Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 33

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

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The first settler in Hampden was Benjamin Wheeler, who came from New Hampshire about 1767, and built his dwelling near the " Basin " at the mouth of the Soadabscook. Other settlers came in ;

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and Wheeler, being a carpenter, built mills; and the settlement soon became known as Wheelersborough. Being molested and threatened by the British, the settlers, in 1779, retired through the woods to the Kennebec, and from thence to Woolwich and Portland. In 1783 they returned. In 1796 the township was surveyed and lotted by Ephaim Ballard, and every householder received 100 acres of land. If he were a settler before 1784, he paid the government $6; but if afterward and before January, 1794, he paid $50. The residue of the township was assigned to General Knox, to make up for a deficiency under the Waldo Patent. After the peace there were large accessions of settlers, -many from Cape Cod; and in 1794 the town was incorporated. The name was chosen in honor of the English patriot, John Hampden.

Among the early settlers were Gen. John Crosby, who entered into commercial business, and carried on an extensive trade both with Europe and the East Indies. Another prominent man was General Gabriel Johonot, a brave Frenchman who served under Washington, and was subsequently his friend and correspondent. Hon. Martin Kinsley, General Jedediah Herrick, Enoch Brown and John Godfrey were also prominent citizens of the town. Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-President and Senator of the United States, settled in Hampden as a lawyer about 1832.

During the last war with England the United States corvette " Adams," of 24 guns, commanded by Capt. Charles Morris, having struck a sunken rock in Penobscot Bay, came to Hampden to repair the injury. A principal object of the British expedition up the river in the autumn was the capture of this vessel while she was dismantled and helpless. The British force consisted of two sloops of war, one brig, and several transports, with their crews and several hundred reg- ulars. Captain Morris landed his guns, and erected two batteries, one on the wharf, and one on a hill 200 yards below. The militia collected to the number of about 600; and under the command of General Blake, of Brewer, took up a position on the ridge to oppose the troops as they advanced up the road from where they had landed at Bald IIill Cove. When within about 300 yards of General Blake's position, the British opened fire, then advanced with fixed bayonets in " double quick." Being without breastworks, and outflanked, the militia quickly gave way and made a precipitate retreat. The foe then charged on Captain Morris's batteries, driving their few defenders from their cannon at the point of the bayonet. Captain Morris at once blew up his ship, and with his men retreated to Bangor, thence to Portland. Incensed at thus losing their prize, the officers for three days permitted the sailors, marines and infantry full liberty on shore, where they com- mitted many excesses in the plunder of citizens and destruction of property. When the enemy finally departed they took with them nearly 80 of the citizens as prisoners of war, who were only released on the promise of the selectmen to pay a ransom of $1,000. This incur- sion was a heavy blow to the citizens of Hampden ; but they fully re- covered in a few years, and have ever since continued prosperous.

The well-known Hampden Academy was incorporated March, 1803, and is still doing its good work of education. Many persons who have taken leading positions in town and State were educated here. Hamp- den has churches of the Congregationalists, Baptists and Methodists, there being two of the latter. The number of public schoolhouses is

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eighteen ; and the value of the school property is estimated at $10,000. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $739,339. In 1880 it was $676,- 017. The population in 1870 was 3,068. In 1880 it was 2,911.

Hancock is situated in the southern part of Hancock County, between Taunton Bay on the east, and Skilling Bay on the west. It is about 30 miles south-east of Bangor, and the northern part of its western line rests upon Ellsworth. The surface of the town is gener- ally even, and it has a larger proportion of arable land than any other in the country. The kine are mostly Jerseys, and shorthorn and Ayr- shire crosses. There is a marked neatness about the buildings which tells of industry and thrift. Two of the streams, Kilkenny and Egypt, have sufficient power to turn mills.

