USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > History of Androscoggin County, Maine > Part 84
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At 61 years of age, Mr Cushman stands at the helm, guiding with steady hand the vast interests of a rapidly-growing business, holding broad and well- balanced views of life and its varied and often conflicting duties, possessing the fine instincts of the scholar and the rare qualities of the student, and is so filling his place in the world that his work is a blessing and his life an inspira- tion. Mr Cushman married, June 21, 1853, Julia W., daughter of Captain Thomas and Sally W. (Sawyer) Morse, of Gray. They have two children,
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HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.
Charles L., vice-president and general superintendent of the manufacturing department of the Ara Cushman Company, and Ara, Jr, who is at present a student at Tufts College. Mrs Cushman is an earnest Christian lady, who fills her place in church and society with grace and dignity, and she possesses those qualities which render her home happy and attractive, and joins Mr Cushman in dispensing a generous hospitality. Their home -a pleasant mansion - occupies one of the finest sites in the city.
WILLIAM WALLACE STETSON, PH.D.
The progenitor of the Stetson family in America was Robert Stetson, known as Cornet Stetson. (He was a cornet of the first light-horse troops raised in the colony.) Tradition says that he came from Kent County, England. He settled in Scituate, Mass., in 1634, and became one of the prominent and valued men of the Plymouth colony. He was a deputy to the General Court for 17 years; in 1660, and for several years after, he was commissioner to act for the country in all matters relating to the trade at Kennebec; he was a member of the council of war for 20 years; in 1667 he was appointed by the colony to visit King Philip "in behalf of the country "; in 1668 he was commissioned to purchase a tract of land for the use of the colony. His services were important, he received many grants of land, and became a wealthy and extensive land-holder. He died February 1, 1702 or 1703, aged 90. He was a man of remarkable courage, and highly esteemed. He lived long and left a good name, and has many descendants, worthy scions of such a stock. The family in England was granted a coat of arms with the motto, " Virtus nobilitat omnia."
Professor William Wallace Stetson is a lineal descendant of Robert Stetson [see page 519], the line being Robert,1 Joseph,2 Robert,3, Robert,4 Bacheler,5 Turner,6 Reuben,7 William W.8 Mr Stetson was born June 17, 1849, at Greene, and passed his early life on the home farm, where he attended the district school. He completed his education at Monmouth Academy and the Edward Little Institute and at Monmouth College, Illinois. He began teaching at the age of fifteen, and has taught some part of every year since. He commenced in the district schools of Maine, and in 1868 went to Illinois, where he taught in district, normal, and high schools, and finally attained to the position of superintendent of schools. While a teacher in the high schools of Illinois he fitted pupils who have taken honors at Cornell, Harvard, Evanston, and Ann Arbor, in mathematics, the languages, literature, and history. In 1884 he returned to Maine, and in March, 1885, took charge of the Auburn schools, which position he still fills. As a superintendent of schools he enjoys an enviable reputation for executive ability, a broad grasp of what should be taught, and great fertility in devising methods of instruction. He is noted for not only being abreast of the times on educational subjects, but as an
f. M. Johan.
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CITY OF AUBURN.
explorer in new fields. His annual reports, in which he has elaborated his theory of education, have received the hearty endorsements of leading edu- cators. In the line of school work Mr Stetson always has been prominently connected with educational associations. In Illinois he served as an officer in the Principals' Association, and in the State Teachers' Association, and was especially instrumental in founding the Northern Illinois State Teachers' Association, and was its president for several terms. He is a director in the American Institute of Instruction, and in his connection with the National Teachers' Association has served on important committees. He has been actively connected with the Maine Pedagogical Society. He was its president in 1890-91, when the largest meeting in its history was held at Waterville. He is also an active member and constant worker in the County Institutes of the state.
