USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harrison > Centennial history of Harrison, Maine > Part 3
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Under the limitations imposed upon me as to time, I refrain from further reference to the high character and beneficent example of our fathers and mothers, except to say : they were a God-fearing and truth-loving people ; they believed and venerated the sacred scriptures: the Bible was the book of all books, a treasure of priceless value. Upon its precepts and inspiration were founded the faith, the morality, the regard for justice and humanity that characterized their lives, and influenced their relations to each other.
Upon those principles was raised their bright standard of truth and patriotism, and neighborly kindness, and lov- ing sympathy for those under oppression from tyrannical
30
A HISTORY OF THE
rulers, or from the exacting cruelty of task-masters under modern systems of chattel slavery.
Many of the pioneers had fought for liberty and inde- pendence in the famous campaigns under Washington and Lafayette and others of the renowned leaders in that great conflict of arms; and when peace came, they joined the rush of migration to the virgin lands of the District of Maine. From 1783, when the war closed, to 1820, when Maine became a State, there was a rapid influx of settlers, and building up of many of the best townships into thickly settled communities, with churches, schools, and well or- dered local governments. In the year 1804, one year before Harrison became a town, twenty-one towns were incor- porated in the District of Maine by the General Court of Massachusetts. The year 1805, witnessed but one town incorporated besides Harrison. It was the town of Newry.
The history of a nation, State, or even a town, is the history of its people, especially of its pioneer settlers. Of the advent of the pioneer settlers who came in most cases from Massachusetts, and their public acts in the establish- ment of local governments, I will tell you the story in as brief and simple a manner as possible.
This treatment of my subject involves a hasty glance at the history of the plantation and town of Otisfield, from which a large portion of the town of Harrison was taken. The town of Otisfield was granted to Hon. James Otis, Nathaniel Gorham, and the other heirs of Capt. John Gor- ham in Massachusetts, for services in the military expe- dition to Canada in 1690.
This grant was by authority of an act of the General Court of Massachusetts, passed in 1770, and was based
3I
TOWN OF HARRISON.
on the condition that the grantees should settle thirty fam- ilies, and a learned Protestant minister, in the township within five years. The proprietors resided in Boston, Gro- ton, Watertown, Wrentham, and Woburn. They held fre- quent meetings in Boston to advance the settlement of the new town.
Harrison Gray Otis of Boston, the heir and successor of James Otis, was the principal proprietor of these lands, and it is in order to give a few facts concerning the dis- tinguished man whose names have been honored by their appropriation to the two towns whose history is the subject of the present address. I quote from an article which appeared in the Oxford County Advertiser early in this year :
HARRISON - GRAY - OTIS.
Otisfield, which has the distinction of being the most northerly town in the county of Cumberland, and which has passed the century mark as a town seven years ago, was in a sense the parent of both Harrison and Naples, since the original grant included, besides the territory of the present town, nearly all of Harrison and a large part of Naples.
It was granted to James Otis and others for their services in the French and Indian wars - James Otis, the eloquent advocate who made the great speech in Boston against the enforcement of the British navigation acts, and who was set upon by British officers, and nearly killed. His nephew, the son of his brother, Samuel A. Otis, was Harrison Gray Otis, mayor of Boston, and United States Senator from Massachusetts.
32
A HISTORY OF THE
He it was after whom, as one of the proprietors of the grant, the north Cumberland county towns were named, and who had a descendant of the same name, General Har- rison Gray Otis, still living in California.
Please keep in mind the fact that from the coming of the first settler to this territory, to the date of the incorpo- ration of Harrison, was thirty years, during which all the inhabitants therein from the eastern line of Otisfield to the shore of Long Pond, were under the same municipal government, acting together for the interests of the plan- tation and town, by the name of Otisfield. She was, to use a common phrase, "the mother of Harrison." The earliest record of any transaction pertaining to the settlement and location of public improvements in the plantation of Otis- field is found in the original book of the proprietors' re- cords, which is preserved in the office of the Town Clerk of Otisfield, an abstract of which I have the pleasure to give :
MEETING OF PROPRIETORS IN BOSTON.
