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 29
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I heard that the Carrier complained to M' Morehouse and told him he was threatened by Baker- and did not like to carry the mail any more. In August M" Morehouse appeared at Baker's, as I understood from Bacon, and ordered Baker to take down the American flag which was flying and to cut down the staff. Baker told him he considered it on American land, and that he should not take it down until he had orders from the American government .- - He did not take it down- and the flag Staff was standing when I came away in September last.
I was not present when Baker was arrested- I saw the canoes carrying him down, I think eight in number, with two or three persons in each. I never heard that the sheriff at that time had any precept against me .-
About a week after this I received a summons by Joseph Sawfacon, a constable, to appear at Fredericton- This was in September. It was left at my house. It was to appear at Fredericton under penalty of £100,- I brought my summons with me and shewed it here- but have mislaid or lost it. I cannot find it. -
I remained at Madawaska three or four days after I was summoned and then came away. My possession was one that I had purchased of Miles Emery, an American. It was then a small clearing of about an acre .- I had about twelve acres cleared. I had I should judge an hundred bushels of potatoes in the ground- and had raised 25 or 30 bushels of wheat and 30 bushels of oats the present year- I sold out to Barnabas Hunewell for
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OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
eighty dollars- principally paid- I should not have parted with my property but for the disturbance. I came away because I was afraid they would come upon me for the £100 penalty. I brought away my wife and children and blacksmith's tools- and remain at present in Houlton. I would not have taken less than £150 for. my place, if I could have had a good title and been undisturbed- It was good land- I was within a hundred rods of a sawmill and gristmill- I had a good situation, near a thriving settlement .- and no other blacksmith within eighteen miles.
Charles Stetson.
Washington ss. Houlton Plantation. Dec 31, 1827 Personally appeared the aforesigned Charles Stetson and made oath that the foregoing statement by him signed is wholly true according to his best knowledge & belief before me James Houlton Justice Peace.
I Jacob Goldthwaite, aged thirty three years, was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, went to Madawasca four years ago- The two first years I was concerned with John Baker in lumbering and Sawing and lived with him- - One year I have worked with Stutson as a black- smith and lived in his house the last year I worked for Stutson & made my home there. I have no family. - I felled about three acres of trees this last summer. I laid to clear an hundred acres- I had one horse, two cows, an ox and heifer- and three young creatures besides. About a week after the arrest of John Baker I received a summons to appear at Fredericton- I did not like to attend, - and disposed of my personal prop- erty chiefly to M' Barnabas Hunewell, an American from Kennebec river- I made a barter trade- I brought off one horse, one ox and a heifer .- I left the
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land as it was. I sold Hunewell the principal part of fifteen tons of hav that I had cut. I did not get the value of the property that I disposed of by a hundred dollars- It would have made this difference to me, but for my situation. Some of the people appeared to be considerably alarmed- I was one of the party on the 4th of July.
Jacob Goldthwaite.
Washington ss. Houlton Plantation Dec 31. 1827 The aforesaid Jacob Goldthwaite personally appeared and made oath that the foregoing statement by him signed is wholly true before
me James Houlton Justice of the Peace. [L. S.] [Copy ]
George the Fourth, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire- land King Defender of the Faith &c. To Jacob Goldthrite Greeting: We . command you firmly enjoining that laying aside all excuses whatsoever you be in your proper per- son before our Justices of our Supreme Court of Judicature for our Province of New Bruns- wick at Fredericton, on the second Tuesday in October next, to answer to us of and concerning certain matters which on our behalf shall be then and there objected against you. And this you are by no means to omit under the penalty of one hundred pounds which we will cause to be levied on your Goods and Chattels Lands and Tenements to our use if you neglect to obey this our present command witness John Saunders Esquire our Chief Justice at Frederic-
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OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
ton the seventeenth day of September in the eighth year of our Reign
By the Justices (signed)
Putnam.
[Indorsed ]
At the suit of the Attorney General for Trespass and Intrusion on the Crown Lands. T Wetmore Atty : Gen :) 17th day of September 1827.
