USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Holden > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 1
USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Eddington > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 1
USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Orrington > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 1
USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Brewer > Brewer, Orrington, Holden, Eddington : history and families > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
BREWER
ORRINGTON - HOLDEN
EDDINGTON
FAMILIES H STORY 8
Gc 974.101 P38t 1194949
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
E
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01085 7727
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/brewerorringtonh00ames
BREWER ORRINGTON HOLDEN EDDINGTON
History and Families
HISTORY
by MILDRED N. THAYER and FAMILIES by MRS. EDWARD W. AMES
Copyrighted 1962 BREWER 150th ANNIVERSARY COMMITTEE
From the Press of L. H. Thompson, Inc. Brewer, Maine
Goodspeed 5.00
$ 5.00 Squaredu ROY 24-1979
1194949 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I
THE HISTORY OF BREWER
CHAPTER I EARLY VOYAGES TO THE COAST OF MAINE
CHAPTER II GEOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGES, PROTECTION AND SETTLEMENT BEGINS
CHAPTER III THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR PERIOD
CHAPTER IV INCORPORATION OF ORRINGTON AND EVENTS OF IMPORTANCE PRECEDING THE DIVISION OF THE TOWNS
CHAPTER V THE INDIANS IN BREWER
CHAPTER VI THE WAR OF 1812
CHAPTER VII BREWER, AS A TOWN AND A CITY
CHAPTER VIII RELIGIOUS HISTORY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHURCHES OF BREWER
CHAPTER IX BREWER'S EDUCATIONAL GROWTH
CHAPTER X HIGHWAYS, BRIDGES, AND FERRY SERVICE
CHAPTER XI CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS
CHAPTER XII BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER XIII CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF BREWER
CHAPTER XIV PARTICIPATION IN THE WARS OF OUR COUNTRY
CHAPTER XV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CHAPTER XVI ORRINGTON AFTER THE SEPARATION
CHAPTER XVII EAST BREWER BECOMES HOLDEN
CHAPTER XVIII OUR NEIGHBOR, EDDINGTON
THE GENEOLOGICAL SECTION
PART II
Olde Orrington lineage book
Brewer lineage books, 1 and 2
Additional family data
Appendix A, Revolutionary Pensioners for Penobscot County
Appendix B, 1800 Census of Orrington
Appendix C, Jonathan Eddy and the Eddy Family
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are indebted to Mrs. Frederick Wood of Eddington for the material which made possible this chapter on the history and growth of "Our Neighbor, Eddington."
Background information and facts upon which this story of Brewer is based were secured from various sources:
The History of Penobscot County
The Bangor Historical Society Magazine
Sprague's Journal
The Goodick
The Bangor Daily News
Town and City reports from its incorporation in 1812 to the present.
Notes compiled by a number of our citizens who have passed on including: members of the Farrington family, Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, Walter J. Sargent, Howard Floyd, The Rev. Basil C. Gleason, Miss Alice Farrington, and Miss Carrie Chick.
We wish also to express our appreciation to those who have contributed items to help in this work: Reginald Merrill Sr., Gertrude Davis, Mrs. Harry Royal, Mrs. Jewel Davies, Robert H. Barbour, Mrs. Luther Smith, Mrs. Richard Kiah, Miss Charlotte Hardy, and the many members of the various organizations who have contributed facts relative to their respective groups.
Thanks to Mary Copeland of Holden for her history of that town.
