History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 106

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 106

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It will be remembered that the first son of a pioneer born here was named "Lowell," and gave his name to the town.

STATISTICS OF PROGRESS.

Lowell town had a population of 205 in 1840, 378 in 1850, 556 in 1860, 448 in 1870, and 433 in 1880.

The number of polls in Lowell was 127 in 1860, 109 in 1870, and 116 in 1880.

The valuation of estates in these respective years was $64,383, $72,126, and $65,406.

ASSOCIATIONS.

The only society manifesting life in Lowell at last ac- counts was the Eskutassis Grange of Patrons of Hus- bandry, which meets only once a month, on the Saturday of or next before full moon.

The Rising Virtue Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars had a recent existence within the town.

TOWN OFFICERS FOR 1881.

O. H. Wakefield, William Pettengill, L. D. Shorey, selectmen ; J. W. Fox, town clerk ; J. W. Fox, treasurer C. G. Jewell ; East, Simon M. Cable, constables ; Mrs. O. H. Wakefield, Mrs. Abbie Dam, S. M. Cable, school committee ; Alexander Webb, E. G. Wakefield, trial justices.

Mr. A. J. Webb is Postmaster at Lowell; Mr. E. G. Wakefield at East Lowell.

SETTLEMENT NOTES.

One of the first settlers in Lowell was Jedediah Var. ney, who was a native of Windham, Maine. He married Eleanor Tourtillott. They moved to Lowell in 1825, and cleared up and settled on the farm now known as the Levi Varney farm, abont three miles north of East Lowell post-office. He had two wives. By his first wife he had three children-William, Mary Jane, and David.

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

By his second wife he had seven, viz: John, deceased; Jedediah, of Lowell; Isaac, now in Minnesota; Levi, deceased; Joseph, now in Minnesota; Stephen, in Cali- fornia; Samuel, died in the army; Lydia, wife of Mr. Hontash, in Minnesota. Jedediah Varney died in 1875, and his wife died in 1854.

Jedediah Varney, jr., was born March 4, 1825, and has always lived here in Lowell on the old place. He mar- ried Mary J. Cummings, daughter of James and Mary J. Cummings, of Lowell. They have four children-George I., Nathan H., Arthur E., and Fred L. Mr. Varney has a good farm of three hundred acres, with a large orchard, from which he raises considerable fruit. He has held several town offices, such as Collector, Constable, Select- man, etc. He was Chairman of the Town Board five years.

One of the first settlers in South Lowell, at what was called Page's Mills, is Mr. Greenleaf M. Fogg, who came here in 1833. He is a son of Jonathan and Phoebe (Waterhouse) Fogg, who had seven children, viz: Francis A., Greenleaf M., James D., John M., Nathan, Jonathan L., only two of whom are now living-John M. and the subject of this sketch. Greenleaf M. Fogg was born June 15, 1813, in Monmouth, Maine. He came to Lowell when twenty years old, and cleared up the farm where he now resides. There was no road during sum- mer, and supplies were brought in by boat up the river. He married Malinda Lord, daughter of Timothy Lord, of this county, and they have had seven sons, viz: George Milton, who died in the army; Edwin, now in No. 1, near here; Augustus, now of Lowell; Nathan, deceased; Willis M., of Lowell; Eugene, at home; and they lost one in infancy. Mr. Fogg has a good farm of one hun- dred and twenty-six acres. He has for several years acted as Selectman of his town.

One of the early settlers of Lowell was Mr. Thomas Ewing, a son of William Ewing, of Bowdoin, Maine. He married Margaret Bishop, and they had six children, viz: Thomas, David, Mary, William, Susan, and Sally. Thomas, the oldest son, was born in 1811; came to Lowell when he was twenty-two, or in 1833, and settled about two miles from the Corners, where he has lived most of the time since. He married Bethanni Webb, of Westbrook, Maine, and they have had six children, viz: Seth, in Wisconsin; Margaret, wife of John Fisk; Fen- dora, wife of William Hodsdon; Maria, deceased; Thomas, and Emily. Mr. Ewing has one hundred acres of land.

