USA > Maine > Hancock County > Blue Hill > Historical sketches of Bluehill, Maine > Part 11
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BLUEHILL, MAINE.
the writer does not have. Their children were as follows, viz .:
1. Edwin Augustus, born Nov. 4, 1843; died at sea Jan. 1863.
2. George Samuel, born Dec. 11, 1845.
3. Arthur Hawes, born Oct. 15, 1847; married Alice P. Carter.
4. Mary Louisa, born June 6, 1859; mar- ried Benjamin E. Fowler of Searsmont.
Since the death of Capt. Johnson and wife, the house has been vacant the greater part of the time.
THE ROBERT JOHNSON HOUSE
and place were the next west of the one just described, and upon the north side of the road. Robert Johnson was the father of Capt. Samuel, and son of Obed and Joanna (Wood) Johnson. He was born Dec. 27, 1787; married Lucy Johnson Blodgett, April 15, 1811, of Penobscot.
The house in which they resided and where their children were born was orig- inally of one story, built shortly after or about the time of their marriage, but had another story added overhanging the lower part in the boyhood of the writer. Robert Robertson, jr., who was quite a wag, said of it, "I came by 'Bob' John- son's house the other day and found his barn sitting on top of it as easy as could be. But it was a curious sight." The house and barn astride have long since been demolished.
Robert Johnson was something of a wit, especially when he had taken a nipper, as was the custom in his early manhood. It is related of him that at haying time many years ago he boasted that he could stow a load of hay upon the old style hay cart, called a sloven, no matter how fast the hay was to be pitched up to him. He had his trial of skill in that matter one day in his father's field with two men to do the pitching. It was on a side hill that the feat began. All went well at first, but a jolt over a knoll on the side hill brought half the load and Robert to the ground. One of the pitchers said: "Robert, what are you down here for?" The answer was quickly given and to the point: "After more hay, sir!"
Mr. Johnson, his wife and probably all or near all of their large family of nine children have gone to their long home and rest. Their children were, viz .:
1. Samuel Blodgett, born Oct. 30, 1812; married Susan Mary Treworgy.
2. Bradshaw, born Sept. 25, 1814.
3. Franklin, born Oct. 12, 1816.
4. Eliza Hawes, born Feb. 26, 1819.
5. Abigail Wood, born Aug. 1, 1821.
6. John Hawes, born April 11, 1824; died Aug. 31, 1825.
7. Harriet Edes, born Aug. 7, 1826.
8. John Hawes, born April 23, 1829.
9. Emily Mann, born Dec. 11, 1832.
THE HOUSE OF REV. JONATHAN FISHER, the first settled minister of the town and pastor of the Cougregational church for forty-one years, 1796 to 1837, located upon the south side of the road just beyond the Johnson house last mentioned, and built about 1798 or 1799, is the next to be de- scribed. That house was built after plans furnished by Mr. Fisher, and it is said that a considerable part of the work thereon was done by him.
The hinges, latches and catches for the doors were all of wood made by him, and as also a part of the furniture, including a clock which ran for fifty years and then stopped, worn out. The house was painted with ochre dug from the farm and mixed with oil, giving to it a lustreless yellow color.
The outbuildings were built by him. He also constructed a machine to run by wind for sawing his firewood, and a ma- chine for clearing his land of stones to be laid into fence walls about his farm. This is in many ways the most notable house and place in the town, and is often visited by strangers and sojourners in the town and vicinity. It is still standing, and oc- cupied by some of his grandchildren.
Jonathan Fisher was born in New Braintree, Mass., Oct. 7, 1768, graduated at Harvard college, settled at Blue Hill July 13, 1796, and died in the town Sept. 22, 1847, aged seventy-nine years. He mar- ried Miss Dolly Battell, of Dedham, Mass., April 2, 1796, and brought her to Blue Hill, where she ever after resided. She was born Feb. 24, 1770, and died Oct. 1, 1853, in her eighty-fourth year. Their children were as follows:
I. Jonathan, born March 12, 1798; died March 10, 1815.
II. Sally, born Oct. 22, 1799; married Nov. 20, 1823; died Nov. 27, 1824; no children.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BLUEHILL, MAINE.
