USA > Maine > Oxford County > Porter > Porter, as a portion of Maine: its settlement, etc. > Part 3
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and his harvested grain must be sent to a distant town (Saco), to prepare it for the skillful hands of the ever-busy house- wife. If he is so fortunate as to have a surplus of farm products, they are to be transported to a distant market, over an almost impassable road intercepted by streams un- bridged, over rocky hills, and through muddy swamps, and when the tedious journey is accomplished, he finds but a pittance remaining for the wants of his family. His chil- dren for years have no teacher but the parent, and when at length a change for the better comes, one school, supported by contribution, suffices for an extended settlement. By and by, "in revolving years," the first step in the true path is taken, and the full sum of two hundred dollars is raised by taxation for the support of the district school.
Among the recreations of that early period, hunting was a favorite pastime. The black bear and deer were quite plen- ty, but the noble moose and the cowardly wolf were only occasional visitors. Owing to his fondness for the settlers' flocks, the bear was selected by all the best hunters as a fit subject for their finest skill. Meshach Libby, being on a tour of observation, came in sight of one honestly taking his dinner in the boughs of an oak, while an agile deer was quietly helping herself to the fallen acorns that chanced to escape the jaws of her clumsy companion above. Mr. Libby looked kindly on the game under the tree, but to the de- stroyer of his gentle flocks no mercy was due. Down tum- lebs bruin, not in the embraces of death, as Mr. Libby had fondly hoped and expected, but little hurt and undaunted by the noise of gunpowder or the presence of man, and ready for the tug of war,-war aggressive to the fullest extent of his powers. Mr. Libby at once sought a large tree near by, hoping that its branches might afford some means of escape, but with bruin in such hot pursuit climbing was out of the question. After many turns about the tree, and having the
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advantage of " the inside track," Mr. Libby had a little time to take breath and, perhaps, to reflect upon the situation. However this may have been, he did recollect that his gun, like Chamberlain's in the fight with Paugus, was self-prim- ing. Acting on this suggestion, but at the same time brisk- ly keeping up his flight around the tree, he pours the powder from the ready horn, drops the ball in its place, strikes the breech with his hand, turns suddenly, and his pursuer is stretched on the race course in the agonies of death.
As an incident of the times, it may not be out of place, in this connection, to mention another encounter of like kind. A hunter from Parsonsfield, by the name of Kezar, occa- sionally visited the old hunting grounds of the Pequawkets, in pursuit of his favorite game, the surly monarch of these forests. Ordinarily, the black bear is a cowardly brute, and rarely exhibits any traits of bravery, but let the family cir- cle be suddenly invaded, the latent ferocity of the mother is at once aroused to the highest pitch of frenzy. Kezar, in one of his excursions near the base of Rattlesnake mountain, unexpectedly found himself confronted by this ferocious an- imal, and almost in her ugly embraces, before he was aware of her presence. No time was allowed him for retreat or preparation. Unfortunately it was lunch time, and his gun could not at once be grasped. She, erect as himself and with distended jaws, rushed upon him. In a moment a dar- ing thought occurred to him and was instantly acted upon. His hunting knife was thrust through the open jaws into her throat. Human prowess, guided by intelligence, triumphed, but Mr. Kezar's lacerated and bleeding arm showed how dearly bought was the victory.
Generally, no personal danger was apprehended by the settler from any and all of the hairy denizens of the forest, but not so as to the reptile tribe. The rattlesnake had made a lodgment here, and the life of every person was in jeop-
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ardy who might incautiously set foot upon, or otherwise mo- lest, one. Many of these reptiles were killed in all parts of the plantation, but a large number seemed to seek their win- ter quarters in the ledges of the hill east of the upper Spec- tacle pond and in the ledges of the hill known as Rattlesnake mountain. At a certain time in the fall and spring they were much more plenty in the vicinity of these hills than elsewhere. In the spring of 1820 Oliver Stacy and a neighbor killed eleven in about one hour on Rattlesnake mountain.
