History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 89

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 89

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THE FIRST SETTLEMENT

of Etna was made May 27, 1807, by Phineas Friend and Benjamin Friend. Both families moved into one log house, which they erected in the midst of an un- broken wilderness, with just trees enough felled to make . room to build the house upon. The door of the house was made of split cedar and hung with wooden hinges and a wooden latch, with a leather string on the outside to lift the latch; a rock chimney was topped off with

split sticks laid in clay, which was at that time called a "cat chimney ;" the mansion was shingled with spruce bark peeled four feet long, laid upon ribs placed two feet apart, and another rib laid on the bark exactly over the under rib, both ribs running over the ends of the house so as to make room to tie a withe around them so as to hold the bark. on the house. There was not a nail used in building the cabin, nor any glass windows. It was built sixteen by thirty feet square, with fourteen occu- pants; eleven males and three females. The nearest neighbor was two miles off, in an adjoining town. The only domestic animals that were brought with them were one pig for each family and one dog.

Immediately after the first house was erected, they commenced and built the second in the same manner as the first, without nails or glass, with holes cut into the logs to let light in; and in the course of the season there were four squares of glass put into the houses, two lights in each house, set in a hole cut into the logs, furnishing each family with a very comfortable amount of light. The chamber floor was made of straight spruce poles, peeled, upon which the boys used to sleep of nights. One morning they found a large owl perching upon their head-board, and after calling upon him to be gone, he made some obstinate resistance against being disturbed in his part of the twenty four hours' sleep and rest. But he found, after a somewhat lengthy combat, he was only second best; and the final result was capital punishment for the crime of house-breaking in the night time.

Immediately after the two families were comfortably settled in their new homes, they began to subdue the forest. Each family felled about fifteen acres of trees, and in the fall of that season the most of the land was cleared. In the spring of 1808 it was all sown to wheat, and the result was that .in the fall they harvested about three hundred bushels of the grain. The new settlers coming in that year made a quick market for all the sur- plus of crops.

A GREAT AND MIGHTY HUNTER.

In June, 1807, those two pioneers were made to re- joice by an accession to their number, and having a new neighbor come into the town. It was Mr. Samuel Parker, who was by occupation a hunter, and made sad havoc among the wild animals, such as the otter, fox, sable, raccoon, and last, but not least, the bear, which wrought great destruction with the sheep and corn. Mr. Parker seemed to make some impression upon the small animals, but the bear appeared to be determined to stand his ground, and was not so ready to yield. At times, in- deed, he contended earnestly for his rights, and would have his portion of coin and mutton; and when he could not get either, he would take lambs, rather than be crowded off with half his rights. Often he was accused of taking more than his part, which was the case one night, when he took a whole sheep and five lambs from Phineas Friend. For this he was tried and condemned to be shot; but he escaped after sentence was in part executed, leaving bloody signs of parole. It was never known whether he confiscated any more sheep and

* Nearly all the remainder of this chapter has been prepared by the Hon. John C. Friend, a leading citizen of the town, and a descendant of one of the pioneer brothers of his name.

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lambs or not; but one thing was certain, he did not take any the next day.

Mr. Parker began to hunt here in the fall of 1807. The sables and minks were the first animals he sought for; and as the sable had undisputed range of the forest, it had the most of his attention the first few years. His mode of trapping them was to make a circuit of some ten or twelve miles around by a spotted line, dragging a piece of a muskrat for the sable to follow from one trap to another. The trap was constructed of a few chips cut from a tree and baited with the same meat he dragged on the ground. In this manner he caught large numbers of these animals, which he sold for about twenty cents each. At one time he had his traps robbed, and some of them nearly destroyed, which annoyed him very much; and it was a great wonder to him who or what it was that committed the depredations. He would have been very willing to lay it to the Indians, if there had been any about. At last he met the thief one day with three of his sables in his mouth going for another. At first he hardly knew what to call him, as he had so much whisker, and he wondered whether it was an ani- mal, a bird, or an Indian devil, as the last-named gentle- man had the reputation of inhabiting the forest. But without much forethought Mr. Parker leveled his fowling- piece at him, discharged its contents at the intruder, and at once laid him out in the shape of a wolverine, which ever afterwards had to bear the dishonor of robbing the traps, although it was charging the dead with what he could not reply to.

