USA > Maine > Waldo County > Islesboro > History of Islesborough, Maine > Part 6
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1854. January 1, severe snow-storm, and no mail for a week. May 7, ice made one-half inch thick.
1855. February 8, thermometer twenty degrees or more below.
1856. The snow the deepest for years. Roads impass- able for two or three days.
1857. January 18 to 25 the week intensely cold, and almost unceasing storm ; known as the cold term of 1857, and undoubtedly the most remarkable of this century. The mercury in the thermometers at Bangor and other places congealed. In Belfast it was thirty-four degrees below ; this being the coldest day since the cold Friday of 1810. The inhabitants went to Belfast from Castine on the ice, and all the harbors closed as far south as the Potomac.
1859. February 14 was a very cold day.
1861. February 8, one of the coldest days ever known1. Between February 7 and 8 the thermometer showed a change of more than fifty degrees in twelve hours.
1870. Ice was formed one-half inch thick on May 2. The hottest day ever known in the latitude was July 24. 1874. The Colorado beetle (potato bug) made its first appearance.
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BENJAMIN AMES HOUSE -- LATER JOHN P. FARROW.
TTOCUPS
8I
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
1875. In January the bay froze over, and remained frozen until April, teams crossing to Belfast all that time. April 2, Mr. Hooper, of Castine, crossed with his team to Belfast. There was a regular conveyance running daily, carrying passengers to and from Belfast, besides the pri- vate teams, which crossed for more than two months. The only accident which happened to the island people was in the case of Capt. George Keller, who lost his horse through a hole in the ice, between Spruce Island and Seal Harbor Point.
OLD HOUSES OF ISLESBOROUGH.
The old house of the Rev. Thomas Amnes is still stand- ing. It has been a feature of the town for more than a century, with its huge frame of hewn ash timbers. The house was covered with pine shingles split out by hand, which were perfectly sound on the walls, nailed on with wrought nails. The roof was covered with these shin- gles, and was re-shingled in 1890. The architecture was cosmopolitan, at the time it was built, and all the old houses were run in very much the same mold. It was one story, and only eight feet posts. According to the most reliable information that can be obtained, it is the oldest dwelling house remaining in Islesborough. It was
NOTES .- In 1865 the drought was very severe in September. The wells and springs failed entirely. The inhabitants of the upper end of the town hauled their water from the meadow pond, and carried their clothes there to be washed.
It is said of an old man in the town that lie refused water to one of his neighbors whom he did not like, and he was taken dry, and re- mained dry until his death ; that water would not satisfy his thirst. It was probably his complaint or disease.
The authorities consulted in obtaining these records of the weather were Hon. Joseph Williamson, Dr. George A. Wheeler, of Castine, Mr. Lucius H. Murch, Robert B. Thomas' Almanac, and by oral trans- mitting of the old inhabitants.
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82
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
modified somewhat in 1890, in its exterior, by the addi- tion of an ell on the south end, and dormer windows set in the roof, by the Islesborough Land and Improvement Company, who own the property and make use of the land for raising vegetables to supply their hotel at Dark Harbor.
The accompanying view shows the house, as it was originally built. The chimney still remains in the centre of the house, with the three fire-places somewhat modi- fied. It is covered with plank treenailed to the sill and plate. It stands as firm as when built, and if left to re- main, with proper care would last another century.
The first framed house was built on the lower end, and known as the Boardman house. Not being kept in repair it became dilapidated. It was taken down a few years ago, and the old material used for other purposes. The situation of the house was on the land now owned by Jeffrey R. Brackett.
The old house of Deacon John Pendleton is one hun- dred and fourteen years old. It is owned by the Islesbor- ough Land and Improvement Company, and is to be taken down. The walls are covered with plank treenailed to the sill and plate. It was shingled a few years ago, but with this exception there have been but very few repairs on its exterior since it was built, and it is in a remarkable state of preservation, considering its age.
Captain J. Francis Grindle's house has passed its cen- tennial year. Always being kept in repair, it hardly shows its age, excepting in its architecture. It was built by John Gilkey, Esq., a man prominent among the first settlers. It is held with a kind of veneration by Captain Grindle and his relatives. It is situated near the entrance
83
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
of Gilkey's harbor, and has been a landmark for the mari- ner for more than one hundred years.
Mr. Abner Marshall's house is situated on the south side of Crow Cove. A part of this house is among the first built in Islesborough. The house was repaired, with additions, painted, and to a certain extent modernized, in 1891.
