USA > Maine > Oxford County > Paris > History of Paris, Maine, from its settlement to 1880, with a history of the grants of 1736 & 1771, together with personal sketches, a copious genealogical register and an appendix > Part 1
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Gc 974.102 P218 1127782
M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01092 9914
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BE
PARIS HILL, FROM ACADEMY CUPOLA.
Bufford Boston
Silas P.Makim
HISTORY OF PARIS, MAINE
FROM
ITS SETTLEMENT TO 1880
WITH
A HISTORY OF THE GRANTS OF 1736 & 1771
TOGETHER WITH
PERSONAL SKETCHES, A COPIOUS GENEALOGICAL REGISTER
AND
AN APPENDIX.
BY WM. B. LAPHAM AND SILAS P. MAXIM.
"To attend to the Neglected, and to Remember the Forgotten."-BURKE.
PARIS, MAINE : PRINTED FOR THE AUTHORS. 1884.
COPYRIGHTED BY WM. B. LAPHAM AND S. P. MAXIM. 1884.
1127782
HISTORY OF PARIS, MAINE.
CONTENTS.
PREFACE .. PAGE 3 TO 4
PART I. GENERAL HISTORY. PAGE 5 TO 490
PART II. GENEALOGICAL REGISTERS PAGE 491 TO 778
PART III. APPENDIX PAGE 779 TO 798
INDEXES
PAGE 799 TO 816
-
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I. EPITOME OF EARLY MAINE HISTORY 5-10
II. SOLDIERS' LAND GRANTS. 11-13
III. LAND GRANTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 13-16 IV. LAND GRANTS CONTINUED 16-20
V. TITLES TO THE SOIL 20-22
VI. GRANT OF 1736, TO SAMUEL JACKSON ET ALS 23-27
VII. THE CLAIM REVIVED AFTER 30 YEARS 27-36
VIII. ABSTRACTS OF PROPRIETORS' RECORDS. 37-46
IX. CONTEST FOR INCORPORATION
46-49
X. END OF THE PROPRIETARY . 40-51
XI. SKETCHES OF GRANTEES OF 1771 AND 1735-6 51-60
XII. A BRIEF RESUME. 61-63
XIII. SETTLED AT LAST-EARLY PURCHASES OF LAND ... 63-77
XIV. INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN 78-80
XV. DESCRIPTION OF PARIS. 81-90
XVI. ANNALS OF PARIS, 1794 TO 1800. 90-103
XVII. EFFORTS TO DIVIDE THE TOWN 104-111
XVIII.
THE EARLY SETTLERS
111-117
XIX. ANNALS CONTINUED-1803 TO 1816 . 118-131
XX. DIRECT TAX OF 1816. 131-138
XXI. THE ABORIGINES . 138-141
XXII. CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 141-143
XXIII. ANNALS CONTINUED-1817 TO 1825 144-149
XXIV. EARLY OXFORD COUNTY. 150-153
XXV. ANNALS CONTINUED-1826 TO 1830 . 154-159
XXVI. ELDER HOOPER'S SHORT HISTORY OF PARIS 159-163
XXVII. ANNALS CONTINUED-1831 TO 1850 163-174
XXVIII. ANOTHER BRIEF RETROSPECT
175-177
ANNALS CONTINUED-1851 TO 1878 178-200
XXX. ('ENTENNIAL CELEBRATION-ANNALS CONCLUDED. .201-257
XXXI. SURNAMES IN PARIS, AND THEIR ORIGIN . 258-264
XXXII. POST ROUTES AND POST OFFICES 265-270
XXXIII. PARIS CHURCHES AND MINISTERS 271-305
XXXIV. TEMPERANCE REFORM. . 306-318
XXXV. THE PRESS OF PARIS. 318-323
XXXVI. PARIS NEWSPAPER MEN 324-329
PAGE.
CHAPTER.
