USA > Maine > Gazetteer of the state of Maine > Part 10
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AROOSTOOK COUNTY.
etc., in the early part of this volume.] The face of the country is peculiarly marked by long ridges of gravel and sand, varying in height from 50 to 300 feet, and running, sometimes, 50 miles in a direct course. They are known as " horsebacks,"and are probably memorials of the close of the glacial and beginning of the drift period. The soil is, largely alluvial, rich in vegetable matter, exceedingly fertile, and easily worked. It takes a great deal of dry weather to seriously dam- age the grass and grain crops. Potatoes constitute a large part of the crop in the eastern part of the county, and are highly esteemed for their superior dryness and flavor.
Where the land has not been cleared, it is covered by forests of spruce, pine, cedar, birch and maple. The settled portions are chiefly along the eastern border; and so small a proportion do the settlements bear to the territory that there is hardly a township or plantation whose borders are not touched by the vast forest running back to the shores of the St. Lawrence without a clearing. In the vast extent of woods, and far back among the lonely lakes, moose are still plentiful, and great herds of caribou range over the country. Many other wild ani- mals, now rare in other parts, are common here ; and foxes, bears, deer, wolves, lynxes, beavers, fishers, otters, sable, and mink, are still trapped and hunted in Aroostook county with abundant success. In most of the streams, especially the more remote, trout are abundant, and some of the lakes offer fine fishing for land-locked salmon, pickerel and perch.
Aroostook was formed in March, 1839, from parts of Penobscot and Washington counties, with Houlton for its shire town. The first settlements were by Acadian French, refugees from the Bay of Minas, Nova Scotia, after the invasion by Colonel Monckton in 1775. But though the earliest settlements these were not the most important. The honor of initiating the movements which have led to the present development of the county belongs to the settlers of Houlton, on the Meduxnekeag River at the eastern border, and 120 miles north-east of Bangor. In 1826 arose the north-eastern boundary dispute, which brought this region into much prominence ; and it became the scene of the bloodless Madawaska and Aroostook wars. Until 1812 there was no controversy about the boundary,-the St. Croix being agreed upon as the proper division ; but beyond the monument which marked the head of this river, all was undetermined. After the treaty of Ghent a commission of English and American engineers was appointed to run the boundary line. It was to run due north to the highlands, from which the waters flow toward the Atlantic and toward the St. Lawrence. They found no difference of opinion until they reached Mars Hill, an isolated mountain about 40 miles north of the monu- ment, 30 miles north of Houlton, and 4 or 5 miles west of St. John's River. The English engineers then claimed that they had reached the " highlands," while the Americans dissented ; and both parties re- turned to report to their respective governments. To provide for an emergency, the United States ordered a body of troops to Houlton, where they arrived in October, 1826. Barracks and officer's quarters were provided for them on Garrison Hill; and the troops remained there until the final settlement of the boundary dispute in 1842. In 1828, Congress made provision for a military road from Bangor to Houlton, which was completed in 1830. This formed an excellent
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highway, and did much to open this fine region to pioneers. In 1837 an agent of the Federal Government, while engaged in taking a census of the French near the Madawaska river, was arrested and imprisoned ; but on conference between the government of New Brunswick and the United States government, he was released. Again in 1839, it was reported to the State authorities that New Brunswick lumbermen were engaged in taking away large quantities of timber from the dis- puted territory. This was the opening of the "Aroostook war," an account of which will be found in the article on the civil history of the State, in the first part of this volume. Following this disturbance the settlement of the county received a great impetus. In 1843 the county was enlarged by additions from Penobscot, and in 1844 from Piscata- quis and Somerset counties. The county is divided by the State sur- vey into 181 townships, and into three registration districts. There are now 34 incorporated towns and 28 organized plantations. The towns are Amity, Ashland, Benedicta, Blaine, Bridgewater, Caribou, Easton, Fort Fairfield, Fort Kent, Frenchville, Grand Isle, Haynes- ville, Hersey, Hodgdon, Houlton, Island Falls, Linneus, Limestone, Littleton, Ludlow, Madawaska, Mapleton, Mars Hill, Masardis, Mays- ville, Monticello, New Limerick, Orient, Presque Isle, Sherman, Smyrna, Washburn, Weston, and Woodland. The valuation of these in 1870 was $4,995,685. In 1880 it was $5,225,834. The taxable polls in 1870 was 5,212. In 1880 they numbered 7,734. The population in 1870 was 29,609. In 1880 it was 41,700.
