USA > Maine > Hancock County > Ellsworth > History of Ellsworth, Maine > Part 3
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HISTORY OF ELLSWORTH
Edward Dyer Peters, born Bluehill, Nov. 14, 1785; came to Union River about 1806-7; removed to Boston. He prefixed the name of Edward after his removal there. He died Oct. 21, 1856.
Thomas Robinson, born Jefferson, graduated Water- ville College 1827. Came here in 1831. Lawyer, Trustee Waterville College. He died July 2, 1858, aged 57. His wife, Eliza A. Hopkins, born June 27, 1809, and died Sept. 13, 1849.
Joseph S. Rice, born here. Lawyer, went south in the Civil War. He was appointed Captain in the 8th regiment Maine Infantry, Sept. 2, 1861, and Major Sept. 7, 1861. Resigned Sept. 28, Thomas Robinson 1861; since which has not been heard from. The his- tory of Lygonia Lodge, F. & A. M., says he died in the Army, 1864.
John Andrew Peters, son of Andrew Peters, was born in Ellsworth. He studied and prepared for college at Gorham Academy, and later entered Yale, where he graduated in the class of 1842. After his graduation he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1844. He settled in Bangor not long afterward, and soon acquired an extensive and valuable practice. He was appointed Attorney-General of Maine in 1864, and served until 1867, when he was succeeded by Hon. Wm. P. Frye of Lewiston. That year Attorney-General Peters was elected to Congress from his district, serving as representative during the years 1867-73. He was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, May 20, 1873, and was reap- pointed to that office May 20, 1880. On the tenth of September, 1883, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and was reappointed twice afterward, Sept. 19, 1890, and Sept. 2,
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1897. During Judge Peters' second and third terms of office, Ellsworth had the singular honor of having three of her greatest sons, Chief Justice Peters, Associate Justices Andrew P. Wiswell and Lucilius A. Emery, who succeeded in turn to the chief judgeship, as representatives on the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court. -
W. S. Scott, an Englishman, who came to this country ím 1775. Private Secretary to Lord and General Howe. Came to Union River from Boston in 1786; surgeon, doctor, lawyer, and school teacher for many years. He died at the house of Benjamin Joy, whither he had been removed for care, from Scott's Neck, Reed's Pond, where he lived, in 1810.
James Scott, an original settler, petitioner for land, 1788, sold out to Ivory Hovey, lot next above Melatiah Jordan. Removed to Trenton, which town voted April 3, 1797, to sup- port the selectmen in removing James Scott to No. 6.
Arno Wiswell, the first lawyer in Ellsworth of that name, which ranks with Peters as one of the most famous on the bench and bar of Maine, practiced in this town during the middle years of the last century. He was an excellent lawyer, and was known as a man of exceptional ability. After a long and successful prac- tice, he died Nov. 6, 1877.
John Smith. The Smith family on Union River is hard to connect. This man probably came here in 1767 and married Polly, daughter o f Benjamin Milliken. Arno Wiswell Their son Benjamin is claimed to be the first white child born here. John Smith, Sen., lived in Surry the last of his life. He probably had sons John and Joseph.
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Zechariah Tarbox, son of Joseph, of Saco, born 1747; came here early and built a house; returned to Saco. Simon was probably his brother.
Ebenezer Townsend was at Reed's Pond-1792. Elias Townsend of Surry sold Ephraim Pickford of Beverly, 1804, part of a saw-mill which belonged to Ebenezer Townsend of Connecticut.
John Tinker came to Union River an apprentice to Edward Beal in 1770, at the age of 14. Dr. Peck says he first took up the lot owned by Joseph Card and exchanged with Card for the Foster lot, where Tinker afterwards lived.
Treworgy family, of Biddeford, John and Mary. I do not know that they came here. Children who came here, not in order, were:
I. James, admitted to Biddeford church June 27, 1762, came here about 1770. He was lost at sea with his brothers, Spencer, Jacob, and James, prior to 1800.
