USA > Maine > The history of Maine > Part 38
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
After the war of 1812 the British claimed the whole of the upper part of the vast valley of the St. John. They demanded all the land above the forty-sixth degree of north latitude, which included about one-third of what was supposed to be the ter- ritory of Maine. The question in dispute was referred to Wil- liam, king of the Netherlands. He decided that the line should run about half way between the boundaries claimed by the two powers, which was a very strange decision. The question sub- mitted to him was, Which of the two boundaries is the one authorized by the treaty ? And he decided in favor of a line which the treaty certainly did not indicate, and which neither
----
a
-
432
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
of the parties had thought of. To enter into the details of this discussion would be very wearisome to the reader.
The people of Maine were indignant at this decision. The national government, anxious to avoid war, generously offered Maine a million acres of land in Michigan, in exchange for the territory she would thus lose. This offer was declined, and prolonged negotiations ensued. Matters remaining unsettled, and there being some indications of an outbreak, Gov. Kent, in 1838, took measures to increase the efficiency of the militia, and Gen. Wool was sent to inspect the fortifications on the Penobscot, the St. Croix, and the Kennebec. The line which Maine claimed by the treaty of 1773 was again surveyed.
The territory thus in dispute became the prey of plunderers. The region of the Aroostook River was robbed of its most valuable lumber. The State Legislature, in secret session, au- thorized Sheriff Strickland to raise a force of two hundred volun- teers, drive off the trespassers, destroy their camps, and seize their teams. The command was placed under Capt. Stover Rines. The first company left Bangor on the 5th of February, 1839, and reached Masardis, then township No. 10, on the 8th. The trespassers, not aware of the force coming down upon them, made a slight show of resistance. The lumbermen and their teams were, however, easily captured.
Capt. Rines advanced to the mouth of the Little Madawas- ka. Here he met with a reverse, was captured with a company of his men, and they were hurried off, in a sleigh, to Frederick- ton jail, in New Brunswick. The sheriff and his forces retreated. The trespassers, much elated, armed themselves, about three hundred in number, and bade defiance to the American author- ities. The sheriff, learning of the capture, retired to Number Ten, and fortified his party, while he repaired as rapidly as pos- sible to Augusta, to report the posture of affairs.
Gov. Harvey, of New Brunswick, issued a proclamation, declaring that British territory had been invaded, and ordering out a thousand of the militia. Affairs now began to assume a very serious aspect.
Immediately, though it was Sunday morning, fifty volunteers set out from Augusta, for the scene of action. At the same
1
1
433
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
time Gov. Harvey sent a communication to the governor of Maine, at Augusta, demanding the recall of the American troops from the Aroostook, and announcing that he was instructed, by the British Government, to hold exclusive jurisdiction over the disputed territory, and that he should do so by military force.
This roused to a high pitch the indignation of the people of Maine. The legislature passed a spirited resolve for the pro- tection of the public lands, and appropriated eight hundred thousand dollars to that purpose. A draft was also ordered for ten thousand three hundred and forty-three men from the mili- tia, to be ready for immediate action. Early Monday morning, the unwonted sound of the clarion of war was heard in the peaceful streets of Augusta, as the troops, by hundreds, then and there were " mustering in hot haste."
Gen. Bachelder was commander of the western division of militia. It was midwinter in Maine, and bitter cold. The regular uniforms afforded no sufficient protection for a winter campaign, through drifted snows and freezing gales, in a region where the mercury often sank twenty-five or thirty degrees be- low zero. Extra garments were speedily supplied, of thick red shirts and pea-green jackets. Within a week ten thousand American troops were either in Aroostook County, or on the march there.
The National Government was roused. Congress passed a bill authorizing the President of the United States, should the governor of New Brunswick fulfil his threat of maintaining exclusive jurisdiction over the territory in dispute, to raise fifty thousand troops for the support of Maine, and appropriating ten million dollars to meet the expense. On the 5th of March, Gen. Scott, with his staff, reached Augusta. He informed the governor that he was " specially charged with maintaining the peace and safety of the entire northern and eastern frontiers." He took quarters at the Augusta House, and immediately en- tered into correspondence with both Gov. Harvey of New Bruns- wick, and Gov. Fairfield of Maine. Having thirty thousand troops whom he could call into the field, he humanely endeav- ored to act the part of a peacemaker. The result was that Gov. Harvey pledged himself, that, in prospect of the peaceful settle-
23
.
