History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 120

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 120

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The principal officers of the town in 1881 were the fol- lowing: Oliver Leonard, Treasurer; Charles L. Hatha- way, Collector; J. W. Hathaway, D. B. Bean, A. F. Haynes, Constables; A. F. Haynes, O. O. Stewart, O. W. Bates, School . Committee; A. Haynes and C. L. Hathaway (quorum), and E. G. Haynes (trial), Justices.

The following biographical notice of a native of Passa- dumkeag, who figured honorably in the late war, is from the State Military Reports:

CAPTAIN SAMUEL J. OAKES was born at Passadumkeag, in September, 1833. In August, 1861, whilst in trade in Oldtown, where he resided, actuated by a sense of duty to his country, he closed up his business and enlisted as a private in the Eighteenth Regiment Infantry, and was soon afterwards promoted to Second Lieutenant. When the organization of the regiment was changed to the First Heavy Artillery, he was further promoted to be First Lieutenant, and participated in all the sanguinary battles in which his regiment was engaged, including those of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Hatcher's Run. While in front of Petersburg he was. promoted Captain and continued in command of his company until March 25th, 1865, when he was killed by a shot from the enemy. Captain Oakes was a good citizen, a true patriot, a devoted Christian, and a brave soldier, and died deeply lamented not only by his family but by all his comrades and a large circle of friends.

Charles L. Hathaway, of Passadumkeag, is a son of Joshua Hathaway, who was born in the town of Sutton, county of Worcester, Massachusetts, in the year 1782. He moved to what is now Brewer, then a part of Han- cock county, in 1803. In 1823 he moved to Passadum- keag, and was the first settler where the village now is. He married Sarah P. Brown, who was born in 1789 and died in 1877. Their children now living are Justus and John H., both living in Medway, Maine; Mrs. J. T. Carr, of Carroll; Mrs. J. M. Lombard, of Oldtown, and Joshua W. and Charles L., of Passadumkeag. In the War of 1812, when the British were advancing up the Penobscot, Mr. Hathaway rode all night through what is now Eddington and Bradley, to warn out all able-bodied men to repel the advance of the British, and afterwards went to Eastport as wagoner or baggage-master. He was an earnest friend of education, and obtained by hard study, by the light from pitch-pine knots, a superior edu- cation for those times. He followed trading for a long time, as well as lumbering and farming. For many years he was a Justice of the Peace. He died in Passadum- keag in 1857. Charles L. Hathaway married Harriet E. Warren, daughter of Phineas K. Warren, of Eddington, May 30, 1863. They have two children, Mary J. and

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Marcia H. Mr. Hathaway has long held prominent po- sitions in town affairs, having held all, or about all, of the town offices at different times, also Justice of the Peace. He follows the business of farming, lumbering, and trad- ing.

Elbridge G. Haynes, of Passadumkeag, is a son of David W. and Hannah Haynes (nee Hannah Piper). David W. Haynes was a native of Sudbury, Massachu- setts, who came to Dresden from Massachusetts. From Dresden he moved to Bangor, where he was engaged in mill business for many years, and moved to Passadum- keag when the country was very new. He moved after- wards to Edinburg; he died in Passadumkeag in 1846. David and Hannah Haynes had eight children, viz: David, Isaac P., Alvin, Aaron, Lucy, Louisa, Elmira, and Elbridge. Of these only three are living, viz: Aaron, Louisa, and Elbridge. Elbridge G., the youngest of this family, was born in Bangor October 3, 1810. He first settled in Edinburg, where he lived until 1852, being engaged in farming and lumbering. In 1852 he moved across the river to Passadumkeag, where he has since resided. He married Ruth R. Haynes, of Dresden. They have eight children-Horace, Ira F., Aaron J., Luther, Elbridge G., Joseph R., William M., and Evelyn L. S. He is now engaged in farming with his son, Joseph R. Mr. Haynes has held prominent town office for several years.