Though his school work makes up a busy and useful life, his more than ordinary energy lead him, upon taking up his residence in Auburn, to ally himself with every effort to increase the prosperity of that city and his efforts have materially aided in the advancement of many important organizations. He was especially prominent in the founding of the Building and Loan Associa- tion, having charge of the meetings which led to its existence, and being made one of its first board of directors, which office he still holds. He is president of the Androscoggin Land Company, and has been one of its directors from its first organization. He was one of the principal movers in the purchase of the Lewiston Gazette and its removal to Auburn, and he is a director and the treasurer of the Auburn Gazette Company. He was one of the corporators and is secretary and treasurer of the Androscoggin Trust Company of Lew- iston. It was a suggestion made by him to a newspaper reporter that kindled the flame of enthusiasm for a public library. Later, he brought the subject before the Board of Trade and was made chairman of the committee of the Board of Trade on library, and it is largely through his persistent efforts that the idea has become substantially realized and its success assured. He was one of its corporators and was elected one of the trustees. Every city owes much of its prosperity, activity, and progressiveness to a few wide-awake, public-spirited citizens. Foremost among such men in the city of Auburn stands Mr Stetson. He not only in a marked degree is public-spirited, but also possesses the abilities and push that make him a leading spirit. His readi- ness to undertake and carry out enterprises of which he sees the value and his systematic business methods constitute the genius for organization which he has so clearly shown in his work in Auburn.
In his chosen vocation of teaching he is eminently successful. His knowl- edge of the characters of his pupils, his tact in managing them, his sympathy with their innocent and mischievous pranks, and his readiness to forgive any infraction of the rules not dictated by intentional disrespect and malice, endear
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HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.
him to his scholars and make them willing to work with redoubled vigor to gain his approbation. In the recitation room the interest he takes in the progress of the class, his varied knowledge and clearness of explanation make him remarkably successful in stimulating the faculties of even the dullest student. Possessed of intense patriotism himself, he tries especially to arouse that feeling in his scholars ; to what degree he has succeeded may be judged by the significant fact that the national flag waving above the Webster school building in Auburn was purchased by the pupils, and was the first flag to float over a school building in New England. He was the first, and is one of the most enthusiastic members of the "Honorary Reserves," and is always ready to use his time, talent, and means to promote its welfare.
Mr Stetson is a writer and public speaker. He has contributed extensively to educational publications and has been chosen lecturer before the Chau- tauqua Assembly at Fryeburg. His writing is characterized by his ability to grasp a subject with ease, to express his ideas with clearness, yet in a terse and striking manner, while a fine presence and a magnetic voice add much to his delivery. In speaking without notes he is more apt to be brief and pungent than in his more carefully prepared speeches. He is a constant stu- dent of history, philosophy, and literature, and to these subjects he has devoted the most of a fine private library. From his interest in these branches he has always made it a point to belong to a history and a literary club, and he has formed several of these organizations. He also organized the two largest Chautauqua clubs in Maine, and is one of the officers of the Maine Chautauqua Union. He was appointed by Bishop Vincent the first General Councilor of the Maine Chautauqua Teachers' Reading Union, a department of Chau- tauqua with which he has been actively identified from its organization as a section of the Chautauqua University. In belief Mr Stetson is a Congrega- tionalist. He is a man of strong personality, warm heart, and generous impulses, and out of the strength of his own manhood impresses himself on those with whom he comes in contact. His home on Minot avenue is one of the notable residences of the city, and is surrounded by handsome and well- kept grounds. Mr Stetson married, July 4, 1871, Miss R. Jennie Killough, of Morning Sun, Iowa. Mrs Stetson is a lady of education and refinement and active in literary and philanthropic work.
Feraterally yours Albert Me. Penley
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CITY OF AUBURN.
HON. A. M. PENLEY.
Albert Manchester Penley, son of Captain John and Julia ( Wagg) Penley, was born in Danville, July 22, 1847. He is a descendant of one of the oldest families of Danville (see page 714), and is fourth of the five children of his parents and the seventeenth child of his father. His brother and sisters are Louisa V. m. Asa Garcelon, Hattie E. m. S. T. Davis, Caroline M. m. J. W. Peables, and Winfield S. The strong physique inherited by Mr Penley from a hardy ancestry was strengthened by active life on the home farm until he was 25 years of age, except the time passed in attending Edward Little Institute and Maine State Seminary, where he was educated. After his school life, he taught two years, then carried on the farm until January 1, 1874, when he purchased the interest of L. F. Chase in the mercantile house of Chase & Peables and formed the firm of Peables & Penley, which continued until Mr Penley retired, January 1, 1883. The next September he began merchandising in his own name at 98 Main street, where he is now in trade. Mr Penley has been a director of the Auburn Foundry Co. from 1883, and its president since September, 1890, a director of Auburn Loan and Building Association since its organization, a director and the treasurer of Androscoggin Land Associa- tion since its formation in 1887, a director of the Auburn & Lewiston Railroad since 1887, and a director and the president of the Penley Cemetery Corpora- tion, organized in 1889.
