USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Wales > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 21
USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Monmouth > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 21
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Although space which should be devoted to other matter cries out against it, it is impossible to draw the thoughts away from these scenes of the exploits of the "mighty hunter." Daniel Allen, without rehearsing a narrative for which our veracious citizen, Jacob G. Smith, of Monmouth Neck, who heard the story from the old man's lips, is responsible.
It probably was a bear that had never heard of Allen's wonderful markmanship, possibly a wanderer from some distant clime, that climbed a tree on the hill on which the Wm. Woodbury house now stands and playfully scratched his ear at the unarmed hunter be- low. Allen's gun was in a crippled condition, and the stock had been sent away for repairs, but the barrel
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was in a cabin near by. The truth of the adage, "Ne- cessity is the mother of invention," if not the adage it- self, is older than this anecdote. Allen loaded the barrel with a heavy charge, grasped it firmly with both hands, and held it unflinchingly while Woodward touched it off with a live coal-and killed the bear.
CHAPTER XII.
A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT.
The meeting-house, which was built in 1795. had re- mained unfinished through all these years. It was first used as a place of public gathering in 1799, when the town meetings were held in it. With inexplicable blindness, the committee selected to make the neces- sary preparation for, and superintend the construction of, the house had failed to secure a title to the lot on which it was placed. On the first day of July. 1800, an effort was made to effect a purchase. By a vote of the inhabitants, John Chandler was appointed a com- mittee to purchase a piece of land twenty-five rods square, beginning at the south-westerly corner of the northerly half of lot No. 27, if he could get that quan- tity, if not, to purchase as much as possible within the stated bounds. At the same meeting it was "voted that the meeting-house be finished according to the plan; the lower part of the house to be finished with pews, the gallery to have one tier of pews around it, and the rest of the gallery to be finished with seats."
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A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT.
The house was to be finished to such an extent as the funds accruing from the sale of pews would allow. A committee of three, consisting of Simon Dearborn, jun., John Chandler and Matthias Blossom, was appointed by special vote to sell the pews at auction, make le- gal conveyance, and expend the result of the sales in finishing the house.
Mr. Chandler proceeded immediately to negotiate for the land. It was a part of the non-resident proprie- tors' estate and was taxed to James Bowdoin, jun .. of Boston, who, with his sister, Lady Elizabeth Temple, owned about one tenth of the entire Plymouth Patent. Mr. Chandler, in writing to Mr. Bowdoin, stated the object of the purchase, and received, without delay, a donation of the land in the name of his sister, Lady Elizabeth Temple, and the promise of a bell for the tower if the town could provide a settled pastor.
Mr. Bowdoin descended from Pierre Bowdoin, a Protestant physician, who fled from his home in Rochelle, France, with his wife and four children, on the revocation of the edict of Nantez. He landed at Falmouth (Portland) in 1688, where he remained until May 16, 1690, leaving just in season to escape the des- truction that fell upon that town from the hands of the Indians, the next day. He took refuge in Boston. where he remained until his death, which occurred two years later. Among his children was one son, James, who became wealthy in mercantile pursuits, and died in 1747, leaving his great acquisitions to two sons, James and William. James, born in 1727, and graduated from college in 1745, became governor of Massachusetts in 1785-6, having served previously as representative to
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the General Court and member of the executive coun- cil. He had two children, James, jun., the patron of Bowdoin College, who has already been men- tioned as proprietor of lands in Monmouth, and Elizabeth, who married Sir John Temple, consul gen- eral of Great Britain to the United States, and who has been mentioned as Lady Temple.
Lady Temple's daughter married Lieut. Gov. Win- throp of Massachusetts. Of this union came Robert C. Winthrop, the distinguished statesman of Massachu- setts, and Elizabeth Temple Winthrop, who married the Rev. Dr. Tappan, many years the pastor of South Parish Congregational Church in Augusta.
