USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 25
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 25
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It was nearly a century before there is another record of a successor in this business. William P. Stacey carried on the trade of harness making here in 1850.
Sealers of Leather were elected annually as early as 1700 and as late as 1800, Nathaniel Sewall being so chosen in the latter year, marking a family connection with the business for nearly a century.
WEAVING
This industry was a home occupation, originally. Weavers were as plentiful as cordwainers, and they wove both woolen and linen threads for home or public use. Every housewife was a spinster of both kinds of cloth, and this was the sole source of material for garments of
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our forefathers for nearly two centuries. In 1768 the first indications of the passing of the hand loom were to be observed in the then new mill erected by Col. Josiah Chase for treating the woven cloths by carding machine run by water power. Colonel Chase had purchased a part of an existing mill privilege of Thomas Bragdon in 1768 with the obligation to establish a cloth mill there. The lake was raised some ten or twelve feet by a dam which the purchaser erected to obtain greater power. The site of this new mill was at the outlet of Cape Neddick Pond, now generally known as Chase's Pond. In this first mill the work done consisted in finishing homespun cloth, woven in the homes of the people. Colonel Chase had a sawmill and a carding mill on the same stream about a quarter of a mile below his finishing mill. In the carding mill the wool clip delivered there by the farmers was carded into rolls ready for spinning into yarn. This busi- ness was carried on by Colonel Chase, his son Cotton Chase, and his grandson, Capt. Josiah Chase, consecu- tively, down to 1845, when the last named built a factory for the manufacture of woolen goods which proved to be a profitable industry. In 1873 the business was turned over to his two sons, Charles E. and John L. Chase, who con- tinued its successful operation for several years until the death of one of the brothers. A subsequent fire destroyed the plant. It was not rebuilt as competition from the larger mills in Massachusetts nearer the great markets made it unprofitable to continue.
FIRST COTTON MILL IN MAINE
Seven men of this town conceived the idea of building a mill to manufacture cotton cloth, and on February 12, 18II, the York Cotton Factory Company was incorpo- rated. Solomon Brooks, Alexander McIntire, Daniel Car- lisle, William Chase, Daniel Brooks, William Frost and Elihu Bragdon, all of this town, were the incorporators and their company was authorized to hold and possess real estate to the value of twenty thousand dollars and per- sonal estate to the value of fifty thousand dollars. The capital stock was fixed at ten thousand dollars divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. The enterprise was promptly established by subscriptions for the entire amount of stock and the mill was at once built about one hundred
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yards below the outlet of Chase's Pond. An interesting story is connected with the installation of the new power loom. The distinction of operating the first loom ever run in New England belongs to Elizabeth Carlisle, born in this town in 1797, who lived to be over ninety years of age as the widow of Capt. Jonathan Talpey of Cape Neddick. Two Englishmen had brought to Dover, N. H., power looms from England for installation in this country, and when Miss Carlisle was visiting that town she became inter- ested in the machines and was engaged to run the first one set in motion there. So curious were the people to see its workings that it was found necessary to lock the doors of the building and whitewash the window in front of the loom. As told by her in her old age she said the machine was a crude affair as compared with those constructed later, and that now and then the shuttle would leave its track and fly out through the window. She was employed to start the weaving in the new cotton mill in York. Her wages were one dollar a week and board. On one occasion the manager of the mill, Daniel Brooks, wishing to fill a rush order, told her that if she would get off a web of cloth at a certain time she could have the best dress she desired of any material except silk. She selected calico, the price of which was forty-five cents per yard at that time. Her husband followed the sea and during the War of 1812 was a prisoner. They brought up nine children and she wove the cloth out of which all these little Talpeys were clothed. The company prospered during this war and the stock was in demand at a largely increased value. Prices slumped after the close of the war and gradually business decreased with consequent loss of dividends, and this interesting ven- ture became a thing of the past. The residence of Mr. Josiah Chase was originally built by this company for a boarding house, which was kept by the manager of the mill, and most of the operators boarded there.
MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIES
York has never been an industrialized town, yet in the slow emergence from a purely agricultural community it established a variety of industries in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
There was an ancient paint mill at Tonnemy which used the red and yellow ochre that gave its Indian name
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HISTORY OF YORK
to the locality. There are no records of its establishment, the extent of its production nor the time of its disappear- ance. The fact of its existence remains as a tradition in the memory of the oldest inhabitants.
