History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 103

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 103

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General Hodsdon's brother and other settlers, some of whom are named in our sketch of Kenduskeag town, fol- lowed him soon to the promised land near the Penobscot. Their coming gave an impetus to the infant settlement, and its early growth was somewhat rapid.

ORGANIZATION.

By 1813 the number of settlers gave warrant to the erection of this tract as a town. It had originally been a part of the large Kenduskeag Plantation; and when Bangor was carved out of that, February 25, 1791, the name seems to have been passed westward, at least as soon as the population upon the present soil of Levant justified organization as a plantation. In 1792 the town- ship constituting the subsequent town was sold by Mas- sachusetts to William Wetmore. It existed as Kendus- keag Plantation until June 14, 1813, when it became one of only four towns incorporated that year in the District of Maine. It was in the midst of the last war with Great Britain, and it was not a great year for the erection of new municipalities. Levant was the one hundred and ninety-eighth town created in the District.

PROGRESS.

The first bridge over the Kenduskeag River, above Bangor, was built at Kenduskeag village, long within the territory of Levant, in 1802.

Kenduskeag Plantation "and adjacent places" had a population of 129 in 1800. In 1810, without "adjacent places," the plantation had 146. Ten years thereafter Levant town had 143; 747 in 1830 (a truly remarkable growth if correctly reported), 1,061 in 1840, 1,841 in 1850, 1,301 in 1860 (after carving Kenduskeag from its territory in part), 1, 159 in 1870, and 1,076 in 1880.

The number of polls in the plantation in 1812 was 32, with estates valued for purposes of taxation at $825. In 1820 the polls in Levant were 29, estates $16,687; in 1860, 273 and $184,851; 1870, 269 and $277,449; 1880, 279 and $282, 149.

BUSINESS.

The Mt. Pleasant and Silver Mining Company, for op- erations in this town, was organized some years ago, with Mr. William P. Hubbard, of Bangor, as President, and Charles P. Wiggin, Treasurer.

There are three lumbering establishments in the town, two carriage-makers, three smiths, one firm of painters, and five general stores-two each at Levant post-office and West Levant, and one at South Levant. There are also two resident clergymen and one physician.

THE ASSOCIATIONS

in this town are the Crystal Lodge of Independent Order of Good Templars at South Levant, and the Levant Grange, No. 84, Patrons of Husbandry.

THE TOWN OFFICERS

for 1881 were: John White, M. C. Mills, Gilbert Cain,

Selectmen; G. W. Read, Town Clerk; Orrin T. Dore, Treasurer; Charles R. Turner, Collector and Constable; John White, Charles R. Turner, Constables; Silas White, L. S. Mclaughlin, O. T. Dore, School Committee; Dan- iel Hall, G. W. Read, Hiram Church, Albert H. Waugh, O. T. Dore, Alphonso Haskell (Quorum), T. H. Wiggin (Trial), Justices. Mr. Alphonso Haskell is Postmaster at Levant, Reed W. Wilson at South Levant, and Charles C. Simpson at West Levant.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

