USA > Maine > Aroostook County > History of Aroostook. vol. I > Part 23
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Leaving Masardis, we ride southward on the old Aroos- took road some four miles or more, half the distance being in Township No. 9, Range 5, when we come to the mouth of the Oxbow road. Here we turn to the west and continue on for
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nearly five miles through the unbroken wilderness of No. 9. The soil in this township is quite stony and in that portion through which the road passes, hardly suitable for cultivation, though in other parts of the town there are some tracts of good farming land. Crossing Houlton Brook and Trout Brook fur- ther on, we come to the town line and all at once emerge from the wilderness, and find ourselves upon a handsome ridge of cultivated land, with a beautiful prospect before us of some- thing over four m'les of field and meadow lying along the Aroos- took River. Broad farms and fertile fields stretch away on either side of the road, the clearings term.Lating at the river on the north and at the grand old foiest on the south. Standing upon this fert'le slope and looking over the smooth fields and comfortable residences we can hardly realize that we are in the heart of a vast wilderness and that as far as cult'vated merove- ment is concerne l we are at the end of the road when we pass the last farm in sight. The forest is cleared away to such a breadth on e'the: s de the road, the felds and rastuies are so well fenced, the houses and Lairs so comfortable and all the evidences of prosperous agricu'ide so apparent that it does not at first occur to one that after leaving th's settlement he could strike out into the edge of youder woods and travel through unbroken forest ior days without com'rg upon a human hab ta- t'on until he reached the Canadian settlemorts upon de far-off St. Lawrence.
Looking westward along the road we can see at the foot of the cultivate l s'be the Umcolcus Stream which r ses in Umcol- cus Lake down in the southwest corner of ITn. 8, Range 5, and flowing northwesterly across the corner of Peno sort County, enters Oxbow Plantation through as south line and flows north- ward into the Aroostool. A half mile to our right 's the Aroos- took River wi dig among I sauti al 'nte:vales and making here the "ox bow" !ro a which the to in ta'zes its rame. After cross- ing the Umcolcu" the road asccadis the store of the other side through a cultivated sect'on for some to m'les, when it enters the forest ard is fost in the mazes of the grand old woods. Look- ing beyond the little settlemort we see forest to right of us, forest to left of "is, and almost interminable forest in our front. Across the long stretch of gorgeous autumn blazonry, directly in our front rise the wooded peaks of the Mooseleuk mountains, extending for some distance from north to south. Farther to the north are rugged heights of the Mach as mountains, these being more d'start and less clearly defined. Away to the southwest,
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high above all and grander than all, towers grand old Katahdin, seeming now like an old familiar friend, we have looked upon his rugged features so often of late, and from so many differ- ent standpoints. Lesser hills appear on every hand, all wood- covered and autumn-tinted, and everywhere forest, and forest glorified by Nature's matchless limning, and all illuminated by the splendor of the mild October sunlight.
We are on the Upper Aroostook now, but still the head waters of its tributary streams are many miles away. Some ten miles above Oxbow the Sapomkeag, a small stream rising in Penobscot County, flows into the Aroostook from the south, and two miles above, the Mooseleuk enters from the north. This latter is a stream of considerable volume and large quantities of lumber are driven from it every spring. It heads away over in Piscataquis and flows in a southeasterly direction into the Aroostook. Some six or eight miles above the mouth of the Mooseleuk the Munsungun and Millinocket streams unite and form the Aroostook. The Munsungun is the northerly branch and flows from a lake of the same name in the northeastern part of Piscataquis County. The Millinocket flows out of Mil- linocket Lake also in Piscataquis, and the two unite in Penob- scot County a short distance from the northwest corner of that county.
Though the Oxbow settlement is away to one side of the world's busy centres and is surrounded on all sides by forest, yet it is by no means a solitary or unfrequented locality, but is on the contrary in winter season one of the busiest points in the county. It has been for many years the headquarters and point of departure for the vast lumber business in this section and on that account has been a most important point.
In the days of the great pine timber business many thou- sands of dollars were yearly brought to the town and fortunes were made and lost in operations of which it was the centre. The Aroostook War, which came so near embroiling two great nations in a sanguinary struggle, was the means of attracting attention to this fertile region and many who marched in with the posse to fight the British trespasser remained to battle with the wilderness and to make farms and homes in this new coun- try. It also demonstrated to others not of the martial force that the country was accessible and quite a tide of emigration fol- lowed.