II. Spencer, bap. June 19, 1743, m. Judith Townsend, of Little Falls, Sept. 21, 1769, he of Biddeford. His widow married second, John Stewart, and third, Ebenezer Jordan. Her daughter, Betsey Townsend Treworgy, m. his son, Solomon, 1803.
III. Jacob, m. Catherine Libby, Dec. 9, 1756.
IV. Daniel, m. Betsey Townsend.
V. Mark.
VI. Daughter, m. John Davis, June 26, 1753. A daughter of one of these m. William Dollard prior to 1800.
Joseph Abiel Wood, born Wiscasset, May 7, 1803; graduated B.C., 1821. Lawyer. Many years postmaster. He died in 1844.
Seth Tisdale was born at Taunton, Mass., Nov. 11, 1803, and died at Ellsworth, March 15, 1875, aged seventy-one years and four months. He came to Ellsworth in 1823, as a house- joiner. His first piece of work was on the interior of a house for John D. Gilmore, now the William Black homestead on State Street. After completing his work here he returned to Taun- ton, but came back to Ellsworth the next year and worked on the Black Mansion, Bridge Hill, which was then being built. He then engaged in contract work here. Almost all the old, substantial structures standing today, attest his workmanship,
:
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taste and good judgment. He also built many ships, among them the Horizon, 1,800 tons, which was the largest ever built here. He held many public offices. He bought the building, now the City Li- brary, from Benjamin Jordan, and lived there until his death.
James Upton, a Scotchman, from Halifax via Boston. Came to Union River prior to 1796. Taught school here and in other towns. He removed to Boston in 1806.
Seth Tisdale
The following men, mostly with families, came between 1840 and 1880: William Crowley, James Carney, John Nagel, William Duffee, Daniel Dowd, Edward White, Michael Haines, John Abram, Charles Cogen, William Murphy, Michael Goggins, Timothy Finn, Patrick O'Brien, James Tate, Daniel McCarty, John Mahan, Thomas Ford, Patrick O'Neil, John H. Johnson, Joseph Alexander, Antonio Smith, James Belcher, William Hunt, Aaron Robertson, Patrick Higgins, Patrick Larkin, James Croston, Jeremiah Brady, Daniel Sheehan, Michael Fully, Patrick Broshen, Timothy Desman, William Jude, David Burke, Daniel Hurley, Michael Leigh, Timothy Doyle, Aaron George, James Stewart, Patrick Monaghan, John Drummey, William Batterberry, Michael Batterberry, Hugh Campbell, Caldwell Howard, Richard Jude, Thomas Crowell, Martin Crowell, Aaron Graham, William Doyle, Michael Duffee, Daniel Cronin, Michael Scanlon, Cornelius Hayes, Henry McGiverin, Patrick Carney, Daniel Finn, Wm. O'Neil, James Broshen, James Griffen, Thomas Mury, John McSheferty, John Coffee, Peter Collins, John White, Dennis McCarty, Patrick Casey, Michael McCarty, Galen Hathaway, Daniel Gallagher, Thomas Middleton, David Robertson, Wm. Cushman, Charles McCarty, Thos. A. Hawkes, Daniel Buckley, Stephen Monaghan, James Abraham, Jacob
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HISTORY OF ELLSWORTH
Friend, James Baldwin, Lawrence McCarty, Sebastian Hauser, John Mahoney, Daniel Donovan, Chas. Gainer, Michael Downey, Edmund Brady, Dennis Foley, Michael Cocklin, Patrick O'Sul- livan, Owen Byrn, Peter Mazrall, James Cocklin, Daniel Har- rington, Jeremiah Calnane, Michael McFee, Wm. Whitby, Jeremiah Harrington, Oliver Lockhart, Michael Shea, Timothy Mahoney, James Hawks, Wm. W. Oke, John Malone, Wm. Brad- ford, Isaac Mathews, David Friend, Myer Gallert, Patrick Kearns, Roderick McDonald, James McLean, Fred Friend, Mathews Kearns, John Donovan, Alex. McQuinn, Libe Friend, John Greenan, John Campbell, Robt. McCartney, Edmand Ano, Wm. Danby, George Wood, Robert Reed, Henry Betts, Colin Mckenzie, Loren McDonald, J. H. Brown, John and Owen Cas- sidy and Wm. Smith.