Solomon Applebee, of Lowell, Maine, was born in Ber- wick, Maine, in 1822. He settled in Lowell in 1853. He was married in 1856, and has two children-Winfield S. and Charles M. Mr. Applebee is a farmer and owns a good farm in Lowell.

Mr. O. H. Wakefield, of Lowell, is a son of E. G. Wakefield, who came here from Steuben, Washington county, Maine, in 1855. The father married Clarissa Allen, of Gouldsboro, Hancock county, and they have eight children-six sons and two daughters, viz: Ann M., O. H., Warren A., Ambrose, Addison P., Mary E., Charles Henry, and Joseph F. Mr. Wakefield and wife family are all living. O. H. Wakefield married Helen

E. Douglas, of Lincoln, and they have two children: Ralph J. and Harrison P. Mr. Wakefield owns the mill at Lowell, where he manufactures shingles, lath, spool bars, and corn-meal. He is now Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and Assessor, and Master of Horeb Lodge F. & A. M .; also Master of the Eskutassis Lodge, Pa- trons of Husbandry. He is now Postmaster at East Lowell, in which position his father served for many years.

A. J. Webb, of Lowell, is a son of Alexander Webb, who came to this town in 1856. Alexander Webb was born in Durham, New York, and first settled in Sullivan county, New York, at Fallsburg, as manager of a sole leather tannery. He came to Maine in 1844, settled at Levant, now Kenduskeag, and took charge of a tannery. In the autumn he went to Dexter in the same . business. Here he stopped six months, and then went to St. Albans, Maine, remaining one year. He went from St. Albans to Amherst, Maine, and took charge of a tannery there. He lived in Amherst until 1856, when he came to Lowell, and superintended the building of the large tannery here. In 1857 the tannery fell into the hands of Boston parties, Alley, Choate & Cummings, and when Mr. Alley retired, Mr. Webb had charge of the whole business here. In 1859 he bought an interest in the tannery, and the firm became A. Webb & Co. This firm continued five years, when Mr. Choate retired, and other parties took his place. The business continued in a prosperous manner until within two or three years, when Mr. Phillip died, and his estate is now being settled. The tannery is not running at present. Mr. Webb married in 1836 Abbie A. Gray, of Olive, Ulster county, New York, and they have six children, viz: Josephine, Margaret D., Albert J. and Alfred (twins), Charles L., and Emma E. Albert J. Webb is now in mercantile business. He was Postmaster here for fifteen years, but is not at present. He has a small farm in connec- tion with his other business. He married Maria L. Baxter, of Kenduskeag, and they have one child, Ger- trude Baxter. Alexander Webb has held many offices of trust in towns where he has lived. He has been Select- man in this town term after term, being Chairman for several successive years. In 1872 and 1873 he was a member of the House of Representatives, and in 1875 and 1876 he was elected and served as Senator in the State Legislature. He is now Trial Justice, and has been for a long time. Albert J. has also held prominent offices in town, having served on the Board of Select- men, as Justice of the Peace, and in other positions of honor and trust.

Joseph S. Buck, of Lowell, son of Thomas Jefferson Buck, who came to this town among the early settlers, was born November 8, 1830. His father was a native of Freedom, and his grandfather John was one of the first settlers of Buckfield, Maine. Thomas J. Buck had thirteen children by one wife, whose maiden name was Drusilla Shorey. Joseph . S. was the oldest son. He first settled in this town in 1863, after spending some ten years in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, and two years in Wisconsin. He married Susanna Sibley, daugh-

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

ter of William Sibley, of Burlington, and they have four children, viz: Ada, Ira S., Anna B., and Louisa. Mr. Buck has been on the Board of Assessors, Selectmen,

and Overseers of Poor three terms. He resides on the lower road, in what is called the Dam Settlement, where he has one hundred acres of good land.

MATTAMISCONTIS.

