USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Corinna > A brief history of Corinna, Maine, from its purchase in 1804 to 1916 > Part 3
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The old doctor was extremely fond of children and always ready for a frolic with them and many are the stories told of his pranks. He was of a sunny disposition, though possessed of a quick temper, and always very blunt and outspoken in his manner of speech, and known to speak pre- cisely what he thought.
Not only did the patients like to see the jolly old doctor coming, but other members of the family enjoyed his jokes and funny stories as well.
Yet members of his household knew that he could administer justice in household troubles with a sternness of manner that fixed the impression in their memories. One day one of the grandchildren had occasion to prove this statement.
Dr. Fisher's Cucumbers.
In the old days, cucumbers were a luxury, and Dr. Fisher had a single cucumber growing on a vine in his garden. He watched it daily in antic- ipation of the day when it should be large enough to be picked and eaten. He was not the only one watching that cucumber, and one day little Clara picked it and ate it.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
The old doctor was much concerned that his grandchild should have taken the cucumber without asking. and
probably quite as chagrined that somebody had deprived him of his taste of cucumber.
In the living room was the large family Bible, leatlier covered and adorned with gold lettering, and oc- cupying its place of state on the living room table. Calling the child to him, he spoke at great length concerning the wickedness of stealing, and ended with this terrible threat-that if she ever stole again he should remove her name from the family Bible be- cause "we mustn't have the name of a thief in the Bible."
Doctor's Bills.
The doctor's book gave records of the payment of doctor's bills by labor fruit or produce. Sometimes it was a cow or a sheep or hog.
Often patients ran up a large bill covering several years' time and died without paying any part of it. Gener- ally the doctor entered opposite such accounts in his ledger, "Settled by death" and often with entries after this item such as the following: "He was a good man and would have paid if he could," but sometimes the com- ment was not so complimentary and expressed a strong belief in the doc- trine of fire and brimstone.
Dr. Fisher was a descendant Thomas Fisher of Winston, County Suffolk, England, who was in Cam- bridge as early as 1634 and went to Dedham, Mass., as one of its first set- tlers in 1637. He later went to Wren- tham, with others from Dedham, to setle. The line of descent was as follows: Deacon Samuel Fisher, Capt. Ebeneezer Fisher, Ebeneezer Fisher, Esq., David Fisher, Dr. Paul M. Fish- er, Sr., Dr. Paul M. Fisher, Jr., the last named being the first physician of Corinna.
Dr. Fisher purchased of Jotham Pratt the old tavern known as the Corinna House situated near where Eastern Grain company's mill stands. Dr. Warren of Boston, the original owner of Corinna, traded with Dr. Fisher 2000 acres of land in West Vir- ginia for this hotel property. Dr. Warren made similar exchanges with Squire Hawes, Samuel Burrill and sev- eral others.
The land in the south was represent- ed to be fertile and suitable for homes for the colony of Corinna peo- ple who set out to inhabit it. Accord- ingly they went to the nearest port. Coals Mouth, Va., with their families and household goods.
Upon arriving there, it was found necessary to ride many miles into the mountains to their destination. Nor
was that the worst of it, for suitable conveyances were not to be had at any price because these people from the north were regarded as spies by the slave holders of the community and the little company received anything but a pleasant reception.
When finally the start was made however, Mrs. Fisher and some of the younger members of the party were riding in the last carriage obtainable. Suddenly it fell to pieces and parts of the harness gave way, showing that they had been tampered with by the unsocial Virginians. The country
through which they passed ' was poverty stricken in the extreme, but they passed on toward their destina- tion, the land where they were to lay out their farms and build their homes.
When at last they reached their own property, it was found to be on the side of a mountain and as barren and desolate as it well could be. 'There was no possibility of farms for noth- ing could possibly grow where there was nothing but rocks in which to plant it.
One Room Cabins.
They built their cabins by digging away enough of the mountain side to afford floor space for one room. Each room had of necessity to be a separate cabin, as no places were wide enough to give floor space for more than one small room.
No doubt it was a homesick band that looked out from their crude cabins on the mountainside where nothing gave promise of future abund- ance to be acquired by toil be it ever so patient, and little Corinna with its homely comfort must have 'oomed large by comparison. The main room or cabin had a loft reached by a lad- der, the floor being of boards made by the men themselves and so crudely fashioned that one standing above could easily see what was passing in the room below. The men of the col- ony were justly indignant at the sharp trade Dr. Warren had put through and wrote him to come to their settlement. So insistent was their summons that he came. The interview was a stormy one but ended with Dr. Warren's trad- ing back the property. This inter- view was witnessed from the loft by a woman and two frightened children, one of whom related the incident to the writer.
