USA > Maine > Oxford County > Bethel > History of Bethel : formerly Sudbury, Canada, Oxford County, Maine, 1768-1890, with a brief sketch of Hanover and family statistics > Part 3
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From sixteen hundred and ninety-one, when under the new charter granted by William and Mary, the colony of the Massachusetts Bay including Maine, and Plymouth colony became united, to the year seventeen hundred and sixty, the county of York covered the entire District of Maine. At the later date, the county of Cumberland was erected and the county of Lincoln. York retained its present limits except it had the towns now in western Oxford. Cumberland extended to the Androscoggin river and northwardly to include somne towns in the present counties of Oxford and Androscoggin, and Lincoln county embraced the rest of the District. Washington and
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
Hancock counties were formed in seventeen hundred and eighty- nine ; Kennebec ten years later ; Oxford in eighteen hundred and five ; Somerset in eighteen hundred and nine; Penobscot in eighteen hundred and sixteen ; Waldo in eighteen hundred and twenty-seven ; Franklin and Piscataquis in eighteen hundred and thirty-eight ; Aroostook in eighteen hundred and thirty-nine ; An- droscoggin and Sagadahoc in eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and Knox in eighteen hundred and sixty. The State of Maine is situated between forty-three degrees, six minutes, and forty-seven degrees, twenty-seven minutes and thirty-three seconds of north latitude, and between sixty-six degrees, fifty-six minutes and forty- eight seconds, and seventy-one degrees, six minutes and forty-one seconds of west longitude. Its extreme length is three hundred and three miles and its breadth two hundred and eighty-eight miles. The people of the State are patriotic and loyal to the government, both state and national. In the war of eighteen hundred and twelve they were neither wanting nor tardy. In the war with Mexico many of our citizens joined the army, and in the war for the integrity of the union, no State has a more patriotic record .* Our agricultural and manufacturing resources are being constantly developed, railway facilities are annually improving, new industries are springing up on every hand, and willing hands find plenty to do at remunerative wages. Our educational system meets the demands of the people, and to conclude, we have an intelligent, thrifty and happy population. Maine has ever contributed her full share toward the public expenses and to the public defence, and as a State, has never been derelict in any duty. She has contributed thousands upon thousands of her hardy sons and daughters to peo- ple the far west, and is proud of their achievements wherever they have lived.
* The regular organizations which went forth from Maine into the war for the suppres- sion of the rebellion, were thirty-one regiments of Infantry, two regiments of cavalry, one regiment of heavy artillery and seven mounted batteries of light artillery, besides companies for Baker's Cavalry, sharp-shooters, unassigned companies and coast guards, numbering in the aggregate seventy-two thousand nine hundred and forty-five men, nearly seven thousand of whom were for the navy and marine corps. This does not take into account the several thousands of natives of Maine who were residents of other states when the war broke out, and served upon their quotas.
CHAPTER II.
GRANTS OF NARRAGANSETT AND CANADA TOWNSHIPS.
IN the French and Indian contests which prevailed from the breaking out of King Philip's war in sixteen hundred and seventy-five, to the fall of Quebec in seventeen hundred and fifty-nine, the soldiers of the colony of Massachusetts Bay, including the Province of Maine, bore a conspicuous and an honorable part. In fact. they formed the back-bone of the Eng- lish armies operating against Canada, and sometimes the head and front. The trained soldiers of Great Britain, however brave they may have been, and of their courage and bravery there was never any question, were not familiar with Indian warfare, and always met the wily foe at great disadvantage ; while the men of New England brought up in the forest and trained to every species of woodcraft, could generally cope successfully with the aboriginal inhabitants, and being better armed and equipped, could beat them in their own shrewd tactics.
The capture of Louisburg, that stronghold at Cape Breton which was regarded as impregnable, was accomplished by New England troops, under the leadership of Sir William Pepperell, a Maine man, and in all the engagements in the Maritime Provinces, around Lakes Champlain and George, and in the various expeditions against Canada, Massachusetts men formed no small part of the invading forces and were ever conspicuous for their bravery. King Philip's war was successfully brought to a close by the combined efforts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The well-planned expedition against Canada in sixteen hundred and ninety, under the leadership of Sir William Phips, a native of Maine, resulted disas- trously. Many of the soldiers never lived to return to their homes, and many of those who did return, on account of the hardships and suffering they endured, were merely wrecks of their former selves.
