Books with author Lacy C. Stephens

The white settlers called it the Great Pond; but long before they came to Maine, the Indians had named it Pennesseewassee, pronounced Penny-see-was-see, the lake-where-the-women-died, from the Abnaki words, penem-pegouas-abem, in memory, perhaps, of some unhistoric tragedy.From their villages on the upper Saco waters, the Pequawkets were accustomed to cross over to the Androscoggin and often stopped at this lake, midway, to fish in the spring, and again in winter to hunt for moose, then snowbound in their "yards." On snowshoes, or paddling their birch canoes along the pine-shadowed streams, these tawny, pre-Columbian warriors came and camped on the Pennesseewassee; we still pick up their flint arrow-heads along the shore; and it may even be that the short, brown Skraellings were here before them, in neolithic days.

C. A. Stephens' classic tale of old country life in Maine, New England during the late 19th century is brought to reader in this edition which includes the original illustrations. Steeped in nostalgia for an America long since departed, this novel is full of the virtues and sights common to American country life before modern inventions such as the motor car and the telephone made their appearance. Family values underpin the entire society, with the land around the Old Squire's Farm vividly described as quiet and rural. Sometimes likened to diaries for their episodic structure, the stories of C. A. Stephens remain as pleasant and enlightening today as they ever were. The family depicted in this book have experienced tragedy; the fathers of the children of the story having perished in the American Civil War, hence it being just the children and their grandparents. As well as being a good and wholesome story, When Life Was Young at the Old Farm in Maine provides a glimpse at life in the rural United States during a much simpler and more pastoral era. The children enjoy their adventures in the country, experiencing events such as the cattle show, a trip to the village photographer, and fishing in the local water holes, while their grandparents are eager to teach them to grow up to be responsible adults.

Excerpt from A Great Year of Our Lives: At the Old Squire'sThe day they to-re the old house down I really felt quite sad. It does not seem like the same place there now, and memory runs back somewhat regretfully, as I pass to those Old eventful winter terms under Master Joel Pierson, Master Cummings, Master French and young Thomas Jefferson Cobb who was drowned in the Kennebec. Excellent teachers they were; possibly there are as good instructors now, but I cannot help doubting it.We set great store by our winter school then, and SO would boys and girls at present, if they had but ten weeks a year, for only girls and little boys attended the summer school. Throughout the entire year we doted on that coming winter term of school.Really, we made remarkable progress; those Old masters pushed us lovingly on. In one winter, when fourteen, my cousin Addison mastered Greenleaf's National Arithmetic and could perform every example in it; but to do this he had worked morning and evening as well as during school hours. Those teachers possessed the gift -of firing our hearts with an ambition to learn. How did they do it? Their own hearts were in it. To this day I feel the thrill of Master Pierson's enthusiasm and his faith in us, as he laid out long lessons and somehow made us feel sure that we could learn them. What a true friend he was' I take Off my hat reverently to his memory.They were all good teachers, every one - but no, there was an exception. We did have one poor teacher, yes, he was a bad teacher. It came about in a Singular way. It was the year rum reigned in No. II, for that was the way we always referred to it. That winter the winter of 1867 there was a strange state of things at the old schoolhouse. I shall have to explain it a little.In Maine at that time, each and every country school district governed itself and managed its own affairs. A school meeting of the legal residents of the district was held every Spring to elect a school agent, bid off teacher's board, fuel, etc. The agent chosen hired the teachers and was in charge of the school property. The day of centralism and supervisors was not yet. In the matter of its school business every district was a small republic, largely independent of the town or county in which it was Situated.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.