Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 135

Author: Kingsbury, Henry D; Deyo, Simeon L., ed
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: New York, Blake
Number of Pages: 1790


USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892 > Part 135


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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Elder John Robert Hall, Christian minister, was born in New Brunswick in 1833. He learned the shoemaker's trade and followed it fifteen years, during most of that time conducting religious meetings. He has labored in Maine and the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia as a minister, looking for the second personal coming of Christ, yet without sectarian prejudices. His father, Almond G., was the son of Elijah Hall, of Nobleborough, Me. Mrs. J. R. Hall is Sarah J., daughter of Nicholas Varney, who settled this farm. They have two sons: Ellsworth W. and Melvin R. Hall.


Oliver Hammon, son of Frederic W., was born in 1819, and mar- ried Adeline, daughter of Captain John Weeks, and granddanghter of Major Abner Weeks. They have four prosperons sons: Myron S., Warren L., Clarence L. and Raymon L.


William H. Hammon, born in 1833, is a son of Frederic W. He married Delia A., daughter of James Pierce, of Windsor, and has children: Edson L., Clyde W. and Jennie L.


Dana C. Hanson, born in 1812, lives where his father, James Han- son, from Berwick, settled in 1813, and died in 1832. His wife, Lovinia


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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.


H., is a daughter of John, and granddaughter of Joseph Coleman, of Vassalboro. Their only child, L. Emma, is Mrs. Lyman Rouillard. Mr. Hanson served many years as teacher and school supervisor, selectman, representative and justice of the peace. His brothers are H. P. Hanson, of Boston, and James H. Hanson, LL. D., of Water- ville.


Elihu Hanson, son of Batchelor, and grandson of Caleb Hanson, was born in 1828, married Minerva, sister of Samuel C. Starrett, and has three sons: Everard B., of Royalston, Mass .; Harvey R., of Boston; and Justus G., the supervisor of schools in China. Mr. Han- son was chairman of the board of selectmen three years and collector of taxes five years. Caleb Hanson came to China about 1802, from . Sanford, Me., and settled near Evans' pond.


Elbridge G. Haskell, born in 1820, was a son of William, jun., whose father, William, came to China from Cape Cod with his wife, Rhoda Small, and settled north of the Poor farm, on the pond road, before 1791, where William, jun., was born, in 1794. When nine- teen years old Elbridge G. went to the Penobscot country lumber- ing, and in 1867 bought his farm at Deer Hill. His wife was a daughter of Charles and Rachel (Varnum) Doe, granddaughter of Nathaniel, and great-granddaughter of Nathaniel Doe. Their children are: William E., Samuel G., Frank D. and Sarah H., who married O. O. Stetson, of Augusta, who enlisted at sixteen and lost the use of one hand in the civil war. Mrs. Haskell, by a former marriage, had one daughter, Cyrene Gray, now Mrs. Glidden, of Augusta.


Samuel C. Haskell, born in 1831, is a son of George W. and Eleanor {Spratt) Haskell, and grandson of William and Rhoda (Small) Haskell. He worked on the Penobscot at lumbering until 1862, served two years in the war of the rebellion and is now a farmer. He married, in 1854, Mary J., daughter of Elihu and Mahala L. (Lancaster) Cole, and granddaughter of James and Sarah (Hanson) Cole, of Sanford, Me., and has six children: Leander E., Alzina, Wilson E. (an attendant at the Massachusetts Hospital, at Danvers, Mass.), Ulysses S., Everett (of New Haven, Conn.) and Isabelle.


Sumner Hawes, born in Windsor in 1829, is a son of Thomas Hawes, jun., who removed to Windsor from Vassalboro, where his father, Thomas Hawes, of Cape Cod, had settled. Mrs. Sumner Hawes is Sarah J., Reuben Freeman's daughter, and has twin sons: Willis C. and Wilson F. Hawes.


Levi A. Jackson, born in 1840, is a son of Levi R. and Permelia (Webber) Jackson. He married, for his first wife, Diana Haskell, who died March 13, 1864, leaving two children: Elmer E. and Charles O. In 1869 Mr. Jackson married Anna M. Chapman, and has one daugh-


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ter, Bessie E. Jackson. Mr. Jackson, now a farmer, was for several years in the Penobscot lumber district.


