USA > Maine > Oxford County > Norway > Centennial history of Norway, Oxford County, Maine, 1786-1886, including an account of the early grants and purchases, sketches of the grantees, early settlers, and prominent residents, etc., with genealogical registers, and an appendix > Part 27
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When Mr. Seitz had determined to move the New Religion from town, Mr. S. Drake, and Mr. C. E. Meserve, who had published the Comet at South Paris, started the Oxford County Advertiser, but April 24th, 1882, the office and all that appertained to it, was destroyed by fire. The following month Mr. Fred W. Sanborn came to Norway, and he and Mr. Drake determined to resuscitate the paper, and the first number appeared June 23d, 1882. It was a six-column paper with a patent outside. January Ist, 1883, Mr. Sanborn bought out Mr. Drake's interest in the concern, and has since been sole owner. In November, 1883, a cylinder press was put into the office, and the paper was enlarged to an eight-column folio, still with patent outside. In the spring of 1884, this feature of the paper was abandoned, and since that
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time both sides have been printed in Norway. At this time another column was added to each page. It has a circulation of over two thou- sand, the largest of any in the county. The paper is entirely neutral in politics, and is largely devoted to local and county news, in the collec- tion of which the publisher shows much energy and perseverance, and has met with corresponding success. Job work of all kinds is done at this office, and in all its appointments it is first-class.
ASA BARTON.
The pioneer newspaper man of Paris and Norway, was Asa Barton, who was born in that part of Bethel now called Hanover, on the farm since occupied by Orson Powers, October 13th, 1793. His father, Aaron Barton, son of Asa Barton, of Needham, and Mercy Bartlett, of Newton, Massachusetts, came to Bethel with Jonathan Bartlett, his uncle, and Nathaniel Segar, his cousin, in 1780. The wife of Aaron and the mother of Asa, was Sarah Smith, daughter of Ithiel, born in Cape Elizabeth, but coming with her parents to Bethel. Aaron Barton moved from Bethel to Jay, and thence in 1807, to Livermore. Asa Barton married Lydia, daughter of Thomas Chase, of Martha's Vine- yard, afterward of Livermore. He kept a store in Livermore for a few years, and about 1820, came to Paris. He then moved to Portland, but in 1821, was back at Paris, and started the Oxford County Book- store. In 1824, he started the first paper ever printed in Paris, and called the Oxford Observer. In 1826, he moved the paper to Norway, * and after three years sold out. In 1830, he started the Village Spy at Norway, but it was short-lived, and in the summer of 1833, Mr. Barton commenced the publication at Norway, of the Oxford Oracle, but after issuing seven numbers, he sold out to Millett & King, and moved to Bangor. He was there in trade with Emory Livermore, then he studied law, and settled in Garland. In 1844, he returned to Norway, and remained here until he died in the winter of 1847.
THOMAS WITT.
Thomas, son of Benjamin Witt, was born in Norway, June 3d, 1808. At an early age he manifested a strong desire for an education, and eagerly improved every opportunity which the schools of his day
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Thomas Will
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afforded. On leaving school, he decided to learn the printer's art, and to that end, he entered as an apprentice in the office of the Oxford Observer, then published in Norway by Asa Barton. Having served his time, and secured his trade, he went to Paris Hill, and worked for a couple of years in the office of the Jeffersonian, then published by Horatio King. In the spring of 1830, he went to Boston and worked on a daily paper until 1838, when he left there and went to Richmond, Virginia, where for two years he was engaged in printing the Southern Churchman, a paper published in the interests of Presbyterianism. He then returned to Boston, and from 1842 to 1844, was employed on the Christian Freeman, published by Rev. Sylvanus Cobb. In 1845, he returned to Norway, purchased a farm, and was married. After two years at agriculture, he bought the Norway Advertiser, which he edited and published until 1850. Failing health then compelled a change, and disposing of his interest in the paper, he bought a farm at Norway Center, where he moved with his family, and where he spent the remainder of his days. He was highly respected by all who made his acquaintance, and his death was much regretted.
GEORGE W. MILLETT.
