USA > Maine > Waldo County > Brooks > Sketches of Brooks history > Part 28
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JOHN CALVIN ROSE, 1833-1908, married MARY F. BEAN, 1839-1918. MARY A. ROSE, 1835-1921, married HIRAM H. PILLEY, 1834-1914.
ALBERT H. ROSE, Feb. 2, 1837-1921, married EMMA J. CURTIS, 1853- 1914.
NANCY J. ROSE, born April 27, 1839.
VESTA A. ROSE, born August 22, 1841, died 1869; she married LLEWELLYN KILGORE, children, Alfred Erving and Harry Kilgore.
PHOEBE E. ROSE, born February 13, 1843, died March 2, 1912.
SARAH T. ROSE, born March 15, 1845-1912, married ROSCOE G. EDWARDS, 1846-1902.
EBEN PAGE FAMILY
EBEN PAGE, born July 24, 1796, died at Northport, Maine, Feb. 19, 1876. He was married at Monmouth, Maine, March 10, 1824, by the Rev. Samuel Hillman, to Nancy Prescott, who was born at Chester, New Hampshire, Sept. 6, 1795, and died at Brooks, Maine October 3, 1889. Children; Mary A. Page, born at Monmouth, Me., October 18, 1826, married Dr. Joel True Collier at Jackson, Maine, June 19, 1850. Second child Ebenezer T. Page, born at Brooks, Maine, December 1, 1829, died at Brooks, December 30, 1898; mar- ried Mary D. Bray, at Belfast, Maine, May 29, 1853. She was born April 6, 1835, died August 26, 1906. Children; M. Abbie Page, born March 9, 1854; Emily A. Page born October 2, 1856, died September 5, 1889; Ida E. Page, born February 5, 1859. died August 12, 1891; Frank L. Page, born May 25, 1871, died at Brooks, February 20, 1873; George N. Page, born December 14, 1860; Mildred C. Page, born Sept. 22, 1878.
ALMON S. FORBES
It was the good fortune of the compiler of these "Sketches" to have access to a record book written by Almon S. Forbes, who was born at Brooks, August 10, 1818 and died in 1910. The notes are submitted as copied from his record books. They are of the date of June 1, 1902 when Mr. Forbes was eighty-four years of age. In- formation received is that Mr. Forbes was a man of remarkable memory and the information is presented as authentic without any verification. These notes were assembled at the request of the late Marcellus J. Dow to whom this narrative is addressed in the orig- inal notebooks.
MEMOIRS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS
Some Memoirs of the first settlers of the Town of Brooks, Waldo County, State of Maine, by Almon S. Forbes who was born in Brooks, Aug. 10, 1818. It was then a part of Massachusetts and was in Hancock County.
The Roberts Brothers came from Buckfield.
The first settlers who came to Brooks were Joseph and Jonathan and John Roberts who came in 1799 and settled where the village now is and built a saw mill where the first mill now stands, and after they built the mill John carried on the mill and Joseph took up the farm where Joseph Lang now lives and Jonathan settled on the farm where Ralph Ellis lives, later Joseph Roberts swapped farms with Timothy Thorndike for the farm that Charles and I have called the Hawkins farm where I was born 83 years ago and which in 1803 Shadrach Hall came to Brooks from Buckfield and settled where John Dickey now lives and soon after my grandfather Bowen came from Buckfield and settled where Herbert Roberts lived.
Now, I will go back up on the Jackson Road and give the names of the rest of the people on the road to the village as they were 75 and 80 years ago. Dr. Jacob Roberts on the west side of the road above where W. Barker lives. Daniel Edwards where W. Barker lives, John Cates where Mrs. Moulton lives. He sold to Joseph Davis (Davis came from Standish) and settled in Jackson where Joseph Lang lives, Timothy Thorndike and where Lile Bessey lives, Abner Ham lived, Enoch Roberts where T. Jellerson lives and later Willard Roberts, Hugh Grimes where Calvin Rose lives, Obie Hubbs where O. Wm. Lane lives, this house was built by Allen Davis, and across the road where Gordon's stable stands a man by the name of Emmons lived and a man by the name of Ring, where T. I. Huxford lives, Isaac Roberts on the Michael Chase place. He had a potash factory there. He sold to Chase and settled up where James Lowell lives. Robert Thompson where H. D. Roberts lives. He kept a tavern and so did M. Chase and a Mr. Bolter where Hiram Pilley lives and Joseph Sherman where M. J. Dow lives, H. M. Boynton where Elmer Robert lives.