XXXVII. PARIS PHYSICIANS. . 329-341 XXXVIII. PARIS LAWYERS .. 341-351
XXXIX. FREE MASONRY AND ODD FELLOWSHIP. 351-361
XL. MILITARY HISTORY. 361-385
XLI. SNOW'S FALLS. 386-391
XLII. EARLY INDUSTRIES OF PARIS. 391-402
XLIII. MUSICAL CELEBRITIES .. 403-405
XLIV. ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 405-413
XLV. ANECDOTES OF ELDER HOOPER. 413-416
XLVI. PERSONAL NOTICES. 416-442
XLVII. PARIS VILLAGES 443-471
XLVIII. PARIS POETS. 471-490
INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS,
PORTRAITS.
Mrs. Flora E Barry 403
Horace N. Bolster 381
Solomon A. Bolster 417
James Deering 581
William Deering 423
Dr. Andrew J. Fuller 425
Hon. Hannibal Hamlin. 622
Willianı K. Kimball 347
Hon. Horatio King. 429
Silas P. Maxim · Opposite Frontispiece.
Hon. Sidney Perham. 437
Hon. Henry E. Prentiss. 439
Mrs. Abagail A. Prentiss 242
Hon. Virgil D. Parris 687
Mrs. Polla Rawson 705
A. Mellen Rice 709
William R. Swan 378
Dr. Augustus S Thayer 751
Charles J. Walker. 760
Adam Wilson, D. D. 280
George A. Wilson 349
VILLAGE AND TOWN VIEWS.
Paris Hill from Academy Cupola Frontispiece South Paris, from Stowell Hill. 462
North Paris
467
West Paris 469
Street View from Belfry of Baptist Church, Paris Hill 443 Street View in South Paris Village 465 Snow's Falls 470 Stony Brook, South Paris. 466
86
Mt. Mica and Streaked Mountain Plan of Paris
37
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDIFICES.
Baptist Church, Paris Hill . 273
Universalist Church, Paris Hill. 288
Congregationalist Church, South Paris 293 Methodist Church, South Paris. 301 Samuel Rawson Mansion, Paris Hill 456
Capt. Samuel King Homestead.
651 651
Site of Jackson's Mill on Stony Brook
South Paris School Building
628
Hubbard House, Paris Hill.
447
The Hamlin Homestead, Paris Hill. 446
Oxford Democrat Office, Paris Hill. 446
Residence of Mrs. Arabella Carter, Paris Hill. 455
Maxim's House Finish Manufactory 395 Rev. Joseph Walker House. 299
Sled Factory, South Paris. . 395
Capt. William R. Swan's Residence. 744
Judge Wilson's Residence, South Paris. 466
Alvah Hersey's Residence, South Paris. 628
David N. True's Residence, South Paris 753
George W. Hammond's Residence, Snow's Falls 470
Elisha F. Stone's Residence, South Paris 465
PREFACE.
It is the business of the local historian to collect and preserve such incidents relating to towns as would be overlooked by the writers of general history. His work is to gather from State and county archives, recorded facts relating to the foundation of municipalities, but more especially to preserve from destruction the contents of fugitive papers, and to glean from the weakening memories of aged citizens, the facts and traditions which, by their death, would soon be forever lost. A desire to do this for the town of Paris, prompted the compilers to gather up the scattered material relating to its history, and put it in a form to be preserved. Had the task been undertaken a few years ago, before all the first settlers died, it would have been easier of accomplishment, but it is much easier now than it would be a quarter of a century hence. Mercenary motives had no part in our undertaking, for no money is ever made in publishing a town history ; it is generally a labor of love and quite frequently a thank- less task. Of the compilers, one is a native born of Paris, and has ever lived in the town, and also his father before him, his grand parents being among the early settlers. The other, though born in a neighboring town, spent his boyhood days upon the banks of the Little Androscoggin river in Paris : his grand parents and great grand parents were early here, and his near kindred have always lived in town ; so that while one is a native, the other is no stranger to Paris and its people. We bring therefore to this work, something more than a mere desire for gain ; we bring to our self- imposed task, a love for this good old municipality, and an ardent desire to gather up and preserve all the fragments of her history, that little if anything may be lost.
