Part 20 Recollections of a Man and a Place
Arriving in South Portland to begin serving his pastorate at the Peoples United Methodist Episcopal Church in 1913, Felix Powell and his family found the church without a parsonage since the Trustees had sold it five years earlier to get out of the rental business. According to Alger Powell, the son of Felix, the church tried to rent the house at the corner of High and Dyer Streets, but the lady who owned it, at that time, would not rent it to them. She had heard the family had four young children, three of them boys, when in fact it was three girls and one boy. Later there would be two additional children in the family. Because this home was not possible to acquire, an upstanding member of the Peoples Church community offered the first floor of their house at 55 High Street for the new pastor’s family. They lived at this address for approximately one year when the trustees purchased a home at 94 Broadway as the new parsonage and the Powells moved to that address in 1914.
As an aside, the couple who owned the property at 55 High Street was Ed and Julia Boltonhouse. According to the church records, Mr. Boltonhouse died shortly after this date and the will of Julia dated, 1918, at first deeded the property at 55 High Street to the church in the eventuality of her death. Also deeded at that time was the Boltonhouse summer property at Pine Point in Scarborough. The records also indicate that the will was rewritten in 1920 and again in 1922 and placed in the control of Mr. Tilton and Mr. Thurrill. Both properties did return to the church upon the deaths of these two men.
Alger Powell in a note to us a few years ago recalled that as an eight or nine year old for a time he recalled pumping the church organ bellows by hand. He recalled working inside the organ with Philip Ayers who some may still recall as a fiery red head who later came out of the organ and became locally a rather well known tenor who sang at several churches as well as from time to time at Peoples. The organist at the time was Evelyn York Tilton who would push a button that would make a clicking noise for the boys to start pumping. Mr. Powell reported that he could hardly wait for Sunday and to do his part. It was while Felix was pastor that money was raised to add the electric motor that would cause Alger and Philip to lose their jobs as organ pumpers. In addition to Mrs. Tilton, Alger indicated that Dora Campbell, one of the sisters of Walter, Warren, Marion and Gertrude Campbell also served this church and others as organist. In time Dora married Philip and together they made quite a musical duo.
According to Alger’s recollections he believed it was while his father served Peoples that John Woodbury was named the Sunday school Superintendent for the first time. Under Mr. Woodbury’s tenure of leadership Peoples ME Church became the largest Sunday school in the state of Maine. Sunday school operated 52 weeks a year. The Peoples Church also became noted for its library as well. Since there was no official library in South Portland until the 1960’s, other locations, such as churches served as a source of reading materials. The primary location for this service in Ferry Village was Peoples Church. The church school primarily operated this library. The books in this library were purchased from funds raised through pennies placed in a church bank that represented birthdays of the attendees of Sunday school. Not only was money raised for this purpose, but the Sunday school was able to purchase all of its supplies and actually pledge additional money to the operating budget of the church too.
In another note from Mr. Powell sent on February 24, 2003, he recalled that Evelyn York Tilton was his third grade teacher, and her cousin, Evangeline was the town beauty who later married a Mr. Scott. Evelyn lived on lower Sawyer Street and Evangeline on Grand Street. Both of their fathers were sea captains. From a church bulletin that he possessed he recorded that 88 people had attended a Bible study on a Friday night. The church had overflow crowds on a Sunday evening. While not stated by Mr. Powell, we can assume this to be correct when his father, Felix, was preaching. It probably was so later when Frederick Olson became the pastor in 1916. Before the death of long-time parishioner, Hazel Ellis, Hinty LaRou and Belle Graney interviewed and taped her recollections of her early years in the village. She recalled that Reverend Powell was quite the person. She remembers going to those Sunday night services during the summer months and not everyone could get into the service. She mentioned that a number of the “corner boys” who would hang around Rich’s store or Thurrill’s Drug Store would sneak over to the church and sit on the railing of the porch. The purpose of their location was that they could look through the open windows and see and listen to the “fire and brimstone” that Pastor Felix was capable of enthralling his audience with.
