History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 224

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 224

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A very singular system of branches, also, forms the heads of the Sunkhaze Stream - so involved in its char- acter as to be almost impossible of description, except by the aid of a carefully-elaborated map. Suffice it to say that, all the way from the east middle of the north edge of Bradley, and the extreme northeast corner of that town, along the west edge of Greenfield, and the east border of Milford, to the middle of the south edge of Greenbush, the headwaters of Sunkhaze are found in no less than eighteen brooks and rivulets. From the south, flowing to a junction with Sunkhaze nearly half- way across the town, is the Baker Brook. Next on the east, with its mouth little more than half a mile above that of Baker, is the Little Birch, which heads in three little branches on the east part of the south edge of the town, and flows northwest. In the same general direc- tion, also from three hearts, two of them neat the south east corner of the town, is the Big Birch, which, receiv- ing two more little affluents from the east, presently be- , comes the south branch of the Sunkhize, and, after a

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

total flow of nearly five miles, joins the north branch a mile and a half above the Little Birch, and with it forms the Sunkhaze. The north branch has its heads beyond the northeast angle of the town, in the borders of Green- field and Greenbush, and flows southwest about three and a half miles to the point of union. It receives one small tributary from the southeast on the way; also, from the north, less than a mile from the junction, the Spring Brook, which comes down two and a half miles from Greenbush, getting the increase of a small stream on the west, a mile from the North Branch. The Russell Branch, also of Greenbush origin, running two-thirds of a mile west of Spring, and in general parallelism with it, entering the Sunkhaze half a mile below the junction, completes the list of headwaters of the Sunkhaze. After receiving all these, it becomes a stream of quite respecta- ble size and flows in a tolerably broad current for about three miles below the mouth of the Baker Brook, until it reaches the Penobscot. Half a mile above its mouth, on the north side, it takes in a two-mile affluent called the Dudley Meadow Brook. Above this, and half a mile from the northwest corner of the town, a small stream flows into the Penobscot at Costigan Station, formed by two branches rising in Greenbush and Milford, respect- ively, and joining just east of the railroad.

The population of Milford is almost altogether clus- tered at Milford village and on the river road a mile be- low. There is a tolerably dense settlement, however, . just below the mouth of the Sunkhaze, and at Costigan Station, the post-office at which is called North Milford. A very few settlements have pushed into the interior in the southwest corner of the town, some of them getting within the enclosure of the Otter Chain Ponds. The only through roads of the town are the river road, passing through Milford village and keeping close to the Penob- scot; and one running east, south of east, and northeast in a devious route across the Baker, Little Birch, and Big Birch Brooks into Greenfield. A road also runs from the north part of Milford village to the Otter Chain.

HISTORICAL SKETCHES .*

Although this town has been settled about eighty years, it is largely forest, less than one-tenth of it being cleared land, which is mostly in the first tier of lots in the western part of the town, fronting on Penobscot River.

The underlying and predominating rock is mica schist ; the only granite found within the limits of the township is in the shape of granite bowlders scattered here and there over the surface. The surface of the township is mostly low and level in its character, there being no very extensive ridges.

In the western part of the town, commencing at the south line, the land is slightly undulating and sloping gently to the river for the most part. This portion of the town affords excellent and extensive water power, and is the most wealthy and populous part of the town.

On what is known as Oldtown Falls is a large block of saw-mills of ancient date and somewhat antiquated con- struction.

Around this has grown up the village of Milford, its entire business being lumber, and as a consequence it has had alternate periods of growth and depression as the demand for lumber has been brisk or otherwise.

In this part of the town is another water power of less importance than the first named, on which no improve- ments have ever been made.

The northwestern part of the town, which has always been known as Sunkhaze, is so low and flat that Penob- scot River freshets submerge a large part of it.

It is excellent grass land, ard more farming has always been done here than in any other part of the town.

