Dear Sun Spots: I’m writing to your readers for help.

I would like to speak to anyone who could please give me information on the Healey Asylum in Lewiston.

I’ve already contacted the Auburn Historical Society and Lewiston and Auburn colleges. They both had little information.

I don’t want to open a can of worms or upset anyone. I do know that in 1946 it was an orphanage for babies. It was also a boarding home where unwed mothers could pay a fee of $10 a week for the care of their babies while they worked. I also know that a lot of people did not talk about it because you just didn’t talk about it then. So, any information I could please get would be great. Please call me at (207) 753-1408. – Mary Deraps, No Town.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, according to a Jan. 13, 2005, article by business writer Carol Coultas, Intown Manor, a residential care facility, is a brick-and-granite building on the National Register of Historic Places and located on Ash Street. It was built in 1892 by the Catholic order of the Grey Nuns as an orphanage and named Healey Asylum, for Bishop James A. Healey of Portland. It operated as an orphanage until 1973, when it became a boarding home. It was scheduled to close this year.

Sun Journal News Assistant Anna Rodrigue kindly discovered many articles on the building. Thanks to her research, Sun Spots has learned that the day the Healey Asylum opened in 1893, there were 100 beds and but one child. More children soon came and according to an April 20, 1943, article from The Lewiston Daily Sun, they later cared for hundreds of boys. According to the article, their capacity at the time was 180 and they cared for boys from 3 to 12 years old from across the state. “They receive care as near like home care as the Sisters can provide, schooling, and supervised recreation. If their parents are living, the boys may visit them from Saturday to Sunday evening.” According to a Jan. 23, 1945, article in the Lewiston Evening Journal, a partial state of quarantine was in effect, with about 19 of the about 175 at the home being kept under observation in the Lewiston Health Department’s efforts to prevent any outbreak of a scarlet fever epidemic like the one that closed many schools in Augusta.

If you are interested, you may learn more by looking at the newspapers on film at both Lewiston and Auburn Public libraries.

Dear Sun Spots: Is there a song called “Be Not Afraid?” I heard it before but don’t know where to look for it. Thank you. – Mrs. B.L., No Town.

Answer: Sun Spots believes the following are the lyrics you are seeking. You may want to check the religious section of your local music shop.

“Be Not Afraid,” Words and music: Bob Dufford, S.J.



You shall cross the barren desert,

but you shall not die of thirst.

You shall wander far in safety,

though you do not know the way.

You shall speak your words in foreign lands,

and all will understand,

You shall see the face of God and live.

Be not afraid,

I go before you always,

Come follow Me,

and I shall give you rest.

If you pass through raging waters

in the sea, you shall not drown.

If you walk amidst the burning flames,

you shall not be harmed.

If you stand before the pow’r of hell

and death is at your side,

know that I am with you, through it all

Be not afraid,

I go before you always,

Come follow Me,

and I shall give you rest.

Blessed are your poor,

for the Kingdom shall be theirs.

Blest are you that weep and mourn,

for one day you shall laugh.

And if wicked men insult and hate you,

all because of Me,

blessed, blessed are you!

Be not afraid,

I go before you always,

Come follow Me,

and I shall give you rest.



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