Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 57

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

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The maker of his own large fortune, he acquired industrious and remarkably correct business habits, and transacted an amount of busi- ness which few could have performed even in the allotted period of his long life. Mr. Williams married on November 19, 1807, Sarah Lowell Cony, daughter of Hon. Daniel Cony, of Augusta. By the marriage, in 1828, of Mr. Williams' eldest daughter, Sarah B., to James, son of Judge Bridge, in whose office Mr. Williams began the study of law, the Bridge, Cony and Williams families were brought into close relations with one another.

Governor Joseph Hartwell Williams, the only son of Reuel, was born at Augusta February 15, 1814. At the age of twelve he was sent to a private school for boys, under Hezekiah Packard, D.D., at Wiscas- set, Me., and later became a student at the Gardiner Lyceum. In 1829 he entered the Classical Institute at Mount Pleasant, in Amherst, Mass., where he remained until the fall of 1830, when he was matric- ulated at Harvard College. He carried off high honors in his class, and at his graduation, in 1834, entered Dane Law School, at Cam-

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bridge, where for two years he enjoyed the instruction of Professors Joseph Story and Simon Greenleaf. He then returned to Augusta to complete his law studies in his father's office. He was admitted to the bar in 1837. In July, 1862, at the death of his father, the cares attendant upon settling his large estate made it necessary for Gov- ernor Williams to withdraw from a profession to the attainment of whose honors he had devoted the best years of his life. It was earlier in this year that he received from Governor Washburn the nomina- tion to a seat upon the bench of the supreme judicial court of Maine, an honor which his private affairs compelled him to regretfully de- cline.

Until 1854 Governor Williams had supported the policy of the democratic party, but in that year he ceased to vote with it and ab- stained from so doing as long as the interests of slavery continued to shape party issues. In 1856 he was sent by the republicans to the state senate, of which body he was made the presiding officer. After six weeks' service, however, it became his constitutional prerogative to enter upon the discharge of executive functions, Governor Hamlin having vacated the gubernatorial chair upon his election to the United States senate. These important duties Governor Williams performed to the satisfaction of the people for the remainder of the political year. Declining to become a candidate for nomination to succeed himself, he returned, at the close of the year 1857, to the con- genial pursuits of his profession. In 1864, and for two years follow- ing, he again represented his city in the legislature. During this period he served on several important committees and also labored for the creation of a sinking fund to provide for the payment of the state debt. The bill which he drafted for that purpose became a law January 28, 1865. In 1873 he was again returned to the legislature, on the independent ticket. He was one of the first board of directors of the Maine General Hospital, a trustee of the State Reform School, and served as treasurer of the board of trustees of Cony Female Academy from 1851 for forty years.

Governor Williams was married September 26, 1842, to Apphia Putnam, daughter of the distinguished antiquarian and genealogist, Sylvester Judd, of Northampton, Mass. Their only child, Arthur Lowell, died when less than three years of age.

Mr. Williams has recently had occasion to devote some time to genealogical researches. To supply some deficiencies in Mr. North's History of Augusta, he undertook to trace his Cony ancestry to their English origin. In this he was successful so far as to ascertain the time and place of birth of the immigrant ancestor-Nathaniel Conny." He was born in Godmanchester, in the county of Huntington, Eng- land, in 1665, and came to America at the close of the seventeenth * See Conny Brochure, 1885, printed privately .- [ED.

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century. He was the son of Samuel Conny and grandson of Robert Conny, of the municipality in which he was born.

Pursuing similar inquiries respecting Richard Williams, of Taun- ton, Mass., the progenitor of Seth Williams, who came to Fort Western in 1779, Governor Williams was able to find the record evidence of the birth of Richard in 1606. He was born in Wotton-under-edge, in the county of Gloucester, England, where his father, William, then lived. Richard was married in 1632 and came to America with his wife, Frances, in 1638-9.

Selden B. Worthley, born in 1843, a son of Robert B. Worthley, who came from Avon, Me., to Augusta in 1848, married Mary E., daughter of Alfred Turner and granddaughter of Richard Turner, and has one son, Blaine S. Worthley. Mr. Worthley lost an arm in a woolen factory in 1861. He was subsequently three years in Califor- nia; then fourteen years keeper of the Augusta bridge, and since 1885 has successfully carried on milk farming. His place was formerly owned by Robert Fletcher and his son, Captain Foxwell Fletcher.

