USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Houlton > History of the town of Houlton, Maine, from 1804 to 1883 > Part 1
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Gc 979.102 Hoth
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01092 2372
a
VANDERCODY COCHICAGO
VIEW OF THE VILLAGE OF HOULTON, MAINE, 1878.
[The publishers are indebted to A. H. Fogg & Co., Hardware Dealers, Houlton, for the use of this cut. ]
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF HOULTON,
(MAINE.)
FROM 1804 TO 1883.
EN WE
BY AN OLD PIONEER.
HAVERHILL, MASS. : C. C. MORSE & SON, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 1884.
-
HISTORY OF HOULTON.
1173329
. Since of late it has become customary to give the historical account of towns in New England, the writer of the following has, from the novel and extraordinary circumstances under which Houlton was settled, been induced to make a brief statement of facts connected with its rise and progress, for a series of years ; and to give a simple, unvarnished statement of facts as they occurred.
As the primitive inhabitants have principally, (as must be expected,) passed from the theatre of action, perhaps there is no one more familiar with the incidents of the early history of that little colony, who would have taken upon himself the trouble and assumed the responsibility of the task, than the writer. The reader must be sensible that the circumstances and events as they occurred, are of such a heterogeneous character, that they must appear, even if judiciously arranged, in a desultory, chaotic state, which would require the gifts and genius of a Kane or a Livingston to embody in a form and phraseology that would endure the criticism . of a historian.
In order to give an account of the primitive history of Houlton, and of the original Trustees of New Salem Academy, we must refer the reader to some extracts
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
· from a letter from our venerable friend, the Rev. Al- pheus Harding of New Salem, Mass., in reply to a re- quest made for information contained in the records of New Salem Academy; he being familiar with the history of that institution, having been connected with that time-honored school, either as pupil, Assistant, Preceptor, or Trustee, nearly sixty years. Mr. Harding writes :
" In regard to New Salem Academy, I find by the records, it was incorporated Feb. 25, 1795, and the orig- inal Trustees named in the act of incorporation, were Rev. Joel Foster of New Salem, Solomon Reed of Peters- ham, Joseph Blodgett of Greenwich, Joseph Kilburn of Wendell, David Smead, John Goldsbury, Jonathan War- ner, David Saxton, Ebenezer Mattoon, Jr., Daniel Bige- low, Martin Kinsley and Ezekiel Kellogg, Esqs., Samuel Kendall, Varney Pearce, and Asa Merriam; that in Oct., 1797, Daniel Bigelow, Varney Pearce, and Rev. Joel Foster were chosen a committee to sell the half town- ship."
But it appears from the records that in the autumn of 1804 at the annual meeting of the Trustees, Ebenezer Mattoon, Samuel C. Allen, and Samuel Dickinson were chosen a committee to convey said lands to the following persons, viz .: Aaron Putnam one-eighth, $625; Varney Pearce, one eighth, $625; Joseph Houlton, $1000; John Putnam, $500; Joshua Putnam, $500; Rufus Cowls of Amherst, $500; John Chamberlain, $500; William Bow- man of Hadley, $250; Consider Hastings, $250; Thomas Powers of Greenwich, $250 ; total, $5000. Mr. Harding writes, " These lands, being far from any settlement in Maine, at that time were unsalable, and the purchasers being involved and unable to sell these lands, concluded to dispose of their farms in New Salem and remove into the wilderness and make new homes. This deprived New Salem of many worthy and good families, and of its most public citizens."
5
HISTORY OF HOULTON.
In the summer: of 1804, Messrs. Joseph Houlton, Aaron Putnam and Oliver Taylor, left New Salem for the province of Maine-came by land to Bangor, where they hired an Indian with his canoe to convey them to the river St. John. They proceeded up the Penobscot to the Mattawamkeag, thence up the Baskahegan stream to the portage of the Schoodic Lake, where the Indian proposed to them that he would describe the way, so they might proceed on their journey without him. Mr. Houlton having passed the same route before, thought from the knowledge he had of the lake and the country, that he could pilot them. . The Indian returned and they went on, crossing the lake, but they became bewil- dered, lost their course, and landed on the east shore, where they rambled off in the wilderness, got lost and were for days without food. They came to a brook, where there were fish, but the desideratum was to catch them. With Yankee ingenuity and invention, impelled by the keen demands of starvation, they took a shirt, tied up the neck and arm-holes, bent a stick in the form of a hoop, which they fastened to the other end of the linen, in the fashion of a dip-net, with which they con- trived to outwit the fish, making captives of several trout and suckers, which helped to sustain life. They proceeded without guide or compass, wandering through swamps, climbing over windfalls, camping wherever night found them ; exposed to the constant annoyances of the black-flies and mosquitos; thus, wandering in a track- less wild, with naught to rouse them from their dreary solitude, save the discordant croakings of the crow and raven, or the tremulous halloo of the loon, and the screeching of the mimic owl, what must have been their emotions at the first discovery of the foot-prints of civ- ilization, when they finally reached the bank of the St. John, 35 miles below Woodstock. They came to a cot- tage, the residence of Mr. Harper, and called for food.
