The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-01-20
AT GORHAM.
Continued from Second Page.

purposes 1t afterwards became q black
smiths shop and what remains OF IL Is TO-
DAY an engine house near the OLD ceme-
| terry.
A successful effort was made at thls
Glme to build a large and commodlous
meeting house. The substantial frame Oh
the present building was raised In june
ilsl- 1t represented the fashion ana UasIe
or that day, the interior of the house con-
tanning square pews, with seats hung OH
hinges and with doors that could Dc
closed. Subsequent alterations and I'M
provelnents were made to keep up with
the demands of the times. To-day we
meet to celebrate the one hundredth ami
versary of the building of this meeting
house. The distinguished men who were
active and efficient when it was reared
nave al passed away, the McLellans, the
l4ongfelloWs, the Aldens, the Prentices,
the Stephensons, the Lewises and the
Phinneys; what they did Is written in
the pages of history OF comes down to us
! by tradition. This venerable house now
stands as monument of good deeds and
worthy endeayor, and with uncovered
heads we salute the one hundredth ami
versary of its birthday. 1t has had an
experience of shadow and of sunlight. 1t
was a sad day one hundred years ago last
June when the frame gave way, and two
citizens were instantly killed: DR..
Nathaniel Bowman, distinguished and
| beloved physician whose remains lie in
an honored grave in the old cemetery, and
| a promising young man, whose name
was Tyron; several of the workmen also
were seriously injured. This melancholy
accident caused great excitement and
confusion, and cast deep gloom over the
minds of the entire population; the sad
story of it was often told to me by eye
witnesses in the.days of my boyhood.
| We are proud of our present meeting
| hQusa DrO1ld of ifs able dnvOIlf and
learned succession of orthodox Congrega-
tional cIergymen, from the Rev. Caleb
.Jewett of the days of 1898, to our present
honored pastor, the Rev. George W.
Reynolds OF 1898. 1t represents line of
twelve ordained ministers who have oc-
| cupied the same pulpit. and preached the
same evangelical doctrine during the past
one hundred years. 1t is but fair to say
that each and every one In turn to wit,
the Rev. Messrs. Jewett, Noyes, Rand,
| Pomeroy, Davenport, Adams, Adams,
| Strong, Parker, Ferris, Huntington, and
Reynolds has endeavored to discharge his
official duties with Christian fidelity. aud
| their individual and aggregated efforts
have exerted remarkable and benign
| influence over the character of the people
| and the homes of our town. l feel justi-
| fed in making special notice of the late
| brave and loyal Rev. John R. Adams, ID.
| D., who early in the late war of the Re
OF our Gorham boys, and did such heroic
| and historic service as Chaplain of the
| Fifth Maine Regiment afterwards COM
manded by Col. Henry r. Millett, one of
| the members of the committee of fifteen.
| 1t gives me great pleasure to connect
| the building and furnishing Of our new
chapel with the honored family names of
Motley and Stephenson. The Motley
family was intimately connected with the
religious, social and political history of
our town during the first fifty years of
this nineteenth century now drawing to
a close. The generosity of Hon. George
| Motley of Lowell, Mass, one of the hon
| his timely aid in furnishing the second
story of our new chapel. The adorn-
ments of the second story by their beauty
aud appropriateness speak for themselves.
Mr. Motley married Harriet Stephenson,
native of our town, whose grandfather,
Captain John Stephenson lost his house
| in Portland when that place was wan
tonly destroyed by fire by the British
Captain Mowatt in 1775. He then moved
| to Gorham, and built a large house in
/ 1776, in the vicinity of West Gorham. He
married Tabitha Longfellow, sister of
our former townsman, the late distin-
| guished jurist, Stephen Longfellow.
| Captain John Stephenson was the father
ofsCol. Samuel Capt. Stephen and Capt.
! William Stephenson, all natives of our
town. who. married into our best families,
and afterwards filled responsible positions
| in the.military, social and business of
| Gorham. The late Mrs. Harriet (Steph-
enson) Motley was the daughter of the
aforesaid Captain Stephen Stephenson,
| for many years successful sea captain
and the father of family of sons who
| have distinguished themselves in the
business world. This old generation of
Stephensons and their immediate descend
ants, former members of this church and
parish, are all gone. Tbs last was my
early associate and dear friend, Stephen
Longfellow Stephenson, who died in 1892
| aged 70 years The furnishings of the
second story of this chapel are a memorial
| of the families of Motley and Stephenson.
The memorial windows of the first story
are bea utiful works of art and recall the
names of well known and beloved resi-
dents of the town of Gorham. They are
the gifts respectively Of Hon. James
Phinney Baxter of Portland in memory
of his father, the distinguished DR.. Elihu
Baxter of Gorham, who practiced medi-
cine successfully here for twenty years;
Miss Martha Cressey in memory of her
mother and two sisters; of Deacon John
). Leavitt; of Hon. James H. Hamlen,
in memory OF Rev. Solomon Lombard
the first ordained Congregational minis
ter of this church and also in memory of
Mr.. Jacob Hamlen, one of the first set
tiers of this town; of Mrs. Frederick
ROBBIE in memory of her daughter Eliza,
who died at the age of seven years. 1t lis
a singular coincidence that a few days
before she died she asked her mother to
show her the same picture Of Jesus with
a lamb in his arms, which is represented
in this window, and remarked, IT love
Jesus, and want to go to his arms In
a few days her wish was gratified.
The furnishings of the first story are in
memory of Capt. Toppan and Deacon
Thomas S. ROBBIE. Captain ROBBIE came
to Gorham in 1899 and died in 1871, at
the advanced age of eighty nine years. 1t
is we'll known to many of this generation
that he took q deep interest in the well
fare of this church and parish. and dur
ing his long life steadily and faithfully
endeavored to promote these great local
interests. The present meeting house
was just finished when he came to Cor
ham, and he Immediately connected him.
self with the work which it represented.
In the year 1928 the building had out
| grown its usefulness, and required ex-
tensive alterations to meet the demands
of the times and the growth of the society,
Toppan Robbie had full charge of the
changes and alterations made seventy