USA > Maine > Piscataquis County > History of Piscataquis County, Maine : from its earliest settlement to 1880 > Part 10
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On the eve of the Revolutionary outbreak, the Colonial As- sembly of Massachusetts instructed the selectmen of Fal- mouth to send a few discreet men to Canada, to learn the bias of the people, and to ascertain the attitude of the Indians. They appointed Benjamin Hammond, father of Bela Ham- mond of Foxcroft, Jabez Matthews, and David Dinsmore of New Gloucester, for this mission. In the winter of 1775, they started, taking James Stinchfield (father of James Stinch- field, an early settler of Monson), who was a mighty hunter, 9
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to assist them. In fifteen days they reached these upper set- tlements, and stopped with Mr. Forbes. Their account of the place whence they came, of their adventures, of their families, won the sympathies of their host and hostess. Pass- ing on to Quebec, their errand became known to the British officers, who immediately arrested them as spies, and threw them into prison. Mr. Forbes and wife heard of this with sorrow and alarm. Assured that neither fairness nor mercy would be shown them by the courts, they anticipated for them a horrible doom. Mrs. Forbes was physically strong, and stronger in will and resolution. She made a visit to Quebec, and being acquainted with the jailor's wife, did not neglect to visit her. After the jailor had put the prison in a secure state, and retired to rest, Mrs. Forbes, prevailing on his wife to intrust her with the keys, unlocked the doors, and gave these men their guns and snow-shoes, and told them "to flee for their lives." They soon scaled the walls, crossed the St. Lawrence, and took to the woods. They escaped from hostile Indians, and safely reached home. The next spring Matthews went to the Assembly, and reported to the Colonial government the substance of the above account. The jailor, his wife, and Mrs. Forbes were all closely exam- ined, but the guilty parties did not criminate themselves, evaded all damaging disclosures, and were acquitted; never- theless strong suspicions rested upon Mrs. Forbes.
Late in the fall of 1775, Arnold, with his weary, starving forces, reached this settlement, and he also lodged with Mr. Forbes during his stay. He and his men had been thirty-five days in the wilderness. These Canadians wrongfully thought that now a passable road was opened through the forest. These events aroused an anxiety in Mr. Forbes to emigrate to Maine. After the war ended, and our govern- ment was established, this anxiety increased. So, in the win- ter of 1784, he resolved to do so. At this time three Dutch- men, Midstaff, Pancake and Christian,-hunters, who had come through from the Kennebec,-offered to guide and help them through, assuring them that they could reach the upper
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settlements in twelve days. They then had five children,- John, a lad of thirteen, the youngest fifteen months old, the others between them, and another in expectancy. Their neighbors remonstrated and warned them that these men would desert them in the wilderness, but all in vain. Mr. Forbes sold his property, save a few valuables, procured hand- sleds upon which to convey the children, provisions, and bag- gage, and, on March 17, 1784, set out on this laborious jour- ney, the men, hauling the hand-sleds and the four youngest children, the rest walking on snow-shoes. For eight days they made slow but steady progress, following up the Chaų- dierre, and then, on account of deep gullies, they left the river. On the ninth day, these villainous guides induced Mr. Forbes to leave his wife and children in a camp, and to take a large part of the remaining provisions and baggage on their backs, and go on to Megantick Lake, saying they would leave their loads there, and come back and get the family. They were the greater part of two days in reaching the lake, there Midstaff crossed it to find an Indian camping there, but was unsuccessful; so the next day he returned to the other men and the baggage, and with his two partners per-
fidiously resolved to abandon this helpless family. Mr. Forbes remonstrated, and plead with tears, but all in vain. Though they had been paid for their services, though it was consigning these seven persons to the direst fate, if not death itself, they took nearly all the provisions, and whatever else of their valuable effects they chose, and departed for the Kennebec. They did leave him a poor axe, a small gun, and two loaves of bread. Mr. Forbes, broken-hearted and dis- mayed, hurried back to his wretched family, already agonized at his long absence, for they expected him back in two days, only to deepen their distress. To return to Canada, seemed hopeless, and they erroneously thought it further than to the settlements on the Kennebec; but their children were crying for bread, and there were two loaves, one day's journey on the way toward Maine. They resolved to proceed, Mr. Forbes taking the two younger children on one sled, and John tak-