Sewall Stanley was born in Winthrop, Kennebec county, Maine, in 1799, where he remained until twenty- four years of age. He. came to Penobscot county in 1823, and purchased the farm on which he now lives from parties in New Hampshire, and by paying cash in hand it cost him but two dollars per acre. His farm, when he purchased it, was a wilderness; but in pioneer style he went to work, cleared up the land, and by indus- try and economy has succeeded in securing for himself and family one of the finest farms in the town of Levant, if not in the county. He was Secretary of the first re- ligious society of the town of Levant. This society first met at the house of Deacon Nathan Fisk, and they em- ployed the Rev. Royal W. Spaulding, who was ordained in a barn then owned by P. C. Clark. Mr. Stanley was also Secretary of the first temperance society ever organ- ized in this part of the county. This society was formed at Kenduskeag village, and they were hooted at by the outside public and dubbed "the long-heeled boys," and various other epithets. He was also first Secretary of the first county agricultural society formed in the county of Penobscot. He held the office of Justice for four- teen years, and frequently during his term of office was called upon by parties to go miles from any habitation to make out and acknowledge deeds. He has repeatedly held the office of Selectman of the town of Levant and Chairman of the Board for many years, and has always taken a deep interest in religious matters. He was for many years Superintendent of the Union Sabbath-school, and contributes liberally to the support of the gospel. He has always been an earnest temperance worker and was on one occasion defeated for Captain of a company of militia on a temperance issue. The tickets on the occasion were headed "Rum" and "No Rum," and the "No Rum" ticket was defeated. In agricultural matters he was always deeply interested, as his surroundings will amply prove. He followed school teaching for many years; was also Superintendent of Schools in his town for over twenty-five years, and always took an active part in educational matters. He is a self-educated and self- made man, and although now eighty-two years of age, can handle a gun and kill game equal to any young man. He has never taken any medicine from a physician. Dur- ing the days of anti-slavery he was foremost in the organ- zation of the Anti-slavery party in his State. He has always taken an active part in political matters; was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party, when he became a member of that party. He is a mem- ber of the Congregational church, and has filled all the

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

offices in the church from time to time. He married Lucy Philbrook, a native of Winthrop, who died in Le- vant in 1866. He is the father of six children: Charles H., lives in Levant; Annie E., died in Levant; Mary J., married J. B. Nickels, and lives in Levant. Three died in infancy.

Colonel Harrison Waugh was born in Reedfield in 1811, where he received a common school education. He came to Penobscot county with his father in 1824. In 1841 he married Margaret Rittol, a native of Dres- den, and first settled on the farm on which he now lives. He is one of the first settlers in South Levant, and is the only one of the first pinoeers living in the town. When eighteen years of age he was chosen Lieutenant of a company of militia in Levant, and was promoted to Captain, and from the rank of Captain to Lieutenant- Colonel of the Third Regiment, First Brigade, Third Division. He has held the office of Selectman of Le- vant four years, and Chairman of the Board one year. He always took an active part in educational matters and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees for many . years in Levant High School. He is a farmer, in which business he is now engaged, and is one of the most thorough-going farmers in his township. When he started out in life he had but little means, but by indus- try and economy has saved for himself and family a nice home. In politics he was originally a Jacksonian Dem- ocrat, but at the organization of the Republican party he became a Republican. He is the father of five children : Albert H., who married Emma R. Wiggin and lives at home; Rachel J., died at home ; Cyrus A., died at home ; Nancy, died at home ; Annie E., married J. F. Beath, and lives in Kenduskeag. Albert H. was born in Levant in 1843, where he received a common school education ; he also attended the Levant High School several terms and studied at the East Maine Conference Academy and Gould's Academy for several terms. He has followed school-teaching for the past eighteen years, and has taught forty terms of school within that time. He has been a member of the School Committee ten years, and has been a member of the Town Republican Committee for several years. In 1870 he married Em- ma R. Wiggin, a native of Brighton, Maine, and is the father of three children, Elbert H., Annie B., and Madge E. In 1864 he enlisted under Colonel James H. Jones, of the United States Marine Corps, and was stationed at the Kittery Navy Yard, where he remained thirteen months.

Eli Weston was born in 1781 in Somerset county, Maine. He came to Penobscot counry in 1832, and settled on the farm now owned by Charles Reed in Le- vant. He married Louise Stewart in Somerset county. She died in Levant in 1834. He died in Levant in 1861. He was the father of ten children, four girls and six boys: Samuel S., Daniel F., Isabel, Louisa, Eli, Jr., Edwin, Josiah K., Ferdinand, Sarah E., Lydia C. Hon. Joseph K. Weston was born in Bloomfield, Somerset county, Maine, in 1816, where he received a common school education. In 1832 he came to Penobscot county with his father, where he engaged in lumbering

and farming. In 1844 he married Lucy J. Wilson in Bingham. In 1880 he sold out his mill to R. W. Wilson and turned his attention exclusively to farming, in which business he is now engaged. He was engaged in the mercantile business in South Levant for over twenty- five years, where he held the office of Postmaster during that time. He then resigned in favor of R. W. Wilson, the present Postmaster. He has also held the office of Selectman for over six years, and was Chairman of the Board two years. He was elected to represent his class in the State Legislature in 1872, and has always taken an active part in the cause of temperance. He has had five children: Howard W., Mattie B., Flavill, and two died in infancy.