Now I will go on the Monroe Road.
Thomas B. Lane where I. S. Staples lives. Mr. Lowe had a gro- cery back of E. A. Carpenter's house, Joseph Freeman where Dr. A. E. Kilgore lives.
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Alexander Shibles where Estes lives, he was a carriage maker.
A man by the name of Waters where Charles Bowen lives. Isaac Nesmith where the York Hotel is.
Luther Brown lived here before Huxford built the house.
William Huxford where Shadrach Hall lives. He had a saw mill and a fulling mill. The fulling mill and grist mill were where W. H. H. Roberts Mill stands and 56 years ago there was a tannery where W. H. H. Roberts Mill stands carried on by Amos Peaslee. Robert Wharton where the Card place is.
Peter Cilley where L. Cook and Luther Fogg now lives. There were three brothers of the Cilleys came from Buckfield.
Porter Simon and Benjamin Porter Cilley, Jr., where John Cilley lives.
Nathaniel Stimson where Albert Stimson lives.
John Fogg where the Hobbs live.
Luther Work where Will Work; later Henry Johnson lives.
Now I will go to Knox Road.
John Sturges where Ed Holbrook lives now saddler and harness maker.
Jotham Roberts where F. W. Brown, Jr., lives. He was a brother of William and Daniel Roberts.
Jotham Roberts built the house where F. W. Brown. Jr., lives and lived there when I used to go to school at the village when 6 or 7 years old and he had a building where the post office is that he worked in. He was a house carpenter and cabinet maker.
Seth Brown where C. F. Brown lives. He kept a store across the road.
Benjamin Farris where Lot Jones house is.
Daniel Roberts where the George B. Roberts place is.
Henry Morrill by the Styles place. He had a brick yard there and the house was moved to Knox. Ed. Leonard lives in it now.
Enoch Roberts where Jesse Forbes lives after he sold on the Jack- son Road to Willard.
Isaac Leathers settled on the north east of the Brook from Charles and sold to his brother William. He moved the house up where Charles' house stands and sold to Jonathan Lang and settled where F. W. Forbes lives and my father bought of him when I was about 10 years old.
Abner Sawyer, Jr., on the Benjamin Rowe place a few years later. Ezekiel Wells settled on the place where Milton Leonard lives
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soon after the first settlers came and sold to Thomas Sawyer about 1805 or 6. Mr. Sawyer was on Brigadier's Island four years for the proprietors and when he went to look for a farm he had to go up around Frankfort and from there to Jackson by horseback. He told me it took one day to get to Josh Rickers in Jackson and he took two trips before he found a place to suit him.
Enoch Gilman, Sr., settled on the place where E. O. Stantial lives and later Isaac Cilley, R. I. Cilley's father and later still Enoch Leathers, Enoch's and Isaac's great grandfather and Nathan Johnson, Noah's father and Enoch Roberts later and Samuel Rich settled there in 1828.
Ebenezer Williams settled on the Benjamin Ham place and sold to Marshall Davis a year or two before your father bought of Mr. Cram.
Daniel Roberts sold at the Village to Silas Jones, Sr., and settled on now a part of the Ham place.
Joseph Cram settled on the farm that your father, John M. Dow, bought about 70 years ago. (1844).
Thira Roberts settled on the Thayer lot about 60 years ago and Enoch Leathers lived on it before him, Benjamin's father.
On Sprout Hill.
