Benjamin Thorne was a Lewiston farmer and Freewill Baptist preacher in the early 1800s whose surname provides half the name of the popular and well-known Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary, about 1.3 miles from campus managed by the Stanton Bird Club.

‘Saintly Mother’

Thorne was born in March 1779 (exact date unknown) and died Dec. 4, 1864, at age 85.

Thorne’s mother, Eliza, is credited with helping to organize a branch of Freewill Baptists in Lewiston. “Several times [Eliza] walked from Lewiston to Westport, a distance of 30 miles, to attend Quarterly and Yearly Meetings,” according to The Centennial Record of Freewill Baptists: 1780–1880.

Benjamin was inspired by his “saintly mother,” according to Memoirs of Eminent Preachers in the Free Will Baptist Denomination. As a teenager, he began making similar journeys “through an almost unbroken wilderness” to attend Freewill Baptist meetings.

Deep Thinker

Despite only a few months of formal schooling, Thorne on his own acquired “a commendable knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages, knew something of Hebrew, and mastered the French after he had passed his 80th birthday,” according to Memoirs of Eminent Preachers.

“While others were asleep or too stupid for thought, his mind labored with an unwearied and most patient devotion.”

Thorny Question

While various Freewill Baptist histories spell his last name as “Thorn,” the gravestones for Benjamin and his wife, Alice, in Herrick Cemetery spell the name “Thorne.”

‘Retired and Unknown’

Thorne was one of the “best and most talented ministers of his time,” according to Memoirs of Eminent Preachers. Still, he was humble about it, “his position…somewhat retired and unknown. ”

Indeed, Thorne’s preaching power was well hidden, only displayed on “special occasion[s].” One such occasion was a five-day religious debate with a Universalist minister that ended when his opponent “begged leave to withdraw.”

When Thorne died at age 85, he was Lewiston’s oldest citizen. In his 80s, “he appeared more like a man of 65,” so great was “his vigor of mind and body.”

From �ֲ���ý’ Beginning

Thorne “hailed the birth and location of the Maine State Seminary as a harbinger of good.” On June 26, 1856, he delivered the prayer of invocation at the laying of the cornerstone of Hathorn Hall. (Another “Thorn”?)

Thirty-three years earlier, says Professor Emeritus Doug Hodgkin, whose family history dates to Lewiston’s earliest years, Thorne spoke at the 1823 dedication of the first bridge between Lewiston and what is now Auburn, the latter not incorporated until 1842.

Patriot

Born during the Revolutionary War, Thorne “imbibed its patriotism” — his five grandsons all fought in the Civil War “sustained by the deepest sympathies and prayers of their aged veteran sire.”

One and Only (Almost)

As far as we can tell, the only other instance of “Thorncrag” used as a place name is Thorncrag Lane in Midlothian, Va.

Thorn + Crag

In the 1900s, some of the Thorne farmland was bought by Alfred Anthony, a �ֲ���ý professor and trustee who wrote the college history �ֲ���ý College and Its Background.

Anthony dubbed his new spread “Thorncrag,” with “crag” describing the granite ledges and outcroppings near the property’s 500-foot hill. He gave his land to the Stanton Bird Club when he retired to New York City around 1918.

Today, Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary offers both recreation and research opportunities for the �ֲ���ý community.

May 1 events:

• The conference begins at 1:30 p.m. with a presentation by William Barnard of Norwich University on Radio Telemetry Studies of the Gray Jay in Vermont.
• At 2:30 p.m., Bill Sheehan and Riche Hoppe of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will discuss, Design and Operation of the Maine M.A.P.S. Program.
• At 3 p.m., Falk Heuttmann of the University of New Brunswick will discuss, Winter Transect off Grand Manan Island.
• At 3:30 p.m., Sarah Bartos, a senior at �ֲ���ý, will discuss, A Comparison of American Redstart Territory Size and Habitat Selection in Two Forest Types on Kent Island: Implications for the Conservation of the Species.
• At 4 p.m., Andrew P. Weik of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s Endangered and Threatened Species Group will discuss Conservation of Grassland Birds in Maine: Field Survey Results from 1997 and Plans for 1998.
• At 4:30 p.m., Victoria Perry of the Cornish Elementary School will discuss, Birding with Children.
• During the 6 to 7:30 p.m. dinner in Commons dining hall, Bonnie Bochan, field ornithologist and botanist and co- director of the Vermont and Maine Breeding Bird Atlas projects, will discuss, Birds of Jatun Sacha: Following the Breeding Birds of North America to the Tropics of Ecuador.

May 2 events:

• At 6:30 a.m., The Stanton Bird Club will sponsor a campus bird walk. Participants will meet in front of the Olin Arts Center.
• At 8:15 a.m., coffee and muffins will be served, and registration will be held in the Olin Arts Center lobby.
• At 8:45 a.m., Thor Hanson of the University of Vermont will discuss, Foraging Behavior of Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches and Golden-crowned Kinglets in Heterospecific and Conspecific Flocks.
• At 9:15 a.m., Peter Vickery and W. Gregory Shriver of the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Center for Biological Conservation will discuss, A Regional Survey for Breeding Grassland Birds in the Northeastern United States.
• At 9:45 a.m., Nat Wheelright and Jennifer J. Templeton of Bowdoin College will discuss, When Do Fledgling Sparrows Learn to Forage Independently?
• At 10:30 a.m., David I. King of the University of Massachusetts will discuss, Avian Reproductive Success in Clearcuts and Groupcuts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
• At 11 a.m., Kyle Apigian of Bowdoin College will discuss Foraging Efficiency and Preference in Black-capped Chickadees.
• At 11:30 a.m., Randall B. Boone and W.B. Krohn of the University of Maine, Orono, will discuss, Evidence of Transition Zones in Bird Distributions.
• From noon to 12:45 p.m. lunch will be served in Chase Hall.
• 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. Panel discussion on Bird Conservation programs in Maine: Alternative Funding Sources at Work will be held.
• At 1:30 p.m., Thomas Hodgmann of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s Bird Group will discuss, Partners in Flight Program: Opportunities for Monitoring Bicknell’s Thrush and Other Mountaintop Forest Birds.
• At 2 p.m., Herb Wilson of Colby College will discuss, The Effect of Supplemental Feeding on Wintering Black-capped Chickadees.
• At 2:30 p.m. Mitschka Hartley of the University of Maine, Orono, will discuss, Effects of Selective Silviculture on Breeding Songbirds.
• At 3 p.m., Taryn L. Kruger of Bowdoin College will discuss, Nest Box Choice and Site Fidelity in Tree Swallows.
• At 3:30 p.m. Judy Kellogg Markowsky and William Halteman of the Maine Audubon Society and the University of Maine, Orono, will discuss, Roadkilled Birds, Foraging Substrate, Season and Road Type.
• At 4 p.m., David Evers and Peter Reaman of the Biodiversity Research Institute will discuss, Mercury Exposure in Maine Fish-eating Birds.