USA > Maine > Oxford County > Woodstock > History of Woodstock, Me., with family sketches and an appendix > Part 4
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The March meeting in 1819 was held at the house of Josiah Churchill. The old town officers were generally re-elected. Stephen Packard again bid off the taxes. Moses Dudley, Joel Perham and Jonathan Cole were chosen hogreeves, and Jere- miah Felt a highway surveyor. Raised for town charges $100, for schools $180, and for repairs of roads $1000. At a meeting holden April 5th, Cornelius Perkins, Stephen Chase and Samuel Stephens were chosen a committee to revise and re-district the school districts. April 26th, Susannah Clifford was set up at auction and bid off by Joel Perham at sixty-nine cents per week.
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
Voted to accept the road from Consider Fuller's to Charles B. Brook's. May 15th, it was " Voted that the inhabitants of this town consider it expedient that measures be taken by the Legis- lature of the Commonwealth to effect, as soon as may be, a separation of the District of Maine from Massachusetts." At a meeting holden July 26th, it was voted, forty to none, in favor of separation from Massachusetts. On the third Monday in Sep- tember, Cornelius Perkins was chosen a delegate to the conven- tion called to frame a constitution for the new State of Maine. December the 3d, the town of Woodstock voted, twenty-seven against two, in favor of the new Constitution of Maine.
At the March meeting for 1820, the old officers were elected, except that Jonathan Cole bid off the taxes and was elected constable. Money raised for town charges $200, schools $180, roads $800. Among the hogreeves chosen this year were John R. Briggs, Daniel Curtis, Artemas Felt, Jonathan Billings and Oliver Swan. It is fair to presume that the above were recently married men, as this office was generally bestowed upon such. The vote of the Committee on School Districts was accepted, and it was voted to annul all former votes respecting School Districts. This new districting may be found in the chapter on Education. At a meeting held the 3d day of April, it was voted to set off Lemuel Perham from the third to the fourth School District. Daniel Dacy was allowed fifty cents per week for the support of Lazarus Warren, son of George Warren. The Selectmen were instructed to petition the Legislature of Maine to abolish the Court of Common Pleas and establish some other Court. October 22d, a meeting was held at the house of Stephen Chase, when it was voted to repair the bridge at Capt. Stephens' mill. Widow Clifford was set up at auction and bid off by Josiah Dudley. One hundred dollars additional were raised for the support of the poor. At a meeting holden November 6th, it was voted to repair the damage to roads caused by the late freshet, and Cornelius Perkins, Josiah Dudley,
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
Jotham Perham and Jonathan Cole were chosen agents to superintend the work in their several districts.
These few extracts will give a good idea of the doings of the town in its corporate capacity, from the date of its incorpora- tion down to and including the year 1820. Maine had now become an independent State, a consummation which the in- habitants of Woodstock had ever wished and unanimously voted for. A glance at these records also shows the peculiar disad- vantages under which the town then labored, and it may be added that it has continued to labor under similar difficulties ever since. The town has, and then had, long stretches of road built over steep hills, which in summer were badly washed by showers and storms, and in the spring still worse by the melt- ing of the snows. The expenses for the repair of roads and for building new up to this time had been more than double that of all other town expenses; and even then the roads were in- dicted and the inhabitants forced to appear at Paris, through their agents, to defend themselves. To keep the long stretches of road in repair and save litigation was a great expense and a continual source of care and anxiety to the inhabitants.
The voting population had steadly increased during these six . years of town existence, both by new comers from other towns and by young men coming of age. At the commencement of the year 1820, there were sixty-two families in town. Some of the new families are enumerated below. Samuel Stephens had moved here from Paris and bought the Bisbee mill, which was afterwards known as the Capt. Stephens mill. James Nutting, who purchased the mill of Bisbee near the close of 1812, had moved to Greenwood, and Bisbee had bought out John Nason and occupied there. George Berry was here only a short time, and then moved to Hartford; he was with or near the Swans. Thomas R. Carman had married a daughter of Solomon Bryant and lived in the vicinity of his wife's father. Wm. Swan, Jr., John R. Briggs and Artemas Felt had become of age and were married. These were in the first School Dis-
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
Respecting money matters, we have collected but little yet. Seth Curtis has taken up his small note. We believe that C. Curtis, M. Chase and R. Bisbee, and some others, will exert themselves. We receive no encouragement from J. Billings, C. Bessee or S. Bryant, at present, but shall do the best we can. Asa Thurlo wishes to relinquish his land; he says he has no expecta- tion that he will ever be able to pay for it. We cannot state to you the par- ticulars of what he has done until the snow goes off, but we fear the land will not be much more salable for what he has done. He has put no build- ings on the lot and has never lived on it. We have sold lot No. 23 to John R. Briggs, for $275; he is a minor and the writings are made to his father, with an agreement to exchange them when John R. shall become of age, which will be next November. We have also sold the west half of 22 to Abner Dolloff, for $150. No. 34, west half, is engaged to Gideon Swan. We think the situation of 22 and 34 justifies dividing them. Seneca Landers has not made application for writings. We know nothing of his being in town since we wrote you last. We believe, however, that he depends on the land, as he made preparations for building last fall. Charles Curtis wishes for a deed of his land; he says he is certain of paying all except fifty dollars this season.
