USA > Maine > Aroostook County > History of Aroostook. vol. I > Part 25
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Members of the Bull family came up upon this road soon after Mr. Packard made his clearing, and Charles W. and Peter Bull are still living upon lots a short distance east of the Pack- ard farm.
Many of the lots upon this part of the town were covered with their original forest growth until after the war, since which time every lot has been taken and there is a continuous settle- ment across the town upon this road.
In 1865 Mr. Thomas Munn took up the lot next east of Mr. Packard's, and has now forty acres cleared and is making a fine farm.
Another road enters the town from Presque Isle and runs entirely across the town, parallel to and a mile and a half dis- tant from the south line of the town.
In the fall of 1858, Mr. George L. Emerson came from the town of Stow ,in Oxford County, and took a lot in the southwest part of the town, a half mile south of the line of the road above named. He made a chopping that fall and in the spring brought his family to his new home, where he had built a log house. Mr. Emerson's experience was like that of many another Aroos- took pioneer. When he arrived with his family and settled in his forest home he had just fifty cents in his pocket. He cleared up two acres and put it into crop, and then leaving his little family, went to work in Presque Isle, and also upon the mill which was that year built near his home, to earn means to pro- vide food until his crop grew.
The road in this part of the town was not then opened, and all supplies had to be brought up the old State Road and across a "portage" through the woods. The distance from Presque Isle by this route was about seventeen miles, while by the road
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now traveled it is but about six miles. In 1862, Mr. Emerson, who then had a clearing of ten acres on his lot, left his home and joined the Union Army, being enrolled in the 18th Maine Regi- ment, known as the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery. Many a brave and sturdy recruit for the Army of the Union went from the new settlements in the forests of Aroostook, and in many of the log houses on these little clearings in the wilderness the lonely wife and little family anxiously awaited the return of the loved one who was fighting the battles of his country on South- ern fields. Nobly, indeed, did Aroostook respond to the nation's call to arms, and today in every town in this new county may be found many veterans of the war.
Mr. Emerson returned from service with broken health, but succeeded in making a fine productive farm and buildings com- fortable and commodious. Being unable to carry on a large farm, he has recently sold a fine tract of fifty acres, and is living quietly upon the remainder.
In 1859 Freeman L. Ball and Reuben A. Huse came from Hallowell and commenced the erection of a mill at the point where the road now crosses the Presque Isle Stream in the southwest part of the town of Mapleton. This mill became the nucleus of what is now the pleasant and busy little village of Ball's Mills. Messrs. Ball and Huse received from the State a grant of a mile square of land in aid of building the saw mill, which at first contained but an up and down saw for saw- ing long lumber. A year or two later they put in a shingle mill. At the time the mill was built there was no clearing any- where in the vicinity, and no road in that portion of the town.
In 1859 also came Chas. M. Spooner, Benj. Chandler and Benj. Gray, who took lots east of the mill and made clearings, and Mr. Geo. L. Emerson moved his family to the new settle- ment.
The same year Josiah McGlauflin, A. H. Thompson, B. J. Hughes, Garner Wilcox and some others settled on lots near the mill to the north and west.
Mr. Ball soon after sold his interest in the mill to his part- ner, Mr. Huse, and commenced making the fine farm near the mill upon which his son, Mr. Albert Ball, now lives. In 1886 Mr. Huse sold the mill to John P. Roberts and Franklin Ball, who carried it on until 1870, when they sold to Hon. David Dudley of Presque Isle. Mr. Dudley made extensive repairs upon the mill and also built a store and entered into trade. He also devoted himself somewhat extensively to farming upon the
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land near the mill. In 1874 he sold the mill to Messrs Stewart and Morton, the present proprietors, who made extensive ad- ditions and put in a rotary saw and planer. The new firm had succeeded in establishing a good business when, in the summer of 1877, a fierce forest fire swept down the valley of the stream, consuming in a short time the mill and all buildings connected with it, the new starch factory just completed by Messrs. John- son & Phair, Mr. Albert Ball's barn and outbuildings, and at one time threatened to consume the entire village. The bridge across the stream near the mill was also burned, and it was only by the greatest exertion on the part of those present that the village was saved from total destruction. The events of this disastrous fire are still spoken of by the residents of the village as an experience never to be forgotten by those who passed through it. Messrs. Stewart & Morton were in no way discour- aged by their great loss, but at once set about the work of re- building the mill. This work they pushed with so much vigor and energy that by fall of the same year the new mill was com- pleted, machinery put in and in successful operation.
