History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 114

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 114

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C. B. Ring is the son of George Ring, of Orono. George Ring married Mary Lancaster, of Eddington, Maine. To this couple were born eight children, three sons and five daughters, viz .: Andrew G., Edmund T., Rebecca, deceased wife of W. H. Folsom, of Orono; El- mira, deceased; Elizabeth B., deceased; Mary J., now Mrs. B. Parker, of Portland, Maine ; Harriet M., de- ceased wife of George W. Terry; and Charles B., of Orono. Charles B. Ring was born November 12, 1837. After receiving a common and High School education in Orono, he went into the confectionery business in Orono. In 1857 he went to California, where he spent six years at mining, returning in 1864. On his return from Cal- ifornia he opened a store in Orono, and has since con- tinued in trade; his present place of business is on Water Street. He married Abbie L. Hill, of Dexter, daughter of Valentine Hill. They have now two children living, having lost three. The names of the living are Virginia May and Charles Harrold.

Horace E. Hall, of Orono, was born February 6, 1833; he is the son of Oliver and Sarah Hall, of Bradley, Maine. Oliver Hall had eight children, of whom Horace is the oldest son and third child. Mr. Hall has always been engaged in milling business, having had charge of mills for twenty years. He now has charge of the Ham-

mett Mill, of Orono. Mr. Hall married for his first wife Martha A. Willey, by whom he had one daughter, now deceased. Mrs. Hall died many years since, and Mr. Hall married for his second wife Clara A. Clark, daugh- ter of P. Clark, of Boston. They have had three chil- dren-James P., Minnie A., and George-all of whom are deceased. Mr. Hall has always been closely con- fined to his business, having charge of many men, and though not an eventful life it has been a very busy one.

A. G. B. Mosher is the son of William and Freelove Mosher, of China, Kennebec county, Maine. William Mosher had twelve children, six sons and six daughters, of whom A. G. B. is the sixth son and tenth child; he was born June 13, 1832, and married for his first wife Susanna W. Perkins, of Orono, by whom he has had three children, only one of whom is now living-Charles H. Mrs. Mosher died March 25, 1862, and Mr. Mosher married for his second wife Mary A. Holt, daughter of Obediah and Permelia Holt, of Orono. They have four children-Blanche M., Fanny B., Ada W., and Willie A. Mr. Mosher first engaged in teaming and ex- press business from Orono to Bangor, in which he has continued, though he spent three years in California. He does the business of the Eastern Express Company here, though not their agent.

B. E. Donigan, of Orono, is a son of Thomas and Mary Donigan, of Ireland, who had nine children, seven of whom grew to maturity, viz: Mary E., now of Boston, Massachusetts ; J. W., attorney-at-law at Bangor; B. E .; Sarah A., now Mrs. S. A. Lawrence, of South Boston ; Thomas H., of Bangor ; Addie A., now Mrs. F. A. Wat- kins, of Providence, Rhode Island, and Albert F., of Orono. Mr. B. E. Donigan was born March 29, 1850. After completing the common school and high school course at Oldtown, he went into the mills there, where he worked until 1878, when he entered the clothing store of John Farrel, of Oldtown, to learn the trade. After remaining here six months he again went to work in the mill. During the year 1869 he went into the clothing house of Hugh Gibbons, where he completed his trade, and went to Boston in 1873, where he remained for three months, after which he came to Bangor and read law with Chapman & Donigan for seven months. Receiving a good offer from Mr. Gibbons to come back and manage his business in Oldtown, he concluded to do so, and re- mained there until August, 1875. He came to Orono in 1875 and opened a clothing store, making manufac- turing a specialty. Mr. Donigan married Miss Eliza E. Conroy, of Brewer, daughter of Peter and Jane Conroy. They have one child, Marion G., now three years old. Mr. Donigan's store is located on the corner of Main and Mill streets. He has for years been the correspondent of the Bangor Daily Commercial, both from Orono and Oldtown.

