Saint Mary Episcopal Church in Falmouth, Maine - A Fascinating History

John Bundy Brown 1805-1881, who made a start in life as a grocery store clerk, went on to become a top real estate owner in Maine.  He founded J. B. Brown, a real estate company, which is still has a prominent role in the city of Portland as JB Brown & Sons.  John had five children, one of whom was John Marshall Brown who studied law at Bowdoin College, received an appointment in 20^th Maine Regiment as a First Lieutenant, was Adjutant to General Joshua Chamberlain and distinguished himself in prominent battles of the Civil War including Gettysburg. He retired a Brevet General, returned to Portland, married, and had five children including a daughter, Alida Greely Brown, who died in Switzerland at the age of 19.

 

To honor his daughter’s memory, John commissioned a stone memorial chapel in Falmouth Foreside whose foundation was laid in 1890. The Chapel became the burial place of John Marshall Brown, his wife, and their daughter Alida. Before pine trees grew up around it, it was a key navigational mark in Casco Bay.

 

Through subsequent gifts and endowments from the Browns and the Payson Family as well as others, this chapel with the addition of other buildings eventually became the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary in Falmouth, Maine. The church was initially a summer parish, but evolved into a year round parish as the local populous expanded outward from Portland.

 

Born in New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, Rev Nathan W. Ferrell has been Rector since 2012.