Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 38

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

USA > Maine > Gazetteer of the state of Maine > Part 38

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).

AUSTIN SCHOOL 1873

RUSSELL".RICHARDSON.SC

DISTRICT SCHOOL HOUSE, KITTERY, ME.

vessels have been built here. The bridge connecting Kittery with Portsmouth was built in 1822, and is 2,230 feet long. The business of the town, other than farming, is chiefly found at Kittery Depot; a half mile easterly at Kittery Village, whence a bridge leads to the Navy-Yard ; and at Kittery Point, a mile and a half east of the vil- lage. The first Congregational church of Kittery was organized in

306

GAZETTEER OF MAINE.

1714, and Rev. John Newmarch was ordained pastor. The Spruce Creek church was organized in 1750, and Rev. Josiah Chase was or- dained pastor. The First Baptist church in Maine was organized here in Kittery in 1682; the first Christian church in 1806; and the first Methodist society was formed about 1827. The town has now two Christian and two Methodist churches, one Congregational, one Free Baptist, and one Universalist church. A good public library has been recently established in the village. There are eleven schoolhouses in town including that of the High School valued at $17,000. The val- uation of estates in 1870 was $622,523. The population at that time was 3,333. In 1880 it was 3,230,-and the valuation, $535,289.

Knightsville, a small village and post-office in Cape Eliza- beth, Cumberland County.

Knox, occupies a position in Waldo County half way between the Penobscot and Kennebec Rivers, 12 miles N.W. of Belfast. It is bounded on the north by Thorndike, east by Brooks, south by Mor- rill and Montville, and west by Freedom. The area is 17,000 acres. The town is quite hilly, but without very high eminences. Half-Moon Stream, running northward to Unity Pond, is the chief watercourse. The soil is fertile, repaying well the labor of the inhabitants, who are almost exclusively farmers. The manufacturing consists of & lumber- mill, tannery, carriage-factories, boots and shoes, etc. There are two villages, Foster's Corner, in the south-west part, and Knox Corner, in the north-west. The Belfast and Kendall's Mills stage-line runs through the town. The Belfast branch of the Maine Central Railroad has a station in the north-east part.

The territory of this town was included in the Waldo Patent, of which Gen. Henry Knox became the owner; and at its incorporation, Feb. 12, 1819, it received his name. The settlement commenced about 1800.

The Methodists and the Christian denominations have churches in the town. The number of public schoolhouses is nine. The school property is estimated at $2,000. The value of estates in 1870 was $218,392. In 1880 it was $218,608. The population in 1870 was 889. In 1880 it was 853.

Knox County is situated on the south-eastern side of Penob- scot Bay, and includes its islands south of Isleboro, and west of Isle au Haut Bay. It was organized in 1860, being formed from Lincoln and Waldo, and named for General Knox, the friend of Washington, who was a resident of the county during the later years of his life. It contains thirteen towns, one city, and two organized plantations, viz. : Appleton, Camden, Cushing, Friendship, Hope, Hurricane Isle, North Haven, City of Rockland, St. George, South Thomaston, Thomaston, Union, Vinalhaven, Warren, Washington, Matinicus Isle Plantation, and Muscle Ridge Plantation. Rockland is the shire town. The St. George's River runs through the county in a general south course, dividing it into two nearly equal sections. On this stream and its branches, the outlets of a large number of ponds, are many water- powers. The principal elevations of land are the Camden Hills,

307

KNOX COUNTY.

extending from Thomaston through the western part of Rockland to the Penobscot on the north-eastern side of Camden. Of these, Mount Megunticook is 1,265 feet high; Ragged Mountain, 1,230; Mount Pleasant, probably about the same height as the latter; Bald Mountain, 1,140 feet ; and Mount Battie, nearly 1,000 feet. Mount Hatchet, in Hope, is a considerable eminence, and another in Rockland, 558 feet in height, is known as Madambettox, Mathabesec, and also as Dodge's and Marsh's Mountain. The soil compares well with that of other counties, being generally fertile in the valleys and on the interior slopes, and sterile on the ridges and along the coast. St. George's and its neighborhood was one of the earliest points visited and occu- pied by Europeans. In 1630, Leverett and Beauchamp, two English merchants, received by grant from the Plymouth Company, the terri- tory lying between the Penobscot and Muscongus Rivers, extending north far enough to form a tract 30 miles square, or nearly 600,000 acres. This was first known as the Muscongus, and, subsequently, the Waldo patent, from having passed into the ownership of that family. This patent forms the basis of most of the land titles in Knox and Waldo counties. In 1694, Sir William Phips acquired a partial title to lands in the southern part of Knox County, by purchase from Ma- dockawando, a famous chief of the Tarratines. The two block-houses which, by subsequent enlargements, became Fort St. George, were erected in 1719-1720.