" We have exerted ourselves to save your pine timber, and, by reason of our being so near, we think nothing so much has been taken in a clandestine manner as usual. It is frequently found necessary by proprietors and their agents in adjoining towns, to prosecute trespassers on pine timber, and there is a probability that we may be under the necessity of pursuing the same course.
STEPHEN CHASE ET AL."
" WOODSTOCK, February 1, 1821.
" EBEN. MARCH, EsQ.
"Dear Sir :- We are very sorry that we are not able to forward to you any money in this letter, and extremely sorry to state the little prospect we have of any large payments this season. Money with us is the most scarce it has ever been since the town has been settled. Produce of all kinds is plenty, but will command but a very small price in ready cash. It is the general cry, 'What can we do ?' Mr. Jonathan Fickett has sold his lot to a son-in-law by the name of Samuel Nute, who says he can pay the money down, but wishes to have the deed when he pays the money. Mr. Fickett's lot is number 44. Mr. Billings and Mr. Bessee will quit their lands. We are now offering their lots for sale. We believe some others must quit if they are driven up. We cannot think it will be for your interest to sue all your debtors, and it is a disagreeable task for us to single out individuals. If you think it would be proper to be more severe with those who have deeds of their lands than others, we should be glad to have your mind upon it. We have sold lot No. 31 to Simeon Dunn and
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
Zebedee Pratt. We engaged Gore A to Merrill Chase, Jr., for $500; writings are not yet made, and there is some prospect that he will not have the whole Gore. We sold last week lot 78 for $275, and lot No. 79 for $250, to Barthol- omew Cushman and Calvin Jackson.
STEPHEN CHASE."
" WOODSTOCK, April 17, 1821.
" Respected Sir :- We have had a long and tedious winter, and hay is very scarce and much corn has been given to cattle. It will follow that bread will be scarce with us this season. Money remains very scarce. We have recently visited all your debtors and urged the necessity of payment, but have obtained not a single dollar. Every one except Billings and Bessee, who do not expect to pay for their lands, express an anxious desire to pay you, and we are not out of hopes that they will, but the prospect of present payment is small. Bisbee is about exchanging his farm for a smaller; if he should, we hope the boot will help you to some pay. Seneca Landers and Samuel Bryant have both promised to come to settlement this spring. It does not appear that they are making the lots on which they live any worse. Land is not half as salable with improvements on it as it is in the state of nature. We believe that Esquire Little is not more fortunate, either in sales or collections, than we are .* We add a list of lots which remain unsold : Nos. 4, 6, 7, 8, 18, 12 19, 22, 23, 29, 34, 38, 39, 40, 45, 47, 4912, 52, 67, 68, 72, 85, 88, 91, 92.
STEPHEN CHASE."
Much more of the same sort might be added, but it would be mainly repetition. One or two of the letters written by Mr. March will show how his agents were pressed :
" NEWBURY, November 27, 1819.
"Gents :- I must again request you to give me some account of your sales and other circumstances relating to my interest in Woodstock. I have ever felt a reluctance to subjecting my debtors to costs by bringing suits at law against them, but I feel it a duty to my family to require a speedy fulfillment of their contracts. I suppose some of them are better able than others, but as I am not sufficiently acquainted with their disposition and circumstances, I cannot discriminate ; it is, therefore, my request that you engage some respectable attorney at law to bring suits upon all the notes which are be- come payable and due, or will be so before the next sitting of your Court of Common Pleas, excepting where they will give good assurance that they will pay in the month of March next ; you will let my debtors know of the above directions. When you deliver the notes to my Attorney, which need not be long before Court, you will take his receipt for them. I shall expect a letter
* Merrill Chase was the agent of Mr. Little, but no record of his doings remain.
