davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

, who was to be the nations head was trained
in the shadow Of these pines; and many an
other whose, name was TO become famous in
war; in craftsmanship, in poetry, or in thought,
was TO find his nurture here. And later,
where the Indian medicine man had, so little
while before, rudely applied such healing as
he could extract from the few plants the
virtue Of which he knew, or guessed at, was to
be placed a school in which should be taught
the science of healing, as il is known to the
best thought and study Of the civilized
world.
After the founding Of the college there was
one more step which the town was TO take to
bring il into the circle Of the worlds activity
In 1909 was established factory for the man
ufaeture of cotton yarn. This was, however.
only the forerunner Of more elaborate and
more successful undertakings. Ilshowed that
the time had come when the town could
minister to the needs Of the world
IN larger way than Il had
done before. The pressure Of inn
mediate need had fairly passed; and it could
select its own method OF giving and receiving
in the exchange that binds community together.
The anti-climax which we have followed
the church, the college, the factory shows
well the temper of the times, frat the needs of
spirit; then those Of the intellect, and at last
those Of the outward life.
Thus did the town fulfill the promise which
il made when il asked for a relief from the
burden of taxation, although the relief for
which it is asked, had not been granted. In
its whole history it has taken its part in all
the great activities Of the times through which
1t has endured. If there was war, its sons.
were ready to go forward to meet the foe.
In the war of the revolution the town.
though then so weak, furnished some so men
In the war Of 1918, some 33l Brunswick men
took part In the war Of the rebellion its
roll of honor comprised some 35s and the
quota of Brunswick added not merely so
many brave and true men, but added also to the
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

history. of the place in a way rather to quick
en- the Imagination than to inform the mind.
Indeed 1t is only by some strain upon the
imagination that we can realize the changes
W WI .el tne Spot where we stand has known.
In thsi superficial glance we will not go be-
yond that OF which we can'find some record
specially preserved.
The first appearance of this place, so far as
any record has been preserved, is something
which 1t is impossible for our imagination
| ests and gardens and homes, was simply
vast area Of Ice. In whichever direction the
gaze could turn, If the fancy can suggest the
| fantastic notions of a gazer among these
wastes, stretched the mighty glacier as
from the mountains to the sea.
We go to Switzerland and are awed by the
glaciers there, but what is the sublimity
even OF the Mer de Glace when compared
with this glacier which covered large part
OF the continent. There was no plant, there
was no life Of bird or beast There was only
this frozen solitude. / said that we would
not go back further than the records OF the
town would justify US. and Of this strange
experience in the past the records remain
upon the enduring rocks, over which the
look with awe that is almost horror upon
this scene, when our Brunswick was sd diff
terent from what 1t is to-day. But this ter
rlble monster that crawled over our ulains
MaS m0rkng lor us ana MAKING poSsiDle
fruitful fields and smiling gardens. Ages
came and passed and the ice still stretched In
its terrible desolateness. Ages came and
passed and at last the strange presence
disappeared. After unnumbered centuries 1t
was followed by condition of things no less
strange and no less foreign to our present
experiences than it, BY imperceptible de-
gTees the region sank beneath the sea.
Where our gardens are today the seaweed
was the only growth. Where is now the
hum of busy life moved only the silent inhab-
in the sea the record also remains in the
mussel beds which testify of long and undis-
turbed possession.
Before the curtain lifts again unnumbered
ages had fed, and the face of nature had I'M
dergone wonderful transformations. In
stead Of the death of the icefelds and the
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

record. He probably had both In the full
measure of the frontierman's life. The In
dams at least believed that he had cheated
them in trade, both by exorbitant prices and
the quality of goods. l suppose we NAV
safely assume that they were not wholly
wrong. The Indians were In those days
considered fair game, and we cannot say,
even in our time, that we have wholly
passed beyond the stage in which
the weakness and the Ignorance
OF the Indian furnish reason enough for ont
whiting and depressing them. But whatever
may have been the virtues or the vices of
Thomas Purchase, his coming made an
epoch hardly less important than the
changes in the physical world at which we
have just glanced. 1t was not he who came
1t was the Anglo-SaxOn race that came in
him.
Whatever may have been his rudeness. his
coming meant civilization. 1t meant schools
and colleges and the unceasing productivity
Of the press. Whatever bis faults, his COM
ing meant Christianity. Whatever his lone
illness, bis coming meant this fair town.
Whatever his hardships, his coming meant
our comfort. But to the Indian 1t meant de-
structiOn. He seemed so weak among them
They could sack his house, they could drive
him away. What was he, the man with his
little family about him, alone In the wilder
ness, alone among the savage hordes? But
his coming meant their destruction. The
deadly work began at his first app caring
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

