USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Wales > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 19
USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Monmouth > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 19
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The farm on which Mr. Smith made his last clear- ing is now a portion of the well-known "Dr. Day place." The house was taken down nearly a half-century ago, and the one erected by his son, James F. Smith, to take its place has been destroyed by fire in recent years. It stood a little south of the farm buildings of Rev. Dr. Day, on the opposite side of the highway.
Mr. Smith reared a family which, like many others of the sterling, pioneer stock, has entirely disappeared from among us. One of his sons, J. Alden Smith, oc-
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cupies the position of Pro essor of Geology in the State University of Colorado.
David Marston was a descendant in the fifth genera- tion of William Marston, who came to America in 1634, settling in Newbury, and afterwards removing to Hampton, N. H., where the generations intervening be- tween him and the subject of this sketch resided, and where David was born Sept. 4. 1757. David's father was captain of a company of the heroes of the Revo- lution. In 1780 he married Mary Wadleigh of Ep- ping, N. H., and after the close of the war, worked at his trade of tanning and shoemaking until he removed to Monmouth.
Mr. Marston was a man of great energy and consid- erable ability. In the militia he gained the title of Major, a title most fitting to a man of his dignity and firmness.
When the Methodist society first contemplated build- ing a church, Major Marston donated a lot to the trus- tees for a buil ling-spot. In later years, after the struct- ure erected on this land was burned, it was pro- posed to build again, nearer the center of the town, and the old lot was offered for sale. "No," said the Major, "I sold that lot for a meeting-house, that they might preach and expound God' Holy Word," and not- withstanding all attempts to take the land by prescription, he held it to the last. This incident not only illustrates his great exactness, but smacks of the eccentricity that marked his declining days. He attained the rare age of ninety-three years. His last sickness was long and wearisome; during which his mind wandered back over the scenes that had deeply impressed themselves
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on his youthful memory. and many days were spent on the battle-fields of the Revolution and in wandering over plains strewed with the mangled corpses of his youth- ful companions until, at ast, the aged body, racked and wearied in its attempts to keep pace with the still vigorous. though aberrant, intellect, sank back into its final rest. All this time, through weeks and months. the Major insisted on wearing a soft, white hat for which he had a particular fancy, day and night, never suffering it to be removed from his head for a moment. It was his last whim, and those who watched over him in those days of feebleness never regretted that it was gratified.
Lewis Marston, son of the above, shortly before his decease, which occurred in 1810, when he was but 27 years of age, was engaged in trade at the store which stood on the ledge south of his father's house He was a young man of more than ordinary ambition and ability, as is attested by the fact that when only twenty one years of age he had accumulated considerable property in his own name. The store where he trad- ed was moved, not far from 1850, to Greenleaf A. Blake's. and is now one of the buildings owned by Mr. Thompson.
James and Nathaniel Nichols settled not far from 1794 in the eastern part of the town. They were twin sons of James Nichols, a veteran of the American Rev- olution who emigrated to this country from the north of Ireland with the Scotch-Irish Protestants who settled in New Hampshire. They were, like their father, black- smiths. Their anvil, an unshapely block of hammered iron which was brought from Ireland, is now in the pos-
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session of S. O. King, Esq., of Monmouth Centre.
James settled on the farm now owned by Mr. Gowan. He purchased the land in a wild state and cleared it. Nathaniel, who was an officer in the Continental Army, took up and cleared the adjoining farm, now known as the "Tillson place." He afterward exchanged farms with Nathaniel Hawes, who owned and cleared the one now occupied by Mr. Frank Jones, and later purchased the Gowan farm of his brother, who removed to the east- ern part of the state. Late in life, Mr. Nichols erected the brick house which now stands on the place. His wife was Nancy Blake, daughter of Phineas Blake. She was a most devoted and enthusiastic Methodist, while her husband was equally as strong an adherent to the Universalist creed. Strange to say, their children were equally divided in religious opinion, one half following the example of the mother, and the other half clinging to the theological tenets of the father.
Joseph Nichols, a brother of the above, came from New Hampshire some years later than his brothers, and settled directly opposite the school-house near Frank Jones's. His wife was Nancy Bryant of Meredith, N. H.
