USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Newport > Brief history of Newport, Maine, 1814-1914 > Part 2
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By the Federal census of 1820 the population of the town had increased to 520. About that the a business firm of Gar- diner saw that Newport was a town of increasing prosperity and decided to open a branch store here. In those days nearly all of the village was centered near the present upper bridge. except the mills which were near the present middle bridge. The Gardiner firm secured a small building located on the cast bank of the river and sent the goods up the Kennebec and Sebasticook rivers in boats under charge of a young man named Zebulon Sanger, in their employ, who opened the second store in town. Two years later the Gardiner firm failed and young Sanger continued the Newport store on his own account. The descendants of this young storekeeper have achieved notable distinction in their chosen profession in the city of Bangor. In those days town pampers were "farmed out" and bid off to those who would maintain them to the best advantage of the town. It is recorded that Elisha Philbrook was allowed $35 for the keeping of Jane Capers for one year ; while Daniel Bick nell bid off Edward Moody and agreed to give the town one dollar and fifty cents per month. Jacob Pratt bid off Jacob Moody and agreed to give the town one dollar and twenty eight cents per month. Abijah B. Wright agreed to take Robert Moody and to give him a good pair of shoes. Samuel York bid off James Moody and was paid by the town twenty-four cents per week for keeping him.
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OF NEWPORT, MAINE
The town having by act of the Maine Legislature of 1823 secured to itself the exclusive right to all salmon, shad and alewives within the limits of the town, it was "Resolved, That the privilege of taking fish shall be sold to some person, being an inhabitant of the town for the present season ( 1823) to the highest bidder, under the following rules and regulations : Viz :- The contractor shall have the exclusive right to take fish from sunrise Monday morning until sunset Thursday night of each week during their run, and every fish taken by him or by persons in his employ at any other time shall be deemed a vio- lation of the law and subject to the penalties hereafter named; and no person other than the contractor or his employee shall be allowed to take fish at any time within the town, subject to a fine of ten cents for each alewive; fifty cents for each shad, and one dollar for each salmon. The contractor shall deliver fish as equally as the nature of the case will allow among the people at the following prices; viz: for fresh alewives, thirty- three cents per hundred, 'or three for a cent; for shad, ten cents each, and for salmon eight cents per pound. And it shall be his duty to sell all the fish applied for fresh and to salt the remainder at his own discretion ; and the contractor shall give security to the town for the amount voted." This resolution was presented by Benj. Shaw, John Wilson and James White, commitice for the town, and was unanimously adopted. Nathan- iel Stuart and Nathaniel Martin bid off the fishing privilege for that year, paying therefor the sum of $21.50.
It was also the practice in early years to pay for bushing out a road across the lake in the winter season, and at the town meeting of Sept. 8th, 1823, it was "Voted, to bush out the road from Nathaniel Burrill's to the outlet, set in a straight line by holes cut in the ice twenty rods apart, and the job to be sold at auction to the lowest bidder," and it was sold to Jesse Prescott åt four shillings. At this same meeting it was "Voted, to fur- nish provisions for the Soldiers of the town on Regimental Review this year and put it up at auction to the lowest bidder, and Nathaniel Stuart bid off a dinner of as much Beef, Mutton and Bread as was wanted, together with half a pint of W. L.
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A BRIEF HISTORY
Pleasure Steamer at Village Wharf
Rum to a Soldier, with the addition of one good Cheese with their dinner, at twenty-three cents for cach such Soldier."
This year ( 1823) another store was opened on the west side of the river by Joseph Lord, the building used for that purpose being now a part of the Merrill residence, corner of Water and North Sts. Licenses for the sale of spirituous liquors were granted for the first time in this same year to Zebulon Sanger. Joseph Lord and John Billings; previous to this liquors had been sold without license or regulation of any kind.
In 1825 the village had but one street, better known as the south county or stage road ; commencing at the Palmyra town line, thence easterly across the river by what is now called North Street; thence southerly by what is now called Elin Street on the east side of the river. The stage from Skow- hegan succeeded in making the round trip to Bangor in two days, and its arrival was more of an event than the coming and going of all the trains of a day at the present time. The pres- ent dwelling of Elbridge Ring, the double tenement on North Street, and the present residence of A. R. Croxford on Elm Street, are the land marks of the village of one hundred years ago.