The Hawes family, the Burrills and probably all of the others with the ex- ception of Dr. Fisher and family, re- turned to Corinna. He went to Rut- land, La Salle county, Illinois. There his youngest son. George H. Fisher, settled afterwards removing to Santa Clara, Cal., his present home.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
After two years they returned to Maine and settled in Orono, from which town he enlisted in the Civil war as surgeon of the 8th Maine regi- ment.
From Orono they removed to Chel- sea, Mass.
Both Dr. and Mr. Fisher died in 1876. His death occurred while seated in church at her old home in Exeter, N. H. where they were visiting at the time. They are both buried in Chel- ser
The children of Paul M. and Mary M. Fisher were: Paul M. Fisher, 3rd, born July 11, 1826, died at Prescott, Ariz .; Francis A. born Nov. 9, 1827,
died Nov. 17, 1861, at Corinna; Pres- ton, born Nov. 17, 1829, died at Jamaica Plain, Mass .; Anson, born April 14, 1831, died at Hermon Pond, Maine, July 29, 1892; Mary Artimissa, born Dec. 23, 1832, died at Pasadena, Calif .; Eunice Josephine, born April 6, 1834, died at Merced, Calif .; Nancy J., born July 3, 1836, now living at Merced, Calif .; George Henry, born June 1, 1838, now living at Santa Clara, Calif .; Susan N., born Oct. 19, 1841, died Feb. 2, 1852.
Preston was known as the "Young Doctor" to distinguish him from his father.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
CHAPTER V
THE STEWARD FAMILY
Elder David Steward and his good wife, Eliza, for many years played im- portant parts in the history of Corinna. He was a descendant of Duncan Stew- ard, who was in Ipswich, Mass., as early as 1658. He and his wife, Anne, removed to Newbury, Mass., where he engaged in shipbuilding. After 1680 they resided in Rowley, Mass.
Their son, James, born in Newbury, Oct. 8, 1664, married twice, both of his wives being named Elizabeth. He re- sided in both Rowley, Mass., and Box- ford, and it was in the former town that his son, Solomon, was born July 24, 1698.
Solomon Steward and Martha,
daughter of Edward and Martha (Brown) Farrington, published their marriage intentions in Andover, June 10, 1727. They
lived in Bradford, where he kept store until about 1733. Later they lived in the middle precinct of Salem. now Peabody, and later still, in 1738, removed to Lunenburg. He died there in 1758. William, his son, was born in Salem in March, 1737.
Moved to Bloomfield.
The Lunenburg records give the marriages of three Ireland women to three Steward men, who later removed to Bloomfield, Me., now a part of Skowhegan, together with others of their family, and members of other families that came later to Corinna as pioneers. The marriages were as fol- lows: Phineas Steward, son of Solo- mon and brother of William Steward, married Anne Ireland, April 22, 1756. Their six children were: Samuel Bird born in Lunenburg, March 18, 1757: Anne, born in Lunenburg, Nov 23, 1758; Phineas, born in Lunenburg Oct. 27, 1760: Abraham, born in Lunen- burgh, Oct. 15, 1762; Thomas, born in Fitchburg, Feb. 17, 1766; and Martha, born in Fitchburg, June 28, 1772. They removed to Bloomfield about 1776.
Daniel Steward married Mary Ire- land March 14, 1757. Their children were: Daniel, Benjamin, Mary, John, Amasa, Amherst, Sarah, Betty, Ste- phen, Thomas and James, born be- tween the years 1758 and 1785, all in Lunenburg.
William Steward married Abigail Ireland July 25, 1758. Their children were: Abigail, born in Lunenburg; William, born in Fitchburg, Jan. 27, 1765, and Susanna, Jonathan and James.
Will Steward, who with his brothers, Solomon and Phineus, came to Bloom- field about 1776, was known as Deacon William, and later moved to Canaan.
Jonathan Steward married Hannah Jewett and settled in Bloomfield, where their two children, Esther and Hannah, were born. After Mrs. Steward's death, he married Mrs. Lucy Pattee by whom he had six children: David, James, Lucy, Naomi, Stephen and Ruth.
Jonathan Steward was
a Baptist minister and a farmer. He died in Bloomfield, July 31, 1848.