James Bowdoin, jun., was graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1771. He read law about one year in the Uni- versity of Oxford, in England. Later, he traveled quite extensively through England, Italy and Holland, returning to this country shortly after the battle of Lex- ington. He married Sarah Bowdoin, a daughter of his uncle William, his father's half-brother, and settled in Boston, where he held prominent positions in the gov- ernment of the Commonwealth. In 1805 he was ap- pointed minister plenipotentiary to Madrid. During his absence he visited, and resided for a term of months in, Paris, "where he purchased a large library of books and a collection of well-arranged minerals and fine models of crystallography, all of which he af- terwards presented to Bowdoin College, to which he had previously donated one thousand acres of land and $3,500 in other property. Shortly before his death. which occurred Oct. II, III, he deeded 6000 acres in the town of Lisbon to the college, and in his will be-
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queathed it a large and valuable collection of paintings and several articles of philosophical apparatus." He died, without issue, in the sixtieth year of his age. His widow married Gen. Henry Dearborn, who had left his home in Maine and settled in Massachusetts. Mrs. Dearborn, at her decease, also left, to the college which her husband had patronized, a considerable sum of money and a collection of family portraits.
Perhaps nothing that has been published concerning the career of Gen. Dearborn is more interesting than the romance connected with his marriage with Mrs. Bowdoin.
Robert Temple, a brother of Sir John Temple, whose wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of Gov. Bowdoin, was the Lady Temple who donated the land to Monmonth for a meeting-house lot, was, during the revolutionary war, a resident of Medford. Mass. He was a tory, and was suspected of being in correspondence with the British in Boston. Gen. John Stark, whose troops were stationed near Temple's estate, held a vigilant watch over the movements of the latter, and kept a guard stationed on his private grounds. On the 8th of June, 1775, Gen. Dearborn, who had then risen only to the rank of a captain. was ordered to go with one ser- geant and twenty men to relieve the guards. From a line in Dearborn's hand, written across the back of this order, which is still preserved in the family. it appears that this was the first time he ever "mounted guard." After posting his guards, the young captain, relieved of his responsibility, threw himself upon a settee, and, gathering his military cloak about him. indulged in a nap. Miss Sarah Bowdoin was at the time visiting
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
her cousin, Margaret Temple, the daughter of the cel- ebrated tory whose mansion was kept under such strict surveillance. The young ladies had been out for a wa'k in the garden, and, as they entered the mansion. passed the spot where Dearborn lay. One glance at his handsome features and superb form conquered the heart of the wealthy heiress. The "splendid young rebel officer," as she termed him, would never have the audacity to seek her hand, and Miss Bowdoin, who was. if the phrase is allowable, "completely mashed." det r- mined to do what, under other circumstances, would have been considered unwarrantably bold. Opening her heart to her uncle, who was far from sympathizing with any project that would involve him in a family connection with a rebel. she persuaded him to act as intermediator. Alas for her shattered heart! Dear- born coolly informed her embassador that, although he was only twenty-four years old, he had a wife and two children. Miss Bowdoin drowned her sorrow by marrying her cousin. Three years later, Mrs. Dear- born died. and, in the course of time, Dearborn married again. In 1810 his second wife died, and, one year la- ter, Mrs. Bowdoin buried her husband. Thirty-six years had passed since she met her first-love, and the handsome young rebel had become the stalwart Amer- ican general of sixty-years, loaded with honors. Who proposed this time we do not know. Suffice it to say that, like the lovers in a novel, they were finally united.
Encouraged by this unexpected assistance, the com- mittee hastened to complete the building. Moses Bas- ford and James McLellan. who has been mentioned in connection with the history of the Methodist church.
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A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT.
contracted to do the finishing, and plans were furnished by Daniel Rand, an ingenious workman who settled in 1795 at East Monmouth, and who, while living in the "Pierce house," was accidentally killed at a shooting match. The grief of his faithful dog, which could not be persuaded to leave his master's body, has been touchingly referred to time and again by our aged cit- izens.
Basford came from Mt. Vernon. He lived on the Joseph Given place, which he sold to McLellan and a Mr. Clements. Clements sold his share to MeLellan.
Although the season was well advanced before the work was begun, it was completed before the first of September.
On the third day of September, 1800, the pews were sold at "vendue" and conveyed by deed to the pur- chasers. The highest price paid for a choice of seats was $44.00. It was the bid of Capt. James Norris. Old Master Lowney offered the next highest price- $42.00. One other pew, purchased by Wm. P. Kelly, brought the same price. Major Marston's cost $41.00, and the others were sold at various prices, terminating at $11.00. Nearly six years had elapsed since it was first proposed to build a meeting-house. and six more were counted with the past before the building was ac- cepted by the town and the bond which had been taken from Mclellan and Basford by the building committee released.