Another immigrant of the same period was Capt. William P. Kelly, who came through from Meredith, N. H., dragging his household effects through the cow- paths on a four-ox-team. His wife rode behind on horseback, carrying a child in her arms, and following her was another horse on which were mounted William and Sarah, their oldest children. They found a home on the crest of Stevens Hill where Mrs. Rhoda A. Pres- cott now lives. Capt. Kelly was in the Revolutionary War. He enlisted on a privateer, was captured and
Residence of Fred K. Blake
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carried to Dartmoor prison, where he was held about fourteen months. To kill time, he joined a school which the better educated prisoners instituted, where he secured nearly all the education he ever boast- ed. He was Captain of the "foot" company in 1804. and probably gained his title as commander of this local military organization. He was an energetic. industrious
man with a keen eye for business, and owned mills at East Monmouth which brought him a good revenue.
When Capt Kelly began his clearing on the top of hill, there was, just below him on the north, a large farm which was already in a fair state of cultivation. For eight years Phineas Blake and his sons had been cutting away the forest and preparing the way for a settlement in that part of the town. Phineas Blake, in selecting the spot on which the "George Riley Blake house" now stands for the location of his home, did a very curious thing-something that not one of the pioneers who preceded him had ventured to do-built his house at the foot of a hill. He was the first of the New Hampshire colonists who settled in the eastern part of the town, and undoubtedly his acquaintance and association with the settlers in the western portion served to unite them with those on the banks of the Cobbosee-contee below him, who were all, from former associations, connected with the people of Winthrop. Mr. Blake was a tailor and farmer. He enlisted, Apr. 27, 1758, in Capt. Gilman Somersbee's company, under Col. John Hart, for Crown Point. the seat of Indian warfare. and, after performin signal service, was discharged Oct. 20th following. His wife was Ruth Dearborn, daughter of Simon and a sister of
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Monmouth's foremost citizen, Gen. Henry Dearborn.
Mr. Blake reared a large family, the youngest of which was seven years of age when he settled in Mon- mouth, and he was exceedingly fortunate in having them all select homes near the old nest. His oldest dangh- ter, Sally, married Capt. Wm. P. Kelly, who has already Deen mentioned, with whom she lived in Meredith, N. H., about nine years before removing to Monmouth. Dearborn, the oldest son, settled on the farm now owned by Charles Merrill; Molly married Josiah Brown, and came to this town one year earlier then the rest of her father's family; Phineas, jun., settled on the farm now owned by his great-grandson, Fred K. Blake: Pascal remained on the home place; Abigail married Abner Bingham; Anna, Nathaniel Nichols; and Ruth, John A. Torsey; all of whom settled within a half-mile of the paternal roof.
Phineas jun. and Pascal married sisters, Betsey and Nancy, daughters of Benj. Kimball, and sisters of Thomas and Benj. Kimball, jun., who settled on the farms on Norris Hill known as the "Blue place" and "Kimball place" respectively. Benj. Kimball, sen. came to this town about the time that the Blakes took up their land, and settled near Josiah Brown. All traces of the house in which he lived have long since disap- peared.
Phineas Blake ,jun. appears to have been a man of activity and ability. Before he was of age, he had taken up and cleared the farm on which his descendants have since resided and erected the large barn that still stands as a monument of his youthful energy, and at the early age of twenty-two he, in company with his father and
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brothers owned mills at East Monmouth. He was one of the members of the first Methodist class organ- ized in Maine, and ever held both heart and purse open to the church to his election.
The same year that the Nichols brothers and Capt. Kelly took up a residence in town, Philip Rowell came from Salisbury, Mass., and began clearing the farm near Norris Hill on which his grandson now lives. He had purchased the land at an auction sale in Boston, at a shilling an acre. The purchase included the lot now owned by Mr. Hamilton. His son Joseph, who ac- companied him, and who was a man with a family. made the clearing on the latter lot. They boarded with Benj. Clough. The next season Joseph, who had been residing in Amesbury, moved in with his family, which consisted of a wife and one child.
Joseph Rowell was a young man, a member of the society of Friends, correct in habits, industrious and intelligent; qualities that won him a hearty welcome to the little settlement. His young wife, Mary Colby, whom he married in Amesbury and brought with him, was deprived of looking into the face of another wom- an for more than six months after she moved to her new home. The first female she met was Bethany Ham, an old, roving lady. who later became a town charge. Her joy at meeting one of her sex was al- most unbounded.
