ANDROSCOGGIN HISTORY

Meeting Notice

Topic: Automobiles Built in the State of Maine

Speaker: Richard A. Fraser

Location: The County Building

Time: February 24 at 7:00 P.M.

GRAVE MARKER RETURNED

Late last summer, the local newspaper featured the gravestone of William Dingley, which had been purchased at an auction held at a Dingley home in Auburn. The buyer was uncertain what he was going to do with it.

William Dingley Jr. (1774-1852) was a South Lewiston farmer on what is now Dyer Road. He was a town leader who served several terms as selectman. When the buyer was informed that the stone belonged in the Garcelon Cemetery on Ferry Road, he decided to return the marker to its original site. It now has been reinstalled at its appropriate spot in the family plot. Many thanks to the buyer for doing the right thing.

WEST DURHAM METHODIST CHURCH

On April 22, 2003, the West Durham Methodist Church was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The following is from Maine Preservation, 25 (Spring/Summer 2003), 17:

“The West Durham Methodist Church is a well-conceived beautifully proportioned, gable front Greek Revival Church at Methodist Corners in Durham. Facing south, the two-part front of the church contains a classic Greek pediment supported on broad corner pilasters, between which is a pair of entrance doors and a triple arched center window. Identified as the ‘second oldest active Methodist church in new England’ by the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, the style of the church clearly doesn’t reflect the 1804 date emblazoned on the plaque affixed to the front exterior wall, but rather can be attributed to a renovation completed in 1867. . . . [It] is significant for its architectural detailing and design, both on the interior and exterior . . . .”

Did you know that, since we are exempt from Federal taxes, remembering the Androscoggin Historical Society in your will could reduce your Federal Estate Taxes? Simply include the following in your will: "I devise to the Androscoggin Historical Society, County Building, 2 Turner St., Auburn, ME 04210-5978, $______, in cash for its general purposes." If you, your attorney, or tax accountant need more information, then please contact this Society. Thank you.

A MINOT CHURCH SCANDAL (Part II)

In Part I the Rev. William Pidgin of the Second or West Congregational Church of Minot was found guilty of indecency. He did admit to “imprudence,” but he did not acknowledge the offence and showed no “evidence of humiliation & repentance,” so the church did not “receive Mr. Pidgin again as their pastor.”

However, Pidgin did not give up; he requested another council. The church voted that a committee be appointed to seek advice on the matter of calling another council and if they judged it was the duty of the church to do so, they would make arrangements (48). Then the clerk “read a defence [sic] of the conduct of the church as an answer to the printed libel read the last meeting & Mr Pidgin was called on to say if he could object to any facts therein contained. He only observed that secrecy was positively promised as to the affair of Brother Davis Vareol & made no other objection (48).”

Further proceedings and communications were deemed “too voluminous to be transcribed into this book” so “the originals are put on file (48).” The scribe’s summary of the material indicates that Pidgin received vindication, much to the dismay of a dissenting faction that included the scribe. On 12 May 1819, “an ex parte ecclesiastical council met this day at the house of Maj Godfrey Grosvenor & addressed to the church a letter.” The church met the next day “but did not think it expedient to acknowledge said council or to take any formal vote on any subject.” On May 14, the council voted in favor of Mr. Pidgin, and on May 16 “Mr Pidgin & his party took possession of the meeting house without opposition (49).”

On May 23, the dissenting members met for worship in a schoolhouse. On May 29, “the farmhouse of Wm Ladd having been fitted up with seats &c the church commenced their meetings there for public worship thinking it not to disturb Mr Pidgin & his friends who kept possession of the meeting house (49).”

About June 7 Mr Pidgin requested his dismission as pastor. On August 4, the church acknowledged the council as having “advised this church to restore the s^d Wm Pidgin to the exercise of his pastoral functions & dismiss him with the usual recommendations ‘qualified’ this is to certify that this church leaving all responsibility of s^d council do give s^d Mr Pidgin his dismission from his pastoral relation to this church (50).” On August 13, the church met again to state that Mr. Pidgin had never been admitted to the church as a member and since his pastoral relation was terminated, there was no further relationship between the church and Mr. Pidgin (50-51).

On August 15, “Mr Pidgin preached his farewell sermon to his friends in the center meeting house.” On August 22, “the church resumed the public worship of God in the meeting house (51).”

On 5 December 1819, the church met and sent a communication to the first church in Minot. They met again at the house of William Ladd on December 23 to consider the response. They voted to appoint Deacon Isaac Allen and Brother William Ladd as a committee to meet with a committee from the other church. On 13 January 1820, “the two churches met at the house of Zebulun Davis for religious exercise & mutual conference on past difficulties, to confess their faults to each other & before god, & to restore peace & brotherly love to the two churches. . . (52).”