------
434
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
ment of the question between the two nations, he would not take military possession of the territory, or endeavor to expel from it the civil posse or the troops of Maine. On the other hand, Gov. Fairfield pledged himself that he would not, without renewed instructions, disturb any of the New Brunswick settle- ments in the Madawaska region. He agreed to withdraw his troops, and leave uninterrupted communication between New Brunswick and Canada.
This settlement brought peace. The prisoners on both sides were set at liberty. In March, the Aroostook region, which had previously formed a portion of Penobscot and Washington Counties, was erected into a new county bearing its original name. It was generally supposed that the prompt military preparation we had made, which gave us unquestionably the command of the position, had great influence with the British authorities in securing a peaceful settlement.
This, however, was but a temporary arrangement. The rival claims were still to be adjudicated. Two years passed away while the question continued to be discussed by the two gov- ernments. In the year 1841, William Henry Harrison was President of the United States, and Daniel Webster Secretary of State. The sudden death of Pres. Harrison introduced the Vice-President, John Tyler, to the Presidential chair. The importance of the boundary question induced Mr. Webster still to remain in the office of Secretary, though differing with Mr. Tyler in political views. In the year 1842 Lord Ashburton came to Washington, the British ambassador authorized to form a new treaty for the settlement of the boundary. An extra session was called of the legislature of Maine. Commissioners were appointed to confer with Lord Ashburton and Secretary Webster upon this subject. The troublesome question was soon brought to an amicable settlement. England greatly needed a portion of this territory, that there might be free communi- cation between New Brunswick and Canada.
Maine surrendered a considerable tract which was of but little value. In compensation the United States received terri- tory of much greater value, on the borders of Lakes Champlain and Superior. The National Government paid Maine one hun-
435
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
dred and fifty thousand dollars for the surrender. The State also received two hundred thousand dollars, as re-imbursement for the expense she had incurred in defending the integrity of American territory. The Senate of the United States ratified the Ashburton Treaty, as it was called, on the 20th of August, 1842. Impartial judgment must pronounce the conduct of Maine, in this whole affair, to have been patriotic and wise.
In the year 1841, Mr. Edward Kent again filled the chair of chief executive. The subsequent governors have been : -
1842 John Fairfield .
Saco. Saco.
1843
John Fairfield (elected to U. S. Senate)
1843 Edward Kavanagh (acting) .
·
Newcastle.
1844
Hugh J. Anderson
Belfast.
1847 John W. Dana
· Fryeburg. Hallowell.
1850
John Hubbard .
1853
W. G. Crosby
· Belfast.
1855
Anson P. Morrill
Readfield.
1856
Samuel Wells
Portland.
1857
Hannibal Hamlin (elected to U. S. Senate)
Hampden.
1857
Joseph S. Williams (acting)
Augusta.
1858
Lot M. Morrill
Augusta. Orono.
1863 Abner Coburn
Skowhegan
1864 Samuel Cony
Augusta.
1867
Joshua L. Chamberlain
Brunswick.
1871 Sidney Perham
Paris.
1874
Nelson Dingley, jr.
. Lewiston.
1876
Selden Connor.
Augusta.
1879
Alonzo Garcelon .
Lewiston. Corinth.
1880
Daniel F. Davis
1881 Harris M. Plaisted
Bangor.
1883 Frederick Robie
Gorham.
1887 Joseph R. Bodwell (lied Dec. 15, 1887)
Hallowell.
1887 Sebastian S. Marble (acting)
Waldoborc,
1889
Edwin C. Burleigh
Augusta.
1861
Israel Washburn, jr.
CHAPTER XXIV. .
THE SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRATION.
Origin of the Movement- The Plan adopted - Mission of Mr. Thomas to Sweden - Wise Measures Triumphantly Successful -The Voyage of the Immigrants -Their Hospitable Reception -New Sweden - The Primeval Forest - Labors of the Colonists - Their Industry and Prosperity - Increas- ing Immigration - Interesting Letter from Sweden - Present State of the Colony - Future Prospects.
