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 8
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Some incidents of 1864 will indicate how closely Waterville was in touch with the army. Charles R. Shorey was promoted to be Ist Lieut. Co. A, 20th Maine. Geo. S. Scammon recruited a company for the IIth Maine and went to the front as Captain. September 24, 1864, the body of Henry E. Tozier of Co. I, 8th Maine, was brought home and buried with Masonic honors. Of him Col. now General McArthur said: "We have lost a brave and true man, there was not his superior as an officer in this regiment."
June 19, 1864, Capt. William A. Stevens was shot at Peters- burg and lived only an hour. To his brother Edwin he said, "Tell the friends at home that I died thinking of them and that
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I died calm and happy." Two months later that brother, Sergt .- Major Edwin C. Stevens was killed in the battle for the defense of the Weldon Railroad.
At home the loyalty of the citizens was shown in many ways. A soldiers' Aid Association was formed August 28, 1861 with Mrs. G. D. B. Pepper as president ; Mrs. C. E. Hamlin, vice- president ; Mrs. Edward Hawes, secretary; Mrs. S. Hoag, treasurer.
The town was liberal in the matter of bounties, giving at the rate of $100 in 1862 and of $500 for three years' men, July 18, 1864.
March 14, 1864, a concert by local talent was given in the town hall for the purpose of starting a fund for a soldiers' monument. At a second concert, The Soldiers' Monument Association was formed with Geo. A. Phillips as president ; William A. Caffrey, vice-president ; Daniel R. Wing, secretary ; Geo. L. Robinson, treasurer ; and Jones R. Elden, E. G. Meader and C. M. Morse trustees. Annual membership fees were placed at one dollar each for males, and fifty cents for females. When the member- ship fees did not come in rapidly enough, committees made a canvass for members. Thus in 1875 the committee consisted of Col. F. E. Heath, Dr. Atwood Crosby, P. S. Heald, Miss Florence Plaisted, Mrs. L. A. Dow and Mrs. C. G. Carleton. The association continued its work until, with an appropriation of $1,000 by the town,1 it obtained funds sufficient to secure the beautiful bronze statue of the "Citizen Soldier" by Milmore which adorns Monument Park. The town, March 13, 1865, granted the use of the park as a site for the monument which was dedicated May 30, 1876.
During the war, the college also had seen dark days. The class of '62 was the largest which the college ever had graduated. Many wore the soldier's uniform, some to be distinguished soon by the soldier's heroic death, some to render long and important service in life's work. Richard C. Shannon became distin- guished in the army rising to the rank of colonel. His affection for the college is witnessed by the Shannon Observatory and Physical Building, his gift in 1887. Another of the class was Edward W. Hall, so long professor and librarian at the college.
1. The town gave an equal amount for a Soldiers' Memorial at West Waterville.
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So many of the students entered the army and so many were kept at home by the war that the classes almost reached the vanishing point. The funds also were very low. Commence- ment Day, August 10, 1864, President Champlin announced that Gardner Colby of Newton, Mass., a former resident of Water- ville, had promised the college $50,000 on condition that $100,000 additional be raised. This secured the continuance and the enlargement of the college.
A Sunday school convention held here in 1865 is remembered as the first appearance in Waterville of Samuel Osborne. He had come north with Col. S. C. Fletcher of the 7th Maine. He bore at the convention a banner with the couplet "A man's a man for a' that," a sentiment which by long and faithful service to the college he has proved to a succession of classes and to the public generally. In the same year Dr. James H. Hanson returned to the great work of his life at the institute, though meanwhile he was to fill a very important place in the church and the com- munity.
The Waterville Mail declared, in 1865, that the "business of the village is slowly working up town." To the casual visitor it was not apparent that it was working in any direction. The magnificent water power of the Kennebec was contemptuously turning the wheels of one saw and one grist mill. As late as 1867 S. L. Boardman in his "History of Kennebec County" says of Waterville: "The East village is celebrated for its beauty ; the West, (Oakland) for its business." On account of the large development of the manufacture of scythes and axes by the Dunns and others at West Waterville, this was true and the prospect of growth in the western part of the town seemed much brighter than it did here. Some, however, had confidence in the future of this village. The Unitarian church was built at a cost of $17,000 and dedicated September 4, 1866 with a sermon by Rev. Edward Everett Hale of Boston. The quick charity of the town appeared when, on the news of the great fire in Portland, a meeting was held, $1,448.75 was raised and sent by special mes- senger to the Mayor of Portland. This gift to Portland may seem small in comparison with the gift of Hon. Josiah H. Drum- mond, Mayor Frederic E. Boothby and many others but it shows our kindly disposition toward the Maine metropolis.
