The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-01-20


revenue should be sufficiently Nige e4on
pay the salary of an ordained mlhi so7o
| An official report that he maue ~ 4hasa
as treasurer Of this fund, sets fof1n LIS ,,a .
facts, that in the year 1874, no , go"
elected treasurer of the funo, us s.ioo01 ,T,as
OF David Harding, who IN ms a ur'S high
a man of great moral worth anu toS1 !
standing. The fund at that time tlo ~ =
represented S6667.22. He stated tna sn AZ, slae
| fund had increased from 1924 to 1917 uuA
ing his term of office $l2,312.IS, phao q
large proportion of this increase ca can .
from his own contributions, and 1haS
thereby the gross amount of the fund n1u
reached the sum of $1s $3.50, giving an IN
come of $l426, which was enough TO pay
! the salary of the minister and leave
surplus of SIG. The object of his highest
am ition being accomplished, on account
of his advanced age he retired from tne
active duties of treasurership. The reSe-
nue. Of the fund since 1870 has subsfah-
TALLY paid the salary of the ordained min
isters The fund at the present time rep.
resents securities of market value OF
S3l, 1888 and pays a revenue of S1377. IL.
| The committee OF fifteen tappointed BY
the parish to superintend the building. OF
the new chapel voted unanimously that
| the furnishing of tho first story be III
| Thomas S. Robie and that tablet be
nlaced therein bearing suitable inscrlp-
zion. And why is Thomas S. ROBBIE thus
honored? I cannot better explain the
reason than by using the words 81 the
Rev. George l.. Prentice OF New YORK
| CITY. spoken by him in 1886 at the one
| hundred and fiftieth anniversary exercises
of the settlement of Gorham.
uAnother name which always occurs
| to me when | think Of Gorham fifty years
ago, is that of Deacon Thomas >. Robe
one of those rare men whom we are won't
| to describe by saying simply that they
are pure gold.' His goodness, his llDer-
ality and his modesty are alike consplcu-
GUS. The Congregational deacon is nos
always an attractive figure in New Eng
land fiction, not always indeed IN fact;
but fiction could not easily invent
worthier or lovelier character than Deacon
ROBBIE. / have personal reasons for re-
membering him with gratitude, and re-
| ioice on this occasion to testify my heart
| felt respect for his memory. Sueh We're
| the words of Doctor Prentice. Deacon
Robbie in the hour Of need, in the year
| 1928, seventy years ago, built and sub
| stantially paid for and presented the old
| brick vestry to this parish. The rich and
| sacred memories thai surround its life
enter largely into the history OF this
church and parish for the past seventy
| wears. 1t has been permitted to stand
until today as living memorial OF the
past; it's future good keeping will ne
provided for, and it will be properly
utilized as a suitable rallying place for
the promotion of the good morals. loyalty
and education of the people OF our parish
| and village.
IN CONCLUSION.
| Here, ON this venerable and consecrated
| spot. in this old westinghouse originally
raised and erected by our ancestors, which
has stood the storms and winds of CEN
| tury within these very walls that nave
| been the place of worship of so many OF
our old and distinguished families. the
Phinneys, the MoLellans, the Aldens, the
| Moshiers, the Irishes, the Chadbournes,
the Cresseys, the Smiths, the Foggs, the
Fosters the Hardings, the Hamlens, the
Stephensons. the Motleys, the Watsons
the Goulds, the Edwards, the Paines, the
Marches, the Baxters, the Hunts, the,
Peabodies. the Rights, the Herseys
Pierces, the Frosts, the Lincolns,
the Staples. the Patricks, the Folsoms,
and more recently the Emerys,
the Storers, the Warrens, the Watermans,
the Hink1eys, the Billings, the Cousens,
the Redlons, the Harmons, the Parkers,
the Douglasses, the Robes, and many
others equally worthy. The early. repre-
sentatives of the original families are
now all gone to their reward; here where
the religious fervor and instructive elo-
uuence of SO many learned congregational
| divines has for century proclaimed
| from the pulpit the true teachings and
| doctrines of the Bible, which have been
acter of our people; here, under tine
shadow of the beautiful and stately Nor
nal school which crowns our highest hill
and the old academy with its distin-
| guished history of one hundred years,
where the cultured, .gentlemanly and
popular teacher, Rev. Reuben Mason, first,
! and the Rev. Amos Brown, d. d., after
wards taught, where the Hon. Sergeant
| S. Prentiss, one of TIE greatest orators of
the nineteenth century. Hon. James W,
| Bradbury, LII. d. OF Augusta, Judge
| John A. Peters LII. ID. of Bangor Prof.
Henry L. Chapman of Brunswick, our
beloved townsmen the late Judge John
A Waterman, and the public spirited bust
ness man, the late Stephen Huxley and
many others, divines, professional men,
and men of business were educated; here.
on this old parish lot, amidst all these
ancestral surroundings and social memor
| les we salute the past and present, and
| look forward into the future with the
highest and best intentions of pressing
onward in the pathway OF duty, honor t,1
and fidelity. with faith in God and full
confidence in the Christian brotherhood
of mankind. 1t becomes my pleasure, IN
behalf of the committee Of fifteen duly
appointed by the Parish to say to the
| friends OF this church and parish andeto
the public at large that the chapel has
| been finished and furnished at cost of
Sl2. 6s7 in cash. The gratuitous and in
cessant work of our pastor, the Rev.
! George W. Reynolds, the steady and con-
tinuous labor of the noble women of the
| Congregational circle, the labor, anxiety
and watchfulness of the building com
mittee.of. fifteen are important factors in
our success which cannot be overestimat-
ed We appreciate the generous aid OF
Mr.. Motley of Lowell, Hon. James Z.
Baxter, Mark p. Emery of Portland,
Beza Lincoln of Boston and others. All
the contractors have done their work In
most satisfactory manner. The sub
scribers to the subscription list have
promptly met their obligations. Every
bill that is due has been promptly paid,
and there is sufficient cash ON hand in the
! treasury to pay every cent of our indebted-
ness as fast as it becomes due, and there
is no Indebtedness to burden our sue
cessors. The location of the chapel was
decided by fair and honest vote of the
interested parties by very large major
ity. The fact has been ascertained that
the contributors of nearly nine tenths OF
the money favor the Parish lot We point