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 7
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1132 1-2.
60
HISTORY OF BETHEL.
The result of the incursion of the Indians was for a time very damaging. The lands became depressed, and few new settlers came until peace was declared. It is told, and may and may not be true, that one of the proprietors sold to Daniel Barker for a mug of flip, that part of the village on Main street, from Gilman Chapman's house and the store formerly occupied by Abner Davis. After the forts were built, the inhabitants came to them by night, and during the day went about their usual vocations, the men carry- ing their guns with them into the fields. A single gun fired from the garrisons, was the signal for all to hasten hither. Besides Farrington, who had received a lieutenant's commission, other officers in charge were Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Bradley. Mrs. Martha Rowe, who was a daughter of Captain Eleazer Twitchell, and who lived to a great age, stated before her death, that her father's house was on an island and consisted of two rooms, and that the garrison was built against one end of the house. It was a breastwork made of hewn timbers with port holes, and of such height as to prevent a man from climbing upon it. Inside of these walls, were the cabins of the soldiers, the officers occupying one of the rooms in Captain Twitchell's house. The parade ground for the use of the company was on a plank bridge near where Pinckney Burnham's carriage shop afterwards stood. Two men from Frye- burg were hired to scout through the woods, and give due warning should the Indians again appear, but it is said they spent most of their time in hunting and trapping, and made a good thing out of their job. But the savages did not again make their appearance before the close of the war, and the rascally Tomhegan never again showed himself in the settlement. Had he done so, the settlers would probably have made short work of him. He was a surly, morose fellow, schooled to arms in the French and Indian wars, but he had always been well treated by the people of Sudbury Canada, had warmed himself at their fires, fed at their tables, drank with them, and fished and hunted with them, all which go to make his course the more perfidious and cowardly.
The following is a list, so far as ascertained, of the names of the men who came from Fryeburg in August, seventeen hundred and eighty-one, and went in pursuit of the Indians. Peter Austin went to Fryeburg immediately after the raid, and returned with the others :
61
HISTORY OF BETHEL.
Stephen Farrington, John Gordon,
James Parker,
John Walker, John S. Sanborn,
Jesse Walker,
Abraham Bradley,
Hugh Gordon,
Joseph Knight,
Abner Charles,
Joseph G. Swan,
Isaac Abbott, Jr.,
Samuel Charles,
Isaac Walker,
John Stephens, Jr.,
Benj. Wiley,
John Farrington,
Oliver Barron,
Jonathan Hutchins,
Peter Astine,
Simon Abbot.
Barnes Hazelton,
Nathaniel Walker,
Following is the roll of the company which constituted the garri- son in Sudbury Canada, under the pay of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in seventeen hundred and eighty-two :
Stephen Farrington. Benj. Russell, Jr.,
Ephraim Davenport,
Hugh Gordon, James Swan, Jr., David Evans, Jr.,
Jonathan Hutchins,
Joseph Walker,
Ebenezer Macomber,
Rob't Howe or Rowe, John Merrill,
Jeremiah Chandler, Daniel Eastman,
Benj. Walker,
Eli Twitchell,
John Pierce, William Russell, Augustus Frye,
Moses Hutchins,
Isaac Abbot,
John Stevens,
Christopher Hisom, John Johnson,
Levi Dresser,
Josiah Wood,
Thomas Bragdon,
Isaac York.
CHAPTER VIII.
EARLY STATISTICS.
N seventeen hundred and ninety the first enumeration of the population of the United States was made, and a census has been taken decennially since that time. Sudbury Canada had now been settled for a period of eleven years, and the enumeration shows sixty families in the plantation and a total population of three hundred and twenty-four. The enumera- tion was made by Philip Page, Assistant Marshal, under the direc- tion of General Henry Dearborn, Marshal of the District of Maine. The settlers at this time were extended along the river from the point where it enters the town from Gilead, to the point where it enters Rumford. Grover Hill was also settled and a few farms had been taken up on the upland bordering the intervals. Newry at this time contained twelve families settled along the Sunday and Bear rivers, and fifty inhabitants. The names of the heads of families in Newry were Asa Foster, Abner Foster, John Littlehale,
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HISTORY OF BETIIEL.