I Charles Smart, aged twenty five years was born in Monmouth, county of Kennebec, went to the Madawaska country two years ago last October, - I was engaged at Fish River, logging and sawing at the Mills- I was hired by Owen Fitzgerald, and Witham Peters became responsible for my compensation- The first year- The next year I was employed by Daniel Savage and Nathaniel Bartlett- Savage, Bartlett and Fitzgerald are American citizens, - I had taken up an island at the mouth of St. Francis and cut the hay upon it two years- The first year I cut it for Savage and Bartlett- Last year I and Jacob Goldthwaite cut it- It is called Burnt Island- I had also taken up a lot at the mouth of the St. Francis- which I intended to have commenced clear- ing. I left that country in October in consequence of the disturbance. I understood that Savage and Bartlett at the Fish River, and the Harfords about six miles below the St Francis were summoned- and that the settlers at the Mariumticook were summoned, to appear at Fredericton.
I understood there were about fifteen American settlers, summoned. I came away at the same time with Goldthraite and Stutson- I had signed the paper, drawn up, by Stephen Grover, as he informed me by
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which the American settlers agreed to have questions among themselves settled by referees, chosen by ourselves, and without the English laws .- The paper was pre- sented to me by Mr Stutson- This was some time about the tenth of July- I did not like to remain after Mr Baker was taken- did not know what might take place. I had no courage to get forward- and did not feel secure to do anything at all. I was as liable as any one there- and should not feel secure there now- I dis- posed of my little property- a yoke of oxen- one cow and a horse- and came away-
Charles Smart
Washington Dec 29th 1827 The above said Charles Smart personally appeared and made oath that the fore- going statement by him signed, is wholly true, according to the best of his knowledge and belief before me
James Houlton, Justice of Peace
I George Fields, fifty years of age, now of Houlton, was born in Pensacola, where I lost my father- My mother married again, and moved with me into New Brunswick- I continued there excepting two or three years in Canada, until about four years ago .- I then went to the Aroostook .- I expected when I went there that I was going into the Territory of the United States- William Piles, an American went on the same year with me. I found there the two Johnson's Lewis and Charles, and a man by the name of William M. Crea. I settled about twelve miles up the stream- about nine miles above the line- The first year a Deputy sur- veyor General by the name of West came up from Prince William, and seized all my timber on the Aroostook, and made me pay a duty of two shillings a ton. The next year James Sisson of Tobique Settlement got a license
1
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OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
to cut timber, and I with a number others cut under him and other people who had obtained licenses. - - and from whom we obtained our supplies- Afterwards we worked for ourselves. Last March George Morehouse Esq came to the settlement with John Davison to mark timber to be seized and forbid the people from working or occupying any further. I was then preparing to come away.
Two years ago I was arrested by Daniel Craig a Deputy Sheriff of New Brunswick for a debt of £65, on the suit of William Hallet and carried down the river, almost to the St. Johns, a mile and a half below the lines- where I met one of my sons who gave bail for me- and I returned home- and afterwards settled the debt by letting Hallet have a farm, belonging to me on the St. Johns, a few miles below the Aroostook- of which I had a grant from the government of New Brunswick.
Early last March I was sued by Patrick Connelly before Justice Morehouse for three days work which was to be paid in work by me. The writ was served by Stephen Mc Neal a constable- A yoke of oxen were also taken by the constable at the same time out of my shed on a warrant for a debt of three pounds against my son and driven on to the river and he returned and told me. I agreed to settle both demands and give my note for the amount, and promised to pay the costs to the justice. I went down the next day to pay the costs which I did and complained of being sued and came home again .- I thought the note was written payable in three months, which Connelly and I agreed upon. - - On a week after my return, the constable came with a writ from Esq. Moorhouse on the same note, and took my body, about sunrise, as I was going to mills and as I could not get bail, carried me before the justice, who directed me to attend the next friday- and released me
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on my promise so to do. On the friday appointed I attended to stand trial, because I considered it was in the States, and they had no right to sue me there, and so told M' Moorhouse, and talked hard to him about it. I ought not to have gone there- that I knew it was con- sidered to belong to the States when I went there, and that William Piles and I (who are brother's in law) did it to get into the American government- He said it was a cage of unclean birds and he did not pity me- Also He said that I spoke disrespectfully of the govern- ment, and that if he had not known me from a boy he would have sent me to Fredericton, I told him he could not send me there- He said he could tie me neck and heels and send me there. -
The next day the constable came up with the execution and seized a yoke of oxen, five hogs, a couple of two year old bulls and my cow .- He got to my house before I returned from Tobique- I met him about three miles below driving them down- They were car- ried to Tobique and Sold- but for not enough to pay debt and costs, as I found afterwards. How much it was, I did not stop to ask and never knew- My son bought the cow at the sale and brought her back to me- I was afraid they would take me next. I then set out with my family to come away, and was on my way on the river with my wife and five children under ten years of age and the cow. - Nearly opposite Mr Morehouses I met the constable with a fresh execution for the balance of the costs- upon which he took the cow again. My wife cried and advised me to give the money we had, which was twenty shillings, to redeem the cow. Mr MeNeal said he would take it and pay the rest him- self- M' MºNeal was very civil to us and let me go.
