USA > Maine > Aroostook County > Bridgewater > History of Bridgewater, Maine > Part 4
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David's children were Webster; Willard; and Isadore, who married George Barrett. Webster and Willard farmed the homestead together for years, then dissolved partnership. Willard lived where Max Packard does today, while Webster had the home farm.
Webster married Eva Rideout of Bridgewater. Their children are Elbridge (Ellie), George, and Max, all living in town; Cecil and Juanita, who are dead.
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Willard married Ida Collins of Houlton.
In 1930 George tore down the log house and built a new house, but today he has moved nearer town on the farm formerly owned by A. M. Stackpole and since then by several others. It is now owned by George.
1858
Town Incorporated
By 1858 the town had reached a population of nearly five hundred and the people felt it was time to become incorporated.
The following is part of a letter the author received from Edith L. Hary, Law Librarian, Augusta, Maine, which reads:
The area was formerly two plantations known as Bridgewater Academy Grant and Portland Academy Grant and various residents petitioned the Legislature for an act of incorporation.
Petition
To the Hon. the Legislature of the State of Maine.
Your petitioners-inhabitants of the two half townships known as Bridgewater Academy Grant and Portland Academy Grant-respectfully represent, that the public conveniences and wants require a change in the form of our incorporation.
We therefore ask that these two half townships be incorporated into one town under the name of. „with all the privileges usual in such cases. And as in duty bound will ever pray.
C. F. A. Johnson
Libby*
Charles Kidder
James Cain
Sam'l Kidder
Orein Nelson
Cyrus Chandler
Dennis Nelson
Nathaniel Rideout Sr.
Joshua Fulton
B. K. F. Rideout
John Fulton
James E. Briggs
D. E. Tewksbury
Edward Snow
Nicholas Rideout
Elbridge Webber
Jos. H. Ketchum
James C. Sr .*
Jabez Crawford
Thomas G. Durgan
John Beam
John Mactier
J. W. Gilman
*The two names left blank were unreadable.
The letter continues:
Under the Massachusetts law of 1797 it had been the practice to encourage the growth of academies by granting to them half a township of land. In 1803 the Committee assigning the grants divided the township between Bridgewater
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Academy in Plymouth County, Massachusetts and Portland Academy. These grants became the town of Bridgewater by Private and Special Law, Chapter 171, of the year 1858, the first section which reads:
The plantation of Bridgewater Academy Grant and the plantation of Portland Academy Grant in the county of Aroostook are hereby incorporated into a town by the Name of Bridgewater, and the inhabitants of the said town are hereby vested with all the powers and privileges and immunities, and subject to all the duties and liabilities of incorporated towns in this state.
Thus was the town incorporated. It might be of interest to the readers if a word is said here about the photostat. This was an exact copy of the original petition which was written in long hand, the names ap- pearing in the men's own handwriting. That is the reason that two of the names could not be made out, the writing being so poor.
John Nelson 1858
Only two families seem to have come to town this year, John Nelson and John McIntire. John Nelson came from Palermo with his wife and five children. He took a forty-acre lot of land which he cleared. He served in the Civil War; at its close he bought Mr. McIntire's farm. Years later he sold this farm to Isaac Durgin, who in turn sold it to Joseph Milbury. It is now owned by Charles Simonson.
Mr. Nelson had a very good education for those times and served as Town Auditor for many years.
His son Bert married Maude Burns; they live on the Burns home- stead. They have one daughter, Vella.
Mr. Nelson was very musical, and for a number of years was director of the town band. He also sang in the choir at the Baptist Church.
1858
John McIntire
John McIntire no doubt came from Palermo, Maine, as he seems to have come at the same time as Mr. Nelson. He bought the forty acres west of Mr. Nelson's land. He, too, served in the Civil War. After re- turning to town he sold his land to Mr. Nelson and moved to Blaine.
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1860
John McKeen
1247296
Several families moved to town this year. John McKeen came from Keswick, N. B. (near Fredericton), with his family. He came up the St. John River by boat as far as Woodstock, then overland to town. His cattle were driven by land from his home in Keswick by his sons.
John bought 1300 acres of wild land from William Pennington at two dollars an acre. This land was in the northern part of the Portland Academy Grant on the west side of the road. He built a house, which is still standing, and cleared a farm.
Two years later he built a dam and shingle-mill on the Whitney Stream which crossed his land (see sawmills). As his sons grew older they went into the woods nearly two miles to cut cordwood which was put into kilns and burned slowly to make charcoal. This he sold to George London to be used in his blacksmith shop on Bunker Hill.
