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 3
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 3
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 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
1*
.
6
HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
with them as far up as Chikawauka Pond; but, from the early erection of a saw-mill by Brigadier Waldo, near the present mills at the bridge, they were shut out at an early period and the run broken up. They began, however, to re- visit the place, and in seasons when the dams were carried away made some increase in their numbers. But by the multiplication of dams and the neglect of the town to open them in the proper season, they have long since disappeared, and few people can remember ever having seen any there. The smelts, however, continue their annual visits, are caught in the same abundance and eaten with the same relish as by the savages and pioneer settlers centuries ago. Bordering both sides of this river are the celebrated Meadows, originally an extensive glade in the forest much resorted to by the moose and deer as well as the neat stock of the early settlers, and now valuable appendages to many of the best farms, and giving name to one of the finest portions of both Thomaston and Rockland. How these Meadows were originally formed, what has been the action of floods and fires, frosts and fresh- ets, beaver-dams, and other agencies, - are subjects upon which the limits of this work will not allow the writer to enter. A few facts, however, in relation to this and other parts of the town, may be given to prove that " since the fathers fell asleep, all things" do not "continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." About a quarter of a mile from the left margin of Mill River near the site of the clothing mill, at the head of a gully, Simeon Blood, Senior, in digging a well, discovered, at the depth of about thirty feet from the surface, some small masses of matter resembling stones with earth adhering to them. These, on examination, proved to be frogs; and one of them, when warmed by the sun and air, hopped off with the usual agility of the species. They were probably, whilst hibernating in the mud, covered over by a deposit of earth brought by a flood or current of water, and buried too deep for the ensuing Spring to reach and re-animate; but at what epoch, and by how many suc- cessive deposits of earth, who shall pretend to say ? *
.
In 1853, as Thos. Gould, Esq., of Winchester, N. H., then on a visit to his son in this place, was watching the opera- tions in the Fulling-mill lime quarry, he saw the workmen blast out from the solid ledge, 18 or 20 feet below the sur- face, a black and at first perfectly torpid toad. This soon showed signs of life, and, during his temporary absence,
* Messrs. James Morse, Wm. H. Blood, &c.
.
ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
hopped away, as the workmen said, and was not again found, -leaving only a cavity in the rock to mark the prison- house of this remnant of the ante-diluvian world."
In several places in what is called the Ulmer district, when- ever the earth is perforated to the proper depth, a bed of blue clay, much resembling flats' mud, is found; beneath which is a never failing supply of water, which, when reached, rises in some spots to, and even above, the surface of the ground. In different places not far from the banks of Oyster River, and also on land of Capt. S. M. Shibles, shells of the bival- vular species have been found well preserved and deeply im- bedded in banks of solid clay.
In 1855, a fire broke out in a dense thicket of stunted evergreens, upon a piece of low, sunken land, half a mile north of the State Prison, belonging to J. D. Barnard; and consumed all of them. After a great length of time, the fire was extinguished by drenching rains; when Mr. Barnard commenced the work of " clearing;" and, after removing the scattered remnants from the surface, to his great surprise came in contact with a buried body of heavy lumber, strewn promiscuously, to the depth of four or five feet. Some of the trees were twenty feet in length and measured a foot and a half in diameter at the base, with roots diminished in about the same proportion with the trunks, both as uniformly tapering as though whittled down with a knife; still there were no marks of any cutting instruments about them. This deposit overspread an area of five or six acres; and the quantity removed (which proved the very best of fuel, when dry) was nearly two hundred cords. It had much the ap- pearance of having undergone a partial petrifaction. . Many of the trunks were used for enclosing the lot, and are still to be seen. Their condition, when found, cannot be accounted for under any other hypothesis than that they were for a long time acted upon by troubled waters.t
As late as 1839, during a violent storm of rain and wind 'which occurred Aug. 31st, a point of land containing about half an acre, covered with a thick growth of cat-tail flags whose roots were usually a foot or two submerged, by some means became detached from the adjoining land at the upper part of Wheaton's mill-pond, Mill River, and floated majesti- cally down the same amid the wonder and admiration of the crowds which collected in spite of the rain to witness the
* Communication of A. P. Gould, Esq.
t Communication of Dr. M. R. Ludwig.