Geologically, this is a younger town than most of its neighbors, having evidently not emerged from the waters until the close of the drift period. The course of the glacier and drift markings here range from N. 5° W. to N. 15° E. The "level" at North Hancock suggests the probability of its having been an ancient lake bottom. The south- ern portion, known as " Crabtree's Neck," offers attractions as a summer resort. The villages are Hancock, and North and South Hancock. There is one mill manufacturing staves, shingles and long lumber, and one producing staves and short lumber. Other manufactures are boots and shoes and wagons and sleighs. The inhabitants, especially those of the Neck, are largely engaged in Grand Bank fishing and with profit, notwithstanding some heavy losses,

Hancock was incorporated in 1828, having been formed from parts of Sullivan, Trenton and Number 8. The pioneer settlers came in 1764-5. They were Oliver Wooster, Agreen Crabtree, Thomas Mc- Farland, Thomas Roger, and Joseph Googins. In 1766-8 came Philip Hodgkins, Reuben Abbot, Thomas Moon, and Richard Clark.

The town furnished 115 men for the Union cause in the war of the Rebellion, paying bounty to the amount of $16,900. The three churches in town are all Baptist. Hancock has six public school- houses, and its school property is valued at $3,500. Tbe valuation of estates in 1870 was $163,904. In 1880 it was $177,534. The popula- tion in 1870 was 974. In the census of 1880 it was 1,093.

Hancock County has the most extensive seaboard and more numerous harbors than any other coast of equal extent in the United States. Its geographical position is mainly between 43º 58' and 45° 20' north latitude, and between 60° 47' and 68° 30' west longitude. It is bounded by Washington County on the east, Penobscot and Waldo Counties on the north and west. From north to south it measures about 85 miles, and in width varies from 6 to 40 miles. The total area is about 1,632,000 acres, of which 904,528 acres nearly is land, 637,472, ocean, 90,000 pond, and 100,000 island. Nearly half the land is wild. Hancock County contains 1 city, 31 incorporated towns, and 29 inland and island townships. Within its civic limits are hundreds of islands, one of which, Mount Desert, is the most con- spicuous of any upon the whole Atlantic coast of the United States. Hancock County was organized in 1789, with Penobscot for its shire town. It then included portions of Penobscot and Waldo counties, and extended northward to the Canada line. In 1791 a portion was

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set off and annexed to Lincoln County. In 1827, a portion was taken off for Waldo. In 1831, and again in 1844 a change was made in the partition line between Hancock and Washington Counties. In 1858, Greenfield was set off and annexed to Penobscot.

The first European who made definite mention of the Penobscot bay and river, which wash its western side, was Thevet, a French explorer, in 1556. Martin Pring and Captain Weymouth, the English explorers, sailed along its shores in 1603 and 1605, and DeMonts, the Frenchman, explored some portions of the coast in 1604 and 1605. There is a tradition that Rosier, the historian of Weymouth's expedi- tion, explored Deer Island thoroughfare, making a halt at the bold promontory in Brooksville, known as Cape Rosier. They found the county occupied by a tribe of Indians, who with those on Passama- quoddy waters, were noted for their long journeys in canoes ; whence the general name for these Indians, Etechmins. DeMonts claimed the country in the name of the King of France in the true catholic style, setting up a cross and calling the country " Acadie." By this name it continued to be known until the capture of Quebec by general Wolfe in 1759. When Weymouth came in 1605, he also claimed the country in the name of his King, James I. of England. Thus the two leading powers of Europe became adverse claimants of the soil of Hancock County, and the wars these claims occasioned kept the county an almost unbroken wilderness during the provincial history of Maine. Indeed, it was not until after the war of the Revolution that the French claim to the territory between the Penobscot and St. Croix was relin- quished. The patent of Acadia granted to DeMonts in 1603 was surrendered two years later to Madame de Guercheville; who, in 1613, sent over Saussaye with 25 colonists. This lady was a zealous Catholic, and wished to convert the Indians to that faith. Her colony landed on Mount Desert on May 16, 1613, where they built a fort, erected a cross, celebrated mass, and named the place "St. Sauveur." The exact locality is now supposed to be that now known as Ship Harbor, in the town of Tremont. The " Pool " at Somes' Sound, is supposed to have been the place where the Jesuit missionaries, Biard and Masse, located themselves in 1609. This colony was attacked, captured, and removed from the island in the same season by Captain Argall, of Virginia.