Nathaniel Spofford, Joseph Jackson, Jonathan Barker, Jesse Barker, Benjamin Barker, Elijah Swan, Joseph Lary, David Blake and John Messer. The following is a copy of the enumeration of one thousand seven hundred and ninety, from the archives at Washing- ton, showing the heads of families :
Jesse Dustin,
Josiah Segar, .
Jonathan Abbott,
James Swan,
Gideon Powers,
John Mason,
Joseph G. Swan,
Silas Powers,
Deborah Mills,
Theodore Russel,
Stephen Bartlett,
Peter Asten,
Abraham Russel,
Moses Bartlett,
James Grover,
Benjamin Russel,
John Abbott,
Thial Smith, Jr ..
Jonathan Bean,
John Abbott, Jr.,
Thomas Frost,
Daniel Bean,
Jonathan Bean, Jr.,
Eli Twitchel,
John Kilgore, Jr.,
William Harvey,
Ezra Twitchel,
Jacob Russel,
Thial Smith,
Thomas Stearns,
Joseph Kilgore,
John Kilgore,
Eleazer Twitchel,
Amos Hastings,
Benjamin Russel, Jr., Eliphaz Chapman,
Enoch Bartlett,
Zela Holt,
Jedediah Grover,
Stephen Estes,
James Swan, Jr.,
John Grover,'
Matthias Frost,
John Holt,
Walter Mason,
Jonathan Bartlett,
Isaac York,
Amos Gage,
Amos Powers,
John York,
Daniel Gage,
Samuel Goss,
Josiah Bean, Oliver Fenno,
Jeremiah Andrews,
Samuel Ingalls,
Benjamin Clark,
Nathaniel Segar,
Thaddeus Bartlett,
Jonathan Clark.
RECAPITULATION.
White males of 16 years of age and upwards, including heads of families, 82
White males under 16 years,
89
Females, including heads of families,
153
Grand total, 324
In the year seventeen hundred and ninety-eight, a direct tax was imposed by the government of the United States upon the real estate of the country. The assessors for the second division of the fifteenth Massachusetts district were Simon Frye, principal, Moses Ames and Joseph Howard, assistants. At this time there were nineteen taxable houses in town. Cheap houses were not taxed,
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
and the list does not comprise those who lived in log houses or those who were not possessed of lands, and therefore not liable to taxation. The following is a list of such owners and occupants of real estate in Bethel at this time, as had taxable houses, each being taxed for forty perches of land in addition to his dwelling house. The land and buildings were taxed according to their assessed value :
Mary Bartlett
$200 00
Thaddeus Bartlett
180 00
Josiah Bean.
250 00
John Brickett. 120 00
Jonathan Clark 370 00
Benjamin Clark
150 00
Oliver Fenno
180 00
John Holt.
110 00
Asa Kimball.
180 00
Gideon Powers.
110 00
Benjamin Russell.
250 00
Abraham Russell.
120 00
William Russell .
110 00
Joseph G. Swan
110 00
Nathaniel Segar
200 00
Eleazer Twitchell.
150 00
Eli Twitchell.
200 00
Ezra Twitchell.
150 00
John York
260 00
CHAPTER IX.
INCREASE OF POPULATION AND INCORPORATION.
