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M. L.
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01085 8113
HISTORY OF BRIDGEWATER
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/historyofbridgew00ride
HISTORY
of
BRIDGE WATER
Maine
by Annie E. Rideout
1953 FALMOUTH PUBLISHING HOUSE Manchester, Maine
Copyright 1953 by Annie E. Rideout
Designed by Guenther K. Wehrhan
Manufactured in the United States of America by Book Craftsmen Associates
1247296
Acknowledgments
In writing the history of the town of Bridgewater it has been my aim to gather all the data available on the early settlers. At first it seemed an easy matter, but as I began to write I soon found it became more and more involved. There were changes in farms to be traced as far as possible, many intermarriages to be sifted out, cross checking of facts and dates to be done, and a great many other details to be completed- all of which took a great deal of research.
The year 1900 seemed a good stopping place, for after that date no new farms were cleared and people coming to town seemed to be new- comers. The last fifty years is known to everyone, so is not history in the sense that the first hundred years are.
I have tried to make it as complete as possible and to include all of the early settlers to the best of my knowledge and to get the facts as nearly right as possible. If there are errors, and there may be, it is hoped they may be pardoned, and if any family is omitted it has not been intentional. Being so far from the source of information has made the task of writing difficult.
Without the typewritten histories of Cyrus Snow, written about 1909, which gives the history of the Boundary Line, and the one of the Center by J. Fuller Bradstreet, written about 1930, my task would have been almost impossible, as these two histories gave much valuable data that otherwise may not have been available.
I wish to thank the following people who contributed information: Elmer Fulton of Warren, Maine, for the Fulton history; Mrs. Etta (Collins) Parker, Caribou, and Mrs. Flora (Barrett) Welch, Mars Hill, Maine, for the J. H. Collins and the Barrett histories; Charles Murphy for the story of Corner Fire; Adelbert Raymond for the story of the Tannery; Edith L. Hary, Law Librarian, State Library, Augusta, Maine, for the photostat; H. A. McIlroy and Philip A. Annis, Dep. Comm. of Education, Augusta, Maine, for the story of Bridgewater Academy; Mrs. Hilda Morse and Scholey Kingsbury for the Grange; the Postmaster General and The National Archives Office in Washing-
Goodspeed- 6.00
ton, D. C., for the post offices; Cecil A. Hall for the list of Station Agents; Mrs. Gladys McIlroy for the Rebekah Lodge; Mrs. Mabel Everett for the Women's Club; Mrs. Clara Hartley and Mrs. Hilda Morse for the Garden Club; Mrs. Clara Piper, Librarian, Caribou, and the State Library at Augusta for the use of many books for reference; Mrs. Belle Williams, Presque Isle, for her son Col. Williams' military career; and Brig. Gen. C. M. Milliken for his story.
I also wish to thank the many people, too numerous to list, who gave me their family histories and answered my many letters for information, and the many who gave me odd facts and stories. I wish to thank my sister, Mrs. Bertha Stevens, and Mrs. Dorothy Sturtevant, both of North Belgrade, for their great help and inspiration, especially when my pen seemed to lag.
It is hoped that those who read this book will get as much pleasure as I have had in writing it.
Annie Rideout
North Belgrade, Maine
June 23, 1953
Introduction
In the year 1827 the town of Bridgewater was a vast wilderness. What courage it must have taken for those early pioneers to leave the comforts of good homes, to leave friends, churches, and schools to come here and hew new homes and farms from the trackless forests so far from markets. What vision they must have had. Of even greater courage were the women who were willing to endure privations, hard- ships, and possible hunger to follow their husbands into this new land.
In the years that are past, what changes have taken place! Gone are the forests. Gone are the hoe, the scythe, and the rake; and almost gone is the workhorse. In their place are the open fields, the tractor, and other mechanized farm machinery.
