USA > Maine > Androscoggin County > Leeds > History of the town of Leeds, Androscoggin County, Maine, from its settlement June 10, 1780 > Part 31
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CHAPTER XIX.
GLEANINGS.
Of necessity, the first settlers of new countries infested with: wild animals were hunters and trappers. This was true of the pioneers of Leeds. Thomas Stinchfield was a daring and cour- ageous hunter, and previous to his settlement here had hunted and trapped on the Androscoggin and its tributary waters even to the Rangeley Lakes, and knew all the country on either side of it from the Saco to the Kennebec rivers. Round Pond in the northerly part of the town of Livermore was early called Stinch- field Pond in honor of him. The name was given it by the Indians, and when the white settlers went in there, they adopted the Indian name and long retained it. As early as 1773, Thomas had camps there and on Dead River, and in fact, in many other localities. He won the friendship of the Indians by fair deal- ing and acts of kindness. He treated them justly and at the same time inspired them with confidence and fear. He trusted the resident Indians at all times and never lost a debt if the debtor lived. His wishes and advice were at all times and in all cases granted and accepted by them, and the lives of many white settlers were spared through his instrumentality. In the fall of 1782, a small white settlement had been made on the Sandy River where the village of New Sharon now stands. On a small, round hill just a little way north of Farmington Falls, an Indian wig- wam village was planted. The red and white men both, were hunting and trapping on that river and the little brooks and streams that empty into it. Some of the white hunters stole game from the Indians' traps, repeatedly, and after due warning, still persisted in their robbery. In retaliation the Indians planned to massacre them. One of their number, more cautious of the consequences of such an act, came for "Father Thomas," arriving at his home after the sun set. After being refreshed, they set out for Farmington, guided only by spotted trees and their knowl- edge of the route, which was not a very desirable undertaking in the night time, with no light but that of torches of their make, arriving at the Indian village just as the morning light was breaking. The warriors were all absent, having gone to New Sharon under the cover of darkness to complete their arrange- ments for an attack when darkness should come again and the thieves all corralled. Tired from his night's tramp of twenty-
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five miles through the forest, Thomas accepted an invitation from the chief's squaw to rest on his couch of skins until the return of the warriors, who came in soon after the sun rose. When accosted by Thomas, their greetings were: "Ugh!" which he well knew meant persistent determination to wreak their vengeance on the thieves. Never before nor after, was his skill so taxed in man- aging the red man. It was a long time before he could persuade the chief to call his warriors around him and allow him to address them. After repeating the wrongs that had been done them, his determination to punish the guilty party, and showing them the injustice of taking the lives of the innocent men, women and children for the crimes of the guilty, he conceived the idea of making the thieves return to the Indians double the number of traps and skins taken, as many kettles as traps stolen, and IO gallons of rum to celebrate their victory on. He then asked the chief to accompany him to New Sharon, and with twelve picked warriors they went there and he made his demand, with the additional proviso that, "if the thieves elected to pay the forfeit within twenty-four hours, and within as many hours thereafter leave that part of the country never to return, their lives would be spared them, otherwise their fate would be left to the merci- ful kindness of the people they had so grossly wronged." After assuring them that guards would be stationed to prevent their escape, he bade them good day. Before the day closed the skins, traps, kettles and rum were all delivered, and what otherwise would have ended in a tragedy, rid the settlement of thieves and the white and red men on Sandy River hunted and trapped together in peace.