III. Betsey, born Jan. 7, 1801; married Jeremiah Stevens, a sea captain of Eden, afterwards of Portland; they had several children.
IV. Josiah, born Oct. 17, 1802; a gradu- ate of Princeton college, N. J .; settled in New Jersey as a gospel preacher; died in 1875; was married in 1832 in New Jersey; had a son who was also a New Jersey clergyman, and perhaps other children.
V. Nancy, born Aug. 19, 1804; married Hosea Kittredge, Nov. 18, 1830; he was graduated from Amherst college in 1828; for a number of years preceptor of Blue Hill academy; removed to the West pre- vious to 1840 and died at Marshall, Mich- igan, in 1873. Her death not noted.
VI. Willard, born April 18, 1806; mar- ried Mary Witham Norton, Jan. 16, 1834. She died Aug. 26, 1864, leaving children. He died later, date not given.
VII. Polly, born Feb. 12, 1808; married Benjamin Stevens Nov. 11, 1829; died in 1878, leaving children.
VIII. Dolly, born Jan. 7, 1810; married Rev. Robert Crossett of Dennysville, Me., August 19, 1830. They removed from Dennysville to the West where they both died leaving children.
IX. Samuel, born July 12, 1812; died July 25, 1812.
Upon the marriage of the son Willard, he took his wife to reside in the old house with his father, and upon the death of the father Willard continued to live in the old house until his death. The children of Willard and Mary W. Fisher were, viz .:
1. Edward Payson, born Feb. 8, 1836.
2. Josiah, born June 14, 1837.
3. Cynthia Hewins, born March 10, 1840; died Feb. 11, 1858.
4. Mary Augusta, born June 11, 1844.
5. Stephen Norton, born June 28, 1845.
6. Nancy Ellen, born May 27, 1847.
7. William Harvey, born Feb. 18, 1852; died Sept. 15, 1873.
8. Frederick Austin, born Jan. 29, 1853.
Since the death of their parents, Mary Augusta and Frederick Austin, neither of whom have been married, have made their home in the Fisher mansion.
THE DEA. SETH HEWINS HOUSE
and place were next to the Fisher place upon the same side of the road. It was a story-and-a-half house, built by Dea. Hewins about 1800, now gone, and another
house built upon its site by Jonathan Stover, the present owner.
Dea. Seth Hewins was born in Dedham, Mass., Feb. 12, 1773; married Katherine Fisher, sister to Rev. Jonathan Fisher, Sept. 2, 1799. She was born March 27, 1771; died Aug. 15, 1854. They came to Blue Hill in 1799, and here resided until their death, he dying May 9, 1844.
He was chosen a deacon of the Bluehill Congregational church March 17, 1808, in which capacity he acted for many years. At his death May 19, 1844, we find the fol- lowing entry in the church records con- cerning his connection with the church:
"Obituary-Dea. Seth Hewins, who be- came connected with this church May 30, 1803, died May 19, 1844. Dea. Hewins was a man of wise temperament and regular in his habits; his religion was stable and consistent rather than brilliant and fluct- uating; his love to the means of grace in the regularity of his support and attend- ance, both of which were continued amidst many infirmities to the close of life.
"For many years he discharged accept- ably and profitably the duties of deacon; from this however he was excused the last few years of his life on account of bodily infirmities. His end was peaceful rather than triumphant; his hope of ac- ceptance with Christ during life was checkered with doubts and expressed with caution, and the same was true when death drew near. We saw in him an illustration of the truth so often verified that men who were Christians ordinarily die as they lived. Yet none who knew him would doubt that he died the death of the righteous."
Dea. Hewins and wife had four children born to them, all of whom preceded them to the spirit world. They were, viz .:
1. Katherine, born Feb. 22, 1801; died Feb. 16, 1823.
2. Seth, born Oct. 3, 1802; died May 19, 1827.
3. Cynthia, born Jan. 13, 1805; died June 28, 1835.
4. Sukey, born Dec. 18, 1807, died June 21, 1836.
After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Hewins the house and place became the property of Jonathan Stover, who took down the old house in the '70's and erected upon its
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BLUEHILL, MAINE.
site the two-story house now standing.
