USA > Maine > Oxford County > Woodstock > History of Woodstock, Me., with family sketches and an appendix > Part 5
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" Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of
LUTHER WHITMAN,
NOAH CURTIS, JR. 4
JONATHAN T. CLIFFORD."
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
To aid the Rand family, living in the east part of the town, the overseers of the poor of Woodstock for several years loaned them a lot of land under certain specified conditions; the fol- lowing is the form of lease used :
" This indenture, made the second day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, witnesseth : that Cornelius Perkins, John Billings and Alexander Day, all of Woodstock, in the County of Ox- ford, as Selectmen of said town, do hereby lease, demise and let unto Betsey Rand and David Rand, both of said Woodstock, yeomen, a certain lot of land lying in said Woodstock, being lot numbered three in that part of said town which was granted to Gorham Academy, they, the said Betsey Rand and David Rand, agreeing to clear and put into grass all of said lot which they have or may fall on the same, said lot having been drawn to the minis- terial right in said town; to hold for the term of one year from the first day of April last, yielding and paying therefor the rent of one dollar; and the said the lessees do promise to pay the said rent in cash, to quit and deliver up the premises to the lessors, or their attorney, peaceably and quietly, at the end of the term, in as good order and condition, reasonable use and wear- ing thereof excepted, as the same now are or may be put into by the said lessors, and to pay all taxes and duties levied or to be levied on thereon during the term, and for such further time as the lessees may hold the same, and not make nor suffer any waste thereof, and that the lessors may enter to view and make improvements, and to expel the lessees if they shall fail to pay the rent as aforesaid, or make or suffer any strip or waste thereof.
" In presence of
DAVID RICKER,
CORNELIUS PERKINS, [L. S.]
JOSIAH DUDLEY, ALEXANDER DAY, [L. S.]
SILAS BILLINGS, JOHN BILLINGS, [L. S.] THAYER TOWNSEND, DAVID RAND, [L. S.]
RACHEL TOWNSEND,
BETSEY RAND, [L. S.]"
In 1825, Stephen Chase moved from Woodstock to Lincoln on the Penobscot River. He had contemplated going for four or five years, but was delayed in his departure from various causes, not the least of which was his connection with the sale of Woodstock lands as agent for various proprietors. Severa families moved from Paris to Lincoln about the same time. It was a much better farming township than Woodstock, and Mr Chase took up a lot which made an excellent farm. The re- moval of Mr. Chase from Woodstock was a great loss to the town. From his first arrival in 1802, he had been its foremost
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
man. He was a leader in spiritual as well as in temporal affairs, and was many years deacon of the Baptist church in Paris. From the date of the first plantation organization in 1812, to the time of his removal, he was ever in town business. He was the first Justice of the Peace in town, and the first member of the Legislature from Woodstock. He also held the agencies of most of the proprietors of Woodstock lands. The letters to him show that they had the utmost confidence in his integrity and business capacity, and expressed great regret that he should leave town while their affairs were unsettled. His position as agent for the lands occupied by the settlers and un- paid for, was a delicate and in some respects disagreeable one, but it enabled him to assist them, and the fact that, while he performed his duties to the satisfaction of the proprietors, he retained the respect and confidence of his townsmen, attest to the judicious and impartial manner in which he performed his duties. Three of his daughters married and remained in Wood- stock, namely, the wives of Benj. Davis, Simon Ficket and Daniel Curtis, but his sons went with him, and none of of his descend- ants in the male line have since lived here. The name of Stephen Chase is so closely connected and interwoven with all the affairs of this town during its first quarter of a century, that now, when he is about to drop out and disappear, some recogni- tion of his faithful services seems to be proper. He lived here during the years when the settlers were struggling for existence, and went away before prosperity had fully come, though the affairs of the town, in many respects, had much improved. He worked hard, and fared hard himself, as the extracts from his journal show; but, in addition to his own burdens, he took upon himself and assisted in bearing those of the plantation. He has long since finished his earthly career, and left to his posterity the legacy of a well spent life.
