History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 102

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100

USA > Maine > Penobscot County > History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 102

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).

It was evident that his objective point was some one of the settlers' homes east on the river. It was late in the afternoon, the storm and cold increasing; and such a fearful night as it must be would soon close in around him, in the darkness of which it would be impossible to follow the spotted line. No wonder that under such circumstances he should put forth all the strength and energy he possessed. He had not traveled more than four or five miles before darkness closed around him, and it was impossible to follow the trail. He pauses a few moments, evidently to rest, hangs his pack to the limb of a tree, and starts again, unencumbered, on his journey. He travels but a short distance before he deviates from the line, goes in a zigzag direction a short distance, falling over logs that lie in his course, until, entirely exhausted, he sits down in the snow and leans against a tree, evidently to rest and recuperate his ex- hausted energy and strength. Again he starts, but in the few minutes' respite he had taken the intense cold had been doing its fearful work. A numbness pervaded the entire system; his joints grew clumsy and almost stiff, causing him to fall at almost every step, till he can proceed no further. With his body inclined against a tree, there in midnight's darkest hour, there in the mer- ciless storm, there with wind and storm chanting his dying requiem in the trees above his head, with no kind friend to speak words of comfort in this trying hour and direct his thoughts to that fair land of which the poet sang :

"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, And cast a wishful eye To Canaan's fair and happy land, Where my possessions lie."

There with no eye save that Eye that never slumbers

401

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

to witness his fruitless efforts to reach the settlements on the river, no tongue to tell the story of physical and mental suffering he endured in view of the terrible death that awaited him, his spirit took its flight.

As soon as it became known that he had not reached the settlement on the river, search was made, and the body found as above stated. He no doubt was the first white person that died within the present corporate limits of Lagrange.

ORGANIZATION AND FIRST OFFICERS.

On the Ist day of March, 1832, James L. Bishop, a Justice of the Peace in and for the county of Penobscot, issued his warrant to Thomas H. Bates, requiring him, in the name of the State of Maine, to notify the inhabi- tants of Lagrange, qualified by the constitution to vote in town affairs, to assemble at the dwelling-house of Col- onel Thomas Chase, on Monday, the 19th day of March, 1832, at 11 o'clock A. M., to choose all necessary town officers and to decide on some method of notifying town meetings hereafter. At this meeting the following-named gentlemen were chosen to the most important offices in the new-born town: Orin Fuller, Moderator; Thomas H. Bates, Town Clerk ; Orin Fuller, James L. Bishop, John S. Rolph, Selectmen and Assessors; Thomas H. Bates, Treasurer ; Thomas Chase, Town Agent; Thomas H. Bates, Collector of Taxes.

PROGRESS.

Thus was the new town organized. Its rich and fer- tile lands began to attract the attention of agriculturists in other States, and in 1834 Stephen Danforth, John Kenney, Alonzo Hatch, and Allen Nason, from New Hampshire, became residents. Mr. Danforth settled upon Lot No. 49, west of the Bennock road, and kept a house of entertainment for many years. In 1838 Pliny B. Soule and Albert G. Hinds, from Livermore, pur- chased the "Gore" lot and the old saw-mill standing thereon, built a stone dam, repaired the old mill, and commenced the manufacture of long lumber in 1839. But the hard work, and the warfare with the flies and mosquitoes, proved too much for Mr. Hinds, and he re- turned to Livermore in 1840. In 1841 Mr. Soule put a shingle-machine into his mill, and began the manufacture of shingles. In January, 1844, the mill was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in the summer of 1844, and in the early autumn began the manufacture of long lumber and shingles. In January, 1849, this mill was destroyed by fire. In the spring of 1849 Messrs. Coburn and Mr. Bicknell, from Stetson, purchased the privilege of Mr. Soule, and built the present mill. Two small mills were built on Birch Stream for the manufacture of shingles, but both have been destroyed by fire.

RELIGIOUS HISTORY.

On the 23d of August, 1841, the first church in this town was organized as a branch of the Free-will Baptist church of Bradford. Some years previous to this the Methodists had for a time what is called in their polity a "class," but no church organization was entered into. March 28, 1843, the relation that had existed between the church in Bradford and the branch in Lagrange was

dissolved, and a new church was organized as "the First Free-will Baptist church in Lagrange." This church is still maintained, but its pulpit is just now vacant. In 1879 the first meeting-house in the town was built by the society. In 1880 a second house of worship was erected and finished outside, but is not yet finished inside.

A Methodist church was organized in Lagrange about two years since, and there is also an "Advent" society in town.