Although so numerous and their bite generally fatal, no one within the limits of the town was ever materially in- jured by them. Ivory Merifield, perhaps a half century ago, was bitten upon the finger, but he, doubtless, saved his life by immediate and long continued suction of the wound. About forty years since, a large one crawled into the entry of a school-house in the western part of the town. While the only door to the school-room was thus guarded, the teacher by chance discovered her unwelcome visitor, and having helped one of her scholars out of a window, a neigh- bor at once came to the rescue. This species of reptiles seems now to be extinct in this town, none having been seen, to my knowledge, for many years.
THE COLD FRIDAY.
Friday, Jan. 19, 1810, has been justly called " The Cold Friday." A citizen of this county wrote in his diary of that date: " The Cold Friday. Last evening the weather was mild, but in the night the wind arose and blew terribly." Houses and barns were unroofed or completely demolished. The thermometer at Portland fell to 14º below zero, and in the country towns still lower. We who have never been exposed to such an atmosphere, driven onward at a velocity
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of fifty or sixty miles an hour, can have no conception of its life destroying power.
A lady, who distinctly recollects that eventful day, in- formed me that her father, in repairing some damage done to his barn doors, had his ears and face badly frozen, al- though he was exposed to the cold but a few minutes at a time. To young children, and to the aged and infirm, ex- posure for much length of time was fatal. One family, hav- ing their house unroofed, attempted to reach a neighbor's living at the distance of about half a mile. A sleigh was obtained by the husband and father, but it was useless, the wind preventing its being of any benefit. The strong man did all that could be done, but a part only of his dear ones survived the death-blasts of that memorable day.
THE DARK DAY.
" May 19, 1780 was a dark day. The darkness began at eleven o'clock A.M. and continued until midnight, thirteen hours. It was so dark at two o'clock that a person could not be known at the distance of two rods. The night was pro- portionally dark." The above memorandum was made by my father, who was about twenty years of age at the time. A recent writer says: " Our parents and grand-parents told the story of that wonderful day. It never faded from the memory of the witnesses. The darkness extended over all New England. In some places it was impossible to read common print in the open air for several hours together. Birds sang their evening song, disappeared, and became si- lent ; fowls went to roost; cattle returned to the barn-yard, and lamps were lighted in the houses." One writer, in de- scribing the darkness of the night, says that "a sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet." No satisfactory explana- tion of this event has ever been given.
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THE GREAT SEPTEMBER GALE
extended over New England and a portion of New York and Pennsylvania, having commenced, it is said, in the West Indies, and in its northern course destroyed many vessels before reaching our coast. A large number of buildings in Boston and neighboring towns were unroofed or blown down. In Providence, R. I., five hundred buildings were destroyed and fifty vessels, all that were in the harbor ex- cept two, the force of the wind and water wrenching them from their fastenings and driving them, with the accumulat- ing mass of rubbish, far up the streets of the lower part of the city. At Stonington, Ct., the tide was seventeen feet higher than usual. In this vicinity, the damage consisted mostly in unroofing houses and prostrating trees.
One of our early settlers wrote in his journal that his fam- ily fled from the house and sought shelter behind some large pine stumps that were near by, and that the forest trees in the vicinity were torn up by the acre. A neighbor of his then lived in his log cabin, but had a new framed house about ready for occupancy. The family, not fully confiding in the stability of the old or new structure, sought also a stump protection. The log cabin withstood the gale, but the new house was demolished. Our oldest citizens think the uprooting of trees was the principal damage done by the gale, in this town. We have no record of any other gale, from the settlement of the country to the present time, that will compare with this in severity, power, and extent. The time of its greatest violence was between the hours of ten and twelve on the twenty-third day of September, 1815.
THE COLD SEASON.
For many years our aged citizens spoke of the summer and fall of 1816 as the cold season. Beyond doubt, at no
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HISTORY OF PORTER.
time since the settlement of the town has the average temperature of the season been so low as in 1816. Accord- ing to a memorandum made by the late Dea. William Went- worth of Brownfield, "it was cold and windy, with some snow, on the 6th, 7th, and 8th of June, and there was a frost on the 30th of June, 9th of July, and 22d of August." My father's corn, although planted on high land with a northern slope, was wholly destroyed by the frost in August. In the western parts of this state, corn, even partially ripened, was rarely raised by our farmers. In the eastern portions of the state, there were, on June 6th, six inches of snow upon the ground, and no corn, that year, grew there to roasting ears. In some instances rye was not injured by the frost, but the most of the farm crops were either greatly dam- aged or wholly destroyed by it.