CHAPTER III
THE BEGINNING OF A SETTLEMENT AND A TOWN
S REFERENCE to the surrounding towns must, in many instances, be referred to by Township numbers, it will render this treatise more readable to here de- scribe the survey.
In 1762, in anwser to many petitions, the General Court of Massachusetts granted six townships of land between the Pe- nobscot: River and Mount Desert (now Union River). There after being surveyed were No. 1, now Bucksport; No. 2, now Orland; No. 3, now Penobscot, Castine and Brooksville; No. 4, now Bluehill; and No. 6, now Surry and part of Ellsworth.
At the same time six more townships were granted east of Union River : No. 1, now Trenton, which included part of Ells -- worth and part of Hancock; No. 2, now Sullivan, which included part of Hancock; No. 3, now Gouldsboro; No. 4, Steuben, which included part of Cherryfield; No. 5, now Harrington, which in- cluded Milbridge; No. 6, now Addison.
As set forth in the preceding chapter, the first settlers made their landing on the point where the Ellsworth Foundry and Machine Works plant formerly stood. The country at this time was a dense wilderness of trees, trod only by wild animals and the Indians during their summer hunting seasons. Both banks of the river were covered by a heavy growth of pine, spruce, and hemlock, and the river abounded with fish and the forest with wild animals.
When the townships were lotted out, the settlers run their lots out about as they had arranged among themselves.
A clearing was made between the post office and the Settlers' Point, where the Foundry formerly stood, probably nearer the post office and about in the rear of the Phillips building. Here Abigail, daughter of Benjamin Milliken, who was the first fe- male to come here, then about fourteen years of age, lived with her father in a log camp and cooked for the men until the house was built. This house stood between the old Bunker house and the house of Benjamin Tinker. As I understand the location, it was between Dunn's Marble Shop and Bonsey's Planing Mill. In the great law suit, Jarvis vs. Jones, in 1812-
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13, it was proved that Milliken moved on to a tract of land in 1767 and built a house in which he lived six or seven years and then built another house, in which he lived until he left town in 1779. Mr. Milliken was a Loyalist (or Tory) and left here to join the British at Fort George in Penobscot and from there he went, in 1782 or '83, to Saint Andrews, Nova Scotia, where he died. His first house was in that part of Surry east of Union River, probably the one described above, and the second house stood about fifteen rods distant in Township No. 7, now Ellsworth, probably on the easterly side of Water Street, a few rods from Main Street and was undoubtedly the house occupied by the late Master Nahum H. Hall, where the Charles Brown blacksmith shop is now located.
Benjamin Joy run out his lot on the Bridge Hill. The bounds are indefinite, but are given as follows : "Extending to the river on the East, and to the Turner Hill place on the South, and Mountain Rock on the North." Somewhere on this lot he erected a log house, which he occupied with his family for several years. As nearly as I can locate it, the log house was built between the old Drinkwater cellar on Pleasant Street and the Catholic Church.
Jonathan Flye run out his lot about a quarter of a mile northward and west of the Benjamin Joy lot, extending east to the river .* He erected a log house, and later built the first frame dwelling (1770) on the lot known as the Dutton Farm.
John Turner built a log cabin on the hill west of Union River, known as Turner's Hill .;
Daniel Treworthy built on the Surry Road, and was living there in 1790. The house was later occupied by Rev. Peter Nourse.
I don't know where William Weymouth first settled, but in 1770 he cleared land and built farm buildings at the point called "Weymouth Point."
In 1764 the Fernald and Waite families returned to Saco.
I have been unable to find an account of Simon Tarbox, Mark Treworgy, Isaac Smith, and James Milliken.
It is easy to imagine the toils and hardships endured by the first settlers. Perhaps, with all the modern conveniences,
(*See Jonathan Flye in preceding chapter.)
(+See John Turner in preceding chapter.)
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Motion Picture House, Dancing Pavilions, etc., which Ells- worth now enjoys, those who complain that they can find noth- ing to do of an evening, will appreciate the endurances of the early settlers, separated from each other by so many miles of wilderness.