For assistance in this undertaking, we are indebted to many, too many to refer to by name. We are under special obligations to those native-born citizens of the town who have left it and made for themselves homes else- where, and whose interest in this work has appeared to be not less than that of those whose homes have always been in Paris. Though long removed, their interest and love for the old town are unabated. The historians of a town have not much field for display. They have to do with ordinary events which to be satisfactory to the inhabitants and posterity. must be given in great detail. They are expected to prepare and present all the little incidents which go to make up the life and doings of a single munici-
4
PREFACE.
pality, and if we, in our present undertaking, shall succeed in gathering up the fragments pertaining to the history of Paris, and in bringing them together in a compact form and in a condition to be preserved, we shall feel that our labor has not been in vain. We do not even hope to avoid all errors, but our constant effort has been and will be, in the preparation of this work, and in putting it through the press, to reduce them to the minimum. No town history was ever written that was absolutely free from inaccuracies ; where there are so many names and dates to deal with, to prevent errors from creeping in, is next to impossible. Town historians are often accused of error when their statements do not correspond with family tradition, but it is the experience of all historical writers that family tradition, as a rule, is very unreliable evidence of fact, especially in rela- tion to dates. In the preparation of these pages, family tradition has been allowed its due weight, but if cases occur where it has not been followed, let it be understood that it was because it was outweighed by other and more reliable testimony.
In carrying on our investigations, we have availed ourselves of every source of information within our reach. We have by ourselves or through the assistance of others, searched through the archives of Massachusetts to gather facts relating to the early grants, and for statistical returns from Paris before the separation ; we have examined the archives of our own State for similar material of a later date; we have looked through the registry of deeds of Cumberland county for land titles of the early settlers, before Oxford county was erected ; we have examined nearly every work that has been written bearing on the history of Maine and Massachusetts, including town histories, and a large number of genealogies; we have examined the county records at Paris, and the records of that and many other towns, and have interviewed a large number of persons who were supposed to be in possession of facts worth preserving in this connection. The result of all these examinations, is the volume herewith presented. Objections may be raised that we have gone too much into detail, especially in relation to recent occurrences, but it should be remembered, that we write for posterity as well as for the present generation and posterity always delights in details. With how much more satisfaction do we read accounts of happenings of fifty or a hundred years ago, than of those that recently took place : with posterity it will be the same, for mankind in this regard, are very much the same in all generations. In conclusion : to all who have assisted us in the prosecution of this work whether by imparting information, whether by words of encouragement and approval or by pledging material aid, we return our sincere and heartfelt thanks, and the volume itself is respectfully submitted to the charitable and diserimi- nating consideration of the good people of Paris by THE AUTHORS.
Paris, May 1, 1884.
HISTORY OF PARIS.
CHAPTER I.
EPITOME OF EARLY MAINE HISTORY.
English and French Claims .- The Struggle for Empire-Crown and other Grants in Maine .- Boundary Question .- The Duke of York .- Charter of William and Mary.
The first European settlement in Maine was by the Popham Colony near the mouth of the Kennebec, in 1607, and this proved a failure. It was not till some fifteen years after that, that settlers - came to stay, and it was more than a century before settlements extended back from the coast except scattering ones upon our navi- . gable rivers. The causes which operated to retard the settlement of our State were the long and persistent contest between France and England, and the hostile attitude of the aboriginal inhabitants, and for more than a hundred and thirty years, the history of Maine and of New England, is made up largely of accounts of violence and bloodshed. With the Indians, it was a struggle for existence, with England and France, for empire. The latter had early sent missionaries among the Indians, who took kindly to the Roman Catholic faith, and most of the tribes became their faithful allies during the long and bloody struggle. The French held possession of the St. Lawrence river, and it was at Quebec that nearly all the raids upon the settlements in New England were planned ; they were planned by the French and executed jointly by the French and Indians. England and France, each claimed this country by priority of discovery. The French claim was founded first, on the discovery of the coast of Maine by Verrazzano, in 1524, who named the country New France ; second, on the discovery and occupancy of Canada in 1535, by Cartier ; third, the grant of Henry IV to DeMonts in 1603 ; fourth, the voyage and occupation of the
6
HISTORY OF PARIS.
