History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 213

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 213

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Prior to 1776 what is now the township of Bradley was a part of the six-mile strip, extending from the head

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of the tide on the left bank to the head of the Penobscot River. In the year 1796 it was purchased of the authorities of the Penobscot or Tarratine tribe by commissioners of the State of Massachusetts, and was shortly after surveyed and opened for settlement. It was known from this time as No. 4, until its incorpo- ration.

In 1774 the celebrated chief, Orono, was settled just across the Penobscot from Bradley, and before the peace of 1783 it is probable that the white man's axe had made its mark on the virgin forest of this town, and that a log cabin had been erected which afforded shelter to some hardy pioneer, and was the extreme northern limit of civilization on the left bank of the Penobscot when the army of Lord Cornwallis was cooped up at Yorktown, and the soldiers of France and America were performing the gallant deed that gave to the United States an undisputed place among the nations of the earth.

At the time the white man made his appearance within the limits of what is now the town of Bradley, Orono was at the head of the Penobscot tribe. He was then quite old, and was, as he always had been, quite friendly to the white settlers. The very few settlers who were in this town previous to its purchase by the whites in 1796, were not regarded with any but the most friendly feelings. Before the beginning of the present century, families by the name of Oliver, Spencer, Blackman, and probably others, were occupying No. 4, Old Indian Purchase, as Bradley was then called.

This was before the era of lumbering, and hunting, fishing and farming were the only avocations open to the early settlers.

Game was abundant and taken without difficulty. In the springtime the river abounded in the finest fish, and the pioneer settler of those days soon made an opening on the bleak hill sides, and the tasseled corn and waving rye grew up around the blackened stumps and prostrate trunks of trees-all that axe and fire had left of trees that had battled with the breezes of centuries.

It is one of the lost arts at this time, but our forefath- ers knew how to carve out a living for themselves and families on the thin soil of Eastern Maine; and they took possession of the wilderness in spite of its cold and in- hospitable climate. The first settlers of Bradley were not deterred by the rigors of the Northern wilderness. For luxuries they cared little, and when the log cabins were erected they were satisfied to wait until such time as they had wrested from their sterile surroundings the means to erect better and more commodious habitations. They were not obliged to clear extensive tracts for pas- turing purposes. The wilderness afforded a wide range, and marking their cattle they made it a common pasture for all who chose to occupy it. The large meadow on Great Works Stream was taken possession of for a hay field. It was a primitive way of living, but it is these primitive methods that have developed a large portion of our country.

At first Bradley progressed slowly. The settlers were all on the main river, and here they were not at all crowded. The pioneer settler is not apt to be. He re-

quires a large amount of room, and when his neighbors become too handy he is pretty sure to advance still further into the wilderness. But quite early in the cen- tury a settlement was begun several miles up Great Works Stream, and a few years afterwards a saw-mill was built here. The mill was burnt sometime afterward, but it was and is now known as the Buck Mills.

At the commencement of the last war (1812) quite a number of families were occupying No.4, and were living in the way that has been described. The war, probably, in a measure, retarded the development of the place, and for several years after the war the business of the country was in such a condition that but little attention was paid to the undeveloped region of Eastern Maine. But by 1820 a tide of emigration was attracted towards the Pe- nobscot, and Bradley commenced to make an increase. At this time the lumberirg resources of the Penobscot began to attract attention and mills had been built at various places along the river.

The manufacturing facilities of the town began to be recognized and mills were built at Bradley. At this time a man by the name of Wilson had put up a double saw- mill on the falls. He also traded in a small way, keep- ing a limited stock of goods in his dwelling house. Shortly afterwards Frederick Spofford built a saw-mill and a small store, and did business on the most extensive scale that had yet been done in the township. A mill was soon after built in Blackman Stream which, with the mill that was built on Great Works Stream by Coolridge, made ample saw-mill accommodations for the settlers and pro- duced some lumber for export.