Hon. John White was born in Skowhegan in 1831. He came to Penobscot when thirteen years of age and settled at Exeter, where he received a common school education ; he also attended the Corinth Academy for a short time. In 1854 he married Lovicy Tibbetts, a native of Exeter. He lived in Exeter until 1869 ; while there he held the office of Selectman three years and Collector of Takes eleven years. He came to Levant in 1869, and settled on the farm on which he now lives. He has held the office of Selectman of Levant for eight years and is Selectman of the town at the present time, and has been Chairman of the Board for the past seven years. In 1877, and again in 1880, he was elected to represent his class in the State Legislature-in 1877 on the Republican ticket, and in 1880 on the Greenback ticket. He is the father of five children : Arey, Silas, May, Frank, and Sadie.

Colonel Simon G. Jerrard was born in Plymouth, Maine, in 1828, where he received a common school education. He attended the Waterville Classical Institute two years and at the age of twenty engaged in the lumber business, at which he continued until the breaking out of the Re- bellion, when he organized the Twenty-second Maine Regiment at Camp Pope, in Bangor, in 1862, and joined the Nineteenth Army Corps, under General Banks, in Louisiana. He took part in the battles of Irish Bend and Port Hudson, and remained in the service until 1863, when he was mustered out with his regiment and returned to Levant, his present home, and engaged in farming. He has held the office of Selectman of Levant for fourteen years, and was chairman of the board the greater part of the time; he has also held the office of County Commissioner three terms, twice by election and once by appointment, and was twice elected High Sheriff of the county, and at present is one of the direc- tors of the Maine State Fair. He takes a deep interest in agricultural matters and is one of the most extensive farmers in the county, where he has one of the best im- proved farms. He married Samantha J. Crosby, of Plymouth, in 1854.

Greenleaf P. Harvey was born in Glenburn in 1808. When six years of age he removed to Corinth with his parents, where he received a common school education. He was a millman by trade, in which business he has always engaged. He built several mills during his life in Penobscot and Aroostook counties. In 1846 he moved

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

to Kenduskeag, where he built the mill now owned by Mr. Lincoln, of Bangor. In 1870 he came to Levant and settled on the farm now owned by his son, H. D. Harvey. He married Abigail Dexter, a native of Apple- ton, Maine, and died in Levant in 1872. His wife sur- vives him. He was the father of fourteen children : Loann, who married Henry Stackpole, lives in Kendus- keag ; Henry D., married twice ; his first wife was Susan Smith, who died; he then married Harriet J. Smith, and lives in Levant. Mary Ann, married Seymour Steele, lives in California; Frank, married Ellminia Hodsdon, and lives in Kenduskeag ; Lydia A., married Herman Kendal, and lives in Levant ; Greenleaf, married Augusta Hodsdon, and lives in Kenduskeag ; Elonia E., married Stephen I. Thayer, and lives in California ; Harriet A., married H. J. Herrick, and lives in Levant ; Eliza E., married Lawrence McCully, and lives in the Sandwich Is- lands, where he fills the office of Supreme Judge; Flora J., married Lawson H. Smith, and lives in Levant ; Ora M., married Evylin Hodsdon, and lives in Kenduskeag ; Orilla A., married John Mason, died in California; Orissa M., died in Kenduskeag ; Lelia G., married Edgar Hurd, and lives in Dakota Territory. Henry D. was born in Corinth in 1832. When thirteen years of age he went to Kenduskeag with his father, where he received a com- mon school education. He learned the trade of mill- man from his father, and has attended closely to the business and has worked in a mill every year for the past forty years. In 1867, in company with his brother Greenleaf and H. J. Herrick, they purchased the mill which they now run in Levant on the Little Kenduskeag, from Simon R. White, where they manufacture long and short lumber, staves, shingles, and laths, and in connec- tion with their mill they also manufacture cheese-boxes and stave machines. He has held the office of Select- man of Levant one year. In 1854 he married Susan Smith, a native of Maine, who died in Kenduskeag ; he then married Harriet J. Smith. He is the father of four children : Frank L., who died young; Nellie A., married William W. Corson, and lives in Levant ; Susie E., died in Levant ; Lawrence M., lives at home.