Benj. French, a pedagogue whose wonderful attain- ments in writing "round hand" and "figgerin" won him the reverential sobriquet of "doctor," was another of the immigrants of 1794. "Doctor" French pur- chased a portion of the field north west from the town
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common, and built a house about where the cheese factory now stands. His home was surrounded by a flourishing orchard, which became decayed with age and was cut down by Nathaniel Blue after the land came into his possession.
Although the town had been divided into five school districts, it would appear from the records that Mr. French was the only teacher employed in 1794, and that he spent nearly half of his time with the school in the cent r district, which convened at the house of Daniel Gilman, near where Mr. Stewart now lives.
The valuation for the year 1795 shows an increase of seventeen houses and fourteen barns. Among the many houses that had been built in the preceding year were those of Thomas Stockins and Robert Hill. The number of shops however had decreased from seven to four. Capt. Prescott's £
blacksmith shop was burned: the fate of the others is not known. There were five mills; one at the outlet of South Pond, owned by General Dearborn, Nathaniel Norris and others. This was a saw-mill and grist-mill combined. At the Center was a saw mill owned by William Allen and Ichal od Baker, and a grist-mill owned by General Dearborn, John Welch and Capt. Blossom. At the outlet of Wilson pond stood the saw-mill of Robt. Hill and the grist-mill of Thomas Stockins.
Another saw-mill was built some time during the year on the Wilson stream by George Hopkins, Caleb Thurston, Dudley Thurston and Jonathan Thurston. The latter owned one-half; Hopkins, one-fourth; and the others one-eighth each. This mill stood near the spot where the shovel and hoe shops were subsequently
Phinches Beaker.
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erected, and was the first mill built on the Wilson stream below Stockin's. Capt. Hopkin's wife being dead, he sold all his property to his son George. George seems to have been a man of enterprise, for in addition to assisting in building the above mentioned mill this year, he enlarged the potash works that his father had established many years before. In 1795, John Huse, a joiner, came into town. He lived in George Hopkins' house until the year following. By this time he had a house and shop of his own on the west side of the road near Hopkin's, and about twen- ty-nine acres of land. He wis an industrious fellow, and carried on an extensive business, employing a number of assistants and apprentices.
The number of voters had increased in 1795 to eighty-five, a gain of eleven. Only ten had been added to the number of taxable polls, while the list showed an addition of fifteen to the number of families. The set- tlement at North Monmouth had received quite a re- inforcement. Ebenezer Thurston had settled where Cyrus E. Towle lives, and Dudley Thurston had made a beginning near the farm owned by Charles Robinson. Welcome Bishop had cut a clearing on the farm now owned by James Packard and George F. Bishop; and Jesse Bishop, one at the junction of the road leading to Henry Norris's and the Leeds road.
An equal division of the money appropriated for the support of schools this year among the several districts seemed unjust to those who lived in districts where a large portion of the assessments fell, and it was voted at the annual meeting that the several districts should "en- joy the privileges of their own district money". The
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sums of forty-five and one hundred pounds, respectively, were appropriated for the support of the schools and for improvements on the highways.
It has been stated that all the schools except the one kept in the North district, were held in private houses. The following bill shows where the winter term was held. "The town of Monmouth to Daniel Gilman, Dr. To the use of my house to keep school in six weeks, ten shillings. Daniel Gilman, Monmouth, April I. 1795."
The appended certificate from the committee de- monstrates the fitness of the gentlemen composing it for the position they held :
"We the Commicy have inspeked the Count and have found it Rite ICHABOD BAKER. JAMES HARVEY."
As many of the farmers were not particularly anxious to keep their cattle within the limits of their own domains while the sides of roads afforded superior pasturage, it was considered expedient to build a pound, where er- ratic animals could be confined. Accordingly it was voted at a meeting held at John Welch's on the 6th day of May to build this pound of hewed timber, thirty feet square. It was to be placed on William Allen's lot, and that gentleman was to act as pound-keeper. To defray the cost of building this enclosure, seven pounds and ten shillings were raised.
William Allen, Asahel Blake and Robert Withington were chosen a committee to keep the fishways open or, as the record has it, "a fish committee".
