USA > Maine > Franklin County > Farmington > History of Farmington, Maine, from its First settlement to the year 1846 > Part 1
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Gc 974.102 F24p 1771801
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
VVUNIT PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01187 1263
- aprem
HISTORY
OF
FARMINGTON,
MAINE,
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO THE YEAR 1846
BY THE LATE THOMAS PARKER, JUDGE OF PROBATE.
SECOND EDITION.
FARMINGTON;
J. S. SWIFT, PUBLISHER.
1875.
116796
Xeroxed 1973
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Parker, Thomas, 1783-1860. History of Farmington, Maine, from its settlement to the vear 1846. By the late Thomas Parker ... 24 ed. Farmington (Me.] J. S. Swift, 1875.
120 p. 24em. First edition, 1846.
1. Farmington, Me .- Hist.
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ROBERT
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CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES.
1776- Stephen Titcomb and others made the first "cutdown" in Farmington. Battle of Bunker Hill.
1781-First families moved into Farmington and first sawmill built.
1782-Stephen Titcomb born, Nov. 14, being the first white child born in Farmington. - First gristmill built. Abraham Wyman settled in Chesterville.
1785- Great freshet in October.
1786- Wm. Thorn died in Autumn, the first death among the settlers,
1790- Township purchased of the State.
1794-Town incorporated Feb. 1 .- Frost, June 16, killed all the corn in the low lands.
1795-Great winter freshet in Jan. broke up the Kennebec and Sandy Riv- ers, causing much damage at Hallowell. Bread scarce in conse- quence of frost.
1799- Great freshet June 8. Remarkably wet season.
1800- Bread very scarce.
1801-Washburn drowned at the center of the town; found April 21 near James Butterfield's.
1804-Dysentery prevailed ; very mortal ; from thirty to forty died.
1806-Sept. 10, frost killed the corn; none ripe; some saved on high lands. 1 June 16, great eclipse of the sun.
1808-Corn killed by frost in some places.
1810-Cold Friday, Jan. 19.
1814- Cold or typhus fever appeared and prevailed to great extent in this and adjacent towns.
1816- Cold season ; very little corn raised.
1817- Great scarcity of bread.
1820- Great freshiet in October; water rose seventeen feet.
1825 -- Dysentery prevailed the second time; not so mortal as in 1804.
1828-Caleb Sprague killed, March 28, by a fall from his wagon; aged 73 ..
1830-William Tilton died at the age of 95.
1831-Joseph Fairbanks, 1st, killed by falling from his wagon in Augusta ; Sept. 12.
1832-Asiatic Cholera made its appearance in Quebec and Montreal, and soon after in the United States.
1833-Nov. 4; Solomon Adams killed by being thrown from his carriage in Vienna.
1836- Jan 20; Dinah June died at the age of 104.,
1838-County of Franklin organized.
1846-Aug. 8; Tremendous hail storm in the easterly part of the town; more water fell than was ever before known to fall in town in the same space of time; crops much injured.
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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
JUDGE PARKER's History of Farmington and Sketch- es of other Towns in Franklin County was published in 1816. Almost thirty years have since elapsed .- The edition then published was very limited, and the work has been for several years out of the market, and the original publisher has been often urged to issue another edition. And indeed the necessity for a second edition has become urgent. Years ago Judge Parker was called to that more perfect world, where, during an unselfish and a long life, he had accumulated eternal treasure in cheerful, happy, and holy memories ; and the aged cotemporaries from whom with unwearied industry he gathered facts and incidents-are no longer accessible to mortals; and the very existence of the mass of important and in- teresting facts-the result of his observations and collection, depends entirely upon the only history of Farmington ever vet written.
This preface is not the place for a Memoir of Judge Parker, and while assigning a place for an attempt to do justice to his memory in an Appendix and Continuation of his History, the publisher will here merely say that Judge Parker was conspicuous for one ruling trait of character-a love of usefulness -- a consecration to usefulness. To this trait we are in-
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PREFACE.
debted for this history, and for the peculiarities of the work. In the immense labor of accumulating the materials he sought no remuneration-nor in its pub- lication did he receive any-excepting a few copies for distribution among a few particular friends. Lit- erary considerations he sought not. Embellishment he never attempted, and imagination he studiously sup- pressed. With the mere object of usefulness in res- cuing facts from oblivion he made his book a vast magazine of facts and dates upon which future histo- rians may draw indefinitely. Thus he has left us, within a narrow compass facts numerous enough to have tempted others to stretch them through a pon- derous volume.