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The college class at commencement numbered five, but when we note that one of the graduates was F. W. Bakeman and an oration for the Master's Degree was given by William Penn Whitehouse, we discern the quality of the college work.
Rival caucuses in which the West village was unanimous for Abner R. Small for Representative and the East for Reuben Foster, indicated something beside the perfect harmony of the ideal town.
For some time it had been apparent to the wisest business men of the place that the day of the old minor industries of Water- ville was past. Something on a new and larger scale was neces- sary or the town would never increase. Quietly a new move- ment was made. The leading spirit in it was George Alfred Phillips, long a prominent and progressive citizen of the town. The water power and shore rights along the Kennebec were owned by about fifty proprietors. Upon this property, at great labor, Mr. Phillips secured options. February 6, 1866 "The Ticonic Water Power and Manufacturing Company" was char- tered by the Maine Legislature, with authority to carry on general manufactures. Its members were D. L. Milliken, N. R. Boutelle, T. W. Herrick, C. R. Mathews, C. R. McFadden, E. G. Meader, . A. A. Plaisted, Nathaniel Meader, E. L. Getchell, E. F. Webb, Solyman Heath, G. A. Phillips, J. W. Philbrick, I. S. Bangs, Samuel Appleton, W. B. Arnold, E. R. Drummond, James Drummond and J. P. Richardson. G. A. Phillips was made treasurer and perfected the purchase of the bonded property. In 1868 the Lockwood Dam1 across the Kennebec was built and power leased to Smith & Meader for a lumber mill and to D. L. Milliken for a grist mill. Over $125,000 of local capital had gone into the enterprise and the great industry for which prep- aration had been made was not yet in sight. The price of stock fell to a very low figure.
In 1873 Reuben B. Dunn, who had had large place in devel- oping the manufacturing at West Waterville, bought a controlling interest in the stock of the Ticonic Company. In 1873 plans for a cotton mill of 33,000 spindles were accepted and Mr. Dunn
Note. At the Firemen's Muster, Lewiston July 4, 1866, the Ticonic Ones of Waterville took first prize, a silver trumpet.
1. The Dam was built by Mr. Thomas I. Emery, and was completed Nov. 14, 1868.
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with his sons Willard M. and Reuben W. began the construction of the mill. Mr. Amos D. Lockwood became interested in the project and the Lockwood Company was formed. The first cloth was woven in February, 1876. The plant was increased in 1882 by the erection of mill No. 2 with a capacity of 55,000 spindles. Such was the origin of the Lockwood Company, a company which now employs about 1,300 hands with a pay roll of $415,000 per year. Mr. Stephen I. Abbott has been the agent of the mills from the start and his son, W. H. K. Abbott, has held the important position of superintendent with signal ability since 1890.
The introduction of such a manufacturing industry means much to any city, but in Waterville it meant a great deal more than its own product. It turned the attention of the people to manufacturing as the fitting use for the great power which was floating past their doors to the sea. The iron foundry, oldest and most constant of Waterville industries was busy. The Hathaway Shirt Factory had been long established and had been of much value to the town, but these had not given the impulse necessary to the development of Waterville as a manufacturing city. The work at the Lockwood Mills brought a large increase to the population, notably of the French people.
The first French immigrant to Waterville was Jean Matthieu, who came about 1827. He was the first among the French to have a "framed house," rebuilding a house which had been moved from Fairfield into the "Matthieu house" which stands on the east side of Water street. A little later Jean Marcou settled in Winslow. In the thirties came Peter DeRocher, Abraham and Joseph Roneo and others. When Jacob Parè desired to be mar- ried he was obliged to go with his lady to Whitefield in order to find a priest to perform the ceremony. Mass was said for the first time on the plains by Father Fortier in the old Matthieu house. The Poulins, Lacombes and many others came during the forties. All the immigrants were poor. Several families made shelters by digging into the steep hillside and putting up a rude cabin of slabs as a front. One of the citizens whose wealth now amounts to several tens of thousands of dollars tells how an unsuspicious cow who had strayed upon one of these turf roofs came down through it into the midst of the astonished
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family. As early as 1851 a movement was started which secured the chapel in which the Catholics worshipped until the erection of their large and fine church on Elm street.
