USA > Maine > Oxford County > Paris > History of Paris, Maine, from its settlement to 1880, with a history of the grants of 1736 & 1771, together with personal sketches, a copious genealogical register and an appendix > Part 13
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This was a cold year, still well remembered by elderly people. The following monthly journal of the weather during that mem- orable year, is worth being preserved. Fires ran in the forests of this and the adjoining towns during the late summer months, des- troying a large amount of wood and timber, and in some localities nearly ruining the soil. The peculiarities of the season were not confined to New England, but extended throughout the middle and what were then called the western States. There was great suffer- ing among the poor and especially in places newly settled.
"January was mild, so much so as to render fires almost needless in sit- ting rooms. December, the month immediately preceding this was very cold.
February was not very cold; with the exception of a few days, it was mild, like its predecessor.
March was cold and boisterous, the first half of it, the remainder was mild. A great freshet on the Ohio and Kentucky rivers caused great loss of property.
April began warm, and grew colder as the month advanced and ended with snow and ice with a temperature more like Winter than Spring.
May was more remarkable for frowns than smiles. Buds and fruits were frozen-ice formed half an inch in thickness-corn killed and the fields were again and again replanted until deemed too late.
June was the coldest ever known in this latitude. Frost and ice and snow were common. Almost every green herb was killed. Fruit nearly all destroyed. Snow fell to the depth of ten inches in Maine, several inches in Vermont, and it fell to the depth of three inches in the interior of New York ; it fell also in Massachusetts.
July was accompanied by frost and ice. On the morning after the fourth, ice formed of the thickness of common window glass, throughout New England and New York, and some parts of Pennsylvania. Indian corn was nearly all killed ; some favorably situated fields escaped. This was true of some of the hill farms.
August was more cheerless if possible, than the summer months already passed. Ice was formed half an inch in thickness. Indian corn was so frozen that the greater part of it was cut down and dried as fodder. Almost every green thing was destroyed both in this country and in Europe. Papers received from England said, "It will be remembered by
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131
HISTORY OF PARIS.
the present generation that the year 1816 was a year in which there was no summer." Very little corn in the New England and Middle States ripened. Farmers supplied themselves from the corn produced in 1815 for seed in the Spring of 1817. It sold for from four to five dollars a bushel.
September furnished about two weeks of the mildest weather of the sea- son. Soon after the middle, it became very cold and frosty, ice forming a quarter of an inch in thickness ..
October produced more than a usual share of cold weather; frost and ice common.
November was cold and blustering. Snow fell so as to make sleighing. December was mild and comfortable.
We have thus given a brief summary of the "cold summer of 1816," as it was called, in order to distinguish it from other cold seasons. The winter was mild. Frost and ice were common in every month of the year. Very little vegetation matured in the Eastern and Middle States. The sun's rays seemed to be destitute of heat throughout the summer ; all nature seemed clad in sable hue, and men exhibited no little anxiety concerning the future of this life."
The late Rev. Rawson Dunham of Woodstock, a resident of Paris in 1816, in a communication to the Oxford Democrat in 1873, said of the cold summer :
"In 1816, June 7th, snow fell 2 inches. I rode from Hebron to Liver- more that day on horseback and came very near freezing. It was so cold that it killed the birds ; English robins were picked up as well as all kinds of birds, frozen to death. Frost every month that year. In 1817 corn was worth $2.00 and $2.50: wheat from $2.00 to $3.00 per bushel."
CHAPTER XX.
DIRECT TAX OF 1816.
Following is a list of the inhabitants of Paris in 1816, liable to be taxed, and the amount assessed against each. This tax was pro- vided by an act of Congress passed the 5th day of March, 1816, and was assessed upon lands, lots, dwelling houses, shops, &c. Joseph Howard of Brownfield was collector for this county, and Ebenezer Poor of Andover, for the sub-District including Paris. The total tax assessed on the whole country was $3,000,000, and the proportion of Oxford county which then included Turner, Liver- more, Jay, Weld and Carthage was $5,585.31. or one six hundred and fifty-fourth part of the whole. The tax list is given in full here to show the number of tax-payers residing in the town at the time, and also to convey some idea of the financial standing of each, but
132
HISTORY OF PARIS.
as personal property was not taxed, it only shows each approxi- mately, for the names of those not possessed of real estate do not appear, while those whose property consisted mainly of personal property were taxed for only a small part of their real possessions. The names of several non-resident owners are omitted from the list.
NAMES OF
AMOUNT OF
AMOUNT OF
TAXABLE PERSONS.