country under DeMonts and Champlain, and others who claimed under the same charter. The English defended their title on the following grounds : first the discovery of Cabot in 1497; second, the possession of Newfoundland by Gilbert in 1553; third, the voyages and landings of Gosnold, Pring, Waymouth and others, and fourth the charter of 1606, and the occupation of the country by the Popham Colony in 1607 and subsequently, and by Gorges and others claiming under it. The great question between the two powers, as to the right of possession, turned on the occupancy of the country under the charter. And as the French based their claim largely on the settlement under the charter of DeMonts in 1603, so the English claim was based upon the settlement in 1607, under the Virginia charter of 1606. But as the charter of DeMonts had been revoked in 1607, and its rights conveyed by a new charter to Madame DeGuercheville, a strong advantage in the French claim was lost ; for the English claimed with great force that the English settlement under the English charter now gave them absolute priority and indisputable right. But the French did not so readily abandon their title. On the contrary, they pushed their settlements and arms and their missions, to the western verge of their claims. When the Popham Colony broke up in 1608, it is said the French at once began to settle within their limits. The struggle, as already stated, was long and bitter, for both parties were impelled by self interest and pride, and by an assumed consciousness of right.
The Great Charter of New England was granted in 1620, while the pilgrims were on their passage to this country, and through the influence of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his associates. The corpo- ration was called the "Council of Plymouth" in the county of Devon, England, and the charter granted the territory from the fortieth to the forty-eighth degree of north latitude. The southern limit was in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and the northern the Bay of. Chaleur, and the grant extended through the mainland from ocean to ocean. In 1621, the Council of Plymouth granted to the pilgrims the lands which they occupied, and upon this charter as enlarged in 1630, all the legal land titles of the Old Colony are based. In 1629, the same Council granted to Win. Bradford and his associates that territory on Kennebec river long known as the Plymouth Patent, and subsequently as the Kennebec Purchase. Its bounds were some- what indefinite, but as finally adjudicated, it embraced the land on each side of the river fifteen miles in breadth and extending from
7
HISTORY OF PARIS.
Merrymeeting bay, to the falls near Norridgewock. August 10, 1622, a patent was granted to Gorges and Mason, conveying to them the country between the Merrimac and Kennebec rivers, to their farthest head, and sixty-five miles inland, together with all the islands within five leagues of the shore, which the indenture states, "they intend to call the Province of Maine." In March 1628, a patent was granted to Governor Winthrop and his associates of the Massachusetts Bay, which was confirmed by royal charter, a year later. In 1629, Gorges and Mason divided their territory, Mason taking the western portion between the . Piscataqua and Merrimac rivers, which he called New Hampshire, and Gorges from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec. The council of Plymouth in their eagerness to settle the country and build up cities and counties in the wilderness. were careless and even reckless in their grants of land, overlaying patents and ignoring boundaries of previous grants, and thereby sowing the seeds of controversies which were not settled for many years. Some of these grants are briefly summarized below :
1630. A deed to Thomas Lewis and Richard Bonython of a tract of land on the north side of Saco river, four miles along the coast and eight miles into the mainland. Also a deed of the same description to John Oldham and Richard Vines, on the south side of the river, the whole tract being eight miles square.
1630. The Muscongus grant, afterwards known as the Waldo patent. This was issued to Beauchamp and Leverett of England, and extended on the seaboard between the Muscongus and Penob- scot rivers, and as far north as would embrace a territory equal to thirty miles square.
1630. Lygonia, or the Plow Patent, so called because the vessel which brought the colonists over was called the "Plow." This grant extended from Kennebunk to Harpswell, including right of soil and of government. In 1643, this patent was transferred to Col. Rigby, an English lawyer, whose contest with Gorges lasted forty years.
1631. Black Point to Thomas Cammock. This is the basis of land titles in Scarborough.
1631. Pejypscot patent to, Richard Bradshaw, fifteen hundred acres on the north side of the river, "not granted previously to any other."
8
HISTORY OF PARIS.