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
In the early times, the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay had little money with which to reward her soldiers and provide for the families of those who died in the service. but of land the colony had an abundance and was very liberal in bestowing it. To compensate the soldiers in King Philip's war, also called the Narragansett war, seven townships were surveyed and granted, of which two were in the district of Maine. The present town of Buxton was laid out as Narragansett number one, and the town of Gorham as Narragan- sett number seven. The other Narragansett townships were in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Another and larger class of townships was granted on petition, to the descendants of those who accompanied Sir William Phips in the Canada expedition in six- teen hundred and ninety, and these were called Canada townships. Eight of these latter townships were laid out in New Hampshire from territory then claimed by Massachusetts ; five of these were held by the grantees under an arrangement subsequently made with the Masonian proprietors, and the proprietors or grantees of the other three, after many years had elapsed, took grants of eastern lands in lieu of those they could not retain. These three grants are now the towns of Bridgton, Waterford and Turner. Five original Canada townships were also laid out in Maine, making eight in all of this class of townships within the limits of our State. The Canada townships granted from New Hampshire lands by the gov- ernment of Massachusetts, were granted between seventeen hundred and thirty and seventeen hundred and forty, while those laid out originally in Maine, were granted some thirty or forty years later. Besides the name "Canada," some of these townships were given the names of the towns from which the soldiers served, while others took the names of the captains under which they served, while still others had no special designation. Turner was called Sylvester Canada, in honor of Captain Sylvester, while Jay, which once in- cluded the present town of Canton, was'called Phips Canada, in honor of Captain David Phips. Livermore was granted for services at Port Royal, and Port Royal was the plantation name of the place. Paris was granted in lieu of a township granted from New Hamp- shire lands, but for what military service, if any, cannot be ascer- tained. The colony of the Massachusetts Bay granted about forty townships from lands which proved to be in New Hampshire, while the contest for the settlement of the boundaries of those states was going on. The object of hurrying up these grants was probably
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
two-fold. The first was to get actual possession of the territory in dispute which is always regarded as equivalent to several points in law, and the second to plant colonies and people them as a barrier against invasion by the Indians from Canada. When King George II, to whom the matter had been referred, decided in favor of the Masonian proprietors, these townships were granted to other grantees which caused litigation and trouble which continued for half a century. Concord in New Hampshire was twice granted, and to compensate the first set of grantees, Massachusetts gave them a tract of eastern lands, now the town of Rumford.
It is probable that the generous spirit manifested by Massachu- setts in granting eastern lands was not entirely unmixed with self- interest. In addition to a desire to reward those who had fought her battles and driven the savages out of her jurisdiction, there was a desire to develop her vast resources by extending the borders of civilization into the wilds of the District of Maine, so that not only bodies of men, but private individuals, provided there was the least foundation for a claim, were successful. Samuel Jordan of Bidde- ford and Christopher Baker, who had been carried away captive to Canada and had returned ; Richard Cutt of Kittery, who for ten years had been confined to his bed from wounds ; Ruth Lee, who had lost her husband in the Port Royal fight ; the children of Major Converse who had lost their father in the Indian wars ; and Richard Tozier of Berwick who had suffered grievously from the savages ; all of these and many others obtained grants of land, varying in area from one to two hundred acres or more, which they were em- powered to select from any of the unappropriated lands in Maine. Any person severely wounded, bereaved of husband or father, made cripple or captive, was upon request properly presented, sure of receiving the legislative bounty in wild lands. There was a stand- ing committee on lands, through which all grants were made, whose favorable report at this time and subsequently, was considered a good and sufficient reason for favorable action on the part of the legislature, and such reports were passed upon without question or delay. When a township was granted there were always certain conditions attached, and these conditions disclose in plain terms the real animus of the grants. The grantees were obligated to secure a certain number of actual settlers upon the grant within a given time ; to guarantee that a house of public worship should be erected and a regular ordained minister be settled. Reservations were al-
2
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
ways made for the benefit of Harvard College, for the first settled minister and in aid of public schools. With this brief outline sketch of soldiers' land grants, we are prepared to enter understandingly upon the subject of the grant to the heirs of Sudbury, Massachusetts men, who were with Governor Phips in the Canada expedition of sixteen hundred and ninety.
CHAPTER III.
SUDBURY CANADA GRANT.
