USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 29
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 29
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 29
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
About 1776, later rather than carlier, a Mr. Curtis is said to have kept a tavern where Thomas Grouse now lives, near where the rail- road crosses the New Meadows River.4 This house was kept as an inn as late as 1791. 1
The house owned and occupied by the late Doctor John D. Lincoln, which was built in 1772, was kept by Captain John Dunlap as a pub- lic house a portion of the time between then and 1800.5
In 1796 or 1797, Talleyrand, the distinguished French priest and political character, visited this country. He landed at Castine, and on his way to Boston he passed through Brunswick, and spent the greater part of the day at this house.6
Where the post-office and engine-house now stand on Maine Street,
1 Nathaniel Ames's Almanac, 1764.
8 Nathaniel Low's Almanac, 1799.
2 Farmers' Almanac, 1777.
4 Peter Jordan. Low's Almanac, 1791.
& McKeen, in Brunswick Telegraph. 6 Ibid.
292
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
there was formerly a building which was for many years a tavern, and was known, a part of the time, as WASHINGTON HALL. It was built by David Dunning about 1772, and was occupied by him for some years as a private residence. It was afterwards occupied by his son John, who kept a tavern there until 1807, when David Owen bought it and put on a large addition in front, using the old building as an L. Here Owen kept a tavern until about 1812, when Isaac O. Robertson took it and occupied it as an inn until 1815. The latter was succeeded by Russell Stoddard, who remained about two years.
Ebenezer Nichols, who had been keeping tavern directly opposite, then took it, and Stoddard moved to a building where the Tontine now stands. Nichols continued as landlord until his death, in 1824, and his widow carried on the business until 1827, when she moved back across the street to the building her husband had previously occupied. While she kept this inn it was called " Mrs. Nichols's Inn." . William Hodgkins moved from the corner of Maine and Pleasant Streets into . this Washington Hall building when Mrs. Nichols left it. Here he re- mained for a few years. After it was vacated by him it was occupied as a tenement house and for business purposes, till it was burned, in 1856.1
In 17992 a Mr. Chase kept a tavern which tradition places on the Captain William Woodside place, at Bunganock Landing.
The old tavern which stood in the northwest corner of the college yard, best known as MOORHEAD's TAVERN, was built in 1802 by Eben- ezer Nichols, but was not finished or occupied until early in 1803. Nichols was landlord of it until 1809. During this time it was the principal public and stage house in the town. Mr. Nichols was suc- ceeded, in 1810, by Colonel T. S. Estabrook, who continued in it for some years. After Estabrook left it, a man by the name of Coffin took it, and kept it until 1818, when he sold out to Isaac Dow. The latter kept it until 1820, when he committed suicide. In September of this year it was offered for sale. It was occupied at that time by William Hodgkins. The advertisement stated that it had " six rooms on the lower floor, somne large and well furnished ; a spacious and con- venient hall, a good cellar and never-failing well. The appurtenances are a large, well-finished stable, with other out-buildings ; a good garden of more than an acre." 3
Whether the house was sold at this time is not known, but in 1825 Alexander Moorhead was the proprietor. About the year 1831,
1 Dean Swift, Samuel Dunning, and other old residents.
2 Lou's Almanac, 1799. 8 Maine Intelligencer, 1820,
293
TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HALLS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
Moorhead retired from business, removed from town, and engaged in farming. He was succeeded by John L. Seavey, who kept the house for two or three years. The latter was succeeded by James Elliot, who was proprietor until 1839, at which time Mr. Moorhead returned to Brunswick and again assumed the management of this public house. Moorhead continued to keep it until 1842, when the building was pur- chased by the trustees of Bowdoin College. It was taken down in 1847 and rebuilt on Noble Street, and is now the residence of Mr. Joyce.1
A short distance west of Cook's Corner there stood for many years what was known as the PUMPKIN TAVERN, so called on account of its sign, which was a large ball about the size of a pumpkin, which it greatly resembled. It was a two-story house built by one Wads- worth previous to the war of 1812-14. Here he kept a public house until about 1836 or 1837. It was seldom patronized by travellers, and was in fact more a groggery than a tavern.
In the early part of this century "pumpkin taverns" were quite common, there being one in nearly every town, and they were all of about the same character, - the resort of the intemperate and depraved.
Soon after the war of 1812-14, Ebenezer Nichols, who had formerly kept the tavern on the hill, bought a one-story house, situated between what is now the residence of Doctor N. T. Palmer and that of the late L. T. Jackson, put a second story upon it, and fitted it np for a public house. Here he kept tavern for a few years, and then moved into the Washington Hall building.