It apparently took a while to do this, for the next joint meeting was 15 August 1820 “at the house of Zebulun Davis & humbly sought the Lord for direction as to what should bee their duty to do on account of the great deadness & coldness in religious concerns. . . . it was agreed . . . that the deacons survey each church be a committee to call on all the members of their respective churches who neglect the usual meetings of the church. . . .(53).”

On 27 September 1821, “At a regular church meeting held this day at the Centre Meeting house it was Resolved unanimously that it is expedient that the two congregational churches in this town be united in one (53).” Deacon Bradbury and Brother Ladd were to meet with a committee from the first church “to revise the covenants & articles of faith of the two churches & to draft a new covenant & new articles (53-54). Brothers John Chandler and Samuel Vareol were voted “a committee to call on delinquent members of the church & admonish them in the name of the church of their neglect & request them to meet with the church at the next church meeting & state the reasons of their past neglect (54).

On 18 October 1821, the church voted to accept the articles of faith and the covenant submitted by the committee. The churches thereby merged and the second church was no more.

[This story is based upon a copy of the church records; page numbers are in parentheses.]

Would you like to receive a tax deduction? You may do so by making a donation to our society, since we are tax exempt under I. R. S. Code 501 (c) 3. If you have any questions, then please contact your tax advisor or us. Thank you.

FIRST WOMEN VOTERS

Maine’s September 13, 1920, election was the first opportunity for Lewiston-Auburn women to cast ballots after the adoption of women’s suffrage. A woman reporter for the Lewiston Evening Journal was dispatched to observe the process, and she filed a story under the headline, “Lewiston-Auburn Women Flock to the Polls.”

Well, the woman’s first voting bee is nearly over--and it was some party! Lewiston woke up to find that she could have decent, orderly, cleanly [sic] polling conditions and she had them. A round of the wards . . . thru the forenoon, showed conditions ideal, except in Ward six, where there should be some change for the better before another election. Only in Ward Six, which was at a Lisbon street garage, did the men crowd into the polling place with their tobacco, spitting around the floor and making the place seem rather unpleasant and distasteful.

The first notable change was the driving of the ward-heelers to the curb. This was hard luck wen [sic] the mist began to drizzle along toward afternoon. But they took their lot amiably, so far as was apparent.

In all the other wards, save six, there was no tobacco, no profanity, little if any evidence of liquor, at least within the polling rooms. The school rooms used in some of the wards were admirabe [sic] for the work.

Women, in their natty street gowns, were busy as the men as helpers, doing duty both at the check lists and in instructing the voters.

The most happy situation seemed to obtain at Ward Two where Miss McGee and Mrs. Fletcher, assigned to instruction work, both entered the booths, when it was desired and answered the voter’s questions. It was apparent that the men as well as the women enjoyed this feature--and nobody on earth will not know how muddled some of the men became in order to have such pleasant feminine advice.

“Do the women come in ready to vote?” was asked.

“They seem to,” was the usual reply, in all the wards. “They take no more time and ask no more questions than the men,” was the information volunteered. “Their minds seem to be made up before they reach here.”

First Women Who Voted

Lewiston Wards Auburn Wards

1 Kate B. Riley 1 Mrs. Mame Lyon

2 Margaret McGee 2 Miss Mary Fitz

3 Mary E. Dixon 3 Caroline Woodbury

4 Abbie M. Coombs 4 Melaville C. Quimby

5 Annie Toulouse 5 Mary M. Cloutier

6 Mary Gastonguay

7 Louise Emmons

THE SIX CLARK DAUGHTERS

Edward Clark was a native of Massachusetts [Limington], born in June, 1815. He married a Maine girl, Harriet Jane Brackett, who was seven years younger than he. His business was brick making and his brick yard, down near the corner of Lisbon St. and “the old Ferry road” where now the Hillcrest Poultry Company stands, was noted for the beautiful color of the bricks manufactured there. Those bricks were used in many of the buildings built in Lewiston-Auburn in the 1800’s.

Clark . . . [gave] his six daughters outstanding educations for their day. . . . The six Clark girls . . . in a quiet, unostentatious manner, became very well known. The congregation of the Free Baptist Church on Pine St. liked nothing better than to watch the Clark family walk into church and down the aisle to the family pew. First came Mr. and Mrs. Edward Clark and then came the girls, two by two, ranking position with age. . . .

The eldest sister, Martha Elizabeth, born Christmas Eve, 1850, was the first to marry. She married Benson Dixon, “Uncle Ben” who was a contractor, and she lived out her life in Lewiston, for many years making her home at the corner of Sabattus and oak Streets.

Ellen, born March 6, 1853, was the next bride. She had gone to Salem Normal School in Massachusetts and taught a few years before she married the Rev. Ashmun Thompson Salley, for many years pastor of the Lewiston United Baptist church and the Salley home is on the corner of Ware and Abbott St., Lewiston.