S early as seventeen hundred and thirty-seven, the descend- ants of those who went from Sudbury, Massachusetts and adjacent towns, on the Canada expedition in sixteen hun- dred and ninety, petitioned the Massachusetts legislature for a township of land, but for some reason not now apparent, the prayer of the petition was not granted. Soon after this the boundary be- tween Massachusetts and New Hampshire was settled against the interests and claims of the former, leaving that State with no lands to grant, except those in the District of Maine, where, on account of the hostile attitude of the Indians, except along the coast, new settlements could not, with any degree of safety, be established. So the Sudbury claimants allowed the subject to rest, except an occasional reminder, until the conquest of Canada had been accom- plished, when many of those who first petitioned had deceased. Some of them however, survived, and among them, Josiah Richard- son, whose affidavit with that of Ebenezer Bartlett and Norman Clark of Newton, and Nathaniel Eames, is in the Massachusetts archives, and reads as follows :
"I Josiah Richardson, of lawful age, do testify and say that ever since the year 1737 I have acted as an agent for a number of Petitioners whose Ancestors were in the Expedition to Canada in the year 1690, and in the year 1737 I in behalf of myself and my associates preferred a Petition to the Honorable Great and General Court praying for a grant of land to be made to us on account of our said Ancestors being in the said Expedition, (as many others had) for their great suffering and Service in the said Expedition, and that by a great number of Memorials I have renewed the said Petition from time to time and now I do testify and declare that to my certain knowledge there never as yet has been any grant of land made to them on account of their Ancestors being in the said expedition.
Witness my hand this 23d day of May, 1768.
(Signed) JOSIAH RICHARDSON.
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
MIDDLESEX SS. May ye 23d, 1768.
The above said Josiah Richardson personally appeared before me, the subscriber, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex, and after being carefully examined and duly cautioned to testify to the truth, made oath to the truth of the above declaration above- said by him subscribed before me, JOSEPH BUCKMINSTER."
"We the subscribers whose names are hereto written, do testify and say - that neither we nor our Ancestors ever had any Grant of land made to us on account of our Ancestors being in the Expedition to Canada in the year 1690.
Witness our hands this 23d of May, 1768.
(Signed) NATHANIEL EAMES,
on the right of Nathaniel Eames, And on the right of John Jaquith."
EBENEZER BARTLETT,
NORMAN CLARK.
PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY.
To his Excellency Francis Bernard, Esq., Captain General and Com- mander in Chief in and over His Majesty Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, and Vice Admiral of the same, and to the Honorable, His Majesty's Council, and to the Honorable the House of Representatives in the Great and General Court assembled at Boston on the 27th day of May Anno. Domini. 1767.
Josiah Richardson of Sudbury, in the County of Middlesex, Esq. and Agent for a number of Petitioners whose Ancestors were in the Expedi- tion to Canada in the year 1690.
Humbly remind your Excellency and Honors, that in the year 1737, a number of men whose names are hereunto annexed. Preferred a Petition to this Honorable Court for to have a Grant of Land for a Township, to be Layed out in the unappropriated land within the said Province, as many others for the same merit before had township Granted to them; and this Honorable did then sustain the Petition and then ordered the said Peti- tioners to make out and prove their Claims that their Ancestors were in the said Expedition and come and they should be heard with which order of Court the said Petitioners fully complied, and at a great cost proved their Claims. Since which by a number of Memorials to this Honorable Court the said Petition has been revived, but the said Petitioners have not as yet had any Grant of Land made to them on that account and by reason of the Wars and of the Townhouse being burned the same Petition has not of late been moved to this Honorable Court, but since this Honorable Court in their great wisdom and justice was pleased on the 24th day of June, 1764, to make a Grant of a Township of land to Captain William Raymond and Company for the same merit which your Memorial is now
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
plead ; and now your Memorialist, in behalf of himself and Company Humbly pray that your Excellency and Honors would take the premises under your wise and just consideration and make us a Grant of Land for a Township as you was pleased to do to the said William Raymond and Company, and your Memorialist, in behalf of himself and Company shall ever pray.
(Signed) JOSIAH RICHARDSON, Agent for said Petitioners.
A list of the names of the original petitioners is also on record in the handwriting of Josiah Richardson, in the Massachusetts archives, but the original petition bearing their names cannot be found. This list of names is here given :
James Taylor on his own right.
John Osland on his own right.
John Mixer on his own right.
John Jones on his own right.
John Green on the right of William Green. John Green on the right of John Green.
