USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > Historical collections of Piscataquis County, Maine, consisting of papers read at meetings of Piscataquis County Historical Society, also The north eastern boundary controversy and the Aroostook War, V. I > Part 14
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Although Asa Sturtevant was not a long-time resident of Piscataquis County, yet he lived in Dover for a num- ber of years in the family of his son Asa; long enough to be considered a permanent resident here, and he has numerous descendants still living in the town.
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He was born in the town of Halifax, Mass., in the year 1761.
Mr. Sturtevant had a long and varied career in the Continental Army. His first service was as a private in Lieut. Joshua Perkins' detachment from Capt. George Hammond's company, Col. Thomas Lothrop's regiment, on an alarm. This detachment marched to Bristol, R. I., in March, 1777, and was in the service fourteen days. His second enlistment was September 3, 1777, as a private in Capt. Edward Sparrow's company, Col. Danforth Key's regiment, to serve in the New England States, and he served with his regiment in Rhode Island. He received his discharge January 2, 1778, giving him four months of service.
On February 3, 1778, he again enlisted, this time for the remainder of the first three years. He was mustered into Capt. Joshua Benson's company and Col. Rufus Putnam's regiment of the Massachusetts Line. He was discharged May 14, 1780, at the Highlands, near West Point. His whole service at this enlistment was two years, three months and twenty days, the last nineteen months of which he had the rank of a fifer. He was one of the twelve hundred men under Mad Anthony Wayne, who participated in the storming and capture of Stony Point, July 16, 1779.
In June, 1781, Mr. Sturtevant again enlisted for another three years' service, making the fourth gift of his services to his country in her great struggle for inde- pendence. I will use his own words, found in an affidavit signed by him in his application for a pension, to describe this term. He states: "I again enlisted into the Revo- lutionary War, against the common enemy, in the month of June, 1781, for the term of three years, into the company commanded by Captain (Henry) Sewall and regt. commanded by Col. (Ebeneazer) Sproat, of the
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Mass. Line. After a few months I was transferred into Capt. Robt. Bradford's company in the same regt. and line. I continued to serve until the 18th day of Dec. 1783, when at West Point I received my final discharge from the Army. My discharge was signed by Genl. Knox. It has since been burnt in and with my camps in the woods. My last three years above stated in the Continental establishment, was as a private soldier." So, from 1777 until the final discharge of the soldiers in 1783, Mr. Sturtevant was almost constantly in the service ; a record to be proud of, and an honorable legacy to his heirs.
It is impossible to obtain data so as to give any con- nected history of his life, as he seemed to be of a roving disposition, and enjoyed the society of strangers to that of intimates ; even in his old age he preferred to be alone and by himself, rather than to be with his relatives.
As stated before, he was born in Halifax; three of his enlistments seem to be credited to the town of Plympton, Mass., and one to Middleboro, all Plymouth County towns.
On June 3, 1786, he married Sally Washburn. It was probably about this time that he came to Maine. He settled on lot 4, range 9, in the place then called Number 4, the present town of Paris. Just how long he lived here cannot be ascertained. He was one of the re- monstrants against the incorporation of the town in the autumn of 1792; in 1798 he appears on the list of tax- payers in the town, being the possessor of lands valued at one hundred and twenty dollars; in 1802 a movement was made to divide the town, and Mr. Sturtevant's name appears on a petition in favor of the measure, and later he, with others, signed a second petition against the proposed division, stating that the first petition was signed under a misapprehension of the existing facts.
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In 1804 he sold his interest in lot 6, range 9, to Deacon Caleb Prentiss. His wife Sally died October 3, 1805. His children by this wife were William, Jonah, Asa and Mary (?).
April 16, 1806, he married Eunice Morse, who died in June or July, 1813. By her he had four children, Mary A., Mercy, Azubah and Eunice. It appears that he lived in Paris until his second wife's death, in 1813, as we have it on very good authority that his daughter Eunice was born there in 1812 or 1813.
From the last named date up to the time of his death his itinerary cannot be accurately traced. He applied for a pension April 25, 1818, and in his application gives his residence as Fairfax, (now Albion). In 1820, in affidavits filed in the pension department, he gives his residence, Winslow; in this paper he mentions a third wife, named Dorcas.