The old house of the late Henry Boardman, situated on the east side, being among the first built, was repaired a few years since, it being very conspicuous when sailing up or down the east Penobscot bay.
A few of the old settlers' houses are still standing, among which are Mrs. Catherine Sherman's, Mr. Edson Sherman's, Capt. D. A. Warren's, Amasa Hatch's, Luther Farnsworth's, Nelson Gilkey's, and the old Farrow house. These houses are situated on the lower end, or below the Narrows.
At the upper end of the town, the old Coombs house is standing, and in good condition. It is now occupied by the third generation.
The old Warren house has been repaired, and is now used by the Lime Kiln Company.
The Jacob Moody house, situated on the west side, near Seal Harbor, at present occupied by Mr. J. B. Adams, is one of the old houses still remaining. It will probably be . replaced by a new and more modern house.
There are some of the original frames of. these old houses that remain, but they have a modern appearance, with no similarity of the original.
The writer of these sketches was born in one of those old houses, and has seen them disappear one by one until the present time, when but few remain. In their stead the moneyed men now build their costly cottages, while the natives are obliged to seek other homes. There is
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84
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
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a decrease of our inhabitants (as shown by the census), who are gradually leaving the old homes of their fathers, and their children's children will not know the place, excepting by history.
After the log house was built at Henry Boardinan's, the timber was hewed from the trees that were felled near the place where the barn was erected, and the old people say that this was the first framed building in Islesborough. The tradition is somewhat contradictory in regard to the first framed building, and I quote authority. Mrs. Char- lotte Boardman, a lady of seventy-one years, now living, says that she has often heard her father and the old people make mention of this fact. There is on this estate a double damask rose bush, that was transplanted when they built the log house. At the present time it is flour- ishing, and this year (1892) it bore more than three hun- dred roses.
In this barn they held their first meeting, and there was where the first church was organized. Elder Thomas Ames was the minister. They used this barn for a mneet- ing-house until 1804, when the new meeting-house was completed.
NAMES AND DESCRIPTION OF LOCALITIES.
I. The town landing, at the southern end of the island, on the land of Jeffrey R. Brackett, in Gilkey's Har- bor. Near this landing was the first cemetery, and here is the oldest gravestone in Islesborough.
2. Dark Harbor, on the east side, near the Islesborough Inn. The proprietors, when the land was first taken, were Oliver and John Pendleton ; at present, Islesborough Land Company.
3. Boardman's Bluff, on the east side, above Dark Harbor. The cove that makes in from the bluff, at pres-
.
85
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
ent, tradition says, was a straight shore when the Board- 111ans first settled there. This shore has been used for baptisms for more than a century.
4. Capt. Joe's Rock, on the east side, on the shore of the late Capt. Joseph Pendleton estate. There was a salınon berth there, which was used for many years.
5. The Bonnet, on the east side, on the land of the late Joshua Dodge; owned at present by his son, William S. Dodge.
6. Little Island, on the east side, off the land of Mark Pendleton, below Hewes' Point, in Pendleton Cove.
7. Abrain's Mountain, near Hewes' Point, on the east side. Elevation one hundred and thirty feet.
8. Hewes' Point, below the Narrows, on the east side, a stimmer resort, with steamboat wharf, hotel, and sum- mer cottages.
9. Ice-House Hill, near the Narrows. The town road went over this hill. Mrs. Lucy Pendleton was thrown out of a carriage on this hill, breaking her arm. She claimed damages of the town, and entered into litigation, and the case was finally settled in her favor. After a time the road was shifted around the hill.
IO. The Narrows, or Carrying Place. At extremne high tide, and heavy wind, the water flows across from west to east Penobscot bay.
II. Bounty Cove, on the east side, near and above the Narrows. Here the first settler built his log cabin, and the place was known as Williams' Cove, Bounty Cove being a modern name.
I2. Sabbath-Day Harbor (or Ryder's Cove), on the east side, about a third of the way from the Narrows to Turtle Head. Sabbath-Day Harbor derives its name from1 the fishermen. In early days the fishermen in east Penob- scot bay would come in here and remain over the Sabbath
86
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
day. A road is in contemplation, running around the head of the harbor to the Bluff.
13. The Bluff, on the north-eastern side of Sabbath- Day Harbor. The elevation is one hundred and forty feet.
14. Coombs' Cove and Parker's Cove, on the east side, above the Bluff.
15. Hutchins' Island, a small island of about fifteen acres, with a sand bar to the main land. Off this island, in east Penobscot bay, is a ledge called by the inhabitants Old Frank Ledge. Its name is derived from Capt. W. Franklin Dodge, who got his vessel ashore on this ledge more than once.