June Ist, 1774. Proprietors met "to treat with George Peirce of Groton, who offers to build a saw and grist mill."
October 16th, 1776. Voted "to employ Mr. Peirce to build a bridge across Crooked River, who engaged to build the same, and warrant it for five years, at his own expense - the bridge to be approved by a committee of the Pro- prietors, for which the Proprietors are to pay him £30, or as they may chuse to pay his accounts for said bridge."
October 16th, 1776. Voted "the name of the township be Otisfield."
33
TOWN OF HARRISON.
Boston, June 12th, 1777. Voted "that Wm. Gorham, Esq., and George Peirce, be employed to run the line be- tween Otisfield and Raymond town, and if they can't jointly attend to it, they are severally empowered."
September 30th, 1779. Voted "that Col. Wm. Prescott be a committee to repair to Otisfield to inspect the Mills, Bridges and Roads, and to inquire whether Mr. Peirce has completed running the boundaries of the Township, and to do as he may judge proper whatever is necessary for the further settlement of the Township, and report the same as soon as may be."
July 27th, 1782. Voted "that George Peirce and Mr. Gorham be a committee to cut out Country road, and build a bridge, getting a warrant from the builder that it shall last five years."
When the first meeting of the proprietors was held in Boston, June 1, 1774, there was not a person living upon the plantation. It was a virgin forest, upon which, as the Irishman said, "the hand of man had never set foot." It is interesting to imagine the magnificence of that terri- tory, the grandeur of the gigantic pines, the beauty of the towering spruces and balsam firs, the huge oaks, maples, and beeches, and to note in fancy the great variety of grace- ful birches, and the smaller deciduous trees and shrubs, that made the primitive forest an object of admiration to the pioneer woodsman.
When that first meeting was held George Peirce was re- siding in Groton, Massachusetts, and probably had not visited the place in which the years of his remaining life were to be spent in active labor as agent for the proprietors of the, plantation, and as one of the leading citizens of
34
A HISTORY OF THE
Otisfield. But in 1775, July 18th, according to an au- thentic record, he arrived with his family, and entered upon a lot of land selected for the site of a home. That spot was at the falls on Crooked River, for more than twenty- five years thereafter known as Peirce's Falls, but which, since the purchase of that valuable water-power and other property by Col. Thomas Edes in the early part of the last century have been known as Edes's Falls.
From the abstract of the proprietors' records already introduced, it will be understood how wide was the scope of the duties of George Peirce, the pioneer proprietor's agent for sale of lands to new settlers, carpenter, land sur- veyor, and local county magistrate, or Justice of the Peace.
FIRST SETTLERS IN OTISFIELD.
Here then, was the man selected by the proprietors of the plantation to be the pioneer settler, and act as their agent in surveying lands, and superintending their settle- . ment by seekers for new homes. He built the first bridge at the falls, and the first saw mill, - which was swept away by freshets and destroyed.
Mr. Peirce married Deborah Tarbelle of Watertown, or Groton. They had four children, all of whom were born in Massachusetts. Oliver, their second son, was destined to be most distinguished in manhood for his successful business career in Otisfield and Harrison. Mary, his eldest daughter, married Mr. Benjamin Patch, who came from Groton a year after the Peirce family. Mr. Patch was a
1242391
TOWN OF HARRISON. 35
prosperous man, and laid the foundations of a noble estate and a very worthy succession.
Levi Patch, the son of Benjamin, was the principal suc- cessor to his father, and was for many years one of the leading citizens of Otisfield, and held the office of Post- master, and other public positions, with much credit. He was a gentleman of the older school of patriots.
From 1775 to 1780, there came other settlers to Otisfield, notably Daniel Cobb of Gorham, who settled a mile above Peirce's Falls on the east side of the river. His son, William G. Cobb, was born October 14, 1779, the first male child born in Otisfield. Joseph Spurr came from Wren- tham, Massachusetts, in 1779, and brought and raised a numerous family of sons and daughters. The same year came Maj. Jonathan Moors, also from Wrentham, and Samuel Reed of Groton, whose descendants still own and occupy the fine old farm a half mile from Otisfield Hill.