David Sewall, a carpenter by trade, born in 1817, devel- oped the business of furnishing window sashes and blinds from small beginnings. His factory was on the west side just below Sewall's Bridge where, with the necessary machine tools, he turned out a product that found a market in this section of the country.
Henry Moulton, born in 1823, established a large trade in the manufacture of ladders of all kinds and revolving clothes driers which, under the firm name of Henry Moulton & Co., he continued for many years. Mr. Moul- ton lived to be nearly a centenarian. The author inter- viewed him in 1921 on his recollections of early York.
George Roberts conducted a carriage making shop at Cider Hill in 1870.
WOOD SCHOONERS AT SCOTLAND BRIDGE
In 1850 there were twenty productive industries of all kinds in the town of which the principal ones are above enumerated. As a reminiscence of one of the domestic industries which each household had to develop was that of soap making. Every family saved its wood ashes from
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-
THE NORTON BRICK YARD
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HISTORY OF YORK
the hearths, and grease of all kinds never found the gar- bage can. In 1765 Paul Woodbridge advertised in the New Hampshire Gazette that he would "give Four and Six Pence Massachusetts Old Tenor for all the good ASHES delivered at his House in York." Evidently he followed in the footsteps of the most famous apprentice in the trade of soap boiling in New England. A steady lumber trade was carried on here with schooners loading at Scotland Bridge. It continued until recently.
BRICK MAKING
This industry, which was encouraged by the frequent clay deposits along York River, flourished from the early days. Among the various small brick yards was one on the southeasterly side of Gorges Creek, near its junction with the river. This yard, which was probably opened by Jere- miah Moulton, was in operation until about 1870. It was last known as the "Blaisdell Yard." The site of another early yard, on the easterly side of the road leading from York Corner to Chase's Pond, is still known as the "Brick- Kiln." Mass production of brick began in the last cen- tury. In 1868 Norton & Leavitt opened a yard on the northerly bank of the river, northwesterly of the present Country Club grounds. Leavitt later sold out to his part- ner, Jotham P. Norton, who continued the business until his death in 1902. Norton adopted the "pallet system" of brick manufacture. His yard reached a daily output of eighty thousand bricks. The accompanying picture is from an old stereoscopic view, made soon after the yard was opened. A still later yard was that of York Harbor Brick Company, situated near the mill-pond in the Coun- try Club grounds, where the bricks for the present Mar- shall House were burned.
BASKETRY
While this type of work is largely individual in char- acter, yet it has been a small industry in York for many years. The regular visits of the basket man coming down the street bearing his load will be remembered by many of the old residents. This business was carried on especially by "the hill people of Sasanoa."
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SHIP-BUILDING
This was one of the earliest industries of the town and next to the mills in importance. The protected tidal river afforded excellent situations for the shipyards which were established on it from Meeting House Creek to Scotland. Cape Neddick River also had its share in this industry.
The earliest shipwright, according to the existing rec- ords, was George Norton, only son of Henry. He built a sloop here in 1681 (S. J. C. 2057), and was the builder of the brigantine Beginning and another called the Lenham. These were all small craft, scarcely more than fifty tons burthen, and nomenclature of their rig was indefinite, being called shallops, pinnaces, ketches, brigantines or sloops. We know nothing of their model, arrangement of masts, sails or rigging. In 1713 a new name was given to the marine vocabulary in "schooner," while it was always proper to use the generic name "ship" for any craft. It is doubtful if the lateen sail was ever of general use in our waters, as by the time ship-building came to be an indus- try in New England the lateen yard was shortened into the gaff and the sail reduced to the trapezoid form of the fore- and-aft sail common to the old schooners. The hulls were probably without decks, at least the smaller vessels; the principal sail amidships with a smaller mast and sail in the stern.
Samuel Bankes of Cape Neddick built the brigantine Endeavour in 1685, probably at Cape Neddick, but notwith- standing her classification of model, she was only forty- five tons measurement.