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OF NEWPORT, MAINE
INDUSTRIES PRIOR TO THE YEAR IS)!
In the spring of 1831 Benjamin Shaw end and Enoch C., his brother, came to Newport and bought the double tenement house on North Street. This they reconstructed as we see it now, and in the west end of which they opened a store for gen- eral country trade. Benjamin Shaw 2nd had resided in Georgia for a dozen years previous to coming to Newport and had been interested in the production of silk from the worm. Visiting a silk factory in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., about the year 1834, he became convinced that the silk industry could be successfully carried on in Maine. He accordingly ordered mulberry slips and set them out here; two years later the mulberries were large enough to sustain a colony of worms and eggs of the India silk worm were purchased and duly hatched, producing about fifteen hundred silk worms ; these were fed daily on the tender leaves of the mulberry and a small quantity of silk was pro- duced the first year. At first the worms were kept in a cham- ber of the house, but later on the store was used and fitted up for the silk business, the stock in trade having been moved to another building in the south part of the village. Benjamin Shaw 2nd was the father of the late Francis M. Shaw, and we are indebted to the latter for much of the material that appears in this historial sketch of the town. In his write-up on silk culture in Newport, Francis M. Shaw relates the following interesting account of the process of silk production. " As soon as the leaves were dry in the morning it was 'Come, boys. get your baskets,' which meant two hours in the mulberry patch. With signs of an approaching shower not only the boys but all the family must pick leaves before the rain struck, as the worms cannot eat wet leaves and live. Sometimes a rain storm would oblige us to pick wet leaves which must be carefully dried. Even the cat had to do her part, as mice would make sad havoc among the nearly mature worms. I have seen hornets come in at an open window and sail away with a worm an inch long The larger the worms become the more the care; they must be changed often from one table to another, as the health of the silk worm depends upon its cleanliness; this work is all done
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A BRIEF HISTORY
by hand picking and in the most careful manner. They shed the skin several times during the two months of worm life. at which times they must be taken from the tables where the worms are left. During the time of skin shedding they refuse to eat. but after a successful undressing they will more than make up in appetite. At maturity they cease to cat and seek for places to build the cocoon. We then arranged shelves immediately back of the tables against the walls. The most convenient shelves were made with clapboards laid up with thin strips. leaving one and one-quarter inch space. The worms would soon discover the convenient spaces and go up, commencing the work of cocoon immediately. Sometimes two worms would insist upon building two cocoons together, which we did not allow, if discovered, as double cocoons are not good for recling. for two worms will make cross threads which will not run. After spinning is over the shelves are carefully taken down and the cocoons placed in baskets. As many as were required for the next year's operations were saved out, and the others were baked in a hot oven, else in time they would cut out and spoil the cocoon for reeling. The time that elapses from the finished cocoon to the coming out of the moth is about three weeks ; therefore the baking must be attended to immediately. After the second year we had about four bushels of cocoons to care for. When the moth came out we placed them on paper in a darkened room and the eggs were deposited in clusters; the eggs are then kept in a cool room for the following year. The methods employed by my mother in the manufacture of silk were crude when compared with those of the present day; nevertheless she attained good results. It was a great curiosity in a country town and many times I have seen the old Hamp- den store surrounded by neighbors, earnestly watching the process which mother would explain as she worked: You see I place as many cocoons in this kettle of boiling water as I want threads; as soon as the natural gum which the worm throws off in spinning dissolves. I stir them around with this stick, securing all the ends, and then reel them off thus.' Suit- ing the action to the word, the bright glossy thread would assume the form of a beautiful skein on the old-fashioned red.
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OF NEWPORT, MAINE
which with the spinning wheel, constituted the entire machinery used. The dyeing was done according to the demand for colors; most of the silk being kept in the natural unbleached white, with some black and occasionally some crimson. But little silk was sold and few people who came to see the process went away without a souvenir skein. The making of silk at that time was not so much for the immediate profit as it was to determine whether the worm and the mulberry could be successfully raised in Maine. The business was continued, as I remember, for about eight years ; each autumn and early winter being the sen- son of converting the cocoons into sewing silk of different degrees of fineness, quality always the same. The mulberry blight of 1843-4 caused an abandonment of the business. Mr. and Mrs. Shaw were in Chicago in 1848, and, having a sample of the silk with them, Mrs. Shaw placed it on exhibition at the Mechanics' Fair, then being held in that city, for which exhibit she was awarded a silver medal, inscribed 'Awarded to Mrs. Benjamin Shaw for the best knitting silk raised from sill; worms.'"