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ing Peggy, then about five years old, on another, while Mary of seven years, walked with her mother. This compelled them to abandon much that their immediate comfort required. Night overtook them before the lake and the bread were reached, and weary and hungry they again camped. The next day was stormy, Mr. F. and John again left the others, and hasted for the bread. Weary and wet to the skin, by night, they reached the camp, and relieved their hunger. When the storm abated, they pressed on and arrived at the lake. Providentially they found the Indian already spoken of. They had known him in Canada, and he treated them as kindly as the Dutchmen had, cruelly. He took them to his camp and fed them bountifully upon moose meat, which he had just taken. When rested and recruited, he gave them all the moose meat they could carry, and piloted them to the upper waters of Dead River, a western branch of the Kenne- bec. He would have conducted them through to the settle- ment, had not his wife's condition required his presence. But he marked on a piece of birch bark the falls, inflowing streams, and carrying-places, and instructed them to follow it closely. They gave him all that they had left behind, and other heavy articles, and loaded him with their heartiest thanks. Though following the river, they found the way rough and mountainous. By the 12th of April, their pro- vision was nearly spent, Mrs. F.'s strength was exhausted, and she declared that she could not proceed. So, her hus- band, at her request, put up a camp near an open brook and a cluster of fir trees, and started with John for the settle- ments, to obtain help, confident that they were nearly through. Mrs. Forbes and her children had two pounds of moose meat and a little tallow, as their only supply of food. Mr. Forbes and John traveled on the ice, till open rapids prevented. But, not being sagacious in following their chart, passed the great carrying place, where by traveling twelve miles across, to ponds, and down their outlet, they would have reached the main river, they followed Dead River northward to its mouth, and made their journey forty miles further. On find-
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ing the river open and running smoothly, they constructed a raft, and floated down safely for a while, but soon the rapids put their lives in peril. At length it struck a rock and parted, but they clung to its fragments, and saved their lives and gun, but they lost their axe, which they so much needed. They then traveled on, following the river. April 22d, ten days after leaving Mrs. Forbes, they built a fire on a high hill, and camped for the night. Two. hunters, John Crosby and Luke Sawyer, saw it and came to their relief, for their strength was nearly exhausted. These men fed them, and conducted them out to the settlement at Seven-Mile Brook, now Anson village. Mr. Forbes prevailed on Major Hale, William Hus- ton, and Eben Hilton, men used to the woods, to start imme- diately for his family. They traveled more than a week, and then gave up the search, and returned without them. But it afterward appeared that they were so near that Mrs. F. actually heard the fall of the tree, from which they made a canoe to return in. After thirteen days' absence, they re- turned to report their failure, and to break Mr. Forbes' heart anew. Twenty-four days had now passed since they were left with the mere morsel of provision, and all thought that they must be dead. But Mr. Forbes could not be content without finding them dead or alive, so he persevered. Two other men, James McDonald and John Ames, agreed to ac- company him. But heavy rains overflowed the low lands, and delayed their starting until the water fell. On the 28th of May, they set out. Mr. Forbes was too feeble to keep pace with them, and they, assuring him that they would be faithful, persuaded him to return. On reaching Dead River, they made a canoe and proceeded by water. On the sixth day, they perceived, from Mr. F.'s careful description of the place, that they were nearing it. To prevent a sudden sur- prise, if any were living, they gave a halloo. A human voice, faint and sepulchral, responded! One of them broke out, "she is alive! for God's sake, pull hard!" On going ashore, a sight beyond all description was before them. Mrs. Forbes and Peggy, reduced to living skeletons, languid as starvation
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could make them, were alive, while the corpses of three other children lay unburied near them. Soup from venison was hastily and carefully given the living, and they revived. Fifty days had .elapsed since they were left with that scanty portion of provision. After two days their fire went out, and they were unable to rekindle it. When the snow dis- solved, their camp fell and left them shelterless. They sliv- ered the fir trees, and lived upon their juicy coating, and drank freely from the brook. This was their subsistence. For the last twelve days they could only creep to the trees and the brook. Mrs. Forbes used to relate that, every night after their fire went out, a small wild animal came and laid down at her back, and left, with the dawning light. On the thir- ty-eighth day, the youngest child expired; the next day, Katharine, next to the youngest; and four days later, Mary, the eldest. She had often said they would all starve, and begged the surviving to put her body where the wild beasts could not devour it. .