Peter Bolduc opened the first French store in 1862 continuing in business until he sold out to Exear Reny and moved west. He was the first of a long line of French merchants, many of whom have been successful and have amassed wealth.
In the early days there was bitter feeling between the young men of the plains and the young men of the town. The town young men did not go down to the plains with good intent and when the plains men came up town they came in bands strong enough for offense or defense, as the case might require. Some- times the French warriors imported some redoubtable fighter from Bangor or Orono to retrieve disaster or to lead their clans to victory. All this is far past. The progress of the French citizens in education, wealth and position has been remarkable. They own their homes and also a large amount of property in stores and business enterprises. They are well represented in the learned professions, law, medicine and theology and have had important share in the city government. To a large degree has the history of the French people been the history of the Catholic church (see chapter on churches of Water- ville) and the noble edifice of St. Francis de Sales church with its convent and its parochial schools, now being enlarged, is a worthy monument to their progress as well as to their devo- tion. His predecessors had wrought well but an unparalleled work in building up his church and its schools and in the civil life of the community, has been done in his quarter century pas- torate by the Rev. Father Narcisse Charland.
The Protestant French also are highly regarded. They have carried on an increasingly important church work for many years, have a fine chapel on Water street with good congregations and efficient work in all departments. They have an able and hon- ored pastor, Rev. Paul N. Cayer, who (1902) has been seven years in this church. An excellent spirit prevails between Catholic and Protestant, each recognizing the other's sincerity and his right to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience.
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The first observance of Memorial Day in Waterville was on May 30, 1868. The college students, under Capt. R. W. Dunn, marched to Pine Grove. At the grave of Major Geo. C. Getchell prayer was offered, at the graves of Capt. Wm. A. and Sergt. Major E. C. Stevens a short oration was given by Mr. J. B. Clough of the senior class. Halt was made at the grave of Surgeon Wallace W. West, and the graves of all the soldiers were decorated with flowers.
Among the graduates of that year were Julian D. Taylor, who immediately was appointed tutor, R. W. Dunn and L. D. Carver.
Memorial Hall and Library Building were dedicated at the commencement of 1869. Ex-Governor Coburn of the building committee, Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, president of the Board of " Trustees, President Champlin and Gen. H. M. Plaisted, president of the Alumni Association passed the keys with fitting words and the chief address was given by Rev. Geo. W. Bosworth, D. D., of Haverhill, Mass.
That good work was done in the old railroad shops was evidenced when some seventy-five friends gathered at the rooms of Master Mechanic J. W. Philbrick to celebrate the completion of a locomotive built in the shops from his own designs. The signal mechanical ability of Mr. Phil- · brick during his thirty-three years of connection with the Maine Central Railroad as master mechanic was of the utmost value to the road. Mr. Philbrick turned the first and also the last piece of iron turned in the old railroad shops. Waterville Sav- ings Bank, which has had not a little to do with the development and prosperity of the city, was organized May 4, 1869 with Wm. Dyer as president and Homer Percival as treasurer. Hon. Reuben Foster succeeded Mr. Dyer in the office which he held till his death. In 1874 Mr. Everett R. Drummond became cashier, who still continues a work which has been abundantly successful. In 1869 the name of Redington (C. H.) appears in the furniture business and ever since has been prominently identified with the larger business interests of Waterville.
October 5, 1869 the Ticonic toll bridge was carried away by a freshet. Augusta, fearing danger, sent a crew up river by train,
Note. J. H. Monroe's paper mill on the Messalonskee was burned Mar. 14, 1868, involving a loss of about $20,000.
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who grappled and captured the bridge at Vassalboro. It had been built in 1835, damaged in 1855 but soon rebuilt. The con- tract for a new bridge was let to a syndicate of Waterville men. Great opposition to the building of an expensive bridge, to be free and without tolls was aroused. Finally a special act of the Legislature was secured and the county commissioners ordered the bridge. It was completed and opened to travel December I, 1870 at a cost of $32,000, of which Waterville paid $26,000.