---
O NE of the most interesting events which has ever occurred in the State of Maine is what may be called the Scandi- navian immigration. For this important movement, the State is mainly indebted to the sagacity and energy of Hon. William W. Thomas, jun., of Portland.
Mr. Thomas graduated at Bowdoin College in the year 1860. Two years after graduating he was appointed vice-consul at Constantinople, and soon after consul at Galatz in the princi- pality of Moldavia. His services there were considered so important, that the Department of State deemed him worthy of a vote of "special thanks."
In the year 1863 he was appointed consul at Gothenburg, in Sweden. He remained there three years ; became familiar with the language, and acquainted with the manners and customs of the people. Upon resigning this important office, the State Department again took occasion to express its high appreciation of his measures as a public officer.
In the year 1866 he opened an office, as a lawyer, in Portland ; and in 1869 became one of the commissioners in the settlement of the public lands of the State. In 1870, invested with the office of Commissioner of Immigration, he sailed for Sweden, where he recruited a colony, returned with its members to
436
1
----
437
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
Maine, and founded New Sweden in our northern forests. He then took a seat in the State Legislature, and, in the years 1874 and 1875, was Speaker of the House.
Such, in brief, was the origin of this very important move- ment, which merits a more minute detail of its progress from its commencement to its present success.
The subject of Swedish immigration had been, for some time, a topic of public discussion, when Gov. Washburn called the attention of the legislature to it, in his message of 1861. The troubles of the times engrossed all the energies and thoughts of the people, until Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain was called to the gubernatorial chair. He eloquently urged the question upon the legislature. It was fully discussed. Three commissioners were appointed to report what measures were necessary to in- duce settlements in the unpeopled townships. These were Hon. Parker P. Burleigh, William W. Thomas, jun., and Hon. William Small. The commissioners, having carefully explored Aroostook County, reported, in 1870, in favor of making vigor- ous efforts to establish a Swedish colony in Maine. It was pro- posed that an agent should be sent to Sweden ; that he should endeavor to collect twenty-five families, with their pastor, and conduct them across the Atlantic, to what was then township No. 15, in the 3d range. Here, in a perfectly healthy climate, very similar to their own, with fertile soil, abundant timber, pure water, and pure air, ample farms were to be assigned them without cost. None were to be received but honest and indus- trious farmers and laborers with their families, who had suffi- cient property to pay the expenses of their passage.
Mr. Thomas was sent on this important mission. Taking passage on the steamship "City of Brooklyn," he landed at Gothenburg, Sweden, on the 16th of May, 1870. Here he established his office, and spread broadcast over the land circu- lars inviting immigration, and truthfully describing the country offered them for their future homes. Mr. Thomas also travelled extensively, conversing with the people upon the subject, by the road-side, in the public vehicles, and at their homes. Particular stress was laid upon the fact, that none would be accepted but those who could bring the most satisfactory testi
438
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
monials for integrity of character, and for industry and skill in their several callings.
The Swedes are a highly industrious, moral, and Christian people. Their religious institutions were essentially like those prevailing in Maine. Recruits soon began to appear. Each man brought credentials from his pastor. No doubtful case was accepted. In this way a colony of picked men, with their wives and families, was collected.
The colonists and their friends met on the 23d of June, in the Baptist Hall in Gothenburg, to enjoy a public collation. Over two hundred Swedes were present. Addresses were made by the commissioner and by Swedish gentlemen. It was a momentous occasion, and appropriately closed by prayer.
At noon of Saturday, June 25, Mr. Thomas, with his adventurous and confiding band, sailed from Gothenburg, in the steamship "Orlando." The commissioner had been in Sweden but forty days. There must have been something singularly potent in the influence of Mr. Thomas, to enable him to induce these worthy and intelligent men to abandon home and country, to cross a stormy ocean of four thousand miles, and to hew out for themselves new homes in the wilderness of a strange land ; with no contract, and nothing upon which they could rely but their faith in the honesty of the commissioner. It is indeed refreshing to one who is weary of describing the wrong and outrage with which earth is filled, to be able to record that Mr. Thomas was true to his trust.
