Barrett Potter, Laywer & Politican

Reprinted below is the first portion of the obituary of Barrett Potter from the August 26, 1926 issue of The Brunswick Record. I have contributed additional information in brackets throughout.

"DEATH OF HONORABLE BARRETT POTTER
"Distinguished Attorney Passes Away at Home Thursday Night

"Had Represented Town in Legislature, Served as State Senator, Was Secretary of Bowdoin College Trustees, and Head of Two Banks in Town. Wisdom and Learning Recognized by Prominent Men.

"Hon. Barrett Potter, able attorney, leader in town affairs, a man, whose wisdom and sound judgment has for many years been recognized in business and political circles throughout the State, died at his home on Maine street Thursday night, after a brief illness, following a heart attack. Mr. Potter was born in Readfield April 19, 1857, the son of Rev. Daniel F. Potter. His father was graduated from Bowdoin in ’41. His mother was before her marriage, Miss A.[lvina] A. Cram of Mt. Vernon.

"He is survived by two sisters, Miss Caroline Potter and Miss May Potter, both of Brunswick. [None of the siblings, Barrett included, ever married. They lived together at their 240 Maine Street home, built for them by John Calvin Stevens from 1893-1894.]

Photo of Barrett Potter which was printed with his obituary in the August 26, 1926 issue of The Brunswick Record.

"After graduating from the Brunswick High school Mr. Potter finished preparatory studies at Phillips-Exeter Academy, entered Bowdoin College and was graduated in the class of 1878, receiving his A.B. degree in 1878 and his A.M. degree in 1881. He was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, was managing editor of the Bowdoin Orient from 1876 to 1877 and the Bugle in 1878; received ex tempore Essay prize in 1877; 1st Essay prize in 1878; was class orator in 1878 and also salutatorian. He was appointed to deliver the English oration at commencement in 1881.

"He was a fine athlete and always took an interest in college sports. He has kept in touch with athletic affairs of his own college as well as of others and had a personal acquaintance with many of the athletic instructors in larger institutions. Mike Murphy, famous trainer of the University of Pennsylvania, was one of his personal friends.

"In the Spring following his graduation Mr. Potter became principal of Calais High school and held that position for three years, from 1879-1882. He was instructor in rhetoric and history at Bowdoin College from 1883 to 1885, at the same time pursuing his study of law with Weston Thompson. He was admitted to the Cumberland bar in 1886 and has since occupied an office in Brunswick.

"Mr. Potter was in the Maine Legislature from 1903-1904; a member of the Senate from 1905-1906; secretary of Board of Trustees and ex-officio Overseer of Bowdoin College from 1894 until his death.

[Barrett Potter was also a member of several Brunswick organizations. In addition to being a member of "The Club", he was also a charter member of the Pejepscot Historical Society, founded in 1888.]

"At the time of his death Mr. Potter was President of the Union National Bank and of the Brunswick Savings Institution.

"Mr. Potter had always been active in advocating the rights of the municipality. He was a notable case for the town in the suit of the Brunswick Gas Light Company vs. The Brunswick Village Corporation. The company alleged the destruction of its pipes in the streets when the sewer was laid. The case went to the Law court twice and the final decision was a victory for Mr. Potter who defended the village corporation.

"In the legislature Mr. Potter was a member of the judiciary committee and made a name for himself there by the able way in which he handled the Brunswick water bill and defended the interests of the town in the Bull Rock bridge matter. He took part in many of the more important measure brought before the House and gained the reputation of being one of the most convincing and forceful debaters in that body.

"While a State Senator the Augusta correspondent of the Lewiston Journal complimented him as follows: ‘Over in the Senate they like to hear Senator Barrett Potter of Brunswick. At once a joy and terror to the hearts of reporters is he, for he is easily the premier of the Senate spell binders. His methods are different from those of all the others. He stands up in his seat, seldom taking a step, usually with his glasses in his right hand and some paper or something like it in his left. Occasionally he varies this by resting the left hand on his desk throughout the entire speech, but this is seldom. Every gesture which he makes is with his right finger and every point appears to be made emphatic by those glasses. Mr. Potter is not a rapid speaker, though he is not slow. But he talks steadily and evenly. His speed is uniform from beginning to end. His voice is full, at the same time pleasant and his enunciation is perfect. It is in this respect that his is the joy of the reporters. There is not an easier speaker to report than Mr. Potter. But there is one thing about him which makes him the terror of these same newspaper men. It is the abundance of figures which he always has at his tongue’s end and which he is constantly using. They are what they dread, for no matter how carefully the speaker may utter them, there is more danger in getting twisted reporting two sets of numbers made in a speech than in handling five hundred words of ordinary matter.’

"At the 3rd annual meeting of the Maine State League of Loan and Building Association held in Augusta, January 22, 1903, Hon. Barrett Potter ably presented a paper on a most important matter regarding ‘The Interest paid Loan and Building Association.’

"On March 15, 1906, he wrote a letter to the Press Agent of the Maine Referendum League giving his reasons for voting against initiative and referendum. This letter was replied to by Senator E.S. Clark who was for the initiative and referendum. Both letters were published at the time. He later made an important speech in regard to the resolve in favor of a referendum. In 1907 he was called to address the committee on education on the University of Maine question as to whether the University should serve the economical needs of the State of not. Mr. Potter believed in the affirmative.

"Mr. Potter was a member of the Brunswick Golf club and was frequently seen on the links. In golf as in all matters of life he exhibited his good sportsmanship. He was a genial, likable companion, and while a man whose natural dignity of bearing tended to make him appear austere, he was found by those who enjoyed his acquaintanceship, to be most sociable and his courtesy was admirable indeed.

"Mr. Potter was always a staunch republican. His religious preferences were those of a Congregationalist and he was a member of the parish of the Congregational church [the First Parish Church].

Barrett Potter's grave in Pine Grove Cemetery, located in the third row from the right.

"The funeral was held from the residence Sunday afternoon, very impressive service being conducted by Chauncey W. Goodrich, D.D., a former pastor of the First Congregational church. Interment was at Pine Grove cemetery. The bearers were Dr. Oscar Davies of Augusta, Hon. Frederick A. Fisher of Lowell, Mass., Hartley C. Baxter, Dr. Charles S.F. Lincoln, Thomas H. Riley, Robert D. Perry, G. Allen Howe and Samuel A. Melcher...[Barrett himself was actually a pallbearer at the funeral of Joshua L. Chamberlain in 1914.]"

Many thanks to Ann Frey, who helped research Barrett Potter for this project.

Sources:
Cleaveland, Nehemiah. History of Bowdoin College, with Biographical Sketches of its Graduates. Boston: James Ripley Osgood & Company, 1882.
"Death of Honorable Barrett Potter." The Brunswick Record. 26 August 1926.
"The Final Arrangements." Daily Eastern Argus. 27 February 1914. From website "To the Limits of the Soul's Ideal: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's Funeral."
General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine, 1794-1912.
Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1912.
Historic Preservation Survey of 240 Maine Street. Pejepscot Historical Society.