The northeastern part of the town is yet in its natural state, forest and the large meadow on Sunkhaze Stream occupying the whole of it. The forest has been and is now the scene of extensive lumbering operations, and the meadow was the resort of the early settlers for hay, which grows wild in abundance, and even now is utilized, though to a less extent than formerly. The southwestern part of the town is in a wild state; fires have consumed a large part of the original timber and a second growth is coming rapidly forward and even now is of considerable value.

The soil as a whole is not of the highest order even for New England. On the river and streams it is excel- lent, being easy to work, warm and productive, but as you leave the water courses it becomes cold, clayey and rocky, but there is hardly an acre of waste land in the town, as by clearing and cultivating it could all be made to produce excellent crops of grass.

With the commencement of the present century was the beginning of Milford. In the year 1800, near where the residence of True G. Brown now is, was a log house occupied by a family by the name of Smith. Mr. Smith was what our Western friends would call a squatter, hav- ing no right to the land he occupied, and gained a living from the river and. the forest. About a year later than this the State of Massachusetts, to which Maine was then attached, sent out a surveying party to run out lots in Township No. 3, Old Indian Purchase ( Milford ). While surveying the township twelve of the party (whether the whole party or less history does not inform us), charmed with the fishing and hunting facilities of the country, selected lots on which to settle with their fami- lies. Early in the fall of 1802 they returned to their homes in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, fully determined to emigrate to the Eastern wilderness.

The approaching winter, the hardships of pioneer life, the opposition of wives and families, removed the gla- mour of the wilderness from their minds, and only one of the party had the nerve to carry out his purpose. At this time Bangor was a very small village. There were a few settlers at Orono, and a very few families within the present limits of Oldtown. A double saw-mill had been built in 1798, by Richard Winslow, on the Oldtown side of the river, which, with one frame house, was probably all that occupied the place where now is the village of Oldtown. In the month of December Joseph Butterfield reached the place that was henceforth to be his home. That winter Mr. Butterfield and his family dwelt in the

* By Mr. M. A. Austin, of Milford village.

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

log cabin of which previous mention has been made, with Mr. Smith, and busied himself in cutting timber with which to build himself a house. This timber was sawed at Winslow's mill, and in 1803 Butterfield erected the first frame house in Milford, on the orchard lot which his descendants still own. This house was for a long time one of the landmarks of Milford, standing' until a short time ago. The spot that Mr. Butterfield oc- cupied, though white neighbors were few and far between, was not a lonely one. It was in the very heart of the Tarratine country, having been purchased of them in 1796, only six years before.

The Tarratines had once been a powerful and war-like tribe, and were still numerous. The house of Mr. Butter- field was separated by a narrow channel of the Penobscot from the Tarratine metropolis. These Indians had been friendly to the English settlers since 1726, but at this time perhaps were not the most desirable neighbors.

Milford was still a "forest primeval." Although so near the Indian capital, and until so recently the property of the Indians, it was still a virgin forest. Its natural ap- pearance was unchanged. Thè "towering pines and the hemlocks" still stood unscathed by the woodman's axe; the Penobscot rolled its waters unvexed to the sea. All the natural wealth of the Penobscot Valley was still standing. The whole country was covered with pines, spruces, and hemlocks of the largest size and finest quality. What must have been the original aspect of the country when, after so many years of extensive and reck- less cutting, the lumber business is still the most impor- tant industry of the Penobscot Valley? The woods abounded in game. Moose, deer, and caribou were easily taken by the skillful hunter, while beaver, otter, and all the lesser fur-bearing animals were the sources of a traffic with the Indians which yielded rich returns to the white man.

The Penobscot fairly swarmed with the finest fish- salmon, shad, and alewives were taken in quantities that seem now almost incredible. Shad Rips and the falls were fishing grounds of the greatest importance, and were resorted to for years by settlers from all parts of the valley.

In such a country as this it will be seen that luxuries would not be easily obtained, but the necessaries of life -- shelter, food, and clothing-would be had without diffi- culty.

