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 34
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dear ones as they passed into the forest, was to be the last this side of eternity. But such was the case. So far was the distance to the proposed hunting grounds, nearly or quite one hundred miles, that the family at home knew they would not hear from them save by accident, until their return at the close of the spring hunt.
Winter passed, the snows melted in field and forest, spring was ushered in with leaf and blossom and singing birds, and no tidings came of the trappers of the Kennebago. The mother, sore afflicted as the weeks went by after their expected return, said but little on account of her children. The neighbors, busy about their spring work, thought but little about the matter, until well into June ; then they began to be alarmed at the mysterious and continued absence of Hinds and his son, and a party volunteered to go to the lake region in search of them. They were gone nearly a month and then returned. Their search had been fruitless, and if they had any suspicions of the fate of the missing ones, they kept them to themselves. My correspondent, the son of Mr. Hinds, writes that he always believed the searching party were fully satisfied that there had been foul play, but they disliked to add to the distress of the family by revealing their thoughts. It came out, however, subsequently, that they went among the settlers and hunters in the lake country, and learned the following facts : That Hinds and son repaired to the Kennebago, the place where Hinds, Cloutman and Robbins had hunted the fall before, and that soon after they were joined by Robbins. He professed to have become a better man, to have made a profession of religion, and expressed a strong desire to make further reparation for all the wrongs he had done Hinds and his companion. He said he had found a place where beaver were plenty, and if Hinds and son would join him, they should have half the peltry, and that out of his half, he would pay the note still held against him by Hinds. So plausible was his story, and so penitent did he appear, that Hinds, notwithstanding his former experience with him, was won over and agreed to go with him. These facts were learned from other hunters who were present at the time. They went away expecting to accomplish their object in the course of three or four weeks, and then return to their camp near the Kennebago. In less than a week, Robbins returned, but Hinds and son were never again seen nor heard from. The forest held, and still holds the secret of their fate.
In their investigation the searchers found articles in possession of
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hunters which they believed to have been the property of Mr. Hinds, and which, in some instances, they confessed to have bought of Robbins. But Robbins was known to be a violent and reckless man, and many of the hunters declined to say anything against him, or to express any opinion respecting the mysterious disappear- ance of Hinds and son.
So the summer passed away, and no further attempt had been made to solve the mystery. But the people of Milan and Coos county generally, as well as the settlers in northern Oxford and Franklin counties, had arrived at the conclusion that there had been foul play, and that David Robbins was the guilty party. The story of the lost Wilbur boy was yet fresh in their memories, and this helped to strengthen their convictions that he had been guilty of the greater crime. The people of Milan now determined to have Robbins arrested and arraigned for the crime of murder. But who would make the arrest? Robbins lived in the wilderness, remote from neighbors, was an expert woodsman and knew the country and all its numerous places of concealment.
On complaint of Mrs. Hinds, and some of her neighbors, a war- rant for the arrest of Robbins was made out at Lancaster, then and still the shire town of Coos county. The warrant was placed in the hands of Lewis Loomis, a deputy sheriff, and a noted character of that day. He was a stalwart man, six feet and six inches tall, well proportioned, straight as an arrow, and possessed of strength in proportion to his size. He was known for his great strength and prowess from Canada to Portland, and was also a woodsman and hunter of much experience. The difficult task of arresting Robbins could not have been submitted to abler or better hands. Several persons volunte ed to accompany him, but he declined the offer. He said the job was not for a posse of men, but for one man. There was a young man then living in Milan, by the name of Daniel Ellingwood, and he begged so hard to be allowed to go that Loomis consented to take him along, and subsequent events showed that he made no mistake in so doing. Loomis at once began to get ready for the expedition. He lived in Colebrook, New Hampshire, then, as now, a border town, and among the things needed was a light canoe. It so happened that an Indian who lived near Colebrook had just completed a strong birch canoe, which, after some persuasion, he consented to loan him. Well armed and well provisioned, Loomis and Ellingwood started up the Androscoggin, and in two days were
