USA > Maine > The history of Maine, from the earliest discovery of the region by the Northmen until the present time; including a narrative of the voyages and explorations of the early adventurers, the manners and customs of the Indian tribes, the hardships of the first settlers, etc > Part 36
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In the year 1794, the population of Maine had so increased that the District was entitled to three representatives in Con- gress. On the 24th of June of this year, a charter was granted to Bowdoin College. A Protestant from France, whose French name was Pierre Bauduoin, but who took the English name of Bowdoin, fled from Catholic persecution to Falmouth. He soon died in Boston, leaving a widow and family in charge of his eldest son James. This son became very wealthy, and, at the age of seventy, bequeathed his large estate to his two sons, James and William.
James became governor of Massachusetts, increased his prop- erty, and left a large fortune to his son James. This wealthy young man graduated at Oxford University in England, travelled extensively through Europe ; purchased a large and very valua- ble library, particularly rich in French literature and science. He also had a gallery of seventy elegant paintings, and a col- lection of fine models of crystallography. All these he be- queathed to Bowdoin College, with seven thousand acres of land, and other property to the amount of about five thousand five hundred dollars, and several valuable articles of philosophi- cal apparatus.1
1 Decade of Addresses, by Dr. Allen, p. 267.
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Rev. Joseph McKeen, D.D., was the first president of the college. He was distinguished for his noble character and his superior attainments. Under the succeeding presidents, the college has taken rank among the highest institutions in our
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land. This is not the place to enter into the details of its his- tory ; but we cannot refrain from saying that the present incumbent of this difficult and responsible office, Gov. Cham-
WESTERN NORMAL SCHOOL, FARMINGTON.
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berlain, has alike distinguished himself as a college professor, as a major-general guiding patriot troops on the field of battle, as governor of the State of Maine, and now as president of the college. The accompanying illustration gives a correct view of the college buildings.
Maine seems to have been regarded as a peculiarly favored region. Population flowed into it so fast, that, in the next thirteen months, nineteen new towns were incorporated, nearly
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SCENERY AT ABBOTT FAMILY SCHOOL, FARMINGTON, ME.
all of which contained at least five hundred inhabitants. One of these, Farmington, deserves rather special notice. Upon the rich meadows through which the sandy river glides, the corn- fields of the Canabus Indians formerly waved in the breeze. This beautiful village has become quite renowned for its cluster of literary institutions.
Farmington Academy was incorporated in 1807, and for about
MANSION, ABBOTT FAMILY SCHOOL, AT LITTLE BLUE, FARMINGTON, ME.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
half a century enjoyed a high reputation for its classical, math- ematical, and scientific instruction. It was then merged into the Western Normal School. A view of the building will be found annexed.
Another institution, a family school for boys, called Little Blue, has obtained celebrity far beyond the limits of the State. The most prominent object in the landscape of this region is Mount Blue. Upon the grounds upon which the beautiful clus- ter of school edifices is reared, there is a winding brook, a small pond, and a very singular natural mound, seventy or eighty feet high, covered with dense forest. To this mound the name of Little Blue was given, and hence the name of the school. The institution is sometimes called the " Abbott Family School," as the original building was the residence of the Rev. Jacob Ab- bott ; and his brother Samuel established the school. It is impossible, without a series of views, to give a correct idea of the varied and picturesque beauty of the grounds. The place embraces about five acres. We give a view of the principal buildings.
THE WENDELL INSTITUTE.
One of the most prosperous and popular of the educational seminaries of Farmington is the Wendell Institute. This sem- inary was established, in the first instance, as a private school, by two young ladies, the Misses May. These ladies evinced a remarkable aptitude for the work of organizing and managing their school ; and it grew rapidly in public favor, and soon began to draw scholars from the surrounding towns.
At length, at the time of the reception of a valuable donation from Dr. Abraham Wendell, a native of Farmington, though at that time, and for several years previously, residing in Peru, S. A., a charter was obtained for the institution under the style and title of the Wendell Institute. Much additional aid was also rendered by the relatives of Mr. Wendell, in furthering the plans of the teachers; and the institute is now in a very prosper- ous condition. It is still under the charge of the original found- ers of it, the Misses May.
There is another institution recently established in Farming-
BAYER
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FAMILY SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, AT "THE WILLOWS," FARMINGTON, ME.
