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 43
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 43
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 43
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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
The town clerk, W. E. Tolman, seems to have found some difficulty in getting his bill allowed, the selectmen refer- ring it to a vote of the town, probably because of its larger amount for recording births and deaths. - in which, as in all official duties, he had been particularly faithful. For this much neglected service Mr. Tolman is entitled to many thanks, and the town voted to allow his account.
The lyceum at West Thomaston, which had existed with more or less life for some years, was, Jan. 6, 1843, converted into the Thomaston Village Library Association; and its members were required to contribute one dollar annually. A handsome collection of valuable books was purchased, and a library room provided in the O. W. Jordan building.
Independence was again celebrated this year by the Wash- ington and other temperance societies at West Thomaston, in an equal and very similar manner to that at East Thomaston in 1842, - having the same orator, Col. Tilson chief mar- shal, and dinner provided by Capt. T. A. Snow. The day was also celebrated at Owl's Head by the Washington and Martha Washington societies of South Thomaston, who were marshalled by B. Webster from the house of Capt. D. Em- ery to a beautiful grove, where prayer was offered by Dea. Thos. Hix, the two declarations read by G. Emery, Jr., and Wm. Perry, Jr., and an address delivered by Rev. L. B. Al-
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
len ; after which an elegant pic-nic furnished by the ladies, and presided over by Capt. J. C. Adams, was freely partaken by all. Donation parties to clergymen and other deserving persons, since so common, first came into vogue here about this time.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also, was intro- duced into this town in 1843. George Prince, of the western village, learned something of its character while in Boston, and determined to start a lodge here. Inducing a few to join him, he raised $30, the requisite fee, and, with this, C. Prince was sent to Boston to be initiated and procure a charter. The petition and fee having been sent on to head quarters at Bal- timore, were stolen by the way, which delayed the charter about three months. But for this delay, the lodge here . would have been the first of the order, instead of the third, organized in the State. The charter arriving Oct. 18th, with a delegation of six members from Boston, the Georgian Lodge of I. O. of O. F., No. 3, was inaugurated at West Thomaston ; officers, L. H. Chandler, N. G., Geo. Prince, V. G., C. Prince, Sec., and Michael Libbey, Treas. From this lodge emanated those of the neighboring towns, from Bath on the one hand to Bangor on the other. Among them was the Relief Lodge, No. 8, officers, M. E. Thurlo, S. H. Ful- ler, J. Farwell, J. T. Berry, instituted at East Thomaston, 1844; and the Eastern Star Lodge, No. 40, instituted in April, 1846, at the same village, under officers, Elkanah Spear, Jr., John P. Wise, Jos. Farwell, and A. H. Kimball. After a continuance of thirteen years, Georgian Lodge was dissolved in 1856, and its funds divided among the then ex- isting members. Relief Lodge still (1861) maintains its or- ganization .*
A code of by-laws was this year adopted by the town for the prevention of coasting and other nuisances in the public streets, and the protection of the trees, fences, and sidewalks, - the first board of police under it, consisting of F. Harden, Jr., and eleven other substantial citizens.
1844, At the annual meeting, April 15, the town adopt- ed a new method of repairing the highways, by appointing the selectmen surveyors, with liberty to appoint agents at their discretion. At the same meeting a dog tax, for the first time, was voted as follows, viz. : - that each dog be assessed "$5, and that no other property be holden to pay said tax but the dogs."
* Capt. George Prince of Bath, Rockland papers, &c.