The first English possession was a trading post of the Pilgrims at Pentagoet (Castine) in 1625-6. This, however, soon fell into the hands of the French, and the flag of France floated over it during nearly the whole of the 17th century. The indications of old French settlements have also been found at Castine, Newbury Neck, Surry, Oak Point, Trenton, East Lemoine, Crabtree's Neck, Hancock, Butler Point, Franklin, Waukeag Neck and Sullivan. No permanent English settle- ments were made until after the fall of Quebec, in 1759.

The first grants of land in the county were six townships, each six miles square, between the rivers Penobscot and Union (then known as the Donaqua), which were granted to David Marsh et als, by the Gene- ral Court of Massachusetts, upon conditions, one of which was that they should settle each township with 60 Protestant families within six years. These grants were No. 1, Bucksport; 2, Orland ; 3, Penob- scot ; 4, Sedgewick ; 5, Bluehill; and 6, Surry. Six other townships east of the Union River were granted on the same terms; three of which are in this county, viz. : No. 1, Trenton, granted to Eben

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Thorndike, et als ; 2, Sullivan, to David Bean, et als ; and 3, Mount Desert (Island) to Governor Bernard. The surveys were made by Samuel Livermore ; and as there were three of the townships on each side of the river, it gave rise to the name which the stream now bears. The grantees individually bound themselves in a penal bond of $50, conditioned to lay out no one of the townships more than six miles in extent on the banks of the Penobscot, or on the sea-coast; to build sixty dwelling-houses, at least 18 feet square; to fit for tillage 300 acres of land, erect a meeting-house and settle a minister. There were reserved in each township one lot for a parsonage, another for the first settled minister, a third for Harvard College, and a fourth for the use of Schools ; making 1,200 acres in each township, reserved for public uses.

The King of France, about the year 1688, gave to a French gentle- men named Cadilliac a tract of land in Acadia embracing the whole of Mount Desert Island, and a portion of the mainland. This he held till 1713, styling himself "Lord of Donaqua and Mount Desert." After the war of the Revolution, one M. Gregoire claimed the whole island in right of his wife, Maria T., a grand-daughter of Cadilliac. Governor Bernard, to whom the island had been granted lost his title by confis- cation, but one half of it had been restored to his son John. In con- sideration of a request made by Lafayette in favor of the Gregoire's claim, Massachusetts recognized it as valid ; and this is the only French claim ever sustained to lands in Maine. The heir of Cadilliac therefore received a quit-claim deed for 60,000 acres on the mainland. This included the present towns of Trenton and Lemoine, with a part of Sullivan, Ellsworth, Hancock, Eden and Mount Desert, with the islands in front of the seaboard. A survey of this grant was made by John Peters in 1789.

In 1786, Massachusetts attempted a lottery sale of fifty townships of land between Penobscot and Passamaquoddy. These were exempt from taxes for fifteen years. There were 2,720 tickets, and the price was $2 each. Every one was a prize ticket ; the smallest prize being a tract of land a half mile square, and the largest six miles square. Leonard Jarvis of Surry, was one of the five managers. On the draw- ing of the lottery, only 437 were found to be sold and 165,280 acres drawn; while 942,112 acres remained unsold. The average price realized by the government for the lands drawn was about 52 cents per acre. The lots not drawn, and also the greater part of the prize lots were purchased by William Bingham, of Philadelphia, a man of great wealth. He died in England in 1803, leaving one son and two daughters. One of the daughters married Alexander Baring, of London, who subsequently became Lord Ashburton ; and as ambassador to the United States in 1842, framed with the secretary of state, Daniel Webster, the treaty fixing the eastern and western boundary of Maine, known as the " Webster-Ashburton Treaty." The lottery townships in Hancock County sold to Mr. Bingham were Nos. 14, 15 and 16, (possibly, also, those " up river" townships sold to him,) each containing 23,040 acres. The conveyance of these three was made January 28, 1793, by Samuel Phillips, Leonard Jarvis and John Reed, a committee appointed by the General Court of Massa- chusetts. In 1792, Barthelemy de Gregoire sold 23,121 acres of his grant to Henry Jackson, of Boston ; which in 1796, was purchased by Mr. Bingham, who about the same time also purchased the residue of

