USA > Maine > Knox County > Union > A history of the town of Union, in the county of Lincoln, Maine : to the middle of the nineteenth century, with a family register of the settlers before the year 1800, and of their descendants > Part 5
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By this deed, and the one to Philip Robbins, Taylor disposed of all the land in Stirlington east of St. George's River, and south of the line which ran westerly from the mouth of the Cashman Brook.
At the time of Burgoyne's surrender, Oct. 17, 1777, it is said there were but three families in Stirlington. They must have been the families of Philip Robbins, David Robbins, and Richard Cummings.
From a plan drawn by David Fales, and dated Thomaston, Nov. 15, 1777, it appears that in this year Joel Adams bought of Philip Robbins the tract of land which was divided between himself, Jason Ware, and Matthias Hawes. Ware and Hawes probably visited this town at the same time and returned.
43
SUCHFORT. - BLACKSMITHING. - FIRE.
John Butler was married this year, though it is not known when he moved his wife into Stirling- ton.1 After living seven years at the Mill Farm, he settled on the farm subsequently owned by Capt. Nathaniel Bachelor, and resided there till the spring of 1791, when he moved to Thomaston.
1778.
In the fall of 1778, Philip Robbins introduced from Boston Andrew Suchfort, a German, who was cap- tured at Stillwater. It is said that he was a very strong man, and once brought two bushels of rock- salt on his back from Waldoborough. When Philip Robbins moved from the Packard House, which was probably in the fourth summer after he came here, Suchfort became the occupant. He lived in it till after the town was incorporated. He settled in Apple- ton, near the head of Sunnybec2 Pond, on its west side, and died at an advanced age in Washington, where he was living with his son.
For several years there was no blacksmith in Stir- lington. The inhabitants occasionally employed Caleb Howard, of Waldoborough. In December of this year he made his annual visit. He brought nails and the number of shoes which the settlers sent word to him would be wanted. There being no floor, an ox was " cast" on the ground in the barn of Philip Robbins. From an iron pot, placed for the blacksmith's conve- nience in the lean-to, on a stump which had not been dug up, the sparks rose through the poles, of which a scaffold-floor was always made in those days, set the hay and grain on fire, and the barn was immediately enveloped in flames. The fire spread so rapidly, that the fowls were burnt, and "the ox was singed nearly
1 He purchased all Dr. Taylor's furniture. Among the items on the bill of sale, which is dated July 23, 1777, is " Mr. Willard on the Catechism, £3. 0. 0." It was the first folio printed in British America, and is now in the possession of his son, Charles Butler, of 'Thomaston.
2 By the Indians probably pronounced Soony-bech.
44
PLANTATION HISTORY.
half over." Mrs. Mero says, that, as her mother, Mrs. Robbins, was hastening to the burning barn, the chil- dren following her, she observed to them, " It is of no use to go, we will all go back." Upon entering the house, they found that also on fire. In the hurry the door had been left unlatched, or the wind had blown it open. The draft, which was very strong when it came · up from the pond, had carried fire into the ends of the logs, which had been cut off to admit a stone for a chimney-back. All the water used was brought from the pond, and there was none in the house. The snow was very deep, and consequently abundant ; but it was not practicable to apply it to the interstices between the logs. Mrs. Robbins immediately attached a rag to the end of a stick, and kept dipping it in the snow and applying it to the fire till she extinguished it. As the logs were dry spruce, it is probable that the house would have been burnt, if the discovery of the fire had occurred five minutes later, or if Mrs. Robbins had not adopted this expedient to put it out. Her hands were severely burnt.
The loss of the barn was a grievous calamity. The people generally stacked their hay, and built small log- hovels to cover their cattle. With the exception of the barn on the other side of the pond, where nobody lived but in the Taylor House, this was the only one in the plantation. It contained the rye of Philip Robbins raised on twenty acres, besides all the other grain on the west side of the river, and about twenty tons of hay. Thirty bushels of wheat, belonging to Richard Cummings, were burnt. Several tons of the hay were saved by throwing snow upon it; but the " cattle kept lowing about, and would not eat it, because it was smoked." Philip Robbins saved one bushel of rye. Mr. Porterfield, of Thomaston, gave him one bushel of corn, which, it being winter and no boating, he and Suchfort " backed up" to Stirlington from Lermond's . Mills on Oyster River. This was all the grain Rob- bins had till the spring opened, which was late. Then, with depreciated continental paper, he bought a hogs-
45
SCARCITY OF FOOD. - WHEATON'S PURCHASE.
head of Indian corn, for which he paid twenty-five dollars a bushel.