Hon. Charles Buffum came to Orono in 1832 when a lad, with his father, Samuel Buffum, who for many years was prominently identified with the business interests of Orono, and who died here in 1859; had six children who grew to maturity, one dying in infancy, viz: David N., deceased; Albert C., deceased; Maria F., Charles, Gus-

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

tavus G., and Julia A. Charles Buffum was born De- cember 25, 1820, in Palermo, Maine. On becoming of age he went into trade here in 1844, and in connection with this he became a manufacturer of lumber, which business he continued until recently. In 1868 he was elected to the House of Representatives of this State, " and in 1869 to the Senate, being elected to the Presi- dency of that body in 1871 .. In 1875 he was elected a member of the Executive Council, which position he held three years, the last year being chairman of that body. He was appointed as one of the Commission composed of three men to examine and report to the Legislature as to the legal rights of voters in the Mada- waska region. That commission consisted of Judge Simonds, of Portland, Mr. Kimball, of Oxford county, and Mr. Buffum. In the fall of 1878 he was appointed as Superintendent of the Reform School at Cape Eliza- beth, which position he held until a change in the admin- istration in 1879. Mr. Buffum married Miss Lydia S. Ordway, daughter of William G. and Sophia Ordway, of Orono. They have four children living, having lost one in infancy, viz: C. Frank, now of Bartlett, New Hamp- shire; Fred G., now of Portland, Oregon; L. Maria, and Annie G., now at home.

In 1795 William Lunt came to Oldtown, what is now Upper Stillwater, from Bowdoinham, Maine, and settled. He had six sons-William, Joshua, Abraham, James, Judah, and Nathaniel. The youngest of these, Nathan- iel, the father of George W., of Orono, married Sarah Gregg, who is now living on the old farm at Stillwater. They had ten children, eight sons and two daughters, viz: Daniel, George W., James, deceased ; John, also deceased ; David and Jonathan, twins ; David died at the Black Hills, and Jonathan is now living in Wiscon- sin ; Alfred, now in Wisconsin; Richard, also in Wiscon- sin. The girls died in infancy.

George W. Lunt was born December 27, 1818. In 1844 he married Rebecca B. Crombie, daughter of Moses and Sophia Crombie, of Phipsburg, Maine. Mr. Lunt engaged in the lumber business when a young man, and has always followed that business, with the exception of three years he spent in California, from 1852 to 1855. Mr. Lunt has two children, one son and one daughter, viz : Annie S. and George C. He has held the office of Selectman in his town. His present business is a scaler of logs.

John E. Dennoch, of Orono, is the son of Josiah S. Dennoch, who came here from Charlestown, Massachu- setts, in 1806. Josiah Dennoch married Lucy Webster, daughter of Colonel Ebenezer Webster, of Orono, for- merly Oldtown. They had three children, all boys, viz : John E., Daniel W., and Charles, of whom only John E. is now living. He was born June 17, 1836, and mar- ried Mary J. Wentworth, daughter of Deacon Samuel Wentworth, of Veazie. They have had six children, of whom five are now living, viz: Daniel, Lucy, Charlie

and Annie (twins), and Amie. Frank, the oldest, is de- ceased. Mr. Dennoch enlisted in the First Maine Heavy 'Artillery in 1863, serving six months until disabled at Fort Gaines, Maryland. He is quite extensively engaged in fruit growing, having a fine selection and many acres of trees. He is one of the Trustees of the County Ag- ricultural Society.

Albert White, of Orono, is a son of Samuel and Mary White, of this town. Samuel White was the son of Samuel White, Sr., who was one of the earliest settlers here. Samuel and Mary White had six children, five sons and one daughter, viz : Albert, Rufus C., Daniel (deceased), Charles C., Fannie L., and Edwin H. Albert White was born in 1837, May 12. He received his edu- cation in the public school of Orono; has always been in the lumber business in some way, and is now superin- tendent and manager of Webster's Mill in this town. In 1862 he enlisted in Company I, First Maine Heavy Artil- lery, remaining until the close of the war. He was pro- moted from the ranks to the office of first lieutenant, serving in all the lower grades except corporal. Mr. White has served his town in all the offices in the gift of his townsmen, from the lower town offices to that of Rep- resentative in the Legislature, serving in the latter posi- tion in 1876 and 1877. He is at present one of the Selectmen and Overseers of the Poor. He has also held the office of postmaster in this town.

Dr. E. N. Mayo, who was born in Orono, is the son o John W. and Mary C. Mayo, of this town. Dr. Mayo was born May 15, 1837. After completing the course at the public school in Orono he prepared for college at Mattanawcook Academy, Lincoln ; he entered the Maine Medical School at Brunswick in 1857, and took his first course of lectures; from here he went to Washington, District of Columbia, and entered the National Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1860, this being the medical department of Columbia College. After graduating he first settled in Houlton, Aroostook county, where he practiced from 1860 to 1867, when he moved to Orono, where he has since resided in the practice of ! his profession. He married Lucy W., daughter of Dr. W. H. and Ann B. Allen, of Orono. The Doctor has no children. He has held a position on the School Board of this town many years, and is now one of the Selectmen of the town.

