USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Bath > History of Bath and environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine. 1607-1894 > Part 26
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This dwelling-house of the ancient Philbrooks is now in existence, and in a state of occupancy, on the east side of High street, imme- diately north of the residence of John H. Kimball. There lived in it, John, Joshua, and George, who were brothers. George was unmarried and "carried on the farm." A large orchard extended down to near the North-end school-house, and the school boys were shrewdly bought off, by " Uncle George," from stealing apples; when the season for apples came around he was accustomed to call the boys together and say to them: "Now my good fellows if you will not touch the apples on the trees, you may have all those on the ground." To this proposition the youngsters readily agreed and stood honorably to it. Thus "Uncle George" saved all the apples that were of any value to him, the boys getting the "windfalls." Dur- ing the term of this contract, if any boy showed symptoms of dis- honesty by wanting to shake a tree, the others would not permit him to do so.
Philbrook's Cove, later owned and used as a ship-yard and wharf by the Moses brothers, was one of the best salmon privileges on the west Long Reach shore. A net set once a week for twenty-four hours would bring a supply for the neighborhood for days. The
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salmon were then cured by salting and smoking. Used fresh, their richness soon cloyes, as was shown by a judge from Boston attend- ing court at Pownalborough court-house (Dresden), who remarked on the food at table: "Fresh salmon, same old diet !"
In 1765, there was no market for salmon. When in later years there was a demand in Boston for this fish, the price increased from 2 cents to $1.00 a pound, of which the Phipsburg traders availed themselves in 1820-25. In 1815, after the close of the war with England, New York was a good market for smoked salmon and pickled shad, the trade being carried on by dealers from Connecticut River. Sturgeon were used for food in 1770.
John Barnard kept a small stock of goods in a store at the water's edge, a little south of the brick store of Gilbert Trufant, at the south end. This stock consisted of the actual necessaries of life. As this John Barnard was knighted and bore a title, it may be well enough to say something further of him. He was not a man of fortune. Though not rich, he was proud. He performed all his journeys from the Reach to Boston on foot, invariably in a week. He would start on Monday by the road leading round by the old meeting-house, then north to the head of the New Meadows River, near the old Indian carrying place leading from the bay to the head of the river, then down the river, passing the house of old Esquire · Hinkley, and then west to the old road, which led him to Stone's tavern, near the old fort at Brunswick Falls, making the distance traveled between fourteen and fifteen miles. He did not halt there long, but would advance so as at night to reach Falmouth, now Port- land. His dress was always a genteel cocked hat with cockade, knee breeches and shoes with silver knee and shoe buckles, coat, waistcoat, and stockings to match. He traveled with a pair of saddle bags, con- taining some extra clothes, with specie in gold and silver to pay for his goods. He was six feet in height; his body was after the model of the greyhound; his face was thin, with penetrating eyes. Just pre- vious to the Revolutionary War, he left and went to Barbadoes, where he held office under the King. He never married. He was a man of great integrity of character, and was much esteemed by
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the people of the Reach. Mr. William Swanton named a son, John Barnard Swanton, for him.
Mrs. Susannah Shaw, the wife of Elisha Shaw, was born in Quincy, Mass. Her maiden name was Susannah Clark. She was married in 1752, and came to Bath with her husband in 1761. They bought a piece of land north of Pine street, on the east side of the road, now called High street, and built a log-house. Mrs. Shaw was a woman of uncommon strength and courage, as for instance: They kept a few sheep, and one fine day, as they were grazing on the opposite side of the road, the dog gave loud barks of alarm. Mrs. Shaw ran out, and saw that a large bear had seized one of the sheep and was slowly carrying it off in his paws. Mr. Shaw being from home, Mrs. Shaw hastened into the house, seized the King's arm, which ornamented the kitchen mantel, found the cartridge-box, both of which her husband had used at the reduction of Louisburg in 1758-9. She loaded, primed, and ran out with the gun in her hand. She soon discovered the bear with his booty. She levelled over the log fence, fired, and brought down the bear, wounded. Captain Pettengill, a neighbor, who was on the road at the time; hearing the report of the gun, he ran to her assistance, and by the aid of an ax soon ended what little life there was left in bruin. His skin and meat amply compensated for the death of the sheep. Of her ten children, eight lived to mature age. They were John, Joshua, Elisha, David, Elizabeth, Hannah, Jane, and Eunice, some of whose descendants are still living in Bath. Her sons were all remark- able for physical strength. Joshua and Elisha were soldiers in the Revolutionary War, both fearless and undaunted. Elisha Shaw, the father of these children, died December, 1775. His wife survived him, lived to bring up and see all her children married, and died in 1795. She was distinguished for her piety, good morals, and physical courage.