Daniel S. Young, stone contractor and quarryman, was born at Embden, Me., in 1840. He is a son of David and grandson of Benja- min Young, of Wiscasset. His parents came to Augusta in 1858. He learned stone cutting as a business, at which he has been chiefly en- gaged. His wife was Elizabeth G. Batson. Their children are: Annie E., H. May, Leslie S., Frank O., Florence A., Addie C. B. and D. Stuart.

CHAPTER XIX.

HALLOWELL.

BY DR. WILLIAM B. LAPHAM.

Ancient Hallowell .- The Present Town .- Description .- Sketches of the Early Settlers .- Industrial Interests .- Post Office .- Societies .- Schools .- Churches. -Cemetery .- Civil History .- Personal Paragraphs ..

A FTER many of the coast towns had been settled, the settlement . of the interior of Maine was retarded more than a century by the almost constant hostile attitude of the Indians. The pro- prietors of the Kennebec Purchase, previously known as the Kenne- bec Patent, made frequent attempts to have their lands situated on both sides of Kennebec river, settled, but such attempts were for a long time abortive. Settlers on the lower Kennebec were protected by Fort Richmond, later by Fort Shirley, and still later by Forts Western and Halifax. Two of these forts were erected by the Plym- outh Company in pursuance of their plans for settling their territory, but the inducement of land for a town in the wilderness, practically without cost, was not sufficient for persons in the older towns to jeopardize their lives and the lives of their families.

The fall of Quebec in 1759, and the extinction by treaty of French power in America two years later, put a new face upon the matter of settling the interior towns of the state, and within the space of a few years clearings had been commenced on the Kennebec as far north as Norridgewock. Fort Western was erected in 1754, and the commandant became the first settler in what was ancient Hallowell. Except James Howard and the small garrison at the fort, no other settlers came until after the conquest of Canada. The town of Hal- lowell, as originally laid out and established, was one of the largest in the state, but so much of its territory has been set off to form other towns, that it is now one of the smallest. The towns set off from Hal- lowell having been written up separately for this volume, the scope of this article will be limited to the town of Hallowell as it is at the present time.

The present town of Hallowell is bounded east by Kennebec river, north by Augusta, west by Manchester, and south by Farmingdale. To distinguish it from the Fort settlement, in early times it was

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called the " Hook," said to be an abbreviation of Bombahook,* a word of unknown etymology and significance. The Indians probably had a small village at this place before the country was visited by white men. In proof of this, when Dr. Amos Wilder was levelling the land near the river, and not far from the place where his oilcloth factory now is, he unearthed a large number of Indian implements of the usual varieties found on the Kennebec, mixed with the bones of ani- mals, and imbedded in earth mixed with cinders and ashes. Their distribution was limited to some six feet in width, and some 200 feet along the bank of the river.

Hallowell is quite hilly, the land bordering on the Kennebec, more especially that where the city proper is situated, having a sharp in- cline toward the river. Outside of the city proper the land is fertile, quite free from cobbles, and well adapted to purposes of agriculture. Pine Tree farm, once the property of Governor Bodwell, and Granite Hill farm, the property of William P. Atherton, are among the best in the county. Orcharding is a leading industry in some parts of Hal- lowell, but mixed husbandry is the more common practice. There has not been that strict attention paid to farming as was formerly the case, and many once good and productive farms have deteriorated. This is largely due to removals from the suburbs into the city, and to emigration from town.

The first settler in Hallowell was Deacon Pease Clark, who came from Attleboro, Mass., in May, 1762, in a ship belonging to the prov- ince of the Massachusetts Bay, which came to the Kennebec with sup- plies for Forts Western and Halifax. What induced Mr. Clark to seek this particular spot upon which to erect a home is unknown at this date. The Plymouth proprietors were at this time making vig- orous efforts to colonize their land on the Kennebec; were making generous offers to first settlers, and no doubt Mr. Clark heard of them and thought this a good opportunity to secure land for himself and his family of stalwart sons. He was put on shore where Water street now is, with his son, Peter, his wife and one other child, and there then being no building within the present limits of the city of Hallowell, they spent their first night under the body of a cart which they had brought along with them. Clark constructed a camp of boughs near where the cotton factory now is, and lived there until he could provide a better home. It is said that his son, Peter, had been on the Kennebec before; had come here as an officer with men to guard the workmen on the forts, and it is also said that Deacon Clark came here to see the country, prior to his moving here. He received * The Indian name of Hallowell was Medumcook, said to mean " a shallow place." Bombahook may have been an English corruption of this name, which was also given to the brook that enters the Kennebec at Hallowell.