Prior to 1825 Bradley was known as No. 4 Plantation, but was probably not legally organized until the year just named. In that year John Wilson, Treasurer of Pe- nobscot county, informed the inhabitants of No. 4 that they must pay a county tax, and that they must organ- ize as a plantation by choosing officers and report to him or his successors the action taken by them.

It appears that Thomas S. Cram was acting as Clerk, and he accordingly warned the inhabitants to meet and perfect their organization. They met according to notice and Frederick Spofford was chosen Moderator, Thomas S. Cram, Town Clerk; Thomas S. Cram, George Vincent, and Frederick Spofford, Assessors; Bradley Blackman, Treasurer. Mr. Blackman was Treasurer of the Planta- tion and of the town of Bradley for many years, and took quite an important part in the early settlement of the township. At this time No. 4 was classed with Brewer, Orrington, and Eddington, for the purpose of electing a Representative to the Legislature. When the Plantation was organized it contained two school districts, and Moses Knapp and Jordan Grant were chosen School Agents.

From this time the progress of the Plantation was quite rapid, and the improvement of the water-power on the Penobscot on an extensive scale was the commencement of the village of Bradley, or Great Works, as it was for a long time and is now sometimes called.

The organization of the Great Works Milling and Manufacturing Company, and the building of the large

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block of mills about 1833, was a great event for Bradley, and established a business that has ever since been kept on a flourishing basis.

The building of these mills started several stores into operation. These mills and the business established by them made the Plantation ambitious, and a movement was started to incorporate a new town. Accordingly the Legislature was petitioned for that purpose. This was in 1834, and on the 3d of February, 1835, the Governor signed a bill incorporating the town.

The inhabitants of the town, at a meeting held on the 29th of June, 1835, accepted the act of incorporation, and organized by choosing the proper officers. At this meeting Nelson C. Pratt was chosen Moderator; Joseph Williams, Clerk; Joseph Williams, Reuben Pratt, and John D. Carter, Selectmen; Bradley Blackman, Treasurer.

It is said that the town was named Bradley as a com- pliment to Bradley Blackman, one of the oldest settlers, who had been one of the prominent citizens of the Planta- tion. The Blackmans were among the earliest settlers, and there are now and always have been quite a number of families by that name resident in the town.

The condition of business at the time the town was in- corporated was very flourishing. It was a period of ac- tivity and speculation. Everything was run on the high- pressure principle. The timber land of the Penobscot Valley was in great demand, and purchasers were flock- ing thither from all parts of the country. Prices, too, were inflated to the utmost, and when the panic of 1837 came the crash that ensued was sharp and sudden. Be- fore the collapse everybody (for every person was specu- lating in something, either timber land or town lots) was rich. After this, all but the very few fortunate ones who had sold at the right moment were poor. It was quite a blow to Bradley village, then just developing, for the times for several years following were quite hard. But the mills which had just been built were kept running, and in a few years matters began to improve again. At this time the mills were all single saws, which were just adapted to the logs then cut. All the lumber cut on the river was pine of the largest size and of a quality that would astonish the lumbermen of the present day. It was sawed into such lumber as the market called for, made into immense rafts at the foot of the mills, floated by the current of the river to Bangor, where it was shipped to Boston and such other ports as required.

Bradley was invariably fortunate in one thing-the mills at the village have always been in, good hands. At this time the owners were practical lumbermen, and en- gaged in the business themselves. In many of the other towns on the river the mills have been and are now owned by capitalists who rent saws to parties who oper- ate them by cutting or buying logs which they manufac- ture into lumber. This lumber they run to Bangor to commission merchants, who sell for them at a com- mission on long lumber of five per cent. Rents and com- missions take a large part of the profits and in dull times saws are not always rented. But in Brad- ley the mills have generally been run. The owners being engaged in the lumber business themselves have

kept the mills in good condition and kept them in oper- ation, the only difference to them being that in dull times the ledger showed a smaller percentage of profit.

