USA > Maine > Knox County > South Thomaston > History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their first exploration, A. D. 1605; with family genealogies, Vol. I > Part 22
USA > Maine > Knox County > Rockland > History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their first exploration, A. D. 1605; with family genealogies, Vol. I > Part 22
USA > Maine > Knox County > South Thomaston > History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their first exploration, A. D. 1605; with family genealogies, Vol. I > Part 22
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1793. At the annual meeting, March 11, 1793, an arti- cle had been inserted " to take some method for bringing for- ward the Records of said town, that the same may be known Vor. I. 17
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
and understood ; and that it may be known who are inhabi- tants, and who have been warned out;" &c. The selectmen were made a committee to put the purport of this article in execution; but probably found some difficulty in executing their trust ; as two years after, May 6, 1795, the town voted " that David Fales, Esq., collect the town Papers, and re- cord them in the Town Book." This service he seems to have accurately performed, so far as the materials could be found.
In 1793, a malignant disease called the throat distemper, alluded to in Gov. Sullivan's description of Thomaston under the name of canker-quinsy, probably the same as modern diphtheria, prevailed and carried off great numbers of chil- dren, seeming for a time to baffle the power of medicine. Capt. Vose lost three in November; two of whom were car- ried to the grave in one day. Other deaths occurred in the same neighborhood, among them, in her fourteenth year, Sal- lie Gregg, an adopted daughter of Mrs. R. K. Shibles. It had prevailed the preceding year, also, in the eastern part of the town and Camden; Alexander Jameson, at Jameson's Point, having buried in August and September five of his children, three of them from this disease, in the course of a single fortnight.
1794. This year, Capt. John Ulmer, a native of Ger- many, who came over with his father in the first company of emigrants to Broad Bay now Wa'doboro', removed his family from that town on to the large tract of land which he had taken up and his sons George and John, Jr., had been work- ing upon several years. earlier, in the castern part of the town, now Rockland. Being a man of property and energy, Capt. Ulmer, himself, continued lime-burning from the cele- brated and inexhaustible quarries which he or his son George was probably the first to open in that part of the town; loaded with lumber the vessels which he owned and some- times navigated ; and built others at his own shore, perhaps the first ever launched in what is now Rockland. Having a keen perception of the prospective advantages of the locality, he made a judicious selection of land, combining the best capabilities of quarry, soil, and sea-shore, which could well be embraced in one location. On being jeered by some of his Waldoboro' friends for setting himself down in such a wil- derness, he replied, " this will one day become a city,"-a prophecy which some of his thirteen children lived to see fulfilled. His father having been a leading man in civil, mil- itary, and ecclesiastical matters in the Broad Bay settlement,
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
and this son of his and also a grandson bearing the same name, they have often been confounded with each other ; and the anecdotes and doings of all three have sometimes been ascribed to the subject of this paragraph, who, at the time - of leaving Germany, was but a child of four years; and Miss Remilly, who ultimately became his wife, was actually born on the passage. Possessing a natural fluency of speech and no lack of confidence, he early became the principal reader and in time the exhorter or preacher, in the absence of any regular clergyman, at the Broad Bay religious meetings. These services he occasionally rendered, also, for the edifica- tion of such as chose to assemble in the new and humble log- house in which he now resided here, at Ulmer's Point, as it began to be called. These clerical functions, however, seem not to have wholly withdrawn his mind from earthly posses- sions, nor prevented the occasional use, when provoked, of profane language ; for the story is told that, on one occasion in the midst of his religious services, perceiving his potato field in danger, he suddenly broke out with "donner and blitzen ! Yacob, Yacob, dare is de tam hogs in de potatoes ! tousand teifel ! run, run, trive dem out and put up de fence."
Most of the thirteen children of Capt. Ulmer settled here on this valuable estate; which was ultimately divided among them. Of the daughters, Margaret with her husband, Jacob Achorn, and five children, came in 1796, and settled on one portion; Mary Croner came earlier and married Isaac Brown, who settled on a second portion, and, with his brother Wil- liam, another son-in-law of Ulmer, gave name to BROWN's CORNER; while the sons located themselves in different places, at the shore, the quarries, or "the meadows;" built mills ; burnt lime; went into navigation; and, with their posterity, have contributed no inconsiderable portion to the industry, wealth, and population of Rockland.
