The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-03-05
TUE PARSONAGE.

uedu duu SOuC ~ many SNI
venerable Parsonage, where they lived, and when
stands to-day as a curious relic ofold-time style. 1t
is a large two story wooden house at the upper parI
8 of the village, placed back from the street, ana
, adorned and shaded in front by rows of noble
elms, set out by grateful Indians a hundred years
ago. 1t is dark with the beating OF storms upon
!, if: long ago all trace of paint had left it but 1t
does not seem decayed, and the wood work VIII
do much service yet. AT us rear are oarhs' De
old looking as the house-The parsonage farm
contains nearly seventy acres of desirable land
which is cultivated BY Mr.. Oliver Bacon its pres
ent owner. On entering the house by the front
door YOU will notice small panes of glass over 1t,
fashioned in the old 81 bulls eye y pattern. The
entries are large, and the front staircase comfort
ably wide. There is a room on each side OF the
front entry, the one on the right as you enter
having been used as a parlor by Lady Lothrop,
and was where Horace was received by her In the
story. when he called on Good Friday. On the
other side is the " sitting room" dear to all New
England houses. The rooms are moderately high,
studded of good size, and have an abundance of
wood work in sight. On the second floor is the
Parsons study, in one corner OF which Is the
sounding board of Elliot's old Indian Church.
Parson Badger had it placed in his study when
that church was demolished. Under it, he was
accustomed weekly to gather the few Indians that
were left in Oldtown, and instruct them in their
duties. 1t is an ancient looking board, covered
with an ornament of vines, and cracked and
stained. And as l looked at it l could almost see
the Parson sitting beneath, explaining the faith
to his dusky hearers. The study is a small, close
room, as plain and severe as the most rigid Puri-
tan could desire. The lady Of the Parsonage has
preserved with devoted care a rich satin dress
worn by Mrs. Badger, and her pink satin slippers,
nine inches long. The dress is deliberately worked
with flowers, and is almost thick enough TO stand
alone. The slippers are darned in a fine and neat
manner, and were evidently worn a great deal by
aristocratic lady. Their tiny heels closely resem-
BILE the heels worn by the ladies at the present
time The wife IF tho DraSent ouUpar IF tho DIR
sonage is a namesake of Mrs. Badger and a
granddaughter of Deacon Badger, SO called, in
the novel. Everything about the house is very
neat and tidy, and though the building is very
old, 1t Is very comfortable.
SHERIFF JONES AND SQUIRE BROWN
were members of the House of Lords-prosperous
gentlemen, holding station and rank in the simple
days of the village.
John Jones held the office of Sheriff of the
county under King George, and after the Revolu-
ton returned i to Oldtown, and settled into it's life.
He was deacon in the church, and an educated,
worthy man. He was in fact devoted to educa-
ton, and gave his children the best advantages.
He kept a chaise, which was considered quite a
sign of rank in those days. For sometime he was
engaged in the business of surveying in the Maine
woods during the summer and in the winter often
taught school. This gentleman was the grand
father of the Hon. Amos Perry, of Providence,
and until recently American Consul at Tunis.
The old Jones residence on the top of a beautiful
hill near the village, is a spacious and substantial
edifice. and remains the same as when the Sheriff
occupied it. He died in 1901, aged 81.
Captain or Squire Brown, was Il retired Eng
lish sea-master, and a man Of wealth. Until two
years ago, his house was standing a short distance
above the Parsonage. 1t was a great, arlstocratic
house. Two years ago it Vas set ON fire, and
burned down. For some time it had stood empty,
and bore the reputation of being haunted.
FICTICIoUs CHARACTERS.
Miss Mebitable Rossiter. l am sorry to write,
though a member OF the House of Lords, was a
member in the novelist $ imagination, for the old
est inhabitant of Oldtown knows her not. | am
sorry for this, because / liked her character, and
wished it TO be real. And those who have read
"Oldtown Folks,'' and remember the characters
of Harry and Tina Percival, will hardly like to
know that the story which is told SO graphically
and charmingly about those important persons is
wholly fictitious. That they existed only in Mrs.
Stoves fertile brain is quite certain. No such
beings ever lived in Oldtown, or were connected
with the characters taken from real life. They
were only fine conceptions of the novelist's fancy.
And Crabb Smith, and his virgin sister, Miss As
phyXia, are also creations of romance. That they
could exist, even in those hospitable, hearty DAYS
of New England, is quite possible that they did
not exist as described is something to be thankful
for. Ellery Davenport, who plays such an impor-
tant part in the story, is the cratic Aaron Burr,
whom Mrs. Stowe takes great delight in display
ing as an :" awful example - of an educated, pol
ished infdel. Once before in her novel, - The
Minister'S Wooing," this man stalked through
the pages playing the same part. Aaron Burr
was guilty of many sins-a bad, reckless man
but he was hardly SO bad, oreof SO much conse-
quence. that he must be brought from the oblivion
of the grave by James Parton and Mrs. Stowe in
such u fearful manner. And there is Sol Peters
with hands hard as horn, and 50 eyes like oxen,''
but a heart al soft and as innocent as child's, and
who befriended little Tina in her trouble-he, too.
fades into misty romance, and only lived in the
book. Polly Shubel is also a creation of the
authors.
THE BADGER FAMILY.
Grandfather and grandmother Badger, Aunt
Lois and Keziah, as described by Mrs. Stowe, are
quite correct pictures of the members of one of
the Oldest and most respectable families of Old
town, belonging to the Industrial class. The real
name is Bigelow, and there are two members of
the family living to-day in the yillage-a daughter
and son of the good Deacon, whose family arc
made famous by the novel. Col. Abram Bigelow
is eighty-one years old, and is a man of the old
school, with 1t trife of the military in his man.
ner. He is still in good health, but is very deaf,
and has slightly lost his eyesight. But he is very
of the old times. His sister is the widow of Col.
Chester Adams, who was engaged in the war of
1872, and was Colonel of the LIST Regiment, I'd
Brigade, Massachusetts militia, until 1920. Mrs.
Adams is also quite deaf, and is seventy-seven
years old-a lady with considerable of the old
breeding. These two remaining members
of the family live in a neat house, in the centre
of the village.
The Deacon Badger house stood near the saw
mill, by the dam and bridge. 1t was a laroe.
roomy house; but only the cellar and foundation
stones are left to-day. The house was always a
safe refuge for wanderers and the homeless, and
a generous hospitality was dispensed therein.
Grandmother Badger is remembered as not being
quite the neat careful person as described, but
she had a large heart, and one of kind, motberlv
feeling. Amt Lois, who was Eunice Bigelow.
does not seem to have been the energetic person
Mrs. Stowe makes her. but in other WAYS is
to the life. Aunt Keziah was Abigail
and Uncle Bill, was William Bigel0w.
who graduated at Harvard College in 1884. and
familiarity called Sawney Bigelow. He was
writer, a poet and a wit, and bis published
works show much talent. The persons of the
mentioned in the story are all buried in
the old church yard in the village, their stones
side by side-father and mother and
Deacon William died in 1913, aged