Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 90

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 90

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).

Fred A. Hathaway, son of Sylvanus Hathaway, of Gardiner, was born in 1854. Sylvanus married Mary E. Jordan, of Bangor, Me. Their children were: George E., Sarah, Augusta and Fred A. The latter married Lillian Moody in 1880, and their children are: Ray M. and Harry G.

L. W. Hunt, son of Elisha and Mercy M. (Jones) Hunt, and grand- son of Daniel Hunt, was born in Pittston in 1838. He was in Califor- nia froin 1861 to 1867, and has since been engaged in river driving, and since 1871 has been a contractor and jobber. He married Hattie A., daughter of Studson Moore. Their children are: Arthur W., Alice M., Hattie M., Ethel A. and Lillian.

Emulous F. Marson, born in 1813, is a son of Samuel and Rachel (Fountain) Marson, and grandson of Samuel Marson. He married Emily, daughter of Sampson Woods, of Mt. Vernon, Me., and their only son, Wilder, died in infancy August 1, 1855. Mr. Marson has been ship carpenter and spar maker since 1833.

Captain Stephen B. Meady, born in 1828, is a son of Alexander and Charlotte (Brown) Meady, who came from Haverhill, Mass., to Hallo- well (now Chelsea), where he was a farmer. Mr. Meady began going to sea at the age of seventeen, and retired in 1890. He was master of vessels for thirty years. He married Susan A., daughter of Captain Joseph C. Bailey, of Pittston. Their children are: Frank H. and Wilbur S.

Richard C. Moody, born in 1829, son of Richard and Mary (Cooper) Moody, and grandson of Scribner and Martha (Bailey) Moody, was a farmer in Whitefield, where he was born, until 1874, when he came to. Randolph. Since 1876 he has been a merchant here. He married

TOWN OF RANDOLPH.

Hannah F. Wellman, sister of Eben Wellman, of Augusta. Their children are: Fred C., Ella F. (Mrs. W. F. Ladd), and M. Lillian, who married Fred A. Hathaway, and has two sons, Ray M. and H. Guy. Fred C. married Sophia N., the youngest of the eleven children of Isaac and Lydia (Horne) Page. Their only child is Isa (Mrs. Maning S. Campbell). Isaac Page settled at Searls Mills, in Chelsea, about 1840.

G. Wilbur Searls, son of Thomas and Malinda D. (Town) Searls, was born in 1852. He was a farmer on the homestead of his father in Chelsea until 1883, when he came to Randolph, where he was a mer- chant until 1889. He was census enumerator for Randolph in 1890. He married Julia A., daughter of James and Sophia (Davenport) Well- man, of Angusta. They have one son, Edwin E.

Fuller G. Sherman, only son of Eleazer and Azubah G. (Hodge) Sherman, and grandson of Aaron and Polly Sherman, was born in 1823. He came to Pittston in 1849, where he has carried on the cooper business since that time; he built the shop where he and his son now work, in 1863. He married Harriet L., daughter of John and Sophia (Trask) Bradbury, and granddaughter of John Bradbury. She died leaving three children: Clara A., Daniel H. and George B. Daniel H. married Caddie Z. Foss, and is a cooper with his father.

Captain Reuben Stevens, born in 1803, was the eldest son of Cap- tain Reuben and Betsey (Stockley) Stevens, and grandson of Caleb, whose father, John Stevens, was a resident of Amesbury, Mass. Caleb Stevens married Elizabeth Wilson in 1768. Captain Reuben Stevens was master of vessels from 1824 until 1837, when he died of yellow fever while in port at New Orleans. He married Sarah H., daughter of William and Sarah (Cutts) Stevens, and granddaughter of Caleb and Elizabeth (Wilson) Stevens. Their children were: William R., who died in 1855, and Sarah E., who married Daniel McDuffie in 1862, and has one son, William S. Mrs. Stevens is still living with her daughter, Mrs. McDuffie.

Daniel S. Tasker, born in Readfield in 1847, is a son of Benjamin and Mahala (Savage) Tasker. He has lived in Randolph since 1874. He married Delia, daughter of John Davenport, and their children are: Arthur R. and Lottie M.