At this time there was no village at the Center, possibly a house or two. The only houses that could be seen were the ones that set where the south end of the Farley Block now is (years ago it was called the Sheloa Hartley house) and one which was the G. W. Collins place (now Perry Carmichael's). There was a small clearing on the Dennis Nelson (Sargent) place, Ackerson place (Dan Bradstreet), Orin Nel- son place (Donald Kinsbury), and at the Fulton place.
In 1884 John sold the mill site and much of the wild land to Elmer E. Milliken.
John had six sons and six daughters, namely: Pennington, Emerson, Alonzo, Lewis, Charles and Ben; Mary (Pryor), Annie (Hallett), Lizzie (Terrill), Jane (Esty), Melissa (Lunt), and Fern (who went west).
All the boys went west but Ben. After a few years Pennington, Lewis, and Charles returned. Fern who went west also, bought a ranch and started out for herself, but Fate stepped in. The man who owned the adjoining ranch was a bachelor; so, as the story goes, they were wed and lived happily ever after.
Pennington bought a farm on the West Road where his son Lewis lives today.
Ben stayed on the homestead where his son Frank lives today in the house built by his grandfather nearly a hundred years ago. His sons make the fourth generation on this farm, John, Ben, Frank and his sons.
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1860
G. W. Collins
G. W. Collins came from Ripley in the fall of 1860 and settled at the Corner. He was a very shrewd businessman and had business con- nections in many parts of the state.
At first Mr. Collins leased the store of C. F. A. Johnson, but the next year he bought it and the adjoining land. He moved the store to a new location and built a larger store, where he did a big business.
In 1866 he sold the store to Bedford Hume. This store was the sec- ond building from the Main Road on the north side of the street.
G. W. Collins carried on an extensive lumber business, and bought and sold cattle along with farming. He left town in 1871 to engage in business ventures elsewhere, but retained his business here. He re- turned in 1876 and built a sawmill at the Center on Whitney Stream. He also built a tannery for making upper leather for shoes (see tan- nery). It had just begun to operate when it was burned. He then sold his sawmill to T. G. Huntington and shortly this burned (see sawmills).
Mr. Collins then built a new sawmill and a new tannery, both of which he sold to C. P. Church.
About 1884 he bought the sawmill at the "Line" from John Pryor, which he improved by raising the dam and installing new machinery. He also bought the starch factory from George Hibbard which had been built about 1876. Mr. Collins carried on this factory along with others in nearby towns.
These were prosperous years for Mr. Collins, so he bought a great deal of wild land in the western part of the town from the present West Road northward, many thousand acres, hoping to sell it to new settlers.
In later years he lost considerable property, first in the fire at the Corner, May 11, 1894, and in the loss of the mill at the "Line" in De- cember of the same year.
After several people started law suits following the Corner Fire, he tried to pay much of the damages, but he was a shrewd man and usually got the best of any deal-a hard man to work for, though honest.
One story is told by those who worked for him. In those days much of the pay the men received was in goods from his store. In settling up with the men he would say: "An ought's an ought, a two's a two, a jug of molasses coming to you, where's your jug," and that is just about all they had coming to them.
One of his favorite sayings was: "Exactly you know, boy." He must have had a very thin face, for the people called him, "Hatchet face."
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Later they called him "Razor face." His answer to these was: "Getting sharper and sharper every year."
1860
Asa B. Harvey
Some years before 1860, Asa B. Harvey came here from Freedom prospecting for new lands. He met and married Marjorie Bradstreet, daughter of Nathaniel Bradstreet, returning to Freedom where he spent the greater part of his life. They had twelve children, five daughters and seven sons.
In 1860 he returned and bought a lot of wild land on the Snow Road, which he sold to Otis and Jerry Turner in 1864. This farm is to- day owned by Harry Simonson. He then had land on the Corner Road.
The next few years he bought cattle from the Maine and Canadian farmers and drove them to the southern part of the state selling some along the way. There were cattle yards along the way in which the cattle were put at night to keep them from straying. His son, Asa Jr., and one or two others were all the help he had in driving them. It took about five days to reach Bangor. He brought back wagons, sleds, plows, and other machinery for the farmers to use.
The same year, 1860, Henry Rideout bought the Cyrus Snow place on the East Blaine Road. Henry sold it to Phoebe Jane Field. She sold it to Henry C. Harvey, son of Asa B., February 21, 1872. Shortly after this transaction Henry C. Harvey died. After the business was settled, Asa Jr. bought it from Henry's widow, October 5, 1876.