In 1835 Nathan Merriam operated a twelve-pit tannery on the westerly bank of the river, just below the present middle bridge. Across the river, directly opposite this tannery, William Martin operated a grist and saw mill, getting out three hundred thousand feet of sawed lumber and grinding three thousand bushels of corn and grain, annually. The remains of the old wing dam may still be seen at low water in the bed of the river. below the middle bridge, near the easterly side of the stream Samuel Weed and John Wilson, Jr., owned and operated a carding mill in the tannery yard, on the westerly side: while Zebulon Sanger had a potash plant further up on the same side of the river. Hiram Ordway had a brick yard near the present Camp Benson Grounds, producing fifty thousand brick annually. James Benjamin was the village smith and Justus Kerby the wagen maker. Joseph Lord and Justus Kerby had the only stores in town. There was but one riding wagon and that was a two-wheeled chaise owned by William Martin, who, doubt- less, was envied by all his fellow citizens. The population of the town in 1830 was Se8; the state tax assessed to the town
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A BRIEF HISTORY
was $72.03, being the seventh largest in the county, then includ- ing what is now Piscataquis and a large section of Aroustock county. In 1840 the population had increased to 1138; the valuation was $187.522, and the tax paid the state was $190.52 Joseph Southwick and Mark Fisher had constructed and were then operating a tannery valued at $5500, with a stock on hand of $10,000; Frederick Ray had a saw mill valued at $2000; William Martin a grist mill valued at $1000; Kirby and Chapin a store of the value of $800, with $1000 stock in trade ; Shaw and Mason a store of the value of $300, with $Sono stock Thomas F. Dexter was just commencing the manufacture of carriages, sleighs and pungs and owned a small shop assessed for $125. John Day was the village smith and Jeremiah Pre- cott sawed shingles. There were one hundred and sixty-one dwelling houses in the town, of which number forty -eight were in the village. The number of wagons had increased to five; four in the village and one owned by Daniel Ireland at North Newport. There were 165 horses and 17 colts, 123 oven, 283 cows, and 278 swine in the town.
In the year 1838 Mark Fisher came to Newport from Levant. and, in company with Joseph Southwick, built what was at that time the largest tannery in the state, located on the easterly side of the river. just below the present lower bridge, and ex- tending along the stream on both sides of the railroad tracks ; traces of the old tannery pits may still be seen below the railroad embankment, directly in the rear of the abandoned cemetery on Elm St. Mr. Fisher resided in Newport for about ten years and during that period he perfected and took out patents for the welding together of cast iron and cast steel ; something that had heretofore been deemed impossible to accomplish This combination proved of great value in the manufacture of anv ils at a foundry which Mr. Fisher located on the little island, just below the lower bridge. Owing to the long distance from the source of supply of the metal, of the market for the product being so far away, and with the lack of railroad transportation in those days, Mr. Fisher moved his then successful industry to Trenton, N. J., where he organized the Eagle Anvil and Wire Co., which subsequently developed into a very prosperous
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OF NEWPORT, MAINE
business. Luke Gurney continued the foundry business here for a number of years after the removal of Mr. Fisher, and the enterprise was finally abandoned with the burning of the foun- dry buildings at the time the gang saw mill was destroyed by fire in the year 1868. This gang saw mill was located on the westerly side of the river, just below the lower bridge, where the flume to the woolen mill now is; it was first operated by Moore & Redington and by them sold to Shaw & Tracey, to- gether with the dams and water privilege. As stated above. the saw mill was totally consumed by fire in the year 1808, and soon after that Shaw & Tracey sold the water privilege and dams to Nathan Merrill, who erected a saw and grist mill at the east end of the lower bridge. Mr. Merrill sold out to his son, Charles H. Merrill, who continued in the lumber and grist mill business for a number of years thereafter. The mill was destroyed by fire in the year 1879, the lower bridge catching fire from the burning mill and being consumed at the same time. Both bridge and mill were promptly rebuilt and Mr Merrill continued the business until the sale of the entire prop- erty, comprising the water privilege, dam, mill, and land ou both sides of the river, to the newly organized Newport Man- facturing Company in the spring of 1891. The latter company then leased the grist and saw mill to various parties from tinie to time until its total destruction by fire in the summer of 1900.