One of the oldest settlers in Edinburg, across the river from Passadumkeag, was David W. Haynes, for sketch of whose life see that of E. G. Haynes above. Aaron Haynes was born March 9, 1805. He first settled in Edinburg, where he lived a few years, and then moved to Passadumkeag, where he has since lived. He has been a farmer and tavern keeper. For many years he was Deputy Sheriff of this county. He married Mary Haynes, a cousin. They had nine children, and lost them all. Mr. Haynes now lives with his adopted son, Julius B. Potter, station agent at Passadumkeag.

. Horace Plummer is a son of Bidfield and Weltha Plummer, of West Winterport, Maine. He was born November 11, 1846. His father, Bidfield Plummer, had been engaged in farming, lumbering, and carpentering, etc. His parents here had eight children, of whom five are now living, viz : Amos W., now in Bangor, David S., now in Boston, Louise L., and Albert C. Mr. and Mrs. Plummer are now living in West Winterport. Horace Plummer, on becoming of age, engaged in merchandising in connection with the milling business in Winterport, where he did business six years. In 1873 he came to Passadumkeag, and with his father bought an interest in the mill here. In 1874 these mills were burned, and Mr. Plummer and Horace bought out the interest of the other parties and rebuilt the mills. They manufacture lumber of all kinds, employing about thirty-five men. They run the mill about nine months in a year, seven of them night and day. They manufacture about one mil- lion feet of long lumber, two million of shingles, three

million staves, fifty thousand pair dressed heading, and one hundred thousand lath. Horace Plummer married Julia R. Fisher, daughter of Henry and Rebecca Fisher, of West Winterport. They have one daughter, Georgie B.

Moses Ingalls, of Passadumkeag, is a son of Moses Ingalls, who came to Olamon, in the town of Greenbush, from what is now Amherst, Maine. He was a native of Bethel, Maine. His father, Samuel Ingalls, was of Scotch descent, and lived and died in Bethel. Moses Ingalls, Sr., married Abigail Stiles, of Waterford. They had nine children, viz : Betsy, Susan, Polly, deceased ; Nathan, of Woodville, Maine ; Aaron, of Bangor ; Moses ; Abbie, now Mrs. Daniel Orcutt, of Fort Fairfield, Maine: Nancy, now Mrs. Austin, of Milford; and Enoch L., of Minne- sota. Mr. Ingalls died in 1864. Moses Ingalls, Jr., was born November 27, 1816, in Amherst, Maine. He first settled in Passadumkeag, where he now lives. He mar- ried Eleanor Angove for his first wife, by whom he had five children, viz: Frank, of Bangor; Cyrus, deceased; Nancy, deceased; Emma, wife of George Johnston, of Hancock, Minnesota; and Clara, deceased. Mrs. In- galls died in 1866. Mr. Ingalls married for his second wife Miss Martha Scott, of Greenbush. Mr. Ingalls has held most of the town offices in his town from time to time.

E. P. Tibbitts, of Passadumkeag, is a son of Elisha M. Tibbitts, of Kenduskeag, Maine. Elisha M. Tib- bitts married Mary Jane Matthews, daughter of John Matthews, of Anson. They had eight children, viz : Susan, wife of Oliver A. Lunt, of San Francisco, Cali- fornia; Priscilla, wife of Fred Wicker, of Melrose, Cali- fornia; George, now in Pioneer City, Montana; Elisha, deceased; and Edward P. They lost three in early life. Mr. Tibbitts died in 1848. Mrs. Tibbitts survives him. Edward P. was born December 25, 1845, in Kenduskeag, and lived there until 1868, when he moved to Passadum- keag, where he now lives, two miles from Passadumkeag village. He married Eleanor Frances Jelleison, of Green- bush. They have four children-George O., Calvin C., Edith May, and Alice Mertie. Mr. Tibbitts is now one of the Selectmen.

