stockin. They made their 
 home in North Yarmouth. Mrs. Stockin perpet- 
 uated the name of her father, Abner Chase, in 
 that of her only child. She is remembered to-day 
 for her many deeds of mercy, and for her tender 
 sympathy with the sick and afflicted. " She went 
 about doing good." 
 
 Dolly Hacket Beedy came from Sandwich, New 
 Hampshire, with her family to Industry. They 
 had been in prosperous circumstances in New 
 Hampshire, but on account of reverses in business 
 Daniel Beedy was obliged to try his fortune in the 
 woods of Maine. Here they reared a large family 
 and lived the peaceful life of a Quaker household. 
 Dolly Hacket Beedy attained to the age of ninety-
 
 2/2 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 three years. An elderly lady who knew her well 
 said to her granddaughter : " Thy grandmother 
 was always kind." 
 
 " Polly Everleth Beedy," says one of her daugh- 
 ters, " was a natural genius. " As a girl she had 
 not been trained to the work of the household, 
 and yet she became a fine housekeeper, their home 
 being an object-lesson in neatness and order to all 
 the neighborhood. Having refined taste, she 
 decorated her house in a manner quite unusual to 
 the early pioneers. She made paper flowers of 
 rare beauty. 
 
 Her husband, Daniel Beedy, was a military 
 captain, but no tailor-cut uniform ever fitted better 
 than Captain Beedy 's, manufactured from the raw 
 material by Polly. Her husband was very proud 
 of her skill, declaring that she could cut and make 
 a uniform better than any one else. 
 
 Captain Beedy was a stately man, and Polly was 
 a graceful rider. They often journeyed on horse- 
 back, attracting attention by their fine appearance. 
 It was not unusual for them to be accompanied by 
 several children. In attempting to cross a swollen 
 river Polly's horse lost its balance. The only way 
 to save the baby, which she was carrying in her 
 arms on a pillow, was to throw pillow and baby to 
 the shore, which she did, and barely escaped
 
 HOMEKEEPERS ^73 
 
 drowning herself. She was a devout woman and 
 kept the fire burning upon the family altar. 
 
 On opposite hills overlooking the Kennebec, in 
 the town of Winslow, lived the Paines and the 
 Rices, two families which greatly influenced the 
 early life and gave tone to the cultured society 
 that characterized Winslow. 
 
 Jane Warren Paine was born in Roxbury, Mas- 
 sachusetts, August 20, 1777, on the old Warren 
 homestead. She was a niece of General Joseph 
 Warren of Bunker Hill fame, and partook of the 
 nature of her illustrious uncle. Her family after- 
 ward moved to Foxboro. 
 
 In 1805 she married Lemuel Paine and came 
 with him to Winslow. She naturally became a 
 leader of the community that grew up around her. 
 
 Mrs. Paine was a small woman, remarkable for 
 her keen wit and sharp repartee. She carefully 
 trained and educated her three boys, of whom the 
 Hon. Henry W. Paine was one. He is spoken of 
 as " one of New England's greatest lawyers." 
 
 Sarah Swan Rice was born in Groton, Mas- 
 sachusetts, May 6, 1777. Her family lived in Otis- 
 field during her early childhood. She grew to be 
 an interesting young lady. Her soft blue eyes, 
 comely form and sweet ways, led captive the heart 
 18
 
 274 MOTHERS OF MAtNE 
 
 of the village schoolmaster, Thomas Rice. At the 
 age of nineteen she became his wife. He was a 
 promising young lawyer, graduated at Harvard in 
 1 792, and soon rose to distinction. He was chosen 
 to represent Maine in Congress from 181 7 to 182 1. 
 
 Mrs. Rice accompanied her husband to Wash- 
 ington. She bore herself with great dignity of 
 manner, and was much admired for her beauty 
 and social qualities. One of the gowns, a white 
 figured silk, worn by Mrs. Rice on these occasions, 
 is cherished as a precious relic of ye olden time 
 by one of her relatives to-day. The ladies of that 
 period wore the high turban and broad ruff. Mrs. 
 Rice ever after retained her headdress, which in 
 advanced life was the simple lace cap. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rice made their home in Winslow, 
 on a large farm sloping to the Kennebec. There 
 was an air of comfort about the broad house, 
 spread out upon the ground, with its open fire- 
 place in the great central hall. 
 
 Having none of her own, Mrs. Rice took to her 
 home and heart the children of others, to whom 
 she became a devoted mother. Fortunate the 
 orphaned child that grew up beneath her roof! 
 
 Among those who spent many years in her 
 home, and who loved her as a mother, was Delia 
 Maria Johnson, daughter of Henry Johnson, a 
 lawyer of Clinton. Squire Rice's house was the
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 2/5 
 
 minister's home, and here boarded the young pa«5- 
 tor, Rev. William May. Here he wooed and won 
 his beautiful bride, Delia Maria Johnson, and here 
 they were married in 1830, Rev. Thomas Adams, 
 since known as Father Adams, performing the 
 ceremony. The children of Mr. and Mrs. May — 
 Sarah Rice and Julia Harris — never forgot their 
 childhood visits to Mrs. Rice, and cherished her 
 memory with filial affection. 
 
 Sarah Rice May, so well known as a successful 
 Christian teacher in Franklin County, was named 
 for Mrs. Rice. 
 
 Mrs. Rice was a devoted housekeeper, never 
 leaving the care of her household to others. It 
 was her custom on Thanksgiving day to invite the 
 minister as her guest of honor, although many 
 others gathered about her well-laden tables. 
 
 She was for many years president of the "June 
 Meeting," an annual gathering of a society for 
 benevolent purposes. The money raised was usu- 
 ally devoted to the minister's salary. 
 
 One of her nephews writes of her: 
 
 I always regarded Aunt Rice as one of the most dignified 
 ladies of my acquaintance, and she was most highly cultivated 
 and thoroughly educated for the day in which she lived. 
 
 Though their homes were only half a mile dis- 
 tant, in their early life it was not considered safe
 
 276 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 for Mrs. Paine and Mrs. Rice to visit each other 
 unattended, in consequence of the bears that often 
 haunted the forests between them. 
 
 As the wives of the leading lawyers of the com- 
 munity, they had many interests in common. The 
 young law students found in them wise counselors 
 and helpful friends. Their homes were always 
 open to the distinguished members of the bar that 
 frequented Maine in those days. 
 
 With all the care that devolved upon them, both 
 of these ladies kept up their early culture, and 
 never allowed themselves to become indifferent to 
 the interests of the community which they had 
 shaped and adorned. 
 
 Ruth Smith and Ebenezer Higgins were mar- 
 ried in Bucksport in 1814 during the stormy days 
 of the war of 181 2. They immediately set out on 
 horseback for the more peaceful section of Exeter. 
 The path had been carefully blazed by removing 
 patches of bark from the trees. Full of bright 
 anticipations, the" young people wended their way 
 to the log-cabin Mr. Higgins had prepared for his 
 bride, on his fifteen-acre lot. Their log-cabin life 
 covered but four years. The new and spacious 
 home was built near it. 
 
 Mrs. Higgins was a devoted mother. Her seven
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 27/ 
 
 children found in her a sympathetic companion. 
 They knew that mother's word was law, and to be 
 reproved by her was to be humiliated. Her quiet 
 manner and calm dignity won the respect of all. 
 She knew the ways of her household. One of her 
 sons says : 
 
 Mother never went to bed if any member of her family was 
 out at night, and no matter how cold it might be we were 
 always sure of some warm refreshment awaiting us. 
 
 The home is remembered to-day for its simple, 
 unaffected hospitality. It was seldom without its 
 guests. Mr. and Mrs. Higgins were the founders 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church at Exeter, and 
 their home was the minister's home. All religious 
 strangers were made welcome. The Bible was 
 Mrs. Higgins daily companion. She was fond of 
 hymns, especially those of the Wesleys. For 
 many years every copy of the Zion's Herald was 
 preserved. The files were complete to 1884. 
 
 Mrs. Higgins was left a widow in 1853. From 
 that time to her death, 1884, she managed the 
 farm. It was her custom to employ reliable men, 
 to whom she entrusted her plans of work and then 
 held them responsible. She always looked over 
 with them every detail of the business. 
 
 Mrs. Higgins was a remarkably preserved 
 woman. She retained to her eighty-ninth year
 
 2/8 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 much of her youthful beauty. Her black hair was 
 still glossy ; her black eyes still bright, and her 
 smile betrayed pearly teeth of nature's own, not 
 the dentist's, art. 
 
 Flowers never lose their fragrance, it matters 
 not how long or where they bloom. The odor of 
 the " sweet grass " is often borne to us from the 
 most miasmatic marsh. So it is with human lives. 
 If they are odorous they must exhale their sweet- 
 ness. There can be no more reliable picture of an 
 individual than that reflected in the testimony of 
 those who have lived beside her. Mr. Moody 
 advised the man who did not know whether he 
 was a Christian or not, to "ask his neighbors." 
 Mrs. Higgins' neighbors bear loving testimony of 
 her pure and noble womanhood. Said Colonel 
 Frank W. Hill at the funeral of Ruth Smith 
 Higgins : 
 
 From a child I have known this woman. I have lived 
 beside her sixty years, and I can truthfully say " she never had 
 an enemy." 
 
 Anna Livermore was the fourth daughter of 
 Deacon Elijah Livermore, for whom the town of 
 Livermore was named. She was born in Wal- 
 tham, Massachusetts, April 6, 1775. Her cradle 
 lullabies were the echoes of Lexington and Bunker 
 Hill. Her father was a lieutenant of the militia
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 2/9 
 
 of Massachusetts, and deacon of the Congrega- 
 tional church of Waltham, as his father had been 
 before him. Anna was but four years of age 
 when the family came to Maine. 
 
 In the early history of Livermore a question 
 arose in regard to the settlement of a physician. 
 There were two candidates for the position ; one of 
 them was Doctor Cyrus Hamlin, a young man of 
 great promise, who had made a favorable impres- 
 sion upon the women. When the matter was to 
 be decided by vote, before leaving his home, every 
 man knew the opinion of his wife. Deacon Liver- 
 more objected to the young man, Hamlin. He 
 was the leading man of the community, and 
 usually his voice was law ; but this time the 
 women voted through their husbands. Deacon 
 Livermore was overruled and the courteous Dr. 
 Hamlin was installed as physician of Livermore, 
 the town agreeing to board him and his horse one 
 year gratuitously. The young physician grew in 
 favor, and heaped coals of fire on the head of the 
 good deacon by captivating the heart of his fair 
 daughter, Anna. 
 
 They were married, December 4, 1797, and 
 made their home in Livermore. Their house 
 stood on the site of the " Norlands." After twelve 
 years the family moved to Paris, as Doctor Ham-
 
 28o MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 lin was made Clerk of Courts of the newly formed 
 county of Oxford. Here their son, Hon. Hanni- 
 bal Hamlin, was born in 1809. 
 
 Doctor Hamlin died at Paris, 1829. Mrs. Ham- 
 lin survived him nearly a quarter of a century, 
 proving her great strength of character in the 
 careful training of seven children. 
 
 Very few portraits of the early pioneer women 
 of Maine are to be found. In that big bulky 
 book, the History of Penobscot County, there are 
 portraits of fifty-six men, but only one woman, 
 Mrs. Frances Hill. In 18 13, Mr. Hill, a young 
 man, picked his way from Bangor on foot by a 
 spotted line to Exeter. Two years later he 
 brought his bride, Frances, from Castine on horse- 
 back through the woods, to the sunny cabin home 
 he had prepared for her. 
 
 The next year Mrs. Hill visited Castine, making 
 the journey to Bucksport, a distance of forty miles, 
 in one da3% on horseback, carrying a baby in her 
 arms. As soon as the roads would admit, Mrs. 
 Hill drove in her one-horse chaise. Later in life, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hill journeyed in their four-wheeled 
 carriage, the finest turnout in that region ; and yet 
 they did not affect style, but lived simply. Their 
 home was well-known for its hospitality. Mrs.
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 28l 
 
 Hill was a good housekeeper and enjoyed the 
 fruits of her industry. She was a devoted church- 
 woman. It was customary for the minister, after 
 the sermon, to invite the worshipers to add a word 
 of testimony. Mother Hill seldom failed to im- 
 prove the opportunity, to enforce the lesson of the 
 hour. She had marked ability and a happy com- 
 mand of language. She was listened to with 
 great respect. 
 
 In 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Hill celebrated their 
 golden wedding. Their daughter, Elizabeth, mar- 
 ried Lewis Barker of Bangor. One who knew 
 Mrs. Hill well says: "She was a right-down nice 
 old lady." 
 
 Mary Foster, the daughter of John Foster, was 
 born in East Machias in 1788, and in her child- 
 hood and youth experienced all the hardships and 
 privations which fall upon the pioneers of a home 
 in a remote region of the wilderness, separated 
 from the centers of civilization by leagues of 
 stormy ocean and miles of roadless wilderness. 
 
 Bright and inquisitive, she gathered from the 
 meager curriculum of the infrequent school and 
 from the few books of the small circulating library, 
 or those loaned by friends, a taste for good litera- 
 ture, which became the delight of her later life.
 
 282 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 She knew the then English classics, Addison, 
 Steele and Jonson, and could repeat by the page 
 the poems of Goldsmith and Cowper. In her 
 eager readings of these sterling authors — often 
 stealthy and contraband, for they were stolen from 
 hours strictly devoted to household drudgery — 
 she had the sympathy and cooperation of her older 
 sister, Mrs. Hovey, herself a composer of verses 
 and a devotee of art ; of the two daughters of 
 Major Stillman, who were afterward in succession 
 the wives of the father of George S. Hillard, the 
 distinguished scholar and writer ; and of the 
 O'Brien girls, children of Gideon O'Brien, one of 
 the heroes of the Margaretta capture. When 
 these young friends visited each other they had to 
 go by skiff some ten miles down one river and up 
 another, or on horseback over a bridle-path a few 
 miles less through the woods. 
 
 At the age of twenty-two Mary Foster was mar- 
 ried to John Cofifin Talbot, who occupied a promi- 
 nent place in the administration of the town affairs 
 and in business. He was a member of the House 
 and Senate in the state legislature and president 
 of the latter body, and for many years judge of 
 probate for his county. This auspicious marriage 
 was the consummation of a singular intimacy that 
 began in the childhood of each, which became an
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 283 
 
 unconfessed, unspoken engagement, so that they 
 never thought of the relation but in reference to 
 each other. They were happy in the circum- 
 stance so rare among the changes of modern Hfe, 
 that on the morning of their wedding they moved 
 into the house the husband had built, and in that 
 house all their children were born and from it in 
 their old age they were each carried out to their 
 burial. It was an ideal house to be born in and a 
 sacred precinct to die in. Pleasantly situated on 
 the bank of the little river, it commanded from its 
 windows the whole sweep of the beautiful stream, 
 from the lakes in which it took its rise, to the estu- 
 ary into which it emptied on its way to the sea. 
 Nearly every house in the village could be seen 
 from the terrace on which it stood. 
 
 It was the task and delight of Mrs. Talbot to 
 adorn these grounds with trees, shrubs, and flow- 
 ers, many of them of her own planting. She was 
 an ardent lover of nature. The sunsets, the placid 
 summer days whose silence was broken by the 
 songs of birds and the perpetual bass of the water 
 falling over the near mill-dam, and not less, the 
 stern aspect of the winter skies, swept by howling 
 storms and dimmed by sifting snows, deeply 
 moved her aesthetic feeling. If she did not write, 
 she lived and felt poetry. She was always sum-
 
 284 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 monins: her children or her visitors to note how 
 beautiful the world was, and, sitting by the open 
 window of her chamber, was wont to exclaim, un- 
 der the spell of the landscape opened out before 
 her eyes : " It is good to be alive ! " 
 
 The love of literature, which had been the pas 
 sion of her girlhood, grew stronger in her maturer 
 years, and to her favorite authors. Pope, Goldsmith 
 and Cowper, she was glad to add Milton, Shakes- 
 peare and Walter Scott. Without being an elocu- 
 tionist she recited admirably. The sonorous dic- 
 tion of Milton, the rhythmic philosophy of Shakes- 
 peare, and the thrilling plots of the " Wizard of the 
 North," as she read them, are remembered by her 
 children to-day. She had a taste for comedy ; she 
 relished wit, and saw instantly the ludicrous side 
 of persons and the ludicrous forms of expression 
 and conduct. 
 
 Life was rarely dull in her atmosphere, and she 
 had, for hosts of young people who gathered 
 around her, unlimited resources of pleasure and 
 instruction. She promoted charades, masquerades, 
 and every available form of historic exhibition. 
 She had an inexhaustible fund of riddles, rhymes, 
 local anecdotes, and droll descriptions of the man- 
 ners and speech of the earlier generations whose 
 quaint characters, unspoiled by fashion, uncon-
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 28$ 
 
 ventionalized by repressive public propriety, had 
 grown up, as it were, out of the soil in all their 
 natural crotchedness. 
 
 For sustained, rational conversation, conversa- 
 tion that was not gossip nor declamation nor 
 disputation, she might always be trusted to bear 
 her part. Her husband, her family, surrendered 
 to her leadership the purveyance of any intel- 
 lectual entertainment that was required to make 
 complete the hospitality of her table. No 
 matter how distinguished or courtly or eminent 
 the guest might be, she met him on terms of cor- 
 diality and equality. She ministered instruction 
 to those less well equipped than herself, and always 
 showed a flattering interest in and appreciation of 
 those who, from a larger experience and deeper 
 study, could bring to her new knowledge and new 
 ideas. 
 
 In the year 1825, one of those religious revivals 
 which characterized the earlier years of the pres- 
 ent century, swept over the little town and em- 
 braced among its subjects a considerable part of its 
 most prominent and intelligent citizens. Simul- 
 taneously with her husband she passed through 
 the phases of a vivid religious experience and 
 joined the Congregational church. Thencefor- 
 ward, for all the rest of her life, religion was the
 
 286 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 dominant influence to which all her tastes, studies 
 and interests were subordinated. 
 
 She was not the less a lover of nature, an 
 enthusiastic student of the best literature, busied 
 with her garden and flowers, with her fowls and 
 domestic animals, and bringing to the performance 
 of her household duties an assiduous and tireless 
 industry. 
 
 Through most of her life she had enjoyed 
 robust health. The- stories told by her children of 
 days of domestic labor, begun before dawn and 
 prolonged far into the night, would hardly be 
 credited by the modern woman. She often 
 expressed her disbelief in nerves. The time came 
 at last when her fine physique succumbed to the 
 common infirmity. An excrutiating neuralgia, 
 accompanied with great debilit}^ seized her in her 
 fiftieth year, and for the next twenty years she 
 lived in great patience and cheerfulness the life of 
 an invalid. Still the family life centered about her 
 sick chamber, and there were happily few days 
 when she could not entertain her friends with her 
 conversation, or by reading aloud something that 
 had interested her. With love for all she passed 
 away, sealing the testimony of a noble life by a 
 heroic death. 
 
 In her last years, without changing her belief.
 
 HOMEKEEPERS 287 
 
 the rigor and hardness of the creed she had pro- 
 fessed had been greatly modified and liberalized 
 by the new literature she had read, and especially 
 by the genial influence of her favorite pastor and 
 teacher, Rev. Thomas Treadwell Stone, D. D, now 
 living at the age of ninety-five. 
 
 Happy he 
 With such a mother ! faith in womankind 
 Beats in his blood, and trust in all things high 
 Comes easy to him. 
 
 Tennyson.
 
 PATTY BENJAMIN WASHBURN 
 
 '9
 
 XXI 
 
 PATTY BENJAMIN WASHBURN 
 
 '"''How much the wife is dearer than the bride ^ 
 
 Lord Lyttleton. 
 
 P 
 
 ATTY BENJAMIN was a genuine Maine 
 girl, born and educated in Livermore, 
 "Pretty Patty Benjamin," the neighbors called her. 
 On the opposite bank of the Androscoggin was a 
 young man of sterling worth, who had come from 
 Massachusetts to the wilds of Maine, to make a 
 home. He lost his heart at the first glimpse of 
 Patty Benjamin. He wooed her in princely style. 
 At one time when he arrived at the river, mounted 
 and clad in knightly array, cap-a-pie, he found he 
 could not reach the trumpet that summoned the 
 ferryman from the opposite shore without soiling 
 his shoes, which had been polished with great care 
 for the occasion. He gave a boy ninepence to 
 blow it for him. This proved lucky money for the 
 
 291
 
 292 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 boy, as it was the first he had ever earned. He 
 afterwards became a rich man, Ambrose Merrill of 
 Hallowell. 
 
