USA > Maine > Penobscot County > History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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HISTORY
OF
PENOBSCOT COUNTY
MAINE,
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
WITH
ILLUSTRATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
CLEVELAND: WILLIAMS, CHASE & CO.
1882.
CONTENTS.
HISTORICAL.
GENERAL HISTORY.
PAGE.
I .- Description of the county . 9
Milford
901
Mount Chase
424 426
IV .- Geographical Designations
5I
Newport
435
V .- Colonization and Settlement
65
Orono
443
Oldtown
454
Orrington
467
Passadumkeag
475-9II
IX .- Military Record of Penobscot County 86
Patten
478
X .- Agricultural and other Societies 164
XI .- The Maine State College 170
XII .- Ecclesiastical History
176
XIII .- The Bangor Theological Seminary 177
XIV .- The Press in Penobscot County 185
XV .- Roads, Railroads and Telegraphs
19I
XVI .- The Bench and Bar of Penobscot 195
XVII .-. Bibliography of Penobscot County 228
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES.
Alton
247
Argyle .
249
Bradford
251
Bradley
255-855
Brewer
258 269
Carmel
272 276
Charleston
279 283
Chester
X .- 1817
Clifton
290 293
Corinth
306
Dexter
318-861
Dixmont
323
Eddington
333
Edinburg
339
Enfield
340 343 869
Garland
352 359
Greenbush
XXIII .- 1830
Greenfield
XXIV .-- 1831 XXV .- 1832
Hampden Hermon
XXVI .- 1833
Holden
XXVII .- 1834
Howland
XXVIII .- 1835
Hudson
Kenduskeag
Kingman Lagrange
Levant
Lee
Lincoln
415
Mattawamkeag
894
Mattamiscontis
419
Maxfield
420
CHAPTER. PAGE.
Medway
422
II .- The Penobscot Indians 29
III .- The Discoverers . 46
Newburg
VI .- The Missionaries 70
VII .- County Organization-Civil List 73
VIII. - Land Titles-Growth 77
Plymouth
482
Plantations
506-513
Prentiss 485
Springfield
488
Stetson 490
Veazie
495
Winn
497
THE ANNALS OF BANGOR -- 1769-1882.
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I .- 1769 to 1776 517
II .- 1770 to 1780 522
III. - 1780 to 1785 528
IV .- 1785 to 1800 535
V .- 1800 to 1805 541
VI .- 1805 to 1811 547
VII .- 1811-1812-1813 553
VIII .- 1814
557
IX .- 1815 to 1816 570 577
XI .- 1818 XII .- 1819
XIII .- 1820
XIV .- 1821
XV .- 1822
XVI .- 1823
XVII .- 1824 XVIII .- 1825 XIX .- 1826
Etna Exeter
XX .- 1827 XXI .- 1828 XXII .- 1829
Glenburn
362 366 368 379 382
XXIX .-- 1836 XXX .-- 1837
697
XXXI .- Subsequent History of Bangor, 1838-1881
7II
XXXII .- The Churches of Bangor 718
XXXIII .- The Public Charities of Bangor 733
XXXIV .- Associations and Clubs . 738
XXXV .- The Water Works 750
XXXVI .- Civil List of Bangor 753
XXXVII .- Bangor Biographies 760
XXXVIII-Settlement Notes 787
XXXIX .- Township Biographies 820
579 586 590 595 601 606 610 615 623 632 641 646 650 653 659 662 667 672 684
Burlington
Carroll
Corinna
Lowell .
387 390 391 396 398 4º3 884 408
CHAPTER.
CONTENTS.
APPENDIX.
Appendix to General History .
847
Mattawamkeag
894
Appendix to Bradley. Dexter. . Exeter
855
Milford .
901
861
Passadumkeag
9II
869
Addenda
914
BIOGRAPHICAL,
PAGE.
PAGE.
Appleton, Hon. John, LL. D.
. 201 and 763
Hamlin, Hon. Hannibal
213
Allen, Hon. Frederick H.
205
Hamlin, Hon. Hannibal
760
Allen, Hon. Elisha H. 21I
Hamlin, Hon. Elijah L.
214
Abbot, Hon. William
213
Hamlin, General Charles
214
Appleton, Frederick H.
222
Hilliard, William T.
221
Appleton, Moses L.
222
Hobbs, Frederick
223
Appleton, General John F.
