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 19
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
much damage. The large barn at the Paris town farm was com- pletely demolished, and other damage was done to fruit trees, &c., to the amount of nearly $1000. Aug. 29th, died Mrs. Polla (Free- land) Rawson, aged nearly 97. Sept. 2, Gen. Wm. K. Kimball committed suicide by shooting himself with a revolver. Sept. 7, Micah C. Allen, formerly of Paris, died, aged 42. Oct. 19, a head- less skeleton was found in the woods near South Paris which created much excitement. Late in the autumn the Oxford Register was moved to Norway.
1876.
The selectmen made report of their doings with regard to the Crocker fund which was accepted. Republican electorial ticket polled 415 votes ; Democratic, 203. The claim of Z. C. Perry for damage, was referred to the selectmen. "Motion to tax dogs did not prevail." The selectmen were directed to have the warrant printed in their next report. It was voted not to choose a town agent. John Black was elected collector for the ninth consecutive term.
In Feb., A. H. Mason and P. J. Parris bought out the interest of Mr. Whitman in the Oxford Register. Feb. 12th, died Lyman Bol- ster at Bryant's Pond, aged 67. He was the son of Dea. Isaac Bol- ster, and was born in Paris. Wm. Chase of Paris died March 12, aged 55 ; his death the result of an injury from being run over by the cars at South Paris. Emma J., wife of Elisha B. Taylor, and daughter of Dea. Elbridge Fobes, died in Knobnoster, Missouri, March 29, aged 24. Died April 16, Mrs. Sarah A. Murdock, aged 60 ; April 26, Mrs. Hannah, wife of Silas Maxim, aged 82. Mr. Stevens Smith, formerly of Waterford, died very suddenly on the Hill, Sept. 13. aged 80. Charles W. Bemis died Sept. 15, aged 70. Oliver W. Clark died Sept. 17, aged 87. A daughter of George and Mary Marshall of West Paris, aged 4 years, Nov. 13, was choked to death by the shell of a metallic cartridge which she was holding in her mouth and accidently swal- lowed. Mr. Edward Dean died Sept. 14, aged'92, the oldest per- son in Paris. Sebra Dunham died the first of December, aged 80. He was born in Middleboro', and was a year old when his parents moved to Paris.
1877.
Died January 1, Mrs. Rachel, widow of the late Charles Porter, aged 82 ; Jannary 4, at North Paris, Dea. Enoch Whittemore, aged
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
64. At the March term of the court, the trial of Ianthe Morgan of Bethel for the murder of her infant child, drew a large crowd. She was convicted. Col. Sampson Dunham died March 9th, aged 66. March 20th, died William Stearns, aged 86 years, for 81 years a resident of this town. Rev. J. A. Seitz was engaged to occupy the Universalist church at the Hill, this year, commencing in May. Rev. George Briggs died at West Paris May 17, aged 68. Mr. Murdock committed suicide at the north part of the town, in May, by taking poison. The paper mill at Snow's Falls was burned June 5, loss, sixteen thousand dollars. The property belonged to John Kerselake, who bought it of the heirs of Wm. Chase. Mrs. Hannalı, widow of the late Otis Bent, died in South Paris June 1, aged 82 ; June 12, Sarah, widow of Reuben Favor, aged 65. Moses Swan died in Courtland, Cal., July 9, aged 76. He was the son of Wm. Swan, and was born in this town. Col. Samuel F. Rawson died at Mechanic Falls, Aug. 25, aged 65. Oct. 21, Sarah J. Prentiss, daughter of the late Henry Prentiss, died in Bangor. She was a nurse in the hospital during the war, and the disease of which she finally died was probably contracted there. Her age was 54. The question of moving the county seat to Norway was much agitated during the fall. and was carried before the Legislature. Norway made a good fight for the much coverted prize, but was defeated. Three deaths of old people occurred during October ; Gideon Swan, formerly of Paris, died in Woodstock, aged 93 ; Harvey Fuller at. North Paris, Oct. 2d, aged 84, and at South Paris, Jacob Winslow, aged 89 years, 7 months. A heavy rain storm the last of Novem- ber caused a sudden rise in the river, and resulted in considerable damage. The mill yard of F. L. Willis was .swept entirely of lum- ber. At the annual meeting this year, Hiram Chase, Geo. O. Chase and Ezekiel Dammon with their estates were set off from School District No. 11, and annexed to No. 12. The selectmen were instructed not to license a liquor agent. Jonathan Starbird was set off from School District No. 15 and annexed to 8. Dr. Isaac Rounds having refused to qualify as school committee, F. T. Crom- met was appointed in his place. Selectmen of Paris and Norway made a division of the Rumford road for the purpose of keeping it in repair. A special meeting was called Nov. 24th, to see what action the town would take in relation to the proposed removal of the county buildings. The selectmen were authorized to send an agent or agents to Augusta to oppose the removal.
