<\/p>\n
This broadcast marks Little Talks’ year of coming of age, for this is indeed the 21st year that Little Talks on Common Things has been on the air. We have long since ceased to wonder why this program keeps going. We just don’t know, but we are naturally pleased that, in this time of absorption on current events and especially on dollars and cents, there are still people, both old and young, who like to hear about our historical heritage — the kind of people, the kind of things, and the kind of ways that made possible what we Americans are today.<\/p>\n
It seems worth remembering that Waterville would have remained a rural village if Nehemiah Getchell and Asa Redington had not taken the financial risk of building there a dam across the Kennebec in 1792. Waterville would have not become an educational center if Timothy Boutelle and Nathaniel Gilman, neither one a Baptist, had not persuaded the Baptist trustees to place their college in Waterville rather than in Skowhegan or Farmington. Waterville would not have become a medical center if the medical reputation and especially the public service of Dr. Frederick Thayer and Dr. J.F. Hill had not inspired Dr. Ted Hill and his associates, so that not only their Thayer Hospital, but also the Seton and Osteopathic Hospitals have grown and have become significant contributors to the health of Maine people.<\/p>\n
Every important accomplishment has a beginning. Every material comfort we have today was started somewhere, some time, by somebody. It is those starting points we like to mention again and again on this program. So we have told how Jediah Morrill, Timothy Boutelle and John Ware brought the first railroad to Waterville; how A.O. Lombard invented the caterpillar tread that was forerunner of the great war tanks, and fostered all such vehicles that now operate on farms, lumber projects and construction sites; how Waterville merchants and professional men brought the Maine Central shops to this city; and how what skeptics called Johnson’s Folly became the great new Colby on Mayflower Hill.<\/p>\n
So, as long as Little Talks stays on the air, it will continue with stories of the past. While it will occasionally refer to other parts of Maine, the program will, as it has always done, still emphasize the towns and cities of the Kennebec Valley.<\/p>\n
As we begin this 21st year of Little Talks I want. as usual, to solicit help from all our listeners on a point of local history. Who knows anything about the development of the quarry off the County Road. and west of the Mountain Farm near where the Colby Ski Slope is now located? When three buildings on the old campus of Colby College were torn down — Coburn Hall near the old athletic field, Chemical Hall, southernmost of the buildings, and Memorial Hall. the last to go, is it possible that the last of Waterville buildings constructed of stone from that quarry disappeared? Does any listener know of a bUilding still standing in Waterville that was made of that colored stone. a mixture of orange-brown, gray and black? What I want to know even more is who started that quarry and when? Was there ever an organized company that operated it? When did it close? Strangely, the Centennial History of Waterville says not a word about it. That leads me to believe it was not in operation, but had closed down before that history was published in 1902. So, all of you listeners, please let me have any information you can dig up about the old quarry.<\/p>\n
Lake Windemere at Unity, long known as Unity Pond, once had an older name than that. By the first settlers it was called Twenty-five Mile Pond. and land bordering it was named Twenty-five Mile Pond Plantation, before it was incorporated into the towns of Unity and Burnham. I was interested to find recently an old deed of land in that area, dated February 8, 1816. That is a well remembered year, because in Maine history it is known as the Year of No Summer, when there was frost every month of the year and snow fell in every month except July.<\/p>\n
The old deed begins: “Know that we, James Doe, <\/em>Jr. and Ezekiel Doe, both of the 25 Mile Pond Plantation in the County of Kennebec, yoemen, in consideration of $100 paid us by James Doe of the same plantation and county, do hereby release and quit claim for ourselves and our heirs to said James Doe our right. title and interest of one-third part of a lot of land in the plantation of Twenty-five Mile Pond. it being one-third part of a lot that James Doe. Jr. bought of Samuel Myrick, containing one hundred acres. more or less.”<\/p>\n Now comes the interesting part of this 150 year old deed: “James Doe and his present wife to hold the said one-third interest in the said lot during their natural lives, so that neither we, James Doe, Jr. nor Ezekiel, nor our heirs or assigns nor any other person or persons, claiming by or under us, may claim right or title to the aforesaid land or any part thereof during the natural lives of James Doe and his present wife.”<\/p>\n Whether that deed was ever re60rded in the county records we have not inquired, but it was properly witnessed and signed before Daniel Whitmore, Justice of the Peace, at Unity on February 8, 1816.<\/p>\n This is another instance of the kind of thing I have cited on this program many times — some way in which sons took care of parents when the latter reached old age. More commonly the parents deeded the whole farm to one or more sons, and in return the sons agreed to care for the parents as long as they lived. The terms of those agreements were carefully set forth in the documents in great detail. This deed is a bit different. for it conveys title in land from sons to father, but it was obviously a legal device to care for the old people ;n their last years.<\/p>\n Several times on this program I have mentioned Henry S. Burrage. Maine’s first state historian and author of several books on Maine history. Burrage was once pastor of the Waterville Baptist Church. and I have told ;n “Remembered Maine” the controversy he had with that irrascible character, Charles Hathaway, creator of the Hathaway shirts. You may recall that Hathaway and Burrage publicly aired their differences. week after week, in the columns of the Waterville Mail and that Hathaway did what in slang we today sometimes tell such a fellow to do. He went out and hired a hall, where he held religious services in opposition to Burrage’s.