About the year 1817, Russell Stoddard opened a public house, called STODDARD'S INN, in a large building which stood on the site of the present Tontine Hotel. It was built in 1803 for a store, and was occupied as such until Mr. Stoddard took it for a tavern. It was occupied by him until 1825, when it passed into the hands of John Barker and Charles M. Rogers. Barker soon sold out his interest, and Rogers assumed the sole management. The building was de- stioyed by fire in 1827. This house during its existence was the stage office and principal public house in Brunswick. It had a hall in which entertainments of various kinds were occasionally held. Stod- (lard had kept in the Washington Hall building for a year or two previous to opening this house.
1 McKeen, in Brunswick' Telegraph ; also Dean Swift, Samuel Dunning, Mrs. Lamb, and other old citizens.
294
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
The dwelling-house on the corner of Maine and Pleasant Streets, now owned and occupied by Captain Alfred H. Merryman, was built by the Honorable Jacob Abbott for his residence, in 1807. At his death, in 1820, it passed into the hands of his son Jacob, who occu- pied it until 1823, when he removed to a house opposite the colleges, and this house passed into the hands of William Hodgkins, who fitted it up for a tavern, and occupied it as such from January, 1824, until some time in 1827. The house was known as HODGKINS'S INN, and a hall which was situated in the L of the building was known as HODGKINS'S HALL. In 1827, Hodgkins sold out to Charles M. Rogers, and moved into the Washington Hall building, which had just been vacated by Mrs. Nichols. Mr. Rogers had been burned out on the opposite side of the street, where he had been proprietor of the Stoddard House. He remained in his new quarters for about a year, when he moved to Topsham and opened the Lincoln House in November, 1828. He was succeeded in the charge of Hodgkins's Inn by John L. Seavey, who occupied it as the MAINE HOTEL until 1830. At this time it was repaired and refitted, and Major John Stinchfield took it and kept it until 1837, at which time he bought the house now occupied by Captain Isaac L. Skolfield, and fitted it up for a public house. Mr. James Mustard then became pro- prietor of the Maine Hotel. In 1840, Mr. Mustard died. The house was then kept for two years by Erastus Niles, and then for a single year by Joseph W. Sargent, when Mr. Niles again assumed the man- agement and kept it until 1845.
James Mustard, son of the former landlord, took it in 1845 and con- tinued until 1849, when Aaron Adams became the proprietor. While under the management of the latter, the house was known as the PEJEPSCOT HOUSE. In 1853 a Mr. Marston became proprietor, but he died within a year, and the house, passed into the hands of J. R. W. Hoitt, and was known as the AMERICAN HOUSE. In 1856 it was kept as a boarding-house, called the BRUNSWICK HOUSE, by Benjamin Libby. In 1860, John R. Daly occupied it as a boarding-house. He was suc- ceeded, in 1861 by Timothy Bradley, and in 1862 by E. F. Anderson, who kept a public house for a short time.
In 1863. Captain Merryman purchased the house and fitted it up for his residence. The house and grounds were greatly improved and are now an ornament to the village.
The TONTINE HOTEL was built in the year 1828 by a corporation known as " The Brunswick Tontine Hotel Company." The incor- porators were Roger Merrill, David Dunlap, Benjamin Weld, Richard
295
TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HALLS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
T. Dunlap, and John Owen, 2d. The Act of Incorporation limited the capital stock to " not less than $6,000 nor more than $15,000, in shares of one hundred dollars each. Among the original stockholders were Ebenezer Everett, Esquire, Doctor Isaac Lincoln, General A. B. Thompson. Colonel A. J. Stone, General J. C. Humphreys, L. T. Jackson, Caleb Cushing, R. P. Dunlap, David Shaw, George Skolfield,
THE TONTINE HOTEL.
James Otis, and others. The hotel was built during the summer and fall of 1828, by Anthony C. Raymond, and was opened to the public on New Year's day, 1829. The establishment cost nearly $7,000. On the evening of January 2, the landlord, Colonel Elijah P. Pike, gave a supper to about fifty citizens of Brunswick and Topsham.
The Androscoggin Free Press of January 14, 1829, in a paragraph describing the building, says : -
" It contains thirty apartments besides closets, store-rooms, etc .. and a hall which, for elegance and spaciousness, is not surpassed in the State." !