 They were married in 1812. Soon after Mr. 
 Washburn took his wife on horseback to Rayn- 
 ham, Massachusetts, to visit his mother. She was 
 one of the leaders of society and an accomplished 
 entertainer. She was not expecting much help 
 from this Maine girl, but was astonished to find 
 how readily she adapted herself to her new envi- 
 ronments. Her husband delighted to quote his 
 mother as saying : " Martha could wait upon the 
 company in the kitchen and entertain them in the 
 parlor." He was always a devoted lover. Their 
 honeymoon never waned. She was very timid and 
 had been known to faint at the sight of a toad. 
 Her husband usually accompanied her on her 
 walks and with his cane guarded her path from 
 animals. 
 
 Mrs. Washburn was the mother of eleven child- 
 ren. " Be sure to take the child up before it is 
 taken down," was always her instruction to the 
 nurse. Accordingly every Washburn baby was 
 marshaled to the attic and made to take in the 
 loftiest air of the house before it was taken down 
 to the lower floor. Though not scholarly, she was 
 a woman of fine presence and great dignity of
 
 PATTY BENJAMIN WASHBURN 293 
 
 character. Her resources were unbounded. Upon 
 the occasion of a visit to a neighbor, the family 
 was found to be too large for the pie and some of 
 the children did not receive any. She remarked : 
 *' I never saw a pie so small I could not make it 
 go round." She could control circumstances. She 
 would make two stitches do if she had time for no 
 more. Having more boy than cloth, she made 
 them short jackets, replying to their urgent appeals 
 for coats: " If you stand at the head of your class 
 jackets are just as good as coats." Her advice to 
 her children was always : " Aim at the moon ; if 
 you don't hit it you will have the fun of watching 
 your arrows go up." She lived to see all her child- 
 ren grown, and if their arrows did not pierce the 
 moon, they have given to the world marvelous 
 examples of high shooting. 
 
 One of the grandest monuments of Minneapolis, is the 
 Washburn Home for Orphans, founded and endowed by Hon. 
 C. C. Washburn, as a memorial to his mother, that mother 
 from whom he inherited his broad nature and noble traits of 
 character, which led him to do deeds worthy of her approba- 
 tion. 
 
 When he, a boy of seventeen years, was about 
 to leave his home, his mother thought the event of 
 such importance that she sent for the minister to 
 come, and after the other nine children were put
 
 294 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 to bed, the parents, minister and son held religious 
 services. These over, the father in his easy tem- 
 perament, feeling that his boy was well fortified 
 against the temptations of the world by his exam- 
 ples and precept had gone to his rest, but the 
 mother still sat by her first-born son, saying of it 
 afterward : " I could not let Cady go out from 
 under our roof to the great world, without one 
 more talk with him." Mrs. Washburn greatly 
 desired that there should be an organization 
 of the church of her choice, the Universalist, at 
 the Norlands, but she was unable to effect it. 
 About one year before her death she felt she 
 could no longer defer what to her seemed the 
 sacred rite of baptism. When the day set apart 
 for the public ceremony arrived, she was too 
 feeble to go to the church, but received baptism 
 and partook of the sacrament, surrounded by her 
 household, at her own home. 
 
 During her last days the marriage of her daugh- 
 ter Mary to Gustavus A. Buffon of Orono, had 
 been deferred on account of the feeble condition 
 of the mother, Mrs. Washburn finally insisted 
 that they should wait no longer. On the morning 
 of the wedding, she requested that she be left 
 alone while the family were at breakfast. She 
 arose, dressed herself and was sitting in state in
 
 PATTY BENJAMIN WASHBURN 295 
 
 the parlor, waiting for the ceremony when the 
 family arrived. 
 
 On the occasion of the dedication of the 
 library at the Norlands, in memory of the father 
 and mother of the Washburns, it was the pleasure 
 of the writer to hear Hannibal Hamlin say : 
 
 The mother of the Washburns was a remarkable woman, 
 with whom the famed Spartan mothers and the matrons of 
 Rome fail in comparison. She taught her sons high moral 
 integrity, self-reliance and industry, and upon that foundation 
 they have created their great fame. 
 
 Cornelia, it is said, when asked for her jewels, triumphantly 
 pointed to her sons. Martha Washburn could point to her 
 sons as jewels that adorned different states in the Union, 
 as well as the nation itself. The record of the family has no 
 precedent. There were seven brothers. One never entered 
 public life, but was always known as a man of strict integrity 
 and superior business habits. In the other six brothers we 
 find a marvelous record : two governors ; four members of 
 Congress from four different states ; one secretary of state 
 of the United States ; two foreign ministers ; two members of 
 state legislature ; one major general in the army, who was also 
 military governor, and a captain of the navy. No record of 
 such another family can be found on earth. 
 
 Indeed could Martha Washburn be justly proud of her 
 family, but that for which she might feel the highest pride, was 
 the fact that every son of hers, in whatever position, has dis- 
 charged all his duties with distinguished ability and with an 
 untarnished record, without even a stain upon the hem of his 
 garments.
 
 296 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Mr. Washburn in his advanced age, as he re- 
 counted the deeds of his worthy sons, always 
 began with her Patty Benjamin, and the name 
 lingered lovingly on his lips.
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOLS
 
 XXII 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOLS 
 
 What we would do 
 
 We should do when we would. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 THE mothers were largely instrumental in 
 establishing the Sunday-schools of the 
 state. It was their practice to gather the children 
 of the neighborhood about them for Bible instruc- 
 tion on the Sabbath day, this being the only day 
 in which they were not occupied in their domestic 
 duties. In many of the log cabin homes the 
 Sabbath began on Saturday evening. As the num- 
 ber of children increased and exceeded the capacity 
 of the home, other and larger rooms were pro- 
 vided. If there was a meeting-house the Sabbath- 
 school was usually held in it before the religious 
 service of the morning. Many of the first 
 Sunday-schools began at 9 A. M. and continued 
 till '* meeting-time." At first only the Bible was 
 
 299
 
 300 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 taught, the children being encouraged to commit 
 to memory as many verses as they desired. The 
 assembly catechism was the next stage. 
 
 The first Sunday-school of Portland was formed 
 by a company of six young ladies, of whom Miss 
 Mary H. Woodbury was one. She was born 
 in North Yarmouth (now Cumberland), February 
 9, 1799. The family moved to Portland the same 
 year. Miss Woodbury inherited from her mother 
 her robust health. Both mother and daughter 
 lived to be more than fourscore and ten years. 
 Her long life was one of loving service. She was 
 one of the founders of the first Sunday-schools of 
 Portland, and continued through her active life a 
 faithful teacher. She learned the secret of grow- 
 ing old gracefully. 
 
 Among the early Sunday-school workers of 
 Portland were Mrs. Ann Quincy Pomroy, Miss 
 Eliza Quincy, Miss Elizabeth Dix and Mrs. J. R. 
 Brown. One of the first Sunday-schools in Port- 
 land was held in a small schoolhouse where the 
 North schoolhouse now stands. It was established 
 about 1824. 
 
 Mrs. Gregg, the wife of the Congregational min- 
 ister, founded the first Sunday-school of Cape Eliz- 
 abeth about 1823. She invited the children to her 
 home for Bible instruction, but there not being
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOLS 3OI 
 
 room enough for all who wished to attend, she 
 took them to the church. This was a marked 
 event in the life of the children. To receive in- 
 struction in the church with no tithing-man to 
 watch them, was something before unknown. 
 
 Mrs. Mary R. Willard Woodbury, though less 
 than ten years of age at the time, recalls the occa- 
 sion. Mrs. Gregg arranged the children on 
 each side of the aisle according to their height. 
 She then entered one of the large square pews and 
 kneeled on a chair. Mrs. Woodbury says : " I 
 recall her sweet face, surrounded by the ruffle 
 of her cap (she had laid aside her bonnet), and 
 my own impression of the importance of the act 
 that she was asking God to help her in her 
 work for us." She arranged the children in classes 
 of six each. Among the teachers who aided her 
 were Mrs. Nathaniel Miller, Mrs. Mary Jordan 
 and Miss Polly Strout. The lessons were from 
 the Bible. Each child was to commit six verses at 
 first. Mrs. Gregg was superintendent of this 
 school many years. 
 
 In 1 86 1, Miss Anna Sweetsir collected the 
 children of Portland, into the old schoolhouse on 
 Walnut street and formed the nucleus of the Wil- 
 liston Congregational Sunday-school. 
 
 Mrs. Abigail Goodhue Bailey, better known as
 
 302 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Mrs. Kiah Bailey, was associated with her husband 
 in charitable and philanthropic work throughout 
 the state. In the mind of this highly gifted 
 woman originated the thought of the Maine 
 Charity School, now the Bangor Theological Semi- 
 nary. From her warm, sympathetic heart came 
 the first suggestion for such a school, and to its 
 treasury she was the first to contribute. 
 
 Mrs. Bailey wrote to Mrs. Jacob McGaw as early 
 as 1813, urging her to make an effort to collect 
 the children and youth of Bangor into a school on 
 the Sabbath-day. The first teachers in this school 
 were Martha Allen, Deacon Boyd, Eliphaz Adams, 
 and Eliza Bryant. Mrs. Henry Call and Nancy 
 Plummer were subsequently teachers. The first 
 Sunday-school in Hallowell was established by 
 Sophia Sewall and Susan Parsons. Mrs. James 
 White of Hampden, Mrs. Stickney of Brownfield, 
 and Mrs. Ruth Strout of Millbridge, were active in 
 establishing Sunday-schools. 
 
 The first Sunday-school at Fort Fairfield was 
 established by Mary Johnston, who invited the 
 children of the little community to her father's 
 house on the Lord's day and taught them from the 
 Bible. She also taught them to sing. 
 
 Miss Dorothea Giddings came from New Hamp- 
 shire to Maine early in the century. She jour-
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOLS 3O3 
 
 neyed as far east as Thomaston on horseback, 
 visiting the people and seeking to interest them in 
 Sabbath-schools. She is spoken of as a steadfast, 
 straight-forward woman, set in her opinion but set 
 in the right direction. She was a small woman, 
 and familiarly known as Aunt Dolly. She estab- 
 lished herself in Brunswick, where she kept a 
 variety store. She was never known to change 
 the price of any article, no matter what the condi- 
 tion of the market might be. Her store was pat- 
 ronized principally by women and children, but if 
 a man entered, she always attended to him at once, 
 as she said, " to git rid of him." She kept con- 
 stantly at hand, religious tracts which she distribu- 
 ted freely. 
 
 She was known for her hospitality. Her home 
 was always open to those in need. She was a 
 godly woman and careful in the observance of all 
 religious services. She could not be convinced 
 that it was reverential to sit during prayer, in the 
 public service. Dorothea Giddings is remembered 
 by the children of that day as the woman who 
 always " stood alone in the meeting-house." 
 
 Miss Phebe Varnum Poor, when a girl, came 
 from Andover, Massachusetts, all the way to Ban- 
 gor, on horseback. Here she first met Jacob 
 McGaw, a young and rising lawyer, whom she
 
 304 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 afterward married. Mrs. McGaw was an imposing 
 woman, with fine face and manners, a woman of 
 strong opinions. She developed a decided Christ- 
 ian character and was instrumental in establishing 
 the first Sunday-schools of Bangor. All her life 
 she was steadfast as a leader of the woman's prayer- 
 meeting. She cultivated the young people. Her 
 home was an attractive center. As the wife of the 
 first lawyer of the community, she became famed 
 as an entertainer. Not only in Bangor, but 
 throughout New England, her home was spoken of 
 for its genuine hospitality. The decanter was 
 banished from her sideboard very early in her 
 married life. She refused from principle to serve 
 wine to her guests. 
 
 Among her early friends was Daniel Webster, 
 who greatly admired her. He came to visit her in 
 Bangor, but Mrs. McGaw did not disturb the tran- 
 quility of her household a week beforehand in 
 elaborate prepartions for the visit ; neither did she 
 deem it necessary to keep her cook from church 
 service even to prepare dinner for Daniel Webster. 
 He was very simple in his tastes, and a young 
 lady, who was also Mrs. McGaw 's guest, wrote her 
 friends that Daniel Webster ate his steak just like 
 other mortals. 
 
 Mrs. McGaw, a leader in the social life of Ban-
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOLS oqc 
 
 gor, was also a devoted churchwoman, and the 
 chivalrous statesman, as her guest, claimed the 
 privilege of escorting her to church, which he did 
 morning and afternoon, followed by the household. 
 When the British took possession of Bangor in 
 1814, the best buildings of the place were taken as 
 barracks for soldiers. Nearly two hundred of the 
 principal men were compelled to sign a document 
 declaring themselves prisoners of war, and stipu- 
 lating not to serve against the British government 
 until exchanged. Some of the leading men and 
 women were held as hostages at the Hatch House, 
 among these Mr. and Mrs. Jacob McGaw. 
 
 20
 
 TEACHERS
 
 XXIII 
 TEACHERS 
 
 The ttvo highest fimctionariex of the state are the viuse and the schoolmaster, 
 
 Victor Hugo. 
 
 THE Free Public School is indigenous to 
 Maine. The log cabin soon became the 
 schoolhouse. The mothers gathered about them 
 the children of the neighborhood for instruction. 
 The following word picture is worthy the canvas : 
 The central figure is Sally Cobb Robinson in 
 the double duty of housewife and teacher. It is 
 the noon hour; the aroma of dinner is in the air. 
 Through the open door the hungry workmen are 
 seen approaching; in the distance the sparkling 
 Penobscot. Sally stands beside the crane swung 
 out from the open fire. Over the brim of the big 
 iron kettle, on a long iron fork, she balances a 
 large piece of boiled beef. While she waits for 
 it to drip she drills a company of children to toe 
 
 309
 
 3IO MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 the line — a crack in the floor — and to pronounce 
 after her the words of the spelling lesson. The 
 accessories of the picture are the waiting dinner- 
 table, the cradle with its sleeping baby, the chairs, 
 bed, and all the paraphernalia of a log cabin home. 
 
 In the educational advantages of the public 
 schools of Maine, there has been very little dis- 
 crimination made between boys and girls. The 
 first teachers employed at the public expense were 
 men who were paid for their services in lumber. 
 Enelish women of culture and refinement were 
 among the early teachers. They were ladies of 
 great dignity of character and, like many of the 
 pioneer women, who also were efficient teachers, 
 are remembered for their many kindly virtues. 
 
 As early as 1760, when there were only about 
 one thousand people in Portland, Dame Clark's 
 was a famous school for small children, boys and 
 girls. Stephen Longfellow's school was open on 
 equal terms to boys and girls at i8s. 8d. per 
 year, or 8s. by the quarter. 
 
 In a small brick schoolhouse on Spring Street, 
 Portland, Marm Fellows taught her little flock. 
 This was the first school that Longfellow attended. 
 
 The sisters. Alma, Hannah and Rebecca Cross 
 taught a young ladies' school in Portland. It was
 
 TEACHERS 3II 
 
 located on Park Street. It was on the monitorial 
 plan which proved very successful under their wise 
 guidance. They were faithful and thorough in 
 their teaching. 
 
 The Monday morning Bible lessons were a 
 marked feature of the school. Miss Alma made a 
 specialty of astronomy. She built an observatory 
 in the middle of Park Street Block, and here, with 
 her fine telescope, she pointed out to her pupils 
 the wonders of the starry heavens. Miss Rebecca 
 taught needlework. Under her guidance every 
 girl wrought a sampler. Each pupil was also 
 taught to make a shirt for her father. Elizabeth 
 Widgery Varnum remembers that hers was not an 
 easy task, as her father was a large man and nine- 
 teen rows of stitching with every thread counted 
 was thought necessary for the bosom. In gather- 
 ing, the girls were taught to take up two threads 
 and leave foiir between each stitch. The work 
 was carefully criticised. Unfortunate was the girl 
 who had taken up three threads. The work must 
 be undone, no matter how far back the irregular 
 stitch might be. 
 
 Miss Hannah was the housekeeper and was quite 
 as famous for her Indian puddings as her sisters 
 for astronomy and needlework. 
 
 Portland was highly favored in the triads of sisters
 
 312 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 who taught in its early schools. The Misses Eliza, 
 Martha and Mary Mayo taught successfully many 
 years. Their home was on Mayo Street. 
 
 The Lowell sisters, Ann, Isabella and Ellen, 
 were among the first public school teachers of 
 Portland. They inaugurated a system of cards 
 that proved helpful in their work. They were 
 very conscientious in their teaching, refined and 
 gentle in their manners. 
 
 Mrs. Allen Lambert, an English lady of note, 
 taught the Cony School at Augusta many years. 
 Her sister was associated with her in teaching. 
 
 Mrs. Sibyl Parker Pattee taught at Augusta 
 and Winslow. Her husband was drowned only 
 one month after her marriage. She anticipated 
 the Kindergarten method in her teaching. 
 
 Miss Olive Grey of North Yarmouth and Miss 
 Abigail Ford of Bangor, were famous teachers of 
 the olden time. 
 
 There was something very dignified and impress- 
 ive about the attire of these early teachers — many 
 of them wore the white, full-crowned cap. 
 
 Miss Catharine Lyman taught a young ladies' 
 school for several years in Norridgewock, soon 
 after Maine became a state, in 1820. She was a
 
 TEACHERS 313 
 
 native of Northfield, Massachusetts. She married 
 Rev. Thomas Adams of Vassalboro, and continued 
 her teaching for a few years. Mrs. Adams was 
 the mother of two children. She was a woman of 
 superior ability, fond of historical research. She 
 published several literary works, among them "The 
 History of the Jews" and "Parlor Lectures on 
 Sacred History." This last purported to be a 
 conversation between a mother and her two sons, 
 William and Herbert. 
 
 Rev.^Thomas Adams published the Temperance 
 Gazette at Augusta in 1840. The paper was sub- 
 sequently transferred to Portland. In this work 
 he was ably assisted by Mrs. Adams, who at the 
 same time edited a paper for young people called 
 The Wreath. 
 
 Miss Jane Lambert was a school teacher well 
 known in the early part of the century. She was 
 born in Durham in 1809, and married Nelson 
 Dingley, Sr. Her son, the Hon. Nelson Dingley, 
 says of her: 
 
 My mother was a woman of very superior mind, well 
 educated for her time and surroundings; for several years 
 before her marriage a successful school teacher. She was a 
 most wonderful home as well as housekeeper, deeply religious, 
 and specially active in the social life of the communities in
 
 314 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 which she lived. She was ambitious for, and remarkably help- 
 ful to, her children in their studies and character development. 
 She was well rounded in all those qualities which make a noble 
 woman. I ascribe to her very largely the molding of my own 
 character and the inspiration to make the most of myself. 
 
 Misses Almira and Sarah H. Hawes were iden- 
 tified with the educational interests of Castine for 
 nearly half a century. They were ladies of the old 
 school, refined and gentle. 
 
 Before the writer lies the time-stained diary of 
 Ruby Strout, containing her experiences as a country 
 school teacher in the eastern part of the state. 
 Ruby was the daughter of Joanna and Benjamin 
 Strout, born in Harrington in 1814. From her 
 girlhood she was highly religious. She must have 
 been a youthful teacher. ^ When only eighteen 
 years of age she describes her journey through 
 the woods on horseback to Beddington, where she 
 had previously taught. She left her home April 
 23, "in good health and lively spirits," accompanied 
 by her brother and a friend. They were soon over- 
 taken by a storm of rain and snow, which dripped 
 upon them from the trees as they found their way 
 through the woods. She writes: 
 
 We came to a place, extremely hilly, which caused me to 
 alight from my horse, the walking being extremely bad — the
 
 TEACHERS 315 
 
 riding no less so. The horse would frequently sink to his 
 knees in the mud and water, and I often expected to be torn 
 from him by the limbs of the forest. 
 
 At length the spirited animal on which she set 
 out on her journey began to falter, and could with 
 difficulty be urged to continue. She records the 
 conversation between herself and the horse, which 
 resulted in her walking through the mud and snow, 
 encouraging the animal by friendly pats. She 
 continues: 
 
 We arrived at the silent town of Beddington at about six 
 o'clock, and being but little fatigued from my journey com- 
 menced my school next day. The scholars with whom I had 
 spent the previous summer expressed a degree of pleasure at 
 my appearance. On the countenances of all rested a smile 
 which told me I was welcome. 
 
 She speaks of her delight in the groves, with only 
 the birds for companions. She records, among 
 her mercies, that she reached one of her schools in 
 extreme cold weather and found no part of her 
 frozen. 
 
 Ruby Strout was a sweet singer and often in her 
 diary refers to the singing-school as among her 
 social pleasures. In the loneliness of her life as a 
 teacher in sparsely settled communities, she speaks 
 of the privilege afforded her of studying herself. 
 
 Ruby Strout married John B. Coffin of Harring-
 
 3l6 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 ton. Of their four children three are now living. 
 She immediately identified herself with the social 
 interests of the village in which she lived. She 
 became the president of the first circle established 
 for philanthropic and literary purposes. Her 
 pastor remarked to the writer: "Your mother 
 was one of the pillars of my church." 
 
