History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 6

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 6

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On the south side of Trout Brook Farm in No. 6, R. 9, upon a hill, a hornstone is developed, apparently dipping 45 degrees southerly. The hill appears to be the northern terminus of the Traveller range. It is probably underlaid by the slates just described on Grand Lake, which crop out upon the same hill.

GEOLOGY OF THE SEBOOIS.

The Seboois river joins the East Branch of the Penobscot in No. 3, R. 7. At its mouth the banks are alluvial. The rock first seen is the clay slate series, which on the East branch is found to extend as high as the Pond Pitch. This extends to the upper part of No. 4, dipping 80 degrees east. Peaked Mountain in this township is composed of a conglomerate, probably a part of the series found between the Grand Falls and Grand Lake. Large beds of limestone, containing the Favosites Gothlandica, which are probably the Lower Helderberg series, are also found about the mountain. The mountain has been

cut through by a huge mass of trap, which has produced changes on the adjacent strata. The southern peak is composed of amygdaloid and hornstone. This is supposed to be the same with the trap below Pond Pitch. The central peak is composed of coarse conglomerate traversed by veins of calcite. Boulders of red sandstone are found on the surface. The top of the mountain is 660 feet above the river.

Above this mountain, the river finds its way among precipices of sandstone, 200 or 300 feet high. At the mouth of Jerry Brook, on the west bank of the Seboois, in No. 5, R. 7, red sandstone appears, dip- ping 75 degrees southeast. Sugar Loaf, on the east side of the Seboois, 1900 feet high, is composed of sandstone and clay slate cut through by a dike of trap 500 feet wide. The slates adjacent to the trap have been changed into jasper, hornstone, and compact feldspar. Nodules of calcite and epidote occur in the amygdaloid part of the trap. The jasper bed is 10 feet wide.

At Chegalapscagos Falls, red slate rocks are found, dipping north- westerly 80 degrees. Above the falls numerous dikes of trap rock and masses of jasper abound. Large boulders of the fossiliferous Helder- berg limestone are also found in the vicinity. In the south part of No. 6, the red slates dip 60 degrees N. W., then to the S. E., and presently to the N. W. again. At Godfrey's Falls, in about the middle of No. 6, the rocks are slates. Near the first Seboois Lake in No. 7, there is a fine development of the Lower Helderberg limestone. It is 90 feet wide, a bed inclosed in sandstone and brecciated by the intrusion of scoriaceous trap. Encrinites and the common favosite coral abound in the rock. Some parts of the bed are described as a good marble.

The rocks upon the third Seboois Lake are argillaceous limestones, sandstone, and trap. No rocks are observed upon the La Pompique stream.

Dr. Holmes, in passing from Matagamon Lake, on the East Branch, up Hay Brook, found perpendicular seams running through slate, with an east and west direction. About a mile above the mouth of the Mooseluck stream, in No. 8, R. 8, he found a ledge of coarse conglom- erate.

HELDERBERG LIMESTONES AND MARBLES.

Dr. Holmes made a report upon these to Professor Hitchcock, from 'which we extract some paragraphs:

Among other objects of this expedition, I was requested to trace what I could of the localities and. boundaries of the lower Helderberg marbles, or limestone formations that occur in this section of the State, and report to you. I have done in regard to it what the shortness of the time and the lack of some facilities allowed me. The more and further I searched into this branch of our geological formations, the more impressed I became of the ultimate value they will be to this sec- tion, and indeed to the whole State, and of the importance of longer time being devoted exclusively to their study and examination. A belt or formation of rock which, as I found, stretches in a continuous direction across not less than five townships, occasionally cropping out and at each locality of its appearance exhibiting surroundings and ac- companiments each of different character, could not be thoroughly explored and all its characteristics ascertained in the three or four weeks allotted to this section, and that time interrupted by a search for objects pertaining to other branches of natural history.

On page 364 of your first report, in speaking of the geology of the Wassattiquoik while on your way to Katahdin, you observe that 'on the Wassittiquoik, near its mouth, we found ledges of a blueish quartz rock very evenly stratified. Above them, on the bank, the boulders and large masses of limestone similar to those seen at Whetstone falls are so numerous that we believe the rock to be in place close by, certainly less than half a mile, if indeed we did not find it in place.'