The families of the early settlers were largely dependent for their meat on the moose, deer, caribou and bear with which the forest then abounded. On one occasion, Thomas Millett's store of meat was exhausted and he could not tell where he was to obtain a fresh supply. The March snow was deep on the ground, but with snow-shoes, dog and gun, Millett went to the house of Thomas Stinchfield, who knew the haunts of the meat animals of the woods, and sought his aid. Likewise equipped the two Thomases, accompanied by James Stinchfield, a lad 16 years old, who carried an ax, the two with two dogs, set out for a moose yard near where the buildings of the late William Boothby now stand. The snow was that deep, instead of rang- ing off to hunt for game, the dogs chose to follow in the snow- shoe tracks and occasionally to ride on the boy's shoes, which resulted in broken strings, the mending of which gave the men a lead of some distance ahead of him. The dogs had timely. warn- ing to not again repeat the trick, and their indifference was rewarded by an earnest reminder with the ax-handle. They at once decided to change the program and started out to break their
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own road. When a little way off, they set up a furious bark- ing, though the lad gave them little attention, thinking that they were trying to redeem themselves with him,-barking at some small creature of no account, and started off to overtake the men. So persistently did they bark that he changed his course and on going to them found them digging in ice and snow at the base of a giant tree. The ice was an indication of the snow having been melted and frozen, and he at once knew the cause. A loud call from him, mingled with the baying of the dogs, soon brought back the men. His father took the ax and cutting away the ice soon came to a hole in the hollow tree. So earnest was Mr. Millett-less experienced then than later with the peculiarities of wild animals and having all confidence in his dog, requested that he be allowed to snuff in the hole of the tree, saying: "My dog can tell whether anything is there." Thus indulged, no later than the dog's head was well in the hole, a black glove with pro- jecting hooks came down on it, and to prevent him from being drawn through the hole, Millett grabbed him by the hind legs and said : "I will have part of you." He succeeded in getting all of him except a little blood, but the skin from the top of his head was hanging down over his nose. After the ice was further cut away,-the hole sufficiently large, bruin committed the mistake of his life when he attempted to again view the outside world; for, when his clumsy body was midway in the hole, a well aimed blow of the poll of the ax prepared him for transportation. The snow being too deep and soft to haul him out on sleds, and to tie his legs together and carry him on a pole would sink their snow- shoes so deep that traveling would thus be made almost impossi- ble, they removed his skin, cut him in quarters and with one each on their shoulders carried him to Stinchfield's in season for dinner. While eating, Benjamin, a son of Thomas Millett came in, having started out to meet his father. Taking each a quarter of the bear they departed for their home, which was where Herbert Millett now resides; while Stinchfield and his son James returned to the tree for the skin and the other quarter of the bear. In the place of moose meat they got that which was fully as welcome to them.
In the fall of 1781, the year following that of the settlement of Leeds, on an evening, Thomas Stinchfield was washing out his gun preparatory to a hunt the next day. His trusty dog, jump- ing up from the chimney-corner rushed to the door and gave tongue in unmistakable sounds of the near approach of some unwelcome guest. Just back of the house was, nearly ripe, a field of Indian corn. The door opened, into the corn went the dog and out of it went a bear so closely chased that he took refuge in a large tree on the edge of the clearing. After listening to the dog a minute Thomas said : "The dog has treed him," and
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taking a brand off the fire, which he handed to Thomas, Jr., a lad thirteen years of age, said: "You and Sarah ( II years) build a fire under the tree and keep him up there until I dry my gun out, and I will come out and shoot him." Where is the parent now who would send children of their ages on a like errand, and where are the children to be found who would unhesitatingly obey such a command?
On another occasion, Thomas Stinchfield, knowing where a bear and two cubs made their home, which was on the northerly end of Hedgehog Hill, took his son James with him to make them a visit, and if a favorable opportunity offered, to confiscate them. As a precaution, he took his gun along, but did not permit the dog to go. Approaching their haunt cautiously, they dis- covered the cubs near the den, enjoying a sun bath. They sprang forward and caught them, a much easier task than to hold and manage them afterward. Their screams soon brought the mother-bear to the scene of action, and such manifestations of temper are seldom witnessed as those displayed by her. She
seemed anxious for them to know she had teeth, and even showed them without an invitation. Sometimes on end in fighting posture, not daring to strike for fear of injuring her own, round and round them she went uncomfortably near, first on the one side and then on the other, in front, but never behind (not allow- able) and such growls and snarling as would put to shame the severer type of old maids. In this manner home was at last reached where the old bear was shot, having walked from her den and saved the labor of hauling or carrying her. In one way convenient, but never so pleasant or frequent as to become a fixed habit !
