USA > Maine > Maine place names and the peopling of its towns > Part 28
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In 1865 came the so-called Goddard War. Colonel John God- dard had bought the land comprising Perham, but agreed to give it up when needed for settlement. He refused, however, to do so as he said it had not been surveyed. The settlers, twenty-two in number, finally won their lands.
According to information from the Town Clerk of Perham, Miss Alice L. McKay, the first settlers of Perham Plantation were Hartson Blackstone and wife, the Henry Bragdons and Charles Harris and Charles McIntire who came from New Sharon, Maine, about 1861-1863. The fourth family to settle was that of Robert C. Moody from New Portland, Maine. The first child born in the plantation was Flora A. McIntire, on February 26, 1865. She is now Mrs. Wyman. The record of the marriage of Miss Abba A. Moody to Charles Harris on May 19, 1867, is probably the record of the first marriage in the town.
Sidney Perham, for whom the town was named, was educated at Gould Academy in Bethel. He first settled in Woodstock, then Paris, and was Representative to the State Legislature in 1854 and 1855 and Representative to the 38th, 39th and 40th Congress.
Connor, 1913
Connor, which became a town in 1913, bears the name of Gov- ernor Selden Connor of Augusta who took his seat of office in 1876. The township was organized as a plantation in 1877, was a town from 1913 to 1945, and then was disorganized. The Hon. Selden Connor, governor of Maine for three terms, and a brigadier general in the Civil War, made his home in Augusta for many years. Born at Fair- field, Maine, January 25, 1839, he was a graduate of Tufts College in 1859. He was studying law in Vermont when the Civil War began, and promptly enlisted in the First Vermont Regiment. In 1861 he was commissioned Lieutenant of the Seventh Maine. In December 1863 he was made Colonel of the Nineteenth Maine and was badly wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness. In 1864 he was made Brigadier Gen- eral of Volunteers and in 1866 was mustered out. He was made As- sessor of Internal Revenue for the Third District of Maine in 1868, and Collector in 1874. He was thrice elected as governor of Maine, 1875-76-77, and was nominated a fourth time in 1878, but the rise of the Greenback Party caused his defeat. He failed to receive a majority and the Legislature selected the Democratic candidate. In October 1889 he delivered an oration at the dedication of the monument of Maine regiments on the field of Gettysburg. Tufts gave him an L. L. D. In 1892 he was chosen President of the Maine State College, but per- sonal conditions caused him to decline. In 1893 he was appointed Adjutant General of Maine by Governor Cleaves.
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CHAPTER XIII Maine Town Names Which Honor Other Great Americans
Mount Vernon, 1792
Not only has Maine paid tribute to the Father of our Country by bestowing his name upon a county, two or more plantations, and a town, but also by commemorating his home, when a town was incor- porated in 1792 as Mount Vernon. This town lies in the northwestern part of Kennebec County. It was first settled in 1774 by families from Readfield, Maine, and from New Hampshire, and as a plantation was called Washington Plantation, but as there was already one town in the state by that name, it was incorporated in 1792 as the eightieth town in the District of Maine and named Mount Vernon in honor of the estate of General Washington. The territory was included in the Kennebec Patent. Nathaniel Dudley was the first Representative to the General Court.
The numerous ponds in and around Mount Vernon enhance the charms of its scenery. The various streams in town have powered mills for long and short lumber and various small manufactories. Its population in 1792 was about six hundred. John Stain, one of the first settlers, was born in Germany, but came here from Readfield. Na- thaniel, Caleb and John Dudley, John Stain, Daniel Gordan, Jonah and John Bean, Nathaniel Ladd, Peltiah Cobb and Reuben Rand are believed to have been the first men who brought their families and built their homes here. Cobb and Rand cleared farms on Bowen Hill. It is said that a party of timber hunters from Lewiston came before any white man lived here. Judging that they were about that distance from home, they named a stream Thirty-Mile River, climbed the hill to get a better view of an unbroken forest and named the hill after one member of the party, a Mr. Bowen.
