USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Wales > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 34
USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Monmouth > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 34
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34
To two days Surveying Roads at one Dol. & 25 cents per day $2:50
Plantation of Wales
May 2d, A. D. 1805.
This fragment of history brings out the noteworthy fact that as early as 1802, eleven years before it was in- corporated as a town, Wales had taken sufficient inter- est in educational matters to erect a school house; while Monmouth did not provide a similar building until two years after the act of incorporation was passed. The first school in the lower division of Wales plantation was taught by Joseph Small, in a dwelling house on the pond road. And as Mr. Small did not take up a resi- dence on the plantation until 1791, it is evident that the children of the settlers who took up lots prior to that date must have attended the school at Monmouth Cen- ter or borne the penalty of illiteracy.
The reader must not forget that up to the year 1792 this has been a history of both Monmouth and Wales. All the plantation and town records published under earlier dates relate as much to one division of the original plantation as to the other; and it will be remembered that no provision was made at any annual meeting for a school south of Dearborn's Corner. The peda- gogues that followed Mr. Small in the schools of Wales were Mr. Hill, Arthur Given, Mr. Page, Daniel Ev- ans, Fayette Mace, Richard Elder, Joel Small and Enoch Strout.
On the 28th of June, 1808, James Shurtleff laid out a cross road running "from the school-house in the plantation of Wales to the Middle Plantation road."
508
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
As the main course of this road ran in a north-wester- ly direction, it is evident that the school-house men- tioned must have been located on the east road, and could not have been the building which received inci- dental notice in the record of the road surveys of 1805.
The farm on which William E. Hinkley lives was cleared by Elias Ricker. Mr. Ricker came to Wales in 1806. He was born in Somersworth, N. H., in 1772, and married at the age of twenty-eight, Mary Wither- ell of Lebanon, Me. The first six years of their mar- ried life were spent in Milton, N. H., where their two oldest children were born. It is probable that during these years Mr. Ricker devoted his entire attention to tanning and shoe-making, a trade that received only a portion of his time after he came to Wales. Just when he built the brick portion of the Hinkley house is un- certain, but it is altogether probable that he lived for a time in that invariable accompaniment of pioneer life- the log hut. The oldest of his five children was Sa-
brina, who married Daniel Larrabee. The next was Ezra, who settled down to the farm and trade of his father. He married Mary M. Marr, of Wales, in 1831, and nine years later, died, leaving three children, the youngest of whom is Andrew J. Ricker, a Portland merchant. After his decease, his widow and two daughters moved away, leaving the homestead to the oldest daughter and her husband, who resided there un- til 1856, when they removed to Gardiner. Mr.Larra- bee built what is now the main house. Daniel Crom- well, the second son of Elias Ricker, married Caroline Higgins, of Avon, Me., where he afterward resided. He commanded a company in the Aroostook war. Of his
509
WALES PLANTATION, JUNIOR.
nine children, two were sons. The older, Nathaniel H., served during the civil war as lieutenant of Co. D., 28th Maine Inft., and subsequently in the same capac- ity in the 31st Me. He now resides in Galveston, Tex.
Capt. Smith Ricker came two years later than Elias, and settled on the farm now owned by his son-in-law, Joseph G. Bragg. He had four sons and five daugh- ters, only one of whom is now living.
Sometime near 1806 James and William Sweet, from Brunswick, began to clear lots in the plantation. The former selected the R. C. Jones farm, and the latter, the one now known as the Almond Lombard place. William had a son by the name of Ebenezer who was a butcher. He made the homestead his residence for several years but finally located at Brunswick, Me., where he carried on an extensive meat trade.
Capt. Harding Lombard came from Cape Cod in 1802, and purchased a tract of land in the south-eastern part of the town. He was born in Truro, Cape Cod, in 1774, and was descended from one of three brothers who came from England to that part of Massachusetts, bearing with them a coat of arms granted to their ancestor, Rob- ert Lumber, "for his loyalty and resolute mind", by King James the Second.
Capt. Lombard married Joanna Watts, of Wellfleet, daughter of Capt. Samuel Watts, the Wales pio- neer. These two veterans of the seas established the corn and ftour mills at Sabattus, where for many years an extensive business was conducted.
Among the nine children of Capt. Lombard were six sons, all of whom inherited their father's love for the tossing waves. Samuel was drowned off Cape Cod in
510
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
1826, Freeman died at home in 1830, at the age of twen- ty-two years, and Barzillai died in Cuba of fever.
John, the oldest son, was a successful sea-captain, as was Luther, the fifth son. It is claimed that these hardy mariners crossed the Atlantic more than fifty times each, and in all their voyages never lost a man. John settled on the farm now owned by Alden Moul- ton. He emulated his father in the number of his children. One of the nine is a citizen of Portland, Ore- gon, and a representative of the third generation of master mariners in the Lombard family. Luther, after following the sea many years, purchased a home at Sabattus, and devoted his energies to manufacturing enterprises. It was he who built the lower dam and erected the first factory in that village. He married Mary J. Jameson, of Topsham, Me., and had four chil- dren, one of whom, Luther H., now resides in Wales. Harding Lombard, jun., who inherited the name of his sire, if not his title, as did some of his brothers, followed the sea many years as mate of a vessel, and served as pilot on the Mississippi river several winters. He elected a life of celibacy, and, after wearying of the rest- less life of a mariner, settled down to the enjoyments of the paternal estate and the perusal of the Eastern Argus, which he and his father had taken for a period of eighty-six years.