8
HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
novel scene. This floating island finally brought up against the land on the north of the bridge, after a voyage of about a quarter of a mile, and remained there some time an inter- esting object much frequented by delighted boys and curious observers.
Besides the prominent features already described, the shores of this ancient town, both on the ocean and river sides, were conveniently diversified and indented with points, coves, and inlets, which may be cursorily enumerated. Jame- son's Point, on the borders of Camden, is a considerable pro- jection separating Clam Cove in that town from Rockland harbor; from thence southerly to Ulmer's Point is an inden- tation early named Lermond's Cove, but called by the Indians Catawamteak, or Great-landing-place. Proceeding on, we pass Crockett's Point and Ingraham's Point; all in the present city of Rockland, to the Head of the Bay, South Thomaston. Here the shore bends easterly at less than a right angle, to the extremity of Owl's Head; from which a line drawn north-westerly to Jameson's Point will enclose Owl's Head Bay or Rockland harbor including the points and coves before mentioned. Doubling the promontory south- westerly through Owl's Head Harbor, we pass on the left Munroe's Island, containing 180 acres, which derives its name from Hugh Munroe, who early settled and spent his days there, and Sheep Island of 74 acres; both woody and at present if not generally uninhabited. Continuing in the same direction, we come to Ash Point and the small Island of that name, so called from the trees which formerly abounded there; thence, more westerly, we approach the mouth of the Wessaweskeag between Spalding's Point on the N. E. and Thorndike Point on the N. W., having passed on the right the peninsula of Ballyhac, and, within the river's mouth, Spalding's Island, if island it may be called, which at low water is united to the main land or Spalding's Point. From hence to the town of St. George, there is no prominent landmark. On the George's River side, passing up, we find Simonton's Point jutting boldly out and forming the lower boundary of the broad expanse or basin usually denominated the Bay. Near this point are Cat Island and Church's Rock, which received their names from a practical joke of some sailors who, having among them one by the name of Church whom they usually made a butt of, offered to bet when ban- tering him on his want of strength, that the cat on board could out-pull him. The bet being accepted and judges ap- pointed, Church was placed upon the rock and the cat upon
- .
9
ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
the island, with a line attached to each. The dupe not per- ceiving that the line, in a loop of which the cat's neck was inserted, extended further on into the hands of three or four stout fellows, feeling sure of victory braced himself up for. a strong pull, when the word was given, and he was instantly plunged backward into the briny element. So, he got a ducking, his companions a laugh, and the island and rock their names.
Above the Bay and at the exit of Mill River, are extensive flats, capable, if properly diked, of becoming one of the finest pieces of land in the region. Here, opposite the mouth of Mill River, is what is called "the Turn," where a pier or beacon has been erected to assist vessels in their passage up and down, and where the river's channel bends N. Westerly at a right angle. Passing up, in a W. or N. W. direction, we leave the village portion of Thomaston with its wharves, ship-yards, and the Knox mansion, on our right, and on our left the commanding height of Watson's Point, till a short distance above the toll-bridge we come to the Narrows. Here the course of the river by another right angle shifts to the S. W. through a passage so confined between precipitous ledges as to cause a violent rush of water at every tide, pre- senting an exhilerating spectacle to the beholder, and a for- midable obstruction to the coasting vessels, which, formerly, before the lumber failed, used to pass constantly to and from the landings in Warren. From the head of these Narrows, the course of the river is again N. Westerly, to the original bounds of Warren; shortly above which it receives the waters of Oyster River, which stream several times crosses the old line of . Thomaston, and the Eastern branch of which, after leaving Camden, lies almost wholly within the ancient town, now Thomaston and Rockland.
