Southport, it seems, has a mystery benefactor.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say Southport’s school children have a mystery benefactor.

For the past 25 years, Southport students who graduate from the Boothbay Region High School are eligible to receive a scholarship that was established by Thomas M. Bryant.  

Bryant was never a resident of Southport and seems to have lived most of his life in the Boston area. The scholarship is named for his father, Arthur S. Bryant, and it was created as one of Thomas Bryant’s last wishes when he died in 1991. It provides that $500 be awarded to a graduate or graduates who are “most worthy and needy of financial assistance to help them in getting more advanced training and education.” 

Each year the school and the Southport selectmen review a list of possible recipients. And the results are announced at awards night each spring, according to Heather Lorrain, guidance office secretary for the high school.

According to Gerry Gamage, Southport selectman, the drop in interest rates has meant that in some years, the town has made up the difference if Bryant’s trust wasn’t able to fund the full $500.

But trying to find out just who Thomas Bryant was and why someone who didn’t live on the island decided to remember future generations of Southport’s children is no easy task.

The basic facts about Thomas Bryant are these: he was born in the Boston area sometime around 1905. His father was Arthur Seward Bryant and his mother was named Mellie Marble. At the time of the 1920 census, Thomas (age 15) was living with his parents in the family home in Quincy, Massachusetts.

After that, little about Thomas Bryant’s life story can be found. He graduated from Proctor Academy in New Hampshire in 1923, enlisted in the U.S. Army on Aug. 25, 1942, and died in Massachusetts at the age of 86 in August 1991.

But every year since his death he provides one or two of Southport’s graduates with a bit of extra money as they continue their education. Like a gentle pat on the shoulder from someone who long ago felt a connection to the island. Is it unusual?

“Not as unusual as one might think,” said Gamage. “But still nice that he wanted to do it.”