History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 110

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 110

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At East Newport are several small railway buildings, two general stores, two dress-making establishments, two blacksmiths, and one wool-puller. School No. 7 is three- quarters of a mile west, near the crossing of the rail and wagon-roads.

North Newport has a church, post-office, cemetery, and a little cluster of dwellings. It is situated somewhat over a mile from the north line of the town, and about as far from the east line, on the east and west road from Bangor, through East Stetson and Stetson, and across Newport into Palmyra. Less than half a mile from the county line it passes a hamlet called Wedgewood Corn- ers, which has no post-office as yet. Here a road crosses from the Newport village, running north up the town into the corner of Corinna. A mile above the village it sends off a road east toward the Pond, which angles near it to the north, and with a slight jog on the Bangor road west of School No. 9, also goes into Corinna. Another north and south road, entirely traversing the town, lies on the other side of the Pond. It comes in from the northwest

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

angle of Etna, runs west of north to Durham Bridge, at the mouth of Stetson Stream, and thence west of north and north to Corinna. One-third of a mile beyond the bridge it sends off a branch northeast and north, also into Corinna, but through North Newport, running nearly parallel with it, and about a mile distant.

A mile north of the railroad, near School No. 10, it crosses a highway from the northeast and from Stetson Post-office, which goes on to East Newport, and thence a little further, out into Plymouth. At East Newport it crosses a road coming from the corner of Etna, and mak- ing north of west of Newport village. From the village, and from a point southeast a mile out, two routes run southerly into Plymouth. The Town Farm is situated near the junction of the latter with the East Newport road.

The land surface of this town is of a generally level character, and with good capabilities for agriculture, to which its people are for the most part devoted. Origin- ally, the farms were considerably covered with broken stone, mostly granite ; but when well cleared, a soil con- sisting chiefly of clayey loam is developed, which makes the strongest hay-land in the State, and as remunerative to the farmer as any in the county.

There was formerly in this town an immense amount of valuable saw timber ; but it has now been mostly cut off. There is still, however, abundance of wood for fuel, without going beyond the limits of the town.

EARLIEST HISTORY.

It is said that, at a time long gone, whereof the mem- ory of man runneth not to the contrary, the Eastern In- dians had one of their trails southwestward through this region, and that hereabouts they made a portage from the waters flowing into the Penobscot to the Sebasticook Stream, by which they reached the Kennebec. From this fact, as one theory or tradition goes, the town ulti- mately received its present designation.

The original sale of this township to the State was to David Green, of Boston, from whom, or whose heirs, the land titles of the pioneers were mostly derived.

The official surveys in the Newport tract date from 1792.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

About the year 1800, it is thought, the first pioneer got in-a hunter and trapper named Houston. He made a small clearing on Birch Point, where he built a log shelter or camp.

Four years afterwards a party of no less than sixteen men, all "prospectors," came across the country from Skowhegan, seeking a better spot for their homes. Four of them, named John Ireland ("Deacon Ireland"), Syl- vanus Whiting, Thomas Steward, and Elim Pratt, settled on the north side of the lake, and remained permanent settlers to the day of their death. It is not known, we believe, where the others made their final home.

Two other pioneers, Iphidiah Ring and Benjamin Shaw, came from Deerfield, New Hampshire, about the year 1806, and also made permanent settlements, both of them near the present Newport village. Mr. Shaw settled on the west side of the tract, where he built the

first frame dwelling erected in the town. This was re- moved from its original position in 1831 by his nephew, Benjamin Shaw, and is now a double tenement near the lake. Mr. Ring took a place on the hill northwest of the village.

Soon after Messrs. Ring and Shaw, came Mr. William Martin, and located on the east side of the river, where he built a frame house and put up a saw- and grist-mill.

The first settler definitely known to have located on the east side of Newport got in after the town was in- corporated. He was Isaac Lawrence, believed to have come in 1815. Mr. Lawrence's farm was at the foot of Billings's Hill, and he prospered in its cultivation until he became one of the most thrifty proprietors in the town.

Others of the early settlers were Nathaniel Burritt, John Whiting, Daniel Bicknell, John Ireland, and Elam Pratt, most of whom were from Bloomfield, Somerset county, in this State (a town which has now lost this name). They derived the titles to their lots of land, in general, from Benjamin Shepard, a resident of Bangor.

ORGANIZATION.

The plantation name of this township was "Great East Pond," from the large sheet of water within its bounds, which seems to have borne that name.