Major David Shaw was the youngest son of Elisha and Hannah Shaw, who were married in 1752, at Braintree, Mass., and removed to the second parish of Georgetown, which included the present city of Bath and West Bath, where David was born, August 10, 1764.
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He was of a family of ten children, of whom four girls and four boys lived to arrive at full age. The father bought a tract of land near the junction of High and Pine streets, and built a log-house where David was born. The mother was she who shot the bear. At that time, not a sailing vessel was owned by an inhabitant of the parish, nor were there any saw-mills for manufacturing lumber, so that the inhabitants depended principally on farming and fishing for support. Some cord wood was shipped to Boston by vessels from abroad and exchanged for goods.
In 1770, the father exchanged his farm at the Reach for one more eligibly situated, now in West Bath, and the same formerly owned by Mr. Benjamin Richardson. This was on the salt water of New Meadows River, where fish and clams abounded, and where he found greater facilities for supporting his wife and children. The father died in 1775, the same year that hostilities commenced be- tween the Colonies and England. 'Two brothers left their home and entered the army at Cambridge, and were at Dorchester Heights under Washington in 1776, when he drove the British troops out of Boston. David, being the youngest, stayed at home and performed filial duties. Salt works were, about this time, established near Berry's Mills, as no salt could be had from abroad. David worked at that business, taking his pay in salt, and applied the proceeds towards the support of his mother and sisters, while his brothers were in the army. At the time of his birth, there were only three houses in Bath, and they were all on High street.
At the age of nineteen, he commenced work as a ship-carpenter, and had a natural faculty for drafting vessels. In January, 1793, he married a daughter of Jonathan Mitchell, who resided at Berry's Mills; with her he lived for a little more than sixty-three years. He · built several ships for General King and Jonathan Davis, Jr., and was engaged in trade and commerce up to the time of the long embargo, which embarrassed his business. In 1803, he was chosen Town Clerk of Bath, and did the duties of the office forty years in succession. He was so popular, that, amid all the conflicts of the people on the subject of politics and parish affairs, he was always unanimously elected Town Clerk. He was also a Magistrate
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for more than fifty years, and his decisions were marked by integ- rity and good sense. He was the last surviving military officer of Col. John Reed's regiment. He was a professor of religion for more than fifty years, and had sat under the preaching of every minister from the time of Rev. Francis Winter to the time of his death. He was a man of great equanimity of temper, dignity of character, with respect for himself and for his fellow-men. It may be said that he never aspired to fill public stations. He had a great soul, and acted well his part for three generations. At the time of his decease there was not living in Bath, a person who was alive at the time of his birth. He witnessed great prosperity in the growth of his native town.
He was a conspicuous member of the Masonic order, having been admitted a member of Solar Lodge, Bath, January 10, 1805. Major Shaw died in Bath, February 22, 1856, at the advanced age of 91 years, 6 months. His wife survived him, and was in her gist year at the time of his death. They had living at that time three chil- dren, David, who resided in Brunswick, John, cashier of the Lincoln Bank, and Mrs. Gurney, of Providence, R. I. He was buried from the Central Church, and a large concourse of people followed his remains to their last resting place.
Charles Clapp was a ship-carpenter, and afterwards an extensive ship-builder, a native of the old colony, a lineal descendant of Puritan ancestry, and was enterprising and energetic. He did much to advance the commercial prosperity of Bath. He lived to be over 80 years of age. His children were Charles Clapp, Jr., Mrs. Oliver Moses, Galen Clapp, Mrs. Lucy Harriman, of Boston, Mrs. Rachel Parker, and Mrs. N. E. Nash, of Portland.
