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 36
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His health being impaired, Mr. Grover determined, on his retire- ment from the Senate in eighteen hundred and eighty-three, to withdraw from public life, and in future to devote himself exclusively
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to his personal and private business affairs, which had long suffered neglect. Not proposing to return to the practice of his profession, he entered vigorously upon the improvement and disposal of tracts of real estate immediately adjacent to the city of Portland, owned in part by himself and in part by his wife.
Having purchased a quarter interest in lands now known as Carter's Addition to Portland, several years prior, he joined with the other owners in laying out and establishing that extension of the city. In eighteen hundred and eighty-four, Mr. and Mrs. Grover laid out and dedicated a tract of high land belonging to her, the gift of her parents, in the northwest elevation of the city as "Grover's Addition to Portland," naming it "Portland Heights," which name became so contagious, that all the high grounds now forming the southwest part of the city bear that name. As a business move- ment these enterprises have proved a great success, and these broken hills, once so forbidding, are now occupied with fine resi- dences, and form a most beautiful and attractive part of Portland.
Mr. Grover has made other real estate investments to the west of the city in the path of its future extension. He became one of the original incorporators and stockholders of the Ainsworth National Bank of Portland in eighteen hundred and eighty-five, and later, of the Portland Trust Company of Oregon. He is also interested in the Portland Building and Loan Association, and in the Portland Cable Railway Company. He has also invested in coal lands. He is an honorary member of the Portland Board of Trade, and takes a lively interest in the rapidly increasing commerce of Oregon.
Mr. Grover was married in eighteen hundred and sixty-five, to Miss Elizabeth Carter, youngest daughter of the late Thomas Car- ter, Esq., an early resident of Portland, who was one of the most successful merchants and real estate owners of that city, and one of the proprietors of the town. It is almost unnecessary to say that Mrs. Grover is one of the well-known women of the state ; a lady of high accomplishments and culture, and of artistic tastes, pos- sessed also of beauty and a graceful and distinguished manner. Throughout all the varying fortunes and misfortunes of her husband -for he has at times met with adverse currents-she has been his steady companion and support. They are communicants of the Episcopal church. Their son, John Cuvier Grover, a young man of twenty-three summers, so named after his grandfather and uncle, the sole offspring of this union, was educated at the Peekskill Mili-
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tary Academy, New York, and is now completing his studies in Europe.
ABERNETHY GROVER.
Major Abernethy Grover, son of Dr. John Grover, fitted for col- lege and graduated from Bowdoin in eighteen hundred and forty- three. Among his classmates were his brother Talleyrand, Joseph Dane, Moses Ingalls, Dr. John D. Lincoln and Joseph Titcomb. After graduating, Major Grover taught at Gould's Academy for a year, and was then for several years engaged in trade. Then he moved to Albany, built mills and engaged extensively in lumbering, also in clearing lands and farming. In eighteen hundred and fifty, he represented the district, of which Bethel formed a part, in the Maine Legislature, and in eighteen hundred and fifty-six, he was chosen a member of Governor Wells' council. When the war of the rebellion broke out, Major Grover recruited a company for the thir- teenth Maine regiment, which became Company H, and he was appointed Captain. He was commissioned Major to take rank from April twenty-eight, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and was mustered out with the regiment at the close of its term of service, January six, eighteen hundred and sixty-five. He returned to Bethel and was engaged in various kinds of business until early in the eighties, when he went west. Under the administration of President Grover Cleveland, Major Grover had charge of the Land office at Miles City, Montana. He was married January twenty-six, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, to Mary C., daughter of Timothy Chapman, who died in eighteen hundred and seventy-one, leaving no issue. In eighteen hundred and seventy-four, Major Grover married Isabel A., daughter of Samuel R. Shehan, Postmaster at Bethel. The only issue of this marriage was a daughter, who died young.
DAVID R. HASTINGS.
Hon. David Robinson Hastings, son of John Hastings, was born in Bethel, August twenty-six, eighteen hundred and twenty-three. He fitted for college largely at Gould's Academy, entered at Bow- doin College in the class of eighteen hundred and forty-four. Among his classmates were Judge Virgin, the late Charles W. God- dard, the late Joseph Bartlett, Henry P. Deane and Horace Williams. On leaving college he taught Gould's Academy for a year, then
HON. DAVID R HASTINGS.