Y reference to the accounts for services rendered by the inhabitants of Sudbury Canada plantation in a preceding chapter, it will be seen that several settlers had come since the Indian attack, and prior to November eighth, of the following year, when the accounts were made up. Jonathan Bartlett came to the plantation with Segar in seventeen hundred and seventy-nine, but is not mentioned by Segar as being here at the time of the raid. He settled on a farm above that occupied by Amos Powers, in the lower settlement and on the south side of the river. John Grover, a single man, was here at the time of the raid and was the messen- ger sent to Fryeburg for assistance. He married Miss Jerusha Wiley of Fryeburg, and settled on Grover Hill. Jonathan Bean and his son Daniel, the former well advanced in years, settled on
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
the farm which David Marshall had deserted the year previous. Josiah Bean, another son of Jonathan, had settled near Samuel Ingalls, and Isaac York had settled near his brother, Colonel John York. In another account found among the papers of the late- Jedediah Burbank, the same parties here mentioned were allowed for labor on the highway, and in addition to the names here men- tioned, were Eli Twitchell, a brother of Captain Eleazer Twitchell, Thaddeus Bartlett, who settled near his brother Jonathan, Gideon Powers, who settled on the north side of the river in what is now Hanover, Moses Bartlett, who settled on the same side, a short. distance below Powers, and Jeremiah Andrews, who settled on the south side of the river below the Amos Powers place.
Notwithstanding a few settlers came in one by one, yet the influx was not such as to meet the wishes of the proprietors until after the close of the revolutionary war, and the establishment of a perma- nent place. Then the old soldiers began to look eastward as a sort. of promised land ; large numbers came, and Sudbury Canada had its full quota. Also some young men, through the efforts of Captain Eleazer Twitchell, were induced to purchase lands and settle upon them, paying for the same in labor. The interval farms were rapidly taken up, and some inroads were made upon the uplands. The grist mill at Bethel Hill was a great convenience and was patronized by every household in town. For several years, there was no regu- lar miller. Each person brought his grist to the mill, found the door unfastened and the latch-string out, and entering ground his grist, and left it for the next visitor. The consequence was that. the mill soon got out of repair, and as it was propelled by a large undershot wheel, it required more water than the little Mill Brook could furnish in times of summer drouth. This often gave great trouble, and at such times the settlers were either obliged to pound their corn in mortars or grind it in hand mills. In seventeen hun- dred and eighty-one, the grist mill was repaired, an improved water wheel put in which required less water, and there was thereafter much less difficulty in supplying the colony with meal. In seven- teen hundred and eighty-eight the mill was rebuilt, under the charge of Mr. Samuel Reddington from the Kennebec, who was a first-class workman. Sixteen years later, tub wheels were introduced, which proved a great improvement.
Captain Peter Twitchell, the youngest son of Joseph Twitchell, came to Sudbury Canada to reside in seventeen hundred and eighty-
65
HISTORY OF BETHEL.
four. He had previously visited the place the first time when he was a boy of seventeen, and when his brother Eleazer's house was the only one in the west part of the town. It was located on the island, near the grist mill, as before stated. Peter Twitchell com- menced a clearing on the north side of the river, on the farm after- wards occupied by Alphin Twitchell. A more extended notice of this man will be given hereafter. Captain Eli Twitchell (they were all military men) came to the settlement in the spring of seventeen hundred and eighty-two, and made a clearing upon the farm after- wards occupied by his grandson, Mr. Curatio Bartlett. Dea. Ezra Twitchell, another brother of the preceding, came a year later, and settled upon the farm near Mayville, afterwards occupied by his son Ezra Twitchell, Junior. Moses Mason came to Bethel from Dublin, New Hampshire, and bought the farm on the north side of the river, of his brother-in-law, Eleazer Twitchell, which was after- ward occupied by his son, Aaron Mason, and since by his grandson, Moses A. Mason.
Jonathan Bean, the early settler, was born in the town of Brent- wood or Kingston, New Hampshire. He moved from that town to Chester, where he lived a number of years. A little after seventeen hundred and sixty he moved to Standish, Maine, where he lived until his removal to Bethel. He died here in eighteen hundred and nine ; it is said that he committed suicide. His sons, Josiah, Jona- than, Junior, and Daniel, came to Bethel with him, and lived and died here. They were a hardy race of men, and descendants of John Bean, who early came from Scotland and settled in Exeter, New Hampshire. The great freshet in town in seventeen hundred and eighty-five, which did a large amount of damage, is noticed elsewhere. In seventeen hundred and ninety the first census was taken and the returns show over three hundred persons, old and young, residing in the plantation. Ten years later the number had increased to six hundred and sixteen.