Mr. Stover is the son and third child of Isaac and Hannah (Door) Stover, born March 27, 1827, and married Eliza Ann Grindle, June 14, 1857. There is but one child entered in the Bluehill records, copy of which the writer has, and that is Ira W., born June 14, 1860.
Westward of the Deacon Hewins
place the next building was a schoolhouse located upon the corner of the road which branches from the main road and leading southward and along the east side of the First pond, so called. The first house and pace along that road was that of Isaac Stover, in the boyhood of the writer. When the house was built is not known, but it was prob- ably before 1825.
Isaac Stover was a native of Penobscot, born about 1800, married Hannah Door, and had, according to the Bluehill rec- ords, the following children:
1. Melinda, born Sept. 25, 1822; mar- ried Joshua Parker Candage.
2. Lydia, born Nov. 25, 1824; died May 31, 1849.
3. Jonathan, born May 27, 1827; mar- ried Eliza Ann Grindle.
4. Rufus, born Sept. 9, 1829; married Selvina I. Gott, of Brooksville.
5. Hannah, born July 10, 1831.
6. George Emery, born May 6, 1834; married Nancy M. Lufkin, of Sedgwick.
7. Sewell Watson, born Feb. 20, 1836; died Jan. 17, 1861.
8. Sarah Susan, born
9. Sarah Susan, born June 25, 1839; died July 23, 1864.
10. Maria Theresa, born Jan. 22, 1842; married Seth K. Chase.
Isaac Stover died March 15, 1875; the death of his wife is not noted. The house and place are still owned by members of the family.
THE JEREMIAH M'INTIRE HOUSE
and place were situated next to the Stover place already described. Mr. McIntire was not born at Bluehill, but came to it a young man, from what place the records do not state. He was published to Lydia Knowles, of Sedgwick, June 8, 1818, and certified June 27, of the same year. Whether he or someone else built the house in which he and his family resided
in the boyhood of the writer, there is no data at hand for determining.
The writer knew him in childhood, when he sometimes worked upon his father's farm, and also knew his children who were near his own age. His children, according to the record, were, viz .:
1. Abi ail, born April 30, 1819.
2. John Elliot, born March 9, 1821.
3. Ingerson, born Dec. 11, 1822; married first Elizabeth M. Cousins; second, Mehit- able P. Varnum.
4. Sarah, born March 4, 1825; died March 4, 1825.
5. Deborah Knowles, born April 7, 1826.
6. Freeman Knowles, born July 16, 1828; married Lucy Ann Lufkin Nov. 8, 1851.
7. Nathan Tenney, born April 9, 1830.
8. Sylvanus Byard, born April 24, 1833; died Jan. 17, 1854.
9. Francis, born ; died Jan. 28, 1851, aged about 16 years.
Mrs. Lydia Knowles McIntire died March 21, 1839, and Mr. McIntire married Oct. 22, 1839, Sarah P. Eaton, but no chil- dren are recorded by the latter marriage, nor the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. McIntire.
Freeman Knowles McIntire was a ship- mate of the writer in schooner Edward, of Blue Hill, during the season of 1846. At his golden wedding anniversary celebra- tion held at Blue Hill Nov. 8, 1901, the writer sent through the mail to him and wife congratulations.
THE HATY R. BILLINGS HOUSE
and place adjoined the last mentioned. Mr. Billings was from Sedgwick, but resided nearly all his life upon this place. Whether he built the house in which he lived is not known to the writer, but the supposition is that he did in the '30's of the last century. His publishment to Phebe Ann Friend, of Sedgwick, whom he married May 11, 1833, appears in the Blue Hill records, as also do the births of their children, who were as follows:
1. Emily Augusta, born March 15, 1834; married David P. Friend, of Sedgwick.
2. Albion Paris, born Aug. 8, 1835; lost at sea March, 1869.
3. Harriet Ann, born Dec. 10, 1836; married Elbridge Aclar, of Charlestown.
4. Isaac Pear, born July 1, 1838.
5. John Kingman, born Jan. 7, 1840; died Nov. 6, 1872.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BLUEHILL, MAINE.