There were two men who cut and cleared up two farms. It in- cluded a part of yours, (Dow farm) and the John Jones farm and the William Gould farm about 1803. Their names were Thing and Clapp. Mr. Thing's house was where the John Jones house stands. Mr. Clapp's set on the hill East of where the old road went and it laid a pasture common until the Jones' of China bought it a few years before Tobias Jones bought the west side of the road. They used to drive cattle from Frankfort up on Sprout Hill to pasture 75 years ago. I remember seeing them when I was a small boy, go by our house in droves.
Now I will take up the road from the village over the Page Hill.
Luther Jones, Sr., lived where George Miller now lives and tended the grist mill. After John Roberts sold out and went to Ohio he left two of his boys here, the late Sylvester Roberts of Stockton, Maine, and Emerson, a younger brother. Emerson later went to Ohio with his folks. They sold the mills to Ebenezer Page when he came to Brooks about 1830. He also bought the farm on the hill called the E. Page farm. He bought that farm of Benjamin Cilley, the Cilley's grandfather who settled on it about 1802 or 3. And Mr. Jones sold his place to Solomon Bolton who tended the grist mill for Mr. Page and Mr. Jones bought the place that George B. Roberts owns.
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Benjamin Farris lived on the place where Albert Rose now lives. Joseph Havner lived on the place where Isaac Leathers now lives. Joseph Scribner lived on the place where William C. Rowe now lives.
Thomas Cram lived up side the hill on the place that Joseph Stimpson owns and later Robert Thompson used to make bricks, for years, where his barn stands.
William Doble lived on the other side of the road that A. E. Chase owns.
Benjamin Cilley settled on the Eben Page place.
Phineas Ashman settled on the place where Mrs. Frank Ames lives. He came from Mass., and was land agent for the proprietors for many years.
John Matthews settled where Joseph Ginn now lives.
Simon Cilley up the hill on the west side of the road on the. farm that Joseph Ginn now owns. Peter and Benjamin and Simon were brothers and came to Brooks from Buckfield soon after the Roberts brothers came.
Darling Cilley settled on the place that Roscoe Jones now owns.
Calvin Fogg settled on the farm between Darling Cilley and J. G. Reynolds that William O. Jones now owns.
William Clary settled on the place where William O. Jones and Mrs. Collier now live.
A man by the name of Bartlett lived where Isaac G. Reynolds now lives. I think he sold to John Lane when he came to Brooks.
Samuel Jones, Daniel's father, settled near where Charles Austin lives on what is part of I. G. Reynolds farm.
Benjamin Rowe settled on the place where Charles Austin now lives. He was one of the first settlers in the town of Jackson but did not stay long before moving to Brooks.
William Reynolds settled on the farm where Henry Reynolds now lives.
Samuel Reynolds on the farm on the hill between Henry and the Daniel Jones farm.
William Cilley settled on the place, and Daniel Jones later, where John Bowden lives.
Oliver Jones settled on the place where the late James M. Clary lived. After he sold the farm to Mr. Clary, he worked for Amos Peaslee in the tannery where H. H. Roberts' mill now stands and later went out west to Kansas on the cross road. West of Mr. Clary's were some other settlers that I will give.
James Hamlin settled on the place where Lorenzo Jones now lives. Benjamin Rowe lived there after Israel Jones. Israel Jones settled
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on the farm where Samuel Elwell now lives and sold to S. Elwell.
Jacob Randall on the farm that Amos Gibbs bought when he first came to Brooks and later sold to Charles Austin. Mr. Randall was one of the carly settlers.
Nicholas Hamlin settled on the place where Albert Wentworth now lives and later sold it and built on the west side of the road. He was one of the carly settlers.
Daniel Clary settled on the farm where Arthur Payson now lives. He was one of the first to come to town after it was settled.
James M. Clary first settled on the place where Augustus Payson now lives.
Now I will go down to Joseph Ellis.
A man by the name of Perry lived there 80 years ago. My father went down there and built him a turning lathe and turned chair stuff for him and I have some of his chairs now that are more than 75 years old stronger and better than you can get now. Mr. Perry sold to Joseph Ellis, Sr., and Stillman Leathers some 70 years ago.