About this time, also, name began to be given to BLACK- INGTON'S CORNER, - from John Blackington, who, in 1792, was licensed as a retailer and commenced business on the Eben Thompson farm; a part of which he purchased and lived on, till his removal to Mill River. His only predecessor in trade in that neighborhood, was Ichabod Barrows, -who was licensed in 1787, and did something in that line up to the present year, 1794. Blackington has been succeeded in business at the Corner by Charles Harrington, from 1824 to 1838 or '9; Ephraim Perry, a few years prior to 1829; Josiah Achorn, from 1826 to 1836; Calvin Butler, John Tol- man, Allen Shepherd, and Mary Snow, for short periods ;
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
Michael Achorn, from 1840 till his death in 1849, and John- Bird, which latter gentleman in 1831 moved hither from Camden, and soon took the lead of business in this quarter of what is now Rockland ; - being still considered the father of its commercial prosperity. The farm that Blackington had of Thompson is now owned in great part by Mr. John Brown, and the quarry which belonged to it, by the Lime Rock Company of Messrs. T. Williams, E. Smith, and others.
An alteration in the road by Samuel Tolman's mill, to- gether with a new one from Isaiah Tolman's to Camden line westward of the Pond, was this year dismissed by the town, but the latter subsequently laid out.
As, in a vote of the town respecting the maintenance of a pauper, the first mention of " dollars" as a monetary denom- ination is found on the records, it is probable that the federal currency was already in contemplation, though the Act of Congress, establishing it, was not passed till the following year, 1795; or the circulation of Spanish dollars and possi- bly those of our own mint which had been established in 1793, might have had influence in introducing the term into business accounts. The old paper money was now out of circulation, and bank bills had scarcely begun to take its place. The old denomination of pounds, shillings, and pence, soon shared the fate of the paper currency, and we find in 1796 the town, school, and other taxes were voted in the new and legal denomination of dollars, cents, and mills.
The town, finding the structures for imprisoning unruly cattle, ordered to be built in 1786 and again in 1790, would not erect themselves, this year, May 8th, voted "to choose a committee to build a pound," and made choice of J. Stack- pole, D. Jenks, and Susman Abraham, accordingly; appoint- ing James Fales, Jr., pound-keeper. Abraham, or Abrams, was "a Jew from Hamburg, having been in early life a ped- dler and trader in old clothes. It is supposed he fled for some misdemeanor, embarked on board a vessel, and was concerned in the sinking of it." He had now recently come to Thomaston, after a residence of some time in Waldoboro', built a house and wharf, burnt lime, and did some small business on the west bank of Mill River below the bridge and the town landing, at the foot of what is now Gleason street. Not far from 1826, "he removed to Union, where he carried on coopering and tanning, and died Oct. 6, 1830; aged, it is supposed, about eighty-seven years."
* Sibley's Hist. of Union, p. 110, note.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
Probably about this time, also, Benjamin Clark came to the place and commenced his business as a potter, manufactur- ing pans and other common brown ware. Meeting with good success, he erected, in a few years, on the south side of the present mall in Thomaston, a one story house, where he carried on the business till his death. He was succeeded, at the same place, by Charles Bradford, who married his widow and con- tinued the pottery business till his removal to Ohio, in 1815. The house, after having been occupied by different tenants, passed into the hands of J. Paine, and, since his death and that of his wife, has been removed near the Prison Corner. Bradford was succeeded, in 1819, in the potter's business, by James Tarbox from Biddeford, who has continued the estab- lishment down to the present time.
The manufacture of lime, being now no longer monopolized by the patentees, was considerably extended through the town; and this year, 1794, not less than 35 kilns were burned from three to five times a year, consuming at each burning about 25 cords of wood and yielding 200 casks of 50 gallons, which brought, at the market, a net gain each of about 6s. - the market price being between 10s. and 11s. By an Act passed . Aug. 15th, of this year, the size of lime-casks was fixed at 100 gallons ; but, for greater convenience in lading and handling, these half casks continued to be used, more or less, till 1810, when 50-gallon casks were made the legal standard. The navigation owned on the whole of George's river at this time amounted to one brig, two topsail schooners, and nine sloops, measuring, altogether, about 1100 tons .* These were owned less in Thomaston than in the towns below, and especially in Warren above, where they were, thus far, mostly built.
For supporting the Gospel according to the established order of the State, this town, having been settled by persons from various places and of different denominational procliv- ities, had as yet, from want of unanimity, done little more than what was absolutely necessary to avoid prosecution and fines according to the laws then in force. Voluntary contri- butions were often resorted to, and this year Rev. Thurston Whiting was employed one third of the time. This gentle- man, a native of Franklin, Mass., seems to have entered both Harvard and Brown Universities, though he did not graduate at either. Having studied for the ministry whilst occasion- ally employed as a teacher, he came to the Kennebec region
* Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. 4, pp. 20-25; Sibley's Hist. of Union, p. 102.