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ton, as a family school for girls, which is probably destined to accomplish important results. It is called " The Willows," from a very magnificent grove of willow trees near which it stands. The institution is yet in its infancy ; but it has one of the most costly and best school buildings in the State. Its location, as regards beauty of scenery, and purity of air and water, is all that could be desired. Under its present efficient management it can hardly fail to prove a success, notwithstand- ing the multitude of rival schools which are rising all over our land.
Of the new towns incorporated in 1794, Alfred was named from Alfred the Great. Bridgeton took its name from Mr. Moody Bridges, of Andover, Mass., one of its chief proprietors. Prospect was so called from the beautiful scenery which, from one of its eminences, charmed the eye of every beholder. Hampden honors the name of England's illustrious son, John Hampden. Newfield, Cornish, New Sharon, Unity, Dresden, and Alna, were wilderness regions which poor emigrants had penetrated for the sake of cheap land, and where, having cut clearings in the forest, they reared their log huts, planted their wheat and corn amidst the blackened stumps, and, with great toil, obtained but frugal fare.
In the year 1795, Poland, Litchfield, Lewiston, Steuben, Fayette, Livermore, Starks, and Clinton, were incorporated. Lands in Maine were in great demand. In twelve years after the close of the war, the Commonwealth sold three million five hundred thousand acres. Troubles in Europe were causing a great flood of emigration to this country.
Lewiston became one of the most important manufacturing districts in the State. The Androscoggin has here a natural fall of forty feet in a distance of two hundred feet. By aid of a dam this has been increased to fifty feet. This valuable fall is utilized, by machinery of various kinds, to the amount of five thousand four hundred and fifty horse-power. And this is secure against any contingencies of ice or flood. Lewiston is connected with the seaboard by two lines of railway ; one lead- ing to Bath, and the other to Portland. It is distant from Bos- ton, by rail, six and a half hours, from Portland one and a half,
LEWISTON FALLS, LEWISTON, ME.
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and from Bath one and a quarter. There are in the place, in- cluding Auburn, which is on the other side of the river, fifteen manufacturing companies, with an aggregate capital of over seven million dollars. Between five and six thousand hands are employed. The population, by the last census, was twenty-one thousand.1
Lewiston is also the seat of an important literary and scien- tific institution, called the Maine State Seminary, which was incorporated and endowed by the State in the year 1855.
A controversy arose, about this time, between the Indians on the Penobscot and the government respecting land titles. The government claimed, that, by the treaty of 1785, the Indians had no lands remaining excepting the islands in the Penobscot River ; but the chiefs claimed the territory from the head of the tide, six miles in width on each side of the river, upward, indefinitely into the northern wilderness. Three commissioners were appointed to meet the chiefs. The question was amicably settled. The commissioners assented to the claim of the In- dians, and, for a small sum, purchased its relinquishment with a few modifications. This tribe, called the Tarratines, which, at the commencement of the Revolution, could bring four hundred warriors into the field, had dwindled down to but about three hundred and fifty men, women, and children. The territory which the Indians relinquished, by this treaty, amounted to one hundred and eighty-nine thousand, four hundred and twenty- six acres.
Still the tide of emigration and prosperity was flowing into Maine. The next year, 1796, seven new towns were incorpo- rated. These were Belgrade, Harlem (which was twenty miles beyond any other settlement, and which was buried in a forest swarming with moose, bears, and wolves), Castine, Northport, Eden, on Mount Desert, so named from its beautiful scenery, and Bethel. These were all incorporated on the 10th of June. Soon after, June 17, Addison, Augusta, Waterford, Norway, and Harrington were incorporated.
Augusta has become one of the largest, wealthiest, most intel-
1 The Water Power of Maine, p. 394.
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lectual and most beautiful cities in the State. It is the shire- town of the county, and the capital of Maine. The river is spanned by a fine bridge, and elegant mansions are found on both sides of the river. The State House, of granite, stands in a commanding position, on a plateau on the western banks. A water-power of great value is established here, by the con- struction of a dam entirely across the river. The length of the Augusta dam is 584 feet, and its height fifteen feet. The water- power thus afforded is of immense value, and must eventually give employment to a very large manufacturing population.
