USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 57
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 57
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 57
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The late Alexander F. Boardman was in the business from 1840 until his death in 1876. Prominent among others in the business since 1840. and who are not now in trade, were Gould Jewell & Co., Henry Carville. and James G. Collins.
The first FURNITURE STORE was established about 1845 by Robert L. Dodge, who subsequently sold out to Harvey Stetson.
The first person who engaged in the MILLINERY business in Bruns- wick is thought to have been a Mrs Moody, who had a shop as early as 1820, and perhaps earlier. In 1820, Mrs. L. T. Jackson advertised that she carried on the straw manufacturing business in all its varie- tics, and that old bonnets could be made over. After her was Miss Mary Humphreys and a Mrs. Whitmore. From 1821 to about 1827, Miss Eliza Nichols had a millinery establishment, and Miss M. Nichols in 1833 or thereabouts.
About the year 1825, Miss Dorothy Giddings and her sister, Mrs. Boardman, came to Brunswick, and opened a millinery store in a wooden building which stood on the north corner of Maine and Green Streets. Here they remained for at least five years, and then removed to a building which stood where the Mason Street Church now stands. Subsequently Mrs. Boardman moved into Dunlap Block, in the store now occupied by B. G. Dennison, where she continued for many years in the millinery and dress-making business, adding to her stock a large variety of dry goods. At the same time Miss Giddings, " Dolly" Gid- dings as she was called, traded in an old building which stood on the corner of Maine and O'Brien Streets, where is now the residence of Mr. Benjamin Greene. Here she traded until her death in 1870. Her stock was always large and of superior quality, and comprised not only millinery goods, but almost every conceivable article of feminine apparel. Her counters and shelves were piled promiscuously with all sorts of articles and apparently in the greatest disorder, yet she could always quickly find any desired article, no matter how deeply it might be covered with other things. After her death the goods were sold at auction. and many were the articles of ancient costume which were brought to light and sold for a small sum, which once would have cost much and could have been purchased only by the more wealthy citi- zens. Of those at a later date Miss Harriet N. Houghton, about 1854, and Mrs. B. G. Dennison, 1838 to 1866, should be specially mentioned.
The first TIN Snor of which there is any record was that kept by G. W. Coffin, opposite the colleges, in 1821. After him were William Prescott, H. M. Prescott, Horace P. Hubbard, and others. Of all
589
COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK.
who have been in this business in Brunswick, Mr. Benjamin Furbish is justly entitled to the first rank, he having been engaged in it from 1835 to 1866, a period of thirty-one years. His business was, at first, that of the manufacture of tinware, to which was afterward added the sale of stoves, hardware, agricultural implements, crockery, and glassware. He was the inventor and manufacturer of one of the first cooking-stoves made in the country. He was the first person in Brunswick to keep a general assortment of hardware.
PRICES.
An account of the various trades and occupations of the settlers having been given, it will be appropriate here to mention the prices which have prevailed, from time to time, of the necessaries of life and the wages paid for labor.
The earliest mention of the price of live stock is in 1635. At this time the current price for good oxen, in New England, was £25 each, for the best. It is not probable that any were owned here at that time.
The following inventory of the Pejepscot proprietors' stock at Brunswick, their list of goods for sale, and the cost of the provision made for their cattle in 1715, will serve to show not only the cost, but the character of the articles in town at that date. Where more than one article of the same kind is given, the reader can make his own calculation as to the price of each.
The lime which stands at the head of the list was sold in hogsheads containing one hundred pounds, and the price was twenty-one shillings per hogshead, probably exclusive of the barrel.
The following is the list of the STOCK AT BRUNSWICK : 1
40 hhds of Stone Lime
£50
4
4
2 Yoke of Oxen
29
0 0
1 Cart horse
7
5
0
Cart, Collars & tackling
8
12 0
2 Cows with Calf .
9
0
0
4 Swine
7
0
0
1 Canoe & 2 boat oars
2 5
10
James Irish our Serv't man
9
1
6
Books of Accts & Records
1
2
6
1 Plow 20/ Timber chain 28 / Silvanus Davis' Land of Nelson
40
0
0
15 Axes
4
1
6
2 Iron Crows
1
5
0
.