It was in 1825 that John Gray, Jr., and John Starbird, with their estates, lots number six and seven, east part, according to Smith's survey, were set off from this town to Paris. They
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
could be better accommodated in regard to schools, and their business relations were all with Paris. Other changes in the town lines from the original survey may as well be stated here. In 1827, the estate of Daniel Curtis was set off from Paris and annexed to Woodstock. In 1853, James Russ, with his estate, consisting of one and one-half lots, was set off from Milton Plantation and annexed to Woodstock. In 1873, Hamlin's Gore was annexed to Woodstock. In 1880, Caleb Fuller, who resided on a portion of the land formerly set off from Paris, was annexed to Paris. Superior school privileges and close business relations with West Paris were the chief reasons assigned.
The general happenings in Woodstock for a long number of years, from 1825 to 1850, were not of special importance, and the annals of the town, if fully reported, would possess but little interest. The financial condition of the population, as a whole, did not materially improve for a long time. After Mr. Crocker took the agency for the wild lands in the west part of the town, the indebtedness of the inhabitants was gradually transferred from Boston and Newbury to Paris Hill. In this village were many wealthy men, among whom were the Rawsons, Cushmans, Cummingses, Andrews and Kittredges, who had money to loan on real estate, and held mortgages on many farms in Woodstock and the adjoining towns. They charged high rates of interest which must be compounded every year, and security for double, at least, the money loaned. This in- terest was the undying worm to many struggling farmers, and proved the financial ruin of not a few. The curse of strong drink also kept many poor who otherwise would have been able to have emancipated themselves from the thralldom of the usurer. It should not be understood that all the people of Woodstock were given to drink, or badly in debt, for there were prudent farmers in town from the beginning who became thrifty, and subsequently forehanded ; but, on the other hand, there were many, and perhaps a majority, of the farmers in town who, from various causes, including those just mentioned,
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
were poor. It was not until the temperance reform, which began first among the young men and women of the town, who became active workers, and were subsequently re-enforced by the great Washingtonian movement, which reached another class, that real and substantial financial progress began to be made. A more extended notice of this movement may be found in another place. Suffice it to say here, that the influence of this reform began to be manifest in a short time in improved farm buildings, in better cultivation of the soil, in more and better farm stock, and, best of all, in an emancipation from that evil which, like a bird of ill omen, had brooded over the town for many a year. General prosperity followed in the wake of this movement. Ardent spirits were, after a few years, banished from almost every house; there was a manifest improvement in morality and in religious feeling and thought. Gradually, long. accumu- lating debts were liquidated, and farms which for many years had been under the ban of a mortgage, became again the prop- erty of the occupants. The statement is no exaggeration, that in the year 1848, fifty years after the first settlement was made, there was no town in the County more independent than the town of Woodstock. There were no very wealthy men, and very few so poor that they could not get a good and comfort- able living by their own unaided efforts.
In 1837, near the close of President Jackson's second and last term, there was found to be a considerable sum of money in the United States Treasury, which was not needed for the purpose of government. It was finally determined to divide it among the towns in the United States, according to the popula- tion. There was much controversy in most towns respecting the disposal of this money. Some were in favor of converting it into an educational fund, the income only to be used, while others advocated putting it into the treasury for the general purposes of the town. But there was a strong sentiment in almost every town in favor of dividing it among the families, and in most cases this proposition prevailed. It did here, each
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
head of a family being required to give a note, with sureties, for the amount received, that the money might be forthcoming in case there should be a demand for it. These notes were placed in the hands of the town treasurer, and in 1839 the town of Woodstock voted that "the treasurer be authorized to destroy the notes given for the surplus revenue," and they were accord- ingly burned. The sum received was one dollar and sixty-six and one-third cents apiece, for men, women and children.
For many years after the town was settled, the main thorough- fare from Rumford to Paris was by way of the old County road laid out in 1795. While this was the case, the business of Woodstock centered at Stephen's mill. Here was a grist mill, the Post Office, a store and a public house. In 1837, a road was accepted by the town, " beginning at a bridge southerly of Joseph Whitman's house and running to Paris line." This, though expressed in a few words, was a very important move- ment. The proposed road was nearly five miles in length, and would be a new and improved thoroughfare through the town. Samuel H. Houghton came into town that year, and built up a place at the foot of Bryant's Pond, and made strong efforts to have a road located from West Paris, near the present location of the railroad. There was a protracted contest, but Mr. Houghton was defeated, the other route adopted by the County and built. This was a death blow to the hamlet at Stephen's mills, and the business, including the Post Office, was moved to South Woodstock. Subsequently, the little village at North Woodstock, to which somebody applied the name of " Pinhook," sprung up and divided the business of the town with the lower village. In 1851, when Woodstock was connected with Port- land by rail, a village sprung up around the station at Bryant's Pond. The new village at West Paris absorbed the one at South Woodstock, and Pinhook ceased to flourish after business became established at the railway station. Bryant's Pond is a center of trade for a considerable area. It is connected by stage and telegraph with Rumford and Andover, and is the point at
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
which people from these and other back towns take the cars. Its total lack of water power will prevent its ever becoming an important manufacturing center, though this want has in part been overcome by the use of steam. A large spool factory has been established here, which has given a decided impulse to the business of the place. The granite quarries below the village also give constant employment in summer to quite a number of men.