The destruction by fire of the starch factory resulted in much inconvenience to the farmers of the vicinity, who had planted large fields of potatoes with the expectation of deliver- ing them at this factory in the fall. The potato crop proved good that year and, as many of the Mapleton farmers hauled their potatoes to the Maysville factory, also owned by Messrs. Johnson & Phair, this additional supply loaded that factory to its utmost capacity. Sometimes as many as eighty teams, load- ed with potatoes could be counted, waiting to unload at the Maysville factory. Messrs. Johnson & Phair rebuilt the factory at Mapleton in 1879 and in the summer of 1886 the main build- ing was struck by lightning and entirely consumed, the dry houses being saved. The factory was immediately rebuilt and was completed in time to receive the crop of potatoes in the fall of the same year.
The village hotel is kept by M. L. Stewart, who came to Mapleton from New Vineyard, in Franklin County, in the year 1864, and bought a lot of 160 acres on the Presque Isle road a short distance east of the mills. At that time there was but six acres cleared upon the farm and the buildings consisted of a log house and a small barn. Mr. Stewart at once set about the work of making a farm and in a few years the forest upon the front of his entire lot had disappeared and given place to fertile fields. In 1878 he built a large two-story house and at
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once opened it for a hotel. This house is one of the most pleasant and homelike hotels in the county, and here the traveler is always sure to find rest and refreshment and the kindest at- tention from the courteous landlord and his pleasant family.
Col. S. C. F. Smith, the resident member of the firm of Dudley and Smith, is the principal merchant of the village. Col. Smith was from the town of Charlotte, in Washington County, and made a splendid war record as Captain of Co. H. 9th Maine Regiment. Immediately after the war he came to Aroostook and went into business in the pretty little village of Spragueville in South Presque Isle. He afterwards removed to Fort Fairfield, and in 1878 formed a co-partnership with Hon. David Dudley of Presque Isle for the purpose of carrying on a mercantile business at Ball's Mills. Mr. Dudley's extreme antipathy to tobacco was well known, and as he could not conscientiously countenance its sale or use, he refused to extend the partner- ship to this branch of the business, and the tobacco trade was carried on by Col. Smith alone, Mr. Dudley refusing to receive any share of the profits. Mr. Dudley was long an honored citi- zen of Presque Isle, and was a member of the Maine Senate from this county. He died at Presque Isle in the summer of 1890.
Col. Smith has served as Colonel of the Veteran Regiment of Aroostook G. A. R., and has also represented his district in the Legislature of Maine. He has a very handsome residence at Ball's Mills, and is one of the sterling business men of Aroostook.
Nearly opposite Col. Smith's store is the fine building erect- ed in 1884 by Eureka Grange. The second story of the building is used as a Grange hall, with a dining hall above. The lower story has recently been sold to Mr. M. E. Ingraham, who has opened a grocery and provision store. Mr. Ingraham is a young man who was brought up upon a farm in the town and is well known and respected by all his townsmen.
Mr. E. A. Smith came from the town of Charlotte and has a farm of forty acres on the high land east of the village and has a fine set of buildings. He has been collector of taxes for a number of years. Mr. James McGlauflin also came from the town of Charlotte in 1861 and took a farm about half a mile from the village, which he carried on for three years. He then moved his family to Presque Isle and went into the army. He returned to Mapleton in 1882 and has been postmaster at Ball's Mills ever since. He keeps a stock of light groceries and dry
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goods, but like Mr. Dudley, has conscientious scruples against selling tobacco. His store is on the west side of the stream near the bridge.
Mr. Phineas Swan is the village blacksmith and has a shop opposite the postoffice, where all kinds of work in his line are executed to the satisfaction of his customers.
About one-fourth of a mile west of the mill we come to the fine farm of Mr. A. S. Griffin, which lies next to the town line. Mr. Griffin also came from the town of Charlotte, which has furnished many good citizens to this part of the county. He has now nearly fifty acres cleared, and has recently built a very handsome two-story house and is making a valuable property. Mr. Griffin was a soldier in the 7th Maine Regiment.