Your conjectures were right. Had you turned and gone up the north branch of the Wassittiquoik a little way into township 4, in the 9th range, you would have found the site from which the boulders you saw started. It is the first locality, or cropping out of this belt of the lower Helderberg formation, east of Mt. Katahdin .*

I was not able to give this locality a personal examination, but ob- tained reliable description of its location from a person [Mr. David Malcolm, of Patten] who had visited the spot, clambered over the bluff it formed on the bank of the stream, and showed me specimens of the rock identical in their composition and structure with the rock which I visited last year in Murch's lake, in the next township north- east of this (No. 5, R. 8.).

".This is undoubtedly the first belt of rock from which the boulders of fine statuary marble, discovered in 1861, were derived.

C. H. H.

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Considering its geological position and surroundings this locality is one of peculiar interest, situated as it is almost at the base of Katah- din, with its granite battlements guarding it on the west and south --- the trap rocks of the Lunksoos range on the north, and the quurtz rock of the Maine Wassattiquoik on the east. I leave it to you and other geologists to decide the seniority of age and priority of occupation of these several formations, and to explain by what arrangement of nature this rock, so full of the remains of organic life, was placed in almost juxtaposition with such azoic neighbors. The one full of tangible proofs of an age teeming with aquatic animal and vegetable life and exhibiting through its structure the outward forms and shapes of former living tenants of an ocean in which they existed, and from which they drew their sustenance ; the others the very reverse of this-hard, crys- talline in feature-silent as to any definite condition of the past-giving no sign of any association with life at any period-their clearest mani- festations being those of an escape from heat of great intensity, and of convulsive earthquakes which have shaken and shivered the neighbor- ing mountains and scattered their rough and angular fragments on every side. Whatever may be the theoretic speculations on this subject, one thing is certain. When the advance of settlement up the Penob- scot shall bring mankind in grearer numbers into this section, and the accumulations of thrift and industry shall enable them to erect mills and houses and public buildings, they will here find no dearth of most durable material for the same-no scarcity of granite and lime and marble to meet all the demands and purposes that may be ever required for architectural strength, endurance and beauty .*

The general direction of the strata is northeasterly. The extent of the formation I am not able to give. It becomes covered by the soil, and is hidden from view. Pursuing the general course of the strike, which leads you in a direction across the township diagonally, it again turns up at the Tunnel rocks in Murch's or Horseshoe lake in the next township, No. 5, R. 8. As a pretty full description of this local- ity has been given in last year's report, it will not be necessary to say more here in regard to it. It is well, however, to note it, as being the next link in the chain of these Helderberg formations, the existence of which this survey has been instrumental in discovering.

The next show of it, on this line of strike, is that discovered by Dr. Jackson, at the foot of first Seboois lake, an extract from whose description you gave in your first report (page 413). On his authority it is stated to be in township No. 7. I did not arrive at the rock in place when at that lake, but judging from the range of the boulders and other observations, I think, instead of being in No. 7, it is in upper, or northeast part of No. 6 of the 7th range.+

Dr. Jackson also describes a locality of this rock on Peaked moun- tain, in No. 4 of R. 7. I have not seen this, but if it is identical with the rock in question, it must belong to another belt, as it is east of the range of the belt we are describing.

Continuing our course, we next find a splendid locality of it crop_ ping out near the northeast corner of lot 16 in No. 7, R. 6. I explored this ledge some years ago. It breaks up from a comparatively level plain, forming an abrupt, precipitous ledge on one side, fifteen or twenty feet in height. Its true location had been lost for several years, and some who had sought for it were unable to find it, until last autumn, when from directions given them Messrs. Baston and Chase, of Rocka- mabe, succeeded in again discovering it, a description of which he gave in a letter to me published in your report (page 320). I look upon this ledge as a very valuable one. Specimens from it were put into the hands of a marble-worker, who found that it received a good polish- worked free and made good corners, and was compact and even or uniform of structure. Its proximity to the Aroostook road, and the ease with which it can be quarried, render it a feasible and valuable source from which to obtain marble or lime, to meet the wants of a growing community.