The barn was burnt on Friday. On Saturday a shelter for the cattle was put up. To add to the mis- fortunes, on Sunday a yoke of oxen broke through the ice and was drowned, on the way to bring home hay from the Round Pond Meadows. In consequence of this fire, ten head of cattle died during the winter. It was probably after this that David Robbins's family, consisting of the parents and three children, were reduced to such extremities, that, for fourteen days, they subsisted on "two quarts of rye-meal, which they ate with birch-sap, in which was put a little pickle. A few boxberry leaves and buds finished the daily repast." 1 There is said to have been a time when David Robbins, after having planted the seed-ends of potatoes, dug them up, and cut off for food all but the eyes.
CHAPTER VI.
PLANTATION HISTORY, 1779-1782.
1779, Wheaton's Purchase. - Settlement of Joel Adams, Matthias Hawes, and Jason Ware. - Woodward. - Fairbanks. - Settlement of Moses Hawes. - Ebenezer Robbins. - 1780, Jennison's Pur- chase. - 1781, First Wedding. - Jessa Robbins. - 1782, Settle- ment of Phinehas Butler. - Elisha Partridge. - Taylor's Convey- ance to Reed.
1779.
" JANUARY 2. John Taylor conveys to Mason Wheaton land in Sterlingtown, containing 1,000 acres, bounded as follows : Beginning at Bowker Brook near where it empties into St. George's River; thence west by land sold to Philip Robbins 436 rods; thence north 240
1 Mr. Noyes P. Hawes, who several years ago prepared notices of the town, which he has generously permitted to be freely used, as may be seen from the extracts credited to him.
46
PLANTATION HISTORY.
rods ; thence east 682 rods to St. George's River; then southerly by said river about 240 rods; then west 214 rods to the first bound."1 Col. Wheaton resided here a short time, but did not move his family from Tho- maston. He raised a barn in July, 1780. He returned to Thomaston, and was the first representative from that town to the Legislature of Massachusetts.
May 15. Joel Adams, Matthias Hawes, and Jason Ware, three unmarried men from Franklin, Mass. came and settled on the north-west side of Round Pond. Their land, which had been bought by Joel Adams, was divided into three farms of different sizes. Lots were drawn for choice, and each obtained the farm he preferred. Hawes had 255 acres, Ware 230, and Adams took two lots making 410 acres. They lived together in a log-house which they built on Ware's land, below the present Hawes House, and near the pond. Their oven was on a ledge near their house. Becoming rather dissatisfied with their mode of life, they hired Jemima Robbins, who began to keep house for them, June 29, 1780. Here they continued till the " Royal Mess," as they called themselves, was broken up. Each member contributed his share of the provisions, and their accounts are still preserved. Joel Adams settled on the farm south of Muddy Brook, now owned by the Rev. Mr. Irish. Jason Ware settled on the north side of the same brook, where his son, Vinal Ware, now lives; and Matthias Hawes imme- diately north of him, on land now in the possession of his descendants.
With these persons came Nathan Woodward, who did not settle in town. He began to clear the farm north of Matthias Hawes. It is now owned by Nathan D. Rice. Having a great aversion to hemlock-trees, he hired a man to girdle all on the farm, and they have been dead many years.
A man named John Fairbanks, from Franklin, came at the same time; but he did not settle. He lived for
1 Abstract from the deed recorded at Wiscasset.
.
47
MORE SETTLERS. - JENNISON'S PURCHASE.
a while on the farm now owned by Benjamin Litch- field, went back, and kept a store in Roxbury, Mass.
In the same year came Moses Hawes, also from Franklin. He settled on the farm now owned by his son, Col. Herman Hawes.
Amos Lawrence, from Franklin, a young man who had served in the revolutionary war, came probably this year. He exchanged the Simmons Farm on the hill back of Mr. Seiders for one in Warren.
Ebenezer Robbins, from Walpole, a half-brother of Philip Robbins, " had made a beginning" at Fox Islands. The exposed situation of the islands on the seacoast during the war led most of the inhabitants to abandon them. Ebenezer Robbins came to Stir- lington soon after the battle of Biguyduce or Penobs- cot. He settled on the place more recently owned by Asa Morse. His children were Bela, Philip, Zilpah, Azubah, and Molly.
1780.