What changes those pioneers would see in the methods of living: electric lights, bathrooms, furnaces, refrigerators, deep freezers, radios, and televisions; and railroads, automobiles, and airplanes in the methods of travel. Most of these things were then even unheard of. What would they say could they come back and see our modern methods of living? Could they keep pace with us or would they say, "The world is living too fast; our way was best?"
Our town has grown nearly eight times its size when it was incor- porated in 1858, from a population of less than five hundred to one of over twelve hundred. It is a prosperous town, and modern, with good churches, an excellent school system, service clubs, modern homes, and excellent farms.
CONTENTS
Date
How the Town Was Named
1827 Nathaniel Bradstreet
2
1829 James Thorncraft
4
1830 John Young
5
1831 Joseph Ketchum
5
1835 Joshua B. Fulton
6
1838
Harvey and Trask
8
1840
Orin and Dennis Nelson
8
1840 Sumner Whitney
9
1842 Moulton Brothers
10
1842 Samuel Kidder
10 10
1844 Cyrus Chandler
11
1844 Thomas Kennedy
11
1844
John Burns
12
1845 Charles Kidder
12
1845 Nathaniel Rideout
13
1845 David Foster
13
1845 Absolem McNinch
13
1848 Boundary Bridge
126
1848
Lewis Kingsbury
14
1850 William Pennington
15
1850 Samuel Tompkins
15
1850 C. F. A. Johnson
16
1850 Ackerson Family
16 17
1851 The Allen Family
18
1852 Eunice Atherton
19
1852 Kimball Family
19
1852 Bedford Hume
23
1852 Smith Family
23
1854 George Green
24
1854 George T. Freeman
25
1854 Whited Family
26
1854 Sargent Family
27
1856
Nathaniel Farley
29
1856 James E. Briggs
30
1857 Thomas Durgin
30
1857 Thomas and Edward Snow
31
1851
John D. Baird
Page 1
1844 Jonathan Loudon
Date
Jason Russell
1857 1857
David Packard
1858 Town Incorporated
1858
John Nelson
1858 John McIntire
1860 John McKeen
1860
G. W. Collins
1860 Asa B. Harvey
1860 Robert Jamison
1860
Charles Parks
1860
Christopher Bradbury
1861 Alonzo Sargent
1861 Edward Webber
1861
Cold Friday
1861 Berry Brothers
1863 Stackpole Family
1864 Morse Family
1864
Otis and Jerry Turner
1864
William Shane
1864
Slipp Family
1865
Nelson Caine
1865
John Nelson
1865
Harvey Collins
1866
Richard H. Perkins
1867
Edmund Hayes
1867 Baptist Church
1869
Lawrence Family
1869
Allen Boone
1869 Charles Gallupe
1870
Thomas Parks
1870
Thomas Buckley
1870 Thomas Cook
1870
Samuel Hartley
1872 John Pryor
1874 Dr. W. W. White
1874 Barrett Family
51 129
1876 Tannery
1877 Fullerton Farm
52
1877 Alonzo Tompkins
52
1880 Fred Snow
Page 32 32 33 34 34 35 36 37 38 38 39 39 39 40 40 40 43 43 44 44 44 44 45 46 46 108 47 48 48 49 49 49 49 50 125
118
Date 1880 1882 1882 1882 1882 1882 1883 1884 1885
Thomas G. Huntington
J. Fuller Bradstreet
Henry Scott
William McBurnie
Finnemore Family
Bradbury Family
Kinney Family
Elmer E. Milliken
Asa H. Bradstreet
1885 School at Center
1889
Frank Sharp
1889
Andrew Esty
1889
Norman Dickinson
1889 Martin S. Rideout
1890 Henry Bradstreet
1891 1891 Howard Lewis 1891 Gideon Hallett
Boundary Church Dedicated
1892 Dell Cookson
1893 Lowell Brothers
1894
E. B. Morton
1894
Corner Fire
1894
Boundary Fire
1894
Town Hall
1894
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad
1894
John Delong
1894
Mckinnon Family
1895
Fleetwood Simonson
1896
Grange Organized
1896
Henry Welch
1896
Guy Morse
1897
Mitchell Raymond
1898 Richard McCleary
1900 Edward Dow
1900 Alvin Stitham
1900 William Black
From Present Owner to First Owner
Monteith Road
1877 Frederick Ritter
76
1877 Charles Lewis
