The children in the restaurant scene from “Our Town: Bowdoin Life in the 1800s,” from left, are Saige Leeman, Cason Gatto, Audrey Harris, Lila Lidback, Eva Chase, Esther Hart and Addy Schaedler. Angela Wheeler photo
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s final scheduled presentation of its 26th annual Winter Speaker Series, “Order in the Pownalborough Court House, 1761-2023,” features Jay Robbins, a place-based historian.
The online event takes place at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 10.
As a season bonus, at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 11 the Friends will present “Our Town: Bowdoin Life in the 1800s,” featuring the third- and fourth-grade classes of Bowdoin Central School and Piti Theatre.
The series presentations, held via Zoom, are accessible via hyperlink at the top of fomb.org, according to a news release from Ed Friedman with the Friends.
Designed by Boston architect Gershom Flagg and built in 1761 by the Kennebec Proprietors for the newly created Lincoln County, the Pownalborough Court House, one of two in Maine, received such notable visitors as John Adams, Benedict Arnold, Robert Treat Paine, William Cushing, the Rev. Jacob Bailey and two future Massachusetts governors: David Sewall and James Sullivan.
The Court House also served as a tavern, a place for church services, a dancing school, and as the Dresden Post Office from 1807-55. In addition to its role in the legal history of Lincoln County and Maine, the Court House was a family home.
Robbins is the principle of Robbins Historical Research Inc. located in Richmond. He has been documenting connections through genealogical and property research since 1975.
“Our Town” involves researching the local history of Bowdoin to “hold up a mirror” for the community. Piti Theatre is particularly focused on rural New England during the second half of the 19th century, i.e., the beginnings of industrialization. Partnering with Friends of Merrymeeting Bay, the program will be presented as prerecorded “digital theater” streamed for the public.
Piti artists research the region’s local and natural history and adapt its dramatic framework based on 19th century rural New England history for the community. This production, filmed on location in Bowdoin with a cast of up to 80 students from Bowdoin Central School, draws inspiration from natural resource-based bay-related vocations in timber harvesting, fishing, ice harvesting, shipbuilding, agriculture, textile mills and log drives between 1850-1900 in and around the Bay.
Speaker Series presentations are free and open to the public. Visit fomb.org to see speaker biographies, full event schedules and video recordings of past presentations, to become a member, and to learn more about how to help protect Merrymeeting Bay and the Gulf of Maine.
For more information, contact the organization at 207-666-3372 or edfomb@comcast.net.
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