Pastors at Peoples Number 6

Pastors at Peoples Number 6

1912-1913 Charles A. Brooks: The first Reverend Brooks to serve Peoples had entered the ministry in the Maine Conference Class of 1892. It was after his wife, Eva, that the long-standing Brooks Bible Class was named as she would return to Peoples in the late 1920’s and live in the parsonage with their son, the Reverend Charles E. Brooks. He had served in at least two parishes prior to Peoples. He is listed as the pastor of record at Yarmouthville and Madison as well as Norway and Livermore. He was at Peoples for only one year. It was while at Peoples that Reverend Brooks became seriously ill and passed away. This was rather shocking since an event like this had not happened since Uriel Rideout had passed away in his second placement at Peoples.
In his younger years, Charles had married Eva Lucy Leech on January 26, 1878. Together they would have 6 children, 3 of whom died in childhood. and elsewhere she was often referred to as "Mother Brooks". This may have been added to her dossier during the time she returned and lived with her son and daughter in law in the Peoples Parsonage at 94 Broadway. She was also fond of the time that was spent at the East Poland Methodist campground. Later this location became known as Empire Grove and was the location of many summer revival programs. It is still a location where the camps are owned by former Methodist preachers and their families. Her funeral was held at Peoples on March 2, 1929. Burial was in Riverside Cemetery in Yarmouth alongside her beloved husband. All three of the surviving male children became pastors.

1913-1916 Felix Powell: Felix Powell was actually of Italian ancestry. According to an obituary he did not even know how to speak English when the family landed on the shores of America. He graduated from Kent’s Hill Seminary and then Drew University before entering the ministry. What is truly remarkable about Pastor Powell was how he eventually was an effective preacher and evangelist. Pastor Powell was a dynamic preacher who found the local church a growing establishment in his three years in the pulpit. During the time that he was at Peoples a new parsonage was purchased at 94 Broadway which was located near the corner with Preble Street. At that time Preble continued on a westerly route that would meet High Street in Ferry Village, a rather short distance from the new parsonage. Felix and his wife, Maryann had six children; Esther, Alger, Virginia, Ruth, Eva and Frances. Felix moved on to West Roxbury, Massachusetts following his appointment to Peoples. While in West Roxbury Pastor Powell became a full-time evangelist eventually developing his own entourage. Following his time in Massachusetts he and the family moved back to South Portland and lived on Summit Street as a base of operations. Family members including Alger remained active at Peoples long after their father served as Pastor. In the year in which Alfred Ives obituary was included in the Maine Conference Journal he was quoted as saying, " I began my life as a "child of God" in Danvers, Massachusetts inspired by the Pastor, Felix Powell, who challenged him to become a Christian." Alfred Ives served the Maine Conference for many years as a pastor and was the father of Christopher and Clifton Ives who followed in their Father’s footsteps in the ministry. Cliff Ives at this date in 2003 is serving as the United Methodist Bishop for West Virginia. In the years after his father departed from Peoples Alger eventually became the superintendent of the Sunday school among a number of other roles that he would play. In a relatively recent note, Alger, who lives in North Haven, Connecticut and is 98 years old recalled that when he was eight or nine years old the church pipe organ was operated by hand- pumped bellows. He was among the young men, including Philip Ayers who were responsible for maintaining the wind in the organ system during church services. It was not until the time of his father’s appointment that funds were raised to install an electric motor for the new organ. He also recalled that Dora Campbell Ayers and Evelyn York Tilton became two of the excellent organists that served Peoples in the years he recalls. Alger left South Portland in 1935, but periodically has returned for visits.

1916-1925 Albert Frederic Olsen: Pastor Frederic never used his first name. He was born in London, England on June 23, 1875. He was born to Hans and Eliza Cornish Olsen. In his adult years he first was introduced to his service to and for Christ as a Home Missionary lay preacher in and around London. He married his wife, Bertha, in the year 1906. He and his family came to the United States in 1915 and first served a parish at Sarkville in the Northern New York Conference. Frederic in the following year was appointed to Peoples where he was accepted on trial to the Maine Conference in 1917 with full membership in 1919. Pastor Frederic remained at Peoples until 1925, which was a period that saw both the church and the community, grow significantly. It was during this period that the ranks of the Sunday School in particular burst at the seams. Mr. Olsen’s English accent and his red hair allowed him to stand out in the community. Following his years at Peoples he served as assistant pastor at Morgan Memorial Methodist in Boston. He then served at Second Methodist in Kittery until a debilitating disease forced his retirement in 1943. He and his wife retired to a farm in North Kittery where in spite of difficulty walking he would visit shut-ins and tend to a garden. Frederic and Bertha had six children although two, twins, lived only a short time after birth. Mrs. Olsen passed away in September of 1958, Mr. Olsen joining her in March of 1963.
In Memoirs of the Maine Conference Pastor Olsen was described as follows:
"Warmly responsive to other people, Mr. Olsen was a good pastor. He had an eloquence and choice of language, which was unique. He could lift his hearer closer to heaven, or on occasion "cut him down". He had a study of phrenology as a hobby, and gave demonstrations of reading a person’s characteristics and aptitudes by the shape of his skull. He had a keen sense of humor.
In years of suffering he maintained a cheerful faith and a continued interest in others. In his own unique way he expressed God to those who knew him." Rev. Elwin L. Wilson
e then served at Second Methodist in Kittery until his retirement d

1926-1929 Charles E. Brooks Charles E. was one of the son’s of Eva Lucy and Charles A. Brooks who had served Peoples in 1912. Charles A. had died while in residence. He was also the brother of Paul Q. Brooks who saw many years of pastoring in the Southern New England Conference before finishing his pastoral career at Clark Memorial in Portland in 1962.. Charles E. was born on June 27, 1886. He graduated from Bates College at the age of 20. His first parish was in North Anson and Embden in the following year. Also in 1909 Charles E. married Alice Gammon who would serve faithfully with him into the late 1940’s. He then served in Mechanic Falls, Farmington, Saco and Wesley in Bath before arriving at Peoples. After his three year stay here he went to Rumford and Rockland by 1937. He returned to South Portland at First Church in 1938 and then finished his career at Old Orchard and Saco.

1929-1930 Leonard March When Reverend March arrived at Peoples he had already served in several other locations notably in central Maine. He was accepted into the ministry in 1895, the year after he married his wife, Ella on October 23, 1894. Ella as a young woman had been a faithful and active member of the Congress Street Methodist Episcopal which had been located next to the Observatory on Munjoy Hill in Portland. Together they would have three children. His first appointment was to the two point charge of Randolph and Chelsea, just across the Kennebec River from Gardiner. After a two year stay in that area, Reverend March was then appointed to serve the churches in Damariscotta and Damariscotta Mills. The young pastor took a year off in 1900 to increase his knowledge in the Wesleyan Seminary at Kent’s Hill. He then served the Woolwich church, followed by a 3 years in the Athens Circuit then at Hodgden and Linneus. This itinerant preacher then was sent to North and East Vassalboro. Easton, Old Town and Rockland before arriving at Peoples for the above dates. It was only a year after arriving at Peoples that Ella died of a massive heart attack. She had great strength and had been a true supporter of Pastor Leonard and excelled in supporting the arts within the church as well as an avocation of her own. She was an excellent painter and both she and the pastor were active participants in the musical programs of the church.
Ella’s loss must have had a major effect on Leonard. He had always been quite dependent on her and found himself at a real loss for companionship. There are some stories that have been circulated that when he left the conference the following year that he left with female companionship, someone who had been a member of Peoples. Whatever the case there is no further record on Pastor Leonard in the Conference or local files.