History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 2

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1050

USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > History of Androscoggin County, Maine > Part 2

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

$2,253.18: due from state. $815.60. 1858 .- Liabilities : Bonds, $100,000; loans, $5,075: allowances by court unpaid, $1,228.55. Resources : Cash, $1,386.45; unpaid taxes, $4,957.05. 1859 .- Liabilities : Bonds, $100,000; loans, $3,000 ; court allowances, $1,729.14. Resources : Cash, $1,645.14; taxes, 83,260.89. 1860 .- Liabilities: Bonds, $100,000; loans, $2,600; court allow- ances, $956.58. Resources: Cash, $1,405.75; unpaid taxes, $2,646.24.

1861 .- Liabilities: Bonds, $100,000; loans, $4,125; court allowances, $935.95. Resources: Unpaid taxes, $1,983.80; cash, $937.31. 1862 .- Liabili- ties : Bonds, $99,000; loans, $5,095; court allowances, $1,115.98. Resources: Taxes, $2,673.30; cash, $2,284. 1863 .- Liabilities: Bonds, $97,500; loans, $6,475; court allowances, $1,657.69. Resources: Taxes, $3,871.01; cash, $2,085.01. 1864 .- Liabilities: Bonds, $96,100; loans, $9,810; bills, $951.93. Resources : Taxes, $6,856.88; cash, $3,721.12. 1865 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $94,600; bonds (for purchase of toll-bridge), $7,500; loans, $1,327. Resources : Taxes, $1,347.18; cash, $4,313.22. 1866 .- Liabili- ties : Bonds (county buildings), $93,000 ; toll-bridge, $6,200; loans, $1,932.96 ; bills, $2,329.16. Resources: Taxes, $2,957.85; cash, $245.93; due (from sale of toll-house and lot), $600. 1867 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $91,300; toll-bridge bonds, $4,850; loans, $12,039.27; bills, $3,783.38. Re- sources : Taxes, $3,626.30 ; cash, $1,269.90 ; due (from sale of toll-house and lot), $450; rent due, $60. 1868 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $89,500; bonds for toll-bridge, $3,750; loans and interest, $8,704.81; claims and salaries, $2,981.33. Resources: Cash, $274.39; due (from sale of toll- house and lot), $317.25; rent, $60. 1869 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county build- ings), $87,600 ; toll-bridge, $2,100; loans and estimated interest, $400; bills and salaries, $2,459.73. Resources: Cash, $1,058.68; due (on toll-house), $149.25. 1870 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $85,600; loans and interest, $21,928.73 ; claims and salaries, $895.37. Resources : $1,671.55.

1871 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $83,500; loans and interest, $12,596.11; claims and salaries, $990.02. Resources: Taxes, $54.39; cash, $416.56. 1872 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $81,300; loans and interest, $2,306.11 : claims and salaries, $893.60. Resources: Cash, $2,623.41. 1873 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $79,000; loans and interest, $3,938.52; claims and salaries, $1,605.50. Resources: Cash, $126.08; due (from Auburn and Lewiston Railroad), $54.80. 1874 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $76,600 ; loans and interest, $10,699.44 ; fees and salaries, 81,900.64. Resources: Cash, $176.22; due (from labor of prisoners), $360. 1875. - Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $74,100; loans and interest, $32,331; fees and salaries, $2,898.73. Resources: Cash, $6,027.57; due (from other counties), $367.42; other debts, $170.90; stock, shoes, tools, and machinery in workshop, 87,544.06. 1876 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county build- ings), $71,500; loans and interest, $33,052; fees and salaries, $4,705.66.

THE COUNTY OF ANDROSCOGGIN.

Resources : Cash, $1,986.50; stock, shoes, tools, and machinery, $9,598.51; due (from stock and shoes sold), $903.55. 1877 .- Liabilities : Bonds (county buildings), $68,800; loans and interest, $34,263.35; fees and salaries, $2,478.48. Resources : Cash, $1,761.85 ; taxes, $517.80 ; stock, tools, machinery, etc., $6,300; due (for goods sold), $279.48. 1878 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $66,000; loans and interest, $37,963.54 ; fees and salaries, $1,184.20. Resources : Cash, $1,417.46; taxes, $767.72; stock, machinery, etc., $5,724.28; due (for goods sold), $651.83. 1879 .- Liabilities : Bonds (county buildings), $63,100; five per cent. bonds (1879), $40,000; fees and salaries, $1,362.39. Resources : Cash, $6,994.76; taxes, $263.70; stock, machinery, etc., $4,352.93; due (for goods sold), $622.97. 1880 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $60,100; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees and salaries, $824.18. Resources : Cash, $7,522.11; stock, machinery, etc., $2,424.09; goods sold, $412.34; taxes, $1,318.70.

