USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Wales > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 8
USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Monmouth > History of Monmouth and Wales, V. 1 > Part 8
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
both of which he lived for a short time and on the latter of which he died. He, also, became a member of the Methodist church and a local preacher. He was or- dained deacon by Bishop Asbury in 1802, and was re- ceived into full connection at the General Conference. at Baltimore, in 1820. He received four appointments. Norridgewock, 1820; Buxton, 1821 ; Readfield curcuit. 1822; and Poland in 1823.
Daniel Allen settled at the outlet of South Pond, Peter Lyon on the Greenleaf Smith place, and Gorden Freas on the farm lately owned by Mrs. Nancy K. Prescott, near the Academy. Freas was an expert thresher. He used to go about the settlement thresh- ing grain for the less dextrous flail wielders. He sold his possession to Capt. Sewall Prescott and returned to New Hampshire.
Daniel Gilman settled on the place now owned by Rev. J. E. Pierce. His house stood on the east side of the road, near the site now covered by Mr. Stew- art's buildings. He, like many others among the early settlers, lost his clearing, and, at an advanced age, start- ed anew on land opposite E. K. Prescott's, where he built a house and spent the remainder of his days. Go- ing from his house one day for a pailful of water, he fell dead as he was in the act of stooping at the spring. He was the progenitor of all the Gilmans in this region.
Nathaniel Smith settled on the M. M. Richardson place. He removed later to Norris Hill and took up land which was sold, after his decease, to John Blake, except a small portion which was purchased by Daniel Prescott in 1797. Mr. Smith, who will be mentioned later in another connection, was generally known
?
Gen. John Chandler.
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THE EPPING EXODUS.
among his friends as "the Doctor."
John Chandler bought out the claim of James Weeks, who, as has been stated, had settled on the place now owned by John W. Goding, near Monmouth Academy.
Chandler's life was an eventful one from the very first. In 1778, when he was only sixteen years old, he ran away from his home in Epping, and joined the crew of a privateer, at Newburyport, Mass. The vessel was captured by the English, the crew placed on board a prison-ship and taken to a southern port. Chandler told the captain that he would escape, and, although it seemed impossible for him to execute his threat, grit and determination overcame all obstacles, and he was soon a free man. Three others escaped at the same time. He begged his way back as far as the Middle States. When he was passing through New Jersey, on calling at a house to solicit food, he was surprised and delighted to have the door opened by his own sister, Mary, the wife of Major James Norris, who subse- quently settled on the "Swift place" in East Monmouth, and who was, at that time, stationed in New Jersey as commander of troops belonging to the army of the colonies. Chandler rested here for a time, and then continued his journey toward New Hampshire, his sister having supplied him with shoes and other articles necessary for the journey. When he reached home, he had travelled, on foot, by the route he was compelled to take, over seventeen hundred miles. Two years had elapsed since he left his home.
My grandfather states that Chandler, James Norris, and Benj. Dearborn came to Monmouth together. making their way through the wilderness on foot, but
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
this does not agree with statements gathered from other sources.
An historical article published in the Lewiston Journal a short time ago, is responsible for the state- ment that he was accompanied by his mother and wife. and that the entire party crossed the Androscoggin river on a single log. If this be true the compiler of the genealogy of the Chandler family is at fault. He states that Chandler was married to Mary Whitcher in Monmouth.
A short time after their arrival in Monmouth, Chandler. Norris. and Dearborn made a pilgrimage through the woods and across the Androscoggin to Turner to buy corn. Money was an article of which they had only an historical knowledge. They had all abandoned their money-making vocations for the ser- vice of their country during the Revolutionary war. and the Continental currency with which they had been rewarded for their years of faithful service was now absolutely worthless. One thousand dollars in this money would not pay for a bushel of corn.
Nothing remained for them but the aboriginal sys- tem of bartering. Dearborn had a pair of shoes, Norris a purse-sad relic of the days of "auld lang syne"- while Chandler's stupendous fortune consisted of -a pair of shoe-buckles. In exchange for his shoes, Dear- born received a peck of corn, while Norris and Chandler gazed wofully upon the four quarts of kernels each received for his earthly all, added to a wearisome jour- ney of twenty-four miles. To surmount such obstacles as these resolute men had to encounter, and reach such stations as they subsequently occupied, required courage.