D. B. Bean, of Enfield, was born May 4, 1842. His father, Watson D. Bean, was a native of China, Maine. His grandfather's name was Daniel. Watson D. Bean married Louisa H. Irish, of Vassalboro. They had six children, viz: D. B .; Timothy W., deceased; Daniel B., deceased; David A., deceased; Mary A., wife of Joseph F. St. Clair, of Bangor; Watson D., Jr., deceased. D. B. Bean, on arriving of age, enlisted in the army and was three years in the civil war. On returning from the war he worked on the river and in the woods two years, then learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he has since worked. He settled in Passadumkeag in 1860, where he has since lived. He married Lydia Batchelder, of Pas- sadumkeag. They have four children, viz : E. F. Stan- ton, Morris D., Ethel May, and Nina Louisa. Mr. Bean has been Constable for ten years in this town.

PATTEN.

Continuing up the valley of the Penobscot and up the East Branch, and out upon one of its little tributaries just below the inflow of the Seboois, and we are at Pat- ten, seventy-four miles from Bangor, and the northernmost town in the county, save only Mt. Chase. This town has that town on the north, Crystal Plantation, Aroostook county, on the east, Stacyville Plantation, Penobscot county, on the south, and Township No. 3, in the seventh Range, on the west. Hersey town, in Aroostook county, corners with Patten on the northeast, and Sherman, in the same county, corners with it on the southeast. It was itself formerly Township No. 4, in the Sixth Range, and comes pretty near being an even thirty-six-mile town- ship. Its west line is the regulation six miles in length, but by some defect of surveys the east side of the town is a trifle less wide, and the boundary that way has only a length of a little more than five and three-quarter miles, although broken five miles from the northeast cor- ner, and running off southwesterly to a rather sharp angle a little less than half a mile east of its own meridian. This widens the extreme south edge of the town to a trifle more than six miles, its width at the north line being but five and two-third miles, and the same all the way down to the break in the east boundary. The strip lost to Patten by the pushing of this line westward does not, however, cost it any large area-the town has still between thirty-four and thirty-five square miles of surface.

Patten has no large ponds or lakes, although there is one of the former, of respectable size, measuring about half a mile in greatest diameter each way, in the north central part of the west side of the town. From the northwest a small affluent, rising in the northeast of Township 4, runs into one of the small bays of the pond. Similarly, from the southwest, a tributary of somewhat more than a mile's length, rising on the west line of the town, flows into the pond. Into a little bay on the north- east also runs a small stream from the north. From the southwest cove runs one of the headwaters of the Mo- lunkus Stream. It has a curvilinear course of about four and one-quarter miles across the rest of the town in a general east direction to Patten village, just outside of which it joins the Fish Stream. This rises in the south- western part of Mt. Chase, crosses the Patten line about a mile from the northwest corner, and runs thence south- east and east across the town six and one-half miles to the east line, when it passes into Aroostook. It also passes through Patten village half a mile or more from the line, and there furnishes valuable power to mills and factories. Within about a mile of the town it receives two small tributaries from the northward, their mouths being only about one-quarter of a mile apart. Through

the north part of Patten village another affluent flows from the northward, makiag a pond on the way near the Congregational church, where it divides for a short dis- tance into two streams, the reunited brook flowing on to a junction with the Fish Stream on the east side of the vil- lage. North and south of Patten post-office, within two miles each way, are the head-streams of other waters that belong to Aroostook county. In the south part of the town, also, below the southern tributary from the pond to the Fish Stream, are eight or ten brooks and headwaters of the Salmon Stream and other brooks that run to the southward. It is a very well-watered town.

Patten village is a fine little place. It consists mainly of one pretty long street, with two or three cross and branch streets built up a little distance each way. It has a post-office, Congregational, Baptist, and Methodist churches, a public school-house and an academy bnild- ing, some half-dozen stores, and several mills and fac- tories. It is as yet the only village or post-office in the town.