Isaiah Crooker, Sr., was one of five brothers who came from the vicinity of Glasgow to the shores of Cape Cod, at Scituate. Two of them remained in Massachusetts; the other three came in 1748 to the almost wilderness of the District of Maine. One was a phy- sician and settled somewhere east of the Kennebec ; one went into Oxford County, and Isaiah came to Long Reach, which then com -. prised only half a dozen farms. Mr. Crooker purchased one of these farms, together with Rocky Hill, and as far west as the New
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Meadows River. He married Betsey, a daughter of Jonathan Phil- brook. Their daughter, Priscilla, was born in 1757, and married a Lunt. She was the mother of the second wife of the Reverend Silas Stearns. Mrs. Crooker died and he soon after married Hannah Harding. Prior to this event, this lady, together with her sister and three brothers, left Truro, Cape Cod, in a packet com- manded by a Captain Turner, and were wrecked on Seguin, from whence they were taken up the New Meadows, and reached where is now Harding's Station, where their father had a settlement. Of this union there were ten children. These, together with the daugh- ter by the first wife, were all born in the homestead now in exis- tence. His Bible bears the date of 1756 and records that Isaiah Crooker, Jr., was born in 1764. They were both heavy men, the father weighing four hundred, and the son two hundred and fifty pounds. The senior was so portly that he had to have a chair made to order, which is still a choice relic with his descendants. Isaiah Crooker, Jr., was also a blacksmith and a vessel builder, fol- lowing the occupations of the father. Of the daughters by the second wife of Isaiah Crooker, Sr., one of them married John Whitmore ; another William Webb, and the youngest, Hannah, mar- ried Gen. Denny McCobb. She died in 1856 in Bath. His seven sons married and settled in Bath, where their descendants are innumerable. The last vessel built by the elder Isaiah Crooker was a short distance north of Center street, where once was a stream, now a valley, occupied by the track of the Maine Central Railroad. The yard was on the west bank of the stream. Mr. Crooker died in 1796. He was a very prominent man of his day. The place of business of the younger Isaiah, also a prominent man, was where are now the yards of the railroad, and his dwelling on the west side of Washington street, near the railroad track. He had a black- smith shop, a three-storied store, and built vessels at the same locality.
Christopher Cushing, Sr .- The youngest daughter of Joshua Philbrook was Eleanor, who married Christopher Cushing, a dealer in boots and shoes .. He bought a lot of land bounded on the north by J. Philbrook's, east by the Kennebec River, south by south side
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of North street, and west by High street. His dwelling was on the corner of North and High streets. He gave North street to the town, and sold the lot for the Female Academy on North street, in 1804. Mr. Cushing dying soon after giving a deed for the site of the old school house, the price named in the deed was probably never paid. Martin Cushing, a brother of Christopher, built the school-house, Caleb Leavitt and Robert Lemont serving with him as apprentices, and Joseph Donnell as journeyman. Christopher Cushing died in 1805, and Mrs. Cushing married William. Lee, of Phipsburg, who lived on Lee's Island, in 1811. Mr. Cushing was one of Bath's thrifty and prominent pioneer citizens.
Jonathan Davis was, in his day, the first merchant of Bath. He lived in a house nearly opposite the site of the Old South Meeting- house, on High street, which he bought of Sir John Barnard, who had built it before the Revolutionary War. Mr. Davis built and occupied the wharf and store that was occupied by Levi Hough- ton during his business life, and is now in existence, north of the offices of Houghton Brothers. It is now about one hundred and six years old. This Mr. Davis was the father of jonathan Davis, Jr., of Boston, and Samuel Davis who built the house that is now the Orphans' Home. Davis, Sr., was a Calvanist, but was so much engrossed in his business as a merchant that he took no part in the theological controversy then existing between the two parties of the Bath parish. None of the descendants of Mr. Davis remain in this city, and his large real estate has passed into the hands of others. It is believed that Mr. Davis died in Boston.
David Trufant, called King David, was deputy collector for this portion of the collection district of Massachusetts before the . adoption of the United States Constitution. "This Mr. Trufant was a man of an iron will. He would not turn out of the way he thought right to save his life. He had one daughter, Mrs. Snipe, who lived on Arrowsic Island, to the advanced age of more than 84 years; one of his sons, Gilbert Trufant, was a prominent merchant of Bath. His grandchildren were Gilbert C. Trufant, of the former ship-build- ing firm of Trufant, Drummond & Co., Mrs. Wm. D. Sewall, Wm. B.
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Trufant, and Mrs. John N. Smith. Mr. David Trufant left two sons at his death, in December, 1815, Joshua and Seth, who, it is believed, left no descendants in direct line."