It was the dying wish of Judge Parker, expressed to the publisher a few days before his death-that when another edition might be called for, the origi- nal work-with a few corrections indicated-should appear in its original simplicity, while such additions as it might seem to need should be appended rather than incorporated. This explains the plan of the issue of this second edition. Only a very few chang- es-these merely for correction-and occasionally a few explanatory words in brackets are incorporated, while a continuation of the history, through thirty years succeeding its first publication, and additional facts associated with older dates, may be expected to follow the publication of this edition in the form of an appendix. The change of the divisions into num- bered and titled sections, is necessary to facilitate references in the appendix.
Farmington, Me., 1875.
PUBLISHER.
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
1 .- Situation and Boundaries.
FARMINGTON, the shire town of the County of Franklin, is located in that section of the State of Maine commonly called the Sandy River, situated thirty miles from Augusta, the capital of the State, and about seventy miles, something east of north from the city of Portland. Farmington is bounded west by the towns of Wilton and Temple, north by Strong and Industry, east by Industry and New Sha- ron, and south by Chesterville.
2 .- The Sandy River.
Farmington is drained by the Sandy River and its tributaries. The Sandy river takes its rise in the highlands which divide the waters of the Kennebec from those of the Androscoggin. Mount Abraham, Saddleback and Mount Blue, summits of this highland range, are among the highest elevations in the State. The westerly or principal branch of the Sandy River takes its rise in the Sandy River Pond, a small pond south of Saddleback, and running in a south-easterly direction through the eastern part of Letter E, and Madrid to Phillips, unites with the eastern branch, which taking its rise in and about Mount Abraham, runs through Phillips and Avon to Strong, where it unites with the north-east branch, and runs to Farm- ington Falls, dividing Farmington nearly in the cen- ter. From Farmington Falls the river flows in a north-easterly direction through New Shock W.a.
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
and Starks, and discharges its waters into the Ken- nebec, opposite the Monument. Mills have been erected on this river in Starks. New Sharon, Farming- ton, Strong, Phillips, and Madrid.
3 - Wilson Stream.
The next considerable stream is the Wilson Stream. It rises in Saddleback and Bald Mountain in Car- thage and the highlands in the south part of Temple, and after falling into Wilson and Varnum Ponds in Wilton, the waters are discharged at the southern extremities of each, and uniting near the Lower Vil- lage in Wilton, run in an easterly direction through Wilton, Farmington and a small part of Chesterville and form a junction with the Little Norridgewock, when the united rivers run in an easterly direction, dividing the towns of Farmington and Chesterville, and fall into the Sandy River just above Farmington Falls. On this stream are some of the best mill sites in 'this section of the State. It now has four sawmills and three gristmills in Wilton, with two starch facto- ries, and a woolen factory, besides other machinery. It has also a gristmill, a fulling-mill and carding-ma- chine in Chesterville, and a sawmill in Farmington. It is crossed by two bridges connecting Farmington and Chesterville, and by several others of less note.
4 .- Davis' Starling, or Temple Stream.
The Davis'-formerly Starling's Mill Stream-takes its rise on the southern slope of Mount Blue, in Tem- ple, being mostly fed by springs. The different branch- es unite near the outlet of Drury Pond in the east part of Temple, the stream running in a southerly di- rection through the remaining part of that town and a part of Farmington, and falling into the Sandy Riv- er a little below the center of the town. This stream is also favorable for mills. It now has several saw-
HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
mills and one gristmill in Temple, and one starch factory; and a starch factory, sawmill, gristmill and a clover-mill in Farmington. Numerous bridges cross this stream both in Temple and Farmington.
5. - Fairbanks' or Jones' Mill Stream.
The Fairbanks'-formerly Jones' Mill Stream-ris- es in New Vineyard Mountains and fills a small pond in Industry. Running in a south-west direction it discharges its waters into the Sandy River a short dis- tance below Fairbanks' Bridge. On this stream are a tannery, a sawmill, gristmill and clover-mill, and it is crossed by a bridge on the river road.
6 .- Blunt's Brook -Beaver Dam Brook, &c.
In addition to waters already named may be reck- oned Blunt's Brook, and Beaver Dam Brook, which run from the north-easterly part of the town in a southerly direction, and fall into the Sandy River be- tween the Center Village and the Falls. Small streams and springs everywhere abound, affording water to every farm and family in town. Good water may be found in almost any place at a moderate depth.