TOPOGRAPHICAL.

Mattamiscontis is a town (though it seems still to be reckoned on the census list, and, to some extent, else- where as a plantation) further up toward the wilderness, on the borders of great uncultivated and almost unin- habited tracts. It is of comparatively small area in ter- ritory, although much longer than the average town; and still more so in history. It lies straight up the valley of the Penobscot, thirty miles from Bangor, and but three and one-half miles, or the width of Maxfield from the west corner of this town, from the Piscataquis line. It is bounded on the north by Township No. 2 and about a mile's breadth of the east part of Township No. 3; on the southeast by the Penobscot, beyond which are Lincoln and a pretty broad strip of Enfield; on the southwest by Howland; and the northwest by Maxfield. Its north line is straight, nearly east and west, and six and one- half miles long; its southwest and northwest bounds are also each a right line, and three and one-fourth and two and one-half miles long respectively. A little more than five miles of the river are on the southwest line of Mat- tamiscontis. On this front is the Mahockannock Island, a little more than a mile in length, and a third of a mile n greatest breadth. A little below its foot comes in from the northward the Mattamiscontis Stream, which heads in two branches near the north line in Township No. 2. Two miles further down Chesley Brook, running about the same distance from north to south in the town, empties into the Penobscot. A mile west of this the Gordon Brook, rising in three heads in the lower edge of the townships and flowing entirely across Mattamiscontis, receiving two small affluents from the west on the way, passes into Howland, where it empties into the river at Gordon Island. About the same distance still further west, in the extreme west angle of the town, are two small heads of the Seboois Stream, and a tributary from Town- ship No. 3, which crosses the corners of Maxfield and

Mattamiscontis, and in Howland empties into the Pis- cataquis.

The rather small settlement in this town is as yet mainly grouped on the river road, near the mouth of the Mattamiscontis Stream, and a little below the foot of Ma- hockanock Island. They have here a good school- house, but as yet no post-office or church. Lincoln affords their postal facilities. Some settlements are scat- tered along the road for a mile or more northeast of this point. The highway along the river, which runs about five miles in this town, is so far the only one of general importance.

Very little seems to be known of the settlement and early history of Mattamiscontis. The advent of the pi- oneer is fixed in the year 1829, and the date of incorpor- ation of the town was March 8, 1839. Twenty years afterward, however, it had a valuation of only about $6,000, and a little more than half the population it had in 1850, when its people numbered 54. In 1860 there were 31 inhabitants, 51 in 1870, and 64 in 1880. It has not only held its own during nearly the last generation, but increased in population quite handsomely.

The voters of Mattamiscontis in. 1880 numbered 15, and the valuation of estates was $12,876.

Two Mattamiscontians-Messrs. A. G. Sawyer and William S. Roberts-are engaged in lumbering, which, with agriculture, constitutes the sole industry of the town.

The principal families here are almost exclusively Sawyers and Robertses. The town officers, with one solitary exception (Mr. William C. Owen, who is a Select- man), are made up from them. Mr. Bryce M. Roberts is Collector, Constable, and a Selectman. William S. Roberts is Treasurer, and William P. Roberts Town Clerk and School Supervisor. William G. Sawyer is President of the Selectmen, and W. H. Sawyer is a Constable.

MAXFIELD.