Ephraim Twitchell on the right of Joseph Twitchell.
Isaac Sheffield on the right of William Sheffield. Palmer Golding on the right of Edward Clap. James Moor on the right of George Walker, Jr. Ebenezer Flagg on the right of Richard Flagg. Daniel Moor on the right of Jacob Moor. Joshua Kibby (Kilby ?) on the right of Lodwick Dowse. James Taylor on the right of Nicholas Fox. Nathaniel Morse on the right of same.
Charles Richardson on the right of Samuel Ring.
Thomas Macke on the right of Timothy S. (illegible).
Richard Ward on the right of Obadiah Ward.
Daniel Brewer on the right of same. Samuel Green on the right of Joseph Green.
Samuel Stone on the right of same. Joseph Stone on the right of Samuel Parkhurst. Mich Stone on the right of Daniel Stone. John Wesson on the right of Samuel Wesson.
Ebenezer Twitchell on the right of Edward Twitchell. Richard Burt on the right of Thomas Burt. Daniel Mackdafillin on the right of Robert Mackdafillin. Joseph Meriam on the right of Robert Meriam.
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HISTORY OF BETIIEL.
Peter Grout on the right of John Cotter.
Samuel Graves on his own right.
Joseph Trumbull on the right of Joseph Trumbull.
Ebenezer Rice on the right of Ebenezer Rice.
Jolın Cogin on the right of John Cogin.
Caleb Bridges on the right of John Bridges.
Abner (illegible), on the right of John Fay claimed by Palmer Golding.
John Fay on his own right claimed by Palmer Golding.
Samuel Lyscom on the right of his father.
Nathaniel Dike on his own right claimed by Palmer Golding.
Daniel Walker on his own right.
John Woodward on the right of Joseph Moor.
Daniel Walker on the right of Thomas Axdill.
Ebenezer Corey on the right of Thomas Corey.
James Patterson on the right of Andrew Patterson.
Amos Hide on the right of Daniel Hide.
Norman Clark on the right of Daniel Mackey.
Ebenezer Corey on the right of Samuel Page.
Peter Bent on the right of Hopestill Bent.
Edward Ward on his own right.
James Patterson on the right of Andrew Patterson.
Noah Parker on the right of Eleazer Hide.
Joseph Bartlett on his own right.
John Clark on the right of John Clark.
Samuel Parris.
Jonathan Parker on his own right.
Ezra Holbrook on the right of John Holbrook.
A true copy examined by me,
JOSIAH RICHARDSON, Clerk of the Petitioners.
ADDITIONAL PETITIONERS.
Nathaniel Eames on the right of Nathaniel Eames. Nathaniel Eames on the right of John Jaquith. Isaac Baldwin on the right of Abraham Bryant. Joseph Harrington on the right of his father, Joseph Harrington. David Woods on the right of his uncle - Woods. Isaac Rice on the right of his uncle Joseph Rice.
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
Moses Bellows on the right of his uncle.
Samuel Whitney on the right of Joseph Beach.
James Fowle on the right of James Fowle.
Jonas Bond on the right of Jonas Bond.
Josiah Fuller on the right of Joseph Win- (illegible) . Thomas Harrington on the right of Daniel Harrington.
Joshua Fuller on the right of Joseph Winter.
John Temple on the right of his father Richard Temple.
Joseph Noyes on the right of Moses Noyes.
Nathaniel Sparhawk on the right of Nathaniel Sparhawk. David Coney on the right of Richard Coney.
Samuel Fuller on the right of Richard Park.
Joshua Fuller on the right of Nathaniel Morse.
Joseph Morse on the right of Joseph Morse.
