Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 45

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 45

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).

397

AUGUSTA.

a large majority, located the house "upon the west side of the river, on the road [the 8-rods rangeway, now Winthrop street] between Colonel Joseph North's and Asa Emerson's land, down on the inter- vale by the river." This was in what is now Market Square. The frame of the building (size 50 by 36 feet, 21 feet posts) was raised in 1782, and first occupied for worship and town meetings the following year .* Nathaniel Hamlen, grandfather of Lewis B. Hamlen (now in his ninety-third year), worked for the town upon it, receiving £65 as his pay. This meeting house was used for twenty-six years, both for religious services and town meetings. It was superseded (in 1809) by the South parish meeting house (Parson Tappan's, burned July 11, 1864), which in its turn was succeeded by the present granite church edifice (dedicated May 26, 1865).

The only regularly settled minister of ancient Hallowell, was Isaac Foster, who, after having been formally called, was ordained in the new meeting house, October 11, 1786. His pastorate was troublous and brief, by reason of doctrinal bickerings between the Calvinistic and Armenian schools of belief which composed his heterogeneous parish. He retired in 1788, leaving the theological elements of the town in a state of violent ferment. The Armenians were the most numerous but the Calvinists were strong in elders and church mem- bers. The arena of conflict was the open town meeting, where opinion, prejudice and passion found full expression.

There was no attempt to settle another minister for nearly three years, and there is no record of any public worship in the town during the interval. In January, 1791, Thurston Whiting preached ; the next Sunday Eliphalet Smith preached at the Hook the first recorded ser- mon at that place; Jacob Emerson, of Sterling (now Fayette), occupied the pulpit once in the spring. In July and August, Adoniram Judson preached on trial for settlement. In 1792 David Smith came for three months as another candidate, and he was succeeded in July, 1793, by Charles Turner, who stayed until the following March (1794).

The difficulty of happily settling a minister had now increased to an apparent impossibility. Besides the incompatibilities of beliefs, the recently accelerated growth of the Hook settlement had enabled the voters of that precinct to exact that some of the annually raised preaching money (one-third of the amount raised in 1793) should be expended in their village. There was beginning to be a poorly con- cealed jealousy of the upper settlement, which the staunch and stead- fast Calvinism of the Hook did not tend to abate. The cause of religion

*See Historical Statement at Dedicatory Exercises of the Chapel and Church Home of the Congregational Church and Society, December 17, 1890. Printed in Augusta, 1891. See also Reminiscences of Augusta's First Meeting House, read before the Kennebec Natural History and Antiquarian Society in 1891, by Mr. Walter D. Stinson.

:398

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

and the church seemed to demand a divorce of the irreconcilable dis- tricts. It was first proposed to divide the territory of the town in twain, making the Hook parish extend nearly to the south lines of the present state house and hospital lands. But after further deliberation the voters chose Nathaniel Dummer (of the Hook), Elias Craig and Matthew Hayward to petition the legislature to divide the town into three parishes. The legislature readily complied, and incorporated (June 14, 1794) the North, South and Middle parishes of Hallowell. The lines of these parishes are substantially intact to-day. The South parish was the territory of modern Hallowell, before it was deprived ·of Chelsea and parts of Manchester and Farmingdale. When ancient Hallowell was divided, the two other parishes remained intact, but from a geographical necessity the name of the original Middle parish was changed to South-the present South parish of Augusta. The term " old South parish " properly applies to Hallowell and not to the newer one of Augusta." A meeting house that is still standing was built in the North parish in 1832.

The expedient of multiplying parishes resulted in the almost im- mediate settlement of Daniel Stone as minister of the Middle parish, and of Eliphalet Gillett at the Hook. Mr. Stone (graduate of Harvard, 1791) preached his first trial sermon in the meeting house, November 9, 1794, and was ordained October 21, 1795. Mr. Gillett preached the initial sermon of his thirty-two years' pastorate on August 3, 1794. Mr. Stone closed his pastoral labors in 1809, but continued a resident of the parish until his death in 1834. The settlement of two accept- able ministers, one (Parson Gillett) representing the shade of belief quite acceptable to the extreme Calvinists (such as Benjamin Petten- gill, who named Pettengill's Corner, his grandson was mayor in 1852 and 1853,-Henry Sewall, Jason Livermore, Shubael Hinkley, of Hink- ley's plains); and Parson Stone expounding such truths as wrung from his censors a slight suspicion of Armenianism,-happily ended forever the ministerial agitations of the ancient town.