 Penelope Martin remained in England seven 
 years after the family came to America in 1783. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Martin were distinguished for their 
 intelligence, refinement and piety. After living 
 awhile in Boston they made their home in North 
 Yarmouth, Maine. Penelope was only seventeen 
 years old when she joined the family in 1790. 
 
 In consequence of reverses of fortune, the 
 daughters received private pupils in the home at 
 North Yarmouth. In 1804 the family moved to 
 Portland, where the three Martin sisters opened a 
 school on Spring Street. Miss Penelope had had 
 a special training for her work, though she was not 
 aware of it at the time. In England she had been 
 educated at the boarding-school of her aunt and 
 was familiar with the domestic affairs of such a 
 school and was well qualified to direct in its 
 intellectual and ethical teachings. She entered 
 upon her work with great diffidence, uncertain of
 
 TEACHERS ^jy 
 
 the result. The school grew into a fashionable 
 boarding-school for young ladies and was finally 
 located on India Street. It was in operation thirty 
 years and nearly seven hundred pupils availed 
 themselves of the instruction of these worthy 
 women. Miss Penelope and Miss Eliza were the 
 teachers, and Miss Catherine superintended the 
 home. 
 
 The mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Galpine Martin, 
 was a lady of the old school, refined and gentle, a' 
 woman of deep piety. She was fond of books,' a 
 student of the Bible, and familiar with the writers 
 of divinity. She died in 1829 at the age of ninety 
 years, exemplifying throughout her long life — one 
 of her favorite sayings: "A mannerly saint is an 
 ornament of grace." By her wise counsel and 
 ''judicious conversation" she assisted her daughters 
 in the management of the school. Indeed, ''there 
 was an harmonious action of the entire household. 
 The father, a gentleman of culture took peculiar 
 pleasure in the young ladies' improvement. He 
 taught them to read with propriety choice passages 
 from Milton and Young. After his death one of 
 the brothers assisted. 
 
 Christian ethics formed a part of the curriculum 
 of the school. The Bible was made a regular study 
 on Saturday. On Monday the pupils were ques-
 
 3l8 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 tioned in regard to the texts and sermons they had 
 heard at church on the Sabbath. Even the young- 
 est were instructed in morals and manners. 
 
 In 1832 the Misses Martin received a legacy 
 from a relative in England, which permitted them 
 to retire to private life. Miss Penelope died the 
 26th of January, i860, at the age of eighty-seven 
 years. The following day Catherine, who had 
 always been the homekeeper, now that her last 
 charge was gone, quietly fell asleep, having 
 attained to the age of ninety-six years. Miss 
 Penelope left a manuscript of her experience in the 
 school. She says: 
 
 We have found that all young ladies, even the best, require 
 unremitting attention. There must be precept upon precept. 
 
 In 1 82 1 she deplored that the spirit of liberty 
 and equality is not now confined to political 
 differences between men, but the youth and even 
 females are brought up to partake of it. 
 
 Mrs. Ellen Martin Henrotin is in the line of 
 descent with the Martin sisters. She was born 
 in Portland ; liberally educated at home and 
 abroad; in 1869 married Mr. Charles Henrotin, a 
 banker of Chicago. Mrs. Henrotin is a sweet 
 mother, devoted to her three boys. As vice- 
 president of the Woman's Branch of the World's
 
 TEACHERS 3 I 9 
 
 Congress Auxiliary, Mrs. Henrotin became more 
 generally known to the women of America, the 
 world and her native state. It was fitting that 
 one who had so honored women at the worlds 
 great fair should receive at the hand of women's 
 clubs — the highest honor, president of the General 
 Federation of Women's Clubs of America.
 
 PHYSICIANS AND NURSES 
 
 21
 
 XXIV 
 PHYSICIANS AND NURSES 
 
 And fiever tenderer hand than hers 
 
 Unknit the brow of ailing ; 
 Her garments to the sick man^s ears 
 
 Had music in their trailing. 
 
 Whittier, 
 
 MAINE very early had her medicine women, 
 many of whom became skilled as physi- 
 cians. They were often spoken of as " she doc- 
 tors," but were successful in bafHing the diseases 
 of children and indispensable as midwives. 
 
 Jerusha Austin, the wife of John Austin, came 
 with him to Farmington among the first settlers. 
 She was a native of Cape Ann, which gave Maine 
 many brave women. For ten years she was the 
 only physician on the Sandy River. Her field of 
 practice was large, embracing Strong, Avon 
 Stark and New Sharon. She was known as 
 " Granny Austin." She was a fearless woman, and 
 
 323
 
 324 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 shrunk from no hardship. No storm was too se- 
 vere, nor night too dark, to keep her from the sick- 
 bed to which she was summoned. 
 
 In her journeyings over the hills and through 
 the woods she was obliged often to ford the 
 streams. She rode as a woman should, with a foot 
 in each stirrup — and a stirrup on each side of 
 the horse. She died in 1804. 
 
 Mrs. Ananiah Bohannon, of Calais, was em- 
 ployed and highly prized as a midwife in all that 
 region. 
 
 Madam D'Ayez practiced medicine many years 
 in Castine and vicinity. She was original in her 
 methods, and many quaint stories are told of her. 
 
 Bethel had its Aunt Ellingwood, who nursed a 
 sick neighbor, more than a mile away, over a path- 
 less mountain filled with wild beasts. She re- 
 turned to her home every other day to prepare 
 food for her family. 
 
 Mary Sullivan Tolman is spoken of " as a 
 woman of good common sense." Her husband 
 became insane and died, leaving her with a family 
 of small children without any means for their sup-
 
 PHYSICIANS AND NURSES 325 
 
 port. She immediately lent her services to her 
 neighbors, caring for the sick, that she might earn 
 bread for her family. She became skilful as nurse 
 and doctor, often taking long journeys at night, 
 with only a small lantern to guide her to the 
 homes of sick neighbors. She became famous 
 and was sought after by the best families of New 
 Sharon and Farmington Falls. Although a small 
 woman, she often worked out her tax on the 
 road. She sheared sheep and worked all day 
 beside the men in harvest time; she could reap as 
 much as a man in a day and received the same 
 wages as the men. She was a good judge of seed 
 and always had the best. It is said that " she was 
 honorable as a business woman ; paid her bills, 
 and was as square as a brick." 
 
 With all her outside cares she did not neglect 
 her home but carefully trained her children. She 
 had a handsome hand, in striking contrast to those 
 of the laborers beside whom she worked. It is 
 not recorded that any objection was made to her 
 presence among the laborers or that there was any 
 reflection upon her character. She was respected 
 by all with whom she associated, and the narrator 
 adds : "The family she brought up was worth 
 raising, and Aunt Mary Tolman was a shining 
 
 light."
 
 326 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Mrs. Toothaker of Phillips, was a mother of 
 mercy among the sick for many years in Phillips 
 and Rangeley. She attended the birth of one 
 hundred and sixty children. So skilful was she 
 that only two cases gave her trouble. She rode 
 horseback long, weary miles. While performing 
 her professional duties she also cared for her own 
 household. 
 
 Mehetabel Ladd married Eleazer Robbins. 
 They came to Maine after the Revolution and set- 
 tled in Winthrop. It was an intelligent home, 
 presided over by the blue-eyed, light-haired, hand- 
 some Mehetabel. Mr. Robbins, in addition to his 
 farm, had also a blacksmith shop, and as he 
 pounded the anvil he pounded also some of thfi 
 philosophies of the age, and when the work of the 
 day was done and the children put to bed, Eleazer 
 and Mehetabel "reasoned together" of "righteous- 
 ness, temperance and judgment to come." They 
 were Bible students. Mr. Robbins read the sacred 
 volume through twenty times. 
 
 In 1813 the family moved to Phillips. They 
 were obliged to take the journey on horseback. 
 Mrs. Robbins has left a memorial of her love for 
 flowers in the beautiful rosebush that she carried 
 with her. It still blossoms on the old farm.
 
 PHYSICIANS AND NURSES 32/ 
 
 There were eight children, six girls and two boys. 
 The daughter, Betsey, became a famous nurse. 
 She was particularly successful with mothers of 
 young children. It was said when good Doctor 
 Blake was applied to for a nurse he would say : 
 " Get Betsey Robbins if you can." She was born 
 in 1799, a lady of the old school, but she had 
 innate temperance principles. She taught moth- 
 ers of babies that alcoholic liquors were not neces- 
 sary to their restoration to health, but were posi- 
 tively injurious to themselves and the child. She 
 was an advocate of total abstinence, so much so 
 that those who did not agree with her accused her 
 of wishing to annihilate all alcoholic stimulant. 
 
 Mrs. Olive Reynolds Macomber practiced medi- 
 cine many years in Jay. Her home was on Macom- 
 ber Hill. She was known throughout that region 
 as Aunt Olive. She was a woman of fine personal 
 appearance, with an unaffected smile for all. Her 
 husband. Rev. John Macomber, was a Baptist 
 preacher. She often accompanied him on his 
 missions and advanced his work by her exem- 
 plary life and judicious counsel. Her success as 
 nurse was due largely to her excellent disposition 
 and rare qualities of mind. She was amiable, 
 firm and quiet.
 
 PREACHERS
 
 XXV 
 
 PREACHERS 
 
 A religion itt herself, warm, simple, true, with a substance that could walk 
 on earth, and a spirit that was capable of heaven. 
 
 n^HERE came to Maine, in December, 1662, 
 J- three women who had been persecuted and 
 publicly whipped in Dover, New Hampshire, in 
 consequence of their persistence in the religious 
 faith of the Quakers. 
 
 Anna Coleman, Mary Tomkins and Alice Am- 
 brose held the first Quaker meeting in Maine at 
 York, and another soon after at Berwick. The 
 first regular meetings of the Friends were at Eliot 
 in 1730. Serious alarm was occasioned through- 
 out the state, and days of fasting and prayer were 
 kept for deliverance from the "spread of Quaker- 
 ism." But sweet-faced women continued to take 
 their lives in their hands and go forth proclaiming 
 the truth as it was given them to see it.
 
 332 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 In 1759, Patience Estes was granted a certificate 
 " to travel on truth's account." The same year 
 Mary Curby and Elizabeth Smith were permitted 
 to preach in Portland. 
 
 Thankful Hussey was an eminent preacher of 
 the early time. She was born in Georgetown, mar- 
 ried Samuel F. Hussey, and lived in Portland. 
 She often made religious journeys for the purpose 
 of preaching. It was announced at a place where 
 the court was in session that Thankful Hussey 
 would preach the following Sabbath. Three 
 young lawyers ridiculed the idea that a woman's 
 sermon could have any intrinsic merit. They 
 agreed to hear her that they might " catch her in 
 her words," and compare notes afterward. They 
 took seats together well up in front, and settled 
 themselves to be amused over a "woman's ser- 
 mon." They began to feel a little guilty, when 
 she gave her text from Job 34: 3 — "For the 
 ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth meat." 
 They felt more so when she added : " I desire 
 that my words may be tried by every ear in this 
 house ; " and she looked at the three young law- 
 yers with her great motherly eyes until they hung 
 their heads. As she proceeded with her sermon 
 they were pricked to the heart by her winged
 
 PREACHERS 333 
 
 words, and captivated by her sweet voice and man- 
 ner. She so stirred their better nature that they 
 forgot to cast glances at one another in their efforts 
 to conceal their emotion. They confessed after- 
 ward that she revealed to them, themselves, and 
 they never cared to compare notes. Mrs. Hussey 
 lived ninety-two years. 
 
 Martha J. Owen, a Quaker preacher, was of 
 Scotch descent. She was born at Leeds. She 
 married William Hodges, also a preacher. They 
 settled in China, and traveled to various parts of 
 the state on their mission of love. Mrs. Hodees 
 was greatly respected. She had a sweet voice and 
 repeated hymns with great power. It was said of 
 her, that she had the gift of prophecy. 
 
 Upon one occasion, when called upon to admin- 
 ister to a sick friend, she sat down by the bed and 
 after a " weighty silence before the Lord," said : 
 " this sickness is not unto death for I hear thy 
 voice in a distant yearly meeting." The friend 
 recovered, and in a few months took out a " minute " 
 to attend the yearly meeting at Baltimore. 
 
 Mrs. Owen made it her special duty to visit 
 those in prison. By her quiet Christian demeanor 
 she won the confidence of the prison authorities 
 who allowed her to converse freely with those " in
 
 334 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 bonds." She was instrumental in securing the 
 release of a young man, who, through her influence, 
 became a devoted missionary. 
 
 Hannah Bartlett was a famous preacher among 
 the Friends. She lived at Unity and traveled to 
 Augusta, a distance of forty miles to preach. 
 These journeys were taken on horseback. She 
 was the mother of twelve children. 'Tis said her 
 Christian example greatly influenced the life of 
 Sibyl Jones. 
 
 Sibyl Jones was born in Brunswick in i. 
 She spent her childhood in Augusta. She was 
 a high-spirited girl, bitterly opposed to Quakerism 
 and protested against the humble garb ; but her 
 good mother insisted upon her wearing it, as she 
 became older. When the time arrived, the mother 
 with great care had prepared her daughter's dress, 
 which she had promised to wear the following 
 Sabbath. Imagine that mother's mortification, as 
 from the peaceful repose of her high seat in the 
 meeting, she looked up to see her daughter enter 
 with her bonnet reversed — the cape falling over 
 her face. 
 
 Sibyl developed into a devoted woman, her sweet 
 face and persuasive words winning many hearts.
 
 PREACHERS 335 
 
 She was married to Eli Jones in 1853. Very soon 
 after they heard the " call of God " and began their 
 religious visits, which they continued throughout 
 their lives. They proclaimed the love of Christ 
 throughout Europe, extending their journey even to 
 Siberia. In 1867 they sailed from Boston to Syria, 
 and the Holy Land. At Ramalleh, Jerusalem, 
 they founded the Eli and Sibyl Jones Mission, 
 which is still active and recognized even by the 
 prejudiced Moslem as a memorial of the practical 
 love of Christ. 
 
 Sibyl Jones was the mother of five children. 
 Much has been written of her great executive abil- 
 ity. She was for many years one of the trustees 
 of Oak Grove Seminary, now known as Bailey 
 Institute. Whittier writes of her: 
 
 Sibyl Jones, whose inspired eloquence and rare spirituality 
 impressed all who knew her. In obedience to her apprehended 
 duty she made visits of Christian love to various parts of 
 Europe and to the west coast of Africa and Palestine. 
 
 Aunt Horton was one of the mothers of the 
 Friends, much loved and honored in Portland. At 
 the age of ninety-six, she is described as straight 
 and majestic as a palm tree and in full possession 
 of all her mental powers. She and her husband 
 owned the first four-wheeled covered carriage ever
 
 336 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 seen in Portland. Their orchard was where Green 
 Street now is. She lived to be ninety-nine years 
 old. They often accompanied the Quaker preach- 
 ers in their journeys, Mrs. Horton left to the 
 Falmouth Monthly Meeting a sum of money, now 
 called the Sarah W. Horton Fund. 
 
 Mrs. Polly Young of Bangor, celebrated her 
 one hundredth birthday September 4, 1883. Her 
 descendants through five generations were present 
 on the occasion. Mrs. Young held upon her lap her 
 great-great-great-granddaughter, then six months 
 old. 
 
 Mrs. Young was born in New Hampshire. She 
 came of a long line of illustrious families. She was 
 married at the age of seventeen years, to Benjamin 
 Young. War and theology were discussed with 
 equal fervor by this youthful pair. With a babe, 
 three months old in her arms, Mrs. Young and her 
 husband ran away from Indians and took refuge 
 in Fort Lee. They afterwards lived in Vermont. 
 Coming to Maine with their thirteen children, they 
 made their home in Calais. Mrs. Young being 
 left a widow, subsequently moved to Bangor. 
 
 She inherited a highly religious nature from her 
 grandfather, who was a Baptist minister. Her 
 own conversion was marked, and ever after she
 
 PREACHERS 337 
 
 allowed no opportunity to pass without bearing 
 testimony for her Divine Master. She held meet- 
 ings at her own house, preaching with great fervor 
 to those who gladly accepted the invitations to her 
 spiritual feasts. 
 
 In this pioneer missionary work she met with 
 opposition, persistent and severe, from her hus- 
 band's relatives, who were not religious. But Mrs. 
 Young continued a preacher of righteousness. 
 
 She was gifted in song. At the extreme age of 
 one hundred years she retained the memory of 
 many of the quaint old hymns she sang in her 
 youth and which she continued to sing until her 
 death, sometimes singing all day long. She enter- 
 tained her many relatives on the occasion of her 
 centennial celebration by singing to them one of 
 the songs of her girlhood. 
 
 She kept up her daily avocations in spite of 
 increasing feebleness, saying always " 1 must do 
 my work and care for myself as long as I can." 
 Knitting became her constant occupation after 
 she had given up more active duties. It was her 
 ambition to knit a rug for each of her seven sons. 
 Her granddaughters would pin her knitting-safe to 
 her side and, the dear old lady would knit and 
 knit. She had completed one rug and was work- 
 mg on the second when the summons came to fold
 
 338 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 the work and lay it aside forever. Until within 
 three weeks of her death, she rose early and com- 
 pleted her own toilet, averring if she gave up these 
 habits, she would become a bed-ridden old woman, 
 and she did not wish to live after that. She never 
 complained of pain or feebleness, and peacefully 
 fell asleep a few months after the family reunion. 
 
 Almira Prescott was born in Gorham about 
 1800. She married Jeremiah Bullock and lived 
 in Limington. They were both independent 
 thinkers, and soon separated from the Free Baptist 
 church and established a sect known as the Bul- 
 lockites. They were both ordained as preachers, 
 and it was not unusual for them to occupy the 
 same pulpit, one preaching in the morning and the 
 other in the afternoon. They professed to preach 
 the gospel unadulterated. They were deeply 
 spiritual and opposed to all innovations. 
 
 Mrs. Bullock was a handsome woman, of fine 
 physique, with a clear persuasive voice. It was 
 her custom to lay aside her bonnet when preach- 
 ing. This she replaced with the little cap, una- 
 dorned with ribbon. She often impressed her ser- 
 mons by walking back and forth on the platform 
 from which she spoke. Her public duties did not 
 deter her from looking well to the ways of her
 
 PREACHERS 
 
 339 
 
 household. She was an old-time housekeeper, hos- 
 pitable and mindful of the poor. Her three chil- 
 dren were carefully reared. They are spoken of 
 as a family of preachers. Their son Wescott be- 
 came a famous preacher in the faith of his father 
 and mother. Mr. and Mrs. Bullock went about es- 
 tablishing churches, and for this purpose journeyed 
 in a one-horse chaise. Their visits were antici- 
 pated by the children, who were always attracted 
 by Mrs. Bullock's kindly face. They held meet- 
 mgs in the open air, in barns, or wherever an 
 opportunity was afforded them to proclaim the 
 gospel as they comprehended it. 
 
 One of Mrs. Bullock's friends ventured to re- 
 mind her that it was not necessary for her to speak 
 so loud — that the Lord was not deaf. "Ah," she 
 said, "but the sinners are; and I must wake them 
 up.
 
 FAMOUS HOSTESSES
 
 XXVI 
 FAMOUS HOSTESSES 
 
 A dinner lubricates business. 
 
 Lord Stowell. 
 
 MOLLY WENTWORTH married Jabez 
 Ricker, May 14, 1761. With their ten 
 children they settled upon the hill which bears 
 their name to-day, in 1794. There, in the family 
 burying-ground, they peacefully sleep, having 
 experienced the varying changes of nearly a 
 century. 
 
 The family had been familiar with the social life 
 of Berwick, which, at that early day, was renowned 
 for its culture and hospitality. The lonely hill, 
 with its one frame house, was to the girls a howling 
 wilderness. Our sympathy goes out to them as we 
 learn that, homesick and weary the night of their 
 arrival on the hill, they sat about the fire and wept. 
 We may be very sure the mother found no time for 
 tears. The next morning two wayworn travelers 
 
 343
 
 344 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 knocked at her door. Mary Ricker little dreamed 
 that, in sharing her family breakfast with them, 
 she was laying the corner-stone of the renowned 
 hostelry that crowns the hill to-day, the Poland 
 Spring House. 
 
 Janette Bolster was born in Rumford in 182 1. 
 As a child, she had the advantages of a cultured 
 home and the training of the best schools. While 
 yet young she became a teacher, and proved herself 
 the true student by continuing to pursue her 
 studies in literature and art ever after. She 
 was a fine botanist, an excellent musician, fond 
 of flowers, which were objects of her loving care 
 through life. 
 
