Yesterday's blog included a recap about my Halloween lecture at the William Fogg Library in Eliot, located in southern Maine. Today you'll read about the history of the family who helped inspire and create the library.
WHO IS JOHN FOGG? - One of their sons, John S. H. Fogg, would become a doctor, and the most famous of the Fogg children. Born in 1826, John Samuel Hill Fogg was a man of many interests and well known as a genealogist and expert in Colonial history. He attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine beginning in 1842. Following his graduation in 1846, he studied at Harvard Medical School and established his practice in South Boston in 1850. John was a general practitioner until 1875 when he was stricken with paralysis and became wheelchair-bound. For the remainder of his life, John and his second wife, Mary, would devote their time to collecting autographs and books.
WHY A LIBRARY? - Upon his death in 1893, Dr. John S.H. Fogg gave his family’s land for the town’s library and provided its endowment, along with his personal collection of American history books, and an endowment. The library was named in honor of his father, William Fogg, whose homestead still sits on library property.
He also bequeathed his family homestead to the library, as well as his beloved book and artifact collections, thus becoming one of Eliot’s greatest benefactors.
(Photo: Fogg House on the same tract of land. This is an historic site).
LOCATION/WEBSITE - William Fogg Public Library is located at 116 Old Road, Eliot, ME, 03903. The website is: https://www.williamfogglibrary.org/
ESTATE BEQUEATHED -Dr. John Fogg also bequeathed his estate to fund the continued operation of the library. You can visit the restored Fogg Homestead and see personal artifacts from the Fogg family and the historic Fogg collections by appointment.