TAXABLE PROPERTY.
TAX.
John Andrews,
$326
$0 71
Darius Andrews,
235
52
Moses Allen,
490
1 00
David Andrews,
2,033
4 49
Abiezer Andrews,
304
1 77
Jon'n. Allen, Agent,
1,557
3 42
Isaac Allen,
251
Wm. Bent,
313
69
Abraham Bolster,
1,223
2 69
Edward Andrews,
993
2 19
Luther Brett,
355
73
Francis Bemis,
418
92
Amzi Brett,
365
80
Isaac Bolster, Jr.,
1,202
2 64
David Bolster,
1,169
2 57
Rufus Brett,
283
62
Levi Berry,
352
77
Stephen Blake, Jr.,
679
1 50
Isaac Bolster,
105
23
Seth Benson,
1,049
2 31
Enoch Burnham,
627
1 38
Alanson Briggs,
240
53
David Bemis,
235
52
Josiah Bartlett,
313
66
Win. Beal,
Selden Bartlett,
249
77
John Bonney,
313
70
Sam'l Bumpus,
285
52
Zebulon Bryant,
42
09
John Besse,
470
1 03
Jon'n Ballard,
375
82
Amasa Bartlett,
512
1 12
Elijah Bates,
1,035
2 20
Asa Barrows,
752
1 60
Caleb Besse,
251
65
Levi Bartlett,
84
19
Arodus Bryant,
167
36
2,164
4 76
Martin Brett,
Joseph Besse,
133
HISTORY OF PARIS.
NAMES OF TAXABLE PERSONS.
AMOUNT OF TAXABLE PROPERTY.
AMOUNT OF TAX.
Wm. Berry,
800
1 76
Rob't A. Bradman,
776
1 69
Ichabod Bryant,
481
1 05
John Bonney, Jr.,
825
1 81
Amos Bryant,
84
19
John Besse, Jr.,
533
1 18
Widow Lucy Bryant,
261
57
Asa Barrows, Jr.,
490
1 08
Bailey Bodwell,
S4
19
T. O. Bickford,
Jon'n Bemis,
3,071
6 75
Jon'n Bemis, Jr.,
418
92
James Bemis,
418
92
Ezra Cary.
888
1 94
Solomon Cloutman,
418
92
David Clifford,
1,091
2 41
Benj'n Chesley,
341
1 04
Philip Caldwell,
905
1 99
Bartholomew Cushman,
395
87
Benj'n Chandler;
282
62
Isaac. Cummings,
659
1 45
Caleb Cushman,
1,619
3 57
Daniel Cummings,
569
1 25
Thos. F. Chase,
627
1 37
Timothy Chase,
299
65
Jon'n Cummings,
470
1 03
Jonas Cummings,
209
96
John G. Crawford,
623
1 37
Eben Cushman,
418
92
Gershom Cole,
659
1 45
Jesse Cummings,
1,619
3 56
Benj'n Cooper,
534
1 13
Simeon Cummings,
428
95
Sprague Churchill,
Jerathmael Colburn,
627
1 31
Thos. Crocker,
740
1 63
Jesse Cushman,
204
45
Peter Chase,
731
1 61
Dan'l Cole,
455
1 00
Perez Churchill, Jr.,
569
1 25
Nicholas Chesley,
731
1 61
Sam'l Chesley,
391
86
Seth Carpenter,
1,045
2 30
Nathan C'loudman,
1,174
2 59
Luther Cary,
386
85
134
HISTORY OF . PARIS.
NAMES OF
AMOUNT OF TAXABLE PROPERTY.
AMOUNT OF TAX.
