USA > Maine > Washington County > Milltown > Annals of Calais, Maine, and St. Stephen, New Brunswick; including the village of Milltown, Me., and the present town of Milltown, N.B. > Part 1
USA > Maine > Washington County > Calais > Annals of Calais, Maine, and St. Stephen, New Brunswick; including the village of Milltown, Me., and the present town of Milltown, N.B. > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01187 1354
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014
https://archive.org/details/annalsofcalaisma00know
OF
CALAIS, MAINE
AND)
ST. STEPHEN, NEW BRUNSWICK;
INCLUDING THE VILLAGE OF MILLTOWN, ME., AND THE PRESENT TOWN OF MILLTOWN, N. B.
BY REV. I. C. KNOWLTON.
CALAIS : J. A. SEARS, PRINTER. 1875.
PREFACE.
1136802
In 1790, the population of Calais is said to have been only sixteen ; in 1800, it was about 100; in 1810, some 200 ; in 1820, 418 ; in 1830, 1686 ; in 1840, 2934 ; in 1850, 4749 ; in 1860, 5621 ; in 1870, 5944. The valu- ation of taxable property in Calais in 1851, was $824,- 932 ; in 1856, $1,180,616 ; in 1866, $1,262,552; in 1874, $2,039,512 ; but these figures represent only about two thirds of the actual, market value of the property. Calais was incorporated as a town, in 1809 ; and as a city, in 1851. The parish of St. Stephen, in- corporated as a town in 1871, and divided into two towns, St. Stephen and Milltown, in 1873, has from the first had a larger population and more wealth than Calais. At present, the three town have about 14,000 inhabitants, and possess at least $6,000,000 worth of property ; and the growth, though not rapid, is steady. It seemed to the writer that a locality of this size and importance deserved to have its history res- cued from oblivion ; and this volume is an attempt in that direction. The task has been difficult and la- borious, and the materials on record, scanty. If the work is defective,-if in the thousands of names and dates given, there are some mistakes,-still this book will keep the fathers in honored remembrance, and aid the future historian in preparing a more perfect work.
CALAIS, Mar. 15, 1875. I. C. K.
INDEX.
CHAPTER.
PAGE.
I.
The Beginning,
-
- 7
II.
Aborigines,
-
14
III. Pioneers,-Calais, - -
17
IV. Pioneers,-St. Stephen,
23
V.
Survey and Sale of Calais,
32
VI.
Primeval Age .- 1790 to 1800, - 35
40
VIII. IX.
"Struggle for Life."-1810 to 1820,
47 60
X.
W. M. Church, Milltown, N. B., - 66
68
XII.
Anglican Churches,
75
XIII.
The Bar, - - -
80
XIV. F. & A. Masons, -
-
96
XV. Congregational Churches,
104
XVI. Physicians, -
-
-
115
XVII. Unitarian Church, -
-
-
120
XVIII. XIX.
1st Baptist Church,-Calais, - 134
-
142
XXII.
Universalist Church, Milltown & Calais, 146 Shipping, 160 -
XXIII.
Bridges, -
-
-
-
165
XXIV.
Literature, - - -
-
167
XXV.
Benevolent Societies, -
-
172
XXVI. Railways, - -
-
175
XXVII. Roman Catholic, -
178
XXVIII.
Presbyterian Church,-St. Stephen, Mills, - - - - 2nd Baptist Church,-Calais, -
187
XXXI.
Smuggling, -
-
-
-
192
XXXII.
New Churches, -
-
-
.
XXXIII.
Cemeteries,
-
-
-
-
198
Appendix,
-
-
-
- 200
-
-
180
XXIX.
184
XXX.
195
XX. XXI.
Newspapers, - - - 129 -
Banks and Insurance, -
W. M. Church, St. Stephen,
XI. M. E. Church, Galais and Milltown,
VII. Organization .- 1800 to 1810, -
ANNALS
OF
CALAIS AND ST. STEPHEN.
nnals
OF
CALAIS AND ST. STEPHEN.