Albert White, born in 1841, is a son of George and Eliza (Stevens) White, and grandson of John White. Mr. White has been engaged in the livery business in Randolph since March 1, 1875, and is the proprietor of the Randolph House. He has for several years been superintendent of the Maple Grove Cemetery Association, and since April, 1885, he has owned a hearse, which is the only one owned in the town. Mr. White's wife was Miss Mary Dearing.

Sumner Wallace Whitney, son of Phineas Whitney, was born in

748

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

Jay, Me., in 1845. He served in the civil war from February, 1864, until June, 1865, with Company E, 32d Maine. He is a painter by trade, and since 1873 has lived in Randolph. He married Eliza S., daughter of Richard Medcalf. They have two children: Lillian E. (Mrs. Charles Blair), and Lester A.

Nathaniel R. Winslow, born in 1825, at New Gloucester, Me., is a son of Philip and Bethiah (Ridout) Winslow, and grandson of Barna- bas Winslow, who was a soldier in the revolution. Mr. Winslow bought the Asa White farm in Chelsea in 1853. He sold this farm in 1889, and came to Randolph to live. He was representative in 1873, seventeen terms selectman, and twenty-two years moderator of town meetings in Chelsea. He married Emily M., daughter of Wentworth and Olive (Kimball) Hayes. Their children were: Otis A., Cora A. (Mrs. J. H. Blunt), and Ella E. Dunton, who died.

CHAPTER XXIX.

TOWN OF CHELSEA.

Incorporation. - Boundaries .- Town Records .- Old Mills,-Old Stores .- Growth. -Societies .- Civil History .- Officers .- Schools .- Ecclesiastical .- Cemeter- ies .-- Personal Paragraphs.

T HE town of Chelsea was incorporated August 17, 1850, from the southern portion of the old town of Hallowell, on the eastern bank of the Kennebec river. It embraces the lots of the Wins- low survey shown on the sketch map on page 750, together with ad- ditional territory extending eastward to the town of Whitefield. The city of Augusta bounds it on the north and the towns of Randolph and Pittston bound it on the south. Though this tract of land was settled contemporaneously with the earliest settled territory along the river, the adjoining towns were foremost in carrying on lumbering, then the principal industry of the county.

The act of incorporation was passed by the legislature of 1850, as Chapter 364 of the Laws of Maine. It was, among other things, pro- vided in the act, that the town of Hallowell should pay to the town of Chelsea-probably in compensation for the loss of certain town prop- erty on the west side of the river-the sum of $850 annually for the next ten years; also that a meeting should be called by the selectmen at the town house in Hallowell on the first Monday of the following month (September) in order that the inhabitants on the west side of the river might give in their votes upon the acceptance of the terms and conditions of the separation; also that no liabilities should be incurred by the town of Chelsea prior to March 1, 1851.

At the town meeting referred to the act was adopted and Chelsea thus became a town. In February, 1851, the warrant was issued for the first town meeting, to be held March 4, 1851, at the school house in the Hankerson district. The meeting was called to order by Eben- ezer Freeman. He was chosen clerk of the town, and John Barker was chosen moderator. The selectmen chosen were F. A. Day, John M. Davenport and Thomas Searls.

The town held its meetings for many years at the school house in District No. 2. In 1883, town meeting was held at Grange Hall, and since then in what is denominated Town Hall. A church had

750

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

been erected many years before on the river road, near J. H. Hunt's, and about 1865 had been removed to the Winslow road, on the east end of Mr. Hunt's farm. It was tendered to the town for public use, if the town would repair the building, of which it stood sadly in need. In 1883 the town received the property, and has since held its meetings there.

The names of a few of the old settlers and proprietors of land in the territory now Chelsea will be found in the subjoined sketch map.

18 Jan Th Davenport

Jonathan Davenport June 8, 1963.

17 John Jones .:

John Jones.

Noah Kidder.

