On this image from the 1857 Map of Cumberland County, Ebenezer Hutchinson’s home is indicated at lower left, and the schoolhouse across from Evans Street on Highland Avenue is noted by the letters “S.H.” Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

One of our catalogers at South Portland Historical Society recently discovered an interesting piece of history tucked away in an old, turn-of-the-century scrapbook: a newspaper clipping containing an unnamed person’s recollection of the District 3 “little red schoolhouse” on Highland Avenue. We’ve been looking for information on this school for many years. We had previously only found a reference to it in one story about Arctic explorer Adm. Robert E. Peary, who attended that school as a child along with Edward C. Reynolds, who would later become mayor of South Portland. Deed research has been difficult as we believe the footprint of the school is now covered by Evans Street Extension.

Near the start of the article is this reference to an early teacher who was well respected in the (then known as) Cape Elizabeth community: “Ebenezer Hutchinson was [well known] and many of the older residents of the town will remember away back in the 50s he taught school in the little ‘red schoolhouse’ that stood on the ‘Higgins’ road. The schoolhouse stood almost directly opposite the head of what is now Evans street, but years afterwards it was moved to near the corner of what is now Ocean street and Highland avenue and made over into a dwelling house.”

On this image from the 1871 F.W. Beers atlas, the District 3 schoolhouse is still in operation on Highland Avenue. The school was never named – it was known only as the “little red schoolhouse” or District 3. This school would be replaced, circa 1875, by a new school that was constructed on Evans Street, known simply as the Evans Street School. Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

The writer’s reference to “the Higgins road” in the 1850s is a reference to Highland Avenue (which was called Barren Hill Road in the later 1800s). They would have called it the Higgins road due to the large farm of the Reuben and Emerson Higgins families along that stretch.

Ebenezer Hutchinson was born in 1818. According to the Free Baptist Cyclopaedia, published in 1889, he converted to the Baptist faith when he was 19 years old, then entered the Parsonsfield Seminary where he became a Free Will Baptist and received his training as a minister. He first served as an itinerant minister, converting people to his faith wherever he could.

In 1843, he married Frances Dyer of Cape Elizabeth and they lived in a home on Highland Avenue. Frances was related to the Higgins family, both by birth (her paternal grandmother was Abigail Higgins), as well as by marriage (her sister Irene Dyer married their first cousin once removed, William B. Higgins, who was Abigail’s nephew).

Ebenezer and Frances Hutchinson had at least three children: Edwin, William and Irene.

Their two-story home had a connected barn and shed, and sat upon a roughly 30-acre lot, about 11 acres of which were under cultivation, with the remaining 20 acres left wooded. They had a milk cow, a horse and a pig, and were growing mostly potatoes, but also corn, peas, beans, barley and hay. In his early years, in addition to farming, Ebenezer worked as a teacher at the little red schoolhouse down the street. Some of his students included the children of Deacon Daniel Anthoine and Deacon John D. Buzzell, along with other local families like the Ficketts, Dyers and Jordans.

In 1856, he was ordained as the minister of the Free Will Baptist church on Sawyer Street. He served there for five years and then completed his studies in the field of medicine, becoming a practicing physician.

William B. Higgins and his wife Irene took in and raised the Hutchinson children after both Ebenezer and Frances died. William was a one-time state representative, but for most of his life worked as a farmer in Cape Elizabeth. His home was located on the Sawyer Road, south of the Fickett Street intersection. Contributed / South Portland Historical Society

When the Civil War broke out, he was commissioned as an officer in the 25th Maine Volunteer Infantry. This nine-month regiment mustered into service at Camp Abraham Lincoln (in the Ligonia area of South Portland) on Sept. 29, 1862. Ebenezer would serve as second lieutenant of Company H, but he contracted tuberculosis and when he mustered out in 1863, he came home very ill. He never recovered and died in 1865 at the age of only 47 years old.

His wife Frances died just three years later in 1868, leaving their children now in the care of her sister and brother-in-law, Irene and William B. Higgins. While Edwin was 20 years old, Willie and Irene were only 11 and 9, so they spent a good portion of their childhood growing up with their aunt and uncle. William B. Higgins was a farmer and was involved in local politics. He served as a state representative in the Maine House in 1865, representing Cape Elizabeth.

Edwin Hutchinson married Alice Poland in 1881 and they had a daughter Alice born in 1882. Edwin worked on William B. Higgins’ farm, and he also worked in Portland as a grocer, but due to health issues, Edwin and Alice decided to move to Florida. In January 1884, they boarded the passenger steamship City of Columbus with their daughter, headed from Boston to Savannah. The ship ran aground off Martha’s Vineyard. Out of the 132 crew and passengers on board, only 29 survived. The wreck was considered one of the worst ocean disasters at the time. Edwin, Alice and their daughter all perished.

The South Portland Historical Society offers a free Online Museum with nearly 17,000 images available for viewing with a keyword search. You can find it at sphistory.pastperfectonline.com, and if you appreciate what we do, feel free to make a donation by using the donation button on the home page. If you have photographs or other information to share about South Portland’s past, we hope you will reach out to us. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is the executive director of the South Portland Historical Society.