I
THE BEGINNING.
Two hundred and seventy-five years ago, North America was an entirely unbroken wilderness. Except a feeble colony at St. Augustine, there were no cities, towns or Caucassian homes on all the vast domain. Its magnificent forests and prairies. the hoarded wealth of its exhaustless mines, the multifarious privileges of its countless harbors, rivers and water-falls, were still wait- ing for the cultivated mind and cunning hand of the European emigrant. Where the great commercial and manufacturing towns would be built, no human being could then decide. Yet at that early day, Calais and St. Stephen came near being doomed to languish forev- er as the mere inconsequential suburbs of the great Capital of French Acadie. The pages of History de- scribe the danger and tell how it quietly passed away.
8
THE BEGINNING.
The story begins Nov. 8, 1603. On that eventful day, Henry IV of France, influenced by both religious and political considerations, granted to Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, a Patent of all the territory in Ameri- ca lying between the fortieth and forty-sixth parallels of north latitude. The king also appointed him Lieu- tenant General of all the military forces in this vast domain, and in all respects invested him with Vice-re- gal authority.
Thus ennobled, and stimulated by the hope of fame, princely dignity, and a great harvest of wealth to be reaped in the fur trade, De Monts immediately began to enlist a company to emigrate, and to make the need- ful preparations for their departure to the new world. In five months the arduous task was accomplished. The company included himself, Baron de Poutrincourt, Count d'Orville, the scholarly Samuel Champlain, Catholic priests, Huguenot ministers, and about a hun- dred others,-sailors, soldiers, artizans and servants. These intended founders of a new empire sailed from Havre de Grace, April 7, 1604, and safely crossed the Atlantic.
Having reached America, the next care of De Monts was to find a suitable location on which to build the magnificent metropolis of his new and great empire. After carefully examining the densely wooded but un- auspicious coast of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the adventurers entered Passamaquoddy Bay. Here,
9
THE BEGINNING.
near the mouth of La Riviere Des Etechemins, they dis- covered a small, attractive island, which with pious emo- tions they named St. Croix,-the Holy Cross. This island now called Neutral or Dochet, is in Latitude 45 degrees, 6 minutes N. and Longitude 68 degrees, 7 minutes W. and very near the south-eastern boundary of Calais. It was at that time about a mile in length, and thickly covered with cedar trees.
It was Summer. The genial air was fragrant with the sweet odors of the forest. The birds were singing their songs of love. The river seemed alive with fish and water fowl ; while moose and deer in large numbers roamed near by in the woods. Here was a Paradise ; or at least one of the "Isles of the Blest." And here at once they decided to locate and build their great city. The water around the island would be a safe bar- rier against savage foes, and a commodious place for shipping. Wharves would line the shore,-palaces and temples would rise on the land. Wealth, luxury, art, science, religion, would adorn and glorify the gorgeous Capital of the new Realm. Never was there a location more inviting and promising.
Accordingly in July, 1604, they landed on this beautiful island and began their work. Trees were felled, streets and squares laid out, foundations arrang- ed, houses erected, cannon mounted, and even a small house of worship and a cemetery provided. The site of .this resting place for the dead, is now unknown. Prob-
10
THE BEGINNING.
ably it has been entirely washed away by the encroach- ing tide. This incipient city was on the upper or north- western end of the island, where some faint traces of its foundations are still visible. In the Autumn, a por- tion of the party returned to France for supplies and recruits, and only seventy-nine persons were left to guard the little village and to test the quality of the coming Winter. There were no other white people with- in a thousand miles of them ; but they were well clothed and provisioned, destitute of fear and sanguine in ex- pectation. Hardship, suffering, death, were not in their pleasant programme.
