USA > Maine > Oxford County > Rumford > History of Rumford, Oxford County, Maine, from its first settlement in 1779, to the present time > Part 6
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* In his statement Mr. Keyes says "three other persons had begun making settlements," but in a statement entered on the town Clerk's records of Rumford, he states positively that to the time of the Indian rald Into Bethel, no family except his father's had settled in the township.
51
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
Rolfe, Josialı Segar and John Stevens. James McAllister and Daniel Knight had commenced clearings, but were not recognized by the committee as actual settlers. On the south side of the river were David Abbot, Benjamin Elliot, Benjamin Farnum, David Farnum, Edmund Page, Joel Stone, Moses Stone and Benjamin Sweat, Jr. The lots they severally occupied will be found in the abstract of the proprietors' records. A few settlers had not taken up lots, and so their names do not appear in the above list. The death of the pioneer, Jonathan Keyes, was perhaps the first in the plantation. There is no record of a previous one. The first mar- riage was probably that of Stephen Putnam. This was Stephen Putnam, Jr., but the junior was not added to his name until his father came a few years later. Stephen Putnam, Jr., was married to Sally Elliot, by Rev. John Strickland, Dec. 25, 1789. It is said that Stephen Putnam, Jr., brought the first set of blacksmith's tools into town and shod the first horse. His wife spun and wove the first web of cloth in town. He died July 4, 1853, and his wife sur- vived him six years. Like many of the early settlers, they lived to see "the wilderness bud and blossom as the rose," as the result of their privations and hardships.
DIRECT TAX OF 1798.
In one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, a direct tax was laid upon the real estate of the country by the General Government. The tax in Pennacook, now Rumford, was assessed October first of that year. Elijah Livermore of Livermore, was the principal asses- sor, and his assistants were Nathaniel Perley, William Livermore and Stephen Putnam, the latter known in Pennacook as Stephen Putnam, Jr. Twenty-seven houses were taxed in Pennacook, and thirty-seven resident owners of land. The non-resident lands were also taxed. This list of tax-payers has an historical value, as it shows approximately, at least, the number of households at this period. The population was probably made up of twenty-seven families, and ten single men who had bought lots and were making clearings. It will be noticed that Timothy Walker of Concord, and John Stevens' heirs, also of Concord, were large owners of the non- resident lands of the town :
52
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
Names. No. acres.
l'alue.
Names. No. acres.
Value.
Philip Abbot
500
8800
Francis Keyes. 1300
$1450
David Abbot.
200
500
Benj. Lufkin.
200
540
Jacob Abbot. 420
720
John Martin.
580
735
Osgood Eaton
.100
400
James MeAlister. 100
200
Benj. Elliot ..
180
480
Edmund Page
100
200
Jacob Farnun
200
480 | Stephen Putnam
700
603
David Farnum
400
600
Stephen Putnam, Jr., 230
375
Benj. Farmu
400
550
Benj. Rolfe .. 487
385
Gustavus A. Go
100
500
Jeremiah Richardson, 100
320
Samuel Goss. 100
350
Joshua Ripley 300
250
William Godwin
200
420
Samuel Stevens. 100
100
Robert Hinkson.
100
350
Benj. Sweat 100
311
Abram Howe. 100
170
Nathaniel Sanborn.
.. 100
250
Samuel Hinkson. 100
Số
John Taylor. .. 200
355
Phineas Howe. 120
320
Ebenezer Virgin. 100
260
James Harper 300
480
John Whittemore. .300
250
Moses Kimball. 100
255
Abel Wheeler. .300
340
Daniel Knight
480
535
NON-RESIDENT.
Jeremiah Andrews. .. 600
500 Ezekiel Merrill 100
S5
Enoch Adams .. 300
250: Henry Martin .. 480
350
Joshua Atherton. .300
250
John Martin. .. 100
S5
Increase Dolly
100
260
Capt. Marsh. 300
250
Richard Dolloff'. 200
500
Wm. R. Partridge ... 100
123
John Chandler. 300
250 . Heirs of John Stev-
Ephraim Farnum 300
250
ens .5260
4370
Benj. Farnum .. 300
250
Eleazer Twitchell .... 300
250
Moses Gale.
