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 38
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 38
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 38
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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
Business in 1825 was generally prosperous. Large quanti- ties of lime were manufactured, at 90 to 95 cents in Boston. Navigation did well, some of it remarkably so; and ship- building flourished. Col. Healey, this year, paid bills of dif- ferent mechanics employed by him to the amount of $50.000. To facilitate the increasing commerce of this and other places on Penobscot Bay, a light house of granite was this year built on Owl's Head promontory, in what is now South Thomas- ton, and lighted up, for the first time, about the end of Sep- tember. A keeper's house was also put up, and Isaac Stearns was, Sept. 10, 1825, appointed the first keeper, retaining his office 13 years. His successors have been, Wm. Masters, appointed Aug. 3, 1838 ; Perley Haines, July 28, 1841 ; Wm. Masters, re-appointed, April 22, 1845 ; Henry Achorn, August 8, 1849; Joshua C. Adams, April 8, 1853'; Asa Coombs, Feb. 27, 1857 ; and Geo. D. Wooster, Mar. 29, 1861 .*
* Books of Accts. of Light House Board, Washington, D. C. 30*
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354
HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
CHAPTER XVIII.
FROM 1826 TO 1829 INCLUSIVE.
1826. BUSINESS continued flourishing. Many importa- tions, particularly of salt and coal, were entered and paid du- ties here. Shipbuilding increased, as well as trade, notwith- standing some changes and failures. The firm of Green & Foster was unexpectedly struck upon, January 31st, by the owners of a cargo lost in their brig Washington; and they were obliged to discontinue. A rope walk, 600 feet in length, was, early this year, erected on the high land east of Mill River by John & Israel Dresser of Castine; who manufac- tured cordage here some years, but returned to that place. Elliott & Co. this year dissolved; and John Elliott, Jr. and Wm. Metcalf set up separate establishments as pump and blockmakers ; - carrying on the same successfully, the former till 1855, and the latter to the present time. To accommo- date .the increased business, Mill River bridge was widened, and adjoining shops moved. The sale of lottery tickets was now at its acme; and, in March, a ticket sold by a principal dealer here, drew a prize of $1000, which, with another of $200 duly bruited, greatly stimulated this species of gamb- ling, till the traffic was prohibited by law.
In this and the preceding year no tax appears to have been raised in the North Parish, and nothing done except to vote, in consequence of a sale of their portion of the old meeting- house to the Baptists 'as related under date of 1816, that Perez Tilson "collect the furniture of the pulpit and take care of the same until called for by said parish." Here end the doings of this parish as a legal territorial corporation. In the mean time, within its limits, Methodism had continued to increase; the seeds of Universalism sown by Mr. Baker while an advocate of that doctrine, were in course of cultivation by Rev. Wm. A. Drew and other occasional preachers ; and the Congregationalist portion now proceeded to build a new house of worship. A lot of one acre of land was given for that purpose by Benjamin Bussey of Roxbury, conveyed by deed, Oct. 3, 1826, " to the Proprietors of the new Meeting House in Thomaston, and their associates," for the consideration, as expressed in the grant, of " my regard for our holy religion, my interest in the support of moral institutions, and my desire for the prosperity of the Town of Thomaston." The lot was pleasantly situated on the south side of Main street, in the present Thomaston, as now occupied; and was given on " the
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
express understanding that no other building than a meeting- house is to be erected on the premises." The proprietors in- corporated themselves, Oct. 12th, and voted that $3800 be raised by subscription in fifty-dollar shares. These were all taken up by 40 subscribers; of whom Col. Healey look 15 shares; Benj. S. Dean, 14; Wm. R. Keith, 3; Eusebius Fales, J. Gleason, and A. Austin, two each; and W. Nichol- son, W. Singer, and 36 other substantial citizens of the western village, one each. The pews, 78 in number, were appraised at $4066; the right of choice selling for $606,- 25; and the house was dedicated, Oct. 2, 1827. Assess- ments have been made at different times for fencing and adorning the grounds; for constructing a furnace in 1830; for sundry repairs on the roof and foundation, more particu- larly for raising the house and making a vestry under the south end in 1839; and for lowering the gallery and other alterations in 1857. The donation of a communion table was made by J. Gleason in 1828, and a fine organ has been lately . provided, chiefly by the efforts of the ladies. In place of the old North Parish, a new religious society was now formed un- der the name of the First Congregational Society in Thom- aston ; and, being virtually the same society, succeeded to all- its rights and remained connected with the same church. Rev. Mr. Ingraham, now a reformed man, having continued his services, preaching in Stimpson's