USA > Maine > Penobscot County > Old Town > Sketches of the town of Old Town, Penobscot County, Maine from its earliest settlement, to 1879; with biographical sketches > Part 8
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joy her flirtations unmolested. Morgan lost his prisoner, and Sterling, in looking up his horse, forgot that his wagon needed mending.
SAMUEL WADLEIGH.
One of the land marks, and a perfect monument of labor ; no one ever toiled more industriously or continuously ; quaint in speech, and rough in manner, one would at once recog- nize his burly form clad in uncouth costume, as he went trudging along through the world, alike indifferent to its jeers or its commendations. In winter he wrought in the woods, and in the summer season rafted lumber at the mills. One August day, with the thermometer at ninety degrees in the shade, he was at his usual employment, in company with Thomas Mitchell, who enquired what the weather was to be on the morrow. " Wal," says Sam, casting a scrutiniz- ing glance around the sky, " to-morrow is Friday ; it will be fair or foul-elsewhere it will rain." Thomas was entirely satisfied.
D. H. FAIRBANKS.
Doctor, came here about 1820, as a laboring man ; was a self-taught physician, and used roots and herbs extensively in his practice, and yet he is said to have effected some won- derful cures. Ira Wadleigh was sick at the Penobscot Ex- change, and was given up by his attending physician. As a forlorn hope, Dr. Fairbanks was called in, and his first mo- tion was to put the patient into a warm bath ; it worked like a charm, and the patient rapidly recovered. Wadleigh ever after held the conviction, and maintained that Fairbanks saved his life.
He was the first Jackson man in town, and was fond of spouting politics, at which he had quite a gift. Getting into
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a controversy with Isaac Smith, he wound up a tirade of de- nunciation with the following exordium : "Shrink back into your original nothingness you d-d tortoise, and swear that you never was !"
DANIEL J. PERLEY.
Physician ; made his advent here in 1824, and was held to be a learned man and an able practitioner. There was con- siderable of the belligerent in his composition, and he lost a large amount of property in law suits with Dwinel and oth- ers. He was considered at one time to be worth $50,000. Says the doctor, one day, "Mrs. Weed, when disease in all its multifarious forms and phases, comes in contact with Dan- iel J. Perley, it encounters an all-powerful, all-conquering antagonist."
JAMES C. BRADBURY.
Doctor ; became a citizen of Old Town in 1825 ; had large practice, and gained a wide reputation for skill as a surgeon. During the rebellion he was one of the State board to exam- ine candidates for admission into the service as surgeons. He was engaged in a small way in local land speculation.
Lamos used to tell this story of him: At one time in per- forming a surgical operation, he had occasion to lay down his knife, and seeing no convenient place, stuck it into the fleshy part of the man's leg; the pain of the cut caused the man to wince, and he protested against that rough kind of usage. The doctor looked at the matter thoughtfully for a moment, and then, as if roused from a reverie, said, " That was rather rough," but added in a consoling tone, " Never mind, it will get well before the other wound."
A surgical operation upon the arm of Joseph Inman, ob- tained a wide celebrity. The large bone was sawed off just
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below the elbow, and was so fractured as to be shortened about three inches, leaving the small bone protruding above the elbow ; this bone had to be cut off to make it correspond in length with the other, and a new socket formed ; the oper- ation proved successful, and the arm got well, but with a stiff joint. The doctor reported the case for the Medical Journal. A lecturer in Philadelphia, upon the power of nature to restore itself, quoted the report, accompanying it with the remark, that he understood that the gentleman who performed the operation was present in the audience.
JAMES TEMPLE.
Doctor; a Scotchman, and a learned man, with a bright prospect of future usefulness ; he was here about 1830, and after a few years stay, laid him down to rest in yon church- yard.
JOHN TEMPLE.
Doctor ; came here to settle up his brother's estate, and re- mained here some fifteen years in the successful practice of medicine ; fell a victim to consumption, and was laid beside his brother by the ministering hands of the Odd Fellow fra- ternity.
NIRAN BATES.
Was a practicing physician ; came here about 1835, and re- mained some dozen years ; had a fair amount of practice ; he was too conscientious to kill a patient by experimenting in doubtful theories ; was engaged to a limited extent in local land speculation in connection with J. C. Lovejoy. In his medical practice, he was a very strong advocate of careful di- et, claiming that a great many of the ills of life owed their origin to a want of care in the kind and quantity of food that
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people used. He wound up an argument upon the subject : " Of all the heterogeneous masses of indigestible compounds, O, mince pie, thou art the cap sheaf ! "
CHARLES FORTIER.