.300
250
Col. Timo'y Walker, 6700
5625
Joshua Graham 400
5.14
Henry Rolfe. 300
In 1801, returns were made by the town of Rumford to the Mas- sachusetts Secretary of State, of which the following is an abstract : Males over twenty-one years of age, 56 ; grist mills, 2 ; saw mills, 2; barns, 35; tillage land, 311 acres ; bushels wheat grown, 70; bushels rye, 20; bushels oats, 333; bushels corn, 283; bushels beans, 37 ; acres English upland mowing, 244 ; acres pasturage, 198 ; number of cows, 109 ; number of horses, 41 ; number of oxen, 70 ; number of steers, 117; number of swine, 38.
The statistics in this chapter show the growth and development of the town to the close of the century, and for eighteen years after Mr. Keyes returned from New Gloucester, and the actual settle- ment may be said to have begun. The plantation of New Pennacook was organized October 20, 1795. A petition signed by Aaron Moor, Francis Keyes, Benjamin Elliot, Benjamin Sweat and Edmund Page, was presented to Isaac Parsons, Esq., asking for a warrant for that purpose, and the meeting was held at the house of
53
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
Joshua Graham. The call provided for the election of clerk, asses- sors, and all other necessary plantation officers. The records of this and subsequent plantation meetings are probably not in exis- tence, and it was only by mere chance that the warrant with the return of Francis Keyes thereon, was preserved. It is known that Francis Keyes was elected plantation clerk, and this is all we do know of the proceedings. After a plantation life of four years, the inhabitants began to think of incorporation as a town, and their action and that of the General Court thereon, have been given in a preceding chapter.
CHAPTER IX.
BRIEF SKETCH OF OXFORD COUNTY.
HEN Jonathan Keyes came to New Pennacook to select him a lot for a homestead, the wilderness of western Maine had been invaded at many points. General Jonathan Frye begun the settlement of Fryeburg in 1762. Like Rumford, most of the first settlers were from Concord, New Hampshire. Capt. Henry Young Brown of Haverhill, settled Brownfield a year later. Lovell was settled in 1779, Hiram in 1774, Porter in 1781, Waterford in 1775. These were Saco River towns. On the Androscoggin, Turner was settled about 1772, Livermore a little later ; Bethel in 1774, and Norway in 1781. Ezekiel Merrill, the first Andover settler, came from Andover, Massachusetts, in 1786, and was the sole occupant of that region, save straggling Indians, for over two years. Paris was settled in 1781, Buckfield in 1777, and Jay about the same time as Paris. Sumner and Hartford, the territory of which was origin- ally called Butterfield, were settled soon after 1780. The small party of first settlers in Rumford, therefore, had neighbors not very . far distant, but there were no roads connecting the different colo- nies, and no communication was feasible, except on foot, through the rough paths of the forest. Spotted trees guided the traveller between the different settlements, but when journeying outside he was obliged to depend partly on his own sagacity and partly on the course of the sun and the position of the mountains.
A census of the District of Maine was taken in 1790, but New Pennacook was not then incorporated and made no report. In
54
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
1800, the town was incorporated and its population was then two hundred and sixty-two. There were then between fifty and sixty families in the town. Rumford was in the County of Cumberland until 1805, when the County of Oxford was created, made up of towns which had previously been in the counties of Cumberland and York. The act erecting these towns into a county, was as follows :
"That the counties of York and Cumberland shall be divided by a line beginning at a place called the Crooked Ripples on the An- droscoggin river, at the southeast corner of the town of Turner, from thence to run westerly on the dividing line between the towns of Turner and Minot, to the most northeasterly corner of the said town of Minot ; from thence southwesterly on the lines between the towns of Minot and Hebron ; thence northwesterly on the line be- tween Hebron and Otisfield, to the town of Norway ; thence west- erly and northerly on the line between the towns of Otisfield and Norway, to the southeasterly corner of the town of Waterford ; thence westerly on the line between said Waterford and Otisfield to the northeasterly corner of the town of Bridgton ; thence westerly on the northerly line of said Bridgton to the northeast corner there- of ; thence southerly on the westerly side of said Bridgton to the southeast corner thereof ; thence westerly on the north line of the town of Baldwin and Prescott's Grant, to Saco river ; thence down the middle of said Saco river to the mouth of the river called the Great Ossipee ; thence westerly by a line drawn on the middle of the river last mentioned, to the line of New Hampshire, and the county of York and Cumberland aforesaid : That all that part and parcel of the counties of York and Cumberland situated on the northerly side of the line before described, and extending northerly and westerly so as to comprehend all the territory lying between the State of New Hampshire and the County of Kennebec, and on the northerly side of the line aforesaid, excepting the towns of Wilton, Temple, Avon, and township number three on Sandy river, northerly of Avon, which towns shall be considered as belonging to the County of Kennebec, shall be and the same is erected into an entire and distinct county by the name of Oxford."
