USA > Maine > Somerset County > Skowhegan > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 20
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Canaan > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 20
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Bloomfield > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 20
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Starks > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 20
USA > Maine > Somerset County > Norridgewock > History of the old towns, Norridgewock and Canaan, comprising Norridgewock, Canaan, Starks, Skowhegan, and Bloomfield, from their early settlement to the year 1849; including a sketch of the Abnakis Indians > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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Dr. James Bowen came to town in the spring of 1808 or 9 - had received a good academical education, and studied his full term with the somewhat celebrated Dr. Gallup, and his appli- cation, industry, and economy have raised him to an enviable position in the estimation of the most eminent practitioners of the day, and given him a comfortable independence in his
advancing age. He was repeatedly in the legislature before the " separation."
Dr. Francis Caldwell came from Kennebec County to finish his reading with Dr. Bowen,
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about 1816 or 17, and subsequently went into a partnership with him and practised very satis- factorily,- afterward settled in Skowhegan and there practised in his profession for a few years.
In the period previous to this there were several physicians flitting across the medical horizon, among whom were Dr. Joel Miller and Dr. James B. Fisk. Dr. Miller staid only a few months of the fall and winter of 1807, then went to the seaboard and was afterwards Warden of the State Prison.
Dr. Fisk settled in Bangor, a druggist, and practised medicine some,- was a man of talents and has since become wealthy, although he lost considerably in the attack of the British upon the town of Bangor. In attempting to convey his wife away from the scene of strife, he was ordered by the notable commander to get out of his carriage in the street, but finally was allowed to take off Mrs. F., and expose his goods to the ravages of a drunken soldiery. Something was saved by telling them there was danger of an explosion.
Dr. Seth Clark, alias Samuel Farrington, came to Bloomfield in the fall of 1801, from Connecticut, and commenced boarding at a public house kept by Capt. Salmon White. He was well educated, studied medicine in Paris, settled in successful practice, left for a reason never disclosed to any one here.
Dr. William McClellan came to Bloomfield about 1836, and settled in the back part of the town.
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Dr. Horace Stevens came in 1848, from Canada, joining Vermont.
Skowhegan. - When Dr. Caldwell left Skow- hegan, about 1820, Dr. David H. Raymond took his place by exchange. Dr. Raymond was like Dr. Bowen and many others, a student of the late Gallup. He derived something from Dr. G.'s recipes, from a book of which in his pos- session, Dr. E. A. Ward, afterward of Lowell, got his famous hair oil and other nostrums, out of which he made money. He died Decem- ber 2, 1840, aged 42 years.
Dr. William Snow, a student from Dr. Bowen's office, came to Skowhegan a year ago, and has been there before for a while; is now settled in the house erected by Dr. Bowen. Is in a good practice, and is at present erecting conveniences for the Hydropathic system of practice.
Dr. Alvah Bacon came to Skowhegan about 1830, from Scarboro', from which place his father went out on an enterprise to Florida ; - turned his attention to medicine and surgery - came here - removed to Boston - and now lives in Biddeford.
Dr. James Brooks came to Skowhegan from Cumberland County, about 1842, by an arrange- ment with Dr. Bacon, when he left. Has some cases of surgery out of the ordinary course.
Dr. John Heard came to Skowhegan some time in 1848, and staid about half a year. He was recommended by eminent men, and main- tained himself as a physician very respectably.
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Botanical Physicians. - Several have been here, but none to make any considerable stay, till about 1835 to 40, when Jona. Mardin came to occupy the stand.
The foregoing facts, relating to the Physicians of Skowhegan and Bloomfield, were principally furnished by Eusebius Weston, Esq.
Norridgewock. - The first doctor in Nor- ridgewock, was " Old Granny Whitcomb," as she was familiarly called, who flourished from
1775 to 178 -. She lived under the hill on the south side of the river, near the residence of Mr. - Norton. She was very much relied on in certain cases, and practised considerably until the advent of
Zebulon Gilman, who came in 1785. He was born in New Hampshire, and built the first framed house in Norridgewock. He did a large business, was much respected, and died Octo- ber 17, 1826, aged 67 years. He carried the first mail ever transported through this region. He afterward relinquished the business to his brother, Mr. Peter Gilman.
Abel Ware of Groton, father of John Ware, came here in 1784, and practised considerably during the few months of his visit.