A moose yard was one winter made, near where the build- ings of Robert Gould, at North Leeds, were later erected. Being in need of meat, Stinchfield, with Thomas, Jr., and James, his sons, started out for there with two sleds, an ax and gun. Knowing where and for what he was going, he took but three bullets with him. When they reached the yard, which contained a bull and two cow moose, it was decided to kill the bull. They came upon him broadside to them, standing with his head behind a large tree. The father, whose skill as a marksman was never in question, took aim for the vital spot and discharged his gun. The bull stood in his tracks apparently not even frighted to say nothing of being injured. Much surprised, he, no more so than the boys, who teasingly offered to make the next shot, again loaded without comment and gave the moose a second charge, and when the smoke cleared away the moose stood there still. "Boys, I don't understand it," he said. He again loaded and his last bullet was in the gun. He deliberately pulled the gun to his face and sent his last messenger of death mooseward, but with
1
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no better success than before-still the moose stood there. Shame mingled with a slight touch of anger, he handed the empty gun to a boy and taking the ax in hand said: "I will never go home and leave that moose standing there!" Approaching him in such a manner as to keep the tree in line between him and the moose's head, he reached it in safety and with ax raised jumped in front of the moose and dealt him a blow such as "Sampson" with that jaw-bone of the long-eared horse species must have wielded. Sur- prise again awaited him. The first shot killed the moose so quickly that his muscles became rigid, his limbs unbending and instead of falling, he leaned slightly against a tree on the opposite side from whence he was shot, which prevented him from falling. On examination, the three bullets had passed through his heart, and so near together, though making three holes, were nearly cut into one.
To become an expert in any life calling, experience and prac- tice are necessary, without which none attain to perfection. In early days, the best instruments used in the various pursuits of life were, at best, but crude and awkward in their construction. When we consider that the fire-arms of our fathers were flint-locks and the uncertainty which attended their discharge, it is the more remarkable that a proficient gunner might then be found with whom the ablest of modern times, with their improved and newly invented rifles could but poorly contend in all the various places, on land and water, where guns were then so extensively used. That of "Father Thomas" was equally good with shot or ball and had a barrel 60 inches in length, which gave to the lead a greater velocity than that acquired from shorter guns in which the black, slow-burning powder of those days was but partially consumed. When old age had begun to dim his eye, the forests in the vicinity of home rid of their native wild animals-none having felled so many as he-long hunting tramps were abandoned. Loath to lay aside forever his trusty gun-a companion from youth-fre- quently did he request some grandson to paddle him down Dead River and along the shores of Androscoggin Lake where he could enjoy a season of pleasure shooting such fowl as frequented those waters. On one occasion the father of the writer, who often indulged the old gentleman, returning home from a trip of this kind, seeing a loon a distance away, called the old man's atten- tion to it. ' "Do you want to see me shoot him?" he asked. "He is too far off-don't think you can." "I will try him !" He did try him and the loon made a quick dive. The old man reloaded and when the loon again came to the surface, he tried him a second time, but again the loon disappeared. "I must have hit him!" Nothing daunted, he proceeded to prepare another shot, the while looking for a return of that game fowl to the surface. The dives were numerous but short, and when an opportunity
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offered he tried him a third time, which proved fatal. On exam- ination of the loon, one bullet cut the feathers on the top of his head, another on the side of his neck, while the third passed through his head.