Here Mr. Butterfield lived-for a short time alone, per- haps-the Smith family soon disappearing from the scene -but other settlers began to come in, and at the com- mencement of the War of 1812 several families had set- tled in the town.

A short time after the settlement of that part of the town where Milford village now is, the upper part of the town began to be settled also. Who was the first occu- pant of that part of the town it is now impossible to de- termine, but it is certain that in the first decade of the century Sunkhaze, as it was called, had its beginning, and that Samuel Dudley and, perhaps, others, were set- tled on the south side of Sunkhaze Stream. Samuel Bailey was living on the north side of the same stream,

and an Irishman by the name of Larry Costigan was set- tled near the brook that now bears his name.

The war probably retarded the settlement of the town in a measure, but after the war the settlers began to come in slowly. Times were hard, the cold year (1816) and the scarcity occasioned by it turned the attention of the people of Maine to the milder climate and richer soil of the West, and what was known at the time as the "Ohio fever," was the result. Ohio was at that time a new State, and was supposed to offer better facilities than the bleak and barren East. A vast tide of emigration from Maine was the result. In every town farms were sold, stock disposed of, and every road filled with teams bound for the fair and fertile West. This was before the era of railroads, and a long and tedious journey was before the emigrant ere the enchanted ground was reached. The magnitude of this emigration may be divined when we learn that it reached No. 3, as Milford was then called.

Colonel Ingalls, whose family was one of the seven or eight that then occupied the township, was seized with the Ohio fever and emigrated with all his family except one daughter, who remained, becoming the wife of John Butterfield, the only son of Joseph Butterfield, just be- fore the departure of her parents.

At this time the northern part of the town began to take the lead, and Sunkhaze began to assume local im- portance. The townships further up the river began to be settled and the lumber business to be developed.

The person who did most to shape the destiny of the embryo town was William Bridge. The exact date of his arrival does not appear. He came from Massachu- setts, and for a number of years was engaged in the fish business. He purchased fish of the Indians, which he cured and salted for export. He no doubt foresaw the capabilities of the place, and through his representation Mr. Fiske, a capitalist of Boston, was induced to join with him in the purchase of the township. They are re- ported to have paid for it twelve and one-half cents per acre to the State of Massachusetts for the entire town- ship except the few lots occupied by actual settlers. The business first engaged in by Mr. Bridge was fishing and trading with the Indians. This traffic was mostly in fish and furs, and shortly after the purchase of the township by Messrs. Fiske and Bridge a small store was built by them on the point where the ferry then was. Here they traded in a quiet way for some years, lumbering a little also, but making no attempts to improve the water power. This was about the time that Maine was ad- mitted to the Union as a State, just before which No. 3 was made a Plantation and was known henceforth as Sunkhaze Plantation until its incorporation as the town of Milford.

At the time of the admission of Maine the country was nearly recovered from the effects of the late war, and the policy of the successful and satisfactory administra- tion of Mr. Monroe gave a great impetus to business and created a demand for lumber, and the few saw-mills that were built at Oldtown, Orono, and further down the river were making some money. As yet none had been built at Milford.

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

A hotel had been built at Sunkhaze before 1820. It is still standing, and is known as the old Amos Bailey stand. A store, perhaps two, had been built in the upper part of the town by this time, but they were not doing what at this time would be considered a large business. From 1820 to 1825 were quiet years at the lower end of the town. Messrs. Fisk & Bridge were still fishing and trading, but no change of moment was made in this part of the town.

Sunkhaze increased somewhat in population, the build- ing of the highway from the north line of Milford to the north line of Lincoln, which the State was then doing, and the increase in the lumber business, had caused an- other tavern to be built there, but Sunkhaze was soon to lose its supremacy. A movement was on foot to improve the water-power in the southern part of the town, and in 1826 the first saw-mill was built in Milford. A double saw-mill was built first. It is now standing, but instead of the two single saws, as at the time it was built, it con- tains the gang of saws known as No. 3.

