USA > Maine > Maine place names and the peopling of its towns > Part 36
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About the same time came Timothy McIntyre and Stephen Kendal, both of whom were prominent in the affairs of the town in its early period; the latter was elected as delegate to the Convention to frame the Constitution of Maine. Jesse Connor arrived from Gardiner in 1814. A man very prominent among the pioneers, he kept the first store in the settlement in a room in the house that he built. He brought in supplies from Gardiner on horseback, and purchased the mill property from Bradford. The son, Jesse, was one of the found- ers of the Maine Central Institute. The Pushor family were also among early comers; David Pushor came from Fairfield in 1816 and settled on a farm.
Other early arrivals were Samuel Collamore, who came from Friendship about 1826, settled in the west part of the town and raised flax which the women wove into linen cloth; Daniel Foster from Windsor, who took up a farm later on the "Snake Root Road" in the southern part of the town; Wm. Getchell, an Irishman, who came from Cambridge, Massachusetts, soon after 1814 or 1815, and "Squire" John Weymouth who cleared a farm on the river bank. James A. Campbell came from Bowdoinham in 1838.
Dr. Reuben Norton came to Pittsfield about 1811 and located in the western part of the town. David Simons, who was born in
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Pownal, came to Pittsfield about 1815; James Willis was one of the early settlers of the town and for some time lived not far from Maine Central Institute on a farm on the road which is now the main street of the village. He was the first postmaster of the village. Noah Thomp- son, son of Ebeneezer Thompson of Shapleigh, came to Pittsfield at an early date and lived in a log cabin. Levi Prince also was an early comer. He settled near the Hartland line where he cleared a farm.
The Free Baptist Society was organized in 1855 with nine mem- bers, under the name of The Pittsfield and Detroit Free Baptist Church. In 1857 the Union meeting house was built where the pres- ent Universalist Church now stands. The first school was taught by Miss Anne Gould in the home of Moses Martin, the first settler. In 1827 taxes were paid with corn at four shillings a bushel and wheat at one dollar per bushel. The early provisions were brought on horseback from Gardiner and the mail brought on foot five miles from Palmyra.
Atkinson, 1819
This town is situated in the southern part of Piscataquis County. The titles to the land were from Vaughan and Merrick of Hallowell who purchased it from Massachusetts at twenty-five cents per acre. They started selling lots about 1801, but soon disposed of what re- mained to Judge Atkinson and Oliver Crosby of Dover, New Hamp- shire. It was lotted out for them in 1807 by Andrew Strong into one- hundred acre lots.
The first settlement was made in 1804 by Bylie Lyford who had felled the first opening on the bank of the Piscataquis River above the bridge in 1802. The next season he raised a crop and built his cabin; in March, 1804, he brought in his family, the first to make their home in the present town. Bylie Lyford called the first town meet- ing, and the new town was named in honor of Judge Atkinson who gave the inhabitants a library of one hundred volumes.
Alder Stream, near the center of the town, furnishes water power, and it was here in 1807 that the Colcord Brothers from Bangor put up a saw mill and grist mill. A passable way was early opened to Charleston, Gardiner and Bangor. Through Garland and Dexter there was a road westward. In 1810 the settlement had 169 inhabitants, the largest number of any township on the river; in 1820 it had 245.
In 1818 Dr. E. W. Snow of Plymouth, New Hampshire, came to establish himself as a physician. Three elder brothers had preceded him and taken lots for farming. A graduate of Dartmouth College, he married and resided for a season in Mr. Lyford's house near the river, and afterward built near the present meeting house. He finally settled down at Atkinson Corner. He had a wide practice and was elected town clerk at the first town meeting and sent as a delegate to the
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Constitutional Convention. After the organization of Piscataquis County in 1838, he was appointed Judge of Probate. Dr. Snow was a good physician, an esteemed and useful citizen, affable, kind and gen- erous, a man of refined taste and culture, in every way honest, up- right and reliable.
In 1820 Oliver Crosby, one of the two principal proprietors, moved into town and commenced farming on a large scale, holding for his own use 700 acres. His buildings were large and elegant, his orchard and grounds adjoining were laid out in a tasteful manner and his farming was skillful and successful. Mr. Crosby was a native of Billerica, Massachusetts, and a member of the bar in that Common- wealth. He did not practice law in Maine.