In 1817, although money was scarce, corn was worth from $2.50 to $3.00 per bushel, and it was often difficult to obtain it with ready money at the figures named. Our citizens gen- erally felt the pressure of these truly hard times, but the suffering of the poor, for the want of suitable food, was far greater than in any other year since the settlement of the town. One family of several persons obtained one bushel of corn, in the winter of 1816-17, and this was their sole resource for bread, until a crop of rye was harvested in Au- gust following. One of our farmers was accustomed to tell the story, that after the small berries had ripened in 1817, he directed his boys when going to their labor, to work awhile, then pick berries, and continue thus to do until night. In this way, he said, the boys did the work without grumbling. Another family were visited by a traveling preacher who had been accustomed to make his home with them while he remained in the settlement. He arrived after the usual meal time, and requested something to eat. The lady in due time set upon the table some half-grown, fried potatoes.
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She did the best she could. No excuses were made by one party or fault found by the other.
UNNATURAL DEATHS.
Since the incorporation of the town, nine persons, Isaac French, George Coolbroth, James Hartford, John W. and George W. Ridlon, Samuel Stanley, Nellie Landon, David L. Ridlon, and Benjamin Downs, have lost their lives by drowning; Benjamin Pearl and Jackson T. Billings, in fell- ing trees; David Coombs, in rolling logs into the Ossipee river; James Coolbroth, by falling from a mill dam; Wil- liam Bickford, by the accidental discharge of his gun ; John Stimpson, by the premature discharge of a cannon ; William Brown, by falling from a frame; Samuel Brooks and Relief Libby, by being burned ; Oliver Stacy, jr., and John Doug- las, by being thrown from their carriages, and, July 8, 1869, Charles William Day, by lightning, the only instance of death from this cause in the town since its settlement. We have had, also, three cases of suicide and one of fratri- cide, the brothers having been residents and natives of York county. Since the first settlement, no unusually fatal dis- ease has been prevalent in town.
TIMBER LANDS.
Had our fathers known the worth of our forest trees, they would have left in these a legacy far exceeding in value all other property transmitted by them to us. The white pine was everywhere abundant, and by them treated as inex- haustible and of but little account; but even during their lifetime, some trees that had, by chance, escaped the general destruction of their fellows, were bought, as they stood in the forest, by ship builders for fifty dollars each. One pine grew on the farm now owned by Gilman J. Norton, meas-
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uring six feet in diameter at the height of three feet from the ground. This tree was cut down and left to decay upon the ground where it fell. Oak, both red and white, of ex- cellent quality, was also abundant, particularly in the south- ern portion of the plantation.
THE FIRST CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS.
The first church (Congregational), composed of members residing in the northern portion of Porterfield and in the town of Brownfield, was organized in October, 1804. The Rev. Jacob Rice from Henniker, N. H., was installed as pastor at the same time. His salary, as agreed upon, was one bushel of wheat per year from each member of his par- ish or other citizen who might be able and disposed to con- tribute to his support. He continued his ministerial labors here until his decease, Feb. 1, 1824, at the age of eighty- three years. For more than fourscore years his health had been unusually good. Upon that Sabbath morning, while preaching in a school-house, the church of the times, he sud- denly faltered, and in a few hours passed from his terrestrial to his celestial home. Mr. Rice was a graduate of Harvard college, a good man and acceptable preacher.
A Baptist church was formed in the southern part of the plantation in 1806 or 1807, during the missionary labors of the Rev. Lemuel Rich of Machias. No record of this church has been preserved, but the following named persons were members at the time of its formation or soon after : David Moulton and wife Dorothy, Meshach Libby, Daniel Knowles and wife Mary, Charles Nutter, Simeon Libby and wife Hannah, Mary Libby, wife of Stephen, James Libby, John Libby, Misses Mary, Jemima, and Sally Libby, Try- phene Mason, wife of John, Miss Nancy Elkins, Jemima Fox, wife of Elijah, Deborah Fox, wife of John, Miss Deb-
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orah Fox, Olive Fox, wife of Edward, and Miss Abigail Fox. They had no settled minister, but were frequently visited by the pastors of other churches. Among this num- ber were the Revs. Mr. Rich, Mr. Locke. of Hollis, and Mr. Kinsman of Limerick. Their meetings were well attended and had a salutary influence upon society.
