USA > Maine > Hancock County > Traditions and records of Southwest Harbor and Somesville, Mount Desert island, Maine > Part 4
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Most of the settlers of Mount Desert were equipped with some education, they owned some books and they kept in touch with the affairs of the times by their frequent trips to Boston and other ports in their vessels to sell their fish and lumber.
As soon as mail service was established, which was in 1821 with post office at Somesville, newspapers found their way to the homes and letters were more frequent. Previous to this time the nearest post office was at Ellsworth.
The visits of the circuit ministers brought echoes from other and older settlements. That the first men of Mount Desert, in their occupations of fishing, lumbering and tilling their rocky farms-solitary work, most of the time-thought out their prob- lems and acted with judgment and independence is shown by the records they kept of their proceedings in their public meetings of town and church affairs.
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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND
MOUNT DESERT TOWNS
In 1789 Mount Desert Island was incorporated as a town along with Deer Isle, Vinalhaven, Gouldsboro, Trenton, Sulli- van, Sedgwick, Frankfort and Bluehill. The territory included in the town was Mount Desert Island, Thompson's Island, the two Thomas Islands, Bar Island, Sutton's Island, Bear Island, Greening's Island, the two Cranberry Islands, Baker's Island, Moose Island, Tinker's Island and Bartlett's Island. The incon- venience of getting together for town meetings in those days of rough roads and long distances were so great that the meetings were not largely attended as shown by the number of votes cast.
Before the voters could act in a town capacity they were required to take an oath of allegiance and so, when a meeting was called on March 17, 1789, at the house of Abraham Somes, the following names were signed to the oath of allegiance to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, abjuring all faith, subjection and obedience to the King of Great Britain and every other foreign power whatsoever.
Cornelius Thompson
Abraham Somes
James Richardson
Davis Wasgatt
Stephen Richardson
Levi Higgins
Andrew Tarr
James Richardson, Jr.
Ezra Young David Bartlett
Israel Higgins
Ezra Leland
Andrew Tucker
Joshua Norwood
Jesse Higgins
Elkanah Young
John Hamor
Eleazer Higgins
John Somes John Cousins
Benjamin Atherton
Gideon Mayo
Reuben Noble
Joseph Hodgdon
Timothy Smallidge
Israel Higgins, Jr.
Sylvanus Leonard
Reuben Freeman, Jr.
Peter Stanley
For the Year 1790
Elisha Cousins
Joseph Hopkins
Samuel Milliken
Israel Bartlett
Joseph Mayo
Daniel Somes
William Heath
Nathaniel Bennet
Ezra H. Dodge
Simeon Hadley
John G. Richardson David Hamor
Jacob Reed
Peter Gott
John Manchester
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TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
John Rich Samuel Reed David Rodick Philip Langley Stephen Salisbury David Higgins Elias Bartlett Samuel Bowden
Samuel Hadlock
Henry Knowles Nathaniel Marcyes
Richard Heath David Higgins, Jr. Joshua Mayo Samuel Hull
Robert Young
John Rich, Jr. David Richardson
Nicholas Thomas
George Butler
John Thomas, Jr.
David Wasgatt, Jr.
Solomon Higgins Ephraim Pray Christopher Bartlett
Thomas Manchester
Benjamin Ward
William Norwood
George Richardson
Jonathan Hadlock
Jacob Lurvee (Lurvey)
Bither Jordan
Faranton S. Farrell Reuben Freeman
Enoch Richardson
Thomas Richardson
Welch Moor
Joseph Gott
George Harmon
Peter Dolliver
William Nutter
William Roberts
Joseph M. Ober
Daniel Tarr
Tobias Fernald
James Reed
Daniel Gott, 2nd.
Moses Ladd
Simeon B. Milliken
John McKinzey
Amos Eaton
William Gilley
Isaac Mayo
Ebenezer Leland
Isaac Ober
Thomas Wasgatt
Samuel Milliken
Ebenezer Salisbury
Timothy Smallidge, 2nd.
The first meeting under the new town government was held April 6, 1789. Ezra Young was moderator and James Richard- son clerk. Lieut. Levi Higgins, Lieut. Abraham Somes, Stephen Richardson, Thomas Richardson and Capt. Ezra Young were chosen as a Board of Selectmen. Other officers chosen were constables, Grand Jurymen, Surveyors of Highways, Surveyors of Boards, Deer Reefs, Cullers of Staves, Tything men, Hog Reefs and Fence Viewers. Thirty votes were cast for John Han- cock, Esq., for Governor of Massachusetts, twenty-three for Samuel Adams for Lieut .- Governor, twenty-three for Daniel Coney, Esq., for Senator and thirty-five for Mr. John Peters for Register of Deeds "for ye Middle District." James Richardson was elected Town Treasurer.
