The history of Peru in the County of Oxford and State of Maine, from 1789 to 1911. Residents and genealogies of their families, also a part of Franklin plan, Part 1

Author: Turner, Hollis
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Augusta, Me., Maine Farmer Pub. Co
Number of Pages: 428


USA > Maine > Oxford County > Peru > The history of Peru in the County of Oxford and State of Maine, from 1789 to 1911. Residents and genealogies of their families, also a part of Franklin plan > Part 1


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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30


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IQB ( Peru ) Turner


THE


OF In the County of Oxford and State of Maine HISTORY


FROM 1789 TO 1911


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Residents and Genealogies of their Families ...... also


a part of Franklin Plan.


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By HOLLIS TURNER


Press of the Maine Farmer Pub. Co., Augusta, Me.


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PREFACE


"How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view ; The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, And every loved spot which my infancy knew.


"The wide spreading pond and the mill that stood by it, The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell ; The cot of my father, the dairy-house nigh it,


And e'en the rude bucket which hung in the well. The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket,


The moss-covered bucket which hung in the well."


These lines of Wadsworth, save the "Oaken Bucket," fittingly show the environment of writer when seven years old. Over three- score years and ten bring visions of a great multitude who have outrun him in life's pathway and laid down the armor. Writer is left to recount their stewardship. Who else would undertake the thankless task ?


As we go down the annals of time, generations are soon lost in oblivion if no records perpetuate their memory. Their culture, attributes and achievements are forgotten and lost without a record. Our kindred, however dear, are unknown frequently beyond the third generation. Writer has found men who did not know the name of their grandparents. No record was kept of their gene- alogy. This compilation is prompted by a desire that Peru shall go down in history with a record revealing at least some of the good deeds and morsi worth of her people, and their genealogy, occupation and prosperity, covering a period from 1790 to 1910.


"Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.


"Footprints that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's stormy main,


A forlorn and ship-wrecked brother Seeing may take heart again.


"Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait."


× Woodworth.


Abbreviations used in this work :- ae, age, aged ; b, born, birth; Cem., Cemetery; dis., disability; dau., daughter; jr., junior; m, married ; vill., village; bros., brothers ; Cent., Center ; d, died ; disc., discharged ; res., residence; sen., senior; u m, unmarried.


Yours Truly. HOLLIS TURNER --- 1832-1911.


1832. HOLLIS TURNER. 1853.


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Purchase of Township No. 1


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HE ORIGINAL purchasers of Township No. 1, and the conveyances on behalf of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, as shown by the volumes of Eastern Lands' Deeds, with dates and prices of sale, are as follows :


June 24, 1789, to Win. Wedgery of New Gloucester, 4480 acres adjoining New Pennicook (Rumford) and Androscoggin river; price paid, 405 pounds. 19 shillings, 8 pence, English currency, equivalent to $2029.92, or about 45 cents per acre. The next deed is one to Daniel Lunt of Falmouth. convey- ing 4880 aeres in Township No. 1, Jan. 29, 1790 : price paid. 738 pounds, equivalent to $3690, or a fraction over 45 cents per acre. Price advanced 30 cents an acre in seven months. The next deed in point of time is one to John Fox of Portland, conveying 2000 acres, March 13, 1792 ; price paid, 162 pounds, five shillings, eight pence, equivalent to $811.42, or about 41 cents per acre. This payment was made in the securities of Commonwealth, and, in addition. 19 pounds specie was paid, equivalent to $95.00, averag- ing cost per acre 45 cents, same as first purchase mentioned. The next and last deed is one conveying to Isaac Thompson, Joshua Eddy and Wm. Thompson of Middleborough, and James Sprout of Taunton, all of Township No. 1 not covered in the thice deeds above inemioned, and reserving four public lots with 100 acres to cach settler on the land before Jan. 1, 1784. This last deed is dated June 10, 1796. To compute the number of acres compris- ing the last sale, we need to know the size of the township at date of sale. Hon. Wm. M. Olin, Secretary of the Commonwealth .. under date of July 3. 1907, very kindly gives the prices quoted and the whole number of acres, 24,750 (more or less) : deducting the prior sales, 11,360 acres. there remain 13,390 acres, covering the sale of June 10, 1796: price, $3245.74, or about 25 cents per acre.