One year after Asa Jr. took over the farm he had sown oats around the stumps in the newly cleared fields and that fall harvested three hundred bushels. Lemuel Cronkite of Canada came with his threshing machine to do the threshing. Helping Asa Jr. at the time was his brother Otis. Otis had a watch, probably one of the very few at that time in town. Lemuel had never seen one and after examining it and asking how it worked, he wanted it, so he agreed to thresh the whole 300 hundred bushels to pay for it. Lemuel got his watch, Asa got his oats threshed, and Otis got his pay in toll oats, which he took down state and sold, probably making enough to buy half a dozen watches.
Asa Jr. married Mary Gregory of Montville, Maine, but she did not come here until 1883. At that time she came, with her fourteen-months- old son Sumner, by train from Bangor to Debec Junction, N. B., then by team to Richmond, N. B., to Houlton and Bridgewater. She arrived
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here March 14. Asa moved the household goods from Montville by team. Mary was here in time to see the snow melt away and the stumps show up where the spring planting would be done around them.
Asa and Mary's children were Sumner, Lilla, Alta, Edna, Ernest, and Eula. Ernest lives on the James Briggs farm and Edna on the farm that her father cleared.
1860
Robert Jamison
Robert Jamison came here from Summerfield, N. B. All of his family were born in Canada except John, who was born in Fort Fairfield while his mother was visiting there.
Robert's family were Elizabeth and Agnes, who remained in Canada; Lottie, who married George Nelson; Lettie (Merritt), Presque Isle; Ruth (Mills), Robinson; Maude (Emerson), South Berwick; Sarah (Kingsbury); Harriet (Kingsbury); John, Will, and Douglas. The latter went to the West when a young man.
John married Zipporah Kilcollins of East Blaine. He owned the farm that is just across the railroad crossing on the Corner Road where he farmed for years. He had three sons and two daughters. Alberta (Bertie) married C. Edgar Lawrence; Elizabeth married Mahlon Slipp. Only two are living in town today: Bertie and Perley, who has a farm on the Packard Road. He lives on the lot that was owned by Richard Perkins before the Corner Fire. Norman and George moved to Rumford.
Will married Eliza Budrow. Their son, Robert Jamison, is the pres- ent rural mail carrier.
1860
Charles Parks
Charles Parks came from New Brunswick and bought land on the Boundary Line Road. This farm changed hands many times until some time in the early 1900's it was bought by Archie Nichols who kept it a few years then sold it to Cole Tompkins in 1918. Mr. Tompkins also bought an additional forty acres bordering the Whitney Stream on the north. In 1930 he bought the Jacob Morse farm at the south corner of the road at the top of the hill from Ralph Everett.
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Mr. Tompkins married Frances Hartley; they have one son, Merlin, and one daughter. Merlin and his father now farm together.
1860
Christopher Bradbury
Christopher Bradbury came here in 1860, he was Recruiting Officer during the Civil War. He married Mrs. Parsons, whose husband had been killed in the war. Mrs. Parsons owned the farm on the north corner of the Snow Road. Mrs. Parsons had a young son, Albert, who inherited the farm. This farm passed through several owners and was finally bought by William Whited. It is today owned by Harry Simonson.
1861
Alonzo Sargent
Two newcomers arrived in town this year, Alonzo Sargent and Ed- ward Webber.
Alonzo Sargent (no relation to Joseph Sargent) came from Vermont. He was in business of several kinds for a number of years, then dis- appeared suddenly-where he went no one knew. He left his business in a dreadful muddle. That, and his disappearance, caused considerable gossip for several years.
One of the stories that circulated was that he had been murdered for his money; but that was unlikely, for where would he have acquired much money? There was little in circulation in those days, as most of the business was carried on by trade.
1861
Edward Webber
Edward Webber came the same year, but where from is not known after all these years. He had a little shop at the end of the bridge. Where or when he left is also unknown.
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February 7, 1861 Cold Friday
February 7, 1861, was called "Cold Friday" because of the extreme cold. There were no thermometers, so there is no way of knowing just how cold it was. Stories are told that the cattle froze in the barns, but the barns were not as warm as those of today. Other stories are told that the weather was so cold that the men could not stay out of doors but a short time without becoming numbed with the cold. It must have been extreme to have been remembered.