In September, 1839, Elias H. Hayden and Samuel Hayden came from Madison Centre, in Somerset County, to spy out the
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land in the far-off Aroostook. They came up via Patten to Mas- ardis, where they took a boat and went down the river to Presque Isle, which at that time contained but little beside Fairbank's mill on the Presque Isle Stream. The road from the Aroostook River to Caribou had then been spotted out, and they followed the line through, looking for a location to suit them. At that time there was no opening in the wilderness after leaving the Aroostook River at the point where the bridge now crosses in Presque Isle, until they arrived at the chopping of Ivory Hardison in Lyndon, and from there to Caribou the forest was unbroken. Not deciding to settle in this region, they returned to Presque Isle and poled their boat up the river to the Oxbow. Here they found Surveyor Henry W. Cunningham lot- ting the town, which was Township No. 9, Range 6, and here they concluded to make their future home. Selecting lots on the south side of the Aroostook River, near where the river makes its abrupt bend, they returned to their homes and in June, 1840, came back and commenced felling trees upon their lots. A few small choppings had been made during the previous year, but all had been abandoned and the Haydens were the first settlers who came to stay.
In 1842 Mr. Samuel Hayden moved his family to Oxbow, being the first family to come to the town. He remained until about 1860, clearing up a good farm and building comfortable buildings, and then removed to Minnesota.
Mr. E. H. Hayden was unmarried when he came to the town. He built a log camp on his lot and went to work to clear up a farm. In 1842 he built a barn which was the first frame building in the town. The plank and boards for this barn he procured at Pollard's mill on the St. Croix, running them down that stream to Masardis and then poling them in a boat up the river to Oxbow. Mr. Hayden says that at one time he poled 500 feet of green plank in a batteau from Masardis up to Oxbow without assistance. In 1843 Mr. Hayden married a daughter of Thomas Goss, and brought her to his log camp on his forest farm. After the boundary dispute was settled by the treaty of 1842, the lumber business improved and a ready market was afforded for all the produce ra sed in this vicinity. Thus vecom- ing more independent, Mr. Hayden, in the fall of 1843, built him a comfortable log house in which he lived until 1849, when he built a frame house and commenced keeping a hotel, in which business he continued in connection with farming, until some six years ago.
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The next settler to come to the town was Mr. John M. Wins- low, who came from Freedom, Waldo County, in March, 1842, and settled opposite Mr. Hayden's. He cleared up a farm and also engaged in the lumber business. He was the first clerk of the plantation after its organization. He remained until 1862, when he removed to Minnesota, where he afterwards died.
Mr. Thomas Goss, Jr., son of the pioneer settler of Masardis, came with his family to Oxbow in April, 1842, and settled on a lot in the extreme west of the town. He remained but about three years, when he removed to Masardis and afterwards to the Fish River road. About 1870 he returned to Oxbow and settled in the east part of the town where he remained until his death in 1875. His widow is still living in the town with her daughter, Mrs. I. L. Junkins.
Aaron Scribner and family moved from Lincoln in 1843 and settled on a lot on the Umcolcus Stream, where he made a farm and lived about twenty-five years, when he removed to Patten.
William Bottin came from Madison in 1843, moving his family to the town the next year. He took up a lot on a beau- tiful ridge west of the Umcolcus, where he made a fine farm on which he still lives.
In 1843 Ira Fish & Co. of Patten, built a sawmill on Umcol- cus Stream a short distance above the present bridge. In aid of this enterprise the company received from the State a grant of a block of land near the mill, a large part of which grant has since been made into productive farms. The mill at first contained only an up and down saw, but in 1845 a run of stones was put in. In 1852, Shepard Boody, of Old Town, bought the mill property and the land connected with it. Mr. Boody was largely engaged in the lumber business, having extensive opera- tions upon the headwaters of the Arcostook. Pine timber being at that time much higher in Bargor than in St. John, Mr. Boody for a number of years drove his lumber to the mouth of the Munsungun, where he took it from the water with teams and derricks and hauled it across to Sebois Lake on the Penobscot, and drove it to Bangor. He employed a large number of men, somet mes continuing his operations during the entire year. He moved his family to Oxbow, where he made the headquarters of his large lumber business and here also he engaged in farm- ing. He cleared up more than two hundred acres of land and raised large crops of hay and grain for his lumber operations. Mr. Boody failed in 1864, and removed from Oxbow, living at
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various places in Aroostook County, devoting much of his time during his later years to preaching the gospel according to the Methodist faith. He died at Moro, on the Patten road, some- thing over a year ago. Those who knew him as a business man speak of him as an honest man, kind and generous to the poor, but unfortunate in his business operations. After Mr. Boody's failure the mill property passed into the hands of Mr. George Sawyer of Masardis, who operated it for a number of years, when it was sold to Mr. C. C. Libby, who came from Newfield and married a daughter of Mr. Eben Trafton, of Masardis.