Arrowsic, in Sagadahoc County, is a town and an island sit- uated in the Kennebec river, near its mouth. The small portion of the Kennebec that turns eastward around this island, then southward between Georgetown and Arrowsic, is called Sasanoa. On the north of Arrowsic is Woolwich, on the west of the northern part is Bath, and west of the southern is Phippsburg. The island is nearly 7 miles in length from north to south, and averages about 1 mile in width. It contains some 5,000 acres. There is a considerable hill at the southern part, and the middle of the island is generally highest, but the elevation is small. The southern point bears the name of Bald Head. There is very little marsh, several inlets, and near the middle of the island is Sewall's Pond,-a sheet of fresh water about three- fourths of a mile long and one-fourth wide. Fisher's Eddy, near the middle of the western side, forms a small harbor. Iron ore is found on the island, and a mineral was for some time mined here, which was ground in a crushing mill at Bath, for use as a substitute for emery in grinding and polishing metals. The town has four saw mills, all oper- ated by tide power. The soil is a clay loam. Potatoes, corn, barley, beans and wheat yield well.
This island was purchased of the Indians by Major Clarke and Captain Lake in 1654. At this time there was a fort on the N.E. side of Arrosic or in Woolwich which was occupied by one Hammond, an old Indian trader. This fort was captured in August of the second year of the first Indian war by the treachery of some squaws, who begged for, and obtained, lodgings within it. The resentment of the Indians is said to have been directed against this place on account of the loss of furs and arms stolen by the English from some of their tribe. On Arrowsic Island, about two miles distant from Hammond's, Clark and
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ASHLAND.
I ake had constructed a larger and stronger fort. They had also in the vicinity a mansion house, mills, out-buildings, cultivated fields and domestic cattle. This flourishing establishment was surprised and destroyed in the same incursion and by the same savages who destroyed Hammond's. Captain Lake in attempting to escape was mortally wounded. In answer to a petition of 26 men in their behalf, in 1679, Governor Andros assigned to them the lower part of Arrowsic for a compact settlement. Here they established themselves, therefore, and built a fort, naming the place Newtown. In 1689 this settlement was burnt by the Indians, with the exception of a single house. Again, a short time before the building of Fort Halifax on the river opposite the present Waterville, the Norridgewock Indians made a descent upon Arrowsic, killing a Mr. Preble while he was at work in his field, in what is now Woolwich, -then murdered his wife and three children, and carried three more to Canada. After peace was made in 1761, Captain Harnden, a relative of theirs, visited Canada and ob- tained the release of the children. The Island was three times (in 1676, 1689 and 1722) swept nearly clean of inhabitants by the savages. Remains of cellars and dwellings are still to be seen memorials of the pioneers and of Indian savagery.
Arrowsic was originally embraced in Georgetown, but in 1841 it was set off and incorporated under its present name. The first known house of worship in the Sagadahoe region was erected probably about 1660, at the northern point of the island. In the southern part was built, in 1761, the meeting house of the first parish of Georgetown. The present house of worship in Arrowsic belongs to the Methodists. Arrowsic has two schoolhouses, valned with their lots, at $400. The valuation of the town in 1870 was $103,093. In 1880, it was $86,398. The rate taxation in the latter year was 22 mills on a dollar. The population in 1870 was 252. In 1880 it was 255.
Ashdale, a post-office in Sagadahoe County.
Ashland is situated near the middle of Aroostook County. Buchanan plantation bounds it on the north, and Masardis-on the south. In the township at the east stands Haystack Mountain, and about two townships distant, at the south-west, is the Aroostook range of moun- tains. The surface of the town is generally even. The Aroostook river runs in an oxbow form through the town, with the principal bend toward the west. The Little Machias, forming the outlet of Portage Lake, comes in at the north-west corner of the town, and Big Machias, hav- ing its source in several lakes in the southern interior of the county, comes in at the middle of the western line. On the first are Kendall's Mills, and the second Flint's. Numerous streams rise and run south- ward in the eastward part of the town, emptying into a tributary of the Aroostook river. The manufactures are lumber, starch, cheese, etc. The settlements are principally along the Aroostook River. The village is on the east side of the river near the middle of the town. There is a bridge across the Aroostook near this point, which is 350 feet in length. This point is 66 miles northwest of Houltan, by stage- road via Presque Isle, and is also the terminus of stage-lines from Patten to Fort Kent. The nearest railroad connection is at Caribou, 30 miles distant.