A 4
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
1878.
Wm. Bent of South Paris died December 12, aged 79. March 19, Mary D., wife of F. C. Merrill, aged 46. In May, Oliver P. Cummings of Paris obtained a verdict of $15,708.33 against the Grand Trunk Railway, for injuries received March 6, 1875, while in the employ of the company as an engineer upon the train going from Lewiston to Portland. Mrs. Paulina Fobes died May 30, aged 77. Mrs. Cynthia Swift aged 77, died at South Paris, and June 17th, Mrs. Huldah Cummings, aged 74. Sunday evening July 21, a severe thunder shower passed over Paris Hill. The stable of Dr. T. H. Brown was struck, and that, with the house and other build- ings, was consumed. Most of the personal property saved. The spire of the Universalist church was struck at the same time, and the south end of the church badly 'shattered. While Dr. Brown's house was burning, three other fires could be plainly seen in different directions, probably kindled by the electric bolts. Died in North Paris, July 31, Mrs. Thankful (Briggs), wife of Benaiah Moody, aged nearly 88 ; Aug. 13, Abigail, wife of Luther Stone, aged 64. The Odd Fellow's Hall at South Paris was built this year. Sept. 28, Austin Buck committed suicide at South Paris, by taking arsenic. Oct. 9th, a whirlwind passed through the town doing considerable damage to fruit trees. Oct. 11, the old Parsons barn at South Paris was burned, containing about 30 tons of hay belonging to different parties. Nov. 14, a Union Farmers' Club organized at Grange Hall, South Paris. Oct. 18, died Lucy B., widow of the late Cyprian Hall, aged 82 ; Dec. 22, Martha Greene, daughter of the late Joseph G. Cole, aged 42 ; Dec. 29, Ennice, wife of David Jordan, aged 72.
At its annual March meeting the town voted that the liquor agent be instructed to sell liquors to no one out of town, and to no one except on physician's prescriptions, during the year to come.
201
HISTORY OF PARIS.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Elaborate Preparations .- Pleasant Weather and a Great Day for Paris .- Address of Welcome by Governor Perham .- Addresses on Various Subjects, Poems and Music .- Dinner in the Mammoth Tent .- Six to Eight Thousand People Fed .- Toasts and Responses. -Antiquarian Display .- Annals Closed.
1879.