This year saw the death of the old English form of reckoning values. Dollars and cents took the place of
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pounds, shillings and pence as standards of value.
Among the persons who became residents of the town about this time was William Lowney, a schoolmaster who plied the birch and performed the other less im- portant duties of the ancient pedagogue in the public schools of Monmouth many years. He settled on the "Morrill place," where Mr. Smith had been living. Like nearly all the schoolmasters of those days, he was an old man; but, unlike some of them, was well educated. His only drawback to success as a teacher was the brogue he brought from Erin, unless his extreme little- ness of stature and general inferiority of appearance might be added. He was well known as an efficient educator throughout this portion of the state. His brogue, which was quite marked, was the cause of con- siderable confusion among his pupils. One day while drilling a spelling class he gave out the word "thumb." The one to whom the word was given, led astray by the old gentleman's peculiar and original pronunciation. promptly responded, "T-u-m, tum." "Naw, nixt!" "T-o-m." "Naw. The nixt!" "T-e-u-m." "Naw. naw, an fath! can't ye sphell "Naw. The nixt!" "T-o-m-m". tum?" "T-u-m-m." "Naw. naw! An fath ve can't sphell it at all, intoirly." After "tum" had gone the rounds of the class two or three times, the old gentle- man became exasperated, and spreading his hands out before the puzzled class, he yelled "Tum, tum, TUM,- the tum on ye hand, an fath can't ye sphell tum now. shure ?" A young upstart among his scholars said, "Won't you take a jig with me Master Lowney?" "I swear to ye I will," was his reply, and suiting the action to the word he applied the birch vigorously.
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Mr. Lowney removed from this town to Belfast in 1804. Among the other early pedagogues were Masters Smith, Lyford, Crossman, Patch and Kinsky. Smith and Lyford were the first who taught in town. Old Master Kinsley was found dead in the road just be- low Smart's Corner one winter day. He was supposed to have died in a fit. There was another noted school- master who lived in town in later years. Like Master Lowney. he was a son of Hibern a. Master Magner wore a long-tailed coat, and velvet breeches that fitted his limbs so closely as to make them appear about as large as a man's wrist. Like Master Lowney he was fond of a drop of "the good crayther". At the first election of artillery officers, held in Capt. Prescott's hall, Master Magner was at his best. The finest liquors that could be procured were served as freely as water, and. by some, drank with a freedom that would put water to the blush. Master Magner rose to the spirits of the oc- casion-or was it the spirits that rose ? Under the circum- stances a toast would be eminently proper; and who was better qualified to propose it than Master Magner? Thus soliloquizing, he raised his glass far above his head proclaiming, "Here the cup goes round an -. " Alas for human calculation! It was Master Magner's head, and not the cup. that was going round. He stag- gered a little, and before he could regain his perpendic- ular, found himself lying at the bottom of the steep stairway leading from the hall, slightly sobered and considerably injured.
The following article concerning Master Magner, evidently from the pen of that able writer of historic sketches, Mr. A. W. Tinkham, of North Monmouth,
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was copied some three or four years ago from the Win- throp Budget: "About one hundred years ago the first John Magner made his appearance in New Hampshire. He ran away from Dublin, Ireland, and came in no small degree of pomp for he was dressed in a white linen suit with silver buckles and black silk stockings which reached to the knee. He had with him several of these suits for a change. all white linen, and as some of our grand-mothers of the first families have told us, a half bushel of gold and silver coin. After marrying the widowed mother of Samuel Harvey, and having four children of his own, he took both families and came all the way to Monmouth on horseback. Here by his smartness in school-teaching he received the ti- tle of "Master" Magne, by which name he was called until his death. I have been told of late that he taught the first school ever taught in Greene. His only son that lived-James Magner, settled in Wayne."
This was published in the heat of the excitement caused by the announcement that a large estate had fal- len to the Magner heirs of this country. Whatever may have been the value of the property, none of the Monmouth heirs have yet seen their shares.
William Getchell came from New Meadows in 1795, and settled on the farm now occupied by Cyrus Wy- man, Esq. The house that he erected was purchase by WVm. H. Potter several years ago and moved to his farm, where it was occupied by him until his decease. Benja- min Getchell, a younger brother of William, settled on that part of the Wm. Henry Potter place which was for many years owned by William Jordan. He moved to Wayne years later. He was the father of Hiram and
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Alec. Getchell, who reside near Leeds Junction.
