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 9
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The persistent cultivation of a lofty ideal produced the desired fruition. The Legislature passed an act to incorporate the "Stockholders of Monson Academy," which is Chap. 62, Private Laws of 1847, and it was approved by Gov. Dana on July 26th of that year, as follows :
CHAPTER 62. PRIVATE LAWS OF 1847.
An act to incorporate the Stockholders of Monson Academy.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- tives in Legislature assembled, as follows:
Ephraim Flint, Zenas Scales, Aretus Chapin, Peabody H. Rice, Horace Pullen, Lucius Bradford, Samuel Jenkins, Hiram Folsom, Josiah Jordan, Horatio Ilsley, Henry Mills, Alpheus Davison, Benjamin Ward, Will D. Horn, S. B. Kittredge, Abner Brown, Horace Flanders, James K. Whiting, George H. Gates, Benjamin R. Scribner, John H. Rice, Joseph M. Curtis, James H. Whitney, Leonard S. Crafts, E. C. Buker, Josiah P. Haynes, Robert Barbour, Horace Adams, Paul S. Merrill, Josiah Norris, Samuel Pillsbury, Jr., John E. Sawyer, Bowman Varney, Nelson Savage, Joshua Buck, Norman S. Williams, William Tenney, Roland Taylor, Alonzo H. Davee, Isaac Philips, Hiram Vinton, Henry Hills, Ozias Blanchard, Leonard Howard, Robert Barbour, Jr., John Pollard, Charles W. Gower, Davis N. Gower, Samuel Cole, Stephen Brown, Solomon F. Dane, Charles Blanchard, Solomon Cushman and Justin E. Crafts, their associates, successors and assigns, are hereby constituted a corporation by the name of the Stockholders of Monson Academy; and by this name may sue and be sued; have a common seal; appoint
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trustees to manage their affairs ; take and hold any estate, personal or real, that they may receive by donation or otherwise, the annual income of which not to exceed two thousand dollars; said income to be faithfully applied to the purpose of education; and the stock- holders aforesaid, are authorized to make any by-laws they may deem necessary, not repugnant to the laws of the State, and to have all the powers and privileges incident to similar corporations.
This act was approved by Gov. Dana July 26th, 1847. So far as known these incorporators have all passed away except John H. Rice, who is now (1908) living in Chicago, at the advanced age of 92 years.
By virtue of this authority an organization was formed for the purposes indicated and has been maintained ever since. Its by-laws provide for a board of trustees con- sisting of not less than nine nor more than fifteen per- sons. At the first election October 25th, 1847, fifteen trustees were elected as follows:
Charles W. Gower, Isaac Philips, P. H. Rice, Ozias Blanchard, Horatio Ilsley, William Tenney, Leonard Howard, Wm. D. Hoar, Alpheus Davison, Samuel Pillsbury, Hiram Folsom, Horace Pullen, Roland Taylor, J. Henry Pullen and Abner Brown.
A notice of this meeting was published in the Piscata- quis Farmer.
The trustees at their first meeting chose Lucius Bradford, president; Zenas Scales, vice-president; Ephraim Flint, clerk ; Aretus Chapin, treasurer.
Elder Lucius Bradford, who was a resident Baptist minister, served as president until 1861. Zenas Scales was chosen for the years 1861-2. There is no record of an election of officers for the years 1863-4. In 1865 Wm. Tenney was chosen president and served until
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1870. Since then the presidents have been Charles Davison, 1870-1877; Sumner A. Patten, 1877-1879; Horace Pullen, 1881-1902. In 1903 Alvin Gray was chosen president and is holding this office at the present time.
The treasurers have been Aretus Chapin, Roland Taylor, H. E. Homer, Alvin Gray and Albert F. Jackson.
The principals of this academy from 1849 to 1873 were W. H. Seavey, Mr. Hunt, Jacob Tuck, V. B. Oakes, Eben B. Higgins, F. W. Hardy, T. F. McFadden, T. F. Batchelder, J. W. Staples, George Webster, Reuben A. Rideout, W. S. Knowlton, Justin S. Thompson, Miss Gilman and Thomas N. Lord; and from 1873 to 1908, have been Fred B. Osgood, G. B. Hescock, James Jenkins, Edgar H. Crosby, C. E. B. Libby, L. E. Moulton, H. W. Dunn, W. S. Knowlton, John L. Dyer, W. H. Russell and John D. Whittier.
