History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 7

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

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" And it is further Resolved, as the boundries of the Pejepscut Company so called, have not been ascertained, that the committee on the subject of unappropriated lands in the counties of Lincoln and Cumberland, be, and they are hereby directed not to locate or dispose of any lands lying upon Androscoggin river, and between said river and lands claimed by the Plymouth Company to the southward of the south line of Bakerstown [now Poland] bounded at the said Great Fall in Androscoggin river aforesaid, on the west and south line of Port Royal [now Livermore] on the east of said Androscoggin river."

These boundaries were not satisfactory to the proprietors and they refused to recognize them. In order to settle these disputes the General Court, March 21, 1793, passed the following resolve :

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

Whereas There is reason to believe that certain persons under the denomination of the Pejepscot Proprietors have unlawfully eutered on the lands of this commonwealth lying on both sides of Androscoggin river, in the counties of Cumberland and Lincoln, claiming the same under the pretence of title, which has rendered it expedient to have the limits of their claim settled by judicial proceedings: Therefore, Resolved, That the attorney general be, and he is hereby directed to commence and prosecute action or actions, process or processes, according to the laws of this commonwealth, in order to remove intruders, and to cause the commonwealth to be quieted in the possession of the lands thereof, on both sides of the said Androscoggin river, above and northerly of a southwest line drawn on the westerly side of the said river, from the uppermost part of the upper falls in the town of Brunswick; and on the east side of the said river, northwardly of a northeast line drawn from the said river, five miles above the said uppermost falls in the town of Brunswick, extending up the said river to the limits of this commonwealth and holding the breadth of four miles on the west side of said river, and extending to the lands belonging to the Plymouth company, and Kennebec river, on the east side of said river; provided that no suit or process shall be brought against any person within the limits of the tract before described, holding under a grant from this government, or by a title confirmed by this government. And it is further resolved, that the attorney general be and he is hereby empowered, at the expense of the commonwealth, to obtain such assistance in the prosecution of such suits as he may judge necessary.

This action of the General Court was unquestionably for the purpose of compelling the Pejepscot proprietors to agree upon some terms in relation to the limits of their claim. The settlers were importuning the General Court for relief from the exactions of the proprietors. The settlers were of the opinion that the lands they occupied were government property, and the Pejepscot proprietors were equally sure of their right to the premises. Many of these settlers had bought their farms of former occupants and supposed their titles were valid, but in numerous cases they were obliged to pay the Pejepscot proprietors, or surrender their lands. But the determined purpose on the part of the proprietors not to accede to the decision of the General Court only exasperated the settlers, and they gave expression to their indignation, in many cases, by acts of violence. Disguised as Indians, they often made personal attacks on the proprietors, and frequently destroyed their property. These manifestations of violence culminated in a riot in Lewiston in the autumn of 1800, and on other occasions Colonel Josiah Little, who succeeded the Pejepscot proprietors in the ownership of the land in Lewiston and adjoining towns, came near losing his life.

In 1798 Colonel Josiah Little, one of the company, who had been elected agent of the proprietors, petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts, asking them to empower the Attorney-General to enter into a rule of the Supreme Judicial Court all the controversies and disputes existing between the Commonwealth and the Pejepscot proprietors. The General Court readily acceded to this petition and authorized the attorney-general, Hon. James

EARLY TITLES, OCCUPANCY, ETC.

Sullivan, to enter into a rule of the Supreme Judicial Court of the County of Lincoln all questions of dispute between the Commonwealth and the proprietors. By the terms of the resolve Mr Sullivan was to appoint the commissioners (subject to the approval of Colonel Little) to whom "any or all" the controversies in dispute were to be submitted. It was also stipulated that as there had been "disputes and controversies " between the proprietors and many of the persons who had settled within the limits of the Pejepscot claim, that some equitable mode should be provided for adjusting the claims. The conditions imposed by the General Court were that these settlers should have one hundred acres of land so laid out as best to include the improvements made by them, and for such sums of money and on such terms and conditions as the commissioners should judge reasonable. The expense of the commission "to be paid by the proprietors and settlers in equal halves."