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in the Magalloway country, and near Robbins' place of abode. Here they met an old trapper of whom they made inquiries about the hunting, and whether Robbins was doing anything in that line. He said that Robbins had started the day before on a long hunting trip. His canoe was loaded down with traps and provisions, and he expected to be absent several months. This made it evident to the experienced mind of Loomis that Robbins had some suspicion of what was going on, and was making an effort to escape. His pro- posed hunting excursion Loomis believed to be a blind, and that he had started for Canada he had not the least doubt. When the trap- per had passed along, Loomis told Ellingwood that Robbins had just twenty-four hours the start of them, and they must put forth every effort or he would escape. It behooved them to proceed with ex- treme caution, for if Robbins had the least suspicion, that he was followed, he would lie in ambush for them, and shoot them down without mercy. Loomis felt quite sure that Robbins would push on as fast as possible, and make no stop until he thought himself safe from pursuit. So they followed on, muffling their oars when they used them, keeping a sharp lookout on every hand, and when they camped at night making no fire. Ellingwood was strong and pos- sessed great powers of endurance for one of his age. He was also familiar with canoeing, and with the water passages throughout the region they were to pass. The second afternoon of the pursuit they slackened their speed somewhat, fearing they might come suddenly upon him. Loomis sat in the bow of the boat with a loaded and cocked rifle in his hand, while Ellingwood worked at the oars. The afternoon passed with no results, and night coming on, they again encamped on the bank, without fire, as before. The next morning they resumed their journey with the same precaution as the day previous. About two o'clock in the afternoon they arrived at a carrying place nearly two miles in extent, where, on account of the rapids and falls, everything had to be toted along the bank. The foot-path was well worn, for this was a thoroughfare through the great northern forest belt for hunters and trappers, and also for smugglers. The pursuers now moved with extreme caution, for they felt quite sure they would find some signs of the fugitive in this place. They drew their canoe from the water, and hid it in a thicket, in order to examine carefully the ground where the foot- path commenced. Robbins had evidently taken every precaution to baffle pursuit, for a careful examination disclosed no tracks or other signs of any person having recently passed that way. They were about to draw out their canoe and proceed up the carry, when
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one of them discovered a somewhat blind trail which led from the path. Following this a few feet, they found a pack hidden in the bushes. An examination convinced them that this was Robbins" pack, and they took in the situation at once. He had carried up his canoe and traps, and might return for his pack at any moment. Ellingwood took position in a little grove of firs, above the place where the pack was found, while Loomis concealed himself close by the trail, and between the foot-path and the pack, so that Robbins, in going for it, must pass within a few feet of him. They had not long to wait. In fifteen or twenty minutes they heard the sound of footsteps, as of some one coming down the path, and a moment later Robbins appeared upon the scene. Loomis had no weapons upon him, and if Robbins had, his purpose was not to give him a chance to use them. So just when the fugitive was opposite his place of concealment, Loomis sprang upon him like a tiger, and had him down in a moment. He began to feel for his knife, but Ellingwood had now come, whom Robbins seeing, he knew that re- sistance would be useless, and so he gave up his weapons and al- lowed them to bind his arms strongly with cords, which they had taken along for that purpose. They placed him in their canoe, and taking the other one in tow, they started on the homeward journey. At night they camped on the shore, but they had the benefit of a fire, which they kept burning all night. They kept close watch upon their prisoner, taking turns, and keeping in hand their rifle, which they informed Robbins they should use upon him at the least effort to escape.
At length, after several days had elapsed since the capture of Robbins, Loomis and Ellingwood, with their captive, reached Lan- caster and lodged him in jail. The party was much worn out with tramping through the forest and loss of sleep, and were very glad when their task was done. The jail was a rude structure built of logs, and when occupied by criminals or persons awaiting trial, it was necessary to place a guard around it. Robbins was very reti- cent, and for the time being, very docile. There were no newspa- per reporters to interview him at that time, and every effort to ap- proach him was repelled by an obstinate silence. There was great rejoicing throughout the entire region at his incarceration, and his captors received due attention at the hands of the people in old- fashioned hospitality. The next session of court, competent to try the case, would not take place before the following April. As the time drew near there was intense interest manifested in the case which would doubtless have drawn together the largest crowd ever seen in Coos county. It was understood that the counlsel employed by Robbins would in the first place, question the juri diction of the court, or its competency to try the case, on the ground that if a crime had been committed it was not committed in New Hampshire but in Maine. The boundary line at that period and for years after, was unsettled, and while it was well known that Robbins' home was in Maine, it was not so clear in what jurisdiction he had committed his crimes. This question, however, was never to be
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raised in court, for on the morning of its sitting, it was found that Robbins, some time during the night previous, had made his es- cape. The jail, as stated, was made of logs a foot in diameter, and spotted so that they would rest one upon another, leaving no space between. In the cell where Robbins was confined, there was a win- dow hole some ten inches square, for the admission of light and air. He was quite broad shouldered and it seemed impossible that he could have forced himself through this apperture, but, however this may have been, he had vacated his cell, and nothing authentic was ever heard of him afterward. It was known that Robbins had the means with which to pay well for his liberty, and some thought the jailor might be implicated in the affair, while others had other theories which began and ended in talk.