Winter approached. The fierce winds arose and wrenched the faded leaves from the frightened trees. The air grew sharp and cutting. The birds vanished ;- fled to their southern homes. The snow sifted down from its exhaustless storehouse, and wrapped the dead and froz- en earth in its white shroud. Great blocks of ice were piled on the shore, or hurried by in the black angry water. Communication with the main land became difficult, and fresh water could not be easily obtained. Houses and fires could not keep out the awful cold. It became so intense that the wine of the emigrants con- gealed,and had to be dealt out by weight. Day and night these poor exiles from sunny France shivered as with ague. Paralyzing scurvy attacked them. Nearly all were sick, and before Spring, thirty-five of them were carried to the dreary cemetery. The romance ended.
11
THE BEGINNING.
Every one of the emaciated and frost bitten survivors was fully convinced that that bleak island was not a suitable place for a great city ; and in August, 1605, they all left, never more to return. Thus Calais and St. Stephen escaped being the suburbs of the Capital of Acadie ; an empire that never existed and a city that never was built. De Monts not long after was depriv- ed of his Patent; and the French emigrants found a more congenial home at Port Royal, N. S.
The fact that Dochet Island is the place where De Monts tried to locate his colony has been proved beyond a doubt. By the Treaty of 1783, it was agreed by Great Britain and the United States that the St. Croix River should be the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick. Subsequently however a doubt arose involving the question, "which of the larger rivers of Maine is the St. Croix." All admitted that it was the river near whose mouth was De Monts' island; but where was that island? The few white settlers in Washington County knew nothing about it, and Cham- plain's maps were too imperfect to give a correct idea of the locality. The changes wrought by nearly two cen- turies of forest growth and decay,-of rasping tides and chemical decomposition, had of course obliterated every visible vestige of the old French settlement. But search was made, and in 1798, after a long and careful examination, the Commissioners appointed to trace the boundary line, discovered beneath the underbrush, sedge
12
THE BEGINNING.
and sand on Dochet Island, the unmistakable remains of the foundations of De Monts' houses. That settled the question. Here was the island, and "on either side of it" flowed the real St. Croix. On that small and dreary islet, now not half so large as then, within an hour's ride of the business centres of Calais and St. Stephen, the people of one of the first white settlements on the Continent north of Florida, pitched their tents and tried to dwell.
One pleasant memorial of that unfortunate colony will ever remain. The ancient Indian name of the bay and river was Peskadamiakkanti, or as we spell and pro- nounce it, Passamaquoddy. The word it is said, means "leads up to the open fields" or places. The "open places" were probably the Schoodic lakes and the in- terval lands around them ; for Schoodic means "open- ed by fire." Some however affirm that Passamaquoddy means the "place of the Pollock ;" and that the Bay was so named from the multitude of this kind of fish in its waters. De Monts or some French explorer be- fore him, named the river, La Reviere Des Etechemins, because the Indians in the vicinity had been called Etechemins. The island on which his settlement was started, he named St. Croix, not for any real or fancied resemblance of a cross in the branches of the river, but for the sacred emblem of his religion. Only persons" endowed with a very lively imagination can see any- thing like a cross, anywhere in the natural scenery of
13
THE BEGINNING.
this region. In the course of years, somehow the name given at first to the island only, slipped off into the riv- er. Thus from the unsuccessful De Monts came the name of our beautiful pathway to the ocean,-La Sainte Croix, the Holy Cross.
For further information on this subject, the reader may consult Williamson's History of Maine, Parkman's Pioneers of France, Holmes' Annals, Vitromille's His- tory of the Abnakis, and Champlain's maps and writ- ings.
14
ABORIGINES.
II ABORIGINES.
