USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Freeport > Three centuries of Freeport, Maine > Part 14
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Freeport September 14th, 1822
to the Select men of this town
gentlemen this is to certify that Abagail Rogers has teached school in district No fourteen to the amount of sixteen dollars GEORGE R. ANDERSON, School Committee
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Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
How much the district had to spend in one year is shown by the following, which had no date, but as Mr. Mitchell was treasurer from 1824 to 1827 we can guess very closely.
District No 14
Old Balance
$15.21
State Money 7.59
Money this Year
65.66
$88.46
J. W. MITCHELL
Probably the old schoolhouse had a fireplace to warm the scholars but when stoves came into use provision was made for more comfort for them during the bitter winter months. The stove mentioned in the bill below has long since vanished in rust, but it may have been one of those box stoves so commonly used in schoolhouses and not unlike those on sale today.
School District No. 14 To Nathan Nye Dr. $5.25
1844 Jan. 24 To 1 Stove
Paid NATHAN NYE by J. A. NYE
A teacher's list of the scholars attending the winter term in District Number Sixteen, November 27, 1854, has come down to us and we give it herewith:
Reuben Wilbur, 16
Mahala D. Mann, 14
Daniel Rodick, 16
Emily A. Mann, 10
George Stanwood, 9
Elizabeth A. Wordsworth, 18
Enos E. Day, 13
Sarah E. Wade, 17
Ethan Wilbur, 11
Maryetta Rodick, 11.
James Soule, 15
Olive Ward, 16
Samuel Curtis, 9
Ellen J. Farr, 15
Orrin Curtis, 7
Emma E. Day, 11
James Rodick, 8
Frances Rodick, 21
Isiah M. Gardiner, 9
Mary F. Ward, 9
William J. Bibber, 14 Enoch Brewer, 11 Daniel Ward, 20
Sarah Curtis, 10
Susan F. Day, 9
Eliza J. Rodick, 18
Herman Brewer, 4 Ellen Brewer, 19
Frances Brewer, 18
Ellen E. Day, 17
Helen A. Brewer, 14
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Schools
It will be noted that the average age was high and that there were very few of the younger fry. Those who attended were probably nearby residents whose short legs could cope with the deep snows, which were taken as a matter of course. There is one girl of twenty-one and a boy of twenty, both of whom prob- ably expected that that term would be the last opportunity they would have to acquire an education.
There is no name of the teacher included with this list but it is not impossible that the teacher may have been N. O. True, who was afterward a member of the Board of Selectmen. The custom of those days of hiring a man for the winter term be- cause of the older boys, together with the source of the list, renders this conjecture probable. The present-day school, which corresponds to "No. 16" is known as the Litchfield School and is one of the few of the old type which is still in operation. To place this school more exactly, it can be said that it is just off the Flying Point road on the Stanwood road and nearly two and one-half miles from Freeport village. The school building of 1854 stood almost in the road, at the fork, a hundred yards to the west of the present one. Toilet facilities were entirely lacking and the playground was the road. The building was moved through the fields to the Stanwood road.
Another old district school was that in Dr. Hyde's district. This was located just north of the railroad overpass on Main Street, about where Robert Hunter's filling station is today. The district's name is due to the first Dr. Hyde, whose home was a few rods away toward the Square.
The following clipping tells of the first high school:
"About the year 1873 the State legislature had passed an act extending aid to those towns in which a free High School was maintained to the extent of one-half the amount actually expended for instruction. Freeport at its annual town meeting in March, 1873 voted to take such ac- tion as should secure the largest benefit from this law and at the same time the town voted to appropriate $3,000 in bonds of the state of Maine belonging to the town (and re- ceived from bounties) for the purpose of erecting a suit- able High School building on condition that a sum not less in amount should be contributed by individuals. Free-
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Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
port, at this time, as a town, was out of debt and had money in their treasury, from which they appropriated the sum above named. Among first contributions was a free gift from the late S. A. Holbrook, to the town of a lot of land where the High School building now stands. The building fund once started, the amount subscribed by indi- viduals soon exceeded the required conditions. Accord- ingly a contract was made with Foster & Dutton of Port- land and the present building was erected from plans drawn by Architect Fassett, also of Portland. ... H. C. Brewer was in the legislature at this time and did all in his power to further this worthy undertaking and against great odds.