1881 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $57,000; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees, salaries, etc., $934.92. Resources: Cash, $10,643.61; stock, machinery, etc., $2,881.81; goods sold, $405.29; taxes, $900. 1882 .- Liabili- ties : Bonds (county buildings), $53,800; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees, salaries, etc., $1,270.64. Resources: Cash, $12,048.69; stock, machinery, etc., $2,248.24; due (for goods sold), $37.77; taxes, $5,856.16. 1883 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $50,500; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees, salaries, etc., $1,051.12. Resources : Cash, $20,532.67 ; stock, machinery, etc., $2,733.40; taxes, $420.37. 1884 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $47,100; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees, etc., $2,391.56. Resources: Cash, $20,302; stock, machinery, etc., $2,054.23; taxes, $753.29; due (from other counties), $372.48. 1885. - Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $43,600; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees and coupons, $1,192.51. Resources: Cash, $22,890.70; tools, machinery, etc., $500; taxes, $1,151.44; due (from other counties), $99.32. 1886. - Liabilities : Bonds (county buildings), $40,000; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees unpaid, $896.03; coupons unpaid, $134.50. Resources: Cash, $25,159.30; machinery, etc., $700; taxes, $503.66; due (from other counties and for rent), $296.08. 1887 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $36,300; bonds of 1879, $40,000; fees, etc., $1,862.54; coupons, $368. Resources : Cash, $18,511.18; stock, machinery, etc., $8,355.87; taxes, $927.58; due (from other counties), $164.49. 1888 .- Liabilities: Bonds (county buildings), $32,400; bonds of 1879, $40,000; coupons, $226; fees, $412.11 ; bills, $114.83 ; workshop expenses due, $91.40. Resources: Cash, $22,569.44; machinery, stock, etc., $1,889.48; due (for goods sold), $600.56; due (from other counties), $83.40; rent of workshop, $40. 1889 .- Liabilities : Bonds (county buildings,) $28,500; bonds of 1879, $40,000; coupons, $111.50; fees, bills, etc., $559.54. Resources: Cash, $29,863; machinery, accounts, etc., $1,347.98; due (from other counties), $337.05; taxes, $300; forfeited fees, $104.76. 1890 .- Liabili-

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

ties : Bonds (county buildings), $24,500; bonds of 1879 issue, $40,000; fees and bills, $679.94. Resources: Cash in treasury, $30,129.13; tools and machinery, 8700; due from other counties, $465.45; forfeited fees, $68.68. The balance against the county December 31, 1889, was $37,217.56; Decem- ber 31, 1890, $33,816.68, showing a reduction of the county debt in 1890 amounting to $3,400.88.

The state tax for the towns of the county for 1890 and 1891 is here given :-

1890.

1891.

Auburn,

$11,496.95

$17,067.34

Durham,

954.49

1,043.18

East Livermore,

776.89

1,370.20

Greene,

889.88

908.92

Leeds,

938.24

913.09

Lewiston,

21,457.00

33,447.36

Lisbon,

2,517.23

4,508.59

Livermore,

973.07

1,265.80

Minot,

1,625.97

2,072.69

Poland,

2,077.27

3,123.24

Turner,

1,695.52

2,107.86

Wales,

448.15

569.65

Webster, .

1,004.65

1,191.82

$46,851.31

$69,589.74

CHAPTER II.

GEOLOGY.

Rock Formations - Unstratified or Igneous Rocks - Stratified Rocks - Formations in Maine- Age of Ice -Glacial Drift -Lower and Upper Till- Champlain Period - Modi- fied Drift - Surface Geology - Drift Period - Beach and Terrace Periods, etc. - Montalban or White Mountain Formation -Tourmalines and Associate Minerals - Pratt's Cave - Gneiss - Mica Schist -Saccharoid Azoic Limestone - Dunes, etc.

A CCORDING to geology the earth was formerly a mass of molten matter like lava, assuming its present shape while in this plastic form. The intense cold of the ethereal space through which it revolved cooled the surface, and a crust formed, which, as soon as it was thick enough for water to accumulate upon it, was worn away by its action in the higher portions and the detritus deposited in the lowest.