The "old yellow meeting-house" was for many years the pride and glory of Monmouth. For miles around nothing could be found which equaled its stately ex- terior. And the interior-what pen can present it as
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it appeared to the wondering and admiring eyes of the youth of its day, with its broad aisles, through which the lace and plume-bedecked officers led their harm- less warriors on muster days; the high pulpit, which seemed almost like one of the upper rungs of Jacob's ladder; the huge octagonal sounding-board, suspended by a chain so slender that the minds of the young were constantly filled with terror lest it might fall and tele- scope the parson.
Although the primary object of the builders was to provide a house for religious gatherings, the building was always very appropriately known as the "meeting- house." And such meetings as were held there, es- pecially on election days, when the party that could supply the greatest quantity of the "ardent" was the one to which the "doubtful" element gravitated! The scenes that graced that assembly-room were not always such as would command our pride, but they were novel enough to command a place in history. One, at least, must not be omitted.
It was an election day when politics were running very close. A thorough canvass had been made by both whigs and democrats and it was evident to both parties that, unless immensely high bids were made for votes, neither one would be at all sure of a victory. The moderator of that meeting was a man of great ability. He prided himself on his strategic powers and determined that, come what would, his party should not suffer defeat. As the votes came in he carefully kept tally and was greatly gratified to discover, when what he supposed to be the last vote was placed in the box. that his party was one ahead. As the time
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A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT. 313
for closing the polls approached, a straggler from the opposition deposited another vote. This made a tie. It was a death-blow to victory, but did not bring the mortification of defeat. Another straggler from the op- position approached with his ballot. This was too much. Grabbing the ballot box, the moderator started down the broad aisle with the voter and the opposition at his heels. If he could keep the box out of their reach until the minute for closing the polls, he would save his party. - Round and round the meeting-house he ran, his coat-tails fanning the faces of the nimblest of the opposition. Dodging his pursuers, he made for the door, reached it, and was out in the open air, with a hundred howling men at his back. Panting like a fox before hounds. he ran and leaped and dodged and twisted, all the time holding the treasure hugged close to his breast.
1 It doesn't matter which party won, nor how many black eyes and bandaged heads appeared on the streets the next day. The entire performance was one of the dignified proceedings that the advocates of a license law may place to the credit of the days when good liquors didn't make men crazy.
Although stealing the ballot-box was not an oft-re- peated occurrence, scenes in which black eyes figured were the usual accompaniment of election days, if all the statements concerning them are to be accredited. Buying votes was an established custom, some slight traces of which may remain at the present day, and the purchasing power of "Old Medford" was so great that a few dollars judiciously expended would sometimes work marvels. When an individual exchanged his in-
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
tegrity and manhood for two gallons of "tanglefoot," it was tacitly agreed that there was to be only one sale in the transaction; but it sometimes happened that two were sold instead of one. The complacency with which one leading politician contemplated a bargain be- tween himself and an honorable citizen, who, in con- sideration of an advance payment of a certain equivalent, agreed to carry a vote for the leading politician, was slightly jarred when, several weeks after the election, the honorable citizen pulled the vote out of his vest pocket and coolly enquired if he had carried that vote for him about long enough.
Nor were these political wrangles the only scenes ot debauchery that disturbed the sacred character of the old yellow meeting-house. Muster days could hardly be classified as melancholy occasions, and once, at least, as a result of the combination of exuberant spirits and ardent spirits, a horse was locked into the sacred edifice, where he was discovered, the next day, composedly surveying his palatial quarters.
Notwithstanding the manner in which it was abused, there were many sincere mourners when the old church was sold to Nehemiah Pierce, in 1844, and taken down to be rebuilt as a barn; and even now there are those who carefully keep some souvenir of the building in the form of a cupboard or closet constructed from its high pew doors, with the original lead-colored coat well preserved.
Abraham Morrill, whose name first became identi- fied with local politics in 1800, held for the ensuing quarter of a century a leading place in town affairs. Mr. Morrill was born in Brentwood, N. H., Oct. I,
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A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT.