1631. Agamenticus, twelve thousand acres, to Edward Godfrey -the present town of York.
1631. Richmond's Island and fifteen hundred acres at Spurwink, to Walter Bagnall.
1631. Cape Porpoise to John Stratton.
1632. The tract between Cammock's patent and the river and bay of Casco, to Trelawney and Goodyear.
1632. Pemaquid patent, twelve thousand acres along the coast, and the islands three leagues into the ocean, with right of govern- ment.
1632. Way and Purchase patent, a tract on the river Pejepscot, now the Androscoggin, now the town of Brunswick, &c.
The Great Council of Plymouth having encountered many vexa- tions, in 1635, agreed to surrender their charter, and determined to divide their territory into eight provinces, two of which were within the present limits of Maine. The region between the Kennebec and the St. Croix was to be given to Sir William Alexander, Earl of Sterling, and was to be called the county of Canada. The coast from the Kennebec to the Piscataqua and extending sixty miles into the mainland, was assigned to Gorges, and named New Somerset- shire. Efforts were made by Gorges to establish a government and he partially succeeded, but political dissensions in the old world unsettled everything, and the troubles which arose from the grants previously made within his patent, induced him in 1639, to apply for a new charter which was granted by Charles I. It confimed all the territory within his old boundaries on the coast and extending twice as far into the mainland. He changed the name to the Province of Maine.
The terms of the Massachusetts charter, established their northern boundary three miles north of the Merrimac river, "and each and every part of it." To this line all had agreed. But when Massa- chusetts found it necessary to justify the seizure of Maine, her citizens conceived a new interpretation of the language describing the bounds. The river makes a right angle about thirty miles from its mouth, and from that point stretches almost due north ; so instead of a line three miles north of the river at its mouth, they took a point three miles north of its head waters, and from that run a line easterly to the sea, which would give them all of New Hamp- shire, and a large part of Maine. In her aggressive movement for the capture of Maine, the government of the Massachusetts Bay
.
9
HISTORY OF PARIS.
proceeded cautiously, but with a manifest determination to win. In 1652, she was at York and Saco. Four years after she had reached Falmouth. The next year an action was brought against Thomas Purchas at Brunswick, but he resisted and won his case in the courts. Then a new line was run to White Head Island in Penobscot bay. There was then an English settlement at Pema- quid, which was older than Massachusetts or Plymouth, and the new boundary was made to embrace it. It seemed to have made · no difference that the territory east of the Kennebec belonged to the Duke of York. The Duke had purchased it from the Earl of Ster- ling in 1663, including all his American possessions, and the next year received a royal charter from his brother Charles II. Massa- chusetts prepared to contest his title by occupation, and in 1674, set up a court and organized a local government at Pemaquid, naming the territory the county of Devonshire. The Duke contested until he ascended the throne as James II, when the territory was annexed to the Massachusetts Bay government. The eastern limit of Maine was first fixed at the Sagadahoc river, the name by which the Ken- nebec below Merrymeeting Bay was once called, then at the Penob- scot and finally at the St. Croix, as at the present time. The contest for Acadia as this Eastern territory was once called, as being the door to Canada by way of the St. Lawrence, was long and bloody. Its importance as a vantage ground may be understood in the frequency with which it changed hands. It was in 1632 ceded to the French by the treaty of St. Germains ; in 1655, it was repos- sessed by the English by conquest ; in 1667, it was again ceded to the French by the treaty of Breda ; in 1690, it was reconquered by the English under Sir William Phipps, a Maine man; in 1691, it was united to the Province of the Massachusetts Bay by the charter of William and Mary ; in 1696, it was virtually repossessed by the French, and Massachusetts surrendered it back to the Crown of England ; in 1697, it reverted to France by the treaty of Ryswick ; in 1713, it was ceded to England by the treaty of Utrecht ; in 1755, the Acadians who still maintained allegiance to France, were expelled ; in 1759 it was confirmed to England at the capitulation of Louisburg and Quebec.
