USA > Maine > Aroostook County > History of Aroostook. vol. I > Part 9
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The first school in town was a private school opened as early as 1845 by a Miss Thompson, in one of the tenements va- cated by the troops. Miss Polly Eastman also opened a private school about the same time in the Maple Grove settlement. Miss Heywood, a sister of Mr. A. P. Heywood, afterwards taught a school in the block house on Fort Hill and was followed by Miss Agnes Johnson, now Mrs. A. C. Paul, who taught in the block house in 1848. The block house was also used in those early days for holding religious meetings.
We have stated that all the earliest settlers of the town came from the Province of New Brunswick up the St. John and Aroostook Rivers and settled along the banks of the Aroostook River. Some of these settlers had grants from the British Gov- ernment and many of them were squatters on what they sup- posed to be British territory. After the treaty of 1842, there was an uncertainty about the titles of these settlers who had thus without being consulted been transferred from the jurisdic- tion of the British Crown to that of the government whose em- blem was the Stars and Stripes of free Columbia.
In February, 1843, when Edward Kavanagh was acting Governor of Maine, the legislature passed "Resolves authorizing the appointment of commissioners to locate grants and determine the extent of possessory claims under the late treaty with Great Britain." Under these resolves Gov. Kavanagh appointed Philip Eastman, John W. Dana and Henry W. Cunningham as commis- sioners. Similar resolves were also passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts, and Samuel C. Allen, John Webber and Sam- uel Jones were appointed as commissioners from that State. After investigating the claims of settlers on the St. John River, which was done partly in 1843 and completed in 1844, one com- missioner from each State came to the mouth of the Aroostook River on the 17th of October, 1844.
Both States had, in the February preceding, passed additional resolves extending the powers and duties of the commissioners. The two who came to the Aroostook proceeded through all the settlements along the river as far up as Masardis, and carefully examined each settler's claim. Lots were set off to all settlers "whose improvements had been commenced within six years before the date of the Treaty of Washington," and also to those holding grants from the British Government. As an instance of the red tape re-
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quired in doing business when two governments are concerned we may here state that as the commissioners wished to obtain copies of the grants made by Great Britain, to aid them in their work, one of them, in May 1843, went to Fredericton bearing a letter from Gov. Kavanagh to the Lieut. Governor of New Brunswick, requesting copies of the grants. The New Bruns- wick governor declined to comply with the request coming from the State Executive, but suggested that the application should be made by the President of the United States, through the British Minister at Washington. In June, 1843, Gov. Kavanagh addressed a request to the Secretary of State at Washington, by whom it was presented to the British Minister, and by him transmitted to the home government in England. In July, 1844, the copies were furnished to the Secretary of State at Washing- ton and by him transmitted to the Governor of Maine, who sent them to the commissioners. All this formal correspondence be- tween two nations was required in order that an Aroostook set- tler might have a valid title to his farm. The "metes and bounds" were then set off and the settlers title was fully con- firmed.
Very soon after the treaty the Plantation of Letter D. was organized. This included all the settlers along the Aroostook River in Township D, Plymouth Grant and Eaton Grant. Sub- sequently Eaton Grant was organized as Eaton Plantation, and Plymouth Grant as Sarsfield Plantation, Letter D alone retaining the old organization. Thus they remained until 1858, when "D" was incorporated as the town of Fort Fairfield, and a few years later Sarsfield Plantation was annexed to it, forming the town as it is today.
Settlers from different parts of the State began to come into the town soon after the treaty. In August, 1844, Charles R. ยท Paul came from Solon and commenced blacksmithing in the old government blacksmith shop. Mr. Paul is still alive at the ripe age of seventy-two and is one of the sterling citizens of Fort Fairfield. His wife, Mrs. A. C. Paul, is a prominent temper- ance worker and an active member of the non-partizan W. C. T. U.
The county settled very slowly until after the editorial ex- cursion of 1858, when quite a tide of immigration set in. Many lots were taken up in Fort Fairfield and adjoining towns and new clearings were made in every direction. Many of these new comers had not sufficient courage to stay and fight the battle to a finish, but most of those who had the required "sand"
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are today independent farmers with comfortable homes and broad, fertile fields.