The subjoined list embraces the original towns in Oxford County, the date of their incorporation, and the name of their first Repre- sentative to the Great and General Court :
Paris June 20, 1793. Elias Stowell.
Hebron. March 6, 1792.
William C. Whitney.
Buckfield
March IG. 1793. Enoch Hall.
Turner July 7, 1786
John Turner.
Livermore
February 28, 1795.
Simeon Waters.
Hartford. June 13. 1798. . David Warren.
Sumner
June 13. 1798 Simeon Barrett, Jr.
Norway March 9, 1797 Luther Farrar.
55
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
Fryeburg. . January 11, 1777 .. John McMillan.
Brownfield.
. February 20, 1802. Joseph Howard.
Lovell
November 15, 1800 Philip C. Johnson.
Waterford .
March 2, 1797. Eber Rice.
Albany
June 20, 1803
Asa Cummings.
Bethel ..
June 10, 1790.
Eliphaz Chapman.
Jay .
February 26, 1795
James Starr, Jr.
Dixfield ..
June 21, 1803.
Silas Barnard.
Rumford.
February 21, 1800.
William Wheeler.
Gilead.
June 23, 1804. Eliphaz Chapman, Jr.
Newry
June 15, 1805.
. Melvin Stowe.
East Andover.
June 23, 1804.
. Edward L. Poor.
The following are the names with the dates of incorporation, of the towns incorporated since the County of Oxford was formed :
Byron
January 24, 1833.
Canton .
February 5, 1821.
(Taken from Jay).
Denmark.
February 20, 1807.
Greenwood.
February 2, 1816.
Grafton March 19, 1852.
Hanover
February 14, 1843.
(Taken from Bethel).
Hiram.
February 27, 1814.
Mason.
. February 3, 1843.
Mexico
February 13, 1843.
Oxford
. February 27, 1829.
(Taken from Hebron).
Peru .
February 5, 1821, (changed from Partridgetown).
Porter.
. February 20, 1807.
Roxbury
March 17, 1835.
Stoneham
January 31, 1834.
Stowe.
January 28, 1833.
Sweden
February 26, 1813.
Upton.
February 9, 1860.
Woodstock
February 7. 1815.
Carthage
February 20, 1826.
Weld
February 8, 1816.
Franklin county was erected in 1838, and took from Oxford county the towns of Jay, Carthage and Weld. The town of Berlin, which was formerly an Oxford county town, was absorbed in the town of Philips, and the name of Berlin was dropped. Androscog- gin county was erected in 1854, and took the towns of Livermore and Turner. The following statistical table taken from Greenleaf's Survey of the State, shows the comparative standing of Oxford county towns in population, for the years specified :
POPULATION.
Touns.
1790.
1800.
1810.
1820.
Andover
22
175
264
368
Albany
69
165
288
Bethel ..
100
616
975
1,267
Brownfield .
250
288
388
727
Buckfield
453
1,002
1,251
1,501
56
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
Towns.
1790.
1800.
1810.
1820.
Denmark
436
972
Dixfield.
-
-
403
595
Dixfield and Mexico.