It is quite impossible for us of the present day to fully appreciate exactly what it meant for those men to per- form their self-imposed task of founding and maintain- ing this institution.
The men that came here from old Monson and other parts did not bring riches but only strong hands and stout hearts. They had to dig out of these wilderness hillsides the means for existence and a competency to "save for a rainy day;" hence their methods and habits of life were most strenuously frugal.
They were farmers and laborers in the woods and on the "drives," with farm produce and labor bringing very low remuneration, while whatever they purchased from the store was in price extremely high.
Cotton cloth, brown sugar, lamp-oil and coffee were luxuries which only the "forehanded" ones could afford. It was men thus conditioned who united together and by
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a popular subscription marshaled labor and materials for the wherewith to erect a building to be used for the edu- cational work which the State had imposed upon them by this act of the Legislature.
The policy of the State of Maine then was to aid academies, schools and colleges by donating to them wild lands owned by the State; in fact, the politicians of those days favored anything that would be an excuse for selling these lands to their favorites and friends, who stood ready to grab anything for sale at prices so low that we now look back upon the system as manifestly a disgrace to our State. The trustees of our academy very properly took advantage of that condition of pub- lic affairs and in 1848 succeeded in obtaining a resolve from the Legislature appropriating one quarter of a town- ship of wild land in Aroostook County, which resolve was, however, rescinded by the Legislature in 1849, (Chap. 154, Private Laws, 1849) and at the same time "one-half of a township of land from any of the lands not otherwise appropriated" was granted to this academy "not to exceed in value $3,000."
In 1860 a devastating fire swept over the village of Monson and destroyed the academy buildings, and again the Legislature aided it (Chap. 22, Resolves 1861) by giving it one fourth of another township of land.
It is from these sources that our "academy fund" of $4,000 was derived.
From the time of the erection of the first academy building until the late James Tarr built a public hall in Monson Village, which is now known as Spencer's Hall, the upper story was used for town meetings, elections, and other public purposes.
At the present time the entire building is used for school work. Quite a large number of the graduates of Monson Academy have become public men of prominence,
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among whom may be mentioned Hon. Dudley P. Bailey, a well known citizen of Everett, Mass., and a practicing lawyer in Boston, and who has served in the Legislature of his commonwealth two or three terms as representa- tive from the city of Everett; Hon. Evans S. Pillsbury, a lawyer in California, and who has held the office of U. S. district attorney and other positions of trust; the late Leonard D. Carver of Augusta, Maine, who formerly practiced law in Kennebec County, and was for many years the able and faithful librarian of the Maine State Library ; Prof. Norris H. Hart of Orono, Maine, now professor of mathematics and astronomy in the Uni- versity of Maine, and Artemus Gates, who became a lawyer and financier of prominence in New York City.
Among the business men of note may be named Charles W. Curtis of Dexter, Maine, who was for many years at the head of the banking business of that town; the late Walter D. Eaton, formerly a merchant in Dexter and later in life engaged in mercantile business in Boston, Mass., and Malcolm Hart, who holds in the West an important position as civil engineer. It was the evident design of the founders of this institution that it should never become an annex to or a preparatory school for any sectarian or denominational college or university, as the original stockholders were of different religious faiths and nothing appears in the old records to suggest any differ- ent conclusion.
There were among them Congregationalists, Baptists and Universalists; the Rices belonged to the latter denomination, while the late Hon. Ephraim Flint was always a pronounced Unitarian.
It was established upon absolutely independent and entirely non-sectarian grounds.
I herewith append the resolves of the Legislature rela-
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ting to these academy grants which I have herein referred to as follows :
CHAPTER 73.
Resolve in Favor of Monson Academy.
Resolved. That the land agent of this State is hereby authorized and directed to convey to the trustees of Mon- son Academy, one-half township of land situated in the County of Aroostook; said land to be selected by the land agent, and to be equal in value per acre as near as may be to the east half of township number three, range four, in the County of Aroostook, at the time said half township was conveyed to the trustees of Lee Normal School; provided however, that the land agent shall not make the conveyance herein provided for unless the said trustees of said Monson Academy shall, on or before the first Monday of October, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty-nine prove to the satisfaction of the governor and council that the corporators apply- ing for such conveyance shall have furnished a good and convenient academical building and actually commenced school herein and shall have corporate property at least to the amount of twelve hundred dollars over and above the debts of said corporation.