Years afterwards a report was in circulation in Coos county, that Robbins had been tried for murder in Canada ; that he was con- victed and hanged, and that under the gibbet, he confessed to the murder of Hinds and son, and various other crimes, including the abduction of the Wilbur boy. No one attempted to follow up these reports, and it is not probable that they had any foundation in fact. Soon after the escape of Robbins, Mrs. Hinds sold her farm in Milan, and moved with her family to the southern part of the State, where her friends resided. Her oldest son, Silas P. Hinds, became a famous musician. He settled in Newark, New Jersey, and en- gaged in the manufacture of pianos, which have a wide reputation. Many appliances used by other manufacturers are the inventions of Mr. Hinds, for the use of which he received a royalty. It was from this man, whose letters are now before me, that I learned the facts and incidents, so far as they relate to his father, and the capture and escape of Robbins, of this tragic story. He died a few years ago as the result of an injury. Some forty years ago he visited the scenes of his childhood and gathered up all the facts he was able, connected with the disappearance of his father and brother. He visited Colonel Loomis at Colebrook, and from him learned the cir- cumstances here related, of the capture and escape of Robbins. When he visited Milan, in which town he was the first child born of English parents, many were living who knew his father and mother, but all, including Colonel Loomis, have long since died. The story of the disappearance of Abner Hinds and his son Benja- min, is still told by a later generation, but with many exaggera- tions, and but for the efforts of Silas P. Hinds in gathering up the facts and placing them upon record, it is probable that many of them would now be hopelessly lost.
Soon after the arrest of her husband, Mrs. Robbins left the Magalloway country and moved out to the settlements. Her chil- dren grew up, and one of them, a daughter, was married and lived in Saco. She subsequently kept a boarding house at Old Orchard, and there a few years ago, she died. The other daughters died un- married, and there were no sons. A granddaughter, the only re- maining descendant of David Robbins, died in eighteen hundred and ninety.
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In the year eighteen hundred and eighty-one, I visited Mrs. Rob- bins, who was then living with her sister in the town of Newry. She was then confined to her bed by sickness, and soon after died. Fifty years had then passed since the escape of her husband from Lancaster jail, and she informed me that she had never heard from him since that time. No message or token had ever come to her to inform her whether he were living or dead. She was ready to con- verse upon the subject of her husband and his alleged misdeeds, and she stated most explicitly and emphatically that she did not believe him guilty. She said that he was always kind to her and to his children. She said he was passionate and would sometimes threaten the children with severe punishment, but never inflicted it in quali- ty as threatened. He was absent much of the time, but always left the family well supplied with food and fuel. She said he always told her that he was born at Machias, Maine ; that his father was a Baptist preacher, and that some day, when he could afford it, he would take her and the children to visit his folks at Machias. She said he claimed to be a Free Mason, and said he belonged to a lodge at Machias. She expressed the belief that the Free Masons assisted him in making his escape from the Lancaster jail, and in getting away to Canada. She admitted, however, that there was trouble between her husband and Hinds and Cloutman, in the set- tlement of their affairs, and that her husband turned out stock to balance their claim, but she positively denied all knowledge of any subsequent relations between her husband's and these parties. She scouted the idea of her husband's complicity in the abduction of the Wilbur child, and said his disappearance had been other- wise satisfactorily accounted for. She said the Indians them- selves had stolen him, and then had trumped up the story of buy- ing him from a white man, because they feared punishment. She talked candidly and with apparent truthfulness, and being then upon the verge of the grave, she would not have been likely to make statements which she did not believe Her children were all dead, and there was no inducement on their account for her to pre- varicate and misrepresent.