On the 14th of June, 1814, in the midst of the strife then raging between Great Britain and the United States, the plantation was erected into a town by the name of Newport-receiving this name, according to the late Benjamin Shaw, one of the before-mentioned pioneers, from the Indian portage anciently used between the tribu- taries of the Penobscot and the eastern branch of the Sebasticook. It was the gth and last of the towns cre- ated in the District of Maine during this year; and the 208th created at any time in the District. Hermon and Sangerville -- both also then of " Hancock county, Massa- chusetts "-were the towns created on the 13th of June, next before the birthday of Newport.

FIRST THINGS.

The first town meeting-rather plantation meeting- within the present bounds of Newport, was held in 1812, in the log cabin of Mr. Robert Stewart, to devise methods of protection and defense against the Indians, an attack from whom, coming from the East, was believed to be threatened.

The first town meeting after the incorporation was held on the 5th of September, 1814, almost three months after the act or resolve of incorporation was passed.

At this meeting the first Selectmen of the town were chosen-Messrs. Jethro Sanborn, William Martin, and Samuel Hayden.

The first male child born in the town was Cyrus Wil- son, who was ushered into the world about 1805. His later years have been spent in Orono, in a hale and hearty old age.

The second male child was Almond B. Ring, son of the pioneer Iphidiah Ring aforesaid. He was born about 1808, and remained in the township all his life, also surviving to extreme old age. He was, in his more

E. V. Shows

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

active day, noted as aiding to build all the highways and bridges in the town.

The first school was opened in the cellar kitchen of the house occupied by Benjamin Shaw, in 1813. Mr. Daniel Veasey was the teacher. The town has always had a good reputation in the matter of popular education. In 1874 a new and commodious school-house was built in Newport village, at a cost of $6,000. Three rooms of it have been occupied of late years by the several grades of the school.

The first store in Newport was opened and kept by Chandler Hopkins, near the present upper bridge, at the village. .

The first doctor in the town bore the singularly appro- priate appellation of Leach. Other pioneer physicians were Drs. Abijah Wright and Benjamin Wilson, the lat- ter of whom died in Newburg in 1849, of cholera, it be- ing a year of that dreadful scourge. In later times Dr. John Benson became a veteran in the practice, having steadily pursued his rounds for the relief of suffering humanity for well nigh half a century. Dr. Byron Porter also grew gray in the medical service in Newport.

The first person to drive a wheeled vehicle from the Kennebec to the Penobscot River was Mr. Caleb Shaw, who performed this then notable feat in 1820. He set- tled in Newport, and died here in 1849.

The first preachers in the town were Elder John York, the Rev. Mr. Osborne, and Rev. John Whitney. The churches now existing here are the Methodist Episcopal (Rev. V. P. Wardwell, pastor in 1881), and the Christian or Union church, of which the Rev. Mr. Howard has charge.

The Newport post-office was established about 1817. Mr. S. P. Judkins is postmaster here, Mr. J. H. Wey- mouth at East Newport, and Sylvanus Whiting at North Newport.

LATER NOTES.

The Shaw House, at Newport village, was built in 1859-60, by Benjamin Shaw, nephew of the well-known pioneer of that name.

Meridian Hall, at the same place, is a fine, commodious building, its audience-room seating six hundred persons.

The names of the old settler Benjamin Shaw, of Mark Fisher, Henry Butler, John Wilson, Jr., Jesse and Parker O. Prescott, William L. Walker, William Martin, Jr., and others, are cherished in the town as having done much to advance its interests. To several of these public- spirited citizens it is mainly indebted for the elms and maples lining the streets of the village, and pleasantly shading the hot summer days.

Deacon Edmund Rowe, who was one of the oldest settlers, became a member of the Board of Selectmen in 1832, and was Chairman of the Board for several years. He was a member of the State Legislature in 1862.

Newport did its full duty by the State and Nation dur- ing the late civil war. The names of many of the citizens will be found recorded with honor in the Military Chapter of this book; and the following, from the Reports of the Adjatant-General of the State, notices at more length the

veteran physician and surgeon of whom we have already spoken :

Dr. John Benson, of Newport, was first commissioned as Surgeon in the Eighth Regiment, but declined. He was subsequently, January 23, 1863, commissioned as Surgeon in the Twentieth Regiment, and occu- pied that position until August 27, 1863, when, owing to ill-health, he was obliged to resign. That he folfilled his several and arduous duties promptly and efficiently is unequivocally declared in the testimonials of the Surgeons-in-Chief under whom he served. Lieutenant-Colonel Gilmore, in a letter addressed to the Adjutant-General, also spoke of him in the highest terms in the following language, endorsed hy Col- onel Chamberlain : "I wish to express to you, in behalf of the regi- ment and for myself, our respect for the character and appreciation of the services of our late Surgeon, Dr. John Benson, of Newport. His kindness and discrimination, and the unusual assiduity with which he applied himself to the duties of his office, rendered him exceedingly useful and popular with the regiment, while his marked ability gave him at once high reputation with other surgeons of the army. It is a matter of unusual regret that failing health rendered it necessary for him to leave the service."