LAGRANGE IN THE REBELLION.

In suppressing the great Rebellion and maintaining the Nation's life, and the honorable and exalted position it had gained among the nations of the earth, the town bore a very honorable part. By the report of the Commis- sioners on the Equalization of the Municipal War Debts, the town was credited with fifty-three men, though at dif- ferent times during the Rebellion several more from La- grange entered the service, either as volunteers, drafted men, or substitutes. The amount of bounty paid to soldiers under the different calls of the President for men amounted in the aggregate to $11,425. There were raised by subscription and by the town in recruiting ex- penses $380, thus imposing a tax upon the inhabitants of $11,805.

Henry A. Heal, of this town, was so unfortunate as to be taken prisoner, and was confined for several months in one of the Southern hells-called a "prison." The bones of several of her brave sons whiten on Southern plains or lie buried in Southern graves, while the mourn- ers still go about the streets.

THE RAILROAD.

In June, 1868, work commenced here on the Ban- gor & Piscataquis Railroad. The ground was broken in front of where the Lagrange Station now stands, the Hon. Hannibal Hamlin enjoying the high honor of cast- ing the first shovelfull of earth. The headquarters of the contractors, while building the road from Oldtown. to Dover, were at the Dirigo House at Lagrange Corner.

At a town meeting, called for the purpose of consider- ing the propriety of aiding in the building of this road, it was voted to take stock in it to the amount of $5,000, the money to be paid (and it was paid) when the track was laid to the south line of the town.

INDUSTRIES.

The different trades are well represented here by one sleigh- and carriage-maker, three blacksmiths, and three house-builders. You can buy your dry goods and gro- ceries at five different stores, and your millinery and fancy goods at another. Messrs. Hathorn, Foss & Co., at their steam-mill on Birch Stream, do a large business in the manufacture of long lumber, lemon and orange boxes for the Sicily and Florida markets, vegetable crates for the West Indies, and cranberry boxes for Massa- chusetts. Thomas S. Heal & Son cut shingles and spool stock at their mill on Dead Stream.

THE TEMPERANCE CAUSE

has been well sustained, first by the Washingtonians, then by the Sons of Temperance, and at present by the Good Templars, who have a flourishing lodge composed

402

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

largely of young gentlemen and ladies, the pride of the present and the hope of the future. Composite Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and the Katahdin Grange No. 120, Patrons of Husbandry, are also associations in this town.

STATISTICS.

Lagrange had a population of 336 by the census of 1840, 482 in 1850, 690 in 1860, 622 in 1870, and 721 in 1880.

Its polls in 1860 numbered 140; in 1870, 171; in 1880, 188. Estates for these several years, $95,835, $154,425, and $202,673.

A GLIMPSE AHEAD.

A prosperous and happy future awaits the town if great caution is exercised in the selection of officers to manage its financial affairs, ever remembering that sin is a re- proach to any people and that righteousness exalteth a town as well as a nation.

PUBLIC SERVANTS.

The following-named gentlemen have been elected Representatives to the State Legislature from the district of which Lagrange comprises a part : Stephen Danforth, the first elected, Whig, 1837 ; William Head, Democrat, 1845; William Banton, Abolitionist, 1854; re-elected 1858; Hazen W. Danforth, Republican, 1864; Pliny B. Soule, Republican, 1868; Jotham Moulton, Republi- can, 1874; George W. Jones, Greenbacker, 1878.

The following are the town officers for 1881 : Jacob Bemis, J. R. Herrick, H. H. Bilington, Selectmen ; F. E. Freese, Town Clerk ; E. Danforth, Treasurer; H. H. Bilington, Collector ; H. B. Dyer, W. A. Snell, Con- stables; Pliny B. Soule, William Banton (Quorum), Justices.

Eugene Danforth is Postmaster at Lagrange, J. P. Stearns at South Lagrange.

SKETCHES OF SETTLERS.

Origen Fuller, of Lagrange, is a son of Orin Fuller, who came to Lagrange in 1823, when it was called Oxford Township. He was born in Livermore, Maine, in 1803, and married Mary Hobbs, who was born in December, 1806, and is still living. Mr. Fuller was one of the first two who made a permanent settlement in town. He was always a prominent man here, and generally held some local office. He was the first Postmaster in the town, being appointed in 1826, and held the office until 1830. He died November 17, 1869. The other surviv- ing members of his family are Samuel, of Bangor, Maine; John H., of San Francisco, California, and Michael, of Lagrange. Origen Fuller married Priscilla R. Henderson, November 1, 1854. They have two children, May and Alice. Mr. Fuller is a house carpenter and farmer.

