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 5
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
be good authority, the statement is made that on one occasion, Mr. Keyes went to Shrewsbury in late autumn intending soon to return, leaving his sons behind, but for some reason he did not return until spring. Ebenezer was fourteen years of age and Francis nine, and they remained in their father's camp in this remote wilderness during the long winter months with no other companionship than that of the Indians. When Jonathan Keyes sold his land in Sudbury Canada, he moved to New Penacook, now Rumford, where he had previously purchased a tract of land of Dr. Ebenezer Harnden Goss, then of Concord, N. H., afterwards of Brunswick and Paris, Maine. He was the son of Deacon Jonathan and Patience (Morse) Keyes of Shrewsbury, and was born there January twenty-one, seventeen hundred and twenty-eight. He married January twenty- three, seventeen hundred and fifty-two, Sarah, daughter of Ebenezer Taylor. He died in Rumford November seven, seventeen hundred and eighty-six, and his wife died November fourteen, seventeen hundred and ninety-nine.
Doctor Nathaniel T. True and Doctor Moses Mason have stated that Elizabeth, wife of Samuel Ingalls, was the first white woman to spend the winter in Sudbury Canada and the first who came here. The time is fixed at seventeen hundred and seventy-six, and they are said to have come from Andover, Massachusetts ; to have moved from Bethel to Bridgton, then returned here, and that Mr. Ingalls died here. There seems to be a series of mistakes here. If they were living in Fryeburg as the deed from Keyes states, in seventeen hundred and seventy-seven, they probably came from Fryeburg to Bethel, but a year later than stated by Doctor True. They moved from here to Bridgton, but did not return, as stated, and died there. At the time of the Indian raid, August third, seventeen hundred and eighty-one, Nathaniel Segar in his published account says there were then ten families living in Sudbury Canada, five at the lower part of the township and five at the upper. Those in the west or upper part were Eleazer Twitchell, Benjamin Russell, Abraham Russell, Jonathan Clark and James Swan. Those in the lower parish, Samuel Ingalls, Jesse Duston, John York, Amos Powers and Nathaniel Segar.
Joseph Twitchell had caused to be built a grist and saw mill on the Mill brook at the foot of Bethel Hill in seventeen hundred and seventy-four. These, save perhaps a rude camp or two, were the first buildings erected in the township. In seventeen hundred and
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seventy-nine, a house was built for the use of the miller, the first framed building erected for a dwelling.
Eleazer Twitchell moved from Dublin, New Hampshire, in seven- teen hundred and seventy-nine, to look after his father's interests in Sudbury Canada. He was the third son of his father and was born in Sherbourn, January twenty-second, seventeen hundred and forty-four. He married Martha, daughter of Moses Mason of Dublin. He was very active in promoting the interests of the town, and with the means placed at his disposal by his father, he was in a position to be the leading man of the township. At the time of the Indian raid, he was living on the island where the grist mill stood, and still stands, and resided here until the great freshet of seventeen hundred and eighty-five, when the house was almost sub- merged, the water rising so rapidly that Mr. Twitchell was obliged to take his family off in a raft. He made the first clearing on the farm in Mayville, afterward owned by Moses and Aaron Mason, and cut off the pine timber of which there was a heavy growth, and rafted it to the mills at Brunswick. He was largely interested in real estate and a part owner of the north half of what is now Green- wood. He died in June, eighteen hundred and nineteen. He thoroughly repaired the mill in seventeen hundred and eighty-eight, and the following year his father gave him a deed of the mill prop- erty with the land adjoining. He built a house on Bethel Hill, the first one bordering the common, the first clapboarded house in this part of the town. In seventeen hundred and ninety-seven, he built a large house which was called the castle, and which he opened as a tavern. He was conspicuous for his liberality and kindness of heart. A deed for which his memory will ever be cherished by the people of the town, was the gift of the beautiful common at Bethel Hill.
Benjamin Russell is said to have come from Fryeburg in March, seventeen hundred and seventy-seven, but it was probably a year later, for Samuel Ingalls was at this time living in Fryeburg, and he and his wife were here one winter before any other settler's wife came. Mr. Russell was accompanied by his wife and his daughter, then fifteen years of age, who married afterwards Nathaniel Segar. He was also accompanied by General Amos Hastings, who came to see the place. They came on snow shoes, and the wife and daugh- ter were hauled on handsleds. At the time of the raid, Mr. Russell was living on the interval farm, on the south side of the river two
.
