USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Wales > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 15
USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Monmouth > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 15
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In giving this house the "first preference" it is only fair to make "honorable mention" of the buildings erected by Josiah Brown, John Welch and Ichabod Baker. The Welch and Baker houses were raised the same day. The first barn was built by Ichabod Baker.
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GLIMPSES OF CABIN LIFE.
It was moved to the Shackley place, where it now stands.
From the few private accounts of our forefathers that have escaped the omnivorous clutch of the junk collect- or, we glean ample evidence of the systematic manner in which all their business affairs were transacted. Nearly every torn and yellowed paper that has fallen into the hands of the writer, bears items which a ma- jority of the present generation would consider too trivial to commit to writing. It may be that we who despise the day of small things, can find here a partial solution of the question why the farms which brought wealth into the coffers of a former generation, bear nothing but tax-bills and heavy mortgages to the pres- ent owners.
In the absence of currency. a large portion of the exchange of value was accomplished by means of promissory notes, payable in produce. Occasionally a little specie would be brought in by some outside sale to oil the wheels of commerce, but generally a purchase of commodities would result in the issuing of papers of which these notes against a settler on Norris Hill are types :
Monmoth, march 22d yer 1799
for valey received I Promis To Pay levi Smart or his orDer seven tan Dolars by the furst Day of June In the yer iSoo with Intris til paid
attest E. Smart
What more could the advocate of a phonetic system of spelling desire ?
"febuary 4 IS11 for valey received I Promis to Pay Samuel hoit or his order nine Dolars the furst of nex January with intrest as witnes my hand
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
The note would generally be liquidated in farm pro- duce, or some home manufactured article, and if the article in question was valued above the face of the note, another note to cover the balance would be issued by the other party.
This accounts for the fact that of all the papers that have been discovered among the effects of the pioneers, fully one-half are promissory notes.
Occasionally the butter would just fit the bread, and an event of this kind would call forth a paper of which this was the usual form:
"Monmouth april 4 day yer 1747 then Recoved and received five Shilens of John Parsons In ful of all acount to this Dat as witne my hand
Frequently we find the phrase "from the beginning of the world unto this day" as in the following, which has a two-fold interest:
"aprill 5, 17So.
This day sattled all our a Coumps with Benjamin Dearborn, from the Beginning of the world to this Day, and found Due to Mr. Ichabod Baker, two shillings and ten pence Lawful money, on the Books, as witnefs our hands. Benjamin Dearborn, Ichabod Baker"
In all business transactions, they were very precise, and were generally governed by the strictest sense of honor. Their accounts, notes, orders and receipts were plainly worded, and, as they had no lawyers to search out, and haggle over, infinitesimal technical dis- crepancies, but few disagreements occurred. Unless other articles were to be given in payment, their notes were generally written to be paid in "Spanish milled" dollars, or in "lawful money." Baker's note to Gen. Dearborn will serve as an example :
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GLIMPSES OF CABIN LIFE.
"Wales, June 27, 1783
For value rec'd. I promise to pay unto Henry Dearborn, or or- der, the sum of thirty-three spanish milled dollars, by the 15th day of October next, with lawful interest until paid.
Ichabod Baker."
Sometimes men who had no means to pay for one took a cow of some more prosperous neighbor, and kept it a term of years, turning over to the owner a heifer, at stated periods, in payment.
Here is a malicious attempt on the fair name of Ben- jaoni Austin, which probably terminated a transaction of this kind:
"Wales, April ye S, 1786.
Mr. Banj a oney afston plese to Daliver Padey Linch Cow to Mr. Daniel Gilman & youe will oblige me .- John Lamons."
Although the orthography generally took a decided- ly original turn, their accounts were usually arrayed as systematically as the ledger of a professional book- keeper.
"June 20 yer 1802 Jonathan Marstin Detor
to my oxen three Days 2 00
to myself one Day folen treas 67
nowvember 28 one Days work helping you 50
to my oxen one Day to Plow 67
to tapen and Puten on new heals for David 25
September 15 1803 to halen ont clabboards for you
67
A bill made out by the same person is very similar to dozens of others that have passed through the writ- er's hands :
"Aprill the 28 yer 1Sos
Mr. Seth Bilington Detor
to to myself and oxen two Days to haror wich he agread to giv seventy fiv cents per Day
3-0"
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
Nearly all the religious meetings and important gath- erings were at first held in Ichabod Baker's barn. This continued to be both temple and forum until John Welch's house was built, when his chamber was used as a place of public assembly.