In the early times, town meetings were held at private houses. Sometimes they were held at Josiah Churchill's, who lived on the old road between Stephen Chase's and Asa Thur- low's ; they were at other times held at the house of Noah Curtis, Jr., who lived on the Perrin Dudley farm. Subsequently they were held at the Chase school house. In 1849, the town voted to build a town house and chose Simon Fickett, Geo. W. Cushman and Eleazer Ellis a committee to procure plans. It was also voted to accept of a proposal made by Alden Chase, for erecting the town house on his land. The conditions were that the town should keep the lot fenced and remit his tax assessed on account of the building. The house was built the subsequent year, and was occupied as a town house for over twenty years. In 1872, a new and convenient town hall, with suitable offices, was built for the town by O. C. & H. F. Hough- ton, at Bryant's Pond, and the old town house was abandoned and removed. It stood on the west side of the County road, near the top of the hill, between the brook, which is southerly of D. J. Libby's, and the road that turns to the Chase school house.
Woodstock has never furnished many State or County officers. It has never furnished a member of the Executive Council nor a State Senator. Alden Chase has served two terms as Register of Deeds ; Sidney Perham was elected Clerk of the Courts, and after his removal to Paris was three times elected to Congress and three times Governor of Maine. Herrick C. Davis is serv- ing his second term as Register of Probate. Wm. B. Lapham,
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
while a resident of Woodstock, served one term as Trustee of the Insane Hospital, and a second term after he removed from town. The following is a list of representatives to the Legis- lature, which have been sent from this town since the organiza- tion of the State Government :
1823, Stephen Chase. 1858, Albert H. Estes.
1827, Samuel Stephens.
1861, Adoniram Curtis.
1831, Samuel Stephens. 1864, Herrick C. Davis.
1836, Richard T. Lurvey.
1867, Wm. B. Lapham.
1841, Geo. W. Cushman.
1870, Alden Chase.
1845, Edmund Chase.
1874, Orlando C. Houghton.
1851, Alden Chase.
1879, Benjamin Davis.
1855, Sidney Perham, Speaker.
Three Woodstock young men have graduated from college, namely : George F. Leonard, graduated from Dartmouth, and Charles O. Whitman and Harrison S. Whitman from Bowdoin. William B. Lapham entered at Colby University but did not graduate. He has since received the degree of Master of Arts from the same institution.
Of ministers, Woodstock has furnished quite a large number. The list embraces not only the natives born, but those who re- sided here when they began to preach.
Baptists-Luther Perkins, David Ricker, Charles Perkins, Ziba Andrews and John C. Andrews.
Methodists-Jesse H. Stephens, Nathan Andrews, A. Fitz Roy Chase and Eugene Whitman.
Free Baptists-Gideon Perkins, Samuel N. Brooks. Universalist -- Harrison S. Whitman.
Advents-Jared Whitman, Frank Thurlow.
Of Lawyers-Herrick C. Davis and Peter C. Fickett. Physicians-Orren Stephens and Jeff. C. Gallison.