(Approved July 14th, 1848.)
CHAPTER 154.
Resolve in Favor of Monson Academy.
Resolved. That the land agent of this State is hereby authorized and directed to convey to the trustees of Monson Academy one half township of land from any of the lands in which the State is interested in severalty or in common, not otherwise appropriated; said land to be
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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
selected by the land agent; provided said half township shall not exceed in value three thousand dollars. Pro- vided, however, that the land agent shall not make the conveyance herein provided for, unless the trustees of said Monson Academy shall, on or before the first Monday of October, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty-nine, prove to the satisfaction of the governor and council that the corporators applying for such conveyance, shall have furnished a good and conve- nient academical building, and actually commenced school therein, and shall have corporate property at least, to the amount of twelve hundred dollars over and above the debts of said corporation.
Resolved. That a resolve in favor of Monson Academy, approved July fourteenth, eighteen hundred and forty-eight is hereby rescinded.
(Approved August 7th, 1849.)
CHAPTER 22.
Resolved. That the land agent be and hereby is authorized and directed to convey to the trustees of Monson Academy, Monmouth Academy, Limington Academy and Corinna Union Academy, one township of land of average quality and price in common and undi- vided, in proportions of one fourth to each of said insti- tutions.
(Approved February 23, 1861.)
Early Navigation on Sebec Lake
By Charles W. Hayes, Esq.
B EFORE the era of the overland thoroughfares, the turnpikes, and the railroads, the waterways of the country were the great highways of commerce. Not only did Lo, the poor Indian, avail himself of these waterways for the transportation of himself, and the spoils of the chase, but succeeding him, our early settlers used the lakes and rivers as a means of transportation. It was owing to this advantage, as well as to the power developed by falls in our rivers, that led the early settlers to choose as sites of their settlements, the banks of rivers and lakes.
I have been informed that the first farms cleared and settled in Foxcroft, were those near the shore of Sebec Lake, at and near the site of the old town farm, called, in the olden time, the "North Cant," because this place, by means of Sebec Lake, gave them cheap and easy access to the grist-mills and lumber mills of Sebec Village.
The birch canoe of the Indian was succeeded by the more substantial boat of the white man, but both pro- pelled by "one-man power," on Sebec Lake till about 1857. Just one half a century elapsed from the time when Fulton's crude and primitive steamboat first suc- cessfully navigated the Hudson River, when attention was given to a power boat for navigating Sebec Lake.
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The first attempt to propel a boat on Sebec Lake by power, was made, apparently by Thomas A. Keating and G. E. S. Bryant, and they conceived the idea of using for power, the horse-power of the treadmill type. And, although they did not invest a very considerable sum in financing the enterprise, yet they felt that they could not risk even what they did invest, unless protected by legislative monopoly ; for we find that the Legislature of Maine, in 1857, by a private act of that year, being Private Laws, Chapter 49, granted to them a charter by the name of Sebec Pond Boat Company, made them a corporate body, authorized them to build a boat or boats to be propelled by horse-power, and to hold real and personal property to an amount not exceeding $12,000. And, provided they should organize before the next October, and should place upon Sebec Pond at least one horse-boat in proper condition for conveying passengers, they should have and enjoy the exclusive right for eight years from the date of organization to operate a horse- boat on Sebec Pond. The act provided that the county commissioners for Piscataquis County might establish prices for carriage of passengers and freight, and might establish a ferry over any part of said pond, and place such boats thereon as they might deem proper. They should forfeit their monopoly, if they should fail for thirty days to run a horse-boat on said pond during the months of July and August every year.
Thus armed with their "Magna Charta," and pro- tected from competition by the Legislature, they pro- ceeded to organize, and they went down the Piscataquis River, somewhere, and bought, or had given them an old ferry-boat, which they transported to Sebec Pond. They built a floor on it, equipped it with side paddle- wheels and a shaft, connected this to a treadmill horse- power, and when they had put in a pair of fairly heavy
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horses, and the wind was not adverse, they were enabled to navigate the length of the pond in the remarkable time of about four hours. In bad or rough weather, auxiliary power must be furnished by human exertion, or navigation must temporarily cease.
