Radio Script #150
Little Talks On Common Things
May 25, 1952
This is the 150th broadcast In this series that began in the autumn of 1948. We like to note that our 150th program comes close to the celebration of Waterville ‘s 150th year.
A few weeks ago we asked you the question, “Have you been to church today?” It is pertinent to ask that question every Sunday evening. If church going lags, if active interest In our churches declines, America is in for a very bad time Indeed. This is a case where you can’t say, “Let George do It.”
The obligation is upon every last one of us. Have you been to church today? Closely all led to this matter of going to church is the religious instruction of our young people. The reason why some of us are so strong for the retention of private schools along side of the public schools is because the private schools are free to give definite religious instruction in their classrooms.It was a hard blow to religious instruction in the public schools, although attendance at it was made purely voluntary, when the Supreme Court decided that there could be no religious instruction on public school property in school time.
Now comes a decision of the Supreme Court which gives us new hope. The new decision Is on the released time plan in the city of New York. Any pupil in the elementary grades may be excused once a week an hour early at the end of a day’s regular school session if he then goes to a religious school center for an hour of instruction conducted by his own religious denomination. In order to be so released the pupil must present a card signed by his parent and a member of the clergy. No child can be required by the school authorities to attend any religious training, nor can any child be denied the privilege of such attendance if his parents wish it. The church school which the child attends during the released hour must file attendance reports with the public school authorities. No chi Id is excused from that one hour in the public school unless he is actually present at the religious school.
That is the program which the U. S. Supreme Court has held to be constitutional country. It is a plan that is expected to find wide adoption throughout the
would advise our citizens who propose turning the park in Castonguay Square into a parking lot to examine the deeds of gift by which that land was conveyed to the town of Waterville. I am sure no one would do otherwise than respect the memory of Dr. Obadiah Williams, who made the first gift ever presented to the municipality on this side of the river, and of Abijah Smith who extended the lot by a second gift.
It was five years be·fore Waterville became a separate town, in 1797 to be exact, when Obadiah Williams gave to the inhabitants of the town of Winslow a parcel of land in Lot 104 on the west side of the river. In making that gift Dr. Williams laid down certain restrictions: first, that the only buildings erected on the land should be a meeting house, an academy, a court house, and a common school house. Now listen to these words contained in the Williams deed of gift: “There shall be no other buildings either public or private ever hereafter erected on the land, but all the remaining part thereof shall be preserved entire for the purpose of a meeting house green or a training field or any other amusement.”
Forty-three years later, in 1840, Abi~ah Smith added an adjoining piece of land on the south to the Williams gift, making possible the building of Conlnon Street and enlarging the area of the public park. Smith’s deed of gift, after providing for the street, declares: “The land hereby granted shall be forever kept and appropriated to public use only as a promenade or place for military parade, and if the town shall at any time violate these conditions, the land shall revert to the grantors or their heirs.”
I am no lawyer, and I cannot predict what the courts would decide. I can only call your attention to what Obadiah Wi II iams and Abl Jah Smith Intended, and how definitely and carefully they worded the deeds of gift.
Readers of the Waterville Sentinel are familiar with the inspiring messages of Rev. Nelson Miles Heikes, to whom the Ima Wanderer column is turned over each Saturday. Mr. Heikes has kindly allowed me to examine a very old account book kept by his wife’s grandfather, Elisha Wood. Mrs. Heikes, who died In 1942, traced double descent from the first Pilgrim colony at Plymouth; so she came from a very old American family. In that line of descent from the Mayflower Pilgrims was Elisha Wood. Elisha married Eliza White in Winthrop, Maine on February 2, 1824, and on that mid-winter day drove from Winthrop to Freedom, where he had a home all ready for her. There they lived for many years and brought up a family, and there the pages of this old account book were written.
Elisha Wood was a farmer, laborer and brick layer, for a short time a blacksmith, operated a saw mill, and did quite a business renting horses and teams, though in h is day there was no such thing as a livery stable in our small Maine towns. The first item in Elisha’s accounts is dated November 1, 1828, and the last is a record of his expenditures as school agent in 1858. Although there are detailed items for only about 20 years, the book was obviously used for some accounts for thirty years.
What was Elisha Wood doing in 1828, four years after his marriage to Eliza White? That he was energetically doing more than running his own farm is made clear by the following items: “Luther Davis, to a plow breaking up two days, $2.00; Daniel Davis, to a wagon to Belfast, eo cents; Samuel Rives, 3 days laying brick at $1.50 per day, $4.50.” That he often rented vehicles without horses — the renter probably furnishing the horse — is shown by these items: “Sleigh to China twice, 66 cents; sleigh to Palermo, 20 cents; wagon to Dover, $2.00; sleigh to Unity, 40 cents.” It was just as common for him to rent a horse without a vehicle. These were probably saddle horses, and the items read: “Horse to mill, 25 cents; horse to Montville, 40 cents; horse to Palermo, 33 cents; horse to the Branch, 33 cents.”
Even when he rented both horse and vehicle together, the rates were low: “Horse and wagon to Albion Corner, 40 cents; horse and sleigh to China, 60 cents; horse and wagon to Freedom Village, 40 cents; horse and wagon to camp meeting, 66 cents; horse and wagon to Liberty after a grist, 60 cents.” 01 December 10, 1833 he charged $1.80 for a sleigh to Lewiston. His charge for a day’s plowing with a yoke of oxen was 66 cents, but if he furnished the plow it was $1.00. For harrowing the charge, harrow and oxen, was 83 cents. As early as 1828 Elisha had to hire help at haying time. On July 28 he credited Richard Garney with $1.33 for a day’s work haying by Garney and his boy Jacob.
