USA > Maine > Kennebec County > Waterville > The centennial history of Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine, including the oration, the historical address and the poem presented at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of the incorporation of the town, June 23d, 1902 > Part 11
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
upon her sons in blue and her sons in gray, went forth upon such a mission as never had been known before since time began. Here was no offensive alliance for gain of lands or treasure, no defensive union for the protection of her own, but as a messenger of the God of nations she went forth to do His will. Recall the myths of earliest times, delve into the legends of prehistoric days, search the records since history began, and tell the world, with proudest boast, if you can find the equal of this philanthropic act of America with which she wrote the closing chapter of our century.
In the environment of this moment we maw well be proud and thankful for what the years have brought to us and to our fair city. Last night the moon shone fair and bright as I passed through vonder walk and paused a moment to contemplate the scene. The hour was late. The fragrant stillness, the lights and shadows, the graceful foliage of the majestic elms, the arch- ing blue of heaven and the perfect verdure of earth formed a picture not soon to be forgotten. From the east came faint sounds of the rushing river on whose banks the tired mill wheels waited a new day of busy, profitable toil for hundreds of our people ; the southern sky, bending closely down upon this stately temple of learning told its vacant halls new secrets of the wisdom of the ages for the earnest student of the coming years ; toward the west I saw happy homes where untroubled sleep held the weary dreamers close to its restful bosom; between me and the northern polar star I saw the church spire standing as a symbol of the moral and spiritual aspirations which characterize so many who have tried to follow the teachings of the gentle Nazarene, and in the midst of all stood that bronze sentinel whose eyelids never slumber. And I said, O city beautiful! surrounded by all the benefits of the century, by the fruits of its invention and pros- perity, by the advantages of every branch of education, by the benison of pure, enlightened homes, by the benediction of the influence of religion, as long as bronze and stone may withstand the action of the elements, so long may every moral, social and material blessing be thine, so long may thy children at home and abroad love and cherish thee, until all are welcomed to that City "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God !"
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
A HUNDRED YEARS. MRS. JULIAN D. TAYLOR.
Who will not love his country-the dear land where he was born? And we who love thee, in our pride today will love thee more- Thou who sitst between the seas, with a hand on either shore; The sunset gold is in thy locks, thy face is toward the dawn, And in thy lap the orchards lie, the vineyards and the corn. Thy mountain heights stand guard for thee; their white crests greet the sun ;
League on league thy forests marshal their serried pines below ; A hundred rivers draw thy streams, rushing sea-ward, as they go With the tribute of thy harvests, and the triumphs thou hast won- Iron fruit of forge and furnace-who hath wrought as thou hast done?
The roar of mighty cities, the din of steel-clad ways that meet, And clang and cross each other thou hearest, night and day,
But thou art harkening to the children, in their school time and their play,
And they grow to fight thy battles and fling beneath thy feet The accursed fraud and falsehood that would mar thy forehead sweet. Thy voice is heard in the Old World; they listen there-and heed ;- "What child of yesterday is this, that bids us all beware? She waxes bold as beautiful; she has strength and gold to spare;" So they forge their guns and build their ships, and are thy friends indeed ; But England laughs across the sea-"Blood tells-we know the breed !" O well it is to dwell with thee, North or South, or East or West, But in all thy pleasant borders, from the mountains to the sea, The valley of the Kennebec is the place where I would be; And here's a little city, dearer far than all the rest,- "Tis her Hundredth Birthday !- cheer her, now,-you who know her best !
You who know how fair her homes are, beneath her summer shade, How many churches lift their spires-how trimly court and lawn With verdure charm the stranger's eye,-how cheerily, at dawn, Bell and whistle wake her echoes,-how Time's magic touch has laid
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
A spell upon her College walls whose memory shall not fade, Look back on the old Teconnet; your Waterville lies there, A cluster of rude dwellings in the clearing by the stream, Where the shining salmon leaps, and the prowling wildcat's scream At midnight scares the settler, in his troubled dream aware Of the dreaded Indian war-whoop, and the burning roof-tree's glare.
Other days, and other lives, now! But many a time since then, In peace and war the little town has borne her part right well; She has her roll of heroes; some who unrecorded fell.
They have passed; but what they stood for, stands. This day we bless the men
Who taught, and toiled. and fought for us, with sword and spade, and pen. They have passed -- as we shall pass! Another century will see The green turf growing over our own unheeded dust ; Well for thee, O little city, if some lives, generous, pure and just, Sow in thee today the seed whose bright harvest then shall be A city's crown of glory-a people worthy to be free !