The fine edifice of the Methodist church was built in 1869. The society was not large but as it had within its membership one man, Reuben B. Dunn, who was willing to give fourteen thousand of the eighteen thousand dollars which the building cost, in this instance size was not necessary to success. Decem- ber 30, 1869 Major Henry S. Burrage was ordained pastor of the Baptist church. In his brief but successful pastorate before removing to Portland to become editor of Zion's Advocate, he closely identified himself with the interests of the town, and with A. A. Plaisted organized the Waterville Library Association. Each member paid $3 annually which was expended for books.
Colby opened her doors to women in 1871 and Miss Mary C. Low of this town was the first woman to enter. She was gradu- ated with honor in 1875 having shown herself amply able to cope with the young men in all matters intellectual. She is now the wife of Hon. L. D. Carver of Augusta, State Librarian, and their daughter, Miss Ruby Carver, is a member of Colby, Class of 1904.
Edwin Noyes, Esq., resigned the office of superintendent of the M. C. R. R. in 1871 and December 28 about 200 of the employes of the road gathered at his home and presented him a costly gold watch as a token of regard.
Hon. Reuben Foster, Waterville's representative, was speaker of the House in 1870 and 1871. In 1872 he was president of the Maine Senate.
The event of the year 1873 was the division of the town. A petition for division was circulated by Mr. A. P. Benjamin of the West village, chairman of the board of selectmen, and 350 signers were secured. A counter petition was circulated. At a town meeting in Waterville, January 28, 227 to 130 or a majority of 97 favored division. February 4, at a town meeting
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held in the West village, those favoring division took no part and 393 votes were cast against it. In the legislative committee of nine, five were against division and four favored it. The four urged the distance between the villages, their separate cor- porate capacity, differing business interests, opposition of each to improvements in the other, the struggle over the free bridge with loss to the town of $8,000, etc. The bill for the division was approved February 26, 1873. The name West Waterville was changed to Oakland March 10, 1883.
The Waterville Temperance Reform Club was organized April 14, 1873 and within one week had over 200 members. At the college commencement Dr. Champlin closed his thirty-one years of efficient labor for the college and Rev. Henry E. Robins, his successor, was installed. Hon, Edmund F. Webb, so long and honorably known as among the ablest of Waterville's lawyers was speaker of the Maine House in 1873 was also in his second term in the Maine Senate president of that body. In 1874 two men came to Waterville who were to have much to do with its business interests. M. C. Foster and Horace Purinton. The firms of M. C. Foster & Son and Horace Purinton & Co. are known all over the State, for many of the largest and most expen- sive public buildings in the State have been constructed by one or the other of these firms.
The St. Francis de Sales Catholic church was dedicated June 14, 1874.
The Fourth of July, 1874 was celebrated by the boys in their usual manner. By the adults by an oration on the Park by Rev. S. P. Merrill, by a grand dinner in the town hall at which a gold badge was presented to Willard B. Arnold, chief engineer of the fire department. Hon. E. F. Webb presided at the dinner and after dinner speeches were made by President Robins, Dr. F. C. Thayer, R. J. Barry, Hon. Reuben Foster, E. R. Drum- mond, Joshua Nye, Prof. E. W. Hall,, Simeon Keith, C. H. Red- ington and others. At a trial of fire engines, in the afternoon, the Ticonic played 198 feet 6 inches ; the Waterville Three, 185 feet, 2 inches. Fireworks in Nudd field completed the celebra- tion.
The gift by Hon. Abner Coburn of $50,000 to the institute was announced at commencement, 1874. The town enjoyed
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during that year the largest "building boom" in its history to that time. The new mill is a part of the explanation. Lamp posts were erected and street lamps were introduced in 1874 and in the same year the wooden railroad bridge over the falls was replaced by the present structure of iron.
In 1875 a new town hall was proposed but the town decided to enlarge the old one by adding to it thirty-three feet at an expense of $5,000. The Baptist meeting house was remodelled and improved at an expense of $17,000.
The exercises of Memorial Day were for the first time under the auspices of W. S. Heath Post No. 14, Department of Maine, G. A. R. Original hymns by Mrs. M. K. Boutelle and A. L. Hinds were read. Rev. S. P. Merrill gave an address and Prof. J. B. Foster read a poem written for the occasion by Mrs. Atwood Crosby.