Mr Penley is an ardent Republican, and has been honored with many official positions. He was warden of ward 4 of Auburn from 1872 to 1874, in 1880 and 1882 was chosen member of the common council, in 1884 was elected alderman, and was elected mayor in 1887 and re-elected in 1888. In 1883 he was chosen member of the Republican city committee and was its chairman in the important campaign of 1884. From 1883 to 1885 he was overseer of the poor, and in 1889 was chosen to fill a vacancy in that office until 1891, when he was elected for three years. In 1890 he was chosen one of the superintend- ing school committee of Auburn, and also one of its representatives to the legislature. He has ever been a popular candidate, polling complimentary votes.
Mr Penley is prominently connected with brotherhood associations; is a Knight of Pythias; a Knight of Honor since 1877, he was grand dictator of the order in Maine in 1885, and a member of the Supreme Lodge in 1886 and 1887. He joined Tranquil Lodge of Free Masons in 1873; in 1874 King Hiram Chapter, Dunlap Council, and Lewiston Commandery; in 1880 Lewiston Lodge of Perfection; in 1881 Portland Council of Princes of Jerusalem, Dunlap Chapter Rose Croix, and Maine Consistory, S. P. R. C .; in 1888 received the 33d and highest degree in Masonry, creating him sovereign grand inspector-general of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. In 1875 he assisted in organizing Ancient Brothers Lodge, and was its master from 1876 to 1878.
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HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.
He was high priest of Bradford Chapter in 1878-9, thrice illustrious master of Dunlap Council from 1880 to 1882, commander of Lewiston Commandery from 1882 to 1884, and thrice potent grand master of Lewiston Lodge of Perfection from 1887 to 1889.
Mr Penley married at Deering, October 18, 1875, Georgia A., daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Fickett) Pennell, of that town. Children: Georgia Maryett, John Albert, Julia Lida. He has always resided in "Old Danville," and in 1890 built one of the handsome residences of Auburn, on the corner of Main and Elm streets. Mr Penley possesses a combination of business quali- ties to bring success; he is quick in adapting himself to circumstances and makes decisions rapidly, but has a conservative caution that stands him in good stead; he is public spirited, and in everything to promote the interests of Auburn or the public he is a generous giver ; he has a large circle of friends and the power of keeping them, and is deservedly popular among the people.
691
TOWN OF DANVILLE.
DANVILLE. BY GEORGE THOMAS LITTLE.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Municipal Affairs - Civil List -Settlement and Social Life, Etc. - Matters Ecclesiastical.
T HE town known for half a century as Danville was included in the lands deeded in 1684 to Richard Wharton by Warumbo and five other Indian sachems, and in 1714 conveyed by his administrator to the Pejepscot proprietors. The consideration for which the Indian chieftains sold this large tract, extending from the "uppermost part of the Androscoggin falls four miles Westward and so down to Maquoit," was a " valuable sum received from sd Wharton in merchandise." If they were cheated, they had ample vengeance in the prolonged litigation which the bounds of the grant caused the successors
to the title. The final decision as to exactly what land belonged to the Pejepscot proprietors was not reached until 1814, just a century after they took possession. Meantime, out of the northwest corner of their domain, the town- ship of Pejepscot, often spelled Pegypscot, had been duly incorporated by the legislature of Massachusetts on the 6th of March, 1802. The newly-formed town was made up of the "Pejepscot claim," which was bounded on the east by the Androscoggin, and lay between Durham, incorporated a dozen years before, on the south, and Minot, made a town the preceding month, on the north ; and of Little's Gore, a strip of land, sold to Col. Moses Little by the Commonwealth several years before, and lying between the "claim " and New Gloucester.