In 1780, came David Ray of Wrentham, with his wife - Eunice Whiting - and two daughters. He settled near Peirce's Falls a half mile west of the river. Here his third child was born. He was a near neighbor, and a useful assistant, to Mr. Peirce, and, as a settler, was on intimate terms with the proprietors, and was employed by them to build a grist mill and saw mill, which were located at the outlet of Saturday Pond, a mile northeast of Otisfield Hill, whither Mr. Ray removed from the Falls in 1783. Mr. Ray had served nearly five years in the Revolutionary War, in the Massachusetts line, first as Sergeant, then as Lieu- tenant, under a commission from the Colony, and as sur- geon's mate, or assistant surgeon, having received a medical education.
.
36
A HISTORY OF THE
Dr. Ray was, during his life, next to Mr. Peirce, the most prominent leader in public movements for advancing the interests of the plantation, which was organized May 15, 1787, twelve years after the arrival of the first settler.
The first Congregational Church was organized with eight members, November 23, 1797, at Dr. Ray's residence, and Rev. Thomas Roby was installed its pastor on the same day. The following persons were members of the church: Thomas Thurston, George Peirce, Elisha Turner, Joseph Spurr, Elias Hancock, Miriam Spurr, Joseph Hancock, Enoch Spurr.
The first meeting-house was erected on Otisfield Hill, I795-7.
The plantation of Otisfield was incorporated by Act of the General Court of Massachusetts, on February 19, 1798. The Committee of the inhabitants to present the petition for incorporation were George Peirce, David Ray, and Samuel Gammon.
The new area of the town at its incorporation was from Raymond town on the south to Waterford on the north, from Hebron (since Oxford) on the east to Bridgton on the west.
The first town meeting was held May 15, 1787. After the incorporation of Otisfield, the settlement of the town rapidly increased, especially in the section west of Crooked River, which was destined to be set off from the parent town, and become a separate corporation.
37
TOWN OF HARRISON.
How HARRISON BECAME A TOWN.
The Act to incorporate the town of Harrison is found in the laws of Massachusetts, Chapter XXXIV, 1805, and is entitled : "An Act to incorporate the northwesterly part of the town of Otisfield, and the easterly part of the town of Bridgton, in the County of Cumberland, into a separate town by the name of Harrison."
Sec. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives in General Court assembled, and by the au- thority of the same: That the tract of land described with- in the following bounds, namely : - beginning at a white pine tree marked and standing in the northwesterly corner of said Otisfield: from hence running North, 65 degrees east, 1,296 rods to the northeasterly corner thereof: from hence South, 25 degrees east 456 rods to a stake and stones : from thence North, 65 degrees east about 15 rods to Crooked River: from thence southerly down the middle of said river, until a line drawn south, 65 degrees west, from the middle of said river, will strike the southeasterly corner of the town of Bridgton: thence from said corner, South, 65 degrees west, 680 rods to the easterly side of Long Pond : from thence northerly by the easterly shore of said pond to a pitch pine tree standing in the northwest corner of James Sampson's lot: from thence North, 65 degrees east, 140 rods to the line between Bridgton and Otisfield: from thence North, 25 degrees west, 530 rods to the place of beginning : - with the inhabitants thereon, be, and they hereby are, incorporated into a town by the name of Har- rison: and the said town is hereby vested with all the powers, privileges, and immunities, which other towns in this Commonwealth do, or may, by law enjoy.
38
A HISTORY OF THE
Sec. 2. Be it further enacted: That the said town of Harrison shall pay all arrearages of taxes which have been assessed upon them, together with their proportion of all debts which may be due and owing by either of said towns of Otisfield and Bridgton prior to the date of this act: and that all property, rights and credits of said towns of Otis- field and Bridgton shall be received and enjoyed by the said town of Harrison, according to the proportion of the taxes of said towns of Otisfield and Bridgton, as assessed from the last tax bills.