Colonel George W. Millett was the son of Nathaniel Millett, of Nor- way, one of the three Millett brothers who came originally from Glouces- ter, Massachusetts, to Minot, and subsequently to Norway. Colonel Millett was born in Norway, July 27th, 1813; his mother was Martha, daughter of Enoch Merrill, of Andover, He entered the office of the Oxford Observer as an apprentice, in the fall of 1830, that paper then being published by William E. Goodenow. He was also with the Jeffersonian, and went with it to Portland in April, 1833. He returned to Norway in August, and in company with Octavius King, who had been his fellow-apprentice, purchased the Oxford Oracle establishment, which he moved to Paris Hill, and began the publication of the Oxford Democrat. At the end of a few months, he purchased Mr. King's inter- est in the concern, and continued to publish the paper until the latter part of 1849, when the entire establishment was consumed by fire. In the following February, the paper was again started by Mr. Millett and George L. Mellen, and so published for about ten months, when Mr.
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Millett sold out his interest, and bought the Norway Advertiser, which had been revived by Moses B. Bartlett, and continued its publication with Rev. George K. Shaw as editor for a portion of the time at least, till 1861, when the paper was discontinued, and in 1865, Mr. Millett went to Worcester, Massachusetts. He subsequently moved to West- borough, and in 1877, to Cambridgeport, and since that time has been in the Riverside Press. He married, in 1858, Emma G. Ames, of Norway. While a resident at Paris Hill, he was fourteen years postmaster, mem- ber of the Legislature in 1850, also Colonel in the State Militia, having been regularly promoted to that position through the various subordi- nate grades. While in Norway he was elected town clerk.
IRA BERRY
Was the son of Stephen and Alice ( Chamberlain ) Berry, of Roches- ter, New Hampshire, and grandson of Stephen and Mary ( Allen) Berry, of Rye, New Hampshire, the former born at Rye, April 21st, 1724, and died at Nottingham, April 4th, 1820; the latter born in Durham, New Hampshire, February Ist, 1724, and died at New Durham, New Hamp- shire, July 22d, 1816.
Ira Berry was born at New Durham, New Hampshire, September 23d, 1801, and December Ist, 1831, he was married by Rev. Charles Brooks, to Lydia M. Hobart, of Hingham, Massachusetts. In 1818, he was apprenticed to John Mann, of Dover, New Hampshire, where he learned the printer's art. In the autumn of 1822, he went to Concord, New Hampshire, and worked as journeyman in the Patriot office till the spring of 1824. He then went to Boston and worked a few months in the office of the Statesman, then to Portland, and worked a year on the Eastern Argus, published by Thomas Todd. In the autumn of 1825, he returned to Boston, and remained there till 1827, when he went to New York and worked on the Journal of Commerce, then recently started; then he returned to Boston and worked for Isaac R. Butts, taking charge of the composition of Dr. Bowditch's translation of "La Places Meconique Celeste." Immediately after his marriage in December, 1831, he moved to Augusta as partner of Francis O. J. Smith in publishing the Age. In 1834, he left the Age, returned to Portland and became partner in the publication of the Eastern Argus.
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In January, they commenced the publication of the Daily Argus. August 31st, 1835, his connection with the Eastern Argus ceased, and in 1837, he became concerned in the publication of the Gospel Banner. In the fall of 1839, with F. O. J. Smith, he commenced the publication of the Argus Revived. The project was not a financial success; it gave Smith a seat in Congress, but left Mr. Berry encumbered with a large debt, but which he eventually paid dollar for dollar.
In March of 1844, with Francis Blake Jr., a young Portland boy and former apprentice, Mr. Berry moved to Norway, and commenced the publication of the Norway Advertiser. In February, 1846, he left the Advertiser and went to Boston, and in company with Smith went into the telegraph business, putting up the first line between New York and Boston. When completed, Mr. Berry took charge of the Boston office. In 1853, he returned to Portland and opened a job office, and in 1857, took in his son Stephen, who was born in Augusta, as partner, the firm name being Ira Berry & Son. He was elected Secretary of the Grand Lodge in 1854, and of the Grand Lodge and other Grand Masonic bodies, in 1855; he is now among the oldest Masonic recording officers in the country. The work in these offices steadily increased, until it occupied his whole time, and he gradually withdrew from the printing office, and in 1873, sold out his entire interest to his son. Mr. Berry is now over eighty-five years of age, and has been connected with many and varied enterprises. He has done a vast amount of work, and has done it well. He has been an able writer, and a first-class printer and newspaper man. He and his excellent wife have lived together about fifty-five years, and are, indeed, a well-preserved pair. They have had eight children, six of whom are living.