16 Noah Kidder.

16 June 8, 1763.

15 Ezekiel Chase.

15 Ezekiel Chase, June, 28, 1763.

14 Sand Goodwine

Samuel Goodwin

Stevens Chase, April 28, 1763.

2 Daniel Davis.

12 Daniel Davis, Nov. 9, 1768.

" John Hancock.

John Hancock.

Nathan Davis, Oct. 12,1763.

Deyo, 1892.

Q Benj. Davis.

Benj. Davis, Oct. 12,176 3,

James Bowdown

James Bowdoin.

Samuel Butlerv.

Samuel Bulleve, Oct. 12, 1763.

5 Edward Goodwin.

Edward Goodwine.

Henry MCCausland June 13, 1764.

4 Henry MCCausland.

3 Samuel Berry.

Samuel Berry Nov 14, 1764.

2. Benjamin Hallowell.

Benj Hallowell.

/ Josep North

Joseph North.

July 10, 1788.

Settlers' Sketch Map Part of Chelsea. franz Winslow's plan /66/

13 Stevens Chase.

Engraved from Ten Sketch by

10 Nathan Davis.

HIVER

James Cocks.

James Cocks, April 28,0762.

KENNEBIO

The town possesses in fair degree all the resources that character- ize the other farming towns of the county. It is quite hilly, rocky ledges are frequent, and the northeast slopes are strewn with huge boulders. That lumbering here was of later date that in the towns north and south of it is shown by the appearance of the surface of the land, and by the fact that many of the early saw mills were in use within the remembrance of its living middle-aged people. The To- gus stream furnished power for most of the mills.

OLD MILLS AND STORES .- As Togus stream is ascended from the Randolph line, there was an old saw mill built and run by William and Robert Moore. Next above was the Searls mill, at the point where the stream crosses the road near the residence of William T. Searls; this was built by his father, Thomas Searls, in 1834. A portion of the wall remains to mark the spot, the mill having been taken down in 1862. Just above the Searls mill was the Douglass saw mill-erected

751

TOWN OF CHELSEA.

by the Douglass ancestors earlier than the Searls mill, and abandoned when the latter was established. The Gardner mill was next above, and stood where the road crosses the stream above the present Baker mill. It was built by Joel Gardner, grandfather of A. P. Gardner; Am- brose Gardner, his father, ran it till about 1853, when it was sold to Orrin Emerson, who, after a few years, sold to Warren Lewis, of Pitts- ton. The mill and privilege were later sold to Oliver Moulton. The Roberts mill was still further above, and was the scene of much activ- ity in its day. The present mill, on the stream near H. W. Gaslin's store, is owned by John F. Baker, although reported as sold to the government for establishing an electric light plant for the lighting of the Soldiers' Home. It is an old building, originally a saw mill, then a grist mill and later a saw mill again.

About 1850 Nathan O. Mitchell built the Jewett mill, so-called from the name of the person on whose land it stood. This was at Old Orchard. where the upper ice house, owned by the Knickerbocker Ice Company, now stands. A dam at the bridge furnished water for the overshot wheel. It ran two seasons, and was then taken down.

James Brown, father of George Brown, farmer and lumberman, built a saw mill on Brown's brook, which flows through the Brown farm and empties into the Kennebec river opposite Brown's island. This mill was built in 1814, and in 1846 it was rebuilt by John Jewett. Just below the Brown brook, about twenty rods, is the old Indian landing used by the Indians as a stopping place in going up and down the river.

Fifty rods above the Searls and Brown mill, on the Togus, a saw mill was built about 1799 by Black John Jones. It was burned about 1820 and was rebuilt by John Jewett about 1843. John Jones, known as " Black John," the surveyor, was a tory. His adopted son took his full name and became heir to a good farm on the river road in Chelsea.

In the northeastern part of the town were several old stores, patronized by lumbermen. For several years, while lumbering was at its height, Pickering & Frink, a firm from New Hampshire, con- ducted one of these stores on land owned by George Woodbury. They afterward retired from the business and left the town. The old building was moved down by the river, about 1856, and fitted up as the dwelling of Bradley Hall. On the corner opposite the school house, where H. W. Gaslin now is, Samuel Lawton opened a store, about 1856. After a few years he was succeeded by Benjamin Run- nell, and he in turn by James H. Covel. In 1885 Henry W. Gaslin bought the place, added a good dwelling to the store property, and still continues in general trade.