Lovewell's, or the "Three Years' War" with the Indians began in 1722 and continued into 1725. During this time the inhabitants of Knox County suffered greatly ; and in July of this year two Massachu- setts commissioners held a conference at the fort with thirteen Indian chiefs. This was adjourned to Boston, where for a month the discus- sion of the differences between them and the settlers in this region were discussed by the State authorities and two chiefs representing the tribe ; the Indians denying Madockawando's right to make a sale of land here as he had to Governor Phips. At length the chiefs were pacified by an agreement to establish trading-houses on the St. George's, where goods should be sold to the Indians at a slight advance on cost. This arrangement was known as the Dummer Treaty, and was ratified in the following summer by a large concourse of Indians at what is now Portland.

It was at this epoch that we first hear of Samuel Waldo, a young Boston merchant, who, about this time, by inheritance and by subse- quent purchase came into possession of nearly the whole of the Mus- congus patent, all, in fact, of Knox and Waldo counties, except what is now included in the towns of Camden, Hope and Appleton. Thus Mr. Waldo became sole patentee of half a million acres, whose northern boundary was claimed by him to be but very little south of the site of Bangor. One of his first acts was to open the lime-quarry which was long afterward enclosed by the walls of the Maine State Prison, where he commenced the manufacture of lime for the Boston market,-thus being the pioneer of what has become a leading industry in the region. In 1735, Mr. Waldo contracted to deed to each settler a lot 40 rods wide on the River St. George, and running back so as to contain 100 acres ; the settlers on their part agreeing to build houses, and clear four acres of land on the lots occupied within two years. The first party consisted of 27 families of Scotch-Irish extraction.

308

GAZETTEER OF MAINE.

Among the names of these were Patterson, Boggs, Creighton, Starrett, Spear, Lermond, McIntyre, Robinson, and Kallock,-still represented in these towns. Mr. Waldo in the same year rebuilt the saw-mill at Mill River ; in 1740, he erected a grist-mill at Oyster River, and erected a house for religious meetings. About this time he also located 40 lots on the western side of the river, on what is now Cushing, about 30 of which were at once occupied. In 1743 a settlement was effected in what is now Friendship (then Meduncook), by several families of English Puritan extraction. In 1744, an Indian war again visited the eastern regions, and the inhabitants again endured the horrors of savage warfare. In 1745 occurred the famous expedition which resulted in the capture of Louisburg. In the land force Waldo, who had some time previously become a militia colonel, bore the rank of Brigadier General. With the return of peace, prosperity again smiled upon the settlement. In 1753, General Waldo settled another colony of twenty Scottish families some two miles from the river on the western side. Anderson, Dicke, Crawford, Malcolm and Kirkpatrick are the names of some of them. They called their settlement Stirling, and the name still adheres to the locality. Again from 1754 to 1758 an Indian war raged in Maine, to the great distress of the St. George's settlers. With the fall of the French power in the north, the Indians realized that they could no longer contend with the English, and in the treaty with them which closed this war they acknowledged they had forfeited their lands, and all contention ceased. General Waldo died in 1759, and the larger part of this patent came into the hands of his son-in-law, Thomas Flucker, of Boston.

At the breaking out of the Revolution, the inhabitants of this region were generally found on the patriot side. All signed the "Solemn League and Covenant " binding to non-intercourse with Great Britain until the Boston Port Bill should be repealed ; and in June, 1775, they formed a Committee of Safety and Correspondence. After the failure of the expedition against the British at Castine in 1779, General Peleg Wadsworth, the second in command of the land forces, had his headquarters as commander of the Eastern Department at Thomaston. It happened by the expiration of enlistments that he was at one time left with only a body-guard of six men, when his house was attacked in the night by twenty-five British soldiers from Castine. After 2 brave resistance the General was wounded and carried as prisoner to the British garrison at Castine. After being for some months in con- finement there, he together with a companion in misfortune-Major Benjamin Burton - escaped during a severe thunder storm; and, crossing the Penobscot, quickly found safety among their countrymen.