1 Pejepscot Records.
8
0
590
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
6 hoes 25/ 6 Hatchets 21 /
£2
6
0
3 Spades 22/6 : 3 Shovels 12/ .
1
14
6
4 mauls 10/ 1 fork &c 10/
1
0
0
1 Grindstone 6/ Rope 30
1
16 0
2 Compasses
0
8 0
1 peck & } peck
0
3 0
£178 13 2
CARGO for sale by proprietors at Brunswick, 1715 : - 1
Smiths tools, as per bill Carpenters tools
£9
13
6
1 Tierce Rum
10
12 0
1 bbl Molasses
3
16 7
1 Tierce Sugar
10
6
4
4 Jackets & Breeches
4
0
0
1 Watchcoat
1
5
0
2, 1, 12 of Iron at 40/
4
14
10
10 cheeses .
18
6
2 bbs of salt
1
16
6
1 doz yarn hose
1
6
0
6 mill'd caps
1
1
0
2 gro. short pipes
0
8 0
10c hard soap
0
6
8
£64 10 2
PROVISION FOR CATTLE & Keeping this winter (1715-16) : - 2
3 Bundles screwed hay
£20
6
0
4 load of salt hay
4
0
0
20 bushells oats
2
3
4
Keeping hogs in Town
0
10 0
1 hhd Indian Corn
3
8
3
1 hhd of Oats
1
8
9
2 bush. Corn & Bag
0
11 0
Getting Cattle on board
0
6
0
Water hhds
0
3
0
.
8
6
6
1 bb : of roll'd Tobacco
3
18 9
£14 16 4
On the cover of the Records from which the above is taken is the following, "4 Q' F. C. 12/ ," which probably means "four quires of foolscap. price 12/ ." This entry was probably made at the time of the purchase of the book, and shows the value of paper at that time. In 1730 the Pejepscot proprietors paid for lumber as follows : --
1 Pejepscot Records.
2 Ibid.
.
591
COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK.
To 700 boards £2 2 0 To 600 feet Merble & 500 ft refuse boards 2 11 01
During Revolutionary times it cost one man the labor of half a month in haying-time to buy a pair of shirts. Men made it a condi- tion in their contracts, at that time, that, if they hired near the falls, they should not have salmon to eat oftener than five days in a week, or if they hired near the salt-water bays, that they should not have wild fowl, clams, or fish more than three fourths of the time.2
A similar statement is often made in relation to other towns, and it is not at all improbable that such provisions were often, in olden times, inserted into the contracts between laborers and their employers quite generally throughout New England.
In 1777 a list of prices for labor, provisions, etc., was fixed by a committee chosen by the town in accordance with an Act of the Gen- eral Court of Massachusetts, entitled " An Act to prevent Monopoly and Oppression." In order that the present generation may know somewhat of the expenses and mode of life of their forefathers, this list is inserted in this connection, just as it appears upon the records : -
" Common Labour from ye first of April to the last of Nov 3/ pr day and found as usual, and at other seasons of the year in proportion.
" Mowing and Reaping 3/8 pr day and found as usual.
" Carpenters & Joyners 4/ pr day & found as usual.
" Men taylers 3/ pr day & found.
" Oxen 2/8 pr day.
" Good Marchantable Wheet 7/6 per B !.
" Good Rye 5/ pr B1.
" Oates 3/ pr B1.
" Good Indian Corn or Meal 4/4 pr B1.
" Good Sheeps wool 2/ pr pd.
" English Hay 3/ pr Hd.
" Salt Hay 2/ pr HId.
" Good fresh pork well fatted 64 pr pd.
