USA > Maine > York County > Parsonsfield > A history of the first century of the town of Parsonsfield, Maine > Part 21
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But going out of one into another, does not take a man away from his God. And men are learning this; they are getting the true spirit of Christianity, and find- ing out that God is no respecter of persons, and that Jesus Christ was no more a Presbyterian than he was a Baptist or a Methodist, but was high up above all these differences. And men are getting enlightened enough to look over this bigoted narrowness, and greet each other as brethren, and expect to meet in heaven, Protestant and Catholic, if they love the Lord Jesus Christ.
The time has come when the advances are so great that we look back with aston- ishment. Yet the old principles remain the same; the grand old principle for which we suffered in the early years of this country, that every man should have the right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, has got- ten into the very warp of society. It has been creeping into the denominations, until today there is not a single one in all the land that does not agree that this is true. And yet, one hundred years ago, men were put in prison, and nearly starved there, for saying that every man had the right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. The time was, one hundred years ago, when to be religious meant to go around with a fearfully long face. It meant often, to have a merry heart, - perhaps by the drinking of wine, but always to have a long face. The man of longest visage was always elected a deacon or elder, or put into the pulpit. One hundred years ago, Christianity seemed to be a religion of gloom, and sadness, and selfishness, a religion full of ghosts and terrible things. But men began to live with better understanding of the teachings of Christ, and greater confidence in his word, until today the happiest people, the most cheerful, and those who live the most, and get the most happiness out of life, are they who believe in Jesus Christ.
In the years 1800 and 1802, there was one minister in every eighty in this country, who was turned out of the church, and usually, for immoral conduct.
One in every eighty in the year 1801.
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In the years 1878, and 1879, only one, in six thousand, five hundred ministers were accused of immorality sufficiently strong, to be turned out of their church. and yet, I have heard people say the ministers are all going wrong. You read in the newspapers of some minister, just as some men see some mem- ber of the church doing wrong, and forget that there are a thousand others in the same church who would do nothing of the kind. There is a total of 10,065,963 members of Protestant churches in this country. In 1800, there was one church member for every fourteen and fifty one-hundredths of the population, and in the year 1880 there was one member of the church for every five in the country.
In the year 1800, there were no Protestant Sunday Schools in this country; in the year 1880, there were 3,760,000 scholars under the charge of the churches.
In the year 1800, there was no home mission work; not a particle in the pres- ent forms. In the year 1810, there were $233,000 expended in this work. In the year 1880, there was $72,276,000 laid out in home mission work.
And if you will look out over the other countries, you can see the general prog- ress which Christianity has made. In the year 1800, there were of Christian inhabitants in the world, 4,200,000. Now, there are under Christian government, 685,459,411. There are, now, 402,000,000 persons attached to some Christian church, and the progress has been over two millions and a half in eighty years in the number of church membership of the world. The growth of Christianity has been wonderful. The fact is, Christianity, this all pervading Spirit of Christ, this happy faith in God, which comes from the teachings of the Bible, is just like the great Spirit of Life which settles on the world.
The Arabians represent an angel going and saying to a grain of sand, "Now, you grow up into a flower; " and the grain of sand immediately begins to col- lect other little grains of sand, and grows up into a beautiful bud. So this Divine Spirit goes into a community, takes up these rough, rude, coarse lives, and says to them, " Now you build up a beautiful character for humility; " and it is built up. " And you build up a character for holiness, and for teaching, and you for greatness, and you for giving, and you for visiting the sick, and you for visiting prisons." Thus, each grain in this great desert begins to aid this work; and attracting to itself others, builds up these beautiful temples, these holy charac- ters which now adorn Christian society.
Today, to be anything but a Christian, is to be anything but respectable. Every man and woman in this land now wishes to be known as a Christian in character. The whole community has learned to believe in Christians, and you will accuse a woman of being unwomanly, if you say she is unchristian; and if you accuse a gentleman of being unchristian, you accuse him of being anything but a gentle- man. The whole community wishes it to be understood that they are Christians. All wish to have their children Christians, because Christianity now, means hon- esty, truth, purity, holiness and love, that indwelling of the great Spirit of God, for God is love, truth, purity; and God is the beautiful; and if the Spirit of God
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dwell in the life it will develop these characteristics. And the time has come now, when every man, woman and child, wishes to have it, or wishes to be thought to have it, and they either are, or they pretend to be Christians even when they do not unite with the church.