A little over a mile east of the village is the farm of Mr. Charles Higgins, a hale old gentleman of 78, who came to the town from Calais in 1870. Eleven years ago his house took fire in the night and the flames were well under way before the in- mates awoke to their danger. It was only by the greatest ex- ertion that the old man and his sons were able to save the lives of the women of the family, but they succeeded in rescuing all from the grasp of the flames. When the sun rose next morning it shone upon a heap of smouldering ruins, and when it set that night its last rays fell upon a new house ready to shelter the family, built entirely in one day. In the morning after the fire the trees of which the frame was made were growing in the woods. The neighbors turned out in large numbers. The trees were felled, the frame hewed and hauled to the building spot, the timbers were framed and raised, the boards and shingles hauled from the mill, the house enclosed and shingled, windows put in, floors laid and rooms partitioned off ready for the family, all in one day. Who will say that Aroostook is not a good county for a poor man to live in, or that Mapleton is not one of its good towns? Mr. Higgins's three sons, Orren J., Charles O. and Shepard I. Higgins, all live on good farms nearby and are making comfortable homes.
In the east part of the town is a splendid ridge of land known as the Creasy Ridge, upon which are many fine farms. The peculiarity of the soil in this part of the town is that the ledge is red sandstone and is of much value for building pur- poses. In 1860 Mr. Benj. D. Creasy came from Mt. Vernon and settled upon this ridge. The same year came Mr. Francis Wins- low from Westbrook, and also Eben, Robert and James M. Grendell, and settled in the same vicinity. There was then no
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clearing in that part of the town, but it is now a very fine farm- ing section. Mr. Charles E. Creasy now lives upon the farm commenced by his father, and has a very handsome farm with a good stand of buildings. Mr. Winslow has also a fine farm on the opposite side of the road. He was engaged in hop rais- ing for a number of years and found it a profitable business for a time.
Mr. Alexander Ross came to Mapleton in the spring of 1864 and bought a lot on the Creasy Ridge about two and one-half miles from Presque Isle village. When he bought the lot there were but ten acres cleared upon it and no direct road leading to Presque Isle. He now has a good road to the village and has one of the finest farms in this section. Mr. Ross is a good farmer as well as a good citizen. He has served on the Board of Trustees of the North Aroostook Agricultural Society and is one of the "old reliables" in Grange work.
A short distance west of the mill a road runs in a northerly direction across to the old State Road through a very fine farm- ing section. Mr. S. H. Waldron, a veteran of the war, has a large farm upon this road with an attractive set of farm build- ings. There are numerous other good farms on this road and also on the other cross roads throughout the town.
Mapleton was first organized as a plantation in 1869, and George L. Emerson, A. H. Thompson and Shepard Packard were chosen assessors, and Chas. M. Spooner, clerk. The town was incorporated in March, 1880, at which time it had a popu- lation of 705 and a valuation of $51,642. The population in 1890 was 832, and the valuation $138,338. The rate of taxation was eleven and two-tenths mills on a dollar.
MORO
In the western part of Aroostook County and lying along the border of Penobscot County is the township formerly known as Rockabema, but now the plantation of Moro. This township is No. Six, Range Five, and is directly west of Merrill Planta- tion, north of the town of Hersey, and has for its northern bound- ary the unsettled township No. Seven, Range Five. The old Aroostook road, the mail route from Patten to Ashland, traverses the town, entering it about a mile and a half from the southwest corner and continuing in a general northeasterly direction en- tirely across the town, crossing its north line a little more than a mile from the northeast corner of the town.
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The first settlement of the town dates away back to the stirring times of the Aroostook War, and the first settler who established a residence here was Mr. Isaac Lewis, who came from the town of Clinton in 1838 and settled in the extreme northern portion of the town. Mr. Lewis cleared up a large farm upon which he lived for about twelve years, when he moved to Patten and afterward to Pennsylvania. His daughter, Mrs. Wm. S. Chase, now lives on a farm near where her father made his first settlement.
In 1839 Mr. John Hale came from Detroit and settled near Mr. Lewis. He was a single man and after making a consider- able clearing moved to Sherman and afterwards to Dyer Brook, where he d.ed.
Joseph Baston came from Fairfield in 1840 and settled in the northeast part of the town on the lot upon which Mr. Chas. E. Baston now lives. He cleared up this farn and lived upon it until his death some twenty-eight years ago. Mr. George Baston came with his father to Moro and in 1850 settled on the lot opposite his father's, where he cleared up a large farm, upon which he now lives. The farm contains 215 acres of good land, situated upon a handsome ridge. J. W. Baston, George N. Bas- ton and. Lewis W. Baston, all live on good farms near the old place.
