The Portland daily press., 1899-11-24
THE OLD FIRST PARISH.
Inters.u.s E.hsbit Of Documents Per
tsining 20 n. History.

The exhibition At the First Parish
House Of things ecclesiastical and secular
pertaining to the tistory Of this the old
est parish In Portland, was lsrgslv At
tended yesterday afternoon and all who
entered the vestry where the exhibits b
carefully arranged, passed very pron~
able and pleasant afterr oon. Rsv. John
Carroll Perkins, the pastor OF the church,
has mads the colleotion with great cars
and as he Ia present al the exhibi lon
during greater part Of the time and u
very willing to answer all questions that
may be asked him regarding the articles
displayed, q visitor who 10 not 20 very
we'll Informed regarding thi, old parish
may learn more Of Its history and that
Of the city Of Portland with which the
Birst Parish IL SO intimately connected
In Q short time than can be learned else
where In an equal space OF time
Rev. Br. Perkins IL young man, but
he IL the seventh minister Of this church
which was established In 1756 with old
Parson Smith a. is firss nipistsr. There
IL no other chusch east OF Wells 80 old
as is this parish and very few churches
established In recent years which can
boast Of having az few ministers a. can
this historic church. The articles on ex-
III. ition here are mostly documents p'r.
tanning to the parish bi,tory. There ars
the manufciipt sermons Of all but one
OF the miristers OF THU paiish since Its
foundation. Ths old agreements regard
Ing the building OF the sscond church and
Its enlargement and the contract regard
ing the erection Of tie present structure
are to be seen. There IL great amount
Of the writing Of Psrson Smith. one docu-
ment showing . receipt written In a
very small, piim hand, for four or i've
years OF salary. Then Samuel Deane's
handwriting is TO be seen on various
documents, all of them Of great historical
value.
There IL portrait of old Parson Bra6-
ley OF Stroudwater and records Of the old
st. Paul's church wbish 10 now reorRa-
nised into st. Stephens parish. Thee
Is the only autograph sermon Of Edward
Payson Of the old Second Parish soti,ty
In existence and many other things per-
tanning to this off shoot from the Oldest
parish In Portland. There IL a portrait
of Rev. Elijah Kellogg, the father OF the
Rev. Elijah Kellogg of Harfsweil, so
well beloved by all 10y readers OF his
wonderful books. and who IL today v.
ing at ripe old age md occasionally
preaching a sermon. There are many
other portraits of great age and histori-
cal value of people whose names are IT,.
miliar to the readers of Smith and
Deane's Journal. There 10 to be seen the
old silver communion service AID the
only authentic portrais Of Parson smith
In existence, together with chair and
a handsome mirrnr from his houee.
These are only some Of the relics and
documents of great INTEREST besides
which thsrs are . great many other artl'
oIes worth going far to see. There IL
sampler worked By Mary lisley. the wife
Of Daniel Ilsley, who lived in East Dstr-
ing and at WHOSE hovss the first NEE ting
OF the Free Masons 10 Portland was held.
This sampler Is the props rty OF Fred
erick j. Ilsley, ESQ.,, and was made lH
years ago. Then there are TO be ssen the
silver shoe buckles Of Daniel Ilsley, ard
spoons which were given him and his
wife when they were married. The q ly
authentic picture of the old brig Boxer,
which was captured by the Emit rpr Q
OF the Maine coast during the war CT
1879. lie here. This brig was converted
into a merchantmen and was command
ed by Capt William Mcclellan and tie
picture Is owned by his descendants in
tbs city. There are hundreds OF 9th r
things of equal interest to be seen and
on the whole 1t Is one Of the rest tx
billions of things historical which has
been gwen in Portland in " as. The ex-
hibit will continue today.