Improvements on this power are now in prospect on an im- mense scale. Six hundred acres of land have been purchased . around it. The power can be enormously increased by connect- ing with it nearly three hundred square miles of lakes which are tributary to the Kennebec. It can hardly be doubted that Augusta is destined eventually to be one of the largest manu- facturing cities in the United States.1
Among other public buildings of much interest in Augusta, there may be mentioned the United States Arsenal. This building is situated on beautiful grounds on the eastern bank of the river. "The insane hospital is an honor to the State and to humanity." It has pleasure grounds seventy acres in . extent. The scene of landscape beauty presented from the gentle eminence upon which the hospital stands can hardly be surpassed. An awful calamity occurred here in the year 1850, when the building was consumed by fire, and twenty-eight of the inmates, including one of the keepers, were burned.
Eight new towns were incorporated in the year 1798, - Wayne, Otisfield, Eastport, Cornville, Hollis, Anson, Hartford, and Sumner. In 1799 Kennebec county was established, with Augusta for its shire-town. Lisbon was the only town incorpo- rated this year. On the 14th of December George Washington died, and all America was clothed in mourning. The popula- tion of Maine, in the year 1800, amounted to one hundred and fifty-one thousand seven hundred and nineteen.2 Maine was
1 See Water Power of Maine, p. 175.
2 York County contained 37,729; Cumberland, 79,921; Kennebec, 24,394; Lin- coln, 30,100; Hancock, 16,316; Washington, 4,436. - Williamson, vol. ii. p. 589.
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RUSSELL-RICHARDSON-SO
KENNEBEC DAM, AUGUSTA, ME.
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now entitled to four representatives in Congress ; still new towns were born with wonderful rapidity. Rumford, Orland, Ellsworth, and Lovell came into being in the year 1800, and the next year gave birth to Strong and Leeds.
Maine was now enjoying peace and great prosperity. Ten towns were incorporated in the year 1802. These were Minot, Chesterville, Brownfield, Vienna, Avon, New Vineyard, Dan- ville, Baldwin, Lincolnville, and Waterville. This last town constituted the one hundred and thirty-eighth. It is one of the most beautiful towns in the State, and is the site of a well- endowed and highly flourishing college. The institution is under the control of the Baptists, but is open to the students of all denominations. The name of "Colby University" is taken in honor of one of its most munificent patrons. The sit- uation of the buildings, on the western bank of the river, is singularly beautiful.
Twenty-one towns were incorporated in the year 1804. The very important and opulent town of Gardiner was named from Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, to whom most of the township was granted, near the year 1754, by the Plymouth Company. Robert H. Gardiner, one of the most distinguished citizens of Maine, revered for his intelligence, his public spirit, and his Christian probity, came into possession of the place by inheritance, in the year 1803. There were then but about six hundred inhabitants in the limits of the territory. The town owes much of its pros- perity to Mr. Gardiner, and his generous devotion to all its interests.
His energies and wealth gave impulse to every branch of business. Mills rose, dams were built, machine-shops con- structed ; and a commanding eminence was adorned with a fine Gothic church of stone, which is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in New England. The falls of Cobbossee- conte gave this place its peculiar value.
The other towns incorporated this year, were St. George, Harmony, Temple, Albany, Industry, Raymond, Surry, Dixfield, Wilton, Rome, Madison, Albion, Unity, Embden, Mercer, Hope, Palermo, East Andover (now called Andover), and Gilead. The next year but two towns were incorporated, Harrison and Newry.
ANSELI RICHARDSON S.
Coburn Hall.
Gymnasium.
Chaplin Hall.
Champlin Lall.
South College.
Memorial Hall.
Library.
COLBY UNIVERSITY, WATERVILLE, ME.
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Improvements were rapidly advancing all over the State. Bridges, roads, turnpikes, canals, and booms were constructed. These last were of immense importance. They consisted of chains of logs crossing the rivers upon which there were saw- mills, to prevent the logs, cut in the winter, and swept down by the spring freshets, from being carried out to sea.
In the year 1805, Oxford County was organized, and Paris was made its shire-town. Orono, which had previously been
COBBOSSEE CONTEE FALLS, GARDINER, ME.
called Stillwater, was incorporated in 1806. This was a noted place in the days of the Indians. It was about the year 1775 when the first white settler ventured to rear his cabin in those awful solitudes. The renowned chief Orono had his residence here. He seems to have been a man of many virtues. From him the town takes its harmonious name.
