This is the time of year when Colby Col lege gives annual attention to the\u00a0memory of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, the Albion man who died for freedom of the\u00a0press 120 years ago. It is well for us to note, therefore, that a free press\u00a0exi sts ri ght here in Watervi lie today.<\/p>\n
For some time there has been agitation in Watervi I Ie for a city manager\u00a0form of municipal government. Editorially the Watervil Ie Sentinel has come out \u00a0boldly and emphatically in favor of a city manager. On the same page Jim ~kClay’s\u00a0flAround the Town l1 column opposes the city manager p Ian. That those two\u00a0contrary views can be expressed on the same page, not in letters to the editor,\u00a0but by persons employed by the newspaper itself, is such evidence of a free\u00a0press. Watervi lie should be proud that it has a paper like the Sentinel.<\/p>\n
In February, 1812 the struggling new nation, the United States of America,was on the verge of another war with Great Britain. Inflation was already rampant\u00a0and the Kennebec Val ley, like other parts of the nation, was feeling hard\u00a0Times. Conditions were so bad that, as often happened in those days, the people\u00a0didn’t depend upon government for action, but turned to the device which Americans\u00a0had persistently used since the rv1ayflower Compact, the device of private\u00a0association. Kennebec County, of course, had its duly elected county commiss\u00a0ioners. l’Jeverthe less a group of independent ci ti zens of the county gathered in\u00a0January and formed a committee of which Benjamin Brown of what is now Riverside,\u00a0between Watervi I Ie and Augusta, was chairman, and Wi Iliam Emmons of Augusta\u00a0was secretary. That committee decided to hold a meeting on February 27,\u00a0but a severe snow storm caused a postponement. Recently I saw a copy of the\u00a0printed notice which was posted al lover the county calling for the postponed\u00a0meeti ng.<\/p>\n
I tread: HA Commi ttee appoi nted at a meeti nq of sundry i nhab i tants of\u00a0Kennebec County, held at the Town House in Augusta on February 27, announce\u00a0that the said meeting stands adjourned to Thursday, ~1arch 5 at 10 A.M. The inclemency\u00a0of the weather and impassable state of the roads having prevented a\u00a0general attendance of our fellow citizens, the citizens present were unwi II ing \u00a0to take the responsibi lity of nominating a candidate to represent them in the\u00a0Senate of the Genera I Court of Massachusetts., and to take measures to re I i eve \u00a0the pressing poverty of the times. The present situation of our public affairs,\u00a0the recent innovations and departure from wages and laws, which we have considered\u00a0our birthright, together with the dangers which rrenace the sacred liberties\u00a0and rights of the people through the conduct of ambitious men, induce the\u00a0hope and be lief that a fu II attendance of the peop Ie wi II be gi ven at the adjourned\u00a0meeti ng. n<\/p>\n
We do not know what action that March meeting of the Kennebec committee\u00a0took, other than to choose a candidate for the Senate, and I have been unable to\u00a0ascertain who he was. I do know that in 1812 the Massachusetts Senate was controlled\u00a0by the Federalists, whi Ie the House of Representatives was dominated by\u00a0the Jeffe rson i an Democrats. S i nee po Ii ti ca I fee ling at that ti me in Kennebec\u00a0County was strongly Democratic, their chosen senator was probably of that party.<\/p>\n
There was little that Kennebec citizens could do to curb inflation. Withina few weeks of the i r meeti ng there began what ‘was ca lied “~1r. Madi son’s War” l \u00a0<\/em>the War of 1812, and inflation grew steadi Iy worse. The period from 1813 to\u00a01815 was indeed one of the worst economic eras that Centra I Maine has ever experienced.<\/p>\n Among some Benton papers which it was my recent privi leg~ to see, was a petition\u00a0for a road from Clinton to Unity, dated Apri I 17, 1809, and bearing toe\u00a0names of 32 -citizens, headed by the we~1 known Benton name of Asher Hinds.\u00a0Obviously this was not a road from Clinton Vi <\/em>Ilage to Unity. \\~e must remember\u00a0that, in 1809, BenTon was a part of Clinton, and the road in question is probab\u00a0I ythe genera I line of the present highway from Benton Fa lis to Un i ty through\u00a0Unity Plantation.<\/p>\n Thi sol d peti Ti on gi ves us the names of seve ra I fami lies in the Eenton and\u00a0Un ity areas 150 years ago. There were Ri chardsons, Mi tche I Is and Hea I ds; Bartletts,\u00a0Vi <\/em>ckerys and Stevens; . Bowmans, Bartons and Hunts; \\~ebbs, Carters and more\u00a0Healds. On this single petition the given names of signers tel I us what a big\u00a0part the Bible played in the names of that time, for here -we find Jeremiah;and\u00a0Ephraim, Isaac and Matthew, Job, Nathaniel and Simeon, two Jonathans and four\u00a0Josephs.<\/p>\n In these days when every college in the land is carrying on a financial\u00a0campaign for bui Idings and endowment, it is interesting to know how America’s\u00a0oldest college, Harvard, did it 150 years ago. Recently an interesting old\u00a0paper turned up in Winslow. It is a single hand-written sheet which says:<\/p>\n nThi sis to certi fy that the followi ng numbers in the Harvard Co liege lottery\u00a0were bought for the \\1i <\/em>ns low Company of Adventurers by Charles Hayden thi s 22nd\u00a0day of January, 1807.” Following the numbers of seven lottery tickets is the\u00a0following notation: “Looked over and taken account of by me this 22nd day of\u00a0January, 1807, Ashe r Hi nds. ”<\/p>\n How a Benton ~an got entangled with that Winslow Company of Adventurers\u00a0wou I d be interest i ng to know.