The first schoolhouse in the town was built in 1859, on the hill about opposite the railroad station and about the same time the Union Meetinghouse at the junction of the Blaine and Presque Isle roads was commenced.
During the three or four years immediately preceding the war the population of the town received quite an increase. Many new farms were commenced which today are among the finest in the town, new stores were opened in the village and the outlook was most encouraging. But in the early sixties, when the country called her sons to rally for the defence of the old flag, many of these sturdy pioneers left their new homes and "fell in" to swell the ranks of the "three hundred thousand more" who hurried forth to answer the call of "Father Abra- ham." The severe drain of the war was especially felt by these new Aroostook towns and, during its continuance, a check was put upon their growth and development.
This, however, was more than compensated for by the good times that followed the return of peace, when a new im- petus was given to immigration and during the decade from 1860 to 1870 the population of Fort Fairfield was more than doubled. From that time to the present, its growth has been steady and continuous. New business enterprises have been started from time to time and the fine agricultural resources of the town have been developed to a wonderful degree. Like the other towns in the Aroostook Valley, Fort Fairfield received a mighty impetus from the opening of the railroad. A branch of the New Brunswick railway was completed to the village in 1875, which entirely revolutionized the business methods of the town and brought the producers of this fertile region into com munication with the markets of the outside world.
Starch factories were erected and large tracts of rough, stumpy land, hitherto used only as pasture, were cleared and smoothed for the potato crop and then seeded down to broad fields whose clean and even surface was fitted for the working of farm machinery. Potato buyers for the outside market soon discovered the excellence of the Aroostook tuber and thus the business of shipping potatoes was established and today Fort Fairfield is the most prominent shipping point for potatoes north of Houlton.
The village of Fort Fairfield is mainly located on a high intervale on the south side of the Aroostook River, though the
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village corporation includes both sides of the river and quite a number of citizens live upon the north side. The plain upon which the business portion of the village is built is quite nar- row, the land rising somewhat abruptly at a short distance from the river, and the frowning parapets of Fort Hill overlook the main business street and remind us of the stirring times when two great nations were arming for a war about their line fences ..
Owing to the formation of the land the village extends for about two miles along the banks of the beautiful Aroostook River, nearly all the business houses being located on this one main street. Although the buildings are nearly continuous for the entire distance, yet the citizens speak of the upper and lower village, the dividing point being perhaps about by the railroad station, and Haines' Mill being the central point of what is spoken of as the lower village. The majority of the stores are in the upper part of the town.
Hardly had this beautiful village got well started in the new era of prosperity following the advent of the railroad, when it was visited by a disastrous fire. In the spring of 1879, nearly all of the business portion of the town was consumed by a con- flagration which left only a heap of smoking ruins where a few hours before stood a thriving and prosperous village. It was a severe blow, but the citizens rallied at once and, in no way dis- heartened or discouraged, commenced to rebuild in a more sub- stantial manner.
A second fire occurred in 1883, which swept over nearly the same territory and inflicted severe loss of property. Again the citizens went to work with courage and energy and erected the fine stores and blocks which now adorn this pleasant village.
In an agricultural point of view, Fort Fairfield is one of the best towns in the Aroostook Valley. The southern portion of the town, formerly Township D, Range 2, is a solid block of ex- ceptionally good farming land, with very little waste territory. The surface of this tract is composed of swells of land, but is not broken by abrupt hills to any extent. It is well watered and is covered all over with large and well cultivated farms, occupied for the most part by intelligent and progressive farm- ers. The Fitzherbert Stream runs the entire length of this town- ship in a northerly direction parallel with and a short distance from the New Brunswick line.
The northern portion of the town, formerly Plymouth Grant, and subsequently Sarsfield Plantation, lies for the most part on the north side of the Aroostook River, although the river enters
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the township well up on its western side, whence it flows in a southwesterly direction to the village, leaving quite a large cor ner of the township on the south side of the river.
The town of Fort Fairfield was incorporated March 11, 1858. In 1860, the population was 901, which was more than doubled in the next decade. In 1880, the population was 2807 and the valuation of the town was $468,471. The population by the census of 1890 was 3526 and the valuation was $893,593.
Fort Fairfield has a splendid future before it and its en- terprising and public spirited citizens are deserving of success.