Det - pradsprog
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
The good woman, beholding their sad condition-gar- ments torn, limbs scratched and bruised, from the snags and bushes, their pale, emaciated features, directly pre- pared some fresh salmon, in a manner as simple and harmless as possible, of which she gave them sparingly, lest they should eat too freely ; her husband being ab- sent. Having tarried there until they became restored, by the benevolent and judicious treatment of their kind hostess, they asked for their bill of expense. To which she replied, "We never take pay of strangers." Mr. O. Taylor, with his accustomed pleasantry, casting an in- quiring look around, asked, "Of whom, then, in the name of wonder, do you take pay?" With a mutual blessing and friendly farewell, they pursued their jour- ney up river to Woodstock, from whence they went to view what they called the promised land.
After taking a survey of this section of the country, having had a mid-summer view of their anticipated home Messrs. A. Putnam and Taylor were as much pleased with their land and prospects as were their pre- decessors; and confirmed the favorable report of the first discoverers ; probably not aware of the short summers and long cold winters of this high latitude, nor fore- seeing the destiny which awaited those pioneers who, for years, were isolated in the heart of this then wild region. But it appears to have been the design of the Creator that this wilderness should, ere long, be con- verted to the use and benefit of man; that the giant growth of this beautiful forest was to yield to the axe of the woodman, and this desert become a fruitful field.
In the summer of 1805, Mr. Aaron Putnam and fam- ily, accompanied by Varney Pearce, Jr., Samuel Houlton, and Luther Tyron, left New Salem for the eastward, as it was then called. They came on board a vessel from Boston to Fredericton, from thence in boats to Wood- stock, 60 miles above Fredericton. Mr. Putnam and
1
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
family remained at Woodstock while the young men proceeded to what is now called Houlton, and felled the first trees in the place.
The circumstances connected with the settlement of this new colony were indeed novel. What could have induced the inhabitants of New Salem to purchase wild land in the interior of the district of Maine, at a sacrifice of the privileges and enjoyments of churches, schools and society, and embark in such an enterprise-to encounter the privations, perils and hardship :. of establishing a petty colony in this region of frost and snow, in a latitude of more than 46 degrees, appears to be a problem of mys- terious solution.
Capt. Joseph Houlton, wife: and eight children, viz : James, Samuel, Joseph and 'Henry, sons, and .: Sarah, Polly, Lydia and Louisa, daughters, left New Salem for Houlton Plantation, as it was then styled, in the summer of 1807, and' arrived at Woodstock after a safe and speedy passage by water from Boston.
Leaving the daughters at Woodstock, the others, as- sisted by kind friends, cut a bridle path to Houlton, the matron following on horseback, with her china tea- set carefully packed in a basket, hanging on. her arm, supported by a pillow,-a very necessary appendage to their outfit-for, after the fatigue of so long a ride, wending their way on a zigzag line, they would require something from that cup which " cheers but not intoxi- cates." They came to a thicket of cedar, where they left the horses, and became pedestrians the last two miles, to the long-sought promised land.
. Joseph Houlton and family, Samuel Cook, Esq., his son-in-law, and James Houlton, who was married the day previous to their leaving New Salem, constituted the first three families of that novel forest home:
The first'object, after their arrival, was to obtain fire and food:to refresh.the weary occupants. . After adjusting
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
the limited supply of kitchen utensils, with the order and neatness of New England housekeeping, they baked their bread without chimney or oven, in a bake-kettle, or "Dutch oven," as it was called, with a cover to it, hung on a pole supported by stumps or crotches, or placed in the corner with coals above and beneath. This was one specimen of their culinary operation by which many barrels of flour have been baked by the first settlers, until they could obtain materials for build- ing. They usually commenced with a small cabin made of spruce logs, locked together at the four corners ; the inside hewed off to an even surface. Among the nobility they would even make the outside to compare with the inner. The roof consisted of rafters ribbed with small poles, and covered with bark or split cedar ; and, until a chimney could be built, a large aperture was left through the roof for the smoke to ascend to its accus- tomed altitude. The spacious fire-place, large enough to burn small mill-logs, was constructed of stone and clay mortar, up to the mantel-piece; the chimney above was made of cedar sticks, laid up cob-house fashion, and plastered with a thick covering of mortar mixed with oat straw.