Page 55 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 110 61 62 81 63 65 108 65 82 66 66 66 131 133 67 150 84 82 68 135 84 85 69 79 70 71 71 72 75
77
Date 1877 Edward Nichols
1877 William Reid Sewell Baston John Brewer Henry Hodgedon
Thomas Burpee Rodney Parks
From Present to Original Owners West Road
1880 Wilson Estabrook
1894 Frank Kimball
1894 George Pryor
1897 Joseph Welch
1900 Elisha Shaw
1901 William Webber
1903 Pennington McKeen
From Present Owner to First Owner
Judge Tompkins
Veterans of World War I
Veterans of World War II
Col. Frank M. Hume
Brig. Gen. C. M. Milliken
Lt. Fred H. Barrett
Lt. David L. Packard
S. Sgt. Max Parks
S. Sgt. Merrill Brewer
101 103
1st Lt. Ralph Hartley
Col. Gerald Evans Williams
103
American Legion Post
104 105
Churches
108 110
Schools
Bridgewater Classical Academy
112
Cemeteries
114
Stores
117 120
Hotels
Post Office
122
Doctors
125
Bridges
126
Page 77 77 78 78
78 78 78 79 81 81 83 84 85 85 86 86 86 88 89 90 92 92 96 97 99
Living in Early Days
Date Old Sawmills Tannery Blacksmiths Druggists Rebekah Lodge
Page 127 129
133
135
Bridgewater Garden Club
Bridgewater Women's Club Blind Storekeeper Then and Now
137 139 139 141 142
Fact and Fancy
144
Selectmen Since 1903
149
Railroads
150
How the Town Was Named
The town of Bridgewater is located twenty miles north of Houlton in Aroostook County. It is bounded on the north by the town of Blaine, on the south by Monticello, on the west by D Plantation, and on the east by Canada.
The largest stream in the town is the Prestile (on maps marked Presque Isle) which has its source in the town of Fort Fairfield. It crosses the towns of Presque Isle, Easton, Westfield, Mars Hill, and Blaine and enters Bridgewater near the northwest corner; it flows south- eastward and leaves the town at the Boundary Line where it enters Canada, then on to the St. John River.
In order to know how the town got its name we must go back in history to the time when Maine was a part of Massachusetts.
As early as 1647 Massachusetts passed a law that towns of one hundred families must have a grammar school. Then came the time when the people felt the need of higher education, so academies were established.
By 1796 there were eleven such academies, seven of them in the Province of Maine. In order to support these academies grants of land were made, most of them in Maine. At that time many of the unpopu- lated townships were known only by numbers. Whole and sometimes half townships were given to the academies, the sale of the land going to support them.
It was on January 7, 1803, that a half township in Aroostook County
1
was given to Portland Academy, Portland, Maine, and on February 4 of the same year that the other half of the township was given to Bridgewater Academy, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. These were known as the Bridgewater Academy Grant and the Portland Academy Grant, Bridgewater being the northern half and Portland being the southern half.
Since there was one Portland in the Province of Maine there could not be another town by the same name, so it was called Bridgewater for the Massachusetts town. Portland Lake takes its name from the Land Grant in which it is located.
When the township was surveyed it was marked off into lots, those in the Bridgewater Academy Grant containing 160 acres. There were 72 lots in this Grant-twelve lots wide, east and west; and six, north and south. The lots in the Portland Academy Grant contain 120 acres; therefore there are many more lots somewhat smaller.
