Title: New England Miniature: A History of York Maine
Author: George Ernst
Publisher: Cumberland Press
Publication Date: 1961-06
ISBN: 087027063X
Type: Hardcover
Condition: Good +
Jacket condition: Very Good
Notes: Clean, solid copy with a pencil notation on the dedication page and a handful of pages have pencil underlining. Majority of text appears to be unmarked. Binding is firm and square. Cover corners sharp. Jacket is glossy with surface scratches and a little edge wear at spine ends. Front flap is price clipped. Very good condition given book's age. No photos or illustrations, other than a map on the end papers and a second map of York Village on one page.
About the Book
Part I is devoted to a chronological history of the growth of York from its early settlement to the year of publication (1961), presents experiences typical of many American towns, though the dates may be different. Part II follows a series of sketches of roads, neighborhoods, and people - among others, Edward Rishworth, Province recorder during the first thirty-five years of Massachusetts rule; the Reverend Samuel Moody, spiritual leader during darkest days; Nathaniel Barrell, delegate to the Massachusetts Federal Constitutional Convention; David Sewall, first federal judge of Maine, and classmate of President John Adams.
The progress of religion in York, the development of its schools, including a contemporary description of how English was taught before the Revolution in Mast Samuel Moody's classes, the history of the Old Gaol, oldest English government building in America, visited by thousands of tourists every summer, are covered in detail.
An account of life and customs in York, in times of distress as well as in prosperous days, of taverns, slavery, smallpox epidemics, of libraries, of eighteenth-century social life and nineteenth-century summer visitors, of sites and old houses still standing that are the particular heritage of York Village, York Harbor, Cape Neddick, serves as background for numerous anecdotes about a town unique in American history.
A bibliography and an index are of value to all students of history, whatever their fields of interest. And certainly every descendant of York pioneers will prize a copy of New England Miniature.
