USA > Maine > Knox County > Warren > Annals of the town of Warren; with the Early History of St. George's, Broad Bay and the Neighboring Settlements on the Waldo patent > Part 31
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followed by a more severe one on the 11th of Sept. The corn crop was nearly a total failure ; some favored spots only, producing a little for seed, which commanded a great price the following year. Wheat and potatoes were better ; but, from the previous unfavorable fall and spring, there was but little grain sown. The gloom of this disastrous season was greatly enhanced by the appearance of dark spots on the disk of the sun, which were seen by the naked eye, and for the first time, attracted the attention of the common peo- ple. In the spring of 1816, potatoes were worth 40cts. per bushel, and in the spring following, 75cts. The prices of W. I. goods, which reached their acme about the time the news of peace arrived, when molasses was selling here at $1,12¿cts. a gallon, had, in 1816, considerably declined. From that time, the seasons began to ameliorate, and fine crops of Indian corn were raised for many years.
These disastrous seasons succeeding to the calamities of war, with the accounts received of the great fertility of the Western States, induced many families in this and the neigh- boring towns, as well as throughout the State, to emigrate thither during this period. Deacon Thomas Robinson and family, Robert Porterfield and family, both of this town, Mr. March of Union, and Dr. Benjamin Webb then of Thomaston, with their families, besides many others, removed in 1817 to Ohio; and more, perhaps, would have gone, if they could have found a satisfactory sale for their possessions here.
To avoid confusion, we have followed the events of the war and the seasons as far as 1816. We now go back to note a few other particulars. In January, 1812, a petition of Seth Andrews, Moses Robinson, and others, was presented to the General Court, for a free draw-bridge at Andrews's Point ; and at the June session one from E. Killeran and others, for a similar toll-bridge, near the ferry way in Thomaston. Both these petitions were prosecuted with earnestness, and with a varying prospect of success, for some time. But so great was the influence of business men at the village, that, although Messrs. Robinson and Andrews offered to make themselves liable with ample security for all damages occa- sioned by their bridge, and the town in April, 1813, voted 83 to 65 in favor of the measure, its friends were compelled to yield to that influence, combined as it was with the zealous exertions of the friends of the bridge below, which was granted in 1817, and built the following year.
In May, 1815, the depredations of human foes having ceased, attention was again directed to those of the wolves.
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In consequence of a conference held by the selectmen of this town with those of Cushing, Friendship, and Waldoboro', in March, 1816, it was voted that the town should make up the bounty to any inhabitant destroying a wolf, to $40. This was the last compliment paid by the town to these animals, which have since wholly disappeared. Besides these, and other specimens of natural history afforded by our own woods and waters, the town was, June 20, 1816, favored with the sight of a small elephant, which, being the first ever exhibited here, attracted as much attention as the largest caravan does now.
In 1817, on his retirement from office, it was voted unani- mously " that the thanks of the town be presented to Mr. Alexander Lermond, for his long and faithful services in the office of town clerk for 38 years past." For these services, Mr. Lermond's compensation, we believe, never exceeded $5 a year. He was of an amiable disposition, possessed a taste and voice for music, was long chorister in the 1st Con- gregational church, and from native ingenuity, without any apprenticeship, became a good framer, house and ship joiner, and was much employed in the construction of all domestic utensils. Prosperous in the earlier part of his life, in the later, he met with many reverses, losing his portion of three vessels in the course of as many months, and suffering many domestic afflictions. He died in 1826.
The liberal policy the town had hitherto adopted, of sup- porting the poor by furnishing supplies at their own houses, together with the calamities and privations of the war, had greatly swelled the number of town paupers, and given rise to a large expenditure in their maintenance. A like liberality towards towns on the part of the Commonwealth, had caused a similar increase in the class of State paupers. The sup- plies requisite for all these, to be paid for in cash without any risk, made no undesirable addition to a trader's custom, and this, combined with a disposition to check the growing expenditure, induced the town, in 1817, to choose overseers of the poor, distinct from the selectmen. This measure, which was continued the three succeeding years, produced little effect, however, except to transfer the patronage from one merchant to another.