In 1819 the General Court, on petition of the inhabitants, changed the name of the town to Danville. This abandonment of an Indian name for an English one of no especial appropriateness is not in accord with the sentiment of the present day. Its explanation may, perhaps, be found in the general dislike shown by the neighboring towns of the names they had borne before their incorporation or during the few years succeeding that event. With few exceptions they were named in honor of some prominent land proprietor and the change of ownership or the clash of diverse interests sure to arise in the lapse of time, naturally led to dissatisfaction with the old name. It is not necessary to go outside of Androscoggin county to find examples. Lisbon was first Thompsonborough; Durham, Royalsborough; Poland, Bakerstown; Leeds, Littleborough. In these cases the change can be defended on the ground of the' shorter name thus gained. But it seems unfortunate that so
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HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.
distinctive an appellation as Pejepscot should have been surrendered to increase the number of Danvilles, of which there were already five in the United States. Of these, the shire-town of Caledonia county, Vermont, was the largest and may have suggested the name. How little thought was given to the selection of a new name is incidentally shown by the fact that the citizens first voted for Oxford and then at the same meeting reconsidered their action and took Danville.
The municipal records of the early period of the town's history relate largely to the making of highways. At the first meeting, which was held April 12, 1802, in a school-house near Danville Corner, Captain Finson, Squire Giddinge, and Solomon Larrabee were appointed a committee to lay out town roads. In August they reported six, each of considerable length, which were adopted, while the following year as many more were accepted. Guide-posts were promptly erected at several of the angles made by these and the pre- viously existing county highways. This regard for sign-boards, a characteristic of the generation, was not always equaled by a knowledge of orthography on the part of those who painted them. Tradition maintains that one in a neighboring town bore for many years the legend "Pepsquirt 5 miles." In the building and repair of these roads home labor was patronized. The average annual cost was $1,000, and each man worked out his road tax, receiving a dollar a day for his own services, 67 cents for the use of a yoke of oxen, 50 cents for a plough, and 34 for a cart. The charge for a plough apparently indicates a scarcity of those implements. At such rates most farmers of to-day would commute the labor of their hands for that of their ploughs. A committee, consisting in 1809 of Captain Smith and Lieutenant Frost, was occasionally chosen to determine whether a man did an honest day's work. More burdensome than the roads, however, were the bridges. After a vain attempt in 1805 to have the county discontinue a road across the Little Androscoggin near its mouth, the town built in the following winter a wooden bridge near the site of the present iron structure, at a cost of about $800. The work was not apparently well done, for a few years later it was carried away. In 1816 a new bridge was built by Job Lane, at a cost of $1,143, and the selectmen were instructed to make provision that it be not injured in future freshets. It is believed that this second bridge stood till about 1852, when it was replaced by the covered bridge familiar to old residents. Mean- while a bridge had been built over Royal's river on the other side of the town, and, though the stream was not so large, the structure, including unusually heavy land damages, was quite expensive. It is not strange, therefore, that the town, which had previously in 1808 petitioned the General Court to be allowed to work out the state tax on the roads within its borders, should request in 1817 an abatement for three years of the state tax, and, this apparently not having been granted, should ask the following year for similar relief.
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TOWN OF DANVILLE.
In the movement which was intermittently carried on for more than a score of years to secure the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, the citizens of Pejepscot took a rather languid interest, if we may judge by the number of them who came out to vote on this question. In 1807 no votes were thrown in favor of separation. On one occasion only 30 votes were cast, on another 67. In nearly every case a large majority were against separation. The decisive vote, however, on July 26, 1819, resulted in a victory for the separa- tionists, who cast 52 ballots to their opponents' 34. Elder Joseph Roberts was chosen delegate to the constitutional convention. The labors of that body met with the decided approval in Danville and a unanimous vote was given for the adoption of the constitution. In this connection may be recorded a curious defiance of state legislation. On April 6, 1817, the town voted that "the law passed by the General Court at its last session respecting the killing of certain birds be suspended as to its operation in this town for the ensuing year."