This original mass and all igneous rocks are called unstratified. The rocks formed by the deposition of the worn fragments of the original surface are

GEOLOGY.

called stratified, because arranged in layers like a pile of boards. Clay, sand, gravel, and the calcareous deposits of mineral springs are the origin of most of the stratified rocks. These become consolidated into slates, sandstones, conglomerates, and limestones, the newer rocks being less compact and more easily crumbled than the older ones.

Those formed under similar circumstances in the same geological period are called a formation. Some great force has been working for ages steadily pushing these originally horizontal formations into great curves, tipping them up at various angles, some layers even standing vertically.

UNSTRATIFIED OR IGNEOUS ROCKS. - These are divided into three groups : Granitic, Trappean, Volcanic. The first contains granite, sienite, and proto- gine; the second porphyry, greenstone, amygdaloid, etc .; the third basalt, trachite, pumice, tufa, and kindred volcanic productions.

STRATIFIED ROCKS. - These have two divisions, Unfossiliferous and Fossil- iferous. The unfossiliferous are the oldest rocks and are of great thickness, though not so thick as the miles of fossiliferous rocks overlying them. They are Azoic (without life) and classed as Laurentian. The fossiliferous rocks form three great systems: Paleozoic, containing the oldest forms of life ; Mesozoic, bearing the types of the middle periods of life; Cainozoir, with recent forms or fossils. The Paleozoic has six divisions : Permian, Carbon- iferous, Devonian (Old Red Sandstone), Upper Silurian, Lower Silurian, Cumbrian (Huronian). The Mesozoic has Cretaceous rocks with green sand ; Oolites or Jurassic, etc. ; Triassic (New Red Sandstone). The Cainozoic rocks include all Alluvium (with drift) and Tertiary formations.

ROCK FORMATIONS IN MAINE .- They are both metamorphic (i. e., changed from the original sandstones, shales, conglomerates, and limestones by the action of heat, water, and chemical forces into other kinds of rock than their first character) and fossiliferous. These metamorphic stratified rocks occur : gneiss, mica schist, talcose schist, steatite, and serpentine, saccharoid azoic limestone, clay slate, quartz, and conglomerates, jasper, siliceous slate, and hornstone. The unstratified rocks are mostly granite, sienite, protogine, porphyry, trap or greenstone, and eurite. The fossiliferous rocks are Paleozoic, except some marine alluvial deposits, and represent the Lower Silurian, Upper Silurian, Devonian, and Drift and Alluvium groups.

Professor C. H. Hitchcock gives, as his present arrangement of the forma- tions in Maine : (1) Champlain clays (tertiary); (2) Glacial drift (till) ; (3) Lower Carboniferous or Upper Devonian ; (4) Lower Devonian (Oriskany group) ; (5) Upper Silurian ; (6) Silurian and Cambrian clay slates ; (7) Cambrian and Huronian with Taconic ; (8) Montalban ; (9) Laurentian ; (10) Granite ; (11) Trap and altered slates.

THE AGE OF ICE .- It is, perhaps, desirable to devote some space in this volume to the Age of Ice, as in this period and those immediately following

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

when the colossal ice-sheet, which was so thick that the tops of Mounts Washington and Katahdin were deeply covered, was removed, the surface, soil, and water-courses of the county were formed, the lakes established in their boundaries, and the conditions necessary to civilized occupancy were arranged and prepared.

The indications of a glacial period are probably as well shown in this section of New England as anywhere in the world. Underlying the modified drift are often found masses of earth and rocks mingled confusedly together, having neither stratification nor any appearance of having been deposited in water. These are the glacial drift, or till. This drift frequently covers the slopes, and even the summits, of the highest mountains, as well as the lesser elevations. It contains bowlders of all sizes, up to thirty feet in diameter, which have nearly all been carried southward from their native ledges, and can be traced, in some instances, for a hundred miles, southward or south- eastward. Wherever till occurs, the ledges have mostly been worn to a rounded form, and, if the rock be hard, it is covered with long scratches, or striw, in the direction of the course taken by the bowlders. Geology now refers these to a moving ice-sheet which spread over this continent from the north, and, as before stated, was of sufficient thickness to cover even Mount Washington. This ice-sheet was so much thicker at the north than in this latitude that its great weight pressed the ice steadily onward and outward to the south-southeast. The termination of this ice-sheet in the Atlantic, south- east of New England, was probably like the great ice-wall of the Antarctic continent, along which Sir J. C. Ross sailed 450 miles, finding only one point low enough to allow the smooth white plain of the upper surface to be seen from the mast-head. This extended, apparently boundless, and was of dazzling whiteness.

