Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 15

Author: Varney, George J
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Boston Russell
Number of Pages: 648

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Bingham is situated on the east bank of the Kennebec River, near the middle of the southern half of the county. It is bounded on the east by Brighton, south by Solon, north by Concord, and west by Moscow. The area is 23,040 acres. Johnson Mountain, situated in the north-eastern part, is the principal elevation, estimated to be above 1,000 feet in height. Fall Brook and its branches occupy the southern part, and Austin Stream crosses the north-western part to the Kennebec. The soil is generally red and gray loam, and yields good crops of hay, potatoes and various grains. Beech, birch, maple and spruce constitute the forests. The centre of business is Bingham vil- lage, situated on Austin Stream, near the Kennebec, and close upon the Moscow line, on Austin Stream. The mills are mostly over the Mos- cow line; but there are saw and grist-mills in Bingham ; and on Falls Brook there are one or more saw-mills. The manufactures consist of all varieties of lumber, driving calks and sets, carriages, harnesses, etc. The town is 22 miles N. N.W. of Skowhegan on the stage line to the Forks. The nearest railroad station is at Anson, 16 miles distant.

The first settlement was made in this town as early as 1784, and was surveyed in 1801, by Philip Bullen. It was incorporated on the 6th of February, 1812; taking its name from William Bingham, in whose purchase ot 1,000,000 of acres in this region, it was included.

There is a Congregational society in the town, and a Union meet- ing-house. Bingham has nine public schoolhouses; these, with other

* Weareindebted to Mr. J. S. Locke, author and publisher of the excellent guide-book to Old Orchard Beach, for several cuts illustrating this vicinity.

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BINGHAM PURCHASE.

school property, having a value of $4,000. The valuation of estate in 1870 was $201,017. In 1880 it was $201,471. The rate of taxation in the latter year was two per cent. for the money tax. The population in 1870 was 826. In 1880 it was 828.

Bingham Purchase refers to two tracts of land in Maine, secured about 1785 to 1790, for the eastern one, and 1793 for the western, by William Bingham, a wealthy merchant and banker of Philadelphia. These tracts consisted of about 1,000,000 acres each ; one lying in south-eastern and the other in western Maine. The boundaries of the eastern tract was as follows :- Beginning at the north-western corner of No. 8, at Union River, thence north 30 miles and including one tier north of the end of that line, excepting the corner township; thence east to the St. Croix ; thence south by Den- ny's River to the north-eastern part of Whiting, thence westward north of Machias to the starting point,-embracing a total of 50 town- ships. In western Maine the north line of the purchase is the same with the north line of townships in Range VII, which strikes near the middle of Moosehead Lake on the western side; thence southward on the eastern line of the western tier of towns in Piscataquis County, to the south-eastern corner of Wellington, the south-western town of the county ; thence westward on a line with the southerly line of that town, to the south-western angle of Mount Abraham township; thence northerly to the boundary line first described, striking it about one mile and a quarter west of the eastern line of the north-eastern town- ship of Franklin County, on the Canadian border. This comprised about 1,000,000 acres,-above 40 townships.

The history of these purchases is as follows: The title of most of the unsettled lands in Maine was in the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts. Needing money, that government, in 1786, took steps to dispose of a large quantity of land in eastern Maine by lottery, in the hope that the drawers of prizes would settle their lands. This hope was not realized ; and soon after the drawing, Mr. Bingham, who also had drawn many of the townships, purchased most of the remainder. The western tract was contracted for by General Knox, by the advice of Gen- eral Lincoln, of Massachusetts, who had explored the territory. Lack- ing funds to pay for his purchase, and being so much occupied with his duties as Secretary of War that he was unable to attend to this property, he transferred his contract to his friend Mr. Bingham, who deserved well of the country, having rendered much financial aid dur- ing the Revolution. Mr. Bingham died in Bath, England, in 1806, leaving one son, who settled in Montreal; two daughters, who mar- ried the brothers, Alexander and Henry Baring, of the eminent bank- ing-house of that name, in London, and two other daughters who married J. R. Ingersol and William Miller, of Philadelphia. Soon after Mr. Bingham went to England, he appointed a young man named John Black as his agent to manage his lands in Maine ; and this duty he attended to until his death in 1856. Alexander Baring eventually became a peer of the realm, with the title of Lord Ashburton. Without the approval of her cabinet the queen of England appointed him as Envoy Extraordinary to the United States, in 1842, to settle the northern and eastern boundary question ; hence the treaty framed by him and Daniel Webster,-at that time

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American Secretary of State-is known as the Webster-Ashburton treaty. William Allen, Esq., of Norridgewock, was employed by Colonel Black as early as the summer of 1828 in overseeing the mak- ing of roads and settling taxes in this territory, and continued in the employment and in making sales more or less until 1855; at which date much land was still held by the heirs. No explanation of the transactions of the General Court with the devisees and records was publicly made until 1868, when a brief statement of the facts was placed on file in the collections of the Maine Historical Society.

