Radio Script #236
Little Talks On Common Things
October 17, 1954
One of the most interesting social phenomena of the half century from 1775 to 1825 was the rapid spread of th~ Methodist denomination. We are indebted to Miss Harriet Nye for information about early Methodism in this part of the Kennebec Valley. Partly through the Wesleys themselves, and even rrore through the dynamic preaching of George Whitfield, Methodism got a strong start in the South.
It was in Charleston, South Carolina, that J.esse lee learned of opportunities to spread the faith in New England. The easterly conference of the Methodist church numbered a total of only 300 members in the entire territory east of Boston when Jesse lee, in 1793, was appointed preacher to “lynn and the Province of Mai ne”. Eventua Ily he came to Fai rfie Id, and at Fai rfield Center preached the first Methodist serrron in this area on March 5,1794. His first convert was the town physician, Dr. Ebenezer Phelps. The meeting house at Fairfield Center was then and long afterward known as Fairfield Meeting House, for the Center was the most popu lous and most promi nent section of the town. The dominance of Kenda II s Mi I Is (now Fa i rf ie Id Vi Ilage) was to come much later.
In 1796 there were three Methodist circuits in Maine. Remember that the usual method of Methodist preaching was by traveling circuit riders and by organi zed loea I c lasses under a I ay leader. The Kennebec ci rcui t embraced the towns on the upper part of the river. Originally linked with Hallowell, the Fairfield Methodists were soon formed into a circuit with Sidney. The church at Fairfield Meeting House became the mother church of the whole surrounding area. There the preacher resided; there important conferences were held.
In 1845 Fairfield voted to withdraw from the Sidney circuit and efll)loy its own preacher. Five years earlier the first church edifice at Kendal Is Mills had been bui It. All the years since the first settlements the only place for church service at the Mi lIs had been the schoolhouse or private homes. A spirited religious revival in 1838 had added such numbers to the Methodists that they determined to have a meeting house. That other sects were well represented in the community is shown, however, by the decision reached. It was to bui Id a house ot worsh i p to be ca lIed the Un ion Meeti ng House. A I though the Methodi sts predominated in numbers, another vigorous sect claimed several of the wealthiest tami I ies, and it is said that John and Samuel Kendal I offered the gift of a lot of land with the provision that the sma I ler group of Universalists should have equal rights to the new meeting house with the more numerous Methodists.
The Methodists agreed to a union house and the bui Iding was dedicated in July, 1840. In 1856 they gave up their interest in the building and built a meeting house of their own. The Methodists renovated the old bui Iding, bui It a belfry and installed a fine bell, removed the old-time singing gallery, and i nsta lied a furnace.
In the valuable historical sketch which she assembled from the old records,. on the occasion of the lOOth anniversary of the Kendalls ~1ills church bui Iding in 1940, Miss Nye included a paragraph that interests me very much. It says:
flAt the conference in 1885 Rev. D. B. Holt was appointed and served the church acceptably for three years. During his pastorate many were added to membership and important improvements were made, new pews were added and made free to all.
The church was honored when he was made District Superintendent. He was held in such high esteem in ministerial circles that at one of the general conferences he was considered as a candidate for the bishopric.
Now let me tell you why this passage in Miss Nye’s account interests me personally. Miss Nye, in answer to her Question directed to a later District Superintendent, received from that man, Rev. A. A. Callaghan, a letter which said: tlRev. D. B. Holt was never elected bishop. He did have a few votes at one time, I think. In my opinion he would have made a good bishop.1i Now here Is where I come in. Rev. D. B. Holt was the first Methodist minister ,ever knew. Pastor of the Methodist church at Bridgton in ffr.( primary school days, he I I ved I n the very next house apJoi n i ng ours. Rev. A. A. Ca I I aghan was the Methodist minister whom I knew best as a boy, for he led the Bridgton church all through my high school years.
There’s coincidence for you. In the first twenty years of rfrtI life I knew just two Methodist ministers well. Forty years afterward I find them mentioned together, one writing about the other to Miss Harriet Nye of Fairfield.
A paper wh I ch enjoyed w I de cl rcu latton in Ma I ne a hundred years ago was the Christian Mirror. Started in 1822 by Asa Cummings, it was published In Portland and, as a Congregatlona I I st paper, was especi ally acti ve In promotl ng the we I fa re of the Bangor Theo I og i ca I Semi nary. The iss ue of the Mi rror fo r September 6, 1853 contains a curious comment on funerals that deserves a p lace on this program devoted to old-time things. It certainly wouldn’t occur to a modern Congregationalist, or a member of any other modern sect, that preparations for a funeral could possibly violate the church regUlations pertaining to observance of the Sabbath. Neverthe less ,th i s hundred-year-o I d paper says:
“Whenever the shroud, the coffin, the grave, and the mourning apparel are prepared on the Sabbath, many individuals wi II be employed during the sacred hours of the day. One day’s delay is usually possible. To use the sacred Sabbath for funeral preparations gives the Impression that the funeral is more important than the Sabbath. Bes ides, it depreci ates the solemnity of the funera I. Those who have employed God’s day in secular matters cannot be so well prepared for funeral solemnities as those who have kept the day holy.”