George Waugh was born in Reedfield. He came to Penobscot county in 1825, and settled on the farm now owned by his sons Cyrus and Joseph. He was twice elected County Commissioner, and held the offices of Selectman and Town Treasurer. He married Nancy Turner, by whom he had six children-Elizabeth, Har- rison, George, Charles, Joseph, and Cyrus. Mr. Waugh died in 1847, and his wife in 1871. Cyrus Waugh was born in Reedfield in 1822, and came here with his father, where he received a good common school education. He has followed the vocation of a farmer all his life. He has served as Selectman and Town Treasurer, and in 1868 was elected by his class to the State Legirlature, where he served one year. In 1853 he married Cynthia Twombly, a native of New Hampshire, and has had six children-Annie C., deceased; Ellwin F .; Almyn C .; Emma I., deceased; Victor E., and Winnie S., all living at home.

James Budge was born in Bangor in 1777, and when

scarcely more than a boy he entered upon the toilsome life of a sailor, which he followed for many years as cap- tain of a vessel engaged in the carrying trade from Boston to foreign ports. During the war of 1812, when the British captured Bangor, he was accused of piloting their fleet up the river, but afterwards proved his innocence to the satisfaction of all. He married Nancy Nickels, a native of Boston, in 1803. His death occurred in Ban- gor in 1825, and that of his wife in Corinth in 1833. To them were born seven children-Sarah, Margaret, Ase- nus, John (drowned), Elizabeth, John (second), and Nancy.

Hon. John B. Nickels was born in Bangor in 1820. In his native place he learned the trade of house carpen- ter, and in 1840 moved to Corinth, where he pursued his calling until the breaking out of the war. While in Corinth he served as Town Clerk for many years. In 1859 he was elected to the State Legislature, and in 1861 helped organize Company H of the Fifteenth Maine In- fantry, receiving a commission as First Lieutenant. He took part in the battles of Mansfield, Louisiana, Pleasant Hill, Cane River, and Mansura Plains, and was taken prisoner at Alexandria, Louisiana, by the rebels under Dick Taylor, and sent to Shreveport, where he was im- prisoned six months before being exchanged. He was under General Butler at the capture of New Orleans. In 1863 he was promoted to a captaincy, and was mustered out of the service at Stevenson, Alabama, in March, 1865. At the close of the war he returned to Corinth, and two years later removed to Kenduskeag. In the latter place he remained eight years, since which he has been a resi- dent of Levant. While in Kenduskeag he was elected to the State Senate, in 1871-72. In 1844 he married Mary J. Stanley, to whom has been born three children-Ellen, married John Dolliver, and lives in Kenduskeag; Harry L. is engaged in mining in California, and Esper A. lives at home.

Anson C. Jerrard was born in Plymouth in 1834. In 1859 he went to California and engaged in mining in company with Charles Crosby. After three years he re- turned to Maine and sold his interest in the mine. He then went to Appleton, Wisconsin, and engaged in the manufacture of carriage materials, and after two years he returned to Pittsfield, Maine, and engaged in mercantile business. In 1871 he purchased the farm on which he now lives, and engaged in the cultivation of fruit. In 1863 he entered the army as Second Lieutenant of Com- pany H, Twenty-second Maine Infantry, and after service was mustered out in 1864. He married Arabella Far- num in 1820, and has two children-Charles H. and John.