But to secure these temporary habitations from the insidious intrusion of Jack Frost, they caulked the crev- ices between the logs with moss gathered from trees. This was the humble style of log-cabin architecture.
The long winters passed off almost imperceptibly, while they were busily engaged preparing timber and getting materials for building fences, thrashing . their grain and cutting firewood, which was no ordinary task, as it was found necessary to keep fires night and day during the severe cold weather.
At the opening of the spring, the first business was to prepare for sugar-making. The troughs for catching the sap were made of the fir-tree, or birch-bark, which
9
HISTORY OF HOULTON.
the French and Indians used. The tenth of April was the usual time for tapping the sugar-maple. The iron-ware for boiling the sap, from the size of three barrels down to two gallons, were brought into requisition for three or four weeks, with pipes and puncheons, that were placed in due order near the kettles beside the camp, to hold the sap.
In the morning, on the crust, the boys, with mocca- sins and snow-shoes, a hand-sled and a deep tub, each with two pails, commenced gathering the sap, which was a laborious but not a bitter task, for the saccharine came next, when each, with his spoon and dipper, par- took freely of the delicious candy, giving a deep ver- milion hue to their glowing countenances.
They made, during the autumn, some improvement by clearing the land for sowing about their cabins, which it was found expedient to do as early as possible in the spring, to secure a mature growth from the destruction of untimely frosts, for the change is sudden from winter to summer, consequently vegetation progresses with ra- pidity and luxuriance.
In those seasons, wheat and other grains yielded a bountiful harvest. But inconvenience and expense at- tending the grinding, rendered those crops of compara- tively little value, there being no mills nearer than Woodstock ; and at times they were obliged to go down . the St. John, fifteen or twenty miles below Woodstock, traveling upon snow-shoes and hauling the grain on handsleds. This may appear appalling to the reader, but we state facts as they occurred, which we learn from unquestionable authority. But they were not long subject to this herculean task ;- the Yankee ingenuity and versatile talents of Capt. Houlton soon put a hand- mill in operation, which did their grinding, though prob- ably not in all respects quite equal to New York man- ufacture.
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
The condition of the first settlers must have been gloomy indeed, but for the friendship of their British neighbors ; yes, neighbors-although twelve miles dis- tant, they acted the human part of the good "Samaritan," in their deeds of kindness and benevolence. Their doors were opened to receive, and their hearts ever ready to welcome them to their hospitable homes, rendering such aid as their necessities required. Their trade and inter- course for years were confined to his Majesty's subjects, with whom they sustained the most friendly relation.
The pioneers of this infant colony were men of indus- try and enterprise, who had enjoyed advantages for in- telligence beyond the general migratory class, who, when they remove, seldom stop longer than barely to gain a residence, and then proceed to make other new improve- ments for those of more staid habits, of perseverance and energy; consequently possessing more of wealth, character and influence.
In 1808, Capt. J. Houlton received an appointment to the office of Register of Deeds for the northern district . of the County of Washington, by his Excellency's com- mand, James Sullivan, Esq., Governor and commander- in-chief of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In 1809, Mr. Joshua Putnam and Phineas Stevens left New Salem for Houlton. Mr. Warren Putnam, who . had been four years in trade at Woodstock, removed to Houlton with his family, consisting of his wife, mother, and four sons, viz :- Amos S., Jay, Lysander, Aaron and an adopted son, Joseph Goodenough.
Mr. Putnam made a location of rare romantic beauty ; surrounded as it is on the east, south and west by the waters of the Meduxnakeag, the aboriginal name, but which is now familiarly called creek. The north branch empties in on the west, which contributes about one-third to its waters. The elevated bank, which rises rather abruptly, following the creek, upon which Mr. Putnam
II
HISTORY OF HOULTON.
built a log house, affords a fine view of the opposite sur- rounding localities. Here the Indians frequently passed up and down, with their bark canoes deeply laden with their valuables, such as a variety of game, "squaws " and " papooses." Here, too, the wild ducks of various species, played in the rippling current, practicing their newly fledged broods, now diving beneath the limpid element, then on their wings, whizzing through the trackless ether, to seek some new seclusion.