7 .- Fish; Sa!mon; Alewives.
Salmon were formerly plenty in the Sandy River and were the only fish of much consequence to the inhabitants. . They were taken by seines and spears to advantage as late as 1792 or 1793, after which date they decreased rapidly in consequence of the erection of mills. Few if any now get above the Falls at the lower extremity of the town. Alewives were formerly taken as high up as Titcomb's Mills on the Davis' Mill Stream, but have now become extinct in this region. The salmon-trout and pickerel are the principal fish now taken from the Sandy River and its tributary waters, and with which many of the ponds and streams abound.
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
8 .- Wild Animals; Hunting.
The streams and forests of the Sandy River Valley originally abounded with beaver, otter, sable, and va- rious species of animals yielding furs which afforded liberal encouragement to hunters. Moose were taken in great abundance in the winter season. Prior to the exa.cination of the region in 1776, for the pur- pose of making a settlement, it was unknown to any civilized people excepting those who explored it for the purpose of hunting, for which purpose a Mr. Stewart Foster and a Mr. Ephraim Allen of Winthrop made a stand on the Sandy River through the winter of 1780. They encamped near where the Fairbanks Bridge now stands, in a camp belonging to Pier- pole-he being absent. They killed a large quantity of moose, and at the opening of spring constructed a canoe of their skins, in which they went down the river, with their effects, to Hallowell .*
9 .- Natural Meadows.
There are but few natural meadows in Farming- ton and these are small, but such as they were they afforded great assistance to the early settlers in win- tering their stock. The intervales and forests served them for pasture in the summer season.
10 .- Soil ; Forest Growth ; Scenery.
The soil of Farmington is generally fertile and more easily cultivated than that of the State general- ly, especially the intervales and the uplands adjacent to them; though some of the highlands, particularly in the north-west section of the town are somewhat
* The game in the Sandy River Valley attracted the attention of the In- dians, and hence they gave the river the name "Mus-sa-lun-squit," which they subsequently, in their quaint English, translated to the whites as mean- ing-" A place where you can go and get plenty of moose, deer, fur," &c. ;-- literally. "GoodHunting Ground." -- Farmington Chronicle, No. 65.
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
rocky and hard to cultivate, but their superior qual- ity for grazing and the raising of stock, well recom- penses the labor of the husbandman. The natural forest growth is that of the several kinds of maple, birch, beach, ash, elm, basswood, pine, hemlock, fir, spruce, cedar, with some oak on the highlands, and hackmetack on the low lands. The appletree and ma- ny kinds of fruit are cultivated with success. The soil is productive of most kinds of grain and vegeta- bles, the low lands being best adapted to the growth of corn, and the highlands to that of wheat. Lime rock has been discovered in many places in this and adjacent towns. but those who have attempted its manufacture into lime have had but little success, and owing to its inferior quality perhaps it may never be profitable for mechanical purposes. The extent of the intervales, the gentle rise of the uplands, the convenient ridges into which it is thrown, the superior quality of the soil and the varied natural forests with which the town abounds, present one of the most pleasing prospects in the State, and one which perhaps is not surpassed by any .*
11. - Roads.
There are two leading county roads through Farm- ington passing longitudinally north and south- one on each side of the river, which, with various others, leading in various directions, all centering in, and passing the center of the town, take a large amount of travel. The great roads that pass north and south accommodate most of the travel from the interior towns to Hallowell and Augusta-the principal market for this part of the State. Much of the business, howev-
. The editor of the Gospel Banner, who has been somewhat of a traveler, refers to a spot a little above Farmington Falls, as affording one of the two most magnificent landscape views he has ever beheld. It is something of a compliment to the taste of the now venerable Stephen Titcomb, Esq., that the spot in which his axe first disturbed the slumbers of the primeval for- est is embraced in the foreground of this view.
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
er, which was formerly done in these towns is now done in Farmington.
12 .- Bridges; Public Buildings; Common.
There are two bridges across the Sandy River, sup- ported by the town of Farmington, and the most of another supported in connection with Chesterville .- The public buildings consist of an Academy, Court House, Jail, a County Building for several offices, five Meeting Houses and twenty-two School Houses. The Common-a public square in the center of the Village-encircled by rows of rock or sugar maple, forms a pleasant and agrecable object, and adds much to the beauty and convenience of the place.
13 .- Farmington First Explored; The Party; Their Route.