At the beginning of the year seventeen hundred and ninety-six, the population having largely increased within a few years, the inhabi- tants of Sudbury Canada began to talk of a more efficient organiza- tion of their municipality, and a petition was drafted and forwarded to the General Court, asking for an act of incorporation as a town. The question of a name excited considerable interest, and Captain Twitchell suggested the name of Ai. But Rev. Eliphaz Chapman suggested the name of Bethel and it was adopted by the petitioners.
5
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
The town was named for that Bethel so called by the patriarch Jacob, formerly known as Luz, and mentioned in the book of Genesis. The following is the act of incorporation :
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six. An act to incorporate the plantation called Sudbury Canada, in the county of York (Cumberland), and for establishing therein two Parishes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same that the tract of land called Sudbury Canada, bounded as follows, namely :
Beginning at a beach tree marked S. Y., one mile from Amare- scoggin river, and on the north side of Peabody's Patent, thence running south twenty-eight degrees east ; four miles and one-half on Peabody's Patent, and Fryeburg Academy land, to a hemlock tree marked I-I-I III. Thence east twenty degrees north, nine miles on Oxford and State lands to a beach tree marked V ; thence north twenty degrees, west four miles and one-quarter and sixty rods on Newpennicook, to Amariscoggin river; thence west two degrees south, three miles and three-quarters on Howard's Grant to a beach tree ; thence west thirty-four degrees south on Thomastown (Newry) to the first mentioned bound. Together with the inhabitants there- on, be and they are hereby incorporated into a town by the name of Bethel. And the inhabitants of said town are hereby invested with all the powers, privileges and immunities which the inhabitants of towns within this Commonwealth do, or may, by law enjoy.
And be it further enacted that Benjamin Russell, Esq., is hereby authorized and empowered to issue his warrant directed to some suitable inhabitant of said town of Bethel, directing him to notify the inhabitants of said town qualified to vote on town affairs, to meet at such time and place as he shall appoint, to choose such officers as other towns are empowered to choose, at their annual meetings in the month of March or April, annually.
Be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that the said town of Bethel be, and the same is hereby divided into two distinct Parishes, to be designated "The East Parish and West Parish," and the following shall be the dividing line between said Parishes, viz : Beginning at the south line of the town at a tree marked sixteen seventeen, standing on the line between the sixteenth and seven- teenth ranges, to the north line of the town, and all the lands in said town with the inhabitants thereon, east of said dividing line, be and hereby are, incorporated into a separate Parish by the name of the East Parish in Bethel. And all the land in said town with the in- habitants thereon west of the said dividing line, be and hereby are incorporated into a separate Parish by the name of the West Parish in Bethel.
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
And that each of said Parishes be and are hereby possessed with all the powers. privileges and immunities which other Parishes within this Commonwealth are entitled to or do by law enjoy.
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that Benja- min Russell, Esq., be and is hereby authorized to issue his several warrants directed to some suitable person in each of said Parishes, requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants wherein he lives to meet at the time and place expressed in such warrant for the purpose of choosing such Parish officers, as may be chosen in the month of March, or April, annually, and also to transact any other business that may be legally transacted in Parish meetings.
From the House of Representatives, June 10th, 1796. This bill having had three several readings passed to be enacted.
EDW. ROBBINS, Speaker .
From the Senate, June 10th, 1776.
This bill having had two several readings, passed to be enacted.
SAM'L PHILLIPS, President.
June 10th. By the Governor approved. SAM'L ADAMS.
True copy. Attest : JOHN AVERY, Secretary.