A Free Will Baptist church was also early formed in this part of the plantation by Elder John Buzzell of Parsonsfield. The following are the names of some of its members at or about the time of its formation : William French and wife Kezia, John French and wife Sally, Jacob French and wife Mary, William Stanley and wife Susan, Bethany, wife of Samuel Hodsdon, Joseph Stanley and wife Eunice, Ruth, wife of John Stacy, Henry Tibbetts and wife Hannah, Misses Lucy and Betsey Brooks, Catharine, wife of Joseph Pearl, and Betsey, wife of John Mason, 2d. This church for many years was without a settled minister, but the mem- bers held their meetings upon the recurring Sabbath, and often listened to the fathers of the church, either at their own place of worship, or at North Parsonsfield. Among these were Elders Benjamin Randall, John Buzzell, Aaron Buzzell, and John Colby. The yearly meetings were held in the spacious old meeting-house at North Parsonsfield, when every neighborhood for miles around was well repre- sented. The amount of good accomplished by this body of Christians was not lessened by the want of a gorgeous church or other tinsel gilding of modern times. The Methodist Episcopal Church here was formed at a more recent period. 4
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HISTORY OF PORTER.
PORTER.
IN February, 1807, "An act to incorporate a part of the Plantation of Porterfield into a town by the name of Porter," passed both branches of the Legislature of Massachusetts, and was duly signed by Gov. Strong, on the twentieth day of that month. By this act the boundaries of the town are thus defined : " Beginning on the north bank of Great Ossipee river, on the line between the State of New Hampshire and the District of Maine, thence northwardly by New Hamp- shire line one thousand and nine hundred and seventy rods to a stake and stones ; thence south eighty-three degrees east one thousand and three hundred rods to a stake and stones on the east line of the Plantation of said Porterfield; thence southwardly by said Porterfield line to Great Ossipee river ; thence up in the middle of said river to New Hampshire line, the place begun at." Its southwestern corner is upon an island in the Great Ossipee river, an island unknown to fame, but of sufficient importance to be a portion of four towns, three counties, and two states of " The Great Amer- ican Republic."
The southern boundary of the new town, the Great Ossi- pee river, is in 43º 43' north latitude, its western boundary, 6° east longitude from Washington, and its distance from the Baldwin depot on the P. & O. R. R. is five miles.
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HISTORY OF PORTER.
TOWN RECORDS.
The first town meeting under the act of incorporation was held March 20, 1807, at the dwelling-house of James Coffin, for the purpose of choosing town officers. At this meeting James Coffin was chosen moderator ; Hanson Libby, clerk ; David Moulton, James Coffin, and Hezekiah Bickford, select- men and assessors; John Stacy, treasurer; and William French, constable and collector. The next day a warrant was issued by the selectmen to the constable, requiring him "in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to warn the male inhabitants of said Porter, of twenty-one years of age and upward, having a freehold estate within the Commonwealth of the annual income of three pounds, or any estate to the value of sixty pounds, to meet at James Coffin's old house, on the county road, on the sixth day of April next, at ten o'clock A.M., to give in their votes for gov- ernor, lieutenant-governor, and two senators." At this meeting James Sullivan had twenty-three votes and Caleb Strong two, for governor. Levi Lincoln had twenty-one, Andrew Fernald, one, and Edward H. Robbins, one, for lientenant-governor. For the office of senator, John Wood- man had twenty-four votes, Joseph Storer twenty-three, Jo- seph Leland three, and Andrew Fernald two.
At the second annual town meeting, held in April, 1808, $200 were raised to defray town expenses, $100 for the sup- port of schools, and $500 in labor and materials for repair of highways. At this meeting the town officers for the preced- ing year presented their accounts for services. The three selectmen charged $38.07, the clerk $1.50, the collector $9.20, the treasurer $2.00; total $50.77. In 1877, the town officers, including the overseer of the town farm, charged for their services $583.20. An article inserted in the warrant for calling a town meeting Feb. 18, 1809, was " To see if the town will vote that all the town charges and
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all the services done in and for said town, shall be paid in produce or some other article short of the money." The subject was referred to the next annual meeting, but was not then acted upon.