Mr. Abram H. Currier came from Maysville in 1854 and for a number of years had charge of the Boody farm. In 1862 he bought the lot on the west side of the stream, where he now resides.
Samuel Willard moved from Old Town in 1854 and settled a mile east of the stream on the farm now owned by Stephen Ellis. He lived there until 1862, when he moved to the Winslow farm where he resided for a time and then moved to Presque Isle. In 1879 the Winslow farm passed into the possession of Mr. Eben Trafton of Masardis, who made many improvements . and raised large crops of hay and grain. Mr. Trafton never lived in the town and afterwards sold this farm to Mr. Julius J. Jun- kins who now lives upon it.
James Anderson came from New Brunswick about 1860 and bought the Samuel Hayden farm, where he has lived ever since. Robert Purvis came from New Brunswick about 1854. He married a daughter of Mr. Samuel Hayden and in 1858 set- tled on the lot where I. L. Junkins now lives in the east part of the town. John McLean came fromn Nova Scotia in 1861 and bought the William Day farm a short distance west of the stream. Mr. McLean was killed in the woods by a falling tree, and his widow afterwards married James Smith, who carried on the farm until his death a few years since. Mrs. Smith is now living with Mrs. Joseph Pollard at Masardis. Thomas Fleming came from Nova Scotia in 1854. He afterwards married a daughter of William Bottin and settled on the lot east of Mr. Bottin's, where he now resides.
The township was first organized in 1848 and as Oxbow Plantation in 1870. There are two schools in the town and the people are intelligent and prsoperous.
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GLENWOOD
After passing through Haynesville we come to the Planta- tion of Glenwood, the southeast corner of which is crossed by this road.
The first settler upon this township was Mr. Seth Spaulding, who came from Dover and in 1833 settled on the lot on which Mr. Charles H. Jenkins now lives at the mouth of the road which now leads to the mill on Wytopitlock Stream. Mr. Spaulding previously made a chopping on the lot at Happy Cor- ner in Reed Plantation, but did not remain upon the lot. He cleared the farm in Glenwood and lived on it until his death in 1844. At the time of Mr. Spaulding's settlement his home was in the midst of a dense forest, his nearest neighbors being Messrs. Hall and Leighton, who had just completed the hotel in Haynesville on the hill two miles below the Forks. After Mr. Spaulding's death Mr. Samuel Tobin, who came from Blanchard in 1845, bought the possession. Mr. Tobin lived on the place a number of years and then moved to Lee, where he , died. The farm then passed through a number of hands and about 1860 was purchased by Mr. N. Twombly, who lived on it until his death some ten years ago. His son, Mr. Horace Twom- bly, now owns the farm.
Mr. Jonathan L. Plummer came from the town of Wales in 1835 and built a log house opposite Mr. Spaulding's and took up a lot a mile west of the Military road. Here he cleared a farm and built a frame house and barn and in 1844 moved with his family to the lot. He lived upon this farm some six years and then removed to Levant in order to secure for his children the privileges of an education which were denied them in their wilderness home.
Mr. Asa Straw came from Newfield about 1836 and settled on a lot west of Mr. Spaulding's, where he made a clearing and built a log house in which he lived a few years and then moved to the Clifford settlement in Reed Plantation. He lived there a number of years and then moved to Lincoln Centre.
Mr. Joseph Lane settled on the shore of Wytopitlock Lake in 1837. He cleared a farm and lived upon it until his death about a year ago. Mr. Lane was unmarried and devoted much of his time to hunting. Mr. Gardner Lane, an adopted son of Mr. Seth Spaulding, cleared a small farm adjoining Mr. Jonathan Plummer's. He afterwards removed to Arkansas, where he now resides.
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At the time of the first settlement a large amount of lum- bering was carried on in the vicinity and the early settlers raised a little hay to sell to the lumbermen, which was about the extent of their farming operations. Hunting was the main dependence for supplying the meat barrel and working in the woods in winter was the principal source from which money was obtained.
