History of Piscataquis County, Maine: from Its Earliest Settlement to 1880 Amasa Loring
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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Maine History Documents Special Collections 1880 History of Piscataquis County, Maine: From Its Earliest Settlement to 1880 Amasa Loring Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistory Part of the History Commons Repository Citation Loring, Amasa, "History of Piscataquis County, Maine: From Its Earliest Settlement to 1880" (1880). Maine History Documents. 33. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistory/33 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine History Documents by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COUNTY MAP. HISTORY OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY, MAINE. From its Earliest Settlement to 1880. BY REV. AMASA LORING. ' The hills are dearest, which our childish feet Have climbed the earliest; and the streams most sweet Are ever those at which our young lips drank — Stooped to their waters o'er the grassy bank." Whittier. PORTLAND, ME.; HOYT, FOGG & DONHAM, Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1880, by AMASALOBING, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. PRINTED BY B. THUBSTON AND CO., PORTLAND, MAINE. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introduction, Design, Sources of help - - 9 CHAPTER II. Situation, Extent, Boundaries - 13 CHAPTER III Natural scenery, Mountains, Lakes, Rivers - 15 CHAPTER IV. Natural resources, Farming land, Timber, Water- power, Quarries, Mines 21 CHAPTER V. Sales, Grants, Surveys - 25 CHAPTER VI. How, When, By whom, first entered, Blood, Townes, Chase - 28 CHAPTER Vil. Dover, Proprietors, First settlers, A. Blood, Townes, Dows, Longleys, Lambert, Dwelley, Chamberlain, Dea. Eowe, Incorporation, Grist-mill, Factory, Shire-town, Edes' paper. Rail road, Business and professional men 34 CHAPTER VIII Sebec, Sale, Mills, First settlers, Incorporation, Dr. Boynton, Village, Professional men 60 CHAPTER IX. Milo, Purchase, First settlers, Incorporation, Mills, Growth, Professional men - 66 CHAPTER X. Sangerville, Water-power, First settlers, Mills, Incor poration, Leading men, Lost child, Growth, Meeting-house, Clarks, Factory, Col. Oakes, Bursely, Professional men 73 CHAPTER XL Atkinson, Purchase, First settlers, Dr. Snow, Incor poration, Library, Crosby, Mills, Blake's disappearance, Elder Harvey - - - 90 CHAPTER XII. Guilford, Water-power, Purchase, First settlers, In corporation, Schools, Minister, Orchards, Leading men, Villages, Bridges, Fatal accident, Growth, Factory, Railroad, Gold mine, Physicians - 95 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. Foxcroft, Purchase, First settlers, Mills built, Chamberlain & Bacon removed, First Sabbath meeting, Incorpo ration, Distillery, J. and M. Bradbury, Court held, Forbes family, Bridge built, S. Chamberlain, Holmes, Mr. Williams, Academy, Mayo's factory, Professional men CHAPTER XIV. Brownville, Sale, First settlers, Mills built, Dr. Wil- kins, Rev. H. May, Incorporation, Traders, Slate quarries 135 CHAPTER XV. Williamsburg, Proprietor, First settlement, M. Greenleaf's book and map, Incorporation, Preaching, Division, W. Hatch, M. and E. Greenleaf, Hemmingway's disappoint ment, Barnard, Soil, Water-power, First settlers, Incorporated, Slate quarries, Unincorporated - 140 CHAPTER XVI. Abbot, First settlement, Mill, Douty & Oakes, Gower, Incorporation, Upper bridge, Fatal casualties, Other mills, Railroad, Lower bridge - - 147 CHAPTER XVII. Medford, Water-power, First settlers, Incorpora tion, Kilmarnock, Gen. Boyd - - 160 CHAPTER XVIII. Parkman, First settlers, Mills, Pingree, E. An drews, Soule, Other mills, Incorporation, Elder Hall on temper ance, Dr. Parkman, Pease's mills, Professional men 163 CHAPTER XIX. Bingham Purchase, Wellington, First settlers, Mills, Incorporation, Kingsbury - - 170 CHAPTER XX. Blanchard, First entrance, Rafting, Plundering, Purchase, Incorporation, Change, Railroad 174 CHAPTER XXI. Monson, Early settlers, Mills built, Cong, church, Incorporation, Dea. Goodell, A. Greenwood, Dr. Davison, Post- offlce, Store, Dea. Robinson, Meeting-house, Kidder's swindle, Academy. Fires, Slate, Semi-centennial, Hardships, Fatal acci dents, Physicians 180 CHAPTER XXII. Orneville, Purchase, Settlement, Mills built, In corporation, Embarrassment, Judge Orne, Elder Home, Elder Lord, Name changed, J. A. Hoxie - - 196 CHAPTER XXIII. Greenville, Grant, Settlement, Mills built, Steam boat, Incorporation, Growth - 201 CHAPTER XXIV. Shirley, Sale, Settlement, Mills, Incorporation, School land, Store, Annexation, Wilson, Grant, Proprietors, Set tlement, Mills, Elliotsville, Proprietors, Settlers, Incorporation - 206 CHAPTER XXV. Unincorporated places, Bowerbank, Proprietors, Settled, Howard, Sale, Settlers, Mills, Katahdin Iron Works, Grant, Thomas and Davis, Smith, Pingree, Hinkley & Edgerly - 215 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER XXVI. Stirring events, Indian scare, March to Bangor, Cold seasons, Great fire ...... 