16. Philip Coombs' Point and Beach. The first steam- boat wharf was built off this beach for the T. F. Secor, which commenced running in 1846. The wharf was about half-way from Turtle Head to Sabbath-Day Harbor.
17. Lime Kiln. There was a lime kiln here that was used by the first settlers, but it went to decay. The quarry is now owned by a New York company, who are manufacturing lime at the present time. They built a wharf, and the steamboat regularly makes her landing at this wharf, to and from Belfast.
18. Turtle Head, the northern extremity of Isles- borough.
19. Lasell Beach, on the west shore, in Turtle Head Cove; the sea wall making the town road.
20. Kidder's Hill. The high land rising from Turtle Head Cove on the west side, so called, probably, from a family that lived there when the island was first settled. None of their descendants are in town at the present time.
21. Dailey's Cove, on the west shore, to the north- ward of Sprague's Cove. It is thus designated by a mail of that name who once lived there.
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HEAD OF SEAL HARBOR.
SEAL HARBOR POINT.
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HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
22. The Meadow Pond contains about ten acres when there is no fieshet, or heavy fall of rain. Its outlet is in Sprague's Cove. The pond furnishes the supply of ice for the town.
23. Sprague's Cove, on the west side. At the head of the cove there was a shingle mill. The power was ob- tained from the Meadow Pond. A part of the old dam remains. Mr. Noah Dodge had a tannery here, and the old holes or vats can still be seen. The ledges that lay off the cove are called Sprague's Ledges. One of these ledges is designated the Barley Ledge. A vessel loaded with barley ran on to the ledge and filled with water. The inhabitants got more or less of the damaged barley for their hogs.
24. Seal Harbor, on the west side, is used for a winter harbor to haul up coasting vessels. At the head of the harbor there is a lime quarry, where lime was burnt for a number of years, but it has now gone out of use.
25. The Burying Point, on the south side of Seal Har- bor, and the north side of Crow Cove. The elevation is sixty feet. It was used as a burying ground by the first settlers.
26. Crow Cove, on the west side. The head of the cove inakes the Narrows.
27. Stone's Hill, south of Crow Cove, and on the west side. Elevation one hundred and twenty feet. It took the naine froin Stone, who lived there seventy years ago.
28. Gooseberry Nubble. The point which makes out into the bay, on the west shore, above Grindle's Point.
29. Grindle's Point. The entrance to Gilkey's Har- bor, west Penobscot bay.
30. Sherman's Point, in Gilkey's Harbor, on the east side.
88
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
31. Warren Mountain, on the east side of Gilkey's
Harbor. Elevation one hundred and forty feet.
32. Richmond's wharf, in Gilkey's Harbor, near War- ren Mountain.
33. Shipyard in Gilkey's Harbor, to the southward of Warren Mountain.
34. Eames' Cove, in Gilkey's Harbor, opposite Dark Harbor.
Turtle Head derives its name from Governor Pownal. At the same time Owl's Head, at the entrance of the Mussel Ridge channel, was named by him. He says : "About opposite the ridge called Megunticoog begins the south point of an island, which lies lengthwise in the middle of Penobscot bay. It is about twelve miles long, and is called Long Island. The north point, from the shape which it makes fromn sea, exactly resembling a tur- tle, we called Turtle Head."*
During the war of 1812 the Penobscot bay was infested with vessels of the enemy, and particularly privateers, cutting off the principal support of the inhabitants of Islesborough, who followed the sea in their coasting ves- sels. They were often under the necessity of risking their lives for the necessaries of life. In the year 1813 Capt. Hosea Bates was taken by a British privateer, and lie and liis crew were set on shore near Camden. The vessel was put in charge of a prize master. A few of tlie island people manned their boats, went off and recaptured lier ; and in about four hours from the time she was first captured they carried her to Camden. In a short time after this t the schooner Fly, a British privateer, was in the roadstead of Owl's Head flying the American ensig11,
* Williamson's History of Belfast.
+ Locke's History of Camden.
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HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
and by this means succeeded in capturing one of our island vessels, and at the same time captured a vessel be- longing to Thomaston.
THE ECLIPSE OF 1780.
The total eclipse of 1780 was visible on Long Island. Upon petition of many distinguished and learned men the General Court, by a resolve, Sept. 12, 1780, approved of an expedition to Long Island, and gave assistance. Joseph Williamson, Esq., of Belfast, read a paper giving an account of it, before the Maine Historical Society, which is here given :
Resolve directing the Board of War to fit out the State galley for the conveyance of Rev. Samuel Williams, Hol- lisian professor of Mathematics, &c., to Penobscot, to make observations on the eclipse of the sun, to be on the 27th of October next. Passed September 12th, 1780.