In 1792 Levi Page was authorized to call the first town meet- ing, held at the inn of Benj. Eastman. Solomon Leighton, John Dud- ley and Paul Blake were elected as the first selectmen. Some of the earliest and most prominent settlers, most of them here before 1800, were Charles Atkins, a Methodist minister, near Dunn's Corner: Jona- than Prescott, a surveyor; Levi and David French, Joses Ladd, Solo- mon Leighton, Theodore Marston, Benjamin and Nathaniel Philbrick, John R. Robinson, John Stephens, Stephen Scribner, Phineas Taylor, Deacon Nathan Thomas, Paul Blake, Samuel Cram, Peter Folsom,
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John Hovey, Deacon Samuel Thing, Nathaniel Philbrick, Dr. Samuel Quimby, Noah Greeley, Daniel Thing, Reuben Hanscomb, Nathaniel Rice, Nicholas D. Robinson, Caleb Cressey, Reuben Daniels, Samuel S. Gilman and Nathaniel Kent. Captain Warren Kent, who was born in 1764 and died in 1834, and his brother were the first settlers on Kent's Hill.
In 1779 the town "Voted to build a meeting house by sub- scription. Said house shall be for town business and the worship of God .... " The building was finished in 1800 and used for the next thirty-seven years. In 1836 it was "Voted to build a Town House . . Voted to ask permission of Legislature to sell old meeting house." The first post office was established in 1801, when the population of the town was about eighteen hundred, and was named South Mount Ver- non. Benjamin Philbrick was the first postmaster. Mount Vernon vil- lage was established in 1828, and the name of the post office was changed to match.
The saw mill built by William Whittier about 1800 was the nucleus, first called "Whichers," around which the village of Mount Vernon grew. It is said that Whittier brought the first mill saw on his back from Gardiner; he also built a grist mill. Richard Rice built, be- fore 1800, a fulling and cloth dressing mill. In 1820 the town contained 170 dwelling houses and shops and five mills. A potato starch factory was erected about 1840, and was later used as a tannery. Other saw and grist mills and tanneries have been built in various parts of the town.
The first trader was Samuel Gilman. Benj. Eastman was an inn- holder in 1796-97, and Stephen Scribner ran an inn the two following years. The earliest tavern at or near the village was kept by John Whit- tier on the first hill east of the pond.
Methodism was planted here by Jesse Lee, who preached the initial sermon in 1793. Not until 1881 did the Methodists have a church of their own.
Jay, 1795
Among the other noted Americans whose names may be found in Maine towns is that of John Jay, the eminent patriot, statesman and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The town of Jay, Maine, is located in the southwestern part of Franklin County. It was first granted to Captain Joseph Phipps and sixty-three others who lived in towns near Boston, for services in the French and Indian War in 1755. For a long time it was known as Phipps Canada. The conditions of the grant were that it should be divided into rights of 400 acres each, one of which should be reserved for Harvard Col- lege, one for the first settled minister, one for the use of the ministry
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and one for schools. It was early surveyed and divided into lots of 100 acres each. A settling committee appointed by the associates subse- quently purchased the whole, and so managed the business that the original owners received little or no benefit from the grant. There were no settlements previous to the Revolutionary War. The town was in- corporated in 1795.
The earliest settlers were Simon Coolidge, Deacon Oliver Full- er, Samuel Eustis, Scarborough Parker, Moses Crafts, Isaac West, Thomas Fuller and Joseph Hyde.
Among the other early settlers not listed above were Nathaniel Jackson, Samuel Jackson, Wm. Godding and James Atkinson. Jay Hill, where there is now a small village and a bridge across the An- droscoggin, was first settled by James Starr in 1802. The Androscoggin River runs southeastward across the southwestern corner of the town. The only other stream of magnitude is a large brook which comes down from Dixfield and Wilton through the western part of the town. The largest sheet of water in Jay is Perkins Pond, and the highest peak is Spruce Mountain which has an altitude of 2,000 feet. The usual varieties of trees are found in the forests. On the Androscoggin River in this town are three excellent water powers where there were saw mills and a carriage factory. Granite quarries and brickyards were also prosperous at one time. There were nine villages in 1820. Near Jay Hill, an excellent grist and saw mill was put in operation in 1846.
In the northeast section of the town several sons of Friend Bean of Readfield settled at an early day; a fine meeting house was erected here. At first the people of Jay had only occasional preaching from traveling preachers. A Baptist church which became large and flourish- ing was organized in 1799. Joseph Adams, one of its members, became the first pastor in 1804, and he continued his labors some fourteen years with success. In 1826 the church was divided in opinion, and a second church was formed.