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MAIN STREET AT ELMWOOD PARK.
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CHAPTER V.
EARLY SETTLERS AND THEIR WORK.
By AARON APPLETON PLAISTED, A. M.
From 1771, the date of the incorporation of Winslow, and earlier, to 1802, the date of the incorporation of Waterville, the history of Winslow includes the history of Waterville. When Fort Halifax was built in 1754 there were no settlers. Under the protection of the Fort and induced by the liberal offers of the Kennebec Purchase Co., people began to come in, but slowly. It is supposed that ten years later, in 1764, there were about one hundred inhabitants. How many were on either side of the Kennebec is not known. At first the settlers would naturally keep within the shelter of the fort, but after the Peace of 1763, between England and France, there was less danger from hostile Indians and the little settlement expanded its borders.
The two portions of Winslow were known as the East Side and West Side, the latter hamlet frequently called Ticonic and, pity 'tis that the name has not been retained. There is a flavor about the Aboriginal name that is wanting in the hybrid French and English word Waterville.
The name of the Falls has been spelled in various ways: Gov. Shirley, 1754, says Taconett ; Parson Smith, 1755, Teuconic ; Gen. Winslow, 1754, Ticonnett ; Col. Montessor, 1760, Ticonic ; Judge Lithgow, 1763, Taconick-Teconnet however appears in the treaty of 1693. The name that was proposed for the town we happily escaped. In 1795 a petition was sent to the General Court by the inhabitants of the West Side praying for a division of the town and praying the new town might be called Williams- burgh, perhaps to honor the first signer, Dr. Obadiah Williams.
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
The first white man known to have any connection with the West Side was Richard Hammond, who had a trading house here in 1660, but "as he was so imprudent as to rob the Indians of their furs" he was killed by them as were Clark and Lake who had a trading house in this vicinity seven years earlier. For a hundred years, until the building of Fort Halifax in 1754, his- tory is essentially a blank. Codman, in his account of Arnold's Expedition, estimates the total population above Georgetown, near the mouth of the river, at 500 in 1775.
The U. S. Census gives the population of Winslow in 1790 as 779, of whom E. A. Paine says 479 were on the West Side. In 1800 Winslow had 1,250, in 1810 Winslow had 658 and Water- ville 1,314. It is probable that Waterville began its existence with about 800 inhabitants and included, besides its present limits, the town of Oakland. In 1791 sixty-three persons on the West Side paid taxes. Ebenezer Bacon, Wm. Brooks and Deacon John Tozier were here as early as 1770. The first had a large farm on the river road on the hill, a little south of the Fairfield line, the latter owned Lot No. 106, according to Dr. McKechnie's plan, where the Elmwood now stands. He prob- ably built the first of the several houses erected on that site. These lots ran from the Kennebec river to the Messalonskee. The next, Lot 105, south of John Tozier, was held by Isaac Temple, north of Temple street. Next on the south, No. 104, by Dr. Obadiah Williams, and then 103, including the water power on Ticonic Falls and the Messalonskee was taken by the old surveyor himself, Dr. John McKechnie.
The first settlers on the river road, beginning at the Sidney line, were Wellington Hamblen, James Crommett, Nathan Lowe, Isaac Stevens, Edward Blanchard, Dea. Thos. Parker, Edward Dillingham, Pelatiah Soule, Jonathan Soule, David Webb, Samuel Webb, Silas and Abijah Wing, William Colcord, Her- bert Moore, Asa Redington, Reuben Kidder and Asa Emerson.
The splendid water power of Ticonic Falls and of the Messal- onskee was early appreciated and was largely the cause of the more rapid growth of the West than of the East Side. Dr. John McKechnie, who surveyed for the Plymouth Co., both sides of the Kennebec from Winslow to Hallowell, built a small saw mill at what we now call Crommett's Mills : another soon after
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
was built near the same place by David Pattee, this, before the greater power on the Kennebec was utilized, though Moses Dal- ton seems to have had a small mill of some kind just above this end of the bridge.
In 1792 Asa Redington and Nehemiah Getchell came from Vassalboro. In connection with the heirs of Dr. McKechnie, who paid half the expense, they built the first dam across the river, essentially on the site of the present Lockwood dam. In August of the same year they had completed a double saw mill.
The building of the dam and the necessity for access to the river made that vicinity then and for many years the center of business. The building of the Lockwood mills entirely changed its topography. Front street then was continued from the present west end of the bridge to the Plains near the bank of the river, with room on the east side of the road for dwellings and shops. The position from the upper Lockwood boarding house to the Plains being the same as now. It is not only the road that has changed but shore and river as well.
