[In the following review of Jonathan Fisher: Maine Parson, Baldwin notes her approval of Chase's biography of a distinguished pastor from her hometown of Blue Hill, Maine.]

Jonathan Fisher was a pastor of the Congregational Church in the little seacoast village of Bluehill, Maine, from 1796 to 1837 and resident there until his death in 1847. Fortunately his diaries, notebooks, letters, sermons, and church documents, most of which he wrote or copied in a secret code devised by himself while a student at Harvard College, have been preserved, as well as many of his books and paintings. Years of patient deciphering have made possible this notable biography [Jonathan Fisher: Maine Parson], which not only records the life and work of an amazing man, but gives a rarely vivid picture of the way of life and thought in rural Maine in the early nineteenth century.

“A Leonardo da Vinci of his own time and place,” Miss Chase calls Jonathan Fisher. A theologian, linguist, mathematician, surveyor, builder, cabinet-maker, practical farmer, wood engraver, painter of no mean ability, prolific writer of prose and verse, zealous missionary, and conscientious pastor and preacher, his interests and achievements are almost incredible. He was a perfect example of the Puritan who could be a stern and uncompromising Calvinist, profoundly concerned with the salvation of souls from the fires of hell, and at the same time an artist and lover of the beautiful, generous, unresentful, warm-hearted, aglow with an eager love of life. All things in nature gave him pleasure and an assurance of God's good gifts. “Fireflies in July,” he wrote, “are an astounding revelation of God's generous plan for the delight of his children upon his earth.” In every happening he was conscious of the hand of God.

In his little study, “consecrated to Learning and Devotion and perhaps sometimes even to the Muses,” as his daughter Nancy said, he studied and wrote, prayed and painted. One of the most interesting of his books is Scripture Animals for young folk, illustrated by his own wood engravings and enlivened by his descriptive and occasionally humorous verse. He painted birds and flowers, landscapes and portraits. Among the latter is his best work, a portrait of himself. But Jonathan Fisher's interests went far beyond the door of his study. Three to which he gave lifelong devotion were Bangor Theological Seminary, which he helped to found, home and foreign missions, and the society for the colonization of Negroes in Liberia. To the cause of temperance also he gave ardent though not always diplomatic support. But diplomacy was not for this intrepid and forthright pastor.

In this delightful book the reader follows Jonathan Fisher on his journeys and shares his meditations, sees the Puritan conscience at work, learns of the sins of church members and methods of church discipline as well as the minutest details of daily living in home and village. Miss Chase has written a book of special interest to the student of American history and to all who love to read of past days. Her experience and skill as a writer, her knowledge of Bluehill, her native town, and of Maine life and history, her years of living with the thoughts and words of Jonathan Fisher have made him and his time live again.