Sunrise on Sept. 11th, was announced by the firing of a Paris centennial gun. From the first announcement to the close of daylight, the town was a scene of constant activity. Citizens of Paris and visitors from neighboring towns began to arrive on "the Hill" shortly after six o'clock, A. M., and before noon the crowd numbered about six thousand persons. The earliest visitors had the good fortune to note particularly the preparations which had been so carefully made for their reception. At the north end of the vil- lage, a streamer was drawn above and across the street, from Mr. Carter's to the Parris stand. Above Madame Carter's gate was the following inscription :
"The first frame house built in Paris. Erected April, 1789. The first 4th of July ever celebrated in Oxford county was upon these grounds, in 1789."*
Mr. S. R. Carter's house bore the inscription "erected in 1808." Over the entrance to the old grave yard, one read "Ancestors and friends, though dead, are not forgotten." Streamers floated across the streets from Miss C. C. Cummings's to the residence of Elbridge Fobes, and from Hawkes & Garland's store to the cottage of Mrs. Ann Brown. Mrs. Brown's house was elegantly decorated with flags and national emblems. The Baptist church was decorated with flags. Mr. L. B. Smith of Portland, a relative of Mrs. Wm. Chase, brought a large quantity of bunting to assist in decorating the Ham- lin homestead, now the property of Mrs. Chase. In one line he placed English, French, Spanish, and German ensigns, which he had procured from vessels in Portland harbor. A large elm tree, in front of the house, was entwined with red, white and blue. This tree was marked, "The Hamlin Tree." It was planted by Hon.
*It is said that Dr. Samuel Taylor delivered the oration on this occasion and that he spoke from the head of a rum-hogshead.
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
Hannibal Hamlin, in 1820. A large United States flag was hung from the Union House to the old Bemis stand, and another floated from the Oxford Democrat Office. The hotels were both elaborately decorated, as were also the buildings of Mr. J. H. Rawson, and the Court House. Again, streamers crossed the head of Lincoln street, from Dr. Brown's to the Crocker homestead, and from Hon. Alvah Black's to Mr. J. T. Clark's. Ex-Governor Perham's buildings dis- played a large number of beautiful flags, and the patriotic colors were also exhibited here, by illuminations in the evening. J. C. Marble's buildings were also finely decorated. At the new cemetery was the inscription, "We do not forget our honored dead." The "Common" and the tent were radiant with bright colored streamers and flags, while such mottoes as "Paris welcomes her sons and daughters," "1779. Paris. 1879," &c., were to be seen in every appropriate nook and corner. The decorations were very elaborate, and would have done credit to any city.
The veterans of the late war, met at South Paris, early in the morning, and there received the Portland Cadets and Ripley's Band. After marching through the village of South Paris, the companies broke ranks, and took carriages for Paris Hill. At the new ceme- tery, the military formed again, and marched to the village. Near the house of Jacob A. Daniels the militia was formed to receive the visiting company and the veterans. From this point, the whole military marched to the center of the village where the citizens were invited to "fall in" behind the militia. The invitation was accepted by but a small number, after which the company marched around "the square," with Ripley's Band playing inspiring airs during the march. The Portland Cadets acted as a guard of honor to the President of the day, who with other distinguished guests took part in the parade. The parade terminated before the tent, where the band, cadets, speakers and invited guests took positions upon the platform, while the seats were quickly filled by town's people and visitors.
Gov. Perham called the assembly to order in the following brief and appropriate address of welcome :
"Ladies and Gentlemen ; Natire and adopted sons and daughters of Paris ; Brothers and sisters of a common parentage :
In compliance with the request of a committee representing the citizens of the town, it becomes my pleasant duty to express their sentiments of welcome and congratulation.
We turn aside from our ordinary vocations to-day, to mark an epoch in
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
the history of this grand old town. She has called home her son's and daughters and invited her friends to celebrate the one hundredth anniver- sary of her settlement. We have come to recall the events of the past, and review the labors and sacrifices, the heroic virtue and the indomitable energy that characterized the early settlers of this town; to pay a fitting tribute of respeet and affection to their memory ; to express our gratitude for that firm, steady discipline and guidance by which they sought to pre- pare us for life's great duties, and our obligations for the wisdom and intelligent forethought that planted the institutions under which we are blessed to-day. In short, we come to recount the toils and achievements of a hundred years.