In either 1762 or 1763, the original Town line was run out between Union River Settlement (Ellsworth) and Thorndike Plantation (Trenton) by Jones and Frie, and was known as the "Grant East and West Line." No plan has been found showing exactly where this line was, but it is believed to have been just south of Card's Brook, running more than forty miles "due east." It was the north line of Trenton, Sullivan, Steuben and Harrington.
*The town of Surry was No. 6, one of the first six, or David Marsh townships surveyed east of Penobscot River (1762-3) and extended northerly to near the first bridge on the river. Few men now living know that it also included a Gore on the easterly side of Union River, now Ellsworth. This line was described as follows: "Beginning at the N. W. corner of No. 6 (on. Orland line) and running S. 60° E. to Union River ; thence we crossed the river the same course 176 rods to a stake and stone in Melatiah Jordan's field, the N. E. corner of 6; thence S. 181/2° N. half a mile to Union River."
It will be seen by the plan on page 53 that Robert Milli- ken, Henry Maddocks, Benjamin Jellison, James Hopkins and William Jellison's lots bounded on the river, while George Haslam, Nathan Jones, Ivory Hovey and Meltiah Jordan's did not; Theodore Jones' lot bounded partly on the Gore and partly on Union River; then going down, Isaac Lord, Edward Beal and John Tinker bounded on the river.
There must have been eighty acres or more in the Gore. I find no deeds on record from the Proprietors of No. VI of any land east of the river. I cannot explain this any other way than that the suit of the Proprietors of Surry vs. Theodore Jones, 1812, gave the settlers their lands on the Gore by right of possession.
Upon this Gore are many buildings in Main and State and Water Streets. The Congregational Church, Andrew Peters' (*From Joseph W. Porter, editor Maine History Magazine.)
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HISTORY OF ELLSWORTH
homestead (A. P. Royal), John D. Hopkins' house (Mrs. Robert Campbell), Court House, Jail, Tisdale homestead (Pub- lic Library), Peters Block at the corner of Main and State Streets, Custom House and Post Office, and many stores in Water Street .*
When these hardy pioneers had made homes for themselves they began to cut the trees on their respective lands for manu- facture, and to build mills. The mill building dates are con- flicting, but I have taken great pains to straighten them out .;
ELLSWORTH
Earliest known picture of Ellsworth. Photographed from a pen sketch. It must have been made prior to 1845 as the old Congregational Church, extreme left, was torn down at that time. Notice absence of steeple and that church faces directly west.
Without doubt the first was a grist-mill built on a dam which crossed the river from below Boat Cove (where the boat sheds were formerly located) to Turner's Point in 1765. This mill was probably in part a tide-mill, as many of the mills in those times were. The dam went away in a freshet. One ac-
(*To just what town this Gore now belongs is a puzzle to the writer. It was not incorporated into the town of Surry, and the act of incorpora- tion of Ellsworth is, to say the least, doubtful in relation to it.)
(+Reference from the papers of the late Henry L. Moor, the Maine Hist. Mag., and old records.)
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count says that the old Grist-Mill was moved to a lot on the south side of Card's Brook, and was known as the Folly Mill .** At that time, it will be remembered, the Trenton line ran up to Card's Brook, so that the inhabitants of No. VII (Ellsworth) were obliged to petition the Proprietors of Trenton for the mill site. According to papers of the Hon. William Freeman, ; "The Proprietors of Trenton voted August 1, 1764, that Ben- jamin Milliken should have a grant for a Mill site there and four acres of land."
¡¡ Another account says, "Jonathan Milliken of Scarborough, made an affidavit in 1794, 'that about 30 years before Benjamin Milliken built a mill at Trenton and he helped raise the same with 32 men.' "
Ebenezer Dyer of Cape Elizabeth, made an affidavit in 1796 and stated that, "Nearly 30 years before he was at Union River and knew Benjamin Milliken, one of the Proprietors who settled there in 1765, for I carried him down there in my ves- sel with Thomas Milliken and thirty men to build a mill there, and I am knowing to their building a mill there upon a stream that runs out of said Township into Union River as I helped them a fortnight and staid with my vessel, which they made use of to live in until they got a house built. I also carried two women down in the same vessel."