As stated elsewhere in the Pastor section of this history you will find that Pastor Felix left Peoples in 1916 and was then to serve West Roxbury in Massachusetts. Eventually Felix became a full-time evangelist and brought his family back to South Portland to settle in a house on Summit Street. Alger recalls a close association with Peoples that continued until he left the area in 1935. He was a good friend of Karl Sutherland and knew the Robinson family very well.
Alger was active in the church as a young man. Found in the records was the name of Darrell Hooper who was serving as the President of the Epworth League. Mentioned in the same notation was that Alger Powell was then serving as the advisor to that youth group. He also served as the Captain of the Tuesday evening prayer services and as part of his responsibility recruited subordinates to help boost attendance. In 1932, Mr. Powell served as the lay delegate to the annual Maine conference. There are a number of instances at Official Board that indicated that Alger Powell played a significant role in the discussions of that body.
Bernard Bruce who’s life spans more than the last 80 years of this church’s history with some outstanding contributions of his own that we will include later, recalled a story about how Reverand Powell encouraged him to join the Junior Choir. He said that the Junior Choir most often sang at the Sunday evening services and on one occasion, the Reverand Powell asked him to do a solo as part of the junior choir anthem. Bernard did and did quite well, he added. At the close of the service he was walking out of the church with his mother and father. His mother said to his father, “Didn’t that little boy have a sweet voice?” Bernard tugged at his mother’s skirt and said, “Mom, that little boy was me!”
Here is a poem that Alger Powell created and sent to the church office. It was published in a Peoples Newsletter not to long ago. At the time that this episode in the life of Peoples was written Alger Powell was 99 years old.
Showers Blessings
April brings us many showers
They water the roots to start the flowers,
That we in the Northern Hemisphere,
Enjoy at this time of year.
Jesus gives us showers of love,
From his home far above.
Showers of blessings, he gives to us all,
Too many for anyone to recall.
He gives them to us free and clear,
Throughout all the days of the year.
So each day when we arise,
Give thanks to him in paradise.
Alger. F. Powell
Arriving in South Portland to begin serving his pastorate at the Peoples United Methodist Episcopal Church in 1913, Felix Powell and his family found the church without a parsonage since the Trustees had sold it five years earlier to get out of the rental business. According to Alger Powell, the son of Felix, the church tried to rent the house at the corner of High and Dyer Streets, but the lady who owned it, at that time, would not rent it to them. She had heard the family had four young children, three of them boys, when in fact it was three girls and one boy. Later there would be two additional children in the family. Because this home was not possible to acquire, an upstanding member of the Peoples Church community offered the first floor of their house at 55 High Street for the new pastor’s family. They lived at this address for approximately one year when the trustees purchased a home at 94 Broadway as the new parsonage and the Powells moved to that address in 1914.
As an aside, the couple who owned the property at 55 High Street was Ed and Julia Boltonhouse. According to the church records, Mr. Boltonhouse died shortly after this date and the will of Julia dated, 1918, at first deeded the property at 55 High Street to the church in the eventuality of her death. Also deeded at that time was the Boltonhouse summer property at Pine Point in Scarborough. The records also indicate that the will was rewritten in 1920 and again in 1922 and placed in the control of Mr. Tilton and Mr. Thurrill. Both properties did return to the church upon the deaths of these two men.
Alger Powell in a note to us a few years ago recalled that as an eight or nine year old for a time he recalled pumping the church organ bellows by hand. He recalled working inside the organ with Philip Ayers who some may still recall as a fiery red head who later came out of the organ and became locally a rather well known tenor who sang at several churches as well as from time to time at Peoples. The organist at the time was Evelyn York Tilton who would push a button that would make a clicking noise for the boys to start pumping. Mr. Powell reported that he could hardly wait for Sunday and to do his part. It was while Felix was pastor that money was raised to add the electric motor that would cause Alger and Philip to lose their jobs as organ pumpers. In addition to Mrs. Tilton, Alger indicated that Dora Campbell, one of the sisters of Walter, Warren, Marion and Gertrude Campbell also served this church and others as organist. In time Dora married Philip and together they made quite a musical duo.