In the month of June, seventeen hundred and sixty-eight, long delayed justice was done, and a township of land by the name of Sudbury Canada was granted, situated on both sides of the Amari- scoggin river, in the supposed county of Cumberland and District of Maine. The township was to be surveyed and run out six and three-quarters miles square, and was not to interfere with any previous grants. The first meeting of the proprietors of which there is any record, was holden on the fifth of December, seventeen hundred and sixty-nine. It may as well be stated here as else- where, that the proprietors' records, if they are in existence, have not been seen by any parties in interest in Maine for nearly a century. The plantation records as an entirety, and also the records of births, marriages and deaths for the first five years of the town, disappeared from mortal sight at the same time as the records of the proprietors. I remember of having heard it stated many years ago, that these proprietors and plantation records were destroyed purposely, by fire. The reason assigned was that there had been some irregularities in the proceedings, that some of the holdings of certain of the early proprietors were jeopardized and litigation threatened, which rendered it for their interest to have all record evidence put out of sight. This story is not given here as history and the names of the persons implicated by it are withheld, for without positive proof, no person should stand accused of so flagrant an offence against the people of the town and their posterity. The loss of these records is keenly felt in the preparation of this work,
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
for the doings of the proprietors and the assignment of rights is a matter of great interest. At the meeting of the proprietors already referred to, the following document which being a matter of record, is preserved for us, and this is all :
"Whereas the proprietors of a Township of land granted by the General Court to Josiah Richardson and his Associates of the con- tents of six miles and three-quarters square and is now Layed out on Amariscoggin river, in the county of Cumberland, and at a meeting of the said proprietors of said Township on the Fifth of December A. D., 1769, they did order their committee to Post and Sell every of the said proprietors' rights that Had not Payed their tax of Fourty Shillings taxed on their Rights, and we Josiah Rich- ardson, Esq., and Cornelius Wood, gentlemen, both of Sudbury, and Josiah Stone of Framingham, gentleman, all of the county of Middlesex, the said Proprietors' committee by them chosen to sell the delinkquent Proprietors' Rights who had not paid said Tax ; and we having first observed the directions of the law in that case made and provided send greeting : Now know ye that we the said Josiah Richardson, Esq., Cornelius Wood and Josiah Stone, gentle- men, all of the County of Middlesex and the Province of the Massa- chusetts Bay in New England, In our said Capacity, for the consid- eration of the sum of four pounds and one shilling to us in hand well and Truly Payed, before the ensealing and delivery hereof, by Joseph Twitchell of Sherbourn in said County of Middlesex, gentle- man, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge and for that consideration Do sell and confirm to him the said Joseph Twitchell and to his heirs and assigns forever, two Whole Rights in the said Township the first lott of one Right is No. 9 on the South side of the River and was drawn on the Right of Joshua Kibby (or Kilby) ; the first Lott of the other Right is No. 13 or the fourth lott on the East end and was drawn on the Right of Nathaniel Morse." The deed closes in the usual form, is signed by each member of the committee, March twenty-first, seventeen hundred and seventy, witnessed by Peter Beth and Cyprian How and acknowledged March twenty-sixth, before John Noyes, Justice of the Peace. Similar meetings were held in the years following, chiefly for the purpose of selling the rights of those who neglected to pay their taxes. None of the original grantees ever settled in the new town- ship. Some of them sold their rights for a small consideration ; many allowed their lands to be sold for taxes, and a few sent their
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
sons to occupy their Rights. Joseph Twitchell of Sherbourn was a man of affairs. He was chosen President of the Proprietors and took great interest in the plantation. He became a very large proprietor by bidding off lands sold for taxes and by purchasing Rights of others, so that he had a nearly controlling interest in the soil. Four of his sons became residents of Sudbury Canada, and spent the remainder of their days here. Joseph Twitchell was born in Sherbourn, Massachusetts, February thirteen, seventeen hundred and eighteen. His emigrant ancestor, Joseph Twitchell or Tuchill, settled at Dorchester and there took the freeman's oath May four- teen, sixteen hundred and thirty-four. He had a son Joseph who united with others to extinguish the Indian titles in Sherbourn, and who had a son Joseph born in sixteen hundred and eighty-eight who married Elizabeth Holbrook and was the father of Joseph Twitchell, the large proprietor of Sudbury Canada. He was the fourth in descent from the immigrant Joseph through an unbroken line of Josephs. His children and posterity will be given in another place. Rev. Abner Morse, the historian of Sherbourn, thus embalms his. memory : "Tradition has brought down a high character for this man (Captain Joseph Twitchell) and the record confirms it. He was Captain of the Militia, Commissary for the Army in the war of seventeen hundred and seventy-six, Town Clerk, Representative and Magistrate, and the leading man of the town until succeeded by his half brother, Hon. Daniel Whitney." His home in Sher- bourn was on the east side of a place still known as "Dirty Meadow," on the south side of a steep, rocky hill. Among the trusts imposed upon him, was the guardianship of the Natick Indians, in settling their estates. Long after these estates were settled and he had deceased, the Indians were in the habit of coming to the old homestead then occupied by his son Peter, to see if there was not still something due them.
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