The exact center of the town today is on the south line of the prop- erty now owned by Harvey A. Tompkins and at a point where the northeast corner of land owned by Harry Simonson and the northwest corner of land owned by Charles Simonson meet said Harvey A. Tom- pkins' land. A cedar post at this point, placed by surveyor Carpenter, is still standing, but the center may also be located by measuring 400 feet South from the center of Whitney Stream Bridge to a point where the center of Bootfoot Road intersects the Main Road, then measuring east 512 feet to the center of the town.
U.S. Highway crosses the town north and south on an almost com- pass line through the center of the town.
The following population table will show the growth of the town from 1850-1950. Growth has been slow but steady.
1850- 143
1910-1238
1860- 491
1920-1212
1870- 605
1930-1238
1880- 722
1940-1267
1890- 946
1950-1279 1
1900-1179
1827
Nathaniel Bradstreet
In the year 1827 the town of Bridgewater was a vast wilderness. The only white men to have trod its virgin forests were a few lumbermen
2
from the Province of New Brunswick who came to cut the giant trees and float them down the then unnamed Prestile Stream and into the St. John River and from there to St. John City to be cut into lumber for the English markets.
The first man to come here with the intention of making a home was Nathaniel Bradstreet of Palermo, Maine, who came in 1827. Hav- ing heard of the vast uncut forests in this part of the state, he, with his two sons John and Joseph, came searching for a mill site.
They probably came from Bangor to Houlton-since Houlton was being settled at that time-and no doubt from there they went to the St. John River and up the river, probably exploring all the streams that flowed into it including the Presque Isle (called today the Prestile). On this stream he found his ideal mill site where another stream, then unnamed (Whitney) joined it, a swift-flowing stream between two hills with a narrow channel below. Nowhere else could he have found a more ideal spot.
He then returned to Palermo, got a legal claim of the property and after settling up his business there returned with his family in the winter of 1829.
Why winter? Since there were no roads then, only a trail through the woods to Houlton, the easiest time of year to travel was winter by sled. Mr. Bradstreet hired a neighbor with four oxen and a sled to bring his household goods and family to his new home. His oldest son, Joseph, came a year later with his wife and young son Gustavus.
As soon as the family was settled in their new log house Mr. Brad- street began cutting trees and clearing land for his mill which was to have an up and down saw. This was no easy task, for the logs had to be cut and hewn by hand, from waterwheel to ridgepole. Then a dam had to be built to hold the water back in order to have power to run the saw.
After weeks of work from dawn to dark, at last the mill was ready for work. When the gates in the dam were opened and the water wheel began to turn and the saw, about eight feet long, began to move up and down, what a thrill he must have had, knowing it was the work of his hands and the help of his sons!
After operating the mill a few years Mr. Bradstreet started clearing a farm on the north side of the stream and built a large frame house somewhere near where the Customs House now stands. This house is worthy of comment. It was a large frame structure-for those days- and had a large double stone chimney in the center, with a fireplace on three sides. One of the fireplaces was in the kitchen over which the
3
cooking was done, for at that time there were no stoves here. It had a large dining room and a parlor, with a fireplace in each room.
Years later this house was used only as a boardinghouse for the men who worked in the mill, often seating as many as twenty-five or thirty at a time. The pine table, built by Mr. Bradstreet, became a permanent part of the house; when the house changed ownership the table was left for the new owner. The house was eventually torn down and Mr. Cyrus Snow purchased the table for two dollars. Many of the pine boards used in the construction of the house were two feet in width, which will give one some idea of the size of the trees, which must have been over one hundred years old. Quite a contrast to the trees found in the woods today.
Mr. Bradstreet then commenced clearing another farm on the west side of the stream and built another house, the one known as the Farley house, which is supposed to be the oldest house in town today. He kept the mill until 1838 when he sold it to Harvey and Trask who came from Woodstock, N. B.
There is an old saying that goes: "Into each life some rain must fall," and so it did in the life of Mr. Bradstreet. In October 1847 the wife of Joseph Bradstreet died, leaving a family of children, Joseph was Nathaniel's oldest son. Joseph later married Esther Green of the Province. On November 18, 1848, his son John was crossing the pond on the ice, as there was no bridge at that time. The ice was thin and he broke through and was drowned. He was thirty-five years old. He left a wife, Mary Cronkite. A few years later Nathaniel Jr. died.