225
Hill, Joshua 226
Ayer,[ Horatio S.
830
Hill, Colonel Francis
917
Brown, Hon. Enoch
207
Hodsdon, Sergeant Israel
314
Barker, Hon. Lewis
217
Hutchings, Colonel Jasper 227
Barker, Lewis A.
217
Hill, Brevet Brigadier General Jonathan A. 492
Barker, David
224
Hill, Captain Henry F.
492
Bartlett, Ichabod D. 224
Hersey, General S. F.
777
Bailey, Charles A.
225
Hunt, Abel
786
Blanchard, John A.
Haines, Dr. George A.
828
Blake, William A.
Hill, Hon. Francis W.
829
Bond, Francis Eugene
Hammond, John R.
837
Burgess, James H.
227
Huston, Nicholas R.
838 839 840
Boutelle, Captain Charles A.
. 766 and 915
Ingersoll, George W. .
Brown, William H., M. D.
Jewett, Hon. Albert G.
Beal, Flavius O.
783
Jordon, Edward
Bryant, Charles D.
Kent, Hon. Edward, L.L. D.
Bragg, Warren A.
Kent, Hon. Edward, L.L. D.
Butman, Samuel
918
Leonard, Oliver
Chesley, Samuel
287
Ladd, Hon. George W.
763 766 770
Crosby, Hon. Josiah
216 and 825
Chandler, Theophilus P.
McGaw, Hon. Thornton
Copeland, Thomas J.
223
Crosby, William C. -
223
Moody, George B.
220
Chamberlain, Horace B.
227
McCrillis, David
222
Chamberlain, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas D.
261
McCrillis, William H.
222
Chamberlain, Joshua L.
262
Mitchell, Henry L.
225 225
Case, Captain Isaac Winslow
393
Mayo, Captain Ezekiel R.
371
Carleton, Brigadier General James H.
449
472
Chapman, Adolphus J.
₩82
Morison, Hon. John
824 784
Dutton, Hon. Samuel E.
205
Oakman, Major Ora
Donigan, James A.
227
Oakes, Captain Samuel J.
476
Davis, Governor D. F.
823
Plaisted, Hon. Harris M. .
between 64-65
Emery, Marcellus
Peters, Hon. John A.
204
Eddy, Colonel Jonathan
Perham, Hon. David
204
Ellis, Captain Osco A.
410
Plaisted, Hon. Harris M.
211
Egery, Hon. Thomas N.
Prentiss, Hon. Henry E.
. 216 222
Fuller, Lieutenant Colonel George
Palmer, Surgeon Alden D.
449 781
Flanders, Reuben
828
Plaisted, Hon. William
829
Folsom, Dr. A. P.
833
Rowe, James S.
219 219
Fernald, M. C.
835
Rogers, Lieutenant Edwin S.
479
Fuller, Henry D.
314
Ruggles, Major Hiram
821 822
Godfrey, James
Sanborn, Hon. Daniel
207 210
Gilman, Hon. Allen
210
Gilman, Charles
219
215
Garnsey, Samuel 219
219
Greenwood, Charles
305
Sanborn, Abraham
228
Gardner, Hon. John .
837
Stearns, Lewis C. .
228
Hathaway, Hon. Joshua W.
202
Sanger, Dr. E. F. 768
Hill, Hon. Thomas A.
209
Seavy, Dr. Calvin
771
Humphrey, Hon. Samuel F.
210
Sargent, Deacon Daniel
820
261
Haynes, George H.
Barker, Hon. Lewis, .
764
Hodsdon, General Isaac
220 211 838
Cutting, Jonas, LL. D.
202
Lord, Henry
Chandler, Peleg
212
Laughton, Dr. Sumner
Laughton, Hon. Frederick M.
771 209 218
Comins, Lieutenant L. M.
335
McFadden, T. F.
Mudge Enoch R.
Crosby, Captain Henry
372
Nichols, Lemuel
224 334
779 842
Paine, Albert W.
Foster, Major Benjamin B.
450
Pullen, Colonel Frank D.
Folsom, Major M. M.
834
Rogers, Jonathan P.
Godfrey, Hon. John
208
Ruggles, Lieutenant G. H.
Goodenow, Hon. Henry C.
208 210 212
Stetson, Hon. Charles
Stetson, Charles P. Sewall, George P. Starrett, George
Eddy, Jonathan
314
.