6. James K. Polk, born March 29, 1841; died March 23, 1863.
7. Mary Matilda, born Nov 21, 1844; married George W. Clough, of Worcester, Mass.
Mr. Billings, head of this family, was a farmer. He died March 5, 1872.
RETURNING TO THE MAIN ROAD
at the schoolhouse previously mentioned and going westward therefrom, one came to the Douglass houses and places upon the left near the border of the Second pond, upon which stood two houses in the writer's boyhood occupied by James and Sylvanus Douglass. When and by whom those houses were built, the writer has no means of knowing; he only remembers them as they were nearly seventy years ago. They are still standing.
The first Douglass found recorded as a resident of the town was John, said to have been born Dec. 25, 1779, probably in that part of Sedgwick now Brooksville. He married Mary Door, June 2, 1812. She was born May 14, 1793. Their children were:
1. Achsah Ann, born Aug. 12, 1813.
2. John, born April 26, 1815.
3. David, born May 17, 1816.
4. Barius, born Oct. 6, 1818.
5. Robert, born Feb. 2, 1821.
6. Sarah, born Feb. 22, 1825.
7. Mary, born April 6, 1829.
Then follows Isaac Douglass, born June 17, 1784, who, it is recorded, married an- other Mary Door, June 14, 1813. She was born Feb. 8, 1789. They had seven children, as follows:
1. Sabrina, born Oct. 22, 1814; died Sept. 18, 1829.
2. Mary, born Aug. 30, 1816.
3. Sukey Horton, born Oct. 26, 1818.
4. Nathan Tenney, born Jan. 3, 1820; died June 10, 1821.
5. Joseph Parker, born March 25, 1822.
6. Seth, born April 6, 1825; died June 10, 1825.
7. Seth Hewins, born June, 1826.
Just where these two families had their habitation the writer has no means of knowing for a certainty, but he presumes it was at the places or near them where James and Sylvanus lived in later years. Just what relation they were to the latter the writer can only venture the sugges-
tion that they were uncles, as it is evident they were not parents.
Sylvanus Douglass is recorded as having been born Jan. 5, 1807, and to have mar- ried Susan Limeburner, of Brooksville, Nov. 3, 1831. She was born Jan. 24, 1810. Her death is not recorded, but Mr. Doug- lass died Sept. 18, 1880, aged seventy-three. They had two children, as follows:
1. Ellen Maria, born Sept. 19, 1836; died June 16, 1853.
2. Soloman Thornton Gott, born April 6, 1842; married Mira Gray.
James Limeburner Douglass, supposed brother of Sylvanus, was born Oct. 13, 1811; married, first, Exemy Thompson Blodgett, Nov. 21, 1833. She was born Dec. 24, 1810. They had four children, as fol- lows:
1. Caroline, born Jan. 30, 1835.
2. James William, born March 26, 1837.
3. Otis, born Jan 15, 1843.
4. Mary Abby, born March 15, 1848.
The mother of these children died June 5, 1862, and Mr. Douglass married Else R. Harding, a widow with one child, Laura A. Harding, born April 16, 1851. Mr. Douglass died Dec. 13, 1865.
THE MINING CRAZE.
Sylvanus and James L. Douglass were industrious farmers, known to the people of the town as well as to the writer. Their farms and lands contiguous thereto con- tained the noted Blue Hill and other cop- per mines, where hundreds of thousands of dollars were expended and lost in the endeavor to work those mines successfully between the years 1870 and 1890.
The land-owners who sold their hold- ings realized a handsome sum thereon, but all who put money into the mining enterprises expecting to realize a hand- some return were sadly disappointed and lost their investments. One who knew that locality before the mining craze, were he now to return to it, would wit- ness a scene of desolation that would make him heartsick.
The waste of money in this locality has been prodigious, and without benefit to the town except in a small way incident- ally. Could the same amount have been given to the academy and to the churches as endowments, it would have resulted in benefits, not only to this generation, but to those who shall come after it.
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BLUEHILL, MAINE.