Christianity has advanced, until today it becomes a mighty principle in which every person of common sense believes.
One hundred years ago war was almost the exclusive road to fame and high office. To have had some share in a campaign, or in a battle, or in furnishing the plans or provisions, was the chiefest ambition. Even the [peaceable Quaker published histories of great wars and printed stories of heroic contests in battle. But what a change has come. There are now many victories of Peace which bring equal honors with those of war. To have been in the battle of Antietam on which the fate of the Nation's unity turned was honorable. And they who rushed into its conflicts, charged the batteries, captured the flags, and defeated the enemy, raised their shouts of victory until the retreating foe could hear them far beyond the Potomac. But there was a great field of dead, dying, crip- pled and scarred soldiers left to curse the memory of the battle, and made war to seem like a hideous monster. Could the armies have met in peace, could every foe have been made a friend, could every soldier have returned alive and happy to care for his family and strengthen the nation, how much greater and nobler would have been that victory.
Today the spirit of Christianity has so permeated public opinion and social life, that such Christian victories of peace are esteemed as great as the mightiest victories of war. To make a good man and a friend of a bad man and an enemy, is far greater honor than it is to kill him. Arbitration, which is a form of Christi- anity, comes to prevent war between nations, and charity, a higher attribute of religion, extends its delightful sway over religious denominations, and sectarianism dissolves into the universal spirit of growing Christian Love.
HISTORY OF PARSONSFIELD. PART II.
BY H. G. O. SMITH.
INTRODUCTION.
IN the preparation of this history, we have been materially aided by a special committee of citizens, each working near his own home. Access has been had to county, town and private records, have copied from old family Bibles and moss covered grave stones, and have listened to the traditions of fathers, and the child memory of grand- mothers. Our aim has been accuracy as well as information. Many facts and incidents have been put into fitting language by gifted, but absent sons and daughters of the town, while other absent ones have freely aided us in our researches, by forwarding copies of private and public records, not forgetting valuable personal reminiscences and lib- eral contributions in money.
GEOGRAPHY.
The town of Parsonsfield is in the extreme northwest corner of York county, Maine. Center Square, on the northern slope of Cedar Moun- tain, is about thirty miles from the ocean, at Old Orchard and thirty- two from Wells Beach on an air line, and thirty-three miles west-north- west from Portland.
Its northern boundary is the Great Ossipee River (Ossipee signifies "River of Pines" in the Indian dialect). The towns of Porter and Hiram are north of the river. Effingham and Wakefield, N. H., are on the western border, Newfield is on the south, Limerick and Cornish on the east. The outer lines of the town have been measured several times, giving an area of from sixty-two and twenty-three hundredths to sixty-four square miles, or about forty thousand acres. The length
. GED. H. WALKER & CD. BOSTON
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of the western line is nearly eight and one-half miles, the eastern some- thing over nine, the northern and southern about seven and one-third miles.
The surface of Parsonsfield is quite broken, or more properly, rises into high swells. Ricker's Mountain, in the southwest, is the highest, it being not far from one thousand six hundred feet above the level of the sea. Cedar Mountain, in the center, comes up within one hun- dred feet of Ricker's, while Randall's Mountain in the east, may fall one hundred feet below Cedar. The Seminary varies but little from one thousand two hundred feet above the sea level, while the average alti- tude of the town is estimated at one thousand feet.
Ricker's Mountain takes its name from Dea. Dominicus Ricker, who lived and died near the summit. Cedar is so called from the mountain cedar growing there. A legend tells how a hunter named Randall perished from cold on the mountain called by his name. Another tradition is that : "Many years ago a famous hunter, named Randall, hunted hereaway among these mountains and caught much game. He usually reposed on the top of the high mountain by the rivulet, where it is supposed he was murdered by another hunter for his furs. The supposed murderer was absent only a few days from the settlements and returned heavily laden with valuable skins."