It may appear to some that, at that time, the Prov- ince of Maine must have presented some imaginary, as well as real inducements, to the people of New Salem, for their decided predilection and destiny it seems was for Houlton, notwithstanding the tide of New England emigration was to the west.
In May, 1810, Messrs. Varney Pearce, Esq., Deacon Samuel Kendall, Joshua Putnam, Ebenezer Warner, of Springfield, Joshua G. Kendall, Jacob Haskell and Putnam Shaw left New Salem for the Province of Maine. They embarked at Boston, and, after a tedious passage of several weeks, from the ceaseless rocking and pitching of the vessel-being green hands just from the country, they were all distressedly seasick ; poor souls, they must have had rather a squally, squirming time of it, for when they landed at the city of St. John, where they tarried a short time, to their chagrin, they found they had lost their center of gravity, so that on attempting at locomotion they reeled, staggered and halted, more like newly yoked pigs, than with the measured pace of terra firma pedestrians. Mr. Amos Pearce and Simeon Holden left New Salem a fortnight later than those who came from Boston by water, and after a separation of about five weeks, having traveled some 400 miles by land, they arrived at Woodstock on the same day, which must have been a remarkable coincidence.
During the summer Mr. A. Putnam built a mill-dam
.
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
across the creek near his house, as before described. At the western shore it was found difficult to obtain a per- manent foundation upon which to build, and at the time of freshet the water undermined and washed away the bank and carried off the dam. In July the house of Mr. Putnam was burned, with the clothing, beds, furniture and provision. The fire caught from a piece of felled trees adjoining, of some 50 acres, which acci- dentally took fire, and so terrible were the flames that the family fled for refuge to the opposite shore of the creek. Those misfortunes must have been severely felt by Mr. Putnam and family, while they were striving to establish themselves with a new and permanent home ; vet Mr. P. endured the losses and privations which he sustained by those potent, antagonistic elements, with that fortitude and forbearance which were characteristic of him.
In the summer of 1811, Doct. Samuel Rice and Joshua Putnam, with their families, accompanied by Samuel Kendall, Jr., and Sarah his sister, removed from New Salem to Houlton, thus adding two families more to this oasis of the forest, there being six, besides other settlers, young' unmarried men, viz :- Samuel Houlton, Joshua G. Kendall, Ebenezer Warner and Phineas Stev- ens. These families were located upon both sides of the road running nearly east and west, within a distance of less than two miles ; and all busily engaged, building, clearing away the forest, converting it into a beautiful field. The crops of all kinds of grains and vegetables were abundant. They planted but little corn, but what they raised was of the best quality. Potatoes and ruta- baga turnips were raised with facility and in abundance from the newly cleared lands, and they were found to be valuable for rearing stock, fattening beef and pork. These vegetables were of great service, particularly be- fore their improvements were sufficient for producing a
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
supply of hay. Then potatoes were not subject to rust and rot, as of late, neither was wheat liable to blight or weevil, as now. Their only fears were of untimely frosts. They then raised, from three pecks of seed, more than thirty-three bushels, or at the rate of one hundred bushels from two and one-half bushels of seed, though this was more than an average crop, yet it proves the genial adaptation of the newly cleared lands to the growth of wheat which has until of late, been the staff of bread for the country.
In the autumn, Joseph Houlton, Esq., built a mill- dam, and erected a saw and flour mill beneath the same roof, upon a small stream, which empties into the creek near the village, as it now is, and in the meantime, evenings, they ground at the hand-mill, to furnish bread while building. Mr. A. Putnam rebuilt a dam and erected a mill frame.
While amid their temporal cares and labors, it appears they were not unmindful or indifferent to their spiritual interests. The inhabitants, principally, having remained as sheep without a shepherd, feeling a sense of their destitution without the gospel ministry, were providen- tially visited by the Rev. Edmund Eastman, Missionary from Limerick, whose services were gratefully received and duly appreciated.
October 13, 1811, a church was embodied in the Plantation of Houlton, by the name of the First Con- gregational Church, in the Plantation of Houlton.