Mary G. Gilman, the Librarian

The woman who would permanently change the Brunswick library was born in town on July 11, 1865 to Charles J. Gilman (1824-1901) and Alice McKeen Dunlap (1827-1905). Mary G. Gilman had a lot to live up to in her parents. Her mother was a granddaughter of Rev. Joseph McKeen, the first president of Bowdoin College, and her father served as a U.S. Representative. Considering all this, it is no surprise that Mary later developed a keen interest and passion for history.

A colored postcard of the Curtis Memorial Library, circa 1925. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1984.45.f.

Mary appears to have been a very bright girl, graduating from Brunswick High School in 1884. After this, she studied to become a librarian under Professor George T. Little at the Bowdoin College Library. At Bowdoin, Mary learned the essentials of librarianship, including cataloging skills. After the first librarian of the Brunswick Public Library, Lyman Smith, decided to move on in 1895, Mary was hired to replace him with a starting salary of $6 per week. Almost immediately, Mary went to work transforming the library into a thriving local resource.

Mary G. Gilman (seated on the right, holding a book) reading to the Wildflower Club, a group of local children. Photograph from Helmreich's A History of the Public Library in Brunswick, Maine.

Among Mary's many innovative ideas for the library were those focused on teachers and children. She encouraged local teachers to utilize the library's resources and even established a separate department within the library for education. For children, she had a completely new room created within the library, which became extremely popular with the local youth.

But Mary Gilman did not stop at teachers and children--she wanted the library to be accessible to all Brunswick residents. She took out books on travel, history and essays and placed them on a librarian's table so visitors would have easy access to them. She also created a "traveling library", where batches of 50 books at a time were sent to outlying areas of Brunswick (like Mere Point). This way, those who could not or did not go into town often had a chance to check out a book. For the same reason, she opened up the library late on Saturdays, so that those who did live far out had plenty of time to get to the library. And responding to the increase in Franco-Americans in the area, Mary also had several hundred books in French purchased for the library.

But Mary Gilman had passions outside of her beloved library. She was a member of the First Parish Church and secretary of the Pejepscot Historical Society. As the "last surviving member of one of the town's oldest families", Mary had a true passion for history ("Miss Gilman, Last of Family, Dies"). Many letters, to and from Gilman, in the collection of the Pejepscot Historical Society attest to this fact. Mary was always eager to research the questions of locals and visitors alike. Louise R. Helmreich's book A History of the Public Library in Brunswick, Maine relates a story about what happened when Gilman heard that a Brunswick High School reading list recommended Gone With The Wind as a historical novel. Gilman apparently thought the book inappropriate for high schoolers, and the book was removed from the reading list after she had "a very definite conversation with the Principal."(Helmreich, 45)

The grave of Mary G. Gilman, located in third row from the right. Gilman died on October 7, 1940 "after a short illness" at her home at 14 Union Street ("Miss Gilman, Last of Family, Dies"). She was 75 years old.

Mary G. Gilman managed the Brunswick Public Library during some of the organization's most important years. During her tenure from 1895 to 1940, she oversaw the library change names from the Brunswick Public Library to Curtis Memorial Library in 1904; personally instituted the Dewey Decimal system in 1936; and watched as her hard work took a one-room library in the town hall building and move it to a building of its own on Pleasant Street. It is not surprising, then, that in her history of the library Louise Helmreich states that "Many individuals through the years had helped to make the Brunswick library a part of the community. None have contributed more to this end than Miss Mary Gilman. She was not only herself a vital part of the library, but she made the library a vital part of the town." (47)

Sources:
Helmriech, Louise R. A History of the Public Library in Brunswick, Maine. Brunswick: J.G. French & Son, 1976.
"Miss Gilman, Last of Family, Dies." The Brunswick Record. 10 October 1940.

The Politician: Robert Pinckney Dunlap

In Robert Pinckney Dunlap, Brunswick could hardly have asked for a more devoted native son. Born in a house on Lincoln Street on August 17, 1794, Dunlap would go on to be the first governor to hail from Brunswick. Dunlap remained involved with his hometown for life, devoting himself to its college, church, fraternal organizations and government.

The second youngest of 9 children, Dunlap came from a prominent Brunswick family--his father John was a town representative at the Massachusetts General Court (Maine was not yet a separate state), and his grandfather--Rev. Robert Dunlap--was the first minister to settle in town. Dunlap was prepared for college by a private tutor in Topsham, and later graduated from Bowdoin College in the class of 1815. He studied law for three years under Benjamin Orr in Brunswick and Ebenezer Morely in Newburyport, Massachusetts before being admitted to the bar in 1818. He returned to Brunswick to practice law.

Portrait of R.P. Dunlap by George Swift (husband of Matilda Dennison Swift), 1895. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH 84.

Judging from his resume, Dunlap preferred being a politician to practicing law. Described as "an old-school Democrat", his first elected position was as a member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1821, where he stayed until 1823 (Wheeler & Wheeler, 732). Next, he switched to the Maine Senate, serving from 1824 to 1832, during which time Dunlap served as its president for 4 years. Dunlap was elected in 1833 to serve as Maine's eleventh governor, a position he held for four terms (incidentally, this was the same number of terms Joshua L. Chamberlain served), longer than any other governor besides Albion K. Parris. After he left office in 1838 he took a brief respite from politics, before returning to serve in the United States House of Representatives for 4 years, from 1843 to 1847. Like Joshua L. Chamberlain, he served as Collector of Customs at Portland from 1848-1849. In total, Dunlap served 32 years in public office.

Despite a political career which took him from Augusta to Washington, D.C., Dunlap remained involved with Brunswick. In 1825 he married Lydia Chapman (1793-1868), with whom he had 3 sons and a daughter. The family lived in an impressive house at 27 Federal Street, which was probably built by Samuel Melcher III around 1825 or 1826. After serving as Collector of Customs, Dunlap was Brunswick's postmaster from 1853 to 1857. Dunlap was also involved in Bowdoin College, where he served as an Overseer from 1821 until his death--he spent the last 16 years of his life as the President of the Board.

27 Federal Street, the home of Robert P. Dunlap, circa 1860. This was the only 3-story Federal style home on the street until it burned on June 17, 1999. The site is now a vacant lot. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1989.24.1.

Besides Bowdoin College, Dunlap could also claim involvement in another great Brunswick institution, the First Parish Church. He converted to Congregationalism during the Second Great Awakening, joining the church in July, 1834. There, his family sat in pew #27, a pew which would doubly earn its title as "The Governor's Pew" when the family of Joshua L. Chamberlain later sat there. Near the end of his life, Dunlap served as a church deacon. Dunlap was also a leader of the Freemasons and a member of the American Bible Society. Like many of his fellow Mainers, he supported the temperance movement.