John Clary settled on this place before he settled on the place where Freeman Ellis now lives. He was Leonard and Frank's father.
On the place where Eben Prime lives is where Ezra Hanson's father settled. I think his name was Paul Hanson. He was one of the early settlers.
Nicholas Jeffords settled on the place where Benjamin Cram's family lives.
Andrew Randall on the place where Decrow lives.
Norred Grover settled on the place where James Gibbs family lives.
Mark Warran and Emerson Cilley on the farm where John Gibbs now lives.
Charles Piper and Samuel Foss 2 settled up in there about the same time.
Amos Gibbs, after he sold to Charles Austin, settled where Charles Dickey lives.
Richard Morgan settled on the Gideon Bradley place and sold and went to Wisconsin about 1856 or 57.
William Dwelley settled on the place where James Grover now lives. Gilman Curtis who lives in Waldo, lived here after Curtis.
Lucius Curtis settled on the farm where Leonard Rowe now lives.
Woodbury Edwards settled first and sold to Masters Edwards; set- tled on the farm where Frank Quimby now lives.
Benjamin Rowe settled on the farm where Samuel Reynolds now lives.
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Thomas Cram, Sr., settled on the Dudley Stimpson farm. He was Mrs. Miller's grandfather and was Joseph Cram's father that your father bought your farm of. He was one of the early settlers.
Nathan Wiggin settled on the farm that Mr. Emmons owns. He settled in 1809.
Nathaniel. Wiggin settled on F. W. Lang farm. I do not know who owns it. He came here in 1809.
Joseph S. Lang's grandfather settled on the farm where Frank Gibbs now lives soon after the Wiggins settled here. They came from Sanborntown, New Hampshire.
Abner Sawyer settled on the place where Noah Johnson's family lived in 1844 and moved from there to Searsport in 1850.
John Parsons settled on the Nathaniel Evans place in 1852.
Woodbury Edwards settled on the place where Daniel Dickey lived about 1840 and sold to Jacob Staples about 1853. It included the Penney place.
Isaiah Stevens settled on the place where William Roberts lives.
Rufus Robinson settled on the place across the road from William Roberts called the Philbriek place.
John Small settled on the place that Eben Prime owns beyond William Roberts. Those four came to Brooks about 1833.
For East Brooks.
Franklin Roberts settled on the farm where A. R. Boley lives called the Prime farm. About 1835 Prime bought of Hamlin Roberts.
Joseph Roberts, Jr., settled on the Eben Littlefield farm where Joseph Littlefield lived about the same time.
Eben Elwell settled on the place where Otis Elwell lives.
Jacob Elwell and Leonard Rowe settled on the farm where Mont Davis lives, later Eleazer Littlefield lived on it.
Reuben Allen lived on the farm where Horace Elwell now lives.
William Bowen, Sr., settled there first. Caleb Rowe settled on the farm where W. N. Crosby now lives, later Timothy Thorndike lived on it and he sold to Eli Littlefield.
George Fogg settled on the place where Amerene Sanford lived.
Ezekiel Wells settled on the place where Percia Clifford lives. Af- ter he sold to Thomas Sawyer soon after Brooks was settled.
My father came to Brooks from Buckfield with Shadrick Hall in 1803. He was seven years old then. When Joseph Roberts came to Brooks in 1799 he was left with his uncle Shadrick who was his mother's brother. My father was born July 24, 1796. His mother's maiden name was Margaret Hall of Buckfield.
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Joseph Roberts' boys' names were; Dr. Jacob Roberts, Isaac Rob- erts, twins, Gilman Roberts, Enoch Roberts and Joseph Roberts, Jr.
The girls were; Hannah Young, Tabitha Roberts, Esther Hamilton, Sirrey Cates, Lavina Bowen and Sarah Hall.
Second family. One lost, died. Benjamin, John, Alfred J., Timo- thy, Nathan, one lost between those, Mary, Winslow, Rufus, Charles. He had 24 children in both families.
I have missed one road up over the Gould Hill.
