USA > Maine > Gazetteer of the state of Maine > Part 63
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514
GAZETTEER OF MAINE.
five years old and upward. Skowhegan is on the Maine Central Rail- road, 100 miles from Portland. It is connected by stage-lines with Norridgewock, Anson, Solon, Athens, the Forks of the Kennebec, and Moosehead Lake, also Canaan and Mercer.
The territory comprising Skowhegan was originally a part of Canaan, from which it was taken and incorporated under the name of Millburn, Feb. 5, 1823. In 1836, the name it now bears was substi- tuted. Skowhegan is an Indian word, and is thought to signify a place of watch, referring to the habit of the savages in gathering here to catch salmon and other fish, which were abundant in their season. The original territory of the town lay wholly on the north side of the river, and contained but 19,071 acres ; but by the addi- tion of Bloomfield on the south side of the river opposite, in 1861, the area was swelled to 30,981 acres. Of this number 48 acres are water, and over 321 are in roads.
This town is largely indebted to Hon. Abner Coburn for its pros- perity. Mr. Coburn's father, Eleazer Coburn, moved to this locality from Massachusetts in 1792, at the age of fifteen years, being among the early settlers of the Kennebec Valley. He was a farmer and sur- veyor. Abner was born here in 1803. After he became of manly age, he and his younger brother Philander, assisted their father in survey- ing and exploring the 1,000,000 acres of Bingham's Kennebec purchase. The three, a little later, entered into a partnership business in land and lumber under the name of E. Coburn & Sons; and after their father's death in 1845, his sons, the surviving partners, continued the business ; and in 1876 Philander died. He and another brother are now sole possessors of the property of the family. They own 450,000 acres of land in Maine, and several thousand in the western States. Mr. Coburn was governor of Maine in 1863. His charities have been very large of late years. Besides the gift of an elegant court-house to his native county, he has given $75,000 to Colby University at Waterville, and several gifts of smaller sums to other institutions, among which is the State Agricultural College at Orono. Other valued citizens of former years were Gen. Joseph Locke, Judah Mclellan and Samuel Weston, Esqs. Col. Z. A. Smith of the "Boston Journal," was for sometime a resident of Skowhegan. This town sent 285 men to the Union army in the war of the Rebellion, losing 84. There are here a society each of the Congregationalists, Baptists, Methodists, Christians and Catholics. E. P. Mayo's Somerset Reporter is published here.
The village has graded schools, including a good high-school. The number of public schoolhouses is twenty-four, valued with appurten- ances at $28,900. The population in 1870 was 3,893. In 1880 it was 3,861. The valuation in 1870 was $1,581,610. In 1880 it was $2,053,818.
Small Point, a post-office in Phipsburg, Sagadahoc County.
Smithfield lies in the south-western part of Somerset county, west of Fairfield, south of Norridgewock, east of Mercer, and north of Belgrade and West Waterville in Kennebec county. On the west of the town lies North Pond, and East Pond in the southern part. North of this, in the centre of the town is a large marsh. The ponds are each about 3 miles long and 2 wide. These ponds are beautiful sheets of water, with excellent facilities for sailing, fishing and shoot
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515
SOLON.
ing. The surface of the town is broken by large hills and valleys. Mount Tom and Green's Mountain are the highest elevations. The rock is chiefly a variety of granite. The soil is a clay loam, yielding well in hay, oats, and potatoes,-which are the crops principally cultivated. The beech, birch and maple are the principal forest trees. The manu- factories consist of one saw-mill for long lumber, one shingle-mill, a grist-mill and a fuel saw-mill. The nearest railroad station is at South Norridgewock, 5 miles distant. The stations at North Belgrade and at West Waterville are each 8 miles.
Smithfield was formed from parts of Mercer and Dearborn, and called East Pond Plantation. It was incorporated under its present name Feb. 29, 1840. Among the valued citizens should be mentioned Rev. Henry Smith, Caleb Gilman, John Copeland, Francis Allen, Wales Gould, Dennison Haynes, Peter Libbey, Barnabas Allen, S. N. Marston, John Piper, Oliver Parsons and others. The town has quite a number of residents over 70 years of age, and one that is 93. It sent about 70 men to aid in the war for the Union, and lost 14 of them.
There are two Free Baptist societies which sustain meetings in Smithfield. The number of schoolhouses is seven,-valued at $1,125. The population in 1870 was 704. In 1880 it was 564. The valuation in 1870 was $168,599. In 1880 it was $142,662. The rate of taxation is 23} mills on the dollar.