TAXABLE PERSONS. John Deering,
831
1 82
Edmund Dean,
1,323
2 91
Noah Dean,
121
26
Edmund Dean, Jr.,
278
52
John Daniels, Jr.,
1,630
3 59
Asa Dean, Jr.,
711
1 50
Barzila Dwelley,
438
97
Peter Durell, Jr.,
669
1 48
Eleazer Dunham,
691
1 52
David Durell,
1,199
2 46
Daniel Dudley,
251
55
John Daniels,
1,151
2 53
Eben Daniels,
413
92
David Dudley,
884
1 94
Rob't Deering,
292
64
James Daniels,
825
1 81
Joseph Daniels,
648
1 43
Eben'r Estes,
418
92
Caleb Fuller,
565
1 44
Aaron Fuller, Jr.,
209
46
Aaron Fuller,
2,296
5 05
Barnabee Faunce,
242
54
Dan'l Fobes,
507
1 12
Eph'm Fields,
209
46
Billings Fobes,
378
34
Lowell, Fuller & Co.,
105
23
Reuben Favor,
522
1 14
John Favor,
286
S5
John Fogg,
418
92
Eben H. Goss,
731
1 67
Grosvner,
84
19
Jacob Gurney,
229
51
Alfred Gates,
890
1 96
Joseph Gallison,
25
06
Gustavus A. Goss,
859
1 89
John Gray,
993
2 18
Moses Gammon,
261
57
Solomon Hall,
593
1 33
Nath'l How,
519
1 14
Thos. Hill,
10
23
Lazarus Hathaway,
487
1 08
Heirs of Lemuel Holmes,
543
1 20
James Holmes,
555
1 23
Solomon Hackett,
555
1 23
Benj'n Hammond, Jr.,
1,098
2 42
135
HISTORY OF PARIS.
NAMES OF
AMOUNT OF TAXABLE PROPERTY.
AMOUNT OF TAX.
TAXABLE PERSONS.
Sanı'l Hammond,
418
92
Henry Hill,
329
73
David Harlow,
559
1 23
Haven Hall,
519
1 14
Russell Hubbard,
2,133
4 70
Lazarus Hathaway, Jr.,
313
69
Thos. Hill. Jr.,
1,565
3 44
Amariah Harris,
700
1 54
Cyrus Hamlin,
1,714
3 77
Levi Hubbard,
2,539
5 81
Joseph Hammond,
827
1 80
Moses Hodgdon,
313
69
Abijah Hall,
1,546
3 40
Do. for estate of T. H. Hall.
Do. for heirs of J. H. Hall,
817
1 80
Do. for heirs of T. O. Hall,
Frederic N. Hall,
267
58
Jacob How,
326
71
Josiah Jackson.
257
56
Nathaniel Jackson.
292
64
Benj'n Jackson.
251
55
Lemuel Jackson, Jr.,
2.143
4 72
Lemuel Jackson's heirs,
3,616
7 96
Lemuel Jackson, 3d,
4,287
2 83
Sylvanus Jackson, for Robert Moody,
522
1 14
Isaac Knight,
517
1 14
George King,
334
74
Francis Keen,
251
55
Edmund Knight,
739
1 63
Azel Kinsley,
925
2 03
Sam'l King,
1,463
3 21
Joseph Linsey,
574
1 28
Jacob Lebroke,
313
69
James Lebroke,
444
98
Wm. Lethbredge,
528
1 17
Sam'l Larrabee,
261
57
Job Lurvey,
313
69
Seth Morse,
1,263
2 55
Do. for David Morse,
836
1 86
Joseph Merrill,
376
82
Isaac Merrill, 2d,
167
37
Robert Moody,
519
1 14
Wm. Merrill,
376
82
Joseph McCalister,
391
86
136
HISTORY OF PARIS.
NAMES OF
AMOUNT OF TAXABLE PROPERTY.
AMOUNT OF TAX.
TAXABLE PERSONS.
Silas Maxim,
909
2 00
Thos. & E. Merrill,
509
1 12
Isaac Merrill,
209
46
Moses Marshall,
396
87
Dan'l Macomber,
911
2 00
Wm. Mixer,
1,500
3 30
Dan'l Noble,
52
11
Luke Owens,
522
1 14
John & Charles Porter,
689
1 52
Joseph Perry,
552
1 21
Abra'm Pray,
449
99
Luther Pratt,
783
1 72
Dan'l Pond,
673
1 48
Simeon Pond,
470
1 03
Henry Prentiss,
1,548
3 41
Albion K. Parris,
155
34
Asa Perry,
1,050
2 31
Caleb Prentiss,
857
1 89
Elias Partridge,
975
2 14
Nath'l Pratt,
350
77
Benj'n Pratt,
553
1 22
Simeon Perkins,
214
48
Isaac Record,
546
1 20
Andrew Record,
62
14
John Record, Jr.,
583
1 30
Asa Robinson,
1,191
2 62
George Ryerson,
355
78
Abner Rawson,
2,334
5 14
Luke Ryerson,
669
1 48
John Royal,
321
70
Estate of Joseph Rust,
52
11
Sam'l Rawson,
2,363
5 19
Emer Rawson,
783
1 73
Winslow Record,
507
1 12
Sylvanus Robbins,
527
1 17
John Robinson,
2,260
5 19
Nath'l Russell,
583
1 28
Uriah Ripley,
1,202
2 65
Samuel Robinson,
1,510
3 32
Eben'r Rawson,
3,824
8 41
Wmn. Ryerson,
456
1 00
Stephen Robinson,
3,782
8 33
Joseph Sturtevant, Jr.,
564
1 24
Solomon Shaw,
857
1 89
Gilbert Shaw,
520
1 14
137
HISTORY OF PARIS.