Jonas Hale, a brother to John Hale, came to Moro in 1842 and settled on what is now called the Bryant place, next to the south I'ne of the town, and on the east side of the Aroostook road. Here Mr. Hale made a clearing and lived upon the lot some twelve years, when he moved to Sherman. Mr. Horace Darling now lives on this farm.
Mr. Henry T. Knowles came from the town of Corinna to Moro in 1843. He first settled upon the lot in the northeast corner of the town where Mr. Wm. S. Chase afterwards lived. He cleared a farm and built a house upon this lot and lived there until about 1850, when he moved to the Lewis place on the Aroostook road. He enlarged this farm, rebuilt the barn and made other improvements and lived upon the place nearly thirty years, when he moved to a lot just across the line in the unsettled township No. Seven, Range Five. Here Mr. Knowles made a good farm upon which he lived until his death some seven years ago. His son, Henry F. Knowles, now lives upon the Lewis place and also has the farm adjoining in No. Seven. He is located sixteen miles from Patten on the mail route to Ash- land.
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Mr. Calvin Bradford came from the town of Turner to Pat- ten in 1838. In 1839 he moved to Township No. Seven, Range Five and took a lot near the Knowles place, where he cleared about forty acres and lived there until 1844, when he removed to Moro and settled on the Aroostook road, something less than a mile north of the south line of the town. Here he made a good farm and lived upon it until his death in 1875. His son, Ezek- iel F. Bradford, lived with him and had the active management of the farm for a number of years before h's father's death. He has since enlarged the farm, which is now one of the best in this section. It contains 500 acres of excellent land, with 175 acres cleared.
Mr. El sha Brown came from Sherman and settled in Moro in 1845. Mr. Brown had formerly lived in the town, having been in the employ of Mr. Isaac Lewis, the first settler. Mr. Brown took a lot on the Aroostook road a mile and a half north of Mr. Bradford's. Here he made a good farm and built a set of buildings. He lived upon the farm until his death some eighteen years ago. Mr. Robert Kennedy now lives on this farm.
Mr. Daniel Darling came from the town of Hartland in 1840 and first settled in the town of Hersey, where he lived four years, and in 1844 moved to Moro and took a lot on the Aroos- took road a short distance north of Calvin Bradford's. Here he cleared a farm upon which he lived until his death in 1863. His grandson, Lysander Darling, now lives on this farm. He has 75 acres of good land with 40 acres cleared, and has a good set of buildings. Mr. Patrick Darling, a son of Daniel Darling, came from Hartland in 1838 and worked upon the Aroostook road, which was then being constructed. Mr. Ira Fish of Patten was agent for the construction of this road in that vicinity. Mr. Darling worked on the road in Benedicta, in Mt. Chase and in Moro, and in 1840 settled on a lot in the town of Hersey, where he cleared some 10 acres and built a log house. He lived there until 1845, when he moved to Moro and bought of Samuel Chase the lot next north of Mr. Daniel Darling's. There was a small improvement uron the lot and Mr. Darling here made a good farm upon which he has lived ever since. He is now 77 years old and is one of the oldest living residents of the town. He has 200 acres of land with 75 acres cleared. and has a comfort- able set of buildings. The farm is somewhat stony in places, but is good, strong, productive land and raises good crops of hay and grain.
Mr. Josiah Bates came from Palmyra in 1845 and first set-
,
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tled in the town of Hersey, where he lived two years and in 1847 moved to Moro and settled on the lot next north of Elisha Brown's. Here he cleared a farm upon which he lived until his death some twenty-two years ago. His son, Albert H. Bates, now lives on the farm.
Mr. Chas. Chase has a good farm. He has also a clapboard and shingle mill on the West Branch of the Mattawamkeag, which stream the Aroostook road crosses near Mr. Chase's farm. In this mill is one shingle machine, a clapboard machine and planer.
After crossing the West Branch the road ascends a steep hill, near the top of which is the farm of Mr. Benj. Brown. Mr. Brown was a soldier in the 31st Me. Regiment and settled on this lot in 1870, and has made a good farm.
The State road, so called, runs from Smyrna M'lls in a due east course on the town lines until it intersects the old Aroostook road. This road runs along the south line of Moro Plantation and is settled for the greater part of the d.stance across the town. Mr. Solomon Bates was the first settler in Moro upon the State road. Mr. Bates came from the town of Fairfield in 1851 and settled on Lot No. 82, which was one of the public lots reserved for school purposes. The State road had then been cut through but was not passable for carriages. It is now a good turnpike road for its entire distance from Smyrna Mills to the Aroostook road. Mr. Bates cleared a farm of ninety acres of good land and lived on it ten years, when he moved across the road into the town of Hersey, where he still resides.