Hall and other places, with somewhat discouraging success, seems, with the new house, to have renewed his power, and an extensive revival took place ; adding in 1828 sixty-nine new members to the church. Among these was Henry J. Knox, the only son of the General that arrived to years of maturity ; who, after a life so unworthy of his honored parent, now became a changed man, desirous of doing what he could to atone for the past and prepare for the future. At his death four years later, impressed with a deep sense of his own unworthiness, he re- quested that his remains might not be interred with his hon- ored relatives in the family vault, but deposited in the com- mon burying-ground near the tomb of his former associate, Dr. E. G. Dodge, with no stone or other memorial to tell where. But now Mr. Ingraham asked his dismission, which, by advice of council, was granted, with regret, Jan. 1, 1829; - there having been added to the church 146 persons during his ministry, and 183 baptized. In July, 1829, Rev. Eber Carpenter, of Waterville, accepted a call to settle in the place. A salary of $450 was voted him, and Sept. 23d fixed for his ordination. But, from the inadequacy of salary, dissatisfaction
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
of certain members of the church, and general indifference of both church and society, the council on that day refused to proceed ; and a second call, in November, was declined by Mr. Carpenter, then in Belfast. In the following year, Rev. Richard Woodhull, a graduate of Bowdoin college and Bangor seminary, came to the 'place and was ordained as pastor, July 7, 1830. Faithful and zealous in the work of the min- istry, he also exerted a salutary influence on the education of the young, as an able lecturer, a superintendent of the com- mon schools, and teacher oftentimes of a private school for the higher branches. His connection with the church and society, having continued for the long term of twenty-five years, during which there had been 99 admissions to the church and 95 baptisms, was finally dissolved March 0, 1855. He has been succeeded by Rev. Levi G. Marsh, two years, installed in 1855; Rev. James McLean, a native of Scotland, installed Aug. 30, 1859 ; Rev. James Orton, Sept. 1, 1861; who left in 1863. The deacons of this church have been C. Bradford, appointed 1812 : P. Tilson, 1818 ; Jas. Starrett of Warren, 1822; J. M. Gates, 1830 ; S. Albee, 1834; Alex. Singer, 1838 ; D. Vaughan, 1844; Isaac Loring, 1857; Wm. S. D. Healey and J. A. Fuller, 1861. The present number of church members is 112.
. Sabbath Schools were this year systematically organized in the town, under the influence and according to the recom- .mendations, we believe, of the Sabbath School Union. Five were established, viz. : - one at Mill River, one at Wessa- weskeag, one at Owl's Head, one at the Head of the Bav, and one at the Shore; including 133 scholars, in all. A purchase of books was made, and, according to the report of Capt. A. C. Spalding, secretary of the board of directors here, an encouraging degree of success was observable.
On the 31st of January, the mercury at Mill River stood in the morning at zero, at noon, with a high N. W. wind and bright sunshine, 16° below, and at evening 22º below. The next morning it was 24° below, -not rising above 5° or 6° below, during the day. Influenza prevailed in Febru- ary, here and throughout the State with great severity. Three remarkably warm days occurred in May, when, at noon of the 16th, the mercury stood at 98". Though dry and the crops unpromising till July 28th, the season was not unproductive. Grasshoppers, however, were innumerable, appearing as early as March 15th ; and dysentery again swept off many children. Boisterous storms and severe weather occurred in October ; and, among other disasters, the sch. Dolphin, loaded with
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
joist, left this port, George's River, the 22d, Thos. Colley, Jr., captain, and was fallen in with, bottom upwards, off Cape Ann, Oct. 27th, every soul on board having perished. Our marine also lost two other young active shipmasters. Capt. I'm. Biskey, of the brig Tobacco Plant, died very suddenly at Norfolk, Va., in August ; and Jas. Burnham, master of the brig William, came home sick Sept. 5th, died two days after, and was buried with masonic ceremonies. Of the members of the bar, Samuel Jennison, an aged, retired, and well nigh forgotten practitioner, ended his days, Sept. 1st, at the house of Jonathan Spear, in what is now Rockland. He had held a commission in the army of the revolution and was a pen- sioner at the time of his death. . Joseph Sprague, who had for the last fourteen years been in the practice of law, died Sept. 21st, after a sickness of six or eight weeks, - esteemed alike as a man, a citizen, and a christian. But the number of attornies in the town was made good by the removal hither of Charles Cleland to Mill River, and of Seth Bartlett, last from Wiscasset, who boarded at Mrs. Hastings's, and was soon removed by death, -his funeral being celebrated with masonic honors, May 13, 1827. Few casualties occurred this year. One of the inmates of the Prison, Isaac Martin, of Durham, in a state of mental derangement, cut his own throat and died August 12th, after lingering ten days without being able to swallow.