There were two brothers, James Roberts, and I think the other was Samuel. He was William's grandfather and his boys' names were; Jonathan, (William and Almon's father), Samuel, (Gilman's father who lives in Waldo), Seth, Horace's father. Josiah was Jonathan's father who lives in Waldo. They all settled up on that cross road. Watson was Alpheus' father who lives on the home place.
James Roberts settled in Waldo near where James Harding lives. He had but two children.
. George Fogg's first wife and Eli Roberts and I think Gordon's wife's grandfather. I used to know her father when he was a little boy. I used to work for her great grandfather.
William Gould settled on the Gould Hill about 1835. He came from New Hampshire.
Gilman Roberts settled on the farm where Scott Godding now lives, about 1810 or 1811.
The place where Frank Rowe lives, his father lived there and died there. His name was Franklin Rowe and his son has lived there since.
On the place where Freeman Ellis lives John Clary settled. After he made way with himself, Leonard Rowe married his widow and lived there quite a number of years until they separated. Then Jos- eph Bray lived there. Mr. Clary was a brother to Daniel and James M. Clary. He used to drink hard. Finally he became deranged and left home and went into the woods and was looked for for a number of days and when found was near Eben Littlefield's, in the woods under the roots of a tree partly blown over. One of the men who was looking for him was passing by the tree and heard a gurgling sound that drew his attention, and looking under the tree saw him with his throat cut. He probably thought they had found him and cut his throat.
I will give some of the names of the people that lived on the places first settled in the village and around it, and others that lived on them before you can remember.
Where the hotel now is, Isaac Nesmith lived. He was a black- smith and his son, James O., lived there until he died and then
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T. I. Huxford had the place and sold to George B. Briggs and he to Mr. York.
Where Shadrach Hall lived the Browns settled later. William lived there and built a saw and grist mill, carding and fulling mill.
Thurston used to tend the grist mill.
Harry E. Huxford and T. I. Huxford.
. Esther lived there some years before he sold to Thereon Verney and went on to the Savoy place.
Later Amos Peaslee, a Quaker, bought the mills, built a tannery and ran it a few years then sold the saw. Amos Peaslee put in a shingle machine to A. S. Roberts and his brother Winslow ran it a number of years and made boots and shoe shanks. Then the build- ings all ran down and the dam went off and it laid idle a number of years. Alvin Varney bought the house and farm ..
The Dr ... Libby place .so-called, a man by the name of Waters lived there when I was a small boy and later Alexander P. Nesmith lived there, and later Carver P. Nesmith, and still later Thomas P. Scribner. He built the house that stands there. I worked on it when I was about 20 years old.
The place where Isaac S. Staples lives and where Thomas R. Lane lived, I used to go to school when I was a small boy 6 or 7 years old. Mrs. Lane used to teach the school and her sister in their house and Mr. Lane ran a tannery for years beside the stream back of Carpenter's house, and his sons, Erastus and Wesley ran it for some years after their father died. I think they sold to I. S. Staples, he sold to Henry O. Dodge, it was to Allen Davis, he to Dodge and Dodge. The house was a one story house. He built on another story and lived there until he moved to Belfast, afterwards sold to I. S. Staples.
Where Dr. Kilgore lives, the house that was moved when that house was built, was built by Joseph Freeman, and later Edwin Bea- man, who kept store in Brooks for quite a number of years and built the store that was burned, went from Brooks to Belfast and died there.
The next to trade in the store was what was called the Company Store. It was formed in Thorndike with such men in it as Elder John Whitney and Files and many others. They got quite a number of members into it in Brooks, and moved it to Brooks, and Reuben Files and Nelson Whitney had charge of it for a while. Nelson Whit- ney was the son of John Whitney. They lived in that house. Old Dr. Jacob Roberts was a member of the company and after they ran it a few years they sold out to Hamlin Roberts and Wellington
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Roberts, two of the doctor's sons and they lived in the house, and along in 1839, Emery Mellen lived there and when Dr. James Coch- rane came to Brooks about 1842, he lived there, and after him- . Varney, and then the widow Mellen lived there a number of years.