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
from you as soon as you receive this, complying with my request in several previous letters, and I must request you, gentlemen, as my friends, to give me, with the utmost freedom, your opinion of the above proposed meas- ures. EBEN. MARCH."
"NEWBURY, January 26, 1820.
" Gentlemen :- I received yours of the twenty-ninth of December last, in- closing $25. This small sum and the statement you make respecting former purchasers, looks very discouraging. * * * I fear that 'a number of our settlers are indolent and improvident, and do not employ their women and children in various little matters which would make great savings. When I saw you last, you mentioned the multitude of bees in your woods ; and having often heard that the land in Woodstock, especially the westerly half, is a good soil and equal to any in the vicinity, I have supposed it lit- erally a "land flowing with milk and honey," but I find that some persons, from what motive I know not, are endeavoring to depreciate the town of Woodstock. I wish you to give me its just character. I requested you, in a former letter, to give me an account of your inhabitants and of your live stock; I should like it.
"EBEN. MARCH."
"NEWBURY, July 15, 1824.
"STEPHEN CHASE, EsQ.
" I received yours of January 22. 1824, in due time, but you having men- tioned that you contemplated a journey to the eastward-one that may be a long one-I have delayed writing. Looking back to the copies of the letters I have wrote to you, I find that one enclosed a letter to my friend Major Robinson, and one sent by Josiah Little, Esq., are missing. I.do not, how- ever, consider the loss of any great importance. Your last letter gives me such a gloomy prospect respecting my interests in Woodstock, that I have . no encouragement to take coercive measures. I am, however, glad that you have put some of their notes to suit. When you write again you will inform me who you have employed as an attorney. I hope you attached enough to pay cost. I think no honest man will object to interest annually. I should be glad if you can obtain something from Samuel Bryant. I don't know what he gave for his land, as it was sold to Briggs. I think it wrong that Billings should have been living on me for eight or ten years, when I told him he must quit the lot. I have been negotiating a plan which relieves my real estate in this town from every embarrassment, but requires me to mort- gage all my unsold lots in Woodstock, including the Billings lot 76, to Wm. B. Bannister and others. I want to know how your suits terminate. If coercion by the civil laws has become dangerous, you must be an unhappy people, and fit subjects for some exemplary punishment. I hope, however,
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HISTORY WOODSTOCK.
there will be found some few righteous persons in the town of Woodstock. Could you now feel the infirmities of seventy-nine years, you will permit my plea of inability to attend writing any more.
EBEN'R MARCH."
Sometime during the year 1821, Mr. March sold a portion of his Wooodstock lands to William Sawyer, of Boston. Mr. Chase acted as agent for Mr. Sawyer, and a couple of the letters of the latter to Mr. Chase may appropriately come in here.
"BOSTON, November 2, 1821. "MR. STEPHEN CHASE.
"Dear Sir :- I have received, from E. Mosely, Esq., Mr. March's deed to me, sales recorded. Being in Newbury a few days ago, Judge March informed me that you would remain in Woodstock till next season, when I propose making a journey to that country. In the meantime, my object is to request your attention, during the remainder of your residence, to what has become my property, and to inform me of any proposals that may be made for purchase, and to do in general whatever is needful for the due prevention of trespass, for which service I expect to allow you for your time and trouble, as you have been in the habit of receiving from Judge March. I have a very good copy of the survey of the land from March, and can refer immediately to any lot or number. Some proposals I understood had been made for Gore A. If you should leave that country, or if you are fully decided to leave, I wish you to mention to me the names of one or more whom you think would be willing and are suitable persons to act for me in the capacity of agent hereafter, and who resides near the said location. If it is agreeable to you to continue to act as above requested, please inform me by letter at Boston. I am your ob't,
WM. SAWYER."
" BOSTON, January 13, 1823.
" STEPHEN CHASE, ESQ.