The Pondtown people were accustomed to walk out to attend the Sabbath services. With praiseworthy economy they would place their shoes and stockings in their pockets, and travel barefooted. When they reached the barn, it was an easy matter to slip behind it and dress their feet. They all wore leather aprons. made of dressed sheep skins. One of our good old dames remarked that she "should think them Pondtown folks might leave their aprons ter home, an' not come pokin' out here with them things on."
Although they were generally men of sound sense and good judgment, our forefathers were, like all the people of that day, exceedingly superstitious. There were exceptions, to be sure, but as a class they believed in dreams and divinations, and even in ghosts and su- pernatural manifestations. Nor can we blame them for these absurdities. It was the result of the teaching of their fathers. as conscientiously and vigorously incul- cated on their minds as the truths of the Scriptures. The terrible tragedies that were enacted at Salem under the Puritanic rule were the legitimate outcome of a firm and deep-seated faith-false and ridiculous though it may have been-and opinions so deeply grounded. and rooted could not be easily overturned. Sullivan, our own noted and respected historian says: "Nor have we any reason to doubt whether there was not some ex- traordinary cause from the state of the atmosphere, or
I
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GLIMPSES OF CABIN LIFE.
from something else, which operated on the nerves of the judges, and on the people at large, depriving them in a great measure of their rational faculties." What- ever the cause of the hallucination, its taint was strong and lasting, and we find the early inhabitants of Wales Plantation imbued with this delusive faith in witchcraft.
As this history was first projected by my grand- father, and but for the material he collected, could not appear in nearly as complete a form, it is only just that once in the volume he should be allowed to speak in his own characteristic language; and perhaps no part of his manuscript is better suited to show his pe- culiar style than the following account of the reign of witchcraft in Monmouth:
"Among the Hogreaves chosen in 1797, I have men- tioned Aaron He was the son of -, one of the first settlers. Aaron made a beginning and lived on the Ridge near where Deacon now lives. About the year 1811, he left the town and moved off to the .Holland Purchase' in Western New York. While living here he had the good fortune of becom- ing an Ensign in the Militia, and ever after went by the name of Ensign When he was elected, the news spread in the settlement forthwith that Aaron was chosen Ensign, and one of the neighboring women made a call on Mrs. - to congratulate her on the great honor that had fallen upon her of being an En- sign's wife. "Yes," said she, "there is some honor in being an Ensign's wite, but there ain't much profit in it." She spoke wisely. But Mrs .- was not fully aware, at that time, of the great amount of honor which was to be showered upon her. in being an Ensign's
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
wife,-for after this the Ensign immortalized his name, and proved to the world that he was a valiant offi- cer, whose courage, when put to the test, knew no fear. With sword in hand he fought witches, and came out of the fight without a scratch or a scar. The story runs in this wise :- There was a girl by the name of Sarah -, who lived down in the settlement where Allen, Jenkins, Ham, Gray and Thompson lived. She was a great strapping, corn-fed looking girl; but she became bewitched, or be-deviled. She carried on such rigs that the people said she was bewitched. They sent for all the old ladies, and all the Doctors, but they couldn't start the witches. They then thought they would see whether the young men, any of them, could start the witches. Mr. John Sawyer, the present Collector of Monmouth, was quite a smart, good-look- ing young man, and they sent for him. He tried it with the Spirits all one night, and how much longer is not known, but he couldn't start them. Sarah said, "John Sawyer wa'n't the fellow she took him to be." She thought he wa'n't much on Witches, anyway. Fi- nally all the young men in the settlement had a try at Sarah's Witches, but they hung to her like shoe-maker's wax, and what to do the people didn't know; they had tried the old ladies, who were supposed to know every- thing; they had tried the Doctors; and they had tried all the young men, and still the witches were torturing Sarah at no slow rate. 'She would sartin die,-poor critter, if they couldn't be started.' At last the joyful news came to them that there was a sure way to drive off the witches. It was to hang a great kettle over the fire, fill it with water, get it to boiling, and then for
.......