EDWIN PLUMMER
Was born in Pownal, Maine, in 1825. He learned the printer's art and was working at the business in Portland from 1842 to 1846, when he went to Norway. From Norway he went to Portland, and July Ist, 1848, in company with E. H. Elwell, he issued the first number of the Northern Pioneer. After a short time, the Pioneer was sold to the proprietors of the Portland Transcript, and Mr. Plummer went to Boston, but in 1852 returned to Portland and with Mr. Eldridge started
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the Eclectic. Eldridge soon left the concern, and after publishing the Eclectic for a little more than two years, his health becoming impaired, Mr. Plummer sold out the paper, which was soon after united with the Transcript. Mr. Plummer went to Chicago, and was for a short time editorially connected with a Universalist paper. Returning to Portland, his favorite city, he served an engagement on the Portland Advertiser, which was his last work. He died at the residence of his brother, Daniel Plummer, in Portland, in May, 1858. He married a daughter of Thomas Norton, of Portland, who died several years before he did, and left one daughter, who lived with her grandparents and is now a teacher in the public schools in Portland. Mr. Plummer was a man of refined literary tastes, a graceful and interesting writer, and possessed of a poetic gift of a high order.
CYRUS W. BROWNE.
Cyrus W. Browne was the son of Levi and Caroline E. (Farrar) Browne of Waterford, and a brother of the famous humorist, Charles F. Brown (Artemas Ward). While he was connected with the Adver- tiser, his brother, Charles F., was employed in the office as a compositor. Cyrus W. Browne was connected with the paper only a short time. He then went to New Bedford and was connected with the Standard, and still later, at Fall River with the News. His health failing, he returned to the old homestead in Waterford, where he spent three or four years and died in May, 1864.
SIMEON DRAKE.
Simeon Drake, son of Abram Jr. and Lydia (Burnham) Drake, was born in New Hampton, New Hampshire, June 25th, 1819, and when fourteen years of age, went to Concord, New Hampshire, to learn the printer's art. Seven years was the time required in those days, and Mr. Drake faithfully served it out. He then went to Ohio, and worked at his trade for five years, and after the expiration of that time, returned to Concord. After he had worked here a few months, he accepted a position at Franklin, New Hampshire. Here he married Martha Elizabeth, daughter of William and Dorothy (Sanborn) Dur- gin. His next move was back to Concord to accept of a position as
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foreman of Luther Roby's printing establishment. From there, he went to Laconia to take charge of the Gasette ; from there to Bath as a job printer in the Daily Tribune office, and subsequently as foreman in the same office. He then worked for James M. Lincoln in the Sentinel office. He then moved to Augusta, and was employed in the Fournal office, which was then published by Stevens and Sayward. From there he moved to Bridgton, and in 1872, to Norway where he has since resided. For nearly fifty years, with the exception of the time he published the Advertiser, he has worked as a journeyman printer, and during all his mutations he has never been discharged except at his own request. For his family, see Family Records.
FRED W. SANBORN.
Fred Waldo Sanborn, son of John Shaw and Dorcas Adams (Brown) Sanborn, was born in Loudon, New Hampshire, February 10th, 1855. When four years of age, his parents moved to Meredith. He attended the common schools of Meredith, and graduated from the New Hampton Literary Institution in 1876. He learned his trade in the offices of the Lake Village (New Hampshire) Times, Norway Adver- tiser, and Laconia (New Hampshire) Democrat. He subsequently took a course of training in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, graduating therefrom in 1877. He was then a teacher in the New Hampton Commercial College. June 27th, 1878, he with another purchased the Laconia Democrat, and conducted the paper nearly four years. He disposed of his interest in the Democrat in 1882, and came to Norway. He here made arrangements with Mr. Drake to resusci- tate the Oxford County Advertiser, which re-appeared June 23d, 1882, under the firm name of S. Drake and Company. In January, 1883, Mr. Sanborn purchased Mr. Drake's interest in the concern, and continues to publish it at the present time. He is energetic and persevering, and has made the Advertiser a success. February 4th, 1879, he married Laura Anna Hill, of Strafford, New Hampshire. They have no children.
CHAPTER XXI.
TEMPERANCE REFORM.
WHEN the town of Norway was first settled, and for many years afterward, the use of intoxicating liquors was indulged in by all classes of society. The different varieties of liquor were graded in price, though all kinds were much cheaper than they are now. The better circumstanced classes had their West India rum and French brandy, but the plebeian drink was New England rum, which was retailed at twenty-five or thirty cents per gallon, a price that brought it within the reach of the poorest. Half a century ago, intoxicating liquors formed a part of the stock in trade of every grocer, and were considered as indispensable as molasses, sugar, or tea. They were not only sold in quantities to be carried away, but were sold across the counter to be drank on the premises, at two or three cents the glass. It is not to be presumed that the people of Norway were any more addicted to the use of intoxicants than those of other towns, yet a careful examination of the day-books of the early traders at the village and at Fuller's Corner, will show that a large per cent of the business was in alcoholic beverages. They will also show that the use of these beverages was general throughout the town and in the towns in the vicinity. It was drank, not only upon all festive occasions, such as balls, parties, train- ings, musters, huskings, and raisings, but at funerals. The minister drank with his parishioners, and whenever a neighbor made a friendly call, it was considered an act of discourtesy not to furnish the beverage and drink with him.