Smyrna in Aroostook county lies in the third range of town- ships, 11 miles west of Houlton village. Ludlow lies on the east, sep- arating the two towns ; Merrill Plantation, on the west ; and Oakfield Plantation on the south. The stage-line from Houlton to Patten passes through the town. Duck Pond, about one-third of a square mile in area, lies north-west of the centre of the town, and its outlet is the principal stream. Another small pond lies on the south-western border, partly in New Limerick. The surface is not broken by high hills, but lies in swells and low ridges. The principal rock is white granite. The soil is gravelly loam, and fertile. Potatoes are the chief crop. The forest trees are spruce, hemlock, birch and maple. There is in the town one saw-mill, capable of cutting 2 M. feet of lumber per day,- 100 M. per year. The settlements are chiefly in the southern portion of the town. The public and private buildings are generally in good repair, and the roads are also kept in fair condition. The nearest rail- road station is at Houlton.
This town was organized March 7, 1839. It furnished 6 men for the defense of the Union in the war of the Rebellion, of whom one half were lost. Among its valued citizens have been William Irish, Levi Berry and Nehemiah Leavitt. There is a Baptist clergymen resident in the town, and a good interest is manifosted in Sunday Schools. The public schoolhouses are three in number, and are valued at $600. The population in 1870 was 159. In 1880 it was 237. The valuation in 1870 was $35,698. In 1880 it was $60,872. The rate of taxation in the latter year was, each, 33, per cent ; highway, 416.
Snow Falls,-A post-office in Paris, Oxford County.
Solon lies on the east bank of the Kennebec River, in the southern part of Somerset County. It is bounded on the north by
516
GAZETTEER OF MAINE.
Bingham, on the east by Athens, south by Cornville and Madison, and west by Embden. It is 15 miles north by north-west of Skowhegan, on the stage-line to the Forks. The surface is uneven, being varied chiefly by terraces at different levels, and the gullying of the higher. Parkman Hill, in the centre of the town, and French's, just east of the village are the highest. The rock is generally unlaminated slate. The soil is sandy loam in parts, and gravelly loam in others, but with much rich alluvial land along the Kennebec. In the north- eastern part are Wentworth's Pond-about & of one mile in area-and Baker's, Rowell's, and others smaller. The principal streams are Fall Brook and Michael Stream. The former rises in ponds in the northern part of Bingham, and in the hilly region of Mayfield and Brighton,- discharging into the Kennebec at Solon Village. It is here a rapid stream with steep banks, four rods in width when full, with solid slate
CARATUNK FALLS, EMBDEN AND SOLON, MN.
ledge for bottom and banks. The fall is 100 feet within one fourth of a mile,-neither of the 5 falls varying much from 20 feet. From the irregular form of the banks and bottom, these falls present much pic- turesque beauty within a limited space. Toward the southern part of the town Michael Stream enters the Kennebec. On this stream, some 3 miles from its mouth, are a saw and lath machine. A mile below this power, is a beautiful waterfall about 20 feet in perpendicular height. The manufactures of the town are long and short lumber, meal and flour, carding and cloth-dressing, carriages, harnesses, harness pads, etc., etc. The manufacturing and other business is almost wholly at Solon Village,-which, with its stream, is certainly one of the most pleasing villages in the State. In the Kennebec, about a mile above
517
SOMERSET COUNTY.
the village, are Caratunk Falls, and the bay below it,-one of the pas- sages most dreaded by the lumber men. The river is here compressed into a long, narrow chan el of rock, with a broad, jagged plain of rock on the right,-where, at a rise of the water, great masses of logs are thrown.
Solon was incorporated February 28, 1809, and organized on the 27th of March following. Its plantation name was Spauldingtown,- from Thomas Spaulding, one of the grantees. The first settler was William Hilton of Wiscasset, who removed hither in the fall of 1782,- purchasing 500 acres of land on the river in the south-western part. He lived on this farm for 64 years, and raised a family of 13 children ; dying at 87 years of age, respected as a man of integrity and worth. The next year after Mr. Hilton's arrival came William Hunnewell, also from Wiscasset, who took a farm adjoining Hilton's. In 1787-8 Calvin and Luther Pierce, from Westmoreland, N. H., Moses Cham- berlain and Jonathan Bosworth, from Easton, Massachusetts, and Eleazer Whipple and Joseph Maynard, settled on the river in the north-western part. In 1798-9, the south part was settled by James, Jonas and Nathan Jewett, from Groton, Massachusetts, and Jonas Heald and Caleb Hobart from Pepperell. A post-office was established here in 1813.
