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Jonathan Fisher House in Blue Hill
The closing lines from the 65 line poem Oppression,
published in Portland's The Christian Mirror in 1829:
Nor to these alone
Our neighboring Red Men should we give the hand
Of kind regard, but to the darker race
Who dwell enslaved among us. That foul blot,
The name of Slavery, from a land so free
In civil institutions, we should strive
With one consent to cancel and erase
And banish it forever.
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FISHER, JONATHAN
(1768-1847) was, according to The Art of
Jonathan Fisher, 1768-1847, "an uncommon common man, the
nineteenth century pastor of a little Maine town. More than his
occupation or the locale may suggest, Fisher was a universal
man--inventor, farmer, architect and builder, surveyor, linguist,
naturalist. Above all he was an artist, translating his vision of
the goodness and orderliness of God's creation into paintings and
woodcuts."
Fisher was born on October 7, 1768 in
New Braintree, Massachusetts. His father died in the Revolutionary
was and he was sent at age nine to live with his Congregational minister
uncle Joseph Avery, who gave him lessons in Latin, Greek and theology.
Accepted to Harvard and poor, Fisher worked his way through as a waiter
in the commons, in the library, and by selling items he made himself.
He graduated in 1792 and finished divinity school in 1795.
In 1796, having spent two summers in
Blue Hill, he became its pastor and the first settled minister east of
the Penobscot River. In addition to delivering thousands of
sermons and ministering to surrounding communities, Fisher produced many
sketches, paintings and engravings. He was also concerned about
public affairs, writing letters to newspapers about the plight of the
Indians and slaves in America.
Jonathan Fisher Memorial
The Jonathan Fisher Memorial in
Blue Hill maintains the extensive collection of papers, diaries,
publications, paintings, sketches and artifacts that document his life.
Additional resources
Chase, Mary Ellen. Jonathan Fisher,
Maine Parson, 1768-1847. New York: MacMillan. 1948.
Winchester, Alice. Versatile Yankee: The Art of Jonathan
Fisher, 1768-1847. Princeton: The Pyne Press. 1973. |
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