USA > Maine > Franklin County > Farmington > The history of Farmington, Franklin County, Maine, 1776-1885 > Part 10
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" How I love everybody that owes 'em a grudge. You have nothing to fear, sirs, then join heart and hand, You have a gallant bold Usher to lead on your band." Then appeared the Gross merchantt right up from Castine With his prime English goods, just now fresh come in ; How he spoke against smuggling and breaking the laws, What zeal he expressed in his dear country's cause ! So he swore by old Muggins - that crazy old elf, He'd have no mischief done but what he did himself. But the New Sharon Justice§ I vow he beat all, When he upon the Judge with such ardor did call, To know if the Government wouldn't give them a pension To pay them for meeting in that day's convention. There were some of them tarried till late in the night, And some getting drunk, and beginning to fight, There were some bloody faces, and some tattered clothes, And 'tis said one went home with a part of a nose."
* William Reed of Strong.
t Asa Merry.
# Asahel Gross of Farmington Falls.
§ Prince Baker.
127
MILITARY HISTORY.
The treaty of peace, between Great Britain and the United States, was signed at Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814, but the news did not reach the people of Maine until the following February. All fear was laid aside, and the inhabitants everywhere indulged in the wildest demonstrations of joy.
So far as can now be ascertained, only two Farmington men enlisted in the United States army and performed actual service on the field. David Bump served two years, and Elisha Jewett twenty-seven months. Both of these veterans lived for many years after the war, Mr. Jewett suviving until 1884, when he died at the advanced age of ninety-three, being among the last of the pensioners of the War of 1812.
The military organizations continued to be maintained, and for many years the trainings and annual reviews were the great events of the year. In 1827, a brigade review, with Gen. Nathaniel Russell in command, was held on the Craig interval, just above the village. Governor Lincoln and staff were present, and the town has probably never seen before or since, an occasion so important in the estimation of its inhabitants. The militia system virtually came to an end in 1843, and although the town had some volunteer organizations under succeeding laws, for many years no military organization has been in existence. A few stones on the hill, to the north-east of the village, the remnant of a magazine built in 1817, and its name, Powder House Hill, are the only remains of Farmington's military glory.
CHAPTER VII.
FROM THE CLOSE OF THE WAR OF 1812, UNTIL THE FORMA- TION OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, IN 1838.
Financial Depression. - Misfortunes of Citizens. - Adams' Factory. - Gross' Distillery .- Cold Fever. - Cold Seasons. - Ohio Emigration. - Agita- tion of a Separation from Massachusetts. - Brunswick Convention. - Portland Convention. - Final Vote on the Question. - Freshet of IS20. - Building Union Church at the Falls Village. - Early Temperance Movements. - Sandy River Yeoman. - Growth During the Decade.
THE years succeeding the close of the second war with Great Britain, were unfavorable years for the town of Farm- ington. In common with the whole country, the inhabitants suffered from the depreciated currency and the high prices of merchandise. During the war, molasses sold for one dollar a gallon; Souchong tea for one dollar and a quarter a pound ; coffee for thirty cents a pound; sheeting for forty cents a yard, and other articles were valued in a like propor- tion. The burden of taxation was also heavy. In addition to the direct tax on land and dwellings, a specific tax was levied on household furniture, watches, and carriages. Stamps costing from twenty-five cents to a dollar and a quarter, according to the value of the note were required on notes of hand. Several citizens of the town suffered severely from embarking in various manufacturing concerns during the enforcement of the embargo, which were rendered almost worthless after peace was established. Solomon Adams, Esq., one of the most substantial citizens, built, at a great
129
COLD FEVER.
expense, for the times, a cotton factory, on the Wilson Stream in Wilton, on the Abram Butterfield place. The investment was nearly a total loss, and seriously impaired Mr. Adams' fortune. Mr. Asahel Gross also conceived the idea of distilling whiskey for home consumption. Freights were high, and the practice prevailed of buying liquor of very high proof and diluting it to the standard strength. Mr. Gross sought to improve on this expedient. His distil- lery stood upon the west side of the river on the farm now owned by W. B. Gilman. Here he converted potatoes into a fluid which was said "to kill at forty rods," but which found a market among the thirsty inhabitants whose appetite for "the ardent" could not be fully satisfied in the potations of foreign liquors which made so heavy drafts upon their pock- ets. When the distillery was abandoned, after the close of the war, Col. Daniel Beale converted it into a manufactory of potash and pearlash.