North Jay is famous for its white granite; the blocks for Grant's tomb are among the many large pieces cut here. Cumberland County Court House, Detroit, Michigan; the Frick Building, twelve stories high, Pittsburg; the Marshall Field Stores in Chicago and the Hibernia Bank in San Francisco are a few of the handsome structures built of this granite. The stone sheds and quarries are on the side hill. One of the most important contracts later filled here was that for building the Princeton College Chapel, a beautiful Gothic Chapel which was, when finished, the second largest college chapel in the world, second only to King's Chapel in Cambridge, England. Other later contracts filled were for the Equitable Trust Company Building in Wall Street, New York, and the Terminal Tower Building in Cleveland, Ohio, each more than forty stories high. The three valuable water sites in Jay
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are Riley, Jay Bridge, and Chisholm, now used by International Paper Company.
Clinton, 1795
Clinton lies between the Kennebec and Sebasticook rivers, and it is the northeasternmost town in Kennebec County. It was within the limits of the Plymouth Patent and was settled about 1775. The first political organization formed within the township was in the Planta- tion of Hancock, as it was called, in or before 1790, at which date the inhabitants numbered 278. It was incorporated as the one hundred and first town in Maine, under the name of Clinton, in 1795. It was doubtless named for DeWitt Clinton of New York, the builder of the Erie Canal, a member of the United States Senate, mayor of New York, and thrice-elected Governor of the State of New York. He was also a nominee for the Presidency of the United States against Madi- son in 1812.
The entire list of the heads of families in Hancock Plantation in 1790 may be found in the United States Census of that year.
Clinton contains several small streams, aside from the rivers which bound it. At the time of its settlement about 1775, there were abundant forests of pine, and rivers and streams offered water power. Among the early businessmen in Hancock Plantation were Joseph and James North, sons of the Honorable Joseph North of Augusta. They dealt in lumber and were also engaged in trade. Another of the early businessmen in the town was Gershom Flagg of Boston who had charge of building Fort Halifax at the mouth of the Sebasticook. Flagg was one of the proprietors of the Plymouth Patent and received a grant of land in the township from that company.
At the village in the southeastern part of the town have been saw mills, door and sash factories, a grist mill and carding-dressing and brush block machinery. Pishon's Ferry on the Kennebec is another principal center of business. Among the earliest settlers at Clinton Village were Asa Brown and a Mr. Grant, who took up farms on the Sebasticook about a mile east of the village before 1798; Jonathan Brown came about the same time. Previous to 1800 Jesse Baker, who was proprietor of a farm, owned nearly all the land in the village south of the "Fifteen Mile line," and Moses or George Michels settled on land now occupied by the cemetery and some distance east of it. Joseph Doe located at the foot of the "Fifteen Mile Rips." Before 1812 James and Charles Brown took up land about a mile southwest of the village. The Hunters, David and Martin, came to Clinton from Topsham about 1815; both were farmers, men of great business enterprise. Dr. Thorndike and Wm. Guptill were among the earliest physicians.
The first tavern at the village was built by Alfred Hunter about
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1834 and is now the Clinton House. About 1833 David Hunter (called King David because of his masterful ways) built the first saw mills and Jonathan Brown erected a grist mill. At the foot of the dam near these mills herring used to be caught in large quantities, and the privi- lege of taking the fish was sold at auction. Blacksmith shops, carding and grist mills and a tannery were built in 1890.
The Methodist form of worship was generally observed. The name of Jonathan Brown is gratefully remembered in the early history of the church which was erected in 1866-67. The first church edifice erected in the village was a Union Church, built about 1847, a build- ing not often used.
Charles Pishon came to Clinton before 1800 and established the ferry which still bears his name. Sometime before 1790 Samuel Var- num had settled at the ferry site. Asa Pratt's farm was at the south. Abram Freese, an old-time physician, began practice here about 1815, and some years later Elbridge G. Rideout instructed the youth in Clinton and other school districts and continued for many years. An- other old settler was John Totman. The first tavern here was kept around 1815 by a man named Burrill. Gideon Wells, who came from Vienna in 1800, kept it for many years. Benjamin Chase settled at the ferry about 1815 and built a saw and grist mill on Carrabasset Stream. The mills changed hands, were burned and rebuilt. John Totman built the first store here about 1832. Captain Andrew Richardson was the first selectman from this section in 1795 and served seven terms.