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studied law in the offices of Hon. Wm. Frye of Bethel, David R. Straw of Guilford and Appleton & Allen of Bangor, and was. admitted to the Penobscot bar in eighteen hundred and forty-seven. He settled at Lovell as the partner of Hon. David Hammons, and was long a successful practitioner at the Oxford bar. He was. County Attorney from eighteen hundred and fifty-three to eighteen hundred and fifty-five, was reporter of decisions of the Supreme Judicial Court, and published volumes sixty-nine and seventy of the Maine Reports. He has for many years been one of the overseers. of Bowdoin College. In eighteen hundred and sixty-one, he enlisted in the Twelfth Maine Regiment, and was commissioned Major to rank from October five, eighteen hundred and sixty-one. He was. among the first to enter the captured city of New Orleans. He resigned July twelve, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, returned home and moved to Fryeburg, where he has since resided. Aside from his large legal practice, he has engaged largely in outside busi- ness, especially in timber lands and lumbering. Few men have led a more active life, and few Oxford county men have met with more. marked success. He has always been a leading democrat, has been a member of the State committee and candidate for Congress. He- married in eighteen hundred and fifty, Miss Mary J. Ellis, and has. one daughter, and a son who is his law partner at the present time.
GIDEON A. HASTINGS.
Colonel Gideon A. Hastings, son of John Hastings and grandson of General Amos Hastings, the early settler, was born in this town and has always resided here. He has always been a prominent man in town. He served as town clerk, several years on the board of selectmen, and represented the town in the State legislature. He also served on the board of commissioners for the county of Oxford. Early in the war of the rebellion he enlisted, and having been appointed Captain of Company A, of the Twelfth Maine Regiment, he was mustered into the service of the United States, November fifteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one. His regiment was assigned to the Department of the Gulf, and was first stationed on Ship Island. The history of the regiment is well known, and it need only be said that Colonel Hastings was with it throughout, ex- cept a short time when on detached service. He was commissioned Major in June, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, was at the sur -.
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render of New Orleans, and in all the campaigns of the Gulf Department. He also served in the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, under General Sheridan. His regiment then went South, and after the surrender of Savannah, Georgia, Colonel Hastings was appointed Provost Judge. He also served as Marshal of West Georgia, with headquarters at Thomasville. Afterwards he was detailed to serve in the Freedman's Bureau for Southwestern Georgia, with headquarters at Albany. Here he held both civil and military command over that section of country for ten months. These sev- eral positions were highly responsible, requiring tact, good judg- ment, firmness and decision, and were filled with satisfaction to his superiors in authority. He was mustered out of the service April twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six. Since that time he has lived at Bethel Hill, and been engaged in farming and lum- bering.
SYLVESTER ROBERTSON.
No face is more familiar in and around Bethel than that of the subject of this notice. Born in this town, he has always lived here, and is as well posted on Bethel and the Bethel people of his time, as any one in town. His father was Samuel Robertson, who lived on the Fenno farm on the road toward West Bethel, and here he spent his boyhood days in attending school and working upon the farm. In eighteen hundred and thirty-three, he commenced with Isaac J. Town, to learn the cabinet-maker's trade, and having com- pleted his apprenticeship, he set up for himself on the Hill, and here for half a century, he has plied his trade with good success and un- failing patronage. He is an ingenious workman and can do all kinds of work belonging to the business, but he has made a specialty of chairs and bureaus, and his shop has turned out a vast number of these indispensable articles. Though somewhat advanced in years, he is yet hale and hearty, and carries on the business at the same old place. He is among the last of the old regime, and has lived to see Bethel Hill, from a small hamlet, become one of the largest, as it always was the pleasantest, village in the county. He has never sought office, and the only one of importance he has ever held, was that of Postmaster. Many apprentices have learned the cabinet-maker's art in his little shop, and if they did not learn it thoroughly it was their own fault. Mr. Robertson has a very reten- tive memory, and is full of reminiscences of Bethel and Bethel peo- ple. His family record may be found elsewhere.
CEYLON ROWE.
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CEYLON ROWE.