"Dear Sir :- I duly received your favor of the 30th November last, and notice the contents. I am very well satisfied as far as you have proceeded, and I hope you will be able to make additional sales of the lots. You know so well how desirous I am to dispose of that landed property that it is un- necessary for me to press you farther on the subject. I am still of the same opinion as when we discussed the subject so fully. If you can but find the right sort of purchasers, don't part with them for a little matter. I am glad to find provision is made, in your agreement with Bisbee, for the taxes next year. I shall always be glad to hear from you when you find it useful and convenient to write. I formed, during my journey in Maine last summer, a much higher idea of that State, as to the cultivation, improvement and the
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
character of the population, than I had ever before conceived. It will cer- tainly, at no distant period, be a powerful, populous and thriving State, although non-resident land holders may find their estates unprofitable. Ac- cept my sincere wishes for your health and the welfare of your family.
" With esteem, your obt.,
WM. SAWYER."
The following letter to Mr. Chase, would indicate that another party had become interested in Woodstock lands, perhaps as a prospective purchaser.
" BOSTON, January 1, 1823. " STEPHEN CHASE, EsQ.
"Sir :- Having occasion for a friend in Woodstock, E. Lincoln, Esq., has favored me with your name. I want to ascertain the quality of the lots of land in Woodstock belonging to Wm. Sawyer, Esq. If you will have the goodness to look at the plan of the township, which you will no doubt find in possession of the Town Clerk, and see the relative situation of those lots, and by enquiry or otherwise, inform me of their quality, growth of wood, situation as to County roads, kinds of soil, hilly or rocky, &c., you will render me the service required, for which trouble I shall be happy to compensate you. If you know of any lots of good quality for sale, you will please men- tion quantity, price, &c. Please let me hear from you very soon.
" With esteem, yours,
SAM. TOBEY."
Mr. Chase having had the Eastern fever for some time, and having notified Mr. Sawyer of his proposed removal, received the following in reply :
" BOSTON, November 5, 1824. " TO STEPHEN CHASE, EsQ.
"Dear Sir :- I have received your letter of the 7th ult., and noted the contents. I consent that you shall transfer the agency for me to Thomas Crocker, Esq., of Paris, if Mr. Emery, should he still reside in Paris, agrees with you in opinion ; if he is not there, I shall accede to your judgment. I shall be ready to allow the usual terms-such a commission on sales as will be reasonable and satisfactory to Mr. Crocker, and as is customary in like cases. I wish that the land and the sales thereof, and the interest on notes due, shall be first applied to expenses thereon, that I shall not be called on for cash. It will be perhaps needful that when you leave you should return me your power of attorney, and that I should give you a new one to Mr. Crocker. You will be so good as to furnish him with every information and document necessary for his guidance, and above all, impress upon him the desire I have to hasten the sales, even at reduced prices, avoiding all dealings with doubtful and unsafe characters. It is expensive making journeys, but
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
it is very possible I might meet Mr. Crocker or yourself, if necessary, when his business calls him to Portland, or it may sometimes bring him to Boston. All this you will let me know by letter. If you absolutely decide to leave Woodstock, I suppose the sooner the arrangements are made with Mr. Crocker the better. I am, with regard, your friend,
WM. SAWYER."
November 20, 1824, Mr. March wrote to Mr. Chase that as he (Chase) had determined to leave Woodstock, he (March) must look up another agent, and says: "I am so little ac- quainted with the people of Woodstock and vicinity that I know not who to apply to, and I can think of no one except Edward Little, of Portland, and he writes me that he has so much business to do for his father that he shall not be able to give that attention to mine that it requires." It appears, how- ever, that Mr. Little did subsequently act as agent for Mr. March. Judge March and also Mr. Sawyer made journeys to Paris in connection with Woodstock lands, and Mr. Bannister, to whom Mr. March mortgaged the land, once came to Wood- stock. The wild lands in this town changed hands many times before they were finally sold to settlers. In one of his letters to Mr. Chase, Mr. March says that Mr. Alexander Green- wood has gone to the " eastward," * and wishes his address that he may write him and get his opinion as to the value of a certain seven hundred acres. The taxes on proprietors' lands were not promptly paid, and they were frequently sold by the Collector. In one of his letters Mr. March complains that Gore 37 and west half of lot 12, had been sold by Cornelius Perkins and bid off by Edward Little. Luther, and afterwards his son, A. M. Whit- man, was agent for Thomas and Edward Hale, of Newburyport, into whose hands some of the Woodstock lands had come, through his wife, who was Alice Little, daughter of Josiah, and the last were not sold by him until about the year 1852. These last pro- prietors' lots were situated between Bryant's Pond Village and
* Mr. Greenwood moved to Monson, where he continued his occupation of surveyor of wild lands. While eating his dinner in the woods one day, a dry stub of a tree fell upon him, killing him instantly.