Birch Harbor,-a post-office in Hancock County.

Blaine is situated on the eastern border of the State and county, 26 miles north of Houlton. It was formerly Alva planta- tion. It was incorporated as a town in 1874, and named in honor of Hon. James G. Blaine. It is bounded east by New Brunswick, south by Bridgewater, west by unnamed townships, and north by Mars Hill. The latter town contains the eminence of the same, name celebrated as a land-mark in the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick. The surface of the town is not varied by high hills except in the south- western corner, whence a group spreads away to the south-west. The principal streams are Presque Isle Stream, which runs southward across the middle of the town, and its eastern and western tributa- ries, Young Brook and Three Brooks Stream. The centre of business is at the northern side on the Presque Isle road. The town post-office a hotel, and several stores are at this point. The manufactures are shingles, carriages, and boots and shoes. The Free Baptists have estab- lished a church in the town. Blaine has four public schoolhouses, valued at $1.300. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $35,093. In 1880 it was $49,860. The population in 1880 was 646.

Blanchard is situated in the south-western part of Piscata- quis county, 20 miles north-west of Dover. The town is at present the terminus of the Bangor and Piscataquis Railway. The State road from Athens to Moosehead Lake passes through Blanchard,-over which has gone much of the travel to that point. The township was a part of the Bingham purchase, which was locally known as the " Million-acre Tract." Its area is 28,000 acres. Russell Mountain covers quite a portion of it, and other high hills greatly diminish its tillage surface. It is bounded on the north by Shirley, on the east by Monson, south by Kingsbury, and west by Somerset county.

The west branch of the Piscataquis is the principal stream. The ponds are Mud, Thanksgiving, Bracket and Whetstone. The town- ship formerly abounded with pine timber ; and at Blanchard village one of its mill privileges has long been occupied by saw-mills. Several slate quarries have been opened in town, and there appears to be good promise of profit from the stores of this material. The slate is of fine quality, and susceptible of a high polish.

Ebenezer Deane was the first settler, making his first clearing in 1813. The township was purchased a few years later by Charles Blan- chard, Esq., of Portland, and Hon. Thomas Davee, of Dover, for the sum of $4,000. A number of settlers came in soon after. The town was

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BLUE HILL.

incorporated in 1831, being named in honor of the largest proprietor, Mr. Blanchard, who owned three-fourths of the township. Mr. Davee moved his family into town in 1832, and with Mr. Blanchard, bought and rebuilt the mills and dam, adding a grist-mill. A good covered bridge was soon after built across the river. A Congregational church was organized, and in 1834 a minister was settled over it. A church was built the same year. There is now a Methodist and a Free Baptist society in town. Abner Coburn and his brothers in 1835 bought 14,000 acres in the town at $2 per acre. The railway was extended to Blanchard in 1876.

Mr. Davee, while residing in Blanchard, was speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, sheriff of Somerset County, and twice a re- presentative of his district in the national Congress. Another esteemed citizen was Ozias Blanchard, member at different times of both branches of the State legislature ; also Ephraim Packard, judge of Probate. The town sent 16 men to the army of the Union in the late war,-of which number 3 were lost.

Blanchard has but one school-district, and itsschool property isvalued at $800. The valuation of the town in 1870 was $33,142. The rate of taxation in 1880 was two and a half per cent. The population in 1870 was 164. In 1880 it was 166.