It will be seen by these testimonials that the accounts do not agree. I think that the weight of authority is that the first mill was built in 1765 (a grist-mill) on the dam below Boat Cove. The sills of this mill were seen by the boys of Ells- worth as late as 1825. Perhaps the mill went out in the freshet with the dam, and because of its instability, the settlers called it "Folly Mill." Another mill was built on Card's Brook later and on the site granted by the Proprietors of Trenton.
In 1768 Benjamin Milliken and his brother Thomas built a dam at the "Head of the Tide at the Lower Falls." They built their mills on the east end of the dam and sold the west end and privilege to William and John Murch, and Benjamin and Samuel Joy. Each party was to keep his end of the dam in repair. The dam and mills on both sides of the river were in ( ** Papers of H. L. Moor.)
(¡Freeman's communications in Ellsworth American, 1892.) (++Maine History Magazine.)
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HISTORY OF ELLSWORTH
Township No. VI (Surry Gore). Thomas Milliken, June 19, 1783, in a deed or mortgage describes his interests as "one- half of the privilege for a double saw-mill, which is on Union River next to where the tide flows, and is on the eastern side of the dam, with one-half of the privileges of Dam and Brow and landing and all other privileges."*
About 1775 the first road of any account for travelling purposes was constructed to Bayside.
Situated in a section remote from the scenes of active con- flict, a tiny settlement. comprising but a few pioneers, Union River Settlement took little part in the struggle for independ- ence. The settlers, however, though not called upon as a body to render aid to the cause of the colonists, nevertheless displayed the greatest interest in the Revolutionary War, and, with the exception of Benjamin Milliken (and possibly others), who was a Loyalist, acted the part of staunch and loyal patriots.
During the war, in 1789, an English sloop of war, The Rattler, and a brig, The Breme, came into the bay and anchored.
The settlers, fearing that they might be raided, drove their cattle inland to a clearing in Trenton, which had been made by settlers named Bloxton and DeBeck. The British soldiers ar- rived at the settlement the following morning, and promised to leave unmolested all who would pledge allegiance to the Eng- lish Crown. It is not known that a settler took the oath. In some unaccountable way they learned that the cattle had been driven inland and gave pursuit. They overtook the settlers late in the afternoon, captured the cattle and started driving back to the settlement. When night came on the settlers took a short route through the woods and came out on the only trail, about two miles ahead of the soldiers, who had set up camp for the night. Here the settlers, aided by a man named Reed, built a barricade of logs across the trail. The soldiers drove the cattle up to it the next morning, but could not get by. At noon they gave up the attempt and went to the village, leav- ing the cattle behind.
Many of the men who had settled here prior to the war, or shortly after its close, were actively engaged in the conflict, and several of them rose to rank and honor. Among those who
(*Lincoln Records, Volume 16, Page 206.)
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HISTORY OF ELLSWORTH
rendered their services were: Capt. George Haslam, who settled here about 1770, and served as captain at Machias in 1777; Col. Melatiah Jordan, who served in a Massachusetts regiment of militia, and became a lieutenant of militia a few years after the war, a major in 1791, and lieutenant-colonel in 1802; John Fullerton, who fought at Bunker Hill; and Allan Milliken.
In Captain George Haslam's Company of Col. Foster's regi- ment, we find among the names of the men who marched with Captain Daniel Sullivan's Company to Machias "three different times," the names of John Tinker and Benjamin Jellison. Mela- tiah Jordan was among the number, and Samuel Jordan took part in the expedition.