The town of Paris points with pride to a long list of sons and daughters who have gone out from us, and who by virtuous lives and noble deeds have honored the town that gave them birth, and added imperishable lustre to her name. Many of these have gone to their reward in the better land, and to many others we now have the pleasure of extending a cordial greet- ing and most hearty welcome to the scenes of their childhood, to our homes and our hearts, and the festivities of this occasion. Welcome, one and all ! Thrice welcome to this joyous reunion of kindred spirits. And may the emotions that stir our hearts to-day inspire us to purer lives, to a more ardent patriotism and nobler endeavor."
Rev. Caleb Fuller of Hallowell, who had been invited to perform the duties of chaplain, did not arrive in season, and Dr. H. C. Estes of the village, in his stead, made a fervent prayer.
The President then introduced Hon. Horatio King of Washington, D. C., who delivered the opening historical address as follows :* Friends and Fellow Citizens :
In the "History of the District of Maine," by James Sullivan, published in 1795, there is an interesting map, showing the location of the principal lakes and courses of the rivers in Maine, and giving the names of towns in those parts of the district then settled. Except along the coast and bays from the St. John to the Penob- scot, there were less than half a dozen townships designated by name, and only comparatively few, marked and numbered, east of the Penobscot river. The portions which appeared then to be most thickly settled, lie on and between the Kennebec river and New Hampshire, and on the coast eastward from the Kennebec. There is a line indicating "those parts of the country most famous for being harrassed by the Indians, on and long after their first settle- ment." It runs from the coast a little west of Portsmouth, N. H., northerly to the source of Salmon river, thence northeasterly, taking
*Some portions of Mr. King's address will hereafter appear under their appropriate headings and are omitted here.
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
in Newfield, Limerick, Limington, Gray, New Gloucester, Durham, Bowdoin and the section east of the Kennebec to the Damariscotta, thence southerly to the ocean. Our own town of Paris, whose oblong square is indicated by dotted lines, is not only nameless, but is not even numbered on the map. A winding line, showing the course of the Little Androscoggin, is all that appears upon its blank face. Directly at the north was "No. 3," lying next east of which was "Butterfield Slip," while the names of the two sections or town- ships adjoining what is now Paris on the northeast, were Butterfield, now Sumner, I think, and Bucktown, now Buckfield. Hebron, Otis- field and Bridgetown had been respectively so named but there was no Norway nor Waterford. Like Paris, whose name is believed to have been borrowed from the capital city of France, the territory of Norway stood waiting to be christened, while that of Waterford was known only as "old No. 5."
So much for the map. However, we know that Paris, which has been called Plantation No. 4, was incorporated on the 20th of June, 1793, and that white settlers made their appearance here as early as 1779, when, according to Williamson's History of Maine, the first trees were felled in town, and crops were taken from the land the ensuing year. He states that the town was granted by the govern- ment, in 1771. to Joshua Fuller and his associates. In his "Short History of the Town of Paris," published in my newspaper, the Jeffersonian, December 4th, 1830, Elder James Hooper, who was the first minister settled in this town, and who was ordained in 1795, states that this grant of June 11th, 1771, to "Joshua Fuller, of Watertown, Massachusetts, and his company," was "for services in the old French war."
On reference to the records of the original proprietors of the town, however, I have discovered that this date of June 11, 1771, is not strictly correct. While that is the date at which the grant of a town- ship was made "to Capt. Joshua Fuller and his associates," the grant to them of the actual territory of Paris bears date February 11, 1773, and it expressly annuls the former grant, which, through a miscon- ception of the pilot and committee sent to lay out the township, did not embrace the desired section. It also appears that, yet much further back, in February, 1735, the grant in the first instance, was made to Capt. Samuel Jackson and others, and that, owing to the fact that the township thus granted fell within the line of New Hampshire, it became necessary to change that grant for another to
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
Capt. Joshua Fuller and others, who acted either in their own right or as the representatives of the original grantees. Where Elder Hooper found his authority for saying the grant to them was for ser- vices in the old French war, I have not been able to ascertain. Nothing of the kind appears in the grant, to which are attached the following conditions, viz :
"The grantees (shall) within seven years settle Sixty Families in said Township, Build a House for the Publick Worship of God, and settle a Learned Protestant Minister, and Lay out one Sixty Fourth part of said Township for the first settled Minister, one sixty-fourth part for the use of the Ministry, one Sixty-fourth part for the use of Schools, and one Sixty- fourth part for the use of Harvard College forever: Provided it doth not exceed the Quantity aforementioned nor interfere with any former Grant."