Of the successful native born business men of Bethel, Ceylon Rowe is a good example. He is the son of the late Caleb Rowe, and grandson of Ephraim Rowe, who married Martha, daughter of Captain Eleazer Twitchell, and was born in Bethel, April first, eighteen hundred and thirty-eight. He attended the town school and at Gould's Academy, securing a good English education. He worked summers when quite young in the carding mill, and also learned the trade of a cloth-dresser. In eighteen hundred and fifty- nine, he entered the store of Abner Davis as clerk, and two years later was doing business as agent for the Bethel Steam Mill Com- pany. In eighteen hundred and sixty-six, a copartnership was formed for general trade, under the firm name of Rowe, Grover & Company, of which Ceylon Rowe was the senior partner. This continued for three years, when the firm name was changed, and in eighteen hundred and seventy-three, Mr. Rowe took his brother, Edwin C. Rowe, as partner. In eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, Mr. Rowe sold out to his brother and commenced trade by himself, and so continues to the present time. He keeps a large assortment of goods, and has found no trouble in attracting customers and retaining them.
GEORGE M. TWITCHELL.
Dr. George Maurice Twitchell, son of Dr. Almon Twitchell, was born in Bethel, September seventeen, eighteen hundred and forty- seven. His father died when he was a lad of eleven years, and left him with others, to the care of an excellent mother, who spared no pains to give them an education and lead them in the right way. George Maurice obtained his education at the town schools and at Gould's Academy ; studied the dentist's art and commenced practice in eighteen hundred and sixty-six. He engaged in business at Bethel, and was at different times at Yarmouth and Fairfield. He succeeded well in his profession, his aim being to acquire something more than the mere mechanical part, and the several papers he read before the State society. showed that his investigations into the science of dentistry as well as the art, had been careful and pro- found. In eighteen hundred and eighty-four, on account of failing health, and feeling that a more active, out-door life would best suit his case, he abandoned dentistry to a great extent, and purchasing a farm in Readfield, he moved there with the view of giving some
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attention to general farming, and making a specialty of poultry breeding, in which he had long been interested and had become an expert. He had been a frequent contributor to the Maine Farmer, and about this time he was invited to take charge of the poultry and horse departments of the paper, which positions he accepted and still holds. Not being entirely satisfied with his farming operations, he sold the Readfield farm and returned to Fairfield. He was. elected Lecturer of the Maine State Grange, which position he still holds by re-elections, and which he fills to great acceptance. In eighteen hundred and ninety, he was elected Secretary of the Maine State Agricultural Society, and in the early part of the following year, was appointed clerk to the Secretary of the Board of Agricul- ture. In these several positions, it may well be inferred that he leads a busy life. He is a leading Universalist and a frequent con- tributor to the literature of the denomination. He married Miss Florence Allen of Yarmouth, and they now reside in Augusta. They have no children.
ALICE G. TWITCHELL.
From her long and highly honorable connection with one of our important State institutions, Miss Alice Gray Twitchell is entitled to a place in the history of her native town and home of her ances- tors. She is the eldest daughter and child of the late Dr. Almon and Phebe M. (Buxton) Twitchell, and was born July eighteenth,. eighteen hundred and forty-four. She attended the village schools at Bethel Hill, and finished her education at Gould's Academy. Her father died when she was but fourteen years of age, the care of the family then devolving upon his widow, and Alice, being the eld- est child, was of great service to her mother in the performance of her difficult and arduous task. In the winter of eighteen hundred and seventy-one, Miss Twitchell was offered a position as clerk and telegrapher in the Maine Insane Hospital, which she accepted. She had various promotions until she became supervisor of the female wards, and then a vacancy arising she was promoted to the respon- sible position of matron of the institution, which position she has held to the entire satisfaction of the board of trustees and the numerous patrons of the hospital. The duties of the position are arduous and often very trying, but Miss Twitchell possesses in a marked degree, those qualities essential to the successful adminis- tration of the affairs of her department. She has marked executive.
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MISS ALICE G. TWITCHELL
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.ability, firmness, decision of character, and perseverance. She is even-tempered, kind in her intercourse with her subordinates and with the patients, and respectful and obedient to her superiors in the management of the institution. Her town's-people and her numerous circle of friends have every reason to be gratified at the distinction she has won in the difficult and arduous duties which to such an extent, constitute her life work.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
INDUSTRIAL.