According to Alger’s recollections he believed it was while his father served Peoples that John Woodbury was named the Sunday school Superintendent for the first time. Under Mr. Woodbury’s tenure of leadership Peoples ME Church became the largest Sunday school in the state of Maine. Sunday school operated 52 weeks a year. The Peoples Church also became noted for its library as well. Since there was no official library in South Portland until the 1960’s, other locations, such as churches served as a source of reading materials. The primary location for this service in Ferry Village was Peoples Church. The church school primarily operated this library. The books in this library were purchased from funds raised through pennies placed in a church bank that represented birthdays of the attendees of Sunday school. Not only was money raised for this purpose, but the Sunday school was able to purchase all of its supplies and actually pledge additional money to the operating budget of the church too.
In another note from Mr. Powell sent on February 24, 2003, he recalled that Evelyn York Tilton was his third grade teacher, and her cousin, Evangeline was the town beauty who later married a Mr. Scott. Evelyn lived on lower Sawyer Street and Evangeline on Grand Street. Both of their fathers were sea captains. From a church bulletin that he possessed he recorded that 88 people had attended a Bible study on a Friday night. The church had overflow crowds on a Sunday evening. While not stated by Mr. Powell, we can assume this to be correct when his father, Felix, was preaching. It probably was so later when Frederick Olson became the pastor in 1916. Before the death of long-time parishioner, Hazel Ellis, Hinty LaRou and Belle Graney interviewed and taped her recollections of her early years in the village. She recalled that Reverend Powell was quite the person. She remembers going to those Sunday night services during the summer months and not everyone could get into the service. She mentioned that a number of the “corner boys” who would hang around Rich’s store or Thurrill’s Drug Store would sneak over to the church and sit on the railing of the porch. The purpose of their location was that they could look through the open windows and see and listen to the “fire and brimstone” that Pastor Felix was capable of enthralling his audience with.
As stated elsewhere in the Pastor section of this history you will find that Pastor Felix left Peoples in 1916 and was then to serve West Roxbury in Massachusetts. Eventually Felix became a full-time evangelist and brought his family back to South Portland to settle in a house on Summit Street. Alger recalls a close association with Peoples that continued until he left the area in 1935. He was a good friend of Karl Sutherland and knew the Robinson family very well.
Alger was active in the church as a young man. Found in the records was the name of Darrell Hooper who was serving as the President of the Epworth League. Mentioned in the same notation was that Alger Powell was then serving as the advisor to that youth group. He also served as the Captain of the Tuesday evening prayer services and as part of his responsibility recruited subordinates to help boost attendance. In 1932, Mr. Powell served as the lay delegate to the annual Maine conference. There are a number of instances at Official Board that indicated that Alger Powell played a significant role in the discussions of that body.
Bernard Bruce who’s life spans more than the last 80 years of this church’s history with some outstanding contributions of his own that we will include later, recalled a story about how Reverand Powell encouraged him to join the Junior Choir. He said that the Junior Choir most often sang at the Sunday evening services and on one occasion, the Reverand Powell asked him to do a solo as part of the junior choir anthem. Bernard did and did quite well, he added. At the close of the service he was walking out of the church with his mother and father. His mother said to his father, “Didn’t that little boy have a sweet voice?” Bernard tugged at his mother’s skirt and said, “Mom, that little boy was me!”
Here is a poem that Alger Powell created and sent to the church office. It was published in a Peoples Newsletter not to long ago. At the time that this episode in the life of Peoples was written Alger Powell was 99 years old.
Showers Blessings
April brings us many showers
They water the roots to start the flowers,
That we in the Northern Hemisphere,
Enjoy at this time of year.
Jesus gives us showers of love,
From his home far above.
Showers of blessings, he gives to us all,
Too many for anyone to recall.
He gives them to us free and clear,
Throughout all the days of the year.
So each day when we arise,
Give thanks to him in paradise.
Alger. F. Powell
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