USA > Maine > Knox County > Camden > History of Camden and Rockport, Maine > Part 25
USA > Maine > Knox County > Rockport > History of Camden and Rockport, Maine > Part 25
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
Tilson Gould, the founder of another old Camden family, died this year on Jan. 14, at the age of 79 years. Mr. Gould came from Pembroke, Mass., to Camden in early manhood, and in 1801 married Betsey Stinson, a native of this town. He was a master- builder or as it would now be called, a contractor. Together with Joseph Bowers, he drafted and built most of the buildings of the early days of the town. To Mr. Gould and his wife were born the following eleven children: John, William, (who died in infancy) Mary A., (who married Rev. Israel Hills) Lucy H., (who married Warren Rawson) Nancy S., (who married Josephus Bump) Nathaniel T., Joseph H., Ephraim W., Benjamin C., Amasa B. and Henry A. All of these children except Mrs. Hills, passed their lives in Camden, Joseph moving to Rockport village where he was engaged in the ice business as a member of the firm of Talbot, Rust & Gould. He died April 26, 1893, leaving one grandson, Mr. J. Tyleston Gould of Rockport. John owned a farm on the road to the "Turnpike," now owned by his son, Mr. J. W. R. Gould. He was a man greatly respected for his
316
HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
sterling qualities. He died Oct. 1, 1859. Nathaniel carried on a meat market for many years where G. T. Hodgman's clothing store is now located. He died April 16, 1894. Benjamin was a successful master mariner, who went on foreign voyages and for a long time commanded the large ship, Juliette Trundy. He died Oct. 4, 1886. Ephraim was a farmer, he died Oct. 26, 1889. Amasa in early life started a small mill on what is known as the Bailey brook, for the manufacture of ship plugs and wedges. He soon moved to a privilege on Megunticook river, where the Cam- den Woolen Co's factory is now located, and took for a partner his brother, Henry, where the business was carried on more extensively. Later, Amasa and Henry, with their two sons, were engaged in the grain business. Henry died June 6, 1881. Amasa, the last survivor of the family, died Nov. 8, 1903. Amasa ยท built the old Gould house that used to stand where the office of the Camden Woolen Co. now stands. It was through his per- sistent efforts that the Hope road or Washington street, now one of the most important roads in town, was laid out some fifty years ago. Amasa and his son, Eckart, and nephew, Willis, were chiefly instrumental in the organization of the Camden Woolen Co. The "Gould boys," as they were always called, were noted for "keeping together." Benjamin and Ephraim were twins and could be told apart by only those very well acquainted with them. They married sisters and owned and occupied the large double house on Mountain street and when both were in town they were seldom seen apart.
Ephraim Barrett, who died Nov. 4, 1857, at the age of eighty-five years, was one of a small colony of young men who came from Massachusetts to settle in Maine in the year 1796. He was born in Concord, Mass., August 22, 1772, the sixth son of Col. Nathan and Meriam (Hunt) Barrett. His ancestors occupied interesting and prominent places in Revolutionary his- tory ; his grandfather, Col. James Barrett, having commanded the Provincial troops in the Concord battle, and his father, holding a cap-
317
A BRIDGE FIGHT
tain's commission from George III, also participated in that battle. Upon coming to Maine, Mr. Barrett at once took up large tracts of land in Hope and Camden. The latter place having more charms for him he decided to make it his residence and laid early plans for a business career, which culminated in the establishment of a tannery located on the site north of the brook which crosses Chestnut street from Frye street. Improved methods of tanning introduced in another part of the town some years later, super- ceded Mr. Barrett's plant. He then turned his attention to the manufacture of lime, and in company with his son, Willliam George, built and operated two kilns, traces of which can now be seen on Bay View street. It may be noted in this connection that he was inspector of lime for this vicinity. Besides commer- cial pursuits, he was largely engaged in agriculture. In Septem- ber, 1806, Mr. Barrett married Louisa Wood of Groton, Mass., and soon after built the homestead on Chestnut street now occu- pied by his heirs. To this union was born twelve children, viz .: Lucy, Ephraim, who died in infancy; Mary Elizabeth, (who married Alexander J. Sweet) Emeline, (who married Ezra Mer- riam) Caroline, (who married George W. Kimball) William George, Harriet B., (who married William E. Lawrence) Charles H., Theresa, (who married George W. Thorndike) Susan A. H., (who married Austin N. Parkhurst) Sarah A., (who married Thomas N. Hosmer) and Frank A., who married Agnes Berry, daughter of Col. Nicholas C. Berry of Camden. The longevity of this family is remarkable, five having lived past the age of four score years. There are two survivors, Theresa B. Thorndike and Susan A. H. Parkhurst. Mr. Barrett was not prominent in town affairs in the sense of being an office-holder, but his councils were sought and freely bestowed in everything pertaining to good citizenship and morals; he was a man endeared to the hearts of his family and friends.
