Saco Valley settlements and families. Historical, biographical, genealogical, traditional, and legendary, Part 19

Author: Ridlon, Gideon Tibbetts, 1841- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Portland, Me., The author
Number of Pages: 1424

USA > Maine > Saco Valley settlements and families. Historical, biographical, genealogical, traditional, and legendary > Part 19
USA > New Hampshire > Saco Valley settlements and families. Historical, biographical, genealogical, traditional, and legendary > Part 19

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).

ELDER TRISTRAM JORDAN,

THOMAS SVMONDS,

DEA. EPHRAIM JEWELL,

STEPHEN PEARL,

JOSEPH WATSON,

MIAL JORDAN,

ASA INGALLS,

DANIEL LOWELL,

ISAAC BERRY, JR.,

THOMAS PINGREE,

PARSON PINGREE,

FRANCIS MCKUSICK,

EPHRAIM JEWETT,

WILLIAM JEWETT,

HENRY BERRY,

JAMES HARNDEN,

SAMUEL WHIDDEN,

JOHN WHIDDEN,

DANIEL HILL,

GEORGE LORD,

JACOB FROST,

PAUL GRAY,

JOHN CRAM,

SILAS SNOW,

THOMAS BOSTON,

DAVID WIIIDDEN,

RICHARD WIHIDDEN,

WILLIAM WHIDDEN.

FOUNDERS OF BROWNFIELD.

Gen. Daniel Bean was one of the early settlers of Brownfield, who stood in the front rank among the active business men. He was born in Lim- erick, and came to this new plantation when scarcely twenty-one years of age.

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After marriage he settled upon land purchased in the wilderness, living in a cabin containing two rooms. For about ten years be cleared land and lived by cultivating his crops by day and making shaved shingles evenings with which to purchase his groceries. At the end of this time he disposed of his farm and moved to the site of the present village, where he engaged in mer- chandising in company with an old friend, Gen. James Steel, who prior to 1800 was the prominent business man in town. He was a man of much public spirit. who took an active part in town affairs and filled nearly all the municipal offices. In 1827 he represented the classed towns of Porter, Hiram, and Brownfield, in the Legislature. He became early interested in military affairs and was rapidly promoted from captain of infantry to the rank of brigadier general : resigned in 1826 and devoted his attention to trade, milling, and farming. In 1846 he sold out to his sons, Sylvanus and Eli. General Bean was an old-time Whig of the Henry Clay stamp. He was a zealous Free Soil man, and an earnest advocate of temperance from the time of the Wash- ingtonian movement to the end of life. During the war of the Rebellion he was active in his support of the Union and outspoken against the secessionists. The Copperhead element in town sought to intimidate him by burning down his buildings: the loss was severe, but did not have the desired effect. As a true patriotic citizen he advocated what he believed to be right without fear or favor. He died May 15, 1873. (See portrait.)

Latteaster Hodges, a colored man, born in Danvers, Mass., Jan. 31, 1771, came to Brownfield early in life with a family named Jacobs. When the family left town, in 1798 or 1800, Lancaster found a home with the Gib- sons until a short time before his death, in May. 1878, at the patriarchal age of 107. He was the only person of his race in town until 1865. "Lank." as he was familiarly called, was a general favorite with all the people in town. and to all the dances and country "rinktums " he was invited to be guest. He was an expert spinner of wool on the Quaker wheel, and Eli B. Bean, Esq., has a nice coat for which he spun the yarn; it was woven by the wife of Gen- eral Bean. He was the owner of a few sheep that were kept for him by the farmers. He was skilled in all kinds of domestic work, and made himself useful; was an honest, trusty man. During the last fifty years of his life his eyesight failed him and he finally became blind; but he could travel to any part of the town without a guide until rising ninety. He kept his room with scrupulous neatness, and after becoming blind used to ask others to come in and inspect it to see if any dust had accumulated there. He had a distinct recollection of seeing the sokliers starting for Lexington, and of seeing the dead and wounded brought to Danvers. The portrait in this work was pro- duced from an original taken after he was more than a hundred years of age. and was paid for by selling duplicate copies in town; a perfect likeness.

LANCASTER HODGES.

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FRYEBURG.

Gen. Joseph Frye served in the expedition against Louisburg, and was commander of a regiment at Fort William Henry, on Lake George, in 1757. As a reward for his sufferings and eminent services the General Court of Massachusetts granted him the privilege of selecting "a township six miles square on either side of the Saco river between the Great Ossipee and the White Mountains, anywhere within those limits where he should not interfere with previous grants."