220
McGaw, Jacob
767
786 813
203 761 218
Brastow, Captain Billings
225 226 226
.
Lee 884
CONTENTS.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
PAGE,
PAGE.
Sprague, Volney A.
827
Weston, Nathan Jr.
223
Shaw, Hon. Charles
827
Weeks, Matthias
224
Smith, Hon. Asa .
830
Whitney, George W.
227
Shaw, E. W. .
831
Wilson, Franklin A.
228
Smith, Hon. Joseph L.
832
Wilson, Joseph C.
228
Thissell, Hon. John
825
Washburn, Lieutenant Israel H.
449
Woods, Hon. Noah
773
Veazie, General Samuel
774
Webber, John Prescott
780
Veazie, Jones P.
787
Wadleigh, Jesse R.
831
Williamson, Hon. William D.
206
Wadleigh, Moses P.
832
Washburn, Hon. Israel
2II
Webster, Eben
835
Wakefield, Hon. Albert G.
215
Wilson, Surgeon J. B.
883
Wilson, Nathaniel
221
ILLUSTRATIONS,
PAGE.
PAGE.
Map of Penobscot County .
Frontispiece
Portrait of John Gardner
between 478-479
Portrait of General Samuel Veazie
between
32- 33
Residence of John Gardner
between 478-479
Portrait of Governor H. M. Plaisted
facing
65
Portrait of John R. Hammond
between 480-481
Portrait of D. F. Davis
facing
73
Residence of John R. Hammond
between 480-481
County Buildings
facing
75
Cream Brook Farm .
between 490-491
Portrait of Lewis A. Barker
between
82- 83
Residence of Samuel E. Stetson.
facing
492
Residence of A. F. Bradbury
facing
89
Residence of Edward and John Jordon
facing
493
Portrait of General Isaac Hodsdon
facing
95
Residence of Porter G. Wiggin .
facing
494
Portrait of Dr. E. F. Sanger
between 112-113
Portrait of Alvin Haynes
between 838-839
Portrait of Major M. M. Folsom
facing
II7
Portrait of Charles A. Haynes
between 838-839
Portrait of Lieutenant G. H. Ruggles
between 152-153
Portrait of George H. Haynes
between 838-839
Maine State Agricultural College
facing
170
Portrait of N. R. Huston
between 500-501
Portrait of M. C. Fernald .
facing
172
Residence of N. R. Huston
between 500-501
Portrait of C. A. Boutelle
between 186-187
Map of Bangor in 1798 .
facing 515
Portrait of Noah Woods
facing
193
Portrait of Hon. Lewis Barker
between 524-525
Portrait of Hon. John Appleton
facing
201
Portrait of Thomas N. Egery
between 544-545
Portrait of Hon. John E. Godfrey
facing
208
Portrait of G. W. Ladd
between 570-571
Portrait of Hon. Josiah Crosby
facing
216
Map of Bangor in 1820 .
between 590-591
Residence of Greenville J. Shaw
facing
244
Map of Bangor in 1820
between 590-591
Portrait of Charles P. Church
facing
251
Portrait of Lemuel Nichols
facing
592
Portrait of Cyrus P. Church
facing
252
Portrait of J. E. Chapman . Bangor Planing Mill
facing
600
Portrait of Thomas R. Kingsbury
facing
253
facing 608
Portrait of D. S. Humphrey
facing
254
Portrait of F. O. Beal
between 644-645
Residence of J. B. Benjamin
facing
273
Portrait of Jones P. Veazie
facing
652
Portrait of Thomas J. Peaks
facing
282
Portrait of Abel Hunt
facing
656
View of Eureka Mills
facing
305
Portrait of F. M. Laughton
between 712-713
Portrait of Reuben Flanders
facing
318
View of Amos Abbott & Co's Mills
facing
320
Portrait of Colonel Jonathan Eddy
facing
334
Store of Thurston, Bragg & Co.