His son Asa was an early settler in the town of Dover, Me., and for a number of years Mr. Sturtevant resided with him. On April 30, 1835, he applied for State bounty granted to Revolutionary soldiers, and gave his residence as Dover. He lived here for a time after this, but not long after removed; to what place is unknown. His descendants here and in other parts of Maine have no trace of him after leaving Dover.
When he died, or where he is buried, are unknown to any of the living.
"All that tread
The globe are but a handful to the tribes That slumber in its bosom."
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ICHABOD THOMAS. BROWNVILLE.
Ichabod Thomas was born in Duxbury, Mass., the latter part of the year 1757 or early in 1758. His parents, Joseph and Eleanor Thomas, were of Quaker stock.
Being one of the non-fighting Quakers, he did not enlist in the army of his own accord, but was drafted for the service. In the fall of 1776, after the disastrous battle of Long Island and the evacuation of New York, there was a great need of troops, and many were drafted, and Ichabod Thomas was one of the many.
He entered the service September 23, 1776, and served fifty-eight days with the Massachusetts militia in Rhode Island. He was in Capt. Calvin Partridge's company, and Col. John Cushing's regiment. After the particular exigency for which the militia was called out had passed, he received his discharge. Mr. Thomas did not again enlist ; probably on account of his religious views.
Many of the early settlers of the town of Sidney, in Kennebec County, were Friends, and Mr. Thomas removed from Duxbury to this settlement at about the close of the Revolution, or in a short time afterwards. Sidney was incorporated as a town January 30, 1792, and for many years Mr. Thomas was one of its most prominent citizens. He was the first town clerk, in 1792 ; he also held that office in 1798 and in 1813. He served five successive terms as selectman, from 1795 to 1800. He was town treasurer in 1802 and again in 1804. He represented his class in the General Court of Massachusetts for two terms, 1812 and 1813. During his residence in Sidney he married Mehitable Crosby.
In April, 1815, he purchased the north half of town- ship number 6, range 9, N. W. P., now known as Katahdin Iron Works township, gave up his comfortable
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home in Sidney, and moved into a new and rugged country. He lived in Williamsburg for about a year before going onto his new possession. He leased a farm there, in that part now Barnard, and had a temporary home while he was engaged in opening a road to his lands, building him a house and making something of a clearing for his farm.
It was in the year 1816 that he moved onto his farm in number 6, with his family. The place is located on the intervale about three miles above the present settle- ment, and at that time he was ten miles or more from his nearest neighbors in Williamsburg and Brownville. He lived there but a few years, and in 1821 sold his Iron Works property and moved to Brownville. His reason for so doing I am unable to state, but it seems quite probable that the isolation of the place, and the lone- someness and inconvenience in living so far from any other habitation, might have tended towards the change.
On January 8, 1821, he bought of Moses Brown, the proprietor of Brownville, five hundred acres of land in Brownville and immediately moved his family to that town. His old home is still standing, known as the Joseph W. Davis place, (1908), and Stephen A. Thomas, a grandson of Ichabod, is still living on another part of the farm in the buildings erected by one of Ichabod's sons. The farm at Katahdin Iron Works has never been occupied since Mr. Thomas abandoned it, although it has always been cultivated, and it is one of the productive farms of the county to-day.
After his removal to Brownville, Mr. Thomas at once assumed a prominent position in the affairs of the town. He held various offices under the plantation organization, and in 1824, when the town was incorporated, he was elected one of the selectmen, also a tithing-man; he was also elected to various minor offices such as pound-keeper,
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fish-warden, etc. In 1821 he received every vote cast in his town for representative to the Legislature, but did not receive the election.
Mr. Thomas always dressed in the garb of the Quakers, and a very few of the oldest residents of Brownville remember him as he appeared in the long drab coat and broad-brim hat commonly worn by the Friends.
He died in Brownville February 25, 1845, at the age of 87 years. His remains are buried in the Brownville village cemetery, beside his wife and mother, and the spot is marked by a marble shaft. He received a pension for his military services March 10, 1834.
THOMAS TOWNE. DOVER.
Thomas Towne was the son of Elisha and Mercy (Foster) Towne, and was born at Topsfield, Mass., February 8, 1743. He was the fifth generation from William Towne, who was the common ancestor of nearly all the Townes of New England, and who came to this continent about 1640 and first settled in Salem, but shortly after removed to Topsfield, Mass.