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or three miles below Bethel Hill. He was born in old Andover, where several generations of his ancestors had lived, January twenty-seventh, seventeen hundred and thirty-seven. His wife, Mary Favor, was born March first, seventeen hundred and thirty- nine. He was among the early settlers of Fryeburg, a civil magis- trate and a leading man in town affairs. After he came to Bethel he assumed the same position, and for a long time, being the only justice of the peace, he solemnized marriages and performed other duties pertaining to his office. He died in November, eighteen hundred and two, and his wife six years after.
Abraham Russell, a brother of Benjamin Russell, came here later, but was here at the time of the Indian raid. He married Abigail, daughter of James Swan, and moved here from Fryeburg. He lived at first on the interval, not far from the bridge across Alder river below Bethel Hill. He subsequently moved farther down toward Middle Interval, to the place afterward occupied by John Russell. Later in life, he moved to Bethel Hill, to the place subse- quently occupied by his son-in-law, Daniel Grout.
James Swan was the son of Joshua Swan of Methuen, and a descendent of Robert Swan of Boston and Rowley. He married Mary Smith, and moved from Fryeburg to Sudbury Canada in seventeen hundred and seventy-nine. He settled on the Ayers Mason farm, a mile from Bethel Hill, toward Middle Interval. Mr. Swan formerly followed the sea and was impressed into the English service, but he and two others seized the ship and forced the captain to pilot her into Boston. This was before the war of the revolution, and fearing prosecution, he came to the wilds of Maine and was among the first to settle in Fyreburg. He was a friend of Sabattis, the famous Piquaket Indian, who long made his home with Mr. Swan.
Jonathan Clark came to Bethel as early as seventeen hundred and seventy-four, but returned to his home in Newton and served a term of enlistment in the war for independence. He moved to Bethel in seventeen hundred and seventy-eight or nine, and at the time of the Indian raid was living on the Jedediah Burbank farm, a little west of the Bethel bridge and on the south side of the river. He was the son of William Clark, Jr., of Newton, and was born in that town March twenty-eight, seventeen hundred and forty-seven. He married Esther Parker, and died in Bethel, December thirtieth, seventeen hundred and twenty-one.
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CHURCH AT MIDDLE INTERVALE.
LIEUT. JONATHAN CLARK PLACE.
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
Benjamin, son of Norman Clark of Newton, was born there April third, seventeen hundred and fifty-nine. He came to Bethel when a young man and at the time of the Indian raid was captured and carried to Canada. On his return, he married Betsey, daughter of Moses Mason, Esq., of Dublin, New Hampshire, and settled on the place above Bethel Hill, where his son Norman afterwards live. He died January thirtieth, seventeen hundred and forty-six, at Bethel.
Jesse Duston or Dustin, a descendent of the famous Hannah, wife of Thomas Duston of Haverhill, Massachusetts, was born in Methuen, and was among the early settlers in Fryeburg. He was by occupatiou a house carpenter. He came to Sudbury Canada in seventeen hundred and seventy-eight, and settled on the farm in the lower part of the town, now in Hanover, subsequently occupied by Bela Williams. He married Elizabeth, daughter of James Swan, and to her was born in seventeen hundred and eighty-two, the first white child born in Sudbury Canada, and his name was called Peregrine. The proprietors gave Mrs. Duston a lot of land in con- sideration of the fact just stated. Being among the first, if not the first carpenter in the plantation, Mr. Duston was in a position to render valuable service to the settlers, and tradition gives him a good report.
Nathaniel Segar, son of Josiah and Thankful (Allen) Segar, was born in Newton, Massachusetts, January twenty-eight, seventeen hundred and fifty. He came to Sudbury Canada in the spring of seventeen hundred and seventy-four, remained through the summer and returned to Newton. He served for nearly two years in the patriot army, and returned to Sudbury Canada accompanied by Jonathan Bartlett and Aaron Barton. He cleared a farm in the lower part of the town, now Hanover, near Rumford line, and here he was living unmarried at the time of the Indian raid, but happen- ing on that day to be at the upper settlement, he was taken prisoner and carried captive to Canada. After his return, he married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Russell, Esq. He dictated an account of his capture and captivity, which was printed in a small pamphlet. He lived to a very advanced age.