Mr Sullivan informed the General Court the next year that he had agreed to submit to Levi Lincoln, Samuel Dexter, Jr, and Thomas Dwight, the disputes between the Commonwealth and the Pejepscot proprietors, and asked for an appropriation to defray the expenses of the commission, and the General Court appropriated one thousand dollars for that purpose. The commissioners made their award February, 1800, which was substantially that affirmed by the General Court in 1787. This award was not satisfactory to the proprietors who claimed that the Uppermost Falls, mentioned in the Warumbee deed, were not the Twenty-Mile Falls, but those now known as Rumford Falls. This claim was groundless and the boundaries were finally established about 1814. by decisions in the courts of Cumberland and Lincoln counties, on the basis of the award of 1800. As finally settled the territory embraced Topsham, a part of Lisbon, all of Lewiston and Greene, three-fourths of Leeds, all of Brunswick, nearly all of Durham, most of Auburn, and a part of Poland.

The disputes between the company and the settlers were adjusted according to the award made by the commissioners, Nathaniel Dummer, Ichabod Goodwin, and John Lord, appointed by the governor, who made the assignments and prescribed the terms and conditions of payment. About twenty thousand acres of land were conveyed to the settlers by virtue of the conditions stipulated. Thus ended a controversy which had continued for nearly a century, and been participated in by more than three generations. None of the parties were satisfied, but it gave substantial rest to those who for a long time held their homes by doubtful titles.

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

CHAPTER VII.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS, PROGRESS AND CHANGES.

Early Settlements in Androscoggin Valley - After the Revolution - Population from 1780 to 1800 - Commencement of the Nineteenth Century -Effects of the War of 1812- Severity of Climate - The Cold Year-Improvement in Condition - Changes and Progress in Agriculture - Development and Transition - Manufacturing.

I N THE last decade of the seventeenth century settlements were undertaken on both sides of the Androscoggin at Pejepscot Lower Falls by gentlemen of energy and means, but fears of impending Indian warfare prevented great advancement. Fort George was built here in 1715 where a small fort of early days had gone to ruin, but in 1718 there were no established homes in Brunswick but those inside the walls of the fort, and in the block house at Maquoit Bay, where Lieutenant Woodside kept a guard to protect the landing of stores and the road to the fort. In 1722 Brunswick was burned by the Indians who had destroyed three families in Topsham in 1716. After the war closed Fort George was rebuilt (1727) and again became the nucleus of a settlement. In 1730 the garrison was so large that a chaplain was stationed here. It was here that Sabattus, sagamore of the Anasagunticooks, requested the government to keep stores whence his people could be supplied in times of need. Still civilization was kept back by fear of the Indians. Brunswick, from the protection of the fort and soldiers, advanced the most, and was incorporated in 1738, twenty-nine of the citizens signing the petition. About forty families were then living in town. Topsham as late as 1750 had but eighteen families, and in 1764 Brunswick had a population of 308.

The financial condition of the United States at the close of the Revolution was very poor. An enormous debt in the shape of the large issues of paper money which the exigencies of the war had brought into being was in the hands of the people demanding payment, and there was no means of payment. The soldiers had been paid with it, and, on account of its great depreciation, "a bushel of it would not buy a breakfast." The only means of giving an equivalent was in the unappropriated lands in the several commonwealths. Massachusetts had plenty of wild land in the District of Maine, and to her unemployed citizens who had served in the army was given the opportunity of settling on "states land " where they could develop homes for their families and give in payment at face value the colonial scrip otherwise valueless. From

EARLY SETTLEMENTS, PROGRESS AND CHANGES.

this offer arose a great emigration to Maine, and the Valley of the Androscoggin received its share. Although in many of the towns or settlements the claim of the state to the lands was opposed by that of the Pejepscot proprietors, still many had no faith that a conveyance made by wandering Indians could hold against the civilized claims of Massachusetts, and, pleased with the country, became settlers, and even where the disputed territory became the property of the Pejepscot proprietors, in numerous cases made their permanent homes. So in the history of every town we find its beginnings of civilization made by Massachusetts men, and the rolls of the settlers sound like the poll lists of Old Colony and Massachusetts Colony towns.