17*
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
during the heat of the controversy which ended in the Rev- olution ; and, ardently espousing the cause of the people, it is not strange that his boyish errors should be remembered and his character darkly painted by the enemies of political and religious liberty. Accordingly we find him thus noticed in 1775, by Rev. Jacob Bailey -an Episcopalian clergyman and missionary, long stationed in Pownalboro', living in that part since named Dresden, till obliged, in 1779, by his tory prin- ciples to take refuge in Nova Scotia. "About the beginning of this summer, one Whiting was engaged to officiate at the court-house. This fellow, now 19 or 20 years of age, had been extremely notorious for his vicious and idle conduct, having first been expelled from the college at Cambridge, and afterwards (it is reported) obliged to flee from the seminary at Providence for stealing the president's horse. He had been employed for some time as a schoolmaster in Kennebeck, but was represented as a person disposed to ridicule both religion and virtue, yet, pretending. to a sudden and miraculous con- version, and assuming uncommon zeal in the cause of liberty, he is conceived to be an happy instrument of carrying on the blessed work of ruining the Church; and though it is af- firmed that he boldly preached the sermons of President Davies and other writers of a sprightly and fanatical turn, yet he was highly caressed by our leaders, and extolled as an angel from heaven to proclaim the everlasting Gospel ; . . all who were inclined to favor the present commotions attend- ed his vociferations." Mr. Whiting was subsequently or- dained at Newcastle, where he had the gratification of pub- licly reading the declaration of independence, in 1776, from his pulpit; but was now, at the time of his engagement here, located at Warren.
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The' Baptist church, having now purged itself of what it deemed heresy, had, as before mentioned, invited Elder Elisha Snow to become its pastor ; and he was accordingly ordained Sept. 27, 1794. Under the labors of this, their second pas- tor, the church was greatly established in doctrine, and con- siderably, though not rapidly, increased in numbers. He was, especially to those who were pleased with doctrinal discus- sion, an interesting preacher ; and, from his abrupt energy of expression, apt illustration, and unflinching perseverance in adhering to a point regardless of consequences, however start- ling, seldom failed to gain the attention of every hearer. Those who differed from him were sometimes amused; while those who agreed, were edified and confirmed in their senti- ments. As a disciplinarian, he was strict; and, though re-
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
markable for abruptness of speech, he was exceedingly affa- ble and kind in his intercourse with his people. In discus- sion, however, he was too impetuous and overbearing for fairness ; anticipating the arguments of an adversary before they were fully enunciated, and confusing rather than con- vincing him, by a witty reply, when he could not find a reas- onable one. In this, his only successful competitor was his old and still welcome employee, John Sullivan, To illustrate these traits in both, a few anecdotes may as well be given here as any where.
" Sullivan," said he, on one occasion, " I saw you at my meeting in the forenoon, I suppose you have been to hear Mr. Whiting since." "Yes." ." Which did you like best?" " I liked you best." "Ah ! how is this ?" said Snow, " Whit- ing is a man of learning, and is said to be an elegant schol- ar." " That's it -that is the very reason," said the sturdy catholic, " Whiting is a man of learning and a man of sense ; I wouldn't give a copper to hear him preach." On another occasion Snow related the circumstance of his making a trip to Boston, and, whilst wind-bound at Falmouth, visiting an old acquaintance and intimate friend, whom he found very poor and destitute. After returning, he frequently thought he had done wrong in not tendering him some assistance. He still wished to do it, but hesitated and delayed. After a time his cattle got lost in the woods and baffled all his efforts to find them. At length he inwardly resolved, he said, that if the Lord would restore his cattle, he would make a present of one hundred dollars to his destitute friend. That night, his cattle returned of their own accord; and he performed his resolution. His friend was grateful for the gift, but Snow cut short his acknowledgments by saying, " not a word of thanks to me, it is only the Lord's money." "Right," said Sullivan, after listening attentively to the story, "you did right ; perfectly right ; you wouldn't trust the Lord, but made sure of your cattle first."