In 1865 Mr. Lafayette Tuck and Mr. Peter Moulton built a mill on the Wytopitlock Stream in the southwest corner of the town, about two miles and a half west of the Military road. Mr. Elisha Gilpatrick of Danforth afterwards bought this mill. It contains a rotary, two shingle machines, a clapboard machine and lath machine.
Mr. Robert Jenkins, who lives on the Military road a short distance below the mouth of the mill road, came from Wales to Molunkus in 1836 and worked at his trade of shoemaking a number of years. In 1861 he moved to Perham and from there enlisted in the 16th Maine Regiment. He was taken prisoner near Centreville, but was paroled and afterwards discharged. He then enlisted in the 31st Maine Regiment and served until the close of the war. In 1855 he came to Glenwood and settled on the lot formerly occupied by James Oliver, where he now lives. His son, Mr. Charles H. Jenkins, in 1879 built a house and store at the mouth of the mill road, where he is now engaged in trade and also keeps the postoffice.
Glenwood lies directly west of Haynesville and north of Reed Plantation. On the north and west it is bounded by un- settled townships. In the western part of the township is Wy- topitlock Lake, a beautiful little sheet of water some two miles long and something more than half a mile in width. From this lake Wytopitlock Stream flows in a southerly course and emp- ties into the Mattawamkeag River in the southern part of Reed Plantation. The greater part of the town is still covered with forest and as a whole the town is not well adapted to farming, though there are some tracts of very good land. The population of Glenwood in 1890 was 183.
BANCROFT
Directly west of the town of Weston and lying along the Washington County line is the good town of Bancroft, named in honor of the great historian whose brother was at one time the proprietor of the town.
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The township is somewhat irregular in form, having no two sides parallel, its northeast corner projecting away beyond the general northern line of the town almost as far as the north line of Weston. Like many of the towns in Aroostook County, it was originally considered a timber town and many of the first settlers were attracted thither by the opportunities for engaging in the lumber business. A considerable portion of the town has been cleared of its forest growth and converted into fertile farms, but the lumber industry still furnishes employment for many of its citizens and there are few farmers who are not to some extent engaged in this business.
The first settler upon the township was Mr. Charles Gel- lerson, who came from the town of Brighton, in Somerset Coun- ty, and settled in the extreme northeastern portion of the town, near the Weston line and a short distance south of where the ferry now crosses the Mattawamkeag River. Mr. Gellerson had a large family of sons, some of whom settled and made farms in the adjoining town of Weston, the others making their set- tlement in Bancroft. Upon coming to the town Mr. Gellerson purchased a block of 300 acres of good land lying along the Mattawamkeag River. This tract he afterwards divided into smaller farms, reserving 100 acres for his own homestead. Here he cleared a good farm and for a number of years after coming to Bancroft vas engaged in lumbering. He lived upon the farm until his death in 1854.
Mr. James Dunn then had the farm for three years, when it was purchased by Mr. Shubael Kelley and his son Lorenzo Kelley, who owned and occupied it until 1867. Mr. William Gellerson, Jr., then bought the farm and after living on it some six years exchanged farms with Mr. Charles Case, who still lives on the old Gellerson homestead, where the first clearing was made in the town.
Mr. Josiah Gellerson, a son of Charles Gellerson, came with his father to Bancroft and took 100 acres of the block pur- chased by him. He was largely engaged in lumbering and after living in Bancroft fourteen years moved to the adjoining town of Haynesville. Mr. Atwell Gellerson, another son, set- . tled on the north hundred acres of his father's block. He cleared a farm and was engaged in farming and lumbering un- til his death in 1862. Mr. Samuell Gellerson then bought the farm and has lived upon it ever since.
Mr. Shubael Kelley came from Brighton in 1833. With him came his two sons, Albert and Lorenzo, and together they
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settled on a lot adjoining Mr. Charles Gellerson's on the east. Here they cleared a farm upon which they lived together until 1857. Mr. Shubael Kelley and his son Lorenzo then bought the Charles Gellerson farm, upon which they built a new house, in which Shubael Kelley resided, Lorenzo living in the original farmhouse. They carried on the farm together. Mr. Lorenzo Kelley was also engaged in the business of lum- bering. Shubael Kelley died in 1865, and his son Lorenzo in 1867. Mr. Albert Kelley remained upon the old homestead after the removal of his father and brother to the Gellerson farm, and was for many years one of the principal citizens of the town. He was for years largely engaged in lumbering, which he finally abandoned, and for a time was employed in the in- surance business. He died at his home in Bancroft in 1881. He was a man of kindly disposition, of a most cheerful and com- panionable temperament and friends throughout Aroostook County. His son, Mr. George Kelley, now has the homestead farm and is largely engaged in lumbering.
