Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1884-01-29
l1r thc hcmocfnt
THE FIRST PARIS LIBRARY.

Fsr the Democrat
THE FIRST PARIS LIBRARY.
Among the fact. which are entitled to
commemorate the good name Of the town
Of Pans. the early establishment Of a
public library stand. ou, With Prominence
Oaly four yeAr after Incorporation Of the
town. a meeting was held Os,ober %,
1921. "ior the purpose Of establishing a
Social Library a, Capt. David S,owelrs.
jonathan Hall WAS chosen President. Ca
lsb Prentiss. CLERK. and Daniel S,o~ell.
josiah Bis, and James Hooper were aP-
pointed to prepare constitution. Dan
lei S,o~sll and CyPriAn Stevens were
chosen TO purchase books.
A. an adjourned meeting held on New
Year, day following, Messr'. S,osell aud
Hoopsr being absent. "lef, their writing
on the sabiec, With the clerk, aud Msssrs.
Disco. Abnsr Rawson and Caleb Pfeniiss
were appointed TO complete "rules Of reg
ulaiioa which were excepted by vote Of
the Socis,y." The word excepted" found
in the record. !, dil not seem 10 occur, II
construed strictly. would leave them with
ou, a code. and suggests that a die'ion'
cry was one of the books most needfal
to be purchased This use of excepted
ior accepted" however, i not on un-
common error even in our day.
"The rules and orders" provided for an
annual election q moderator. clerk and
Librarian. The latter was required to be
an inhAbiiani q the town. have custody
Of the books. inspect AL returned. and Il
damaged was empowered to assess fines
on seooun, thereof Neither he nor =
proprietor was permitted to loan books
10 any outside the shareholders. Any
pcrsoa. townsman OF otherwise. could be-
come = shareholder on payment Of two
dollars. a, ,ha, rate own any number Of
shares. arl take out books accordingly.
The shares were made inheri,able. Pro-
prie,or, meeting. were 10 be held on the
fr., Thursday. Of March and September
annually. when. As also on the first Thurs
days Of June And December. all books
were 10 be returned upon such penalty
By fne a. the Librarian should impose.
The frs, meeting Of prOpfieior under
the constitution WAS held on the frs,
Thur.dAy o. March l79s. Appended to
the minutes thereof are the fol-
loving names John Robinson, Caleb
Pren,is.. wm. Parsons, wm. Clark
whiiaey. Daniel S,owell, stephen Rob-
inson, Henry Pren,iss, Daniel Staples,
Lu,her Brett, Abner Rawson, Elna,han
Lucas, EbeneIsr Rlwson. Bartlett, Hol-
mes, Abraham Dean. wm. S,owell, JOS
eph n. Hall, Abiezer Andrews, Alfred
Gates, wm. White. Ezra Brett. Thomas
Hll. jr.. Benjamin Witt. Jonathan
/ Shurtlef.
Subsequently, the names Of other pro-
prie,ors are found thus: James Hooper,
samuel King. Nathaniel Howe, Henry
r. Parsons. Samuel Robinson, George
King. Daniel Noble. James Deering.
Micah Walker. Lazarus Hathaway, jr.,
Elisha Morse, Cyprian Hall. Daniel Bull
len, John Thayer. stephen Blake. James
Perry, Free Chase, Phineas Morse, Jacob
ToOksbury. Peter Durell, John Mille,',
Lewis h. S,owell. Alvan Bolster. Thomas
y. S,owell, Sally Stevens. jonathan Be-
mis-. A. Brett. David Durell. Jacob Jack
son. Jonathan Bemis jr., Haven Hall,
James Holmes. Frederick n. Hall. JOS
eph Penley, John bennett, George Hoop
er, CypriAn Stevens. Noah Curtis, Stephen
Pratt. Samuel Desring. Rober, Cook
Alta meeting. Dec. 25. 1899, an as.
sessmen, Of one dollar was ordered foE
replenishing the library, and a commit
tee raised to drAft petition for an ae'
Of Incorporation. consisting Of Allied
Gates, Daniel S,owell and VIM. G.
Whitney.
II was found difieul, 10 enforce tho
rules as 10 fines, and this !. was probab
ly that induced this movement for an in
corporation. But !, does no, appear Il
have eliminated, for Asg. 9. 1905 ap-
plica,ion was made to Daniel S,owell Al
Justice Of the Peace to issue his warrant
calling a meeting Of the prOprOPrie,Ors
"for the purpose Of collecting fines. Il
see II the prOprie,Or will agree to hav
the books covered, and other necessary
business. The meeting was held &C
cOrdingly and a committee raised to con
.ider the fines. bu, !, was a difficult, prob
lem. and in the process Of time the mem
bership and library itself had become .
demoralized that shares Of delinquent
were sold BY auction. and also . porsio
Of the books.