The next indication of this formation occurs in a line of the course hitherto pursued fiom No. 4, on or near the northern line of No. 8, R. 5. Boulders of Helderberg rock are found here, but the true spot of their original site has not yet been ascertained, and future explora-

tion will be needed in that place to make it eertain. Here ended my hurried and of course imperfect search for this species of rock forma- tions in this part of the State. They are deserving a longer and more careful scrutiny, which shall develope more fully both their geological and economical characteristics. I consider these formations, or beds, to be exceedingly interesting, not only on account of the intrinsic value of such rocks, in and of themselves, as affording a source from which to obtain marble for monumental or ornamental purposes, or excellent lime for cements or agricultural applications, but also for the geological teachings and testimonials they give of the period far back in the ages when this portion of Maine was submerged 'neath the ocean, and crinoid and coral and sea-fern and mollusk flourished on its shores and in its deep soundings, as they now do in the tropical seas of the South -interesting, too, for the story they tell of the singular changes that have taken place in the condition of the materials which compose them, of the hardening into stone of the soft ooze, while full of animal and vegetable life, embracing and still exhibiting their organic remains as clearly and distinctly as when they flourished in it in the vigor of actual life, for the unmistakable evidences they give of the mighty upheaving of this ancient bed of the sea, and its disruption into mountain masses în obedience to the laws and commands of Him

"Who thundered, and the ocean fled."

ABOUT PATTEN,

Dr. Holmes says in his report to Professor Hitchcock :

As it required some little time, after arriving at Patten, to prepare for a tour in the forest, what leisure I had was spent in excursions in that vicinity. The rock formation in this neighborhood, as you have stated in a former report, 1 found to be slate. In some localities I found it to exhibit good qualities for roofing slate.

On the premises of Hon. Ira Fish, about a mile and a half from the village, and on the north bank of the Mill stream, this slate crops out in the form of a bluff of moderate height, from which we obtained ex- cellent specimens. From a cursory examination, as far as the sur- rounding forest would allow, I am led to the conclusion that a good quarry might be opened here, with a prospect of its yielding a large supply of this useful material of very fine quality. It cleaves readily, giving a smooth, even surface, and possesses the requisite tenacity to allow of its being dressed and pierced, or punched in the usual manner.

A large portion of the boulders found around the village of Patten are conglomerate. None of this rock is found here in place except in one locality. This was in the bed of the stream, near the lower grist- mill. One of the abutments of the bridge, which crosses the stream there, is built upon it. The extent of it is not manifest, as it soon dips below the bank and is hidden deeply in the earth. But little granite is seen after you pass above Lincoln.

Professor Hitchcock adds the following :

Dr. Holmes has described opportunities for quarrying roofing slate near Patten. Our own scientific researches have led us to define more closely the limits of the roofing-slate belt, upon which the best quarries are located, from Patten to Pleasant Ridge on the Kennebeck river.

FURTHER CONCERNING SLATE.

Among the metamorphic rocks along the coast southeast from Portland, patches of clay slate are occasionally seen, as in Biddeford, Saco, and Scarborough. It was noticed by the State geologist to ex- tend from the west line of Scarborough (on the Saco road) to a point beyond Dunstan corner. The strata run northeast and southwest, and are nearly vertical.

The next deposit of clay slate is of immense extent. Beginning in the southwest part of Waterville, it proceeds thence into Winslow, and probably through Unity and Jackson, to the north part of Frankfort. On the east side of Penobscot river it appears in the north part of Bucksport, running down into the west part of Orland, northeasterly through Orrington, Holden, and Eddington. From this point it is not known whether the southern border-line of the clay slate extends direct- ly to Princeton, or whether it passes to Princeton around the west and north sides of Hancock county. The belt of clay slate in the northern part of Washington county is probably connected with the main de- posit, but it must make the northeastern termini of the slate fork- shaped. After taking up the line again at No. 10, R. 3, in Washington county, we can carry it but a short distance on account of the unex- plored region in the south part of Aroostook county. The slate, how- ever, disappears before reaching Houlton. Upon the Aroostook road we can find the northwestern side of the clay slate and carry it westerly. The western border is found in the village of Patten, where it lies side by

" At Whetstone Falls a few miles below, on the Penobscot, is a splendid water power with a good site for buildings. Had the State reserved the fee of the soil in itself, and given proper encouragement to settlers, there would long since have been a thriving village here. E. H.

t It is very difficult, if not impossible, in a dense forest and in the absence of a correct plan based upon an actual survey, to give the true geographical position of any rock. In this particular we realized the truth of the remark of Sir Wil- liam Logan, Principal of the Canadian Geological Survey, in which he declares "accurate topography is the foundation of accurate geology."