Elwood H. Jenkins, the South China merchant, is a son of Hart- well A. Jenkins, and grandson of Stephen Jenkins, who , in 1823, set- tled on China Neck. Stephen's father, Jabez, came to North Yar- mouth, Me., from New Hampshire, and then to Vassalboro before Stephen moved to China.


Benjamin Franklin Jepson, born in 1838, is a son of Benjamin, born in 1809, and grandson of John (born 1782) and Lydia (Runnells) Jepson, and great-grandson of Jedediah Jepson, born in 1758. B. F. Jepson married Julia Porter, of Wiscasset, who died July 4, 1889, leav- ing one son, George E. Jepson, a weaver in North Vassalboro Woolen Mills. Jedediah Jepson was a Friend minister. He married Margaret Robinson. The oldest of their ten children was born in 1782, after they came to China.


Jones .- This family, generally counted with the first settlers of the town, and always identified with the Society of Friends, descended from Thomas Jones', whose son, Lemuel2, was born in 1730. Lemuel raised twelve children; the fourth, Stephen3, was born in 1766, and married Eunice Hacker, whose mother, Anne, was a daughter of Jo- seph Southwick, who was born at Salem, Mass., in 1710. Stephen once lived on the island of Harpswell, where his eldest son, Stephen Jones, jun., was born in 1790; but he subsequently removed to Bruns- wick, Me., where he died. Stephen and Eunice raised twelve children; the fourth, born in 1792, was Josiah', who in 1814 came from Bruns- wick, Me., to South China, and before the close of 1815 had built the house where his son, William A., resides.


Alfred H. Jones® (Stephen‘, Stephen3, Lemuel2, Thomas1) has been mentioned in Chapter XII. His wife is Mary R., daughter of Isaac Jonesª (Lemuel3, Lemuel2,Thomas1). His mother was Rachel, daughter of Cap- tain Benjamin Worth, a whale captain at Nantucket before the revo- lution and later a Friend minister in Vassalboro, where he died. Two of A. H. Jones' sons-Lindsley S. and Charles W .- were teachers in the South after the war. His oldest son, Stephen A. Jones, A. M. Ph. D., a graduate of Dartmouth College and Brown University, is now president of Nevada State University.


Walter E. Jones, born in 1853, is one of the four children of Ed- win and Mary Jones, and grandson of Abel Jones, who had twelve children. Edwin, born in 1828, married Mary, a daughter of Matthew F. Hoxie. Their children are: Walter E., Alice.M. (Mrs. John Jones), of Durham; Rufus M. and Herbert W., a jeweler at Lisbon Falls, Me. Walter E. married Olive A., a daughter of Jacob Wiggin, of Albion, and has one son, Clarence W. Abel Jones was a direct descendant from Thomas and Thankful Jones, who came from Wales to Massa- chusetts in 1690.


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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.


William A. Jones® (Josiah4, Stephen3, Lemuel2, Thomas') was born in 1826, and married Mary A., daughter of Daniel Runnells. She died leaving four sons: Elwood W., a farmer; Frank E., a teacher and Friend minister; J. Albert, a teacher and farmer, and Arthur Wins- low Jones, now professor of Latin in Penn College, Iowa. William A. Jones' present wife is Elizabeth K., daughter of Matthew F. Hoxie. Josiah Jones4 married Comfort Austin, who died leaving five children. He then married her sister, Mary, and raised three children, of whom William A. is the eldest.


Leander B. Mitchell, of China Neck, is the only child of Jeremiah Mitchell residing in this town. His only living brother is A. A. Mitch- ell, of Deering, Me. L. B. Mitchell enlisted at Bangor in 1862 and served during the civil war, in which two of his brothers were also soldiers. He married Miss Nelson and has three children: Vesta I., Judson C. and Clara M.


Alvah P. Mosher, born in 1850, is a son of Elisha M. and grandson of Captain William Mosher. He married Abbie, daughter of Charles, granddaughter of Allen and great-granddaughter of John Brackett, an early settler of China village. They have one daughter-Sarah B. Mosher.