" Salt Pork 7ª pr pd.
" Good Beef 3ª pr pound and Beef of an inferiour kind in proportion.
" Rano Ilides 34 pr pd.
" Calve Skins 6ª pr pound.
" Sole Leather 1/3 pr pound and upper leather in proportion.
" Good Marchantable Salt 10/ pr Bll.
" Salt made from sea water in the State 12/.
1 Pejepscot Papers.
2 McKeen, MS. Lecture.
592
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
" Good West India Rum 6/8 by the HIª including the Cask & 6/10 by the Barrell exclusive of the Barrell. 7/8 by the single gall and 2/ by the Quart & so in proportion for a smaller quantity.
" New England Rum 3/10 by the Hd or Bll exclusive of 13/4 for the Hd & 4/ for the BII, 4/6 by the Gall with a reasonable allowance for transporting it from where it is Distild & smaller quantity in proportion.
" West India toddy 1/ pr mug.
" New E. Do 9d pr mug.
" Oates 3ª pr quart.
" Horse Keeping 1/10 pr night.
" Good Flax 1/ pr pound.
" Spanish Potatoes 1/2 in the fall 1/6 in the Spring or Sum".
" Other Potatoes 1/6 in the fall & 2/ in the Spring or Summer.
" Gease 7 /.
" Beans 6/ pr B".
" Butter 10ª pr single pd & 9d by the firkin.
" Good Cheese manufactured in this State 6ª pr pound.
., Good Brown Sugar 3ª pr Hundred & 8d pr the single pd.
" Molasses 3/4 by the Hogd inclusive of the Hd & 3/8 by the B" exclusive of the B" and 4/ by the gallon.
" Good Yarn Stockens 6/8 pr pair.
" Mens Shoes made of good neat Leather of the Best Common Sort 8/ pr pair and for others in like proportion according to their size and quality.
" Good Salt Beef 33ª pr pound.
" Cotton Wool 3/8 pr pound.
" Good Coffy 1/4 pr pound.
" Good yard wide Cotton & Linen 4/ pr yd and other widths in proportion.
" Good Mutton, Lamb & Vea! 4ª pr pd.
"' Good White Pine Boards 36/ pr thousand.
" Good Marchantable White Pine Shingles 8/ pr thousand."
Men were allowed for work on the highways thirty dollars each per day. The use of a plough was five dollars per day. The price of a pair of army shoes was set by that of seven pecks of corn, and the price of a blanket by that of four bushels of corn.
In 1778 provisions were still dearer, and one man said that he had to pay three silver dollars for one bushel of corn.1 This excessive
1 McKeen, Manuscript Lecture.
593
COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK.
price was not, it will be seen, due to the depreciation of the currency. It was owing to the fear of a famine, and was not lasting. Yet there was a very great and rapid depreciation in the value of the currency between 1777 and 1781, which caused much financial distress. On January 1, 1777, one hundred dollars in silver was worth but one hundred and five dollars in currency. In 1778 the worth of the same silver had increased to $328 in currency; in 1779, to $742; in 1780, to $2,934 ; and1 in February, 1781, it was worth $7,500.
The following bill for repairs, made upon the east meeting-house in 1785, is inserted in this place to show the cost of labor and the prices of carpenters' materials, etc., immediately after the close of the Revolutionary war. Mr. Peterson, who made, or superintended, the repairs, probably prepared the boards and other lumber used at his mill at New Meadows River. The amount charged for grog is quite reasonable, considering that the labor lasted for four if not five days, and that the customs of the time allowed an almost unlimited use of this beverage.