In Captain Sullivan's Company of Volunteers, which formed the expedition against Majorbagaduce, we find the name of Ebenezer Jordan .*
In 1773, Benjamin Joy and others built a vessel, of which Smith (I think it must have been Isaac) was Master and part owner. This was the first vessel built on the river, and was named the Susan and Abigail, for the oldest daughters of Joy and Milliken. The vessel made one voyage each year to Demerara, W. I., carrying the pine shingles and oak staves, which were manufactured by the settlers, and which was the principal business for many years. The best of pine and oak were plentiful, and the business proved profitable. This vessel was destroyed by a British cruiser in the Revolutionary war. After the war, Capt. Smith, Joy, Milliken and others built a larger vessel, intended for foreign trade. From 1785 to 1801, Capt. Smith made eight voyages to Demerara. On his third voyage, Joel Mace and Thomas Wilberton died at Demerara. Capt. Smith made his last voyage in 1801. All of his crew, except one, died there on this voyage, among whom were his brother William and his nephew, Nathaniel Joy. Under the circumstances, Capt. Smith could get no crew or cargo and he sailed for Boston, in ballast, arriving there after many gales, in about four weeks. The vessel was sold in Boston and Capt. Smith returned to Union River Settlement. He lived about one and one-half miles below the mouth of the river, on the bay.
(*With corrections and additions, from the Register of Ellsworth, Surry and Bluehill, by Lawton, Loring and Jordan.)
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The next year after his return, he met with an accident, from which he did not recover .*
The settlement was now progressing very rapidly and news of its growth and possibilities was spread throughout New England, attracting many prospectors. Among those to come here between 1763 and 1812 were: Edward Beal, Samuel Joy,
Israel Davis, Hopkinson Flood, Hammond, Bil- lings Maddocks, Joshua Maddocks and sons, Seth Milliken, Amos Milliken, John Hilt, Thomas Milliken, Samuel and Joseph Murch, Joseph Moore, Benjamin Jellison and sons, Joshua Moor, Levi Foster, John Smith, Edward Moor, Benjamin Bates, Dr. John Tinker, George Haslam, Robert, Samuel, Allan and Abner Milliken, Nathaniel, Samuel and Asa Smith, Isaac Lord, Gera Townsend, Benjamin Bates, Jr., Ivory Hovey, Jona- than Nutting, Ebenezer Woodward, John Fullerton, John Whit- taker, Solomon and Ebenezer Jordan, James Hopkins, Samuel Jordan, Sr., Melatiah Jordan, Joseph Card, Elias Milliken, John Wentworth, Peter Page, Joseph Patten, Alfred Langdon, James Treworgy, George Brimmer, Richard and Samuel Jor- dan, Jr., Dominicus Beal, Thomas Hapsworth, Theodore Jones, Joseph Garland, Rev. Benjamin Lord, John Moor, Abraham Tourtlotte, Sabin Pond, John Fabrique, Nathaniel Coffin, John Peters, Jr., Andrew and Edward Peters, Major John and Na- thaniel Jellison, Peter Gove, Rev. Oliver Noble, Rev. John Urquhart, James C. Fiske, Rev. Peter Nourse, Rev. John Tripp, Dr. Moses Adams, John G. Deane, Rev. Isaac Case, George Her- bert, Jr., Rev. John Brewer, James Grant, W. S. Scott, James Scott, Zechariah Tarbox, James Upton, Leonard Jarvis and others. Most of these men had families.
Joshua Maddocks built a small grist-mill on the west side of the river, just below the pumping station, Shore Road, in 1784, which he operated for several years.
In 1784 the inhabitants sent a petition to the General Court, asking for a grant of their lands.
PETITION OF INHABITANTS OF UNION RIVER, 1784
To the Honorable the Senate and the Honorable House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bay.
( ** Volume III, No. VII, Maine History Magazine. The H. L. Moor papers give the building date of the Susan and Abigail as 1783.)
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The Humble Petition of a number of the Inhabitants settled on the Banks of Union River and thereabouts, Humbly showeth that some of us have been inhabitants for seventeen years and have paid out our all to build ourselves houses and to clear and cultivate the land we now enjoy but being apprehensive from the great turn of affairs that have taken place in the State for which we sincerely congratulate it that these lands may be granted away to those that have jeoparded their lives in the field or to pay the great charge the State has been at and per- haps not knowing that there are many Inhabitants here which we are bold to say are as true friends to the present State and constitution as any in any part thereof.
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