Was a Canada Frenchman ; came here about 1845, and died here. He had a large medical practice, and although he stud- ied in a medical academy in Canada, he was to a great extent ostracised by regular physicians as not being a regular grad- uate; notwithstanding, he was a very successful practitioner, and had the confidence of his patients, by his habit of telling them the properties of the medicine he gave ; and no doubt many of his cures resulted from that fact, by keeping the mind of the patient engaged watching the effect of the med- icine, and drawing it away from brooding over the aches and pains of the physical system. Would that we had more doc- tors of like practice.
AMOS M. ROBERTS.
Was here in 1825, and engaged in trade to some extent in the firm of Bartlett & Roberts. He was one of the commis- sion to purchase of the Indians, their four remaining town- ships upon the West Branch. He lived in the house next south of Hiram Smith. There are several large elms upon the front of the lot, some of them more than two feet in di- ameter; in 1829 he brought them all at one time upon his shoulder from Grass Island, and set them out there. He moved to Bangor in 1832, and afterwards became president of the Eastern Bank, which position he held to the day of his decease, in 1879. He was extensively engaged in the lumber business, and was one of the few successful ones. HENRY RICHARDSON.
Made his advent in the town about 1830; kept a small
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shop on the lower side of the road, opposite D. McCulloch. In 1833, in connection with A. W. Kennedy, erected the Richardson & Kennedy block, where he traded for many years ; was Selectman, Indian Agent, Senator, and a member of the Governor's Council. Before his decease he had accu- mulated a respectable competency.
GEORGE O. BRASTOW.
Came to Old Town in 1838, and traded for a time in the Richardson & Kennedy block. He erected a fine dwelling on the spot now occupied by D. N. Estabrook, Esq. He had a young clerk to help him fix up the store, in anticipa- tion of the arrival of his stock, and sent him to see if the goods had arrived on the train. The clerk looked around the depot, until he was satisfied in his mind, being too proud and self reliant to enquire ; he returned to the store, and re- ported that " there was nothing there for Mr. Brastow, but there was a large lot of freight marked 'gob,'" (G. O. B.) not once dreaming that those letters were the initials of his employer's name. Becoming in time embarassed in his busi- ness, some of the Boston creditors sent their demands down here, and a young Milford attorney made a writ upon them, and shut up his store. Brastow was a genial, open-hearted boon companion, and all the boys liked him, and they at once took the notion that the proceedings were an insult to them ; so they brought out the coffee-mill fire engine, and gave that attorney a shower bath that saturated him from head to foot, and which he no doubt remembered as long as he lived. That attorney died in a bath room. Brastow af- terwards moved to Massachusetts ; was in the legislature, and for several years held the office of Mayor of Somerville.
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LEVI YOUNG.
Came here about 1830; was boom master while Veazie owned the boom, and had one of the most happy faculties for managing a crew of men-never at a loss, or hesitating-and if he had any doubt as to how a thing should be done, his appearance did not indicate it, and no one was aware of it. He was in trade and lumbering business for many years, and could pull the strongest oar of any man with whom I was ac- quainted ; how many a race have we had in going to or re- turning from the boom. He went to Ottawa, Canada, where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber, sending it into the States by the way of Lake Champlain. His friends now es- timate him to be worth half a million.
RICHARD H. BARTLETT.
Was a merchant, in company with Daniel Davis, and was largely engaged in lumbering, mostly in company with An- drew Griffin. He was a genial but somewhat reckless sort of man; one time, at the tavern at Sunkhaze, he treated the company to cigars, and lighted his own with a two dollar bill. He moved from here to Brewer, and in after life became a teetotaller. In his last sickness, his medical attendant pre- scribed brandy, knowing his constitution had been broken down by his former intemperate habits-but he refused to use the stimulant, saying he had been a drunkard long enough in his life-time, and was bound to die a sober man-and he did so, maintaining his pledge to the end of his days.
DANIEL DAVIS.