The Merchants National Bank was organized August 4, 1875 with Hon. John Ware as president; Geo. C. Getchell, secretary ; Geo. H. Ware, cashier. From the start it has been an important element in the business of the town and never more so than at the present time with Mr. John Ware, son of the first president, as president and Mr. Horatio D. Bates as cashier.
The Waterville Free High School was established in 1876. The arrangement by which the town pupils of high school grade had attended the institute having terminated the year before. In 1876 began also the twenty-five years of faithful work of Prof. Asa L. Lane at the institute. His departments in the school involved a broad field but his enthusiasm for nature took him yet farther afield with results shown in the Lane Museum at Coburn and in the delight and instruction of his classes and of all who have heard his lectures.
Telephone connection between Waterville and Portland was established in 1878, the first conversation being between Payson Tucker and Geo. A. Alden, March 3Ist.
St. Mark's Episcopal church was opened July 5, 1878, and August 25th the Congregational church celebrated its semi-cen- tennial with an historical sermon by the pastor, Rev. E. N. Smith. The burning of the shank factory on the Messalonskee, March 6, 1879, threw about fifty hands out of employment. Mr. C. R. McFadden closed his eighteen years of duty as postmaster
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of Waterville. He had been both efficient and popular. Rev. Wm. H. Spencer began his twenty years' pastorate of the Baptist church during which so much was to be wrought for the church and the city. Mr. Gardner Colby died April 2, 1879, at his home at Newton, Mass. He had befriended the college in its darkest hour ; by gift and bequest he bestowed upon it about $200,000 and rightly does it perpetuate his name. While a boy he had lived for a while in Waterville. His father, who had been a shipbuilder, came to Waterville and engaged in the potash business on Silver street. The family home was on Temple street. After the death of the father the family removed to Boston where Mr. Colby won that business success which enabled him to be the princely benefactor of so many important interests in education, religion and philanthropy.
The semi-centennial of the Classical Institute was celebrated July 3, 1879, with addresses by Dr. William Mathews and Rev. Geo. B. Gow. Hon. Henry W. Paine, first preceptor, Ex-Gov. Dingley and others spoke in praise of the school and its principal.
The event of 1880 in Maine was the "count out" by which the Governor, through the throwing out of ballots on technicalities, sought to overrule the will of a majority of the citizens of the State. Meetings of indignation and remonstrance were held and other meetings of approval. January 15, 1880, fifty vol- unteers left Waterville for Augusta, where a clash of arms was expected. Through wise management at headquarters, blood- shed was averted and our soldiers returned home the same day.
The Waterville Sentinel appeared in 1880 under the manage- ment of Leger and Robinson. It has won a large place for itself on its merits and under its present owners, W. M. Ladd Co. is worthily influential.
A new code of by-laws was adopted by the town, March 14, 1881 (Waterville Records, Vol. III pp. 735-748.) Rev. Dr. G. D. B. Pepper was elected president of the college, March 27, 1882.
On July 4th, 1882, Hon. Stephen Coburn of Skowhegan and his only son, Charles Miller Coburn, were drowned. Both were graduates of Colby, were true and noble men and were held in high honor. As fitting memorial, Hon. Abner Coburn erected the fine building which since has been the home of Coburn Classical Institute. During 1882 the first steps were taken for
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protection against fire according to modern methods. Permis- sion was secured to use the steam pump of the Lockwood Com- pany in case of fire and pipes were laid and hose purchased for hydrants at the corner of Common, Temple and Appleton streets at their junction with Main.
The death of Lieut. Boutelle Noyes, on the U. S. Ship Rich- mond, near Japan, August 29, 1883, brought sorrow to his many friends. He was a gallant officer who had performed faithfully the duties of his station and who gave promise of rising to the highest rank in his profession.
In 1884 the town enjoyed quite a building boom, the most important construction being the iron bridge across the Kenne- bec which is still in use. The old bridge had proved too light for the work and was badly decayed. The new bridge was built under the direction of John Ware, S. J. Abbott and the selectmen, Nathaniel Meader, C. E. Mitchell and Geo. Jewell as building committee, and cost $36,863.46. It was paid for by town bonds.
'That the town was not anxious for city privileges was indi- cated by its refusal to accept the city charter granted by the Leg- islature, by a vote of 344 no to 223 yes.
As to the amendment to the State Constitution, prohibiting forever the manufacture, sale and keeping for sale of intoxicating liquors, the vote stood, yes, 563, no, 238.
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