" May ye 25. 1785 the town of Brunswick Dr to John Peterson for James Wookfields Bill 20
17 5
to 4 m of shingles at 12/ to ¿ m of Claboard Nails 3/ 2 11 C
to ¿ m Duble tens 7/ 500 board most Clear 30/
1 17 0 timber for the porch & scaffold 6/} Day work with team 6 / 0 12 0
1 0 0 2 m shingle nails at 4/ 300 feet Boards 12/
paid for one & half Days work 10/ Grog for Carpenters 1/6 . 0 11 6
350 feet boards for staging 15 / 40 feet pine timber . 1 1 0
halling timber & boards 3/ 2 m shingle nails 8/
0 11 0
1 m Claboard nails 6/ 84 pound of shingle nails 10/
0 16 0
43 m of shingles at 12/ 2
83 pound Dubble tens 7/ 7 pound Shingle nails 8 / .
0 15
0
12 pound more of Shingle nails 3 & ₺ m
0 14
0
5 gll fish oyl at 2/8
0 13
4
3 Day work of my self & Weston at 3/
0
18 0
1} Day work more my self
0 6 0
2 mugs Grog for Carpenters 1/6 1} mugs more 1/2
0
2 8
36 2 11
" A true Coppy from my book Drawn off this 5 Day of April 1790, by me
" JOHN PETERSON."
From a day-book of Mr. Jotham Stone, kept in 1806 and 1807, the following interesting facts are obtained : --
A common laborer, in those days, received seventy-five cents for a
17 0
1 History of Concord, Mass., p. 123.
38
594
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
day's work, -from sunrise to sunset. Female help received four shillings a week. A seamstress or dress-maker received twenty-five cents a day ; a tailoress, two shillings. These avocations, with spin- ning and weaving, constituted the whole range of female labor.
Very few dress goods were sold ; people wore those of their own manufacture, of cotton and wool. A calico or a cambric were the go- to-meeting dresses for the masses. It was only the rich who sported silks, and those were heirlooms.
The largest quantity of calico sold by Mr. Stone to one person, dur- ing the year, was to Mr. Samuel Melcher, twenty-three yards, at a cost of ten dollars and fifty cents. This made four dresses, - large patterns, too !
The only ready-made clothing for men was dye-pot blue woollen pants (they were called trousers then), just as the cloth came from the loom, at one dollar and seventy-five cents per pair.
Among the goods sold by Mr. Stone were bonnets at from one dollar and twenty-five cents to five dollars and fifty cents, muff's and tippets, laces and ribbons, silks, shawls, silk hose, books, hardware, provisions, groceries, and what was then considered an indispensable necessary of life and a test of hospitality in every house, rum, brandy, gin, and wine. Nearly every customer, from the Rev. Mr. to the tenant of the gutter, had it charged to him. Liquors were then cheap. Good old Santa Croix was only one dollar and seven- teen cents, and brandy and gin one dollar and fifty cents per gallon.
Next to liquors it is surprising to note the quantity of cheese sold at eighteen to twenty cents per pound.
Sugar, tea, coffee, and tobacco were the next most prominent articles.
There was a kind of tobacco done up in a cord and wound into balls, like wicking, which was called ladies' twist, and a coarser kind called pigtail, both of which were sold by the yard.
Of flour very little was sold. The people lived on home-grown grain. During the year there were but two whole barrels charged. One of these was to Reverend B. Titcomb, ten dollars and fifty cents ; and the other was to Reverend J. McKeen. Two half barrels were sold to two individuals ; two others bought each one dollar's worth, being fourteen pounds. Doubtless some flour was paid for on deliv- ery, but probably very little, as nearly everybody had an account in those days.
From the same day-book the following list of prices in 1806-7 is made up, which is compared with another list, obtained from the
595
COMMERCIAL . HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK.
Brunswick Telegraph in 1853. The reader can make his own co :- parison with the prices of the present day.
PRICE CURRENT.
ARTICLES.
1806-7.
Butter, per pound .
.20-25 .50 .
1853. .20-25 .20-25
Corn brooms
Broadcloth, per yard
$4-8.
$2-4.
Bar soap, per lb.
.17 4.50
5-7. .07-08 .12 6-7.50
Loaf sugar, Ib.