Thomas Towne first married Elizabeth Towne of Thompson, Conn. She lived but a short time after her marriage, and for a second wife he married Sarah Burton of Wilton, N. H. He was the father of a family of thirteen children; the first, Sarah, born in 1775, and the last, Mary, born March 4, 1790.
Mr. Towne was one of the early settlers of Wilton, N. H., which was incorporated in 1762, but in the year 1778 or 1779 he changed his residence to Temple in the same state, where he resided until he came to Maine in 1802; except he possibly may have lived for a short time in Lyndeborough.
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Thomas Towne's first service in the Continental Army was in Capt. Benjamin Taylor's company of militia, which marched from Amherst, N. H., December 8, 1775, to join the regulars at Winter Hill, near Boston. Just how long his service was at this time is not certain, but it appears that he served until after the evacuation of Boston by the British, March 17, 1776. His next enlistment was in Capt. John Goss' company, Nichols' regiment and Gen. Stark's brigade, with the Northern Department. He enlisted July 20, 1777, and was in the service at this time two months and eight days, receiving his discharge September 27, 1777. He was one of those patriots who won enduring fame and glory at the battle of Bennington, on August 16, 1777, and who assisted Gen. Stark in winning for his services the just recognition of merit so long deferred.
These soldiers under Stark to the number of about eight hundred, were gathered together hurriedly, and were entirely independent of the regular army; in fact, the whole conduct of the General in the matter was a piece of insubordination, but such splendid success crowned his doings that the insubordination was over- looked, and the man and his services were accepted at their true worth.
Thomas Towne's military services are credited to the town of Wilton, N. H., where he resided at the time.
As above stated, he removed to Temple, N. H., in 1778 or 1779, and lived there until 1802 when he came to Maine. He came to that part of Piscataquis County which is now Dover, in the fall of 1801, on a hunting expedition, accompanied by his son Moses. While here Moses bargained with Abel Blood for a part of a tract of land which Blood had bought of the proprietors, and on which he was then making a clearing. In the spring of 1802, Thomas, with two of his sons, Moses and Eli,
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returned and made a clearing, planted a small crop, and built a cabin. Their land was located on the site of the present village of East Dover. They remained hero until fall, when Eli went back to Temple, having made arrangements to return the following spring with his family. Thomas and Moses spent the winter of 1802-3 on their new possessions, subsisting on the small crop they had harvested in the autumn, but no doubt well supplied with fish and game by the old gentleman, whose prowess as a hunter is unquestioned.
After the corn had been harvested Mr. Towne fash- ioned from stone, a mortar and pestle by the means of which, with considerable labor, they reduced the corn to a coarse meal, or, as then called, samp, an article of diet originating with the American Indians. Father and son wintered in good health and with a fair degree of com- fort, and were ready and waiting to welcome Eli, who arrived with his wife and child on May 8, 1803. Eli was the first settler who came into Piscataquis County with his family, and became a permanent resident. Moses sold out his interest to Eli and soon after took up another tract of land nearby, but the father, Thomas, always made his home with Eli.
Thomas Towne was a famous hunter. He once made the remark, "I never lost any game for fear of being bitten or scratched, sir." Some of the stories told of him are well avouched for and are worth repeating. Once a loupcervier was discovered in a cornfield not far from the cabin, and one of his sons started out to capture it; the old gentleman followed close in his wake, and as the younger man was about to fire, his father cautioned : "Take good sight, son, take good sight." The shot was fired, but the wound was not fatal, and before the son could reload his firearm, Mr. Towne had rushed upon the animal and throttled it.
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On another occasion he had fired a shot at a bear swimming across a pond, and as the shot did not take effect in a vital part, the bear kept on swimming for the shore. As he neared the land the hunter's dog rushed in and grappled with him; the bear, in self-defense, started to put up a vigorous fight, and succeeded in dragging the dog under water where he soon would have drowned. Uncle Thomas seeing the danger to his favor- ite comrade, took to the water himself with the cry, "Drown my dog, will ye!" and soon, with his own hands, came off the conqueror, and came to the shore with a dead bear and a live dog.