The James G. Morse place, Alexander Shibles lived there and later Carver Nesmith, and later George A. Columbus.
. The house where you live (on the Northeast Corner of the Square) was built by Joseph Sherman, an uncle of the late Daniel Jones. I cannot tell you all the families that have lived there. I will give a few of them. Ebenezer Page came here and bought the mills, sąw and grist mill, ran the saw mill some years, and then built a new saw mill. I worked in them some four or five years when he bought the farm of Benjamin Cilley on the hill. He moved up there and a Mr. Deering came to town and moved into the house. He was Elder Isaac Deering's father. He had a large family. Then Reuben Deer- ing, one of his sons, lived there, and later Wellington Roberts. That was when he traded here, 1837, 1838.
In the winter of 1839 and 40, Charles Roberts lived there, and there, I think, in March 1840, Emery Mellen lived in the Post Office Building in 1839 and 40. He built that for a house and lived and died there. He was a cabinet maker and I worked for him in the winter of 1839 and 40.
After Wellington, Dr. Ezra Manter and is brother Eleazer bought the place and Eleazer lived there when he died and his widow a number of years after his death, and when she died she left it to two of her nieces and they sold the place to Charles Elliot of Knox, he, to the Monroes, they, to you.
The place where H. H. Pilley lives, a man by the name of Botter, built the house and lived there when he left Phineas Ashman, Esq., moved from the Page hill and lived there. He was postmaster and kept the post-office there for quite a number of years. He was there in 1840 and in the thirties, and later in 1846, Woodbury Davis and Timothy Thorndike lived there. When Davis left town he sold to H. H. Pilley.
Where Calvin Rose lives, when I was a boy six or seven years old. Mr. Hugh Grimes lived and my father worked for him a while and learned the wheelwright trade when he was a youngster, later Mr. Isaiah Bean came from Belfast and lived there, and later his son, A. D. Bean lived there.
Where T. I. Huxford lives, Elder Samuel Whitney lived before I can remember, when I was 6 or 7 years old, and went to the village
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to school. A Mr. Ring lived there. Elder Whitney was delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1819, first Representative 1820 from Brooks, again in 1821, Senator 1822-1823, and 1824, Member of the Governor's Council 1825 and 1826. When he left Brooks he went to Thorndike and lived there. After Mr. Ring left I do not remember until Timothy Thorndike lived there. He sold to Amos Busby who built the tannery in 1846. I do not remember who lived there after, until T. I. Huxford's folks after his father died. When he died they lived on the H. H. Seavey place. He built there after he sold to J. A. Varney the old place where Shadrach Hall lives.
Where W. S. Jones lives, when I was a boy 6 or 7 years old and went to school at the village, Isaac Roberts lived there, made potash he sold to Michael Chase. He kept a public house for many years.
Where W. H. H. Roberts lived 80 years ago, Robert Thompson lived .. "He kept a public house before he came to Brooks. Later, Moses Varney lived there, later Rufus Roberts and later I. S. Staples.
Where Elmer Roberts lives, H. M. Boynton lived, as long ago as I can remember. He kept a hotel for many years. That little place where the barn is, always went with the stand, and later Henry Rich lived there and traded in one part of it. Later, Nathan Hill lived there. He kept a public house and used to be hauled up for selling P. and P. Later, John Garland.
Where E. C. Holbrook lives John Sturgis built the house. I re- member when he built it, he was a saddle and harness maker. When he left he went to Thorndike and bought a farm and died there. One of his sons lives in Troy, New York. His name is Joseph Sturgis.
Later a Mr. Clark lived there for quite a number of years. He came from Prospect, Maine, and later, 1845, Loren Rose lived there, later Francis Thorndike and a Mr. Clark who went to Minnesota when Franklin Thorndike, Nathan C-, Thomas Horn and others went in 1854, and later Gilman Roberts who used to live on the farm where Scott Godding lives and who used to live on Charles Bowen's farm on the Hall road and on the place where James Jewell lives.
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