A serious disease hitherto unknown, and which received the name of "cold fever," visited this part of the State in 1814, and proved very fatal. This malady was of the typhoid type of fevers, and was characterized by a succession of chills, whence it took its name. It attacked the victim with intense pain in the extremities, and thence extended over all parts of the body ; and upon reaching the head, resulted in violent derangement. The skill of the physicians was baffled, and, so far as known, every one attacked died. Some of the most prominent citizens of Farmington, as well as of surrounding towns, succumbed to it; among whom were Samuel Belcher, John Minot, Jeremy Wyman, Jere- miah Norton, and Joseph Starling.
The seasons were also most unpropitious for agricultural pursuits. The year 1815 was one of the most backward in the history of the country. On May 19th, a heavy snow- storm fell, and crops could not be planted until nearly the ordinary time for hoeing. But the following year was still more unfavorable. The season of 1816 has been called the season without a summer. Frost occurred in every month in the year, and no corn was raised. There was good sleigh-
130
HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
ing in the latter part of April, and the few warm days of early May were succeeded by cold so severe that ice froze upon the apple-trees, killing the budding blossoms. Many birds were also chilled so severely as to perish. June 6th, a severe snow-storm set in, which was followed by such cold weather that vegetation was but little further advanced at the end of the month than at its beginning. When corn was ready to hoe, on the 8th and 9th of July, it was again cut down by frost. The hay crop was light ; and winter begin- ning in a snow-storm on October 7th, left the inhabitants in a gloomy state. The fears and forebodings of the supersti- tious were moreover excited by remarkable spots on the disc of the sun so large as to be clearly seen by the naked eye. The spring of 1817 was well-nigh as cold and backward as the two preceding seasons had been, although later fine weather made the year a fruitful one. Food was very scarce. Hardly corn enough for seed had been gathered, and potatoes sold at seventy-five cents a bushel. No suffer- ing, however, is known to have resulted from this scarcity of food, but its effect was very disheartening.
Under such discouragements many persons in the valley of the river began to look elsewhere for homes, and the eyes of all such turned to the beautiful and fertile region of the Ohio. The five years succeeding 1817, are known as years of the Ohio fever. During this period a constant stream of emigration flowed from Maine into the Buckeye State. Farmington did not lose so many of her citizens as did the neighboring and smaller towns of Phillips and New Sharon, nevertheless several of the most enterprising farmers sold their farms to follow the westward star of empire. The journey was made in covered emigrant wagons, and occupied six weeks. Few who left their Eastern homes expected to look again upon their birth-place, and the separation of friends thus made was looked upon as a final separation for this world. Friends came from far and near to bid the travelers good-by and to shake hands for the last time; little thinking that some of those thus leaving their native town, would live to return to it from the far Ohio in three
131
SEPARATION FROM MASSACHUSETTS.
days' time. When Jonathan Hopkinson, a much esteemed citizen, stood by the side of his wagon, whip in hand, saying the last words to his weeping friends, his wife's step-mother, Mrs. Francis Tufts, tried to cheer their hearts by saying, " Well, I suppose Hopkinson may as well go to heaven by the way of Ohio as any other way." And this was the general feeling, that when friends left for the great West the next meeting with them would be in the other world.
Soon after the close of the war, the question of the sepa- ration of Maine from Massachusetts began to be agitated. The people of Maine had not been in full sympathy with the mother State in her position during the contest with Great Britain, and a strong feeling for the separation was felt in many quarters. The General Court of Massachusetts, by a resolve passed Feb. 10, 1816, provided for town-meetings to be held throughout the District, on May 20th, at which the sentiments of the inhabitants regarding the question should be ascertained. The vote was found to be 10,393 in favor of separation, and 6,501 opposed to it, from a total number of 37,828 legal voters. Farmington was found to be in favor of the measure, by a vote of one hundred and thirty-four to fifty-six. The senators and representatives from Maine, then petitioned the General Court to consent to the separation, and a resolve was passed prescribing the terms on which the separation might take place. It required another vote to be taken in September, and authorized a convention to meet in Brunswick to examine returns, and, if a majority of five to four were found to favor the separation, to form a constitu- tion. The vote of Farmington showed that those opposed to the policy of separation had rallied new adherents to their standard, the town standing one hundred and forty in favor to eighty-six against the measure. Dr. Josiah Prescott and Col. Joseph Fairbanks were chosen delegates to attend the convention.