<\/p>\n There recently came into my hands the original hand-written deposition\u00a0taken in the year 1808 in connection with a lawsuit in the Town of Winslow.<\/p>\n Strange to us today, but not to iJ6ine people 150 years ago, is the fact that\u00a0the lawsuit was brought because of alleged damage done by hogs. Ezra Crosby\u00a0of Winslow charged that hogs belonging to Wi I liam Spring had repeatedly invaded\u00a0Crosby’s corn field and had rendered substantial damage to the crOD.<\/p>\n A principal witness was Crosby’s former hired man, Andrew Abbott. It was\u00a0two years after the alleged damage in 1806 before Crosby decided to bring suit.<\/p>\n By that time Abbott had removed to Clinton. The distance between Clinton and\u00a0Augusta is a mere trifle today, but in 1808 it was regarded by Justice of the\u00a0Peace \\vi II iam Swan of \\1inslow as sufficient to justify his taking Abbott’s deposition,\u00a0rather than having his presence required in the Augusta court.<\/p>\n Before Judge Swan, this is what Abbott swore to about hogs 150 years ago:<\/p>\n HI, Andrew Abbott, testi fy and dec I are that in the summe r of 1806 I lived\u00a0with Ezra Crosby, and during that time \\~Ii Iliam Spring’s hogs and pigs to the\u00a0number of about twenty were repeatedly within the enclosure of Mr. Crosby, and\u00a0were repeated I yin his corn and damaged it cons i derab I y, inconsequence of\u00a0which the crop in my opinion was shortened one-third or nearly, during the\u00a0aforesa i d summer. Mr. Crosby noti f ied Mr. Sp ri ng a number of ti mes that his\u00a0hogs were injuring him, and at Mr. Crosby’s request I once notified ~\/1r. Spring\u00a0myself, and Mr. Spring came at once and put his hogs into Mr. Crosby’s pen. He\u00a0took part of them out the same day and the rest the next day. Those hogs and\u00a0pigs were in Mr. Crosby’s corn field several times afterwards. I saw Mr. Spring\u00a0and asked hi m why he di dn ‘t take care of his hogs. H~ sa i d they got away from\u00a0him. In the same summer Joseph Swift came to Mr. Crosby’s whi Ie Mr. Crosby was\u00a0away. He wanted Mr. Crosby’s cart for Wi I liam Spring and said that Spring had\u00a0agreed with Mr. Crosby for the cart. I told him I didn’t know as he should have\u00a0it. So he took the cart. How long he kept it I cannot te II. I understood from\u00a0Mr. Swift that he was going to haul boards for Mr. Spring with “I .I \u2022 ”<\/p>\n To this statement is appended a question by Crosby and its answer bv Abbott.\u00a0Crosby asked: “What quantity of corn do you think the field would have\u00a0produced if it had not been damaged?” Abbott answered: “\\’\/hen I was cutti ng the\u00a0sTalks, I thought the field, which was about three acres, would have had 130\u00a0bushels, if it had not been damaged by the hogs.”<\/p>\n An unusual name that occurs in the old Maine records is that spel led\u00a0He ALE F”. had a Iways supposed it was pronounced Ca lef. It was the name\u00a0of old Canaan’s first minister. It was also the name of a cooper who came from\u00a0Massachusetts to Thomaston in the early 1800’s. Eaton in his interesting hisTory\u00a0of Thomaston te II s us that the name was pronounced as one sy II ab Ie: IlCa I f\u00b7.~<\/p>\n One day The cooper was introduced to the town’s most p romi nent ci ti zen,\u00a0General Hanry Knox. HCalf! Calf!~’, blurted out the general. !?Do you mean to\u00a0say your mother was a cow?” The cooper Ca lef was just as qui tk to take advanTage\u00a0of the Knox name. He rep I i ed, !’No, my mother wasn’t a cow, and my father\u00a0wasn’t an ox.”<\/p>\n The early Maine towns were constantly afraid of being burdened by paupers.<\/p>\n From the very beginning of incorporation, a town’s major financial problem,\u00a0next to highways, schools and preaching, was the support of the poor. How the\u00a0Town fathers tried hard to see that they didn’t have any poor! It was therefore\u00a0necessary to keep a sharp eye on new settlers, in fact on all strangers in\u00a0Town. In 1785 the town of Newcastle ousted 17 individuals. In 1787 the town\u00a0of Bowdoi nham got ri d of severa I persons, but had to acknow ledge the i r responsibi\u00a0lity to the pauperized widow of Thomas Clark. So the best they could do in\u00a0Town meeting was to authorize a committee to take methods of relieving the town\u00a0of the support of Widow Clark, if any justifiable means may appear. The next\u00a0year the selectmen were authorized to bring suit against whomever had oonfiscated\u00a0Mrs. Clark’s estate, and voted to reimburse, out of future Taxes, with\u00a0interest at 25%, anyone who wou I d advance money to carry on the sui t.<\/p>\n In 1792 eleven strangers were warned out of Thomaston. Pauperism had in-\u00a0ci denta I I Y become a p rob lem there because in the same year the town voted to\u00a0build a poor house, but failed to appropriate any funds to build it, so it\u00a0Simply wasn’t bui It.<\/strong><\/p>\n By the way, I wonder how many poor houses are sti II operated in Maine. The\u00a0widening coverage of Social Security is fast driving them out of existence.<\/p>\n Year: 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #352, Broadcast on October 27, 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[761,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7778\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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