John C. Clement was born in Winterport in 1807, where he remained until twenty-one years of age, when he went to Lincoln. In 1843 he removed to Penobscot county and settled in Kenduskeag, on the farm now owned by Abner F. Clement, where he manufactured the Clement horse hoe. He married Lucy Littlefield in 1829, and died in 1869; his wife survives him. They had a family of seven children: Edmund, married Anna P. Towle, and lives in Levant; Charles L., married Mary

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY MAINE.

Davis, and after her death he married Emma Garland; George M., married Ellen Bartlett and lives in Corinth; John, married Susan Off, and died in 1868; Daniel, died in the war of the Rebellion; Albert, married Ella Shep- herd, and died in 1873; Abner F., married Melissa Towle, and after her death was again married, to Dora Averill. Edmund was born in Levant in 1833, and has been dealing largely in Poland China hogs and Hereford cattle. His first wife, Anna P. Towle, died in 1869, leaving five children. He afterward married Anna T. Fogg, by whom he has had four children: Lizzie E., who died in infancy ; Dudley E .; Anna C .; and Ruel F.

Captain Elijah Clement was born in Waldo county in 1818. After he became of age he worked at the cooper trade in Bangor for ten years ; he then purchased a vessel and followed the sea for some nine years, since which he has been engaged in farming. He has served as Select- man of Levant three years; was Chairman of the Board in Glenburn one year, and was a member of the City Council in Bangor one year. In 1841 he married Ange-

line Dean, who bore him three children and died in 1847. In 1849 he married Eliza K. Dean, who is the mother of seven children: Josephine, who died in Bangor ; Geor- giana D., also died in Bangor ; Elijah E., married Emma Cunningham, and was lost with his vessel and crew at sea in 1876; Abbie A., married Edwin O. Wilkinson, and lives in Revere, Massachusetts; Olin L., lives in Mon- tana ; Halowell F., is engaged in the practice of the law in Montana ; Webster B., lives in Biddeford, engaged at dentistry ; Nellie E., lives at home ; Freddie G., lives in Pittsburg ; Willie, died at home.

Nathaniel Dore was born in Shapleigh, Maine. When a young man he married Mary P. Smith, in Harmony, Somerset county, and raised a large family. He came to

Penobscot county about 1850, and settled in Garland, where he died. His family consisted of twelve children: True W., Mason, Dudley, Searls, Sarah, Nancy, Mary P., Hannah, Elkins, Isaiah, Calvin, and Eliza. Searls Dore was born in Harmony in 1811. In 1844 he settled in Stetson, on the farm now owned by Aaron Fitz. While there he was one of the Selectmen one term. In 1869 he sold his farm and purchased the place he now occu- pies in Levant. In 1838 he married Lucinda Hurd and has seven children: Helen F., married James Emmer- son and lives in Hermon; Sarah M., married James Wiggins; Alvah C., is in Oregon; Orrin T., married Norah Libby; Royal H., died; Royal H. (second), died; and Ellen, died in infancy.

Rev. Ira H. Brown was born in Palermo, Maine, in 1818, where he received a common school education. He was ordained a minister in Somerville, December 20, 1848, and first had charge of the Baptist church at Thomaston. He made several changes during the next fifteen years, and 1865 found him settled on the farm he now ocupies in Levant. He preached in a neighboring school-house four years, when a church was organized and a house of worship built. In July,. 1869, he married Belsorah Turner, a native of Palermo.

Orrin T. Dore was born in Stetson in 1855. When 14 years of age he came to Levant with his father and attended the common schools, also the High School at Hampden. In 1874 he went to Oregon and engaged in mining and stock-raising, and in 1878 returned to Le- vant, where he engaged in the mercantile business. He has had the office of Treasurer of Levant for two years, and is also a member of the school board and a Justice of the .Peace. In 1878 he married Norah Libby, by whom he has one child, Thes.