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the Gregoire grant. Col. John Black, an Englishman by birth, who resided at Ellsworth for many years, was agent for the Bingham heirs.

Hancock County has one mountain chain, and one group of moun- tains. The line stretching across Mount Desert Island is a continua- tion of the Schoodic system, as are also Mount Desert Island and the Porcupines. There are thirteen well-defined peaks on Mount Desert Island, of which Green Mountain, in Eden, is highest, having an alti- tude of 1,522 feet above the sea. In Dedham is a mountain group, where ten mountains are clustered together, from which the town has gained the name of the " Switzerland of America." The other elevations suf- ficiently high to deserve the name of mountains, are Blue Hill Moun- tain, in Blue Hill ; Bull Hill Mountain, in Eastbrook ; Ball and Tunk Mountain, in Number 10, and Lead Mountain, in Number 28. There are narrow defiles of the gorge form at Morgan's Bay, Surry, McHeard's Landing, in Blue Hill, and near Mason's Mills, in Orland. There is much waste land, known as " Heaths."

The county has three drainage streams : the Penobscot River on the west, the Union in the Middle, and Narraguagus on the east. The area within the county, tributary to each drainage basin, as computed from Walling's surveys, is Union River, 516,250 acres ; Penobscot River, 252,440 acres ; Narraguagus River, 113,510 acres. There are about 300 islands within the county limits, 270 of which are represented on the county map. The light stations in the county are No. 10, Prospect Harbor, 5th order ; 11, Winter Harbor, 5th order; 12, Mount Desert, 3d order ; 13, Egg Rock, 4th order ; 14, Baker's Island, 4th order ; 15, Bear Island, 5th order ; 16, Bass Harbor, Head, 5th order ; 17, Burnt Coat Harbor, 5th order; 18, Burnt Coat Harbor 4th order ; 19, Egge- moggin, 5th order ; 20, Saddleback Ledge, 5th order ; 22, Deer Island Thoroughfare, 4th order ; 23, Eagle Island Point, 4th order ; 24, Pumpkin Island, 5th order ; 33, Dice's Head, 4th order ; total number, fifteen.

The rock formation of the county is mainly granite, syenite and gneiss. The granite formation appearing at the surface at Deer Isle continues in a curve through Blue Hill, Sedgewick, Brooksville, Orland, North Ellsworth, Number 8, Franklin, Sullivan, and ends at Mount Desert. In Eden there is red granite. Most of the granite in Bucks- port, Orland, Dedham, Waltham and Eastbrook is porphyritic, with black mica, like those huge bowlders at Ellsworth Falls. Within the horse-shoe-like circle of granite which curves from Deer Isle to Mount Desert, the rock is mostly mica schist, or a micaeous slate. The valley bed of the Union River basin is of this rock. The most abun- dant variety of this class of rock consists of alternate layers of mica and quartz. It indicates the presence of gold rather than coal. At Buck's Harbor, in Brooksville, Green's Landing, in Deer Isle, McHeards, in Blue Hill, at Somes Sound, and in Sullivan and Franklin, the gran- ite crops out in massive form. Extensive deposits of plastic clay are found at Castine, Penobscot, Ellsworth and Surry. The whole extent of the county is what is termed a " glaciated surface," the soil of which is formed chiefly of the simple geological formation "drift." The course of this drift is shown by the stric, or scratches upon the ledges, varying from N. 15° W. to N. 15° E. Verd Antique, or green marble, is found at Deer Isle. Milk-white marble, such as is used for statuary, is said to occur in Eden and Mount Desert.