Capt. Harding Lombard had three daughters. One died at the age of two years. Rebecca married Philip Given, and Thankful B., Uriah Gray. Mr. Gray is the son of Alexander Gray, of Litchfield. He had three brothers, one of whom settled in Richmond as a gold- sinith, one at Gardiner as lumber-dealer, and one on a
5II
-
WALES PLANTATION, JUNIOR.
arm in Litchfield. His mother was a sister to the noted Jeremiah Nowell, who was selected by Mr. Pat- terson, the father of the unfortunate wife of Jerome Bonaparte to take his daughter to France when Napo- leon issued the nefarious edict which rendered his mar- riage to the American lady void. Capt. Nowell com- manded some of Mr. Patterson's finest vessels, and, after many prosperous voyages, purchased a farm in Lisbon, Me., where his last days were spent.
Mr. Gray was for many years in charge of the flour and grist mill of his wife's father at Sabattus. He now resides in quiet retirement at East Monmouth. Al- though always willing that others should enjoy their own opinions, he is, and always has been, a staunch Dem- ocrat, and prides himself in the fact of having been num- bered among the subscribers of the Eastern Argus for above fifty years.
The same year Capt. Harding Lombard took up a resi- dence in Wales, his father-in-law, Capt. Samuel Watts, settled on what was long known as the "Samuel Wey- mouth farm", on the east road. Capt. Watts was a vet- eran whaler. It was stated at the time of his death that he had, with his own hands, killed one hundred sperm whales. He had a family of nine children, all of whom came with, or soon after, their parents. The three
sons were Samuel, Moses and Freeman. Samuel and Moses followed the sea, but Freeman remained on the farm. Samuel settled in Hallowell, while Moses and Freeman prefered Wales. The latter lived on the home place about fifty years. He then moved to the "pond road," and remained there until his decease in 1856. His wife died, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Warren Jor-
512
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
dan, of Litchfield, in 1893, at the advanced age of ninety years. Of their four children, Harding L., alone, settled in Wales. Freeman J., the oldest son, was engaged in the granite business at North Prospect, Me., and Henry M. was for several years a practicing physician in Weld, Me. Harding learned the marble cutter's trade, and opened a shop in Wales. He married Mary H. Treat, of Canton, Me. During his residence in Wales he was elected to various town offices and was sent to the legislature. Soon after the close of the war he removed to Monmouth, and engaged in the dry goods and drug business. Here his wife and daughter, an only child, died. He married for a second wife Ann E. Whittier, daughter of Dea. Daniel Whittier, and, in 1877, sold his business and removed to Portland, where he entered the employ of Geo. C. Frye, druggist, as traveling salesman. He still resides in Portland.
"As Baptists multiplied in all the settlements in the vicinity of Wales, the first occupants of its soil were brought under the influence of their doctrines. Elder Potter visited them as early as 1793, and found them willing, to hear the gospel. In 1798 and the year fol- lowing the "great revival which occurred in Bowdoin and Litchfield extended its influence into Wales. Here, too, Elder Potter saw evidence that he did not preach Christ in vain. A church was gathered in the place in 1799, consisting of about forty members."* Of this church John C. Fogg says:
"The first mention of a deacon is in May, 1801, when Dea. Spofford was put down from serving as dea- con and Bro. David Jenkins was established deacon, *History of Maine Baptists.
513
WALES PLANTATION, JUNIOR.
and Bro. James Labree was elected deacon on trial. July 24, 1802 met for conference and then agreed to have a church meeting. Chose Bro. Labree modera-
tor. Voted a brother under suspension for breaking covenant in going to hear the Methodists. The first election of a clerk upon the records is in September, 1805, when Joseph Murch was chosen, but, judging from the penmanship, there were many changes in the office. The whole number of members, Sept., 1809,
was 42. The first ordained pastor was Eld. James Pierce, received Oct. 14, 1820. May 9, 1833, Eld. James Pierce was excluded from the church for charg- es brought against him without proof. In August of the same year, Eld. Daniel Pierce was admitted into the church, and the two ministers furnished preaching until about 1839. In July, 1839, Elder Smith Hinkley was received as pastor, which position he held until 1842. In 1843 Eld. Wm. Smith was received as pas- tor, which position .he held until 1850, when Elder Thomas Goldthwait was installed. The last entry in the first Baptist church record is dated June 21, 1856."
Although the first church organization in town, this society had not the honor of erecting the first church building used for public worship. It was not until 1838, eleven years after the Free-will Baptists built their church, that they laid the foundation of their tabernacle. It was built on land taken from the Joseph Gray farm, in the easterly part of the town, at a cost of one thousand dollars. Soon after this church was fin- ished, a great revival was experienced by the church that had a few years previously been organized on Mon- mouth Ridge, and the membership of the Monmouth
514
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
society increased rapidly, drawing, it is probable, to some extent, on the congregation of the Wales church. The latter society, after sustaining regular preaching for several years, finally weakened, and allowed their church to remain unoccupied. It has been taken down in recent years.
The pioneers of the southern division of the planta- tion of Wales experienced more protracted hardships than those of that portion which was incorporated under the name of Monmouth. Nature did not trace the course of the streams with an eye to their acconinio- dation, and for years after the people of Monmouth were rejoicing in grist-mills and saw-mills, the settlers of the lower plantation were wearily "backing in" their corn by the bushel. After a good road to Monmouth was established, their bread was eaten with a greater relish, but many were still obliged to travel a long dis- tance with their grists until Joseph Maxwell built his 11ill. The first saw-mill in Wales was erected by Dan- iel M. Labree on a small stream which crossed his farn1. He managed to do something of a business here in the manufacture of boards and shingles, but could keep his machinery moving only a few weeks after the spring and fall rains. Benjamin Vining next tried the experi- ment on a rivulet that flows near the base of Thomp- son's hill. But he was beset with the same difficulties. There was no pond. Two or three dams, the upper one of which was near Joseph Wight's, formed the reservoir. The only permanent structure of this kind was built in the north-eastern part of the town by B. C. Jenkins.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.