The price of labor on the highways, which had, heretofore, been so much per day throughout the year, was, in 1817, fixed at 12¿cts. an hour until the 15th of July, and 10cts. an hour after that time; which rates have been adhered to ever since. Many alterations were, the same year, made by order of the Court of Sessions in the road, which they de-
26
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scribed and laid out anew, from the meeting-house in War- ren to Camden ; and, in 1818, 160 rods of the newest part of this road were made by contract, and paid for in money. In April, 1818, the town voted " to rebuild the bridge at the head of the tide to the extent of four piers from the eastern abutment ;" which was done in a substantial manner by Capt. M. Wilbur. At the same time the town voted " not to accept the road across the river at the upper falls, after the bridge should be put in repair at private expense." This vote passed, we believe, in consequence of an application of Capt. L. Andrews, who was then doing business at the present stand of P. Boggs, and burning considerable quantities of lime, the rock for which he transported by land from Star- rett's quarries. To facilitate this transportation, he, with some aid from others, was repairing this bridge ; but a jeal- ousy of any attempt to divert business from the village, pre- vented its acceptance.
In July, 1819, the last remaining pew in the meeting-house was sold at auction for the sum of $60. The proceeds of this, and one before sold to Wm. Hovey for $80, were ordered to be expended in repairing the meeting-house. At this time, the outside of the house was painted with yellow ochre; but no stove being yet introduced, the meet- ings in winter for several years, were held in the Court- house.
During this period, the subject of a separation of the State was twice agitated. In 1816, May 20th, a vote of the District was taken, and a majority found in its favor. In this town, the vote stood 36 yeas, 139 nays. An act was passed prescribing the terms upon which a separation might take place, requiring another vote to be taken in September, and authorizing a convention of delegates to meet at Bruns- wick to examine the returns, and, if a majority of five to four were in favor of separation, to form a constitution. At the time appointed, the people of this town gave in 27 votes in favor of the separation, and 144 against the same. Col. Thatcher was chosen to attend the convention, which, on examination, found 11,969 votes in favor of, and 10,347 against the measure. This, by a construction of the law, termed in ridicule the Brunswick arithmetic, the convention determined to be a majority of five to four, and adjourned to the third Tuesday in December. But the construction meeting with no favor from the Legislature, it never met again. In 1819, the subject was again brought up, an act passed for taking the sense of the people on the question,
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and in case there were a majority of 1,500 in its favor, authorizing a convention of delegates at Portland the 2d Monday of Oct. to propose a constitution and apply for admission into the Union. The vote was taken July 26th, and in this town was yeas 24, nays 127. In the District at large, there was a great majority in favor of a separation ; and a convention of delegates accordingly met, Oct. 11th, to form a constitution. Those elected in this town were John Miller and Cyrus Eaton, who, though in the progress of its formation voting against some of its provisions, returned decided advocates for its adoption. Many objections were made by some of their constituents, some to one, and some to another of its provisions ; but when the vote was taken Dec. 6th, seven only, voted against its adoption, and 35 in its favor. It received, also, a large majority of the aggregate vote of the District, and on the 15th of March, 1820, Maine was admitted into the Union and became an independent State.
In the course of this period, party-spirit lost much of its asperity. One party had found their opponents, though violently opposed to the war, as ready as themselves to repel an invasion, and too many of their own party, as well as the other, willing to profit by illicit trade with the enemy. The privations and hardships in which all had shared, the gloomy seasons and threatened famine, together with the removal of many causes of dispute, gave rise to more friendly feelings ; and the readiness with which Massachusetts yielded to the wishes of Maine for a separation, contributed to the mutual conciliation of parties.