J. Harvey Mosher, the son of Charles W. and grandson of Captain William Mosher, was born in 1859. He graduated at Oak Grove Sem- inary with the class of '80, and has since taught a portion of each year, including one term in the Windsor High School. He was school su- pervisor of China in 1889-90. His wife, Lizzie, is a daughter of Ben- jamin H. Moody. They have two children -- Fred M. and Ada G. Mosher.


Rev. A. J. Nelson, born in Livermore in 1818, is a son of Seth Nel- son, who was born in New Gloucester, Me., in 1793. He was ordained a minister of the Baptist church in Guilford in 1852; came to China as pastor in 1866, returned as pastor in 1874, and permanently settled there in 1878. He is now retired. He married, in 1844, Annis Dun- ning. Their children are: Dr. G. J. Nelson, Fred S., of Boston, and Ada M. (Mrs. W. R. Ward). Mr. Nelson taught in Guilford eleven years, and was supervisor of schools seven years, and was also town clerk there.


John O. Page, born in 1811, died in 1892, was a son of Reuben Page, jun., who was born in 1785 in Belgrade, where his father, Reuben, was an early settler, and coming to China married Rebecca, daughter of Jonathan Clark. John O., like his father, learned carpentry as a trade. In 1836 he married Albert Clark's daughter, Sarah J., and has two children living: Helen F. (wife of Edwin W. Clark, of Waterville) and Annie M., Mr. Page made two visits to California, represented his district one year in the legislature and was deputy sheriff twelve years.


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TOWN OF CHINA.


Frank Percival, born in 1845, is the son of William (1810-1890) and grandson of Captain William Percival, of Cross Hill, who, in 1823, was lost on a ship clearing from Bath with brick, loaded for Bos- ton. Mrs. Frank Percival is Mary F., daughter of Robert Sproul' (William3, William2, William1).


John F. Plummer, born in 1838, is one of the four sons of Samuel (1804-1886) and Huldah (Gray) Plummer, and grandson of Jonathan Plummer. He was six years in the grocery business at Augusta, with his brother, Stephen P., now deceased; was three years superintend- ent of the town farm in China, and since March, 1887, has been select- man five years. Charles H., his younger brother, is a millionaire, of Saginaw, in the lumber business. The other brothers living are Sam- uel A. and Frank C.


Henry B. Reed, born in 1832, is a son of Samuel (1800-1879), and grandson of Samuel and Lydia (Dunton) Reed. The grandfather died in Woolwich, Me., in 1866, aged ninety-seven years. His son, Samuel, came to Dirigo in April, 1827, and raised six children. Henry B. married Josiah Smith's daughter, Emma B., and has one son-Irving H. Reed. Her grandfather, Moses Smith, came from Wellfleet, Mass., and settled in Litchfield, Me.


Rollin Reed, born in 1822, is a son of Robert, who was a son of Rob- ert and Catherine (Mayers) Reed. He married Keziah, daughter of Bachelder H. Hanson, and has three children: Clara E. (Mrs. Scott W. Burnham), Herbert E. and Robert H. Reed, who married Jennie R. Rideout, of Benton, and has one son-Buford Reed.


Orrin F. Sproul4 (Captain Francis3, William", William1) was born in China in 1850. Francisª came from Bristol, Me., to China, in 1845, where he had, in 1837, purchased a farm of John Perkins. Mr. Sproul was educated in China, and since twenty years of age has taught in the surrounding schools. When twenty-five years old he was elected supervisor of schools, and since March, 1887, has been selectman, now being chairman of the board. He married Carrie A., daughter of William H. Sproul, and granddaughter of William Sproul", once a prominent man of Windsor. Her mother was a descendant of General Israel Putnam.


Samuel C. Starrett, son of Daniel D. and grandson of Abner Star- rett, who came from Francistown, N. H., to China in 1814, was born in 1844. He married Emily C., daughter of Charles W. and grand- daughter of Captain William Mosher, and has seven children: Pres- ton H., Charles D., Ernest R., Edith E., Pearle A., George and Roy S. Starrett. Abner was a son of William and grandson of Hugh Star- rett, who came from Scotland to Dedham.


