One Thread in the Web of Early American Education, 1780-1830

98 Pages·2016·0.92 MB·English

The University of Maine
DigitalCommons@UMaine
Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library
Summer 8-15-2015
Reverend Jonathan Fisher: One Thread in the Web
of Early American Education, 1780-1830
Brittany P. Cathey
University of Maine - Main, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at:http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd
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Recommended Citation
Cathey, Brittany P., "Reverend Jonathan Fisher: One Thread in the Web of Early American Education, 1780-1830" (2015).Electronic
Theses and Dissertations. 2347.
http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2347
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REVEREND JONATHAN FISHER: ONE THREAD IN THE WEB OF EARLY
AMERICAN EDUCATION, 1780 to 1830

By
Brittany Patricia Cathey
Bachelor of Arts, University of California, San Diego
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts (in History)
The University of Maine
August 2015
Liam Riordan, Professor of History, Director of the University of Maine Humanities Center,
Jacques Ferland, Associate Professor of History and Graduate Program Coordinator, Richard
Judd, Adelaide and Alan Bird Professor of History
Copyright 2015 Brittany Patricia Cathey
REVEREND JONATHAN FISHER: ONE THREAD IN THE WEB OF EARLY
AMERICAN EDUCATION, 1780 TO 1830

By Brittany Patricia Cathey

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Liam Riordan

An Abstract of the Thesis Presented
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Arts
(in History)
August 2015

Jonathan Fisher was a remarkably gifted man with a passionate interest in the education
of the future generations of Maine citizens. No historian, however, has yet to examine Jonathan
Fisher’s connection to American educational trends. Primary and secondary schools had existed
in colonial America since the 1630s. Fisher witnessed and participated in the transformation of
American schooling through his involvement in the local schools, libraries and education within
his home, his establishment and maintenance of the Blue Hill Academy and the Bangor
Theological Seminary and the publication of his juvenile works The Youth’s Primer and
Scripture Animals.
The first chapter of the thesis will first begin by examining the works of those who have
already studied the life and accomplishments of the Reverend Jonathan Fisher. There will be a
particular focus on the works of Mary Ellen Chase and Kevin D. Murphy. The chapter will then
study the manuscripts of Bernard Bailyn, Lawrence Cremin, and James Axtell who were
concerned with the educational development of colonial and federal America. The chapter will
end with an analysis of the works of Donald M. Scott and Stephen A. Marini who investigated
the role of the New England minister in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries.
The second chapter will analyze Fisher’s primary educational contributions. The chapter
begins with an examination of primary education during the period and proceeds with an
evaluation of Fisher’s role as a teacher and supporter of education. This chapter relies mostly on
Fisher’s journals as a primary source.
The third chapter evaluates Fisher’s influence upon secondary education, particularly the
Blue Hill Academy and the Bangor Theological Seminary. The prevalent primary sources
include Fisher’s journal and student workbooks and the secondary source The Academies of Blue
Hill Maine.
The thesis concludes with an examination of Fisher’s educational works The Youth’s
Primer and Scripture Animals. The chapter begins with a short history of primers and closes with
an analysis of The Youth’s Primer and Scripture Animals.
Jonathan Fisher was a Congregational minister on the Maine frontier; however he also
desired to incorporate Blue Hill into the greater American intellectual culture. This thesis utilizes
Fisher’s journals and other reliable primary and secondary sources in order to secure his place as
an essential component to the development of education in the greater Penobscot area.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Professor Liam Riordan for
his continuous support of my Master’s study and research, his honest advice and his occasional
tough love.

I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee members Professor Jacques Ferland and
Professor Richard Judd for their encouragement and invaluable knowledge.

In addition, I would like to thank the Farnsworth Art Museum, the Blue Hill Historical Society,
the Blue Hill Public Library, The Jonathan Fisher House: 1814 Historic House Museum and the
Folger Library for providing me with the resources necessary to complete this project.

I would like to thank my fellow graduate student Patrick Callaway for providing me with helpful
feedback.

Finally, I would like thank my parents, Shane and Gina Wickwire, for their enthusiasm and for
inspiring within me a love of education. I would also like to acknowledge my husband’s never-
ending support and patience.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………….………………...iii
LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………......vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND HISTORIOGRAPHY………………..….…1
Introduction………………………………………………………………………..1
Works Concerning Jonathan Fisher……………………………………………….4
Works Concerning American Education………………………………………….9
Ministers and Culture………………………………………………………….....16
Conclusion and Chapter Overview………………………………………………20
CHAPTER TWO: EDUCATION IN THE HOME AND AT THE PRIMARY
LEVEL…………………………………………………………………………………...23
Introduction……………………………………………………………………....23
Literacy Rates……………………………………………………………………24
Forms of Primary Education…………………………………………………..…26
Educational Development in Maine…………………………………………...…28
Fisher’s College Years…………………………………………………………...30
Education in the Home…………………………………………………………...34
The Local Schoolhouse…………………………………………………………..37
Jonathan and Dolly Fisher in Blue Hill Maine…………………………………..38
Fisher’s Approval……………………………………………………………...…41
Sunday Schools……………………………………………………………..……43
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….46
CHAPTER THREE: THE FOUNDATION AND PROMOTION OF THE BLUE
HILL ACADEMY AND BANGOR THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY…………………48
Introduction………………………………………………………………………48
Establishment of the Blue Hill Academy………………………………...……...48
Curriculum……………………………………………………………………….54
Fisher and the Academy………………………………………………………….59
The Bangor Theological Seminary………………………………………………59
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….64
CHAPTER FOUR: THE YOUTH’S PRIMER AND SCRIPTURE ANIMALS-THE PINNACLE
PUBLICATIONS OF FISHER’S ENLIGHTENMENT
CHRISTIANITY…………………………………………………………………………65
Introduction………………………………………………………………………65
Primer History…………………………………………………………………...66
Primer Format……………………………………………………………………68
Other Popular Juvenile Works…………………………………………………...70
Fisher and His Primer……………………………………………………………71
Scripture Animals………………………………………………………………..78
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….85
CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………..87
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………..89
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR……………………………………………................95
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Blue Hill Curriculum…………………………………………….…Page 55
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Blue Hill Curriculum…………………………………………….…Page 55