A few casualties, natural phenomena, and other occurrences during this period, remain to be noted. In March, 1813, John Crawford, 3d, was lost overboard at sea, and Andrew Bird in the same manner, Dec. 26, 1814. On the 23d of May, 1814, Benjamin Killeran of Cushing, came up to the village mills, for fish, and, having loaded his boat, left it near the dam. In the evening, as soon as the tide suited, he went down to it, and was supposed to have returned home. Next morning, however, his body was found in the river, having been drowned in the eddy, as was supposed, near the place of starting. The same year John McIntyre, 2d, who had for some time been in a melancholy, desponding con- dition, amounting to insanity, committed suicide by hanging. In August, 1816, Capt. A. Malcolm, in the brig Poacher, came home from Wilmington, N. C., where he had been waiting for a freight, till himself and crew were nearly all
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taken down with the bilious fever. This, on the voyage home, carried off two of the hands, and prostrated the rest so completely, that it was with great difficulty they succeed- ed in navigating the vessel to the mouth of the river; and one of them, Charles Lermond, died after reaching home. On the 12th Sept. 1817, John, son of James F. Paskiel, met his death by striking a pointed stake, when jumping upon a load of hay. On the 26th of the same month, a child of Samuel Counce, three years of age, was scalded to death.
On the 28th of Nov. 1814, about 7 o'clock in the evening, a considerable shock of an earthquake was felt.
On the 30th of June, 1815, a most violent thunder-shower from the N. W. arose between nine and ten o'clock, A. M. and the lightning struck in not less than ten or twelve places in the town and its borders. In Union, James Lermond was instantaneously killed as he entered his house, which was also much injured by the shock. In the evening of the following day, another shower, with thunder and lightning from all the northern portion of the sky, rose slowly and passed off to the S. E. From eight till after twelve or one o'clock, the light- ning, in one part or other of the heavens, was incessant with no perceptible intervals, enabling people to see almost as far as in the day-time, without however doing any damage.
April 29th, 1816, the shop of Dea. Webb took fire in the afternoon, and was totally consumed. Through the smoke caused by this fire, a spot, apparently as large as a musket ball, was observed upon the disk of the declining sun, and many others were, at different times, seen during the season. These, with the coldness of the summer, threw a deep gloom over the minds of many, and strengthened the notion that the order of nature was deranged, and the source of light and heat about to fail.
The winter that succeeded the gloomy season of 1816, was unusually severe, and the spring of 1817 was equally cold, backward, and disheartening. At the end of April, there were a few warm days; and on the 30th, the air was filled with immense flocks of the common wild pigeon, some of them more than a mile in length, succeeding each other for hours, and directing their flight to the westward. Frost con- tinued in the ground through May, but in July an amelioration took place ; and the genial warmth and showers revived the hopes of the husbandman. The wet weather of July and August greatly augmented the hay crop, which was not en- tirely secured till October. The season of 1818 was warm and propitious ; and the succeeding winter remarkable for
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the absence of snow, till February 26th, 1819, after which it was deep and drifted till April 5th. The summer of 1819 was remarkably forward and warm ; Indian corn showed the spindles before the 4th of July ; and new corn was ground at the mill before the end of August. Thunder-showers were frequent and destructive, coming from the S. W. without a change of wind. On the 11th of July, the barn of Ephraim Boggs was struck by lightning and consumed ; and in August, Capt. N. Rice's and several other barns were destroyed in Union and Hope.
Some accessions from abroad were made to the population during this period ; among whom were, George Kimball from Harvard, Mass., who in 1814 succeeded Col. Thatcher in the practice of the law, but removed to Bermuda ; Thompson Rawson, who opened a tavern at first in the Wetherbee house and afterwards in that now of S. B. Wetherbee ; Amos H. Hodgman, who in 1814 succeeded Stacy in the clothing business, and has since, besides holding many civil and mili- tary offices, greatly contributed to the business and activity of the place ; Thomas Howard, also a successful mechanic, who took the stand of J. Mero in the blacksmith business ; Samuel Hinkley, who in 1819 commenced the tin-plate busi- ness ; and Robert W. Jarvis, who, in November of the same year, began the shoemaking business ; all of whom, except the two first, are still more or less engaged in their several occupations at the principal village. In other parts of the town, Calvin Howland, whose father had sustained the minis- terial office in Carver, Mass., for more than 58 years, pur- chased, about 1817, the farm of Dea. Robinson, on which he lived till his death in 1851 ; Ezekiel Parker, at the same time, took the farm of R. Porterfield, and, after many years, re- moved to Hope; Jonathan Parker settled on the lot which he purchased of Rev. J. Huse, and still occupies ; Nathaniel Carriel settled near the line of Camden, to which town he was afterwards set off ; John Whitney settled at Mt. Pleasant about 1819 ; Henry Hilt, about 1815, purchased land and the mill erected by Marble Alford, deceased, on Crawford's Meadow brook, where he resided till his recent removal to his farm at the upper falls ; Richard Robinson, a native of Wales, was apprenticed to M. Cobb and became commander of one of his brigs, bought the farm formerly owned by B. Webb which he carried on for some years, and removed to Thomas- ton, the present place of his residence ; Robert Waterman purchased and improved, till his death, the farm now owned by his son-in-law, J. Haskell ; Luke Jones took the farm of 26*
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P. Sechrist, to which his son, T. Jones, has since succeeded ; John Leeds, in the early part of this period, set up the shoe- making business near the upper falls, and subsequently pur- chased his present residence ; Francis Joachin, from Portugal, after an apprenticeship to L. Lincoln, began his trade as a mason, and bought the place he is still improving ; Jacob Stetson, a ship-carpenter, settled on the Joseph Robbins place, now possessed by M. Stetson ; and Ezra Sawin set up, and for some years carried on, the shoemaker's trade, where Col. Richmond now lives.