Elder Hooper says the first trees that were felled in town, were cut by Mr. John Daniels, who was still living at the date of his history, and that the lot on which the first clearing was commenced included nearly all the village of Paris Hill, and was sold for an iron kettle. He says that the first corn raised in town was by Isaac Jackson and Lemuel Jackson, Jr., and that soon after this, the elder Lemuel Jackson came with his son Levi and his son-in-law, deacon John Willis, bringing what was then considered a handsome little fortune, about fourteen hundred dollars, which "greatly helped the settlement of the town."
Now, there is great doubt in respect to nearly every one of these statements. I have ascertained, I think, beyond question, that Lemuel Jackson was the first settler and made the first clearing in this town. The spot thus cleared lies just westerly of the old bury- ing ground, a few rods south of which he built a log house, which was the first house built in town. It is very probable that Mr. Daniels assisted in making this clearing ; and in respect to the story of the iron kettle, it is suggested that Mr. Daniels was in modern phrase a "squatter" on some lot here-that he was obliged to relin- quish it, and that he received and accepted an iron kettle for the . labor he had bestowed on the lot. Patience Willis, wife of deacon John Willis, was the first woman who came into this town, and Joseph Daniels was the first child born here. The first framed house erected in town was built in 1789 by Lemuel Jackson, and it is the same now occupied by Mrs. T. J. Carter. In this house three gen- erations of the same family have been born; and what is most remarkable, in all this period of ninety years, there never has been but one death in the house, and that was of a hired woman, who
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
came there out of health and died five days only after her arrival. Equally remarkable is it, perhaps, that only one couple have been married in that house, and they both came there to have the cere- mony performed.
In my searches in the Congressional Library, I found in the records of the Maine Historical Society (to which I am indebted for many of the facts in this address), a diary kept by the Rev. Paul Coffin, a Congregational minister, who graduated at Harvard in 1759, and was ordained in 1763. It contains a brief account of missionary tours which he made through various parts of this State including the town of Paris, in the years 1796, 1797, 1798 and 1800. The interest of the items relating to this town induced me to transcribe them as follows :
1796, June 25. Paris. From Rustfield to this we crossed Little Andros- coggin. Here is a predestinarian society of Baptists under a Mr. Hooper. 'Tis a good place. The clover and herdsgrass were headed in the road.
26th. Sabbath. Preached all day from John xv:14, to about three hundred hearers, very attentive, decently dressed and well behaved, mak- ing the largest and most hopeful assembly to which I had yet spoken. We met in a barn of Capt. Bolster's. He is sociable and very hospitable. Rode after meeting to Hebron, and put up with a Mr. Bass [Bearce]. This place like all the rest, has some Baptists. Mr. Bass [Bearce] would give two hundred dollars with all his heart to see the town united under a Congregational minister. No hopes of it! Just so [he distressingly adds] in the rich township of Paris.
1797, Sept. 2. Rustfield, alias Norway. Grasshoppers here and at. Philips' Gore and Paris, hurtful. Rode to Paris, and found all friends well, particularly merchant Prentiss and Capt. Bolster.
1st Sabbath, September 3. Norway and Paris. Preached at Paris from Matt. i:21 and Mark xv :15, 16; and then at Norway, from Jeremiah vii :- 22, 23. At Paris the Baptists heard their minister Hooper, and the Metho- dists heard a Stoneham. So that I had only about one hundred hearers, very attentive and respectful. Paris would make a fine parish if united. Rustfield, Cummings' Gore and Lee's Grant are incorporated or made a town, called Norway. Capt. Rust and his lady rode to Paris in a chaise, and heard two sermons.