Thomas Towne first received a pension under the act of 1818, which benefit he drew until his death. During the later years of his life his eyesight began to fail, and for a few years before he died he became totally blind. He lived to a ripe old age and before he passed away he had seen the unbroken wilderness about his primitive homestead assume the aspects of civilization; a thriving settlement grown up about his humble cabin, and Piscat- aquis County, instead of having one lone family for its inhabitants, supporting a population numbered by thousands, with twelve incorporated towns and settle- ments on nearly as many more townships.
Mr. Towne died May 28, 1824, at the age of 81 years. His remains rest in an unmarked grave in the East Dover cemetery, almost within the shadow of his first dwelling place here. He has numerous descendants in this locality.
Notes of the Crosby Family and a Sketch of the Life of Josiah Crosby
By S. P. Crosby
TO THE PISCATAQUIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY :
I HAVE the honor of being asked by your president to contribute a paper upon the ancestry of the Crosby family, and especially a sketch of my father's life, the late Josiah Crosby of Dexter, Me.
In consenting to undertake this work I have decided to state the facts as well as I remember them in a plain and simple manner, without rhetorical or literary effect.
Having visited the "Old Crosby Home" and farm in Atkinson many times in my boyhood and manhood, and usually in company with my father and other relations, and having had many conversations with my father and his brothers and sisters concerning the lives of their parents, I feel somewhat informed concerning them.
My grandfather, Oliver Crosby, was born in Billerica, Mass., March 17th, 1769; graduated from Harvard College in 1795, (standing second in class rank) and married Harriet Chase of Portsmouth, N. H., Septem- ber 11, 1800.
It was in Billerica that grandfather heard the first guns fired at Lexington, the commencement of the Revo- lution. Later in life he frequently stated this thrilling fact to his children, also giving many incidents of those days.
He moved with his family from Billerica to Dover,
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N. H., where he was admitted to the bar and practiced law until 1822.
In 1812 he was part owner in a sailing vessel which was seized by the British; and in 1817-22 he was owner of a cotton manufacturing plant in Dover.
In 1820 there was an exodus from the interior and southern parts of New England to a more eastern part of that section of the country, where land was selling cheap. It was this movement, in part at least, that induced Grandfather Oliver Crosby to leave the pleasant and prosperous village of Dover and to seek a home in the "woods of Maine."
This act of his, leaving a cultivated locality, happy surroundings, the comforts of life, was not only criti- cised by his family but met with many objections.
But the man being the head of the household (a com- mon characteristic in the Crosby family) the move was decided upon. The move was made by team. Atkinson in Piscataquis County was the destination. A log house was constructed, which was located about eight hundred feet south of the large and commodious frame house subse- quently built. This latter building yet stands in a fair state of preservation.
It will be remembered by the elder residents of Piscat- aquis that the "Old Crosby Place," so-called, is about one mile east and a little north of Atkinson Corner. The members of the family have often spoken of the happy days spent in the log house, which served well for several years, until the commodious frame "mansion" was erected. One peculiarity of the latter house is the sliding shutters on the windows, sliding into and through the casings and into the walls, but when pulled out over the windows excluding every ray of light, thus making the rooms almost sealed, and more private than any mod- ern curtain or blind.
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The old clock in the hall, with its dignified propor- tions, the fireplaces, one in each room, a speaking-tube from cellar to garret, the old well with its windlass and oaken bucket in the ell of the house, with its never fail- ing supply of water, sparkling and cold, were among the many things of interest in the old house.
The towns of Atkinson and Charleston were originally owned by Atkinson, Livermore and Crosby, the three owning about equal parts.
When a boy I occasionally met a man who would say during conversation, "I bought my land from your grand- father." He sold many thousand acres, finally reserv- ing for himself between three and four hundred acres for his homestead, and farmed it all. Although before the days of railroads, or even common highways, and farm machinery and modern methods unknown, he made farming on a large scale very successful.
In those primitive days more thought, or much thought, was bestowed by the progressive citizen upon rearing and educating a large family of children, build- ing up character, and instilling into them strong man- hood and womanhood, rather than concentrating their forces upon accumulating large wealth.
In haying time about twenty extra men were employed. They slept in the attic upon camp-beds. It was one of my father's childhood delights during heavy rain-storms to go up and sleep with the men, and hear the big drops of rain patter on the roof.
In its day the old place was well known in that part of the State, and its many social gatherings brought friends from long distances. The old-fashioned "carryall" being the only vehicle of comfort in doubtful weather, was always used by friends from Bangor and other places in what was called a "carryall drive." Some came on horseback.