NAMES OF
TAXABLE PERSONS.
AMOUNT OF TAXABLE PROPERTY.
AMOUNT OF TAX.
Widow Abigail Shaw,
235
52
Alva Shurtleff,
418
92
Joseph Sturtevant,
1,202
2 65
Jon'n Shurtleff,
1,337
2 94
Elias Stowell,
3,386
7 44
Caleb Swift,
1,308
2 88
Thos. Stevens,
940
2 07
Wm. Stowell,
3,636
8 00
Sam'l Stevens.
1,358
2 99
Dan'l Smith.
52
11
Jairus Shaw,
1,823
3 98
Wm. Stearns,
2,040
5 82
Dan'l Stowell,
3,138
6 91
Timothy Smith,
836
1 83
Josiah Smith.
967
2 13
Nicholas Smith,
28
06
Dan'l Stowell, Jr.,
783
1 72
Joseph Swift,
1,150
2 53
Nicholas Smith, Jr.,
285
63
Widow Sarah Stevens,
1,254
2 75
Isaac Titcomb,
277
60
David Twitchell,
484
1 00
Dan'l Staples,
1,609
3 54
Mercy Staples,
700
1 54
Widow Esther Thayer,
418
92
Isaac Thayer,
286
63
Abiather Tuell,
762
1 67
Eben'r Tuell,
919
2 02
Benj'n Tucker,
439
97
Moses Twitchell,
396
87
John Valentine,
773
1 69
Adna Tribou,
460
1 01
Stephen Washburn,
449
99
Jacob Winslow,
543
1 19
Patience Willis,
637
1 41
Do. as Guardian for Louis Willis,
219
49
Abijah Warren,
689
1 52
Simeon Walton,
305
67
Wm. C. Whitney,
209
46
Levi Whitman,
160
35
Bela Wyman,
368
81
Seth Willis,
667
1 48
Isaiah Whittemore,
362
79
Micah Walker
683
1 50
Wm. Walker,
772
1 69
138
HISTORY OF PARIS.
NAMES OF
AMOUNT OF
TAXABLE PERSONS.
TAXABLE PROPERTY.
AMOUNT OF TAX.
Isaiah Willis,
1,104
2 44
Do. as Guardian to Nat. Willis,
219
49
Wm. Warren,
198
43
Susan & Marv Willis,
418
92
John Whitehead,
588
130
CHAPTER XXI.
THE ABORIGINES.
We are not aware that the Indians ever had a village or encampment within the limits of this town, but that. they were often here, there is no doubt. They hunted the moose and deer in our forests, set traps for the beaver and other game on the river and larger brooks, and caught an abund- ance of speckled trout in all our streams. The course of the Little Androscoggin formed one of their thoroughfares between the ocean and the lakes. In going to the northern lakes from the sea-coast, they often left the Great Androscoggin at Pejyp- scot Falls, (Lewiston,) and passing up the Little Androscoggin to Bryant's Pond, they either struck across to the Great Androscoggin at Rumford and by way of Ellis river to Andover, and so up Black brook to the middle lake, or they crossed from Bryant's Pond to the head-waters of Alder river and down this to its mouth near Bethel Hill, then across to Bear river follow- ing up which they reached Umbagog lake at the mouth of the Cam- bridge. The fact that no deposit of Indian relics and no signs of an Indian burying place have ever been discovered in this vicinity, indicate that they never had a fixed abiding place here, yet the find- ing of an occasional stone implement, an arrow or spear head, a chisel or gouge or stone axe, proves that they were once here, though probably only temporarily.
139
HISTORY OF PARIS.