The hundred volumes which Judge Atkinson had presented in return for the honor of the town being named after him at its in- corporation were housed in the Oliver Crosby House where special shelves with fine mouldings were made for their use. Oliver Crosby reared a large family and educated two of his sons for the legal pro- fession.
A store was opened at an early date at the Mills by Samuel C. Clark, who was succeeded by Porter. About 1830 J. C. Brown began to trade at Atkinson Corner; he in turn was succeeded by E. L. Ham- mond, who continued in the business for forty years. The latter was an active man in town affairs, twice appointed County Commissioner, and a highly respected and useful citizen. J. H. Ramsdell succeeded him.
Thorndike, 1819
Lying in the northwestern part of Waldo County, Thorndike was a part of the Waldo Patent. It was settled about 1799. Previous to incorporation in 1819, it bore the name of Lincoln Plantation. As a corporate town it was named for Israel Thorndike, one of the princi- pal proprietors. The petition for incorporation was signed by Joseph Shaw, Joseph Higgins and Stephen Jones. Between six and seven miles on the road turning left from Dixmont, the highway crosses Great Farm Brook, which meanders across the Great Farm that lies on both sides of the road at this point. From Thorndike Hill is a comprehen- sive view of the Great Farm, its original 1200 acres now subdivided into 200-acre farms extending across a narrow valley between the hills. Israel Thorndike (1755-1832) a wealthy Boston merchant, came into possession of the tract in 1806. After clearing the land, he built a mansion of the Bulfinch type and created a beautiful country estate with broad lawns and large barns. He stocked the farm with imported Hereford cattle and Merino sheep and set out an orchard of 500 apple trees. Daniel Webster was one of the distinguished guests who came from Boston by coach and four, for the hunting and fishing at Mr.
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Thorndike's country place. One barn is all that remains of the original buildings; the others have been destroyed by fire.
The war record of Proprietor Israel Thorndike gives his home as both Beverly and Boston. In 1776 he was commissioned as Com- mander of the schooner "Warren," a privateer; in 1777 he commanded the "Scorpian," privateer, and the ship "Resource." His name is listed among the officers of the Navy and the description given of him in 1780, when he was twenty-five years of age, was "stature 5 ft 71/4 ins. complexion, dark."
Robert Houston of Belfast, evidently an agent for General Henry Knox, the proprietor of the land at that time, gives the names of the settlers in Lincolnville Plantation with comments on their ability to pay. The names given were John Perley, Wm. Ward, Gideon and Wm. Philbrook, Job Chase, Benj. Bartlett, Robert Hanson, James and Joseph Rich, Samuel Whitney, Ezra Hanson, Moses Hollis, Josiah Higgins and his brother, George Dyer, John White, Wm. Davis, John Mitchell, John Foot, Tristm. Coffin, Increase Blithers, Joseph Blithers, Samuel Parkhurst, John Finny, Samuel Russell, Benj. Rus- sell, Robert Swan, Silas Whitcomb and Isaiah Blithers.
The historians of the town, writing of The Early Settlers of Thorndike for the Centennial Anniversary in 1919, name George Dyer and John White of this group as the first settlers. The former built a log cabin near where the home of his grandson is today, while John White built his cabin on land adjoining that of Dyer on the east. His descendants are still citizens of the town; the farm now known under their name was cleared up by Simeon Coffin, whose brother, Tristam, built his log cabin near by. Other early settlers were Ambrose Parsons, Joseph Shaw, Solomon Stone and Ichabod Hunt. The Reverend Joseph Higgins came to this wilderness in 1797 and erected, like the others, a log cabin and later one of the first frame houses in town. His brother, Isaac, lived near him. Gideon Philbrick, written as Philbrook above, took up a farm very early in the settlement, as did Robert Han- son and Samuel Whitney. John Whitney was one of the pioneer Metho- dist preachers; the Riches settled near the Unity line in the western part of Thorndike. The Wards too were early pioneers and thrifty farmers. The name "Blithers," as written above, is doubtless Blethen, since three of that name early cleared land and made homes in the present town of Thorndike.
The name Lincoln Plantation was given in honor of General Benjamin Lincoln, a friend of General Henry Knox, both of Revolu- tionary fame.
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CHAPTER XVI Maine Towns Named for Proprietors from 1820 to 1915
Williamsburg, 1820
Situated in the southern part of Piscataquis County, Williams- burg was early purchased by Mr. William E. Dodd of Boston, from whose Christian name comes the name of the town. The section near Brownville was probably settled as early as 1808. John Crommett was doubtless the first settler at this date and in this part of the planta- tion. Moses Head arrived in 1810 and Moses Greenleaf, Mr. Dodd's agent, probably came at that time. Colonel John Dunning and Cap- tain Adams are especially remembered among the respected citizens of the town.