Eight towns were incorporated in the year 1807 : Montville, Denmark, Porter, Jefferson, Friendship, Hiram, Dixmont, Pal- myra. Three were incorporated in 1808, - Pownal, Freeman,
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
and New Portland. The county of Somerset was established in 1809, and Norridgewock was appointed its shire-town. There were also incorporated the towns of Windsor, Jonesborough, Calais, and Whitefield.
A census was taken in the year 1810; and it was found that the State contained two hundred and twenty-eight thousand, six hundred and eighty-seven inhabitants. One town only, Eliot, was incorporated this year. The next year, however, nine were added to the prosperous State. These were Exeter, Charleston, Garland, Robbinston, Eddington, Washington, Corinth, Carmel, and Lubec. Seven towns were incorporated in the year 1812 ; namely, Bingham, Troy, Brewer, Dearborn, Phillips, Sebec, and Foxcroft. There were, at this time, a hundred and ninety-four municipal towns. Since the close of the Revolutionary war, a period of but thirty years, a hundred and fifty-four had been incorporated.
The' outrages which England had for years been inflicting upon our commerce, and her practice of impressing our seamen at her pleasure, had become unendurable. On the 18th of June, 1812, Congress passed an act declaring that war existed between Great Britain and the United States. Maine was called upon to furnish two thousand five hundred militia. As we now lock back upon those days, it seems strange that a single word could have been uttered in favor of submitting to those outrages in which England was trampling upon our most sacred rights.
Four towns were incorporated in 1813, - Sweden, Freedom, Levant, and St. Albany. To meet the immediate expenses of the war, the National Government assessed a tax of seventy-four thousand two hundred and twenty dollars on Maine. It is said that more soldiers were enlisted in the District of Maine, accord- ing to its population, than in any of the States. Troops were established at most of the important maritime towns. The whole number of militia, ever ready to march, amounted to twenty-one thousand one hundred and twenty-one men.
There was a British brig called " The Boxer," which had been for some time cruising along our coast, committing great depre- dations. The brig, which mounted eighteen guns, and had a crew of a hundred and four men, was commanded by Capt.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
Blythe, who was twenty-nine years of age. The American brig " Enterprise," which carried sixteen guns and a hundred and two men, was at anchor in Portland Harbor. It was commanded by Capt. Burrows, twenty-eight years of age.1 " The Boxer" was ordered to cruise off the harbor for the purpose of bringing " The Enterprise " to an engagement. The two vessels met on the 5th of September, 1814, and at three o'clock in the after- noon commenced action within half pistol shot.
For thirty-five minutes they poured their deadly broadsides into each other. Both captains were shot down, and the decks were covered with blood. "The Boxer" then struck her colors, having lost, in killed and wounded, besides her captain, forty- six men, nearly half her crew. On " The Enterprise " only two were killed and twelve wounded. The next day the victorious brig returned, with her prize, to Portland. The public exulta- tion was chilled by the death of the intrepid Capt. Burrows. The remains of both the officers were buried, side by side, with military honors, and a monument raised to their memory.
The general history of this war belongs to the history of the United States rather than to that of Maine. But in many respects the conflict was disastrous to the District. Maine was peculiarly a commercial district, and commerce was annihilated by the war. Money became scarce, prices high, and many of the rich became poor, and the poor suffered severely. The English declared the whole of our Atlantic coast in a state of blockade. The entire seaboard was infested by British cruisers. Still, in this sad world of sin and sorrow, adversity often intro- duces renewed prosperity. There is, however, but little comfort in the thought that the prosperity of one must be purchased at the expense of the ruin of another. The destruction of our commerce rendered it necessary for us to engage, more than ever before, in mechanic arts and manufacturing establishments. Thus England "gained a loss " in this cruel war.
The government of Great Britain claimed the right of stop- ping, by the menace of her guns, any American vessel found upon ยท the seas, of sending a lieutenant on board, who would
1 Diary of Rev. Samuel Deane, p. 403.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
muster the crew before him, and pick out any number he was pleased to say were of English birth. These he would seize, drag on board the British men-of-war, and compel them to fight Britain's battles. Where resistance was attempted the cudgel and cutlass were freely used. Official records prove that more than a thousand American citizens were thus torn from home and friends, and were compelled for years to man British guns, and, when war was opened against America, to fight their own countrymen. Even our armed vessels were thus searched, and fired upon if they refused to submit. Over six thousand men were thus taken from the American vessels upon the simple assertion of a British lieutenant, that he considered them subjects of Great Britain.
