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 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
HENRY C. REED.
Among the native-born sons of Norway, few if any led busier or more useful lives, and there have been none whose memory is more respected, than that of Henry C. Reed. He was not only highly esteemed and respected among his town's people, but his integrity and strength of ·character were known and recognized throughout the county and State. He was the son of William Reed, the early trader and first postmaster
373
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
of Norway, and was born May 2d, 1804. He attended the common schools and being apt to learn, he obtained a good education. Though brought up in his father's store, he liked agriculture and settled upon a farm where he resided for many years, and where he died. He was barely of age when he was entrusted with town business, and was sub- sequently much in town office in various capacities. He was one of the selectmen in 1839, 1840, 1841, 1847, 1848, and 1859, member of the Legislature in 1849, and a member of the Governor's Council for three years, in 1867, 1868, and 1869. His services at the Council Board were of great value, his sound, practical common sense exhibiting itself in his work on the committee on accounts, and in the re-adjustment of the State's indebtedness growing out of the war. Mr. Reed died August 24th, 1881, aged 77 years. His family record will be found in its proper place.
GENERAL HENRY RUST.
Henry Rust Jr., son of Henry and Polly (Stowell) Rust, was born December 2d, 1833, in a large square house which stood on the north- east corner of Oak Avenue, near the present site of Noyes' store. He was educated at the Norway Liberal Institute. When he finished his academical education, notwithstanding his innate thirst for book- knowledge, believing with Benjamin Franklin, that " he who has a trade has an office of profit and honor, because he does not hold it during any other man's pleasure, and it affords him honest subsistence with inde- pendence," he devoted the next few years to learning the trade of house- carpenter, in Portland; at which place he and his father were, the latter as juror in the United States Court and the former in finishing his trade, when the great fire of 1851 destroyed their homestead. There- upon he built a new and commodious house now standing near the Congregational church, where the family subsequently resided.
Even in his academical years, he was noted for the strength and breadth of his intellectual powers. While he loved mathematics he stored his mind with the best English classics. His extensive and thor- ough reading gave him a fund of well-digested knowledge and fixed opinions on all subjects, which he defended on all proper occasions. He was a clear thinker and an entertaining conversationalist; while his
374
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
numerous letters to his many friends during the war, flavored with the real aroma of his character and disposition, possessed more than the ordinary charm of epistolary correspondence. While he was self-reliant, he was modest and never offended any friend or stranger by self-pro- trusion. His reserve of manner toward those not his associates was not born of self-conceit, but being born and bred a gentleman, his conduct was nothing less than gentlemanly toward all ; and he loved his friends as they invariably loved him.
He was appointed Orderly-Sergeant of Company G, First Maine Regi- ment, April, 1861. May following he was promoted First Lieutenant. In October following, the regiment having been re-organized as the Tenth Maine, he was promoted Captain of his company. While the regiment was in Baltimore, without any suggestion or knowledge on his part, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, which arrived at Ship Island in March, 1862. In May following, he was pro- moted Colonel and made Commandant of the post. In January, 1864, he commanded the Second Brigade, First Division, Thirteenth Army Corps. He was in the Red River Campaign and commanded his bri- gade in some of the battles, and also in the Shenandoah after the corps was transferred there. He filled many important and responsible posi- tions during his military service in New Orleans and various other posts, selected therefor on account of his peculiar fitness, all the duties of which he performed in a most satisfactory manner, and was mustered out in January, 1865. In July, 1868, he removed to Haverhill, Massachu- setts, where he became one of the incorporators and superintendent of the Haverhill Hat Company ; which place he successfully filled during the remainder of his life. In October, 1871, he married Kate, daughter of General George Hobbs, of Worcester, Massachusetts, who survives him. (See Genealogical Registers.) In Haverhill his traits of character were appreciated, and he won there, as everywhere, the confidence and high esteem of all who met him in the various relations of life; and he died July 21st, 1881. He was the last survivor bearing the name of the descendants of the proprietor of Rustfield, in Norway.
ELLIOT SMITH.
Elliot Smith, one of Norway's honored citizens, was the son of oshua and Mary Smith, and was born in Norway, August 24th, 1801.