MILDRED THAYER
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Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following people who had enough faith in us to subscribe for a history in its early beginnings: Viola Thompson, Nina Floyd, Albert Phillips, F. W. Footman, Oren Hall, Olivine Libhart, Ruth E. Wishart, Lois B. Babkirk, Wayne P. Libhart, C. W. Winchester, Vernon L. Jame- son, Donald S. Higgins, Henry J. Viricel, Dr. Albert C. Todd, E. H. Bissell, Louis F. Johnson, Ruth M. Milan, Bernice P. Edes, Galen W. Hoyt, Ila E. Penley, Reuben D. Naugler, Lottie M. Arey, Robert H. Barbour, Edward F. Barry, Chandler B. Carter, Kenneth Cosseboom, Maurice S. C. Baker, James C. Coughlin, Mr. and Mrs. Merle Bowden, Mildred Thayer, Charlotte W. Hardy, Ralph Getchell, Sr., P. T. Coolidge, Harold G. Eddy, Rev. John H. Miller, William A. Moran, Roland K. Beatham, Paul A. Shibles, Mrs. Victor Whitehouse, Mrs. Ray Ross, Leslie M. Ohmart, Jr., Preston B. Rand, Albert M. Tennett, Robert S. Vit- tum, John W. Springer, Mrs. Leon F. Higgins, III, John Little- field, Oaksman Smiley, Joseph Coffin, Dr. Armand S. Andrle, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Mayo, Fredric W. Knaide, Stanley T. Leonard, Lilla McLeod, Eva H. Martin, Forrest B. Ames, M.D., R. A. White, Evelyn M. O'Connor, Dorris M. Higgins, Mrs. Gladys Farrington, Mrs. Cleveland E. Hooper, Mrs. Theodore Little- field, Bertha D. Burrill, Edward Hutchings, Richard V. Duffey, M.D., Ella C. Dearborn, Doris Stone, Mrs. Frederick MacComb, W. E. Brew, Mrs. Stanley Hyde, Edna F. Hutchings, William H. Jude, William E. Jenkins, G. Roland Adams, Frank F. McGinley, Prescott H. Vose, Walter Ring, Donald E. Higgins, B. R. Fox, Harvey L. Crook, Herbert W. Seavey, F. B. Carter, Viola C. Pendexter, William H. Pratt, Mrs. Natalie Thayer, Stillman S. Dyer, Pearl S. Wade, Ella Jewell.
The following organizations also contributed monetary support: American Legion, Washington Street P.T.A., Acadia Temple, Pythian Sisters, American Legion Auxiliary, Esther Rebekah Lodge #54, Brewer J.C.'s, St. Joseph's Altar Rosary Society, B. R. O. Wives, and the Isaac E. Clewley Auxiliary.
Permission was granted by the Bangor Historical Society to use any material in their volumes. The footnotes to the "Olde Orrington" book, and the lineage books were apparently additional material gathered by Col. Porter, who did much of the work on both the lineage books and the Bangor Historical Magazine. Har- rison Brooks had also added notes to the lineage volumes. To
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these, and to the nameless others who compiled these records, our grateful thanks.
New England Historic Genealogical Society granted permission to use the portion of the 1800 census for Hancock County, Massa- chusetts. This was taken by George Halliburton, who had the foresight to add a column, "From Whence Emigrant Came", the only portion of the United States census for 1800 so designated. This entire Hancock County census is printed in Vol. 105 of the Register.
Special thanks goes to Ethel Kenney Lord (Mrs. Royce E. Lord), who painstakingly copied the lineage volumes.
AGNES H. AMES (Mrs. Edward Ames)
9
The Ferry, Brewer
Credit Wilbur Thayer Collection
CHAPTER I
EARLY VOYAGES TO THE COAST OF MAINE
The rugged and beautiful coast of Maine, including the Pen- obscot Bay, gateway to the river and to our city, may first have been visited by white men when the Northmen, sailors from Northern Europe, reached the shores of that region encompassing New England and Nova Scotia. According to the Icelandic saga, these dauntless sailing men had already established themselves on Iceland and on Greenland. One of the ships, traveling from Ice- land to Greenland, was blown off its course by one of the famous North Atlantic storms. The ship sailed far to the south where it eventually came in sight of the land which the saga describes as "well-wooded, and with small knolls upon it."
Historians seem to agree that the spot discovered by the North- men was located somewhere on the New England Coast. Just where, will never be known. However, we can feel quite sure that in the original voyage, or perhaps in the voyages which followed when these men made numerous journeys to Vinland or "Mark- land" as they called the coast of North America, to secure lumber, they must have viewed the coast of Maine; and they may have even landed there. Lumber was a very scarce commodity in both Iceland and Greenland, and the voyages to the New England coast for this valuable cargo continued for a few years.
During the centuries which followed these expeditions the Northmen and their famed Vinland were forgotten.
Apparently the eyes of white men did not again view our coast until the journeys of the Cabots. John Cabot, in 1497, may have traveled as far as this from Labrador before returning to England. Sebastian Cabot, John's son, is said by some to have entered the Gulf of Maine, and, presumedly, followed along its coast and down across Massachusetts Bay to Cape Cod.
A Portuguese expedition under Gasper Cortereal in 1500, came probably to the Maine coast. Cortereal describes the country as a good place for ship building, an area of large rivers (of which the Penobscot River might well have been one)
13
and having coastal waters abounding in fish. According to old records Cortereal was greatly impressed by the appearance of the Indians. After having lured some of their number on board he set sail for Spain, intending to sell them as slaves; however, on the return trip the ship with its cargo of frightened humanity was lost.