The prominent members of the convention were all warm supporters of the policy of separation. John Holmes, of Alfred, afterward United States senator from this State, espoused the cause with ardor, and when the votes were
132
HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
counted and it was found that only 11,969 were favorable to the measure, while 10,347 were opposed, he conceived the idea of counting the votes in such a manner as to give the required majority. It was found that the total number of yea votes in towns giving a majority for separation, were to the total number of nay votes in towns giving a majority against the measure, a larger affirmative ratio than five to four. It was accordingly decided that the necessary five- ninths of the voters were friendly to separation, and on the strength of the decision proceeded to appoint a committee to draw up a constitution, and to apply to Congress for admis- sion to the Union, adjourning to the third Tuesday of Decem- ber. This method of computation, which was known as the Brunswick arithmetic, or John Holmes' five-ninths, did not commend itself to the General Court, and it dissolved the convention. As time went on, the sentiment in favor of a distinct State organization increased. It was made some- what a party measure, since the federalists, who were a majority in the whole State, were in the minority in the District of Maine, and accused the democrats of inordinate ambition. At the May session of the General Court in 1819, a petition was presented from numerous towns praying for a separation, and by an act passed June 16th, the towns in the district were authorized to again take the sense of the peo- ple, and if a majority of 1500 were found in favor to call a convention at Portland the second Monday in October, for the purpose of framing a constitution. The vote was taken July 24th, and a large proportion of the inhabitants signified their approbation. In Farmington, one hundred and eighty- five yeas and sixty-three nays were cast; and at the Septem- ber town-meeting, Nathan Cutler and Jabez Gay were elected delegates to the convention. The constitution was duly framed and ratified, Farmington casting 105 votes in the affirmative and none in the negative, on the question of its adoption, and March 15, 1820, Maine was admitted as a State in the Union.
The ten years succeeding the separation from Massachu- setts were quiet years in the history of Farmington. The
I33
SECOND GREAT FRESHET.
year 1820 witnessed the second of the great freshets, which from time to time have devastated the valley of the river. The autumn of this year had been very dry, and the surface of the ground had become hard and impervious. A sudden and unexpected rain, in which the water descended in tor- rents during a single night, caused a sudden and rapid rise in the river, producing a freshet which did great damage throughout its entire length, washing the intervals to an un- precedented extent, and drowning many sheep and cattle. In one instance a farmer lost eighty sheep. The loss at the Falls village was a clean sweep of all the mills located at that point, together with their appurtenances, and also the bridge spanning the river between Farmington and Chesterville. The mills were located upon the north side of the river in the following order: First below the dam stood John Russ' saw-mill; next above the bridge was Henry Russ' grist-mill ; next David Morrill's carding-mill; then Jeremiah Stinch- field's fulling-mill; then David Dwinell's trip-hammer and machine shop. At the lower end of the canal stood the old saw-mill owned by the estate of Jonathan Knowlton, Sen., and known as the "Jones Mill." These were entirely car- ried away, but a large quantity of material of which the mills and machinery were constructed floated on to Samuel Pres- cott's interval in New Sharon, and portions of it were recovered. In Mr. Stinchfield's fulling-mill was a large quantity of homespun cloth, both dressed and undressed, which was strewed along the river or buried in the sand and debris. The total loss of property at the Falls village was estimated at $20,000. The following year the saw-mill, the grist-mill, the carding-mill, and the fulling-mill were rebuilt upon the most approved models, by their respective owners ; but Mr. Dwinell did not replace his machine shop, nor was the "Jones mill " rebuilt.
In 1826, the different religious societies at the Falls united to erect a house of worship. The Union Church was raised in that year and completed the year following, serv- ing as a meeting-house for all denominations until the Con- gregationalists built a separate edifice in 1879.