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The old barn-raisings, husking-bees and paring-bees were in vogue in those days. Appropriate poetry was written by someone upon the raising of the long barn on the old place, and many years after this poem was resurrected and published in the Bangor Commercial. I remember the poem recited something about the refresh- ments, and that one happy-spirited fellow climbed up the newly erected frame to the ridge-pole and there pro- posed a toast, and threw his bottle to the ground. I do not think the nature of the contents of said bottle were mentioned. It must not be forgotten, however, that the temperance question did not engage the minds of the people in those days so strongly and decisively as at the present time, and prohibition had not achieved such strength.
My grandfather had the acquaintance and friendship of all the more prominent and intellectual families in that vicinity, some of whom became especially eminent. The late Chief Justice John Appleton lived at Sebec, about three miles away, and was a frequent visitor, as was also Hon. Abram Sanborn, Judge Kent and others from Bangor. There were many visitors from Foxcroft and Dover, and in fact from over Piscataquis County and Penobscot, whose names I shall not attempt to give. But it was safe to say the latch-string was always out at the "Old Crosby Homestead."
The Piscataquis River runs through the farm on the north, and in the days of which we are writing, salmon abounded in plenty in the old river. They must have been plentiful, as this delicious fish then retailed at three cents a pound.
There were six children born to my grandparents : Harriet, born June 12, 1801, married Ephraim T. Morrill, and for a while they carried on the old farm. She died in Bangor. Their children were Oliver Crosby
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Morrill, Caroline Frothingham, George Prentice and DeWitt Clinton. Caroline (or Carrie) is the only sur- vivor; she married a Mr. Brown, deceased, and the widow now lives in the South. She has a grown son and daughter.
Oliver, the second child, was born in Dover, N. H., November 30, 1802; married Elizabeth Foss. They car- ried on a small farm in Atkinson, about half a mile from the old place, nearer "the Corner." They moved to Fountaindale, Ill., in the early seventies, where they are now survived by their two children, Harriet Chase (Mrs. Edward Bebb) and Frances or Fannie.
William Chase, the third child, was born in Dover, N. H., December 2, 1806. Early in life he was a farmer in Atkinson and built the house now standing nearly opposite the old home. Later he became a lawyer in Bangor, whose counsel was much engaged in a certain class of cases, especially in city affairs and bankruptcy pro- ceedings. He married Mary Wilson, November 26, 1832, who died October 28, 1865. Their children were Wilson, born October 18, 1834; Horace, born June 6, 1838; Mary, born December 24, 1839; and William, born July 3, 1843. The survivors are Horace, residing in New Rochelle, N. Y. ; William, residing in California, and Mary, residing in Bangor. William was married the second time to Susan W. Dunmore, now deceased ; no children.
Cornelia, the fourth child, was born in Dover, N. H., March 20, 1810, married to Dr. Amasa Barett in 1844, resided in Bangor for a number of years, and later on a farm in Brewer. Their children were Martha and Harriet. Martha died many years ago but Harriet still lives. She married Jules Golay, now deceased, and later one Powers. She now resides in Machiasport, Me., with her married daughters.
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Henrietta, the fifth child, was born in Dover, N. H., November 27, 1814; she married George W. Ingersoll of Bangor; at one time he was attorney general for Maine. Three children were born: Edward Chase, Alice C., and Frances H. The only survivor is Frances, who now resides in Washington, D. C., and holds an important government position.
Josiah, the youngest child of Oliver and Harriet, will be mentioned under a separate heading.
There are now no survivors of the original family of Oliver Crosby of Atkinson, the last to pass away being Cornelia, in 1906, in the 95th year of her age. The remains of Oliver and Harriet are interred in the old family burying-ground on the farm, a short distance west of the house.
The artistic stone wall surrounding this sacred place is made of stones in their natural shape, with uniform faces; an artistic iron gate forms the entrance, placed there a few years ago by my brother Oliver, the name- sake of the family. Some of the stately old evergreen trees still remain, and others have grown up. Two plain marble slabs stand erect, and silent. Upon the one marking grandfather's resting place is a brief epitaph mentioning some of the principal events of his life, and closing with the Scriptural verse: "Mark the just man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."
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