Blue Hill, Maine

By Andrea Hendrix and Caroline Werth, Jonathan Fisher Memorial

Jonathan Fisher was born in New Braintree, Massachusetts in the year 1768, one of seven children born to Jonathan and Katherine Avery Fisher.

Over that span he accomplished many things as a parson and spiritual leader for which he is well known. He delivered (and retained copies of ) over 3,000 sermons, and many types of writings on liturgical subjects. He also served his ministerial calling by producing a book with artistic representations of Scripture Animals.

His father died in 1777 while serving in the Revolutionary War, leaving his mother as the sole support of the family. Although she was a talented weaver and skillful homemaker she needed help to assure the future of her children.

Jonathan was sent to live with his uncle, Joseph Avery, who raised him and, because he was aware of Jonathan's extraordinary talents and intellectual capacity, offered to send him to Harvard college. The offer, which Jonathan accepted, was conditional on an agreement that he would study to become an ordained minister in the Congregational church.

He took his obligations and opportunities seriously and did well in his studies. He also spent two summers as a intern minister in Blue Hill where he learned about the community and they about him.

Upon his graduation the town of Blue Hill offered him a permanent position with "the minister's lot" which was to include 5 acres of cleared land, a barn built by the town (thirty feet by forty feet in size and having 13 1/2 foot studs) as well as fifteen cords of hard wood (cut and hauled), and an annual salary of two hundred dollars in cash. In the words of a contemporary, Rufus G.F. Candage, "he lived upon it, reared a family, and dispensed hospitality."

He then returned to Massachusetts to wed Miss Dolly Battle and assumed his ministry.

Beginning with his student days at Harvard, and continuing for the rest of his life, Jonathan Fisher kept a journal which recorded both his spiritual journey and his everyday life. The entries are brief factual notations rather than reflective prose but they do reveal the conservative state of his theology, his liberal social philosophy, and especially provide a good picture of life in Blue Hill in the post revolutionary period. However many feel his most extraordinary accomplishments are found in the many representations of creativity and craftsmanship that he left behind.

He remained in Blue Hill until his death in 1847, having faithfully served his community for 41 years.

He was a man dedicated to his faith, to his family, and to his community. He was a man filled with energy and creativity and gifted as a writer, a craftsman, and an artist in many mediums.

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