PRESQUE ISLE
The present town of Presque Isle includes two entire town- ships and is therefore twelve miles long and six miles in width and contains seventy-two square miles. The south half of the town was originally Letter F, Range 2, and the north half was Letter G, in the same range.
Until 1883, Presque Isle comprised but one township-Let- ter F, the north half of the present town, or Letter G, being known for some years previous to that time as the good town of Maysville.
The first settler who established himself permanently upon Letter F township was Mr. Dennis Fairbanks, who cut the first tree on the territory now included in the village of Presque Isle about the year 1828. Mr. Fairbanks was formerly engaged in trade in the town of Troy, in Waldo County, to which place he removed from Winthrop about 1825. His brother, Col. Joseph Fairbanks, came to Farmington as early as 1793, and continued to reside in that town until his death by a fall from a wagon, on Sept. 12, 1831. Joseph Fairbanks was a prominent citizen of the town, holding numerous military and civil offices and twice represented his town in the General Court of Massachu- setts. He was also a member of the Senate of Maine in 1824.
Soon after coming to Letter F, Mr. Dennis Fairbanks made a clearing on the bank of Presque Isle Stream near the present mill site, and afterwards obtained from the State a grant of a mile square of land, running to the north line of the township, on condition that he would settle upon the tract and build a saw mill and grist mill upon the Presque Isle stream. He then
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moved his family to his new home and commenced the erection of the mill. The machinery for his mill was loaded upon two batteaux at Old Town and two men poled each batteau up the Penobscot to its head waters, hauled across the portage to the Aroostook, boated down the Aroostook to the mouth of the Presque Isle Stream and then poled up that stream to the mill site.
Robert McCann, an adopted son of Mr. Fairbanks, helped pole one of these boats. He made a small clearing on the hill east of the village, on what is now known as the Henry Pierson farm (now Charles Phair farm) and built the timber house now standing on this farm. Mr. McCann afterward removed to what is now Garfield Plantation, adjoining the town of Ashland.
Mr. Veranes Chandler came to the town in 1834 and is still living a short distance from the village. At that time Mr. Story Hooper lived in a log house at the mouth of Presque Isle Stream in Letter G, on "the point" of what is now known as the Parsons intervale. Mr. Chandler and Mr. Silas Blodgett, who came about the same time, kept bachelor's hall in the house built by Robert McCann, and in 1839, Mr. Chandler married Elizabeth, daughter of Nehemiah Hooper, and sister of Story Hooper, and com- menced housekeeping. Very few settlers had at that time made their homes upon the town, though quite a number had made clearings along the Aroostook River in the adjoining township of Letter G. (Maysville).
The grist mill built by Mr. Fairbanks contained one run of stones and the saw mill was a primitive affair, with an up-and- down saw for sawing the lumber needed by the settlers in build- ing. In the grist mill all varieties of grain raised in the vicinity were ground in this one run of stones, and it may be easily con- jectured that the flour from which these early pioneers made their bread was not of the finest quality. To Mr. Fairbanks, however, does not belong the honor of grinding the first flour in Presque Isle, for, previous to the completion of his grist mill, Mr. Joseph Ireland had a hand mill, turned by a crank, and called by the settlers "Ireland's coffee mill," with which he ground wheat and other grain.
As late as 1839, the road from Houlton was cut through no farther than "the creek" in Monticello, nearly thirty miles south of Presque Isle, then known as "Fairbanks." All north of that point was an almost trackless wilderness, with the exception of the lumber roads used in the winter's operations. In 1839, the road was cut through by the State from Monticello to Presque
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Isle and thence to Ashland and Fort Kent. The road from the Aroostook River to the St. John River, now the mail route from Presque Isle to Van Buren, was not cut through until 1843.
In 1840, Mr. Leonard Reed came down the Aroostook River with his family and household goods on a rait, from Masard's, and built, on the site of the present Presque Isle Hotel, the house in which Mrs. L. T. Manson now lives, and there kept a hotel. His principal customers were the lumbermen going to and from the operations in the woods, and other temporary sojourners connected with the lumbering operations, which then constituted the chief business of the County.
There was at that time no store in all this region. Mr. Fair- banks kept a little tea, tobacco, rum, etc., at his mill, and sold them for pretty round prices. Mr. Story Hooper sometimes kept a few goods in his log house on "the point" over in "G."