The tradition goes that Parker in one fall caught about 300 sables, 25 minks, 7 otters, 150 muskrats, 9 foxes, and 2 beavers; and report fails to tell how many ducks and partridges he shot, but the number was very large. One night he caught two foxes in one trap, of which he was always fond of telling to the end of his life. After thinning out the game so as to make it un- profitable, in after years he would take a back-load of traps and a little salt, and go up the Penobscot River to hunt for the same game in the wilds of the north as he had been taking in "Crosbytown," as this plantation was then called. Finally, in the summer of 1819, after liv- ing here twelve years, he took his family and removed to the Passadumkeag River, where he continued the same occupation for many years.

MORE PIONEERS.

In the spring of 1808 there were three more families that moved into this region-Mr. Bela Sylvester, Mr. James Harden, and Mr. John Jackson. There were also six other young men without wives, who came in to sub- due the forest-the three Dennetts (Reuben, Dennis, and John), two Sylvesters (Asa and Calvin), and David Hooper.

This year Benjamin Friend erected the first frame barn, and Phineas Friend made him a log barn about twenty-five by thirty-five feet square and fourteen feet high, and covered it with bark. Into this barn he stowed a large amount of grain, which had been gathered on hay-poles, or, more properly speaking, grain-poles; and

in the fall of 1808 they imported each a cow, which they wintered on wheat straw that was said not to be half threshed, which is too true to be disputed at this late day.

During the winter of 1808-9 the inhabitants made a fence around a cow-pasture one mile square, to keep their stock from straying too far. One foggy day one of the neighbors went after his cow, and he himself strayed so far as to be obliged to lie out one night at least, and in the morning he was compelled to follow the brook home, which (the brook) he said ran the wrong way of the com- pass, if indeed it did not run up hill. It led him home, however, at last to see his anxious family, who had spent a sleepless night, as he had. The cow, which had Na- ture's compass, came home soon after the owner started for her, who seemed to have been the only happy one through the weary night, and the hallooing and crying did not seem to affect her in the least-the only anxiety she seemed to express was to have her cud properly chewed and swallowed.

THE PIONEER CHILD.

On the 24th day of October, 1808, the first child was born; and in honor to the then proprietor of the town, he was called John Crosby. He is still alive, and has been one of the correspondents of the Maine Farmer's Almanac since 1841. He was never a lawyer or deputy sheriff, but is a Maine Law man, to which a great many rum- sellers could testify, if called upon. In politics he was a Democrat until 1848, since then has been a Republi- can ; and this is the only change he ever made in politics.

A BRIDE ARRIVES.

In the fall of this year Mr. James Harden married him a wife in Sedgwick, then in Massachusetts, now in Maine, and conveyed her on horseback about fifty-five miles to Crosbytown. When she arrived in town there was much rejoicing among quite a number of the first settlers, who had had an acquaintance with the young lady some seventeen years before. They gave her a good re- ception, if they did not bestow upon her such a serenad- ing as is practiced to some extent in places since. An addition to the numbers of the pioneers seemed to elate them much, and they could not well restrain their joy, whether the addition came by birth or otherwise.

SUGAR-MAKING.

In the spring of 1809 the neighbors began to manu- facture sugar from the maple-trees, of which there was a great supply. There was a plentiful flow of sap that year, and a large amount of sugar was made. In the manu. facture both old and young took much enjoyment, and they kept the pot boiling day and night. It is not sup- posed that they used so much sweetening at that time as is used at the present, for' they made this supply last nearly the year around; at any rate, it was all they got, whether more or less.

FRESH IMMIGRATION.

The spring of 1809 brought in quite a number of new settlers, as they were then called, at which all seemed to be pleased.

This year Reuben Dennett built the first frame house

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HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY MAINE.

ever erected in the town, the same as is now occupied by Mr. Henry Wakefield, near the post office. Mr. Dennett put a newly-married wife into his house during the sum- mer, with which all the neighbors seemed to be well pleased.