The township was organized in 1819, as Williamsburg Planta- tion; Eben Greenleaf was chosen plantation clerk. In the following year, it was incorporated as a town, the second so created by the Legis- lature in the newly established State of Maine. It was disorganized April 1, 1940.
Moses Greenleaf, whose life was so closely connected with this former town and plantation, played quite a role in the develop- ment of Maine. His father, of the same name, had the appellation of "silver tongue," from his aptitude of expression and fluency of speech. Moses, the subject of this sketch, was born at Newburyport, Massa- chusetts, then lived in New Gloucester, Maine; he resided at Andover for a few years and settled at Bangor in trade. Unable through mis- fortunes or changes in the times to sustain himself in the mercantile business, he resigned his property about 1806 or 1807 into the hands of his creditors and moved into the Williamsburg township, where he lived until his death.
There in the midst of the wilderness he prepared a habitation for himself and family. His mind was energetic and elastic and he was sometimes visionary. His education, acquired at the common schools, was greatly improved by his reading and reflection, by business and by the literary pursuits to which his mind and taste so much inclined.
A magistrate, a land surveyor and a ready writer, he was one of the most useful men among the settlers of the new country. At one time he was a Justice of the Court of Sessions. In 1816 he published
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a map and A Statistical View of the State of Maine and in January of that year the Legislature of Massachusetts authorized a subscription of 1000 copies at $3.00 for each copy of the work. Encouraged by this patronage, Greenleaf revised and enlarged both book and map; and in 1826 published them at great expense. The new edition was called Survey of Maine and there were several maps. A resolve passed by the Legislature of Maine in 1830 gave $500 and a subscription on the part of the government for 400 copies of the maps and survey at $16 per set. These last works acquired him considerable credit, but they were too heavy and expensive for an extensive sale; hence he was never fully compensated for his time and labor. Quick in thought, composi- tion, action and speech, Moses Greenleaf was Maine's first publicity man, as well as mapmaker.
Parkman, 1822
Located in the southwestern part of Piscataquis County, No. 5, Range 6 was purchased by Samuel Parkman, Esq., of Boston and named for him at the incorporation of the town. The proprietor adopted the following method to secure its settlement: he offered to sell forty lots of one hundred acres each, at one dollar per acre, to as many as would become actual settlers, but beyond this amount and after that number of lots were sold, the price would be two dollars or more per acre.
About 1810 the first openings were felled and in 1812 the first families came in, all from Greene. These early settlers were Peter and William Cummings, Ephraim Andrews, Arvida Briggs, Wm. W. Brews- ter and Richard Caswell. By this time a more direct road was opened to these Piscataquis settlements. Samuel Pingree was agent to the proprietors and early moved in. He settled near the center of the town, where he put a saw and grist mill into operation. Mr. Pingree was a hatter by trade and made the first hats produced in the country. He had held a Justice's Commission and was soon reappointed. Edward Soule from Freeport was also one of the earliest settlers. In the War of 1812, he was three times taken prisoner by different British cruisers and the last time was confined in the famous Dartmoor prison.
In 1818 Mr. Zenas Hall began preaching and became the pastor of the Baptist Church. In 1820 the population of the plantation was 250. The first store at the corner was opened about 1827 by Thomas Seabury. Dr. George Parkman, after his father's death, succeeded to his lands in the town and, previous to his own tragic death, visited the place annually.
Soon after 1820, another saw mill was built about two miles below Pingree's at Parkman Corner by a Mr. Sturtevant, but both were swept away in 1828 by the breaking of Pingree's dam. They were
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soon rebuilt. At the first town meeting in 1822 Elder Zenas Hall was chosen clerk and one of the selectmen. He was sent as a delegate to political conventions, as town agent to courts, on town business and once as Representative to the Legislature. He became a Justice of the Peace. Later, on his declining to hold town offices, Wm. Brewster was elected town clerk and often held other town offices.
Elder Zenas Hall was given 200 acres of land of the lot reserved for the first settled minister. Dr. Nicholas Jumper was the first phy- sician. In 1831 Mr. Ira York built a saw mill on Cummings Brook in the southwestern part of the town. On Dr. Jumper's death in 1834 Dr. A. J. W. Stevens, who was already there, took his place. In addi- tion to being a physician, he was an active politician, once a member of the Legislature, and a useful educator.