Simon Strout, born in Freedom in 1822, came to China in 1853, to the farm where Nathaniel Johnson settled, and where Fisher Johnson lived and died. Mrs. Strout was Nancy, widow of Fisher Johnson.


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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.


Their children are: Sarah M., widow of Charles Rand, and Eliza (Mrs. Andrew Hubbard). Mrs. Strout has a son, Alfred F. Johnson, of Cali- fornia.


William S. Tobey, born in 1842, in Lincoln county, is a son of Augustus, and grandson of Joseph Tobey, who settled, with his two brothers, William and Elijah, at the head of Damariscotta pond, and carried on a tannery and shoe business there. In 1860 William S. came to China, enlisted February, 1865, in Company F, 12th Maine, serving until March, 1866, a non-commissioned officer. In 1871 he married Mary A., daughter of John Northup, of China, and located on Parmenter hill. In 1871 he bought the place where George Estes had lived. Mrs. Tobey died, leaving three children: J. Augustus, M. Walter and Mary H. Mr. Tobey's present wife was Miss Campbell, of Palermo. Her children are: Eugene S., Lewis B. and James R.


Elbridge Ward, born in 1811, is the son of Captain Thomas Ward, and grandson of Thomas, son of Abijah Ward. He married Susan, daughter of Jonathan Nelson, and had two sons and four daughters. Of these W. Filmore Ward married Delia, daughter of Wilson Ward' (Samuel3, Abijah“, Abijah1), and has two sons: Ernest W. and Arthur N.


Japheth Washburn, son of Ephraim and Phebe Washburn, was born in Carver, Mass., in 1746, married Priscilla Coombs, and their son, Japheth Coombs Washburn, after residing in Wayne, where, in 1803, his oldest child, the late Mrs. Thomas Burrell, was born, came to China village, where his next child, Oliver W., was born in 1804. Theirs, the first frame building erected in China village, was burned December 6, 1806. Oliver W. married June 14, 1845, Mary Ann Flye, who was born in Edgecomb, Me., March 6, 1817, and died April 27, 1850. Mr. Washburn married for his second wife Mrs. Lydia (Meigs) Hamlin, of China, November 25, 1853. She was born in Vassalboro, Me., February 2, 1824, and died April 1, 1868. Willis Wendell, the only child of Oliver W. and Mary Ann Washburn, was born March 18, 1846. He was married January 6, 1880, to Edith Elvin Crosby, daughter of Alphonso and Sarah (Fairfield) Crosby. She was born in Albion, Me., January 6, 1855, and at the time of her marriage resided in Manchester, N. H. Their children are: Wendell Crosby, born No- vember 20, 1880; Thomas Waldo, November 10, 1881; Willis Flye, July 1, 1885; Edward Elvin, April 13, 1888, and Edith, July 8, 1891.


Andrew Webber, born in 1842, is a son of Daniel, grandson of John, and great-grandson of Lewis Webber, who was the first of this family to settle in China. He married Helen, daughter of Joseph, and granddaughter of William Haskell, who came from Cape Cod before 1800. Their children are; Adella M., Daniel W. and Lura Belle. Mr. Webber's farm, the site of Sam Taylor's tavern, was first


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TOWN OF CHINA.


owned by two men named Newcomb, and settled by Benjamin Run- nells.


Martin Webber, brother of Andrew, was born in 1843. He has been collector and constable since March, 1888, and town treasurer since March, 1891. His children are: Gertrude A., Ernest M. and Cony N.


Nathaniel Wiggins lived at the north end of China lake in 1803, in a log house, before the first frame building was erected there. He had twenty-five children.


H. B. Williams, in 1860, came from Phillips, Me., where he was born in 1830, and married Ann F., daughter of Jonathan, and grand- daughter of Ephraim Clark. They have two children; Elhanan J., a prosperous engraver, of Waltham, Mass,; and Melissa J., married Ruel T. Ellis. jun. This place, known as Greenwood farm, in allusion to rows of evergreens transplanted by Mr. Williams, was settled by one Caleb Hanson. The cellar wall under the house shows the " pointing up" of Dea. Nathaniel Bragg, one of the early settlers. Mr. Williams also owns an attractive park, called Greenwood Park.


71


CHAPTER XLIV.


TOWN OF WINDSOR.