The following year a second double mill was built on the shore, inside of the first-named, damming the river having caused a washout that was easiest repaired by erecting a mill. This mill is now occupied by a circular saw of the latest pattern, and a clapboard machine, and would probably surprise its original constructor, a cele- brated millwright of the early days of Penobscot, by the name of Godfrey.

Fiske & Bridge continued to build mills until 1833, when the whole mill was completed. It stands now in outward appearance nearly the same as at its completion. When completed it consisted of eight double mills, con- taining seventeen single saws. The old machinery and wheels have nearly all been replaced with machinery of more modern construction. The building of these mills made a great change in the town. Milford village came into existence, and being the centre of business it at once took the lead of Sunkhaze, which it will maintain, prob- ably forever.

At this time, too, the Military Road, as it was called, was being built from Lincoln to Houlton, an appropria- tion having been obtained from the General Government during the administration of John Quincy Adams. The building of this road and the hauling of supplies over it for the garrison then, and for many years afterwards maintained at Houlton, made business extremely lively, and was a fruitful source of revenue to the taverns along the road. At that time there were three in Sunkhaze alone, all doing a lively business.

These were the palmy days of Milford. Andrew Jack- son was President, and it was flush times all over the country.

The business street of Milford in the early days was what is now known as Ferry street, at the foot of which was the ferry to Oldtown. The building of the Milford toil brige in 1830, some distance below, caused a gradual transfer to what is now known as Main street. This con- dition of things will probably be a lasting one.

The building of the mills and the prosperous condition of business generally, caused Sunkhaze Plantation to

grow ambitious, and in the winter of 1833 a bill was passed by the Legislature, incorporating it into a town by the name of Milford. It was named for Milford, Massachusetts, from which the early settlers of Sunkhaze came.

The act of incorporation was signed by Governor Samuel E. Smith on the 28th February, 1833. It bears the signatures of Francis O. J. Smith, who for the six succeeding years was a member of the State Legisla- ture as President of the Senate, and Nathan Clifford as Speaker of the House, whose fame has since become na- tional as Attorney-General and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. From some cause which does not now appear, the act of incorporation was not accepted until the spring of 1835. On March 23 of that year Benjamin Johnston, a Justice of the Peace, issued his warrant to Joseph Demerritt, commanding him to notify the legal voters of the town to meet at the school-house in the south part of the town, to organize under the terms of the act, and to choose the necessary town officers.

Accordingly, on the 4th day of April, 1835, the act of incorporation was accepted and the town organized. At the first meeting of the legal voters of the new town Benjamin Johnston was chosen Moderator, Alexander Woodard Town Clerk, Benjamin Johnston, Nathaniel Gerrish, and Ebenezer Toothaker, Selectmen; Saul Dud- ley, Town Agent; Peleg Hall, Alfred O. Ingersoll, and Alanson Austin, School Committee. At this time the town was divided into two school districts, and Samuel Wright and Charles Brown were chosen School Agents. Previous to 1835 there was a dispute between Milford and Orono (then including Oldtown) about the dividing line, and in 1833 the Selectmen of Orono taxed the eight saws lying outside the sluiceway at Milford, claiming that said sluiceway was the main channel of the river and · that the outside saws were within the limits of Orono, and should be taxed accordingly. This claim the inhab- itants of Milford considered a most decided aggression. They accordingly appealed to the Supreme Court to de- cide the matter.

The Court appointed three commissioners to'decide where the boundary was between the towns. The com- missioners made an elaborate report deciding against the town of Orono, and establishing the lines as they now are.

This was the era of speculation. General Jackson had declared war against the United States Bank; Con- gress had refused to renew its charter, and the policy of the Government in depositing its funds in certain of the State banks had caused them to be greatly multiplied. The issue of such immense quantities of paper money caused a general rise in values and made this a period of wild and reckless speculation. This was all well enough while it lasted, but inflation then as now had its limit, and in 1837 the bubble burst. The good times of Jackson's administration was followed by the hard times that weighed down President Van Buren's administration. The financial disaster that overspread the country was nowhere more severely felt than in Eastern Maine. It

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE

was severely felt in Milford, and for a number of years no houses were built, no further improvements were made on the water-power, and with the exception of changes in the machinery but little has been done since.