At the close of the war, there was much uncertainty in regard to land titles. Thomas Flucker, the heir of General Waldo, had espoused the cause of the king, and was therefore included in the act of pros- cription. In a few years, such portion of the patent as had not been disposed of, came into the possession of Flucker's son in law, General Henry Knox. On resigning his commission as secretary of war in 1795, he removed to the mansion he had prepared in Thomaston. The mansion, to which Mrs. Knox had given the name, Montpelier, was opened with a grand feast, to which were invited all the neighboring inhabitants-rich and poor ; and here he continued for the remainder of his life to dispense the most bountiful hospitality. Among his dis-

309

LA GRANGE.

tinguished guests were Talleyrand and Louis Philippe. General Knox entered upon the development of his estate with energy. He com- menced the manufacture of lime, erected mills, introduced new varieties of fruits and vegetables, and improved breeds of cattle and sheep. His extensive operations brought in many new settlers ; but his expensive establishment drew heavily on his income, and an ardent temperament sometimes involved him in unprofitable schemes, so that the great estate was after his death found to be insolvent. He died suddenly in 1805; and his remains now rest in the cemetery at Thomaston. In the war of 1812, the chief interest centred in the privateering on the coast and the importation of foreign goods in neutral vessels,-which having run the British blockade were transported across the country to Boston by ox-teams. In the war of the Rebellion, Knox County sustained her credit for patriotism and bravery. Major General Hiram G. Berry, who fell at Chancellorsville, was the most eminent among her sons in this period of our history.

By the census of 1880, the amount of shipping owned in Knox County was 84,931 tons, having a value of $1,660,584. The amount of personal estate was $4,032,582; and of real estate $6,846,154. The population in 1870 was 30,823; and 1880, 32,862.

Kossuth is situated on the north-western border of Washington. County ; and is bounded by Topsfield on the east, unnamed townships on the north and south, and Carrol in Penobscot County on the west. Baskahegan Lake lies at the north-east corner, receiving Pleasant Stream, the principal water-course of Kossuth. This town was former- ly No. 7, Range 2, north of the Bingham Purchase. It was incorporated February 23, 1876. It is 66 miles from Machias, and 42 miles from Calais, on the Topsfield and Lincoln road. The only manufactory at present is one lumber mill ; but the population will soon require others.

Kossuth has two public schoolhouses, with a total school property of $800 in value. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $26,645. In 1880 it was the same. The population in 1870 was 119, with 27 voters. In 1880 the number of voters remained the same, but in the preliminary report, the population was massed with other places, and cannot there- fore be given.

La Grange, in Penobscot County, lies in the southern angle of the Penobscot and Piscataquis rivers, 28 miles north of Bangor. It is bounded on the east by Howland and Edinburg, south by Argyle and Alton, west by Bedford, in Penobscot County, and by Orneville in Piscataquis County, and north by Medford in the same county. The Bangor and Piscataquis railroad passes through the south-western part. On this road, near the middle on the western side of the town, is La Grange village. Hemlock Stream, the west branches of Dead River and of Birch Stream, and Hoyt Brook are the principal water-courses. The size of the township is about 9 miles in length, north and south, by 6 east and west. The surface is moderately uneven, with one considera- ble elevation called Brimstone Hill. The forests are thrifty, and con- sist of all the various trees common to the region. The soil is fertile, yielding excellent crops of hay, oats, wheat, corn and potatoes. The underlying rock is slate in many places. Dead Birch and Hemlock

310

GAZETTEER OF MAINE.

streams each have water-powers. There are two saw-mills, manufac- turing long and short lumber and fruit-boxes and a grist-mill. One of the saw-mills is driven by steam. Four trains daily pass through the village. The dwellings in the village and through the town generally convey the appearance of thrift, which the fertility and business of the town would lead one to expect.

The town was incorporated February 11, 1832. There is a good Free Baptist church here, and a Union church newly erected. There are four public schoolhouses. The school property is valued at $3,000. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $154,425. In 1880 it was $202,- 673. The rate of taxation is about 23 cents on a dollar. The popula- tion in 1870 was 622. In 1880 it was 721.

Lakeside, a post office in Kennebec County.

Lakeville Plantation lies in the extreme eastern part of Pe- nobscot County, 75 miles E.N.E. of Bangor. It was formerly Number, 4 of Range 1. It is bounded on the north by Springfield and Carroll, east by the latter, west by an unnamed township, and south by Wash- ington County. The area is about 70 square miles. Near the centre of the township is Upper Dobsis Lake (Sysladobsissis). South of this is a larger lake, Lower Dobsis, lying partly in the township southward. Others lying north and east of Upper Dobsis are Junior, Duck, Keg and Lombard ponds. These sheets of water vary from 2 to 10 miles in length, covering a large part of the area of the township. The outlets of these ponds furnish some water-power. There are two saw- mills manufacturing long and short lumber.