Mr. Bradstreet had eight children: Joseph, John, and Nathaniel Jr., mentioned above; Margy married to Asa Harvey; Sabra married to Sam Harvey, who was drowned at Aroostook Falls; Diana married to Sumner Whitney; Hannah married to Jedidiah Cronkite of the "Cronk" settle- ment; and Ferdinand, the youngest.
In 1858 Mr. Bradstreet sold his farm to Nathaniel Farley, and he and his wife went to live with their daughter Diana B. Whitney in Presque Isle where they spent their remaining years.
There are still descendants of Mr. Bradstreet in the town today and in every generation there have been Nathaniels, Josephs, and Ferdi- nands.
1829
James Thorncraft
Mr. Thorncraft was the first to locate on the Chandler farm, now the farm of Thomas Cook. After a few years he sold to Cyrus Chandler
4
and went to Westfield, the first man to settle in that town on what is now known as the Trueworthy place.
1830
John Young
John Young came from Canada about 1830 and started a clearing on the East Blaine Road about a mile from the "Line." The stream known today as Young Brook crossed his farm. He lived here until 1846, then moved to Mars Hill about three miles out on the Presque Isle Road where another stream crossed his property.
Today, over one hundred years later, two streams, in two towns, still bear the name Young Brook, forgotten tribute to that early settler.
1831
Joseph Ketchum
Joseph Ketchum was born in St. John, N. B., September 16, 1799. He traced his ancestry traditionally back to the Vikings of the eleventh century who settled in Northern France where they tended their nets, built their boats, and raised their families.
They were pagans, and though some of these early settlers readily accepted the Christian religion, many retained their old gods and tra- ditions, even in strange lands.
Sometime about the early part of the seventeenth century, André Kechun, a descendant of these Viking ancestors, accompanied an ex- pedition to Nova Scotia, settling near Port Royal. After the death of André, four of his sons came to the continent. The name had been changed to Ketchum.
Carlos Ketchum drifted to St. John, N. B., Pierre Ketchum reached New Amsterdam, New York, Jean accompanied friendly Indians west- ward, while William settled near what is now Hartford, Connecticut. These left many descendants in the land of their adoption.
It was through Carlos that Joseph traced his ancestry. His mother was the daughter of a sea captain, whose people for generations had been adherents of the English Church, and into this communion the Ketchums of St. John became early baptized.
Elizabeth Fay was born in St. John, N. B., October 25, 1800. She became the wife of Joseph Ketchum, June 3, 1819. Six children were
5
born to them while living in New Brunswick: Salome, born June 3, 1820; George Adolphus, born October 3, 1821; Mary, born August 21, 1823; Samuel, born October 16, 1825; Charlotte Ann, born February 1, 1828; Harriet, born March 11, 1830.
During the year of 1831 Joseph Ketchum moved to the State of Maine, settling in Bridgewater, engaging in the lumber business.
On May 24, 1832, James Ketchum was born, being the first child born of white parents in the township. John Ketchum was born July 4, 1834, Jarvis was born in 1840, and in 1842 Edward was born but died in infancy. About this time Joseph built the first hotel erected in that section, and where he was appointed the first postmaster of that town.
Elizabeth Ketchum died in Bridgewater, 1865; Joseph died August 9, 1876.
(The above information is copied verbatim from a very old paper now in the possession of Ellie Packard.)
When Joseph Ketchum came to Bridgewater he took a lot of land, the farm now owned by Ray Yerxa. The following spring he had cleared some land and sowed the first wheat in the town of Bridgewater.
After the "Bloodless Aroostook War," and the road had been grubbed through to Presque Isle, Mr. Ketchum bought another lot of land at the Corner, and in 1841 erected a hotel there. In 1845 he sold the first land to Nathaniel Rideout.