This town is a partial gore, with a blunted point, its broad part the north line, five miles long; its long side the east boundary, about seven miles; its shorter side on the west, or county line, six miles; and its blunted point, or truncation, on the south line, only one mile long. It is bounded on the north by Whitney Ridge, in Township No. 3, on the southeast by Howland and Mattamiscontis, on the south by Howland, and on the west by Medford, Piscataquis county. No town corners with it in this county except Lagrange. It is one of the smaller towns of the county; is distant from Bangor, and nearly north of it, twenty-four miles; and from the Penobscot, at its nearest point, a little more than three miles. About two miles from its south line, the Piscataquis River has a course of nearly three miles from west to east through the town, making nearly a semi-circle in the eastern part of its course, and finally flowing southwesterly into How- land. It receives in this town from the south a small affluent, which rises in the southeast angle of Medford, and flows northerly a little way inside the Maxfield line and in general parallelism with it, to the Piscataquis less than one-fourth of a mile from the line. A more im- portant tributary is received at the crown of the arc, one and two-thirds miles distant, on the north side, where the Hardy Stream comes in from the northwest, rising in two heads in the angles of Medford and Township No. 3 respectively, uniting in Maxfield, and flowing two and a half miles further to the main stream. A petty brook also rises in Maxfield, half a mile north of the mouth of the Hardy, flows southeast, and joins the Piscataquis just beyond the Howland line. The Little Seboois Stream, outlet of Little Seboois Lake, flows in the central east of this town for two miles, and the Seboois Stream, coming down from Township No. 3 in a south and southeast course for three miles, when it joins the Little Seboois, less than half a mile before the exit of the latter from the town. The North Branch of Meadow Brook rises in the southeast edge of Maxfield, about two-thirds of a mile above the corner of the town.

Maxfield has a fair population for a small interior and distant town, and has sensibly increased it even within the last eleven years. It is mainly on the south river road, running from Howland up the Piscataquis, about three miles of it in this town, and on the Bunker Hill or stage-road into Lagrange. This leaves the river road soon after it enters Maxfield, and runs with some zigzags southwesterly across the angle of Howland into Lagrange, crossing the Maxfield south line about midway, and hav- ing about two and a half miles in this town. Near the junction of these roads is the Maxfield post-office, kept by Mr. Franklin Tourtillott; and also a cemetery and

School No 2 a little above, on the river road. School No. I is on the Bunker Hill road, a mile above the town line. School No. 3 is across the river, about two-thirds of a mile from the post-office, on the road from How- land village up the Piscataquis, which is the only high- way of importance on this side the river in Maxfield. A "plug" road runs off near School No. 3, two miles, to the settlements, on which is School No. 4, beyond the crossing of the Seboois Stream.

The town is thus naturally considered as quite excel- lently located. The rich, alluvial soil bordering the river on both sides early made this region famous; and it still bears large amounts of corn and other grain and root crops. It is particularly well adapted to grain. The soil is quite varied in its constituents and capabilities; and the surface of the town is rather undulating. There is good water-power on the Piscataquis River and the Seboois Stream, which has been to some extent utilized for saw-mills.

This town was formerly known as the Bridgton Acad- emy Grant, from the fact that it was appropriated by the State of Massachusetts, under its well-known ancient sys- tem of liberal land-grants, to aid in the support of the academy at Bridgton, in Cumberland county, this State, which institution was incorporated in March, 1808. It was wholly within the present limits of Maxfield, and amounted to eleven thousand acres. About the year 1817 the tract was bought in a body by Mr. Joseph Mc- Intosh, formerly of Hingham, Massachusetts.

The first settler, whose name has not been preserved, is reputed to have got in here some three years before, in 1814. Following him no long time after, came Mr. Mc- Intosh, who settled on the south side of the Piscataquis, and cleared a large farm there. His place came to be known popularly as "Mac's Field ;" and it is said that this name, easily corrupted into Maxfield, finally gave the designation to the town. He also built the first saw-mill upon the tract, and engaged quite exten- 'sively for that time in the lumbering business.

Joseph was followed into the wilderness by his brothers Samuel and Thomas, and by another McIntosh named Stephen, who was accompanied by his grown son, Stephen McIntosh, Jr. The second of these, Mr. Thomas McIntosh, did not stay a great while or perma- nently locate in the settlement.

About the year 1820 came in from Massachusetts two well-known pioneers, named Pierce Thomas and Martin Cushing. They settled on the north side of the Piscat- aquis, and not far from it. The Rev. Jesse Burnham, a clergyman of the Free-will Baptist faith, arrived soon after, and in the fullness of time organized a church,

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

which subsists to this day, although its pulpit has of late been vacant.