All the property I have is some household furniture which I brought from Aroostook, with about £10. I
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OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
owed some debts upon the river- I had a horse that has gone to pay an honest debt- My sons are on the St. Johns- they are used to the river and do not like to leave it. I am afraid of returning to my sons on account of my creditors- I should have come away, if I had not owed a dollar. I left the Aroostook because they would not let me live there in peace. They took every thing away from me as fast as I got it. I have a very large family and not very good health- and if I got a little timber or anything to procure supplies they would seize it - I now live in Houlton
his George X Fields mark
Washington ss, Houlton Dec. 31, 1827- The above signed George Fields made oath that the foregoing facts by him stated are to his best knowledge & belief wholly true before me
James Houlton Justice of the Peace
History of the Shaw Family With a Sketch of Milton G. Shaw of Green- ville
Presented by Charles D. Shaw
O F THE disproportionately large number of Shaws who settled in the New England colonies before 1650, Roger Shaw, if in New England as early as 1630, as claimed, is the earliest. To him a multi- tude of descendants trace their lineage.
I.
ROGER SHAW, immigrant, came to this country about 1630. The compiler of the "Shaw Notes" gives him as the son of Ralph Shaw. The Register of St. Peter's, Cornhill, London, England, has the following entry : "1594, Sept. 1st, Sunday. Christening of Roger Shaw, sonne of Ralph Shaw, Vintnor, at the Sunne on Cornhill, born Monday, 26th of August. " By this record the occupation of Ralph was that of "Vintnor," and Roger the immigrant was a vintner and keeper of an ordinary. The similarity of occupations tends to prove this relationship. Roger Shaw first settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was in attendance on the general court in 1636, was made freeman in 1638, hav- ing bought one hundred acres of land and built a house on Arrow Street. He served on the jury 1699, was
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
town clerk 1640, and selectman 1641-45. Roger's name appears among the petitioners for the incorpo- ration of Mapton, New Hampshire. The town was incorporated 1639. He bought land of John Crosse in the new town in 1640; in 1647 he was granted a large tract of land of King Charles First; in 1648 sold his property in Cambridge and removed to Hampton. He was a very prominent man; was representative to the general court 1651-53, selectman 1649 and 1654, and filled many other offices, was appointed commissioner for trying small cases 1651, was chairman of a committee to reexamine the book of town land grants, and to lay out highways 1658. He was vintner and keeper of the ordinary, and was authorized by the general court to sell liquors.
Died, May 29, 1661.
Married, (first)
daughter of -and Ann
(- She was the mother of all his
children. Married, (second) Susanna Tilton, widow of William Tilton of Lynn.
Issue :
1. Margaret Shaw. 2. Joseph Shaw.
3. Ann Shaw.
4. Esther Shaw.
5. Mary Shaw, died young.
6. Benjamin Shaw, of whom below.
7. Deliverance Shaw.
II.
BENJAMIN SHAW, youngest son of Roger and Ann Shaw, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1641.
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
He lived with his father on the homestead, but was also a merchant and blacksmith. His account book is still in existence and is an interesting relic of this very remarkable man. As soon as possible after the first saw- mill was built in that region (about 1658) he built a new frame house, which was constructed so as to be used as a garrison in times of war- was two stories in height and was afterwards enlarged and improved by his son Edward, but early in the fifties of the last century it was demolished by his descendants to make room for a modern structure. His name appears on the list of voters prepared by the president and council in 1680, from that of the selectmen of each town in New Hamp- shire when it was a royal province, each one named therein being eligible to the office of councilman and privileged to vote in their meetings. He is said to have had great ingenuity and skill in mechanics, and though the possessor of great wealth for those days, made the gravestone which still marks his grave. In his will dated December 26, 1717, he mentions five sons and six daughters. His widow was generously remembered in his will and lived on the homestead with her son Edward, the two being named therein as executors of that instru- ment.