!
1
M Pd mit
375
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
He was a skillful mechanic, and long conducted a carriage shop at the village, where nothing but good, honest work was done. He was an upright and much respected man, and had the entire confidence of the community in which he lived. He was often entrusted with town offices, which he filled with scrupulous integrity, represented Norway in the Legislature in 1838, and again in 1839, but was best known through- out the county as the able Secretary and Treasurer of the Oxford County Agricultural Society, which position he filled for many years, and the success of this society, which has caused it to rank among the best county agricultural societies in the State, is largely due to Mr. Smith's efforts in its behalf. Mr. Smith's family record will be found in the appropriate place. He died September 28th, 1873.
MARK P. SMITH.
Mark Pool Smith, one of Norway's leading and honored citizens, was the son of Daniel and Susan ( Bennett) Smith (see Genealogical Reg- isters ), and was born in New Gloucester, August 2d, 1806. The year after his birth, his father moved to Norway, and resided here until 1828, when he moved to Oxford. Mark P. Smith continued to reside in Norway to the time of his death. He built the tannery afterward owned by John L. Horne. It was a small affair at first, but Mr. Smith gradually increased its capacity, until, when he sold out, it was one of the chief industries of the town. The expansion of his business is shown under the heading of Norway Village in 1852. Mr. Smith was often honored with town office, and whatever responsible positions were taken upon himself, were always faithfully filled. He was a Representa- tive to the State Legislature in 1844, and also served as County Com- missioner of Oxford County. Beside the tanning business, he owned a grist-mill at the Falls, and was interested in many other business enter- prises. Mr. Smith died June 30th, 1871.
JONATHAN B. SMITH.
Jonathan B. Smith came to Norway with his parents when about seven years of age, and spent his youth and manhood here, with the exception of a brief residence in Sumner. He was a shoemaker by trade, but he did not follow that business. He was in trade quite a number of years, and later in life drifted into the business of land sur-
376
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
veyor, into which profession he brought great accuracy and skill. Toward the close of his life, he went into the nursery business, and became well known throughout the county as a producer of reliable fruit trees. He was a pioneer in the business in Norway. He always made improvement of the advantages he had, and never engaged in any branch of business without first giving it due consideration. In the nursery business, he had perfected his plans in such a way that had he been spared, it would have been remunerative to himself and of great benefit to the community. Mr. Smith was possessed of strong com- mon sense which never forsook him. He formed his opinions after patient investigation and study, and then adhered to them with great persistence. He was tolerant of the opinions of others, but under his calm and mild exterior, was found great firmness of purpose. He was respected by all, and to those who were so fortunate as to stand in intimate relations to him, he was one whose advice and example it was safe to follow. He was a man of retiring disposition, and never wanted office. He represented the town in the Legislature in 1837, and was County Commissioner of Oxford County for four years.
SIDNEY I. SMITH.
A son of Norway who reflects great credit upon his native town, is Professor Sidney Irving Smith, son of Elliot and Lavinia H. (Barton) Smith, born February 18th, 1843. He attended the town schools of Norway, and at the Liberal Institute; also at Gould's Academy in Bethel. He entered the Sheffield Scientific School, connected with Yale College, in September, 1865, a full year in advance, and graduated therefrom in 1867, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. His graduating essay was "On Secondary Causes in the Geographical Distribution of Animals," and for this he was awarded the first Ber- zelius Prize of thirty dollars. After his graduation, he was retained several years in the school as an assistant. In 1871, he was elected State Entomologist, and Professor of Comparative Anatomy in 1876. About the year 1871, he commenced his investigations of the crustacea of Lake Superior. These investigations were pursued under the direc- tion of the United States Lake Survey, in the United States Steamer, Search, and under the charge of Superintendent, Prof. C. B. Com-
377
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
stock. Mr. Smith has been connected with the United States Fish Commission since 1871, and has published several papers and reports of great value to science. In his special field of work, Carcinology, he has few if any superiors in this country. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Science, the highest organization of scien- tific men in the United States, April 17th, 1884, at its session in Wash- ington, District of Columbia. Mr. Smith is yet in the prime of man- hood, and his achievements in scientific research, for one of his years, are quite remarkable.