Blue Hill is situated on Union River Bay, in the south- western part of Hancock County. It is 14 miles S. S. W. of Ellsworth, and 36 miles from Bangor, and is on the stage-lines from Bucksport to Sedgewick and from Castine to Ellsworth. Surry bounds it on the north-east, Penobscot on the north-west, Brooksville and Sedgewick on the south-west. On the south-east are the waters of Union. River Bay, from which Blue Hill Bay pushes up into the town. The name, Blue Hill, comes from a commanding elevation of land near the centre of the town. The ascent begins at the shore of the bay, continuing in a gradual ascent for about a mile, and thence is quite abrupt to the huge mass of rock which forms the top. The height above high water is 950 feet,-so that the hill affords extended and charming views on every side. It was formerly covered with trees-principally evergreens- which, at a distance, gave a very dark blue tint,-whence its name. The soil of Blue Hill is clay loam and gravel. The principal rock is granite. There are also extensive deposits of manganese and limestone. Other minerals found in town are fluor spar, iron ore, copper ore, gold, lead ore in a form of galena, wolfram, the ore of tin, hydrate of silica, used in the making of fire-proof brick, phosphate of lime, etc. The town has an excellent quality of granite, of which at some times large quantity have been quarried. In 1876, these quarries afforded employment for 30 yoke of oxen and 300 laborers. East River Bridge, at New York, was constructed of Blue Hill granite. At the present time there are also 22 mining and smelting companies owning territory in the town.

McHeard's, Norris, First, Second, Third and Fourth are the. prin- cipal ponds, being from half a mile to a mile in diameter. The outlets of these ponds furnish power for several small saw and grist- mills. One of the bridges, constructed of wood and granite, is 200 feet in length.

Blue Hill was first settled in 1762 near " Fire Falls," where Blue

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Hill Bay communicates with a salt-water pond. The pioneers were Capt. Joseph Wood and John Roundy. The third family in town was formed by the marriage of Capt. Wood's daughter with Col. Parker, who had served at the siege of Louisbourg. The family of Samuel Foster was the fourth, and the next were Col. Nicholas Holt, Ezekiel Osgood, and Nehemiah Hinkley. The first child, Jonathan Darling, was born in 1765; the second child, Edith Wood, in 1766. Several citizens of Blue Hill served in the Revolutionary war. Christopher Osgood, one of the first setlers, was at the battle of Bunker Hill. Nehemiah Hinkley served through the war, and was honorably dis- charged at West Point. The town furnished 196 soldiers to the Union army during the Rebellion, and paid out in bounties $17,995. Among the notable citizens of a later period, but now deceased, were John Peters, Eben. Floyd, Nathan Ellis, and Andrew Witham. There are . several residents above eighty years of age, and one over ninety.

The township was first known as "Number 5." The plantation name was " Newport." It was incorporated as a town in 1789. A Congre- gational church was formed in 1772, and a Baptist church in 1806. There is now an additional Baptist church, at East Blue Hill. The first post-office was established in 1795. Jonathan Fisher was the settled minister from 1796 to 1837. He was somewhat eccentric, but a worthy minister. Blue Hill Academy was incorporated in 1803, being endowed by a grant of one half of Number 23, in Washington county. This property was sold in 1806, for $6,252. The academy has a library of about 500 volumes. The income from the fund (now about $5,000) and tuition fees sustain instruction for about half the year. Blue Hill has an excellent academy, and seventeen public schoolhouses, the school property being valued at $7,800. The valua- tion of real estate in 1870 was $397,620. In 1880, it was $449,497. The rate of taxation the latter year was 16} mills on the dollar, including the highway tax. The population in 1870 was 1,707. In the census of 1880 it was 2,213.

Blue Point, a small village in Scarborough, Cumberland County.

Bolster's Mills, a post-office in Otisfield and Harrison, Cumberland County.

Bonny Eagle, a post-office in Standish, Cumberland County

Bookertown, a small village in Gardiner, Kennebec County.

Boothbay, one of the most southerly towns of Lincoln . County, is situated between the Damariscotta and Sheepscot rivers, having the town of Edgecomb on the north. The surface is moder- ately irregular, without high hills. Agriculture is largely followed, and fair crops are obtained in return for thorough cultivation. The principal occupation of the inhabitants, however, relates to the fish- cries. Barter's, Sawyer's and Hodgden's islands lie near together on the west side of the town ; and at the south is Squirrel Island, which, though without other than the family of the keeper in winter, is in

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BOOTHBAY.

summer quite a populous village, being a convenient and agreeable sea-side resort. The harbors are Boothbay Harbor, midway of its southern shore ; Linekin's Bay, east of the former, and separated from it by the promontory of Spruce Point .; and Pleasant Cove, off Damar- iscotta River, in the north-eastern part of the town. Linekin's Neck is a long projection of the south-east part of the town curving west- ward, and forming Linekin's Bay. The principal ponds are Adam's, in the centre of the town; and south of this, Campbell's Pond, with its outlet, Campbell's Creek, running southward to the sea. Oven's Mouth River is a little more than an arm of the sea. It extends from a little north of the centre of the town to its northern boun- dary, whence it turns westward, joining Back River, and the Sheepscot beyond. Back River is but a channel of the Sheepscot, separating Barter's Island from the main land.