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
Some cold weather was experienced in January of this year, and before the end of the month Georges River was closed by ice as far down as Franklin Island ; and ice extended from East Thomaston to the Fox Islands. The succeeding season was good, with the exception of a drought, and is distinguish- ed for the last good old fashioned crop of potatoes, which were never better, although the disease, since so troublesome, began to appear in some parts of our country. On the 23d of August, a young whale of the Sulphur-bottomed species, strayed from his usual ocean haunts into and up the Georges River to Thomaston. There he became embayed between the upper and lower wharves, and, unable to find his way back without a pilot, was harpooned by Capt. M. Trussell . and other citizens of the place, taken ashore and exhibited. It was about sixteen feet long, with a clean, glossy, scaleless skin, black above and white beneath ; having teeth about the size of a man's thumb and blubber between two and three inches thick, which was expected to yield three or more bar- rels of oil .*
Business, especially that of ship-building, had now quite recovered from its late depression; and, in West Thomaston, October 27th, 3,309 tons of new shipping sailed from that part of the town, manned by 135 persons, and valued, with outfits, at $200,000. One cause of the increase of tonnage built in this town was the decline of the coasting business on George's river, together with the great increase in the trans- portation of cotton from New Orleans to Europe, for which larger vessels were found more profitable; and, as the timber for these had now to be brought from the South, it was more convenient to build them here closer to the sea, rather than at Warren as formerly.
In 1844, measures were taken for the establishment of Thomaston Academy. To raise funds for this purpose, sub- scriptions were obtained as follows: W. Singer, O. Jordan, M. R. Ludwig, R. Robinson, E. Robinson, B. Webb, J. P. Cole, W. Cole, and B. Carr, subscribed $50 each ; J. O'Brien, $40; and sixty-seven other principal citizens of West Thom- aston, from $25 to $3 each, to which G. Thorndike of South Thomaston, added $20; making an aggregate of $1108. An Act of incorporation was obtained, April 7, 1845, and one half township of land granted by the State on condition that the said academy have corporate property to the amount of $1000, and go into operation by September 1, 1817. The
* Author's diary.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
amount of property being secured, the remaining condition was complied with, by the opening of a school in the ves- try of the Congregationalist church, under the tuition of E. Hutchinson. This grant of land was disposed of for $4900, and, with the individual contributions, yielded a fund of 5900. The house was built at a cost of $3000 in 1848, valued in 1860 at $2,800, and is pleasantly situated on Main street, east of the Congregational church. Its present amount of funds is $1050. It is well patronised; the tuition at the rate of $3 to $5 a term, amounting to $900 in 1860, at which time it was one of the institutions selected by the State for hold- ing two terms in each year as a Normal School. The pre- ceptors of this academy have been Isaiah Dole, May 1847; A. F. Baker, August 1847; W. C. Pond, 1848 ; Henry Paine, February 1850 ; A. K. P. Knowlton, 1856; Lysander Hill, 1859; Nat. A. Robbins, 1860; E. Chapman, 1860-1; A. N. Linscott, 1863; and Edward Benner from Waldoboro', 1864. Select schools had been previously taught here by Messrs. R. Seiders, R. Woodhull, F. W. Baxter, A. G. Ler- mond, and others.
The Fourth of July at West Thomaston was this year marked by two pic-nic celebrations, -one for the children, on the green near the Congregational meeting-house, where prayers and addresses were made by Revs. Washburn, Wood- hull, and Allen ; the other, at the Universalist church and the hill in the rear, by about 500 of all classes who listened to the Declaration read by A. Levensaler, and an address by Rev. N. C. Fletcher.
The dwelling of I. A. Howard, at East Thomaston, was destroyed by fire early in this or the close of the preceding year; but was soon replaced, and the loss in some degree made up, by the kind assistance of his friends and neighbors. The shed and barn of Oliver Robbins (4th) at West Thom- aston, with ten cords of wood and six tons of hay, Oct. Ist, were consumed by fire kindled probably from matches with which boys had been playing. This occurred at mid-day, but, as wells in the neighborhood were low and water had to be brought from the river, the engines could only save the house and other near buildings. On the 9th of Novem- ber, the brig Maine sailed on her first voyage from South Thomaston, with a cargo of lime for New Orleans, and noth- ing was ever heard from her afterwards. Her captain, Chas. Wm. Thorndike, her officers, Abiezer Coombs and George B. Cooper, Jr .; together with her crew Seth Simonton, O. P. Mitchell, Chas. Pierce, and John Clarkson of this town, Thos.