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THE EPPING EXODUS.
energy and fortitude such as but few of the present age possess.
John Chandler and his wife probably labored more assiduously and suffered more intensely than any other couple in the settlement. He was a blacksmith-the first one that opened a shop in the plantation-but it appears as if his trade did not prove highly remunera- tive, as he was often obliged to dine on fried sorrel while clearing his farm, a diet that was, if the statements of some of his contemporaries may be accredited, un- broken an entire season, save by occasional donations of buttermilk from his charitable, but by no means opulent, neighbors.
It was an auspicious day for Chandler when, by a clever rotation of the wheel of fortune, he obtained a cow to "double" in three years. The owner of the animal, not being favorably impressed with the appear- ance of the man with whom he was dealing, refused to allow it to be taken away without substantial secur- ity. In this emergency, John Welch, who was more philanthropic than judicious, offered himself as bonds- man and was accepted. At the expiration of the lease. Chandler found himself unable to meet the terms of the contract, and Welch renewed his obligation to the owner. This favor he was compelled to repeat again and again, each time walking through the pathless forest to the home of the owner in Topsham. When the leniency of the owner had become exhausted and a final settlement was demanded, Welch was compelled to substantiate the bond.
It would be hardly safe to hold Chandler up as an example for the young; but there are many points in
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his history which the present generation may profitably consider. Such indomitable energy as he possessed rarely enters into the character of man. When he came into the settlement he was not only poverty- stricken but illiterate in the extreme. All his spare hours he devoted to study. A travelling pedagogue was hired by the settlers to furnish instruction in the rudiments of English, and Chandler took his place be- side children of six and eight years of age. He learned buickly, and soon became a very fair penman, and an intelligent reader and thinker. Meager though his ad- vantages and acquisitions may have been, he was not deficient in sound judgment and tact, qualities that gave him the ascendency over a majority of the liberally educated men of his day. He must have pos- sessed a remarkable constitution, else he would have broken beneath the burden of his labors.
Wherever a dollar is to be found, there we find Chand- ler. His trade, as has been said, was blacksmithing, but in addition to this occupation and the diligent labor he expended on his clearing, we find him digging potatoes at General Dearborn's for every tenth bushel, and per- forming such other odd-job labor as it was his good fortune to secure.
His wife, meanwhile, was none the less industrious. We find her in the field, piling and "junking" smutty logs, planting and hoeing corn, harvesting crops, and. as a grand climax, assisting to shingle the first barn that her husband raised.
Chandler secured the position of census-taker at the first enumeration of the inhabitants of the plantation. and thus earned his first money. He afterward opened
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THE EPPING EXODUS.
a tavern, which was but little more than a private house with the addition of a sign-board and bar-room. How well he was patronized by the travelling public we can only surmise. The rapidity with which his coffers filled is evidence that he was patronized by some one.
In North's "History of Augusta" we read of persons journeying to Portland. starting early so as to break- fast at Chandler's in Monmouth. This enabled them to reach Portland in the forenoon of the next day.
It was about this time that Chandler's military ca- reer commenced in the formation of a plantation mili- tary company of which he was elected ensign. The other principal officers were Captain Levi Dearborn. and Lieutenant Jonathan Thompson. The magnifi- cence of the uniforms worn by these officers on their initial parade caused them to be known long after as "Captain Short Coat, Leftenant Tow Coat and Ensign No Coat." Little thought the jeering wags that "En- sign No Coat" would some day ride at the head of a brigade and assist in the deliberations of the National Congress.
In a few years. Chandler had accumulated money enough to open a store. He erected a small building in the corner opposite his house, in which he traded several years. He had his goods of one Davis, of Lisbon, father of the wealthy "Jack" Davis who, in later years, was a prominent citizen of Webster. His store was the second one opened in the plantation. The building stood in the corner opposite Mr. Joshua Cumston's in the field north of the academy. It was moved from there to Norris Hill, placed on a site few rods north of B. Frank Marston's, and remodelled
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
into a dwelling house. Robert Welch resided there many years. Later, somewhere in the vicinity of 1856, Mr. Alpheus Huntington purchased this building and had it removed to Maple Street, at the Center, where it has since stood as a portion of the dwelling house now owned by Benson O. Gilman. Just when Chand- ler closed his career as a village black-smith, it is im- possible to determine. A memorandum under his own hand has been found, which places the date subsequent to 1791 :
"John Chandler shod Mr. Baker's horse, May 4th, 1791, price o.£, Is, 4d. (Signed) JOHN CHANDLER."
