MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

THE OLD THORNTON ACADEMY.

BY GEORGE ADDISON EMERY.

Read before the Maine Historical Society, March 11, 1897.

MORE than one hundred years ago the following agreement1 was made.

Whereas, Jeremiah Hill, Esq., Doct. Aaron Porter and Mr. Matthias Cobb, all of Biddeford in the County of York and Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

Have purchased a small piece of land at Saco Falls in said Biddeford and have erected an House thereon suitable and convenient for an Academy and now propose to give it to the public for that purpose on condition the General Court of said Commonwealth will grant a corporation for that purpose with such other endowments as they have given other Academies in this County or Commonwealth or as they in their wisdom may think fit: Therefore we, the subscribers to encourage such a laudable undertaking do hereby engage to pay the said Hill, Porter and Cobb the sums set against each of our names respectively on the condition and for the purpose aforesaid which sums are to defray the Expenses of Building said Academy and the remainder as an endowment thereof.

This was probably the first attempt to establish an academy in the vicinity of Biddeford and Saco. If the

1 This agreement is in the handwriting of Jeremiah Hill, Esq.

Commonwealth had granted a corporation to Biddeford, the Society would not hear this account of the old Saco Academy.

Two academies would not be established in adjoining towns.

But in 1811 the following petition was presented in the Massachusetts Legislature:

To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled: January, A. D. 1811.

The Subscribers respectfully represent that the establishment of an Academy in the town of Saco in the County of York, for the instruction of Youth in Science, literature and morals, would be of great public utility and largely contribute to the happiness of the rising and future generations: And as they are taught by the constitution of this Commonwealth, that "Wisdom and knowledge as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties: and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the Country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of Legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this Commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them :

Therefore the Subscribers respectfully solicit, for the purposes aforesaid, that an academy may be incorporated and established in the town of Saco, with such powers, privileges and immunities, as have usually been granted to similar institutions: & with endowment from the Commonwealth, in aid of the funds subscribed by individuals, as has been commonly bestowed, and such as is contemplated by the constitution aforesaid, and such as the dignity of the Commonweath demands: And as in duty bound will ever pray:

Thos Cutts.

Thos G. Thornton.

Cyrus King.

Wm. Moody.

Jona. Cleaves.

Ichabod Jordan.

The committee reports that the petitioners have leave to bring in a bill.

Accepted 2 Feb.

The committee accordingly presented the following bill:

Whereas the encouragement of literature in the rising generation has ever been considered by the wise and good as the basis upon which the safety and happiness of a free people ultimately depend, and it is made the duty of legislatures and magistrates by the constitution of this Commonwealth to afford such encouragement: and whereas Thomas Cutts, Esq., and others have petitioned this court

1

for the establishment of an academy in Saco, in the County of York,

for that purpose

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court, assembled, and by the authority of the same, That there be, and hereby is established in the town of Saco, in the County of York, an Academy by the name of Saco Academy,

for the purpose of promoting piety and virtue, and for the education

of youth, in such languages, and such liberal arts and sciences as the trustees hereafter provided shall order and direct.

Section 2. Be it further enacted that Thomas Cutts, Esq., Thomas G. Thornton, Esq. Cyrus King, Esq. Daniel Granger, Esq. Daniel Cleaves, Esq. Joseph Leland, Esq. Hon. Richard Cutts, James Gray, Esq. Foxwell Cutts, Esq. William Moody, Esq. Dr. Richard C. Shannon, Capt. Samuel Hartley, Capt. Ichabod Jordan, Major John Spring and Mr. Jonathan Tucker, be, and they are hereby nominated and appointed Trustees of said Academy and they are hereby incorporated into a body politick, by the name of the Trustees of Saco Academy, and they and their successors shall be and continue a body politick and corporate by the same name forever.

Section 3. Be it further enacted, That the said Thomas Cutts and others, the Trustees, aforesaid, and their successors be, and they are hereby made the Visitors, Trustees and Governors, of the said Academy, in perpetual succession forever, to be continued in the way and manner hereinafter specified, with full power and authority to elect such officers of the said Academy as they shall judge necessary and convenient, and to make and ordain such laws, orders and rules, not repugnant to the laws of this Commonwealth, for the good government of said Academy, as to them shall seem fit and requisite.

Section 4. Be it further enacted, That the said Trustees and their successors shall have one common seal, which they may break, change and renew, from time to time, as they shall see fit: and they may sue and be sued, in all actions, real, personal and mixed, and prosecute and defend the same to final judgment and execution, by the name of the Trustees of Saco Academy, and may appoint an agent or agents to prosecute or defend such suit or suits.

Section 5. Be it further enacted, That the number of the Trustees aforesaid, shall not at any time be more than fifteen, nor less

than nine, five of whom at least shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for transacting business.

Section 6. Be it further enacted, That when one or more of the Trustees aforesaid shall die, or resign, or in the judgment of the major part of the Trustees, shall be rendered incapable by age or otherwise, of discharging the duties of his office, the Trustees then surviving may elect one or more persons to fill the vacancy or vacancies.

Section 7. Be it further enacted, That the Trustees aforesaid and their successors be, and they are hereby rendered, capable in law, to take and hold by gift or grant, devise, bequest or otherwise, any lands, tenements, or other estate, real or personal, which have been heretofore given or subscribed, or which may hereafter be given or subscribed for the purpose aforesaid. Provided, The annual income of said real estate shall not exceed the sum of two thousand dollars, and the annual income of said personal estate shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars,' and all deeds and instruments which the said Trustees may lawfully make, shall be sealed with their seal, and bind the Trustees and their successors and shall be valid in law.

Section 8. Be it further enacted, That there be and hereby is granted to the said Trustees and to their successors forever, for the use of said Academy, one half township of six miles square, of the unappropriated lands belonging to this Commonwealth in the District of Maine (excepting the ten townships on Penobscot River, lately purchased by the Commonwealth of the Indians, and excepting likewise the land lately contracted to be sold to Jackson & Flint: and which contract is now rescinded) to be laid out and assigned by the Commissioners for the sale of Eastern lands, under the restrictions and reservations made in similar cases, on condition that the Treasurer of said Trustees shall within three years from the passing of this act, certify to said Commissioners that the sum of three thousand dollars has been actually raised, and secured: for the endowment of said Academy and appropriated to the use thereof.

Section 9. Be it further enacted, That Thomas Cutts, Esq., be and he is hereby authorized and empowered to appoint the time and place for holding the first meeting of said Trustees, and notify them thereof.

1 This limit was repealed, February 12, 1895.