A hundred years ago, and during scores of previous centuries, all the territory in and around Calais and St. Stephen was a sombre wilderness. The lakes slept in their earthen beds, and the wide awake rivers hurried along their winding paths, as they do now ; but all the hills and valleys were completely covered, and rounded into beauty by a dense forest. Pine, Spruce, Fir, Ce- dar, Hemlock, Oak, Ash, Beach, Birch, Maple, Pop- lar and Elm trees, many of them very large and tall, grew luxuriantly where are now our meadows, streets and gardens. Here and there in sunny openings, the Blueberry, Whortleberry, Raspberry and Gooseberry, ripened their delicious fruits. The Moose and Deer, the Bear and Caribou, the Wolf and Fox, the Loup-cervier and Catamount, the Rabbit and Squirrel, roamed through the pathless woods, unmolested and happy. The Beaver, Otter, Mink and Muskrat, on the banks of every lake and river, built their homes and reared their offspring, in peace. Geese, ducks, partridges, pigeons and hosts of smaller birds winged the air and made the Summer joyful with their melody. In countless num- bers, Salmon. Shad and Alewives sported in the water. The only human inhabitants were a few families of Etechemin Indians who came and went like the flitting clouds.
15
ABORIGINES.
The Tribe of Red Men residing in the St. Croix Valley, had the name of Openango or Quoddy. Though never numerous, they were scattered along on each side of the river from its mouth to its sources among the Schoodic and Chipetnicook lakes. Their origin to us is entirely unknown. But there is a tradition that they are the descendants of a St. John Indian and a Penob- scot Squaw, who married centuries ago ; and neither be- ing willing to migrate to the home of the other, as a fair compromise they settled on the St. Croix and found- ed a new Tribe. Their language is a dialect of the widely spoken Algonquin ; and their manners and cus- toms are similar to all other Abnakis, though they seem to have ever been a peaceable people. They had camping grounds at and for a mile or more above the head of the tide on each side of the river ; and many a relic of their Stone Age has been found here in the soil. For many years after the first white settlers came, these children of nature, nearly naked in Summer and gro- tesquely clad in skins and blankets in Winter, were often seen, sometimes squatting quietly in their rude Wig- wams, sometimes strolling along in their trails, free, fearless and content.
An early incident illustrating their character and giving a glimpse of frontier life, may be interesting. One day, near the beginning of the present century, a stalwart Indian thirsting for fire-water, entered the house of Clement Lane in Milltown and demanded a
16
ABORIGINES.
drink of rum. On Mrs. Lane's refusing to gratify his thirst, he seized her infant and started for the door. It is not safe for a bad man to meddle with a good wo- man's baby. Quick as thought she snatched the child from his hands, placed it in the cradle and then bravely faced her enemy. Again, with angry words and men- acing gestures, he demanded fire-water Perceiving that remonstrance would be vain, she seized an iron poker and with one well aimed blow prostrated him on the floor. Just then a neighbor came in, and the bleed- ing, frightened savage fled. The heroic mother is said to be still living in one of the Western States.
A remnant of the tribe still occupies its ancient home, but its number is constantly diminishing, and its ultimate extinction is only a question of time. Mean- while it is pleasant and right to state that as a whole, these children of the forest have been kindly treated by the Whites, and have lived in peace with all men. They have never engaged in war against us, nor committed any great crime against our persons or property. They are not industrious, but by hunting, fishing, basket and canoe making, a little farming, and an occasional job in driving logs, they manage to get a subsistence by them deemed comfortable. They are Catholics, but their religion sits lightly on them, and does not inter- fere with their nomadic habits. They enjoy a large de- gree of apathetic happiness, and with true Stoic indif- ference are content to live and die without much fear or hope.
17
PIONEERS .- CALAIS.
III. PIONEERS,-CALAIS.
The settlement of a river valley naturally commen- ces near its mouth. A few white men had located on the shores of Passamaquoddy Bay several years before a single tree had yielded to the axe in Calais or St. Stephen. .
In 1760, it is said, Alexander Nichols, Thomas Fletcher and a Mr. Kown, came up the St. Croix to the head of its tide water, to fish for alewives. They no doubt landed on each side of the river ; and they may have been the first white men that ever visited this locality. Probably they remained only a few days, and went away without a dream of the wealth and resources they left behind.