The religious societies are Congregationalist and Methodist ; there is also a Union church edifice. The number of public schoolhouses is 13,-valued $3,000. The population in 1870 was 1,176. In 1880 it was 1,013. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $331,919. In 1880 it was $345,288.
Somerset County is one of the great central and northern counties of Maine. It is about 135 miles in length, north and south, with an average width of some 30 miles. On its eastern line, about midway of its length, lies Moosehead Lake, 40 miles in length. Between this and the western border of the State is a chain of ponds, extending quite across the county, and discharging into Moosehead. The Ken- nebec River, for fully half its length, lies in this county. In its northern part rise both the Penobscot and the St. John Rivers. The million acres of land purchased by William Bingham of Philadelphia, in the western part of the State lie mostly in Somerset. The bounds of that purchase commence at the south-eastern angle of Wellington in Pis- cataquis County, extending northward on the east line of the town, and westward on its south line to the south-western angle of Mount Abraham Township, thence northward on its west line to the north- western angle of No. 6 of Range 7; whence it runs easterly on the north line of this township to Moosehead Lake, intersecting the eastern line near the north extremity of Deer Island. The mountains of this county of present note are Mount Bigelow, on the southern border of the most western part, Squaw, Fletcher, Johnson, Pierce, Spencer, Heald, Bald, Owl's Head, Sally, Moxie, the Bald Mountain Range, Culcusso and Mucalsea mountains.
The industries of this county are chiefly agricultural ; and having a good soil, few farmers fail to make a good living. Neat cattle and sheep are raised in large numbers.
Somerset County was incorporated March 1, 1809. Its territory was formerly embraced in Kennebec County ; and sections of it have
518
GAZETTEER OF MAINE.
since been taken to form Franklin and Piscataquis counties. Nor- ridgewock was the shire town until about 1870, when a new and elegant brick building containing a court-room and offices was presented to the county by Hon. Abner Coburn, and the county seat was changed to Skowhegan. There are now twenty-eight towns and four organized plantations. The townships classed as Wild Lands number 68. The The number of polls in 1870 was 8,169. In 1880, 8,698. The number of children of school age in 1870 was 11,068. In 1880 it was 10,873. The population of the county in 1870 was 34,611. In 1880 it was 32,339. The valuation in 1870 was $10,048,159. In 1880 it was $12,128,878.
Somerset Mills, a village, railroad station and post-office in Fairfield, Somerset County.
Somerville is the north-westerly town of Lincoln County. It has Washington on the east, Jefferson on the south, Windsor, in Kennebec County, on the west, and Palermo and Liberty, in Waldo County, on the north and cast. The town is about six miles long by three and a half wide. It contains two ponds, Patricktown or Long and James ; the first being about two miles in length, and the last a mile long and half a mile in width. The Sheepscot River, which has its origin in these ponds, furnishes a water-power here carrying a saw- mill and a flour and grist-mill having three sets of stones. There are several other lumber-mills in the town that manufacture lumber, clap- boards, shingles and laths. These mills all run two-thirds of the year. The town is about 20 miles N.N.E. of Wiscasset. It is on the stage- line from Augusta to Rockland, and about 15 miles from the former.
The principal eminences in town are Crummet Mountain and Dodge Hill, each about 200 feet in height. The rock is largely granitic. The soil is rocky and hard, but yields well of the crops cultivated, which are chiefly hay, potatoes, corn, oats, barley and wheat.
Somerville was formerly Patricktown Plantation. It was incor- porated as a town in 1858. Among the eminent citizens of the past were David and William Gilpatrick, Enoch Gove, Ichabod Marr, John Evans, Joseph Toby, Porter Dodge, Walter Wilson and Jefferson Moore. There are twenty or more persons resident in town who are upwards of seventy years of age, and one Daniel Davis, who is one hundred and three years of age, "smart and active as seventy."
The principal religious society is the Second Advent. The school- houses serve for religious meetings. The number of public schoolhouses is five, which, with other school property, are valued at $1,000, The valuation of estates in 1870 was $86,685. In 1880 it was $106,235. The rate of taxation in the latter year was twenty three mills on the dollar. The population in 1870 was 505. In 1880 it was 540.
South Berwick, in York County, has Eliot and York on the south and south-east, Rollinsford in New Hampshire on the west, Berwick, North Berwick and Wells on the north-west and Wells on the north and north-east. The greatest length of the town, is about 9 miles, being from north-east to south-west. The area is stated in the York County Atlas, as 13,856 acres. The principal bodies of water are
519
SOUTH BERWICK.
