Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1925-09-30

gregational Churches and Ministers
is this week celebrating it's centen-
NAL, meeting yesterday and to-day at
the Congregational church in Ellis
worth. The attendance is the largest
of recent years. Nearly every church
in the association was represented.
Addresses at the opening session
yesterday afternoon included the CEN
tennial address by Rev. George S.
Brookes of the Ellsworth church,
"reminiscences of religious thought
and church activities of seventy
years ago, by DR.. r. l.. Grindle of
Mt. Desert, and Bangor Theological
Seminary and Hancock Association;
100 Years of Cooperation" by
President Moulton of the seminary.
The annual association sermon was
by Rev. o. j. Guptill, seacoast mis-
| siOnary.
Mrs. w. V. Johnson Of Woodfords,
president of the Woman's Home
Missionary Society of Maine, con-
Quoted woman's hour.
| Supper was served in the vestry
by the ladies of the Ellsworth
church. In the evening, there we're
addresses by Charles Ernest White,
secretary of the American Missions
| Board of Boston, and Rev. Manuel H.
Turk, Phi. D., D. D., pastor of Will
liston church in Portland.
| The conference will close this
afternoon. The program to-day is
largely that of the Congregational
Missionary team. At the business
meeting this morning, officers were
elected as follows:
Moderator, George S. Brooks, vice.
moderator, DR.. J. D. Phillips of
Southwest Harbor; scribe and treas
urer, H. w. Conley of Ellsworth
Falls; auditor, o. W. Tapley of Ellis
| worth; executive committee, mod
orator. scribe. Thomas f. Hale of
Castine, Mrs. William o. Lawton of
Southwest Harbor, Charles H. Glenn
ent Of Seal Harbor. Committee on
ministerial standing, moderator,
Harbor, B. E. Clark of Bar Harbor,
A. s. Page of Bucksport. Delegates
to national council, George S.
Brookes and o. J. Guptill; ]. H.
Nelson, alternate. Delegate to- State
conference, H. w. ConIey. Visitor
to Bangor seminary, o. L. Olsen.
The centennial is commemorated
by the issuing of booklet containing
historical sketch of the county as
ISOLATION, and short sketches, with a
cut, of each of the twenty-four
churches in the county affiliated with
it. The history was compiled by Rev.
George S. Brookes of the Ellsworth
Congregational church, who devoted
considerable time and painstaking
care to the preparation of it, work
that required considerable research
among old records, not only of
churches, but of towns.
Mr.. Brookes, besides being dele
gated by the association at its last
meeting to prepare this history, was
assigned the centennial address,
which was delivered yesterday after
noon. In this, under the subject of
'"The Good Old Days." he went back
of the 100 years covered in the
printed history of the association.
to it.
In his research, Mr.. Brookes found
many things of interest, and he en-
livened his address by reference to
few incidents in the early religious
life of this section. Speaking of the
years preceding the organization of
the Hancock Association, he said:
In those days. Maine was wilder
ness with here and there a settlement.
It's entire population in 1878 was about
10000. There were no. cities. Portland
was not made city until 1882, Ban
gor was village; as late as 1918, there
was no church edifice there Public
worship was held in the court house,
and was conducted by one or two of
the professors of our theological
seminary, then in it's humble begin
nings at Hampden. There was no
church building above Bangor on the
Penobscot or it's tributaries. In Han
cock county, the settlements were
small and isolated. 1t was in 1920, that
Desert, and Bar Harbor did not enjoy
even that privilege until 1840
Up to the beginning of the nine
teenth century, Maine towns partici-
pated in settling or unsettling the
minister. Towns were authorized by
law to raise money by taxation to en-
ploy ministers and to build meeting
houses. In fact, the town was the
parish, and could decide who should
be the preacher and when and where
he should preach The town that
failed to secure a teacher of religion
| and morality was guilty of serious
offense. In 1895, the inhabitants of
Vassalboro were indicted on the
| charge of having failed to provide a
minister for the town.
Concerning the settling OF Elder
Hunting in the town of Eden in those
early days, Mr. Brookes dug from the
| town records the interesting fact
that, as compensation, Elder Hunt
ing was to "have, use, improve and
| enjoy fifty acres of land with build
| ings thereon, called the town farm,
and take to his use all the rents and
profits arising therefrom, together
with ten acres Of woodland, for the
| term of fifteen years, providing he
In IN