facing
813
Portrait of Hon. William Plaisted
facing
409
Residence of Hon. John Morison
facing
824
Portrait of William R. Ayer
facing
414
Portrait of Volney A. Sprague
facing
827
Portrait of E. W. Shaw
facing
437
Portrait of Thomas M. Plaisted
facing
829
Portrait of Dr. John Benson
facing
442
Portrait of George A. Haines
facing
861
Residence of B. P. Gilman
between 444-445
Dexter Woolen Mills
facing
865
Portrait of Jesse R. Wadleigh
facing
448
Residence of Hon. Josiah Crosby
facing
868
Residence of Eben Webster
facing
449
Portrait of F. W. Hill
facing
879
Portrait of J. L. Smith
between 454-455
Residence and portrait of Asa Smith
facing
897
Portrait of Dr. A. P. Folsom
between 458-459
Portrait of Colonel Francis Hill
between 916-915
Residence of Dr. A. P. Folsom
between 458-459
Portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth Hill
between 916-917
Residence of M. M. Folsom
facing
466
St. Xavier's Convent
facing
731
Portrait of Dr. Sumner Laughton
between 734-735
Portrait of J. P. Webber
facing
741
Portrait of T. P. Bachelder
between 394-395
Portrait of Hon. Henry Lord
between 624-625
Portrait of Deacon Daniel Sargent
between 258-259
View of Bangor House
between 644-645
Portrait of Major Hiram Ruggles
between 274-275
Portrait of F. V. Pullen .
between 702-703
Portrait of Hon. John Thissell
between 312-313
Vose, Hon. Thomas W.
.
217
. € : 12
HISTORY OF
PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.
CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY.
Geographical-Its Situation, Size, Boundaries, Subdivisions, and Population-The Penobscot River-Scenery of the Bay-The Ac- counts of Rozier, Dr. Kohl, Wells, and Williamson-Lumbering on the River-The Soil of Penobscot-Arable and Waste Lands- Agricultural Adaptation of Wild Lands-Geology of the County- Bangor and Vicinity-From Holden to Charleston-Argillo-mica Schist-Mica Schist in Carroll-About Lakeville Plantation-The East Branch of the Penobscot-Working the Slate-History of the Brownville Quarries-" Horsebacks"-Marble and Limestones- The Manufacture of Lime-Trap Rock-Granite in Northern Maine -Sundry Geological Notes - Travelers' Descriptions - Steele- Thorneau-Audubon.
GEOGRAPHICAL.
The county of Penobscot, in the State of Maine, is altogether an inland subdivision, no part of its territory abutting upon the seacoast. It occupies, however, almost the whole of the valley of the Penobscot, nearly the whole of the main stream of that river, the entire East branch, except its furthest headwaters, and many miles of the West branch, lying within the borders of this county. The lower part of the county is nearly in the middle of the State, on an east and west line from Passamaquoddy Bay. On a north and south line, how- ever, its boundaries are much nearer to the sea than to the river St. John, the northern limit of the State, and the entire northern half of the county approaches within thirty to fifty miles of the State line on the east, while it is at all points more than twice as far from the western boundaries of the State. It is the principal county of Eastern Maine, and one of the largest and most import- ant in the Commonwealth. It has a total area of two thousand seven hundred and sixty square miles, or one million seven hundred and sixty-six thousand four hun- dred acres. Its extreme length, from the northernmost boundary, the north line of section eight, of the eighth range, to the southernmost point, the projection of Or- rington town into Hancock county, is one hundred and seventeen and one-half miles. Its breadth varies from a little more than eighteen miles, down the county from the north line for about forty-five miles, to fifty and one- half miles in extreme width, on a belt of eight miles' width from Dexter and the north part of Corinna east- ward. The breadth from Carroll, Prentiss, and Drew Plantation westward, is the same as that of the lower part of the county, say the latitude of Bangor-forty
miles; which is shortened in the southernmost portion, from Dixmont eastward, by about three miles.
The boundaries of the county, although quite irregu- lar, are almost wholly in right lines. It has no "natural boundaries," except at the southwest part of Orrington, where the Penobscot separates its territory from the northeast corner of Waldo county. Its entire periphery or boundary has a length, very nearly, of three hundred and fifty-three miles. It is bounded on the north by Aroostook and Piscataquis counties; on the east by Aroostook, Washington, and Hancock; on the south --- that part of the county east of the Penobscot by Han- cock county, that west of the river by Waldo county, on the west (Dixmont) by Waldo, (Plymouth to Dexter), Somerset, and (the rest of the county) Piscataquis coun- ties. The famous eminence of the wilderness, Mount Katahdin, is just outside the western boundary, on the lat- itude of Stacyville town ; also Lake Seboeis, to the west- ward of Woodville and Chester. Between these towns and the lake is the Mattamiscontis mountain, a height of respectable altitude, about six miles from the west line of the county.