INDUSTRIES .- Some vessels were built along the river bank during the first half of this century, which fact appears among the industries

752

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

of the county. About 1850 a man named James Black built a fishing schooner in his door-yard on the river road, and hauled it to the Blanchard wharf-later Brown's wharf-where he launched his craft.

Chelsea Heights, in the northwest part of the town, on the river, is thickly settled. Business began here briskly at an early day. A ferry was kept by Joseph Haskell, and on the point near by Daniel H. Weeks opened a general store. Ephraim Rolf has a ferry there now for foot passengers; it is at the Hallowell road, so called. In this part of the town Horace Weeks had a store; the site now belongs to John Bishop. Weeks was, for several years, succeeded by Alden Jackson.

About 1836 a firm, Nute & Durban, built a store just east of the Jackson store. Durban died after a few years and Nute moved away. Then Frank A. Day and Alden Jackson formed a copartnership. The partnership was afterward dissolved, and Day continued the business for several years alone. The building was burned in 1858, after hav- ing been remodeled and occupied as a dwelling. A dock was built near here, in the thirties, by Doctor Brainard; but it soon fell into disuse.

There are no villages within the limits of the town. The settle- ment in the eastern territory of the town is called Cooperstown, from the name of the early settlers of that part. Religious services are held in the school house of District No. 6.

Togus is a very important center, being the site of the Eastern Home for D. V. S., of which particulars will be found at page 106. The Kennebec Central railway crosses the town, extending from Randolph to Togus, and affording the inhabitants of the town many facilities.

The Hallowell and East Pittston post offices are so near that the Chelseans have been generally well supplied with mail facilities. An office was opened in 1882 in the town, at Grange Hall, with Stephen Cobb as postmaster. He was succeeded in 1886 by Freeman Y. Barker. In 1889 Patrick Hayes, the present incumbent, was appointed. He also keeps the store. This Grange Hall was built in 1878 by a stock company. During the autumn of that year the store was run by the Grange, and in 1884 A. F. P. Collins and Otis Douglass purchased the stock in trade. Mr. Douglass sold to J. M. Richardson, and, later, Patrick Hayes purchased the interests of both. The hall over the store is the place of meeting of the Sons of Temperance and the Grange.

SOCIETIES .- The Lodge of the Sons of Temperance, No. 5, was organized May 2, 1870, at Togus, by ten charter members. Rev. George B. Barber, chaplain at the home, was the first W. P. He was succeeded by G. D. D'Orsay; then by a Mr. Haney. After about three years the place of meeting was changed to its present neighborhood, and the successive worthy patriarchs have been: W. T. Searls, Thomas

753

TOWN OF CHELSEA.

Searls, Patrick Hayes, Stephen Cobb, Mrs. Julia A. Farnham, H. A. Farnham. E. H. Collins, A. F. P. Collius, Mrs. Minnie J. Libby, Willie O. Cobb, Edmund Searls, Mrs. Harriet E. Cobb, O. E. Farnham, Maria E. Collins, Mrs. Annie L. Hayes, Mrs. Julia Barker, Miss Lena Mc- Kay, Robert Mckay, Arthur N. Douglass, Mrs. Nellie Collins, John E. Meader, Miss Eva Searls, Mrs. Frank Cobb, Miss Katie A. Mckay, W. K. Thompson, Mrs. N. M. Heminway, Miss Florence E. Thomp- son and Thomas Searls. The Lodge now numbers eighty members.

Chelsea Grange, No. 215, which meets in the hall, was organized March 4, 1876, by twenty-nine charter members. For two and a half years previous to this the society met in the school house. A store was kept around the neighborhood in different families until the hall was opened, when the stock was gathered there. The master overseers of the Grange have been: William T. Searls, A. N. Douglass, Stephen Cobb, F. Y. Barker, Eugene H. Collins, Hiram A. Farnham and Pat- rick Hayes. W. T. Searls has acted as presiding officer for much of the time, and was reelected in 1891 He and F. Y. Barker have been the acting secretaries most of the time since the organization. Fifty members now enjoy the social and business advantages of the order.