222 CHAPTER XXVII. Ecclesiastical sketches: Baptist, Congregational ism Free Baptist, Methodist, Universalist, Christian Baptist, Adventist - 233 CHAPTER XXVIII. Temperance Reform, Moral suasion, Washing- tonianism, Prohibition - 262 CHAPTER XXIX. Military organizations, Companies, Regiments, Officers, Trainings and musters, Our warriors, Revolutionary, Of 1S12, Mexican war, Civil war - - 269 CHAPTER XXX. Fraternal associations: Free Masons, Sons of Tem perance, Odd Fellows, Good Templars, Grangers 270 CHAPTER XXXI. Miscellaneous: Steadman the imposter, Railroad accident at Low's bridge, An old time anecdote, Uncle John and the bear, The colonel and the ensign, Professional and educated men, County officers up to 1880 282 CHAPTER XXXII. Conclusion 299 A HISTORY OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. IT is proposed in the following pages, to sketch a brief ge ographical view of Piscataquis County; to state its early sur veys, grants, proprietors and settlers; to present its natural resources: and to detail the progress of its pecuniary, social, literary and religious interests. We also hope to rescue from oblivion, those incidents of historical value, which are fast and forever departing to. the grave, with those hoary head's, who in the sprightliness of their childhood and youth both wit nessed and helped to enact them. These towns which compose it, have a history. So has every place which man has ex plored, or civilization entered. But for three-fourths of a century, time's busy pencil has been obliterating the past, in painting the present; and much that would enrich these sketches must slumber on in the deep sleep of unrecorded and forgotten history. Only when the chronicles of life have been carefully kept, can we say: " We are inheritors of all the past." But all the dim footprints of these hardy pioneers have not been blotted out. Much that they told to their children, deeply engraven on the retentive tablets of early childhood, still abides with the surviving. With great pleasure I refer to Henry B. Sargent of Milo, Ezekiel Chase of Sebec, Eben Lambert and Mordecai Mitchell of Dover, Mrs. Sarah J. Greeley of Foxcroft, and Jefferson P. Moor of Abbot, who 2 10 HISTORY OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. have furnished facts and data still remembered by them. With praiseworthy readiness, the town clerks, so far as re quested, have placed their town records before me. It should be added that the record of children's births, when the place thereof is given, becomes, in the lapse of time, of great historic value. The late Robert Low of Guilford, B. C. Goss of Sangerville, and Eben Greenleaf of Williams burg, have been examples of carefulness in this respect. Family records, too, possess a historical value, reaching far beyond the circle recorded in them. Several old family Bible records have done good service in settling dates of early set tlements, which could not have been otherwise easily deter mined. By the courtesy of the late J. S. Holmes Esq., the records of the Piscataquis Historical Society have been placed at my disposal. This was formed in 1824, while the first settlers of Foxcroft and Dover were living, to preserve the early his torical incidents of that vicinity; and I have been essentially aided by them in compiling the histories of these towns. This record narrowly escaped the flames, when Mr. Holmes' office took fire, and thankful may we all be for its rescue. By request, Capt. S. Chamberlain prepared a brief sketch of the early settlement of Foxcroft. This is preserved en tire in the town records, and has been drawn from, in com piling the history of that town. So also have the records of the proprietors of the town of Foxcroft, kept by Col. J. E. Foxcroft, and also some of his manuscript letters. The late Robert Low, Esq., kept a brief memorandum of events in the early settlement of Guilford. The writer, in his early boyhood, enjoyed the luxury of hearing it read. It was afterward burnt in the conflagration of Mr. Low's build ings, and he reproduced it, as best he could, from memory. This also has been examined, and though of substantial value, I am constrained to say, that "the old was better." C. A. Everett Esq. of Dover, who has made the study of "land titles" in this county a specialty, has rendered very important assistance from his "plans," notes, and sketches. INTRODUCTION. 11 The writer also is largely indebted to Greenleaf's Survey of Maine, published in 1829, for historical data of great value, and now not easily obtained, for this work,