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GAZETTEER OF MAINE.
The settlement was begun about 1835 by William Dalton, who in that year made his habitation at the junction of the Big Machias with the Aroostook. Benjamin Howe followed a year or two afterward, settling on the Aroostook a short distance above Dalton. The township was lotted by Noah Barker during the years 1839-40. The Fairbanks road, leading to Presque Isle, was opened at the same date. The Aroostook road, which extends from the military road 7 miles above Mattawamkeag Point to the north line of this township, though cut through a year or two previous, was not made passable till about 1843. The Fish River road, surveyed and opened in 1839, runs from the terminus of the former northerly to the mouth of Fish River. There is also a road running from this point to the Allagash River.
The town was incorporated in 1862, under the name of Ashland. In 1869 the name was changed to Dalton, in honor of the first settler, but it was changed back to Ashland in 1876. The town is favored with churches of the Episcopalians, Congregationalists and Free Bap- tists. Ashland has five public school-houses, and the total school prop- erty is valued at $2,000. The valuation of the town in 1870 was $98,531. In 1880 it was $90,725. The population in 1880 was 505.
Athens is situated in the southern part of Somerset County, the south-western angle of Piscataquis county resting on the north- eastern angle of the town. It is bounded on the north by Brighton, east by Harmony, south by Cornville and Hartland, and west by Solon. The northern, middle and southern portions of the town are generally level, but there is a group of hills in the east and broad hills or elevated plateaus in the south-western part. The latter is above a square mile in area, und has numerous dwellings. The hills in the eastern part bear the names of Lord's and Stickney's hills and Porcupine Mountain the last being the highest. The principal sheets of water are Went, worth and Barker Ponds; the first having an area of one by three miles, the last of one by two miles. The Wesserunsett River formed in the southern part of the town by the union of its several tribut aries, fur- nishes the water power at Athens village. Wentworth Pond, situated upon the northern part of the western line, furnishes by its outlet several powers, including that at Fellow's Mills, near the centre of the town. On this stream and on the Wesserunsett, at Athens village, are two circular saw mills, three shingle mills and two grist mills. Other manufacture sare carriages, harnesses, boots and shoes, cabinet work, etc. Athens is 12 miles north north-west of Skowhegan, which affords the nearest railroad connection. The town is on the Skowhegan and Moosehead Lake and the Skowhegan and Athens stage lines. It is 50 miles from Augusta. Athens village has several streets well shaded with maple and elm, and attractive for their pleasant residences. Gran- ite is the principal rock in the town. The soil is chiefly clay loam. The chief agricultural product is hay, but good crops of grain and potatoes are obtained. Pease Spring has a local celebrity, and should be better known.
Athens was settled about 1782, and was incorporated in 1804. The town has a good Union church. Somerset Academy is an insti- tution of good repute and furnishes the high school instruction of the town. The number of public school houses is fourteen ; which, with the connected property, are valued at $4,000. The valuation of the
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AUBURN.
town in 1870 was #428,069. In 1880, it was $367,878. The rate of taxation in 1880 was 13 mills on the dollar. The population in 1870 was 1,540. In 1880, it was 1,310.
Atkinson is situated in the southernpart of Piscataquis county. It is bounded north by Sebec, east by Orneville, west by Dover, and south by Charleston, in Penobscot county. The surface is rolling and the soil generally good ; the poorer portions mostly lying in a body along Alder Stream. The titles are from Vaughn and Merrick, of Hallowell, who purchased of Massachusetts at twenty-five cents an acre. They commenced selling lots about 1801, but soon after disposed of what remained to Judge Atkinson and Oliver Crosby, of Dover, New Hampshire. It was lotted out for them in 1807 by Andrew Strong into one hundred acre lots. The town was incorporated in 1819, and named in honor of Judge Atkinson, who had given the inhabitants a library of one hundred volumes. What water-power the town has is near the centre, on Alder Stream, and on Dead Stream near the south-eastern part.
Upon the first of these, in 1807, the Colcord brothers, from Bangor, put up a saw mill and grist mill ; and similar mills are still in operation there.