The high ridge, of which Cedar Mountain is the apex, runs east and west almost across the town. It is the water-shed, or divide, between the Great and Little Ossipee Rivers. The town is dotted all over with hills and swells, some of them hard to climb, but generally productive.
The principal river is the Great Ossipee. By estimation the yearly discharge is nine billion cubic feet, the length thirty-three miles, drain- ing an area of about two hundred and forty square miles. There is an excellent water power at Kezar Falls, the descent being fifty feet in one mile.
South River is next in size. It enters the Ossipee above Porter Bridge. The privilege at Lord's mills is the best within the town. The Bickford and Blaisdall mill streams run into the Little Ossipee. Smaller brooks are found in all parts of the town. It would be hard to find a lot of land not having one or more living springs, and as many never failing rivulets.
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A small part of Province Pond is in Parsonsfield. The state line is one-fourth of a mile from the eastern shore, and the distance across, by that line, is about one mile. Long Pond, in the northeast, is a beau- tiful sheet of water, one and one-half miles long, and about one-third that in width. Mudgett's Pond, separated from Long Pond by a ridge, is nearly half as large. Smaller ponds are found among the hills.
Coarse granite rock projects here and there, but surface ledges cover only a small part of the town. Less than half the wells extend down to the rock bed. The prevailing soil may be denominated granite. There are patches of sand, but clay, even of inferior quality, is scarce. From one to two feet below the surface there is a hard pan or subsoil.
There are but few swamps or bog meadows, for the reason that the surface is tilted this, that, and every way, but valuable intervales lie along the brooks and rivers.
There are very few farms without stones enough to fence them. A large surplus of this imperishable fence material is the rule.
The original forest growth was maple, beech, hemlock, pine, birch, oak and ash, with scores of other trees interspersed. Each variety pre- vailing in its favored locality, but not holding exclusive possession of a single farm. Where a second growth has been allowed to spring up, the soft woods in many cases have succeeded the hard, while the hard has been followed by soft. It is known that the present growth is a little more mixed than the first.
Since our forefathers made a break in the forest, there have been some climatic changes. Winter weather is more variable. Summer days are hotter and droughts more severe.
INDIANS.
There is no proof that Indians had any permanent settlements within the present town of Parsonsfield. There was a tribe called the Ossi- pees whose home was near the western shore of the Ossipee Pond. The village was supposed to number from thirty to fifty families. Other Indians were scattered along the valley of the Saco, with whom the Ossi- pees were allied by intermarriages, and also in their predatory warfare on the white settlements of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The early white hunters found a well-trodden trail across Parsonsfield from Cornish
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into Effingham. The northern Indians doubtless passed over this route in their traffic with the white traders, as well as when on their murder- ing expeditions.
From the narratives of captives, and other information, it seems probable that, incited by the French in Canada, the St. Francis braves started on the war path, were joined by the upper Androscoggins, the Peg- wakets at Fryeburg and the blood thirsty Ossipees. Returning with their plunder and prisoners, they crossed the Ossipee near Cornish village. It is almost certain that Captain Lovell and his brave band followed this trail when pursuing Paugus in 1725.
EARLY TITLES.
We learn from history* that King James First, of England, granted to merchants of Plymouth, April 20, 1606, all the territory between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of latitude, and extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This patent was renewed November 3, 1620. The Plymouth Colony conveyed to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason the country between the rivers Merrimac and Kennebec, in 1622. Gorges and Mason divided their purchase in 1629, Gorges taking all east of the Piscataqua River. The affairs of the Plymouth Colony were so loosely managed that the same territory had been granted to several persons, therefore, Gorges obtained a new patent, under the seal of King Charles, the First, 1639. In 1651, Massachusetts claimed that the Province of Maine was within the limits of that State, and the next year enforced her claim .*
In 1661, Fluellen, a prominent chief of the Sokokis or Saco Indians, conveyed to Major William Phillips, a tract of country, which, evident- ly, included the Ossipee towns. This grant was confirmed by Gorges, grandson of Sir Ferdinando, but not sanctioned by Massachusetts.
Captain Sandy, a fourth-class chief, living in Berwick, deeded all lands between the Ossipees, to Francis Small, February 28, 1668. This conveyance, the Massachusetts authorities afterwards ratified. Francis Small conveyed one undivided half to Major Nicholas Shapleigh, and the other half to his son Samuel, April 30, 1711.