Ephraim Pray, Jr.
Aaron Sawyer
George Freeman
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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND
There seems to have been complaints of damage done by cattle and sheep running free in the woods and in 1792 it was voted to build pounds and elect pound keepers.
The first mention of the care of town poor was at the meeting held April 1, 1793, when it was voted that "the Selectmen carry (a widow) to Mr. Benjamin Spurling's who Promises to take her one year for her Labor without cost to the Town."
September 10, 1793, it was voted that "the Selectmen make a Proper Demand on Mr. De Grener (de Gregoire?) for the Lands belonging by Law to the Town" and that "Capt. Ezra Young be the man to go to the General Court Committee to obtain the town's land and Roads, etc., if Refused by the Proprietors."
That there was need of restraining and punishing some mem- bers of society is shown by the entry in the records of March 4, 1794, when it was voted "that Fifteen Pounds including the money that is in Thomas Wasgatt's hand be Raised to Purchase a Town Stock of a Miniature." It is not known whether or not this purchase was ever made. At least there is no record of such purchase or of its use. 1132148
On April 6, 1795, one of the articles in the town warrant reads, "To see what the Town will do respecting it being divided into two towns."
This was voted to be done and "a line drawn by the Select- men where the town Shall be Divided and Layed before the town at next town meeting in May." At the May meeting it was recorded that "the Report of the Selectmen for a line to Divide the town Excepted."
Accordingly the necessary steps were taken and on February 22, 1796, the legislature of Massachusetts passed an act dividing the town of Mount Desert into two towns and incorporating the northern part of the island into the town of Eden. The act was approved by Gov. Samuel Adams on the following day, and on Monday the fourth day of April, 1796, the new town held its first town meeting .*
* In 1838 a third division of the town of Mount Desert set off Bart- lett's, Hardwood and Robinson's or Tinker's Islands and incorporated them into a town by the name of Seaville. This town functioned for twenty-one years and then the act was repealed and Bartlett's Island returned to Mount Desert while the others were annexed to Tremont.
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TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
Since that time there have been other divisions as follows :
Town of Cranberry Isles, incorporated March 16, 1830.
Town of Mansel, later called Tremont, incorporated June 3, 1848.
Town of Southwest Harbor, incorporated February 21, 1905.
There was but little money in circulation and much of the business in the early days was by exchange or barter. Often the town meetings voted "to do nothing to the roads." As travel increased and better roads were demanded, men often "worked out their taxes" on the highways.
For some years the ministers were paid by the town with money raised by taxation. The town records of April 1, 1793, say that it was "voted that the town send to the Westward for a minister on Probation and that Mr. Thomas Richardson, Capt. Davis Wasgatt and Capt. Ezra Young be a Committee for that Purpose and that they wright to the Reverend Samuel Maclin- tock of Greenland in New Hampshire to Provid us a Candidate to Preach the Gospel to us and we will make said Candidate good for his time and expense."
The first money raised for schools was the sum of eighteen pounds at the meeting of June 15, 1790, and this sum was for the entire island. In 1792-3 the sum of fifty pounds was raised for education "to be paid in the produce of the country at the current market price."
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF EARLY DAYS
Mount Desert was settled largely by fishermen and lumber- men; people with but small means, eager to carve homes for themselves out of the wilderness. Their manner of life, there- fore, was simple and like other new settlements, most primitive.
The usual custom was for the man to come to Mount Desert and build a log house, then return to Massachusetts for his family, either in the autumn or the following spring. Most of the early settlers of our island came from Gloucester, Salem and places on Cape Cod. Eastham contributed a goodly number of the settlers who came first to Hull's Cove and later spread out to the other settlements.
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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND
Some of the settlers brought cherished heirlooms in the way of furniture, but most of the homes were very simply furnished. Heat and cooking facilities were provided by the wide fireplaces and there was plenty of wood for fuel. Most families had their "fire kettle" to bring coals from a neighbor's hearth in case their own fire went out. In many homes, the fire on the hearth, carefully covered at night, was kept alive for years and to fre- quently be obliged to "borrow fire" was held to be a sign of shiftlessness on the part of the householder.