The First Settlers


No one of the grantees named in above sales became actual set- tleis in the township. There is a tradition that Merrill Knight of Falmouth shared with the said Daniel Lunt in his purchase of


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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PERU


the 4880 acres: that it grew out of the transaction whereby the said Knight employed the said Lunt to visit the Land Sales' Office and make the purchase, furnishing the money for that purpose, and when the said Lunt returned he reported the sum sent was not equal to the price paid, necessitating his furnishing a part of the purchase money and, therefore, claiming a share of the same. So far as known, the purchase was divided mutually between them. Knight received the north half and furnished to each of his sons and to those of his daughters who settled in town, a farm.


Daniel Lunt turned his share of the land estate over to his sons, William Lunt, Daniel Lunt, Jr., and James Lunt, who were early pioneers here. They were sons by first wife. She was Molly Star- bird before marriage. Geo. W. Lunt came to Peru later. He also shared his father's estate here. He and Francis Lunt were sons of Daniel Lunt by his second wife, Eunice Conant before marriage.


First Clearing in Township


The names of Fox, Lunt and Thompson are kept in memory by their several grants, as given in the plan of the town. The rest of the grantees are unknown, generally. This work supplies that knowledge. In adjusting the town line between Peru and Hart- ford. a portion of Thompson's grant was taken to Hartford.


Merrill Knight of Falmouth made in person the first clearing in the forest of Township No. 1 during the summer of 1:94. His family remained in Falmouth during this period, though one or more of his sons may have assisted in this labor. They felled the trees ready for burning the next year, and returned home. This opening in the wilderness was on the second farm on the River road above Peru railroad station. In the spring of 1795, Merrill Knight and workmen returned to his new home, burned the felled tre(, planted and sowed what he wanted. and built a log-house with two rooms on first floor. This building had to serve double purpose, as storehouse and dwelling, for a time.


First House Built


In the fall of 1795 the building was serviceable to live in, and Mr. Knight returned to Falmouth for his family, or at least his wife and youngest child, Merrill, Jr., who was then two years old There were ten other children then living, three sons and seven daughters. They all followed, evidently, soon after the parents came. Settlements had begun on the east side of the Androscog-


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gin, at Jay Point (Canton Point) in 1792, and several pioneer families were located in this region prior to the coming of Knight.


This was the main line of travel from the seaboard towns, as emigrants pushed further back into the wilderness. They came via the Indian trails from Brunswick Falls and Lewiston, guided by spotted trees. The travel was confined to a foot-path for man and beast. Our heroic pioneer, Merrill Knight, traveled this route on foot, and his heroic wife, the mother of eleven children then living, rode on back of horse from Falmouth, bearing their young- est child, two years old, in her arms. But few families in our day would undertake the hardship and privation that lay before them. Mr. Knight was then about 49 years old; married when 17-18 years old. Judging from dates of birth of children, this couple had probably been married about 32 years.


First Crops Raised -- First House Burned


Now we find Mr. Knight and wife in their new home, busily engaged in fall harvest. In addition to the usual crops of corn and vegetables, they had a patch of flax to convert into cloth for garments. This involved much labor of man and housewife. Flax was swingled to tow, and this spun and wove by the good house- wife at home with the old spinning wheel run by foot power, and the hand loom. Tow cloth was in common wear for shirts and trousers. At first wearing and pending several washings, the shrives of flax, still fastened to the cloth, would chafe the skin to a painful degree.


Completing the harvest, the beef animal was killed and quar- ters suspended from the rafters in the chamber. The tow was stored in house, ready for labor of winter. The bounteous harvest gave good cheer, and all went merry and well. happy as a marriage bell. But, alas! mortal man little knows what is in store for him. Somehow, no one can tell how, fire came in contact with the tow, setting the house on fire in the night. Some one of the occupants awoke, having barely time for them to snatch their daily clothing and escape alive. Everything was consumed, save the old horse and a small boat, probably a log dug-out in the river. Their nearest neighbor was down the Indian trail, four miles, to the Wilson mansion, on the other side of the river. That they were stricken with sorrow and discouraged, no one can doubt. I seem to see the destitute family standing sentinels over the burning embers of expiring hopes till break of day, then slowly and wearily they wend their way towards the lands from whence they came.


