Parsonsfield Seminary, which operated from 1832 to 1949, was a

Free Will Baptist Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group originating from General Baptists that emphasizes the teaching of free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the General Baptists in 17th century England. In 1702, Paul Palm ...

school in North

Parsonsfield, Maine Parsonsfield is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,791 at the 2020 census. Parsonsfield includes the villages of Kezar Falls, Parsonsfield, and North, East and South Parsonsfield. It is part of the Portland-South ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Also known as the North Parsonsfield Seminary, its preserved campus of four buildings is located on State Route 160 near the

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

border. The property is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

History

Free Will Baptists developed as a movement in the late eighteenth century in New Hampshire. In 1832, Rev. John Buzzell and several other Free Baptists founded the school in Parsonsfield. The Seminary, at the level of a high school, was the first Free Will Baptist school in the United States and attracted 140 students, both boys and girls, in its first year. The seminary's first principal, Hosea Quimby, was active in many other Free Will Baptist organizations. The Seminary staff and students became deeply involved with the

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

movement and operated as a stop on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

in the 1840s, while

Oren B. Cheney Oren Burbank Cheney (December 10, 1816 – December 22, 1903) was an American politician, minister, and statesman who was a key figure in the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist movement in the United States during the later 19th cent ...

was principal. Students and supporters aided fugitive

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

from the South in reaching freedom in Canada. From 1840 to 1842, the Free Baptist Biblical School, the first Free Baptist graduate school for training ministers, was located at the seminary (it was later renamed

Cobb Divinity School Cobb Divinity School (also known as Bates Theological Seminary or the Free Will Baptist Bible School) was a Baptist theological institute. Founded in 1840, it was a Free Will Baptist graduate school affiliated with several Free Baptist institution ...

and became part of

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

The burning of Parsonsfield

Parsonsfield Seminary burned mysteriously in 1853, at midnight. The overall account of the burning remains unclear, with sources varying depending on the actual occurrences. When recounting its burning, Oren Burbank Cheney stated, "The bell tower flickered in flames while the children ran from its pillar-brick walls.." The fire was believed to have killed three schoolchildren and two

fugitive slaves In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th centuries to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called fre ...

, leading to a brief and unsuccessful investigation. The reason as to why the Seminary burned down remains unclear, with opponents of abolitionism traditionally, but not definitively, held accountable. The seminary would later go on to incorporate into the Maine State Seminary, which early benefactor

Benjamin Bates Benjamin Bates or Ben Bates may refer to: * Several members of the American Bates family including: ** Benjamin Bates II (1716–1790), British physician, art connoisseur, and socialite ** Benjamin Bates IV (1808–1878), American rail industria ...

would oppose. He advised Cheney to sell the land in

, and reconstruct it within the newly developing Maine State Seminary. Afterward, Cheney moved the central campus to Lewiston in 1854 to replace it with a larger Free Baptist school more centrally located in Maine.

Reconstruction and development

In 1857, a smaller seminary building was rebuilt at Parsonsfield. It had a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

and a

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an list of weather instruments, instrument used for showing the wind direction, direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ' ...

. In 1889, Bartlett Doe, a wealthy

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

businessman who was a Parsonsfield native son, purchased the land and donated funds to repair and remodel Seminary Hall, adding its rear wing and front

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

. His gift provided for the construction of a new dormitory, to which a large annex was added in 1896. He also established a school endowment of $100,000. Parsonsfield Seminary closed in 1949. The facility was subsequently used by the Consolidated School District until 1986, at which time the school offices moved to new quarters. The two main buildings of the seminary and grounds were listed on the

in 1986. To prevent the loss of the historic hilltop campus, the Friends of the Parsonsfield Seminary organized to preserve and maintain the property. The non-profit, non-sectarian organization operates the handsome

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

buildings and grounds for use for weddings, conferences, seminars, and graduations.

Notable alumni

, abolitionist, principal of Parsonfield Seminary, founder of

* Person C. Cheney, senator from New Hampshire *

Samuel W. Gould Samuel Wadsworth Gould (January 1, 1852 – December 19, 1935) was a United States representative from Maine. He was born in Porter, Maine, Porter. He moved with his parents to Hiram, Maine, Hiram, and attended the public schools and North Pa ...

, congressman *

Lorenzo De Medici Sweat Lorenzo De Medici Sweat (May 26, 1818 – July 26, 1898), also written L.D.M. Sweat, was a U.S. Representative from Maine. Early life and education He was born in the town of Parsonsfield in the Massachusetts District of Maine, where he a ...

, congressman

References and external links

Friends of the Parsonsfield Seminary

Robert Greenleaf Leavitt, Maude Lougee Boothby, Dr. Bernard L. Towle, and Kate E. Barker Thursto. ''History of Parsonsfield Seminary: 1932 Centennial Edition'' (1932)

Parsonsfield, Maine. {{Authority control Baptist schools in the United States Bates College Baptist seminaries and theological colleges in the United States Educational institutions established in 1832 Free Will Baptist movement School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Underground Railroad locations Seminaries and theological colleges in Maine Schools in York County, Maine School segregation in the United States Defunct schools in Maine National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine Parsonsfield, Maine Arson in Maine African-American history of Maine Free Will Baptist schools

History

The burning of Parsonsfield

Reconstruction and development

Notable alumni

See also

References and external links