1766, according to the statement of his posterity, who place his birth four years earlier than the date inscribed on his gravestone in the "Richardson" cemetery. He inarried Mary Prescott, the daughter of Nathan Gove Prescott, who, in 1789, purchased of Gen. Dearborn the south half of lot No. 37. on High street, which seems to be identical with the land purchased later by Capt. Sewall Prescott. The exact date of Mr. Morrill's re- moval to Monmouth is not known. He was certainly here as early as 1792, and possibly much earlier. In 1800 he was placed on the board of selectmen ; and from that date until 1825, there was scarcely a year that did not find him acting either as selectman, treasurer or representative to the general court. In 1810 he was elected trustee of Monmouth Academy, and, later, pres- ident of the board. When Mr. Morrill first setted in Monmouth. he selected a lot near Norris Hill. In 1804, or thereabouts, he moved to the place now owned by M. M. Richardson, where he spent the remainder of his days. In 1817 he established himself in trade near Ellis Corner, in a building which has already been mentioned in connection with the buildings erected by Asahel Blake.
Abraham Morrill has the reputation of having been a staunch citizen, sound in principle, firm and unwaver- ing in judgment and quicker in thought than in either speech or movement. In appearance he was thick set and firmly moulded, of florid complexion and promi- nent features. He died Jan. 21. 1845.
During the closing months of the year 1799 and the opening ones of 1800, the tide of immigration rolled in with a strong swell. No previous year, and but few
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
later ones, brought such numerical prosperity to the town. Of twenty-two of these families there is not a male descendant living in town to perpetuate the name. Some of them belonged to that roving class which strikes a town only to get a foothold for another spring; and others, like Ebenezer Delano, who settled near our famous trout brook and gave it its name, have long since been forgotten.
Among the permanent settlers who came into town at this time was Joseph Neal, who purchased the place now owned by Mr. A. M. Kyle. The land was then in a wild state. Mr. Neal cleared it, and erected a house which was taken down many years ago. Later, he took up a lot on Maple street and placed a house on it. The lot is the one now covered by the residence of Wm: K. Dudley, Esq., and the house, after being re- moved to the lower end of the street and remodeled, is now occupied by Earl E. Judkins. The larches in front of the Dudley house, that have long been a con- spicuous feature of Maple street, were set out by Mr. Neal's sons. Not far from 1823, he moved again; this time to a farm on the road leading to East Monmouth, where he built the house now occupied by Mr. Rolfe. His last years were spent with his son, B. A. Neal, at the Center. Mr. Neal was a shoemaker. He had a shop near his house on the Rolfe place, and another on the heater-piece between B. A. Neal's and C. L. Owen's! at the Center.
Another new resident was John Cushman, who took up a lot in the Warren district. In the corner near D. HI. Dearborn's, Mr. Cushman had a store, which was occupied later by Mr. Willard. His son, whom some
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A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT.
of our oldest citizens remember as an early occupant of the H. S. Smith place, in a fit of mental aberration, raised his hand against his own life. The sad event was more shocking and terrible to the people of that generation than it is to those who cannot take up the evening paper without reading the headlines of a sim- ilar occurrence; and the terror and sympathy that the act inspired were something unknown to those who have been hardened by the frequency of corresponding events. The tree to which he attached the rope that ended his earthly existence is still standing, in the pas- ture of Rev. J. E. Pierce, and time has hardly obliterated the initials of his name, which he carved on its trunk a moment before the act was committed, as a monu- ment of the event. So far as is known, this was the first suicide of a Monmouth citizen. Would it had been the last!
Although the deeds were not given until two years had passed, it appears from the town records that Simon Marston, of North Hampton, N. H., took up the farms on Norris Hill, now owned by his posterity, in 1800.
Simon Marston was a major in the Revolutionary army. He served during the entire war period and witnessed the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at York- town. His sword, an English blade with a solid silver hilt, is now in the possession of his great granddaughter. Miss Ann Maria Marston. The major's sojourn in Monmouth was brief. His object in coming here was to make homes for two of his sons. Jonathan and Sim- on, jun., and when his mission was fulfilled, he returned to his North Hampton home. The land was a part of
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
the Temple grant, and the deeds were subscribed by Lady Elizabeth, the patron of Monmouth Academy and donator of the town common. Simon, jun. took up a residence on the north half of the lot, the farm owned by his son, the late B. F. Marston, in 1800. He was a man of twenty-nine years, married to Peggy Ham, of Epping. at the age of twenty-five, and the father of two children, Ann and Daniel, the rest of his family of ten being natives of Monmouth. Jonathan. his brother, came one year later. In 1805 he purchased of his father for $1000 the farm now owned by his grandson, David Marston.