Mr. Joseph Rollins came from Brighton in 1833 and settled on the lot next south of the Kelley lot. Here he cleared a good farm upon which he lived until his death in 1840. Mr. Albert Kelley, Jr., now lives on this farm.
Mr. Joseph E. Shorey was for a number of years engaged in lumbering in Weston and Bancroft before making any per- manent settlement. He came from Kennebec County in 1835 and settled in Bancroft on a lot a short distance south of Mr. Joseph Rollins. Here he made a farm and was engaged in lum- bering for many years. Mr. Shorey was a prominent man in the town and was a man of much ability. He was a trial justice for many years and was well known throughout southern Aroos- took. He died in Bancroft some ten years ago and his farm is now owned by Mr. Albert Sellers.
Mr. Daniel Bean came from Cumberland County in 1834 and settled near the mouth of Baskahegan Stream. Here he built a mill containing an up and down saw and also a grist mill. Mr. Bean carried on quite an extensive business in lum- bering and farming until about 1850, when he sold the property to Mr. John Pomroy and removed to Haynesville, where he died. Mr. Pomroy carried on the farm and mills until 1862, when he recruited a company which was mustered into the 11th Maine Regiment as Company I, Mr. Pomroy receiving a captain's commission. At the expiration of his military service Capt. Pomroy returned to Bancroft and for a number of years was
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extensively engaged in lumbering and trading. He afterwards removed to Minnesota, where he now resides. He is remem- bered in Bancroft as a man of much energy and business ability and as a leading man in that vicinity for many years.
Mr. Simeon Irish came to Bancroft about 1834 and settled on the west side of the Mattawamkeag River, a mile below the mouth of the Baskahegan Stream. Mr. Irish cleared a large farm and was quite extensively engaged in farming and lum- bering until his death, some thirty years ago. His son, James Irish, now owns the farm.
Mr. Jeremiah Thompson came from Kennebec County in 1837 and settled on the lot next south of Joseph Shorey. He made a clearing and lived on the place some ten years, when he moved to Glenwood Plantation, where he afterwards died. Mr. Andrew Collins then bought the farm and lived upon it until his death some twenty-three years ago. Mr. William Quim- by then bought the farm and still res des upon it.
Mr. Leonard Smith came from Sidney about 1838 and set- tled on the lot south of Mr. Joseph Rollins. Here he cleared a farm and after living on it a few years removed from the town. This farm then passed through a number of hands and was then purchased by Mr. James Burns, who came from New Bruns- wick. Mr. Burns lived upon the farm until his death some fif- teen years ago and his son, Mr. Simeon Burns, now occupies it.
Mr. Jonathan Quimby came from Kennebec County about 1840 and settled on the lot near where the Kelley road now in- tersects the Baskahegan road. Mr. Quimby cleared this farm and l'ved upon it until his death some fifteen years ago. Mr. John Warman now lives upon the farm.
Mr. Robert Hinch, who was for years one of the prominent business men of Bancroft, came to the town in 1840 and settled on the east side of the Mattawamkeag River, a short distance above the mouth of Baskahegan Stream. Mr. Hinch cleared a large farm and was for many years extensively engaged in farming and lumbering. He was for some time in company with Mr. John Pomroy in the lumber business and this firm carried on large operations for a number of years. Mr. Hinch died some five years ago. He was a worthy man, of much business ability and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His son, John W. Hinch, now owns the homestead, but resides in Dan- forth.
Mr. John W. C. Moore came from Kennebec County about 1843 and settled on a lot a short distance east of Mr. Robert
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Hinch. Mr. Moore cleared a large farm and was for many years a prominent business man and a leading citizen of his town. He carried on large farming and lumbering operations and took an active part in town affairs. Mr. Moore also represented his district in the State Legislature. Some ten years ago he sold his farm to Mr. Edwin Smart and moved to Hodgdon, where he died a few years since. He was a man of sterling character, strict honesty and business integrity and had many friends.
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