STATISTICS OF GROWTH.

In 1809 Great East Pond Plantation had within its borders the handsome number of 94 families. The next year, by the official,census, it had a population of 178, with the unusually large proportion of 44 polls. In 1812, however, the total valuation of estates in the town was reported as only $544, with a tax for certain purposes of but six cents on the $100. There was a surprising growth in both population and wealth during the decade 1810-20. In the latter year Newport town had 512 people, 114 polls, and an assessed valuation of $27,650.

In 1830 the town numbered 897 people; in 1840, 1,138; in 1850, 1,210; in 1860, 1,403; in 1870, 1,559; and in 1880, 1,451. It will be noticed that it has almost always and quite steadily increased in population until within the decade 1870-80, when in common with very nearly all parts of the county, it experienced a slight falling-off.

The polls in 1860 numbered 335, 394 in 1870, and 397 in 1880.

The estates of the town in the same years, respectively, were valued at $250,534. $540,297 (more than twice as much as ten years before, a fact hardly paralleled else- where in the county), and $378, 168.

DISASTROUS FIRES.

The extensive tannery of Messrs. Fisher & Southwick, at that time the largest in the State, went up in confla- gration in March, 1847. This was a severe blow to the business of the town, particularly as it was not rebuilt.

In September, 1862, Samuel Pratt's tavern and stables, a quite valuable property, were totally destroyed by fire.

In 1866 several buildings at the village were burned, including the stores of Watson Cook, A. Hobart, and C. C. Oakes, the Masonic Hall, and two dwellings. There was no insurance upon any of these, except the petty sum of $200 on Masonic Hall.

The valuable lumber mills of Messrs. Shaw, Tracey & Co., were burned to the ground in 1868.

In July, 1877, the fine residence of W. A. Frye was burned, and in September of the same year the shoe fac- tory of Messrs. D. Dudley & Co. was similarly destroyed.

INDUSTRIAL AND BUSINESS NOTES.

There are some excellent farms in this town, among

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY MAINE.

which are noted those of Henry Marsh, R. H. Libbey, Samuel J. Allen, Levi R. Burrell, and N. B. Miles.

The Newport Cheese Manufacturing Association was incorporated on the 4th of February, 1874. During the year 1878 fifteen tons of cheese were manufactured by it.

The Newport Park Association was incorporated March 4, 1874. Other public or semi-public associa- tions in the town, besides the religious societies, are the Meridian Splendor Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and the Stevens Royal Arch Chapter; the Orient Lodge Independent Order of Good Templars, at Newport village, and the Dorcas Lodge of the same at North Newport; and at the same place the North New- port Grange, No. 196, Patrons of Husbandry, and a so- ciety of the "C. W. T."

The Newport Savings Bank has been one of the most important institutions in the town. In 1877 it reported deposits and profits to the amount of $111,018.44.

The manufacturing interests of this town are quite large. The carriage-makers, of whom there are two, have a particularly good reputation; some of their work, built forty years ago, still running in soundness and strength. There are also one lumberman (who has also a grist- mill), one maker of burial cases, two harness-makers, one firm of marble-workers, one boot- and shoe-maker, five smiths, one machinist and smith, one wool-puller, one painter, one stone-cutter, two dress-makers, and twenty-four persons or firms in various lines of merchandizing. There are five resident physicians, three lawyers, one notary, one dentist, one auctioneer, one barber, and one livery stable.

THE TOWN OFFICERS FOR 1881

were the following-named gentlemen: O. H. Judkins, Putnam Wilson, W. A. Lewis, Selectmen; F. M. Shaw, Town Clerk; E. R. Dow, Treasurer and Collector; Orel Dexter, Constable; John B. Marsh, School Supervisor; P. Whiting, Don A. H. Powers, J. W. Hobart, O. K. Rowe, Joel Richardson, Justices.

SETTLEMENT NOTES.