Boothbay is noted for its fine harbors, and its extensive business in the menhaden or porgie fishery, and the extraction of the oil and the preparations of guano from this fish. Boothbay Harbor is es- teemed one of the best in the eastern country. It has four entrances, is of ample size and depth, and is well protected. In 1779 it was the rendezvous of the American expedition against the British at Castine. In recent years it has sometimes in time of bad weather held four or five hundred vessels at a time, consisting chiefly of fishermen, who sought its shelter, or came in for supplies of bait, etc., Boothbay Harbor is a port of entry in the Wiscasset District. At the beginning of 1881, there were doing business at Boothbay village, one fishery and oil com- pany, an ice company, two marine railways, a company manufacturing fertilizers, a factory for canning lobsters, and several manufactures carried on by single parties. At East Boothbay, (Hodgdon's Mills) two firms and an incorporated company are engaged in preparing oil and guano from porgies ; and there are also a large saw-mill and two shipbuilding firms. The other village is North Boothbay, situated at the centre of the town. There is here an establishment of the Knickerbocker Ice Company. Boothbay village is 12 miles south of Wiscasset, with which it is connected by a stage-line. It is the term- inus of the daily steamboat line from Bath in the summer, and from Wiscasset in the winter.

Boothbay was formerly known as a part of Cape Newagen. It is supposed to have been occupied as early as 1630. Boothbay Harbor (formerly Townsend) is considered by many to be the "Pentecost Harbor," on whose shores the crew of Captain Weymouth planted and raised a crop of garden vegetables in 1605. Henry Curtis, in 1666, .purchased of the famous sagamore, Robin Hood, the right to settle here ; but in the second Indian war (1688) the savages destroyed the settlement. It lay waste and almost desolate for 40 years subsequent. In 1730, it was revived by Colonel Dunbar, who gave it the name of Townsend. It was incorporated under that name in 1764, retaining the old name until 1842, when it received the name it now bears, in memory of Old Boothbay, in Lincolnshire, England. It formerly in- cluded Southport and the western part of Edgecomb. The hardships of that early period were sometimes almost beyond belief. The set- tlers brought in by Dunbar were largely Presbyterians from the north of Ireland, some of whom had been actors in the scenes of the Eng- lish Revolution of 1688. The simple faith of these emmigrants is well

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illustrated in an anecdote related by Willis, [see his account of the " Scotch-Irish Immigration " to this country ] of Andrew Reed, an uncle of the celebrated Presbyterian, Rev. John Murray. During the last Indian war the residents of Boothbay Harbor withdrew to the westward for safety. Mr. Reed alone refused to go, and, in defiance of all persuasion, persisted in remaining in his rude log cabin. Con. trary to all expectation, the fugitives, on their return in the spring, found him alive and unharmed. To their wondering inquiries he - calmly replied that he had felt neither solitude nor alarm. "Why should I? Had I not my Bible with me?" cried the old man. Rev. John Murray, to whom allusion has been made, was settled at Booth- bay in the years just preceeding the Revolution. After removing from Boothbay, he was settled over the " Whitefield Church " in New- buryport, where his services were often attended by audiences of 2,000 people. Early in the war of the Revolution, British cruisers sometimes put into Boothbay Harbor, where the sailors frequently went ashore to rob the people. The plundered inhabitants remonstrated with the officers, but to no effect. As a last resort the people requested Mr. Murray to make an effort for their relief. They embarked lim in a capacious boat, and paddled out to the British ship, whose crew were at this time bearing so heavily upon them. The approaching boat challenged the attention of the whole ship's company, who were on the alert to know its business. Their surprise was great when they beheld upon the deck of their vessel the noble figure of the clergyman, clad in the full canonicals of the Presbyterian order. They gazed upon him in silent wonder, while he set forth the sad case of his struggling and suffering parishioners with such force and pathos that the town was no more afflicted by those attached to this vessel.