Whereas representation has been made to this court by the Hon. James Bowdoin, Esq., and others, lovers of learning and mankind, that on the 27th day of October next there will happen in the neighborhood of Penobscot a central and total eclipse of the sun, a phenomenon never apparent in these States since their settlement ; and as observations thereof may be of much consequence in science, particularly in geography and navigation; and that the Rev. Samuel Williams, Hollisian professor of Mathematics in this State, will be ready to give his aid, with such assistance as may be proper, to make the necessary observations at the most con- venient place near Penobscot ; therefore
Resolved, That the Board be and they hereby are ordered and directed to fit out the State galley, with proper stores and accommodation, for the conveyance of the Rev. Samuel Williams, Hollisian professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and such attend- ants as he may think proper to take with him, to make the
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90
HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
aforesaid observation on the central and total eclipse of the sun, which will happen on the said 27th day of October, at or near Penobscot, and that the Council be and they are hereby requested to write proper letters to the British com- mander of the garrison at Penobscot, that the important designs of the said observations may not be frustrated.
[ From Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ] Observations of a solar eclipse, October 27, 1780, made on the east side of Long Island, in Penobscot bay. By Rev. Samuel Williams, Hollis professor of Mathematics at Harvard College.
A total eclipse of the sun is a curious phenomenon. From the principles of astronomy it is certain that a central eclipse will occur in some part of the earth in the course of every year ; but it is but seldom that a total eclipse of the sun is seen in any particular place. A favorable opportunity pre- senting itself for viewing one of these eclipses on October 27, 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the University at Cambridge were desirous to have it prop- erly observed in the eastern parts of the State, where, by calculation, it was expected it would be total. With this view they solicited the government of the Commonwealth that a vessel might be prepared to convey proper observers to Penobscot bay, and that application might be made to the officer who commanded the British garrison there, for leave to take a situation convenient for this purpose. Though in- volved in all the calamities and distresses of a severe war, the government discovered all the attention and readiness to promote the cause of science which could have been expect- ed in the most peaceable and prosperous times, and passed a resolve directing the Board of War to fit out the Lincoln galley to convey me to Penobscot, or any other part at the eastward, with such assistants as I should judge necessary.
Accordingly I embarked, October 9, with Mr. Stephen Sewall, Professor of the Oriental Languages, James Win- throp, Esq., librarian, Fortesque Vernon, A. B., and Messrs.
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HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
Atkins, Davis, Hall, Dawson, Rensselaer, and King, students in the University. We took with us an excellent clock, an astronomical quadrant of two and one-half feet radius, made by Sissons, several telescopes, and such other apparatus as was necessary. On the 17th we arrived in Penobscot bay. The vessel was directed to come to anchor in a cove on the east side of Long Island. After several attempts to find a better situation for observation, we fixed on this place as the inost convenient we had reason to expect, and on the 19th we put our instruments on shore, set up the clock and quad- rant in a building facing towards the south, near the house of Mr. Shubael Williams, where the following observations were made: [Here follows a minute account of observa- tions from October 20 to October 27, inclusive, from p. 87 to p. 103, inclusive.]
The greatest obscuration was at twelve hours, thirty de- grees twelve minutes, at which time the sun's limb was re- duced to so fine a thread, and so much broken, as to be inca- pable of mensuration. There was little wind while we were making the observations, and no clouds to be seen; but the air was not perfectly clear, being a little thick or hazy.
From the beginning of the eclipse unto the time of the greatest obscuration, the color and appearance of the sky was gradually changing from an azure blue to a more dark or dusky color, until it bore the appearance and gloom of night. As the darkness increased, a chill and dampness was very sensibly felt. In one hour and nineteen minutes, when the light and heat of the sun were rapidly decreasing, there fell two-thirds as much dew as fell the night before or the night after the eclipse. To this we may add, so unusual a darkness, dampness and chill, in the midst of day, seemed to spread a general amazement among all sorts of animals. Nor could we ourselves observe such unusual phenomena without some disagreeable feelings.