The surface of the town is quite uneven. Almanac Mountain is the highest ; its summit being generally stated as 2,000 feet above the surface of the lake. The ledges are mostly of coarse granite. The soil is a gravelly loam, and fairly productive. Hay, wheat and potatoes are chiefly cultivated. The nearest railroad stations are at Mattawam- keag and Kingman, each about 20 miles distant. The post-offices are Springfield and Carroll.

Lakeville Plantation was organized under its present name Feb. 29, 1868. There are two public schoolhouses, and the school property is valued at $500. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $43,990. In 1880 it was $48,608. The rate of taxation is 94 mills on the dollar. The population in 1870 was 108. In 1880 it was 136.

Lambert Lake a post-office in the township adjoining on the west of Vanceboro, in Washington County.

Lamoine, in the southern part of Hancock County, emoraces the peninsula lying between Jordan's River on the west and Skilling Bay on the east. The area is about 11,000 acres. The soil is good, and could easily be made very productive. The inhabitants are chiefly devoted to coasting and fishing. The yearly catch by vessels from this town at the Grand Banks is stated at 8,000 quintals; of Magdalen herring, 100,000 boxes; the aggregate market value of both being about $55,000.

311

LEBANON.

The post-offices are Lamoine, and North and East Lamoine.

An object of curious interest is Blunt's Pond, which has a surface of 30 acres at a height above the sea of 300 feet. The colossal em- bankment which surrounds it suggests the work of the mound-builders of the Mississippi Valley. It is situated upon a height of " loess or bluff formation " that extends in a northerly direction across the coun- try. Along the seashore of this town occur extensive deposits of clam shells, in which human bones have been found. In one of these beds, a few years since, Capt. A. G. Berry found a brass kettle, an axe, and a stone file. Capt. Berry has also in his possession the account-book of the first settler, also that of Dr. Payson, and some of the French deeds executed by Madame Gregorée. One dated in 1788 is signed : " Bartholomy De Gregoire.

" Maria Therese de Gregorie, nee de law the Cadillack."

Lamoine was set off from Trenton and incorporated in 1870. It was named for Lamoine, an early French resident, who at one time owned a large tract of land west of Skilling's River. A colony of French made a transient settlement on Trenton Point at an early day, and two of the colonists, Delaittre and Desisles, remained permanent residents. According to the statement of Hon. W. King, the first settlement at Lamoine, formerly Trenton, was made in 1774 at Gillpatric's Point, by the individual whose name it bears. Captain Berry states that " Capt. Isaac Gillpatric, with six sons and two daughters, from Biddeford, and a son-in-law, Edward Berry, from Londonderry, N. H., were the first settlers." Both these authorities say that the French came subse- quently to Gillpatric.

The two church-edifices of Lamoine both belong to the Baptists. The town has four public schoolhouses, and the school property is val- ued at $5,200. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $142,449. In 1880 it was $148,333. The population in 1870 was 612. In the cen- sus of 1880 it was 751.

Lang Plantation, in Franklin County, is situated between the towns of Rangley and Eustis, having Dallas Plantation on the south. Formerly it was Number 2 of Range 3. The Saddleback River, or Dead River, gathers some of its tributaries within the town. The plantation is 48 miles north-west of Farmington. The post-office is that of Eustis. The valuation in 1870 was $19,924. In 1880 it was $23,500. The population in 1870 was 36. In 1880 it was 31.

Larone, a post-office in Fairfield, Somerset County.

Lebanon is situated midway of the northern side of York County, adjoining New Hampshire, and separated from it by the Salmon Falls River. It is bounded by Acton on the north, Sanford on the east, and North Berwick and Berwick on the south. Its area is about 26,000 acres. The township was granted and confirmed to Joseph Chadbourne, Nathan Lord, Joseph Hartt, Ichabod Goodwin, Edward Arnold, Elisha Plaisted, and 54 others, their associates ; and all hands are held by this title. No portion of the land in the township was ever conveyed by an Indian deed. It is said that no evidence exists of its ever having been occupied as a dwelling-place by

312

GAZETTEER OF MAINE.