The attention of thinking men in the larger cities, where the effects of drinking were more apparent and more harmful than in the rural towns because carried to a greater extreme, began to be called to the subject early in the century, and the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance was organized in Boston in 1812. The movement here inaugurated met with much opposition, and its immedi_ ate influence was not felt to any great extent outside of Boston. But
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the ball had been put in motion, and the agitation of the subject has continued to the present time. As the result of many years' agitation of the subject, the American Temperance Society was organized in Boston in 1826, and from that date may be reckoned the beginning of the agitation in Maine. It struck the larger cities on the seaboard first, and gradually made its way into the interior. In 1829, the pro- ceedings of the American Society were printed, and the following list of members was reported from Maine: Rev. John W. Ellingwood, of Bath, Rev. Charles Jenkins, Rev. Bennett Tyler D.D., Hons. William P. Preble and Albion K. Parris, of Portland, and Hon. Ether Shepley, of Saco. The first society in Maine organized under the auspices of the American Society, was at Prospect in April, 1827. The same year, a society was organized in Machias. These two societies made reports to the Boston meeting in 1829. The former reported ninety members, and only two grog shops in the place, and after the following September, there was to be no retailer in town. The society at Prospect, organized in April, 1827, with five members, now had one hundred and one, of whom forty-six were females. One retailer had struck ardent spirits from his list of merchandise, and in one shipyard it was no longer used.
There was a temperance society, and probably the first in the county, organized at Paris Hill, and called the Union Temperance Society of Oxford County. The date of this organization I am unable to give, but it was probably in the year 1827 or 1828. It originated with the Oxford Bar, and many leading residents of the county became members. The following is the constitution of this society, appended to which is a list of the original members.
The undersigned being desirous of exerting their influence in the cause of temperance, and recognizing and adopting the principle of total abstinence from the use of ardent spirits, hereby form ourselves into an association, to be called the Union Temperance Society of the County of Oxford.
ART. I. The officers of this Society shall be a President, Vice-President, and Secretary, to be chosen annually, by the members, at the June term of the Court of Common Pleas.
ART. 2. There shall be a meeting of this Association on some day during each term of the Court of Common Pleas, at the Court House, of which meeting it shall be the duty of the Secretary to give seasonable notice - and it shall be the duty of the President to request some gentleman to deliver an address at each meeting.
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ART. 3. Every person signing this constitution shall become a member of this society, thereby engaging to adopt a total abstinence in reference to the use of "ardent spirits as a drink."
Levi Whitman,
Stephen Emery, Robert Goodenow, William Goodenow,
Charles Whitman, Albert G. Thornton, Hannibal Hamlin, Cyrus Thompson,
R. K. Goodenow,
S. Strickland,
Isaiah P. Moody,
Eben Poor,
Timothy J. Carter,
William Warren,
Daniel Goodenow, Reuel Washburn,
James V. Poor,
Henry Farewell,
Thomas Gammon,
James Walker,
Elisha Morse,
Samuel F. Brown,
George Turner,
Timothy Carter,
David Gerry,
Peter C. Virgin, Levi Stowell,
Ephraim Bass,
Joshua Randall,
Stephen Chase,
Virgil D. Parris,
Solomon Hall,
Ebenezer Jewett, Abraham Andrews Jr.,
Thomas Clark, James Starr,
Daniel Chaplin,
John Woodbury,
John S. Barrows, Josiah Blake,
Augustine Haynes, John Jameson,
Simeon Walton,
At a meeting of the Society, January 22d, 1833, it was voted that a committee of one or more gentlemen in every town in the county be appointed to take a copy of this constitution and procure subscribers, and the following gentlemen were appointed for the service, viz : Frye- burg, Benjamin Wyman, Ebenezer Fessenden Jr., Henry C. Buswell ; Brownfield, James Steele, Samuel Stickney, George Bean ; Hiram, Peleg Wadsworth, Alpheus Spring; Denmark, Samuel Gibson, Amos Poor ; Lovell, Abraham Andrews ; Sweden, Charles Nevers, Nathan Bradbury ; Fryeburg Addition, Samuel Farrington ; Waterford, Charles Whitman, Daniel Brown Esq., Dr. Leander Gage; Albany, Aaron Cummings ; Livermore, Reuel Washburn; Jay, James Starr; Canton, John Hearsey ; Hartford, Cyrus Thompson; Sumner, Samuel Sewall ; Peru, Levi Ludden; Dixfield, Henry Farewell; Mexico, Joseph Eustis ; Hartford, Elder Hutchinson, Joseph Tobin, Edward Blake ; Buckfield, Seth Stetson, Zadock Long, Lucius Loring; Paris, Abijah Hall Jr., Simeon Walton, Asaph Kittredge; Hebron, William Barrows, Dr. Carr; Oxford, J. S. Keith, S. H. King ; Rumford, Henry Martin ; Andover, Sylvanus Poor Jr .; Bethel, Jedediah Burbank ; Newry, Josiah Black ; Woodstock, Elder Jacob Whitman.