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Minerals and ores are found as follows : Brooksville, iron pyrites ; Blue Hill,-fluor spur, galena (lead ore), wolfram (ore of tin), hydrate of silica, manganese, limestone, phosphate of lime ; Bucksport,-lime- stone, clay slate, quartz; Castine,-quartz, argillacious slate, plastic clay ; Deer Isle,-asbestos, novaculite, limestone. Veins of zinc and copper occur in No. 7 and in Gouldsboro. Bog iron is found in almost every town. Gold has been found in Bucksport, Orland and Surry.

An abstract of observations in temperature in Surry shows that the average degree of greatest cold for four years was 12° 20' below zero ; and the average of greatest heat for the same length of time was 92° Fahrenheit. The mean summer temperature for the same time was 67° 21', and the yearly mean 44º 44'. Hancock County has two cus- toms districts, two ports of entry, six deputy districts, eight ports of delivery, twenty-six hailing ports, and thirteen United States custom house officials. The county was organized in 1789, being named in honor of John Hancock. Portions were taken from it in 1816 to form Penobscot, and in 1827, to form Waldo. Ellsworth has been the shire town since 1837. The valuation of estates in the county in 1870 was $7,554,073. In 1880 it was $7,897,488. The population in 1870 was 36,495. In 1880 it was 38,131.

Hanover, in Oxford County, lies on the north side of Bethel, of which it was formerly a part. It constituted the north-east corner of the latter town, and is separated from it by the Androscoggin River. Its form is that of a triangle, having for its base the irregular line of the Androscoggin. The extreme length in a direct line on the river is about 5 miles. Rumford bounds it on the north-east, and Newry on the north-west. The surface is broken and uneven. Bear and Bart- lett mountains are the principal eminences, and Howe's Ledge a prom- inent object. Howard's Pond, with an area of 250 acres, has an alti- tude of 365 feet above the Androscoggin into which it empties 1} miles southward. The forests contain the large variety of trees com- mon in the region. The town has some of the best interval farms in the State. The soil is a fine loam, yielding well of all crops, but chiefly hay. The rock in general is a coarse granite.

The water-power is on the outlet of Howard's Pond. There is a dam near the pond. At Hanover Village, a canal on each side of the stream conducts water to the mills, of which there are seven. There is also a steam mill for the manufacture of dowels. The other manu- factures are woollens, leather, boots and shoes, furniture, flour, meal, long and short lumber, sash, blinds and doors, rakes, etc. Locke's Mills, on the Grand Trunk Railway, 7 miles distant, is the nearest station. The town is on the stage-route from Andover to Bryant's Pond, another station on the Grand Trunk.

Hanover was first settled by Nathaniel Segar, from Newton, Mass., in the spring of 1774. He was subsequently in the United States service until 1780, when he again became a resident of Hanover. In 1781, he was taken captive by the Indians on their last hostile incur- sion in Maine, and was held a prisoner by them for sixteen months. He then a third time returned to this place, where he spent the remain- der of his days. In 1780 and soon after came Jonathan Bean, Jesse Duston, Moses and Stephen Bartlett. About the year 1792 Phineas Howard, from Temple, N. H., purchased the unoccupied land in this

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township from Massachusetts ; and from him it received its early name of " Howard's Gore." It was incorporated as Hanover, Feb. 14th 1843. The town sent 28 men to do battle for the Union in the war of the Rebellion, losing 5 of the number.