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a grant of land from the Plymouth Company of one hundred acres, it being fifty rods wide and a mile long, embracing the central part of the present city of Hallowell. His son, Peter, had the lot adjoining his father's on the south, part of the grant to Benjamin Hallowell, of whom or his assigns, he must have purchased it.

The first clearing made by Clark was near the present city hall, and here he raised a crop of corn and rye. This season also he erected a framed house, the timber for which was cut and hewn upon the spot and the boards floated up from Gardiner, where a saw mill had just been erected. This house, the first built within the limits of Hal- lowell, stood on the side hill on Academy street, and was two stories in front and one in the rear, after a prevailing fashion of those days. Here he lived for many years, and his house was headquarters for new settlers as they arrived on their way to their locations. Pease Clark had six sons, all of whom came to the Kennebec. Uriah was a cordwainer, and settled on land now in Augusta. Simeon moved to Belgrade and then to Ohio. David was a joiner; he obtained a lot in Hallowell, afterward moved to Readfield, but on the death of his father, moved back to Hallowell. Peter Clark, born in 1735, who came with his father, married Zerviah Sweatland; he became insane, wan- dered away into the woods a second time and never returned. Six years after, in 1803, his remains were found in a thicket and buried with leaves, nearly two miles from his home. They had five children. Isaac and Jonas settled on Augusta lands; the former removed to Hallowell and built the first two story house there, on the spot where Mark Means' bake-house stood, and this was the first tavern in Hal- lowell. Jonas was one of the throng which about this time had the " western fever," and emigrated to Ohio .*

Briggs Hallowell was a resident here at the time of the incorpora- tion and previously. He was the son of Benjamin Hallowell, a wealthy merchant of Boston, a Plymouth proprietor, for whom the town was named. He seems to have been on the Kennebec as early as 1768, looking after the interests of his father. When in town, his house stood near Sheppard's point. By his wife, Hannah, he had: Charles, born March 17, 1771, and George, born March 25, 1774. He seems to have had a second wife, called Eunice, and to have died be- fore 1788, for in that year his widow was keeping a house of enter- tainment, near where the cotton factory now stands. Briggs Hal- lowell is represented as a humorous man and much given to practical jokes.

Pelatiah Morrill, born in Berwick, July 18, 1787, came to Hallowell in 1810, and married Rhoda Mayo, of this town. He was a son of Peas- lee and Peace Morrill, and an uncle of Hons. Anson P. and Lot M. Morrill. He was by occupation a shoemaker. They had six children.

*North's Augusta.

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HALLOWELL.

Peter Currier, son of Seth Currier, born in Amesbury, Mass., in 1780, married Hannah Pecker, and came to Hallowell in 1812. They had eight children, the last five born here. Joseph Wingate, son of Paine Wingate, born in Amesbury, Mass., February 29, 1751, married Judith Carr, and came here in 1798. Their ten children were born between 1777 and 1798. William Wingate, brother of Joseph, married Han- nah Carr, and came here in 1796. They had five children, only one of whom was born here. Mrs. Wingate died March 26, 1814.

Samuel Moody, born in Newbury, Mass., February 3, 1765, gradu- ated at Dartmouth College in 1790, and six years later came here as preceptor of Hallowell Academy. He married Sarah Sawyer and had five children. He was always known as Preceptor Moody. Nathan Moody, brother of Samuel, graduated at Dartmouth College in 1795, came to Hallowell in 1796, and married Judith Wingate, of Amesbury, Mass. They had two children. Enoch Moody, brother of the last two, married Ann Kent, of Newbury, and came to Hal- lowell in 1802.

Ephraim Lord, born in Ipswich, Mass., August 11, 1771, came to Hallowell in 1792. He married Salome Dennis, of Litchfield, and his nine children were born here. Edward Cummings was born in Water- ford, Ireland, came to Hallowell in 1810, and married Sophia Lemercia, of Dresden, and had seven children, the first three born in Boston. Abraham Pray, born in Berwick, September 20, 1753, married Sarah Clark, of Wells, and had twelve children before coming here in 1802. He died here in 1844. Ezekiel Goodale, printer, born in Boylston, Mass., September 24, 1780, came here in October, 1802. He married Betsey Stone, of Oakham, and had five children, all born here. Thomas Lakeman, born in Newbury, Mass., August 6, 1767, married Elizabeth Lord, of Ipswich, and came here in 1794. He had eight children, born between 1791 and 1809.