137
Fryeburg
547
734
1,004
1,057
Gilead .
SS
215
32S
Greenwood
Hartford and Summer.
189
243
720
1,113
Hebron, including Oxford.
530
981
1,211
1,727
Hiranı . .
192
203
336
972
Jay, including Canton.
103
430
1,107
1,614
Livermore. .
-
863
1,560
2,174
Lovell and Sweden.
147
365
Lovell
202
430
Mexico.
92
202
203
Norway.
609
1,010
1,330
Paris.
844
1.320
1.894
Peru
92
343
Porter
272
292
487
Rumford
262
629
871
Sweden
349
722
1.129
1,726
Waterford
150
535
S60
1,035
Woodstock.
236
509
Weld ..
-
318
495
-
-
273
392
Hartford ..
-
-
-
14
148
Newry
249
'Turner
-
-
CHAPTER X.
ABSTRACT OF TOWN RECORDS .- 1800-1820.
OM HE town records of Rumford commence with the incorporation in the year eighteen hundred. They have been as well kept and are in as good state of preservation as those of most other towns. The town has been fortunate in preserving them from the ravages of fire, for the records of so many towns have been burned that their destruction by that element has come to be regarded as only a question of time. The details of town meetings, as a rule, make dry and uninteresting reading. The abstract of the doings of town meetings which follow, have been made as brief as possible, and at the same time show the growth and progress of the town. This will be seen in the increased amount of money raised from year to year for various purposes, notably that for schools, and in the efforts to secure good roads and bridges for the accommodation of public travel. The principal town officers since the incorporation are given together in another place, and only a few are given in the abstract. The proceedings of the first meeting only, are given in full :
WARRANT.
CUMBERLAND, SS.
To MR. FRANCIS KEYES of Rumford, in said County, yeoman,
GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby required to notify and warn all freeholders and other inhab- itants of said town of Rumford, qualified to vote in town meetings as the law directs, to meet at your dwelling house in said Rumford, on Monday the fourteenth day of April next, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, to act and vote on the following articles, viz :
1st. To choose a moderator to regulate said meeting.
2d. To choose a town clerk.
3d. To choose three or more suitable persons to serve as select- men the year ensuing.
4th. To choose any or all other town officers which towns are by
58
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
law authorized to choose at their annual meeting in March or April.
5th. To vote and agree at what time in the month of March or April their annual meetings shall be held in future.
6th. To vote in what way and manner their meetings shall be warned in future.
And make due return of this warrant and your doings hereon, unto myself, on or before the fourteenth day of April next.
Given under my hand and seal at Norway, in said county, this twenty-fourth day of March, A. D. 1800.
JOB EASTMAN, Justice of the Peace. [L. S.]
Rumford, April 1, 1800.
Pursuant to the foregoing warrant, I have notified the inhabitants of said town, qualified as therein expressed, to meet at the time and place and for the purposes within mentioned.
FRANCIS KEYES.
I hereby certify that the above return was made on the back of the warrant that was given out under the act of incorporation, by Job Eastman, JJustice of the Peace, and by mistake was omitted to be recorded at the bottom of said warrant, therefore I have an- nexed it to the margin of said book, against where it ought to have been recorded.
Attest : FRANCIS KEYES, Town Clerk.
THE MEETING.
Rumford, April 14, 1800.
Pursuant to the foregoing warrant, the inhabitants of said town being assembled, the meeting was opened and passed the following votes, viz. :
1st. Made choice of Joshua Graham for moderator.
2d. Made choice of Francis Keyes for town clerk, and was sworn in open town meeting by the moderator.
3d. Made choice of Francis Keyes, Philip Abbot and John Mar- tin for selectmen and assessors.
4th. Made choice of David Farnum for town treasurer.
Voted, that the collection of taxes be vendned, and struck off to the lowest bidder, with his getting two bondsmen, and (it) was struck off to Edmund Page at six cents on each dollar for collecting, and (he) was chosen collector accordingly, with Gustavus A. Goss and John Whittemore for bondsmen, and was accepted by the town.
Voted, to conclude the business of this meeting by hand votes.