The First High School Building
As soon as it was assured that Freeport would have a high school this grade of study was opened in the upper rooms of what was known as the Lane schoolhouse and there was held two terms, the third term opening in the new building with Mr. Frederick K. Smith, a graduate of Bowdoin College as princi- pal, Miss Susan Hyde, assistant and Mr. N. O. True, school supervisor. The course of study laid out was of four years' dura- tion and embraced mathematics, natural science, English studies, languages and general exercises.
167
Schools
When completed the high school building cost a little rising $11,000.
Following is a list of those who contributed to the high school building fund:
W. P. Rogers
$ 50.00
William A. Mitchell
50.00
Thing & Litchfield
100.00
Reuben R. Curtis 25.00
George Bacon
100.00
Daniel A. Fogg 75.00
Rufus C. Soule
50.00
Simeon Pratt 25.00
Sarah A. Hobart
500.00
James Koopman
50.00
S. A. Holbrook
school lot
William M. Curtis 10.00
Julia A. Holbrook
1,000.00
Isaac W. Parker 25.00
Charles A. Pettengill
50.00
Micah Stockbridge
25.00
H. B. Means
$ 100.00
Julius S. Soule 100.00
James C. Creech
50.00
Lydia L. Bliss
50.00
George F. Creech
100.00
Eta C. Soule
25.00
Robert S. Soule
100.00
J. J. Bulfinch
25.00
John E. Belcher
30.00
E. P. Oxnard
100.00
N. O. True
50.00
A Friend
75.00
Enos C. Soule
850.00
Scholars High School
2.00
Lewis Litchfield
50.00
Abbie K. Soule
25.00
Sarah M. Sheiflen
$ 500.00
J. B. Pinkham
50.00
John L. Kelsey
50.00
John D. Osgood
25.00
Eliza F. Harrington
200.00
Charles S. Kilby
25.00
John A. Briggs
600.00
Martha C. Cushing
250.00
William Gore
250.00
George Aldrich
25.00
Catherine J. Creech
210.00
Edwin C. Townsend
25.00
Rufus M. Dill
70.00
Town of Freeport, Bonds
3,152.50
Sarah Soule
300.00
H. C. Brewer
50.00"
This building has since been replaced by a modern one, but in another part of the village.
XXVII OLD NEIGHBORHOODS
A T the time of the resettlement, it was stated that there were three houses on Shepherd's Point, previously called Harraseeket Neck. Thomas Shepherd, "ye antient owner," had been driven away by the Indians in 1675 and never returned, so in the resettlement his heirs were assigned two hundred and sixty-seven acres, of which one bound was a heap of stones "opposite the end of a small island called Wolf's Island." Through marriage with Shepherd's daughter, Rachel, Henry Wolf came into possession of this assignment and made his home upon it for many years. In 1773 he was one of the voters at the town meeting in North Yarmouth, in which town his property was then included. With the change in ownership came a change in name, so that Wolf's Neck derives its name from an individual and not from an animal.
It is said that Henry Wolf planted an orchard and made other improvements but that the Indians were also fond of apples so these trees were cut down, excepting one which was too sour even for the red men. Within the recollection of those in middle age this tree was standing near the end of the point perhaps close to the site of Wolf's home but has now disap- peared.
After Wolf's death, the grant was divided and for many years remained as separate farms until in the 1880's E. B. Mallet re- united them through purchase. Of late years this property has been held in one family, with the exception of some cottage lots, but at present it is proposed to again divide it into smaller divisions.
Undoubtedly, the oldest house now standing on Wolf's Neck is a leanto wood-colored dwelling known as the Pettengill House. This was built in Falmouth some time in the eight- eenth century and about 1760 was owned by one Captain Greenfield Pote. This man was a characteristic Yankee skipper of the sort that made Maine a maritime state, with ships on every sea. Lying in the harbor of his home town he waited day after day for a favorable breeze, which finally came on a Sun- day. Without delay he put to sea and after a successful voyage returned to find that complaint had been made against him for
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Old Neighborhoods
setting out on the Sabbath. Incensed, he declared that he would live no longer in such a town nor would he pay taxes there. So he purchased a farm on Wolf's Neck, loaded his house on a flat boat and set it up where it now stands. The reputed date of this removal is around 1765. If we exclude the time that the house was located elsewhere this makes one hundred and seventy-four years that it has occupied the present site.