In the late fall of 1773, Thomas and his older brother John, boated up the Androscoggin River to Rangeley Lakes, for the purpose of trapping and hunting, where they remained until the clearing of the ice in the spring. They built a camp and set up a line of traps, the circuitous distance of which they judged to be about fifteen miles. To obtain more game, they concluded to separate, build another camp and set up another line of traps. The distance between the camps was about ten miles. Game was plentiful and the work of tending the traps and caring for the skins together with fifteen miles travel each day, kept them busy ; while their evenings were spent in gathering fuel and pre- paring food. Though but ten miles separated them when in camp, six weeks and more had passed without a meeting when, one evening, John appeared at the camp of Thomas and when they attempted to greet each other, surprise mingled with (what was until then a stranger to them) fear, was depicted in their faces; for neither could articulate audibly. In attempting to speak to . his dog on that day, John discovered that he had nearly lost his speech, and at once started for the camp of his brother. Several days elapsed before their speech was fully recovered. From that time on they both occupied the same camp and readjusted their lines of traps.
The gun that Thomas used was his pride and the envy of the Indians. Their highest ambition was to become owners of it. The chief of the encampment of Roccomeco made fabulous offers for it, and at one time proffered the season's catch of fur of his village for it. This availed him nothing-it was not for sale while the owner was able to sight it. Despairing of obtaining it, the best gunners of that wigwam village, foremost among them the chief, purchased a lot of new guns and after good practice visited "Father Thomas" and challenged him to a shooting match. It was late afternoon on a cloudy, dark day, but a range was ยท made on the cape-a six-inch ring with white border and center drawn, ready for action. To them Thomas said: "You are the challengers and may shoot all you like, but I shall shoot but twice." Then they decided to take two shots each, which would decide who was the victor. Thomas was to be the last of the 13 contestants to shoot. The Indians, by course, made their shots and good ones they were, ten of which were in or within the ring, and three in close proximity to the bull's eye. Confident of
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having won, the sachem said to Thomas, "Big shoot, no beat him. white man!" When they gathered at the target to witness the effect of the white man's shot, the bull's eyesight had been hope- lessly injured. Victory lost when so nearly won had its effect on the nervous systems of the Indians, and haste to achieve a victory the next time was more apparent than their accuracy of vision. Darkness was approaching and by the time Thomas' turn would come to shoot again, darkness would prevent him from plainly seeing the target. He suggested postponement until the morn- ing, but hoping for the success of some of the first to shoot, and knowing their advantage, they persisted in shooting it off that night. Then said Thomas: "You may shoot when you like, but I shall wait for darkness to settle down and shoot then." The Indians, with the exception of the sachem, whose turn came next before Thomas', all chose to use the remaining daylight, but only four bullets were placed inside the ring and those near the cir- cumference. Little later a candle and chalk were brought, the former was adjusted in front of the injured bull's eye, the latter rubbed on the two guns, and everything in order the chief made his shot, which was a good line exhibition, cutting off the candle about an inch below the center of the target. For once, the shores of the lake resounded with the whoops of the jubilant and cunning bucks, but to little purpose, for when the stub of the candle was relighted and readjusted with the blaze in front of the center of the target, unmoved by the noise which had died away in the distance, with nerves as steady as the eternal hills, Thomas deliberately brought his gun in line from his eye to the blaze of the candle and when it spoke forth, darkness prevailed on the face of the earth, and where were the Indians when the light went out?
On the low meadow, beside the lake, now owned by D. P. True, is a point on which rocks and bushes abound, and in the time of high water in spring and fall is an island. In early time, before the alluvial deposit attached it to the main land, it was named "Little Island," which name it has retained to the present. On this promontory, when the meadow is flowed, muskrats, driven from their haunts, there congregate in large numbers. In the latter part of the month of April, 1857, James Stinchfield, a son of Thomas, then a man nearly 84 years old- still retaining great vigor and his taste for hunting and trapping to which he had been accustomed thus far in life-betook him- self, loaded with steel traps and a pocket of parsnips, to a boat on the shore near his house, and distant from the island near 100 rods. Although the ice yet remained in the lake, the rise of water left an open space between it and the shore, and open water covered the meadow. After launching the craft, he pad-
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dled to this island, and wishing to land on the lake side, oppo- site of where the rats had their places of abode, he made the attempt. The water was deep and the bushes too thickly set to admit the boat to pass through them to the land. He laid aside his paddle and going to the bow of the boat parted the bushes with his hands and holding on, attempted to pull the boat through them to the shore, but his strong pull was too much for the bush which suddenly broke, and consequently he went over the side of the boat, head foremost on his back, into the ice water. In making this backward dive, one of his feet became fastened between the side boards and a rave broken around on the inside of the boat's knees, and thus he was sus- pended, head downward and under water. . For a young man to extricate himself from such a critical position would have been no easy task, and especially one of his avoirdupois (about 200 lbs.), but he freed himself, after a time, and climbing into the boat, paddled against a raw, cold, northeast wind to the shore. Having always been well and hardy, no particular pre- caution was taken more than a change of clothing and warmth by the fire, and pneumonia followed, from the effects of which he died, July 28, 1857.
