USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892 > Part 127
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The brave deeds of these heroic men should be saved in the pages of history.
At the battle of Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, Adjutant Small was selected by Colonel Root, commanding 1st Brigade, to execute an order by General Robinson, commanding 2d Division, to " send an intelligent officer to the right of your line to ascertain and report upon the condition of affairs on the Rapidan." Accompanied by a single orderly, Adjutant Small rode four miles beyond the Union lines, to a point from which he saw that the enemy had deserted a large camp, and were rapidly marching to fall upon General Sedg- wick. Returning, he was amazed to find a hundred of the enemy with a picket line across the road near a spot where a single rough- looking native had been seen on the ride out. They had got to run that gauntlet of death, or be taken prisoners. Putting spurs to their
horses, the first plunge of the fleet steeds alarmed the picket, and with the words "Halt! Halt!" came three shots that passed harm- lessly by. Dashing across the road, they entered the woods, when again came the shout " Halt, you damned Yanks!" Reckless of the bullets of the rebels, they rode madly on out of range, and soon met General-Reynolds, the corps commander, and his staff, a mile from the Union lines, anxiously awaiting their return. Receiving the report with cordial thanks, he rode rapidly to General Hooker's head- quarters with the important news secured by Adjutant Small's reconnoissance.
During the battle of Weldon Railroad, August 18, 1864, a series of blunders resulted in the capture of over one hundred men of the 16th Maine, among them Adjutant Small, who for the next six months
1091
TOWN OF OAKLAND.
endured the awful privations of rebel prison life. October 31, 1864, while serving his country in the Danville, Va., prison, he was com- missioned major of the 16th Regiment. When Major Small rejoined his regiment, it was in camp at Black and White Station on the South Side railroad, where, under his command, it took part in the last brigade drill. He was also its commander in the famous grand review in Washington, May 23, 1865.
It is a pleasure to record the return of such a soldier to his home and to the peaceful pursuits of life. His first business undertaking was a partnership in the dry goods firm of Otis & Small, which lasted till 1868, when he assumed the duties of his present position as head bookkeeper of the Dunn Edge Tool Company. In 1874 he was made treasurer of the Somerset Railroad, and soon after clerk of the incor- poration-still filling both places. He is a member of the Baptist church and was for many years its clerk; and has always been a mem- ber of the republican party.
Major Small was married in 1865 to Julia M. Fairbanks, of Wayne, whose death occurred in 1885. His second marriage was to Medora F. Clark, of Cliftondale, Mass., in 1888. They have one child-Ralph Hugo Small.
For a notice of Major Small's admirable History of the Sixteenth Regiment, see page 266.
Everett M. Stacy, son of Moses Stacy, was born in Benton. He graduated from Colby in '81, and after teaching one year and keeping books three years, in October, 1885, he was made express agent and telegraph operator at Oakland, and at the same time bought a book and stationery business, which he still continues. He was made post- master at Oakland in February, 1892. He married Ella J. Goodell, of Waterville, and their children are: Harold E., Edward G. and Owen P.
Albert Swain, born in Skowhegan in 1851, is a son of William and Adaline (Worthy) Swain, and grandson of Dudley Swain. He was in business in Clinton from 1877 until 1885, when he came to Oakland and succeeded George W. Hubbard in the boot and shoe business, to which he added men's furnishing goods.
Orrin W. Tilton, born in 1831, is the eldest of eight children of Freeman and Betsey (Witham) Tilton, grandson of Cornelius, and great-grandson of Cornelius Tilton, who came from Martha's Vine- yard, Mass., to Belgrade, and in 1800 bought the farm where Mr. Til- ton now lives; Thomas Magraw having owned and occupied it sev- eral years previous to that date. He married Sarah A., daughter of William, and granddaughter of Willoughby Taylor. They have three children; Frank E., Cora M. (Mrs. N. B. Goodale) and Daisy G.