A paper bearing a charge for trucking his liquors from Hallowell has been brought to light. The crook- edness of the spelling leads us to think that the writer had become "slued" by too immediate contact with his freight:
"June Ist ve 1793. To halling a barrel of rum from the River, of, 2s, od. Halling sider from river, of, 2s, Sd."
In General Dearborn, Chandler had a true and valu- able friend. It was an easy matter for Dearborn to secure positions of honor and trust for his favorites,and whenever an office was vacated for a moment, he had Chandler in his hand ready to jam him into the crevice. In 1801, Chandler was elected Councillor and Senator from Maine in the General Court of Massachusetts. Two years later he was called to represent the Kennebec district in Congress. This position he held four years. In 1808 he succeeded Arthur Lithgow as sheriff of Kennebec County. In 1812, he was elected major- general in the State Militia, and later in the same year
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THE EPPING EXODUS.
was appointed brigadier-general of the forces sent to the northern frontier.
In the chapter devoted to the biography of Gen. Dearborn, mention was made of Chandler's being cap- tured at Burlington Heights by British troops under Gen. St. Vincent. Chandler, and not Winder. as is generally supposed, was senior officer at this time.
This statement comes from Dr. Wallbridge, of Charlestown, S. C., surgeon to the army, who was in the battle. He says, "Gen. Chandler was senior officer at the head of Lake Ontario when taken prisoner with Gen. Winder at Stony Creek. They had pitched their tents on the brow of the hill, with the soldiers spread out below and on each side. But in the night the British made a gallant sortie to retrieve their loss of a few days before, and took prisoners the two generals. A hard battle ensued. The Yankees maintained their ground during the night. But as the command fell upon Col. Wilson of the Artillery, who had never had general command, the council of war decided to retreat to Fourteen Mile Creek and await the arrival of Lewis with re-enforcements." The following expla- nation of the event by himself reflects more credit on Chandler than the accounts furnished by some of his subordinates: "About an hour before daylight, on the 6th day of June, 1813, the alarm was given. I was instantly up, and the 25th, which was near me, as well as the left wing, which was under Winder. Owing to neglect of front pickets or other causes the British officers say that they were not hailed until they were within three hundred yards. I ordered Gen. Winder to cover the artillery. At this moment I heard a new
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burst of fire from the enemy's left on our right, and not being able to see anything which took place, I set out at full speed toward the right to prevent being out- flanked. I had proceeded but a few yards when my horse fell under me-by which fall I received severe injuries. There was a time in which I have no recol- lection of what passed. But I presume it was not long. As soon as I recovered I recollected what my object was, and made my way to the right and gave Smith what directions I thought proper, to prevent his right being turned. I was returning toward the center, and when near the artillery heard men who appeared to be in confusion; it being the point where I expected the 23d to be formed, I thought it was that regiment. I approached them, and, as soon as I was near enough, I saw a body of men whom I thought to be the 23d in rear of the artillery, broken. I hobbled in among them and began to rally them, and directed them to form,but soon found my mistake; it was the British 49th, who had pushed forward to the head of our column, and gained the rear of the artillery. I was immediately disarmed, and conveyed down the column to its rear. It was not yet day, and the extreme darkness of the night. to which was added the smoke of the fire, put it out of our power to see the enemy. This was all that saved their columns from total destruction, of which some of their numbers were aware."
At a Fourth of July dinner, the summer preceding his capture, Gen. Chandler proposed the toast, "Quebec : May I be within her walls!" An old Scotchman who was present remarked, "Ef ye are ye will be there a prisoner o' war." And he was.
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In 1819, he was elected a member of the General Court of Massachusetts. The same year he held a seat in the convention which drafted the Constitution of Maine. He was the first president of the Maine Sen- ate, and was one of the two first senators sent by Maine to Congress. When a senator, a rhymster, anticipating the assembling of the members in Washington, devoted to him the lines:
"John Chandler will be there, Tough as steel and bold as Hector."
In 1822, he was placed on the committee that select- ed Augusta as the seat of government for Maine. After serving a senatorial term of six years, he was appointed, by President Jackson, collector of the port of Portland. This office he held eight years, and then retired to pri- vate life.