1858. This year at the annual meeting held March 15, William Carleton was elected Town Clerk; Hiram Bass, John C.
318
HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
Cleveland and Abel Merriam, Selectmen; and James Clark, Treasurer.
The old town house in which the town had for so many years held all its meetings and election, had become out of repair, inconvenient and inadequate, and this year the September elec- tion was called at "Union Hall" in Rockport village, that being the most central as well as, at that time,- the most commodious hall in town. There was no change this year in parties or can- didates for Governor, Messrs. Morrill and Smith being again nominated by their respective parties, the former being re-elected by a slightly reduced majority. In Camden the vote was 408 for Morrill, and 322 for Smith. At this election Seth L. Milliken of Camden was elected Clerk of Courts for Waldo County, and received in Camden 412 votes against 312 for his opponent.
While Camden gave a good Republican majority for all the other candidates, for Representative to the Legislature there was a vigorous contest, and the Democrats won. This was due as is often the case, to a local issue. At this time the agitation which resulted in the organization of the present Knox County out of parts of Lincoln and Waldo, was at its height. The originator of the movement was ex-Congressman Ephraim K. Smart, who defined the region to be embraced within the limits of the pro- posed new county, as being in the "Lime Rock Valley of Maine." He purposed that Camden should be the county seat of the new county, which, he argued, was the most central in its location of any of the important towns within the territory comprising it. Meetings were held and much interest aroused. Rockland naturally opposed the claim of Camden and demanded that it, being a larger, and as it claimed, in a more central locality, should be selected as the shire town. It was believed and argued that Mr. Smart with his great ability as a debater, his congressional and former legislative experience and his influence and acquaintance with the public men of the state, would better care for Camden's interests in this particular matter, than anyone else who might be
319
A BRIDGE FIGHT
elected. On this issue Mr. Smart was elected, receiving 397 votes to 341 for David Talbot, the Republican candidate. Mr. Smart, however, was not able to carry through his project while in the Legislature, and Knox County was not born at that session.
This year about Sept. 1, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, then a member of the United States Senate, with the presidential "bee buzzing in his bonnet," made a tour through the North delivering addresses and accepting serenades and receptions as a "knight errant of the union." At a serenade given him in Portland he " surpassed the usual pledges of demagogues " and appeared as a "messenger to the North of peace and of love beyond all south- ern men of his day. He loved the people around him, not only as brothers, but he proposed to dedicate his infant son to the Portlanders," saying that if in some future time war should burst upon their city, he pledged that his son in that perilous hour would stand by their sides in defense of their hearthstones. On this tour of the North he visited Camden and thence journeyed up the Penobscot. While here he was enter- tained by Hon. E. K. Smart, who had been his colleague in Con- gress where they had formed a strong friendship. Our older people remember his visit here and say that he was dressed in the typical southern style. As they looked upon him passing through our streets they had no premonition of the important part this able but misguided man was soon to play in the most tragic events of our country's history. Two years later this apostle of peace, love and good-will, disgruntled and disappointed in his ambitions and eager to begin a new career, appeared upon the national stage in the role of arch-traitor- trampling beneath his feet the flag which he had but recently claimed to hope "would forever fly as free as the breeze which enfolds it."