 She married Hiram Ricker, and very soon became 
 the popular hostess of the Mansion House on Ricker 
 Hill. Mrs. Ricker was "to the manor born," her 
 father's house having been famous for its hospitality 
 to weary travelers. She soon developed great 
 executive ability, caring for the eight or ten board- 
 ers of that day with very little help. It was the 
 palatable dishes prepared by her own hands that 
 captivated her guests and spurred the hungry trav- 
 eler to lengthen out his day's journey, that he 
 might sit at her table. 
 
 Janette Ricker was a woman with a nature too
 
 FAMOUS HOSTESSES 345 
 
 broad to be limited by her household walls, even 
 though her home was a public inn. She was 
 much sought after by her sick neighbors, who 
 recognized her skill in baffling disease. Her pres- 
 ence brought healing to many sufferers. Fortunate 
 was the guest who fell ill under her roof. 
 
 She was deeply interested in all movements for 
 the uplifting of humanity, especially for the devel- 
 ment of women. 
 
 Janette Ricker gauged her guests, not by their 
 adornments and equipages, but by their minds and 
 hearts. From her parents she inherited the 
 cardinal virtues, justice, prudence, temperance and 
 fortitude, which made her strong in her religious 
 convictions. When fully convinced of the right, 
 she was not easily turned from her purpose. She 
 was a devoted wife and mother, having the love 
 and confidence of her children, who revere her 
 memory to-day. So steadfast was she to all the 
 duties of her home that, though living in Poland, 
 near the lake, for forty years, she had neyer given 
 herself an hour upon it until the last summer of 
 her life. 
 
 She fell asleep September 23, 1883, at the age 
 of sixty-two years, having exemplified all through 
 her life that "happiness consists not in getting and 
 receiving, but in giving and serving."
 
 346 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Cynthia Wheeler Bolster, the niother of Janette 
 Bolster, was one of the early teachers of Maine. 
 She came to Rumford from Concord, New Hamp- 
 shire, where she was reared and educated. She 
 married General Alvan Bolster, and was a warm 
 sympathizer with all his efforts for the betterment 
 of his fellow men. He was an earnest advocate of 
 temperance, and identified himself with the Sons 
 of Temperance. Janette Bolster Ricker was well 
 mothered and fathered, inheriting her strong nature 
 from both parents.
 
 AUTHORS
 
 XXVII 
 AUTHORS 
 
 A verse mayjind hint who a sermon flies. 
 
 George Herbert, 
 
 THE Honor Roll of Maine's sweet singers 
 is long — too long to be repeated here. 
 " Their ' lines ' have gone out through all the earth 
 and their words to the end of the world." They 
 are not only poets and writers, but they are 
 women — whose worthy deeds, should they be 
 chronicled, every one would fill many volumes. 
 
 The writer rejoices that one of the indications 
 of the utility of Women's Clubs is the study and 
 appreciation of our own writers, who have been 
 better known to the world outside than around 
 Maine hearthstones. 
 
 Of the eight popular songs by American women, 
 four were written by Maine women who in litera- 
 ture as in all other lines of development, are repre- 
 sentative women. 
 
 349
 
 350 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Looking down from the walls of the library of 
 the Maine Historical Society, one may see to-day 
 beneath her high turban headdress, the benign face 
 of Madam Wood. 
 
 Sally Sayward Barrell Keatings Wood was born 
 in 1759- Her childhood was spent in York at the 
 home of her Grandfather Sayward, who ranked 
 next in wealth to Sir William Pepperell, the 
 richest man in Maine. She was familiar with the 
 stories of border warfare and Indian treachery. 
 
 Her great-great-grandmother had been murdered, 
 with several of her children, by the Indians. 
 Another ancestor, Hannah Sayward, had been 
 carried a captive to Quebec, where she was pur- 
 chased by a noble French lady, who educated her 
 in a nunnery, of which she afterward became 
 Lady Abbess. 
 
 Mrs. Keating was naturally of a happy tempera- 
 ment. Her grandfather built a fine house at York, 
 which he gave her as a wedding present. Three 
 children came to gladden the home. After four 
 short years, her husband was stricken and died. 
 
 Devoting herself to authorship, Mrs. Keating 
 became the first writer of fiction in Maine, inci- 
 dents of the period in which she lived being her 
 themes.
 
 AUTHORS 351 
 
 In 1804, having resided with her children at her 
 home in York twenty-one years, she married 
 General Abiel Wood and made her home in Wis- 
 casset, at that time a leading commercial port. 
 Surrounded by wealth and in the society of con- 
 genial companions, Mrs. Wood continued her 
 literary work. 
 
 After the death of General Wood she made her 
 home in Portland, living in the Anderson house 
 on the south side of Free Street. Here she was 
 much respected and loved. During this period of 
 her life she published "Tales of a Night, by a Lady 
 of Maine." Truly she was a lady of Maine — one 
 of Maine's mothers. Among other published 
 works are "Julia," "The Spectator," and "The 
 Old Man's Story." 
 
 Elizabeth Oakes Smith, poet, mother, wife and 
 grandmother of poets, is one of the strong repre- 
 sentative women of Maine — a pioneer in many 
 lines of work. It is claimed that she was the 
 first woman in America to stand upon a public 
 platform. 
 
 Mrs. Smith was born in Portland. Her family 
 name was Prince. She died in North Carolina in 
 1893-
 
 352 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 We all love 
 
 The Same Old Song. 
 
 Out of the motherly heart it came, 
 Born of a sense that mothers know, 
 Rocking the baby to and fro, 
 
 Black or white or bronze the hue, 
 Always the same sweet tune is heard, 
 
 The sweetest song earth ever knew, 
 Happy as thrill of the nestling bird. 
 
 Mothers, content in the twilight glow 
 
 And rocking their babies to and fro. 
 
 Mothers out of the mother-heart 
 
 Fashion a song both sweet and low — 
 
 Always the same dear mother-art, 
 Rocking the baby to and fro ; 
 
 Always the lazy, loving tone. 
 
 Hummed in a dreamy undertone. 
 
 Many have read "Stepping Heavenward" and 
 had their soul blest by it. Those who sing to-day. 
 
 More love to Thee, O Christ ! 
 
 More love to Thee ; 
 Hear Thou the prayer I make 
 
 On bending knee ; 
 This is my earnest plea. 
 More love, O Christ, to Thee, 
 
 More love to Thee ! 
 
 More love to Thee. 
 
 remember the song but forget the singer, Eliza- 
 beth Payson Prentiss, born in Portland, where
 
 AUTHORS 353 
 
 her name is greatly revered. She was the daugh- 
 ter of the Rev. Edward Payson, and received 
 careful training as a child. She was one of a 
 little band of seven young ladies, who met to- 
 gether weekly for prayer and personal consecra- 
 tion. This band was the nucleus of the ladies' 
 prayer-meeting of the Second Parish church at 
 the present time. 
 
 Miss Celia Patten, one of the leading philanthro- 
 pists in Portland to-day, was also one of the band 
 of seven. She recalls that Miss Payson was 
 always ready to do her part ; that she shrank from 
 no duty or responsibility. 
 
 At an early age Miss Payson began to write for 
 the press. Her first contributions were to the col- 
 umns of the Youth's Companion. In 1840 she 
 accepted a position as teacher in a school at Rich- 
 mond, Virginia, where she remained three years. 
 Five of the six teachers in this school were from 
 Maine. 
 
 Elizabeth Payson was married to Rev. George 
 L. Prentiss, April 16, 1845. Their first pastorate 
 was at New Bedford, Massachusetts. After six 
 years they removed to Newark, New Jersey, thence 
 to New York. 
 
 Mrs. Prentiss was a happy wife and mother, but 
 her duties were not confined to her home. To 
 23
 
 354 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 her people she was not only the pastor's wife, but 
 also a "daughter of consolation." At her summer 
 home in Dorset, Vermont, she gave weekly Bible 
 readings, which were instructive and entertaining 
 to the women of the scattered neighborhood, who 
 often traveled miles to attend them. 
 
 Elizabeth Payson Prentiss completed the jour- 
 ney heavenward August 13, 1878. 
 
 Elizabeth Akers Allen (Florence Percy), born 
 among " The Happy Hills of Strong," has wan- 
 dered the wide world over, and sung many songs, 
 but never one that has touched more hearts than 
 
 Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight, 
 Make me a child again just for to-night ! 
 Mother, come back from the echoless shore, 
 Take me again to your lieart as of yore ; 
 
 Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue, 
 Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you ! 
 
 Come from the silence so long and so deep ; — 
 Rock me to sleep, mother, — rock me to sleep ! 
 
 The mother of Harriet Prescott Spofford, Sarah 
 Bridges Prescott, is spoken of as " a beautiful, 
 proud, intelligent girl, one of Nature's true nobil- 
 ity." Harriet was born in Calais. She is remem-
 
 AUTHORS 355 
 
 bered by the lumbermen on the St. Croix River as 
 a fearless child, who found great delight in bound- 
 ing from log to log, apparently unconscious of the 
 fact that a misstep would plunge her into the 
 swollen river. 
 
 What Harriet Prescott Spofford said of another 
 may not inaptly apply to herself : 
 
 In her writing, in her person, in her manner, in her voice, in 
 her dress, there is a gracious and undefinable charm. 
 
 Of Maine, her native state, she writes : 
 
 There is to me a poetry about her hills that does not belong 
 to hills of greater height ; her forests are darker and sweeter 
 than other woods, and I shall sail the unreturning voyage 
 before I forget the seas that girt her coasts with their flashing 
 barriers. 
 
 On the wild piping of the autumn blast 
 Float out, Old Glory ! 
 
 Let the sun kindle thee at morn and even 
 Where the storm-eagles fly 
 In thy far home and high, 
 Born of the colors of the morning sky 
 
 And dipped in dyes of Heaven. 
 
 There is no beauty like thy lofty winging. 
 
 Harriet Prescott Spofford. 
 
 Miss Salucia Abbott was for many years a 
 teacher in Boston and Brunswick. Subsequently
 
 356 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 she became the amanuensis of her brother Jacob 
 and reviewed the Rollo Books at Few Acres, 
 Farmington. A widowed sister, Mrs. Clara 
 Abbott Cutler, presided over the home. She was 
 a woman of gentle manners and greatly loved by 
 all who knew her. Few Acres was so suggestive 
 of the Rollo Books, the Lucy Books, and all of 
 those wonderful series of Jacob Abbott ! The 
 house was quaint and attractive, but the rambling 
 sheds and barn were even more so. Scrupulous 
 neatness was noticeable everywhere. There was 
 Lucy's Loft, to which some steps had been made 
 over the woodpile ; the venerable-looking rocking- 
 horse with saddle-bags in place ; the little gallery 
 made for amateur musicians. There were delight- 
 ful surprises for children at every turn about the 
 grounds. 
 
 The house was low, with a large chimney in the 
 middle. There were many rooms on the ground 
 floor, all connected ; and what made it enchanting 
 was that, as necessity required, new rooms had 
 been added and bay windows thrown out here and 
 here. Mr. Abbott's room was in the long-stretch- 
 ing ell. 
 
 The writer recalls her visits to the venerable 
 brother and sisters. There was a peculiar charm 
 in their quiet, genuine hospitality.
 
 AUTHORS 357 
 
 Miss Salucia's room was suggestive of rest and 
 comfort, with its broad Turkish couch and chairs. 
 There was usually a fire upon the hearth. Her 
 bright andirons were the standard for the polished 
 brass of the neighborhood. Among the book- 
 cases was one containing only her brother Jacob's 
 books, in which she took a sisterly pride. As she 
 pointed them out to the writer, Mr. Abbott, in his 
 quiet way, remarked that he hoped some day to 
 look them over, to see what was in them. 
 
 Maine has no sweeter singer or more devoted 
 lover than Frances Laughton Mace, who from her 
 home in the s^olden state writes : 
 
 I would give more for a dandelion from Maine than for the 
 armfuls of roses now blossoming in my garden. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mace have recently made for 
 themselves a new home among the foothills of the 
 Santa Cruz Mountains. The region is more 
 elevated than San Jose, and near Lyndon Heights, 
 the home of their only daughter. May Lyndon. 
 Mrs. Mace writes of this new home, July 25, 1S95 : 
 
 I have called the place " Ultima Thule," believing that for 
 both my husband and myself it would prove the last and 
 farthest land. I am well content to journey no more, since I 
 have given up all hope of ever being well enough to journey
 
 358 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 again to my own country. Now, " Only Waiting," will be my 
 own watchword. 
 
 Let me tell you a little about this last home of mine. The 
 home is only a cottage, straw-colored with a red roof ; not 
 many nor large rooms, but two large, delightful verandas. 
 From these the view is charming. The pretty city lies just 
 below us ; ten miles away some spires showing from a mass of 
 green, signifying San Jose. The smooth-rolling Coast Range of 
 mountains, of which Mount Hamilton is chief, is in full view. 
 I sit out and gaze on them, and they would look beautiful to 
 me but that I am gifted or doomed with a vision which always 
 sees beyond the extremest limit ; and so I see three thousand 
 miles away and look on the sparkle of Portland Harbor and 
 the blue Penobscot, and I see beloved faces missed forever 
 from my life. I cannot forget, but I think I shall find content 
 in this pretty little home in the hills. 
 
 Mrs. Mace was born in Orono. Her parents, 
 Doctor and Mrs. Laughton, soon after moved to 
 Bangor, where they still reside. Here Mrs. Mace 
 spent her girlhood and early married life. 
 
 The most popular of Mrs. Mace's poems, the 
 one she is singing in her western home to-day, was 
 written in Maine, when only a girl of eighteen : 
 
 Only waiting till the shadows 
 Are a little longer grown. 
 
 In Calais Mrs. Fred Pike wrote " Ida May." 
 
 Lucy Larcom and Lydia Maria Child spent part 
 of their girlhood in Maine.
 
 AUTHORS 359 
 
 Margaret Fuller loved to visit among her rela- 
 tives in Farmington. There was a freedom about 
 its hills in harmony with her own broad nature. 
 
 So long as 
 
 Leaf by leaf the roses fall, 
 
 Maine will cherish in loving remembrance the 
 name of Caroline Dana Howe. Through the 
 great law of recompense 
 
 Many are cradled into poetry by wrong 
 
 And learn in suffering what they teach in song. 
 
 Mrs. Howe says of " Leaf by Leaf the Roses 
 Fall : " 
 
 It was written in Boston in 1856, while under the shadow of 
 a great affliction. 
 
 The inspiration came to her as she watched the 
 dropping of the rose petals in her friend's garden. 
 Lying moldering in the flower-bed, they were 
 suggestive only of decay ; but Mrs. Howe's pro- 
 phetic eye saw that what seemed decay was transi- 
 tion. The fallen rose leaves were enriching the 
 soil for a brighter bloom. Out of the ashes of her 
 own heart there flamed up 
 
 We shall find some hope that lies 
 
 Like a silent germ apart, 
 Hidden far from careless eyes 
 
 In the garden of the heart,
 
 360 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 and thus was ushered in one of the heart-songs 
 that will never die. In its appeal to other hearts 
 it will ring on adown the ages, awaking 
 
 Some sweet hope that breathes of spring, 
 
 Through the weary, weary time, 
 Budding for its blossoming 
 
 In the spirit's silent clime. 
 
 Mrs. Howe was born in Fryeburg. She now 
 lives in Portland, where she has spent the greater 
 part of her life. She has for many years been 
 identified with the literary work of the city. Her 
 ready pen, intelligent criticism, keen wit and kindly 
 heart, make her a favorite with all circles. Young 
 writers find in her a helpful friend. Mrs. Howe is 
 much sought after by her lady friends, in the vicin- 
 ity of Portland, who often claim her for a week, 
 making their homes centers for literary gatherings 
 during her visit. Many happy groups have been 
 entertained and instructed by the vivid and inter- 
 esting recitals of her own experiences. Boys can 
 have no more delightful entertainment than Mrs. 
 Howe's personal reminiscences of army life. She 
 was one of the only party of women allowed to go 
 to the front during the late war. 
 
 Mrs. Howe is a busy woman ; has written much 
 more than she has published. Many of her songs
 
 AUTHORS 361 
 
 have been set to music. She cherishes among her 
 personal friends many of the literary people of 
 America. She was presented with the favorite 
 pen of Whittier, as a testimony of the friendship 
 between them. 
 
 Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards, the daughter 
 of Julia Ward and Samuel Gridley Howe, was born 
 in Boston. She was named for Laura Bridgman. 
 A part of her babyhood was spent in Rome, She 
 was a lovely child with a tendency toward litera- 
 ture; was educated in the private schools of 
 Boston. Being a natural reader, she was often 
 called upon to repeat ballads for the entertainment 
 of her school and home friends. 
 
 The children of Julia Ward and Samuel G. 
 Howe were started early in philanthrophy. When 
 a girl of seventeen, Laura was taken by her mother 
 to Greece, where her father and older sister were 
 laboring in behalf of the Cretans. Her letters 
 written home were so thrilling that her sister, now 
 Mrs. Hall, immediately collected five hundred 
 dollars for the sufferers. On the return of Laura 
 and her mother, by means of a fair which they 
 inaugurated, eighteen thousand dollars were raised 
 and forwarded for the relief of the persecuted 
 Cretans.
 
 362 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Laura Howe was married to Henry Richards in 
 1871. After residing in Boston a few years, they 
 came to live in Gardiner. Here in the home of 
 Mr. Richard's maternal ancestors, Mrs. Richards 
 is best known and loved to-day. She is the mother 
 of six children. To the manner born, it has been 
 her pleasure to gather about her students interested 
 in literary culture. To her happy home the boys 
 flock, sure of a welcome and sympathy that only a 
 loving mother-heart can give. Many of her 
 nursery lullabies and merry jingles have cheered 
 and blessed other homes through the columns of 
 the St. Nicholas. " Capt. January" Series and 
 the Hildegarde Books have been the delight of 
 boys and girls. 
 
 Sarah Orne Jewett, whose charming books are 
 
 read by all lovers of fine literature, has preserved 
 
 for the future student many delightful pictures of 
 
 her native Berwick in the olden time. 
 
 The settlers on the Piscataqua knew what was going on in 
 the world. They bought the best books and knew the best 
 men in other places and lived handsomely at home. 
 
 Miss Julia H. May has recently given to the 
 world " Songs from the Woods of Maine," aromatic 
 with the fragrance of the pine, resonant with the 
 babbling brook, and pregnant with lessons of faith
 
 AUTHORS 363 
 
 and hope and love. Born at Strong, the daughter 
 of a clergyman, she was carefully educated, inher- 
 iting from both parents her highly poetic nature. 
 After graduating from Mount Holyoke Seminary, 
 she taught in Kentucky eight years. 
 
 Associated with her sister, Miss Sarah R. May, 
 she founded the Wendall Institute at Farmington, 
 which had a successful career of thirteen years, 
 embracing among its students young men and 
 women from all parts of the state. Subsequently 
 the sisters were induced to move their school to 
 Strong, where it was known as the May School. 
 To the home of their girlhood they were most 
 cordially welcomed. A schoolhouse was built for 
 them on the home lot near the little parsonage, 
 and here the school grew and flourished. 
 
 Many of Miss May's saddest, sweetest songs 
 have been written in memory of her sister, whose 
 death in 1888, left her stricken with grief. 
 
 Miss May spends her summers in Strong, where 
 she delights to entertain the many friends who 
 visit her The white parsonage, with its green 
 blinds and massive chimney in the center, is nestled 
 among the lofty elms that tower above it in front. 
 The broad grounds surrounded by trees, stretch 
 behind it to the river bank, where a descending 
 path winds far down to the little stream of water
 
 364 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 that ripples over the rocks as it hastens on to join 
 the Sandy River, the pride of the beautiful valley. 
 On the almost precipitous sides of the bank grows 
 one of the monarchs of the Maine forests — a vener- 
 able pine, in vi^hose top the " century-living crow," 
 through many successive centuries, "has grown old 
 and died ; " beneath its shade, Pierpole gathered 
 his dusky warriors; on its spreading branches the 
 cradles of many generations of Indian babies have 
 swung. Still verdant, surrounded by a miniature 
 forest, the old pine points its needles heavenward 
 and imparts its fragrance. On a platform over- 
 hanging the edge of the bluff. Miss May has her 
 retreat, and here many of her poems, so near to 
 nature's heart, have been written. Through the 
 opening in the trees her favorite Mount Abram 
 can be seen. One of the most popular of Miss 
 May's poems — one that has touched many home- 
 sick hearts — is " O Wanderers of Maine." 
 
 O Wanderer from the land of Maine ! the perfume of the pine 
 
 Is mingled with your memory — Her violet vales entwine 
 
 Memorial wreaths — She calls for you — O must she call in 
 vain ? 
 
 Come back, your mother longs for you, O Wanderers of Maine. 
 
