Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-06-14

0Gf De t4ISl uNiAA II ort8shF fser< ~-ss'Nf So
either case the Distinction vas an unfair one
The company vas growing rich oat of the
sale of i.s lands, the &C .upsnts we're VIII
sifsculty supporting themselves upon their
~ verAl lots, yet the whole burden Of TAXATION
would seem to have fallen upon them. We
cannot help sympashising With the fathers OF
the town 10 their repeated protests against
tnis one might almost say. in'4ui.0us A.
I rangement. On the Whole. however ss
must be grateful 70 this company for bring
ing the land apoa which our town stznfs into
the market of the world, Ard for their gen
erzI liberal arrzngement II was tnsiT wise
and generous provision that laid ou' the
tselye-rod road. from the river 10 tbs, sea
v CHI though unhappily shorn of It's original
proportions. still adds so much To the beauty
1 Of the place One of their first thoughts was
for the religions interests Of the settlers
Tn early set apart lard. both in Brunswick
ard Topsham. for church and aided in the
erection Of a church building There would
seem to have been as much difficulty in
settling q minister IN those days as there
i. today. Perhaps the best preachers or
the best men in the minis..y were not at
tracted to these eastern wilds some
times objection 10 male to the character
of the preachers Sometimes a simple dis
] saGsfACftBn IS Expressed WOW hfrh
there was regular preaching for few
yesr,, bnt on account of the TOO critical at
| tituae Of the town. or from the fault Of the
/ minister. or his Dissatisfaction with his sur
rounding.. changes wee frequent. The
/ first preaching, 80 far as the towns people
/ were cot -rned was Incidental, being gwen
\ by missionaries sent by the general court To
/ the lBfians 10 I7Ij. however, The people
yseI IN town meeting 10 raise money for the
support Of minister ard for the expense
of his removal to the place. In l7l3 the
! first meeting house was begun. Ii was
placed about mile south of the colleges.
The dates that | just gave are signifi-
cant In I7l7 Brunswick was con-
.tituted township. One of the first acts
Of this new township was to provide for a
minister. AMI to build a church. In 1877 it
va. finally Incorporated as a town, the elev-
en,h in Maine. Thus, as the energy of the
Anglo-Ss1on pioneer was followed by An
glo-Saron business enterprise, this, in Its
turn was followed by Anglo-Saxon organi-
zation. This organization was made irnpera-
| tive By the circumstances of the case.
/ The traditions Of the past, by which in
/ other lands men of the same race are still
| bound to the forms and to some of the real
| tiles of a monarchical ~ aristocrs'ic society
had % force or meaning here in the vii Ter
| ness To this statement there must, how
ever be made one exception. Il is h4ri to
think of our Brunswick as a slave holding
t1wn yet in its early history, so late even a.
/ 1868, there were few slaves in its Iopula-
ton Thus was formed, AS soon a. there
was need and opportunity, an organization in
which all with the singular exception jus,
named, were alike Lawmakers. AMI obeyer'
of the laws Thus after the chaos of the
forces of nature, after the wilderness, the
home of beast and savage, after the loneli
uess of the pioneer, W. have at last town
a member of a vast system of towns, ORDERLY
itself, and a part of general order fat
greater than itself a town that is to perform
lis full share of work in the civilization and
the higher culture of the world.
1t is interesting To see in the early town
meetings and business transactions of tbs
place the names occurring which have had 1
place ever since in the annals of the town
Thus in the petition for the incorporation Of
the town in 1875 occur with others the fam Al
names of Dunninx. Stanuooi. Givee1. Spear
I.arrsbes. Woodsl1e and Dunlap
1t is interesting to see one person aftei
another lifted out Of the obscu-'t OF th' pa
through some grave or trivial rr5tn7, Ia II NJ
sometimes, in which a MON mt Ia. BE- . m ii,
immortal There are tho whom harf
named and many others who are r nemberct
for their service to the torn. VA stand con
spicuous in its history beca - IN every mo
ment of need their fellow-towis,uc0 'urrc
to them for aid in its affair, Or rus ing then
for counsel
In certain respects one OF tn most { tar
es,ing personages that stands 10 n fro5t tn,
obscurity of these early days, T.. the Rev
Robert Dunlap He was invited ~ tn.
town TO preach with view to scttl, met il
1916 The next year he entered upon IL,
regular duties of the minister of the town
He was paid as it would appear according t,
the custom of the time by mnney that wa
raised hv a vote of the town, it. a par nf tn,
| regular tax In l1tiO there al 50 n iiffcu't'
between him and the town The AZURE o
this ard the rights of the ma'er do no
know As to Mr.. Dunlsp's Gains upon gu
admiration in general | have nothin.
to say. What interests me in hin
il letter written in the montl
of June, 1860. In this re insists upon tw,
things First upon the pay ment of what he
rightly or wrongly, claimed to he dle hin
from the town: and, secondly he insists I,
use his own words That no mans none
or Rates Shall Ever Come Into my poke
or private use In aney shape as minister's
taxes In this town; that does not adhere t,
my minry. 1t is the utterance of senti
ment that was far ahead of his time. 1t is
recognition, apparently at his own cost, o
the voluntary support of the ministry
Whatever may have been the faults an,
failings of the man this honor belongs t,
him of recognizing and proposing the Ameri
can method of supporting the services o
the church
While few names and personaltirs TIN
stand out among the rest it il the liee /;
general of the men and women who were tn,
founders of our town that interests us n
most This If. must have been hard an
wearisome one 1t was full of nax;et. an
must often have been full of har ship an,
suffering 1t was not cheerful thing t.
know that If the children strsyed 90 far il
their sport, they would be seized by thr Ia
dams. 1t was not cheerful thing for tn,
men TO feel that while they were at work il
the field the Indians might at ANY momen
come upon them. By rage ia,fi-c'. on,
would like to know how fsr Inherited tn,
cattle would always flee in terror a. the In
dams drew near; thus they were placed be
tween the workmen AMI forest as scouts
Besides the Indians Their re wolves
As late as 1885 and 1892 art were pur
sued by wolves. one ar vi ldle b.
the other near Mert bro k Tn
fathers of our town were ye'y poor. c r.
after cry goes up from these manly heart I,
the general court for remission of taxes rha
they founi it impossible to pay. They rge'
that they were frontier town; that the,
bore the brunt of the peril. Others pH nc Ia Sc
! their peace largely through their exu,sur,