Monument to Robert P. Dunlap, which sits over his grave at the front of the 3rd row from the right. The white panel pictured here is dedicated to his role as a member of the Masonic Fraternity.

Wheeler and Wheeler report that when Robert P. Dunlap died after a week-long illness of typhoid on October 20, 1859, "His burial was accompanied with more ceremony and was more fully attended than that of any other which has ever occurred in town." (733) Four years later, a monument to Dunlap's life was under development. The April 3, 1863 issue of the Brunswick Telegraph reported that famed Portland sculptor Franklin Simmons was in Brunswick "to obtain portraits, photographs, &c., of the late Governor, to aid him in executing the bust, which is to surmount the monument". Below this bust, the monument contains three panels: one about his role with the Masons, one about his political career, and one about his family. Respectively, these panels were paid for by the state's Masons, the state legislature and Dunlap's wife and children. In the end, Dunlap's grave cost $1,000 (about $17,000 today) for the bust alone and about $100 (about $1,700 today) for each panel. Local cemetery expert Barbara Desmarais reports that, ironically, Robert P. Dunlap never wanted a monument, preferring instead a simple gravestone.

Sources:
Ashby, Thompson Eldridge. A History of the First Parish Church in Brunswick, Maine. Brunswick: J.H. French and Son, 1969.
"Dunlap, Robert Pinckney, (1794-1859)." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website.
General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine, 1794-1912.
Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1912.
"Maine Governor Robert Pinckney Dunlap." National Governor's Association website.
Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder, vol. 4. Portland, Maine: S.M. Watson, 1887.
Shipman, William D. The Early Architecture of Bowdoin College and Brunswick, Maine. J.H. French & Son: 1985.
Tenney, A.G. "Monument to Hon. R.P. Dunlap." Brunswick Telegraph. 3 April 1863.
Tenney, A.G. "The Dunlap Monument." Brunswick Telegraph. 7 August 1863.
Wheeler, George Augustus & Henry Warren. History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, Including the Ancient Territory Known as Pejepscot. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1878.

Phebe Ann Jacobs, Freed Slave

Phebe Ann Jacobs was born a slave on the Beverwyck plantation in 1785. She wasn't born in Virginia, in Georgia, or one of the Carolinas. Phebe wasn't born in the South at all, but Morris County, New Jersey. Phebe was probably the daughter* of the farm workers and domestic slaves who were brought from the Danish West Indies to America by the plantation's owner, General Lucas von Beverhoudt. While she was still a young girl, Phebe became the servant of Maria Malleville Wheelock.

First page of Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs, by Phebe Lord Upham. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, pamphlet 227.

By 1817, Phebe had joined a church in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, beginning her life-long devotion to Christianity. Maria, the granddaughter of Dartmouth College founder Eleazar Wheelock, married William Allen and, in 1820, Jacobs and the Allen family moved to Brunswick. There, William Allen became the third president of Bowdoin College. In 1823, Phebe and Maria joined the First Parish Church. Just five years later, Maria Allen died, drastically changing Phebe's future. It seems she may have stayed on in the Allen household until William Allen resigned the presidency and moved in 1839, when Phebe became independent.

Though it is unclear exactly when she became free--one source says the Wheelocks paid for her freedom when they first bought her--they may have felt pressure to free her once they moved her to New England, where abolitionist sentiments were more popular. Either way, when the Allens left Brunswick, Phebe bought a small house of her own, earning money as a laundress and seamstress for Bowdoin College students and faculty.

Phebe is remembered best for her pious nature. She studied her Bible religiously and and was a staple at prayer meetings and church services. Phebe's religious devotion was commemorated after her death in Phebe Lord Upham's pamphlet Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs, published by the American Tract Society.

The grave of Phebe Ann Jacobs, which reads: "Born a slave. For about 40 years a faithful friend in the families of Pres. Wheelock and Pres. Allen. An eminent Christian beloved and honored. Died, Feb. 27, 1850, Aet. 64."
Phebe is buried in the Allen family plot near the front of the second row from the right.

Phebe Ann Jacobs died on February 28, 1850, and is described in Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs:

"The next morning Phebe's body was found in her bed, cold and lifeless; her eyes calmly closed, the mouth shut, her hands placed by her side, her candle burnt out, her Testament and spectacles by the bedside, the door of her house unbolted; no smoke ascended from her cottage, and Phebe was not--God took her." (page 7)

"The wife of [Rev. George E. Adams] died the same night with Phebe, and perhaps at the same hour of the night...To die with Phebe was a privilege; and the pastor remarked on this occasion, that if his wife had been permitted to choose a companion to accompany her through the 'dark valley,' and into the open portals of heaven, she would have chosen Phebe." (page 8, emphasis in original)

Phebe's funeral was attended by Brunswick's most prominent citizens, and the Allen family even traveled from 200 miles away to pay their respects to their former servent. Her service was held in the First Parish Church, the church she held so close to her heart. Professor Alpheus Spring Packard, Dr. Lincoln, and former governor Robert Pinckney Dunlap helped carry her coffin to Pine Grove Cemetery, where she lays today.

*Phebe had a brother and sister, Peggy and John.

Learn more about the Beverwyck plantation here.

Sources:
Price, H.H. & Gerald E. Talbot, eds. Maine's Visible Black History: The First Chronicle of Its People. Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury Publishers, 2006.
"Story of Phebe Jacobs." The Lewiston Daily Sun. 2 May 1923.
Upham, Phebe Lord. Narrative of Phebe Ann Jacobs. American Tract Society, no. 536. Pejepscot Historical Society, pamphlet 227.

Many thanks to the indispensable Barbara Desmarais for sharing her Phebe expertise with me!

Henry Leland Chapman of Old Bowdoin

A photo of Henry Leland Chapman, Bowdoin College professor. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH 1951.d.

Henry Leland Chapman was born in Bethel on July 26, 1845 to Elbridge and Delinda Twitchell Kimball Chapman. When he was still a boy, his family moved to Portland, and he attended Gould’s Academy and Gorham Seminary before college. He entered Bowdoin College in 1862.

As a student, Chapman excelled in sports and English. For three years he was a pitcher for “the college nine” (the baseball team) and also rowed in with crew. Chapman also served as class poet for both his freshman and senior years, and was the senior editor of The Bugle, Bowdoin’s yearbook. He was also a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and graduated in 1866 with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

Chapman’s most popular contribution to Bowdoin College has to do with Ivy Day, a tradition which continues to be celebrated by students. The first Ivy Day was held on October 26, 1865, when the junior class planted ivy near the chapel. Chapman is usually credited with instituting this tradition, and he served as odist on the fateful day. Ivy Day traditions later included the awarding of a mirror to the most handsome student and a wooden spoon to the most popular student. (Learn more about the history of Ivy Day here.)