Form .- Surface .- Ponds .- Settlers .- Malta Incorporated. - Malta War .- Wind- sor Named .- Later Settlers .- Town Officers .- Mills .- Churches .- Schools .- Villages .- Post Offices .- Personal Paragraphs.


Jº OINING Augusta on the east, with two of its sides parallel with the general course of the Kennebec river, lies a town which, un- like any other in the county, presents four equal sides and four right angles. Although this tract of thirty-six square miles contains seven distinct bodies of water, the entire surface occupied by them does not exceed a unit of its area. Near the northwestern corner the square end of Three-mile pond-a name that requires no elucidation -is driven in from China like a tenon in a mortise. The opposite, southwestern, angle is artistically balanced by two small ponds snug- gling under the shelter of Oak hill, an isolated elevation which seems to have been placed on the corner of the town, like a paper-weight, to keep it from blowing up. Of these, Longfellow pond, three-fourths of which lies in the town of Whitefield, has dropped its old name, which it probably borrowed from some early settler, and transferred the honor to another family living on contiguous land, by adopting the modern cognomination, Given's pond. The other, Moody's pond, received its designation in a similar manner. From it Oak Hill brook flows into the Meadow stream, which, in turn, empties into the west branch of Sheepscot river. About half way between this pond and Three-mile pond, near the western boundary, lies Mud pond, which, for no other reason than a lack of sand, has allowed its fair waters to be thus stigmatized.


Almost precisely half way between the western and eastern boundaries, three-fourths of a mile below Windsor Corner, is a small body of water now known as Grant pond, but formerly bearing the surname of Rev. Moses Donnell, once a local Methodist preacher. Covering, as it does, but little more than an acre of surface, this aqueous lilliputian would hardly be worthy of mention but for the fact that it has no perceptible outlet, and, as near as can be ascertained by soundings, no bottom. Near the northeastern corner are two ponds, connected by a channel an eighth of a mile in length. The


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TOWN OF WINDSOR.


smaller of these is known as Fox pond, because the wild region by which it is surrounded is a favorite resort of that animal. Savade [surveyed] pond, the larger of the two, is the most important pond wholly within the limits of the town.


The surface of Windsor abounds in low, undulating hills, a feature which, coupled as it is with a rich clay loam on a basement of granite, affords excellent facilities for agriculture. The land is generally arable and productive, the section north and east of Savade pond and a small tract near the Augusta line being the only exceptions.


The banks of the Sheepscot once abounded in heavy pine and hemlock, which furnished material for numerous saw mills and tan- neries. It was on this belt that the spars for the frigate Constitution -" Old Ironsides," the pride of the American navy-were cut. The west branch of the Sheepscot, which courses through the town from north to south, affords the principal water-power. Next in size is the Barton stream, with Colburn, Savade, Oak Hill, Gully, Colton and Stuart in its wake.


SETTLERS .- Probably the first settler in this region was Walter Dockindoff, who came from Bristol, not far from 1790, and settled on the farm now owned by Mrs. Trowant, about a mile west of Windsor Corner, where he set the first orchard in the town. A house which he erected is now occupied by Mrs. Trowant, and is, in the opinion of many, the oldest framed building in town. Among other buildings which claim precedence are: The house erected by Thomas Le Ballis- ter, at Le Ballister's Corner, which was destroyed by fire in 1818; a house on Lynn hill, built, probably, by one of the Lynns, and now occupied by Mr. Merrill; the house in the Maxcy's Mill district, owned by Mr. Charles Merrill, erected, it is thought, by the Mckays; and a house which stood on the farm of Frank Trask, opposite the one now occupied by him, built by Joseph Linscott.