Died, according to family records, December 31, 1717, but according to the inscription on his gravestone, January 17, 1718.
Married, May 25, 1663, Esther, daughter of Ezekiel and Susannah Richardson. She died May 16, 1736, at the age of ninety-six years.
Issue :
1. Mary Shaw.
2. Esther Shaw.
3. Sarah Shaw.
4. Abigail Shaw.
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OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
5. Ruth Shaw.
6. Benjamin Shaw.
7. Roger Shaw.
· 8. Joseph Shaw.
9. Edward Shaw, died young.
10. Edward Shaw.
11. John Shaw, of whom below.
12. Hannah Shaw.
III.
JOHN SHAW, eleventh child and sixth son of Benjamin and Esther (Richardson) Shaw, was living at the time of his father's death, and received a bequest in his will made in 1717. There is no further record of him.
"John Shaw, who died in Holderness, New Hampshire, at the age of 103 years, is said to have come from Eng- land to New Hampshire early in the eighteenth century, and settled in that part of Durham which was incorpo- rated January 6, 1766, as the town of Lee. In spite of this tradition, however, after a large and fruitless search for particulars concerning the fate of John, the son of Benjamin Shaw, the youngest son of Roger Shaw, immi- grant from England prior to 1636, who was remembered in his father's will made in 1717, but never afterwards traced with any certainty by genealogists," says Harriette F. Farwell, compiler of the "Shaw Records," "it is believed that the latter may yet be identified as the John first mentioned above, having moved from Hampton, New Hampshire, where Roger and his son Benjamin, with others to localities theretofore unsettled and farther removed from the seacoast and civilization. The date of this son's birth must have been between 1680 and
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
1690." John Shaw of Lee, New Hampshire, was a man of sterling qualities morally, and of the most vig- orous constitution physically-never having been sick & day in his life, passing away suddenly and painlessly at the close of a day's labor at chopping wood. When in his one hundredth year he made a profession of religion and was baptized, being then in full possession of all his mental and physical faculties.
Died, Married, Mercy Vernet. Little has been ascertained concerning the family of this couple.
Issue :
1. John Shaw.
2. Samuel Shaw.
3. Daniel Shaw, of whom below.
4. George Shaw.
IV.
DANIEL SHAW, son of John and Mercy (Vernet) Shaw, was born in Lee, New Hampshire, and lived in Lee and Tamworth.
Died,
Married, , in Kittery, Maine,
Elizabeth Staples.
Issue : (These are not known to be recorded in their natural order. )
James Shaw. Olive Shaw.
Daniel Shaw, of whom below.
Elizabeth Shaw. Mary Shaw. Hannah Shaw. Samuel Shaw. Noah Shaw.
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OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
V.
DANIEL SHAW (2), third child and second son of Daniel (1) (the History of Industry, Maine, calls him Samuel) and Elizabeth (Staples) Shaw, was born in Lee, Strafford County, New Hampshire, April 16, 1784. He removed to Industry, Maine, about the time of his mar- riage, and settled and made a farm of several hundred acres. He was a man of much business ability and held in high esteem by his townsmen. He became an exten- sive drover and dealer in country produce, which he often shipped east to the British Provinces from Wiscasset, or to such other points as promised the most favorable market. He had thus accumulated about ten thousand dollars in ready money when the great land speculation craze of 1835 occurred. Though naturally very cautious in business transactions, he was at length drawn into speculative transactions from which he emerged a ruined man. He moved to Bangor about 1836 and continued in the stock and produce business in connection with farming.
Died, November 28, 1852, in Industry.
Married, (first) in Kittery, February 7, 1814, Elizabeth Staples, born March 9, 1787, and died in Industry, July 29, 1827. Married (second) (published June 10, 1831,) Alice (Lewis) Fernald, widow of Jonathan Fernald of Cherryfield, Maine. She died in Bangor, April 8, 1860.
Issue : (All by first wife.)
1. Albert Shaw.
2. Daniel Shaw.
3. Sarah Shaw.
4. Benjamin Gilman Shaw.
5. Emily Newell Shaw.
6. Milton Gilman Shaw, of whom below.
1
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
7. 5
8. Two sons, died young.
9. Adeline Shaw.
10. Mehitable Shaw.
-
VI.