Was a brother of Jackson Davis, and came here soon after him. Went into trade with R. H. Bartlett, and did some lumbering. One large operation in pine lumber was manu- factured and sent to Boston, and brought but $4.50 per M.,
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which hopelessly failed the operators. Being of a very sen- sitive nature, it broke him down, so that he never went into mercantile business again. He was an excellent explorer in the woods, and found frequent employment in that line. One time, up in Aroostook county, on a dark and cloudy day, he and his companion became satisfied that their compass was wrong ; supposing it might have become disarranged by local .or metallic causes, " they took the way that pleased thein- selves," and after traveling for a long time, came out at a place twenty miles from their destination, and found, too late, that the compass was right. Uncle Daniel, in telling the story, remarked that he never after that undertook to hold a controversy with a compass, but took what it said with implicit faith. One time he and another man were propelling a batteau up the Mattawamkeag stream ; they came across a tree leaning down near the water ; uncle Daniel dodged un- der the tree, and was pulling the boat along, when he heard some one halloo behind, and looking back, saw his companion hanging to the leaning tree, which he had seized hold of, in- stead of dodging under. The last years of his life he was employed about the boom, as a scaler. His venerable widow still survives, apparently cheerful and contented, although to- tally blind, waiting with patience for the summons hence, where she may join her old time companion.
ISAAC SMITH.
Acted for a time as mill agent for Dwinel ; he was a very large, well formed man, active and athletic, and at times liked to exhibit his personal prowess. At one time he got into a fight with John Neptune, in the Dillingham store, but John, with the Indian power of endurance, was too much for him, and had not uncle Daniel interfered and so effectually
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as to break two or three of John's ribs, Smith would have fared badly. He was extensively engaged in lumbering, and was fond of entering the political arena, where he liked to ventilate his windy eloquence. On one occasion, in a polit- ical discussion, he accused his opponent of misstating a his- torical fact, and wound up a well rounded period with this climax, " When he well knew that Mahlon Dickenson was Vice President of the Senate, pro tem." As may be sup- . posed, his opponent was literally squelched. He was some- what noted for his brilliant orthography ; one of his corres- pondents he addressed as, Jephphertion Cinqueleigh, and the letter went direct.
JAMES PURINTON.
Was here as early as 1825 ; he was a stone mason by trade ; he erected the house now owned by Mrs. Annie McCrystle, in 1828; the wall on the south side of the lot, still stands, showing that it must have been built by a workman. After a few years, he went into teaming, and subsequently into lumbering, and traded and speculated some. He had a power- ful physical organization, with uncommon strength in his arms and hands, and was very fond of amusing himself at the game of pinch, and the men were scattering that he could not vanquish at that kind of exercise-but one day he got more than he bargained for ; he fell afoul of James Dra- per, who happened to have in his hand a bullet mould, which he used upon Purinton's arms most unmercifully, and for once Purinton had to yield, but not until his arms were black and blue from the jaws of the bullet mould, he being all the time ignorant of the powerful aid enjoyed by his an- tagonist.
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JACKSON DAVIS.
Was the first commissioned Justice in this place ; he pur- chased the land and mill property of Mr. Winslow, and came here to dwell in 1806. There was no carriage road between here and Lower Stillwater, and his wife came from Bangor on horseback, bringing John Tabor, then an infant, a little more than a year old, in her arms. He was theologically a Quaker; and there are a few of the older inhabitants who remember his Quaker garb and language. He was a gener- ous, kind, and liberal man, ready to assist any man that he believed worthy of his confidence, but, withall, a strict disci- plinarian, as illustrated by his method of punishing John Ta- bor, who had the misfortune one day to dull the old gent's axe upon the ledge near the Veazie block. He made a circu- lar chalk mark upon the edge of the ledge, and directed Tabor to cut out all of the ledge enclosed in the circle-remarking as an admonition, that "if thee wants to cut the ledge, thee shall have enough of it to make thee remember." John Ta- bor showed me the place where he cut out the ledge, which distinctly remains at this time, although one side has been partly broken down. He was very kind hearted to the indi- gent and unfortunate, and especially so in visiting the sick and cheering them with words of hope and encouragement. Thomas Hunt delights to tell of his ministrations, when lying upon a bed of sickness, so much reduced by fever as to be unable to move hand or foot ; looking at Thomas, he said in his kindly and confident way, " Thomas, they say thee is go- ing to die-but I say thee is not going to die." The encour- agement did Thomas more good than all the doctor's medi- cine, and he did get well. When John Neptune was nearly killed in his fight with Isaac Smith, and was carried over to
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the island in an insensible condition, then near night-fall, Davis went over to see about him. He was met on the shore by some of the natives, who in their excited condition said he must not come upon the island, but he said in his firm, kindly way, " I shall go"-and he did go, and worked upon Nep- tune the most of the night, when his labors were rewarded by the returning consciousness of his friend. Toward morn- ing Neptune opened his eyes, and in a short time regained his faculties, and seeing Davis said, " You here ? Suppose you no come, me dead man." By good treatment and such acts of kindness he won the good opinion of the tribe, and in 1821 was very properly appointed one of the agents of the tribe. He sold his land and mill property, and it has been claimed by some that there were appearances of improper in- fluence in the transaction. From that time he began to de- cline, and lived but a short time.