Made choice of Edmund Page for constable.
59
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
Made choice of David Farnum, John Martin, Francis Keyes and Osgood Eaton for surveyors of highways.
Made choice of Benjamin Elliot and Daniel Knight for surveyors of lumber of all sorts.
Made choice of Francis Keyes, Philip Abbot and John Martin for fence viewers.
Made choice of Benjamin Farnum, John Whittemore and Joshua Ripley for tythingmen.
Made choice of Gustavus A. Goss, John Whittemore, John Mar- tin and Daniel Knight for hog-reeves.
Made choice of John Whittemore and Joshua Graham for pound keepers.
Made choice of Francis Keyes, Philip Abbot and John Martin for field drivers.
5th. Voted to hold their annual meeting on the first Monday of April, annually.
6th. Voted, that one warrant should be sufficient for warning a meeting, a copy of which shall be posted up by the constable, at the place where the meeting is to be held.
All the foregoing officers were sworn to the faithful discharge of their several duties, before Gustavus A. Goss, except the town clerk and said Goss.
A true record.
Attest : FRANCIS KEYES, Town Clerk.
The next meeting was held at the house of Benjamin Farnum, on the first day of May, 1800, when the following votes were passed :
Made choice of Abel Wheeler for moderator.
Voted, to raise twenty dollars to defray the charges of the town, the ensuing year.
Voted, to raise three hundred dollars to be laid out on the road, at twelve and one-half cents per hour from the first of May until the first of July, and nine hours per day, and from that time to the first of October, nine cents an hour and eight hours a day.
A meeting for the acceptance of town ways laid out by the select- men, was held at the house of Benjamin Farnum, August thirtieth. The first road accepted was one beginning at Bethel line on the South side of the river, and running down the river eight and a half miles to a point a little below David Farnum's place. Another road was described as beginning at the town line, north side of the Great river, at Swift river below Ebenezer Virgin's place, "to a leaning pine standing on the bank of the river opposite Mr. Graham's." Two other short roads were accepted, one beginning near Philip Abbot's home, and the other near Mr. Richardson's corner.
60
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
Another meeting to consider the subject of roads was held Sep- tember twenty-ninth. It was voted to accept the survey of a road from Abel Wheeler's barn to the West line of Rumford. Also a road from a beech tree below Stickney brook, on the South side of the river, to the East line of the town. Voted to discharge Stephen Putnam from paying the taxes of one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, and to give John Taylor the taxes assessed against him, it being the first tax ever assessed in town.
Another meeting was called on November third, of the male in- habitants, twenty-one years of age, having a freehold estate within the town, of the annual income of ten dollars, or any estate to the value of two hundred dollars, and residents of Rumford for one year, to vote for member of Congress for the second Eastern dis- trict. Peleg Wadsworth had all the votes thrown, numbering seven. These were all the meetings held during Rumford's first year as a town.
1801. On the sixth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and one, a meeting was called to vote for State officers, with the following results :
Caleb Strong, for Governor, had thirty-two votes, and Elbridge Gerry, five. For Lieutenant Governor, Edward H. Robbins had thirty-two votes, and Samuel Phillips, eleven. For Senators and Councillors, John K. Smith had twenty-six, and Stephen Long- fellow thirty-one votes, respectively.
The town business was also transacted on the same day. The town clerk and treasurer were re-elected, and Francis Keyes, Stephen Putnam and Jeremiah Richardson were chosen selectmen. James C. Harper bid off the taxes, and was elected constable. Gustavus A. Goss, Benjamin Sweat and Benjamin Farnum were his bondsmen. Among the new names in the list of officers elected this year, were Richard Dolloff, William Virgin, Daniel Martin, Phineas How and Moses Kimball.
It was voted to raise fifty dollars for town charges, sixty dollars for schools, and three hundred dollars for roads at eighty-three cents per day. A committee consisting of Francis Keyes, Stephen Putnam and Jeremiah Richardson was raised, to divide the town into School Districts.
'The selectmen were made a committee "to purchase burying yards."