Amos Powers was born in Princeton, Massachusetts, in February, seventeen hundred and thirty-two, the month and year of the birth of George Washington. He married Molly Parmenter, and in seventeen hundred and seventy-nine, bought of Aaron Richardson
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of Newton, interval lot number two on the south side of the great, river in Sudbury Canada. He came here either in that or the follow. ing year. His farm was in the lower part of the town on the Rumford road, and the same afterwards occupied by his son, Arnold Powers. He was about forty-eight years of age when he came here, and his six children were born in Princeton. Mr. Powers lived to an advanced age, and saw the wilderness in which he came to make him a home, cleared away, succeeded by broad fields and an industrious and thriving population.
Colonel John York of Standish, in seventeen hundred and seventy- nine, bought of Aaron Richardson of Newton, lot number thirteen, on the south side of Amariscoggin river in Sudbury Canada. This lot is situated on the river road below Middle Intervale and was subsequently occupied by Humphrey and Samuel Bean. Colonel York married Abigail, daughter of Jonathan Bean of Standish, afterwards of Bethel. He was a stirring, energetic man, and an excellent pioneer. Two of his brothers, Isaac and Job, came to Bethel a few years later.
Samuel Ingalls, who made up the fifth family in town at the time of the raid, bought his land of Jonathan Keyes in the spring of seventeen hundred and seventy-seven, and was then said to be of Fryeburg. Buildings had been erected upon the land by Mr. Keyes, so that the place was all ready for occupancy. It is probable that Mr. Ingalls moved into the plantation this year, and wintered here in seventeen hundred and seventy-seven-eight. Mrs. Ingalls is said to have been the first white woman in the plantation. The land he purchased was below that purchased by Colonel John York, and on the same side of the river. At the time of the raid, York and Ingalls were quite near neighbors, and Amos Powers lived a mile or two bęlow.
John Grover, the second son of Dea. James Grover, was the first of the name to settle in this town. He came when single, but just what year cannot be stated with certainty. He was here at the time of the Indian raid and was the messenger sent to Fryeburg for assistance. He had bravely served in the war for independence, was stationed for a time at Dorchester Heights and was in the engagements at Trenton and at other places under Washington. He settled at West Bethel and owned extensive tracts of pine timber lands from which he cut the timber and rafted it to Brunswick. Grover Hill perpetuates the name of this man and his family.
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He was a stalwart man in his make up and as brave as he was. strong. He is said to have entered a den where there were five bears and to have killed one or more with a broad axe. His son, Mason Grover, who was serving around Lake Champlain in the war of eighteen hundred and twelve, was taken sick. John Grover- went to visit him and he recovered, but the father was taken sick and died on the way.
Amos Hastings was born in the west parish of Haverhill, Mass. He was in the affair at Concord and Lexington, and also in the battle of Bunker Hill. He served several years and came out with the rank of captain. He married Elizabeth Wiley, a sister of the wife of John Grover, and came here from Fryeburg. He settled at first at Middle Interval and for many years his house was the town house. Later he moved to a farm on the north side of the river. He was early identified with the militia of the town and held office through the various grades to that of Brigadier General. He was a man possessed of sound judgment which was often utilized by the town when difficult questions came up requiring careful investigation and adjustment. He may justly be regarded as one of the fathers of the town.
Samuel Marshall is not mentioned by Segar as a resident of Sud- bury Canada at the time of the raid, but it is a fact that he was here and had but recently arrived. He had married Lucy, daughter of Moses Mason, Esq., of Dublin, New Hampshire, and she had sisters already here. At the time of the raid they were living about. three miles below Bethel Hill, on the road to Middle Interval, on the Sanborn farm, and Mr. Marshall was temporarily absent. A neighbor gave Mrs. Marshall a very exaggerated account of the affair ; said there was a large body of Indians in the plantation ; that if the Marshall family would remain at home, they would not be molested, but if they attempted to escape, they would all be killed. From this point we will allow Mrs. Marshall to give her own account of the affair, as she gave it some years after, in writing to her son, a document which is still preserved in the family. "At this moment I exclaimed, what shall I do? 'Hide in the woods' said my informant. While I was hastening to the woods with my children, I saw my husband coming home. I beckoned to him to hasten and on his coming up, I hastily related what I had heard. He ran to the house and took such provisions as he could readily seize and throw into a sack, and then started with his little store and