The earliest public burial place in the town was the one connected with Fort Western. It was located near the river, and westerly of the present Willow street, near the spot where John Drury's black- smith shop now stands. Although the land was private property (the Howards', father and sons), the spot continued to be the common burial place of the early fort villagers. The Howards consented to

*John (Black) Jones, the regenerated tory, made an elaborate plan of the three parishes, "drawn by a scale of 200 rods to an inch." He computed that the South parish contained 24,783 acres, the Middle 22,993, and the North 17,939. The plan bears in Jones' own handwriting, "Presented by Jno. Jones, Surveyor, to the Inhabitants of the Middle Parish in Hallowell, 1795." This interesting sou- venir, time-colored and somewhat worn, is now preserved in the collection of the Kennebec Natural History and Antiquarian Society, where it was placed by the. Hon. Joseph W. Patterson, in 1891.

399

AUGUSTA.

its use as such, but would not convey any titles to lots. The remains of such bodies as could be found were removed to Riverside Ceme- tery, after the land had become useful for a thoroughfare and for building lots. The removals were made in 1861, at the expense of the city, by Benjamin Gaslin, the superintendent of burials. About 1790 a burial place was appropriated on the western side of the river. It was the present lot of Mrs. Jane W. Anthony, on Winthrop street (corner of Elm). Its use for the purpose was only temporary, for in 1802 Joseph and Hannah North (great-grandparents of Dr. James W. and Horace North) made a donation to the town of two acres of land for a parish burying ground, which is the present Mount Vernon cemetery. The earliest burial place at the Hook is now covered by the buildings on the west side of Water street, that are occupied as stores by B. F. Wood and J.W. Cross. Another obsolete burial place at the Hook was at what is now the southeast corner of the old Williams Emmons homestead-the angle formed by Summer and Grove streets.

There were family burial places in various neighborhoods of the widely-scattered settlers. The most of these have been sacredly pre- served, and a few have grown to be public cemeteries. There are vestiges of a long abandoned burial place on the William Clark homestead (now the farm of Anson S. Clark), four miles above the city, in Ward Seven. It probably, in its wholly neglected state, ex- hibits better preserved graves of the very earliest settlers than any other of like character within the limits of ancient Hallowell. Its lo- cation is on an easterly and gently sloping hillside, about twenty-five rods from the river. The whole hill is clothed with a second growth of forest, among which are many large pines ready for the lumber- man. About a dozen graves are dimly visible, side by side in two rows, with large trees growing from them*

The mould on them is thick, as if made by the leaf-fall of a cen- tury. They were originally-at least, some of them-marked by field stones. Only two of these are now visible, and they but poorly, ex- cept to him who searches for them amid the thick shrubbery. Uriah Clark, the oldest son of Pease Clark, the founder of the Hook, settled on this farm (lot number 48, and the third from the Vassal- boro line) in the year 1762. Two of his brothers, Isaac and Jonas, settled the same year near by, on two lots southerly. This corner of the town was thereafter continuously occupied. Seven of Uriah's children died before the present century, and were undoubtedly buried on the home farm. The late John Cross (the father of John M. Cross, who lives on the next farm northerly), remembered a funeral at this burial place about 1816. Uriah Clark died Janury 22, 1814, and * Since the writer's first visit to this place under the guideship of Mr. John M. Cross in 1890, these trees have been cut down for firewood, and a second growth is now (October, 1892) forming over the graves.

400

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

was probably one of the latest occupants of the little hillside lot which the forest growth of three quarters of acentury has completely engulfed.

The first division of the town into school districts was in 1787, when four were made on each side of the river, and " a committee appointed in each district to provide schooling, and see that the money is prudently laid out." The northern one on the east side of the river extended southerly to a rangeway between lots 37 and 38 (about half a mile northerly from Riggs' brook); Jonas Clark,