Stephen C. Watson, born in 1838, is the eldest son of David and Harriet S. (Tozier) Watson. David Watson came from Pittsfield, N. H.,
1092
HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.
to Waterville, where he was a blacksmith. In 1851 he came to West Waterville (now Oakland), where he was a farmer, and since his death in 1874 Stephen C., his son, has owned and occupied his farm. Mr. Watson was four years selectman, two years president and trustee of the North Kennebec Agricultural Society, and three years a member of the state board of agriculture. He married Emma, daughter of Anson and Sarah (Gibbs) Bates, and granddaughter of Constantine Bates. Their children are: Arthur T., William Henry (deceased) and Harry B.
Cyrus Wheeler, son of Cyrus Wheeler, who came to Waterville from Concord, Mass., before 1810, was born in 1827. He was, besides learning the shoemaker's trade, a clerk in his father's store till the death of the latter in 1866, and since then has been a farmer. His father married Mary, daughter of Jonathan Combs, and had four children. Cyrus Wheeler married, in 1852, Sarah L. Muncy. Their two children died young. His second wife was Emma H. Muncy, and his third marriage, in 1869, was to Emma F. Bailey. Their child- ren have been: Mary E., Cyrus W., Charles H., Bertel and Emma G.
John Wheeler, born in Canaan, Me., May 24, 1799, is a son of Dan- iel and Mary (Pollard) Wheeler, whose father was a native of Con- cord, Mass. Mr. Wheeler was lumberman and farmer in Canaan until 1864, when he came to Oakland, where he has since lived. He mar- ried Margaret R. Hitchings, and only three of her eight children sur- vive her. Mr. Wheeler was several times elected selectman and once served as representative while residing in Canaan, and was the first man to haul a log into Moosehead lake for floating to the lumber mills.
William H. Wheeler is one of the five children of Erastus O. and Rufus B. (Marston) Wheeler, and grandson of Abel Wheeler, who came from Templeton, Mass., to Waterville in 1808. Mr. Wheeler is a cabinet maker and car builder by trade. He was three years a half owner in the Oakland grist mill with Charles H. Blaisdell. Since 1883 he has been a furniture dealer and undertaker. He married Eliza F., daughter of Alfred Winslow. They have two sons: Alfred W. and Dean E.
ALFRED WINSLOW, born October 16, 1813, is the son of Joseph, and the grandson of Dea. Nathan Winslow, all of Brewster, Mass. Back of these in his direct male line were five more Cape Cod generations, each ancestor bearing the name Kenelm Winslow.
The first Kenelm came from Droitwich, England. His son, Kenelm, who was born in Marshfield about 1637, settled in Brewster and mar- ried Mary, daughter of Peter Warden, of Yarmouth. She died in 1688, in her forty-eighth year, and was buried at East Dennis, in the old Warden cemetery, which was reserved as a burial place by her
Alfred Stinslow.
PRINT, E. BIERSTADT, N. Y.
1093
TOWN OF OAKLAND.
brother, Samuel Warden. Mr. Winslow married again, died in 1715, and was buried by the side of his first wife.
He resided in West Brewster, had a large family, and was a wealthy man of his time. It is recorded that his religious training differed from that of his neighbors-probably more liberal. He was a farmer and clothier, owning, with others, a fulling mill on Sauqua- tuckett river. His eldest son, Kenelm, born in 1667, married Bethial Hall in 1689, and settled near him.
Joseph Winslow, born in 1772, married Abigail Snow in 1794. The names of their ten children were: Phebee, Abigail, Joseph and Dean (twins). Elkanah (a sea captain), Gilbert, Sophronia, Mehitable, Alfred and John.
Packed into the first sixteen years of Alfred's life were the usual quantity and variety of a boy's experience-beginning with a pop- gun and a whistle and ending with the wood-saw and the district school, interspersed with games, fishing, the first circus and the first horse race. Then Alfred left home, went to Roxbury, where he learned the tanners and curriers' trade, and worked at it for seven years. In those times people believed and acted upon Franklin's wise saying, that " a trade is an office of profit and honor." In 1836 he came to Oakland and bought the tannery which he conducted con- tinuously and profitably for twenty-eight years, adding during a part of the time quite an extensive manufacture of thick boots. In 1856 he engaged in trade and built the store which, in company with his sons, he still occupies.