In 1841, Capt. Moses Rose, Benjamin Whidden, Jas. Cloud- man and Emmons Whitcomb came in and settled along the new road cut through from Monticello. Mr. Whitcomb settled on what is now the Cook farm on the Houlton road some two miles south of the village.
The first clergyman who came to Presque Isle was Rev. Mr. Pingree, a missionary of the Methodist Society, whose mis- sion in those early years included Houlton, Patten, Masard's, Ashland, Presque Isle, Maysville and Fort Fairfield. This cir- cuit the good man made on foot through the forest, preaching at lumber camps and at the little detached settlements, traveling many miles on snow shoes during the winter months, and suf- fering many hardships. He first came in 1839 and remained upon this wilderness circuit two years.
In 1842, the first mail came to Presque Isle. It was brought on horseback from Houlton once a week. Mr. Noah Chandler, afterwards proprietor of the "Line store" at Houlton, was Presque Isle's first postmaster.
In 1843 Mr. Fairbanks built the two-story house now known as the Sumner Whitney house. About this time Mr. Eleazer Packard bought out Reed's hotel and afterwards sold to Mr. Sumner Whitney. He in turn sold to his brother, Jerry Whitney, who moved the original house a few rods to the north and built the hotel that was consumed in the fire that swept the village in 1884. Mr. Sumner Whitney afterwards bought the Fairbanks house and there opened another hotel.
The little village now was so near the north line of the town that its northern extension soon grew over the line and the
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first store established was on the adjoining township of Letter G. In 1842, or 1843,
Messrs. Geo. W. and William Towle built a store near where Mr. Henry Dunn now lives. This, we are informed, was the first store north of Houlton, though previous to that time a few goods had been kept for sale in houses and outbuildings.
We have been unable to fix the exact date of the erection of the first schoolhouse in Presque Isle, but it was in the early years of the settlement and was what was known for years as the "Red Schoolhouse" on the Rackliffe farm, on what is now the Centre Line road.
In 1849, a store was built by Sumner Whitney on the corner where Perry's Opera House now stands and was occupied by D. & A. W. Dudley. By this time settlers had gradually taken up farms in the vicinity of the village and quite a little settle- ment had been made in the wilderness. The next store built was what was known as the Winslow Hall store, which was built by Dr. Edwin W. Dibblee, and was occupied by Mr. Hall and afterwards by Mr. J. W. Hines. This store stood on what is now known as Bolton's Corner on the west side of Main Street. Next in order was the Dudley store, now occupied by A. M. Smith & Co., which was built in 1855 by D. & A. W. Dudley, and which was spared in the conflagration.
Dr. G. H. Freeman first came to Presque Isle in 1855. There were then but three stores in town and the village includ- ed some fifteen or twenty families. There was at that time a small schoolhouse near where Mr. A. E. Wight's house now stands. There were then no church buildings, but religious meetings were held in the schoolhouses.
The business of the village was at that time almost wholly connected with the lumbering operations. Agriculture was in a very crude state. There were some very good farms, but no particular system had then been adopted in farming operations. As the little village was comparatively isolated, the people were thrown upon their own resources almost entirely for social en- joyment. Everyone was intimately acquainted with everyone else in town and each knew all about his neighbor's business and private affairs. They were a genial, good hearted, generous people and enjoyed themselves exceedingly in such society as they themselves made. This open, free-hearted, generous spirit is still characteristic of the place. Nowhere can a stranger sooner become acquainted and be placed at his ease and in no village of equal size will a hat, passed around for a worthy ob-
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ject, be more generously filled than in Presque Isle.
At that time (1855) J. B. Hall, Esq., was postmaster and had a small apothecary store not far from where Dr. Freeman's store now is. Messrs. Rowe and Freeman bought Mr. Hall out and continued the apothecary business for some years.
In 1856 Mr. Hiram Brackett came to Presque Isle and bought the Winslow Hall store and went into trade. He failed soon afterwards and E. D. Jewett & Co. built the store owned and occupied by G. H. Freeman & Co. at the time of the fire in 1884. Here Mr. Brackett commenced trading again, opening a stock of general merchandise. In 1857 Messrs. Rowe & Free- man built a new store on what is now Bridge Street, and Deacon Nathaniel Gammon built for a harness shop the building after- wards occupied as a store by Mr. Warren P. Pratt.