There is here a Methodist society, which sustains meetings through the year. The number of public schoolhouses is three. The value of school property is stated as $1,500. The valuation of estates in 1870 was 858,280. In 1880 it was $64,124. The rate of taxation in the lat- ter year was 7 mills on a dollar. The population in 1870 was 188. In 1880 it was 203.

Harmony lies in the eastern part of Somerset County, 19 miles north-east of Skowhegan. It is bounded on the east by Cam- bridge, Ripley and St. Albans, on the south by Hartland, west by mountainous Athens, and north by Wellington, in Piscataquis County. The area is 36 square miles. This town is the first east and south of the hilly region extending from the Kennebec into the south-west parts of Piscataquis County. The surface is moderately uneven, with hills in the north-western part. Moose Pond, about 10 miles square, oc- cupies most of the southern line. The other ponds are Little and Mill, both on the main stream of the Sebasticook, in the eastern part of the town. The water-powers are at Main Stream Village, and on Higgins Stream, at Harmony Village, at the centre of the town. At the latter place are a machine-shop, and a saw-mill capable of manu- facturing 500,000 boards and 150,000 shingles annually. At Main Stream Village is a grist-mill, a carding and satinet mill, and a saw- mill of the capacity of producing 500,000 feet of boards and 1,000,000 shingles annually.

Harmony has a soil that is moderately productive, and there are many well-stocked farms. The town is the terminus of the stage-line from Pittsfield, on the Maine Central Railroad.

Harmony was originally granted by Massachusetts to Hallowell Academy, and was purchased of that institution by Charles Vaughn of that town. It was settled in 1796, bearing the name of Vaughnstown until June 15, 1804, when it was incor] or ited under its present name.

The churches of this town are a Methodist, a Free Baptist and a Union. Harmony has eleven public schoolhouses, and the school property is valued at $3,000. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $190,606. In 1880 it was $189,751. The population in 1870 was 978. In 1880 it was 881.

Harpswell is the south-easterly town of Cumberland County. It consists of a peninsula 9 miles in length, extending south-westward, with a parallel line of islands on each side. These are known as Harpswell Neck, and, on the east, Great Island, Orr's Island, with numerous smaller ones. Between the peninsula and the Islands named is the long Harpswell Harbor. On the west side of the peninsula is Middle Bay. These two bodies of water at their northern extremity approach so near to each other that where it joins Brunswick, the peninsula is little more than 45 rods wide. Great Island, the largest of the islands, and the most easterly part of the town, is separated from West Bath by New Meadows River. The three larger islands have their greatest length nearly north and south, and succeed each

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other in the same direction. The two first are connected with each other, and the first with the mainland by bridges. Each is penetrated from the north and from the south by several harbors and inlets, and their surfaces are varied by hill, valley and forest. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe has spent many summer months upon these islands, making the middle one of the line the scenery of her delightful story, " The Pearl of Orr's Island." She says that the scenery of Harpswell is " of more varied and singular beauty than can ordinarily be found on the shores of any land whatever." At a distance of about four miles from the railroad station at Brunswick, " the traveller crosses an arm of the sea, and comes upon the first of the interlacing group of islands which beautifies the shore. A ride across this island is a constant succession of pictures, whose wild and solitary beauty entirely distances all power of description. The magnificence of the evergreen forests, the rich intermingling ever and anon of groves of birch, beech and oak, in picturesque knots and tufts, as if set for effect by some skilful landscape gardener, produce a sort of strange, dreamy wonder; while the sea, breaking forth on the right hand and on the left of the road into the most romantic glimpses, seems to flash and glitter like some strange gem which every moment shows itself through the frame-work of a new setting." Ragged Island, which lies broad off in the ocean east of Bailey's Island, is supposed to be the "Elm Island " of Rev. Elijah Kellogg's stories. A legend of these isles is preserved in his vigorous verse by Whittier, in " The Dead Ship of Harpswell" - a spectre ship which comes driving in as an omen of death, but never reaches land :-

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Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 33

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