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.. Wer ;ttrs
The John Welch House. REMODELED BY CAPT. DANIEL G. TOWLE IN 1865.
GLIMPSES OF CABIN LIFE.
one person to stand with a live rooster, and another person with a drawn sword, and as soon as the water was scalding hot, to chuck the rooster into the kettle. and, if he attempted to fly out, for the person with the sword, on the instant, strike a death-blow, and cut the rooster's head off, while in the kettle. If this was done, and the rooster was slain without escaping from the kettle, the witches would be driven out of the soul and body, and all the premises and appurtenances of Sarah She would be clothed and in her right mind, and as happy, as happy as the man-Legion. who had a herd of devils cast out of him. As soon as this piece of news was received, the neighborhood was in a fer- ment. Old men, young men, old ladies and maidens were on their taps (they that had any, shoe leather was very scarce in these days) to see the witches start- ed. They held a sort of meeting to confer upon means and measures, and it was unanimously resolved that Ensign - should be the sword-holder; another per- son was selected to hold the old rooster, and, at the proper time to do the chucking in. On went the ket- tle; it was quickly filled with water, and the fire set to roaring under it. The water was soon scalding hot. Now was the time, the time of all times, when an old rooster was to be sacrificed, and the witches made to flee out of Sarah -- 's fleshy domicile. Are you all ready? In with him! Chuck-Kersouse! went the rooster into the boiling water. The Ensign was ready to strike the fatal blow. The rooster made his last spring to get from the kettle; down came the Ensign's sword, and the rooster was dead. The Ensign per- formed his part with valor; his heart quailed not; no
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
tear was in his eye; his courage was proved, and it was the talk of all the old ladies "how bravely, how nicely the Ensign acted." Whether the witches were started as quick as it was said they would be, I do not remem- ber. At any rate, Sarah got rid of her witches, some-
time. She is now
-
's wife, and is living
down in the town of Plymouth. Some may be disposed to disbelieve this story, but they need not, for it is an absolute fact. Every circumstance happened as I have related it, and I have not made the story so bad as it really was. Sarah was never bewitched. All that ailed her was hysterics. The devil was in her, into the bargain."
There is something noteworthy, if not remarkable,in the fortune of the pioneers of this vicinity. Almost without exception, they were miserably poor when they left their old homes for the rough fields of the wilder- ness, and, with as few exceptions, they accumulated a fair property, and were enabled to spend their last days in comparative comfort. It demonstrates what energy and perseverance, coupled with economy, can do.
CHAPTER IX.
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A RELIGIOUS REFORMATION.
Of all the changes that have accompanied the flight of an hundred years, none are more marked than those that have taken place in the growth and development of religious sentiment and its manner of expression.
Nothing could more aptly illustrate the proverbial attempt to make a square plug fit a round hole than the religious economy of one hundred years ago. While the iron-bound rigidity of the Puritan church had so far relaxed as to allow the reading of the Scriptures and singing in connection with the delivery of the Sunday ser- mon, the minister was still worshipped instead of God. It is not strange that the solemn-looking individual in long, straight coat and spectacles, who could speak words that no one could understand, and who. because of his ability to read Greek, could tell more about what Paul meant in certain passages of his epistles than Paul himself ever knew, should be highly respected, and even reverenced. in a community made up wholly of uneducated people. It is but little more than a hun-
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
dred years since there was not a liberally educated per- son east of Portland, outside of the ministry. The minister was supposed to know everything, and why should not omniscience be worshipped ? With his long face, and longer sermons, the "parson," as he was usu- ally denominated, was not always an exemplary per- sonage. The thread-bare joke about the dignified prelate who imbibed freely, that he might be filled with the spirit on the Lord's day, rested on a substantial foundation. A teetotaler among them was the excep- tion, rather than the rule. And as long as they could preserve their equilibrium, and maintain a proper deco- rum, they saw no harm in taking "a little wine," and a little brandy, and a little "West India" "for the stom- ach's sake."