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Colonists on the Way to Native Land


The Wilson farm at this period was a general rendezvous for the traveling public. Here the stricken family tarry for rest and refreshment. Their distress was made known and their host called a meeting of the settlers down the line, to convene at his place on short notice. They respond promptly. They learn of Merrill Knight and wife, their condition and discouragement, and their purpose to return to the land of their nativity. These gen- erous, noble people, though residents of another town, soon de- termined to induce their neighbor colonist to return to his chosen lot of land and build another house, tendering their labor and offering the family a home at the Wilson house till the house could be made ready to occupy. They finally accept the proffered char- ity and work was begun soon on the new house. Evidently, this also was a log house. There is evidence of a building foundation east of the River road and near line of road in the old orchard south of the barn. This farm and its buildings were destined to be the hub of the new township, and were important factors in town affairs in colonial days.


Plantation Meetings


It is believed all the plantation meetings were held continually at the house of Merrill Knight, from March 23, 1812, when the township was incorporated and became Plantation No. 1, till Sep- tember 20, 1817, when meeting was called at the new schoolhouse at the top of the hill, on the "new county road," and on this farm. Records show that March meeting, 1814, was held at dwelling house of Merrill Knight. Prior to this date the records fail to specify place of meeting. Subsequent to above date the records show meetings continued at house of Merrill Knight. He built, after the second log house, a large, two-story frame house on same location of the present site. It is believed the meetings were held in the unfinished second story.


In plantation meeting, December 11, 1813, voted "to have a man's school at Merrill Knight's two months this winter and two months next summer, in the Eastern and Western districts." The amount raised this year for schools was $50.00.


Merrill Knight was chosen moderator of the first plantation meeting after incorporation, held April 6, 1812. He was a public benefactor. He established the first ferry between Putnam's ferry, seven miles north, on the Androscoggin river, and Hathaway's ferry, five miles down the river, in Canton.


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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PERU


First Pioneer, the First Proprietor of Ferry


The ferry was on this farm, known for quarter of a century as Knight's ferry. The boat landing at Peru side of the river was at the terminus of the "New County Road," the first road men- tioned on the early records of Township No. 1. It was the only route from towns north and east of the river to Sumner, Hartford, and Paris Court House. This place in those days was frequented by more people than home churches are in our day. This road was built the shortest route over hills and mountains. It was evidently the first wrought public highway in the township. Its location will appear on another page.


A crossing of the river began at this point, with the clearing of the wilderness. The ferry was owned and run by Mr. Knight during his lifetime. At his decease his son, Merrill, Jr., was his successor to farm and ferry. The large boat had a capacity lim- ited to a one-horse team. The propelling power was senlling in deep water, or could push with pole in shoal water. It was no casy work at high pitch of water. This ferry continued till about 1828, when it was discontinued, and the boat served at a new ferry established about one and one-half miles un the river, by Jeremiah Hall. This ferry was subsequently owned by Solomon T. Alden, and lastly by Leonard H. Brown.


First Cemetery in Plantation


Merrill Knight gave and set apart for public use one acre of his interval land for a cemetery. This burial lot adjoined the south line of roadway to the ferry. His grave is near the line at head of lot. A slate headstone bears the inscription, "Merrill Knight, died April 1st, 1817, in his ?2nd year. He was an indus- tiicus, honorable man. It is due to his enterprise, foresight and resource that the wilderness was made to bloom and the town had its birth."


But little knowledge of his wife is available. She was living with son, Merrill, on the home farm in the winter of 1819. Her nante does not appear in the census of 1820. No grave-stone is found in the family lot. Evidently she died before the census.


Eight of their eleven children-four sons and four daughters- made homes in Peru. Goin, the oldest son, had the second lot back and west of the river, on the "New County Road," leading from ferry by house of Merrill Knight, up Town House hill by the first schoolhouse, used for town meetings. He cleared and lived on this lot, a prosperous farmer through life.


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A New County and Its Shire Town


While Township No. 1 was subduing the wilderness, fighting forest fires to save their cabins, enduring hardship, and fearing daily, as the shades of night drew on, an attack by wild beasts or Indians, a single political event was the means of shaping the demands imposed on the taxpayers. The event was the formation of a new county, and making Paris the shire town. Had any other town north or south of Paris been the shire town, there would have been no special call to build the New County Road over the mountain to accommodate the lawyers of East Oxford to the most direct line from Knight's Ferry to the Court House, and the lawyers would not have had the golden opportunity to incite the Court of C. P. to impose fines of $400 on the town for failing to keep a well-trod road through the drifting snows of Marchi term of court.


Oxford County was incorporated in 1805, and named by Gen. David Leonard of Livermore, in said county. He came from Massachusetts prior to 1790. He named it after Oxford, Mass. He served as sheriff in the new county, also as representative to the General Court at Boston. He died in Livermore in 1811, in the prime of life, aged 44 years.