Robert Denison and Beriah Ingraham were appointed the com- mittee. The next extended southward to a line "that dissects Fort Western and the fort lot in the center;" Daniel Savage, David Thomas and George Brown, committee. The next extended from the fort so as to include two lots (one hundred rods) beyond the present south line of Augusta; Ezekiel Page, Supply Belcher and Nathaniel Hersey, committee. The next reached to the present south line of Chelsea; David Jackson, Elisha Nye and Andrew Good- win, committee. The river tier of districts on the west side extended only two miles from the river. The northern one began at the Vas- salboro (now Sidney) line, and embracing eighteen lots, extended to a line opposite the mouth of Riggs' brook; Noah Woodward, Benjamin Brown and Abisha Cowan, committee. The next southerly extended to the present Hallowell line; Ephraim Ballard (ancestor of George S. and E. Herbert Ballard, of Augusta), Nathan Weston and Isaac Sav- age, 2d, committee. The next extended to the Pittstown (now Gardi- ner) line; James Carr, Simon Dearborn and Isaac Clark, committee. The other district embraced the remaining territory of the town west of the last three; Daniel Stevens, Enoch Page and Benjamin Follett, committee. This was two years before the formation of such districts was provided for by law. Thus promptly the founders of the town lined off the yet untamed wilderness into educational preserves, for the benefit of their youth. The sum of £80 was equally apportioned to the districts the first year.

In the same direction was the establishing of the Hallowell Academy. It was the first incorporated institution of learning in the district of Maine, though one at South Berwick and one at Fryeburg were a little earlier prepared for the reception of students. Its char- ter was obtained in 1791, while Daniel Cony was the town's repre- sentative, and it was endowed by the commonwealth with gifts of land. Its location at the Hook seems to have been satisfactory to the other village, where about half of the local trustees lived .* It was * The following are the names of these trustees: Thomas Rice, Jonathan Bowman, Dummer Sewall, Nathaniel Thwing, Daniel Cony, Waterman Thomas, William Lithgow, jun., Josiah Winship, Alexander McLean, William Brooks, A.M., Henry Dearborn, Charles Vaughan, Samuel Dutton, Henry Sewall, Ed- ward Bridge, William Howard, Robert Page, Samuel Nichols, Nathaniel Dum- mer, James Carr.

401

AUGUSTA.

opened May 5, 1795, with a dedicatory sermon by " Alden Bradford, A.M.S.H.S., pastor of the church in Pownalborough," from the text- " The wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose" (Isa. 35: 1). The institution soon grew into a school of more than local celebrity, graduating ac- complished students-many who became men of distinction in their day. Incidentally, it contributed much to the intellectual life of the local community. The building was burned in 1804, but it was replaced in 1805 by a better one, which stood until 1839, when it was succeeded by a brick one. In 1807 a bell was purchased of Paul Revere for seventy-eight dollars. Among its preceptors were the future U. S. senator, James W. Bradbury (1825 and 1826), and Gov- ernor John Hubbard.

The founding of the academy gave an impetus to the ambition and probably to the growth of the Hook. Before it was set off as a separate parish there had been an attempt (in 1793) to remove the office of town clerk to that part of the town, and Henry Sewall of the other village had escaped defeat by a margin of only eighteen votes. At the annual meeting held in the meeting house March 16, 1795, the Hook party brilliantly carried an adjournment to the new academy building. This was the first and only time that the town held a meet- ing at the Hook. At this one the strength of the parties was spirit- edly tested. The result was a decided victory for the upper village.

The rift was now fatally widening. The two parts of the town were nearly equal in strength. The Hook village contained about seventy dwelling houses, and was more compact, and at that time was a trifle the larger. The academy and the new meeting house (the old South church, built in 1796) were its only public buildings. The Fort village had a meeting house, court house, jail and post office,* and therefore a preponderance of the public honors. The Eastern Star and the Tocsin newspapers had been issued at the Hook, and the Kennebec Intelligencer (Peter Edes, 1796) at the Fort. These papers sharply voiced the prevailing feelings of their respective vil- lages, and exchanged many a witty and telling repartee.

* James Burton, first postmaster, appointed August 12, 1794. His house was where Meonian Hall now stands. Two of his daughters-Misses Abby and Eliza-are now living on Chestnut street. He was postmaster for twelve years, and was removed for party reasons January 1, 1806. His successor was Samuel Titcomb, father of the late Hon. Samuel Titcomb. The following completes the list of the postmasters of Augusta since its beginning to the present time : Nathan Weston, 1810; John Kimball, 1812; Robert C. Vose, 1814 (Daniel Stone and Asaph R. Nichols, deputies with him); Joseph Chandler, 1830; William Woart, jun., 1835; Richard F. Perkins, 1841; Daniel C. Weston, 1843; Asaph R. Nichols, 1844; Joseph Burton (son of the first postmater), 1849; William S. Badger, 1853; James A. Bicknell, 1861; Horace H. Hamlen, 1870; Joseph H. Manley, 1881; Lemuel B. Fowler, 1885; Joseph H. Manley, 1889; Walter D. Stinson, 1892. 26