When Europeans first visited the coast of Maine, they found num- erous tribes of Indians inhabiting our forests, and wherever fish and game did most abound, there the Indians were the most numerous. They had their own well-defined limits which all understood, and no tribe overstepped the boundaries of another except to provoke a war or to carry one on. The great tribes that inhabited Maine were the Abenakis and the Etechemins. The former inhabited from New Hampshire to the Penobscot and the latter from the Penobscot east- ward. The Abenakis were divided into four smaller tribes, as fol- lows : The Sokokis inhabited the valley of the Saco ; the Anasagun- ticooks, the Androscoggin and its tributaries ; the Wawenocs, the country east of Merrymeeting Bay, and the Canibas or Kennebecs, from Merrymeeting Bay to Moosehead Lake, on each side of the river .. These tribes were again subdivided into smaller bodies, according to locality. The Pigwakets or Pequakets were at Frye- burg until nearly destroyed by Lovewell and his party, in 1725. There was no doubt a sub-tribe of the Anasagunticooks at Bethel, perhaps one in Rumford, and certainly one in Canton, called the Rockomekos. The Indians occupied the fertile intervals on all our principal rivers. Here they raised their corn, the lands, when the country was first settled by the English giving evidence of having been cleared at a very remote period. The squaws cultivated the corn, using the rudest of implements, and when the soil became exhausted,dressing it with the offal of animals and fish. Perhaps the most intractable tribe of Indians in the State was the one inhab- iting the valley of the Androscoggin. There was an "irrepres- sible conflict" between them and the whites, as long as they had the means to carry on war. But like all the other tribes within our lim- its, their decimation and utter extermination were only questions of time. The Pequakets were destroyed by Lovewell ; the Norridge- wocks by Captains Harmon and Moulton, other tribes fell in a simi- lar manner, and finally, the scattered remnants of several hostile tribes went to Canada and settled on the St. Francis river, where in 1759 they were nearly anihilated by Col. Rogers of New Hamp- shire and his brave companions in arms .*
There is a tradition that the Rockomekos or Rockemegos, as they have been called by some, were destroyed by being decoyed over the Falls at Lewiston. We do not avouch for the truth of the story, although we have heard it from our earliest childhood, and told by
*Belknap's History of New Hampshire.
140
HISTORY OF PARIS.
those who claimed to have learned it of the first settlers. The story as told was briefly as follows: The Rockomekos had planned an attack upon the feeble settlement at Brunswick, and after celebrat- ing according to their ancient custom, the rites to propitiate the malignant deities they worshipped, they embarked themselves and their families in their canoes. The shadows of evening fell upon the river before they arrived at the Falls, and they sent two of their number forward to kindle fires upon the banks of the river just above the cataract. From some reason never made clear, the fires were kindled below and the blaze gleamed up among the pines at the foot of the descent. The little fleet bearing the dusky warriors and their wives and children, came on, and, deceived by the signal, they were speedily carried into the swift current where no human power could save them. They had scarcely time to raise the death song before they were hurled over the cataract and perished. None escaped to tell the tale of ruin, save the two who occasioned the dis- aster. The date of this occurrence is fixed by tradition at the year 1688. It has been said that the two Indians who were sent forward to light the signal fires, came across some white hunters near the Falls from whom they obtained some ardent spirits, and becoming partially intoxicated, they told their business, learning which, the white hunters dispatched them, and then built the fires below the Falls to decoy the maraudering party to ruin. This, too, rests
entirely upon tradition .*
Among the prominent Indians of the Anasagunticook tribe, was Worombo, who in 1684, sold and gave a deed of the territory on the Androscoggin to the "Upper Falls." It has always been a matter of doubt what falls were meant here, whether Pejypscot, (Lewiston,) or Rumford. The Indians always claimed that they never deeded away the lands on the Androscoggin, through Bethel and above. The last of the once powerful and warlike tribe of Anasagunticooks was Matalluck, known in cheap literature as "the lone Indian of the Magalloway." He lived for many years at the narrows of Umba- gog lake, and is well remembered by many people now living. He died about forty years ago. Several places in the lake region per- petuate his name. Another Indian, supposed to have been of the Anasagunticooks, was Molly Ockett. She came from Canada to
*Another account attributes the destruction of the Indians of the Rockomeko tribe, to the small pox, with which it has been said they were attacked about the year 1755, and nearly the whole tribe swept away.
141
HISTORY OF PARIS.
Fryeburg and from thence to Bethel, where she claimed ownership of the soil in the right of her ancestors. She often passed through this town, and many old people remember her. A mountain in Woodstock bears her name and also a rock in the lake region. She visited Andover when Ezekiel Merrill, the first settler was first there, and was a frequent resident in that town where she died many years ago, and her remains were committed to the earth in the cemetery near the village. The Little Androscoggin as a tributary to the larger river, was claimed by the Anasagunticooks, and parties of this long extinct tribe, were those who once had a thoroughfare through this town and whose rude implements are still occasionally turned up by the plow.