The next settlers whose names have been recorded were Stephen and Thomas Tourtillott. This is the only one of the old family names that remains in special prominence in the town. Mr. Franklin Tourtillott fills at once the offices of Postmaster, Town Clerk, and Jus- tice of the Peace in the town.

They came about 1821. In this year also immigrated Levi Lancaster, up the river from Orono; and directly after him were two brothers, Stephen and Thomas Bunker, from the Kennebec country.

Henry Clapp, who came from Boston about the same time, was the first to open a blacksmith shop in the set- tlement.

The number and character of these early settlers, with the reputation of the tract as rich and fertile, soon attracted other settlers, and for several years the growth of the colony was quite rapid and hopeful. The great forest fire of 1829, however-of which a graphic account will be found in Mr. Soule's history of Lagrange, in this volume -devastated this tract almost completely, sweeping off buildings, fences, standing crops, nearly everything. This calamity produced inevitable discouragement. Many left the settlement, never to return; and it was long before the town recovered from the disaster.

Nevertheless, the plantation was not dead nor abso- lutely deserted; and on the 6th of February, 1834, it was incorporated as a town by its present name. It had now; probably, about 186 inhabitants, since that was the census-return for the tract in 1830, and the number was maintained with remarkable persistency for the censuses of 1840 and 1850, which showed, respectively, 185 and 186 again. In 1860 there were 162, 156 in 1870, and 139 in 1880. Number of polls in the several last three years, 47, 32, and 39; estates, $17,568, $20,673, and 17,54I.

The town officers for 1881 were: W. L. Harvey, Reuben H. Brann, John L. Dewitt, Selectmen ; Franklin Tourtillott, Town Clerk; John Smart, Treasurer; C. H. Bailey, Constable and Collector; Charles H. Bailey, John L. Dewitt, Constables; William L. Harvey, School Supervisor ; F. Tourtillott, Justice.

A goodly number of young men from Maxfield en- listed in the late war, who responded personally to the call of the Nation; and the cemetery records show that a large percentage of them sealed their devotion to their country with their lives.

John DeWitt, of Maxfield, was born July 24, 1814. He is a son of Abraham P. DeWitt, of New Brunswick. Abraham P. DeWitt married Miss Nancy S. Smith, of New Brunswick. They had ten children, viz: Lydia, wife of David Holbrook, of Maxfield; John; David T., of Presque Isle; Henry, deceased; Phœbe, deceased; Nancy, deceased; Charles D., now of Presque Isle, Maine; Mary E., wife of Moses G. Smart, of Howland ; Phoebe S., wife of John Tolpa, of Bangor; Christiana S., wife of John Burnham, of Wisconsin. Mr. DeWitt moved to Maxfield in 1822 and settled on the hill where Mr. Goodrich now lives. He engaged in farming during

the summer season, and during the winter he worked a lumbering. He died February 14, 1866: Mrs. DeWitt died September 2, 1863. Mr. John DeWitt on becom- ing of age settled where he now lives in Maxfield. He married for his first wife Miss Mahala L. Page, of How- land. She died August 5, 1866. She had seven chil- dren: Charles H., now of Presque Isle, Maine; Mary J., wife of Marshall Fuller, of Lagrange; Samuel L., de- ceased; Victoria A., deceased; Bradbury G., of Medford. Maine; Ella, wife of Israel H. Bemis, of Carmel, and Emma. Mr. DeWitt has held all the town offices in his town at different times.