Probably a cruder boat, or a more uncertain method of transportation was never devised or operated by man; yet it was a novelty, and commanded the trade of the blueberry pickers, and campers on the mountains and shores of the lake, which trade the enterprising proprie- tors stimulated by the use of printer's ink. The follow- ing is a copy of an advertisement in The Piscataquis Observer of August 4, 1859, wherein the uncertainty of the running time must be noticeable :
BOAT NOTICE !!
The subscribers would hereby give public notice that they will run a
HORSE BOAT
Daily, for a few weeks, commencing August 1st, 1859, from Whittemore's Landing, to the head of
SEBEC LAKE,
for the accommodation of those who wish to engage in the delightful enjoyment of Fishing in the Lake and Stream, or
SPORTING and BLUEBERRYING
on the surrounding mountains, or enjoying Nature spread out in unsurpassed loveliness in both Lake and Mountain Scenery.
The boat is large and safe, capable of carry- ing from seventy-five to one hundred pas- sengers.
Leave Whittemore's Landing at 7 1-2 o'clock, A. M., Returning the same evening.
Parties from a distance, so wishing, by noti-
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fying us, will be accommodated so they can take the Boat at 1 o'clock P. M.
Fare up and back only 50 cents.
BRYANT & KEATING.
Observing the advantages and disadvantages of this enterprise, it must have occurred to certain people that a boat operated by steam would afford a better and more certain mode of navigation, and while Bryant and Keating had authority and the exclusive right to operate a horse- boat, their charter gave them no exclusive right, and in the express terms of their charter, no right, to operate a steamboat. And so, in 1861, Lathrop C. Jones and William N. Thompson, both of Foxcroft, procured a charter from the Legislature to navigate Sebec Lake by steam.
This charter is Chapter 15, of the Private Laws of 1861, and creates the said proprietors into a body cor- porate by the name of Sebec Lake Steamboat Company ; authorized them to operate a steamboat or steamboats on Sebec Lake, to hold real and personal property not exceeding $15,000; gave them the monopoly of the exclusive right of steam-navigation of said lake for a period of fourteen years, from July 1, 1862; gave the county commissioners the right to fix rates, if they should see fit; and obligated them, in order to maintain the monopoly, to build and put in running order on said lake, at least one steamboat of not less than fifteen tons, and not more than fifty tons burden, and to run such boat every day, Sundays excepted, during the months of July and August of each of said fourteen years, from Sebec Village to the head of the lake. Now a legisla- tive charter is of the nature of a contract. The Consti- tution of the United States provides that no state shall pass any law impairing the obligation of contracts.
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Bryant and Keating had such charter as was above described, which would not expire for more than four years after the charter of Jones and Thompson was granted. And so the Legislature inserted into Jones and Thompson's charter this section: Sect. 4. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to interfere with rights and privileges granted to Thomas A. Keating and G. E. S. Bryant and their associates, by "an act to incorporate the Sebec Pond Company" approved March 30th, 1857.
Thus was the constitutional safeguard against the impairment of contracts avoided, although the Jones and Thompson charter did, as the Legislature well knew it would, kill the rights of Bryant and Keating under their charter, even more effectually than would a direct violation of it, by the authorizing of another company to operate a horse-boat.
Pursuant to their charter, and the monopoly thereby granted, Jones and Thompson, in the winter and spring of 1861, got together about $150 worth of material with which to construct a steamboat. And here, Capt. A. G. Crockett, then a young man of about thirty years of age, and who had been employed on Bryant and Keating's horse-boat more or less, becomes the prominent figure in steam-navigation of Sebec Lake. He bought out the interest of Mr. Thompson, and he, with Mr. Jones, proceeded to construct a steamboat, which they put in commission during the summer of 1861, which they named the Favorite. For power, they placed in her, at first a 4 h. p. donkey, or hoisting-engine, which they connected to a shaft by wooden gearing, or by one iron and one wood gear. She was a side-wheel steamer. I have been unable to get her dimensions, or amount of displacement. Crockett and Mr. Jones oper- ated her with only moderate financial success till 1865,
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when Capt. Crockett bought out the interest of Mr. Jones. Meanwhile, in 1862, their charter was amended, by changing the compulsory running season, from July and August, to six weeks from the fifth day of July. Capt. Crockett's and Mr. Jones' operation of the "Favorite," it will be observed, was the period covered by the Civil War, and naturally such an enterprise was greatly hampered by that great struggle.