Vessels were owned here considerably before these dates, but whether they were launched in York is un- known. Samuel Donnell was part owner of the ketch George & Samuel in 1667 (Deeds ii, 141b), and in 1670 John Penwell was owner of the ship True Dealing of York, 55 tons, valued at £320. Capt. John Davis contracted for a vessel of 80 tons, to be 50-foot keel, 17-foot beam and 9- foot in "howle," with two decks, which meant a bow and stern, open in the waist of the hull. The price was to be £3:5:0 per ton. Penwell was joint owner with Davis. Two years later Captain Davis ordered a "shipp" to be called the John & Aylce of 56-foot keel, 18-foot beam and 9 foot 2 inches "in whowle" (Deeds iii, 23-24). Francis Raynes, ship carpenter, built the sloop Speedwell and sold her in
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HISTORY OF YORK
1704 (N. H. Deeds vii, 80). A "square sterned sloop" christened The Marys was built in York, of 60 tons meas- urement in 1732 (Ibid. xv, 157), and by the year 1743 this port had twenty sail of coasters of various models and five sail of fishermen. These coastwise vessels were mostly engaged in the West India trade as well as with the Prov- inces, but at this time the shipping business was not thriv- ing on account of the wars with the French, almost con- tinuous since the beginning of the century. Many of these were used as transports or freight vessels in the Louisburg and Canada campaigns. Jonathan Sayward commanded the sloop Sea Flower in 1745, and was employed with her in the Provincial service at Louisburg, where he laid the foundation of his fortune, and in 1760 he owned shares in the sloops Prosperous, Good Intent, Elizabeth, Three Friends, Virgin and the schooner Fisherman. He sold the Three Friends for £400 sterling, which may give an idea of his wealth at that date. He not only owned and oper- ated vessels but built them. In 1767 he launched a brig for Gov. John Hancock, but all was not success in his maritime ventures, as the Revolution tied up his sloops and wrecks added to his losses. In the end, however, he died the richest man in York.
Daniel Clarke appears to have been a ship-builder, as in 1762 he advertised for sale "a vessel of about 100 Tons, which is ready to Launch," but as far as now known his name is not further connected with ship-building. His title of Captain, not connected with military service, prob- ably places him in the seafaring class.
The Revolution laid a heavy toll on the shipping inter- ests of this port. British cruisers captured many and the hazards of the blockade kept most of them swinging idly at anchor or at the wharves, deteriorating yearly, up the River. Capt. Daniel Bragdon, who had been associated with Sayward in the coasting trade for many years, was one of the victims, and when he died in 1791, Sayward stated in his diary that he had been "ruined by the Late Revolution." With the victorious ending of that struggle, and the attainment of independence, the shipping inter- ests of this town slowly regained their former importance. The shipyards were the scenes of gayety at launchings once more, and by the first decade of the next century nearly fifty craft of all the medium measurements were
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enrolled at the Custom House as hailing from York. The "Embargo" and the War of 1812-15 proved another fatal blow to the shipping interests, and once more the local tonnage had to be rebuilt and nursed back to life. In this period the shipyard of Edward Emerson sent off the ways the largest ship ever built in York, which was appropri- ately called Agamenticus. Fifty years ago Abial Goodwin and John Brewster were following the trade of shipwrights.
In 1854 the total tonnage credited to this town was 1825 tons of all classes of vessels. In 1850 there were residing in town four captains in the merchant service, Alfred M. Lunt, George Moody, William E. Putnam and George W. Putnam, and eighty-seven men classed as sailors, twelve fishermen, one ship carpenter and three calkers, as then representing the maritime industry of York. In 1880 Captains Samuel W. Norton, John Philbrick, Oliver Bow- den, Timothy H. Winn and Jonathan Talpey, and forty- five residents followed the sea, a reduction in numbers from the preceding count, and the succeeding half century has practically wiped out those "that go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters."
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CHAPTER XVIII
FERRIES AND BRIDGES
These ancient devices of man to facilitate the crossing of rivers became a necessity of this town from the natural topography. One large river and several smaller streams required these expedients. In addition to the principal river, the streams at Cape Neddick and Little River, as well as the tidal creek forming part of Braveboat Harbor, required convenient methods for crossing. Ferriage, being the simplest, was the earliest means of meeting these requirements.