“Aunt Say” as Sarah Frances Clark was called, also went to Salem Normal and she taught at Harper’s Ferry, the famous Harper’s Ferry in Virginia before she married Samuel Mendun, A Boston lawyer.

Emma, the first Lewiston girl to be graduated from Bates College, married her mathematics teacher, Prof. John Holmes Rand of Bates college and they made their home in what today is Wilson House on Frye St. and Rand Hall on campus is named for Prof. Rand. . . .

“Aunt Harriet,” next to the youngest, was the only sister never to marry. She lived in the house throughout her long life. As a child she was considered delicate. She was born July 1, 1861. She lived to be 95, passing away July 5, 1956. Tall, like all the sisters except the youngest, Dora Anna, Miss Harriet is well remembered as a striking looking woman with white hair and a regal carriage. She was active in church and civic affairs until the last few years of her life when her advanced age kept her close to home. Her mind was sharp as a tack all her years.

. . . The baby, Dora Anna, . . . became known throughout New England when she went into the photography business that still bears her name, Dora Clark Tash.

Source: Rose O’Brien, “94 Year Old Lewiston Landmark Changes Owners For First Time,” Lewiston Journal Magazine Section, 1 February 1958, 1A, 4A, 8A. Paragraphs were rearranged from the original.

GOINGS-ON AT THE SOCIETY

by Michael Lord, Executive Secretary

Calendar Year 2003 business totals are as follows: Telephone calls – 956; Museum visits – 200; Library visits – 454; Correspondence – 932; Programs sent – 180; Meeting attendance – 179+-; Meeting notices sent – 845; Board & committee meeting attendance – 53; Newsletters sent – 524+; Great Falls Balloon Festival attendance – 14; Annual Dinner attendance – 48; Androscoggin Round Table Mtg. attendance – 147+ (150^th books authors’ and sales committee meetings); 150^th books publicity – 272; Auburn Art Club meeting in February – 25; Emails – 1,488. (We have had email capacity only since May, and this number doesn’t include spam. One may see how important email is to our Society already; I couldn’t have done the 150^th books without it.)

We have acquired very detailed maps of Androscoggin County from ca. 1908. These maps are in the computer; please ask to see them. We can send you these maps by (1) file transfer or (b) mailing a CD-ROM disk. If you prefer physical maps, you can get them printed on fresh, strong paper.

ACQUISITIONS

We have acquired the following items during the past few months. There are also several other items that have not been processed and will be reported in June.

Donations

• Driftwood Chips: Higgins Beach Remembered. Poems by Pearl Sawyer; autographed and donated by the author, 2003?

• Don’t Look Back. By Pearl Tibbetts Sawyer; autographed and donated by the author, 2003.

• Ancestors and Descendants of James Garcelon and Deliverance Annis, from Guernsey and Gloucester to Maine in the 18^th Century, Compiled by Constance Franklin Richardson Hanscom, 2003.

• Library of Lewiston History, Bates College Short Term 2003. These term papers by Bates College students are courtesy Asst. Prof. Joseph Hall, 2003.

• Beneath This Ground, A Guide to the Monmouth Center Cemetery, by Dr. Lawrence Buggia, 1997. Gift of the Monmouth Museum by Bobbi Bowler.

Purchases

• The Ancestry Family Historian’s Address Book, by Juliana Szuchs Smith, MyFamily.com, Inc., Orem, UT, 2003.

• Maine Families in 1790, Vol. 8, ed. Joseph Crook Anderson II, CG, FASG, Picton Press, Rockport, ME, 2003.

• Maine Register State Yearbook and Legislative Manual, No. 134, Tower Publishing Company, Standish, ME, 2003.

• Simplified Field Key to Maine Macrolichens, by Patricia L. Hinds and James W. Hinds, Pub. by V. F. Thomas, Bowdoin, Maine, 1998.

• Wildfire Loose, The Week Maine Burned, by Joyce Butler, Down East Books, Camden, Maine, 1997 (reprint).

• The Orchids of Maine, by Jean Wallace Cameron, University of Maine at Orono Press, 1976.

• Maine Amphibians and Reptiles, by Malcolm L. Hunter, Jr., Aram J. K. Calhoun, & Mark McCollough, University of Maine Press, Orono, Maine, 1999. Includes a very nice compact disc of frog and toad songs.

• The Genus Viola of Maine, A Taxonomic and Ecological Reference, by Arthur Haines, Pub. By V. F. Thomas Co., Bar Harbor, Maine, 2001.

• Winter Keys to Woody Plants of Maine, Fully Illustrated, by Christopher S. Campbell, Fay Hyland, and Mary L. F. Campbell, University of Maine Press, Orono, Maine, 1975.

• A History of the North Wayne Tool Co., by Edward L. Kallop, Jr., Pub. by the Wayne Historical Society, 2003.

BOOKS ABOUT ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY NOW AVAILABLE