Sec. 3. Be it further enacted that of all State and County taxes which shall be levied and required of said towns of Otisfield and Bridgton previous to a new valu- ation, the said town of Harrison shall pay twenty cents on the one thousand dollars: thirteen cents whereof shall be deducted from the sum now charged to the town of Otis- field, and the remaining seven cents shall be deducted from the sum now charged to the town of Bridgton.
Sec. 4. Be it further enacted : That Enoch Perley, Esq., be, and he is hereby empowered to issue his warrant di- rected to some suitable inhabitant within said town, requir- ing him to warn a meeting of the inhabitants thereof at such time and place as shall be expressed in said warrant, for the purpose of choosing such town officers as other towns are empowered to choose in the month of March or April, annually.
This act passed March 18th, 1805. In pursuance of the authority of the foregoing act of incorporation, Enoch Perley, Esq., a Justice of the Peace, issued his warrant in the following form :
39
TOWN OF HARRISON.
seal
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Cumberland, ss.
To Naphthali Harmon of Harrison in said County, GREETING :
You are hereby required in the name of the said Com- monwealth, to notify and warn the inhabitants of said Har- rison duly qualified in town affairs as the law directs, to meet at your own house in said Harrison on Monday, the twenty-sixth day of August instant, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon for the purpose of choosing the following officers to serve in said town the following year, or till others are chosen in their stead.
Ily. To choose a Moderator for the more orderly carry- ing.
2ly. To choose a Town Clerk.
3ly. To choose three or more suitable persons to serve as Selectmen.
4ly. To choose three or more persons for Assessors, and further to choose any other officers as the law requires to serve in said town.
5ly. To vote in what manner the meetings of the said town shall be warned in the future, and make return of the warrant and of your doings herein unto myself at or before the said twenty-sixth day of August.
Given under my hand and seal at Bridgton, this eighth day of August, Anno Domini, 1805.
ENOCH PERLEY, Justice of the Peace.
HARRISON, August, 26th, 1805.
Pursuant to the within or above warrant, I have notified and warned the inhabitants of said town, qualified as there- in expressed, to assemble at my dwelling house at the time and for the purposes within mentioned.
NAPHTHALI HARMON.
40
A HISTORY OF THE
FIRST TOWN MEETING IN HARRISON.
At a meeting of the Town of Harrison held at Naphthali Harmon's house on, the 26th day of August, 1805, Chose the following officers :
Ily. Chose Joel Simmons, Moderator in said Meeting.
2ly. Chose Samuel Willard, Town Clerk.
3ly. Chose Samuel Willard, Benjamin Foster, Stephen Stiles, Selectmen and Assessors.
4ly. Chose Nathaniel Burnham, Treasurer.
5ly. Chose Samuel Scribner, Constable.
6ly. Chose Edward Lowell, Simeon Caswell, Ebenezer Carsley, Nathan Carsley, Rice Rowell, Surveyors of High- ways.
7ly. Chose John Woodsumm, Surveyor of all kinds of lumber.
8ly. Chose Levi Perry, Daniel Stone, Peter Gilson, Fence Viewers.
gly. Chose James Sampson, Edward Lowell, Benjamin Foster, Tything Men.
Toly. Chose Joel Simmons, Jeremiah Palmer, Moses Chick, Hog Reeves.
IIly. Chose Naphthali Harmon as Pound Keeper.
12ly. Chose Cushing Dawes, Stephen Ingalls, Edward Lowell, Field Drivers.
13ly. Chose the Selectmen as School Committee.
I4ly. Voted that the meetings of the Town of Harrison shall be warned in the following manner, viz .: That the Constable shall post up the warrant, or the Selectmen, ac- cording as the law directs.
15ly. Voted that the meetings in the future shall be warned and held at Naphthali Harmon's house till a more convenient place may be appointed.
ATTEST : SAMUEL WILLARD, Town Clerk.