In 1839 George Vincent, one of the prominent citizens of Bradley, was a candidate for Representative to the State Legislature for the district in which Bradley was included, but he was not elected. The next year Brad- ley was more fortunate, and Hiram Emery was chosen to the same office. Mr. Emery was connected with the mills at Bradley at that time, and was quite an important citizen of the town. He was chosen to all the important offices in the gift of the inhabitants, and was Town Clerk for a long series of years; the records written down by him are models which future clerks may well imitate.

The period extending from 1840 to 1850 was a pros- perous one; the mills were kept running to their full ca- pacity. The Bradley lumbermen were active and enter- prising, and the village of Bradley, or Great Works, that was growing up around the large block of mills on the river made quite an increase in this decade. The farm- ing population of the town also made some improvements in the appearance and condition of the land they culti- vated; but the abundance of lumber and the facilities for producing it have caused farming to be regarded as a matter of little importance in almost all the towns on the upper Penobscot. But a change is beginning to be felt in this respect, and the scarcity and diminished cut of lumber will soon give to farming the respect and im- portance to which it is entitled.

Some changes in the machinery of the mills were made at this time. Gang mills had come into vogue as an improvement on the old single saw, and iron wheels were rapidly taking the place of the old wooden flutter wheel. The primitive form of iron wheel would be re- garded as quite a curiosity in these days of turbines and improved turbines; but they were received with great favor at the time of their introduction, and indeed they were well adapted to the privileges then generally in use on the Penobscot, where water was so abundant at all seasons of the year, that but little heed was taken to save it. The operators in Bradley at this time were Eddy & Murphy, Newell Avery, and others.

Eddy & Murphy afterwards went to Michigan and en- gaged in lumbering there. Mr. Murphy is still a resident of that State, and is one of the solid men of that section. At a later date Avery also went to Michigan, where he likewise engaged in the lumber business. He was very fortunate and became quite wealthy. At that time and a little later, when the West was being opened up to set- tlement, and its natural advantages for lumbering on an extensive scale were being availed of, it was often the case that many of the most successful operators were from the Penobscot country, the experience acquired there insuring them success in the newer and richer country. Others besides those named went from Brad- ley to Michigan and the Northwest, and have been more successful, probably, in the newer and richer West than they would have been on the Penobscot. By the year 1850 the Bradley mills were in outward appearance nearly the same as they are now, and the internal arrange-

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ment did not present a very great difference. They con- tained more single saws, and less short lumber was pro- duced than at the present time. The large block on the main river, the small mill near the mouth of Great Works Stream, owned by Nehemiah Kittredge, and the mills on Blackman's Stream, were all actively employed. The lumber business was good, and until 1857 there was no time that lumber was not in demand. Everybody was employed who wished to work, at good wages. But the town did not grow so fast as it did the preceding decade; but that is easily accounted for. The lumber business had reached its maximum limit. All the water-powers below the boom were occupied by saw-mills. A quantity of logs sufficient to stock the mills was cut each year. This is the reason why the villages on the Penobscot, which started up so rapidly with the building of a block of saw-mills, have made no greater progress. The lum- ber business soon reached the point where no increase could be made, and when that point was reached but little progress was made afterwards. So it was with Bradley. Its period of rapid growth had passed, and its growth from this time forward if sure was to be slow.

The manifestations from which Spiritualism took its rise had happened a short time before this, and when the new doctrine began to be accepted as spiritual or relig- ious belief, it found many adherents in Bradley. Hosea B. Emery, an enterprising merchant and one of the lead- ing citizens of Bradley, was one of the firmest believers in the new faith, and his influence had much to do with the strong hold that Spiritualism took in Bradley. His house was a headquarters of the new belief, and medi- ums and lecturers were always welcome. By him and many others Spiritualism was earnestly believed, and it always has been, and is now accepted by many of the citizens of Bradley.

