Person Page - 577

Joseph Sewall Jr., 28, of Old Town, Maine, son of Maine Senate President Joseph Sewall, died Friday after becoming ill at his job as a cook. A spokesman for the town marshal's office said there was no suspicion of foul play, but an autopsy was ordered for Saturday. The spokesman said Sewall was taken to the home of a friend where he appeared to recover. His body was found about 4 a.m. Officials would not speculate as to the cause of death.⁴

EMERSON - Of Longwood Towers, Brookline, July 4, Josephine Devereux (Sewall) Emerson, widow of Dr. Kendall Emerson and mother of the Rev. Sewall Emerson of Shrewsbury and Dr. Kendall Emerson, Jr. of Brookline. Funeral services will be held at the Church of Our Saviour, Brookline, on Monday, July 7, at 2 o'clock. Please omit flowers. Memorial donations may be made to Smith College, Northampton, Mass. Former Alumnae Trustee of Smith College and Member of the National Board of Y.W.C.A.⁵

He was a stone-mason, he served in the Revolutionary Army for three months in the winter of 1776-77.¹⁴

Rev. Jotham Sewall, whose death has already been announced, was born in Chesterville, in this State Dec. 6th, 1791, and graduated at the Bangor Seminary in 1822. He was licensed by the Penobscot Association in August, 1821. He preached in Union and Camden, alternately, from 1822 to 1824, and at Newcastle, First church, from March, 1824. He was ordained pastor of this church Nov. 23, 1824, remaining there for fifteen years, greatly beloved.
During this period, on account of his health, he spent two winters in Georgia, one winter as a missionary of the American Home Missionary Society, in three counties, and the second as seamen's preacher and city missionary in Savannah, under the direction of the City Missionary Society. He was installed pastor of the First church, Westbrook, Maine, Oct. 9, 1839, remaining to May 29, 1842. At Bluehill from June, 1842, installed pastor Aug. 24, 1843, continuing to 1847. At Woolwich from 1847 to 1851; at Oxfordville. N.H., from 1851 to 1855; North Granville, N.Y., from 1855 to 1869, when he removed to Chicago, Ill., supplying at Riverside, Lyons and Homewood, III., to 1872. Since that time he has preached occasionally. In 1873 he spent the winter with his son, Rev. G.P. Sewall, pastor of the Presbyterian church in Cayuga, N.Y., siding in a series of meetings. He supplied three months in Harpswell, Maine.     He prepared a memoir of his father, which was published in 1833, comprising 408 pages, with a portrait. In 1879 he published a volume of 80 pages, entitled, “The Second Coming of Christ to be Post-Millennium," and in 1883, “Christ’s Spiritual Presence,” 49 pages. Various articles on practical and vital topics have been published from time to time in the Christian Mirror.
Six children are worthy successors of a long line of faithful men, viz; Rev. David B. Sewall of York, Maine; Prof. Jotham B. Sewall, Headmaster of Thayer Academy, South Braintree, Mass; Prof. John S. Sewall, D.D., Bangor Theological Seminary; Rev. Grenville P. Sewall, Troy, Penn; Rev. Albert C. Sewall, Williamston, Mass; and a daughter, Mrs. Fitch B. Stacy, of Stacyville, Ia. The Portland Daily Press, 22 December 1884.¹⁰

By Emma C. Freeman
The recent death of Jotham Sewall removes one of South Berwick's most revered citizens and the entire community is saddened by his passing. Mr Sewall who was in his 85th year, was a native of Robbinston, the son of the Rev. David and Mrs. Mary Drummond Sewall. He received his early education at Fryeburg Academy, later entering Williams College, Williamstown, Mass., where he graduated in 1868. He then became a student at the Bangor Theological Seminary and later continued his studies at the Yale Divinity School in New Haven but was never ordained to the ministry. A great lover of music and a talented musician he was organist in several churches and gave freely of his time to musical activities. He and his sister, Miss Jane Sewall, have traveled extensively in foreign countries and the states and have passed the last few winters in Florida and California but were always happy to return to their attractive home on School street in the spring. Mr Sewall was a great philanthropist and the Central school building stands as a monument of his benefaction. Funeral services were held from his late home and conducted by the Rev. Alex Sloan, a former pastor of the Congregational church assisted by the Rev. A.E. Kingsley, formerly pastor of the First Baptist church, and by the Rev Herbert Northley, pastor of the First Parish Federated church. The music rendered by Mrs Ruth Brown, Mrs Frederick Davis, John Whitehead and Rev. Lester Kellie was most impressive and the service a fitting one for the passing of a beautiful life. The schools were closed during the service as a mark of respect to the deceased. Mr Sewall is survived by his sister Miss Jane, who has the sympathy of the entire community in her bereavement.⁸

He was prepared for college at the academies at Newcastle, Bluehill, and Yarmouth, Me., and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1848. After teaching a few months at Winthrop and Augusta, Maine, he became principal of the Lewiston Falls Academy, a position he held for two years. In 1851 he was recalled to his alma mater as a tutor in Greek. He then pursued the regular course of theological study at the Bangor Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1854. After further study at the Andover Theological Seminary he became pastor of the Central Congregational Church at Lynn, Mass. A successful pastorate of ten years in that city was terminated by his call to Bowdoin to the professorship of ancient languages. His title was changed in 1873 to professor of Greek, the subject in which he had given instruction during most of this period. In 1877 he resigned his college professorship to accept the headmastership of Thayer Academy at Braintree, Mass. He presided over this new and well-endowed secondary school with marked success for nineteen years. The remainder of his life was given to foreign travel and study and to the interests of several educational institutions with which he was connected.

Professor Sewall received the degree of D.D. from Bowdoin in 1902. He was secretary of the General Association of the Alumni from 1865 to 1879 and its president from 1879 to 1885; he served on the Board of Overseers from 1877; he was a member of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1895; and he was a trustee of Thayer Academy from 1899. He was a charter member of the American Philological Association and its president in 1877-78.Besides many religious and educational essays, he published in 1865 "Evenings with the Bible and Science" and in 1896 a school edition of the "Timon"of Lucian. During his professorship he was curator of the art collections, and in 1870 issued the first printed catalogue of the Bowdoin paintings. "A classical scholar, an eminent teacher, a Christian gentleman, he was kind and tender, cultivated and pure, without taint of hypocrisy or sham, a lover of men. His was a gracious presence, irradiating cheerfulness and calm courage, the joy of goodness and virtue, the beauty of simplicity."