SIMON STEVENS.
Simon Stevens, son of the first settler, and the oldest living repre- sentative bearing the name in Norway, was born in Norway, August Ioth, 1798. His mother was Elizabeth Hobbs, a sister of the early settler of this name. Mr. Stevens has followed the occupation of a farmer, and is still living at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. He was chosen selectman in 1836, and was re-elected in 1837, 1838, 1839, and 1840, serving the last four years as chairman of the board. He was again elected in 1852, and also served in 1864, 1865, and 1866, as chairman of the board. In 1843, he was elected town clerk, and to him more than to any other person, is the town indebted for the pres- ervation of its records of births and marriages. The town records
were burned in 1843, and on being elected clerk the same spring, Mr. Stevens traveled through the town, and took great pains to gather up as many of the lost names and dates as possible, and the book, in his plain and well-known handwriting, is still preserved with the records of the town. The town did well in selecting so intelligent and capable a town clerk in this emergency. Mr. Stevens served the town as Repre- sentative to the Legislature in 1840, and again in 1841.
CHARLES A. STEVENS .*
Charles Asbury Stevens, son of Simon and Harriet N. (Upton) Stev- ens, was born in Norway, October 21st, 1845. He graduated from Bowdoin College with the class of 1865, and engaged for a time in
" As a writer, he is known as Stephens, and claims that his ancestors before coming to Maine, practiced the same orthography.
378
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
teaching with indifferent success. His true vocation was not found until 1870, when he engaged in juvenile literature in which his success has been almost phenomenal. He has contributed to the leading juve- nile publications of the country, and has also written several series of books which have been immensely popular with young people. His Camping Out Series consisted of "Camping Out," "Off to the Geysers," " Left on Labrador," "Lynx Hunting," "Fox Hunting," and "On the Amazon." Among his other books, are "The Young Moose Hunters," " In the Woods," "Along the Shore," "In the Tropics," etc. Since 1874, he has devoted his time mostly to the Youth's Companion, for which he has written annually about one hundred and fifty columns. As a writer of juvenile literature, Mr. Stevens has few if any superiors in this country. He is now a student in the Boston School of Medi- cine, from which he will graduate in 1887. He does not intend to practice medicine, his medical studies being only preparatory to other work in connection with the Youth's Companion. Mr. Stevens is now in the prime of life, and his prospects for the future are highly promising.
DANIEL H. THURSTON.
Daniel Holt Thurston, son of John and Mercy (Hale) Thurston, was born in Norway Village, January 24th, 1813. When he was but a few weeks old, his father enlisted in Captain Bodwell's company and served one year on the Canadian frontier, and on his return removed to that part of Hebron which is now the town of Oxford. Daniel H. Thurston worked upon a farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he returned to Norway and served a five years' apprenticeship with Mark P. Smith, at the shoemaker's trade. He then went to Massachusetts, and two years later, to Illinois, still working at his trade. In 1839, he returned east and settled in Cambridge, where he has since lived. Here he engaged in the cracker and biscuit manufacturing business, which he has carried on for over forty years. He is a large real estate owner in Cambridge, and has always taken a deep interest in the welfare of the city. He has served in both branches of the city government, and has twice rep- resented the city in the Legislature. He is a prominent member of the Universalist Church in Cambridge. He was married in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in February, 1839, to Jane Drown Shackley, who was born in Kennebunk. She died November 23d, 1866, and he married
Geo.H.Walker & Co. Lith. Boston.
Daniel H, Thurs Ton
379
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
second, Mrs. Esther (Shackley) Battles, who was a sister of his first wife. He has had five children, two sons and three daughters.
. ELIJAH UPTON.