Dr. George Parkman, to facilitate payment by the settlers, would buy up meat stock and have it driven to the Brighton market. After Dr. Parkman's death, his nephew, S. P. Shaw, bought a small farm near Parkman Corner and took care of the proprietor's business.
Cooper, 1822
Cooper is situated somewhat east of the middle of Washington County. It was formerly Township No. 15 and included that part of Meddybemps which is west of Denny's River. The settlement started about 1812, and in 1822 the town was incorporated. Its name was adopted in honor of General John Cooper (1765-1845), an early and esteemed settler. He was sheriff of Washington County, active in farming, in milling activities and in church and civic affairs. He was proprietor of Township No. 15 and for years was agent of near-by townships concerning which he kept his accounts carefully. He had much to do with the building of the Machias church. In 1803 he be- came county treasurer.
He often visited Boston on account of his duties as agent for the proprietors of the townships, and usually went by vessel, but in 1809 came in his own chaise. On September 27 he left Boston and arrived at Machias on October 14, the first journey ever made in a private carriage in such a manner. In 1816 he turned his attention more particularly to his township, built a saw and grist mill and called the first "Successful Enterprise" and the latter "Resolution." He was an outstanding figure in making arrangements for the capture and capitulation of Machias in the War of 1812. In 1816 he was a member of the Convention at Brunswick to act on the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, and for several years was engaged in making and opening county roads.
Among his friends were Judge Lincoln of Dennysville, George Downs, Esq., of Calais, General John Brewer, Captain Thos. Vose of
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Robbinston, I. R. Chadbourne of Eastport and Judge Campbell of Cherryfield. In 1820 he finished his duty as sheriff; in 1821 he joined the Congregational Church, cleared a farm and erected a large and commodious house on a slightly elevated spot near his mills. In 1822 he moved there and named the place Ashley Farm. His son William resided with him.
The town of Cooper was incorporated in February, 1822, and the first town meeting was held the next year. In 1826 the Congre- gational Church was framed; in 1831 the saw and grist mill were re- built; on June 26, 1835, the frame of the meeting house was raised; and on March 30, 1836 it was dedicated. The Church expense was doubtless borne largely by Mr. Cooper. Even at seventy-five he con- tinued in business and made not infrequent journeys to the several towns in the county. He attended conferences of churches, and con- ducted services when no minister was present. He was also Justice of the Peace, postmaster, selectman and town treasurer; at times he farmed, lumbered, conveyed and purchased lands, and kept his own accounts. He died in 1845 and was buried on his own homestead. In 1811 he had resigned the office of Brigadier-General of the Second Brigade, 10th Division of the Militia of the Commonwealth, of which he had been a member for seven years.
Brownville, 1824
This Piscataquis County town was organized as Brownville Plantation, June 29, 1819, and incorporated as the town of Brownville on February 29, 1824. It was named for one of the proprietors, Moses Brown, who, with Major Josiah Hills of Newburyport, Massachusetts, purchased the township and began settlement. Before this, the first two or three purchasers of the township had failed to meet their engage- ments and it had reverted to the state. In 1805 Park Holland explored it and soon afterward the above purchase was made. To a certain number of the settlers, fifty acres of land were given. In the spring of 1806 Moses Brown and Hills sent Francis Brown with a crew of work- men to build a dam and mills on Pleasant River. They selected the falls as a building site. There the mills now stand and around them the village has grown up. Brown and his crew brought up their tools, mill irons and provisions in boats from Bangor. By fall the work was completed and a saw mill and grist mill put in operation. These mills preceded the Spauldings in Foxcroft by a few months and were the second mills built in the county. The first were at Sebec in 1804.
Major Hills came to Brownville and took charge of the business. Eventually he sold his share to Mr. Brown and moved onto a farm. Dr. Isaac Wilkins brought his family in, in 1808 or earlier. Dr. Wilkins was the chain man of a surveying party. The Reverend Hezekiah May,
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a Congregational minister, was sent in the same year, 1808, and sus- tained by the proprietors. He preached on Sundays through the year and taught school during the winters. Deacon Francis Brown, a nephew of Moses from Newbury, Massachusetts, who had come into town in 1812 was the first trader in the place; he kept a few goods in his shed as early as 1823. He exerted a healthful influence upon the community.