In 1763, Alexander Hodges, Joseph Parsons and a Mr. Prebble settled at Pleasant Point, and James Boyd and James Chaffrey, on Indian Island. In all proba- bility these were the first, permanent, white settlers in the St. Croix valley. In 1769, James Brown and Jere- miah Frost located at St. Andrews, and William Rick- er in 1771, built himself a home on Moose Island, now Eastport ; and thus these towns had their beginnings.
Tradition affirms that the first white inhabitants of Calais were William Swain from Massachusetts and
18
PIONEERS .- CALAIS.
David Farrell from Ireland. They came previous to 1780, but how long before cannot now be ascertained.
Mr. Swain's cabin was in Milltown near the old Kimball house and not far from the Railway Station. It is said, though by many doubted, that he built the first Saw-mill on the river. The location of this mill is supposed to have been near Goose Rock, a few rods be- low the Calais end of Milltown upper bridge. If such a structure was erected or attempted, it was burned be- fore it went into operation ; and during the . last half century, no trace of it has been visible. Mr. Swain engaged in other business, and ten or fifteen years after moved away. Probably he next located at some point farther down river ; as some of his descendants are said to be still living on Campobello Island.
Mr. Farrell built his cabin not far from the Meth- odist Meeting House, on the land still called the ‘Far- rell lot." His occupation is unknown. Previous to 1793, he was accidentally killed by a falling tree. His body was buried between his house and the river ; but in excavating for the Railway a few years ago, his bones were unearthed and carried to the Cemetery. He left no children ; but a gentleman bearing his name and claiming to be a relative, still resides on the Farrell lot.
The first permanent white resident of Calais, was Daniel Hill. He came here from Jonesport in 1779. A report had been circulating in Machias and vicinity for several years, that near the head of the tide on the
19
PIONEERS .- CALAIS.
St. Croix, there was an abundance of pine timber, fish and game, and that the river up to this point, was navigable for large vessels. Several persons talked of migrating to this promising land ; and at length Mr. Hill piloted by an Indian, came through the woods to Calais. On arriving he perceived at once that the country was even better than the report indicated. Deciding to locate, he built a cabin where the Gravel Pit now is, on Union Mills street, and cleared a small patch of land on Ferry Point. His oldest son, Thomas Hill, who was born Jan. 20th 1773, and who lived al- most a century, often said that when he was about six years old, he saw his father fell the first tree ever cut in Calais. He was probably mistaken in relation to its being the first tree felled ; but he saw his father chop- ping down trees on Ferry Point, and no doubt he was correct respecting his age at that time. His statement therefore fixes the date of the first permanent settlement. It was 1779. Other persons from Machias and vicinity, very soon after, either that year or the next, joined Mr. Hill and made the settlement a neighborhood. But the permanent beginning was in 1779, and the Centennial of Calais will therefore occur in the Summer of 1879.
Daniel Hill is said to have been remarkably strong, agile and fearless. He had been a soldier in some of the old wars against the Indians ; and the Quoddys having learned this fact, although he kindly aided and instructed them in farming, always greatly feared him.
20
PIONEERS .- CALAIS.
A few years after he came here, he joined Jacob Libbey and Jeremiah Frost, in building a Saw-mill. It stood on Porter's Stream, near its mouth, and was the first mill ever erected in this vicinity. The number of men at the "raising," was so small, that the ladies were obliged to lend all their strength in lifting the heavy timbers. Without their aid, the frame could not have been set up. Mr. Hill also imported the first oxen, and first engaged in lumbering. He was an ingenious, energetic, moral man ; and he so trained his children that his posterity largely inherit his good qualities. His children were Daniel of Warwick, Thomas of Cal- ais, Joseph who died young, William still living in Calais, Mrs. Elizabeth Maxwell, Mrs. Charlotte Thomp- son, and Mrs. Polly Millberry, of St. Stephen. Thom- as settled in the southern part of Calais and married Abagail, a sister of Jones Dyer Jr., by whom he had fifteen children, ten of whom are still living; viz. Ansel, Abner, Samuel, William, Thomas P., Stillman, Harrison, Ellis now on the homestead, James and Sophia. The Millberrys, Thompsons and Maxwells, descended from Daniel Hill, are also numerous ; and all cherish with pride the memory of this Patriarch of Cal- ais. And it is worthy of note that they are all good citizens.