John Harlow came about the year 1795, and enjoyed an extensive practice. He was regard- ed as a very scientific practitioner. He died June 9, 1824, aged 54 years.
Spencer Pratt was here one year, in 1804 - 5. Amos Townsend settled in Norridgewock in 1809. He gave the land occupied by the
29
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South Burial Ground, and has been long and favorably known.
Joseph Bachelder came from Fayette, settled in 1815, and died here in December, 1817.
John Boutelle was here in 1818 - 19.
James Bates was born in Maine, and came to Norridgewock in 1819. He was a surgeon of much repute, was a member of Congress in 1832 - 3, and is now presiding over the Insane Asylum at Augusta. He was surgeon in the war of 1812, and Surgeon-General in the Aroos- took difficulty.
James Goodwin, from Berwick, was here about six months, in 1819, and went to Athens, and is now in Saco.
William Fairfield was in town from 1819 -25. He was an inmate of the jail for a period of time, and died a few years since in Exeter.
John Adams practised a short time here in 1821-2.
John S. Lynde was born in Vermont, and came to Norridgewock in 1827. He is a med- ical writer of excellent standing, and a poet of considerable merit.
Nyron Bates was here, and enjoyed a fair share of practice as a physician, in 1829 - 32.
Jesse Taylor, a Thompsonian practitioner, remained here for a few years, about 1834 - 44, when he died.
Charles E. Townsend was born in Norridge- wock, and began to practise in the town in 1838.
George Gurley practised in Norridgewock from 1845 - 8. He now resides in Canaan.
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George W. Eastman was in town a short time in 1845.
Theodore W. Lyman resided in Norridge- wock six months in 1848.
Many of the data relating to the Physicians of Norridgewock, were furnished by David Danforth, Esq.
Amos A. Mann was born in this State, settled in Mercer about 1841, removed to Bloomfield in 1848, and established "Mann's Family Physician and Literary Miscellany," the same year, in Norridgewock, and also the "Down East Screamer." His practice is probably as extensive as that of any physician in Maine. His calls are from all quarters of New England, and the published accounts of his cures are truly wonderful. He resides in Bloomfield, and is understood to have a medical work in the press, developing his system of practice.
Miles Williams, a colored gentleman, resides in Norridgewock, and practises physic.
Canaan. - Hans P. Hobbs settled in Canaan in 1821, and died in 1831.
Sullivan Holman settled in Canaan in 1829, and died in 1841.
Reuben Y. Atwood settled in Canaan in 1840, and died in 1844.
Thomas H. Merrill settled in Canaan in 1844, and removed in 1846.
Rufus M. Chase settled in Canaan in 1844, and now practises there.
Asa Johnson settled in Canaan in 1847, and left in 1849.
George Gurley settled in Canaan in 1849.
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STARKS. * - Theophilus Hopkins, from Farm- ington, the first Physican in Starks, settled in 1794 - 6, and remained twelve or fourteen years, removed to the Penobscot.
Timothy Barnes from Vermont came about 1800, and remained eight or ten years.
Dr. Whittemore came from New Hampshire about 1810, and remained five or six years, when he went up to Farmington or Chesterville.
Briggs came about 1813, and remained one or two years.
William Ingalls came about 1814, and re- mained about twenty years.
James Varnum was born in Dracut, Mass., and settled in Starks in 1824. He has occupied a very prominent position in the town, and has enjoyed a large practice.
COLLEGE GRADUATES BORN IN THE FIVE TOWNS, WITH THEIR PROFESSIONS, PRESENT PLACES OF ABODE, &c .- Norridgewock. Hon. Cullen Saw- telle, Attorney, Representative in Congress, Norridgewock; Graduated at Bowdoin, in 1825. Rev. Stephen Allen, graduated at Bowdoin, 1835, is a Methodist clergyman in Augusta. Rev. Charles Allen, graduated at Bowdoin, in 1839, is a Methodist clergyman in Portland. Stephen and Charles are children of William Allen, Esq. + Hon. Volney E. Howard, Attor- ney, has been editor of the Mississipian, and pursued an eventful career, having fought two
* Joseph Holbrook furnished many of the following dates. + Albert Allen, another son of William Allen, Esq., died in 1841. He was a young man of much promise.