Jonathan Marston was born Oct. 30, 1777. At the age of thirty years he married Mary Jane Patten, by whom he had six children. He was a man of consid- erable prominence in the community. In 1817 he was elected to membership on the board of selectmen. a position which he held for three successive terms, and one year later was commissioned colonel of the 3rd Reg., Ist Brigade, 2nd Division of Maine Militia. He was for fourteen years one of the trustees of Monmouth Academy, during a portion of which time he served as treasurer of the institution. Col. Marston was a man of unqualified integrity, positive and unswerving in his convictions, and a leading member of the Christian church. to the support of which he contributed with a willing heart.
Micah Barrows of Middleboro, or Bridgewater. Mass., became a resident of Monmouth in 1800. He had. like a majority of the Massachusetts people who came to this town, lived a short time in Winthrop. . where it is supposed his oldest child, Deborah Morton.
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A DECADE OF DEVELOPMENT.
was born. Mr. Barrows selected one of the most pleasant locations in town for his home-the crown of the hill south of the one on which the academy was soon placed. The land had been cleared by James and Jonathan Judkins, the latter of whom, it is supposed, built the house which still stands as one of the few ex- isting monuments of the pioneers. Here Mr. Barrows and his wife, Lucy Miller, of Middleboro', lived hap- pily with their three children, Deborah, Anna R. and John Miller, until 1814, the year that brought bereave- ment to so many families on account of the ravages of "cold fever." First their babe, Elizabeth, died, at the age of three months. Ten weeks later the father fol- lowed, at the age of forty-five years, and, before the summer had closed, Deborah, the oldest child, a girl of fifteen years, was placed in the grave beside them. In after years the widow married Capt. Kezer, of East Winthrop. John and Anna, the surviving children, both became permanent residents of the town. The latter, born Oct. 23, 1809, became the second wife of Augustine Blake, Esq .; the former, born March 13, 1811, married Ruth P. Gove, daughter of Elijah Gove, and settled on his father's farm. With the exception of a few years' residence in Massachusetts, where Mr. Barrows plied his trade of carpentry on the famous Pemberton mill and other corporation buildings, the entire life of this couple was spent in Monmouth. They never had any children to bind them down to home duties and much of their time was spent in visit- ing and caring for the sick. It is doubtful if to any other couple the people of this community are so deep- ly indebted for assistance in times of sickness and be-
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
reavement as to John and Ruth Barrows. May this monument to their memory stand when the marble that marks their graves has crumbled to atoms! Mr. Bar- rows died April 8, 1879, and his wife was placed be- side him on the 20th of July of the following year.
The year 1801 found but little more than one-third as many new names on the assessors' books as had been entered the year before, but the ratio of perma- nent settlements was considerably larger. The Frosts of Monmouth are descended from William Frost, a drummer in the Revolutionary army, who came to town this year. As this father of freedom rattled the snares to inspire his compatriots to action, his blood must have become surcharged with the ardor of his service, for a majority of his descendants have been born with a pair of drumsticks in their hands. Mr. Frost settled at North Monmouth; just where is not known, nor is it a matter of great moment, for he could have remained here but a short time before removing to Winthrop. He was the father of five children, William, jun., Noah. Moses, John and Lydia. William married Betsy Bill- ington, and removed to Wayne, where his son, Nathan- iel, and his grandson, William, both of whom have served on the board of selectmen of that town, now re- side. Noah also settled in Wayne. His descendants now reside in Peru, Me. John married Esther Swift. and settled near Mt. Pisgah. which was then the prop- erty of his father-in-law. Lydia married a son of Capt. Peter Hopkins, and moved to Belfast, Me. Moses married Abigail French, daughter of Josiah French, and settled on the farm at North Monmouth now owned by the heirs of the late Mr. Bishop. He was, like many
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