Dedication Highlights

On A Personal Note

     When planning this event, I invited three, noted Portland Historians, William David Barry, Matt Jude Barker and Herb Adams,  to speak and to share their historical perspective pertaining to the East Deering Village and the 'residents' of the Grand Trunk Cemetery.  Fortunately, all three excepted.  Unfortunately, Matthew Jude Barker was unable to participate due to a physical ailment.   However, Matt has agreed to share his thoughts which I will publish at a later date. 

     The first of the series was given by William D. Barry and he has given permission to publish the talk which I enjoyed,  and I know that readers of this blog will appreciate.

William David Barry

Is an historian, writer, exhibition organizer, and journalist, a Mainer by choice since the early 1970's, William has been on the staff of the Portland Museum of Art, the Portland Public Library, and the Maine Historical Society.  Bill Barry has authored and co-authored seven books.  His latest books include:  Deering:  A Social and Architectural History with Patricia Anderson and Maine:  The Wilder Half of New England.

A Historical Perspective

Many thanks to Bill Barry.  I hope followers of this blog enjoy reading his words as much as those of us who participated in the Dedication did hearing his talk.  More to come!

Upcoming Event

     Our fourth annual Fall Planting party will take place at the Grand Trunk Cemetery on , October 19th.  We would love to see many of you who live in the area next Sunday.  Our work to continue to add beauty to this lovely historical cemetery is on-going.

Milestone Reached for the 'Remnant' that is The Grand Trunk Cemetery: Dedication of Settlers' Memorial

Five of Anthony Sawyer's Descendants Participate In the Dedication.
Robert Sawyer, Jane Jordan, Susan Szewczyk, Theresa Sawyer Cobb, Benjamin Sawyer.

 Honoring the Memory of the Early Settlers of East Deering Village

     The day was made to order; crisp and comfortable.  Some sixty or so people from Portland, Falmouth, South Portland, Lisbon, Florida and New York attended the ceremony greeted by two young ladies, Miss Emma Brackett, dressed in Colonial garb, and Miss Megan Cunningham, in a Victorian style dress.  The two Girl Scouts chose to carry on the legacy of their now, adult Girl Scout sisters, Samantha Allshouse and Kayla Theriault by continuing to bring honor and beauty to the ancient cemetery with their own Bronze Award project of planting gardens and spear-heading two service projects with Portland Girl Scouts during the fall and spring each year.

     The City of Portland's Cemeteries Division spent several days preparing the grounds, installing the new stone, touching up the rail fence and the enclosures, painting the kiosk, clearing out brush behind the wire fence which will eventually be replaced.  The finishing touch was the addition of lovely fall mums.

     The VFW Deering Memorial Post 6859 provided the Honor Guard, Rev. Carolyn Lambert, Pastor of Woodfords Congregational Church gave the Invocation and Benediction, 'Greetings from The City of Portland was delivered by Michael Bobinsky, Director of Public Services, and the speeches were inspiring delivered by two noted Maine historians:  William David Barry and Herb Adams.

     There were several touching moments for me, and I'm sure for those in attendance at the ceremony.  Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts, carrying baskets of flower petals,  sprinkled petals over the graves in a symbolic gesture of honor where once there was debris and disregard, while the surviving forty-seven names of settlers were recited.

     The plaque for Zoe's bench which had been keyed by mischief-makers was replaced with a brass, far nicer plaque, donated by Benjamin Sawyer and will be embedded in a granite marker to place beside the bench.  Zoe Sarnacki was a student at Presumpscot School in David Millard's class engaged in an earlier service learning grant project to recover the cemetery.  David, now retired, became Samantha Allshouse's mentor, and provided valuable historic material and direction.  David always hoped to place something in Zoe's memory at the cemetery since she had died a tragic death. When she was a student, Zoe  had been so interested and involved in the cemetery, along with her Dad.  It seemed appropriate that the final gesture for Sam and Kayla's Girl Scout Troop before graduation was to honor David's wish by purchasing and installing Zoe's bench.

  Finally, one of the most amazing outcomes of this reclamation project has been connecting with living relatives and in some cases, introducing them to one another for the first time.  This was certainly true at the ceremony when Jane A, Jordan revealed she was also a descendant of Anthony Sawyer and met the other Sawyers, two of whom traveled from Florida and New York to be present.

     I'm sure I could go on, but I'll save more of my comments for later.  In today's Portland Press Herald,  there is a great article by staff writer, Beth Quimby with wonderful photographs by Carl D. Walsh that I'm sure you will enjoy.  http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/06/one-of-portlands-historic-cemeteries-brought-back-from-ruin/.