Public affairs, of local or of general interest, have always received Mr. Winslow's careful attention and, when necessary, his time and his personal assistance. In 1849 and 1850 he was one of the selectmen of the town, and a year or two later was appointed a justice of the peace by Governor Hubbard. The movement to build Memorial Hall was largely of his conception and received its greatest impetus from his untiring efforts. He was a solicitor, a collector and the treasurer of its funds, and was really the managing director in their careful expenditure until the building was completed and placed on a safe business basis. Oakland therein builded better than she knew -- a testimonial to the good sense of her citizens, as well as to the memory of her patriot soldiers.
For the past ten years Mr. Winslow has been a trustee of the sav- ings bank and for the past fifty years a trustee of the Universalist church, and most of that time its clerk, and always its steadfast sup- porter. Politically he was first a democrat and belonged to that por- tion of the party that believed in free soil and free men-every man of whom voted for Fremont in 1856 and for Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
Mr. Winslow, in May, 1839, married Eliza C., daughter of Hiram
69
1094
HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.
Crowell, a lineal descendant of another old Cape Cod family of influ- ence and stability. Their children were: Hiram C., now a merchant and town clerk of Oakland; Sarah C. and Abbie S., twins, who both died at the age of four years; Eliza F., now Mrs. W. H. Wheeler, and Chester E. A. Winslow, a partner with his father in trade and a direc- tor in the Messalonskee National Bank. Mrs. Winslow died in 1859, and the next year Mr. Winslow married Sarah W. Crowell, a sister to his first wife. Her death occurred in 1867, and in 1868 he married another sister, Martha M. Crowell, who died February 5, 1892. Now, at the age of seventy-nine, Mr. Winslow is, as the accompanying por- trait shows, a remarkably well preserved man. Almost six feet tall, with corresponding proportions, he has kept his vigor by not overtax- ing it -- a kind of good sense rarely found.
CHAPTER XLII.
TOWN OF VASSALBORO.
Natural Features .- Settlement .- Incorporation .- Winslow's Survey Map .- Early Town Meetings .- Moderators .- Selectmen .- Clerks .- Treasurers .- Schools. -Villages and their Local Enterprises .- Post Offices .- Early Settlers .- Churches .- Burying Grounds .- Personal Paragraphs.
T HIS fertile, farming town, next north of Augusta, has the Kenne- bec river for its western boundary, China for its eastern and Winslow for its northern. Settlements here commenced as early as 1760; but for eight years only ten families had become resi- dents, including all in the present town of Sidney, which was incor- porated within Vassalboro's first limits. April 26, 1771, it was first recognized as a corporate body, and January 30, 1792, Sidney, the part west of the river, was incorporated a town by itself, leaving the pres- ent Vassalboro.
The three ranges of lots between the river and the gore were sur- veyed and numbered by Nathan Winslow in 1761. The lots east of it, shown on the map, page 1096, were surveyed and plotted by John Jones in 1774, and designated as the fourth and fifth ranges. These numbers are still generally referred to in deeds. East of the third range Jones established a new line for the western boundary of the fourth range, leaving a strip of land of unequal and irregular width extending across through the town, and referred to in deeds as the Gore. The principal inlet to Webber pond is in this gore, which extends over Cross hill to the southward. Northeast of the town house it is included in the farms of Z. Goddard, Elijah and James Pope and Frank H. Lewis.
The records of the town from 1771 to the present are in four leather-bound books, well preserved and beautifully written. The first half of the first volume records that on May 17, 1771, James How- ard, justice of the peace by the power in him vested, issued his war- rant to Matthew Hastings to summon the freeholders to meet at James Bacon's inn to chose the first officers of the new town. The town meetings were held for years at inns on either side of the river, and not until 1795 was it voted to build a Vassalboro town house. In February of that year one was decided upon, to be thirty by forty
1096
HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.
WINSLOW.
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AUGUSTA.
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NATHAN WIN SLOW'S PLAN OF
79
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IDNEY.