The Boothbay Savings Bank held in deposits and profits at the close of 1879, $35,795.87. At Boothbay village there are now Con- gregationalist, Free Baptist and Methodist churches; at North Booth- bay is a Congregationalist and Free Baptist, and at East Boothbay a Methodist church, and on Barter's Island, a Free Baptist church. Boothbay has sixteen public schoolhouses, and the entire school property is valued at $20,000. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $642,819. In 1880, it was $769,760. The population in 1870 was 3,200. In 1880 it was 3,576.

Bowdoin is situated in the north-western part of Sagadahoc county. Bowdoinham bounds it on the east, Topsham on the south, Litchfield, in Kennebec county, on the north, and Webster, in Andros- coggin county, on the west. In dimensions, the town is about 8} miles north and south, and 5g east and west. The surface is some- what uneven and rolling, and in the north-eastern part there is a group of six considerable hills. Caesar's Pond, having an area of about 75 acres, is the largest sheet of water. The principal streams are Cath- ance and Little rivers, the first running southward through the eastern part of the town, and the second running in the same direction at the western part, and forming part of the boundary. The rocks are granitic. The soil is about equally divided between clay and sandy loam. Good crops of hay, grain, corn, potatoes and apples are obtained. Hemlock and spruce are the soft woods. Maple, beech, birch and elm are plenti- ful, with a sprinkling of oak and poplar. There are two saw-mills and

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BOWDOINHAM.

two grist-mills,-all employed on custom work. Bowdoin Centre, Bow. doin and West Bowdoin are the business points. It is about 2 miles from the town line to the railroad station at Lisbon Falls, and about 4 to the station at Bowdoinham village.

Bowdoin is supposed to have been settled some years previous to the Revolutionary war, and was known for several years under the name of the " Plantation of West Bowdoinham." It was incorporated in 1788, when,-according to Williamson-it contained about 120 families. It was named in honor of Governor Bowdoin. The people were prin- cipally of the Baptist denomination, and one of the first ministers settled there was Elden James Potter. There are now three meeting- houses in the town, and two societies fully organized and holding reg- ular services, namely,-the Free Baptists and the Friends. Rev. Nath- aniel Purinton and his son, Rev. Albert W. Purinton, were highly esteemed citizens of Bowdoin. There are nineteen persons in town between eighty and ninety years of age, and one over ninety. Bowdoin has fifteen public schoolhouses, valued with other school property at $4,500. The valuation of the town in 1870 was $406,550. In 1880 it was $394,901. The rate of taxation in the latter year was 16 mills on the dollar. The population in 1870 was 1,345. In 1880 it was 1,361.

Bowdoinham, in Sagadahoc County, is situated on the west bank of the Kennebec river, at its junction with Androscoggin. It is bounded north by Richmond, west by Bowdoin, south by Tops- ham, and east by the Kennebec. Woolwich and Bath lie opposite the southern part. The town lies about 8 miles along the river, with an average width of about 5 miles. The principal streams are the Abagadusset and Cathance rivers. The former rises in the northern part of Richmond and runs southward through the eastern part of Bowdoinham, parallel with the Kennebec. The Cathance rises in the northern part of Bowdoin, runs south into the middle of Topsham, then north in Bowdoinham until it receives the "West Branch," then south to Merrymeeting Bay. Bowdoinham village is situated in the southern part of the town, near the junction with the West Branch. There was formerly considerable ship-building carried on at this point, and the business has not yet wholly ceased. There are in Bowdoinham three saw-mills, a grist-mill, a plaster-mill with capacity to grind eight tons per day, two clothing manufactories, a cheese-factory and about one dozen ice companies. Other manufactures are boots and shoes, tinware, carriages and harnesses, etc. East Bowdoinham, near the Abagadusset, has a railroad station and post-office.

The principal rock in town is a felspathic granite. The soil is chiefly clay, with some sandy loam on the uplands. The principal crop for export is hay. Maple, birch and ash flourish in the woods.

The Indian sachem, Abagadusset, had his residence on the point which now bears his name. It lies between the river of the same name and the Kennebec. Alexander Thwait purchased land of the In- dians and lived at this place before 1656. He removed to Bath for a few years, but returned in 1665. It is said that during the first Indian war nine families living on the north shore of Merrymeeting Bay were destroyed or made captive by the Indians. Remains of orchards planted before this date have been mentioned by later inhabitants.

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Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 15

Author: Varney, George J Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Boston Russell Number of Pages: 648

Author: Varney, George J
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Boston Russell
Number of Pages: 648