For a guide to assist in exploring this region he selected Capt. William Stark. To gain a view of the surrounding country tradition makes them climb the eminence since called Stark's hill. The following lines, taken from a poem intended to describe the scene, are worthy of perusal :

"The valley in its unshorn glory spread Far, far beneath them, while the Saco led Its mazy wanderings onward now, now turning. Like some coquettish girl, roguishly spurning, And then, be sure, encouraging again The awkward suit of some poor blushing swain.

* One forest all unbroke, save where the sight Fell on Chocorna's crags or Kearsarge's heights, Or where the silver lakelets gleamed in their summer sheen, Or the dewy meadows glistened in their robes of green."

Colonel Frye selected the territory mainly comprised in the township afterwards named in his honor. The grant was made March 3, 1762. One sixty-fourth part was set apart for schools, the church, and a settled ministry, respectively. The northwest corner of the township proved to be in New Hampshire, and when the discovery was made the General Court made good the loss by the grant of an equal number of acres (4, 147) on the north, called "Fryeburg Addition." This latter tract included the Cold river valley and was incorporated as Stow in 1834. A tract cut off from Brownfield was added to Fryeburg, and the extreme length from north to south was made twelve miles; from east to west, seven miles.

The township was settled with remarkable promptitude. The same year of the grant pioneers came in with their cattle from Concord, N. H., and commenced preparations for the establishment of homes by cutting away the forest and the erection of log-cabins where the village now stands. From the natural or wild meadows they found a supply of hay for their cattle. From this occurrence the settlement was dated 1762. When cold weather came on the married men returned to their families, leaving their live stock in the care of Nathaniel Merrill, John Stevens, and one "Limbo," said to have been a "darkey." This winter could not have been very lonely, since herds-

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PLANTATION AND TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENTS.

men from Falmouth and Gorham kept about two hundred head of cattle and a dozen horses on the great meadows near.

In 1763 the settlers came with their families. Others followed and sat down on the site of the present village, then known as the " Seven Lots." On their journey through the wilderness, sixty miles from any white settlement, the women rode on horseback; they encamped in the forest almost unsheltered save by the overarching foliage and star-studded dome. The winter of 1766 was marked as one of suffering from destitution. Some of the settlers made a journey of eighty miles on snow-shoes to Concord and hauled provisions for their families the whole distance on hand-sleds. After the next spring's planting was done four men went down to Saco for supplies, expecting to return in two weeks. They did not come back as anticipated, and the families assembled at the home of Major Osgood to consider their fate. Fearing that they had been waylaid, it was decided to send forward two men as a searching party. Just at this moment some quick ear caught the sound of their paddles on Lovewell's pond, close by, and as it was a light night all hastened to the water-side. Joyful was the meeting. The men had worn the skin from their " shoulders by the heavy burdens carried

The town was incorporated by the name of Fryeburg, Jan. 11. 1777, in the perilous time of the Revolution.

A meeting-house was built and the Rev. William Fessenden settled with a salary of forty-five pounds, to be increased five pounds per annum until it reached seventy pounds, when it became fixed. This was to be paid for the first six years of his ministry in Indian corn at three shillings per bushel, and rye at four shillings. Schoolhouses were built in 1784. At one time three forts, built of stockades, were standing in the town.

There are numerous ponds and streams in the town, forming several con- siderable tributaries of the Saco, which here runs in the form of a great loop thirty miles in length. Saco pond, now Lovewell's, has an area of two square miles, and is a beautiful miniature inland sea. The broad intervales on the banks of the Saco at Fryeburg are noted for their extent, richness, and beauty. Nearly 10,000 acres of this valuable land is frequently covered with fertilizing deposits by the inundation of the river which causes it to produce an enor- mous burden of grass. The old town is also noted as having been the home of the Pequawket Indians, and the battle was fought here between them and ('apt. John Lovewell, an account of which may be found in the chapter on the Sokokis Indians. Fryeburg village, situated on a level and elevated plain, is one of the most beautiful, quiet, and restful in the country, and has become a popular resort for the city folk. Population of town in 1880, 1.633.