The climate of the place is generally allowed to be a healthy one; but from the lack of records few data are " found from which to deduce any very accurate results. Ac- cording to the published returns of the city undertaker of Rockland for the last five years, the mortality compared with the number of inhabitants given in the 8th census, is as fol- lows, viz .:- 1858, 106 deaths, equal to one in every 69 in- habitants; in 1859, 83, or one in 88; in 1860, 102, or one in 72; in 1861, 111, or one in 66; and in 1862, 103, or one in 71; making a total in five years of 505, and the very fa- vorable yearly average of one in 73. This, being a list of interments only, does not of course include those who have died at sea and in foreign lands, except when brought home
10
HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
for burial. During the same years, according to a private list kept by Hon. B. Fales, in which it is not improbable that many infants may have escaped his notice, the number of deaths in Thomaston was in 1858, 43, or one in 72; in 1850. 17, or one in 181; in 1860, 11, or one in 230; in 1861, 44, or one in 70; and in 1862, 46, or one in 67; making a total in five years of 161, and the still more favor- able yearly average of one in 96. No list of deaths in South Thomaston having been found, no comparison can of course be made. Probably the different sections of the old town differ but little in the health and longevity of the people; though an opinion is somewhat prevalent that Rockland, especially the lime-burning district, is in a great measure ex- empt from diphtheria, and perhaps other putrid diseases, on account of the copious exhalations of carbonic acid from the lime-kilns. When in 1832 the cholera had caused a wide- spread panic through the country, the people there were told by an aged man from Waldoboro', of German descent, that they need have no fear, "the cholera can't come here, while the lime-kilns are kept going." But what foundation there is for this idea remains' to be tested. Rockland is more ex- posed to the easterly winds, and Thomaston to the south- westerly; both of which being surcharged with vapor from the ocean are very trying in the colder months to feeble con- stitutions. Epidemics sometimes prevail in one of the three municipalities, whilst the others are exempt, and vice versa. For the only register of the weather which the author has been able to find kept in either of the sections, the reader is referred to Table XI.
The primitive people who frequented these woods and waters, as far as we can judge from the absence of burying- grounds and other memorials had no permanent residence in this particular locality. Few monuments of their existence here have come to our knowledge, though formerly frequent- ing the Fort in such great numbers. A stone instrument, worked out in the form of a wedge, was found, not many years back, in the garden of Mr. Stetson in Knox street, Thomaston ; and other stone instruments, such as mortars, chisels, arrow and spear heads, have been picked up in dif- ferent places. On the eastern bank of the George's, at the head of the Narrows, was found, stuck in among the earth and rocks, an iron tomahawk or hatchet, formed, not with the modern eye common to our axes, but with one made by drawing out and turning over the head of the instrument, after the manner of the French at the time of their earliest
7
11
ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
explorations and settlements in this country, and which were the first, it is said, to supersede among the Indians the use of those made by themselves of stone. On the Gilchrist farm in St. George, opposite the old stone garrison house in Cush- ing, many years ago, a gun barrel and lock, together with a human skeleton, were found embedded in the mould near the surface of the ground; but whether belonging to some Indian, or white man, no evidence remained to determine. At the mouth of the Wessaweskeag some arrow heads and other in- struments of stone have been picked up at different times ; and at that village, on the farm of Asa Coombs, Esq., a flat piece of soft granite, some two or three feet across, was found with several figures of arrows carved on its sides to the depth of one-eighth of an inch or more. On Spalding's Island, Capt. H. Spalding remembers to have frequently found skulls and iron tomahawks. On Dix Island, which lies about three miles distant, an ancient burying-ground was recently dis- covered, in which many skeletons,. much decayed, seem to have been buried in a circle, with their feet pointing inwards toward the centre, though in somewhat confused and indis- tinct condition from decay and time. Some of these skulls, now in the cabinet of the Thomaston Natural History Society, were found entire; and one leg-bone, sound enough to be measured, was ascertained to be some inches longer than those of the tallest persons among us. When Gen. Knox was repairing and enlarging the house built by Col. Wheaton in Wadsworth street, the workmen in digging for an enlarge- ment of the cellar, found, buried under the front door-steps, a number of bones which on examination proved to be those of a human skeleton. The rumor of it, spreading through the neighborhood, brought together a crowd of people who began to task memory and tradition to discover whose re- mains they might have been. It was remembered that a cooper formerly employed here had left the place no one knew when, and not having been heard of afterwards, was now sup- posed by some to have been murdered and concealed here. Others, and among them Gen. Knox, judged from the ap- pearance of the bones that they must have been deposited there at a much earlier period, and that they were those of some Indian there entombed before the building of the house, The mystery concerning them, however, together with a pecu- liar echo which in certain situations seemed to proceed from the house, preyed upon the imaginations of the credulous, and caused it for a time to be called the Haunted House.