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
Mckellar of St. George, and Otis Wentworth of Hope, were long missed and mourned, but no tidings of their fate were ever received. It is singular that, three years after, a mahog- any chest, navigator, and atlas, left on board a St. George vossel by some Portuguese sailors who deserted after receiv- ing advance pay at Vera Cruz, were brought home and re- cognised as having belonged to the three several officers of the Maine ; but how obtained by them has ever remained a mystery .*
1845. The spring of 1845 opened with the prospect of an unusually busy season; the construction of no less than 17 vessels at the three villages being contemplated. In West Thomaston some 15 or 20 dwellings were in process of build- ing, while, at the East village, innumerable houses, stores, and kilns were going up-so that it was already predicted " that the kilns on City Point would meet those at the South End, and make one mile of uninterrupted lime kilns." It was es- timated that in one day alone, the 21st of April, more than 10,000 lime casks were brought to market, which, at 14 cents, amounted to $1400. Two new lime quarries were opened, one by Col. Dwight, and the other by Mr. Jacobs, giving greater facilities to the limeburners at West Thomaston. The annual product of the lime business in the whole town was estimated at 633,600 casks, amounting, when carried to market, at 85 cents per cask, to $538,560; consuming 2000 kegs of powder at $2,75 per keg, 42,768 cords of wood at $3 per cord, and employing 100 quarry-men, 50 teamsters, and 150 kiln-tenders, eight months in a year, whose wages were computed at $73,800.t
The South Thomaston Post Office, at Wessaweskeag, or, South Thomaston, as that part of the town now began to be called, was, February 19th of this year, established, and Archibald Mckellar, Jr. appointed its first post-master. The office has since been filled by Ezekiel D. Hall, March 14, 1855 ; Miss Eliza Spalding, March 17, 1856 ; Allen F. Mar- tin, Aug. 12, 1856 ; and Ezekiel D. Hall, Aug. 10, 1861, re- signed in 1864.4
On the 10th July, Sylvester Fales, a very industrious and promising young man, engaged in blasting rock in the lime quarry near Brown's corner, was instantly killed by the ex- plosion of the charge from which he was in the act of with-
* Hon. G. Thorndike, Rockland Gazette, &c.
+ Lime Rock Gazette, 1846.
+ Records Post Office Department, Washington.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
drawing the priming-wire. Fusing tubes had not yet come into use, but this was said to be the second instance here known of an explosion caused by mere friction in withdraw- ing the wire. It was immediately followed, however, August 8th, by a third instance which proved equally fatal to Daniel Donavan, an Irishman, aged 54 years, employed in the quar- ry of Daniel Morse, -- his body, like that of Mr. Fales, be- ing shockingly mangled. On the 6th June, a son of Capt. R. Bramhall, together with another boy, whose name we have been unable to ascertain, was drowned at East Thomaston. The house, barn and out-buildings of Capt. Edward Lermond in W. Thomaston, with a portion of his furniture, were burned on the night of July 4th. They were those built by Wm. Killsa when trading at Oyster River, about 1821, their site being now occupied by the house of John Peterson. The fire was first discovered by two Warren lads, tending a lime kiln, who, with much trouble, roused the bewildered inmates ; its origin was supposed to be from some defect in an oven. Insurance, $1700. On the 22d Sept. following, the house of Samuel H. Fales was also in part consumed by fire; and, in the first week of November, a lime shed at East Thomaston, containing 1200 casks of lime belonging to Jos. Hewett and Wm. Perry, was burnt in consequence of water reaching the lime.
Some difficulty was experienced in the choice of representa- tives this year. Amid a multitude of candidates, Oliver B. Brown obtained a majority on the second trial ; but the con- test for his colleague went on for five weeks longer, when, on the seventh trial, Atwood Levensaler was elected.