Elisha was a good farmer. The book is filled with references to produce sold from his farm. His potatoes brought, through the years, anywhere from 25 cents to 2 shillings 6 pence (41 cents) a bushel. His wool went for 2 shillings 6 pence a pound; his corn for 50 to 80 cents a bushel; his barley for 66 cents; his wheat and rye for a dollar. Strangely enough, there is no reference to oats. He sold mutton for as l0w as four cents a pound, and in 1832 a whole quarter of beef for two cents a pound, though in 1840 It brought him five cents. He sold many lambs for one dollar each. His hay brought him from $7 to $10 a ton.
Never in any of the old account books have I seen so low a price for cord wood. Through the whole winter of 1846-47 he delivered wood to a Mrs. Kinney at 62! cents a cord. It appears that Elisha was responsible to one J. Randall for supplying Mrs. Kinney with life’s necessities. Whether Randall paid the bills as a relative, a guardian, or as a town officer, the account book does not make plain. Anyhow, about twice a year Elisha Wood collected from Randall a part of his bill against Mrs. Kinney — but never more than a part of it. Unless there were transactions not listed in the book, Elisha never broke even on the deal. He rented Mrs. Kinney a whole house for one shilling (17 cents) a week.
Mrs. Kinney used a lot of cord wood. In the two relatively mild months of October and November, 1847, Elisha made seven half cord deliveries at her door. In January and February she used up six whole cords, and six more before the end of June. From 1847 through 1849 Elisha supplied Mrs. Kinney with molasses, tea, a little flour, a very little sugar, a lot of salt pork, a littie mutton, crackers two dozen at a time, 5 yards of flannel, a pair of calfskin shoes, a pint of brandy, a quart of wine, a box of pills, and occasional bits of cash ranging from 12 cents to 56 cents.
Mrs. Elizabeth Kinney seems to have had a daughter Hannah Kinney, which explains the puzzling fact that sometimes an item is headed Mrs. Kinney, at other times Miss Kinney. The whole account comes to an end in 1852 with these items: “Hannah Kinney, To lot in burying ground, $3.00; to taking up her mother and removing her, $3.00. It Elisha operated a saw mill. He charged $3 a thousand feet for sawing plank, and $2 a thousand for boards. He evidently got out lumber of his Ottn, for he credits Jonathan Fuller with one day’s chopping, 50 cents.
It was as a bricklayer that Elisha got his best pay — $1.50 for a whole day’s work, and it was much more than an 8 hour day. He laid a lot of brick between 1830 and 1850, and only eight years after his marriage was doing wei I enough so that he could loan $25 to Richard Garney at 6 per cent. In 1834 he had a number of notes from debtors on which he was having some trouble collecting his 6 per cent. On one note of ten dollars, however, he charged nine per cent and got it.
The variety of Elisha’s interests and abilities is revealed in this single account against Nathan Bachelor in 1842: “Pasturing 25 sheep at two shillings a head, $8.33; four days laying brick, $6.00; one half day blasting rocks and using 12 ounces of powder, 90 cents; smoothing two rooms in the chamber, 50 cents; 100 feet of pine boards, $1.00.” Elisha got his boots and shoes from Jonathan Varney. On December 11, 1841 he credits Varney with $7.75 for making boots and shoes for the family. On October 10,1842 Varney got credit for $1.00 for making one pair of shoes for Amelia. She apparently was Elisha’s daughter. When he had Varney around the place with his shoemaker’s outfit, and the shoemaker had time on his hands, Eli sha saw that he was kept busy. On February 20, 1845 he entered in the book: “Jonathan Varney, credit by two days mending shoes and chopping wood, $1.33.”
When Elisha was school agent in 1858 he accounted for $93.04 to operate the school in District No.1. He paid J. H. Tenney $18 a month for teaching the school two and a half months. After Seth Bradstreet had boarded the master for four months, something happened to cause Elisha to take the teacher into his own home, at the same board rate paid Bradstreet, $1.50 a week. John Cummings got $2.19 for supplying the schoolhouse with three cords of wood. Repairs on the bui Iding cost 88 cents, and Elisha paid out 20 cents for a pail and 22 cents for a broom. When it came time to operate a summer term, Elisha’s daughter Amelia got the job at $2.50 per week — total, pay of $30 for twelve weeks teaching.
Near the end of the book, though there are no more detailed entries, we find a record very rare in the old account books of this sort. It is a progressive picture of at least a portion of Elisha’s assets from 1851 through 1855. When 1851 began there was due him on notes and accounts $1,879.10. He listed mutton and pelts at $17, and meat stock at $277 — a total of $2,173.10. He shows no liabilities.
In another year the notes and accounts due him had increased by $600, and he had added a threshing machine at $63, so that his total assets were over $3,000, but he had debts of $516. The next year he reduced his debts to $360, so that he had a net worth of $2,653. By January, 1854 the accounts due Elisha had mounted to $3,634 and his net worth was over $3,200.
The year 1854 was a good one for Elisha. He reduced his uncollected accounts from $3,600 to $1,900. By January, 1855 he had $200 in an unnamed bank and $380 in a Thomaston bank. He had added to his holdings the Davis farm, on which he paid a year’s tax of $2.79, and for the first time he lists cash on hand, $46. He owed only $235, giving him a net worth of $3,500.
This farmer, laborer, bricklayer, saw mill operator, and renter of horses and wagons had, in four years, increased his net worth by more than a thousand dollars. The Davis farm and the money in the bank represented almost exactly the amount of his collection of old accounts. It would be interesting to know how Elisha Wood of Freedom was able to get so much out of his debtors in that, his most profitable, year of 1854.
Year: 1952