The colony consisted of twenty-two men, eleven women, and eighteen children; fifty-one in all. The noble character of these men may be inferred from the fact that they took with them their pastor, their sabbath, and their church observances. In addition to the farmers and their religious teacher, there was a civil engineer, a blacksmith, two carpenters, a basket-maker, a wheelwright, a baker, a tailor, and a shoemaker. The women were neat, industrious, and expert in the use of the spinning- wheel and the loom. It was said of the men, " All are tall and stalwart, with blue eyes, light hair, and cheerful, honest faces. There is not a physical defect or blemish among them." 1
1 Commissioners' Report, p. 5.
439
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
The emigrants landed at Halifax on the 13th of July, traversed the peninsula, crossed the broad Bay of Fundy, and ascended the River St. John. They arrived at Tobique, on the St. John, in New Brunswick, on the 21st of July, and the next day, Friday, July 22, drove across the border into Maine. At Fort Fairfield the American flag was raised to welcome them, a salute was fired in honor of their arrival, and they were wel- comed by addresses from Judge William Small, and from Rev. Daniel Stickney of Presque Isle. There was quite a festivity at the Fort on this joyful occasion ; and many settlers from the surrounding region had assembled to present the hand of frater- nal welcome to the strangers. How beautiful is peace !
The Swedes were invited to a sumptuous collation in the Town Hall ; and then, with grateful hearts and strengthened resolutions, they continued their journey still farther north, to find their new homes. As they approached Caribou, five hun- dred people met them, and escorted them into the village with the salute of cannon and the music of a fine brass band. Here again their hearts were cheered by words of welcome from John S. Arnold, Esq. ; and their bodies were refreshed with an abundant feast, and they were hospitably entertained through the night. Mr. Thomas acted as interpreter on these occasions.
At noon of Saturday, July 23, 1870, the emigrants reached their new home, to which they gave the name of New Sweden. It is said there is no better township in the State. It is in the latitude of the flourishing city of Quebec. The land is undu- lating, and covered with a splendid growth of maple, birch, beech, and ash. Brooks flow through all the little valleys, and the soil is remarkably free from stones. The State, previously to the arrival of the strangers, had cut a road through the forest to the township ; had felled one hundred and twenty-five acres of trees, and had constructed for them six comfortable log houses. The long line of heavily loaded wagons wound their way along the newly constructed road, with the primeval forest, in its gigantic grandeur, rising on either side. The colonists, upon their arrival, used one of these houses as a store- house, while the fifty men, women, and children, though crowded, were comfortably accommodated in the other five.
440
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
The sabbath dawned happily upon this favored little band. Sweetly the melody of their Swedish hymns blended with all the voices of nature around them. There was, of course, some choice in the farms; but the question was amicably adjusted by drawing lots. The settlers were divided into groups of four friendly families, and the farms into clusters of four, with the cottages to be reared at the contiguous corners. Thus intimate friends could form one neighborhood. Mr. Thomas reports : --
" Every Swede was convinced that just the right lot had fallen to him; and was enabled to find something about his possessions which, in his eye, made it superior to all others. So surely does ownership beget content- ment." 1
With hands made stronger by joyful hearts, the Swedes went „ to work clearing up their farms. One hundred acres of forest were assigned to each. The houses, which had been built for them, were very comfortable residences, of peeled logs, eighteen feet by twenty-six, on the ground. They were one and a half stories high, with seven feet between the floors. There were two lags above the second floor beams, which, with a square pitch roof, gave ample room for chambers. The ground floor was divided into three apartments. There was one front room sixteen feet by eighteen one bedroom ten feet square and a pantry eight feet by ten. On this floor there were four windows, and one window on the front gable end above.
In the general room of each house there was a Hampden cooking-stove, with a funnel running out through an iron plate in the roof. These cottages, full of interior comfort, were architecturally picturesque ; and the inmates, happy and grate- ful, entered upon their labors with great zeal. Within a week after their arrival, these our prosperous adopted citizens wrote a joint letter to their friends in Sweden, in which they said that Maine had kept its faith with them in every particular ; that the land was fertile, the climate pleasant, and the inhabit- ants friendly. They strongly advised all their countrymen who thought of emigrating to America, to come to the congenial
1 Commissioners' Report to the Legislature, p. 9. We are indebted to this admirable report, which must make every son of Maine proud of his State, for nearly all the facts recorded in this chapter.