During this year the first school was taught in town by Miss Bethiah Friend. She had the first courting on the plantation, which resulted in her marriage to Mr. George Dunham, of "No. 3," as it was then called-now Carmel. The school was taught in a log camp made by Reuben Dennett, eight by ten feet square.

Among the new-comers this year were John and Jesse Benjamin, both young men ; Mrs. Emerson, a young widowed lady with three children ; and Solomon Harden with a young wife. The same year there were three children born, which, of course, made as many of the families happy.

One of the blessings that attended this new settlement was that the pioneers never had any taxes to pay until 1814, or about that time, when they were called upon to pay a direct tax for the support of the war of 1812. How much was paid by all no one knows, and all that is known is that Phineas Friend's tax was $1.35, which he paid. Quite a portion of the tax was never paid; the collector, Mr. Daniel Wilkins, never made more than one call, and those that were minus the needful were never asked to pay afterwards.

In the spring of 1810 Phineas built a barn forty-six by sixty-two feet square, and, what may seem a little myster- ious, he hewed two sills, sixty-two feet long, both from one yellow ash tree. They were seven by eight inches square. He took a large tree, sided it down to eight inches thick, and split it in two and edged the halves up. They are good and sound now, in the barn owned by Mr. Daniel W. Sylvester, and bid fair to last as much longer.

This year Dennis Dennett, James Harden, and Bela Sylvester each built himself a barn. That made by Mr. Dennett was burnt in June, 1881; the other two have long ceased to exist, being taken down to build larger ones.

EARLY CROPS.

This year [1810] Phineas Friend raised four hundred and fifty bushels of wheat on twenty acres of newly cleared land, which was the largest crop of wheat raised by any one man the same year in town, although not the largest yield per acre. James Harden raised ninety bushels the same year from two acres, about which there was considerable bragging.

Until this year there was no corn raised, when many of the neighbors planted quite an amount on burnt land, and in the fall the bears, coons, and porcupines began to show themselves very numerously, and to set up their claim to at least a portion of the corn. In fact they got their portion, right or wrong, for which one of the bears forfeited his life by having a piece of logging chain shot through his vitals from a gun set by Reuben Dennett. This was the first one ever killed in the town.

Many of the coons had to come down, as "Davy Crockett " called; although they seemed to be inclined to

take care of themselves, and knew that Mr. Parker was not around. The hedgehogs did not seem to care much unless they were trapped, and then they seemed to yield very quietly. It was considered by them quite safe for dogs to keep on the right side of the hedge, and if they came in close contact the dogs seldom showed any dis- position to renew the risk of another display of their courage.

A BEAR STORY.

There is a story of Mr. Parker's finding a nest of young bears this year in a hollow stub. Whether true or not, it has never been denied; but the story is too good to be doubted here, as it never has been. In one of his hunt- ing rambles he came to a stub very much scratched; and to know the cause of it he ascended the stub and took a view into the hollow. Not being exactly satisfied as to what it contained, he thought he would fathom the hole, and not liking to go down head first, he put his feet in, and attempting to hold himself up on the sides of the stub, in swinging his feet around to ascertain what he could find, the shell of the stub gave way and let Mr. Parker down upon a nest of young cubs. Not liking this new-comer, they set up a loud howling, which soon brought the old dame bear to their rescue. She was heard scratching up, and when about to descend she had to turn and come down tail first. The hunter as quick as thought took out his long, sharp knife and opened it. Ay this time the old bruin was down to his head, when he seized her by the tail with his left hand and used his knife with his right, and that quite effectual- ly by ramming it into the lower part of her body. She, not exactly liking such a reception in her own home, be- gan to make her exit to the top of the stub, when Mr. Parker, with a life struggle, threw his formidable enemy to the ground, and the fall and the loss of blood made her too weak to ascend the stub again. She walked off, evidently not much liking her intruder, as she seemed to consider him. She soon disappeared from sight, and when everything appeared to be safe Mr. Parker came down, seized his axe, cut a hole into the stub, and took out four young bears, who never before saw much day- light. This was another exploit the hunter had to tell to the end of his long life, with much pride, which usual- ly brought a laugh.

