Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1919-01-08
one HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

nxr HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
-, congregational Meeting House
i'm ellsworth was Dedicated.
nsx, sunday, January II, will be the
n,ennlal anniversary of the dedication
o,,ha frst Congregational meeting house
=. ellsworth. The land and building
70 given BY the late Meiatiah Jordan.
rso building was raised on July "a, 1913,
nd dedicated on January IL, 1919.
s,raoue's Journal of Mofne History re-
emily printed the following sketch OF its
donor
sacred
To the Memory Of
Melatiah Jordan, ESQ.
collector of the Customs for the
Bistrict Of Frenchmsns Bay,
who died Dec. ~. 1873
at. 81.
II real worth demands a tear.
stop, reader; pay thy tribute here;
The man who lies beneath this stone,
Eauaii'd by few, excell'd by none.
The foregoing inscription is copied from
.,ombstone in the little Congregational
cnurchyard cemetery in Ellsworth.
Meiatiah Jordan was an early settler OF
the town, one OF its leading citizens, and a
nriucipal benefactor OF the Congrega-
tionsl society. lie was descendant OF
Rev. Robert Jordan. the second Church OF
rnclapd clergyman who came to Maine
,nder t,orges, arriving in 1870, and settled
at spurwink. Melatiah was son OF Sam
ma, and was born at Biddeford, De-
cember 3, i75s or 1754. His tombstone re-
oorss his age as "a, which would make the
year OF his birth 1854; the historian OF the
Ellsworth Congregational centennial
states that he was born in 1853.
He came to the Union river settlement
at what is now Ellsworth, in 1775. He
was a member OF the provincial militia
and served in the Revolutionary war.
He was commissioned lieutenant colonel
AZ the militia in 1902 and in 1908 received
an hopora BILE discharge. In 1889 he was
appointed by President Washington the
first collector OF customs for the district
OF Frenchman's bay, which Office he held
at the time OF his decease in 1918.
He YVES one OF the founders OF the Con-
gregationsl church at Ellsworth, being
one Of the thirteen original members at
it's organization in 1872. MIR. Jordan gave
the society the lot upon which the church
stands, together with land for the church.
yard cemetery in the rear, and in 1878,
at his own expense, he erected the meet
house and presented IT to the society.
The records of the society have the
following entry:
TIE meeting house built by Melatiah
Jordan, ESQ. was raised on the gath day of
July, ISIS, aud dedicated on the 18th day of
January, Bis This meeting house was
buils by the aforementioned gentleman,
and giFeu TO the Congregational society OF
Ellsworth after reserving eleven pews.
being ODE for each OF his children.
His mortal part is inferred within the
enclosure which was his gilt to his
church. At the centennial exercises in
1912, tablet was placed in the church,
near the pulpit, as a memorial to his
worth and in communication OF his gift.
In l7T6 Mr.. Jordan married Elizabeth
Jellisou, OF Ellsworth, and her body rests
IN the same cemetery, beside his. The in
seription ON her tombstone reads:
Sacred
To the Memory Of
Mrs. Elizabeth Jordan
Reflect of the late
Melatiah Jordan Esq.
who died Feb. 22, 1919,
Et. 81.
Friends nor physicians could not save
Ny mortal body from the grave,
Nor can the grave confine me here:
When Christ shall cali me to appear.
From this worthy couple, through their
eleven children, "came q line OF good
men and women who have helped to
make the history OF Maine and to make
Ellsworth memorable"
ORLAND.