The tract now comprised within the territorial lim- its of the town of Farmington was first explored, with a view to settlement, in 1776. The exploring party consisted of Stephen Titcomb, Robert Gower, James Henry, Robert Alexander, and James Macdonnell .- They were piloted by Thomas Wilson, who had pre- viously explored the region as a hunter. The whole party were from Topsham, and they came in canoes up the Kennebec as far as Hallowell, which then con- tained but three or four houses and some fish stores. From Hallowell they proceeded by a bad road, ever a very thinly settled tract, to Mr. Rumford Smith's, just above the present site of Lane's Oil Mill, Mr. Smith's being the last house. From this place they traveled by a compass a west-north-west course, sup- posing that this would enable them to strike at or near the "Great Intervale." They struck the Sandy River at New Sharon Falls, near where the mills now stand-crossed the river, and traveled along its north- ern bank to Farmington Falls. From the Falls they proceeded up the river about a mile, to the south- cast line of the farm known as the Tufts Farm, now
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
owned by Samuel Daggett. Here they stripped some basswood bark for a substitute for a chain, and com- menced measuring off lots for farms. They made the lots one hundred rods in width. They measured off six lots which they divided by lot among them. Af- ter prosecuting their explorations further up the river they concluded to return to Topsham, procure tools, and return to commence clearing, in two weeks from the time of concluding the agreement.
14. -- Indians.
At Farmington Falls Mr. Titcomb and his party found two Indian camps-Pierpole's and Phillip's- and some Indian corn and potatoes growing. They here found a considerable tract of land cleared, ex- tending from the upper part of the present site of the village down the river to the edge of New Sha- ron. The remains of a considerable Indian village, and of a fort enclosing about an acre of land, were to be seen. The fort was situated near the center of the tract now covered by the Falls Village. The In- dian burying-ground has since been discovered in dig- ging the cellar to the Croswell house. Several skel- etons were found in an upright position. Tradition relates that many years before, a boy by the name of Knights, was captured in the town of Gorham, and carried to the Sandy River, where he was kept through the winter. The camp of the Indians was on the "Great Intervale," near the spot first improv- ed by Mr. Titcomb. In the spring the boy was left with the squaws while the Indians again repaired to Gorham to obtain scalps and more prisoners. Young Knights found a way of escape. and passing within sight of the Indians, arrived in Gorham in season to give notice of their approach, which warning prob- ably prevented an inhuman massacre. Tomahawks, arrow-heads, and other Indian relics have been dis- covered in different parts of the town.
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
15 .- The Party return to the Sandy River by a New Route.
At the time appointed the party supplied them- selves with batteaux, and ascended the Kennebec to the Cobosseconte Stream, (now Gardiner,)-carried their batteaux around the falls, and followed the stream till they came to the Indian Great Carrying Place, which leads to Winthrop Great Pond, passed up this pond to South Pond, near Winthrop Facto- ry, carried to the pond near Readfield Corner, then proceeded up Bog Stream to Greely's Pond, and car- ried one mile to Crotchet Pond, [Parker's Pond!]- From Crotchet Pond they carried two miles to a pond west of the Ridge in Chesterville, [Norcross Pond?] and followed its waters down the Little Norridgewock to Sandy River. They felled some trees on the lots they had previously selected, and after exploring the country to a greater extent than they had done on their first visit, descended the Sandy River to the Kennebec, and navigated that river and Merrymeet- ing Bay to their homes in Topsham.
16 .- From 1776 to 1781.
From the date of the beginning described, this com- pany, with others, continued to make improvements in different parts of the town till 1781, when the first families removed into the Sandy River Valley. About this time another company came from the vi- cinity of Hallowell to explore, with a view of mak- ing a settlement on the Sandy River. The two par- ties formed an Association in Hallowell, Dec. 17, 1777, known by the title of "The Proprietors of a Township on Sandy River." The Association after- wards became known as the firm of "Reuben Colburn and his Associates." At their meeting Ephraim Cow- an was chosen Clerk, and arrangements were made for laying out a road to the township. James Cowan and Moses Aires were chosen a Committee to petition
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
the General Court for the road. At the first attempt the petitioners failed to procure a grant in conse- quence of a supposition that the township would fall within the limits of the Plymouth Claim. In the fol- lowing season-July 28, 1778,-the Associates had a meeting to petition to the Plymouth Company, but as doubts respecting the title were entertained, they concluded not to petition, but made arrangements to open the road laid out the previous winter, from John Stearns' land to the mill stream on which Tit- comb's [Walton's] Mills now stand. The meetings of the Associates were generally held at Amos Pollard's, in that part of Hallowell now Augusta, and their bu- siness was conducted by a clerk, treasurer and a com- mittee of three, who were chosen annually, and their expenses were paid by assessments on the rights in the township. After some verbal communications from Mr. Bowdoin, Chairman of the committee of the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase from the Colo- ny of New Plymouth, it was voted, at a meeting held on the 24th of May, 1779, to make some pro- posals to Mr. Bowdoin on condition that he would give warrantee deeds, and Mr. Weston was chosen to make the proposition.