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WEBBER
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SEVEN MILE BROOK
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OUTLET STRENG
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KENNEBEC
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1097
TOWN OF VASSALBORO.
feet, and to be placed near Peter Tallman's, the site, according to tra- dition, being on the river road, about half way between Vassalboro Corner and Riverside, on the farm now Stephen Freeman's-then Samuel Redington's. The present town house is the same building, having been removed after a vote of September, 1828, "to the land of John Dutton near the corner made by the intersection of roads lead- ing by Capt. Ballard's and by Israel Goddard's." Samuel Redington was appointed to remove the house to its present site, where it was repaired.
August 11, 1771, it was voted to build two pounds, to be completed by the following June-one on David Spencer's lot, the other on James Burnes'-the inhabitants to meet December, 1771, to build them, and every absent settler was to pay 2s. 6d. lawful money. In the present century a town pound was built of stone, which is still to be seen in a dilapidated condition.
In the beginning of the present century the increase of settlers was marked. In the census of 1800 the population was 1,188, and in 1810 it had reached 2,063. Lumbering and farming were the princi- pal occupations of the residents, and up to this time no provision had been made for the care of the town poor. Iu 1811 a small sum was voted for this purpose, and in 1812 a house was rented for their use. In 1813 it was voted to buy of John Roberts a house and two acres of land for a poor house, which was sold in 1827. In March, 1831, the annual town meeting voted to purchase a poor farm, now one of the best farms in town, on the north shore of Webber pond. In 1815 the keeping of the poor for the year was bid off at seventy-four cents each per week.
According to the custom of those early days a bounty of twenty cents each was voted for crows' heads in the year 1806, which was raised to twenty-five cents in the year 1807. The people had the her- ring industry then to supply them with fish, which swarmed up the river to Seven-mile brook, and on to the pond. In 1806 the privilege of the.catch was bid off, reserving to each freeholder what he might want, if he went in the season and paid fifty cents per barrel. Nathan- iel Lovejoy purchased the monopoly of Seven-mile brook in 1811 for $185.
CIVIL LISTS .- Throughout the town records it appears that the officers were selected for their ability, and to their discretion was entrusted the most important affairs of the town. " Voted to refer the subject to the selectmen with full authority," is a common entry. The moderator of the annual meeting was usually the one deemed the leading man in town. The moderators before 1800 were: Matthew Hastings, who served first in 1771; Remington Hobby, 1774; Dennis Getchell, 1775; Doctor Stephen Barton, 1777; Captain Abial Lovejoy,
1098
HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.
1782; Doctor Obadiah Williams, 1788; Ebenezer Moore, 1791, and Reuben Fairfield, 1794.
The selectmen and their years of service, if more than one, are given in the following list: 1771, Dennis Getchell, 8, Matthew Hast- ings, 10, Levi Powers; 1772, Ebenezer Farwell, 2; 1773, Charles Web- ber, 2; 1774, Daniel Fairfield, 4; 1775, Ebenezer Pattie, 3, Samuel Devens; 1776, Isaac Farwell, jun., 2: 1777, Remington Hobby; 1778, Stephen Barton, 2, Joseph Webber; 1779, Nehemiah Getchell, Abial Lovejoy, 6; 1780, Flint Barton, 3; 1781, Hugh Smiley, 2; 1784, Captain Samuel Grant, 3; 1785, Thomas Smiley, 4: 1786, Benjamin Dyer; 1787, Obadiah Williams, 2; 1788, Lieutenant Ebenezer Moore, 6; 1791, Charles Webber, 4; 1792, Reuben Fairfield, 15; 1793, Ebenezer Farwell; 1795, Daniel