4I
TOWN OF HARRISON.
MEETING HELD SEPTEMBER 30th, 1805.
Simeon Caswell, Moderator.
Money raised :
Highways
$200.00
Schools
50.00
Defray Town Charges . 60.00
Chose Nathaniel Burnham, Benjamin Foster, Samuel Willard, Committee to settle with Otisfield and Bridgton.
Collecting of taxes set up and bid off by John Woodsum at seven cents on a dollar.
Voted that every School District shall build their own Schoolhouse.
LIST OF POLLS IN 1805.
Nathaniel Burnham, Samuel Baker, Ebenezer Bisbee, Abraham Burnham, Nicholas Bray, Nicholas Bray, Jr., Solomon Bray, Joseph Burns, Simeon Caswell, Benjamin Chadbourne, Ebenezer Carsley, Nathan Carsley, Moses Chaplin, Moses Chick, Elisha Chick, Joseph Dawes, Cush- ing Dawes, Jacob Emerson, Jonathan Fairbanks, Jeremiah Palmer, Benjamin Foster, Levi Gillson, Peter Gillson, Wm. Gammon, John Gammon, Josiah Goodridge, Jonathan Haz- elton, Naphthali Harmon, Naphthali Harmon, Jr., Joshua Howard, Abraham Hobbs, Stevens Ingalls, Daniel Jumper, Joel Kimball, John Lowell, Edward Lowell, Simon Lowell, Jonathan Lakin, John Neal, John Neal, Jr., James Neal, Samuel Pitts, Samuel Perley, Levi Perry, John Russell, Elijah Richardson, Rice Rowell, Jonathan Ross, Noah Stiles, - forty-nine.
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A HISTORY OF THE
STATE ELECTION, APRIL 6, 1806.
For Governor. His Excellency Caleb Strong, seven votes. Hon. James Sullivan, thirty-five votes.
For Lieut. Governor. Levi Lincoln, Esq., thirty-one votes. Edward C. Robbins, seven votes.
For Senators. Levi Hubbard, thirty-six votes.
Luther Cary, four votes. Lathrop Lewis, one vote.
For Councillors. Lathrop Lewis, five votes. Luther Cary, one vote.
March 23, 1807. It was voted to build a house for the use of the town. $100 was raised for the purpose. Com- mittee raised to have charge of the building, Capt. H. Har- mon, Samuel Scribner, John Woodsum. The house set somewhere between Capt. Harmon's house and the corner, on the same side of the road, near the house now owned by Mrs. S. K. Wight. The first meeting held in the town house was on April 4, 1808.
The second town house was built in 1825. The building was bid off by Major Jacob Emerson, for the sum of $257. The present town house was built in 1871.
March 2, 1812. Voted that the Selectmen shall build a pulpit in the town house, such as they shall think proper to be put in at the expense of the town.
Voted to lay out the money for preaching that is now in the bank for that purpose.
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TOWN OF HARRISON.
Voted to raise a Committee consisting of five to lay out the money for preaching. Committee chosen, James H. Chadbourne, Samuel Scribner, Jacob Emerson, Moses Pitts, Naphthali Harmon, Jr.
May II, 1812. Voted to build a chimney in the town house by all or a part, of the inhabitants of the town, that the same may be improved for the purpose of keeping a school in.
Voted that Elder Ebenezer Bray preach out one half of the money, and Elder Valentine Little the other half, and if neither of these gentlemen can be obtained, the committee shall hire some others. (Mr. Little at that time was Prin- cipal of Bridgton Academy.)
At a meeting held September 20, 1819, it was voted to send a delegate to the Convention to be held in Portland in October, for the purpose of framing a State Constitution for the new State of Maine, which was to be separated from Massachusetts early in 1820. Voted, and chose Col. Amos Thomes as the said delegate.
December 6, 1819. Meeting held for the purpose of voting on the new State Constitution, and voted as follows :
For the Constitution, 19
Against, . O
July 26. A meeting was held to vote on the separation of the District of Maine from Massachusetts. The vote stood :
For Separation,
40 votes.