In 1851 Bradley was classed with the towns of Hol- den, Clifton, Eddington, Milford, and Greenbush, into a representative district, and the same classification has been maintained ever since. Arrangements were made in the first conventions held by the different parties after the classification, assigning years in which the different towns should be entitled to nominate the candidates for Representatives. As matters were arranged Bradley was entitled to the candidates in 1853 and 1858. Edwin Eddy was chosen by the District in 1853, and also in 1858. In 1853 he was elected by the Democrats, and in 1858 by the Republican party. The town of Bradley, as well as the district of which it is a part, had been pretty uni- formly Democratic until the formation of the Republican party, when a change occurred, and this town, as well as the district, has rolled up a strong majority for the Re- publicans nearly ever since.

At the March meeting in 1857 the electors of the town by vote instructed the Selectmen to authorize one man to sell spirituous liquors and " to shut up all other places so as not to leak a drop."

No tavern has ever been kept here, and Bradley has an excellent record as a temperance town, though at times there have been shops that retailed ardent spirits. But the general sentiment of the town has always been opposed to

the selling or drinking of spirituous liquors as a beverage. The vote of the town was, perhaps, obeyed that year, but since then there have been places that leaked to an ex- tent that can hardly be measured by drops, yet these places have not been allowed to have a long run, and of late years the town has been generally free from places of this kind.

Bradley has never been encroached upon by railroads. In its plantation days a project was formed and a charter obtained for a railroad from Bucksport to Milford, fol- lowing the Penobscot River on the eastern shore. This railroad would have crossed the western part of Bradley, and would at this time be a great help to the lumber bus- iness, but it was never built, and as a railroad has been built on the other bank of the river it perhaps never will be. Before the building of the European & North American Railway, an express was run in connection with the Bangor, Oldtown & Milford Railroad, and though rather a roundabout way to Bangor, it was bet- ter than no railroad. The building of the European & North American Railway has made a more convenient conveyance, a ferry connecting Bradley with the village of West Great Works, in Oldtown, which is a station on that road. It has been proposed to build a bridge across the Penobscot here. This would afford Bradley all the rail- way facilities needed, and perhaps it will soon be done.

The census taken in 1860 showed only an increase of six and one-fourth per cent. in the population of the town, but the increase in valuation was much larger, showing that the wealth of the town increased faster than the population.

In 1861 the war for the preservation of the Union commenced, and the Government called for the support of all its citizens. Bradley did not waver in the least in its support, and all the regiments raised in the eastern part of the State contained its representatives. On the vari- ous battlefields in which they were engaged they fought faithfully, and the town has reason to be proud of its part in the war. The war lasted longer than many sup- posed it would, and calls for men came thick and fast. Volunteers did not come forward fast enough to supply the demand, and a draft was ordered; but drafts were never popular in this section, and at a later date volun- teers were raised, but at an immense cost. A large debt was incurred as a legacy of the war, but it was cheerfully borne and the taxation made necessary by it was paid in later years without murmuring.

The first year of the war was a hard one as far as the lumber business was concerned, but the subsequent years, of great activity in business. The immense disburse- ments of the Government, and the large issues of paper money, made this a period of great activity, and had not every household been lamenting the absent ones, it might have been regarded as a time of happiness and prosperity.

In 1861 Edwin Eddy was again elected Representa- tive to the Legislature, being the third time he had been thus honored.

In 1865 the war ended and many families were made happy in Bradley by the return of the loved ones. But not all of those who went forth so gladly and bravely

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when their country called returned; some had fallen in the contest, and the "sacred soil" of Virginia was their last resting place. But though they returned not, they live still in the hearts of those who knew and loved them, and in the grateful memories of all who love their coun- try. The year 1865 was a good one for business, though many predicted the contrary. But the prosperity occa- sioned by the immense expenditures of the war was still kept up, and the year following was one of the best as far as business was concerned. There was no drought, and an immense stock of logs was in the river. Orders for lumber were plenty, and lumbermen generally were making money.