Had the first relief company gone one mile further, they would all have been rescued alive. After the dead were buried, and their graves covered with heavy logs, Mrs. Forbes and Peggy were laid tenderly on soft boughs in the boat, and they drifted down the current. On a rude bier, they carried them past the steep falls, and at length reached Norridgewock safely, where Mr. Forbes received them as alive from the dead. In a few weeks, Robert jr. was born, a healthy child, and eventually a robust man, but with an appetite that needed strong restraint.
The place where they were left, was on Dead River, above Flagstaff. This was the route that Arnold took. After stopping a short time in Norridgewock, Mr. Forbes and fam- ily made their way to New Gloucester, where their rescued friends resided. Previous to this, Capt. Hammond had died in the Revolutionary army, but the others survived and ren- dered them needed assistance, in grateful return for Mrs. Forbes' daring act to deliver them from prison.
Two pamphlet histories of these sufferings have been pub- lished, but they cannot now be found.
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In 1816, Mr. Beal, a tanner, came and started the tanning business. He used the lower part of Blake's "still house" for his currying shop. After a few years, he left, and the business was given up here and begun in Dover.
In 1818, Andrew Blethen came to Foxcroft. He was a shoemaker, and put together the first pair of boots made in the place. He afterward engaged in farming, and cleared up three new lots, the last on Sebec Lake, at Blethen's landing. He there built a saw-mill, upon a brook, and remained until his death, in 1879, aged eighty-four. He was a worthy, honored, and truly Christian man, often preaching in the back settlements. Eventually this saw-mill ran down, and John Arnold commenced building another. But, by a fall from it, he was fatally injured, and the work stopped. The Spool Factory Company purchased it, and sold it to L. H. Dwelley & Co. They completed it, and put in a steam en- gine, and use it for splitting out spool timber, much of which is brought across the lake.
A little before this time, Dr. Jeremiah Leach came to Fox- croft, to establish himself as a physician. He also started the manufacture of potash. His health was soon invaded. A disease fixed itself upon the bones of his face, and he went to Boston for treatment. His recovery was slow and lingering, and Dr. Aaron Tucker was encouraged to come to Foxcroft, and, in 1818, he settled here, and remained till his death.
In 1818, Eli Towne and others petitioned the General Court, that all the land lying on the north side of Piscata- quis River, originally belonging to township Number Three, and now included in the towns of Sebec and Foxcroft, might be re-annexed to plantation Number Three, Dover. The ap- plication was successful, and the old range line, as run by Ballard and Weston, became the dividing line between Fox- croft and Dover.
A bridge across the river was a public necessity. This re- annexation brought the whole expense of it on to Foxcroft. But nothing daunted, the inhabitants voted in 1819, to build, appointing John Bradbury, Joel Pratt, and Eliphalet Wash-
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burn, a committee to superintend the work, and raised $150 to be paid in money, and $500 to be paid in labor, to erect it. The next year, an additional sum, to be paid in labor and grain, was raised, increasing the whole amount raised to $1,350, fourteen per cent upon the town valuation. N. Chamberlain was employed to frame it, and in due time, a substantial bridge, with very complicated architecture, spanned the Piscataquis, the first erected on the river. It stood about ten years, and was then injured by a very high winter freshet, and rebuilt on a different plan in 1880.
About this time, Almoran Sherman started a carding-ma- chine on the brook where Jordan's grist-mill now stands, the third in the county. He ran it two or three years, became insane, and had to abandon it.
This year, Capt. Samuel Chamberlain was chosen delegate to the Convention which met to form a State Constitution. But twenty-five votes were cast, and he was elected by only one majority. Some time after this, he was chosen to repre- sent this district in the Legislature. He also held many town offices, and was a life long Trustee of the Academy. He was one of the greatest mathematical geniuses in this region. Though he never went beyond the common arith- metic, he could solve many questions impossible to all oth- ers not acquainted with the higher mathematics. Capt.