Freshets ou the Saco. - From a diary kept by Lieut. James Walker, an early inhabitant of Fryeburg, we make some extracts relating to freshets on the Saco. Under date of May 13. 1814, he says it rained three days and

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nights, pouring down like torrents. On the 15th the intervales were all covered, the water rising four feet during that day. It continued to rise until the 18th, and reached the highest point known at that season. It swept almost every- thing before it. Nineteen saw-mills, two grist-mills, and four dwelling-houses were known to be carried off, besides the bridges, logs, and other property. May 20, 1819, he enters the statement that the water is the highest since 1814. About the middle of October, 1820, he writes of the greatest freshet " I have ever known since I lived in Fryeburg." In Bartlett and Conway the loss of sheep was estimated to be 3,000, besides cattle and horses. Feb. 10, 1824, he writes : " This day and night there was a very great fall of rain; it produced the highest water I have ever known. I have lived on the farm about 25 years and never knew either of the bridges to go off before. The bridge over the main stream was carried off by the ice ; also the canal bridge, which cost $1,000, was carried down the stream." Feb. 15th the ground was nearly bare. August, 1826, he writes of the most powerful and destructive rain he had ever known. The intervales were covered; the highest banks of the river, at the Island, were one and one-half feet under water. In Conway and Bartlett the river rose to the greatest height for forty-two years. Lieutenant Walker writes: "I have lived on the farm at the Island 27 years and I never knew the like before. I calculate it has destroyed 500 tons of meadow hay and grass in this vicinity, and as the crop of English hay was cut off by the extreme drouth, cattle must be killed or they will starve before spring." April 4. 1827, he records that five inches of rain had fallen and two bridges were carried away. May 26th he states: "I never knew so much rain and the river so high for so long a time since I lived on the farm, which is 28 years." May 3, 1843, "Extra freshet; highest for 29 years, which was in 1814; the next highest was in 1827."

FOUNDERS OF FRYEBURG.

Gen. Joseph Frye, the grantee of Fryeburg, was a son of John and grandson of Samuel Frye. At the outbreak of the Revolution he was called to Cambridge to assemble and organize the patriot troops. He was made a brigadier by the provincial Congress, then promoted to a major-general, and stationed at Falmouth. He left the service in 1776, ostensibly on account of poor health, but it was rumored that some difference with General Washington caused him to resign his commission. Two sons were officers in the service, Joseph, as captain, Nathaniel, as lieutenant. The hearing of the latter was lost at the battle of Monmouth.

Nathaniel Smith .- In the summer of 1763, this man made his way through the wilderness with his family, and may be appropriately designated the first settler in the township. General Frye granted him a lease, jointly with his wife Ruth, of one-half of a lot during their natural lives, free of rent,

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PLANTATION AND TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENTS.

Sept. 23, 1765. " for and in consideration of the good-will and affection I have and do bear to my friend, " etc. His son Jonathan was killed in Montgomery's unsuccessful attempt to take Quebec. When asked what message he would send to his parents he said: "Tell 'em that I wish I could live to whip the (lamned Britishers."

John Evans, descended from a Welsh ancestry, came to the township in November of 1763, in company with his unmarried brother and several others. He had spent the summer in clearing land. While on their journey they camped in the woods, and in the morning found themselves nearly buried in snow. The women rode horseback from Concord, N. H., when there were no settlements between Sanford and their destination ; no bridges across the streams. At the fording-place at Cornish the water of the Great Ossipee was very high and they had but one high-posted horse that could carry them over without swimming. Mrs. Evans remarked that in crossing she sat on the horse " the strongest way." When all had been safely landed they encamped on the river bank. Mr. Evans located where the village now stands, and his son, C'apt. William Evans, who died at the patriarchal age of 90, was the first white male child born in the settlement. The members of this family were noted for longevity. The mother was a sister of Col. Thomas Stickney, who was a hero of Bennington, and was a woman of great resolution and endurance.

Maj. Samuel Osgood, who led the pioneer party through the wilder- ness, settled on the site of the old Oxford house. Here stood the first tavern, which was the centre and rallying point of the settlement. Lieut. James Osgood erected the Oxford House in 1800. This became one of the most noted and popular public houses in the country, and is still held in remem- brance by many who sat at the genial fireside. Among the numerous descend- ants of Major Samuel was the Rev. Dr. Osgood. for many years a pastor in Springfield, Mass. The Osgoods have an honorable history.

"Squire" Moses Ames was one of the pioneers of the settlement established on the site of the present village. He was selectman and repre- sentative to the General Court. He was one of the first board of trustees of the Academy, had supervision of the building when erected, and "watched the driving of every nail, and saw that not one was wasted."

Jedediah Spring, descended from John and Elinor who came from England to Watertown, Mass., in 1634, was an officer in Capt. Jonathan Brown's company, at Lake George, in 1758. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Saltmarsh, came to Fryeburg in 1763. He removed across the river to Conway. His numerous descendants in Brownfield, Saco, and Portland, have been noted for their business energy and public spirit.