Thomas Steward was published to Nancy, daughter of Daniel and Han- nah (Reed) Bicknell of Lunenburg, Jan. 3, 1803, and married the same month. She was born in Abington, Mass., May 22, 1784. They moved in 1803 to Bloomfield and in to 1804 North Newport. Others who came to Maine at the same time were: Syl- vanus Whiting, Daniel Ireland, Elam Pratt, Samuel Hayden, Thomas Bick- nell,-some of whom settled in Bloom- field, others in Canaan, Skowhegan and Norridgewock. They did not bring their families, but returned for them later.
Thomas Steward moved his family in 1806. He was by trade a cooper.
Hannah Steward, daughter of Jona- than and Hannah Burrill, married Josiah Burrill of Bloomfield and set- tled in Corinna. Their ten children were: Olive, Hannah, Mary, Esther, Rosilla, Daniel, Josiah Hook, Lucy,
Moses Jewett and Jonathan.
Parents of Levi M. and David Steward.
David Steward and Miss Elizabeth Merreck of Warsaw (now Pittsfield) published their marriage intentions Nov. 16, 1822; and they were married Dec. 19, 1822, coming to Corinna to settle. He was a Baptist minister and a farmer as well, and both he and Mrs. Steward were school teachers.
Elder Steward like all of the minis- ters of his day received his salary in produce or in labor of clearing his land, for money was scarce among the early settlers.
Elder Nelson, a contemporary of Elder Steward, once received ten dol- lars and a pig as pay for preaching.
He was a devout Christian, Puritani- cal in his views, yet kindly and be- loved by all. He was among the best educated men of the town and active
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
THE LATE LEVI M. STEWART OF MINNEAPOLIS Corinna's Wealthy Son Whose Benefactions in the Town are Many and Lasting.
in all the affairs social, religious and municipal. He was always interested n the schools and served many years n the school board; was one of the ounders of Corinna Union academy of which he was a trustee and served is town as selectman for many years. As a preacher, he was pastor of the Corinna churches at various times for many years and well known throughout he neighboring towns. £ His sermons vere strong and orthodox as well as ;cholarly and in prayer he was very
earnest and insistant. It is related that when he made the prayer at the dedication of the Pleasant Street Christian church he prayed for every part of the building not even forgetting the nails and the cuspidors.
He delivered the first temperance lecture ever heard in Corinna and fol- lowed it up by years of earnest work for the promotion of temperance in the community.
He also delivered many strong lec- tures against slavery, being among
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
the first in the state to favor its abo- lition. He was a member of the Ma- sonic lodge as were nearly all of the most prominent men of his day.
Aunt Eliza Steward.
No less beloved was Aunt Eliza Steward, and the older of Corinna's citizens can recall the cordial welcome which she gave to all who entered her house.
Their children were: Elizabeth, wlic May 14, 1844, married John Winches- ter, a farmer, and a veteran of the Fourth Maine Battery during the Civil war; Levi Merrick, the late Minneab- olis multi-millionaire; Charles Miller, and David Dinsmore Stewart, Esq., of St. Albans, who survives the others.
Aunt Lizzie or "Gram" Winchester, as she was affectionately known by all, was one devoted to her family, her friends, her church and the community in which she lived. Whatever coli- cerned them concerned her as well and she was ever ready to help in whatever way she could. The beautiful park on the corner of Main and Pleasant streets and named Winchester park in her honor was the gift of Mrs. Win- chester and hier son, J. Howard Win- chester, to the town.
Her brother, Charles Miller Steward, was educated at Corinna Union acad- emy and at East Corinth academy, went to Australia at the time when so many promising young men started out to make their fortunes, in the new country, and like so many others, lost his life in the attempt.
Changes in Spelling.
Levi M. Stewart, like his brother, Hon. D. D. Stewart, spelled his name with a final "t" instead of ending it with "d" as did his father, Elder Steward. He was educated at Bates, graduated at Dartmouth and then from Harvard Law school. In 1858, through the influence of Dr. Jacob Eliot of Minnesota, a former Corinna resident, he went to Minneapolis, then only a very small settlement, and there established his law office and began the amassing of his immense fortune. He became the leading au- thority on real estate in the north- west.
Mr. Stewart is of all Corinna's sons, her greatest benefactor, and her citi- zens must always feel a great debt of gratitude to the man who did so much for the town's prosperity,
Really Noble Character.
