William Hutchinson Rowe

William Hutchinson Rowe (March 6, 1882 – 1955) was an American author and historian who lived in Yarmouth, Maine. The town's elementary school, built the year he died, is now named for him. In 1937, he published Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636–1936: A History, covering three centuries of the town's past. As of the early 21st century, it was still in print.

Early life

Rowe was born on March 6, 1882, on his family's farm in Yarmouth, Maine, the first of two sons of Mary Jane (1859–1944), from Brunswick, and New Gloucester native Charles O. Rowe (1851–1928), a farmer. near its corner with Main Street.

In 1902, he enrolled at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where he studied with a view to becoming a clergyman. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. during an illness, since October.

Rowe began serving on the Yarmouth School Committee in 1905, becoming its chairman from 1907,

Writing "Rowe's propensity for writing manifested itself when he was too young to seek an outlet for his literary product through any medium other than the children's column in the household paper," wrote The Druggists Circular in March 1910, in an addendum to his column "Profit from the Advertising Section". He wrote an article, titled "Problems and Opportunities of the Country Druggist", for the March 1909 edition of the circular. Further columns from Rowe included "Wooing the Summer Resort Trade" (June 1909) and "The Country Druggist: His Advertising" (December 1909). The project, titled Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine 1636–1936: A History, took fourteen more years to complete, covered 300 years of the town's history, and was "so thorough that it is still in print". The book contained 427 pages, fifteen chapters (plus a detailed appendix), was printed on antique book paper and bound in gold-stamped cloth. It was printed by Portland's Southworth–Anthoensen Press, based at 105 Middle Street. It was on sale for $5 at the time of its initial release. Shipbuilding Days and Tales of the Sea, in Old North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine (1924) Shipbuilding Days in Casco Bay, 1727–1890: Being Footnotes to the Maritime History of Maine (1929) whom he described as "the one woman".

He was a member of Yarmouth's First Baptist Church, which moved to a new (the current) building at today's 346 Main Street in 1889. Up until the age of seven, he attended the North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse on Hillside Street. He was a deacon at the Main Street church, and was also a member of the Free and Accepted Masons (both Blue Lodge and Chapter). He was 32nd-degree and a Past Master and Past High Priest. In addition, he was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.

In 1940, Rowe was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Maine.

Death Rowe died in 1955, aged about 73. He is interred in Yarmouth's Riverside Cemetery. His wife of 47 years survived him by nine years, and is buried alongside him.