"July 19. John Taylor, of Pomfret, Conn. conveys to William Jennison, of Brookfield, Mass. land in Ster- lingtown, bounded thus : Beginning at the north- east corner of Waldoborough; then east 256 rods on land of Philip Robbins to the south-west corner of Mason Wheaton's land; then north 697 rods and 14 links to the north-east corner of said tract ; then west 4 miles 96 rods to the west line of Sterlington, being north-west corner of said tract; then south by said line 697 rods 14 links to north-west corner of Wal- doborough and south-west corner of said tract; then east by Waldoborough line 3} miles to first bound." 1
1 Abstract from the deed recorded at Wiscasset.
In this transaction, Dr. Taylor agreed to take Dr. Jennison's real estate, consisting of three farms, with their improvements, and wild land in Douglas, Mass. The consequence was quarrels, lawsuits, and executions, till the end of Taylor's life. According to Jessa Robbins, Dr. Jennison, in endeavoring to dispose of some of his land here to one Tucker, recommended it upon the strength of what Taylor had said. Taylor also wanted to sell to Tucker, and said to him, " Buy of me, and get good land : it will take 1,000 acres of Jennison's land to keep
48
PLANTATION HISTORY.
1781.
In this year there does not appear to have been any new settler or any important occurrence. The " Royal Mess " underwent a change. Before the middle of
a red squirrel alive." Upon being questioned, he said he had made to Jennison substantially the same statement. Jennison told Tucker that " Taylor was a thief and a liar, and not fit to keep gentlemen's company," and not only refused to retract when called upon, but repeated the charges publicly. Taylor prosecuted him, and Jennison gained the case by proving that Taylor had taken a bag of wheat from a mill without leave, and an ox which he sold to a commissary in the revolutionary war. Several actions were brought by the parties against each other. Jennison brought one in March, 1781. . After various law operations, Taylor was committed to jail in Worcester, March 12, 1784, on Jennison's execution, "for about £900 lawful money." Taylor, in a communication published March 18, 1784, in the Worcester Spy, speaks of having sold farms "to the amount of several thousand pounds silver money value, and loaned the money arising therefrom, a part to this Commonwealth [Massachusetts], but principally to the United States, taking their promise to return the same within three years, with interest ; " but adds, that he had not to that " day received one farthing of the principal, and but a small part of the interest." The rest of the communication is taken up with abusing Jennison, and demanding settlement of and with all his cre- ditors. Jennison replied in detail, April 8 ; and this drew out a long rejoinder, April 22. Taylor was in some way released, and was a delegate from Douglas to the Massachusetts Convention held in January and February, 1788, "for the purpose of assenting to and ratifying the Constitution recommended by the Grand Federal Con- vention." It seems, however, that he was recommitted to jail. There he occasionally gave festive entertainments, remarking that he could afford to do it with the interest of Jennison's money. Many other things were done to irritate Jennison, who took measures to have him watched. Taylor went across the street to buy some tempting fruit, and, in doing it, broke his bonds for the liberty of the jail-yard. At last, according to some, he took rum and opium in anticipation of being recommitted to jail by the persons who had been his bondsmen. By others, it is said he "had been on a spree for a number of days ; and, having no rum or brandy, went to looking over his bottles of medicine, and came to some laudanum, and drank a dram of it, whe- ther by mistake or otherwise not known. An emetic was adminis- tered, and he was ordered to walk out of doors in the open air ; " but he died the same day, April 27, 1794, at Douglas, in the sixtieth year of his age.
The part taken by Dr. Taylor in the Convention for adopting the Federal Constitution may be understood from the " Debates, Resolu- tions, and other Proceedings of the Convention," reported by Ben- jamin Russell, and printed in Boston in 1788. From this it appears that he was in favor of annual instead of biennial elections to the
.
49
FIRST WEDDING.
September, Joel Adams married Jemima, daughter of Philip Robbins. The ceremony was performed by Col. Mason Wheaton, of Thomaston. He disap- pointed them at the time fixed for the wedding; but, not long afterward, he married them in the log-house which was occupied by the " Royal Mess." The cere- mony being over and the company seated, the mother of the bride observed, " Mr. Justice, you have but half done your work." " Why not ?" said he. " Why, you have not pronounced them man and wife." With some confusion he asked them to rise again, and the ceremony was satisfactorily concluded. It was the first wedding in town, and it is said that it was the first at which Col. Wheaton ever officiated.
Mrs. Adams did not move from the log-house where she had been employed. The "Royal Mess " still continued; each member contributing provisions, and
House of Representatives, and of a larger representation than was proposed. The senatorial term of six years seemed to him very objec- tionable. He also expressed some apprehension lest the two branches of Congress might "play into each other's hands," advocated the doc- trine that members should be paid by the State Legislatures rather than by the United States, raised some objections to a Federal City, and entered into the discussions respecting proposed amendments. When the question of ratifying the proposed Constitution was finally put, it was carried by a majority of only nineteen ; 187 voting in its favor, and 168 against it. Shortly afterward, Dr. Taylor rose, and said that " he had uniformly opposed the Constitution ; that he had found himself fairly beaten ; and expressed his determination to go home, and endeavor to infuse a spirit of harmony and love among the people."