The strong temperance element of the town is represented by Pleasant Lodge, No. 9, I. O. of G. T. It assembles weekly at the school house in District No. 9, and contains over thirty active members. The chief templars since the organization, in 1887, have been: James E. Blanchard, Henry Clark, William B. Trask, James A. Clough, H. C. Stevens, John B. Aldrich, Mrs. A. A. Sampson, Frank Stevens, Martin Nelson and Frank Gilpatrick. The Lodge deputy is I. F. Plummer.

CIVIL HISTORY .- From the incorporation of Hallowell until the erection of Chelsea into a separate municipality the civil history is inseparable from that of Hallowell, of which the territory was a part. The citizens of the East side (now Chelsea) were chosen as officers, and in every way performed their share in the growth and advance- mient of the whole town. The roads were few and poorly worked in those early days. A strip of territory fifty rods on the river was allowed to be set off to Pittston (now Randolph). In 1851, the first municipal year of Chelsea, $200 was raised for the poor, and more especial care was given to the laying out of proper burial places. No pound had been built by the old town on this side of the river, and none was sufficiently needed to require the expense. For several years good men, who had suitable yards, were willing to be pound masters, using their own barn-yards and stables. In 1853 it was voted that William Littlefield, A. Griffin and Rufus Clark be pound keepers, and use their own yards and stables. In 1860 the entire eighteen field drivers were made pound keepers, using their own barn-yards for the purpose.

754

HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

A house for the poor has not been necessary, although in 1867 it was voted to buy or rent a house, if the selectmen thought fit. That year $950 was voted for the poor, but the custom of letting the keep- ing to the lowest bidder has prevailed, and is yet in vogue, with satis- factory results to all concerned. The vote of the town has been for temperance, and in 1867, when called to vote on an amendment, it de- cided for the law of 1858, instead of that of 1856. In 1859 the vote was seven to one against aiding to build with Hallowell the bridge across the river; and by a consistent, conservative course the town long ago paid up its war debt, after promptly doing every duty, and is now in an excellent condition financially. Party politics is no hin- drance to the good management of town affairs, and the best men are elected as its officers.

Since the organization of the town the following have been elected selectmen, the year of election and the number of years of service, although not always consecutive, being given: F. A. Day for 1851; John M. Davenport for 1851, and 5 years; Thomas Searls, 1851, 4 years; F. B. Davis, 1852, 3; Stephen Lawton, 1852; Josiah F. Morrill, 1853, 5; Alonzo Tenney, 1855, 3; Orrin Emerson, 1856, 6; Adoniram Griffin, 1856, 2; N. R. Winslow, 1857, 16; George Brown, 1858, 4: J. F. Morrill, 1859, 6; John Davis, 1860; H. D. Doe, 1861, 2; John Davenport, 1863, 2; Edwin H. Blanchard, 1865, 2; Charles H. Davenport, 1867, 2; Albert N. Douglass, 1867, 9; E. F. Longfellow, 1868; William T. Searls, 1869, 16; S. W. Barker, 1870; Alfred Davenport, 1872; William W. Hanker- son, 1872, 6; Stephen Cobb, 1873, 2; Almon Carson, 1873; Jonathan Laiton, 1876; J. B. Packard, 1877; James T. Brown, 1878; L. H. Trask, 1879; H. N. Laiton, 1881, 2; James E. Blanchard, 1882, 2; J. S. Tenney, 1885, 2; William E. Trask, 1884; A. A. Sampson, 1886, 4; F. C. Meader, 1888, 3; C. H. Blanchard, 1889, 2: O. W. Littlefield, 1890; O. F. Cooper, 1892.