John Peterson was a native of Duxbury, Old Colony, and a descendant of the old Pilgrim stock. He first settled on the Bruns- wick side of the New Meadows River, where he built vessels and extensively carried on the West India trade. He built a dam and tide mills on the New Meadows, and dug, with others, a canal con- necting the head of that river with Merrymeeting Bay. This canal did not answer his expectations, though, for some time, he ran logs through it to his mills. His business increased, and as early as 1798 he removed to Bath, and occupied the small house now stand- ing on the point immediately above his ship-yard. His son Daniel owned and occupied the Major Harward house and farm. John Peterson was the owner of two hundred acres of land, extending east and west, from the Kennebec to the New Meadows River, contiguous to his homestead, known as the Peterson farm. He carried on busi- ness extensively in building and sailing ships, and about the year 1809 he left Bath for Liverpool. He carried with him two ships and their cargoes, all owned by himself. One of these ships he called the Fair Lady. Of this he took command. He sold both ships and cargoes in Liverpool and returned to Newport, R. I., and settled in Ports- mouth, on the island where he died at an advanced age. One daughter was Mrs. Abigail Stewart, Bath ; one of his sons, Daniel Peterson, Portland ; one grandson, John Bosworth, merchant, at Bath ; Miss Lucy Peterson, Boston, Mrs. John Patten, and Miss Jane R. Peterson. Mrs. S. H. Jenks and Daniel Peterson were grandchildren of John Peterson, and children of his son, Capt. Levi Peterson.
Levi Peterson, who was a ship-master and ship-builder, was known as a man of noble bearing and a Hercules in size and strength. But he is now nearly " forgotten in the city " where he once passed in and out, and filled the measure of his friends' and children's hopes. The wife of Levi Peterson was the daughter of Col. John Reed, of Topsham, who was a brave offcer in the Amer-
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ican army under General Gates, fought at Bemis Heights and at Saratoga, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. The other grandchildren of Colonel Reed in this city were Col. Edward K. Harding, Mrs. James F. Patten, Mrs. Charles W. Holmes, Mrs. Dr. T. G. Stockbridge, David T. Stinson, David Patten, Lincoln Patten, Miss Rachel Patten, and Lucy Stinson, who married J. W. Elwell, of New York. Mr. Peterson weighed four hundred pounds.
John Lemont, ancestor of all bearing the name in this vicinity, if not in New England, was born in the County of Londonderry, Ireland, in the year 1704. At the age of eighteen he emigrated to America, and settled first in Georgetown, now Phipsburg, in that part of the town known by the name of Dromore. His farm contained from three to four hundred acres, and extended from Dromore to New Meadows River. Here he built a rude hut, in which he resided for forty years. In 1762, becoming dissatisfied with the farming land at Dromore, on account of its being much broken, he sold his farm to William Butler, of Georgetown, and removed to the banks of the New Meadows River, in what is now West Bath, where he cleared a farm and built him a log-house, which was of necessity the primitive style of all dwellings built by the pioneers of our state. He built vessels at the New Meadows River. His son, John Lemont, Jr., was born in West Bath in 1740. He entered the colonial military service in 1758, and was made a ser- geant; was at the taking of Ticonderoga and Crown Point from the French, in 1759, prior to the capture of Quebec by General Wolf. When the tidings reached Bath of the battle of Lexington, in April, 1775, two companies of militia were raised for active service, to one of which he was appointed captain, and with his command, in Col. . Samuel McCobb's regiment, joined Washington's army, and-under Colonel Bradford was in the battles of White Plains, Ticonderoga, and Saratoga, where he witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne. After his return home he became Colonel of the Bath regiment, and was commissioned by Governor Hancock, of Massachusetts, in 1788. The other field officers were John Reed, Lieutenant-Colonel, Topsham, and Edward H. Page, Bath, Major. The regiment mus-
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tered the same year, 1788, for the first time, immediately south of the ground where subsequently was built the Bath Hotel, which was erected in 1806. At the age of seventy-four years he joined, as lieutenant, the famous large company, composed of those exempt from military duty, formed for the purpose of aiding the regular forces in protecting Bath from threatened attacks by barges from the British blockading ships at the mouth of the Kennebec, and was called out for active duty at the "great alarm" of June, 1814. Captain Lemont died at Bath, at the advanced age of eighty-six years, in 1827. He left numerous descendants of respectability, the youngest of whom bearing the name in the male line was Charles B. Lemont, who inherited the ancestral military spirit and raised a company of young men, the " Bath Cadets," in Bath in 1840 or 1841, of which he was captain, making an unusually fine officer. He married Miss Mary B. Rouse, of Bath, daughter of William Rouse, a most amiable and worthy lady, and they had a numerous family now living in Boston and Waltham. His father was Levi Peterson Lemont, who was an an old resident of Bath, and compiled and published a book of " Dates " pertaining to historical local events of this city and surrounding country. His last years were passed with a married daughter in Clinton, Iowa, dying at a very advanced age.
