Barnes, Thomas, (3)

Barnes, Thomas, (3), was the "father of Universalism in Maine." The date of his birth is not recorded, but he had arrived at maturity previous to 1772, about which time he embraced the Universalist faith, and soon began preaching it in Maine. In 1789 he removed to Oxford, Mass.; in 1792 to Woodstock, Conn.; and in 1799 settled in Poland, Me. In 1802 he was ordained over the united societies of Norway, New Gloucester, Falmouth, and Gray, Me. In 1804, in Norway, he finished the first Universalist meeting-house in Maine. His after-history and the date of his death are not accessible. See Whittemore, A Modern History of Universalism, p. 316, 390.