Probably at the time that Captain Pote moved his home, the road was not in its present location. If by any chance it was, the man demonstrated his independence by placing the house with its back squarely to the road, for so it stands today. As it is, the front door can be reached only by going half way around the house. This is so inconvenient that the back door of necessity must do double duty. The spunky captain lies in the nearby cemetery and one of his sons was lost in the privateer Dash. The name of Pote is no longer found in Freeport, although de- scendants are still living here. The house passed into the hands of the Banks family to which Mrs. Pettengill belongs. In itself this is something of a record that two families should hold a house for one hundred and seventy-four years.
Another old house further up on Wolf's Neck on the Everett Byram place, formerly owned by Enoch Brewer, found itself in the same predicament as the Pettengill house by reason, in this case, of a change in the road. The problem was solved, not by turning the house around but by tearing out the partitions and rearranging the rooms. Originally a Cape Cod type of farm- house, with the usual arrangement of rooms separated by parti- tions of shiplap and with the customary handmade doors, the fireplaces and other characteristic features were removed so that only the frame and outside remain as the original car- penter left them. Appearances would indicate that this house is little if at all younger than the Pettengill house. On the same farm the sites of two early log cabins have been found. There is no way by which we can find out their history but one at least probably belonged to the Brewer family.
Like nearly all of the early farms this had a family cemetery once fairly well filled, but because of removals to public bury- ing grounds now containing but a single grave.
On Tuesday, December 28, 1909, the newspapers carried as a news item that Frank Sanford and sixty Shilohites on the yacht
.
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Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
Kingdom had arrived at Gibraltar on their way to Jerusalem. This was of interest to Freeporters, since the bay off Wolf's Neck served as anchorage for the fleet belonging to the sect, which for a few years had occupied a prominent hill in the town of Durham. The stone wharf at the end of the Neck was their landing place for the catch of their fishing vessels and the place where they embarked on their travels about the world. When the Kingdom started on her way to Jerusalem her desti- nation was kept secret and the news item revealed the where- abouts and destination of the pilgrims.
People living on the Wolf's Neck road were accustomed to see the splendid teams of mules owned by the Shilohites which were used to convey the fish to the community in Durham and to bring the members to the vessels when they went abroad. Men and women thus transported rode with eyes strictly front, interested neither in people nor the scenery. Instead of follow- ing Bow Street to the Square, an abrupt turn to the right was made at Mast Landing to the direct road to Durham. The steepness of the hill required extra mules, which were there in readiness to be hitched on. A later expedititon to Africa re- sulted in much suffering for these Shilohites and conviction and imprisonment of the leader for violating United States regula- tions.
Years ago Pleasant Hill boasted two stores, a district school- house and a chapel erected and dedicated by the King's Daugh- ters in October, 1904. The population was then adequate to support these but has now so diminished that the stores have vanished, the schoolhouse windows are boarded up and the chapel is in a more or less dilapidated state. Several of the early settlers are buried in the old cemetery with their families.
When Mast Landing was the main village, the Pleasant Hill road was a stage route. Between the third and fourth houses on the left after leaving the Flying Point road a cellar is pointed out as the site of a tavern where tired travelers refreshed them- selves and perhaps remained overnight. An old resident has re- lated that at one time it was kept by a Talbot. The oldest in- habitants heard of it from their parents, but since one of them who is now ninety-two years old has no personal recollection of the inn it is probable that it flourished very early in the 1800's. Nearby was the one-time home of "Iron Man" Jack Coombs, a
The Frank Pettengill House
The former Capt. Greenfield Pote House
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Old Neighborhoods
big league pitcher of several decades ago. Mr. Coombs gradu- ated from Freeport High School and Colby College before entering upon his baseball career. The Curtis family was once numerous here but nearly all members have moved away.