The first settler was Bylcy Lyford, who called the first town-meeting; on a warrant issued by W. R. Lowney, Esq. In 1820, Oliver Crosby, one of the two principal proprietors, moved into town and commenced' farming on a large scale; holding for his own use 700 acres. His buildings were large and elegant, his orchard and grounds adjoining were laid out in a tasteful manner, and his farming was skilful and successful. Mr. Crosby was a native of Billerica, Massachusetts, and a member of the bar in that commonwealth. He reared a large family ; of whom two at least have been widely known and esteemed,-the late William C. Crosby of Bangor, and Hon. Josiah Crosby of Dexter.
There are a Methodist and a Free Baptist church in the town. Atkinson has a school fund of $2,000 arising mainly from the sale of land reserved for educational purposes. It has ten public school houses, valued at $4,000. The valuation in 1870 was $234,271, In 1880, it was $180,902. The population in 1870 was 810. By the census of 1880, it was 828.
Auburn, the shire town of Androscoggin lies on the west side of Androscoggin River opposite Lewiston. Durham bounds it on the south-east, New Gloucester on the south-west, Poland lies west of the middle portion, Minot, on the north-west and Turner on the north. It is upwards of 12 miles in length, 6 miles above the falls on the Andros- coggin and 6 below, and having an average width of about 4} miles. Its area is something over 50 square miles, about one-sixth of which is covered by its two larger ponds. The Indians formerly had a fort on the high ground at the junction of the two rivers, which was destroyed by Major Church in 1690. It is stated in one of the published accounts of this expedition, that a number of Indians ran out of the fort toward the falls as Church's men entered it from the side next the Little Androscoggin. The white men followed after, but lost sight of
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GAZETTEER OF MAINE.
them near the falls. At length they were led to suppose that the savages were hidden behind the falling sheet of water, and discharged their guns into it. when the body of an Indian was seen floating away over the boiling waters, staining them with blood. Traces of their cornfields were formerly observed on the plain above and westward of the falls, and several skeletons have been exhumed in the vicinity of Goff's Block. The skeletons were generally in a sitting posture with wampum and their war clubs in their hands. The Little Androscoggin crosses the middle of the town from the west to the larger river. About one-fourth of a mile from its mouth it descends 70 feet in a short distance, furnishing a water power equal to 2,870 horse-power, or 114,800 spindles. About 2} miles above this there is a descent over ledges where 20 feet head could be obtained, which would yield about 800 horse power, or 33,600 spindles. At Deer Rips, on the Androscoggin, Little Wilson Pond, Auburn Lake, and Taylor Pond are also powers, several of which are improved by saw and grist mills. On the lower fall of the Little Androscoggin is a cotton mill of about 22,000 spindles, called the Barker Mill, and another is contemplated. At the outlet of Lake Auburn are a peg, saw, grist and box mills, and a fur- niture factory. This pond is 4 miles long and 2 wide, its area being about 1,968 acres. It is a beautiful sheet of water, and is becoming quite a pleasure resort. There are numerous boats, and one or more small steamers at the service of pleasure parties, and two or more hotels furnish comfortable entertainment. Auburn mineral spring is near by. The face of the country at a little distance from the river is generally elevated, and good roads wind among the hills and valleys and the small tracts of woodland, and past neat farm houses and thrifty farms, affording many agreeable drives. The four principal villages are known as Auburn, West, North, and East Auburn.
There were in January, 1880, fourteen large shoe factories in town. One of these is at West Auburn, another at North Auburn, and the remainder at the principal village, at the falls of the Androscoggin. These factories give employment to upwards of 2,000 persons, includ- ing both sexes, young and old. The amount of capital employed in the shoe business is about $1,000,000, and the annual payroll is about $630,000. The number of cases of boots and shoes made in 1879 was 67,334 ; their value being $3,750,000. The number of pounds of leather received during the year was 5,530,842. In 1880 the shoe product of the city was carried up to four and a half million pairs, an increase of 500,000 pairs over 1879. The Barker Mill, manufacturing cotton cloth, in 1880 increased its product 200,000 yards above that of the previous year, bringing the figures up to 4,000,000 yards. In addition to the manufactures already mentioned are a large tannery, a last factory, a shoe-findings factory. the workshop of the Auburn Valve Company, including a brass foundry and a machine shop, a box fac- tory, making shoe and other boxes, a carriage and sleigh factory, a large brick yard, a paper box factory, and several other lesser manu- factories.