Quite an exodus followed Dockindoff from Bristol. In the fore rank was Thomas Le Ballister, who took up a tract of three hundred acres in the southeastern part of the town. He found squatters on his claim, the most notable of whom was a man by the name of Grover. On the farms now occupied by Mr. Gafney and Philip Lacy he found the Trask brothers, Edward and Joseph. Edward became a perma- nent settler. He erected a framed house in the field west of Mr. Gaf- ney's, one hundred rods from the latter's farm buildings, the cellar of which may still be seen. Joseph settled on land now owned by Mr. Lacy. His house stood in the field which is now the property of James and Frank Ashford, which was originally included in the Lacy farm. It went to decay as many as sixty or seventy years ago. He sold his title to John Lacy and removed to his brother Edward's lot, where he erected a small habitation, which stood opposite the spot where the residence of Mr. Gafney was afterward placed. This the


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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.


latter demolished when he came into possession. Joseph enlisted in the war of 1812 and never returned. Mr. Le Ballister built a log cabin on the spot where the roads at Le Ballister's Corner intersect. This, according to the statement of his son, Joseph Le Ballister, who re- sides on the home place, was in 1793. A short time later, probably about 1803, he erected a framed dwelling within a few feet of this primitive abode. The chimney was laid with the first bricks manu- factured in Windsor. This building was burned in 1818.


Following close in the tracks of Le Ballister came Prince Keene, John Lynn, Benjamin Hilton, Joseph Hilton, Joseph Linscott and Abraham Merrill. Keene, who was Le Ballister's brother-in-law, settled on the farm where L. A. Howe lives, one mile south of Wind- sor Corner. He cleared the land and erected the house which Mr. Howe now occupies. John Lynn was a revolutionary soldier. He settled in 1803 on the farm now owned by Charles Merrill. He was born in Boston in August, 1754, and died April 28, 1834. His wife, Rebecca Anderson, died the same year. They brought eleven chil- dren to Windsor.


Joseph Hilton, who was one of the early teachers, took up the farm on which Frank Trask lives. His first house, burned many years ago, was built on the spot that has lately been laid out for the Chapman cemetery, south of the Methodist church. Benjamin Hil- ton, a cousin of Joseph, came from Alna and took up the Jameson place, on which he erected the house which is still standing. He sold the property to John W. Jameson, of whom the present owner, J. Cookson, purchased it. Hilton removed to the place where his grand- daughter, Mrs. Gowan, lives, near the Methodist church.


Joseph Linscott came from the vicinity of Damariscotta. He took up the farm on the opposite side of the road from Hilton's and built the house nearly opposite Mr. Trask's, which has a large body of sup- porters to the claim of precedence among the old buildings. Abra- ham Merrill came from Yarmouth, Me., and took up the farm now owned by his grandson, C. A. Merrill. He was here at a very early date, and it is a mooted question whether he should not be placed in direct sequence to Dockindoff.


In 1803 Dr. Stephen Barton settled on the meadow in the western part of the town. Like all the other settlers he erected a rough log cabin. Here, two years later, he yielded to the ravages of consump- tion, and was buried, at his own request, on the spot now marked by a monument, where he and his sons bivouacked the night they entered the woods. Of his sons, Gideon and Elijah, the latter remained on the lot his father had selected, while the former took up the farm on which his grandson, J. H. Barton, resides.


While Barton was dying on the meadow near the Augusta line, Andrew Kendall was building his cabin and starting his clearing in


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TOWN OF WINDSOR.


the opposite corner of the township. Kendall came from Ireland by way of Portland, where he became acquainted with William Meagher, whom the pioneers dubbed " Billy Major." This enterprising specu- lator claimed to own wild land on Windsor neck, and of him Kendall purchased the lot on which his descendants now live, near the west branch of the Sheepscot, south of Maxcy's mill. At about the same time the Mckays settled on lots near Kendall, on the north. Mckay was accompanied by his four sons, Henry, John, Peter and Pat, three of whom settled near him. He purchased, probably of John Lynn, the land now comprised in the farm of Charles Merrill. Henry set- tled on the next lot north of Kendall, now owned by J. Weaver; John where Mr. Mckinley lives; Peter on the farm owned by Sewall Albee, and Pat on the home place.


In 1806 John Lacy, who came from Ireland to Portland, by way of Newfoundland, in a fishing fleet, purchased Joseph Trask's clearing. He was induced to settle here by Andrew Kendall, who preceded him. The same year Jacob Jewell took up the land on which his son, Charles B., lives. A mile and a half south of this point, on the west branch of the Sheepscot, about half a mile back from the main road, John Brann made a clearing and erected a dwelling. This building, which stood in a southwestern direction from Nathaniel Peva's, disappeared many years ago.




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