The fiftieth anniversary of American independence was ushered in by the ringing of bells, and a grand national sa- lute from artillery stationed beneath the stars and stripes, floating from a liberty pole on the hill in front of the bridge at Mill River: A procession was marshalled at 10 o'clock, from Mason's Hall to the Old Parish meeting-house, which was tastefully adorned with oak trimming, mottoes, and the names of Washington, Knox, and other patriots, in white roses, with that of Bolivar in red. The services were, prayer by Rev. J. Washburn, original ode by C. Eaton, reading of the Declaration by H. Prince, Jr., oration by J. Cilley, and concluding prayer by Rev. T. Whiting, who, fifty years be- fore, had read the Declaration from the pulpit, and preached an appropriate discourse, the first Sabbath after his ordination at Newcastle. A dinner was provided by Copeland and Piper for 400 guests, at the rope-walk ; and a display of fire- works, novel and splendid for those times, closed the day.
1827. From the great number of vessels arriving and sailing coastwise, as well as from foreign ports, with cargoes of salt, coal, &c., it would seem that navigation and com-
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
merce were, this year, in a very prosperous condition. The principal merchants and ship-owners at this time were, Col. Healey, Esq. Gleason, Maj. Foster, T. Mclellan, Jr., B. Green, P. Keegan, W. Cole, W. R. Keith, and R. C. Counce, at the western village; I. Kimball, J. Spcar, O. Fales, S. Lovejoy, C. Holmes, K. Crockett, and Ephraim Perry, at the Shore ; J. Adams, at Owl's Head, and E. Snow, Jr., at Wes- saweskeag. The Shore or eastern village had of late been rapidly gaining upon other parts of the town; its merchants had become wealthy; and its trade and navigation were thought to be about equal to that of the western village. An attempt was made in the course of 1827 to obtain the estab- lishment of a daily instead of a bi-weekly mail; which was accomplished in the spring of 1828.
The first regular law office in that part of the town, was opened about this time by Edwin S. Hovey, who had studied his profession with Edwin Smith, Esq., of Warren, and, as his only predecessor, S. Jennison, had no office, and did little or no professional business, he may justly be considered the first lawyer in the limits of Rockland.
But the commercial prosperity of the place was not with- out some of its usual inconveniences. On the 5th of May, the brig Thomas and William, Capt. Colley, 19 days from Limerick, Ireland, with coal and 68 Irish passengers, arrived in the Georges, anchored half a mile below the wharf, and reported one of the crew, Washington Boyd, sick of a dis- ease feared to be small-pox. Dr. Kellogg, being sent on board, could not determine the disease with certainty ; but the vessel was laid under restrictions, with Mr. Breck as keeper, a red flag hoisted, and all persons forbidden to leave. By midnight the sick man died; and was immediately buried on Simonton's Point. Next day the vessel was cleansed, and it was hoped all danger was over. Yet, as this was the first appearance of the disease here, with all its traditionary hor- rors, and some of the crew had been on shore before the re- strictions had been imposed, it is not strange that considerable alarm and excitement prevailed; and the restrictions were continued till the 11th, when many of the passengers came on shore. On the 13th, the brig sailed for New York, and, all on board being in good health, the public alarm subsided. On the 19th, however, a letter was received from the physi- cian of the quarantine hospital, Boston, stating that the brig had arrived there in distress, with four of her crew sick with the small-pox. Upon this, immediate measures were taken to arrest the spreading of the disease here. H. Prince, Jr.,
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
then deputy inspector, rode express to Belfast and thence by water to Castine, returning, after an absence of only 24 hours, with vaccine matter ; and all that could be was done to allay the new panic which, at this news, had seized the community. By the 22d, the selectmen had erected a hospital on Simon- ton's Point. On the 25th, news came from Boston that young Colley had died there of the small-pox; but as no cases had yet occurred here, the alarm began to subside, and the public mind soon after regained its usual tone. The es- cape was attributed to the general vaccination which had taken place a few years before. Further operations on the hospital were suspended; but, on the 18th of July, it was found convenient, as a case of small-pox occurred, in the person of a stranger by the name of Allen, recently from New York, who soon recovered. This building was, in Sep- tember, accepted by the town, and remained till 1835.
A case of insanity occuring this year, the town authorized the person to be sent to the Insane Hospital, under the direc- tion of the selectmen ; and similar aid was, in 1831, 1843, and 1847, extended to others.