The capital employed in other manufactures is equal to that in the shoe business, and the annual product is about $400,000. The total value of manufactures in Auburn for 1878 was $4,100,000. It was larger in 1879, and will probably be larger still in 1880. The number of females employed in the shoe manufacture is given at 589; and in
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AUBURN.
manufacturing of all kinds, 800. The number of males employed in the shoe business is stated at 1,508 ; and in manufacturing of all kinds, 1,700. The total number of persons employed in manufactories in town is about 2,500. Auburn has two savings banks and two national banks.
The Grand Trunk railroad has a branch (Lewiston and Auburn Railroad) passing through the middle of the town, while the Maine Central passes through northward, sending branches up and down the river, by which easy connection is furnished to all parts of the State. There are many fine residences about the villages ; the height on the west of the city being notable for these and for its charming views along both rivers. Auburn is lighted by gas from the Barker Mill, and from the Lewiston Gas Light Company ; and an aqueduct furnishes spring water to the houses.
The high school building (formerly the Edward Little Institute, and earlier, the Lewiston Falls Academy) is a handsome edifice of brick, in a fine situation. In the school grounds in front of this building is a fine statue in bronze of Edward Little, the principal benefactor of the old Lewiston Falls Academy. The statue is by Simmons. It occupies an eminent position, and is an elegant addition to the vicinity. The city has for several years sustained a system of graded schools which re- ceive the earnest support of the inhabitants. The county building, containing the court-room and offices,-a handsome edifice of brick,- was erected in 1856-7, at a cost of about $100,000. Adjoining is the county jail and workshop, also of brick. Near by is an excellent two- story building of brick, built by the city for the accommodation of its government. Hon. C. W. Walton, formerly representative in the national Congress, now a popular judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, resides in Auburn.
In the early period of the town the titles were conflicting. When incorporated, it included a large part of Bakerstown (now Poland), Minot, and only the northern half of what is now Auburn. The whole of this territory was first incorporated as the town of Poland, in 1795. In 1802 that part now Minot and a part of the present Auburn was set off. The two were separated, and Auburn incorporated in 1842. In 1859, the small portion of Danville lying north of the Little Andros- coggin River was annexed to Auburn. In 1867, the remainder of the town of Danville was annexed. Its name still lingers in the minor village of Danville Junction, and the post offices of West Danville and Danville Corners. In 1868 Auburn was incorporated as a city.
The General Court of Massachusetts in 1736 made a grant of a township of land to certain officers and soldiers as pay for their ser- vices in an expedition to Canada under captains John March, Stephen Greenhall and Philip Nelson, in 1690. The first township assigned them under the name of Bakerstown was found to be in New Hamp- shire, and on their petition another was granted them of seven and a half miles square, occupying in part the present city of Auburn,-the location not to interfere with the Pejepscot claim or the town of New Gloucester. It having been found that there was an interference with the former, a new location was ordered, and Mr. Amos Davis was ap- pointed to make the survey at the expense of the proprietors, which was done. Two years later it was discovered that the new location also was wrong; and the General Court ordered Davis to revise his
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survey. In 1787, the State of Massachusetts sold to John Bridgham and John Glover all the land belonging to that commonwealth lying between the towns of New Gloucester, Gray, Otisfield and Shepherd- field (now Hebron and Oxford), and appointed Samuel Titcomb to survey the same. As surveyed by him, the tract included all of Bakerstown, excepting about 1,100 acres. There was also the settler's claim ; so that Colonel Moses Little (who had been the agent of the Bakestown proprietors from the first) found it neither a small nor a pleasant matter to secure what he deemed to be his rights. Finally he held his own against later grants, while Massachusetts purchased of the Pejepscot proprietors that portion of their territory which she had given to the Bakerstown proprietors.
Colonel Little's son Josiah succeeded him in the management of his lands in Maine, which included a large extent of Bakerstown and of the Pejepscot Patent. Josiah's son Edward became his successor in respect to the Maine lands, and eventually became a resident of the vicinity of Lewiston Falls. Here he was active in all public affairs, and was a chief mover in the formation of the first Congregational church in this place. In 1835, he and eleven others became the cor- porators of Lewiston Falls Academy,-to which Mr. Little gaye nine acres of land in a suitable location as a site for the school. He also contributed to erecting the building, and later, gave to the institution a new house and a large lot valued at that time at $3,000.
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