The activity and energy displayed in those enterprises caused a village to spring up in that locality, while the abandon- ment left it desolate and deserted and the landscape denuded of trees and foliage, sad to look upon. The fame of the Blue Hill copper mines was at one time wide spread, and the town was spoken of as being the richest in Hancock county. Alas! what a dream! and how many awoke from it to find that their hard- earned savings of a life-time had vanished while they dreamed and erected castles in the air that tumbled to the ground when the light of sober sense shone upon them and were shattered in pieces that could not be gathered up! Like the apples of Sodom, that investment seemed golden and in- viting, but at touch and taste the glitter turned to ashes.
BENJAMIN CLOUGH.
Upon the north side of the main road near to the intersection with it of the road branching to "the Kingdom", in the Douglass neighborhood, stood the house of Benjamin Clough, in the boyhood of the writer. His father's name was Benjamin, born Aug. 15, 1755, married Relief Wyman, March 12, 1788. She was born Sept. 16, 1761, and died March 25, 1819. The date of his death is not recorded. He was sup- posed to be an older brother of Asa and John, who came from Haverhill, Mass., early in the settlement of Blue Hill.
The children of Benjamin, sr., and Re- lief Wyman (Clough) were:
1. Moody, born Oct. 4, 1789.
2. Abigail Wyman, born August 15, 1792.
3. Hannah, born August 16, 1793.
4. Phebe, born July 16, 1795; died June 26, 1827.
5. Benjamin, born June 20, 1797; mar- ried Amy Knowles.
6. Dorias, born July 5, 1800.
7. Ezra, born August 5, 1803; died Jan. 27, 1804.
Benjamin, the fifth child of this family, who owned the house and place above de- scribed, married Amy Knowles, daughter of Samuel and Jane (Gray) Knowles, March 2, 1823. She was born June 28, 1802; died April 29, 1880. He died Sept. 13, 1873. Their children were :-
1. Samuel Knowles, born Oct. 15, 1823; lost at sea.
2. Job Nelson, born Dec. 15, 1825; mar- ried Mahala H. Dodge, of Sedgwick.
3. Matthew Limeburner, born Feb. 25, 1828.
4. Lydia Jane, born Aug. 15, 1830; died Oct. 4, 1834.
5. Phebe Maria, born Nov. 2, 1832.
6. Jane Elizabeth, born August 15, 1835.
7. Lyman Pearl Hall, born Jan. 23, 1838; married Adeline Grindle, of Penobscot.
8. Sarah, born Feb. 26, 1840.
9. Mary, born Dec. 20, 1842.
When and by whom the house in which this family resided was built, the writer does not know, nor does he know where the father of Benjamin resided in the town.
Beyond this house and the Douglass lots, on the north side of the road, where the outlet stream of the Fourth pond crosses, once stood a saw mill, a part of the dam, decaying timbers of the mill and a heap of saw dust were to be seen there in the writer's boyhood, but he does not know when or by whom the mill was built, although the indications were that it must have been about 1800.
From the last-mentioned place the road turns to the southward and ascends a long hill about seven-eighths of a mile in length to the Sedgwick line. Upon that stretch of road were three or four houses upon the right and one on the left in the writ- er's boyhood, and there is about the same number at this writing. Those houses were then occupied by families by the name of Gray and Grindle, whose de- scendants probably still reside in them.
This was the old road to Brooksville via Hutchinson's Ferry across the Bagaduce river, or via Walker's, around the head of the river, before the bridge was built low- er down, and the road via "the Kingdom" was opened and came into use. Many times the writer drove over it in former time upon his way to and from Brooks- ville on visits to relatives and friends.
From the Sedgwick line on to the Ferry and to Walkerville very little change or improvement has taken place in the last sixty years; if there has been any it has been a retrograde one in the appearance of the buildings and farms, which have fallen into decay. The land, stripped of its forest trees, presents to the passer-by a rocky, barren soil, discouraging in aspect
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BLUEHILL, MAINE.
not only to the traveler but also to one who is fated to till it and thereby gain his livelihood and support of his family.
SETTLERS AND RESIDENTS UPON LONG ISLAND, BLUE HILL BAY.
The first building erected upon Long Island, so far as my record shows, was a saw-mill on the east side, opposite Deep Cove, cuilt by James Candage and Eben- ezer Hinckley prior to 1776. Twenty years later, about 1796, James and David Carter, sons of James Carter, sr., went from their father's home on Blue Hill Neck to the island, and settled near what is now known as the Sand, or Carter's Point, where they and their families continued to reside, and where James and David and their wives died and were buried. They each had large families, as was the rule in those days.