The organized towns of Penobscot county are Alton, Argyle, Bangor, Bradford, Bradley, Brewer, Burlington, Carmel, Carroll, Charleston, Chester, Clifton, Corinna, Corinth, Dexter, Dixmont, Eddington, Edinburg, En- field, Etna, Exeter, Garland, Glenburn, Greenbush, Greenfield, Hampden, Hermon, Holden, Howland, Hudson, Kenduskeag, Kingman, Lagrange, Lee, Levant, Lincoln, Lowell, Mattamiscontis, Mattawamkeag, Max- field, Medway, Milford, Mount Chase, Newport, New- burgh, Oldtown, Orono, Orrington, Passadumkeag, Pat- ten, Plymouth, Prentiss, Springfield, Stetson, Veazie, and Winn-fifty-six in all. The organized plantations are Drew, Lakeville, Stacyville, Webster, Woodville, No. 1 (North Bingham, Penobscot Purchase), and No. 2, Grand Falls Plantation-eight in number. Unorganized plantations are Pattagumpus, Whitney Ridge, West In- dian, township A, range 7; No. 3; Nos. 2 and 3, range 3; No. 2, range 4; No. 2, range 6; No. 2, range 9; No. 3, range 1-eleven.
The population of the county, according to the census of 1880, was seventy thousand four hundred and seventy- eight.
2
IO
HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.
The great physical feature of the county is, of course, the
PENOBSCOT RIVER.
The Indian name of this renowned stream, which has been taken also by an ancient town in Hancock county, and by the great county which nearly fills its valley, is Penobskeag or Penobscook-the former having the well-known termination keag, found in many appellatives in this State, and meaning place-the whole word signi- fying "the place of rocks." The French, in their efforts to represent the Indian sounds by their alphabet, called the river Pentaquevett, which became shortened into Pentagoet-a designation by which the remains of the old fort on the margin of the water at Castine are still known. But the men of Plymouth, who established their trading-post at or near the same spot in 1826, are be- lieved to have been the first to name the river as Penob- scot. It received other titles in the course of civilized exploration on these shores-as the river of Norumbega, the Rio de Gomez, and others which will appear hereafter.
The scenery of the bay and river of Penobscot is widely celebrated for its picturesque character and beauty. The lines of Whittier, in his musical verse embodying the legend of the Tarratine sachem, Mogg Megone, furnish a fitting introduction to the scene :
Beneath the westward-turning eye A thousand wooded islands lie, - Their thousand tints of beauty glow Down in the restless waves below.
There sleeps Placentia's group,-
There, gloomily against the sky The Dark Isles rear their summits high; And Desert Rock, abrupt and bare, Lifts its gray turrets in the air,-
Seen from afar, like some stronghold
Built by the ocean-kings of old ;
And, faint as smoke-wreath, white and thin, Swells in the north vast Katahdin ; And, wandering from its marshy feet, The broad Penobscot comes to meet And mingle with its own bright bay.
The historian of Weymouth's voyage, M. Rozier, eulo- gizes the stream up which the explorer pushed, whatever it may have been (probably the Penobscot), in the warm- est terms. His praises are well worthy the Penobscot waters :
As we passed with a gentle wind up with our ship in this river, any man may conceive with what admiration we all consented in joy .. Many of our company, who had been travellers in sundry countries and in the most famous rivers, yet affirmed them not comparable to this they now beheld. Some that were with Sir Walter Raleigh in his voyage to Guiana, in the discovery of the river Orenoque, which echoed fame to the world's ears, gave reasons why it was not to be compared with this, which wanteth the dangers of many shoals and broken ground wherewith that was incumbered. Others before that notable river in the West Indies, called Rio Grande; some before the river of Loire, the river Seine and of Bordeaux, in France, which, though they be great and goodly rivers, yet is it no detraction from them to be ac- counted inferior to this.
The first chapter of Dr. J. G. Kohl's "History of the Discovery of the East Coast of North America," printed in the first volume of the second series of the Maine Historical Collections, contains the following interesting remarks upon this great inland water, which Dr. Kohl
rightly designates as by far the most important river of the State. He says further :
It drains the entire central part of Maine. All its heads and tribu- taries are included in the territory of the State, and this territory may be considered as having attached itself from all sides to this river sys- tem. The State of Maine might be called the Penobscot country, this river being its main artery.