402

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

But the year 1796 saw the inception of an enterprise that was to settle finally the question of supremacy between the villages and radi- cally affect the future careers of both. The Kennebec river was a natural impediment between the two parts of the upper village. Pol- lard's ferry had been run since 1785, from the foot of Winthrop street (then called Winthrop road) to the fort landing opposite. Now the citizens of Fort Western daringly undertook to supplant this ferry with a bridge. The proposition provoked great consternation at the Hook. The Fort Western people's petition for a charter was duly presented to the legislature. The Hook people appointed Charles Vaughan their agent to resist it. But Daniel Cony being a senator and James Bridge a member of the house (both Fort Western men of great influence), the opposition of the Hook and its endeavor to divert the location of the proposed bridge to that place were of no avail. The act incorporating the proprietors of the Kennebec bridge was passed February 8, 1796. The corporators-the foremost men of the village-were: Samuel Howard, William Howard, Joseph North, Daniel Cony, Jedediah Jewett, Samuel Dutton, William Brooks, Mat- thew Hayward, James Bridge. It was a stipulation in the charter that the bridge should be located " between the ferry called Pollard's ferry [now the town-landing] and the Mill stream [Bond's brook] so called, which empties into Kennebec river about one hundred rods north of said ferry."

Subscription books were immediately opened, shares were promptly taken, and the work of construction pushed forward with great en- ergy. A Captain Boynton was the architect. On the 9th of Septem- ber, 1797, the completion of the pier in the channel was celebrated by " seven discharges of a field piece and three cheers." The super- structure was two spans supported by rounded arches, braced and keyed. The work was finished November 21st amid great local re- joicing, and a corresponding degree of depression at the Hook. Its cost had been $27,000. It was the first bridge across the Kennebec and the largest in the district of Maine .* A few public spirited men

* This bridge was never a profitable investment to its builders, who received no dividend on their stock for the first eight years. It stood until Sunday, June 23, 1816, in the afternoon, when the eastern span fell from weakness and decay. Mr. Lewis B. Hamlen, now living, saw it fall. After a delay of two years (dur- ing which time the ferry was restored) a second bridge was built (in 1818), after the model of the old one, but more elaborate, on the same spot, under contract, by Benjamin Brown and Ephraim Ballard, jun., for about $10,000. This second bridge was destroyed by fire on the night of April 2, 1827. Its successor was built under the superintendence of the same Ephraim Ballard during the follow- ing summer, and by the 18th of August was open for public travel. This third bridge was bought by the city of Augusta in 1867 and made free to the public. It stood until 1890, when it was torn down and replaced by the present iron bridge at a cost of $59,000. It may be well to preserve permanently in these pages the rates of toll as posted at the entrance of the three old toll-bridges:

403

AUGUSTA.

had courageously burdened themselves for its erection, but thereby they had given their village an immense advantage in its lively race with its gallant neighbor.

The location of the Kennebec bridge at the Fort instead of at the Hook was intensely disappointing to the people of the latter place, who had long looked at their sister village with increasing jealousy. The two sections of the town were now become hopelessly estranged and ill-feeling began to disturb the smooth running of town business. Each village manifested a readiness to oppose the other in its pet schemes, whether they concerned public improvements or the election of candidates to office. From this state of affairs there seemed to be no relief save by a division of the town. The sentiment of Fort Western was favorable toward division; that of the Hook was there- fore opposed. The original movers for a division were Joseph North, Matthew Hayward, Stutely Springer, James Burton, James Bridge, Elias Craig, Gershom North, Theophilus Hamlen, John Springer and George Crosby -- all of the Fort village. The friends of division were numerous enough at a town meeting held in May, 1796, to appoint Daniel Cony " agent to prefer the petition to the general court during its then session." The petition was presented by the town's agent. Amos Stoddard, of the Hook, was then the town's representative, and though himself originally opposed to division, he did not seek to de- feat the proposition. The desired act was passed by the legislature on the 20th of February, 1797, incorporating the Middle and North parishes into a town by the name of Harrington.