MILTON GILMAN SHAW, sixth child and fourth son of Daniel (2) and Elizabeth (Staples) Shaw, was born in Industry, December 31, 1820. He lived on the farm his father had cleared until he was twenty-five years old. When a young man, just setting out in life, he went to Chicago, performing a large part of the journey on foot. At that time the great metropolis of the West was but a small place and offered him no induce- ment to stay and he returned to Maine. In 1841 he went into the woods and engaged in farming and lumber- ing at Greenville and at Flagstaff, where Benedict Arnold camped and raised his flag on his famous march to Que- bec. Mr. Shaw's first work was for his brothers, Albert and Daniel. The latter afterwards became prominent on the Chippewa River in Wisconsin, and it was not till 1845 that he began business for himself. In the fall of that year he located at Greenville, on the southern end of Moosehead Lake, which was afterwards the head- quarters of his operations. His business was logging and selling logs, both pine and spruce, and he lived there forty years, engaged also in farming and commercial pursuits. In 1849 he began buying lands. He bought with others and for himself alone. He did not begin the manufacture until 1883, when with his sons he went to Bath to build the now massive Shaw mill, which gives constant employment to eighty men and annually manu- factures several million feet of logs into long and short
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OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
lumber, such as boards, clapboards, shingles and laths. Mr. Shaw had many partners during his long business career, but his associates in his later years were his sons, Charles D., Albert H., and William M. The second named, Albert H., was general manager of the Bath business, the other two residing at Greenville. The M. G. Shaw Lumber Company was incorporated in 1897, with Milton G. Shaw, president, Albert H. Shaw, treas- urer and manager, and William M. Shaw, clerk. Mr. Shaw's lumbering experience covered the whole of what may be called, for lack of a better term, the modern history of lumbering in Maine. When he began his career in the early forties the pine on the Moosehead had been pretty well culled. During the first four years, during which he was working for his brothers, from 1841 to 1845, when he began logging on his own account, began the falling of spruce, the latter being soon the most important part of the business, though some pine has been cut every year down to this date.
As before stated, Mr. Shaw's first purchase of land was in 1849, when he bought a half interest in fifteen hundred acres at twenty-five cents an acre. Shortly after that, he with ex-Governor Coburn, Joseph Brad- street, Elias Milliken and a Mr. Drummond, bought land for which they paid $1.25 and $1.50 an acre. Those lands, after being cut over again, are now worth $3 to $5 an acre, and some of them more. In the early fifties the best pine then remaining on Moosehead waters could be bought for about a dollar a thousand. Now the timber, cutting everything of log size, and with very little pine in it is worth $3 to $6 a thousand.
When Mr. Shaw began his operation the sawmills were equipped with the old style sash saw. Later came the Muley and gang, and it was not until about 1860 that the rotary or circular saw began its appearance
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
in the mills of Maine. Later still came the band, which is now the leading sawing tool in all the larger mills.
For more than sixty years Mr. Shaw was a prominent figure on Moosehead Lake and the Kennebec River. His logs went steadily to market every year after 1845, and he not only built up a handsome fortune for himself, but in the timber holdings of himself and the company there was the foundation for a business of indefinite duration. One of his sons, in speaking of the matter, said: "At our present rate we shall never cut our timber." The rule adopted by the company in logging was to cut nothing less than eight inches in top diameter in twenty- foot lengths or seven inches in diameter in thirty-foot lengths. This means practically twelve inches on the stump. The efficacy of this method of logging is shown by the fact that Mr. Shaw cut several times over the same land. Coupled with this method of felling was an exceptional degree of care in guarding against fire, with the result that a very few thousand dollars, perhaps a few hundred dollars, would cover the entire loss by forest fires. Mr. Shaw was also interested in Maine hotels on an extensive scale during his life, having built the Moosehead House at Greenville with Josiah Hinckley, his father-in-law. This hotel was successfully conducted until at last it burned. Mr. Shaw than built a new and much larger hotel on the same site, which he conducted for a year. He was also interested in the great indus- trial development of Rumford Falls several years ago, and besides erecting the largest hotel in the place, he also owned a large amount of real estate there. While a resident of Greenville he did a great deal in the way of building up the town, and filled at different times all the town offices of any importance, and was a member of the Maine Legislature in 1859. He was a strong, con- servative business man, keeping close control of his vast
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