Mr. George L. Bates came from Fairfield in 1851 and made a clearing on the lot adjoining Solomon Bates. He remained some three years and removed to Hersey. Mr. Robert Sturte- vant came from Waterville the same year and made a clearing near where the State road crosses the West Branch. He re- mained some six or seven years and returned to Waterville.
Mr. David B. Bates came from Hersey to Moro in 1851 and made a clearing on the west half of the lot adjoining Solomon Bates. In 1864 he sold his improvements to Solomon Bates and took the lot next north of Solomon's on which there was a good mill privilege. In 1867 David B. Bates and Smith Gilman built a mill on Mill Brook, which runs across the last mentioned lot and empties into the West Branch a short distance below.
Mr. William Jameson came from the town of Lee in 1860 and made a clearing on the lot next west of Robert Sturtevant. He stayed a year and then went into the army and never re-
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turned to Moro.
Mr. John Doe came from Kenduskeag in 1860 and took the lot west of Mr. Solomon Bates. Mr. Doe made a large clearing and lived upon the farm until 1886, when he sold it to Mr. Chas. U. Brewer, and moved to Hodgdon and afterwards to New Lim- erick. Mr. Brewer still lives upon the farm.
Mr. Granville Gary came from Lincoln in 1868 and settled on the lot next west of John Doe. He remained some five or six years and sold to Mr. Cyrus Wade and returned to Lincoln. Mr. Robert Palmer now lives on this farm.
Mr. George Cole came from Patten in 1874 and settled on the lot next west of Robert Sturtevant. He remained four years and sold to Mr. H. J. Palmer and moved to the West. Mr. Pal- mer still lives upon the farm.
In going to Moro from Smyrna Mills by the State road, af- ter passing the Stephens settlement in Dyer Brook, the road descends a steep hill and then runs for some distance through a piece of woods on low land. Coming out of the woods we find a few small clearings, with log houses and few improvements, until we come to the West Branch of the Mattawamkeag, which the State road crosses a short distance from the town line.
The township was surveyed and lotted in 1833, by Rufus Gilmore and was first organized as a plantation under the name of Rockabema, in 1850. In 1860 the name was changed to Moro. Though not ranking among the best Aroostook townships for agricultural purposes, yet the settled portion of the town con- tains many good farms and comfortable homes and the social and moral standing of the citizens is of the first order.
MACWAHOC
Leaving Reed Plantation, as we journey southward, the old Mil tary road runs for some two miles across the southeast cor- ner of North Yarmouth Academy Grant, an unsettled township, and then enters Macwahoc Plantation. Like many other towns in Arcostook County, the first opening made in the wilderness in what is now the thriving plantation of Macwahoc was for the purpose of manufacturing lumber.
As early as 1829 or 1830, Messrs. Thayer and Jewett built a mill on the Macwahoc Stream, about a mile above its junc- tion with the Molunkus. The Military road crosses the Macwa- hoc Stream near this mill. It contained originally only an up and down saw. After a number of years Messrs. Edward and
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Ivory Lord of Charleston bought this mill. Mr. Alex. McLain afterwards purchased it and rebuilt it in a more substantial manner and after operating some five or six years sold to Mr. Edwin Buck, who afterwards sold to Mr. John McCausland of Kingman, the present proprietor.
Mr. John Babcock came from Lincoln about the time this mill was first built and put up a log house on the east side of the Molunkus and kept tavern there in the woods for a number of years.
Mr. John Weston came from Lincoln in 1832 and settled at the mill. He worked in the mill some three years and then bought a lot of land nearby, where he cleared a farm and lived upon it until his death some twelve years ago.
Mr. Samuel Butterfield came from Sidney soon after the building of the mill and built a hotel on the east side of the Molunkus Stream, near the place where the Kingman road now joins the Military road. After a few years he sold the hotel to Mr. Frank Butterfield, who a few years later sold it to Mr. Richard Libby, who came from Old Town about 1838. After keeping this hotel some five years Mr. Libby moved to the mouth of the Aroostook road, in Molunkus, where he kept a hotel for a number of years and then removed to Mattawamkeag and died there.
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