ETHEL is and ever has been an agricultural town. To this industry, with its broad belts of fertile interval lands, its rich hillside slopes and its ample grazing facilities, it is admirably adapted. The town embraces an acreage of good corn land equal to any other town in this State, and few if any excel it in the production of hay. Some portions of the town are not as well cultivated as they were half a century ago, and show deteriora- tion in productive capacity, due to the fact that the second generation that occupied them have been gathered to their fathers, and their sons and grandsons, many of them, have left the old homestead and are seeking their fortunes elsewhere. Yet the land remains, and requires only care. cultivation and a restoration of its partially exhausted fertility, to bring it back to its old-time productiveness. This is sure to come about in time, though perhaps the present gen- eration may not witness it.
On account of the small amount of water power, Bethel could never become a great manufacturing center. The great river in its meanderings through the town, is sluggish in its movements, and affords no power for propelling machinery. Its tributaries within the limits of the town, except in case of freshets, are small, and much smaller on the average than they were before the lands along their courses were stripped of their wood and timber, exposing them and the brooks that feed them, to the direct evaporating influence
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of the great source of heat. The average volume of water in Alder river, in Pleasant river, in the Mill Brook, in Chapman brook and in Sunday river, streams that early in the history of the town were utilized for grinding the corn and grain of the town's people, and for the manufacture of lumber for domestic use, is probably less. than half what it was fifty years ago. Still, by means of improved machinery, some of these mills are made to do duty a considerable portion of the year, while others, years ago, went to ruin and decay. The mill built on Sunday river by Samuel B. Locke, near his home- stead, for which he received concessions from the town, disappeared from human sight many years ago.
The early Bethel mills have already been referred to in connection with other matters and will only be briefly referred to here. The mills built on Mill Brook near Bethel Hill, as a preliminary to the settlement of the town, by direction of Joseph Twitchell, a large proprietor, and under the direction of his son, Captain Eleazer Twitchell, in seventeen hundred and seventy-four, and several times repaired and then rebuilt by Captain Twitchell, have since been sev- eral times thoroughly repaired, and again rebuilt, and are still in use. Captain Twitchell received the mill property from his father, and from him it passed to his son-in-law, Isaac Cross, and since- that time the mills have had various owners. They are now owned by Eben S. Kilborn. Captain Peter Twitchell once built a mill on Pleasant river, and a portion of the old dam yet remains. Edmund Merrill built a saw-mill on the Elder Mason, now the Tapley Kim- ball farm, but there was a lack of water much of the year. Jesse Duston also built a small grist mill on a small brook near his home, in what is now Hanover.
The days of wool-carding and cloth-dressing passed away when cloth for the household ceased to be of domestic manufacture, but they were all important industries previous to that time, and were established in nearly every town supplied with the requisite water power. An establishment of this kind was erected on Mill Brook, and operated many years by Eleazer Twitchell, James Walker, John Harris, Moses T. Cross, and lastly by Eber Clough. Mr. Cross was a veteran at the business, and had previously carried it on at Rumford Falls. When James Walker purchased the mills at South Bethel, he took water from the main stream through a canal, and utilized it for running a carding, fulling and cloth-dressing establishment. This place was often visited by me in my early boyhood days, and the
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complex machinery which converted the torn fragments of wool into. soft and beautiful rolls all ready for the spinner's hands, and. trimmed the coarse cloth until its surface became smooth and glossy,. was to my youthful mind a standing wonder. The cloth of those days, woven at home, then taken to the mill, dyed and pressed for- ladies' wear, and fulled, dyed and dressed for men's clothing, may not have been as stylish as that now worn, but it was good, honest. cloth, composed entirely of sheep's wool, warm and durable. The- manufacture of furniture has been carried on in Bethel from quite early times. A few years ago Lyman W. and Lawson E. Russell, who had carried on the business of manufacturing bedsteads at Locke's Mills, moved their machinery to South Bethel, and into the building once used as a cloth-dressing and wool-carding establish- ment. One of the brothers still carries on the business. Jonathan Clark Robertson came quite early to Walker's Mills, and carried on the cabinet and furniture business here until the time of his death.
