The Seminary Advocate, 1856 - 1864

The Seminary Advocate was a newspaper published by the Freewill Baptists between 1856 and 1864, in Augusta, Maine, under the editorship of Oren B. Cheney. Its primary purpose was to be a source of information and fund raising for the new Maine State Seminary (later, Bates College), and most of the articles and items within its pages were about the Seminary and its doings. The paper also served as an organ for religious instruction, and provided news for people within the denomination, on topics such as marriages, deaths, general church news, and the like.

Publication began with the January, 1856 issue, and the final issue held in the Archives is from April, 1864. This final, April 1864, issue was retitled "The College Crescent" and had the subheading "Published by the Students." It is not known if this was the final issue of the paper. (The college's newspaper, The Bates Student, did not begin publishing until 1873.)

The paper was published monthly in 1856, and from two to six times a year thereafter. This is not a complete run of the paper: the Archives is always willing to accept donations of any missing issues.