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duels, one with Hon. S. S. Prentiss, and one with Governor McNutt, - judge in Texas, &c. Rev. Sampson Powers, clergyman, graduated at Waterville in 1845, now resides in Winthrop. Horatio Q. Wheeler, Attorney, graduated at Bowdoin in 1845, now in Evansville, Indiana. Solomon Bixby, graduated in Waterville in 1849. Bloomfield. Samuel Farrar, Waterville,
Samuel Mclellan, 1826, Bangor, Merchant.
Waterville, 1828, Dexter, Lawyer. Joseph Baker, Bowdoin, 1836, Augusta, Lawyer. Dan- iel Dole, Bowdoin, 1836, Sandwich Islands, Missionary. Nathan Dole, Bowdoin, 1836, Clergyman, Brewer. Stephen Coburn, Water- ville, 1839, Skowhegan, Lawyer. * Arthur F. Drinkwater, Waterville, 1840, Bluehill, Lawyer. Isaiah Dole, Bowdoin, 1840, Bloomfield, Teach- er. Alonzo Coburn, Waterville, 1841, Skow- hegan, Lawyer. Samuel Coburn, Waterville, 1841, Bloomfield, Merchant. Henry Mclellan, Waterville, 1842, New York city, Merchant. Edmund Pearson, Bowdoin, 1843, Machias, Merchant. Joseph W. Weston, Bowdoin, 1843, Bloomfield, Teacher. Charles Coburn, Water- ville, 1844, died November, 1844. Skowhegan. Samuel A. Bickford, Bowdoin, 1847, Skowhe- gan, Lawyer. Henry B. Neil, Bowdoin, 1847, Skowhegan, Merchant. ¡
THE DIFFERENT CITIZENS WHO HAVE WON THE TITLE OF " HONORABLE." Hon. Eleazer Coburn, of Skowhegan, was a member of the State
* A resident of Bloomfield at the time of graduating.
+ The list of graduates in Skowhegan and Bloomfield, was furnished by Stephen Coburn, Esq.
29*
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Senate. He died January 9, 1845, aged 68
years. He was much distinguished in the County of Somerset, and died very much la- mented. Hon. Abner Coburn, of Skowhegan, has been a member of the State Senate. £ Hon. William Jones, of Norridgewock, was for sever- al years the Judge of Probate. He died in 1812. Hon. Milford P. Norton of Canaan, was a member of the State Senate. He now resides in Texas. Hon. Bryce Mclellan, of Canaan, was a member of the first bench of Somerset County, and for seven years after, Judge of Probate. He died September 29, 1836, aged 74
years. Hon. Samuel Weston was a member
of the State Senate.
Hon. Seth Currier was
Judge of Probate previous to removing to
Bloomfield, and was a member of the Senate of
Maine. Hon. David Kidder of Skowhegan, was a member of the 18th and 19th Congresses, from this District, has filled other important trusts, and occupies an elevated position in community. Hon. Warren Preston, of Nor- ridgewock, was for several years Judge of Pro- bate for Somerset, an office the duties of which he discharged with integrity. He resides in Bangor. Hon. Asa Clarke of Norridgewock, was a member of Gov. Dunlap's Council, and Register of Deeds for Somerset for 25 years, and Presidential Elector in 1848. Hon. Went- worth Tuttle of Canaan was a member of the Governor's Council. Hon. John H. Smith, of Starks, was a member of the State Senate. Hon. Jonas Parlin of Skowhegan, was a member of the Governor's Council, and
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a member of the State Senate. Hon. Cullen Sawtelle was a member of the State Senate, and member of the 29th and 31st Congresses. Hon. John S. Tenney has filled a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of Maine, for sever- al years. Hon. James Bates was a member of Congress in 1832 - 3. Hon. Levi Johnson was a member of the State Senate. Hon. Cyrus Fletcher, was a member of the State Senate. Hon. Joseph Barrett was a member of the State Senate. Hon. Drummond Farnsworth was Judge of Probate for Somerset, and a member of the State Senate.
ASSOCIATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, &c. - Skowhegan Bank, situated on Skowhegan Island, in Bloom- field, was incorporated March 4, 1833. Capital, $75,000; Discount day, Monday. First Offi- cers, - Samuel Weston, President ; Samuel Philbrick, Cashier; Samuel Weston, Isaac Far- rar, J. G. Neil, Abner Coburn, Edmund Pear- son, John Ware, and Calvin Selden, Directors.