The first action relating to a ferry in this town was taken at the Provincial Court held in March 1647, when the following order was passed :
It is ordered this Court that Thomas Crocket is for to keepe a Ferry at Brabote harbor & to have for a free man iii d per man & for a Forriner iiii d. per man.
It is believed that this ferry was of short duration, as a road and bridge superseded this method of travel between the two towns.
The river of Agamenticus presented the main obstacle to the traveler, and across it the first ferry must have been established at a period of which there is no record. It being a river within the corporate limits, the establish- ment of a ferry was within the jurisdiction of the town authorities, as the county courts dealt with like situations where rivers separated towns. It may be permissible to guess that Henry Donnell, who lived at Stage Neck and used it for a fishing stage, gave this accommodation to travelers with his boats. No record substantiates this but it is an obvious inference as it cannot be admitted that such a convenience did not exist in the twenty years before the granting of the first recorded license. It was the nat- ural location for ferriage, being the narrowest part of the river, and the establishment of a tavern at that point strengthens this opinion. The taverner may have main- tained it for business reasons until the town took formal action. The next recorded action on this subject to pro- vide a ferry across the main river was taken December 8, 1652, and is as follows:
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I. It is ordered that Mr. William Hilton is to have the use of the ferry for the term of one & twenty years, Lying betwixt the house where he now liveth & the Town of York, and he is duly to attend the sd ferry with Cannoes sufficient for the safe transportation, both of Strangers & Townsmen, if occasion requireth. If time & tydes be seasonable, he is to pass persons, over to & from the Stage Island: If not, he is & must provide a Canoe to Lye ready at the point of land, on his own side the River, upon all such occasions to transport people without danger. In consideration whereof the said William Hilton is to have allowed him two pence apiece every stranger & four pence a piece for every beast or horse which he swimmeth over, or that are swom over by any strangers themselves, he, or his servants being ready to attend, and one penny a time for every Townsman he fetcheth or carrieth over: unless the sd Inhabitant go over in his own Cannoe, which Liberty remains to every Townsman, being made use of to Exempt him or them from the payment of any ferriage.
At the same time the town covered a similar necessity existing at Cape Neddick and made the following order: 2. It is likewise ordered that Sylvester Stover shall keep a ferry at Cape Neddick river & shall Provide Canoos sufficient for that end. In which consideration the sd. Stover is to have two pence a person for every one he carries or fetches over. If he be a stranger; and a penny for every Inhabitant of York, that he so carrieth or fetcheth over, & four pence for every hors or beast that the sd. Stover swim- meth, or causeth by his help to be swom over the sd. River.
Thus William Hilton and Sylvester Stover are our first known ferrymen. Little River did not offer serious diffi- culties of crossing as it could be easily forded, and Brave Boat Harbor gave not much greater difficulty.
The ferry over the main river was conducted by Hilton until his death about 1656 and the franchise was probably retained by his family. When Arthur Beal came to York about 1663 and married Agnes Hilton, daughter of the late ferryman, it is probable that he kept up the family occupa- tion. The loss of town records prevents definite statements on this subject as in all other similar matters prior to the Massacre. From the next existing record it appears that the ferryman succeeding Hilton had been attending to it in an irregular, desultory way, and in 1671 a new ferry- man was appointed as shown in the following order:
Wee the Select Men of the Town of York being Informed of the frequent Neglecting of the ferry, whereby people are hindered In their Necessary occasions, for Preventing hereof, do hereby give License unto William More & order for keeping the passage over the River to the Town to Transport passengers as occasion serveth, & to Receive due paiment for the same, according to order, till the Town Sll meet otherwise to dispose hereof. 20: October: 1671.
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William More was still conducting the ferry in 1683, when it was voted that he should "continue for the keep- ing of the Ferry In that place and Station as formerly until further order."