The Washingtonian movement having done its work and in a great measure subsided, a new effort was now made against the gigantic evil by a portion of the citizens of West Thom- aston, who associated themselves under the name of " West Thomaston Temperance Union." The society organized, December 26th, by choosing M. R. Ludwig, president, and N. Liscomb, secretary. Another society was organized at Mill River, February 1846, on the same tee-total pledge, but with an express disclaimer of any legal interference with the business of rumsellers, with an admittance fee of 50 cents, and a weekly payment of 25 cents. This was called the Temper- ance Club ; and its first officers were N. Liscomb, C. Worm- ell, T. H. Smith, and C. Prince. Its funds were to be prof- itably invested, and any member breaking his pledge was to forfeit his interest in them. These funds being, the first year, invested in two gondolas, it obtained the name of the Gondola VOL. I. 35
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
Society. The Sons of Temperance had now begun to be an active organization. Of these, the Lime Rock Division, No. 16, was organized at East Thonfaston, December 1845, and the officers chosen, January 1846, were J. B. Sears, J. Fogg, S. Partridge, J. C. Cochran, D. Warren, A. C. Spalding, H. Paine, D. M. Mitchell, D. Cowing, G. Filmar, S. C. Fessen- den, and J. C. Perry. The Kedron Division, No. 25, was organized at West Thomaston, March 11, 1846, with M. R. Ludwig, A. Rice, A. Perkins, Willard Fales, Jr., Simon Rob- inson, J. Catland, J. S. Catland, G. Gav, S. Mitchell, B. D. Metcalf, and L. B. Allen, officers. The Hyperion Dirision, No. 151, was instituted at Rockland, April 27, 1850 ; and its first officers were H. Merriam, E. W. Pendleton, K. C. Perry, C. L. Allen, D. M. James, B. B. Thomas, J. J. Perry, Calvin Hall, Charles Babbage, Lorenzo Hall, B. Philbrook and J. Porter. These still maintain their organization and activity with the exception perhaps of Kedron, in Thomaston, whose place has been lately supplied by the Wadsworth Division, No. 35, organized June 5, 1861, by installation of Rev. Wm. J. Wilson, A. Perkins, B. Jackson, Wm. M. Hathorn, A. C. Strout, A. W. Tenny, Wm. Bumps, Rev. L. D. Hill, L. Cope- land, E. Copeland, E. Walsh, and E. S. Fales. 1846. The town, March 9th, refused to authorize licenses, voted not to refund certain $50 fines for violation of the license law, and to instruct the selectmen to go on and prosecute. The Sons continued very active, having frequent celebrations and ad- dresses in town, and, Oct. 20th, the Maine Union, No. 1, of the Daughters of Temperance, conformably to charter from the Grand Union at New York, was organized at East Thom- aston, M. J. Haskell and eleven others being chosen officers. Under a new Act, licenses were granted in this and the fol- lowing year to two or three individuals to sell strong liquors for medicinal and mechanical purposes only.
At this time in South Thomaston there was not a place where ardent spirits were retailed; and the rapidly increasing prosperity of the place attested the advantage of this state of things. One large ship and other vessels were on the stocks, ten or twelve houses and stores were erecting, new lime kilns were building, the wharves and banks of the river were dark- ened with kiln-wood, and the lime to be burnt was estimated at not less than 30,000 casks. A grant was this year ob- tained by Messrs. Joseph and Almond Newhall, Joshua Bart- lett, and their associates, to erect a dam across the tide wa- ters of Wessaweskeag River near where the bridge crosses it. This was done, and a saw and grist-mill built the follow-
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
ing year. At West Thomaston ship-building was very pros- perous. Some improvements were made in the navigation of Mill Rirer, by removing obstructions in the channel, driv- ing piles, and erecting beacons at suitable places along its margin. The side-walls were rebuilt six feet wide by W. K. Stevens; and the passion for ornamental trees seems this year to have arrived at its acme, - some 2000 rock-maples, elms, and other forest trees having been planted in the three last weeks of April. The Grorges Canal Company, with a capital of from $50,000 to $100,000, was incorporated, July 2d, for rendering navigable the upper waters of the Georges River. The work was expected to add much to the business of West Thomaston, and many citizens subscribed liberally. But, after an expenditure of $80,000 and more, the produce brought down was much less than expected, some of the works proved defective and had to be repaired, the property was attached for the debts of the company, and the whole concern, after being sold to a second company, proved a fail- ure and was finally abandoned.