The spring of 1811 brought in several new settlers -- three Abbotts, Samuel, Peter, and Moses, with their fam- ilies. The crops this year, like the three previous years, were very bountiful. Now the hay crop began to be counted as one of the more valuable productions, and stock began to increase and make a considerable item in the value of their new farms. Quite an amount of but- ter was made and sent on horseback to market at Hamp- den, some fifteen miles distant.

This year quite a number of sons and daughters were born, which helped also to increase the population.

This year Mr. Benjamin Friend began to manufacture potash, which he made for a few years, and then sold his kettles to Mr. Bela Sylvester. The latter continued to do the same for several years, and made what was

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called pearlash, which took the place of the soda of the present day.

During the winters of 1810 and 1811, the scholars en- joyed winter schools. The first one was taught by Mr. Abel Merrill, from Blue Hill. Each one who sent schol- ars had to pay in proportion to the number sent, and the teacher was paid in produce, for anything like greenbacks was then out of the question, and specie likewise.

In May, 1811, the Rev. Paul Ruggles preached the first sermon ever delivered in the Plantation, in the log house of Benjamin Friend. His text was from John ix. 4; "I must work the works of Him that sent me; the night cometh, when no man can work." In the after- noon he preached on the prodigal son. In June follow- ing he baptized Benjamin Friend and wife, and they united with the Baptist church in Carmel, of which Mr. Ruggles was pastor. In the course of a few years it was called the Carmel and Etna church, and finally it became centered in Etna, but not until after the death of that venerable servant of God, which took place May 21, 1820. He was ordained January 11, 1811, and preached his last sermon December 15, 1819, when his health failed, and he could preach no longer. During his min- istry of nine years he preached more than twelve hun- dred sermons. In his travels he visited the Kennebec River three times on horseback, although there were no roads at that time. He went as far east as Cherryfield twice, and Eastport once, on missionary tours at his own expense. We learn from his diary that he preached in Penobscot county in the following named places: Car- mel, Hampden, Bangor, Mansborough, Crosbytown, Stetson, East Pond, Ohio, Jackson Brook, Mt. Ephraim, Lebanon, Lee, Jordan's Stream, Warrenstown, Hunting's Settlement, No's 2 and 5, Exeter, and at Brother Nor- cross's. He was the first and only pastor of the Baptist church in Carmel during his very useful life, and during his ministry the Baptist churches of Exeter, Newport, and Stetson were organized.

A FEAR OF SCARCITY.

Crops of every kind were very bountiful from 1808 to 1814, but they were cut off in 1815 and 1816, and the latter year was called the "cold season." There was a snow-fall of about five inches June 5, 1816, and this year corn and beans were a total failure, and there was a very light crop of wheat and rye, so that corn was worth $2.50 to $3.00 per bushel, very scarce at that price, and none nearer than Hampden at any price, which had to be brought on horseback fifteen miles. The only pro- duce that the settlers had to sell was butter, which was worth at Hampden from ten to twelve cents per pound, and not much sale for it at that price. Almost all the settlers on the Penobscot made their own butter, and had to buy their bread. They had but little to buy but- ter with at any price, and it has been related that in the spring of 1817 some cooked leaves for greens, which was the most destitute condition of the people. Wheat raised in 1816 was consumed, and in the summer many lived on raspberries and milk, and when raspberries could not be obtained, milk was used alone with a good

relish. As there were many cows in the plantation, they made it answer a good purpose, and would make a bushel of corn last a good while. They thought Indian bread, raspberries, and milk were not very poor rations to cut hay upon. The few who had a little wheat left after they had their fields of grain sown, seemed to be quite willing to divide their little with those who had none, and really seemed to enjoy the pleasure of divid- ing, and to feel that it was more blessed to give than to receive. In due time new crops came with an abundant harvest in former years, and they soon forgot their pov- erty and rejoiced over their abundance.