A keen observer may also trace memorials of the former
.
-
-
12
HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
presence of these aboriginal people, in the numerous clam- shell deposits which were formerly conspicuous, and are still to be seen, where not disturbed by cultivation, along the east- ern bank of the George's in South Thomaston. These heaps or little mounds of a shell-fish which still abounds in the locality, were in all probability gradually accumulated by Indian families who resorted here for subsistence, and en- camped for long intervals when the hunting season was over or food from other causes became scarce. Farther down the river, on the Hawthorn farm in Cushing, is a similar but much larger deposit of the same kind, indicating a more numerous encampment and perhaps a permanent Indian village. This deposit, in various stages of decay from the perfect shell at . the surface to the black mould into which it has crumbled at the base, is about three rods wide, fourteen rods long, and from one to ten feet deep, situated on a beautiful sheltered plat looking towards the sun, and is, in the opinion of a good observer," "the accumulation of ages." But though axes and other implements of stone are frequently found there, we do not learn that any burying-place or other evidence of a . permanent residence there, has been discovered.
These meagre relics are all that now remain of the once powerful tribes that fished in these waters, pursued the bear and moose across these grounds, strove to outwit the beaver along these green meadows, and stoutly contended with our intruding race for mastery and possession here.
* Rev. D. Cushman, in the Christian Mirror of Jan. 26, 1864: - who in- forms me that a spring of fresh water is usually found near such deposits.
.
13
ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
CHAPTER II. FIRST DISCOVERY AND LANDING BY EUROPEANS AT THOMASTON.
1605. THE locality which forms the subject of this work is one of no small interest, on account of its being the scene of the earliest discoveries by the English on any part of the main land of this State or New England. The coast indeed had been discovered by the Cabots as early as 1497, who sailed from England, fell in with Newfoundland, and proceeded southerly as far as Florida; but without landing on any part of the continent. These were followed by vari- ous private adventurers from England, France, and other European nations; who, attracted by the abundant fisheries and profitable trade with the natives, flocked over to New- foundland, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the neighboring region. Newfoundland as well as the whole coast southerly was claimed, and, under the name of Virginia, grants made of it in 1606, by the English in right of prior discovery; whilst the borders of the St. Lawrence and Bay of Fundy were, by a similar title, granted in 1603 and claimed by the French under the name of Acadia. As, in consequence of the great profits realized, voyages became more and more numerous, the claims of these two rival nations began to be looked after with greater interest and mutual jealousy; both fitting out expeditions of discovery to strengthen and sustain their pretensions. Among those of the English, was the ex- pedition of Capt. George Weymouth, who, under the auspices of Lord Arundel and other persons of influence, on the 31st of March, old style, (10th of April, N. S.) 1605, just after his return from an arctic voyage, sailed from Dartmouth Haven in the good ship Archangel, well victualled and fur- nished with munition and all necessaries, having on board a company of twenty-nine persons; among them James Rosier, who was employed to write an account of the expedition. After making land about Cape Cod on the 14th of May, and being deterred from landing by thre difficult shoals found there, and a strong S. W. wind that sprang up, Weymouth sailed north-easterly, and on Friday, the 17th of May, about 6 o'clock at night, descried the land; but, because it blew a gale, " the sea very high, and near night, not fit to come upon an unknown coast," stood off again. Returning, next morn- ing, at 8 o'clock, the "mean high land" was found to be Vor. I. 2
14
HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