The motive power of the Favorite was changed, after two years, to an 8 h. p. Hoadly engine, con- nected with the wheel shaft by a belt. This engine was owned by Mr. Charles H. Chandler, and while his engine provided the power, he was a partner with Crockett and Jones. The engine was put in the boat each summer, and taken out each fall, being hauled to and from Fox- croft village. Again, in 1866, the motive power was changed to a 15 h. p. Hoadly engine, which was bought second-hand by Mr. Crockett.
This last engine was for the first few years used in the summer on the Favorite, and later on the Rippling Wave, and in the winter, it was taken to Foxcroft Four Corners, and used in sawing shingles.
After 1865, Capt. Crockett was the sole proprietor of the steamboat Favorite. In 1866 and 1867, it proved quite a financial success, and the business grew to such an extent, that, in 1868, Capt. Crockett determined to place on the lake, a larger and more convenient steamer. Accordingly, in that year, he built the Rippling Wave, a boat which all of the older residents easily remember. She was built from lumber cut from the township of Bowerbank, the knees being taken from juniper swamps in Sebec. Her keel was 87 feet, 13 1-2 beam, 92 feet over all, and with overhanging guards, making her entire width in the widest part, 24 feet. She was double- decked, had a commodious cabin in the stern of the
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lower deck, and in the bow and between the cabin and the engine-house were large spaces for baggage. In front of the engine-house was a ticket office and a confectionery store in one small room. The upper deck had a seat extending around the entire boat, forming a guard-rail, as well as seats for passengers. It had a small pilot- house on the upper deck. Stairs from the space in front of the cabin to the upper deck, gave the passengers safe and ample means of reaching the upper deck. Her power was the last engine described as being in the Favorite. Her draft was small, only about 36 inches. Her paddle-wheels were 12 feet in diameter, and were well boxed in, the wheel-boxes extending about three feet above the upper deck. She was a very convenient steamer, capable of carrying five hundred passengers, although her small draft of water, as compared with the size of her hull, gave great wind resistance.
She was placed in commission in the summer of 1868, and replaced the Favorite, which was not thereafter run.
Joseph Lamson, Esq., of Sebec, Maine, a man who figured quite prominently in the history of Piscataquis County, was among other things, quite an artist, and painted a picture of the Favorite and also of the Rip- pling Wave. Capt. Crockett has preserved these pictures, and has kindly loaned them to the writer, who has placed them in the hands of F. H. Thompson, who has redrawn and reduced them, and they are here for the inspection of the society, and will remain in the archives of the society as a part of this paper.
The writer's father, William C. Hayes, ever since 1866, and so long as Capt. Crockett operated the said steamers, and for a few seasons after, was employed on the above-named steamers, either in the capacity of master or engineer, and so I have a very early recollection of the scenes and happenings on the lake. I remember
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that a day's trip up the lake was the ne plus ultra of enjoyment, the sail in the refreshing air, the boy's fasci- nation with machinery, and the partaking of Aunt Sarah's (Mrs. Crockett's) good dinners, consisting in part, always, of blueberry pie, all made an enjoyable day. That other and older people also were interested in outings at Sebec Lake is evidenced by an article in The Piscataquis Observer of May 7, 1868, concerning the building of the Rippling Wave.
"NEW STEAMER ON SEBEC LAKE. We learn from Capt. A. G. Crockett that work on his new boat, which was commenced about a month ago, is progressing favorably as was anticipated, and that it will probably be ready for a trip on the 4th of July next. This boat is 80 feet keel and 90 feet over all; 24 feet beam, and 24 feet across the guards. It will have a cabin and six or eight state-rooms. The boat will be about fifty tons burthen with a capacity of 500 passengers, and will be carried by a twenty horse-power engine. Its cost is estimated at $5,000. The building of this boat is under the superintendence of Major Bigney, who built the Moosehead Lake boat, "Fairy of the Lake." It is intended to launch this craft about the last of June ; due notice of which will be given. Capt. Crockett deserves much credit for the energy with which he has undertaken an enterprise that the convenience of the public has so long demanded, and we heartily wish him success."
I can also remember in my very young days, of read- ing, I think, in the Observer, a little poem from the pen of Piscataquis County's well-known and well-appreciated poetess, Anna Boynton Averill,* which showed the
*Since writing the above, Miss Averill denies the authorship of the quoted lines and the writer is unable to find the original paper but remembers the lines distinctly.
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