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

side with talcose schist. It passes over toward the East branch of the Penobscot, then runs up the Seboois river to Godfrey's Falls, and crosses over to the west side of the east branch of the Penobscot river at the Grand Falls. Thence it returns down the East branch to No. 2, when it runs over to the North Twin Lake. Thence it proceeds in a direct course to the south end of Moosehead Lake. From here it runs to the forks of the Kennebec river. Changing its course it runs down the Kennebec (or perhaps to a point near Mt. Abraham) to Bingham; thence eastwardly to the vicinity of Parkman; . thence southwesterly to Norridgewock, and southeasterly to Waterville, whence Professor Hitch- cock commenced to draw the line. Those who follow this line upon the map will perceive that a vast territory is enclosed by it, though of an exceedingly irregular shape. It includes all the settled portions of Piscataquis and most of Penobscot counties.

Much of the clay slate over this area is of a fissile and easily de- composing character, so that it is useless for economical purposes. In the northeastern portions it is often more properly a fine-grained sand- stone, associated with lavers of clay slate, and rarely of limestone. In Piscataquis county there is much limestone connected with the slate. The most valuable portion of the slate, or the variety called roofing slate, is in Piscataquis county, passing into the counties adjoining. The relations of the clay slate to the more thoroughly metamorphic rocks of the southwest and south sides, are yet unknown, except at two or three localities, which are of too little value to allow of general- ization. Occasionally a mass of granite has protruded through the slate.

We give a few details respecting the occurrence and position of the slate at various localities. The strata on the west side of Penobscot river below Bangor are inclined to the northwest, and are underlaid at Frankfort by mica schist. The clay slate in southeast Bucksport and the west part of Orland forms an anticlinal axis, which is overlaid on both sides by hornblendic rocks -- possibly metamorphosed clay slates.

The following observations of the strike and dip of the clay slates in Penobscot county were taken by Mr. Houghton during the season of 1862 : Brewer, strike north 50 degrees east, dip 27 degrees northwest. Orrington, north part 70 degrees east, dip from 50 to 70 degrees north- west. Further south, strike north 80 degrees east, dip 60 degrees northerly. Just north of the village of South Orrington, strike east and west, dip 75 degrees north. Argillo-micaceous slate from West Bangor to Carmel with the following positions :- In Bangor, near J. Eastman's, strike north 55 degrees east, dip 30 degrees northwest; in Hermon, at Craig's house, dip 60 degrees northwest; west of do., strike north 63 degrees east, dip 60 degrees northwest; at Hermon Centre, strike north 60 degrees east, dip 75 degrees north-west; at East Carmel, strike north 73 degrees, dip 60 degrees northwest; fur- ther west, strike north 45 degrees east, strata vertical; at Carmel C'entre, strike north 70 degrees east, dip 75 degrees southerly ; at North Etna, strike north 70 degrees east, dip 70 degrees northerly, and also strata vertical. The common clay slates have the following positions : in the northeast corner of Plymouth, strike north 45 degrees east, dip 75 degrees southeast ; in Northwest Plymouth, strike north 55 de- grees east, dip from 70 to 83 degrees southeast; in South Plymouth, strike north 70 degrees west, dip 45 degrees southerly; in North Dix- mont, strike north 50 degrees east, dip 75 degrees southeast, also north 55 degrees south; at the Newburg line, dip 70 degrees north- west, and strike north 70 degrees east, dip 78 degrees northwest. In Hampden Centre the dip is 35 degrees northwest. Thus it is seen that the northwest dip is the most common for the slates near Bangor; but it is not the only one. The presence of axes will enable us to reduce greatly the supposed thickness of the slates.