"They wasted like the April snow In the warm noon; they shrank away ; And fast are followed as they go Toward the setting day."
CHAPTER XXII.
CHARACTER OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.
The prosperity of a town and its standing among other towns depends largely on the character of its founders, and in this respect, the town of Paris was uncommonly fortunate. The first comers, . though not men of culture, were well educated for their times, and were men of honor, integrity and business capacity. Lemuel Jack- son, who was somewhat advanced in years when he came, had been a successful man of business and accumulated quite a fortune. He. purchased several entire rights, paying cash for them, and when he came to Paris he brought quite a sum in silver money and represent- ing a much larger sum in the depreciated currency of Revolutionary times. In some respects, he was the father of the town, and his influence was almost unbounded. John Willis, the son-in-law of Jackson, was a valuable citizen, Deacon of the church and a licensed preacher, a man of excellent character and leading a life which even at this distant day is fragrant of good deeds. Gen. Levi Hubbard was in some respects, the foremost man in town. He had seen much public service before he came to Paris, and was well qualified to lead off in the business of the new town and county. The three Stowell brothers were well-trained to business, and the record left
-
142
HISTORY OF PARIS.
by Daniel Stowell when town clerk, shows him a man of superior intelligence and well educated. He was early, a Justice of the Peace. Capt. Isaac Bolster was the pioneer trader, a man well acquainted with business and always kept in town office. Josiah Bisco, the only one of the grantees who settled in Paris, stood high in the esteem of the Proprietary, served on the most important com- mittees, and helped in lotting out the township. He was the first one selected by the town to be appointed a civil magistrate, and was much in town office. The Nelson brothers and Nathan Pierce were men of superior intelligence in business affairs.
Jonathan Bemis was a go-ahead, business man, built mills, cleared up land and made improvements in every direction. The Robinsons were great farmers, clearing up large areas of land and raising luxuriant crops of grain and grass. One of these brothers, one year, raised fifty acres of rye on new land. Daniel Staples had a large farm, cut large crops of hay and kept the largest herd of cat- tle in town. The three Rawson brothers were men of energy and enterprise, men of judgment, shrewd in business, and successful in the accumulation of property. The Cummings family which came a little later, were valuable acquisitions and have ever since held their prominence in town.
Then there were the Chases, the Hammonds, the Prentisses, the Shaws, the Kings, the Carpenters, the Stevenses, the Stearnses, the Halls, the Morses, the Fullers, the Shurtleff's, the Hathaways, the Fobeses, the Fieldses, the Mellens, the Andrews, Thomas Crocker, the Cushmans, and others of those who came prior to 1800, or near that time, all of whom were men of character and just the right material for planting and rearing a new town in the wilderness. Some of them had been well educated in the schools, while. others had been schooled in active military service, a service which, while it well fitted them for pioneer life, taught them, at the same time, the great value of American citizenship. Every hive has its drones, and every community its sluggards, and the records show that Paris was no exception, but such characters were uncommonly rare. The great majority of the early settlers were industrious, enterprising and economical, and very soon after their first clearings were made, they had comfortable homes and pleasant surroundings. They were religious men, members of the church, and encouraged their min- ister by being constant in their attendance upon his ministrations. They were not without their faults, but their failings were greatly
143
HISTORY OF PARIS.
overbalanced by their good qualities. They left their impress upon the town which has ever given it a prominent position in affairs of county and State.
When in 1806, Paris became the shire town, and the county offi- ces were established here, there was a re-enforcement of talent which soon became an element of strength in town and county. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin came as Clerk of the Courts and took up a permanent residence on the Hill. He at once became a leading citizen and retained that position to the time of his death. The legal men that gathered here when the Oxford bar was organized and became resi- dents of the town, were men of culture, learned in the 'law, and became distinguished in their profession, and some of them in poli- tics. Such names as Enoch Lincoln, Albion K. Parris, Joseph G. Cole and Stephen Emery, need only to be mentioned in this connec- tion. The first two became governors, the last two Judges, and all are too well known to require any farther notice from us. Their coming into town was marked by better management of municipal affairs, by more attention to educational matters, by a higher patriot- ism which found expression in resolutions passed and spread upon the town records, by temperance effort and by greater care in look- ing after the morals of the community generally. They were good lawyers, but they were something more ; they were men of charac- ter, of broad and expansive views ; statesmen in the highest sense of the term. and their influence was powerful for good, and lasting. Though long since dead, by their precepts still remembered, and by the example of their lives, they yet speak to the people of this town in words of unmistakable import.
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