Colonel Pike continued landlord of the hotel until 1836, when Erastus Richards leased it for two or three years. He was succeeded, in 1839, by - Holland and Jacob M. Berry. The next year Mr. Berry assumed the sole management of the hotel, and continued its landlord until 1850, when he went to California, leaving the manage- ment of the hotel in the hands of Mr. Leonard Townsend. Mr. Berry had been in California only a few months when he died. The contract with Mr. Townsend having been made for a year, he contin- ned the management of the hotel until 1851, when the control of the property passed into the hands of Mr. James Berry, a brother of Jacob. Mr. Berry at once assumed the management of the hotel, and continued landlord until 1867, when he sold out to Mr. H. B. Pinkham,
296
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
who conducted the hotel until 1875. He was succeeded by Mr. S. B. Harmon, and the latter was in 1877 succeeded by Mr. Brewster, the present landlord. From the building of the hotel till the completion of the railroad, this hotel was the stage office and the principal public house in town.
STINCHFIELD HOUSE .- The house now owned and occupied as a residence by Captain Isaac L. Skolfield, on the corner of Maine and School Streets, was in 1837 purchased of the heirs of Honorable Ben- jamin Orr, by Major John Stinchfield, and fitted up for a public house. Major Stinchfield kept a tavern there until his death, in September, 1844. His family continued the business for a short time longer, after which the building was occupied by Mr. G. C. Swallow, who kept school in it. From the opening of this public house, in 1837, until the Moorhead tavern was sold, in 1842, there were four public houses in the village, viz., the TONTINE, the MAINE HOTEL, STINCH- FIELD's, and MOORHEAD'S.
An inn called GATCHELL'S TAVERN was kept near Gatchell's Mills, in the southeastern part of the town, from 1837 to 1850, or thereabouts. It was kept at first by Joseph and Francis Gatchell, and after 1840 by Francis Gatchell alone. It was a famous place for " sprees," and was the resort of students and others bent upon having " a good time."
William P. Storer kept a public house for three or four years from 1837, in the western part of the town, near the Durham line, at what was then known as Storer's Corner.
In 1838, Paul R. Cleaves opened a public house west of " Powder- House Hill," just beyond the corner of Mill and Pleasant Streets. He remained only a year or two, not receiving sufficient patronage to warrant his continuing the business in that location.
About the year 1825, Benjamin Peterson kept a tavern on. the Bath road, about a mile beyond Cook's Corner, which was known as the HALF-WAY HOUSE. In 1835 he bought a farm in the town of Jeffer- son, sold this tavern, and moved away. Probably Thomas Wheeler bought it at this time, as he kept a tavern at this place for some years prior to 1845, which always went, with the college students, by the name of OLD WHEELER'S. It was a large one-story building. Like most of the public houses out of the village, it was a noted resort for carousals.
In 1870, John T. Smith purchased the residence of the late Gen- eral Richard T. Dunlap, and converted it into a public house, called the BOWDOIN HOTEL.
297
TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HALLS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
In 1868 the building owned by Mr. Jotham Varney on Maine Street, opposite the mall, was converted into a public house, and has been occupied as such by different parties until the present time. It is now called the BRUNSWICK HOUSE.
The foregoing comprise all the public houses known to have been kept, at any period, in Brunswick.
The earliest public hall to which we have found any reference was the one in the tavern which stood where the post-office and engine- house are now. At first the hall was known by the name of its pro- prietor, as OWEN'S HALL in 1807. ROBERTSON'S HALL in 1812. It received the name of WASHINGTON HALL about the year 1815. It was for many years the only hall in which public entertainments were given. In this hall. also, private schools were taught at different times.
STONE'S HALL, on the corner of Maine and Mill Streets, was, in 1812 and subsequently, used for religious meetings and for other pur- poses not requiring a larger hall.
MASONIC HALL, on Mason Street. now the engine-house and hall of .. Niagara, No. 3." was built in the year 1817, and besides being used for masonic purposes. the building has been used at different times for private schools, and, if we mistake not. for public lectures.
STODDARD'S HALL was in the tavern kept by Russell Stoddard in a building which occupied the site of the present Tontine Hotel, and which was destroyed by fire in 1827. Frequent allusions have been found to this hall. and it was probably large and comfortable, and adapted to the requirements of the town at that time.
While Hodgkins kept an inn in the house, now the residence of Captain Alfred Merryman, there was a hall in the L which was known as HODGKINS HALL. In this hall religious and political meetings were sometimes hell, and it was also used as a school-room, and for public entertainments.
The TONTINE HALL WAS, for many years subsequent to its erection in 1828, the principal hall in Brunswick for all sorts of public gather- ings, and it has always been a favorite place for balls and assemblies.