To this long note it may be added, that Dr. William Jennison was probably born in Salem, Mass. where his father was a clergyman. He had a good education, and studied medicine with Dr. Prentice, of Lan- caster. He resided at Mendon, now Milford, where he married Mary Staples ; also at Douglas, Sudbury, and Brookfield. At the age of sixty-six, he died at Brookfield, May 8, 1798, in consequence of a fall from his horse. He was a man of great activity and energy, and during the Revolution was a prominent whig. His children were- 1. William ; 2. Samuel, a lawyer ; 3. John, a lawyer, settled in Bos- ton, and died of lung fever ; 4. Timothy Lindall, M.D. of Cambridge, Mass. ; also Ebenezer, who lived for some time in Union, was surveyor, married in Boston, and died a few years since at Dixmont, where he was postmaster. There were also Mary, who married Jonathan Whip -; ple, father of the late William J. Whipple, Esq. of Cambridge; and Abigail, who is still living.
5
50
PLANTATION HISTORY.
the unmarried members paying for the services ren- dered by Mrs. Adams. Adams and his wife, in the fall, visited Massachusetts.
This year Jessa Robbins began to clear the farm south of Round Pond, where he now lives with his son, Jason Robbins.
1782.
"January 15. Mr. Adams gone down to George's, after his things he brought from the Westward; like- wise to help Mr. Butler up with his lady's goods."1 Mr. Phinehas Butler, having completed his term of service in the army, returned to Thomaston, and there married, Oct. 18, 1781, Milea, daughter of Oliver Robbins. She was the first white female born in 'Thomaston, east of Mill River. Jan. 17, 1782, he moved into a log-house in Stirlington, which he built on the farm now owned by James Grinnell, on the west side of the St. George's, about half-way from the Middle to the Upper Bridge. He returned to Thomaston, Nov. 14, 1785, where he and his wife are now both living.
" Sabbath-day, April 28, 1782. Last week, Mr. Elisha Partridge moved upon Col. Wheaton's farm in this place."1 He came from Franklin, and was a tenant under Col. Wheaton. The place was after- wards bought by the Daggetts. His log-house was probably very near the spot now occupied by Nahum Thurston's house.
" May 16. John Taylor conveyed to Josiah Reed land in Sterlingtown, bounded as follows: Beginning on the western side of Sunnybeck Pond in a side line of Camden; thence north-west by north on Camden line to the north-west corner of the township the grantor purchased of Thomas Flucker and others, Sept. 30, 1774; thence south-west by west and south- erly, on the most western line of said township, till it comes to the six-thousand-acre lot sold to William Jennison; then easterly and southerly, by said six- thousand-acre lot, to the most north-westerly corner of
I Matthias Hawes's Account-book.
51
HAWES'S LOG-HOUSE.
a thousand-acre lot sold to Mason Wheaton; thence easterly, on the northern line of said thousand-acre lot, to St. George's River; then northerly, by said river to the first bounds, containing by estimation upwards of 14,000 acres."
This was the last of the land owned by Dr. Taylor. It is said, that, in consequence of the lawsuit with Dr. Jennison, and to avoid attachments by his creditors, he put his property into the hands of his son-in-law Reed, who never restored it.
Another change was made in the " Royal Mess." " Nov. 4. Mr. Adams moved out of this house, and Mr. Ware moved in with his wife .... Nov. 22. I brought up my boards for my house from the mill. ... Dec. 7. I raised the roof of my house. ... Dec. 25. I moved into my house." 1
CHAPTER VII.
. PLANTATION HISTORY, 1783-1786.
1783, Log-house. - Bride. - Bride's Dower. - Jessa Robbins. - 1784, Amariah Mero. - 1785, Josiah Robbins. - Gillmor. - Cat-and- clay Chimney. - Royal Grinnell. - Elijah Holmes. - 1786, Arrival of the Families of Josiah Robbins ; of Samuel Hills. - Samuel Martin. - Organization of the Plantation.
1783.