It is shown in 1910 that Oxford County has furnished six governors of Maine, six governors of other states, twenty repre- sentatives in Congress, four U. S. senators and one vice president, superintendents of schools in other states and one general in the army. Writer served under that general, Gen. Grover of Bethel. in Shenandoah Valley. fall of 64.


Incorporation of Plantation No. 1 March 23, A. D. 1812.


The inhabitants of Plantation No. 1 assembled at a legal meet- ing. warned by order of the county treasurer of the county of Oxford, Henry Rust, Esq. Chose John Holland, Esq., moderator ; Hezekiah Walker, plantation clerk. Chose Amos Knight. James Lunt and Wm. Kyle assessors for the present year. Collection of taxes bid off by Adam Knight. at ten cents on the dollar. At a meeting April 6, 1812. for the election of governor, lieutenant governor for this commonwealth. and senators for this district, Merrill Knight, moderator. there were cast 20 votes. Hezekiah Walker continued in the office of plantation and town clerk till March 9, 1829, when Stephen Gammon was chosen his successor.


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Plantation Meetings and Doings


March meeting, 1813, chose Amos Knight, moderator; Amos Knight. Adam Knight and Benj. Wormell, assessors; Wm. Walker, treasurer : and Adam Knight, collector, at 12 cents on the dollar. Raised $500 highway tax.


Meeting April 5, 1813, voted 16 cents per hour for man labor, and 10 cents for ox labor on highway. Voted to raise eight dol- lars to defray plantation charges. March meeting, 1814, chose James H. Withington, moderator. April 1, 1814, governor elec- tion. There were cast 24 votes for Samuel Dexter, governor ; Wm. Gray, lieutenant governor : Albion K. Parris, senator. Chose Amos Knight, Wm. Kyle and Isaac Robinson, hogreeves. These were very important officers when hogs were allowed to run at large.


Plantation meeting November 7, 1814, to elect a representative to Congress. Votes were brought in as follows: For Albion K. Parris, 22 votes ; for Samuel A. Bradley, 1. At March 6, 1815, chose Edsel Grover, moderator; Adam Knight, Edsel Grover, Francis Waite, assessors. Chose James Lunt, treasurer. Meet- ing April 3, 1815, chose Francis Lunt, Henry Knight and Geo. Walker, hogreeves ; Robinson Turner, Goin Knight, fence viewers. December 19, 1815, chose Maj. Wm. Brackett, moderator, the first time he appears in public. Voted to divide school money as fol- lows: $8 in lower district, $12 in upper, and $12 in Western. March 4, 1816, raised $20 for plantation charges. $50 school money and $600 highway tax. Voted that swine should not run at large. That vote stood long enough to be recorded, then reconsidered.


Plantation meeting April 1, 1816, James H. Withington, mod- erator. Chose James Lunt, Adam Knight, Edsel Grover, assess- ors. For hogreeves a new name appears, Goin Knight, Moses Dennet, Wm. Brackett. Voted districts join and build one school- house in the center, and the school wards make the location.


September 2, 1816, twenty-seven voters favored separation of the district of Maine from Massachusetts ; none opposed. Meeting of March 3, 1817, a new name appears. Surveyors of highways, Wm. Brackett, Robinson Turner, Sr., Edsel Grover, Wm. Millet. April 7, 1817, new names. Chose Merrill Knight, Jr., Abial De- lano and Perkins Turner, hog constables. This official is given a more dignified title. Meeting April 2, 1817, 30 voters cast their ballots for Henry Dearborn, governor; Wm. King, litentenant governor; John Moore, senator. New pioneers appear every few months. These records are compiled largely to show who the early pioneers were and their first appearance on our borders.


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May 5, 1817, chose Daniel Deshon, J. H. Withington and Brady Bailey, committee to settle plantation accounts. Voted that the school districts should not be divided.


Schools and Districts Laid Out


School districts were first laid out in 1813. three in number-the first from Jay line (Canton), up the river to Daniel Lunt's. His log house stood down on the intervale near the dividing line be- tween Mrs. John Ludden's and the Manderville Hall place. Dis- trict No. ? extended from Daniel Lunt's to Rumford line: and No. 3 extended from Amos Knight's, now O. C. Hopkins' farm. continuing on "New County Road," and all roads connecting with same, over the mountain to Sumner line. They were designated as the Lower, Upper and Western districts. the last embracing Worthly Pond region. Raised that year $50, school money, and voted to have a man's school at Merrill Knight's, two months that winter and two months the next summer in the Eastern and in the Western districts. That provided six months' school for the town during the year, at an average cost of teachers, provided they got all the money, at $8.33 1-3 per month.