Through Patten village passes, on a line nearly parallel with the east boundary of the town, and generally little more than half a mile from it, one of the roads to Houl- ton. ' Most of the settlement of the town is on this high- way. Many are" settled, however, on a westerly road which branches off from it about a mile and a half from the south line and runs some four miles into the interior, but stops before reaching the west line of the town. Half a mile before its end a northerly road connects it with the Waters road, so called from its running through the Waters settlement. It leaves the main north and south road at the north part of Patten village, and runs straight out to the neighborhood of the pond, where it stops. There is no road running entirely across the town, and but the one highway entirely traversing it the other way. Nearly one and a half miles west of Patten village a road strikes off from the most northerly country road, and runs northwest across Mount Chase, and across the wilderness to the Allaguash country. From the village also run roads east and southeast into Crystal Plantation, also one a mile north of Patten from School No. 3, above which a little way another country road runs off for a mile west.

Our inquiries of the present residents of Patten, for information concerning its history, have failed to elicit any response, and the facts obtained elsewhere are rather meagre. The tract was originally known, as it still stands in the surveys, as Township No. 4, in the Sixth Range. Civilized settlement got in here about the year 1828; but it remained Township No. 4 until 1841, when the popula- tion justified incorporation as a town. April 16th of that year it was accordingly erected into such a municipality,

478

John Gardners

RESIDENCE OF JOHN GARDNER, PATTEN. PENOBSCOT COUNTY MAINE,.

RESIDENCE OF JOE D .. CARMEL PENORSCOT CO MAINE

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

by the name it now bears. In 1850 it had 470 inhabitants, 639 in 1860, 704 in 1870, and 716 in 1880. It popula- tion, as may thus be seen, has not decreased in any de- cade of its existence, and it is a fairly populous and pros- perous tract for a far northern town. Its polls in 1860 numbered 142, 153 in 1870, and 193 in 1880. The valuation of estates in these several years was $126,71I, $191,342, and $198,358.

The same year the town was incorporated, and a little before its incorporation,-that is, on the Ist of March, 1841,-the Congregational church of Patten was organ- ized. It has been maintained for more than forty years, and is now under the pastoral care of Rev. Charles N. Sinnett. There are also Methodist and Baptist churches in the town, the former under the pastorate of Rev. F. H. Osgood, the latter of Rev. E. A. VanKleeck.

The Patten Academy was incorporated in 1846, and its building still stands in the village, as before noted. It has not been constantly kept up; but the town has a sufficiency of good primary public schools.

The business of the town is mainly agricultural, and there are fine farms and farming lands in this beautiful valley. Many of the fairs of the North Penobscot and Aroostook Agricultural Society have been held here, of of which further notice may be found in our chapter on the societies and fairs. The farmers, as well as manufac- turers, in this region are intelligent and enterprising, and some of these annual industrial reunions have been quite notable.

The manufactures in Patten of late have comprised one saw-mill, one carding- and grist-mill, one manufactory of furniture, one of sash, doors, and blinds, one of har- ness, one of boots and shoes, and one of tinware. There are two blacksmith shops and one wheelwright, one milli- ner, and five general stores ; also three resident physicians, one lawyer, and one notary. There is one hotel-the Patten House.

The only society of importance exclusively in the town, except the churches, is Katahdin Lodge of Free and Ac- cepted Masons.

The town officers for 1881 were: I. D. Fish, Samuel Waters, L. B. Rogers, Selectmen ; Laroy Miles, Town Clerk; I. D. Fish, Treasurer; Charles R. Brown, Consta- ble ; Charles D. Fish, George F. Burleigh, W. P. Leslie, School Committee; S. E. Benjamin, James B. Leslie (Quorum), Daniel Scribner, Horace Miles, Charles W. Wescott (Trial), Ira B. Gardiner (Dedimus), Justices. Mr. C. Bradford is Postmaster.

A WAR BIOGRAPHY.