Ellsworth, 1800 (City, 1869)
Ellsworth, the shire town and only city in Hancock County, is situated at the head of Union River Bay and near the center of the county. Union River passes southward through the center of the town. Samuel Livermore surveyed the townships east of the Penobscot River in 1762. After the surveys had been completed, Mr. Livermore, finding that the boundary line met on the Mount Desert River, originally called Donaque, proposed to change the name and call it Union River, which was accordingly done.
Benjamin Milliken, said to be the founder of the present city of Ellsworth, was an enterprising man who had been many times "at the eastward" and came to Ellsworth, or Union River, as it was then called, from Scarborough in 1763. His daughter Abagail accompanied him. He started the building of a dam and mill, probably à tide mill, and it was a failure. Then he and his brother, Thomas, built a dam at the head of the tide and their mill at its east end, in Surry. The mills paid little. Milliken sent lumber in rafts around to Castine for the British to use in the building of Fort George. Other saw and grist mills soon followed.
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Among the next settlers from Richmond's Island, Biddeford, Scarborough and Falmouth were: Meltiah Jordan, Benjamin Joy, Colonel Jones, George Lord and Nathaniel and John Jellison. Others soon followed. Twenty years after its settlement, the township had a population of 992. The first minister was Reverend J. Urquhart, who came in 1785. The Reverend Peter Nourse was ordained in 1812. For thirty-two years the township was known as Union River Settlement and Union District; and, from 1795 to 1800 it was known as Bowdoin and New Bowdoin, probably in honor of James Bowdoin of Massa- chusetts. According to the petition of 1798, the inhabitants were anxious to try the name of Sumner, but this was not granted because there was already a town by that name in Oxford County. The name was finally decided by the General Court and was given in honor of Oliver Ellsworth, an able judicial leader, who was a Massachusetts delegate to the National Convention in 1787 for the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. Ellsworth comprised No. 7 of the "Ten Townships"; a part of Township No. 6 was annexed to Surry soon after 1820, but was re-annexed to Ellsworth in 1829. Ellsworth became the shire town of Hancock County in 1838 and a city in 1869.
Ellsworth is noted for its beautiful buildings; among them is the old Congregational Church of which it is said: "this parish has given more great men to the State and Nation than any other church of its size in Maine, perhaps in New England"; the Black House, where John Black, an Englishman, "finely educated in the elegant attain- ments peculiar to the higher classes in the land of his birth" was land- agent for the Bingham interests, and the Public Library, built in 1817 by Meltiah Jordan for his son, Benjamin.
Madison, 1804
This Somerset County town bears the name of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States. It was surveyed in 1791 by Samuel Weston. It embraces Bernard's Township No. 1 and "mile and a half strip." Its incorporation took place in 1804. The Indian history of Madison is that of Old Point; the main points of interest are the coming of Father Drueillette and of Father Rasle, the destruction of the tribe, and the assassination of Father Rasle by the English in 1724.
The time of the settlements by the white man is placed between 1773 and 1775. The first recorded arrival was that of Father Drueil- lette, who passed through what is now the town of Madison in 1646 on his way down the river to establish his mission near Cushnoc. Later, he made several trips up and down the river as he accompanied his dusky converts on their fishing and hunting trips. The next recorded arrival is that of Father Rasle who came in 1695, more than forty years after the departure of Father Drueillette. Rasle may be termed the
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first white settler of Madison, for he located here with his redskins and remained until his death in 1724. He was likewise the builder of the first church in town. The town next below, Norridgewock, was settled in 1772 and Madison was entered upon not long after.
The southwest portion of the town was the first to be cleared by white comers; and so far as diligent search shows, a Mr. Sylvanus Sawyer, who established his home at Old Point, was the first settler. This was the first permanent re-establishment of the early settlement of this place. Little is known of Mr. Sawyer; he had a son, Luke, who afterward located in Starks and built up the mills and gave it the name Sawyer's Mills. This Luke Sawyer assisted Arnold in getting his supplies and equipment up the river. The first Mr. Sawyer had another son, Levi, who moved to New York; Ephraim and Sylvanus, Jr., took up land in this town about a mile from the village. The settlement was probably rapid after the Revolutionary War.