John R. Herrick, of Lagrange, is a son of Ebenezer and Experience Herrick. Ebenezer Herrick was a son of Joseph Herrick. Ebenezer Herrick came to La- grange from Greene, Maine, in 1825, and settled on the place now owned by John R. He had four children, viz: Albion, deceased; Lyman, now in Milo, Maine; Maria Antoinette, wife of William B. Danforth, of La-

grange, and John R., the youngest. John R. was born July 23, 1832, in Lagrange. He settled on the old homestead, where he has since lived. He married Mary A. Rollins, daughter of William O. Rollins, of Orneville, Maine. They have three children, viz : Omar, Celia J., and Gertrude M. Mr. Herrick has held the office of Selectman several times.

R. J. McDuff, of Lagrange, is a son of Robert Mc- Duff, of Chester, New Hampshire, who came to La- grange in 1830. He married Ruth B. Emery, of Med- ford, Piscataquis county, Maine. They had five children, viz: Mary J., Hannah A., Laura. M., Robert J., and Hiram; all are deceased except Laura M. and Robert J. The latter was born February 16, 1833, and has always lived in Lagrange, where he has followed the business of farming. He was in the army two years, being a member of the Second Cavalry, Maine. He has traveled quite extensively. He married Miss Melissa B. Emery, and has three children living, having lost two in infancy. Their names are Harry L, Laura M., and Cora E. Mr. McDuff lives one mile east of Lagrange village, where he has a good farm and a fine set of farm buildings.

John Kenney, of Lagrange, who settled here in 1834, was born in Farmington, New Hampshire, May 20, 1805. He married Elizabeth B. Willey, who was born in New Durham, New Hampshire, November 3, 1809. They were married May 7, 1835. Mr. Kenney is the only member of his father's family now living. In 1854 his buildings were burned and a promising son, Harry, per- ished in the flames. Mr. Kenney has seven children liv- ing: Augusta A., Mary A., Hattie L., not married; the married are Mrs. N. E. Bemis, Mrs. A. S. Smith, C. F. Kenney, and Mrs. M. T. Hinkley. Mrs. Kenney died October 15, 1875.

Pliny B. Soule, of Lagrange, is a son of Nathan and Nancy Soule (nee Nancy Howland). Nathan Soule was a son of Joshua Soule; he was born July 2, 1784, and married Nancy Howland, daughter of Elijah Howland, June 29th, 1806. Their family consisted of eleven chil- dren, viz: Ira W., deceased; Pliny B .; Fanny C., de- ceased; Sophronia, deceased; Francis A., Methodist minister at Sing Sing, New York; Nancy H., deceased ; Nathan A., Methodist minister at Natick, Massachusetts ; James H., Methodist minister at Rockford, Illinois; Mary J., wife of John R. Kenney, Lowell, Massachu- setts; Elijah H. and Joshua (twins), deceased. Nathan Soule was a brother of Bishop Soule, of the Methodist Episcopal church. Pliny B. Soule, the subject of this sketch, was born July 25, 1810, in Avon, Maine. He married Anna Carroll, a lineal descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrolton. She was born April 30, 1812. They were married February 13, 1839. Their family is as follows: Augustus C., living in Lagrange; Maria E. (Mrs. Joseph P. Rogers), of Bangor; Lewis W. deceased. Mr. Soule settled in Lagrange in 1838, after working out for some years. He cleared up the farm where he now lives, near the village. Mr. Soule has long been a promi- nent man in his town. He has held the following offices : Selectman, Clerk, Treasurer, Town Agent, Collector, Superintending School Committeeman, Justice of the

403

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Peace and Quorum five times, or thirty years. Some of the above named offices he has held several times.

Martin Snell, of Lagrange, is a son of Eleazer Snell, of New Hampshire, though he was a native of Massa- chusetts. Eleazer Snell married Polly Danforth. They had nine children, seven of whom are now living, viz : Mary, wife of Samuel Robinson, of Conway, New Hampshire; Eliza, now Mrs. Joseph Blethen, of Wiscon- sin; Emeline, of Springfield, Illinois; Clarinda, wife of John Nickerson, of Tamworth, New Hampshire; Martin Willard, of New Hampshire; Alden, now of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Snell always followed farming for a business. He died in 1866. Martin Snell moved to Maine when he was nineteen years old. He married Miss Clarissa White, daughter of Sewell White, of La- grange. They have three children: Mary, Roselen, and Willard. Mr. Snell has followed farming principally for a business, though he has worked some at the house carpenter's trade. He has held several of the town of- fices, and some of them for many years.