After graduating with his Bachelor’s degree, Chapman continued his studies at Bangor Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1869 with a Master’s degree. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a position at Bowdoin as a tutor in Latin and Mathematics, becoming a full profess in 1872. As a professor, he taught Latin for 3 years before turning to his true passion, English literature, which he taught until his death. On August 21, 1870, he married Emma Caroline Smith from Gorham. The couple lived at 79 Federal Street, which is now owned by the college. Emma died on June 14, 1892.

Chapman's home at 79 Federal Street, one of the oldest home on the street. The house, built circa 1790, was originally located on Maquoit Street, but was moved to its present location by David Stanwood in 1821. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH 1830.a.

As a Bowdoin professor, Henry Leland Chapman has a mixed legacy. His obituary celebrates his excellent memory, stating that “frequently in the course of his lectures he would stop and recite poem after poem from the works of Burns, Byron, Scott, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Tennyson and Browning”. However, Chapman became quite unpopular when he fought against the practice of hazing—many students and even some faculty members were strongly in favor of the ridiculous tradition. Least progressive of his teaching methods was what college historian Louis C. Hatch calls Chapman’s requirement of “a strict adherence to the text-book” by his students (Hatch, 177). Rather than encouraging students to think for themselves, Chapman preferred that they recite the thoughts of their textbook’s author.

Despite any faults he may have had, Chapman was always loyal to his alma mater. After the resignation of Joshua L. Chamberlain, Chapman assisted Alpheus Spring Packard with the duties of interim president. After Packard’s death, Chapman carried on alone as Dean of the College. He was even considered for the position of college president, but the board ultimately decided to hire someone more progressive—they would ultimately choose William DeWitt Hyde.

Chapman's signature from an agreement allowing the relocation of the President's House to its present location as number 85 at the corner of Bath Road and Federal Street. The President's House was originally located at 77 Federal Street, but in 1874 Peleg Chandler, the son-in-law of Parker Cleaveland, wanted it moved so his gardens at 75 Federal Street would receive more sunlight. Chandler signed the agreement with Chapman, allowing the President's House to move through Chapman's backyard to the location it now sits. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1991.71.3.

Besides his involvement in Bowdoin College, Chapman was a key figure in many state organizations. He served as a trustee for the Maine Missionary Society, Bangor Theological Seminary, State Normal Schools, and the Bible Society of Maine and served as vice president of the Maine Historical Society. Chapman was also a key figure in Brunswick. He was the official poet for the 150th anniversary of Brunswick, was a founding member of the Pejepscot Historical Society and later served as its president, was a charter member of the Public Library Association and of the Village Improvement Association.

At the age of 66, Chapman’s health began to decline. In January 1912, he broke his arm in a fall and was housebound until the following June. A year later, Chapman became ill with what his obituary reported as Bright’s disease, an affliction of the kidneys. He died on February 24, 1913 at 2:30am. Town officials attended his funeral and all stores and businesses were closed to mourn the man who had become so intricately linked with Brunswick.

Henry Leland Chapman's gravestone, located one plot over from that of Henry Hill Boody.

Sources:
“Death of Prof. Chapman.” Brunswick Times. 28 February 1913.
General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine, 1794-1912.
Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1912.
Hatch, Louis C. The History of Bowdoin College. Portland, Maine: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1927.
Shipman, William D. The Early Architecture of Bowdoin College and Brunswick, Maine. J.H. French & Son: 1985.

“Thus Perish Our Hopes”: The Dead of Bowdoin College

The gravestone of Aretus H. Chase. Chase is buried in the first row on the right, just before the granite-curbed Booker family plot.

As we have already seen, many Bowdoin College presidents and professors have been buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, but many of the school’s students rest there as well.

There are many former students buried in Pine Grove Cemetery who wished to permanently memorialize their connection to their alma mater. Winfield S. Hutchinson, for example, lived to be 66, and despite the fact that he graduated from Harvard Law School and was a lawyer for over 35 years, his gravestone only mentions that he was a member of the Bowdoin College class of 1867. Brothers George Sidney (1835-1861) and Nathaniel H. Whitmore (1833-1871) have their class years inscribed on their tombstones as 1856 and 1854, respectively. Morrill M. Tozier lived to be 67 and worked as a newspaper reporter before holding several different positions in the federal government has a gravestone which has only the dates of his birth, death, and the words “Bowdoin College, Class of 1932, Magna Cum Laude”.

The footstone of Morrill Tozier, located in the front of the fifth row from the right.

While there were people like Tozier, the Whitmores and Hutchinson who chose to forever honor their enrollment at Bowdoin College on their gravestones, there are others buried in Pine Grove whose young lives were cut so short that they were defined by nothing but their years at Bowdoin. Jonathan Ela, whose gravestone mentions that he was a sophomore at Bowdoin when he died in 1830 at age 29, has an epitaph which reads: “He was preparing to serve God on earth: God took him to serve him in heaven.”

In many cases, the deceased’s classmates assisted in paying for a gravestone and plot. Bowdoin College junior William O’Brien died in 1856 at age 21, and his stone bears the words: “This stone is erected by his classmates as a testimonial of affectionate regard. Even so them also which sleep with Jesus shall God bring with him.” 27 year old Aretus H. Chase of the Maine Medical School at Bowdoin died in 1833 and now lies beneath a gravestone which reads: “To know him was to love him. Erected by his classmates.”

One of the most touching of these Bowdoin College student epitaphs reads in full: “WILLIAM CURTIS Jr., member of the senior class of Bowdoin College, distinguished scholar, and not less beloved as a friend. Died July 2, 1826, aged 20. His afflicted classmates erect this monument in his memory. Thus perish our hopes.”

The gravestone of William Curtis, Jr., who is buried in the second row from the right.

Perhaps it is best that a dead Bowdoin student’s classmates no longer are responsible for arranging for a burial. One gravestone in Pine Grove Cemetery reads:

“HENRY RAND of the Freshman Class, Bowdoin College: died Aug. 12, 1830: aged 19 years. An orphan and friendless, he sought the path of learning with a zeal that neither sickness nor poverty could subdue. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity.”

The gravestone of Henry Rand laying on the ground. Jonathan Ela is buried next to him, and Aretus H. Chase is one grave over from Ela.

Sources:
Cheetham, Donald & Mark. Pine Grove Cemetery, Bath Road, Brunswick, Maine, volumes 1 & 2 (Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 2006.7.1 & 2006.7.2), 2005.
General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine, 1794-1912.
Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1912.
General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine: A Biographical Record of Alumni and Officers, 1900-1975. Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1978.

Henry Hill Boody, Brunswick’s First Millionaire?

Henry Hill Boody's gravestone, which sits one lot over from the Upham's plot. Despite his wealth, Boody opted for a simple stone bearing only his name and the dates of his birth and death, which closely matches the style of his wife's gravestone.

