In September 1854, the Parsonsfield Seminary, located in
Parsonsfield, Maine, burned down. This school had been organized
in 1832 and was affiliated with the Freewill Baptists. A number
of men who would later be connected with Bates College were
associated with Parsonsfield, including Hosea Quinby, John
Fullonton, and Oren B. Cheney. When Oren B. Cheney heard about
the fire at Parsonsfield, he vowed to build another educational
institution in Maine to replace Parsonsfield. By January 1855,
petitions were being sent to the State of Maine urging the
government "to incorporate a Literary Insitution under the name
of 'The Maine State Seminary,' and suitably endow the same." The
Maine State Seminary, the institution that would become Bates
College, was incoporated that same year, 1855. The Seminary
welcomed its first class '84 men and 53 women' in September
1857. Although affiliated with the Freewill Baptists, the
seminary was not limited to persons of any single religious
denomination. In 1863, the institution wa