Some changes, also, took place among men of business. Capt. Burgess commenced trade in the Wilson store, at first in connexion with O. Copeland, who soon after went into partnership with M. Cobb, in the new store which the latter built at the corner east of the bridge. When Copeland sub- sequently went into the tanning business, this store was pur- chased in 1815, by John Thompson of Hope, who traded there, and in the one story building which he erected near it, over the water, till his death in 1826. He had a good faculty for accumulating property ; gave liberally to others whilst he lived, and at his death left what goods he had on hand, $800 or $1000 worth, to be distributed to the needy and destitute of the town. Messrs. Page and Mclellan erected, the double store at the western end of the bridge, one part of which was occupied by said McLellan, and the other, at first, by James Head. John Burton, from Friendship, for a time sold goods in one of Thompson's stores, and afterwards purchased where Mrs. W. L. Starrett now resides. Joseph Boggs com- menced trading in the building which he erected opposite the present factory, and Lemuel Andrews at the present dwel- ling of P. Boggs.
Some advance towards the present state of things, was made in other respects. The first dancing school in town was taught in the Wetherbee house, by Lot Lincoln, in 1812- '13. This measure was looked upon with some disfavor by the graver part of the inhabitants, as inconsistent with the state of the country, threatened as it was with war and fam- ine. In the more useful branches of education, improve- ment was also discernible. Grammar and Geography were introduced to most of the common schools ; and the study of the latter, greatly facilitated by the use of maps, lessons on which were now first introduced. In the academy, by the efforts of the preceptor, A. Whiting, in 1814, a globe was procured by subscription, the only apparatus the institution could yet boast ; and Murray's grammar succeeded to the
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crude work of Caleb Alexander. In agriculture, great pro- gress was made, particularly in the cultivation of wheat, and other English grain ; for the cleansing of which, winnowing machines were now first brought into use here. The culture of potatoes was greatly extended, wool improved in quantity and quality, and greater attention paid to its manufacture. New machinery for dressing cloth was introduced, and small cotton factories established in the vicinity. For one of these in Union, a company was incorporated in 1813, in which Col. Head was a large proprietor. Less cord-wood was cut for market, the dead and falling spruce and hemlock gleaned up for kiln-wood and lime-casks, and the ground cleared for grain and grass. Farmers, taught by necessity, began to de- pend upon their own resources, were cautious of contracting debts, and every year becoming more independent. Sup- planted by the cheapness of cotton, and partially by the in- vention of pegged shoes, which made their appearance here about 1816, flax was fast disappearing from the land. Re- lieved from its laborious manufacture, women devoted more time to the comforts and elegancies of life. Floors were painted, walls papered ; and carpets began to make their ap- pearance. Out door improvements corresponded. Sheds, wood-houses, carriage-houses, and other buildings, were added to the heretofore solitary house and barn, which used to stand at a respectful distance, often ogling each other from opposite sides of the road. The swine, until that time allowed the use of all public highways, were now deprived of their an- cient privilege, and confined to their styes. A neater hus- bandry prevailed ; stumps were removed from the fields ; better fences were made; and some of the more dilapidated buildings disappeared .*
* Among these, the old stone garrison-house in Cushing, belonging to the Burton family, was taken down about this time, to the regret of at least one lover of antiquity ; as expressed in
THE ANTIQUARY'S REMONSTRANCE.