Thus " after twenty-six years of united struggles, trials and labors, the town of Hallowell was divided."* The name chosen for the new

" Rates of Toll. Each foot passenger, 2 cents. Each horse and one rider, 13 cents. Each single horse cart, sled or sleigh, 16 cents. Each wheelbarrow, handcart, and every other vehicle capable of carrying a like weight, 4 cents. Each team, including cart, sled or sleigh drawn by two beasts, 25 cents. Each additional beast, 5 cents. Each single horse and chaise, chair or sulkey, 20 cents. Each coach, chariot, phaeton or curricle, 35 cents. Neat cattle, exclu- sive of those rode on, in carriages, or in teams, each, 4 cents. Sheep and swine, 4 cents." The foregoing rates were painted black upon a white sign board 4x5 feet in size, in well proportioned letters two inches in perpendicular height.

* The History of Augusta, by James W. North, 1870. No historical sketch of Augusta as a town or city can ever be properly compiled without frequent re- course to this invaluable work. Mr. North was born February 12, 1810. He was the son of James North, of Clinton, who was the son of Joseph North, who came to Fort Western in 1780 and built a house at the present corner of Oak and Water streets, where the Granite Bank building stands. The grandson pursued a course of studies at Gardiner Lyceum; studied law with Frederic Allen, of Gar- diner; was admitted to practice in 1831; practiced first at Clinton (now Benton); returned to Augusta in 1845; represented the town in the legislature in 1849 and the city in 1853; was mayor of the city in 1857, 1858, 1859, and again in 1873 and 1874. In 1856 he erected the original Meonian Building on the site of the old

404

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

town was in honor of a favorite courtier and honored minister of George the Second, Lord Harrington. 1. The once royally commis- sioned Colonel Dunbar had bestowed the same name sixty-eight years before to ancient Pemaquid (the present town of Bristol), but at the end of his brief though brilliant administration in Maine, Massachu- setts prejudice discarded the name, with others equally eminent (Townsend and Walpole), which he had given to the towns of his founding.

The limits of the new town of Harrington embraced nearly two- thirds of the territory of old Hallowell. Its number of acres was 36,011. It retained about one-half of the valuation and population. It contained 250 polls, 119 houses, 84 barns, 21 shops, 74 horses, 157 oxen, 307 cows and three-years old cattle, 219 younger cattle, 620 tons of shipping, 7 saw mills and grist mills, $6,870 worth of stock in trade, and $3,000 at interest. One year later the population was 1,140.

Burton post office, on Water street. This building was destroyed in the great conflagration that swept through Water street September 17, 1865. In 1866 he erected the present Meonian and North's block, and a few years later the struc- ture which perpetuates his name as Hotel North on the site of the old Franklin house, which was built by his uncle, Gershom North, many years before. These buildings are imposing monuments to the memory of their builder and illustra- tive of him as a progressive and public spirited citizen; but long after they shall have been leveled to the ground by the elements or by time, his History of Au- gusta, which to him seemed but a minor incident of his life work, will be his more enduring monument. He died June 7, 1882, and was buried in Forest Grove. He married September 23, 1834, Phebe Upton, of Danvers, Mass., and left three sons: Dr. James W., George F. and Horace North.

CHAPTER XVII.

AUGUSTA (Continued.)

BY CAPT. CHARLES E. NASH.

Organization of Town .- Name Changed to Augusta .- Pound, Roads, Court Houses, Jails, Public Houses, Poor Houses .- The Purrinton Tragedy .- The Malta War .- Meeting House Changed into Town House .- Cony Female Academy .- Augusta Union Society .- Celebrations .- Augusta the Seat of Government .- Public Buildings .- Village Corporation .- Kennebec Dam .- Manufacturing Companies .- Catastrophe to the Halifax .- First Railroad Train. - Railroad Bridge. - Cemeteries. - Visits of Distinguished Men .- Schools.

W ILLIAM BROOKS (great-uncle of Samuel S. Brooks, and great-great-uncle of William Henry Brooks, of Augusta) issued the warrant for the first town meeting, and Seth Wil- liams (grandfather of ex-Governor Joseph H. Williams) notified the voters to assemble at the court house on Monday, the 3d of April (1797), to organize the town. The office of moderator was appropri- ately given to Daniel Cony. Henry Sewall was elected town clerk and William Howard town treasurer ; Elias Craig, Seth Williams and Be- riah Ingraham were elected selectmen and assessors. All of the offices pertaining to a town at that time were filled .* The sum of $1,250 was raised for highways, $400 for schools, $300 for support of poor " and other necessary charges."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 45

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

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