Theirs was an educational, rather than a spiritual. birthright. They were called to the priestly office by their earthly, not their heavenly, father. If, at the age of ten years, a boy exhibited a fondness for books, he was marked for the ministry. And woe be unto him if he tried to rub the mark off! If he remonstrated. he was sternly rebuked; and, if he persistently refused, he was flogged. If nature had blessed him with spiritual tendencies, happy was it for both him and the people over whom he was subsequently settled for life; but if the carnal nature predominated, fearful was the strug- gle to accommodate his deportment to the vocation in- to which he had been driven. Once graduated from college, and thoroughly drilled in the principles of orthodoxy, he was prepared to guide sinners in the way to-the meeting house; and once settled as pastor of a church, nothing but death could remove him, unless
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A RELIGIOUS REFORMATION.
charges were preferred against him for immoral con- duct, or he was proved guilty of the more grievous offence of departing a trifle from the doctrinal grooves that the Mathers and their followers had carved.
If a man did not like the minister, he could stay at home one Sunday; but if the offence was repeated, he was fined. If he got mad, and refused to pay his pro- portionate part of the preacher's salary, his property was attached for the amount.
Every voter was taxed for the support of the minis- ter, and it mattered little to the officials whether he met his obligation with pleasure or profanity. Come it must, and come it did. Of course he did not pay money, no one did that. He could pay in corn, rye, buckwheat, potatoes or ashes.
To simmer the facts down, it was forcing a cold, dry. formal and languid form of religion on the people, at the point of the bayonet, and occasionally a subject would be found who did not like to take it in that way. There were some redeeming features about this kind of religion. About the only preparation a man needed to make him a fit subject for admission to the church, was the ability-gained by long practice-to keep awake on warm Sundays in July, until the minister had preached all the sinners to sleep-which he usually succeeded in doing inside of three hours-and to pre- serve a calm and saintly expression while his feet were freezing, in the bitter days of December.
It was on this sort of a religious atmosphere, that a storm burst, in the closing days of the last century, with a force that rivalled the days of the Reformation.
Not only in Monmouth, but in the towns surround-
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
ing it, also, a religious awakening started, without any assignable cause. The germs of contagion seemed to fly in the very air. People who had attended no relig- ious services in years, suddenly became imbued with a spirit of scriptural research, which terminated, as sin- cere study of God's truth always will, in the conversion of the individual. It seemed as it a double portion of the hallowed spirit was being poured upon the people, in compensation for their lack of opportunity.
The ecclesiastical history of Monmouth is not con- fined to the archives of the town. Throughout the state, wherever Methodism has gained a foothold, the name of Monmouth is a household word. It is to the Methodists of Maine, what the Cave of the Nativity is to all Christendom. It is more; it is not only the birth- place of Maine Methodism, it is the cradle in which it was rocked.
If religious sentiment was generally at a low ebb in the closing years of the eighteenth century, it was par- ticularly so in Monmouth and Wales. In all the nine- teen years that had passed since the first settlers ap- peared, no steps had been taken to organize a religious society, and but little pains had been taken to dissemi- nate the gospel. Meetings were held occasionally in private houses and barns, when preachers could be se- cured ; but this was not of frequent occurrence.
In 1783 James Potter, of Litchfield, held a series of meetings in the settlements, and attempted to awaken a religious interest. He found the people attentive, but "disposed to cavil," and no fruit resulted from his labors; although seed may have been sowed for the reaping of the Methodists, ten years later.
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A RELIGIOUS REFORMATION.
Mr. Potter became converted at his home, while meditating on the wonderful attributes of God. He first united with the Congregationalists at Harpswell, that being the nearest church, and subsequently with the Baptists. His was the last effort to arouse religious sentiment, except as floating preachers flashed upon the settlement for a moment, and disappeared, leaving no fruit, and but little influence toward a coming fruitage.
On the twenty-second day of October, 1793, a re- markable figure appeared in Monmouth. Riding a superb, spirited horse, and accompanied by another animal of similar description, loose, and following like a well trained dog, he called from house to house, bearing the announcement of a religious service. He was a man of unusually striking appearance, above two hundred and fifty pounds in weight, square built, with no show of superfluous flesh, and extraordinarily symmetrical and beautiful both in countenance and physique. He was dressed in full Continental cos- tume, knee breeches, triangular hat, long skirted coat, and waist coat. Strapped to the saddle was a pair of saddle-bags containing a Bible, hymn book, and a change of clothing. Occasionally he would stop and speak to the loose horse following in the rear, when, with wonderful intelligence, the animal would come to his side and stand patiently while he dismounted and removed the trappings from the other, and having re- ceived its master's cumbersome weight, would start off at a brisk gallop while its relieved companion would frisk and caper along behind. Should any one attempt to divert the loose animal from its course, a savage showing of teeth and heels would convince him that
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
his business was elsewhere. Sometimes, as the won- dering inmates of a cabin flocked out to watch the strange horseman and his intelligent travelling compan- ions until they disappeared in a turn in the road, a strain of song would come floating back, rendered in a voice so rich and sonorous that the listeners could hardly wait until the hour of service to hear more of the wonderful singer. Such was Jesse Lee, the cir- cuit rider. the founder of Methodism in New England.