At East Thomaston, the LIME Rock, since changed to ROCKLAND GAZETTE, a weekly paper, commenced its suc- cessful career, on Thursday, Jan. 22. It was published at first by Lewis Richardson and John Porter, the former of whom withdrew in August, 1847, and the latter has remain- ed connected with it, either as partner or principal, down to the present time; his son being now associate publisher. In- dependent in politics, it has been liberally patronised from the first, numbering, according to the census, 1200 subscrib- ers. Its first editor was James Fogg, till the autumn of 1846, succeeded by Dr. Albert Shaw, from 1847 till his removal to Bath ; by M. P. Williams, to Jan. 28, 1850, who has since been editor and proprietor of the Hudson Gazette, a demo- cratic paper in Hudson, N. Y. ; by A. D. Nichols, from Jan. 31, 1850, to Feb. 25, 1853 ; by Wakefield G. Frve, from Feb. 25, 1853, to March 19, 1857 ; and by Z. Pope Vose, a talent- ed son of Rockland, from March 19, 1857, up to the present time. Other signs of successful enterprise were apparent in East Thomaston. New buildings, some of them of brick, four and five stories high, were going up ; the Commercial Hotel, on Main street, was re-built by J. T. and W. Berry, and kept by them till 1851 ; and new and expensive wharves were constructed, -one 500 and more feet long, back of Crockett's Pt., for which, the following year, an Act of in- corporation was obtained by Messrs. Cole, Lovejoy, Wiggin, and Crockett. So rapid was the growth of the place from
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
the influx of laborers, tradesmen, and men of business, that much complaint was made of want of buildings for their ac- commodation. The steamers Bangor, Penobscot, Governor, . and Huntress, touched regularly at the port, and, on the last week of March, no less than 33 vessels arrived and 19 de- parted, besides some 50 or 60 sail engaged in freighting kiln- wood from the eastern ports and islands .*
The East and South Thomaston Fire and Marine Insur- ance Company was created by the incorporation of sundry persons of Camden and those two sections of Thomaston, Aug. 10th, with a capital of $50,000. The company's office was to be kept in East Thomaston; was located in the Lime Rock Bank; and still remains one of the prosperous institu- tions of Rockland; its name having been changed in 1853, to the Lime Rock Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Its first president was Knott Crockett, who was succeeded by Iddo K. Kimball, and Charles R. Mallard has been its only secretary.
Thomaston mariners at this time were found in almost every commercial mart, near or remote. The following pro- test from one of them appeared in the Richmond Times this season. "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights. To all whom it may concern. I am here at the Metropolis of the Old Do- minion, summoned to answer a warrant before his honor the mayor, for a charge of pilotage, by what is called a 'Branch Pilot.' I have paid a pilot for conducting me from Hampton Roads up James River. I sailed last from the port of New York under a coasting license which I humbly conceive en- titles me to navigate the coast of Virginia and other States of the Union. Of this Branch Pilot I asked nothing, received nothing, and, of course, (without compulsion) do not mean to pay for nothing. As this is a matter which affects all who are interested in shipping, whether merchant or sailor, I in- vite their attention and co-operation in the steps to be taken before the Mayor on the 4th inst. I close by saying that if precedent should prevail against me, I shall seek an appeal and carry the matter to such court as may be necessary to ascertain the constitutionality of the law (if there be such a law) even should I have to incur the whole expense. I am a plain old man, have been in many a storm, and if I am wrecked in this my effort for Free Trade and Sailors' Rights, I know I have still a plank left which shall float over the seas of the free, which is often the home of the brave. Simon
* Lime Rock Gazette, &c.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
M. Shibles of Thomaston, Me." Capt. Shibles afterwards appeared and argued his case with such cogency in his own quaint oratory, that the court decided in his favor, that the law of Virginia being in conflict with the jurisdiction of the United States, could not prevail. Cooi fearlessness manifest- ed itself early in this gentleman's sea-faring life; and, if space would permit, many instances of it might be here re- lated.