by words. Brunswick has filled its place in
the State and nation. 1t has furnished its
snare of men who have been prominent in
the State and the army and the church. We
are proud of them today. But it is not this
that gives to its name the special significance
of which speak. Perhaps it is in part the
charm of its situation. 1t is, indeed, sur.
rounded by no magnificent scenery of which
it is simply an added feature. The town is
the centre to which the nature about it is
tributary. There is the river which curves
about it as if with gentle caress. There
are the falls in their beauty and the rocks
that rise by their side, while the noise and
jar OF mills and the pungent odor of the
freshly sawed BOARDS add something to the
charm of the scene, So far as the practical
mind is concerned, and hardly lessen it for
the lover OF the picturesque. There are the
pines that stand in their statelineSs enclrclng
the village. and there is, not far Off the sea,
whose breath comes SOftened and strained
through the pine forest. Within, there are
the broad and shady street. and the pleasant
mall. There is the church in which we are
gathered, somewhat shorn of its original
beauty, to be sure, but still striking figure
in its prominent position. And beyond the
church there is the college yard. sometimes
so full of life, but in the vacation seeming
shut in as it is by its hedge of lofty trees,
with its smooth, unbroken beauty of grass,
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

desirable. Doubtless the time will come
when even our town hall will be too small
Tor the thronging voters of Brunswick. At
least | can hope without disloyalty to our
faith and our pride in the town that we love,
that the change from the dignity of the town
meeting to the perfunctOriness of the ward
room, and the indirect and often question
able methods of the common council, may be
put off as long as possible.
We have thus looked at the town merely
in what may be called its external relations.
When we look at it from within, the signiic
ance of the anniversary is still more marked.
For how many lives does 1t stand OF how
many tender experiences has 1t been the en-
folder! What gladness of childhood, what
enthusiasm of youth. what beauty of
romance. what depths of sorrow, how many
comedies, how many tragedies, have their
place within it And all this is not for one
generation only, but for generation after
generation. No sooner does one company
that has performed the tragedy or the farce
leave the stage than another takes its place.
Or rather the new press upon the old, before
their parts are played out. Thus does the
procession move on uninterrupted and end
less. And for those who go forth from 1t to
find home elsewhere, of what tender men,
elastic cords of association, invisible to all
but themselves, are they bound to it wherever
they may go and whatever new experiences
may await them. III the birthday Of an in
dividual should be celebrated, how much
more the birthday of town, which stands
for such multitudes of individual lives.
There are men not widely known, not
leaders in peace or war, whose birthday ex-
cites within the circle of their acquaintances
an interest which it would not always be
easy to explain. 1t springs neither from
their genius nor their accomplishments.
Perhaps it may be their sterling worth that
gives rise to this interest Perhaps it Is
certain genial courtesy that marks them.
Perhaps 1t is only that mysterious something
which we call personality" Whatever it
is, it adds special charm and interest to
their anniversary. The same is true of
towns. There are towns that have some
thing of this unnameable yet irresistible
charm. Perhaps, to most men their
native town seems thus exceptional.
cannot, however, believe that it is merely
this subjective Illusion that makes Bruins
wick seem to us to have character and
attractiveness of its own. This conf
dence perhaps it would not be easy to justify
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14
Brunswick and Topsham Villages In 800.

names Of Dunning, Stanwood, Given, Spear
Larrabee, Woodside and Dunlap.
1t is interesting to see one person after
another lifted out of the obscurity Of the past
through some grave or trivial reason, held up
to the gaze Of the world in single attitude
sometimes, in which moment has been made
immortal. There are those whom 1 have
named and many others who are remembered
for their service to the town, who stand con-
spicuous in its history because in every mo-
ment Of need their fellow townsmen turned
to them for aid in its affairs or trusting them
for counsel. Other names stand out for very
different reasons Thus the name of Granny
Mitchell figures with the rest, to whom
the town voted the sum of three
pounds three shillings and eight pence. Less
fortunately for her figures JEANNE Eaton
whose sole appearance in history is that she
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

sessed to them anything Of the picturesqueness
which it has for us.
The dark days passed, however. The town
stood the test of hardship and suffering; and
the days of peace and prosperity were to
come. The next great epoch in its history
was the founding Of Bowdoin college; the bill
establishing it having been passed in 1871,
and the college opening with the class Of eight
in 1901. 1t was a wonderful change which
had taken place when this region. so little
while before the home Of savage beasts and
hardly less savage men there came the fair
humanities when the grace Of classic thought
and lore Of the best ages Of the past. were
united here with the promise Of the future.
The time had come when in these woods the
| young poet was TO receive his inspiration,
whose songs were to charm the world; and
here was TO wander that brooding spirit whose
] genius was to glorify the colonial age Of which
the town had borne so much Of the burden. One
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