An objector to Mr. Snow's doctrine of original sin and the exposure of all men to everlasting punishment on account of . Adam's transgression, earnestly inquired " would you, as a magistrate, condemn me for a theft my father committed be- fore I was born?" " Certainly;" was the reply, " if you were found with the stolen property about you." On one oc- casion, however, his argument was amusingly arrested by a dog, as Balaam's purpose was, by an ass. Conversing at a. friend's table, one day, upon the perseverance of the saints and the full assurance of heaven to a man once converted, he
i
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON.
said, taking up a morsel of meat with his fork, "I feel just as sure of going to heaven, as I am of swallowing this piece of meat." So saying, he raised it towards his mouth ; but it fell from the fork to the floor, and the dog instantly seized and devoured it. " Wite," said the pastor on re- turning one day after conversing with a woman of a per- verse and troublesome disposition, then under concern of mind, " wife, wife, I've got good news." "Ah," said she, " what is it?" "Why," he replied, " the devil is about to lose his oldest daughter !" At the close of the sermon one day, he said, " I have at length finished what I have to say to Chris- tians ; and now, sinners, what shall I say to you ? Nothing ! Not one word. Let God do his own work !"-and so sat down, making a deep impression on every hearer.
A draft of militia, in consequence of Indian hostilities in the western country and the unsettled state of affairs with England, having been made, (to be ready for actual service at a minute's warning, and hence called " minute-men,") the town voted, Nov. 3, 1794, " that the Minute Men be allowed six shillings each for their past services," and that they " be allowed two pounds eight shillings per month, if called into actual service." . This was in addition, probably, to the pay allowed by the general government. How many were drafted from this town is not known, as they were never called for ; the Indians having been defeated by Gen. Wayne, Aug. 20th, and the difficulties with England settled, Nov. 19th, by a commercial treaty.
This year was remarkable for an extensive and severe frost as late as the 17th of June," and so copious that it might be gathered up into snowballs. Corn and all the small fruits were cut off. The grass crop was also so scanty in conse- quence of cold and dry weather, that travellers in the suc- ceeding April found it difficult to obtain hay for their horses.
1795. Doctors Dodge and Bernard, with Ephraim Snow, who had been chosen in 1794 to inquire into the state of the treasury, were, on their neglecting to report, this year con- tinued a committee for that purpose. Dea. Brown was re- elected treasurer ; but the vote was soon after reconsidered and Dr. Fales chosen in his room, with instructions to call on the collectors for settlement, and, in case of their failing to settle within two months after notice, to issue execution against any delinquent.
. As yet, no mail had penetrated so far east as Thomaston ;
* Not May, as erroneously printed in Annals of Warren.
ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
201
and probably few or no newspapers were read in the place, except those occasionally brought by the coasters. The most eastern post office was at Wiscasset, to which a mail from Portland was brought twice a month. In 1793, however, Coo. Russell of Castine was hired by private individuals to go from Castine to Wiscasset to bring letters and newspapers to the several towns between those places. He went on foot once a fortnight, and carried his mail at first in a yellow silk handkerchief, afterwards in saddle-bags. As letters for peo- ple here at this time were received and given out at Col. Wheaton's, he has been traditionally handed down as the first postmaster of Thomaston; but the first legal postmaster, appointed and recognised by Government, was his son, James D. Wheaton, the present year, 1795; when, on a petition of inhabitants of this and other towns interested, postmasters were appointed, the Thomaston Post Office and others estab- lished, and the mail sent officially once a week on horseback. The earliest official mail-carrier recollected, was one Clark of Camden, a shoemaker and bachelor, who was subject to con- stitutional fits of sleepiness, so intense as to cause him to slumber for miles, while his faithful horse pursued the accus- tomed route .. He was succeeded by Winchester Farnham of the same town, a tanner. The first appointments, prior to 1806, cannot be ascertained at Washington in consequence of the loss by fire of the three first books of the Department in 1836; but Thomaston's first post.naster, James D. Wheaton, was probably appointed in May, as his first returns to the General Post Office were made July 1, 1795. He either kept the office in the grist-mill or his dwellinghouse, holding it till Nov. 1799, when he was succeeded by David Fales (2d) ; since which, the succession of postmasters has been, James D. Wheaton re-appointed, June 30, 1806; Hezekiah Prince, March 8, 1821; James D. Wheaton, re-appointed, April 15, 1823; John M. Gates, Feb. 16, 1837; Edwin Rose, Dec. 8, 1838 ; John M. Gates, re-appointed, May 24, 1841 ; Samuel Fuller, May 24, 1845 ; Shubael Waldo, Nov. 12, 1846 ; Asa C. Fuller, May 15, 1849 ; Ambrose Lermond, June 11, 1853 ; and Edward W. Robinson, April 30, 1861. The income of this office, the only one in the present town of Thomaston, for the year ending March 30, 1863, was $2020,20."
The several votes passed and committees raised some nine or ten years previous, in regard to providing a meeting-house
* Hon. A. H. Hodgman, Locke's Hist. of Camden, Returns, &c., in General Post Office, Washington.