John Sewall, jun., was born in York, Me., September 13, 1755, and came to Hallowell in 1797. He was town clerk for several years, and it is said to have been through his efforts that the records of Hallowell families were made and preserved. He was also selectman, and taught the town school on Temple street for many years. He married Eunice Emerson, who had had four children by her first marriage. His only child, Joanna, was born March 9, 1792. Mr. Sewall died Novem- ber 15, 1827. Moses Sewall, born in York, married Ruth Barrell, of the same town. He came here in 1787. He had six children and died March 24, 1798. David Sewall, brother of Moses, married Hannah Barrell; he settled here in 1784, and had twelve children.

Elisha Nye, born in Sandwich, Mass., April 22, 1745-6, married Lucy Toby and had three children born in Sandwich. Mrs. Nye died, and he then married Mehitable Robinson, of Falmouth, Mass., and had ten more children, the last seven born here. He came here in

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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

1781. James Cocks, or Cox, was born in Boston in 1734, and died in Hallowell in 1808. By his wife, who was a Beverage, of Boston, he had ten children born between 1758 and 1777. Nathaniel Brown was by occupation a baker, and his was the house now occupied by Hiram Fuller. He came here from Ipswich, Mass., married Mary L. Parsons, and had two daughters. George Bartlett, by trade a cooper, lived on the Augusta road, on the opposite side from the cemetery and a little below.

Isaac Smith, a native of New Hampshire, a sea captain, was a resident of Loudon hill. He was also a large shipbuilder and owner. He died February 1, 1844, aged sixty-one years. His wife was Betsey Johnson; six children. Abner Lowell was a prominent shipbuilder at Joppa. His trade was with the West Indies, and he was sole owner of his ships. He was an active business man, and of the strictest integrity. He came in 1797, married Hannah Sawyer, and had issue nine. Benja- min Davenport was a hatter on a large scale. The early Davenports settled on the east side of the river. He married Mary, daughter of Briggs Turner, and had seven children. Jonas Childs lost one of his legs during the war for independence. He was a tailor and also kept a ferry for foot passengers. Thomas Norris was an early trader here and owned the schooner Catherine, which plied between this port and Boston. This vessel was lost on the passage to Boston, and Mr. Nor- ris, Mr. Ring and Naomi Hovey, who were passengers, were drowned. Over Mr. Ring's store, the Hallowell Gazette was first published in 1814, by Goodale & Burton.

Rufus K. Page once traded in the store now occupied by Leigh & Wingate. The second brick building in town was known as Perley's Block; it had three stores on the ground floor. Nathaniel Perley came here from Boxford in 1794. He married Mary Dummer, and had seven children. Jesse Locke occupied a house on the corner of Win- throp and Second streets.

Daniel N. Dole was born in Newbury, Mass., November 22, 1775, and died in Hallowell, March 9, 1841. He was by trade a goldsmith, and he also repaired clocks and watches. He married Nacy Gove, of Edgecomb, and had issue six. Gideon Gilman, son of Eliphalet Gilman, was a manufacturer of sash and doors in a shop at the corner of Water and Temple streets. He was the principal glazier in the town, and was also a surveyor of lumber. He married a daughter of Benjamin Hilton, and died January 4, 1845, aged seventy- five years. Ebenezer Bessey, born in Wareham, Mass., found employ- ment as gardener with Doctor Vaughan. He was among the first to supply the town with boot-blacking. He married Patience Burgess and had issue eleven.

David Morgan was a farmer on the Litchfield road. He accom- panied John Merrick in locating the Canada road, when the entire

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party came near perishing from hunger. He died January 1, 1844, aged sixty-five years. Daniel Evans, born May 24, 1767, was the col- lector of the direct tax in 1816. In his later years he kept a pastry store. He was the father of Hon. George Evans, the distinguished advocate. He married Sally Sawyer, and died November 21, 1842, aged seventy-five years. He had nine children. Joshua Wingate, born in Amesbury, Mass., March 14, 1747, merchant, postmaster and man of affairs generally, was the father of Hon. Joshua Wingate, of Portland. He died October 11, 1844, aged ninety-seven years. He wore knee breeches and buckles to the time of his death. His wife was Sarah Carr, and he had seven children.