The mode of raising potatoes was very different at that time from what it was in later years, when they be- gan to use the plow and hoe. It was done by taking a pickaxe, made usually of an old narrow axe peaked out by a blacksmith, sticking it into the ground a few times where the hill of potatoes was to be made, and tucking the potatoes into the ground some two or three inches deep. This method produced potatoes easily. It was always done on burnt land, as it was then called, and it was regarded as a very easy way to raise as many pota- toes as would be wanted for the table use of a family. They never got any hoeing after they were planted until they were dug in the fall; and this kind of a crop had no particular enemy among wild animals, as their corn and wheat had.

A SINGING SCHOOL.

In the winter of 1816 Mr. John Benjamin had a sing- ing-school in his log house, in which the young folks took special pleasure. They met for singing two even- ings in each week for twelve weeks, and for compensa- tion they used to pay him fifty cents each for male scholars, and the young ladies furnished the candles for their part. Mr. Benjamin had a splendid voice and was an excellent singer. If he had lived in these days, he would have passed for "Professor" Benjamin. The way they used to make the old log house ring when they sang "Montague," " Montgomery," and the Anthem for Esther, could with propriety have made him a professor. It was good music they had to sing, in place of what is now sung in the concerts, which is of such a low grade it is never thought worth publishing the second time, and to sell it the first time the publishers have to crowd in some of those old tunes into the last part of the book to get off their new music, which is never thought worth print- ing the second time. And when the next publication comes out they take special pride in saying that the tunes are all new, except a few standard ones that are like the former book, the same old tunes that were sung one hundred years ago.

A PIONEER ROAD.

From the early settlement of the town in 1807 to 1816, all the communication the inhabitants had with "Great East Pond Plantation," now Newport, was by way of "No. 4, Range 3," now Stetson. On or about this time (1816), the Court appointed a committee to lay out a county road from Carmel to Newport, through Etna; but the location did not suit the men of "Crosby-

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town," and they took the matter into their own hands and laid it out in a different place more to their liking. They made the road where they wanted it, where it suited them a great deal better, and where it now is. No one disputed their right to do as they pleased. At one time a man from out of town ran his sleigh against a log left near the traveled part of the road, and somewhat damaged his carriage, for which he sued the town and lost his case by not being in the road when the damage was done. When the decision was rendered against him he said the next time he traveled the road he would drive in the road, "faith." Captain Friend, who knew where the Court laid out the road, said that if he did he would have to drive through his house, which brought the bystanders down upon the plaintiff, and the man said he thought the town was rightly named, and that it had just had an eruption which shook the heavens.

DEATH AND MARRIAGE IN THE SETTLEMENT.

In October, 1813, Mr. Calvin Sylvester died of con- sumption, which was the second death in town. The first was a young child of Mr. John Jackson. Mr. Syl- vester left a widow and four small children in a rather destitute condition; but her good neighbors in part made up her loss by bestowing upon her some of the good things of this life, which made her quite comfortable until she was married for the second time, to Mr. John Dun- ton, of Hampden. This was the first marriage ever sol- emnized in Etna. It was performed by Josiah Kidder, Esq., who rode horseback seventeen miles for the privi- lege of uniting the happy couple. Mr. Dunton had four children, and Mrs. Sylvester had four, which made them a large family.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS-INCORPORATION-POPULATION, ETC.

The first settlers took special pride to maintain public schools, which they did summer and winter; so their children received a very fair education for those times, when school-houses were unknown and the town had but one school district. The schools were supported by free contributions of such as felt able to pay a little of the needful, and all the taxes they had to pay was a small State and county tax until the town was incorporated as Etna, February 14, 1820, by the General Court of Mas- sachusetts. It was the last town incorporated by that Legislature in the District of Maine before the separa- tion, and was the two hundred and thirty-sixth town in- corporated in the District. It had then a population of 194, polls to the number of 42, and estates officially val- ued at $15,094. In 1830 its population was 362. Ten years thereafter this had a little more than doubled, and the census of 1840 showed up 745. In 1850 there were 802 people in Etna ; in 1860, 849; in 1870, 844; and in 1880, 895. The polls in 1860 were 196; in 1870, 185; in 1880, 216. Estates in these years, $102,913, $154,- 339, and $162,209. It will be observed that the prop- erty of the town, as well as its population and polls, has steadily increased, in the face of hard times.

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 89

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