 To-day Miss May is making the world brighter 
 and better through her pen.
 
 PHILANTHROPISTS
 
 XXVIII 
 PHILANTHROPISTS 
 
 Meek and lowly, pure and holy. 
 
 Chief among the " Blessed Three ; " 
 Turning sadness into gladness 
 
 Heav'71-born art thou. Charity. 
 
 NO woman in Bangor is better known to-day, 
 more respected by those associated with 
 her in the various charities of the city, or more 
 tenderly loved by the deserving poor, than Mrs. 
 Caroline Rogers Mason. Her family name is 
 Fairfield. She was born April 3, 18 18, at Nor- 
 ridgewock. In this beautiful village on the banks 
 of the Kennebec her childhood was spent. She 
 had the advantages of a careful home training and 
 of the schools of her native town. Later she 
 studied at Waterville in the school now known as 
 the Classical Institute. 
 
 Her life-work was foreshadowed in her girlhood. 
 Associating herself with two companions, she con- 
 
 367
 
 368 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 ducted a Sunday-school, and on the afternoons of 
 Wednesday and Saturday a day school for chil- 
 dren who lived in the poor locality known as the 
 Plains, now the French settlement of Waterville. 
 
 By the removal of her family to Bangor in 1837, 
 she became a resident of that city. In 1840, the 
 last day of the year, she was married to John C. 
 Dexter of Boston. Of her two children by this 
 marriage, a son died in infancy and a daughter, 
 Mrs. Edwin B. Patten, now resides in Minneapolis. 
 In 1847 she became the wife of Doctor John 
 Mason of Bangor, where she now resides with 
 her three sons. 
 
 During her early married life, engrossing family 
 cares and domestic duties prevented Mrs. Mason 
 taking an active part in organized charitable work, 
 but she was a frequent and welcome visitor at the 
 bedside of the sick and in the homes of the poor 
 and unfortunate. She was a most energetic and 
 efficient participant in the work of the Sanitary 
 Commission during the late Civil War. 
 
 Mrs. Mason has been vice-president of the 
 Home for Aged Women since January, 1873, that 
 being the highest office in that institution held by 
 a woman. Since 1846 she has been associated in 
 the work of the Unitarian Benevolent Society, an 
 organization that has done a vast amount of good
 
 PHILANTHROPISTS 369 
 
 among the poor, and for the past twenty-two years 
 she has had the direct charge of the same, accept- 
 ing the presidency in 1873. 
 
 The Society of Associated Charities was or- 
 ganized in 1886. At its sixth annual meeting 
 Mrs. Mason was unanimously chosen president, an 
 office which she still fills with signal ability. She 
 has also been for many years vice-president of the 
 Female Charitable Society, one of the oldest or- 
 ganizations in Bangor. 
 
 A woman of exceptional intellectual gifts, a 
 keen judge of human nature, of broad and gen- 
 erous sympathies, possessing a fine tact and del- 
 icacy of feeling, united to sterling common sense, 
 Mrs. Mason is peculiarly fitted for a leader in 
 the work of philanthrophy, to which she has 
 devoted so large a portion of her time, strength 
 and means. 
 
 In Yarmouth lived Mrs. Olive True Stock - 
 bridge, the ancestor of one of Maine's sweet sing- 
 ers, Annie Louise Cary. 
 
 Her bounty had no winter in it, 
 An autumn 't was that grew the more for reaping. 
 
 She had distributed to the poor the greater part 
 of the new barrel of beef. When questioned by 
 
 24
 
 370 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 her husband in regard to its rapid disappearance, 
 she repHed, " It has all been eaten." 
 
 One may read upon her monument to-day, " This 
 woman was full of good works and almsdeeds that 
 she did." 
 
 Upon the honor roll of the Maine women who 
 were messengers of light and mercy to the sick 
 and wounded soldiers, during the Civil War, 
 should be written the name of Sarah E. Palmer. 
 
 Under the superintendence of Dorothea L. Dix, 
 she continued in the service as army nurse during 
 the war. She then accepted the position of ma- 
 tron in the hospital for the insane at Trenton, 
 New Jersey. Here she remained three years, 
 devoting herself unweariedly to the care and com- 
 fort of this unfortunate class of humanity. Sub- 
 sequently she returned to her home in Dover, 
 where in her childhood and early womanhood she 
 had enjoyed excellent educational advantages, 
 which had fitted her for the arduous duties so 
 faithfully discharged. She still continued her 
 charities, conducting her business affairs economi- 
 cally that she might have wherewith to help others. 
 She was a woman of superior physical and mental 
 powers. Her death occurred at Dover, January, 
 19, 1894.
 
 PHILANTHROPISTS 37I 
 
 The following sketch is from the pen of Mrs. 
 Harriet Park Keyes, herself a philanthropist, con- 
 stantly doing good in beautiful ways. She is 
 known throughout the state for her scholarly at- 
 tainments. As preceptress at Kent's Hill, she 
 greatly endeared herself to the young people of 
 Maine. As the wife of Captain Charles Keyes, 
 she assisted in the editorship of the Farmington 
 Chronicle. She has a legal mind and ready pen, 
 and has won many honors in the editorial chair. 
 She is an active worker in the Women's Christian 
 Temperance Union and in women's clubs. She 
 was the first president of the Monday Club, Far- 
 mington, one of the charter members of the State 
 Federation : 
 
 " Miss Hannah Peabody, a daughter of Doctor 
 William Peabody of Corinth, Maine, and a cousin 
 of George Peabody, the philanthropist, had a most 
 interesting career. For half a century or more, 
 she was devoted to missionary work, which, in a 
 smaller way, was closely akin to that her famous 
 relative bestowed so many millions to advance. 
 It is told as an incident of her girlhood and as 
 characteristic of her executive ability, that at the 
 age of nineteen she safely piloted a vessel through 
 the Isles of Shoals. She was a passenger on the 
 vessel, and at an inopportune moment the captain
 
 372 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 fell ill. As nobody else on board knew the pas- 
 sage, the brave girl gave the directions in her 
 non nautical terms, and the vessel was run safely 
 through. 
 
 " In 1828, Miss Peabody sailed for Chile with the 
 purpose of teaching and doing what missionary 
 labor she could. Zealous in the religion of her 
 ancestors, she carried with her a joint supply of 
 schoolbooks and Bibles. Owing to mutiny on 
 the ship she did not reach Chile, but found herself 
 landed, a total stranger, on the island of St. 
 Catherine, off the coast of Brazil. Thence she 
 made her way to Montevideo and to the countries 
 of the River Platte. She was extremely successful 
 as a teacher at several points in Uraguay and 
 Buenos Ayres, and finally established herself in 
 Gualeguaychu, a town in the Province of Entre 
 Rios, in the Argentine Republic. During her 
 earlier years of teaching. Miss Peabody spent all 
 her surplus earnings in opening schools and in 
 distributing Bibles, both in Spanish and English, 
 among the poor people who were destitute of 
 them. She taught much without pay, aside from 
 her regular school duties. Her old age found her 
 with very little of this world's goods, dependent 
 mainly on the generous assistance of English 
 ladies residing: in Entre Rios. It is believed that
 
 PHILANTHROPISTS 373 
 
 had her cousin, George Peabody, known her cir- 
 cumstances, he would have made ample provision 
 for her last days. After all the vicissitudes of life, 
 she retained her mental and physical powers to a 
 remarkable degree, and always cherished the hope 
 that she might live to see Yankee progressiveness 
 introduced into the Argentine Republic, and the 
 manufacture of cotton goods carried on as in her 
 native New England." 
 
 Mrs. Wooster Parker of Belfast, is a represen- 
 tative Maine mother, well known throughout her 
 long life for her deeds of mercy. She is to-day 
 still active. A careful student of human nature, 
 the younger philanthropists find in her a safe 
 counselor. 
 
 The daughter of Rev. Enoch Pond, D. D., so 
 well and favorably known in connection with the 
 history of the Bangor Theological Seminary, Miss 
 Pond was well fitted by theory and practice to 
 assume the duties of a misister's wife. She mar- 
 ried Rev. Wooster Parker. Their first pastorate 
 was at Foxcroft. They subsequently settled over 
 the North Congregational church of Belfast. 
 
 Mrs. Wooster is a woman of vigorous intellect, 
 and identifies herself with every movement for the 
 advancement of temperance, philanthrophy and
 
 374 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 the church. She has many of the qualities that 
 make her a natural leader among women. Hav- 
 ing the courage of her convictions, she is a 
 terror to Sabbath-breakers and evil-doers. She is 
 not afraid to rise up and condemn their evil prac- 
 tices. By her church and by those associated with 
 her in the various lines of philanthropic work, 
 Mrs. Wooster is greatly beloved. She is respected 
 by the young, for whose entertainment and growth 
 in true nobility of character she has always mani- 
 fested a deep interest. All her life she has been 
 a practical housekeeper of the genuine old-fash- 
 ioned type. In the loving devotion of her only 
 son, the Rev. Doctor Parker of Hartford, Connec- 
 ticut, is exemplified the careful training of a wise 
 mother. 
 
 There is no name of sweeter or more honored 
 memory, among the mothers of Portland, than that 
 of Mrs. Ellen Merrill Barstow. She was born in 
 Newburyport, in 1807, and was the daughter of 
 Colonel Paul Merrill and Eleanor Stevens. She 
 was early married to George S. Barstow of Port- 
 land, and in taking up a residence in this city, 
 became identified with its charities, and interested 
 in its good works. She was one of the early mana- 
 gers of the Samaritan, Martha Washington and
 
 PHILANTHROPISTS 375 
 
 Home for Aged Women Associations. In her 
 public, as well as private charities, she combined 
 with her executive ability, such rare tact, warm 
 sympathy and gentleness of manner as to call out 
 the expression at the time of her decease, " the 
 poor of the city have lost their best friend." 
 
 She was a prominent member of the First Uni- 
 versalist society after her marriage, became a 
 zealous worker for the church, and was for many 
 years a devoted teacher in the Sunday-school, help- 
 ing in all ways to make it a power for good for the 
 young people of the city. Many of her literary 
 productions were written in the interest of the 
 Sunday-school. " The Mission of the Fairies, " a 
 charming operetta, was written by her to aid the 
 library of the school, and has been a very popular 
 production. Mrs. Barstow was an active worker in 
 the Sanitary Commission at the time of the Civil 
 War, and was most efficient in her aid to the home- 
 less and needy, after the great fire in Portland in 
 1866, notwithstanding that she herself, was a suf- 
 ferer, having lost her home in that terrible holo- 
 caust. Whatever the occasion, whether a public 
 calamity, or a case of private distress, she was ever 
 ready to respond with her sympathy, her service 
 and her pen, for its relief. In events of the city's 
 rejoicing, she was equally ready to share in the
 
 376 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 enthusiasm, and to celebrate with her pen what 
 was uppermost in all hearts. On the return of the 
 2oth and 17th Maine Regiments, at the close of the 
 war, she wrote a spirited poem, which was read at 
 one of their anniversary celebrations in City Hall. 
 With all her domestic and home virtues, Mrs. 
 Barstow believed that a woman's sphere should not 
 be restricted, and could not be except by her own 
 capacity, for whatever a woman had the ability or 
 the gifts to do, would find expression. This was 
 exemplified in her own life, for with all the domes- 
 tic cares incident to rearing a large family of 
 children, she found time for literary as well as for 
 public work. The literary work she was especially 
 fitted for bv nature and culture, and as has been 
 said of Mrs. Stowe, Mrs. Barstow wrote and studied 
 while rocking the cradle. She composed stories 
 and poems for the papers and magazines, and the 
 readers of the Portland Transcript cordially wel- 
 comed the articles in its columns from her graceful 
 pen. Her style was natural and easy, and besides 
 her lighter stories for children and her charming 
 poems, she composed much of a deeply earnest 
 and religious nature. Her reading was extensive, 
 and she was abreast of the times on all the impor- 
 tant and serious questions of the day. In her 
 domestic life, in her humanitarian interests, her
 
 PHILANTHROPISTS 377 
 
 public work, her poetic and literary talent, her 
 religious life, her well-rounded and beautiful 
 character, we have reason to revere the memory 
 of one of the noblest of the mothers of Maine. 
 Her daughters worthily exemplify their mother's 
 teaching. All are women of culture and imbued 
 with the philanthropic spirit. 
 
 Mrs. Susan E. Bragdon was the first president 
 of the Women's Literary Union of Portland. 
 
 Mrs. Mary E. McGregor is known in connection 
 with the child-saving work of the state. 
 
 Mrs. Augusta M. Hunt is a graceful speaker, 
 and is identified with various educational and phil- 
 anthropic institutions. As president of the Home 
 for Aged Women, of the Women's Christian Tem- 
 perance Union, and of the Ladies' History Club, 
 she has proved herself a wise and efficient leader. 
 
 Mrs. Abigail R. Prentiss, or Madam Prentiss 
 as she is usually called, has been identified with 
 the charities of Bangor many years. Her parents, 
 Samuel and Polly Rawson, came from Massachu- 
 setts to Paris, where Abigail Adams Rawson was 
 born, February 5, 181 1. She was a vigorous in- 
 fant, having run off on her feet when she was only 
 nine months old. 
 
 In the pure air of her native hills, under the
 
 3/8 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 guidance of a wise mother, she grew to woman- 
 hood possessed of a strong, sound mind in a sound 
 body. She was educated in the public schools of 
 her native town in the same classes with Hannibal 
 Hamlin and his sisters. She had the advantages 
 of Miss Gurley's school for young ladies in Port- 
 land, and found in her visits to Boston and New 
 York, much to broaden and strengthen her recep- 
 tive mind. 
 
 In 1836 she married Henry E. Prentiss, a young 
 lawyer of her native town. After living a few 
 years in Old Town and Stillwater, they settled at 
 Bangor in 1840. Mr. Prentiss was a genial, cul- 
 tured man. Educated at West Point, he was a 
 master of mathematics and civil engineering. He 
 was a devoted lover of literature, and interested in 
 all that pertained to the ethical culture of the 
 community. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Prentiss were united in the bond 
 of a philanthropic spirit. They believed that so- 
 cial rule the best which should result in the great- 
 est happiness to the greatest number; both loved 
 nature better than art, and simple principles better 
 than ingenious sophistry. For twenty-five years 
 and more, Mrs. Prentiss kept close to the demands 
 of domestic duties, refreshing herself with an occa- 
 sional lecture or opera, and always with the culti-
 
 PHILANTHROPISTS 379 
 
 vation of flowers. She held herself ready to help 
 a sick neighbor, or to send for an engine if her 
 neighbor's house caught fire; but she would never 
 keep a careful list of callers, nor allow herself to 
 be appointed to any public function. 
 
 After the death of her husband she began to 
 have time to spare. 
 
 Antislavery and temperance had perhaps been 
 the two great causes which she had most warmly 
 embraced. After the formation of the Ladies' 
 Crusade against intemperance, it was but natural 
 that she should throw herself heart and soul into 
 the work. With this she has been identified for 
 twenty years, a part of the time being its president. 
 Her hand has never been withheld from any good 
 cause, religious, benevolent or educational. 
 
 She continues to act on the board of the Chil- 
 dren's Home, on which she has served many years, 
 taking to her mother-heart the friendless waifs. 
 Four of Mrs. Prentiss' children live to cheer and 
 comfort her. Not these alone, however, call her 
 " mother." Others still have called her so in years 
 long gone by.
 
 HANNAH TOBEY SHAPLEIGH 
 FARMER
 
 XXIX 
 HANNAH TOBEY SHAPLEIGH FARMER 
 
 Whichever way the wind doth blow 
 Some heart is glad to have it so. 
 Then biota it east or blow it west 
 The wind that blows, that wind is best. 
 
 Caroline Mason. 
 
 HANNAH FARMER was the evolution of 
 eight generations of worthy Maine mothers. 
 From Dorcas Bartlett she inherited courage and 
 self-sacrifice. This brave pioneer was a martyr 
 to Indian treachery. She was shot while riding 
 from church on a pillion behind her husband. 
 Knowing that she was mortally wounded, as she 
 fell from the horse, she urged her husband, for the 
 sake of the children, to hasten on unmindful of her. 
 She died heroically, pleading for the safety of her 
 loved ones. 
 
 The grandmother of Mrs. Farmer, Hannah 
 Shapleigh Tobey, was a representative woman of 
 
 383
 
 384 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 her time, exemplifying in her beautiful life many 
 of the domestic and civic virtues. 
 
 When a child of only eight years of age, her 
 mother, being somewhat of an invalid and her 
 father obliged to go from home for military service, 
 she was entrusted with the care of fourteen cows — 
 with the promise of a present on her father's return. 
 The little girl faithfully tended the cows and was 
 rewarded for all her labor with one yard of red 
 ribbon. She assured her granddaughter years 
 afterward that no child was ever more delighted 
 than she, for no other little girl had such a treasure. 
 Imported goods were not even dreamed of in those 
 days on the Shapleigh farm. She had many thrill- 
 ing experiences during her girlhood, as she jour- 
 neyed alone on horseback through the forests of 
 Eliot. 
 
 She married James Tobey, and in their sun- 
 shiny home on the banks of the Piscataqua, they 
 found great joy in living, as one by one there came 
 to them seven children. They were all lovers of 
 song, and even in advanced life the mother and 
 her three wedded daughters were all members of 
 the village choir. 
 
 Olive Tobey, the mother of Mrs. Farmer, was 
 born in Eliot in 1794. She married Richard
 
 HANNAH TOBEY SHAPLEIGH FARMER 385 
 
 Shapleigh and lived for a short time at Blackberry 
 Hi]]. Later tliey made their home at Great Falls, 
 where their three daughters, Mary, Elizabeth and 
 Hannah, were born. 
 
 Hannah Tobey Shapleigh Farmer, the daughter 
 of Olive and Richard Shapleigh, inherited her 
 broad nature and bright, cheerful spirit from both 
 parents. No more fitting tribute has been offered 
 to any Maine mother than the beautiful volume 
 published to the memory of Hannah Farmer by her 
 devoted daughter, Sarah Farmer, upon whom the 
 mantles of heroic women, through eight o-ener- 
 ations, have fallen. Hannah Tobey entered upon 
 her married life with the same spirit of devotion 
 that characterized all her future. While the 
 bridal party were assembling in the parlor of 
 her home, in the chamber above it she and Moses 
 Gerrish Farmer were kneeling in prayer for God's 
 blessing upon the vows they were about to take 
 upon themselves and which they so faithfully 
 fulfilled. Only a few days after her marriage, Mrs. 
 Farmer identified herself with the Antislavery 
 Society. Her home at Dover, New Hampshire, 
 soon became a way station of the underground 
 railroad. Here the fugitive man or woman found 
 refuge and a "Godspeed" over the Canadian line. 
 25
 
 386 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Hannah Farmer wrote of her married life: 
 
 There is something so precious in the daily communion of 
 husband and wife, I often feel that the land to which we are 
 going can have for me. no purer joy than I have known in this 
 sanctified relation. Woman is the presiding angel of her 
 home. Her unseen influence there is more than all pulpits in 
 the land. 
 
 Mrs. Farmer, through a life of almost uninter- 
 rupted invalidism, kept herself in touch with the 
 busy world outside of her home. When the 
 Rebellion broke out, having been bereft of her only 
 son, she said: 
 
 I have no son to give ; I give myself. With God's help I 
 will no longer live for myself. I consecrate all that I have 
 been, am, or ever hope to be, to my country's service. 
 
 Mrs. Farmer identified herself with every move- 
 ment for the amelioration of the condition of the 
 brave boys in blue. The dying benediction of 
 many a soldier was, "God bless Mrs. Farmer!" 
 
 By means of the May Day Fair which she in- 
 augurated and superintended from her sick bed in 
 Eden Home, Salem, Massachusetts, she was able to 
 place twelve hundred dollars at the disposal of the 
 committee for the relief of the suffering soldiers. 
 Other fairs followed. She continued in her work of 
 love to the close of the war, writing many letters to
 
 HANNAH TOBEY SHAPLEIGH FARMER 38/ 
 
 the sick in hospitals. It was her custom from the 
 first, when she learned that regiments from Maine 
 were to pass through Salem, to send the children 
 with flowers and kindly messages to distribute to 
 them as the train waited at the crossin<j. The 
 children delighted to gather the flowers and bring 
 them to Mrs. Farmer's sick-room, where they 
 together arranged them in suitable bouquets. It 
 was a little thing to give to a soldier a simple flower, 
 yet many of these were cherished as a testimony 
 that loving hearts followed them on their perilous 
 mission. 
 