[From the Reports of the Adjutant General of the State for the war period. ]

LIEUTENANT EDWIN S. ROGERS, - Edwin Searle Rogers was born in Patten January 31, 1843, and was a student at Bowdoin College in the class of 1865. While in his junior year, regarding it to be his duty to enter the United States service, he left college in February and re- turned to Patten, where he enlisted about thirty men, and was thereupon commissioned second lieutenant of Com- pany E, Thirty-first Regiment, Maine Volunteers, and

was mustered into the United States service in March, 1864, at Augusta. In the absence of the superior offi- cers he took and held command of the company until within a few days of his capture and death. Lieutenant Rogers was in the battle of the Wilderness and shared in the dangers of the eight days' fighting and fatiguing marches previous to the battle of Spottsylvania, in which he also participated. He was again with his regiment in the subsequent actions and marches until the battle of Cold Harbor, where, on the 7th of June, 1864, while in command of a picket line, he was struck by a rifle-ball, which passed through his lungs. He was then taken prisoner and left by the rebels in a tent on their way to Richmond, where, it is conjectured, he died on the same day. The deceased was a young man of much promise, genial in society and camp and brave on the field, thus winning the affection of his comrades and the approba- tion of his superior officers.

Lieutenant Rogers is also suitably noticed in the Bow- doin College Roll of Honor.

OTHER BIOGRAPHIES.

Colonel Ira B. Gardner, of Patten, a son of Hon. John Gardner, was born January 10, 1843. He was educated at the Patten Academy, and worked in his father's store and mill when not in school. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted, November 28, 1861, when eighteen years old. In April, 1862, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant, and First Lieutenant in June of the same year. He was advanced to Captain of Company I, Fourteenth Maine Volunteers, in December of the same year. He commanded the company at the battle of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, August 5, 1862, in which en -. gagement he lost nineteen killed and wounded out of fifty-four of his company. For his gallant conduct during this battle he was publicly complimented and brevetted Major. . At the close of that engagement he was detailed on the staff of General H. E. Paine, Brigadier Com- manding, serving in that capacity for several months. He was with the regiment in all its important engagements, and commanded it for two weeks during the memorable siege of Port Hudson. In the battle of Winchester, Vir- ginia, he lost his right arm, and was brevetted Lieutenant- Colonel for meritorious conduct. He remained with the regiment till the close of its term of service, and was mustered out with it. Since leaving the United States service he has been engaged in the mercantile and lumber business in Patten; also in the manufacture of potato starch. He married Helen M. Darling, daughter of Horatio N. and Harriet D. Darling, of Patten. They have four children-Albert P., Raymond D., Ida M., and Herbert N. Colonel Gardner has served as Deputy Sheriff eight years, also as Justice of the Peace. He is well known as a brave soldier and an honorable citizen.

Moses Twitchell, of New Portland, Maine, had four sons - James, William, Rufus, and Moses. James Twitchell married Polly Haskell, of New Gloucester. They lived the greater part of their lives in New Port- land, and had eight children, of whom only three are liv- ing, Harriet, wife of William Greenleaf, of New Vineyard,

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Maine; Rubie, wife of Simeon Hanson, of New Portland, and J. H., the subject of this sketch. The names of the deceased were Mary, Adeline, Henry, Lucinda, and Sally. Mr. Twitchell died in 1840; his wife died the previous year. John H. Twitchell was born June 11, 1820, and spent his boyhood on a farm. On becoming of age he settled where he now lives in Patten. He married Miss Matilda N. Clark, daughter of Isaac and Mary Clark, of New Brunswick. They had six children -Ruby, wife of Orlando Patterson, of Stacyville, Maine; Mary, wife of Louis Ingersoll, of Patten; Luella, now in Lewiston ; Henry, deceased ; Frederick, now of Patten; and Elmer, at home. Mr. Twitchell has a good farm north of Patten village about one and a half miles.

B. T. Elwell, of Patten, came from Belfast, Maine, in 1862. He is a son of George Washington Elwell, of Islesboro. G. Elwell married Abigail Pendleton, and had six children-Abigail, George Washington (de_ ceased), William T. (deceased), Harriet (deceased), Maria A., and Benjamin T. He was a sea captain, and lost his life at sea about 1812. Mrs. Elwell died in Oc- tober, 1860. Benjamin T. Elwell was born July 18, 1812. He spent some of his early life on the water, and in 1812 he bought a vessel and commanded it himself. He followed the sea a year or so; then he sold out and bought a farm in Montville, Maine. In 1842 he married Mrs. Betsey Morse, whose maiden name was Poor. She died in 1848, and Mr. E. married for his second wife Miss Martha Wilson, with whom he is now living about three miles from Patten Village. He lived five years in Mt. Chase, where he was a Selectman four years.