McFadden, 2; 1797, Isaiah Crowell, 9, John Get- chell, 4; 1798, Samuel Redington, 3; 1801, Jonathan Carlton, 3; 1802, Berriah Packard; 1806, Abial Getchell, 12, Moses Starkey, 2, Nathaniel Percival; 1807, John Roberts; 1808, Philip Colby, 2, Joseph R. Abbott, 10: 1810, Isaac Roberts, 5; 1812, Francis M. Rollins, 3; 1814. John O. Webster; 1815, Jeremiah Webber, 2; 1817, Joseph Southwick, Ebe- nezer Meiggs, 2; 1818, Dean Bangs, jun .; 1819, Prince Hawes, Holman Johnson, 9; 1820, John Roberts, 6; 1821, John Hussey; 1824, Jacob Southwick, 2; 1826, Elijah Robinson, 5, William Percival, 7; 1828, Philip Leach; 1829, Amos Stickney, 10; 1833, Isaac Fairfield, 18, Moses Taber, 5; 1835, John G. Sturgis, 2; 1837, Otis C. Adams, 2, Wil- liam Taber; 1838, Oliver Prescott, 4; 1840, Oliver Webber; 1841, Oliver A. Webber, 3; 1842, William A. Hawes, 2; 1843, Jonathan A. Smith, 2, Joseph H. Cole; 1844, Joseph E. Wing, David G. Robinson, 5; 1845, John Homans, 9; 1849, John Marble, 2; 1850, Hiram Pishon; 1851, John Goff Hall, 5; 1854, William Merrill, Warren Percival, 5, Howard G. Abbott; 1857, Jacob Prescott, 2, John R. Whitehouse, 10; 1859, Joseph B. Low, 6; 1862, Orrick Hawes, 7; 1864, Edward S. Weeks; 1865, William H. Cates, 7; 1868, J. E. Mills, 2; 1870, Joseph H. Allen, 5; 1871, Edward W. Bush, 4; 1872, Henry H. Robbins, 4; 1875, Warren Percival, 2; Isaiah Gifford, 6; 1876, George Howell; 1877, Benjamin McDonald, Howard Wentworth, 2; 1878, George Reynolds, 3; 1880, Ezekiel Small; 1881, Greenlief Lowe, 6, Benjamin J. Rackliff, Albert M. Bradley; 1882, B. C. Nichols, Hartwell Getchell; 1883, W. A. Evans, 2 years and continuously since 1887; 1884, Joel W. Taylor, 2; 1885, Peter Williams; 1886, Gustavus Hussey, 3; Alexander Hall since 1887: 1888, Harry T. Drummond, 3; 1892, Reuel C. Burgess.
The Town Clerks, each serving until his successor's election, have been: John Rogers, who was elected in 1771; Samuel Devens, in 1775; Charles Webber, 1776; Dr. Stephen Barton, 1777; Jedediah Bar- ton, 1781; Matthew Hastings. 1782; Stephen Barton, 1784; Flint Bar- ton, 1787: Asa Redington, 1790; Jer. Fairfield, 1792; Jonathan Fair- field, 1799; Jonathan Carlton, 1802; Benjamin Brown, jun., 1803;
1099
TOWN OF VASSALBORO.
Jonathan Fairfield, 1806; Joseph R. Abbott, 1809; Abial Getchell, 1817; Joseph R. Abbott, 1824; Amos Stickney, 1830; Obed Durrell, 1838; James Rowe, 1846; William H. Cates, 1865; Edward W. Bush, 1873; E. Frank Lincoln, 1874; William S. Bradley, 1881; Orrick Hawes, ap- pointed in 1883 to fill vacancy; William S. Bradley, 1884; A. S. Bradley made deputy January, 1887; Seth B. Richardson, since March, 1887.
The first Treasurer of the town was Charles Webber, in 1771, who also served in 1776. The succession of treasurers, with years of elec- tion follows: John Rogers, 1772; Samuel Devens, 1775; Dr. Stephen Barton, 1777; Benjamin Hobby, 1778; Captain Abial Lovejoy, 1780; Captain Samuel Grant, 1781; Ebenezer Farwell, 1782; Samuel Grant, 1783; Nehemiah Getchell, 1785; Flint Barton, 1790; Nehemiah Get- chell, 1792; Jer. Fairfield, 1795; Samuel Redington, 1798; Reuben Fairfield, 1801; Jonathan Carlton, sen., 1802; Samuel Redington, 1803; Benjamin Brown, 1813; Samuel Redington, 1815; Joseph R. Abbott, 1819; Samuel Redington, 1821; Joseph Southwick, 1822; Philip Leach, 1828; Albert G. Brown, 1829; Elijah Robinson, 1830; John Collins, 1832; Thomas Carlton, 1833; Amos Stickney, 1834; Moses Purinton, 1835; William Percival, appointed November, 1836, to complete the year; Thomas Carlton, 1837; Amos Stickney, 1838; Obed Durrell, 1839; John Homans, 1846; Joseph H. Cole, 1850; James Rowe, 1851; Joseph H. Cole, 1854; William P. Whitehouse, 1855: James Rowe, 1856; Joseph H. Cole, 1857; William Merrill, 1859; William S. B. Run- nells, 1863; William H. Cates, 1864; Warren Percival, 1866; Z. Butter- field, 1867; J. S. Butterfield, 1877; Charles F. Crowell, 1887; George H. Cates, since March, 1891.