Henry Hill Boody was born on November 8, 1816 in Jackson, Maine, the fourth son of John H. and Patience Redman. He studied at Bangor Classical School before entering Bowdoin College, where he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and Athenaen Society before graduating in 1842. Boody’s age at the time of his graduation—26—allowed him to immediately become a tutor in Greek at his alma mater, reportedly the first time in the college’s history a graduate had immediately become an employee of the college. Boody would eventually become professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, teaching as a professor of the college from 1845 to 1854.

1854 was a busy year for Henry Hill Boody. In May, Boody was in Washington D.C. and witnessed the effect the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act had on politics. He was so disheartened with the responses of Whigs and Democrats (the two major political parties oat the time) to the evils of slavery that when Boody returned home to Maine he contacted General Samuel Fessenden. Together, the two organized the Maine Republican party, earning Boody the title “Father of the Republican Party in Maine.” Maine’s Republican party would soon produce Hannibal Hamlin, who served as Abraham Lincoln’s vice president (interestingly, Lincoln and Hamlin did not meet until after their election in 1860!).

Later on in 1854, Boody decided to leave his post as a Bowdoin professor. Boody cited as being overworked—and thus overworking his students—as his reason for leaving, but he may have also been keen to become more involved in politics and business. Strangely, his obituary states that he left his teaching position due to “throat trouble”. Almost immediately after Bowdoin, Boody was elected to the Maine state senate in the fall of 1854. He continued his political career for a short time, eventually serving as Brunswick’s representative in the state legislature, and after deciding not to run for congress (despite being urged to do so by his friends) Boody made yet another career change.

Boody, who had long held an interest in business, later moved to New York City to pursue his interests further. He gradually expanded his investments and involvement in railroad, beginning with the Chicago, Fond du Lac & St. Paul Railroad in the 1850s, of which he was later made the director and financial agent. Boody’s business sense, including his belief that railroads should consolidate rather than compete, led his involvement in many other railroad companies such as the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad, the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and the Pennsylvania, Slatington & New England Gauge Railroad. In fact, the first subscription for stock in the Union Pacific Railroad was made in his New York City office and Boody is cited as being at least in part responsible for the laying of 2,000 to 3,000 miles of railroad track in the United States. His investments led Boody to become a millionaire—possibly the first person who had lived in Brunswick ever to do so.

Boody eventually moved into banking as well, founding Boody, McLellan & Company, where his nephew, David A. Boody, worked for him (David A. Boody later became the 23rd mayor of Brooklyn). Yet Boody never turned his back on Brunswick or his alma mater. From 1864 to 1871 he served as a trustee of Bowdoin College. He married Brunswick native Charlotte Mellen Newman (born on July 23, 1823 and daughter of a Bowdoin professor) on September 3, 1846. When Charlotte died her in Brunswick on February 5, 1876, Boody had her buried in Pine Grove Cemetery. Neither of the couple’s two children—Henry Phillips and Caroline Kent—outlived their father, both dying before the age of 25. Boody spent the last few summers of his life in Brunswick, though he appears to never have completely retired.

Henry Hill Boody died of pneumonia at his adopted daughter’s home on Maine Street in Brunswick on September 10, 1912. He was just a few months shy of his 96 birthday, and at the time of his death was the oldest living graduate of Bowdoin. Today, his mark on Brunswick persists in two major forms. Boody Street, near Bowdoin College, bears his name. Boody was responsible for laying the street out and planting the elms which once dotted it, and in 1853 the town adopted the name for the street in Boody’s honor. On the corner of Boody and Maine Streets, however, stands Henry Hill Boody’s most prominent legacy: a gorgeous wooden Gothic “stick-style” home often called “the most interesting house” in Brunswick. The home, which was built for Boody in 1849 by Philadelphia architect Gervase Wheeler, is not to be missed by those interested in architecture.

Photo of the Boody-Johnson House at 256 Maine Street, taken by Richard Cheek. Though it is impossible to see in this black and white photo, according to the Historic Preservation Survey of the building: "The sand color of the exterior paint is probably very similar to the original which was a mixture of paint and fire sand, intended to resemble the stone of medieval Gothic architecture." From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1992.112.70.

Apparently, the house took a great financial toll on Boody. On March 2, 1850, Boody sent a letter to his mother explaining why he had failed to send her the $5 he had promised her:

“You may perhaps wonder very much that with a salary of a thousand dollars, I am so pinched for money, but I can explain the whole mystery in a few words. Last year I built a house which I expected would cost me $2,500. It actually cost me $5,000, independent of the land, for which I paid $1,000. This money I was obliged to hire [borrow], and in these times it is not easy to hire money except at very high rates of interest.”

In 1892, the house came into the possession of Bowdoin Professor Henry Johnson, whose daughter eventually donated the building—now known as the Boody-Johnson House—to Bowdoin College. Today, the house is used as the residence of the college dean.

Nota bene: Despite Boody's wealth and long life, I was unable to find any images of him in the Pejepscot Historical Society collection or on the internet. However, there is reportedly a portrait of him hanging in the Boody-Johnson House.

Sources:
Cleaveland, Nehemiah. History of Bowdoin College, with Biographical Sketches of its Graduates. Boston: James Ripley Osgood & Company, 1882.
“Death of Prof. H.H. Boody”. Brunswick Record. 13 September 1912.
General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine, 1794-1912.
Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1912.
Hatch, Louis C. The History of Bowdoin College. Portland, Maine: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1927.
Historic Preservation Survey of the Johnson-Boody House. 14 May 1975. Pejepscot Historical Society.
Little, George Thomas, ed. Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, Vol. 1. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1909.
The Official Railway List. 1892.
Shipman, William D. The Early Architecture of Bowdoin College and Brunswick, Maine. J.H. French & Son: 1985.
Weyrauch, Martin H., ed. The Pictorial History of Brooklyn Issued by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1916.
Wheeler, George Augustus & Henry Warren. History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, Including the Ancient Territory Known as Pejepscot. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1878.

Phebe & Thomas C. Upham: the Rabble Rousers

Phebe Lord, the woman who would become one of the greatest thorns in the side of her Congregational minister, was born on March 20, 1804 to Nathaniel Lord and Phebe Walker. When Phebe was 8, her family moved to Kennebunkport, where her father was known as the richest man in the county.

Shortly before her marriage to Thomas C. Upham, her family’s wealth afforded Phebe a trip to New York City, where she was painted by the renowned American artist Gilbert Stuart. Stuart, who had painted the Founding Fathers and thus earned the title “The Father of American Portraiture”, was 70 at the time and afflicted with partial paralysis. Yet he was reportedly so enamored with the beautiful Phebe that he had longed for the opportunity to paint her. The resulting portrait now finds it home among many other Stuart portraits at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. But Gilbert Stuart was not the only person who had fallen in love with Phebe Lord.

