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Belfast Historical
Society
And Museum |
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Phineas
Parkhurst
Quimby
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10 Market Street
Belfast, ME 04915
Phone: (207) 338-9229
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Biographical Information |
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Phineas Parkhurst Quimby was
born on February 16th, 1802 in Lebanon, New Hampshire. He
was the sixth of the seven children of Jonathan Quimby and Susanna
(White) Quimby. Jonathan was a skilful |
Portrait of
Phineas P. Quimby |
blacksmith by trade and
relocated his growing family to |
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Belfast, Maine in 1804. The
original Quimby home was located on the current site of the Belfast
Free Library on High Street. The Quimby blacksmith shop was
situated directly across the road from their home and together they
perched on Quimby Hill with a splendid view of Belfast Bay.
After many changes and alterations the original Jonathan Quimby
house was razed ca 1970.
Phineas Parkhurst Quimby,
known as "Park" to his friends and neighbors possessed an
extraordinary, inquisitive, perceptive and inventive mind.
Although the availability of a local public education was meager at
best during his formative years, he continued to educate himself by
focused observation and reading many books. He had a natural
aptitude towards anything mechanical and followed his oldest brother
William into the world of clock making. William Quimby
apprenticed with the first clockmaker in Belfast, Abel Eastman, and
took over Eastman's business about 1820. Park apprenticed with
his brother William and made beautiful clocks. An original P.
P. Quimby clock is a rare and highly desirable treasure.
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In 1836, Quimby teamed up with
another clockmaker Timothy Chase, and together they designed, built,
and installed the tower clock in the First Church of Belfast on
October 3rd of that year. The iron- |
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work for the clock mechanism
was made in a machine shop at |
First Church of
Belfast. |
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the Head of The Tide in
Belfast. This clock is the fourth oldest tower clock in the
State of Maine and the oldest tower clock built by Maine
clockmakers. As of this writing in 2004, 168 years later, the
Quimby & Chase tower clock is still marking the passage of time atop
the First Church.
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During his lifetime, Quimby
obtained four letters of patent on his inventions. President
Andrew Jackson personally signed two of those patents. |
The P. P.
Quimby family
home located at the SW
corner of Court and Pearl
Streets, Belfast, Maine |
Professionally, he was a
clockmaker, a jeweler, a daguerreo-typist, merchant, |
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philosopher, mesmerist, and
finally, a Healing Physician.
MESMERISM INVESTIGATED
In 1836, Charles Poyen St.
Sauveur, a French disciple of Franz or Friedrich Anton Mesmer gave a
public demonstration of mesmerism (an early form of hypnotism) in
Belfast which captured Quimby's attention. While experimenting
with two of his friends, Quimby discovered he too, could mesmerize.
Of this first experiment he writes:
"So we sat the subject in
the chair, the gentleman stood in front of him and I behind him,
and the gentleman tried to draw him out of the chair; but he could
not start him. Then we reversed positions, and I drew the
subject out of the chair. This showed that I had the greater
power or will. This ended the first experiment."
Two brothers, Henry and Lucius
Burkmar were particularly receptive to Quimby's mesmeric influence.
His greatest success was with Lucius and together they traveled
throughout Maine and New Brunswick giving their own public
demonstrations in the early to middle 1840's.
INTERMEDIATE PERIOD
These early experiments with
Lucius Burkmar provided Quimby with an open window to the mind.
While in the mesmeric sleep, Lucius could clairvoyantly travel
through time and space, see objects at a distance, read other minds,
and diagnose and prescribe simple herbal remedies for treating
diseases. It was through working with Lucius that Quimby
learned of the limitations of mesmerism and could see a deeper
spiritual science at work. He reached this conclusion:
"The capacity of
thought-reading is the common extent of mesmerism.
Clairvoyance is very rare and can be easily tested by blindfolding
the subject and giving him a book to read. If he can read
without seeing, that is conclusive evidence that he has
independent sight."
Quimby also discovered he too
had this independent sight and no longer needed his subject, Lucius.
Unlike young Burkmar, Quimby didn't go into a trance and he didn't
prescribe any medicines.
CONSTRUCTIVE PERIOD
From 1847 until his passing in
1866, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby devoted his life to healing the sick.
In the Fall of 1859 he opened an office at the International House
Hotel in the city of Portland, Maine. His youngest son George
Albert Quimby worked as his office clerk. Additional
secretarial services were supplied by two of his new patients, the
sisters Emma and Sarah Ware.
Dr. Quimby, as he was now
known, treated over 12,000 patients during those years. Most
notable were Warren Felt Evans, a practitioner and author of mental
healing; Julius and Annetta (Seabury) Dresser, early organizers of
New Thought; and Mary M. Patterson (Mary Baker Eddy), of the
Christian Science movement.
Suffering from overwork and
exhaustion, Quimby closed the Portland practice in the late Spring
of 1865 and retired to his home in Belfast. His health
prevented him from writing a book on his science. In the
middle of November of that year, he was |
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forced to dismiss the
remainder of his Belfast patients. He made his transition on
January 16, 1866. |
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The Quimby
family burial
plot at Grove Cemetery,
Belfast, Maine |
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Belfast Historical Society &
Museum—The Quimby Family Collection |
# 86024
Quimby, Augusta (A. S. Frederick) - Collection of 7 scrapbooks of
newspaper clippings of obituaries (mostly Belfast) 1885-1928.