As the officer who commanded at Penobscot, in his answer to the application of the government, had limited us to a time wholly inadequate to our purpose-from the 25th to the
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HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
30th of October,-we were obliged to make a second appli- cation to enter Penobscot bay. Leave was granted, but with a positive order to have no communication with any of the inhabitants, and to depart on the 28th, on the day after the eclipse. Being thus retarded and embarrassed by military orders, and allowed no time after the eclipse to make any observations, it became necessary to set up our apparatus and begin our observations without any further loss of time; in the course of which we received every kind of assistance from Capt. Henry Mowatt, of the Albany, which it was in his power to give.
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1
Ensign Is.
Warrens I.
ISLESBORO, As? Originally Surveyed by Warren.
Ho
Love.
Seven Hundred Acre Island.
Spragues
36 37 38 39 Meadow Pond
40 41
31
21
34
K
Thumbcap
14
23
30
32
25
33
35
12
28
29
4
6
2 8 00
11
2.0
27
22
24 2
26
Bounty Cove.
Hutchin's I.
I. William Pendleton,
2. Jonathan Pendleton,
3. Oliver Pendleton,
4-5. John Pendleton,
6. Thomas Pendleton, Stephen Pendleton, William Elwell,
7.
8. Joseph Pendleton,
9. Joshua Pendleton,
IO. Joseph Jones,
II. Thomas Ames,
12. Jabez Ames,
13. Elisha Nash,
William Boardman,
I4. Thomas Gilkey,
15. Charles Thomas,
16. John Gilkey,
17. Josiah Farrow,
18. Jeremiah Hatch,
19. Robert Sherman,
20. Joseph Boardman,
21. Robert Coombs,
22. Simon Dodge,
23. Amos Williams,
24. Samuel Pendleton,
25. Thomas Boardman,
26. Elisha Hewes,
27. Sylvester Cottrell,
28. John Warren,
29-30. Shubael Williams,
3I. Willianis, William Grinnell,
32. Joseph Williams,
33. Anthony Coombs,
34. John Sprague, Lydia Sprague, Joseph Ferrin,
35- Peter Coombs, Joseph Woodward,
Peter Woodward, Anthony Coombs, Fields Coombs, Hancock Rose, John Ames, Samuel Veazie,
36. Noah Dodge,
37. Benjamin Coombs,
38. Godfrey Trim, Samuel Pendleton,
39, Robert Marshall, Zachariah Marshall,
40. Solomon Sprague, Rathburn Dodge, Samuel Marshall, Samuel Williams, Simon Sprague, 4I.
42. Jonathan Parker, James Trim, Prince Holbrook,
43. Jesse Holbrook,
44. Josiah Farrow, Sr., E. Lassell,
45. Ellerson Lassell.
Turtle Hd.
16
19
18
ea
Han
HARBOR
15
21
Job's I
Eames C.
42
14
43
10
9
2
3
Sabbath Da Harbor
Bluff
Dark Harbor
Hewes Pt.
FIRST SETTLERS.
45
13
CHAPTER V.
DOCUMENTARY.
Lease from Isaac Winslow to William Pendleton, 1771.
THIS Indenture of Lease, made the twenty-second day of May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one, and in the eleventh year of his Majesty's reign, between Isaac Winslow, of Roxbury, in the county of Suffolk, Esq., on the one part, and William Pendleton, of an island in Penobscot bay, in the county of Lincoln and province aforesaid, known by the name of Winslow's Island, or Long Island :
That the said Isaac Winslow, for the consideration here- after mentioned, hath demised, leased, and farm let, and by these presents doth lease unto said Pendleton a certain tract of land on Winslow's Island aforesaid, where the said Pen- dleton now resides, containing six hundred and twenty acres more or less, for and during the term of twenty-five years from the date hereof. And the said William Pendleton, for himself, his heirs and assigns, doth hereby covenant and agree with the said Isaac Winslow that he will cut, clear up and keep down yearly, and every year during said term, ten acres of said land, and subdue the same, so that the whole shall be cleared during said term, and shall be brought to good mowing or tillage. That he will make no strip or waste, or cut any wood off any other part of the land than what he subdues in the manner aforesaid. That he will pay all taxes the premises may be subject to during said lease. That he will in every respect manage and improve the said land in an husbandlike manner, and at the expiration of said lease will deliver up the herein-leased premises to the said
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HISTORY OF ISLESBOROUGH.
Winslow, his heirs or assigns, with what buildings there may be thereon, and with all the improvements which shall be made, and under proper fencing. And the said Pendleton also engages that he will reserve such lots of wood in proper places, as may be needful for the use of such farm or farms, as shall be on the premises, and that he (be) careful not to plow the same piece of land too often, and such as he doth plow he will dung, and after proper plowing he will sow the same with grass seed.
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