Capt. Timothy Walker came into the settlement in 1765 and occupied the lot first taken up by John Evans, and traces of his cellar were to be seen not many years ago. He built a saw-mill and grist-mill at the outlet of Walker's

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pond. In Rev. Paul Coffin's journal of his missionary journey to the settle- ment, in 1768, he mentions the forty acres of corn, grass, and English grain, all very rich, found on Captain Walker's farm. He wrote that two or three tons of hay were grown to the acre, and that his improvements were surpris- ingly large considering that the work had been done in three years. Many of the Walkers were remarkable men. Lieut. John was an old forest ranger, a soldier at Fort William Henry, and afterward at the fall of Quebec. He was noted for his gigantic proportions and commensurate physical strength; was a consummate boxer and wrestler, who championed all the members of his com- pany or regiment. Ezekiel Walker lived near Bear pond and was the first inn-keeper licensed by the town.

Col. David Page came in 1765. He had been one of the "Rogers Rangers," and was wounded in the service. He was a prominent man in the settlement ; became a magistrate.

David Evans, a brother of John, came into town, a single man, in 1763, and two years after took to himself a wife. He was one of the settlers on the "Seven Lots" which formed the nucleus of the village.

"Squire" Nathaniel Merrill came with the preceding and was also unmarried until 1765. He had also been a "Rogers Ranger"; settled on one of the "Seven Lots"; was a man of prominence in the plantation and a competent surveyor.

Lieut. Caleb Swan came in 1766 from Andover, Mass. Sailing from Newburyport, he and a companion landed at Saco, and thence forced their way up the river along the old Indian trail, driving three cows, a yoke of oxen, and a horse. Two nights were passed in the woods with but little shelter. They crossed the Great Ossipee on rafts. The lot drawn by him was in the lower part of the town, but he "pitched" at the rapids. He was a graduate of Harvard and distinguished himself at the college. He was an officer in the French war; a man of strict integrity. His wife was Dorothy Frye, sister of the Colonel.

DENMARK.

This town was incorporated Feb. 20, 1807. About two-thirds of its area was taken from Brownfield and the remainder from "Pleasant Mountain Gore," containing about nine thousand acres granted by the General Court of Massachusetts to Fryeburg Academy, and a tract one mile square called Fos- ter's Grant." This was within that territory known as the " Pequawket coun- try." The town lies on the eastern boundary of Oxford county, with Fryeburg on the north, and is eight miles long and six miles wide from east to west. A large part of the area is water, there being several large ponds from which the issuing streams afford ample power for the various mills. All streams are tributary to the Saco river. There is a group of mountains, consisting of eight

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elevations, some ten miles in circumference, the highest of which is known as Pleasant mountain, whose summit is estimated as 2,000 feet above the sea. There are two other peaks, called Boston hills, near the western boundary. A remarkable cold spring pours forth its clear water near the road to West Denmark. The lands are very broken and full of stones, and the pioneers had courage like a diamond drill to dig out their farms here. There is enough granite in the stone walls of this town to build a temple like Solomon's or a citadel like that at Quebec; and to build these miles of indestructible fence there must have been many aching backs and bleeding fingers.

FOUNDERS OF DENMARK.

Daniel Bostou, from an old family of 'Scottish extraction in York, was the first settler in that part of Denmark taken from Brownfield. He cleared land and built his house not far from Saco river on the southwest side of the eminences called the Boston hills. His only highway was the river, by boat in summer and on the ice in winter. The ground proved to be frosty and he "pulled up stakes " after a few years and removed to Hiram, and in the his- tory of that town a more extended notice may be found.

Ichabod Warren, a native of Berwick, was one of the earliest to settle in this plantation, in the western section. His son, Licut. Ichabod, born in town in 1774, married Jane Mcintire, of York, who was born there the same year, and had issue, twelve children. He died in 1819. Eleven children lived to adult years and were respectable and prosperous. (Sec Warren Genealogy.)

Cyrus Ingalls, a native of Andover, Mass., born in 1768, with his wife, Sarah Barker, of the same town, came to this plantation before 1800, and built the first mill in town on Moose brook. He was the first justice of the peace and held town office nearly all his days ; was delegate to the convention in l'ortland, in 1819. to frame the state constitution, and was the first repre- sentative to the first Legislature, held in Portland in 1821 and 1823. (See Ingalls Genealogy.)

Maj. Elias Berry, one of the most prominent settlers of Denmark, came from Middleton, Mass., where he was born in 1767. His wife was Jane Stiles, from Andover, Mass., where he began life. His residence in Denmark dated in 1792, in which year he opened his clearing, on land since called "Berry's hill," and the farm is now owned by the town. He came from Ando- ver in 1794 with an ox-team, his goods, wife, and three children being on the sled. and was eight days on the road. He built the first two-storied house in town, and in it was a hall where the early settlers met for dancing and other entertainments. He was an active business man and held important offices in town; served in the General Court of Massachusetts and in the Maine Legislature; died in 1850.