Knights, Cox and Warren ponds. Great Works River runs in a wind. ing direction through the town, and the Salmon Falls River forms the western boundary. The business centres are at South Berwick village, on the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth railroad, at South Berwick junction, at the junction of the Boston and Maine and the P. S. & P. railroads, and at Great Works. At the latter place is the mill of the Newichawannock Company, which manufactures woolen goods at Quampheagen Falls on the Salmon Falls river, the Portsmouth Com- pany manufacture cottons ; the Varney Plough Company produces ploughs and cultivators, and there is also a sawing and planing mill, and a shoe factory.
The first settlement in the town was at the Quampheagan Falls, the head of tide navigation, by Humphrey Chadbourne, Messieurs Shap- leigh, Heard, Frost and Emery about 1624. It was called the "Parish of Unity," on account of the peaceful disposition of the inhabitants. The earliest title from the Indians on record is a deed to Chadbourne from the chief of the Piscataquas in 1643. Great Works has its name from the mill, containing eighteen saws, erected at the Falls in 1650 by Richard Leders. This was done in fulfilment of the conditions on which a court was held at Kittery at that date granted him exclusive right of the water-power, and all the timber not otherwise appropriated. The Indian name of these Falls was Assabumbadoc. South Berwick was included in Berwick when in 1700 that town was separated from Kittery. It was taken from the town and incorporated in 1814. Its history to the latter date will be found under the head of Berwick. During the war of the rebellion South Berwick furnished to the army over 192 men, paying bounties to the amount of $40,500.
The surface is quite uneven at the north, and hilly in the southern and eastern portions. Rocky Hill is the most extended elevation, and Butler's Hill, just east of the village, commands some charming views. The woods are chiefly of oak, maple and beech. The soil in the north- ern half of the town is much better than that of the southern part. The apple does well, and there are several extensive orchards.
The first Congregational church of South Berwick was formed by by Rev. John Wade, who had been employed as the minister of the town. The organization was effected in 1702. The second Baptist church in Maine was formed at Great Hill in this town in 1768. It was the result of the missionary work of Rev. Hezekiah Smith, pastor of the Baptist church at Haverhill. The Baptist church at the village was organized in 1823. A Free-will Baptist church was organized in 1834, with Nathaniel Trickey as pastor. The Methodist Episcopal church was formed in 1829 by Paul C. Richmond from the Maine Con- ference. A meeting-house was dedicated in 1838; in 1849 it was burned and a new one was built in 1850.
Berwick Academy in this town is one of the most noted in the State. It received its charter and an endowment of a township of land in 1791. The township is now the town of Athens. The present is the third building erected for the purpose of a school edifice. It is of chaste architecture, and was designed by Richard Upjohn, of New York. It is located upon a commanding site, presented by the late Benjamin Chadbourne. The grounds are adorned with hedges and shrubbery, and surrounded by a substantial wall. There is also a commodious boarding-house. The first preceptor was Samuel Moody.
520
GAZETTEER OF MAINE.
The institution has received endowments from F. B. Hayes, of Boston, Benjamin T. Tredick of Philadelphia, and William L. Cogswell, of New York. The latter gentleman founded the medal fund, the object of which is to provide annually three gold medals valued at fifty dol- lars each, to be awarded to three scholars,-two who excel in English and one in classics, who have attended the school not less than one year. There is also a fund established by Hon. John Lord at his demise, called the Bible fund, which furnishes a Bible to every student who at- tends a full term. The town has also thirteen public schoolhouses, and the school property exclusive of the academy is valued at $6,000. The estates in town in 1870 were valued at $818,022. In 1880 they were $864,590. The population in 1870 was 2,510; in 1880 it was 2,677. The rate of taxation is .0149. The town has one Discount and one Savings bank.
Several of the noted citizens of the town and natives residing else- where have already been mentioned, others are Gen. Ichabod Goodwin, who was a soldier in the last French war and in the Revolution ; Gen. John Lord, a prosperous merchant, State senator, and the father of Nathan Lord, D.D., formerly president of Dartmouth college, and grandfather of Rev. John Lord L.L.D., eminent as a lecturer upon his- tory ; Dudley Hubbard formerly leading lawyer of the county ; Wm. A. Hayes, president of York Co. bar for about twenty-five years; Charles N. Cogswell, lawyer, and Richard Cogswell, merchant ; Benj. Greene, chief-justice of Common Pleas, and speaker of the House in 1824, United States marshal from 1824 to 1830; William Burleigh, representative to the 18th and 19th Congresses, John N. Goodwin, rep- resentative to the 37th Congress, governor of Arizona, and delegate to Congress from that territory ; Dr. T. H. Jewett, professor in the medi- cal college, and an eminent practitioner ; J. H. Burleigh, for several years the able agent of the Newichawannock Company, and represen- tative in the national Congress for two terms, beginning in 1875.