 The story of Hannah Farmer, in the preservation 
 of the Old South Meeting-house, should be told by 
 every lover of that sacred shrine. Mrs. Farmer 
 remembered that Mary Norton, the wife of Rev. 
 John Norton, in 1699, bequeathed a part of her 
 estate "for the erecting of a house for the assem- 
 bling of the people together for the worship of 
 God," and she added: "for no other intent, use or 
 purpose whatsoever." And for no other purpose 
 was Mrs. Farmer willing it should be defiled. 
 When Mrs. Farmer learned that the parish, in 
 1876, gave over the property for other purposes, 
 her soul burned within her. She determined to 
 make an effort to save the ancient temple. Her 
 family remonstrated, but as she mused, the fire 
 burned.
 
 388 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 She wrote to the committee having the matter 
 in charoe: "The Old South Meetino-house and the 
 land on which it is built is God's." She assured 
 her husband and friends that the Old South would 
 be saved, and she never doubted her mission in 
 saving it. Upon her sick-bed she received a 
 telegram in answer to her proposition, that the 
 women of our country become its purchaser: 
 
 Will save Old South if you can collect $50,000 within six 
 days. 
 
 G. W. Simmons & Sons. 
 
 She wired them immediately: 
 
 Glory to God in the highest ! The dear old church will be 
 saved. The world was made in six days. Will send letter by 
 express. 
 
 H. T. S. Farmer. 
 
 Mrs. Farmer's letters, addresses and the appeal 
 to the women of Boston in behalf of the Old South 
 are a matter of history. She lived to see it pass to 
 the care of women, who now hold it in defiance of 
 the destroyers. 
 
 In memory of her dear baby, Clarence, Mrs. 
 Farmer built a cottage at Eliot, which was 
 accepted as a gift by the trustees of the Boston 
 city mission. To-day, under the superintendence 
 of Rev. D. W. Waldron and his associates, may be
 
 HANNAH TOBEY SHAPLEIGH FARMER 389 
 
 seen every two weeks during the summer, com- 
 panies of tired workers on their way to the bright 
 skies, pure air, sparkhng waters and warm welcome 
 of Rosemary Cottage. 
 
 Mrs. Farmer Hved to see the beautiful charity 
 she instituted in Rosemary Cottage an assured 
 success. In 1891, the year she "passed over," when 
 the records of Rosemary were made up, it was 
 found that more than one thousand guests — 
 mothers, little children, shop girls and tired 
 women — had received two weeks of rest and shelter 
 beneath the hallowed roof.
 
 AMY MORRIS BRADLEY
 
 XXX 
 
 AMY MORRIS BRADLEY 
 
 Have love, not iove alone for one, 
 But man as man the circling sun, 
 Thy charities on all. 
 
 Schiller. 
 
 AMY MORRIS BRADLEY was born in 
 Vassalboro. She was a frail, attractive 
 child, and while yet young had acquired a practical 
 knowledge of business. She was well educated, 
 and engaged as teacher in the Boston schools. 
 Failing in health, her physician prescribed the 
 climate of Central America as her only hope of 
 recovery. Soon after her arrival there, the only 
 person with whom she could converse fell ill and 
 died. 
 
 Homesick and almost in despair, Amy Bradley 
 set herself to learn the language. This she did, 
 thoroughly mastering the Spanish tongue. At 
 the breaking out of the Civil War, she was occu])icd 
 
 393
 
 394 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 in the translation of Spanish for commission 
 merchants of Boston. She immediately went to 
 Washington and offered her services as nurse to 
 the sick and wounded soldiers. 
 
 Camp Convalescence had been established at 
 Alexandria, Virginia. To this soldiers discharged 
 from other hospitals who were supposed to be able 
 to care for themselves were sent. General Butler 
 had gathered up seventy-five thousand deserters 
 and sent them here until they could be returned 
 to their regiments. 
 
 Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, who was detailed by 
 the Qfovernor of Illinois to look after sick soldiers 
 and take them home to that state, says of Camp 
 Convalescence: 
 
 It was one vast Golgotha, a bedlam, a besom of destruction. 
 Soldiers were dying by the hundreds. All the powers that be 
 were importuned to look after it, but it continued a reeking 
 mass of foul disease, despair and destruction. 
 
 To this camp Amy Bradley was sent. When 
 asked, " What do you propose to do ? " her answer 
 was: " Ultimately to break up the camp." 
 
 She began her work by sending the sick who 
 were able to be moved to Washington, where they 
 could receive care necessary to their recovery. In 
 a short time she had established order, and greatly 
 improved the condition of the suffering soldiers.
 
 AMY MORRIS BRADLEY 395 
 
 She persevered until the camp was abandoned. 
 This was in 1862-63. She did not relinquish her 
 work until the war was over. She was placed on 
 the hospital transports for taking the soldiers North, 
 where they could have better air and attention. It 
 was her business to receive the men on board the 
 transports and look after their comfort, often cook- 
 ing their food with her own hands. Those who 
 looked upon this frail woman, as she went about 
 her work in and out of the hospitals, over the 
 transports, among the sick and suffering, beside 
 the dying, would not have called her handsome. 
 But the face that looked down upon the sufferers 
 was animated with a heavenly glow. The soldiers 
 saw only beauty. She was to them joy and glad- 
 ness. Said one: "Miss Bradley brings the biggest 
 chunks of sunshine with her!" So kind, so helpful, 
 she was a mother to the boys, who were comforted 
 by her very presence. 
 
 When the war was over and her services in 
 the Sanitary Commission no longer required, she 
 offered to go as missionary of the Unitarian Asso- 
 ciation, wherever they might send her. She had 
 studied the condition of the poor whites, as they 
 were called, and expressed the wish to work for 
 them, as everybody seemed to be working for the 
 freedmen. "This ignorant portion of the white
 
 396 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 inhabitants of the South was physically, mentally 
 and morally degraded." Their condition was the 
 outgrowth of the worst manifestation of slavery as 
 an institution, utterly destitute of refinement and 
 comfort. 
 
 To Amy Bradley they were children of a common 
 Father, and to their amelioration she now devoted 
 herself. The Soldiers' Memorial Society cooper- 
 ating in her appointment, she went to Wilmington, 
 North Carolina, January i, 1867. She went alone 
 and without introduction, and her entrance upon 
 her labors was far from encouraging. She was 
 frankly told that it was impossible for her to 
 succeed. The papers of the city denounced her. 
 
 She went to some of the homes of the poorest 
 people and won their confidence so far that she 
 soon gathered a few children in a little building, 
 and in the course of a few weeks she had sixty 
 scholars, and before the year closed, one hundred 
 and forty. She organized an industrial school and 
 Sunday-school, procured supplies from the North, 
 and distributed soup and clothing among the needy. 
 
 The feeling was very bitter against Miss Bradley, 
 because she was a northerner and because she was 
 a woman. It was with difficulty that she secured 
 a building for her school, though she was aided by 
 Mayor Martin. James Chadbourne and Mr. Kidder
 
 AMY MORRIS BRADLEY 
 
 397 
 
 were friends of her work from beginning to end. 
 Her first school was eventually located in the 
 poorest part of the city, known as Dry Pond. It 
 was the bed of an ancient lake. The Misses 
 Wesselhoeft, of Boston, sent to Miss Bradley a 
 pony and phaeton, by means of which she was 
 enabled to go among the homes and ask the 
 children to come to her school. At first they had 
 to be aided in order to attend. 
 
 Miss Bradley soon had a schoolhouse, adapted 
 to her work, and was assisted by northern teachers, 
 but gave personal attention to every detail. The 
 people did not understand her; tried in every 
 way to hinder her teaching the children patri- 
 otism. They were exceedingly jealous of her. 
 Miss Bradley determined to interest the better class 
 of people in her work. Through the mayor, she 
 secured the opera house for a school exhibition. 
 She sent out special invitations, taking great pains 
 to invite the city officials and their families. She 
 had inspired every child with love and reverence 
 for the flag; had trained the children to emphasize 
 their patriotic songs with the waving of small flao-s. 
 Hundreds of them were arranoed on the stao-e. 
 graduated according to height. They sang sweetly, 
 and gracefully waved their flags. This stirred up 
 the most bitter feeling, and when the children
 
 398 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 ceased, the vast audience seemed transformed into 
 a flock of geese, so continuous was the hissing. 
 
 All this time Miss Bradley had stood in the rear 
 of the stage, holding the Star Spangled Banner. 
 She now quietly moved forward to the footlights, 
 and slowly retired. This she did three times, 
 awakening by her impressive manner and personal 
 magnetism, the slumbering love for the old flag, 
 and when she at length unfurled it, sentiment for 
 Old Glory was aroused and the audience was 
 compelled to cheer the flag. The papers, the next 
 morning, for the first time, spoke kindly of Amy 
 Bradley's schools. 
 
 Long before patriotic enthusiasm had expressed 
 itself in "a flag for every schoolhouse"in the North, 
 the Stars and Stripes were floating from Amy 
 Bradley's schoolhouses in the South. 
 
 At the beginning of the third year of her 
 missionary work, Miss Bradley came North and 
 made her report before the May Meeting in 
 Boston. That great-hearted philanthropist, Mrs. 
 Mary Hemenway, endorsed her work and gave to 
 it her effective cooperation. She placed at Miss 
 Bradley's disposal, money for the building of 
 another schoolhouse in the opposite quarter of 
 the city. This was supplied with modern school 
 furniture, to the great delight of the pupils, and 
 was dedicated the Hemenway Schoolhouse.
 
 AMY MORRIS BRADLEY 399 
 
 Gradually the schools won their way into favor 
 in the city of Wilmington. By witnessing what 
 Miss Bradley had done, citizens of all classes were 
 converted into a belief in the practicability and 
 value of public schools. Much sooner than Miss 
 Bradley had dared to hope, her schools were 
 adopted by the city, and were the first free public 
 schools south of Mason and Dixon's line. 
 
 The movement became general. The entire 
 state was aroused to the necessity of action in the 
 line of public schools. Miss Bradley's schools 
 became the standard; as her methods advanced, 
 the state schools also advanced. The city of 
 Wilmington now elected Miss Bradley supervisor 
 of schools. She retained her northern teachers, 
 who, like herself, were ladies of culture and refine- 
 ment. 
 
 Through all this time. Miss Bradley was con- 
 ducting Sunday services. In religious teaching 
 she was never sectarian. She sought to indoc- 
 trinate the people in love to God and love to man. 
 
 In the development of the school system of the 
 city and state. Miss Bradley saw the necessity of 
 a training school for teachers. Assisted by Mrs. 
 Hemenway, she secured a location in the center 
 of the city and here was built the Tileston Insti- 
 tute. In this building Miss Bradley was able to 
 effect a long cherished plan, to have an "upper
 
 400 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 room" for her Sunday services. She had planned 
 the entire building to this end. It was unique in 
 its appointments. A broad stairway led up to a 
 spacious hall, bright and sunny. The commodious 
 stage was backed by a large bay window, in which 
 palms, ferns and other plants were massed. The 
 room was supplied with all modern furnishings, 
 including an organ and a piano. It was adapted 
 to the purposes of the school exhibitions and 
 commencement exercises; but dearer than all else, 
 it was the sacred shrine in which Amy Bradley 
 sought to benefit parents and pupils by teaching 
 them that character must be based on Christian 
 principles, strengthened and refined by knowledge. 
 Never did Amy Bradley so effectively and yet 
 unconsciously impress her strong personality as 
 in these Sunday services. There was a stateliness 
 in her slight figure. Her hair, tinged with gray, 
 was parted smoothly above her forehead and 
 knotted low at the back, with a long ringlet at 
 either side — a style worn from her girlhood. Her 
 voice was low and pleasantly modulated; her 
 enunciation clear and distinct; her slender and 
 beautifully shaped hands were most impressive in 
 gesture, which she used freely. She was always 
 dressed with care. There was a rare smile upon 
 her delicate features.
 
 AMY MORRIS BRADLEY 4OI 
 
 At the end of twenty years, utterly worn out, 
 Miss Bradley was induced to leave to others the 
 work she had so successfully consummated. Mrs. 
 Hemenway built a home for her on the same lot 
 with the Tileston Institute, where she still lives. 
 To help others has been the great passion of her 
 life. Mrs. Hemenway spent a hundred thousand 
 dollars in building up the Tileston Normal School 
 and she gave the same sum to save the Old South 
 Church. She did it all in love — that the children 
 of the South and the children of the North should 
 be taught to love their country so tenderly that it 
 may never again be convulsed with civil strife. 
 
 Among the Maine girls associated with Miss 
 Bradley in Wilmington, was her niece. Miss Amy 
 Morris Bradley Homans, who partakes of the 
 same executive ability and broad culture as her 
 aunt. She engaged in teaching when only sixteen 
 years of age; was preceptress of Oak Grove 
 Seminary, Vassalboro, at seventeen. 
 
 Mrs. Hemenway studied the work of Miss 
 Homans in the South, marked her faithfulness to 
 details and with her keen insight to character, saw 
 another Amy Bradley in Miss Homans. She 
 became the secretary of Mrs. Hemenway, and was 
 soon placed at the head of the Boston Normal 
 School of Gymnastics. 
 
 26
 
 402 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Miss Homans is a constant student and ranks 
 among the leading educators of the day. For 
 many years she was styled the right arm of Mrs. 
 Hemenway. It seemed but fitting that at her 
 death Mrs. Hemenway should bequeath to Miss 
 Homans the directorship of all her educational 
 work, a trust Miss Homans is faithfully discharg- 
 ing to-day.
 
 DOROTHEA L. DIX
 
 XXXI 
 DOROTHEA L. DIX 
 
 Life counts not hours by joys or pains ^ 
 But just by unties done. 
 And ivheii I lie on the green kirkyard 
 With the mould upon my breast. 
 Say not that she did well or ill. 
 Only she did her best. 
 
 THERE is no record to show that the grand- 
 mother of Dorothea L. Dix, whose name 
 she bore, ever accompanied her husband, Doctor 
 Elijah Dix, on any of his numerous journeys from 
 Boston to Maine. He acquired large tracts of 
 land, out of which the present towns of Dixmont 
 and Dixfield were formed. The settlers obtained 
 the titles to their farms from him. He died in 
 1809 and his body lies in the burial-ground near 
 Dixmont Center. His son, Joseph Dix, acted as 
 land agent for his father and made his home at 
 Hampden, near Dixmont. Here Dorothea Dix, 
 the philanthropist, was born in 1S02. 
 
 405
 
 406 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Very little is known of her early home life. 
 Only a few years were spent in Maine. She lived 
 with her family in Worcester until a girl of twelve 
 years. Her mother was an invalid and much of 
 the care of the home and of her two younger 
 brothers devolved upon her. She never knew 
 childhood. She was educated in Boston at the 
 home of her grandmother, Madam Dorothea L. 
 Dix. 
 
 She began her work as teacher in Boston when 
 only a girl of fifteen. Her grandmother owned a 
 small house not far away from her home on Wash- 
 ington Street. By dint of much coaxing, Doro- 
 thea secured this for a schoolhouse, into which 
 she gathered the children of the neighborhood. 
 In order to impress them with the dignity of her 
 position, she lengthened her gown, made Vandykes 
 to cover the low^ neck, and added long sleeves. 
 Here the demure little maiden anticipated the 
 methods of Froebel, introducing the principles of 
 the kindergarten before they were worked out in 
 the mind of the German educator. 
 
 In order to increase her knowledge and ability, 
 she wrote " Conversations of Common Things," 
 her first published work. It treated of animals, 
 minerals and flowers, purporting to be conversa- 
 tions between pupil and teacher. She continued a
 
 DOROTHEA L. DIX 407 
 
 student of nature during her life. A personal 
 friend of Audubon, later in life she assisted him 
 with her knowledge of birds as observed in the 
 tropics. Miss Elizabeth Peabody was her life-long 
 friend. 
 
 In 1 82 1, Miss Dix was still teaching in one of 
 her grandmother's houses, and her school had 
 assumed the dignity of a regular day-school. In 
 addition to this she had inaugurated a school for 
 poor and neglected children. For this purpose 
 she utilized the loft of the stable, having convinced 
 Madam Dix of the necessity for such a school. 
 This school was the beginning of the great work 
 of child saving at the present time. 
 
 In 1824 the friends of Miss Dix were alarmed 
 at her failing health. She was induced to give up 
 her school. A few years after she assumed the 
 care of the education of Doctor Channing's chil- 
 dren. She accompanied the family to the island 
 of St. Croix, one of the West India group. Here 
 she found great pleasure in studying the tropical 
 flora and fauna of the island. With the change 
 of climate and scenes she was partially restored to 
 health, and with it came again the dream of her 
 girlhood, to establish a school for the higher cul- 
 ture of girls in Boston. 
 
 The child school of Dorothea Dix developed at
 
 408 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 last into a boarding and day school in the Dix 
 mansion, to which children were sent from the best 
 families of New England. To the care of this 
 school was added, in consequence of the failing 
 health of her grandmother, the care of the house- 
 hold, which now included her two brothers. 
 
 This was a model school in many ways. Miss 
 Dix orave to it all the ardor and devotion of her 
 unselfish nature. To lead the children into cor- 
 rect habits of thought and action, that their future 
 character-building might rest on a sure foundation, 
 was the great ambition for which she sacrificed all 
 personal ease and pleasure. 
 
 Mrs. Margaret T. W. Merrill, of Portland, was a 
 pupil in this school. She exemplifies in her life 
 the teachings of Dorothea Dix. Mrs. Merrill is 
 identified with the philanthropies of Maine, and 
 has also a national reputation. She keeps her 
 heart tender and loving in her interest in the work 
 she has superintended many years, " Homes for 
 Homeless Children." There is an undefinable 
 charm in the personality of Mrs. Merrill. 
 
 She kindly contributes to these pages the follow- 
 ing reminiscences of the great philanthropist: 
 
 Dorothea Dix was often in my family as a guest for weeks at 
 a time, making Baltimore, where we then lived, her point of 
 departure for the South and West. Our correspondence
 
 DOROTHEA L. DIX 4O9 
 
 began in 1833, while I was at her school, and continued 
 throughout her life. There was ever the relation of teacher 
 and taught between us. 
 
 During her stay with us she wrote her memorial to the legis- 
 lature of North Carolina, and when completed, took her way 
 to Raleigh, and remained there some six or eight weeks. 
 
 During the morning hours she wrote without interruption, 
 except to knock at my door and take a look at the baby — 
 there was always one in those days — then with a smile would 
 walk quietly back to her work again. We all lunched together. 
 The afternoon was devoted to driving into town, sometimes to 
 the Penitentiary, sometimes to the Reform School. She often 
 visited the former on Sunday reading the Scripture and 
 speaking to the convicts. 
 
 When the time came for us to leave Ivy Hills, it was to 
 her like the removal of a " way station " in her journeys to and 
 from the South. She came to us often in New York and 
 Cambridge. Her last visit was in Portland. She remained 
 three weeks, going to Augusta to the asylum while here, and 
 visiting Rev. Dr. Nichols of Saco on leaving us. 
 
 Not long before she passed to her rest she returned a 
 package of my earliest letters to her, which show what a com- 
 plete mother-confessor she was, encouraging a searching intro- 
 spection, so searching as to produce a morbidly unhealthy, 
 mental condition, only to be relieved by a return to my mother 
 and father and the cheerful companionship of my sisters and 
 brothers. All of my school companions were subjected to the 
 same condition. But I must not linger over these recollec- 
 tions of one who entered into my life more minutely than any 
 one outside of my immediate family. 
 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 Margaret T. W. Merrill.
 
 410 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 The letters from which the following extracts 
 are taken, were written by Mrs. Merrill in 1833, 
 when a girl of only fifteen years : 
 
 My Dear Miss Dix : — You were speaking to me the other 
 day of the exercise you required of your scholars of giving 
 to you at intervals an account of their feelings. 
 
 I thought again and again how shall I write that to another 
 of which I am ignorant myself. It seemed impossible to do 
 it. At last I determined to think, not of the exercise as a 
 lesson that must be done and well done, or it would not be 
 credited, but as something which I ought to do whether you 
 requested it or not. 
 
 I began with the progress I had made in school. 
 
 I saw that I had not tried to be diligent and improve every 
 moment because it was right to do so, but that I might gratify 
 my friends by it, that all my endeavors to succeed in my 
 studies arose from no fixed principles. 
 
 I began to take pleasure in writing to you and telling you 
 what I thought and felt, and you know I did often. 
 
 I think and know that it is you whom I ought to thank for 
 all the benefits I may have derived from looking into my 
 thoughts and feelings. 
 
 I do not think I do injustice to my father and mother in 
 saying this, I always gave them entire confidence ; as far as I 
 knew my own heart they knew it, and I doubt not better ; but 
 I never, until I came to you, was accustomed to examine my 
 feelings. I knew not what they were myself. I could not
 
 DOROTHEA L. DIX 4I I 
 
 define them to others. I do thank you for discovering to me 
 how much I can do for myself, and for aiding me in doing the 
 little I have accomplished. 
 
 Margaret. 
 
