A pioneering Baptist theological institute that shaped American divinity education before merging with Bates College in 1908.
Cobb Divinity School was founded in 1840 by Free Will Baptists as a graduate bible school and library department of Parsonsfield Seminary. The institution pioneered one of the first Bible school models in the United States. Throughout its 68-year history, it relocated multiple times—from Parsonsfield to Dracut, Massachusetts (1842–1844), Whitestown, New York (1844–1854), and New Hampton, New Hampshire (1854–1870)—before settling in Lewiston as part of Bates College in 1870. Renamed Cobb Divinity School in 1888 to honor Jonathan Leavitt Haskell Cobb's $25,000 donation, the school maintained a distinctive Free Will Baptist identity until its merger with Bates College in 1908.
As a graduate theological institution, Cobb Divinity School offered advanced religious and biblical studies. The school developed a notable scholarly exchange with the University of Chicago, with theology students and faculty regularly moving between the two institutions. Its curriculum and faculty were absorbed into Bates College's Religion Department following the 1908 merger, preserving much of its academic legacy within the college structure.
The school produced influential religious leaders and educators, including Oren B. Cheney (1846), an abolitionist and founder of Bates College; George H. Ball (1847), who taught President James A. Garfield; and John Fullonton (1849), who served as Professor and Dean at Cobb. Other notable graduates include Alfred W. Anthony, a pastor and professor; Lewis Penick Clinton (1897), an African Bassa prince and missionary; and Frank Sandford, a preacher and religious founder.