James Richards, Jr., at the great age of over 93 years, died Dec. 24, 1858. He was the eldest son of James Richards and as a boy came to the wilds of Camden with his parents. He inher- ited much of his father's real estate and owned several water
320
HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
privileges on the Megunticook river, now owned by the Knox Woolen Company, where he, for many years, owned and operated a grist-mill. He built several houses, among them being the one on Free street now owned and occupied by his grand-daughter, Mrs. Willard C. Howe, (Caroline Richards), and the other house on the same street owned by his grandson, Fred M. Richards, and known as the "Scott House." Although exposed to many hard- ships in his early life, Mr. Richards, by industry and untiring effort, was successful in business, and enjoyed in his old age, all the comforts of life. His private life was without reproach and he was highly respected by the community in which he lived. He married Mehitable Thorndike, the first white child born in Camden, and they were the parents of thirteen children : Asa, Patience, (who married Daniel Richards) Lois, (who married Aaron Bisbee) James (3d), John, Eliza, (who married John G. Simonton) Mehitable, (who married John Horton) Deborah, Mary, (who married Nathaniel Crooker) Nancy, (who married James Scott) George W., and two others who died in childhood.
William Russ died this year. He was the son of William and Ann (Huston) Russ, was born in Damariscotta, Maine, Oct. 17, 1773, and married Elizabeth Rowell of So. Thomaston, Feb. 21, 1797. He lived in So. Thomaston until 1813, when he came to Camden, purchasing from David Blodgett the farm near Lake Hosmer, now owned by his grand-daughter, Mary E. Love- joy. He was a caulker by trade and was a most benevolent man and excellent citizen. His children were Daniel, Jane, (who married Charles Butler) William, Jr., Ruth, Samuel B., Elizabeth, R., (who married Abiel W. Lovejoy) Alexander C., Edwin M., Charles, Sarah E., (who married Alexander B. Herinton) Julia E., (who married George F. Fling) and Mary L.
321
A LITTLE CLOUD
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
A LITTLE CLOUD LIKE A MAN'S HAND.
1859. Political and municipal events in Camden had for many years been of a quiet and prosaic character. With the exception of a few things like the Know Nothing movement, the bridge contest, the agitation over the question of a new county, an occasional sharp election, etc., little had taken place to arouse excitement among our population, or move our people from the "even tenor of their ways." A time was now approaching, how- ever, that was to try men's souls, to change the prosaic to the tragic, and quiet scenes of peace to tumultuous scenes of war, bloodshed and death, such as this fair land had never witnessed before, and, please God, may never see again.
This important year in our country's history opened quietly and gave no sign of the awful and portentous future, which its later days were to foretoken. The feverishness of the public mind, caused by the discussion of the slavery question, had been allayed by the interposition of other issues, and the political atmosphere was more than usually quiet. And so passed the spring and summer of 1859.
The people of Camden went on with their usual routine. The annual town meeting was held on March 14. William Carle- ton and James Clark were again elected respectively, Town Clerk and Treasurer, and Ephraim M. Wood, A. S. Eells and John C. Cleveland were elected Selectmen.
322
HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
This year Mr. John L. Locke had completed and published his excellent "Sketches of the History of Camden," and at the annual meeting the town voted "To raise the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars to purchase two hundred copies of Locke's His- tory of Camden for distribution within the state, and that there be a committee of three appointed to carry out the above vote ; and that said committee be H. B. Eaton, G. W. Simonton and Edward Cushing." At the same meeting it was also voted "To hold the Town Meetings at Rockport in the future until the town otherwise orders." It was also voted to sell the old town house at public auction.
Gov. Morrill was again opposed this year by his former opponent, Manassah H. Smith, and was re-elected by a largely increased majority. The Camden vote for Governor stood, Mor- rill, 353 ; Smith, 284. Samuel D. Carleton, Democrat, was elected Representative, receiving 348 votes, while his opponent, Jotham Shepherd, received 306.
The quiet that had pervaded political circles thus far during this year, was but the calm that precedes the storm, and the peo- ple of the nation who had thereby been lulled into a feeling of false security and a belief that the ship of state had at last sailed into peaceful waters, were startled on Oct. 17, by a thunder clap which came from a "little cloud like a man's hand," that ap- peared above the Southern horizon. This cloud, which was to develop into a "war cloud" of the blackest hue, destined to cast its awful shadows over the whole land for four years, was John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry. This famous raid aroused intense excitement throughout the slave states and revived the slumber- ing slavery agitation with the fiercest intensity. 1 In Camden as elsewhere throughout the North, the people discussed with warmth the raid and its probable results. Many citizens of Camden had commercial relations with the South, as was the case with other seaboard towns, and were pronounced in their sympathy with the
1. Lossing's History of the United States, Page 537.
323
A LITTLE CLOUD
southern states. There was also here a small body of abolition- ists who were pronounced in their opinions and fearless in the expression of them. These two types often clashed in the dis- cussion of the political situation of that period and on one occa- sion, at least, something more forcible than words was introduced into a discussion between two representatives of these radical elements. The great mass of our people, however, were more conservative, were intensely loyal to the Union, and while they viewed with sorrow and alarm, the unhappy state of national affairs, they prepared their minds to face the coming and "irrepressible conflict."