Somerset Mutual Fire Insurance Co., Incor- porated February 25, 1829. First Officers, - John G. Neil, President; James Dinsmoor, Secretary and Treasurer; John G. Neil, James Dinsmoor, Samuel Philbrick, Edmund Pearson and Brooks Dascomb, Directors.
Free Masons. - Somerset Lodge ; Charter- ed January 11, 1821, at Norridgewock, now in Skowhegan ; 50 members. First Officers, - James Bates, Master ; Warren Preston, S. W. ; Drummond Farnsworth, J. W .; Richard Saw- telle, T .; Samuel Sylvester, S. ; Milford P. Norton, S. D .; Eusebius Weston, J. D.
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Odd Fellows. - Somerset and Franklin Lodge, No. 21 ; Instituted in January, 1845, in Norridgewock ; 75 members. First Officers, F. W. Mooers, N. G. ; L. M. Stillman, V. G. ; J. P. Emerson, S .; E. D. Johnson, T .; D. Hinkley, W .; J. Trask, C.
Sons of Temperance. - Skowhegan Divi- sion, No. 66 ; Instituted February 25, 1847; 102 members. First Officers, James Savage, W.P .; George W. King, W. A .; Charles K. Turner, R. S. ; John K. Morrison, A. R. S. ; Moses Little- field, F. S.
Daughters of Temperance. - Washington Union, No. 18; Instituted March 15, 1848, in Skowhegan; 40 members. First Officers, - P. S., Mary Daggett ; S. A., Angeline L. Hard- ing; R. S., Irena Savage ; A. R. S., Mary C. Paine; F. S., Elizabeth A. Boyce; T., Caroline R. Littlefield.
The Skowhegan Washingtonian Temper- ance Society was formed with nine members, in September, 1841, and a building two stories high, and 24 by 41 feet, was immediately pro- jected. It was finished in the course of the year, and has been used by the society, and rented to others. A school is kept in the lower story.
Norridgewock Female Academy was incor- porated in April, 1837, and is admirably adapted to study. It has educated many who are now on the stage of life, performing its active duties. It is in a delightful location. The land was given by Dr. A. Townsend, who conveyed it in such a manner, that it reverts to him or his
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heirs, whenever it ceases to be a literary insti- tution.
Bloomfield Academy was incorporated in February, 1807, and is a fine institution. It is in a brick building, which will accommodate one hundred scholars. It is admirably located, and is a charming place for study.
Sons of Temperance. - Carabasset Division, No. 49 ; Canaan. Instituted November 26, 1846 ; Rufus M. Chase, W. P .; Hon. Joseph Barrett, W. A. ; Charles Robinson, R. S .; C. A. Hobbs, A. R. S. ; Hiram Burrill, F. S .; Samuel Rollins, T. ; 55 members.
There is in Norridgewock an Internal Im- provement Society, whose object is to beautify the village by adorning it with trees. It was organized in 1837, and many of the young trees in the villages and burial grounds are monuments of its taste. It is an example to every town.
Odd Fellows, Carabasset Lodge, No. 34, Skowhegan; 100 members. Instituted Janu- ary 1, 1846. James B. Dascomb, N. G. ; Alex. H. Gilman, V. G .; Samuel W. Weston, S .; Samuel D. Arnold, T.
There was formerly a social library in Nor- ridgewock, and another has recently been started. Winter Lyceums, and other associa- tions designed for human improvement, are frequent and valuable. Temperance, Peace, and Anti-Slavery societies are existent.
COUNTY OFFICERS, &c. - Somerset County was organized March 1, 1809, and after can-
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vassing the merits of Anson, Canaan, and Norridgewock for shire towns, the choice fell on Norridgewock .* The court held its ses- sions, for several years, in the large wooden building opposite the house and store of Joseph Baker. The bell which was exhumed at Old Point, was hung on a joist at the corner of the house, and was rung to call the court together. In 1810, the present comfortable and commo- dious jail was built, and in 1820, the court- house was erected at an expense of about $4000. Repairs and additions were made in 1847, for about $3,000. It is now a beautiful building, admirably located, and well adapted to the uses to which it is put. The Probate office was erected in 1810, and is conveniently situated.