I hope you enjoy the Dedication photographs taken by LingLing Oum.

     

1796 Joseph Lunt and Village Leaders Form Committee to Build Schoolhouse!

INTRODUCTION

     It has been thirteen years since the war for independence ended.  Life in East Deering Village and the region is more stable.  Although Maine is still bound to Massachusetts, community leaders begin to take action to build for their future and that of their children.

     While completing  final preparations for our Dedication of the memorial for the Early Settlers of East Deering Village this Sunday, October 5th, I thought it timely and appropriate to share this wonderful  find from Joseph Lunt's personal papers.  The document is hand-written and too fragile to copy; none-the-less, it is very revealing since it contains the signatures of the 'subscribers', leaders in the village:

Joseph Lunt     George Illsley     Peter Noyes     Hutchinson Noyes     Ephraim Sawyer

Thomas Blake      Benjamin Sawyer     William Sawyer     Timothy Galvin John Sawyer

Anthony Sawyer     John Barber, Jr.     Zebulon Knight     Zebulon Sawyer     James Barber

Nathan sawyer     Benjamin Sawyer     Thomas Sawyer     John Barber     Josiah Barber

Asa Morrell     Asa Sawyer.

The Development of Education in Maine

    The Information included here is taken from "Maine Education -150 Years of Education in Maine -Part I."  http://www.maine.gov/education/150yrs/150part1.htm.

'The Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652, claimed the Province of Maine under its charter...The purchase of the Province of Maine by Massachusetts removed all doubts to its claim and brought it under the Massachusetts Bay Colony Laws of 1642 and 1647 which contained the first legal requirements  regarding schools.  In 1642, the General Court of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay had ordered
     "that the selectmen in every town, shall have a vigilant eye over their bretheren and          neighbors, to see first, that none of them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families, as not to endeavor to teach, by themselves or others, their children and apprentices, so much learning as may enable them, perfectly, to read the English tongue and knowledge of the capital laws, upon penalty of twenty shillings for neglect therein."

  This ancient law was the first step toward compulsory school attendance  and carried with it a punishable offence for neglecting this duty to educate children.  However, the earliest inhabitants of Maine, had more pressing matters to contend with like survival and subsistence.   During the early days, children did not venture far from home for safety, consequently, formal education was slow to develop, and it was around 1700 before schools were built and maintained.  In the 18th and 19th centuries, the roots of the educational system were slowly developed.

     One provision in the laws regarding education, stipulated that when there were at least 50 households, a committee should establish a schoolhouse, a reputable school master hired, and his salary be paid by 'the parents or the masters of the children, or by the inhabitants in general..."  When a town increased to one hundred families, the selectmen were to establish a 'grammar school to instruct youth for the university.'  A grammar school was considered more like our present day high schools or academies.

The East Deering Village Schoolhouse

     When Joseph Lunt and his fellow subscribers came together to formulate their plan for building a village school house, they each made a monetary commitment according to their

means.  The amounts were a great deal for this time: $35.00 to $5.00 in colonial currency.

     The document reads in part:  the Committee will build a school house "in a spot appointed by us adjoining the road below Benjamin Sawyer's house and the Back Cove Bridge, 20 feet long and 20 feet wide."

     I have tried to piece together some hints about the proposed location from information contained in Theodore Sawyer's  From Back Cove to Quaker Lane, where Ted speaks about the completion of the Back Cove Bridge (Tukey's Bridge) when people who lived near the Presumpscot River petitioned for a road.  

    "Following the same course as the bridge, a road was laid out for 28 rods until it encountered the Illsley-Noyes lot line: northwest by this line one hundred and eighty rods, then north 52 rods to the road leading to the lower bridge on the Presumpscot River, this last course (our Morse Street) passing between Col. Noyes' house and barn.  The second course lay all on the west on Major Illsley's land."

Could this be the school house from the photograph taken by LB Chapman in the late 1800's?  

     Exactly where was Benjamin Sawyer's house and which Benjamin Sawyer is referred to in the proposal?  You'll note their are two subscribers by the same name.  I 'll have to continue to research to see if there are more clues.  I'm excited to find this valuable piece of history because it's the first time so many of the early inhabitants of the East Deering Village are named together in one single action taken for the benefit of their community and for future generations.  More about this at a later date.

I hope to meet those of you who live in the Portland area at the Dedication Ceremony,this Sunday afternoon, at 1:30 PM at the East Deering/Grand Trunk Cemetery.  You will honor the memory of these early settlers by your presence and continue your interest and support for this reclamation project.