Robert Sager, born in Yorkshire, England, was a saddle and har- ness maker; both he and his wife were of English birth. He did an extensive business in a shop north of Norcross' marble shop. He died April 15, 1821. They had seven children. David Vass, a manu- facturer of mirrors, died September 21, 1829, aged thirty-nine years. John Beeman, born in Northfield, Mass., February 9, 1755, died March 1, 1826, aged seventy-one years. He married Hannah Jennings in 1785. He was by occupation a tanner. His tannery was a few rods back of Water street and he did a large business. In excavating a few years ago strata of horns and other refuse were dug up, ten feet below the surface of the ground. He was a great reader and had a fine library for that day. Nine children.

Major William Livermore, born in Waltham, Mass., January 9, 1763, came here in 1806 from Jay, Me., and was a merchant. He had a large trade in lumber. He was the father of Danforth P. Liver- more, of Hallowell. He married Sarah (Taylor) Jones and died in Mississippi in August, 1832. Thomas Fillebrown, born in Woburn October 8, 1763, was a farmer, and moved from here to Winthrop. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Cheever. They had nine children. Philip Norcross, born in Georgetown July 25, 1763, lived near the cemetery and engaged in farming. He married Nancy Hussey and came here in 1787. Ebenezer Mayo was an early brick mason and lived on Winthrop street, near the railroad crossing. He reared a family of twelve children. Elias Bond, born in Watertown, Mass., March 14, 1774, was a hatter and did a large business on Water street. He came here from Watertown in 1804. He married Mary Pappoon and had seven children.

Calvin Edson lived on Winthrop street and was a mariner. He came here from Bridgewater, Mass. His son, Martin, was also a mar- iner. Shubael and Thomas Hinckley, twin brothers and sons of Shu- bael Hinckley, born in Brunswick in 1736, came to Hallowell about 1773 and lived where the cemetery now is. They were farmers. Their posterity, which is large, is widely scattered. The land where Dr. Amos Wilder's oilcloth factory now stands was named for them

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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

" Hinckley's point." Nathan Bachelder, born in Loudon, N. H., Oc- tober 25, 1773, lived southwest of the railroad station, in the house now occupied by William Graves. The store built by him, and in which he did business, is now occupied by the Northern National Bank. This is said to have been the first brick building erected in Augusta. He married Nancy Rollins and came here in 1799. He died June 3, 1850. They had six children born in Hallowell.

Edmund Dana, by occupation a potter, lived on Winthrop street, on the place now occupied by Justin E. Smith. This man committed suicide in 1810. He had ten children. Samuel Dutton lived in a house which stood north of Doctor Nutting's place. The house has been removed. By wife, Ruth, he had six children. John Couch, a farmer and early settler, lived on Winthrop hill. He married Jane Hinckley and had eight children. He came in 1773. Thomas Agry, from Barnstable, lived in the house now occupied by Moses W. Farr. He and his brother, John, who lived in the Doctor Eveleth house, were largely engaged in shipping and were men of great enterprise and business capacity.

Alfred Martin, an early settler, lived on the corner of Winthrop and Second streets and was a blacksmith. He married Lydia, daughter of Isaac Clark, of Hallowell. He came here from Connecticut in 1788. William Morse, jun., was an early trader in company with Eben White. He came here with his family from Methuen, Mass., in 1793. His wife was Tryphena Whitten, of Methuen. Daniel Smith lived on Loudon hill and was a seafaring man. Loudon hill was so called be- cause the first settlers here came from Loudon, N. H. Mr. Morse died April 17, 1844, aged eighty-four years. Jacob Smith lived at the lower part of the village, at a place then and now known as " Joppa." He had five children. Allen Gilman married Pamelia A. Dearborn, of Pittston, and had one daughter.

Ezekiel Goodale came here from New Hampshire, in a chaise, ac- companied by his brother. He kept a book store and was afterward connected with the publishing house in Hallowell, one of the largest in the state. He died February 21, 1828, aged forty seven years. Thomas Leigh came from Manchester, England, prior to 1800, and built a large store opposite the present store of Leigh & Wingate. His brother, Joseph, came a little later, was captured on the passage by the French and lost all his property. He engaged in business with his brother, and their chief business was to supply lime to the settlers on the Kennebec. Both the brothers were seafaring people and com- manded their own ships.

Dea. James Gow, a native of Scotland, came to Hallowell in 1793, and married Lucy, daughter of Eliphalet Gilman. He was a tailor, and after working at that business a few years he engaged in trade. He died June 2, 1842, aged ninety-six years. He was deacon of the

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Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 57

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