THE BATTLE IS ON, I HAVE BEEN TOLD A PIERRE SORENCY DAY IS NOT A GOOD IDEA FOR THE VAUGHAN ESTATE BY ONE OF THE TRUSTEES (Who then bought my story on Old Hallowell Day). Many know that I have been advocating a Pierre Sorency Day in Hallowell, Maine (Ghost /Pirate celebration for the second Saturday in August) for a while and that I wrote a revision of the original short story called the ‘Bones of Pierre Sorency’, over this past weekend I provided copies of the story and news on my new trilogy ‘The Boys From Joppa’ (historical fictional work about Hallowell in 1962) at Old Hallowell Day and sold lots of ‘Fiddlemainia’ books too (a book co-developed with past Hallowell resident Lin Diket). We know this ghost story has been around for over a hundred years, the fact Pierre is in the woods above the hook in the river and near or in the Vaughn woods is the stuff of creative minds. Preventing a celebration that would highly benefit the business in town, the city coffers and bring excitement and joy to countless participants and spectators is a bad position. But to move this from concept to reality it will take three things to happen, first a partition to the City Council to create a Pierre Sorency Day, secondly the business community to back the concept, and lastly a focus group to bring the event into being. I am willing to work with all. But, my roots in Hallowell go back to the Revolutionary War but I currently live an hour away. This event needs a signed partition to the Hallowell City Counsel with the endorsement of local businesses. A few people to spear head the drive locally and lots of luck. An event such as this, around a notable ghost/pirate figure tends to bring in thousands of visitors, sell tons of merchandise and is great summer activities. Those that read the early version of the story which is still in the Hubbard Free Library, the ‘Legend of Old Hallowell and Louden Hill’ will immediately know the magic contained in the story. Please contact me if anyone is interested in the birthing of this movement and the creation of a second large Hallowell summer event. The Vaughan Estate shouldn’t dictate what is best for everyone in the community! Benjamin Vaughan a truly great man....... Benjamin Vaughan (1751-1835) was born in Jamaica, West Indies on April 19, 1751. He was the oldest son of Samuel Vaughan, of London, a West India merchant and planter. His mother was Sarah Hallowell, daughter of Benjamin Hallowell, a Boston merchant. Since his family were Unitarians, not belonging to the Church of England, Vaughan could not attend the elite “public schools.” He did attend Newcome School in Hackney near London and, at fourteen, was enrolled in Lincoln’s Inn, one of the fine “colleges in a university of law.” Shortly thereafter, a school for “Dissenters” as the Unitarians, Quakers and other were called, opened near Liverpool. He enrolled there and had the good fortune to be tutored by the famous scientist Joseph Priestly, who later discovered oxygen. Vaughan later studied medicine at Edinburgh, graduating in 1781. After marrying Sarah Manning, he became a partner in her father’s firm. Through his family and scientific pursuits, he became lifelong friends with Benjamin Franklin, a fellow Unitarian. His relations with Franklin and his friendship with Lord Shelburne involved him informally in the negotiations for peace between England and the United States in 1782 during the American Revolution. Having gone to Paris, Vaughan became acquainted with John Jay, and later John Adams, when they arrived there to conduct peace negotiations. Communications between Franklin, Jay and Adams in Paris, and Shelburne in England, passed through Vaughan for over seven months. Although he served in the British parliament, he was too sympathetic to the republican ideas of the French Revolution of 1789 for powerful politicians. In 1794 we moved to France and then to Switzerland, but he had become so interested in republican principles that he determined to live in the United States. He moved first to Boston, then in 1799 to Maine, and settled on lands on Kennebec river inherited from his mother, Sarah Hallowell, in what is now the town of Hallowell. Here he spent the remainder of his life, improving his estate, advocating conservative politics, working in his library, writing literary and political articles, and carrying on an extensive correspondence. When he came to Hallowell, his library was almost the size of Harvard college library at that time. He received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Harvard in 1807, and from Bowdoin in 1812. For the first time, he practiced his medical profession, visiting only among the poor, and usually supplying medicines as well as advice without charge. He had charge of large tracts of land owned by his father and by his maternal grandfather, Benjamin Hallowell, and devoted himself to encouraging the settlement of the Kennebec region. In Hallowell he built houses, mills, stores, a distillery, a brewery, and a printing-office, and established a seaport at Jones’s Eddy, near the mouth of the Kennebec. He was active in agricultural pursuits and as agent for large non-resident landowners in various parts of Maine. Beside the articles written in England on political and scientific subjects, he published political articles anonymously, and prepared a historical paper concerning the northeast boundary of the United States at President John Adams’s request. In a charming passage, John Sheppard in 1865 wrote . . . his library was choice and large; and his mansion was a spacious two-story house on a lofty hill, with a large piazza in front, overlooking a wide range of woods and waters. In the midst of such enchanting scenery, the first object which would attract his view on a summer morn as he stood by his chamber window, would be the Kennebec gliding along the pretty village, or reflecting in the distance hills and farms and primeval forests; . . . . [p. 10] Benjamin Vaughan died in Hallowell on December 8, 1835.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 16:15:02 +0000
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