Among the earliest settlers of Orono was Jeremiah Colburn, who came here from Pittston, Kennebec county, Maine, in 1774. He had a son, William Colburn, who was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His sister Fanny was the first white woman on the Penobscot, in this region. William Colburn had four sons, viz : Wil- liam, Jr., Jeremiah, Edmund, and Abraham. William Colburn, Jr., married Frances Jameson. They had nine children, only three of whom are now living; James, Abraham, and John, all of whom live in Orono, on the old homestead. John and Abraham are not married.

OLDTOWN.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Oldtown is one of the larger towns in the county, ex- ceeded considerably in size only by Lincoln, and not much smaller than Bradley. The length of its north boun- dary is but a trifle less than eight miles; it has a boundary of seven miles in the river Penobscot; its south line is but a little shorter than its northern, or seven and two-thirds miles; and its west limit is about five and one-fourth miles in length. The south line is very much broken, although it is maintained in right lines. It pushes east- ward in a straight line from the corner in Pushaw Lake but three and one-half miles, when it dips down at a right angle a few rods, and then slopes off southeasterly one and one-third miles to the neighborhood of Upper Stillwater post-office, where it makes a sharp angle to the northeast, runs less than half a mile, then easterly again three-fourths of a mile, south about as far, and east again a little further to the Penobscot. There are thus six breaks in the line, which is somewhat lengthened by its irregularity, and the town considerably broadened. While its west line, as before stated, is only about five and one-half miles long, the extreme breadth of Oldtown, as measured from the south line of Argyle to the southern- most boundary near the Penobscot, is six and one-half miles. The north line of the town, nearly eight miles long, measures its extreme length, although it may be fully eight miles long on'a line from Glenburn across the head of Mud Pond to the innermost part of the bend below Sunkhaze.

Oldtown is bounded on the north by Alton and Argyle; on the east by the Penobscot and Milford beyond, with a strip of Bradley east of its southern projection; on the south by Orono; and on the west by Glenburn and Hud- son. It is only distant by the width of the narrow part of Orono, a little over two miles, from Bangor. By its position, its numerous valuable waters, and its ancient settlement, it has peculiar advantages of growth and prosperity, which have been improved to a large extent, so that it has become the most populous town in the county, away from Bangor, being approached closely in this particular only by Brewer, and exceeded in the valua- tion of estates by only Brewer, Hampden, and Dexter.

The waters of Oldtown are indeed a chief source of its prosperity. The finest power on the Penobscot is at the "Ounegan " or carry-the falls below Oldtown Island, -enough to make of Oldtown village another Lowell, if the requisite capital and enterprise were directed thither. Besides the Penobscot on the east front, with its great facilities for log-driving and booming, several miles of the Stillwater River lie in this town. This is not so much an independent river as a side channel of the Penobscot,

flowing from the Boom Branch, another side channel leaving the present stream above Oldtown Island, about one and one-half miles from the village, flowing northwest two miles, thence abruptly turning south, and flowing southwest and southeast till, passing around and forming Orson Island, it rejoins the river just above Oldtown vil- lage. Near the original entrance of this channel, a sheer boom has been stretched diagonally across the Penob- scot, which turns all logs from the river-channel into that in which the Main Boom has been constructed. From the head of Marsh Island the waters of the Stillwater Branch proper flow southward from the Boom Branch, leaving the town by the sharp corner near Upper Still- water postoffice, and going one and two-thirds miles fur- ther to the Penobscot at Orono village. Near Pea Cove, and at the northernmost point of the Stillwater, the Birch Stream comes in from between Alton and Argyle, having a flow of but three-fourths of a mile in this town. About one and one-half miles further down, another watery con- nection with the Penobscot strikes off, which flows a mile and a quarter to the river nearly opposite the middle of Oldtown Island. The tract of land thus enclosed is called Orson Island, this channel cutting it off from the much larger area shut in by it, the Stillwater, and the Penobscot, and which has received the name, from one of its early settlers and owners, of Marsh Island. Orson Island, unlike the other, belongs to the Indian reserva- tion; and although not inhabited by the tribe, it serves them usefully in the shore-rents obtained for its use in the operations of the lumbermen. These operations are very extensive and important in this quarter. The entire enormous product of the north woods, so far as it reaches the Penobscot, passes the front of Oldtown. The side channel from the river to the Birch Stream constitutes the main boom of the Penobscot Boom Association, where hundreds of acres of logs may be seen at times, undergo- ing the process of sorting at the hands of the stout and fearless boomers, or already snugly lodged in their proper places.