The Christian Home, an excellent religious monthly, is published in South Berwick.
Southport is an island at the mouth of Sheepscot River in Lincoln County. It was formerly a part of Boothbay, but was set off and incorporated under the name of Townsend in 1842, In 1850, this name was changed for the one it now bears. The island is about 5 miles long and 2} wide at the broadest part. At its southern extrem- ity is the ancient and well-known Cape Newagen, with a small har- bor and village. Another haven is Hendrick's Head Harbor, on the western side. On Hendrick's Head is a light-house. In the northern part is Southport bay, with several small harbors. Mouse, Capital and Burnt islands on the east side are parts of the town. The highest land in Southport is Pitch Pine Hill. The soil is rocky, but yields good crops of potatoes and other vegetables. As might be supposed, the the principal occupation of the inhabitants is connected with the fish- eries, and catering to summer visitors. There are several good hotels. Southport is 14 miles south of Wiscasset, and 10 miles from Bath, with both of which it is connected by steamer.
The Methodists have a society and church edifice in the town. There are five public schoolhouses, and these with other school prop- erty are valued at $1,950. The valuation of estates in 1870 was
521
SOUTH THOMASTON.
$149,200. In 1880 it was $132,350. The rate of taxation in the latter year was 13} mills on the dollar. The population in 1870 was 684. In 1880 it was 679.
South Thomaston is the most south-eastern town of Knox County, extending southward in the form of a peninsula, and into Penobscot Bay in the form of a promontory. Thomaston and Rockland bound it on the north, St. George on the south, St. George's River on the west and Penobscot Bay on the east. The surface of the the town is rough and rocky along the coast, but back some distance there are many excellent farms. Hay is the principal crop. Dean's and Perry hills, 100 to 150 feet in height, are the greatest elevations. The principal rock is granite. Eight different parties, of which one is an incorporated company, are engaged in quarrying. Westkeag River is the principal stream. Its pond, confined at South Thomaston vil- lage by a dam, furnishes the chief water-power in town. It is a tide- power mainly. Upon it are a grist-mill, three polishing machines for granite, and a lumber-mill. The nearest railroad stations are those at Rockland and Thomaston, each about four miles distant.
Elisha Snow, who came from Brunswick in 1767, was the first set- tler. He built a saw-mill on the Westkeag (Wessawaskeag) stream, near which has sprung up the village of South Thomaston. Next came Lieutenant Matthews, Richard Keating, John Bridges, and James and Jonathan Oberton. In 1773, Joseph Coombs came into the town and erected another saw-mill near Snow's; and the two soon after built a grist-mill together. Coombs was a very energetic and skilful man. At this time he was but little past his legal majority. It is told of him, that he first came to the region as a day laborer, but by his energy and prudence, soon acquired property and a wife. He met the latter at some party in the region, and both conceived a liking for each other. To visit her he was obliged to cross St. George's River on a raft. Sometimes the raft would be on the opposite side, when he would divest himself of his clothes and swim across for the raft, and return upon it for his clothes. Then dressing in the dark he would set forward in a regular manner. He prospered in love, as we have seen he did in business; and some of his descendants display his sterling qualities. Eminent citizens of a later period were Captain E. A. Thorndike, Hon. George Thorndike, Rev. Samuel Baker, Rev. Amariah Kelloch, and Hon. E. H. Murch. The Indian name of this vicinity was Wessaweskeag, which signifies a " land of wonders." The name was contracted by the first settlers to "Weskeag," afterward to " Keag," and finally it has degenerated to "Gig," which remains a familiar appellation to the present time.
The Baptist church at South Thomaston is, with one exception, the oldest of that denomination between Penobscot Bay and Kennebec River, having been constituted in 1784, under the pastoral charge of Rev. Isaac Case. A meeting-house was erected by the society in 1796, which was enlarged and improved in 1847. In 1784, Elisha Snow, the first settler, was baptized, and in 1794, was settled as sub-pastor of this church. In 1808, he became senior minister, and continued thus until removed by death in 1832, at the age of ninety-two years. The Methodists also have now a meeting-house in the town. There are fourteen public schoolhouses in South Thomaston, and the school pro] -
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