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
1
North Alder River Pond, along the new road that leads to Locke's Mills. Josiah Little, of Newbury, obtained a few lots of Wood- stock lands, probably from his son Michael, the original proprietor. Edward Little, then of Portland, was his agent, and in a letter to Stephen Chase, dated July 11, 1820, he offered to sell lots number 62 and 71, for $350 each. These are the lots upon which the village of Bryant's Pond is mainly situated. The most part of 71 was purchased about the year 1850, by Charles T. Chase. The letters here produced may possess no special interest to the average reader, but they go to help make up the early history of the town, and convey information with regard to early transactions in our wild lands which at this day could have been obtained from no other source. Mr. March was doubtless deceived as to the character and value of his pur- chase, and perhaps all the early proprietors were. There was much speculation at that time in what Massachusetts people called "Eastern lands," and upon paper all townships ap- peared the same ; as stated by Mr. Chase in one of his letters, there was no difference, in the price asked, between a good settling township and a poor one. For the preservation of the correspondence here referred to, credit is due to Mr. Stephen Chase, among whose effects they were found, after his decease at his eastern home in Lincoln, and to his sons, who thought- fully preserved them after their father's death.
In addition to other burdens which the inhabitants of Wood- stock were called upon to bear-and it proved no easy one-was the support of the poor within the town. It was many years before a town farm was provided, and the paupers were gen- erally set up at auction at the time of the March meeting, and struck off to the lowest bidder. Joseph Clifford died in the spring of 1816, and an inventory of his effects was taken April 2d of that year. A copy of this inventory, as then made out, may be of interest to some, after nearly seventy years. The following is a verbatim copy :
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
"A memmarandum of the Goods of Mr. Joseph Clifford, of Woodstock, aken the second day of April, A. D. 1816 :
"1 fether Bead, 6 sheats of a poor Quality, 1 Wolen Bead Blanket, 2 cover- leads, 2 pillers, 1 Bolster, 2 under Beads, 1 New Calico Bead spread, 1 covered trunk, 1 squar chist, 1 meat tub, 1 Bed Stead, 1 cloase basket, 1 amberill, 1 Read Cloak, 1 Linen wheel, 1 wool do. do., 1 pair of cards, 2 six squar windows, 1 ax, 1 fro, 1 shave, 1 hay fork, 3 puter Basins, 3 forks, 2 knives, 3 spoons, 1 Table, 3 chars, 1 old shovel, 1 tin pan, 1 large flower Box, 1 spider, 1 pot, 1 cittell, 1 cive, 1 tea cittell, 1 tin Basin, 3 pales, 3 small shugar boxes, 1 flower Barrell, 1 corn Basket, 1 Hoe, 1 mortar, 1 scythe, set of irons, 1 Pair stillyards, 2 arthen Platters, 2 Decanters, 1 Bottell, 2 plates, 1 puter plate, 1 arthen Poriger, 1 hammer, Pinchers and Nippers, 1 ax."
Whenever Mrs. Clifford was bid off, the person taking her took her effects as given above, giving a receipt to the town therefor, and promising to account for them at the end of the year, " except the natural wear." The same schedule was copied year after year, and the " new calico bed spread " always re- mained new as long as Mrs. Clifford lived. Her son, Jonathan T. Clifford, who was the first settler on the Gore, took his mother in 1818, to keep for three years, and gave the following bond for her maintenance :
"Know all men by these presents, that I, Jonathan T. Clifford, of a Gore of Land called Hamlin's Grant, in the County of Oxford and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, am held and firmly bound unto Samuel Stephens, Stephen Chase and Cornelius Perkins, Overseers of the Poor for the town of Wood- stock, or their successors in that office, in the sum of one hundred and eighty dollars, to which payment, well and truly to be made, I bind myself, my heirs, executors and administrators firmly by these presents. Sealed with my seal this seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen.
"Now the condition of this obligation is such that whereas the above named Jonathan T. Clifford hath taken the widow Susanna P. Clifford, a town pauper, to support for bed and board, in health and sickness, for the term of three years, if the said Jonathan T. Clifford does well and truly provide for and support the said Susanna P. Clifford and pay all Doctor's bills for the term of three years from the date thereof, then this obligation to be void and of no effect, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.
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