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family into the woods. We traveled lightly and looked cautiously around, expecting every moment to see the faces of the Indians, but after a few hours, our fears considerably subsided, and we sat down to rest. I found myself very much fatigued, and without my ordi- nary dress, for during the morning I had slipped off my shoes, having nothing on except a thin skirt and a handkerchief over my shoulders. This caused my heart to ache, for we had resolved not to turn back, but to pursue our way which lay through the wilderness. After a short halt, we set out again, and traveled till dark. We did not dare to strike a light for fear of being discovered by the Indians. We sat there impatiently waiting the morning of the sixth, when we renewed our journey, but much slower than the day previously. During the afternoon, we were overtaken by a Mr. Dodge* who had been sent from Bethel to New Gloucestor for help. We requested him to inform the first inhabitants he met, of our situation, and give him the course as nearly as he could, and ask them to meet us. Mr. Dodge missed his course to Jackson's camp in No. 4, which he expected first to reach, and came out at Lieut. Bearce's in Hebron. He informed Bearce who immediately set out for Jackson's camp, and on his arrival he obtained two men who went with him as far as the river in the north part of the township, and there struck up a fire and prepared some food, while Mr. Bearce continued in search of us. He first found my son David, whom his father had carried a short distance ahead, and left on a log, telling him to be quiet, while he went back after me. We arrived in a short time at the river, took some refreshment, and then proceeded to Jackson's camp where we arrived on the ninth of August. We remained at this camp three or four days, consequently I was the first white woman who took lodgings in what is now the town of Paris." Mr. Marshall and his wife continued their journey to New Gloucester where they remained a few weeks, and then settled in the town of Hebron, where both lived to an advanced age and reared a large family. The family came to Sudbury Canada from Dublin, New Hampshire, but was probably born in Massachusetts.
Peter Austin from Fryeburg, had also built him a camp on the farm afterwards occupied by the Barkers, but he was unmarried. He was fortunately absent from his place at the time of the raid and thus escaped capture if nothing worse. He continued to live
*No person of this name is known to have lived in Bethel, and it is probable that he was only temporarily there.
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upon this farm until about the year seventeen hundred and ninety- six, when he sold out and moved to Canton, Maine, where he became a wealthy farmer and reared a large family. Persons. familiar with the topography of the town, from the locations here described, will be able to form a very correct idea of the places where the few scattered inhabitants lived at this time. The vast wilderness was only dotted here and there by a few clearings, the first settlers had just come to Newry, Rumford and Paris, and only a few families had come to Waterford. Also, a settlement had just been commenced in Shelburne, New Hampshire. In Sudbury Canada there were only nine families, and three single men, namely, Benjamin Clark, Segar and Austin, when there occurred the episode which has been much talked about in town since that time, known as the Indian raid, an account of which forms the subject of the. next chapter.
CHAPTER VI.
SUDBURY CANADA ATTACKED BY INDIANS.
FTER the fall of Quebec in seventeen hundred and fifty- nine, and the treaty which soon followed by the terms of which France relinquished all claims to Canada and the Maritime Provinces, the people of Maine were comparatively safe from Indian encroachments and depredations. There was no longer any necessity for garrison houses ; the farmer could go to his work unarmed ; the quiet of the Sabbath was no more broken by the shrill war whoop, and the mother as she placed her children in bed and retired herself, was measurably certain that their rest would not be disturbed and their lives placed in jeopardy by the blood-curdling cry and the cruel tomahawk of the ruthless savage. Those that remained within the State and sustained tribal relations, the Penob- scots and Passamaquoddies, were friendly and peaceable enough, while the strolling bands from Canada that visited the settlements, hunted and fished and then returned to their homes on the St. Francois, made nc hostile demonstrations and excited no alarm by their presence. They frequently visited the Sudbury Canada settle-
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ments, coming either down the Androscoggin by the way of Shelburn and Gilead, or cutting across from the Umbagog Lake by way of Grafton and Newry. Several of them were here so much and remained so long, sometimes for months together, that they became well acquainted with the settlers, understood their customs and habits, and receiving nothing but kindly treatment, showed nothing but a kindly spirit in return.
The attack of the Indians upon the western settlement in Sudbury Canada was as sudden and unexpected as lightning from a cloudless sky. It was during the war of the revolution, but the people in this plantation were so far removed from scenes of hostility that they had taken no thought for their safety, considering it well assured. I have heard several accounts of this attack from the sons and daughters of those upon whom the attack was made, and while they differ in some minor points, they agree in all the essentials. But the only account written or dictated by one who suffered most from this raid, is the one dictated by Nathaniel Segar, written out it is said by Rev. Daniel Gould, and printed at Paris in eighteen hundred and twenty-seven. A copy of this now rare pamphlet is before me and from it I am to make an abstract of its contents. The first pages are devoted to a sketch of the early life of Mr. Segar, his first and second visits to Sudbury Canada, and of his service in the army. It has already been said that Mr. Segar settled in the extreme eastern part of the township near Rumford line, and had he been at home when the raid occurred he would have escaped all difficulty, for the lower settlement was not molested. But he was at the upper settlement either for business or pleasure, when the attack was made and so suffered in common with others. This abstract is only from that part of the pamphlet giving an account of the attack on the settlement and of the captivity of those who were taken to Canada, and is given in the third person, while Mr. Segar makes his relation in the first.