Deacon Benjamin Weston came in 1786 and cleared a farm about a mile and a half above the village on the east side of the river. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and came to the District of Maine in 1771. He was accompanied by a party who made their homes at what is now Skowhegan, Maine. He had charge of the first ferry and took no fee from people going to church. John Ellis came after Weston and settled on the Skowhegan road which was then being laid out. James Savage, Silas Danforth and Jonathan Eames arrived at an early date and settled up along the river toward North Anson. Goff More came from Norridgewock and took up a farm. In the northwest part of the town, John Burns, David Danforth and David Young settled perhaps several years before Mr. Weston's arrival. John B. Moore came early, but removed in a few years to Moose River. Sam- uel Burns, who married Ann, daughter of Deacon Weston, settled early. In the village there were for many years only a few residents. Among the first were Benj. Ellis, Nathan Houghton, a Mr. Downs and a Mr. Getchell. Mr. Houghton was one of the prominent men of the town during his useful years; he, with his five sons, was the builder of mills at this point and was the contractor of the bridge when it was built.
The first grist mill in the village of Madison was built by one Wm. Adams, and located on Jones Brook around 1800. The next mill was built on the island by Oriah Tinkham. It is said to have been in operation as early as 1825. It was owned by Messrs. Spaulding, Viles and Heald. Mr. Benjamin Ellis also erected a saw mill a little higher up the stream. It was carried away by a freshet in 1810. Another mill was soon built by Nathan Houghton, and in this mill some of the tim- bers used in the old toll bridge were sawed.
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Jefferson, 1807
The town of Jefferson, Maine, honors the name of our third president, Thomas Jefferson. It lies in Lincoln County and was set- tled a few years previous to the Revolutionary War ; it was incorporated in 1807, when Thomas Jefferson was President of the United States.
Historically the present town dates back to January 13, 1630, when a grant of fifteen miles on each side of the Kennebec River from the mouth to the present site of Gardiner was made to William Bradford of Plymouth, Massachusetts. The town of Jefferson was in- cluded in this area and was part of the plantation of Ballstown, founded in 1770 by John Ball. Whitefield was also within the borders of this plantation. Early settlers came from Boothbay and Woolwich, and records show that thirteen cents was charged for an acre of land. Later the price was raised to thirty cents.
The names of the twelve first settlers of Jefferson are today in- scribed on a bronze tablet on a huge boulder placed upon the lawn in front of the Baptist Church. One may read the following: Jonathan Ames, Joshua Linscott, John Weeks, Samuel Jackson, Joseph Jackson, Thomas Kennedy, John Boynton, Robert Clary, Moses Noyes, Thomas Trask, John Murphy, and John Johnson. This memorial was placed here on the Centennial of the town, 1907.
The town abounds in hills bearing the names of early settlers or prominent citizens: Dyer Hill, Bodge Hill and Weeks Hill are examples.
There is a meeting house at the head of Damariscotta Pond, where Elder Wm. Allen was settled in 1809, and a post office was established in 1814. A circular fieldstone cattle pound was erected on the Whitefield road for $28, by Silas Noyes in 1829. Stray animals were impounded here and the owner had to pay the keeper before they were released. The pound is about forty feet in diameter; the walls are seven feet high and six feet thick at the bottom. The field stones vary in size from huge boulders to twenty pounders.
There are also old granite quarries and clay banks where bricks were once made. There was also a corn factory in Jefferson.
Eliot, 1810
Situated in the northwestern part of York County on the eastern bank of the Piscataqua River, Eliot was incorporated under its present name in 1810. Before that date, it was the north parish of Kittery and bore the name of Sturgeon Creek. Walter Neal, as the agent of Gorges and Mason, made grants of land here in 1632, and the place is thought to have had settlers a little before that date. One of the earliest settlers of whom we have a definite account was Nicholas
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Frost, who settled at Sturgeon Creek about 1636. He filled various of- fices in the town and several of his descendants have become eminent in their own generations. Anthony Emery arrived before 1652, as he was one of the selectmen of that year. Other early settlers were the Hills, who came about 1670 or 1680. James Tobey came about 1675, received a town grant in 1687 and was killed by the Indians about 1705. John Heard was an early settler and noted in his day. Nathan Bartlett and his brother, who were tanners, came about 1713.
The first settlers were allowed to take up as much land as they could fence, on condition of paying 2 or 21/2 shillings per acre for 100 years.
The Piscataqua River sends two arms or creeks into the town: Sturgeon Creek and, in the southwest, Orampheagan, which, with the river, forms a peninsula called the Neck. The west branch of York River has several small water powers which were improved by one grist mill and two saw mills. A small tidal power on Sturgeon Creek was also utilized in early times.
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