This Boom and the Stillwater are full of islets, con- taining probably not less than a score and a half, few of which have any importance. Just at the junction of the stream with the lower connection with the Penobscot, be- low Orson Island, is a rather long and narrow islet, named from the famous old chief, "the blue-eyed Orono." On the other side, in the river, beyond a little island at the mouth of this connection, is the most famous of all the Penobscot islets, the Indian Oldtown Island. This, the only one of the scores constituting the Indian reservation that is inhabited by the tribe, to any large extent, is only one and one-eighth miles in full length and a little more

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

than half a mile in extreme breadth. The village of the Penobscots is thickly crowded together, with its neat Catholic chapel, the little convent of the Sisters of Mercy, and school-house and cemetery, at the lower end of the island, which looks closely upon Milford village on the east and Oldtown village to the southwest. It is a pleasant island, is favorably situated for habitation, and is believed to have been inhabited by the aborigines for ages before the white man came. Above it is a little island at the entrance to the Boom, and another some two and one-half miles north, opposite the corner of Ar- gyle and a little below Costigan Station. Just below it, about the falls, are a number of petty islands, and one larger one, which is practically a part of Oldtown village, being much built up, traversed by streets and roads, and at the upper end by the track of the European and North American Railroad.

The only remaining stream of importance is the Pushaw, which flows from Mud Pond -- a sheet of water in the central west of the town, about a mile long by lit- tle more than half a mile wide-north by a very winding course between two and three miles a little way into Al- ton, where it receives some tributaries and makes a bend, returning to Oldtown about a mile east of its place of exit, and thence flowing in a southeasterly direction, with a great bend to. the northwest toward its mouth, in the Stillwater, a little below Orono Island.

The southwestern part of the town, as already indi- cated, is occupied by a portion of the superb Pushaw Pond, which pushes over from Milford and Glenburn into Orono almost its entire width at the lower end. A length of this lake of three miles, on the line of the town, and a breadth on the south line of one and one-third miles, lie in Oldtown.

Notwithstanding the large population of this town, its western half is still almost uninhabited. A very few ad- venturers have pushed in toward Pushaw Lake, on a "plug" road which leaves the northwestern road from Orono village through Upper Stillwater and the town, one and one-third miles above the town line, and runs west and northwest a little farther into the interior. The main road soon leaves the Stillwater above the Upper post-office, and by and by nears the Pushaw Stream, on the south side of which it runs to the close neighborhood of the north line of the town, where it divides into two branches, each going into Alton. The road has an entire course of seven miles in this town be- fore branching. For nearly five miles in its middle course it scarcely passes a habitation ; but there is a set- tlement of some size near the north line, where a good power on the Pushaw has prompted the erection of sev- eral mills and factories. This neighborhood has a public school-house.

At Upper Stillwater this and the Stillwater are crossed by a northeast road coming from Bangor, through Orono, and going two miles further to Oldtown village. A well- settled road also runs from here up the Stillwater, which it leaves abreast of Orson Island, and makes off north into Argyle, thus traversing the entire town. On the op- posite side of the Stillwater from Orono by the State

College, a highway runs up the river to Pushaw, a settle- ment just below the mouth of the stream of that name. Here it joins a road from Oldtown village northwest through Pushaw and by two crossings of the. Pushaw Stream to the long road on the south side of that water. At Oldtown village the west river road, so far as it fol- lows the Penobscot closely, is obliged to end; but it is renewed by the road up the west bank of the Stillwater, from which an east road branches off three-quarters of a mile from the north line of the town, runs nearly two miles across the mouth of the Birch Stream, at the head of the Main Boom, until it nears the Penobscot again, when it pushes its way north into Argyle, and so on up the county.