The last day of the year 1859, saw the death of an old and distinguished citizen of the town, namely, Joseph Hall. Hon. Joseph Hall was born in Methuen, Mass., June 26, 1793. He was a younger brother of Farnham and Frye Hall, both of whom preceded him in coming to Camden. His education was obtained in the common schools and a few months at school in Andover, Mass. He came to Camden in 1809 when sixteen years of age, and was employed as a clerk until he attained his majority. In 1813 he was elected an officer in the militia, and served in the war as ensign of an infantry company of the 1st Regiment, of which Erastus Foote was then Colonel. He commanded a detachment of thirty men, and supervised the erection of the parapets on Jacobs' and Eaton's Points. Subsequently young Hall advanced rapidly in military promotion, being chosen Captain of the Cam- den Light Infantry, and soon afterwards elected Major, Lieu- tenant-Colonel and Colonel. Mr. Hall married Mary Howe, daughter of Nathan Howe, of Shrewsbury, Mass., and sister of Mrs. John Eager. Mrs. Hall died in 1825, leaving six children, and in 1827 he again married, his second wife being Eliza, daughter of William Parkman, of Camden, by whom he had seven children. In. 1821, Col. Hall was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Lincoln County, and in 1827, after the organization of Waldo County, he was appointed Sheriff, being the first sheriff of the new county.
324
HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
In 1830 he received the appointment of Postmaster at Camden, and in 1833 was elected Representative to Congress. He was re-elected in 1835 by an increased majority and thus was in Washington during the closing years of President Jackson's excit- ing admistration. Shortly after he retired from Congress, the Postmaster, his brother-in-law, John Eager, died, and at the
-
Joseph Hall.
solicitation of his friends, he again accepted the appointment of Postmaster here to fill the vacancy. In 1838, Col. Hall was appointed Measurer in the Boston Custom House, which position he retained until 1846, when his personal friend and associate in Congress, President Polk, conferred upon him the office of Navy Agent for the port of Boston without his solicitation or application.
325
A LITTLE CLOUD
He was removed from this office in 1849 for political reasons by President Taylor, and in the fall of the same year was the Demo- cratic candidate for Mayor of Boston. Although not successful he received the full vote of his party, thus demonstrating the esteem in which he was held in the New England metropolis, notwithstanding his comparatively short residence there. The following winter he purchased of Capt. William Norwood a farm in Camden and returned here with his family. This farm is sit- uated on "Melvin Heights " and is now owned by Henry L. Payson. In 1857 he was offered the position of Weigher, Meas- urer and Guager in the Boston Custom House, under President Buchanan's administration, and returned once more to Boston where he continued in the discharge of the duties of that office until his death. Col. Hall, while engaged in the duties of a Custom House official, was for some time associated with the novelist, Nathaniel Hawthorne, with whom he maintained a strong friendship, and a more or less voluminous correspondence during the remainder of his life. Col. Hall was an enthusiastic and prominent Mason. He was Master of Amity Lodge in 1826 and 1827, and was also for several years Secretary of the Lodge, and he was a member of St. Paul's Royal Arch Chapter of Boston. Perhaps no other citizen of Camden has filled so many offices of public trust as the subject of this sketch, and he evinced an ability commensurate to them all. He died at the age of 66 years. The following are his six children by his first wife : Mary H., (who married Jonathan Huse) Harriet A., (who married Joshua Norwood) Frederick F., Eugenia A. M., (who married Nathaniel G. Parker) Stephen A. and William H .; and the following are his seven children by his second wife : Joseph P., Sophia T., (who married first, Chas. B. F. Adams and second, Wm. C. Murdock) Ellen E., Susan T., (who married W. H. Hall) Kate W., David H. and Gayton O.