1798, Aug. 19. 1st Sabbath. Preached at Paris, two sermons from Psalms Ixxiv :10 and two texts more; and one sermon at Norway, from Prov. v :22,23.
Aug. 26. Preached at the house of David Andrews in Paris. With him, a good man, I had much religious discourse. My text was 2d Timothy, iii :14, 15.
21. Called at Seth Carpenter's and gave counsel to his wife, and Taylor's sermons. Visited the wife of John Nason, and gave her Hemmenway's
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
sermons. Counseled Abraham Bolster's wife and gave her Taylor's ser- mons. [It is gratifying to see that the husbands did not appear to need counsel ! or, are we to infer that they were sin-hardened ?]
1800, Aug. 29. Norway. Paris. Rode to Paris, the weather still dry and warm. Went to David Andrews' and preached to a serious audience from Acts xxiv :25.
Aug. 30. Saturday. Paris. Rode back to the centre of Paris and put up with Daniel Stowell, Esq.
Aug. 31. 2d Sabbath. Paris. Preached at the house of the Squire, from Luke xvi :29-31. The audience was small by reason of rain, which fell with small intermission from 5 A. M. to 4 P. M., a most seasonable and refreshing shower. Three weeks before this exactly, it rained all day at Buxton. The Squire has a beautiful situation, very central, of five hun- dred acres of rich land. His house has a stoop and appears well. Hooper, the Baptist minister of the place, heard mne in the afternoon, and conversed some time, with some judgment and apparent candor.
The following from the proprietors' records may be of interest :
A particular account of the Necessarys the Committee Purchased for clearing the Road through No. 4 Township and their expenses upon the road to and from said Township, (viz :)
To 200 lbs. of Pork at 15s.,
£150, 0
" 60 lbs. of Butter at 12s., 36, 0
" 103 lbs. of Cheese at 6s., 31, 16
" 100 lbs. of Rye flour, 21, 0
64, 10
" 2 Hund'd of do 88, 0
" Baking 3 Hund'd of Bread at 50s., 7,10
" 2 Empty Casks to put the bread in,
1, 4
" 3-4 Hund'd Sugar,
45, 0
" 10 Gal. Rum at £4, 16 pr. Gal.,
48, 0
" 4 " Sperits at £7, 10 pr. Gal.,
30, 0
" Tin ware,
6, 12
" Two Iron Pots,
6, 0
" One Quart'r Hund'd of Rice,
8, 8
" 12 lbs. Chocolate at 22s. pr. 1b.,
13, 4
" 3 1-2 lbs. Tea at £5, 16 pr. 1b.,
20, 16
" One Peck of Salt,
2, 14
" 5 axes and helves,
31, 16
" 1 Quarter lb. of Pepper at 24s.,
1, 4
" 1 Kegg for Butter, 2, 2
" 1 Quarter of Ginger at 7s.,
7
" 8 lbs. Shot at 12s., 4, 16
The amount of expenses, on the road to and from the township, is stated at £302, 11s. Among the items are the following :
Paid at Davises, New Gloucester,
£5, 2
for a lamb, 6, 6
Keeping our horses, 15, 18
" 1 1-2 Hund'd of Wheat flour,
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HISTORY OF PARIS.
The explanation of the apparently fabulous prices of the various articles in this account may be found, doubtless, in the fact that it was stated in continental money, and at a time when one dollar of that money was worth only three cents eight mills-this being its current value in December, 1779, when the account was presented. Thus one peck of salt, for instance, at £2, 14s., continental cur- rency, reckoned at five dollars to the pound, cost about fifty-four cents in gold ; tea, at £5, 16s. per pound, cost about one dollar and ten cents in gold ; rum, at £4, 16s., brought in gold about ninety- five cents a gallon-and so on.
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