The house on Pleasant Hill occupied by Professor Berkeley as a summer home probably dates back to the time of the Revo- lution, if its framing may be taken into account. It was built and occupied by the Lane family, of which Mrs. Berkeley is a descendant. The house has curious sliding panels, which were designed for use as shutters to cover the lower half of the liv- ing room windows. These instead of disappearing into the walls are entirely in the room, forming part of a paneled bor- der above the wainscot. There are numerous shiplap doors with H and HL hinges. There have been some changes in the arrangement of the lower floor but the stairs, chambers and attics are as they were orginally. The steep stairs are quite char- acteristic of the Cape Cod model. In the yard is an enormous elm, which tradition says was brought from Connecticut. Such trees do not grow to this size in a century and it was said that this one was placed in a flower pot when it arrived in Free- port.
There are several other old houses on the Pleasant Hill road. One of these is a story and a half dwelling occupied by Mrs. Ella Lane. A large lilac bush makes a picturesque setting for the house, especially when in full bloom. The story here is that the kitchen half is the original and the other part was added many years ago.
The Webster road in Freeport is named for the Webster family, whose immigrant ancestor, John Webster, came to North Yarmouth about 1770. A native of England, John Web- ster was somewhat eccentric, as is shown by the event which led to his change of residence to Freeport. According to his grand- son, Benjamin Webster: "He was put out with one of his neighbors, would have no dealings with him and would not even speak when they met. About this time the minister preached a sermon in which he said a good deal about loving one another. A Monday morning, one of the brothers of the Church called on my grandfather and had a talk with him about living in that way with his neighbor, whose name, by the way, was Deacon Hayes. He says, 'It's not my fault, for if I
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Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
should speak to him he wouldn't answer.' The neighbor re- plied, 'O, I think he would.'
About this time, Deacon Hayes was seen coming up the road on his old white horse. As he came along, my grandfather said, 'Deacon Hayes, I think you look blacker than ever this morn- ing.' The Deacon made no reply, but hit his horse a tap with his whip and was soon out of hearing. My grandfather, turning to the kind neighbor said, 'I hope you are convinced it is not my fault. I spoke to him and he didn't answer, as I told you that he would not.' "
In order to be at peace with his neighbors, John Webster bought a large tract of land in Freeport and moved upon it, leaving the Deacon behind. Here he occupied himself with building a home and clearing his land. As a venture he built a vessel in his dooryard, hauled her a half a mile to the Cousins river and loaded her with spars cut from his own land. Under command of his son, Benjamin, with the father as passenger the vessel was sailed to Cold Kirby, England, where the cargo was disposed of to advantage. Cold Kirby was the place from which John Webster had gone thirty-one years before with one guinea in his pocket and it greatly pleased him to return with a vessel, her cargo and a nineteen-year son as visible signs that he had made good in the new country.
Building a vessel away from the shore and then hauling her to navigable water was not unusual. The hauling was done with oxen of which every farmer had at least one yoke. The neighbors were always ready to give their help with cattle and manpower at a time like this. The boat was put on skids and a great chain attached to which yoke after yoke of cattle was hitched, until the long string could move the craft. The only expense to the owner was food supplied the men who enjoyed the chance to get out with their neighbors and vie with them in feats of strength and daring. The costs of modern moving would prohibit such shipbuilding today, but it was feasible then. Every section had men who were skilled in handling oxen and men at such times and many of these got their training in moving buildings. It is said that there are many old buildings in Freeport but very few on the original site, because of the ease with which they could be moved.
The section of Freeport known as Mast Landing, is at the
173
Old Neighborhoods
head of the tide on the Harraseeket River. Navigation is possi- ble at high tide, although only small craft attempt passage at present. The name is derived from the fact that this was a re- ceiving point for masts for the king's navy in colonial times.
It was decreed that all white pine trees exceeding twenty- four inches in diameter twelve inches from the ground, stand- ing on land not granted to private owners before 1691 should be reserved for the use of the king. The area near the coast was surveyed and all pine trees suitable for masts, bowsprits or spars were marked with the "Broad Arrow," and a penalty of one hundred pounds imposed upon any one cutting a tree so marked without a license. Inspectors were appointed to en- force this law and these men were kept busy at times in at- tempting to enforce it. One can hardly blame the settlers who found their best timber so marked if they chose to utilize the trees or removed them if they shaded the clearings made for the purpose of raising food.
On the other hand the Crown was rather liberal in offering cash bounties for the cutting and delivery of trunks suitable for masts, bowsprits or spars. One pound per ton was paid for these sticks, which reckoned at fifty cubic feet to the ton for rough and forty cubic feet for hewn logs, brought such an enticing re- ward for a year's work that even planting was sometimes neg- lected. The difficulty of getting food when the nearest supply was miles away, with almost impassable roads or trails between, often brought such people to the verge of, if not to, actual famine.