There was a long, continuous period of glacial action, with times of retreat and advance, but never a complete departure and return of a continental ice-sheet. The motion of this ice, being caused by its own weight, must have been slow indeed. Over the highlands between the St Lawrence river and Hudson bay the ice-sheet was three or four miles in thickness ; over Greenland much thicker, and over Maine it reached nearly or quite to the line of per- petual snow. The till, or coarse glacial drift, was made by the long-continued wearing and grinding of the ice-sheet. As this slowly advanced, fragments were torn from the ledges, held in the bottom of the ice, and worn by friction upon the surface over which it moved. This material, crushed beneath the ice into minute fragments or fine powder, is called the Lower Till. While the lower till was being made under the ice, large quantities of coarse and fine matter were swept away from hill-slopes and mountain-sides, and carried forward in the ice. As this melted, much of this matter fell loosely on the surface, forming an unstratified deposit of gravel, earth, and bowlders. This

GEOLOGY.

deposit geologists call the Upper Till. Usually this is found above the lower till, the line of separation being at a distance of from two to twenty feet. The departure of the ice-sheet was attended by a rapid deposition of the abundant materials therein contained. The retreat of the ice-sheet was toward the northwest and north, and it is probable that its final melting took place mostly on the surface, so that, at the last, great amounts of its deposits were exposed to the washing of many streams. The finer particles were generally carried away, and the strong current of the glacial rivers transported coarse gravel and bowlders of considerable size.

When these streams entered the valley from which the ice had retreated, or their currents were slackened by less rapid descent, a deposition took place, where the channel was still walled by ice, in succession of coarse gravel, fine gravel, sand, and fine silt or clay. These deposits filled the valleys, and increased in depth in the same way that additions are now made to the bottom- lands or intervals of our large rivers by the floods of spring. They are called Modified Drift and geology gives this name to the period from the departure of the ice-sheet to the present. This modified drift comprises the intervals which are annually overflowed, and the successive terraces which rise in steps upon the sides of the valleys, the highest often forming extensive plains. Dr Dana has given the name of Champlain Period to the time of the deposition of the modified drift during the melting of the ice-sheet. During the Champlain period, the ice became molded upon the surface, by the process of destruction, into great basins or valleys; at the last, the passages through which the melting waters passed off came gradually to coincide with the depressions of the present surface.

These lowest and warmest portions of the land were first freed from the · ice ; and, as the melted area slowly extended into the continental glacier, its vast floods found their outlet at the head of the existing valley. In these channels were deposited materials gathered by the streams from the melting glacier. By the low water of winter, layers of sand were formed, and by the strong currents of summer, layers of gravel, often very coarse. These layers are irregularly bedded, here sand, and there gravel, accumulating, and interstratified without much order with each other.

These, the oldest of our deposits of modified drift, are long ridges, or intermixed short ridges and mounds, composed of very coarse water-worn gravel, or of alternate gravel and sand irregularly bedded. Wherever the ordinary fine alluvium occurs, it overlies or partly covers these deposits. The geological name for these is Kames.

The extensive level plains and high terraces bordering the rivers were also deposited in the Champlain period, as the open valleys became gradually filled with great depths of gravel, sand, and clay (alluvium), which were brought down by the glacier rivers from the melting ice-sheet, or washed from

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

the till after the ice had retreated, and which were deposited in the same way as those made by high floods at the present day. During the recent or terrace period, the rivers have cut deep and wide channels in this alluvium, and the terraces mark heights at which, in their work of erosion, they have left portions of their successive flood-plains.

Modified drift in Maine occurs in the form of moraine terraces, horsebacks, sea-beaches, sea-bottoms, marine clays, and terraces. Moraine terraces are generally accumulations of gravel, bowlders, and sand, often arranged in heaps and hollows, or conical and irregular elevations with corresponding depressions. They somewhat resemble the moraines of glaciers, but differ from them in their stratification and existence in localities where glaciers could not have formed them. They derive their name from their affinity with both moraines and terraces. Moraine terraces are not numerous in this state, their place in most cases being taken by the horsebacks, a curious class of alluvial ridges, here found in numbers, while they scarcely occur out of the state. They are narrow ridges of coarse gravel and sand, from thirty to forty feet high, with sometimes an undulating summit and with the ends of nearly the same elevation. They exist in a level country almost invariably, although the road from Poland Springs to Mechanie Falls appears to pass along the top of one for some distance.

SURFACE GEOLOGY. - Professor C. H. Hitchcock says that probably since the tertiary period the whole of Maine, and with it all the northern part of North America, has been depressed under the ocean at least as high as the top of Mount Katahdin, or five thousand feet lower than it is now. Subse- quently the continent rose gradually to its present altitude, and while the country was being drained deposits were produced. Drift was principally formed by icebergs and glaciers conjoined when the continent was sinking and rising again. The forms of modified drift were produced largely by the aid of rivers and currents.