Many young men have gone out from Woodstock, who have been respected and influential citizens in the places of their
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
adoption ; not a few of these have their homes in the far west. For the past thirty years, Woodstock has not materially in- creased in population, due mainly to the western emigration. But they have not all gone west. In Boston, Portland, Law- rence, Lewiston, and in many other New England cities and towns, may be found Woodstock-born men and women who are filling responsible stations, and who are an honor to the town of their birth. Charles O. Whitman, who has adopted Natural History as his life study and work, has already gained an envi- able name among the savants of Europe. He is now pursuing his studies and investigations in Germany. A. Fitz Roy Chase is the learned and popular instructor in mathematics at the Wes- leyan Seminary and College at Kent's Hill. Charles P. Kimball, a native of the "Gore," whose business operations in this State are well known, is now one of the foremost men in the great city of Chicago; his brother, Hannibal I. Kimball, of Atlanta, Georgia, Director General of the recent great International Cotton Exposition, in which he has achieved a national reputa- tion, was also born on the "Gore." He is still in the prime of manhood, and capable of still greater achievements. Other respected names might be added, did the space permit ; in con- clusion of this topic, Woodstock has reason to be proud of her contributions in both men and women she has made to other and various parts of the country.
It might possess interest to some, could we continue the annals of the town down to the present time, but the original intent has already been exceeded. The beginnings of " Number Three " have been carefully sketched ; its brief plantation life as briefly given, and the salient points in the early history of the town have been gathered up and presented. Special sub- jects, which also contain much historical matter, are treated under separate heads, as in this form they can be more readily and conveniently referred to, while notices of families and individuals are more fully elaborated under the head of " Family Sketches." In closing this division of the general subject, it is
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
the sincere wish of the writer that this goodly town, in which he was for several years a resident, and whose early history he has imperfectly sketched, may ever be a thrifty and prosperous municipality ; and to this end may her people ever uphold and cherish those great principles of temperance, morality and virtue which have been the means of accomplishing such great things for them in the past.
HAMLIN'S GORE.
The territory formerly comprising Hamlin's Gore or " Hamlin's Grant," as it was sometimes incorrectly called, was a long and narrow strip 249 rods wide at the east end, next to Milton Plantation, and 294 rods wide at the west end, next to Green- wood, and situated between the grant to Dummer Academy and Bethel. The township of Sudbury, Canada, now_Bethel, was first lotted out and fixed by metes and bounds, and when the grant was made to Dummer Academy, it was intended that its north line should be the south line of Bethel ; but the surveyor, mistaking a spotted line, made by sable hunters, for Bethel line, fixed the north line of the grant to Dummer Academy here, leaving the strip just described between the two townships. This line was also fixed by metes and bounds, so that Hamlin's Gore was not included in the conveyance to the trustees, or from the trustees to Mr. Little. The original survey of the Gore was by David Noyes, Esq., of Norway, who gave it the following dimensions : On Milton Plantation line 249 rods ; on Bethel line 936 rods; on Greenwood line 294 rods; and on Woodstock line 888 rods, and containing about 1,400 acres. He divided it into thirteen lots of unequal size and of the fol- lowing dimensions :
Number one, 120 acres, two, 120 acres,
three, 120 acres,
four, 100 acres, five, 100 acres,
Number six, 100 acres,
seven, 80 acres,
eight, 50 acres,
« nine, 145 acres,
ten, 116 acres,
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
Number eleven, 115 acres, Number thirteen, 70 acres.
twelve, 85 acres,
The surface, like that of most of the town of Woodstock, is uneven, and the soil hard to work, but productive. A large part of the North Alder River Pond is within its borders, the southwest corner of the Gore being in the pond.
On the 26th day of February, 1816, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts deeded this land to Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, of Paris, for and in consideration of the sum of six hundred dollars. Dr. Hamlin soon afterwards sold an undivided half of the terri- tory to Mr. John Daniels, of Paris. The land was immediately lotted out, with a view to having it settled. The first settler was Jonathan T. Clifford, son of Joseph, of Woodstock. April 2, 1816, he purchased part of lot number nine, but had previously built him a log house on the shore of the pond which was then called " Clifford's Pond." In a bond which he gave to the town of Woodstock for the support of his mother, he is called " of a place called Hamlin's Grant." His wife was Widow Hodges, a sister of Benjamin Bacon, of Greenwood. He had left the place prior to 1827, removing to the eastern part of the State. Two other early settlers were Asa and Caleb B. Barrows, who took the triangular-shaped lot numbered ten. They built two log houses near Greenwood line; Asa, father of Caleb, lived here with his daughter Polly, until she became the wife of Morton Curtis, when he went to live with them; Caleb con- tinued to reside in his log house until about the year 1841, when he moved to Linneus, in the County of Aroostook. He died there a few years ago, quite aged. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was in the engagements in northern New York; he drew a pension during his last few years. Tilden Bartlett moved to the Gore quite early from Paris. He bought lots number seven and eight. After a few years, he moved across the line into Bethel, disposing of his lands in the Gore to his brother Sylvanus. This is now the Pearson place. John Buck of Buckfield, bought lot number eleven and occupied it.