The Penobscot, at its mouth, forms the largest and most beautiful of all the numerous bays or inlets of the coast, and is very deep, and nav- igable for the largest vessels about sixty miles from the ocean upward to the city of Bangor, where tides and vessels are stopped by rocks and falls.
The widely open mouth attracted the attention of all the exploring navigators sailing along the coast and it was visited by the Spaniards on their first exploring expedition to our regions. We see it depicted · on the Spanish maps as the longest river of the whole region, and they gave to it names like the following: " Rio Grande" (the great river), or "Rio Hermoso" (the beautiful river). And the principal of the ear- ly Spanish explorers of these regions, Gomez, left his name to this river, which, perhaps, he considered to be one of his most important discoveries. It was sometimes called "Rio de Gomez" (the river of Gomez). It was afterwards often visited by French navigators and fishermen from the Great Bank, and they appear to have built there, before the year 1555, a fort or settlement, which must have been the first European settlement ever made on the coast of Maine. The In- dians of Maine, also, thought highly of this river. Their principal chief, according to the well-known Captain John Smith, an early Eng- lish describer of the coast of Maine, resided on its shore, and even now when everywhere else in Maine the Indians have disappeared, the few remnants of them, the little Penobscot tribe, cling to the borders of this their old, beloved, principal canoe trail.
The very full and interesting Report upon the Water- power of Maine, made in 1868 by Mr. Walter Wells, superintendent of the hydrographical survey of this State, .contains an elaborate and most valuable chapter upon the system of the Penobscot, from which we make the following brief extracts:
The Penobscot is the only great fluviatile district in Maine which il- lustrates in its actual configuration the geographical idea of the river- basin-appearing as a mere point at the mouth of the stream, thence, interior-ward, expanding symmetrically upon both sides of the central channel, presently embranching into subordinate basins, themselves disposed likewise symmetrically about tributary streams, and them- selves yet further breaking up into still smaller basins located upon still smaller tributaries, until the whole takes on the similitude of a mighty tree, that from one trunk ramifies into innumerable branches, and from one grand aorta divaricates into numberless arteries and veins, by which, upon occasion, its entire volume of fluids is conducted to and poured into a common channel of circulation and discharge.
Greatest length, from north to south, 160 miles; greatest breadth, 115 miles; area, 8,200 square miles, considerably the largest river dis- trict contained wholly in the State-800 square miles discharge their sur- plus water into the main river below its lowest water power, at Bangor. The so-called west branch is properly only the con- tinuation of the main river; it is the upper Penobscot; a name applica- ble to the stream from the Mattawamkeag to the "Forks," in Pittston township, where the Penobscot takes origin. The lower Penobscot extends from the Mattawamkeag to Penobscot bay.
The east branch, so called, should be known as the Mattagamon, after and in common with the lake from which it issues and the moun- tains in its vicinity. The various terms west branch, east branch, northwest branch, etc., should be reserved for use about the headwa- ters of the river, where indeed they are already applied. When used in both the mid and upper section, they involve its nomenclature in confusion,
The Penobscot, from the confluence of the Mattawamkeag to the sea, is about 120 miles long; from the junction of the Mattagamon to the sea, about 132 miles; from its extreme headwaters, about 260 miles, or, including the local windings, 300 miles. The main water- power section extends from Lake Chesuncook to Bangor, 120 miles, the fall being 900 feet; or via the Mattagamon, from Lake Mattagamon to Bangor, 115 miles, and a fall of about 850 feet.
The annual discharge of the Penobscot is estimated as 319,800,000,- 000 cubic feet. Of this, about 31,000,000,000 are received below the
II
HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.
lowest mill-privilege, yielding on its passage to the river important power.
The Penobscot naturally, and without the assistance of man, holds a position amongst the most highly favored of the State in respect to uniformity of volume at different seasons of the year. This is due in part to the extent of its tributary area, in virtue of which the contribu- tions of the various branches do not reach its chief manufacturing sites at the same time. It is due also to the more uniform surface as- pect of the basin, in respect to which it has the decided advantage over the Saco, Androscoggin, and Kennebec; it is due also, in common with the other large rivers of the State, to its extensive system of lakes and the vast breadth of forests upon its drainage surface.
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