the Indians, except possibly by a few families beside the pond at the extreme north-west corner of the town. The first settlement was chiefly in school district No. 1. The surnames of the first settlers were Farnham, Copp, Door, Hussey, Rines, Stevens, Blaisdell, Tebbetts, Kenney, Wallingford, McCrelis, Perkins, Corson, Burrows, Goodwin, Yeaton, Furbush and Cowell, who appear to have come in soon after 1746. Two garrison houses were built in 1755. The origi- nal proprietors were required by their charter to build a meeting-house, and settle and maintain a learned and orthodox minister for the inhabit- ants, and build him a house. The meeting-house was erected in 1753, and the parsonage in 1759. In 1761 or 1762 the town hired Ezra Thompson to preach and teach school, and his labors in these depart- ments appear to have been the first in town. The settlement was at first known as "Towow " or "Towwoh." The town was incorporated under its present name in 1767. Thomas M. Wentworth, who became a resident of the town soon after 1771, was a leading citizen, and his son has been held in equal esteem. The surface of the town is com- paratively level in the south-east, and in the north-west are extensive pine plains. The highest of several high hills bears the name of Went- worth's Mountain. On the road leading from Berwick through West Lebanon Village to Acton, after leaving the flat land at the south, are found many good farms and fine country mansions. The best farming land is probably on the "Central Road," extending north-west and south-west through the midst of the town. There are also a large number of good farms in the easterly part of the town adjoining Sanford. Hay is considered the most profitable crop. The business centres are Lebanon Centre, East, North, South and West Lebanon, and Milton Three Ponds, on the lower of the ponds at the north-west- ern boundary. Salmon Falls River, which forms the western boundary, furnishes a number of good water privileges, upon which, on the Lebanon side, are several saw-mills and one mill for wool-carding. Little River, in the south-eastern part of the town, also furnishes power for several saw-mills and a grist-mill. The Portland and Rochester Railroad crosses the southerly part of the town, and the Great Falls and Conway, a short distance at the north-western part.

The chief natural curiosity of the town is "Gully Oven," situated in a deep ravine. It is on the road from West Lebanon Village to Acton, and one and one-half miles northerly of the former. Six miles south of the cavern, during the old French war, the Indians captured a boy of eleven years of age named Philip Door; and they spent the succeeding night in the Oven. He was detained many years, but finally returned and became one of the first settlers of Lebanon. He said that he was captured by the Indians in the forenoon as he sat astride of a fence singing a popular song of the period,-

" As sure as eggs are bacon, I'll go to Canada and wont return, Till Canada is taken,"-

which came true, sure enough.

During the war of the Rebellion, Lebanon furnished what would be equal to 121 three-years men for the army. Besides these, many young men, residents of the town, at the first breaking out of the war enlisted in New Hampshire regiments, for which the town never re-

313

LEEDS.

ceived credit from the authorities. The amount of bounties paid by the town was $40,000.

Lebanon has a Baptist and a Congregationalist church, and two Free Baptist churches. There is a good academy at West Lebanon ; beside which there are in town nineteen public schoolhouses, valued at $4,500. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $524,575. In 1880 it was $425,050. The population at the first date was 1,953. In 1880, it was 1,601.

Lee is a small town in the eastern part of Penobscot County, on what is called the "Upper Route " trom Bangor to Calais, 60 miles from each city. It is bounded on the north by Winn, east by Spring- field, and west by Lincoln. Much of the land is of excellent quality, and bore originally a dense growth of the hard woods, with hemlock, spruce and pine. In the southern part of the town are several ponds, the largest being Mattakeunk (area, 1,000 acres) and Ware ponds, the head of the Passadunmkeag Stream. Lee village, the chief centre of business, is situated on Mattakeunk Stream, near the pond of the same name, where there is a good water-power. There are here two saw- mills-one a board, shingle and grist-mill, a tannery, and wheel, tin- ware, and furniture factories. Near the village is a good trotting park, where fairs are held. The nearest railroad station is that of the European and North American Railway at Lincoln village, 12 miles west of Lee village.

This township was originally granted by Massachusetts to Williams College, by whom it was sold to parties living in Cumberland County. There was some defect in the titles, which resulted in prolonged liti- gation, retarding settlements and diminishing the prosperity of the town. . The suits were at last decided by the Supreme Court of the United Stated in favor of the settlers. In 1824, when the settlement began, there was no road nearer than Passadumkeag, 28 miles below. Jeremiah Fifield and his wife were the first who moved in. The first mill was on the Mattakeunk Stream, at the point where the village now stands, and was erected in 1827. The town was incorporated in 1832, having at that time about 400 inhabitants.

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.

Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 38

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