<\/p>\n Burrage was indeed a famous Baptist preacher, but he is even better known as a historian. His “History of the Baptists of Maine” is still the most authentic book on the Maine supporters of that sect. What is not so generally known about Burrage is that he gained military fame in the Civil War, and it is that phase of the life of that Waterville clergyman that I want to bring to your attention today.<\/p>\n For many years I have valued highly my acquaintance with the daughter of Dr. Burrage, a distinguished lady who is still living. Miss Mildred Burrage who, with her sister, makes her home in Wiscasset, is, like her father, deeply interested in Maine history. She is chiefly responsible for an historical restoration of great importance to the Kennebec Valley. Until Miss Burrage gave it her attention, the old Pownalborough Court House in the present town of Dresden was falling into decay. Today, splendidly restored and furnished with items of the period of its building, that old court house on the east bank of the Kennebec sees annually hundreds of visitors from allover the land and even from foreign countries. If you haven’t ever seen it, you ought to, for it was the first public building erected on the Kennebec above Merrymeeting Bay, a dozen years before the outbreak of the Revolution.<\/p>\n A few months ago Miss Burrage gave me a copy of a pamphlet published by Brown University early this year. It is entitled “The Military Career of Henry Sweetser Burrage”, by Robert George.<\/p>\n Graduating from Brown in 1861, Burrage was a student at Newton Theological Institution when President Lincoln issued his call for 300.000 volunteers in July, 1862. Burrage left his theological studies to join the 36th Massachusetts. He served for three years from August, 1862 to June, 1865, rising from sergeant through second and first lieutenancies to Captain, then Major.<\/p>\n In boyhood Burrage had formed the habit of keeping written records, and preserved today are five small pocket volumes in which he kept a record of his Civil War experiences. Because Henry Burrage always expressed himself so clearly and significantly. let us turn to that diary for his own words of some of his experiences.<\/p>\n In October 1862 Burrage for the first time saw Abraham Lincoln. He wrote: “We were reviewed with the rest of the Army Corps by Gen. Burnside and Pres. Lincoln. We formed the regimental line at 7 a.m. marched to a field in the rear of our camp, and took a position on the left of our brigade. The President arrived shortly after nine o’clock and passed us in review about ten. We all had a good sight of Old Abe. We returned to our quarters about eleven.”<\/p>\n Burrage recorded that Thanksgiving in 1862 was observed in good style by his regiment: “Our cook had managed to find chickens had extemporized an oven out of mud for the occasion, and had dug a hole for baking beans. For dinner we had baked beans, doughnuts, mince pie and coffee. The chicken appeared for supper.”<\/p>\n In the spring of 1863 Burrage’s regiment was transferred to Kentucky. There he had this to say about a local church service: “There was quite a large audience, about half of them soldiers. Men were on one side, women on the other, with blacks in the back pews. As the pastor was ill. his place was supplied by a colored preacher, a slave. He gave an exposition that was not according to the schools, but it was remarkable considering the man’s past history.”<\/p>\n Henry Burrage saw plenty of action in the war — at Antietam, before Richmond, in the Wilderness, at Spottsylvania Court House, at Cold Harbor. There he was wounded and sent to Division Hospital.<\/p>\n On November 1864, while on a military mission in Virginia, Burrage was captured and placed in Richmond’s notorious Libby Prison. There he somehow managed to obtain note paper at a dollar a sheet, and used it to write a letter directly to General Lee. Lee refused to act in Burrage’s behalf, endorsing on the Union officer’s request the words: “There appears to be no reason why the writer should not be considered as another prisoner of war captured from the enemy.” Burrage had claimed he was going through the Confederate lines under a flag of truce.<\/p>\n Burrage was transferred from Libby to the even worse prison at Danville. Then even worse misfortune hit him. General Meade had dismissed him from the service for disobedience of orders that caused his capture. That disqualified him for any consideration under prisoner exchange. Burrage wrote in his diary: “I cannot believe it, for I most certainly acted in complete obedience to orders.”<\/p>\n Burrage had staunch friends, however. A petition went at once to General Meade, signed by all the officers of the 36th Massachusetts. and going through channels with the endorsement of brigade, division and corps commanders. Both Massachusetts senators, Charles Summer and Henry Wilson, appealed in Burrage’s behalf. But Meade stood firm, and strongly advised Pres. Lincoln not to reinstate Burrage.<\/p>\n One day, at the President’s request, a supporter of Burrage placed a full account of the case in the hands of John Hay, Lincoln’s secretary. “Burrage”. exclaimed Hay, “was that man at Brown in 1857-58?” Hay himself had been in Brown’s Class of 1858. “I will”, said Hay, “take this to the President at once.” The Meade decision was, a few hours after that. completely reversed and Burrage restored to rank in the Union Army. On February 15. 1865 Burrage was released from Danville in exchange for a Confederate officer.<\/p>\n And that, in brief summary is the story of a Waterville minister who was a prisoner in the Civil War and very nearly lost his honorable position in the Union Army.<\/p>\n Year: 1968<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #773, Broadcast on September 15, 1968<\/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":[1199,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8840"}],"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=8840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}