17 .- The Original Survey.
It appears by a memorandum signed in Boston, Oct. 4, 1779, by James Bowdoin, Daniel Jeffries, Jas. Hlewing and John Hancock, and from an alteration annexed, dated at Boston, March 3, 1780, signed by Henry Allen, Proprietor's Clerk, that the following arrangement was made with the Committee of the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase, by Reuben Colburn and his Associates, viz :- That the Associates should cause a survey to be taken of all that tract of land west of Kennebec River and north of the southerly line of Settler's Lot No. 70, in the town of Vassalborough, now Sidney, and south of the
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
mouth of Sandy River, and extending westerly fifteen miles; viz :- The course of Kennebec River to be taken, then, commencing at the mouth of Sandy Riv- er, to run a due west course fifteen miles, there to make a corner marked K. 15 M .; thence southerly two miles; thence varying the courses so as to con- form to the courses taken on the Kennebec River, until it strikes the Little Norridgewock Stream, there to be marked K. 15 M., to show that it is 15 miles from Kennebec River, on a west-north-west course ; and from thence to the first mentioned bound. The ponds and rivers to be laid down on the field-book, together with the growth of timber on the land, and the quality of the soil, and every thing of a remark- able nature, including the road laid out to the town- ship which was to be surveyed from the rear of this tract of land, and the line of which was to com- mence at the junction of the Little Norridgewock with the Wilson Stream-from thence to follow down the Wilson Stream to Sandy River, thence down the river about half a mile, from thence a due north course until it should intersect the fifteen mile line running west from Kennebec River, making the town about ten miles in its longest extent. The township was to be laid out in lots of two hundred acres, and two hundred and fifty acres, alternately, that is, first a lot of two hundred acres, then a lot of two hun- dred and fifty acres, next another lot of two hundred acres, and so on through the whole town, except on the Sandy River, where all the lots were to be of cqual extent,-sixty rods on the river, and not to ex- ceed one hundred and fifty acres; the whole to be laid out with as much equality as possible. One of the one hundred and fifty acre lots was to be for the first settled minister, and one of the two hundred acre lots to be for the use of the ministry, both to be marked M. The one hundred and fifty acre lots on the river were to be marked, first, P. for propri-
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HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
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etors, next S. for settlers, and so on, alternately, and the two hundred and fifty acre lots were to be mark- ed P. for proprietors, and the two hundred acre lots S. for settlers; first laving out a lot on the mill stream for encouraging the building of a gristmill and a sawmill for the accommodation of the inhabitants, not to exceed one hundred and fifty rods in width, and to run three hundred rods back from the river, if there should be room. An exact plan of the town was to be made out, and the plan, with the field-book to be returned to the Clerk of the Proprietors of the Kennebeec Purchase, by the tenth of the follow- ing May. The survey was to be at the expense of the Associates, if they were admitted as settlers on certain conditions. When the survey was completed and the return made according to directions, the Com- mittee concluded to recommend to the owners to ad- mit the applicants as settlers in the township. They were to obtain a written license from the owners, and with such as might associate with them, each select a settler's lot, to which he was to be entitled after a residence of two years, with conditions that he should build a house not less than twenty feet square, and seven feet in the stud, clear five acres of land with- in three years, and actually live on the premises him- self during three years, or in case of his death, his heirs or some one under them to complete the term of residence, he or some one under him likewise to reside on the premises seven years longer, and work on the ministerial lot, or on a house for the public worship of God, two days in a year for ten years, when required by the Committee of the Proprietors or their agent,-and also two days each year on the public roads till the lands should be incorporated into a town ; each one likewise agreeing to submit in public affairs to the decision of the majority of the settlers at any public meeting regularly called. The settlers were to petition the owners, and the
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