.28-30
HIyson tea, lb.
1.50
Souchong, 1b.
1.
.09-10 .67 .33-40 .25 .10-12
Cheese, lb.
.17-20
Tobacco, lb. .
.25
.25
White lead, lb. .
.25
.08-09
Linseed oil, gall.
1.50-1.75
.80
Spirits turpentine
1.50
.75-80
Wrought nails, per 100
1.00
.25
4p. and 6p. nails per lb.
.17
.05
10p. nails per lb.
.10
.05
Cuba coffee, lb.
.40
.10
India cotton, yd.
.30
.05
British cotton, yd.
.58
.13
Eggs, doz.
.15-17
.10-20
Glass. per 100 ft.
15.00
4.50
Glass, 8 by 10, per light
.10
.03
Lamb and mutton, 1b.
.06-07
.06-07
Veal. lb. .
.08-10
.06-08
Chickens, 1b.
.06-08
.08-12
Geese, lb.
.07
.08
Turkey, 1b.
.08
.10-12
Salmon, 1b.
.08
.20-25
Molasses, gall.
.58
.25
Vinegar, gall.
.33
.17-20
Cotton wool, lb.
.35
.07-08
Cask raisins, 1b.
.17
.12
.10-12 .20
Pork, clear lb.
Brown sugar, cwt.
14.
Bohea, 1b.
.50
.06-08
Beef. per cwt.
Pork, round hogs, lb.
596
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
ARTICLES.
1806-7.
1853.
Box raisins, 1b.
.25
.17-20
Figs. lb. .
.20
.17
Cranberries, qt.
.123
.10
Corn, bush. .
$1.00
Hay, 100 lbs.
2.00
$1.00
Table-salt, bush.
3.00
Saleratus, 1b.
.25
.07
Nutmegs. per oz.
.67
.08
Lemons, doz.
.75
.37
Rice, lb. .
.08
.05
Starch, 1b.
.50
.17
Lard, lb. .
.18
.16
Oats, bush.
.79
.50
Dry cod-fish. lb.
.06
.05
Crackers, doz.
.17
.08
Potatoes, bush. .
.50
.50
Barn shovels
1.00
.50-92
Hoe
.75
.50
Axe
2.00
1.00
Ilammer
.75
Calico .
.56
.10
Black and white cambric
1-1.50
.17-50
Tallow candles
.25
.17
Flour. bbl.
10.50
6-8.50
The following was the price current in September, 1820 : -
Apples (per bushel)
25 to 37 cents.
Butter .
14 " 16 66
Barley .
16 " 70
Beef
4 “ 6 70 "80
Corn .
Cheese
6 " 10
Eggs .
10
Oats ·
Pork, fresh
5 " 8
Poultry
6 " 10
Potatoes
28 “ 33 66
Lamb .
Wood, per cord .
4 $2.00
Lumber, merchantable .
$7.00 to 8.00
37 “ 42 66
597
COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK.
According to tradition, the Indians used to come from the head- waters of the Kennebec, and even from Canada, to gather the blue- berries upon our plains. This crop has always been a source not only of pleasure to the housewives of this vicinity, but of real profit to the town. How much the sale of this berry has aggregated during the past half-century it is impossible even to approximately judge, but the statement of the Brunswick Telegraph in 1872, that Mr. C. E. Townsend alone had bought of one family, during the previous sum- mer. berries to the amount of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, will show that the value of the crop is by no means to be under- valued.
In the earlier days of all our New England settlements the use of ardent spirits as a beverage was a common habit with all classes, and the town now under consideration offered no exception to the rule. On the contrary, the sale of liquors in this town was, as the following statement shows, immense.
AMOUNT OF LIQUORS SOLD AT BRUNSWICK FROM APRIL, 1812, TO APRIL, 1813.1
Galls.