Brownville has been noted for its slate quarries, the first of which was opened in 1843, and in 1876 at the Centennial Exposi- tion in Philadelphia, the slate was adjudged to be the finest roofing slate in the country. These quarries brought in many Welsh workmen who have made excellent citizens. North of Brownville Junction are towering pines of great beauty which crowd close to the road just beyond the rolling bridge; shorter hardwood and conifers, spruce pre- dominating, mingle with the pines.
Cutler, 1826
Cutler, in Washington County, is situated on the southeastern seacoast, eighteen miles east of Machias. The original settlers came from Machias about 1785. The titles of the settlers for the land were obtained from John C. Jones and, after his death, from Joseph Cutler of Newburyport, Massachusetts. The town was incorporated in 1826 and named in honor of Mr. Cutler. It is bounded by Whiting on the north, Trescott on the east, Machias Bay on the west and the ocean on the south. It has three harbors: Holmes' Bay on the west, Little Machias Bay on the south and Cutler Harbor on the southeast. The last is one of the best harbors on the Atlantic Coast; it is deep, free from ice and protected by high land on each side and by a lighthouse- island at the mouth. The scenery of the town is delightful. From an elevated point on the east side of Cutler Harbor, called the "Look- out," a fine view is possible in clear weather of the Bay of Fundy with its numerous sails.
The original settlers of this town were Ephraim Andrews, John Davis, Robert Cates and John Maker. They engaged in farming and fishing. In 1813, during the war with Great Britain, an American cutter lying in the harbor was captured by the crew of an armed vessel of the enemy. Some of the inhabitants also were plundered, but not without resistance. The plantation then had about thirty families.
Abbot, 1827
In the southwestern part of Piscataquis County lies the town of Abbot, formerly No. 7, Range 7. It is the most western of the six towns granted to Bowdoin College in 1794 by the General Court, and was sold to the settlers by the college trustee, Professor John Abbot,
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and his agents. The first settler was Abraham Moore who exchanged his farm in Norridgewock for 800 acres of wild land in four lots of 200 acres each, most of which he located on two rivers with two mill sites. He moved his family, a wife and six children, here in 1807. A single horse and sled was their conveyance and their journey was quite roundabout. They came by Harmony and Ripley, through Dexter and Amestown and Lowestown and thence up the river seven miles to their own place; they were the first family in the township, the first in the county west of Sangerville and Guilford. For a whole year they dwelt there alone. For want of a road, Moore took to the river, went down to Spaulding's Mills, twelve miles below, and made a batteau; with this he could convey persons and supplies up and down the river. Mrs. Moore was a sister of the Spauldings. Moore brought up floor boards for his cabin. He had felled the trees of the first open- ing in 1805, then in 1806 he raised a crop and built a log house. In 1808 Peter Brawn and Eaton Richards moved in with their families. In 1810 the township had forty-five inhabitants. It was then called Moorestown.
In 1812 settlers occupied what is known as "Jackson Ridge" in the eastern part of the town; Barnabas Jackson bought the lot and buildings of one of the first settlers and took up his residence in 1815. In 1818 Jeremiah Rolfe settled in the plantation. He was noted for his skill in fruit raising. Mr. Moore early erected a saw mill on the Piscataquis River about which Abbott Village has grown up. Mr. Moore sold his saw mill and 400 acres of land to Elder Wm. Oakes and Daniel Douty in 1817, and moved to Dover.
In 1820 there were only forty-four inhabitants in the town. Oakes and Douty with a Mr. Hutchinson continued to run the mill until 1822, when they sold both mill and land to James Gower who soon afterward put a grist mill in operation. Mr. Gower moved onto the intervale and built large buildings and he and his sons increased the business of the place; Robert soon opened a store. He was agent for the sale of college lands which were being sought after. Monson and Blanchard were well settled so the township lay in the way of travel, but roads were very poor until incorporation, in 1827, when the town was named for the treasurer of Bowdoin college, Professor John Abbot. The warrant for the first town meeting was issued by Robert Gower and at the meeting Cyrus Cook was chosen town clerk. There were about fifty voters; roads were laid out and accepted.
About 1827 A. Moore and his sons sold out their property in Dover and returned to Abbot. They moved onto the lot which em- braced the mill privilege on the Piscataquis, one chosen by Mr. Moore, and started building mills. By 1828 they had a saw and clapboard mill in operation and had laid the foundation for the upper village. In
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