On February 18, 1849, he was appointed the first postmaster in the town, an office he held until May 12, 1854. His son James served as postmaster from December 27, 1856, to September 12, 1860.
When Joseph's son George died at the age of twenty-six, Joseph gave an acre of land for a cemetery.
Of all the ten children born to Joseph and Elizabeth there are only two descendants in town today bearing the name of Ketchum, Victor and his son.
There are some who claim that Ferdinand Bradstreet was the first white child born in Bridgewater; others that James Ketchum was. Ac- cording to the Town Report of 1910, Ferdinand was seventy-nine when he died that year. That means he was born in 1831. According to the above record of the birth of James Ketchum, he was born May 24, 1832.
What difference does it make? It is how they lived that counts.
1835
Joshua B. Fulton
Joshua B. Fulton came here from Royalton, N. B., in 1835. His first farm was the one where Bernard Kingsbury now lives. Besides farming
6
he also did an extensive lumber business, but due to vicissitudes he lost his farm; so in 1840 he took up another farm on what is now the Houlton-Presque Isle Road.
At that time there was no road anywhere in the town, no neighbors nearer than twenty miles north or south. Soon, however, the state started building the road from Houlton to Presque Isle, for this was after the Boundary Dispute had been settled.
By swamping a road across a piece of land a man received his pay in land at $1.50 per acre and a deed to it. In this way Mr. Fulton bought his farm. It was the first farm south of the Corner on both sides of the road.
Joshua married Salome Ketchum, daughter of Joseph Ketchum. They had six sons and two daughters. One son and a daughter died when very young. Those who grew up were Richard, Joseph, Joshua Jr., Charles, Ann, and John. At the time of the Civil War, Richard, Joseph, and Joshua volunteered for service in the Union Army and all gave their lives for their country.
At the time of the Gold Rush in California, Charles went there for a few years, then returned and bought a farm on the Corner Road east of his father's. In 1889 he bought the hotel at the Corner from James Kidder which he operated along with his farm until it was burned at the time of the Corner Fire in 1894. After that he gave his entire time to farming. He later sold his farm and bought the hotel at the Center (see hotels) which he operated a few years and then retired. He bought the house now owned by John Hoyt.
Charles married Mary Briggs of Littleton. In their family were three daughters, Elizabeth (known as Beth), Salome, and Deane. Charles spent his last years with his daughter in Houlton, where he died at the age of eighty-six.
John, the youngest son of Joshua, farmed with his father and worked in the woods winters. He married Nellie Hansel. To them were born three children, Mary, who died when young, Elmer, and Hazel.
In 1890 John moved to Gardiner, Maine, where he was a millwright. After a few years he returned to Bridgewater and resumed farming until old age prevented further work. His son Elmer then took over the management of the farm. Elmer sold the farm to the John Edmunds Co., but his father had a life lease of the house.
Sometime in the thirties the buildings burned, and John went to live in the home of Mrs. Mary Carmichael. He died at the age of eighty-seven. His wife had died several years before.
Ann, the only girl of Joshua, went to California when she was a
7
young girl. She married and spent the greater part of her life there. When she was about seventy-five years old she returned to Bridgewater and kept house for her brother John after the death of his wife. Ann's last years were spent in a wheel chair. She lived at the home of Mrs. James Dyer, who tenderly cared for her. Her hands were not idle, for she spent the days in knitting and crocheting, and at the age of ninety she made several patchwork quilts which she sold. She had a keen mind and a sense of humor, and many were the stories she told of the early days here, and of her life in California. She died at the age of ninety-nine.
1838
Harvey and Trask
Henry Harvey and his son-in-law, Mr. Trask, came here from Woodstock, N. B. They bought the mill and farm of Nathaniel Brad- street, which they operated for several years.
Henry Harvey had other interests besides the sawmill: farming, buy- ing and selling horses, running a small store-probably the first in the town-and any other business that he could turn into a dollar. Mr. Trask kept the sawmill going, supplying the new settlers with lumber.
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