Such a career as Chandler's would furnish abundant material for one of Alger's "Fame and Fortune" serials. Men of his stamp are multitudinous in romance, but rare in history. It is doubtful if, with the exception of Sir Wm. Phipps, the annals of Maine furnish such an example of resolution and perseverance. It is true that he had an able champion in General Dearborn, and that his promotion was largely due to the latter's influence; but to no one but John Chandler is due the credit of rising from the degradation of ignorance, and too great praise can not be accorded to one who, in an age of general illiteracy, cherished aspirations that led him to subject himself to such humiliating means to raise himself to a higher level. Had he not exhibited a purpose to help himself, it is doubtful if he would have received any assistance from Dearborn, and had
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
.
he not possessed such a purpose, the intended help would have proved only a hindrance; for any assist- ance that checks self-reliance debases rather than elevates.
Biographers often commit a great error in denying that their heroes possessed any faults. It is not neces- sary to parade a man's negative character before the public, but to deny that he had one invariably weakens one's faith in both the writer and his subject. Such an error was committed by the author of the greatest of modern political histories, who, in the face of indispu- table testimony, disclaims the necessity of apologies for some of the traits of President Lincoln, and gives the lie to John G. Holland and other eminent writers, who, through an intimate association, knew the man's few faults and sought to palliate them. The result, instead of adding to the glory of our honored national hero. only led the thinking public to inquire how much of the his- tory was authentic.
Such was the course pursued by the writer of an article published in the Gravite State Month- ly, in which Gen. Chandler was commended for his Christian virtues and devotion to his creed. While it would be a pleasure to ascribe to him this attribute, it could be done only by sacrificing the confidence of every citizen whose memory reaches back a half cen- tury. It was one of Gen. Chandler's faults that he was notoriously profane, and in two instances, at least, he received such apt and pointed rebukes for indulging in this vice that even he himself could not object to their being published. One winter, disease destroyed many of his fine sheep. Meeting Esquire Harvey one morn-
THE EPPING EXODUS.
ing after the discovery of an additional loss, he snar ed, "Another sheep has gone to h-
"How fortunate the rich are." mildly responded the 'Squire, "in being able to send their provisions on be- fore them."
This was not less to the point than the calm remind- er he rece vel from Sands Wing, a member of the so- ciety of Friends, wh , lived on Steven's hill. Chandle: hal a lot of lumber at the saw mill at North Monmouth which had long been in the way of the workmen, and which he hid been repeatedly requested to remove. At last an order came which he could not ignore. Hiring Wing to accompany him with his ox-team, he went to the mill, loaded, and was about to leave without giving fur- ther order-, when the teamster ventured to inquire where he should drive. "Drive? Drive to h -. " was the response.
"Then perhaps thee had better take the goad thyself." said the Quaker.
Trenchant as were these thrusts of repartee, the were soothing when compared with a lunge he once re- ceived from John Welch.
A Fourth of July celebration was held in Monmouth. which was honored by the presence of guests from Portland and Augusta. At the dinner, over which th general presided, he called upon John Welch, as a rep- resentative of the pioneers. for a toast. Welch. always modest and retiring. at first refused : but after repeated solicitations, he slowly arose, and holding aloft his glis- tening glass, proposed:
"Gen. John Chandler, the president of the day.
I was bondsman for his first cow and had it to pay."
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
Probably the storm of laughter that followed was harder for the general to face than all the guns in the British artillery, but he had too much nerve to allow himself to appear disconcerted. "Right, right!" he ex- claimed, "and you never got your pay." He then drew his wallet and offered to make good Welch's loss; but that gentleman, as well as all the spectators, considered the account well squared, and refused to accept any further remuneration, on the ground that it was out- lawed.
In my rounds among the people of Monmouth I have heard much concerning Gen. Chandler; and the pre- vailing opinion which exists concerning him is that he was nothing more than an acute economist with self as the point of convergence of all his plans. Without at- tempting to deny that he was shrewd and crafty. attributes that would naturally develop in a headstrong. ru naway boy, forced by his own volition to look out for personal interests or perish, it is erroneous to suppose that he was nothing more than an adroit mon- ey-getter. An examination of accessible records will reveal the fact that no man in Maine wielded a stronger influence in political circles than John Chandler. Any office at the disposal of the dominant party was open to him. Gubernatorial honors he refused. The higher senatorial honors he accepted.