Engraving of Thomas C. Upham from a daguerrotype, by J.C. Buttre. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH 1972.a.

Phebe’s future husband, Thomas C. Upham, was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire on January 30, 1799 to a state congressman. He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Dartmouth (1818 and 1821, respectively) after preparing for college at Gilmantown Academy. After Dartmouth, he studied theology and became a pastor in Rochester, New Hampshire, where his family had relocated while he was a boy. After serving his parish for just 1 year, Upham earned a position at Bowdoin College as the college’s first professor of Mental & Moral Philosophy, a subject he would teach until he left the school in 1867. One year after joining the college faculty, Thomas C. Upham married Phebe Lord on May 18, 1825.

At Bowdoin, Upham was known as “one of the greatest detectives on the faculty”, able to sniff out a student’s mischievousness. Though he was noted for being painfully shy, during his lifetime Upham was able to raise for than $70,000 for the school (approximately $1 million today, adjusted for inflation). He also wrote the enormously successful book Mental Philosophy, which went though 57 editions in just 73 years.

The Upham family home at 179 Park Row, circa 1870. The building, which was probably designed by Samuel Melcher III, is now the local Elks Lodge. When it was built in 1817 it was one of the town's costliest houses to construct. Note the terraced lawn, which still exists today. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH 2153.1

One of the Upham’s greatest claims to fame was his role in persuading Calvin Stowe to join the Bowdoin faculty. Stowe brought along his wife, Harriet Beecher, who instantly befriended Phebe. After Harriet’s ill-fated arrival in Brunswick (for more information, see the blog post about William Smyth), Phebe lent Harriet bedding, helped arrange for a housekeeper and showed her around Brunswick. It was while sitting in the Upham family pew (#23) at the First Parish Church that, in March of 1851, Harriet Beecher Stowe had a vision which inspired her to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Like Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Uphams passionately believed that slavery should be abolished. The Uphams, like William Smyth, used their home as a stop on the Underground Railroad for escaping slaves. Harriet Beecher Stowe herself records that she sent an escaping slave to the Uphams, who fed, sheltered, and gave the slave money. Thomas C. Upham was a proponent of the “Back-To-Africa”, or colonization, movement. He believed that American slaves should be returned to African countries like Liberia. Upham served as the vice president of the American Colonization Society and even contributed an impressive $1,000 to the cause (approximately $14,000 today).

Like we have seen in so many of his contemporaries, however, Thomas C. Upham did not limit himself to one cause. He was a supporter of temperance and was among the first people to sign the Brunswick temperance pledge. Upham also opposed capital punishment, which was not abolished in Maine until after his death. Thomas C. Upham was also a strong supporter of the peace movement, a belief he had developed during the War of 1812. He supported the cause for peace by serving as the vice president of the American Peace Society and publishing many works championing peace under the pseudonym “Perier”.

Thomas C. Upham appears to best known for his role in helping to legitimize the holiness movement.* Followers in the holiness movement believe that though the body was corruptible, it was possible to attain full salvation while on earth. Around 1839 Upham became the first man to attend the meetings of Phoebe Palmer, an early practitioner of the movement. Impressed by what he learned, he helped popularize the movement, which some historian argue influenced the structure of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But it appears that Upham did not stumble upon Phoebe Palmer by himself—rather, it was his wife Phebe who urged him to visit a meeting.

Rev. George E. Adams of the First Parish Church, who often butted heads with Phebe Upham. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc#1726.1e.

Like her husband, Phebe Upham was passionately devoted to what she believed in. An outspoken woman herself, Phebe balked at the rule preventing women from speaking in church meetings. Thanks to the fact that Rev. George Adams, the adoptive father of Frances Caroline Adams Chamberlain and pastor of the First Parish Church, kept an exhaustive journal, we know that Phebe would often visit Adams to argue her case. She would apparently often charge into the reverend’s study unannounced and uninvited and engage Adams in heated arguments over the rule.

In addition to her feminist causes, Phebe was also a writer. She wrote a booklet about the life of Phebe Ann Jacobs, a freed slave living in Brunswick, for the American Tract Society. Several scholars have noted parallels between his booklet and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and believe the booklet also inspired Stowe. Phebe accomplished all of this while raising her 6 adopted children (4 boys and 2 girls) at the Upham home at 179 Park Row.

Thomas C. Upham left Bowdoin College in 1867 and he and Phebe relocated to her hometown of Kennebunkport. In 1872, while visiting his brother in New York City, Thomas suffered a stroke. He died on April 2 and his body was brought back to Brunswick. His funeral was held in the First Parish Church on April 4, 5 years to the day of Prof. William Smyth’s death—in recognition of this fact, both services featured the same song, “Who Are These in Bright Array”. Prof. Alpheus Spring Packard presided over the service.

Phebe continued to live out her life in New York City, often visiting her children. She died there peacefully on March 18, 1882. A Brunswick newspaper describes her death:
“On Saturday the servant took up a lunch to Mrs. Upham’s room, finding her seated, and apparently as well as usual. Two hours later the servant went to her room, to found the tea spilled upon the carpet, the lunch untasted, and Mrs. Upham seated in her chair with her head reclining to one side; a closer observation showed that she was dead, having passed away in that interval of two hours, with no eye to watch her, but evidently without a struggle” (Tenney, Phebe Upham’s obituary, 2).

The Upham monument in Pine Grove Cemetery, located just past the grave of Parker Cleaveland. Though only Thomas's dates and initials are inscribed on the stone, newspaper articles indicate that Phebe is buried here as well. Her obituary in the March 24, 1882 Brunswick Telegraph ends "She has come back at last, and rests beneath our whispering pines in the lot in our village cemetery, where rest the remains of her husband."

*The Salvation Army began as a result of the holiness movement.

Sources:
Calhoun, Charles C. A Small College in Maine: Two Hundred Years of Bowdoin. Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1993.
Cheetham, Mark. Facts and Legends Concerning the Underground Railroad in Topsham and Brunswick Maine website.
Fuchs, Alfred H. “The Psychology of Thomas Upham.” Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology, Vol. 4. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 2000.
General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine, 1794-1912.
Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1912.
“Old College Professors: Reminiscences of Famous Educators and Told by an Augusta Citizen”. Brunswick Telegraph. No date, circa 1880. Pejepscot Historical Society Research Files.
Packard, Alpheus Spring. Address on the Life and Character of Thomas C. Upham, D.D. Brunswick: Joseph Griffin, 1873.
“Phoebe [sic] Upham Had Role in Writing of Famous Book”. Lewiston Evening Journal Magazine. 10 November 1973.
Tenney, A.G. “Death of Professor Thomas C. Upham.” Brunswick Telegraph. 5 April 1872.
Tenney, A.G. “Funeral of Prof. Upham.” Brunswick Telegraph. 12 April 1872.
Tenney, A.G. Phebe Upham’s obituary. Brunswick Telegraph. 24 March 1882.
Wheeler, George Augustus & Henry Warren. History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, Including the Ancient Territory Known as Pejepscot. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1878.

