Salem State University - Clipper Yearbook

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EBL Eluseph Qshurp liitmau The heurl Io COl7CU!'L'L'. the tinderslcznding Io direct. lhe hum! lo erectile. -Junius. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH News travels quickly in a small country community where the total population does not exceed six hundred. lt was in such a town. Appleton, Maine, on June 30. 1867, that the news was spread among the townsfolk that a son had been born to Vklilliam Henry and Ruth Anne illichardsonl Pitman. In this little town, where more than one-fourth of the population was of Mayflower ancestry, it must have been with a great deal of pride that they recorded the birth of Joseph Asbury Pitman-descendant in nine different lines from Mayflower stock, including that of YVilliam Bradford. the second governor of Plymouth Colony. The Pitman family. after coming from England to Salem in 1639, mi- grated northward until they finally settled in Maine. The Richardson ancestors likewise appeared first in Salem, in 1630, with Governor NVinthrop. and migrated into Maine. lt seems as if the hand of destiny had some part in send- ing this child, whose father's name and mother's name both originated in Salem, back to Salem in 1906. What a clever stroke of fortune that years later the students in his school were to study a system of shorthand originated by Sir Isaac Pitman, who was of the same family stock as Joseph Asbury Pitman. Surely this child, so richly blessed with a staunch New England inheri- tance, has followed the traditions of the family by dedicating his life to gener- ous and unselfish service, both in his profession and in the civic affairs of his community. None will deny that this inheritance was one of the important factors contributing to his success. No less important were the influences of his early home in this small town. He spent a most happy childhood on the old farm which had been the home of his grandfather. His was the simple, yet happy, carefree life of the typical Maine country lad. His education began at the age of six in the public schools of his home town. his first teacher being an aunt, a sister of his father. Outside of school hours there were numerous interests for an active boy. There were horses and cattle as well as other kinds of stock on the farm. He had his own animals to be tended and cared for. There were no other children in the family near his own age, his sister being nine years younger and his brother fourteen years younger. At an early age. one of his life hobbies- collecting-manifested itself. Starting with simple collections such as stamps and coins. his interests broadened until we find him at the age of thirteen or fourteen tramping through the country that he knew so well. gathering geo- logical and mineralogical specimens. These specimens were not just a passing fancy: they may be found today intact in a display cabinet in his old home on the farm where he was born. 25

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Those interests in collections have resulted today not only in the splendid collection of antique furniture which he has acquired to be restored and refin- ished by his own hand in his own workshop, but also in the rows upon rows of old books-particularly those relating to colonial history and genealogy. XVe can readily believe that the boyhood years spent on the old lktlaine homestead were contented and happy, for he says today. lf I could be born again, it would be on a Maine farm. and on Appleton Ridge in the old home town where my grandfather served as Baptist minister, farmer, lumberman, merchant. and legislator: it would be to play again in the old barn which had served as the first meeting place for the plantation gatherings before the town hall was built. His love for the home of his childhood reveals itself in his restoring the original farm and buildings to their original condition, and ref furnishing the home practically as it was a century ago. XVhen, several years ago. the town of Appleton celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of its incorporation, he served as chairman of the committee, delivered the historical address. and published a history of the town. His leisure time is usually spent near the scenes of his boyhood at his summer home in Lincolnville-among the Camden Hills overlooking Penobscot Bay. The influences of inheritance and early environment were strong. but the value of his early years of study and training must not be discounted. After entering the high school in the village, which was about two miles from his home. he began to give serious thought to his choice of a life work. He had early shown evidences of being an excellent scholar, and it remained for him to decide which lines of study to pursue. The number of occupations open to a young man in a country village were comparatively few. He considered the possibilities of going into medicine or law. but his final decision was influenced by the new high school principal who had been a student in the Eastern State Normal School at Castine, Maine, His admiration for the principal, who was a man of rare ability and a fine teacher, and the fact that the normal school was the nearest educational institution of any considerable size, were the decid- ing factors which led him to enter the Castine Normal School as a student in 1884. Pit the age of seventeen, while he was still a student at the normal school. he ventured forth on his first teaching experience. Pit that time. the school year was divided into three terms of thirteen weeks each. During the winter terms. he left school and taught for that term. re- , e i f turning to the normal I '+L .W-safe --.-..f..f..a...'.g..., i s school in the spring to complete the year. He un- dertook this difhcult prog gram in order that lie might earn his way through school so as not to tax too heavily the re- sources of his family. His hrst school was in a poor- T ly equipped and dilapi- dated building in the hack part of his own Applelon. Maine town. t ,. .... V5 .- i .4-v.,.-r -V.. ' 'H ' 26