Like his friend and patron, Gen. Dearborn, he was always a firm advocate of the principles of democ- racy; and, extravagant though the statement may seem. he was, undoubtedly, with the exception of Dearborn. the ablest politician of his day in Maine.
E
بودالان
RESIDENCE OF GEN. JOHN CHANDLER. RECENTLY THE PROPERTY OF J. W. GODING, ESQ. DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 1880.
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THE EPPING EXODUS.
Gen. Chandler lived in Monmouth during his politi- cal career. In 1837 he purchased the residence of his nephew, Gen. Joseph Chandler, and removed to Au- gusta. The home in which he lived is the conspicuous stand on Chandler street, north of the soldier's monu- ment, recently owned by the late Judge Rice.
He lived only four years after leaving Monmouth, his decease occurring Sept. 25, 1841, in the eightieth year of his age.
In closing a brief epitome of his career, a contempo- rary says :
"Gen. Chandler was noted for his practical common sense and sound judgment, and was much respected while in Congress, by his associates, for the sterling qualities of his mind and character."
Lieutenant James Norris, who possibly accompanied Chandler from Epping, was born in that place in 1761. He served in the Revolutionary war until the army was disbanded, when he returned to his old home, and married Ruth Dearborn, daughter of Simon Dearborn. sen., later of Monmouth. They removed to Mon- mouth soon after Mr. Dearborn. Mr. Norris walked the entire distance, his wife riding a horse beside him, car- rying a small child.
As they circled the hill on which they afterward settled, he turned, with the remark, "Ruth, I like this." They stopped that night, at Simon Dearborn's. In the course of conversation the location that struck them as being so desirable was mentioned. "Why, Ruth," said the host, "your uncle Henry owns that land." After that it did not take long to decide where to settle.
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH.
After building a log cabin a few rods east of where the large house now stands, and getting a clearing started, Mr. Norris went to Pittston and worked in a saw mill to pay for his land. In 1801 he built the large house now owned by his grandson. Geo. W. Norris, Esq.
Mr. Norris was an industrious man. His out-build- ings were as good as the ones that now stand in their places, and his farm was walled throughout. Not fifty rods of stone wall have been laid up on the farm since his day. A short distance north of his house, he erect- ed another, for his son-in-law, Jacob Miller, which was afterward moved to a point near Leeds Junction, where it is now known as the Charles Hyde Potter place. Mr. Norris died in 1814, of cold fever.
Joel Chandler followed his brother, the General, to Wales Plantation, and purchased Nathan Stanley's claim; giving notes, and taking a warranty deed of the land, for which Stanley had paid cash. On the six- teenth day of October, only a few days after this trans- action was concluded, Chandler was drowned near the outlet of South Pond, while engaged in surveying. His estate made no amends, and Stanley lost his dearly- earned land.
Joel Chandler left a son, Joseph, who, after his father's death, lived in the family of the General. He was an active, enterprising young man, with an insatia- ble thirst for knowledge. It was his custom to borrow the best books the scanty libraries of his neighbors afforded, and go over to the Leeds bog to camp out weeks at a time. that he might devote himself uninter- ruptedly to study. A natural and inevitable conse-
--
Gen. Joseph Chandler. VEETASERIE.
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THE EPPING EXODUS.
quence of his diligent application was a fine education. He assisted the General greatly in getting what little education he could boast. In fact, he was, with one exception, the only teacher his uncle ever had.
After settlers began to people the eastern part of the town, and Gen. Dearborn had built a mill at the outlet of South Pond, Joseph Chandler traded there. In 1808, he was appointed Captain in the U. S. Army, and was stationed at a fort in Portland harbor. He resigned his commission in 1809, and returning to Monmouth, erected a large house a short distance north of the academy, which has recently been taken down by the Prescott brothers to make room for the modern struct- ure in which Mr. John M. Prescott now resides, and a store near by in which he traded. In 1811, under Gerry's administration, he was appointed Clerk of Courts for Kennebec County. He then sold his prop- erty in Monmouth and removed to Augusta, where he spent the remainder of his days, being engaged chiefly in mercantile pursuits. Soon after he went to Augus- ta, he compiled and published a reading book, "The Young Gentlemen's and Ladies' Museum." This book was used in the schools when my grandfather was a boy.
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