Against,
2 votes.
The pound was built in 1811. Committee to build pound, Capt. N. Harmon, and Joel Simmons.
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A HISTORY OF THE
No. of polls in 1805,
.
49
66
1810,
·
81
66 1820,
.
. .
1830,
.
224
66
66 1840,
.
279
Our fathers and mothers were strongly attached to the practice of observing the religious formalities of the church of God, and at an early day commenced to provide for the erection of a meeting-house for the use of each order of worshippers.
The Congregational church of Harrison was organized February 15, 1826. Original members : - James H. Chad- bourne, Deacon; Dorcas Chadbourne, Sukey Peirce, Rox- ana Stanley, Hannah Whitmore, Joanna Whitmore, Aaron Kneeland, Hannah Kneeland, Charles Walker, Sally Cas- well.
In 1823 the church numbered fifty-seven members, James P. Richardson being the Pastor. The present church edi- fice of this society was erected in 1836, and has been con- stantly occupied since that date.
Other churches were organized in different parts of the town in the early days of its history, some of which are still in existence. I would gladly give further facts in their history, but time forbids, and the amount of material at hand is rather meager.
THE MASONIC ORDER.
Next to their regard for the ministrations of the church many of our citizens have from earlier times manifested their love for those associations devoted to the cultivation
TOWN OF HARRISON.
45
of fraternity, charity, and kindred moral principles, as well as to specific reform. Some of our older residents had for many years been members of the Masonic Order, but no lodge of Masons ever existed in this town until Crooked River Lodge, No. 152, of F. & A. M., was instituted at Bolster's Mills under a Dispensation from the Grand Lodge, dated April 15, 1869, with the following charter members :
William Chute,
Charles E. Stuart,
Samuel C. Stuart,
Newell A. Trafton,
William Twombly,
Charles T. Thomes,
Orin Bartlett,
Samuel Thomes,
Alpheus B. Lovewell,
Leonard B. Green,
Moses E. Hall,
Lewis G. Brackett,
Fernald J. Sawyer,
Albert H. Stuart,
Benjamin S. Skillings,
Leander Dorman,
Gilman Nutting,
David F. Perley,
J. A. Scribner, James L. Green,
Nathaniel S. Wight,
John F. Woodsum,
John Houston,
John B. Fogg,
Jonathan Ingalls,
S. D. Andrews,
George B. Dorman,
Johnson W. Knight,
Matthew F. Winslow,
Otis Fernald.
The following officers were appointed to serve under the Dispensation :
W. M. - William Chute. S. W. - Fernald J. Sawyer. J. W. - William Twombly. Treas. - George B. Dorman.
Sec'y - Alpheus B. Lovewell. S. D. - Moses E. Hall. J. D. - Benjamin S. Skillings.
S. S. - Gilman Nutting. J. S. - Leander Dorman. Tyler - Jonathan Ingalls.
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A HISTORY OF THE
The Lodge was duly constituted and the charter granted on June 24, 1870. The following persons have served as Masters since that date :
Moses E. Hall,
John C. Maxfield,
Fernald J. Sawyer,
David E. Caswell,
William Twombly, S. A. Turner,
Isaac S. Skillings,
Reuben H. Cobb,
Oscar V. Edwards,
George A. Haskell,
Stephen C. Maxfield,
Edward A. Wight,
A. M. Hancock,
William H. Noyes,
Sumner J. Skillings.
The following are the Secretaries in order :
Alpheus B. Lovewell,
Adna D. Pike,
Charles E. Stuart,
Oscar V. Edwards,
Edwin A. Barton,
Leander Dorman,
Harry I. Lowell.
Crooked River Lodge has a history of unvarying success and prosperity during its thirty-six years of existence. In 1904 the Lodge did an extensive job on its hall building, greatly enlarging and improving it. This building is owned by the Lodge, and there is a goodly sum of money in its treasury. The present membership is one hundred and three, including many of the leading citizens of Harrison and Otisfield.
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