A plan to increase the revenue of the town by substituting itself for the Inspector General of lime, appointing deputy inspectors like other town officers, being accountable for their conduct, and receiving for the risk thus incurred the same compensation which the deputies had heretofore paid, was this year got up, and the town, Dec. 26th, unanimously voted " that the selectmen petition the Legislature for that purpose." Warren and, we believe, Camden also petitioned for a similar change ; but, as the measure would have deprived somebody of a lucrative office, a secret but powerful opposition was got up, a hundred remonstrants during the winter obtained, and the Legislature voted it down.
Meetings of the Thomaston Mechanic Association were held in 1827, and a course of lectures on natural philosophy was commenced before it by A. Williams, Dec. 19, 1828, at Ma- sonic Hall; but how long or with what success they contin- ued, the author is unable to state. In 1843, however, such a society was incorporated, of which R. C. Counce was pres- ident, E. C. Tilson vice president, G. A. Starr secretary, and R. Jacobs, Jr., treasurer.
On the annual fast, April 5th, an able address in aid of the Greeks, struggling to free themselves from Turkish bondage, was delivered by Charles Cleland, Esq., and a contribution of 830 taken up, subsequently increased to $53, and forwarded to the Boston committee. Mr. Cleland was from North Yar-
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
mouth, read law at Portland with Gen. Fessenden, and prac- tised a few years at Waldoboro' previous to coming to this town. He was a man of prepossessing appearance, a social disposition, a cultivated taste, and no mean ability as a poet ; but too infirm of purpose to resist dissipation, and too warmly attached to one political party to avoid trouble from the other. Money sent to the town by mail, failed to reach its destination. Cleland was accused of purloining it. By the exertion of Wheaton, postmaster, and Cilley, his assistant, a prosecution was commenced; a bill of indictment found ; and in Dec., 1829, he was sentenced by the Court of Common Pleas to two years' imprisonment at hard labor; and it was not with- out great exertion on the part of his personal and masonic friends that he escaped conviction on an appeal to the Su- preme Court. As Mr. Cilley was the chief witness. against him, great exertions were made to discredit his testimony ; and, not satisfied with having so far succeeded as to obtain Cleland's acquittal, his friends got up a review of the case, in which they alleged that Judge Weston charged the jury that Cilley's testimony was entitled to no weight whatever. This being published in the Eastern Argus, Cilley brought a suit for libel against Gen. Todd the publisher, and, in Sept. 1834, recovered $1150 damages. Unable to bear the mortification this affair caused him, Mr. Cleland soon left the place, was for some time editor of a newspaper in Detroit, Mich., and died, according to the public papers, in Houston, Texas, early in 1840, in the 45th year of his age.
On the 24th and 25th of April, an extraordinary freshet did much damage to bridges, roads, and mills, and was fol- lowed by stormy and cold weather, with some lightning and snow, for nearly three weeks. Yet the crops were excellent; although not wholly secured before the cold and snow set in, early in November.
1828. At town meeting, March 24th, it was voted " to authorize the lease of a part of the town landing for five years." This vote passed at the request of Samuel Albee, who had now been engaged in trade here some years, in the building since occupied as a dwelling by Hon. A. Levensaler, and which had been moved there by Jona. P. Bishop, a law- yer and teacher, who afterwards died in Medford, Mass. No use of this vote, however, was ever made. A new step was this year taken in educational affairs by setting off Oyster River neighborhood from district No. 3; removing the old school- house to Woodcock's hill for its use; creating from its re- mainder and that part of No. 2 west of Mill River, a new
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
and extensive district ; in which, after the erection of a com- modious school-house near the Bank, monitorial and infant schools were taught with great success by Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Converse, who, after a time, removed and taught in Bangor.
Two new three-story buildings for public entertainment, were this year erected; one by Joseph Berry, called the Knox House, which was immediately occupied as a tavern by Chas. Sampson of Waldoboro', and not long after by his son- in-law, John Balch, a shoe-dealer from Haverhill, Mass. The other was of brick, at East Thomaston, by Jeremiah Ber- ry for his own use, called the Commercial House, and which, under his management and that of his sons, was for many years the principal hotel in the place. A new hall which had been erected by Brown Stimpson and usually known as Stimpson's or Mason's Hall, was consecrated to Free Ma- sonry July 17th of this year ; when a highly wrought address was delivered by Mr. Cleland.