hundred pounds for water drawn out of Mr..
Purchases WELL" fear, however, that the
water was not added till the liquor had be-
gun to do its work. There is something pa
thetlc In the elaborate deed full of where
asses" and "aforesaids" and other legal
PHYSIOLOGY in which the Indian chiefs
signed away much Of their inheritance to
later corners, each sffixing his seal, the figure
OF bow and arrow, or of serpent, or some
arbitrary device. For the coming Of Thomas
Purchase was like the first spicula OF Ice
which is followed by the solid mass. He
was followed after some changes of less
interest, by the Pejebscot Company,-Anglo-
Saxon business enterprise following close
upon Anglo-Saxon pluck. In 17l5 the Pejeb-
scot Company became possessed of what
forms the sites Of eight towns, including
brunswick, T0psham and Lewiston and a
part Of four more. For this they paid gl4O.
That, In the deprecated currency of the
time, may be estimated at not far from $3.50.
The first settlers bought lots of 100 acres
each for IS, which in 1877 would amount to
about $3.50 Later this price was doubled
Tor lots in Brunswick, while eos, or about
Slz50, we're paid for lots In the richer land
OF Topsham. This would seem pretty CHEAP
for our land today, but considering the price
that the company paid for it, we must Judge
that the speculation was a good one.
Another element in the profits of the Pc
lebseot Company is found in the fact that
they were Obliged to pay no taxes. So soon
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

Of June, 1850. In this he insists upon two
things: First, upon the payment of what he,
rightly or wrongly, claimed to be due him from
the town; and, secondly, he insists, to use his
own words, THAT no mans monney or Rates
Shall Ever Come Into my pocket or private use
In any shape: as ministerial taxes In this
town; that does not adhere to my min'ry"
1t is the utterance of sentiment that was far
head of his time. 1t is recognition, appar-
emily at his own cost, Of the volun-
tary support Of the ministry. Whatever may
have been the faults and failings Of the man.
this honor belongs to him of recognizing and
proposing the American method of support
ing the services of the church.
While few names and personalities thus
stand out among the rest it is the life in gen.
eral of the men and women who were the
founders of our town that interests us the
most This life must have been hard and
wearisome one. 1t was full of anxiety, and
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

now stand and within this in times Of special
peril the greater part Of the population was
forced to gather. Some Of the houses were
what were called block houses; that is they
practically forts. We with our mail service
three times day, can hardly realize that there
was time when the only mail was carried by
a dog that had been trained for the service.
He carried his packet to bath in about two
hours, and brought back the return mail.
After he was killed in the service he was for
time replaced by young man who carried
the mail by water; that is he swan the
greater part Of the way. 1t was not
a cheerful thing to know that if the
children strayed too Ear in their sport, they
would be seized by the Indians. 1t was not
cheerful thing for the men TO feel that while
they were at work in the field the Indians
might at any moment come upon them. BY
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

up all over our country like the grass on the
prairies. Think how they are springing up
today,-springing up in fluttering canvas
that in few months will harden into wood,
or in year or two, perhaps. into brick or
stone. The first flower OF the Spring we
greet with delight; but when our fields and
gardens are full of flowers how little we
notice or care for the opening of one or
another.
A better comparison is suggested by the
lives of men. Among the uncounted multi
tudes of men that throng the earth, there are
few whose birthday has not an interest for
some. Each commentaries it for himself,
and about each is larger or smaller circle
TO whom 1t Is in some degree sacred. What
is the birth of an individual to the birth of
town? II is the town that makes the life of
the individual In any sense possible. 1t is
the town that brings certain refining or
elevating element into life. If the town is in
certain aspects degrading, it Is in other and
more essential aspects uplifting. The very
word civilization" is derived from a word
meaning citizen, and the words "urbane"
and "urbanity," which have such sweetness
of significance, derive their meaning from
the idea Of city life. Men, it is true, often
live In the country, happier or better lives
than are common in the town; but it Is the
town that, to very large extent, makes
such life In the country possible. 1t is the
town that unites the scattered life of the
country into sense of community. 1t is in
the town that the books and newspapers are
printed or purchased which makes the quiet
of the country alive with intellectual activ-
ity,-books which interpret to the dweller in
the country the beauty in the midst of which
he lives. and the newspapers which bring to
the most retired door the stirring life of the
whole town. 1t is from the town that come
the paintings and engrayings which orna-
ment the farm house wall. 1t Is the town
that furnishes the market which makes pos
sible the farm. The town is the ganglon
that receives and dispenses the energy of the
world. 1t receives from the country the
material of living, and sends back refine
ment and stimulus and the sense of larger
life.
The town is the essential thing in nation
The town is unit. 1t Is the unit out of
which nations consist. The organization OF
the town is spontaneous and inevitable.
The grouping OF towns into larger relation
ships has something contrived and artificial
about it, Let the nation become broken up;
let the central government be paralyzed so
that its influence will no longer thrill through
the ramifcations of society; let the state
government be paralyZed and here In the
town we might hardly know it. Our postal
facilities would be disturbed, but all else
might go on for the time undsturbed In
the town, the nation strikes its root into the
soil. The state government and the national
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