Simon H. Kenney, of Lagrange, is a son of Elisa Kenney, who was born in Wiscasset, Maine, June 3, 1777. At the age of nine he went to Livermore, Maine, and moved into Lagrange in 1841. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. . He married Mary P. Hersey January 10, 1795. She died October 15, 1857. Mr. Kenney died April 29, 1872. The surviving members of his family are Samuel H .; Ira, now living in Iowa; Lysander, of Michigan; Costellow, now in Salem, New Hampshire; and Hermon N., of Manteno, Illinois. Simeon H. Kenney married Ruth Ann Libby, December 6, 1854. Their children are Ella A. (deceased), May F.,

Myra E., and Ira B. Mr. Kenney is a farmer and has a good farm in Lagrange. He is and has been for a long time a Deacon in the Free Baptist church. During the Rebellion he enlisted, joining the Eleventh Maine Vol- unteers, and remained to the close of the war.

Jacob Bemis, of Lagrange, was born July 17, 1832, in Livermore, Maine. He is a son of Alexander and Lydia (Hillman) Bemis. Alexander Bemis was born October 6, 1804; Lydia Hillman was born in Martha's Vineyard December 3, 1804. Jacob Bemis and Nancy E. Bemis were married September 12, 1862. They have two children-Alice H., boin November 17, 1867, and Elizabeth B., born November 23, 1877. Mr. Bemis has been one of the Selectmen of Lagrange for several years, and Chairman for three years. He was a member of the Twenty-second Maine Regiment, from September I, 1862, till August, 1863, when he was mustered out at Bangor. He was in the siege of Port Hudson. Mr. Bemis is now engaged in farming.

Cyrus C. Durgin was born in Exeter July 19, 1839. He is a son of Martin L. Durgin, who married Emily Cogswell. They had nine children who grew to maturity, of whom Cyrus is the oldest living. Mr. Durgin is a blacksmith by trade, and now lives in Milo. Mrs. Durgin died in 1880. Cyrus C. Durgin married Eveline H. Bates, daughter of Thomas H. Bates, of Lagrange. They have two children, viz : Willard C. and Sarah E. Mr. Durgin follows farming for a business. He has served on the Board of Selectmen. He was a member of Company B, Twentieth Maine Volunteers, and served three years. He was wounded in the battle of the Wilderness. He now lives on the old Bates place.

LEVANT.

GEOGRAPHICAL.

The present town of Levant was one of the regular thirty-six mile townships for many years, or until the formation of Kenduskeag in 1852, which, as already no- ticed, took about half its area from the soil of Levant. For the last thirty years, then, it has been among the smaller towns in the county, territorially regarded, but still among the more populous and important. It is only two and one-half miles from Bangor, as measured along the north line of Hermon.

Levant is bounded on the north by Corinth, on the east by Kenduskeag and Glenburn ; on the south by Her- mon and Carmel ; and on the west by Stetson. It is a peculiarity of its situation that but one town, Exeter at

the northwest, corners upon its corner ; but Kenduskeag has its southwest corner within the tract of Levant, as it were. That portion of this town which is left by the in- trusion of Kenduskeag, as a projection toward Glenburn, is about two and one-third miles long from north to south, and two and one-eighth miles wide. The south and west lines of the town are each six miles in length, and the north line about four miles long.

Levant has no lake or pond, except the expansions of the Little Kenduskeag Stream, the most important water of this town. It has its source in three brooks of one and one-half to two miles' length apiece, in the northwest pert of the town. After their junction it becomes a quite respectable stream, receives soon afterwards, a mile west

404

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

of West Levant post-office, a good-sized tributary running west from Stetson ; and between this point and Carmel, which it reaches after a course of nearly five miles in Le- vant, it has four tributaries closely resembling each other. each heading in two branches, with two of them on the west side, and the other two on the east side of the Little Kenduskeag. The stream, after flowing through parts of Carmel and Hermon, reappears in Levant south of Kenduskeag town, and flows in a winding course nearly all directions, but making northeastward, till it joins the main Kenduskeag Stream, or Kenduskeag River, in Glen- burn, less than a mile east of Levant.

In the central north part of the town rises the Eve- lith Brook, which flows westerly across the angle of Kenduskeag to the Kenduskeag River. About half a mile from the east line of Levant it receives the Stanley Brook, which rises in Levant, almost at the southwest corner of Kenduskeag, and flows northerly about three miles to the Evelith, itself receiving a small affluent from the west shortly before the junction. In the south cen- tral part rises an affluent of the Little Kenduskeag, which flows about two miles, taking on the way a small tribu- tary from the northeast, and entering the Little Kendus- keag near the south line of the town. At its northern- most bend, in the "L" of Levant, the stream receives two more tiny brooks, one of them rising in Kendus- keag.