Parker Cleaveland, the Eccentric Geologist

Parker Cleaveland was born on January 15, 1780 in Rowley, Massachusetts, to physician Parker Cleaveland (senior) and Elizabeth Jackman. Parker, who was an only child, was from what Louis Hatch called “good old New England stock”. Among Parker’s relatives are Moses Cleaveland, the founder and namesake of Cleaveland, Ohio, and president Grover Cleveland.

Photo of an older Parker Cleaveland. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# OH.1948.c.

Parker was prepared for college early, and attended Dummer Academy, later entering Harvard at age 15. In 1799 he received his Bachelor’s degree and in 1802 his Master’s, both from Harvard. After graduating with his Master’s, Parker took a job as tutor at Harvard in the subjects of mathematics and natural philosophy.

Parker never intended to spend his life teaching, instead planning on a career in law, and turned down at least one offer from Bowdoin College to join their faculty. Professor John Abbott was finally able to convince him to teach at the Brunswick college and on October 23, 1805, Cleaveland became Bowdoin’s first professor of mathematics and natural philosophy.

Parker Cleaveland would spend the rest of his life teaching at Bowdoin, becoming, in college historian Louis Hatch’s estimation, “one of the greatest teachers that Bowdoin ever had” (Hatch, 28). Cleaveland was an extremely popular lecturer, renowned for giving “exciting classroom demonstrations” (Bowdoin College website). But he did not limit his involvement with Bowdoin to teaching. Cleaveland was also a driving force in the establishment of the now-defunct Maine Medical School at Bowdoin. Additionally, Cleaveland served as interim college president after William Allen was dismissed. Later, Allen was rehired, only to later resign—after his resignation, Parker Cleaveland was offered the presidency, but turned it down.

Parker Cleaveland's signature on a scrap of paper. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 2006.32.

But for of all of his accomplishments with the college, Parker Cleaveland is perhaps best known for his contributions to American geology and mineralogy. Cleaveland became interested in the subjects when, in 1807, he was called to a site along the Androscoggin River. There, a group of men had been excavating a ledge, attempting to make the river more passable for the lumber drives. During the dig, a large number of minerals that appeared to be diamonds and gold were discovered. A Bowdoin College scientist was called for and Cleaveland was summoned, only to be just as ignorant of the identity of the minerals as the working men (the minerals were actually iron pyrite, aka “fool’s gold”, and quartz).

His interest piqued, Parker Cleaveland began to collect rock specimens and study available texts on geology. He noticed a lack of American geology textbooks, so in 1816 he published An Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology, the first major American mineralogical textbook. This brought Packard great fame, including offers from other colleges for twice his Bowdoin salary (which he turned down), a mineral named after him (Cleavelandite, a type of white Albite), and earned him the title “Father of American Mineralogy.”

Cleaveland’s personal life also reflected his devotion to Bowdoin College. On September 9, 1806 he married Martha Bush of Boylston, Massachusetts in Boston. The couple would have 3 daughters and five sons, and at least two of his children were apparently named in honor of the college: James Bowdoin Cleaveland and John Appleton Cleaveland. Not long after arriving in Brunswick, Parker commissioned architect Samuel Melcher III to build him a home. From 1805 to 1806 the Parker Cleaveland House was constructed at 75 Federal Street with a total cost (including land) of $3,200 (approximately $45,000 today). The house, where Parker lived until his death, is now owned by the college and though it was president Robert H. Edwards’ home from 1990-2001, is now used for functions and is a National Historic Landmark.

The Parker Cleaveland House at 75 Federal Street in Brunswick, circa 1960. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1992.112.31.

Not interested in limiting his talents to the college, Parker Cleaveland was also involved in local organizations. He was among the first librarians of the Maine Historical Society, an organization which he was active in until his death. Cleaveland was also the first commander of the Brunswick Fire Company, which was formed after the devastating 1825 fire which destroyed a large section of the town.

Despite these accomplishments, Cleaveland second greatest fame—next to that of being the “Father of American Mineralogy”—was his eccentric nature. He was deathly afraid of lightning. During storms he would lie in bed, taking care that his nightstand was not touching it. Anything that appeared to be an approaching thunderstorm would keep him from leaving the house. His fears appear to have been somewhat allayed once he had two lightening rods installed on his home. Called “a keeper at home”, Cleaveland also hated traveling and was wary of technological advances such as trains, steamboats and even stagecoaches (Cleaveland,* 128). He reportedly refused to cross any body of water except by bridge, and even then would only do so after he had inspected the bridge himself.

Photo of Parker Cleaveland's study, the northeast, 1st floor room of his home at 75 Federal Street. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1992.112.100.

Perhaps in the end, Parker Cleaveland’s cautious nature helped him live a long life. Cleaveland died at 8 AM on October 15, 1858, probably from heart disease. The local newspaper reported that “We saw the corpse, a few moments after the Professor died, and the countenance bore an expression of naturalness, calmness and serenity, that told a peaceful departure” (Tenney, “Death of Professor Cleaveland”, 2). Despite his deep-seated fears, Parker Cleaveland lived a life that remains impressive to this day.

Parker Cleaveland's gravestone in Pine Grove Cemetery, located beside the William DeWitt Hyde family plot. On April 27, 1866 the Brunswick Telegraph reported that "It is expected that the monument to the late Prof. Cleaveland will be erected in our burial ground, over his remains, before Commencement. The monument will be of granite, of severe simplicity of style, such as best accords with the almost childlike simplicity of his character, and which, could he have consented to any testimonial in his behalf, he would select above all others."

Several memorials to Cleaveland survive today. In 1869 the name of Cross Street, just across from Cleaveland’s Federal Street home, was changed to Cleaveland Street, the name it bears today. As the Brunswick Telegraph reported that it was “a fitting mark of respect to the memory of the late Prof. Cleaveland, and besides a good change in itself, as Cross Street now has no significance whatever. It might have had when the village was much smaller” (Tenney, “Town Matters”, 2; emphasis in original). The best tribute to Cleaveland is arguably Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem about his former teacher, which Longfellow wrote when he visited Brunswick 17 years after Cleaveland’s death:

Among the many lives that I have known,

None I remember more serene and sweet,

More rounded in itself and more complete,

Than his who lies beneath this funeral stone.

These pines, that murmur in low monotone,

These walks frequented by scholastic feet,

Were all his world; but in this calm retreat

For him the teacher’s chair became a throne.

With fond affection memory loves to dwell

On the old days, when his example made

A pastime of the toil of tongue and pen;

And now, amid the groves he loved so well

That naught could lure him from their grateful shade,

He sleeps, but wakes elsewhere, for God hath said, ‘Amen!’