In 1857 the old Academy was built near where now stands the residence of Col. C. P. Allen.
In the fall of 1857 the Aroostook Pioneer, the first paper published in Aroostook County, was started at Presque Isle. This enterprise was due to the exertions of Joseph B. Hall, Esq., who was at that time Secretary of the Maine Senate. He con- ceived the idea while at Augusta during the previous winter, and persuaded Mr. Wm. S. Gilman, then a printer and compos- itor in the office of the Maine Farmer, to join him in the ven- ture. An old hand press and a set of type formerly used in the office of the Bangor Gazette were purchased and the paper was started in an office over Winslow Hall's store and proved to be a success. Mr. Hall continued to edit the paper until February, 1860, when he sold his interest to Mr. Gilman, who in 1868 re- moved the paper to Houlton, where it has since remained. In 1860, Mr. Hall commenced the publication of the Aroostook Herald at Presque Isle. In 1862 the Herald was discontinued and the material was removed to Portland, where Mr. Hall and others started the Maine State Press.
In 1858 came the first editorial excursion to which we have alluded in a former chapter. The North Aroostook Agricul- tural Society was then in its infancy, but it had already com- menced the good work of aiding in the development of Aroos- took's resources, in which work it has been a factor of increas- ing importance ever since. The glowing accounts given by the members of the press on their return from the Aroostook excur- sion directed general attention to this section and immigration began rapidly to increase. New buildings were erected in the
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village of Presque Isle, and new business enterprises were started.
About this time Mr. C. F. A. Johnson came to the town and bought out Mr. Hiram Brackett and laid the foundation of the business which afterwards increased to so great an extent un- der the firm of Johnson & Judd and later that of Johnson & Phair.
The town of Presque Isle was incorporated April 4, 1859. The census of 1860 showed a population of 723. This in 1870 had increased to 970 and in 1880 to 1305. In 1860 the total val- uation of the town was $79,874. This considerably more than doubled during the next decade, and in 1870 the valuation was $180,786, and in 1880 it had increased to $339,325.
In 1860, the village met with its first disaster. On the 13th of May of that year almost the entire northern part of the town was consumed by fire. Nineteen buildings were burned and the loss was estimated by the Pioneer at $25,000. Nothing daunt- ed, however, by this severe blow, the citizens went courageously to work and rebuilt the burnt district and the business of the town continued to increase.
During the war immigration to the County was almost whol- ly stopped and Presque Isle, in common with the other Aroos- took towns, sent a goodly number of her stalwart sons to fight for the old flag. In the winter of 1863, the mills built by Den- nis Fairbanks were burned. Some time previous to this Mr. Fairbanks had sold the mills to Mr. John Allen and left the town. He went some distance up the Tobique River, in New Brunswick, where he continued to reside until his death. Mrs. Fairbanks lived in Presque Isle and vicinity until about 1870, when she died at the home of Mr. Columbus Hayford, of Mays- ville, at the advanced age of 93 years.
In 1864, Mr. Sidney Cook purchased the mill privilege and rebuilt the mills at an expense of $20,000.
In August, 1863, Mr. Daniel Stickney commenced the pub- lication of the Loyal Sunrise at Presque Isle. Mr. Stickney was an able and forcible writer, fearlessly and mercilessly opposing any movement which he thought was wrong and courageously supporting any measure which he regarded as right, without considering whether his course was popular or otherwise. By his energy and the vigorous and persistent manner in which he presented the claims and advantages of Aroostook he did much toward the development of this section of the County. In 1868, Mr. Stickney sold the Sunrise to Messrs. Glidden & Rowell, but continued to edit the paper for some time afterwards. In
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1876 the Sunrise was moved to Fort Fairfield and its publica- tion was soon afterwards discontinued. Mr. Stickney, though now upwards of eighty years old, is still hale and hearty and his occasional articles written for various Ma'ne papers give evidence that his mental vigor is by no means impaired. He is at present residing at Hotel Long in Buckfield, and is enjoy- ing a vigorous old age.
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