THOMAS BARTLETT.
Was a Justice, and did considerable business in that line, being by his judicial turn of mind eminently fitted for the po- sition. He was one of the Selectmen of Orono for eight years, and was commissioner with Roberts, for the purchase of the last four townships of land from the Penobscot In- dians. He was somewhat indolent in his habits, and in his latter days became quite misanthropic, and to a great extent shunned active intercourse with society. He was a Democrat in political affiliation ; attending a caucus, some of the pro- ceedings of which did not meet his approbation, he remarked "that such action did violence to the Democratic party." He erected the dwelling on Water street, now owned by his son, Geo. H. Bartlett.
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AARON BROWN.
Did a large amount of Justice business, and yet did not have much of the public confidence. In a trial before him, Henry Morgan was a witness, and swore loud and long ; the judgment, however, went against his testimony. Speaking about it afterwards, he asked the Justice what he did with his testimony. Brown replied, "The truth is I did not believe a word you said." He was quite proud of and quite a stickler for the honors of his official title. He was once solicited by Albert Smith to subscribe for a paper, which he concluded to do, and told Albert to write down his name; Albert proceed- ed to do so; Brown, looking on, nudged his elbow, with the remark, " Put on the title." A man by the name of Bowman got into a fighting scape, and was arrested for assault and battery; he posted off in company with the officer to see Brown, and asked him if it was necessary for him to have counsel. Brown replied-no, he should fine him only two dollars, and counsel would do him no good. Two dollars was the usual fine imposed by him, which he seemed to consider as a perquisite, as none of it was ever known to reach the hands of the County Treasurer.
He at one time had a warrant returned before him, against a man for taking by force a younger sister from a house where he thought she ought not to be. The circumstances were such as to arouse a considerable feeling in the community, and when the time for the trial arrived, the " Old Cradle of Liberty " was filled to overflowing. The proceedings com- menced; Cony appearing for the defence. Brown, seeing the excited state of the people, did not feel like taking the responsibility of conducting the examination alone, so rising from his seat, and assuming his most extra official air, says,
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" Mr. Officer, search diligently, and bring hither George P. Sewall or John H. Hilliard, to act as counsel for the State." In accordance with the order, " Uncle Asa's " specks disap- peared from the scene, leaving no one to keep order, and no- thing to entertain the audience. Cony took the warrant and carefully looked it over, and was about to return it to the Court, when Asa Rowe said, " Let me look at that warrant." Taking it in his hand, the contents seemed to be more than he could comprehend, and after looking it over for a while, he thought he would take a smoke to clear his faculties ; so producing a long nine cigar, he took up the candle from the desk of the Court, to light it by, but by some curious freak, his breath, instead of inhaling, went out, and out went the candle, and in one second of time every candle in the room went out ; like Burns' dance of witches, " In an instant all was dark."- Pat, pat, pat, went something against the wall in the immediate vicinity of the Court, hearing which the Court squatted down behind the desk, to avoid being hit. The Court was adjourned, " nolens volens," and the warrant was consigned to "the tomb of the Capulets," never more to be seen. The crowd dispersed, and as the Justice was wend- ing his way homeward, in no enviable state of mind, and had got as far down as the "Codman House," where his friend Albert Smith, commiserating his unfortunate " contretemps," asked him to step into the bar room and imbibe something, which proposition he very gladly complied with. While the beverage was in process of concoction, Smith noticed some yellow stuff upon the Justice's coat, and says, " What is this upon your coat, Squire ?" After a due examination into the matter, they came to the conclusion that it was the remains of some eggs that had been maliciously and disrespectfully aimed at the dignity of the Court; but the Justice, under
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the soothing influence of the liberal potion which he had im- bibed, remarked, " that inasmuch as the eggs were not rot- ten, he should not take it as an insult."