It was in the enforcement of such an atrocious claim as this, that the British Government commenced war against the United States ; thus blighting the prospects of humanity, filling lonely farmhouses with widows and orphans, and creating an amount of wretchedness which can never can be known until, at the Day of Judgment, all things shall be brought to light. It is hard for any one, whose heart is moved by the moans and tears of the helpless, to forgive such crimes on the part of haughty foes, who were rioting amidst the splendors of their castles and their palaces.
The victims of this impressment were not allowed any trial. There was no chance for any appeal. A pert young lieutenant from a British war-vessel, followed by his armed band, would descend the deck of any American vessel, pick out from the crew any men 'he pleased, and saying, " I think these men are Englishmen," carry them off.
We give England's plea in justification of this outrage, in the language in which the prince regent himself, subsequently the infamous George IV., endeavors to soften down its atrocities. In a cabinet manifesto dated Jan. 8, 1813, he wrote, -
" I am surprised that the exercise of the undoubted and hitherto undis- puted right of searching neutral merchant-vessels in time of war, and the impressment of British seamen when found therein, could be deemed any violation of a neutral flag ; or to take such seamen from on board such vessels, could be considered by any neutral state as a hostile measure, or a justifiable cause of war."
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
In the year 1813, the taxable property in Maine amounted to one million five hundred thousand dollars.1 Notwithstanding the desolations of war, nine towns were this year incorporated ; namely, Phippsburg, - where the earliest colony ever attempted in Maine was located, and where Popham's fort was reared, - Searmont, Belmont, Bloomfield, South Berwick, Westbrook, Sangerville, Hermon, and Newport.
The Bloomfield region was called by the Indians, Wessarunset. The first settlers, in 1771, were so delighted with the beauty and fertility of the country, that they called it Canaan. In the year 1777, several men were captured by the Indians, and carried to Canada. They were however, it is believed, all eventually restored to their friends. In the year 1807, an academy was incorporated here, which obtained much celebrity throughout the State.
South Berwick was in a region called Quampeagan by the Indians. Here also a flourishing academy was established. From the beginning Maine has manifested great zeal in the education of her sons and daughters.
During the first two years of the war Maine was not actually invaded by the enemy, though often menaced. A small military force was stationed at Eastport. Major Perley Putnam, of Salem, was in command, with two companies of militia.
On the 11th of July, 1814, a British fleet of five war-vessels and several transports anchored abreast of Eastport, and de- manded the surrender of the fort, allowing five minutes for an answer.2 Major Putnam did not need even that time to reply, " The fort will be defended against whatever force may be brought against it." But the inhabitants rose promptly in strong remonstrance against resisting an armament, which, in an hour, could lay the whole town in ashes. Major Putnam was thus compelled to strike his flag.
Eastport was very eligibly situated on Moose Island, which the British claimed belonged to them by the treaty of 1783.
1 Williamson, vol. ii. p. 636.
2 The fleet consisted of "The Ramilies," a seventy-four-gun ship, having on board the Commodore, Sir Thomas Hardy ; "The Martin," a sloop-of-war ; the brigs "Rover," "Breame," and "Terror ;" a bomb-ship, and several transports crowded with troops.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
They took possession of the place and all the public property it contained, hoisted the British flag, dragged the American sol- diers on board their prison-ships, and commanded all the inhabit- ants of Moose Island, and of the other islands in Passamaquoddy Bay, to assemble at the schoolhouse in Eastport on the 16th instant, and take the oath of allegiance to his Britannic Majesty, or within seven days to depart from the islands.1 About two- thirds of the islanders submitted to this requirement.
The success of this expedition encouraged the British to fit out another against Penobscot (now Castine) and Machias. The fleet consisted of three seventy-four-gun ships, two frigates, two sloops-of-war, an armed schooner, a large tender, and ten transports. The number of troops embarked were probably about three thousand five hundred, though some have placed the number as high as six thousand.2 On the 1st of September, 1814, this formidable armament cast anchor in the harbor of Castine. Successful resistance was impossible. The garrison
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