Before leaving the place, I had some talk with her sister's hus- band, since deceased, who was well acquainted with Robbins and had been associated with him in various ways. He said that the prevailing sin of Robbins was avarice ; that for money he would do anything. He spoke of a time when they had made maple sugar together, on the lot Robbins had selected for a homestead in Albany. When they had finished their work they stored their sugar in their camp, and a few days afterward when they went in with sleds to haul it out, they found the camp in ashes. Subsequently he found that Robbins had stolen and sold the sugar, and had fired the camp to cover up his dishonesty. He said, also, that Robbins was re- vengeful and malicious, and he had no doubt he was guilty of all the charges laid against him. He said that Mrs. Robbins was greatly attached to her husband and was blind to all his failings. Robbins was also as much attached to his wife as such natures are
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capable of, and that so far as was possible, he kept her in ignorance of his wrong-doing. On investigation, I found that no person bear- ing the name of David Robbins had ever been a member of Machias lodge of Masons. and that no Baptist minister by the name of Rob- bins had ever had a settlement or lived in that town. It is clear that he deceived his wife in respect to these statements, and in all probability he deceived her in regard to others. Sixty-three years have now passed since the last act in the drama, the escape of Rob- bins took place, and while some of his acts committed behind the scenes have never been fully brought to light there is no proba- bility that we shall ever know more of them than we now do. With the burning of the court house at Lancaster, all the records relating to the case were destroyed, while all those persons of mature age at the time, who could possibly throw any additional light upon the subject have fallen into that sleep that knows no waking.
CHAPTER XXVII.
SKETCHES PERSONAL.
ELIPHAZ C. BEAN.
prominent man for many years in the easterly part of the town was Eliphaz C. Bean, Esquire. He was born on the homestead of his father, Mr. Edmund Bean, and was brought up on the farm He obtained a good common school edu- cation and taught winter schools in various places. He bought out the store of Thaddeus P. Bartlett, and from that time to the pres- ent, the place has been known as Bean's Corner. He was the sec- ond Postmaster in that part of the town, and held the position for fifteen years. He also opened his large house as a tavern, and at the same time carried on farming. After a few years he gave up the store, took down his tavern sign, and since has engaged exclu- sively in agriculture. He has a productive interval farm, and has enjoyed his occupation. He has been more or less in town office,has served as town clerk, selectman, and for many years on the board of superintending school committe. In eighteen hundred and fifty- one, he was elected to the Maine Legislature. He was early ap- pointed a civil magistrate, and did considerable business in the way of conveyancing and uniting couples in marriage. He married in eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, Sarah B., daughter of Hall Farnham of Rumford, who died several years ago. They reared a family, a record of which may be found with family statistics.
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TIMOTHY APPLETON CHAPMAN.
Like every New England community, Bethel can boast of sons whom accident or inclination has carried to distant scenes amid which they have risen to distinction and honor. Most conspicuous among them is Timothy Appleton Chapman. Mr. Chapman is of a family, English by descent, which has been identified with New England for more than two hundred years. His parents were George Whitefield and Mary (Greenwood) Chapman, and he was born in Gilead, May 23, 1824. His boyhood was passed upon his father's farm which lies partly in Gilead and partly in Bethel. He was educated at the district school of his native town and the academies of Bethel and Yarmouth. His first salaried employment was school teaching, which he practiced for two winters. But as he progressed toward manhood, he realized that to satisfy his ambitions and engross his abilities the life of a pedagogue and the restricted op- portunities of a country town would never suffice. Before he was 20, therefore, he cut himself loose from the associations of his childhood, and went to Boston to seek his fortune. He entered that great city with less than ten dollars in his purse, but with a wiry constitution, excellent habits and strong moral principles, a clear, active intellect, an inflexible will, and indomitable ambition.