Hon. Seth L. Milliken went to Belfast this year to enter upon his duties as Clerk of Courts, and made that city his home during
326
HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
the remainder of his life. Mr. Milliken was born in Montville, Me., in 1837, and was the son of Wm. Milliken. His father went to Texas when Seth was a small child, but in a short time returned ,to Maine and later the family settled in Camden. At the age of 14 Seth left home to make his living, and through his own unaid- ed efforts, obtained an education, graduating from Union College, New York, in 1856, and that same fall was elected to the Maine Legislature from Camden. After going to Belfast he was admitted to the Bar and entered upon the practice of law. He early became a campaign speaker for the Republican party, and was throughout his after life, always in great demand in that capacity in every campaign. He was a delegate to the National Republi- can Convention at Cincinnati in 1876, and a presidential elector the same year. He was also a delegate to the National Republi- can Convention at Chicago in 1884. He was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress and was re-elected seven times. He formed one of that famous quartet of Maine Congressmen-Reed, Dingley, Boutelle and Milliken - who, for so many years, made Maine's influence in the national House such a predominating one. Mr. Milliken's career in Congress is familiar to all, and his reputation as a statesman was as broad as the nation. Mr. Milli- ken married Miss Elizabeth Arnold, a native of Waterville, Me., Dec. 8, 1859. He died in Washington, D. C., April 18, 1897, while still a member of Congress, leaving two children, Maud and Seth M.
1860. During the session of the Legislature that opened in January, 1860, the project for which Col. Smart had labored so persistently in the preceding Legislature, viz .: the formation of a new county by the name of Knox, 1 was carried through, but
1. The new County of Knox was formed of the towns of Appleton, Cam- den, Hope, North Haven and Vinalhaven in the County of Waldo, and Cush- ing, Friendship, Sonth Thomaston, St. George Thomaston, Union, Warren, Washington, the City of Rockland and the plantations of Matiniens and Mussel Ridge in the County of Lincoln. There has since been no change in the territory of the county, but Hurricane Isle, originally a part of Vinal- haven, was set off and incorporated as a separate town in 1878. Rockport was formed from the division of Camden in 1891, and Criehaven was set off from Matiniens and organized as a separate plantation in 1897.
327
A LITTLE CLOUD
not with the Colonel's pet scheme to make Camden the shire town, for that distinction was given to Rockland. Among the officers of the new county appointed by the Governor, was Thaddeus R. Simonton, Esq., of Camden, who was appointed County Attorney. 1
The annual town meeting this year was held March 12. E. T. G. Rawson was elected Town Clerk; E. M. Wood, A. S. Eells and J. C. Cleveland, Selectmen ; and James Clark, Treasurer.
The census of this year gave Camden 4588 population, a considerable increase in ten years. The valuation of the town this year was placed at $1,062,228.
This year there were two homicides in town. May 28, Geo. H. Tighe and John E. Flint, two Rockland young men, got into an altercation at Clark's Hotel when the former stabbed the latter. Flint died of the wound. Later, Elbridge Cunningham was killed by being cut with a knife in the hand of Ezekiel Bowley at Ingra- ham's Corner. The deed was proved to be an accident and Bowley was acquitted.
The political campaign of 1860 was one of the most stirring and enthusiastic in the history of the country. The unsettled state of national affairs, the threats of the South and the prospect of a great conflict between two sections of the country, had aroused the public mind to an unwonted pitch. Public questions were discussed everywhere, in the pulpit, on the platform, in the corner grocery, on the street, and wherever two or three men gathered together. Four sets of candidates for President and Vice-President were nominated. The Republican party nominated Lincoln and Hamlin. The Democratic party split, and one fac- tion nominated Douglass and Johnson, and the other, Breckin- ridge and Lane, while a party known as the Union party, nominated
1. By a provision in the act incorporating the new County, the Judges of Probate in Lincoln and Waldo Counties w re to continue to have their jnris- diction of the Knox County towns taken from their respective counties until the end of the year; the Coroner in Knox County was to act as Sheriff for the same period, and the remaining officers were to be appointed by the Gover- nor to hold office until Jan. 1, 1861. The coroner acting as Sheriff was John D). Rust of Rockport.
1
328
HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
Bell and Everett. In the North great political rallies were held in every city and town, by the Republicans and Douglass Demo- crats, the Republicans predominating. One feature of the cam- paign was the marching clubs organized everywhere under the name of "Wideawakes," and their presence became an essential part of every Republican demonstration. The voice of the polit- ical "spell binder" was heard in every city and hamlet, and even the small school districts were flooded with patriotic oratory.
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.