The citizens of Pejepscot first took part in national affairs in 1808, when they voted that a petition signed by their seleetmen should be sent to the President of the United States, asking for a suspension of the embargo. The following year they petitioned the General Court "to do their Best endeavours to save this State from impending Ruin and Destruction." Squire Giddinge writes in his diary: "The curse of non-intercourse and embargo measures are felt in every family and continue in prospect with other calamities. May God in his mercy cause what is best to take place." Party spirit ran high. The Squire, who was a stanch Federalist, writes under date of March 4, 1810 : " Begins the tenth year of the Curse of Democracy. One year of Madisonism past with accumulating misery to the United States of America." The town was quite evenly divided between the two parties and in 1812 the Democrats elected their candidate to the General Court by a majority of six, and voted a few months later that " the town approved of the present war." The citizens were again, and this time agreeably reminded of national affairs on April 4, 1837, when they chose Jonathan Chase their agent to receive their part of the money apportioned by the United States to the state of Maine, and voted to loan this, presumably in small amounts, to the inhabitants of the town. This division of the surplus in the national treasury brought to Maine nearly $1,000,000, and to Danville $2,600. Several of the states kept their share for a school fund, but the Maine towns as a rule distributed it among their inhabitants, who received upon an average between two and three dollars. In the last decade of the town's history it was called upon to assume its share in the burdens of the Civil War. The story of the brave men it sent forth, many of them never to return, is told elsewhere in this volume. Merely their number, 148, and brief minutes of the municipal action are recorded here.
June 7, "362, the town voted $200 for aid of families of volunteers. July 24, 1862, $2,100 was voted for bounties to volunteers. August 23, 1862, it was voted to raise, by loan,
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HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.
$4,350, to fill the Danville quota of 29 men, last called by the President. June 22, 1863, it was voted to pay each man who was drafted, $300, to enable him to procure a substitute. November 30, 1863, it was decided to offer $350 to each volunteer. November 15, 1864, $500 was offered each volunteer for three years' service, who should be credited to the quota of the town. About $5,000 in town bonds were issued to pay commutations.
The project of a new county was broached over 20 years before it was realized. The inhabitants of Danville, then a part of the populous county of Cumberland, had no sympathy with the movement. In February of 1834 they sent Edward Little, Andrew R. Giddinge, and Nathaniel L. Ingersoll to Augusta to oppose legislation looking in that direction, and in September of that year voted, 183 to 1, against its formation. Similar action was taken five years later in the meeting referred to in the following characteristic entry in Squire Giddinge's diary : "1839, Jan. 25th. There is no school tomorrow, a town meeting being warned to meet in the school-house to remonstrate against the town's being put into a new county, now prayed for, to put up Brunswick and Topsham, to increase patronage, have a new court House to build, a new set of County Officers to support, after having been taxed to build a jail and fireproof Court House in Cumberland. A hard lot !" Town meetings had been almost invariably held at Danville Corner. With the growth of the village at Goff's Corner, this arrangement became exceedingly inconvenient to large minority of the voters. In 1845 the town voted to accept the proposition made by Edward Little, "to build a town house free from any expense to the town, to be occupied as long as the town deemed proper and no longer and to be located within 40 rods of the bridge near the mouth of the Little Andros- coggin River." The following year it was decided to hold future meetings at this new town house. The structure is still in existence, stands near the corner of Pulsifer and Second streets, and has for many years been used as a tenement house. The difficulty still remained. The other part of the town was now inconvenienced. In 1848 it was voted to build a $300 town house near Capt. John Walker's, but it was subsequently agreed to place it at Danville Corner, which thus continued the capital, so to speak, of the municipality till the end.
The records show that the selectmen, in accordance with the law of the Commonwealth, perambulated the limits of the town from time to time. This did not, however, prevent a long dispute with Durham as to the boundary line, due, primarily, to careless running of the original bounds, and finally settled in 1816 by a commission composed of Archelaus Lewis, Alexander Greenwood, and Aaron Dwinal. The first defection from the town was the setting off, in 1821, of Benjamin Hunnewell and his estate to Durham. Two years later the same was done with the homestead farm of Nathaniel Larrabee. These farms were in the southwest corner of the town and caused the notch in the southern boundary of the city of Auburn. The next change increased
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