Evidently Arthur Beal undertook a revival of the old Hilton franchise and started a competition ferry. More sued him the next year for "trespass done by takeing away all the Benefitt of the Ferry" and judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff. More continued his ferry without further interference until his death in 1691 when his son Thomas must have taken over his father's franchise. At least in 1695 and 1696 Thomas was granted the license to maintain this ferry "to transport horses & men and to give good attendance" under a bond to insure satisfactory performance. He operated it until 1698 when Arthur Beal again sought a franchise in his own name. In that year he was granted a license to keep a ferry for one year "where Thomas More formerly kept it." The rates of ferriage allowed were six pence for man and horse and four pence for a horse and two pence for a man. Beal, dying in 1711, was succeeded by his son Edward who car- ried on for the next quarter of a century until his death. His successor, appointed in 1735, was William Pearce (Deeds xvii, 188).
THE STOVER FERRY
The third ferry established in York was provided to facilitate crossing the river about a mile below Rice's Bridge at the narrowest part of the river and was in oper- ation as early as 1679 under the management of John Stover who was authorized by the County Court "to keep the ferry over the river from his house [on Elijah's Neck] to William Freethy's" (Court Records ii, 144), and "for his Ferriage hee is to have 2d in money or 3d in Comman pay, and if hee swime an horse over hee is to have but 3d, if hee safely boate him or Connow over hee is to have 6d horse & man in ordinary pay." (Court Records.) This was John Stover, called "Senior," who lived on the west side of the river. Stover left town in 1684 and it is prob- able that this venture ceased with his departure. The same year William Freethy, who lived on the east side, was appointed by the County Court to keep a constant ferry for strangers and townsmen "over the other side
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of the River where John Stover once lived to that way lately cutt which goeth over to Spruce Creek & so to Strawberry Bank." Freethy operated this ferry until his death about 1688, as in that year Thomas Trafton was ordered to maintain one across the river at what is now Rice's Bridge.
THE TRAFTON FERRY
This shift of a mile north of the Stover-Freethy Ferry was made necessary by the road newly laid out from the country road west to the river to meet the new way on the west side leading to Spruce Creek and Portsmouth before referred to. This became the post road to the west and south. It would appear that John Freethy continued to operate his ferry after his father's death until he was killed by the Indians in 1692 at the Massacre. The family fled from the town temporarily but returned, and in 1702 his widow petitioned for a restoration of the ferry privilege which her husband formerly held. The new location being the logical point for a ferry it was kept there and operated by Trafton and his family for many years. For this reason it came to be known as Trafton's Ferry.
In 1692 the first of the line of Trafton ferrymen was allowed two pence for a man and six pence for a horse and man. In 1706 his son Benjamin was given the franchise in succession to his deceased father, but it is evident that he turned over the management of it that year as he was "in tending A vige to sea," for his father-in-law, William Beal, two years later was granted the franchise for seven years. This expired in 1714 and Zaccheus Trafton, a younger son, received the privilege for twelve years from that date. In 1725 Charles Trafton, another son, suc- ceeded to the family business. He operated it during the entire term of his grant.
At the annual town meeting in 1725 it was voted "that all the Inhabitants of this Town shall be Carried over any ferry in the town of York free of ferrige on the Lord's Day; and all other publick Dayes and both horse and man for half pay at all other times." This may have dis- couraged the ferryman and limited the number of persons willing to undertake the work. In 1736 the town empow- ered the Selectmen to lease the franchises of the ferries for the best interest of the town and henceforth, as there are
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no Selectmen's, records the particulars are wanting as to the subsequent operations. In 1755 it was voted "that the Selectmen take into consideration the state and cir- cumstances of the several Ferries in the Town and report at the next Town Meeting what they judge proper for the Town to do with them." Nothing appears in the nature of a report on this question, and as agitations for a bridge across the river had become a live issue, it was becoming evident that the era of the ferry was approaching its mid- night hour. This vote indicated a doubt as to the need of their continuance, but in 1760 the town authorized the Selectmen to extend the ferry rights for a further period of five years.
THE MIDDLE FERRY
This was established about 1730 to serve travel which went over the present Lindsay road, crossing where Sewall's Bridge stands. Thomas Donnell was the first ferryman and built a wharf to accommodate his pas- sengers. In 1748 the franchise passed to Samuel Sewall, who lived on the opposite side of the river, and it came to be called Sewall's Ferry. He also built a wharf on his side for the convenience of the traffic. When the bridge came to be built it required several town meetings to adjust the road to it, because the old roads on either side were not in line and they had to be changed for the purpose.
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