The first town meeting after its incorporation, was held at the house of Gen. Amos Hastings at Middle Interval. It may be noticed here that it was the custom of that day to bestow the office of Hogreeve on the young men who had married within the year.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
York ss. To ELI TWITCHELL, of Bethel, in said County of York, Gentleman. GREETING :
You are hereby authorized and directed forthwith to notify and warn freeholders and other inhabitants of said town of Bethel, qualified to vote in town meetings, viz : Such as pay to one single tax beside the pole or poles, a sum equal to a single dollar tax ; to meet and assemble at the dwelling house of Mr. Amos Hastings in said town on Monday the fifteenth day of August next, at one of the o'clock in the afternoon, giving fifteen days notice, at least of said meeting, for the purpose of choosing officers as other towns are empowered to choose, at their annnal meetings in the month of March or April, annually. First, to choose a moderator to regulate said meeting ; 2d, a clerk ; 3d, selectmen ; 4th, a treasurer ; 5th, assessors ; 6th, a constable ; 7th, a collector of taxes, and any other officers that the town may think proper to choose. And you are
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
hereby directed to make return to me of your doings in consequence of this warrant to you directed.
Given under my hand and seal, this twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six. By order of the General Court.
BENJ. RUSSELL, Justice of the Peace.
Pursuant to the above warrant, I have notified and warned the inhabitants of said town qualified as therein expressed, to meet at the time and place and for the purpose within mentioned.
ELI TWITCHELL.
At a legal meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Bethel, opened on the fifteenth day of August, A. D., one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, made choice of Lieut. Jonathan Clark, moderator of the meeting, and by a vote made choice of Benjamin Russell, town clerk for the ensuing year. Then,
Voted, That there be three selectmen chosen for the ensuing year. "Then by written votes made choice of John Kilgore for the first selectman the ensuing year.
Voted, That Lieut. Jonathan Clark be the second selectman for the ensuing year.
Voted, That Jonathan Bartlett be the third selectman for the ensuing year.
Voted, That Lieut. Jonathan Clark be town treasurer for the ensuing year.
Voted, That Mr. Joseph G. Swan be constable for the ensuing year.
Voted, That the person that will collect the town, county and State taxes for the least sum on one dollar, be the collector for the ensuing year. It was bid off to Mr. Joseph G. Swan at three cents on the dollar.
Then voted for tythingmen for the ensuing year. Made choice of Messrs. Jedediah Grover and Gideon Powers. Surveyors of lumber, Mr. John York, Lieut. Jonathan Clark. Hogreeves the ensuing year, Messrs. John Stearns, James Swan, Jr., and Silas Powers.
York ss. In the month of August, 1796. Personally appeared all the above mentioned town officers and were sworn to the faithful discharge of the duties of their respective offices before me.
BENJ. RUSSELL, Justice of the Peace.
York ss. August 15th, 1796. Personally appeared Benj. Russell, Esq., and was sworn truly to record all votes passed in this meeting and at other town meetings during the year and until another clerk shall be chosen and sworn.
Before JONATHAN CLARK, Moderator.
CHAPTER X.
A SECOND ENUMERATION.
HE second enumeration of the people of the United States took place in the year eighteen hundred. During the decade since seventeen hundred and ninety, the population of Sudbury Canada, which had now become the town of Bethel, had nearly doubled. Forty-five heads of families had been added, making a total of one hundred and five. The total popula- tion now was six hundred and twenty-two, against three hundred and twenty-four ten years previous. Several of the heads of fami- lies enumerated in seventeen hundred and ninety, are not found on the later schedule, they either having deceased or left the town. Enoch Bartlett had settled in Newry, Samuel Ingalls had moved to Bridgton, Josiah Segar and Samuel Goss to Rumford, while of William Harvey, I know nothing. The Smiths also, Ithiel and Ithiel, Junior, had gone to Newry. But the Carters, the Masons, the Coffins, the Farewells, the Greenwoods and several other new families had come to take their places.
The following are the heads of families as returned in the schedule of eighteen hundred :
Elisha Adams,
Peregrine Bartlet,
Nathan Adams,
Thadeus Bartlet,
Isaac Adams.