HUMPHREY'S HALL was over the store now occupied by Mr. Bal- com as a hardware store, and in 1841, and thereabouts. was used for dances and for public meetings. not requiring a large hall.
ODD FELLOWS HALL was, from 1844 to 1849, over the store of John S. Cushing, where Lemont Block is now. The building was burned in 1849. and the Odd Fellows then went into a room over the store of A. T. Campbell, on the corner of Maine and Lincoln Streets.
293
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSIIAM, AND HARPSWELL.
MCLELLAN'S HALL was opened as a public hall about the year 1851. and from that time until the erection of Lemont Hall, in 1870, it was used almost exclusively for public meetings of all kinds and for public entertainments.
LEMONT HALL has been, since its erection, the best hall in town. It is a neat and comfortable room, with a seating capacity of about eight hundred. It is not adapted to all classes of entertainments, but for lectures, concerts, fairs, etc., it is far superior to any of its pred- ecessors.
IN TOPSHAM.
There is some doubt in regard to who kept the first house of entertainment in Topsham. Adam Hunter, who came to town in 1718, and who died about the year 1770, is said to have kept the - first. though not a licensed one. On the other hand, the statement is made by the very same authority 1 that Colonel Samuel Winchell. who settled on the Cathance in 1750, " kept the first public house. not a tavern, as is usual now, but his house was deemed the first in town, and for his house strangers used to inquire."
Next to this house, in order of time, was the one kept by David Reed, five miles below the Falls on the lower road to Bowdoinham, near the line. He was licensed May 26, 1761, as an innholder, in the six following years as a retailer, and again as an innholder in 1772, 1873, and 1874.2
In 1762, Samuel Wilson was licensed as an innholder, and for each successive year, down to September, 1766, when his last license was granted.3 John Reed kept an inn, probably this one, in 1768. This last year, William Wilson is mentioned in the Pejepscot Papers as an innholder in Topsham. He was licensed in 1761, and an Isabella Wilson in 1767.4 The precise locality of the two inns kept by the Wilsons is not known, but they were doubtless within the limits of what now constitutes the village of Topsham. The reason for this supposition is, that Samuel and William Wilson owned lots in 1768 opposite the fort,5 and in 1773 there was a tavern kept at Topsham Ferry by a Mr. Wilson.6
About 1770, Mr. John Hunter kept a tavern about two miles from the village, on the road to Bowdoinham. Nothing definite is known as to the length of time Mr. Hunter kept an inn, but it was probably
1 Woodman's Journal.
2 Pejepscot Papers. 3 Ibid.
4 Lincoln County Court Records.
6 Lowe's Almanac, 1773.
5 Plan of Topsham in 1768.
299
TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HALLS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
for five or six years. He was town clerk from 1773 to 1775. He died when thirty-two years of age. In 1777 a town meeting was held at . Widow Hunter's." From these facts it is probable that Mr. Hunter died in 1775 or 1776, and he had probably kept tavern for some years previous to that time. Mrs. Hunter carried on the business for some years, until she married Mr. Alexander Rogers. It used to be the custom for parties of five or six to ride from the village to this inn, and for the last one who arrived to pay for the " treat." Town meet- ings were occasionally held at this house, when the severity of the cold made the meeting-house too uncomfortable. It was at this house that an old negro, who lived in the vicinity, known as " Bill Fortin," attacked the mistress with warm words of invective, because some one had told him, in sport, that she had said that they had never any black sheep in their flocks until he sheared them.
While Mrs. Hunter carried on this house, an old soldier named Pike (pronounced Peek), returning from the war in tattered clothes and with his faithful musket upon his shoulder, begged of her to allow him to remain and work upon her farm. She consented and gave him plenty to eat and a new suit of clothes ; whereupon he remarked that he would stay as long as he lived. In after years he remarked in still stronger terms, that he would remain with her "as long as a single shingle remained on the roof." The old house still stands in its oaken strength, while Pike, a faithful servant, has long since mouldered in the dust. After Widow Hunter's marriage, the house ceased to be a tavern. Mr. Rogers, however, in 1803 and for some years after his marriage to Mrs. Hunter, kept an inn at his own house, and it was the resort for lunch and grog on Sunday noons of all who attended meet- ing in the old east meeting-house. Here, too, the militia collected on training days, and here the procession was formed when Washington's death was observed, in 1800. The house descended from Mr. Rogers to his son, Honorable George Rogers, and from him to the late George A. Rogers, Esquire, in whose family it now remains.
In 1773, John Merrill was licensed as an innholder. For how long a time he kept a public house is not known.