Chamberlain was a model farmer. He knew "how to make the farm pay." In the most unfavorable seasons, he always raised his own bread, and some to spare. He, too, was an excellent economist, giving shape to many judicious meas- ures in town, as well as on his own premises. His moral character was beyond reproach, and, in all his dealings and intercourse with men, he was "the soul of honor." He was a friend to the poor, encouraged them to make proper exer- tions for their own relief, and readily assisted the unfortu- nate and destitute. He reared up, and gave an academical education to, a large family, a part of which still reside in town. Though never a professor of the Christian religion, he was an attendant upon public worship, and encouraged
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religious institutions. When returning from a visit to a married daughter in Guilford village, a wild horse upset his chaise, by which he was fatally injured, though his wife re- ceived no harm. He was taken back to the dwelling of J. H. Loring, from which he had just started, gave direction for the settlement of his estate, which had grown under his hand to $8000, lingered for twenty-four hours, and expired, June 6, 1838, aged fifty-four. Until about two years since, his farm remained in the possession of some of the family, and then it passed to other parties.
When Col. Foxcroft commenced the sale of "rights" in the township, James Holmes of Oxford, bought two, and was fortunate in the drawing of them. Two of his sons, Capt. Salmon Holmes and Lieut. Cyrus Holmes, eventually settled on them, beginning in 1818, or earlier. They were enterprising and thrifty farmers, and made their fertile acres smile under a generous and skillful culture. No one can look upon these broad and fruitful fields, without feeling that industry, skill and good taste can develop themselves as fully in the productive pursuits of husbandry, as in the works of the mechanic, or the nicest touches of the artist. These men have both passed away. Cyrus died in the autumn of 1867, and Salmon, the elder of the two, in Dec., 1877.
In 1822, J. S. Holmes, a brother of the preceding, also came to Foxcroft, and opened a lawyer's office, the first in the county. Before this, Rev. Thomas Williams had come here as a missionary, and, this year, arrangements were made for his permanent settlement. The town united with the Congregational church in extending a regular call to him, voted to give him the "ministerial lot" and the income of the ministerial fund. These called out a response from the candidate, which was marked with becoming gravity and courtesy. The advent of two thoroughly educated men, both interested in education, hastened the planting of an Academy here. A small select school was taught by Mr. Holmes, in the fall of 1822, as the first step toward obtaining a charter. It was sought and granted, the act being passed
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in January, 1823. Funds were raised by subscription, a two-storied building erected, finished and occupied as early as the spring of 1825. Before this, James Gooch A.B. of North Yarmouth, its first preceptor, taught a term in the Dover school-house. This was the first Academy in the county, and the first north of Bangor.
Charles P. Chandler was the next preceptor, and, after him A. Sanborn, S. H. Blake, and others, who afterward occu- pied places of distinction. It was patronized generously by a large extent of the newly settled region, and sent forth better qualified teachers to many of our common schools, and thus benefited widely the rising generation. The State aid- ed this young institution with a grant of a half township of wild land. The north half of the present town of Spring- field was designated, and though heavily timbered with pine and spruce, the trustees sold it to parties in Bangor for thir- ty-one cents per acre, as it was not on log-driving streams. Messrs. Williams and Holmes were both incorporated members of the board of trustees, and the latter continued such until his death, Dec. 30, 1879, aged eighty-eight, the last survivor of those original members. A fuller notice of Rev. Mr. Williams will be found in its proper place. A new academy building has displaced the first erected, and it is still in a thriving condition.
In the year 1820, Daniel Greeley took down the old mill built by the Spauldings, and replaced it with a large saw-mill and grist-mill. Soon after, a clapboard machine was started in this saw-mill, by Mr. Daniel Brown. In 1822, a mill for cloth dressing and carding was erected near these mills. E. R. Favor put the clothing mill in operation, and a Mr. Allen put in a carding machine. Mr. Favor soon sold his mill to Jesse Martyn, who remained but three years, and Mr. Allen, falling sick, sold his to John Bradbury. In 1826, Bradbury erected a saw-mill on the southern end of the dam, and also a fulling-mill and carding machine, and moved the machin- ery from the other mill into it. In 1827, R. K. Rice pur- chased this, and followed this business for the next four
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years. He then sold out to Mr. Parsons, and he, after one or two years, sold to J. Bradbury, of whom Vaughan and Brown bought it, and turned its over custom to the mill at the lower falls. But when Vaughan, Brown and Sawyer started a factory, in 1836, on the lower falls, they sold this mill, machinery and custom, to Messrs. Jordan and Crockett, and they continued the business for many years, doing a lit- tle manufacturing also. Not long after this time, Farnham's tannery was erected on this same privilege. It has been twice burned to the ground, and rebuilt. This is still run- ning, Dea. L. O. Farnham doing a large and profitable busi- ness. But now this is the only general tannery in the coun- ty. This business has been carried on in Sangerville, Dover, Parkman, Guilford, Monson, Sebec, Brownville, Atkinson and Milo, but is now, in all these towns, abandoned. Dover once had three tanneries in operation at the same time.