But the contest between Massachusetts and the Gorges interest grew so bitter, and attracted so much attention in England, that commissioners were sent over by the crown to investigate the matter. Arms had already been resorted to, and the courts established by
10
HISTORY OF PARIS.
the Massachusetts Bay Colony were protected by troops. The question before the High Court of Chancery, the King in Council in 1677, rendered the just and common sense decision that the north line of the Massachusetts Colony was three miles from the north bank of the Merrimac river at its mouth, and the Province of Maine both as to soil and government was the rightful property of the heirs of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. When this decision reached Boston, Massachusetts instructed her agent to make purchase of the title, and the heir of Gorges sold his interest in the Province of Maine for the paltry sum of twelve hundred and fifty pounds. But Massa- chusetts did not long enjoy her triumph, for in June 1684, the charter of the Massachusetts Bay was declared forfeited by the King, and a copy of the judgment was served a month after. King Charles died, and James succeeded him and then were renewed those commotions and oppressions which in this country were con- nected with the name of Sir Edmund Andros, and the attempt to consolidate and really subjugate all the northern colonies ; and which in England resulted in the revolution of 1688, the flight of King James and the accession of William and Mary of the House of Orange. At the accession of William and Mary, Massachusetts had every reason to expect to be restored to her ancient rights, but there were now numerous interests to be harmonized ; the sovereigns, though sympathizing with the Puritans, were unwilling to restore so liberal a charter, and one which had been so freely interpreted. There had come to be strong shades of difference in religious and political opinions among the colonists, but the late disturbances and common sufferings had the sentiment of a common cause and the need of unity. And so it happened, that in 1691, these elements whether harmonious or discordant, Pilgrim, Puritan or Episcopalian, were bound together by a royal charter which consolidated the colonies of Plymouth, the Massachusetts Bay, the District of Maine, Sagadahoc and all of Acadia into one Province and under one title, the Province of the Massachusetts Bay. A few years later, the Maritime Provinces were receded to the Crown. Maine was now in fact a part of Massachusetts, and the first governor of the consoli- dated Provinces, was Sir William Phipps, a distinguished son of Maine. This relation existed for a hundred and thirty years, till 1820, when a separation was made by mutual consent, and Maine became an independent State.
11
HISTORY OF PARIS.
CHAPTER II.
SOLDIERS' LAND GRANTS.
Phillips War .- Narragansett Townships .- Canada Townships .- Conditions attached to the Grants .- Settling Duties, etc.
The long and sanguinary conflict to control the destinies of this country between the two leading powers of Europe, has already been referred to, and also the conspicuous part which New England was early and constantly called upon to bear. Strange as it may seem, the Aborigines took kindly to the bigotry and super- stitions of the Roman Catholic church, and were ever the faithful allies of the French, and it is a fact well authenticated that all the Indian raids upon our frontier settlements, were planned at Quebec, and, as a general thing, executed jointly by the French and Indians. The Narragansett war, however, was an exception and was brought on by the continued encroachments of the English upon the domain of the Indians, and the frequent grants of territory which the Indians claimed to be theirs. It was intended by King Phillip to be a war of utter extermination, and it was met by the whites in very much the same spirit. It was in 1675 that Phillip's war, called also the Narragansett war, broke out, and to carry it to a successful issue severely taxed the resources of the colonies. At its close, the war between France and England was resumed in the carrying on of which the Indians, as usual, were an important factor, and in which the colonists of New England were the greatest sufferers. . In 1691, the new charter of the Massachusetts Bay was granted to include Plymouth, Maine and Acadia, which was a result highly gratifying to the Bay government, and which put the General Court in an excellent mood. The Government was poor and had naught with which to pay the soldiers for their arduous services except land, and of land they had an abundance. Seven townships were surveyed and granted for services in Phillip's war, of which two were in Maine. These were called Narragansett Townships. Another and still larger class of townships was granted to those who took part in the expedition against Canada in 1690, under Sir William Phipps. Several of these townships were located in Maine, and most of them were granted to the heirs of those who did the actual services. Some of these are Raymond, Bridgton, Waterford, Turner, Jay, Otisfield, Bethel and perhaps Poland. Eight of these Canada town-
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