His first six years in Boston were passed as a clerk, most of the time in the dry goods store of C. F. Hovey & Co. His early dreams and impulses had not been in the direction of trade, but having entered upon a mercantile life, the young clerk applied himself with all his powers to acquiring by observation and practice all the mercantile knowledge which lay within his reach. Private charac- ter, as well as mere executive capacity, is part of the business cap- ital which may be accumulated by every young young man, how- ever small his salary, or limited his opportunities of laying by money. Of this desirable foundation for a successful career, Mr. Chapman soon had a larger portion than most of the young men of his age. His social associations were made with care. He was never frivolous, even in his amusements, but sought recreations which. besides serving to pass the time, held out a promise of im- provement. He formed opinions of his own on topics of current in- terest, and when occasion invited was not backward in expressing them. He was strongly in sympathy with the Abolitionist move-
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ment, and a supporter of Wendell Phillips, Charles Sumner, John G. Whittier and William Lloyd Garrison, long before their doctrines had become popular. He came to be known as a young man of ideas and of sterling qualities.
His character commended him to the attention of influential peo- ple like James M. Beebe, at that time the greatest dry goods im- porter in Boston. That gentleman gave him very substantial en- couragement, and assisted him to open a dry goods store of his own. This enterprise was carried on for seven years, producing no great financial results, but enabling the young merchant to acquire ad- ditional experience and confidence, and to secure connections which were to become useful to him in a wider field of operations.
It was in 1857, at the age of 32, that Mr. Chapman took the step which resulted in the establishment of a business that was destined to give full employment to his matured powers, and to develop into proportions exceeding anything that had been realized by the wealthiest and most successful merchants in that line in the coun- try at the time when he began his apprenticeship to the dry goods trade. This step was his removal to Milwaukee, which was then a place of less than 30,000 inhabitants, but flourishing and promising future growth. Mr. Chapman's early employers, C. F. Hovey & Co., afforded him financial support, and he opened a dry goods store which at once became the favorite emporium of the city. The characteristics which gained for the store its original success have always been maintained. The goods handled were excellent in qual- ity and selected with refined and educated taste. They were sold at one price. Every department of the store was permeated by a spirit of system.
In 1872, admonished by the growth of the city and of his trade to seek larger quarters than he had previously occupied, Mr. Chap- man erected and moved into what was at that time one of the larg- est dry goods houses in the Northwest. Eleven years later it had become inadequate to the growing demands of his trade, and he doubled its size. In convenience of arrangement the store had not a superior in the country. Not content with building for utility only, Mr. Chapman called decorative art to his aid, creating an establish- ment which fitly came to be spoken of as "the Palace Store," and was the pride of the whole Northwest. On the night of October 23, 1884, this magnificent structure, with its entire contents-a stock valued at more than half a million dollars-was destroyed by fire.
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· Milwaukeeans looked upon the fire as a public calamity, rather than a merely private loss. Business men asked the question, "Will Mr. Chapman rebuild?" with much concern, for they realized that the store was an institution which brought many people and a great deal of incidental trade to the city. Petitions were received, signed by leading ladies of neighboring cities and towns, praying him to rebuild and continue in business. Leading firms throughout the country sent him telegrams expressing sympathy and offering finan- cial assistance if needed. Mr. Chapman's insurance money and his other property would have enabled him to "crown a life of labor with an age of ease," had he been disposed to avoid the responsi- bilities and risks of beginning anew. But after carefully summing up the situation, he decided in favor of continued activity, and before the ashes of the fire were cold he had made arrangements for re- building upon even a grander scale than before. The structure which he erected occupies an area of 17,000 square feet upon the ground floor and is five stories in height. It is conceded to have no superior in the world for the purposes for which it is designed, and in many of its excellent features it is entirely unique. It is so ar- ranged that there is not a dark corner nor a deep shadow in the whole building. The ventilation is as perfect as science can make it. The frescoeing and other works of art are European in their con- ception and execution, and give the store the effect of a reception room rather than a place for the sale of goods. Ample provision is made for the comfort of the employes as well as for that of the patrons of the establishment. One of the salient characteristics of Mr. Chapman's business methods is his treatment of his employes, who number more than the entire population of the town in which he was born. He does not regard people who work for him as mere machines. out of which it is incumbent for him to get the greatest amount of labor at least cost to himself, and with no thought for their personal well-being.
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