Abner S. Bailey, of Maxfield, is a son of James Bailey, who was born in Blissville, New Brunswick, in 1788. He settled in Maxfield in 1839. He married Elizabeth Seeley, born in 1793, and died in 1880. Mr. Bailey was a farmer and lumberman, and a very moral man, taking great interest in religious meetings, being a class leader for many years. He was drowned in Maxfield, May 20, 1861. The surviving members of his family are James A., living in Detroit, Michigan , Henry E., of Farmington, Maine; Abner S., of Howland; Catharine (Mrs. De Witt) of Presque Isle, Maine ; Mary A. (Mrs. Carey), of Presque Isle; John C., of Mill Brook, Michigan ; and Emery R., of Howland. Abner S. Bailey married Elizabeth Emery, July 12, 1846. · Their children are Isabella, de- ceased; Edwin A., deceased; Elvira, deceased ; Augus- tine A .; Charles H .; Emma F., deceased (married a Mr. Delano). Mr. Bailey is a farmer and dealer in carriages. He has held many of the town offices as Selectman, Treasurer, Collector, etc. His grandparents were born in London, England.

Abram T. Lancaster, of Maxfield, is a son of Levi and Olive Lancaster (nee Olive Tourtelott). They had fourteen children, of whom Abram is the third. Seven of them are still living. Abram was born in Bangor, May 4th, 1814. He first settled in Maxfield, and has since lived here. Hemarried Mrs. Clarissa Brier, by whom he had seven children-Louisa, wife of Josiah Babcock, of Howland; Charles, deceased; Alvin, deceased; George, in Minnesota; Mary, deceased; Seth, also in Minnesota; Ada, wife of Charles Cowen.

John Smart, of Maxfield, was born March 29, 1819, in the town of Howland. His father's name was John, and his mother's Mary Lyford. John and Mary Smart had ten children who grew up-Charles, John, Lucinda, David, James, William, Joseph, Greenleaf, Olive, and Nancy. John, the second son of this family, married for his first wife Miss Rebecca Baily, by whom he had four children-Joel, now of Dover, New Hampshire; Eugene, of the same place; Mary, wife of Elbridge Morrill, of Atkinson, Maine ; and John, deceased. Mrs. Smart died in February, 1853; and Mr. Smart married for his second wife Harriet Johnston, of Medford, by whom he had ten children, eight of whom are living-Olive, wife of Forrest E. Freeze; Ernest, Anson, Hattie, Elijah, Harry, Her- bert, and Winfred. Mr. Smart has lived in Maxfield for over thirty years. He first settled on Whitney Ridge, where he lived about eight years before moving to the place where he now lives. He has held the office of

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Selectman and Treasurer at different times, and is one of the representative men of his town.

John F. Whitney, of Maxfield, is a son of John and Betsey Whitney. John Whitney came from Buxton, and Mrs. Whitney's folks came from Canterbury, New Hamp- shire. They had ten children, all except one of whom grew to manhood. Their names were Calvin H., Mary J., now Mrs. Colonel Gilmore, of Washington, District of Columbia; John F., deceased; Susan E., wife of Benja- min Croxford, of Dixmont, Maine; John Fairbanks; Nancy A., now Mrs. Whiting, of Carmel, Maine; George W., of Bangor ; Charles H., deceased (killed in a thresh- ing machine); Warren L., now of Newburg, Maine; Hannah A., late of the Treasury Department in Wash- ington. During most of his life Mr. Whitney lived in Newburg, Maine. He held many prominent town offices, and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of the State at the time that document was framed. He was for many years a deacon in the Free Baptist Church. He died in 1877; Mrs. Whitney died some four years before. John F. Whitney was born in Newburg, Maine, in 1823, March 26. After receiving a common school and academic education, he went to Monticello, Aroos- took county, as pastor of the Christian Church. He re- mained there one year, when he went to Lubec, and remained two years. He afterwards preached in Salis- bury, New Hampshire; Mason, New Hampshire; Mar- rows, New Hampshire; Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Lynn, Massachusetts. He moved to Maxfield in 1862, and engaged in farming and preaching until the present season. He married for his first wife Lydia J. Libbey, of Albion, by whom he had three children-Clarence W., Frank B., and Jennie R. (twins). Mrs. Whitney died in July, 1858, and Mr. Whitney married Miss Vic- toria F. Piper, of New Hampshire, by whom he has seven children- Mary F., Anna V., Dora E., Grace S.,

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 106

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