The king during wartimes maintained a garrison at Mast Landing. These soldiers guarded the place and even ac- companied the workers to the woods so that there would be no interruption to the constant stream of masts demanded by war- time conditions. The masts and spars delivered here were cut in the present Freeport, Durham and Pownal.
Considerable skill was required to cut and deliver the masts and spars in a satisfactory condition. The actual cutting was preceded by considerable clearing or swamping of a bed for the tree to fall upon. Trees and branches which would interfere and cause breakage must be removed and inequalities of the ground which would split or break the great trunk had to be leveled. The cutting was then done by axes alone, the skill of
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Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
the axman determining where the tree should fall. If he was unskillful he might miss the soft bed which had been prepared and cause damage through interfering limbs or by lodging in other trees. In the latter case there could be great danger to the cutter himself from broken branches or from the tree.
Hauling was done by oxen. A number of yokes of these animals were required for a mast was heavy. Especial care was needed in managing the teams upon the hills and Mast Land- ing is surrounded by them, but the masts arrived nevertheless at the water's edge.
The masts were taken to England by an especially built ship, which was considered to be so important that in wartime a convoy was provided to prevent capture. Before shipping the sticks were hewn down so that the diameter of the butt in inches was one-tenth of the length in yards. In this way a mast ninety feet long would have a diameter of thirty inches after being hewn. It has been said that in the territory included in the vicinity of Mast Landing grew some of the finest pines in Maine. There is an old story current in different places in Maine that some of the old growth pine were so large that a yoke of oxen could be turned on one of their stumps. It is a fact that a well trained yoke of cattle could be turned in a very small space if they were made to pivot and it is also true that the oxen of the settlers were much smaller than those of today, so that the feat is not incredible.
For the time being the Revolution put an end to the ship- ping of masts and when the war was over other parts of the state were drawn upon for a supply for local and nearby shipyards, so that with the coming of independence Mast Landing lost its basic industry. After the Indian wars the population driven off began to come back. Abner Dennison is said to have settled here in 1656 but as there is an Abner Dennison in the Mast Landing burial ground who was sixty-seven at his death in 1786, his coming probably was in 1756 instead of a hundred years earlier. There is no previous record of any one of this name. Joseph Lufkin came in 1778, Aaron Lufkin, James Griffin and Martin Anderson were early settlers as was also Nehemiah Randall, who came from Scituate. Zebulon Lufkin arrived at the end of the Revolution.
Dennison's Mill was here in 1804. This was probably a saw-
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Old Neighborhoods
mill of the old type, in which an undershot water wheel, by means of a crank, imparted an up and down motion to a frame holding a straight saw against which the log was sent on a car- riage pushed forward a small distance by a device operated by each motion of the saw frame. The marks of such a saw may be seen on all rough boards in houses of this locality dating back a hundred years or more. It used to be a common joke that in a mill of this type a sawyer could put the log on the carriage, start the machinery, then go to dinner and get back in time to take the board, which had been sawed. Of course this, like many other jokes, is much exaggerated.
When the logs were scaled, or measured, after sawing instead of marking with chalk or crayon as at present, the scaler would use a bladed instrument which would cut grooves. Of necessity Roman numerals were used, so that a board scaling ten feet would be marked X, one scaling eleven XI and so on.
Later on the site was occupied by a large grist mill combined with a saw, shingle and woodworking mill. This was owned by J. P. Weeman, who also owned part of the little steamer Tyro. This craft had its smoke stack hinged, so that it could be low- ered in passing the bridge to go to the mill above the road. This steamer used to convey the output of the mill to Portland. The plant burned in 1861 and was not rebuilt. Earlier than any of these was a tidemill on the west creek in this place. Accumu- lated tidewater held by a dam ran this mill when the tide below the dam was low.
A brickyard was formerly on the flats on the side toward Porter's Landing and ships were built on the space between the junction of the two creeks. Recent excavations here unearthed oak chips and hewings, relics of the old industry. There were some scows built here, also. The large house, facing down the river, on the opposite side of the road was a boardinghouse and the ell once served as a Masonic Hall.
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