"an island of some six miles in compass;" on the north side of which the ship was at length anchored, at noon, about a league from the shore. To this island the discoverer gave the name of St. George, but the same is now universally re- cognized by its Indian name of Monhegan. At 2 o'clock, the captain with 12 men visited the island in a boat, without penetrating its interior, and returned with a load of dry wood picked up on the beach. The appearance there is described as follows : - " woody, grown with fir, birch, oak and beech, as far as we saw along the shore; and so likely to be within. On the verge grew gooseberries, strawberries, wild pease, and wild rose bushes. The water issued forth down the rocky cliff in many places; and much fowl of divers kinds breed upon the shore and rocks. From hence we might discern the main land from the west-south-west to the east-north- east; and, a great way (as it then seemed, and we after found it) up into the main," we might discern very high mountains ; though the main seemed but low land." Two days after, being Whitsunday, Weymouth sailed two or three leagues farther north among the " islands more adjoining to the main and in the road directly with the mountains," and entered " a goodly haven" which he named Pentecost Harbor, now known as George's Island Harbor. There, says Rosier, as well as on Monhegan, " we found at our first coming where fire had been made, and about the place very great egg shells bigger than goose eggs, fish bones, and as we judged the bones of some beast." The next day they put together the pinnace which they had brought in pieces from England, dug wells for water, cut trees for yards and fuel, fitted out the shallop, took great numbers of lobsters and fish and ob- served that they all "of whatsoever kind we took, were well fed,. fat, and sweet in taste." On Wednesday, May 22d, they dug a plot of ground for a garden, the first in the State of Maine if not in the Union; and here, among the fragrant firs and spruces, from which they " pulled off much gum, con- gealed on the outside of the bark, which smelled like frank- incense," they remained, finding large pearls, 14 in one muscle and 50 small ones in another, so well pleased with the harbor and fruitful islands that " many of our company wished themselves settled here." "Wednesday, the 29th day, our shallop being now finished, and our captain and men fur-
* Viz. : - " to the V. N. E." according to Purchas; which, allowing one point westerly variation, would be equivalent to N. by E - the true direc- tion of Madambettox and the Cainden group from Monhegan.
.
15
ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
nished to depart with her from the ship, we set up a cross on the shore-side upon the rocks." These islands, from their contiguity to St. George as Weymouth had named Monhegan, took the name of George's or St. George's Islands, which they have ever since borne; and the one most frequented. where the cross was set up, was probably Allen's Island of that group.
"The 30th of May, about 10 o'clock before noon, our captain with 13 men more, in the name of God, departed in. the shallop, leaving 14 men with the ship in the harbor." The latter at night-fall espied some natives in three canoes coming toward the ship, who, landing on an island opposite, kindled a fire and stood about it, gazing with wonder at the ship. " Weffing unto them to come unto us," says Rosier, " because we had not seen any of the people yet, they sent one canoe with three men, one of which when they came near us, spake in his language very loud and very boldly," and, pointing his oar towards the sea, motioned that the in- truders should be gone. But being shown knives and their use, combs, and glasses, they came close aboard, and, having been presented with bracelets, rings, pipes, and peacock feathers which they stuck in their hair, departed, presently succeeded by four others in another canoe. Described as a people " well-countenanced, proportionable, not very tall nor big; with bodies painted black, their faces some with red, some with black, and some with blue; clothed with beaver and deer skin mantles fastened at their shoulders and hang- ing to their knees; some with sleeves; and some with buskins of such leather sewed; they seemed all very civil and merry ; and we found them a people of exceeding good invention. quick understanding, and ready capacity." The next day, May 31st, they came alongside very early and were easily enticed on board and below, where they ate freely of the ship's provisions, but of nothing raw. The kettles. the ar- mor, all excited their wonder; and at the report of fire-arms they fell Hat on their faces with terror. On being made to understand that the object of the ship's visit to their shores was the exchange of knives, and such things as they most liked, for beaver skins and furs, they promised to bring some, and departed.
About ten o'clock, and to the surprise of the ship's com- pany within twenty-four hours of her departure, "we de- seried," says Rosier, "our shallop returning toward us; which, so soon as we espied, we certainly conjectured our captain had found some unexpected harbor, or some river;
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.