Jesse Rowe was born in New Hampshire in 1793, where he was one of the first settlers of Newport, and came to this county as early as 1818. He first settled on the farm now owned by John Nutter. He married Hannah Lane, a native of New Hampshire, and died in Newport in 1878. His wife survives him. He was the father of nine children: Julia A., Clymena, Rosetta, Paris K., Hollis J., Oliver B., Granville L., Hannah A., and Elizabeth. Paris K. was born in Newport in 1821, where he received a common school education. He was brought up on a farm, and was engaged in farming until 1873, when he sold out bis farm, and purchased J. H. Weymouth's stock of goods at East Newport, and engaged in the mercantile business, in which business he is now engaged. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace for the past two years, and is also Assistaat Postmaster of East Newport. In 1854 he married Helen Burton, a native of Carmel. He is the father of two children: Mary E., wbo married J. H. Weymouth and lives in Newport, and Leon R., lives at home.

James Babb was born on Cape Elizabeth in 1797, where he remained for several years. He married Ann Morton, a native of the same place, and came to Pe- nobscot county in 1835, and settled in Corinna. He died in Corinna in 1839; his wife died in Corinna in 1837. He was the father of eight children: William H., George, James, Jr., Benjamin H., Leza, Sarah E., Lydia E .; Bryant was drowned at Pine Stream Falls. James, Jr., was born in Penobscot county in 1824, where he re- ceived a common school education. He was brought up on a farm, and is now engaged in farming. In 1852 he married Clara A. Seavey, a native of Dedham, and is the father of three children: Florence H., who married John R. Clark, and lives in Newport; George S., lives at home, and Lorenzo D., lives at home.

Moses Chick was born in Berwick, York county, Maine, in 1777, where he learned the carpenter and join- er's trade. He came to Penobscot county in 1806 and settled in Dixmont, being among the first settlers of the place, where he followed his trade in connection with farming. He held the office of Selectman and School Agent of Dixmont at different times. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He was twice married, his first wife being Jane Ferguson, a native of Kittery. She died in Dixmont in 1836, at the age of fifty-five years. She was the mother of ten children. His second wife was Lydia Wallis, who died in Dixmont about the year 1863. He died in Dixmont in 18.51, after raising a family of ten children-Nancy, Thatcher, Calvin, Mary J., William, Albert, Edwin, Sanford, Sally H., Moses W., Alvin B. Thatcher Chick was born in Sanford, York county, Maine, in 1803. When three years of age he came to Penobscot county with his father and settled in Dixmont, where he received a common school education. He learned the joiner's trade from his father, and followed it in connection with farming for many years. In 1879 he came to 'Newport and settled on the farm on which he now lives. In 1832 he married Mary E. Furgerson, a native of Dixmont, who died in Dixmont in 1854. She was the mother of ten children. He then married Cyn- thia H. Furgerson, a native of Dixmont, and is the father of ten children. Albert was twice married. His first wife was Julia Baker; his second, Hester A. Reed. He died in Bangor. Lydia J. lives at home. Winthrop H. married Nora Fuller and lives in Boston. Angelia V. married Henry M. Brown and lives in Newburg. Charles W. died in Dixmont. Alvin M. enlisted in the First Maine Heavy Artillery, and was killed at the bat- tle of the Wilderness, May 19, 1864. George W. died in Dixmont. Calvin lives in Kansas. Mary E. died in infancy. Cynthia F. married E. A. Lord, and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Jonathan Furgerson was one of the first settlers of Dixmont. He was born in Kittery in 1781, and came to Penobscot county in 1807, where he followed farming all his life. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. He married Mariam Furgerson, a native of Kittery, and died in Dixmont in 1865. His wife died in Dixmont in 1870. They had a family of twelve children: Edmund, who was twice married; his first wife was Mary Bean, his

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

439

second Mary Lord ; he died in Dixmont. Melinda died in 1826. Mary E. married Thatcher Chick and died in Dixmont. Lydia N. married Joseph Bassford and died in Bangor. Alvin T. married Mary A. Bissy and died in Dixmont. Abigail A. married William Bean and lives in Hudson. Daniel G. married Nancy T. McIntyre and lives in Dixmont. Hannah J. married Philo Wright and lives in Pittsfield. Cynthia H. married Thatcher Chick and resides in Newport. Doratha H. died in infancy.