A hundred years ago there were two small islands, the upper one, the Healey Island, nearly opposite the Healey house, the lower one, Leeman Island. Now they are of much greater extent and in low water are separated from the shore by a nar- row thread of water where there was a broad and quite deep channel. The shore, south of the Lockwood mills, where now is a thick growth of tall trees and tangled underbrush, a century ago was a scene of life and business activity. All merchandise, not only for this town but for all the country above, came by vessel from Boston or Portland to Hallowell and thence by long boats to Waterville. So Waterville became the distributing center for a large extent of country and its first traders became rich. Many now living can remember those curious crafts, the long boats-long, low, square at both ends like a ferry boat, steered by a long oar, one tall mast with three or four square sails, drawing but little water, they made a not ungraceful pic- ture as with all sails set and a good south wind, they ploughed their way past Fort Point to the landing to disgorge their freight of dry goods, barrels of rum and quintals of dry cod fish to return with the next favoring wind loaded with bark, shingles and lumber. They retained their supremacy till superseded by steamboats in the thirties.
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
Asa Redington came in 1792. He has left this record of houses then existing. "When I first came to this place John Lane lived in a shell of a house on the site where Moor's store- house now (1832) stands, and Isaac Temple lived in another old thing on the site where my workshop now stands, both per- haps worth fifty dollars." The Lockwood covers the sites of both these. "There were also two small houses up street, one where or near where the Wood's house now stands, occupied by Ivory Low and the other one where Lemuel Dunbar now (1832) lives. No other building nearer than David Pattee's house and saw mill now occupied by Mr. Crommett.
The first mentioned was probably built by Deacon John Tozier, the latter was known as the McKim house. In 1792, probably aided by the new dam, something like what we call a boom was started. In that year Dr. Williams built the oldest house now standing. The next year Mr. Redington built for himself a small house somewhat above the present Healey house. Mr. Temple moved from his "old thing" to a better one on Front street, near the city hall. The condition of things a few years later is shown by the following letter written by Reuben Kidder, the first lawyer on this side the river to Moses Appleton, a young physician seeking a place to settle.
WINSLOW, Jan'y I, 1796.
"Dear Sir: Rec'd yours of Nov. 23, 1795, Dec. 20, '95, in which you signify your intention of coming into our vicinity soon to establish yourself in the Profession of Physic. You request a little more particular information-"Whether it be a place of much trade?" Answer: Within 50 rods of my office there are six traders, mostly men of considerable business. Within the same distance 30 buildings, including every kind, have been erected (where not one stood before) within 31/2 years. Several more are likely to be put up soon. Land sells for 2 Dolls. per square rod.
"Is there an Apothecary shop?"-None within 20 miles in any direction and only one within 50 miles that I know of, which is at Hallowell. The stand must be good if any in the county is for an Apothecary.
"Is the Country in that quarter rough, hilly, rocky or other- wise ?"
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
The river roads, above and below, where most of your practice will be, are very good ; from here to Hallowell, 18 miles, there is as good a chaise road as from Concord to Boston, but as the country above is very new, the roads are, I suppose in the spring season, somewhat mirey. We live in quite a level country where stone is hard to be found.
"What is the population of Winslow ?" I should suppose that Winslow has more than 1,000 inhabitants.
Nature has lavished her charms profusely on Winslow; the situation is the most pleasant on the Kennebeck, but don't expect too much; we are an infant country, everything yet appears in the rough.
If you are inclined to settle with us, the sooner the better. I think the stand will not be unoccupied 3 months. Had you been here the three months past your practice within two miles would have been sufficient to support you 12 months, as we have been remarkably sickly.
Dr. Williams is pleased with the idea of your coming and says he will do any thing for you. I shall build an office in 5 months, -I guess you may occupy one end."
R. KIDDER.
This letter seems to have been convincing as the young doctor came the same year.
What was once a thriving and profitable industry has long since disappeared and been almost forgotten. That Waterville was ever a ship building port will probably be news to many. Not only long boats, for home use, but schooners, brigs and even ships, were built, some as early as 1794. The abundance of ship timber close at hand made it possible to build cheaply and orders were received from Boston and elsewhere. The shipyard of John Clark was at the foot of Sherwin St., next above the yard of Nath'l Gilman, then that of Asa Redington and next north W. & D. Moor's built many steamboats. It was necessary to launch them, the sea-going vessels, on the spring or fall freshets ; they were then floated down river to Hallowell or Gardiner, where they received their rigging and outfit and took their place in the commerce of the country, but never to return to the port whence they started.