Giovanni da Verrazano in 1523, sailing under the French flag, gave a detailed report of the coast of Maine and of the people whom he found there. In writing of these Indians, Verrazano says that they were very rude and hostile in contrast to the many other natives whom he had met in his travels. This attitude is probably a direct result of the indignities of the Cortereal expedition, which the Indians had neither forgotten nor forgiven.
In 1527, the ship Mary Guilford from England, under the command of John Rut (sometimes spelled Rutt) and sent over by Henry the VIII, came to these shores. In a letter which the captain wrote to King Henry, we find the following as a part of his description: "-a great harbour and many small islands and a great fresh river going far up into the mainland." Does this strike a responsive note in our mental picture of the Maine coast before the arrival of the white settlers? On the maps of this period Penobscot Bay is shown and also the Great River of Norumbega. It is said by some that the afore-mentioned Verrazano had accompanied Rut's expedition and that on one of his excursions to the interior he was killed by the Indians.
Andre' Thevet, a French scholar and writer, came to the Maine coast in 1556 with an exploring party. He wrote a description of, supposedly, the Penobscot River, in which he referred to it as Norumbega. He stated in his records that some of the charts to which he had reference called it the "Grand River". He visited the Indians and was invited to feast with them. Many of our historians discredit the records of Thevet; but it is a fact that from them the French learned a great deal about the new land.
During the years which followed there were other expeditions and the ships from the various countries of Europe came again and again. Major among the attractions which drew them were the fur trade with the Indians and the abundance of fish to be procured from the coastal waters.
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Some records state that the Penobscot River was visited first by De Monts and Champlain in 1604. After he had named Mount Desert (Isle de Monts Deserts) and Isle au Haut, Champlain is said to have sailed up the Norumbegue or Penobscot River to the present site of Bangor where he is believed to have anchored his vessel at the foot of Newbury Street just below the rocks in the stream. It seems probable that his "little river" was Kenduskeag Stream. Before the coming of the railroad there was a high rocky bluff at the foot of Oak Street and it is here that some say he moored his vessel. The bluff has been gone since 1870. Although there may be some dispute as to the exact place of anchorage, it seems quite sure that Champlain did sail up the river. On this journey he is said to have observed the Camden Hills which he called the Mountains of Bedabedec.
The Penobscot section of Maine was, as we can easily see, one of the first parts of the new world to be visited by the early English explorers. Various different names were given to this section. Among them were Agoucy and Norumbegue (more recently called Norumbega ).
The beginning of the seventeenth century was also the beginning of a period of English exploration. Since the English were desirous of building a profitable trade with the Indians and at the same time keeping an eye on the activities of the French in this area, they sent Martin Pring who was instructed to set up this trade and find out what the French were doing. Pring sighted land in June 1603. The land was somewhere in the Penobscot Bay region. One of the islands which he saw was given the name "Fox Island" because there were foxes there. In later years the entire group of islands became known as the Fox Islands.
Pring gained much information which he carried back to England. This knowledge probably paved the way for the expedition of George Weymouth in 1605.
Some historians appear to feel that the material on visits to the coast before 1602 is so indefinite that we cannot really count them as factual visits. Of the visits made at that time probably the one which would interest us most is that of George Weymouth in 1605. Weymouth set out on a trip, ostensibly to discover if such a thing as a northwest passage existed. He discovered an island which he named St. George. This has
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since been ascertained to be Monhegon Island as no other one in the area so closely resembles his description. Weymouth and his party were greatly impressed by the quanity of sea fowl and by the fishing.
Now for the first time we find actual mention of the waters of Penobscot Bay and the River. A period of five or six days was spent by Weymouth and his men exploring the Bay and the River and the lands which surround them. The ship anchored, not far from the land abreast of what was later called the Penobscot Hills, now the Camden Hills, and some of the members of the group went ashore on a hunting expedition.
The next day they continued up the river in a pinnace and continued probably as far as Belfast.
The scenery along the river was a source of delight to Weymouth and his party, even as those of us who live here today find it a never-ending pleasure. The description of the river by these men, who had traveled in many places all over the world and had seen many famous rivers, was this: "-the most beautiful, rich, large, secure harbouring river that the world affordeth."