1861
Berry Brothers
The Berry Brothers, John and Lewis, came here-where from is not known-and began clearing land on the west corner of the Snow and Boundary Line Roads. They both went to the Civil War and never re- turned to town. This land was later taken up by Joseph Sargent. It was later sold to Thomas Buckley and his grandfather Thomas Parks. It is now owned by Sam Hartley.
1863
Stackpole Family
The year 1863 brought only one family to town, but that family has been one of the most influential in the town for nearly a hundred years.
To get the background of this family we must turn back the pages of history to an earlier date, around 1830.
There lived in the town of Albion, Maine, a man named Samuel Stackpole. He was a man of character and courage. He had faith in the future and the vision of prosperity in a new land, not only for himself but for generations to come.
Samuel, therefore, left his quiet home and the comfort of the times for a home in the wilderness of Aroostook. Samuel and his wife and three sons-Emolas, Hiram, and Harris-made the long trip from Al- bion to Monticello by ox-team over a woods road, a distance of over a hundred miles.
Harris was married, and his wife and two-year-old son came with
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him, but the son found the journey too much and died shortly after arriving at the new home. Harris and his wife took up a farm in Monti- cello. They had two more sons and a daughter, Augustus Marcellus, Roscoe, and Mary.
Augustus M. was born in 1840, educated in the schools of Monti- cello, and attended Houlton Academy. In 1863 he married Serena Robinson of Blaine and came to Bridgewater, moving his household goods by ox-team. He had bought the farm of Jason Russell on the Snow Road. This farm had only a small clearing, a small barn and house, but by diligence and perseverance he cleared the land and made a fine farm. For several years he taught school during the winter months.
To Augustus M. and Serena were born four sons and one daughter: Atwood, William, Harris G., Augustus M Jr., and Ida Mae. Atwood, William, and Ida died in their early twenties.
After enduring the hardships of pioneer life and homemaking and raising a family, his wife, Serena, died in 1885 when Augustus Jr. was only four years old.
In 1887 Augustus Sr. married Annie Miller of Tracey Mills, N. B. To them were born two sons and three daughters: Grace, Frank, Ethel, Cora, and Donald. All except Donald, the youngest, died when they were nearly twenty years of age.
At an early age Augustus Sr. began to take an active part in town affairs. He served as First Selectman for twenty-five years. Most of this time was before 1905 when the first Town Report was issued. He was Town Treasurer from 1909 to 1917, a member of the Board of Trustees of Bridgewater Classical Academy, and he represented the district in the Maine State Legislature. His only fraternal affiliations were the Masons and Grange. He died in 1918 at the age of seventy-eight having served his town long and faithfully.
Harris G. was born in 1870 and was educated in the local schools. He married Addie Mae Peterson of Centerville, N. B., in 1895 and moved to his grandfather's farm in Monticello, which he had bought. He lived here until 1901 when he sold it and bought his father's farm on the Snow Road in 1902. His father then moved into town to live. Harris lived on the farm until 1907 when he built a house in town, but carried on his farming, adding three more farms in other parts of town. He also bought and shipped potatoes.
He followed in his father's footsteps in town affairs. He served as First Selectman from 1909 to 1933 except for two years, 1920 and 1921 when his brother Augustus Jr. held the office. He was a member of
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the Board of Trustees of Bridgewater Classical Academy over sixteen years and on the School Committee from 1935 to 1937. He had two daughters, Edith (Whited) and Ida (Farley), and one son, Ralph.
Augustus M. Jr. was born in 1881. He was educated in the public schools and was graduated from Ricker Classical Institute in 1901. After graduation he was hired as the first teacher of the new high school, Bridgewater Classical Academy. That same year he married Mabel MacIlroy of Houlton. They went to Chicago where they lived two years. While there he was engaged in the wholesale department of Marshall Field and Co.
In 1904 they returned. He then went into the retail machinery busi- ness. The next year he began farming.
From 1908 to 1916 he was Collector of Customs at the Boundary. In 1917 he built the two story concrete block in town where he added automobiles and hardware to his machinery business. In 1923 the busi- ness was incorporated as the A. M. Stackpole Co.
Like his father, Augustus M. Jr. served his town in various positions. He was Superintendent of Schools for five years before the formation of the School Union. He was on the School Committee from 1912 to 1921; he was a member of the Board of Trustees and Treasurer of Bridegwater Classical Academy for forty-five years. He was First Select- man in 1920 and 1921.