Probably two brothers were never more unlike than were Densmore and Levi Stewart and yet there existed be- tween them an unusually strong tie of
brotherly affection. Densmore, the elder by six years, was a handsome child and possessed of the pleasing personality that immediately attract- ed people to him and rendered him a favorite; while Levi, naturally very plain, was aware of the physical con- trast in favor of his brother and en- hanced it by his manner of dress and eccentric behavior.
These peculiarities followed him through life since he chose to mask a really noble soul under an exterior that was forbidding, and man, who "looketh on the outward appearing," often found him stern, shrewd and eccentric, yet many had occasion to know him as a far different type of . humanity.
Many Charitable Deeds.
Very many, indeed, are the cases where Mr. Stewart played the part of good Samaritan to those whom he found in need; but always with his charity he gave strict injunctions to secrecy. Should the recipient of his charity tell of his benefactions, the charities ceased and were never re-
peated. Since his death, many of these good deeds have become known.
Among them is an instance of one of his tenants, a poor woman and de- pendent upon her sewing to earn a livelihood. One day when the rent became due she had no money to pay the bill, so fearing that her wealthy and supposedly close-fisted old land- lord would cause her to be turned in- to the streets, she pawned her sewing machine. The following day she went in search of work and returned dis- couraged to her room to find on her arrival that the sewing machine was in its accustomed place. On it was a note signed, "Levi M. Stewart," which told her that whatever hap- pened she must always pay her bills. In the note was $50 in money.
Whenever people solicited a con- tribution to charity from "the Elder," as he was always known, because, from his birth, his good parents had intended him for the ministry, Mr. Stewart always replied that he would "ask his wife." The fact of his bach- elorhood was always a favorite joke with him, and in these instances, a useful one, as it gave him the oppor- tunity to investigate the merits of the proposed charity before he had given an answer to the request for aid. In replying, he always quoted "Mrs.
Stewart's" ideas on
the subject in hand.
Mr. Stewart was fond of candy and kept it always on hand in his office and it was his delight to treat the children who happened in. He was very fond of children and once told the
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
writer's father that he would give all that he had for a little girl of his own.
Mr. Stewart was born on the old Stewart homestead in Corinna near
REV. DAVID STEWARD,
Father of David D. and the Late Levi M. Stewart, Who Was Closely Connected With the Early History of the Town.
North Newport and where his grand niece, Mrs. Royal Quimby and family, now live.
He attended the public schools and at the age of 15 became a schoolmas- ter. In these early days teaching was after physical exercise of the most strenuous type, and it was his delight in later years to tell of his many ex- periences as a pedagogue.
Fishing Paid College Education.
A year later he took up the profes- sion of fisherman, since he found it more lucrative than teaching, and earned the sum of $7 per week. From these earnings he saved enough to put himself through Dartmouth college.
He became proficient in boxing and wrestling, and this qualification quite as much as his marked scholarly at- tainments, gained him the position of master of Nichols academy in Sears- port.
The Searsport school was considered the toughest in Maine, pupils being masters of deep sea fishing boats who
during the winter passed the time by going to school.
He graduated from Cambridge Law school and after securing his degree, began the quest of a suitable place to locate.
His brother, Dinsmore, himself a lawyer, had greatly aided Levi in his college course and it was to this brother that the young man turned for advice and counsel. Though Mr. Stewart afterwards paid back every cent of the money borrowed, yet there remained a bond between the two brothers linking them much more closely than in the majority of cases.
Dr. Jacob Eliot, a friend of the Stewart family in Corinna, had re- moved to Minnesota, and it was due to his suggestion that the young lawyer and his brother decided upon Minne- apolis as the place to start his prac- tice of law. Minneapolis was then scarcely a handful houses, the settlement being across the river.
Invested in Real Estate.
He early invested in real estate and his business sagacity was such that he eventually increased his property
ELIZA M. STEWARD, Wife of Rev. David Stewart.
until it totalled between 12 and 20 mil- lion at the time of his death. David D. Stewart also became a millionaire in the same way by the
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
investments made by him on the ad- vice of his brother Levi.
Throughout his life, Mr. Stewart re- tained a strong affection for his native town and was always in touch with its interests. Both the Pleasant Street Christian church and the Center street Methodist Episcopal church have re- ceived material assistance from this source in remodelling the buildings, buying the bells, etc., and when two years ago the Morse's Corner church was remodelled, Hon. D. D. Stewart contributed liberally to the fund. In all of these churches, their father, Elder David Steward, preached.