WILLIAM JAMESON.
Was here as early as 1828; he bought and run a tannery for several years. In 1832, engaged in mill business at Up- per Stillwater, and went extensively into the lumbering busi- ness, both hauling and manufacturing. Upper Stillwater owes much of its growth and prosperity to his labors and in- vestments, although he was the target upon which constant attacks were made by his neighboring villagers. He was a man of the most unflagging energy and persistent determina- tion. When once he had made up his mind to attain an ob- ject, he pursued it with never yielding pertinacity, and in the end he always won. No matter how often or overwhelm- ingly he was defeated, he made no ado about it, but in si- lence began again his work with the same hopefulness, that in time met its reward. An illustration of his character is found in his successful efforts to have roads built from Up- per Stillwater to Bangor and Hudson, accomplished only af- ter years of hard labor, and against the most violent and de- termined opposition. He erected the commodious dwelling now owned by Joshua Buck. At one town meeting there was an article in the warrant for at least the tenth time, to see if the town would raise money to build the Kirkland road, and there was a fair prospect that it would be adopted. At this juncture in the proceedings, Thomas Mitchell, in his quaint style, said " he started to go through on the route with the engineer ; that the party lost their way, but finally came out to the Pushaw stream, where he constructed a raft, and came floating down the stream." And of course the ar-
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ticle was passed over at that time; and yet, in time, the road was built, and the first year thereafter the town was more than paid for the outlay by the reduced price of produce brought to this market.
CHARLES D. JAMESON.
Born in Old Town ; son of Wmn. Jameson, whom he suc- ceeded in business, and exhibited uncommon faculty therein. Delighting in military matters, he rose to the command of a regiment which volunteered as an organization in the late rebellion, and was known as the "Second Maine." He re- mained in the service after the two years term of enlistment of the regiment expired, and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. At the battle of Fair Oaks he was in command of a brigade, and his command went nigher to the city of Richmond than any other portion of McClellan's ar- my-and he declared that he would have been in Richmond in less than two hours had his command not been recalled ; as it was, he had the satisfaction of being so near the rebel capital that he had a full view of its church spires and tur- rets. He was the Douglass candidate for Governor of Maine several years, and was a prominent actor in the Charleston, S. C., convention, which nominated Mr. Douglass for the Presidency. His slender constitution was not competent to withstand all the demands made upon it by his active ener- getic life, and his remains now lie in the cemetery at Mount Hope.
IRA WADLEIGH.
Came here in 1816, with his brother Jesse, and they were partners in all business transactions up to about 1855; and what is said of Ira will apply to the firm. His first business here was blacksmithing, at which he was very expert, and
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followed it for several years. He opened a hotel, which he kept in a building on the south-east corner of the Roberts acre, and the cellar remains there yet. He built a more com- modious house in 1823, (burned in 1874,) which became known as far as lumbermen and land speculators were scat- tered ; he remained the landlord until 1834, when he leased the stand to one Rogers. He was extensively engaged in lumber business, and somewhat in land speculation and mill business. He was the first Postmaster in this village, and retained the office until he leased the tavern to Rogers. He moved to Massachusetts in order to carry the suits with Vea- zie into the United States Court, when Richard Dearborn was appointed Postmaster. He accumulated a large property by his various employments. He furnished most of the means to build the Episcopal Church, to an amount exceeding $5,000, and afterwards sold his claim to the Bishop for $500, reserving only two of the most eligible pews ; he was some- times hasty in his remarks ; at one time he had a crew of men up river, upon a drive of logs, and by some neglect or mismanagement hung it up, and when he heard of it, he re- marked " men who would act in that way, ought to work for a sheep's head and pluck a day, and be cheated out of their pay at night. " Some person seized upon the story, and for selfish ends made a great ado about it. He was once offered $7,500, for his boom privilege in front of lots No. 19 and 20, which has since passed out of the hands of his successors for less than two thousand dollars. He married for his first wife, Theodosia Grant, who was just the woman for a land- lady in those times; possessing courage and physique of a man, she was imbued with all the gentle and lady like virtues which constitute the true woman. Jesse Wadleigh married
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