LibraryGeorge J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

Joseph Fessenden Sermons, 1820-1859, n.d.

2.25 linear feet.

Catalog Number: M61

Agency History / Biographical Note:
Joseph Palmer Fessenden (Bowdoin 1818) was born on October 24, 1792. He was a Congregationalist clergyman in Arundel (now Kennebunkport), 1820-1829, and South Bridgton, 1829-1861, and he advocated the church's taking a more active role on behalf of temperance and the abolition of slavery.

Fessenden married Phebe Perkins Beech (b. Oct. 20, 1796) on November 30, 1819. Although they had no children of their own, they adopted a nephew, William Griswold Barrows (1821-1886, Bowdoin 1839) and two nieces, Mary B. Frezell (1828-1855) and Phoebe F. Beech (1834-1861).

Joseph Fessenden died on February 13, 1861; Phebe Beech Fessenden died on February 21, 1870.

More information on the Fessenden family is available in the Fessenden Collection and the Joseph Palmer and Phebe Beech Fessenden Papers, and the Fessenden Genealogical Material.

Scope and Content:
675 manuscript sermons (1820-1859) and 30 sermon fragments, "A Record of Marriages...in Arundel" (1820-1829), and the concluding portion of an anti-slavery sermon.

Cite as: Cite as: Joseph Fessenden Sermons, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine.

Access Restrictions: None.