The next year they raised the same amount of school money and chose for school committee, Robinson Turner for the Lower district, Ephraim Kyle for Upper district, and Josiah Smith for Western district. The last named man lived in the valley on the "New County Road." beyond what is now Ozroe L. Knight's farm.


First Schoolhouse


In 1815, December 19, voted to have one school this winter in the plantation, and put the money together, also to have the money divided, as follows: $8 in the Lower district. $12 in the Upper, and $12 in Western District. In 1816 voted and raised $50, school money. Up to this date, all schools have been taught in private dwelling houses, and no action taken to obtain a schoolhouse. At April meeting of this year the plantation voted to join and build one schoolhouse in the center, and chose the school committee to decide where the house should be located. The committee that year was Adam Knight, Robinson Turner. Sr .. and Wm. Brackett. familiarly called Major.


Plantation Officials


There was an attempt to institute a reform. It was voted that swine should not run at large, which had been the custom


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from the first settler. The next line of record is: "Reconsidered the vote," and voted that hogs should run at large, if they are yoked and rung according to law. Rung means a large wire in- serted and fastened through the nose. Hogs were professional racers. They were long legged, long nosed, and flat ribbed, and were built principally for speed and heavy squealing. To fatten one was the zenith of the impossible. To get one in fair condi- tion was the work of years. A few decades later it afforded much pleasure to produce the biggest hog in town. Five hundred pounds to seven hundred pounds was a creditable showing; and now one- fourth of the size is the limit.


Swine running at large called for a set of officials, designated hogreeves and hog constables. They were chosen regularly each spring election and deemed as important as other officials. April 1, 1816, voted and chose Goin Knight, Moses Dennet. and Wm. Brackett for hogreeves. April 2, 1817, chose Merrill Knight, Abial Delano, and Perkins Turner for hog constables.


Plantation No 1 kept up the time-honored custom of electing Tything men. This was continued after town was incorporated. At March meeting, 1822, voted and chose Francis Lunt, Simeon Brackett and Josiah Curtis, Tything men. I venture the opinion that sleepers in church were not disturbed by crook or staff of these high officials. At this meeting, David Hoit, James H. With- ington, and Geo. Smith were chosen hog constables. Amos Kyle, Wm. Walker, Jr., J. H. Jenne, Wm. Brock, Stephen Wing, and Edsel Grover were chosen school agents. Six school districts. Whole number of votes thrown for Wm. King, governor, in 1820 was 40.


At plantation meeting May 20, 1816, cast 25 votes for separa- tion from Massachusetts. Voted not to have the plantation incor- porate. Voted to join school districts. Voted to raise $150 to build a schoolhouse. It appears by a vote taken September 20, 1816, that the above appropriation is not a money tax, but labor and material. After choosing Robinson Turner, James Lunt, Adam Knight, Hezekiah Walker and Wm. Brackett a committee to superintend the building of the schoolhouse, it was voted that each inhabitant should turn in his proportion of the tax in ma- terials and labor on the schoolhouse, and voted that this tax should be paid by the first of December, next.


At the following March meeting, 1817, voted not to divide school districts. Again, at meeting May 5, voted not to divide school districts. At a special meeting for the purpose, voted to


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raise $175, additional sum. The record fails to state just what this is for. It is evidently to complete the schoolhouse.


At meeting of April 6, 1818, called at the house of Merrill Knight, voted and raised $60, school money. Voted not to have the plantation incorporate, also not to have the school districts divided. In the meantime the schoolhouse is progressing slowly, so that a town meeting is called September 20, 1817, at the school- house, the first time. This was the special meeting when the sum of $175 was raised to complete the house. The next plantation meeting, March 2, 1818; was called at the house of Merrill Knight, when the name of Levi Ludden appears for the first time. Voted and chose James H. Withington, moderator; Hezekiah Walker, plantation clerk; for assessors, Edsel Grover, J. H. Withington, and Hezekiah Walker. Taxes were bid off by Daniel Deshon, at 5 percent. Chose Benj. Wormell, plantation treasurer and agent. Chose for school committee, Edsel Grover, J. H. Withington, and Robinson Turner, Sr. Adjourned the meeting to the 6th day of April, held also at house of Merrill Knight, and this was the last plantation meeting held there.




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