On the 2d of July a meeting was called "to see what method the town will take to correct the evil of loose and un- faithful inspection of lime and lime-casks." A committee was appointed to memorialize the Legislature, consisting of Ed- ward Robinson, C. W. Snow, and T. Williams, whose report was accepted; but not being recorded we can only gather that it favored abolishment of the office of Inspector and making each manufacturer responsible for his own lime. It failed, we believe, to become a law.
A very severe storm was experienced Feb. 14th and 15th ; but East Thomaston escaped injury by means of the ice which closed the harbor till completely broken up by the waves. The winter was cold, frost penetrating the carth deeply and water failing in many springs; the summer was warm, and memorable for a drought continuing into October, during which water was carried through the streets at East Thomaston and sold by the gallon. In that village, on Sat- urday, July 11th, the mercury ranged from 85ยบ to 1020 in the shade; on the 12th, at Mill River, it was observed at 820. Such a season, if any, would naturally be favorable to the ripening of rare and tender fruits; and accordingly, peaches, five inches in circumference and of an excellent quality, from the garden of Capt. Chas. Dyer, at Owl's Head, were exhib- ited at the Gazette office. On the evening of March 1st, a fire broke out at East Thomaston in the harness shop of Mr. Pitts over the store of Fogg & Fales, injuring the building to some extent and the goods to the value of $400; but which was seasonably arrested by the promptness and energy of the people. Thus awakened to their danger, a meeting of citizens was immediately called at Berry's Hall, and measures adopted to procure a new engine in that village, for which in three days over $600 were subscribed; and this by October was increased to $800. A small engine, the Resolution, had been purchased several years before by citizens of that vil- luge; but it, as well as the engine house, was now much out of repair. This was now repaired; a new suction hose engine, named the Boston, was procured, with three hose carriages 35*
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
and 600 feet of hose; and for the management of these, two public spirited fire companies were organized. .
1
Among the disasters of this year, may be mentioned the sad fate of Alfred Moore, who, having been blown up and lost his sight on a former occasion, still continued to work in the quarry in spite of his blindness; and, while so engaged on the 12th May, was struck on the head by a fragment of rock thrown from an adjoining quarry, and in two hours ex- pired, at the age of 27 years. Benjamin F. Dean, having lost his sight whilst laboring at the same dangerous business, and exhausted his means in a vain attempt to gain help at the Eye Infirmary in Boston, the town, in 1847, voted to aid him, to an amount not exceeding $200, in building a house either on his wife's lot at East Thomaston or elsewhere, as most convenient, retaining a lien thereon in case of sale. A little son of Capt. Joshua Bartlett, at South Thomaston, met a melancholy death, May 29th, by his clothes taking fire whilst whittling near the draft of a cook-stove. The father, having kindled a fire, went out for a pail of water, and on his return, seeing the child enveloped in flames, instantly dashed the water upon him; but the child lingered about 24 hours and expired. The small-pox having made its appearance in town, a vote was passed in March that the selectmen should cause the inhabitants of the town to be immediately vaccinated - which was accordingly done. Several cases occurred ; and hospitals were provided, both at Simonton's Point and the old house of the widow of Nat. Lindsey at East Thomaston. The last was burned while so occupied, by an incendiary, as supposed ; and damages to the amount of $59 were allowed to her for it, and $27,50 to John Ham for property burnt and time lost in the same after his recovery. The selectmen were also instructed to settle with Ephraim Mclellan for land oc- cupied by the other hospital. In this, one of the patients, Mrs. Polly Sanborne, died on the 13th of June.
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