The brick ovens were heated at least once a week for the week's baking and this kept the whole house warm and dry. The immense chimneys contained several flues for fireplaces, when heated thoroughly, warmed the whole house. The first houses were of necessity small and were replaced by better ones in following years. Stoves came into use here in the early 1850's. The Gilley family had the first one, the Fernalds soon purchased one and the Carroll family was the third to try the new inven- tion. These stoves were small, square, box-like affairs and the old people who were accustomed to the fireplaces, scoffed at them and declared that the food cooked therein was not health- ful or tasty. The cooking utensils were of heavy iron, and pewter dishes and spoons were in use in many homes.
A spoon mold was a necessity in a family as it was frequently necessary to melt and remold the spoons. Bullet molds were also a part of the outfit of each hunting kit, for the leaden bullets used in the old time muzzle-holding guns had to be fashioned in the home.
Until the coming to the community of Isaac Herrick, who was a wheelwright, the wheels of the rude carts used by the settlers, were but circular sections sawed from a great log with a hole bored in the center.
When frame houses were built they were framed on the ground and then the neighbors were bidden to a "raising" to hoist the timbers into position. A supper followed and often a dance for the young folks. The spinning wheel and loom were an important part of the house furnishings for the clothing of the family must be made in the home. The housewives were expert in the making of dyes from bark or from vegetables and
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TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
they wove the same intricate patterns of coverlets and borders that were woven in all the New England settlements. They had considerable skill too, in medicinal herbs and each family had its plot of herbs or "simples" as well as knowledge of the medicinal qualities of many of the wild plants. For instance, pennyroyal tea was a cure for headache, spearmint for a disordered stomach, bruised leaves of plantain (white man's foot the Indians called it as it was found only where the invading race had settled) was an antidote for poisonous insect stings, tansy, motherwort, mug- wort all had their curative qualities for different maladies, catnip tea was given to children for many disorders, a tea was made from marigold blossoms to be given to infants who had sore mouth, peppermint leaves were steeped into tea for colic or cramps, a tea made from "yellow root" found in knolls in the pasture lands was a remedy in case of measles, sage, flagroot, sassafras root or sarsaparilla, birch twigs and bark and many other roots and herbs were gathered every summer and stored for possible need. A few women there were in every community who had more than average knowledge of nursing and medicine and as there was no doctor at Mount Desert until 1799 when Dr. Kittredge settled at Somesville, the services of these women were often called for.
In the records of an early Massachusetts town it is written that when there was a sudden need of heat at the patient's feet, a hen was brought in and thrust into the foot of the bed. Per- haps our ancestors may have used the same expedient.
The road to Ellsworth by way of the eastern side of Echo Lake was built in 1838-9. Previous to this there was a rough cart road leading down over Beech Hill and along the crest of Freeman's Hill. There were no carriages on the island and but few horses ; oxen being used as beasts of burden.
Most of the families kept some sheep and a cow or two.
Jacob Lurvey came to Mount Desert in 1790 and among his furniture were a few heirloom pieces including a grandfather clock. He also had a large silver watch and when a house was built in the early days he was often sent for to make a "sun mark" on the window sill at high noon which was the only time piece the family would have,
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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND
A few books were included in the possessions of almost every family in the community and the early settlers had an apprecia- tion of educational advantages and soon arranged for school privileges for their children.
The travelling preachers visited the homes and quizzed the children as to their knowledge of the catechism.
The first school teachers "boarded round", remaining in each home according to the number of children in the school. Therefore it was necessary for the teacher to stay longest in the home that was most crowded and probably in the most strait- ened circumstances.
Everybody was hospitable and the stranger within the gates was sure of invitations to sit at the table and to spend the night. Almost every family had a few cherished silver spoons or china dishes or pieces of linen to be used on state occasions. Many of the women too, had a carefully guarded silken gown or wrap to be worn only at important ceremonies.
Quiltings, sewing bees and tea parties were the chief diver- sions for the women, chopping matches (when the huge pile of wood needed for the year was chopped into suitable lengths or split), "raisings" and the suppers which followed were occasions when the whole neighborhood joined in a general good time.
No one was allowed to suffer among the early settlers. A sick man's neighbors saw that his fuel was prepared, all gave freely of time and strength to replace a house that was burned and to care for the widowed and the fatherless. If a mother died leaving young children, friends took them into their own homes and many a kind woman brought up several children with her own large family.