In 1784 there were thirty families living in Turner (increased to 349 population in 1790, and 722 in 1800). The settlement in Greene, begun before the Revolution, numbered nearly five hundred people at its incorporation in 1788, and in 1796 a post-office was established. Royalsborough had been settled rapidly from 1760, and when incorporated as Durham in 1789 was a prosperous community. Poland had 1,400 inhabitants at its incorporation in 1794. Lewiston in 1790 had 532 residents, while at the settlement of Port Royal, later Livermore, about 400 people were living (increased to 863 in 1800). Thompsonborough (Lisbon) became a town in 1799. Littleborough (Leeds) and Pejepscot (Danville) had thriving communities.

The nineteenth century opened with prosperity prevailing here. The critical and dependent period of struggling for homes among the forests during the pioneer stage had passed away. Comfortable farms of productive new soil had begun to be remunerative, while a steady immigration flowed hither from the old towns of Massachusetts and the Maine coast. The lumber and fur trades were valuable and largely extended, and a wise legislature had taken measures to prevent the extermination of deer and fur-bearing animals. As early as 1784 an act was passed making it a penal offense to cut one of the primitive growth of white pine upon the public land, thus following the laws enacted under William and Mary and Georges I and II, and regulations were made for the maintenance of a standard quality of lumber, pot and pearl ashes, etc., which gave an added value to these productions of a new country. There was, however, little money in circulation and heavy taxes pressed heavily upon the people whose commodities brought returns in barter rather than money. The cotton and linen goods used were largely, if not wholly, the production of the mothers and daughters at the home fireside, while the tanned hides of the deer, moose, etc., formed an important factor in making the clothing of the men. Industry, temperance, and economy were cardinal principles of this generation, and there was an uncommon increase in the value of lands and in their improvement. Williamson justly says: -

To clear the woodlands of their rugged incumbrances, and render them smooth for the plough and the scythe and fit for human habitancy, required a fortitude and persevering

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

industry which are never permitted to abate. The first settlers possessed these qualities in an eminent degree. Nor were their felicities all in prospect. Rough as the log house may appear to the eye of luxury -it was usually the sanctuary of virtue, of health, of character, and the birthplace of many such as the world calls great. Even the merest wood-cutter amidst his solitude breathes a nectarine atmosphere and exults in his freedom as he sees field added to field and "cottage after cottage rise," until the wilderness changes and brightens into towns, the products of honest adventure and productive toil -the prospective dwelling places of posterity in successive generations.

Up to the breaking out of the War of 1812 the settlements flourished. The coasting vessels brought articles of necessity that were easily and cheaply obtained by the people and many of their products were sold at remunerative prices. With the War came hard times. The force of the embargo was heavily felt. A stagnation occurred in all business. The coasting trade was at an end. No markets could be had for home products and the articles of necessity so common and cheap before the War were hardly to be procured, and then only at enormous prices. Emigration took many to the new lands of the West. The deprivations caused by the cold seasons of 1815, 1816, and 1817 added to the gloom and discontent. Many people sold their homes for a tithe of their value to go to more promising lands. Small grain of all kinds was very scarce. The poorer settlers had much difficulty to get seed, and how to obtain bread was an unsolved and often an unsolvable problem.

From the first the settlers had grave trials and unlooked-for calamities. In 1785 there was a remarkable freshet which carried off all of their bridges and was unprecedented for height. The year 1791 was marked by a great incursion of grasshoppers; they ate the corn and potatoes to the ground, and in many fields not one bushel of potatoes was raised. By 1802 crows were so numerous and destructive that one of the first acts of the new town of Minot was to vote a bounty of twelve and a half cents for each head. In 1815 winter continued through the spring months, snow falling in the middle of May from twelve to eighteen inches in depth. December was very cold. January, 1816, was extremely mild. February, mild, with a few cold days. March, first half cold and boisterous, last half mild. April commenced warm, but growing steadily colder was like winter when it closed. May was cold; corn was killed, replanted and again killed; buds and fruits were frozen; ice formed half an inch thick. June was still colder than May. Snow fell to the depth of ten inches, nearly every green plant was killed, and fruit was everywhere blighted.1 July was a winter month with snow and ice. Corn, except on some hill farms and in some extremely warm locations, was entirely killed. August was cold, ice forming half an inch thick. The corn and green plants the previous months had spared were frozen. September, after the first two weeks, which were