The first requisition for a juror from this town was made in May, 1816. On the 20th of that month William French was drawn to attend the United States court held at Port- land. On the same day a vote for separation from Massa- chusetts was passed, yeas 46, nays none. In September following the vote was again taken, and the result was yeas 37, nays 8. This was strictly a party vote, the federalists being opposed to the measure.
From an examination of the records it appears that the town meetings were held in the house or barn of James Coffin until Nov. 2, 1812, when first a meeting was held at the school house in the first school district; and the meet- ings continued to be held therein, generally, until Nov. 1, 1824, when the north meeting house became the town house, and was then for the first time occupied as such. At a meeting held Sept. 20, 1819, William Towle was chosen a delegate to the convention held at Portland to draft a state constitution, and on the 6th of December following a vote was taken by the town on its ratification. The vote was thirty-six to ratify "the constitution of the new state of Maine" to one in opposition. April 5, 1824, it was voted to raise $400.00 for the purpose of finishing the north meet- ing house and to secure to the town the right of holding therein its future town meetings. It was also voted at the same meeting " to give Elder James Sawyer" (then a Free Will Baptist minister) " a call to preach the gospel." A com- mittee of five was raised " to report an agreement how the town should agree with said Sawyer." The committee re- ported " that the town should give him the use of the lot of land Gideon Mason lives on, and the interest of the ministe-
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rial and parsonage lots of land in said town that were sold last summer, with his " giving an acquittance of his right to the land," (320 acres) "he might hold by being the first settled minister in said town." Mr. Sawyer accepted the terms. After the ministerial labors of Mr. Sawyer were finished, the town, by a resolve of the legislature, was authorized to hold in trust the fund arising from the sales of the reserved ministerial and school lands, and required to appropriate yearly its interest for the support of our public schools. In 1827, 1828, 1829, and 1830 $3,000.00 in labor and ma- terials were raised to build the county road from the line of Freedom to that of Hiram. Each man was allowed twelve and one-half cents per hour for himself and the same for a yoke of oxen.
During the last term of President Jackson's administra- tion the last dollar of our national debt was paid, and a sur- plus remained in the United States treasury. This surplus was distributed by congress among the different states in proportion to population. Maine distributed her share among the different towns in the state in the same manner. Porter received, April 19 and May 1, 1837, $2,174.00. At several town meetings after its reception, the surplus reve- nue was a theme of much discussion. Various propositions for disposing of it were submitted to our voters. Finally, April 2, 1838, it was voted "to distribute the town's pro- portion of the surplus revenue as soon as may be." This vote was carried into effect, and each inhabitant received $2.07.
In the warrant to call a town meeting April 7, 1845, is the following article: "34th. To see if the town will in- struct the selectmen to grant licenses to retailers of ardent spirits," and at the meeting it was " voted that the select- men grant licenses to all that nay make application to them to sell spiritnous liquors the year ensuing." This vote, in
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connection with what is now known to be the public senti- ment of the town, shows a great and beneficial change in the minds of our citizens since 1845. Should the same proposition be now submitted to our voters, not one, I think, would publicly approve of like instructions.
By more recent records it appears that the town raised by taxation, for paying soldiers' bounties during the rebellion, the sum of $29,215.40, and for recruiting, $798.00; total by town taxation, $30,013.40. Under the United States inter- nal revenue act, from Aug. 28, 1862, to Sept. 1, 1869, the taxable citizens of Porter were assessed, in consequence of the war, $2,305.02, making a total war debt of $32,318.42.
VOLUNTEERS.
In proportion to population, few towns have furnished more soldiers to defend our institutions and common country than Porter. Six of her residents had taken part in our long and arduous struggle for independence. The war com- menced by the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775, and closed by the treaty of Paris, Sept. 3, 1783.
For the war of 1812 Porter furnished twenty-eight volun- teer soldiers, being nearly ten per cent of the whole number of persons then in town. President Madison's proclamation of war was issued (in accordance with a previous act of congress) April 19, 1812, just thirty-seven years after the battle of Lexington, and the war terminated by the treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814. The battle of New Orleans, however, was fought on the 8th of January following, the intelligence of peace not having then reached Gens. Jackson and Packenham, the American and British commanders.
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