It would be over-reaching the bounds of a local his- tory to furnish any details concerning the remarkable career of Jesse Lee. That he was a man of eminent talents is demonstrated by the fact that a few years later he was appointed chaplain of the House of Rep- resentatives at Washington, where, after three years service, he was called to a similar position in the Sen- ate. These honors were tendered in recognition of his public worth. He never sought, or aspired to any- thing more honorable than preaching the gospel from house to house.
In all his travels through Maine, Lee found no re- gion so promising as the western half of the Kennebec Valley. There was not a member of the Methodist church east of the New Hampshire line, and it was with wonderful faith in the power and promises of God that he described the limits of a tract extending from Hallowell to Farmington, and named it Read- field circuit. The next year Philip Wager was ap- pointed to take charge of this circuit, in the capacity of what was termed by the early Methodists a "circuit rider." It was his duty to visit the various towns and plantations included in the circuit, converse with the
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Ichabod Baker's First Barn. BUILDING IN WHICH THE FIRST RELIGIOUS SERVICES WERE HELD.
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A RELIGIOUS REFORMATION.
people, teach them the essentials of God's truth and the principles of Methodism, preach wherever an audi- ence could be secured, and form classes for mental con- ference and spiritual admonition wherever he found converts.
About the first of November, 1794, Wager had the pleasure of gathering in the first fruits of his labors in the organization of a class of fifteen members in Mon- mouth. This was the first permanent foothold that Methodism gained in Maine. The names of only a few of the members have been preserved. Gilman Moody and wife, Phineas Blake and wife, Daniel Smith and wife and Nancy Nichols are the only ones with whom history has dealt kindly.
On the 12th of November, Jesse Lee again visited the settlement. He lodged at Simon Dearborn's, and the next day preached at Peter Hopkin's "tavern." He was greatly gratified to find this oasis in the desert the scene of a revival. To use his own words, as recorded in his diary, "the Lord moved upon the hearts of many of the people" at this meeting. "Bro. Wager," said he, "exhorted with freedom." As was his custom, he met the recently-organized class, whom he exhorted and encouraged to continue in the faith. The following Saturday, Mr. Lee rode to Readfield. Thence he turned toward the Sandy River Valley, and across to the settlements in the upper Kennebec. After an ab- sence of about five weeks, he returned, and crossed over to Mr. Lane's in Littleboro (Leeds), where he held a service at two o'clock, on the 23rd day of De- cember, preaching from John 1: 1-3. Mr. Lee's de- scription of this meeting is a picture of an old-time re-
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
vival. "I had," writes he, "a crowded congregation. and the melting presence of God was among us. Many of the people could hardly refrain from weeping aloud. After I had dismissed the people and went into another room, a man came to speak with me, and burst into tears. Another came in with tears, and begged that I would preach again at night. I could not refuse. Some of the people then went home, but soon returned. One man, being in deep distress, began to cry aloud to God to have mercy upon his poor soul, and thus he contin- ved to cry with all his might, until some of the people were much frightened. I talked, prayed, and sang; and while I was singing a visible alteration took place in his countenance; and I was inclined to think his He afterward spoke as though soul was set at liberty.
he believed it was so. About this time another man was seized with trembling, and he began to pray the Lord to have mercy upon his soul, and cried aloud for some time. I then took my text and preached on I Pet. 8: 7-"Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you." It was not long before another man was taken with violent trembling and crying, so that my voice was almost drowned. I was forced to stop. I then prayed for him, and he became more quiet. I then went on with my sermon. There was great weep- ing in every part of the house. It appeared as if the whole neighborhood was about to turn to God."
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