Another valuable industry to the town at one time, prior to the Civil War, was the large steam mill erected in the year 1857 by Davis & Crosby. This mill was located to the east of Elm Street in the village, just northerly of the railroad tracks and connected with the same by a siding, and did a considerable business in the sawing of hardwood box shook for export to foreign countries; the product being assembled in boxes for lemons and oranges, and almost our entire supply of these fruits coming in from abroad in those days. This mill was connected with the lake by a track on which cars were hauled by horses in the transportation of the logs from the water to the mill ; a car would be run out on the track extending into the water until it would sink sufficiently to float the logs upon it ; then, when loaded, the loaded car would be hauled to the mill by the
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A BRIEF HISTORY
Scene on Main Street, Newport Village, Forty Years Ago
horses. In the time of the Civil War so many of the valuable cargoes were lost by the capture of the vessels carrying the product of this mill, by Confederate privateers, that the owners of the mill failed ; the machinery was taken out, and, after stand- ing as a monument to its former glory for some twenty years after dismantlement, the mill was destroyed by fire.
On the site of the present woolen mill for many years stood a grist mill, at which all kinds of grain and corn were ground into flour and meal. In the olden time farmers raised their own wheat and carried it to mill, where it was ground into flour for the use of the family, and many a barrel of excellent flour ground from native wheat has been headed up and delivered from the old grist mill; way back ere the railroad was built through the town this mill was an active industry. With the
£
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OF NEWPORT, MAINE
Show House and High Street, So Yous .lgo
advent of modern methods of milling and the establishment of great mills in our western cities, this old-fashioned type of mill- ing went out of existence; the machinery went into disuse ; while the building itself remained a monument of its former activity until consumed by the inevitable flames a few years before the erection of the woolen mill in the year isol
The old cellar near the railroad tracks between the ware- house of Judkins and Gilman Co. and the stable owned by the Condensed Milk Co. marks the one-time location of the only shoe factory this town has ever had. AAbout the year 1872 A. 11. Walker came to Newport from Belfast, Maine, and, in company with Atkinson Hobart of this place, created a shoe factory on this site, operating it under the style of A. H. Walker & Co. The following year Walker and Hobart sold to Elisha W. Shaw, Daniel Dudley and Dr. Byron Porter, who continued to carry on the business under the style of Dudley, Shaw & Co. until the loss of the entire property by fire in the year 1875
Beginning with the very earliest industries of the town it has ever been the policy of our citizens to encourage and assist prospective manufacturing establishments. At a special town meeting held March 23rd, 1836, it is recorded in the town records as follows: "Resolved, That we have examined the
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A BRIEF HISTORY
₹
Main Street, Newport Village, 0 Years Ago
petition of Wm. Martin and others to be incorporated under the name of the Newport Mill Dam & Manufacturing Co. and do cheerfully approve of the prayer therein contained. Resolved. I-That in consideration of the advantages that must result to this town, we cheerfully consent that the property of said cor- poration may be exempted from taxation for the term of ten years. Resolved, 2-That in our opinion there is no interest either public or private that can be injured by the contemplated incorporation." In the year 1846 the Fisher & Southwick tan- nery buildings were burned and the town voted to exempt from taxation for that year. Same vote as to the Shaw & Tracy mill destroyed by fire in the year 1868.
At the town meeting of 1866 it was voted to exempt from taxation for ten years any corporation with a capital of not less than forty thousand dollars that might establish itself in this town for the purpose of manufacturing. In 1872 it was voted to exempt from taxation any manufacturing capital to the ex- tent of $10,000 for the term of five years; $15,000 capital for seven years, and $20,000 capital for ten years, that might be established in this town. Under this last vote the shoe factory built that year was exempted. In the years 1881, 1884 and 1891 the town voted for exemption of taxes of capital invested in
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OF NEWPORT, MAINE
manufacturing enterprises, and since the year 1891 similar action has been taken from time to time in relation to spe- cific industries already established. In the year 1886 the town voted the sum of $1,000 towards the purchase of a hand fire engine, hose carriage and hose, and thus was made the com- mencement of our efficient fire department of more recent years, thereby inspiring confidence in the building up of modern in- dustries and substantial residences that came with the awakening of Newport's citizens and the inauguration of industrial devel- opment in this town in the year 1891.