On the third day of August, seventeen hundred and eighty-one, there came into the upper settlement in Sudbury Canada, six Indians from Canada. One of them named Tomhegan was well known to Segar, often having been at his house. Segar, Jonathan Clark and Eleazer Twitchell, were standing at a little distance from the woods, when five Indians, hideously painted and armed with guns, toma- 'hawks and scalping knives, rushed out upon them, informed them that they were prisoners and must go to Canada. Jonathan Clark's
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house on the Burbank farm, was near by, and there the Indians escorted their prisoners. After binding their captives, they told them to sit down and keep quiet or they would kill them. They then commenced plundering the house, and finding several gallons of rum in the cellar, they filled some bottles and took them away with them. They also found sixteen dollars in hard money, some clothing and many other things which they appropriated and carried away. Unseen by the Indians, Mrs. Clark hid her husband's watch in the ashes and thus saved it. They then attempted to take Mrs. Clark's gold beads from her neck, but in so doing the string was broken, and the beads scattered over the floor. They did not stop to hunt them up, and after they had left, most of them were found. They also attempted to take the silver buckles from her shoes, but she berated them so that they did not take them. She resisted them so and talked to them in such a scolding manner, that the prisoners feared they would murder her, but her boldness and fearlessness doubtless operated in her favor.
While these things were going on in the house of Jonathan Clark, an Indian came out of the woods with Benjamin Clark whom he had just taken. In the meantime, Captain Eleazer Twitchell, by watch- ing his opportunity had absconded and had so effectually secreted himself in the woods that they could not find him. He remained all night in the woods and in the morning returned to his home. Mrs. Clark, who had also escaped into the woods, and spent the night by the side of a log, very near the hiding place of Captain Twitchell, both being entirely unconscious that they had spent the night so near together until they bestirred themselves in the morn- ing. After the Indians had packed up their plunder and with their prisoners were about to leave the house, they told Mrs. Clark to remain at home and she would be safe, but if she went away she would be killed, saying there were hundreds of Indians in the woods. She did not believe them, and leaving the house as soon as they were out of sight, she concealed herself in the forest and saw no more of the Indians.
Having accomplished their purpose here, and having unbound the legs of their prisoners and loaded them with their plunder, they started on the long and tedious journey through the wilderness. The arms of the prisoners remained bound, and with heavy hearts as well as packs, they were driven onward before their cruel captors. They traveled about two miles and then encamped for the night,
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and a dismal night it was to the prisoners. In the morning at day- light, they resumed their march, and came to Peter Austin's camp where he had made a clearing, but at this time he was, fortunately for himself, absent. The Indians entered the hut and searched for plunder, but found little. They found two guns, one of which they broke and the other took away, and a quantity of maple sugar. They spent the second night near this place. Before light, the Indians tried to find their packs, wishing to resume their journey, but could not find them until daybreak. One of them missed his tomahawk and accused Segar of taking it; he would have given him a heavy and perhaps a fatal blow, had not another Indian pre- vented it. When it became light enough to see, the Indian found his weapon where' he had placed it himself. As soon as it was light, they started up the river and came to Peabody's Patent, now the town of Gilead. They went to a house owned and occupied by Mr. James Pettengill, who on their arrival was near the house, and walking toward it. On seeing the Indians at his house he stopped, but they had observed him and ordered him to approach. They then searched the house and finding some sugar and a tub of cream, they mixed it together and made a meal of it. They told Pettengill that he must go with them to Canada, to which, he demurred and said he had no shoes. They then told him he might stay if he would remain in the house, and passed on. Mrs. Pettengill and her children were in the house, but received no abuse from them. After the Indians had passed the house a short distance, they sent two of their number back who soon returned accompanied by Mr. Pettengill. They soon after murdered him by shooting him within half a mile of his home and family, without any apparent provoca- tion. Several days after, Joseph G. Swan and several others from Bethel, visited the place and interred the remains.
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