There is, proportionally, a large amount of litigation in Somerset County, as in all lumber- ing counties. Criminal cases, however, are somewhat rare. There have been but three capital trials, and in each case the prisoner was acquitted. Adaline Taylor, alias Joy, of Mercer, was tried in 1828, for the murder of Warren P. Taylor, an infant; Gridley T. Parkman, of St. Albans, was tried in 1837, for poisoning his wife ; and John Ferguson, of Haverhill, was tried in 1845, for the murder of Jefferson Spalding.t
* The late John Ware was very strenuous in his efforts to have the Courts sit in Norridgewock. He said that he was willing the other towns should have all that belonged to them. Being asked what that was, he replied, " the gallows rope to Anson, and the whipping post to Canaan." In 1809, the court held its sessions in the meeting-house.
+ Llewellyn Kidder, Esq.
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FIRST r BENCH OF THE SUPREME COURT .*_ Prentiss Mellen, of Portland, Chief Justice ; William P. Preble of Portland ; Nathan Wes- ton, Jr., of Augusta.
SUBSEQUENT JUDGES. - Albion K. Parris, of Portland ; Nicholas Emery, of Portland ; Ether Shepley, of Portland ; John S. Tenney, of Nor- ridgewock; Ezekiel Whitman, of Portland ; Samuel Wells, of Portland ; and Joseph How- ard, of Portland.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS. First Bench. - Beza Bryant, of Anson; Bryce Mclellan, of Canaan ; Andrew Crosswell, of Mercer.i
SUBSEQUENT JUDGES. - Benjamin Ames, of Bath ; Nathan Weston, Jr., of Augusta ; Eben- ezer Thatcher, of Thomaston ; Josiah Stebbins, of Alna; # Samuel E. Smith, of Wiscasset ; Sanford Kingsbury, of Hallowell; David Per- ham, of Brewer; Ezekiel Whitman, of Port- land ; John Ruggles, of Thomaston ; Asa Red- ington, Jr., of Augusta; Richard D. Rice, of Augusta.
CLERKS OF THE COURT .* - William Jones, of Norridgewock, 1809 - 12; William Allen, Jr., of Industry, 1813 -24; Nahum Baldwin, of Starks ; James Dinsmore, of Anson, 1825 - June, 1832 ; Elias Cobb, of Anson, September, 1832- June, 1834; Joshua Gould, of Nor-
* Llewellyn Kidder, Esq.
1 It is said that the aggregate weight of the first bench in Somerset, was exactly 300 lbs. It was, however, multum in parvo.
¿ The first court business transacted in the name of the State of Maine, was March 16, 1820, The first session of the State Legislature, was June 6, 1821.
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ridgewock, September, 1834 - March, 1838; 1839 - March, 1841 ; June, 1843 - November, 1846 ; Cyrus Fletcher, of Norridgewock, June, 1838 -1839 ; June, 1841 - March, 1843 ; John Kerswell, of Skowhegan, 1847 ; Llewellyn Kid- der, of Skowhegan, 1848.
PROBATE JUDGES .* - William Jones, of Nor- ridgewock; Bryce Mclellan, of Canaan; War- ren Preston, of Norridgewock ; Drummond Farnsworth, of Norridgewock; Charles Greene, of Athens.
PROBATE REGISTERS. - James Waugh, of Starks ; Samuel Weston, of Bloomfield ; Benja- min Shepard, of Bloomfield; William Has- kell, of Anson; James Dinsmore, of Anson ; Joshua Gould, of Norridgewock; Cullen Saw- telle, of Norridgewock; William Allen, of Nor- ridgewock; Thomas C. Jones, of Norridgewock.
COUNTY TREASURERS .* - Mark S. Blunt, of Norridgewock ; John Loring, of Norridgewock ; Daniel Steward, of Canaan; Joseph Philbrick, of Skowhegan; John C. Page, of Norridge- wock; William B. Morrill, of Skowhegan ; Henry S. Tobey, of Fairfield.
REGISTERS OF DEEDS. ¿ - Amos Townsend, of Norridgewock, 1809 - November, 1817 ; Ja- bez P. Bradbury, of Athens, November, 1817 - March, 1822; Asa Clark, of Norridgewock, March, 1822 -- March, 1847; William Tit- comb, of New Portland, March, 1847.
Richard Sawtelle, of Norridgewock, first Sheriff.
* Llewellyn Kidder, Esq. | T. C. Jones, Esq.
¿ William Titcomb, Esq.