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A BRIEF HISTORY
Main Street Bridge and Concrete Dam of the
Varport Wooden Co:
OF NEWPORT, MAINE
Newport of the Present Day
The dawn of the awakening of the business men and pro- gressive citizens of Newport to the possibilities and advantage- of this town as an industrial community started early in the year Nor. When the Newpost Manufacturing Company was organ- ized as a corporation with a capital of $50.cco, nearly all of which som was contributed by citizens of this town. The com- pany purchased of Chas. H. Merrill the lower dam, with water privilege incidental thereto, land en both sides of the river below tis dary, including the save will, store and teremrent on Mill Street, penstock, fluire, and the large tract of land on which Be eld grist mill once stoed, and on this lot the cookn mill was erected that same year. The upper dam, with the water rights of the lake, had been sold to the Kennebec Fibre Com pany in the year 1850. Charles Sawyer was the President of the newly organized home company and no time was lost in getting things under way' for the commencement of building operations.
Sort the same time of the organization of the Newport Woolen Company another corporation was formed and organ- ized under the style of the Aroostook Condensed Milk Com- pany, with Isaac C. Libby of Burnham as President and Thomas P. Boole of Boston as Treasurer, and building operations were commenced in the spring of 1891 on the large lot of land be- tween Spring and Shaw Streets, next northerly of the Maine Central Railroad tracks ; so that on the Fourth of July the work had progressed sufficiently to allow of the laying of the comer stone with imposing ceremonies. This Fourth of July ( 151) will long be remembered by those present on that day at the placing of the corner stone of the milk factory and the break- ing of ground for the commencement of work on the present woolen mill. The village was decorated in gala bunting. with many flags flying, while an immense arch of evergreen had been erected at the intersection of Main and Shaw Streets This arch bore an inscription in large letters announcing the want of the milk of four thousand cow's for the factory. when completed
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A BRIEF HISTORY
Near by was a life-size representation of a cow, made of cedar boughs and white daisies. Large bright milk cans hung from the archway and were displayed about the village Headed by the Corinna Band a procession was formed in the square in front of the Shaw House and marched to the grounds of the Newport Manufacturing Co., where. with appropriate exercises. President Charles Sawyer broke ground for the northeast cor- ner of the proposed mill. The procession then counter-marched through Mill and Main Streets and down Shaw Street to the lot of the Condensed Milk Company, where the easterly wall of the new factory had already been laid and everything was in readiness for the placing of the corner stone at the northeast angle of the wall. This stone was laid in position with im- pressive ceremonies, consisting of prayer, depositing of suitable relics in a tin box by Treasurer Thos. P. Boole; after which the crowd cheered, cannon boomed and the band rendered more music. The procession then marched to Meridian Hall, where all who could, gained admission and listened to speeches by Congressman Seth L. Milliken, Hon. William T. Haines ( then State Senator), Isaac C. Libby, Esq., Rev. David Boyd, and Thos. P. Boole. The meeting was closed with a song entitled "Onward, Newport People," composed by Miss Josie Rand and rendered under her direction by a chorus of thirteen voices. The hall had been profusely decorated for the occasion with flags, streamers, evergreen and flowering plants. Included in the procession were forty-four young ladies, appropriately dressed, representing the (then) states of the Union, headed by a young lady representing the Goddess of Liberty and carry- ing a large American flag ; scholars of the public schools in red, white and blue colors; officers of the two newly organized cor- porations ; invited guests ; citizens ; and the brass six-pounder field-piece, loaned by the Camp Benson AAssociation. A like enthusiasm had never before been manifested in our town; the large posters advertising this celebration bore in bold-faced type the following headlines: "INDEPENDENCE DAY: NEW- PORT: Come and Help Us Paint the Town Red: The Prince is Come, and Miss Newport, the SLEEPING BEAUTY, is to be Awakened by the Kiss of Business: In honor of which event the citizens will hold a GRAND JOLLIFICATION."
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