John R. Hammond, who was born May 18, 1822, in the town of Paris, Oxford county, Maine, is a son of Joseph and Lydia Hammond (nee Lydia Parsons), who had sixteen children, of whom about a dozen grew to man and womanhood. Joseph Hammond died about eighteen years ago, and Mrs. Hammond soon followed. John R. Hammond first settled in Crystal, Aroostook county, where he lived about ten years, and there mar- ried Jeanette A. Cushman. In 1855 he moved to Pat- ten and settled where he now lives. He has a fine farm and a very good set of farm buildings, and owns several hundred acres of land. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond have had seven children: Susan M., deceased; Dora A., wife of L. M. Grant, of Patten ; Adna O., deceased ; Florence M., wife of George T. Merrill, of Patten ; Eda, now at home.

One the early settlers and prominent men of Patten is Mr. E. G. Stetson, who came here in March, 1841, a month before the town was incorporated. He is a son of Abel Stetson, of Sumner, Oxford county, Maine. His grandfather, Hezekiah Stetson, was a native of Massa- chusetts, who came into the Province of Maine soon after the Revolutionary War. Elbridge Gerry Stetson was born June 15, 1811. He lived two years in Paris, Maine, ere coming to Patten after his marriage. In 1841 he built a store here, and a house the same year. He engaged in trade with Mr. Gardner six years, when he closed the partnership and continued in trade alone some six or seven years, when he sold out his goods,

since which he has been engaged in farming. He mar- ried Electa Walker, of Paris. They have had two chil- dren, viz : William H., deceased, and Mary A., wife of Calvin Bradford, of Patton. Mr. Stetson has often held prominent town office. Mrs. Stetson died in 1873.

Mr. Joseph Frye, but recently deceased, was born in Vermont. His father's name was Timothy H. Frye, who had five children, viz : Timothy H., Jr., Jacob, Abiah H., Rachel, deceased, and Jerome, of Patten. Jacob Frye came to Patten from Wilton, Maine, in 1840, as a peddler, and was afterwards engaged in the hotel business. He built a saw-mill here and manufactured lumber at one time. He established the cheese factory in Patten. After leaving the hotel he built a machine shop with Mr. Darling, and was for some time engaged in that. The hotel coming back on his hands, he sold out his interest in the shop and again went into the hotel. He died very suddenly August 13, 1881. He married for his first wife Paulina Pettigrew, by whom he had six children, all of whom are dead. Mrs. Frye died in 1873, and Mr. Frye married again, a Mrs. Burleigh, who is still living in Patten.

William B. Mitchell, of Patten, is a grandson of John Mitchell, who came to New Hampshire when a young man. He had five sons: Daniel, Samuel, Andrew, John, and Joseph. Joseph Mitchell, the youngest son, married Mercy Buzzell. They lived in Cambridge, Maine, and had nine children: Daniel, now of Cambridge; Nathaniel, of Harmony; John, deceased; Jonathan, of Cambridge; Joseph, of Union Village, New Hampshire; Jacob, of Union Village, New Hamp- shire; . William B .; Benjamin W., of Cambridge, and Alva W., of Cambridge. Joseph Mitchell died Au- gust 17, 1880. Mrs. Mitchell is living, now eighty-six years old. William B. Mitchell was born in Norway, Maine, January 21, 1830, and settled in Patten when eighteen years of age. He married Miss Joan F. Car- penter, daughter of John and Joan Carpenter, of Patten. They have five children: Jefferson C., of this town; Joseph ; Rice C .; Mary A., and Fred.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 120

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