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BRIDGES. - The people of Norridgewock and Canaan depended on ferries to cross the Ken- nebec previous to 1810. Dea. John Clark established one near his house in 1777, and it continued until a bridge was erected. Since that time, in the absence of a bridge, the ferry has been continued, and in 1847 another was established, opposite the store of Blunt and Turner.
The first bridge stood in the place occupied by the present unfinished structure, and was opened Oct. 31, 1810. It cost $3,000, and was built for the proprietors by Mr. William Sylvester. On the 25th day of the following March, on the breaking up of the ice, one of the piers was car- ried off and the bridge very much injured, about two hundred feet having been destroyed. It was, however, repaired in December, at an ex- pense of $1,200, and remained, doing good ser- vice, until it met its final destruction, March 26, 1826.
Efforts were soon made to erect a second bridge, and Mr. Amos Fletcher finished it in April, 1828, at a cost of $7,200. It stood be- low, nearly opposite the Court House. Its ex- istence was short, and March 31, 1831, it bade us a final farewell.
The third occupied the site of the first, and was completed by Hon. Drummond Farns- worth, at a cost of about $4,700, in September, 1835. It soon followed the "example of its illustrious predecessor," and, leaving a wreck behind, ceased to exist as a bridge, January 31, 1839.
30
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In September, of the same year, Mr. Farns- worth, as agent of the proprietors, built the fourth bridge, at a cost of between $4,000 and $5,000. Part of the material of the former bridge was used in its construction, and it ar- rived at a very considerable age - for a Nor- ridgewock bridge. It took French leave March 26, 1846.
The proprietors employed Messrs. B. and N. Weston, in the fall of 1848, to build bridge No. 5, at a cost of $11,000. It was designed to be a strong structure. The piers were to be of solid granite, and an abutment of the same material on each shore was thought to be an immovable foundation. The bridge was to be of that description called "X work." The stone work was finished, and the bridge had passed to the second pier, when, on the night of March 29th, 1849, a small body of ice moved against the false bridge, and laid the wood work a waste of ruin. On the following day, March 30, the whole field of ice, from the bridge to Bomazeen Rips, began to move, and imme- diately it prostrated the northern pier. The proprietors soon re-commenced operations, and a fine bridge will be finished in the winter of 1849-50, at a cost of about $13,000.
The first bridge paid its expenses, but the rest, up to the last, have been a dead loss to the proprietors, of $11,000, besides tolls.
It is said by the "oldest inhabitants," that no bridge ever withstood the ice if it moved off in March. Its power is irresistible, and its gran- deur unimaginable. It was the writer's fortune
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to see the breaking up of the ice, and the de- struction of the bridge in 1849. The ice had formed in the preceding winter to the thick- ness of two and a half feet, and a violent rain for several days had loosened it from the shores, raised the river considerably, and in some places broken it up somewhat. All day the large floating cakes had been drawn under the immense field above the bridge, and as they struck the ice over them, and as the rapidly rising waters broke the great body, the hollow, booming sound filled the ear like distant thun- der. Several times the vast field started, and, after accumulating on the shores and in the eddies, would stop, as if to gather strength. At length, at about six o'clock, the grand march commenced. With a steady, stately, but irre- sistible movement, it passed down the river. All obstacles gave way before it. Trees, deep- rooted and gigantic, were torn up by the roots and borne like playthings by the mighty wa- ters. As they struck the northern pier, the iron bands confining the rocks were sundered like flax in a candle's blaze, and the granite rocks forming the pier, many of them weighing sev- eral tons, were hurled from their resting-places, or borne away on the ice, that moved on, re- gardless of their vast weight. It was an exhi- bition of the wildness, the grandeur, and power of Nature, when conflicting with the feeble works of human art.
But the sublimity of the scene was height- ened at the Falls of Skowhegan. The huge body of ice bore down in wild majesty against
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the rocky island, as if to overwhelm it, and the island, indignant at the assault, crushed the huge mass, which parted, and passed on over the falls. Fallen trees, logs, and earth, plowed from the shores, went over in wild confusion, and the roar filled the ear of the spectator. Af- ter the passage over the cataract, the logs were tossed to and fro in strange disorder, in some instances protruding from the water twenty and thirty feet, as if striving to escape the watery grave. It was a scene which no pen can ade- quately describe, but which to be admired was but to be seen.
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