18
134
HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
The question of temperance began to be agitated among clergymen and philanthropists even before the war of 1812, and a temperance society was formed in Massachusetts as early as 1813; but the movement made but little headway among the people for many years. The early settlers of Farmington, like those of other rural towns in Maine, adopted the habits of the times in which they lived and almost all drank more or less ardent spirit. Those who had served in the Revolutionary army, had been accustomed to their regular "grog rations" and clung to this custom of war in time of peace. Previous to the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, license laws prevailed, and, as every one could obtain a license by paying a small fee, intemperance, and even drunkenness, prevailed to an alarming extent. At musters, at trainings, at raisings, on election days and all social occasions, the well-filled bumper was passed to all. While this practice was very general, there were many honorable exceptions, particularly among the clergymen, who abstained from liquor themselves and threw their voice and influence upon the side of abstinence. Temperance princi- ples, while gaining ground but slowly among the people at large, yet doubtless met with greater sympathy among the people of Maine than among those of any other State. As early as 1822, a citizen of Farmington was found who refused to stand treat on election day. It was then the uni- versal custom for the representative-elect, upon the declara- tion of votes, to open a barrel of New England rum for the delectation of the thirsty voters. Gen. William Gould was elected representative, in 1822, and having in mind the evils flowing from such indiscriminate drinking, quietly, but firmly refused to follow the established precedent. Great indigna- tion prevailed at what was considered unpardonable mean- ness, and a portion of the inhabitants re-assembled in the town-house to voice their rage in appropriate speeches and resolutions. Like many other serio-comic events in history, the most that is known of this meeting is preserved in a few rhymes which had a popular run among the boys of the period. The would-be poet said :
135
TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT.
"On Monday last we chose a son To represent fair Farmington ; But he arose and with a hum Said he wouldn't treat with brandy or rum.
" Now *Isaac arose with manly look, Asked if the General had not partook Of rum and brandy heretofore And left the rest to pay the score.
" Then tEben arose to plead the cause, And he rehearsed the British laws ; Said he saw no reason why The General should do as others had done, In treating the town on brandy or rum."
The foregoing is all that the writer recollects of a long poem.
It is plain that many of the inhabitants felt personally aggrieved by this action of Gen. Gould, and probably were little appeased when the good man paid to the town treasurer the cost of a barrel of rum with instructions to devote the sum to the maintenance of public schools. The custom, however, was thus broken up, nor has it ever been revived.
About the year 1828, the subject of total abstinence began to be discussed throughout the State, and a number of citizens of Farmington began to feel that the evils of in- temperance were so great as to occasion solicitude and alarm. Individuals had before been active in their endeavors to restrain the appetite for liquor in individual cases, but it was felt necessary to concentrate public opinion in some form in order to accomplish more important results. Accordingly, a meeting was held in the school-house of District No. 6, near Fairbanks' Mills, Jan. 2, 1829, and a temperance organization formed, under the name of the First Moral Temperance Society of Farmington. In this organization the now vener- able John Allen was the prime mover, and was chosen secre- tary of the society at its first meeting. The other officers were Joseph Fairbanks, Jr., president; and Thomas Flint,
* Isaac Eaton.
t Ebenezer Childs.
I36
HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
vice-president. The constitution states the object of the society to be "to do away, as far as practicable, the evil of intemperance ;" and pledges its members "to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors except in case of absolute necessity when prescribed by a temperate physician as a medicine." The original members of this society were: John Allen, William S. Gay, Francis G. Butler, Luther Townsend, Joseph Fairbanks, Jr., Allen Bangs, John Pratt, Elisha Gay, Thomas Flint, Daniel Stanley, Jr., Thaddeus Mayhew, Henry Cushman, Jr.
The meetings of the society were held at Fairbanks' Mills during the first year of its history ; but citizens in all parts of the town becoming interested in its purposes, its head- quarters were removed to the Center Village. Women, as well as men, were invited to help on the good cause, and the support given by the better class of citizens was hearty. Meetings continued to be held with regularity until 1839, when it became superseded by the Washingtonian move- ment. During the ten years of its existence, the society held upon its roll the names of six hundred and ten persons, and the impetus given by it to the temperance cause in the town was of lasting influence.