Before the financial crash of 1837 Messrs. Fiske & Bridge had been endeavoring to develop the water- power to a greater extent, and it was supposed by many of the inhabitants that but a few years would elapse be- fore the town would become a city, but their hopes were now deferred for a time at least, and that time is still in the future.

Financial depressions do not last always, and the effects of the panic of 1837, though felt for several years, were followed by good times.

The Penobscot country had come to be the great lum- bering country of the East, and kept pace with the growth and improvement of the Nation. The stringency of the times diminished the cut of logs for a time, but the demand for lumber was soon active enough to em- ploy all the saws on the river, and Milford had its share of the business. The mills were run night and day, and the large number of men employed made it brisk busi- ness for the merchants and hotel-keepers. At this time ('38 to '40) there were four stores and two hotels in Mil- ford village. In Sunkhaze there were two stores and three taverns. Among the traders in Milford village was Samuel F. Hersey, who afterwards removed to Bangor, and died a few years ago a member of Congress and a millionaire. He occupied a store just below where the Willey Tavern (now the American House) stands. He was an enterprising, genial man, and was quite popular. He was Town Clerk in 1839, on the School Board in 1840, and was a candidate for Representative to the Leg- islature in 1841. In the year 1839 the dispute in regard to the Northeastern Boundary culminated in what is popu- larly known as the " Aroostook war." The section of country watered by the Aroostook and St. John Rivers being claimed by Great Britain as a part of the territory of New Brunswick, the permitting of timber on the Aroostook by that Province roused the State of Maine, and the Governor ordered four companies of militia to the disputed section to drive off the intruders. These companies were to accompany the Sheriff of Penobscot county as a posse comitatus. One of these companies was from Oldtown, known in those days as the Rac- caribas. In its ranks were quite a number of the citi- zens of Milford, who endured all the hardships of the ex- pedition and the ridicule that was cast upon it through the masterly retreat of the Sheriff and the flight of its commander. There was no tragedy, but a good deal of farce. The leaders were responsible for this; the pri- vates did their duty and afterwards received land war- rants from the General Government.

In the election of 1840 Edward Kent was elected Governor by a decisive majority, and General Harrison was elected President. This was very pleasing to most of the citizens of Milford, which had been before and afterwards continued to be a stalwart Whig town. The canal at this time was occupied by a grist-mill and shingle- and clapboard-mill, but in 1842 Rufus Daven-

port established a pail-factory thereon that for a time did an immense business. It did too much business in fact. He made pails faster than he could sell them, and, having overstocked the market, he suspended operations. He got rid of his buildings at once, easily disposing of them by moving them off and making them into dwellings, but he carried a stock of pails several years.

There had been but little change in the appearance of the town for several years, but the lumbering business continuing to prosper, a larger cut of logs was made in the winter of 1844-45 than in any previous year ; some building began to be done, especially on the upper end of the main street.

About this time Samuel Wright, who had been agent for the Mill Company since the commencement of their operations, resigned his position and was succeeded by Rufus Davenport.

In the latter part of May, 1849, William Bridge died. He had commenced his career in his younger days with high hopes of wealth and prosperity, but he was doomed to disappointment. His latter days were crowded with misfortunes, and death was probably welcomed by him.

The discovery of gold in Califorina in 1848, and the rapid development of that country caused a fever in Mil- ford, as it did in other parts of the country. A great exodus took place, many of the smartest and most enter- prising young men emigrating to the golden shores of the Pacific. It was supposed that a great influx of wealth would be the result, and it was said that a bank would have to be established, but the wealth did not A come in and the bank has not yet been founded. large number of those who went out at this time died soon after reaching the land of promise. Some have never returned and most of those who have come back have never seemed to be overburdened with " filthy lucre."

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 224

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