Amount- ing to
John Swartkin sold in one year : -
W. I. Rum .
557
N. E. "
344
Brandy
126
Gin
80
Wine
176
-1,283 = $2,202 00
D. & R. Dunlap sold in one year : -
W. I. Rum .
1,692
Gin
60
Brandy
30
-1,782 = 2,382 00
Sold by N. Poor in six months : -
W. I. Rum .
125
N. E.
120
Brandy
38
Gin
30
Wine
15
328 =
528 00
Capt. Tappan sold in one year : -
W. I. Rum .
215
N. E. "
105
Gin
96
Wine .
64
480 = 651 50
1 This list is compiled from statements made by each of the dealers named. Th- papers were found among those of Doctor Isaac Lincoln.
598
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
Amounts brought forward,
Galls. 3,873
Amount- ing to $5,853 50
Sold by Nath. Badger in one year : -
W. I. Rum .
440
N. E
500
Brandy
90
Gin .
90
Wine
50
Cordials
60
~1,230 =
1,599 00
Sold by J. Stone in one year : -- .
432
432 = 530 00
Sold by D. Stone & Co. in one year : -
W. I. Rum .
819
N. E. «
585
Brandy
60
Wine .
60
Gin .
120
-- 1,644 = 2,292 00
Sold by J. McKeen in one year : -
W. I. Rum .
505
N. E.
592
Gin
52
Wine
92
Brandy
73
-1,314 =
1,664 60
Thos. S. Estabrook sold in one year : -
100
100 = 400 00
Total
8,593 = $12,339 10
In the opinion of the dealers, one third of the liquor sold was carried out of town. The foregoing statement was probably prepared at the instance of the Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell Society for the Prevention of Intemperance.
In 1819 there were ten stores in the town, at all of which ardent spirits were kept for sale. It is said that " even respectable women claimed their right to take a social glass around the hogshead, turned up for a table, in the retailer's store." It must be remembered that this custom of public drinking prevailed at that time throughout the whole country. A few years later, the respectable traders, with but one exception, quit the business. Captain Daniel Stone was the first one who refused to sell liquor by the glass. The first store where no liquor was sold was kept in about 1825 by Jesse Pierce, from Monmouth.
The traders in Brunswick at this time were the moneyed men.
599
COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK.
Nearly all the money of the place was in their hands, and consequently many young men, who came here between 1820 and 1830 to enter upon business, failed in consequence of giving their debtors too much scope.1
POPULATION.
Since the amount of business transacted in any town bears some relation to the population of the place, the number of citizens in Bruns- wick at different periods is here given, in order that the reader may be able to form a correct judgment as to the comparative prosperity of the town at different times.
Two years before the incorporation of the town, there were between thirty and forty persons in town.2 Assuming the rate of increase to have been uniform between 1735 and 1790, the population of the town in 1740 may be set down at one hundred and sixty. The following is the census of the town for every year since 1740 that we have been able to obtain it, down to 1810. From the latter date to the present, the census is given for each ten years.
In 1765 there were 173 families, 139 males under sixteen years of age, 149 above sixteen, 114 females under, and 98 over sixteen, and four negroes. The total, exclusive of Indians, was 506.
In 1771 there were two slaves ; the number of whites is not given.
In 1776 the population was, white, 867.
In 1778 there were males above sixteen, 198; Revolutionary sol- diers (who enlisted for three years) , 33.3
In 1790 the population was 1,387 ; 1810, 2,682 ; 1820, 2,931 ; 1830, 3,547 ; 1840, 4,259 ; 1850, 4,976 ; 1860, 4,723 ; 1870, 4,727.
VALUATION OF REAL ESTATE AND PERSONAL PROPERTY.
Under this heading is given the valuation of the town at such periods as we have been able to ascertain it.
In 1758 the valuation of the east end of the town was : Polls, 44 ; real estate, £521 12s. 8d. ; personal property, £452 1s. Total, £973 138. 8d.