William Getchell's wife was Rebecca Springer. He reared ten children, the oldest of whom, Sophia, married Prince Palmer, who came from Nobleboro and settled on the farm now owned by Barzillai Walker, Esq., at South Monmouth. His oldest son, Alanson. who married Pamelia Getchell, sister of Elder Mark Getchell, took up the farm now owned by John Hinkley. A fish-peddler by the name of John Bickford afterward lived on the place. Bickford s wife erected a store on the spot where Wm. H. Chick's house now stands. in which she traded several years. The building was moved to Wales by Andrew Hall and attached to the buildings now owned by Mr. Seward. Susan. another child of Wm. Getchell, married Dr. Josiah Burnham of Lawrence. Mass., who resided and practiced medicine for a short time in Monmouth.
James Jewell came in 1795 from Fox Island, Me. He took up the Dr. Daly farm, near the Wales line, now owned by Mr. Caswell. His son, Abraham, who was. probably, a boy of about eight years when he came to this part of the State, inherited the property. The latter married first a Miss Lane; second. Hannah Jen- kins. After the property came into his possession, he sold it, and, moving across the line into Wales, settled on the farm now owned by his son, Nelson Jewell. Esq.
Another immigrant of this period was John Parsons. or Persons, as we find it on the town records. Where he first settled is not known. He remained but a short time on this place before taking up a new lot beyond Norris Hill, where he spent the remainder of his days and reared a family, all the members of which have
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tound homes in other states. Mr. Parsons was, like many of his neighbors from New Hampshire, a shoe- maker. Shoemaking and blacksmithing were occupa- tions that furnished large numbers with employment before the days of shoe shops and edge-tool manufac- tories. The papers and private accounts of Mr. Par- sons which, through the courtesy of Mr. D. P. Boynton, have been placed in the hands of the writer, have served to verify dates of considerable importance. The Parsons house which was moved and remodelled by Rev. Dr. Day a few years since, was not, as many suppose, the original Parsons house. The old build- ing stood on the opposite side of the highway, near the well on Highmoor Farm.
The annual meeting for 1796 was held at Ichabod Baker's, on the 4th of April. Capt. Peter Hopkins was chosen moderator, and John Chandler elected clerk. Dudley B. Hobart, John Chandler and Simon Dear- born, Jr., were elected selectmen and assessors, and Simon Dearborn, collector, "to collect for 'our pence on the pound."
The highway surveyors appointed were Robert With- ington. John Chandler, Benjamin Clough, James Har- vey Levi Dearborn, Josiah Brown and William Kelly.
We find surveyors of brick mentioned the first time in the report of this meeting. Another innovation was a "general school committee," consisting of Dudley B. Hobart, John Chandler and William Lowney, in addi- tion to which was the regular school committee, to which board James Harvey, William Titus, Joseph Allen, James Blossom and Benjamin Clough were ap- pointed. The first act after electing the officers was to
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vote "to pay Mr. Case for preaching two dollars of Town money, for 1795." Fifty dollars were to be raised to pay town charges, and the sum of "one hundred sixty- six dollars and sixty-seven cents, for schooling. No money was raised to pay for the services of a preacher for 1796.
It was voted to accept two roads which were designated as follows: "one beginning at a maple tree at the north-west corner of Philip Jenkins' land: thence E. S. E. 72 rods to Jenkins house.
The western portion of the road leading from the Warren district to the Ridge was the one herein desig- nated. It was built for the accomdation of Philip Jen- kins and Joseph Allen, the former of whom lived on the north side of the highway, the latter, on the south.
The other road accepted at this meeting began at a "beech stump" between Thomas Gray's and George Leighton's land and ran W. N. W. eighty rods to where Ezekiel and Thomas Arno lived.
Ebenezer Straw removed from Epping to Monmouth in 1797, arriving, as we learn from his private journal, on the 14th day of February. He purchased the Gen. Henry Dearborn place, which has several times been noticed as the farm recently owned by Mr. Bickford.
Dudley B. Hobart, the General's son-in-law, had been living on the farm about four years. In 1816, Mr. Straw exchanged places with James Weeks, who has been noticed as the first settler on the J. W. Goding place, and removed to Lewiston.
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