Radio Script #681

Little Talks on Common Things

February 27, 1966

Today I want to refer once more to the diary which Hezekiah Prince Jr. of Thomaston faithfully kept from 1822 to 1828.

One of Hezekiah’s closest friends was Jonathan Cilley, who later won the rather dubious distinction of being the only Congressman ever to be killed in a duel at the time when he was a member of Congress. I told the story of that notorious duel on this program several years ago. Now I will tell you about Hezekiah Prince’s acquaintance with the young Jonathan Cilley before the latter had achieved political fame.

The diary’s first reference to Cilley was written on September 5, 1825, when Hezekiah was planning to attend the Bowdoin Commencement. Don’t be surprised that commencement was held early in September. I have repeatedly pointed out on this program that until near the end of the 19th century Colby commencement was always held in August. I have never encountered a date as late as September for the Colby function, but I was not surprised to learn that at least one Bowdoin commencement was held in that month.

On September 5, 1825 Hezekiah wrote: “Having determined to go to Brunswick to attend Commencement at Bowdoin College, I started about 1 p.m. with my horse and Mr. Ruggles’ chaise. I arrived at the Wiscasset about 6:30, where I put up for the night. In the evening I called at Miss Tinkham’s to see my sister Deborah, who is attending Miss Tinkham’s school.

“Sept. 6 – Started after breakfast for Bath, passed the ferry without any detention and arrived in Bath about 9 a.m. Moved on and reached Brunswick at 11:30. Called on Mr. Cilley and delivered him a letter from Mr. Ruggles. Cilley had made up his mind to go to Thomaston as soon as he graduated tomorrow; so he accepted the offer of a seat in my chaise.”

Hezekiah says he attended a lecture in the afternoon and another in the evening, evidently similar to those delivered before the literary societies at Waterville College throughout its earlier commencements. Now let us see what Hezekiah has to say about the graduation exercises at Bowdoin: “At 9:30 a.m. the doors of the meeting house were opened for the reception of ladies, previous to which time many hundred had collected at the doors and stood crowded together with their gallants in the midst of them, like a vast flock of sheep gathered before the shearer. It was disgusting to see delicate females of the highest respectability crowded, jammed and pushed in front of the door. When the door was at length opened, there was a grand rush. The utmost exertions of several doorkeepers failed to keep any kind of order. Not all could find seats, and standing visitors lined the walls.

“About 11 a.m. the procession formed, and preceded by a fine band of music, entered the meeting house. It completely stuffed the already filled building. Luckily I obtained a place where I could stand and look over several heads and thus see the stage. There was the most elegant display of beauty in the galleries thai I have ever beheld. The exercises commenced at once. The performances were handsome and interesting, the parts well selected and delivered. A Mr. Little had the valedictory. The class which graduated was composed of 37 men, 17 of whom spoke parts. Over three hours were consumed in going through with the performances. This evening there was a splendid ball at which 150 ladies were present.”

That Bowdoin Commencement which Hezekiah Prince attended saw the graduation of the most famous single class ever to receive Bowdoin diplomas, the Class of 1825.

In it were two of the most illustrious names connected with Bowdoin, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Besides Jonathan Cilley, the future Congressman, there was also William Hale, ancestor of two U.S. Senators; Stephen Longfellow, the illustrious lawyer brother of the poet and George Washington Pierce, brother of the U.S. President, who was himself a graduate of Bowdoin.

Hezekiah tells about the trip back to Thomaston with Jonathan Cilley: “My bill at Moorhead’s Tavern was $5.50. We arrived at Bath and took breakfast. Started from there about 8:30, crossed the ferry, stopped at Wiscasset for an hour, then proceeded to Newcastle where we took dinner. As we started on again, Mr. Cilley took the reins and drove. We arrived in Thomaston about dark. I left Mr. Cilley at Mr. O’Brien’s where he boards.”

During the following weeks Hezekiah Prince and Jonathan Cilley became cronies, and years later no one was more grieved when Cilley met his death in that Washington duel than was Hezekiah Prince. Since Hezekiah’s father had been an original incorporator of the Baptist College in Waterville and was a leading figure among the Baptists of Maine, one would expect to find in the diary several references to Waterville College. Instead there is only one. The fact is that about the time when Jeremiah Chaplin opened the first classes at the new institution, Hezekiah Prince, Sr. had had a falling out with his fellow trustees, and he wanted nothing to do with the change from a theological institution to a liberal arts college, the change that occurred in 1821, when the Maine Literary Institution became Waterville College with the right to grant the bachelor of arts degree. In fact the only one of old Hezekiah’s sons who went to college, a brother of Hezekiah, Jr., attended Bowdoin.