The Drift Period .- When the continent was submerged, northerly currents brought icebergs over its northern portions, which greatly lowered the temper- ature, and glaciers would form on mountains comparatively low, reaching to the ocean, as now in the Arctic Zone. The enormous icebergs, moving southerly, would grate powerfully upon the bottom of the sea, smoothing, scratching, and breaking off fragments from the prominent hills and ledges beneath, and leave a stoss and lee side upon them. When the continent was at its lowest depth, only one or two small islands would remain. During this submergence only icebergs could act upon the rocks; when the mountains appeared again glaciers would renew their wearing action, the water, also, would begin to wear off fragments from rough ledges and partially sort the materials collected. It is conceivable that when the continent was partly under water an unusual direction might be given to certain icebergs crowded

GEOLOGY.

into narrow valleys, and thus produce unusual courses of stria. During this process, every part of the surface must have had a thorough washing, and few animals could have lived in this cold period.

The Beach Period .- We suppose this period to commence with the formation of the highest beaches, or when the continent was 2,600 feet higher than now. The beaches would be formed as now upon the coast, at different levels, as the waters receded. This was the period when the moraine terraces and horsebacks were produced ; the former may have been formed by the accumulation of matter around masses of stranded ice; when the ice melted, large hollows would occupy its place, and it would be a considerable time before it melted, as the sand and gravel often acts as a natural refrigerator. We even suppose that some of the ice of the drift period yet remains in certain deposits, in the vicinity of the frozen wells that are considered such curiosities. In Lewiston the evidence of a sea-beach exists two hundred feet above present tide-water.

The Terrace Period .- This commenced with the existence of rivers or currents of water in long estuaries. These currents accumulate materials principally along the sides of the valleys or fill them up entirely. Tides and currents would assist the rivers, and at length the top of the deposits would be at the surface, and no more matter could be added. The same agency must then deposit the detritus below the first accumulations, which will soon appear as lateral terraces. The country continuing to rise, a second and third terrace will appear, and so on as long as the same agencies act. The delta terraces being at the mouths of rivers, are composed of the materials brought down by the current; when the mass has risen above the water, the river continuing to run must cut through it, and leave a terrace upon each side of its course. The principal phenomena of terraces is explained by the simple drainage of a country as it rises out of the water. We have often thought that a large part of Maine had not completed its terrace period, since the terraces are scarce and the lakes numerous. As soon as the lakes are drained, terraces appear; some- times this is done suddenly by the bursting of a barrier -a dam for instance. During the terrace period, life, both terrestrial and marine, was abundant on the continent. To this period we refer the marine clays of the coast, and the fossil elephants and horses of the interior; though both classes lived in the historic period and are not entirely extinct. The historic period is the time when the country had attained essentially its present altitude. All the agencies that produced drift are still in operation, and both modified and unmodified deposits of drift are now being effected ; the agencies forming these two classes of deposits have run parallel to each other from the first. Man has existed on the earth a comparatively short time of the alluvial period. Researches in Europe show that the extinct mammals of the alluvium were contemporary with the earliest generations of man.

Fossils in the Marine Clays. - Foraminifera are almost at the lowest end of the animal kingdom. The portion preserved are the shells, often divided

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

into delicate chambers. A deposit of the shells of these animals was found in the Atlantic ocean, on the bottom, several thousand feet from the surface. The beds containing these shells in the elay lie at the bottom of the marine deposits. A fossil star-fish and various shells have been found at Lewiston. They were taken from a sandy layer one hundred feet above Androscoggin river and two hundred feet above the ocean. They came from ten feet below the surface ; of these ten feet, eight were of clay, the rest being sandy.

Alluvial terraces are those banks of loose materials, generally unconsolidated, which skirt the sides of the valleys about rivers, ponds, and lakes, and rise above one another like the seats of an amphitheater. Lateral terraces are the most common and are parallel to the valley, and often continue for miles along its sides. Delta terraces are the accumulations which have been formed at the mouths of streams, whether the junetion of a tributary with the main stream or the meeting of the river and lake or ocean. They are seen only where the land has risen since their deposition. Terraces are not abundant in Maine, but all the large rivers have more or less, and they are often used for the sites of villages and fine residences. They are well developed in Auburn, Berwick, Brunswick, Waterville, and Lewiston.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 2

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co. Number of Pages: 1050

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1050