This point is illustrated by examining the observations in a line cross- ing the clay slate from Patten to Bucksport. From Patten to a point three miles north of Molunkus village the dip is northwesterly. Thence to the Five Island Hotel in Winn the dip is southeasterly. From this point to three-fourths of a mile below the village of Passadumkeag the dip is northwesterly again. Thence to the south part of Milford the dip is southeasterly. The strata for the distance to Bucksport pro- hably dip northwesterly. But they dip southeasterly as they disap- pear in Orland. On this section there are then five axes-three anticlinals and two synclinals.

Some of the slates about Bangor are so thickly glazed with plumbago as to have been mistaken for coal. They are largely talcose, and are occasionally traversed by dikes. The following is the general structure of the formation between Bangor and Barnard: At Bangor the dip is the northwest. This changes soon to southeast, which continues to Charleston. There it changes again and dips northwest. This dip is not continued long, for the rocks soon dip southeasterly, and do not

change again till we arrive at a point two and a quarter miles north of the south line of Atkinson. Then the dip is to the northwest, which continues to Barnard. The character of the rock as far as Atkinson is very much like that of the strata in Bangor. The layers are often ir- regular, and are traversed by veins of quartz. Beyond Atkinson the strata-planes are more regular and better adapted for quarrying. The strata at the quarries are nearly perpendicular, and incline northerly. The character of the rocks at Brownville and in the vicinity of the Ka- tahdin Iron Works is essentially the same.

Rev. M. R. Keep, of Ashland, wrote as follows to the Geologist concerning some of the roofing slates of Northern Maine:

"There seems to be in Aroostook county a distinct variety from the Brownsville slate and others in common use. That which has the most rift and seems likely to be worked some day for use and for market, is of a light blue color, and very soft, much like the Rutland freestone pencils, that are much preferred to the black pencils for their softness, and have come into use lately. My attention was first drawn to this fact in noticing some specimens in No. 9, R. 5, near what is called the ' Hews Place,' on the Aroostook Road near Masardis. In that region considerable quantities are found scattered over the surface, and the main ledge is visible in several places, but has not been opened yet. So far as the stone is concerned, some of the best writing slates I ever saw have been made from that owned by Mr. Robert Ready and men in his family. I have one of them in my possession, which as a speci- men indicates the best quality of stone for writing as well as roofing slates that I ever saw. The rift is most perfect, free and even, and the texture soft, so as to make good pencils for use on the same or other slate. This same kind of slate and nearly the same quality is found in No. 5, R. 5, also in Patten."

WORKING THE SLATE.

Some notice of the extensive slate quarries near Brown- ville, Piscataquis county, a locality formerly in this county, seems proper in this history.

The Bangor or Piscataquis Slate Company opened the first slate quarry at Brownville in 1843. Its annual pro- duct soon amounted to twelve thousand squares, which readily sold in Bangor for an aggregate sum of thirty to forty thousand dollars. Sixty men were employed, and about twenty-five thousand dollars a year were paid out in wages.

The famous quarries of A. H. Merrill, Esq., mainly at Brownville, were opened for trial in 1846, Mr. Merrill then owning one fourth share. The tentative efforts made soon warranted the expenditure of larger sums and the production of an increased quantity. With the changes of the year Mr. Merrill finally became sole owner, and remains such to this day. The latest statis- tics from his works we have seen represent a force of eighty men as steadily employed, and a yearly product of thirty thousand squares as being turned out, involving an annual expenditure of seventy-five thousand dollars. Fifteen hundred acres of land are occupied in the vari- ous operations of Mr. Merrill. His quarries are two miles from Brownville village. Until the railroad is completed to a more convenient point, he sends his pro- duct by teams to Milo Station, on the Bangor & Pisca- taquis railway.

"HORSEBACKS."

We quote from Professor Hitchcock as follows:

A curious class of alluvial ridges are found in great abundance in Maine, and scarcely occur out of the State, which are known by the provincial name of "horsebacks." They are found mostly in the un- settled districts, and have never been carefully explored by geologists. We are not ready to theorize upon their origin until more details of their structure and distribution are known. In general they may be described as narrow ridges of coarse gravel and sand, from thirty to forty feet high, situated in a level conntry, with sometimes an undulat-

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 6

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