To show the rapid increase of the business, population, and wealth of the place, the following statistical account is given. There were, in the fall of 1828, 3700 inhabitants, (nearly one half of whom were under 21 years of age,) forming 643 families, and dwelling in 476 houses. The town contained four meeting-houses, two of them having bells, one bank, State prison, 15 school-houses, two post offices, five lawyer's offices, seven physicians, one deputy collector's office, one printing office, 32 stores, one wat hmaker and jeweller, one book-binder, three cabinet makers, two marble factories, 15 blacksmith shops; 12 shoemakers' shops, one hatter's shop, one pottery, two saddlers, five inns, 149 coaches, chaises, gigs, and one-horse wagons, 204 ox-wagons and carts, 226 yoke of ox- en, one cotton factory, four wooi carding machines, four mills for sawing marble, one clothing mill, four grist-mills, one mill for picking oakum, one rope walk, two pump and block- makers, two sail-lofts, one hospital, one light-house, two com- panies of infantry, one of Light infantry, two-thirds company of artillery, two-thirds company of cavalry, one company Thomaston guards, one of riflemen, one engine company, one fire club; shipping, hailing from the port, four ships, one bark, 22 brigs, 53 schooners, 14 sloops, one boat, total tonnage about 21,000; 30 wharves, and 160 lime kilns. Of these kilns, 12 were ou the western side of Mill River below the bridge, five on St. George's below Mill River, three above between the bridge and Tilson's, five at Fort wharf, three at Foster's wharf, three at Gleason's, one back of Eaton's, six at Green's wharf, three at Woodcock's, and eight at Beech
Vor. I. 31
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
Woods; and this territory, viz., from Mill River to Oyster River, contained 16 wharves, seven at Mill River, and nine on the George's, above it. East of this region, there were at Jacob Ulmer's, 12 kilns; at P. Ulmer's, three ; on road across Meadows, three; west side of Wessaweskeag River to St. George, six; east side of that river, six; at Maker's, two; on Meadow cross road to main road, two; north of Kimball's, eight; south of Kimball's, 30; down at McLoon's, nine; at Butler's, four; Blackington's corner, &c., 15; and round the bay to Owl's Head, 10; whilst of wharves in this part of the town, there were seven north of Kimball's, three near Mc- Loon's, three about Owl's Head, and one or two at Wessa- weskeag .*
The first side-walks of any extent in the place, were made in the west village, July, 1828, under the superintendence of H. Prince, Jr. The extreme muddiness of the roads during the unusually warm open winter and wet spring of this year, together with the frequent evening meetings, occasioned by the extensive religious excitement which prevailed, had, no doubt, much influence in bringing about this desirable im- provement. New roads, or rather streets, as they now began to be called, were laid out, tasteful dwellings erected, orna- mental and shade trees extensively planted, front yards and other grounds adorned with beautiful and fragrant flowers and shrubs. The MALL also was ploughed, leveled, fenced, and bordered with elms, which have now become an ornament to the place as well as an honorable memorial of the public spirited individuals who undertook it. As foremost in these improvements, we may mention the names of S. Dwight, dis- tinguished for his taste in laying out and ornamenting his grounds, Casimir Lash for the introduction of rare flowers, choice fruits and the earliest successful cultivation of foreign grapes, and Wm. R. Keith for the many convenient and truly tasteful dwellinghouses built for himself and others and the planting of elms and other forest trees. In later years, many have delighted their own and the public eye by their fine array of skilfully cultivated flowers, together with fruit trees and graperies, till now these lovely and useful appendages have become, or are becoming, more or less common in each of the three divisions of the ancient town.
Prior to this year, few buildings had been insured against fire. Marine insurances had been effected at Wiscasset, Port- land and other places ; but, for fire insurance, so far as any
* Statement of H. Prince, Jr., and Thomaston Register.
Al
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
was made, resort was had to companies beyond the limits of the State, some of which had of late been employing agents here. But, in consequence of certain restrictions imposed by our Legislature, their further operations here were, in June, 1929, suspended. In anticipation of such suspension, the Thomaston Mutual Fire Insurance Company was incorpor- ated, Feb. 23, 1828, adopting by-laws and commencing busi- ness, Oct. 17th. Its first board of directors were, J. Ruggles, president. J. Gleason, treasurer, H. Prince, Joel Miller, Oliver Fales, and H. Healey of Thomaston, and A. H. Hodgman of Warren. . H. Prince, Jr., was secretary. It has since been in successful operation, having its office on Main street, Thom- aston ; enjoys the reputation of paying its losses promptly ; and its assessments have fallen short of one quarter per cent. yearly. It is one of the earliest companies of the kind incor- porated in the State, and has property at risk to the amount of about $2,000,000. Its present directors, (1862,) are At- wood Levensaler, president, M. R. Ludwig, T. O'Brien, R. Jacobs, O. Robinson, L. B. Gilchrist, O. W. Jordan, and W. R. Keith, secretary.
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