It appears that Major Phillips gave, by will, his property, purchased
* Huckinson's History of Massachusetts.
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of Fluellen, to his wife Bridgett. That in 1696, she disposed of the same by her will. Hence, we have the Phillips, the Small, and the Shapleigh proprietors. The records of the Phillips proprietors are deposited with the Clerk of Courts, at Alfred. When the heirs of Small and Shapleigh divided their property, a tract, extending from the Great Ossipee half way to the Little Ossipee, fell to the Shapleigh heirs. The township, now Parsonsfield, was deeded by the heirs of Mrs. Bridg- ett Phillips, to Thomas Parsons and his associates, on August 5, 1771, and surveyed under his direction, by Joseph Cram, of Exeter, New Hampshire, in the autumn of the same year; and in order to obtain undisputed title to said lands, and to avoid litigation, he purchased of the Shapleigh heirs the same tract of territory, which was by them con- veyed to him on December 23, 1774, as per survey before mentioned. The boundaries then established remain unchanged.
If either of the before named Sagamores had any right to convey lands it was Fluellen. Captain Sandy was a petty chief down in South Berwick. Apparently, his tribe had no interests in, or jurisdiction over the territory. He would have sold the Atlantic Ocean or North Pole at the same price.
SHAPLEIGH PROPRIETORS.
Among the assets of Major Nicholas Shapleigh, late of Kittery, was a half interest in a tract of wild land between the Great and Little Ossi- pee rivers. In process of time, his heirs and others, to whom shares had been sold, were known as the "Shapleigh Proprietors." Their records give the names of forty-three persons interested in this property, holding forty full shares. It may be that Thomas Parsons held one at the date of transfer. It is certain that he bought three or four soon after. The names of the proprietors were: Nathan Bartlett, John H. Bartlett, Edward Cutts, Jonathan C. Chadbourne, Benjamin Chadbourne, Wil- liam Frost, John Frost, Mark Fernald, Andrew Fernald, Tobias Fern- ald, Dennis Fernald, Ichabod Goodwin, James Gowen, James Garvin, Moses Hanscom, John Hill, Philip Hubbard, Joshua Hubbard, Simon Jenness, Samuel Jenness, Samuel Leighton, William Leighton, Daniel Moulton, Jotham Moulton, Doctor David Pierce, William Parsons, Robert Parker, Robert Rogers, William Rogers, Nathaniel Remick,
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Humphry Scammon, Nicholas Scammon, Rev. Alpheus Spring, Jona_ than Sayword, James Sullivan, Alexander Scammel, Samuel Stacy, Samuel Stackpole, John Shapleigh, James Shapleigh, Dependence Shapleigh, and Elisha Shapleigh.
It is not known that any of these proprietors settled in Parsonsfield, or that they ever held a proprietors meeting within our limits.
INDIANS, HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS.
We learn from history, that soon after the death of Paugus, the Ossi- pees and Pegwakets went north into Canada. That in 1758, General Amherst sent Captain Rogers, with his New Hampshire Rangers to exterminate the St. Croix and their Indian confederates; and that the order was executed to the letter.
The subjugation of Canada rendered it safe for white hunters and trappers to enter these woods. George Kezar came here as early as 1766, and found an abundance of game. Others soon followed. About this time, six met at a hunter's camp on the hill, near the house of John Moore. As early as 1780, beaver, otter, and other animals, bearing valuable fur, were nearly extinct. Broken and decaying dams told where they had sported. Meadows, covered with grass, showed where their ponds had been. Minks and musk-rats waded the brooks. Bears, wolves, deer, foxes, and other animals, roamed the woods. Wild-cats and panthers were not common.
These hunters were the news-gatherers and reporters of the day, there - fore, welcome at every cabin. Their/adventures have been told and re-told for generations.
WILD ANIMALS.