James Carter, jr., was born at Damaris- cotta, Me., Oct. 31, 1764, came to Blue Hill with his father's family in 1770 at the age of six years. He married, first, Hannah Bartlett, March 8, 1792. She died leaving one child, and he married, second, Mercy Cain, of Sedgwick, born Nov. 10, 1773, by whom there were twelve children. He
died Nov. 4, 1834, aged seventy, and Mercy his widow, a number of years later.
. The children of this family by first wife were:
1. David, born May 12, 1792; drowned Oct. 22. 1813.
By second wife:
2. James, born Dec. 7, 1794; drowned Oct. 22, 1813.
3. John, born Jan. 11, 1796; died Sept. 23, 1796.
4. Charlotte, born July 27, 1797; mar- ried William Roamer.
5. John Pearce, born April 26, 1799; married, first, Joanna Gott, 2nd
6. Judith, born March 16, 1801; married John Trundy.
7. Charity, born March 16, 1803; mar- ried Israel Conary.
8. Amos, born June 3, 1805; married Martha Choate.
9. Pamelia, born March 13, 1808; mar- ried Joshua Conary.
10. Mercy, born March 1, 1810; married William Conary.
11. Moses, born April 25, 1812; married Mariam Parker.
.
12. Irene, born April 11, 1816; died July 3, 1816.
13. James, born Oct. 24, 1817; married Isabella Smith.
In this family lived, and was brought up from childhood, Harriet Little, who married George E. Franks, April 8, 1841.
David Carter, brother of James, jr., who settled upon Long Island in 1796, was born in Edgecomb, Me., July 24, 1768, married Abigail Cain, of Sedgwick, Oct. 17, 1791. Mr. Carter died March 14, 1844, aged sev- enty-five years and eight months. There s no record of the death of Abigail Cain, his wife, at hand. The children by their marriage were:
1. Joanna or Jenny, born Dec. 16, 1791; married David Gott, of Mt. Desert.
2. Hannah, born Sept. 26, 1794; married Joseph Gott; he was lost at sea.
3. Mary, born Nov. 22, 1796; married Ebenezer Day.
4. Samuel, born June 21, 1800; married Sally Curtis.
5. Robert, born Jan. 9, 1803; married Melinda Candage.
6. Abigail, born Jan. 1, 1805; married Merrill Dodge.
7. David, born August 25, 1810; died Sept. 22, 1810.
James and David Carter raised their own corn and grain, cattle, sheep and swine for use of their families, spun, wove and knit their clothing from the wool of their sheep, and lived within their own re- sources. They were industrious and worthy people and members of the Bap- tist church organized upon the Neck and taking in residents of Long Island.
The writer well remembers them as com- ing to the tide-mill, owned by his father, with grists of corn, barley, rye and wheat, to be ground. Their farms being on new- ly-cultivated ground, yielded them good crops of hay, cereals and vegetables, and the neighboring waters of the bay fur- nished an abundant supply of edible fish for food.
JOHN PEARCE CARTER
son of James, jr., cleared a farm upon which he built his house, barn and out- building, a half or three-quarters of a mile north of his father's house, where his children were born and where he resided until his removal to Sedgwick. He was an industrious and thrifty man,
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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BLUEHILL, MAINE.
who at one time owned the greater part of Long Island. He, like others of the Carter family, was of robust frame and constitution and possessed a remarkable retentive memory for historical data. He was born upon Long Island, April 26, 1799, married, first, Joanna Gott, March 11, 1820. She died, and he married again. He died at Sedgwick, in 1889, aged ninety years. His children were:
1. John Pearce, jr., changed to Byron Pearce, born March 11, 1821, married Han- nah A. Carter, Feb. 1845; died Feb. 15, 1852.
2. Isabel H., born March 19, 1823; mar- ried Henry Dunham.
3. Serena G., born June 10, 1825.
4. Julia Ann, born July 7, 1827.
5. Charity, born June 3, 1829; married Capt. Sleeper, of Rockland, Me.
6. David G., born July 31, 1832.
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