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
His daughter's husband, Wm. R. Hemmingway, subsequently lived upon it. Isaac, and his son, Geo. W. Cummings, came here from Greenwood, and had part of lot number nine. Porter and Peter Kimball, sons of Peter of Bridgton, came to the Gore about the year 1815. Porter finally commenced to clear land adjoining the Gore, but within the limits of Bethel. In a couple of years, he sold out to Abijah Lapham, and moved to Rumford. Peter Kimball took up lot number one, which he occupied for more than thirty years. He was probably the second settler on the Gore. He was a wheelwright and an in- dustrious and enterprising man. His large family of boys, who for energy and business capacity have a wide reputation, are mentioned elsewhere. He had a carriage shop where he carried on business many years, most of his sons getting their primary knowledge of the business, which they afterwards made so successful, in this little shop. Subsequently Jonathan Kimball, brother of Peter, came and settled on lot number two. Josiah Moody, a native of Portland, came to the Gore from Paris and settled on lot number five. A portion of this lot is still owned and occupied by his grandson, Ansel Moody. That part of the farm where the buildings formerly stood was afterwards added to the Bailey farm. The original Bailey farm, lot number four, was owned by a Mr. Low and also by Barney Perry, both of whom cut trees and cleared land, but never lived upon it. Jacob Reed built the first buildings and lived upon the lot until he sold out to Bailey. Abram Jordan, of Norway, bought lot number twelve, but never lived upon it. It was afterwards owned by Daniel and Moses Cummings, and has had many occupants since. The westerly lines of lots number one two and three, are crooked, conforming to the direction of the " Whale's Back," a ridge of land thus called.
Hamlin's Gore was first organized for plantation purposes in 1826, the warrant for the first meeting having beeen issued by John Thompson, Esq., by direction of Henry Rust, Esq., Treas- urer of Oxford County. The meeting was held at the dwelling
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HISTORY OF WOODSTOCK.
house of Peter Kimball, July 10, 1826, and the following Plantation officers were chosen : For Moderator, Tilden Bartlett ; Clerk, Geo. W. Cummings; Assessors, Peter Kimball, Geo. W. Cummings and Tilden Bartlett ; Collector, Josiah Moody, Jr. ; Treasurer, Peter Kimball. On the 17th of April following, a meeting was called by the Assessors, the warrant issued to Josiah Moody, Jr .; Wm. R. Hemmingway was chosen Mod- erator, Geo. W. Cummings, Clerk; Tilden Bartlett, Geo. W. Cummings and Caleb B. Barrows, Assessors; Josiah Moody, Jr., Collector and Treasurer. The following sums were raised : For plantation purposes, twenty dollars ; for roads, ten dollars ; to be expended on the Locke's Mills road, twelve dollars ; for school purposes, fifteen dollars. Tilden Bartlett was elected School Agent, and Geo. W. Cummings, Highway Surveyor. It was voted to petition the Court of General Sessions for a road to Greenwood line, in the direction of Locke's Mills. Asa Barrows was chosen Agent, to present the matter before the Court.
On the third day of June, 1827, a committee consisting of Tilden Bartlett, Geo. W. Cummings and Caleb B. Barrows laid out and located the road leading from Greenwood line to the County road between Rumford and Paris. This Rumford and Paris road was the one located in 1795 ; it ran across the Gore. The road laid out by the Gore committee is essentially the one still traveled, the changes having been slight. On the twenty- seventh day of June following, at a plantation meeting, the road was accepted. At the meeting in April, 1828, Peter Kimball and Wm. R. Hemmingway were chosen Superintending School Committee-the first board chosen. Twenty dollars were raised for the support of schools, and it was voted to join Bethel district in building a school house, "admitting we can have the privilege of building one-half of the house." At the annual meeting in 1830, it was voted to raise fifty dollars to be expended on the Gore road, and to open the road in two years. At this meeting it was voted that the
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