The French colonists at Port Royal included two Jesuit priests, Father Biard and Father Masse. Since the majority of the settlers at the colony were of the Protestant faith, the two priests were unhappy there. Madame de Guerchville, who had sent the two priests to America to attempt to convert the Indians to the Roman Catholic faith, heard of the difficult situation. She fitted up a ship and sent it under the command of La Sausaye to help them find a location for another settlement. The ship stopped at Port Royal, picked up the two priests, and continued on toward the Penobscot River. It is thought by some that the intention of the group was to establish a settlement at the present site of Bangor at the junction of the Kenduskeag and the Penobscot Rivers. Storms blew the ship off its course and then it became engulfed in heavy fog. The captain of the ship refused to proceed further and the group landed at Mt. Desert Island.
Father Biard had not given up his dream and still wanted to continue the journey to the Penobscot River. The Indians on the island, however, persuaded the priest to visit the home of their chief, who had sent word that he was dying. As it turned
16
out the chief was not even ill, but had used the ruse to get the priest to visit him. He was interested in having a settlement established on the island and finally persuaded the French to settle at Mt. Desert.
Later there were French and Indian settlements on the River and a trading post was located at the mouth of the Kenduskeag. These settlements were destroyed by the English from 1723 to 1725. The final work of destruction was accomplished by Captain Heath with a company of men from the Kennebec during 1725.
Early settlements in Maine were made within easy access to the ocean. This was true of all the first settlements in the coastal regions of the new wilderness country. Feeling insecure and being fully aware that an Indian attack might be made at any time, the settlers wanted to be near the ships which might be called upon to carry them back again to Europe in the event of some dire emergency. It was also important that they be near the ships that they might send back to the mother country the products of their labors, to receive in exchange goods not available in the new land.
For these reasons the towns near the Bay and the lower regions of the river were established first. Gradually the settlers became bolder and pushed a little farther up the wooded shores of the great river. But it was not until 1769 that the first settlement was made at Bangor, to be followed during the next year, 1770, by one at Brewer, which was first called New Worcester.
CHAPTER II GEOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGES, PROTECTION, AND SETTLEMENT BEGINS
A favorable location such as this one on the Penobscot River was sure to draw settlers due to the desirable characteristics of the region. These were particularly well suited for the industries which were typical of the times. First and foremost among the geographic attractions was, of course, the river itself. Dr. J. G. Kohl, in his History of the Discovery of the East Coast of North America, says that "the State of Maine might well be called the Penobscot Country, this being the main artery . . the Penobscot, at its
17
mouth, forms the largest and most beautiful of all the numerous bays and inlets of the coast, and is very deep, and navigable for the largest vessels about 60 miles from the ocean upward to the city of Bangor, where tide and vessels are stopped by the rocks and falls." In connection with this it is interesting to note that the Indian name "Penobskeag" or "Penobscook" means the "place of the rocks".
Many of those who sought to make settlements in this area were seeking favorable places for mill sites. A number of streams flow- ing into the river furnished sufficient water power to attract those whose chief interest lay in milling and in associated industries.
In the beginning much of the land which lay along the river was low and swampy; but behind this lay well-forested land. The for- ests proved to be a source of lumber for such early occupations as ship building and shingle making. Numerous lumber mills were established. Less valuable trees furnished fuel for the use of those hardy souls who came here to develop the region and to establish the aforementioned industries.
With regard to the geology of the region, the whole substrata of both the Bangor and Brewer areas appears to be slate rocks with veins of quartz and calcerous spar. Tertiary clays are found in Brewer. The clay must have been formed by slow and gradual deposits because the remains of marine shell fish were found in the soil. Silicious sand was found in alternate layers with the clay. This was also used in brick-making.
The mixture of sand, clay, and decayed organic matter pro- duced, particularly in the lands along the river, a clayey loam. This soil was considered quite good for agricultural purposes. Small farms later developed in the area and at one time in later years, the chief crop was hay.
With such natural conditions inviting settlement on the river, there remained the question of safety for the settlers. This was a problem yet to be solved. The river was the only avenue for the Indians to follow in conducting expeditions against those towns which bordered the sea. The possibility of Indian attack was a disturbing factor in the minds of those who would follow the river for their new homes.
In 1748, Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts conceived the idea of building a fort for the protection of the river region. The toll which the French and Indian Wars had taken of the
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finances of the Province of Massachusetts made it impossible to carry out Shirley's proposition at that time. Governor Thomas Pownal succeeded Shirley in 1757 and the plans for a fort were again brought forth.