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PLANTATION AND TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENTS.

Thomas Pingree was a native of Rowley, Mass., where he was born in 1771. His wife was Phebe Alexander, of Henniker, N. H. He came to town in 1800 and cleared land in the southern section; built a house, and in 1802 he moved his wife and six children to his plantation. He cultivated an exten- sive farm, all of which was enclosed by about a thousand rods of wall, nearly all "double." He died in 1848, and his fourteen children were all married and had issue at the time of his decease. His brother, Parson Pingree, came in 1805 and cleared a farm one mile east of the mills. His son Jasper was father of Hon. Hazen Pingree, now the distinguished mayor of Detroit, Mich. (See Genealogy.)

Thomas Symouds, an early pioneer of the town of Bridgton, settled in Denmark in 1794. He was a native of Danvers, Mass., where he was born in 1761. His wife, Rhoda Knapp, was from Dedham, Mass. These had a numerous family.

Jonathan Saunders came into town before ISoo. He cleared a farm, and built his house in the eastern section of the town; the farm is now owned by Horace Gore. He was born in Billerica, Mass., in 1750, and died in 1831. (See Genealogy.)

Dr. Joseph Benton, descended from an old English race of some dis- tinction, came from Fryeburg to Denmark and practised medicine there as an able physician nearly a quarter of a century. He died in Baldwin in 1838, aged 76 years. His son Alfred, born in Westmoreland, Conn., 1788, married Sally Knapp Symonds in 1809, and came to Denmark with his father. He was a man of superior intelligence, who had served as enlisting officer in the war of 1812, and drew a pension. (See Genealogy.)

Obediah True, an old Revolutionary pensioner, moved into town in 1813-14; was born in Sanford in 1756. He enlisted after the battle of Bun- ker Hill at the age of nineteen; served under General Wayne at Stony Point, and under Gates at the capture of Burgoyne's army. After a three months' furlough, he traveled to Portsmouth on foot, took passage for Boston, was captured the first day out by a British cruiser and carried to England, where he was confined in Dartmoor Prison until the close of the war. He came home by way of France. Although advanced in life he hated the " Britishers " so much that he enlisted in the war of 1812, and served to the close of hos- tilities. He died in 1844, aged 89 years.

Lieut. William Davis, from Westmoreland, N. H., born in 1782, with wife, Clarissa Carlton, from Mt. Vernon, N. H., came to Denmark about 1808, and cleared a farm east of the Corner, where his grandson resides. He was an officer of a company sent to Portland in September, 1814. He was a good citizen who served faithfully in municipal offices; deacon of the Congrega- tional church for a long term of years, and constant in his religious duties; died in 1851.

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John P. Smith, born in Newmarket, N. H., in 1785, came early to Cornish. His wife was Nancy Gray; removed to Denmark about 1812, and cleared a farm at the locality known as " Jordan's Corner." He was a teacher, lumber speculator, and a farmer, who acquired a handsome estate for the time. He was a citizen of honesty and was called to fill the town offices; a pillar in the Orthodox church, who did much to sustain religious services in town. He died in 1841. (See Smith Genealogy.)

CONWAY.

The territory embraced in this town was originally a part of that extensive tract of indefinite boundary called the " Pequawket country." The charter of the township was granted by Gov. Benning Wentworth, Oct. 1, 1765, and comprised 230,040 acres with an addition of 1,040 acres for roads, ponds, mountains, etc. The township is six miles square. AA part of this tract had been included by mistake in the grant to General Frye, and was disconnected when an accurate survey was made. The town derived its name from Henry Seymore Conway, commander of the British army at the time of incorporation. The land was divided into sixty-nine equal shares, and each grantee or his representative was required to plant and cultivate five acres of land within five years for every fifty acres his claim contained. It was also ordered that before any division of the land was made a one-acre lot should be reserved for each grantee near the centre of the township. Each proprietor was to pay annually, if demanded, one ear of Indian corn in the month of December for ten years; after that, one shilling proclamation money for every hundred acres. Two shares of 500 acres were reserved for Governor Wentworth, one share for the support of the gospel in foreign lands, one for the church of England, one for a settled minister, and one for schools.

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Saco Valley settlements and families. Historical, biographical, genealogical, traditional, and legendary, Part 19

Author: Ridlon, Gideon Tibbetts, 1841- [from old catalog] Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Portland, Me., The author Number of Pages: 1424

Author: Ridlon, Gideon Tibbetts, 1841- [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Portland, Me., The author
Number of Pages: 1424