Each home supplied its own necessities. Soap was made every spring from wood ashes and the grease that had been care- fully saved during the year. In summer berries were preserved or dried, fish was dried or salted, vegetables stored in autumn in the cellars or in deep pits out of doors. Game was abundant ; venison, bear steaks, partridge, sea birds, could all be had with the aid of the musket. Lobsters could be picked up along the shores but were not much esteemed as food. Clams were abun- dant and many varieties of fish, both from the sea and the lakes.
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TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
Wild berries grew thickly on the hills and pastures. Each family raised some grain for bread and it was ground in the Holmes mill at the Mill Dam or at the Somes mill in Somesville. There was a ready sale for fish and lumber in Boston and the vessels that sailed out loaded with these commodities brought back luxuries as well as necessaries. Almost every house had a few flowers planted around the door from seeds or roots brought from the old home in Massachusetts and descendants of those cherished plants grow in many a garden today.
Few of the women who came to Mount Desert with the first settlers ever saw their old homes and friends again. The jour- ney to Massachusetts must be made by sailing vessel in cramped quarters and but few ever attempted it though only three hun- dred miles separated them from their early associations.
Many of the common expressions of the early settlers were of old English origin. "Tote" was used in the sense of carry, chil- dren were told to "con their lessons", a man of good judgment was spoken of as "a knowledgeable man", "to tole one away" was to allure, clever was used in the sense of good natured and still is used so in many cases, a sick person was spoken of as "enjoying poor health", an awkward one as "gawming", a medi- ocre success as "doing middling well." Those who were noisy in their fun were said to "get into a gale" and if a proposition pleased, the answer was "I would admire to do so." They spoke of "hunting high and low" for a lost object, of being "in high glee" when something was especially pleasing, of "making a towse about it" and when one entered a conversation he was said to have "chimed in."
Of the fog it was hoped that it might "scale off" or that the moon might "scoff off" the threatening storm. The cloudy sky was spoken of as "looking smurry or lowry."
Seafaring expressions were woven through and through the speech of Mount Desert people as all along the coast, not only of Maine but of all seaboard states and added much to the pic- turesqueness of conversation.
To call to a passerby was to "hail him", to make ready for a journey was "to man out and go" as soon as one could "get squared away", to avoid a person was to "give him a wide berth"
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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND
or to "steer clear of him", to call was to "sing out", to be sick or faint was to "keel over", to face a sudden and unexpected diffi- culty was to "be brought up with a round turn."
An old seaman in describing the indisposition of his wife said that "she had a pain amidships." Another old sea captain, bending over the casket of a shipmate with whom he had made many voyages murmured "Ah captain, I never thought you'd drop anchor afore I did."
A man of the sea toiling through a severe storm of snow and wind said he "could just stud and brace"; to work amid difficul- ties was to endure "pulling and hauling", to observe a man closely was to "get his marks and deeps", to change one's plans was to "sheer off", and one who had passed a restless night spoke of himself as having "pitched and tossed all night."
To make a thorough search was to look "fore and aft", if there were no obstacles in the way it was said that "the coast was clear", and what could be more expressive in describing a sudden fall than to say "he was knocked sprawling."
There were many common household sayings that were cur- rent in Elizabethan England, such as if a toad was killed the cow would give bloody milk, if basting threads were left in a garment it meant that it was not paid for, if two persons should wipe their hands on the same towel at the same time they were sure to quarrel soon, if one dreams of the dead they will hear from the living, and if Saturday night's dream is told on Sunday morning it is sure to come to pass before the week is over.
What you dream when sleeping in a house for the first time will surely come true ; if you sing before breakfast you will weep before supper ; to drop a dish cloth means unexpected company ; a baby less than a year old must not look in a mirror ; peacock feathers bring bad luck to a house; you must not kill a spider and if one of these insects is found on your clothing you will have new garments before long ; if you put a garment on wrong side out you must wear it that way or your luck will be bad; an umbrella must not be opened in the house as that would mean a death ; a piece of work must not be started on Friday or it will be a long job.
The generation who used these expressions has passed, the
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TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
generation who heard them is passing and the youth of today would be puzzled at such sayings.
Sixty years ago rag pedlers frequently came around buying old rags and paper and paying for them with bright tin dishes. Every housewife carefully saved all such things and delighted in the new tin pie plates and dippers for the household. John Green drove a red cart and was hailed with delight by the chil- dren for his kindly ways and for the candy which he carried tucked away on the shelves behind the locked doors of his vehicle.
John J. Carr was another travelling merchant who carried cloth of better quality than could be found in the local stores and another pedler by the name of Breed came twice each year to sell shoes of better kind and style than the local merchants found profitable to carry.