Elijah Upton, son of Amos and Deborah (Covel) Upton, was born in this town August 6th, 1815. His mother died when he was an infant, and when seven or eight years of age, he went to live in the family of Benjamin Fuller, at Fuller's, now Swift's, Corner. Not liking the place, he left there and the town when in his fourteenth year, and spent the most of his time, up to eighteen years of age, in the family of Mr. John Williams, of Lisbon. He learned the tinsmith's trade in Dan- ville, and worked at various places at this business. He settled in Bath in 1841. In 1857, he was elected Register of Probate for Sagadahoc County, still continuing to work at his trade. In 1859, he was elected city clerk, when he gave his whole time to his official duties. In 1866, in company with H. A. Shorey, he purchased the American Sentinel, and commenced his career as a journalist. They published the paper for three years, when they sold the paper to William E. S. Whitman. In 1870, Mr. Upton bought the paper back, and published it as a weekly, in connection with the Bath Daily Times. Two years later, he associated with him his son, Joshua F. Upton, and together they pub- lished the daily and weekly up to the time of Mr. Upton's death. He was a ready and forcible writer, and as a citizen, public official, and busi- ness man, he stood high in the estimation of his fellow-citizens. In January, 1843, he married Mary, daughter of Joshua Foye, who sur- vives him. They had eight children, a record of whose births will be found in Genealogical Registers. He became a member of the Maine Press Association in 1867, and was historian for his county that year. He was much interested in historical matters, and was a prominent member of the Bath Board of Trade. Mr. Upton died January 5th, 1886, of cancer of the stomach.
ADDISON E. VERRILL.
Professor Addison Emery Verrill of Yale College, was the son of George W. and Lucy (Hilborn) Verrill, and was born in Greenwood, February 9th, 1839. He attended the town schools at Greenwood Vil- lage and at Locke's Mills. Subsequently his father moved to Norway,
380
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
where he had the advantages of an academic course of study. He was a born naturalist, evidence of which cropped out even in his early child- hood days. When he wore pinafores, he would frequently stray away into the fields and pastures, fill his lap with curious stones and refuse to return to the house unless his treasures could be taken along with him. Birds and reptiles attracted his childish attention, and his mother found it no small task to remove, after he had retired for the night, the hoards of natural objects he had gathered and brought into the house during the day. He mastered the branches taught in the public schools with remark- able facility, especially mathematics, and was well up in all branches of English study before he entered the Academy. He early begun to make a collection of objects in natural history, and his collection of stuffed birds was a marvel, considering his years and opportunities. When nineteen years of age, he wrote to Professor Agassiz, and made his own arrangements with that distinguished savant, to become his pupil. When fairly established in his new position, he made rapid progress, not only in his favorite studies, but in French and German languages. He also became an adept in the fine drawing so essential to the accurate study of conchology. In a few years, he was appointed Professor of Zoology in Harvard College, a distinguished honor for one of his years, and also Curator of the Peabody Museum. He was also appointed Professor of Zoology in Yale College, moved to New Haven and con- tinues to reside there. As a scientist, he has an enviable reputation, not only in this country but in Europe. His scope of study embraces almost every department of natural history, including zoology, botany, geology, and mineralogy. He has written much upon topics connected with these studies, and with a force and clearness, and an originality of thought, that have attracted universal attention. For several years, he has been connected for a portion of the time each year, with the United States Fish Commission, in charge of the dredging for deep sea fauna. His brilliant career which promises to continue for many years to come, reflects great honor not only upon the rough and rugged town, the place of his birth, upon Norway, where he lived and pursued his academical studies, but upon the State and Nation. He married Flora L., daughter of Elliot Smith, of this town. For an account of his family, see Family Records.
1
CHAPTER XXIX.
NORWAY VILLAGE.
ONE of the chief essentials to the establishment and growth of any village, is a good water-power. This was especially so before the days of steam utilization, and even now, when steam-power is so extensively used for propelling machinery, it cannot compete with a good natural water-power. The water-power which suggested and determined the location of Norway Village is derived from the overflow of the Great Pennesseewassee Pond, the largest body of fresh water situated entirely in the county of Oxford. A mill is an indispensable institution in a new settlement, a grist-mill to grind the cereals for food, and a saw-mill to work up the timber into material suitable for building purposes. The first settlers of Norway were squatters, and were too poor to build mills. They settled upon land belonging to the Commonwealth, did the best they could under the circumstances, and waited for something to happen favorable to their interest. Jackson had built a rude grist-mill upon Stony Brook, in Paris, but it was overworked in the interest of the settlers of that town, and there was also a small grist-mill in Otisfield to which the early settlers sometimes carried their grists of corn and rye, traveling in winter on snow-shoes, and carrying their grists on hand- sleds. Both these mills were inadequate to do the work required, and to make up the deficiency, many of the early settlers were in the habit of pounding their corn in a hard-wood trough made for that purpose.