At the news of the declaration of war between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, of which the inhabitants of Houlton were apprised on the fourth of July, being panic struck, in view of their exposed situa- tion, in the heart of the wilderness, surrounded by sav- ages-on the morning of the fifth, Samuel Haskell, a visitor from New Salem, (who informed the writer,) was dispatched as messenger to Woodstock to consult
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
some of the principal inhabitants of that place concern- ing what could be done to secure these defenceless families from insult and plunder by the Meductic tribe of Indians. But before Mr. Haskell reached Woodstock he met three Provincials on the way to Houlton upon a message of amity.
Soon after, George Morehouse, Esq., authorized by the Provincial government, came and informed the people of Houlton that they might remain unmolested as in time of peace, that the arms of the Indians had been se- cured, and the inhabitants forbidden to sell them am- munition ; the government was supplying them with provision. Thus their defence was guaranteed, provided, however, that the citizens of Houlton should neither bear arms, aid nor assist in any military operation or designs against His Majesty's subjects ; and in case of any hostile movements on the line or in the vicinity of Houlton, either from the American government or by the Indians, they were forthwith to notify the citizens of New Brunswick thereof. 1
The above, though not in the phraseology of the orig- inal document, yet amounts to the same, as nearly as the writer can learn from verbal testimony.
The first sparse settlers upon the banks of the St. John were fearful of the Indians in both governments ; and males from sixteen years of age and upwards, that were able to bear arms, were furnished with them by the government.
In the autumn of 1812, Samuel Wormwood left Al- fred, Me., for Houlton-came via Bangor, where he hired an Indian with his bark to pilot him through. They came up the Penobscot river and the Mattawamkeag, where the Indian said he would direct him so as to find the way alone; that it was but a day's travel from there to Houlton. Accordingly the Indian turned back, leaving Mr. Wormwood with but one day's allow-
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
ance of provision, who started off with a ponderous pack of joiner's tools upon his back, proceeding as nearly as he could by his directions, without guide or compass. On leaving the stream he became bewildered, wandered off, and was seven days in the forest, six of which he subsisted upon the bark and roots he gathered in the woods. This was in October, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and the long, frosty nights, without fire or shelter, day after day, wandering, forcing his lonely way, frantic from anxiety, grief and despair; no one knows the number of miles he traveled to gain one in the right direction, until he became so much exhausted that he left his pack on a horseback, between a pond and the creek, about seven miles from Houlton, and crawled over the windfalls, followed the stream until he finally reached Houlton almost dead. Dr. Rice, who took him to his own house, found him so feeble that he said, had he not arrived that evening, he must have perished before morning. But with watchful care and skill, allowing some simple liquids for a time, he at length was restored. His clothes were all in tatters- Iris feet were swollen, lacerated and lame, from his des- perate efforts to gain his destination. His meager, ema- ciated features and skeleton appearance, must have more personified a ghost than a living man. After Mr. W. became restored, Mr. Kendall accompanied him in search for his pack, which they found, and, to their utter as- tonishment, with some crumbs and dry crusts of bread in the bottom of it. The poor sufferer became so be- wildered, as to have lost all recollection of having a morsel of food left, while starving for the want of it. These facts the writer received from Mrs. A. Putnam, the daughter of the subject of the narrative.
In this uncultivated state of the country there were valuable tracts of timber land on both sides of the line, which were attracting the attention of the adventurer to
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HISTORY OF HOULTON.
hazard his fortune in the lumber business, which has too often proved unsuccessful to many poor fellows who have failed irretrievably in that enterprise. Although square pine timber was commanding a high price at St. John and Miramichi, varying from four to seven dollars per ton, and sometimes more for the Norway pine, yet the expense for labor, teams and supplies, was so great as to consume the amount obtained. Hay delivered at the camps cost from $20 to $60 per ton, oats and other necessaries were in the same proportion ; nevertheless this business was destined to become the stable of the country, and created a demand for more labor than this new country could then supply, and this, with the team power which was required to clear off the heavy growth, to the development of the resources of this virgin soil, called for horses and oxen, which were furnished from the counties of Penobscot and Kennebec, by people from Bangor and vicinity, viz: Messrs. Gordon, Holyoke, Dudley, Webster, Bailey, and others, who came through with droves, following up the Penobscot and Matta- wamkeag rivers to within some twenty-five miles of Houlton, thence following a spotted line through. ·
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