A Memorial to Parents.
In 1895, Levi M. Steward began plans for the erection of a suitable memorial to the memory of his father and mother in his native town, and the magnificent $65,000 Stewart Free Library building was the result. It is one of the finest public buildings in the state and the pride of the town.
The building is of brick, two stories high, and surmounted by clock tower. The town clock dials were not at first
illuminated but have been wired for electricity since.
The lower floor contains the library, private library, children's library, read- ing room, selectmen's room, janitor'.s office, coat rooms and lavatories. The entire upper story is devoted to the handsome town hall which boasts a 75- foot stage, with stage scenery worthy of any city and a dance floor of ex- ceptional excellence. The seating ca- pacity is 500 though at the time of the dedication about 700 were accommo- dated.
That Mr. Stewart's heart was in the gift of this library is best illustrated not by the money which it cost him, but better by the fact that ne person- ally selected the 3,000 volumes first bought and given to the library at the time of its erection, and the library now possesses the list in his own handwriting.
In his will he bequeathed to Corinna $50,000 as a permanent fund for the support of this building to keep it in a "state of excellence" and what is
more surprising, he left also to this library his own private library of 10,- 000 volumes, both legal and literary, considered to be the best private libra- ry in the whole northwest. The legal library is now one of the finest in New England, while in number of vol- umes, the Stewart Free library is the 13th in the state.
To D. D. Stewart, Esq., of St. Albans went the bulk of the immense fortune to be disposed of as he saw fit.
Mr. Stewart bequeathed the sum of $25,000 to each of the following Corin-
na citizens, his relatives: Mrs. Eliza- beth M. Winchester, John Howard Winchester, Sidney H. Winchester, Jeanette Winchester, Densmore S. Hil- liker, Araminta Hilliker Soule, Dora Thurston Quimby.
His Personality.
Mr. Stewart always wore a silk hat and Prince Albert coat, with blue trousers. He never varied his dress, seemed never to grow old, and was wont to remark that he expected to live forever. He is buried in Corinna.
He ate very plain food and only two meals a day, worked about 20 out of every 24 hours, enjoyed great physi- cal health until the very last of his life and was possessed of a keen mind, a subtle, humor, and a personality, in- deed remarkable.
Like his brother, David D. Stewart is a man of keen mind, great intellec- tual ability and courtly manner. He is probably one of Maine's best legal authorities at the present time and still spends much of his time in his law office in St. Albans, from which he has made the many great bequests from his brother's millions to colleges, schools and charitable institutions of this state and others. He gave to Corinna Union academy the sum of $8,000.
To see the old gentleman bowing in courtly grace over the hand of some visitor is a picture never to be for- gotten.
Like his brother, he holds a warm place in the hearts of Corinna citi- zens, and the name of Stewart is among the most honored in Corinna's history.
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORINNA
CHAPTER VI
CORINNA IN PEACE AND WAR
Stage Route.
Before the establishment of the rail- road in 1865-6 a stage route followed the old County road from Newport to Dexter, touching Pleasant Vale corner. Another route from Skowhegan to Bangor passed through Hartland and Corinna, for many years, the driver was "Bill" Bradford.
The stage was an object of bound- less admiration to the children of those days and a former resident recalls an incident of her childhood when she was walking on the highway as the stage came by. As there were no passengers, the driver invited the little girl to ride. The child accepted with alacrity and sinking down upon the bright red plush cushions became too absorbed in the wonderful experience of riding on the stage to notice her home when they came to it, and did not realize her mistake until
asked the driver her destination several miles on the road toward Ban- gor. So delighted was the little miss with her ride, however, that she did not mind the long walk home.
When Nathan Packard settled the O. L. Sprague farm at Corinna Center in 1832, coming from Winthrop, Maine, he found no road on the west side of the Main street bridge, no bridge across Sebasticook stream and on the east side of the stream, only . logging road.
Road Builders.
Elder Steward built the road which is now called West Main street, lead- ing over the "Straight Hill." Nathan- iel Milliken and George Footman's father built the first bridge across the stream.
Many citizens can remember when there was no road from W. L. Pitch- er's residence to the Newport line.
In 1823, the town voted to pay the taxes in grain, owing to the scarcity of money, at the rate of one bushel of wheat, six shillings; one bushel of corn or one bushel of rye, four shill- ings. The tax rate was one and one- third per cent. Picture the tax col- lector hauling home a two-horse load of taxes.
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