1 Rev. Ransom Dunham, of Paris, as quoted by Dr Lapham in "History of Norway," says: "In 1816, June 7th, snow fell two inches. I rode from Hebron to Livermore on horseback and came near freezing. It was so cold that it killed the birds. English robins were frozen to death."

EARLY SETTLEMENTS, PROGRESS AND CHANGES.

warm, was cold and frosty. October was colder than usual, with much iee and frost. November was eold, with sleighing. December was pleasant. The eorn of 1815 sold for seed in 1817, bringing from $2 to $3 a bushel; wheat was worth as much. This year was a cold and frosty one; all crops were seriously injured, eorn nearly ruined. Flour brought from eight to ten cents a pound; corn could not be bought after the spring-time.

The fall of 1817 was the commencement of better days. The crops were bounteous. Those who had not migrated tarried, and set themselves to draw support from the soil and were successful. Uncommon efforts were now put forth throughout the state to promote agriculture, and in 1818 an agricultural society was organized "to cultivate enterprise and improvements in farming, horticulture, and stock raising." Prosperity again returned, and the Andros- eoggin towns grew in strength and wealth until the coming of the financial depressions which eulminated in the panic of 1837.1 After slowly recovering from these hard times, agriculture was a profitable employment for many years, yet its eharaeter was steadily ehanging. The wheat erop, once an extensive one, was limited about 1840 by the attacks of the weevil, yet up to 1850 enough was raised to provide flour for home use. The culture of flax and the home manufacture of cloth was discontinued after 1840 with the building of woolen mills that made satinets and exchanged them for wool. This gave an impetus to sheep raising. Before this time sheep were only raised to produce the small amount of wool needed for domestie use and occasionally a little mutton. Roast lamb was always in order at " huskings." The greatest number of sheep was raised from 1835 to 1850, and in the last decade of that period many importations of merinos were made and the quality greatly improved. Since the civil war but few sheep have been raised. Indian corn was an extensive erop fifty years ago and its yield to the acre was but little short of that of the prairies. But a small amount is now grown. With the establish- ment of canning factories in the last few years the culture of sweet corn has been entered upon to quite an extent. From the first settlement every farmer had his orchard, not as a source of revenue but of home comfort and social enjoyment. The evening caller and day visitor was regaled with apples and cider, and cider mills were in operation during the fall in every section of

1 The Aroostook or Madawaska War, in 1839, claimed national attention, and arose from the dispute about the northeastern boundary, New Brunswick and the United States claiming the same territory. In 1839 a party from New Brunswick captured Rufus MeIntire, a land agent of Maine, near Madawaska settlement, and took him to Fredericton. Considering this an usurpation and an invasion of Maine, Governor Fairfield called out the militia and actual warfare seemed imminent. General Hodsdon was made commander, and rendezvoused the troops at Bangor and Angusta. General Winfield Scott came to Maine as the military representative of the United States, and sent a demand to the provincial government for the release of McIntire. The demand was complied with and the state troops disbanded. All anxiety concerning further trouble was removed by the Webster-Ashburton treaty in 1842, which defined the boundary. The militia of the Androscoggin County towns was engaged in this incipient war, and old settlers yet tell of the excitement and deprivation of their camp life on the road and at Augusta.

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

the settlements. When the making of cider was forbidden orchards were neglected and many trees were cut down. About 1870 a foreign demand and market were created for American apples, and from that time great attention has been paid to orcharding, and with profit. Greene and Turner find here a rich source of income, as Maine apples bring highest prices.

