"Community Spirit " Sprague Journal of Maine History Vol. VIII Aug., Sept., Oct., 1920 No. 2 page 127 In Bulletin No. 2 of the Department of Agriculture relating to market activities In Maine, issued for June, 1920, Hon. Frank S. Adams has a timely warning against drifting too far into the vortex of excessive centralization. In his article on (p. 56) "Community Spirit " along this line is a familiar and accurate glimpse into old customs in Maine's early days as follows: There is a great need of more civic pride manifest in the work. A co-operative spirit to make the town we live in and the country a desirable place for a home. As our government is becoming more centralized there seems to be a notable lack of community spirit, a spirit to do something for the public benefit with- out any thoughts of a financial recompense. Under the old method when towns were divided into small units for the administration of schools and roads, the individuals in these divisions made direct contributions to the schools in order to save moneys that carne from municipal taxation and funds from the state for the support of teaching, thereby lengthening out the school year. The individual contributions consisted of each family con- tributing a certain amount of fuel, determined by the number of scholars in the family, and the same was true in relation to the board for the teacher, a teacher boarding a certain time in each family determined 'by the number of scholars attending school. The highways were built and repaired by a similar method, each family working on the highways, the amount of work performed depending almost entirely on the amount of available man and team labor in a family. While it is true that there was a certain direct road tax under the law, little regard was paid to it in the repairs of the highways. I am not trying to defend this old system only from the standpoint of the community spirit that it developed, a spirit of civic pride. We should try now o get some force at work to revive this community spirit. We do not think we need any new organizations for this purpose. This is a field that the Grange in co-operation with Farm Bureaus might work to good advan- tage. We have demonstrated this past winter that this community spirit is still alive by the splendid work done in some of the communities in help- ing restore service on the trolley lines during the snow blockade. On the afternoon of June 15th, 1920, the writer sat on the ter- race of the front yard of the residence of Marcellus L. Hussey on Main street in the village of Guilford, Maine. We have recently, been informed that this is the spot where was located the first tavern in that village. Of the accuracy of this statement, how- ever, we are not positive. This terrace was constructed by some- one of a wise and benevolent conception of how to do common things in a way beneficial to future generations. It makes the most comfortable and delightful loafing place without interfer- ence of any stern visaged and sour looking yard-keeper. On that balmy afternoon we were one of a group of congenial spirits who happened along and stopped a while to talk. Others were Mr. Hussey himself, Henry Hudson, John Houston, "Wal" Edes, the late Otis Martin, and several others of Guilford's distinguished citizenry. We talked of the early history of Guilford, some of its interesting characters in the days of yore, of politics, religion, the candidates for governor, etc. It was a pleasant and agreeable hour to us which we shall long remember, especially so, as Mr. Hussey at the time presented us with a century old book entitled "A Narrative of a Tour of Observation, Made during the Summer of 1817, by James Monroe, President of the United States, through the Northeastern and Northwestern Departments of the Union: with a View to the Examination of Their Several Military Defences," published in Philadelphia, 1818 by S. A. Mitchell & H. Ames, Clark and Raser, Printers. This is a book of 228 pages in which is an accurate account of President Monroe's visit to the district of Maine, which in the near future we intend to compile for the readers of the journal. Mr. Hussey has always taken an interest in Maine historical subjects, but has devoted more of his busy life to the making of the industrial history of his own town and county than to historical research. (c) 1998 Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.