River and lake waters offered like opportunities to the early settlers and the people of later time of becoming expert swim- mers. Some there were, and some there are, who excel in the different works and amusements practiced by the human race. James Stinchfield was a man of great lung capacity and vitality and was thus enabled to hold his breath a long time. He became a celebrity as a long distance diver. From the Kenne- bec River came a man to visit the family of Daniel Lane. He was a diver of repute and not unboastful of his skill. He claimed to be boss of the Kennebec and could teach the boys of Leeds such water tricks as they had never known. The Lane boys and some of the men, even, not particularly pleased with his boasting, arranged a meeting at the river near where the bridges now span it, and invited James to witness the exhibition and also to test this man's ability in long diving. Everything in readiness, mid a large number of men and boys who were there gathered, they stripped for the contest. The agreement was, that the boaster should make his dive first and remain where he came up, treading water to keep himself in place. Among those who had gathered to witness the scene was one James Lindsey. (Those acquainted with the Lindsey people know their aptitude for fun and story-telling.) In apparent candor and soberness, he had just related the story that a monster sea turtle had been seen in the river but a few days previous, and that he caught and swallowed a sheep belonging to Increase Leadbetter while
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drinking from the river, and expressed his hope that the "crit- ter" hadn't "come that way." This cooled the Kennebec man's ardor several degrees, but the dread of the fun that would be made at his expense if he backed out, was fully equal to his fear of the turtle, so he made his dive, which was a reasonably good one. Stinchfield, appreciating the force of Lindsey's story, made his dive, and after a time, passing where the man was yet treading water, rubbed his back against the man's feet, who, mistaking it for the turtle, squalled like a scared cat, and jump- ing as nearly out of the water as possible, made the shore as quickly as his trembling limbs would take him. His fright and defeat cost him a treat of all that gathered at the bar.
In early times, when military trainings were in order, Loth- rop's Corner, being near the center of the town, was the place usually selected to parade and drill the people liable to do mil- itary duty ; although Keene's Corner or Pine Plains sometimes enjoyed the honor. These were occasions when the people gath- ered in large numbers to witness the drill and the various amusements that were sure to follow. It is admitted that Leeds, in those days, was not, strictly, a temperance town. Most of the stores through the country dealt heavily in wet, West India goods, which were in good demand. Some events that trans- pired on those and other occasions, and especially the days of "muster," have been handed down and retained in the memory of those of the present generation. Practical jokes were not uncommon ; and, to the natural wit and cunning of some of the people-quickened by the spirit-which was distributed in a pail and administered with a dipper, is due many original features of amusement. On one occasion, Mr. Samuel More, a positive, matter-of-fact gentleman and much-respected citizen, was the object selected to entertain the people. When the spirit moved with him, it was always in an antagonistic manner and he was ready to back up his argument by brute force. One Daniel Harvey, to whom the spirit added to his fund of native sport, engaged Mr. More in argument and a difference soon arose, which culminated in an agreement to fight. A condition was made to which they both positively agreed, which was: "When either one said 'enough,' the other should not strike another blow." They were both strong, resolute men, and to those who were not in the game, a hard battle was expected. They stripped for the fight. Harvey struck More a stunning blow and at the same time cried enough. More was a man of his word and kept it, but with poor grace.
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