Horace Brown with his cart and strong horse always had candy for the children and a stock of enticing wares. Deacon Benjamin Dodge with his small store of notions on a sled was always warmly welcomed and must have found his business successful as he carried it on for many years.
Agents for books came often and many a parlor table had several volumes of literature of many kinds, most of them bound in a showy manner and many of them of small value. Agents for newspapers and magazines swarmed in all country communi- ties. Frequently the subscribers were charmed by the bright colored chromos that were given with each subscription and many a parlor wall was ornamented with these pictures. Agents for enlarging portraits came in numbers and almost every home had one or more of these enlargements as a part of the furnish- ings of the best room.
Polished shells from the Chinca Islands, conch shells from the West Indies, bottles of tiny pearl-like shells from many tropical shores were on the mantels of the homes of sea-going men, with various curios brought from foreign lands.
POPULATION
The census of all the white people living between the Penob- scot and St. Croix rivers, which Sir Edmund Andros caused to be made in 1688 is preserved among the Hutchinson papers in
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MOUNT DESERT ISLAND
possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The paper is dated May 11, 1688, and in the list of the scanty population at Penobscot, at Agemogin Reach, at Petit Pleasure by Mount Desert, at Machias and at Pessimaquody near St. Croix as well as at St. Croix are the names of Cadolick and wife in Winskeage Bay, on the eastern side of Mount Desert.
There is on record at Quebec a document granting Mount Desert, the neighboring islands and a considerable tract of the nearby mainland to the Sieur de la Mothe Cadillac said to be then living at "La Cadie". This document was confirmed by Louis XIV on May 25, 1689. So, from the Andros census, it would seem that Cadillac was living on this grant in 1688, near Bar Harbor, probably at Hull's Cove.
The first census taken by the United States government was in 1790 and showed 786 residents on Mount Desert Island and the census of 1820 when Maine was set off from Massachusetts gives the number of people as 1349. The 1930 census records 8350 permanent residents.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF MOUNT DESERT AT SOUTHWEST HARBOR, MAINE
On October 17, 1792, a little company of seven men and eight women gathered at some house in Southwest Harbor, adopted and signed a covenant and formed themselves into the Congre- gational Church of Mount Desert. The whole island was at that time included in the jurisdiction of the church. The original record books are in existence. The handwriting is clear and plain, being that of James Richardson who was clerk of the church until his death in 1807. The heading reads: "Record of the Church of Christ in the town of Mount Desert when geathered and by what order, Mount Desert the seventeenth of October one thousand seven hundred and ninety two.
the Gethering and forming of a Church in the Town of Mount Desert and the Proceedings thereof began on October the 17th Day in the year of our Lord 1792.
having received instruction from the Reverend Samuel McClintock with a covenant, a number of us appointed the 17th day of October in the year of our Lord 1792 for a Day of fast- ings and Prayer for the Purpose of forming ourselves into a Church and Profess to take Christ for our head.
Accordingly being assembled and meet together we signed the following covenant."
Then follows the covenant in dignified and stately language signed by James Richardson, Thomas Richardson, Davis Was- gatt, Nathaniel Gott, Ezra H. Dodge, Paul D. Sargent, Daniel Richardson, Rachel Richardson, Rachel Wasgatt, Mary Dodge, Hannah Gott, Elizabeth Gott, Margaret Richardson, Ruth Nor- wood, Nancy Atherton.
It had been thirty years since Abraham Somes, the first set- tler on Mount Desert Island, had built his cabin at Somesville and three years since the organization of the town in 1789. This was the first religious organization of any kind on the island of Mount Desert.
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TRADITIONS AND RECORDS
Circuit preachers of the Congregational and Baptist faiths had visited the island from time to time, holding services in the homes, preaching the funeral sermons of those who had died since the last visit of a minister to this isolated spot, baptizing the children and performing the marriage service for the young folks who awaited his coming. These ministers were sent by the Massachusetts Missionary Society and their recompense for their services was very small indeed. Among the names of those early preachers are Rev. Daniel Little of Kennebunk, Rev. Daniel Merrill of Sedgwick, Rev. Samuel McClintock, Rev. Peter Powers, Rev. Jonathan Fisher of Bluehill, Rev. Abijah Wines and others. It is claimed that the first sermon ever preached on the island was in 1773 by Rev. Oliver Noble and the first mar- riage ceremony was that of Davis Wasgatt and Rachel Richard- son August 9, 1774, by Rev. Daniel Little of Kennebunk .*
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