In 1831, an attempt was made to establish a newspaper in Farmington, the first issue appearing in October of that year. It was a weekly sheet, known as the Sandy River Ycoman, and was edited and published by Wm. A. Dunn. Its contents were largely made up of excerpts from other periodicals, and comparatively little attention was paid to local news. It was a very creditable paper, however, but perished after its first year, doubtless for lack of support.
The growth of the whole town, in the decade between 1820 and 1830, was steady and considerable. The popula- tion increased from 1938 to 2341, and the value of estates from $ 115,462 to $161,789.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHURCH HISTORY.
Religious Character of Early Settlers. - First Preaching. - Efforts to Settle a Minister. - Ministerial Lands. - First Settled Minister. - Distribution of Funds. - Methodist Church. - Jesse Lee. - Class Organized in Farm- ington. - Joshua Soule. - Early Preachers. - Brick Meeting-House. - Church Formed in the Village. - Meeting-House Erected. - Other Classes. - Secessions. - Free-Will Baptist Church. - Edward Lock's Preaching. - Revival. - Church Formed. - Defection of Lock. - Addi- tions to the Church. - Meeting-House Erected. - Pastors. - Second Free-Will Baptist Church. - Baptist Church Organized. - Meeting- House Built. - Pastor. - Congregational Church Organized. - Early Preachers .- Isaac Rogers .- Subsequent Pastors .- Universalist Church .- Christian Church. - Unitarian Church. - Meeting-House Built. - Catholic Church.
ALTHOUGH Farmington was settled by a moral, and, to a degree, a religious class of people, little attention was given to the support of public worship during the first decade of the history of the town. And when finally missionaries began to visit the region, they seem to have been sent by outside aid, rather than to have come by invitation of the inhabitants. It should be said, however, that the first min- ister to preach in the township came by request of the earliest of the pioneers, Mr. Stephen Titcomb, for the pur- pose of baptizing his son, the first child born of English- speaking parents in the valley. As soon as the town was incorporated, movements began to be made to settle a min- ister. By the terms of the grant of the township, two valu- able lots, of three hundred and twenty acres each, had been
I38
HISTORY OF FARMINGTON.
reserved-one for the first settled minister, and one for the use of the ministry. It was therefore very desirable that the town in its corporate capacity should take some action in the matter of settling a minister, in order that these lands might be made available. But among the earliest of the settlers, were representatives of no less than five denomina- tions, and the number of sects was soon increased to six. It was therefore impossible for the people to agree upon a min- ister, and the article in the warrant for town-meeting "to see what the town will do in regard to settling a minister," was regularly inserted each year only to be as regularly dismissed. In the meanwhile, the ministerial lots were a source of great vexation. Some years, by vote of the town, they were let to different individuals, but being generally regarded as common property, trespassers who cut the wood and committed other depredations abounded. The various religious denomina- tions, however, were going forward to establish stated worship; the meeting-house at the center of the town was built, and the need of such pecuniary help as the proceeds of these lands would give, began to be felt. The citizens accordingly petitioned the legislature to incorporate Oliver Bailey, Elijah Norton, Nathan Cutler, and Timothy Johnson, into a body politic, under the name of the Trustees of the Farmington Ministerial and School Funds, with power to sell and convey the school lands, and the lands devoted to the use of the ministry belonging to the town, and to put at use the moneys arising from the sale of the same, as soon as might be. The interest, arising from the money due on the land set apart for the use of the ministry, was to be annually devoted to the support of the gospel in the town, in the same manner as though the law had not been passed. The act passed the legislature Feb. 5, 1811, and at a meeting of the trustees, held soon after, Oliver Bailey was chosen president of the board; Timothy Johnson, clerk; Nathan Cutler, treasurer ; and Moses Chandler, Jabez Gay and Jesse Gould, were elected to fill the board. The proceeds from the sale of the lot set apart for the use of the ministry, including $77.87 interest, amounted to $1,375.75. The interest arising
I39
CHURCH HISTORY.
from this fund was divided annually by the town among the different religious societies, and by them appropriated to the support of preaching.
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