At an adjourned meeting held July first, the report of the com-
61
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
mittee dividing the town into five school districts and describing the bounds of each, was accepted. The report also provided that the money arising from the taxes of non-resident owners, should be equally divided among the several districts, according to the num- ber of house-holders in each.
At a meeting holden Angust eighteenth, the selectmen made a report recommending that guide posts be erected at the following points : One on the main road at the corner leading to Harper's Ferry ; one at the corner leading to Paris ; one at the corner below Abbot's Mills ; the above to be erected on the South side of the river. On the north side of the river, one at the corner of the road near Phineas Howe's ; one at the corner near the mouth of Split Brook, so-called, and one at the angle of the road leading from the mouth of Split Brook to East Andover. The selectmen were author- ized to erect the above guide posts. At a meeting October third, the town declined to send a delegate to Paris, to a convention called to consider the subject of a new county.
1802. At the election in one thousand eight hundred and two, for Governor, Caleb Strong had twenty-seven votes, and Elbridge Gerry, seven.
At the annual meeting this year the selectmen elected were Fran- cis Keyes, Philip Abbot and John Martin. John Puffer bid off the collection of taxes, and was elected constable. Among the new names in the list of town officers were those of Stephen Putnam, Jr., John Howe, Jacob Abbot, Phineas Wood and Benjamin Rolfe. Seventy dollars were raised for schools, sixty for town charges, and four hundred for roads. No other town meetings were held this year, except for the election of member of Congress.
1803. The meeting for one thousand eight hundred and three was holden at the dwelling house of Silas How, April fourth. Lists of the principal town officers are given in tabular form elsewhere, and will not be repeated here. James Colman Harper again bid off the taxes. The new names among the town officers this year were Kimball Martin, Ephraim Colby, Nathan Silver, Nathaniel F. Hig- gins, Israel Putnam and Nathan Brown. Eighty dollars each for schools and for town charges were raised, and five hundred for roads. It was voted to erect a meeting house on the north side of the river, as near the center as may be from east to west on the river road. Francis Keyes, Ebenezer Virgin and John Martin were
62
HISTORY OF RUMFORD.
chosen a locating committee. The widow MeAlister's tax for the year one thousand eight hundred, was remitted. One hundred dol- lars were raised toward building the meeting house. It was voted to hold annual meetings hereafter on the second Tuesday of March. At an adjourned meeting, the committee on location of a meeting house reported in favor of a spot half way, or thereabout, between Swift and Ellis rivers and a little below Split Brook. It was voted to build a house forty feet square, twelve foot post, and with a hip roof. Samuel Knight was excused from paying an old tax. The frame of the proposed meeting house was struck off to Francis Keyes at forty dollars. He also bid off the boarding and shingling for forty-six dollars. At an adjourned meeting June sixth, Enoch Adams had a tax remitted, and Enoch Brister was released from certain obligations relative to bidding off school lands. Thirty dol- lars additional were raised for the meeting house, and the frame erected by Francis Keyes was accepted. At a meeting December fifteenth, Francis Keyes was chosen a committee to attend a con- vention at Paris, to consider the subject of the erection of a new county.
1804. The annual meeting in eighteen hundred and four, was held at the house of Joshua Graham, March thirteenth. One hun- dred dollars were raised for schools, fifty for town charges, and six hundred dollars for roads ; also thirty dollars for the church build- ing. The selectmen were directed to lay out a burying ground on the parsonage land, and make report. Among the new names in- troduced at this meeting were Samuel Stevens, Samuel Simpson, Benjamin Morse and Jacob Farnum. James Harper was collector and constable. The meeting was adjourned to the house of Nathan Hunting. Joshua Graham was elected collector of taxes at this meeting, with Henry Rolfe and JJeremiah Richardson as bondsmen. This meeting was adjourned to the meeting house in Rumford. It was voted to choose two selectmen and assessors, and the meeting accordingly elected Abel Wheeler and Kimball Martin. The board- ing and shingling of the meeting house, as done by Francis Keyes, were accepted. At an adjourned meeting in January, the town voted in favor of the erection of a new county, as petitioned for by Levi Hubbard and others.
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