The building of this fort opened the Penobscot Valley to settlement. According to the History of Belfast, Maine, by Joseph Williamson, 1877, the following is a description of the fort: "It was a regular fortification, with the parapet, ditch, and flacis, square in form, with flankers, and a blockhouse in the center. The dimensions were 360 feet, or 90 feet on each inner side of the breastworks, which was ten feet in height. This was circum- valleted by a moat or ditch fifteen feet in width at the top, five at the bottom, and eight deep. In the center of the ditch were palisadoes quite around the fort, except at the portcullis on the eastern side, where a drawbridge crossed the excavation. The blockhouse was two stories in height, and had flankers of diamond shape at each corner. The latter were 33 feet on a side, the blockhouse itself being 44 feet square, and all constructed of square timbers, dovetailed at the corners. In the upper story, which jutted over the lower one, several cannon were mount- ed. The roof was hipped with a sentry box on the top. There were two chimneys in opposite corners. Three or four cannon were placed in the area between the breastwork and the block- house."
The final work on the fort was accomplished on July 28, 1759. The cost, which was reimbursed by Parliament, was L5000. The General Court of Massachusetts selected the name Fort Pownal in honor of Governor Pownal. It is a note of interest to us that a letter was written on February 11, 1956, to the then governor of our state, Frederic Payne, suggesting a commemo- rative postage stamp in honor of Fort Pownal.
That the fort was a valuable contribution to the settlement of this region speaks for itself. Rich timberlands bordered the river. Soil sufficiently productive for agriculture was available. The river itself was an artery inland and also a waterway to Canada. Travel was much easier on the river than on foot through the dense forests. But in spite of these many advantages most of the area east of the Penobcot River was unsettled at this time. A settlement at Machias and one at Castine were the only ones as yet attempted. After the building of the fort, however, we find mention of a settlement by Lt. Joshua Treat, near Fort
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Point in 1760; another by Col. Jonathan Buck in 1762; one by Benjamin Wheeler at Hampden in 1767 (apparently some dispute here as Williamson says 1772); and one by Jacob Buswell at Bangor in 1769. In 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the territory became much safer for English settlements.
While the fort was being constructed, Governor Pownal and General Samuel Waldo, proprietor of the Muscongus (Waldo) Patent, with an armed party of one hundred and thirty-six men, sailed up the Penobscot River. They landed "above the first falls" on the right side of the river. As we survey the geographic features of the river it seems that this would have to be "Treat's Falls" or the present site of the Bangor Waterworks Dam.
According to Williamson, Pownal sent a message to the Tarratine tribe of Indians, telling them of the erection of the fort at Fort Point. At this time he warned them that if they should molest the English settlers the whole tribe would be hunted down and driven from the country. "But though we neither fear your resentment nor seek your favor, we pity your distresses; and if you will become subjects of His Majesty and live near the fort, you shall have our protection and enjoy your planting grounds and your hunting berths without molesta- tion." Apparently the Indians took Pownal's warning to heart as there is no further record of any trouble with them.
General Waldo, who accompanied Governor Pownal, was interested in the fort-building project because of the protection which it promised. He felt that the direct result of this protection would be the rapid settlement of the area. He had apparently gained the impression that when the Waldo Patent was surveyed it would be found to include the land on the east side of the river on which the party was then standing. He had walked a little apart from the others of the party and was looking over the surrounding territory. He is to have exclaimed, "Here is my bound!" and upon saying the words almost immediately fell dead from a stroke of apoplexy. He died on May 23, 1759, being at that time sixty-three years of age. He had become a prominent person of the times, having been outstanding in both military and business enterprises. He played a major part in the taking of Louisburg. His body was taken in state to Fort Pownal and was buried there; but it was later removed to King's Chapel in Boston.
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At least one historian has stated that the leaden plate, which was buried by Governor Pownal at the spot near Treat's Falls, carried an inscription of the "Melancholy Event". (Waldo's death) There seems to be more credulence given, however, to the belief that on the plate there was a declaration of the supremacy of the English power and the statement that the governor took possession of this region, which had been previously claimed by France as "part of Acadia from the Penobscot to the St. Croix."
Pownal's own account of the event reads thus: "We, the underwritten, do certify that his Excellency, the Governor, Build- ing a Fort on Penobscot River, and Proceeding thence with an Armed Body above the falls, did there establish Possession of His Majesty's Rights in behalf of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Did there Hoist the King's Colours which were saluted by the artillery at sunset, and as a monument thereof his Excellency ordered a Leaden Plate with the above inscription to be buried in the sand on the East Side of the River Penobscot above the Falls, this twenty-third day of May, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine. N. B. I buried this plate at ye root of a large white birch Tree, three large Trunks spring from ye one root. The Tree is at the top of a high, piked hill, on ye East side of ye River, about three miles above Marine Navigation."
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