The European & North American Railroad has some- thing more than two miles of main track in this town. It has a station at West Great Works, which is situated op- posite Great Work's village, in Bradley, and has a post- office of its own; and a more important depot one mile further at Oldtown village, whence it crosses to Mil- ford by a bridge over the Penobscot. Over this road to Oldtown Station, are transported also the cars of the Ban- gor & Piscataquis Railroad, which forms a junction with it at Oldtown, and runs west of north about five and one- half miles in this town, crossing Orson Island en route, and running into Alton. A mile before its exit it makes a station at the crossing of the wagon-road for Pea Cove, which station has a name to correspond. This is the only station of this road in the town, except at the vil- lage.

The surface of Oldtown is generally level, though the town is not without some moderate hills and some ravines entitled to be called valleys. The soil is neither much better nor much worse, for the purposes of agricul- ture, than the average soil of Penobscot county; yet there are occasional tracts of rare fertility, and in gen- eral it can be cultivated with fair success and produces all crops known to this region. Some valuable orchards, bearing various fruits in large quantity, exist within the town.

"The population of Oldtown," says Mr. Norton, "is composed largely of native-born Americans, with quite a sprinkling of Canadian, French, and Irish emigration, and for order and morality will compare favorably with any community of equal size in the State."

INDIAN OLDTOWN.

The most ancient history of this region connects itself directly with this locality. This, the lowermost island of the Indian Reservation, contains about three hundred and fifty acres, and is occupied by the remnant of the Tarratine or Penobscot tribe of Indians. Once claiming, as its original inhabitants, all the territory in the region on both sides of the river, by several treaties made with the English and Colonial governments they relinquished a large portion, and in 1785 they yielded still more, re- serving only Oldtown Island, or, as it is supposed to have been called in 1710, "the Island of Lett," and all the other islands, thirty-eight in number, in the river just above it. All the lands on the waters of the Penobscot

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY MAINE.

river, above the Piscataquis and Mattawamkeag, were re- served for hunting grounds for them, not to be laid out or settled by the State or by individuals. A controversy as to the possession of lands by the Indians having arisen in 1796, a new treaty was formed releasing, for a con- sideration in annual payments, one hundred and eighty- nine thousand four hundred and twenty-six acres. In 1820 they held two thousand six hundred and seventy acres, forty of which were under cultivation. The trustee fund is now about seventy-five thousand dollars, from which they receive about four thousand five hundred dollars annually. The first Indian Agent was Francis L. B. Goodwin, of Frankfort. The present number of Indians is four hundred and eighteen. They have a church (Roman Catholic) and schools taught by teachers from the Sisters of Mercy. The Indians cultivate the soil to some extent and many are hunters and guides. In the summer parties of them encamp at the seaside resorts for the sale of their baskets, moccasins, and other wares.

We take the opportunity here offered to give further information concerning the history of the tribe, collected since the chapter on the Tarratines was prepared.

The Indians say the aboriginal name of this locality was Pannawanske (Pannawanskek, or Panamske, as it is variously spelt), meaning "it forks upon the white rocks," or "it opens (or widens) upon the rocks." Captain Francis, one of their later chiefs, said that the Penobscots removed from their seats further up the river, and estab- lished themselves here, with the thought that the swift waters would aid in their defense against the Mohawks. Judge Godfrey, however, thinks the settlement originated in a French mission, having a chapel and fort, with some habitations for the whites, about which the Indians sub- sequently clustered. He thinks it must have been an occasional camping-ground for the Indians for at least five hundred years, as one of them gave the tradition, and that it was probably old "Panawanskek" for about a century.

On the 13th of September, 1617, a large number of canoes, with one hundred and twenty warriors, left here upon an expedition to a place near the mouth of the Kennebec.

The Rev. Daniel Little, commissioned on behalf of Massachusetts to deliver to the Indians the blankets and ammunition promised in consideration of their surrender of territory by the treaty made at "Sunbury or Condus- keag," in August, 1786, arived here in the performance of his duty June 21, 1788, and thus describes what he saw :

Passed a western branch of the river to an island seven miles long [Marsh Island], walked upon said island through a trackless wood about six miles, when Indian Oldtown, about two hundred acres, opened to view, with a thicket of houses on the lower point of said island, just above the great Falls. Immediately upon our arrival in open view of the town, a number of their canoes were manned with sprightly young men, in which they came over (about forty rods) to transport us into town. As we landed, their shore was lined with women and chil- dren. We walked up to their parade, about fifteen rods from the shore (a walk very smooth, about three rods in width, lined on each side with a range of houses, built with poles about six inches in diameter, and the same as under, placed perpendicularly and covered very neatly with

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 114

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