The raising of cattle was made a specialty about 1870, and from 1875 to 1880 great improvement was made by the bringing in of Durham, Hereford, Jersey, and Holstein stock, and to-day these breeds prevail in the stock of the county. The breeding of fine horses, now so extensively and profit- ably carried on, was commenced somewhat later. Many have valuable farms devoted to this, and nearly every farmer has some colt that promises speed and a high price. The growth of Lewiston and Auburn has caused market gardening to be taken up by many within a short distance of the cities and the growing of small fruits is also a profitable business. Creameries and butter factories have been recently established in various places and have yielded fine returns. In 1874 the Grange was established here and has worked with perceptible good among the farmers, and while those who cling to the

methods of farming in vogue forty years ago complain that there is no " money in farming," those who have kept in touch with the changing conditions of the country and adapted their agriculture to the new demands arising, and who have given energy and capital to the production of a proper supply realize that farming will pay in Androscoggin county. The canning factories are having a marked influence upon the new agriculture. The corn canned is "sweet corn." As an illustration of their effect we clip this item from a Lewiston Journal of March, 1891 :-

The management of the United Packers canning factory in Auburn paid out $12,000 last season for goods and for help. As will be seen the industry is one of considerable importance to Auburn and surrounding towns. Last season an unusually large business was donc at this factory, but the prospects are that this season they will do a still greater business. As is known they commenced operations last season in the carly fall, continuing it into the winter to a considerable extent. On a conservative estimate their total pack was as follows: corn, 5,000 cases; pears, 500 cases; plums, 200 cases; apples, 10,000 bushels ; lima beans, 6 tons, besides a large quantity of other kinds of beans, and quantities of pumpkin and squash. With the exception of corn the farmers were paid the cash on delivery of goods; the corn was paid for by checks later on, as is the usual custom. Last year they paid three cents for every twenty-six ounces of corn ; this year they are engaging acreage at three and one-fourth cents for twenty-six ounces. This is an advance of one-fourth of a cent over last year, an advance asked by the farmers of the canning concerns hereabouts not so long since. The United Packers will pack the same kind of goods at their Auburn factory as last season and will pay the market price for everything they buy. They will put up more corn and of everything than last season.

Agriculture was superseded by manufacturing as a business factor by the development of the magnificent water-power of Lewiston, the growth of the

THE BIRDS OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

shoe industry of Auburn, and the establishment of the pulp and paper mills at Mechanie Falls, Livermore, and Lisbon, and the wealth derived from agriculture now forms but a small fraction of that produced by the diversified manufactories within the limits of the county.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE BIRDS OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

BY HERBERT E. WALTER.

Notes on the Perching Birds of Androscoggin county, supplemented by a Catalogue of Other Species, excluding the shore and water birds, also identified in the county.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. - It is a pleasant office to turn the eyes of busy mankind from the dusty turmoil of the work-a-day world to the green fields, the fragrant coolness of the woods, and our friends in feathers which dwell there. Even during the blustering, snow- bound period of our Maine winter the birds do not entirely forsake us, but it is especially in the spring and summer that they bring us their offering of song and sunshine. By the last of March the pageant begins with the arrival of the robins, bluebirds, and song sparrows, and soon the highways of the air are thronged with the little travelers, and not until the last of May, when the plaintive notes of that frowsy-headed procrastinator, the wood-pewee, are heard, does the winged stream from the south cease. Nothing is more fascinating when once begun, or more health-giving, mentally, morally, and physically, than to study these wonderful creatures of the earth and air, and if a greater sympathy than has hitherto existed between some reader of these notes and God's feathered helpers, becomes aroused, the object of writing them will have been attained. The endeavor has been to give such points as shall enable an observer to identify the bird as seen alive in the open air of the fields and forests, for the needless shooting of birds should be severely condemned. In compiling the following notes I am indebted to the well-known works of Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway; Cones; Samuels; Stearns; Brown; Minot and Oliver Davie; to which I have continually been obliged to turn in order to supplement my own scanty notes, and I am especially under obligation to Professor J. Y. Stanton, not only for much valuable assistance which he has generously given me in preparing this article, but also for inspiring within me a love for the birds.

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History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 7

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