LINCOLN.

Lincoln is by far the largest town in Penobscot county, comprising about fifty-seven thousand acres. Its front on the Penobscot is ten miles; its northeast line four miles long; its east boundary five and three-fourths; south, seven and one-half ; and southwest, a little less than five miles .. Its greatest length, from the west corner on the river, is eleven miles; greatest breadth, from the north cor- ner, likewise on the river, to the south line, eight and one- half miles. It is bounded on the northwest by the Penob- scot, beyond which are Mattamiscontis and Chester; on the northeast by Winn; on the east by Lee; on the south by Lowell and Burlington; and on the southwest by En-

field. The large, unorganized Township No. 2 corners on the Penobscot, a mile and a half northwest of Lincoln village; and Township No. 3 comes up to the southeast corner, where Lee and Burlington also meet. The town, from its southwest corner in the Little Cold Stream Pond, is thirty miles from the nearest point of Bangor. By its size, its natural advantages, and the construction of the European & North American Railway the whole length of its river-front, Lincoln may be regarded as very favorably situated, and it has already a considerable population.

In that part of the Penobscot which flows past Lin-

William Plaisted

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

coln, are ten or twelve islands of the Indian reservation. Among the larger of these are Hersey and Nathan Islands at the northeastward; Mattanawcook, opposite the outlet of Mattanawcook Pond; and Mahockanock, at the southwestward, shortly before the river leaves the town.

The waters of Lincoln are numerous and important. . We have mentioned Little Cold Stream Pond, in which the town has its southwest corner. It is a good-sized sheet, about a mile each in length and breadth, with the tiny Birch Island in the north part; but is little more than a headwater to the greatly larger Cold Stream Pond, which has been described in our account of Enfield. East of Little Cold Stream are three other ponds in this chain of lakes. The nearest of these takes the designa- tion Cold Stream, but is much smaller than its big name- sake in Enfield. It is, however, nearly a mile and a half in extreme length, but nowhere more than a third of a mile in breadth. The next lake east-a third Cold Stream Pond, singular to say-is shorter, only about a mile long, but wider (two-thirds of a mile), and has about the same superficial area. A little northeast of this is the first of the chain-the Little Round Pond, which is rather an ellipse than a circle, half a mile in its diameter north and south, and one-third of a mile on its shorter diameter. It is wholly in Lincoln, while the nearest Cold Stream Pond dips down into Burlington. These four lakes are connected by short and generally narrow outlets. North of Little Cold Stream is a small lake, connected with it by a similar short outlet. One-third of a mile west of Little Round is the first of another series of lakes, whose waters do not find their way to the Passadumkeag, as do the others, but directly to the Penobscot. The Upper Pond, receiving a small headwater from Burling- ton, begins nearly half a mile from the north line of that town, and stretches one and a half miles to the northwest, with an average breadth of little more than half a mile. An outlet of half a mile's length connects it with Folsom Pond, a smaller sheet, being less than a mile long and about a third of a mile broad. Into its mile-long outlet, a little less than half-way out, come the waters of Crooked Pond, a lake of about the same area as Folsom, but somewhat differently shaped, and lying in the same direction as that and the Upper Pond. It is situated less than half a mile from the outlet. Matta- nawcook Pond, which receives the flow of all the others, leans more to the westward than its fellows. It is one and one-fourth miles long, and a little more than half a mile in greatest breadth, though its average width is hardly more than one-third of a mile. At one of the ends of the line of greatest breadth, a little bay on the north shore, comes in the Dead Stream, which heads in two branches in the central eastern part of the town, and flows west about three miles to the Pond. Nearly south from it, on the other shore, is the mouth of Rocky Brook, which also has two heads, both rising within half a mile of the Cold Stream chain. The Mattanawcook Pond debouches through Lincoln village in a broad out- let of a mile long to the Penobscot.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 103

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