441
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
climate, the rich soil, and the kindly neighborhood of New Sweden, in Maine.
This letter was widely circulated by the journals in Sweden. In the fall the Swedes had made such progress in their clear- ings, that every farmer had sown an acre or half an acre with wheat or rye. The colony rapidly increased. On the 14th of September, twelve additional emigrants arrived ; and on the 31st of October twenty more followed, directly from Sweden: There were three births and two marriages. The sabbath, the greatest blessing God ever gave to man, shed its benignant influence upon the happy, religious colony. A sabbath school was opened for the children, and divine service was regularly con- ducted by their excellent pastor.
--------
Through the wise forethought of the surveyor of the town- ship, Hon. Noah Barker, fifty acres in the centre of the settle- ment were reserved for public uses. This land belonged to the State. Here the State erected a building thirty feet by forty-five, two stories high, with a very capacious cellar, frost- proof. A neat tower, surmounted by a vane, rose from the front gable end. A store-room and offices were on the lower floor. The second story contained a large hall, thirty feet by forty-five, which was used for a church, a schoolhouse, and public meetings in general.
The main body of the emigrants had arrived in the midst of the heat of summer. The houses were not prepared to bid defiance to the blasts of a Maine winter. But cold weather was a foe whom the Swedes knew well how to encounter. As the autumnal nights grew long, and severe frosts began to set in, they all turned their attention to promoting the comforts of their own firesides. With split planks, they made their floors double, leaving a space of six or eight inches between. This space they filled with dry earth, making a floor so tight that the fiercest wintry blast could not force through it a single breath of air. The upper ceiling was also made perfectly tight with matehed boards. They hewed the round logs which com- posed the walls, within and without, so as to present nearly a square surface. The interstices between the logs were filled very compactly with dried moss. Over this they nailed, both on the outside and the inside, strips of cedar.
1
442
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
Thus the houses, out of doors and within the rooms, pre- sented a finished aspect, smooth and perpendicular. The rooms were attractive. Neither clapboards, stone, nor brick could present a more perfect defence against the fiercest storms. Fuel was abundant. When the little households were gathered around these bright, warm firesides, it mattered little to them how low the mercury might sink in their thermometers. The climate was so healthy, that, in the autumn, it was said that there had not been a day's sickness of man, woman, or child in New Sweden.
The houses, with all the improvements, remained the prop- erty of the State. for five years from the arrival of the colonists. If, in the mean time, any one abandoned the place, he left his cottage and his land in the hands of the State. If he or his heirs retained the cottage as their home for that length of time, it became, with the hundred acres, his or theirs in fee simple. The expense of transporting the colony from Sweden to Maine was four thousand dollars. The immigrants paid every dollar of this. They also took with them into New Sweden, three thousand dollars in cash and six tons of baggage. This was adding just so much to the riches of the State.
Every Swede who set out with the original company from Scandinavia, with the commissioner, adhered to his pledge, and settled in New Sweden. Every one who promised soon to follow did so. Not one of them sought a home elsewhere. And we do not learn that any one of them, at any time, aban- doned the enterprise. In December, 1870, but five months after the arrival of the colonists, the following results, in an official report, were announced : -
" A colony of one hundred and fourteen Swedes -fifty-eight men, twenty women, and thirty-six children - have paid their own passage from Sweden, and settled on the wild lands of Maine. Seven miles of road have been cut through the forest. One hundred and eighty acres of woods have been felled. One hundred acres have been hand-piled, burnt off, and cleared ready for a crop, and twenty acres sown to winter wheat and rye. Twenty- six dwelling-houses and one public building have been built.
"A knowledge of Maine, its resources and advantages, has been scat- tered broadcast over Sweden ; a portion of the tide of Swedish immigration turned upon our State, and a practical beginning made towards settling our
443
THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
wild lands, and peopling our domain with the most hardy, honest, and industrious of immigrants."
It is pleasant to witness the interest with which Sweden, the mother country, watched over the welfare of her sons and daughters in this distant land. A prominent member of the Swedish Parliament, one of the most distinguished of Swedish philosophers, wrote to the governor of the State of Maine, mourning over the departure of their citizens, and yet rejoicing in view of their prosperity. In this letter he said, -
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.