JAN. 1, Matthias Hawes married Sarah Payson, in Warren; and on the 16th " moved home and began to keep house;"1 and thus another family was added to the population. According to Mrs. Hawes, the house which Mr. Hawes had begun was by some con- sidered, " a little more stylish" than any other of the log-houses in the plantation. No other house in Stir- lington was shingled. This was covered with shingles made by Mr. Hawes himself. It contained a kitchen,
1 Matthias Hawes's Account-book.
52
PLANTATION HISTORY.
bedroom, buttery, and had a good cellar. The logs of which the walls were made, instead of being rough, were hewed both inside and outside. There was a regularly laid floor ; but, as the boards were not nailed down, considerable care was requisite, in drawing up the table for a meal, to prevent it from being upset. On the west end was a place designed for a chimney. For a flue, boards were stuck up endwise, ten or twelve feet apart at the bottom, to secure them from taking fire, and tipped inward toward the top, so as to leave a comparatively small opening for the passage of the smoke. The fire was built on the ground, and a flat stone used for a chimney-back. The only window was made by a wooden slide. This was closed when it stormed, and then the newly-married couple saw by means of the light which came down the chimney. As the ground on which the fire was built was lower than the floor, the occupants, when it was cold, sat on the ends of the boards, and suspended their feet in front of the fire. A crane was made by extending a pole across the fireplace, and resting the ends in the crotches of sticks which were driven into the ground, one on each side of the fire. These were the accom- modations when Mr. Hawes "moved home and began to keep house." He made bricks and put up a chim- ney in the spring. In the fall he went to Boston, where he procured glass, and made two small win- dows. Some of the other people in Stirlington used mica or "isinglass." Oiled paper was also in use.
Commonly a log-house had but one room. Some- times two rooms were made by suspending a bedquilt from the ceiling. In Mr. Hawes's house, besides the indispensable requisites for housekeeping, was a large spinning-wheel. There was also a loom, which, large as looms were then made, must have occupied a very important portion of the room. Log-houses, however, were easily built, and when finished were commonly tight, well caulked with moss, sometimes with clay, and were very warm. Trees were growing at the doors ; and the settlers, desiring to get rid of them
53
BRIDE'S DOWER.
that they might have the land for cultivation, rolled into the fireplaces huge logs, six or eight feet in length, and piled them up as long as they would lie upon each other.
As a description has been given of the house into which a bride and bridegroom moved, it may not be amiss for the present luxurious generation to know something about a lady's dower in the early settlement of the town. The mother of Mrs. Hawes had three daughters to fit out, and she divided her furniture as equitably as she could among them. The following was what Mrs. Hawes had : One coverlet, one pair of sheets, one feather-bed; three white kitchen-chairs ; one white chest with one drawer, the legs of which she colored with an indigo bag; one looking-glass, about eight by ten inches, with flowers running up the sides ; one tea-kettle; one spider; two pewter porringers, holding about one pint each ; three knives, three forks ; three flowered cups, three saucers, three plates, taken from a set of crockery; three pewter plates, and two or three wooden trenchers to eat upon, which were kept neat with much care, and occasionally boiled in lye; also an old-fashioned loom and a great spinning- wheel. After a while the knives were broken, and her husband took some broken scythes to the blacksmith, and had shanks drawn out, which he inserted into wooden handles made by himself. To this may be added what belonged to her husband, viz .: One sea- chest, one straw-bed, one pair of woollen blankets, and one iron pailful-pot, exceedingly annoying, because, in boiling, the fat, if not the food, almost invariably escaped through the broken side of it. In this manner one of the most worthy couples in the place began housekeeping. Mrs. Hawes was subsequently con- fined; and then, to meet expenses, she was obliged to part with her wedding gown of home-made linen. Afterward Mr. Hawes broke his leg, and his wife was obliged to take charge of the outdoor and indoor work, and cut the wood for cooking; but he was able to assist her by entertaining the twin children. When
5*
54
PLANTATION HISTORY.
haying time came, he was obliged to part with his wedding garment.
In the fall of the year 1783, Jessa Robbins began housekeeping.
1784.
In September, 1784, Amariah Mero came from Stoughton, and bought the farm now owned by his son, Spencer Mero. Afterward, he settled on the farm and lived in the house with Philip Robbins, whose daughter he married. At this time there were thirteen families.
1785.
In the spring of 1785, Josiah Robbins, brother of Philip Robbins, came to Stirlington, and began to clear the Robbins Neck.1 This name is given to the peninsula, the neck of which is intersected by a line running north-westerly from the north end of Seven- tree Pond to the St. George's, a little below the Middle Bridge. Josiah Robbins, with David Gillmor, senior, of Franklin, Mass. bought the entire peninsula, contain- ing about two hundred and seventy acres. Gillmor never came to Union to reside. His son Rufus came in 1787, improved the south part of the Neck, and cleared the True Farm, or Fuller Farm, as it is some- times called, now owned by Mr. Charles Fogler. His house was on the west side of the road, a little below Mr. Fogler's, and very near the foot of the hill. Rob- bins built his house on the brow of the hill, between the house now owned by his grandson, Willard Rob-
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