 Mrs. Merrill adds: "Our confessions were 
 deposited in a little post-office box provided in our 
 parlor schoolroom." 
 
 After five years of continuous toil and care, Miss 
 Dix's frail constitution yielded to the strain, and 
 she found herself physically prostrated. Through 
 the influence of Doctor Channing and others, she 
 took a sea voyage to England. At the home of 
 her newly-found friends, Mr. and Mrs. Rathbone of 
 London, she was an invalid for many months. 
 
 During her absence in England, her mother and 
 Madam Dix died. On her return to America in 
 the autumn of 1837, she was obliged to make her 
 home in a less rio^orous climate than New Ene- 
 land. She chose Virginia and Washington, D. C. 
 A bequest left her by her grandmother would now 
 have admitted of a life of ease and study, but Miss 
 Dix was a child of destiny — she could not loiter 
 in her heaven-appointed mission. 
 
 The great life-work of Dorothea L. Dix, her 
 labors for the improvement of the condition of the 
 insane, her untiring investigations, her appeals 
 before legislative bodies and to benevolent individ-
 
 412 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 uals, her disappointments, her journeyings and 
 her joys, are all faithfully told by her biographer, 
 Francis Tiffany. 
 
 She is best known by the present generation, 
 perhaps, through her labors in the Civil War. 
 She was appointed superintendent of women 
 nurses, and though sixty years of age at the time, 
 she did not allow herself a single day's furlough 
 through the four long years of the war. Her vow 
 of consecration to the alleviation of human suffer- 
 ing, taken in early womanhood, was never broken. 
 
 Wherever the poor, wounded, insane, enslaved 
 of any nation cried for help, her hand was uplifted 
 for their release from suffering. Her work as 
 nurse was only an episode. Philanthropy was her 
 passion ; her life was looking after insane paupers 
 and convicts. 
 
 There were few asylums for the insane in the 
 United States even, when she began her work only 
 one under the care of the state. Through her 
 efforts, twenty states had adopted humane methods 
 for the care of the insane before her death, and her 
 enthusiasm is felt to-day wherever institutions are 
 founded for the benefit of the unfortunate. 
 
 Mrs. George C. Frye, one of Maine's younger 
 philanthropists, well-known throughout the state as 
 the mother of the State Federation of Women's
 
 DOROTHEA L. DIX 413 
 
 Clubs, and president of the board of directors of 
 the Invalid's Home of Portland, in her early days 
 sat at the feet of Dorothea Dix. The following 
 letter from her pen presents a pleasing picture of 
 the declining years of the great philanthropist : 
 
 When a girl of eighteen I visited my brother, Doctor Charles 
 H. Nichols, superintendent of the Hospital for the Insane at 
 Washington, D. C. Dorothea Dix was at that time the guest 
 of the institution. The United States government, in recog- 
 nition of her services in securing the location, had given her a 
 home beneath its roof. She was then suffering from malaria 
 contracted during the Civil War, and was obliged to keep her 
 room for weeks. 
 
 It was my pleasure to read to her mornings. This was an 
 inspiration to me, because she entered into the subject with 
 such delight. If a beautiful thought moved her, she would 
 say : " Now, dear, let us analyze that — such gems we must 
 treasure up to strengthen us in the winter of life, as well as to 
 assist us to-day. 
 
 Sometimes she would be reminded of her work during the 
 war and after its close, looking up the families of fatherless 
 children, securing situations for widows who must work as well 
 as weep. She could speak of that part of her life only for a 
 few minutes before her eyes would dim and her voice falter. 
 With a smile through her tears like a rainbow made by the 
 sunshine on the raindrops, she would kiss me and say, " Some 
 time I will relate more, but not now; let us talk of the 
 present." 
 
 She soon recovered so as to be able to come to the dining- 
 room for luncheon. She was fond of flowers. The first blade
 
 414 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 of grass always delighted her. She called it God's every-day 
 love. 
 
 Her birthday occurring at this time we decorated the dining- 
 room with beautiful flowers, arranging an arch of roses above 
 her seat. Professor Henry and family of the Smithsonian 
 Institute were invited to be present. Doctor Nichols, as was 
 his custom, went to her room to escort her to the dining-room. 
 As she entered the door she stopped and brushed away a tear, 
 saying, as she looked up to Doctor Nichols with a smile, which 
 was always that of a girl : " Let us enter this paradise to- 
 gether." The doctor replied, " Enter first. Miss Dix ; I may 
 not be admitted." He seated her beneath the arch. Her 
 beautiful face, radiant with joy underneath which glowed the 
 true nobility of her womanhood, impressed itself upon me on 
 that occasion never to be forgotten. 
 
 On Tuesdays, one section of the lower hall of the asylum 
 was reserved for those who appealed to her for help. I never 
 saw less than five there, sometimes more than a dozen appli- 
 cants. When she was too ill to see them they went away 
 heavy-hearted 
 
 One day I took their appeals to her, and brought back to 
 them all helpful words and plans. I begged the privilege of 
 investigating these, and out of the seven applicants but one 
 proved unworth3^ 
 
 Her word to young people was, " Have all your youthful 
 pleasure, also something of work every day, that the character- 
 building may have discipline, and when work becomes a neces- 
 sity, that necessity may be a pleasure. Love the home, and 
 let your influence begin there, then go out to your neighbor, 
 whoever he may be." 
 
 Said Professor Henry, her lifelong friend : " Dorothea Dix, 
 with her fine ph}'^sique and remarkable intelligence, is the most
 
 DOROTHEA L. DIX 
 
 415 
 
 perfectly developed woman I ever knew." There can be but 
 one Dorothea Dix, and we may add, but one Professor Henry. 
 A Christlike man, quiet and absorbed in scientific study, yet 
 with a heart capable of taking in the minutest details of the 
 great philanthropies of Dorothea Dix. 
 
 The influence of this noble woman has been to me a con- 
 stant inspiration, governing many acts of my life. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Eunice Nichols Frye, 
 
 In selecting suitable granite for the monument, 
 she had caused to be erected at Fortress Monroe, 
 " In memory of Union soldiers, who died to main- 
 tain the laws," it was but natural Miss Dix should 
 spend weeks among the quarries of Dix and other 
 islands along the Maine coast. And yet very few, 
 to-day, know that we have a right to claim this 
 great philanthropist, in whose mother-heart there 
 burned a love for all God's creatures, as a native 
 of Maine. 
 
 She was buried in Mount Auburn, July, 1887. 
 Doctor Nichols, after standing by her open grave 
 wrote her English friend : 
 
 Thus has died and been laid to rest, in the most quiet, unos- 
 tentatious way, the most useful and distinguished woman 
 America has yet produced.
 
 WOMEN'S CLUBS FORESHADOWED 
 
 27
 
 XXXII 
 WOMEN'S CLUBS FORESHADOWED 
 
 Unity in Diversity. 
 
 T^HE first organizations of women in the state 
 -i were female prayer-meetings, maternal asso- 
 ciations and sewing-circles. These were all under 
 the special care of the minister, who felt it his duty 
 to be present and open the meeting in an orderly 
 manner. 
 
 So far as the writer has been able to learn, the 
 first literary club of Maine that admitted women, 
 was the Nucleus of Brunswick. 
 
 In 1828, females were admitted as members, free 
 of expense, to a similar organization in Winthrop, 
 on condition they attend regularly to some studies.' 
 It is recorded: 
 
 A female class recited in " Blair's Philosophy," and another 
 studied "Wilkins' Astronomy." 
 
 419
 
 420 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Limerick had a " Female Cent Society," organized 
 in i8 1 5, with twenty-eight members, Winslow had 
 a similar society, of which Mrs. Asa Burnham was 
 the presiding genius. She used to ride on horse- 
 back from house to house to collect the dues. A 
 female society was organized in Winslow, even before 
 the church, its object being to aid in the support of 
 the gospel. It has continued to this day, proving 
 itself an efficient arm of the church. The "June 
 meeting" is one of the social features of the town. 
 
 "Society for Mutual Improvement." This was a 
 state society for the purpose of helping "mothers 
 to a better understanding and more efficient per- 
 formance of their highly responsible duties." 
 
 The women of Winthrop banded themselves 
 together for the purpose of elevating the moral 
 tone of society. They were much ridiculed, even 
 by those who should have aided them, but by their 
 meetings for prayer and consultation, by means of 
 the literature they distributed, they were a power 
 for good. 
 
 The present Woman's Club movement in Maine 
 was anticipated by Mrs. Hannah Whipple Allen, 
 of Gardiner. She is familiarly spoken of as Mrs. 
 Squire Allen. Her husband was a lawyer of note, 
 and their home was open, not only to the distin- 
 guished lawyers of that day, but many of the law
 
 WOMEN S CLUBS FORESHADOWED 42 1 
 
 students found in Mrs. Allen a warm sympathizer 
 and timely friend. Her literary and scientific tastes 
 led her to gather about her a coterie of cultivated 
 people. Her rare social qualities, aided by her 
 fine presence and kindly manner, attracted alike 
 stranorers, neig-hbors and children. She often 
 invited small companies to her parlor for talks 
 upon scientific subjects or to listen to lectures. 
 Hon. J. W. Bradbury recalls one of these enter- 
 tainments. Dr. John Randall, a young lawyer 
 studying with the famous Dr. Nourse of Hal- 
 lowell, was invited to address the ladies at one of 
 these parlor gatherings. He was a great-grandson 
 of Samuel Adams. The children all knew and 
 loved Mrs. Allen; they needed no urging to attend 
 the meetings she planned for their amusement and* 
 instruction. 
 
 Mrs. Allen deserves most honorable mention in these pages. 
 She was a woman of rare endowments of mind, and of superior 
 culture and attainments. Her chief study and delight was the 
 science of geology and its collaterals, mineralogy and conchol- 
 ogy. She found many rare relics of other eras, and attracted 
 the attention and applause of the most scientific men of the 
 age. Mrs. Allen was author of a fine poetical work, learned 
 and skilfully wrought, consisting of four hundred lines, and 
 notes amounting to thirty-four pages, entitled " A Poetical 
 Geognosy " and other poems. 
 
 Hanson's History of Gardiner.
 
 422 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Mrs. Clarinda Thompson Monroe was born in 
 Livermore, in 1809. She was the wife of Capt. 
 John Monroe. Although an octogenarian when the 
 North Livermore Reading Club was formed, 1889, 
 no one was more interested in its organization, 
 or had a greater desire for its continuance and 
 prosperity. She was a woman whose life savors 
 of perennial cheerfulness and whose memory is 
 blessed. She often said to the ladies, " Don't give 
 up your Reading Club. It is the kind of work 
 women ought to do, and not fritter all their time 
 away over their housework and the fashions." 
 
 Miss Eliza A. Tabor was a teacher for many 
 years at Vassalboro. She had a kindly heart and 
 Ker name suggests only loving memories. Around 
 her fireside she gathered many children, and here 
 was formed one of the first children's clubs of 
 which we have any record. Her chestnuts and 
 her tarts were the delight of their childish appe- 
 tites, but her winning ways and sweet courtesy 
 led captive their young hearts. No greater 
 pleasure was anticipated by the children than an 
 afternoon and tea with Aunt Eliza. She taught 
 them many practical lessons of self-control and 
 charity by means of stories and little incidents. 
 Her mxthods were those of the kindergarten of 
 to-day.
 
 WOMEN S CLUBS FORESHADOWED 423 
 
 Mrs. Melissa W. Nash, the wife of StiUman W. 
 Nash, was one of the helpful mothers of the little 
 village of Harrington. In the Baptist church, the 
 only religious society during more than half a 
 century, Mrs. Nash was a prominent worker. She 
 is recalled as a faithful Sunday-school teacher. 
 She served officially as president and on the 
 various committees of the Martha Washington 
 Society throughout her life. Mrs. Nash was a 
 woman of rare culture. She gathered the young 
 about her and greatly encouraged their literary 
 progress. Were she living to-day, she would be a 
 much-loved club mother. The following extract 
 from her address before the Martha Washington 
 Society, more than fifty years ago, is suggestive of 
 the ethical responsibility of club members at th» 
 present time: 
 
 I have had some fears that when the novelty of the meetino-s 
 
 should wear off — when time should have made them familiar 
 
 we should not be so prompt in our attendance ; but I trust 
 that my fears have been groundless. 
 
 Let each member feel that the welfare and prosperity of this 
 society depends solely on her exertion and be determined, let 
 who else be absent, her place, unless necessarily detained, shall 
 be filled. 
 
 Let us also consider the obligation we have laid ourselves 
 under to the society by becoming members. We have pledged 
 ourselves to do all in our power to promote its interests, and
 
 424 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 while we consider ourselves thus responsible, the society will 
 not be likely to decline. 
 
 Another thing with which I have been much pleased is the 
 union manifested: no jars; no discords. All seem to be 
 actuated by the spirit of love, and I have thought this society 
 might exert a beneficent influence in strengthening the bond 
 of affection between neighbors. 
 
 Go on, then, in your labor of love ; be not weary in well- 
 doing. I know, my friends, the consciousness of having 
 benefitted a suffering fellow creature is to all of us a sufficient 
 reward. 
 
 I feel that I have poorly performed the duty assigned me, 
 but I must plead as an excuse the cares of a family and the 
 brief time allotted me. I should when nominated have 
 declined, had I not feared others might avail themselves of a 
 like excuse. 
 
 In these simple beginnings, gathered here and 
 there throughout the state, it is not difficult to 
 discover the orerm of the modern woman's club. 
 
 The Chautauquan movement found many advo- 
 cates among Maine women. The Society for 
 Home Study had many readers. Stimulated by 
 these societies, independent adult classes for liter- 
 ary study and home culture sprung up throughout 
 the state. Bangor has long been famed for its 
 classes of busy, thoughtful women. Under the 
 leadership of Mrs. A. B. C. Keene, a woman of 
 rare literary culture, six women inaugurated this 
 movement. Upon the removal of Mrs. Keene
 
 WOMEN S CLUBS FORESHADOWED 425 
 
 from Bangor, Mrs. Mary S. Hall became her 
 worthy and popular successor. Her students were 
 numbered by hundreds when she moved with her 
 family to Rochester, New York. The Athena 
 Club of Bangor is an outgrowth of these classes. 
 The woman's club movement in Portland dates 
 back to 1874. The Woman's Literary Union was 
 an advanced step toward a State Organization, 
 and it is but natural that Maine should have been 
 the first state in the Union ot unite all of its lit- 
 erary clubs for women into a State Federation.
 
 OTHER MOTHERS
 
 XXXIII 
 OTHER MOTHERS 
 
 All Maine mothers are brave. 
 
 William Edwin Frost. 
 
 THERE were no public institutions in Maine 
 for the insane until 1830. Maniacs were 
 kept in their own homes, but often escaped 
 their keepers and were a terror to the entire 
 neighborhood. 
 
 The remarkable self-control and bravery of two 
 Maine mothers is strikingly illustrated in the fol- 
 lowing incident : 
 
 One day a couple of friends, Mrs. Springer and Miss Pitts, 
 were quietly sewing in their sitting-room, in which was the 
 spare bed, after the fashion of "ye olden time," when houses 
 were built on a small scale and barns were the large building. 
 
 The husband and children were away, and Mrs. Springer 
 and her unmarried sister were alone, when a crazy man rushed 
 into the room flourishing a large knife and ordered them to get 
 into bed. They expected to be killed, but their haBit of self- 
 
 429
 
 430 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 control saved them. " How like a fool thee talks about going 
 to bed in the middle of the day," said Mrs. Springer, elder of 
 the two sisters, "if thee wants anybody to get into bed, get 
 into bed thyself." 
 
 They were greatly alarmed, but preserved their calm exterior 
 until the man recognized the presence of a spirit which he 
 could not understand, and yielded. He went along to the bed, 
 turned up the foot, and crawled in, boots and all. He covered 
 even his head, and they could hear his incoherent mutterings, 
 but the women remained calm and continued their sewing as 
 if nothing had happened. The quiet demeanor of the women, 
 and the thorough sweat to which he had subjected himself, had 
 a soothing effect upon his excited brain. At last he peeped 
 out from under the bed clothes and said hesitatingly, " This 
 hasn't turned out exactly as I expected." 
 
 In a trip through the Dead River region the 
 writer learned many incidents of its early history. 
 She was told by Caleb Stevens — the first white 
 child born there — that his mother and father were 
 there in advance of any other settlers. For two 
 long years his mother did not see the face of a 
 woman. 
 
 It was no uncommon thing for women on the 
 Carabasset Stream to ride horseback to Hallo- 
 well — a distance of forty miles through an un- 
 broken forest — carrying the corn to be ground. 
 Usually the journey was taken with a baby in arms. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hoar, with their four children, 
 went into the lake region of Rangeley — in the
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 43 I 
 
 winter, taking their household goods on a hand- 
 sled. The mother had relieved herself of the tire- 
 some weight of the baby, which she had carried 
 many miles over the rough, slippery ground, by 
 tucking it away for a nap among the goods on the 
 sled. Thinking it to be sleeping, they journeyed 
 on some distance before they discovered that the 
 baby was gone. It had slipped from the load un- 
 noticed in the roughness of the way. Almost 
 frantic, the entire family rushed back in search of 
 the baby, haunted by thoughts of the wild animals 
 that prowled through the woods 
 
 Mrs. Hoar, in the advance of the hunting party 
 found the baby. It had fallen from the sled and 
 rolled some distance down the hill, where it was 
 stopped by a tree against which it rested. To her 
 great joy the child was still sleeping. 
 
 The following story seem almost incredible but 
 was vouched for by several reliable citizens : 
 
 Mrs. Allen put a feather bed upon a horse's back, 
 took a pair of twins in her arms and found her 
 way through a dense forest, thirty miles to Copelin, 
 near the Dead River, in search of her husband, who 
 had frozen both feet, in his efforts to procure food 
 for his family. They must have all perished from 
 hunger, had they not been rescued by some explor- 
 ers who chanced to be in the region.
 
 432 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 A long sorrowing mother — the mother of 
 "poor Httle Jimmy Wilbur" — is all the name she 
 bears to-day. The family lived in Letter E Planta- 
 tion, Franklin County. It was in the fall of 1825. 
 Mr. Wilbur had gone to Phillips to mill. Mrs. 
 Wilbur was busy with her household cares, when 
 her little girl, who had been picking up potatoes 
 in the field near by, came rushing into the house 
 saying, " O mama, Jimmy is carried off." He had 
 been playing beside her when a man suddenly 
 appeared, seized the child and hurried away. 
 
 Among those who joined the searching party for 
 the child was Daniel Beedy. The writer recalls 
 that he could not speak of the anguish and suffer- 
 ing of the bereaved father and mother, without 
 deep emotion, though many years had elapsed 
 since he witnessed it. The search was fruitless. 
 Only a small piece of little Jimmy's red dress was 
 found. Mrs. Wilbur went about her daily duties 
 with a sad heart, never forgetting the child so 
 cruelly torn from her. Twenty years passed away, 
 twenty long weary years, and not a day without a 
 thought for her lost boy. The family had moved 
 to Rumford. A daughter, while in Saco, learned 
 that among the company of St. Francis Indians 
 camping near by, there was one unlike the others. 
 
 The story of her brother's capture was fresh in
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 433 
 
 her mind. She was constantly on the alert for tid- 
 ings of the lost boy. She visited the camp and was 
 convinced that the man was her brother. She 
 arranged for a visit to their parents in Oxford 
 County. Great was the excitement in the neighbor- 
 hood. Everybody far and wide was familiar with 
 the sad story. The scene was too pitiful for 
 description. 
 
 Yes, it was indeed Jimmy Wilbur. A few lines 
 from a story his mother had taught him had never 
 slipped from his memory. Some marks upon his 
 person his mother remembered gave additional 
 evidence. There was no doubt in the mind of any. 
 
 What joy! what sorrow! Their son, indeed 
 their son, but in speech and habit not theirs. One 
 alone of all the group showed no tenderness, no 
 sympathy with the disheartened father and mother. 
 It was the dusky wife of Jimmy Wilbur, the forest 
 maiden on whom he had bestowed his love. Her 
 dark face grew darker at the thought that her hus- 
 band might be won from her and the wild life of 
 her race. 
 
 But Jimmy Wilbur was to all intents and pur- 
 poses a son of the forest, and though he manifested 
 some interest in his new-found parents, he had no 
 affiliation with their ways of living and soon went 
 to join his foster kindred. It is said, however, that 
 28
 
 434 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 he made occasional visits to his parents, and always 
 retained a degree of affection for them. 
 
 Not for years after was the mystery of his 
 capture solved, and to-day the motive is not clear. 
 The child was kidnapped by a trapper, who sub- 
 jected him to the most inhuman treatment, from 
 which he was rescued by a kind-hearted squaw, 
 who adopted him as her own. 
 