The first person to manufacture furniture on Bethel Hill, was- Marshall Bonney. Sylvester Robertson and Elijah B. Goddard have. since carried on the business and are still engaged in it. Levi Shaw was a cabinet maker at Middle Interval. At this place, also, Jonas. D. Merriam carried on the hatter's trade. John Oliver learned the trade of Merriam, and sometimes worked for him. The first trader at Middle Interval was Roger Merrill, and James F. Carter was the next ; the third was Elias M. Carter, and the fourth Hiram H. Holt. Nathan Marble, whose wife was a sister to Dr. Carter's first wife, carried on saddle and harness making at Middle Interval, and since· that time it has been done by Hiram H. Holt, Charles Swan, Nathan W. Holt and Lyman P. Duston. Simeon O. Reynolds was the blacksmith here for some years, and after him Charles M Russell. Dr. Carter and Dr. Williamson were the only physicians at Middle Interval.
The tanning business was begun at Bethel Hill by Deacon Rob- bins Brown, and after him was carried on on a more extensive scale. by his two sons, David F. and Robbins Brown, Jr. The shoemak- er's trade was a very important one in the olden time. The Ellingwoods were a family of cordwainers, and there were many who worked more or less at the business. Stephen Abbot made boots and shoes, and for fine calf boots Alfred Twitchell long excelled. Daniel G. York was a famous shoemaker in his time ; also Joseph A. Twitchell, Asa P. Knight, John and William
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Williamson, Abijah Lapham, Nathan W. Ethridge, and many others. The practice was, before the days of sale boots and shoes, for the shoemaker with his bench and kit of tools, to go from house to house and shoe the families as he went. Cowhide was generally used for men and boys, and calf skin for the other sex. The tailor's trade was also important before the days of ready-made clothing. Sam- uel Barker, Aaron Abbot and John Walker were early Bethel tailors. Hannah Chapman, when her parents moved to Bethel, remained behind, that she might learn to cut and make men's clothes and be of service in the new settlement. Cynthia Twitchell, who after- wards became the wife of John Russell, went to Augusta and became a famous tailoress after her return. She not only cut and made clothes herself, but she instructed many other girls in the art. At the lower part of the town, Mrs. Betsey Segar, daughter of Arnold Powers, was an excellent tailoress, and with her corps of assistants, annually turned out a large number of men's suits. Common, every day clothing was made in the household, and the experts were only employed to make dress up suits. Patrick H. McClosky was an ·excellent workman, and did a large business at Bethel Hill.
In the early times, medicines in the country were kept only by physicians. Later they were kept by traders in a corner of the store, more especially the patent or proprietary medicines. The first person to open a drug store in Bethel was Mr. H. B. Hall, and in connection with drugs, he also kept books and stationery. Good- win R. Wiley was the next druggist, and still carries it on at the Hill. His store comes up nearly or quite to the city standard.
The hotel keepers in Bethel have been quite numerous, and most- ly confined to the village of Bethel Hill. In the early times travel- lers were generally entertained at private houses, and at the early taverns there was not much style. There was plenty to drink and to eat, but no extra table was set for guests. Jedediah Burbank, William A. Whitcomb, Hiram Ellingwood, Abernethy Grover, William Y. Merrill, William Estes, Benjamin Barden, Frank S. Chandler, William H. Chandler, W. F. Lovejoy, Samuel H. Chap- man, J. F. Barden, Andrews & Record, Mrs. J. B. Gerrish, Cyrus M. Wormell, D. H. Grover and E. Bedell, have been the principal hotel keepers at Bethel Hill. John S. Chapman built and operated the Anasagunticook house, but this was intended only as a summer resort. The Alpine house, kept by Abial Chandler, Jr., is a sum- mer boarding house, and there are several such in and around Bethel
THE DR. GROVER PLACE, NOW "THE ELMS."
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Hill. At the lower part of the town, Ball Bartlett kept his tavern sign swinging for many years, and Eliphaz C. Bean for a time opened his dwelling house as a tavern. But this was many years ago, in the days when strong liquors were sold and when their sale was the chief source of income to the small taverner.
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