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
The following is probably a complete list with masters and owners.
1794. Schooner Sally, 92 tons, master, Rillae; owner, John Getchell.
ISO0. Ship Ticonic, 268 tons, master, Geo. Clarke; owner, John Clarke.
1810. Ship Hornet, 214 tons, master Wm. Fletcher ; owner, N. B. Dingley.
1818. Brig Dingley, 106 tons, master, Thos. Jones ; owner, Nath'l Dingley.
IS26. Brig Elizabeth, 182 tons, master, John Sylvester ; owner, Johnson Williams.
1805. Brig William Gray, 156 tons, master, Gideon Colcord ; owner, Geo. Crosby.
1807. Schooner, Ticonic, 123 tons, master, Daniel Smith ; owner, Nath'l Gilman.
1807. Schooner Thomas, 70 tons, master, Levi Palmer ; owner, F. P. Stilson.
1810. Schooner James, 117 tons, master, Gideon Colcord; owner, Jas. Stackpole.
1809. Brig America, 136 tons, master, Wm. Pattee; owner, Peleg Tallman.
1809. Brig Madison, 160 tons, master, Caleb Heath ; owner, Wm. Sylvester.
1811. Brig Hiram, 142 tons, master, Jos. Lemont.
1812. Sloop Aurora, 61 tons, master, Wm. Poole; owner, Asa Redington. -
1814. Francis & Sarah, 290 tons, master, T. S. Winslow ; owner, Rob't G. Shaw.
1824. Brig Gov. King, 138 tons, master, N. Harding ; owner, Nath'l Gilman.
1824. Schooner North Star, 107 tons, master, R. Crooker ; owner, N. Gilman.
1825. Brig Waterville, 178 tons, master, N. Harding ; owner, Johnson Williams.
1826. Brig Lydia, 178 tons, master, J. W. Lamont ; owner, Johnson Williams.
1826. Brig Neutrality, 132 tons, master, R. Crooker ; owner, Johnson Williams.
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
1827. Schooner Brilliant, 82 tons, master, R. Brown ; owner, K. G. Robinson.
1829. Schooner Martha, 89 tons, master, R. Ellis; owner, Russell Ellis.
1835. Brig Wave, 47 tons, master, John Lewis ; owner, J. M. Moor.
After the passing of ship building came the era of steamboats. William and Daniel Moor under the firm name of W. & D. Moor were the leading captains of industry in this line. The first was the Ticonic, built at Gardiner. She made the first trip to Water- ville, June 1, 1832, and was received with great demonstrations of rejoicing.
The Water Witch built by W. & D. Moor in 1842 was the first steamer launched in Waterville. It was quickly followed by others and soon a considerable fleet was plying between here and Augusta and Gardiner. In one season five steamers left the wharf daily. They were flat bottomed, of light draft, with stern wheels, and were of about 42 tons burden.
They prospered until the opening of the railroad to Augusta when the doctrine of the "survival of the fittest" relegated them to other scenes.
In 1890 an attempt was made by some of our enterprising citizens to restore steam navigation on the Kennebec. July 10th thie steamer City of Waterville sailed from Bangor for this port. She has not yet arrived.
Near its close the era of steamboats was marked by a terrible accident. May 23, 1848, the steamer Halifax, a new boat and the finest of the fleet, was making her record trip to Augusta ; on leaving the lock the boiler exploded and six persons were killed and others severely wounded. Of the dead James Hasty, the pilot, and Vedo Micue, fireman, resided here.
In 1802 the only streets were Main, Silver, Mill, Temple and a part of what is now Front street. Main street, where Temple crosses it was little better than a bog with a corduroy bridge over it. From there to Appleton street there was quite a rise; the level road of to-day has been made so by filling twelve or more feet.
On the Plains the only houses were those of Mr. Leeman and Daniel Moor, both near the upper end. The latter is still in
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existence. Of French Canadians, there was then not a single family. Among the first to establish himself here was Peter DeRocher, who built a cabin at the lower end of the Plains, below Grove street in the early thirties. His son Peter carried on the meat business for some years.
It is to be regretted that both space and scarcity of material allow mention of but few of the hardy pioneers who laid the foundation of our good city. There were others as well deserv- ing notice as those of whom imperfect sketches here follow.
JOHN McKECHNIE.