governmeEtl are representative. They
Iepresent tne Town. In the town we take
things at first hand. and do our business for
ourselves.
Much Of what have said finds its hest
Illustration in what we call disttnctively the
town In contrast with the city In the town
there is much of the beauty and the refining
influence of the city with little OF its deorae
dalton. In the town is fulfilled the ideal to
which referred, that Of doing our own busi.
ness at first hand. The city has itself he
which are merely artificial divisions. In
these the voters gather to cast their suffrage
for men Of whom perhaps they have never
before heard. Possibly some question such
as the regulation or suppression of the liquor
traffic Is submitted to their votes, though
not to their debate There is no sense of
unity. no common meetingi Men drop In
and cast their votes, and go out leaving their
place for others For the most part they
vote rs their party leaders. object. How diff
ferent from this is the town meeting. In
the town meeting we come together and look
into one anOthers' faces and hear one an
others voices. Here we do our own bust
ness for ourselves. We discuss roads and
bridges and schools. We hear what is said
for and against any measure and decide for
ourselves. This is the true and the only true
democracy. In this there is the true dig
nifty of citizenship. In this is the true edu-
cation, that is said so often to spring from
republican government Here every man
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

gave some hint of the quality Of his mind
OF those whom the college has brought to us
as teachers l dare not begin to speak The
personal characteristics of some of them
stand out, in memory or tradition, as sharp
ly defined as those of some strong work Of
fiction. and some are held today in tender re-
membrance. The presence of the students,
these waves OF young men coming year after
year, may be also reckoned among the ele-
ments that have given to the town its dis
tinctive quality. 1t is pleasant to think how
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

tend to make each stand by his own right f,
or what he judged to be SUCH The Anglo
Saxon race is law abiding, but how can it be
law abiding where there are no laws? The
town OF Topsham was Incorporated some
what later, and the turbulence that Is record
ed OF that now so quiet village, shows the
Importance Of the legal organization of
town. Indeed the organization was ineVita-
BILE. The Anglo-Saxon Is law making as
well as law abiding Just as surely as the
plasma Of the blood organizes according to
the nature of the tissue with which it IS in
relation, so is there inherent In
the Anglo-Saxon race this nee
essity of organization. Each group
possesses also its plasma which tends
to put on its fitting shape. This organization
could be nothing but democratic. The tradi-
tons Of the past, by which in other lands men
Of the same race are still bound to the forms
and TO some of the realities of monarchical or
aristocratic society had no force or meaning
here in the wilderness. To this statement
there must, however, be made one exception.
1t lis hard to think of our Brunswick as
slave. holding town, yet in its early history, SO
late even as 1865, there were few slaves in its
population. Thus was formed, as soon as
there was need and opportunity, an organiza-
ton in which all, with the singular exception
JUS named, were alike law makers, and obey
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

stirs in the very fibre of our race All doubt
less came in the hope of building up COM
Portable home, if not fortune in this new
land Of promise. Whatever their history, and
whatever their motives, these settlers would
seem to have been, on the whole, sturdy and
honorable men, men relying upon themselves
and such as others may rely upon. There was
little record of crime. little of disorder, so far
as these men were concerned.
1t is interesting to see in the early town
meetings and business transactions of the
place the names occurring which have had
place ever since in the annals of the town.
Thus in the petition for the incorporation OF
the town in 1885, occur with others the familiar
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

buried his dead, and here, If tradition speaks
the truth. the relics of these burials have
been found. Who would think that this
forest wild, inhabited by savage beasts and
savage men, was our Brunswick with its
comfort and its peace.
At last the Anglo-Saxon appeared upon
the scene. At last we pass out from the
eternities and meet date. which is as pleas
ant as the sight of the first headland after a
long and tempeStuous voyage. About the
year 1923, some two hundred and sixty years
The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-06-14

face is marked by mingled sweetness and
strength. while the thoughtful spirituality
of Appleton makes itself still felt by us in
name the living or to 20 back beyond the
memory of many of us, what dignity and
graciousness were added to the town by
the presence of Leonard Woods.
Where could we find in these later
generations man precisely of his
type? There was something of a medi9-
val richness in his nature. Even his voic