The single reference to Waterville College in the diary is dated December 3, 1826: “A young student of Waterville College preached in the meeting house today in Mr. Washburn’s stead. His name is Ropes. Very few people were stirring. My father’s denomination of Baptists now are a majority here. Last Thursday the Proprietors of the Meeting House held a meeting at which the Congregationalist members of the Proprietors made proposals to sell their part, and the Baptists purchased.”

The young substitute preacher named by Hezekiah was Timothy Pickering Ropes of the Colby Class of 1827. When he preached in Thomaston he was 23 years old. After his graduation he was pastor at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire; then at Weston and Lexington, Massachusetts; was for four years Principal of Lexington Academy; then taught another four years at Winchester, Virginia. By 1852 he was back as minister again in his original pastorate at Hampton Falls, but for some reason went to Minnesota in 1854. During the Civil War he was pastor at LeRoy, Minnesota, where he remained until his death in 1870.

Every time I see one of those old diaries I examine it carefully to see what it says about Christmas. The diary of Hezekiah Prince only confirms what I have frequently said on this program. Previous to the Civil War, Christmas in Maine was not a holiday and very little attention was paid to it, except as a religious observance. Hezekiah Prince says not a word about any exchange of gifts at Christmas, any Christmas tree, any Christmas party. He gives no indication of its being a special day for children or any hint of Santa Claus. Let us see exactly what he does say: “December 25, 1822 – Very pleasant in the morning with wind westerly. Received a letter from the Collector of Customs, stating that he would not accept the appraisal of the schooner Mary, and ordering me to strip her and haul her up. Accordingly I hired Mr. Fales for the purpose.”

“December 25, 1823 – Went to Warren to attend Court with Col. Haskell. The case of Pierce against Mr. Ruggles and my father started this morning. Judgment was made against Pierce, but he appealed to the Supreme Court.”

“December 25, 1824 – In the morning Mr. Kelley and I had Mr. Mason’s gig and went to the Shore (Rockland) to hear Richard Spear’s address to the Temperance Society formed in that part of the town. On our return I went to the wharf to inspect three vessels just arrived from Boston.”

“December 25, 1825 – A severe rainstorm all through the night. Before the rain there were several inches of snow on the ground. Most of it is gone now. Mr. Hewett came this evening to keep the school in this neighborhood. He boards with us.”

“December 25, 1827 – In my room during the forenoon. Took dinner with Mr. Balch. Mr. James Hovey and G. Smoot were over from Waldoboro and dined at Mr. Balch’s. I also spent the evening there.”

Those are all the references to Christmas Day in the diary of Hezekiah Prince. You will notice that on Christmas Day in 1824 Hezekiah attended a temperance lecture in Rockland. All readers of New England history know that 1824 was very early for a temperance society. At that time even clergymen drank liquor. When the minister visited a home it was considered a necessary act of hospitality to offer him immediately a drink of spirits. Young Hezekiah Prince’s favorite beverage seems to have been wine. He mentions drinking it at parties, on picnics, at the dinner table. There was certainly no opprobrium attached to its regular use.

The most prominent of Knox County historians, Cyrus Eaton, who himself taught school in Warren in Hezekiah Prince’s time, says in his “History of Thomaston, South Thomaston and Rockland”: “The formation on December 25, 1823 of a Temperance Society at the Shore Village, now Rockland, was probably the first total abstinence society in Maine, if not in the entire United States.”

Eaton’s comment shows that the society was exactly one year old when Hezekiah attended in 1824. Of that occasion Eaton says: “The public address of Demerick Spear was heard with both curiosity and satisfaction. It was given in the old school house that stood at the corner of Main and Park Streets in Rockland. At the end of the year 1824 the society had 63 members.”

Quite evidently Hezekiah Prince did not join the society or sign its pledge.

Through the rest of his diary there are many references to his imbibing in wine and in an occasional glass of spirits.

If Christmas was not a holiday in Hezekiah’s time, the Fourth of July certainly was. His account of its observance in Thomaston in 1823 is typical of all references to July 4 found in the diary: “This being the anniversary of the great event that gave birth to the liberties of our country, I started about 9 a.m. with the family of Esq. Adams to go to the celebration.”

Then comes a surprising statement: “The parties divided, the Federalists, having the old meeting house and the Republicans the brick meeting house of the meadow. Of course I was at the latter. The Declaration of Independence was read by William Farley of Waldoboro and the oration was by Squire Ruggles. The procession then moved to the house of Jacob Ulmer, where a company of 300 took dinner. General McCobb presided.”

About the rival meeting in the other meeting house Hezekiah says nothing. Of course the Republicans he refers to were not the modern political party, because that was not formed until 1854. Hezekiah’s party were the Democrat-Republicans headed by Thomas Jefferson, the origin of the modern Democratic party.

Year: 1966