About 1780, Samuel, a son of Japhet Hill of Ma- chias, settled in the southern part of Calais, and engaged in farming. He was probably a cousin of Daniel Hill.
1
.
21
PIONEERS .- CALAIS.
He appears to have been a quiet but worthy man. His children were Amos, Stephen, Jasper, Abner, James, Mrs. Lydia Burnham, Mrs. Rice and Mrs. Rebecca Reading. The last named is still living, and from her retentive memory, many of the facts in thishistory were obtained.
In 1784 or the year preceeding, James and Jones Dyer came from Machias and settled in Calais. Their original home appears to have been Providence, R. I. James was accidentally drowned in early manhood. He however left four children ; James, Jr. Samuel now living, Mrs. Chase and Mrs. Westbrook Knight. Jones had been a soldier on the American side in the Revo- lutionary war. His farm was near that now occupied by William Knight. He was a prominent member of society, and was frequently elected to office in town affairs. His son, Jones Dyer Jr., married Lydia, a daughter of Capt. Jonathan Knight, by whom he had fifteen children. (Vid. Appendix.) His first home was where the Alms House now stands ; his second, on Main St., near the foot of Church Avenue. Being a man of energy and decided ability, he took an active part in all public affairs, and was for many years the wealthiest man in town.
Thus Calais began. From time to time, other families came ; Bohanon, Noble. Pettigrove, Sprague, Bailey, Lane, etc., of whom some mention will be made in another chapter. The settlement was made not by
22
PIONEERS .- CALAIS.
war nor with romance, but in sober reality. Its pio- neers were not learned men and women, but laborers trying to get an honest living. They left no letters or manuscripts to disclose the story of their trials or tri- umphs. But they left what is far better, the reputa- tion of being kind, just and intelligent people. Their descendants to the third and fourth generation, have arisen and blessed their memory. We cannot trace the influence, but there is no doubt that much that is good and right in our midst, came from these hardy, worthy woodsmen.
23
PIONEERS .- ST. STEPHEN.
IV. PIONEERS,-ST. STEPHEN.
All the aged people and the old traditions in Calais and St. Stephen, concur in the statement that the first white settlers in each town came from Machias or some place in that vicinity. A few of the first came through the woods, guided by an Indian ; the others came by water. For a time, they occupied perhaps in equal numbers, each side of the river ; but eventually only two men, Daniel and Samuel Hill, with their families remained in Calais. The others,-James and Jeremiah Frost, Jacob Libbey and his sons, Ebenezer and Jacob Jr., John Rolfe, Dr. McDonald, Benjamin Getchell and Samuel Millberry, with their families,located in St. Stephen. They came in 1779 and 80, and occupied the land adjoining the river, from Ferry Point to Porter's Stream. Libbey's lot was at the Cove. Their object in settling on the St. Croix, was to engage in lumber- ing. Soon after their arrival, Daniel Hill, Jacob Lib- bey and Jeremiah Frost built a Saw-mill on Porter's Stream, and began the manufacture of boards and deal. The logs were at first obtained by felling the trees near the stream and rolling their trunks into the water. All the houses of these people were constructed of logs, and were destitute of brick chimneys. They contained very
24
PIONEERS .- ST. STEPHEN.
little furniture, and few if any glass windows. Their chairs, tables, beds and culinary utensils were of the most primitive style. Yet these rude homes were com- fortable, and rendered pleasant by the presence of lov- ing, faithful wives and mothers. The first child born in the new settlement, was Samuel Libbey ; and great was the joy of the occasion .- After a time, several families of these earliest settlers located on the fertile Ridges a few miles back from the river, and there many of their descendants still reside.
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