The writer also has something to say about funeral sermons which gives him a chance to take cracks at anothe r re I i g i ous denoml nat Ion more I i bera I than his own. “The funeral sermon should not be a eulogy of the dead, but rather should be addressed to the consciences of the I iving. Eulogistic serrrons do more harm than good. They foster pride of surviving friends and excite the prejudice of oThers. There are no perfect characters among men. When the minister dwelJs on the good points, it only makes the listeners more sharply aware of the weak poi nts wh ich· he omi ts. Furthermore, I f a mi n ister is expected to eu logi ze at every funera I, he often confronts a case so wanti ng in good character that whatever he says can on Iy be interpreted as a defense of the doctri ne preached by those mi sgui ded peop Ie, the Un i versa Ii sts. A person once aske.d a Uni versalist mi nl ster in regard to a w’i’cked man whose funera I he was about 1″0 attend:
‘Can you put him through?’, meaning, ‘Can you get him into heaven?’ We do nOT know that minister’s reply, but we do know it is the object of the Uni’versa lists to I nduca everybody to be I i eve in the sa I vati on of a II sou Is. Now, when an evangelical minister gives hope to relatives and friends that the departed one, whose I ife may have been far from exemplary, is on his way to Heaven, the Universalists are encouraged and strengthened. 0, you preachers of The true word, gi ve not such comfort to our wayward brethren.”
In one of the old newspapers preserved by Mrs. Jewell at the old Drummond place in Winslow, I ran across an article which InTerested me a lot. It concerned the only mounTain which I knew intimately as a boy, Pleasant Mountain between Bridgton and Denmark. Along the enti re lengTh of its severa I peaks Danny Warren (now a sardi ne packer at lubec) and I hunted lost sheep on New Year’s Day in 1911. Naturally I noted the praise of that mountain in an old newspaper of a hundred years ago. The article says:
“One of the most delightful spots in the mounTain-lake region along the borders of Maine and New Hampshire is Pleasant Mountain. About half way between the ocean and the highest mountains of New England, it gives the visiTor opportunity to view a wonderful landscape, the seacoast both eastward and westward of Portland, the ocean expanse dotted with sal Is, Portland itsel f, all clearly d Iscernlrb lew I th the te lescope — then the hod zon of mounta Ins, commencing with the humble Agamentlcus on the south, stretching on by Ossipee, Whiteface, Chocorua and Kearsarge, to the majestic cl imax of Mt. Washington — and a nearer view of numerous lakes and ponds and villages scattered all about. It Is a picture not often exce lied.”
The article goes on to say: “Pleasant Mountain I les but a few miles off from the ma in route to the Wh I te HI lis, and may be reached by an easy day’s rl de from Port land, el ther by stage from the York and Cumberland depot at Buxton Center, or by stage and steamboat from Gorham, by way of Sebago lake, Nap les and Sri dgton. The ascent Is easy– can be made on donkey back .• or even by carrIage to the summit. There you wi II be hospitably received by mine host of the Mounta I n House, Capta I n J. S. Sa rgent •
How long ago was there a hotel at the top of any considerable mountain in Maine? I do not know the final answer to that question, but here at least Is proof that as early as 1853 a hote I was be I ng erected at the top of Pleasant ~10unta I n I n Sri dgton.
My early experience In a gorcery store has long led me to be curious as to when certain foods first came Into use. Some time ago on this program I said I felt sure Shredded Wheat is the oldest ready-to-eat cereal and that Arm and Hanmer Soda has the oldest practically unchanged package. I’ve talked about the old round crackers and the soda crackers, but I don’t recall having previously mentioned graham crackers. I don’t know when they first appeared In Maine stores, but’ do know that on Apri 125, 1854 the Christian Mirror carried the following advertisement: “The subscriber is agent for Portland and vicinity of Harmon’s Celebrated Graham Crackers, superior to all others and extensively used in Ma I ne and Massachusetts. The trade will be supp lied at the usua’ discount. Samuel Thurston, Corner Park and Spring Streets.”
Do you know how graham crackers got thei r name? One of the earliest and most notable of a long line of food reformers and health faddists in America was Sylvester Graham. He advocated never eating newly baked bread, but only bread that was at least 12 hours old, and it must be made of whole wheat, unbolted and coarsely ground. He was so successful that graham flour, qraham bread, and graham crackers were all named for him.
Perhaps food is a good subject with which to end our program tonight. What dishes are typically American? Clam chowder, griddle cakes with maple syrup, pumpkin pie, turkey with cranberry sauce, potato chips, hot cream of tartar biscuits, Johnny cake, and corn on the cob. Our boys in the far Pacific during World War I I used to say there were two predominant symbols of the Ameri can way of life baseba II and b I uebe rry pie.
Year: 1954