Peleg Tallman .- In the latter part of the last century, Peleg Tallman was one of the magnates of this ship-building city. In person he stood over six feet high, of commanding figure and car- riage, with face smoothly shaven after the fashion of the times. While in no sense a dandy, he paid suitable attention to his personal appearance, and was a good representative of the old-time prosperous . Bath merchant. He was one of a trio of Bath magnates who kept their coach and pair, the others being Governor King and Capt. William Sylvester.
Squire Tallman built his ships in the yard on the opposite side of the street from the Public Library Building. To the north of this was his wharf, which was extended, in after years, to its present. length, forming the present Boston steamer landing. On this wharf
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stood his old store, now in existence though remodeled. It was here the young boys of that day, contemporaneous with the respected citizen, John Hayden, were accustomed to gather in search of bits of old rope from which to pick oakum, the sale of which, at six cents a pound, would serve to keep these youngsters in spending money. When the "Old Squire" looked amiable the boys obtained their rope ; when the old gentleman was in bad humor, they got, instead, "the rope's end" laid over their jackets by the nimble ship-builder, who would chase them off his premises with great enjoyment.
Mr. Tallman purchased the then modern two-story house situated on grounds now the City Park. It stood where is the pavilion and flag-staff. The property connected with the dwelling comprised the Park grounds, and, extending north, took in the territory between Front and Washington streets, as far as Oak street. The house faced east and the entrance to the grounds was through the northeast corner, on Front street. On the west was a magnificent orchard, and the entire grounds were a well-kept lawn. A railing ornamented the roof of the house, and flower beds the grounds.
When Mr. Tallman had nearly reached four score years and ten, and lay on his dying bed, his wife urged him to have the Rev. Dr. Ellingwood sent for, but the old man declined until the last day, when he remarked to her : "Well, Rena [ Eleanor], you may now send for the minister, it would, perhaps, be more decorous." The clergyman came and the eminent ship-builder and public man died with the blessings of Christian ministry.
Of his family, his sons were Scott, Benjamin Franklin, James, and Henry; the daughters became Mrs. Tileston, of Boston, Mrs. George H. Gardiner, Mrs. Sturtevant, and Mrs. Smith. During the life of Tis mother, Scott, the eldest son, managed the estate. He defined the northern boundery of the Park by laying out Linden street, on the north side of which he erected several dwelling houses, one of which is now occupied by the Rev. Dr. Fiske. Mrs. Tallman was a daughter of Capt. John C. Clark, a wealthy business man of Bath.
From the Tallman estate the Park was sold to the city for $10,000. The old mansion house was sold at auction, for $200, to Crosby
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Sewall, and now stands on the corner of Oak and Front streets and is occupied for a store with tenements above. In its day it was the largest and only three-storied house in town.
During the embargo, non-intercourse, and war of 1812, Sweden was a neutral nation and much commercial business was done by her merchants with this country. Through Peleg Tallman, who was accredited resident consul for Sweden, at the Port of Bath, consider- able business was transacted by that nation in Maine. The trade extended to New Hampshire, where there was a United States Custom House.
Patrick Drummond. - It was on the line of the Winnegance Carying Place, on the south border of it, that Captain Patrick Drum- mond established himself soon after his arrival from the old country in 1729, with his father, Alexander Drummond and family.
This location was about equi-distant from the head of Winne- gance Creek to the Bay, over-looking the length of the Indian trail. He erected a timber garrison-house on a ledge, which was used also for a warehouse, and later a dwelling near it. The spot where stood the house, is now enclosed in a field a little east of the garrison where there are a few small trees and a slight depression in the ground, as found in 1888 by some of his descendents.
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