The successive Clerks of the town, with the dates of their election, have been: 1851, Ebenezer Freeman; 1863, Frank W. Barker; 1864, Stephen Cobb; 1869, Samuel W. Barker; 1871, J. C. Barker; 1876, Ben Tenney; 1879, J. E. Blanchard; 1880, J. B. Packard; 1884, S. A. Cobb- Stephen Cobb to fill vacancy; 1885, Otis Littlefield; 1889, Isaac F. Plummer; and since 1891, C. H. Watson.

The Treasurers, in order of succession, have been: 1851, F. A. Day; 1852, Ebenezer Freeman; 1863, C. H. Davenport; 1864, Thomas Searls; 1867, Samuel W. Barker; 1871, William W. Hankerson; 1875, Stephen Cobb; 1878, J. L. Gray: 1880, William T. Searls; 1885, J. H. Hunt; 1886, James E. Blanchard; 1887, F. Y. Barker; and since 1890, John Hale Yeaton.

SCHOOLS .- In 1787 one of the school districts of old Hallowell em- braced all the territory now included in Chelsea. The growth of the community led to divisions and subdivisions of this district, and in

755

TOWN OF CHELSEA.

1851 the town of Chelsea re-numbered the districts and appointed a committee in each. In 1852 divisions and alterations were made in district limits to better and more equally accommodate all the patrons. At this time $600 a year was voted for school purposes. In 1860 dis- tricts 4 and 7 were consolidated into No. 8. Ten years later, in 1870, the town voted $1,050 for its schools, each district having a competent officer whose duty it was to maintain the best possible school within the amount of money apportioned to that district. Since 1890 there have been nine divisions or districts.

No regular high school is kept, as the few who desire the benefits of such an institution can obtain much better advantages in adjoining towns. The school houses are comfortable, and are so located as to best accommodate the pupils. Uniform text books are purchased by the town and used in the schools.

ECCLESIASTICAL .- The town contains no separate religious society. The majority of professed Christians are Methodists, and are generally communicants of the church at Randolph. The pastor of the Ran- dolph church preaches here once in two weeks, and this people are considered within the Randolph charge. The few Baptists here also sustain services, and a large and profitable Union Sunday school has been organized by the two societies here, and regular services are held.

The old church, now a town house, which stood on the river road when built, was of great importance in its earliest days. Forty years ago the audience room would be crowded with listeners at the stated preachings; but death and removals thinned the ranks. About 1866 the church was moved to its present site, it being hoped that this step would resuscitate its usefulness; but in 1883 it was given to the town, if that body would keep it in repair and allow preaching within its walls, as needed.

CEMETERIES .- There are several burying places in the town, four being in care of the town, and others in care of the families to whom they belong. One, a town ground, is at Togus, on the road to Ran- dolph, and is well kept. The government has one for the home, which is in its care. The Stickney ground is on the Augusta road, and is well fenced and cared for. The Goodwin yard, on the river road, is also in care of the town. It is well fenced, but is not used. An ancient burial place on the land of William Chase, near the river, indicates the condition into which a family cemetery can fall by neglect. No fence surrounds it, the brush and trees on its surface being its only protection from encroachment. The Davenport ground, on Alfred Davenport's land, contains the remains of the older mem- bers of the family. It is walled in, and not used by others. The Lit- tlefield ground, on Horace Littlefield's farm, is a well-kept family yard. The Trask ground, on the farm of James Trask, is not only a family

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HISTORY OF KENNEBEC COUNTY.

yard, but others have been buried there. It is surrounded by a sub- stantial wall.

The father of George E. Morrill gave a small plot of ground to the town for a cemetery, which is in use on the Morrill farm. It is well cared for. Thomas Searls laid out a small ground on his farm, just be- yond the residence of W. T. Searls, where himself and deceased mem- bers of the family rest. It is situated on a knoll surrounded by a neat picket fence. It is used by the family only. Across the road from this cemetery A. N. Douglass has opened a burying ground in which lots can be purchased. It is on high ground, and when fenced prop- erly will be a pleasant spot.

At the annual town meetings for many years past a sexton, with care of the hearse, has been appointed.

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Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine; 1625-1892, Part 90

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