The saw-mill and shingle machine owned by R. D. Gil- man were also once burned with this tannery, but are re- built and doing a smart business. On this same privilege, Maj. J. Crooker erected a brick building for a fork and hoe factory. After running it a few years, it passed to Crooker & Harris, and was swept away in the great freshet of 1857. Its place is now occupied by Bailey's planing mill. The old Greeley mill passed into the hands of Samuel Greeley, and was eventually carried off by a freshet. In the spring of 1827, a serious accident occurred in this mill. Two men, James Tarr and John Steadman, when at work repairing the flume, were drowned. The planking which shut out the water, suddenly gave way, and they were forced by a great rush of water, into the open spouts, and there held a long time, before they could be extricated.
In the spring of 1836, the dwelling-house of Capt. J. Hale was burnt, and the store of Bradbury & Herring, standing where the Hale block now stands, was burnt with it.
Capt. H. Scott erected another grist-mill, in 1834 or 1835, upon this privilege, and as it was upon an improved plan, it
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secured a large patronage. This fell into the hands of John Bradbury, and eventually passed to B. B. Vaughan, Buck, and the Chamberlains. A high spring freshet in April, 1854, swept this mill away, taking Foxcroft bridge with it, and the mill has not been rebuilt. An iron foundry and machine shop now occupies its site. A blind and sash factory then stood near to this mill, but it escaped the crash.
In the summer of 1844, Hon. J. G. Mayo came to this place. Dea. Mayo, James Bush and E. J. Hale bought the privilege for a woolen factory of Vaughan, Buck and Cham- berlains, and erected one on the northern side of the river. Eventually Dea. Mayo became its sole owner. After the grist- mill of Vaughan, Buck and the Chamberlains had been carried away, he bought out their privilege, and secured the control of one-half of the water power on those falls. In 1859, the upper story of his mill was burnt, but the lower part was saved. Two additional stories replaced it, and the business was largely increased. Again, in February, 1878, the picking- room took fire, but the walls being brick, the whole estab- lishment was rescued, with only a small loss. Dea. Mayo also built a strong and high granite wall, at an expense of $3000, to turn the rush of water and ice by his mills. This factory, with its six sets of machinery, is now run success- fully by Mayo Brothers, and is one of the leading industries in the village, giving employment to about sixty hands. Mayo & Sons, also, now own the iron foundry, and run the machine shop. Dea. Mayo was a very prominent business He man, and possessed a large amount of property. twice had a seat in the State Senate, was a man of ster- ling integrity, and of late, has been generous in works of be- nevolence. The chapel of the Congregational church, the new steeple of the meeting-house, and the town clock, are monuments of his generosity, while smaller benefactions in various directions will be long and gratefully remembered. He departed this life, Dec. 6, 1879, in his eighty-first year, deeply and widely lamented.
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The destructive freshet of 1857 swept away the dam, and some of the buildings on the other end of it, but passed most of the mills harmless. It also carried away the new bridge built in the summer of 1854. Another grist-mill for grind- ing corn was erected at the mouth of the brook, in this vil- lage, by Ivory B. Jordan, now run by C. W. Pratt, and is still doing a profitable business.
In 1870, L. H. Dwelley & Co. started a spool factory, which had been begun by another company, and this increased the business of the place. It requires from ten to fifteen hun- dred cords of white and yellow birch, per annum, the pur- chase of which, and the sale of the unavailable parts, are a great convenience to the community. The building was laid in ashes, July 12, 1877, but has been rebuilt with more sub- stantial materials, through the enterprise of its owners and the voluntary assistance of sympathizing citizens. This factory gives employment to many men and teams, and man- ufactures, when running on full time, $50,000 worth of spools annually, the greater part of which is paid out for la- bor in getting the timber, and working it up.
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