SCHOOLS .- The first record of anything pertaining to this impor- tant element of civilization was made in annual meeting of March, 1790, when the town east of the river was divided into districts, and an earnest support of the public schools commenced. The nine dis- tricts of 1790 were located and numbered thus:
1. Beginning at the north line of said town on the river, extend- ing southwardly as far as the north line of Jacob Taber, jun.'s, lot, in- cluding the first and second mile.
2. Beginning at north line of Jacob Taber, jun.'s, lot, thence southerly as far as the north line of Jonathan Low's lot, including the first and second mile, likewise the third mile from the north line of the town southwardly as far as the south line of Jacob Taber's lot.
3. Beginning at the last mentioned bounds, extending southwardly as far as the south line of John Williams' lot, including 1st, 2d and 3d mile.
4. Beginning at John Williams' south line, extending southwardly as far as Jethro Gardner's north line, including the 1st and 2d mile.
5. From Jethro Gardner's north line to the south line of said town, including the 1st and 2d mile.
6. Beginning at the north line of said town, extending south- wardly as far as David Dickey's south line, including 4th and 5th mile.
1100
HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.
7. From David Dickey's south line extending southwardly as far the south line of Bunker Farwell's lot, including the 4th and 5th mile.
8. From Bunker Farwell's south line southerly as far as the line. between lots No. 7 and 8 on the 4th mile, including the 3d, 4th and 5th miles.
9. From the line between lots 7 and 8 on the 4th mile southwardly as far as the south line of said town, including the 3d, 4th and 5th mile.
The committee making the division into districts was composed of Reuben Fairfield, Charles Webber, Nehemiah Getchell, Daniel McFadden, Joseph Fellows and John Taber. Teachers were hired and the schools of the town commenced. Alterations were made in the bounds of districts as the convenience of the inhabitants de- manded, and in 1795 another district was formed in the south part. This year a committee was chosen in open town meeting to obtain teachers for all districts and pay out the moneys according to the number of pupils in each. The school interests were closely watched, and in 1797 the number of schools was reduced to seven, and the $700 raised by the town was disbursed by the selectmen, who also en- gaged the teachers. In 1798 another division into districts was made, and a year later $1,000 was raised to build ten school houses. In 1809 districts nine and thirteen were joined, but were to continue two schools by female teachers, one of whom was to be selected by the Friends. In 1816 the seventeen schools were visited by a committee appointed by the town, which custom prevailed several years with beneficial results. The districts were again changed and re-bounded in 1823, but not until 1839 was the division of the town made into the twenty-two districts which are now substantially the same.
Some fifty years ago an academy was established at Getchell's Cor- ners and flourished a score of years as the Vassalboro Academy. The building was used for religious as well as secular instruction; but in 1868 it was sold to the Methodist society and remodelled into the present Methodist church.
From a town committee to hire teachers and visit schools the town voted a proper person in each district to do the duties for his district. Later years a town superintendent has been elected, who visits and cares for the schools. Uniform text books of standard editions are now the property of the town, and a yearly appropriation for such books is made. The districts number twenty-two, and the houses and schools are in good condition. The superintendent of 1890, F. A. Vinal, was succeeded in 1891 by Seth B. Richardson. The best school building in the town is at North Vassalboro. It was built about 1872, contains three departments, and a large public hall on the second floor. In 1873 an appropriation of $500 was made for a high school at East
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