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by the town, in its parish capacity, having proved abortive, individual exertion seems to have taken up and accomplished what the town had apparently abandoned for some time. A subscription paper was got up as early as Jan. 16, 1792; but two or three years seem to have elapsed between ite earliest and latest signatures. The names and sums subscribed were as follows: Mason Wheaton, £6, lawful money ; Oliver Rob- bins, £6; David Fales, Jr., £9; David Creighton, £3; Sam- uel Brown, £9; Israel Loveitt, £10; Phinehas Butler, £4; Wm. Lackey, £3; Josiah Reed, £12; David Fales, £10; Jas. Brown, £6; John Butler, £4; Wm. Gregory, £2 10s .; Daniel Morse, £6; Spencer Vose, £6; John M. Wight, £1 4s .; Jas. Stackpole, £12; John Dillaway, £5; David Jenks, £9; Henry Knox, if built in the course of the year 1795, £40, and the glass for the house; John Bridges, £4; Oliver Robbins, £9; Jos. Coombs, £9; Walter Hatch, £7 10s .; David Fisk, £4 10s .; Nat. Woodcock, £5; Wm. Watson, £4; Isaac Spear, £3 10s .; Finley Kelloch, £6; Isaac Ber- nard, £6; Nathan Parsons, £6; and John Handley, £7 10s .* In consequence of this subscription, the frame of the first house of worship in the town, and therefore usually styled the Town or Congregational Meeting-house, was this year erected. It was located on the hill east of Mill river, upon a piece of ground conveyed May 2, 1796, by Capt. D. Fales (2d) to D. Fales, Esq., and other proprietors - containing forty-six rods and one-half, being 116 feet front by 109 feet in depth, for the consideration of $40. The building ap- pears to have been 50 feet in width and probably about the same in length ; exclusive of two projecting wings or porches in front, between which was an open court leading to the main entrance into the body of the building below, and cov- ered over by an arch or platform extending from wing to wing, upon which was erected a belfry surmounted by a tall and elegant steeple. The house was furnished with capacious galleries upon three sides, one in front for the singers; the other two having common seats forward for all who chose to occupy them, and a tierof wall pews in the rear. These galleries were approached by staircases which occupied the two porches. The pulpit, in the opposite end, was elevated, according to the custom which prevailed in those times of two-storied churches ; and an echo was provided to send the preacher's voice downwards to the pews below, in the form
* Original paper drawn up by Dr. Fales, now in possession of Hon. Be- der Fales.
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of a hollow umbrella-shaped sounding-board suspended above his head by a well carved hand and arm let down from the ceiling, as if from a concealed giant reclining above it. The whole was unique and in good taste for those times; was framed and covered by Jas. Stackpole; and finished by aid of several western artificers, in course of the two succeeding years. The raising of this house occupied three days, - drawing together large crowds of spectators and assistants from all the neighboring region ; and the grounds were lined with carts and stands for the sale of liquor, cakes, and other refreshments. These were probably too attractive ; at any rate, difficulties ensued in raising the steeple, so that, in spite of ropes extended to neighboring trees, it came near falling upon the roof. Much fright and scrambling took place among those on the frame; and Jordan Lovett fell to the ground, but fortunately escaped with only the breaking of an arm. The next morning after these vain efforts to get up the steeple, Dr. D. Fales rigged a pole and purchase so skilfully that a few men soon raised and brought the steeple to its proper position. No records of the proprietors of this house, prior to 1818, have been found. The original price set on the 68 pews, seems to have been $5296. Various repairs, painting, and sales of pews, were ordered in 1818, 1822, and 1823. In 1825, the proprietors voted that the house be occupied by the different religious societies, according to the wishes of pew-owners; but, not long after, the Congregationalists sold out their interest to H. Prince, in behalf of the Baptist and other owners, -the whole house being estimated at $1400. The Baptists being thus made the principal owners, the house was changed in name to the North Baptist ; and in 1826, a vestry 15 feet by 50 was finished off back of the front singers' seats. In 1838, this house, the name of which had the pre- ceding year been changed to the First Baptist in West Thom- aston, appears to have undergone a complete transformation by dividing it into two stories and finishing the upper one for church service, with new pews in the modern style. On the 10th of January following, it was dedicated anew. In 1848, a tax of $500 was voted, for extending the roof and rebuild- ing the steeple. In 1849, the lower story was voted to be finished off into a vestry and school-room; and the name of the house became, by vote, the First Baptist Meeting-house in Thomaston. Though now almost deserted for more fashion- able resorts, this church, at the time of its erection, sixty- nine years ago, was regarded with joy, pride, and congratula- tion by the fathers and mothers of the town, since passed
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