The richest man in that portion of the town was Aaron Hinkley, whose property was assessed at £91 48.
The valuation of the west end of the town was : Polls, 48; real estate, £820 3. 4d .; personal property, £652 4s. Total, £1,472 78. 4d.
1 Griffin's Press of Maine. p. 72, note.
2 Williamson, History of Maine, 2, p. 191. note.
8 The above is from Massachusetts Archices, Book 185, p. 391.
600
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
The richest man in that section of the town, and in the town, was Samuel Stanwood, whose property was assessed at £151. Next to him in wealth was John Minot, whose property was assessed at £146 108. Captain James Thompson, Cornelius Thompson, Nathaniel Larrabee, and Isaac Snow, at the east end, and John Smart, John Orr. the Widow Simpson, Samuel Clark, Thomas Skolfield, the Widow Dunning, Captain William Woodside, Robert Spear, and David Dun- ning. at the west end, were each possessed of property valued at over £50.1
The total valuation of the whole town at this time was £2,560 6s. 6d.
The following is an inventory of the taxable property in 1762 :- 2
East End.
West End.
Polls
71
71
Cows
60
152
Oxen
36
62
Horses
17
31
Sheep
47
263
Swine
41
109
Marsh hay (?).
102
89
Mills
4
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The valuation of the town in 1765 was : Polls, 149; cast end, £1,477 14s. ; west end, £2,292 5s. Total, £3,769 19s. As certified to by the assessors, it was £3,732 2s. ; but this difference is probably due to an error on their part in summing up their totals.
Thomas Minot was the richest man in town at that time, his prop- erty being valued at £123 68.3
The number of houses that year was seventy-three.
In 1771 the valuation of the town was : Polls, 172 ; real estate, £422 2s. ; amount of money at interest more than the parties paid interest for, £33 13s. 4d. ; the value of personal property not given.
The valuation of the town in 1776 was : East end, £7,990 7s. ; west end, £11,966 13s.
Benjamin Stone was the richest man in town at that time, his prop- erty being valued at £712; John Dunlap's at £700; William Stan- wood's at £605; Vincent Woodside's and Aaron Hinkley's, each at £548; David and Andrew Dunning's, Samuel Stanwood's, Thomas Skolfield's, Cornelius and James Thompson's, George Coombs's, and Nathaniel Larrabee's, each at from £300 to £400.
1 Pejepscot Papers. 2 McKeen, MS Lecture.
8 Pejepscot Papers.
601
COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK.
In 1791 the valuation for the east end was : Poils, 321 ; real and per- sonal estate, £6.934 16s.
The richest person at that time in that part of the town was Captain John Peterson, whose property was estimated at £830 1s. 8d.
The valuation for that year of the west end has not been found, but the following is an inventory of the taxable property of that sec- tion of the town that year : Polls, 87 ; houses, 44 ; shops, 3 ; barns, 43 ; mills (taxed here), 1 + ; acres of tillage, 166} ; of English mow- ing, 381 ; of fresh meadow, 5; of salt marsh, 53; of pasture, 306 ; of unimproved land, 4,279 ; tons of vessels, 400 ; horses, 48 ; oxen, 112 ; neat cattle, 237; cows, four years old, 191 ; swine, 77.
Of the improved land Thomas Skolfield, Senior, Thomas Pennell, and Daniel Given each owned twenty acres. Captain Thomas Skol- field owned more unimproved land and pasture than any one else, his quantity being two hundred and seventeen acres. Of the horses, Doctor Goss, Thomas Pennell, Thomas Skolfield, and Benjamin Chase each owned two. Of oxen, Robert Spear, Thomas Pennell, Samuel Hewey, John Crips, Benjamin Chase, Lewis Simpson, Joseph Melcher, and Vincent Woodside, Senior, each owned four. Robert Spear also owned fourteen neat cattle, eight cows, and five swine. Thomas Pen- nell also owned eight cows.
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