Forbear, and pull not down that pile ! Though in it lurks the reptile vile ; Though lizards creep along the floor, And pole-cats centinel the door,
In hall and larder bats are prowling, And night winds through the casement howling ; Though owls are hooting from the roof, No longer light or water proof ; And nightly from the window sill Croaks the ill boding whip-poor-will ; Though moss has covered every stone,
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And thistles round the threshold grown ; Though adders crawl from out the wall Already tottering to its fall ; Yet spare, for my sake, spare awhile, And pull not down the aged pile.
To shield our sires from savage foes, In early times the structure rose ; And fancy calls from every stone Some tragic deed of ages flown ; And stalwart forms are here contending, And beauty's shriek to heaven ascending ; The tomahawk and falchion clash,
And through the darkness muskets flash, While the deep woods afar repeat The shout of onset or retreat, And dying groans without, within, Bring up the rear of battle's din, And mothers' sighs and orphans' cries Go up in concert to the skies. Then spare, Oh spare a little while, And pull not down the wizard pile.
The tribes that fought have passed away ; Felled are the woods that owned their sway ; Their power is gone, their bow is broke, Their smothered fires no longer smoke ; Or if, at times, a feeble few
In light canoes their way pursue, They find the river choked and dammed, With wharves, and mills, and factories crammed ; And meet, instead of bears and beavers, Whole troops of spinners, smiths, and weavers, While lime-kilns gleam along the shore Where baleful camp fires gleamed before, And vessels bold the waters hold, Numerous as birch canoes of old. Then spare, for their sakes, spare awhile, And pull not down the crumbling pile.
For when he sees this ancient wall Which flattened many a vengeful ball, The Indian feels himself again - The owner of this broad domain - Son of the mighty Tarratine, Whom Madockwando and Castine Led forth to many a bloody field And forced his proudest foe to yield. Strong was his arm, his heart was great, His stroke was death, his anger fate ; And his descendant here forgets His present wrongs, his past regrets ; And hears once more the cataract's roar And moose's hoof-clink as of yore. Then spare, for his sake, spare awhile, And pull not down the ponderous pile.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS ON VARIOUS TOWN MATTERS FROM 1820 TO 1850.
THE erection of Maine into a separate State, took place at a very auspicious period. The old causes of contention between the parties, had been removed ; the able administra- tion and conciliatory policy of President Munroe, had re- pressed the flames of party-spirit ; the well known demo- cratic majority in the new State, and the readiness evinced by many of the most influential of the other party, both before and after the separation, cordially to unite with them in effecting the most salutary reforms and giving to the new government the undivided support of the whole people, pro- duced such a state of harmony and good feeling that at the first annual election of State officers, which took place in April, 1820, the unanimous vote of this town was given to the Hon. Wm. King for Governor. There was more divis- ion in regard to senators and town representative, arising from a disposition to some extent felt here, and more strongly in other parts of the State, to substitute town courts for the Court of Common Pleas. This measure, with difficulty defeated at that time, was revived in 1844, when the people of this town gave 129 votes against, and one only in its favor.
Many important laws and some salutary changes were adopted by the new government, some of which required corresponding changes in doing town business ; particularly in choosing school agents and school committee; in the amount of school tax raised ; and in the assessment of school- house taxes on real estate. To effect the last of these, it became necessary to have the territorial limits of each school district exactly defined ; and accordingly, in Sept. 1822, on the report of C. Eaton, J. Creighton, and S. C. Burgess, 15 school districts were established, numbered alternately along the river from south to north, the odd numbers on the east and even on the west, to Union line, with a second tier east and west of these, numbered in the same way, except that the odd numbers were on the western side. To these were afterwards added, district No. 16, of colored people, in 1823, No. 17 in 1832, No. 18 in 1840, Nos. 19 and 20 in 1845, and No. 21, first set off in 1835;
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all of which were territorially defined by A. Lermond, Esq., and established by a vote of the town, April 5, 1847.
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