In 1787, the land upon which the early settlers had begun to make them homes, was purchased by Henry Rust Esq., of Salem, Massachu- setts, a merchant and ship-owner, a man of excellent character and business reputation. It was fortunate for the settlers that they fell into such hands. He sold them their lands for a nominal price, taking his pay in labor, and he continued to exercise a fatherly care over them until he died. It is related among others of his good deeds, that he brought down from Salem a lot of window glass, which he distributed gratui- tously among the settlers, this being the first glass brought into the
382
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
place. But the most important act of the proprietor of Rustfield, was the erection of mills. Realizing their paramount importance to the settlers already here, and the inducements they would offer for others to come, two years after he made his purchase, he commenced building a grist and saw-mill on the site toward the head of the village, which has been used for similar purposes ever since. Both mills were raised in June, 1789, and the grist-mill was in operation in the following October. Samuel Ames, who had charge of Jackson's Mill in Paris, came here and assisted in building the Rust Mill, and then took charge of it. He built a shelter or camp near the mill, and this was the first human habi- tation erected within the limits of Norway Village. Mr. Ames had com- menced a clearing on Pike's Hill, on a lot afterward occupied by Ephraim Briggs, but when he engaged to take charge of the mill, he built a framed house, eighteen by thirty-six feet in size, and one story high, which was the first framed house in the village. Mr. Ames continued in charge of the mill for nearly half a century. The house spoken of was afterward moved to a point a mile north of the village, and in 1850 was occupied by Elijah Jordan. These mills and this house were the humble begin- nings of the present Norway Village.
It is not easy at this remote day, nearly a century having elapsed since the Village was founded, to trace the successive order of subse- quent buildings, nor is it essential except as affording facts for the curious. Mr. Noyes says that the next house built in the Village was by William Gardner, near the site of the Luther Farrar homestead. Mr. Gardner subsequently went to the Lee Grant. It may be men- tioned that Thomas Cowan came from Paris and took charge of the Rust saw-mill, and built a small hut nearly opposite the mill, which he occupied until he returned to Paris. The Rust saw-mill was burned in March, 1805, but was rebuilt the succeeding summer. William Beal long had charge of this mill. The grist-mill, which had been much enlarged and improved, was burned in December, 1850. It was owned by Levi Whitman, Ezra F. Beal, Eben Hobbs, Nathaniel Bennett, and John B. Brown. It was rebuilt in 1851, and has since done a large business in the hands of various owners.
Mr. Noyes is my authority for stating that the first two-story house in the Village was erected by Bailey Bodwell, the precise date of which
383
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
he does not give. This house was afterward occupied for many years by Ichabod Bartlett. Levi Bartlett also built a two-story house which he occupied until his death, which occurred in 1818. This was after- ward known as the Mixer house. John Ordway, a brother of Amos Ordway, built a two-story house in the Village which he was occupying in 1804. He moved to Piscataquis County and has a large posterity there. This house was afterward owned by John Deering. Samuel Smith built a two-story house about the same time, which was taken down by Increase Robinson, and on the spot was built the house after- ward occupied by William C. Whitney. Luther Farrar's was the next two-story house, and this after his death, was long occupied by Levi Whitman. This was built, according to Mr. Noyes, in 1806. . Captain Henry Rust built a large and commodious two-story mansion house about the same time. In 1807, William Reed, Esq., built the two-story house occupied by him and subsequently by Ezra F. Beal. This house forms a part of the Beal's Hotel. Joshua Smith built a store about this time which he subsequently enlarged so as to include a dwelling-house, and this afterward became the Elm House.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.