# 86024 Quimby, Augusta—Collection of newspaper clippings covering events
leading to WWI, Waldo County soldiers; Belfast soldiers, etc. Also notes
of the Militia of Maine (newspaper clippings pasted over most of these
notes).
# 86024 Quimby, Augusta—Tablet, handwritten. 1906 talk by Augusta Quimby
Frederick, “Venice, Ancient & Modern”.
# 86024 Quimby, Augusta—Tablet, handwritten. 1907-1914 talk by Augusta
Quimby Frederick, “California Missions”.
# 86024 Quimby, George Albert—4 scrapbooks of columns written by George A.
Quimby for various newspapers; “Our George” columns.
#86024 Quimby, George A.—Scrapbook of newspaper clippings of different
authors including; Mark Twain, George A. Quimby.
# 86024 Quimby, George A.—Scrapbook containing a collection of newspaper
articles by various authors of interest to George.
# 86024 Quimby, George A.—Scrapbook containing a collection of “Our
George” clippings, 1883-1885.
# 200319 Quimby, George A.—1). Letter, 1807, from grandfather Chase to his
wife Adelaide. (George’s wife Adelaide Chase Quimby). 2). Booklet “Notes
Along the Way” by George Quimby about a trip from Maine to the Thousand
Islands in Sept. 1884 by rail and steamboat. 3). Copies of Republican
Journal newspaper, 9/8/1836 and June 1905 (High school graduation of
Katharine & Elizabeth Quimby, George’s daughters). 4). “Old Houses of
Belfast” (100 years old or more, written in 1911, updated by Elizabeth
Mosher). 5). “Recollections of the Civil War” read by Augusta Quimby on
12/17/1917 at the Unitarian Alliance Women. 6). Augusta Quimby’s journal
of newspaper clippings 1913-1914. 7). Maine Working Man’s Advocate
7/24/1833. 8). Library of Congress letter to Mrs. Katharine Quimby Carter
& Elizabeth Pineo acknowledging the gift of Quimby papers. Dec. 21, 1953.
# 200319 Quimby, Augusta—Scrapbook of newspaper clippings; Col. Philo
Hersey information 1913-1914.
# 86024 Quimby, Augusta– Scrapbook of newspaper clippings 1917.
# 86024 Quimby, John Haraden– Journal of life of John Haraden Quimby
starting with his marriage to Annie M. Noyes June 21, 1854—June 28, 1860.
# 86024 Quimby, John H.– Journal entitled: “A Condensed Account of a Trip
Across the Ocean-With All the Notes, Items, Incidents and Accidents
Connected With the Same.” Handwritten June 30, 1874-Sept. 1874.
# 86024 Quimby, John H.– Journal, handwritten: “A Trip to California and
Back; and What I Saw in 30 Days or More” April, 1891.
# 200319 Book: The Quimby Manuscripts. Edited by Horatio W. Dresser,
introduction by Ervin Seale, Julian Press, 1961.
# 200319 Book: The Quimby Manuscripts, Thomas Y. Crowell Co. publishers.
Edited by Horatio W. Dresser, 1921.
# 200319 Book: The Philosophy of P. P. Quimby, by Annetta Gertrude
Dresser, 3rd edition, 1899.
# 200319 Book: Mary Baker Eddy, by Ernest Sutherland Bates, PHD and John
Dittemore, Alfred A. Knopf NY, 1932.
# 200319 McClure’s Magazine December 1906. Editorial announcement Mary
Baker Eddy; The Story of Her Life and the History of Christian Science.
# 200319 Tintype photo album-miniature– 16 “jewel” tintypes of Quimby
family—P. P. Quimby included.
# 030035.1 Computer CD—Phineas Parkhurst Quimby Concordance compiled by
Ron Hughes 2003.
# 030035.2 Quimby, John H.– Reproduction of Belfast Hydrant Engine Company
#2—1849 minutes and fire records kept by John H. Quimby.
# 030035.3 Computer CD—Phineas P. Quimby Historical Newspaper articles.
# 951108 Book: Phineas Parkhurst Quimby—The Complete Writings, 3 volume
set , Ervin Seale, editor, DeVorss & Company 1988.
1 pair wooden clock hands from town clock in First Church tower—P. P.
Quimby and Timothy Chase clockmakers. |
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Additional Resources |
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Manuscript Collection of the Library of
Congress, Washington D. C. |
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Historical Manuscript Collection of the
Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University, Boston,
MA |
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International New Thought Alliance,
Addington Archives and Research Center. 5002 East Broadway
Road, Mesa, AZ. 85206. (480) 830-2461.
Website:
http://newthoughtalliance.com/archives.htm Email: intaarchives@aol.com |
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Belfast Historical Society and Museum.
10 Market Street, Belfast, ME. 04915. (207) 338-9229.
Email: belfastmus@yahoo.com |
Belfast Historical
Society and Museum |
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On The Internet: A comprehensive
web site, which has the complete texts of the Phineas Parkhurst
Quimby writings and much biographical and other materials relating
to "Park" Quimby. Also, a new electronic concordance of P. P.
Quimby's writings is available for purchase on CD. Web Site:
http://www.ppquimby.com
Produced by:
Ron Hughes for the Belfast Historical Society
and Museum. 10 Market Street, Belfast, Maine
04915. Phone: (207) 338-9229.
Copyright © 2004 Ron Hughes
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