William Turner was born in Reedfield, Kennebec county, in 1798, where he married Ann Bullion. In 1825 he moved to Somerset county and settled in St. Albans, where he remained until 1869, when he moved to Penobscot county and settled on the farm now owned by W. W. Turner, in Newport. He died in Newport in 1877. His wife died in Newport in 1875. He was the father of fourteen children, viz: Israel P., Sarah A., Napoleon B., Augusta, Louisa, John O., Elizabeth, Susan M., Hannah M., Harriet, Mary L., W. W., Gilbert L., one died in infancy. William W. Turner was born in St. Albans, Somerset county, Maine, in 1838, where he received a common school education. He also at- tended the Pittsfield Academy a short time. He learned the trade of millman on Penobscot River and the shovel- handle trade at St. Albans. In 1863 he went to Mon- tana, where he engaged in mining and remained there nearly four years, and where he met with excellent suc- cess. In 1867 he returned to St. Albans, where he remained about two years, when he purchased the farm on which he lives in Newport, and in 1869 he became a resident of Penobscot county. In 1869 he married Clara A. Webb, of Palmyra, and is the father of three children, Hubert E., Lottie B., Carrie M., all of whom live at home.

Walter Weymouth was born in Lisbon, Maine, in 1771, where he married Polly Labarre. He came to Penobscot county in 1817 and settled in Corinna, on the farm now owned by Buchanan Fisher. He was one of the pioneers of Corinna, there being but three or four families there at the time of his arrival. He died at Reedfield in 1837 while on his way to Minot, where he was buried. His wife died in Corinna in 1847. He was the father of eleven children: Walter, Mary, James, Franklin, Mercy, William, Betsy, Jonathan, Daniel, Thomas, Olive. William was born in Lisbon in 1815. He came to Penobscot county with his father when but two years of age and settled in Corinna, where he received a common school education. He married Cyn- thia J. Gillman, a native of New Hampshire, in 1844. He is the father of nine children: Susan B., who married George Weed and lives in Lowell, Massachusetts ; Mary M., married William P. Moore and died in Corinna ; Joseph. H., married Mary Roe and lives in East New- port; Uriah was a member of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry during the late war, was taken prisoner while on a raid to Vienna and was sent to Andersonville prison where he died of starvation in 1864; one died in infancy ; Charles, died when seven years of age ; Alta, died when four years old; Jessa, lives at home.

David A. Gove was born in New Hampshire, and

came to Penobscot county as early as 1801. He was one of the pioneers of the county. He first settled for a short time in Stetson, and felled a piece of timber on the farm now owned by Porter Wiggin, which was the first clearing done in that part of the town. He went from Stetson to Corinth, where he marriod Olive Knight, and remained thirty years. From Corinth he went to Illinois, where he died. He was the first postmaster at Corinth, which office he held for twenty-five years. He was a del- egate from his district to Portland, to help organize the then Territory of Maine into a State. After he went to Illinois he was appointed postmaster of Trivoli, which office he held until his death. He was the father of sev- en children-Daniel, Albert, Orville, James, David, John, and Betsy. Daniel Gore was born in Bangor in 1804. When two years of age he was adopted by Daniel Mat- thews, one of the first settlers of Stetson, who gave him a common school education and with whom he remained until fifteen years of age, when he started out in life for himself. When eighteen years of age he purchased the farm on which he now lives in Newport. During the days of militia he held the office of captain of a com- pany for many years. He married Roama Blaisdell, of Sedgwick, in Newport, in 1825. She died in Newport in 1866. He is the father of five children: Narcissa L., died young ; Sarah M., who married Horace Sunnby and lives on the homestead ; Lucy Ann R., who married Erastus Staples and lives in Exeter ; Mary J., married Parker W. Cole and lives in Vassalboro ; Daniel, married Mattie E. Gore and lives in Marysville, Aroostook county.

Alexander Quimby was born in New Hampshire. He came to Penobscot county in 1820, and settled on the farm now owned by Frank Hubbard, in Newport. He married Lovinia Pratt, a native of Bloomfield, in 1822. He died in Glenburn in 1839; his wife survives him, and lives in Corinna. He was the father of four children - Horace M., Esther A., James F., and. William B. Hor- ace M. Quimby was born in North Newport in 1823, where he received a common school education. In 1847 he married Sarah M. Gore, a native of Newport. He is the founder of the Newport Grange, and was its first Master. The grocery store now at North Newport was first established at his house, where it was kept three years. He is the present Treasurer of the Grange. He was also Overseer of the Town Farm at Newport for three years, the duties of which office he discharged to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. He traveled exten- sively through the Western States in 1857, and pre- empted a tract of land in the Territory of Minnesota. He is the father of two children: Alistor H., who is at Colorado Springs engaged in the manufacture of brick; Ella A., married Stillman J. Ridlon and lives at home.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 110

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