*Nehemiah Cleaveland was Parker Cleaveland’s cousin.

Sources:

Bowdoin College. Agency History/Biographical Note. George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives website.

Calhoun, Charles C. A Small College in Maine: Two Hundred Years of Bowdoin. Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1993.

“Cleaveland House”. Office of the President. Bowdoin College website.

Cleaveland, Nehemiah. History of Bowdoin College, with Biographical Sketches of its Graduates. Boston: James Ripley Osgood & Company, 1882.

General Catalogue of Bowdoin College and the Medical School of Maine, 1794-1912.

Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1912.

Hatch, Louis C. The History of Bowdoin College. Portland, Maine: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1927.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “Parker Cleaveland.” Maine Historical Society website.

Shipman, William D. The Early Architecture of Bowdoin College and Brunswick, Maine. J.H. French & Son: 1985.

Sisser, Sasha. “Parker Cleaveland (1780-1858)”. Biographies, Temple University website. Tenney, A.G. “Death of Professor Cleaveland”. Brunswick Telegraph, 15 October 1858.

Tenney, A.G. “Funeral of Professor Cleaveland.” Brunswick Telegraph, 22 October 1858. Tenney, A.G. “Town Matters.” Brunswick Telegraph, 2 April 1869.

Wheeler, George Augustus & Henry Warren. History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, Including the Ancient Territory Known as Pejepscot. Boston: Alfred Mudge & Son, 1878.

Woods, Leonard. Address on the Life and Character of Parker Cleaveland, LL.D. Brunswick: Joseph Griffin, 1860.

Lucky Number Seven: William DeWitt Hyde

The seventh president of Bowdoin College, William DeWitt Hyde, was born in Winchendon, Massachusetts on September 23, 1858. His parents were Eliza DeWitt and Joel Hyde, who was described by Hyde’s biographer as half farmer and half industrialist. Whatever Joel was, he must have done alright by his family. William attended Exeter Academy and then Harvard, where he helped found the Harvard Philosophical Society, graduating in the class of 1879. Hyde decided to pursue religion as a career, and graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1882. He had no way of knowing that his list of accolades would eventually contain honorary degrees from Bowdoin, Harvard, Syracuse and Dartmouth.

William DeWitt Hyde, the seventh president of Bowdoin College, photographed circa 1910. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1992.42.3.

While studying at Andover, Hyde met Prudence Phillips, the daughter of a New York City grain merchant. After he graduated from seminary in 1882 and became ordained in September of 1883, Hyde took the position of pastor at the Paterson, New Jersey Congregational church. On November 6 of the same year he married Prudence. The couple would eventually have three children: William & Elizabeth, a set of twins who died at age 2 weeks, and George, who became a lawyer.

Not two years after taking this job, however, Hyde was lured away from New Jersey for a greater challenge. Bowdoin College had been searching for a new president for 2 years after the resignation of Joshua L. Chamberlain. Though individuals like Alpheus Spring Packard had served in the interim, the college desperately needed someone more permanent. Egbert C. Smyth, a Bowdoin trustee and the son of William Smyth, began to petition that Hyde be hired not only for the presidency, but also as the new professor of mental & moral philosophy. Smyth was ultimately successful, and Hyde became the college’s youngest president before he had turned 27.

Despite his age, Hyde had shown great promise and had excellent recommendations. And, luckily for him, he lived up to the hype. Hyde reinvigorated and revived Bowdoin, taking, as Charles C. Calhoun described it, “the disadvantages of the old-fashioned college—its small size, rural isolation, tradition of piety, and fondness for professors who taught by force of personality more than by intellectual example—and turned them into virtues” (Calhoun, 197). By his tenth year in office, “the boy president”, as Hyde was called, had doubled the college’s enrollment (Burnett, 111). It was during his stead that Whittier Field, Hubbard Hall, the Walker Art Building and Searles Science Building were all constructed. Hyde raised professor’s salaries and made major changes to the curriculum as well, dropping Greek and Latin as requirements for graduation.

A postcard image of Hubbard Hall, the college's library until 1965, when the Hawthrone-Longfellow Library was completed. A portion of Hubbard Hall is now used as the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum. From the Pejepscot Historical Society, acc# 1982.97.298.6.

At the age of just 49, Hyde suffered what his biographer Charles T. Burnett called a nervous breakdown. Hyde suffered from fainting spells and examinations suggested he had a weakened heart (Hyde, ironically the head of the only medical school in Maine, hated physicians). He took a leave of absence and traveled to Europe for a period, but appears to never have fully recovered.

William DeWitt Hyde died on the morning of June 28, 1917 at age 58. His last words, said to his wife Prudence, were reportedly “Don’t worry, don’t worry about anything” (Burnett, 340). On July 4, 1917, the Boston Herald published an article by John Clair Minot, a former student of Hyde’s, titled “The Burial of a Great Teacher”. Minot described Hyde’s burial in a grave just past

“After Mr. [Thompson Eldridge] Ashby had read the committal service, in a flower-bordered grave in the shade of a little tree of thick foliage we left the sleeping teacher. Close by sleep four others of the seven men* who have been at the head of Bowdoin since it was chartered in 1794, and several of those who have been loyal associated on the faculty. No lovelier setting could be imagined—the sunshine flooding the cemetery, the whispering pines thick around it, one little bird singing in a tree near by, and the hushed and uncovered groups in whose hearts the sense of loss was mastered by a proud memory of what had been and an unfaltering belief in what survives” (Minot, quoted in Burnett, 341-342).

When Hyde became president of Bowdoin College, there were only 119 students enrolled, but by the time of his death, there were nearly 500. Though his life was short, William DeWitt Hyde left a lasting impression on Bowdoin College, helping to transforming the school into the success it is today.

Hyde's grave in Pine Grove, located just past the granite-curbed lot where William Smyth is buried (you can see the curbing on the right side of this photo). Hyde is buried with is wife, Prudence.

*Only three previous Bowdoin presidents are buried near Hyde: Joseph McKeen, Jesse Appleton, & Joshua L. Chamberlain. The three other presidents that preceeded Hyde are William Allen, Leonard Woods, Jr., and Samuel Harris—none of whom are buried in Pine Grove Cemetery. Minot may be under the belief that William Allen was buried near Hyde because Allen’s first wife, Maria Wheelock Allen, is.

Sources:
Bowdoin College. Agency History/Biographical Note. George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives website.
Burnett, Charles T. Hyde of Bowdoin: A Biography of William DeWitt Hyde. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1931.
Calhoun, Charles C. A Small College in Maine: Two Hundred Years of Bowdoin. Brunswick: Bowdoin College, 1993.
Hale, Edward. “William DeWitt Hyde.” The Harvard Graduate’s Magazine. Vol. 26, September 1917, pages 36-39.
Hatch, Louis C. The History of Bowdoin College. Portland, Maine: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1927.