Moses Bartlet,
Peter Adley,
Reuben Bartlet,
Solomon Annis,
Stephen Bartlet,
Solomon Annis, Jr.,
Aaron Barton,
Jeremiah Andrews,
Benjamin Brown,
Joseph Ayer, Josiah Bean, Jonathan Bean, Jesse Bean, John Bean,
Timothy Carter,
Thomas Capen,
Eliphaz Chapman,
Jonathan Clark, Benjamin Clark,
Jonathan Bean, Jr., Daniel Bean,
David Coffin,
Timothy Bean,
Daniel Coffin, Jonathan Coffin,
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HISTORY OF BETHEL.
Nepthalim Coffin, Ezekiel Duston, Jesse Duston, Ebenezer Emes, John Ellenwood, Richard Estis, Absalom Farwell, Oliver Fenno, Nathaniel Frost, Moses Frost, Thomas Frost,
Joseph Merrill, Roger Merrill, Paul Morse,
William Newland,
James Noble, Amos Powers, Gideon Powers, Silas Powers,
Benjamin Russell, Esq.,
Abraham Russell,
Benjamin Russell, Jr.,
Joseph Greenwood, Esq., Nathaniel Greenwood, Daniel Gage, Amos Gage, Benjamin Goodenow,
William Russell, John Russell, Theodore Russell,
Josiah Russell, James Robinson,
Nathaniel Seager,
Samuel Gossom, Rev. Daniel Gould,
Nathaniel Spofford,
Thomas Stearns,
Charles Stearns,
Elijah Grover, James Grover, John Grover, Jedediah Grover, Eli Grover, Amos Hastings, Zela Holt,
John Stearns,
John Stearns, Jr.,
James Swan, Jr.,
Joseph G. Swan,
Nathaniel Swan,
James Holt,
Benjamin Sweat,
Timothy A. Holt,
Isaac Towne,
John Holt, Phinehas Howard,
Eli Twitchell.
John Kilgore,
Ezra Twitchell,
John Kilgore, Jr.,
Asa Kimball,
Cyrus Twitchell, Simeon Twitchell, Jonas Willis,
Eliphalet Lane,
Samuel B. Locke,
Jonathan Wheeler, Joseph Wheeler, Isaac York,
Walter Mason, Moses Mason,
John York,
White males under ten years of age, 134 ; females, 137.
White males between ten and sixteen, 36 ; females, 50.
White males between sixteen and twenty-six, 43 ; females, 46.
White males between twenty-six and forty-five, 61 ; females; 53. White males over forty-five, 34 ; females, 28.
Total males 308
Total females. 314
Total population
622
Asa Kimball, Jr., Samuel Kimball,
Eleazer Twitchell,
CHAPTER XI.
THE ANDROSCOGGIN INDIANS.
F this region, the aboriginal inhabitants were the Andro- scoggin Indians, sometimes called the Anasagunticooks. They claimed the territory from Merrymeeting Bay, which they called Quabacook, to the head waters of the river. They were divided into several sub-tribes, each under a chief and all subject to the grand Sagamore. Those between Quabacook and Amigonpontook Falls, now known as Lewiston Falls, were known as Pejepscots, with headquarters at Lisbon ; those next above with headquarters at Canton, were called the Rocomekos, but just what the name of the sub-tribe was that lived in Bethel, we have no means of knowing. The history of the once powerful tribe of Anasagunticook Indians, while it would be very interesting, does not properly come within the scope of the history of a single town, and therefore only a brief outline sketch will be attempted here. Everything goes to show that the tribe that inhabited the Andro- scoggin valley was a powerful one and that they were much attached to these hunting grounds. Like all the aborigines, they were no- madic in their habits and often wandered away and spent their time at the seashore, and also in the region of the northern lakes. But the Androscoggin river and its tributaries, abounded with food fishes of various kinds including the salmon, while the forests were filled with every kind of game. The intervals also were easily cleared, very fertile and with but little dressing would produce luxuriant crops of maize or Indian corn. The land was cultivated by the women in a very primitive way, their hoes being the large sea shells they brought up from the coast, and their dressing the poorer quality of fish from the river.
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