About this time a lodge of Good Templars was started in Bradley village, and since that time it has generally been kept in a flourishing condition. This fact speaks volumes for the citizens of Bradley, as it requires deep interest and active effort in temperance work to maintain a lodge of Good Templars in good working condition for so long a time in so small a place. To do this the town must be pervaded by a good, healthy temperance sentiment; and there is no doubt but Bradley is in an excellent position as far as the tem- perance question is concerned.

In 1867 times were still good and the Bradley Mills, then operated by Cutler, Thatcher & Co., and Babb & Strickland, two Bangor concerns, were kept in active operation. All other branches of business were good also. The village was improving in appearance and increasing, though somewhat slowly, in population. The farmers, too, were prosperous and busy.

At this time a project was started to build a hall at the village, the need of which was severely felt. It was started by the right persons, and was pushed forward to a successful completion. It is a large and convenient hall, and is just where it was needed by the village. It stands on the main street in a convenient and accessi- ble location. When completed it was called Union Hall in honor of the unity of spirit and sentiment that charac- terized its builders.

In 1868 Bradley again had the honor of sending a Representative to the Legislature. Francis Blackman was chosen to represent the district by a large majority.

The lumber business continued good, and in 1870 Messrs. Sawyer & Sons built a steam mill on Great Works Stream, near its entrance to the main river. It was the first steam mill ever built in Bradley, but it was not a success financially. Bradley is so plentifully supplied with water power that there seems to be no need of steam power.

The census of 1870 showed only a small increase in the number of inhabitants, but twenty-three having been added during the ten years preceding; but the valuation had increased $52,000, showing that the town had been and was in a pretty prosperous condition. Matters re- mained in much the same condition for the next three years; the currency of the country was still in an inflated condition, and but few foresaw the financial stringency that must be endured before the water would be evapo- rated from the business of the country.

In 1873 the panic came, and the five succeeding years were years of dullness and depression. It was the dullest period that was ever felt in the country, and labor was duller, perhaps, than anything else. In hard times food is as absolutely necessary as at any time; clothing cannot be conveniently dispensed with ; but new houses are not built, and old ones are not repaired much, when every energy is employed to drive the wolf from the door.

But Bradley did not feel the hard times nearly so much as most of the other towns on the river. In the depressed state of the labor market and the intense com- petition of unemployed labor, wages must and did fall to a very low figure; but the mills at Bradley were in the right hands, owned and operated by the same men. They were kept running when most others were shut down. The hard times seemed to make but little dif- ference with the Bradley mills. Logs were still bought and driven to the mill, and the cut of lumber was nearly as large as in the palmiest period of the lumber trade; and that, too, right in the face of the fact that the mills were not connected with any railroad, and most of the lumber was transported to market in the old-fashioned manner of the primitive lumberman. It speaks in the high- est terms of the business ability of the operators of the Bradley mills, that they were able to saw so much when most other concerns were doing little or nothing.

In 1873 Bradley sent another Representative to the Legislature in the person of Job Brawn. He was elected by a handsome majority, and made an excellent member.

In 1875 the Baptist people of Bradley began to think themselves able to support a church organization. They accordingly took the necessary steps to perfect one. June 12 a meeting was held, and J. M. Bragg, E. A. Bragg, John Coulter, Hannah Coulter, Peter Curtis, Lizzie Curtis, Sarah Sawyer, M. Welch, Cvnthia McIn- tosh, Ida Bean, Clara Gilman, Nettie Welch, Lillian Col- lins, and Warren Davis formally organized themselves into a church. J. M. Bragg was deacon, and Rev. Mr. Preston, of Oldtown, was the first pastor. This was the first church organization in the town, but meetings had always been held, though somewhat irregularly at times. The religious condition of the town was always on a par with the neighboring towns, and the reason that a church had not been organized before was because so many dif- ferent sects were represented. The new church has regularly kept up its meetings, and though not strong enough to support a pastor by itself, by connecting itself with Oldtown but few Sabbaths have passed without the presence of a minister of the Gospel.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 213

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