A pioneer was asked about wild animals. He replied, "Hunters and trappers traversed the woods before the advent of white settlers, so that animals bearing valuable fur were scarce." Deer were sometimes seen in the openings, feeding with cattle and sheep. Bears often broke into the fields after green corn. Having made a break, they used the same path night after night. A gun, with a string attached, was placed near their road. When Bruin pressed against the line he discharged the musket and got the contents. Deep pits were dug and covered
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A stuffed lamb's skin was an attractive bait, for the bear was a dear lover of mutton.
Bears did not often attack persons except in defence of their young or when wounded. George Kezar had a fight with a wounded bear at close hugs, and came out victorious.
WOLVES.
Wolves, were numerous, and in the winter, ferocious. A pen, ten feet high, was needed to protect domestic animals during the night. When day-light appeared, the snarling cowards would skulk away. They usually hunted in droves, and with the noise of a double brass band, thus giving the pursued notice of their approach. . Though often chased by wolves, tradition does not mention the loss of any lives. Hunter Kezar was much annoyed by them, for they were adroit and persistent robbers of his traps. To frighten them away he fastened a bell to a piece of iron. When Mr. Wolf grabbed the bait, the iron clasped him around the neck. Away he went, but as he neared his mates, the sound of the bell frightened them. For a little time Kezar heard the tinkling, here and there, but before morning all was quiet. Later on, he was told that a big flock of wolves, followed by a belled one, were seen scampering toward Canada.
A young man named "John " had made an opening and reared a cab- in on the North Road. A young lady christened " Elizabeth" came to reside on the South Road. There were full four miles of unbroken forest between them. But love regards neither woods nor wolves. On one occasion it took the lovers so long to say "good bye," that the cur- tains of night closed around John when only half way home. His ear caught a dismal howl, then responsive answers from every quarter. Soon a pack of yelling demons were in hot pursuit. Our hero stepped up a tree, around which they circled, showing clean teeth and consider- able agility in leaping. With the approach of day the serenade ceased and the minstrels left for deeper shades.
EARLY HOMES.
At the period our ancestors planted homes upon these hill-tops, the national and state governments were heavily loaded with debts, and the towns had assumed liabilities equal to a large percentage of their valuation.
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The burden of taxation fell largely upon well-to-do farmers. It took about every dollar they could obtain to pay their taxes. Therefore, they encouraged their children to go into the woods, and there make homes for the mselves. The young people were equal to the emergency. The ancestral family homesteads are witnesses to the truth of the asser- tion, that it was not poverty, but the peculiar crisis in national affairs, that peopled Parsonsfield with well-trained, energetic men and women. In many instances, fathers bought land enough for every child a farm. There is apparent poverty in new settlements, yet there may be no des- titution. The houses are not garnished nor the tables loaded with for- eign luxuries, yet the wife finds something wholesome for food and something warm for clothing.
BEGINNING.
One hundred years ago, paper money was nearly worthless, silver was scarce, while of gold there was none. It was the custom of the times, for boys to work at home till twenty-one, and girls, up to eighteen. Parents encouraged early marriages, but the young people must first have a home and something to put in it. The father, if able, bought his son a farm. The mother required the daughter to spin, weave and knit for herself, a supply of clothing and bedding, before she was given in marriage.
The scarcity of money compelled fathers to buy new land. Mr. Par- sons sold farms at from twenty-five to one hundred dollars per lot, to be paid in installments if desired. This liberal policy accounts for the rapid settlement of the town, and explains the reason why the pro- prietors did not amass wealth.
Apparently, about half the pioneers were single or recently married when they became citizens. A majority spent one or two summers here before bringing the wife. The first houses were of logs, the barns mere hovels for cattle, while the fodder was in stacks. Corn was planted in the ashes with a stick, and hoed with a mattock. The live stock con- sisted of a yoke of oxen, or a horse, a cow and pig, a dog for protec- tion, and a cat for company.
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NAMES AND LOCATIONS-1785.
In giving the names and location of established residents at the date of organization, it is known that a few have been omitted from lack of information. Persons who had purchased land and were preparing to settle, are not enumerated when they had legal homes elsewhere. Thomas Parsons was cultivating his farm and erecting a house in Parsonstown, yet he in his deeds invariably says, "I, Thomas Parsons, of Leavittstown." While Samuel Pease was here, preparing a home for his family, his deeds read, " of Newmarket." Very many of the early land-holders never became citizens.
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