In 1774, James Purington, and in 1779, John Whitney, kept tavern somewhere in Topsham. Samuel Tilton was licensed in 1778, and John Blanchard in 1791.
In 1792, Brigadier Samnel Thompson kept a public house in the building afterwards occupied by Harvey Thompson, now destroyed, near the entrance to the depot grounds. Hezekiah Wyman was licensed the same year.
300
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
From about 1800 to 1829, Francis Tucker kept a public house in the building which is still standing on Main Street nearly opposite the Bank building. This was for many years the principal public house in town.
The old Gideon Walker house, which stood a few rods south of the present Walker homestead, was used as a tavern for some years in the latter part of the last century, as early as 1792 and as lately as 1803.
About 1812 the SAGER HOUSE was kept by a Mr. Sager. It was situated on the northwest corner of Main and Winter Streets, where the Perkins Building is now. It was afterwards destroyed by fire.
From 1822 until about 1855, John Jack kept a tavern in what is known as the Jack neighborhood, near the little river line. During the early part of the time there was a great deal of travel, and the house was generally full. Lewiston was then a small village, and Topsham, Brunswick, and Bath were the markets for all of the interior towns.
From 1814 to 1829, Nathaniel Green was a licensed innholder in Topsham. Between the years 1831 and 1836 he kept a public house for the accommodation of persons attending court, in the building now used by the Franklin Family School. The next year, 1837, he went to Augusta, where he kept the Palmer House.
Prior to 1826 a public house was kept by Sullivan Haynes, and in 1826 by Prince Dinsmore, in a building which stood on the site of the late residence of Mr. Edwin M. Stone on Winter Street. In 1826 the house was burned. It was owned at that time by Captain Samuel Perkins. It must have been rebuilt at once, as in 1828, Charles M. Rogers, of Brunswick, took it and advertised it as the LINCOLN HOTEL, "a new and commodious house." From 1830 to 1834 this tavern was kept by James Mustard. In 1836 it was kept by Suel and Alden Baker as the TEMPERANCE HOTEL. In 1837 it was kept by Jeremiah Clough. In 1838 and 1839 (and probably later), by Aaron Crowley. Afterwards, for a short time, by a Mr. Moulton. In 1844 by Joseph C. Snow, and in 1845 by A. W.'Hewey, during which time it again went by the name of the Lincoln House. After this it was kept by Leeman Hebberd for a while.
In 1817, Thomas G. Sandford, Jonathan Baker, George F. Richard- sou, Daniel E. Tucker, and Samuel Veazie were all licensed as innholders.
In 1829. Daniel Dennett was a licensed innholder. His house was on the east side of Main Street, a little above the present post office. It was not much of an establishment.
301
TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HALLS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
About 1845, George Green had a tavern on the island, known as the WASHINGTONIAN HOUSE. It was afterwards called the ELM HOUSE,
Several of the above-named public houses had halls attached for dancing and other public purposes. Besides these there have been at different times in Topsham the following public halls : -
In a building which stood on the site of the Godfrey House, on Green Street, there was a hall in which a dancing-school was kept in 1799. This house was purchased about 1804 by Reverend Jonathan Ellis. The hall had a swinging partition in it, the hinges of which were at the top. When this partition was opened it was fastened up to the ceiling by hooks and staples.1
The Court House was occasionally used as a public hall during the whole period of its existence. It was used for a public oration as early as 1804. At a later period it was occupied on Sundays by different religious organizations, and by the town for many years for its annual meetings. It was also occasionally used for travelling shows and other exhibitions.
At a later day the town-house, situated opposite the village burying- ground, was the principal place for public entertainments.
Still later, the hall of the Sagadahoc Agricultural Society was, and now is, used for fairs, dances, etc., but it is too large for lectures or for any ordinary entertainments.
Perkins Hall and White's Hall, over stores on Main Street, have been used for meetings of one kind and another, not requiring larger accommodations. The engine hall has also been used for small gatherings. Topsham has never had a hall suitable, in all respects, for public entertainments, the halls referred to being either too large or too small, and not adapted for all occasions for which a hall is required.
IN HARPSWELL.
About 1762. Richard Starbird and Timothy Bailey were licensed as innholders, in Harpswell.
A Mr. Eastman kept a sailor boarding-lionse on the east side of Condy's Point, Great Island, before and during the Revolution. The only public house on this island since that time is believed to be the UNION HOUSE, which was built in 1862 by David W. Simpson, and was conducted by him for one year. It not proving a success, he
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.