No one of the early settlers was more active and useful and entitled to respectful memory than Dr. John McKechnie. He was a Scotchman, educated as a physician and civil engineer. He came to this country in 1755 1 and was soon employed by the Plymouth Company as a surveyor. His surveys extended from Winslow to Augusta and the titles to property between those cities rest largely on what is known as the McKechnie plan.
He married Mary North of Pemaquid, January 1, 1760. He was lieutenant at Fort St. George under Capt. John North. In 1764 he was at Bowdoinham, in 1771 he moved to Winslow and in 1775 to this side the river. He built a log cabin on the east side of the Messalonskee near the Crommett bridge and also a saw mill on the same stream. He practiced his profession and had charge of some of the sick soldiers of Arnold's expedition, 1775. In 1774 and the three succeeding years he was one of the selectmen of Winslow. He had thirteen children, one of whom, Alexander, is the father of Erastus W. McKechnie who lives on a farm on the road to Oakland, which has been in the possession of the family since 1801.
1. In the possession of Mrs. W. Parker Stewart is an ancient account or pocket book bound in leather. On the first page is written in a very clear hand.
"John McKechnie bought this Pocket Book 1755." The first entry is as follows :
"Scotland, Greenock, July 26th, 1755. This day about 4 o'clock afternoon we set sail in the Crawford Bridge, Captain Cury, commander, bound for Boston, New England, there being 17 pasengers. And landed all in perfect health Sept. 12th thereafter at 7 o'clock at night at the Long Wharf, Boston."
The book records Dr. McKechnie's marriage Jan. 1, 1760 to Mary North, daughter of Col. North of Fort St. George and the birth and baptism of their thirteen children. His account of surveys for the Kennebec Company begins May 15, 1760. Dr. McKechnie cared for a considerable number of soldiers of the Arnold expedi- tion and his hospital record gives their names, ailments and the treatment em- ployed by him.
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HISTORY OF WATERVILLE.
A daughter, Rebecca, married Simeon Tozier, whose daughter married Sumner A. Wheeler, whose son, Sumner Wheeler, is now a resident of this city. A son of Simeon Tozier, also named Simeon, married Miss Pullen. Their son, Horace Tozier, a young man of eighty-two years, until within a few years an active member of the fire department, also lives here. Mrs. Caroline Tilton, daughter of Sumner A. Wheeler, is another of Dr. McKechnie's descendants. Mary, a daughter of Dr. Mc- Kechnie, married James Stackpole, 2nd, long prominent in the life of Waterville. Alexander, a son, married Betsy Roberts and one of their daughters, Mrs. Solomon Kimball, was the grand- mother of Mrs. W. Parker Stewart, (Miss Daisy Marston). A daughter of Alexander McKechnie married Mr. Henry A. Shorey.
Dr. McKechnie died in 1782 and was buried on the south side of what is now called Western avenue, on the rising ground a little east of the bridge over the Messalonskee. This was the earliest burial ground and forty or more of the "forefathers of the hamlet" were there laid to rest.
REUBEN KIDDER.
Reuben Kidder, the first of the long line of Waterville lawyers, was born in New Ipswich, N. H., April 3, 1768. He was grad- uated at Dartmouth College, 1791, qualified himself for the pro- fession of the law and established himself at Winslow in the spring of 1795, not only the first lawyer here, but the first who had ventured so far north any where in the wilderness of Maine. He arrived four days before Thomas Rice, who, disappointed in having been anticipated, went to the east side of the river where he passed a long and useful life. Mr. Kidder married Lois Crosby of Winslow. His two sons, Cornelius and Jerome, went to Boston and became wealthy but he left no descendants resident here. His office was on Silver street where a livery stable now stands. He was one of the selectmen of Winslow, 1798.
Mr. Kidder was a man of abilities and had considerable busi- ness at the bar. He engaged in various speculations, one of which was the establishment of a smelting furnace and a foundry at Clinton, near which was a bed of iron ore. The writer has
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seen a large iron crowbar which was made there. The venture was not successful and the capital invested was lost. In 1816, Mr. Kidder was attacked by the "western fever" and emigrated to New Harmony, Indiana. The move was an unfortunate one and he died the following year, 1817.
ASA REDINGTON.
Asa Redington was born in Boxford, Mass., December 22, 1761. His father, owner and master of a trading schooner, was drowned in the wreck of his vessel when Asa was eight years old. From that time till he was seventeen he worked on different farms in the neighborhood, working hard and getting but little schooling. In 1778 he enlisted in a New Hampshire regiment and served till the close of the war, undergoing the terrible suffer- ings of the dreadful winter at Valley Forge, and witnessing the close of the long struggle at Yorktown.
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