In 1935 Augustus and his wife moved to Houlton where he opened a salesroom for automobiles and trucks. He became active in the town of Houlton, being past president of the Chamber of Commerce, past president of the Meduxnekeag Club, founder and director of the Country Club, Treasurer for twenty years and Trustee for thirty years of Ricker Classical Institute and College, and Chairman of the Aroostook District of Boy Scouts. He died April, 1953.
He was a member of the Congregational Church in Houlton. His fraternal affiliations were Free and Accepted Masons, Mars Hill chap- ter, St. Alderman's Commandery, and Anah Temple of Bangor.
Donald, youngest son of Augustus Sr., was born in 1902; he was educated in the local schools and attended University of Maine. Like his father and brothers he has served the town as First Selectman and on the School Committee, as well as in other positions.
Ralph, son of Harris, is following the Stackpole tradition of serving the town in various offices.
So has history repeated itself through three generations.
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1864
Morse Family
Four men came to town in the year 1864. The first was Jacob Morse who came from Richmond, Maine. He bought a lot of wild land from John D. Baird on the south corner of the road opposite the present Victor Ketchum place. Only a small clearing had been made by Mr. Baird, so it was the task of Mr. Morse to clear the land and make a good farm. Besides farming he carried on a large lumber business and raised many cattle.
Jacob married Louise Moody after he came to town. They had two daughters, Augusta and Laura, and two sons, Fred and Guy. In Jacob's will he left the west part of the farm to his grandson and namesake, Jacob Morse II, who lives on it today.
Guy, son of Jacob, married Deborah Hallett; to them were born sixteen children, nine girls and seven boys. One boy died in infancy.
In 1896 Guy bought a farm on the West Road from Wilson Esta- brook. He lived here until 1901 when he sold to William Webber and moved to Seattle, Washington, but in 1909 he returned and bought a farm from Charles Bradstreet. This farm was also on the West Road. He lived here until 1920 when he sold it to Frank Sharp and moved to Massachusetts where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in October 1937 and was brought here for interment in the Boundary Cemetery.
Joshua (Doss), son of Guy, lives on the Sharp farm having married Frank Sharp's youngest daughter, Etta.
Jacob, as has been said, lives on his grandfather's farm. Jacob and Joshua are the only two of Guy's fifteen children that are living in town today.
Guy left a family of sixty grandchildren and fifty-seven great- grandchildren. Can anyone beat that? But then, he had fifteen children.
1864
Otis and Jerry Turner
Otis Turner and his Jerry came here and bought the land that Asa B. Harvey had bought in 1860. They cleared most of the land, then sold it to Albert Briggs, who sold the west half, which was the farm of Otis, to Fleetwood Simonson. The farm of Jerry is now owned by Sam Hartley.
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1864
William Shane
William Shane had the third farm on the south side of the Snow Road. His daughter, who was married, built a very modern house (for those times). This farm was sold to Edmund Hayes in 1867 and is to- day owned by Earl Kingsbury.
1864
Slipp Family
Samuel Slipp came from Cambridge, N. B., and bought a farm from a man by the name of Shirley. Samuel married Mary Hayward; they had three boys and two girls: J. Howard, Lucy, Charles, Isabelle, and Beecher. Most of them were not born here. Hard luck seemed to be Howard's lot during his younger years. First Beecher died in 1868; the next year his mother died, 1869; then four years later his father died in 1873. This left Howard at the age of sixteen to look after his young brother and two sisters.
In 1876 Howard married Georgiana Webber. They lived on the farm that his father had bought. As he grew more prosperous he bought a wood lot on the west side of the road from Charles and Eugene Bradstreet.
Howard and "Ann" Slipp had five girls and three boys: Laura, Marion, Geneva, Lucy, Amber, Bert, Frank, and Mahlon. Howard was a good farmer and as times grew better he built a new house and barns and, after potato raising increased, a large potato house. Howard died in 1934. His son Frank lives on the homestead.
Bert bought the John London farm in 1903, located on Bunker Hill. A few years later he bought a woodlot across the track which crosses his farm. Not long ago he bought the Robert Brown farm making over five hundred acres. Bert died in 1952. The other brothers and sisters live in other parts of the state.
1865 Nelson Caine (John Nelson)
Nelson Caine came here this year, but he did not buy property until 1867 when he bought a lot of land on the Snow Road, the third lot
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west of the Boundary on the south side of the road. His wife was a daughter of Otis Turner. His son, Edwin, later took over the farm, cleared more land, and improved the buildings. This farm was bought by John Nelson, and is owned by his son, Howard.
In 1914 John bought the Wilmot Hartley house in town where Howard lives today.
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