Erastus P. Poor,
Ira Bartlett,
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The first annual meeting of the Maine Temperance Society was holden at Augusta, January 23d, 1833. The printed proceedings do not show that Oxford County was represented by delegates. Governor Samuel E. Smith was elected President ; Hon. Samuel Pond of Bucks- port, Secretary ; Elisha Robinson, Augusta, Treasurer ; and Charles Williams of Augusta, Auditor. Judge Ether Shepley presided. Buck- field reported, "opposition great to temperance reform, by political demagogues, followed by their supporters half drunk." Fryeburg reported, " much opposition from temperate drinkers, drunkards, and sellers of rum." Hebron reported, "opposition by several classes and various characters." Andover, " opposition by the intemperate." Swe- den, " opposition is composed of men of every class - two men, how- ever, who are rival candidates for office, have more influence than all others." Sumner, "opposition by intemperate and moderate drinkers, and by some who are professors of religion." Thirteen societies are reported in Oxford County, but many towns made no report. The Buckfield society was reported defunct.
The Oxford County Moral Society was organized at Paris Hill on the third Wednesday of September, 1825, and article ten of the constitu- tion was as follows :-
As the prime object of the society and of the several associations is the improvement of morals among themselves and others, it will be the duty of all the members conscientiously to refrain from the intemperate and needless use of all kinds of distilled spirits, and particularly at retailing stores and all places of dissipation; to refrain especially from the unnecessary use of ardent spirits on the Lord's day, on all religious occasions and at funerals ; to refrain from using profane language and from all immoralities, and to discountenance the same in others.
There was a society auxiliary to this county society in this town, called the "Moral Society of Norway." In 1829, Jeremiah Mitchell was Secretary of this society, and under its instructions, in June of that year, he issued a call for a convention to meet in Norway and organize the Oxford County Temperance Society. Several county societies had already been formed in the States, acting up to this time under the auspices of the society in Boston, and reporting directly to it; for as yet, as shown in the preceding pages, no Maine State society had been formed. The following account of this meeting is in the Oxford Observer of July 7th of that year : -
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TEMPERANCE MEETING.
At a meeting of a large number of gentlemen from various parts of the county of Oxford, at Norway Village on the first day of July, pursuant to an invitation extended by the Moral Society of Norway, to take into consideration the subject of forming a county society for the promotion of temperance, Levi Whitman Esq. was called to the chair, and Samuel F. Brown was chosen Secretary. The following resolution was presented: -
Resolved, That it is expedient to form a County Society for the above purpose, and that we do therefore resolve ourselves into a society to be denominated the Temperance Society of Oxford County, auxiliary to the American Temperance Society.
The gentlemen requested by the Moral Society of Norway to prepare and report a form for a constitution, having performed that service, made a report of the following as a Constitu- tion for this Society, viz : -
ART. I. This Society shall be called " The Oxford County Temperance Society," auxiliary to the American Temperance Society.
ART. 2. Any person subscribing this Constitution shall be a member of this Society.
ART. 3. The members of this Society believing that the use of intoxicating liquors for persons in health is not only unnecessary but hurtful; and that the practice is the cause of forming intemperate appetites and habits; and that while it is continued, the evils of intem- perance can never be prevented, do therefore agree that we will abstain from the use of dis- tilled spirits except as a medicine in case of bodily infirmity; that we will not allow the use of them in our families, nor provide them for the entertainment of our friends, or for persons in our employment; and that in all suitable ways, we will discountenance the use of them in the community.
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