Levant, as already suggested, is well settled in nearly all parts, and is remarkably well provided with highways. The "Avenue road," from Bangor to Exeter, describes almost a precise diagonal through the town, entering near the southeast corner, passing Levant and. West Levant post-offices, and leaving the town east of the northwest corner, and about as near it as to the opposite corner where it came in. Its total length in this town is a little more than eight miles. It is the only road of its direc- tion in the town. At School No. 7, near the southwest corner of Kenduskeag, it crosses a northeast and south- west road from Kenduskeag post-office southwest and south by School No. I to Hermon. At Levant post- office it is crossed by another road having just at the village the same general direction as that just mentioned, but which runs around from the former at School No. 7, by a route north of the Little Kenduskeag, which it crosses at the village, and passes southwest and west by School No. 12 (where a branch runs south into Hermon), crossing beyond that the road from which it started, and ending at a north and south road near the south town line and the other course of the Little Kenduskeag. The latter road.comes from the Carmel way, and joins the Avenue road three and a half miles north. Near the junction, at School No. 13, it starts off a branch west- ward across the Little Kenduskeag, just beyond which it joins a north and south road along the west bank of that stream four miles, from the east and west road through West Levant to the south town line. At the store one- half mile above School No. 8 a branch runs north of west into Stetson, and just below the school another runs east through a pretty dense settlement at first, to the Kenduskeag post-office road below School No. 1. Just

above School No. I an east road runs to the Avenue road just north of the Little Kenduskeag.

From Levant village also run highways south into Hermon and east into Glenburn. North of the place a road starts for Kenduskeag post-office at School No. 4 and the cemetery, and a third of a mile out another leaves for Kenduskeag. Just east of the West Levant post- office a north road pushes straight out for Corinth, crossed a mile and a half up by an east and west road from the Higginsville way. West of the post-office, with- in about half a mile of the town line, another road runs northward, to join a highway from Stetson at School No. 6. The east and west road through West Levant crosses the town entirely, and almost in a straight line.

Nearly every part of Levant is quite well settled, the whole population in 1880 amounting to 1,076. Levant post-office (or Wing's Mills) is at the cross-roads in the southeast angle of the town, about a mile from the corner. It contains the Union Bethel meeting-house, School house No. 11, and the usual public conveniences of a country village, with a mill or two. South Levant post-office (Weston's Mill) is four miles due west of Le- vant post office, and on the other or western section of the Little Kenduskeag Stream. Here Mr. Ruel W. Wil- son, the postmaster, has a saw-mill; the Town Farm is just at the east end of the village; School No. 8 on the west side of the Stream; and there is a store or two. West Levant post-office (Roger's Stand) is in the north central part of the town, and about half-way across its narrower breadth. Here are School No. 5, a hotel, store, blacksmith shop, etc.

The surface of Levant is somewhat uneven, but the soil is fertile, and produces abundantly.

PIONEER SETTLEMENT.

The original settlers of the tract occupied by Levant are understood to have been the brothers George and William Tibbetts, and two other persons named Boobar and Knowland; but- the date or dates of their coming are not certainly ascertained. They were on the ground, however, sometime before 1800. Mr. William- son, the historian, says that the first settler in Levant was Joseph Clark, one of the refugees who fled with Colonel Jonathan Eddy from Nova Scotia after the unlucky affair at Fort Cumberland in September, 1776, and that Clark began to fell trees in Levant as early as 1789.

In 1801 came the celebrated pioneer Major Moses Hodsdon, from South Berwick, Massachusetts. He lo- cated upon the tract now occupied, in part, by Kendus- keag village, but which was for a long term of years a part of Levant. The next year this energetic and able man put up a saw- and grist-mill, three dwelling-houses, a store, and a blacksmith shop; and thus early made the beginning of what has become a prosperous settlement. Mr. Williamson says his was the twelfth building put up for residence in the town. These were the first frame buildings erected in this region, and, indeed, were the only ones of the kind then standing on this line between the vicinity of Bangor and the Kennebec River. Major (afterwards General) Hodsdon invested largely in landed

405

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

properties, and engaged in civil engineering and survey- ing over a very wide tract of this then new country. He became quite famous in the Aroostook War and other- wise, as is elsewhere related. He was the first Postmaster in Levant.

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.

History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 102

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co. Number of Pages: 1100

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100