 At Parsonsfield, in a wilderness home, in 1774, 
 Sally Parsons was born. Her girlhood was spent 
 in converse with nature. She early learned the 
 habits of the animals and the flowers of the forest. 
 By means of her rambles, fresh air, pure water and 
 homely fare, she developed a fine physique. So 
 graceful was she in her native loveliness that she 
 became famed as the handsomest girl that entered 
 the Parsonsfield meeting-house. She married 
 Joseph Parsons in 1795, and together, through the 
 woods on horseback, they took their bridal trip, 
 without even a bridle-path, but by means of 
 spotted trees, to Cornville, their future home. 
 Here ten children were born to them. The family 
 boasted its "seventh son." 
 
 Sally Parsons was expert in all the domestic arts 
 of her time. She looked well to the ways of her 
 household, and, like many of her descendants
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 435 
 
 to-day, was known for her fine housekeeping. She 
 insisted upon milking the cows, urging as her 
 reason, " Men do not know how to milk." She 
 was a fine rider and trainer of horses. Under her 
 skilful but gentle hand, refractory colts were soon 
 taught to submit to the harness. One of her 
 granddaughters remembers hearing an elderly 
 gentleman lament that he could not get the better 
 of Sally Parsons in a horse trade. 
 
 She lived to be seventy-seven years old, retain- 
 ing the care of her home to the last. In religion 
 she was a Universalist, expressing her faith in 
 deeds of love. She denounced the seven mortal 
 sins, but stretched out her hand to the deserving 
 poor. Many are those to-day who revere her 
 memory. 
 
 Mrs. L. M. N. Stevens is a descendent of this 
 worthy Maine mother. 
 
 Dorothy Mudgitt was one of the pioneer women 
 of Parsonsfield, York County. It must have been 
 about 1780 when the young bride and groom made 
 their way through the dense forest from Gilmanton, 
 New Hampshire, guided by the spotted trees. In 
 building their home of one room, they perched it 
 upon four stumps, so high that the wild animals 
 often passed under it. Here they began their new 
 life.
 
 436 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 When unexpected guests braved the perils of 
 the forest path to seek them out, they received a 
 cordial welcome. They were feasted on blackber- 
 ries, corn-bread baked on the hearth of the yawn- 
 ing fireplace, and the indispensable tea made of 
 checkerberry, or as they termed it "ivory leaves." 
 They could truly say " Our hoard is little, but our 
 hearts are great." 
 
 Rachel Sweetsir was born and reared in Cumber- 
 land, during the Revolutionary period. She had 
 little opportunity for the culture of the schools, but 
 made herself very useful in the community as a 
 weaver. She had fitted herself for her art with 
 great care, traveling on horseback a long distance 
 to learn of a famous Irish weaver. For her ser- 
 vices she received two shillings six pence per week. 
 
 In 1794, she married Paul Sanborn, and became 
 the mother of four children. Being left a widow, 
 she married again and made her home in Foxcroft. 
 Her last married name was Chandler. Later she 
 lived in Bangor, and was a communicant of the 
 Hammond Street Church. She had very bright 
 black eyes and grew handsome as she grew older. 
 In advanced life her sight returned. She could 
 read and work without glasses. 
 
 Mrs. Chandler had never seen a steamboat.
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 437 
 
 Her son-in-law and granddaughter, to give her 
 pleasure, invited her to take a trip to Portland. 
 They arranged to go down the Penobscot River 
 on the Daniel Webster, a famous steamboat of 
 that day. Mrs. Chandler was escorted with great 
 care into the saloon of the boat and seated on one 
 of the easy chairs. It was like a dream to her. 
 She amused herself in watching the passengers as 
 they came in and in admiring the furnishing of 
 the room. The boat was some distance on the 
 way when she said to her granddaughter : " Helen, 
 isn't it most time we were starting ? " She replied : 
 "Why, grandma, we are six miles down the river; 
 we are at Hampden." " Well, well," said the old 
 lady, " I thought this was a house." 
 
 As they journeyed down the river, a long-haired 
 musical professor sat down to the piano and at- 
 tracted the attention of the passengers to himself 
 in his efforts at operatic music. Mrs. Chandler 
 had listened attentively, but failing to comprehend 
 the music, she leaned over and whispered to her 
 granddaughter, " Don't he know how to play a 
 tune ? He's been trying long enough, I should 
 think." 
 
 The granddaugher assured the writer that as 
 soon as she could " get up her courage," she went 
 to the professor and asked him if he would please
 
 438 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 play something that an old lady could understand 
 and enjoy. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Vinton were married in 
 Massachusetts. They packed their household 
 goods on an oxsled and took their bridal trip to 
 Monson, Maine. The journey occupied three 
 weeks ; but with love and youth and hope it was 
 no toilsome way, and ever after these two — 
 
 Did the duty that they saw, 
 
 Both wrought at God's supreme designs, 
 
 And under love's eternal law, 
 
 Each life with equal beauty shines. 
 
 One of their guests writes : 
 
 When I used to visit them, they lived in a pretty farmhouse 
 with orchards around it. Everything was kept with exquisite 
 neatness. Mrs. Vinton was at that time an invalid, but did the 
 planning for the household. She was an expert needlewoman 
 and took great pleasure in preparing the linen for the future 
 housekeeping of her two daughters. These were carefully 
 laid away with roseleaves and lavender, in her bureau 
 drawers. But when the bridal days came, the mother had 
 passed on. 
 
 Mrs. Margaret More Belcher, the wife of Supply 
 Belcher, of Farmington, was a woman of rare ac- 
 complishments and fine manners. They were 
 married in Boston, May 2, 1775. Mrs. Belcher
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 439 
 
 accompanied her husband to the District of 
 Maine. They settled on the Kennebec, at Hallo- 
 well, but after six years moved to Farmington. 
 Mrs. Belcher had been educated in Boston. Their 
 home was one of refinement and culture. Squire 
 Belcher was styled the " Handel of Maine," and 
 o-athercd about him the musical people of the 
 community. 
 
 Mrs. Belcher was a charming hostess, and im- 
 pressed the many strangers who visited them with 
 her kindly hospitality. She was the mother of ten 
 children, and, outliving her husband three years, 
 died at the age of eighty-three. 
 
 Miss Polly Bonney married Arnold Sweet, 
 March 9, 1789. They made their home in Win- 
 throp. When Polly was a girl of only fifteen she 
 attended a party at the home of a friend near Bos- 
 ton. A child was sleeping in the room. A young 
 man leaning over the sleeping baby said, "I bap- 
 tize you " — the rest of his words were lost in the 
 general exclamation that followed. Polly Bonney 
 only had heard his exact language. He was ar- 
 rested for blasphemy, the punishment for which at 
 that time was "to be branded with a hot iron and 
 sit in the pillory." 
 
 Terrible were the denunciations against the
 
 440 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 young man, and his case looked very doubtful ; but 
 when Polly Bonney arose to testify in his favor, all 
 eyes were turned to her earnest, truthful face. 
 The good judge, seeing her embarrassment, set 
 her at ease by quietly remarking: " I see you have 
 your mother's red cheeks, Miss Polly." 
 
 When questioned by the lawyer as to her testi- 
 mony, which resulted in the shame of the accusers 
 and the acquittal of the young man, in a clear 
 voice she said, " I heard him say, ' I now baptize 
 you in the name of the Continental Congress and 
 the thirteen United States.' " 
 
 Elizabeth Hawkins Patrick, the great-grand- 
 mother of the Stevenses at Stroudwater, came from 
 England with her husband to Stroudwater, where 
 they purchased their land of Samuel Waldo. 
 The house is still standing in which they lived. 
 
 Left a widow with seven children, she developed 
 those sterling qualities which so many of the 
 pioneer women of Maine possessed — great execu- 
 tive ability and a deep sense of right. She had 
 taken great pains in educating her son Charles, 
 sending him to England that he might become a 
 finished workman. He had cut a stick of timber 
 for some mechanical purpose from the forest near 
 his home. It was reported to General Waldo that
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 44 1 
 
 Charles Patrick had cut a tree from his land. 
 The Waldo patent, it will be remembered, covered 
 a large part of Eastern Maine. Samuel Waldo 
 and Thomas Westbrook owned fifteen thousand 
 acres in the town of Falmouth alone, but not one 
 stick fell to the ground without their notice. 
 
 Samuel Waldo, arrayed in his rich small clothes, 
 with silver buckles at his knees and shoes, his 
 three-cornered hat laced with gold, and short 
 scarlet cloak over all, rode up to Dame Patrick's 
 home, and not deigning to dismount, rapped with 
 his whip at the door. The dignified English 
 woman answered his summons. He informed her 
 of the trespass of her son, and that according to 
 the law, he should demand a certain number of 
 days' work for the timber. Samuel Waldo knew 
 when he laid the damages, there was no other 
 workman like Charles Patrick in all the country 
 round. Dame Patrick replied that she would talk 
 the matter over with her son and would have an 
 answer for him on the morrow. 
 
 Again the lordly Samuel Waldo rapped at the 
 door of the humble cottage. The dauntless 
 woman met him and said : " Mr. Waldo, I have 
 decided to let you run your land out, and prove to 
 me that my son cut the stick of timber on your 
 premises." He looked at her in amazement, show-
 
 442 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 ing that for once he was baffled. He shouted, 
 " Is the devil in the woman ? " She replied, 
 " God is greater than the devil, and I do not fear 
 you." He turned his horse's head from her door, 
 and Dame Patrick heard from him no more. 
 She lived to be ninety-six years old. 
 
 The home of Rebecca Cummings Cony 
 Howard Brooks on the east bank of the Kenne- 
 bec, at Augusta, is remembered for its genuine old- 
 time hospitality. 
 
 It was the children's paradise. No greater 
 pleasure could come to them than a day with 
 grandma. Thanksgiving Day was anticipated as 
 a festal season for young and old, children and 
 grandchildren. 
 
 Mrs. Brooks was famed for her domestic virtues. 
 Her dark flowing blue, and other rare china, with 
 her rich inheritance of family silver, and linen 
 of her own manufacture, made her table very 
 attractive. 
 
 Mrs. Brooks was born at Bridgewater, Massachu- 
 setts. She married Samuel Cony and they came 
 to the Kennebec, in company with Judge Cony. 
 At Augusta they built a fine colonial mansion, 
 still standing. Left a widow, Mrs. Cony married 
 Judge James Howard. William A. Brooks was
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 443 
 
 her third husband. She was the mother of seven 
 children and took to her home two grandchildren, 
 all of whom were religiously trained. Mrs. Brooks 
 was a cultured woman, naturally inclined to study. 
 The worthy governor of Maine, Samuel Cony, 
 was one of her descendants. 
 
 In the year 1787, Henry Small and his wife, 
 Elizabeth, went to Limington from Scarborough, 
 and made a farm on the land bought of the In- 
 dians in 1668 by his great-great-grandfather, 
 Francis Small. Elizabeth and the four little ones, 
 were sheltered in an old hunting-camp near his lot, 
 while Henry felled the trees and put up the walls 
 of a log house. The supplies gave out and he 
 was obliged to go to Portland on foot, more than 
 twenty miles, to renew them. On his return, three 
 days afterwards, late at night, what was his con- 
 sternation and terror to find the camp empty, and 
 no trace of wife or children. He rushed frantic- 
 ally through the woods and fortunately directed 
 his steps to his new house where he found them 
 quietly sleeping. During his absence Elizabeth 
 had roofed over a part of the cabin with bark, and 
 moved her household goods to their new quarters, 
 and there, a few days later, on a bed of boughs, 
 their son, Humphrey, was born.
 
 444 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Hannah Delano Small was the wife of a sea 
 captain. Their home was at Cape Elizabeth. 
 
 A life on the ocean wave, 
 
 A home on the rolHng deep, 
 Where the scattered waters rave, 
 
 And the winds their revels keep, 
 
 had no facination for her. The very sight of the ocean 
 was a reminder of lonely vigils and sad forebodings. 
 As she waited the return of her husband from long 
 voyages, she would clasp her boys more closely to 
 herself and resolve that they should never become 
 sailors. Her presages became so real, and, fearing 
 the effect upon her sons of living within sight and 
 sound of old ocean, in the absence of her husband, 
 on one of his voyages, she moved her family to 
 the wilderness of Limington. With her own 
 hands she assisted in felling the trees and in build- 
 ing the log cabin. 
 
 She looked well to the education of her boys 
 In teaching them writing and arithmetic, she traced 
 the figures and letters upon birch bark by means 
 of a charred stick. " After life's fitful fever she 
 sleeps well," not far from the scenes of her heroic 
 struggles. Her boys grew to a noble, stalwart 
 manhood and her descendants have filled many 
 positions of honor and trust.
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 445 
 
 Marcia Stebbens and William Augustus Hyde 
 were married in Brimfield, Massachusetts, at the 
 home of the bride, and took their wedding-trip on 
 a sailing vessel from Boston to Bangor. Mrs. 
 Hyde had been brought up with a family of twelve 
 children in a home of refinement, but gladly shared 
 the fortune of her brave young husband who, with 
 two other young men had taken up farms on the 
 Educational Lands offered by Massachusetts to 
 induce settlement in Maine. 
 
 From Bangor they were able to find conveyance 
 to Foxcroft. Beyond this all was an unbroken 
 wilderness. They were obliged to leave their 
 goods in Bangor until the way could be opened for 
 them. With a gun in one hand and an ax in the 
 other, Marcia Hyde followed in the footsteps of 
 her husband the entire distance from Foxcroft to 
 the present town of Monson. Mr. Hyde named 
 the settlement in honor of his native place, Mon- 
 son, Massachusetts. 
 
 They were joined by the wives of the two other 
 young men, and for a short time the three families 
 lived together in a log cabin. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde 
 the following spring penetrated three miles farther 
 into the woods, cleared the land and built a frame 
 house. It was a pretty home, in after years 
 painted red with white trimmings. Those who see
 
 44^ MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 it to-day can hardly realize the struggle of these 
 two youthful pioneers as they wrought nearly 
 everything that entered into its construction out of 
 the raw material. Swedish mothers are not the 
 only ones that have manufactured shingles by hand 
 in the Maine forests. Mr. Hyde was often obliged 
 to leave his wife alone with her little children 
 while he went for the family supplies. Indians 
 were all about her ; bears and other animals often 
 came to the brook to drink ; but Mrs. Hyde was 
 fearless. Her grandchildren recall her experience 
 with the extreme cold of the Maine winters. She 
 was obliged to wrap herself and her baby in her 
 cloak and hood before getting into bed when alone, 
 for fear of freezing before morning. 
 
 One of the most striking pictures by Millet at 
 the World's Fair was "' Peasants Carrying a New- 
 born Calf." The calf is laid upon a stretcher 
 borne by two peasants ; the cow is following, lick- 
 ing her young, which she regards with motherly 
 eyes. What might the artist have given us, could 
 he have followed William Hyde as he made his 
 way through the woods bearing on his shoulder 
 the new-born calf and the cow closely following. 
 He had purchased the cow at Foxcroft thinking 
 to drive her to Monson before the calf was born. 
 
 The family now had an abundance of milk and
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 447 
 
 eggs, and Mrs. Hyde by digging about the stumps 
 had planted some pumpkin seeds in anticipation of 
 her favorite pies in the fall ; but she had not a 
 single pie-plate. During the summer her husband 
 managed to procure for her the much coveted blue- 
 edged plates, bringing them through the woods 
 strapped upon his back. With great care he built 
 for her an oven of stones on the top of a large 
 stump. It was made with two stories in order that 
 she might bake as many pies as she had plates. 
 
 The happy day arrived ; Mrs. Hyde was thor- 
 oughly hungry for pumpkin pies. She could 
 hardly wait for them to bake. The oven was 
 heated, the pies were placed in position — when lo ! 
 there came a terrible crash. The oven had caved 
 in and every pie-plate was smashed ! 
 
 Mrs. Hyde, in narrating the incident to her 
 friend, said she had been threatened by Indians, 
 surrounded by howling wolves and prowling bears; 
 she had been exposed to many dangers, but her 
 courage had never failed her till then. She went 
 to bed and cried. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hyde were very patriotic. They 
 gave their son to their country's defense, and fol- 
 lowed the First Maine Res^iment, in which he en- 
 listed, with their prayers. They were advanced 
 thinkers upon the temperance question and both
 
 448 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 advocated equal suffrage for man and woman. 
 Mrs. Hyde never lost her undaunted courage. In 
 later life she was alone with her children when her 
 house was burglarized. She put on her boy's 
 boots and tramped so heavily the burglar was glad 
 to make his escape through the cellar door. 
 Mother Hyde was fast upon him and closed the 
 door in a manner to convince him there was power 
 behind it. Mrs. Hyde possessed great sweetness 
 as well as strength of character. Her last days 
 were spent in Portland. 
 
 Love Coffin was born in Nantucket in 1756. 
 She belonged to a family distinguished for their 
 intelligence and industrious habits. She was a 
 beautiful and brilliant girl, quick in bodily and 
 mental action ; she had a keen perception and a 
 retentive memory, which she bequeathed to her 
 descendants. 
 
 At the age of twenty-three she married William 
 Allen of Martha's Vineyard. They were regarded 
 the handsomest couple on the island. During the 
 dark days of our Revolutionary struggle they 
 suffered great loss of property. With a little par- 
 trimony in her own right and by her untiring in- 
 dustry as a tailoress, she succeeded in tiding the 
 family over the troublous times until even darker
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 449 
 
 days came. They then resolved to seek a home in 
 the wilds of Maine. Their family at this time con- 
 prised five children. 
 
 Coming to Farmington, they made a poor selec- 
 tion in the location of their farm, and for years 
 struggled on in extreme poverty. While enduring 
 the privations of the most worthy pioneers, she 
 trained up a family of ten children of whom Camp- 
 meeting John Allen was one. 
 
 All of her children attained to successful posi- 
 tions in life. The lack of school privileges was 
 made up by intelligent and broad culture at home. 
 In the long winter evenings around the blaze of 
 the pitch-knots on the kitchen hearth the mother 
 would rehearse to them the contents of books she 
 had read in her girlhood. They were too poor to 
 purchase books and libraries were unknown. She 
 recited to them Paradise Lost and quoted the most 
 impressive passages of Milton which she had re- 
 tained in memory. The principal events of mod- 
 ern and ancient history were then presented and 
 many recitations of classic English literature were 
 made. She thus imbued all her children with such 
 love of learning that they made the best use of 
 their limited privileges in the schools, and in after 
 life they improved the advantages afforded by 
 prosperous circumstances. 
 29
 
 450 MOTHERS OF MAINE 
 
 Nearly all her children in youth were teachers. 
 Her eldest son, who never had been to school after 
 he was twelve years of age, attended Hallowell 
 Academy for eight weeks, and was then appointed 
 assistant teacher in the academy. How much her 
 children owed to their intelligent mother ! Her 
 jewels were polished by maternal skill and cheerful 
 perseverance. From the deep furrows of a well 
 cultivated mind sprung up seeds of intelligence 
 that nourished her children and beautified her life. 
 
 Love Coffin Allen has been greatly honored in 
 her worthy grandsons — Rev. Stephen Allen and 
 Rev. Charles F. Allen. Madam Nordica is the 
 great-granddaughter of this worthy Maine mother. 
 
 Among the women who gave character to the 
 social, educational and religious life of Franklin 
 County was Mrs. Phebe Abbott of Temple. She 
 was the daughter of Lydia and Jacob Abbott, who 
 moved from Concord, New Hampshire to Bruns- 
 wick in 1802. The family had previously lived in 
 Andover, Massachusetts. 
 
 Mr. Abbott was one of the trustees of Phillips 
 Academy which offered its educational advantages 
 to boys only, but Lydia Abbott mused, and as she 
 mused the fire burned. One day the trustees were 
 astonished by the appearance before them of
 
 OTHER MOTHERS 45" 
 
 Lydia Abbott with her three daughters. She 
 asked that her girls might be admitted to the 
 classes with their brothers. The trustees assured 
 her that such a thing was unprecedented — that 
 no girls had ever entered that sacred precinct. 
 They argued with great dignity that it was contrary 
 to law. Mrs. Abbott replied that she had no desire 
 to violate law, but failed to be convinced that there 
 was any reason why her girls should not stand side 
 by side, intellectually, with their brothers. The 
 trustees promised to consider the matter. In the 
 meantime the first ladies of the place waited upon 
 Mrs. Abbott, begging her to desist from her pur- 
 pose. They feared her daughters would be ostra- 
 cised from society by such a course — that the girls 
 themselves would become bold. But Mrs. Abbott 
 persisted. The girls entered the academy, were 
 educated and brought to the wilds of Maine cul- 
 tured, intelligent minds which have been trans- 
 mitted to their descendants, who have not only 
 honored Maine, but America and foreign lands.
 
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